Chapter 2: A Girl Can Dream

Ginny was counting down the days when she would finally get on the train for Hogwarts, but she was also terrified about what might happen to her once she got there. What if she wasn't very good at magic? What if she got to school and she hated it? What if she didn't get into Gryffindor? Would she disappoint her family if that happened? What if she didn't make any friends? What if Harry Potter didn't like her at all?

Ginny suddenly wondered what Harry thought of her home—did he like it? She knew her family never had much money, and sometimes it was hard to get by. Not that she cared about how the house looked like; she loved the Burrow and the look of utter uniqueness about it. But she couldn't help but wonder if Harry didn't like it?

"Ginny?" her mum's voice called up from the lower level, "Come down for dinner!"

Ginny sighed as she got up from her bed and shouted, "Coming!" She headed downstairs, but before she did, she made sure that she looked alright. Her red hair was brushed so thoroughly that it was smooth and silky, and her clothes were all clean and neat—she looked as though she was going out on a date.

As she headed downstairs, she ran into the two people that she was dreading on meeting the most.

"Oh, look Fred," George said cheerfully when he spotted Ginny.

"I know George," Fred grinned, "So, how's our little love sick sister doing now?"

Ginny fought to keep her temper down, but apparently it backfired, because her face started turning red.

"Why would you lookie here, Fred! She's blushing!"

"I am NOT blushing! I'm trying to stop myself from clobbering you!"

"Then why have you gone all red?"

"Because you're making me angry!" she yelled.

They both shared that annoying smile that she hated, as if they knew something she didn't. She glared at them both as she marched away before they had the chance to say anything else at her expense.

That night at dinner, things didn't go as well as Ginny had hoped. She was fine until Harry finally entered the kitchen with Ron and sat down next to her father, who began bombarding him with all sorts of questions about Muggles. His eyes widened in amazement just like a little kid on Christmas morning when Harry was telling him how the Muggle post worked. Dad would sometimes turn his attention to her and ask things like, "Did you hear that, Ginny?" "That's just amazing isn't it?" or "What do you say to that sweetheart?"

And to make matters even worse, whenever he would talk to her, it caused Harry to glance at her and then her tongue would tie up and she would forget where she was. But that wasn't the worse part… for some reason she always seemed to be in the middle of chewing her food whenever her dad would talk to her. And whenever her eyes met Harry's, her fork never failed to miss her mouth and she would end up with dribbling food down her shirt.

Almost as humiliating as Harry seeing this, Fred and George would snigger at her and making pufferfish lips at her, which made her feel like crawling underneath a rock and die.

Once, she ended up dropping her fork, and when she dove underneath the table to fetch it, she ended up hitting her head on the corner of the table. Fred and George finally burst out laughing at her, and as mum scolded them her dad turned to her and asked, "Ginny, what's gotten into you?" which caused Harry to look at her again.

She didn't think her face could get any redder as she felt Harry's eyes on her. She was so embarrassed that she was the first one up from the table and ran straight for the safety of her room.

The next few days were some of the most embarrassing moments that Ginny had ever known. She couldn't help but think to herself, 'You think that having the cutest boy on the face of the Earth staying in your own house for the summer would be a good thing…'

But things just weren't that easy. Every time she saw him, her mind would go blank and couldn't move. Even if he wasn't around, she spent her time looking for him and wondering what he was doing. And to top everything off, whenever he spoke to her, she forgot how to talk. Every time he asked her to pass something at the dinner table she would almost drop it just because his hand brushed against hers.

And whenever she made a fool of herself, her brothers would tease her about it.

"I don't know how to break this to you Ginny," Fred said once, "But… I don't think that Harry is interested in the girls who wear their food."

"Yeah," agreed George. "And, I might be going out on a limb here, but I think that he really wouldn't mind if you answer him when he talks to you."

"Ginny," Ron whispered to her during lunch when everyone else was talking to each other, "I know that you fancy Harry, but what makes you think that he'll ever go for you?"

That caused her to let out a loud shriek of rage at him, which caused everyone to stare at her—including Harry. Angry and mortified, she pushed her half-eaten plate away from her and ran from the room.

Which was actually a good thing… She was able to sneak into Ron's room and hide in his closet so that when the boys went up, she could hear them talk for hours and hours before they left the room to head down to dinner. She slipped out of Ron's room once they were gone and quietly made her way downstairs.

Her mum was too busy trying to force Harry to eat several helpings, and her dad was asking him how a rubber-ducky worked, Percy was reading from one of his textbooks, and the rest of the boys were talking about Quidditch. Her family failed to notice her quietly slip into the room…

But neither did Harry.

Not that she could blame him, who not only seemed delighted in everything that happened in the house, but he also seemed to be thriving on it. He had endless patience for answering and explaining all of the questions that her dad just seemed to have to ask him and ate everything that mum put in front of him without complaint.

He was always very polite to Percy, but seemed to prefer to avoid speaking to him if he could help it. (Not that she blamed him) He spent most of his time outside with her other brothers, who always seemed to have a brilliant time playing Quidditch. He even smiled at her every so often, when her brothers gave her a hard time he never joined in, and was even nice enough to pretend not to notice when she knocked things over or forget to talk when he said something to her.

That only made her like him even more.

About a week after Harry had come to say. Ginny woke for breakfast before the rest of the boys and went downstairs for her food where her parents were already sitting. As she was pouring some sugar on top her porridge a large barn owl flew in the open window with a thick wad of envelopes in its beak, dumped them on the table and took off before she or her parents could so much as blink.

"Ah, I'd been wondering when these were coming," her mum said, wiping her hands on her apron and picking up the pile of letters.

"Here it is, Ginny!" her mum said thrilled. "Your very first Hogwarts letter!" And sure enough, she gave her the top envelop which read, Miss G. Weasley, The Burrow written in bright green ink.

Ginny felt her heart begin to swell in pleasure as she took it and ripped it open in excitement.

Dear Miss Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…

She read the contents of the letter, and re-read them just to make sure. But there was no mistake, this was a letter from Professor McGonagall, telling her that she was ready to start school. She looked up at her parents, shining in excitement who beamed back at her, delighted at her happiness.

At that moment, she heard voices from the hallway. "What d'you want to do today, Harry?"

"Dunno—you want to finish that match we started yesterday?"

Ginny tried to push her bowl aside so that she could put her Hogwarts letter in a place where Harry couldn't help but notice, but instead she accidently pushed it so far to the edge that it fell onto the floor and splattered everywhere just as Harry entered the room.

Embarrassed and cursing herself she dived underneath the table to hide her face from him. She could feel her face burning as red as her hair, which happened to be the brightest shade of red imaginable, as she was finally forced to sit up.

Even after a week, she just couldn't get used to having the famous Harry Potter in the same house as her. She knew that she had to get used to it; after all, he was going to Hogwarts as well.

Harry, of course, pretended he didn't notice this, which was one of the many things Ginny had come to really like about him. When she saw he was looking at her, she blushed even more, but Harry turned away and began to strike up a conversation with one of the twins.

'He sure is nice,' she thought with a sigh.

Her mum handed the boys their letters and they all read them in silence. Ginny wasn't paying attention to anything except trying to clean up the mess under her chair. Thankfully, they were too immersed in their own letters to bother with her. By the time she finished cleaning up she saw Fred looking over Harry's shoulder so that he could read Harry's book-list.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books too! The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan." He smirked, "Bet it's a witch."

He gave mum an odd look before he quickly looked away as she glared at him. Ginny smiled to herself, they all knew that mum had a thing for Lockhart, and the twins and their dad just loved teasing her about it.

But then George's voice was a little more worried than Ginny was used to hearing began speaking, "That lot won't come cheap. Lockhart's books are really expensive…"

At those words, she immediately flipped to her own school list that she didn't notice before. Lockhart, Lockhart, Lockhart, and more Lockhart… Ginny's excitement quickly turned into a frown with every word she read, realizing just how much everything was going to cost.

Not only did she have to get the rest of her school supplies like a wand and cauldron, but Lockhart's books were also listed, all seven of them. She felt as though a plug had been pulled from her stomach and all her happiness went down the drain.

As to confirm her worst fears, her mum said in her brightest voice, "We'll manage. I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand."

Ginny frowned. She had been hoping that she would've been able to get those new robes… but thanks to these books, there was no way that it was going to happen. Ginny didn't know why she was so disappointed—she should've seen this coming.

She sighed and looked at Harry, before she realized that he was talking to her, "Oh, are you starting Hogwarts this year?"

Ginny, who was torn between embarrassment of having to get second-hand supplies and the fact that Harry was actually talking to her, could only nod as she tried to straighten herself up and look more adult.

Unfortunately, the butter dish was in the way and her elbow was now covered in butter. She looked around, waiting for one of her brothers to mention it, but they were all still staring at their letters so they missed it. She looked back at Harry, knowing that there was no way that he could've missed that blunder.

She was grateful that he pretended not to notice yet again.

Thankfully, Percy just walked in with his stupid badge still pinned to his front, and everyone turned their attention to him. "Morning all. Lovely day!"

He sat down in the last empty chair, but immediately sat up again before pulling an owl out from beneath him.

"Errol!" cried Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy. "Finally— he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys."

He carried the ancient old over to his perch before he opened the letter and read out:

"Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there,

"I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your one off.

"I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course'— How can she be?" said Ron as his face looked horrified. "We're on holiday!

'and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening as soon as you can.

Love from Hermione."

'Love…?' Ginny thought, suddenly annoyed with the letter.

"Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too," mum said happily. "What're you all up to today?"

Ginny pretended not to pay any attention to when the boys all said that they were going to finish their Quidditch game up the hill. She wished that they would invite her along. She had been longing to be able to show Harry how well she could fly and have him think that she was a fantastic player… and want to be able to spend time with her.

But then again, maybe it was for the best that she stayed behind. She would never have been able to stay on her broom if Harry was watching.

When all the boys had left, Ginny sighed unhappily; thinking about what an idiot she was. "Ginny?" she heard her mother speak as though from far away. "I need to talk to you. I know that I said that we might've been able to get you some new robes, but these book lists—"

"It's ok," Ginny said, letting out the hurt and disappointment that was swelling inside of her. "I know what you're going to say. We can't afford it."

"I'm sorry," mum said, looking at her daughter with sympathy. "And I wish that I could get new robes for all of you, but five sets of Lockhart books… and your father is already working overtime at the office… but I promise to make it up to you."

"It's ok," Ginny said dully. She was just angry at herself for getting her hopes up that she would actually get something new for a change.

"Why don't you go play Quidditch with your brothers? I think your father's broom is out in the shed and I'm sure that he wouldn't mind," she suggested.

"No, I don't want to," Ginny sighed as she looked out the window at their retreating backs. "And besides, they wouldn't want me to butt in anyway."

"That isn't true, dear," mum said gently.

"They said that the game's to rough for me," Ginny told her. "I'll just be in my room for awhile."

And she ran before her mum could say anything else, wanting nothing more than to get away from everyone.

Ginny brought her desk chair over to the window and sat down, looking at the four boys throwing apples at each other. She could gaze at him unnoticed, without anyone knowing a thing, and no one making fun at her.

She watched as they were laughing and joking with each other, unaware that someone was watching their every move. Everything was, for once, going well. They couldn't see her—which meant that she could stare at Harry for as long as she wanted—she only wished that she had closer view of his face.

She knew that Ron was right, Harry was a great flyer. Years of watching Quidditch games had taught her that much at a glance. As he swooped and dived she lazily thought of the real games she could watch him play this year at school. There wasn't any doubt in her mind that he was best on the team… after all he was the youngest player in a century, had the best broom she'd ever seen, AND had the most astonishing natural talent the she had ever seen.

How could he not be the best?

Everything about him fascinated her. He was so short and small, and yet he had managed to defeat the most evil dark wizard to have ever lived when he was only a baby. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of powers he had. He must've had some extraordinary magic to have been able to stop You-know-Who dead in his tracks.

Yet, despite the fact that he was world famous, he was also the nicest and most polite person she had ever met. He never laughed when she was picked on, or at her clumsiness when she tripped or dropped something. Her parents treated him as if he one of their own sons, and he in turn seemed to love everything about her house and family.

She knew that she was going to have to eventually say something to him, but for right now, speech was impossible. Ron, being the git that he was, would just tell her to go away and leave them alone and since Harry was constantly with Ron, Ginny hadn't been able to say one word to him alone. So, Ginny kept to herself, deciding that she would just wait until the right moment to talk to the emerald eyed boy.

A smile flitted across her lips as she closed her eyes, drowsy with contentment, and dreaming about the day that he would finally notice her, and he became her Quidditch star. She was finally going to Hogwarts… there was a future famous Quidditch player right underneath her window… heck she didn't even care about those new robes at the moment.

Things would work out in the end.

A girl can dream can't she?