Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling. She's amazing.

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The summer had been very interesting. The first half full of stories of adventure and heroism. Like one of her fairy stories come to life. Harry Potter was real! She had actually met him and he was best friends with one of her brothers! That was so cool. And now every new day was just another 'X' on her calendar marking down until she could go to Hogwarts.

Finally take that great step onto the scarlet Hogwarts express. She was absolutely shivering in anticipation. Even when her brothers teased her about how she wasn't actually a witch and she was going to have to go to the muggle school in Ottery St. Catchpoles, she still knew the truth. Her accidental magic was constantly showing itself. Particularly when she was annoyed. Ginny Weasley was clearly given the correct hair colour. While she was fun loving and mischievous, not unlike her twin brothers, she had the capacity for one hell of a temper tantrum in her younger days. As she grew older and more and more of her brothers left for those sacred halls she mostly passed her time reading left behind spell books and her mothers romance novels. Romance novels may have been an odd choice for a ten-year-old, but Ginny was beyond bored being the only kid home. She loved flying as well, but with no one to play with it wasn't as fun.

So, she had resigned herself to her own betterment, trying to learn as much as she could to prepare herself for what lay ahead. She practiced wrist movements, concentrating really hard on what she was doing, deluding herself that she would be able to do wandless magic and huffing when nothing happened.

Going to Romania for Christmas had been very exciting, she knew Ron would be so jealous, but honestly? She would have switched places with him in a heart-beat.

The day her brothers came home from school she had Ron tell the story of the Philosophers Stone again and again. While it was amazing and adventurous, deadly and compelling she couldn't help but see the main flaw in the story. The ending. The summation of the story was that if they'd done nothing then the Philosophers Stone wouldn't have gotten out of the mirror. If they hadn't have showed up then Dumbledore would have caught Professor Quirrell and killed that piece of 'You-Know-Who'. She kept that bit to herself though.

The second part of her summer was just beginning, and it was letter day. Ginny lay in bed smiling while she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and listened to her mother yell at her brothers three floors below. 'Just another day for them' she said to herself as she got up. They weren't due to get their letters with a list of school supplies for a few days, but her acceptance letter should be coming today!

She got up and looked around her room for her clothes. She'd set out exactly what she wanted to be wearing for today. The first day of the rest of her life. But she couldn't find her jumper.

"'Gah!' she exclaimed in a huff, nothing was ever where she left it! Her room was impeccably clean because A. she'd barely owned anything to begin with, and B. whatever she did have she'd already packed into her trunk for Hogwarts. She couldn't help herself.

Ginny gave up the search of her room and went downstairs. "Mum" she said swinging around the corner of the stairs and into the kitchen "Have you seen my jumper?"

She glanced at four of her brothers eating breakfast and stood in shock when she noticed the fifth person at the table. Her mothers' response didn't ever register in her head. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her head. 'Harry Potter is in my kitchen' he looked tired and exhilarated with a piece of bacon half way to his mouth.

He smiled at her in greeting "Hello" he said.

However, words could not form in her mouth. If she tried to say anything right now it would have come out as gobble de guk. Her flight response kicked in and after what felt like forever of staring into his green eyes. She turned around and bolted back to her room only just registering the snickers now going on in the kitchen.
Once back in her room she shut her door and buried her head under her pillow.

Why today of all days? She'd been hearing stories about him all her life, as long as she could remember. She was star struck! She'd been waiting to meet him and see for herself that he existed, but she didn't want it to be today! Tears leaked out of her eyes and she couldn't quite make out what she was more upset about, making a fool of herself in front of him or the day just not being exactly what she wanted.

An hour later she heard her mom sneak into her room. She didn't have any more tears, but she was still miserable. "I have something for you" Molly Weasley smiled as she sat on Ginny's bed. Ginny's chin quivered as she sat up and crossed her legs looking at the letter in her mothers' hand with the Hogwarts seal. 'Ginevra M. Weasley' was visible in emerald green ink.

Silently she took it from her mother and opened it. "We are pleased to inform you" Ginny began and looked at her mom who put on a proud face.

"Oh I am so happy for you!" She exclaimed and hugged her.

Ginny hugged her back "It isn't like they would send me a rejection letter" she giggled.

Molly shook her head "I still can't believe my youngest is off to Hogwarts in just one month!"

"Yes mum" Ginny rolled her eyes. "But it just seems so anti-climactic now with Harry Potter here."

Molly clucked her tongue "Yes, that was a surprise" She leaned back from the hug, "As is you using the term 'anti-climactic.'"

Ginny blushed slightly. Her vocabulary was a little advanced for a ten-year-old (for two more days), she knew, but she'd read every novel in the house and looked up all the words she didn't understand in Percy's dictionary.

Her mother nudged her chin "You are going to love it at Hogwarts dear. If getting in hasn't brightened you up enough just think of how I've got the boys de-gnoming the garden for you and soon you will be going to Diagon Alley for your first wand."

At that Ginny smiled and nodded.

As hard as she tried at dinner not to embarrass herself in front of Harry Potter she still managed to put her elbow in the butter dish before just giving up and bowing her head in shame.

All day had been spent outside after Fred, George, Ron and Harry had finished with their punishment and gone in for a nap. She grabbed a broom on her way out the door and went for a fly to escape the house. She didn't notice that it wasn't the regular Cleansweep until she kicked off and was in the air.

The ride was so smooth she started. Looking more carefully she saw it was a Nimbus 2000 and realized it was actually Harry Potters broom. A wicked smile appeared on her face before she leaned forward and did a few barrel roles. She spent hours marveling in the spectacular differences a decent broom made.

Bringing that to mind after helping her mother clear up after dinner and then went off to bed, she fell into a contented deep sleep.

Harry looked at all of them in the upmost confusion. "He'd never used Floo before mum!" Ron exclaimed.

"How did you get to Diagon Alley last year?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"The Underground" Harry replied. Ginny immediately pictured him digging under Diagon Alley and shook her head of the image before she laughed.

"Really! Did they have escapators?"

"Ginny knew her dad loved everything Muggle, she herself was quite impressed with how they got things done with out magic, but now was not the time. She was getting a wand today! Even Ron had been stuck with a hand me down wand, she couldn't believe her luck that there wasn't one to pass on to her. Her school robes would be second hand, but she was fine with that.

"Diagonally" She heard pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Shit" she said out loud. Normally she would have gotten told off for her language, but they were all looking at each other thinking the same thing. 'He did it wrong'. Her dad went right after him and Ginny after that. She stepped forward into the flames "Diagon Alley" she said clearly and felt the suctioning feeling.

She landed gracefully beside her dad. "Any sign of him?" she asked.

"None" he replied with a worried look. She stepped behind him and looked down Diagon Alley. The street was bustling, and she was way to short to see him in this mess of people even if he was there.

She heard the rest of her family come out the grate, with each member the question and answers were the same. "Fred. George. Take Ginny and wait on the steps of Gringotts for us" her mother instructed the twins. They all parted ways to search for Harry Potter.

Waiting on the steps of Gringotts Fred and George were telling her about horrible Floo incidents of the past. She half paid attention while making the appropriate remarks as she scanned the crowd. "And one guy even splinched himself! Imagine, one foot here, and arm there!" Fred went on.

"Ew!" Ginny made a face and noticed a well-dressed blond man with pursed lips observing them while he made his way to the bank. It seemed as though he knew them, and hated them. Ginny stared at him in confusion and then noticed a cute boy with him.

"Found him!" George said. Ginny turned back to him and followed his eye line to where an enormous man was making his way through the crowd. Harry looked so small scrambling on beside him.

Half an hour later Ginny found herself sandwiched between her mother and another overly excited housewife while Gilderoy Lockhart smiled widely and held Harry's hand in a death grip. Ginny was smiling and shaking her head. Lockhart's books always seemed a little far fetched and over embellished (another look up in Percy's dictionary) for her to be non-fiction. But Harry's pained expression amused her. He really didn't seem to be enjoying the spotlight. She looked up at her mothers excited face and suddenly felt the cauldron she was holding get much heavier.

"Here, you have these, I can buy my own" Harry said as he had just dumped a bunch of books into it.

'Great' she thought as her surprise wore off. 'I will just summon my inner troll and heave these along.' She stumbled along trying to get through the crowd to the alley.

"I bet you loved that didn't you Potter?" she heard. That cute boy with the sneering man was attempting to intimidate Harry. He didn't look so cute with the same sneer his father had had.

She frowned and realized this must be Draco Malfoy. Ron had complained about him plenty, which made the sneering man Lucius Malfoy. Her dad had complained about him plenty. She knew they were supposedly on the wrong side of the last war. She set down her cauldron and before she knew what she was doing she was standing between Draco and Harry glaring up at Draco. "Leave him alone, he didn't want all that."

Surprise registered on Draco's face before he pursed his lips. "Oh look! Potters found himself a girlfriend."

Ginny felt a small blush creep onto her face and some of her bravery turn to embarrassment. She was saved from further comments when Lucius Malfoy came to stand beside his son and gracefully picked up some of her books from her cauldron. "Hey!" she exclaimed before her dad stepped over.

"This place is madness, lets go outside." Arthur Weasley distractedly tried to wrangle them. "Lucius Malfoy."

While their fathers exchanged words, Ginny snuck a few more looks at Draco. His expressions seemed to flicker quickly between surprise and disgust. When she looked back to the men, they were in an all-out brawl now and the shopkeeper was trying to break them apart. It was rather thrilling to watch. She and the twins had the same excited expressions as their mother ushered them out of the book store.

The rest of the time in Diagon Alley passed nicely, Ginny got her uniform and saw her friend and neighbor Luna Lovegood briefly and she got her wand! Later in her room she took inventory of her new possessions and found that her parents gave her a diary as well. It was second hand as there was a name inscribed on it, but never used so she didn't care. Ginny found it thoughtful.

The rest of her summer was spent practicing spells in her room. She knew that technically the trace didn't apply until she started her magical education, so she was free to practice until then. She knew it wasn't like her brothers would let her partake in their Quidditch games. Not that there were enough brooms anyways.

Finally, September 1st was upon them and she was standing on platform 9 3/4, which she had done every year of her life, but this time she was actually going on it! They had been running late so all she could do was give her parents a quick hug and run onto the train. The twins had thankfully taken charge of her trunk and swiftly left to find their friends. Ginny stood in the corridor of the train watching the twins walk away and seeing everyone around her greet their friends, she was a little startled that she hadn't thought about this part. Of course, she wouldn't be hanging out with her brothers at school. Ginny let out a mixture of a sigh and a strangled cry at her idiocy. She didn't know who to sit with.

"You've got Wrakspurts around you Ginny" said a dreamy voice behind her.

Ginny turned around. "Luna!" she exclaimed and basically threw herself at the blond girl hugging her tight.

"Good to see you too" Luna smiled.

"Have you found somewhere to sit yet?"

"No, I was just going to wander and see if I cold find any interesting creatures aboard."

Ginny contained a snicker. While she'd known Luna for years because they were essentially neighbors and knew her dad ran the Quibbler (an odd magazine with obscure articles) she was as odd as the magazine itself, but a truly honest person. "Well, please consider me an interesting creature and come find somewhere to sit with me."

She grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her along. They found a compartment with one shy looking boy in it. "Hello" Ginny smiled brightly as she opened the door. "May we join you?"

He smiled feebly and nodded.

Ginny and Luna got settled in. "We're going into our first year. What about you?" Ginny asked him.

Ginny heard a croak from his pocket. The boy pulled out a toad.

"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed "Your Neville Longbottom!" Ron and Harry had mentioned he had a toad. "You are in Gryffindor with my brother."

Neville's whole demeanor changed. "So, you are a Weasley"

"Yes, I'm Ginny, the youngest and bestest Weasley" She laughed. "And this is my friend Luna Lovegood." Luna just gave him a dreamy smile and looked out the window. Ginny shook her head and shrugged at Neville. "So, what is your favourite and least favourite thing about Hogwarts?" she asked eagerly.

She never did trust her brothers with the answers to these questions.

"Well, my least favourite is definitely Professor Snape, the Potions master."

"There is a consensus on that one. All my brothers say the same thing."

They laughed a bit. "My favourite" Neville looked like he was deep in thought on that one. "Belonging I guess?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny was confused.

"When I was sorted into Gryffindor it was the best day of my life!" He went on to describe being in the dorm with four other boys and how he had earned the house points at the end of the previous year that put them just over so that Gryffindor won the House Cup.

"I am pretty sure I will follow my family's footsteps and be in Gryffindor" Ginny told him "My whole family expects it."

"Don't say that" Luna pipped up. She'd been silent the whole time until now. "You should make your own decisions, not let people make them for you."

Ginny stared at her. Was she letting someone make a decision for her? She had no idea how the sorting hat decided who to put where. What was she supposed to do? Tell the hat off? The three of them sat silently for a few minutes until the compartment door opened and Draco Malfoy leered at Neville flanked by two imposing looking boys.

"Can't believe you made it into second year Longbottom. Guess the donation my family made to the school wasn't enough. They still needed your tuition." Malfoy and his henchmen laughed and Neville blushed hanging his head.

Ginny couldn't believe this boy. "Do you really have nothing better to do?" she asked him hotly.

His gaze turned to her. "How can you even afford to be here?" he sneered. "Your family must have sold off their home by now Weasley to cover the last of their litters school costs."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You aren't clever and you aren't funny either." She stood up and grabbed the door to close it. "No one wants you here so bugger off."

Draco placed his hand on the door "Who do you thing you are talking to?" He snarled.

"Honestly?" She looked him up and down "Not much."

Draco grabbed his wand and she grabbed hers. He laughed. "Seriously? Like you could do anything, you haven't even started your first year."

"Expellaramus" Ginny said with determination. Draco fell back on one of his cronies and Ginny grabbed his wand. "Never underestimate a ginger" She said to his shocked face.

Ginny threw his wand down the hall, slammed the compartment door shut and locked it while drawing the blinds. "How could you do that?" Neville was astounded. "I don't even know that spell!"

"I have six older brothers and I've been practicing spells since I got my wand. Really I'm just kind of stunned it worked." She had just settled back down in her seat when there was a rapping at the door.

Neville and Luna looked to Ginny to see what to do. "Ginny?" She heard from the other side of the door. It sounded like Percy.

"Oh!" She hopped back up to the door and opened it. "Hi Percy!" She smiled.

Percy glanced around at her companions and back to her. "Did you just have an altercation with someone?"

"I had words with the Malfoy boy if that's what you mean. He was being entirely rude"

"Did you use a disarming spell on him?"

Ginny furrowed her brow at him. She highly doubted that Malfoy would spread around that he'd been taken down by someone younger than him, and a girl. "Am I supposed to know disarming spells before going to Hogwarts?"She purposefully added a hint of panic to her voice.

Percy smiled softly and relaxed. "No, of course not." He tugged at a strand of her hair lovingly. "Enjoy the rest of your ride."

Ginny shut the door again and turned around. Neville and Luna raised their eyebrows at her. She blushed slightly smiling. "Well I didn't say I hadn't done it." The three of them chuckled.

They had all settled back into a companionable silence and Ginny pulled out her new diary and a Muggle pen. She much preferred them to quills, so much less effort.

Train ride to Hogwarts and my brothers had abandoned me!

She began to write with a flourish and her usual, casual humor. And then watched her words disappear.

I remember my first ride to Hogwarts too. It was an incredible feeling. I am sorry if you are lonely. Do you want to talk about it? The Diary wrote back.

Ginny gasped. "What's up?" Neville asked her.

Ginny looked up at him. "Just amazed with how much easier using a pen is to a quill." She lied quickly.

What house do you think you will be sorted into? The diary asked.

Ginny was confused. She'd never heard of a book responding like this before. She pondered a minute before answering with a question of her own.

Isn't that not left up to me? She remembered Luna's comment about making her own decisions.

Let us pretend it is, what would you like to be? Brave, Humble, Clever or Cunning?

Ginny stared at the words before they disappeared. "May be time to get dressed." Luna said. Ginny snapped the diary shut and stashed it away before pulling on her uniform.

Half and hour later they were all standing on the platform, Ginny in the line-up of first years following Hagrid. She hadn't seen Harry or Ron at all. Brave, Humble, Clever or Cunning. She had those words going through her head over and over again until she was suddenly in the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall welcomed them all and the sorting hat sang, then one by one the first years were called to the front. Brave, Humble, Clever or Cunning. She knew which house belonged to which word. She looked over to where her brothers were sitting.

Fred and George were brave, but they were cunning too.

Percy was brave, but he was clever too.

She couldn't find Ron at the table, but he was brave. The other terms didn't seem to suit him at all.

Luna was called forward. "Ravenclaw" the hat had said. Ginny was surprised. She would have thought Hufflepuff. Maybe she really did have a say. Brave, Humble, Clever or Cunning. She went over the words faster and faster until she was the last first year to be sorted.

"Weasley, Ginevra" Professor McGonagall said, and Ginny went forward and sat on the stool facing the rest of the school.

Ginny looked at her brothers who were poised waiting to applaud her way into Gryffindor. Ginny closed her eyes to block them out. When she opened them again she'd decided. 'Clever' she thought loudly.

"Ravenclaw" The hat bellowed.
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Not exactly a cliff hanger. It is the title of the Chapter, and the story.