Chapter one

It was a lazy August morning, and Ron was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Daily Prophet, when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He looked up to find Ginny walk in wearing her pink robe, looking like she had barely gotten any sleep. She dragged herself over to the table and plopped herself into a seat. She slowly reached for the orange juice and was just about to pour some on the table when Ron was able to slide her glass in the way. Ron watched her as she seemed to waver in and out of consciousness. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Ginny, did you sleep at all last night??"

"Hm, huh?" she mumbled.

"I'll take that as a no…"

"Oh, what? Yeah, I slept. I think anyway. Why?"

"Um, only because you almost poured orange juice on the table a minute ago," Ron chuckled.

"I did? Oh, haha. Whoops! How silly of me."

"Ginny, what were doing all night?" Ron asked, with an amused smirk on his face.

"Nothing, I just couldn't sleep, that's all," she replied, staring at her glass of now half empty orange juice. The other half had landed somewhere between her mouth and her lap.

"Yeah, right. So what were you doing? Come on, you can tell me!" Ron tried to coerce her to reveal whatever it was that she was hiding. What could she have possibly been doing that she can't even tell me anyway? he thought as he waited for her response.

"I was writing something. There, are you happy? I was simply writing something." She tried to seem annoyed, but instead a wide grin spread across her face. She had been thinking about what it was she had been writing. She again attempted to drink if only a little of her orange juice, but she was interrupted by the sound of Pig hooting loudly as he made his grand entrance into the kitchen...

He hovered over Ginny's head and dropped something into her juice-stained lap. Ginny suddenly turned beet-red and looked at Ron while she stuffed the letter into her pocket.

"That was unexpectedly quick," she mumbled to herself as Ron watched her; he was utterly bewildered by all of this.

"Ginny, hey wait, what is that? Who wrote you?" he said while reaching across the table to see if he could somehow grab the letter.

"No one, really! It's just a friend of mine, her name is Michele, she's in my dormitory, and we've been writing each other! That's all!" she huffed.

And with that she stood up, grabbed her nearly emptied glass (her last attempt had succeeded only by a small margin) and headed back up to her room. Ron was perplexed, but decided to just drop it and got back to reading the Daily Prophet.

Back in her room, Ginny frantically pulled the letter out of her pocket and sat down on her bed. She couldn't believe it, he had actually read her letter! She opened the letter and began to read:

Dear Ginny,

I got your letter last night. I couldn't really sleep so I sat up all night and wrote you back. Sorry I sent it so early, but I wanted you to get it as soon as possible. Life here with the Dursleys is, well, what can I say? Dudley just got a car for his birthday, even though he's not old enough to drive yet, and he doesn't even know how for that matter…I would advise all the neighbors to stay indoors if they wish to live. I wouldn't leave the house either. Then again, not like I have a choice… I've just been hanging around my room, not doing much, just working on my paper for McGonagall. This year we have to take the O.W.Ls, so it'll be a little hectic. I hope they're not as scary as I've heard them to be. Anyway, Uncle Vernon's yelling at me to come to breakfast, so naturally I'll be eating those cookies you sent me right about now. Thanks so much, you've saved me from the whole wheat pancakes Aunt Petunia's been making lately. That was really kind of you! Write back when you get the chance!

Love, Harry

Ginny squealed with excitement as she folded up the letter and lay on her bed.

She took out her quill and a piece of parchment and began to write again:

Dear Harry,

I hope you like the cookies, I made them last night, I couldn't sleep either. Why did Dudley get a car? I swear, your aunt and

uncle keep getting dumber and dumber every year! Well, I hope they're not letting him drive it. I'd be afraid to leave the house

too. Your birthday's coming up, isn't it? What would you like? I'm gonna make up for the fact that they never get you a present. So think about it and let me know, okay? And if you need more cookies, let me know, I'll make as many as you need! Don't let the Dursleys get you down!

Love, Ginny

She read her letter several times, until she was sure it wasn't too obviously affectionate, and then she folded it up and went

downstairs to find Pig. She heard him in the kitchen pestering Ron, and when she walked in she tied the letter to his leg and sent him off.

She returned to her seat at the table and smiled at Ron.

"So Ron, what are you doing today?" she asked, trying to keep her obvious grin under control.

"Nothing much, I thought I'd write to Hermione and Harry, see if they wanted to come for the rest of summer, as usual… "Ron

trailed off, as he couldn't help but notice Ginny's eyes light up at the sound of Harry's name. He decided to overlook this and

continue.

"Erm, anyway, why? What are you doing today?" he was beginning to catch onto Ginny.

"Nothing really. Just hanging around, nothing special." Ron looked at her incredulously.

"Ginny, just tell me what's going on! I know it's something! Please, you obviously want to tell someone, so why not me, your dear, loving older brother??" he begged.

He was right, she did want to tell someone, but Ron was definitely not that person. How could she tell him she was in love with his best friend? He had always been teasing her about it for ages already, but if he knew that she really did actually like him, how would he react?

She didn't want to find out.

"Ron, it's nothing! But you should write them already, there's only two weeks left of summer," Ginny said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, you're right, I'll go do that right now."

Ron headed upstairs to his room, and once he was out of earshot she sighed a heavy sigh of relief.