A/N: Okay, I lied when I said it would be up in the next week (about half a year ago). But I had college. And I was sick. And stuff. And I'm sorry I'm bad at excuses I'm so sorry you had to wait so long but here is the chapter and I hope you enjoy it. It was a difficult one to write. Special thanks to Ayesha and Katie for proofreading it for me, ily babes.

Days passed and before everyone knew it, it was the eve of the day the Weasleys and Harry would leave to Hogwarts. Each child was packing, only leaving their room to demand something back from Fred or George.

Ginny's trunk had once belonged to Bill. Actually, nearly everything she owned had belonged to somebody else at some point. Her copies of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 had been passed down from Bill to each successive Weasley. (Fred and George had decided to share.) The Lockhart books had been Harry's—even if only for a second.

Ginny dusted off the jacket of the Lockhart books. Apparently the fight between her father and Mr. Malfoy had caused rubble to fly everywhere. She rummaged around in the cauldron to pull out Bill's old books, but her hands closed around a smaller book. Curious, she withdrew it.

It was a small, thin book with a shabby, black cover bearing the year 1942. She flipped the book over. Vauxhall Road, London. She opened the book to the first page. In beautiful handwriting was written T. M. Riddle. The rest of the book was blank.

It seemed to be some sort of diary. Perhaps her parents had bought it for her to use at Hogwarts? What a lovely surprise! Ginny made a mental note to remember to thank her parents for the gift.

She pulled out a quill and dipped it in ink, crossing out the T.M. Riddle and replacing it with her name in her best handwriting. Before she was able to write her first entry in the diary, a knock sounded at the door. She hurriedly stuffed the diary under her mattress.

"Come in!" she shouted.

It was Ron.

"Hey, Ginny, how're you?" he asked.

"Nervous."

"Hey, at least you've got some friends already."

"Who?"

"Well you've got me, haven't you? And Fred and George, and Percy. And isn't that Loony bird starting this year too?"

"Ron, don't call her a Loony bird, her name is Luna, and yes, she is starting this year. I'm nervous because oh my goodness, Ron, what if I'm not a Gryffindor? I'll probably be a Hufflepuff."

Ron smirked. "You, the only person Fred and George are afraid of, a Hufflepuff? You, the girl who beat up that bloke for pulling Gloria Tennyson's hair, a Hufflepuff? C'mon Ginny, you know you're going to be a Gryffindor, everyone in our family is, anyway."

"Everybody except Hufflepuff Horace, you know that."

"Shh, we don't talk about him."

Ginny rolled her eyes, but laughed. Hufflepuff Horace Weasley was the kindest, sweetest uncle you would ever meet, and everyone knew that.

"Blimey, Ginny," Ron said. "I hate the bloody Holyhead Harpies all over the walls. Why don't you decorate your room with a good team? Something like…oh, I don't know…the Chudley Cannons…"

"No of course not! Merlin, Ron, haven't you seen the Harpies in action? Gwenog Jones and her brilliant Beating?"

"They're an all-girls team, though…"

"And that's a problem because…" Ginny said, warning Ron not to continue. He either didn't notice or didn't care, and went on.

"Girls don't have as much stamina, as much power, to play Quidditch!"

"Are you kidding me, Ron! Then explain to me how the Harpies beat the Wimbourne Wasps? They even beat the Heidelberg Harriers! Merlin, Ron, don't be so rude. If you don't believe girls can play well, let's have a match right now!"

Ron snickered. "You got a lot of nerve saying that, seeing as you don't even know how to fly."

Ginny rolled her eyes again. Of course, Ron didn't know that she'd been sneaking into the broom closet to teach herself to fly since she was six years old. "Alright then, Ron, next summer, when I'm good at flying, we're having a match."

Ron grinned. "If you insist."

"I'm telling mum you insulted every single girl on the planet."

Ron groaned. "Ginny, don't be a squealer…"

"MUUUUM!" Ginny yelled. Ron tackled her and attempted to cover her mouth. Within no time at all, the fight escalated to a game of Muggle boxing.

The door opened and their mother stuck her head into the room. "Ginny, did you call me? Dinner's ready, if the two of you have finished fighting."

Ron jumped up eagerly and ran upstairs to his room to get Harry. Ginny shot down the stairs like a Nimbus 2001—the latest model.

Mrs. Weasley had conjured up a most delicious dinner that included all of Harry's favorite things to eat, ending with his favorite dessert, a lip-smacking treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the last evening of Ginny's pre-Hogwarts life by bursting a set of Filibuster's Fireworks continued to bounce around the room for at least half an hour afterwards. Then they all drank a last cup of hot chocolate and it was time for bed.

Ginny was extraordinarily nervous for the next day, and realized at that moment how much she would miss the cozy magic of the Burrow. But Hogwarts would be equally, if not more magical, and she would finally make friends who weren't redheaded boys! She could talk to actual girls who weren't her mum. It would be a refreshing change. She thought of her parents and sighed because she would miss them terribly, but it would be nice to have freedom. (At least, as much freedom as Percy would allow.) Ginny finally fell asleep quite late, after tossing and turning for hours.

The next morning, Mrs. Weasley woke everyone up before dawn. Ginny was horribly tired as she muddled through the routine of dressing and eating breakfast.

Packing the car took hours. By the time the family and Harry finally left, the sun was properly up in the sky. Ten minutes on the road, George said that he had forgotten his box of Filibuster Fireworks. They turned back to the Burrow, and George ran up to his room, returning a moment later with a box in his hand. Five minutes later, they stopped outside the house again because Fred had forgotten his broomstick (and he was the Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team—his broom was quite important).

They had almost reached the highway when Ginny suddenly remembered that she had left her new diary at home. After giving a shriek that ruffled Hedwig's, Errol's, and Hermes' feathers, they stopped once again outside the house and Ginny ran upstairs to her room. She searched everywhere and finally found it under her mattress. When the Weasleys finally reached King's Cross Station, it was quarter-to-eleven.

It only took a few minutes to find platforms nine and ten. Percy went first, Mr. Weasley went second, Fred and George followed, and Ginny went with Mrs. Weasley. (She felt so mortified—why was her mother holding her hand like she was a three-year-old?) Harry and Ron were to follow.

Ginny went through the barrier and hugged her mother and father goodbye. She quickly boarded the train and sat down in an empty compartment, wondering where Luna could be.

A few minutes after the Hogwarts Express had started moving, Hermione Granger looked into the compartment.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"No problem," Ginny replied. "I've been waiting for Harry and Ron. Have you seen them anywhere?"

Hermione's expression was worried. She shook her head.

Ginny said, "They were supposed to come through the barrier after Mum and me, but I don't remember seeing them anywhere…"

Hermione groaned. "If they've done something illegal again I'm going to murder them!"

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes until Hermione suggested that the two of them change into their robes. As soon as they reentered their compartment, a jolly, plump lady pushed her food trolley by their compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Ginny glanced at her corned beef sandwich, made a face, and shook her head. Hermione bought two Chocolate Frogs and handed one to Ginny, who grinned in gratitude and quickly unwrapped the sweet. She turned over her wizard's card. Godric Gryffindor.

"You're going to be a Gryffindor," Hermione remarked, glancing at the card.

"I was just talking about this to Ron. I'm probably going to be a Hufflepuff, I'm not particularly good at anything."

"Whoever told you that? I'm sure you're good at a lot of things. Fred and George are exceptionally clever…even though they don't try as well as they should at school. Percy's responsible and smart. And Ron, for all his faults, is quite loyal and brave. Why, last year he stood up to McGonagall's life-sized chess set and was willing to risk his life to save me and Harry!"

"But that's the thing, isn't it?" sighed Ginny. "Everybody expects me to be adventurous, like Bill or Charlie, or responsible, like Percy, or hilarious, like Fred and George, or loyal and brave, like Ron. But I'm Ginny and I don't quite know what I am."

"Don't worry about it, Ginny," said Hermione kindly. "You'll figure it out. I felt the same way when I first came to Hogwarts. I didn't know anybody at all—"

Hermione was interrupted by a loud banging on the compartment door. The two girls jumped as Draco Malfoy barged in, flanked by his two cronies who could be none other than Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"Weasley, don't tell me you bought that Chocolate Frog? Buying all those books must have made your family starve for at least a month."

"Ignore him," muttered Hermione, noticing Ginny's ears turn pink with frustration.

"Oh, but I forgot…your little boyfriend the Scar-head gave you those books, didn't he? You Weasleys, always taking and never giving back…"

Ginny and Hermione stood up, Ginny to punch Malfoy in the stomach, and Hermione to stop Ginny from doing just that.

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Hermione, warningly. "Ginny, just ignore him."

"Ignoring me would simply be cowardly."

Ginny was struggling to get loose from Hermione's grip.

"Let me go—I want to show him—cowardly, my arse—we aren't thieves—Scar-head—he's not my boyfriend—" Ginny was sputtering with rage, and her face had turned cherry-red. She managed to break free of Hermione's grip. Hermione shouted at Ginny to stop ("No, Ginny—NO!") but Ginny didn't take heed.

During this uproar, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom entered the compartment. They stopped, thoroughly taken aback by the scene that met their eye: tiny first-year Ginny Weasley had punched bully Draco Malfoy in the face, and his eye was quickly beginning to swell up.

Neville, Seamus and Dean burst into applause and cheers as Malfoy ran out of the compartment, whimpering.

Ginny blushed. "He insulted my family, and Harry Potter.'

Seamus Finnigan said, "Aren't you Ron Weasley's little sister?"

When Ginny nodded, he continued, "You look exactly like him when he's angry at something."

Ginny smiled uncertainly, but it vanished as Neville asked, "Uh, d'you know where Harry and Ron are?"

Hermione looked worried again and flopped helplessly onto the train seat. "No! They're not in any of the compartments I've searched! I was searching everywhere for them so I could sit with them but…" Her voice trailed off.

Dean said, "Well, there's a rumor going around saying that they're coming to school by a flying car!"

Ginny's heart stopped beating. The car—oh, no, the car, the flying Ford Anglia that dad had bewitched! The one the Weasleys had driven to the platform! Oh no…

"Who on earth started that rumor?" said Hermione, confused.

"Fred and George did."

Ginny's shock must have showed on her face, because Hermione asked, "You don't have a flying car, do you?"

Ginny nodded. Hermione said, "Well, it's just a rumor. I hope it's not true, though…"

Neville, Dean and Seamus congratulated Ginny once more on her spectacular punch and left the compartment.

Ginny looked at Hermione after the boys left and said, "Ron, Fred and George took the flying Ford Anglia to Harry's house to pick him up. And today, on our way to King's Cross, we went in the car and Mum and Dad left the car in the Muggle parking lot and…"

Hermione said angrily, "They probably missed the train and took the car! Merlin, do you know how illegal that is? And here I was, hoping for a normal year. I suppose, being best friends with Harry Potter, actually having a normal year would be abnormal."

A/N: Yeah for some reason, this chapter was really hard. Oh well.

Reviews are sunshine on a cloudy day.

Cheers, Shanthi