Chapter Nine: Morning Developments
Ginny woke up on Saturday morning in less than favorable conditions. Convinced that the redhead wouldn't wake up in time for Pansy to practice her fashion skills, the brunette used a levitation spell to lift Ginny from her bed and drop her unceremoniously onto the stone floor.
"Stupid dungeon floor," moaned Ginny, pulling her blanket to cover where her pale skin met the freezing floor.
"You should have woken up the first time the alarm went off," muttered Pansy.
"That hurt, a lot. You probably gave me a black eye."
"Well get up and check then, you're wasting precious daylight!"
"What daylight are you referring to, because the last time I checked it was dark out at five thirty in the morning," Ginny deadpanned as she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She turned to glare at her friend, but ended up losing herself in a fit of giggles when she saw her fellow Slytherin muttering to herself while buried in a pile of colorful fabrics.
Pansy wanted to start her own clothing chain after finishing Hogwarts, and she enjoyed dressing up her friends whenever the opportunity presented itself. Once Pansy decided on your outfit, that's what you were wearing, no exceptions. The girl could be pretty persuasive.
Ginny stood up and tossed her blanket back onto the bed, and made her way over to her closet. She pulled out her favorite jeans and one of Draco's old Quidditch jerseys she stole from him and set them aside from Pansy's mess. Then she grabbed her shower bag and muttered a quick "be right back" to Pansy, threw on her slippers and slipped out the door down the hall to the showers.
As she made her way down the hallway she ran into Blaise exiting Astoria Greengrass' room.
"Morning, sunshine," Blaise chirped.
"Really? Greengrass?" Ginny questioned.
"Well, my first choice is completely unavailable," he grinned. "She's completely head over heels for my best friend and I can't do a damned thing about it."
"Gee, that's too bad, love. Now go and tell someone who wants to hear about this great lost love of yours because I have some hot water and coconut shampoo calling my name," Ginny yawned.
"Mmh, sounds good to me. Need some help?" Blaise offered.
"Yeah, if you see Dray send him in."
"Will do," Blaise chuckled as he continued on down the hall toward his own rooms.
Twenty minutes later, Ginny reentered her room freshly showered to have clothes shoved into her arms and a pair of sandals chucked at her head.
"Take it easy, Pans!"
"Sorry Gin, just excited. Get dressed, I'm going to make sure Dray and Blaise are up. Meet us in the common room," Pansy grinned. Then she turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her.
"She is way too perky this morning," Ginny mumbled. She pulled on the skin tight Slytherin green tank top and layered the looser black cut off shirt Pansy picked out over it. Then she threw the black mini skirt Pansy tried to get her to wear across the room and pulled on her favorite ripped jeans. Then she put on her favorite strappy sandals, and fixed her hair to hang in loose waves down her back using her wand.
Then she applied a few makeup spells and shrank her wallet to fit inside her jeans pocket, and stuck her wand into her back pocket next to her wallet. She paused to look at her mark, then decided it would be better to conceal it anyways, so that she didn't have to wear her robes if she didn't want to. Then she grabbed her robes and made her way out the door and down to the common room to meet Pansy and the boys for breakfast.
Blaise and Pansy took off ahead of Ginny and Draco on the way to breakfast while the pair walked a little bit slower, chatting about classes, their classmates, and the weather. About halfway up from the dungeons Draco summoned up his courage and took Ginny's hand. She grinned and allowed him to lead her into the Great Hall and over to their seats at the Slytherin table. Neither of the teens noticed how the entire hall went silent as they entered, they were so lost in their own world.
As the two piled food onto their plates, they didn't realize the stares or the whispers of the other houses. They didn't notice the knowing look on their best friend's faces, nor did they see how their entire house was completely unfazed by the new development. The most important thing the pair didn't see, were the glares of a certain Boy Who Lived and his very best friend.
