For once in her fourteen years of life, Ginny was obsessed with a boy other than Harry Potter. It was this other, boy, a boy named Artemis Fowl.
Her father, Arthur Weasley, had recently taken to using these things called computers, which apparently Muggles used for almost everything. The whole family had kind of caught on, and now all of them, including Ginny, were using computers. There was this thing called the Internet, which was where people posted things so that anyone could see.
Ginny loved using the Internet, because she was amazed how there was just about everything on there. A few weeks ago, she was just browsing for fun, and she came across what appeared to be some sort of matchmaking Website for teens. It was called Magic For You, so she assumed it was for wizards and witches. She decided to try it out, and so she signed up and filled out the form. One question said, "What qualities are you looking for in a boyfriend?" Ginny said that she wanted someone intelligent, with black hair, round glasses, and a scar on his forehead. Of course she was thinking of Harry at the time, who apparently she thought was intelligent. Merlin knows why.
But her mother was absolutely against her putting her real name, because she thought it wasn't safe, so Ginny put that her name was Holly. She'd always thought that Holly was a nice name, and if she ever happened to want to change her name, she would change it to Holly.
But the match who came up for her was a boy named Artemis Fowl. She thought at first that it was Harry, because the boy had black hair, glasses, and a scar on his forehead. She just assumed he was using a fake name, just like her. But she soon realized that it wasn't Harry, because she scar was just a regular scar and not shaped like a lightning bolt, and he had one blue and one hazel eye, instead of green. But just because it wasn't Harry didn't mean she couldn't fall in love with him. She started researching him more and more, and the more she found out, the more eager to meet him she became. Apparently he was a genius, even smarter than Hermione, with almost 300 IQ points.
A week or so ago, she finally decided to ask him out. She knew his phone number and where he lived, a huge house called Fowl Manor on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. But she had been putting this off for weeks, always making up an excuse for herself not to do it. But today, she was going to. Today, she was not going to back out.
She took several deep breaths, picked up the telephone, and dialed Artemis's cell phone number. It rang three times, and then Artemis picked it up.
"This is Artemis Fowl of Fowl Manor, Dublin."
Ginny was rather breathless. She felt like she was having a heart attack. She took three more deep breaths then said, in a rush, "I was wondering if you would go out with me tonight?"
There was a pause, and then Artemis said, "Who is this?"
"Um…Holly," said Ginny. "I-"
"Oh, Holly, it's you! Why didn't you say so before? I was beginning to think you were some sort of crazy stalker or something. So, you say you want to go on a date with me?" He sounded hopeful, like he'd been waiting for this to happen and was looking forward to it. He also sounded like he was expecting her to call. Maybe he got matched with me on the same Website, and that's why he knows my name already! Ginny thought. Maybe he was already planning to ask me out! She could hardly believe her luck.
"Yes, um, maybe tonight at, um, the Italian place near your house?"
"All right, see you then. Goodbye, Holly." He hung up.
Ginny couldn't believe he'd actually accepted.
She looked in the mirror, admiring her new haircut. Her mother had recently cut her long, red hair chin length. Ginny thought it looked kind of military style, like a crew cut or something. She liked it.
Ginny started preparing for her date tonight.
Artemis felt a little bit giddy. He couldn't believe Holly had finally asked him out! He'd been thinking about doing it for a few weeks now, but hadn't because he was nervous. He had been so relieved when Holly called him so he wouldn't have to call her.
It all started a few weeks ago when he'd been browsing through the Internet, he'd come across a teen matchmaking Website. It was called Magic For You. Artemis assumed it was for fairies and had been posted by some fairy, so he signed up. On the question "What qualities are you looking for in a girlfriend?" he put that he wanted someone who was a good fighter who had short red hair. Of course he had been thinking about Holly.
He hoped that Holly, by chance, had signed up as well, and that the Website would pair them up. So you could imagine his excitement when the site said that he and Holly were a perfect match. Of course, it was actually Ginny and not Holly, but Artemis had no way of knowing that. With her new haircut, Ginny actually looked almost exactly like Holly. And also, it just happened that Ginny's fake name was Holly.
After Ginny/Holly had hung up, Artemis stood up from his office chair and went to look at himself in the mirror. He silently cursed his appearance. The black hair, suit, and hazel and blue eyes were the same. But there were two things different. He silently cursed his appearance.
A week or so ago, his mother, Angeline, had decided he needed glasses after he bumped into a tree while taking a morning stroll because he couldn't see properly. The glasses were completely round and looked absolutely ridiculous on him. Glasses may suit some people, but not Artemis Fowl. Possibly even worse than the glasses was that when he had bumped into the tree, he had gotten a big scratch on his forehead from sharp tree bark. The scratch had gradually healed, but there was still a scar there that had proved it happened.
Artemis tried to cover the scar up with his hair, but it still poked through. As for his glasses, there was nothing he could do. Artemis sighed. But, he thought, Holly would understand. She would laugh at him, yes, but she would understand. Still, Artemis decided that if he ever got through this date alive, he would convince his mother to let him get contacts.
He started getting ready for his date. A while later, he started looking through his suits, trying to decide which one to wear tonight. At last, he settled on one. Not because he thought it was best, because he didn't. He'd just chosen a random one because his suits all looked identical to pretty much everyone but him. He'd just pulled it off the rack and looked at the clock to see how much time he had left to get ready before he realized that he and Holly had not actually agreed on a time for the date. He put the suit back and called Holly (the real Holly, not Ginny, because he had no idea that it was actually Ginny who'd called him) to set a time for him. Holly picked up on the third ring.
"Hello, Artemis, what's up?" asked Holly.
"Well, I just realized that we never agreed on a time for our date tonight."
There was a pause. Then, "Did we have a date?"
"Yes, Holly! You called me about it not two hours ago! At the Italian restaurant near my house, remember?"
"Well, it must have slipped me mind. You know how forgetful I am these days. But, since we have a date, how about seven thirty?"
"Great," said Artemis, and hung up. He took out is suit again, but just then, his phone rang. It was Ginny/Holly.
"Hi, Artemis! Listen, how about six thirty for our date?"
"All right," said Artemis.
Of course, Ginny had probably realized they hadn't set a time yet as well, but as far as Artemis was concerned, Holly was just changing her mind. He had no idea it was two different people.
He resumed his task of getting ready for his date.