Who: John Jones and Ginny Weasley Where: Her studios What: Sharing secrets and first meetings of friends When: 02/18-ish Warnings/Rating: PG Status Complete!
Ginny combed her fingers through her red mane as she searched the familiar faces for the unfamiliar. Sure she had talked to John so many times on the Net but this was in person and it was different she decided. Though he was a cop and that made him instantly trustworthy in her book but she knew not to be stupid. It was one reason they were meeting in a public place where she was comfortable. You could never be too careful she supposed.
“Hey!” She said happily as she stopped the person that had to be her Net friend and bounced over to him. “John right?” There was no harm in being sure as she didn’t want to start rambling to a perfect stranger. John wasn’t a complete stranger since she had talked to him before.
John smiled as he moved toward the redhead actress. She was smiling, and he figured that was a good sign. He raised a hand toward her, waving as he moved, striding confidently. Heck, he hadn‘t talked to her since he had gotten his new job, and he was sure her life was equally changed.
He stuck out his hand toward her, and nodded. “I’m John Jones. Ginny, right?” He grinned at her, showing his eagerness to meet this friend from the Valarnet. She seemed bouncy and hopefully she was having a good day!
“Yep!” She said happily as she confidently shook his hand. “I’m glad you found it alright! It can be pretty crazy around here when they’re breaking down sets and setting up new ones. It is like a maze sometimes,” she explained as she shook her head and chatted amiably. It was just how she was.
“So...” She shot him an inquisitive look, “Whatcha been up to?”
He smiled once they had shook hands and nodded. “I’m pretty good at making my way through chaos. His past and present jobs both led to him having to make his way through chaotic situations, as the Smeagol incident had proven. He glanced around, then smiled.
“New job, got engaged, working hard, got mauled, and am enjoying life, mostly.” He rattled it off, grinning. “You?”
Ginny cocked an eyebrow at his answer. “Wait start over, go slow...” It was a lot to take in. “You’ve been super busy there John... I mean wow.” She looked at him in surprise and amazement. “Who’s the lucky lady, what’s the new job and what the hell mauled you?”
John smirked at her. “Well, Aponi Jackson is the lady, and I am the lucky one. We kept our relationship secret, but I’ve been dating her for months now.”
He chuckled at the second question. “The new job is as a caseworker and investigator for Red Planet International.” RPI was a quiet but powerful company who worked philanthropically behind the scenes to get money where it was needed. Funded by secretive rich people and organizations who did not want credit given, RPI worked to help people who needed help, especially those who were extraordinary in some way.
“They are an awesome organization and I am proud to work for them. Sadly, it was while working for them that I got my worst injury in a year. I was trying to help one person who we had taken on as a case and...” he faltered and then glanced around. “I’ll tell you his name, but only because you are my friend. I trust you not to tell anyone else. His name is Smeagol, and I think he’s a Dreamer, like so many of us on the Valarnet.” He nodded.
“And he is utterly insane.” His voice was quiet and his look a little haunted.
“Wow, sounds like you’ve been busy!” Ginny noted with a smile. She was happy for him because while she hadn’t known him directly he had always been kind and offered her his assistance. It was a lot more than most could claim and it was certainly appreciated. John was one of those people that deserved all the happiness and opportunities life could offer him.
Ginny nodded, “I won’t tell anyone,” she assured him and she wouldn’t. Secrets were something that she could keep despite being a person that likes to chat. “You think the dreams are responsible or partly responsible?” It wasn’t out of the range of possibilities Ginny was sure. “Like crazy crazy or seems crazy insane?”
John nodded and smiled a little. Then he sighed. “I think so. I think they affect people a lot more than they know.” He paused, then glanced sidelong at her. “Do you have... dreams that seem like memories?”
And he nodded at her question. “Truly insane.”
Ginny shuddered at the thought of what truly insane meant. Then again like most people she thought of the numerous tv shows and movies that probably glorified it to the point of ruining it. It was probably a terrible and tragic way to pass a life time. It was something she wouldn’t wish on her worse enemy.
“Yes,” she admitted because there was no denying that she did. “And I think you’re right. I’ve seen it before. My brother found the girl he is within his dreams and I think that is a lot of the reason he is with her here.” Maybe Ginny only disliked Fleur because she did in her dreams. Maybe it prevented her from giving the girl a chance. It didn’t matter anyhow as her brother had gone back to Egypt ending the relationship because he was too noble to ask a girl to wait. “The dreams are a bit of a mystery aren’t they?”
“The dreams are linked to us somehow and they... can change us.” He grinned at her, suddenly. “Can you keep an even dearer secret, Ginny? There is something of joy in these dreams to.”
John nodded, wondering if showing her his telepathy was wise, but somehow he felt a bond to Ginny, and he trusted her. She felt almost like a sister, and he thought that this sort of feeling was pretty nice to have.
“Yes!” Ginny said eagerly. As much as she loved to talk she knew how to keep a secret. With six brothers she knew a thing about secrets and keeping them. “I am good at keeping secrets.” Had she not already been keeping a secret of her own? Her magic and the fact that she could do it here in the real world. Well as much as she had learned in her dream world.
He looked at her and his telepathy stretched out to her. ”I can talk to you in your mind.A gift from the dreams.” Along with the words came a sense of warmth, friendship, and caring, and a duality, a two-sided sense of John, both a middle-aged man, and an age old alien.
Ginny’s eyebrows arched in first shock and oddness but soon relaxed into something a little more acceptable. It really wasn’t odder than some of the other things she had witnessed while they were there. “That’s you really? That’s kinda cool.”
“It’s kinda like what I can do in my dream just less cool.”
He nodded. Then laughed at her second words. “Less cool, huh?” He smiled as he watched her. She was a nice person and he was glad to have this chance to meet her. “So tell me about your cool thing.” He was curious and figured why not?
Ginny glanced around to make sure no one else was listening to their conversation but they were too busy rushing by, probably late to some seemingly important lunch date or something. It was fine with her because she didn’t want her co-workers knowing her secrets. “Magic! Like real magic. I can do some here,” she knew better than to think John would think her crazy. Look at what he could do. “Want to see?”
John grinned at her, then nodded. “Sure! Do you want to step out of view or...? He didn’t want her exposing herself for him, so to speak, and getting caught. That would suck, a lot.
"Have you ever seen the inside of a real tv studio?" Ginny asked seemingly innocently and randomly. There was one thing that was great about it, it offered privacy. Which was something they were in need of.
John chuckled. “Not really, no. Got one handy nearby?” His grin was mischievous as he bowed to her. It was nice to know she was as bouncy in real life as she was on the net. “If so, lead on. I have another trick or two to show you, myself.”
“Great lets go!” Ginny declared as she bounced off to her left and made a beeline for a nearby building. It was empty as it wasn’t being used at the moment. She hadn’t actually meant to show him anything but her magic but it was a good cover. “Promise you won’t laugh or think I’m mental?” I mean she was going to be waving around a magic wand.
John followed her, and grinned as he kept up with her, shaking his head at her enthusiasm. “I wont, I promise.” he chuckled. “I’m surely mental myself, through, so it might not be good testimony.”
He couldn’t wait to see this, and show her his flight and invisibility.
“Alright alright,” Ginny said glancing around once they were safely inside the building. They had to be sure no one else was around. This was mental despite the fact neither were saying it. Then again so was all of the OC so what difference did it make.
Without hesitation Ginny pulled her wand, the wand that had shown up one night after dreaming, from her purse and held it in front of her. While she hadn’t grown up with magic she had been able to learn a few spells on her own. With a whispered incantation and a flick of the wand she started levitating nearby objects. There was much more she could do but it was better to start of slow and easy.
John watched, curious, and grinned at her. He loved to watch people and this was amazing. Ginny was an amazing person and this was just a new thing to make her even more so. When she levitated a nearby object, he smirked. “Now that’s amazing.” As he spoke, he floated up a little, curious to see her reaction as he peered at the objects.
“Amazing, indeed.”
The objects that she has been levitating dropped to the floor with a clunk as her concentration was broken. He was floating and she hadn't done it.
"You can do that?" She had always wondered what it was like to be able to fly. She had some idea from dreams but that was different.
“Yes. Comes from my dream self.” He nodded, then demonstrated. He swooped around her and down again, landing before her. He felt invigorated to have someone other than his fiance to tell. Of course, he also was going to tell Sam, but that was still in the future. This was now.
He smiled as he nodded to the objects. “That was pretty darned awesome. How much can you more and lift?”
“Well the dreams aren’t all bad,” Ginny said with a shrug though she was very aware of the double-sided nature of them. She hadn’t experienced it but she had seen what it had done to the lives of others, her brother’s especially. “I still think you win this one no matter what kind of spell I show you. Want to see something else?”
With a flick of her wand and a muttered incantation she reduced a nearby chair to nothing but a pile of dust. In her dreams the Reduction Charm had been one she was most known for, along with a good Bat-Boogey Hex, but that was another story. “Seems I had a good hand with dueling.” Not that she planned on dueling anyone but it felt good to be able to share it, share it with someone that wouldn’t judge or tell others.
He whistled and swallowed, then nodded. “Wow!” He watched her work the magic, and he smirked. “Looks like. Remind me not to make you angry!” It was jokingly said with a smile. And he nodded. “One more gift from the dreams. This might be startling.” And he rippled and faded away as he used his invisibility yo fade from view and then move toward her, intending to tap her shoulder from behind and reappear.
Ginny jumped and turned but couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright alright, you win. Again.” It was fun and relieving to actually share this all with someone. “I guess dreams aren’t all that bad though if we are ever in trouble or something I want you on my team.”
He smiled softly. “No. We win. Friends don’t need to compete. I think we both have awesome things from our dreams. Sometimes, my dreams are pretty bad, but... yeah. I’ve gotten a lot out of them too.”
He gently clapped her shoulder. “If you are ever in trouble, I’ll be there.”
“I think it’s a catch-22.” Her dreams weren’t all flying and quidditch but it wasn’t all bad either. “We have some serious Dark wizards in my dreams and they go around killing people and such. Hopefully the good guys win out.”
Ginny looked at him and gave him a smile, “Thanks John.”
"I think most people think the same. The dreams are a mixture of good and bad. " He nodded to her. "Anytime. You're a good person. "
“I try but you’re pretty cool too.” Ginny said with a smile. He really was one of the nicest people that she knew and had met.