A/N: Hey guys! As always, thanks to everyone reading this, particularly the reviewers! Also I want to apologise, both because this chapter is pretty short, and because I just realised that I've misspelt "Dumbledore" all through the Prologue. Stupid mistake, but it's fixed for all future chapters. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter Two:
Nine-year-old Ginny laughed as Hermione splashed her. They were sitting on the edge of the lake on the grounds of Potter Manor, bare feet dangling in the water. It was the first truly warm day of spring, and they had decided to take advantage of it by going for a swim. After a few happy hours of playing, they were sitting on the bank, eating the lunch Lily had packed for them earlier that morning. Hermione had a pensive look on her face as she watched the boys land their brooms and head towards them.
"Do you ever want it to just stay like summer forever?" she asked.
Ginny grinned. "Nah. If it was always summer, we'd never get Christmas!"
Ron, hearing the last comment, looked appalled.
"If it was never Christmas, we'd never get Christmas lunch, or Christmas pudding! And the presents! What'd we do then?" he and Harry flopped onto the grass next to the two girls, digging into the picnic basket beside them.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly Ron! All you ever think about is food. And Harry, Mum's not going to be happy when she sees that hole in your shirt."
Harry merely grinned and turned to Ginny.
"So why all the distressing thoughts about no Christmas?" he asked
"Hermione was thinking about what it'd be like if summer lasted forever. I just pointed out the flaw in her plan." She gently kicked her feet, causing a spray of water to hit both of the Potter siblings seated on either side of her.
Ron was plowing into his third sandwich as he looked at Hermione.
"What would you want that for?" he asked "I mean summer's great and all, but if it lasted forever, then we'd never get to go to Hogwarts next year."
Ginny huffed at this. "That's easy for you to say! You're not going to be the one left here while your three best friends are having the time of their lives practicing magic!"
"Cheer up Gin," Harry gently nudged her with his elbow. "It won't be long before you join us, and you'll see us every holidays."
Ginny only sighed and lay back on the grass. "And in the mean time, I'll be stuck here with no one but Mum and Dad for company."
"Well, we'll just have to write you letters then," Hermione stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Loads and loads, everyday. Won't we Harry? Ron?"
Harry nodded his agreement and smiled reassuringly at her, but Ron merely looked thoughtful.
"I don't know. It might be difficult to write everyday. Every week, maybe, but we're going to have all that work to do, and exploring the castle, and playing Quidditch and everything, so we won't be able to write every day."
Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's lack of tact as Ginny sighed again. "Well, what if we promised to take it in turns then, that way you'll still get at least one letter from us every day, as well as any others we just feel like sending."
Ginny seemed to consider this for a moment, before looking up into Harry's eyes.
"Promise?" she asked "You won't get bored of writing to little old me?" she was smiling, but Harry could tell this was something that was bothering her, so he solemnly stuck out his hand.
"I promise that one of us will write at least one letter to you every single day, and we'll tell you everything that happens." She shook his hand, and in a softer voice, he continued "You're our best friend, Gin. We're not going to forget you just because we're at Hogwarts for a couple of months."
She grinned up at him gratefully, and feeling satisfied that he'd made his point, he dropped her hand.
They were having one of their annual camp-outs that night, in the little glade at the back of the Potter grounds. It was the perfect spot for camping, with space enough for their two tents and room to lie under the stars if they preferred. There was a small spring bubbling in the corner, and it was surrounded on all sides by trees, thinner in the front than the back. It was a truly beautiful little area, which the four children had discovered whilst exploring many years ago, and had been home to their yearly camp-out ever since. This worked out well for the parents, as it meant they were still protected by the Manor's wards and close enough to the house if something went wrong, but the adults didn't have to actually go camping with them.
With the small fire James had lit crackling merrily in the background, the four children spread their sleeping bags out on the grass in a small circle, a bag of marshmallows and various other goodies between them. Hermione and Ginny insisted on camping "muggle-style", as they called it, with plain muggle tents, sleeping bags, and the traditional muggle campfire foods and activities. Butterbeer and exploding snap were strictly prohibited. Instead, they played games like charades, which Sirius had introduced them to a few years ago.
"It's a horse! No, a zebra! A porcupine?" Ginny looked on in confusion as Ron mimed, what she assumed, were spikes sticking out of his back.
Harry and Hermione were in fits of laughter by this point, as Ron's face became more and more frustrated.
"One minute left." Hermione choked out between breaths. Harry was beyond talking at this point.
Ron was now doing a strange movement with his arms that Ginny thought was supposed to be the letter 'C', before flapping his arms like wings.
"Chicken?" Ginny asked, getting more and more frustrated herself.
As Ron shock his head and Hermione called time, Ginny threw her arms into the air.
"I give up," she stated "lets swap teams. And what the bloody hell was that anyway?"
"It was a dragon!" Ron fumed. "You know, four legs, spikes, wings?"
"But what was the letter 'C'?" she asked.
"It was 'C' for Charlie, 'cause he's going off to work with dragons!"
Ginny merely rolled her eyes. "Right. 'Cause of course that's exactly what I think when I see the letter 'C'. I'm on Hermione's team now. Let's see how well you work with Harry."
"Uh uh uh!" Harry was shaking his head. "You and 'Mione are the best at this game, you can't be together."
"Fine!" Ginny said "then Ron can go with 'Mione, and I'll go with you."
Hermione didn't look particularly happy, but couldn't argue with the fact that the Weasley siblings were down by 20 points. "Right then. In that case, we'll have a break to toast the marshmallows, and then start again when we're done."
As Ron and Hermione walked into the trees to collect some sticks, Harry and Ginny placed two marshmallows on each of the four sticks they'd already found. Seeing that they still had time left before the other two returned, they sat down at the fire and began toasting their marshmallows. Within minutes, the smooth white surface had turned golden brown, and they ate the gooey treats in companionable silence.
Without a word, Ginny handed her second toasted marshmallow over to Harry, who just grinned before eating it. While she loved toasting the treats until they reached golden-brown perfection, Ginny didn't particularly like eating them. She had one every year, purely for the sake of it, and then gave the rest away to her friends.
"You know what you said earlier, about writing all the time." Ginny spoke quietly, staring into the fire.
At Harry's nod, she continued. "You don't have to, you know."
Harry looked up and caught her eye. "We want to." He grinned. "Mind you, you have to write back too. This deal goes both ways. We may be having the time of our lives at Hogwarts, but we'll still miss you. We'll want to know what you're getting up to too. Something's always going on at The Burrow."
"It'll be weird being there on my own though" Ginny mused. "Ever since I can remember, it's always been full of people. And if we weren't over here, then you guys were always there too."
"Mum and Dad and Sirius and Remus will still be there all the time. And you know Sirius has had a soft spot for you since you turned the twins hair pink for a week" he grinned at the memory.
Ginny giggled. "You're right, of course. After all," she grinned and nudged his side "the 'Boy Who Lived' knows everything there is to know about anything."
Harry groaned and shook his head. "I think I'll leave that to Hermione, thanks all the same."
Ginny looked up at the sky. "Well, I'll survive at any rate. Just don't go making friends with any Malfoys on me." She grinned, knowing Harry would remember the insufferable prat they'd met at a ministry function the year before.
He grinned in reply. "I solemnly swear."
Giggling Ginny lay down on the grass, listening to the sounds of the nearby spring, and Ron and Hermione arguing as they returned from the trees. It would be difficult, surviving the next year without the Potter twins or Ron around, but she'd do it. After all, she was a Weasley, and Weasleys could survive anything.