Over Hot Chocolate
Chapter Two: Reunion Over Hot Chocolate
Ginny woke to find Hermione seated at the marble island in her kitchen, picking half-heartedly at a bowl of cereal. She hadn't showered yet, or combed her hair, and so she was still in Ginny's loaned pajamas, looking like a sick and miserable child. The spoon made small clinking noises as she brushed it against the sides of the patterned bowl, the milk inside sloshing hopelessly around as Froot Loops bobbed like tiny, colorful drowning people. Her mass of brown hair was knotted and droopy, not carrying its normal elevation, and Hermione's doe brown eyes seemed to have gone a shade darker on her pale skin. Purple bruises stained the area below her eyes, giving Ginny the impression she hadn't slept a minute last night.
'I'm pretty sure I left her in a good mood,' Ginny mused, making for the cupboard. She was wary of the silence, but too tired herself to break it. She wished only that she could go back to bed and curl up with her big lazy dog, and sleep soundly through the day ahead of her. She had just settled next to Hermione, with the mug of hot chocolate she had promised herself last night, when the girl pressed her forehead to the island counter.
"We were going to get married," the pitiful creature, who could not possibly be Hermione, said, "We were going to get married and have blonde-haired babies with big brown eyes." Her voice cracked, and Ginny sighed deeply.
Though she could not possibly imagine what Hermione and Malfoy's babies would look like, she said, "You're still going to get married, the two of you. And," her voice hesitated, "have blonde-haired babies with big brown eyes." The thought made her shudder. Malfoy and Hermione's offspring, while Ginny would love them as her own, didn't seem such a pleasant idea judging from where their paternal genes would be originating. She didn't bother to tell that to Hermione, though.
"Oh, Gin," Hermione said, looking up with tear-streaked cheeks, "I miss him so much. I want him back." She stared intently into her bowl of Froot Loops. "You have to help me. This pain...this pain is unbearable."
'And someone,' Ginny thought, becoming quite distraught herself, 'Has to help me. How am I supposed to avenge her and get them back together at the same time?!' Ginny huffed into her mug of hot chocolate, grimacing slightly as it burned her tongue. "We'll have to show him, then," she said after a while, "Show him that you've moved on."
Hermione looked up from her staring contest with the cereal, alarmed. "But I haven't moved on. I never will."
Ginny sipped some more of the scalding drink, grateful it gave her something more to think of than Hermione's utter devotion to the blonde bastard. "That's not what I meant," she said, as kindly as she could, "We're going to play a game with him." Hermione's eyes lit up a bit, and Ginny concentrated on her hot chocolate. She didn't know where this was coming from, but she fancied it was pleasing to at least one of them. "You will have to date someone, though--just pretend dating, of course," she quickly added, at Hermione's withering look, "and I am going to hook him up with several different girls."
"I don't like that idea," Hermione said, clearly not pleased with the idea of other women with her man, "What if he...what if he likes them?" Her voice shook.
"See," Ginny continued, thinking fast, "We're going to make it so that he can't like any of them. They're going to be ghastly."
"Oh!" Hermione said, smiling widely. Her mood swings were becoming eerily unnerving to Ginny. "I see! Because they're so terrible, he'll finally see that I'm the only girl he could ever want--because I'm not terrible!"
"Exactly," Ginny said, as if she knew. Truth was, she didn't know. She had no idea.
It was a cozy café down Diagon Alley, situated in a popular area, parallel to Weasley Wizardly Wheezes, Fred and George's increasingly celebrated joke shop. At first, Ginny had struggled to keep it open--many people vouched for the older and more trusted cafés in which to spend their preciously earned money; but eventually, unbeknownst to Ginny, Fred and George had done some advertising of their own. Customers from Weasley Wizardly Wheezes would file in, often ordering the cheapest thing on the menu; yet they surprised themselves by returning, and possibly ordering something a bit more expensive.
Now, two and a half years after opening, Ginny found herself the owner of the most prosperous café, dubbed, to her parents' amusement, "The Burrow", in all of Diagon Alley. It was a nice place, cozy despite its airy clutter, a warm and familiar atmosphere, accentuated by the fact that only five employees, plus Ginny, worked there. The interior was French style, with polished dark wood counters and bronze tables with curling patterns wrought in them. On warm spring and mild summer days, the streets around the café were filled with people sitting in chairs and tables matching the ones in the air-conditioned interior, eating strangely flavoured ice cream and drinking cold cappucinos.
The place was passed around through word of mouth now, Fred and George no longer having to lift a finger and tempt their own customers with fifty percent off discounts to visit their sister's café. It was an independent and bubbling place, filled with happy and thoroughly satisfied customers who weren't afraid to spend their money--because they knew exactly what they were going to get. Any debts Ginny might have owed them for promoting her café had been more than paid, the very fact that the café was paralell to their store bringing in happier and more loose pocketed customers.
It was famed for its openness, the friendliness of the waiters and cashiers, and, of course, its hot chocolate. Miranda, Ginny's cook, was known to make a killer marble cheesecake (or any cheesecake at all), but that was only part of the reason most people visited. It was mainly the hot chocolate they came for, and for that Ginny found herself in demand.
Early November, as it was now, was an even worse time to be working at The Burrow--people had already started flocking in to buy Christmas presents, and often Ginny found herself so busy she hardly had time to breathe. The continually dampening weather, not to mention the added cold, gave people incentive to buy hot chocolate, and Ginny was the only one who could make the famous brew to perfection. It was said she designed a flavour for every person who stepped in, and for that people came and would stand for no one else but Ginny to make their cups.
Today was one of those days slower days, and for that Ginny was grateful. She figured that everybody reasoned the streets would be too packed on a weekend, and for that fact, the streets weren't packed at all. So Ginny lounged, absently on a counter in kitchens, enjoying the smell of baking foods and boiling chocolates. It was absolutely delicious back here, and apparently, Hermione found it so, as well, fore she bustled around the kitchen, bothering Miranda for a taste of any and everything.
It was around noon when Ginny's recruits arrived--her familiars. It being a Saturday, they probably would have opted to sleep in and order Chinese, not bothering to come out to Diagon so early (or possibly at all); however, Ginny had specifically requested their presence. Shortly before leaving she had sent Pig (the same, tiny, eccentric Weasley owl, yes) with three vaguely written letters, each addressed to one of the people who now loped miserably into her café, looking like tired adults, and not the lively children Ginny had once known. 'We've all grown up,' she thought, sadly, 'We're old now.' She watched as the three, composed of two boys and a girl, split easily up, hardly recognizing each other. She wondered how long it had been since they had spoken to one another, or seen each other. One of the boys and the girl gave each other small smiles, a few words, and retired to a table near the window. The remaining boy scowled at them, as was his fashion, and sat as far away as possible, in a corner.
She grimaced. It was obvious that he had never made himself as friendly with them as he had with her, even back at Hogwarts. Feeling it was time to intervene, she picked up her tray, balanced with three steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and made her way out of the kitchens. There were only about six other customers present, and they had already been served. Her old friends looked up, almost in consensus, their eyes widening with pleasure and a little bit of their youthfulness returning. The boy in the corner smiled a little, and Ginny grinned widely at him, making a point to go only to the table where the other two sat. He glared at her, and she smirked, using her finger to beckon him over.
He was hesitant, but eventually came to join them. Ginny looked, with satisfaction, at what had once been her Hogwarts clique.
Colin Creevey, with his sandy blonde hair, freckles and glittering blue eyes; Luna Lovegood, stringy blonde hair braided into spikes and blue eyes distant; and last, but not least, her friend who always made it a goal to isolate himself--Blaise Zabini, as cold as ever. You might think it a little weird that Ginny may have associated herself, at Hogwarts, with a Slytherin who was also known to be close to Draco Malfoy--however, she and Blaise had a unique kind of friendship. They got along, despite his sarcasm and her gallantry; though their friendship had been long in the making, and he had never bothered to become familiar with any of her other friends.
"Weasley?" he asked, questioningly, looking pointedly down at the tray that was now on the table, "Do you intend to serve that?" The other two rolled their eyes but said nothing.
"To them, of course," she said, smiling airily, "I didn't bring any for you."
He scowled at her, pulling a chair from one of the other tables and sitting down grudgingly. "Happy?" he asked. She grinned, before picking up one of the mugs (the one with mint in it, of course), and setting it in front of him. He took it gratefully, nodding his head at her before taking a long swig. To Colin, who sat uneasily next to the Slytherin, she gave the one with chocolate chips and a leaf of lavendar; to Luna, who seemed indifferent, she handed over a tangerine flavoured concoction, topped with an abundance of whipped cream.
Now that each had their hot chocolate, Ginny pulled herself a chair and watched them all slowly drink down their mugs. She waited for them to grow accustomed to each other; for Blaise to stop glancing, with apprehension, over at the other two, and for the other two to stop bristling with anxiety at Blaise's presence. Eventually, the hot chocolate would conduct its own introductions and they would become more comfortable--then, she could propose her plan. For now, she looked idly out the large window, her elbows on the table. It was a grey day; not as rainy as it had been yesterday. The sky was dark and the clouds seemed heavy--it was likely to rain tonight. Large, sad looking puddles from last night's storm had pooled on the sidewalks and the streets were very nearly empty. Ginny decided that the day was utterly miserable.
A few minutes later, Colin and Luna had begun a conversation together, and Blaise's legs were stretched contentedly under the table as he listened to them, complacent. It was obvious they had all relaxed, and that now would be the time to broach her intent. She cleared her throat, and they all looked at her, their eyes happier than they had been when they'd entered.
"That was some killer hot chocolate," Colin commented, smiling widely, "It was really delicious."
"Made my day..." Luna said, absently looking over to Blaise, who grunted in agreement.
"Thanks," Ginny said, suddenly overcome with happiness, "I've missed you guys."
Luna and Colin nodded, smiling small, reminiscing smiles. Blaise just looked out the window--but Ginny knew he had missed her, too.
There was a moment of silence, where all that could be heard was the murmuring of satisfied customers in the background; then, a clang from the kitchens. Ginny jumped, and Blaise's head snapped around. "What have you got back there?" Colin teased, "A muggle circus?"
Ginny laughed a little, before getting up and gathering their mugs onto her tray. "You guys can come back into the kitchens, if you want. Miranda is trying out a new recipe for sponge cake and she needs some guinea pigs." Colin and Luna didn't hesitate--they were into the kitchens before Ginny had taken a step towards the door. Blaise, however, remained seated.
"I don't fancy being a guinea pig," he said, looking up at her with a large smile.
She chuckled. "Didn't think you would. But I have something to talk to you three about, anyway."
He nodded his head. "Is it important?"
She rolled her eyes, placing a hand dramatically on his arm. "Do I ever have something important to say to you?"
"Nope," he grinned, before getting up and sauntering into the kitchen.
Ginny smiled. Reunited.
Author's Note: Took a while in the coming. Not that I didn't have any time, just that I was suffering from some writer's block when it came to this story. "The Starbug" was sort of to help me get back into the mood for this. It worked fairly well :-) I hope the third chapter won't take too long; this chappy wasn't as lengthy as I'd of liked it to be. Nothing truly important happened, but now you know more about Ginny, and some about her friends. They'll all be pretty important in this story.
Next chappy by next week (hopefully). I have a nasty science test, however, so I'm not entirely sure. I'll try!
Read, Review!
Cheerio!
