Chapter 6: The Barrier

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I've gotten pretty busy with college life and haven't had much time to sit down and work on this.

I've decided to answer any questions that I get at the beginning of each chapter.

Q: How many chapters is each story going to be?

A: I'm not really sure. I've got the first story outlined out, but I really don't know how many chapters it will encompass.

This chapter covers the train ride to Hogwarts as well as their first day of classes. It jumps back and forth between Harry and Ginny's viewpoint so I pointed out when the P.O.V changes.

Once again thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

*None of the characters in this story belong to me. They are the property of J.K Rowling. Any recognizable sections of this chapter are from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter 6*

(Harry's P.O.V)

On the day of September 1, the whole Weasley family and Hermione gathered in front of their car. For once they were all on time and no one had forgotten anything. The previous night Hermione and Percy had gone around making sure everyone was packed and hadn't forgotten anything. Ginny had told Hermione the Weasley tradition of always barely making it to the train on time and Hermione was determined to break that tradition.

They put all of their luggage and pets into the magically expanded trunk, which Mrs. Weasley gave a slightly distasteful look.

Ginny's cat, Midnight, was the only pet not in the trunk. Ginny had insisted that she hold her

"I've always loved your cat Ginny, how old is she?" Hermione asked as she stroked Midnight's fur causing the cat to purr deeply.

"She's a little over a year old, Harry gave her to me as a birthday present last year."

"Aw how sweet of him, I've always wanted a cat. Maybe I'll get one next year.

They arrived at the station and piled out of the car with plenty of time to spare. The station was as busy as it had always been so it took them a few minutes to make their way to the barrier through the crowds. When they got there Mrs. Weasley decided that they would all go through the barrier in waited for there to be a lull in the muggle crowds and then the twins passed through the barrier first. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were next followed by Percy, who insisted that he go by himself. Once Percy was through Ron and Hermione headed towards the barrier and a few seconds later Harry and Ginny were the only ones left.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"First one through wins!" Ginny said before dashing off.

Harry grinned and ran after her. They both closed there eyes as they got close to the barrier and…

*Crash!*

They smashed into the wall and their carts fell over. They groaned and got up to see everyone staring at them.

"Hey! What's wrong with you two?" One of the employees asked

"Er… Sorry. We lost control of our carts." Harry said as they quickly gathered their things and tried to calm down a very annoyed Hedwig.

"What's going on? Why can't we get through the barrier?" Harry asked as he pressed his hands against it.

Ginny noticed that they were still getting a lot of stares from muggles. "Harry, maybe we should just go back to the car and wait for mum and dad."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened. "That's it Ginny! The car!"

Ginny stared at him blankly. "What about the car?"

"We could fly it to Hogwarts."

Ginny's eyes widened at the thought and she shook her head. "Oh no we're not. I'm not flying that piece of junk all the way to Hogwarts. Even if we don't crash on the way there we'll still be seen."

"No we won't. It can turn invisible, remember?"

Ginny shook her head again. "The invisibility is faulty. We're just going to stand by the car and wait."

Harry sighed but decided to listen to her. They drug there luggage through the crowds and back to the car. A few muggles looked at them strangely, but Harry just assumed it was because of Hedwig, who was still acting very irritated from crashing into the barrier.

"What is taking those two?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she looked anxiously at the clock. "It's been over 5 minutes since Ron and Hermione came through. If they don't hurry up they'll be late for the train."

"Mum, tell Harry and Ginny that we already went into the train to find a compartment." Ron said. He was tired of waiting and knew that pretty soon it would be hard to an empty compartment.

"Alright dear, you two have a good school year." Mrs. Weasley replied as she gave both Ron and Hermione a hug.

"I think we should go back and look for them, maybe one of them forgot something." Mr. Weasley said as he led her back to the barrier.

They passed through the barrier and started looking around. Harry and Ginny weren't anywhere nearby. They frantically started making their way through the crowds until they had made it back to the car where they found Harry and Ginny patiently waiting.

"Harry and Ginny, what are you still doing out here?" Mrs. Weasley asked frantically.

"We couldn't get through the barrier Mum. We just crashed into it."

"Well thanks for just waiting by the car. If it had been Ron or the twins I could see them doing something stupid. Like flying the car all the way to Hogwarts or something!" Mr. Weasley laughed.

Ginny smirked and gave Harry a nudge which he chose to ignore.

"Well how about you guys try the barrier again. If that doesn't work we'll just apparate to Hogshead and go to Dumbledore."

Harry and Ginny nodded and followed them to the barrier. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went first. Harry cringed as they approached it expecting them to bounce off of the brick. Instead they passed through to the other side.

"Well it looks like it worked for them. Now it's our turn." Mr. Weasley said.

They both started walking toward the barrier. Harry closed his eyes as they came closer expecting to hear the crash of his cart at any second.

"You can open them Harry, we made it through."

He opened his eyes to see the familiar Hogwarts Express billowing out steam.

"Alright you had better get on the train, it will be leaving soon. I'll send a message to Dumbledore and tell him about the barrier. Maybe he can figure out what happened."

"Alright, thanks for the help." Harry replied before hurrying onto the train.

He started walking past the compartments until he reached the back of the train where he found Ginny sitting with Ron and Hermione.

"So the barrier wouldn't open for you and Ginny?" Hermione asked as he sat down next to Ginny.

He shook his head.

"We ended up waiting by the car for Mum and Dad." Ginny added.

"You guys could have just flown to Hogwarts in the car. That would have been wicked!" Ron said causing Ginny to roll her eyes

"Harry suggested the same thing. I'm glad I was with him to talk some sense into him and not you Ron." Ginny replied.

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Ginny's right. You two would've gotten into serious trouble."

"I wonder who did that to the barrier. I'm guessing it would have had to take some pretty advanced magic to do it. That rules out it being a student." Harry said wanting to change the subject.

They spent the rest of the trip contemplating who could've shut the barrier. Their ideas ranged from Malfoy to Voldemort, to it being a freak accident. In the end none of them were able to come up with an idea that made sense.

(Ginny's P.O.V)

Ginny was startled awake by the loud whistling of the train announcing their arrival at Hogwarts. She blushed when she noticed that she had fallen asleep with her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry had fallen asleep as well so he didn't seem to notice. Hermione however was giving her a knowing look. Ginny stuck her tongue out at her which only caused her to giggle slightly.

As they were making their way through the train Hermione leaned over and mumbled to Ginny, "You and Harry looked pretty comfortable sleeping next each other."

Ginny blushed again but quickly retorted, "I noticed you and Ron were pretty close also. Anything going on there Hermione?"

Ginny grinned when Hermione just stood there opening and closing her mouth.

As the four friends came out Harry turned to Ginny and said, "First years go to the castle by boat and then are sorted. So we'll see you at the Gryffindor table!"

Ginny nodded. She wasn't quite as worried about being sorted into Gryffindor as Harry had been, but she was still a bit nervous.

She jumped slightly when she heard Hagrid's booming voice behind her, "Hello you four, How're you doing?"

"We're doing good Hagrid. We'll just leave Ginny her with you and head over to the carriages Harry responded.

Ginny gave Harry a quick nervous hug and turned to follow Hagrid along with the other first years.

"Excited for yer first year eh Ginny?" Hagrid asked.

Ginny nodded her head and replied. "Yeah I am. I'm just nervous. What if I'm not sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of my family and friends?"

Hagrid patted Ginny on the shoulder causing her knees to buckle. "Don't you worry Ginny. There hasn't been a Weasley yet to not be sorted into Gryffindor. I doubt you'll be any different."

Ginny smiled feeling somewhat reassured. When they reached the lake she got into a boat with a girl that she had recognized as Luna Lovegood. She had come over to visit the Burrow a few times when they were younger. Just as she had sat down and greeted Luna, a small, mousey-haired boy with glasses joined them. He seemed very excited and introduced himself as soon as he got into the boat.

"Hello! My name is Colin Creevey! I'm a muggleborn."

Trying to suppress a giggle at the boy's energy, Ginny shook his hand and replied, "Hello Colin. My name is Ginny Weasley."

"And my name is Luna Lovegood." Luna added dreamily as she shook Colin's other hand at the same time.

Seemingly unfazed by Luna's oddness, Colin continued talking. "Nice to meet you Luna and Ginny. Did you say your last name was Weasley Ginny? I heard rumors that Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Live, is living with you. Is it true? Do you think you could introduce me?"

Ginny frowned slightly. She knew Harry hated his publicity and probably wouldn't appreciate anyone fawning over him. On the other hand, she doubted it would do much harm introducing him to Colin.

"Er… ya he's living with me. My family adopted him a few years ago. I guess I could probably introduce you to him."

"Wicked!" Colin responded.

A few minutes later, the boats left the docks and headed towards Hogwarts. Ginny gazed up at the castle. Harry had been right, words truly couldn't describe the beauty of the giant castle. They reached the other side of the lake and Hagrid led them all to the entrance where they found Professor McGonagall waiting for them.

She lined them all up alphabetically and explained to them how they would be sorted and how the house points worked.

Finally the time came for all of them to enter the Great Hall. They nervously walked in and stood in the middle of all the students right in front of the sorting hat. Ginny looked over at the Gryffindor table and spotted Harry. He gave her a thumbs up and indicated an open spot next to him that he was saving for her. She gave him a nervous smile right as the Sorting Hat burst into song.

When the song was over and everyone had given the hat a round of applause, Professor McGonagall began calling out their names. Colin was one of the first to be sorted. He was so excited that he tripped as he ran up to the hat, but he didn't seem to notice everyone's laughter. He sat on the stool and put on the hat, which fell down over his eyes. About a minute later the hat shouted loudly.

"Gryffindor!"

Everyone laughed again as he once again tripped on his way to the applauding Gryffindor table. She saw him take the spot that Harry had been saving for her despite his obvious protests. She giggled when she saw him immediately begin talking to Harry who turned to Ginny and rolled his eyes.

A few students later it was Luna Lovegood's turn. She happily skipped up to the hat causing a few Slytherins to snicker. A few seconds after she put on the hat it shouted.

"Ravenclaw!"

Ginny sighed, slightly disappointed. She had been hoping to rekindle her friendship with Luna, which would be hard to do if they weren't in the same house.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, it was Ginny's turn.

"Professor McGonagall called out, "Weasley, Ginny"

She nervously walked up to the hat and put it on after sitting down. As soon as she put it on she heard it's voice in her head.

"Ah, I see it's finally time to sort the last of the Weasley children. Fortunately that makes my decision very easy. Bravery and loyalty runs in your family after all. Plus I wouldn't want to separate you from Harry Potter! I can see you two have a very special… bond. So it'd better be… Gryffindor!"

She took the hat off and happily headed over to the applauding Gryffindor table. She took a seat next to Hermione on the opposite side of Harry, who was steadily looking more and more annoyed as Colin continued to talk to him. he mouthed "Help me." to her causing her to giggle before turning to watch the last of her year mates get sorted.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the crowd of students. "Well, now that everyone has been sorted I only have two words to say before we start the feast: Tuck in!"

The golden platters and goblets in front of everyone suddenly filled with food and pumpkin juice and everyone began eating.

"Congrats on being sorted into Gryffindor Ginny. I could tell you were nervous." Hermione said.

"Thanks Hermione!" She responded.

Taking advantage of the momentary pause in Colin's chatter, caused by him taking a bite of his food, Harry added, "See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

"Funny, I seem to recall saying the same thing to someone last year who had been much more nervous than I was." Ginny responded with a smirk.

"You were nervous about being sorted Harry? I would've thought you would be certain of being put into Gryffindor…" Colin said, once again starting his non-stoptalking.

Eventually the plates cleared and were replaced by dessert. Ginny took a bit of everything agreeing with Harry that the Treacle Tart was especially good.

Finally, when everyone had eaten their fill, the plates cleared. Dumbledore stood up again and gave his start-of-the-year announcements and then told the prefects to to show the first-years to their dorms.

Percy stood up importantly. "Alright first years if you would follow me, I'll show you how to get to Gryffindor Tower."

She did her best to pay attention as Percy guided them though the castle. She remembered Harry telling her that it took him and Ron awhile to figure out where everything in the castle was and she didn't fancy getting lost on her first day of classes.

They finally reached the seventh floor and Percy had them stand in front of a portrait of a fat lady.

"This is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. You will need to know the password to enter, and you cannot tell it to anyone that isn't in Gryffindor. The current password is wattlebird."

The portrait swung open as he said this and he led them through the passageway behind it. The common room was just as Harry had described it. Plump chairs and couches littered the room and there was a roaring fireplace. Percy showed them the two separate staircases that led to the boys and girls dormitories.

Suddenly feeling very tired, Ginny decided to head up to her new room. She found that her trunk was already there waiting for her in front of her new bed. Midnight was also there curled up on her pillow. She opened her trunk, pulled out Tom's diary, and sat on her bed with Midnight purring on her lap.

She opened the diary and thought for a few seconds before writing, "Hey Tom, I'm writing to you from my new bed in Gryffindor Tower."

A second later Tom responded, "So you were sorted into Gryffindor? A fine house. I myself was in Slytherin, a vastly misunderstood house."

Ginny frowned and wrote back, "You were in Slytherin? My brothers and Harry warned me to stay away from Slytherins. They said that more dark wizards have come out of Slytherin than all the other houses combined."

"Yes, unfortunately this is true. I can assure you though that a lot of us aren't that bad. I myself was Head Boy during my seventh year so you can trust me." Tom responded.

She smiled. "I trust you Tom, you're too nice to be a dark wizard. Now I'm pretty tired after today so I'm going to go to bed. I'll write to you soon."

"Goodnight Ginny. I look forward to our next chat."

She closed the diary and put it back at the bottom of her trunk. For whatever reason she felt the need to keep the diary a secret. She then closed the curtains and curled up in her bed. It had been a long day so she quickly fell asleep looking forward to her first day of classes.

(Harry's P.O.V)

The next day Harry sat at the Gryffindor table working his way through a plate full of eggs and toast. Ron was shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming rate and Hermione had her copy of Voyages with Vampires propped open against a milk jug. He looked up in panic when someone sat down next to him, thinking that it was Colin. He sighed with relief when he saw that it was Ginny.

"A bit jumpy today Harry?" Ginny giggled.

"Sorry, I thought you were Colin. That kid is relentless." Harry responded.

"He's just excited to meet you. He's new to the wizarding world after all, and you are a celebrity of sorts."

"Hermione was new to the wizarding world last year, but she wasn't exactly fawning over me." Harry complained.

Ron snorted into his food. "I don't know about that mate. Remember when we first met her? "I know you of course, you're Harry Potter. I've read all about you!" he mimicked in his best Hermione voice, earning himself a slap on the back of the head from her.

"I was just telling him were I had heard of him. At least I wasn't going to my first day with dirt on my nose."

"And there we go…" Harry mumbled to Ginny as Ron spluttered.

Fortunately, before their argument could progress, Professor McGonagall came by passing out their timetables. When she handed Harry and Ginny theirs she added, "Dumbledore wants to see you two in his office before your first class. The password is acid pop. I would suggest you head up there now so that you're not late to your first class."

Harry and Ginny nodded and began to get up.

"Are you two in trouble or something?" Ron asked.

"It's probably about what happened at the barrier Ron." Hermione said.

"Well how was I supposed to know?"

Harry and Ginny hurried off as Ron and Hermione started bickering again.

"Wow, I don't remember them being this bad at the Burrow." Ginny said as they headed towards Dumbledore's office.

"Yeah, I think they were just taking a break over the summer. Now that classes have started again they seem to be making up for lost time." Harry added.

Ginny looked at her timetable. "So what class have you got first?"

Harry glanced at his, "Double Herbology with Hufflepuff. How about you?

"Double potions with Slytherin."

"Ouch. I'm sorry." He replied as he cringed.

"The Slytherins can't be that bad can they?" Ginny asked.

He shrugged. "The one's in my year are pretty bad, and they're only encouraged by Snape. Not a good combination."

"Oh… At least I have Charms with Ravenclaw afterwards. I'll get to see Luna!"

Harry nodded. "I'm sure you'll like Charms. Really all of the classes are fun except for Potions and History of Magic."

They soon reached the Gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's office. Harry said the password and it moved aside revealing a staircase that they climbed up. When they reached the top they opened the door and saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk.

"Ah, hello Harry and Ginny. Have a seat." He said as he conjured two chairs for them which they sat down in.

"I suppose you're wondering why I had you summoned here." He said.

"Is it because of what happened at the barrier?" Harry asked.

"That is correct Mr. Potter. I am pleased that you were smart enough to wait for your parents instead of doing anything foolish."

"I am too professor." Ginny replied giving Harry a pointed look.

Dumbledore chuckled before continuing. "Anyway, as soon as your father informed me of what happened I myself went down there to check it out. I was surprised to find traces of house elf magic around the Barrier."

Both Harry and Ginny's eyes widened and they looked at each other.

"Did you say house elf professor?" Harry asked.

"I did indeed. You two seem to know something that I don't. Care explaining?"

"Over the first few weeks of the summer I wasn't receiving any mail, but Ron was. We came to the conclusion that someone was intercepting my mail, but couldn't figure out who it could be. Finally one night I heard a noise outside my window and when I opened it I found a house elf trying to take a letter off of Hedwig. It turned out his name was Dobby and he was trying to keep me from wanting to return to Hogwarts this year. He claimed that there was going to be a great danger. Dad said that it was probably just a prank." Harry recounted.

Dumbledore seemed to be deep in thought, but finally responded, "I would guess that it was this same house elf that closed the barrier. Mr. Weasley is probably correct in guessing that it is just a prank. I will, however, be keeping an eye out for this danger that it spoke of."

Both Harry and Ginny nodded.

Dumbledore glanced at his pocket watch. "Oh look at the time! I'm afraid you two will be a little late for your first classes. Just tell your professors you were with me."

"Alright, thank you for looking into this problem professor." Ginny said as they got up.

"You are most welcome Ginny. I hope you both have a good first day."

They left Dumbledore's office and began heading toward their classes. Right when they were about to split up however they ran into Professor Lockhart who seemed surprised, but excited to see them.

"Harry! Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Me and Ginny had a meeting with Dumbledore sir. It went a little late."

"Oh Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry." Lockhart said while putting a hand on his shoulder. "Getting in trouble already? I take full responsibility of course. Gave you a taste of fame and now your looking for more."

"Er… no it was just about…"

"Harry, Harry, Harry. Just calm down alright. When I was twelve, I was just as much as a nobody as you are now. In fact, I'd say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with You-Know-Who!"

He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead.

"I know, I know — it's not as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times in a row as I have - but it's a start, Harry it's a start. Oh, and it's good to see you again, Jenny right? I look forward to seeing you in class."

Harry stood there for a few seconds before looking at Ginny to see she was grinning and blushing slightly.

"What are you blushing about?"

She jumped slightly and blushed even more. "Oh…er… nothing. He's just, very um handsome" she mumbled.

"You don't fancy him do you? He's got to be the world's biggest git." Harry said with exasperation.

"I-I'd better get to class, I'm already late. Talk to you later Harry." She replied before rushing off.

"Unbelievable." Harry muttered as he headed off to Herbology.

Unfortunately Harry wasn't able to tell Ron and Hermione about his meeting with Dumbledore and his encounter with Lockhart until Transfiguration because they were repotting mandrakes and had to wear earmuffs during Herbology.

"That is weird that the house elf tried to stop you from going to Hogwarts again." Hermione said as she transfigured yet another beetle into a button in Transfiguration.

"Yeah, I wonder what his deal is?" Ron added as he poked his beetle with his wand.

Harry and Ron had long given up on transfiguring their beetles and were now racing each other's across their desk.

Hermione looked at them disapprovingly before going on. "So you got to meet Professor Lockhart already Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah and he was a complete git. I'm not looking forward to our first class with him."

"Well, we have him this afternoon after lunch." Hermione said as she looked at her timetable.

"Why have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?" Ron demanded furiously.

Hermione quickly put the schedule away blushing furiously.

Harry groaned as Ron's beetle crossed the makeshift finish line first.

"Not you too Hermione. I'm pretty sure Ginny fancies Lockhart also. Even though he didn't even say her name right."

"I don't fancy him!" Hermione replied indignantly.

"Riiight." Both Harry and Ron said sarcastically.

That night at dinner Harry and Ron were still complaining about Lockhart.

"Can you believe him? He calls himself a defense professor, but he can't even deal with pixies." Ron said.

"He was probably just trying to see if we could handle it with his help Ron." Hermione said defending him, causing Harry to snort.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right Hermione. And did you hear him after he caught Colin asking me to take a photo and sign it? Thought I was giving out signed photos to increase my fame."

"He's not that bad guys." Ginny said.

"I'm sure you did just as good on his test as Hermione did, eh Ginny?" Ron asked.

This caused both Ginny and Hermione to blush furiously.

"Girls." muttered Ron to Harry, who felt inclined to agree.

(Ginny's P.O.V)

Ginny was in her bed writing to Tom when she heard her door open, She quickly shut the diary and looked up to see Hermione walk in.

She looked at the diary and grinned. "I thought I would find you up here. Still keeping a diary I see."

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, I enjoy it. You should try it sometime."

"Hm, maybe. So Harry and Ron both seem pretty upset about Professor Lockhart.

Ginny laughed. "Yeah they are! I would never admit it, but I kind of agree with them. He really doesn't seem to know what he is doing as a professor."

Suddenly Ginny grinned as she remembered something. "Ron told me about the hearts in your timetable."

Hermione blushed. "He did? I don't fancy him, I swear Ginny. I'm just trying to make, er, someone jealous."

Ginny laughed again. "I figured. Does this someone have red hair?

Hermione blushed even more but didn't say anything.

"It's ok Hermione. I know you fancy my brother."

Without answering her, Hermione asked, "What about you? Do you fancy Lockhart? Or are you just trying to make a certain dark-haired boy jealous?"

Now it was Ginny's turn to blush. "You caught me. It seems that we can't keep secrets from each other."

"Nor should we. I think we can help each other. I know Harry and Ron probably won't notice girls for awhile still, but when they're older…"

"We'll make sure it's us they notice and not someone like Lavender." Ginny finished for her shuddering.

Hermione nodded and then yawned. "Well, good talk Ginny, but I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

Ginny yawned as well. "Goodnight Hermione."