Well, I was reading "Chamber of Secrets" this week. Then I thought how interesting it would be to explore Ginny's side of this story. She plays an important role, but her character is not very developed because she doesn't spend a lot of time around Harry. So here's the first chapter. If this goes over well, I hope to write the rest of her story. Please let me know what you think.

The Diary

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" from the perspective of Ginny Weasley

Chapter 1:

It was an average morning in midsummer. I was having a particularly lovely dream: a boy with stunningly green eyes, tousled jet-black hair, and a bolt of lightning across his forehead crawled in through my window. The wonderful boy came to stand beside my bed, watching me sleep. He inclined towards my head slowly, hoping to wake me with a gentle kiss.

I awoke with a start, as I heard a loud yell from outside. I cursed Fred and George under my breath, for whatever they had done to anger Mum so early in the morning. The sun had not yet risen enough to shine through my window. I shoved my pillow over my head, trying to reclaim that final moment of my dream. I dozed lightly for a while, but I could not force myself into sleep deeply enough to reach my fantastic dreams. Finally, I surrendered to the sunlight streaming through the curtains and resolved to go downstairs for some breakfast. I thought I could hear Mum clattering around fixing something.

I stumbled slowly down to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I wandered into the kitchen, but I stopped suddenly when I caught sight of the boys at our table. I saw the usual parade of redheads: Fred and George (laughing over something or other) and Ron of course. But then my eyes landed on a fourth, who was not Percy, but the very boy of my dreams: Harry Potter! In my kitchen! As his emerald eyes found me, I heard myself squeal involuntarily, and ran from the room.

I sprinted back up the stairs to my room. Breakfast could wait. Harry Potter! Really and truly in my house! I chose my clothing more carefully than normal. Then I spent over half an hour attempting to subdue my long red hair into a decent shape. I looked up from my mirror at last, when I saw a gnome fly past my window. I looked out cautiously, and saw that Harry was outside with my brothers, de-gnoming the garden. My empty stomach rumbled uncomfortably, and I thought now might be a good opportunity to find some breakfast. I double-checked that Harry was indeed outside in the garden, then headed for the kitchen once again.

Mum was making toast and eggs when I entered the kitchen. I approached with care; she was scrambling the innocent eggs rather viciously. Apparently she was still upset with Fred and George.

"Mum?" I asked warily.

"Oh, Ginny dear," she said, turning around kindly. "I thought you'd be needing some breakfast." With this she handed me a plate with toast and butter.

"Mum," I asked, sitting down at the table. "What is Harry Potter doing here?"

"Your brothers," she began, the shadow of anger returning to her face, "flew that contraption of your father's to Harry's house last night to pick him up."

So that's what sparked the yelling, I realized. "Is he, um, staying?" I asked tentatively.

"I suppose so," Mum answered. "Until the start of term, I assume."

This is going to be a long month, I thought, nibbling at my toast.

Just then, Dad walked through the front door, slamming it with extra force. It must have been a bad night.

"Hello Molly," he said, kissing Mum on the cheek. He sounded exhausted. He slumped in the chair next to mine.

"Morning Dad," I said, kissing the bald patch at the top his head.

"He's back! Dad's home!" I heard George (or perhaps Fred) yell from the yard. I heard heavy footsteps running towards the kitchen. I quickly dashed out of the kitchen and back up the stairs. I caught a quick glimpse of Harry entering before I ran up the rest of the stairs to my room, two at a time, and slammed the door. Thinking better of it, I propped the door slightly open so I could hear when Harry came up the stairs.

I sat by the crack in the door as I heard Ron and Harry climbing the stairs. I peered out, wanting to catch another glimpse of him. When they reached my landing, his brilliant green eyes found mine. I shut the door promptly, and leaned back against it with a sigh.

Life proceeded fairly normally from that point on, for everyone else in the house at least. Despite my various fantasies, living under the same roof as Harry Potter only seemed to make daily activities more difficult. Dressing myself took twice as long, I could barely speak at all when he was nearby, and I developed an unfortunate habit of knocking things over whenever he entered a room unexpectedly.

About a week after he arrived, however, a piece of mail drove the image of bright green eyes out of my mind for once. A beautiful tawny owl arrived, bringing with it six envelopes. I had seen many envelopes like this before, but this time one of them spelled my name in its shining green ink. My Hogwarts letter had arrived at last!

I read its contents quickly. I knew essentially what the body of the letter said already: "Congratulations, you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," that sort of thing. Mum and Dad both hugged me.

"It's exciting, isn't it?" Dad said, grinning at me.

"Oh, Arthur," Mum began, tearing up a bit. "Our last child, heading off to school in less than a month!"

A few minutes later, the boys entered the cozy kitchen. When I caught sight of Harry, I accidentally shoved my bowl full of porridge to the floor. The clatter echoed around the room as I bent beneath the table to pick up the accursed bowl. I felt my face warming as I returned to my seat, in a less than dignified manner. Harry seemed not to notice as he seated himself on the other side of the table.

"Letters from school," Dad said, passing each to its owner. "Dumbledore knows you're here, Harry," he added. "Doesn't miss a trick, that man."

Mum waved her wand to clear up the porridge under the table as they all perused their own letters silently. I turned to my reading list, trying to keep my eyes off Harry's lightning scar for a moment. I saw the long list of Gilderoy Lockhart books just as Fred mentioned them to Harry.

"That lot won't come cheap," George said sensibly, glancing at Mum and Dad. "Lockhart's books are really expensive."

"Well, we'll manage," Mum replied with a worried look. She peered over my shoulder at the list in my hands. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's thing secondhand." I grimaced internally. Everything was secondhand for the youngest child.

"Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry inquired, in a friendly manner.

I nodded quickly as he looked directly at me. I felt my face go warm again. Then I noticed that my elbow rested in the dish of yellow butter, and I was sure my face reddened by two more shades. Thankfully Percy walked in at that moment, and no one seemed to notice my shame. I made a grateful escape from the kitchen, which now seemed very crowded to me.

Back in my bedroom, I pulled out my Hogwarts letter. I read it over and over again for a while. Finally, I could join all my brothers, and Harry Potter, at school. I smiled at the thought.