Girl Weasley

Ginny Weasley is eleven and built like a boy - not sticklike and girl-delicate but with no real sign of curves promising to develop either. Fred and George are always telling her "You should be a boy, Ginny, you're better at it than Ron, anyway," and Ron scowls heavily, bottom lip sticking out and wobbling. Ginny thinks Percy too would make a good girl: he's pale and skinny like Ron, and no good at any of the outdoor head-over-heels games that the others love to invent. They're the real girls: Bill with his long hair, and moody Ron and delicate Percy. Ginny's a boy, dressed in baggy jeans given to her before her brothers have really has grown out of them, hair tied up loosely in a bow the colours of the Wimbourne Wasps and her knees a grazed and bruised mess.

Ginny's always lived for summer and Christmas, because that's when the boys come home. In the weeks between, she rolls down the hill, practices flying in the orchard, climbs trees - but that gets boring alone, especially when Ron starts at Hogwarts and there's nobody left to tease. So Ginny reads Muggle boy books that she buys from the village shop with her pocket money, about adventures and mysteries, all at the top of her favourite tree on the hill.

The twins come home in summer, and stare at her in the kitchen. She scowls - not in Ron's useless manner but her own anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better way - and says, "What do you think you're looking at?"

"You're growing up, Ginny," Fred says, glancing at George and smirking. "You're not going to be a boy much longer."

Ginny gapes at them in horror, and they can only laugh.

In the bathroom, Ginny takes off her clothes and stares at herself in the mirror, taking everything in one detail at a time. They're right. Running her hands over her bare freckled skin, she feels curves where once was flat, wisps of hair where really, it isn't necessary.

Ginny Weasley is a girl.

---

Two years later, Ginny is learning that there are lots more labels than just 'boy' and 'girl'. There's 'prefect' and 'Gryffindor' and 'Seeker' and countless others.

Ginny wants to play Quidditch but the Gryffindor team is already full. She steals Ron's broom in the evenings, ready to take the team by storm as soon as there's room for her. There's only one position you can play alone, and so Ginny throws herself into the identity of a Seeker.

Harry's the best Seeker in Hogwarts, of course, but Ginny finds her attention being drawn by one of the others. She watches Cho's every match, eyes following her across the sky with the aid of omnioculars. One evening, Ginny is on Ron's broom, throwing apples for herself to catch, when a flash of gold catches her eye. She catches instinctively, steadying herself again straightaway, and stares at the Snitch struggling in her hand.

Cho appears behind her and says, "Would you like to practice together?" She seems shy, despite being a full two years older, her eyes fluttering anywhere but Ginny.

It becomes a regular occurrence, although it's never officially planned. Ginny and Cho practice together, barely talking to start with, the odd comment about the weather, and then one day, as they're flying back down to the ground, Cho says, "You're getting really good. Are you going to try out for the team?"

Ginny looks at Cho who flutters her eyes away again. "Do you think I should?" Ginny isn't the type of girl who needs encouragement for what she wants to do, but somehow she can't help but feel that Cho's opinion would matter.

The next Sunday, Ginny circles the Quidditch pitch a full five times before deciding to go and look for Cho. To be honest, she wasn't really expecting her to turn up anyway, after what happened with the Triwizard Tournament... with Cedric.

Ginny finds Cho in the Ravenclaw locker rooms, the other girl in her Quidditch robes, clutching the snitch, but sobbing hopelessly on the bench. Ginny sits down next to her, and finds herself unable to think of anything to say, but Cho turns to her and sobs into her robes and it seems that just being there is enough.

Ginny doesn't see Cho all summer, but the first Sunday evening of the next school year, Ginny heads up to the Quidditch pitch and finds Cho there waiting for her.

---

By her fifth year Ginny has discarded labels for good. Girl, Weasley, Beater - what does it all mean in the end?

One by one all her brothers have abandoned her again, even if it isn't their fault, and now Ron's the only one left at school (Weasley, Prefect, Keeper). Ginny takes on one of the Beater positions now that Fred and George (twins, Weasley, pranksters) are gone, and takes satisfaction that the other Gryffindor beater always seems to tremble when she approaches.

Ginny thinks that she and Cho are a case of opposites attract. Cho is tall and slender, delicate face and careful hands, while Ginny is short and stocky and forever being told that she looks like Fred and George. ("A missing triplet, kept hidden in the attic for years - with the result of stunted growth," says Fred, mischievously and Ginny laughs about the idea for weeks.)

Cho (beautiful, feminine, fragile) is always there when Ginny arrives, lying on the grass, staring up at the sky. She looks so neat and tidy to start with, her hair tied back and her shirt tucked in. Ginny enjoys the process that leaves Cho with her hair falling loose and bruises on her neck.

(Ginny remembers, their first kiss was in the air, only a few months ago, the beginning of this year, after they'd had equally disappointing experiences with boys. Cho had flown up close to say something - Ginny had never found out what it was - and she'd looked so fragile there in the air, hair blowing behind her and blinking in the rain that Ginny had reached out without thinking, to grab Cho's arm to stop her blowing away in the wind. Cho made no move to pull away, she simply looked at Ginny, gently questioning, and Ginny had given in, delirious with thought and kissed her softly. They'd clung together in the rain, noses bumping as they fought to stay steady on their brooms.)

On a winter day like today, they shiver at first, lips numb with cold. It's hard to stay balanced on your broom when your arms are busy underneath another girl's shirt and you can't stop shivering, not least when she moves her fingers like that. With a few months practice they've learned just how much can be achieved while on broomsticks. Fingers steal beneath underwear, Ginny's lips sometimes dare to venture onto Cho's neck, and Cho gasps into Ginny's hair.

Ginny never wanted to be a girl, but Cho seems to bring out something feminine within her, something that can be just as breathlessly exciting as any boys' games.