The Day Our Paths Crossed (And The Things That Came of It)

Chapter One – We Make Our Introductions (And I Guess I'd Like That Too)

"Excuse me?"

The woman Harry had just watched send four boys through a solid brick wall turned to him. She was plump with fiery red hair, and smiled down at him. "Hello dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ginny's new, too."

She pointed at a young girl holding a cart similar to Harry's. She was short, he supposed, seeing as they could look each other straight in the eye. She had long hair like her mother's, with freckles.

"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is- The thing is, I don't know how to -"

"How to get on the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight away at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ginny."

"Er- okay," said Harry.

He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. He started to walk towards it, then stopped.

"Wait!"

Looking back, he saw that Ginny was watching him over her things. "Yes?"

She seemed flustered as she paused for a moment. "Well, if we are going to be in the same year, you ought to tell me your name."

"Oh." Funny, Hagrid had given Harry the impression every wizard would know his name. Either way, it was odd anyone was bothering to ask in the first place. "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

He closed his eyes and ran forwards, wondering what he might find ahead of him.

Harry had barely a moment to settle into his empty train car before the door was shoved open.

"You!" Ginny leaned against the door frame panting as she glared at him. "That was rude of you, just running off like that."

"Didn't your mum tell me to go through ahead of you?" Harry asked as he fiddled with his wand in his hand. "Besides, I did tell you my name."

"But you didn't ask for mine!" she said. Her face was oddly flushed. He supposed it was all of the running she must have been doing through the train.

"You're Ginny, right?" Harry said as he slipped the wand into his pocket. "Did you want me to ask for your last name also?"

Ginny's face flushed even more. "Weasley. It's Weasley." She looked away, then shook her head clear and sat down across from him. "If you're really Harry Potter, then you have a scar on your forehead, right?"

Nodding, Harry swept his bangs aside and showed the lightning scar. Ginny stared.

"You-Know-Who did that to you?"

"Yes, but I can't remember it at all. Is everyone in your family a wizard?" Harry asked, realizing he had never talked to another wizard his age before.

She frowned, thinking. "Er- There was that one second cousin that's not, I think. He's some sort of accountant."

"So you must know loads of magic already."

"If you mean loads of cooking and cleaning magic, then yes. Since I had nothing better to do last year, Mum decided I could make myself helpful around the house instead of 'moping around.'" Ginny scowled.

Harry, not realizing he had hit a bit of a sore spot, asked, "Didn't your brothers teach you any magic?"

Ginny laughed, an infectious sound that made Harry grin. "Oh, those gits? You must have seen them going onto the station. The only ones who showed me anything were Fred and George – those are the twins, of course – but that was all their silly joke magic. They're pranksters, drives Mum crazy. One time, they turned Percy's room into a garden – even brought in the garden gnomes from outside."

He grinned, trying to picture what Dudley's room would look like if he were to do that. Uncle Vernon might never let him out of the cupboard again, but it would be worth it to see Dudley with his head sticking out of the ground like the petunias. "Garden gnomes… You mean, like the lawn ornaments?"

"No, I've heard Dad talk about those at the Ministry – he does some dull job with muggles, that sort of thing. They're a bunch of little pests, really, and they bite too. Anyways, there's Ron, but he doesn't do much of anything. From what I hear, he and his friends, Dean and Seamus maybe, just sit in the back of their classes and talk."

"Is that all?"

Ginny shook her head. "Let's see, I also have two older brothers out of school… Bill does things with cursed tombs, and Charlie's a dragon tamer. What's you family like?"

Harry grimaced. He would have liked to forget about the Dursleys, now that he was off to wizarding school and all. "Horrible. I have an aunt, an uncle, and an older cousin."

There was a short silence.

"Really? I just told you all about my family, and that's all you're going to tell me?" Ginny's face was pouting, and she crossed her arms as she stared at him.

Harry, a bit angry to be pushed for details, said, "Fine. My Aunt Petunia also makes me cook for the entire family, my cousin Dursley is a spoiled brat who enjoys hitting me with a stick, and my Uncle Vernon makes me spend most of my time in my bedroom."

Her mouth hung open for a moment as she searched for a response. "Well, spending time in your bedroom doesn't sound too-"

"My bedroom is the broom cupboard under the stairs."

"Oh."

They were quiet for a long while after that.

"Harry?"

Harry started as looked up from the page in his book on curing boils. Spinning around in the plush red armchair in the Gryffindor common room, he sighed as he realized it was only Ginny. "Oh, hi, you had me scared for a second there."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? We've got classes tomorrow, after all," she said. Was that concern in her voice?

"Well," he said, showing her the cover of his book, "I am studying. Besides, I couldn't sleep. Why are you awake?"

Ginny yawned tiredly as she walked down the stairs and settled into a chair across from Harry. "The other girls were being dreadfully noisy, aside from a muggle-born – I think her name was Elise - who was being quiet. I was just using the restroom when I noticed you were still down here."

"Weren't you talking too?"

"Well, only a little bit. It is the first day, after all. Mum said we ought to start making friends early. All that talk does get boring after a while, if you think about it."

Curious, Harry asked, "Talk about what?"

"Girl stuff. You're a boy, you wouldn't understand." Ginny pointed at the book in his hands. "You like potions?"

He nodded. "Well, I'm not quite sure yet, but it does sound interesting. Did your brothers tell you anything about it?"

"I've heard the teacher here is awful. I think Ron called him "a slimy git" once or twice." She laughed, and Harry couldn't help but laugh too.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you excited for anything in particular?"

"Charms," Ginny said, suddenly animated. "All Mum uses them for is dull mundane stuff, but she used to tell me stories about how, when she was here, she would charm any boy who looked at her until he stopped. I think she won a dueling championship once too. Besides, Professor Flitwick is supposed to be wonderful."

"We'll be in the same class, right?" said Harry, grinning.

Ginny seemed shocked for a moment, as if she hadn't even considered it, then narrowed her eyes. "It's on."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"I just told you! It's on!"

"But what's it?"

"I'm challenging you, silly! I'm going to beat you in Charms this year!" Ginny exclaimed, standing up from her arm chair.

"That's awesome!" Harry replied as he too jumped out of his armchair. "You'll be first in Charms class, and I'll be first in Potions! Why are we standing up anyways?"

Ginny groaned, shaking her head. "No, you don't get it. I mean we should do a competition!"

"But we're classmates. Shouldn't we be helping each other?"

"But where's the fun in that?" Ginny yanked her wand out of her pajamas and pointed it at the ceiling as she put a foot on the coffee table. "I'm going to win, and that's that."

"SHUT UP! IT'S ONE AM IN THE BLOODY MORNING!" someone yelled from one of the dorms upstairs.

Harry and Ginny took one look at each other and burst out laughing, making a poor effort to keep the volume of their mirth down. They calmed down after Ginny started yawning again, and looked back up at the stair to the dorms. "Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"About earlier on the train- I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground, gripping the cushion of the armchair. "I didn't realize-"

"It's fine, really," he said with a smile. "Would you still like to be friends?"

Ginny nodded. "I think I'd like that." She moved to take a seat again, but paused as she yawned again. "I'm sorry, but I am awfully tired. Hopefully the girls will have quieted down a bit. See you in the morning?"

"Yeah. Goodnight, Ginny."

"Goodnight Harry."

That night, Harry fell asleep with a potions book on his chest and a smile on his face. Who knew beginnings could ever happen like this?

I'll take this as my first hesitant steps into the Harry Potter fandom. I suppose we'll just have to see what comes of it.

Much love, Pokefan87