Muggle Year
by Virgi Ca

Chapter 1: Home Sweet Home

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer Shandrith, hope to get more reviews, and hope that Shandrith gets the nerve to write a fic!

The normal version without any weird signs (if any) and pictures drawn: http://muggleyear.wildimagination.net/index

'Ginny, get up! Virginia Weasley!'

'Bloody hell.' Virginia cursed, throwing her pillow over her head.

'Ginny!' Her door burst open and Virginia swore to herself to kill the git who banged into her small room.

'Gin, wake up!' Ron cried, pulling at her sheets.

'What is it?' Virginia muttered, reaching for her clock. It was bloody eight o'clock in the morning! 'Ron, this better be good, I'm enjoying my sleep in time in the summer and I don't want you to ruin it.'

Ron rolled his eyes, 'you've been sleeping in for at least a month already! There's three weeks till school starts and all you do is sleep!'

Virginia threw away the covers and glared at her brother, 'I do not only sleep! I do things that I like!'

'Which includes sleeping.' Ron said dryly.

'Whatever, get out, I want my sleep.' Virginia muttered, throwing back the covers on.

'Oh no you don't, Harry's coming today.' Ron announced, pulling the sheets completely to reveal his sister sprawled on the bed in an undignified way.

'What's the point with me around, I mean, he's your best friend, not mine.' Virginia grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

'Ginny, honestly, I know you still have that crush on Harry. He comes to the Burrow every summer and all you do is blush and hide, when are you going to actually act normal around him?'

'Thank you so much for the complement.' Virginia grumbled, getting off the bed.

'Come on, he'll be arriving with Hermione in an hour, I don't want you to be embarrassed when he sees you in pajamas and your hair upside down. Honestly, you should cut it.' Ron eyed his sister's sleepy face and then shut the door. 'Breakfast's ready!'

Virginia didn't even bother to correct her brother about that crush on Harry. Nope, she was far over with that silly crush already, ever since third grade when Harry got portkeyed to the place where Voldemart resurrected. Not that she was afraid of him, but she saw that it was useless and a waste of time.

She was going onto her fifth year at Hogwarts and was fifteen already. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She was a skinny girl, not to-the-bone skinny, but just not like normal fifteen year olds. She had wavy red hair that hung to her waste, and was constantly told to cut it because it tended to act wild. Her eyes were dull brown and she didn't have much of a figure, especially when she always had to wear oversized robes from her brothers.

You thought being the youngest you'll get the most attention, but nope, it's the exact opposite. Virginia thought. Sure, she had a room all to herself, she had things that boys didn't have, but she still lacked a specialty that all the other Weasley boys had. Bill had been headboy; Charlie was a dragon slayer and was a star quidditch player back at his school days; Percy, well Percy was Percy, Perfect Prefect Percy, he was the one her parents loved most. The twins were the most wild, always playing pranks and joke around, but their sense of humor gave them a unique reputation, and they too stood out.

As for Ron, well, it may be a bit embarrassing, so she never said it out, but he was special because he was the best friend of Harry Potter, the boy who lived. She felt really sorry for him, really. Whenever people mentioned Ron, they'd say, 'Oh, is it that redhead best friend of Harry Potter, along with that clever muggle born Hermione?' He was always shadowed by Harry, but also had attention among the other students. Well, Malfoy constantly took it as a point of insult and said that Ron was Harry's sidekick, which makes Ron really angry, but at least people know him and pay attention to him.

And her? Well, not that she minded the lack of attention at school or at home, but sometimes she couldn't help but feel very lonely, especially when your in a house of boys and your mother always fusses you to cut your hair. No, she loved her family, but sometimes she just feels left out because she doesn't really have any interests the others have. She was a very plain student at school, some Professors don't even know her name, which is really rediculous because she's been taught by them for four years already. Weird enough, her favorite person at school was actually Madame Promfey, who constantly appreciated her help at the medical wing and taught her a lot of things about medicine.

'Ginny! Breakfast's ready!' Mrs Weasley shouted from downstairs.

'Coming!' Virginia shouted, pulling on a baggy white T-shirt and green shorts that went to her knees. She threw open the door and bounded down the stairs, 'Morning Dad.'

'Morning sweetie.' Mr. Weasley smiled, looking over his newspaper.

Yes, I definitely have a good family. Virginia thought, seating herself beside Percy, who was looking through his ministry notes, 'What's up Percy?'

'Hmm… Business to deal with.' Percy muttered, his mouth full of toast. He was always buried in his work, she didn't know how he could cope with it, but then again, this is Percy we're talking about.

'Ginny, you really should cut your hair, look, your already sitting on it!' Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

Here we go again. Virginia thought, reaching for a toast and butter, 'Mom, I told you already, I don't want to cut it, I like it long.'

Mrs. Weasley sighed, 'your just as hard as Bill.'

Virginia smiled inwardly, remember the times when Bill had to shake away his Mom's protests about his ponytail and fang earrings.

'By the way, where's Bill?' Virginia asked, looking around. Bill had come home for the summer from his job in Egypt.

'Didn't Ron tell you? He went to pick up Harry and Hermione.' Mr. Weasley said.

'So Dad,' Virginia said casually, 'how's the shed going?'

Mr. Weasley snapped his paper shut and glared at Virginia, who was gleefully munching on her toast. Luckily, Mrs. Weasley wasn't paying attention because she was frying eggs, special requests from the twins.

'Ginny, don't mention the shed in front of your mother.' Mr. Weasley said in a warning tone. Virginia just smirked and leaned back against her chair. Over the years, Mr. Weasley had all sorts of gadgets from the muggle world, a keen hobby of his. Weird enough, Virginia was very interested in muggle things, and took muggle studies, which was her favorite subject.

'Alright then.' Virginia replied casually. Mr. Weasley looked at her suspiciously, then returned to the Daily Prophet.

'Fred George, your eggs!' Mrs. Weasley shouted.

'Coming!' the twins said together and seconds later they came bounding down the stairs and at the same time, the bell rang and the needle of Bill on the clock stroke to 'home'.

'I'm back!' Bill called at the door as Ron let the three in.

'Hello Hermione, Harry.' Virginia heard Mrs. Weasley greet.

'Nice to see you again Mrs. Weasley.' Hermione said, kissing her on the cheek.

'Thank you for letting us stay here.' Harry said.

'You still say that when you've spent three summers with us already.' Ron joked.

'Still the same.' Harry grinned.

'Hi Ginny!' Hermione said as they entered the kitchen.

'Hi Ginny, Percy, Mr. Weasley.' Harry greeted.

'Welcome Harry.' Mr. Weasley smiled warmly.

'Hello Harry.' Percy said in a straight voice.

'Hi.' Virginia greeted, leaning onto the table. She noticed Ron giving her eye signals but ignored them.

'Harry!' The twins shouted, jumping in front of the startled boy, 'how's dear Dudley doing?' the grinned evilly at the memory of the toffees.

Harry laughed, 'oh the same, big fat guy.'

'I never thought a boy could look so much like a balloon.' Bill commented.

The twins smirked and sat him at the table beside Virginia, pushing Percy away, who muttered something about impolite twins. Virginia had a really bad feeling that they were trying to pair her up with Harry.

'So Ginny, are you helping Madam Promfey this year?' Hermione asked, sitting across her.

'I guess, if she wants me to.' Virginia said, 'and if there's enough injuries to let me work there.' She glared at Ron, thinking about the fight he had with Draco just before school ended.

'Gin, say something to Harry.' Ron hissed in her ear.

Virginia gave him a LOOK, then stood up, lifting up her plate, 'have a good talk, I'm going up to my room, oh, I'll have to clean up the room for you Hermione.'

'Thanks.' Hermione said, then turned back to her conversation with Harry and the twins. Ron looked at his sister then shook his head, turning his attention to the conversation again.

Virginia rolled her eyes and climbed up the stairs, her red hair flying behind her. Yup, I'm alone again.

_____________________________________________________________________________

'Dad?' Virginia called, pushing open the shed door. 'Dad!'

'I'm here Gin!' a faint voice shouted behind a pile of steel.

Virginia stepped forward then gasped as a can of painting started to fall from the shelf. 'Watch out Dad!' she cried. And the next thing she knew, Mr. Weasley stood up with orange paint all over his body. Virginia giggled.

'Ugh, I still can't get this bloody thing working.' Mr. Weasley muttered, waving his wand to get the paint away from his robes and face.

'What is it Dad?' Virginia asked, peering down, 'oh, it's a computer!'

'You know what it is Ginny?' Mr. Weasley exclaimed.

'Of course I know, I take Muggle Studies.' Virginia said dryly, plopping down, 'where did you get it?'

'Oh, I got it as a treat from this muggle who thanked me for settling some matters with a wizard from the ministry. He says its one of the best models.' Mr. Weasley explained.

Indeed it was. Virginia looked down. It was a laptop computer, sleek black and very thin. Virginia opened it and stared at the keys and the monitor. 'Um, you have to use it with electricity.'

'Huh? Eckeltricity, oh dear, we don't have any eckeltricity supply here Ginny.' Mr. Weasley said disappointedly.

Virginia grinned and closed it again, lifting it up, 'I'll fix it, I bet I'll find a way.'

'Really Gin, then good luck!' Mr. Weasley said, 'but can you use batteries?'

'Hmm… I don't think so, you need to use a source of electricity, see the cords and plugs?' Virginia pointed at the bag that was lying on the floor and picked it up again. 'Don't worry Dad, I'll fix it before school starts.'

'Okay, then you can tell me how it works.' Mr. Weasley said excitedly. Virginia smiled and walked out of the shed, her father always acted like a two-year old towards muggle things.

She raced to the house and flung open the door, earning weird faces from the trio.

'Hey Gin, what's that?' Ron asked, pointing at the laptop that was tucked under her arm.

'It's a computer Ginny.' Hermione said, raising her eyebrows, 'where did you get it?'

'Looks like a new model, I think Dudley has one.' Harry commented.

'It was a gift for Dad, I told him I would fix it for him.' Virginia explained.

'Oh, do you want me to help?' Hermione asked.

'Uh, no, I can do it on my own, I take Muggle Studies.' Virginia reminded, managing a smile.

'Okay, if you say so.' Hermione said.

'Thanks.' Virginia called over her shoulder and ran up the stairs, putting the laptop down. She opened the drawer and took out a small CD player that she had bought from a second hand Muggle Store last year. She smiled and took the CD from the rack that was above her bed. It was a present from Charlie.

She went down the stairs and out the door again, not even bothering to acknowledge the trio. She walked up the mountain where it was all to herself and then set the CD player on the grass. She plopped the CD into the player and pressed play.

That was how she spent her time by herself, which was almost always. She would come up and dance to the music, giving away all her unhappiness from her family and school. She did that at Hogwarts too, but sadly without music, because the player wouldn't work in the grounds. But she still loved to dance.

Life would be so great if I could dance like this forever… she thought, closing her eyes as the warm summer breeze ran through her long wavy red hair. She lifted her leg and started the familiar routine, along with the beat of the music.

_____________________________________________________________________________

'Ginny, where have you been?'

Virginia closed the door behind her. It was starting to get dark and Mrs. Weasley was standing at the hallway.

'Sorry Mom, got caught up.' Virginia murmured.

'Don't do that again.' Mrs. Weasley said, disappearing into the living room again.

Virginia sighed and took off her worn shoes. Hearing the familiar chatter she walked into the room and was greeted by a surprise. Charlie Weasley was sitting on the floor with his muggle girlfriend, Lesley Chestwood.

End of Chapter 1

A/N: Be kind and review!