Note: I do not own Harry Potter
The last two weeks of summer went by rather quickly. Not quickly enough, since Phlegm was still annoying as ever, but still pretty fast. Since the trip to Diagon Alley, Dean wrote to me and asked if we could possibly get a compartment together on the train, and of course I eagerly replied yes. I looked forward to seeing him and getting to know him better. Dean seemed like a real gentleman. The last night of summer, I drifted off to sleep thinking about what the upcoming year and what it held for Dean and I.
"Ginny, wake up, you need to make sure you're all packed," Hermione said, nudging me. I felt extremely exhausted yet very excited. After about fifteen minutes of trying to convince myself to leave the warmth of my lovely bed, I got up. I double checked my trunk for all of my belongings and dressed quickly in Muggle garb: a plain white T-shirt and skinny jeans. Feeling confident and beautiful, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed downstairs.
As I walked down the stairs, I heard the dreaded French accent.
"Oh, Mrs. Weasley, I 'ope Ginny will enjoy being my bridesmaid along with my seester. Of course, I still wish they would have ze pink dresses I liked, but zat would go terrible with Ginny's 'air! Ze yellow will look much better with 'er coloring." Fleur said with a smile, most likely thinking of the dresses. I had a distinct feeling that Fleur would be obsessing over the wedding for a very long time.
"Ah, speaking of Ginny!" Fleur said, far too energetic in the morning for my taste. "Good morning!"
"Morning Fleur, morning Mum." I said with a wave.
"Ginny, are you ready to go soon?" Mum asked. "We're leaving in abut thirty minutes. Your father is providing us with Ministry cars again, to protect Harry."
"Okay," I said. Honestly, I liked the cars. They were comfortable and rather spacious. "I'll fetch my trunk and get the others."
The thirty minutes went by quickly, as did the car ride, and before I knew it we were arriving at King's Cross, the imposing figures of the Aurors looming over us, ready to defend Harry in a moments notice. We walked over to Platforms 9 and 10, and two at a time we leaned against the barrier and arrived at Platform 9 ¾. I hugged my Mum and Dad goodbye, promised I would write to them, and made my way onto the train.
As I walked to find Dean, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Harry standing behind me, a smile on his face.
"Would you like to get a compartment together?" Harry asked.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I promised Dean I'd meet him." I said with a frown. Harry nodded understandingly and walked away.
I felt a pang of regret letting Harry go. I'd gotten used to his presence over the summer, and it was weird to think that we did not normally hang out at school. Oh well, he is probably busy with his other friends, I thought as I looked for Dean's compartment.
"Good morning, Ms. Weasley," I heard a smooth male voice say behind me. "It is lovely to see you as always." I turned around and saw Dean smiling at me.
"Dean!" I grabbed him and hugged him. "It's great to see you! It feels like it's been so long."
"I agree. I have a compartment already, care to join me in it?" Dean asked with a smile. I nodded and he led me down the hall to a compartment that only contained a trunk on the rack above the seats. Dean held the door open for me, and I walked in and sat down. After shutting the door, Dean took a seat next to me.
"You know Ginny, I've been thinking about you a lot lately. You're amazing to talk to, even though it is only through owl post. I'd love to spend more time with you." Dean said with a kind smile.
"I'd like that. I have a good feeling about you, but I still would like to take it slow," I said smiling slightly.
"Of course," Dean said as he took my hand. "Whatever makes you feel comfortable. I really don't mind. So, how was your summer? I feel like we never actually got around to discussing how our summer was overall."
"Mine was alright. I spent it at the Burrow of course. The only thing is my brother Bill is getting married so his fiancée was staying with us for a while. You probably remember her, Fleur Delacour, that veela girl who was in the Triwizard Tournament. To guys, she's amazing, but really to me she is rather awful and stuck up. I'm sorry, I just dislike her." I felt bad venting about my future sister-in-law, but at the same time it was my natural reaction to dislike anyone who treated me like a five-year-old. "So, tell me about your summer."
Dean laughed and smiled at me. "No it's perfectly fine. You look adorable when you're frustrated. My summer was nice enough, I guess. I went to a few soccer games with my mum, they were a blast. I haven't been to a soccer game in so long, I missed it." Dean stopped speaking, noticing my puzzled expression.
"Soccer is a muggle sport, it's similar to Quidditch except without Seekers and Beaters, and there is no flying," he explained. "I should take you to a game sometime. I think you'd like it. You'd probably be able to follow it a lot better than Seamus would at least; after about 30 minutes he decided he could not see the point in the game and decided to focus on the attractive blonde girl sitting in the row below us," Dean said with a chuckle at the memory. "Though I must admit, she was nowhere near as pretty as you." Looking into my eyes, his hand came to rest lightly on my chin as his face inched closer to mine. I closed my eyes and waited to feel the brush of his lips when suddenly….
"Ahem. Weasley." A male voice came out of nowhere. My eyes flew open as I turned and looked at the intruder. There stood Zacharias Smith, an extremely irritating Hufflepuff I'd met through the D.A.
"Sorry to bother you. I just had a few questions." Without receiving a response, Zacharias sat down across from me and made himself comfortable. "I was wondering what happened at the Ministry last year. I know you were with Potter so I figured I'd ask." Smith said pompously.
"Smith, I'm in the middle of something. Had you at least knocked and not been so intrusive, I might have taken the time to answer some questions, but you've bothered me so if you could leave and let me resume my conversation I'd appreciate it," I said, not hiding the annoyance in my voice.
"Smith, could you please just go? You're bothering us," Dean said honestly.
"Weasley, I don't have all the time in the world. I will be busy other times. Now, tell me because you are frustrating me and I would like to know this." Smith said, ignoring Dean altogether.
"Excuse me? Don't make me hex you. I suggest you leave now." I really was getting angered at Smith. I always try not to let my temper get the best of me, but Zacharias Smith never failed to make it shoot through the roof.
"Weasley, you do not instruct me what to do. Now tell me about the issue at the Ministry because I do not have time for these games," Smith said, finally getting me to my boiling point rather quickly.
"That's it! Virus pennae!" I said pointing my wand at Smith. The Bat-Bogey Hex, which I had just performed, is one I am extremely good at, as Smith was just realizing. He backed out of the compartment and tripped over himself, and my wand was still pointed at him.
"Excuse me, young lady." I heard an adult voice which I did not recognize. I looked over and saw a rather rotund, older man in the hall in front of my compartment. I had never seen him before, but I could tell he was professor. "Did you perform that hex?" the man asked, pointing at Smith, who was now fighting off bogies with wings. Normally I'd be laughing because Smith was rather irritating, but at the moment I was worried I'd get detention before term even started.
I figured I might as well own up to my own magic. "Why yes, yes I did."
"Come with me," the man said with a slight smile.
Taking a deep breath, I frowned and reluctantly waved goodbye to Dean, following the new professor out of the compartment.