//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42 
// Story: On the Implications of Parallel Worlds 
// by computerneek 
//------------------------------//

“Psst, Ginny!”
Ginny paused on her way past the Twins’ bedroom, and looked at the door, where Fred was gesturing to her.  “Mm?” she muttered.
Fred brandished a sealed letter; her quick eyes spotted the name ‘Potter’ on the outside.  “C’mon,” he hissed.  “You’re going to want to see this.”
She raised an eyebrow, and followed him back into his room.  “Wasn’t Ron…?”  She knew the Plan didn’t involve Fred or George sending Harry any letters- only Ron.  Ron, her least favorite brother, who was supposed to be Harry’s best friend.  She was not looking forward to her own first meeting with Harry the following day; Fred, George, and Ron would be going to get him that night.
George shook his head.  “According to the Plan, yeah, but in reality, he was a little late- so he and Harry are most definitely not friends.”
Ginny winced.  “How’s that going to affect the plan?”
Fred snorted.  “Oh, the Plan is already toast.  Dumbledore still insists on it, though, so we’ve been piecing together what parts of it we can; Harry has been following fairly close to his planned path entirely on his own, so that’s helped.”
“Doesn’t this part of the plan hinge on Ron…?”
George nodded.  “Yep.  Most of the plan does, actually.  Since Ron earned Harry’s animosity, the non-response to his letters is absolutely not suspicious.  We’re actually rather surprised he hasn’t gotten a howler back, with how much he must be bothering Harry.”
“So we sent him a letter last week,” Fred informed her.  “Asked him a few things.”  He tapped the letter in his hands.  “He did reply, soo…”
“We might still go get him tonight,” George stated.  “But we also might not.  Depends on what he wrote.”
“Did you want to read what we sent him first, or…?” Fred offered.
She raised an eyebrow.  “You kept it?”
“We made a copy before we sent it,” George answered.  “We wanted to be ready for something like this.”
She shrugged.  “Sure, I guess.”





Dear Harry,
Firstly, Ron hasn’t been bothering you too much with his letters, has he?
We hope he hasn’t been.  As you know, he’s got a pretty thick skull- and remains determined to just ‘be’ your friend.  Doesn’t exactly help that Dumbledore keeps encouraging him.  At least Mom hasn’t been doing that- as a matter of fact, she’s been mostly just watching on that front.  We think she’s conflicted on the matter, and starting to wonder if Dumbledore really knows what Ron is doing.
So, to explain that.  We didn’t find out what Dumbledore’s plans for the summer were until we got home…  and to our knowledge, they haven’t changed since.
The thing is…  According to the Plan, your mail should be being intercepted.  We don’t know how, or by whom.  Ron should be sending lots of letters- which, as I’m sure you know if you’re reading this, he has been.  He’s not supposed to be getting responses- which he hasn’t.  That’s supposed to be suspicious…
Which it totally is not, because we know he’s not really your best friend.  Anyways, Dumbledore’s plan was very specific that we- Ron and us Twins- set out the night of August 3rd to ‘rescue’ you with Dad’s flying car.  He’s even given us an aerial map of Little Whinging, your house labeled, and a window map to tell which one is your bedroom.  And he told us to expect to have to pull iron bars out of the window before we could get you out.  Are the Dursleys really that bad…?
Just in case they are, we’ll be coming to perform the rescue anyways- with Ginny instead of Ron- on schedule, unless you indicate otherwise before the evening of August 3rd.  Unlike Ron, she’s very smart, and self-driven.  We wouldn’t be surprised if she gets selected as a student instructor- she might even be able to give Hermione a run for her money.  Unfortunately, she grew up in a wizarding family, and so is subject to Wizarding Common Knowledge.  Which Hermione has aptly demonstrated to be false multiple times during the year, and we wouldn’t be surprised if she’s done it again this summer at least once already.
And of course, if we arrive and you’re doing fine, we’ll turn back empty-handed.  No need to force you into anything you don’t want to do; we’re sure Mom can deal with the upset to the Plan, even if she- as the Plan calls for- catches us returning home at the crack of dawn.
Anyways.
If we don’t make the rescue, we’re sure you know what it’s going to look like for you.  No change, really.
If we do, you’d spend the rest of August living at our house.  The Plan calls for you to sleep in Ron’s room, but you probably wouldn’t be happy with that.  Speaking of which, Ron might be a bit thick, but Lyra says it’s learned stupidity- according to her, he’s actually pretty smart ‘under the hood’, he’s just learned not to use his smarts.  That would certainly explain how he can be such a dim-wit, yet still demolish anyone that dares challenge him to a game of chess.  She said something about it taking a few years to ‘teach him to be smart’- we suppose we’ll see how well that works.
In any case, we suppose we will have to wait until you’re in the car before we answer that question, if we do end up performing the rescue- and simply never answer it if we don’t.
If it happens, you’d get to meet the rest of our family.  Well, most of the rest; Bill and Charlie are still in Egypt and Romania, and we expect them to stay there for the rest of the summer at least.  We’re sure you’ve already met us and Ron, and probably at least recognize Percy the Perfect Prefect.  That really only leaves Mom, Dad, and Ginny.
As you may or may not know, Dad works at the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office.  He’s definitely in Dumbledore’s court; we don’t think he’s aware of the Plan, except maybe peripherally.  He doesn’t play really any part in it right now anyways, so we’re not sure if it even matters.
Mom…  Well, she believes in Dumbledore even more than Dad does.  Seems to think he’s infallible.  She’s been following his Plan for as long as we can remember.  She’s been reluctant at times, especially once Dumbledore decided that you should be marrying Ginny after Hogwarts, but we don’t think there’s been even one time when she hasn’t done exactly what Dumbledore asked her to in the end.  We think she doesn’t see any other option to avoid the horror of a second Wizarding War, even though we’ve told her about the Equestrians.  In either case, if you do meet her, she’s very nice, and will no doubt try to pamper you.  We think she’s heard about the conditions at the Dursleys, probably from Dumbledore, and may go a little overboard in trying to reverse it.
Ginny is…  different.  She used to be a pretty normal red-haired girl, following in Ron’s footsteps- including the learned stupidity- then she…  changed, somehow, right about three years ago, when she turned eight.  Ever since, she’s been a very smart, self-driven little read-headed girl, with very little tolerance for stupidity.  She’s about the only one we’ve ever seen that can beat Ron at chess with any kind of regularity- though when she does that, she seems bored, like Ron is as predictable as the color of her red hair.  We’ve taken notes during a couple of their games- and we’re starting to think there might be some truth to that.
Anyways, she’s very sweet, and kind, and red-haired.  And we kinda have to agree with Dumbledore- she’d probably make the perfect wife for you, with only one exception.  It’s not her red hair- no, back at King’s Cross last year, she had an instant crush on some black-haired muggleborn boy that nobody recognized.  Oh, and you seem to have already found someone.  Ever since, we think she’s been debating between complying with Dumbledore’s plan and abandoning it for that boy.  It’s mildly concerning- and with how badly the Plan has been thrown off already, we’re hoping she chooses what’s best for her.  And did we mention she has red hair?
According to the Plan, after our ‘rescue’, you would be sleeping in Ron’s room, and she’s supposed to act overly shy around you- staring dreamily at you, sticking her elbow in the butter dish.  That’s explicit, believe it or not- no idea why.  She’s also supposed to peek at you from behind her bedroom door every time you pass, and close the door whenever you look at her.  Makes no sense if you ask us.
Then he said something about ‘after the altercation in Diagon Alley’ and some Lockhart books.  We understand Mom argued with him over that for a while, but we’re not sure why- she adores Lockhart.  Mom does, that is- we don’t get the idea Ginny appreciates his books very much at all.  If you’re wondering why he came up in Dumbledore’s plan, we’re wondering that too.
So, please let us know.
Fred and George.





“Did…  Did you have to keep telling him how red my hair is?” Ginny asked, her cheeks not quite as red as her hair.  In her opinion, they’d complimented her too much, made her sound better than she was.
“Well, it is pretty red,” George stated matter-of-factly.
“So,” Fred announced, waving the unopened letter from Harry towards the other two.  “Do you want to read Harry’s letter to us, or shall we read it to you?”
Ginny took a deep breath, then held out her hand.  “If you’re offering, I’ll read it to you,” she stated.  This would be the first time she’d ever interacted with Harry Potter, even indirectly- and she was immensely curious what she could learn about him just from how he wrote the letter.  She knew the answer would be significant- she’d seen lots of different letters written by lots of different people, and had noticed the differences.
She wasn’t willing to trust the obviously-mistaken Dumbledore to have it right.  His ‘Plan’ hadn’t accounted for so many factors that had appeared ever since Ron- and, by extension, Harry- first went to Hogwarts, and he hadn’t revised it.
She had to remind herself that Fred and George had not been informed of the marriage contract, only that Dumbledore meant for her to marry Harry.





Dear Fred and George,
Interesting you should mention that.  Ron’s letters haven’t been bothering me…  mainly because I haven’t been receiving them.  As Dumbledore planned, someone was intercepting my mail.  However, since it was a friend’s house elf, that was a fairly easy fix.  And did you know Hermione can block a house elf from teleporting?
Anyways, Ron’s letters were amusing, for the most part.  Every last one started with “I know you’ll never read this, but I need to write it anyways”.  From his letters, it seems he’s aware that my mail was being intercepted, so he’s told us about just about everything he could think of.  Apparently, Ginny’s ability to crush him and only him at chess, without any apparent effort, infuriates him to no end.  He said she’s normally not all that good at it, when playing against other people.  That’s really interesting- and definitely points towards the predictable aspect, doesn’t it?
It also suggests she’s good at spotting patterns and predicting, as well.
And for your information:  No, the Dursleys are not that bad.  As it turns out, I have some kind of…  aura, that only seems to affect muggles, and makes them hate me.  They’ve figured it out, though, and are actively working to counter it.  I’m helping, as much as I can.  Had they not figured it out, I don’t doubt Vernon would’ve installed bars in my window or something by now.  Probably just yesterday, in fact- August 1st, the day after we caught the house elf.
Speaking of which, no, a rescue won’t be necessary.  But we’d welcome a visit sometime- just remember to let us know when, bring a licensed driver, and follow the roads at ground level.  Oh, and don’t use magic while you’re here.
Is it just me, or would that flying car fall under the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office?  If so, that’s a nicely ironic job for him to have.  I wonder if Dumbledore planned it?
Let’s face it, he probably did.
And did you have to tell us about Ginny’s red hair quite that many times?  We already know you ALL have red hair!
Her choice of people to have a crush on is…  interesting, to say the least.  I mean to say, completely independent of anything Dumbledore might have wanted, it very well might have been me.  It really depends on where, specifically, it was.
If it was in King’s Cross, before entering Platform Nine and Three Quarters, I was a lonely, black-haired boy in baggy clothes that nobody recognized.  I think it was even your family that I asked for help getting onto the station.
If it was on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, though, that description no longer applies.  Both Hermione and Lyra recognized me there.
If it does happen to be me, though, tell her not to be disheartened- I mean, if the magic has anything to say about it, I’ll be marrying no less than three girls already.  None of which are Ginny…  but all three of them tell me it doesn’t feel complete with just the four of us, so it’s entirely possible she’ll be able to get in on the party too.  And before you roll your eyes, all three of them either (1) Are Equestrian, or (2) have gone through the Papa Tango.  As such, all three of them have Equestrian magic- which includes some kind of ‘family-finding’ magic that blocks them from getting instant crushes that wouldn’t pan out, and gives them instant crushes on their true love.  It’s…  not a perfect description, but it’s close enough.  I haven’t felt it myself, since I lack the Equestrian magic, but they’ve all, ahh, felt it for each other as well; Lyra tells me it’s very, very rare for even a large, polygamous family brought together in that way to not have mutual love in all cases.  Like, once in a thousand years or so, she said.
And that in a magical population several times that of Wizarding Britain.
That said, the Lockhart mention is certainly very strange.  Hermione’s been spending much of the last two weeks in Diagon Alley with Lyra; they’ve scoped out some six or seven potential British student instructors…  But, neither mine nor Hermione’s second-year letters have arrived yet.  We’ve already gotten our books, which does include most of Gilderoy Lockhart’s books, but…
We’ve also heard that Silversong hasn’t gotten her letter yet, either.  Also an easy fix, since the second-year letters are all the same anyways- but it’s already at the end of the shopping season.  Did Dumbledore plan for us all to be a bit late in the shopping season?
Anyways, the main shopping season is over, so Hermione’s come home for the season.  Lyra’s still going to camp the Leaky Cauldron for another week, though, just in case there’s a good candidate amongst the stragglers.  Which, if you haven’t gotten your letters yet either, could include Ginny.
Hope you’re having a good summer,
Harry, and Hermione.





“...  Well?” Fred asked, as Ginny slowly lowered the letter.  She’d started by reading it to them, but had trailed off and started reading it silently within the first couple of paragraphs.
“You’re bright red,” George observed.
“I know!” she barked, making him flinch.  Then she took a deep breath.  “...  Sorry.”  She held the letter out for them to take.  She took another deep breath and, as they started reading it themselves, reading alternate sentences to each other, she spoke up again, in a mutter.  “Is…  Is polygamy even legal?”
“Polyg-?” Fred began, before exchanging a glance with George.  They then put their heads together, and started reading it faster.  They were still alternating sentences to each other, but much faster, and a little bit louder, too.  The parchment was about a foot from their faces.
Ginny stared blankly at the back of the letter while they scanned it.  Harry had already met three other girls.  If she got sucked into a polygamous marriage because of the contract, it’d be a lot harder to get away and follow her heart.
She also wouldn’t be forced to interact with him as much.
But his description of himself at King’s Cross the year before almost perfectly matched her memory of the boy her heart had leaped for.  He’d even asked her family for instructions!
Meaning…  it was entirely possible that Harry was the one her heart had leaped for.
Which could be a good thing, in that she wouldn’t have to go against the contract…
And a bad thing, both in that he might feel obligated to marry her because of the contract, and that if he was going to be in a polygamous marriage, she wouldn’t be able to be with him as much.  She rather doubted her heart would leap for his other wives-to-be, whoever they were, as well.
She hoped he was joking.
Fred and George finally got to the bottom of the letter, and lowered it together.

“...  Oh, uhh,” they began, slowly.  “Um…   Oh.”