Chapter One
"I'm never gonna be like anyone and that's okay."
Bowling for Soup - Pictures he Drew
Perfect. That's what I'm not. Flaming red hair, unusually dull brown eyes, pale skin, dotted with hundreds of light freckles and small lips. Not to mention, an almost flat chest and a thin V-shaped figure. That's not what I would call perfect. I only have an 83 average. Nowhere near as good as Hermione. Sure, there are guys that take more than a casual interest in me, but there's no sparks or fireworks. Not even an electric jolt. Not that any guy has ever found me even remotely desirable seeing that Ron is an over-protective bastard. He almost killed me the last time that I tried to alter my robes to fit by non-existent "body" a little better. He freaked out. Believe you me, it's not a good thing to get caught in my wrath. I guess it's true what they say about redheads. Our tempers flare as much as our hair is, well, red. Today's date is August 25th. Just five more days until school starts again. Harry is over here as usual. I've gotten over the little puppy-crush years ago. I'm going into my sixth year, finally. Harry's going out with Luna Lovegood. I burst out laughing when I found out. That didn't go over too well with him. She's one of my best friends and I'll support her through thick and thin. Plus, I have the honor of beating the shit out of him if he breaks her heart. I'm no love guru, but I think they look good together and that they'll stay together… or else. How quaint. I'm listening to some muggle band called Rancid. They're quite good in my opinion. Hermione gave me this muggle contraption that they call a C.D. player and little round disks called C.D.'s. They play music that was previously recorded in. A bloody genius must have thought this up. I went into this muggle record store and let me tell you, they had tons of these C.D.'s! Hermione told me when she gave me Rancid's C.D., Life Won't Wait, that this genre of music was called rock. It's when the band is vivacious, uses a few muggle things called guitars and drums. I can't explain the what the feeling is when I listen to this type of music. It gives me energy. An adrenaline rush almost. It's like a wand picking you, except there are no sparks and no magic. Just pure electricity. The electricity comes from these small round bars called batteries.
"Ginny! Time to eat sweetie!" mum called out.
"Coming mum!" I replied.
I shut off my C.D. player my pressing this little button with a square on it. Hermione told me how to work it. It I want to turn it back on, I press the button with the arrow and two columns. To change songs, well, it wasn't that hard to figure out. I ran down the rickety stairs with my left hand grasping onto the broken wooden railing, trailing my right pointer down the drab turquoise wallpaper that mum had deliberately put up to make the place livelier. No such thing happened. I jumped off the last step and took off running into the kitchen, which was also the dining room. On my way, I crashed into Ron, the first person on my hit list.
"Oof…" he mumbled.
"Ouch," I said simultaneously, rubbing the spot on my forehead where I crashed into my oaf of a brother.
He quickly scrambled up and dusted off his clothing, which consisted of a black wife-beater and a pair of blue jeans. He offered his hand out to me. I shoved it roughly away and pulled myself up. I calmly collected myself and walked into the kitchen a bit more gracefully, leaving Ron dumbfounded for some reason. I think that look is just plastered onto his face.
"Charlie! Set the table!" mum called out.
Bill and Charlie both came back from Egypt and Romania respectively for a while to spend time with us. Charlie came back from Romania after he nurtured a group of baby Norwegian Ridgeback Dragons and Bill came back from Egypt after discovering a deceased body, hidden in sand. He said that it scarred his psyche for life. Mum said he had no psyche. Dad's at the Ministry of Magic right now. He's discussing some new muggle artifact called a computer, I think. It's extremely difficult to use and program. He'll soon be back in a few minutes. After Charlie finished setting the table, mum set the food on it and went outside to call in Harry, Fred, George and Bill. Percy was disowned from the family after he dishonored the family name by becoming a Death Eater. Harry, Fred, George and Bill came in all muddied. Mum was angry…
"Take a shower! All of you! I will not have you sit at my table with dirty clothes! Now march!" she yelled.
Mum cast a quick warming spell and sat down on one of the chairs. She rubbed her temples and muttered incoherently. If I don't speak, maybe no one will see me…