Chapter One:
The sunlight bounced off of the streaming red hair of Ginny Weasley as she sped through the air. There was a strong breeze that would have easily thrown her old Cleansweep 3 off course, but, fortunately for her, she was not riding her own broom. She was, for once in her life, on a practically new, quality broomstick. She had begged and pleaded with Ron to borrow it, and he had finally conceded, only because he knew that she had to train for one of the vacant Chaser positions on the Gryffindor house team.
So now she was enjoying what were easily some of the best few hours of her summer, gracefully tracing sporadic paths through the darkening sky behind the Burrow.
"GINNY!! TIME TO COME IN!!" yelled the magically magnified voice of Molly Weasley, wrenching Ginny away from her bliss and back to reality. With a sigh, Ginny looked over at the dilapidated and lopsided structure that was her home and saw her mother watching her from the back door. "HERMIONE AND HARRY WILL BE HERE SOON! YOU NEED TO HELP ME WITH DINNER!" With that, Mrs. Weasley retreated back into the house.
In her delight of flying so freely, she had completely forgotten that her father was going to pick up Harry and Hermione tonight. It would be nice to have them here, even though she knew Ron would hardly pay her any attention once his friends showed up. Although, Ginny nurtured a small hope that maybe, after what had happened before summer at the Department of Mysteries, the Dream Team would possibly treat her as an equal.
Ginny angled Ron's broom downward and sped towards the ground, reveling in her last moments of flight, before landing elegantly in the grassy field. She dismounted and walked slowly towards the rickety old storage shed that stood at the edge of the field, near the surrounding forest. She loved summer nights; the sky was now a deep purple, and she noticed that a few sparkling stars were putting in an appearance. Reaching the shed, she carefully placed Ron's shining broom on a shelf next to her worn Cleansweep, making sure that she hadn't bent a single twig. She loved Ron, but she was pretty sure he would kill her if his broom were mistreated.
Ginny made her way towards her house, her wavy hair billowing behind her; she had decided to grow it out, and her locks now reached the center of her back. With the help of some special shampoo that her mother had concocted for her, the coarseness that used to reside in her tresses was gone; her hair was now delightfully soft and sleek. She definitely held up the Weasley Legacy; her hair was naturally streaked with different shades of vibrant red.
Looking down at herself, Ginny debated changing before the "guests" arrived. She had grown a lot over the summer.she hadn't gotten any taller, but her body was now rather curvy. She couldn't wait to see the look on Dean's face when he saw how much she had.developed. Plus, she had kept in very good shape with all her Quidditch training and early morning runs.
Smiling to herself, Ginny walked the final steps to her house, lost in her thoughts, practically tripping over a stray gnome in the process. ("Gerroff!")
When Ginny entered the kitchen, her mother was frantically scurrying about, working on several dishes at once, while arguing loudly with someone. Ginny thought for a moment that she was in trouble; as far as she could see there was no one else in the room.
".I DON'T SEE WHAT CAN BE SO IMPORTANT ABOUT YOUR.YOUR SHOP THAT YOU CAN'T MAKE IT!" Mrs. Weasley's voice was no longer magnified, but Ginny had always felt that her mother never really needed the magnification, especially when she was inside. When Mrs. Weasley was angry, her voice had the power to reverberate deafeningly through everyone within earshot.
Ginny realized that she was in the clear when she saw who was the real target of Mrs. Weasley's wrath. Protruding from the roaring fire in the kitchen hearth was the head of her brother, Fred. He had...well.left Hogwarts the previous year with his twin brother, George, and they were currently running a shockingly successful joke shop. He retorted to his mother like the calm and reasoning adult he now was.
"But Mom, you don't understand, George and I are so close to perfecting our Blazing Bonfire Bubbles, and if we quit now the potion will go-"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FLAME BLUBBERING BON-BONS! YOU TWO HAD BETTER BE HOME IN ONE HOUR!" And with that Mrs. Weasley put her foot on Fred's head and shoved him out of her fire and back to join the rest of his body. "URGH! 'Not coming'.hmph.what am I going to do with them." Mrs. Weasley muttered under her breath.
Ginny didn't think it would be a good time to mention that they seemed to be doing fine on their own. For her fifteenth birthday at the start of the Holidays, Fred and George had given her a whole twenty galleons, which she had quickly added to her 'New Broom' collection jar.
"Mum, what would you like me to do?" she asked her mother, who was evidently still angry as she was banging pans roughly around, and spilling some of the contents of the cauldron into the fire.
"What?" muttered Mrs. Weasley distractedly, "Oh, Ginny dear, you can start to set the table."
As Ginny reached for the plates something shiny caught her eye. She looked down and saw her small Prefect badge sitting proudly on the counter. It had arrived only yesterday, and Mrs. Weasley had been so excited that she hadn't let Ginny bring it to her room yet. Perhaps the badge was another reason Mrs. Weasley was angry at the twins- all of her children but Fred and George had been made Prefects, and their lack of badge seemed to make Mrs. Weasley feel that she had somehow failed with them. "They didn't even really graduate!" she had moaned with frustration.
Oh well, Ginny thought. She knew they would get on fine anyway. She was actually pleased about getting the badge, and thought it rather funny that she would be on equal footing with Ron and Hermione- she would even be above Harry! Ginny couldn't suppress a grin at the thought of ordering Harry around. Another perk of the job was the rewards- Ginny's mother had already promised to get her some new robes when they went to Diagon Alley, and some new Muggle clothes for weekends.
A loud crash resounded behind Ginny, who quickly jumped around in fright, paranoid that she was under attack. You-know-who hadn't done much yet, but the wizarding world was holding its breath, waiting for the first attacks. Ginny's heart was racing as she looked for the noisy threat, but she realized her mother had simply dropped a pot and was now screaming furiously!
"I JUST NEED.WHY WON'T ANYTHING GO RIGHT TONIGHT? WHY DO I.UGH!."
Ginny tuned out her raving mother, feeling a little stupid for how jumpy she was, and hoping, for the twins' sake, that they made it to dinner on time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The sunlight bounced off of the streaming red hair of Ginny Weasley as she sped through the air. There was a strong breeze that would have easily thrown her old Cleansweep 3 off course, but, fortunately for her, she was not riding her own broom. She was, for once in her life, on a practically new, quality broomstick. She had begged and pleaded with Ron to borrow it, and he had finally conceded, only because he knew that she had to train for one of the vacant Chaser positions on the Gryffindor house team.
So now she was enjoying what were easily some of the best few hours of her summer, gracefully tracing sporadic paths through the darkening sky behind the Burrow.
"GINNY!! TIME TO COME IN!!" yelled the magically magnified voice of Molly Weasley, wrenching Ginny away from her bliss and back to reality. With a sigh, Ginny looked over at the dilapidated and lopsided structure that was her home and saw her mother watching her from the back door. "HERMIONE AND HARRY WILL BE HERE SOON! YOU NEED TO HELP ME WITH DINNER!" With that, Mrs. Weasley retreated back into the house.
In her delight of flying so freely, she had completely forgotten that her father was going to pick up Harry and Hermione tonight. It would be nice to have them here, even though she knew Ron would hardly pay her any attention once his friends showed up. Although, Ginny nurtured a small hope that maybe, after what had happened before summer at the Department of Mysteries, the Dream Team would possibly treat her as an equal.
Ginny angled Ron's broom downward and sped towards the ground, reveling in her last moments of flight, before landing elegantly in the grassy field. She dismounted and walked slowly towards the rickety old storage shed that stood at the edge of the field, near the surrounding forest. She loved summer nights; the sky was now a deep purple, and she noticed that a few sparkling stars were putting in an appearance. Reaching the shed, she carefully placed Ron's shining broom on a shelf next to her worn Cleansweep, making sure that she hadn't bent a single twig. She loved Ron, but she was pretty sure he would kill her if his broom were mistreated.
Ginny made her way towards her house, her wavy hair billowing behind her; she had decided to grow it out, and her locks now reached the center of her back. With the help of some special shampoo that her mother had concocted for her, the coarseness that used to reside in her tresses was gone; her hair was now delightfully soft and sleek. She definitely held up the Weasley Legacy; her hair was naturally streaked with different shades of vibrant red.
Looking down at herself, Ginny debated changing before the "guests" arrived. She had grown a lot over the summer.she hadn't gotten any taller, but her body was now rather curvy. She couldn't wait to see the look on Dean's face when he saw how much she had.developed. Plus, she had kept in very good shape with all her Quidditch training and early morning runs.
Smiling to herself, Ginny walked the final steps to her house, lost in her thoughts, practically tripping over a stray gnome in the process. ("Gerroff!")
When Ginny entered the kitchen, her mother was frantically scurrying about, working on several dishes at once, while arguing loudly with someone. Ginny thought for a moment that she was in trouble; as far as she could see there was no one else in the room.
".I DON'T SEE WHAT CAN BE SO IMPORTANT ABOUT YOUR.YOUR SHOP THAT YOU CAN'T MAKE IT!" Mrs. Weasley's voice was no longer magnified, but Ginny had always felt that her mother never really needed the magnification, especially when she was inside. When Mrs. Weasley was angry, her voice had the power to reverberate deafeningly through everyone within earshot.
Ginny realized that she was in the clear when she saw who was the real target of Mrs. Weasley's wrath. Protruding from the roaring fire in the kitchen hearth was the head of her brother, Fred. He had...well.left Hogwarts the previous year with his twin brother, George, and they were currently running a shockingly successful joke shop. He retorted to his mother like the calm and reasoning adult he now was.
"But Mom, you don't understand, George and I are so close to perfecting our Blazing Bonfire Bubbles, and if we quit now the potion will go-"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FLAME BLUBBERING BON-BONS! YOU TWO HAD BETTER BE HOME IN ONE HOUR!" And with that Mrs. Weasley put her foot on Fred's head and shoved him out of her fire and back to join the rest of his body. "URGH! 'Not coming'.hmph.what am I going to do with them." Mrs. Weasley muttered under her breath.
Ginny didn't think it would be a good time to mention that they seemed to be doing fine on their own. For her fifteenth birthday at the start of the Holidays, Fred and George had given her a whole twenty galleons, which she had quickly added to her 'New Broom' collection jar.
"Mum, what would you like me to do?" she asked her mother, who was evidently still angry as she was banging pans roughly around, and spilling some of the contents of the cauldron into the fire.
"What?" muttered Mrs. Weasley distractedly, "Oh, Ginny dear, you can start to set the table."
As Ginny reached for the plates something shiny caught her eye. She looked down and saw her small Prefect badge sitting proudly on the counter. It had arrived only yesterday, and Mrs. Weasley had been so excited that she hadn't let Ginny bring it to her room yet. Perhaps the badge was another reason Mrs. Weasley was angry at the twins- all of her children but Fred and George had been made Prefects, and their lack of badge seemed to make Mrs. Weasley feel that she had somehow failed with them. "They didn't even really graduate!" she had moaned with frustration.
Oh well, Ginny thought. She knew they would get on fine anyway. She was actually pleased about getting the badge, and thought it rather funny that she would be on equal footing with Ron and Hermione- she would even be above Harry! Ginny couldn't suppress a grin at the thought of ordering Harry around. Another perk of the job was the rewards- Ginny's mother had already promised to get her some new robes when they went to Diagon Alley, and some new Muggle clothes for weekends.
A loud crash resounded behind Ginny, who quickly jumped around in fright, paranoid that she was under attack. You-know-who hadn't done much yet, but the wizarding world was holding its breath, waiting for the first attacks. Ginny's heart was racing as she looked for the noisy threat, but she realized her mother had simply dropped a pot and was now screaming furiously!
"I JUST NEED.WHY WON'T ANYTHING GO RIGHT TONIGHT? WHY DO I.UGH!."
Ginny tuned out her raving mother, feeling a little stupid for how jumpy she was, and hoping, for the twins' sake, that they made it to dinner on time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*