Chapter One

Chapter One

It was nearing the end of March that Ginny woke up with a terrible headache and the almost over amazing full bladder. After finishing her business, Ginny stumbled over to her bed and sat down, running her hand through her rumpled red hair.

"I better not be sick," she muttered to herself. The match against Slytherin was coming up, before the final exams, and the rest of the Gryffindor team were depending on her. Lately she'd just been feeling rather tired and run down. Upon sharing this information with Colin, he insisted that she ceased working so hard and relaxed a bit.

Ginny had rolled her eyes, the only she ever had worked very hard on was Quidditch and Charms, the rest of the classes were not much trouble at all, she was after all Head Girl. With an effort, since her head was awfully painful, Ginny pushed herself to her feet and dressed for her morning classes. Other than the headaches and the occasional backache's, nothing else seemed amiss.

Colin was waiting for Ginny at the common room, as was usual that morning. His camera was slung over his arm, since he discovered it had gotten in the way around his neck more than on his arm. Before she could blink he snapped a picture of her then grabbed her by the arm, pulling her out of the common room.

"You know I hate that when you take my picture," Ginny hissed at him, pulling away her arm.

"That's why I do it," Colin said cheerily.

"I'm going to really kick your butt one of these days," Ginny teased, but only punished him with a punch on the arm.

"So how are you feeling?" Colin asked, rubbing his arm unconsciously. "Have you taken it easy, like I told you?"

"Of course," Ginny lied, she smiled to herself.

"Good..." Colin said. They entered the Great Hall without another word, taking their usual seats by their friends. The food appeared on their plates instantly, some sort of porridge and orange juice. Ginny took a sip of her juice, eyeing the porridge warily. For some reason, her stomach was warning her against eating, and not about to challenge her stomach's judgement, contented herself with orange juice.

Colin finished his porridge by the time she was halfway through her glass; he let his spoon clatter back into the empty bowl before looking over at her still full bowl.

"Aren't you hungry?" Colin asked.

"No," Ginny shrugged. "I don't feel like eating right now."

Colin stared at her, looking doubtful.

"Seriously," Ginny reassured him. "I'll eat at lunch, I guess I ate a bit too much dinner."

Colin rolled his eyes, "That's true, even I don't eat that much."

Ginny flushed with embarrassment and anger, "I was hungry!"

Colin snorted into his newly filled bowl of porridge. "Ginny, that is the most I've seen you eat in a long time!"

"I worked hard at practice," Ginny continued.

"Your not suppose to work hard," Colin cried triumphantly. "I knew you'd never let up on training!"

"I didn't work that hard," Ginny tried lamely, but Colin only smirked.

"You did, and your not suppose to," Colin said. "If your not feeling well, I don't want you to get sick and I don't want to lose that match against Slytherin."

"We will not lose," Ginny told him firmly. There was no way she would let herself out of that game, absolutely no way. Her team had been practicing so hard; there was no way Slytherin could beat them.

"Ginny, just listen to me for once and try and ease up a bit." Colin pleaded.

Ginny groaned then shook her head in defeat. "After the match, alright? It's coming up soon and I want to be sure I'm in top shape."

Colin frowned, but nodded, knowing that was probably the best he'd get from her.

*

It was almost unbearably cold, Ginny thought grimly, watching the game from the other side of the field. So far they'd managed to keep the quaffle away from their post, and Ginny hadn't had much to do except watch their chasers and seeker. Since Harry had left, a fifth year named Jason had taken over. He was good, but not as good as Harry and he still circled the sky, twisting and weaving trying to shake the Slytherin seeker, who seemed intent on harming him.

The wind was positively howling, making balance on the brooms very hard. That would explain why the quaffle was more free falling than being held onto. The bludgers were even harder to control, aided by the wind with speed, but often blown off course.

The announcer's voice was nothing but a dim roar that blended in with the crowd. She didn't hear him when he announced that the Slytherin's had finally gotten the quaffle, she did hear the slight increase of volume of the cries. Tightening her grip on her broom, Ginny balanced herself as she saw two green clad chasers streaking toward her. She swayed with the quaffle as they passed it back and forth, her eyes never leaving the bright red ball. Just as a bludger came streaking toward the chaser holding it, they launched it to her far right. Leaning her weight into the broom she zoomed sideways, intercepting the ball and tossing it to one of the chasers.

The Gryffindor's cheered as the Slytherin's booed and hissed. Ginny smiled at their disappointment, rarely had the Slytherin's managed to get a quaffle past her. A cry of outrage made her jump back to concentration. One of the beaters had run into their chaser, knocking the quaffle from her hands, and sending her spinning toward the ground. She pulled up about one foot from landing and began to scream at him and the referee who hadn't moved.

The Slytherin chaser's had began their flight toward her when Ginny sat up straighter in her broom.

"Oh!" Ginny cried pointing at Gryffindor's seeker who was streaking down toward the ground. The chaser turned and watched with rage as Jason reached out for the snitch, a hairbreadth from it, then turn and threw the quaffle as hard as he could at her.

Ginny didn't see it coming until the last moment, so intent on watching Jason. As soon as his wrapped around it, Ginny's face broke into a smile. Then she saw it. The ball streaking toward her, faster than she could react, it hit her square in the stomach. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around it, and felt her legs go weak from the breath being knocked out of her. With a moan, Ginny let her eyes close and body topple off the side of her broom.

*

"Ginny?" she heard a soothing, familiar, voice whisper into her ear. Ginny stirred, acutely aware of the pain in her stomach and legs. She opened her eyes slightly to meet the bright green ones of Harry Potter.

"Harry," Ginny said weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"Must you ask that every time I show up?" Harry grinned, though it didn't contain much amusement.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said. "What happened? Where am I"

"The infirmary," Harry told her, brushing her hair from her face. "You fell off of your broom at the match. Do you remember?"

Ginny nodded, remembering the quaffle hitting her in the stomach and the sensation of falling.

"Did I hit the ground?" Ginny asked, "Is that why my legs hurt?"

"No," Harry said, concern springing in his eyes. "One of your beaters and a chaser caught you before you hit, what's wrong with your legs?"

Ginny tried to sit up, then felt the pain in her back. "Oh," she sighed with relief; "My back has been acting up lately, its nothing serious. I thought I had landed on my legs."

"Backaches?" Harry frowned. "Why would you be getting those?"

Ginny shrugged, "I've been training hard,"

Harry's eyes darkened. "You shouldn't work yourself to the point of where you're in pain." he scolded.

Ginny sighed, "Must everyone try and look out for me? I can take care of myself you know!"

"You don't always know what's best for yourself," Harry teased.

"Oh, and you do?" Ginny smirked.

Harry nodded.

"Then what do you suggest, doctor?" Ginny asked softly, beginning to pull Harry down to meet her lips.

"Rest," Madame Pomfrey interrupted, sweeping into the room with a tray.

Ginny released Harry immediately and smiled sweetly up at the nurse. "I'm fine Miss, I didn't really hurt myself in the fall."

Pomfrey gave Ginny a hard look before shooing Harry off of her bed. She took his place and began to check her pulse and eyes.

"Well Mr. Potter," Pomfrey said, "You can visit again later, when time permits. Right now this young woman needs her rest."

"Of course," Harry nodded, then to Ginny. "I sent an owl to your parents, I knew they'd want to know about even though you aren't hurt."

Ginny nodded, "My brothers?"

"I'm not sure, I could try and get hold of Ron for you," Harry offered.

"Please, I haven't seen him in a while," Ginny said.

"You may leave now, Mr. Potter." Pomfrey said firmly, knowing that if she didn't stop them now, she'd never get anything done.

"You'll come back?" Ginny asked.

"As soon as I can," Harry called back, and then he was gone.

Ginny lay back against the soft pillow and closed her eyes and Madame Pomfrey examined her. She winced when her hand brushed across her stomach.

"That hurts?" Pomfrey asked.

"That's where I was hit," Ginny told her, she lifted her shirt so the nurse could see her stomach.

Pomfrey made an tsking noise as she studied the bruise, "I'll get some ointment to heal that up," she said disappearing into another room. She returned with a jar full of clear cream that smelled of antiseptic. The feeling of it on her skin was weird, almost like she were rubbing ice over her stomach. It tingled for a moment, then disappeared. Ginny glanced down to see that the ointment had soaked into her skin, causing the bruise to disappear. There was still an ache though.

"Better?" Pomfrey asked gently.

"Sort of," Ginny grimaced, shifting her body. "It still kind of hurts."

Pomfrey's lips tightened, and she gently pressed down on Ginny's stomach as though she were searching for something. Ginny withdrew from her touch, for it was still sore.

"It'll take a while for the pain to go away," she said finally. "Any other aches?"

"My back," Ginny told her, "that and lately I've been having headaches."

The nurse pursed her lips; "I'll have to take a blood sample. There's been a bad flu bug going around, and if we do the tests now I can see if you have it."

Ginny nodded, wincing when she saw the needle being used. She looked away while her blood was drawn from her. Normally she didn't get queasy at the sight of it, but now she wasn't sure. A pat on her arm signaled that it was done.

"Rest now," Pomfrey said firmly, pushing Ginny gently so she now lay on the cot.

Ginny closed her eyes without hesitation.

I'm going to be sick, Ginny thought suddenly, sitting up. Perspiration beaded her forehead, but at that moment she wasn't worried about that. Her stomach was twisting inside of her warning on how upset it was feeling. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Ginny rushed over to the bathroom, falling to her knees to retch into the chamber pot.

"Oh dear," a soft voice said behind her. Cold hands pulled her hair from her face and then rubbed her back as she finished. "Back to bed,"

Ginny looked at the nurse with bleary eyes, but made no objection as she was led back to the bed. She didn't really notice the nurse wipe her mouth, or tuck her in, only when she handed her a handkerchief and told her to hold it to her nose. Ginny did, too miserable to object. It smelled of peppermints, and it seemed almost instantly her stomach settled and the uncomfortable churning ceased.

Ginny shifted, suddenly uncomfortable that Pomfrey had to see her throwing up at her office. She avoided the kind nurses' eyes as she hustled about, cleaning up after Ginny's episode.

Then the door opened to the infirmary, and the sound of hurried footsteps to where Ginny lay.

"Ginny! You're fine? What did he mean you fell off your broom? Who did it?" A stream of questions came from Molly Weasley's lips the instant she saw her daughter. She sat down beside Ginny and grasped her small hand into hers.

"I'm fine mum," Ginny muttered, slightly embarrassed. Madame Pomfrey looked annoyed but said nothing.

"Getting into trouble?" Ron's voice asked. Ginny's head lifted, a smile spreading across her face.

"You came!" Ginny cried happily.

"Of course," Ron smiled, "I couldn't not come. Even if I didn't want to, Harry would have dragged me to you."

Ginny blushed slightly at the mention of Harry but neither of her family members noticed. They continued on with about what had happened, and how she was feeling. Ginny left out the part of her ache's and the retching that had occurred a moment ago, glancing at Pomfrey as she did so. The nurse was pretending to not listen, but she was sucking on her bottom lip, something she did when she disagreed with the way things were going.

"How is your job going, Ron?" Ginny asked, trying to change the subject.

"Fine," Ron shrugged. "A lot of work."

Ron's goal was to be a Hit Wizard, but to better improve his chances he took Auror training, which sharpened the skills of most who wished to be in that career. Ginny smirked slightly as she asked the next question, "And Hermione?"

Ron's ears turned red but he answered, "Great, she's still studying to be a teacher."

"So how has school been?" Molly interrupted.

"Oh, the same old, mum." Ginny shrugged. "Except Quidditch, I learned some great plays and we've been kicking butt since."

"You won today didn't you?" Ron asked.

"Of course, Slytherin never had a chance."

Ron grinned, and began to delve deeper into the conversation of Quidditch. Molly shifting on the bed, looking bored with the conversation but not interrupting her children's discussion.

"The tests were negative," Pomfrey announced, saving Molly from having to stop them again.

"I can leave then?" Ginny asked, sitting up.

The nurse held Ginny's eyes for a long moment, as if she were internally battling on whether to let her leave or not. "Of course," she said finally.

Ginny smiled with relief, and with her mother at her elbow, and Ron walking beside her, left the infirmary.

Ginny's body trembled as she grasped the bedpost the next morning. She'd woken up late, Colin must think she was still in the infirmary, but right then that really didn't matter. After slipping on her robes and gathering her school things, Ginny felt nauseous again. Fighting back the feeling of being sick, she gripped the carved wooden bedpost savagely, concentrating on trying to fight back the urge.

I am not sick! Ginny told herself stubbornly. After what seemed like an hour, when in fact it was only a few minutes, the feeling passed, and Ginny rushed to her first class, not at all bothered at missing her breakfast. In the mornings she never really felt hungry, she usually drank whatever they served and skipped the meal.

Professor Flitwick merely glanced at her when she rushed in, gesturing for her to sit. Ginny did, hiding her confusion, whenever she was late to any class the Professor's jumped at the chance to lecture her. Madam Pomfrey must have said something to the staff. Ginny mentally shrugged.

"Your fine?" Colin asked, causing her to jump slightly in her seat.

Ginny nodded sending him a reassuring smile.

"The Chaser who threw the quaffle at you, a lot of people are out for his blood. Not just Gryffindor's but the Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's as well." Colin grinned, "You have quite a social status don't you?"

Ginny chuckled softly, "I didn't even know so many would back me up,"

"I will," Colin said, suddenly looking serious. "When I get my hands on that boy..."

Ginny smiled to herself as Colin made a violent gesture in the air, "That looks painful. I hope you do get to him,"

*

"Ginny!" Colin's voice rang out above her. Ginny stirred, raising her head from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Students were beginning to flow out of the doors, heading for their last class of the day.

"What? I'm up!" Ginny said, pushing herself to her feet.

Colin gave her a sidelong glance as they left the Hall, and Ginny gritted her teeth. "If you're even thinking about being concerned for me, Colin, I will have to be sure you will never be able to reproduce."

"I wasn't," Colin said, taking a step away from her.

Ginny didn't answer, suddenly very annoyed with people in general. What was even better, she had to deal with Snape before she could go back to her room and sleep.

Sleep.

That's all she seemed capable of doing lately. She could barely finish her homework before she crawled into her bed, feeling utterly exhausted. She couldn't even tell herself it was from practicing, since the Slytherin's had been their last match for the year. She was beginning to have some doubts that Pomfrey may have been wrong on her being sick.

Ginny didn't even acknowledge Snape as she sauntered into his dungeon classroom, taking her seat beside Colin near the middle of the right side of the room. Snape seemed to be intent on giving her dirty looks since they'd lost the match three days before. She became sick of his constant leers, so she resolved to ignore his presence totally.

She didn't even notice him stand and begin to lecture on the antidotes they'd been working on for the past week for a very rare poison. She didn't notice how he seemed to halt and glare at Ginny in particular, not being subtle at all on whom he was pissed at.

"Slytherin's are such sore losers," Colin muttered to her, after the fifth glare.

That seemed strangely amusing to Ginny, and before she could stop herself, she burst into a fit of muffled giggles. Colin didn't expect this, stared at her with a sort of wonder. She was trying to contain the laughter so hard, her face was turning a shade of red and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She looked comical. Colin began to snigger behind his hand as well.

"Is something funny Ms. Weasley? Creevey?" Snape snapped.

Ginny actually made eye contact with him after two days of ignoring him. Her eyes were twinkling with mirth, and she removed her hand from her mouth to reply in a halting voice, "No-no Snape."

"Perhaps you would like to enlighten us on the facts we've been going over on the Vipour poison and the using of its antidote?" Snape sneered.

"No," Colin said, causing Ginny to go into another fit of giggles.

Snape narrowed his cold eyes at Ginny before moving over to his desk and picking up a vial.

"You finished your antidote, Weasley?" Snape asked, holding out a vial.

"Yes," Ginny said, unmoving.

"Lets test it," Snape grinned. "You'll know the exact moment on when to drink the antidote since you were paying attention to my lecture."

Ginny glared at him, but stood and took the vial.

"Now wait a minute," Colin said, standing as well.

Snape glared at him. "Sit down," he hissed.

"This is unessacary-"

"Sit down Creevey or it will be fifty points." Snape threatened.

A few of the Gryffindor's shifted in their seats, not at all happy with the way the situation was going.

Colin's jaw tightened but he sat, his eyes instantly moving to Ginny. Ginny gave him an apologetic shrug before regarding the neon green potion she held in her hands. Snape said nothing, just watched a smug smile forming on his face.

Ginny pulled the stopper from the vial, and eyed the poison suspiciously. A rotten smell drifted up being released from the confinements, already making Ginny feel as though she had drank it. She lowered the vial away from her face, knowing the vapors of the poison were just as toxic as the poison itself. I won't let Snape try and show me up, she thought furiously. She glared down at the poison, tightening her grip on the glass; I have to drink it.

The smell was really getting to her now. With a mental shake, Ginny raised the vial and brought it toward her lips, tilting the vial up ever so slightly so the green liquid began to roll its way to her mouth, when it was snatched from her hands.

"No," Colin said, looking furious. "She's already been to the infirmary once, she doesn't need to go back so soon. I'll take it."

"Creevey, give that back to her now!" Snape ordered, livid.

Ginny teetered where she stood, the poison was still in open air, and she could still smell it. Couldn't everyone else? It was making her feel dizzy. She shook her head, trying to focus on Colin, who was arguing loudly with the Potion's Master. The smell...

Colin abruptly stopped talking as he saw Ginny fall to the ground where she was standing.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I wasn't sure if many would like the idea. IjustaPoorBoy do you have to constantly look for things that aren't there?! ^_^

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So you guys did great on reviewing the prologue now for the first chapter! Review!