Chapter Three

"Ginny! Ginevra Molly Weasley! Wake up!!" clamored Mrs. Weasley, shaking a sleeping Ginny out of bed. "You're going to miss the train!"

"Wha…Mum…rubbish….butterbeer….sleep…" murmured Ginny.

"GINEVRA. YOU ARE GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN. YOU ARE HEAD GIRL". Mrs. Weasley's magically amplified voice bounced off of every object in the room.

"Mum… What's going on…"said Ginny, finally sitting up and rubbing her eyes, looking at the HolyHead Harpies clock on her bedside table. The little broomsticks on the clock read 8:54 AM.

"WHATT!" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed, furiously throwing things into her trunk. "Mum! Why didn't you wake me!"

"Oh Ginny I told your father it was a terrible idea to have that party on a school night. You should have gone to bed earlier!"

Ginny threw on some clothes and scrambled to put the rest of her things in her trunk. "Accio books! Accio robes! Accio cauldron! Accio, Accio, Accio!"

"Just go, Ginny dear!" Molly managed. "I'll send anything you forgot after you".

"But Mum, I don't even know how to get there, wasn't Dad taking us all to London in the car? Don't I get to say goodbye to H--"

"There's not enough time. Take this portkey and go!" Said Mrs. Weasley, shoving a lobster shaped pot holder into Ginny's full arms. Ginny felt that familiar pull behind her navel, and…… Wham! With a cloud of dust and her belongings flying, she slammed into a stall in the women's loo at King's Cross Station. Hopping with one shoe on and pulling her trunk behind her, she sprinted out the door to the platform.

Ginny wheeled her trunk out into the corridor, past some confused looking muggles. She ran towards the barrier to the platform, swerving to avoid the people and trolleys bustling around her. She tore through the barrier onto platform 9 ¾ , into a cloud of billowing smoke.

With a loud whistle, the train began. "Wait!", she exhaled, trying to catch her breath. She pinpointed the nearest door to the train and sprinted toward it, leaving her trunk on the platform. She grabbed the handle and pulled herself up aboard the moving train, and once she had gained her balance she turned and pointed her wand back toward the platform moving out of her sight. "Accio Trunk!", she yelled. The large trunk lifted up into the air and zoomed towards the open door, and Ginny had to jump out of the way as it settled with a crash into the entryway to the car.

Finally letting out a breath she felt she had been holding since the moment she woke up, Ginny brushed the dust off her robes and attempted to regain some semblance of composure. She opened the door to the nearest compartment, right into a very stern looking Professor McGonagall.

"Professor!", Ginny managed.

"I think you mean Headmistress, Miss Weasley. How kind of you to join us", answered McGonagall with a smirk.

"So sorry Pr—Headmistress. Overslept".

"I'm not surprised. Last night was quite a party".

"Yes, Headmistress", Ginny answered, embarrassed.

"Very well Miss Weasley, I shall let it slide just this once. Let's not have this turn into a pattern, shall we? Please continue on to your compartment. I've already briefed the head boy, he will share with you my instructions. Hurry along now dear, we haven't got all day", said Professor McGonagall, giving Ginny a swift scoot through the car door into the corridor.

Ginny stowed her trunk in one of the storage compartments and made her way down the train towards the Head's car. This morning was not starting out how she had expected. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass window of the train and nearly gagged. Ugh. Not the best first impression for a head girl.

She thought about the brief conversation she had had with Professor McGonagall. Despite everything that had happened over the past year, a part of her had still expected to see Professor Dumbledore back in the role of Headmaster. It seemed a certainty, a constant from her time at Hogwarts, as much a part of the school as the castle itself. Now the only thing she knew for certain was that everything had changed.