Ginny Stands Alone

Chapter One

"It makes me one more reason why the world's dangerous"

The music started magically from somewhere overhead. Lights hit the stage, illuminating the young woman standing there. Then the song began.

God's little gift is on the rag

Poster girl posing in a fashion mag

Canine, feline, Jekyll and Hyde

Wear your fake fur on the inside

Queen of south beach, aging blues

Dinners at six, wear your cement shoes

I thought you were singing your heart out to me

Your lips were syncing and now I see

Ginny Weasley was onstage, singing beautifully. Everyone at the Blue Moon Lounge was transfixed by her. The upbeat guitar music accompanied her, and she just kept singing.

A change would do you good

A change would do you good

She had them now. The crowd was hers. All she had to do was keep smiling and, above all, keep singing.

Chasing dragons with plastic swords

Jack off, Jimmy, everybody wants more

Scully and angel on the kitchen floor

And I'm calling Buddy on the ouija board

"Ginny." A voice interrupted her song. It seemed to be coming from somewhere far away.

She was just getting to her favorite part of the song, the climax. Then that annoying voice had to cut in again.

"Ginny!"

Her eyes snapped open, and Ginny found herself staring into the face of Hermione Granger. In front of her she saw Cho Chang singing on the Blue Moon stage.

I've been thinking 'bout catching a train

Leave my phone machine by the radar range

Hello, it's me, I'm not at home

If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone

"What on earth were you doing?" Hermione asked.

"I was singing," Ginny said without pausing for thought. Then, at the look of bewilderment on Hermione's face, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, I was, uh, daydreaming."

Hermione pursed her lips, but said nothing more about it. Instead she looked at her watch and huffed, "Where are Harry and Ron? They should be here by now. Honestly, they're not responsible enough to be of age yet."

Ginny wasn't too eager to get into a conversation about the responsibilities of a person who is of age. So she directed her attention back to Cho, who was just finishing her song.

A change would do you good

A change would do you good

The room filled with claps and cheers when she was done. There was always an enthusiastic crowd at the Blue Moon Lounge, the newest, hippest pub on Diagon Alley. It really didn't do to call it a pub. The place was much too classy for that, with its high tables and blue-cushioned chairs. All the young witches and wizards just out of school came there.

Ouch. Young witches and wizards just out of school. That was another topic Ginny would rather avoid.

It was about then that Harry and Ron finally made their entrance. "Hello, ladies," Ron said, acting a lot more suave than he actually was. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled him into the seat beside her.

"Hi, Gin," whispered Harry, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Ginny smiled up at him. "Hi."

"Sorry we're late," Harry said to both Ginny and Hermione. "There was a bit of a commotion at the store when I went to get Ron."

"What are Fred and George up to now?" asked Ginny.

Ron shrugged. "A new product they just put in was causing a little problem."

"If by causing problem, you mean blowing up," Harry added mischievously. "The store was a total mess, so we stayed to help clean up."

"Why did you have to help? I thought keeping things tidy was Ron's job," said Ginny sweetly.

"Oh, sod off," Ron retorted. "I'm not their housekeeper. I'm Official Assistant to the Presidents of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." Suddenly he stopped talking and screwed up his face in agony. "Blast it, I'm beginning to sound like Percy. I really need to get a better job."

Ron had been working for the twins every since he left Hogwarts, but it was clear that working at the family business wasn't what he really wanted to do. On the other hand, Harry was an Auror-in-training. It was obvious to Ginny that all Ron wanted was to follow in Harry footsteps and become an Auror too.

"Stop complaining, Ron!" Ginny snapped. "At least you have a decent job. You're not stuck as some ruddy trainee writing crap articles for The Daily Prophet."

"Come on, Ginny, your job's not that bad," Hermione said soothingly. "We all have to start somewhere."

Ginny turned on Hermione angrily. "Like you would know anything about starting at the bottom! You're breezing your way through Healer school, and the Ministry already has you doing medical research for them."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all stared at Ginny in surprise. She sighed and hung her head.

"I'm sorry, you guys. I'm just a little nervous about being on my own," she said lamely.

This was the trouble with having your three best friends a year ahead of you in school. By the time Ginny was getting started on her own, they were already settled into life after Hogwarts. Her dead end job at the Prophet didn't help matters much. With the assignments they were giving her, she would never be writing anything more than glorified space fillers. Certainly never anything she wanted to write.

Suddenly fast-paced banjo music filled the room. Cho took her place in the center of the stage and started to sing again.

You don't like the sound of the truth

Coming from my mouth

You say that I lack the proof

Well, baby that might be so

Ron did a double take when he saw who was onstage. "What's Cho Chang doing here?"

Hermione rolled her eyes affectionately. "She's been the regular singer here for the past two weeks. You're so oblivious."

"Oh," Ron muttered, apparently still perplexed by a former classmate singing at the Blue Moon.

Ginny laughed and grabbed Harry's hand. "C'mon! Let's dance."

I might get to the end of my life

Find out everyone was lying

I don't think that I'm afraid anymore

Say that I would rather die trying

At least things with Harry still made sense. They had gotten together at Hogwarts and never been separated since. Sure, he drove Ginny crazy sometimes, but it didn't matter. They needed each other.

She became less and less aware of the people surrounding her. Ginny was no longer moving rather awkwardly around the dance floor. She was singing to the crowded room.

Woh-oh

Swing me way down south

Sing me something brave from your mouth

And I'll bring you pearls of water on my hips

And the love in my lips

All the love from my lips

This time when he swung the bat

And I found myself laying flat I wondered

What a way to spend a dime

What a way to use the time, ain't it baby

She swayed her hips back and forth along with the twangy music. It was rather amazing how well a bunch of wizards and witches from the city responded to some good old country music. She would have laughed if she hadn't been in the middle of a performance.

I looked at my reflection in the window walking past

And I saw a stranger

Just so scared all the time

It makes me one more reason why the world's dangerous

"Cho's not a half bad singer," came Harry's voice in her ear.

What was he talking about? It was she, Ginny, singing. Shouldn't her boyfriend now that?

"Don't you think she's pretty good?" said Harry's voice again.

Ginny tore her eyes away from where they were staring, unseeing, at the wall. She looked at Harry, then up at Cho. "Oh, yes. She's very good."

Woh-oh

Swing me way down south

Sing me something brave from your mouth

And I'll bring you pearls of water on my hips

And the love in my lips

All the love from my lips

Shouldn't life as a supposed adult be a little more exciting than this? Ginny left the lounge that night feeling satisfied for the moment, but still inwardly restless. She would have to do something about her life, because right now it was nothing to brag about. Having her boyfriend be the one thing she had going for her simply wasn't acceptable.

And she would have to do something about these bizarre singing fantasies. Yes, those definitely had to go.