A Ghostly Wedding

 

 By WhiteWerewolf

 

 

            [A/N- In this story, there is a character called Bloody Mary. If you don’t already know, Bloody Mary is a real ghost (that’s what many people think). You can summon her by going into a bathroom (with the lights out) and saying ‘Bloody Mary’ thirteen times. Legend has it that she will come out of the mirror and scratch your face out. In other legends, she will pull you into the mirror to live with her forever.

            Oh, and thanks to my beta-reader Birgit, and my friend PrettyPixie for helping me with this fic.]

 

 

Chapter 1: Moaning Mary

           

            Harry sees Ginny. She walks along a sandy beach wearing a beautiful wedding dress. Her hair flies wildly in the wind, looking like a fire blazing in mid-air. Ginny smiles. She seems to enjoy the blue-green, white-crested waves gently covering her feet, then slowly retreating into the ocean. Hermione is with her, talking to her, also smiling. Suddenly a cliff appears…Ginny steps on a large conch shell, stumbles, and falls.  Hermione looks terrified. She jumps after her, looking frantic. Then Ginny hits sharp rocks and seems to lose consciousness. Hermione lands safely, and bends over Ginny with a worried look. Harry yells but they don’t hear him... everything goes black….                                         

 “Harry? What happened?” Harry saw a blurred figure standing in the doorway, looking at him. He groped for his glasses and put them on. It was Ron, wearing orange pajamas with the Chudley Cannons emblazoned on the front.   

            “Huh?” Harry said, still thinking about the dream he had had. Ron walked into his room and leaned against his nightstand

            “What happened?” Ron repeated.

“Oh…nothing, Ron. Never mind.”

            “Are you sure? You looked really weird.”

            “It was just a dream. Forget it.” Harry hoped Ron wouldn’t persuade him to tell about the dream.

            “I can’t believe the wedding is in two days.”

            Harry didn’t say anything, the dream he had had on his mind.

            “Don’t worry, two days seem like ages. I remember the two days before my wedding,” Ron said.

            “Why are you up anyway?”

 “I was thirsty and had to get water, and when I passed I heard a thump,” Ron told him. “I suppose you hit your foot on the bed.”       

"Er…right," Harry said, nodding. Feeling sleepy, he yawned and pulled his covers back over himself.

They said goodnight, and Ron left.

            Harry looked at his watch on the nightstand.  It read 12:43. It was only about an hour after he went to bed. He sighed, and slowly fell asleep. At about one o’clock he woke up again, after having an almost identical dream. Before he went back to sleep again, he thought something: Should I get my dream analyzed? It seemed so strange and frightening.

             “Harry, come on, wake up! Breakfast is ready!” Mrs. Weasley was shouting so she could be heard from the kitchen.                                                                                    Harry could hear Ginny chattering; they were staying at the Burrow for the past few days so the last minute preparations for the wedding would include Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Their decision to wed had been quite sudden. Harry could remember the day he proposed vividly, as it was just last month. He had made a kneeled and made a little speech. Remembering it now, Harry realized how corny it was. But Ginny seemed to have enjoyed it, although she giggled during the whole thing.                                              

“Good morning, Harry!” said Mr. Weasley.                                                                   “Good morning, Mr. Weasley,” he replied.

Harry started eating his toast, absent-mindedly staring at his plate. After a long time, just as Harry was starting to eat an egg, Ginny, who was wearing bright blue robes, said “C’mon Harry, what’s taking you so long?”   

            “What’s the hurry?” Harry asked. 

            “You’re going to Apparate with me, so you lot can help me carry all my stuff to our new house,” Ron said.

            “Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Harry replied.

Ron and Hermione also wanted to stay at the Burrow to help preparing the wedding. Ron came, but unfortunately Hermione couldn’t make it. She had recently bought a house, so she and Ron could move out of their small flat. Their decision to move had not been as sudden as Harry and Ginny’s decision to wed, as they had started planning for the move several months ahead.

           A few minutes later, Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube, and in another few seconds, he was standing in front of a tiny row of buildings, with a small sign saying:

Eagle Nest Flats

 

             They went inside, and Ron reminded them that it was No. 96, on the second floor, so they all quickly Apparated upstairs, right in front of the door. They rang the doorbell, and Hermione opened it. She was wearing a dark red witch’s hat with matching robes.

            “Hey, Hermione,” Ron said, and kissed her.

            “Hi Ron, Harry, Ginny. You’re here to help with all the stuff, aren’t you? I can’t believe you’re getting married in two days; you must be really excited and nervous,” Hermione said, talking very fast, jumping from subject to subject.

            “Hi,” Harry and Ginny replied.   

            After seeing Hermione, Harry was reminded of the dream again, and made another mental note to get it analyzed.

            “So anyway, I suppose we should get started,” Hermione said. “You can take the trunks over there, and Ron and I’ll take these.”

            Harry picked up two, and saw Ginny trying to get a second one hoisted up into her arms. He went over to her and carefully nudged it closer to her chest with his elbow.

            “Okay, let’s go,” Hermione said, holding one large trunk. They all followed her into the corridor and Apparated to the front of a huge, white house.

            “Wow,” Ginny said. “A house like this must’ve cost loads.”

            “Well, actually, it was pretty cheap; it was only ten thousand Galleons,” Hermione replied. “For some reason, the owners couldn’t wait to sell it to us.”

            “They must have been mad,” Ron said. “Or maybe they enchanted the house and it really looks awful.”

“Oh, come on Ron, they wouldn’t do that,” Hermione said. “C’mon, let go in.”

            They all went in, looking around and setting the trunks dowsn. They were in a long hall, with doors on both side and a large set of oak double doors, presumably leading to the living room. To the left of them there was a spiral staircase. There were a few cobwebs where they were standing; Hermione took out her wand, waved it once, and they vanished.

            “Come on,” Hermione said nervously, breaking the silence. “Let’s look around.”

            They cautiously went forward as Harry found Ginny hand and held it gently. Ron pushed open the closest door and they went in.

            It was a small room, with a few small tables, and a torn, battered, old red sofa.

“It’s only a storage room,” Ron said, disappointed.

“Oh,” Ginny said.

            “Er, let’s go see what’s in the other rooms, okay?” Hermione said. They went out of the room and into the hallway. Hermione leaned forward and gave the closest door a push. It slowly creaked open.

As soon as they went in, they heard a soft sobbing. When Harry listened hard, he thought it was saying, “Oh no! My poor, poor baby!” A second later there was silence. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.  

       “Who’s there?” Ginny shouted, her voice echoing around the gigantic walls. She sounded a little scared.

       “Who – who was that?” Ron asked Hermione.

       “I don’t know.” Hermione said.

       Harry was sure he had heard the voice before. He racked his brains. Suddenly he remembered.

       “Don’t you think it sounds like Moaning Myrtle?” he said.

       They heard a loud sob.    

        Then they saw her. It wasn’t Moaning Myrtle. It was –

        “I am Mary Worth!” A ghost swooped in on them. Her face was horribly disfigured, with half of her skin torn away. Horrible scars covered the remaining face, and all her arms and legs. Silver blood was oozing from a larger gash near her left elbow. She was wearing a pale blue dress, also torn and caked with mud. It had a bigger rip just below her chest. Her eyes seemed to have sunken deep into her skull, but at the same time they seemed to be bulging out horribly. Her long, dark, hair went down past her waist, but it was filthy and matted so it hardly looked like hair at all.

        “It’s Bloody Mary!” Hermione whispered in a terrified voice.

        “What the hell are you talking about? Who’s Bloody Mary?” Ron asked.

        “I’ll explain later, just go outside and get away from her! Now!”

        “Why?” Ron persisted, but Hermione just grabbed his arm and Disapparated outside with him. Harry and Ginny followed.

        “Well, now that we’re outside, will you tell us why we can’t stay in the same room as a ghost?” Ron asked.

         “Ron, that was Bloody Mary!” Hermione said.

         “Who?” Ginny asked.

         “Harry knows who she is, don’t you, Harry?” Hermione said.

         “Oh, yeah,” Harry said. “Once, before I knew I was a wizard, I heard Dudley talking about her. He tried to summon her, but even before he said ‘Bloody Mary’ once he ran out, shaking.” Harry grinned.

        “Who is bloody Bloody Mary?!” Ron yelled.

        “Bloody Mary is a woman whose baby drowned in the river,” Hermione said. “When she went in after it, her face was ruined when she collided with a boat.”

        “But why can’t we be in the same room as her?” Ron demanded.

        “Because she’ll try to scratch your face out.” said Hermione.

        “Er…oh,” Ron muttered. “Why?”

        “Because she gets mad at the whoever summons her, like Muggles who want to see if she really exists. I suppose she get tired from getting summoned every second, so she gets mad and scratches out your face,”

            “Summoned her?” Ron said.

            “Yes, you have to say ‘Bloody Mary’ thirteen times looking in the mirror of a dark room, she comes to you,” Hermione replied impatiently.

        “But I thought that Muggles didn’t believe in ghosts. Why would they believe in her?” Ginny asked.

         “They don’t believe in all ghosts.” Hermione explained. “Only some. They don’t think ghosts exist just if –”                                                                           

         “So how do we get rid of her?” Ginny cut in. “I’m sure you don’t want to live in the same house as a miserable ghost who scratches your face out.”

        “Yeah, I don’t fancy that either,” Ron said. “So, how do we get rid of the stupid thing?”

        “Well…I think if…” Hermione began.

        “Yes?” Harry asked.

        “Harry… did you say before that the voice sounded like Moaning Myrtle?” she said.

        “Yeah, it did,” Harry said, shrugging.

        “Does anyone know what Moaning Myrtle’s last name is?” Hermione asked.

        “No,” Harry and Ron answered together.

        “Yes,” Ginny said. “It was Worth, I think.”

        “What?” Harry said, turning round to face her.

        “Good lord,” Hermione said. “Could she be…you know…her relative?”

            “She probably is,” agreed Ron. “But how does that help us?” he asked.

            Hermione smiled. “You think she would harm us if we were friends with Moaning Myrtle?”

            “You know what, Hermione?” Ron said. “You’re too smart.”

            Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny decided that someone should talk with Mary Worth. They decided it should be Hermione, since she was the one who was going to live there, and because Ron was too scared, although he denied it.

            Hermione walked confidently to her new house. She went in, and they all stepped onto the front steps to try to hear her as Ron fumbled in his pocket for Extendable Ears. He finally got them, and then unwound them so that they could hear what Hermione was saying.

         “So since we were friends with Moan– I mean, Myrtle, you won’t harm us?” she asked.

        The next voice was suspicious. “So you are saying who actually did, in fact, know her? The one who lives at that school, Holarts is its name, yes?”

        “Hogwarts. And yes, we know your sister, she lived in a bathroom that was out of order,” Hermione said patiently.

        “Exactly what she would do, just try to do everything I did, and try to have half the Muggle world know her!”

        “Not exactly, but that’s not the point, you see, because –”

        “Not the point!” Mary howled. “Not the – ”

        “I-I’m really very sorry, it’s just that we need you to… er, never harm us.”

        “What do you mean? I won’t harm you. I only do that to the stupid Muggles who summon me,” she said.

        “Thank goodness,” Hermione replied. 

        She went back outside, and they all started to bring in the suitcases to unpack.

 

 

 

      

      

 

          

 

                            

    

     

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