I acknowledge that these characters are not my own and belong only to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter One

Fanning the Flames

Ginny rounded the corner her red hair flying out behind her in the late afternoon breeze, her shoulders sagging under the weight of all her books, she stopped and surveyed the courtyard enviously. How lucky all those first and second years were; care free, happily basking the sunlight. With her upcoming OWLS, Hermione's constant pestering, the tedious amount of homework being forced on her and quidditch practice she felt as though her life were being dominated by school. When was the last time she, Hermione, Luna and her other friends had gone down to the Three Broomsticks? She couldn't remember. She barely even had time to finish her meals before rushing off to the library to research another study topic let alone time to spend with Harry. Despite Harry's unending patience and steady encouragement she felt horrible for dragging him into all this mess. Though he never complained and insisted on staying with her she knew he longed to be outside at Hogsmeade or hanging with some of his friends on the quidditch pitch instead of being cooped up in the common room or library helping her recite the twelve uses of dragons blood for the Potions theory exam or practicing wand movements for the practical Charms exam.

She made her way up to the Gryffindor Common room, muttering the password to the fat lady and dumping her bags at the nearest table. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began on her History essay outlining the Goblin battle in 1645. But she could barely concentrate especially once Fred and George came bouncing into the room waving their latest Skiving snack boxes into innocent first years faces. She grinned to herself, those puking pastilles and nosebleed nougats had come very handy this year especially when she needed to escape from one of Professor Binn's lectures or Trelawney's psychopathic rants. Never mind she thought as she slammed her book closed she would never be able to concentrate in this noise besides quidditch practice began in half an hour and she wanted to get down to the pitch to warm up.

Just at that moment Hermione came storming in through the portrait visibly fuming and plunked herself down by the fire. Ginny approached her cautiously; Hermione was known to be quite vicious when she was upset. Ginny sat down beside and was about to open her mouth to say something when Hermione snapped,

"I don't want to talk about it now. Better make sure your not late for quidditch practice" and she turned away. Ginny was upset and confused but decided not to push it; rants, raves and catastrophic spells Ginny could deal with but when Hermione got like this the only thing to do was to back away quickly before she took her wand out because you did not want to be on the receiving end of one of her hexes.

On her way down to the pitch, now fully dressed in her quidditch apparel, Ginny was lost in thought and so totally unprepared when Angelina Johnson dashed up in front of her and exclaimed

"The timetable's been rearranged because the Hufflepuff seeker got a ruptured appendix and so the whole team had to forfeit. We're versing Slytherin and Snape's refereeing!"

"No!" Ginny cried in shock. How were they ever supposed to win with such a biased referee? "Why can't Madame Hooch referee?" asked Ginny desperately clinging to any scrap of hope within the boundaries of reality.

"Never mind that- just wait until you hear what comes next- fair warning it's even worse!" she said.

"What could be worse?" Ginny thought aloud.

"Harry's got detention from McGonagall that Saturday and we can't get a substitute seeker so Oliver's said you'll have to play as seeker!"

Ginny's heart sunk and she felt faint, all the blood drained from her face and she leant against the wall for support momentarily. Play as seeker? Against Slytherin? Against Malfoy? With Snape refereeing? No. No way.

"I-I-I c-can't p-play as s-seeker!" She managed to choke out. "Besides w-who would play chaser instead?"

"Don't be daft," Angelina scoffed. "We can get a replacement chaser in a heartbeat, but your the best option we've got for a seeker."

By now they had reached the pitch and she could make out Oliver's shape talking hurriedly with Alicia Spinnet.

"I suppose Angelina's filled you in?" he asked mournfully turning away from Alicia when they reached him. Ginny nodded and cast a glance around at the rest of the team who were looking up at her expectantly.

"I-I can't play as seeker, Oliver." She said again. The team slumped in defeat and Oliver's face fell, he turned around and walked away. Ginny was confused; surely her not playing wasn't that bad? Then it hit her if she didn't play the whole team would have to forfeit meaning Slytherin would win. She mulled this over in her head for a few minutes, visions of Malfoy victorious, the green and sliver banner hoisted and McGonagall shaking hands with a smug Snape! Ugh! She couldn't let that happen.

"Hey, Oliver," she called out after him. "Alright..I'll do it...I'll play…as seeker." What she had not been expecting was the team's reaction. They all let out a loud cheer and Fred and George went around cheering: "Ginny's seeker! Gryffindors going to win!"

"I am not guaranteeing anything especially not a win but I'll do my best. Okay?" she said firmly she didn't want to be responsible for raising the team's hopes. But Fred and George just grinned.

"Hey Ginny, if it weren't for the fact that we're depending on you, we might just be a little mad at how good you are..." Fred trailed off and George continued as she looked up completely bemused as to what they were talking about.

"Yeah, what was Hermione telling us the other day? That you've been sneaking into the shed from the age of six and taking our brooms out in turn?" Ginny grimaced.

"Yeah, well, serve you right for not letting me play." She retorted.

"Nah it's all right Gin, only fifteen and already breaking the rules, we couldn't be more impressed" Ginny rolled her eyes turning around as Oliver called the celebration to a halt in order to get some hard-core quiditch practise in.

Had she not been so occupied with all the beaming faces of her teammates she might have noticed a shadowy figure watching her longingly from the stairwell that led back up to the castle. But she didn't notice and the figure who had been staring so intently at her left.

When Ginny finally made it to bed that night she was confused. She had felt great at making the team so happy but guilty for taking over Harry's spot. Harry had accepted it with good grace, grinning and wishing her luck but she knew he was upset, though he would never show it. Then there had been the celebration party, Fred and George had sneaked past Filch and into the kitchens where the all-too-obliging house elves laden them down with baskets full of pasties, tarts, cakes, sweets and chocolates. Hermione, whose bad mood had vanished as soon as she had heard Ginny's news, had conjured a magical banner that sparkled and shone, wishing the team good luck. Apparently the whole team had been very anxious as they had been ninety percent sure that Ginny would flat out refuse to play. Ron, Dean, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione and most of Gryffindor had promised to take revenge if either Malfoy or Snape laid a single finger on her. But all the time no matter how hard Fred and George made her laugh, no matter how safe Harry made her feel and no matter how special she knew her life was she could not escape the sick anxiety that was gnawing away at her inside.

And so as she lay in bed her emotions engaged in an epic conflict she couldn't help considering bailing and breaking her arm or her leg. But deep down she knew she couldn't do that not after all the trouble Gryffindor had gone to thank and congratulate not after the party or the broomstick. No she couldn't. Ginny eased herself up in bed, knowing she would never make it to sleep. She slipped on her slippers and made her way down to the common room. She glanced around; the banner Hermione had made now cast eerie shadows around the room. She heard a noise behind her and wheeled around heart in her throat only to realize it was Ron, who had fallen asleep by the fire, softly snoring. She smiled and then made her way out of the portrait hole and down the corridor. She did not know where she was going until she arrived. She was standing on the seventh floor at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. The door materialized before her and she stepped inward into a well lit room that, once her eyes adjusted to the light, she discovered to be a library. With small, comfy chairs, lamps, rows of bookshelves and an open fire Ginny felt at once at home. She strode over to the nearest shelf and selected a book called "The Anatomy of Flying". Settling onto the nearest chair she opened the book and began to read. It was only a small noise that snapped her out of her bubble and suddenly she realized she was not alone.

A tall figure was leaning casually on a bookshelf, the shadows obscuring his face from view. Ginny jumped up brandishing her wand, a thousand different hexes and jinxes coming to mind but instead of using any of them she spoke instead.

"Who are you?" she hissed

"Do you really want to know Weasley?" he asked and she heard a smile in his voice. But it was not the laughter that rang in his voice that made her step back shocked; it was the arrogance that would cause her to recognize that voice anywhere.