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"Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd"
~William Congreve
Chapter One
Ginny's POV
"Dearest Ginny,
I pine, I perish for you. My sweet Ginny, you are the shooting star through my bleak, lonesome existence. Ever since my eyes had the pleasure of meeting your warm enchanting orbs I cannot eat, I cannot sleep, and I cannot imagine a life where you are not by my side. Please take me away to that time where you and I were as one.
Forever yours,
Jackson Smith"
I sighed contentedly and refolded the letter into its original envelope. The envelope was made of thick parchment and adorned with a thick, vile cologne that poor Jackson had probably found appealing or, at the very most, arousing. I shuddered at the thoughts that could have been swimming through Jackson's mind when he wrote this. If only…I began to muse but became distracted by the shifting lights in my room.
"Fred! George!" I called on instinct and threw the nearest thing to me, a lamp, at my bedroom door. Right before the expected crash was to come the lamp quivered in mid-air and floated serenely back to the ground. "Hello?" I lifted myself of my bed and dropped the offending letter on the nightstand.
"Is that anyway to greet me?" A soft voice came from the other side of my door. I laughed and flung the door open immediately. "Well, hello, Ginny! The greeting service around here just keeps getting better and better!" Isabella Sharp stood at my door with her hands on her hips and a quirk in her eyebrow. Her smirk was infectious and I wrapped her in my arms and laughed. "See? Better and better! Now get off of me and show me this 'offensive, vile, atrocious love letter' poor Jackson has bestowed on you," Isabella quoted and sauntered into my room in deep search for the letter. I watch her start in all my usual hide-away places to be disappointed that it was in plain sight. "Really, Gin? Make it harder next time; I just love rifling through all your delicates," Isabella leered and did a crude hand gesture accompanied with her tongue.
"Do we need to rinse out that mouth again, Iz? I thought the bleach would have cleaned you up enough for the year," I laughed and sat next to her on my bed. She just shrugged and became instantly engrossed in the letter, every so often raising her eyebrows and stifling a laugh. When she was done she handed me the letter and just stared out the window. To say the least this was not the reaction I was expecting. "Yohoo? Anyone home?" I wave the letter in front of Isabella's face and her face cracks a small smile.
"They get easier every year don't they, Ginny?" Isabella asks quietly.
"What do you mean 'easier'?"
Isabella jumps off the bed and flings her arms dramatically in the air, her black braids fling from side to side as she waves them frenetically. "How long did you have this one…Jackson? Only a week, right? At least that's when you bothered to mention him to me…I may not be a witch, Ginny, but, I am your best friend!" Isabella fumes the last bit and her eyes widen slightly.
I never said I led a normal life. Sure, I go to school. I argue with my parents. I even fight with my siblings for control of the bathroom most mornings. But there is aside of me not everyone gets to see. The side that goes away for a year to live in a magical castle and learn spells that can do anything from open a tightly screwed on bottle of dill pickles to killing a person in a matter of seconds. The side of me that knows a werewolf and a half-blood giant. The side of me that was possessed and carried down to a dangerous chamber not because of who I am but of who my brother knows. Isabella Sparks has never seen that side; she has only heard the stories.
Never have I not known who I am and what I was to become. I have always heard of the destination but have never known the path; Isabelle unlike me has never even seen the destination. I have known Isabella ever since her family moved to be closer to another wizarding family when she was at the tender age of two. Her older brother, Michael, had shown signs of magic by the time had moved in, he blew up their car, the family cat barely escaped. The Sparks came from a long line of pure blood wizards not unlike my own and could not wait for Isabella to show the outward signs of what they believed to be a great witch. Age seven came and went. The age when even Muggle born children start to show magical signs. Age nine came and went and the Sparks took Isabella to be tested at St. Mungo's.
Squib.
They all muttered it under their breaths like a dirty word. Isabella wasn't their daughter anymore. She was just the family squib. My family attempted to reach out to them in their time of need but they pulled quickly away. Eventually moving away to a different town and eventually out of our lives. Isabella only came to visit during summer breaks now and even that was a hassle for her. She was different and her parents openly resented it, as if she could help it. They didn't even come with her to visit, they gave her some Floo powder and sent her to visit her aunt for the break.
"I'm sorry, Iz! You know I can't help it. I just get so caught up and…" Isabella held up her hand to silence me and gave me one her award winning smiles. "You are my best friend…you loser!" I added jokingly.
"Man, Hogwarts is making you soft, Gin! I know I'm your bestest friend ever, now tell me something I don't know!" Isabella did a twirl and plopped down at my feet for her version of 'story time.'
"For one, I don't know where you got the –est for best and for two, I had Jackson for a week. I would have sent the owl immediately but Errol is sick…again. No surprise," I patted her childlike head and she pretended to bit it off. Aw, how sweet.
"For three, you need this thing called the Internet. It may be how we Muggles get around but it is way faster than that old owl of yours. For…four, those are the lamest details I have ever heard in my entire existence! Spill it woman or I'll tell Mr. Ronald about that diary of yours!"
My hand involuntarily flinched towards my pocket diary. Ever since the Chamber Incident I bought Muggle diaries and used a shrinking spell on them for easy storage. You can only trick a girl into a snake infested deadly chamber once, well, you should only be able to do it once. I'm not so stupid to even risk it so I make the trip to the town market to stock up on harmless diaries before the school year begins. This diary in particular is how I met the no-longer-eating-sleeping Jackson.
I had woken up especially early that morning a week ago to avoid any encounter with my siblings. There are just way too many of us for such a small home. I'm lucky that the company in here is so good or I would have gone insane a long time ago. I used the bathroom at my own pace and even had time to apply a light amount of makeup even though my mother claims I am a natural beauty and am actually deterring away from it when I apply 'harsh, toxic, rugged,' materials to my skin. Suffice to say, I ignore her and get a sudden thrill while applying it. Now, that right there may be a little strange but I've been through worse. So with my face toxic and my outfit the most Muggle-y one I own I set out into town for my yearly supply of diaries. As I replay this event I am starting to think I may be suffering from a slight case of Obsessive Compulsion Disorder I should look into at a later date. The town is cute and reminds me a lot of a Muggle version of Hogsmeade in all honesty. I usually don't spend too much time there just in case my mother wonders where I am but, today I was feeling more rebellious than usual and decide to spend a much longer time strolling through the dainty gift shops.
Wouldn't it be nice to say that our eyes met through the shelves and I knew at once it was meant to be? Sparkles and rainbows fell from the sky and unicorns were born at the sound of our first words? The words that would have sparked a lifetime of perfectly perfect bliss? Well, it sort of happened like that…
I had chosen my last shop to explore to be the candy shop. I knew that Muggle candy could not compare to what we had at home or what my brothers could create but the unknown just made it so much more desirable. The store was simple wood with a red sign over the entry way that simply said 'Smith's Sweet.' The bell rang when I went inside and the cashier smiled at me. I smiled back noncommittally and headed to the back of the store. A tall guy with brown hair was standing at the back of the store staring intently at a display of lollipops.
"What do you like to suck on?" The boy looked up and smiled at me. His brown eyes twinkled with his badly placed innuendo. I raised my eyebrows and focused in on the display. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry, grape, orange…but no soap? Troll guts? Newts eye? What a disgrace! "Are you alright?" The boy asked me, his speech altered because of the lollipop that had taken residence in his mouth.
"Fine, the candy is just so predictable…"I murmur and slide away from the display. I feel his presence as I move down the aisle.
"So what's your vice if you don't like to suck?"
I turned my gaze on him and surveyed him harshly. Blonde hair, brown eyes; nothing out of the ordinary for the Muggles in this town. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
The boy raised his shoulders in a shrug and handed me a pack of bubble gum. "No, but I wouldn't have a problem kissing yours."
I wrap my hand around the gum and smile, "How'd you know I like to blow?"
"Lucky guess."
And from that day on we were like peanut butter and honey….well, until the seventh day when I got rid of him.
I guess sparkles and rainbows dropping from the sky were never going to happen with a meeting like that one.
"That's it? That's it!" Isabella shrieked with laughter and dissolved into my bed. "You…meet…the …weirdest boys! Whatever happened to the Ginerva Weasley I used to know? The man eater! The one who could get anyone! Anyone?"
I looked out my bedroom window and watched my older brother Ron go out and kick a garden gnome in the gut. Always the charmer he is. He saw me watching him from the and waved. He mouthed 'Harry,' and waved his notebook. He must be planning on writing to Harry again.
"I haven't gotten everyone…" I whispered and turned to Isabella.
"Who has resisted to the ways of Ginny? He must be gay," Isabella decided and looked out the window too, "If you're talking about Ron, that's incest. Please, please tell me you are not talking about incest? I know you have like twelve brothers but the ocean has so many more fish than them! Please, Ginny, do not resort to your brothers!" Isabella pleaded and jumped off the bed and wrapped her arms around me tightly. "At least turn to women! Anything is better than them!" She buried her face in my neck and I pushed her off. She staggered backwards and smiled. "Ready to be my lover?" Isabella wiggled her eyes suggestively and launched herself at me. Before I knew it we were out the window and floating in mid-air directly over poor Ron's head.
"Oi!" Ron shouted and raised his head to get a good look at us. "Nice skirt, Isabella! I could get used to this type of greeting!" He laughed and ran inside the house. I clung to Isabella and she clung to me. The ground was too far away to just drop to without getting injured and I have no idea how we have managed to stay up this long. Maybe Dad enchanted…the air? Not likely but there is no other explanation.
"Ginny! Isabella! Get down here this instant!" My mother ran from the house with Ron in tow. He smiled triumphantly and took a good long look at us. The little perve was enjoying Isabella's Peep Show a little too much.
"Mum, if I knew how I would have done it by now! Did Dad by any chance place an enchantment on the air?" I screamed down to her exasperatedly. Because I purposely am floating about an imminent death for fun, 'cause I'm just that dumb, thanks for the encouragement Mum.
"You know that's impossible! Now get down here this instant! Isabella, did you do anything?"
Really, this interrogation is so pointless. "Mum! She's a squib! How in the bloody hell do you think she controls this?" I felt Isabella groan and clutch me tighter, this time with pain in the purpose. "Sorry," I mumbled.
"Just try it, Isabella. Will yourself down to the ground!" Ron encouraged, now kicking another gnome away from him. If he bathed more he wouldn't be having this problem…
A moment ago I was safely suspended in the air and the next I was plummeting to my death.
Sometimes magic really sucks.
That night Isabella and I were sitting in front of the fireplace looking over my last diary. I had kept an excruciatingly detailed recap of every boy I had ever dated over the year and had come up with a rousing total of twelve boys. Most of them were Muggles but they were still all male so I decided to look past their shortenings. I brought some of the pictures to life and Isabella laughed over the memories. I watched her smile and wished I didn't have to let her go in a week. It really wasn't fair. She came from a magical family and knew everything I knew but her family was still against having- as Isabella liked to put it- the family shame on display at such a prestigious institution. We both knew it was total bullshit.
"Do you like school?" I asked Isabella and she tore her eyes away from Pierre, the French tourist, and nodded. "Is it fun?"
"Well, it's no magical castle but it gets the job done. Besides, it's nice to pretend I'm normal every now and then. Don't you like Hogwarts?" Isabella handed me my diary.
"Yes, I do. But I don't ever feel abnormal. Why do you?"
"You might not have noticed but I'm not exactly the most magical girl in the wizarding world, Ginny. At school no one knows and no one cares that I can't perform lumos…." Isabella's voice went quiet when the table lamp went on unexpectedly. "Did you do that?" she asked me curiously. She gathered herself off the ground and went to inspect the lamp. She touched it softly like it would bite her or burst into flames.
"No, I don't do magic outside of school," I whisper and mover over to her, "You know that."
A faraway look plastered on her face, she nodded and said, "I know but you could be lying. You could really suck at magic or you don't want to make me feel bad. I like the latter…"
"I'm sure you do. Now where were we?" I grab her arm and pull her back to the pile of diaries. My friend shakes her head softly and the lucid look in her eyes appears. I watch as the girl picks up a diary at random and opens it. Not the red one, my subconscious screams.
A picture of the famous Harry Potter falls out of the book and Isabella inspects it curiously. It is a faraway shot of the two of us that Mum had taken at Diagon Alley years ago. He had his arm slung over mine and I was leaning in. To any passerby we would have looked like more than friends. But I knew different. He was telling me how rancid Ron smelled most mornings and had simply pulled me closer so my nosy brother couldn't hear easily. A secret passed between friends. Nothing more and nothing less. Even all those years ago Harry looked like a god. Beautiful inside and out; also known as too good for little Ginny Weasley- the little sister of his best friend. My heart ached when Isabella picked up and flipped it over.
"No animation? Just a plain Muggle picture? Why?" I snatched the picture out of her hand and shoved it back into the diary. "Woah, Gin! Sorry, who's that? It looked like Potter," I wondered when she got so observant and wished we were nine again and both so naïve and gullible.
"Yeah, it was."
"Why so angry, chica? I thought these diaries were of your past kills?" Iz joked nonchalantly and I glared at her. Intuition struck her. "He's the one who rejected you?" She shrieked in amazement and flung her arms up, again. Always such a little drama queen. "That's it! That's it, Ginny! He's the one!"
Confusion must have been plastered across from my face because Isabelle grabbed my notebook and began to scribble furiously on it. When she was pleased with her masterpiece she shoved the book at me.
The Stages of Seduction:
Target: Harry Potter
By Ms. Ginny Weasley
"What the hell is this?" I asked and shoved the book back at her like it was on fire. "I'm not a whore, Iz. He has sufficiently rejected me on multiple occasions! Going after him again would be utterly pointless!"
"When did he reject you? Years ago! You have changed, Ginny! You aren't that sweet, innocent little girl anymore! In case you haven't looked in a mirror recently, which I highly doubt…you are hot! Come on, let's do it!" Isabella exclaimed happily and shoved the book back at me.
"Let's? You mean me! Alone! Me, seduce Harry Potter? Pah! How will you help me?" I snap and stare at the words she has inscribed in my new diary: branded forever more like.
Isabella smiles pretentiously and rummages in her pocked and pulls out a grubby envelope. "Read it and weep, Gin."
I snatch it and notice the Hogwarts seal immediately.
Dear Isabella Sparks,
We have reviewed you case for the W.W.S. Foreign Exchange Program and would be more than happy to have you attend our school for the following term. Please tend to the final documents of your exchange and prepare to be immersed in the magical, wizarding world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
-Albus Dumbledore
My face crinkled in confusion as I handed the letter back to my oldest friend. "W.W.S.?" was all I could muster in the situation.
"Wizard. Witch. Squib. Foreign Exchange Program. Totally random but I did some research on it and decided it was time to see what my other half could offer me even if it didn't want to fully emerge. Pretty sick, right? Now I get to go to school with you! And…." She raised her eyebrows appreciatively, " help you seduce the famous Harry Potter."
I couldn't decided how to respond. My best friend was coming to spend the entire year with me and my favorite place in the world. I should be happy, right? But, the same friend wants to help me seduce the man who had my heart in his hand and crushed it without a second thought. I should be worried, right? But, when Isabella gets a thought in her head she is impossible to sway. So what do I do because I am a total idiot?
I hold out my hand and Isabella automatically braces me with her own hand, "I guess we have mouse to trap."
Her eyes sparkle with joy and she nods solemnly, "We better start on that cloak made out of cheese."
And without a look back I knew that life would never be the same.
A/N: Collab with Scratched. Review so she knows to update.