Harry sighed with relief as he entered the Burrow. It had been a long summer with the Dursleys, spent in mostly silence and dirty looks. Harry was glad he was leaving them earlier than usual to go to the Quidditch World Cup.

He came through the floo, nearly falling out as he arrived in the kitchen. He righted himself and dusted himself off, before moving out the way for Ron and Mr Weasley to come through. As he looked around, he had just enough time to hear Ginny and Mrs Weasley arguing, before Ginny slammed out the door.

Ron came through and dragged him into the lounge where Mrs Weasley nearly squeezed his lungs out. She immediately pronounced that he was too thin, and that she was preparing a huge meal for them all that night.

"Where is everyone?" asked Ron. The house was ominously quiet.

"Percy is upstairs in his room. The twins are outside, flying. Your sister, well, she probably headed down that way too," said Mrs Weasley, frowning as she mentioned Ginny.

"Come on, Harry, let's go," said Ron, heading for the door.

Harry smiled at Mrs Weasley, and thanked Mr Weasley for coming to get him before he followed his friend outside.

"Is everything all right with Ginny?" asked Harry.

Ron sighed. "Mum and her have been arguing all holidays. Bloody annoying, really. She thinks Ginny was silly to make friends with the dog, because it turned out to be Sirius Black, escaped convict. Then she was angry with Ginny for being there that night and breaking her ankle, said she should have been a good girl and stayed in the castle."

"Boy, I can't imagine Ginny taking that well," said Harry.

"She didn't. Went off her nut. Said the dog was her only friend, seeing as how she was possessed by You Know Who her first year. Of course, that made Mum cry, and then she yelled at me, Percy and the twins."

"Voldemort," corrected Harry, automatically.

"Anyway, Mum and Ginny have been clashing all holidays. Mum went off her nut when Ginny got a letter from Sirius. Ginny yelled back that I got letters from you and Hermione, so what was wrong with her getting letters from Sirus, that he was her friend. So, yeah, mate, it's been fun and games around here. Can't wait to get away, tell you the truth," sighed Ron.

Hary felt guilty. He had wanted to write to Ginny, but decided to just write to Ron, hoping he would impart his letter's details to her. He too had received a letter from Sirius, simply saying he was safe and in hiding, working on proving his innocence. Remus Lupin was with him.

They got to the pitch, and Harry was surprised to see Hermione was there, sitting on the front of Fred's broom, while he hovered close to the ground. She smiled bravely as the two boys approached.

"Hey Hermione, look at you," chuckled Harry.

"She's doing great," said Fred, flying slowly towards them.

"I would have taken you up," said Ron, a bit peeved with his brother.

"I just came out to watch, it's such a nice day and, well, there was yelling in the house," admitted Hermione, looking around nervously.

Fred chuckled. "It's okay, Hermione, I don't think Gin can hear you up there."

Harry and Ron looked up as Ginny blasted around the sky, obviously working off some tension.

"Wow, she's good," said Harry, surprised. He watched Ginny roll and loop with ease.

"Yeah, who knew. She's trying out for the Slytherin Quidditch team this year," said Ron, nervously.

"Apparantly she's been sneaking out and taking our brooms out for a ride for years," said George. "She told Hermione."

"I think I've had enough now, Fred. Thank you," said Hermione.

He lowered her to the ground and she hopped off. She went over to Harry and hugged him. "It's good to see you again. How has your summer been? Heard from Sirius?"

"Not bad. Glad to be here," said Harry. He didn't know why but he was reluctant to talk about Sirius with her just now.

"We're going to head back to the house. Ron, Harry, want our brooms?" asked George.

"Sure, thanks," said Ron. Harry nodded eagerly. He failed to see looks pass between Ron and Hermione.

"I think I'll head back to the house too. Our Potions book looks so interesting," smiled Hermione, brightly. She walked off with the twins.

"Come on Harry," said Ron eagerly. "Let's see if we can catch Ginny."

XXXX

They left the Burrow early the next morning; to take a Portkey to the Quidditch World Cup. Ginny was the first one ready, and she was waiting for the others when they came downstairs.

"Let's go, let's go," she cried softly, not wanting to wake her mother. Things had still been tense between them last night, and Ginny wanted to put some distance between them.

"Come on, then, the Diggory's will be waiting for us," grinned Arthur, patting his daughter on her head.

The Diggory's were indeed waiting for them. "Morning, Amos," greeted Arthur. The two families had been friends for ages, what with both Amos and Arthur working at the Ministry, and both families living in Ottery St Catchpole. They usually got together for a barbecue every summer.

"Morning, Arthur. Cutting it a bit fine, aren't we?" asked Amos, goodnaturedly.

"Some of us had trouble getting out of bed," said Arthur, shooting Ron and Harry a look. Ginny smirked at Harry, but Hermione was looking with interest at Amos' son.

"You remember my boy, Cedric," said Amos proudly. Arthur held out his hand, and Cedric shook it. He then smiled at the others. Fred and George nodded in recognition. Hermione smiled brightly as he looked her way.

"Hey Cedric, how are you? Do you remember me? Ginny," said Ginny.

"I always remember a pretty girl," said Cedric, winking at her. Hermione and Ginny giggled. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes at each other.

"This is Hermione Granger, and that's my brother Ron and his friend Harry," said Ginny, pointing them out. He nodded hello to them.

"Ah, I think that's our Portkey up ahead," said Amos, pointing out an old boot. Ginny jogged up to it, and circled it. The others caught up with her.

"All right then. All fingers on," instructed Arthur. Everyone kneeled down and did so.

"What?" asked Harry, kneeling down but very confused. The boot began to smoke.

"Harry, put your finger on the boot," yelled Ginny. He did, just in the knick of time.

The Portkey whizzed them away.

XXXX

"There's no-one like Krum. He's a force of nature. He's brilliant, he is," declared Ron, as they began their celebrations in their tent.

"Sounds like you're in love, Ron," smiled Ginny, winking at Hermione.

Ron scowled at her. "Shut up, Gin," as Fred and George made kissy noises and hooted.

They heard a few bangs and screams outside. "Some people are really celebrating," commented Hermione.

Arthur ran into the tent. "Quick, everyone, we have to leave. Fred, George, stay close to Ginny. Ron, you three stay together too. Now," he said, urgently.

They ran out of the tent. Ginny had to admit she was scared. She stood between her brothers, feeling protected. She looked up and gasped. Everyone heard her and they also looked up.

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"It's the Dark Mark. You -Know -Who usually casts it when he's killed someone. Kind of like a calling card," said Ron.

"Let's not just stand here, we need to move," said Hermione. They were all getting pushed around by people rushing past.

"We should stay together," said Fred, grabbing Hermione on his other side. Harry moved in front of Ginny.

They nearly all got knocked over like skittles by a group of people screaming. In the brief time it took them to stand back up, they had all been separated.

"No," cried Ginny, looking everywhere for a flash of red hair. She couldn't even see their tent anymore. The night was dark, and people were either running or screaming. Ginny could see wandfire in the distance, and it was getting closer. Someone grabbed her arm. Ginny held her wand up in defence.

"Ginny? It's me, Cedric. Where's your family?" asked Cedric.

"Oh Cedric, thank Merlin it's you. We all got separated," said Ginny. He drew her closer to him. "Stay with me. We'll find them together,"he reassured her.

"Thanks, Cedric. Where's your dad?" she asked worriedly.

"Like your dad, he's gone to see if he can help the Aurors," said Cedric, keeping his arm around her as he moved her through the crowds.

"Is it-is it him, do you know?" asked Ginny, trembling. She was worried about her family, Hermione and Harry.

Cedric immediately knew who she meant. "I really don't know, and I really don't want to hang around and find out, do you?" asked Cedric.

"I can't leave without knowing what's happened to my family," said Ginny, determinedly.

"Ginny! Hey Ginny, Cedric, over here," cried George.

"Oh, it's the twins. Wait, where's the others?" she asked, as she hugged them in relief.

"Dad was going back to look for the other three," said Fred. He shook Cedric's hand. "Thanks for looking out for Ginny. Wanna stay here with us?"

Cedric nodded gratefully. "Safety in numbers," he said.

"I hope that's true for Harry, Hermione and Ron," said Ginny.

XXXX

Ginny sighed with relief as she sat back in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. The days after the Quiddditch World Cup had been a nightmare. As soon as they got home, Molly was all over them, making sure all limbs were intact. Then she rounded on Ginny. She shouldn't have been there, Molly knew she was too young. When she heard that Ginny got separated from the twins and Cedric found her, it gave her another reason to insist that Ginny was too young and too silly to be left alone.

Ginny finally had enough. She yelled back at her mother, leaving her brothers gasping at her with part admiration, part wondering if she'd lost her mind. Once the yelling was done, they both retreated into a stony silence. That was, until she hexed Ron when he mentioned how she and her mother were so much alike; so stubborn. Molly told Ginny she was going to be doing all the chores before they all left for school.

Yes, she thought, this year was going to be better. She was going to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team, and she was going to make a better effort to make friends. She'd had an owl from Astoria over the holidays, enquiring if they could catch up. Unfortunately they couldn't, but Ginny wrote a nice friendly reply, thanking her for the invitation.

Yes, this was going to be a better year for herself, she determined. The Year of Ginny Weasley! She giggled at the thought.

She never could have imagined just how her year turned out to be. The ramifications would change the Weasley family forever.

*Just a heads up, Im thinking of changing the title, as it implies its just about Ginny. While her being in Slytherin will change a lot of the books as we know them, it is about hers and Harry;s journey. Happy to hear any suggestions, you will be credited. Cheers xx