A/N: Hello everyone! I am currently riding a wave of inspiration after getting such a good start with this story so here comes chapter 3! I should note that I am currently on a break from school and won't be able to write as much after this week but don't worry, I will keep going!

Oh, and for those who are interested I have answered some reviews. Since I know some of you probably think "Just gimme the story already ffs!" I have put the answered reviews in my post-chapter AN at the bottom.

Now, I won't hold you back any longer! Here comes the standard Disclaimer...

Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff in any way.

... and here comes the story!

(Recap):

"Uncle Sev, do you believe in birthday wishes?" Harry asked when they left the Fortescue ice cream bar.

Severus frowned and raised an eyebrow, wonder where this came from.

"Well, not really. There aren't any magical proof that a wish made to a birthday cake are due to be fulfilled. Why do you ask?"

"Because mine just got fulfilled." Harry said with a cheeky grin. Severus frowned. Had Harry been wishing for ice cream?

"Really? What did you wish for?" he asked.

Harry chuckled and leaned back on the trolley. After sighing with relief and happiness, he looked up at Severus and grinned from ear to ear.

"A friend."

Chapter Three: Ginny's Happy Month

Harry watched as Hedwig, his snow white owl, flew off in the distance. Once he had gotten back from Diagon Alley, he had said good bye to Severus and made his way to his room. It had not taken him long to get out a piece of parchment and a quil and, though unused to the writing material and tool, scribble down a few lines for his owl to take with her to his new friend. When he had been done with that, he had immediately set to unpack his new school stuff. Excited to learn all he could about the magical world, his world, he had just grabbed one of the books and thrown himself down on his bed to read.

He usually weren't a bookworm, but right now he was just so excited finally get to know the world where his parents had lived. Severus, and on occasion the funny old man with glasses, had told him so many things about the magical world. He could barely contain his excitement when he was called down for dinner an hour after he had gotten home.

Uncle Vernon had scowled at him and for every second that passed, his face had gotten redder and redder as Harry showed exactly how happy he was by talking constantly about all the things he was going to learn. At last, Vernon had blown up and screamed at Harry to go back to his bedroom and "read his bloody books if it was so bloody important", which Harry, to the older man's annoyance, had happily agreed to.

He was currently laying in his bed, reading The Standard book of Spells. It had been a good 3 days since he had sent off Hedwig now and he was starting to wonder just how far away Ginny lived. Come to think of it, he had never asked in what part of England "the Burrow" was located. What if Hedwig had gotten lost? No, that's not going to happen. She probably just takes her time. No need to rush after all. There was still almost an entire month before it was time to go to Hogwarts. He could wait. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have anything to do here. He still had to do some chores for his aunt and uncle now and then and when he didn't he had a stack of interesting books to read.

Tap tap tap...

Harry looked up from his spell book when he heard the tapping on his window. There, outside, Hedwig was tapping her beak at the window to gain entrance. Like shot from a gun, Harry closed his book and flew up from his bed to let in his owl. Swish. As soon as the window had opened up, Hedwig flew in and landed on his desk. After flapping her wings, Hedwig held out her leg where a piece of rolled up parchment had been attached. Harry picked out a box with owl treats and gave Hedwig before he got loose the parchment and opened it, filled with anticipation.

Dear Harry

Thanks for your letter! It really cheered me up. My brothers haven't had time for me lately as they are all going to Hogwarts soon so your letter came as a happy surprise. I actually didn't think you would write so quickly.

Oh, and you should give your owl a pat on the head. She bit Ron's finger when he tried to snatch your letter from me! A beautiful owl, by the way. What's her name?

I hope you will have a good year at Hogwarts. My brothers have told me all about it and I can't wait to go next year! Wish I could go this year, with you and Ron but I'm still too young.

I hope we can meet at the platform before you leave for Hogwarts though! I'm going to try and convince mum to let me come along to see my brothers off.

Your friend, Ginny

Harry read the letter over and over again. After the third time, his face broke out into a smile. Ginny had signed the letter "your friend"! He finally had a real friend! During his years in muggle school, he had never had any real friends. Sure, he had not been the worst bullied student there, but he hadn't had anyone to talk to or hang out with and, though he would never admit it, had been a little envious of Dudley for being the most popular person in their class.

But here he was and he had finally made a friend! His heart sank a little in his chest when he read it over a fourth time and registered that Ginny would not come to Hogwarts this year. He promised himself that he would write her as much as she could in order to try and make her feel not so lonely.

-:-:-:-

Ginny was sitting in her room again. She had been doing that a lot this summer. She knew her mother was worried that she was shutting herself off from the rest of the family but she couldn't stand watching all her brother have fun and prepare to go to Hogwarts without a care in the world. She just felt so... left out. Harry's message had cheered her up a little but now that the excitement from that was gone, she felt all alone again. The owl had been a nice company, not talking about what she was going to do at school and not playing things that she thought Ginny to be too small to do.

But of course, it was Harry's owl and for Ginny to answer him she had to send the owl away. If she had been able to, she wouldn't have minded to keep the bird around for a while, just so she would have someone to talk to. Someone who doesn't talk down to her or make fun of her.

She could of course try and read something to keep her mind of things, but the only book that really captured her complete attention was the Story of the Boy who lived but for some reason, that story didn't feel quite as special anymore. Perhaps, now that she had met the real Harry Potter, reading about him weren't as exciting. Now, she was more excited to get to know the real Harry Potter. Oh, she couldn't believe she just said that! The real Harry Potter! If someone had told her just a few days ago that she would have made friends with the real Harry Potter, she would have thought they were mental. Well, she would have wanted to believe it but it would have sounded so... farfetched. Why would the world famous Harry Potter want to be friends with someone like her, Ginny Weasley, whom her own brothers rarely paid attention to?

Well, perhaps she could ask him when his answer came? If his answer ever came... "No Ginny! Don't think like that!" she told herself. Surely there must be something good about her or Harry wouldn't have minded her at all. But what could it be? What made her special? Well, except for her being a Weasley and her hair being a tiny shade darker than the rest of her family. She was decent at flying... but no, Harry wouldn't know that, not even her own family knew about that. There must have been something tangible, since they really hadn't had any contact before they became friends. But what about her would be special? She was a girl just like anyone else.

Well, the only answer would be to ask Harry. She would have to wait until Harry wrote her back to ask him in her reply. But how would she ask it? Ooh, this was getting more depressing than looking at her brothers plan for Hogwarts!

"Ginny! It's time for dinner!" her mother's voice came from downstairs.

Sighing, Ginny stood up. If she didn't come down to dinner, hell would break loose, almost as bad as if her mother would had heard her say those words.

"Coming mom!"

Throwing one last look out her window, hoping that Harry's owl would be back when she got up from dinner, Ginny made her way over to the door and went downstairs. Her room was on the first out of seven floors so she didn't have a long way to go, unlike her brother, Ron, who lived at the seventh floor. Ron already sat by the table however when she entered, along with Fred, George, Percy and her dad. Her mother had just made a stew fly over Ron's head and land onto the table before moving over to sit next to her husband. Ginny sat down without a word and waited patiently for her brothers to have their go at the stew before serving herself.

"So Ginny, what were you doing in your room? You have been locked up in there for 2 days straight now." asked her mother.

Ginny swallowed down a mouthful of stew and potatoes, then took a gulp of water to wash it down before answering.

"Well, yesterday I was writing Harry a letter and today I haven't really done much, just reading." she said before blowing on her spoon to try and chill her next mouthful of mushroom stew.

However, as she said it, snickers could be heard around the table and, irritated by her brothers making fun of her, Ginny looked up. Fred had been leaning towards his twin brother and whispered something in his ear which the others couldn't hear while Ron had been staring at Ginny before shaking his head.

"Are you still going on about that dream of yours?" Ron's voice clearly showed that he wasn't too interested in what she had said, just that he thought she was being silly.

Ginny felt her cheeks heat up and without thinking, she stood up, causing her chair to fall to the floor.

"I'm telling you, I have really met him! And he have sent me a letter! Why don't you believe me?!" she cried out in anger.

Ever since she had mentioned her meeting with Harry in Diagon Alley and him wanting to be her friend, her brothers had been making fun of her. Well, except Percy of course but he wouldn't understand humor even if his life depended on it. Teasing had been expected from Fred and George but to Ginny's annoyance, Ron too had taken to downplay their meeting to silly imagination.

"Geez, calm down sis. I was just thinking that you were taking this a little too far. You don't need to bloody blow up at me!" Ron exclaimed at her outburst.

Ginny gritted her teeth and was preparing a nasty retort when her mother's temper blew off, having been triggered by Ron's use of "bloody", which she deemed as an unforgivable act of crime.

"Ronald Weasley! I don't want to hear you talk like that! Especially to your sister!"

While Ginny didn't appreciate being babied by her mother, right now it felt good to see Ron being put in his place. He used to be really nice and a good playmate but the closer he had gotten to attending Hogwarts, the more they had been gliding apart. Recent days, he had become such a prat! If she didn't know better and if he didn't deny it so badly, she would say he was starting to become like Percy!

"But mom! She blew up at me first!" Ron tried to defend himself.

"It doesn't matter! No such words in my house!" Molly Weasley said with an edge in her voice, just daring her son to talk back to her.

After a moment, Ron shook his head and looked down.

"Alright, I won't say it." he said with a defeated voice, though he added "I'll just go outside instead." so no one could hear it, except Ginny.

Ginny however, had more pressing matters. Her stew and potatoes lay forgotten on her plate.

"Dad! You were there! Tell them I met Harry!"

Arthur Wealsey looked a bit troubled at being brought into the argument between his two children. It couldn't be more obvious that he had wanted to just eat his food and then disappear from the table, most likely to go outside and study some muggle artifact he had found somewhere he shouldn't have been. However, as his daughter fixated him with a hard, yet pleading look, he finally relented and joined the conversation.

"Well, what Ginny is saying is true. We met Harry outside of Florean Fortescue's ice cream bar. He was there with Severus, Hogwarts Potions Master." Arthur said, hoping that he could get back to his food now so he could get out and take a closer look at that fascinating thing he had managed to confiscate after work. Muggles called it a "car". How they got something as big to move without magic, he had no idea. So he was really eager to pick it apart and study its insides.

"Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher. I trust that when he said that the boy was Harry Potter, then it really was him. Besides, someone like Professor Snape wouldn't need to boast with being in Harry Potter's company, as he is quite the accomplished wizard himself." Percy put in.

Ginny scowled at her oldest present brother. During these days, he hadn't backed her claim even once when she said that she had met Harry Potter, not even when she had asked him specifically to tell the others that it was true. But now, when the "honor of a teacher" was at stake, he suddenly was incredibly interested in adding his own point of view to the speculation. Her insides already boiling with anger, Ginny heard Ron speak up again.

"Even if that is true, why would someone like Harry Potter want to be friends with Ginny?"

That did it. With a furious scream of frustration, Ginny threw her arms up in the air and without a warning, the stew on the table exploded. Tears had formed in her eyes, be it from anger or hurt she didn't know but it didn't matter. She turned and with one furious burst of underage magic, her chair flew over the table and crashed into Ron, who yelped and dropped to the floor. Not stopping to be reprimanded by her mother for her temper, Ginny took off up the stairs and slammed the door to her room shut as soon as she reached it. Once inside, she threw herself down onto her bed and let her tears fall freely. She could hear the commotion downstairs but she didn't care. Why? Why did her brother had to be such a stupid, insensitive prat?! Why didn't he ever listen to what she said? It would be way into the night before Ginny Weasley managed to find a mental state calm enough to fall asleep.

-:-:-:-

Severus was walking through the corridor that led to Professor Dumbledore's office. It was late in the night, but he had been called to an emergency staff meeting and, being the loyal man he was, he had not hesitated to quickly get out of his dungeon to join the others. Since his office were the one farthest apart from Dumbledore's, he probably would be the last one to arrive. And just as he had expected, when he rounded the corner so the Gargoyle statue that guarded the headmaster's office came into view, he saw that the stairwell had already been raised. Without giving it the chance to lower itself down again, Severus rushed over and went up the stairs to the office door, where he knocked patiently. Upon being called into the office, he entered.

There, he saw that everyone was already in place, just as he had thought. Professor Dumbledore was standing by his fireplace, watching the fire with a thoughtful look on his face and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Vector, Sinistra, Kettleburn and Quirell was sitting in a group by a conference table that usually was not present in the office, probably conjured or transfigured by Dumbledore for this meeting. The only ones who was not there was, as far as Severus could tell, Trelawney and Binns, none of whom he really cared or had expected to show up. Of course, there were a few other teachers here at the school during school years, but they were currently off with either their family or on vacation.

"Ah Severus, glad you could make it. Please have a seat." Dumbledore said and motioned for Severus to take the seat in between Professor Kettleburn and Professor Sinistra.

Severus just nodded and took his assigned seat. As soon as he did, the door to the office flew open and in stepped Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. The half giant came to a hasty stop when he spotted all the teachers sitting by the conference table and then looked questioning towards Dumbledore.

"Oh, eh... am I interupting somethin'? Did I get the time wrong?" he asked, a little confused.

Dumbledore chuckled and turned away from the fire and started walking to sit by the table.

"No my dear Hagrid. You got the time right. Please sit down. I have saved the sofa especially for you." he said as he sat down at the seat overlooking the rest of the table.

Hagrid looked confused but did as he was told and sat down at the sofa that was turned towards the table. Now, with all the castle's current inhabitants present, everyone turned to look expectantly at Dumbledore. The call for the meeting had not included any details on what this was about but, being the ever well-informed man he was, Severus had a good guess as to what it was.

"As some of you may already be aware of, an old friend of mine approached me with a request by the end of last term." Dumbledore began, confirming Severus theory.

Mumbles were heard throughout the gathered group. It was apparent that rumor had spread among the staff that a certain old friend of Albus' had visited the castle after last year's term.

"This old friend of mine asked me to guard a specific item of his, one that he feared someone was after to try and steal it. Earlier today, that item was retrieved from Gringotts and brought here."

At the mention of this, Hagrid perked up in understanding and immediately pushed his chest out, leaving no doubt to who Dumbledore had sent to retrieve said item. Severus would have snickered at Hagrid's pride in himself if he hadn't thought that the half giant deserved more credit than he actually got for all the things he did for Dumbledore.

"And now... you want us to aid you in protecting this item, I presume?" Professor Sinistra, the head of Slytherin, asked. Like always, she wanted to cut straight to the chase and not beat around the bush.

Dumbledore smiled at his Astronomy teacher's perceptive skill, even though it hadn't been that hard to figure out. At Dumbledore's approving smile, most of the people rolled their eyes. It hadn't been that hard to figure out.

"You are correct, Aurora. That is indeed why I have summoned you all here. In order to set up the most effective defense here at Hogwarts, I need help from each and everyone of you."

At that, muttering broke out across the table. Ever since Nicolas Flamel had visited Dumbledore in his office, rumors had been going around the school about what the famous alchemist could possibly want to ask of their headmaster. Of course, like with most rumors, there was a big variation in what they all said and if even half of them were true, then Severus would be willing to eat his own hair.

"So, if we are to protect this... item, don't you think we have the right to know what it is we are guarding?"

"Oh, I thought you had already had figured it out?" Dumbledore said smiling.

Severus eyed the occupants of the table. Professor Sinistra was whispering with Professor Sprout, no doubt sharing her own thought on the case. Professors Vector, Flitwick and Kettleburn were also talking with each other. Quirell didn't do anything. He just sat in his seat, giving off his normal nervous expression. McGonagall didn't talk to anyone either, no doubt because she, like Severus already had figured it out. Sighing, Severus decided to once and for all put the rumors to rest.

"This year, Hogwarts will act as the protective sanctuary for the Philosofer's stone." he said, immediately silencing everyone.

-:-:-:-

Ginny didn't know how she had managed to fall asleep after her row with Ron last evening, but it would appear that somehow she had. The morning outside was beautiful. She could hear the birds chirping outside and tried to sleepily opening her eyes. She must have forgotten to close her window before she fell sleep. Grogily, she sat up and opened her eyes. And immeditely stumbled to her feet in shock. There, on the back of the chair by her desk, sat a snowy white owl, watching her with amber eyes. Harry had wrote back!

Suddenly forgetting all about her tiredness, Ginny sprung to her feet and darted across the room towards the desk. The owl didn't flinch but simply tilted her head to the side and held out her leg where the piece of parchment was tied. Eagerly, Ginny untied the parchment and unrolled it to read it.

Dear Ginny,

I hope you're doing good, or at least better than it sounds like. How many brothers do you have and how many of them are teasing you? I wish I could do something about it but I'm afraid I can't.

My owl is named Hedwig. I'm not really good with names but I thought it fit her. A beautiful name for a beautiful owl, right?

I am looking forward next year when you can come with us. Don't worry, this year will fly by and before you know it, you will be on the train. Look at it this way, you are now closer to Hogwarts than you have ever been before! That's how I used to look at it.

But until then, we barely know each other yet. What are your favorite color? What do you like to do on your free time? For your information, my favorite color is red (I've heard that's considered girly?) and I like to read about magic on my free time.

Your friend,

Harry

Ginny read it over and over again and felt her resident dark thoughts from yesterday slowly leave her system. Right then and there, it didn't matter that Ron had been a prat at dinner. It didn't matter that none of her brothers didn't believe her or that they made fun of her. Right then, she felt that the only thing that mattered was Harry and his letter. He hadn't made fun of her or looked down on her. It didn't escape her notice that he, despite undoubtly being excited to go to Hogwarts this year, didn't mention that in his letter. Instead, he had said he was looking forward to next year, when she would be coming with him to Hogwarts. Why would he be so eager for that? After all, he had said himself that they barely knew each other.

"Ginny?" a voice was heard from her door.

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts and turned around. Her bedroom door was ajar and through the slit, her mother was peeking in.

"Hi mom." Ginny answered simply. While she wasn't in a bad mood anymore, she didn't feel like she wanted a repeat of yesterday's episode. Thus, talking was not on the top of her "to-do list".

Molly Weasley entered her daughters room a little carefully. She was well aware that Ginny had a temper that could rival her own and, while not one to hold grudges, you never knew what mood she would be in after she had one of her outbursts. Especially if she didn't calm down before she fell asleep. Either she could wake up like a new human being or she could wake up like a veela who had been pulled by the hair. When she noticed Ginny already being out of bed, she tossed aside her caution to the side and stepped inside.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked before she cam to a stop when she spotted the owl sitting on the chair's back.

"I'm ok mom. Sorry I blew up yesterday, I just got so angry."

Her mother forced her gaze away from the bird in her daughter's room and refocused her it at Ginny. The girl in question was still standing with Harry's letter in hand.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about it. Ron shouldn't have behaved like that, I don't know what's gotten into him lately."

Ginny shook her head and put Harry's letter down on her desk. She would also like to know what had gotten into Ron lately. There was a lot of things lately she found herself wondering about.

"Uhm, what was that you were reading just now and where did that bird come from?" her mother asked, a little hesistantly.

Ginny cast a look at her mother, then at the owl in her room and then at Harry's letter. Well, at least she had proof to back her claim.

"Well, the owl belongs to Harry. The letter I was reading was from him. I think it must have arrived when I was asleep." Ginny answered truthfully.

Her mother's eyes widened in shock. While she had never questioned Ginny's claim that she had become friends with Harry Potter, she had been sceptical to it. When her daughter had gotten home from Diagon Alley, all giggly about having met "the" Harry Potter, she at first thought she must have been fooled by Fred and George during their visit but according to them, no such thing had occured (not that they ever admitted their pranks to her face). When Arthus had began to back Ginny ever so slightly, Molly hadn't known what to think.

"So uhm... what is Harry saying?" she asked awkwardly.

Ginny smiled before grabbing the parchment again and shoved it into one of the drawers.

"Secret!" she squeled happily.

Watching the two Wealsey's from her place on the chair back, Hedwig decided this would be a good time to remind them of her prescence. She fixed her eyes on Ginny and hooted to try and get her attention. It succeeded.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hedwig. You probably want something to eat, right?" Ginny said as she walked over to where the owl was sitting and held out her arm. Hedwig gave another hoot to show her appreciation and climbed onto the outstretched arm. Ginny, still being quite small for her age, stumbled slightly at the new difference in weight but managed to stay upright.

Watching her daughter interact with the owl, Mrs Wealsey smiled. She hadn't seen Ginny this happy since... well since Ron started to act like he was more mature than he really was. Or well, at least his own sort of mature. But even before then, Ginny had rarely been seen this happy for a long time.

"Why don't you both come down to join the rest of the family for breakfast? It should be finished soon. And we got some owl treats for you... Hedwig was it?"

As if she had understood (which she probably had), Hedwig tilted her head in an imitation of a nod. Mrs Weasley let cast one last look at Hedwig and Ginny before she walked out the door and down the stair towards the kitchen.

5 minutes later, Ginny was making her way down the stairs with Hedwig perched on her head. When she entered the kitchen, she found Ron sitting by the table while her mother was commanding some bread to cut itself by magic. When her eyes settled on Ron, she narrowed her eyes and just walked straight up to her seat at the table and sat down. From the corner of her eye, she could see her mother watching the 2 of them warily, no doubt taking notice of Ginny's mood swing at the sight of her brother. Ron, as thick as he was, seemed to also have noticed that his sister was not in the best of moods and turned nervously in his seat.

"Uhm, Ginny?" he asked carefully, doing his best not to let out the fear he felt for his sister's temper. While she was not as bad as their mother just yet, yesterday had proven to him that Ginny could be quite frightening as well if she got really angry.

Ginny, who had been giving Hedwig some owl treats her mom had gotten out for her, just gumbled in response.

"Uh, well about yesterday... I'm sorry. That last bit was way out of line." Ron said.

Ginny gave Hedwig her last bit of owl treat and gave her a pat on the head, earning an appreciative hoot in response, before turning back to her brother and fixating him with a glare that made him question his sanity to confront her about this.

"You're right, you were way out of line." Ginny said with a venomous voice.

Ron actually sunk lower into his seat as he met his sister's gaze. Since when had little baby Ginny gotten so... scary?

"So... I was wondering, are we alright?"

Ginny studied him for a moment. She wasn't one to hold a grudge and, despite all his flaws, she still wanted to be good with her big brother, so she nodded to him. Ron let out a sigh of relief. Ginny however, got a mischievous glint in her eye and stood up, before making her way over to him to whisper in his ear:

"On 1 condition though: I get to borrow your wand for a little while later, ok?"

Ron didn't like the sound of that. After witnessing Ginny's burst of accidental magic yesterday, he had become aware that Ginny too was a witch. The thought of her performing magic had never really crossed his mind, at least not in the way it did now. He could just picture himself being the victim of a curse sent at him by an older Ginny for pranking her or teasing her about something. Praying to Merlin that he would not be on the recieving end of whatever she had planned, he gulped and nodded to her.

Ginny smirked evily. She had been wanting to try this ever since Bill had sent a letter and suggested she used it to get revenge on Fred and George for all the times they had pranked her but she hadn't been able to get her hands on a wand. She had memorized the incatation to the hex Bill had recommended and then gotten rid of the letter. If her mother found it lying around in her room, she would be in for a whole lot of trouble. Not to mention Bill would get the scolding of his life when he got home and that was not something she wished for him.

Happy that she had gotten what she wanted, Ginny went over to the sink to wash her hands before making herself a sandwhich. She was after all a good girl and always did as her mother had told her. Well, at least when her mother was watching. What her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

-:-:-:-

Dear Harry

This last month have been incredible! It started out pretty bad but aside from that one argument by the dinnertable, it have been one of the best months in my life! My brothers have been nice and I've made a new friend! Even Ron have been less of a prat, I think he got scared out of his wits when he saw me hex Fred and George. I don't I told you exactly what happened?

Well, here's the thing. I got this letter from my brother Bill, who works in Egypt, where he gave me instructions on how to perform a hex called the Bat-Bogey hex and he recommended it for Fred and George as a revenge for all the times they have pranked me. I got ahold of Ron's wand and tried it out and it worked like a charm! It was nice to be able to stand by the side and laugh at them for a change, since it is usually the other way around.

Thanks for those muggle sweets by the way. I've never had any muggle sweets before but the green ones were really good. I hope they sell those down in town so I can get my mom to buy some for me next time she takes me shopping.

Since it's only a few days before 1 september when I write this I doubt you will have time to send a reply so I will just hope to see you at the station. I will try and get my brothers not to leave packing to the last second like they usually do, because it always results in us being late. Last year, the twins also put itching powder in Percy's school robes so he had to clean them all over again before we could be on our way and we almost missed the train. Perhaps I should "accidently" mention the Bat-Bogey hex when mom isn't listening?

I hope you are excited to go and that you have a good year at Hogwarts! See you at the station!

Your friend,
Ginny

Harry read the letter over and over again. He smiled to himself. Ginny sounded a lot more cheerful now than just one month ago. He couldn't believe it had really been a month since they had first met. It felt like it was only yesterday. And at the same time, it felt like second nature to him to have Ginny to write to, it was like they had always known each other. It was a complicated feeling. He couldn't really describe it.

After the first letter, Harry had taken to ask Ginny about some of her preferences and how it was like to grow up in a wizarding family. Despite all the things Uncle Sev had told him, he really didn't know anything about how it was like living in the magical world. He was sure Ginny must have thought he was mental for asking some of the questions he did, like how wizards did their laundry, but she hadn't actually mentioned it and simply answered his question. He really looked forward to seeing her again, even though it would most likely only be briefly.

And well, tomorrow was the day! Tomorrow he would be leaving the Dursley's behind and go to Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had dreamt about this for his entire life and now, it was finally time to go! He was a little sad that Ginny wouldn't be coming with him but that made him look forward to next year even more. But now, he had to take one year at a time. So he crawled over to the end of the bed and unchecked the last day in his calendar before his departure before he crawled back and wrapped his blankets around him. Resting his head on the pillow, he thought about what he wanted to do this year and then what he would want to show Ginny the next. He really hoped that Ginny wouldn't be too lonely without her brothers but from the sounds of it, she had cheered up and resigned herself to the fact that they would be gone for a year.

It was strange, being so worried for someone else. He had never had any friends to worry about. But Ginny had really opened up to him and they had talked about all kinds of things over the month. He had even admitted things he thought he would never admit out loud, such as being jealous of Dudley for being a "popular" kid and his fear of not fit in at Hogwarts. Ginny had told him that there was no risk that he would not be "popular" at Hogwarts and had in turn confided in him that she used to sneak out at night and break into the family's broom shed and try to teach herself how to fly.

Rolling over, Harry felt like he must have been one of the most lucky boys in the world to have gotten such an awesome friend as Ginny, despite not having had any friends beforehand. Unknown to him, in a strange house named "the Burrow" just outside of Ottery St. Catchpole, a red haired girl did the exact same thing. Feeling sleep overtake her, Ginny rolled over and wondered if she wasn't the luckiest girl in the world to have made such an awesome friend, when she needed it the most.

A/N: So there we go! Chapter 3! This one was a bit difficult to write because I wanted to give a good impression of how Harry and Ginny got to know each other, but at the same time I didn't want to stretch the chapter to include an entire month of correspondance. I hope I did ok though. It may not be the most exciting chapter in the story but I feel like it turned out pretty good.

Now, to answer some reviews:

anyeshabaner: Perhaps I will write that in another story. I can understand that it would be funny to read Severus and Harry's interactions over the years but that is not what this story is about. You might see some in flashbacks later on in the story, but if a lot of people want me to, I can write a separate story that covers Harry's childhood.

sisno2200 : Haha, yeah you are probably right! That sounds exactly like good old Albus! If the above mentioned idea of a prequel story gets enough support, I am definetely going to include a chapter where Snape gets his "Learn-to-say-Voldemort-without-shivering-lessons" , just for the fun of it. It would be pretty hilarious!

marinka : I hadn't really thought of when to get them together, but that is actually a pretty good idea. I will probably leave hints to it earlier than that but Ball does seem like a good time for them to "come to their senses".

Cosmyk Angel : I agree. That is one of the reasons I will draw it out a little. Except that it usually makes a more solid relationship in the end if the two have known each other for some time, it will take them a few years before they both get interested in stuff like having a relationship. I mean, they are 11 and 10 years old atm!

To anyone else who reviewed: Thanks a lot for the support and I hope you keep on enjoying the story and that your little group of reviewers grows with time!

Announcement! I am a sucker for good variety and so I want to include as many spells, both combat and mundane, into this story! If there is a certain spell you want me to use, or a spell you have made up yourself, please tell me! I would really appreciate home-made spells! They are usually the most fun ones to use!

If there is a spell made up by another fanfic author that you particularly like, then tell me what story it comes from and I will talk to the author about using it. If there is a spell you have made up yourself, then give me incantation and effects! You can leave this in a review or in a PM! Thanks beforehand!

Now, I wish you all a good life until the next chapter! Take care and I'll see you then!