Osiris Curse

Ginny woke up with a start. She sat up in her bed, eyes wide open. She looked over at her clock.

"4:30 a.m.? I can't get back to sleep!" she said.

She got out of bed and put on her radio. She made sure the volume was low so she wouldn't wake anyone. Celestina Warbeck was on with her song, "Witches and Warlocks."

This made Ginny think of the concert that happened at Diagon Alley. Ginny giggled as she remembered seeing Draco's flustered face when his hood had fallen. Ginny was still a bit upset that she couldn't get an autograph. There was such a big line that not everyone got one by the time Celestina had to leave. Suddenly Ginny's favorite song came on, "The Bewitching Hour." (Apparently, the radio station was having a Celestina marathon.)

Ginny danced around her room in her nightgown, pretending her hairbrush was a microphone. (A/N: You know you do it too!)

Forgetting the time, she turned up her radio and belted out the lyrics. In the middle of the second verse, there was a loud knocking on her door.

Her mother yelled through the mahogany door, "VIRGINIA WEASLEY! THIS MAY BE YOUR BIRTHDAY, BUT THAT GIVES YOU NO RIGHT TO WAKE US ALL UP AT UN-GODLY HOURS OF THE MORNING!!!" With that her mother stomped back to her room.

Ginny turned down the radio. "Today is June 27^th? I thought today was the 26^th! Today's my birthday!" she thought happily. Ginny did her little happy dance. "Presents, cake, lalalala! Today I'm 14!" she sung to her own little tune.

An eagle, a beautiful eagle, flew in her window as she did her little dance. Ginny saw him land on her desk and she stopped abruptly, quite embarrassed. Blushing so red she could rival Ron, she untied the package tied to the eagle's leg. As soon as the last string was undone it flew off rapidly.

Ginny looked at the package, there was no name or address or anything.

"Hmm... wonder who sent it," she mused.

She decided to open it, Ginny's curiosity had gotten the better of her. She slowly undid every fold of the brown paper. Once she'd removed every bit of paper she held in her hands a small, velvet box.

She stared at the box for some time, wondering what was inside and who'd sent it. She knew she'd seen the eagle somewhere before. Ginny decided to open the box, thinking there might be a card inside.

A small gasp escaped Ginny's mouth as she saw what was inside, a necklace. It was exquisite. It was a small white crystal in the shape of an eye. Where the pupil was, it was a small black crystal. The pendant hung on silver chain. It was obviously quite expensive. Ginny suddenly remembered where she'd seen the eagle before. She remembered Draco Malfoy getting huge packages from home and all of them were delivered by the same eagle that delivered the necklace.

"He must've wanted to make sure I wouldn't tell anyone about the concert. Wow, he's really watching his reputation!" Ginny said to herself.

Ginny carefully placed the necklace around her neck and looked in the mirror. "It's beautiful!" she said quietly, awed in the necklace's beauty. All of a sudden Ginny fell into a deep sleep, a dreamless sleep. Had someone been in the room they would've seen her laying on her bed, both hands clutched to the necklace, which was glowing brightly. Had someone kept watching they would've seen her eyes open to show only white and her herself lose all color. Her skin, hair, everything was completely white. Except there was no one in the room, so no one knew.

She only woke up to hear her mother's voice saying, "C'mon Ginny honey, breakfast is getting cold!"

Ginny could hear her mother's voice as if it was coming from very far away. It sounded muted as if someone had been covering her hears. Ginny tried to open her eyes and saw everything in shades of gray. She blinked several times but every time it was the same. Ginny closed her eyes and let go of her necklace and rubbed her eyes.

She opened them once more and saw everything normal; every color was there. Someone could've come in and she'd look normal, she'd have her dark red hair, her pale skin with brown freckles, etc.

Ginny went to the bathroom splashed some water on her face and walked down to breakfast. As she went down she tucked the necklace in her nightgown.

When she got to the table, her entire family was there to greet her, including Bill and Charlie.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they chorused. All thoughts of what happened when she woke up were gone. Ginny was just so happy to have her whole family there, even Ron. Everyone gave her a hug and a kiss. They all sat down and talked and laughed throughout breakfast.

Once the table had been cleared, Ginny's mum said, "Ok Gin, it's present time!"

Then she opened every single gift that they put in front of her. Ginny didn't even care that all of them were wrapped in newspaper. From her parents she got a beautiful black dress robe. Bill got her a pair of pearl earrings. Charlie gave her a headband made of dragon hide ("Of course! Ginny thought). Percy gave her a book titled, "The Ever Disappearing Bottom of a Cauldron: An In-depth Study of Cauldron Thickness.

"Um... thanks Percy,"Ginny said thinking what on earth she'd due with this book.

"They interviewed me! They used my old reports to the Ministry" he replied, beaming.

The twins got her a big box full of candy and tricks from their own line "Weasley Wizard Wheezes" and from Zonko's. Now came Ron's present. Ginny braced herself and tore off the paper. In her lap were two tickets to her concert in England next summer (which was sold out) and a picture of Celestina. In ink at the bottom corner was a message from Celestina herself.

"To Ginny:

Happy Birthday! Hope you get everything you want!

Luv, Celestina

PS- You've got a great big brother! He wouldn't let me leave until I signed this!"

Ginny realized her brother really loved her and whether he showed it or not he always did. She realized that he didn't ever mean to hurt her feelings and that even if he spent more time with Harry and Hermione he cared about her. He was still a friend, through and through. A single tear slipped down her cheek.

Ron saw and said, "I hope you like your present! I know how much you like Celestina and her music."

She smiled and threw her arms around him, giving him the biggest hug you've ever seen. "Um... Gin, I - I can't breathe!" he said, gasping.

Ginny laughed through tears. "Sorry," she said.

Ginny had a feeling that one of her brothers or dad was going to say something but that her mother silenced them. Ginny felt she couldn't love Ron or her mother more at that moment. Ginny ran upstairs to shower and change. Oddly, when she was stepping into the shower Ginny didn't want to take the necklace off.

Ginny went and played a game of Quidditch with all her brothers after lunch. Her dad said he was too old to play now, so he went in the kitchen with her mom.

This was one of the best birthdays of her life. After dinner it got even better. When she went upstairs there were two owls in her room, a great big tawny one and Hedwig. Ginny untied both packages and gave each owl a cookie baked by her mom, before they left.

She opened the tawny owl's package first. There was a birthday card from Hermione and a wrapped gift. Ginny unwrapped the present and found a bunch of magical hair care products. The card said,

"Hey Gin!

Happy fourteenth birthday! Hope you get everything you want! These products I found at the beginning of summer worked wonders on my hair, so I figured you might like them. We curly haired girls got it tough! Lucky for you, yours is straight! Well hope you summer's fun and I can't wait to see you again.

Love, Hermione"

Ginny looked through all the hair care products. "Wow Hermione!" she said to herself.

Ginny decided to open Hedwig's package next. It was quite big. There was a card as well. Ginny wondered how on earth he got her a present while living with those muggles.

She opened the present and found a Firebolt. "Oh my god!" Ginny exclaimed, "Why on earth...."

Ginny tore open the card and read,

"Hey Ginny,

Wow, you're fourteen! I can't believe it! You're like a little sister to me Gin, though you seem to be growing up too fast."

"A little sister?" her heart seemed like it'd been stepped on. She thought maybe now that Cho was kind of off limits to Harry after the Cedric thing; he may actually see her as more than Ron's little sister. "Guess not," Ginny thought miserably. "I'll always be Ron's little sister." Ginny continued to read the card.

"Well, as you know, this year we have a Quidditch season, and the Gryffindor team is out 3 Chasers and 1 Keeper. So how 'bout it? Will you be a Chaser? I've seen you fly, you're good! I'm going to ask Ron too. So don't tell him, because his birthday present will be a broom too! Got any ideas as who could fill the other two spots? Hope you like your present!

Your friend,

Harry

PS- If you're wondering how on earth I bought this, I got a friend to buy it with my money. Mystery solved?"

Ginny suspected this friend was Sirius Black. Ginny decided to hide the broom in her closet until Ron's birthday in July. Which reminded her she needed to buy a present for him. Ginny grabbed some paper and a quill and wrote to Hermione to thank her for the hair care things. She then wrote to Harry thanking him for the broom and told him that of course she'd join the team.

Ginny changed into some pajama pants and a tank top and got ready for bed. Before she got into bed she took a look in the mirror. Ginny hadn't noticed until now but she was filling out nicely. Her straight red hair had grown to her lower back. Ginny looked at her hair and noticed that one strand of hair on her head was snowy white.

"Oh my god! I'm going gray!" Ginny thought frantically. She yanked out the white strand. Now pleased that there was no white on her head, she took one final look in the mirror. Her eyes drifted to her necklace. It seemed to glow. "Probably because of the hall light," thought Ginny, now quite sleepy.

She collapsed on her bed and fell asleep instantly. Again the strange phenomena happened and Ginny became completely white, clutching her necklace. Except this time instead of no dreams, Ginny dreamt she was in a gray place and she couldn't move. She felt her power and energy being sucked out of her and right before she woke up, it being shoved back into her, all used up. Again when she woke up, Ginny could remember nothing, and she felt extremely tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny was sitting on her small bed, thinking about the upcoming school year. Tomorrow would be the first of the term, and the first day of her 4^th year.

Just two weeks ago Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George had gotten their owls from the school. Harry couldn't come this summer due to Dumbledore's orders. Due to the circumstances, Molly Weasley didn't press the subject further. Hermione on the other hand, was taking her yearly trip to France with her parents to visit some relatives. Ron did tell Ginny though, that all three of them were made prefects. Ginny smiled as she remembered Ron's beaming face as he told her. All he wanted to do was not be overshadowed by his brother's accomplishments. Ginny knew how he felt, but even more so considering Ron was famous, even if it was for being Harry's sidekick. All Ginny ever heard was, "You're a Weasley, right?" At least with Ron, they might know his name.

Ginny in her own opinion, was nothing special. She wasn't the prettiest, she wasn't the smartest, she had no special talent, she was overshadowed by her brothers, etc. She was just your basic average teenage witch. She was the girl with a crush on Harry, the youngest and female Weasley, nothing more.

"Well, let's hope this year will be the year I find something special about me," she told her reflection.

"Yes, of course. Please, though, would you try to change that hairstyle, at least once?" it shot back.

"If it will get you to let up, then ok," she said as she checked to make sure all her things were packed. Ginny looked once over her room. Her eyes landed on the trash can. She remembered how once inside of it were tons of strands of snowy white hair. Every morning this whole summer, she'd woken up pale and to her horror, white strands of hair. Each morning she yanked out every white hair she could find. Now, afraid she'd end up losing all her hair, she gave up and let them grow. She now had this one lock of hair that was as white as Hedwig, which stood out against her dark red hair. Ginny now parted her hair so it wouldn't show. Now that she'd let alone her hair, the whiteness seemed to stop, only that one lock of hair.

Actually, when Ginny thought about it, she actually kind of liked it. No other Weasley that she knew of had it. Really, know one she knew of had it. It was hers and only hers. Ginny took one last look in the mirror and parted her hair so you could see it. It matched perfectly with her necklace, the necklace she never took off. Her family didn't know about either the hair or the necklace. It was Ginny's little secret.

Ginny liked the sound of it and fell asleep immediately, her thoughts right before unconsciousness, "My own little secret,"

Ginny woke up the next morning exhausted, having once again that horrible dream. Ginny was actually used to it now and thought nothing of her exhaustion. Since she never remembered her dream, she figured it was due to hormonal changes in her body or something like that.

Ginny went to get changed into her Hogwarts uniform. The skirt fit quite nicely, as did the blouse and sweater-vest. Ginny has happy with her new, developed body. She was still petite, being 5'3 and 105 lbs. but her curves looked perfect on her. Ginny quickly debated whether or not to show her white hair or not. She decided not to so her mother wouldn't think she'd gone and magically dyed it. She could just imagine her mother's long lecture about staying true to one's looks and all. Not something she wanted to experience on her first day back to school.

Ginny bounded down the stairs, where Ron, George, and Fred were wolfing down some scrambled eggs and bacon. Ginny sat herself at the head of the table and quickly ate her breakfast, anxious to start school.

After an hour or so, Ginny found herself on the Platform of 9 3/4. Ginny always loved to take in the sight of families saying good-bye, people tearing through the platform, nervous 1^st years and their families... It never failed to make Ginny smile. Ginny turned to face her parents who were as she was admiring her surroundings, kissing the twins goodbye. The twins were now running to the back of the train with Lee Jordan. Ginny suspected Alicia, Angelina, and Katie would be waiting for them. After her parents went to make sure Harry and Hermione were here; they said good-bye to the loveable trio and then turned their attentions to Ginny.

"Honey, I hope you have a wonderful year," her mother said sweetly.

"You'll be careful, right?" her father said.

They always were a bit touchy about letting her go on her own after the incident in her first year.

"Yes, dad! I'm going to go find my friends, don't worry I'll owl you often!" Ginny said eager to get on the train. She kissed both her parents on the cheek and took off towards some of the compartments in the middle, bags in tow.

After she'd loaded her bags on the train she sat down in an empty compartment and pulled out her latest book, "Helena - Teenage Witch on a Mission - Book # 27"

She heard the train whistle and then felt it begin to move. Ginny looked out the window and waved to her parents who were still standing on the Platform. Instead of burying herself in the book once more, Ginny stared out the window as the beautiful scenery flew by. She was so entranced by the outside view; she didn't hear the compartment door slid open.

Suddenly she felt her book being snatched out of her hands. Ginny tore her eyes away from the window and saw three people before her, two massive bulks of boys: one holding her book, and another smaller one with white-blonde hair. There stood Draco Malfoy and his two cronies: Crabbe and Goyle. Goyle (at least she thought it was Goyle, but there was really no difference between the two) was holding her book in the air staring at it as if he were trying to read the title. We all know of course, that he probably has no idea how to read.

"Lookee what we have hear boss!" he said stupidly, Crabbe sniggered. Ginny looked at Draco whose face was one of extreme uncomfort. Ginny tried to imagine what insult he was dying to throw at her. It was probably the usual one of her families wealth and her crush on Harry. "Honestly," she thought, "he needs new material."

"Don't waste your time, let's go, we have business up front," he said taking long strides out the compartment.

The other two were quite confused (even more than their usual state) and followed. Ginny picked up the book Goyle dropped as he followed Malfoy and continued to read the rest of the trip with a knowing smile on her lips.