Disclaimer: I own the plot, but the characters are property of J.K. Rowling.

Chapter one

Ginny watched the green blur of the English moors as she sped pass them on the Hogwarts express. The chatter if the others sitting in her compartment faded into an obscure background as she sunk deep into a pensive. In a few hours she would be at Hogwarts again, and she felt a small pit of dread at that Knowledge. It was not that she did not love Hogwartsbut as Hogwarts brought wonderful times in her life, it also inevitably brought bad ones. Fifth year would bring O.W.L.S (she cringed at that thought), a little lonliness, and evil. Anytime something horribly Voldemort-related happened, she was at Hogwarts, and that had not gone unnoticed by Ginny. As she inched closer and closer to the school she asked herself 'What will happen this year? Who will die? Who will Tom destroy?'

Tom

"Ginny, I would never hurt you"

'No! Stop it!', Ginny told herself as she felt her back stiffen from the memory.

'Not now, don't think of him now. Don't bring him now, or ever again!'

It had been years since Ginny had been under Toms enthralling spell, but she still felt traces of him in the corners of her being. He still frightened her when he was a mere memory.

To try to steer her mind away from where it was heading, Ginny attempted to think of a fruit for every letter of the alphabet. Pathetic, but not dangerous.

'Apple, Banana, Coconutwhat fruit starts with a D? There must be something! Think; think of words. DateSTOP IT!'

Ginny clenched the issue of the Quibbler that she held between her hands in frustration. She squeezed her eyes tightly and slowly steadied her breathing. When she was calmer she looked up to see if anyone had noticed her small outburst.

From the corner where she sat, she observed the compartment. Sitting near the door was Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood speaking shyly to one another. Ginny almost smiled when she noticed how Luna gazed up at Neville through her eyelashes as he spoke, almost as if he held her in a trance. Neville had a pink tint on his round face as he spoe softly and tapped his pet toad Trevor self-consciously.

They had obviously no noticed any disturbance.

Ginny then turned her gaze toward her brother Ron. He was going through the pages of 'Quidditch through the ages', and every few pages he would tap Hermione on the shoulder and point out some random fact or another. Hermione would look at the page and nod, and then go back to the novel she was reading. Then Ginny saw what she had always thought impossible. She watched as Ron took out his last remaining Chocolate Frog, broke it in half, and then offered half of it to Hermione. Hermione seemed shocked at the sentiment, but she took it with a shy smile, and nibbled on it happily. Ginny knew for a fact that Hermione thought that Chocolate Frogs were to rich, and therefore did not care for them much. But, Hermione seemed quite pleased with them at the moment.

Focused on their small flirtations Ron and Hermione obviously had not noticed anything amiss with her.

Ginny moved her eyes to Rons left, and there he was. Harry Potter. Harry sat against the cushion, in a world of his own. His green eyes were dull and glazed over as he stared at the floor, not really seeing it. Ginny wondered if the year they were about to face scared Harry as it did her. After all, if anything were to happen at Hogwarts, he would surely be in the middle of it somehow. Ginny felt surges of longing as she saw the boy who she could never have. His features were melancholy, but heroic.

She twirled a strand of crimsom hair between her fingers as she thought of Harry. The hopeless romantic in her seeped out as she thought of his smile, and his laugh, and the way his eyes would burn into hers before he finally

'Wait, his eyes are looking into mine!!!'

Ginny's body jumped in surprise as she realized that Harry had caught her admiring him. Her eyes bulged as she stared back at him in shock. Harry simply gave her a small smile and a wave before he took out a book and began to read. Ginny's embarrassment caught up with her, and her face turned as red as her hair before she bowed her head and wringed her hands together nervously. She felt just like the ten year old girl she had been when she first saw Harry, because then she simply had one thought in her mind:

'Harry smiled at me.'