A Note to the Reader: I'd like to give a huge thank-you to Ang, who wrote my very first review! It's the first review I've ever gotten (not entirely surprising, since this is the first story I've written), and I want to thank her for being very nice and supportive.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story; they belong to J.K. Rowling and whomever she has chosen to assign those rights to.

Summary: After dealing with Tom Riddle in her first year, Ginerva Weasley realized that she needed to learn how to protect herself.

The Path from Darkness to Fire

Chapter 3: A Celebration

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Ginny,
Happy birthday to you.

Ginny's entire family sang, gathered around the little table in Bill's flat. Well, Fred and George might have sung "ninny" instead of "Ginny", but it was hard to tell with eight people, two of which had the same voice.

"Hurry up"
"and blow out the candles!"
"Don't forget"
"Ron hates spiders!"

That was definitely one of the twins. After the incident in the bazaar, the twins were only hovering around her part of the time. The rest of the time, they hovered over Ron, reminding him not to touch anything which might be cursed. In the past week, Ron had yelled at them for it at least twice a day.

"Ginny! The cake's about to burn!"

What does a twelve year old girl wish for? A doll? A pony? A boyfriend?

I wish that Tom Riddle could never, ever touch me again.

It was a hopelessly idealistic wish. Tom Riddle had already touched her, and it had changed everything. Still, she was a witch, and a fairly powerful one at that. Her magic wasn't nearly enough to destroy Voldemort's spirit, wherever it was lurking. But it was certainly powerful enough to affect her mind just a little bit, re-enforcing the decision she'd already made, to learn as much as she could, to protect herself. When Ginny leaned over and blew out all 12 candles, it did just that.

Her mother started cutting the cake, and handed the first piece to Ginny. It was a rich chocolate cake, with vanilla frosting , and "Happy Birthday Ginny" in red and gold sparkling letters. After the cake was finished, it was time for presents.

"Here you go Ginny, your father and I thought you would like it." Molly said, handing over a small box, wrapped in a white paper with purple and pink flowers. Ginny opened it eagerly, revealing a bracelet of gold lions, separated by sparkling red crystals. "It's lovely! I can't wait to show everyone when I get back to school!" Ginny exclaimed, as she took the bracelet out of the box and put it on her wrist.

"This one's from me and Charlie" Bill said, as he handed her another small box, this time covered in cream-colored paper, which had hawks, scarabs, and cats on it. "The paper's got a traditional Egyptian design on it." Ginny was careful not to tear the paper as she opened the present. The box had a black dragon's tooth suspended on a gold chain in it.

"Charlie went to China for a couple of weeks last winter, to help them after a Chinese Fireball refused to take care of her babies. The tooth's from one of the babies, and the runes in the setting are ancient protective symbols."

"It's gorgeous! I can't believe you went to all this trouble for me." Ginny responded, as she lifted the necklace out of the box. In the light, the black tooth had a deep red undertone, and the chain sparkled. Ginny put it around her neck, and set the paper to one side.

"I'm afraid mine's a bit more practical. You're growing up now, and it's important that you know how to deal with the people you meet." With this, Percy handed her what appeared to be a large book, wrapped in red and gold striped paper. Ginny unwrapped it, revealing a brown book with a silver title. "The Young Witch's Guide to Society" she read aloud. "Thanks, Percy. I'm sure it will be very useful." Perhaps as a paperweight, a doorstop, or a heavy blunt object to throw at her brothers when they walked into her room without knocking.

"Ours is also a bit practical"
"but we made sure it was pretty, too."

The twins handed over a medium sized box, wrapped in shiny pink paper with large, turquoise stars. Ginny tore the paper off, and tossed it behind her, where she wouldn't have to look at it. The box was wooden, with a hawk surrounded by two Sphinxes on the cover, and scarabs on the sides.

"We bought it in""the little store in the bazaar."
"It's charmed so that nobody"
"except the owner"
"can open it. Unfortunately"
"it only works for girls."
"We figured you should have"
"something that even we"
"couldn't get it to. And we were impressed"
"when we couldn't figure out the charms."
"The instructions are taped"
"to the bottom of the box."

"Thank you. I like the design on the lid. I'll read through the instructions later." Ginny said, making a mental note to check their claim that they couldn't get into the box.

"Well Ron, you're the only one left." Molly said, nudging Ron towards Ginny. Ron held out a lumpy package, which was covered in an orange and red paper, and at least ten feet of tape. When she finally got the paper off, Ginny was left holding what seemed to be a large orange piece of fabric, with little red and yellow flowers on it. "I thought you'd like a new blanket for your bed, Ginny."

"Thanks, Ron." The fabric wasn't actually that bad. Perhaps the color could accidentally get changed by one of the twins pranks. A nice, light blue or purple would go well with Ginny's sheets.

"Well, we should head back to the hotel and get some sleep. We've got lots to do tomorrow, and we should get an early start. Percy, would you be a dear and help Ginny with her presents?"

"Of course, Mum." Percy responded, gathering up all the boxes. The Weasleys walked back to the hotel, and Ginny tossed the book from Percy in the bottom of her trunk. Her new blanket was used to wrap up the box from the twins so it wouldn't get scratched. She took her new jewelry off and put it on the bedside table before getting into bed, and falling asleep. In her dream, she was fighting dark wizards off using spells she learned from some books which had appeared in her trunk one night.