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And three very curious girls she got.
Ginny awoke at about eight the following morning, fully rested. She got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When she came back into the dormitory later she found all three girls woken up and waiting excitedly for her.
The first girl was called Miranda Cunningham and had short, very blond hair. Her skin had a nice tan and when she smiled she did it with her whole face.
"I'm Sophie Fairburn and this is Natalie. We're twins if you can't see that," Sophie said and winked.
She and Natalie looked just like each other; only by the different hair cuts could Ginny tell them apart. Sophie wore her hair long, and Natalie's was cut off by her shoulders. They were the same height as Ginny, and their hair was jet black. In contrast to Miranda, who was very pretty, Sophie and Natalie had a more ordinary look. There was nothing distinct with them.
"So, what's your name?" asked Miranda.
"Ginny Wea- I mean, er, Waters," said Ginny, hoping none of them would have noticed her slip-up.
"So, you're new here?" Natalie continued without seeing the look in Ginny's face.
"Er, yeah. I came last night."
"Why did you come in the middle of the term? And in the middle of sixth year, too." This time it was Miranda who spoke.
"Well, er…" Ginny didn't know exactly what to say.
Dumbledore hadn't given her any information about what they were to tell the other students. She couldn't precisely tell them that she was from the future.
"Er, just circumstances. I-I really don't want to talk about it, if that's okay?"
Ginny could see the disappointment in the other girls' eyes, but they didn't push her. She excused herself by saying she was going to get some breakfast, and quickly left before the girls would come up with the idea of joining her.
She almost ran down the stairs to the Great Hall, and when she opened the big doors and met the sweet smell of food, she finally understood how extremely hungry she was. She hadn't eaten in a very long time and her stomach was rumbling.
The Hall was pretty empty. Since it was Sunday most of the students had decided to sleep in. And that suited Ginny just fine. She sat down at the almost empty Gryffindor table (only a small boy, probably a first or second year, already sat there).
Her mouth watered when she saw the food on the table, and she filled her plate with one thing of everything. When she took the first bite of her toast, her stomach gave a loud and grateful growl.
As Ginny continued to stuff herself with food, the Gryffindor and other house tables filled more and more with people. Soon her fellow sixth year girls had entered the Great Hall and to Ginny's discontent they sat down right next to her. Ginny didn't really feel like talking to any one of them, but found it very hard to ignore them when they kept asking her questions about where she had gone to school before; why she had come to Hogwarts, etcetera etcetera.
She tried to steer the conversation over to different things, but that was easier said than done. Those girls just couldn't get enough! It was just too much for Ginny to handle, and finally she snapped.
"Please!" she interrupted the girls' cascade of questions. "I-I don't want to talk about it," she said, and by the pure frustration tears had been building in her eyes.
The other girls saw this, and thinking that something bad might have happened to Ginny, which obviously made her cry when someone mentioned it, quieted them down. They looked hesitantly at her when she dried the tears away with the back of her hand, and Miranda silently apologised for their rudeness. Ginny shook her head and said that it was all right, but the rest of the time they all ate in silence.
All during breakfast Ginny could feel the stares of the other students in the Hall. It wasn't everyday Hogwarts got a new student, and everybody wanted to take a good look at her. She even heard people talking about her, not bothering to keep their voices down. The Gryffindors were the most curious, since she was sitting at their table, and thus evidently was a Gryffindor.
Ginny tried to ignore the stares and keep her mind on her food. But as the time was drawing nearer to ten and her appointment with Dumbledore, she stood up and the whole Great Hall fell into silence. Ginny said a quick 'bye' to the girls, and looking at her feet instead of the people in the Hall; she quickly made her way towards the big doors that led out to the Entrance Hall. All the way there she felt the eyes on her back and heard the whispering voices.
When she reached the doors she was almost running, trying to get away from the students as fast as she could. She hurried through the corridors to Dumbledore's office and was there fifteen minutes before ten. She figured Dumbledore wouldn't mind that she was early so she said the password, went up the staircase and knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office.
"Come in," she heard his muffled voice say, and she pushed open the door and entered. "Miss Weasley, you're early." He smiled at her, and with his hand indicated that she should take a seat in the chair opposite the desk.
"I hope you don't mind," said Ginny timidly as she sat down.
"It's quite all right. We should probably get started."
"Sure."
"After you left last night it came to my mind that your last name would have to be changed, so no confusion will be made and questions will be asked which you can't answer," Dumbledore began.
"I already thought of that, Professor. This morning."
"Very good. And what name did you choose?"
"Waters, it was the first name that came to my mind."
"Very well, I will call you Miss Waters from now on then. We should also take a look at what kind of classes you will be taking this year. You have done your O.W.L.s, am I right?"
"Yes, I have."
"Good. So that brings us to the matter of classes on N.E.W.T. level you will be taking."
Ginny continued to tell Dumbledore which classes she was taking, and after that they decided upon the other things she could tell the other students about herself. In other words, they put together a big lie so no one would be able to guess who she really was.
They talked a bit more about the painting, and Dumbledore told her that at the present time the painting was gone, but when it returned it would be time for her to go back home. She asked the Headmaster how long he thought it would take, but he still had no answer.
After about an hour Ginny left the Headmaster's office, a list in her hand which she was to take to Madam Pince at the library so she could give Ginny the set of books she needed for the year. She had also been promised by Professor Dumbledore that she would get a pair of school robes and other clothes of necessity.
She didn't meet anyone on her way to the library, and for that she was grateful. When she rounded the corner where the painting of the old man had been, she searched for it even though she already knew it wouldn't be there. But she still felt her heart plummet in her chest. She though of everybody back home, did they even know she was gone?
Of course they know, she thought, Dumbledore must definitely have told them.
She pulled open the door to the library and was met by the usual smell of old books. Madam Pince was sitting by her desk, writing something in a big, black book, and when Ginny approached she looked up.
Ginny handed her the note from Dumbledore and Madam Pince skimmed it through. She then stood up, told Ginny to wait there, and walked away. While Madam Pince was gone Ginny looked around. There weren't many people in the library, probably because it was a Sunday, Ginny thought. Who want to sit in a stuffy library when you can be outside and breathe the warm autumn air?
Ginny's eyes rested on a boy and a girl sitting with their backs to her. The girl had dark, red hair tied back in a ponytail, and the boy had a big mess of black hair. The way he moved his body looked familiar. He was rocking back and forth in his chair, as though very bored. After a while he leaned over to the girl and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said something. Ginny could just about make out what he said.
"Come on, Lily, let's go outside. I'm bored."
The girl called Lily sighed deeply and said, "Sure, but then we just have to finish this later," while at the same time closing the book she had been reading from.
The boy literally jumped out of his chair, took Lily's hand and began to drag her out of the library. As they were moving closer to Ginny, she almost fell to the ground. Although she knew this would happen sooner or later, she just hadn't been expecting it right now.
The boy looked exactly like Harry, it was almost scary. And then it hit her who the girl was; Harry's mother. Ginny's eyes grew wider and wider the closer the couple got, and without glancing at Ginny they left the library; James talking excitedly and Lily smiling back at him.
But before Ginny had had time to process the information Madam Pince returned with a big pile of books. She had Ginny sign a note saying she had received the books and then she, too, left the library.
She slowly made her way back to Gryffindor Tower, in the meantime thinking about who else she would have to see during her time in the past. Well, she figured, she had already seen Lily and James. That left Sirius, Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. And wasn't Snape the same age as them?
Not until she had settled down in her bed in the dormitory (she had deliberately avoided all the stares from her fellow housemates as she had made her way through the common room) did she look at the books she had gotten from Madam Pince. Most of them were exactly the same as her old ones, but some of them were new to her. That was probably because she had different professors now than she had had before.
And that got her thinking – what professors did she have now? Were some of the ones she knew already teaching? Well, she knew McGonagall were, and presumably Professors Flitwick and Binns.
After skimming through the books for a while, she figured she couldn't just sit in her bed all day, and she decided she would take a walk. After all, the weather was wonderful for being October. So she grabbed a warmer cloak and left the castle.
She wasn't the only one who were enjoying the fresh autumn air, students were spread all over the grass by the lake, chattering with their friends and some doing schoolwork. Ginny found a place near the lake, some way away from the rest of the student population, and she sat down. She gazed out over the still waters of the lake; the Giant Squid could be seen playing in the far end of it.
When seeing the other students, Ginny started to feel rather bad about how she had treated Miranda, Natalie and Sophie. She hadn't been in the mood to talk and had maybe been a bit too dismissive. All they wanted was to get to know her and she had been frustrated and curt. She could practically hear her mother's voice telling her how very un-lady-like she behaved. Ginny sighed deeply. She didn't want any friends here; she didn't need any friends here. She already had friends back home. She missed them terribly, and knowing it could be a very long time before she saw them again made her miss them even more. And that, in turn, made her cry.
She tried to fight back the tears, but she had let her guard fall for one second and there was no stopping them now. People around her started staring and pointing at her, and she tried with all her might to stop her silly crying. This was not a good first day, that was for sure.
Get yourself together, she demanded herself, they'll all think you're bonkers.
Ginny took a deep breath, but that didn't work. So she simply got to her feet and went back to Gryffindor Tower. She stayed in her dormitory until dinner, reading in her schoolbooks and just killing time. Some time during the afternoon Miranda came by, but she left again after just a few minutes when Ginny refused to talk about her past. Miranda looked a bit disappointed, so to ease her curiosity Ginny told her she might tell her some things about it later on, but for now she just needed to get into the whole Hogwarts-thing. That seemed to satisfy Miranda.
Dinner later was basically eventless, though she did catch sight of James along with Sirius, Professor Lupin, Lily and Peter. It was strange to see them like that, so young and clueless about what would happen to them in the future. Ginny was sitting quite a bit away from the four friends and Lily, thus making it easy for her to observe them without them noticing.
When seeing how Peter laughed together with his friends, it was hard to believe that in only a few years time he would betray Lily and James and be the cause of their death. They all seemed so happy now. Ginny was actually stunned by Sirius; he was very handsome and so unlike his future self. Even though she knew that he had been very good-looking before Azkaban, she had never really understood exactly how much until now. There were several girls looking at him dreamily, and it was quite obvious he was aware of them. Professor Lupin, too, looked a lot better than he did in the future; there were no grey streaks in his hair for one thing. And he looked a lot happier too than the Lupin she knew did.
After dinner Ginny went straight to bed, making sure Miranda didn't get a chance to start her questioning again.
