A/N: Okay, so there are a few things I'd like to start off saying about this story, before I really get started.
1. My name is Claire. You will soon meet my Beta, Leah. She is awesome.
2. This is a Harry/Ginny ship. It WILL get more interesting, and definitely a lot funnier.
3. All pairings are cannon.
4. I ADORE Ginny's personality, but it's not in the books very much. I'll try to keep it as true to the books as possible, but she may show a side of herself that the books didn't.
5. All of the grammar should be correct (thanks to Leah), because I know how annoying it is when the grammar sucks and you can barely read the story without getting a headache.
6. It may take me a while to get through the updates, but I will get there. I usually do, at least.
7. My author's notes aren't usually this long or annoying, so let's get on to the story!

Disclaimer: everything you recognize is JKR's.

I don't have a choice, but I still choose you
Oh, I don't love you, but I always will.
-Poison and Wine, the Civil Wars

There were approximately two reasons as to why I was in a Muggle club, wearing hardly any clothing and skyscraper stilettos.

Reason One: Harry Potter, my ex-boyfriend that I still can't get out of my head.

Reason Two: Summer Lewis and Amy Loins, my two idiot best friends.

Here I was, eighteen, fresh out of Hogwarts, drop-dead sexy (really, in this dress, I couldn't deny it), and ready to move on with my life. Tonight, I planned on dancing my arse off and drinking until I threw up. Oh, and I also planned on meeting dishy Muggle boys.

Yes, I definitely planned on meeting dishy Muggle boys.

As Summer, Amy and I made our way to the bar, I eyed my surroundings. Colored lights flashed upon a crowded dance floor, and a DJ was set up at the front of the room, thrumming hypnotic beats to the dancers. A large bar was set up against the left wall, lined by stools. Nearby, many brown couches were occupied by Muggles drinking, mingling, and sucking face.

I made a small noise of disgust, but it went unheard in the midst of all the noise. "Remind me again why I'm here?" I asked my friends.

Amy merely rolled her eyes, but Summer gave me a look that clearly told me, Ginny, you're an idiot.

I have great friends.

But, really, I understood why I was here. Summer and Amy were sick of me moping around all year because Harry still hasn't attempted to get back together with me. It's been a year since the War ended, I THINK HARRY HAS HAD ENOUGH TIME TO HIMSELF BY NOW. HE'S JUST BEING SELFISH IF HE –

Ahem. Sorry. Harry Potter is not selfish, he saved the Wizarding World from You-Know-Who, blah blah blah. I'm sure you understand. But still. How could he just leave me hanging?

We reached the bar, and I ordered something strong. I think. I don't really remember what it was… some kind of Muggle alcohol. Either way, when the bartender set it down in front of me, I downed it in one gulp. I was ready to get the night started.

"Are you two ladies ready to party?" Amy said, shouting over the loud music.

Summer and I nodded eagerly, and I ordered another drink. Merlin, these cups were tiny!

"Let's go dance!" Amy grabbed mine and Summer's hands and attempted to drag us to the dance floor. I resisted her pull to finish my drink. After a moment of fruitless tugging, Amy gave up and she and Summer disappeared into the throng of sweaty bodies.

I scrunched up my nose. Did I even want to go into that? I tipped the cup further up to get every drop out.

"Whoa, settle down there," a voice to my left told me. I slammed my cup down on the counter and looked at the person talking to me. A man with the most shockingly blue eyes I had ever seen stood before me, holding a red plastic cup and swinging his dark hair out of his face.

I almost melted right there on the spot. He. Was. Gorgeous.

I smiled and looked up at him through mascara-laden lashes. "And who says?" I countered. By this point, I had mastered the art of "flirting" to where it wasn't even considered flirting any more. Flirting was so… Hogwarts-y. And I was so over those days. Right?

The man smirked. Merlin, he was sexy. "Well, it's mainly common knowledge. Why waste the night away getting drunk in the first hour?" He laughed. "I'm Mark Hollis."

"I'm Ginny Weasley," I told him, adjusting my dress, if you could call it that. It was more like a black tube. It was strapless and hit at the top of my thigh, with a barely-visible zipper in the back. Pretty simple if you ask me, but Summer and Amy had told me not to worry about it, that I pulled it off. One look in the mirror, and I didn't disagree.

"Where are you from, Ginny?" Mark asked me.

"Devon," I replied. "And you?"

"Here, in London. I'm a reporter for the Times."

"Really?" I said, my interest spiked. "How long have you been a reporter?"

"Well, I'm an under-reporter, or an intern. I'm only twenty-three, and still in college, so there's only so much I can do."

College. I often sympathized for all the Muggles, who have four or more years of school after they graduate from primary. I learned all about it in Muggle Studies during my fifth year. I feigned interest for Mark's sake. "What college?"

"Hamilton." Mark rolled his eyes. "It's way overrated. Are you in college?"

"No, er, I just graduated." It was true, I did just graduate… from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "I'm eighteen."

"Really? Well then, what are you hoping to do after high school? Any college ideas?"

I was getting faintly bored with the discussion of futures and schools. I wanted to be a Healer at St. Mungo's, but what were those things called here? Purses? No, no, I learned about this in Muggle Studies… "I was hoping to be a nurse," I said.

Mark looked me up and down and laughed. "If you were my nurse, I'd fake sick all the time just to see you."

I smirked. "That sounded something like a pick-up line, Mr. Hollis."

"I hope you know CPR, because you just took my breath away!"

I barked out a laugh, pretending like I knew what CPR was. It amazed me how Muggles survived without magic. The line was good, nonetheless, and I replied with my own. "Were you arrested earlier, because I'm sure it's illegal to look that good."

"You are so beautiful I'd marry your brother just to get in the family."

I laughed really hard at that one.

Mark looked at me quizzically. "What?" he asked.

"I have six brothers," I explained. "And I'm sure they all would love to beat you up if you tried to marry me."

But they never beat up Harry.

Shut up, brain.

"Six brothers?" Mark whistled. "Wow. How many sisters do you have, then?"

"None. I'm the only girl, besides my mum."

"That's crazy," Mark said. "I only have one sister, and she annoys the hell out of me."

"Yeah, well, growing up with six brothers makes me tough, I suppose."

Mark and I looked out to the dance floor, surrounded by a comfortable air. The music drummed all around us, and I was struck by how handsome Mark was. I mean, of course he would never compare to Harry, but –

STOP. Bad Ginny. Try to go one night without thinking about Harry.

I sighed. I needed to get over myself. It was quite obvious that Harry didn't want me anymore. Besides, now he was even more famous than he was before (if that's possible). He could have any girl he wanted, magical or otherwise. And I didn't care. I've moved on. Just because I thought about him all the time did not mean I wasn't over him. Because I was. And that's why I was at this club flirting with Mark.

Right?

"I like this song," Mark said suddenly. "Want to dance?"

His eyes seemed to sparkle. I nearly swooned.

He led me to the center of the dance floor. I thought I spotted Summer's blonde hair a little bit to my left, but I wasn't quite sure. I would find the girls later.

Mark and I were naturals on the dance floor. I had all the right moves (thanks to years of parties at Hogwarts), and Mark seemed to know exactly how to match his body with mine. Every time I looked at him I would find myself melting under his intense blue gaze. Though it was quite hot in the midst of all the dancers, I felt cool under his icy stare.

Before I knew it, the song was over. We kept dancing anyway. We didn't talk much, just a lot of laughing and dancing. The music kept rolling on and on, and the tempo never seemed to slow. Abruptly, I felt overwhelmed by the people, the heat, and the noise, and I felt my body give out. The only thing supporting me was Mark, his stomach against my back.

"Ginny?" I heard him say. "Oh, God, let's get you some water." I felt him wrap his arm around my waist. Under any other circumstances, I would have slapped his arm away, but I knew that right now he was just trying to help.

We wormed out way off the dance floor and he sat me down on one of the brown couches near the bar. He told me to stay (as if I had enough energy to move after all that dancing), and he walked to the bar, returning with a cup that he handed to me.

"It's just water," Mark said, sitting down on the couch beside me.

I drank the water, feeling the ice cold liquid cooling my throat. "Sorry about that," I said apologetically, "this usually doesn't happen. I just got a little overwhelmed."

"It's cool." Mark grinned, and I took another sip of water. "I bet most of it was that Zombie you were drinking earlier."

I nearly spit my water out all over him. "That what?"

Mark laughed at the look on my face. "Zombie. It's made of not only dark, white, and spiced rum – which is enough in itself – but also brandy, syrup, lime juice and pineapple juice."

"When I told the barman for something strong, I didn't mean for him to give me a death sentence," I said, frowning. I couldn't believe I drank all that and didn't realize it. Surely I would've tasted the syrup – as a child, I would steal the syrup from the cupboard and pour it into my mouth, straight from the bottle.

"Well, I'm sure your body was just protesting to the lime juice. That stuff is sick."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Mark," I said again.

"Nah, it's cool. We'd been dancing for a long time anyway." Mark smiled, his blue eyes shimmering. I felt myself smile in return, and to cover my vulnerability, I drank my water.

We then sat in a comfortable silence, watching the dancers intently (ahem, NOT stalking), until Summer and Amy came rushing up.

"There you are, Ginny," Summer said in a rush. "I saw you nearly pass out and I got so worried, but I couldn't escape Paul, and – oh, Merlin, are you okay?"

I felt the couch bounce as Mark shifted beside me. "Merlin?" he said quizzically, his eyebrows pulling together.

"Er – it's from a movie?" Summer lied quickly, her statement coming out like a question.

Mark bought it. "Oh, okay."

"Yes, Summer, I'm fine," I said, responding to her question. Mark sat next to me looking awkward, and Amy quietly observed the scene. "Oh! How rude of me. Mark, these are my best friends Summer Lewis and Amy Loins. Ladies, this is Mark Hollis."

Mark beamed at the girls, and I saw Summer bite her lip to keep from smiling too hard.

MINE. Mark is MINE, SUMMER, MINE!

BACK OFF.

Ahem.

Amy just stood there, looking between the three of us with an exasperated expression. "Are you quite positive you're alright, Ginny?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her. Couldn't she and Summer tell I was in the middle of something with Mark? Did they WANT me to get over Harry, or not? Sighing, I said, "I just got a little overheated is all."

Amy shrugged. "Okay, well we'll be in the bathroom." She looked pointedly at me before she grabbed Summer's hand and started to pull her away.

"Amy, what are you doing?" Summer protested. "I wasn't done talking to Ginny!"

"Yes, you were." Amy had to tug Summer's arm when she planted her feet to the ground, shouting something about some bloke named Paul.

Amy. Bless her.

Mark chuckled beside me. "Your friends are funny," he said.

I took a sip of my water to hide my smirk. "Well, would you like to see more of them?" I asked.

"Them?" He grinned. "I dunno… they seem like a bit of a handful. How about we get together sometime and you can tell me how you handle them?"

I tried to refrain myself from squealing. I had a reputation to uphold, people! "We'll see." I set my drink down on the end table beside the couch and made to stand up. Summer and Amy were waiting in the bathroom to Apparate back to Summer's place, and I didn't feel like staying in this club much longer.

Mark grabbed onto my hand. I had expected to feel a jolt of electricity, as that was what I had felt when Harry touched me and therefore what I was accustomed to, but I felt nothing. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," I said. "I don't feel well enough to stay any longer."

"Oh." Was it just me, or did Mark look incredibly adorable when he was disappointed? "Well, then, can I have your number?"

I felt my forehead crease. "Number to what?"

"Your phone…" Mark said slowly.

Phones! Those little plastic things Muggle spit into to communicate! I mentally congratulated myself for remembering this piece of information from Muggle Studies. "Oh, right. I – well, I – I dropped it in a lake," I invented wildly, "and I haven't gotten a new one yet."

"Well, when will I see you again?"

I pretended to think for a moment while the rush of the club surrounded us. "How about tomorrow night at seven? Meet me at that Italian place down the street from here."

Mark grinned, and said, "See you there."

"See you," I replied, and hurried to the bathroom.

"Amy? Summer?" I called for my best friends when I couldn't see their feet under the stall doors. Suddenly a hand shot out from an alcove to the left of the door, and I was jerked back. I found myself in a space for changing baby diapers – though why anyone would bring a baby to a club was beyond me.

"Okay, are you ready?" Amy said. She and Summer had been leaning against the wall, clearly waiting on me to arrive, and now they were standing hand-in-hand. Amy's other hand was held out for me to take.

Nodding, I placed my hand in Amy's. There was a crack, a familiar sensation that I was being forced down a tube, and I suddenly felt a rush of cool summer air as I opened my eyes and found myself in front of the Lewis mansion.

Beta'd by BubblyAmericanWriter1

A/N: There's a twist coming up... and Harry will be there. Hopefully some Ginny/Harry action, yaya! Not everything will be happy-go-lucky oh-my-gosh-I'm-Ginny-and-I'm-so-popular-and-perfect like some stories make her out to be. Kay.

Songs: The Only Exception - Paramore; Cute - Stephen Jerzak (it's all pick-up lines. look it up.); Howl - Florence&the Machine; Colors - the Rocket Summer

B/N: I love you Claire, this was such a good first chapter and I'm going to be here through the entire thing to Beta it! I love this story!

Message to all of her readers: I'm going to be starting a new story soon, making a completely new start to and I'll let you guys know when it's up! :)

So REVIEW. Or face my Beta wrath!

A/N: Check out her stuff! GO!
and you heard the woman... review!