Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

Please review, as this is my first submission to fanfiction.net, and would like some feedback.  Not too many flames, preferably.  And now, on to the story…

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter One: Ginny Weasley's Swedish Summer

                "Ginny, wake up!  Harry and Hermione will be here any moment now!"

                'Ugh…' she thought wearily. 'What was I thinking, coming back to The Burrow when I could be in sunny, gorgeous Sweden?'  Ginny rolled over with a groan, shutting her eyes tightly against the bright rays of sunlight streaming through the window, and pressed a pillow against her face.

                "Ginny, get your ass outta bed!"

                "Gwa" she said pitifully, and became the first person to combine and successfully say "Go away asshole" in one syllable.

                "Ginny, I mean it!  Harry and Hermione will be here any minute and…"  The rest of his words were drowned out by the pillow that was shoved into his face as his little sister let out a strangled shriek, stalked past him and out her bedroom, stomping down the hall and slamming the bathroom door with an inarticulate snarl.

                Ron blinked once, and walked out, muttering under his breath about obnoxious sisters.

                Ginny Weasley stood in front of the mirror, combing out her long, just-showered hair.  'Only two more days before I have to go back to Hogwarts.'  She sighed wistfully, thinking of the amazing, fun-filled summer she had had at camp the past month.  She could just remember the first day of camp, when she had gotten off the train and stood at the back of the gathering nervously, waiting for the stern but youthful-looking woman at the front to speak …[flashback]

                "Welcome to Salrisa Camp, everyone!  My name is Alicia Salrisa, and I am the head counselor here.  Your bags have been taken to your cabins- your housing arrangements have been predetermined.  Remember now, that this camp is MIXED.  As in, Muggles as well as wizards and witches are present here.  Don't go getting all prejudiced on me, or else I'll deal with you personally, and then we'll see what you think.  Well alright.  When I call out your name, please come to the front so I can direct you to your cabins.  Now….Alexandria Wilson!  Kaylana Taback!  Lorelia English and…Virginia Weasley!  You four, Cabin 2, follow the signs up the road."  The four girls, walking up to the front, looked at eachother.  Offering tentative smiles, simultaneously, they turned, and made their way up the graveled path to Cabin 2.

                Ginny followed the other three girls morosely.  'Just HOW had she gotten herself into this, again?  Oh right,' she thought sarcastically, 'Dad got a raise, and thought he'd send me off for a spot of fun.  In SWEDEN, no less.  I mean, really- what the HELL is in SWEDEN!?!'  So deeply was she absorbed in her own dark thoughts, she didn't realize that the three girls ahead of her had stopped, and that they were now the three girls behind her, clearing their throats nervously and gesturing at the door to Cabin 2.

                "Oh.  Right…sorry about that." Ginny said shyly, her cheeks turning slightly pink when she realized her error.

                "Don't worry about it, babe.  Thinkin', and all that shiz?" said one of the girls, as she opened the door and they all shuffled inside.

                "Yeah, something to that affect."  Ginny muttered, smiling slightly.  'An American..' she thought.  'Sounds interesting.'

                "Alright.  Sooo…who's who?" said the girl who had spoken earlier.  A quick moment of silence, and then…

                "Alexandria, but I go by Lex, most of the time," started the girl with the long brown hair in an Irish lilt.  Her clear blue eyes glanced at the other girl and she said, in a friendly voice, "and you are?"

                "I'm Kaylana, or Kay, whateva ya want.  An American." She smiled wryly at her accent, or lack thereof.  "But of course you cats have recognized that by now."  She smiled cheekily, showing off her perfect teeth, and small dimples on the sides of her cheeks.  Turning to the other two so-far-unnamed girls, she glanced at Ginny curiously.  "You, sweet thing, look too much like a Virginia to me."  Ginny nodded once, offering a shy smile.

                "That's me, but I go by Ginny, or Gin, whichever you please"

                "So that means you must be…Lorelia, am I right?"  Kay asked hopefully.

                "Got that right.  Lorelia English, Lorey for short.  I don't even RESPOND to Lorelia anymore!" Lorey said with an easy, drawling accent. 

                With the introductions over with, all four girls settled down to pack, and give some background information on themselves.  Kay, born and bred in California, looked every inch the beach girl she was, plus a bit of punker.  Tall, thin but with the curves to pull it off, and highlights from the sun, she radiated energy and charisma- bouncing around the room, throwing her clothes haphazardly on her bed and pinning up pictures of her family and friends. 

                Lex, they were told, did NOT come from Ireland, but from Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.  Her accent was just from her parents.  With shining brown hair and a petite figure, she was the picture of demure innocence, until you looked at her eyes.  Light, baby blue eyes, which typically would have enhanced the purity she radiated, except for the fact that they twinkled with something else…curiosity and even a bit of cunning.

                Lorey, Ginny learned, was from the middle of nowhere.  Texas, she said.  Her dark hair, falling down to the middle of her back, was layered so it framed her face.  Her chocolate brown eyes were tilted upwards, a sure sign of her Asian heritage- half-Japanese, she stated proudly.  'These girls are all gorgeous!  And they seem so nice- I wonder if-'

                "What about you Gin?  Judging from the way ya talk, you must be from England, yah?" Lorey asked, startling Ginny out of her thoughts.

                "Yeah, I'm from England." She said, slightly wistfully.

                "Do you think you're gunna miss it much?"  Lorey said sympathetically, putting an arm around her shoulder.

                "A bit maybe, I have a big family so it's hard not seeing them for such a while.  But I'll get over it."  Ginny said.

                "That's the spirit!  We're here to have a blast, gals!  We'll all be going back to our homes soon enough; might as well make the best of it now!" said Kay, squeezing the two embracing girls tightly.

                "Kay, you're a hit….you're too cute!" said Lex, in between giggles.  "Come on you guys, let's go get a bit to eat, and then storm the pool!  I wanna check out the boys…." She said hungrily, blue eyes lighting up with mischief.

                They all looked at eachother, then burst out laughing.  Ginny grinned for the first time all day, and giggled helplessly along with them.  'Maybe this'll be a better summer than I thought' she thought hopefully, and walked out of the now-looking-lived-in, previously untouched, cabin, shutting the door quickly behind her.

[end flashback]

Ginny heard a thump, and a loud "ow!", and snapped out of her reverie.  "So now the Dream Team is complete...wonderful…" Ginny muttered to herself.  Something her friends at camp hadn't been able to cure her of, or stomp out of her, was her habit of getting lost in her thoughts.  She sighed, putting her brush down, and ran her hands over her hair once more, looking in the mirror for anything particularly interesting.  "Nothing too interesting," Ginny chided herself, without the bitterness she used to use, before going to camp.  Lorey, Kay and Lex had become like sisters to her, and, in doing so, had taken it upon themselves to stamp out such bad thoughts. 

                'Self-confidence is everything,' Lex had once said to her. 

                'Hold yourself like you want everyone to pay attention…you deserve it..' floated through her head, the advice Lorey had drilled into her head those weeks at camp.  

                'You're gorgeous, bitch!  Use it, cuz it'll work like nothing else!' 'Ah, of course,' Ginny thought fondly, 'can never forget Kay's wonderful words of wisdom.'

                Ginny had to admit, though, that standing in front of the mirror wasn't quite as depressing as it used to be.  In fact, it really WAS quite interesting.  Looking at herself now, and comparing herself to before, she knew for a fact that she had changed, and definitely for the better.  Her red hair, the Weasley trademark, reached a little past the middle of her back, and had gotten darker over the summer, along with acquiring  dark red highlights, compliments of Kay.  Though she hadn't grown any taller, and remained a diminuitive 5'3", she had filled out quite nicely, with generous curves in all the right places and a considerably ample chest.  Her entire wardrobe now consisted of new clothing, shipped free of charge from Lorey's mom, a teen clothing designer, who had been ecstatic when she had heard her daughter now had an overseas contact for which to model her new designs.  Newly designed robes, shirts of every color imaginable, pants, jeans, skirts, boots, shoes- you name it, she had it, and all in the latest fashions, stowed away in her trunk for the year to come.

                But new clothes weren't all she had that was different about her.  This year, Ginny Weasley had a fashion statement of her own to make.  'Spunky, stylish, but still me.' She thought.  'This year, I'm going to be noticed!  And I'll start…with Mr. Harry Potter.  My old crush…' Ginny thought determinedly,  then rolling her eyes at her former naivety.  Over the summer, her feelings for Harry had gradually been forgotten.  But that didn't mean she didn't want to befriend him.  It always paid to have friends with connections.  I mean, look at Ron!

                With a toss of her hair, and a last glimpse into the bathroom mirror, she stuck out her tongue at her reflection and slung on her robe, walking to her bedroom to put on some clothes.  Dragging out her already-packed trunk from underneath her bed, she flung it open and grabbed a dark grey jean skirt sitting on the top of the piles of clothing inside.  Pulling them on quickly after getting her undergarments on, she shuffled through her shirts before finding the dark red strapless top that matched the highlights in her hair.  Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, she did a quick twirl, and added a last wink to her reflection before striding out confidently to greet The-Boy-Who-Lived and Little Miss Know-It-All.

                Harry Potter, leader of The Dream Team and world-renowned survivor of Voldemort, clambered up quickly after being spit out of the Floo Network at the Weasley's fireplace and emitting a loud "ow!"  Glasses askew, trying in vain to brush off the soot that had landed in his hair and on his clothes, he peered around quickly for his trunk.  Spotting it a little to his left, he bent down quickly to check for damage, and was knocked down over it a second after he heard a rushing sound and a loud "oomf!"

                "Ow…" he muttered.

                "Oh sorry Harry!  Didn't mean to…" Hermione said hastily, struggling to her feet, brushing at her sweater and skirt.

                "Well, it's about time!" exclaimed a voice from the darkened stairway.

                "Ron!" Hermione yelled happily.

                "Hey Harry, Hermione, good to see you guys made it!  Trip was alright?" Ron asked, while walking down to embrace his friends.

                "Ah yes, loads of fun…." Harry said sarcastically, gesturing towards himself.

                Glancing around, Hermione asked, "Where's the rest of your family?"

                "Kitchen." Ron said simply.

                "Well then let's go!  I've missed everyone!" she said.

                Ron led Harry and Hermione over to the kitchen, where Molly Weasley stood making breakfast while the rest of the Weasleys sat around the table, an orange flurry of voices and gestures.  Suddenly, one of the twins caught sight of the two guests, and yelled out, "Harry, Hermione!  How've you been!?"  Everyone went still and turned, then as one, it seemed, the entire Weasley clan rushed over towards Harry and Hermione and greeted them enthusiastically.

                "Harry how are you?!"

                "Doin' alright then?"

                "Those ruddy Muggles better have been treatin' you fine!"

                "How was the summer, 'Mione?  Why, you're positively glowing!  Where did you go!?" exclaimed Molly, capturing Hermione in a tight hug.

                "Nowhere special…" said a slightly muffled Hermione, though she was grinning happily into Mrs. Weasley's shoulder.

                "And Harry!  Well look at you!  Skin and bones, you are- we'll have to fill you right up!" scolded Molly, glancing at the shadows under his eyes, but then smiling slightly in response to Harry's broad grin.

                "It's enough being here, Mrs. Weasley," he said gratefully.  "Thanks for the invite, everyone." Said Harry, looking around at the Weasleys.  Everyone was there, smiling happily and talking, it looked like- Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins, Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione- but something, or someone, was missing.

                "Where's Ginny?  Not back from Sweden yet?" asked Harry curiously.

                "Oh no, she's back.  But she's sleeping…been sleeping since yesterday morning, when she got back, actually," said George.

                "I woke her up a bit ago," said Ron, a little sheepishly. "I thought she should be up and about, since we're visiting Diagon Alley today."

                "Ronald Weasley!  Your sister has been away for a whole MONTH, and all you can do is think about Diagon Alley!?" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, exasperated.  "Ginny has only been home for a DAY!  I haven't even had a chance to talk to my baby…." She trailed off, sadly.

                "Relax mum, I'm right here.  And I wasn't gone THAT long" said a light, female, slightly sarcastic voice from the doorway leading out to the stairs.   Harry and Hermione turned around to face the girl in the doorway, and their mouths simultaneously dropped open.

                "Ginny!?" Hermione squealed in astonishment.