The Three Brothers: The Cure

Ginny Weasley

1st September 1992

"Stupid Gits," Ginny muttered under her breath as she stomped out of the compartment. Couldn't her brothers leave her alone for once?

Now that she was finally on her way to Hogwarts, Ginny had been feeling cheerful today. Sitting amicably with some other girls who were also set to join in with her, she had tried to make some friends early.

That plan went downhill when her irritating brothers decided to drop in. Fred and George had taken advantage of this lovely opportunity to tease her about her crush on Harry Potter. The other girls started giggling at that, but Ginny kept quiet. It was only when they were about to bring up a certain incident with the butter dish that she snapped and got out.

Ginny's legs carried her forward as she tried to cool herself. The moment she saw an empty compartment, she absently opened the door and stepped inside and slammed the door behind her. Relieved that the irritating idiots wouldn't find her here, she plopped herself onto the seat and closed her eyes.

As her breathing heaved to normal, she felt a set of eyes on her. Opening them she saw that her previous assessment was incorrect; the compartment had not been empty. Sitting on the opposite side near the window was a familiar looking boy. She remembered seeing him in Diagon Alley that day. He was one of Ron's dormmates - Mark.

He was observing her with an intense expression. It felt as if he was examining some fascinating specimen - the specimen being her.

"What?!" she snapped, her tone a tad sharper than she intended. Her anger at her brothers had not dissipated yet, and she remembered that Mark was a good friend of theirs.

The boy in front of her smiled softly, then gave a slight smirk.

"You seem to be having a splendid day."

It was as if a dam broke. All her frustration that had pent-up over the last month surfaced itself.

"No, I'm not. My day is far from being splendid. First, Ron comes and decides to tell me to stay away from Harry, because he is 'his friend'," she drew quote marks in the air. "Then, mum starts harping on about signing the permission slip for the flying classes, then in the morning Percy decides to take me aside and advise me about my conduct at school and how I should not be an embarrassment to him," she rambled on, "now, Fred and George decide to pay me a visit and embarrass me in front of the other girls by telling abo-" Ginny's eyes went to Mark's face and she caught herself.

"You were being sarcastic." Her anger deflated at this realisation.

"Excellent observation, Miss Weasley," Mark spoke in a high-pitched tone, which Ginny recognised to be a poor imitation of Professor McGonagall's.

Ginny snorted at the effort, trying hard to contain her laughter. She failed, resulting in a peculiar sounding giggle. Mark must have found it amusing, for he too began to chuckle. Within moments, they were laughing loudly, the joke already forgotten.

Finally, they settled back down, the initial ice between them broken.

"So, what were Fred and George teasing you about?" Mark asked. Ginny immediately went on guard. She narrowed her eyes at him, a hint of a smile still on her lips

"I'm not telling you that mister. I know you're in deep with them"

Mark opened his mouth to retort but closed it back again.

"You know what, that's a fair point." He raised his arms slightly in mock surrender. "I won't ask further"

This took Ginny by surprise. As the youngest in the family, no one had ever stepped back in a conversation with her; certainly not when there was an obvious opportunity to tease her. Unsure of what to say, she thought it best to change the topic.