Chapter One / Beauty In Its Finest Hour
Ginny Weasley could be seen at about 11 o'clock, boarding the Hogwarts Express. Her long, fiery red hair that trailed down her spine and to the end of her back was silky and smooth as it flapped behind her in a gentle breeze. Oh, how this beautiful girl had grown over the summer, for the more elegant and beautiful. She didn't seem to notice all the 6th and 7th year boys who were drooling and whispering excitedly to their friends from behind her. She wore a tight-fitting green ringer that showed off the chest she had grown over the summer; all by herself, thankyouverymuch. Tight blue muggle low-rise jeans hugged her hips happily as she entered the scarlet engine, following her friends Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey. Behind Ginny was her other friend, a 6th year Ravenclaw named Demetria Locke.
"Damn; all these booths are taken…" Colin said, walking through a hallway to the next booth inside the locomotive. Finally, they found a booth of their own and sat down with their smaller belongings that weren't stowed away, below the engine.
"Who do you think the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher will be?" Demetria asked eagerly. "-Professor Lupin said that he'd be taking a year off to pursue some kind of dream of his, right, Ginny?" Demi (her friends' name for her) asked. Ginny nodded. Having known Lupin closer than most students, Ginny knew his current agenda: to try and go out for a Quidditch team. Though it would be difficult, he was trying to be a Seeker, just as his life long friend, James, had been.
"Maybe we can get a girl this time," Luna said in her spaced-out manner, in a sort of exasperated way.
"-But we had Professor Umbridge…?" Colin began, but he was interrupted.
"Exactly." Luna cut in. She tucked one long blonde hair behind her ear and turned to Ginny. "-What is your call on it? Has Dumbledore thrown another curve ball at us, or will it be a bit of a 'normal DADA experience'?"
"Dumbledore is, as always, choosing to work as an enigma. He'll surprise us, guaranteed." Ginny said, nodding.
Before long, the Hogwarts Express had arrived at Hogwarts. First years excitedly piled out of the train and hurried toward the boats, while other years just planted themselves inside the small traveling compartments that walked themselves up to the castle of Hogwarts. Ginny stepped out of the carriage as it pulled up to the entrance of Hogwarts. Hagrid and the first years were still paddling along stormy waters, as the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th years walked calmly, waiting to be welcomed back to their real home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor McGonagall stood before the long and tall wooden doors that led students into the entrance hall. As she opened them simply by clapping and cast a certain spell by gesturing with her hands, she said to the students of the various years;
"Welcome back to Hogwarts..." Some second years from behind Ginny gasped as they saw and remembered the beautiful golden and silver chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the entrance hall. Merry ghosts floated calmly, waving to the students from their houses, and cheerily calling out, "Welcome back!" or, "-How do you do?" to students they knew personally. Ginny watched Demi greet the Grey Lady, and Colin attempt to shake hands with Sir Nicholas; which made the usually cheery ghost stomp off in a huff.
Finally the large crowd of students gathered at their house tables in the Great Hall and waited for the first years to arrive for the sorting. Ginny chatted excitedly with Colin, as Demi and Luna had to sit at their own houses' tables. Finally the sorting ended, all the first years were seated at their new houses, and Dumbledore snapped his fingers four times, making the feast begin and all kinds of platters, goblets, and trays stacked with all kinds of splendorous and scrumptious-looking food.
"I hope that I can pick up my Astronomy grade, Ginny," He said. "What would be your one main goal that you want to accomplish, being back at Hogwarts?"
Ginny pondered this for a while. All the while, Colin was silent; and finally Ginny said calmly. "To fall in love with a wizard."
Colin coughed and sputtered on his pumpkin juice and ended up coughing up the liquid into his napkin. He looked dejectedly at his handkerchief; but the solution to the messy problem came quickly. Hermione Granger glanced at him, having sat next to him, smiled as a greeting, and grabbed her wand. Next she murmured a spell under her breath, pointing her wand at the napkin, and in a flash, it was clean.
"Th-thanks, Hermione." Colin said embarrassedly, turning back to Ginny. "-So-so, what did you mean by that, Ginny?" He asked, blushing scarlet. Almost everyone in the whole school knew that Colin had a huge crush on Miss Weasley, including herself. Ginny, however, didn't really feel like she wanted to go any farther than friends with him. She had even been forced to awkwardly discuss that matter with him, as Hermione had told her it was the "right thing to do".
"-Oh, I don't know. I want a boyfriend; I want a soul mate. I want a guy to hang out with all the time," She said jokingly, giggling on the inside. It was as though she wanted him to jump up in the middle of the Great Hall and scream that he was for her, but she didn't. She just loved teasing him, but not in a mean way.
After the feast, Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands twice; clearing the tables of their silver and gold plates, trays, and goblets. He hesitated for a moment, waiting for all the tables to be silent so that he could begin his mini speech, the one that would probably introduce the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, and also welcome in the beginning of a new year at Hogwarts.
"Welcome back, 2nd years and up…and to all of our first years, welcome to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is an absolute pleasure having you here; and we hope that you enjoy your stay. And now I have some important start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that…" he paused, "as well. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, would like me to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. And now, I shall introduce to you, our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Edwards!" Dumbledore announced cheerily, gesturing towards a young-looking man, probably in his late 20's, with short black hair that was slightly gelled back, who had a very genuine smile.
Professor Edwards cleared his throat. "-It is a-a-a-great honor to be back in Hogwarts. One of my favorite subjects when I went here was Defense Against The Dark Arts. And I do believe that with a good teacher, a guide through learning, that you, the students, will have a fun time, and an easy time learning usually difficult material. Thank you." Professor Edwards sat down; smiling at the applause that he received. It was not a huge amount, but he probably knew from attending Hogwarts that it was a lot of applause for a new teacher the students barely knew.
Dumbledore smiled and clapped along. When the applause subsided, Dumbledore said, "That is all. All first years should now follow their prefects to their house common rooms. Off you trot!" He said excitedly, disappearing with a pop.
Some first years were very amused; they had gasped and clapped a hand to their mouths, but 2nd years and up rolled their eyes in a pleased manner; they had been expecting Dumbledore to woo the 1st years. Ginny stood up. She was the current prefect for Gryffindor, along with Hermione Granger, as Ron had stepped down from his position; because it was too much of a responsibility, and had handed over the job to his sister, who had been eager to accept.
"First years, this way, please!" Hermione called to the large crowd behind her, gesturing Ginny over. Ginny nodded and ran over, waving goodbye to Colin, Luna, and Demi. Ginny smiled, leading first years to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione stood before the portrait and said sternly, "-Phoenix Tears," The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, admitting the first years into the common room of the Gryffindor Tower.
As the first years gasped, admiring their new environment, Ginny went upstairs to put down her black messenger bag that had been on her hip the entire time. She smiled at her trunk placed at the foot of her bed, admiring her neatly made bed and thanking Merlin that Hogwarts lugged her trunk to her room magically for her; so she didn't have to break a sweat at all. Ginny sat on her bed and looked around boredly. What to do when there was nothing new to look at? She sat up and decided to walk around Hogwarts aimlessly, the first night being one of the only nights that normal students would have that freedom; but she would have it almost always, being a prefect. Maybe Ginny could meet some new students, whether they were her age or not.
As she walked in the corridors, she passed some familiar faces as well. First she saw Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown, chatting about boys as usual. Ginny tried not to do the mocking cough voice and disguise herself screaming, "SLUT!" at the sight of Lavender Brown; who had stolen Ginny's ex from her 4th year, Dean Thomas. Lavender had apparently seduced him and Dean, assuming that Lavender really did have feelings for him, had dumped Ginny for her. Unfortunately, Lavender had meant it as a one-night stand, and even when Dean begged Ginny to take him back, she refused, of course. (Hey, what would you have done?) Ginny also passed Seamus Finnigan and some of his friends from the house of Ravenclaw.
"Ginny!" Someone called from behind her. Ginny spun around, facing her brother, Ron. She immediately grew uncomfortable and crossed her arms, as if it made her feel less vulnerable. She lifted her chin slightly, as if to ask what he wanted; without actually speaking that much to her brother, whom she was currently pissed off with. Why? Lately, and more than usual, Ron had been treating her like a fragile piece of expensive glass. Beautiful and probably fine if you just leave it alone; but he didn't want to take his chances and let someone else bump into it and shatter it forever. Shatter her innocence. "-Gin, you didn't sit with us on the bus at all, and I got worried…and I didn't see you in the common room and I checked your room and you weren't there, why'd you leave? Are you okay?"
Ginny hesitated, and finally spoke quietly. "Jeez, Ron. Can't a girl take a nice walk?" Ron sputtered; clearly embarrassed that he had assumed that she was in danger, or simply lost. He had become worried over her deciding to spontaneously take a walk.
"I-I-I didn't know that you were-were just taking a walk; but you shouldn't just randomly decide to-to take a walk without telling me, I didn't know where you were, it got me worried, and, and…" Ron continued to sputter.
Ginny interrupted him. "-Ron, you're not my mother. Mum is, clearly. Do not, and I repeat, do not act like I am your responsibility. I can handle myself at this age, and I don't have to tell you everything that I am about to do. I am 16. 16! Why do you still think of me as a little girl? I'm only a year younger than you. A year! Ever since the Tom Riddle incident," Ginny stopped, allowing Ron to involuntarily shudder at the name, "-you act like I'm your daughter, and not mum's,"
"-F-fine, I was just worried. I'm supposed to look out for you, it's my job as an older brother!" Ron said. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Look Gin; you can continue to wherever you were headed just now; but I'd like it if you'd be in before 8 o'clock, because,"
"RON, are you KIDDING me? I am coming back to the tower whenever I please! You are not the boss of me, even when mum or dad is not around! I can protect myself, think for myself. And please do not stay up just waiting for me to return like last time! It annoys the hell out of me, and you scared the shit out of me last time!" She yelled.
"No, I'm not kidding you, you will come back when I say; and if you come back at the right time maybe I'll give you a couple of days space, and I wont follow you around and make sure that you're okay, deal? Get home right time, you get space." Ron said.
"I'm not making deals with you, Ronald. Goodbye!" Ginny said, dashing off angrily. She didn't know where she was walking to at the moment; she was just allowing her feet to carry her wherever. She was seething and everyone she passed from then on could tell. People gave her weird looks but Ginny didn't pay any attention, because she was too busy replaying the whole argument; her whole live with images of everyone always trying to protect her and acting like she was a little girl, not having any privileges.
She finally stopped when she reached the large courtyard in the front of Hogwarts. The courtyard contained two huge gardens. They were brimming with beautiful flowers of every kind, color, and texture. Some even had special powers that if you picked them, out of the ordinary things would happen to you, or you might even walk away with wonderful powers! Ginny smiled and picked her favorite rose out of a small group of them and sniffed it. It smelled absolutely beautiful and fragrant. She smiled as she began to float about two feet off the ground. She giggled and glided magically, hovering in midair. Finally, the magic wore off and Ginny's feet slowly touched the ground. Ginny was just about to walk to the other side of the huge garden of the courtyard when she saw someone resting serenely on a large literal bed of roses. Ginny stopped walking and tilted her head to get a peek of who was lying down so peacefully.
Much to Ginny's surprise, it was Draco Malfoy. However, with the sunlight shining directly on his face, his closed eyes resting quietly, his hands behind his head, being used as a pillow, his hair not slicked back and greasy like usual, but looking more soft and natural, and the messy manner that it was kept in made him look almost, well, not a Malfoy. Which was a good thing. Ginny smiled, not being able to take her eyes off Draco, who looked simply angelic and at ease, laying on the bed of roses. Suddenly, he turned to the side in his sleep, and mumbled something. Ginny sneaked up closer to hear better.
"…Oh, goddess…" Draco murmured in his sleep, smiling sweetly, not that usual awful smirk. Actually, Ginny admitted in her mind, it wasn't that awful. "You're so beautiful…" Draco murmured, moving his head slightly, tickling his nose by a blooming tulip. Ginny smiled to herself. This, if anything, would show Ron for treating her like a child. Ginny scooted onto the bed of roses and Draco moved over, obeying her movements. And then, she was lying next to him. With him.