A/N: Hey there everybody! First, I want to thank anyone who read the first chapter, but I would love it if some of you could review so that I can get some idea of how I'm doing. My chapters a little short for now, but I'm hoping that they'll get longer as I get more into the plot.
This chapter is basically the same events from the last chapter, only from Ginny's point of view. I've also decided that this story is eventually going to become a Ginny/OC story, and since the only OC that I've introduced so far is Jessi, you can guess that there is eventually going to be some femslash stuff. If you don't like that kind of thing then I suggest you stop reading this story.
Chapter 2: Ginny's Thoughts
The Welcoming Feast was always Ginny's favorite feast of the year. She loved being reacquainted with old friends and sharing stories of their summer adventures. She had thought about sitting with Ron, Hermione, and Harry this year. She had gotten much closer to all of them over the events of last year and felt like she would have been welcome to sit with them. Instead, she chose to catch up with some of her other friends, especially those few who she hadn't talked to much last year because they hadn't been in Dumbledore's Army.
Ginny laughed to herself at that thought. There was a time when she would have done anything to sit with Harry Potter and be accepted into his group of friends. But she had long ago stopped thinking of him as 'Harry, the hero', and now simply thought of him as 'Harry, the kind, normal young man.' She may no longer have a silly, little girl's crush on him, but she did have to admit to herself that he was a rather amazing boy, and would be even if he weren't famous.
Ginny was pulled from her thoughts by the entrance of the first years. She always loved to watch the nervous, little firsties as they were sorted. At least, they were usually all little. This year there was a much older girl being led in with the firsties.
Ginny's first thought upon seeing this girl wasn't about how she looked too old for sorting, but rather how she looked as underfed as Harry did after a summer with the Dursleys. Ginny also noticed that, while most first time students would stare at the enchanted ceiling or large crowd of students when they first entered the Great Hall, this girl was keeping her eyes on the ground and her face hidden from view.
Ginny heard several conversations start around her as students tried to figure out who this girl was, why she was with the first years, and why she was being sorted at her age. Ginny didn't bother to join any of these conversations, instead staying focused on the girl. She couldn't quite place it, but there was something familiar about this girl. Not the kind of vague recognition you get from passing a stranger that you've seen before, but the recognition you get from seeing an old friend. The way this girl walked, how she held herself, even how she was acting shy all seemed familiar to Ginny. The strangest thing was that Ginny got the feeling that these actions were familiar, but that the girl hadn't been the one she had seen doing them.
As the sorting process began, Ginny was one of the few students to think ahead enough to listen to Professor McGonagall as she announced the names. When the name Jessica Parkins was called and the girl started moving towards the stool, Ginny was the one who had to tell the girl's name to those around her who hadn't been listening.
Ginny was confused by Jessica's reluctance to sit on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat. She was far from the first student to be sorted so she should have some idea of what was going to happen. Ginny didn't fail to notice that Jessica looked towards the Professor's table, but didn't see who she was looking at before Jessica put the Hat on and sat on the stool. Ginny was even more confused by the Hat's reaction to Jessica. Usually, when the Hat struggled to sort a student it was because the Hat was trying to decide between two houses. This time, however, it looked liked the Hat didn't even know where to start. Ginny saw Jessica mouthing something she was saying to the Hat, and then a look of understanding came across the Hat's, well, 'face,' for lack of a better term, and it shouted out its final decision.
"Gryffindor!"
As cheering broke out at the Gryffindor table, Ginny was trying to get a good look at Jessica's face as she passed, but she passed behind Ginny, who didn't want to be too obvious by turning around to stare at this new girl.
Ginny saw Jessica chose a seat next to Hermione and cheered to herself, knowing that Hermione would have no problem with trying to get some information out of Jessica and would share all of it with Ginny later.
Ginny tried her best to not think about Jessica for the rest of the feast, and instead tried to focus on talking with her friends like they were before the interruption. But whenever she saw someone looking down the table, obviously trying to see the mysterious new student, Ginny's thoughts would return to the girl and the odd feeling that she was familiar somehow.
The feast eventually ended and the students all started heading to the common rooms. Ginny saw that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica were sticking to the back of the group and moving at a much slower pace. Ginny wanted to join them but got swept away in the crowd and ended up at the common room well before them.
As soon as she saw them come in, she ran over to them to say hello, and also so she could introduce herself to Jessica.
"Harry! Hermione! It's good to see you again! Sorry I didn't sit with you at the feast, but I had some other friends I needed to catch up with first," she said as she pulled those two into a group hug. Her heart actually sped up a little when she came into contact with Harry. When she ended the hug, she acted surprised to see Jessica standing there. "Oh. Hello there! I'm Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister. You must be the new girl."
As soon as she said her name, Jessica's head snapped up enough for Ginny to clearly see it for the first time. She had a soft, round face that managed to look gentle without seeming fragile. Her eyes were a were a warm hazel that Ginny saw nothing but kindness in. She was not, however, expecting that face to have a look of overpowering fear and grief on it.
"H-h-hi. I-I'm J-j-jessi," the girl struggled to say. "I-if you all excuse me, I'm rather worn out from all the excitement and I think I'll just turn in early. Good night." The last part came out in one breath and Ginny had a little trouble catching it all. 'Jessi' practically ran to the entrance to the girls' dormitories and started up the steps, three at a time.
"Was it something I said?" Ginny asked, completely bewildered by Jessi's reaction. No one was able to answer her question, not that she was really expecting an answer.
The four friends settle down on some couches near a fireplace and talked about their summers for a little while. Ginny noticed that Harry seemed to be lost in thought about something, but that was nothing new for him so she just ignored it. It wasn't too long before Ron and Harry headed off to bed, leaving Ginny and Hermione alone. Ginny had waited until then for some reason to ask Hermione what she had learned about Jessi. It didn't take Hermione long to pass on what little she knew.
"That's all you know? I would've expected you to barrage her with questions until you knew everything from her favorite flavor of ice cream to what brand of tooth paste she uses," Ginny said, teasing her friend about her need to know everything she possibly could.
"I wanted to ask her questions the entire feast, but the answers she did give revealed so little about her. Besides, she seemed intent on acting shy so I eventually left her alone."
"You think she's acting?"
"Yes. One, she seems to be forcing herself to avoid eye contact instead of being too shy to do it. Two, it's not that she does not want to answer questions, it's that she refuses to give any answers that will give anything away. And three, she was sorted into Gryffindor. We may have people who are easily embarrassed or socially awkward, but never anyone who is too shy to talk to their own housemates."
"Maybe she has some big secret she's trying to hide."
"That could very well be, but we have no way of knowing until we find out more about her."
Ginny thought about telling Hermione how familiar Jessi looked and felt to her, but decided against it until she figured out who Jessi reminded her of.
Ginny and Hermione talked about why Jessi might be acting shy for a little longer but soon decided to go get a good night's rest before the first day of classes. As the two girls started climbing the stairs of the girls' dormitories, a thought occurred to Ginny.
"Hermione, did you tell Jessi where the girls' dormitories were?"
"No. She ran away before I got to explain anything about the common room or the dorms."
"Then how did she know where to go when she ran off to bed?" After asking this Ginny saw something she had never seen, and probably never would see again - a confused and speechless Hermione. When she failed to come up with any kind of answer, the two girls continued on to their beds so they could think about that question while they slept. Ginny fell asleep to thoughts of Jessi and her 'familiar' looks and movement. Had she not been on the edge of slumber, Ginny would have been surprised to find that she was attracted by those things.