Title: Jaded
Rating: PG? just to be safe.
Setting: Ginny's Seventh Year, Hogwarts.
A/n: another idea….this is really freaking me out
Virginia Weasley walked calmly through as wall at King's Cross station, onto Platform Nine And Three Quarters. She was not feeling sad, nor happy, nor confused.
A new year.
Anything can be possible, she told herself firmly. Anything.
She had one goal: to finish her magical education, and to finish it damn well.
She let a silent tear escape from her quiet façade as she briefly allowed herself to contemplate the situations she lived in.
She was seventeen now. She still had pleading brown eyes, straight auburn hair. A pretty face, some thought.
Ginny allowed herself a short, bitter laugh of irony. She knew more than anybody that there was no time for romance. She had not forgotten her feelings for the Boy Who Lived, rather she had grown up. It was not as if she had matured over the years, perhaps she had. She had been forced to grow up in her First year at school. In a way, she put her infatuation on hold for a few years and it had dissipated into oblivion. It was pushed aside.
Bigger fish were being fried.
The express platform was nowhere near as crowded as it used to be. When Ginny had been younger. Where the First through Fourth Year students would have been, there was nobody. The school had closed to anyone who had not already been in school during Ginny's third year.
The year before…
War was wracking the nation. The year that Voldemort had risen, Hogwarts had halted enrolment to new groups of students. It was too risky. Those already there would have to finish their school, it was the safest anybody could be.
Ginny also knew that getting through school was the one thing she could do for herself. She had long ago come to terms with her decisions; heroics or studies. So she worked. And worked. And she scored well, and made a name for herself in school. Herself.
She was rather precocious, and she knew it. She was independent of her family's shadows, a pride to all who knew her.
She stepped on to the train.
She'd be Head Girl this year. Her family had barely acknowledged it, although she knew her parents were glowing with pride. She would never admit it, but she felt a slight resentment towards her family for still thinking of her as little Ginny. Another thing she bit to herself.
Tensions around the country had reached a fever pitch. Ginny knew this. She knew that her brother, Harry and Hermione were more heavily stressed than anyone in Britain, probably the world. All three had left Hogwarts at the age of sixteen to fight the good fight.
Again, she was left in the dark to flourish behind walls, but it was her understanding that the three of them had undergone brief Auror training and were basically allowed to do anything. Nobody opposed this, everybody knew it was for the best. They would never take advantage of the leeway. They had more to worry about.
The train was leaving.
Ginny sat in a compartment to herself. She always did. She had never found it to her liking to make friends. Perhaps she might have had, in a different time. She was always alone, always reserved. She was not a very mysterious person, she simply kept to herself.
As she watched the English countryside go by, she pondered these things. She did not know how much time had gone by, but the whistle signaling the end of her journey was sounding. She sighed and picked up her trunk.
The welcoming feast was mediocre. There was some sort of cease fire, and Professor Dumbledore had returned to the school for this night. There was no Sorting Ceremony, there was nobody to sort. So the students merely filed in and sat down, ate, and were greeted.
"Good evening, students," said Professor Dumbledore. There was a familiar twinkle in his eyes, although it was hard to see through the weariness and stress that occupied his blue orbs. "And Welcome to another Year at Hogwarts."
Lately, he never bothered with welcoming speeches, warnings about the Forbidden Forest, or anything else said especially for new students. Everybody knew exactly what they were and were not to do.
"I am pleased to announce the Head Boy, Colin Creevey, and Head Girl, Virginia Weasley. The Head and Assistant Head Prefects are Jourdain Allan and Hayden Gates."
The welcoming speech continued much like this. He wished the students health and goodwill, and wished them goodnight.
After the Feast, a young new teacher Ginny did not know led her to the dormitory that she and Colin were to share as Head Girl and Boy. There were quite a few new teachers around Hogwarts. Most of the previous faculty were fighting with the Order of the Phoenix.
It was a single tower and apartment with separate bedrooms, bathrooms and studies for each of them. A few years ago Ginny would have loved it, loved the fact that she was here. Head Girl.
Ginny magically unpacked her things and flopped down onto her bed. Another year.
Short much? Yeah I know…I was gonna do the Draco part here, but I'm sleepy, so I'm just posting this now. Will get back to werewolf fic soon. Review!
