It was a quiet afternoon in Diagon Alley. It was about three weeks before the rush of students would come pouring into the Alley, running about trying to fulfill their potions supply list and stacks of new spell-books. Gods forbid them if they didn't. The apothecary was putting out fresh beetle shells and dusting out the shelves of pickled frog eyes and newt tails. Flourish and Blotts had started to redo all of their window book fronts; the men and women in the pictures could be seen screwing up their noses as the picky owner dusted them off and tilted them just a bit straighter.
In all of this busy preparation, one store was definitely in for a complete redo. It was the shop that was the most appealing to most of the female population: Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Every female that came into Diagon Alley to buy school supplies always spent the majority of their moneybags at Madame Malkin's. Especially fifth years and up. There were always Balls that needed formal dress robes. But this year, this popular store had a new competitor: Adena and Adara's: Bring out the beauty in you. To say the least, Madame Malkin wasn't exactly the happiest when her customers started flowing over to the new store.
Adena and Adara's was a clothing store that promoted the teenage Muggle fashions; tank tops and jeans, T-shirts and Capri's. The owners (ironically named Adena and Adara) were two of the most sought after models in the wizarding world. They had started to sport fashions from the Muggle world when they found the regular black and blue robes a little dull. Their goals were to spring up the teenage witches and make them feel a bit better about themselves; a little different from the rest of the world. And the teenage witches responded enthusiastically. They even started to carry teenage wizards clothing, but that was a bit more subdued.
One redheaded witch by the name of Virginia Weasley sat at the front desk, one elbow propped up against the front desk as she read from her book. Her nut-brown eyes were sharp as they looked across the page, picking up every little detail; the slightly dusting of dark brown eyeshadow accented her eyes. Her lashes were naturally thick, so she had no need for mascara. Her freckles had finally faded, to her delight, and they had left just a slight sprinkling over her otherwise flawless cheeks. Her lips were soft, smoothed over with a light shimmery-pink gloss, and her infamous bronze hair was now streaked with natural blonde and slightly darker brown highlights. Done up in a high ponytail and dressed in a pair of casual blue flare jeans and a T-shirt reading 'Under My Spell," she was the complete essence of a teen witch. A muggle song came onto the player in the store: Avril Lavigne, a new American pop artist, and her song "My Happy Ending." Since this store was based off of Muggle clothing, they decided that some Muggle music was in order. It was fun to sing along.
"Let's talk it over, it's not like we're dead. Is it something I did, is it something you said? Don't leave me hanging, in a city so dead; hung up so high on such a breakable thread," she sang, her clear voice soaring with the music. She took a deep breath and continued with the chorus: "You were all the things I thought I knew, and I thought we could be...You were everything, everything that I wanted; we were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it; And all of our memories, so close to me, just fade away...All this time you were pretending So much for my happy ending." She hummed, "So much for my happy ending ."
The little clutch of bells on the front door clinked cheerily as someone entered through the door. The girl looked up, startled, as the newcomer came towards her desk.
"You have a wonderful voice," the man complimented. He was dressed in expensive dark blue robes with a pale cream trim.
"Thank you," she smiled brightly. "How may I help you?"
"Well, I am Mr. Jameson Pollynose." She stifled a giggle at his name. He continued, as if he didn't notice, "and I am looking for talented young musicians such as you to participate in a select band. You'll have to audition, of course, but with your voice, you shouldn't have a problem getting in."
Bet he says this to everyone, she thought. She looked up at him.
"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Pollynose. But I really don't have much talent; I'm just singing along to a random song on our company player." The man shook his head, his hair bouncing.
"Nonsense," he replied, "you have a wonderful voice. And you have wonderful training, even if it isn't quite...professional." Ginny blushed. "But here." He handed her a stack of paper. "Read these through, and if you are willing to participate, send an owl to me at 100 Pollynose Music Enterprises."
"Thank you. When will the auditions be taking place?"
"Oh, I'm sure Headmaster Dumbledore will allow you to take a slight trip from your studies." He winked cheerfully, then walked out the door.
Well that was certainly sudden...she thought musingly as she read through the paper. There won't be any harm in trying it out. The front bells tinkled again and she looked up, waiting to greet a few teenagers. A young man walked up to her with messy black hair and gleaming green eyes.
"May I speak to Virginia Weasley?" a familiar voice asked lightly. She laid down her book and smiled. Does he not remember who I am? She thought to herself. This should be fun to toy with.
"Yes, may I tell her who's asking?" she grinned.
The man looked around warily before whispering, "My name is Harry Potter. I'm one of her friends from school." She waved her hand casually.
"Oh, you're him. Virginia's told me a lot about you; weren't you the one that refused to pay any attention to her back in her first year? And her second as well?" Let's see how you respond to that, my sweet. She glared sternly at the squirming young man. At least he shows that he's nervous.
"Well, that was a while ago, and hopefully she knows that I treat her like the sister I never had. I love her as a sister, and I always will," he finally replied. "I'd really like to talk to her; can I please see her?"
"You can..." she trailed off, grinning slyly. Harry stood there, obviously waiting for the girl to pop up in his face. Nuh uh, Harry dear, grammar grammar. Didn't you learn ANYTHING in muggle school? Finally a look of understanding appeared on his face and she rolled her eyes. Took him long enough.
"May I please see her?" he sighed. She smiled prettily.
"Of course," she replied pleasantly. "I'll go get her." She made a show of getting out of her chair, walking around it, and sitting back in the chair.
"Yes?" she asked. "I'm Virginia Weasley. How may I help you?" The Boy-Who-Lived stood there, gaping at her.
"Ginny?" he finally croaked out. "Is that really you?"
"Yes, Harry," she sighed impatiently. "It is really me." She grinned up at his struck face. "Surprised?" Harry shook himself.
"Well, yes," he got out. "You've changed a lot since 5th year!" She nodded, eyes crinkling as she smiled.
"Yes, I have. And I have a bit of news I'm sure you haven't heard from my beloved brother."
"Any spectacular news about you Ron should most definitely know about," Harry admonished quickly. "You should let him know about whatever it is." Ginny snorted.
"He was a bit...err...busy with Hermione in his room when the owl came," she chuckled as Harry blanched.
"Don't tell me," he implored pitifully.
"I'm sure you have no desire to know about your best friend's love life," she teased him. "You'll find out soon enough."
"I have found out," he muttered. "All he was talking about when I visited him last week was 'Hermione this, Hermione that'; you'd think she was the bloody Goddess the way he goes on!"
"And to him, there is no difference." Ginny grinned again as Harry groaned.
"But anyway," he continued, "what's this big news?" Ginny leaned forward.
"Take a guess."
"You broke up with Michael Corner!" Ginny glared at him.
"Old news, Harry. Guess again."
"You're...transforming to Durmstrang."
"Heavens forbid, no. I don't want to be near that weird Krum kid all the time." Harry grinned, then thought again.
"Well, the craziest thing is if you decided to switch into seventh year with the rest of us. That would be wild." His eyes grew wide as she grinned broadly. "No way!"
"Yes way," she crowed. "Oh yes, you infamous Harry Potter. I have skipped a grade and now I match up with you, my brother, and the perfect Hermione! What do you think of me now, eh?"
"Um...I still don't have feelings for you..." She rolled her eyes at the incredibly dense statement.
"No, Harry, I wasn't talking about that type of feelings," she snapped. "I just wanted a quick compliment, is it that hard to fish for?" Harry grinned.
"Well, if you wanted me to say congratulations, you got yourself one." He grabbed her and hugged her hard. "Congratulations! This will be a crazy year; this is so cool!"
"Uh, didn't you say you don't have feelings for me?" she remarked. "You're giving a great impression of that." Harry let go of her, face turning a bright red. She pointed at the window. "You've got little sightseers," she pointed. He turned around, and groaned again as seven teens turned away, gaping at the sight of the infamous Harry Potter hugging the Adena and Adara's front desk lady.
"Now it's going to be all over the school," he moaned. She glared at him.
"Is being seen with me all that bad?" she snapped angrily. He looked taken aback.
"No, of course not!" he amended hastily. "Just that..."
"You don't want people saying that you're going out with your best friend's little sister." She shook her head. "You know, for being the wizarding world's greatest hero you sure have a lack of guts. You either fear the gossip, or you fear my brother." She tapped her chin for a bit, then added, "Probably both." Harry sighed.
"Yes, Ginny, I am afraid of your brother." The sarcastic tone in which he implied that made Ginny grin.
"Oh, don't say it too early," she warned him. "If Ron even catches wind that you're getting close to me, you'll be—
"HARRY JAMES POTTER WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY LITTLE SISTER?!" A loud voice crashed into the store. A red-headed man stood in the doorway, hands crossed on his chest as he glared imperiously down at the cowering Harry. A brown-haired girl stood behind him, trying to stifle her giggles.
"Ron! Hermione!" Ginny got up and hugged both of them. "It's so great to see the two of you! I didn't see much of you the last time I went home..." she added slyly and giggled as Ron turned redder than his own hair.
"Ginny," he muttered, obviously embarrassed. Hermione blushed as well, but defiantly linked arms with Ron.
"Oh come on Ron," she scolded him affectionately, "you know she's teasing."
"Well she doesn't have to be so damn obvious about it," he grumbled good-naturedly. "Anyway, what's this big news that I heard about coming in?" Ginny and Harry exchanged looks.
"You're kidding me," Harry told Ron. "You don't know what's up with your own little sister?!"
"Hey, that's a good thing," she shot back. "I don't want him meddling in my personal affairs, thank you."
"Speaking of which, did you break up with that Corner boy yet?" Harry and Ginny exchanged another glance, Ginny's annoyance plain.
"Ron, that would be about, oh, seven months ago?" She sighed, exasperated.
"Oh." Ron turned around and fingered Harry in the chest. "So you are trying to get my sister," he yelled loudly, causing passerby's to glance in curiously.
"Geez Ron, keep your voice down," Harry admonished severely. "Yes, I am trying to woo your sister into my bed so she can place a Bat-Boogy curse on me. Again."
"Oh yes, again," Ginny chuckled mirthfully. "I loved the way you looked after I took it off you; you looked absolutely stunning! Here, let's see the picture." She started to dig into the desk. "Or shall we say—
"Stunned like a weasel that ran into the tree? Or rather, attempting to run into the tree so a few Knuts might fall off and hit him on the head?" A great drawling voice entered the room as a shadow lit upon the little gathering. Ginny, who had been immersed into her task, looked up at the stranger. Cool gray met chestnut, and she immediately fell into the endless swirls of molten silver.
A/N: Come on people, Read and review!