"So, will you?"
"No."
A tiny teardrop left my eye, and slowly trailed down my cheek. Tears fell rapidly after that, blurring my view as I turned my head and ran down the hallway. After almost tripping over an object lying on the floor, I finally arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady.
Between sniffles, I muttered, "Oddsbodkins."
I suppose the Fat Lady took pity on me, and let me in. As soon as I entered, I ran to one of the couches, put my feet up, and then buried my head in my hands. After what seemed like hours, but was just a few minutes, my breath slowed down, and my sniffling and hiccuping came to an end. I wiped my eyes, took a deep breath and sighed.
Just then, I heard noises outside. I quickly pulled out a book from my bag, and put it in my lap, trying to hide the signs that I had just been , Ginny entered the common room and sat by me, without even glancing at me.
"Hey, Hermione," she said cheerfully, as a fat grin appeared on her face. "You will never believe what just happened. It was so amazing, and… gosh, just thinking about it makes me all jittery inside. You know that feeling? When your insides are doing happy flips and just bouncing around, and… oh, back to the point. So, I came up with this super cool and creative way to do this, and then he saw everything, and then he said yes, and now we both are super excited, and… Hermione, are you okay?"
She finally seemed to notice my messy hairdo, puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and red nose. She then spoke softly, "Oh my, Hermione, what happened? Who caused this?"
"What are you talking about?" I replied. "I was just, um, crying, because I read something really sad in this book," I said, hoping she wouldn't question me any further.
She bent over, and read the title. Her eyebrows raised questioningly, as she spoke again, "A potions book? Don't lie to me, Hermione. What really happened?"
"Just drop it okay," I said, tiredly. "Now tell me about the guy you were talking about," I said with a mischievous smile. Talking with Ginny always made me feel better, and I hope it would this time too.
"Well, you know the Snow Ball is coming up, right?" she asked. After I nodded my head, she continued, "Well, I really wanted to go with this guy, and since girls have to ask guys for this dance, I decided to ask him. So, I set up a scavenger hunt, and put the first clue in his transfiguration book. The last clue led up to me where I asked him to the ball. And he said yes, and it was super romantic," she gushed, ending her monologue with a squeal.
Not wanting to seem suspicious, I forced a tight smile onto my face, and gave her a quick hug. "That's great, Ginny! Who was the guy?" I replied.
"Well… ummm… itwasblaisezabini," she rushed through her words.
"Who?" I asked, now curious.
Ginny let out a long sigh, and then spoke, "It was Blaise Zabini. You know we've been talking for a while, and he seemed interested, so I asked him. Hermione, you won't believe me, but I've had the biggest crush on him since, like, forever.
I let out a small laugh, and congratulated Ginny. But, on the inside, my heart was aching, because I had asked a guy to the Snow Ball too. But, unlike Ginny, the guy had rejected me. I shut my eyes, trying not to think of the cruel rejection. I had spent so much effort on asking him, but look how that ended up.
"Hermione, are you even listening? I've got to go, I'm meeting up with Blaise to practice Quidditch. Bye!"
"Bye, Ginny!" I responded, my heart still wallowing in sadness. I could only think of that one guy, who had rejected me twice so far.
Draco Malfoy.