Author's notes: This is a re-edited version of Life In Muggle America. I own none of these characters. So there.
Ginny Weasley had had enough. There was still a month left on her summer
holiday before she started her sixth year at Hogwarts. But living at
the Burrow was starting to drive her mad. It wasn't that she didn't
love her family, she loved them very dearly. It's just that for some
reason, they were really, really getting on her nerves. If it wasn't Percy
telling everyone to keep quiet and her mother nagging her for some
reason or another, it was Fred and/or George wanting to test out some prank
on her or Ron fighting with Hermione, who was invited to stay for the
summer. And then of course, there was the other guest who stayed over
in the summer, Harry Potter. She had a big crush on this boy ever since
getting a glimpse of him on platform nine and three quarters roughly 5
years ago. While she was no longer the shy little girl who squealed
and ran away in embarrassment when he looked in her direction, being
around him was still tough. She could manage to speak to him every now and
then and not stutter like she used to, but it still wasn't easy. Every
time she looked into his bright green eyes, she longed to wrap her arms
around his neck and rest her head against his shoulder and just stay
there. But no, she felt she'd never get the chance. She was convinced
that Harry didn't reciprocate her feelings and if she tried to do that
she'd be hauled off to the mental ward at St. Mungo's. It also didn't
help that her older brothers constantly teased her about the singing
Valentine that she sent to Harry in her first year. A fresh pickled toad
indeed....
Yes, she was sick of it all. She felt as if she needed a vacation
from her vacation. The breaking point came on a Sunday night, where she
was unwittingly sitting close to Ground Zero.
"What? What did I do now?!?!"
"Why did you let that happen, Ron?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Great,' she thought. 'Another quiet night
with the living time bombs.'
Ron and Hermione were sitting at the chessboard in the living room,
doing what they did best: arguing. Ginny was sitting in the living room
as well, trying to catch up on some homework. Hermione had won the game,
but oddly she didn't seem the least bit pleased.
"You let me win, Ron," Hermione said indignantly.
Ron tried to look shocked. "N-no I didn't."
"Yes, you did! C'mon Ron! Not even Harry plays that poorly!"
Harry, who was on the couch re-reading "Flying With The Cannons", looked
up. "Hey!" he said.
Ron looked defensive. "Well what's the big deal? You won! You
should be happy!"
"The big deal is that you obviously don't think I'm smart enough to
beat you, so you throw the whole game! I don't need you to patronize me,
Ron! I want to win fair and square!"
"I'm not patronizing you, Hermione! You've been complaining that I
always win in chess, and now you've beaten me! What's your problem?"
"What's my problem!?!? Complaining?!?"
"Yes complaining!! It's what you're good at!!! I -"
Ginny slammed her Arithmancy book shut with a loud SNAP! She gathered
her school things and started to leave to her room.
"What's wrong with you?!?" Ron shouted towards Ginny.
Ginny ignored her brother and mumbled to herself, "Bloody nutcases..."
She heard Ron shout "What did you say, you little git?!?" and Hermione
yell at Ron to leave her alone, but Ginny left before she heard any
more of their bickering.
To her surprise as she was walking up the stairs to her room, Harry
came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Noticing his hand on her shoulder, she blushed. "I...I'm..."
But before she could get out a proper answer, Fred and George came
down the stairs and saw Ginny and Harry with his hand on her shoulder.
"Oooooooooh!! Baby Ginnykins is getting cuddly with my boy Harry!"
George cooed.
"Awwww, isn't that just adorable?" Fred said and pinched Ginny's
cheeks. George ruffled her hair.
Harry remained silent and blushed. Ginny's face was also red, but not
out of embarrassment. Instead, it could be defined as pure rage. With
great timing, Percy came down the stairs yelling at everybody. "Will
you three annoyances please shut up!!! I'm trying to work on-"
Before Percy could ramble about whatever mundane task he usually does,
Ginny swatted Fred and George's hands away angrily and stomped up the
stairs to her room.
"Ginny, what wrong with y-" Percy said. But he quickly shut up when
she gave him a look that simply said "Back off." The three brothers
then slowly backed away from her, fear in their eyes.
She reached her room and had her hand around her doorknob. She didn't
open in yet, hoping to calm down and not break any of her stuff in a
fit of rage. She felt a little more at peace when she felt a hand on her
shoulder again. Her eyes snapped open and she whirled around and
screamed.
"I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!!! GO AWAY!!!"
When her eyes focused again and her vision wasn't clouded by rage, she
found that the target of her wrath was Harry. She read the shocked
look on his face as he backed away from her. "Y-yes, Ginny. I'm sorry,"
he said and quickly went down the stairs.
Watching him go down the stairs, Ginny felt surprised that she had
taken her anger out on Harry Potter. But even more surprising was the fact
that even though she yelled at the boy she liked for five years, the boy who had
saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets in her first year, she didn't really
care. She really did want to be left alone. She went into her room, threw her
school things on the floor and flopped face first onto her bed. 'Finally, some
peace and quiet,' she thought to herself. 'I need to get out of here...'
Unfortunately, the quiet didn't last long as she heard a loud tapping
noise outside her window. Ginny bolted upright and screamed, "SHUT
UP!" She grabbed one of her books to heave at the window, so that she
could silence the evil thing that disturbed her peace. She stopped when
she discovered that it was the family owl, Errol, trying to deliver her
a letter. Ginny reached out the window, took the letter, and let Errol
rest his tired wings on her bed. 'Errol's been gone for a while. Poor
thing looks more beat up than usual. I wonder where he's been?'
thought Ginny. She then directed her attention to the letter Errol delivered
and scanned through it quickly. And for the first time that evening, a
smile appeared on her face.
Calmly, she walked downstairs to find her mother. She looked in
the kitchen and the living room, trying to find her, and ignored the rest
of the people in the house attempting to apologize or trying to find
out what her problem was. When she found that her mother wasn't in the house,
she went to look outside, nearly knocking Percy over on the way to the door.
She found her sitting on the back porch, sipping a cup of tea and
enjoying the fresh air. Mrs. Weasley sensed her daughters approach, and looking
up, saw that Ginny's face wore a determined look and a somewhat deranged smile.
Finally, she spoke.
"Yes Ginny, what is it, dear?"
"Mum, I'm going to Chicago."
Author's notes: There it is. I have a good idea of what to write next, where Ginny finally makes it to Bill's place in Chicago. Chicago, you ask? It's where I live and as to why Bill is there...well...if I ever get around to it, you'll find out. Part 2 is being worked on, but coming along slowly. I'm just making sure it doesn't suck. A scene from the third part has already been written and posted. Honestly, I have no idea where this little series is going. But if the motivation is there, I'll do my best to continue it. I just hope it doesn't suck too much. Thanks to Zsenya for editing. Read it and review it.
Ginny Weasley had had enough. There was still a month left on her summer
holiday before she started her sixth year at Hogwarts. But living at
the Burrow was starting to drive her mad. It wasn't that she didn't
love her family, she loved them very dearly. It's just that for some
reason, they were really, really getting on her nerves. If it wasn't Percy
telling everyone to keep quiet and her mother nagging her for some
reason or another, it was Fred and/or George wanting to test out some prank
on her or Ron fighting with Hermione, who was invited to stay for the
summer. And then of course, there was the other guest who stayed over
in the summer, Harry Potter. She had a big crush on this boy ever since
getting a glimpse of him on platform nine and three quarters roughly 5
years ago. While she was no longer the shy little girl who squealed
and ran away in embarrassment when he looked in her direction, being
around him was still tough. She could manage to speak to him every now and
then and not stutter like she used to, but it still wasn't easy. Every
time she looked into his bright green eyes, she longed to wrap her arms
around his neck and rest her head against his shoulder and just stay
there. But no, she felt she'd never get the chance. She was convinced
that Harry didn't reciprocate her feelings and if she tried to do that
she'd be hauled off to the mental ward at St. Mungo's. It also didn't
help that her older brothers constantly teased her about the singing
Valentine that she sent to Harry in her first year. A fresh pickled toad
indeed....
Yes, she was sick of it all. She felt as if she needed a vacation
from her vacation. The breaking point came on a Sunday night, where she
was unwittingly sitting close to Ground Zero.
"What? What did I do now?!?!"
"Why did you let that happen, Ron?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Great,' she thought. 'Another quiet night
with the living time bombs.'
Ron and Hermione were sitting at the chessboard in the living room,
doing what they did best: arguing. Ginny was sitting in the living room
as well, trying to catch up on some homework. Hermione had won the game,
but oddly she didn't seem the least bit pleased.
"You let me win, Ron," Hermione said indignantly.
Ron tried to look shocked. "N-no I didn't."
"Yes, you did! C'mon Ron! Not even Harry plays that poorly!"
Harry, who was on the couch re-reading "Flying With The Cannons", looked
up. "Hey!" he said.
Ron looked defensive. "Well what's the big deal? You won! You
should be happy!"
"The big deal is that you obviously don't think I'm smart enough to
beat you, so you throw the whole game! I don't need you to patronize me,
Ron! I want to win fair and square!"
"I'm not patronizing you, Hermione! You've been complaining that I
always win in chess, and now you've beaten me! What's your problem?"
"What's my problem!?!? Complaining?!?"
"Yes complaining!! It's what you're good at!!! I -"
Ginny slammed her Arithmancy book shut with a loud SNAP! She gathered
her school things and started to leave to her room.
"What's wrong with you?!?" Ron shouted towards Ginny.
Ginny ignored her brother and mumbled to herself, "Bloody nutcases..."
She heard Ron shout "What did you say, you little git?!?" and Hermione
yell at Ron to leave her alone, but Ginny left before she heard any
more of their bickering.
To her surprise as she was walking up the stairs to her room, Harry
came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Noticing his hand on her shoulder, she blushed. "I...I'm..."
But before she could get out a proper answer, Fred and George came
down the stairs and saw Ginny and Harry with his hand on her shoulder.
"Oooooooooh!! Baby Ginnykins is getting cuddly with my boy Harry!"
George cooed.
"Awwww, isn't that just adorable?" Fred said and pinched Ginny's
cheeks. George ruffled her hair.
Harry remained silent and blushed. Ginny's face was also red, but not
out of embarrassment. Instead, it could be defined as pure rage. With
great timing, Percy came down the stairs yelling at everybody. "Will
you three annoyances please shut up!!! I'm trying to work on-"
Before Percy could ramble about whatever mundane task he usually does,
Ginny swatted Fred and George's hands away angrily and stomped up the
stairs to her room.
"Ginny, what wrong with y-" Percy said. But he quickly shut up when
she gave him a look that simply said "Back off." The three brothers
then slowly backed away from her, fear in their eyes.
She reached her room and had her hand around her doorknob. She didn't
open in yet, hoping to calm down and not break any of her stuff in a
fit of rage. She felt a little more at peace when she felt a hand on her
shoulder again. Her eyes snapped open and she whirled around and
screamed.
"I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!!! GO AWAY!!!"
When her eyes focused again and her vision wasn't clouded by rage, she
found that the target of her wrath was Harry. She read the shocked
look on his face as he backed away from her. "Y-yes, Ginny. I'm sorry,"
he said and quickly went down the stairs.
Watching him go down the stairs, Ginny felt surprised that she had
taken her anger out on Harry Potter. But even more surprising was the fact
that even though she yelled at the boy she liked for five years, the boy who had
saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets in her first year, she didn't really
care. She really did want to be left alone. She went into her room, threw her
school things on the floor and flopped face first onto her bed. 'Finally, some
peace and quiet,' she thought to herself. 'I need to get out of here...'
Unfortunately, the quiet didn't last long as she heard a loud tapping
noise outside her window. Ginny bolted upright and screamed, "SHUT
UP!" She grabbed one of her books to heave at the window, so that she
could silence the evil thing that disturbed her peace. She stopped when
she discovered that it was the family owl, Errol, trying to deliver her
a letter. Ginny reached out the window, took the letter, and let Errol
rest his tired wings on her bed. 'Errol's been gone for a while. Poor
thing looks more beat up than usual. I wonder where he's been?'
thought Ginny. She then directed her attention to the letter Errol delivered
and scanned through it quickly. And for the first time that evening, a
smile appeared on her face.
Calmly, she walked downstairs to find her mother. She looked in
the kitchen and the living room, trying to find her, and ignored the rest
of the people in the house attempting to apologize or trying to find
out what her problem was. When she found that her mother wasn't in the house,
she went to look outside, nearly knocking Percy over on the way to the door.
She found her sitting on the back porch, sipping a cup of tea and
enjoying the fresh air. Mrs. Weasley sensed her daughters approach, and looking
up, saw that Ginny's face wore a determined look and a somewhat deranged smile.
Finally, she spoke.
"Yes Ginny, what is it, dear?"
"Mum, I'm going to Chicago."
Author's notes: There it is. I have a good idea of what to write next, where Ginny finally makes it to Bill's place in Chicago. Chicago, you ask? It's where I live and as to why Bill is there...well...if I ever get around to it, you'll find out. Part 2 is being worked on, but coming along slowly. I'm just making sure it doesn't suck. A scene from the third part has already been written and posted. Honestly, I have no idea where this little series is going. But if the motivation is there, I'll do my best to continue it. I just hope it doesn't suck too much. Thanks to Zsenya for editing. Read it and review it.