Ginny Weasley stood at the edge of a small cliff overlooking the most spectacular valley she'd ever seen. Not that she'd seen many in her short seventeen years but, by all accounts, this location was known for it's rugged beauty as much as its brutal harshness. Isolated in the most remote, northern reaches of Scotland, the area was a popular location for summer tourists. During the winter, however, the area only supported a small village of hardy locals.
The brutal winter conditions made this an ideal location for the Auror Training Academy.
She took in the view of the valley before entering the town. The sun was now setting, casting long shadows and making the incredibly steep rocky terrain appear black against the lower valley's deep hues of green. Down the center, a river of cobalt blue carved its way and she noticed the dark silhouette of a dragon cut across the crimson sunset sky.
Breathing in the crisp fall air, Ginny felt overwhelmed by more than just the beauty of the view. It was, after all, a pivotal moment in her life. Part of her still couldn't quite fathom that she'd finally arrived here after months of planning.
She wasn't exactly sure how the plan had originated in her mind all those weeks ago and she also wasn't sure about exactly when she'd become so infatuated with this particular boy. Nevertheless, the one was driven by the other. Without question, her plan was a result of her unquenchable need to be near him and, at the moment, he was here.
The plan itself was completely insane if she spent any time really thinking about it. In her world, witches weren't supposed to pursue careers, especially not one as dangerous as being an Auror. And, truthfully, she'd never even considered taking up a career that would counter society. Not that she thought that such a limitation was exactly fair. She'd watched, over the years, as each of her brothers had grown up and gone off to Hogwarts, and later found jobs that suited them, while she had attended Nightingale's School for Witches to learn only about art and music and history and domestic matters. It had been frustrating to know that so little would be expected of her, beyond finding a husband, of course.
The fact that she hadn't studied many of the more advanced topics that were taught to the boys at Hogwarts was one of the bigger concerns with her plan. She'd dabbled in some spells, reading some of her brothers' books and such, but, truthfully, she had almost none of the necessary background to qualify for entry into the prestigious Auror academy. That was why she'd chosen a false identity from another country, hoping that differences in the basic school curriculum might provide her some leeway. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but she avoided focusing on the negative aspects of her idea, lest it cause her to lose her nerve.
She shook off her fear and tried to concentrate on the next step of her plan. She still had a day before she needed to report to the school and, before that time, she needed to change. Deciding to spend the next few hours becoming familiar with her new environment, she wandered down the path, away from the glorious view of the valley, toward the nearby village of Dragonshire.
As she entered the relatively quiet main street, her thoughts were once again drawn to her reason for being there. The image of the handsome Quidditch player that entered her mind helped quell her uncertainty.
She'd seen him for the first time at her brothers' school, Hogwarts, just over two years ago when she'd been there to watch her brothers' Quidditch match. She had always loved going to visit because she loved any reason to escape the confines of her own rather boring school, which was located in the heart of London. Hogwarts had always called to her because it had always seemed to be so much more interesting and challenging.
While she'd seen a number of her brothers' matches over the years, it was at that particular match two years ago that she had finally taken notice of him.
She was no casual observer to the game. In fact, she was considered to be quite good, although her experience had been limited to playing with her brothers in their own backyard. Still, she was aware that all her brothers were exceptionally good at playing, but nothing she'd seen before had matched the grace and sheer athleticism of the Slytherin Seeker. She'd found herself captivated by him throughout the match.
Gryffindor had won that day, due to Ron's friend Harry, but it had been sheer luck. She'd seen the skill of the opposing Seeker and almost regretted seeing her brothers' team win.
Since then, she'd become obsessed with learning more about him, traveling on weekends to visit her brothers to watch more Quidditch, or listening to any conversation where his name came up. The latter came quite frequently as, apparently, his family was quite well-known in social circles. Unfortunately, his name was rather scandalous because his family had also had some past affiliation with Dark Wizards.
But she knew nothing of that. She was, however, well-aware of the fact that her brothers hated him. She was quite certain that it was simply because they were jealous.
She stopped bringing him up in conversation after that, limiting herself to newspaper and magazine articles which covered either Hogwarts Quidditch news, or the occasional gossip article about his wealthy family. When she found that he had taken an intern position at the Ministry, she found herself looking for reasons to visit her father at work more often than was truly necessary.
Her father frequently came home from work with gossip about him. He was, after all, still considered to be under some suspicion due to his family name. But the tone of her father's words gradually changed over the summer, turning from cautious, to grudgingly respectful, to almost approving.
Ginny carefully read into her father's words and only became more enamored of the blond young man. He was working to start a new life. He was intelligent. He was clever. He was beautiful.
She found herself doubling her efforts to catch a glimpse of him after that, trying to manage her schedule so that she would see more of him at the Ministry, although too shy to actually bring herself to his attention. But then, there was that one time, where she'd run into him accidentally in the lift, quite literally, and he'd smiled at her. That was when she'd become quite certain that she was in love with him.
When she'd found that he'd applied for Auror training, she'd been thrilled for him. It only seemed to make him all the more perfect in her opinion. But then, she'd found out that the training was not only located in one of the most remote areas of the country, but that it would take at least a year. She'd been devastated. That was when she began to formulate her plan. She simply refused to accept that she would be apart from him for such a long period of time.
-----
Her timing as she entered the village could not have been better. The young Aurors were returning to their dormitories for the evening, after completing their day at the Academy.
She watched as the group of young wizards appeared at the end of the street and, almost before she realized, the area had become crowded with young women, eager to watch the future Aurors pass.
It was total mayhem.
She was hustled along with a horde of giggling, screaming girls as the trainees sauntered through the area on their way to the local pub. She found herself taken in by the sight, and it was quite clear that the young wizards were quite aware of their desirable status.
Watching them, she had to admit that she was a bit enamored herself. Each of the wizards was among the best of the best of their year. Auror candidates had to be intelligent, athletic and confident. No wonder girls were constantly hoping to catch their attention. Ginny was, however, surprised at the number of young witches who seemed willing to gather at this remote village to accomplish that task.
"There's Seamus Finnegan!" one of them squealed, bouncing up and down, grabbing Ginny's arm and pointing.
Ginny gasped in horror, hoping that she wouldn't be seen or recognized by one of the boys that she actually knew as one of her brothers' friends.
The girl's friend responded loudly in return, mostly to be heard over the din of the crowd, "I hear Marion has pictures of him!"
"Pictures?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Of course!" the girl responded with enthusiasm. "We only get to see them when they come passing through town. The school is so far away that we have to make the most of our time while they are going to and from training."
"Oh, let's go look!" another girl said, as she enthusiastically turned to Ginny inviting her to go with them to see Marion.
What was more shocking than the overwhelming number of girls there trying to catch the attention of the Aurors-in-training, was the fact that Marion, an older, rather well-dressed witch, actually operated a vendor stand specifically catering to this unusual market. The stand offered a rather impressive variety of pictures of the young Aurors and, apparently, Marion did quite a lot of business.
These girls were obviously quite adept at trying to capture the attention of the most eligible bachelors in the Wizarding world. If Ginny was finally going to be noticed, she was going to need an edge. Fortunately, she'd already planned for that.
- X - - X- -
The next morning, Ginny walked into the Academy Training facility dressed the standard black and red trimmed robes of an Auror-in-Training. Her hair had been charmed short, in a boyish style, and changed to brown. She had also charmed her features to look a bit more boy-ish, her breasts were pressed flat by a tight wrapping around her chest and her trousers and shirt were loose fitting, to hide her hips and bum. She wondered if even one of her brothers would recognize her. She barely recognized herself.
The training facility was a short distance from the nearby town but deliberately kept isolated, due to the harsh and dangerous nature of the training that took place there. Ginny soon found out how dangerous as she hurried along the narrow path toward the small castle-like facility carved into the side of one of the mountains. She spent most of the journey dodging the attentions of a hungry dragon flying past.
Turning in her paperwork at the reception desk, she was directed to the lockers, where she would leave her personal belongings for the day while classes were in session.
She was more than a little nervous. The training session had actually started a month before, so Ginny was already behind in her studies, not to mention that all the other trainees had likely finished a full seven years of regular schooling. Ginny herself had only completed her sixth year at Nightingale's and her parents were currently under the impression that she was there now, beginning her seventh year.
But she was seventeen and of age to leave that school if she so wished, which was key to her plan. It had taken her a month to develop her alias and appropriate paperwork to be now known as Jon Wilson, thinking that "Jon" was close enough to "Gin" to minimize any confusion in hearing her name called.
She hoped she was ready for the physical aspect of the training. From what she'd seen of the boys as they'd walked past her yesterday, they were all more than fit. As a female, she would have to work twice as hard to compete among the men in that area. Fortunately, for an Auror, the vital requirement was in the strength of their magic and their intelligence in wielding spells. While the Ministry seemed to disagree that witches were capable of competing with wizards in that area, Ginny had studied diligently over the past few months, and knew in her heart that she could best any of her brothers and could compete with any wizard in a duel.
Shaking nervously, she walked into the locker room and frantically tried to locate an empty space to deposit her cloak. She was already late and the situation only added to her unease. Racing around the corner in her hurried search, she plowed headlong into a large body, causing her to bounce backwards. She gracelessly staggered back, barely preventing herself from a hard landing on her bum.
Looking up, she found herself confronting the one person she'd least hoped to see, Harry Potter. The boy looked surprised at first, but then, after a moment, his expression turned to suspicion. She stepped back in no small amount of fear, unsure of whether or not he recognized her as a Weasley, or at the very least, took notice that she was quite definitely female.
“I'm sorry...” she stammered, unable to contain the fear in her voice.
Harry was clutching his chest, still recovering from the hard impact. “It's all right,” he said, looking hard at her again. All the summers and holidays that he'd spent at the Burrow with her brother Ron and he'd barely looked at her, even though she'd adored him. Now, here she was, hoping that he wouldn't notice her, and now, here he was, studying her intently. It was just her luck.
Fortunately, his next words calmed her fear. “You must be the new transfer student, Wilson, right?” he said, almost accusingly.
She nodded. “Yes, that's me. I just arrived today. I wasn't sure which locker I should use,” she said, motioning to her cloak and large bag.
“You can use any of them. It doesn't matter,” he replied, looking a bit irritated. “You don't have much time.”
She looked at the magical clock on the wall, pointing to “Late for class” and gasped. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on her first day of Auror training. It would be hard enough on her to keep up with some of the physical demands of boys a year older than she. She turned and opened the locker directly behind her, shoving her cloak over another that was already in the locker, deciding it would be easier to apologize to the occupant later.
Slamming the door shut, she began scrambling down the hallway toward where she assumed her first class awaited. As she ran, she heard Harry's voice call after her, “By the way, where are you transferring from?”
“Salem!” she shouted back, running as fast as she could to her first lesson and away from curious eyes of her brother's friend.
- X - - X - -
She stood outside the classroom and took a deep breath. Inside was a roomful of wizards who had all completed perfectly normal schools and were completely not expecting a witch to be entering their midst. She was accustomed to how young men behaved; after all, she'd grown up with enough brothers to have learned more than she ever wanted to know about how boys thought. She'd even been able to keep up with them, especially Ron, while growing up. In many ways, she much preferred how boys were more open and straightforward.
She stared at the door and summoned her courage. She would do this and become an Auror despite what society thought of it.
She'd thought Auror training would be something like a university setting. In effect, it was more like a barely-controlled military school. Students were accepted shortly after finishing their secondary schooling and were brought here to become toughened in many different disciplines, including physical, intellectual and, of course, magical.
Being an Auror meant far more than simply being able to counter a curse in a duel. Aurors had to use investigative abilities to solve crimes, they might have to fend off spells that could control them, and then they had to be able to be able to physically defend themselves in case they ever found themselves without a wand. Ginny had thought long and hard about this before forging her application and she was willing to take on the challenge.
She'd never thought about how difficult it would be to face her fellow trainees.
She stepped into the room for the first time and greeted the head Auror, who went by the name of Mad-Eye Moody. She stopped abruptly when she saw the man for the first time and came to full realization of why he had such a nickname.
The look on her face must have been glaringly obvious, because the roomful of students erupted in a bout of laughter.
The professor gave her a curt nod. “I presume you're Jon Wilson, the transfer student?” he said gruffly, his magical eye rolling wildly as he looked her over.
She nodded, still a bit dumbfounded by the rather ruffled and unkempt appearance of what she'd expected to be a stately professor.
“Very well,” he said dismissively. He motioned for her to enter the room and turned to start writing his assignment on the chalkboard.
She noticed that every eye in the room was on her as she moved to take a seat, hearing more than a few whispers about her from the others in the classroom. Normally, their speculation might not have been a cause for concern, since there would be discussion about anyone new joining such an elite academy, but, at this point, she was still terrified of someone suspecting that she wasn't all that she appeared to be. Aurors were suspicious by nature, or so she'd heard, so any one of them might suspect her motives for being there.
She'd barely put her bag down when Professor Moody announced that he would be stepping out for a few moments.
As soon as he left, the curiosity of her fellow trainees turned to her.
“So, from America, are you?” She heard the rich Irish accent of Seamus Finnegan and made an attempt to look as casual as possible. She'd never been to America, only having read something of it in a few of her world study textbooks, since all witches in polite wizarding society were expected to be able to maintain intelligent conversation about general world topics.
“Yes, of course, Salem,” she said steadily, hoping that she'd disguised her accent well enough, and magically enhanced the tone to a proper level.
“You don't sound like an American,” another wizard said, a bit too knowingly. She silently cursed these junior Aurors and their suspicious nature.
She shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. The New England accent she had adopted was supposedly less distant than some of the other American varieties, but nevertheless, she knew she didn't sound very much like an American. She heard another make a comment that perhaps she had British parents, and decided to try to expand on that idea if questioned further.
Further inquiry into her questionable background was, fortunately, interrupted by the sound of the door to the classroom being thrown open.
“Who's cloak is this?” the person at the doorway said harshly, holding his arm into the classroom and waving a very familiar-looking garment.
Her face paled. It was hers. She suddenly felt much less fortunate about the means of the interruption. Apparently, the person whose belongings she'd shoved aside so hurriedly was not the forgiving type. It was clearly not a good way to start off her first day.
“It's mine!” she said as she stood up and made to hurry to the door to retrieve her errant cloak.
Seamus stepped out into the aisle, blocking her path, with a jovial grin. “Not a bright answer, mate,” he said jokingly, pointing casually over his shoulder toward the door. “With him, it's best to deny everything, preferably with a healthy amount of foul language.”
She ignored the boy and pushed past him, now rapidly running out of patience with the lot of them. Her temper got the best of her. At the very least, this rude boy could have given her the opportunity to apologize before being so very rude.
She snatched the cloak out of the outstretched hand and snarled, “Look, if you want a fight, I'll be more than happy to ...”
Then, her eyes focused on her rude accuser and she lost her voice before she could finish the sentence, her feet frozen in place as she felt her heart begin to pound maddeningly in her chest.
There, standing in front of her, holding her cloak and obviously angry, was Draco Malfoy, his long blond fringe carelessly dropped low over his eyes, looking every bit as exquisitely beautiful as she remembered.
- X - - X - -
Of course, he was a total prat, telling her that she shouldn't use a locker with his name on it. Of course, he was rude and condescending, and she couldn't care less. She was thrilled to finally be in the same room as he. She could barely contain herself from staring at him adoringly.
Then, she realized that she had the tiniest problem. He thought she was a boy.
As she moved to the back of the room, noticing that he had rather rudely moved her things and took the seat that she had just recently occupied, she started to sulk. His personality was nothing like what she had expected. He was egotistical, regal and brooding. She tried to hide her disappointment.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another of the trainees. “So, I hear that you have the record at your old school for catching the Snitch in a one-on-one challenge.”
She felt her whole body tense at his words. She'd stolen this identity, after all. There really was a Jon Wilson somewhere in America and she'd used one of her visits to her father at the Ministry to nick a folder from one of his co-worker's files. She'd had no idea that the wizard had any sort of reputation.
“I... uhhhh....” was all she could say.
Seamus Finnegan seemed to be more of an instigator than most, taunting her a bit too enthusiastically. She briefly wondered why her brother Ron liked the Irishman so much.
“Obviously, you must be in good shape,” he said. “Tell me, what kind of training do you do?”
“He's hardly bigger than a girl!” another wizard chimed in.
“That's because to be a good Seeker you have to be small. It's all about aerodynamics. You get more speed from a broom if you're able to cut down the drag of the wind against you,” a tall, rather geeky looking boy said knowingly.
“I still think it takes raw strength,” another bellowed from across the room.
Her gaze bounced back and forth about the room, trying to follow the conversation as they babbled all around her.
“No, no, no. Strength is nothing without stamina. You need stamina for a full match. It means nothing in a one-on-one chase!”
Something told her that this conversation wasn't going to go well for her at all.
Finnegan turned to her again. “So, do you think you're up to testing those incredible Quidditch skills against a dragon?”
“What?” she said, slightly panicked at the idea of flying amongst dragons, if that's what he was implying.
Suddenly, the incessant banter was interrupted by a bored, superior sounding voice. “You've all been screeching like a bunch of Howlers for a while now.”
“C'mon, Malfoy, we know you think you're superior. We're just having a bit of fun,” Finnegan jibed.
“I'm not superior. You're just immature,” he responded, sounding haughty and looking bored.
Actually, she had to admit that she agreed with him. Here were the best, most capable candidates for the most prestigious positions in the Wizarding World and they were acting like children.
But, she had to admit that she was more than a bit curious.
Professor Moody returned shortly after, ending the conversation and beginning her first class on some of the deadliest spells and curses known to exist.
If that wasn't frightening enough, she soon found that flying among the dragons while chasing a Quidditch snitch was indeed a very real tradition among the young Aurors. Apparently, they felt that it built some sort of character, or perhaps it was intended to frighten away anyone who lacked the nerve to truly survive being an Auror.
Ginny had a terrible feeling that she was going to learn a lot more about this tradition than she ever wanted to know.
The brutal winter conditions made this an ideal location for the Auror Training Academy.
She took in the view of the valley before entering the town. The sun was now setting, casting long shadows and making the incredibly steep rocky terrain appear black against the lower valley's deep hues of green. Down the center, a river of cobalt blue carved its way and she noticed the dark silhouette of a dragon cut across the crimson sunset sky.
Breathing in the crisp fall air, Ginny felt overwhelmed by more than just the beauty of the view. It was, after all, a pivotal moment in her life. Part of her still couldn't quite fathom that she'd finally arrived here after months of planning.
She wasn't exactly sure how the plan had originated in her mind all those weeks ago and she also wasn't sure about exactly when she'd become so infatuated with this particular boy. Nevertheless, the one was driven by the other. Without question, her plan was a result of her unquenchable need to be near him and, at the moment, he was here.
The plan itself was completely insane if she spent any time really thinking about it. In her world, witches weren't supposed to pursue careers, especially not one as dangerous as being an Auror. And, truthfully, she'd never even considered taking up a career that would counter society. Not that she thought that such a limitation was exactly fair. She'd watched, over the years, as each of her brothers had grown up and gone off to Hogwarts, and later found jobs that suited them, while she had attended Nightingale's School for Witches to learn only about art and music and history and domestic matters. It had been frustrating to know that so little would be expected of her, beyond finding a husband, of course.
The fact that she hadn't studied many of the more advanced topics that were taught to the boys at Hogwarts was one of the bigger concerns with her plan. She'd dabbled in some spells, reading some of her brothers' books and such, but, truthfully, she had almost none of the necessary background to qualify for entry into the prestigious Auror academy. That was why she'd chosen a false identity from another country, hoping that differences in the basic school curriculum might provide her some leeway. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but she avoided focusing on the negative aspects of her idea, lest it cause her to lose her nerve.
She shook off her fear and tried to concentrate on the next step of her plan. She still had a day before she needed to report to the school and, before that time, she needed to change. Deciding to spend the next few hours becoming familiar with her new environment, she wandered down the path, away from the glorious view of the valley, toward the nearby village of Dragonshire.
As she entered the relatively quiet main street, her thoughts were once again drawn to her reason for being there. The image of the handsome Quidditch player that entered her mind helped quell her uncertainty.
She'd seen him for the first time at her brothers' school, Hogwarts, just over two years ago when she'd been there to watch her brothers' Quidditch match. She had always loved going to visit because she loved any reason to escape the confines of her own rather boring school, which was located in the heart of London. Hogwarts had always called to her because it had always seemed to be so much more interesting and challenging.
While she'd seen a number of her brothers' matches over the years, it was at that particular match two years ago that she had finally taken notice of him.
She was no casual observer to the game. In fact, she was considered to be quite good, although her experience had been limited to playing with her brothers in their own backyard. Still, she was aware that all her brothers were exceptionally good at playing, but nothing she'd seen before had matched the grace and sheer athleticism of the Slytherin Seeker. She'd found herself captivated by him throughout the match.
Gryffindor had won that day, due to Ron's friend Harry, but it had been sheer luck. She'd seen the skill of the opposing Seeker and almost regretted seeing her brothers' team win.
Since then, she'd become obsessed with learning more about him, traveling on weekends to visit her brothers to watch more Quidditch, or listening to any conversation where his name came up. The latter came quite frequently as, apparently, his family was quite well-known in social circles. Unfortunately, his name was rather scandalous because his family had also had some past affiliation with Dark Wizards.
But she knew nothing of that. She was, however, well-aware of the fact that her brothers hated him. She was quite certain that it was simply because they were jealous.
She stopped bringing him up in conversation after that, limiting herself to newspaper and magazine articles which covered either Hogwarts Quidditch news, or the occasional gossip article about his wealthy family. When she found that he had taken an intern position at the Ministry, she found herself looking for reasons to visit her father at work more often than was truly necessary.
Her father frequently came home from work with gossip about him. He was, after all, still considered to be under some suspicion due to his family name. But the tone of her father's words gradually changed over the summer, turning from cautious, to grudgingly respectful, to almost approving.
Ginny carefully read into her father's words and only became more enamored of the blond young man. He was working to start a new life. He was intelligent. He was clever. He was beautiful.
She found herself doubling her efforts to catch a glimpse of him after that, trying to manage her schedule so that she would see more of him at the Ministry, although too shy to actually bring herself to his attention. But then, there was that one time, where she'd run into him accidentally in the lift, quite literally, and he'd smiled at her. That was when she'd become quite certain that she was in love with him.
When she'd found that he'd applied for Auror training, she'd been thrilled for him. It only seemed to make him all the more perfect in her opinion. But then, she'd found out that the training was not only located in one of the most remote areas of the country, but that it would take at least a year. She'd been devastated. That was when she began to formulate her plan. She simply refused to accept that she would be apart from him for such a long period of time.
-----
Her timing as she entered the village could not have been better. The young Aurors were returning to their dormitories for the evening, after completing their day at the Academy.
She watched as the group of young wizards appeared at the end of the street and, almost before she realized, the area had become crowded with young women, eager to watch the future Aurors pass.
It was total mayhem.
She was hustled along with a horde of giggling, screaming girls as the trainees sauntered through the area on their way to the local pub. She found herself taken in by the sight, and it was quite clear that the young wizards were quite aware of their desirable status.
Watching them, she had to admit that she was a bit enamored herself. Each of the wizards was among the best of the best of their year. Auror candidates had to be intelligent, athletic and confident. No wonder girls were constantly hoping to catch their attention. Ginny was, however, surprised at the number of young witches who seemed willing to gather at this remote village to accomplish that task.
"There's Seamus Finnegan!" one of them squealed, bouncing up and down, grabbing Ginny's arm and pointing.
Ginny gasped in horror, hoping that she wouldn't be seen or recognized by one of the boys that she actually knew as one of her brothers' friends.
The girl's friend responded loudly in return, mostly to be heard over the din of the crowd, "I hear Marion has pictures of him!"
"Pictures?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Of course!" the girl responded with enthusiasm. "We only get to see them when they come passing through town. The school is so far away that we have to make the most of our time while they are going to and from training."
"Oh, let's go look!" another girl said, as she enthusiastically turned to Ginny inviting her to go with them to see Marion.
What was more shocking than the overwhelming number of girls there trying to catch the attention of the Aurors-in-training, was the fact that Marion, an older, rather well-dressed witch, actually operated a vendor stand specifically catering to this unusual market. The stand offered a rather impressive variety of pictures of the young Aurors and, apparently, Marion did quite a lot of business.
These girls were obviously quite adept at trying to capture the attention of the most eligible bachelors in the Wizarding world. If Ginny was finally going to be noticed, she was going to need an edge. Fortunately, she'd already planned for that.
- X - - X- -
The next morning, Ginny walked into the Academy Training facility dressed the standard black and red trimmed robes of an Auror-in-Training. Her hair had been charmed short, in a boyish style, and changed to brown. She had also charmed her features to look a bit more boy-ish, her breasts were pressed flat by a tight wrapping around her chest and her trousers and shirt were loose fitting, to hide her hips and bum. She wondered if even one of her brothers would recognize her. She barely recognized herself.
The training facility was a short distance from the nearby town but deliberately kept isolated, due to the harsh and dangerous nature of the training that took place there. Ginny soon found out how dangerous as she hurried along the narrow path toward the small castle-like facility carved into the side of one of the mountains. She spent most of the journey dodging the attentions of a hungry dragon flying past.
Turning in her paperwork at the reception desk, she was directed to the lockers, where she would leave her personal belongings for the day while classes were in session.
She was more than a little nervous. The training session had actually started a month before, so Ginny was already behind in her studies, not to mention that all the other trainees had likely finished a full seven years of regular schooling. Ginny herself had only completed her sixth year at Nightingale's and her parents were currently under the impression that she was there now, beginning her seventh year.
But she was seventeen and of age to leave that school if she so wished, which was key to her plan. It had taken her a month to develop her alias and appropriate paperwork to be now known as Jon Wilson, thinking that "Jon" was close enough to "Gin" to minimize any confusion in hearing her name called.
She hoped she was ready for the physical aspect of the training. From what she'd seen of the boys as they'd walked past her yesterday, they were all more than fit. As a female, she would have to work twice as hard to compete among the men in that area. Fortunately, for an Auror, the vital requirement was in the strength of their magic and their intelligence in wielding spells. While the Ministry seemed to disagree that witches were capable of competing with wizards in that area, Ginny had studied diligently over the past few months, and knew in her heart that she could best any of her brothers and could compete with any wizard in a duel.
Shaking nervously, she walked into the locker room and frantically tried to locate an empty space to deposit her cloak. She was already late and the situation only added to her unease. Racing around the corner in her hurried search, she plowed headlong into a large body, causing her to bounce backwards. She gracelessly staggered back, barely preventing herself from a hard landing on her bum.
Looking up, she found herself confronting the one person she'd least hoped to see, Harry Potter. The boy looked surprised at first, but then, after a moment, his expression turned to suspicion. She stepped back in no small amount of fear, unsure of whether or not he recognized her as a Weasley, or at the very least, took notice that she was quite definitely female.
“I'm sorry...” she stammered, unable to contain the fear in her voice.
Harry was clutching his chest, still recovering from the hard impact. “It's all right,” he said, looking hard at her again. All the summers and holidays that he'd spent at the Burrow with her brother Ron and he'd barely looked at her, even though she'd adored him. Now, here she was, hoping that he wouldn't notice her, and now, here he was, studying her intently. It was just her luck.
Fortunately, his next words calmed her fear. “You must be the new transfer student, Wilson, right?” he said, almost accusingly.
She nodded. “Yes, that's me. I just arrived today. I wasn't sure which locker I should use,” she said, motioning to her cloak and large bag.
“You can use any of them. It doesn't matter,” he replied, looking a bit irritated. “You don't have much time.”
She looked at the magical clock on the wall, pointing to “Late for class” and gasped. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on her first day of Auror training. It would be hard enough on her to keep up with some of the physical demands of boys a year older than she. She turned and opened the locker directly behind her, shoving her cloak over another that was already in the locker, deciding it would be easier to apologize to the occupant later.
Slamming the door shut, she began scrambling down the hallway toward where she assumed her first class awaited. As she ran, she heard Harry's voice call after her, “By the way, where are you transferring from?”
“Salem!” she shouted back, running as fast as she could to her first lesson and away from curious eyes of her brother's friend.
- X - - X - -
She stood outside the classroom and took a deep breath. Inside was a roomful of wizards who had all completed perfectly normal schools and were completely not expecting a witch to be entering their midst. She was accustomed to how young men behaved; after all, she'd grown up with enough brothers to have learned more than she ever wanted to know about how boys thought. She'd even been able to keep up with them, especially Ron, while growing up. In many ways, she much preferred how boys were more open and straightforward.
She stared at the door and summoned her courage. She would do this and become an Auror despite what society thought of it.
She'd thought Auror training would be something like a university setting. In effect, it was more like a barely-controlled military school. Students were accepted shortly after finishing their secondary schooling and were brought here to become toughened in many different disciplines, including physical, intellectual and, of course, magical.
Being an Auror meant far more than simply being able to counter a curse in a duel. Aurors had to use investigative abilities to solve crimes, they might have to fend off spells that could control them, and then they had to be able to be able to physically defend themselves in case they ever found themselves without a wand. Ginny had thought long and hard about this before forging her application and she was willing to take on the challenge.
She'd never thought about how difficult it would be to face her fellow trainees.
She stepped into the room for the first time and greeted the head Auror, who went by the name of Mad-Eye Moody. She stopped abruptly when she saw the man for the first time and came to full realization of why he had such a nickname.
The look on her face must have been glaringly obvious, because the roomful of students erupted in a bout of laughter.
The professor gave her a curt nod. “I presume you're Jon Wilson, the transfer student?” he said gruffly, his magical eye rolling wildly as he looked her over.
She nodded, still a bit dumbfounded by the rather ruffled and unkempt appearance of what she'd expected to be a stately professor.
“Very well,” he said dismissively. He motioned for her to enter the room and turned to start writing his assignment on the chalkboard.
She noticed that every eye in the room was on her as she moved to take a seat, hearing more than a few whispers about her from the others in the classroom. Normally, their speculation might not have been a cause for concern, since there would be discussion about anyone new joining such an elite academy, but, at this point, she was still terrified of someone suspecting that she wasn't all that she appeared to be. Aurors were suspicious by nature, or so she'd heard, so any one of them might suspect her motives for being there.
She'd barely put her bag down when Professor Moody announced that he would be stepping out for a few moments.
As soon as he left, the curiosity of her fellow trainees turned to her.
“So, from America, are you?” She heard the rich Irish accent of Seamus Finnegan and made an attempt to look as casual as possible. She'd never been to America, only having read something of it in a few of her world study textbooks, since all witches in polite wizarding society were expected to be able to maintain intelligent conversation about general world topics.
“Yes, of course, Salem,” she said steadily, hoping that she'd disguised her accent well enough, and magically enhanced the tone to a proper level.
“You don't sound like an American,” another wizard said, a bit too knowingly. She silently cursed these junior Aurors and their suspicious nature.
She shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. The New England accent she had adopted was supposedly less distant than some of the other American varieties, but nevertheless, she knew she didn't sound very much like an American. She heard another make a comment that perhaps she had British parents, and decided to try to expand on that idea if questioned further.
Further inquiry into her questionable background was, fortunately, interrupted by the sound of the door to the classroom being thrown open.
“Who's cloak is this?” the person at the doorway said harshly, holding his arm into the classroom and waving a very familiar-looking garment.
Her face paled. It was hers. She suddenly felt much less fortunate about the means of the interruption. Apparently, the person whose belongings she'd shoved aside so hurriedly was not the forgiving type. It was clearly not a good way to start off her first day.
“It's mine!” she said as she stood up and made to hurry to the door to retrieve her errant cloak.
Seamus stepped out into the aisle, blocking her path, with a jovial grin. “Not a bright answer, mate,” he said jokingly, pointing casually over his shoulder toward the door. “With him, it's best to deny everything, preferably with a healthy amount of foul language.”
She ignored the boy and pushed past him, now rapidly running out of patience with the lot of them. Her temper got the best of her. At the very least, this rude boy could have given her the opportunity to apologize before being so very rude.
She snatched the cloak out of the outstretched hand and snarled, “Look, if you want a fight, I'll be more than happy to ...”
Then, her eyes focused on her rude accuser and she lost her voice before she could finish the sentence, her feet frozen in place as she felt her heart begin to pound maddeningly in her chest.
There, standing in front of her, holding her cloak and obviously angry, was Draco Malfoy, his long blond fringe carelessly dropped low over his eyes, looking every bit as exquisitely beautiful as she remembered.
- X - - X - -
Of course, he was a total prat, telling her that she shouldn't use a locker with his name on it. Of course, he was rude and condescending, and she couldn't care less. She was thrilled to finally be in the same room as he. She could barely contain herself from staring at him adoringly.
Then, she realized that she had the tiniest problem. He thought she was a boy.
As she moved to the back of the room, noticing that he had rather rudely moved her things and took the seat that she had just recently occupied, she started to sulk. His personality was nothing like what she had expected. He was egotistical, regal and brooding. She tried to hide her disappointment.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another of the trainees. “So, I hear that you have the record at your old school for catching the Snitch in a one-on-one challenge.”
She felt her whole body tense at his words. She'd stolen this identity, after all. There really was a Jon Wilson somewhere in America and she'd used one of her visits to her father at the Ministry to nick a folder from one of his co-worker's files. She'd had no idea that the wizard had any sort of reputation.
“I... uhhhh....” was all she could say.
Seamus Finnegan seemed to be more of an instigator than most, taunting her a bit too enthusiastically. She briefly wondered why her brother Ron liked the Irishman so much.
“Obviously, you must be in good shape,” he said. “Tell me, what kind of training do you do?”
“He's hardly bigger than a girl!” another wizard chimed in.
“That's because to be a good Seeker you have to be small. It's all about aerodynamics. You get more speed from a broom if you're able to cut down the drag of the wind against you,” a tall, rather geeky looking boy said knowingly.
“I still think it takes raw strength,” another bellowed from across the room.
Her gaze bounced back and forth about the room, trying to follow the conversation as they babbled all around her.
“No, no, no. Strength is nothing without stamina. You need stamina for a full match. It means nothing in a one-on-one chase!”
Something told her that this conversation wasn't going to go well for her at all.
Finnegan turned to her again. “So, do you think you're up to testing those incredible Quidditch skills against a dragon?”
“What?” she said, slightly panicked at the idea of flying amongst dragons, if that's what he was implying.
Suddenly, the incessant banter was interrupted by a bored, superior sounding voice. “You've all been screeching like a bunch of Howlers for a while now.”
“C'mon, Malfoy, we know you think you're superior. We're just having a bit of fun,” Finnegan jibed.
“I'm not superior. You're just immature,” he responded, sounding haughty and looking bored.
Actually, she had to admit that she agreed with him. Here were the best, most capable candidates for the most prestigious positions in the Wizarding World and they were acting like children.
But, she had to admit that she was more than a bit curious.
Professor Moody returned shortly after, ending the conversation and beginning her first class on some of the deadliest spells and curses known to exist.
If that wasn't frightening enough, she soon found that flying among the dragons while chasing a Quidditch snitch was indeed a very real tradition among the young Aurors. Apparently, they felt that it built some sort of character, or perhaps it was intended to frighten away anyone who lacked the nerve to truly survive being an Auror.
Ginny had a terrible feeling that she was going to learn a lot more about this tradition than she ever wanted to know.
Author notes: Reviews are good for the soul. I get sad if nobody gives feedback.
Leave a Review