Malus Detrimentum

Chapter One: (1/?) I wish it were me

Ginny looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. Harry Potter was coming to the Burrow for the rest of the summer holidays and she couldn't decide what to do with her long, copper-colored hair. Ginny wanted something that would impress him, but at the same time didn't want to look as if she was trying too hard. After settling on straightening it with some potion and pulling it into a low ponytail, she slipped into her newest silvery blue robes. She was just choosing a pair of earrings when there came a knock at the door.

"Mind if I come in, Ginny?" It was Hermione Granger, Head Girl for the upcoming term at Hogwarts, the Wizarding School they both attended. She was also one of Harry's two best friends.

"Sure," replied Ginny "I'm almost done in here." Ginny always felt a little nervous around Hermione, who was top of her year. She was afraid that she might let it slip that she had strong feelings for Harry.

"Wow, you look great, Gin! Harry will be impressed." At this, Ginny dropped the small silver earring that she was about to put in and gawked at Hermione.

"How do you know?" she whispered. Hermione gave a sly little smile and settled onto Ginny's well-worn blue bedspread.

"Oh, don't be silly. I've known it for ages. Why else would you constantly hang around one of your older brother's friends? And you always make sure that you are wearing something pretty whenever he's around. But don't worry, I'm sure Harry doesn't know, after all, he's a guy, which makes him totally oblivious to things like that." This explanation startled Ginny, but Hermione told her not to be surprised, as all girls can tell if somebody likes somebody else, unless of course, they are really thick.

"Oh Hermione, please don't tell anyone, I would absolutely die of embarrassment!"

"Stop worrying! Of course I wont tell, I'm not a sodding git after all." Ginny felt reassured, and both girls settled down on the bed to pore over the back issues of Teen Witch Weekly. Soon, they could hear Mrs. Weasley's voice from downstairs welcoming Harry and asking if would like a cup of tea. Ginny and Hermione both thundered down the stairs and saw Harry and Ron chatting animatedly.

"Hermione!!! Good to see you again," Harry gave Hermione a big hug, and Ginny wished with all her heart that it could have been her Harry was hugging. "And Ginny! How are you doing?" The sound of Harry's voice made Ginny weak at the knees, but she managed to squeak out a
" Fine thanks Harry."

"Now," interrupted Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen, "I'm sure Harry wants to get some rest before we all head to Diagon Alley tomorrow for your school things. Ron, take Harry upstairs, and girls, why don't you help me here in the kitchen." Ginny would much rather have gone upstairs with Harry and Ron, but Harry would definitely notice that something was up. Besides, she wanted first dibs on a seat beside Harry at dinner, and the only way she could manage that would be to set the table for her mother.

Suddenly, an earsplitting crash and a loud shriek of laughter was heard from Fred and George's room. Ginny knew what would happen next, because it had been happening all summer. Percy came trouncing down the stairs wearing a thunderous expression.

" Mum! I told you that I simply cannot bear those two anymore! They have been absolutely intolerable since they got that apprenticeship at Zonko's. I vote that they move out or start respecting their elders.." Here Percy cleared his throat loudly, and started ranting again. " It is truly agonizing live in this household now. Why, just this morning I found that they had taken my wand and replaced it with a fake one. The stupid thing turned into a rat."

While Percy ranted and raved, Ginny and Hermione giggled as they noticed the twins halfway down the stairs imitating their older brother by sticking their noses in the air and opening their mouths wide, as if boasting about something.

Hermione whispered to Ginny that she thought they looked like fish that had suddenly taken in more air than they could handle, as the twins rolled their eyes and puffed out their chests.

Ginny tried to muffle her loud snorts of laughter, but it was no use. Percy simply gave her an evil look through his horn-rimmed spectacles and stormed up the stairs to his room, knocking Fred and George over the banister, muttering something about finishing a report for Fudge early so that he could get a head start on the next one.

Percy had recently been given the position of personal assistant to the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and he was even more pompous and full of himself than before. Ginny briefly recounted to Hermione the events of the summer, and Hermione had to admit that Percy's behavior was hilarious.

Charlie Weasley, Ginny's second eldest brother, was home for the summer from his dragon camp in Romania, so the household was full to bursting. The Weasleys and their guests ate outside under the stars and enjoyed a display of a new version of Fireworks, invented by none other than Fred and George themselves.

After dinner, it was early to bed for everyone, for, as Mrs. Weasley explained, "there is lots to do in Diagon Alley in the morning."

"Yes, well, I don't think I'll be joining you Mum," said Percy, obviously trying to weasel his way out of time with the twins. "Duty calls," he said, as Fred and George sniggered behind his back.

"Yeah Perce, excellent plan. I'm sure Fudge would really miss you if you weren't at work, considering that he's on vacation in Aruba. I can just imagine him on the beach, thanking God for his dear little assistant who stays at work all day. Who knows," said Fred.

"I seriously think he's addicted to going to work every day." Said George. "He actually turned down an offer from Fudge to take a weeklong vacation in the Far East, saying that he preferred to stay and work on typing up Fudge's crap, er...sorry mom, silly reports." At this, Ginny giggled and said that Percy was probably having an affair with Fudge or something, considering the amount of time he spent at work. Even Mrs. Weasley couldn't hold back a smile.

* * *

Ginny felt the warm sunshine pouring in through the window on her eyelids and smiled. Harry was sleeping in Ron's room, just up the stairs. Today they would travel to Diagon Alley. Harry and Hermione, along with the twins and Charlie, would Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron, and she would travel by Floo Powder with her mother.

"Ginny, Hermione! Time to get up now, girls," It was Mrs. Weasley, hurrying them out of bed. "Big day ahead of us. Now Hermione," here she paused to turn around to look at Hermione. "Are you sure that Ron can Apparate properly? He says that he can, but I would feel much better with your vote of confidence."

"Don't worry, Ron's been Apparating since fifth year, when....um.....well, you weren't supposed to know, but we all Apparated out of the castle to go and visit Sirius. But that's alright, I guess now that his name is cleared, it shouldn't matter so much any more."

"Oh. You three are always up to something mischievous. Well, you shouldn't be breaking any school rules this year, with you being Head Girl and all. You wont let them do anything silly will you?" Hermione reassured Mrs. Weasley that no, she wouldn't let Harry or Ron do anything silly, and if they did, she would go straight to Dumbledore.

Ginny settled on wearing her forest green robes, which Hermione said brought out the color of her hair, and Hermione wore some royal blue ones. The two girls finished off by putting their hair up and out of the way. As they headed down the stairs, the smell of freshly buttered toast wafted up to them, and Charlie had some interesting news.

"Ginny, the owl post's arrived, and it looks like you've got something from the Finch-Fletchley household." Charlie squawked. Ginny felt her face turn beet red with embarrassment as she realized that Harry was in the room.

"Oh bugger, he knows that I don't like him anymore, not since second year when he said that he didn't care if a dementor sucked out my soul, he wasn't going to take me out to Hagrid's to see the hippogriffs." Ginny said making it quite clear that she did not like Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"Ginny, come off it, you know that he still fancies the pants off of you," said Ron, who Ginny felt like killing at that moment.

"Well I don't fancy him, and would you please shut up now Ron?"

"Now, now, Ron, no need to make Gin angry," said Mrs. Weasley, while she glared at Ron, who was still sniggering behind his piece of toast. "You have more important things to think about. Are you absolutely sure that you won't get yourself splinched while Apparating to Diagon Alley today?"

"Yes, Mum, for the thousandth time, I'm not going to get splinched. I passed the test remember? And why aren't you worried that Harry or Hermione might get splinched?"

"Well, er... Ah..... I am worried about them, but...ah, er, they are first and third in the year, are they not?" replied Mrs. Weasley.

"Gee Mum, thanks for your vote of confidence... I think." Said Ron, in just a slightly sarcastic voice.

As Ginny watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione getting ready to Apparate, she wished yet again that it was her who was holding Harry's hand. As she fantasized about the handsome Harry, her thoughts were interrupted by Molly Weasley.

"Gin......Ginny....VIRGINIA WEASLEY!!!"

"Yes Mum?" replied an innocent sounding Ginny.

"Oh come on Gin, hurry up, they'll be waiting at the other end wondering where we are." Said Mrs. Weasley as Ginny sprinkled the Floo powder into the fire.

"Diagon Alley!" she shouted as she stepped into the fire and held her arms close in to her sides.

* * *

"So, where first?" said an ambitious sounding Mrs. Weasley.

"Lets see now, how about you take Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to get their school things, and I can take Fred and George to Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor, my treat, as a congratulations on their new jobs." At this, Mrs. Weasley scowled, remembering yet again that Fred and George worked at Zonko's, a place she disapproved of. However, she quickly cleared her face and said,

"All right you four, first stop, Flourish and Blotts. Have you got your
lists?"

"Yes Mum. And you can stop treating us as if we were going into first year already," replied a rather grumpy Ron.
Wandering through Diagon Alley, Ginny saw many familiar faces of students who were also returning to Hogwarts. She sighed as she saw the Creevey brothers, who obviously had Harry radar or something, considering the speed at which they were able to find him in a very crowded street.

"Harry! Harry! Look what we've done, we invented a type of locator charm that tells us when you're near, so that we can get Quidditch tips any time we like." At this, Ginny and Hermione just rolled their eyes at each other. The Creevey brothers were totally absurd. To her complete surprise, Colin actually smiled at Ginny and asked her if they were going to Flourish and Blotts.

"Yes, actually, we were just heading there. Would you like to come along?" Hermione replied graciously, probably sure that nobody else would have been able to refrain from telling them to sod off.

"Yes, please!" the brothers chorused, and the group trouped off to the bookstore.

"Hello there dears, Hogwarts books, I assume?" asked the witch in the shop. Harry, Hermione, and Ron picked out the Standard Book Of Spells, 7, while Ginny and Colin took volume 6.

"Gosh, Harry, there must be some really complicated spells in there!" Colin exclaimed. Ginny assumed that Dennis must have wandered off somewhere. "Do you think you could teach me some of them sometime, if, of course, you think I could manage it."

"Um...well...ah... I'm not really sure, you see....er..."

"What he's trying to say is that he has a lot of work to do this year. He's, ER taking a few extra courses this year, and with being Quidditch captain and all... you know, he has lots to do, he'll be very busy, that's all," Ron filled in for the horrified Harry, who obviously did not want to spend any more time than necessary with either of the Creeveys.

"Oh. Of course, I understand. But Harry, if you ever need help with anything, you know who to ask." Colin flashed a smile that reminded Ginny of Gilderoy Lockhart, which reminded her of colorful robes, which reminded her of the fact that she still needed to visit Madam Malkin's.

"Harry, Hermione, Ron! I need to go to Madam Malkin's, and I guess I should go to Ollivander's wand shop too, because I broke my wand last week. So if you don't mind, lets meet up at Ollivander's in about an hour, alright?"

"Sure, Ginny. Lets the rest of us go to Zonko's, I bet that Fred and George could help choose some really great stuff."

* * *
As the trio came out of Zonko's joke shop, Harry and Ron had armfuls of jokes and tricks that Fred and George had "said" they could have. Hermione was not sure if they were allowed to do this considering they had only been working there a day, but Ron and Harry didn't seem to care. As Ron started dancing around Hermione waving a wand that kept turning into a squawking rubber chicken every few seconds, Draco approached the group. "How juvenile," he drawled as the rubber chicken gave one finally squawk before landing at Hermione's feet.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the great one and his followers. Shall I get down and my feet and kiss your shoes?" he queried. His eyebrow arched dangerously.

"Go away. Malfoy!" said Hermione standing front of Harry protectively as Ron rushed to her side.

"Who asked you, Mudblood?" he replied marching over to her, staring her down as Hermione seethed. Ron who looked as if he were about to explode suddenly burst out "Just leave, Malfoy" and in a quick second had pushed Malfoy over: hard. As Malfoy staggered off somewhat disgruntled but still his horrible self, Ron asked,

"Hermione, are you ok?" He tried to put a hand on her shoulder but she wriggled away, closer to Harry thought Ron to himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken."

"Must have been the shock of having Malfoy's ugly face and quivering nose hairs right up close, eh?" All three laughed and conversation quickly moved away from Malfoy.

As they continued down Diagon Alley Hermione noticed that Harry seemed to scanning the crowds for someone. Cho, thought Hermione as she felt a pang of jealousy as she watched Harry's head turn back and forth. His eyes were full of hope as he searched for the pretty Ravenclaw seeker. As they passed the owlery where the hundreds of owls of all different shapes and sizes sat on there perches another Hogwarts student approached though not the one Harry was looking for. Oblivia Levai who had joined the school in year 6 came from a Muggle family and true to her name was a slightly befuddled but very funny character. As the Hufflepuff came rushing up to the group she paused for a second as if admiring Harry from a far. Honestly thought Hermione does the whole world seem to fancy Harry? Oblivia sidled up to Harry as she greeted the group,

"Hi! Guys, all ready for year 7? Congratulations on being head girl Hermione!" She turned to Harry, " I hear you are Quidditch Captain!"

"Um....yeah," said Harry, as Ron smirked. Honestly that girl cannot take a hint, thought Hermione angrily. "Pass me a sick bag, please," she said in Ron's ear. "I think I'm gonna puke!"

"I think we have to go now, Oblivia," said Harry. He tried unsuccessfully to wiggle away from her.

"Yeah, that's right," Hermione chimed in, grabbing Harry's hand.

"I'll see you on September 1, then!" said Oblivia enthusiastically as Hermione hurried them away.

"God, the girl is awful, can she not take a hint!" Hermione burst out. Harry looked at her suspiciously as Ron rolled his eyes.

Hermione strutted ahead with her nose in the air as Harry said, "What's up with her?" to Ron who rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. "Stop! Doing that, its so annoying your going to roll your eyes into your head if you keep it up!" said Harry annoyed.

"I really don't know what's wrong with Hermione," replied Ron exasperated. "Maybe she lost a few textbooks, or perhaps she dropped a few on her head!" The conversation seemed to have ended but deep down Ron knew what was up with Hermione and it pulled hard at the strings of his heart.

As they continued further down the street they saw a young wizard handing out newspapers and shouting loudly. "Extra, extra read all about it! He-who-must-not-be-named spotted in Aruba!"

"Wow!" exclaimed Ron, as the three rushed up to him and paid the Galleon fee. They were skimming through the newspaper when suddenly Hermione glanced at her watch and then let out a squeal of surprise.

"Oh no, we are two minutes late! You're parents are going to be really angry Ron."

"They won't be don't get your knickers in a twist!" he replied as they all started running

The three met up with Ginny coming out of Ollivander's with Mrs. Weasley and they spotted Charlie and the twins coming out of the ice cream parlor. They chattered excitedly about the day and the newspaper as the sun went down. They were soon back at the Burrow settling into bed after cups of hot cocoa and were all soon fast asleep eagerly awaiting their return to Hogwarts on September the first.