Dealing with Danger

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“Virginia Weasley, you get down here this instant!”

Ginny grimaced at the sound of her mother’s yelling from the kitchen. Closing her journal, she got up from her bed and walked down.

Molly Weasley turned as Ginny entered the kitchen to face her daughter. Ginny smothered a giggle as she saw the state it was in. Flour covered every surface and overturned cans of food littered the counters.

“Mum,” Virginia said, clearing her throat, “what happened?”

Mrs. Weasley put a hand on her hip and replied, “I was hoping you could tell me.”

Ginny shrugged. “Maybe it was Fred and George.”

Mrs. Weasley sighed “It couldn’t have been them. They’ve been with your father the whole day."

“Mum we’re back!” The door to the Burrow banged open as Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley walked in.

“Honey, I-” Mr. Weasely froze as he saw the kitchen.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” George pushed his father to look in. “Oh...wow...”

"What is it? Lemme see!” Fred pulled George back to see. “Did...I miss something Mum?”

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes.

“Okay, so it wasn’t Fred and George. What about Ron?” Ginny asked.

“I don’t know-” Molly began to reply but the three Weasley children had already darted out up to Ron’s room.

Ginny rapped on the door and slowly pushed it open. It was definitely Ron all right. The room was covered with flour- just like the kitchen- and his cauldron was in the middle of his desk. Ron was frantically picking up papers strewn across his floor. Ginny bent down to pick one up. She realized it was a recipe for a giant chocolate truffle cake.

“Um, Ron- what are you doing with this stuff?” Fred asked from behind her.

Blushing furiously, he mumbled something and grabbed the paper out of Ginny’s hands.

“What was that?” George asked.

“I’m making a cake for Harry!” Ron yelled out loud, “It’s his birthday next week and I wanted to surprise him.”

Suddenly Mrs. Weasley appeared- looking quite upset “Ronald Weasley, you had better clean the kitchen before dinner or I will make you de-gnome the garden till school starts!”

“Yes Mum,” he quipped and ran downstairs.

Harry’s birthday is next week? I totally forgot about it, Ginny thought to herself as she walked back to her room. I wonder what I should buy him. For as long as she could remember, Ginny Weasley had always had a crush on Harry Potter. But now she felt it was more than just a crush- she was falling in love with him.

“Oh fudge!” she exclaimed to her reflection, “It’s not like he’ll ever notice e anyway. I’m just Ron’s little sister, no matter how much I’ve grown this summer.” She pulled her long red curls up and twisted them around in a bun while examining her perfect figure in the mirror. Sighing, she let her hair drop and stared at her reflection. “I just wish I had a chance.”

Later that night, Ginny quietly crept up to Ron’s door to peek in. He was still working on the ingredients for the cake.

“Ron,” she whispered softly, “can I come in?”

“He mumbled a ’yes’ and she treaded slowly into his room. She watched him for a few moments and noticed he was struggling with the muggle measuring system.

“Do you need some help?” she offered.

“No thanks, this is my gift to Harry. Thanks anyway.” He patted her hair affectionately, covering it with flour. Ginny grinned and threw flour at him which ignited a flour fight. They stopped when they were both exhausted and covered head to toe with flour. They both lay on his bed in a comfortable silence.

Before long, Ron noticed Ginny had fallen asleep. Getting up, he carried her back to her room and tucked her in. Sighing, he reluctantly began admitting to himself that his ‘baby sister’ was growing up to be a beautiful young woman and that he wouldn’t always be there to protect her. In an uncharacteristic brotherly act, Ron leaned down and gave Ginny a quick kiss goodnight and left her room.

Hermione Granger came a day before Harry. He was coming the day of his birthday so his two best friends wanted everything to be perfect. Everything was set up and ready before he arrived at the Burrow.

Ginny was just as anxious as everyone else. She’d spent the whole day before shopping for a gift and had spent the last of her summer allowance on it. She’d found the perfect present and she knew Harry would love it.

Harry arrived the next morning- tired, yet quite happy to be with his friends. Ginny handed him her gift first and said quickly, “Happy Birthday Harry,” before leaving him, Ron, and Hermione alone.

Throughout nearly the whole day, Harry couldn’t stop thinking about Ginny. It was almost as if she’d changed overnight from the young, freckle-faced girl to a beautiful teenager. Of course he didn’t admit this to Ron- he was scared of Ron’s over-protectiveness.

He saved her gift until last after everyone had gone to sleep. It was a golden watch with small snitch-like wings. The words “Gryffindor Seeker” were engraved on the front and on the back, his initials, HP, were engraved to prove his ownership. Harry smiled before putting the watch on and going to sleep.

“Hey Ginny!” Ron said, knocking on her door, “We’re going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy our school supplies. Wanna come?”

“Okay!”

Ginny jumped at the opportunity to spend more time with Harry.

“Draco!” Lucius said from the hallway outside his door, “you’re going tomorrow to buy supplies. Make sure you have your money.”

“Yes Father,” Draco replied, rolling his eyes. I just hope Potter’s not there.

Ginny awoke bright and early the next morning to make sure the trio didn’t leave her behind. They had a tendency to forget about others while they were together.

“Hey Gin,” Ron greeted cheerfully as he, Harry, and Hermione came down. “Ready to go?”

“Yup!” She jumped up and followed them over to the fireplace. “Is Mum coming?”

Ron shook his head. “Mum and Dad were invited to some social gathering at the Ministry.” He handed the jar of Floo Powder to Hermione who reached in and shouted “Diagon Alley” before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

“You next Harry,” Ron directed. Harry did the same and Ginny followed after him. Ron was the last one there.

“What should we buy first?” Hermione asked, reaching for her supply list.

“Actually, I have to go to Gringotts first and get some money out of the vault,” Harry said.

“We’ll go with you.” Ron and Hermione began to walk off with Harry when Ginny cut in. “I’ll go get my supplies. We can meet up later at the Leaky Cauldron.”

“Sure. Just be careful, okay?” Ron advised before leaving with Hermione and Harry. Ginny went off into Flourish and Blotts to buy her books when a flashy journal caught her eye. She opened it and realized it was a Talking Writer- a new invention where you simply talked to the book and it wrote down whatever you said. She checked the price. Unfortunately, because of its attributes, the costs were high. This particular one was twenty galleons. Putting the book back, she grabbed the rest of her books and made a quick exit.

She realized she still needed dress robes. She walked into Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions and waited patiently as she finished the robes for some first years entering Hogwarts.

“How can I help you?” Madame Malkin asked as she cleared away the trimmed material left on the ground from the previous customers.

“I need some dress robes,” Ginny answered and moved forward towards the stool, “but nothing too expensive.” Madame Malkin circled her twice before snapping her fingers. “I’ve got the perfect one!”

A dark green gown appeared on Ginny moments later. She looked in the mirror. I guess it’s alright... she though to herself. “I’ll take it.”

Ginny paid for the dress and walked out of the stored, wondering where to go next. She looked down and realized she needed a few more things and set off to find them.

She was exiting the Apothecary, putting away the remainder of her money when she accidentally crashed into someone. Her bags skittered across the pavement as she looked up to see the glittering eyes of Draco Malfoy staring down at her.