Ginny Weasley awoke in her lavender footie pajamas

Ginny Weasley awoke in her lavender sleeper. No matter how much the other girls laughed, it was the warmest thing for a cold winter night. Her fiery head rose from the "G" embroidered pillowcase her mother had sewn. Her fuzzy feet padded over to the window, where her brown eyes widened at the sight of snow falling. A lot of it. The lake was frozen over and the Forbidden Forest looked more like an enchanted forest. Wow, Ginny thought, how lovely. She turned away from the window, dressed, and went down to the common room to warm up in front of the fireplace. She found her brother Ron there, studying.

"Hey, Gin. Want to play chess?" he asked, putting his book down.

"Sure," Ginny replied. It had been a while since she had seen Ron without his friends around—especially Harry. She could hardly talk when he was around. Surprisingly, she had found herself missing her tall, annoying older brother.

"You can be white," he said, setting up the board. They started playing.

"Did you see the snow?" Ginny asked, moving a bishop.

"Yeah," he said, capturing the bishop with a knight. "Harry"—Ginny jumped at the name—"said that it was too bad we live at school. He said that if he was still going to a Muggle school, classes would be cancelled."

"That'd be nice," Ginny said absently, trying to find a move that might slow Ron's advance. "Don't move me there, you redheaded brat!" a pawn cried. "His queen'll get me!" Ginny shushed it.

"Seamus!" Ron suddenly called. "Top o' the mornin' to ye, lad!" Seamus climbed out the portrait hole with his face in his hands, groaning.

"What?" Ginny said, laughing.

Ron shook his head. " 'Posh Brit' wasn't getting to him anymore, so I switched to 'Irishman.' I don't think he likes it," Ron observed. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Check!" Ron exclaimed.

"What?!" Ginny said. "Why do I bother! I should learn that you win every time."

Ron grinned. "Losing is good for you. Teaches humility." Ginny grumbled.

"I'm going down to breakfast," she said.

Ron wagged a finger. "No, no, no. You've forgotten: loser puts game away!"

§ § §

After a hot and filling breakfast, Ginny and her class tromped outside to Care of Magical Creatures. "What d'you suppose it'll be today?" Ginny's friend Holly asked.

"I don't know," Ginny replied. "Hopefully something warm."

It was indeed. Someone had put wards up around a large portion of the grounds. The snow stopped when it got there, and Ginny felt decidedly warmer as she walked through the barrier. "Oh, this is much better," Holly said happily, pulling off her coat. Ginny looked around. There were three very large fish tanks set up, each holding red, blue, or yellow fish, swimming lazily. Ginny raised her eyebrows—they looked too tame for Hagrid.

"Gather 'round, gather 'round," Hagrid called. "Now, these fish here are called 'Primaries.' You mostly find 'em in the tropics, which is the reason for the wards. They don't like the cold, y'see."

"Why are they in separate tanks?" Colin Creevy asked.

"This." Hagrid took a large net, caught one of the blue fish, and transferred it to the yellow tank. The yellow fish converged on it immediately and tore it to bits. Most of the class screamed and looked away. "Wonderful!" Holly said sarcastically. She was shaking like a leaf.

"I should have know. I should have know, with Hagrid," Ginny said, feeling sick.

"Thanks a lot, Colin! You had to ask!" someone called out. "Did you get a picture of that?" asked another. Colin's face was white.

"It's okay," Hagrid called, trying to restore order. "They only do that when they're feeling ornery. When you can get two of 'em to mate, the colors are beautiful. You can see some o' them over here."

"Just keep them in separate tanks," Ginny muttered.

§ § §

The rest of the class was better, and Ginny was in a cheerful mood as she headed back to the castle, talking about the fish.

"I liked the chartreuse one the best," she said to Holly.

"But the black-and-white-striped one was cool, you gotta admit!" said Colin, joining the conversation.

"I liked the hot pink one," Holly said. "I used to visit the aquarium when I was little, but I had never seen quite that color on a fish."

Ginny was still in high spirits through Muggle Studies. They were on a unit called "Muggle Perceptions of Magic," which involved reading several selections from fantasy novels from their book. Most of the descriptions were wrong, of course, but Ginny found herself liking the stories and resolved to check the Muggle section of the library over lunch. She could use some books for bedtime reading.

§ § §

Ginny had Charms after lunch. Professor Flitwick must have been thinking about the snow, because they did Warming Charms. The professor split them up into pairs and they went to work trying to heat a cup of tea without it boiling over. It took a few tries, but Ginny got the charm to work. She took a sip; Mmm, she thought, Darjeeling.

§ § §

Ginny entered the History of Magic classroom to find a woman, her dark hair in a fat braid. "Where's Professor Binns?" she asked.

"Maybe he's gotten the flu," suggested a classmate behind her.

"Maybe he's dead," Colin said. Ginny looked at him. "You know what I mean," he said. "Passed on. Not a ghost anymore."

"You are both wrong," said the woman. She looked up from her desk. "Professor Binns is attending his granddaughter's wedding. I will be substituting for the next few days. My name is Professor Clio."

I never thought of Professor Binns as a grandfather, Ginny thought as she sat down and took out her notebook.

The class soon learned that Professor Clio was a much more interesting teacher that Professor Binns. For one thing, she had a light and musical voice that made Ginny actually want to listen to her. For another, she expected class participation.

"What was the last thing you covered in your notes?" she asked, flipping through a thick book.

"We were talking about Gregory the Smarmy," Penny Joseph called out.

"Mmm-hmm. And who can tell me about him?"

Ginny raised her hand. "He was the most wise and charismatic Minister of Magic in the history of Britain."

"Good. Someone, name one of his most important accomplishments."

It was like that for the whole period. The Professor told them about Gregory's early life, his dealings with the ministry, and his plots to keep Britain out of war. At the end of the class, she passed out Chocolate Frogs to everybody, saying that the cards inside gave good information on important historical figures. All in all, it was the best History of Magic class Ginny could ever remember having, even the time when twelve of her classmates had sneaked out the window without Professor Binns noticing.

"I bet Professor Binns would have never told us about the time Gregory the Smarmy was caught putting anti-rodent charms around his room! Can you imagine, the wisest Minister of Magic ever afraid of mice!?!" Holly said, laughing.

"That was hilarious!" Ginny agreed. "I hope class'll be that fun tomorrow."

§ § §

Ginny pulled a book out of her bag and propped it up on the table at supper, spooning hot mashed potatoes and green beans on her plate without really watching what she was doing.

Hermione was sitting across the table from Ginny. "What're you reading, Gin?" she asked interestedly.

Ginny held the book up for Hermione to see the title. "It's a Muggle book," she said, blushing a little. "I got it out of the library."

"Oh, yes," Hermione said. "I've read that."

"Really?" Ginny was surprised.

"Really?" Ron was even more surprised.

"My friends back home all read fantasy books"—Ginny smiled at the irony—"and they got me into it too. That's a good series. Happy reading."

As Ginny got back to her book, Ron snorted. Hermione said, "Oh, but you'd like them, Ron. All the titles have to do with chess, for starters…"

§ § §

Ginny had her nose in the book as she climbed the stairs and passageways up to the Gryffindor tower. "Chair," she said to the Fat Lady, and scrambled through the hole, the Fat Lady muttering about stupid passwords. Could someone guess a password that stupid, though? Ginny thought in response. That is the whole idea, after all. She sat in a leather armchair near one of the high windows, still reading.

"It's still snowing," a voice suddenly said. Ginny's eyes jerked up at the person looking out her window, heart in her throat. It was Harry Potter, wonderful, gorgeous, divine…Get a grip, Ginny Weasley! she told herself.

"It's beautiful," Ginny managed to say. The snow reflected off Harry's glasses and his emerald eyes underneath. Then they turned to her. Ginny's heart stopped.

"Yeah," he said, "it is." He noticed her book. "What're you reading?"

Ginny held the book up, hoping she wasn't blushing too hard.

"Oh," he said. "Any good?" Ginny nodded

"That's good," Harry said. "Well, bye, Ginny."

"Bye." He walked away.

Oh, you're an absolutely scintillating conversationalist, Ginny berated herself. I'm surprised he didn't burst out laughing at your stupidity. Ginny sighed. Having a crush was not easy. Sometimes, for the tiniest nanosecond, she wished she was over Harry, who would obviously never notice her. Ginny pushed such depressing thoughts from her mind and went back to reading.

§ § §

Ginny undid her hair, put on some cozy pajamas, heated by a Warming Charm—I have to practice, she consoled herself—and climbed into her snug bed. She chatted with Penny and Holly until lights-out time, and then sank her head into the pillow and dreamed about tomorrow.

§ § §

Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed my Seamus story: Rose (the first review; I was thrilled), Mandy, Hermione L. Granger (you like Ron, don't you?), Kath, Adelina (Sorry, Hairy Potter was too good a pun to resist), Julius, Phoenix, Novalee D. (I hear you sista—I wanted to know more about Seamus too), Static, Meghan (I don't understand what you meant, but thanks anyway), The Padded One (oooh! Six "really"'s! And I was planning a Colin Creevy one too), Viola Williams, Sugarplum, and MoonSerpent (I plan on doing a Dean one, but not for a few stories yet).

P.S. Fifty-nine thousand brownie points if you can guess what book Ginny was reading.