I'm still alive. Sorry sorry sorry. My computer took a raging load on me, and I'm pretty sure I'm infested with wrackspurts. But, here it is, finally.

Over 125 alerts already. You love me, you really love me! Well, except for that one anonymous twat that claimed 'horrible OC characterization'. Funny, considering the only OC has been a random innkeeper's daughter, she had three lines and will likely never be seen again. (not much room for development, there.) A lot of you mentioned the fact that Ginny wasn't really a part of Harry's circle until much later, so this chapter is mostly going to cover why Ginny has a more active role this early. I was going to save it for later, but since you are all so curious, I'll give it to you now.

Once again, any glaring mistakes I make, such as ages of characters are accidental, and I appreciate being informed of my screw-ups.

Disclaimer: I own nothing concerned with the intellectual property known as Harry Potter. There is no profit made by me for this story, and only the plot is mine.

Without further ado…

Ginny Weasley was the first in the room to awaken. She had been having a pleasant dream, and it had reminded her of how she had managed to break away from the 'Hero Worship' that her mother had seemed hell-bent on instilling in her before she had reached Hogwarts.

Ginny had spent the entirety of the last Summer Holiday trying to think of a way to properly thank Harry for saving her from Tom and the Basilisk, a number of which were rather inappropriate for someone her age. She thought she had it all figured out, but the moment she had seen Harry at the Welcoming Feast, she was back to square one, also known as 'Blushing Fan-girl Mode'.

After nearly a week of stuttering, blushing and stalking, she was completely fed up with her little problem. She saw Hermione sitting near the fireplace in the common room, doing her homework. Harry and Ron had gone off after they had finished to play a game of Wizarding Chess, so the bushy-haired girl was on her own. Grabbing her own potion assignment, Ginny walked up to the older girl. "Umm…"

"Go ahead, Ginny, there's plenty of room." Hermione answered the unasked question, not even looking up from the parchment she was proof-reading.

Once that was settled, and unwilling to let her nerves get the better of her, the blushing red-head blurted out her question. "What's Harry like?"

The book-worm looked up suddenly, slightly shocked. "W-what?"

Blushing harder because at least one person in the room started sniggering, Ginny scooted closer to her brother's friend. "What is Harry like? As a person, I mean."

"You're the one that followed him around all year." Hermione smirked at the look of surprise on the younger girl's face. "Don't worry, the only time he even knew you were there was one time when I pointed you out." Ginny sighed in obvious relief. "I'm guessing this has something to do with the fact that the stories you've heard all your life don't mesh with the Harry you see over there." Hermione gestured behind her to where her first two friends were playing a rather heated game of chess.

"I don't really get it. My mum always told me about how Harry was this super-powerful knight in shining armour, and if I was a good little witch, he would come and sweep me off my feet." She looked up and flushed a little bit darker, realizing just how silly she sounded. "But, I look at him, and he's dressed barely better than Ron, and there's something in his eyes-" She sighed, thinking about those emerald orbs. "that I can't place."

Hermione smiled. "Though he'll never admit it, he is very much a knight in shining armour. He saved be from that troll in our first year, we followed him into a forbidden corridor to stop someone from stealing an important artifact, jumping down into the Chamber to save you without even a second thought as to whether he would live through it. He is the bravest person I've ever met, and is very special to me." She finally put down the scroll in her hands and chewed on her bottom lip slightly. "So what I'm about to tell you goes nowhere, okay, Ginny?" She waited for the Ginger to nod. "When Harry and Ron saved me from the troll, I was so scared and relieved that I threw myself on Harry and hugged him for all I was worth."

"Yeah, Ron told me about your hugs. Said he couldn't breathe proper for a week." Ginny laughed.

Hermione huffed indignantly, mumbling something about 'hugging' his neck. "The thing is, the second I touched him, he froze like he had been hit was a Petrificus Totalis. And when the professors arrived, wondering what we were doing out of the common room, he practically hid in his robes and started to apologize. Naturally your brother was no help, so I had to tell them what happened.

"Why would Harry act like that?" Ginny asked, more confused than when the conversation had started.

Hermione sighed. What she was about to do would be a breach of Harry's trust. She had worked two long years to earn it as fully as she had, and now she was putting it all at risk for this Ginger shadow. "I watched Harry the rest of the year. The way he acted around other people frightened me, as if he was expecting everyone to yell at him for one thing or another. Then, when we got off the Express at the end of the year, I saw his uncle waiting for him and the way Harry tried to make himself as small as possible. All summer long, I was doing a lot of reading to find out why."

"What did you find?" Ginny was on the edge of her seat, staring at the other girl.

"I have no proof, but I asked my mum and dad about it, and we all think that Harry shows signs of being abused. That is, after my dad stopped shouting every naughty word he could think of about the kind of people that would do that to a boy."

The shocked expression on Ginny's face told Hermione what she was going to say before it even reached her lips. "But, he's the Boy-Who-Lived! Who could do that to someone so important?"

"You have to keep in mind, Harry's being raised by non-Magical people that absolutely hate magic. They don't know he was responsible for You-Know-Who's death. To them, he's little more than a House Elf." Hermione sighed. "If you want to get to know Harry, you have to lose the idea of the Boy-Who-Lived, and think of Harry as Harry."

Ginny furrowed her brow, trying to think about what Hermione was saying to her. "I think I get it. Thanks, Hermione. Could you help me with my Potions essay, now?"

Hermione grinned, "Now there's an easy question."

After their little talk, Ginny could at least get a coherent greeting whenever Harry would wish her a good morning, and her tomato-esque blush was vanishing quickly. She still, however, had not been able to sit down and talk to Harry one on one, a fact that annoyed the youngest Weasley to no end.

That all changed on the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. Being a second year, Ginny wasn't able to go yet, so she simply followed Ron and his friends down to the entrance hall to bid them farewell. She was just about to head back to the common room when she heard Harry arguing with Professor McGonagall. His 'Guardians' wouldn't sign his permission slip, and so he wasn't allowed to go. Sensing a golden opportunity, Ginny walked up to Harry as he was getting ready to storm back to Gryffindor Tower.

"W-what happened, Harry?" Ginny stuttered.

"My uncle wouldn't sign the permission slip for Hogsmeade, so I get to be the only third year not going, today." He responded, trying not to snap at the younger girl.

"That's not nice. Why not?" She asked as she hurried to stay by his side.

"I'm sure he had his reasons." The raven-haired boy mumbled, not sounding very convinced, anymore.

"You mean besides being a royal arse?" Ginny quickly slapped her hands over her mouth, as if she expected her mum to pop up out of nowhere and wash her mouth out.

Harry, for his part, stared at the young girl for a moment, completely dumbfounded. He had often entertained the idea that his uncle Vernon wasn't so bad, that everything the Dursleys had done to him really was, as Vernon put it, for his own good. But hearing the words come out of this girl, a whole year younger than him, made him start to second guess that line of thinking. He let out a nervous laugh and his eyes shifted back and forth, fearing a similar guardianship manifestation. "Honestly, I'm not so sure, anymore."

They quickly arrived at the tower, and seeing that the common room was nearly empty, took one of the couches near the fireplace. The two of them spent the afternoon talking about the upcoming Quidditch season, what kinds of torture Oliver Wood had in store for the year, and whether or not Harry had any strategies he would use against any particular house. That was when Fred and George decided to walk in.

"If it isn't our favorite Seeker-" Fred started.

"And our most favored sister-" George continued.

"Getting cozy on a couch." They finished together.

Ginny gave an indignant huff as Harry just looked down. "Need I remind you that I'm your only sister?"

"Not true." George chided.

We know you heard Ronnikins scream when we dropped that charmed rubber spider in his lap." Fred laughed evilly.

Harry smiled at that. "It was pretty girly."

That was Ron?" She was shocked, to say the least. She thought it had been one of the first year girls getting pranked.

"Indeed, it was a wonderful time." George joined his twin in laughter.

"Gin-Gin, could we borrow Harry for a moment? We have something to give him."

"Yeah." She replied reluctantly.

When Harry came back, he showed her the Marauder's Map and the secret passage to Honeyduke's. Ginny was glad that after only a short day of talking, Harry trusted her enough to share this with her. 'It's probably because Fred, George and Ron are my brothers.' She reasoned.

After that, Ginny had begun to eat with the Golden Trio. Even with the attack against the Fat Lady half way through the year, Ginny had managed to strike up an easy friendship with them. She had even, much to Ron's annoyance, snuck out with Harry during the next Hogsmeade visit. They had a great day, even scaring the pants off of Malfoy and his goons, quite literally.

Not everything was roses, she remembered as she stepped into the shower in the cabin. She had been getting a strange feeling whenever she showered at night. Especially after the attack on the Fat Lady. At first, she chalked it up to nerves and the Dementors skulking around the grounds. Why would someone be watching her? Unfortunately, the feeling persisted.

One day, in the middle of the spring term, Ginny couldn't take it anymore, and she plopped down on the couch across from Harry and Hermione. "I can't take this anymore!" She hissed.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, confused by the sudden outburst.

"Ginny think's someone's been watching her." Hermione mumbled, not looking up from Harry's Potions essay.

"What's the problem? Just tell them to stop." Harry shrugged.

"It's not that easy. I haven't seen this person, and it only happens…" She trailed off, her cheeks tinged pink.

"Where?" Harry leaned forward in his seat, trying to hear her.

"The shower." She whispered quickly, hoping no one else heard her.

"Why would someone do that?" Harry asked, obviously clueless. "Well, that doesn't matter. We can find out easily enough."

"How?" Both girls turned to him.

Harry looked around the common room, and, seeing they were alone, pulled out the Marauder's map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

They all looked over the map, and noticed that the bathrooms were indeed indicated, leading one to wonder just how much exploring the so-called Marauders had done. "It looks empty now, Ginny." He said, looking intently at the map. "Go ahead and shower. We'll watch from hereto see if anyone goes in."

Ginny's blush, which had diminished almost completely since she had begun talking to Harry, returned in full force. "Y-you're g-g-going to watch m-e sh-sh-shower?" She managed to stutter out, eyes blinking owlishly.

"Well, yeah. How else are we supposed to figure out who-" Harry was cut off by a light smack to the back of the head from Hermione.

"I'll watch the map, Ginny. If I see anything unusual, I'll tell Harry." She said with an exasperated sigh.

So Ginny went up to shower, and sure enough, she felt eyes on her once again. She washed herself as quickly as she could and returned to the two sitting in the common room. Harry had a confused expression on his face, and Hermione was biting her bottom lip. "Well?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Harry croaked out.

"That's not possible!" Ginny hissed. "Sirius Black killed him, along with twelve Muggles."

"Professor Lupin was friends with him, your father and Black, wasn't he, Harry?" Hermione asked, seeming to remember something that had come up in a conversation long ago.

Harry nodded slowly before his eyes lit with a determined fire. He snatched the map out of Hermione's hands, ran up to his dorm and blurred out of the common room.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, seeing his best mate fly like a bat out of Hell.

"I think Harry just went to see Professor Lupin." She responded. She had a feeling things were about to get interesting.

"Oh, come one, it's Saturday." Ron whined.

It had taken about a week for them to prove what they had seen, and another couple of days to get a plan put together in order to catch the peeping Tom… err, Peter. Ginny was to go into the showers and make like she was getting ready for bed. Hermione, being the only other female in the group was to hide underneath Harry's invisibility cloak with the Marauder's Map, ready to stun their target. Professor Lupin stood outside under a disillionment spell, along with Harry, and Ron stood confused, holding onto his rat cage.

"Alright, miss Granger should be in position now." Remus whispered, not wanting to wake any of the unsuspecting students so late into the night. "Miss Weasley, if you would, please."

Ginny nodded nervously. Part of her didn't want to catch this person, then she wouldn't have to come to terms with someone having watched her in the shower. The rest of her was fired up, a likely byproduct of her hair colour. She was going to beat this person within an inch of their lives for taking her security away from her. At least she had Harry. Well, sort of. Something about him kept her feeling safe.

As she walked into the showers, she looked into the corner where she knew Hermione would be, and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. She received a light tap on the tile in return, letting the younger girl know that she was ready. Ginny walked over to her usual shower stall and began to get herself ready, sliding her jumper off and placing it into the cubby hole next to her. She reached to her side and began to unbutton her skirt when she heard "Petrificus Totalis!" echo off of the walls, followed by a loud squeak. Turning around, Ginny saw Scabbers sitting, totally motionless, in the center of the room.

Hermione threw the cloak off, her wand still trained on the rat. "Get dressed, Ginny. We caught a dead man." She then uses Wingardium Leviosa to levitate the rat out of the room.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh as she remembered how confused and angry Ron had been when he saw the bound Scabbers float through the door. Ginny quickly shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. She was on a trip with Harry, Hermione and the two funniest non-Weasley jokers she'd ever met, it wouldn't do to miss any of the fun because she was reminiscing.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she heard a quiet moan come from Harry's room. 'He forgot to activate the silencing charm. Typical boy.' She thought. When she heard another moan, she became curious, and snuck over to where the sound was coming from. Kneeling down, she peeked through the keyhole. She had to clap both hands over her mouth in order to not give herself away.

Harry woke up from one of the most pleasant dreams he'd ever had. A beautiful girl, whose face he couldn't quite place, no matter how familiar it seemed had been snogging him silly. Groaning at the light that shone through the blinds, Harry noticed that his trousers felt impossibly tight. Flipping off the covers, he saw the large tent protruding from his hips. "That's never happened before." He whispered, not wanting to wake anyone else. 'What am I concerned about, there are silencing charms on the rooms.' he slipped his trousers off to get a better look at what was going on. "This must be what Seamus referred to as 'Morning Wood.' Bloody annoying, that's what it is. What am I supposed to do with this, now? Someone's bound to wake up soon." sighing heavily, he remembered one of the books that had fallen out of Hermione's bag one day. It had been labeled as a 'Romance Novel'. she had disappeared before he could give it to her, so he held onto it for the day, until curiosity got the better of him and he opened it up to a random page. The page had described the hero having one off at the wrist in front of his lover. Harry had been bright red almost all day long, and his hands were shaking when he had snuck the little orange book back into her bag.

Realizing that his 'problem' wasn't likely to go away any time soon, Harry wrapped his fingers around the base and gave it a few awkward tugs. When a slight tingle ran up his spine, he continued, small groans and gasps leaking out of his mouth.

Ginny was at a complete loss as to what to do. There was Harry, pleasuring himself dierctly in front of her. The heat in her face was reaching astronomical proportions, and, so engrossed in her free show, she failed to notice the footsteps of one bushy-haired girl.

"Ginny? What are you doing in front of Harry's room?" Hermione asked.

Ginny let out a small 'Eep' before whirling around, cupping her hand over the older girl's mouth and pulling her level with the keyhole. "Look for yourself." She hissed.

Hermione put her eye to the small opening, and Ginny watched the bookworm blush furiously before feeling the girl's mouth drop open in a small 'Wow'. She pulled her hand away from Hermione's mouth and waited for a response.

"We shouldn't be doing this, Ginny. It's wrong to spy on Harry like this." She whispered, unwilling to take her eyes away from the sight.

"Yet your eye's still glued to the keyhole." Ginny countered. She pushed her friend over a little so she could get another look. It was mesmerizing.

Tonks woke up to an empty room. 'Huh, guess they're early risers.' She thought as she rolled out of bed, and immediately crashed to the floor. "Oh bullocks." She groaned. She really hated when her form shifted while she was asleep. It totally threw off her center of balance. Getting up, she headed out into the hall. The first thing she noticed were the two girls crouching in front of Harry's door. 'Hmm, wonder what's got them all a titter.' She used every last bit of her Auror training to sneak up on the younger girls. Kneeling down, she caught a glimpse of what they were drawn to. 'Sweet Merlin's staff! He's too young for something that big.' she quickly shook her head. And decided to have a bit of fun with all three of them. She leaned in real close to the girls' ears, and in a tone very reminiscent of Ollivander, "Hmm, ironwood, about nine and one half inches. Hard as steel, yet soft to the touch. Apparently quite good at charming young ladies spying on their friends."

Ginny and Hermione both nodded dumbly. That is, until they realized that they had another guest. Both girls jumped up just as Harry let out a long moan and released. Ginny and Hermione, in their confusion bumped their heads together and went tumbling through the door, startling a very sticky Harry off the far side of his bed. Tonks just stood over the two girls laughing at their tangled limbs. When Harry's head popped up over the side of the bed, Tonks, still grinning like a mad woman, waved to the boy. "Wotcher, Harry!"

So, there we go. Ginny was part of the better mouse trap, and the girls caught Harry in a compromising position. What's going to happen next? No really, I have no idea!

Just so you know, there is a poll on my page right now, thanks to my overactive imagination, I have a half dozen ideas and I want to know if you want to see any of them. Also, separate from that, is another Potter fic named Harry Potter, Battlemage: Rise of a Marauder. It came about while I was thinking about ideas for Gift of Freyr, and it just exploded. I will be posting the first chapter shortly, so be on the look out.

Send reviews, or beer. Either way, I'll see you next time, kitties.