This story is composed of a few one-shots of every time Ginny first sees Harry for the year. In this story, I used excerpts from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Chapter 6 "The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters." Any quotes taken from that are bolded. Please review if you have the time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The credit belongs to the fantastical J.K. Rowling.

Every First Time

The Black-Haired Boy

"C'mon, boys we're going to be late!" warned Mrs. Weasley as she weaved her way through the hundreds of muggle commuters in Kings Cross Station.

"You say that every year," sighed Fred.

"Maybe I'll just keep you behind at home," she replied sternly not even taking time to stop and scold him.

"Yeah, Ginny could go in your place," laughed George. At this suggestion, Ginny's eyes lit up with hope.

"No," said Mrs. Weasley quickly. "And will you stop bothering your sister?"
"Well you already said we can't bother Percy," George began.

"Or Ron," Fred finished.

"So who are we supposed to bother?"

"You won't be bothering anyone in detention," Percy muttered under his breath.

"What's that Perce?" Fred pressed his ear as close to Percy's face as possible. "Put us in detention?"

"And we're in your own house," said George.

"Shame," Fred shook his head.

"None of the Gryffindors are going to be too happy about that," finished George.

"Enough!" Mrs. Weasley gave her final warning, her anger forcing her to tighten her grip on Ginny's hand.

As the family continued through the station a large group of muggles walked toward them, going in the opposite direction, not taking any consideration that they were trying to stay together. As each passed they looked strangely at each Weasley and their various trunks and owl. Mrs. Weasley sighed, "Always like this…packed with muggles, of course-" She slowed as the wall between platforms nine and ten became visible. "Now, what's the platform number?"

"Nine and three-quarters!" Ginny squealed happily, "Mom, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet." Ginny let go of her mother's hand and proceeded to cross her arms angrily. "All right, Percy, you go first."

Stopping her sulking a bit to watch her older brother, Ginny scooted closer to her mother so she could see Percy go through the barrier onto the platform. As he disappeared, Ginny felt a jolt of excitement. She couldn't wait until she got to rush through that barrier and finally be on platform nine and three-quarters. She had seen it many times before. She went with her mother almost every see to see her brothers off but, when she was a Hogwarts student it would be different. She wouldn't be stuck clinging to her mother's hand. She would get to ride the train.

"Fred, you next," said Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said George positioning his trunk. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Who cares who you are?" Ginny thought to herself, "Just go through the barrier so I can on the platform."

"Sorry, George, dear," Mrs. Weasley apologized.

"Only joking, I am Fred." Fred smirked and pushed his cart at full speed toward the barrier. For two seconds Ginny hoped he'd crash. It'd be funny if the joke was on him for once. Of course, if he crashed that would mean the barrier had been sealed, and that couldn't happen. George followed quickly behind, giving Ron a slap on the back of the head. He was gone before Mrs. Weasley could instruct him to go or Ron could tell on him. Ginny rolled her eyes. Why couldn't she go? She was clearly more mature than Fred and George and Ron had been scared out of sleep the night before by their scary tales of the school so he might not even want to go. She could go in his place. She knew what to do. She'd been watching it for years. Ever since she could remember, she had been coming to Kings Cross Station to watch her brothers go off to school without her. It was the same every year…

"Excuse me," a thin, dark-haired boy with glasses approached Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny.

He wasn't the same…

Ginny stared at him. He was different. For years, she had seen nothing, but freckles and read hair. This boy had messy black hair, glasses, what looked like some sort of scar hiding behind his fringe, and the greenest eyes Ginny had ever seen.

"Hello, dear," greeted Mrs. Weasley, "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." At Harry's look towards him, Ron managed a small smile.

"Yes," answered the boy. "The thing is-," he hesitated seeming a bit apprehensive, "the thing is, I don't know how to-"

"How to get onto the platform?" Mrs. Weasley finished his sentence for him. "Not to worry," she smiled warmly. Ginny always appreciated how kind her mother could be. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Err—okay," he answered, clearly confused. He stood there briefly for a moment, preparing himself. Ginny noticed his grip on his trolley tighten just as he began walking. With each step he picked up speed and, in a moment, he was gone. Ginny looked up to her mother, who was still smiling.

"Sweet boy," she said.

"Who was he, Mummy?" Ginny asked.

"Probably a muggle-born," she answered, "but I must say, he looked awfully familiar, sort of like…" she seemed to drift off for a moment… "No, it couldn't be. Oh!" she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. "Hurry, Ron!" Ron raced at the barrier and disappeared through. Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled. "Let's go see them off, dear."

When Ginny and Mrs. Weasley arrived, Ron was waiting for them on the platform.

"Where did Fred and George get off too?" she asked Ron. He shrugged. "Fred, George, are you there?" she called into the open door of the train. Ginny strained around her mother trying to get a look inside. She was curious as to what happened to the black-haired boy. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" Fred's voice caught Ginny's attention by making fun of Ron as Mrs. Weasley tried to rub dirt off his nose.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" asked Mrs. Weasley craning her neck around to see if she could spot him.

"He's coming now," groaned George.

Ginny watched Percy, somewhat embarrassed, as he almost strutted up to him. It was amazing how quickly he had changed into his school robes.

"Can't stay long, Mother…" Ginny stopped listening knowing that he was going to go on about his being a prefect. She continued to stare along the compartment windows in hopes of spotting the black-haired boy. For a brief second, she thought she spotted him. Was he looking at her and her family?

"Guess who we met on the train?" said George calling Ginny's attention. It must have been someone interesting or they wouldn't have bothered to mention it, unless it was someone who knew her dad, which was nice, but not very exciting.

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us at the station? Know who he is?" Ginny was fully invested in George's information now. Who was this boy? Did she know him? Did he know her family? "Please don't be related to the Malfoys," she thought to herself. She had listened to her dad long enough to know the Malfoys were trouble and her dad said that he would have a son going to school soon. Then she reminded herself of the pointed face and white blond hair of Mr. Malfoy and her father's saying that his son looked just like him. That was a relief.

"Who?" asked Mrs. Weasley, also interested.

"Harry Potter!"

Ginny wouldn't be surprised if her jaw dropped to the floor. Harry Potter, the Harry Potter was on the Hogwarts Express.

"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, eh please…" she begged.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really Fred? How do you know?"

As Fred explained how he knew the boy was Harry Potter, Ginny thought about what her mother said. She already got to see him. She was feet away from him—feet away from Harry Potter, the most famous wizard in the wizarding world. She knew he was about her age, but never thought she'd ever meet him. She never thought he'd be so polite and so…muggle-like. Of course, no one had heard much about Harry Potter's whereabouts since the day he stopped You-Know-Who. Maybe he didn't know much about the wizarding world either.

The train whistle sounded. Ron, Fred, and George hurried onto the train. Once inside, they leaned out the window so Mrs. Weasley could kiss them goodbye. Ginny started crying. She hated crying, especially in front of people, but she couldn't help it. As much as her brothers annoyed her, she hated saying good-bye to them. She especially hated that she would be stuck at the Burrow all by herself while her brothers were all of having fun at Hogwarts.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls," Fred tried to console her.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat," added George. Ginny laughed, while Mrs. Weasley scolded him.

The train began to pull away. As it slowly picked up pace, Ginny chased it, half laughing, half crying until she couldn't keep up with it. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and returned to her mother. Mrs. Weasley placed a comforting arm around Ginny's shoulder. "They'll be back soon…and you'll be off to school even sooner than you think."

"I know," Ginny nodded as they exited back through the barrier.

"Well, at least we will have an interesting story to tell your father," said Mrs. Weasley as they walked toward their exit. "We got to meet Harry Potter." Immediately Ginny's thoughts returned to Harry Potter. She got to meet Harry Potter. Even though she knew he was young, she never pictured him going to school. Whenever she thought of Harry Potter, even though she knew he was just a baby when he defeated the You-Know-Who she thought of someone much bigger, broader, confident, not thin and messy -haired with glasses. Harry Potter was nothing like she imagined he'd be. He was much better.