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Tethered
Chapter One – Return
The summer holidays at The Burrow had been unusually long, tiring and stressful. Ginny’s father had been at the Ministry of Magic more than at home. The whole country now knew that You-Know-Who had returned and her father was doing his best to rally people together to keep him at bay.
Ginny was more than happy to pack her trunk on August 31st ready for her return to Hogwarts and some sort of normality – she used the word loosely, because things were rarely all that normal at Hogwarts. She was about to begin her fifth year with her best friends Izzie Price, Simon Foster and Sapphire Jones. She couldn’t wait to see them again, having corresponded only by owl all summer.
Aside from them, it was Harry Potter she was dying to see, her heart leapt at the thought of him…and this year it was going to be different. She was going to talk to him, but what should she say? She asked Izzie who told her she should say ‘Hi Harry, how’ve you been?’ Meanwhile Sapphire told her to just say ‘Hey’ and not to look too available, whilst Simon said ‘Ugh’. He said that a lot.
Overall, Ginny concluded the dating game was very complicated. Of course, she’d had boyfriends before. Going out with Michael was like constantly rolling, ‘miss a go’ because all he did was look at himself in the mirror. Meanwhile, being with Dean Thomas was like rolling six after six after six, seeing as he just wanted to skip right to the end where he’d get the star prize. But enough with the board game analogies. Ginny had decided that being openly in love with Harry hadn’t worked, and trying to get over him hadn’t worked.
Therefore, the only possible course of action was to just try her very hardest to get him to ask her out. Ginny was sure that when she got back to Hogwarts, Trelawney would tell her that there were hair care potions in her near future. She’d be right.
The first time she saw him was as they were all getting onto the Hogwarts express, he was standing on the platform with Ron and Hermione, laughing but looking quite annoyed at the same time. Hermione stood with her arms folded, obviously disapproving the conversation. Ginny looked to Ron and worked out what it was all about – he was teasing Harry about becoming a prefect. Inwardly, Ginny was quite proud of Harry for this. He hadn’t become one the previous year, and had been suffering with wonder over why Dumbledore had picked Ron over him. Now all three of them could patrol the corridors.
Ginny’s mother had been very disappointed with her that she hadn’t made prefect. Fred and George had been delighted. Ginny supposed Dumbledore didn’t miss a trick, though it might have had something to do with Sprout catching her with Dean behind Greenhouse Four on the last day of term.
‘Gin!’ said a voice from behind her; she turned around to see Sapphire, dressed in her usual clothes. Black Muggle trainers, black Muggle jeans and an arty black tee that showed off how skinny she was. She’d dyed her hair from black to scarlet at some point over the last two months and was sporting three new earrings in her right ear, bringing the count to eight.
‘Hey Sapphire, you look cool,’ Ginny said.
‘Thanks Ginny, so do you…Izzie’s waiting in a compartment a little way along, are you coming?’ Sapphire asked. Ginny smiled, delighted to be back.
‘Of course!’
They trooped down the train and waved at people they knew, looking curiously at those they didn’t. Sapphire stopped outside their compartment and slid the door open. Ginny followed closing it behind her.
‘Oh, here she is at last,’ said Izzie in her broad North East accent from where she was sat by the window. ‘The Girl Who Stalked The Boy Who Lived. How many times man, just ask him how he is!’ Ginny couldn’t help but grin; she just loved the way that Izzie talked.
‘Thanks Iz, good to see you too!’ she said, and she sat down next to her friend. Ginny then looked over her shoulder at what her best friend was reading, ‘What’s this?’
‘Montrose Magpies Monthly, but that’s not the issue here. You’re not gonna listen to miss gothic vampire over here are you? Play it cool? I’d say you’ve been doing that unsuccessfully for the last five years!’ Sapphire groaned at this and looked out of the window onto the platform; they had a very fragile love-hate kind of friendship.
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ Ginny said, ‘I’ll just take it as it comes.’
‘But that won’t do anything!’ Izzie said, and the train began to move. ‘You have to go out there and make things happen!’
‘I know, I know.’ Ginny replied, and she tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, ‘Where’s Simon anyway?’
‘Down the other end of the train talking about ughs with some Ravenclaw lads.’ Sapphire said, not moving her head away from the window.
‘Ughs?’ Ginny asked.
'Well, I dunno, that’s what it sounded like. Si would say “do you ugh ugh inham ugh?” and then Nigel would say “ugh” and then Gordon would say “ughin ugh ugh ugg.”’ Sapphire said, not aware of the effect she was having on Ginny and Izzie, who scrunched up their faces trying not to laugh.
Izzie caught her breath first and said ‘and what is that supposed to mean?’ Sapphire looked at her and shrugged before gazing out of the window again.
‘I don’t know…all I can say is any girl who can decipher the language of adolescent males is a better woman than I am.’ At this Izzie and Ginny couldn’t help but to crack up laughing, Sapphire looked at them and joined in.
Just as their cackling began to subside, Simon entered, already dressed in his Gryffindor robes, his fair hair a little messy and his geeky glasses askew. He was taller than any of Ginny’s brothers already and had to duck as he came inside the compartment.
‘Hi Simon!’ the girls chorused.
‘Ugh.’ He replied, and they broke into fits of laughter again, Simon looked at them, sighed and sat down next to Sapphire.
The rest of the train journey continued much like this, none of them had mentioned You-Know-Who or the events of their fourth year, everything was normal and it was happy. They were going to a safe place where no matter what, mundane routine and potions would be their biggest complaints. Or so they thought.
A/N: With thanks to my brilliant beta, Lisa-Marie, who fixes my dialogue issues impeccably!
Chapter One – Return
The summer holidays at The Burrow had been unusually long, tiring and stressful. Ginny’s father had been at the Ministry of Magic more than at home. The whole country now knew that You-Know-Who had returned and her father was doing his best to rally people together to keep him at bay.
Ginny was more than happy to pack her trunk on August 31st ready for her return to Hogwarts and some sort of normality – she used the word loosely, because things were rarely all that normal at Hogwarts. She was about to begin her fifth year with her best friends Izzie Price, Simon Foster and Sapphire Jones. She couldn’t wait to see them again, having corresponded only by owl all summer.
Aside from them, it was Harry Potter she was dying to see, her heart leapt at the thought of him…and this year it was going to be different. She was going to talk to him, but what should she say? She asked Izzie who told her she should say ‘Hi Harry, how’ve you been?’ Meanwhile Sapphire told her to just say ‘Hey’ and not to look too available, whilst Simon said ‘Ugh’. He said that a lot.
Overall, Ginny concluded the dating game was very complicated. Of course, she’d had boyfriends before. Going out with Michael was like constantly rolling, ‘miss a go’ because all he did was look at himself in the mirror. Meanwhile, being with Dean Thomas was like rolling six after six after six, seeing as he just wanted to skip right to the end where he’d get the star prize. But enough with the board game analogies. Ginny had decided that being openly in love with Harry hadn’t worked, and trying to get over him hadn’t worked.
Therefore, the only possible course of action was to just try her very hardest to get him to ask her out. Ginny was sure that when she got back to Hogwarts, Trelawney would tell her that there were hair care potions in her near future. She’d be right.
The first time she saw him was as they were all getting onto the Hogwarts express, he was standing on the platform with Ron and Hermione, laughing but looking quite annoyed at the same time. Hermione stood with her arms folded, obviously disapproving the conversation. Ginny looked to Ron and worked out what it was all about – he was teasing Harry about becoming a prefect. Inwardly, Ginny was quite proud of Harry for this. He hadn’t become one the previous year, and had been suffering with wonder over why Dumbledore had picked Ron over him. Now all three of them could patrol the corridors.
Ginny’s mother had been very disappointed with her that she hadn’t made prefect. Fred and George had been delighted. Ginny supposed Dumbledore didn’t miss a trick, though it might have had something to do with Sprout catching her with Dean behind Greenhouse Four on the last day of term.
‘Gin!’ said a voice from behind her; she turned around to see Sapphire, dressed in her usual clothes. Black Muggle trainers, black Muggle jeans and an arty black tee that showed off how skinny she was. She’d dyed her hair from black to scarlet at some point over the last two months and was sporting three new earrings in her right ear, bringing the count to eight.
‘Hey Sapphire, you look cool,’ Ginny said.
‘Thanks Ginny, so do you…Izzie’s waiting in a compartment a little way along, are you coming?’ Sapphire asked. Ginny smiled, delighted to be back.
‘Of course!’
They trooped down the train and waved at people they knew, looking curiously at those they didn’t. Sapphire stopped outside their compartment and slid the door open. Ginny followed closing it behind her.
‘Oh, here she is at last,’ said Izzie in her broad North East accent from where she was sat by the window. ‘The Girl Who Stalked The Boy Who Lived. How many times man, just ask him how he is!’ Ginny couldn’t help but grin; she just loved the way that Izzie talked.
‘Thanks Iz, good to see you too!’ she said, and she sat down next to her friend. Ginny then looked over her shoulder at what her best friend was reading, ‘What’s this?’
‘Montrose Magpies Monthly, but that’s not the issue here. You’re not gonna listen to miss gothic vampire over here are you? Play it cool? I’d say you’ve been doing that unsuccessfully for the last five years!’ Sapphire groaned at this and looked out of the window onto the platform; they had a very fragile love-hate kind of friendship.
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ Ginny said, ‘I’ll just take it as it comes.’
‘But that won’t do anything!’ Izzie said, and the train began to move. ‘You have to go out there and make things happen!’
‘I know, I know.’ Ginny replied, and she tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, ‘Where’s Simon anyway?’
‘Down the other end of the train talking about ughs with some Ravenclaw lads.’ Sapphire said, not moving her head away from the window.
‘Ughs?’ Ginny asked.
'Well, I dunno, that’s what it sounded like. Si would say “do you ugh ugh inham ugh?” and then Nigel would say “ugh” and then Gordon would say “ughin ugh ugh ugg.”’ Sapphire said, not aware of the effect she was having on Ginny and Izzie, who scrunched up their faces trying not to laugh.
Izzie caught her breath first and said ‘and what is that supposed to mean?’ Sapphire looked at her and shrugged before gazing out of the window again.
‘I don’t know…all I can say is any girl who can decipher the language of adolescent males is a better woman than I am.’ At this Izzie and Ginny couldn’t help but to crack up laughing, Sapphire looked at them and joined in.
Just as their cackling began to subside, Simon entered, already dressed in his Gryffindor robes, his fair hair a little messy and his geeky glasses askew. He was taller than any of Ginny’s brothers already and had to duck as he came inside the compartment.
‘Hi Simon!’ the girls chorused.
‘Ugh.’ He replied, and they broke into fits of laughter again, Simon looked at them, sighed and sat down next to Sapphire.
The rest of the train journey continued much like this, none of them had mentioned You-Know-Who or the events of their fourth year, everything was normal and it was happy. They were going to a safe place where no matter what, mundane routine and potions would be their biggest complaints. Or so they thought.
A/N: With thanks to my brilliant beta, Lisa-Marie, who fixes my dialogue issues impeccably!
To Be Continued.
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