Ginny stood at the mirror in the locker room wearing blue jeans and a sports bra. She ran a brush through her damp, long, hair, which looked more brown than red from the water. Ginny debated taking the time to style it, or just pull it back in a tight ponytail. Jamie made her choice easy, because she tossed her toiletry bag into the sink. "Yo, Gin, mind if I borrow the mirror a sec? I've got a hot date."
Ginny moved out her way and teased, "How much make-up does it take to fix your face?"
"Bitch!" Jamie laughed and leaned in toward the mirror brandishing an eye-liner pencil. "Hey, not all of us can catch someone like Potter." Ginny rolled her eyes and moved toward her locker to fish out a fresh shirt. Astoria darted by her. Ginny couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but something in Astoria's body language screamed that she was upset.
Ginny finished tying her hair back and tossed her hairbrush into her locker. After a moment of deliberation, she followed Astoria into the showers.
"Hey, 'Tori." Ginny rapped her knuckles on the frosted glass of the door.
"Yes?" Her voice was soft. Ginny paused, not sure if she should even bother the dark-haired girl. Maybe Ginny was imagining things.
"Um….You want to grab dinner with me today?" Ginny figured that asking if something was bothering Astoria—while she was in the shower no less—was an awkward conversation that Ginny was not prepared to have. She barely knew the newest addition to the team.
"Yes." Astoria's voice carried a note of surprise.
"Okay…I'll, uh, I guess I'll be in the locker room then." When Astoria didn't ask where they were going to dinner, or what time, or any of the normal questions that usually followed an invitation, Ginny excused herself, awkwardly, and headed back to finish getting dressed after practice.
Ginny was starting to grow impatient. How long could it possibly take her to shower? Most of the other girls had left for the day, except for Jamie, who was excitedly talking about her date with Michael Corner.
"Well, you know, Gin, we were in the same house, and I think that just gives us a bond, you know? He's quite the Quidditch fan, too."
Ginny spoke with a wry tone, "Yeah, he's definitely a fan, and a very sore loser, I might add. He never liked it much that I was on the team that kept beating Ravenclaw."
Jamie lowered her mascara wand and made eye contact with Ginny in the mirror. "Oh. I forgot you two used to date. I'm sorry, that's probably awkward with me going on about him like a sap."
Ginny smiled, "No, even when we dated I always had feelings for Harry. It was probably wrong of me to lead him on. I'm happy he's got you, Jamie. He's a good guy. You remember how he stood up to the Carrows?"
Jamie made a swooning noise. "Yes! He is such a hero!"
"Oh, gag! Jamie, no more romantic talk!" Ginny sprawled out on the bench and rolled her eyes. "You better get laid tonight, because Harry is out of town for a month! I'll live vicariously through you."
"He is such a good kisser! The things he can do with his mouth—" Jamie grinned mischievously as Ginny cut her off with a gagging noise.
"Just because I want you to get some doesn't mean I want to hear the details!" She was saved from further discussion of Michael Corner's heroics in and out of bed because Astoria walked into the locker room. Ginny was surprised to see she was completely dressed. So that's what took her so long. Astoria quietly hung up her towel and tossed her duffle bag into the locker.
Astoria shoved her hands into her pockets, her dark brown hair in a tight French braid. Looking at her feet, she shrugged and said "Sorry I took so long. Where are we going?"
"I was thinking," Ginny smiled and grabbed her purse from the bench. "there's a cute little Indian place next to my flat, or we could order some Yum-Yum Chinese Take-Away, they'll deliver." Ginny stood up and then spoke again, "Oh! I just realized it might be easier if we picked something closer to your place?"
Astoria shook her head. "Your place is fine. Chinese sounds good. I'm not a big fan of curry."
"Okay, cool, then let's go. I usually just apparate, but since you've never been to my flat before…" Ginny's voice trailed off, unsure, "You want to side-along? Or, ah, we can fly, I guess, but I'm all the way in Godric's Hallow."
"After Miss Gwenog's practice today, I don't think I want to sit on a broom for a while." Ginny raised her eye-brows at Astoria's use of the title "Miss" for Gwenie, but didn't comment.
"Alrighty, then, let's go." Ginny put her hand out, and as soon as Astoria closed her hand around it, she apparated them to her front door.
Astoria stumbled, but quickly regained her footing. "I'm sorry, I get motion sick."
Suppressing a laugh, Ginny opened her front door. Astoria followed, curiously looking around. The house was a small red-brick number, with a cute little porch and a flower bed. A white-picket fence gave the house a sweet charm. Ginny flicked her wand and the lights came on in the house. She moved from the foyer into the living room, which was decorated in muted earth tones, and held a large, comfortable overstuffed couch and chairs. "Hey, Alpy?"
"Yes, ma'am!" A small house-elf appeared on the back of the couch, a rag and spray bottle in one hand.
"Hey, this is 'Tori, she's on my quidditch team." Ginny introduced her house-elf to Astoria, who was still busy gaping at the house.
"Hello, Miss Tori, oh, my, you are being Queenie's human!" Alpy gave a little bow when he recognized Astoria.
"Yes, Queenie is my parent's house-elf." Astoria smiled warmly at Alpy and then turned to Ginny. "I thought you were a member of SPEW?"
Ginny handed her dufflebag to Alpy, who ran to put the dirty uniform items in the wash, and nodded, "Yeah, but Harry inherited a lot, not just land, from his parents. Alpy sort of belongs to the Potter name, I think. We aren't sure where he came from. He just showed up one day. This is Harry's house, actually. He's off on an auror assignment for the next month."
"I see." Astoria looked around even more curiously, a bit surprised that the famed Harry Potter lived so…normally. There were framed pictures on the mantle over the fireplace, and a stack of well read books on the coffee table.
"He, ah, had the house rebuilt while I was in my 7th year. Mum keeps saying he's gonna propose, because no man builds a house like this without planning on filling it with kids. She's just got empty-nest syndrome, though. Anyway, what do you want from Yum-Yum's?"
"Orange chicken with extra peppers, and won-tons!" Astoria reached for her purse. "Here, I'm not sure how much it will be…"
"Nah, it's okay, dinner's on me. Make yourself comfortable." Ginny kicked off her shoes and sat down on the couch. She leaned forward to talk to her elf. "Alpy, do you mind, a quick run to Yum-Yum's?"
"I will be getting dinner! Beef with broccoli and egg rolls and rice and Miss Tori's order too! Are you wanting to eat here, ma'am, or should I be setting up the dining room?" The little elf bowed and reached for the galleon Ginny was holding.
"Here's fine, Alpy, let's not get formal with it, okay? We can eat out of the take-away boxes just fine. I should be embarrassed that you know my regular order by heart." Ginny laughed, self-consciously, at the elf, who was staring at her with wide eyes. She looked up at Astoria and commented, "I hate doing dishes. Is that okay, I mean, eating out of the take-away boxes?"
Astoria sat down on the chair across from Ginny. "Of course. You do your own dishes?"
"Well, when Alpy lets me, I do. We never had an elf growing up." Ginny tucked her legs under her and burrowed into the cushions. She struggled for a minute to find a topic of conversation to prevent an awkward silence. "So, how was your first day of practice? Is playing professional quidditch all you dreamed it would be?" She smiled at the younger girl. She was behind Ginny at Hogwarts. Ginny had never hung out with her at school, though. She remembered seeing her in the library a lot.
"It's way more serious, and intense. And Miss Gwenog yells. A lot." Astoria looked down at her hands. She was a little embarrassed by how inexperienced she was on the pitch. If she was totally honest with herself, too, Astoria was very nervous around her teammates, especially Ginny. She was a quiet, bookish girl, and Ginny was loud, and outgoing, and confident. She was dating the most famous man in the wizarding world, she'd been playing quidditch professionally for two years—and was quite good, too. Astoria still lived at home, with her parents. She was 17, being the youngest of her class meant she graduated and was still not even legal to buy certain potion ingredients.
She added as an after thought, "I only got to play my 7th year. I don't have a lot of experience."
"You seemed to be holding your own just fine. Anna and Hannah are really something else, so the fact that you were able to take their onslaught is good. You play well." Ginny shared her observations, not just to encourage Astoria, but because they were true.
"Anna?" Astoria asked. She seemed to relax a little after Ginny's kind words.
"Oh, yeah Giovanna, we call her Anna for short. Anna and Hannah, the dynamic duo…How's the other new girl, Smith? How's she doing? Was she able to hold her own with those two? Every year we have to replace the third chaser, because they can't put up with those two." Ginny smiled.
"She's more confident than I am." Astoria twisted the ring she wore on her thumb, nervously. "She's very aggressive."
"She got a few by you, eh?" Ginny smiled.
"No, not on the pitch, Hannah, and Anna, they only scored on me a few times. Just, her personality." Astoria bit at her lower lip.
Sensing Astoria was a little uncomfortable, Ginny abruptly changed topics. "Hey, want something to drink?" Ginny stood up and headed to the kitchen.
"I…uh…what type of drink?" Astoria stopped herself from telling Ginny she wasn't old enough to legally drink, yet. Not that most wizards held with muggle law, but her father would be outraged if she showed up smelling of liquor.
"Well, Harry is a fan of that awful Bubble Juice, so there's that…Butterbeer, of course, pumpkin juice, tea, I can put on a pot of coffee. If you want a proper drink, we've got some Fire Wiskey and Red Current Rum, somewhere." Ginny opened a cabinet to look for the alcohol, and after a second she looked over her shoulder Astoria. She added apologetically, "I think we have some, anyway, maybe we don't anymore..."
"I'll take some Bubble Juice." She felt relieved that Ginny wasn't insisting on alcohol.
"Ew! You drink that stuff? Please, help yourself!" Ginny rummaged around in the fridge and pulled out a glass bottle. "Want a glass?"
"No, this is fine." Astoria popped the cap off and took a drink. Ginny grabbed a pumpkin juice. She jumped up on the counter, feet dangling.
Astoria twisted the bottle around in her hands. The cold bottle was already perspiring. She was saved from further conversation because the Alpy apparated into the kitchen. "Miss Ginny! Here is being your dinner!"
"Thank you, Alpy. Let's go eat, eh? I'm starved." Ginny jumped effortlessly off the counter and headed back to the living room.
"So, you dating anyone, Tori?" Ginny started unpacking the take-away bag, setting the boxes in a little row on the coffee table.
"Oh, no, my father would lose his mind." Astoria blushed a little.
Ginny looked up in surprise.
Ginny reached out and patted Astoria's hand. "Old wizard traditions?"
She nodded, a little sadly. "Yeah, father wants me to stay with a pure-blood. Daphne did, she married Marcus Flint. It was kind of an arranged thing. Father keeps trying to marry me off, but I'm not ready for it. That's why I tried out for the Harpies."
"I take it that your parents aren't a fan of you playing quidditch?" Ginny opened a container and handed it to Astoria with a, "Whoops, here's your chicken."
Astoria picked up a pair of chopsticks and picked through the box. She pulled out some green peppers and ate them. "Oh, sweet Salazar, no. Mum agreed to it, though, until next year. She said it wouldn't be proper for me to marry at my age."
"How old are you, Tori?" Ginny asked curiously.
Astoria blushed and looked down at her chicken. "I'm only 17." She spoke softly.
"Oh. You're graduated, anyway, that's enough to make you an adult."
"Not according everyone else." Astoria shrugged her shoulders and smiled sadly.
"Well….who cares what anyone else says?" Ginny grinned at Astoria. "So, tomorrow after practice I promised George I'd stop by the shop. Want to go with me?"
Astoria nodded, and grinned into her orange chicken. "I'd like that."
Ginny leaned back into her chair, satisfied that she would be able to develop a good friendship with Astoria. She would never admit it, but she was lonely. Hermione was getting so busy with her pre-law studies, and when she was around it was always with Ron—whenever he and Harry weren't on some assignment that is. Her one other friend was Luna Lovegood, and she was off gallivanting around Brazil, studying magizoology with the Scamander boy. It was bad enough that Gwenie was going to make practice miserable for her-she needed some friendship, or else it was going to be an ever longer month.