Ginny was thoroughly annoyed. For one, she was quite bored. There were plenty of things you could call number 12 Grimmauld Place, but entertaining (at least with Mum around) was not one of them. Not to mention the fact that said Mother, Ron, and Hermione were continuously fretting over when a certain raven-haired wizard was going to get here. Hermione and Mum: because they worried about his safety. Ron? Because he was tired of Hermione and Ginny and just wanted his best mate to get here already.

Of course, Ginny worried for him, too. But she knew he was in good hands, and besides, her brothers would tease her to no end if they knew. Mostly she wanted him here so that she would no longer have to act as peacemaker in Ronald and Hermione's arguments, which, while they had once been a source of entertainment, were now just tedious.

Her third and final complaint: the portrait of Mrs. Black downstairs in the front hall. Anything could set her off, and once she got going, it was fairly difficult to shut her up. She seemed overly fond at making jabs at Ginny as well, which didn't help at all.

The only solace she could find in those long, boring days of that particular summer was Sirius Black. She was quite fond of Harry's Godfather, he could always make her laugh, anyway, and she certainly hoped she provided him an escape from the tedious days cooped up inside as well. The longer they were there the more he seemed to brighten up a bit, after all, although that might just have been because they were expecting Harry any day now.

Also helpful, was Sirius's collection of books. When she wasn't doing one of her mum's "projects" around the house (another complaint, but one made but almost every other occupant under the age of 17), Ginny could usually be found either with Sirius, or reading in her room. Most of the books she read went beyond her year at Hogwarts; most of the material she found would only be useful in Harrry, Ron, and Hermione's year, actually. She didn't mind. Being quite an advanced witch for her age, Ginny found most studies in her own year easy. Learning about advanced subjects was a welcome challenge for her.

At the moment, she was flipping through Quidditch Through the Ages, for about the millionth time. This was one of her own books, but considering she was going out for the team this year, she figured she might as well read anything she had on the subject (as if she hadn't been through all of them a million times already). It helped with the boredom, anyway. Well, sort of.

"Ginnevra Molly Weasley!" Came the voice of her mother from somewhere down the stairs. Ginny shut her book with a sigh, setting it down on her bed as she rolled off and went to open her door.

"Yeah mum?" She shouted down the stairs. If this is another one of her "projects" I swear I'll… Ginny didn't bother to finish the thought.

"Could you come down to the kitchen and help make dinner, dear?" He mom replied

"Yeah, mum, I'll be right there." The fourteen year old sighed with relief. Dinner duty wasn't her favorite thing to do, but it beat another one of those projects. And so, Ginny headed downstairs to help her mum prepare dinner.

A few hours later, after everybody had eaten and everyone under 17 had gone to bed, Ginny found herself creeping downstairs. She was really just going to the kitchen to get a glass of water, although something else she couldn't explain prompted her to go down then, as well. She was in the front hall, right in full view of the front door, when she saw the knob begin to turn.

Now Ginny was smart. She knew she could just continue to the kitchen right now, and if anyone discovered her, just simply claim do be doing exactly what she had originally come down for: to get a glass of water. But, for some reason, instead of doing the logical thing, she ran towards the nearest hiding place she could find: a pair of floor-length, moth-eaten curtains. She stood very, very still, hardly daring to breathe as she heard the door open and several pairs of feet enter the front hall.

She dared not peek out from behind the (relative) safety of her hiding place. "Well, this would be it." She heard a voice say. She recognized it as Mad-Eye Moody.

In the backround she could hear the portrait of Mrs. Black complaining about something or other.

"Just ignore her Harry. Gloomy isn't it?" She heard a bright voice…Tonks! Wait, if Tonks, and Mad-Eye are both here…and if it's the first time whoever's with them has seen the house, that must mean…

"Harry!" Came her mother's voice. "Oh, goodness, look how thin you are! And you must be tired after the journey, too." Mrs. Weasley fussed as only she could. "Come now, there's food in the kitchen." She ushered the group towards the kitchen, away from Ginny, who breathed a (quiet) sigh of relief.

Still, she didn't dare to leave. She hadn't heard the familiar sound of the kitchen door closing (as it did often when all the adults went in to "talk"), so she knew if she left her hiding place she would most definitely be seen. So she leaned against the wall and waited for everyone to be done and go upstairs. It didn't take long, or so she thought.

"Now, now, Sirius. Harry has had a long journey, and he's tired. You can catch up in the morning." She heard her mum's voice and two sets of footsteps coming from the entrance to the kitchen. "Good night, Harry dear. Oh, and your room is on the second landing, second to the left."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. Night." She heard him reply. "Night everyone!"

"Night Harry!" Came a chorus of voices from the kitchen. Ginny heard the door close…and then nothing. So you can imagine her surprise when the curtains she was hiding behind were pulled back to reveal Harry with a smile on his face.

"I'm flattered that you wanted to be the first to greet me, Gin, but you know there are better ways to go about it."

Ginny felt her face flush as she gave him a sheepish smile. "How did you know?"

His smile got bigger. "I didn't. Mad-Eye tipped me off. See's everything, that one. Don't worry, I don't think anyone else noticed."

"Good…We should probably head upstairs now, huh? Before they come out?" She asked him. He nodded.

"That's probably a good idea." He admitted, and they started climbing the rickety staircase. "So… how long have you been here?"

"Ugh. All summer. It's been terrible! Ron and Hermione fight all the time! It was a good source of entertainment at first, but then I ended up getting in the middle of their little lover spats. I don't know how you do it! Not to mention that picture in the front hall. She's even worse than they are. We aren't even allowed to leave this house! And then there's mum's "projects." She'll probably recruit you, too now that you're here."

He laughed. "Sounds exhilarating."

Ginny felt her face turn bright red. "Sorry Harry. It isn't all that bad, really. It is possible to shut up Mrs. Black, and avoiding Ron and 'Mione (or separating them) isn't too difficult. And mum's projects can be fun (especially when you're working with Fred and/or Goerge).

Harry was smiling, but there was a sad look in his eyes. "Seems like I've missed a lot."

"Oh, no! Harry you haven't missed much at all, really!" She gave him a sweet smile. "Besides, I bet things will be a lot more interesting now that you're here."

He returned her smile with one of his own. "You think so?" She nodded.

"I know so." She said simply, shrugging. "Well, this is my room. Yours is the one right across, yeah? He nodded. She gave him a bright smile. "Night Harry! I'll see you in the morning."

"Night Gin. See you in the morning." He replied, before they parted ways into their own separate rooms, both with the feeling that the last two weeks of summer would be fairly interesting ones.