disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any part of it.
It was a nice day, Ginny Weasley thought to herself as she tried to focus on the disjointed pieces of scenery whipping past the window as the Hogwarts Express made its familiar journey towards yet another school year at Hogwarts. It was true, Hogwarts itself was on probation, likely to be shut down at any moment; it was also true that the loss of Albus Dumbledore had been devastating to both the school and the Order; nonetheless, it was a nice day.
The sights and smells were familiar and comforting: the animated chatter from just-reunited friends, the rattling of the lunch trolley as it made its way up and down the narrow aisle, the rustling of textbooks hastily being put into use for last minute studying.
She sighed and leaned happily into a sleeping Harry's welcoming warmth. She'd known, of course, that a relationship with THE Harry Potter was liable to be sticky for more reasons than one, but it'd been worth it in the end.
The cry of "Potty and the Weasel!" and the slamming open of the compartment door jarred her from her thoughts; it seemed, she noted bemusedly, that Crabbe and Goyle had taken over their dear friend Draco's habit of compartment-crashing and Gryffindor taunting. Neither of them could quite manage the arrogant tone of superiority that Malfoy had so commanded, and seemed mainly to walk around repeating phrases that they had heard him use before.
"You're Draco Malfoy's friends," Luna Lovegood said distractedly from her corner of the compartment.
The two looked at each other, confused. "Uh, yeah," one of them ventured.
Ginny bit back a laugh. The situation would have been hilarious had it not been so incredibly pathetic. She had to admit, little though she had appreciated Draco Malfoy's hateful words while he'd been around, arguments just weren't worth getting into without him.
When she looked up, Crabbe and Goyle had broken the awkward silence by blundering off to terrorize first-year students.
Jolly fun this year was going to be.
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"Nothing's wrong, Hermione," Ginny said wearily for the umpteenth time, spearing a piece of wayward roast and stopping its hopeful escape from her plate on its sea of swirling gravy.
Her friend gave her a look that fairly screamed disbelief.
"Well.." The youngest Weasley thought for a while. The things that were wrong were the ones she couldn't possibly tell Hermione about for obvious reasons; she'd run off and tell Harry, or worse, Ron--and then she'd never get peace from anyone ever again. On the other hand, Hermione was far too perceptive to let her slip without confessing anything at all.
"I'm bored," she finally said, truthfully. The first weeks of the school year had been mind-numbingly uneventful, and academics were a poor substitute for adventure.
"Don't go looking for trouble," Hermione said quickly, correctly interpreting the phrase.
Ginny sighed and pushed back her chair. A fat lot of help Hermione was going to be, telling her to stay put and settle down--what fun was there in idleness?
Author's Note: Yes, pathetically plotless and short. Sorry, folks. This is basically a pilot chapter, typed in one sitting, so review and tell me what you think! ...pretty please?