A/N GASP I UPDATED! I know that I have been away for a million years and for that I am sorry...I always hate authors that let fics sit for months at a time and here I am guilty of it...I just had no idea that college would leave so little time to write, but as an Architecture major I barely have time to eat and sleep, let alone write...So I'm hoping to make it up to you with lots of updates over winter break! So the story is back to a lighter funnier period and its going to stay that way for a bit so I hope you enjoy it…..And as always thanks to the lovliest of all Betas Augurey Song...without her, who else would keep me from inventing new words?

Ginny was standing at her window looking out at the backyard of the Burrow musing about how different a year sixteen would be compared to fifteen as the world was now a different place. Last year she had spent her birthday in hiding at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, as her own home did not provide enough safety. Now she was back in her own room, able to go outside into the world as she pleased without fear. Last year her friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived was still new and fragile, now her friendship with the Boy-Who-Won had gone to the end of the world and back and was stronger than ever. Her last year was anything but normal, as it was spent having to act way beyond her fifteen years as she helped Harry prepare for the battle to end all battles. She was determined to make her sixteenth year just that; a normal girl enjoying being sixteen.

As she surveyed the garden she could still see the remains of yesterday's surprise party. It had been a joint party and the sign that read Happy Birthday Harry and Ginny! was still hung from the trellis, and not all the chairs had been brought back inside.

She laughed a little to herself on how obvious everyone had been about it, and how she should have been able to guess what was going on, but neither she nor Harry had any clue it was coming. They had both commented on the whispered secrets that had stopped whenever she or Harry, who had come home from the hospital a week ago, walked into a room.

She had also noticed how odd it was that Ron had insisted they go flying after lunch, and Hermione had readily agreed to go ahead with the plan, but then declined to go with them herself, even though she and Ron were practically connected at the hip these days. She also felt it was strange that when she was thirsty and hot and she suggested they go back to the house and get some lemonade her brother had refused to let her go, but when Ron had decided that it was time to go back, he wouldn't take no for an answer.

She had been thinking and laughing about how quickly Harry had whipped out his wand and pushed her behind him when everyone jumped up and yelled surprise, when a knock on her door broke her from her thoughts.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Me," Harry's voice replied from the other side.

"Just who I was thinking about," she called back. "Come on in."

"Are you dressed?"

"Of course I am," she said crossing over to the door and opening it. "Why did you ask?"

"Well, last year when I did this, you weren't," he explained.

Ginny paused and thought back to the year before on the day after her birthday when he walked in on her in her underwear. "Oh that," she laughed. "You know you liked it."

"Of course I did," he joked back, "But I also remember you threatening me not to do it again. And the wrath of Ginny Weasley is not something I want to invoke."

"Alright, alright," Ginny conceded, "So besides wanting to know if I was starkers, is there a reason I am graced with your presence this fine morning?"

"Well, I came up to see if you are ready to go," he explained.

"Ready to go where?" she asked.

"Well it's the day after your birthday," He stated as if that explained everything.

"And that means...?"

"That means that I get to take you out for the day," Harry told her.

"I don't know Harry," Ginny said doubtfully. "You've only been out of the hospital for a week and--"

"Come on, it's tradition," he interrupted her.

"Harry, we only did that once," Ginny laughed. "That doesn't make it a tradition."

"Then let's make it a tradition. Ginny, I feel fine, the Healers gave me a clean bill of health. Come on, let me take you out, we'll get some lunch and spend lots of money. It's not like I don't have plenty of it now."

That's for sure, Ginny thought. Last night at their party Remus and Bill, as a representative from Gringotts, presented Harry, now seventeen, with his full inheritance. It was revealed that Harry's vault in Gringotts was only a trust set up to tide him over until he was an adult and could handle the whole Potter fortune. And it didn't stop there, Sirius had named him as his sole beneficiary, which meant that he received the whole Black fortune as well, which was even larger than the Potter fortune (which wasn't anything to sneeze at either). All of this culminated in the fact that Harry would never have any kind of financial worry for the rest of his life.

"Please Gin," Harry whined. "I'm going to go out whether you come with me or not, and it's no fun spending money by myself. Plus, without you, who is going to keep me out of trouble?"

Ginny still looked at him, unconvinced. Harry sighed to himself, trying to think of some other way to persuade Ginny to go with him. "We can go get coffee for breakfast," he said, tempting her with her favorite, "and then we can do whatever you want to do afterwards."

Ginny still looked hesitant but then had an idea. "So we can do anything I want?" she questioned.

Harry nodded, not the least bit worried about the conniving look that had developed on the red head's face. "Anything," he reiterated.

"Alright, let me just change really quick and I'll meet you downstairs," Ginny told him, as she grinned evilly to herself as she finished getting ready, Yes, this might just work.

Ginny slipped on a pair of flip-flops, grabbed her purse, and ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where Harry was waiting for her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So," Harry asked after watching Ginny savor the first few sips of her macchiato, "What devious plan do you have in mind for us today exactly?"

"Now Harry," Ginny said with false shock and innocence, "what would ever make you think that I had something devious in mind?"

Harry laughed. "Oh just the absolutely conniving look on your face when you agreed to come out with me today. However, you were telling me what I wanted to hear, so I didn't question it at the time, but now I'm curious. So what did I get myself into today?"

Ginny just laughed. "Well, I thought that a makeover was in order."

Harry gave a mental sigh of relief as he had no doubts as to the endless possibilities of crazy schemes that the redhead could devise.. "Oh that's no problem. But I don't see why you think you need one, you look fine," Harry said, completely okay with the idea of following her around all day carrying her bags.

"No Harry, the makeover isn't for me," Ginny told him with a sly grin. "It's for you. I'm thinking haircut, maybe contacts, some new clothes..."

"Whoa there peanut. The whole point of today is for it to be your birthday present. The day should be about you not me," Harry said blanching at her suggestion. "Besides, what's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing's wrong with your hair. I love your hair, I just think it needs a style," Ginny said honestly. It was true, she didn't care that it was messy...not at all. In fact she loved his messy hair, but she didn't like how long it was since it was completely in his face and eyes, and she hated not being able to see his emerald green eyes. "Now, you promised me that we could do whatever I wanted to do today and this is what I want to do."

Harry was going to complain some more, but the determined look on Ginny's face and the excited glint in her eye told him it was pointless, and he had told her he would do whatever she wanted, and she obviously wanted to do this. After all, Harry thought to himself, how bad can it be?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pretty bad, Harry said to himself, as Ginny threw another pair of distressed denim jeans over the dressing room door. Over all this hadn't been Harry's ideal way to spend a day but Ginny seemed to be having such a good time that he didn't say anything and as he put on the latest outfit he figured it was worth it.

"What's taking so long?" Ginny called impatiently just as Harry opened the door. "Ohh... you look fantastic in those. Now if you are going to get followed around and have your picture taken all the time you might as well look good right?" Ginny reasoned as Harry lifted an eyebrow at her. "Come look in the mirror and see for yourself. Now you are really going to have to fight off members of the Harry Potter fan club."

Harry shot her a look but then moved to the mirror and looked at his reflection. He had to admit that he did look good. He was wearing a pair of distressed jeans, with a vintage tee-shirt, and a green track jacket with a pair of old school Vans and he had already swapped out his glasses for some new contacts, and gotten a hair cut to Ginny's specifications that he really liked.

In fact, it was the first haircut he had ever gotten that he liked. Instead of trying to fight the trademark messiness, this new style embraced it, even adding a little bit of - what did they call it? Oh yeah, pomade - to make it messier, with a chunk of hair falling rakishly over his forehead, partly covering his scar. All in all, he had to admit that he didn't know he cleaned up so well.

He looked in the mirror over his shoulder to where Ginny was standing behind him nodding approvingly. As hard of a time he was having accepting his own transformation, he was having a harder time coming to grips with Ginny's.

He could still feel the shock he felt when the hairdresser brought him back from getting his hair washed, just in time to see another hair dresser cut off over a foot of auburn hair. Ginny's hair had gone from right above her waist and straight across to just below her shoulder and layered stylishly.

While he had to admit that it looked really nice, he didn't want to have to explain to Mrs. Weasley that he let her daughter chop a foot and a half of hair off. Even though Ginny was now sixteen and old enough to make these kinds of decisions by herself, she was still seen as the baby, and was expected to run these kinds of decisions by her parents. A part of him was afraid that he might get held responsible since he was--in a way--supposed to be watching her and taking care of her, even though everyone knew that you can't really stop Ginny from doing something once she put her mind to something. Harry was looking at her in the mirror, thinking about how much he admired this quality in her, completely unaware that Ginny had noticed his scrutinizing gaze.

"Has my face turned green or something?" Ginny asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

"What?" Harry asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Well you were looking at me so intently that I was wondering if my face had turned green and I just hadn't noticed," Ginny teased him.

Embarrassed at having been caught staring, he quickly thought up an excuse. "Well I was just thinking about how nice your new haircut is," he told her quickly. Well that isn't a complete lie, he told himself, I do like her new haircut.

"Thanks Harry," Ginny beamed as she looked in the mirror over Harry's shoulder, fiddling with her newly shorn bangs. "I really like your new cut too. I think I picked out a good style for you, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah," Harry responded, running his hand through his hair, mussing it up. "I like it too."

Ginny walked up next to him and ran her own hand through his hair, re-mussing it so it looked even better. "I even think the streak of white gives it character."

"I don't like the white," he said with a furrowed brow.

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because it is a constant reminder of something that I would rather not be reminded of."

"Why? It was a great thing you did. You were a hero and saved the world. I mean, not many people can claim to have killed the most evil wizard of all time."

"But that's just it Gin," Harry said looking at her with a very serious and intent, yet, in a way, lost and faraway gaze. "I killed him. It doesn't matter that he was evil and that the world is a better place without the monster, and I probably saved countless lives, I still killed someone, and that fact will never change. For the rest of my life I will have to live with the fact that I have killed another living thing, and every time I see my reflection, it is a reminder."

Ginny wrapped her arms around him in a hug from behind and stood on her tip toes so that she could rest her chin on his shoulder, so they were both looking at each other in the mirror. "Well if you don't like it then we will just have to get rid of it," she told him as if that were the obvious solution. "Since glamours wear off, we can stop by the pharmacy on the way home and pick up some black Muggle hair dye and then you don't have to see it anymore. Okay?" she asked, as she gave him another squeeze.

Harry nodded, the sad look still in his eyes, "Okay."

"Okay. Now let's go spend some more of your money. I saw some really cute belts on the way in."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So how does this work?" Harry asked worried, as he watched Ginny mix up the bowl of hair dye.

"It's really simple. I just use the brush to apply the dye to your hair, then we let it sit for 30 minutes to give it a chance to process, then you wash it out and your white hair is dyed back to black. I promise nothing will go wrong," she reassured him.

"Fine," he finally resigned. "Let's do it."

Harry closed his eyes as she applied the dye. It was only a matter of seconds before she announced she was done.

"What? That's it?"

"Of course it is. What did you think was going to happen? Blimey, for someone who saved the world, you sure are a wimp," Ginny joked, as she pulled up all her hair except for the bottom-most layer into a high ponytail.

"Wait! What are you doing!" Harry asked in a panic as she started applying the black dye to her own hair.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm dying my own hair black. After all we have all this left over dye from your hair and we wouldn't want it to go to waste."

"Let it go to waste," he begged her. "You can't dye your hair, your mother will kill me. She is going to be mad enough when she sees I let you cut your hair."

Ginny spun around with that determined look in her eye once more. "Harry, you didn't let me do anything. I cut my hair because I wanted to do so. Just like I will dye my hair because I want to. So you can either sit there and watch me do it or you can help me do the back of my head so I don't miss any spots."

Harry just stood there, watching her for a moment, once again knowing that there was no way he could stop her. With an audible sigh, he took a step forward and took the brush from her hand.

"Good," Ginny said happily. "Now try not to get any dye on the nape of my neck because even though it will come off eventually, it will still stain my skin for a while."

"I can't believe I am doing this," he muttered at he began covering the beautiful red locks that he loved so much with black dye. "Not only is your mother going to kill me for doing this, but so will your father and all six of your brothers."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry paced back and forth as he waited for Ginny to get out of the shower. He had long since washed the dye from his own hair, turning it back to its natural uniform black and he was now waiting to see Ginny's transformation. He was facing the window when he heard the door open slowly.

"Wow."

"So what do you think," Ginny asked tentatively as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Wow," Harry said again.

"What does that mean? Is that a good wow or a bad wow?"

"It's a wow, wow. It looks really striking, I wouldn't have even recognized you if I saw you on the street. But you look great, just like you always did, but a different kind of great. It's going to take me a little while to get used to it though."

"But you like it?"

"Yeah," Harry said nodding, "I like it."

"Okay good," Ginny said with a sigh of relief.

"Do you like it?" Harry asked in return.

"Yeah," Ginny said slowly, appraising her image in the mirror. "I think I do. It's actually kind of liberating, my red hair has always been so identifying for me. And you know more than anyone what it's like to be judged and evaluated by a physical trait and how irritating it is."

Harry's hand unconsciously went to his forehead. "That I do," he agreed, "but how do you think the family is going to react?"

"I don't know, but I'm not that eager to find out."

However, the fates were not on Ginny's side at that moment as Mrs. Weasley picked that exact time to call up the stairs to them that dinner was ready.

A/N Yay for new chapters! So what did you all think? I know not to much happened in this chapter but I figured so much happened in the past few chapters it would be nice to slow down the pace for awhile...I promise upcoming chapters will be more interesting and funnier but I needed some kind of bridge and I needed to set some future stuff up...

While you guys wait for the next chapter in this story go check out my oneshot Where Do We Go From Here and the first chapter of my new mini fic Reality is Subjective...