A/N: Hi! I apologize for the while it took to update. Real life has its demands every once and a while.. :) Anyways, enjoy!
"You have to do it, okay?"
Neville, Ginny, and Luna stood in the abandoned girls' washroom – their new secret hangout – sharing the news. The sun was setting, and it was just about time to go back to their common rooms.
"Then you tell us all the things that they say." said Luna.
"Harry seems like an okay kind of guy though," said Ginny, feeling slightly sheepish, "Aside from the fact that he's a blithering dolt."
"To me, he's a bit of a lousy tart," said Luna buoyantly, looking out the window, "But everybody's different."
"He's evil," said Neville.
Suddenly, they heard a splash from the fifth stall down, and a pale blue figure, quite translucent, came soaring.
"Hey, get out of here! This is the girls' washroom." said Myrtle, looking her usual morose.
Neville waved her off, and turned back to Ginny and Luna.
"Why do you hate him? Harry, I mean." asked Ginny.
"He started this rumor that –"
"Neville, I'd rather we didn't go into it," said Luna firmly, though still looking quite at peace. "This isn't about dislike, rather it's more of a fun little experiment if you were to hang out with them and tell us what they say. I do like experiments."
"What would I even talk about with them?"
"Quidditch," said Neville. "Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Gilderoy Lockhart."
Ginny sighed.
"Okay, fine. Do you have anything pink?"
"No," said Luna.
"Yes." said Neville in a small voice.
It was around the middle half of the morning, and Ginny wanted nothing more than to escape from the odd drama of school. She had Arithmancy, to her great pleasure. It made sense, it was fun, easy, no distractions whatsoever – "Could I borrow your ink well for a moment?"
She looked up, to find Draco Malfoy looking at her straight on, though without his usual demeanour of frostiness.
"Miss Weasley, do you have an answer?"
She felt her face grow hot – his good looks were now more apparent from her close point of view. With his sleek blonde hair and eyes of silver he was just so…
"Perfect."
The word passed her lips before she had the slightest chance to stop it, and quite promptly, her face turned the same shade as her hair. She then realized that everyone in the room was staring straight at her. Professor Vector tapped her wand on the chalkboard.
"Er – uh – four?"
Ginny wasn't exactly sure what question had been proposed, but Professor Vector wrote it on the board anyways. She looked around nervously, thoroughly embarrassed. By the time lunch came around, she rushed out of the classroom before anybody could snicker at her.
Having lunch with The Trio was like leaving the actual world, and entering another – the world of what seemed to be superstardom. And of course, such superstardom included rules – a lot of rules.
"You can't wear your sweater vest two days in a row, and you can only wear a ponytail once a week," said Hermione, sipping from her cup of tea, "So I guess you chose today."
"Oh, and we only wear badges or brightly coloured socks on Fridays." said Ron.
"If you break any of these rules, you can't sit with us," said Harry, watching Ginny closely, "I mean, not just you. Any of us."
"If I was wearing red socks today, I'd be sitting over there with the Gobstones freaks," said Ron, furtively pointing over towards a couple of Gryffindors down the table, who were less than squalid looking. "It's a big deal."
"We also take a fair vote before we ask someone to sit with us, too, because you have to be considerate of the rest of the group." said Hermione. Ginny nodded, as if she were taking this all in very carefully. "Well, really. You wouldn't buy a set of dress robes without asking someone if it looks good on you."
"I wouldn't?"
"Right. Anyways, I've got Quidditch practice. I'll meet you guys later." And with that, Harry was away, school robes sweeping the floor behind him.
"So, making any friends yet? Any boys?" asked Hermione. Ron began picking at his food in an annoyed manner as soon as Hermione proposed this idea, and Ginny smiled; Ron was finally working up to the fact that they were actually related.
"Yeah, and there's this guy in my Arithmancy class…"
"Who is it? Is he in your year?"
"His name is Draco – Draco Malfoy."
"No!" said Hermione, almost instantly. She shook her head fervently, as if it was completely absurd. "Oh, no, you can't like Draco Malfoy, that's Harry's ex-boyfriend. They went out for a year."
"I thought he dumped him for Cho Chang?" asked Ron.
"Regardless, Ron. Past relationships are just off-limits to friends. It's the rules."
"The rules of what?"
"Don't worry, I won't tell Harry," said Hermione, ignoring Ron with ease, "It'll be our little secret."
The next morning, Ginny woke up on a rather bad note, having been thwarted the other day on her attempt to chat up Draco Malfoy by Ernie Macmillan, about joining the Arithmancy Club.
Despite the fact that it was Christmas holidays, she continued in her mood. She trudged down the steps and out into the courtyard, students swarming around while Professor McGonagall attempted to keep rule.
"Hey, loser," said a voice from behind her, "C'mon. We're going now."
"Loser?" she repeated indignantly.
She turned around snappishly, only to let Harry's face line up with hers.
"That's what you are, right?"
Ginny looked back at him, eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth to say something – presumably rude and filthy – but Hermione caught wind of it beforehand, and grabbed her by the shoulders, walking her in line with all the other students. She sat silently as the Trio started up on their long-winded, airheaded chat, attempting to tune them out, but to no avail. The word 'broomstick' was close to imprinted in her mind by the time they actually got to the train station.
She moved to go to a different compartment, but Ron grabbed her arm.
"We're going to Hermione's for holidays this year."
"Why aren't we going home? To our house? You can't keep pretending we aren't related, you prat! I'm going to tell everyone."
Ron paused for a moment, before he raised his eyebrows in a cool fashion.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Ron!"
"So, Ginny, how do you like Hogwarts?" asked Hermione, cutting in. Ginny paused before speaking, surprised that she was being addressed properly.
"Uh, it's good," she said, "I'm thinking of joining the Arithmancy club."
"No! No, no."
"No, no. You can't."
"You cannot do that, that's social suicide." said Harry, "Damn, you are so lucky to have us to guide you."
"Oh, Merlin, there's Anthony," said Hermione, ducking her head slightly. "I can't let him see me."
"Where?" said Ron, looking around. "Oh, there he is."
"And he's with Lavender Brown."
"I heard they're going out, actually." said Ginny.
"He's not going out with Lavender, no. He can't do that. Ron, get me an owl."
"You're not going to send it to him, are you?" asked Hermione meekly.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" said Harry, rather hotly.
Both Ron and Hermione muttered a quiet little no, Ginny sighed loudly. Harry pulled from his pocket a small roll of leftover parchment from his homework, and a Self-Inking Quill. What he wrote was barely decipherable from what speed he wrote it. He tied it to Errol's leg.
"To the Brown house, please."
"What did you write?"
"Let's just say that she isn't going out with anyone by the time her mother gets that owl."
"That was so hip, Harry."
"I know, right?"