*Disclaimer* I do NOT own Harry Potter... obviously. (Doesn't know why she even has to put this.) Ok... smile! =D

Chapter 1
Be our Guest

She sat silently in the candlelit room behind a small oak desk. Papers littered the top and surrounded the desk, some crumpled up severely. A small yawn escaped her mouth as she tapped her quill on the solid wood. The candle that lit the small area had melted into nothing but a puddle of wax now, causing her to look outside at the moon. It was barely visible behind a layer of clouds, hanging with a thin mist of rain. The other girls in her room were probably fast asleep now, lost in their dreams of grandeur. But not her, she didn't have time to dream anymore, all it brought was pain, fear agony. She silently shook her head and went back to writing, as the small flame flickered away.

".... Ginny.... Ginny...." Someone was shaking her. "Ginny!!" Ginny's head quickly shot out from her arms as she looked around the room.

"Ginny! Did you fall asleep here, again?" It was Hermione.

"I... uh... I didn't mean to."

Hermione took a deep breath in and folded her arms, only to take her right arm and sway it across the area. "Look at all this wasted parchment! What were you doing anyway?" She went to pick one up, but Ginny grabbed her hand.

"No! Don't!"

Hermione eyed her suspiciously. "And why not?"

"Because... because..." Ginny furrowed her brow, "They're private!" With that she gathered all the shreds and threw them into her bag, running out of the room. The painting slowly shut behind her as she briskly walked through the cooridor, not watching where she was going. As she rounded the corner, still stuffing the parchment deeper into her bag, she hit something and stumbled backwards.

"Er... sorry." Ginny said as she tried to gain her composure.

"Arg, Ginny! Watch where you're going next time!"

Ginny looked up to see her older brother Ron on his knees trying to pick up small bouncing black balls. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-" With that she stopped, as she realized who was standing next to him. Harry Potter. Her face felt hot, meaning she must be blushing yet again at the site of him. She quickly turned her eyes down.

"Hey, it's ok-" Harry started.

"No it's not! You know how many times she's done that to me?" Ron yelled, his face getting red as well, but from anger.

Harry gave a small smile towards Ginny, which made her face hotter then before and slowly moved his head upwards, telling her she could go. Ginny was thankful that she could leave Ron, especially in his angry mood. They hadn't been getting along too well lately. She continued on her way towards class, and before she knew it, school for the day was over, and she was back inside the Gryffindor common room, bustling with people, which was very unusual. She found Hermione and looked over at the ring of students.

"What's going on?"

Hermione's face showed no emotion. "Fred and George. Need I say more?"

Ginny sighed and walked over, slowly making her way through the crowd. There, on the ground was Neville Longbottom, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. "Eww! What happened?"

Lee Jordon was stifling a laugh. "The old git ate one of Fred's new concoctions. It inflates someone's eyeballs!" With that he broke into laughter, hardly able to speak. "We.... told...... *laugh* Longbottom.... not to..... eat... it...."

"You three are such idiots! Did you make an antidote for this?"

Fred walked up, "We're working on that now..."

Ginny slapped her brother's arm and rolled her eyes. "Why do you always have to pick on Neville? He didn't do anything to you!"

George walked around and pushed Ginny out of the way. "I think I've got it Fred!" He handed it to Neville. "Ok, just take ONE drop of this... incase it's not right..."

Neville did as he was told, relunctant as he was, and swallowed a drop of the thick purple liquid. His eyes did deflate, but as he started to get up, the air went down to his feet, making them three times the size they were. Neville rocked back and forth, slightly screaming. Fred, George and Lee laughed while George wrote something down before heading back to his "science lab" (Which was really just a table with a whole bunch of different concoctions laying out in the corner). Ginny rolled her eyes again and walked back to Hermione.

"Do you think he'll be ok?"

Hermione snorted a laugh. "He always has been." She looked over at Ginny, "Let's head down to dinner... all this noise is giving me a headache."

They reached the dining hall and sat down across from eachother on the benches. It was pretty empty, minus a few students spotted here and there. Ginny rested her head on her hand and let out a small sigh.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing..."

"You sure?"

"Yea--no... I don't know."

Hermione gave a small frown. "Is it Harry again?"

Ginny only sighed.

"What I thought... Ginny, you've had a crush on him now for four years!"

"I know, but I can't help it... I don't know why I'm attracted to him. I just, can't let go..." Ginny looked up. "I mean... you know how it is to have a crush. Except for your crushes actually turn into something..." She was talking about Ron. Ever since the whole event at the Yule Ball, Hermione and Ron realized how much they liked eachother, and this year, being their fifth, they decided to date.

Hermione blushed a little at the comment. "Well, yea... but we're older... and you never know. Harry could like you, too!"

"Heh. Somehow I highly doubt that."

More people began to filter in, and Ginny saw a flash of red hair walk through the door. "Here comes your Prince Charming now." She said half smiling. Ron walked up behind Hermione and gave her a quick hug before settling in beside her. Harry sat down across from him, which was right next to Ginny, making her body tense up.

"Hello everyone." He said smiling.

"Hello..." she said in no more then a faint whisper, unable to turn her eyes towards him. Within the next 10 minutes, the whole hall was filled with people, chattering loudly everywhere. Harry, Ron and Hermione were engrossed in their own conversation, leaving Ginny feeling very left out. She glanced about the room, watching people and occasionally catching a quick glimpse of Harry whenever he leaned in to talk quietly. He seemed so perfect... but so oblivious. It just didn't seem fair. She sighed once more and continued roaming her eyes around the giant room, fixing them on the bewitched ceiling which was turning from the colors of a magnificent sunset to a beautiful starry night. Ginny turned her eyes to the front table, where all the professors, except for Dumbledore, were seated. There was even an extra person, taking a seat far to the end. Behind her stood a group of three woman and a single man. All of them were dressed in exquisite clothes and emotionless faces.

"Hey..." She said through the threesome's conversation. They all turned to her. "Who's that?" She pointed to the right side of the table.

Hermione squinted her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know... probably some royal guest or something. I heard some rumors we were going to get an interesting arrival." With that, the three of them went back to their conversation leaving Ginny out again.

Within moments, Professor Dumbledore sat down in his large chair and tapped his spoon on his goblet. "Attention everyone! May I please have your attention!" The noisy hall soon died down, all eyes fixed on the headmaster. "Thank you. Today I have a few announcements, and then all of you may eat. First. I would like you all to remember, that starting next week, all third years and above will be able to visit Hogsmede if you have written permission to do so. Secondly. Sixth years, remember, this is your last year to get elected as Prefect or headboy/ headgirl, strive for that! And thirdly," He cleared his throat and pointed to his left. "I would like to welcome a special guest to our school, who will be staying with us for the remainder of the school year. She will be of much help to the staff, and the students as well. If you would, please stand up, Princess Kahlan?"

The woman slowly rose from her chair, folds of her dress falling to the floor. Her brown hair glistened in the candlelight, as did her green eyes. A small smile crept to her face as she scanned the area before her and slowly bowed. "Good Evening." She said softly, as she sat down slowly. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, like they usually did, and he smiled once more. "Wonderful! Now... let's feast!" The golden plates before them were piled high with food.

"A princess, eh?" Ron said through a mouthful of potatoes. "I wonder where she's from?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's not the kind of princess you're thinking of. Did you see a crown?"

"No... but... that doesn't mean anything."

"Of course it does. Don't you ever read--? Wait, don't answer that, I already know."

Ron dug into his mashed potatoes and stuffed some more into his mouth. Harry gazed at the princess and then back at Hermione. "What kind of Princess is she then?"

Hermione leaned in, just as she always did when she was going to say something important. "She's the Princess of the group she leads. She's a Bedenklezer."

OooOoOh... a Bendenklezer... wonder what THAT could be. I guess you'll JUST have to wait... hehehe..