A Cinderella Story - In the Universe of Harry Potter

~Happy Birthday, Ginerva!~

Down from the Hogwarts castle was the village of Hogsmeade. The village was rather large and very big. And very busy, too.

Today, four women were shopping the town.

What was so special about them? Not much really when it came to the first three.

But the fourth. You could tell there was something about this fair maiden, whether it came to her radiant red hair or her sparkling brown eyes.

Such a beautiful young woman, what was the purpose of her wearing the tattiest of robes? Patched and frayed, the robes simply hung off her form, being four sizes too large.

Well, her stepmother would be the reason for the shabby appearance of the maiden.

Francesca Sinistra was the stepmother of the fair maiden. She had married the maiden's father many years ago, when the maid was only a girl at the age of eight.

The older boy and girl loved their father very much. But after the mother had passed, Arthur felt that he could not grant his daughter all the things she needed.

So he remarried, thus not only giving his son and daughter a new mother, but two new stepsisters, Pansy and Millicent.

But tragedy struck two weeks after the wedding. Arthur had suffered a heart attack, and died.

Then the true side of Francesca was revealed.

She forced the young man and maiden to work as servants with the twenty member staff.

Francesca was a horrible woman from that moment on, treating everyone outside of family or royalty like dirt.

"Hurry up, Ginerva!" Pansy whined, a tall girl with dark hair, and was rather skinny with a pug-like face. "We still have many shops to attend!"

Ginny was already laden with many packages and bags, struggling to follow her step-family.

"Here, take this," sighed the short, pudgy Millicent, stacking another package in Ginny's arms.

"No girls, I think we are ready to return home," said Francesca, a woman with graying black hair tied in an elegant bun.

An immediate chorus of whining followed this, coming from none other than her two daughters.

"No, no, girls," sighed Francesca, "we shall return tomorrow. But for now, I am tired, and supper is waiting for us. Let us go home."

She pushed past her daughters and led the way back to their carriage.

Ginny trudged along behind them.

"Why should I even bother to ask for help?" she muttered to herself. "Just lazy, lazy - oomph!"

All of the wrapped packages tumbled out of her arms and to the ground.

"Oh no!" Ginny cried. "Look what I've done!"

Stepmother was going to flay her if she saw this.

She bent over to pick them up only to find someone already there. . . Someone with rather untidy dark hair.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "Hardly ever watching where I'm going these days."

"It's - it's quite all right," Ginny said, surprised but this.

No one had really done anything like this for her before.

Well, nobody besides her brother, really.

"I'm sorry," the boy said again, a stack of packages in his arms as he straightened up.

His eyes, behind round glasses, were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. A startling bright green. The clearest, greenest green she'd ever laid eyes on.

He was also wearing some of the finest robes, in a navy blue that brightened his eyes.

His raven coloured hair fell into his eyes as he sighed for air.

"Hurry up, Harry!" called a deep male voice.

"Do you need any assistance?" he asked.

"No," Ginny blushed beneath her red hair, which was a curtain before her eyes, barely showing her face. "I must leave."

"Ginerva!" screeched the voice of her stepmother. "Where are you?"

Ginny gave a start.

"I - I must go," she said hastily.

Taking the packages from his arms, she quickly gathered the rest and walked off.

"I thank you!" she called from behind the packages.

*~*~*~*

"Honestly, Ginerva, do you not have a brain?" chastised Millicent at dinner later that night.

"I called you at least twice!" Stepmother scolded.

"A thousand apologies," Ginny curtsied. "It shall never happen again."

"No, it shall not," said Stepmother.

Ginny carried the dishes into the kitchen, where her older brother Ron was sweeping the floor. At a tall six-foot two, his resemblance to Ginny was uncanny, especially when it came to their hair colour.

He smiled at her with his brown eyes as he relieved her of her burden, setting the dishes on the counter.

"Still the evil old hag, eh?" he asked, returning to his sweeping..

"Shh!" said Ginny. "If Stepmother hears you -"

"We'll be out of here and better off," said Ron wisely. "Off working for our own home and growing our own food. Off to do as we please."

"I know," sighed Ginny. "I've always wanted a house of our own. We could take everyone away from here - 'Mione and - and Remus - Grandmother Minerva - everybody."

"And maybe you'll meet that true love of yours, eh, old mum?" Ron grinned.

Giggling, Ginny stood on tip-toe to kiss her brother on the cheek.

"Now get to work!" Ron joked in a voice that sounded extremely familiar of their stepmother.

"But speaking of true love," said Ginny slyly, "have you told a certain best friend of how you feel yet?"

Ron cleared his throat as his ears turned red.

"Ginny? Ginny are you in here?" asked a voice.

"Yes!" Ginny called back.

Her best friends Remus, Hermione, and Grandmother Minerva walked into the kitchen.

It was odd, though. Remus and Minerva were hiding Hermione.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked as Ron and Hermione exchanged mysterious smiles.

"Go into the basement, eh?" Ron whispered.

Gently grasping her hand, he led her to a nearby staircase into the houses cold basement, where they kept their food and things. Candles illuminated the room, and now very curious, Ginny turned about to look at her friends.

"Surprise!" they cried, Hermione revealing to Ginny a cupcake. "Happy Birthday, Ginny."

Ginny gasped.

"You did this for me?" she asked.

"It isn't every day my sister turns sixteen," Ron grinned.

And from his pocket he pulled a small package wrapped in lace.

"Here," he said, handing it to Ginny. "We put our money together to buy you this."

Ginny sighed as she touched the soft lace. It was so beautiful.

She gently pulled at its bow, and it revealed a small manuscript, with her name on the front in fine black ink.

"We know you've been needing one," Ron said.

Ginny eyes filled with tears as she ran her hand along the engraved ink.

One of her passions was to write. If she was to leave here, she would be a writer. This manuscript was absolutely perfect - she'd been wanting one for ages.

"It's beautiful," she said. She gave a hearty sniff, looking at them all. "Thank you all."

She gave each of them a hug.

"'Tis a wonderful day."

*~*~*~*