Minor edits and rewrites to fit with where I want story to go and hopefully add a little depth to Ginny.
CHAPTER 1
Platform 9 and three-quarters felt different this year.
On the surface, it looked the same. Same bricks, same families bidding farewell to their young ones, some jealous younger siblings watching on, same excited faces boarding the train.
The difference was subtle. There were less families than ever before. The war had resulted in many casualties. Some families had opted to home school their children, something that had fallen out of fashion long ago, but which was seeing a revival in popularity after a tumultuous few years. Ginny couldn't really blame them.
The first years looked so small and innocent. Had she ever been so tiny? So brimming with hope?
Ginny Weasley stood on Platform 9 and three-quarters. Her family finished greeting others and were returning to her to say their farewells.
Ginny finished re-reading the letter she'd been holding onto over the summer break. She carefully smoothed it down and folded it along the exact same lines. If she kept reading it this often it would fall apart. She knew spells aplenty that would help – spell to smooth paper, meant tears, strengthen parchment… but every crease in the letter was a symbol of the state of her heart. She wouldn't mend it.
Every time she read it and re-read it her heart twisted painfully in her chest, tears pricked her eyes and her stomach sunk lower than the ground. She hoped by reading it enough, she would be able to accept it and move on. She had to be over Harry Potter. She would only ever be Plan B for him (or was it Plan C?)
Ginny reminded herself once again that this year would be different. She tucked it safely into the pocket of her fourth-hand jeans. Ginny ran her hand through her curls and tossed them over her shoulder, savouring the weight and thickness of her tresses. Her clothes might be old hand-me-downs from her brothers, but her glossy red hair would never fail her. The train was ready, so she affectionately embraced each of her parents. Molly cooed loving nonsense in her ear and Ginny couldn't help but give her an extra hug, the summer had definitely brought them closer together. Her parents had watched her go wand-to-wand with Death Eaters, and they now treated her not as a little girl, but a respectable young woman and a powerful witch. Ginny in turn had seen her parents, especially her mother, in combat. She had a newfound understanding of just how deeply they cared for her.
After the fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Ginny just couldn't jump on the bandwagon of people used his actual name), the wizarding world scrambled to right itself. A new Minister of Magic had been appointed, and a number of other ministry positions had to be filled quickly.
The heads of many old wizarding families had died during 'The Fall of the Dark Lord' or were serving life sentences in Azkaban. Professor Minerva McGonagall, hero of the war and staunch supporter of Dumbledore had been named Headmistress of the esteemed institution 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' Ginny was sure that with time, she'd be able to coach families to abandon their attempts to home school their children and entrust them to her care.
While a small number of students had been able to achieve satisfactory scores on their OWLs and NEWTs, many students had suffered severe trauma, interrupted schooling or simply been unable to complete final exams due to the destruction of a good portion of the school where the final battle had taken place. Accordingly, all students were given the option of repeating their last school year, or where they had obtained the necessary grades, moving into the next year.
Harry and Hermione, despite not completing school, had been accepted into tertiary level studies, training to be Aurors. Harry had spent a week telling Ginny nothing would change between them, then suddenly left for his training early, leaving behind only a letter which turned out to be a weapon of the most painful kind. His written words had trampled her heart and left it bleeding with acute misery. Hermione had followed some weeks after, effectively ending her relationship with Ron before she left.
The Golden Trio was done. Ginny stepped onto the train and made to find a carriage quickly.
"Ginny, wait up," she heard a familiar voice call. Ron Weasley had not been accepted into Auror training. At his parents' insistence he was heading back to Hogwarts to complete his final year of school, meaning of course, that he and Ginny would complete their seventh year together. Ginny groaned to herself and walked faster. While she had gained her parents' admiration and respect, Ron seemed more determined than ever to treat her like a vulnerable first year. Seeing Ginny in action had had the opposite effect on Ron, she wasn't sure why. Why couldn't he see she didn't need his protection? She'd taken down three Death Eaters single handedly, and helped with another two. Ron had barely managed to hex one older man enough to slow him down. Objectively she was the better witch, and being top of all her classes she was relatively nervous about what would happen when she started beating him in the classes they shared together.
"Ginny," he sounded angry now, she could just picture his face turning red. Couldn't he just leave her alone for one train trip? They'd been stuck together all summer. She picked up speed, darted around a group of younger students for cover then tried to open the first carriage she could find. It was locked.
"Not now!" she hissed, summoning her pent up anger from the summer and funnelling it into her wand, she felt rather than heard the lock spring open and burst into the carriage. The doors swung shut behind her and an unlikely pair of boys turned to look at her in surprise.
"How did you open that door?" Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini asked in unison.
Ginny gasped with surprise, coming face to face with two of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
Draco Malfoy had tousled silvery hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were a mesmerising deep shade of the ocean, not silver or grey or blue but some shifting combination of all three, with flecks of silvery light performing ballets throughout. His face was carefully constructed, both strong and defined, his features moulded from granite. He had strong eye brows, which sloped downwards in a serious expression. His usual smirk had drawn into a hard line across his face. His perfect lips pursed as perused her face with some interest. Ginny felt a blush creeping into her cheeks under his unexpected scrutiny.
"Ginevra Weasley," the other boy greeted. Ginny's eyes snapped from the Malfoy heir to his partner Blaise Zabini. The boy wore a loose black silk shirt with leather cuffs and black trousers. He was just as attractive as Malfoy… his rich chocolate hair artfully tousled. He had arched brows and eyelashes so long and thick, it should be illegal. And then his eyes - they were deep and catastrophic, a solid shade of brown as a warm and playful as the sun itself. He had distinct cheekbones and an angular jaw, his dark skin accentuating his devilishly handsome features. She had heard stories about Zabini, apparently he cycled through willing girls faster than his razor blades. Looking at him now Ginny could see how so many girls would be willing to bed him.
"Ginny," she breathed. "No one calls me Ginevra."
Blaise's eyes narrowed as he stood up and approached her, he was taller than her, his jaw line at level with her eyes. She stepped back instinctively, fighting the blush which burned and throbbed across her face. "Why? Ginny is a common name." He cut off her protest, continuing in a beautiful deep voice, "Ginevra is beautiful. It's a family name from the Prewitt side of your bloodline, a strong name. A name with rich history and tradition. A name connected to powerful witches, strong witches… witches who influenced the very fabric of wizarding society today."
"Ginny?" a voice called through the door. "Ginny, I know you're in there – open up!" Ron's voice was hoarse with anger.
Ginny spun, her eyes wide, and stumbled back from the door, straight into Blaise. He caught her in his arms and steadied her, then turned her around with a bold smile. "Easy, love. Are you hiding?" the timber of his voice was delicious.
Ginny nodded, somewhat mesmerised by his eyes. Blaise raised a strong hand and cupped her face. "Then we shall help you, won't we Draco?"