Disclaimer: JK's characters...blah blah blah...
"Cough, cough Damn fireplace." Ginny choked, coming out of the fire. The day was August 31st, the day before term started at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ginny went on an errand for her mother in Diagon Alley to buy some more Floo Powder earlier and had just got back.
"Mum?" Ginny called to the empty room. She spotted Hermione's copy of Hogwarts, A History on the couch and picked it up to bring it upstairs to the room she and Hermione shared.
Ginny was a petite girl, 5'4". She had fiery red hair and golden freckles brushing lightly across her nose and cheeks. She tended to blush a lot, but always laughed even easier. She had honey colored eyes and an upturned nose. She was not thin or fat, but mostly curvaceous. She considered herself okay looking, even though most thought that she was pretty.
Ginny had the book in one hand and the bag of Floo Powder in the other. She went up the stairs and into her room to find no one.
"Ow!" Ginny cried as she tripped over Hermione's Time-Turner. Ginny saw black.
&&&&&&
"Ugh," Ginny grunted, trying to open her eyes. She knew that she was on a very warm and comfy bed, and also felt the presence of someone nearby her. She blinked and saw a pair of half-moon spectacles.
"Huh? Professor Dumbledore?" Ginny mumbled. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Yes, and who might you be?" He said, giving her a slightly puzzled look.
"Um, Professor, you know me, Ginny Weasley. Arthur and Molly Weasley's daughter. Please don't tell me that you're losing your mind already." Ginny said. He still looked slightly puzzled.
"Arthur and Molly Weasley? Oh dear, please tell me the year."
"1997. Professor, are you quite fine? Maybe you're getting Alzheimer's?" Ginny said, sliding her feet from the sheets and sitting on the edge of the bed. He stood up, and pulled on his beard.
"No, I'm afraid not, Ginny was it? I'm quite fine in the head. But the year is in fact, not 1997. It is 1977." Dumbledore said. Ginny raised her eyebrows.
"Um, maybe I should go get Madame Pomfrey," Ginny said, finally noticing that she was in the Hospital Wing.
"Professor McGonagall, what is the year?" Dumbledore said to McGonagall. Ginny jumped, she didn't even see her there.
"1977," McGonagall said.
"Wait…how could it be 1977? Did I go back in time?" Ginny said.
"Yes, and no…you traveled by Floo Powder back in time inside Hogwarts, A History. This has only happened once before." Dumbledore said.
"So…if I'm here it won't change the future, because I'm in a history book?" Ginny asked.
"Yes,"
"How will I get back?"
"That I don't know right now."
"Oh," Ginny said, looking at her knees.
"But, you are welcome to stay here. Your things, for some reason, have traveled with you." Dumbledore said, pointing to Ginny's trunk.
"You mean I'll go to school here?"
"Yes. What year are you in? You'll need to be resorted, though. "
"I'm a 6th year."
"And what classes are you taking?"
"Err…" Ginny said beginning to tick them off her fingers. "History of Magic, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures."
"You are writing this down, Minerva?" Dumbledore said to McGonagall.
"Yes, Headmaster," She nodded.
"Good. Now, Ginny, put on your robes, and we will escort you to the Feast to be sorted with the first years." Dumbledore said. Ginny nodded and dug in her trunk and pulled out her hand-me-down robes. She put them on and followed Dumbledore and McGonagall down to the Great Hall.
"Don't answer too many questions about the future or about yourself, alright?" McGonagall said, showing Ginny into a room. Ginny nodded silently. "When your name is called, you will walk through this door and be sorted." Again, Ginny nodded.
The professors left the room and Ginny looked around, nervously waiting to be sorted. After a while, she heard Dumbledore talk about her and heard her name being called. Ginny gulped and walked through the door to find hundreds of pairs of eyes watching her as she sat down. She blushed, and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat upon her head.
"You seem strangely familiar…have I sorted you before?" The hat asked.
No, but you will.
"Well, I already have a strong feeling as to where to put you…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted. Ginny grinned and stood up. She walked down the steps over to the Gryffindors who were clapping for her.
"Hey! Over here!" A boy shouted. Ginny looked over and nearly fainted. It was like seeing a memory.
She sat down between the boy and his friend and looked down while Dumbledore finished his announcements. She didn't even hear as he said to tuck in.
"Hey, I'm James Potter." The boy said. He looked tall, maybe 6'0" at least, and had messy jet black hair, exactly like his son Harry. He had hazel eyes and wore glasses. He had a long sloped nose and a perfect smile.
"Hey," Ginny barely choked out.
"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black, at your service." James' friend said, shaking Ginny's hand. He was also tall, 6'2", and had longish shaggy black hair. He had stormy grey eyes and looked strong. He had straight white teeth and a crooked half smile that got all the girls. He had dimples, and a naturally smiling mouth. Ginny thought that she would either hug him and cry on his shoulder, or throw her arms around him and snog him senseless, he was so hot.
"Remus Lupin," The boy across from her said, shyly. Ginny had to smile; he used to be her favorite teacher. He had light brown hair that wasn't short, but it was shorter than Sirius'. He had light brown eyes with bags under them, and Ginny knew why. He was a werewolf, but Ginny fell in love with the tender smile he gave her.
"Our other friend, Peter Pettigrew, went to the infirmary, but you can meet him later." James said.
"Alright. I'm Ginny, by the way." She said, helping herself to some potatoes.
"You know who you sort of look like?" Sirius said suddenly. Uh oh…Ginny thought.
"Lily Evans," He said, also getting some potatoes. Ginny shook her head as she looked down the table. Lily Evans had long, thick, red hair and bright emerald eyes surrounded by thick lashes. She had a button nose and the most perfect smile. She was hour-glass and beautiful.
"No, Lily Evans is gorgeous. I'm nothing compared to her." Ginny said, looking down at her plate.
"No, that's not true. You are incredibly beautiful." James said. Ginny blushed.
"Hey, that's high praise coming from James, 'cos he's obsessed with Evans." Sirius said, while Remus laughed.
"So I've heard," Ginny mumbled.
"What?" Sirius asked.
"I said that's absurd. Evans is a Goddess." Ginny said, again glancing down the table at the glowing aura of Lily.
"I'm not going to argue with you there, but you should know that you are too." James said. Ginny blushed again.
"Err, thanks," Yeah right.
"So…do you play Quidditch?" James asked after five minutes of silence. Ginny smiled and nodded.
"Yup, I play Chaser, and also Seeker, but I'm better at Chaser."
"That's excellent! We need another Chaser." James said.
"Alright then, I'll try-out."
"Good. What else do you do for fun?"
"Err…well I seem to have a knack for trouble…" Ginny said.
"Well, so do we. We are THE Pranksters of Hogwarts. We are the Infamous Marauders." Sirius said proudly.
"Cool," Ginny said.
"Yeah. Hey, you can hang out with us, unless you'd rather hang with the girls…" Remus said.
"No, I like you guys better." Ginny said, smiling at him. He smiled back and the desserts appeared on the table
"What's your favorite and least favorite subject?" Remus asked Ginny.
"Hmmm….my favorite would probably be Charms, and my least favorite would Potions. History is a snore-fest, though." Ginny said and they all laughed.
"Can't disagree there." Sirius said as the plates cleared off. The four stood up and made their way to the doors. They walked up to the seventh floor to the Fat Lady.
"Password?" She asked.
"Jamanana." James said. They all crawled through the portrait hole and into the Common Room. Ginny looked around and sighed.
"This is the Gryffindor Common Room." Sirius said.
"No, it's the Slytherin one," Ginny said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and flopping onto a sofa.
"Home," Sirius sighed, flopping down next to her. James flopped onto the sofa opposite them and Remus just sat down next to him
"So…tell me about yourselves; and if you don't tell me now I'll only find out later." Ginny said, tucking her feet under her. She noticed Sirius and James glance at Remus.
"Well, I'm an only child technically, but I'm not." James said.
"How so?" Ginny asked.
"'Cos I hate my family and they hate me; and James' family loves me, so they're my family also." Sirius said. James nodded.
"Okay…Remus, tell me about yourself." Ginny said. He gulped and traded glances with James and Sirius, then looked back to her.
"I'm an only child and the only half-blood in our group. Um…I'm a Prefect." He said. Ginny nodded. She knew that he wasn't going to tell her about him being a werewolf, so she made a plan in her head to "discover" after a while that he was one.
"Cool," Ginny said.
"We have nicknames for each other too. I'm Prongs, Sirius is Padfoot, Remus is Moony, and our other friend Peter is Wormtail. I think we should initiate you into our gang and give you a nickname as well." James said.
"Yeah, okay." Ginny said.
"Erm…how about…" James started. Sirius went over to their sofa and they discussed it while Ginny rolled her eyes.
"You are now officially Phoenix." James said. The other guys nodded and Ginny laughed.
"Okay then," Ginny said as the portrait opened up and Lily Evans walked in. Sirius sat back down next to Ginny as Lily's friends also came through.
"Hey, Evans," Sirius smiled cheekily at her. She rolled her eyes but her friends swooned. Ginny stifled a laugh. Lily looked at her and stuck out her hand.
"I'm Lily Evans. If you want good grades, I recommend you stay away from these Prats." She said as Ginny shook her hand.
"Hey, I'm not a prat." Remus said.
"Alright, but your friends are." Lily said. Ginny thought that she was a bit stuck up.
"Yeah…well…yeah…" Remus said. Ginny laughed. Lily turned to walk away.
"The girls' dorms are up here. Potter, is there something wrong with you? You haven't said a word to me all night." She said.
"What would you like me to say, Evans?" James said, looking her straight in the eye.
"Nothing, it's just weird for you not to talk." She said, putting her nose in the air.
"I've nothing to say to you. Good-night, Evans." James said. She pursed her lips and marched up the stairs, her friends behind her. Ginny stared at James, along with Sirius and Remus.
"What?" James asked, staring back.
"Well, she's right, you know. You can't go 5 minutes without asking her out." Sirius said.
"Yeah, well, looks like I just did, didn't it?" James said.
"I'm proud of you, mate." Remus said. Ginny laughed, and looked out the window.
"Hey, it's going to be the full moon in a few weeks." Ginny said, knowing full well it would have some effect on Remus. She was right; he flinched when she said this.
"What's wrong, Remus?" Ginny asked, knowing what was wrong. James and Sirius glanced at each other.
"Nothing. Just a bit cold in her, that's all." He said, looking at his feet.
"Alrighty then. I'm going to go to bed. I guess I'll meet Peter in the morning. Night, guys." Ginny said, walking up the stairs.
"Night," they called. Ginny pretended to walk up the stairs, but paused to hear of they would say anything.
"Remus, don't be all weird about that kind of thing or she'll suspect something's up." James said.
"I know, but I can't help it. I'm terrified that she'll hate me if she found out the truth." Remus said. Ginny left silently and into the girls dorms, mulling it all over.
"Oh-my-Gawd! I cannot believe Sirius was actually talking to you!" A random girl said. All of Lily's friends could not shut up about him, and it drove Lily mad.
"Sirius? Oh, he's easy. I'll prove it to you tomorrow." Ginny said, pulling out her pajamas.
"Okay!" The girls shouted. Ginny got changed and pulled her curtains shut, thinking about her day.
Okay…this'll be just like other years at school, only with different people…Gawd…can't those girls shut up for 5 seconds about Sirius? Sure, he's uber hot, but still…Remus us rather cute, but he's afraid that I'll find out about him…grr…stupid girls, shut up!...Ginny thought as she slowly, because of the loud girls, drifted off to sleep.