Accepted (Drarry/Pansmione/Linny)

Chapter Three - Ginny

Ginny woke up to the sound of breakfast happening downstairs. She yawned loudly and stretched out her back. She debated getting dressed, but decided that it was a pyjamas sort of day. So, in her nightgown, she started down the stairs, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

She entered the kitchen, expecting to see her brothers, her mother, and Draco, her honorary brother. What she saw first, however, was a boy with brown hair sitting in her seat. Not just any boy with brown hair, either. It was Harry Potter. She couldn't just ask him to move; he saved the world!

Grumbling to herself, she sat across from Ron, where Percy usually sat, hoping to provoke him into paying attention to her. Percy hardly paid her any attention anymore.

"Oh, hello," Harry greeted, suddenly noticing the girl sitting across from him.

Ginny smiled a little before returning to her food.

"That's my sister Ginny," she heard Ron explain. "She's not good with strangers."

"Oh, but of course Harry isn't a stranger," Mum said quickly. "This is Ron's friend, Ginny, we told you about him."

"I know Mum," Ginny mumbled. "He took my seat," she added much more quietly.

Mum sighed. "It isn't your  seat, dear. Harry can sit wherever he pleases."

Harry looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to move?"

"No dear - "

"Yes please."

"Ginevra!"

Harry stood quickly and traded places with Ginny. She smiled at him as a thanks. She liked sitting in her own seat. It was her seat, no matter what Mum or anyone else said.

"Ginny..."

"It's fine, Mrs. Weasley, I understand," Harry cut in.

"Oh, call me Molly."

Breakfast was eaten quickly and Mum ordered Ginny's brothers and Draco outside to degnome the garden. Harry, she said, could go up to bed, but he said he would help since he had never seen a degnoming before.

"Can I help too, Mum?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"No dear, it's a bit too dangerous for you still. I don't want you getting bit."

Ginny sighed and headed outside anyway after getting dressed. She didn't go to the garden, simply because she knew that Mum would throw a fit. She went instead to her favorite hill and lay down to cloud gaze. The hill was near the Apparation Point, so she would be the first one to see Dad when he got home.

After a short while, Ginny sat up and looked out over the gardens. There were gnomes flying all over the place. She wished she could help out. That looked so fun to be able to just fling them into the air. Why did Harry get to help? He wasn't that much older than her, and Ron had been doing it for years!

There was a loud crack nearby and Ginny stood and ran to hug her father. He looked exhausted, but greeted her with a smile anyway.

"Anything good, Dad?" she asked.

"Not today, sadly," Dad responded. "Where are your brothers?"

"Everyone but Percy's degnoming the garden," Ginny said. "I don't even think Percy's eaten yet."

"I am worried about that boy..." Dad trailed off as he entered the house and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. He sat down and Mum placed a plate of food in front of him.

"How was work, dear?" Mum asked.

"Oh, just dreadful. Nine raids. Nine!"

"Dad!"

The brothers, Draco, and Harry all came inside and went to sit back down. Ginny quickly took her seat before someone else could.

"Oh, hello boys."

"Find anything, Dad?" Fred asked eagerly.

"Just a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle. Although, Mortlake had to be taken away for questioning about some pretty odd ferrets, but thankfully that's not my department. That's the Committee on Experimental Charms."

"Why would someone make a door key shrink?" Ron asked.

"A trick on muggles. None of them would ever admit that their key kept shrinking; they'd just say they lost it, bless them. They'll do anything to ignore magic. The things our kind have gotten to enchanting, however, you wouldn't believe what some of those can do."

"Oh, like cars, for instance?"

Dad's eyes jerked open. "Cars, Molly, dear?"

"Yes Arthur, cars," Mum said. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old muggle car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, when really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

Dad gulped. "Well, dear, I think you'd find that - though he should have told his wife - there's nothing illegal about it. As long as he wasn't intending to actually fly the car, it would fit through the loophole, you see."

"Arthur Weasley you made sure that loophole was there when you wrote that law!" Mum snapped.

Ginny decided to leave before Mum could find a way to drag her into it and crept up the stairs to her room. She wanted to finish up sewing her last skirt from Bill's old pants so that she could surprise Mum. She knew the family was tight on cash this year, so she didn't want Mum to have to buy her a bunch of new school clothes. Charlie's old sweaters fit her, so she could just wear those, and Ron's robes from last year were too small for him now, so she could wear those too. Mum could de-charm those easily to make them plain black again.

An small owl landed on her window with a letter in its beak. Confused, Ginny opened the window and took the letter. The owl hooted at her before taking off. Ginny turned the letter over and nearly squealed.

"Mummy! Daddy!" Ginny yelled through the house as she ran back downstairs. "My Hogwarts letter came early!"

The boys were no longer downstairs, and neither was Dad. He must have gone to bed.

"Oh, isn't that lovely, dear! Let me see."

Ginny handed over the envelope to her mother and watched her face light up as she read it. "Oh, this is wonderful!Congratulations, Ginny. Here, you can go pin that up on your board."

Ginny nodded and took the letter back upstairs. She read it at least three times over before she could truly believe it. She had really gotten in! Sure, she was definitely a witch and not a Squib, but still. Sometimes she got nervous.

"Gin, what was all that yelling about?"

Ginny hid her sewing under her bedsheet as Ron, Harry, and Draco entered the room.

"I got my Hogwarts letter early," Ginny said excitedly, holding it up.

"Great. Cool. I guess that means ours will be coming soon," Ron said. "Mum'll drag us to Diagon Alley the day they come, I'll bet."

The three boys left once more and Ginny took out her last skirt. She just had to finish sewing the elastic into the waist and she'd be done. She sat down and got to work, only pricking herself once.

Once she finished Ginny tried on her skirt. It fit her perfectly, thank goodness, because she had made them all the same size. She had only made eight, one for each day of the week and an extra if there was an accident, so it wouldn't be too sad if she had to start over, but she really should have tried the first one on and not the last one.

Ginny put all of her Hogwarts gear on and looked herself over in the mirror. She felt powerful in her school clothes, like she was a real witch now. She couldn't wait to get her wand. That was when she'd officially be a real witch. She hoped she'd be able to make friends at Hogwarts. She wasn't good with strangers, as Ron had said. Maybe being on her own without her family shadowing her would help her out with that particular problem. She certainly hoped so.

She wondered what house she would be in. Obviously Gryffindor was her first choice, so that she could be like her family, but maybe it would be cool to be in a different house. Not Slytherin though. Definitely not. Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff maybe, but not Slytherin. She didn't care if Draco's friends were in Slytherin. All the bad people were in Slytherin, as far as she knew.