Part 1: a new start
Ginny's
eyes scanned around Platform 9 ¾. She
didn't see a trace of Harry anywhere.
She hadn't heard much from him since Shelby's wedding and she was
beginning to get very worried. Was
Harry trying to close himself up again?
Ginny figured he would've learned his lesson by now. Ron and Hermione are already on the train,
saving a place for Ginny, and Harry, if he ever arrived. Ginny caught a glimpse of a head of messy
black hair coming toward her, and she realized at once it was Harry.
"Hi
Gin. Sorry I'm late."
"Harry,
where were you? I haven't heard from
you…"
"Yeah. Problems with the Dursleys again. But, seeing as this is my last year, I don't
have to worry much about them anymore."
"Oh
Harry, I don't know what I'm going to do without you next year," Ginny sighed,
scuffing up his hair and leading him into the platform.
"More
likely I won't know what to do without you.
You will have enough schoolwork to keep you busy for the year."
"Speaking
from experience?"
"Yeah. I couldn't believe how much homework we had
over summer vacation, just wait until we get back to classes. And you know Hermione is going to start
pestering us to study for the NEWTS all year."
"And
I have all that to look forward to next year," she said with sarcasm, "can't
wait."
"Let's just enjoy this year while we
can," Harry answered as they boarded the train in search of Ron and Hermione.
Lanie
stopped at what looked like a good spot to rest for the night. The buzzing stopped a couple hours ago, but
she had to be sure they were completely off her trail before she stopped. She was sure she led them off her trail long
enough for her to get a fair night's sleep.
She
dropped her bag down close to her feet, being careful not to let it stray too
far away from herself. If they did
happen to get on trail again, she would have to be ready to run. She used a charm so she would hear a buzzing
in her ear whenever anyone was less a kilometer away from her. That way she was sure to stay out of seeing
range from everybody as long as she stayed in the forest.
She found a nice pillow of
grass. It worked for her; she was in no
way picky about comfort as long as she got some sleep. She had a ratted old blanked she carried
along with her. She made it a few years
ago out of animal fur. It wasn't much,
but it would keep her warm.
Ginny
was quick to learn that a trip on the Hogwarts express was never complete
without an infamous greeting from Draco Malfoy. He came in just as scheduled, along with his two over-sized
cronies.
"If
it isn't my favorite people," he sneered.
"What
do you want Malfoy," Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Kimberly said in almost
complete unison.
"I
was just dropping in for a little visit.
Didn't you guys miss…" He was interrupted as the compartment slid open
again revealing Malfoy's snotty, pug-nosed girlfriend, Pansy.
"Draco,
I need to talk to you now!"
"Can't
this wait a second," he pleaded. Ginny
held a giggle at the sudden softer tone in Malfoy's voice as he talked to
Pansy.
"No,"
she snapped, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Fine,"
he said, following her out of the compartment.
"Don't think his is the last you'll see of me," he said as he left.
"What
was that all about," Harry asked nobody in particular.
"Typical
Malfoy, he has something under his sleeve," Hermione replied, turning back to
the book she was reading.
However, this time Draco was not true
to his word. They didn't see him again
until the arrived at Hogwarts, and then they only saw him at the sorting,
sitting next to his two goons and Pansy, actually quiet for once.
After the sorting, they went into
the Gryffindor common room. After a few
rounds of exploding snap, and catching up on what all their fellow Gryffindors
did for Summer break, Ginny decided to go to bed early so she could get up and
stay awake in her classes the next morning.
Lanie
woke up in the middle of the night still tired and hungry. The buzzing in her ears told her that she
had better get a move on at once because they were steadily beginning to gain
on her. She broke a few tree branches
down the dirt path, leading them to believe she ran that way. However, she walked instead to the left of
the path, following a small stream that ran through the forest.
She
stopped for a second to make sure they were led off onto the path. She tried to listen through the buzzing and
she could only slightly hear footsteps diminish as they walked the other
way. The buzzing stopped a few seconds
later. Lanie breathed a sigh of
relief. She walked to the stream for a
quick drink. "Augh," she exclaimed upon
seeing her reflection from the clear water.
Her face was covered in dirt.
She couldn't help thinking she could use a nice warm shower right now.
She
smiled at the remembrance of clean water pouring over her skin. It has been so long since she had taken a
proper shower. She was lucky to have
water close to her shack that she could wash herself with, but it was never the
same as a nice warm shower. A quick
bathe in the stream would have to do again, before she continued on her way.
She noticed several knots in her
hair as she pulled her wet hands through it.
'Another thing I could really use right now is a hairbrush,' she
thought, trying to tame one of the smaller snarls with her fingers. She eventually gave up, and proceeded on her
way through the forest. She was getting
into a part of the forest she had never seen before, so she hoped to gain
enough ground so she could find a place to rest before nightfall.
Ginny
was awoken the next morning by the smiling face of her best friend,
Kimberly. Kimberly had been her best
friend since she started Hogwarts.
However, Kimberly was in Ravenclaw, which made Ginny very curious as to
how Kimberly got into her dorm.
"Kimberly? How did you get here?" Ginny tried opening her eyes as far as they
were allowed to go that early in the morning.
"I
have my ways," she said mischievously.
"Yeah
right. How did you really get here?"
"Neville
let me in." 'Figures', thought
Ginny. Kimberly has been going out with
Neville as long as Ginny has been going out with Harry.
"What
do you want?"
"Well,
if you want breakfast this morning, you had better get down there now. And, the schedules are getting passed out,
so if you want to know what classes you have today, you are going to have to go
to breakfast."
"Fine,
I'll be right down," Ginny told her, getting up and going into her trunk.
Ginny
spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione almost finished with their breakfast already
when she arrived in the Hall. She and
Kimberly parted ways as Ginny sat down next to Harry, and Kimberly went to sit
by Neville.
"It's
about time," Harry said as she sat down.
"Oh
hush. I made it, and that's what
counts." A prefect she didn't know
handed her a schedule as she started into her food. "Yay, I have Care of Magical Creatures first with the
Ravenclaws."
"You
are so lucky. I have Potions first with
the Slytherins. What a great start to
our seventh year."
"Don't worry. You'll get that class out of the way, and
you won't have to worry about it again until Wednesday. Besides, Snape might be in a better mood
since he just got back from his honeymoon with Shelby."
"I
suppose that's true," he said as he got up from the table. "See you later Ginny."
"See
you."
On
her way down to Care of Magical Creatures with Kimberly, Ginny hoped for
Harry's sake that they would finally have a normal year. Little did she know, this would be the
strangest year yet.
A/N Thanks for all the patienceJ Since classes start Monday, I can't promise
I'll get the next chapter out very soon.
But since I've already started it, hopefully it will be ready in the
next couple weeks.
