Disclaimer: HP is not mine. This story is for fun, not profit.

A/N: Much thanks to Jenn for the beta work and the encouragement.

A/N2: There are four direct (or nearly direct) movie quotes in this chapter. They come from Tarzan, Aladdin and the Return of Jafar, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Willow. There is also a tribute paid to the Wingardium Leviosa scene from Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone. I do not own the rights to any of these either, I just love movie quotes and they worked here.

Chapter Six

14 October 1995

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"

Lily reached out one hand and attempted to pluck Ginny's wand from her grip. With a snort of exasperation that the young Gryffindor had come to be very familiar with over the last few years, Lily pulled her own ghostly wand out of her robes and conjured up an equally ghostly looking teacup.

"It's Cresco Cruris, not Crestco Curious! The first part has more bearing on the cree. The second word, the emphasis is on the rees. Cresco Cruris!" The older witch made a quick movement of her wrist as she said the spell, causing a purple light to arch out like a rainbow, before it hit the delicate, ethereal teacup. Spindly, but sturdy legs quickly grew and the teacup walked assuredly around the little table.

Ginny sat down on the couch, bemusedly. She was grateful that Harry had discovered the Room of Requirement. It made training with Lily so much easier. Before, the training had taken place almost solely in her dreams. Lily would teach her a couple of spells and Ginny would practice them the next day. That night, Lily would tell her what she did wrong and then several weeks were spent trying to perfect the new spell. Occasionally, Ginny would find a good classroom or a storage room that she could practice in without any fear of discovery. Lily would then be able to join her, her ethereal form pacing up and down the rows of desks while she instructed the younger red-head on spells.

The year following the nightmare that had been Ginny's first year had been focused mainly on strengthening her spellwork and her self-esteem. It had been Lily's gentle guidance (and a little of James's advice) that helped the shy second year make friends and emerge from her shell. The best had been the prompt to befriend Hermione Granger. They shared quite a bit in common. It had also proved to be a wonderful cover for when people asked how Ginny knew a spell that was too advanced for her year.

"I got it from one of Hermione's books," had been all she had to say. Luckily, Lily was almost as much of a bookworm as the bushy-haired witch and made sure to tell Ginny which books the spells could be found in on the off chance that Hermione asked.

The older girl never did, but she did slide books with interesting spells into Ginny's satchel occasionally.

Near the end of her second year, Ginny had begun to learn about defensive spells from Lily. She had already known a few, since that was what Professor Lupin had focused on, but the ones she learned from Lily hadn't been exactly ones you'd find in schoolbooks. Still, they weren't difficult spells.

She hadn't only been disappointed to learn that Professor Lupin was leaving as the end of summer term approached that year. Summer holidays meant no school, but it also meant no magic. Or it had, until James had joined Lily during one dream to celebrate his friends' reunion.

He had explained to her that the Burrow contained so much magic there was no chance the Ministry would discover her. That had just left getting around one Molly Weasley.

"You'll have to be sneaky," he'd warned, an unholy grin lighting up his face.

"Sneaky? I can do...sneaky."

Lily had rolled her eyes at the pair of them, but seemed perfectly happy to allow Ginny to break a few rules.

"What's breaking a few laws compared to helping our little boy win?"

Ginny had wanted to tell the older witch that, at nearly fourteen, Harry wasn't so little anymore.

So the summer had been spent sneaking around the Burrow to find suitable places to practice. They did have to stop meeting while Ginny was conscious, however. While the girl was very skilled at sneaking, there had always been a chance she could get caught. It would have been bad, really, REALLY bad to be caught learning advanced magic from a ghostly-spirit-like being who just happened to be Harry Potter's dead mother.

It had been a wise decision too, because she did get caught. Not by her mother (thank goodness), not by the twins (no need to give them blackmail material) and not even by Ron (who had been in a bit of a foul mood lately). Bill had caught her two days before the Quidditch World Cup. After gently reprimanding her, Ginny's oldest brother had given her his own lessons. He had been convinced she was practicing so that she'd never be attacked like she had been in her first year. The red-head had felt bad about lying to him, but there was no way she was going to admit that it was to help Harry. She couldn't have withstood the teasing.

The Quidditch World Cup had driven home the point that this wasn't a child's game. She was really going to fight. With that motivation, Ginny had thrown herself into learning the defensive spells and was soon onto offensive spells. She excelled at them. Her Stunner was a thing of beauty and hexes were a specialty.

Her determination was so intense that Lily Potter, the woman who thought night flying was a waste of time, had told her to slow down and have some fun. Ginny had tried to, she really did, but then Harry's name had come out of the Goblet and she had overheard him telling Hermione later that he thought someone was trying to kill him.

After she had decimated dungeon number forty-six (no one ever went that far down, even the Slytherins), Ginny had realized Lily was right. Practicing was good, it was necessary, but she couldn't forget to live either. When Neville had asked her to the Yule Ball, she had accepted immediately, a bubble of happiness swelling up inside of her.

When Ron had suggested Harry take Ginny, she'd been heartbroken and the bubble had popped. James had been waiting with Lily in Ginny's dreams that night.

"He'll see you, I swear! One day he's going to get smacked in the face with how pretty you are and he's going to regret not spending every waking moment with you!" James had ranted and raved, calling his son some rather crude names, but it had been Lily that sat and hugged Ginny while the tears had streamed down the girl's face.

"He's not worthy, yet, dear. He's brave and funny and rather handsome. But then, I'm his mother, so I suspect I'm a little biased." Lily had smiled when Ginny let out a giggle. James had still been ranting in the background. "Harry may be more like me than like James. I certainly didn't know what was in front of me. But on the other hand, James wasn't worthy of me for several years. At this age, girls are just friends to some boys and to others, well, those are the ones who really aren't worthy. Some are getting there and some will take years. Don't wait for him, Ginny. It's perfectly acceptable to date a few boys. It'll help you learn what sort of person you'll eventually want to spend your life with."

Lily had stood, stretching in a way that meant she was preparing to leave Ginny's mind. "Besides, he's so focused on that silly girl, Cho, he'd probably be a wretched date anyway."

Truer words had never been spoken and Ginny had been exceedingly grateful to have attended with Neville, bruised toes and all.

The spring term had brought on double lessons. James had been getting bored (Sirius and Remus both wanted to speak with him, but it was difficult being the dead friend), so he had begun teaching Ginny Transfiguration, while Lily was teaching her Potions tricks. Both McGonagall and Snape had been impressed (McGonagall had awarded her points and Snape had sneered, "Well it isn't as much of a failure as I had expected."), but all the while Ginny could feel that something was about to happen.

When it had – in the most horrible way – Ginny had had to find a place to quietly breakdown alone. "Why didn't you tell me it would happen so soon?" she sobbed as she felt a wispy hand attempt to rub her back. "I thought it'd be when we were adults! I'm not…I'm not ready! And neither is Harry!" She had stood to glare at Lily, only to find it wasn't Lily at all, but a girl her own age standing in front of her. Ginny had gasped, jumping back in fear.

"No, but you will be. Both of you will be. So will your family and your friends. When the time comes, you will all know what to do and will do it well. I have Seen, and what I have Seen in you is good." As the girl had disappeared, Ginny could see Lily appearing just behind where she had been.

The older witch had been in a panic. "Harry? Is he alright? I didn't see him on the other side, but he could have gone on! Where is he? Why was our guide here? She never leaves, never…"

But Ginny had silenced her with a look. She had been burning with so much determination that she had felt like her eyes were blazing with it. "Harry's fine. He's resting. It's time for me to learn your Charms."

Charms, as taught by Lily Potter, was some of the most difficult magic Ginny could ever imagine. It was enchantments and spells, weaving in and out to create new outcomes at every turn. It was using a simple charm in a complex manner. It was using the mundane to be ruthless and the horrifying to cure, which is why the Room of Requirement was invaluable. Try as she might, Ginny had made little progress by learning from Lily through the dreams and then practicing on her own. She got comfortable on the couch and waited for the inevitable lecture.

"There are really only two rules in magic," Lily began. "What one can do and what one can't do. For instance, I can turn you into a rabbit and then you'll be less of a nuisance. But I can't make sure that you stay a rabbit or that I can keep the human person inside of the rabbit healthy. Now that you know the rules of magic, you need to remember that alone and then forget all you know, or think you know. All that you require is your intuition."

She turned suddenly and pointed to the delicate teacup Ginny had been trying to animate for the past hour. "How can a teacup with legs help you in a duel?"

Ginny suppressed her first two urges (rolling her eyes and yelling out, "It can't, you prat!"), and instead tried to see the potential in a fight.

"Well," she said slowly. "You control where the teacup goes. It could…it could throw itself at someone. The pieces would hurt if it broke!" The Gryffindor was beginning to get excited now. "Or throw hot tea into someone's face!" The image of Draco Malfoy's teacup dousing him with scalding hot tea was a nice picture for a moment before hundreds of other ideas began to form. This must be what it was like to be the twins – if you didn't play by the rules, so many possibilities opened up for you.

"Exactly." Lily's smirk would have been frightening if she hadn't been on Ginny's side.

"Now. Let's really begin your education."