"What did you think of that, mates?" asked Terry as he led his friends and Ginny from the Hog's Head. The wind had picked up a bit during the meeting, bringing with it a drop in temperature. Adjusting her scarf and hat, Ginny joined her boyfriend behind the other two as they began making their way towards Zonko's.
"I've thought all along that Potter's been telling the truth, so no surprise there. That Hufflepuff lad's a bit of a prat, though," Michael said. Ginny smiled and took his hand; she couldn't have agreed more.
"But Merlin, was that Granger girl annoying or what?" complained Tony. Ginny glared at him, but he either couldn't see her or pretended he couldn't. That happened a lot with Michael's friends.
"Hermione can be a little overbearing at times, maybe, but she's not that bad," she put in. As per usual, the three Ravenclaws ignored her.
"I know!" Terry agreed. "She thinks she's so smart, coming up with this idea. Probably stole it from someone else, knowing her."
"It's not like she's actually that good, you know. There are all these rumors that she got a 312% on one of her exams, but we all know that's not possible." Tony rolled his eyes. "I was in Muggle Studies with her for a year, before she dropped it, and she was always challenging what our professor said, saying barmy stuff like 'electricity's a perfectly natural phenomenon, just look at lightning' and 'the average IQ of a Muggle isn't any less than I would imagine the IQ of the average witch or wizard is, so you shouldn't call them unintelligent.' Like she would know any better than the rest of us." When Tony mimicked Hermione's voice, he stuck his front teeth out and scrunched his nose, much to the amusement of his friends.
"Of course she would, her parents are Muggles," said Ginny crossly. The Ravenclaws looked at her this time. "She's right, you know. My dad's studied Muggles for a really long time, and he says they aren't inherently dumb or anything."
"Yeah, whatever," said Terry dismissively. "It just bugs me that she thinks she's so much better than the rest of us!"
"Seriously," said Michael. "She can't be that bright, seeing as she's in Gryffindor and all."
"What?" asked Ginny, taken aback at her boyfriend's statement. Michael froze, and his friends smirked. "Did you just say that Gryffindors are stupid or something?"
"Well, I mean…" said Michael nervously. "Of course not all Gryffindors are idiots, but you have to admit that a lot of them are-"
"Are what? Stupid? Rude?" Ginny pulled her hand from his and glared. "Obviously you don't want to hang out with me for too long, then. My idiocy might rub off on you."
"Wait, Ginny!" But Ginny sent a scorching look at him, tossed her hair, and took off down a little-used side street.
The wind, no longer being blocked by the much-taller boys' frames, bit into her skin, somehow burrowing its way through her thick cloak and sweater to raise goose pimples on her arms. It did nothing to cool the flames of anger that had sprung to life within her heart, unfortunately. How dare they talk about my friends like that? How dare they talk about me like that?! Still seething, she ducked into the first shop she happened upon.
It was much darker inside, though once her eyes adjusted Ginny could see that it was a secondhand store. Most of the shelves near the entrance were filled with dusty books, though she spotted a few cobwebbed contraptions spread throughout. The shop had a generally creepy demeanor, but she was determined not to go back outside until Michael would be long gone.
"What brings a Hogwarts student in here?" asked a croaky voice from the shadowy depths of the shop. "It's a little late to be buying schoolbooks."
"I'm just browsing for a good book," Ginny responded softly, squinting in the direction of the voice. She couldn't see its owner in the looming darkness. Shuddering softly, she picked up a book at random and opened it to read the cover page. "'Heads Who Gained Honors, a study of Head Boys and Girls from Hogwarts and their future careers. Sequel to Prefects Who Gained Power.' I ought to get this for Percy," she snorted. "He'd love…it…"
The casual thought of Percy pushed Ginny off the precipice that Michael and his friends had placed her on the edge of; the book fell from her hands as sudden tears formed on her cheeks. Ignoring the protests of the mysterious figure in the back of the store, Ginny turned tail and fled the book that so reminded her of her estranged brother. She wanted to run to a cold, lonely bench on the edge of the village where she could be miserable in peace.
Luck wasn't with her, as she had taken but five steps from the secondhand store when she collided with another person. Together, she and the other person tumbled to the ground, Ginny ending up underneath her accidental victim with her face flat on the ground. Rather than try to stand and continue her flee, she opted to stay where she was and let the tears come.
"Are you alright, Ginny?" interrupted a dreamy voice just as Ginny really got into her crying jag. "I'd get off of you, but I'm afraid your legs are tangled up in my cloak, and I don't want to rip it or your limbs."
"I'm sorry, Luna," Ginny sniffed, lifting her legs slightly so the Ravenclaw girl could free her cloak. "I didn't mean to bowl you over like that."
"It's quite alright," said the other, clambering to her feet and offering a hand to Ginny, who still had tears streaming down her face. "I'm more worried about you, to be honest."
"Don't be, I'm not hurt." Ginny allowed Luna to help her up and looked down her front in disdain. "A bit dirty, perhaps, but not injured."
"Of course not, but I overheard what Michael said to you earlier." Ginny looked up in shock to see Luna staring at her with an unfathomable gaze. "It was quite rude of him, to be honest, though I suspect from his response to you that he may be suffering from a severe affliction of Wrackspurts. Terrence and Anthony don't have that excuse, though."
"Wait, you saw that whole thing?"
"Oh, yes, and I imagine several others did as well, it was quite public." Ginny groaned and put her head in her hands. "But what I don't understand is why you went into Monsieur Pince's shop afterwards, only to come dashing out after only a minute. Did he startle you that severely?"
"No, it was nothing." Ginny wiped her eyes on her sleeve and smiled. "I'm just being stupid is all."
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry before, though, even when we were first years and you blew up your cauldron on the first day of Potions class." Luna smiled. "Would you like to talk about it?"
Ginny almost said no and ran for it; if she had to choose someone at Hogwarts to become her confidant, Loony Luna Lovegood would be far down on her list. But before she knew what was happening, she and Luna were walking towards the main street side by side as she explained everything that had been going wrong in her life as of late: the displacement of her family over the summer, Percy's abandonment, the rocky relationship with Michael and his antagonistic friends. Luna never interrupted, just watched her with gray, orb-like eyes as she poured her heart out.
They had nearly made it to The Three Broomsticks when Ginny finished her story, but before Luna could respond a chorus of laughter broke into their conversation. "He's so pathetic, he doesn't even have anyone to come to Hogsmeade with! Where's Saint Potter at, Longbottom? Did he finally realize how sad a person you are?"
"Malfoy," Ginny muttered, and she pulled her wand from her pocket and ran towards the nearby alley. Crabbe and Goyle each had one of Neville's arms, and Malfoy and a couple of other fifth-year Slytherins had him targeted by their wands. "Oy! Leave him alone!"
"Or you'll what, Weaslette? Sic a basilisk on us?" Draco sneered. Sparks came out the end of Ginny's wand as she gripped it more tightly, but Luna responded serenely before she could spit out a curse.
"I don't think we have any basilisks, but we will tell Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. I don't think you would be so happy if you found out you had been banned from the village for the rest of the year." Luna's wand remained behind her ear, her hands limp at her sides.
One of the other Slytherins, a tall black boy who Ginny had never met before, lowered his wand. "It's not worth it, Draco. Let's just go."
"Fine. You're lucky this time, Longbottom, but next time you may find that you're in a lot worse shape." Draco and the other Slytherins slinked past Ginny and Luna, leaving Neville alone with them in the alley way. Ginny followed them with her wand, making sure they didn't try and surprise her with a curse from behind.
"Are you alright, Neville?" asked Luna softly. Now that the Slytherins were gone, Ginny focused her attention on her Gryffindor friend. The front of his jumper was stained with blood from a bloodied nose, but he managed a brief smile and a nod.
"Thanks, guys. They just grabbed me from behind as I was heading back up to the school, and they threw my wand over there somewhere," he said sadly, gesturing to the end of the alley.
Luna smiled demurely. "Accio Neville's wand!" It came spinning through the air from the other end of the alley, and Luna caught it with apparent ease. "Here."
"Episkey," said Ginny, pointing her wand at his nose and wincing when it cracked back into place. "There, that should be better, shouldn't it? Oh, yeah. Scourgify!" The red streaks on Neville's sweater and face mostly disappeared, and she grinned. "There, see? You're just fine."
"Yeah, I guess," Neville muttered. "I guess Michael Corner was kind of right, though. Some of us Gryffindors are stupid."
Ginny winced. "I take it you heard that, too?"
"Yeah, I think most people in Hogsmeade did," he said.
"So I've heard," she grumbled. "Michael's the idiot, Nev. You're not stupid."
"Draco Malfoy and his friends are just bullies, and so are Michael and Terry and Anthony, to be honest," Luna said with that same dreamy smile. "They do their best to make the rest of us feel bad about ourselves, but we can't let them, or they win."
Neville smiled slightly. "Yeah, maybe you're right." He straightened his sweater and sighed. "I guess I'll see you guys at the next meeting. Well, I'll see you before that, Ginny, but you know."
"I should go, too," said Luna. "I want to go hunting for Snow Porkpies before supper, and I think this might be the optimum weather for it."
Ginny nodded. "Alright, guys." As Neville and Luna began walking towards the main street, however, something made Ginny call out to them. "Actually…do you want to come with me to The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer first?"
Neville paused and looked back, glancing from Ginny to Luna indecisively. "Well…"
"Ooh, yes, we'd love to!" said Luna. She skipped over to Ginny, hooked her by the arm, and pulled her towards Neville, who received the same treatment. "I've never gone to a pub with anyone before, at least until today."
Ginny smiled at the Ravenclaw's exuberance and Neville's surprised expression, but her smile faded when they made it to the main street and ran into Michael almost immediately.
"Oh, there you are, Ginny! Merlin, I've looked everywhere for you." He smiled and took her hand. "Let's go back up to school. I'm really sorry about earlier, I didn't mean you."
Ginny tugged her hand back. "Sorry, Michael. I've made plans." And with that, Ginny allowed Luna to pull her down the street.
She didn't know it then, nor did Neville and Luna, but she had just started the two best friendships she would ever have.
A/N: Hey guys! I hope you're not all screaming at me because this isn't the next chapter of "Ghosts of Ourselves." I've had a lot of crap going on (college graduation, best friend moving cross-country, not being able to find a job, etc. etc.) that has really thrown off my writing mojo, especially for that story. The good news is that I'm almost done with the next chapter! Finishing it and posting it should get me back in the swing of my schedule, but in the meantime...
This is a story that I wrote for a contest #The Silver Trio on DeviantArt is hosting. It's called "Beginnings" and is basically how we imagine the silver trio of Neville, Ginny, and Luna first became friends. I love these three characters. *hearts*
Hope you enjoyed it! And just so you know, I love reviews! ;)