A reflection set in scarlet locomotion.


Ginny sat in her seat with the left half of her face pressed lightly against the cold surface of the window. She was sharing a compartment with three other first years, each looking more nervous and uncomfortable than the last. The only word any of them had said to each other was "hi," and even that did not come easily for Ginny's three anxious compartment mates. Ginny wasn't nervous, though, she was just a bit disappointed. In the car ride to Kings Cross, Ginny had been working out how she was going to talk her way into the Ron, Hermione, and Harry's compartment without it being too awkward. For weeks since that magnificent day when Harry had arrived at her home, Ginny felt as if she had done nothing except embarrass herself every time she came into contact with him. That's why she was so intent on making this plan to sit amongst them go as smoothly as possible. When her dad finally found a parking space near the train station, Ginny had worked out exactly what she was going to say to the trio. She was going to ask Harry for help lifting her trunk into the train and that would lead her to ask the trio if she could put it with their luggage and then if she could sit with them. A fairly simple plan, but potentially very effective.

However, Ginny never even got the opportunity to try out her plan. Her family and Harry had arrived quite late to King's Cross Station and thus were in a frantic rush from the moment they left the Ford Anglia. The last time Ginny saw Harry or Ron was outside the barrier to Platform 9¾; she took one quick glance at Harry before her mother pulled her through the barrier with her. After she had made her way onto the Hogwarts Express, she waved to her parents, who were doing the same from the platform, as the train pulled out of the station. She then began her search for the trio. Luckily, because of the rush they were all in, Fred and George had offered to store her trunk in the compartment they were sharing with Lee Jordan so she didn't have to worry about hauling that massive thing around.

Ginny walked from coach to coach, up and down the long corridor of the Hogwarts Express. But as hard as she looked, there was no sign of any of the three she sought out. During her second trip past, Ginny finally discovered Hermione sitting next to a short, plump boy in a compartment near the front of the train. Still not a trace of the other two, though; still not a trace of Harry.

After her fourth expedition through all the coaches, carefully analyzing the face of every jet-black haired boy she saw through the compartment windows, Ginny finally lost hope of ever finding Harry and settled on one of the only compartments that wasn't full. She would have sat with her brothers or Hermione, but she saw that both of their compartments were full when she walked past them.

And that's what brought her here, sitting with a group of uneasy first years instead of with the boy she really wanted to spend time with. But the worst part of it all was that Ginny was now forced to wonder why she had been so unable to locate Harry and Ron.

"Is it possible that they were hiding from me?" she thought fearfully, "Maybe they saw me walking down the corridor and hid under their seats or something."

Tears began to form in Ginny's eyes.

"He probably thinks I'm weird. I mean, all I do around him is knock things over and turn red. How could he possibly think any differently?"

Ginny quietly began to sob. She took her head off the windowpane to hide her tear-streaked face, but that didn't prevent her neighbors from taking note of her obvious sorrow. Becoming aware of the three pairs of eyes staring at her, Ginny quickly stood up and hurried out of the compartment. She ran past scores of happy, laughing faces, seen behind compartment windows, towards the coach's restroom. When she was a few feet away from her destination, wiping tears on her sleeve, she ran into what at first seemed to be a bushy, brunette mass. Ginny fell to the ground and, upon closer inspection of her hindrance, realized it was Hermione Granger who she had just stumbled into. Hermione was also on the ground, and both girls were clutching the portion of their head where they had bumped into each other.

"Ouch," said Hermione, wincing a bit, "Oh, hello Ginny. What's wrong?"

Hermione had noticed Ginny's red, swollen eyes and the tears streaming down her face and was naturally concerned.

"Oh, no-nothing Hermione," said Ginny hastily, getting up and turning her face away from Hermione's gaze, "I was just going to the restroom."

"So was I," said Hermione, seeing that Ginny wanted to move on to another subject, "but we'd better use one in a different coach seeing as someone has released a portable swamp in the one back there.

Hermione gestured in the direction that she had just come from and Ginny noticed some rather greenish looking water seeping out of from under a door.

"Come on we can walk to the next coach together," said Hermione, taking Ginny by the arm.

The girls walked down the corridor towards the door to the next coach, Ginny avoiding the inquisitive eyes of the first years she had been sharing a compartment with when they passed them.

"By the way," said Hermione, "I was meaning to ask you, have you seen Ron or Harry? I looked in every compartment on the train when I reached the platform, but I didn't see them in any of them. I eventually had to put my trunk somewhere so I decided to sit with my friend Neville just as the train was preparing to leave."

"I wonder why Harry and Ron were hiding from Hermione," thought Ginny, genuinely surprised to hear this, "I thought she was at least their friend."

"I noticed you were doing something very similar shortly after the train departed," said Hermione.

Ginny gave a shocked look, which quickly gave way to one of sheer embarrassment.

"So who were you searching for?" asked Hermione, a sly smile appearing on her face.

"No one!" said Ginny rapidly, "I was just looking for somewhere to sit."

"Oh, so that's why I saw you pass by four times, because you couldn't find anywhere to sit."

"Ye-yeah," said Ginny, suddenly very interested in her own feet.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Harry.

Ginny's eyes grew very wide as her face grew very red. Ron must've told Hermione about how much Ginny had talked about Harry over the summer in one his many letters to her. Hermione gave Ginny a comforting smile. Ginny, despite her embarrassment, appreciated this gesture. The prospect of someone discovering her secret had always frightened Ginny, but with Hermione it now seemed like it could be a great relief. Having a confidant, maybe even a friend, in Harry's inner circle could be very beneficial to Ginny and possibly help her act less awkward in front of him. However, this still didn't change the fact that Harry and Ron were hiding from Hermione and her.

"Look at that!"

Hermione and Ginny were walking past Fred and George's compartment when they heard Lee Jordan shout and point out the window. Fred, George, Lee, and the other Gryffindor fourth year they were sharing their compartment with all rushed to the window and looked out, up towards the sky.

George turned around and saw Hermione and Ginny watching them and yelled, "Get in here, you two! You've got to see this!" The girls did so and looked out the window as well. Ginny's heart leaped. They saw a flying Ford Anglia.

"I guess he wasn't hiding from me after all," thought Ginny.


Felicity