The Adverse Effects of Fanfiction

Ginny eyes to glowing box warily. It was blinking a bit, and had lots of words all over the screen. In front of it was a flat board with lots of letters printed onto buttons. Attached to the main bit was a large box with lots of glowing lights, and attached to this was an oval-ish shaped thing on a cord. It had two buttons, and looked somewhat like a beetle. Altogether, the whole contraption looked horrifying, dangerous, and creepy. Which is, of course, why she had to try it out.

You see, Molly's cousin, the only Muggle in the family, was an accountant. He had an old computer, and had decided that his favorite niece might enjoy it, because of her love for all things muggle. So, of course, Ginny received it at the start of the summer, and Harry and Hermione had helped her set it up. So here it was, and Ginny slid into the chair in front of it.

Click, click.

Ginny clicked on the strange 'e' with a swirl around it that Hermione had said would lead her to something called the 'Internet'. Which was, apparently, the most fun part of a computer, as it was what connected it to all the other computers in the world.

A new page popped up, stating the word 'google'. What the hell was a google? Ginny saw the little gray box on the page, though, and read the instructions. Search, it said. Type in a word and search the Internet. Well, she could do that. Curious, she typed in her own name. Imagine her surprise when a huge list of things related to the Search subject popped up, and they were all about her! She saw one that said 'Ginny Weasley marries Harry Potter..." and clicked it, very confused. She wasn't married to anyone, and she was long over Harry.

Click.

A page now popped up, bearing the words 'FictionAlley.org-- Harry Potter in all shapes, sizes and ships!'. Below was a large, decently drawn color picture of... oh! It was Harry, Malfoy, Cho, Cedric and... her! They each wore the colors of their house, except for her, who was in a purple outfit. Hmm. Each of them was posed differently-- Malfoy was straightening his tie, Harry had a hand in his pocket, while the other straightened his glasses, Cho held a wand and a spellbook, Cedric held a broomstick, and she held a paintbrush and a paint pallet. Which was odd, as she was a terribly bad artist. Hmm.

Click.

She clicked on the one that looked like Harry. A new page came into view, and she gasped.

~~WARNING~~
Some fics in this list take into account information in
JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
and the film of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban;
the summaries of these fics may contain spoilers. Peruse
this list at your own risk if you do not want to learn any
details of the plot of the fifth book or the third film.

Book? Film? What were they on about? She clicked the link that read 'what's new this week on Astronomy Tower'. She hadn't gotten far down the page when she saw this one.

Draco's Journal by Caryla

Draco's Journal Prologue new (Added: 23-Sep-2004 Hits: 297)

Draco's Journal 01 new (Added: 23-Sep-2004 Hits: 34)

It being what it was, she clicked. Ten minutes later, she looked up from the screen, pale as a ghost. But her mind was thinking it over. It was, actually, plausible. Hmm. Next link.

Silence in the Library - Sometimes words aren't needed for a good seduction. Harry and Draco have to observe the rules of the library after all. H/D slash new (Added: 26-Sep-2004 Hits: 0)

After reading this and several others, Ginny Weasley became a Harry/Draco shipper.

~*~

Three weeks later, Ginny had explored the site thoroughly, and read through each blog daily. She was a Hermione/Ron shipper, a Harry/Draco shipper, a Remus/Sirius shipper, not to mention a few other rather odd ones. And she loved the word. Shipper, shipper, shipper.

Ginny decided, then and there, that she was not leaving her room except to go to the loo. Her mother could bring her dinner. But she was going to read, dammit, and see if anyone could stop her! She didn't know where this stuff came from, but she did know that she was addicted.

~*~

Come September, Ginny decided that drastic measures needed to be taken, as she couldn't bring her beloved computer with her. So she picked out 200 stories and printed them out. By the time she had printed them all, her printer was out of ink, and she had a stack of paper that reached her waist. When she and her trunk came down the stairs, Molly gasped. Ginny looked at her oddly.

"Mum?"

"Ginny! Have you bathed-- or brushed you hair-- all summer?"

"No."

"Oh dear."

~*~

"Hermione...mmm..." mumbled Ginny in her sleep. Harry poked her in the side.

"Ginny! Ginny, people can hear you!"

"...Wha--?" she mumbled sleepily. Then she sat bolt upright, dislodging the blanket on her lap, realizing that she'd just had a wet dream in a chair in the Common Room. Hell, she was doomed. And about Hermione, no less. Eww.

"Graaaaaaaaah."

Fanfiction was having adverse side effects.

~*~