Author's note: I do no own Harry Potter.

Ginny Weasley and the Half-Blood Prince

Chapter One- The Longest Ride Home

Ginny was not particularly known for patience, but thought she had displayed an amazing amount of it on the train ride from Hogwarts. She was sitting in the compartment and not screaming at the top of her lungs, instead politely doing puzzles from the Quibbler and occasionally trying, and failing, to read an article.

The Quibbler was filled with boundlessly entertaining stories ranging from three headed werewolves, to tooth decay conspiracies- all of which Ginny normally would revel in. Thanks to The Git, though, her brain was so full she read the same paragraph in the Loch Ness Kelpie interview three times without picking up a word. Her mind was preoccupied with internal debates, so she pretended to be very engrossed with the article, while her mind came down to conclusions on important matters.

Punching Ron would do little good, though it may make him rethink his trying to control her love life. She also contemplated writing to Harry while he was trapped with those muggles, but decided that it would be far too odd, as she'd never done it before, and there wasn't anything of interest she could tell him that Ron or Hermione hadn't covered. It was also too warm in the compartment, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the sun beating down on her, or her mounting anger.

The train finally came to a stop with a small high pitched screech as it ground along the tracks. Luna and Neville said their goodbyes from there while the trio grabbed their trunks and headed out to the corridor. Harry looked like his feet were made of lead, considering his slow weary pace. She heard Ron talking quietly to Hermione, and picked up the phrase 'going from Michael to Dean of all people!' Ginny quietly let everyone file from the compartment before her, glad to finally have a moment alone to fume.

"He is the world's biggest git!" She grabbed her trunk and, with much more force than necessary, slammed it to the ground. It made a creaking noise and popped open with great enthusiasm.

"Oh, just perfect…" she muttered, picking up the scattered paraphernalia. Her quills, chocolate frogs and clothes somehow managed to encompass most of the carriage. As she hastily picked up a low marked potions exam, she found a small drawing Dean had sketched of her while sitting in the common room. He'd commented on how he liked the way the light was hitting her hair and asked if he could draw her, which led to them spending an hour chatting, she having to keep her animation in check so he could sketch her properly. He was very talented, but made her much prettier than she really was, so she wasn't sure if it was recognizably her to anyone who didn't already know whose portrait it was. He did manage to get every freckle of hers in, though, not one out of place. She let out a small sigh, thinking of how sweet he could be.

"Are these yours?"

She turned around with horror to find Dean, one of her more embarrassing pair of polka-dotted knickers in hand. She turned red and quickly grabbed the offending garment, vowing to destroy them the moment she had the chance.

"I had a bit of an accident," she said, leaning down to pick up the rest of her undergarments before he could get a hold of them.

"I can see that," he smiled handing her some of her stray papers. She had a wild thought of running before she more resembled a tomato than a human, but instead opted for a bit of Git bashing.

"It's Ron's fault, really."

"He left you with this mess to clean up?"

"No, but he's the reason I was so corked," she said, wrathfully shoving a handful of clothes deep into her trunk. Dean quietly stacked her papers as she stuffed her trunk.

"I told him about you." She tried to sound casual, but suddenly found she was incapable of eye contact with him.

"And he…" he prompted. She wasn't going to tell him a thing about it, though. Why should she have to tell anyone about The Git's reaction? It was embarrassing and stupid and- and Dean was giving her such a nice smile, how could she refuse?

"Well, he went mental, of course, being the overprotective git that he is. First he was hinting like mad that Harry ought to date me, and then he gets crazy over you, upturning the chess board, going on and on about nothing but nonsense- just like with Michael, and it's enough to make me-"

"Explode your trunk?"

She let out a laugh, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Yes. Thank you for helping me pick up after myself."

"That's what a boyfriend is meant to do, right?" he grinned and handed her the neatly compiled papers. Could there be a nicer bloke in all of England?

"Mmm… You'll write over the summer, won't you?" she glanced up as she shut her trunk.

"Of course I will." He gave her that grin of his that made a tingly sensation begin in her stomach. Why was her stomach suddenly doing acrobatics?

"Right. Well… I'd better get going," she said. She wanted to kick herself for getting so flustered, and wanted to sock him for being so smug about it.

"Yeah, you should," he smirked. They stood there a moment, Ginny's ears flaming red, but thankfully hidden under her equally red hair that provided excellent camouflage.

"Oh, bugger it," she said, dropping her trunk and leaning in to give him a kiss. This was their first real kiss, as the other two were so chaste it could have been from her Aunt Cosily. He was a much better kisser than Michael. It wasn't rushed, or sloppy, but was slow and deliberate and just wonderful. It was a moment or two before they parted, both panting a bit. He didn't say anything as he grinned, and didn't really need to. He was so different from Michael. Michael could talk forever, but he couldn't just sit and enjoy her company. With Dean everything just fell into place so easily.

"I'm going to write as often as I can." He stared at her nose as if he was counting her freckles.

"Me too." She was preoccupied with the dimple in his left cheek. She gave him one more kiss, though this one was much shorter, before grabbing her trunk and quickly dragging it off the train. Was it possible for her grin to be any wider? She felt like skipping, and if she weren't in the middle of a train station, she would probably be singing a bit.

She spotted The Git over by the barrier between platforms nine and ten, as well as Hermione, and a much worn looking Harry, but couldn't let her mood be swayed. Yes Ron had been an ass, and yes she was worried over Harry, just as everyone else on the globe was; but it would take more than that to drag her down from this cloud nine.

The trio got through the platform immediately, but she had to wait as a few students she didn't know passed through ahead of her. She didn't particularly mind the short wait, as it gave her a moment longer to bask in the glow of her new boyfriend. He was perfect. He was thoughtful, talented, and gorgeous. He had straight teeth and a crooked smile. He liked to count her blasted freckles.

She barely noticed when she was ushered through the column by the conductor. She gave a smitten sigh. If she had seen another girl doing that she'd probably laugh, but right now it seemed to be perfectly acceptable. Floating a few feet above the ground, even in front of muggles, seemed acceptable.

"Ron, Ginny!"

"Whu?" she let out before her Mum swept her and Ron into a warm hug. It was only then that she noticed the huge reception that had been waiting for them. Fred and George had on some hideous dragon skin jackets, beaming with pride as only they could. Tonks and Remus were standing side by side, her bright hair made even more conspicuous by his muted attire. Mad-Eye was there as well, looking very out of place amongst the muggles, even with the bowler covering his creepy eye. Her dad seemed to have cornered Hermione's parents again, no doubt asking them perfectly mad questions.

"Oh, and Harry dear – how are you?" Her mum had made the rounds to Harry, and gave him a motherly hug.

"Fine." He was lying, of course. It was always a lie when he said 'fine' in that dull manner. If anyone knew how to worry people by saying 'fine', it was Harry Potter. He shouldn't be left at Privet Drive on his own, with only that horrible family of his for company. He should be with them, at the Burrow, playing Quidditch and smiling. His eyes stopped looking so old when he smiled.

"And there's our favourite sister!" Fred boomed, giving Ron a shove to the side.

"Been giving the school lots of trouble for us?" George asked, though it looked as if they really wanted her to comment on their awful jackets.

"Of course I have," she smiled standing back to take in the entire eyesore that was his jacket. "When did you get these?"

"The other day. We're rich, you know," George said conspiratorially.

"I can't say I'm surprised," she said with a shake of her head. Fred put an arm around her shoulder and led her in the direction of the car.

"You have to see the new shop!"

"We've outdone ourselves, if I do say so myself."

"People can't seem to get enough of us."

"Well, we are the best."

"Your egos speak volumes," Ginny smirked as Fred gave her hair a quick mussing. She looked back to her dad to see that he, along with everyone else, was giving a talking to the Dursleys.

"There's his whale of a cousin," Fred said in a low voice. Ginny had caught glimpses of Harry's family before, but this was her first time to really get a good look at them. His Aunt looked like a horse faced version of Narcissa Malfoy, taking into account the look on her face, while his uncle looked like his ankles should break from the stress of carrying all that weight. Dudley was hiding behind his mother, his hands suspiciously close to grabbing his own bum.

"Looks like they're putting the family through the ringer," said George, almost too gleefully.

"Well, why aren't we there helping them?" Ginny asked. The twins looked surprisingly sheepish.

"They wouldn't let us near the muggles because of the Ton Tongue Toffee incident of '94."

"Though I think that if they wanted to intimidate them, they should've let us have a go at them. Given the circumstances, all we managed was a gaseous hex."

Ginny let out a laugh of disbelief.

"The second they step over their threshold, all three of them are going to be cutting the cheese for three days straight."

"But won't Harry have to put up with the smell?"

"We thought of that. We didn't want Harry's eyelashes to fall off-"

"As you love his eyes so much-"

"So we figured out a way to make something they are very fond of be the trigger."

"What's the trigger?" Ginny asked.

"Harry's absence," the twins replied in unison.

"You blokes-" said Ginny, giving them each a friendly punch on the arm, "-are absolute geniuses."

"Why do you think we're so rich?" Fred asked.

"Oh stuff it," she said, making her way towards the crowd around Harry.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Well just because you aren't allowed to be near the muggles doesn't mean I'm not."

Ginny wanted to show that she was in full support of Harry as well, but as person after person said their goodbyes, she was somehow pushed to the back, and by the time she had made her way to the front, Harry was already waving and walking away with his gruesome relatives. She couldn't help but feel rather put out. After all, they had become friends this past year, hadn't they? He could have looked for her, or could have made an effort to tell her goodbye. Was eye contact too much to ask for?

"I know, aren't those people just horrible," Hermione said, mistaking Ginny's scowl for anger at the muggles.

"Yes they are, though the twins orchestrated the perfect way to make them suffer, if only a small amount."

"They didn't give them any of their Wizard Weaze's products, did they? Because according to article number 23 of the Muggle protection act-"

"No, no. They just gave them a well timed gaseous hex, where Harry's absence-"

"Is the trigger?" Hermione asked, eyes wide. Ginny nodded in confirmation. "They really are intelligent. It's too bad they never cared about their O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. exams. If they had put their minds to it, they could have done as well as Percy, I wager."

"Or as well as you," Ginny smiled.

"Oh… Well I'm not so sure I did all that well, actually. There were a few exams where I know I may have made a mistake. I did moderately well in Transfiguration, and Charms went well, but then Astronomy I'm not so sure of my score, considering what all happened, and Runes was-"

"Don't even start on that Hermione, you're perfect," Ron interrupted. Hermione went a bit pink, but Ron didn't seem to notice.

"Would you and your family like to have an early dinner with us at the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron asked, looking entirely too pleased to have a chance to see Hermione a bit longer.

"Oh! I'd really love to come with you, Ron, but my parents already made plans."

"Oh… Well you'll be coming to the Burrow soon, yeah?"

"I hadn't been asked by your parents, so-"

"Get off it. You know you're always welcome," Ron smiled with a roll of his eyes. It was times like this when he could be really sweet. Of course he never was aware he was doing it, much as he was never aware he was being an over-protective prat to his little sister. "I'll send Pig with a letter tomorrow about the arrangements."

"All right." Hermione looked a bit over whelmed, but was positively beaming.

Hermione's father pointed out the time, and they quickly said their goodbyes. Ron's eyes didn't leave Hermione till she was out of sight.

"Well, you certainly weren't obvious," Ginny teased Ron who turned red.

"Sorry to run, but I'm on duty tonight," Tonks said to the group, giving them a wave.

"Well be careful. Remus, why don't you walk her to the apparition point," Ginny's mum offered. "It's not right for a young lady to be out alone with things the way they are."

Lupin quickly capitulated to her request, not surprising given his gentlemanly tendencies, though Ginny thought it rather silly for her mother to ask him to watch after Tonks: she was an Auror after all. Fred and George gave Ginny a pat on the head, and sandwiched Ron between them ('Geroff!') before bounding off to tend to their shop. Moody bustled away without giving them more than a quick grunt and a nod of his hat, a sight which cause a nearby muggle child to start crying much to his chagrin.

They took a cab to the Leaky Cauldron to use the Floo Network. The Inn was oddly empty, but for a few dodgy looking warlocks sitting in the corner and a line of straggling Hogwart's students and their families waiting for the Floo.

Ginny noticed yet another paper with Harry's face plastered across it, an old picture from the tournament, where he smiled uncomfortably at the camera before blinking from the flash of the bulb. The caption above his name read 'The Chosen One' in large purple letters. It was a good thing he hadn't read the paper today. That kind of guff would definitely make him worse off. He never had liked that sort of attention. It was almost laughable seeing him looking so young with such a title looming over him. How could they expect him to defeat Tom Riddle when he was only fifteen years old?

"Ginny, it's your turn," her mum said, giving her a gentle nudge towards the fireplace, startling her out of her reverie.

"Oh right!" Ginny hastily grabbed a handful of purple Floo Powder and shouted "The Burrow!"

She landed in an uncharacteristic heap in their living room. Ron blinked at her before breaking into peals of laughter. Dusting herself off, after giving Ron a heavy glare, she made a beeline for her room, and flopped onto her bed for a nap, wondering if Harry's relatives had discovered the Twins' hex.

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Author's note:

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I have no idea how often I'll update, given my schedule.

Constructive criticism is always enjoyed, so review if you read this, please.