Harry Potter and Ginny Evans

"Wait! Tell me what evidence you have that I would be better in Slytherin? You have a perfect opportunity to look at the future and see how many times I acted without thinking! Please just put me in Gryffindor!" Harry silently pleaded with the hat.

"Information on the future does sound nice." The hat said more to itself.

"I'll make a deal with you; I'll tell you something from the future every time you do something for me." Harry said as hopefully.

"Ok, fine. Gryffindor!" The hat shouted out loud. "Now tell me something about the future!"

"More people get accepted to Hogwarts." Harry said with a smirk. The hat really should have been more specific.

"You tricked me! Slytherin! Slytherin! The boy belongs in Slytherin!" The hat screamed even as Harry made his way over to the Gryffindor table, sitting right in between James and Sirius and opposite of Ginny.

"It wanted to put you in Slytherin?" James asked in disgust.

"Uh, yeah. But I told it how much I hated it." Harry said weakly. The amount of disgust in James' voice had really struck something in Harry. James just nodded distractedly.

"While that was not the most traditional sorting, I would like to welcome everyone to Hogwarts." Dumbledore said as he stood up and spread his arms wide; making Harry happy that there was a distraction. "To all of our new students, I would like to welcome you to your first year and I hope you enjoy your time here. For everyone that is returning for another year, I would also like to welcome you back. I know that all of our 5th and 7th years will certainly enjoy their testing." Dumbledore said with a smirk. "I would like to say just one more thing. Nitwit. Oddment. Tweak." Dumbledore said as he sat down.

"That was three things!" A student called from the Gryffindor table.

"Indeed it was, always the listener Mr. Brown." Dumbledore chuckled as he sat back down and food appeared on the tables. Harry smiled to himself as he heard the surrounding first years gasp with surprise. He looked up and noticed that Ginny was smiling to herself too.

"He's a bit crazy, isn't he?" Sirius commented.

"Of course, but that's what makes him so great." Harry said as he shared a smile with Ginny.

"How would you know what he's like?" Sirius asked as he shoveled food onto his plate.

"The newspaper and things like that."

"I heard about him from my parents, the way they talk about him he seems great." James supplied as he put more food into his mouth.

"He does seem really great." Remus commented.

"You all sound like his little fan group." Ginny said jokingly. James just stuck his tongue out as Remus blushed.

"Hello." A voice behind Harry said. Harry turned around and smiled in surprise.

"Hey Lily." Harry involuntarily flinched at seeing his mother and having to call her Lily. "Better than nothing." He muttered to himself.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" Lily asked politely.

"Sure! This is James Potter." Harry said, gesturing to his father. James smiled in return.

"Lily Evans." Lily said as she stuck her hand out for him to shake.

"As Harry said, I'm James Potter. You can call me James." James said as he winked. He reached his hand out and shook her hand. Harry could tell her smiled seemed a little forced now.

"This is Remus Lupin." Harry said as he gestured to the timid looking boy.

"Hello." Remus said shyly. She shook his hand also.

"And I am Sirius Black!" Sirius called out loudly, gaining the attention of some of the older students.

"Pleased to meet you." Lily said a little sarcastically.

"So Evans, how do you know Harry?" James asked, grinning at Lily.

"My name is Lily, not Evans, and we met on the train." Lily said as she scowled at her fellow Gryffindor.

"Don't worry about James." Harry quickly said. "Do you want to sit with us?"

"Sure." Lily agreed happily. She sat down next to Harry and lowered her voice as she leaned towards him. "Severus got sent to Slytherin and you and Ginny were really the only other ones who introduced themselves to me, I hope you don't mind that I sat here."

"It's fine." Harry said sincerely. "It's always nice to sit with you fellow Gryffindors."

"Not going to go after Evans too, are you Harry?" Sirius said teasingly. "I thought you and Ginny had something."

"Shut it Black." Harry said fiercely.

"I'm just saying Harry; you can't take all the women."

"Black." Harry said through gritted teeth, the need to defend his mother overpowering the need to be liked by his godfather. "If you don't shut up, I will curse you in front of this whole school.

"If you say so…" Sirius said, even though he let the subject drop.

"So Evans, what house were your parents in?" James asked as Harry continued to glare at Sirius.

"They're both muggles." Lily answered. "And my name isn't Evans!"

"Fine Lily, do you have any relatives?"

"I have a sister."

"She a witch too?"

"No." Lily said simply, turning away from James.

"Just trying to make conversation Evan- uh, Lily." James said in defeat.

"Sorry if I'm intruding, but why don't you and Ginny have last names?" Lily asked, avoiding looking Harry or Ginny in the eye. "I mean, on the list. It's supposed to be enchanted to know you name, first and last."

"Well, I don't know why the list wouldn't have our names." We aren't born yet, hell, our parents aren't even old enough to try and have kids. "But, my and Ginny are orphans and we just have always stuck together."

"Oh, well, I know this sounds weird but, did you work at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Geez, talk about personal space." Sirius muttered.

"Yeah, did get money for our supplies we did." Harry confirmed.

"I know it! I thought you looked familiar! When I got my supplies I saw somebody that looked exactly like you but I wasn't sure."

"Yeah, it wasn't a big job or anything, but Tom let us have a place to stay."

"You mean you were staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" James asked with a frown on his face.

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"How long was it?" Harry asked as he turned to Ginny.

"About three months at least." Ginny said, thinking it over.

"Yeah, that seems right."

"Why though?" James asked, still frowning.

"Orphans, remember?" Harry said as he chuckled.

"How can you just laugh it off?" Remus asked timidly.

"Well, me and Ginny, our lives haven't been so great. We just tend to roll with it and as long as we're together, we're fine with whatever comes our way." Harry said as he pulled Ginny closer. Everyone seemed to avert their eyes from the two.

"Really guys, you don't have to act like we're glass." Harry said as he sighed.

"The only thing I don't get, is how it's just normal for you, it shouldn't be like that for anybody." Lily said quietly.

"Well, let's just change the topic, shall we?" Harry said cheerfully.

"Potter." James said suddenly.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You both don't have a last name, so I'm making you change it to Potter." James said fiercely.

"It's a nice gesture, but really, it's fine."

"No! I won't take no for an answer."

"James is right! Ginny can take my last name, we could pass for sisters." Lily said as she smiled at Ginny.

"Are you two sure about this?" Harry asked as he fidgeted in his seat, wanting to leap for joy on the inside.

"Positive." They both said simultaneously.

"Well then, Harry Potter and Ginny Evans it is." Harry said happily. As Harry was about to have one last piece of his dessert, it disappeared and everybody looked up to the head table, waiting for Dumbledore to stand and make any final announcements.

"Well Students, it is time to let our minds drift off. Before we do that, however, we must introduce our new Defense professor, Professor Kloves." Dumbledore swept his hand to his right and all eyes fixed on the professor whose eyes were sweeping the hall. Harry noticed that when the professor saw Remus, he glared fiercely at him. He did it in a blink of an, however, that Harry doubted anybody would have even noticed.

"Off to bed you go!" Harry stood with everybody else as the prefects rounded up the first years. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and they walked with each other to the tower.

"Like we need a guide." Harry muttered to Ginny as the prefect pointed out how the stairs had a tendency to move.

"Well, we'll certainly be good help when we make the marauder's map."

"True." Harry agreed. He waited as the prefect explained at the password and watched as he turned around and gave the password.

"That's original, 'Lion's Roar'." Harry said, causing Ginny to giggle. Harry was going to say something to Ginny when he was interrupted by James.

"You coming Harry?" James asked for the bottom of the stairs. "Or should I say Mr. Potter?"

"I think I'm going to stay down here for a little while." Harry said as he smiled at James.

"Keep the making out to a minimum!" Harry heard Sirius call from the top of the stairs.

"I'll get you Black!" Harry called.

"It's not worth it." Ginny said laughing as she pulled Harry away from the stairs. "I'll see you in a bit Lily." Ginny added when she saw Lily was also standing at the base of the stairs.

"Today turned out better than expected." Harry commented as he sat down in the couch in front of the roaring fire.

"Yeah, who would have thought I'd be an Evans?" Ginny asked as she sat down next to him. She grabbed his hand and let their intertwined hand rest on her lap.

"I never really expected that would happen. Think I might be able to take off my disguise?"

"You two could pass as twins!" Ginny said as she laughed.

"Yeah, it would be fun to mess with teachers." Harry agreed. Ginny was about to continue when she let out a jaw cracking yawn.

"I guess I should go to bed." She said glumly.

"You make it sound like its bad." Harry said as he chuckled.

"In my old body I used to be able to pull all nighters!"

"Well, you're still probably not feeling good from apparating this morning."

"Ginny, I now this sounds weird but, do you think it's weird that James immediately offered his last name to me?"

"Maybe." Ginny said while frowning. "But does it really matter?"

"I don't know, from what I saw of Snape's memory, I figured he'd be some tough guy."

"Harry, it was Snape's memory you were looking at, just erase all that from you head and think of him as a different person. Plus, he's eleven."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. "

"Goodnight Harry." Ginny pulled Harry up and quickly kissed his cheek. "Make out time to a minimum."

"Love you Ginny." Harry whispered as she walked away.

"Love you too." Harry heard her whisper back.

Harry laughed at her and watched as she walked away and started walking up the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory looking back and waving before continuing. A door to the boy's dormitory closing silently above him as Harry began up the stairs.

xXxXx

"Harry! Time to wake up!"

"Five more minutes." Harry muttered sleepily.

"Remus is already downstairs, we have 20 minutes!"

"Fine! I'm up." Harry threw the covers off of him and rushed into the bathroom without anyone seeing him and took a fast shower.

"How much time do we have?" Harry asked as he dried his hair with a towel, not bothering to use his wand.

"Only fifteen minutes! We would have had longer if you hadn't taken so long!" James insisted as he grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him down the stairs.

"Well, you should have woken me up earlier!" Harry protested. "And I don't have my books!"

"Who cares?" James yelled again as Harry struggled to get back up the stairs. Sirius grabbed Harry's other hand and they both pulled him further down the stairs.

"Harry?" Ginny asked as Harry was pulled straight through the common room.

"Hello Ginny, you look lovely today." Harry called back as Ginny began running after him.

"What are we running too?" Ginny asked, brushing hair out of her face.

"Why, class of course." Harry said as James and Sirius pulled him along.

"What are you talking about? Classes don't start for another hour, breakfast is about to start."

"You're joking, right?" Harry asked, shaking his head when she shook her head no. He pulled back fiercely on James' and Sirius' arm, pulling them to a stop.

'What're you doing? We're almost late!" James complained.

"For breakfast!" Harry said, annoyed.

"It's the most important meal of the day!" Sirius persisted. Harry took a breath in through his nose, and let it out his mouth.

"Let's walk at a more moderate page, ok?" Harry asked, trying to keep his anger at being woken up so early hidden. The two sadly nodded their heads.

"You'd think they'd never eaten before." Harry said as he intertwined his hand with Ginny's.

"They are eleven year old boys."

"I guess you're right." Harry said as he followed into the Great Hall behind his father and Sirius.

"There's barely anyone here!" Harry complained as he sat down in front of Sirius.

"Which means more for us!" Sirius said happily as he started to pile food onto his plate.

"I thought you said Remus was down here?" Harry asked as he looked down the table.

"Well, he left early this morning, so I figured he'd be down here." James said shrugging.

"Oh." Harry said simply, having an idea of where Remus was.

"You guys do realize that breakfast is an hour and a half long… right?" Ginny asked.

"It is?" Sirius asked, although Harry could tell he wasn't interested.

"You're not planning on staying here that long, are you?" Ginny asked.

"No, I think we're going to go the Quidditch pitch after."

"First years aren't allowed brooms though." Harry informed them, not caring that he himself had broken that rule.

"Yes, but they never said anything about borrowing brooms. It won't be our fault if the lock on the closet accidently gets broken."

"If you say so." Ginny said as she shook her head.

"Care to join?" James asked the two of them.

"I don't know, first day of class and already getting a detention?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Scared?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, come on Harry!" Ginny said jokingly as she punched him on the shoulder. "We have to try flying sometime!"

"You mean you've never flown before?" James asked his eyes wide in shock.

"We're orphans remember? We only just learned about magic." Ginny said, a sly smile gracing her face.

"What are you talking about?" Harry whispered to Ginny as James and Sirius went back to their food.

"Come on Harry! Don't you want to impress your dad? Show off! I basically just told him we've never ridden a broom, you can make it seem like your some child prodigy!" Ginny whispered excitedly.

"I don't know Ginny…" Harry replied uncertainly

"Come on! We already have to hold back in our classes, why can't we be good in at least this one thing?"

"Fine." Harry said shortly, not wanting to get into it as James and Sirius were finishing and would be likely to try and listen if the conversation continued.

"Ready? We have an hour until classes, so we should be able to get in a race." James said happily.

"We'll go easy on you two as you've never ridden before." Sirius added with a smirk as the four got up to leave the Hall.

"Oh please, won't you?" Ginny asked mockingly.

"Oh, very funny, Evans." Sirius replied as he jumped out of reach of Ginny's grip.

"You better hope you can hold onto that broom." Ginny said as she ground her teeth together.

"I'd like to see you try to knock me off!" Sirius said happily as he ran off, causing Ginny to chase him. Harry realized that he was left alone with his father and silently cursed Ginny.

"So… Have you flown a lot?" Harry began nervously.

"Of course! My dad got me the latest broom at home, he always tries to out fly me but never can." James said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, that's nice." Harry said awkwardly.

"Yeah." James said back, ending the conversation. They finally caught up with Ginny and Sirius, who were trying to break into the broom closet in the Gryffindor changing room.

"Can't get it?" Harry asked as he and James approached the two.

"No, it's locked up tight." Sirius said as he walked away from it to let James and Harry try. Ginny, however, went to the side of the closet. Harry saw a flash of light come from her direction and she peeked out from the side.

"Hey guys, there's a hole here!" Harry watched as both James and Sirius looked surprised, hadn't they seen the flash of light?

"Can we get the broom out from it?" James asked.

"If we knock them over and pull them out sideways we can." Ginny replied. She kneeled down to the ground and bent her arm at an odd angle. Harry heard a thud and before he knew it, she had pulled out a broom.

"Not the best model, but better than nothing." James replied as he grabbed it from her as she went back to get another one. Ginny repeated the process until all four of them had one, and Harry noticed that she had given herself and him the best ones.

"You may have better brooms, but we'll still win!" Sirius said confidently as they walked onto the pitch.

"If you say so Black." Ginny said with a smile on her face.

"How do you do this?" Harry asked, trying to play the part.

"Like this." James said, as he got on the broom and kicked up. As Harry followed in James steps sloppily, he made sure to wink at Ginny.

"I don't know if I can do this!" Harry yelled, trying to make his voice as terrified as it could be.

"It's ok Harry, just calm down!" James said, even though a smile was on his face. Harry winked at Ginny again, unnoticed, as he replayed the scene from his first flying lesson ever. He quickly rose into the air, yelling all the way up.

"Oh god Sirius! Save him!" Ginny cried desperately. Harry barely held in his laughter. He was surprised at how good of a pair of actors they were. By the time Sirius and James snapped out of their shock, Harry lightly pushed the broom forward, sending him into a steep dive. Harry heard James and Sirius yell, which he figured was a normal reaction, considering he was almost 100 feet in the air.

"Harry!" Harry heard Ginny yell in distress. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he went down, both James and Sirius on his tail, the wind quieting his laugh. As he flew down he saw James try and catch up but Harry ignored him. Harry watched as the ground came closer, signaling doom to James and Sirius, who had both pulled up in defeat. Just before he would have collided, Harry pulled up.

"Harry!" James called, pushing his broom down to the level Harry.

"That was so much fun!" Harry said, making it seem like it was his first time ever.

"Not for us! We thought you were going to die!" Sirius said, even thought there was a smile. "But did you see how awesome that was? I thought he was splattered for sure!"

"Harry! You get down here right now!" Ginny called, who harry noticed, had landed on the ground. Harry would have thought she was mad if he didn't know she was trying not to smile. Harry slowly flew back down to the ground, in front of Ginny and directed his eyes to the ground.

"That was so great! Did you see their faces? We just pranked the future prankster!" Ginny said excitedly, before James and Sirius could join them.

"I know! They thought I was going to die!" Harry said happily as he heard James and Sirius land.

"Do you know how irresponsible that was of you?" Ginny began, without missing a beat. "You could have died!"

"Hey, Ginny, calm down, he totally had it under control! For someone who's never been on a broom before, he really did great." James said, trying to stop Ginny before she could began on a full rampage.

"You!" Ginny said, turning onto James. "This is your fault!"

"What?" James asked confused.

"Ginny, calm down, everything's fine now." Harry said, letting Ginny know she could drop the act.

"Fine! But if you do anything that idiotic again in your life, I'll skin you." Ginny said in a fierce whisper which even made James and Sirius collapse into themselves.

"I think it's time for class." Sirius said, trying to break the 'tension' that had formed. Ginny stomped forward toward the changing room and the three boy s followed in silence.

"That one has a temper she does." Sirius said quietly to the other two, guessing he was out of hearing range of Ginny.

"But that's why she's the best." Harry added, to which Sirius snorted. When the three boys caught up with Ginny, they quietly handed her the brooms to which she just stood them up against the wall.

"Don't you think they'll notice?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"Do you think they'll notice if I give you a black eye?" Ginny hissed back. Sirius paled but held his arms up in defense. Sirius and James walked ahead first, leading the way.

"You really are a good actress." Harry whispered to Ginny as they followed Sirius and James out of the tent.

"I know." Ginny said with a smile. "Being the only girl, I really didn't have to act too much to get what I wanted, but it was good to make myself better anyways."

"I was actually getting a little afraid there." Harry admitted jokingly.

"Well, it was pretty stupid. I said impress, not try to kill yourself."

"Yeah, I guess you did." Harry laughed. "Ready to dumb down for classes?"

"Well, you really don't need to dumb down. How long did it take you to levitate that feather?" Ginny teased, pushing Harry on the shoulder.

"It's really quiet." Harry noted as they walked past the Great Hall.

"You don't think we're late, do you?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"I don't see how we could be, it hasn't been that long." It turned out that they were, indeed, late. Harry would later swear they weren't out there for that long, but joked that time flew when you flew, to which Ginny punched him. They weren't too late, only fifteen minutes. So, the four of them, James and Sirius having looked in the Great hall to see why it was so quiet, raced to the Gryffindor common room. They quickly gathered up there things and raced out.

"Wait, where are we going?" James asked, realizing they had no clue where they actually were going.

"Defense?" Harry supplied helpfully. He wished he could just point the way and they could run, but he knew that it couldn't be like that.'

"But where is Defense?" James emphasized.

"We are so screwed." Sirius said in defeat.

"I think I heard someone say it was on the third floor?" Ginny said, sounding confused but hopeful. Harry was just glad she thought of something

"Better than nothing!" James replied as they took off toward the third floor. Once they arrived there, they followed the noise. It wasn't a lot of noise, just a single voice, not a very welcoming voice either. James took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Well look who decided to finally show up!" Professor Kloves snapped as the four sheepishly walked in.

"Sorry sir." Harry said quietly as he took an open table, one seat for him and another for Ginny. It seemed that Lily was the only one who had wanted to sit up front. She had taken the front right table, leaving the other two front tables open. Harry and Ginny took the front left, after racing James for it, leaving James and Sirius to take the front middle table.

"You should be! You missed 25 precious minutes of my lecture!" Professor Kloves snapped at them again. "As I was saying, this year will not be fun. There will be very little practical lessons. We first must understand what Dark Creatures hide out there. Creatures that will destroy you. Some of these Creatures include; Werewolves, Vampires, Dementors, and Acromantulas."

"Sir." Harry said bravely, raising his hand but not waiting to be called on. "How do you know werewolves are dangerous?"

"You're joking right?" The Professor asked, staring at Harry incredulously.

"Well, no, I'm not." Harry said seriously. The class behind him was deathly silent and Harry wasn't surprised. He was a first year student, who had arrived almost thirty minutes late, and had dared to contradict a new teacher.

"How can you even say that?" Kloves asked furiously.

"Well, what you're saying is a generalization and you're just adding to the stereotype."

"Every single one of those monsters are blood-thirsty killers!" Kloves said as he slammed his fist onto Harry's table. Ginny gave Harry a look that clearly told him to stop but he pushed on.

"How do you know, have you ever personally met one?" Harry asked, staring the man in the eye.

"No." Kloves stuttered, trying to find his grip on the conversation. "What about all the attacks in the papers?"

"Those are the few werewolves who choose to take the darker path and kill during the full moon." Harry responded calmly.

"So you admit they're killers!"

"No, I think you're just grabbing for straws now." Harry said as he folded his arms over his chest.

"But some of them are still murders and the rest still have that urge!" Insisted Kloves angrily.

"Well, I could argue that wizards have that basic urge also. But we don't group every single wizard because of the action of other wizards. Take Grindelwald for example. Are we to group all wizards for the actions taken by a man and his followers?" Harry calmly, while on the inside he was cheering himself on. That that Kloves! Harry thought to himself as Kloves stood there, fuming as the bell rang.

"Dismissed!" He yelled loudly as he walked into his office and slammed the door shut behind him.

"God Harry, that was amazing!" James said happily as he approached Harry.

"Thanks." Harry said, happy at the compliment from his father.

"I can't believe you contradicted a teacher like that! On the first day too!" Sirius added.

"Harry! How could you?" Came the voice of Harry's mother. Harry's eyes immediately dropped to the ground. "He's a teacher; you shouldn't disrespect him like that!"

"Sorry." Harry mumbled, apologizing like a child that had just been caught.

"You should go apologize." Lily added as she put her hand on her hip.

"No!" Harry, James, and Sirius shouted at the same time. They looked at each other before laughing. Harry finally caught his breath and noticed that Lily was looking disapproving at Harry.

"Why should I? He was stereotyping werewolves!" Harry said defensively. "That's not right to do whether you think it is or not!"

"He was still a teacher!" Lily persisted.

"Whatever Lily." Harry said as he turned around to leave, he hated to turn his back on his mother, but he couldn't help it. He needed her to understand some things are more important than teachers. And he needed all of them to understand not every werewolf is a monster.

"What did you think you were doing in there?" Ginny hissed in his ear when he walked out of the classroom.

"Standing up for Remus." Harry whispered back as he continued to walk to their next class.

"I know that, but we have to look like we know nothing of the magical world!" Ginny said again.

"It was the right thing to do." Harry said simply.

"This isn't just what's about right and wrong Harry; it's more than that now!" Ginny said as she stomped her foot.

"Well this time it wasn't. I'm not about to let Remus go through that again."

"What do you mean, again?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Think Ginny, this is the past. Remus, our Remus, had to go through this. He had to sit by while a teacher who knew about him sat there throughout the year as he listened to a prejudiced man. I'm not about to let that happen again!" Harry said, trying to make Ginny understand his message.

"I guess I never thought of that." Ginny said quietly.

"I know, but I did." Harry said as he looked at Ginny and then he grabbed her hand gently. "We're here to change what happened before. I'm going to try and make them not have to go through anything they didn't like before."

"But harry, didn't you think that that's what made them the people they are today? That that's the reason there like that, because they went through those hardships." Ginny said gently. Harry was torn; he really couldn't be sure at this point.

"I don't know Ginny; I need to think about this whole thing." Harry said as he began to walk, thinking Ginny was walking with him. He looked back confused when his arm was pulled.

"You've had three months to think about this Harry, you can't have any longer."

A/N: So how did this chapter turn out? I hope I'm doing Eleven year old James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily some justice. Let me know what you think about it.