They're All a Bit Thick, Aren't They?
"Here, put this in there too."
Ginny slowly opened her eyes as George's voice from out in the hall infiltrated her dreams, blending with them for a moment until she fully came out of the long, cold corridors that filled her dreams. Last night, it had been a maze of them, all equally as dark and chilling.
Fortunately, they had been absent, for once, of the dragons, snakes and evil wizards that usually populated such dreams. The presence of one such evil wizard, however, had been felt.
Ginny sighed inaudibly, straining to hear her brother's hushed voices in lieu of dwelling on her nightmares.
"Excellent. I'm almost glad we weren't able to convince Ron to test this first. It'll be much more interesting, watching his reaction."
"Yes, it will. The question is how do we slip one to him without being obvious?"
There was a silence, and Ginny couldn't help but grin as she pictured her two brothers looking at each other, the identical looks on their face making it clear that they were both sharing the same idea, and communicating it to each other without need for words.
"Yes. That's perfect," Fred's laughing statement confirmed her suspicions.
As she heard the twins' laughter echoing, growing further away as they bounded down the stairs, Ginny got up, fumbling in her wardrobe for something to wear, only just realizing where the twins were off to.
Last time Harry had been at her house, she'd been taken completely by surprise, wandering downstairs for breakfast in her night gown. She still coloured at the memory. And then, the next year she'd again been taken by surprise at going to dinner with her family at the Leaky Cauldron and running into Harry.
This year would be different. She was at least going to be dressed properly, instead of in her nightdress, and she wouldn't allow his presence to stun her speechless again. She found what she was looking for in light blue summer robes, pulling it on quickly before pulling half of her hair back, leaving the rest of her now-past shoulder-length hair down.
Hermione, who seemed to have been up since the crack of dawn gave her a knowing look coupled with a raised eyebrow over the impossibly large book that she had been poring over. Ginny merely glared back, and Hermione took the hint, changing the subject.
"Excited for the Quidditch Cup, are you?" she asked pointedly.
Ginny smiled. She liked Hermione. The first time she had met her, she had been intimidated, since Ron had done nothing but talk about Harry and Hermione, and though he complained about her quite a lot, it was clear that he had a lot of respect for her. And, she was friends with Harry. When Ginny was eleven, she had thought that any girl who could be friends with Harry Potter must be quite impressive and most likely quite full of herself too.
But, Hermione had shown herself to be not only everything Ron didn't say about her, but someone that Ginny herself liked very much as well. She remembered the first time she'd realized Hermione was all right, in her first year.
"His eyes are as green as a pickled toad. His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord!" Fred and George taunted. They'd been following her around all week, chanting the words to the valentine, though Ginny had insisted that she had nothing to do with the embarrassingly stupid valentine.
She'd only hoped that they wouldn't mention his suspicions to Harry, though Malfoy had already taken care of that.
"Eyes as green as a pickled toad," Fred and George began to chant again as Ginny found herself now turning bright red, feeling as though all the students in the common room were focusing on her.
"Fred! George!" Hermione's voice made Ginny cringe. Great. She would be sure to run straight to Harry.
Instead, Hermione glanced at Ginny, met the younger girl's eyes briefly and then transferred her gaze back to Fred and George, the glare that she threw them nearly making up for the differences in height and stature. "I think the entire house has that song drilled into their brains. Interesting that you have it memorized when you weren't even there for the delivery of Harry's valentine," she said loudly, as though announcing it to the entire common room.
Fred and George, for their part, looked taken aback-or at least as taken aback as Ginny had ever seen them, and, given the fact that they had suffered through more than their share of scolding from Mrs. Weasley, this was actually quite impressive.
"Now, some of us have work to do," Hermione continued. "And I'd rather not have to take a break to write a long letter to Mrs. Weasley, complaining about all the disturbances in the common room lately, what with the exploding salamanders, and the obnoxious rhymes." With purpose, she sat down at a table opposite Ginny, who found herself now watching the bushy-haired girl with newfound respect, bordering on awe.
When Hermione had been attacked a few months later, she remembered panicking, realizing just how badly she needed to be rid of Tom and his influence on her. But through it all, Hermione had never blamed her.
In fact, she had gone out of her way to remind Ginny that it wasn't her fault the summer after her first year.
The two girls had ended up sharing a room at the Leaky Cauldron, as Hermione's parents had dropped her off that day and the Weasleys had promised to take care of her. It only made sense, putting the only two girls together in their own room.
Ginny, however, had found herself intensely uncomfortable at the thought of sharing a room with someone that had been petrified because of her. Not that she'd wanted it to happen, but on some level, perhaps she had. Perhaps it was because of her jealousy of Hermione that Tom had chosen to single her out. Perhaps she had let him because she had been so envious of the girl who was both Harry and Ron's best, and only, female friend. Maybe…
But Hermione had merely smiled brightly on being told that she would be sharing a room with Ginny, and had set to unpacking her things, seemingly unaware of the other girl's dark look.
Finally, the other girl had finished unpacking what she would need for the next few days, and Ginny thought she'd almost forgotten that someone else was in the room when she spoke up.
"Harry told me what happened last year." Ginny's face paled as the other girl looked up from her trunk, meeting her eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that it wasn't your fault. You're not the first witch to be manipulated by You-Know-Who, and I think it was really rotten of Lucius Malfoy to have given you that diary to begin with, and, well, I'm really sorry that your first year was so rotten, because it's hard enough starting at a new school without having something awful like that happening."
Ginny stared in shock, but luckily Hermione seemed to understand that this wasn't something that required discussing, and instead again met Ginny's eyes, as the redhead slowly nodded.
Since then, Hermione had occasionally tracked Ginny down when she'd needed to complain about Ron, and Ginny had, of course, agreed that her brother was clueless, though he may have meant well. Hermione had also become very tactful at redirecting the conversation this summer whenever the twins made to tease Ginny about her crush on Harry.
"Very excited," she replied in response to Hermione's question. "I've been hoping Dad would get tickets all year. I just hope that Ireland doesn't botch things like England did. It would be good to at least have someone on the continent win, after all. Though, mind you, Viktor Krum's quite an impressive seeker, so they're up against a lot. But their chasers are brilliant. Imagine if you put the Ireland chasers together with Krum though. Now that would be a Quidditch team…" Ginny trailed off as Hermione laughed. "What?"
Hermione shook her head. "You're nearly as bad as your brother." She raised an eyebrow at Ginny. "Ron didn't mention that you're as much a Quidditch nut as the rest of your lot though. I suppose you get in on all their games over the summer?"
"No," Ginny said, exhaling in frustration as she sat on her bed, tucking one leg underneath her.
"No?" Hermione asked. "Why not?"
"They wouldn't let me." Ginny said, with a shake of her head. "Or, rather, Mum wouldn't let me, and Ron would argue that I'm too small to be much of competition." She shook her head. "Which is stupid, because I've been sneaking their brooms out of the shed since I was six, back when Charlie was seeker at Hogwarts. I'm not sure what I would be like in a real game, but I think I'd do all right. And I'm sure I could show them a thing or two, if they wouldn't discount me just because I'm the youngest and a girl."
Hermione's eyebrows were raised, and the older girl seemed impressed. "Well," she said, her expression darkening, "Ron's always been a bit thick. Have you considered trying out for the house team?"
"Yes, of course. But Alicia, and Angelina don't graduate for two more years, and Katie doesn't graduate for three. And of course Harry won't be going anywhere, and I don't think I'd enjoy Keeping. It involves quite a bit of sitting there, instead of being in the thick of things." She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Er. Don't mention to Ron, Fred, or George, that I'm thinking about trying out, okay?" she felt her stomach turn as she thought of the teasing that she'd have to endure before she even got the chance to
"I won't tell them. They can just figure it out once you've shown up for try-outs and secured your place on the team," Hermione told her boldly.
Ginny merely grinned back as an explosion of laughter originated from the kitchen.
Without saying a word, the two girls exited, hurrying down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about.
"Oh hello, Harry, dear." Ginny cringed as she heard her mother's voice. She'd nearly forgotten in the last few minutes that Harry was coming today.
"Tell me what, Arthur?" her mother pressed on, and Ginny inwardly cringed, assuming it had something to do with the conversation she'd overheard this morning. She glanced at Hermione, then quickly glanced away, knowing that the elder girl wouldn't approve of whatever it was exactly Fred and George had done.
The two followed Ginny's mother into the kitchen doorway. Ginny stopped there, instantly glancing over at Harry and grinning. As he grinned back, she felt her cheeks burning and quickly looked away. Had he gotten taller over the summer? And cuter. No. Definitely not the line of thinking she wanted to pursue.
Her mother persisted, asking if what her father had to tell her had anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
Knowing Dad, he hadn't really intended to tell Mum, but now there it was. Ginny threw Fred a sympathetic smile. Fred, for his part, grinned back. They were in for one of Mum's famous reaming-outs, but Fred always pretended he didn't care, even if the yells from mum shook the entire house.
"Why don't you share Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" Hermione's gentle suggestion interrupted the start of what was looking to be a row that would, no doubt, be a repeat of the one they'd had a few weeks back, about Fred and George's lack of OWLs, and the fact that the twins had no intentions of going into the Ministry, like Dad and Percy had, instead planning to open a joke shop.
Secretly, Ginny thought the joke shop sounded much more exciting than even visiting the Ministry of Magic, let alone working there, but as she wanted to stay in Mum's good graces until the time came when she tried out for Quidditch and was no doubt hollered at herself, she'd held her tongue.
After a few minutes of protest before Ron finally got the point, Ginny found herself following her brother and his two friends upstairs, laughing as she and Ron filled Harry in on Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and all the inventing Fred and George had apparently done over the summer, and the fight over Fred and George's OWLs and future career paths.
Of course, the whole feeling included thing was stopped very quickly as Ron spoke up in the conversation to ask if Harry had heard from… someone. Hermione had immediately shot Ron a warning look, and he'd shut up very quickly, and Harry had looked extremely awkward.
Ginny's eyes darted between the three, feeling a rush of annoyance that, even though she was only a year behind them, and even though she was just as trustworthy as Ron, and more capable than her older brother of keeping a secret, as evidenced by the brief exchange, they'd still chosen to keep her out of the loop. She glanced at Hermione with a hurt expression on her face, as she wondered what the girl who had shared her room for the last few days felt that she wasn't trustworthy enough to know about.
But Hermione carefully avoided her eyes.
"I think they've stopped arguing. Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"
"Yeah, all right," Ron agreed.
Yes, something was definitely going on, Ginny decided as she followed the three downstairs. Ron was never this agreeable to helping with any sort of chores. Therefore, something was going on. However, what it was, Ginny was at a loss.
Dinner had passed quickly, and Ginny found herself laughing at her brothers' jokes, arguing Bill's hair with her mum, and discussing the coming Quidditch World Cup with all of them. By the time the dishes had been cleared and she'd been roped into helping with cleaning up afterwards, she'd nearly forgotten about the secret Harry, Ron, and Hermione were hiding from her.
Nearly.
She watched as the three made their way inside, the faintest hint of a pout forming on her lips as she was reminded, yet again, that she wasn't really a part of their group, even if sometimes it felt like she might be, if for only a brief period of time.
"He's nice enough, but a bit blind, that one," a voice spoke at her side. Ginny looked up, her face darkening to the colour of a tomato as she realized what Bill must be assuming.
"I wasn't-I mean, its not-"
"So you're out here, not pouting about the Harry's cluelessness?" Bill asked gently. He sighed and took a seat on the ground, stretching his legs out and leaning back on his elbows, glancing up at Ginny and nodding to the place next to him.
Ginny, in turn, sat down, though she was already armed with defensive answers in response to his assumptions about her crush on Harry.
"You know, Princess, there are going to be a lot of boys that are going to see you for what you are. It just takes us longer to notice a good thing when it's right in front of our nose." He said, and then grinned broadly at her. "Not that I'm itching for the day when we're putting up wards around the house to keep the boys away, but I have feeling that will be coming rather soon."
"Bill," Ginny giggled, shaking her head.
"Ginny, I'm serious. You're really growing into a pretty young woman, and it's only a matter of a time before the boys at your school start to notice. Frankly, I'm surprised Ron, Fred, and George aren't busy brushing up on their hexing skills." His expression turned more serious. "Just don't let them distract you from your studies."
"Who? Fred, George, and Ron? Because I think you know Fred and George's mission in life is to distract as many people as they can from their studies," she said, nodding seriously.
Bill laughed, and then gave her a stern look. "Not them, knucklehead. The boys. You've got the potential to be a powerful witch, you know. So, don't let anyone get in the way of that." He smiled a second later, breaking his serious expression. "What classes are you taking this year?"
"Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures, in addition to all of the regular classes, of course."
Bill nodded his approval. "Good choices." He raised an eyebrow. "Did Dad try to nudge you towards Muggle Studies too?"
Ginny grinned. "Lots of hinting about it, yes. Finally, I just informed him that being as one of my good friends is Muggle-born, I'll get plenty of education in all things Muggle, and that I'm well aware of the functions of electric plugs, beyond just collecting them. He let the subject drop fairly quickly after that."
Bill's laughter rang through the yard outside the burrow, intermingling with Ginny's as the evening wore on, the sun setting and the shadows on the yard growing longer. Finally, as the sun had completely disappeared, the stars now gleaming brightly in the sky, Bill stood up, interrupting the game they'd been playing of making up stories involving characters featured in the constellations.
"Well, little one, I think it's time for one of us to get to bed."
Ginny glanced at her watch and stared at him pointedly. "I didn't know you went to bed so early, Bill."
He shook his head, chuckling softly. "I don't. I'm also not getting up well before the crack of dawn tomorrow." He offered a hand to help her up. "C'mon."
Grudgingly, Ginny took it and then followed her brother towards the house.
Bill stopped, his hand hovering on the doorknob and turned to face her. "Just remember what I said about your studies."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Bill," she protested, a flush sweeping across her cheeks. "I don't think you have anything to worry about there."
"Don't underestimate yourself, Princess. As I said, it won't be long before those of your brothers remaining in town are brushing up on their hexes." With a cheeky grin, Bill opened the door and waved her inside.
"You're absolutely nutters," Ginny murmured, shaking her head.
"We'll see," Bill muttered, pulling Ginny into a brief, but fierce, hug before nudging her towards the stairs. Ginny gave him one last roll of her eyes before heading up the stairs and slipping into her bed.