Disclaimer: Not JKR

AN: I got an anonymous review that I thought I should address, even though that person will probably never read this.

I do not think I can improve upon the genius work that is Harry Potter, and I mean no disrespect to Joanne Rowling. I have a great deal of respect to the woman who brought Harry into the world, her talent, her writing, her ethics…. Fanfiction is all about taking someone's characters and putting them in different situations, and stuff. And about making everything bad? Well, hmm, there kind of needs to be a problem in the story, doesn't there? Unless it's a little oneshot, which this story isn't. Mind you, "blank", you have only read the first chapter, by the look of it. And I haven't even published the full thing. So how do you know it's not going to end all happy? Oh, and characters aren't real! So if something bad happens, it's not like I'm killing them. Not really.

Having said that, I understand that not everyone's going to like what I do. So I hope blank succeeds in finding a story she/he likes better. XD

ANYWAY


Hope Weasley-Potter woke her mum nice and early for her first day of wizard prep school.

"Ma! Wake up!" she said, jumping on their bed. The older redhead groaned and tickled Hope.

"Alright, angel, I'm coming."

Ginny got out of bed and held her arms out for Hope, who pouted.

"I'm a big kid now!" she protested, jumping off the bed and leading the way to the kitchen.

"What would you like for breakfast then?" asked Ginny, following her daughter.

"I've got it all ready!" said Hope proudly, pulling Ginny into the kitchen by the hand.

Ginny saw, in short, a mess. The cereal had been served into two bowls, though it seemed that Hope had managed to put more cereal surrounding the bowls than in it, the milk had been spilt, and chairs and stools had been arranged around the kitchen so that Hope could reach everything she needed.

"It looks lovely," enthused Ginny, taking a seat at one of the tables and noting that the chair was very wet. She took some comfort in the fact that it was from the milk and nothing else.

The two redheads ate breakfast, Hope dashing off every two minutes to check that everything was packed in her Unicorn Magic backpack.

"Daddy's coming over to check on you," said Ginny once Hope had returned for the umpteenth time.

"Really?" said Hope, and Ginny nodded. Then her eyes narrowed. "Is she bringing Ebony?"

Ebony Fischer was Harry's latest girlfriend, a hazel-eyed brunette who was also an Auror. The problem was, she was always treating Hope like a baby.

"I think so," said Ginny, taking the bowls to the sink and beginning the clean up with a wave of her wand. Hope groaned.

After they had brushed their teeth and gotten changed, Ginny was packing Hope some peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches when the doorbell rang. Hope sped out the kitchen and into the hall, opening the door for her dad and Ebony.

She returned to the kitchen a moment later, dragging Harry by the hand, who, because he was holding her hand, dragged Ebony in.

"Hey Ginny!" said Harry, walking over to the bench by which she was standing and looking into Hope's lunchbox. "Y'know, she's a hungry one, she'll want more than one sandwich."

"Yes," cooed Ebony, bending down and pinching Hope's cheek. "She is growing up!"

Ginny had a certain amount of admiration for Hope, who just gritted her teeth and bared it.

"Which one of you's dropping me off?" asked Hope

"I think I am," said Harry, walking over to Hope and picking her up.

"Can't both of you?" whined Hope.

"What? And have the magazines in a frenzy? 'Harry and Ginny: Back Together'?" asked Ginny scornfully.

The second after it came out of Ginny's mouth, she regretted it. Everyone froze, Hope with a curious expression on her face, and Harry said seriously, "Ginny. A word, please?"

Ginny followed Harry into the living room.

"What do you think you just said?" he burst out, turning to her. "We don't want Hope finding out how public our lives are!"

"I'm sorry," said Ginny, meaning it. "It just slipped out. But, I think, no, I'm sure she's going to find out someday."

"Yeah, but we'll tell her the truth," said Harry, starting to pace.

"What I let slip was the truth."

"They won't think we're together again," said Harry, stopping his pacing to face his ex-wife, "because Ebony would be with us."

"No she bloody well won't," said Ginny, her voice not raised but still angry. "She treats Hope like a baby."

"She's only-"

"In five years she's grown a lot," protested Ginny. "She has an opinion. She hates Ebony." Then, her voice became full of emotion. "The only reason she doesn't say anything is because she loves you."

"And, she doesn't hate Mark, then?" Harry shot back.

"Hope likes my boyfriend a lot, maybe as much as she likes you," said Ginny calmly.

There was a pause.

"Do you really mean that?" asked Harry, a little hurt.

Ginny stuttered. Harry walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

"C'mon Hope," said Harry. "Ebony, do you want to head off to work?"

"Alright," said Ebony. She kissed Harry and Disapparated.

"Ginny, I'll take Hope," said Harry, putting Hope's lunchbox in her bag and zipping it up.

"No! You can't just come into my house and take my daughter away from me!"

"Freaking hell, Ginny! She's my daughter too!" Harry yelled back. "I thought we agreed that you get her ready and then I take her to school?"

"It's my week," exclaimed Ginny, "so I should take her."

"Why can't I come with you?" asked Harry.

"Because of the b----- magazines."

"Why do you care?"

"Hope doesn't want her fri-"

"Her friends will know anyway! That she's the daughter of a Potter and a Weasley and that they divorced."

"Well Hope-"

"-wants to have her say," said Hope, calmly and maturely. "We'll do "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"!"

Ginny stared at Hope and then Harry, who shrugged.

"Beats arguing."

Hope started at Ginny, which of course meant that she ended at Harry. After saying goodbye to Ginny and arranging for her to pick Hope up, Harry and Hope dashed out the door.

That afternoon, Harry dropped in to check on Hope.

"How was your day?" asked Ginny, setting a cup of coffee in front of Harry as he sat at the kitchen table.

"Ah, nothing much," he said casually. "Just broke up with Ebony."

"Why?" asked Ginny, nearly spitting out the mouthful of coffee she had just sipped.

"We weren't working out," said Harry indifferently. But Ginny knew that it was because of Hope. "But anyway, what about Hope's day?"

As if on cue, Hope ran into the kitchen and started telling her dad all about her day.

Two weeks later

"Oh, Mum! School is so much fun!" said Hope after she and Ginny Apparated back home in the afternoon. "Laine, MJ and I learnt how to read!"

"Great," enthused Ginny. She sat Hope down on the couch, made her a sandwich and poured her a glass of milk. "Hey, listen, I'm just going to go up and take a shower."

Hope nodded and started singing a little song, a continuous repetition of "I can read now!" while dancing around the room and Ginny wandered into the bathroom. Hope would occasionally stop singing and dancing to take a bite of her sandwich or a sip of her milk. Then, suddenly, something stored under the coffee table caught Hope's eye.

"Oooh!" she squealed. "I can read mummy's big people magazines now!"

She snatched up the magazine on the top.

"Witch Weekly," read Hope aloud, slowly but accurately. She flicked through to a page that was pink and inviting. "Giving your daughter The Talk. Telling your child all about me-men." Hope stuttered on the word, and, deciding it was too long, flipped through to another page. Her jaw dropped.

In the centre of the page was a picture of Harry and Ginny together, holding hands. Hope read eagerly.

"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, voted this year's favourite ex-couple, married and had a child together, Hope Weasley Potter. The couple are very rich and well-known, Harry being the defeater of Lord Vol-vol," (Hope skipped over the word, unable to read it.) "and Ginny being a famous ex-Quidditch player. It is said that the couple hate each other now and when they meet are always shouting-"

Hope put the magazine down as she heard her mum coming, and took a sip of her milk. Her thoughts were in a whirl.