AN- I do not own Harry Potter.

Okay, disclaimer dealt with. This is going to be a slightly fluffy story. Because the Hinny is so cute.

Some things to mention. I changed Ginny's birthday so that she was born a few weeks after Harry, and Ron was born around Hermione's birthday. And this has been updated since it's original posting to correct a few things for nit-pickers

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Harry sat back in a chair at Kings Cross Station ready to head off for his sixth year of schooling at the wonderful castle he called home. He had been named Quidditch Captain this year and was thrilled. He really wanted the title since he was passed over for Prefect, this would give him some privileges that he didn't have last year, like being out passed curfew. And he was pretty sure his dad would have been proud.

This had been the first year that he had to find his way to Kings Cross on his own. His aunt and uncle, nasty people that they were, said they were fed up with having to cater to him. He woke at 6 a.m. to be sure that he got to London in plenty of time. He had. He'd needed to use some magic to shrink down his belongings, and sent his owl, Hedwig, ahead to the school. Surrey was only a one-hour drive from London, but taking the train with multiple changes he didn't want to leave anything to chance. He'd gone through the barrier between platforms nine and ten and deposited his belongings at 8 a.m. and then returned to the Muggle side to get some breakfast.

He'd had to find his own way to Diagon Alley too, and thought to exchange some of his gold coins for Muggle currency should such the situation arise.

Now he was just waiting. He didn't expect to see any of his fellow school mates for at least another two hours, so he was quite content with people watching and reminiscing.

His first few years attending the school had been fairly chaotic. The first years Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had been in league with Voldemort, the crazed dark wizard that had tried to kill him when he was a baby, and took the life of his parents. Harry had suspected that Professor Snape was the one after the Philosophers Stone, but when he and his friends discovered it was actually Professor Quirrell that had been trying to off Harry and had met his maker (suicide was the story given by Dumbledore, who found the body) at the end of term, Harry at the insistence of Hermione begrudgingly gained some respect for Snape.

His second year had been fairly normal, except for the completely inept new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that kept trying to pull him aside and give him advise about how to deal with his fame. It seemed the whole school was grateful when some reporter did a thorough looking into his past and called him out in the Daily Prophet. He wound up being sent to Azkaban for a few years for using magic to erase people's memories and steal their stories of heroism for himself.

Third year was pretty miserable, with the exception of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He had been friends with Harry's parents and had shared several stories with Harry. Professor Lupin had become more on an uncle type to Harry than Vernon ever was, and he'd held the DADA position longer than any professor in years.

The reason that year had been miserable was because there were Dementors set to guard the school. Apparently everyone thought that an escaped convict from Azkaban was going to attack the school. The Dementors had a terrible effect on Harry, and he'd gotten help from Professor Lupin to learn the Patronus Charm. Thankfully there were no signs of break-ins all year and the Dementors were sent away because the convict was suspected to have fled to another country.

Fourth year was the Tri-Wizard Tournament. That had been pretty cool to watch. The only down side was that the Quidditch Cup was cancelled. That didn't stop he and some of his friends from having practice games though. Victor Krum even came and joined a few times. He was the Durmstrang Champion, and the seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch team. It was pretty awesome to actually play with a professional.

Fifth year was just full of studying. Hermione was pretty strict about it, and insisted that Harry and Neville be as well. Both of them wound up being pretty grateful to her and swore to get her something extra nice for her birthday. So, they chipped in and got her an owl.

"Oi, don't expect me to wait around all day!" A loud, nearby voice behind him pulled him out of his reverie.

"No one is asking you to. We have hours to kill and I want some coffee." Came a feminine response. She didn't sound whiny or irritated in any way. Just point of fact and a little tired.

"We should drop our things off first don't you think?"

"No Ron, I don't think. I never think. I'm lucky we made it here from the Ministry with out me falling over. I need caffeine."

"Geez, did he keep you up all night? Fine. You go to Costa Coffee over there, I'll drop this off and meet you right back here. Understand?"

"Perfect. You're such a good porter." She told the one named Ron playfully.

He growled at her. "Get me a sandwich or something. Nothing with egg. I don't want to smell weird."

"Too late for that, but I'll do what I can." She replied cheekily.

Harry smiled at that. He didn't want to turn around and be nosy, but he was curious what they looked like. They sounded about his age, and from the way they were talking about the Ministry and being able to deposit their bags for their train that left in a few hours, he suspected that they were going on the same train.

The boy named Ron had to walk past him and Harry observed that he was about six feet tall with red hair. He had two small cases with him and Harry followed him with his eyes to the entrance to Platform 9 3/4.

Yep. They were headed to his school. But he didn't know anyone in and around his year named Ron. There had been a few new students over the years that started at Hogwarts after their OWL years. It was rare, but it happened sometimes. Usually they were from pureblood families, as then they had the resources to be educated at home until then. Maybe these two were doing that.

"Can I join you? The other tables are full." Harry heard the same feminine voice again. He looked up and his heart skipped a beat. He'd been told that his father fell in love with his mother at first sight, according to everyone that had known him that was the case. Harry had thought that was a far stretch considering they had been eleven, and never believed in that fairy tale moment.

Until now.

This girl was beautiful. She had a white summer dress on that stopped above her knees and her hair, which matched Ron's in colour, hung down past the middle of her back. But what really drew him in was her face. The big expressive brown eyes, dusting of freckles over her cute nose, and the pouty lips. He could only nod to her question.

"Thanks." She sat down and laid her food purchases on the table they were now sharing. He took a quick look around and noticed that there were actually several other chairs and tables available, she'd just opted to join him rather than sit by herself. "Are you catching a train, or did you just come here for the food?" She asked cheekily to start a conversation.

He swallowed thickly and tried to make his voice sound normal. "Train. It, uh, doesn't leave for a while yet."

"Ah, ours neither." She took a sip of her coffee. "Ours being mine and my brothers. He should be back in a minute. Just dropping off our things." She nodded and he noticed her sizing him up a bit.

"Just so you know, um, Muggle trains don't work like that." He said to indicate that he knew which train she would be taking. She smiled widely in response. He forgot to breath for a moment. He'd never had such a strong reaction to a girl before. Cho Chang was the only other girl he'd ever really been interested in. And while he'd gotten over that pretty quickly, in part to her super hero boyfriend Cedric, he remembered feeling a little flustered around her at first, but she'd never given him heart palpitations.

"I wondered if that was the case. What year are you going into?" She leaned forward putting her forearms on the table. He could see the crease of her cleavage now and did his best not to look at it. She had lovely apple sized breasts. He shifted his legs slightly.

"Sixth. And you? You are just starting there?" He asked.

"Sixth as well. My brother and I both passed our OWL's last year. We were home schooled up until now. There were too many of us kids to send us all to Hogwarts. You might remember one of my brothers though. Percy. He was Head Boy a few years ago."

"Percy Weasley?" Harry asked excitedly. He felt a small thrill discovering that he had this obscure link to her now. "Yeah, he was Head Boy in my third year. We were in the same house. He was…" He searched for the right word to describe him. Nice? Welcoming? Those didn't fit. He mostly had his nose in the air and was ready to jump in and tell you what was what.

"Pompous?" She offered with a smile and a head tilt. "It's okay. He still is. We love him anyways." She assured him. "So, let me ask you." She leaned in a little more. "Is it really amazing? Hogwarts?" There was so much excitement and anticipation in her eyes. He wanted to wait to answer her just so he could have an excuse to keep staring into those eyes.

"It's the best place I've ever been." He answered breathlessly. "It's amazing, mysterious, and wonderful. There are some downsides, but I wouldn't trade Hogwarts for anything." He saw her shiver a bit. He couldn't stop his voice from getting dreamy. He caught up with himself and blushed. "Hopefully I'm not overselling it for you. It was just the first place I ever felt was… home."

She had a soft smile on her face now, and what ever she was going to say next was cut off.

"What's this?" Ron had shown up.

"Hey." She jerked back to sit up in her seat. "I got you a BLT sandwich. No complaints." She said to her brother and pushed the sandwich over to him.

Ron sat down, nodded slightly to Harry and opened up the packaging on his breakfast. "Train was still empty."

"Figured." She shrugged.

"Think I was the first one to drop off my things." Harry said.

"You going to Hogwarts too?" Ron said a little loudly.

"Oi, say it a little louder, will you?" She chastised. Ron shrugged in response and started into his sandwich. She turned back to Harry. "You'll have to excuse him. My parents decided to send him to school with me because they'd given up trying to teach him manners at home." She rolled her eyes.

Harry smiled at her. "Are you twins?" He was curious. Besides the hair they didn't really share any other features. She certainly didn't have his height. She could only have been 5'5.

"No. We would be considered Irish Twins though if we were born in the same calendar year. Ron is turning seventeen in three weeks, I just turned sixteen." She took another pull from her coffee cup and made a satisfied humming noise that made Harry need shift a bit.

"Must be nice having a sibling so close in age."

The two gingers exchanged mischievous smiles. "You must be an only child." Ron shook his head.

"Hey! It was nice growing up with all of you boys. I had a great time, especially once I got my wand!" She laughed.

"Biggest mistake our parents ever made was having you." Ron replied jokingly.

"Pft, yeah right! They kept going until they had it right!" She responded. She turned back to Harry. "We have five other siblings." She explained.

Harry was a bit floored at that idea. Seven kids! "That was quite a gap they left between you two and Percy."

"You remember Percy?" Ron asked smiling. "Right, Head Boy. How could I have forgotten. He only talks about it every time we see him." He rolled his eyes.

"We actually have twin brothers in between Percy and Ron, but they only wanted to get their OWL's. They work for Zonko's right now. Fred and George." She told him.

"So, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron." Harry pointed to Ron. "And what is your name?"

"Geez, we didn't even properly introduce ourselves." She laughed. "I'm Ginny Weasley." She extended her hand to him.

He slipped his hand into hers and felt a little jolt run through him at the contact. He was pleased when he noticed a little red rise to her face. He hoped she was feeling what he was. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Harry Potter."

"Shut up!" Ron said with his mouth hanging open.

Ginny's eyes went wide and her grip on his hand slackened.

Harry kept forgetting people reacted to his name this way, it had been a while since he'd even met someone new. He clenched up a bit. He really didn't want her to judge him based on his name.

Ginny and her brother turned to each other and had some kind of shared sibling moment that Harry didn't understand. They both had slow grins come to their face and Ginny blushed before they both started laughing. She punched him on the shoulder and Harry was thoroughly confused.

"Ron! Don't." She laughed.

"Oh, come on Gin. If ever there was a perfect time to tease you about it. This is it!"

"Ron." She warned with a smile still plastered on her face.

"Super great to meet you Harry. I'm sure you will make a fine member of the family." Ron said and continued laughing.

"Oh Merlin." Ginny rested her forehead on the table a second then brought it up and looked at Harry. "Please ignore him."

"What's going on?" Harry asked. He too was smiling nervously at their antics.

"Well, see Ginny here." Ron didn't get to finish because Ginny pushed him out of his chair. "Oi!" Ron said from the floor.

"There is no bloody way I am going to let you tell him!" She turned back to Harry. "I am really sorry. Thing is, when I was little my eldest brothers would read me this bedtime story about you and I kind of developed a crush on the Harry Potter in the story. I have been teased about it ever since." She glared at Ron.

Harry felt tingles race through his entire body. She had a crush on him? He didn't know whether to be super elated because she might still have a crush on him, or disappointed that she might only now decide to like him because of it. She had seemed really friendly before she'd found out though. That was a good sign.

She put her hand on his arm and he felt that feeling again in his chest. "I assure you it was nothing more than a little girl crush and I got over it when I was, like, ten." She bit her lip.

"Yeah, but until that point, when ever her brothers were forced to play dress-up with her one of us always had to be Harry Potter."

"I… Don't know what to do with this information." Harry said honestly looking between the two of them.

"Nothing!" Ginny told him. "Please do absolutely nothing about this information. In fact, you can just completely forget it." Her eyes pleaded with his. "I can obliviate you later if you'd like." She looked so cute asking that he almost told her he'd love that if it meant spending more time with her. "We can change the subject now." She assured him. "What is the Gryffindor Quidditch team like?"

"You like Quidditch?" Harry perked up.

"Yeah, both of us play. I'm a Keeper." Ron said, then gestured to Ginny. "She's a Chaser."

"Fantastic. You any good? I need to replace basically everyone this year."

"You need to replace? Are you the Quidditch Captain?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Erm, yeah." Harry managed to stop himself from puffing out his chest. He hoped it impressed her.

"Wicked. We're both pretty good. But we've only played each other. We've got regular Nimbus brooms, so they aren't really fast, but we know all the tricks to them." Ron said.

They carried on their conversation about Quidditch at the table until a half hour before the train and decided to move the conversation to a compartment.

"So, why didn't your parents drop you off?" Harry asked Ginny when they sat down. Ron had gone off to use the facilities.

"Dad works at the Ministry of Magic, which has an entrance not too far away from the train station. Ron and I went with him there by Floo. Mum is a home body, doesn't like the hustle and bustle unless it's in our kitchen, she's also got our little nephew to watch over today. Love the little tyke, but he woke me up a few times last night" She said off hand. "Plus, we were raised to be pretty independent." Ginny shrugged. "Personally, I think my mum was eager to have some time to herself and the little one. It's the quietest the house has been in twenty years. The twins just moved to a flat in Hogsmeade a few months ago."

"Harry!" Hermione had appeared at the compartment door. "Hi! How was your summer?" Harry beamed at his friend and got up to give her a hug. "I spent time with my parents in France again, and of course read all of our new books." She prattled on. "Hello." She turned to Ginny. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ginny Weasley." Ginny shook her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you." Hermione turned back to Harry. "Thank you for the owl! He is ever so useful."

"Wow, you bought your girlfriend an owl? Big brownie points Potter." Ginny said with a half-smile.

His brain to mouth function shut off at that comment. "No!" Harry almost shouted. Both girls looked surprised at him. "I mean." He lowered his voice. "Hermione is not my girlfriend." He blushed a bit. Hermione smirked at him. She'd suffered through his crush on Cho Chang, she was familiar with the signs of him making a fool of himself because he liked a girl. He hoped she wouldn't embarrass him, though that wasn't her style. "The gift was for her birthday and a big thank you from me and our other friend at helping us with our OWL's."

"Oh." Ron appeared at the door and came up beside Hermione. "Hello." He smiled at her and looked her over shyly. "I'm Ron. Ron Weasley." He introduced himself. Harry thought it looked like they both had the same problem in interacting with attractive members of the opposite sex.

Harry sometimes forgot that Hermione was a girl. She was just Hermione to him. But objectively he had to say she really had become quite pretty. "Hermione Granger." She blushed a bit greeting him.

"So." Ginny said cutting in. "You helped your friends manage through their OWLs, do you think you might be able to help Ron and I with some essays?" She asked as they all sat down. "This is our first time dealing with formal education. We're great at tests, but have very little experience with essays. We'll need some guidance. Just to be clear though, I won't be able to pay you back with a live animal, but maybe a delicious treat on the first Hogsmeade visit."

"Oh! Sure. I'd love to help you both." Hermione beamed with pride. "You really don't need to do anything in return."

"You'd do best to take her up on her study schedule offer too." Harry added.

"Sounds great." Ron said. "And I'll definitely want to do something in return for you at Hogsmeade." He winked at her.

Maybe Ron doesn't have such a hard time as Harry with the ladies after all Harry though as Hermione giggled. Actually giggled. He didn't think he'd ever heard her do that before.

"Well." She was fairly red now. "I should head up to the front for the Prefects meeting. Tell Neville I said thanks for the owl too when he arrives."

"You've got loads of time before the train leaves." Ron said. "Stay and chat a bit longer. What's your owl's name?"

"Archimedes." She said, staying in her seat and smiling at him.

"Very nice. Much better name than anything Ginny could have come up with." Ron nodded and gestured to Ginny with her thumb.

"Hey! I come up with great names!"

"Pigwidgeon?" Ron challenged.

"I still stand by it!"

"Sirius Black?"

"I thought that was funny!" She laughed.

"You named a pet Sirius Black?" Hermione asked her with her mouth agape at the idea.

"Yeah. She brings home this huge mangy mutt when she's twelve and decides it's going to be her dog, and goes and names the thing after the escaped criminal!"

"Well he was all black, and Sirius is the name of the dog star. I thought it was perfect. And, might I point out that he responded to it right away!"

"Oh hey." He said sarcastically. "He's also a murderer!"

"Still on about that! He was starving, you saw the way he looked when he first came home with me. And you hated that rat! Sirius has been a great dog ever since, and he looks so much better now."

"Your parents were fine with you naming him that?" Harry asked her.

"No one has a choice when it comes to Ginny." Ron responded. "When she wants something there's no talking her out of it."

Ginny shrugged and smiled at Harry. "Pretty much. I am the baby after all. I'm not going to apologize for it." Harry thought he was sure to discover she would be the most endearing kind of stubborn.

"What house do you think you'll get sorted into?" Hermione asked them.

"Gryffindor." The Weasleys answered at the same time.

"Our whole family has been Gryffindor's, generations of them. We aren't going to start bucking tradition." Ginny said. "And we just found out that Harry here will be our Quidditch Captain, can't pass up that opportunity." She winked at him.

Harry heart skipped a beat and he felt warmth spread up his neck and it made his smile even bigger.

"Right, you have to go to the front." Ginny said to Hermione. "I have to find the loo, so I'll walk you out."

"Sure!" Hermione stood up. "Love your dress by the way."

"Thanks! Thought I should put in some effort this morning. Try to make a good impression." Ginny said straightening out her outfit. Harry appreciated how she was standing sideways to him so he could see the curve of her chest before her flat stomach. He was grateful now that she was going to be exiting the compartment and might not notice how his lower half was responding to flowery scent and close proximity to her bare legs.

"So, Hermione." Ron said as soon as the girls closed the door and started down the corridor. "Is she seeing anyone?" He looked a little worried waiting for the answer.

"No, she isn't." Harry said slowly. It was obvious that Ron was interested in her, but Harry was a little protective of her, she was his best friend, and she hadn't really dated anyone before. He'd rather find out the type of person Ron was before encouraging anything.

"And you and her. You aren't, um." Ron asked awkwardly.

"No. Definitely not. We've been great friends since we were eleven. I don't see her that way. She's more of a sister to me." Harry assured him.

"And as her pseudo brother. Do you know if she's interested in anyone else?" Ron looked pretty nervously, and Harry took that as a good sign.

"Erm. No, she doesn't really talk to me about that stuff though. Totally blindsided me when she showed up to the Yule ball two years ago with Victor Krum." Harry said off hand.

Ron's jaw dropped. "Victor Krum? She went out with Victor Krum?" He shrunk back in his seat. "Damn."

They sat there awkwardly for the next few minutes. Ron was staring at his shoes. Harry knew he probably shouldn't have told him that. If he'd heard that Ginny had dated some famous guy he'd feel pretty down and out too. Hermione hadn't talked about Krum to Harry since the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he was pretty sure they still wrote each other occasionally.

"Wow." Ginny said as she entered the compartment again. Harry looked up at her and was again blown away by the effect she had on him. She'd only been gone for five minutes and he'd already thought he'd built up how angelic she was in his head. "What happened? Did you tell him you support the Cannons and it got weird?" She joked to Ron.

"No." Ron mumbled.

Ginny stepped over his legs and sat across from Harry again. "Well cheer up. Hermione asked me about you while I walked her to the prefect's compartment." Ginny beamed.

"Really?" Ron perked up.

"Yep, wanted to know if you flirted with every girl you saw, or if she might be an exception."

"And?"

"And what?" She asked him with innocent eyes.

Ron punched her lightly on the shoulder. "And what did you tell her."

"Oh!" Ginny feigned new found understanding. "Well, I told her that you flirted with any girl that you though was easy, but your shagging ratio was only one out of three." She teased.

"What did you actually tell her?" Ron asked threateningly.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him. "I said that it wasn't normal, and it probably took you a lot of nerve to manage that wink at her earlier."

"Why would you say that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Alright! Relax. Girls like that they are an exception and that guys get all flustered over them, but stumble through flirting anyways." Harry was listening carefully to that part.

"You're sure?"

"Pretty sure I'm a girl, yeah." She said dryly.

"Oh, you're a different kind of girl." Ron said dismissively.

Ginny looked away from Ron and to Harry at that. "This is why I was desperate to go to Hogwarts this year. I need some social interaction that doesn't involve this idiot."

Harry gave her his best attempt at a charming smile. "Happy to help with any of your needs this year." He said. Then his face dropped. "I mean…" Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh. Your social needs." He knew he was blushing furiously now. Did that count as a flustering flirt? He wondered.

"Thanks Harry." She smirked at him. She stood up to get her bag down from the shelf above them and pulled out a book. Harry took the opportunity to appreciate her legs and backside as she did so. While she was putting it back the compartment door opened again.

"Hey Potter. Have a good summer with the…" Draco Malfoy was standing at the door and seemed to have stopped mid-sentence because he was now caught up in ogling Ginny. He was raking his eyes over her lustily. "Well hello there. I don't believe we've met." He said in a pompous drawl. "Draco Malfoy." He stepped into the compartment.

Harry felt his hatred for Malfoy hit a new level. This prick had been a thorn in his side since he first stepped onto Hogwarts grounds, now he was blatantly hitting his love interest? He was a second from getting up to forcibly remove him from the compartment before he heard Ron snort.

Draco glared down at him. "And you are?"

"My brother." Ginny replied glaring at him. "But please, go on. I believe you were about to say something along the lines of 'what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?'" She crossed her arms in front of her. "At least that's what I'm conveying from your tone."

"Feisty thing, aren't you." Draco turned his attention back to her and was blatantly obvious now about looking her body up and down.

"You have no idea." She growled at him. Then her demeanor changed all together. "But, just so we can get this all laid on the table. Are you trying to hit on me?" She bit her lip and looked at him curiously.

"Trying?" Draco said playfully.

"Good. Just checking." She turned to Harry. "He isn't a friend of yours, is he?"

"Definitely not." He confirmed.

"Good." She turned back to Draco. "Then I suggest you piss off before you embarrass yourself further."

Harry was thoroughly confused by Ron's reaction to this. Shouldn't her brother be defending her honor or something? Harry was certainly ready too. But Ron was beet red and biting his fist to try and stifle his laughter.

"And how would this be embarrassing. You can't possibly be a Muggle born." Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. "Only purebloods would opt to come to Hogwarts starting any year but first."

"And how many pureblood families do you know of with red hair?" She asked sweetly with a hint of malice. Draco gave her a confused look. "Think really hard."

Harry watched as realization dawned on Draco's face. "You're a Weasley?" He almost spat.

"Damn right. Now piss off." Ginny took a step forward and Draco took a step back. "Wouldn't want to get any dirty blood traitor on your nice cloak, now would you?"

Draco sneered at her in response before backing up all the way out of the compartment and heading back off down the hallway. Ginny closed the door behind him.

"Our families don't get on. Incase you couldn't tell." Ron snickered to Harry. "Nicely handled Gin."

"Why thank you." She sat down and picked up her book setting it in her lap.

Harry searched his mind for something to keep talking about with her, and thought it best to find something other than Quidditch. She may be keen to play Chaser, but he didn't know many girls that wanted to carry on incessantly about it. He knew nothing about siblings, or home schooling, or purebloods, and he didn't recognize the title of the book she was going to read. He did remember Percy though. "What is Percy doing now?"

"Works as an under secretary for the Minister of Magic." Ron answered.

"Oh…" Harry had no idea what that entailed.

"I know. It's even boring to hear the job title. Be thankful he wasn't here himself to tell you about it." Ginny told him. "He came home last night for the farewell dinner and prattled on and on about doctrines and diplomatic changes. Blah blah blah." She rolled her eyes. "Our other brothers have much more interesting jobs." She smiled.

"Yeah, our oldest, Bill, works as a curse breaker for Gringotts in Egypt!" Ron said excitedly. "We went to visit him there a few years back, it was wicked."

"It was super interesting." Ginny nodded. "We went into the tunnels of the pyramids." She shuddered. "The things they did to their slaves was disgusting, but it was a really cool experience."

"That's really neat. I'd love to travel. I haven't been anywhere." Harry told them. "What about your other brother?"

"Charlie." Ron nodded. "He used to work at the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania. We went to visit him a year after he started there too, that was also super cool. Saw a Norwegian Ridgeback up close, and a Hungarian Horntail."

"You probably would have seen them too! Some of them were brought over here for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Charlie was one of the contacts here to help set it up." Ginny told him.

"He isn't at the sanctuary anymore?"

"No, he works here for the Department of Magical Creatures." Ron said. "He.. umm. He had to move back a few years ago."

Ginny picked up the story. "He got a witch pregnant, she had the baby, then buggered off. He had to move back to England with our nephew so he would have a support system." Her eyes were so expressive that Harry could see all the hurt and affection that she was experiencing from that family drama. "Kenneth is three now, and the most adorable boy in the world."

To Harry it looked like she wanted nothing more than to wrap the little boy up in a hug right then. "It looks like you are going to miss him."

She sighed. "Oh, I will. He is going to be so big by the next time I see him, and I don't want him forgetting who I am. I'm going to see if Charlie can bring him to Hogsmeade one of the weekends we're going." She looked off wistfully.

"Ginny has a real soft spot for him. She coddles him." Ron poked her in the arm.

"Hey, I helped raise him until this point. It isn't coddling, I just love the cuddles and I'm going to miss them." She gave the most adorable pout. "I'm going to go through cuddling withdrawal." She turned to Harry. "That may be one of my 'social needs' this year." She smiled and raised her eyebrows at Harry suggestively.

"Well I did already promise to help you with those." He smiled and gave her a playful suggestive look back.

Ron groaned and the compartment opened again. "Heyya Harry." Neville had found them. Harry made the introductions.

"You don't have another plant this year, do you?" Harry asked Neville tentatively.

Neville laughed. Harry explained the Mimbulus Mimbletoina from the previous years train ride that sprayed them all with Stink Sap.

Once the train started conversation flowed easily between the four of them. Harry felt a fluttering in his stomach every time he looked over at Ginny. Even when she was just sitting there reading her book, some new fascinating feature of her would appear to him. How the sun light caught her hair, the gentle movement of her fingers as she turned the page, or how she would bite the side of her bottom lip as she read. He was really hoping she was serious about wanting cuddles from him.

Hermione came back just after the trolley lady went by. It still astounded him how Dean Thomas got prefect over him for Gryffindor, but now that he was Quidditch Captain he knew that would take up a lot of his spare time, so Prefects duties would really pile on to that. And now he hoped Ginny would take up the rest of his spare time.

When they got to Hogsmeade station Hermione directed the Weasley's to head over to Hagrid so they could take the boats with the first years.

"You'll save us seats by you at the Gryffindor table, won't you?" Ron asked Hermione, putting a hand on her elbow.

"Ye-yes." She stuttered back.

Harry waved farewell to them and directed Hermione to the carriages.

During the sorting ceremony he was so caught up with staring at Ginny that Hermione had to tell him to stop clapping at every kid that was sorted. She and Neville were chuckling at him, but he was nervous. Their last name started with a W, so they would be next to last to be sorted. What if the hat decided that they belonged in another house? He knew it didn't work that way, but he was already thinking about potential cuddle sessions in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room with her and not being rational.

He clapped extra hard when she was sorted into Gryffindor, and tried to play it cool as she made her way up the table to sit beside him. Ron sat between Neville and Hermione once he was sorted into Gryffindor as well.

Harry didn't even taste the food that night, he was so nervous thinking about how and when to ask her out. He knew he should wait. She was going to be getting settled into a new school, and he didn't want to be seen as playing favorites when he put her on the Quidditch team, which he totally was because he hadn't even seen them play, but could already picture her in the jersey.

AN- This story came to me from a comment I received early on in my Clever story. For those of you who didn't read that, Ginny came into some money from patenting a color changing nail polish and paid for her tuition to go to Ilvermory.

The review commented that Ginny should have been helping out her family financially. And instead of taking that as a judgement on my character, it got my creative juices flowing.

There are so many 'what if Harry didn't go to Hogwarts' stories. But wouldn't it make more sense if the one's to not go to Hogwarts were the seven pureblood children in the single income family? Expense for school supplies would have been quite expensive, particularly with five kids for three years attending. Cauldrons, books, uniforms, other supplies.

YES, I KNOW THAT HOGWARTS DOES NOT HAVE TUITION.

Can you tell those reviews are bugging me?