Chapter 3

An Unexpected Arrival

Ron burst into the kitchen just as Ginny had sat down for her breakfast. Knocking over the milk jug in surprise she screamed "Ron! You made me jump."

"Shut up Ginny" he replied with a look of annoyance, "Any post, mum?"

"No, Ronald. Now be patient, he'll reply when he wants to," she answered him.

"But Mum, it's been two weeks since I posted the first letter and now I've posted twelve and he still hasn't replied!"

"Who? Surely he isn't that important," Ginny wondered out loud.

"Harry Potter, dear, and I don't care Ron. There's nothing we can do," said Mrs Weasley.

"Harry Potter!" Ginny squealed, "Of course, there's something we can do."

"Exactly, Mum. Can't we please just go and get him from the muggles?" Ron begged.

"No!" She bellowed, causing a moaning to occur, "well not yet."

The kids looked up, their gloomy expressions, replaced with eager smiles.

"If he hasn't replied by Tuesday, then we will go and get him. OK?"

"YAY! Thank you Mum!" Ginny screamed as she squeezed her mother with delight.

"Thanks Mum, but please can you sort her out before he gets here," Ron asked.

"I thought I had. Didn't Percy say anything to you, Ginny?"

"Yes, but I can't help it because I love him, Mum," Ginny said dreamily.

"Don't be silly. It's just a crush and because he's famous."

"So what? I still can't help it and you can't stop me!"

"Please, just try," Ron pleaded as he walked out of the room.

Ginny took the last bite of her bacon and left the room too. She watched Ron walk up the stairs and when she was sure no-one else was around she snuck out of the house.

Their house was called The Burrow. It looked as thought it had once been a large stone pigsty but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it was held up by magic. It stood on the top of a hill so that it overlooked the town below. Muggles could be seen driving here and there making their way to work and the sun had already risen quite high in the sky.

Ginny sighed. She loved this sight; she loved to look at the difficult lives of the muggles but respected them for their effort. She felt sorry for them for not knowing about Harry Potter.

Suddenly, to her left came a rustling noise. She turned but didn't see anything. Taking a step away, she continued to look at the view, imagining what it would be like to walk through the town.

Again, there was the noise. She again turned towards the thick hedges separating the garden and a field. A group of small, leathery looking gnomes were huddled together in front of them.

"Gnomes again," she thought, "I'd better tell Mum."

And with that thought she made her way back to the house.

"Mum," she bellowed as she walked in through the door, "The gnomes are back!"

Thump.

Ginny sat up.

Thump.

It was ten past one in the morning and Ginny could hear someone moving outside her bedroom door.

Thump Thump.

Now, there were two of them. No; Three. Ginny dared herself to confront the things in the hallway. She got out of her bed and felt around for her slippers. However, by the time she had found them, the thumping had been followed by a small cluttering as the three had reached the kitchen.

Creeping towards her window, she looked out onto the front lawn. An owl hooted as the kitchen door opened and three black shadows made their way outside. One looked up at Ginny's window, surprising her and causing her to hide behind her curtains.

The shadow muttered something. The other two simultaneously looked up. Ginny staggered away from the window and leapt into her bed.

"Whoever it is, they're gone," she thought "and it's not my business anyway."

Pulling her covers over and tucking herself in, she closed her light brown eyes and fells asleep almost instantly.

"Beds empty! No note! Car gone"a voice bellowed.

For the second time that morning, Ginny was woken from a heart-warming dream.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!"Mrs Weasley continued.

Confused with what was going on this early in the morning, Ginny made her way down towards the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen in her long nightdress, she scanned the room for the source of the argument. It looked as though it had ended as Ron, Fred and George were sitting at the table while their mother offered some food to an unknown, black-haired figure in the corner of the room.

The figure turned towards him. It was Harry Potter. Ginny squealed. Many thoughts ran through her head and many questions for Harry but instead she ran out of the room.

As she stood in the hallway taking big breaths she heard Ron say "Ginny. My Sister. She's been talking about you all summer."

She felt like killing him. She wanted to run back into that kitchen and put her skinny little hands around his big fat throat and squeeze until he was unable to say anything more about her to Harry Potter.

"He's so inconsiderate," she thought.

She crept up the stairs to her bedroom and sat on her bed. She had been waiting for this moment all summer, but now she was so embarrassed that she wanted him to leave immediately.

The room was still covered with her fan works but now she was ready to clean it all up. She gathered all her work up and stuck it in a box (which she put at the back of her magically extended cupboard.) Ginny didn't want Harry to think that she was just a freakish fan; she wanted to be friends with him and for them to get on well.

Yawning, Ginny made her bed and looked around the room. She could see her bright pink carpet so easily now and all that was left on the floor were some clothes and a magazine called The Quibbler that she had been reading. She picked up her clothes and took down to her mother.

"Finally tidied you room, then" Mrs Weasley asked sarcastically.

"Yes," Ginny replied, "Happy now?"

"Yes, but have you got rid of those things from your door,"

"Shit!" she thought.

"No! Damn it. I'll go do that now," she said.

"Thank you, dear," her mum said giving her a wide smile.

Ginny hurried up to her room again and hastily recovered the pieces of paper from the door. All that she left was the faded parchment with her name on it. All over the door were marks where the other drawings had been stuck on. She carried the drawings into her room just as she heard her mother shout, "Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!"

"So that's how he got here," Ginny realised, "and who was outside my door last night."

And just like last night, some thumping was resounding from outside her bedroom door. Opening the door slightly, she peered out. It was Harry and Ron. As soon as she saw the, she slammed it shut.

"Ginny," she heard Ron say, "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy, she never shuts up normally."

"Thanks, Ronald," she thought and with those words she stayed in her room for the rest of the day.