"Ron, this is the last time I'm going to tell you to stop spreading nasty rumors about me."

They were back at the Burrow, and Ginny had finally found an opportunity to confront him one-on-one about what Fred and George had said to her back at their joke shop. Mum had sent him up to his room to put some clothes away and Ginny had followed him up the stairs.

"What are you talking about?" said Ron. "I haven't!"

"That's funny, because Fred and George accused me of messing around with five different boys, which is completely untrue, and the only person they could have heard such ridiculous tales like that from is you!"

"I didn't — well, I mean — look," spluttered Ron, who had turned bright red, "you know how many blokes started asking me if you were single last year? And claimed you were flirting with them or — or said you were a tease —"

"What, just because I said 'hi' to them or something?" Ginny jeered. "Me and Dean flirted with each other before we got together, but that's it! Anyone else saying I flirted with them is either lying or delusional."

Ron looked at her skeptically.

"It's tough hearing these things about your own sister, you know."

"Why? Just because you're so inept with girls?"

Ron gripped his wand in his pocket.

"Try it," goaded Ginny. "Go on."

Ron didn't move but just stared contemptuously at her.

"You know, Ron," said Ginny carelessly, "girls talk about boys too when they're not around. You would do just fine if you weren't such an idiot."

Ron blinked stupidly.

"What does that mean?" he said.

Ginny merely scoffed and turned to leave.

"I'm serious, Ron," she said, turning back to him at the doorway. "Stop telling lies about me, or I'll tell Mum. Or better yet, Dad. What do you think he'll say when I tell him what you've been insinuating about me?"

"That's not — I didn't — I'm not —"

"That's exactly what you're doing," said Ginny. "And I will tell Dad if you don't stop."

And with that, she left and headed back downstairs.

By pure coincidence, Ginny received a letter from Dean the very next day during breakfast. Luckily, Ron was sufficiently distracted by a Fleur monologue and didn't have the chance to pry into her business. She tucked the letter in her clothes and once she had finished eating, she quietly left the kitchen and went to the sitting room with her new Pygmy Puff, Arnold, sitting on her shoulder. She took a seat on the sofa and opened it.

Hey Ginny!

I hope your summer is going good! The concert was awesome, it's too bad you couldn't come! I'm missing you lots, I hope we can meet up on the train when school starts back up, how's that sound? I've never looked forward to returning to school so much before, and it's not just so I can do magic again! Not sure I'm looking forward to being Ron's dormmate this year though, he might strangle me in my sleep, ha ha. Hope he's not giving you too hard a time. Anyway, can't wait to see you!

Dean

Ginny smiled as she finished reading the letter. Dean did have a good-natured sense of humor; she liked that about him. She read through it again, then grabbed a quill and some ink and began writing a lengthy reply, agreeing to meet up with him on the train and telling him about Ron going mental at the idea of boys liking her, and included the recent drama at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Who's the letter for?"

Harry had entered the room holding a glass of what looked like iced tea and was looking at her curiously. Ginny gaped at him for half a second as the situation hit her like a bucket of cold water.

"Dean," she said, taking her eyes off him and focusing her attention back on the letter. "You know, my boyfriend," she added unnecessarily, putting an ever-so-slight emphasis on the last word.

"Oh," he said disinterestedly. "Right."

Ginny waited to see if he would say any more about it, but he did not.

"Do you still think about Cho, much?" said Ginny, hoping she sounded innocently curious and conversational.

"No, I'm over that. Actually, I don't think I've thought about her all summer."

Ginny figured that was the case, but it still felt good hearing it. She was never going to forget how she had once believed they were destined for each other, and the torment that that had inflicted on her.

"Looking back, I don't think it was ever much of a relationship," Harry continued. "We didn't even snog much."

"Really?" said Ginny, surprised by this piece of information. She put her quill down and sat up straight, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I mean, we did a few times," Harry clarified, and Ginny's mood dampened slightly again, "but… I dunno. We never really recovered from the Valentine's Day fiasco."

"Oh yeah, Hermione told me about that. Sounded like Cho was pretty tactless."

"Yeah, well, maybe I could've… I dunno," Harry mumbled. "Well, anyway, you want some iced tea? Your mum made some, I came out here to see if you wanted a glass."

He held out the glass he was holding for her.

"Yeah, thanks," said Ginny, taking it from him. "Oh, and by the way," she added, lowering her voice, "I know you three weren't in the 'back room' when Mum was looking all over Fred and George's joke shop for you yesterday."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Harry with a sly grin, one that Ginny couldn't help but return.

"If you tell me what you were doing, then maybe I won't tell Mum."

"Now, you wouldn't want to make your mum mad at 'The Chosen One', would you?" said Harry with mock worry.

"She wouldn't be mad at you. She's not capable of being mad at you, remember?" said Ginny, smirking. "Trust me, she'd put all the blame on Ron."

"Doesn't sound like threatening to tell Mum is actually a threat then, is it?" Harry reasoned.

"Hmm," said Ginny thoughtfully. "You have a point there, Potter. Maybe I should tell her then. Seeing her lose her mind at Ron is always good for a laugh, especially after he told Fred and George a bunch of lies about me. You make the popcorn."

"Deal."

They laughed, and Harry headed back to the kitchen. Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The sitting room felt at least ten degrees warmer than it did a few minutes ago.

When Ginny went to her room that night, it was to find Hermione already in bed, reading through one of her new textbooks.

"Are you actually studying right now?" said Ginny in amazement. "Never mind, of course you are. You're Hermione."

"Wouldn't hurt for you to get a head start, you know," said Hermione. "This is your O.W.L. year, after all."

"I don't need any reminders about that right now, thanks," said Ginny irritably.

"Okay," said Hermione in something of a singsong voice, as if she thought Ginny was being foolish and that she would deeply regret not getting a head start later. She dogeared a page in her book and flipped to another section. "Wonder what kind of Dark Arts teacher Slughorn will be? I hope he knows his stuff with all that's happening right now."

"Well, look on the bright side," said Ginny. "If he's not, we can revive the D.A. and have Harry teach us again!"

"Very funny," said Hermione dryly.

"I'm sure he'll be good," Ginny said seriously. "He's who Dumbledore wanted, right? That's what it sounded like."

"True."

"Speaking of Harry, he saw me writing to Dean earlier. I told him who I was writing to."

"And how did he take it?"

"He didn't seem to care, but we had an interesting conversation, and get this, I called him 'Potter'."

"What?" said Hermione, laughing.

"Yeah, I dunno. We had some banter about where you three went when Mum was looking all over for you yesterday, and it just slipped out. He didn't seem to mind, though."

"You were flirting with him, weren't you?" said Hermione.

"What? No! I wasn't!"

But thinking back, Ginny realized this was a lie. She would not have acted the way she did around anyone else.

"Alright, maybe a little," she admitted. Hermione sighed with exasperation, but still smiled.

"You're going to have to watch yourself when you get back to school, you know. Dean's not going to be as oblivious to that as Harry."

"I wasn't doing it on purpose!" said Ginny, and she was telling the truth this time.

"If you say so," said Hermione with deep skepticism. "Good night, Ginny."

Feeling a bit disgruntled that Hermione didn't believe her, she didn't say "Good night" back, but promptly got into bed and put her light out.

The weather had become hotter and muggier, which meant Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione spent more time indoors. Fortunately, Fleur was spending more time in her room these days, giving Ginny more opportunities to make fun of her, which she took full advantage of. This usually consisted of doing what the others thought was a very good impression of her French accent, and other times throwing her hair around like she would often do. One time she did this, she accidentally whipped Harry across the face, much like Fleur had done to Mum on his first night at the Burrow. Ginny blushed slightly and Hermione giggled, but to her immense relief, Harry took it in stride and told her that it "just made it a better impression".

"Let's play some Quidditch," said Ron. None of them needed convincing, and so they grabbed their brooms and headed out to the backyard.

"Think I'll have much competition for Keeper this year?" Ginny heard Ron ask Harry.

"Dunno," Harry replied. "There were quite a few trying out last year, weren't there?"

"Yeah, and at least one was better than me, Angelina only rejected him because he was a prat or something."

"You've had plenty of practice this summer, Ron," said Hermione. "You do fine when you're confident in yourself."

Ron had a bit of a swagger about him after that remark and he and Ginny won the game of Quidditch convincingly.

Nothing eventful happened over the next couple of weeks, but as the last few days of the break arrived, Ginny noticed that Harry, Ron, and Hermione started having more hushed conversations and would often stop talking abruptly any time she entered the room. Ginny hated this; it gave her a feeling of loneliness and being left out.

Mum had started becoming stressed again and was reminding them several times a day not to leave their packing to the last minute. Ginny gathered all her books, games, and items of value a couple of days prior to the end of break so that all she would need to do on their last day was pack her clothes, and for once, the morning of their departure went as smoothly as they could have hoped for, despite Fleur's presence.

"I think we're actually going to make it on time for once," said Mum, sounding greatly surprised.

"Are we going in the Ministry cars again?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ron, I went over this yesterday," said Mum irritably. "They should be here any minute, in fact…"

"Eet will feel empty in 'ere without you all," said Fleur sadly.

They assembled in front of the house with all their belongings and sure enough, five minutes later three pristine Ministry cars rolled up and parked in front of them.

"We take the red one," said Dad. "The others are for Aurors who will ride alongside us."

" 'ave a great term!" said Fleur. "I'm sure I will see you at Christmas!"

Ginny gave a small groan that nobody else heard, but Ron looked positively gleeful at the prospect. She picked up her trunk and cage containing Arnold the Pygmy Puff just in time to hear Fleur say, "Au revoir, 'Arry," in her usual throaty voice, kissing him on each cheek. Ron hurried forwards, looking hopeful, but Ginny, who was suddenly in a very bad mood, stuck out her foot and Ron fell, sprawling in the dust at Fleur's feet. Furious, red-faced and dirt-spattered, he hurried into the car without saying goodbye, and gave Ginny a filthy look as he sat down beside Hermione. Ginny felt a little bit guilty. But only just a little.

The car ride was quiet and they met up with more Aurors at King's Cross. Harry went first through the barrier but hung back to talk to Dad about something while the rest of them boarded the train. Ginny waved at Luna before she got on, who she saw talking to what looked like her father, an odd-looking wizard with shoulder-length white hair.

Ginny heaved her trunk up the steps to the corridor and began making her way down the train, looking for Dean. Everyone stared at her. She was expecting that, given all the news about their adventure at the Ministry, but it was still uncomfortable. She hadn't gotten very far before she ran into her friend Amber, who was standing next to a girl that for a second Ginny didn't recognize, then she realized it was Lena. But it hardly looked like her at all; she had a visible tan, her blonde hair was curled and now had brown highlights, and her face looked more mature than what she remembered. It suited her; she looked quite pretty.

"Hey, Ginny!" she said brightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," said Ginny. "You look different."

"I know, right?" Amber cut in with a chuckle. "Took me a second, too."

"Is that good or bad?" said Lena with a nervous smile.

"Good!" said Ginny. "You look smashing!"

"Thanks! That means a lot coming from you!" she said kindly. Ginny blushed.

"So where'd you get the tan?" said Amber.

"I spent two weeks in Kenya," said Lena.

"How was that?"

"Fun! I got to try all sorts of unique food. How about you? How was your summer?"

"It was okay, just played Quidditch, mostly," said Ginny. "Have you seen Dean? I said I'd sit with him."

"Yeah, he's somewhere in the back," said Amber. "He was asking about you."

"I'm sure he was," Ginny muttered.

"That reminds me, I have to go find Jack," said Lena, and Amber rolled her eyes. "I saw that," she added, glancing at Amber, who snorted.

"We're gonna get you a boyfriend this year," Ginny told her.

"Yeah, I don't think so, boys don't like me much," said Amber.

"Don't be stupid," said Lena. "Oh look, here comes your Chosen One," said Lena, giving Ginny a mischievous smile, and a couple seconds later she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Harry, with a bunch of silly, starry-eyed younger girls trailing after him. Ginny wasn't sure if Harry even realized they were there.

"Fancy trying to find a compartment?" he said.

What would have been a dream come true a couple years ago, now she had to say no. Of course, this was also a perfect opportunity to "shove Dean in his face", as Hermione put it.

"I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean," she said, and she turned away from him and headed down the corridor. A few steps later, she was second-guessing herself and thought that maybe she should have agreed to sit with him. Ron and Hermione couldn't, as they had prefect duties, and she suddenly worried that he would be stuck sitting with some of those immature girls who were following him around. Would Dean mind if she sat with him instead? Surely he would get it once she explained to him. Or would he be jealous?

She finally found Dean in a compartment near the end of the train, sitting with Seamus and a few Hufflepuffs.

"Hey, there she is!" said Dean excitedly, giving Ginny a glowing look as she opened the compartment door.

"Hi, Dean!"

She took a seat next to him that he had been saving for her. He gave her a swift kiss and blushed slightly.

"I've missed you," he said.

"I've missed you, too!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than it suddenly dawned on her that there were many days over break where she had not thought about Dean at all. She had a sense that that was not something that was mutual between them.

"I'm sorry Ron gave you a hard time this summer," said Dean.

"Eh, I'm pretty well used to his nonsense by now," said Ginny, and Dean chuckled.

Dean began telling her about his summer and Ginny quickly realized that the idea of asking him if she could sit with Harry instead was completely moronic. She almost laughed out loud thinking about just how stupid it was. Even suggesting that they both move to Harry's compartment seemed like something that would not go over well. Of course he would be jealous, and she could hardly blame him. They quickly ran out of things to talk about and had a couple of snogs, but didn't go too crazy with a compartment full of people. She showed him her new Pygmy Puff, but as the train rattled on, she began feeling a bit tired as she had not slept that well the previous night, and quickly dozed off. When she awoke, Dean was snacking on some Licorice Wands.

"Oh, did I miss the lunch trolley?" said Ginny.

"No, I brought these from home. I'd saved them. Want one?"

"No thanks, I don't like licorice much."

"More for me," he said with a smile.

Dean began playing Exploding Snap with Seamus and Ginny kept herself entertained by listening to the Hufflepuffs gossip across from them. Suddenly, the compartment door opened and a blonde-haired boy with an upturned nose poked his head inside.

"Hey, Ginny, want to come sit with us?" said Zacharias Smith. Dean whipped around to find out who the intruder was.

"I'm sitting with my boyfriend, sorry," said Ginny.

"Your what?"

Ginny stared. She knew he had heard her; she had not spoken quietly, nor had she mumbled.

"Don't you know what a boyfriend is?" she sneered, and Dean snorted. Zacharias ignored this and changed tack completely.

"Tell us what happened at the Ministry," he demanded. "Are the rumors about the prophecy true? Did you hear it?"

The Hufflepuffs had stopped gossiping and were now following their conversation intently.

"No, I didn't. I have no idea. The Prophet is probably just making stuff up as usual."

"I don't believe you," he sneered.

"Are you calling me a liar?" said Ginny, gripping her wand in her pocket.

"Why'd you even go there? Just wanted some attention or something? It makes no sense."

"I guess I just like a bit of adventure," she said smoothly. "Now please leave us alone before I hex you."

"Oh, right, I'll just leave you alone with your, erm… boyfriend." He put a mocking inflection on the word.

"What's your problem?" said Dean loudly.

Zacharias smirked.

"No problem," said Zacharias. "Just want to hear first-hand what happened at the Ministry."

"I broke my ankle fighting Death Eaters and then got knocked out," said Ginny. "I'm sorry if that didn't meet your expectations. I literally don't know anything about the prophecy."

"Well, you can still join us in compartment G and tell us all about the fight."

"No," she said firmly.

"Come on, I promise we'll have a good time."

Perhaps it was the sleazy look on his face as he said it, but before Ginny really knew what she was doing, she had pulled out her wand.

"Volamucus Oppugno!"

A second later, several green, bat-shaped bogeys were swarming Zacharias's face.

"Hey!" he shouted, trying to swat them away. The others laughed (though Dean laughed the hardest), and Ginny felt a sense of satisfaction that ended up being very short-lived.

"Oho!" said a booming voice, and a very fat bald man with a huge, white mustache waddle into view, waved his wand, and the bats disappeared. Zacharias gave Ginny a contemptuous look and disappeared down the corridor. The fat man peered into Ginny and Dean's compartment, looking for the perpetrator. "Who did that?"

A couple of people pointed awkwardly at her. She turned red; it had to be a record. Not even Harry had gotten detention this quickly before.

"That was an impressive bit of magic!" the fat man said loudly, and to Ginny's enormous surprise, he looked pleased rather than reproving. "What's your name, miss?"

"Ginny Weasley."

"Great to meet you, Ginny! I'm Professor Slughorn, I'll be returning to teach at Hogwarts this year. I'm having a few students join me in compartment C for lunch, would you care to come?"

"Okay," said Ginny apprehensively, giving Dean an apologetic look as she got up. Knowing he could have easily given her detention, she couldn't really say no, so she followed Slughorn back through the corridors to compartment C.

"A Bat-Bogey Hex!" Slughorn exclaimed. "Don't see those every day! What House are you in?"

"Gryffindor."

"Ah. I was head of Slytherin during my first tenure here. Sixth-year?"

"Fifth."

"Splendid. Just this way, now…"

Slughorn slid open a door to the left and she followed him inside, where there were three other students sitting in various seats. The only one she recognized was the tall, black boy that had approached her in the library back in June.

"This is Cormac McLaggen," said Slughorn, indicating a large wiry-haired boy who had an arrogant look about him. He smirked and gave a wave of acknowledgement. "He's in Gryffindor too, but a seventh-year."

Slughorn gestured for Ginny to sit in a corner seat next to him. She sat down, feeling a bit uncomfortable, trying to scooch herself as close to the window as possible. Slughorn was so large that he spilled over into the neighboring seats.

"This is Marcus Belby, a Ravenclaw," Slughorn continued, indicating the other white boy sitting opposite her, "and Blaise Zabini, Slytherin."

Blaise gave Ginny a stony look.

"Now then," boomed Slughorn merrily. "Welcome to the Slug Club! We're just waiting for two more, Neville Longbottom and —"

"Potter," said Blaise disdainfully.

"Right you are! Do you know Mr. Potter, Blaise?"

"No, but she does," he said, pointing at Ginny. He gave her a smirk that she took as an accusation that she fancied him. Ginny shot him a filthy look.

"Do you?" said Slughorn excitedly, turning to Ginny.

"Yeah, he's my friend," said Ginny, stressing the last word, and Blaise snorted.

"Marvelous," said Slughorn. "Just marvelous…"

Ginny could not have dreamed up a stranger start to the school year if she tried. It felt like an hour had passed in the last ten minutes alone. She quickly surmised that Slughorn had invited the others due to well-known relatives, as he began rambling to one student about teaching his uncle many years ago.

"…Yes, you can imagine how proud I was when he earned his Order of Merlin, very proud indeed… he was always a gifted student, I could see that right off…"

The compartment door opened again and Harry and Neville entered.

"Harry, m'boy!" boomed Slughorn, standing up with surprising speed given his size. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville nodded, looking scared. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. Slughorn quickly introduced everyone again to Harry and Neville.

"— and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn finished, indicating Ginny.

Ginny gave Harry an awkward smile. Slughorn quickly launched into conversation with the others, touting their famous relatives, but quickly lost interest in Marcus Belby when he said his father and uncle didn't get along. It turned out Blaise had a famously beautiful witch for a mother whose husbands kept dying mysteriously, leaving her loads of gold, and McLaggen had an uncle who was important in the Ministry. When he got to Neville, a very uncomfortable ten minutes followed, as Neville was forced to talk about his parents who, as Ginny discovered last Christmas, were in a long-term unit at St. Mungo's after being tortured by Death Eaters.

"Yes, such a devastating tragedy," Slughorn was saying. "Truly a shock at the time… maybe the worst event of the first wizarding war… You live with your grandmother, now, correct?"

"Yes."

"Augusta and I go back a long time," said Slughorn. "I must get in touch with her. She must be very proud of you, isn't she?"

"I dunno," Neville mumbled. "She's usually very strict. I found her intimidating when I was growing up."

"I see," said Slughorn, scrutinizing him. "Very good, yes."

At last, he turned his attention to Harry, with an air of saving the best for last.

"And now… Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer! The 'Chosen One', they're calling you now!"

Everyone was staring at Harry now. He must be so sick of this, Ginny thought.

"Of course," said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumors for years… I remember when — after — that terrible night — Lily — James — and you survived — and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary —"

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

"Yeah, Zabini," Ginny blurted out, "because you're so talented… at posing…"

"Oh dear!" chuckled Slughorn, turning in his seat to look at Ginny. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

"Anyway," said Slughorn, turning back to Harry. "Such rumors this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes — but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!"

Harry nodded, looking as though he was regretting coming to Slughorn's compartment immensely.

"So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond — you were there, then? But the rest of the stories — so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe — this fabled prophecy, for instance —"

"We never heard a prophecy," said Neville, turning geranium-pink as he said it.

"That's right," said Ginny staunchly. "Neville and I were both there too, and all this 'Chosen One' rubbish is just the Prophet making things up as usual."

Ginny hoped she could force this truth into existence if she repeated it enough. The idea that Harry was indeed the "Chosen One", the only one who could defeat Voldemort, was something she was not remotely ready to accept.

"You were both there too, were you?" said Slughorn with great interest, looking from Ginny to Neville. smile. "Yes… well… it is true that the Prophet often exaggerates, of course…" Slughorn continued, sounding a little disappointed. "I remember dear Gwenog telling me — Gwenog Jones, I mean, of course, Captain of the Holyhead Harpies —"

The afternoon wore on with more anecdotes about illustrious wizards that Slughorn had taught and joined his "Slug Club", and it was dark out by the time they left his compartment.

"I'm glad that's over," muttered Neville. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is a bit," said Harry, his eyes on the back of Zabini's head as he ambled down the corridor in front of them. "How come you ended up in there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith," said Ginny, "you remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the D.A.? He kept on and on asking about what happened at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed me so much I hexed him — when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited me to lunch! Mad, eh?"

"Better reason for inviting someone than because their mother's famous," said Harry, "or because their uncle —"

Harry broke off.

"I'll see you two later," he said under his breath, pulling out his Invisibility Cloak and flinging it over himself.

"But what're you — ?" asked Neville.

"Later!" whispered Harry.

"What d'you suppose he's up to?" wondered Neville.

"I don't know," said Ginny. "But it looked like he was following Zabini."

"He seemed really arrogant. Typical Slytherin, right?"

"Yeah. Well, I'll see you Neville, I'm sure Dean's wondering where I am."

"Bye, Ginny."