Disclaimer: I don't own anything. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Ginny loaded her arms up with the supplies her Mum and Dad had just purchased. Walking behind them, she looked back through the window to see Snape carrying a couple of books to the front counter. She found herself wishing she could have stayed to talk to him more. She turned her head away quickly when she saw him look up at her. She found her heart was racing though, she couldn't quite figure out why.
Following her Mum and Dad, her thoughts wandered back to the book, she had really hoped to get it. Sighing in dismay she looked up to see that they had arrived outside Madam Malkin's, Hagrid was standing outside talking to Harry, Ron and Hermione. From the serious looks on there faces she figured they had had a less than pleasant experience in the shop. What's new? She thought to herself amusedly, trouble follows those three wherever they go. Her mood lightened as she remembered the events of last year fondly.
"Everyone all right?" Mum asked, "Got your robes? Right then, we can pop in at the Apothecary and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George's-stick close, now..." Ginny bought all the necessary ingredients for the next year of potions and then some things extra that she convinced Mum and Dad was absolutely necessary.
But she didn't get anything at Eeylops, only looked around at all the owls in their cages. There was one tawny owl that caught her eye as it stared at her wherever she went in the shop. Finally, she went up to it before they left, it hooted softly in greeting to her. She smiled kindly at it and said "Hello to you too." Feeling foolish for talking to an owl. She looked at the tag hanging just below it's cage and was dismayed to find that it was already reserved for someone. She pressed her finger to the cage horizontally and the bird pressed it's beak to her finger and closed it's eyes. Ginny laughed lightly and moved her finger inside the cage to stroke the pretty bird's soft, feathery head.
Her moment was interrupted by her mother's voice calling to her from the entrance door. She smiled one last time at the bird and said "Good-bye." The owl hooted after her as she left, she looked back at it one last time and waved at it. They continued along the shops in search of Weasley's Wizard Weezes, Mum saying the shop numbers as they went and talking about how short they were on time. Ginny smiled at her Mum in amusement, she was so good at keeping track of everything, she noted admiringly.
Finally, they reached Fred and George's shop. "Whoa," said Ron, stopping in his tracks. Set against the dull, poster-muffled fronts everywhere else, The twins' windows hit the eyes like a fireworks display. People walking by did doubletakes looking back at the displays. A few stunned people came to a halt outside the shop, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of things that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked; Ginny's eyes hurt a little looking at it.
The right-hand poster was covered in a gigantic poster, purple like the ones like the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters:
WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO? YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO- THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!
Ginny grinned madly and heard Harry laugh. Mum gave a weak sort of moan, Ginny looked at her staring at the poster dumbfounded. Ginny had to bite her cheek to stop from laughing when she saw her Mum's lips silently mouthing the words "U-No-Poo." Ginny's eyes were watering from holding back her laugh.
"They'll be murdered in their beds!" Mum whispered. "No they won't!" Ron said, who, like Harry, was laughing. "This is brilliant!" He and Harry were the first ones in the shop. It was packed with customers; Ginny looked around at the place, not even bothering to wade through the mass of people blocking her way to the shelves. There were boxes piled to the ceiling. There were Skiving Snackboxes, the Nosebleed Nougats were all gone except one. There were bins of trick wands, some turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, others beating the user around the head and neck.
Ginny giggled at a boy who handed one to an unsuspecting friend. There were boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart -Answer varieties. Ginny passed a Reusable Hangman to stand by Hermione's side, "Patented Daydream Charms..." Hermione read aloud. Ginny looked over her shoulder at the box she was reading, it had a highly colored handsome youth on the back and a swooning girl on the deck of a pirate ship. "One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable (side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling). Not for sale to under sixteens."
Ginny's rebellious curiosity tempted her to get one anyway, but she decided to resist, she needed to learn all she could with what the future had in store. "You know," Hermione said, looking at Harry, "that really is extraordinary magic!" "For that, Hermione," Fred's voice said from behind them, "you can have one for free." They turned to see Fred beaming before them, wearing a set of magenta robes that clashed terribly with his flaming hair. Ginny wanted to look around a bit before talking to the twins, guessing she was going to hear it about her boyfriend. She wandered around looking at the different things.
She laughed when she saw a stand of card and rope tricks, Dad would love to see that. She continued until she saw a tub of something labelled EDIBLE DARK MARKS-THEY'LL MAKE ANYONE SICK! Ginny snorted, wondering what a Death Eater would think of that. Noticing a jar labelled INSTANT DARKNESS POWDER, she thought that would come in handy at some point. There was also the Decoy Detonators that she had heard Fred and George making when they were still living at the Burrow. Ginny felt a twinge of sadness at that, she missed having them around to talk to or just to bother when she was bored. She finally made her way back to the Patented Daydream Charms.
"Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet?" Fred asked. "Follow me ladies..." Near the window there was an array of violently pink product which a cluster of excited girls was giggling enthusiastically. Ginny and Hermione hung back warily. "There you go," Fred said proudly. "Best range of love potions you'll find anywhere." Ginny raised her eyebrow skeptically, knowing the twins weren't always the best at paying attention in Snape's class. "Do they work?" She asked, trying not to let her own exceptional potion-making skills make her snobby. "Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a time depending on the weight of the boy in question-"
"-and the attractiveness of the girl." George said, finishing Fred's sentence as usual as he suddenly reappeared at their side. "But we're not selling them to our sister," he added, suddenly stern, Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Here it comes. She thought, "not when she's already got about five boys on the go from what we've-" "Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie," Ginny said calmly, leaning forward to take a pink pot off the shelf, "What's this?" Her curiosity aiding her in her endeavor to change the subject. "Guaranteed ten-second pimple vanisher," said Fred.
"Excellent on everything from boils to blackheads, but don't change the subject. Are you or are you not currently going out with a boy called Dean Thomas?" "Yes I am," Ginny said patiently. "And last time I looked, he was definitely one boy, not five. What are those?" She asked, pointing at a number of little round balls of adorable fluffiness in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the bottom of their cage and making cute high-pitched squeaking noises.
Ginny didn't even know what they were yet, and already she wanted one. "Pygmy Puffs," said George. "Miniature Puffskeins, we can't breed them fast enough. So what about Michael Corner?" "I dumped him, he was a bad loser," Ginny answered him, unable to resist putting her finger in the cage to touch the creatures' cute little fluffy fur. They all crowded around her finger, only adding to their adorableness.
"They're really cute!" Ginny said with a smile. "They're fairly cuddly, yes," conceded Fred. Ginny could hear the 'but' sentence coming, her annoyance mounting. "But you're moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren't you?" Ginny turned to look at him, hands on her hips. She glared at Fred, she had had enough of her brothers sticking their noses in her love life. "It's none of your business. And I'll thank you," She turned her temper on Ron, who had just appeared next to George, arms full of merchandise, "not to tell tales about me to these two!" Fred turned and started to talking to Ron.
It seemed that the sudden changing of the subject was the closest she was going to come to some agreement. Ron got mad at what Fred had to say to him, dropping several boxes and making a rude gesture to him. Ginny smirked when she saw Mum come in just in time to see it. "If I see you do that again I'll jinx your fingers together," Mum threatened him, Ginny hoped she would. "Mum, can I have Pygmy Puff?" Ginny asked her immediately, "A what?" Mum asked, wary of anything generated by Fred and George. "Look, they're so sweet..." Mum moved closer to see the Pygmy Puffs.
Ginny noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione seeming a little bit distracted. Trouble is calling their names, again. She thought, engaging her Mum in a deeper conversation so she wouldn't notice the three of them disappear. She was delighted when Mum agreed to get her the Pygmy Puff. She tried to keep her Mum occupied for as long as possible, but as time stretched on and the trio still didn't reappear, Mum finally noticed.
Ginny trailed behind her Mum helplessly, as she frantically searched the shop multiple times for them. Dad was also searching, "I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Ginny said, trying to be reassuring. She was certain that wherever they were, they were completely fine. "Have you checked the back, yet?" Ginny asked in what she hoped was a helpful sounding suggestion. Just when Mum was about to have a break down, they appeared again. All three insisting they were in the back the whole time. Ginny smirked, she could have come up with a better answer than that.
Upon returning home, Ginny noticed that Harry looked as if whatever escapade they went on still troubled him. She was dying to know what it was that they did, but didn't press the subject on Hermione's advice. Ginny scanned over her school books for the next year, hoping to find something interesting enough to avoid going down into the kitchen and getting roped into wedding plans with Phlegm. On the last day, Ginny finally had to go down to get her freshly laundered clothes from Mum. Phlegm was down there of course, talking about her 'vonderful vedding planz', she spotted Ginny immediately and launched into her ideas for her as a bridesmaid.
Ginny smiled through gritted teeth to avoid grimacing. She grabbed her fresh laundry and hightailed it out of there. On the landing she spotted Harry on his way downstairs, "I wouldn't go in the kitchen just now," she warned him. "There's a lot of Phlegm around." Harry smiled at her, "I'll be careful not to slip in it." He continued on his way and Ginny shuddered in annoyance, thinking of her future as a bridesmaid.
Ginny packed her trunk carefully, including the muggle music device Hermione had bought her for her last birthday. She hoped she could get it to run off of magic instead of the muggle thing electricity that Hermione was talking about. Ginny secretly took after her father a little bit, in his love of all things muggle.
She personally loved their music and arts. She had tried to learn some of their more modern dancing with some success. One thing she had shared with Fred and George was a muggle group called Monty Python. She had enjoyed watching it with them. She smiled at the memory, thinking how much she loved her twin brothers.
The next morning everything went fairly smoothly, Ginny had her trunk ready the night before and was free to help Hermione with the grumpy Crookshanks, who absolutely despised his carrying cage. Being an Animagus fox, Ginny sympathized with him, she would hate to be cooped up in a cage. She also had Arnold, her purple Pygmy Puff in his own cage. With everything all ready, and to Ginny's great relief, Phlegm was not coming with them.
She watched critically as Phlegm said a throaty "Au revoir 'Arry." Kissing him good-bye, Ginny saw Ron hurry forward looking hopeful but she stuck her foot out and tripped him. He fell, sprawling in the dust at Phlegm's feet. Ginny smirked in evil satisfaction, noticing Hermione's face mirroring her own. Ron, furious, red-faced and dirt spattered, hurried into the waiting car without saying good-bye.
Ginny slid in after Harry and Hermione and they were off. Once they arrived at King's Cross, they were met by two grim looking Aurors and they all made their way to the barrier. After some slight disagreement between Harry and the Auror next to him, they had all made their way through the barrier. Ginny kissed her Mum and Dad goodbye and boarded the train. Ginny went in search of Dean, whom she had promised to sit with on the train ride to Hogwarts.
She bumped into some friends and chatted for a moment, Harry even came by and wanted to share a compartment. She politely declined saying she was already going to sit with Dean. She was walking down the corridor when Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her into a compartment. Ginny was expecting Dean, but the way he pulled her arm reminded her of someone else with tall stature and dark hair. She blinked for a minute, then smiled when she realized it was Dean.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him with vigor. He responded happily but was still a bit chaste about it. This annoyed Ginny greatly, she pulled back and glared at him. "Dean, what's wrong?" He looked at her innocently, "I don't know what you mean." Ginny raised an eyebrow skeptically, Dean looked uncomfortable. "Honest Ginny, there's nothing wrong, don't look at me like that! Merlin's beard, you look like Snape when you do that!" Ginny snorted, looking at Dean incredulously. "Did you just say I look like Snape?" He flushed in embarrassment, "well not look like Snape, obviously 'cause that would be gross, but you do that thing he does with the eyebrow..." He trailed off when he noticed Ginny's look of non-comprehension.
"What?" He asked, Ginny wasn't sure what to make of the situation at hand. "Snape's not gross." Ginny blurted out, Dean looked at her like she had gone mental. Feeling like this conversation was not going anywhere good, she just rolled her eyes and kissed him again. But he was still acting like she was something delicate and she felt like she needed some air. Telling him as much, she left the compartment feeling a little bit strange and frustrated.
Ginny passed Pansy Parkinson, who was adjusting her robes as she left a compartment. She looked down at Ginny, preparing to say something nasty. Ginny gave her the 'Snape look' and she shut her mouth and walked away. Ginny smirked, but her amusement was short lived, she entered her compartment again and Zacharias Smith came up to her. "Hey Ginny, are you going to continue the D.A. this year?" He asked, "I don't know, you'd have to ask Harry." She answered, "Well, don't you know?" He continued, "No, I don't obviously since I just told you I didn't." Ginny responded, getting annoyed. "Well how come you don't know? He's friends with your brother isn't he? Shouldn't you know?" He kept on, Ginny had reached her breaking point.
"NO!" She yelled, sending a Bat-Bogey hex at him with a vengeance. "Arrrgh!" He yelled, stumbling back and running away, occasionally bumping into walls and people as he ran. She was standing there admiring her work as it ran away screaming when a voice behind her made her jump and spin around, wand up. Finding herself face to face with a walrus in clothes that she assumed was the Professor Slughorn Harry had met over the summer. He smiled at her, "Hello! That was quite an impressive hex you did there! Please, join my guests and I in my compartment for lunch!" He requested, not sure what else to do, Ginny accepted and followed him to his compartment.
She walked in to see about five or six people already there. She made her way to the corner seat and to her great dismay, Slughorn sat next to her. "Tell me dear, have you met Harry Potter?" He asked her jovially, "Of course I know Harry, he and my brother are best mates." Ginny said carefully, not sure about this Slughorn character. "Really? Your brother? Which one dare I ask?" He pressed on, Ginny looked him up and down. "Ron, he's the second youngest." Ginny responded, feeling like a cornered animal, literally.
To Ginny's great relief, the door to the compartment slid open. Harry and Neville walked in and Slughorn jumped up to greet them. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and listened to Slughorn's conversation with Harry. She grimaced at Harry when Slughorn started talking about her again, but thankfully it was only in passing. Slughorn was talking to the various people in the compartment, Ginny listened idly.
He finally started on about Harry, and was talking about him having "powers beyond the ordinary" when Zabini did a little cough, Ginny thought he sounded like a girl. But it irked her all the same. "Yeah Zabini, because you're so talented... at posing..." She burst out angrily, glaring at him around Slughorn's belly. "You want to careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I passed her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!" Slughorn's warning went unheeded as Zabini gave her a contemptuous look. There was a fair amount of small talk, especially about Harry. Ginny interjected once more and then stayed silent.
Finally Slughorn realized it was already dark and concluded the little sit down. Ginny was relieved to say the least. She told Harry and Neville what happened with Slughorn. Harry was saying something but stopped mid-sentence. "I'll see you two later," He said under his breath as he pulled his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag and flung it over himself. But what're you-?" Neville asked. "Later!" Whispered Harry as he disappeared.
Ginny shrugged and the two of them walked off to find a compartment. Once the train had stopped, Ginny filed out along with everyone else. She found Hermione and Ron, but Harry was not with them. This caused Ginny some disquiet, the three of them were inseparable. She, Neville, Ron and Hermione got in a carriage together. But all of them were too worried about Harry to talk very much.
Ginny was so anxious about Harry's disappearance, the first thing she did after exiting the carriage and entering the castle was look for Professor Snape. She found him filing into the dining hall with everyone else. Ginny ran up to him and pulled him aside, she wasn't even sure why he let her. She just chalked it up to how worried she looked and him being a good teacher. Once they were a little bit away from everybody, she turned to look at him and was a little taken aback by his proximity and dark intense eyes. She opened her mouth to talk, but all the words sort of tumbled out.
"IthinksomethingbadhappenedtoHarryhewasonthetrainwithusbuthtendisappearedandnownoonecanfindhim!"
She said in one breath, she tried to continue but he held up his hand signaling her to stop. She bit her lip, anxious and embarrassed. "Breathe Miss Weasley," she inhaled sharply, and held it. His mouth twitched, something like amusement danced in his eyes, "Exhale," She let out her breath in a big whoosh.
He coughed a little, pressing his lips together tightly, giving Ginny the impression he was trying not to laugh, or that her breath smelled really bad. She could never really tell with Snape, but the look in his eyes confirm it was the first. He waited for her breathing to go back to normal.
"Now, again, slowly." Ginny took another breath, "I think something bad happened to Harry he was on the train with us but then disappeared and now no one can find him!" She said finally, her worry making her sound sad. His face soured the moment she said Harry's name. Her hand was still on his sleeve and she dropped it to his hand, her other hand gripping the other side of his hand.
"Please Sir, I know you don't like him but he's my friend and I'm worried something bad has happened to him!" She begged him, he looked at her for a moment and she could see the conflict in his eyes. She squeezed his hand softly, silently pleading with him. Finally he sighed in defeat, "I'll look into it. But you should go to dinner, and don't worry about Potter, he doesn't deserve your worry." He said quietly, kindly almost.
She smiled brightly, "Thank you Sir! I won't worry now that I know you'll help!" She almost hugged him, but he took the hand she was gripping and turned her towards the Great Hall, with a little push on her back. She continued on her way but looked back at him, he turned his head away just as she did. She continued into the Great Hall, feeling strangely light and in good spirits. Sitting between Neville and Dean, Ginny ate her food happily. Dean and Seamus were chatting about Quidditch and Ginny was talking to Neville about Herbology, but she found her eyes wandering up to where Snape sat.
He looked up when she looked over at him, he held her gaze for a moment before dropping it to his dinner. Ginny wanted to go up and ask him if he'd heard anything about Harry, but suddenly he rose from his seat and walked out of the Great Hall. Ginny was sad that he left, but hoped that it had something to do with finding Harry. She felt like the seconds were hours, until finally Harry showed up to dinner still dressed in his muggle clothes. He sat down between Hermione and Ron, his shirt covered in blood.
Hermione remedied that immediately and then he asked her about his nose, she didn't see anything wrong with it? What happened to him? Hermione was asking him what happened but he only told her he'd tell her later. Glancing towards Ginny, Dean, Neville and Seamus looking serious. Ginny didn't need to read minds to reach the conclusion that her prying ears were not wanted, nor would they be hearing anything now. She turned her attention away, looking over at Snape again.
He was in a discussion with Dumbledore and didn't look back at her. Ginny felt oddly disappointed, she didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't that. Snape was talking to Dumbledore about plans for this year's student body. He was desperate to talk to him about something other than socks when in public. He felt the Weasley girl's eyes on him, again. He was not sure what to make of her, she was far more intelligent than that Potter boy, but insisted on being friends with him.
Even that Granger girl was more intelligent and talented than Potter, but Miss Weasley had a charming way of creeping under Snape's defenses. She was clever, sneaky, powerful, brave, kind and hard-working, he had seen her grow from a shy little girl, last of the Weasley children to this potential force to be reckoned with and the temper to match. He knew from her behavior towards him she was more than a little fond of him.
This was no surprise, he had seen it growing in her mind over the years, but what was surprising was that he found he didn't mind her, she was not anything like Lily besides the normal Gryffindor traits. Yet, she was smart enough to be worth talking to and clever enough to nearly out-wit him. He would never tell her, or anyone for that matter, but she was his best student. Ever. In all his fifteen years as a Hogwarts professor, he had never encountered someone so gifted at potions as well as everything else from what he had heard. Dumbledore was saying something, and Snape was pulled from his thoughts. "What?" Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling. "I was saying that Miss Weasley seems to have taken quite an interest in you tonight. She seems to have more attention on you than anyone else."
Snape stiffened a little, feeling uncomfortable with Dumbledore noticing. "I had not noticed." He replied curtly. "Really? I thought I saw you look back at her earlier." Dumbledore said, sounding bemused. Snape glared at him darkly, "I don't know what you mean." Dumbledore smiled serenely, but did not press the subject any further. For that Snape was glad, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on himself but he certainly didn't want to share it with Dumbledore, or anyone for that matter. He would be more than content to keep it just between the two of them.
He glanced down at her just as she was getting up from the Gryffindor table. She was smiling at her friends and laughing at something someone said. Snape almost wished he could be there with her, one of her peers. A friend maybe, or maybe something- He would not complete that thought. It was not right for him to think that about her. She was so young, he wondered what would have happened had she been in Hogwarts with him. Or if they were around the same age even...
Author's note: So, I'm trying to space out my writing. Forgive me if it's all one giant paragraph. I'm still getting used to how this works. Please let me know if you have any helpful suggestions.