Disclaimer-J.K. Rowlings owns all of the characters, Hogwarts, and everything else. I own the plot and Mrs. Gallagher.



Turmoil at Hogwarts



Chapter 5-The First Task



Ginny spun faster and faster while she was in the green flames of the fire. Since this wasn't her first time traveling by floo powder she knew to keep her elbows tucked in and her eyes closed. She stuck her arms out in to prepare to stop, so she was able to keep her balance and not fall face first onto the floor.

It was a good thing that she didn't fall because the other six members of her group along with a short witch were awaiting her arrival. Ginny didn't want to think about what the other members of her group would have said if she had fallen, they would enjoyed making fun of her for days.

"Now that all of you are here, I will show you this house, which is where you will be staying for the next month. By the way, my name is Mrs. Molly Gallagher," said the witch who had short gray hair and friendly looking green eyes. Mrs. Gallagher led them through the rooms, which were all very homey looking. She led them down a hall where three bedrooms were located.

"These are your bedrooms. The girls will be sleeping in this room," she said opening the door to a large, very pretty room that had light green carpet. There were three bed, three dressers, and three little tables beside the beds. The furniture all matched, and was all made of a light colored wood, and the beds had light green and light purple blankets on them.

The three girls walked into the room and began claiming which bed would belong to which girl. Ginny heard Mrs. Gallagher, who had made her way down the hall, say, "This room will belong to Seamus and Terry and this room will belong to Lee and Draco.

Ginny didn't think that it was a very good idea to put Draco and Lee in the same room because they had already almost gotten into a fight and they hadn't even been in the same room together for an hour. But, Ginny thought that they probably put them together on purpose, knowing that they wouldn't get along. The point of this trip was for the students to learn to get along together, so they figured that by putting Lee and Draco together they would soon become good friends. Ginny couldn't see this happening, but she understood the psychology behind it.

Hey Ginny, aren't you going to go get your trunk?" Lavender Brown asked her.

"Um, yes, I think I'll go get it right now," Ginny said.

"Okay, I guess I will see you in a little while," Lavender said.

"Alright," Ginny said and left the room. Ginny walked down the stairs to the room where she had first arrived. Lee was in the room getting his trunk too, and when he turned around he gave her a big smile.

"Hi Ginny." Lee said, "How do you like your room?"

"It's really very pretty and it's big enough for the three of us girls," Ginny said not giving much thought to her answer.

"Well, I hate mine. Stupid Malfoy. I already want to kick his ass!" Lee said angrily.

"It's okay to want to kick his ass, just don't really do it." Ginny said. "I know he's a bastard, but just ignore him."

"I'll try," Lee said. "Did I ever tell you that you're starting become really quite beautiful?"

"Uh, no," Ginny said and was unimpressed by this compliment. She was used to being hit on, but that doesn't mean that she enjoyed it.

"It's true. You've really grown up this past year." Lee said putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks," Ginny said dryly. She knew how Lee was with girls. Once he found a girl that attracted him, he'd pursue her, use her, and when he got tired of her, she would be discarded. Ginny wasn't interested in being another one of his girlfriends. "When Fred and George told you to look out for me did they tell you to hit on me too?" Ginny said and pushed Lee's arm off of her shoulder.

"Uh, no." Lee said sounding a little uncomfortable.

"That's what I thought," Ginny said and picked up her trunk and started to make her way to the stairs.

When she was at the foot of the stairs Lee said, "Wait Ginny. At least let me help you with that trunk."

Don't bother," Ginny said turning around and almost running right into Draco Malfoy.

"What's wrong, Weasley?" Draco asked, "Did you and Jordan have a lover's spat?"

"Don't start with me, Draco." Ginny said and pushed him out of her way.

Ginny headed up the stairs and when she arrived at her room she was obviously upset. Lavender noticed and said, "Hey Ginny, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, It's just that all guys are assholes," Ginny said.

"Hmm, that sounds like the truth," Lavender said.

"Hey Lavender, hey Ginny. Look at all these clothes in the closet," susan Bones said excitedly.

"They're muggle clothes," Lavender said.

"I wonder why we need them," Ginny said.

"Maybe they aren't for us," Susan said.

"Yes, they probably belong to some other person that used to live here," Ginny said.

Just then the three girls heard a knock on the door. Lavender opened the door and Terry Boot was standing in the doorway. He said, "Mrs. Gallagher said that lunch is in ten minutes."

"Thanks Terry," Ginny said.

"No problem," Terry replied and walked out of the room and closing the door behind him.

"Are you guys hungry?" Susan asked.

"Yes! I'm starving!" Ginny said.

"Me too, I was so nervous this morning I couldn't even eat my breakfast," Lavender said.

"Me too," Lavender said.

"I know exactly what you mean. I really wasn't looking forward to staying in a house with six people that I barely knew," Ginny said.

"Well, you and I knew more people than Susan did. There are four Gryffindors staying here. Susan, Terry and Malfoy are the only people from the other houses that are staying here." Lavender said.

"That's true. I wonder why the professors decided to put four Gryffindors together." Ginny said.

"Well, did you guys get along together very well?" Susan asked.

"We didn't really talk to each other, we knew each other because our friends were their friends," Lavender said, "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

"Well, I think that you mean that you were friends with somebody who was friends with Ginny," Susan said.

"Yes!" Lavender said, "That's exactly how it is."

"Oh, that is so true, Lavender. I think I've talk to you a total of two times before this trip," Ginny said. "And Lee and Seamus are just friends with my brothers."

"I don't even know Lee at all," Lavender said. "I've never even talked to him before today."

"What about Seamus? I saw you together at the Yule Ball last year," Susan said.

"Don't even get me started talking about Seamus. Let's just say that he's a big jerk and leave it at that," Lavender said.

"Fair enough. I didn't want to talk about Lee either," Ginny said.

"What's wrong with them?" Susan asked.

"I'd rather not get into it right now," Lavender said. "Just try and stay away from them as much as possible."

"Okay, I don't get along with Terry Booth either," Susan said.

"I always thought that he was nice," Ginny said.

"Uh, that is a big NO! He's the meanest person I know." Susan said.

"Well, I guess now we know why we are all in a group together," Ginny said.

"Yes, because the people in our group have either never talked to each other before or they couldn't stand each other." Lavender said.

"Oh, it's time for lunch," Susan said.

The three girls walked down the stairs to the room where the fireplace was at. They went to the right and entered a dining room.

"I'm so glad that the rest of you students have arrived," Mrs. Gallagher said. "Please sit down, all of the food is ready to eat.

Ginny said down on the left side of the table where Mrs. Gallagher, Susan, and Lavender were sitting. The four boys were sitting across the table. They all began eating and for a few minutes they sat quietly.

"So, how are all of you students settling in?" Mrs. Gallagher said to break the silence.

"Just fine, thank you," Lavender said.

"Oh good, I guess I can give you each your first talk then. Throughout this month I will assign you a partner to do certain tasks with. Some of them will be difficult and others will be rather easy. Your partner will be the person that you are least getting along with. For the first task the groups will be Seamus and Lavender, Lee, Susan, and Terry, and Draco and Ginny."

None of the students looked very happy about this arrangement because they didn't get along with the other members. Ginny was dreading spending time with Draco because she didn't feel like putting up with his smart mouth, and she didn't want to have to look at him smirk all day long. But she thought, well at least I'm not with Lee.

"As you all know it's almost Christmas time and since we live very near Dublin. A muggle section of Dublin, I should say, we need to have Christmas decorations like the muggles have. Lee, Susan, and Terry you need to find a Christmas tree and decorations for the inside of the house. Seamus and Lavender, you will be in charge of the decorations for the tree and the tree must look spectacular. Draco and Ginny, you need to get lights and other decorations for the outside of the house." Mrs. Gallagher said

"Our first task is to get Christmas decorations?" Seamus asked.

"Yes, and make sure that they are muggle decorations. Electric lights and everything, and also, you can not use any magic." Mrs. Gallagher said, "We want our house to look like all of the other muggle houses. Actually we want them to look better than all of the other houses because our house is going to be entered in a contest. The most decorative house wins and the judges will be judging the inside of the house and the outside."

"Do you think that we'll actually win this contest?" Lavender asked.

"Well, if you do win you will get a special prize," Mrs. Gallagher said.

"What sort of prize," Lee asked.

"Why, that a surprise!" Mrs. Gallagher said excitedly and with a twinkle in her green eyes. "Also, you will be buying your decorations in the muggle sections of Dublin so you will need money and clothes. I'll give you the money before you leave and there are muggle clothes in our closets. Hurry up and finish eating, so that you can go shopping. The contest will take place on the 24th at 7:00 p.m."

The students quickly finished their lunch and made their way upstairs to their rooms. When Ginny arrived upstairs she went straight to the closet. The clothes were split into the three sections.

Susan, who had walked up behind her and was looking at the clothes said, "hey that's not the way the clothes were when I found them. I wonder why they are split up now and who split them up."

Ginny looked through the clothes for a while and after a few seconds said, "Why, they're sorted by size. Look, these are mine, these are yours, and these are Lavender's," Ginny said while pointing at each of the sections of clothes. "And this is a magical house, there are probably house elves that do the chores and such. You don't think that Mrs. Gallagher could take care of this huge house all by herself do you?"

"I never thought of that," Susan said. "I'm sure that you're right."

"Hey, what are you going to wear?" Ginny asked her.

"I have no idea," said Susan with a hint of excitement in her voice. The two girls spend a few minutes looking through the clothes and were soon joined by Lavender. Lavender also quickly became absorbed in finding the right outfit.

After about ten minutes Ginny finally found something that she wanted to wear. She pulled on a soft lavender sweater, black pants and a pair of shiny black shoes which had two inch heels. When she was finished getting dressed she said goodbye to Lavender and Susan who were still trying to find the perfect outfit.

Ginny walked down into a sitting room. Draco, Lee, Seamus, and Terry were all sitting in the room on ether couches or chairs which looked extremely comfortable.

"Took you long enough," Draco drawled.

"I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Malfoy. Next time I'll be sure to come down naked so that I could save you the trouble," Ginny said sarcastically.

"I'd rather not see what you are hiding under those closes." Draco said.

Lee said, "Are you crazy, Malfoy? Any guy at Hogwarts would love to see her naked..."

This made Ginny extremely angry because she was tired of hearing Lee talk about her this way so she said, "Would you just shut up, Lee. You will never see me naked. And the next time you think of a girl like that, just keep your thoughts to yourself because I can guarantee if you say that to a girl, that girl will not be very happy with you, unless they're a slut. Then they might be flattered."

"I was only trying to pay you a compliment." Lee said. "I didn't think that you'd mind."

"Yes, just like you didn't think that my brothers would mind, right. I'd hate to see how many pieces you'd be in if I told them all of the things that you've been saying about me." Ginny said flashing him an evil grin.

"But I..." Lee said.

"Don't you ever learn when to shut up?" Seamus interrupted.

"I'm glad to see that not all guys are total idiots," Ginny said and then looked at Draco and said, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm ready," Draco said not even bothering to get out of his chair.

"Well, then would you mind getting your ass out of that chair so that we can go find Mrs. Gallagher?" Ginny said obviously still mad about what Lee said.

Draco gave her a go to hell look and said, "Why, sure."

The two students went to the dining room where Mrs. Gallagher was sitting and drinking a cup of tea.

"Mrs. Gallagher, we're ready to get our decorations now." Ginny said.

"Yes, of course, " Mrs. Gallagher said handing her a small sum of money and some sort of card. "This card is to pay for all of your decorations, you just give it to the sales clerk and they'll run it through a machine and give it back. Now, to get to a store you must walk down the street and talk a bus to wherever you want to go. But when you're finished take a cab and tell the driver to take you to 1101 W. Pine St. Let me write that down for you." Mrs. Gallagher wrote down the address and handed it to Draco. "You might want to look at some of the other houses to see what they look like. Don't worry about getting lost, you can buy Christmas decorations about anywhere. Are there any questions?"

"No," Draco said.

"Well then, I'll see you tonight. Be back by 9:00, oh, and find your own supper. I won't be home until after dinner."

"Bye Mrs. Gallagher," Ginny said when she and Draco walked out of the door. When they got outside they walked a few blocks down the street. Until they realized that they had no idea where they were going.



A/N-I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter and I don't feel like I wrote it as well as I should have. Oh, well. I meant for this chapter to have more excitement, but I couldn't really fit in everything that I wanted to fit. I've already started on the next chapter and I hope it turns out better than this one did. Thanks for reading my story, and please, please review!



Thank you to all of my reviewers!



JeNn, I'm glad that you like the plot and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Moodyirishbabe, thanks for answering my question, I hope that one day I can see Galaway too, and I'm glad that you like the last chapter!

Satans Little Princess, I'm glad that you like my story and I promise that I won't stop writing on it.

Summer Thyme, thanks for reviewing my story again. I really appreciate you telling me what you think. I didn't put very much action in this chapter, but the next chapter is going to be more exciting.

Night Spirit-You confused me for a second, it took me a while to realize that you used to be True Words. Thanks for reviewing my story again, could you please tell me what you think about this chapter?

Saphire-Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've had a busy week, and this chapter took me forever to write.