Chapter One: The Project
She wasn't quite sure whether it was the tapping on her window or the sound of her mother calling her from downstairs that woke her. Whatever it was, she was awake, and she wasn't happy about it. Ginny Weasley was not a morning person.
The first thing she attended to was the tapping. "Probably just an owl from Hermione. I can't believe that she'd write me already though," Ginny thought as she made herself get out of bed and head for the window. Being careful not to break the shutters any more than they already were, she pulled them open and undid the window latch.
As soon as the window was open, a small brown ball whizzed into the room and landed on top of Ginny's head. "Hey, get off!" she shrieked, swatting at the small owl. It wasn't Pig, but it certainly was channeling him.
Finally the little monster flew off her head, and when he did he dropped an envelope into her open palm. Without so much as a quick rest, the owl was off. She could barely make out a lot more parchment trapped in its claws.
The seal of Hogwarts surprised her, but the signature on it surprised her even more. "Why would my Muggle Studies teacher be writing to me?" she wondered aloud as she broke the seal. She stuck her hand inside the envelope and pulled out one piece of paper. However, she could see that there were many more still to look at. Shaking her head, she began to read.
Dear Muggle Studies Student,
If you do not recall, I did inform all of you that there would be a special project for you to do this summer. It is not completely academic, and I have a feeling that it will be fun for all of you.
The gist of the project is this. For one and a half months, you will be required to live in a flat in Muggle London. There will be 25 tasks you will have to complete during the time that you will be there. All of the tasks will be accomplished without magic, something I'm sure you will all dislike. You will not be allowed to bring your wands. For the purpose of safety only, there will be magically altered floo powder for you to use to contact someone in the case of an emergency.
The list of your tasks is included in the envelope which Harriet, my trust owl, gave to you. I apologize if he did anything rash, like nest in one of the Weasley children's (or Hermione's if she is with them) hair. He likes hair, especially red and/or bushy hair.
Lets get back on track here. Some of the tasks will require more than a day of work, and all of the detailed information about the project is included in the envelope.
I know, this is getting long, but I have one last thing to relay to you. If you are taking Muggle Studies and have come from a Wizarding family, it is required that you pick a Muggle-born partner to come along with you on the trip. Your partners do not have to be approved, except in special cases. Any Muggle-born who takes this class is not required to have a partner, but it will be much more fun to stay with someone, won't it?
If you have any questions, you know how to reach me.
Cordially yours,
Arthur Dent
Professor of the Study of Muggles
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Ginny stared at the letter, he mouth wide open. "Ginger, close your mouth. You don't want something to fly in," Bill Weasley, her oldest brother, said from behind her. Ginny snapped her mouth shut and turned around.
"Bill!" she shrieked as she ran towards her often-absent brother. With a giant leap, she was in his arms. "When did you get back?" she asked, after their hug was finally finished.
"Just this morning, which you would have known if you had actually come down for breakfast. If you don't hurry, there might not be any more left." Ginny raised an eyebrow at her brother, and he sent her a genuine smile in return. "You know Ron, Ginger. He'd eat everything in the house if he could fit it through his mouth fast enough." Ginny smiled, laughed a bit, and certainly agreed.
"Sorry, I just got an owl," Ginny told him as they exited her room and made their way down the stairs.
"Oh really? Who from?" Bill asked, sounding interested.
"Oh, Professor Dent, the Muggle Studies teacher. We have some strange summer project coming up. I'm going to be staying in a flat in Muggle London for a month-and-a-half, running around doing errands and things," Ginny told him, tightening her grip on the letter in her hand. She wasn't quite sure how her parents, or her brothers, were going to react to this.
"You know that Mum probably won't let you go," Bill informed her, his voice not letting on at all what he was thinking. Ginny nodded and shrugged.
"I won't be alone, I get to have a Muggle-born partner. Plus, they're giving us floo powder that we can use to contact someone if we need help. I think I'll be fine," Ginny assured him. She just hoped that her mother would also allow herself to be assured.
"Morning Gin," Ron said, through a mouthful of food. Ginny had always wondered how Ron could make himself be fully understood when his mouth was completely stuffed.
"Morning Ron," Ginny replied politely, pulling up an old wooden chair and sitting at the table. Almost immediately, Molly Weasley entered the room with a plate piled high with pancakes. She placed it in front of Ginny, sent Ron a disapproving look for his horrendous table manners (one he didn't even see), and fluttered off into the kitchen without so much as a hello.
Ginny was used to the hustle and bustle of the Weasley household, but anyone coming in for the first time would shocked at the small amount of actual communication that the Weasley family needed to get their points across. As soon as a child sat down, there was food in front of them. As soon as they were finished, the plate was whisked away. When they wanted more, the plate was suddenly full again.
Sometimes, magic came in the simplest of packages.
"So, what took you so long, Gin? Get a letter from your boyfriend?" George asked from across the table. Ginny scowled at him and shook her head.
"Actually, I got a letter from Professor Dent," Ginny informed him coldly as she began on her stack of pancakes.
"He's your boyfriend, Gin? I thought that Dean had caught your fancy," Fred asked from the spot next to George. The scowl left Ginny's face, and she shook her head once again.
"There's a Muggle Studies project for over the summer. I'll get to live in a flat in Muggle London for 1½ months and do various Muggle tasks without any magic. And no, I won't be alone, I'll take a partner."
"Me?" Ron asked politely, his mouth finally clear of food. Ginny smiled at his kindness, but was also slightly perturbed by his overprotective behavior.
"Sorry Ron, but it's got to be a Muggle born. Once I get Mum's permission, I'm going to owl Hermione to see if she can come." A scowl came over Ron's face, but it quickly changed to a blush when he saw the twins' smirks.
"She'll probably say no, Gin. She's supposed to be going to Bulgaria for most of the summer," Ron informed her, irritation evident in his voice. Ginny rolled her eyes and let out a grand sigh. Both Hermione and Ron were pretty thick sometimes, in her opinion.
"To visit Krum you mean?" George asked, goading Ron. Ginny knew that trouble was brewing, so she finished her pancakes as quickly as possible and brought her plate into the kitchen, so she could talk to her mother.
Molly Weasley was a fascinating woman, although you wouldn't think it to look at her. She was altogether plain, although nowhere near ugly. Her curly red hair, with it cursory gray streak, framed her face in quite a lovely way, and she looked a lot more like Ginny than either was willing to admit.
"So Mum, I got an owl this morning," Ginny began, setting her plate down next to the sink, which was currently occupying most of her mother's arms.
"Oh, that's nice dear. Was it from that Dean boy?" Ginny felt like pulling out her hair at that. Everyone in her family was either protective or teasing about any relationship she had.
"I wonder what she'd say if I started it up with Harry," Ginny wondered, but immediately put a stop to that line of thinking. A blush crept to her cheeks, and she kept thinking, "I gave up on him, I gave up on him." It would do her no good, however. She knew she was lying to herself.
"No, it was from my Muggle Studies teacher," Ginny began, and for the next few minutes she outlined the particulars of the project with her mother. When she was finished, she had a feeling that there would be a great battle of the Weasley female stubbornness, but instead, her mother agreed wholeheartedly with the project.
"I think it would be quite wonderful for you to get out of the house for a while, and it sounds perfectly safe to me. Why don't you go owl Hermione and ask her, hm? I'm sure she's going to get lots of requests, being so intelligent and all," was what her mother had said. Ginny was so stunned that it took her a full minute before she thawed enough to actually begin to walk upstairs.
After a quick and mostly hot shower, Ginny entered her room, sat down on her bed, and pulled a piece of parchment and quill from the drawer of her nightstand. Settling into a comfortable position, she began writing.
Dear Hermione,
I hope your summer has been good so far; mine has. I've heard from Ron that you're going to Bulgaria, but I can only hope that jealousy is thickening his brain. You're both so thick, you know that right?
Sorry, that's not what I'm writing to you about. Actually, it's about this Muggle Studies project we're doing. For one-and-a-half months, I'll be staying in a Muggle London flat and completing a bunch of normal Muggle tasks without magic.
I know that this sounds altogether unremarkable, but there's more. I have to choose a Muggle-born partner to stay with me for the month. It starts in about a week, so it would be nice if you could respond to this owl soon.
All my love,
Ginny Weasley
PS: I know he's a prat, but he really does care!
Satisfied that Hermione would understand the letter, Ginny rolled it up and called for Pig. In an instant, the little owl was at her side, ready to take the letter. She stroked him for a moment, then secured the parchment to his claws. "Hurry up please, okay Pig?" she asked as she sent him off. As soon as he was out of the window, she flopped back on her bed and fell asleep once again.
The afternoon sun was low in the sky when Ginny woke up. Once again, she was awakened by either a tapping at her window or the sound of her mother calling her down to eat. Ginny didn't know the time, so she wasn't quite sure what meal it was. Getting up swiftly, Ginny once again opened the window and Pig came flying back in. Ginny pulled the piece of parchment off of his leg and began reading.
Dear Ginny,
It's very nice to hear from you, and I as well have been having a nice summer. I'm quite worried about Harry, but other than that things are quite smashing here.
I am sorry to inform you that Ron was right; I'm going to Bulgaria this summer. Do please remind him that my parents are escorting me, and that Viktor and I are only friends.
Because of my vacation, I will not be able to go with you to Muggle London. I truly would love to (I'm sure your lack of knowledge will be quite amusing), but I promised Viktor months ago that I would visit him.
All I can do is suggest a few likely candidates for you to ask instead. The only Muggle-born I can think of who you are friends with is Dean Thomas, but, from what you said on the train, I doubt that your brothers (or parents) would be too keen on that.
"She knows us so well," Ginny thought with a smile, and then continued.
So, I propose that you ask Harry. Ask Dumbledore first of course, since Harry might not be allowed to go; security and all of that. But, if Dumbledore says yes, I really think that you should ask Harry. I'm sure he would love it, as would you.
Do take my advice Ginny. I think you will get much more than just a good grade if you take Harry with you (wink wink).
All the best,
Hermione
Ginny was completely stunned. Had Hermione just told her that she should stay with Harry Potter, the boy she had been in love with since 1st year, for an entire month-and-a-half? And why in the world would Harry even want to go in the first place?
"To get away from the memories," came, unbidden, into her mind. The moment it did, Ginny knew that it was true. "Well," she asked herself, "what do I have to lose?"
And with that, she sat began writing a letter to Dumbledore.