AN: Weight as numbers finally appears in this chapter. To all the folks in the UK...please turn a blind eye to my indiscretion and divide by 2.2. Oh, and since I haven't mentioned this already - I own nothing except my love of HP.

The first two weeks were piles of books and miles of parchment. There seemed to be no end in sight for the work intended for the fifth years. When Ginny had complained about this, Ron had said, "I told you so," at which point Ginny had dropped her potion's book on his foot. Hermione, as she had done for Harry and Ron, made her a timetable for her studies. This just showed her how little time she had for anything else.

In secret, there was another timetable. Ginny had done the same thing for herself that Hermione had done for Lavender. Although, she rather felt hers was better. It said what she could have, how much, what time of day. There were rules and strictures for everything. Whenever she would get bored with her schoolwork, she would begin scribbling in it anew. The scribbling made her feel contained, like she could put a lid on everything wrong with the world.

It was at a Quidditch practice awhile later where Harry had exclaimed, "If all of you were as light on a broomstick as Ginny, we'd never have to worry about a match!" This had earned him a dirty look from Katie Bell, but - typical male – he didn't realize what he'd said wrong. Ginny, on the other hand, was absolutely elated. That someone had said that, and that it had been Harry! When she had gotten back to Gryffindor tower, Hermione had teased her, "Dreaming about Dean?" It was only then that she realized what a stupid smile had had pasted to her face.

This comment had given her a mission, however. She needed to find out how much she weighed. There were only two scales in the school that she knew of, in the infirmary and the scale for the larger cauldrons in the dungeon. Either way, she was not going go to either of them, because they both risked strange looks – by Madam Pomfrey, who would immediately think she was ill or skipping class, or by Professor Snape, whose demeanor was even more sour this year. Neither was a lovely prospect.

What I need is someone who is going to be honest with me, keep a secret, and be exact.

Hermione was one for honesty, but she'd probably just try to foist of some facts about nutrition on her. Besides, Hermione had scrutinizing eyes, but not to the ounce.

Too bad it couldn't be me.

And then it came to her, it could be her! She set off for the library, poring over texts, looking for a chapter she had caught glimpse of once before. "Enchanted Mirrors."

"Mirrors have a real and magical use, to reflect what we cannot see with our own eyes, to change the perspective. Through the ages, the looking glass has been enchanted to show the viewer knowledge that may not be garnered otherwise."

It went on to discuss various examples of enchanted mirrors, such as the Mirror of Erised, the Glass of Calina, and the Compact of Taunting, the latter of the three having infuriated the witch so much that it had been broken within ten minutes of opening it.

Then she found it, some simple spells to cast. She picked the one for Seeking Answers and Truth. She could tell by the fingerprints on this page that many students had been to this page before. Ginny grinned, sure that it was for an unscrupulous reason, and also – that Fred and George had likely been here.

She scribbled down what she needed on a spare bit of parchment and set to work. The one major decision was – what mirror where. She couldn't guarantee this would only work for her, and she'd hate to think of the reaction in Gryffindor should a mirror randomly start talking to people.

She remembered the bathroom where she threw Tom Riddle's diary, where Moaning Myrtle hung out. No one went there on fear of angering the ghost. She smiled, feeling overjoyed at this plan of hers.

She wanted to do this now. After she finally made it out of the library, she didn't have another free period until tomorrow. She decided this was just too important and skipped dinner without a word to anyone. She couldn't say why this was so important or had such immediacy, she only knew it felt like a grand adventure. Ginny grabbed her mortar and pestle, and liberated some needed plantlife from Green House 3. The spell called for crushing the ingredients into a fine paste, which was easier said than done with tree bark, and to smear it onto the mirror in question. The paste was goopy and dark, and in smearing it onto the mirror – she thought she must have done something wrong.

Suddenly there was an acrid smell in the air, like a forest fire. The smoke was coming from the mirror! Ginny ran to get some water, certain she was in for it after she was caught burning down the girls' lavatory. But the mirror wasn't burning; the ingredients were sizzling into it. When they had finished disappearing, you'd think she had just polished it the mirror, not coated it with ooze.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat.

It was now or never.

"Can you tell me how much I weigh" Ginny asked hesistantly. "Please!" she quickly added.

A rather energetic female voice rang out against the ceramic tile, "One hundred and eight, and three quarters."

"Oh!" Ginny replied, actually quite surprised, as she had been 115 somewhere in August.

"Oooooooooooh," came a mocking howl.

Like it or not, if this was going to work out, she had to make friends with Myrtle.

"Hi, Myrtle!" Ginny said brightly, "How are you?"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE – oh wait, did you ask me how I was?"

"Yes…"

"Oh, well, then…quite sunny, actually. How are you?" Myrtle asked quite sweetly.

Ginny was surprised, she didn't think it would be this easy to win Myrtle over.

"I'm well."

Myrtle seated her translucent form on the edge of one of the sinks. Her voice sounded tinny and far away when she spoke, "Ahhh, well – if that were completely true, what are you doing in a nearly abandoned bathroom casting spells. I've seen this before. Unhappy or causing trouble?" Her smile had almost a leering quality to it.

"I needed a place to do a spell, a spell that I didn't want to go wrong in front of the whole school."

"Ooooh, I understand that! Children can be so cruel." Myrtle said sadly.

"Everybody can be cruel, Myrtle.