Ginny made her way down the hallway, careful not to wake her brothers. They weren't exactly morning people and she enjoyed her privacy. As she entered the bathroom, she ran the hot water and waited.
Virginia Weasley was going into her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had a lot to live up to with five older brothers. Less than a year ago, she would have said six.
It didn't bring tears to her eyes because no one had died as some of you may have been thinking. Percy, the third oldest, had disowned the family when he learned of some things that they were doing. Ginny wasn't worried about it though. Percy often went to extremes when it was something he believed in, sometimes a good thing, but not always.
Bill was wild, but he had been head boy at Hogwarts and had gotten a good job with Gringotts. He was even engaged, even though the family didn't even know her name.
Charlie was Quidditch captain in his days. He could have gone on to play for almost any team, but he decided to hunt down dragons, often returning home with burns everywhere.
Percy, well, lets not go into him anymore. You know enough about this brother.
Fred and George were the comedians. They had started their own joke shop in Diagon Alley and were progressing fabulously.
Then there was Ron. He had a lot to live up to with all the others, but he did it. He was best friends with the famous Harry Potter. He also held the title for the best chess player Hogwarts ever had.
But Ginny… Ginny was different. She was smart, but not at the top of the class. She was sporty, but not enough to be on the Quidditch team. She had a good sense of humor, but not enough to be really funny. She was dedicated, but not enough to be a prefect. She wasn't good enough at anything to be known for it. The only time her name was known was when she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, and she didn't want to think about that. It had scarred her terribly.
The water had filled and she slowly slipped into the hot water. As she relaxed, she reflected on how people must see her. She was shy, quiet, and didn't have many friends. In fact, she didn't have any friends. She was a loner. Her family still believed she had a crush on Harry Potter and often treated her like the little girl she no longer was. She sat alone at the Gryffindor table and had her own chair reserved in the window in the common room.
Ginny sometimes wished she could be more outgoing. She wished she could go somewhere where no one knew her and could start all over again. No Harry Potter. No Tom Riddle. No Draco Malfoy. No overprotective family. No anyone. She wished she could go to this place and teach herself how to be outgoing, popular, someone people want to hang out with.
Slowly, Ginny finished up her bath and got ready for the day. It was September 1st. She and Ron were going back to Hogwarts. Fred and George had graduated the year before, passing their reputation on to some second years. They were starting out great, but only time would tell if they would live up to the name of Marauder which was passed to the Weasley twins from Sirius Black, one of the original Marauders. The only thing anyone could say was that the kids had a lot to measure up to.
Ginny was wearing an amazingly new black tube top with a silver rose imprinted on the front. Her hair was twisted into a sloppy bun with stray ringlets hanging at odd ends. She wore no make up and donned a pair of ripped flares that her mother hated.
She headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ginny was an insomniac. She would roll around all night, thoughts racing through her head, and she found that doing extra things in the morning would keep her awake.
So, she got out some pans and started on breakfast, putting French vanilla coffee on the muggle coffee maker her father had gotten to work. She made a variety of things on mornings like this as cooking was a love of hers and she soon had scrambled eggs, French toast, blueberry waffles, and chocolate chip pancakes set up along the table. She was kept awake through this with a large mug of coffee. Of course, only about 10% of it was coffee, 10% was milk, and the remaining 80% was pure sugar. Helpful, no?
The table was soon surrounded by the rest of the family, which included Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. Many believed she still harbored a crush on Harry, including some of the family, but she had long since gotten over it.
"Wow, Gin," Ron said through a mouthful of yams she had made especially for him. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Her family could always tell that way. The better the food, the less sleep the night before, not to mention the more coffee covered sugar.
"Nope!" Ginny replied gleefully, now on a sugar high and eating the chocolate chip pancakes. (NOOOO!!! Those were for Percy!) Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes.
"You all need to get your things together," Molly (I got tired of typing Mrs. Weasley) said. "We need to leave soon!"
Ginny, still on a sugar high and wishing for a place to start anew, was unaware of everything for the next few hours. She soon found herself in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Little did she know, her wish would soon come true.
The ride was uneventful until about half-way through. Ginny was jumping around the unshockingly empty compartment, still hyper from the sugar high and going insane from the pancakes. There was a sudden jerk and the lights went out (how original, huh?) as Ginny's trunk was forced open and its contents rained down on her.
To Ginny, it felt as if the train had stop momentarily before giving an even greater jerk and speeding off at incredible speeds. It was going so fast that the momentum threw her into the back wall. She fought to keep her eyes open, but found that she couldn't. She soon slipped off.
A bit later… or earlier if you want to be that way…
"Do you think she's alive?… OWWW!!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"
"You're an idiot Sirius. She's breathing, she can't be dead, and that did not hurt."
"REMUS!!! He hit me!"
"Well, Sirius, you must have done something to deserve it. I mean, James doesn't often hand out punches."
"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"No he's not, he's on my side. Aren't you, Remus?"
"Of course I am, Lily. Now, what is your side?"
"I dunno… Who's she?"
"I dunno."
"Never seen her."
"Are you sure she's not dead?… OWWWW!!!!"
"That SO did not hurt."
"You're right… I just wanted to be dramatic."
"Sirius?"
"Yes?"
"Shut. Up."
"OKAY!!!"
At this point, Ginny began to stir. She didn't know how long she'd been out, but she was aware of one thing. There were people in the compartment. No one ever came to her compartment. Ever. She immediately snapped into a sitting position, startling the others. It was quiet for a long time after that as everyone was waiting for someone else to say something. Finally, someone spoke up.
"Ummm… Hello," a girl with hair rivaling Ginny's in redness said. "I'm Lily Evans."
********************
A/N: Okay… I know I shouldn't be starting this fic as I have about 27 other ones that need to be finished… but it just called out to me. Oh wellz,
TOODLES!!!
TAT
Oh, and, by the way, I don't own anything yet. YET.
