A/N: So, this story is basically going to be a series of short One-Shots, meant to give background on Ginny's friendship with my OC, Lissa. That being said, the focus will eventually shift from Ginny to Lissa, but I'm going to try to keep it Third Person Omniscient to keep from confusing anybody. I'm looking for a Beta, so if you're interested please PM me! All recognizable plots, characters, places, etc, belong to JKR. I only claim ownership of Lissa Freeling (if you like her and want to use her, you may, but try to keep her in character.)

Eleven-year old Ginny Weasley stood, uncertain, on the Hogwarts Express. Her parents had long since disappeared from sight, and now she was all alone- and tough as she was, Ginny didn't much like that her youngest brother had deserted her. Maybe she could find the twins, if she looked. Dragging her old steamer trunk behind her, she huffed a little at its weight, and glanced into each compartment as she passed. After going through two cars, she began to grow tired of dragging the heavy baggage around. At that point she gave up hope of finding Fred and George and instead just searched for an empty spot where she could store her trunk. There were no empty ones, but there was a compartment that only had one other first year, a small girl with dark hair who was staring out the window, facing away from the door.

"Excuse me," Ginny said, her voice a tiny bit timid, "is this space taken?"

"I don't know," the girl replied, turning toward her. Hair obscured the other girl's eyes, and Ginny frowned. "Is it?"

"If you didn't want me to share the compartment you could have just said so," she snapped, her face going bright red. The other girl reacted with a slight tilt of her head, then laughed a little.

"No, no," she said, brushing her hair away from her face. "I wasn't trying to be a prat. I really didn't know." Ginny went even redder as the girl revealed her eyes, bright blue irises surrounding a milky-white, unseeing pupil.

"Oh… I'm sorry…"

The girl shrugged. "It's alright, everyone reacts like that. There probably aren't many witches who were born blind, are there? I guess magic can fix the babies."

"I don't know," Ginny said, shrugging a little. "I guess."

"Well, you can come in here if you want. I don't know anyone yet. My name's Lissa Freeling."

"Ginny Weasley," the red head said, a little more relaxed. She shoved her luggage onto the rack, and sat across from Lissa. "So… what house do you think you'll be in?"

"I have no idea. I didn't know there were houses."

"Oh, are you muggle-born?"

"What?"

"Is either of your parents magical?"

"No," Lissa said stiffly. "At least, my dad isn't. I don't know if Mami was, she died when I was younger."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It isn't your fault. But," she shifted a bit, turning toward the sound of Ginny's voice, "if I am muggleborn, does that make a difference?"

"No. It doesn't."

"Good. I'm different enough, I don't need another thing to single me out."

"Everyone's different. You should talk to Harry Potter, he came from a muggle family. And he's different too. He defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Who?"

Ginny proceeded to spend much of the rest of the trip telling Lissa all about the Wizarding World, its history, her favorite celebrity, and Hogwarts. The other girl listened carefully, occasionally asking a question, or laughing when Ginny got sidetracked talking about Harry. As they approached the castle, Lissa smiled sheepishly.

"I was worried I wouldn't make friends- but now I'm glad. Do you think we could be friends, Ginny?"

"I'd love to be your friend, Lissa!"

"Then it's settled. Friends."

"Best friends."

The two girls giggled as they clambered off the train, Ginny leading Lissa by her shirtsleeve. Though they didn't know it yet, the two had just intertwined their lives in irreversible ways.


"You probably hate me."

Lissa turned toward Ginny, anger written plainly on her face. "Don't say that. I could never hate you." Her tone got a little icier. "I told you to get rid of it."

Ginny was still sullen, not looking at her friend as they sat in the deserted Common Room. "I know. I did try, a while ago. But Harry got ahold of it, so I had to steal it back."

"Should've burned it in the fire. I told you flushing it down Myrtle's toilet would only irritate her."

"I know."

"Stop sounding so sad." Lissa's tone was dangerous. "Like you should be guilty. It wasn't your fault, it was that damned diary. It made your brain go wonky."

"The basilisk almost killed you. And I was telling it to."

"That's what you're upset over? Ginny, I'm blind, it would've had to eat me or something, which it wasn't about to do. I was more concerned it was going to kill you. And when it took you down to the Chamber, I was beside myself. I ran straight to McGonagall." Lissa put her arm around Ginny's shoulder. "I thought you were going to die."

"I could've hurt so many people…"

"No, he could have. Not you. Ginny Weasley wouldn't hurt a doxy- not unless it was warranted anyway." The blind witch stood, pacing a little. "And you had no concern for yourself. God, Ginny! I can't how idiotic you're being. You can't do that to me. That hurts more than what nearly happened, a thousand times more." Lissa got quiet, turned toward the warmth of the fire. "You're my best friend. What would I do if I lost you?"

Ginny stood, made her way over to Lissa, and hugged the other witch. They stayed like that, sobbing quietly on each other's shoulders as the fire roared behind them.