One Touch
Chapter Two: The Rules
Author's Note: The feedback was positive, the writer's block is gone, and it's so much fun to write. So One Touch will continue. I can promise a few more chapters, but since school started, I can't promise them in a timely manner. If you'd like, leave your email addy, and I'll let you know when I load a new chapter. Please review, and spread the word about One Touch!
Ginny woke up refreshed the next morning. Usually this went without saying; Ginny was a morning person and it was a rare occurrence when she didn't wake up refreshed. No, this was surprising because it was a gray and drizzly November morning and she hadn't gotten an exceptional amount of sleep. But, she reasoned as she showered, one can't help but be happy when they had such a great time the night before.
And Ginny really did have fun. She enjoyed Dean's company. She had gotten a bit worried when Harry had walked in on them, fearing what Harry would think or say, but since they hadn't actually been doing anything, she had no reason to worry. Though she had to admit that she had been awful close to Dean…
Ginny shook her head as she dried her hair (a simple charm did the trick). No Gin, she told herself, only fools rush in. Don't decide you're madly in love with this kid. That it, at least until you get to know him…
And that was exactly what she planned to do.
--+--
Last year, around the time of the Yule Ball, the castle had been hit with a huge wave of hormones (or at least all female inhabitants had). Muggle and magical teen magazines were popping up everywhere, full of beauty tips and ways to get the guy. Ginny hadn't paid much attention to these (her date with Neville was strictly a friends-only date) but one day she flipped through Saucy Sorceress magazine. After passing 'Muggle or Wizard: what type of man is for you?' and 'Hats: A witch's fashion staple' she found 'The Rules to get a guy…And keep him.' Now she was glad she had read it. It might just come in handy…
--+--
Rule 1: Take an interest in what he has to say.
Ten minutes later Ginny was down in the Great Hall for breakfast. Some people must have eaten early because Ginny found lots of open seats at the Gryffindor table. There was one next to Harry, one next to Lavender, and one next to a quiet first year. Ginny chose the one next to Harry, for two reason: one, it was with her usual group, and two, it was across from Dean. Perfect combo, she thought with a smile.
"Morning all," she said cheerily. Harry and Dean both looked up and responded. Ron grunted without looking up from his breakfast. Hermione noticed and looked up to say hello, but she looked awfully tired. Down the table, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Fred, George, and Lee were eating, talking little, but still missing their usual exuberance. Ginny was curious as to why half her friends looked asleep still.
"Um, why's everyone so tired?" Ginny asked, pouring some pumpkin juice.
Dean gave a snort, but was shot 'a look' by Ron.
Harry, who had not yet been shot a death glare, smiled. "Well Ron, it is a funny story."
"Not when you're the one in the story," Ron grumbled.
"Aw, c'mon! It's great when you're on the outside!" Seamus, who had apparently already heard the story, jumped in from next to Dean.
"Look, I don't care who tells me, as long as someone does!" Ginny said, waving her spoon dangerously and splattering porridge on a second year who was walking by.
"Oops." She said sheepishly.
Dean and Harry laughed at her. Ginny smiled, but underneath she was losing her patience. Would they ever tell her what had happened last night? Harry seemed to sense her impatience.
"Okay, so you know how the twins and Lee convinced Angelina, Katie, and Alicia to go to Hogsmeade?" Ginny nodded. "So they go into Three Broomsticks and who do they see but Flitwicks and McGonagall!"
"No way!" Ginny said, putting down her porridge spoon.
"Yes!" Harry said, thoroughly enjoying himself. "So they did the only thing they could do: got the hell outta there!"
"So meanwhile," Dean said, jumping into the conversation, casting a look at Ron and Hermione and lowering his voice considerably, "our two lovebirds over there were out on a midnight stroll. As they were settling down to…er… 'talk,' they're startled by a loud noise. Which turns out to be our friends from Hogsmeade! A quite comical scene ensued in which everyone looked at everyone else suspiciously and Ron and Fred cast each other mischievous, knowing looks.
Harry resumed his position as storyteller. "So Lee tells Hermione and Ron that there are teachers in the area and Hermione wisely decides they should get back to their dorms ASAP, because Flitwick and McGonagall would be coming back sometime soon as well. So they try the front door, it's locked. Naturally, they're a bit worried. So they try another door; the side one near the greenhouse is locked…"
Dean once again grabbed reins of the story. "And then Hermione realizes (with horror, may I add) that earlier this year the enstated a 'lockdown' procedure. They told the perfects about it back in September. Every outside door is locked magically, and even Alohorma can open it-"
"-Not that they even bothered to try Alohorma." Harry added, snickering.
"Right. So now they're panicking. McGonagall and Flitwick are somewhere in the area, and they're still locked out of the building. Can it get much worse?"
"Yes," Harry answered. "And it does."
Dean enjoyed the look on Ginny's face and then resumed the story. "Then the rain started. Our heroes are not cold, wet, and out of bed after hours. Ron swears and wishes he had a broomstick so he could fly up to one of the balconies and climb through the door on the balcony. So that's what they did."
"What!?" Ginny shouted. She had long since abandoned her breakfast and was now looking intensely at Dean and Harry. "Wait, what!? How?"
And then the bell ran.
"NO!" Ginny cried. "I need to know the rest!" Everyone around her was moving, but she was still stubbornly in her seat.
"I'll tell you at lunch." Dean said. "I'd stay late and finish, but McGonagall would kill me…"
"Alright, see you at lunch then," Ginny said and trooped off toward Charms.
--+--
2. Make time for him any way you can.
Their follow-up lesson on Summoning Charms was less than thrilling for Ginny. All she could think about was the events of last night. How had they gotten back in? She had to give Dean and Harry credit, they sure knew how to tell a story. A glazed look came over Ginny's face as she mulled everything over in her head. She didn't realize this until Professor Flitwick pointed it out.
"Ms. Weasley, are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, I'm f-" Ginny began to answer. But an idea was forming. "Actually Professor, may I be excused to see the nurse? I think I may be beginning to get sick."
"Well, you seem to understand the lesson fairly well. It wouldn't hurt to excuse you in the name of well-being. Come back to class after you've seen Madam Pomfrey."
"Yes Professor, thank you," Ginny said, scurrying out of the room.
But Ginny had no intention of going towards the hospital wing. Instead, she made her way tot he Transfiguration corridor. Once there, she stood up against a wall and tried to figure out what she was going to do. It was a very un-Ginny thing she was planning on doing, but if she was already kinda cutting class, she might as well enjoy it. She lined herself up with the glass window in the door of the Transfiguration classroom. She could see Dean. Ginny began to move wave furiously and hoped she wouldn't get caught. It worked: after scribbling something on his parchment, Dean looked up, clearly tuning out Professor McGonagall. He saw, with some surprise, that Ginny was waving to him outside. Once she had his eye, she waved at herself. Eventually, Dean got the message. He raised his hand and said something, though Ginny didn't know what. Dean then hurried out of the room.
"Gin!" he hissed. "What're you doing here!?"
"I believe you have a story to finish," she replied coolly. "What'd you do, excuse yourself to the bathroom?"
"Yeah," he said. "You?"
"Right now, I'm 'at the nurse.'" She said, making air quotes. Dean gaped at her. "Ginny, you're amazing.
3. Don't just listen; really think about what he has to say.
"So are you gonna tell me how they got back in or not?" Ginny asked, a not of impatient in her voice.
"Right. So they figured a balcony would be their best bet, one that was low. So…Professor Vector's room has a balcony and it's only on the second floor…"
"The didn't."
"They did. Climbed right on up…"
"How? There's nothing to climb on."
"First Fred climbed up like he was mountain climbing, finding foot holes in between the stones. Lee was halfway up before Angelina realized they could conjure up some ropes to make it easier. So they tied the ropes around the balcony and used that to help them climb up. Then, once everyone was up, they tried to unlock the door with Alohorma. Sealed, of course, so Fred and George expertly picked the lock-the Muggle way. After that it was just a 'simple' matter of sneaking back to Gryffindor tower without getting caught. By the time they got back, it had to be nearly two."
"Oh, so that's why they were so…dead today." Ginny said, nodding.
"Precisely," Dean said. "But Gin, if you don't mind, I should probably go back before McGonagall gets suspicious."
"Yeah," she answered. "And let's not tell anyone about this whole secret meeting, skipping parts of class thing, okay?"
"Maybe we could even have more," Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows. Ginny laughed, leaned up, and pushed his eyebrows back into the normal place. Dean laughed too. They said goodbye and then parted, Dean to Transfiguration and Ginny to Charms.
"Ah Ms. Weasley. How are you feeling?" Professor Flitwick asked as she entered the room. Thinking quickly, Ginny responded, "Fine. Madam Pomfrey said I just need to get more sleep."
"Very well," said Flitwick, motioning toward her desk. "Then please take your seat and we'll get back to the lesson."
Ginny dutifully sat down and began taking notes. Her mind was whizzing; she had just kinda sorta cut class to talk to Dean. She didn't feel guilty, but rather surprised. She'd never done that before, so why had she done it today? To hear the story? Or to be with Dean? Ginny didn't know, but she had inkling it was the latter.
As Professor Flitwick started them on actual practice of the Summoning Charm, Ginny thought about the actual events of the previous night. They'd seen Flitwick and McGonagall in the bar. They were just two colleagues going out for a drink, right? Ginny hoped so…It was just to weird to think of her teachers as actual people.
Ginny's thoughts were al over the place as the bell rang. She only just heard Flitwick remind them of a practical on Tuesday as she rushed out to lunch. She wanted to talk to everyone.
"Hermione!" Ginny said, finding her friend in the hallway and grabbing her arm. "What's this lockdown thing?"
"Gin! Keep your voice down! Only prefects are supposed to know about it." Hermione hissed, dragging Ginny to the Gryffindor table where they could talk away from teachers.
"Okay, every night at midnight Dumbledore casts a locking spell on all the entrances to the castle. Main floor entrances, but I don't know if he did anything about the secret passages. Teachers know how to unlock them in case of emergency, and they're locked from the inside too."
"And all this is because of You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, safety precautions. And if kids are locked out, they'll know never to do it again. Like me. Last night sucked!"
"But you didn't get caught, so it's okay!" Ginny said, and then added slyly "and it was have been terribly romantic…"
"Yeah, it was," Hermione said dreamily.
"Hermione, is there something you're not telling me?" Ginny asked, half demanding, half teasing.
Hermione blushed but then replied "Gin, it's about time for another session of some girl talk…"
So that night, after dinner, they holed themselves up in Hermione's dorm with some Chocolate Frogs and some pumpkin juice Fred and George had snatched. And began to talk.
Author's Note: So there it is! I wasn't in love with this chapter, I much preferred the first one, but it still worked out okay, don't you think? Please email me or leave a comment, because feedback is good! I'm going to get Chapter 3 up ASAP, and some other stuff is in the works, but school is in session, so be the good little patient people I know you all are! ::hint hint::