Ginny Weasley's life had been no walk in the park

Ginny Weasley's life had been no walk in the park. Really, look at the facts. First year of Hogwarts, was the Chamber incident. Then anything that had anything to do with Harry Potter or Voldemort. Then the war came, which really screwed everyone over. Then, after the end of the war, which had ended rather suddenly when Harry had had the idea of simply purchasing a gun, and shooting Voldemort many many times in the head. Now, everyone was trying to get back into the rhythm of everyday peaceful life. Hogwarts was back up and running, and this year, there was a eighth year, allowing for students to repeat their last NEWTS year again, should they so wish. Naturally, everyone who had any sort of control over their lives returned, including Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Now, it was the night before Ginny's 17th birthday, two days before everyone returned to Hogwarts for a new year, and Ginny's parents wanted to have 'a talk'. Ginny groaned internally at he thought of her parents talking about the birds and the bees at this particular point in time, especially since she's already bee given seven different talks already. But here she was, sitting on the overstuffed green lounge of her family's living room, long legs crossed under her, long red tendril like hair pulled into a messy bun.

"Ginny dear, as you know, tomorrow you turn 17, which means that you will be considered an adult." Molly began speaking.

Ginny nodded, fighting a blush.

"Well, you see, you'll experience some changes from now on, which we feel we should explain to you." Molly looked at Arthur to continue.

"Well then.. Uh, Ginny, you see, my mother, that is, your Gran Weasley, well, she's not exactly what one would call human." Arthur said, eyes darting around, before finally settling on Ginny's face.

Ginny was suitably flabbergasted.

"Excuse me? What?" Ginny finally got out.

"Well, she was, essentially, a Wood Nymph."

"A Wood Nymph." Ginny repeated in shock.

"Well, yes. And you see, we think that you may have inherited her nymph gene." Arthur said, waiting for Ginny to grasp the concept.

"WHAT?" There. She got it.

"Well, tomorrow I suppose we'll find out. Of course, you'll only be half nymph, which means hopefully no wings, or black veins." Molly chimed in, hoping that this would somehow cheer her youngest daughter up. Which it didn't really.

"WINGS?!" Ginny was nearly hyperventilating, which Molly noticed.

"I think some tea is in order."

Arthur tried to calm Ginny down some more, until Molly returned with three soothing steaming cups of tea.

They sat in silence, until Ginny had collected herself enough to think logically.

"Ok, so, what else comes along with the Nymph thing?" Ginny asked, looking at her parents.

"Well, we read into it, and from what we understand, there are a few things you will certainly inherit, and there are things that are simply a possibility." Molly summarised.

"Ok, so what are the things I will definitely get?" Ginny asked.

"A Glamour. The Allure. And definitely a mate." Arthur answered shortly.

"What are they?" Ginny wanted more information dammit!

"The glamour is essentially a magical sort of make over. It will fix anything you see as an imperfection about yourself."

Ginny brightened up at that thought. "So basically I get prettier?"

"Well, yes, I suppose." Molly nodded.

"Awesome. So what about the other things?"

"Well, the allure is similar to the pull that the Veela have." Arthur said, grimacing at the thought of men acting like a pack of wild animals on heat over his little girl.

"Hmm. Not so cool. Ok, and what was the last one again?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, the last one is the most important. You must listen carefully. You will need a mate. You do not get to choose this mate. You will simply find them. Once you have found your mate, things will get complicated. You will find yourself unable to stop thinking about this mate, and you will be weaker when they are not around. If you are too close to this mate, and you haven't affirmed the bond between you, there will be uncontrollable lust between the two of you urging the bond to be made. Do you understand this, Ginny?"

Ginny was basically in shock over this.

"You're kidding, right? This is pretty much a Faerie mate you're describing. Hang on, if they deny me, do I die?"

"Thankfully, no. But that's not to say that there won't be repercussions You will be ill. Weak all the time. And you'll sink into a depression that you won't be able to ever raise above. Every nymph has only one mate in their lives. It's the most important part of being a nymph, aside from the elemental link." Arthur clarified.

"The what?"

The elemental link, Ginny! Remember? Your grandmother was a Wood nymph, wood being her element. Every nymph gets an affinity with a certain element, usually dictated by their emotions. We'll find out yours tomorrow, if you go through the change tonight." Arthur further explained.

Ginny nodded, now pretty much exhausted and overwhelmed with nervousness.

She said goodnight to her parents, and went upstairs. She was half excited and half dreading what she would wake up as.