Disclaimer: YES!!! MWAH HA HA I OWN IT ALL!!!!!!!!...ok, I don't own any of these characters or settings, even some of this dialogue is hers. Grr.
--
"He shouldn't have come with us," Hermione said anxiously, peering out the window as if expecting to see something besides for countryside. It took a minute for Ginny to register who she meant; Sirius.
"Oh lighten up," Ron said, echoing Ginny's thoughts exactly. "He hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."
"Well, can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee," Fred interrupted, clapping his hands together and looking eager. "See you later." Ginny waved as they turned down the corridor and vanished.
She tapped her nails on her trunk, thinking of where her Gryffindor friends could be when Harry's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Shall we go and find a compartment then?" he was asking Ron and Hermione. Ginny noticed with a little surprise, that Ron and Hermione were looking very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
"Er-" Ron began, but Hermione cut him off.
"We're – well – Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said, wringing her hands absently.
Harry's face fell, and although no one noticed, so did Ginny's. She couldn't leave him all alone, because that would be flat out mean…but now she couldn't sit with her friends. She sighed quietly and pushed that thought out of her head; she supposed would see them at the Feast later.
"Oh. Right. Fine," Harry said, looking as though he were trying very hard not to explode again.
"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey. Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time." Hermione tried to defend their position, looking at Harry anxiously. Ginny looked at her nails; would they just wrap it up already? If they didn't hurry, they wouldn't get a compartment at all. She knew all too well what it was like to have to squish in with those she didn't even like…Slytherin fourth years are no more pleasant than those in her brother's year.
"Fine. Well I- I might see you later then," Harry said, grinning awkwardly.
"Yeah definitely," Ron replied, looking apprehensively at his friend. "it's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather- but we have to- I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy!" Ginny almost snorted; Ron loved this authority thing, whether it was Percy's gig first or not.
"I know you're not," Harry replied, grinning genuinely for the first time since the conversation began. Without further ado (much to Ginny's relief), Ron and Hermione turned and started walking for the Prefect's corridor, which Ginny knew was at the end of the train.
"Come on, if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places," she urged Harry, picking up her trunk and starting off down the corridor. Just as Ginny suspected, most of the carriages already had passengers in them. Even if they could have squeezed in, Ginny wouldn't have; they all kept staring and whispering at Harry. It was appalling that they'd believe what the Daily Prophet told them…did they learn nothing from Rita Skeeter? As she peered in, she still couldn't find her Gryffindor friends, or Michael for that matter.
As it usually is with things like these, it was the very last carriage that brought them luck. Ginny almost crashed straight into Neville Longbottom, a forgetful fifth year she knew fairly well. His abysmal memory brought him a flimsy reputation, but the Neville she knew was determined and driven to succeed. She grinned at him and slid by, peering into the compartment he had just left. There was no one in there but a single girl reading the Quibbler upside down…Luna Lovegood. "Hi Harry, Hi Ginny," Neville said panting, trying to hold onto his toad with little success. "Everywhere's full, I can't find a seat."
"What are you talking about?" she said. "There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here-"
"I didn't want to disturb anyone," Neville mumbled, turning a little red. Ginny laughed; everyone was so scared of her when really, she was quite harmless.
"Don't be silly, she's all right," she assured him, sliding the door open and walking in with her trunk behind her. She could hear the scrapings of Harry and Neville's trunks following her. "Hi Luna. Is it OK if we take these seats?" she asked the girl, gesturing at the empty seats. Luna looked up. Harry and Neville both shrank back a little, maybe from instinct, but Ginny was far too used to her from Herbology to mind. After giving the new company a once over with her wide eyes, she nodded. "Thanks," Ginny said, smiling gratefully. Harry and Neville took their trunks and hers, pushing them into the compartments above.
"Have a good summer Luna?" Ginny asked to break the silence following the shuffle of belongings.
"Yes…yes, it was quite enjoyable you know," she replied dreamily. "You're Harry Potter," Luna said bluntly. Inwardly, Ginny groaned. If she was another one of those people who would prod him like a science experiment it would be a very long trip indeed.
"I know I am," Harry replied, making Neville chortle.
"And I don't know who you are," Luna said, looking to Neville.
He gulped. "I'm nobody," he said.
"No you're not," Ginny interrupted firmly, looking at Neville with reproachful eyes. Neville's worst trait was his lack of self esteem. "Neville Longbottom- Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," Luna sang, voicing what Ginny knew was Rowena Ravenclaw's motto. She suppressed a giggle as Harry and Neville exchanged glances.
This year's train ride wasn't as chatty as her usual ones were. Ginny occupied herself with reading the cover of Luna's Quibbler. Since it was upside down, it was a little more challenging to read, and because it was the Quibbler, highly entertaining.
She was just reading 'SECRETS OF THE ANCIENT RUNES REVEALED' when she heard Neville say 'Here, hold Trevor for me…' Lifting up her head sharply, she looked over; he was holding what looked like a small wobbly boiled plant, and he was taking out a quill. Whatever he was doing, Ginny could bet it wouldn't end out well. She watched warily as he meticulously selected a spot and poked it with his quill sharply.
Ginny gasped and threw up her hands without thinking as green glop splattered everywhere. She could feel it on her hair, in between her toes, on the floor…
Cautiously opening one eye, she saw that she had gotten off pretty well compared to the others. Luna and Harry both had it all over their face and Neville looked like a green snowman. She coughed, looking at a slop encrusted chunk of her hair as Neville spluttered. "S-sorry…I haven't tried that before…didn't realize it would be quite so…don't worry though, Stinksap's not poisonous."
Ginny certainly hoped so, as she seemed to have a small bit in her mouth. She spat it out quietly as Harry did the same, but with a much larger portion. As she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her robe, the compartment door slid open. Everyone looked up through green slime at the girl standing at the door.
She looked familiar…Ginny was quite sure she was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, maybe Seeker? By the look on Harry's face, he definitely recognized her… With a jolt of realization, Ginny remembered who it was. Cho Chang, the girl who Cedric Diggory rescued from a lake and took to the Yule Ball, was now looking at the four people a little nervously.
"Oh…hello Harry," she said, tucking a perfectly straight shiny loose hair behind her ear. Ginny silently hated her; how did a girl get that perfect hair when Ginny was stuck with furry red bits?! "Um…bad time?" Harry was hurriedly wiping the Stinksap off his glasses as Cho waited for an answer.
"Oh…hi," he said, looking slightly horrified. With a suppressed laugh, Ginny realized at once what his feelings were for her. What a nightmare, to be caught by your crush whilst covered in neon ooze!
"Um…well…just thought I'd say hello…bye then." Cho left rather quickly with a pink tinge on her cheeks, closing the door behind her carefully. Across from Ginny, Harry groaned and let his head drop on the window in exasperation.
"Never mind," she tried to comfort him. "Look, we can easily get rid of all of this." Pulling her wand out of her pocket, she cried "Scourgify!" It felt so good to use magic again she thought as the sap instantly disappeared and Neville apologized sheepishly.
"Anything off the trolley dears?" a kindly voice came suddenly. Ginny looked up into the eyes of the trolley witch, smiling at them all.
"Chocolate Frogs and some Cauldron Cakes for me please," Ginny said, rummaging through her robes for her money pouch. Soon, they were all trading cards and chatting over chocolate (always a good thing) about what this year would be like.
An hour later, her brother and Hermione finally showed. Ron instantly reached for the Frogs as Hermione took a seat next to Ginny. "Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house," she said, leaning back and looking very disgruntled.
"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" Ron added, still eating his Chocolate Frog. Ginny grimaced as Harry voiced her fear.
"Malfoy," he said, looking from Ron to Hermione.
"'Course," Ron replied, looking bitter. Ginny bit her lip thinking of what Ron's reaction must've been like in the Prefect carriage; she would have given all her Chocolate Frogs to see it.
"And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson," Hermione said, clenching her fists. "How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll…" Ginny almost laughed at this. From sharing a room with Hermione during the summer, she had learned many interesting facts…one of which was that Hermione hated Pansy Parkinson with a fiery passion.
"Who are Hufflepuff's?" Harry interjected, wisely in Ginny's opinion, because Hermione was looking dangerous.
"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott," Ron replied, his mouth still stuffed with chocolate. Ginny didn't recognize either of these names, but she listened eagerly for Ravenclaw's; Michael's friends were somewhat hers as well.
"And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," Hermione put in, looking a little more relaxed. These names rang a bell in Ginny's head. Anthony Goldstein was one of Michael's "mates" she'd heard so much about and Padma was the girl Ron had taken to the Yule Ball. From her trips to Ravenclaw table following that night, she knew Ron hadn't made the best impression on her.
"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil," Luna said suddenly. Ron and Hermione looked at her in surprise, as if they hadn't seen her there before, and Ron gulped down his Frog with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, I know I did," he said to her. Ginny bit her lip down to stop herself from bursting out laughing; his face was priceless.
"She didn't enjoy it very much. She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded. I don't like dancing very much," Luna told Ron as he gaped at her. Ginny brought her knuckles up to her mouth to stop herself from giggling at the expression on his face. He looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head, clamping down on her knuckles harder.
The next half hour went by without much incident, unless you count Luna almost going into cardiac arrest due to laughter at one of Ron's jokes. Ginny used this extra time to read one of her new school books for Potions that looked interesting; she may have hated Snape, but the art of potion making was something she found fascinating. It wasn't until they received an unwelcome visit from a Slytherin boy that things really started to get interesting.
Draco Malfoy stood smirking broadly in the doorframe, and from her seat Ginny could see the Prefect's badge gleaming on his chest. She scowled as Crabbe and Goyle, his henchmen, came into view, broad shouldered and looking more vacant minded than ever. After hearing about Harry's end of the year fight with You-Know-Who, her dislike for Malfoy and his cronies had grown into full out loathing. No one could have parents like that and not be the same way in her book.
"What?" Harry said forcefully.
"Manners Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention." Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Ron give Hermione an exasperated look. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."
"Yeah. But you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone," Harry countered, making everyone laugh except Luna, who was staring out the window dreamily.
Malfoy was looking dangerous, his lip curling in what seemed to be a sneer. "Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?"
"Shut up Malfoy," Hermione said angrily. One thing Ginny could say for Malfoy was that if he found a weakness, he pounced on it immediately and milked it up for all its worth.
"I seem to have touched a nerve," Malfoy said in satisfaction, smirking. "Well, just watch yourself Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line."
"Get out!" Hermione snapped, leaping up and narrowing her eyes at the sniggering boy. Malfoy gave Harry one more smirk before he left, with Hermione slamming the door behind him.
--
Another half an hour later and Ginny was standing on the platform with Crookshanks held precariously in her arms. Ron and Hermione had shuffled off to help out with the rush of students now flooding off the train, and no doubt with the nervous first years Hagrid was to take across the lake. She and Harry tried to keep each other in sight as they started to jostle their way through the crowds out the station.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry said suddenly, looking around and stopping mid-step. Ginny looked around; she couldn't see Hagrid anywhere. She frowned, but was brought back to her senses when a rather burly boy trod on her toe.
"I don't know, but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door," she replied, elbowing someone in the side as she tried to get past them.
"Oh yeah…" he said rather vaguely, still looking around for Hagrid.
Despite her efforts to keep them together, Ginny lost Harry as she came out the station door. The horseless carriages stood waiting, as always, right outside on the smoky path to the castle.
"Weasley! Hey Ginny!" Ginny turned around quickly to identify the speaker and grinned happily when she saw the face of Olivia Palliore. Olivia was a Ravenclaw fourth year in her Herbology class with an almost Hermione worthy brain. However, it was often overlooked by her complete lack of organization; apparently, last year Snape had given her a detention for failing to come to take a test. Ginny had heard later that Olivia had forgotten there was one, and had gone to Divination instead.
"Liv!" Ginny cried, but in the moment she had taken to say this Olivia was pushed out of sight. "Oh well," she sighed, shuffling Crookshanks in her arms so that it was more comfortable. "Now, where are the others hmmm?" she said, half to the cat and half to herself. Pushing herself through rather violently to get to the carriages, she suddenly spotted a splodge of thick red hair. She headed towards it hastily, almost knocking over a mousy looking first year in her haste.
"There she is…" Harry said as the trio came into view. Ginny smiled and tipped the cat into Hermione's waiting arms.
"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully, kissing Crookshanks on his head. "Come on, let's get a carriage before they all fill up…"
Ginny and Hermione started heading off towards the nearest empty carriage. "Are you sure they're coming?" Ginny asked Hermione anxiously, looking over her shoulder at the still stationary boys.
"'Course," Hermione said dismissively, clambering in and plopping down on a seat. Ginny chose a seat across from her and leaned back on it happily. "They'll follow me in."
"I can't believe we're here!" Ginny said, looking out the window and up at the castle.
"Neither can I," Hermione agreed, her own eyes dodging towards Ginny's window. "I didn't enjoy being locked up in that dismal house to tell you the truth."
"Same!" Ginny said, happy to hear someone shared her opinion. "Hogwarts really couldn't have started at a better time." Hermione nodded and grinned, and they were silent for a moment to think about this. School was starting again…what a year this would be.
--
Ginny walked into the Great Hall and greeted it with a huge smile. She hadn't realized how much she had missed everything despite her many fantasies about returning. With a disappointed frown, she realized that Hagrid wasn't sitting at the staff table like usual. Something bad couldn't have happened to him…could it? He may not have been the ideal professor (something Ginny would never admit, being fiercely loyal to him), but he was somewhat her friend, and if he were hurt it'd be truly awful. When Rita Skeeter had published that article about him, Ginny tried to get Hagrid to come out of his hut everyday, once even trying to lure him out with fudge, but it never worked.
During her worrying about Hagrid, she had wandered over to the Gryffindor table, and in clear view were her four Gryffindor dorm mates. They all squealed childishly as they made eye contact and Ginny ran over, giving them all fierce and quick hugs. "I haven't seen you in ages!" she panted, slipping on the bench between two of them.
Henna Baron, a tall, tan brunette with mischievous eyes that reminded Ginny of the twins' shook her ponytail. "Hmph…off fighting dragons…you'll have to come up with a better excuse than that!" Ginny's stomach disappeared for a moment- did she…did she know about Grimmauld Place??
"For what?" she asked casually, leaning her elbow on the table comfortably.
"For not seeing us!" the plump blonde on her right informed her grinning. Vicky Frobisher had a laughing face with pink cheeks, and sometimes Ginny wondered whether she belonged in Hufflepuff for her dedication and loyalty to her friends. However, it only took one nasty spill in a Flying lesson to show Ginny just how brave Miss Frobisher was. "We went to Bristol, and you should've been there!"
"You went to Bristol?" Ginny asked blankly, thinking of the sunny beach city she had only been to once. "When?"
"About a fortnight ago," Lanie Chang piped up from across the table. The lesser known half of the Chang sisters, she was petite and graceful, with a love for all things red and gold. If there was a Hogwarts Cheerleading Squad, she'd be Captain. "It was loads of fun, I can't believe you missed it!"
"Yes well…" Ginny said, suddenly hating Grimmauld Place more than usual, "dragons, you know?"
"Yeah we know," Vicky said, giving her a warm hug. "It's great to see you."
"We're not the only ones happy to see you," Henna suddenly said giggling. Ginny's gaze instinctively went for the Ravenclaw table. "Hellooo Master Corner!" Henna called teasingly, fluttering her eyelashes and her fingers at the bewildered boy.
"You're going to traumatize him!" Ginny shrieked, grabbing Henna's hand and forcing it down. Her eyes met with Michael's; he grinned and mouthed 'Nice friend'. Ginny made a revolving motion with her finger attached to her head and crossed her eyes insanely. Michael let out a bark of laughter appreciatively and received several strange looks for it.
"If anyone traumatizes the boy Gin, it's going to be you," Vicky said. Ginny stuck her tongue out at her and settled herself back down in her seat. She looked around and frowned.
"Where's Anne?" she asked, thinking of the shy brown haired girl.
Lanie clicked her tongue sympathetically. "HW. Poor thing has the flu but didn't want to miss the train, so the minute she steps off Madam Pomfrey plonks her in the Wing."
"Oh what a horrid way to start off the year!" Ginny said pulling a face. "I hope she's better soon."
"She will be. You know she's Muggle-born so she's been getting all their kind of treatment, but I'm sure the Pomp will get her into shape in no time," Vicky said, tapping her nails on her golden plate.
"Speaking of the train…why didn't you sit with us?" Henna asked curiously.
Ginny sighed. "I felt so bad…you know, Ron and Hermione got made prefects over the summer, and-"
"Your brother?" Henna asked quickly. "Not Perfect Harry Potter?"
"Yeah," Ginny said, feeling a little uncomfortable. Ron may not be perfect, but could everyone just stop making such a big deal out of the fact that he got the badge and Harry didn't? "Well anyway, you know the prefects have to meet in a train carriage, and-"
"Ooh look, the Sorting Hat!" Lanie squealed abruptly. "Hope we get a lot of new Gryffindors!" Ginny scowled at the second interruption but looked over. The frayed black hat was perched on the stool, waiting for silence. She leaned on her elbows to get a closer look, thinking she could finish the story later. Its brim opened wide and started to sing.
It was the strangest sorting song Ginny had ever heard. Instead of listing the qualities each house possessed, it bestowed upon the school a cryptic warning; band together or fall apart. Ginny's mouth hung slightly open as it sang of Slytherin and Gryffindor's friendship, hardly daring to believe it true. She chanced a look at the Slytherin table, and had to grin when she saw Malfoy's usually smirking face twisted in a disgusted grimace.
Once the hat had finished, the Hall immediately broke out into whispers. "Did you hear that?" Lanie asked in hushed tones.
"Of course we did you idiot," Henna hissed back, looking at the hat with a mixture of fear and curiosity. "Wonder what it meant?"
"Wasn't it obvious?" Ginny snorted. "I thought the 'we must unite inside her or we'll crumble from within' part was pretty clear."
"It's never done that before," Vicky said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger anxiously.
"No, it hasn't," Ginny repeated thoughtfully. What made this year so special? Maybe the Second War really was approaching, as her parents had hinted so heavily during the summer.
"Abercrombie, Euan."
"What?" Ginny said, distracted.
"They've started the Sorting," Lanie informed her, looking up at the first years. Ginny pushed the song out of her head and watched as first years went up one by one. They looked tiny; was she really that small three years ago?
The Sorting this year went relatively fast, but by the end of it Ginny's stomach was rumbling horribly. Dumbledore stood up and spread his hands apart; Ginny heartily hoped it was to let them eat.
"To our newcomers, welcome! To our old hands- welcome back!" Ginny grinned as Fred and George whooped. "There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" Ginny and her friends laughed at this as the food appeared on their golden plates, sending tantalizing aromas throughout the Hall.
"Lovely," Ginny remarked as she sunk her knife into a tender chicken piece. "I forgot how great the food was here- not that Mum's isn't as good," she added hastily.
Her friends laughed. "I've tasted her cooking, I'll vouch for that," Vicky said, her mouth full with mashed potato.
"Oh yeah…my birthday party right?" Ginny asked, now chewing her chicken contentedly.
"Double digits," Vicky said nodding. "Number 10 I think."
"Why wasn't I invited?" Lanie asked in mock hurt.
"Oh I hate you don't you know," Ginny joked in casual tones. "Do go away."
Lanie flicked a piece of carrot at her, which she dodged easily. She stuck out her tongue. "Going to have to do better than that Chang," she teased in imitation of Fred and George.
"Ooh, do one of your imitations!" Henna said, putting down her knife and looking at Ginny eagerly.
Ginny sighed. "Do I have to?"
"Yes!" her friends chorused in unison. Ginny had a knack for doing accents or voices; when she was little, she'd put on one man plays for her parents, depicting each Weasley to near perfection.
"Which one?" Ginny asked, swallowing some pumpkin juice.
"Err…do McGonagall!" Lanie squealed.
Ginny grinned and closed her eyes, pursing her lips in a very thin, very straight line. She opened her eyes and squinted down her nose at the three, as if wearing spectacles. "Miss Baron, please collect the papers – Miss Chang, what are you doing with that cockroach? – and see that they're neatly stacked please. Homework tonight: write a paper describing the uses of the Blossoming Spell and its drawbacks, to be handed in on Monday." Ginny looked sternly at her friends before laughing. "I hate that one," she said.
"But you're so good at it!" Lanie argued as Henna and Vicky clapped. Ginny mocked a little bow of her head and giggled.
It suddenly got very quiet around them; Ginny couldn't see why until she noticed that Dumbledore had stood up, and looked ready to make a speech. She immediately closed her mouth and swallowed her giggles as he spoke. "Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices." Instinctively, Ginny tuned this out. All this part would consist of was 'don't go in the Forest, Mr. Filch begs you not to misbehave, this year will be wonderful' blah blah blah. But then she heard, "We have had two changes in staffing this year."
"What?" she whispered in disbelief. "Two?" It was obvious that there was to be a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (there was one every year), but if there was another she was almost positive who would be replaced.
"Shh!" Lanie, Vicky and Henna shushed her in unison, looking at Dumbledore raptly.
"We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons…"
"Like hell," Ginny mumbled.
"…we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore continued, and Ginny's eyes immediately flicked to the squat woman sitting on Dumbledore's right.
She didn't recognize hernd somehow knew instantly that she should be glad she didn't know this woman previously. Her face was toad-like and pallid, and the hideous pink sweater she wore made her look like one of those candy stripers one sees on horror programs about hospitals. Ginny grimaced at the thought of spending a year with this leering, unpleasant woman.
"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the-" Dumbledore cut himself off. Next to her, Vicky groaned.
"I was waiting for that bit!" she whispered as everyone looked at Dumbledore inquiringly.
"Hem, hem." Ginny jumped; where did that sound come from? Her view swiveled from Dumbledore to Professor Umbridge and came to a rest. The woman was so short, standing up hardly made a difference, but she was looking at the student body expectantly. Ginny raised an eyebrow and sat back, interested to see what would happen now that this weird woman had interrupted Albus Dumbledore.
"Thank you Headmaster for your kind words of welcome," Professor Umbridge said. Ginny almost fell off of her seat in surprise. The woman's voice was high and girly, completely the opposite from what she would have expected from her exterior. "Hem, hem…well it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts I must say!" Her smile looked as though she had Halloween fangs inside her mouth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!" Across from Ginny, Henna was gaping with her mouth wide open, and Lanie had dropped her fork and was staring in horror. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Although the situation for her Defense skills was looking grim, Ginny couldn't help thinking what wonderful imitation fodder this woman would give her. She was sure the twins were thinking the same thing; Professor Umbridge was sure to have a few nasty little surprises coming her way.
Suddenly, Professor Umbridge changed her tone to a one not unlike a bank manager; strict, but scripted. From the very first sentence ('The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance') Ginny felt her eyelids drooping. The fact that it went on for fifteen straight minutes did nothing to save her boredom either. She found herself making up a little tune with her fork and her golden goblet in the place of listening to the dull speech. Vicky and Henna had started a thumb war and Lanie drew a rather poorly depicted Gryffindor lion on her arm. The stupor was broken when the sound of clapping reverberated off the walls; Ginny dropped her fork in surprise as Vicky pinned Henna's thumb in her moment of weakness.
"Thank you very much Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," Dumbledore said, giving her a little bow. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Don't think I could've taken much more of that," she mumbled, and Vicky nodded fervently in agreement.
"Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held on Friday the 6th of September on the Quidditch Pitch. Please arrive ready with a broom and appropriate footwear," Dumbledore announced. He went onto something about avoiding the Trethering Tentacles in Greenhouse Four, but Ginny didn't hear it.
"Excellent, I should think I'm free then," Vicky muttered, taking out a quill and a slip of parchment.
Ginny turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "Are you trying out then?"
"I think so…I reckon I've got a shot," she shrugged. "If it doesn't clash with my clubs…"
Henna groaned. "You and your bloody clubs…how many is it now Vic? Twenty?"
"It's only thirteen, don't exaggerate," Vicky said dismissively, now scribbling down the date of tryouts on the parchment.
"Thirteen!" Lanie exclaimed incredulously. "That's insane!"
"Which ones are you doing this year then?" Henna asked, looking at Vicky closely.
"Charms, Gobstones, Future Ministers of Tomorrow, Society for the Injustice Against Half-Breeds, Extra Divination, History of Hogwarts, Debate, Cooking, Exploration, Waiting for Witch-hood, Painting with Pomfrey, Healing the Helpless and Tricky Transfig for Tentative Teens," Vicky rattled off absently, tucking away the parchment.
"Are you mad?" Ginny asked incredulously. "How are you going to keep your head on with all that and Quidditch? Even Hermione doesn't do all that!"
"I always manage fine," Vicky replied, looking slightly embarrassed.
"And so, I bid all of you adieu- have a happy sleep!" Dumbledore said, beaming down at them all and cutting into their interrogation of Vicky.
"Sleep!" Henna groaned longingly as they scrambled off their benches. "I haven't had that in months."
"Why not?" Ginny asked, helping Lanie carry some of her books as they headed for the staircase.
"Well my mum had a baby didn't she?" Henna replied gloomily. "Ever since darling little Timothy came we've been up to our neck in nappies and hysterical wailing." They all laughed as they climbed the stairs, heading for the Fat Lady.
"I was five when Rachel was born," Vicky said; they were now nearing the Fat Lady's portrait. "So I don't really remember anything about her. Mum said I pretty much stayed out of her way."
"I'm the youngest," Ginny and Lanie chorused simultaneously, grinning at each other.
"Lucky," Vicky and Henna replied together, and they all started giggling.
"Oh bugger, what's the password?" Ginny said suddenly as they faced the portrait helplessly.
"'Mimbulus Mimbletonia'," a small voice piped up behind her. The girls all turned around.
"Hey Colin," Ginny greeted him as he came panting up. "How did you know the password already?"
"I overheard your brother giving it to the first years," Colin replied, wheezing slightly. Next to him, Henna made a face and took a small step back. The Creevey brothers weren't the most popular of Gryffindors, even within the house.
Ginny smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks. Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" she said, and the Fat Lady smiled.
"Nice to see you all again," she said as she swung open.
"And you!" they cried as they scrambled through the hole, Colin in the rear. They entered the Common Room with wide eyes, taking in all the warmth radiating from the red and gold, the crackling fire and the moonlight pouring in through the windowpanes.
"Home sweet home," Ginny sighed happily as she skipped to the door of the girl's dormitories. It would be wonderful to sleep in a bed that didn't poke your back with its springs all night.
--
Authoress' Note: You'll notice in this chapter that I don't put in every Ginny moment from the book. This is because I don't see why I should- I'll have plenty of extra scenes to make up for it. An example of my editing is Ginny asking about Grubbly-Plank in the carriage and then insisting Hagrid's a great professor; I think I made it pretty clear she admires him without that bit. I can't put in everything, because then I'll be writing for five years, but I am trying my best. :) If anyone feels like it was incomplete or something without it, just let me know and I'll write it in I guess. I'd thank you all, but I haven't got the time and I know you want this up ASAP…this just means that the next chapter will be longer in coming. Until next time! -Red
