Someone to Watch Over Me

Chapter 1

2001

Ginny Weasley pounded the pavement from her apartment to her job at Flourish and Blotts. "Why did I forget to renew my Apparation license?" she asked herself aloud. I know, her mind answered. You were too busy with Harry to remember...

Yes--Harry. She thought of him while she scurried in through the door.

"Hello, Ginny," Taylor Kensington, her friend and co-worker, greeted her. "Forgot to renew your Apparation license?"

"Yes," Ginny groaned in reply. "How'd you know?"

"Well, judging from your lack of breath and the disarray that is your hair, you ran here, you dirty girl."

"Yes, "Cassandra", I did run here. I didn't want to be late," she replied and rolled her eyes, while they both giggled. Cassandra was their manager and was a stickler for tardiness. One of her favorite sayings was, "To be punctual is to be pure. To be late is to be dirty," which was always met by a secretive eye roll from Ginny and Taylor.

"Luckily for you, she owled a few minutes ago and said she's sick and won't be in."

"Are you serious? That's great!" Ginny exclaimed.

"You don't need to tell me that!" Taylor replied, and both girls laughed.

* * *

A few hours passed with little incident, except for one customer who demanded a refund after they lost The Invisible Book of Invisibility, when Taylor whispered to Ginny, "It's invisible, you should be careful where you put it! Personally, I think that was a terrible marketing decision. I mean, how can you make any money off of a book people can't even see to read?"

* * *

"I'm gonna take my lunch break; call me if you need anything. It'll be a slow day; school doesn't start for another four months," Taylor said as she headed out the door.

"Okay! Have fun!" Ginny said to Taylor's retreating form.

"Oh, you know I will," she said, and winked.

Ginny smiled, sat behind the counter and relaxed. Once again, she found her thought drifting back to Harry. He made her so unbelievably happy. Her life was great anyway, but he made it even better.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the arrival of a customer roused Ginny from her daydreams.

"Welcome to Flourish and Blotts! How may I help you?" she said in greeting.

He wore a large, royal blue cloak, and had cinnamon brown hair. He replied, "Oh, I'm fine, thanks. But do you remember me?"

Okay, that's odd, she thought. But maybe I know him from Hogwarts...

"Well, I don't think so. Do I know you from Hogwarts?" she cautiously replied.

He chuckled. "Well, you could say you know me. My name is Brian Parker. Does that ring a bell?"

"Yes!" Ginny's face lit up with remembrance. "I remember you! How have you been?" she shouted. "Oh, would you like to buy a book?"

He laughed again. "I've been fine. I've got a good job going with the Ministry. And no thanks; you've always liked books a lot more than I have."

Brian suddenly became deathly serious, leaned in to her, and asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight, say at 7 PM at The Witch's Wart?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I already have plans with my boyfriend. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Boyfriend?" Brian asked. His face fell. "Well, then, Ginevra, remember this--I haven't forgot you and I never will." With this cryptic warning, he headed towards the door. Ginny stared in shocked silence, unable to do anything else.

"Oh, and one final thing--watch your back, or I will." He confidently strode out of the store, leaving a confused and scared Ginny behind. Then, all the rest of her memories of Brian came flooding back. She knew she had to talk to Taylor.

Not even a minute after Brian's mysterious exit did Taylor come flying back inside the bookstore.

"Miss me, babe?" she asked. But after seeing the look on Ginny's face, she stopped short. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Taylor, I've got to talk to you."

* * *