Ginny flinched, Dean had just laughed so hard that he'd almost spit pumpkin juice on her pristine, Hogwarts' shirt. Sure, she didn't have a problem with him laughing at her brother falling off his chair- after all Ron did do the stupidest things- but Harry would never have spit pumpkin juice on her.
She sighed and flicked her auburn hair over her shoulder. She'd been at school for over a month and it seemed every Gryffindor guy, Dean included, felt that now Harry was gone she was a free agent. Ginny shrugged off Dean's arm as he attempted to flirt with her; Harry was off saving the Wizarding world from certain doom and the male population of Hogwarts were trying to steal his girlfriend- kind of ungrateful, don't you think?
Ron shrieked again and the table erupted into laughter. Ginny smiled; she couldn't help but think Ron's expression resembled the time Fred had "accidentally" turned his broom pink. The rest of the Gryffindor table went back to discussing how they were going to win the Quidditch Cup without Harry Potter but Ginny watched Ron's face change from an expression of shock to complete disbelief.
Hermione had just put her hand on his shoulder but he pushed it off, his ears were turning pink and he looked like he might explode. Glancing around, Ginny was surprised no one else at the table had noticed Ron's imminent combustion. However, as her gaze grazed the Slytherin table she caught one pair of silver eyes paying a little bit too much attention.
Sighing again, Ginny stood up- she hated being the responsible one- and she hurried over to Ron and Hermione. "You guys?" They looked up, "Can you argue outside? People are starting to notice, and you know Harry said we should all try to blend in this year."
Ron glared at Hermione before answering, "I'm not the one who's gone insane."
"I haven't gone insane, Ronald. I'm trying to have a mature conversation but I was stupid enough to expect a mature answer. There's a war going on and as a member of the Order you-"
"Hermione! Not so loud." She glanced around, "Malfoy's watching."
Ron stood up sharply, "Isn't that just fabulous! He's watching! Why don't you just invite him over and he can explain to Ginny what you just told me!"
Hermione stood up, shaking her head, and Ginny slowly followed. "Sorry about that," Hermione sighed, "You know your bother has never coped well with change⦠especially when Malfoy is involved."
"So are you going to explain to me what's going on?" Ginny attempted a grin, only to be rewarded with another sigh from Hermione.
"Well, it's kind of been a weird morningā¦"
