The morning of their departure for Hogwarts could not have gone worse. Ginny had been rushing around frantically trying to find her Exploding Snap pack when out of nowhere, something huge and bulky slammed into her, knocking her down two flights of stairs. She heard Hermione and Mum shriek as she tumbled all the way down into the hallway, her nose gushing blood onto the floor. Mrs. Black's portrait opened and the usual screeching ensued.

"GINNY!" yelled Mum. She had been waiting for them in the hall and immediately darted over to Ginny as she landed. "Are you alright? WHAT HAPPENED?"

Eyes watering in pain, Ginny slowly got to her knees as she tried to get her bearings and figure that out for herself. She put her hand over her nose in an attempt to control the bleeding. The pain was excruciating.

"It was Fred and George's trunks!" squealed Hermione, who had raced down the stairs after her. "They bewitched them — they were flying down the stairs —"

Mum hauled Ginny to her feet and looked at her, her face white.

"Ah fink by dose iz brogen," gasped Ginny, barely audible over Mrs. Black's shrieks.

"I'm gonna murder those two!" Mum said furiously. "SHUT UP!" she cried, waving her wand at the screaming portrait, and the curtains closed with a bang. The portrait fell silent.

Mum turned back to Ginny. "Hold still." She pointed her wand at her nose. "Episkey."

Ginny felt her nose become very hot, and then cold. It stopped bleeding immediately and the pain vanished.

"Tergeo," said Mum. The blood was gone. "There, that will have to do for now, do you have everything packed?"

"I think so," said Ginny, who now registered that there were several more members of the Order standing near them, waiting, "except I can't find my Exploding Snap pack, I was sure I left it upstairs —"

"We don't have time, we need to leave now or we'll miss the train!"

"We can't," growled Mad-Eye Moody. "We have to wait for Sturgis. He was assigned to be part of Harry's guard. Don't know what that bloke could be doing that's so important…"

"I — oh all right, then, but please hurry," sighed Mum.

Ginny and Hermione hastened back up the stairs. Wincing from her fall with every step, Ginny entered her room behind Hermione and started searching frantically for her Exploding Snap pack, while Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and Hedwig, the latter whom she had borrowed to send letters to her parents and hurried back out. Ginny heard more commotion downstairs just as Hermione opened the door; Mum was fuming at the twins for the incident with the trunks, with Mrs. Black's renewed howls adding to the din. She continued looking for her cards, now tearing through her bedsheets, but couldn't find them anywhere. She was running out of time.

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" roared Mum from the bottom of the stairs. Panicking slightly, she rummaged as fast as she could through her trunk even though she'd already looked through it twice, and to her enormous relief, finally found what she was looking for near the bottom wrapped in some clothing. She flung everything back in her trunk sloppily and hauled it back down the stairs where order had been restored. Lupin and Mad-Eye stood waiting for them.

"Where's Mum?" said Ginny.

"She left already," said Lupin. "She took Harry to King's Cross with Tonks and Sirius. We're splitting into groups. You, Fred, and George will be coming with me. Your dad took Ron and Hermione. Leave your luggage here; Mad-Eye will get it. We better get going, or we'll miss the train."

Mad-Eye had a large cart already full of luggage. When they added theirs, he promptly set off out the door.

"Everyone all set?" said Lupin. They all nodded. "All right then. Let's go."

They set off behind Mad-Eye, who was wearing a bowler hat at an angle to conceal his magical eye. Ginny could see Ron, Hermione, and Dad not far past him.

"Sorry about the trunks, sis," said George. "We were just trying to save time, we had no idea you were coming up the stairs."

"It's all right," said Ginny. "Mum fixed my nose in an instant." Though her nose was mended, her body still ached from the fall down the stairs.

"The way she was going on you'd think you were on death's welcome mat," chortled Fred.

The walk to King's Cross was uneventful and they arrived just in time to make the train.

"No trouble?" growled Moody.

"Nothing," said Lupin.

Lupin shook everyone's hands and Tonks gave Ginny and Hermione a hug, after which Ginny and her siblings said their hurried goodbyes to Mum. Sirius, who had accompanied Harry in dog form, said his goodbye to Harry by putting his front paws on his shoulders. They quickly boarded the train just in time and waved from the window just as the train began to depart. Soon the lot of them were out of sight, except for Sirius, who bounded along happily after the train until it had turned a corner.

"He shouldn't have come with us," said Hermione in a worried voice.

"Oh lighten up," said Ron, "he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."

"Well," said Fred, clapping his hands together, "can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later," and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.

"Shall we go and find a compartment, then?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Er," said Ron.

"We're — well — Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly, as Ron looked down at his fingernails.

"Oh," said Harry. "Right. Fine."

"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey," said Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

"Fine," said Harry again. "Well, I-I might see you later, then."

Ginny wished she could disappear.

"Yeah, definitely," said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. "It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather — but we have to — I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy," he finished defiantly.

"I know you're not," said Harry, smiling.

Ron and Hermione dragged their trunks down the train, and Ginny saw Harry was looking downcast at the prospect of riding without them.

"Come on," Ginny told him, "if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places."

Harry grabbed his owl and trunk and started walking, with Ginny following behind. She hadn't taken two steps before she realized what a mistake she'd just made. She was supposed to sit with Michael. Her boyfriend. He had sent a letter telling her he couldn't wait to meet up with her on the train.

Fortunately, the issue resolved itself quickly. She passed by his compartment and found him sandwiched in between two friends, and the compartment was completely full. Michael saw her and grimaced apologetically, and Ginny threw her hands out as if to say, "What the hell?", but inside she was extremely relieved. She had no idea how she would have gotten out of the predicament she just put herself in otherwise.

Further along she saw her friends Lena and Amber crammed together with some other students, including Colin and Dennis Creevey, but again, there was no room in the compartment for Harry and Ginny to join them. They waved to Ginny as she passed, who waved back.

They continued trudging toward the back of the train. She only hoped there was a compartment that was empty enough for both of them. Her mind conjured up a scene where the last compartment had just enough room for her and Harry to squeeze in next to each other with no daylight between them, and it felt like her stomach dropped a couple of feet as she imagined it. She tried to disregard the vision, but she also thought there was a very real chance of it playing out as they passed crammed compartment after crammed compartment. She felt her heart start to beat a little faster.

People stared and pointed at Harry as they made their way to the back, and Ginny had a strong urge to hex them all. Finally, they reached the end of the train and encountered Neville Longbottom, who was clutching his toad, Trevor. Glancing around Neville, it was clear the last compartment was empty enough for the hypothetical situation that had just played out in Ginny's mind to not happen. She felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment.

"Hi, Harry," Neville panted. "Hi, Ginny… Everywhere's full… I can't find a seat…"

Slightly bewildered, Ginny squeezed past him to get a better look. Sure enough, only person was in there: a blonde girl Ginny knew was called Luna, who was widely considered an oddball. That explained why Neville (or for that matter, anyone else) didn't want to sit there. Ginny smiled, however; she knew this was about to be an entertaining train ride.

"What are you talking about?" she said brightly. "There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here —"

"I didn't — want to disturb anyone —" mumbled Neville.

"Don't be silly," said Ginny, laughing, "she's all right."

They slid into her compartment. As usual, Luna had her wand behind her ear and was reading The Quibbler upside down.

"Hi, Luna," said Ginny. "Is it okay if we take these seats?"

She nodded as she stared around at them all with enormous eyes.

"Thanks."

Harry and Neville stowed their belongings on the luggage rack and sat down. Luna stared creepily over her magazine at Harry, who was now looking quite uncomfortable. Ginny suppressed a giggle.

"Had a good summer, Luna?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," said Luna dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. You're Harry Potter," she added.

"I know I am," said Harry, looking very much like he wished he were anyone else.

Neville chuckled. Luna finally took her eyes off Harry and stared at him instead.

"And I don't know who you are."

"I'm nobody," said Neville hurriedly.

"No you're not," said Ginny sharply. "Neville Longbottom — Luna Lovegood. Luna's in my year, but in Ravenclaw."

"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," said Luna in a singsong voice, and she hid her face behind her magazine again. It took tremendous effort for Ginny not to laugh at the look Harry and Neville gave each other.

The train ride continued as normal; Luna continued to be absorbed by The Quibbler and didn't pay the rest of them any more attention. After some time had passed, Neville pulled a potted plant out from his bag that he claimed was a birthday gift and showed it to them. It looked like a grayish cactus.

"Mimbulus mimbletonia," he said proudly. It was pulsating slightly and was covered in what appeared to be boils. "It's really, really rare. I don't know if there's one in the greenhouse at Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to show it to Professor Sprout. My great-uncle Algie got it for me in Assyria. I'm going to see if I can breed from it."

Harry was looking at the plant with unmistakable revulsion.

"Does it — er — do anything?" he asked.

"Loads of stuff!" said Neville proudly. "It's got an amazing defensive mechanism — hold Trevor for me…"

Oh Merlin, Ginny thought to herself. This doesn't sound good…

He dumped the toad into Harry's lap and took a quill from his schoolbag. Luna looked over the top of her upside-down magazine again, watching what Neville was doing. Neville held the Mimbulus mimbletonia up to his eyes, his tongue between his teeth, chose his spot, and gave the plant a sharp prod with the tip of his quill.

Ginny had a split second's warning: she threw her arms up and covered her face as the plant squirted a foul-smelling, greenish liquid everywhere. She felt the stuff hit her clothes and the top of her head; it was thick and slimy. She shuddered. Once she felt it was safe to do so, she lowered her arms and saw the entire compartment was drenched in the foul liquid, Neville and Harry included. Luna got off easy though; her magazine had shielded her from the worst of it.

"S-sorry," gasped Neville, shaking his head violently to get the stuff out of his eyes. "I haven't tried that before... Didn't realize it would be quite so… Don't worry, though, Stinksap's not poisonous," he added nervously, as Harry spat a mouthful onto the floor.

At that precise moment the door of their compartment slid open.

"Oh… hello, Harry," said a nervous voice. "Um… bad time?"

Ginny looked to see who it was and felt like a bucket of icy water had just been dumped on her. It was Cho Chang. Ginny glared at her automatically, but Cho wasn't looking.

"Oh… hi," said Harry, humiliated.

"Um…" said Cho. "Well… just thought I'd say hello… 'bye then."

She closed the door again and left, blushing. Harry slumped back in his seat and groaned. Ginny stared blankly at the spot where Cho had just stood. It took a moment for her to regroup. Luckily, she was now well practiced at emotional suppression.

"Never mind," she said, trying her best to sound composed and confident. "Look, we can get rid of all this easily." She pulled out her wand. "Scourgify!"

The Stinksap vanished.

"Sorry," said Neville again, in a small voice.

Ginny did not like seeing Harry get embarrassed, but a small part of her thought Cho had picked the perfect time to drop by. Still, she knew the Stinksap incident wasn't going to stop their romance. If anything, it just prolonged the inevitable. Maybe they really were going to be like Ron and Hermione and drag it out forever. Ginny thought she'd sooner let herself be subjected to the Cruciatus Curse than have to witness that. Why couldn't they just snog it out and get it over with already? To her surprise, the answer suddenly came to her without having to think, and she wondered why she hadn't realized it sooner: both of them were in tremendous pain from what happened during the third task and felt guilty about their feelings. It was something she knew they'd both get over with time, but until then they were just going to flirt and tap-dance around each other, and she was going to be forced to watch. Ginny felt pathetic for thinking more about her own feelings than what Harry was going through. Her problems paled in comparison. She could never imagine what it would be like to see someone get murdered right in front of her.

Ginny sensed Luna's gaze and looked over at her nervously. Her protuberant eyes were peering over her magazine and were fixed on her. Ginny gulped. She knew Luna was not afraid to speak uncomfortable truths…

"Wrackspurt bothering you?" she said dreamily.

"No," said Ginny, not bothering to ask what a Wrackspurt was, knowing it was just another of Luna's inane delusions.

"Oh. You had the look of someone who had an infection," said Luna in the same dreamy voice. "I could get my Spectrespecs and check if you like."

"N-No, thanks, Luna. I'm fine, really."

Luna continued to stare at her for a moment but didn't say anything further. Finally, she went back to her magazine. Ginny felt relieved that she didn't blurt out something about her being jealous right in front of Harry. It was not beyond Luna to do something like that. Harry and Neville were busy abusing Snape and took no notice of their exchange. Ginny, whose head was still full of depressing thoughts about Harry and Cho, rallied herself using the only defense mechanism she knew: shoving these thoughts to the far reaches of her mind and putting on a happy face. She would have to rebuild the wall around her heart that came crashing down with her jubilation upon learning that Harry wasn't going to be expelled.

"So, Harry, how did that hearing go?" said Neville suddenly, as though he knew what Ginny was thinking. "I was so glad when I heard they cleared you! I was terrified. Hogwarts wouldn't have been the same without you."

Harry went slightly pink and replied, "Yeah, Fudge tried his best to paint me as some attention seeking delinquent, but Dumbledore being there caught him off guard and he got flustered. I don't know if I would have gotten off if he hadn't been there."

Ginny could tell by Harry's tone that despite Dumbledore's help at the hearing, he was still not happy with the headmaster.

"It's a load of rubbish that you even had to go to that hearing," said Ginny fiercely.

"I just want to know how I get attacked by dementors the one time I leave my house," said Harry angrily. "That just seems too unlucky to be possible…"

"I'll bet someone from the Ministry sent them!" said Neville.

"I think Voldemort probably did, to be honest," said Harry. Neville twitched slightly at the sound of the name. Ginny always did a double take when she heard it; for the first eleven years of her existence, she had only ever heard Dad say it, and that was just one time when she had inquired one day as a curious child. He had told her never to say it out loud as it wasn't considered socially acceptable to do so. Being at Order headquarters all summer, however, had started getting her used to it.

"I don't know, Harry," said Ginny. "I think Neville might be right, with Fudge being — ouch!" She reached into her bag for a book, but she was still hurting from her fall earlier. She felt a sharp pain in her back as she bent over. Neville and Harry looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong?" said Harry.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Still a little sore from falling down the stairs, earlier, that's all…"

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," said Harry with concern.

"Hard not to, with Mum screaming about it at the top of her lungs," said Ginny dryly.

"Well, it did sound bad. I'm glad you're okay."

"My nose did get broken," said Ginny. "Mum took care of that right away, though."

Ginny noted dimly that Harry was actually very easy to talk to, especially when others were around, and she felt like she had been preparing for years to scale a hundred-foot wall that ended up only being about ten feet instead. She felt stupid, and even a little angry. Maybe if she hadn't been a silly little girl for so long, she could have gotten Harry to notice her before he started falling for Little Miss Perfect…

It wasn't too much later that the lunch trolley rolled by. They all loaded up on Chocolate Frogs, Mars Bars, Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans, and Pumpkin Pasties. They dug into the Pumpkin Pasties first, and after finishing those, Neville opened his box of Bertie Bott's while Harry opened a Chocolate Frog.

"Careful, Neville," said Harry, for Neville had grabbed a yellow bean. "I think that one's Rotten Egg, not Lemon…"

Neville studied it closely. "Yeah, maybe… kind of hard to tell though… better not risk it." He put the bean back in the box. "What famous wizard did you get?"

"Wendelin the Weird," said Harry.

Ginny, who was also eating a Chocolate Frog, looked to see what wizard card she had.

"I'll trade you," she said to Harry. "I've got Rowena Ravenclaw, I already have three more of her…"

"Sure," said Harry, handing her Wendelin the Weird. Ginny handed hers to Harry.

"I've got Newt Scamander!" said Neville suddenly, who, not wanting to be left out, had put his Bertie Bott's Beans away in favor of the Chocolate Frogs. "Ugh, this one is Mungo Bonham. Who wants that one?"

"I'll take it," said Ginny. "This one is Miranda Goshawk — too nerdy, here…"

They continued exchanging cards for a few minutes when Ron and Hermione finally returned from the prefect carriage. Ron sat between Harry and Neville and Hermione squeezed in next to Ginny. They announced the new prefects from the other houses, one of which was Draco Malfoy, much to Ginny's displeasure.

"…And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," finished Hermione.

"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil," said a vague voice.

Everyone turned to look at Luna Lovegood, who was gazing unblinkingly at Ron over the top of The Quibbler. He swallowed his mouthful of Frog.

"Yeah, I know I did," he said, looking mildly surprised.

"She didn't enjoy it very much," Luna informed him. "She doesn't think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her. I don't think I'd have minded," she added thoughtfully, "I don't like dancing very much."

She retreated behind The Quibbler again. This was exactly the type of thing Ginny had been worried Luna might say about her and Harry. She had no filter whatsoever. Ron stared at Luna with his mouth hanging open for a few seconds, then looked around at Ginny with a look of utter bewilderment, and Ginny stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself from giggling. She thought it was worth it to sit with Luna just for this. She knew Ron's reactions to her would be gold. Luna was also helping Ginny keep her mind off the visit by Cho.

Things returned to normal, and Ron and Hermione went back to discussing their prefect duties. Ron was excited at the prospect using his new position to punish Slytherins, while Hermione scolded him for abusing his power.

"I'll make Goyle do lines, it'll kill him, he hates writing," said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle's low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. "I… must… not… look… like… a… baboon's… backside…"

Ginny began to laugh, but Luna let out a shriek of mirth so shrill that she stopped cold and jumped several inches into the air in surprise. Crookshanks leapt up into the luggage rack, hissing madly. Luna's magazine slipped and fell to the floor as she doubled over in laughter.

"That was funny!"

Luna gasped for breath as Ginny, Neville, and Hermione also burst out laughing at the unfolding scene. Luna rocked back and forth, clutching her sides all while not taking her eyes off Ron. Was she crushing on him? This odd thought popped into Ginny's mind without warning. It would certainly explain this bizarre behavior that, even for Luna, was a bit much.

"Are you taking the mickey?" said Ron, frowning at her.

"Baboon's… backside!" Luna choked, holding her ribs.

Harry very suddenly snatched up The Quibbler off the floor. He stared at it for a moment before saying to Luna, "Can I have a look at this?"

Luna nodded, still staring at Ron and gasping. Ginny took one look at Ron's face and had to look away immediately or else she would be laughing just as hard as Luna. She looked at Harry instead, who was paying no attention to Luna at all and fixed intently on something in the magazine. Ginny realized he must have seen some absurd headline and probably didn't realize what an unserious magazine The Quibbler was. Harry read silently while Luna finally regained control of herself.

"Anything good in there?" asked Ron as Harry closed the magazine.

"Of course not," said Hermione scathingly, before Harry could answer, "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that."

"Excuse me," said Luna; her voice had suddenly lost its dreamy quality. "My father's the editor."

"I — oh," said Hermione, looking embarrassed. "Well… it's got some interesting… I mean, it's quite..."

"I'll have it back, thank you," said Luna coldly, and leaning forward she snatched it out of Harry's hands. She flipped it through it aggressively, turned it upside down, and hid her face behind it once more.

The remainder of the train ride was uneventful, apart from an unpleasant visit from Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. As darkness eventually fell, they changed into their Hogwarts robes and the train began to slow. The sky was cloudy but the rain which had pattered the windows earlier had stopped. They grabbed their luggage and other belongings as the train came to a halt.

Ginny stood up, and she felt something soft brush against her ankles. She looked down: it was Crookshanks. Ron and Hermione had already left the carriage for prefect duties, so Ginny, who wasn't sure if they were coming back or not, picked up the big orange cat and held him securely in her arms. Crookshanks didn't seem to mind, and he began purring when Ginny scratched the back of his neck. Luna took Pigwidgeon and they all made their way through the packed corridor and into the cool night air. For whatever reason, Harry stopped as soon as they got off the train and looked around. Ginny stopped beside him automatically, and someone ran into her from behind, causing Crookshanks to squirm.

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry said after a moment.

"I don't know," said Ginny, who now noticed that the first years were being hailed by a sharp female voice rather than Hagrid's, "but we'd better get out of the way, we're blocking the door."

"Oh yeah…"

They moved along through the platform with the mass of students. Ginny lost track of Harry as other kids jostled by them and she had to concentrate on not losing Crookshanks, who was still squirming and didn't like the hustle and bustle going on around them. After several minutes Ginny found an open doorway and squeezed through to the road outside, where as usual, the horseless carriages stood lined up, waiting to take them to the castle. Ginny quickly spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione and walked quickly over to them.

"There she is," said Harry. Hermione held out her arms to take Crookshanks.

"Thanks," she said. "Come on, let's get a carriage together before they all fill up…"

"I haven't got Pig yet!" Ron said, but Hermione was already heading off toward the nearest unoccupied coach. Ginny followed her.

She sat on the end of one of the benches next to Hermione, staring out the window at nothing in particular. What had happened to Hagrid? He always took the first years from the station to the castle. She hoped it was nothing and perhaps he just had something more important to attend to. She felt tired and hungry and was looking forward to being back in her dormitory with a warm, freshly made bed.

"What's taking them so long?" said Hermione after a moment. Ron, Luna, and Harry were still outside, and there had been no sign at all of Neville. "I know they saw which carriage we went in…"

Ginny said nothing. They sat and waited for another moment, then the three of them finally ambled in and took a seat.

"Did everyone see that Grubbly-Plank woman?" said Ginny. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"

"I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"

"Yes, he is!" said Ginny, Harry, and Ron angrily.

Hermione, seeing the look Harry was giving her, coughed and said, "Erm… yes… he's very good."

"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed.

"You've got a rubbish sense of humor then," Ron snapped, as the wheels below them creaked into motion. Luna responded by staring at him interestedly. Yup, thought Ginny. She totally has a crush on him…

She knew the chances of Ron returning that crush were less than zero. Well Luna, Ginny thought sadly, I guess we have something in common…

Feeling down, she closed her eyes and leaned her head up against the wall as the carriages moved down the road toward the castle. The bumpiness of the ride seemed amplified as she kept her eyes shut, and after what felt like a short amount of time, the carriages were coming to a halt in front of the stone steps leading up to the entrance of the castle.

Ginny got out slowly and passed Harry, who was staring at the front of the carriages and looked troubled.

"Are you coming or what?" came Ron's voice behind her.

"Oh… yeah," said Harry, and he and Ron followed behind the girls toward the oak doors.

Ginny walked into the familiar cavernous hallway and then through the big double doors off to the right that led into the Great Hall. The enchanted ceiling was black as thick clouds covered the heavens, and loud chatter from hundreds of students already sitting at their respective tables greeted her. Ginny and Hermione began moving down the Gryffindor table, looking for a place to sit, as Luna hurried off toward the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey, Ginny!"

Ginny looked in the direction of the voice and saw Lena and Amber waving at her and beaming. Waving back, Ginny hurried over and sat down beside them.