Chapter 1

Ginny sat at the desk in her room, staring out the window. Three of her six older brothers played Quidditch on the lawn. Percy was in his room studying, as usual. She opened her window and let Fred, George, and Ron's voices drift into her room. Fred was chasing after their persnickety snitch, and she just couldn't resist snapping her fingers. The snitch appeared in her hand. She'd been able to do that her entire life. The Weasleys didn't know why, but Ginny could make things appear and disappear by snapping her fingers.

She waved her hand with the snitch out the window. "150 points to Ginny!" she called, laughing.

"Come on!" Fred howled. Ginny laughed and let go of the snitch. She leaned out the window and breathed in deeply. The air smelled of late summer, all flowers and sunshine, but with a touch of fall.

Ginny cupped her chin in her hand, watching Fred, George, and Ron fly around their make-shift Quidditch Pitch. The sun slowly set beyond the horizon, and then in an instant, it was gone. It was as if someone had blown out a candle.

The next morning, Ginny woke up to a quiet house. This was very odd in the Burrow. She went to get dressed, but noticed that her sweater was missing. She ran downstairs in her bathrobe to look for it. She wasn't two steps inside the kitchen when She noticed who was sitting at the kitchen table. Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. He looked up and saw her. "Hello," he said. Ginny felt her face grow hot, and ran out of the room. Harry Potter had spoken to her!

She saw Errol fly towards the kitchen window. Soon after, she heard a thump. She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe our school lists have finally arrived," she thought hopefully. She had been watching for school lists every day that month. She couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts.

Two hours later (after much grumbling from the boys and yelling from Mrs. Weasley), all eight of them were ready to go. Mrs. Weasley took the floo powder from its holder on the wall. Ginny waited impatiently for her turn. She loved travelling by floo powder, excepting the way you look when you get to where you are going. "Poor Harry," she thought. "Who knows where he ended up! Where do you go if you say 'diagonally'?" When it was finally her turn, she took a handful of floo powder. "Diagon Alley!" she shouted. The green flames burst around her. She closed her eyes and let out a delighted scream.

Ginny came out in The Leaky Cauldron. Everyone but Harry and Mrs. Weasley were there. "Harry never came?" she asked. Fred and George shook their heads. Soon Mrs. Weasley came out of the Leaky Cauldron Fireplace. She promptly began to dust everyone off (with many complaints from the older boys), and then took a head count.

"No Harry?" she asked, a worried, motherly expression on her face.

They all shook their heads glumly.

"Maybe he's only gone one grate too far," Ron put in hopefully.

"Well, all we can do is hope," Mr. Weasley said. "Now, I suggest we go on with our shopping."

They walked into the courtyard. Ginny inhaled deeply. It smelled so sour in there. Mr. Weasley took out his wand. He tapped the correct bricks, and they transformed into an archway. The Weasleys walked through.

"Look!" Mrs. Weasley cried, pointing at a poster that showed a blond man smiling and winking. "Gildaroy Lockhart is signing books today in Flourish and Blotts! How lucky we are that we came today!"

Ginny saw Fred and George roll their eyes at each other behind their mother's back. She suppressed a giggle. They walked into Flourish and Blotts. A large crowd was gathered inside. Ginny imagined the sides of the small building bulging into the shops next door and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," she said, turning away in the proudest manner possible for a little sister. She followed her mother to the front of the store, where the pushed and shoved to get in front. A couple was standing there, looking around as if lost. Mr. Weasley stepped forward.

"You must be Muggles," he said, with an insanely happy look on his face.

"Yes," the woman said. "I'm Mrs. Granger, and this is my husband. Our daughter Hermione went to get something in another shop, and we can't seem to find her."

"Oh, you're the Grangers?" Mrs. Weasley elbowed past Mr. Weasley to shake their hands. "I'm Mrs. Weasley. This is my son Ron, surely Hermione's told you about him."

"Oh yes," Mr. Granger said. "You and a, um, Harry Potter are her friends?"

"Not a Harry Potter," Fred said.

"The Harry Potter," George finished.

"And, they are?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Oh, they are my older sons, Fred and George," Mrs. Weasley told her. "This one's Fred, no, George, um... Well, one is Fred and one is George."

"Hi," Fred and George said together.

"Percy is.." Mrs. Weasley faltered. "Well, he's somewhere. And this is Ginny," she said, gesturing for Ginny to come forward. "She's the youngest and only girl."

"Pleased to meet you," Ginny said politely, shaking their hands.

"Now," Mr. Weasley said, determined to get his questions answered. "What-" He was cut off, however, by Hermione walking in with Harry.

"There you are Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, dusting him off. "We hoped that you'd only gone one grate too far."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," and announcer said. "Mr. Gildaroy Lockhart!"

Everyone clapped. "Mum fancies him," Ron whispered to Harry, but Mrs. Weasley heard him and smacked his arm.

Later, as they were leaving the bookshop, Draco Malfoy stepped in front of them, blocking the entrance.

"I bet you loved that, didn't you Potter," he said, referring to Harry's picture with Lockhart. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone," Ginny said.

"Look Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend," Malfoy sneered. Ginny felt her face grow hot. She knew it must be as red as her hair.

"Now, now, Draco," a drawling voice said. "Play nice."

A man who was obviously Mr. Malfoy walked forward. He had the same pale, white blond hair as Draco, and the same sneering expression. "Mr. Potter," he said, holding out his right hand. "Lucius Malfoy."

Harry took his hand to shake. Mr. Malfoy pulled him close, pushing aside his hair to see his scar. "Forgive me," he said. "Your scar is legendary, as is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents," Harry said, pulling back.

"I see you are not afraid to say the Dark Lord's name," Mr. Malfoy said with disdain.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of a thing itself," Hermione put in, practically glaring at Mr. Malfoy.

"And you must be Miss Granger," Mr. Malfoy said. "Draco's told me all about you. And your parents."

Hermione glanced back to where Mr. Weasley was chatting with her parents.

"Now, let me see," Mr. Malfoy said, appraising the Weasley children with a sneer. "Red hair, vacant expressions, tatty, second hand books." He took the book from Ginny's cauldron. "You must be Weasleys."

Ginny was very tempted to snap her fingers and make something messy appear on Mr. Malfoy's immaculate hair, but refrained from doing so when Mr. Weasley walked over.

"Weasley," Mr. Malfoy said.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley said, with as much disdain as could be put into one word.

"You must be very busy, what with all these raids. I do hope they're paying you over time. Then again, probably not. I see you've made some new friends. Muggles, aren't they. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizards, if they aren't even paying you well for it."

"We have a much different idea about what disgraces the name of wizards, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley answered.

"Hmm," Mr. Malfoy said, before placing the book back in Ginny's cauldron and leaving, Draco at his heels.

Ginny's cauldron seemed heavier now, somehow. But, she decided, it was probably just her imagination.

Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you thought.

If you liked it, I will continue.

However, if you think it was the most boring thing you ever read, etc., I will stop.

KT Lee :)