Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or objects pertaining to the universe of Harry Potter. This is just my way of improving my writing by playing in the worlds of others.

AN: This story will be my primary focus until it is finished. Bear with me if this first chapter isn't as wonderful as it could be, I like to think it will all get better as the story progresses. All reviews are appreciated. Constructive Criticism is my friend. This isn't just a story, it's a means in which for me to improve my skills as a writer, and I would greatly value any imput any of you have to make on what needs work.

Updates will be every one to two weeks, depending on my scedule and when I can get things posted.

Bringing Down Addie

Chapter One

Lockets and Spice Cake

Adeline 'Addie' Lewis has been the bane of my existence for exactly five months, three days, six hours, and nine minutes.

Addie, with her gorgeous deep blue eyes, and this luscious chestnutty brown hair, and a figure that would make even a broomstick handle feel fat.

Now, I don't want to be considered fickle here. I try not to judge people by looks alone, but it's hard with her. She's one of those gorgeous people. The ones who everyone hates, but still loves at the same time, just because they're themselves.

It's absolutely infuriating. But then again almost everything has been in some degree maddening since Addie came along.

I will never in my life forget the first moment I met Addie Lewis. Even to this day, over five months since I met that girl, I cringe when I remember.

Fred, or, the Great Fredini, as he now likes to be called, cajoled me into helping out at the shop, to replace a few employees who were out sick. Or, as we all really know, were unable to lift even the lightest feather after being experimentally tested on.

Now, there's no need to tell me, I know, it's pathetic. Most girls my age spend their Friday nights out with friends, or getting drunk and finding an eligible bachelor to make them feel special for the night. That is, of course, what you do if you're not me.

That particular Friday night, all the friends I cared to see were unavailable to entertain me, thus leaving me as a box girl for the terrible twosome.

Now – my tale is set into motion.

You see, when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I assumed it was another harmless customer coming to ask me if the product they held in their unsuspecting hands could possibly be lethal, but no. It was the she-devil.

Addie asked me the price of a box of canary creams, and I supplied the answer, hoping she would soon leave me to continue to wallow in my own self-pity. I should have known better.

Call it stereotyping if you must, but whenever I meet a girl, or even a guy for that matter, who has an exceedingly different quality than the rest of us, that causes us mere simpletons to label them as 'exquisite', it's as if these random individuals feel an other worldly pull telling them that their personality must not only meet, but somehow exceed the grandeur of their physical features.

Again, it's completely infuriating.

Addie, bless her hospitable soul, decided she wanted to acquaint herself with the friendly store clerk, also known as, me.

"What, if you don't mind me enquiring, is your favorite piece of merchandise?" She had asked me first.

Now, I don't mean to be cynical here, but I mean, give me a break. It wasn't as if we were in the presence of the Queen. We were standing in a dusty corner of a crowded joke shop, and she was using words like 'enquiring.'

"Well, I've always been partial myself to the Skiving Snackboxes. You know, there's a myriad of ways in which to use them." I had replied back formally to her question, albeit a bit mockingly, even though she didn't seem to have picked up on that particular fact, as she kept blabbering on. As you can imagine, much to my displeasure.

"Oh, that's wonderful. I'll have to take a quick look at those some time." She had cooed. "How long have you been working here?"

"I'm just volunteering for the night. My brothers own the shop." I had answered.

"Really," She had giggled back. "Such a small world. My date for the evening, he says he's great friends with the owners."

"Oh really." I smiled at her. Secretly I was scouring my brain for any possible sane male, who was insane enough to be friends with the twins, who would willingly consent to go on a date with a girl who was so sickeningly sweet. No names popped up. "What's his name? I might know him."

"Hello Gin." A male voice interrupted our conversation, just as Addie was about to answer my question.

I looked up as soon as I recognized the voice, and I felt my stomach doing that lovely fluttery thing it does when he's within a one hundred mile radius of me.

"Harry." I had nodded at him, thankfully not tripping over my words. "How are you?"

"Just fine." He had replied with a smile. "I see you and Addie have met." He commented.

And that – my friends – is the moment I felt my heart stop, and my blood run cold.

"Do you know her?" Addie had giggled, while she had looked at Harry expectantly.

My mouth had gone dry, as dry as a desert dry. The type of dry where your tongue feels like a giant piece of sand paper scratching against a piece of imaginary wood. A very, very, extremely unpleasant type of dry.

"Yup." Harry had smiled, "She's Ron, my best mate, you know I told you a bit about him?" Harry had continued to prompt Addie, with her stupid smiling thing, and that feathery eyelash wave… "She's his little sister." He finished.

"Oh – oh yes!" Addie had smiled, while she got this stupid look on her face like she had just realized that the earth was round and not flat. "Ron's baby sister."

If I had not hated Addie Lewis with every fiber of my being up to that point, that statement would have been the clincher.

I had bristled a bit, and Harry, showing an unusual display of intuition for a member of the male species, seemed to have sensed my indignation.

"Well, Gin." He had said lightly, "Addie and I have reservations at the end of the hour, and we don't want to keep you from your work, so I suppose I'll see you soon then? Perhaps when you stop by the flat to see Ron?"

"Of course." I had smiled back, while at the same time trying to keep my temped under control. "I'm planning on stopping by in a few days to make sure neither of you have burned down the building."

"Have a little faith Gin." He had quipped, and winked before leading Addie, who didn't even grace me with a goodbye, out of the stifling array of people.

It was as I watched Harry hold the door open so Addie could walk through first, that I felt my heart break, and I had to fight the tears that were threatening to break out.

Now, any person out there with at least an ounce of brainpower would figure Harry and Addie wouldn't have lasted past that night. Sadly, it seems neither Harry or Addie were ever clued into that fact.

I moped around for the next few days following my encounter with Addie, hoping and praying the entire time to anyone who would listen, that Harry had finished with Addie that very same night I had met her.

It was with that thought three days later, that I had made my way for my weekly visit to the flat Ron shared with Harry.

Everything seemed to be intact when I entered the dwelling – what I mean, there were no feminine touches, besides the ones Hermione had forced upon the boys.

Ron had been there, along with Hermione – they were doing this cooing thing with each other. I love my brother and Hermione dearly, and I was probably one of the biggest supporters of their relationship when they first got together, but I had also just eaten breakfast.

Sometimes I don't know how that boy could survive twenty-two years on this planet without me succumbing to this urge I have every once in a while to strangle him.

So, as I had tried to ignore a very ominous smacking sound coming from the corner that contained Ron and Hermione, I began my routine scour through the apartment for Harry.

When I finally found him it was if I had died and gone to heaven.

He was standing there, at the kitchen stove, flipping eggs – and the clincher…he hadn't been wearing a shirt, just a pair of pajama pants hung dangerously low on his waist. And I mean really low.

"Careful there." I had said to announce my presence, thanking the deity who had graced me with the power to stop squealing around Harry around my fourth year of school. It's safe to say if I hadn't possessed that ability at that moment, I would have definitely squealed. And very loudly at that.

"Don't worry Gin, I promise to try my hardest not to burn down the flat." He had quipped with this adorable smirk.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past Ron." I had replied.

"Yeah." He had laughed in response, "We just don't have to tell him we think that." He had smiled conspiratorially.

"Did you just get up?" I had asked, trying to find a topic to latch onto while simultaneously trying not to star at his chest, which was quite defined.

Harry had told me once that he always found it funny when girls, and even some guys, came up to him on the street and commented on how Quidditch practice had done him good. He would always tell me, 'it takes a lot of protein and a fair number of crunches – not floating around in the air on your arse - to develop a six pack on a person who originally resembled a twig.' Just another one of the reasons I love him, his sense of humor.

"Gee, can you tell?" He had mocked, pointing down at his pajama bottoms.

I had smiled, not knowing what else to say, feeling my insides turn to goo under his gaze.

"You want eggs?" He had asked. So polite…

"No, I ate." I had answered.

"You want to sit with me? I could use the company." He had asked. Let's be honest here people, who in their right mind would say no to an invitation like that from Harry Potter? Not me, that's for sure.

"Of course!" I had plopped down in the chair across from him, "You look tired," I had observed.

"I was out late last night." He had answered me evasively.

"Oh," I had mumbled.

"Hey Gin, do you think I could ask your opinion about something." He had asked.

"Of course."

"Well, be honest here, what did you think of Addie?" He had asked me seriously, looking at me expectantly.

He wanted me to be honest, and me being honest in a situation like that would not have been pretty. I imagine it would come out something along the lines of, 'Well, Harry, I've secretly been pathetically in love with you for eleven years, I think your new friend Addie is a bubbly bimbo, who has too small of a brain, and too big of a chest.' So, as you can see, the truth in this situation wasn't the best idea.

"She seems – nice?" I had half told him, half asked.

He had nodded pensively.

"And, pretty maybe?" I had hinted at, hoping that maybe he was just being a typical male and trying to get her in bed. Normally, I would have rather died than have that hope for Harry, but anything seemed better than him starting a real relationship with Addie.

He had just smiled shyly.

Defeating Voldemort had definitely given Harry more confidence, but I've always liked the unguarded moments, when he reverts back to the way he used to be. That being shy and innocent.

"Her dad owns The Falcons." He had commented absentmindedly.

Yes, there you go, as if I had really needed more reasons to hate Addie Lewis. Not only is she gorgeous, but her dad owns the leagues top Quidditch team as well. The very same international Quidditch team that Harry plays seeker for.

"Do you really think it's that great of an idea to date your bosses daughter?" I had asked, trying to convince him in any way possible that Addie was to be avoided at all costs.

"Er, probably not, but I don't know." He had shaken his head in confusion, "I really like her."

It had been a slap in the face.

And it continued to be a slap in the face as Harry continued to regale me with random facts about Addie here and there, how they had met, what she had worn on their last date, and all the other gory details. The boy had it bad.

As much as I hated to admit it, and still do, I knew at that moment that Addie Lewis might be sticking around for a bit longer than I had originally hoped.

Unfortunately, I had guessed right.

But weird things started happening after she and Harry passed the one-month mark.

Addie had always had a personality that just dripped with honey, and that stayed the same – at least when she was around Harry. But when Harry left, she changed. Over time, she grew more confident that things with Harry would never sour, and that she couldn't lose.

She became bossy, she became vindictive, she became cold, and I dare say even a little heartless.

She made Hermione cry in outrage, and Ron turn a color red that he only reserved for the most special of occasions. Bill, Charlie, Percy (who had returned to the family after the second war), and the twins all were stumped as to how a girl like her could have gotten her claws into a guy like Harry. After she met my parents, no one could go near The Burrow for a good week without hearing my mum screech about 'that emaciated gold digger.'

And what did she do to me? She made my heart break over and over again as I became numb to the fact that not only was Addie Lewis the worst type of girl, but Harry was clueless to what she was really like.

And Addie kept getting worse. Whenever Harry left her alone in a room with anyone, she would make comments about how annoying Harry could be, how he was too sappy, and all of the ways she would live her life once she became Mrs. Potter.

So, with all this evidence against Addie, why not just tell Harry? Well, as much as I would have liked to, it wasn't as simple as all that.

You see, everyone was afraid to break Harry's heart. Even though he exuded this confidence that only winning a war could bring, he was still torn apart from the lives of loved ones lost. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, Hagrid…they were only a few of the innocents that had plagued him during those dark times, and still if you looked at his face carefully, you could see an acute pain that would never really ever truly leave his gaze. Somehow, with Addie he seemed happy, and no one wanted to take that happiness away from Harry.

But as the time kept passing, and Harry became further ensnared in Addie's clutches, Ron finally decided enough was enough.

So, not even a week ago, after hearing Addie spew a handful of snide comments to Hermione, Ron snapped.

He waited until Addie had left for the night, sent Hermione back to our flat, and sat Harry down for a long overdue chat.

The way Ron had described the incident to me later, he had started with telling Harry how happy he was that his best mate had finally found a girl, but that there were some things he should know about said girl. He had explained Addie's comments and attitudes when he wasn't around, and that he, Ron, as Harry's friend felt that he owed it to him to alert him.

Harry had listened the entire time, his eyes shut, his head nodding, but as soon as Ron had finished, he had stood up without saying anything and had proceeded to lock himself in his room for the rest of the night.

Either he didn't believe Ron, or he didn't want to believe Ron. No one could decide which.

And it is that thought that has dragged me out of bed this morning, at an ungodly hour, just so I can dwell on it some more, only this time with a cup of tea in my hand.

I hate it. No matter how hard I try I can't manage to get Addie out of my head.

Even now I can almost imagine those annoyingly high stiletto shoes of hers clicking against the tile….

"Ginny." Addie's familiar drawl reached my ears.

Alright, maybe not so imaginary after all.

"How did you get in?" I grated out from my place staring out the kitchen window, nursing my tea in my hands.

"I know where your spare key is." She snapped, "Listen, I need to borrow something."

"Well, I didn't think I had anything you would want to borrow. As I recall I'm too poor for the likes of you." I snapped right back.

"Oh don't be such a slag." She hissed.

"That's rich coming from you." I mumbled, still staring out the window.

"Ginny, I don't have time to play your games. It's important that you let me have that gold locket your always wearing for tonight." She told me curtly.

"Sorry Addie, not happening." I turned her down coldly, only to hear her stilettos clicking steadily closer towards me.

"Give me that necklace." She hissed.

That was it. I spun to face her, clutching the aforementioned locket tightly in my fist while sending Addie the deadliest glares I could manage.

"Back off Addie. This is my house, I want you to leave." I pointed her towards the kitchen door.

"Oh, afraid I can't do that." She snarled, examining her fingernails casually, "You see, I got a very mysterious call from Harry last night, it seems he didn't want me to make any plans for tonight because he had something very important he needed to tell me." She looked up at me maliciously, "He's going to propose, I know it."

"What?" I gaped at her, "That can't happen, you've only been going out for five months, that's not long enough!" Please no, please, please, please…

"He just sounded so nervous," She sighed dramatically, "And what else would he have to be nervous about?" She raised her eyes to mine in a threatening question, "By this time tomorrow I will be the future Mrs. Harry James Potter, and then things will be different around here." She smiled maliciously, "Now, hand over the necklace." She extended her hand, palm up, towards me.

"No." I spat, feeling my heart fluttering wildly, and my calm resolve folding inside of me, "You can't have it."

"Listen Ginny, I didn't want to pull this card, but you've left me no choice. Here's the deal, that necklace your wearing right now goes perfectly with the cream sweater I'm wearing tonight. I have nothing else that matches, and I have a hair appointment today so I can't go shopping for something of my own." She paused to take a few more steps towards me, forcing me into a nearby corner, "I would prefer not to have to wear yours, but I'm telling you now, tonight will be perfect when Harry proposes and I'm not about to let some red haired freak get in my way."

"You cold…" I started, before she quieted me with a slam of her stiletto on the floor.

"I am not blind Ginny Weasley, I've seen the way you look at Harry. I know how you feel about him. Just because he's too stupid to figure it out doesn't mean I am. So, either you hand over that necklace right now or I'll go find Harry, and tell him, with tears in my eyes that little Ginny Weasley, who he always thought was his friend, has been threatening his girlfriend because you're so madly in love with him." She said it so casually; it was as if she was having a conversation with the postman, not some girl who she was threatening with not only an exposed secret, but also a potential for a shattered heart, "And he'll believe me. And you know why?" She didn't wait for my response, "Because I have him wrapped so tightly around my finger that he can't tell which way is left and which way is right anymore."

"You wouldn't do that." I said meekly, "Not even you would do that."

"Try me." She scoffed, producing a pair of oversized sunglasses from her designer bag and slipping them onto her face, "Now give me the necklace Ginny." She held her hand out once more.

"Fine." I hated myself for giving in, but I really had no choice. "I want it back though, it was a present from someone special."

"Whatever, just give it." She snapped impatiently, tapping that damned stiletto heel against the kitchen tile while waiting for me to remove the necklace.

My hands were trembling as I handed it over.

"I hope you're happy." I sneered, looking at her with complete and total disdain.

"Very," She smiled, before snapping around and clicking towards the door. I leant against the wall, just wanting her out of my house, when she turned back and lowered her glasses to look at me carefully, "I'm going to give you some real advice here Ginny. Give up on Harry Potter.

He's the boy who lived, he defeated the most powerful dark wizard ever, he's an International flying sensation, he's gorgeous, he's famous, and most importantly, he's mine. Just face it. You're not exactly up to his standards. Besides, I'm sure you could find yourself some other halfway decent guy if you pulled out all the stops, your neighbor guy isn't too shabby."

And with that she slipped out of the kitchen leaving me with tears clinging to my eyelashes.

I'm not sure how long I stood there, but not long after Addie's abrupt appearance and exit Hermione stumbled into the kitchen, having been able to get a proper nights sleep, unlike yours truly.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Hermione asked hurriedly, seeing my tears and trying to rouse herself from being half asleep.

"Hermione, am I low class?" I asked through a few hacking sobs.

"No!" Hermione declared fiercely, "Who told you that?"

"Do you even need to ask? I whispered, still shaking and moving to slump into a chair in front of the untidy kitchen table.

"Ginny, if anyone is low class it's Addie, not you." Hermione growled, her face growing heated as she banged her way over to the coffee pot muttering profanities under her breath.

"She took my locket." I murmured absentmindedly, laying my hand over where the golden chain had hung in the hollow of my neck only a few moments ago. Hermione immediately stopped her noisy clanging, and turned to look at me with a combination of disbelief and pity.

"I'm sorry Ginny." She whispered sincerely, moving to stand in front of me.

"She told me that if I didn't give it to her she would tell Harry I had threatened her, and how I really felt about him…I couldn't not give it to her!" I said defensively, although I wasn't so sure what I was defending myself against. "I asked for it back, but she won't give it back…she doesn't care what it means."

"No." Hermione answered, her voice dripping with hate, "She has no clue what something like that would mean." She walked back over to the counter to continue her swearing and clattering about.

"She says he's going to propose tonight." I said through sobs. I heard the sound of china breaking, and whipped around to see Hermione standing above a broken teacup, her mouth opened slightly in shock. "She told me that he called her last night and told her not to make plans tonight, that he had to tell her something important, that he sounded nervous. She was absolutely convinced."

"Oh Harry, no…" Hermione muttered as if they were back in school and Harry was standing in front of her as she reprimanded him for not completing an assignment correctly, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Do you think it's true?" I asked Hermione fearfully.

"I hope not, for both Harry's sake and our own." Hermione answered seriously.

"But what if it is?" I asked miserably.

"Then, well then I really don't know. We just have to hope it's not." Hermione looked jus about as miserable as I felt, "I wouldn't put it past him to do something stupid like propose, no matter how much I hate admitting it. He has a habit of choosing all the wrong girls."

No other words needed to be said after that. We had the same thoughts running through our minds…How? The same question we had all been asking ourselves since we first met Addie.

I don't even remember getting dressed or showering, but somehow I eventually did. I floated through the day in a daze, quizzing myself on potion recipes the entire time, trying to not leave my mind unattended so it could only find it's way back to Harry.

At one point I ended up outside, only to see my neighbor Nathan. No doubt the neighbor that Addie had hinted at, and as I looked at him I kept hearing her earlier words replaying in my head…I'm sure you could find yourself some other halfway decent guy if you pulled out all the stops, your neighbor guy isn't too shabby.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I found myself starting to succumb to Addie's words. Maybe she had a point. Maybe I should just gust give up on Harry. Maybe I am just waiting around for something that's never going to happen.

Maybe Nathan is my kind of guy.

I watched him as inconspicuously as I could as he put his trash into their respected cans out front of his one bedroom flat. He was a perfectly nice guy, very pleasant and polite. But no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't picture myself spending the rest of my life with the boyish man standing before me with his slight potbelly and prematurely balding head.

I immediately felt despicable. Who was I to judge Nathan? He had always been nothing but kind to me. He had helped Hermione and I fix our plumbing, and he had taught us how to bake a spice cake on one rainy night when he had come over for tea.

I had always felt gawky with my red hair and freckled pale skin. I had always thought my knees were too knobby and my shoulders were too broad. I had always been self conscious, and Addie's comments were only proving testament to what, if I was being honest, I had sometimes thought of myself.

Then, in a split second decision I decided that maybe giving Nathan a chance wouldn't be that bad. Maybe he was just the type of guy I was meant to be with anyway.

"Nathan!" I called loudly.

"Hello Ginny." He answered me politely, "How you doing today?"

"Oh…you know." I shrugged.

"Right. One of those days." He smiled knowingly.

"Hey Nathan, do you think that you might want to maybe come and have some dinner with me later tonight?" I asked on a whim. His face immediately looked apologetic.

"Oh, Ginny. I'd love to but I'm already spending the evening with Becky." He said quietly.

"Becky?" I asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"I met her at work, I finally got up the nerve to ask her out yesterday, and she said yes." He explained, his eyes twinkling in delight.

"That's great!" I exclaimed. "That's just really – great!" My enthusiasm sounded fake even to my ears.

"Yeah, it's really great." Nathan nodded, our conversation hitting a new standard of awkward.

"Well, I better go. It's all right about dinner, I'll just grab something with Hermione. You have a lot of fun tonight, and send Becky my love!" I babbled. I knew I sounded sad and pathetic, but there was no compensating for good intentions.

"Ginny – do you feel alright?" Nathan asked, making twitchy movements like he was preparing to catch me if I decided to faint.

"Fine. Just fine." I brushed him off, "You know you should make Becky that Spice Cake you made that one night…I was thinking about making that again tonight, because it was just that good…" I stopped my rambling when I felt Nathan link his arm with one of mine and start walking me up the path to the flat that I shared with Hermione.

"I'm taking you home, you don't look right." He answered my unspoken question.

"Nathan, stop, I'm fine…" I swatted at his hand that was clutching onto my arm.

"No Ginny, you're not. I saw that girl leave your apartment who always makes you so upset, and you're acting odd. I'm taking you back to Hermione."

"You don't need to take care of me!" I screeched, digging my heels into the ground so he could move me no further.

"Ginny don't be difficult." He scolded me lightly, "Something is obviously upsetting you."

"Nathan, let go!" I continued to wail, "I am twenty one years old, I don't need an escort back to my flat."

"Ginny, what is going on?" I heard Hermione's voice pervade my struggle with Nathan.

I tuned out the rest of the words exchanged between Nathan and Hermione and instead put all my attention into not bursting into tears. It seemed like an impossible struggle.

Before I knew it, I was back inside the warm hall, Hermione tutting about me catching my death of cold. Honestly, at times she's worse than mum.

"Does he think I'm crazy?" I whispered as Hermione led me to my bedroom.

"No, I think he understands better than you think." Hermione consoled me sympathetically.

It took me half an hour after that, when I was bundled up safe in bed, before I fully realized how nonsensical I had been acting. And then it hit me.

The Cinderella stories aren't always true. The prince doesn't always choose the pauper over the other princess.

It was finally time for me to give Harry up.