AN:Well i finally got a beta reader and she edited the first chapter. It's about the same except for a few grammar changes and spelling corrections. Cheer dear beta, you rock my world.
"Hermione wake up! We're leaving in an hour!" Ron Weasly yelled from downstairs. Hermione woke up and rubbed her eyes trying to get the sleepiness out of her system. She had not gotten any sleep the last night having been too excited over the beginning of the new school year. She was finally in her seventh year, her last ever year in Hogwarts. She looked around the room and felt confused over where she was.
This wasn't her room. Her room was baby-blue and didn't have a slanted roof. Sitting up on bed she realized that the room's walls were flashing every single color in the world. The ceiling, which was slanted, was covered with moving pictures of good looking wizards who were at that particular moment winking and waving at Hermione
She looked to the door and saw Ginny Weasly walking out of the bathroom. Her hair was wrapped in a towel and she had on a pair of ratty old pajamas which were up to her ankles revealing fair skin that hardly saw the sun. Hermione sat and observed as Ginny walked over to an old cabinet and opened it. Out jumped a banshee, it's skin a pale green and scabby. It's eyes bulging out of it's sockets. Abnormally long fingers with needle sharp fingernails reached around Ginny's throat and it started screaming at the top of it's lungs.
"Oh shut up you," Ginny said almost affectionately as she had grown accustomed to the boggart in her cabinet and treated it like a pet. She picked out clothes as the boggart hovered around in the form of a banshee having nothing to do as Ginny was not scared by it. Ginny picked up a leather mini skirt and a aqua spaghetti strapped top and walked into the bath room still not realizing that Hermione was awake.
She emerged looking very self-conscious and pulling down the tips of the mini skirt. "It's called a mini-skirt for a certain reason, Ginny," Hermione said laughing at her friend who was trying so hard to not try hard.
Ginny grinned back saying, "You're finally awake I see," and then asked Hermione how muggles dressed in the middle of summer. Hermione decided that she may as well help Ginny as she had never worn such clothes.
Sighing she reached for her wand and charmed the skirt so it became shorter and Ginny's eyes grew wide at that. Next she shrunk the aqua blue spaghetti strap top. It became tiny and Ginny's eyes widened further. "Well you did ask me how muggles dressed..." Hermione said giggling.
Ginny rolled her eyes and walked over to the mirror. She looked alright but too pale. "Hermione, I'm to pale to wear this and if muggles wear so little, then what's the point of even wearing them," Ginny whined. Hermione grinned and said that the muggle girls in the neighborhood all dressed like that.
"Oh, I know what to do about your paleness. It's called self tanner. If you use it right then you'll have a gorgeous tan but if you don't...you'll closely resemble an orange but unfortunately I have never used on myself," Hermione explained. Ginny seemed to be mulling things over in her mind.
"Oh my god. If muggles can do it so can I, but I'll use magic," she said. Ginny then rushed to the bathroom. In about ten minutes she came out...orange. Hermione tried her best to not laugh but it burst out of her and soon she was rolling on the ground while Ginny watched her disapprovingly, her orange cheeks now sprouting blotches of red from either embarrassment or anger. She put her hands on her hips but it was rather hard to look forbidding when as she was covered in Orange and looking strange instead of forbidding.
Hermione's laughter came to a halt after awhile and she muttered a quick spell and the orange darkened into a gorgeous tan.
"Thanks Mione'. You're the best," Ginny said giving Hermione a hug and squealing. "You do know that you'll never live it down right," Hermione asked with an uncharacteristic smirk on her face.
She then went up to her dresser which was creaking under the weight of all the accessories and make-up she had. She then reached for a simple silver chain and clasped it around her neck. She reached for her makeup then looked over at Hermione to make sure that she was not over doing it. Hermione nodded and she continued. First she put on foundation and blusher and then put on lip gloss and an earthy brown eye-shadow.
Hermione had her suspicions and wanted the truth from the horse's mouth. She raised an eyebrow and asked Ginny if she was still bent on impressing Harry. Ginny blushed tomato red and that could even be seen through her tan.
"No! What made you think of such a ludicrous thing?" Ginny replied to quickly and the expression on her face contradicted her sentence. She had on a look of fear as though she thought that Hermione would tell Harry about how Ginny felt.
"Right..." Hermione teased, knowing that her friend truly did like Harry.
"Oh...okay. I still do like him and well, I think I look decent enough and am nice enough for Harry to like back," Ginny muttered, her eyes downcast.
'Ginny don't speak like that! You are gorgeous and if Harry can't see how sweet you are he must be blind," Hermione said trying her best to console her friend and also regretting even starting the topic.
"Then why did he go out with Cho? He knows I like him Mione' he just must find me horrendous," Ginny said both frustrated and a little bit out of desperation.
Hermione went over and gave Ginny a reassuring hug telling her that if Harry didn't like her back then he just couldn't be worth it
"Thanks Mione. You're the best! So...any guy in your life right now?" Ginny teased back having gotten the upper-hand on the conversation
"Nope, I'm concentrating on doing well in my NEWTS," Hermione replied before entering the bathroom.
"Hermione you are such a boring person," Ginny called after her before breaking into fits of giggles
After a hot shower with her favorite vanilla scents, Hermione came out dressed in a pair of flared jeans and a white-tee shirt with the words "rip curl" on them. Examining herself in the mirror she thought back and realized that she hadn't changed much physically. She had grown taller and that was about the only difference.
She thanked her lucky stars for her blemish free face as she had seen how all her friends suffered from acne. Her bushy, untamable hair hung at back length as she tried her best to get all the water out of it as she knew from experience that it would definitely frizz if there was any more water left in it. Wringing water out of her hair she muttered a charm and all of her sudden her hair was dry again.
Ginny had tried her best to convince Hermione that she let her straighten her hair since the time she set foot in the house but thankfully to no avail. Hermione preferred her hair to be left alone and she personally felt that she did not bother to keep fussing over her hair. She much rather just leave it be at it's easily manageable status. Pulling her dried hair into a high ponytail she looked at the clock and shrieked. No not because the banshee had taken her by shock but because she had only fifteen minutes left. Bewitching her trunk so that it shrunk and became weightless, she put it in her jeans pocket and thundered down the stairs.
There she saw all the Weaslys scarfing down food as Fred and George had taken a break from their booming careers as pranksters to come by for summer. Charlie had come down from Romania to spend time with his family and Bill being transferred to Gringotts now lived with his parents. His girlfriend Melissa was there and the whole family had accepted her into their fold as she was so likeable.
She smiled at Hermione when she caught her eyes. Melissa's eyes were an electric blue that were ever so familiar but no one could put their finger on where they had seen them before. She had such a sweet personality that everyone took to her and she seemed to rival Fred and George at having tricks up her sleeves. She was a blonde thought thankfully didn't act like a ditz and she had Bill Weasly wrapped around her finger.
Even Percy had taken a few days off to come spend the last few days of summer with family and for Percy taking a few days off work was a big thing. Hermione looked over at Ron one of her two best friends. He still had flaming red hair but wasn't tall and gangly anymore. Instead he had muscles from quidditch and though he still towered over her it wasn't by so much as she too had grown taller. She looked over at Ginny and saw that she was wearing a huge trench coat. Hermione gave her a knowing glance. Melissa caught that glance and grinned.
As Melissa was sitting right beside Ginny she leaned over and nudged her. She then told Ginny that if she wanted the trench coat idea to work she should use a long skirt underneath it. Ginny nodded and with a wave of a wand a long black skirt hung from the inside of the trench coat. Ginny peaked in and saw that it was in fact stitched around the inner part of the trench coat.
"How do you know all this?" Ginny asked as Hermione settled beside her and grabbed a piece of toast.
"How do you think I got out of the house wearing what I wore to hook this stud," she said slipping her arms around Billy's shoulders.
"Stud? Him? Oh well one for ones own I guess but wow Bill I never knew you went for skimpily clad girls after all the lectures you gave me for wearing a spaghetti strapped blouse," Ginny said sarcastically. Bill glared at Ginny and told her that is she ever did anything as stupid as try to hook her guy by wearing skimpy clothes he would have a mouthful to say. Then adding that he was in fact a stud.
"You didn't seem to think it was stupid when I tried," Melissa said playfully punching his shoulder. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her before saying, "Well it's different."
"Different? and how so? Do explain darling brother," Ginny said standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
"You know Ginny, when you do that you really look like mum," Bill said laughing.
"And what is wrong with that Bill?" his mother said leaning against the doorframe carrying a plate of bacon.
"Umm...nothing," Bill said racking his mind for and excuse. By now Melissa, Mrs. Weasly and Ginny had ganged up on poor Bill and he was in a corner.
"Now would be a good time to run, wouldn't it?" Bill asked trying to charm his way out of the situation. Unfortunately for him it didn't work and all three females answered, "Yes!" simultaneously.
"Alrighty. Well see you guys later. Oh and Hermione, Ron and Ginny have a good year at Hogwarts." He said before in a flash he apperated with a loud crack.
"You can apperate Bill Weasly but you can't hide," Ginny said before muttering, "male chauvinistic pig," under her breath. Melissa heard that swatted Ginny before grinning and saying, "Hey that's the love of my life you're talking about." Soon all of them were rolling on the floor hysterical with laughter. Fred and George got up and congratulated their mother, their sister and their soon to be sister-in-law for winning the Otter awards for acting. They had watched some television and happened to catch the Oscar awards and thought is was hilarious as they didn't understand why muggles were making such a big deal about getting a slab of glass. Also they kept mixing up the words Oscar with Otter.
Unable to get Ministry cars as at the moment all ministry resources were limited and the budgeting was tight ever since the fact that Voldemort being back was released to the public, they called a cab since only Hermione, Ginny and Ron were going to Hogwarts that year. They bewitched all their trunks to become pocket sized since all of them were of age, and they were off.
Finally they reached Kings cross station and waked around aimlessly as they realized that there was still ten minutes before the barrier opened. Ron asked Ginny of she was warm wearing a trench coat in the middle of summer. Ginny nodded and told Ron not to have a fit. She pulled off the coat and held it in front of as a shield.
Finally deciding that she might as well face the music she let Ron see what she was wearing. Ron seemed to be expanding. He turned red, from anger this time. "Generva Weasly what the bloody hell are you wearing?" Ginny shrunk behind Hermione as her brother broke into another lecture of not wearing skimpy clothes. Suddenly she blocked out her brothers words. She gazed dreamily at the approaching boy or maybe man.
She let out a sigh and Hermione saw what she was looking at. Hermione nudged Ginny and muttered for her to play up the attitude.
"What is up with you Gin? Don' tell me you still have a thing for him?" Ron asked derisively catching her gaze. Ron could not believe what his sister had dared to wear and he had to put a stop to her crush on Harry as when Harry saw that Ginny was no more a little girl there might be a chance for Harry to ask her out and then his parents would kill him.
"So what if I do?" Ginny replied defensively. She was sick and tired of her brother's over protectiveness. She had told herself to break free this year and today she would take the first step.
"So...I'll have to tell him that," Ron retorted with a smirk, knowing that if he made things uncomfortable between the two it would be impossible for them to get together.
He had expected Ginny to beg him not to but instead Ginny just said, "If you want to." Hermione glared at him. Sometimes Ron was so shallow. Harry walked over when he finally saw his friends. He then greeted them saying, "Hi guys. What's up?"
"Nothing much except we just found out that Ginny's still in wuv with you," Ron said grinning evilly at his sister. Ginny told herself not to loose control. She smiled coolly at Harry and said, "Don't mind, Ron fell down the steps today tripping his abnormally large feet and fell on his head; hard." Harry laughed and then noticed Hermione, whom gave him a hug and then shouted at him.
"Not even a letter during summer! We thought you disappeared off the face of earth!" she shouted. Ginny stood at the sidelines.
"Yet again I'm forgotten by the golden trio," she thought to herself bitterly as she watched the three of them chat on about what happened during summer. Hermione noticed that Ginny was standing by the side and not engaging in the conversation.
She told the guys to go ahead and went to Ginny's side and asked her what was wrong. Ginny just shook her head and muttered a nonchalant, "nothing."
Hermione on the other hand realized that it ran deeper than that. "Ginny. You're one of my best friends why don't you just tell me what's wrong?" Hermione asked concerned.
"I'm your best friend. Right. That's exactly why you forget all about me whenever Ron and Harry are around," Ginny said sarcastically but her eyes only showed hurt. Hermione apologized and asked Ginny why she considered herself to be apart from the group when all of them thought of her as part of it.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and looked skeptical. Hermione shrugged saying that, that was the way she felt. Ginny squealed and gave her a hug. "Hey Gins, I have an idea. Why don't you ask Harry out instead of waiting for Merlin to grow old?" Hermione suggested then adding that she was proud of the way Ginny had acted when Ron had behaved so insufferably.
Both of them made their way into the train station through the barrier. They saw Harry and Ron up ahead, both of them climbing into a compartment. They pushed their way through the crowd and got to the compartment and walked in. Ron and Harry were already immersed in a conversation on quidditch.
Ginny stood in front of Harry, blocking Ron from view. She was playing up the attitude and leaning against the table almost in a seductive manner. "You greet Hermione with a hug and I don't even get a hello?" she demanded. Thankfully she had her back to Ron as even the bravest knight would have quaked under his gaze. Harry looked at her as though he was seeing her for the first time.
"Ginny...your clothes...you look hot...er... different," he said changing his sentence after getting a death glare from Ron. "Harry, would you like to go out with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Ginny asked coolly. Harry looked from her to Ron and back to her again.
"If Ron here doesn't kill me by then, I would love to," Harry replied smiling at Ginny. Ginny felt like she was on seventh heaven and she told Harry that she would confirm the time they would meet later and left to catch up with her other friends. Turning back she saw Ron expanding and looking like a puffer-fish as he kept inhaling air but forgetting to exhale.
"Exhale, Ron, Exhale," Ginny said sarcasm dripping from her every word. Harry chortled and Hermione smiled. Hermione had hoped that Harry would ask Hermione out by today. But never did she think it would go the other way.
"Generva Weasly, you are NOT going out with Harry or any other guy in the near future," Ron bellowed. Ginny turned on him and pointed her finger at him before remarking scathingly, "And who died and made you king of the world? I can and will go out with Harry and guess what? You can't do anything about it, can you?" At that she decided that she would add the final blow; make sure that Ron realized that he did not run her life. Pulling Harry up by grabbing the collar of his shirt, pushed him against the wall and kissed him. Ron gaped. He wondered how Ginny had gotten so confident of herself. He was speechless as he watched his best friend and sister make out against the wall. "Ginny stop necking with Harry this very instant!" Ron shouted once he found his voice. Both of them ignored him and even Hermione had to admit that it was getting rather nauseating. Harry was shocked. Ginny looked so different and she had changed in character as well. Right now he was pressed against the wall kissing a girl who he had just agreed to go out with and also happened to be his best friend's sister. He saw Ron glaring at them but decided to ignore him. Closing his eyes he kissed her back. Ron strode up to the two and pulled them apart. "Wait till the rest of the brother's hear about this." he threatened her. "You wouldn't dare..." Ginny said a little unsure of herself. She knew that if her brothers got involved Harry might have to dump her as the lengths they went to 'protect' their little sister were undeniably harsh, stretching from pranks on the poor fellow to threats on their masculinity. They had managed to scare off Dean and all other boyfriends before him, but she really liked Harry, ever since she was young. She knew that he wouldn't back down once he wanted something and she now wanted him to want her. She leaned over and kissed the stunned Harry lightly on the lips and whispered to him that she would see him later. She then flounced off and all three of them gaped after her. Harry was the first to recover. "Feisty," he muttered and gave a low whistle. He was stunned. Looks like little Ginny had grown up, he thought to himself. "God she's a good kisser," he murmured under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Ron overheard him.
"Harry James Potter, you might be my best friend and all but hurt even a single hair on my sister's head and I will personally murder you, chop you into tiny pieces and feed you to buckbeak," Ron said still rather stunned at what his usually passive sister had said.
Hermione left to change into her robes and once she came back she saw Harry and Ron already changed. After awhile Ginny entered and they sat about chatting about nothing in particular until the train pulled into a stop and the castle came into view. Ron still was staring angrily at the laughing duo, thoughts of the earlier events clouding his good mood. He knew that his brothers would kill him. They had all taken it into their heads that Ginny had to be looked out for and now they would blame him for getting the most stubborn person on earth, his sister together with her crush of many years, the second most stubborn person in the world, Harry. When the train pulled into a stop all of them got off the train and walked towards the Horseless Carriages and entered one of them.
Finally they recoiled on the comfortable seats as the carriage pulled them up to the entrance of the castle. Finally they reached their destination and unloaded off the carriage. They walked into the castle. Even thought they had all lived there for six years, five for Ginny, they still lost their breaths looking at the beautiful view and the majestic castle.
Soon the crowds pushed them into the halls and they settled down at the Gryffindor table awaiting the beginning of the sorting ceremony to begin.
END
AN:Heyhey peeps. Don't worry about me I'm alive and kicking. Working on the next chapter...as in the seventh chapter. There are loads of surprises. Have I whetted your appetites. Oh yeah I'll be posting the beta read chapters up once she's done with them and chapter seven will be up by monday latest. Sapphire out. (Ryan Seacrest style)