Ginny bit back a small grin, watching as her friend and the small sandy haired boy, Mark, shot 'dirty' insults at each other.
"Well maybe I'm a scabby toed wart, but you're a...a...Tomato faced silly rat munchkin!" Ethan mockingly sneered, secretly relishing in the small boy's gasp. Oh yes, he had obviously went there.
"Take that back", he whispered seriously, his eyes narrowing into slits. The girl Jessica, had all but forgotten her obvious embarrassment of being seen by Ethan and had now roamed to the swings, watching as the ridiculous scene unfolded.
Next to Ginny, Bill smirked despite himself. He shot a glance at Dumbledore and saw that the older wizard had that familiar gleam in his blue eyes. This boy was definitely...unique.
"You're friend is bloody mental", Bill whispered to his sister, who smiled up at him.
"I know, isn't it brilliant?" she whispered back.
"Yes, but do you mind if we go and say something instead of standing here awkwardly. I do have other prior engagements, despite what you may believe " Bill said, pushing her forward a bit. She laughed a little, getting the attention of Ethan and Mark.
"PRINCESS!" Ethan shouted, waving his arms wildly, forgetting his fight with the boy.
"What did he just call you?" Bill whispered furiously, but Ginny ignored him and a mass of dirty blonde hair came running at her. Without any preface, she was lifted of the ground in a bone crushing hug. Laughing lightly, she hugged him back. It had been weeks since she had seen her eccentric friend and she had so many things to tell him.
Once on the ground she introduced her friend to her brother, glad that at least he acted civilly, if not even a bit friendly towards him. She gave him a small reassuring smile as Dumbledore and Ethan chatted about the time she was expected back.
"I promise sir that I will not feed her to any wild untamed hamsters or send her to any swirling vortexes! She is as safe here as she is at Hogwarts!"
Dumbledore chuckled fondly, and nodded his head. "Very well then Mr. Harper," he said in an amused tone, "Remember to bring Miss. Weasley around by 4."
Ethan nodded and shook hands with the man, then moved on towards Bill.
"Pleasure to meet you" he said politely, holding out his hand. Bill smiled weakly, obviously trying to be nice, and shook his hand.
"By 4 Harper." he said sternly. Ginny rolled her eyes, even Bill could be such a...big brother sometimes. As she gave him a hug and a small peck on the cheek she could have sworn his eyes softened.
"I've got something to tell you when you get back." he whispered into her ear, a tone she had rarely heard him use. She pulled back with wide eyes and whispered, "What is it Bill?"
"Later" he muttered dismissively, releasing her as she shook hands with her headmaster. Without warning, both wizards apparated away, leaving the two friends in their wake.
"Well then, shall I give you a tour Princess?" Ethan asked after a momentary pause, breaking Ginny out of her dream like trance. Why was Bill so serious?, she questioned mentally, and what exactly could be so important that he needed to talk about alone?
With a shake of her head, she turned towards Ethan and smiled.
"Lead the way Harper"
--
After a rather extensive tour of the neighborhood- including every place Ethan had run away too (all within a two block radius of his home), each and everyone of the good hiding spaces when playing tag, the old man's house that Ethan had yet to visit but had heard countless horrifying and most likely false stories of, the place where he fell down on his bike (an item Ginny was not acquainted with, but after much explaining on Ethan's part, could imagine as a useful transportation device) and many other locations that Ethan felt necessary for Ginny to see- the two teens finally came across a small home with a myriad of flowers strewn across the front lawn.
"And where exactly are we now Ethan?" Ginny asked a little out of breath. Ethan grinned and motioned for Ginny to follow him as they made their way to the front door.
After searching for quite some time Ethan pulled out a shiny metal key and slid it into the door. "We have just arrived," he began while pushing open the door to reveal a relatively inviting home, " to the Harper abode."
"Amazing," she stated sincerely, looking in awe at the miscellaneous items on the tables and the muggle appliances in every room. Ethan watched in amusement as the red head began poking a rather 'still' photo of him and his mother, in hopes of getting some movement.
"So I'm guessing you haven't had much interaction with muggles Princess," he said while disappearing behind a swinging wooden door. Ginny looked up from her prodding of the photograph and vaguely thought of following Ethan before her eyes landed on the TV set in the corner.
Ginny Weasley was her father's daughter after all.
Quietly, as if she were about to commit a crime, she tip toed to the corner where the television stood, in all it's glory.
"You're beautiful," she whispered quietly, setting a hand on the screen, "but how, darling, do I make you work?" She furrowed her brows and tried to remember something useful that she had retained about muggle technology in her life.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, said knowledge came in the voice of one Hermione Granger.
'Ginny, it's called a pen, this is not a muggle shot gun...Stop backing away, I'm not going to shoot...Ballpoint is just a brand...Ginny, Honestly' No...That wasn't it.
'Oh come on Ginny, stop looking at me like that. I can't understand why you find this to be 'rubbish', I personally think it's romantic...So she killed herself with a dagger and he poisoned himself , but think of message- It's romantic Ginny!' No... That wasn't quite it either.
'It's was quite a struggle really, getting my dad to hand over the remote control for the tv. I swear, he's addicted to football...Oh you know, that muggle sport Dean Thomas plays. Yes, With the feet...Yes, I know. Why play a sport without a broom?...No I did not just call you Quidditch obsessed. Although you are!' YES! That was it, she thought excitedly, a remote control.
She just needed control of the television! Why had she not thought of this before?!
Standing up taller Ginny gave the poor box her most withering glare. "Listen up tell-e-vistor," she began, "I now have complete control over you. Yes, you've heard right. I now control your every action. So I wan- no demand you to turn on and entertain me."
She was interrupted by laughing from behind, and turned from her rant to see Ethan wiping happy tear from his eyes.
"I missed you Princess," he said fondly, ruffling her hair affectionately, before setting down some snacks that he must have gotten from the kitchen and motioning her to take a seat on the couch. Shrugging, the red head obliged and watched as Ethan used a long rectangle to turn on the tv.
"Remote control." he said with a laugh, gesturing to the rectangle before handing it to her. She rolled her eyes, but grinned anyway. He was still laughing quietly as the youngest Weasley was sucked into the powers of reality tv.
--
"And he just sat there and took it? WHAT a wimp! I mean the girl is obviously crazy, and cheating on him no less, I mean, he's an a-" the red head was interrupted once again by Ethan's most annoyed glare. Quickly she sat back and watched as ONCE again the buffoon let his girlfriend go, then commented to the camera that he was 'worried about where their relationship was going', while another camera caught said girlfriend in a rather compromising position with the boy in the next cabin.
'Idiot," she muttered quietly, while Ethan rolled his eyes but smiled despite himself.
All the while, interviews of each cabin member were being held regarding the failing relationship in cabin '4', while the boyfriend still had no clue as to what exactly was going on. He sat idly on a bench outside the cabin and watched from a distance as two people (I.E. his girlfriend and 'cabin 3 boy') snogged each other senseless. When he noticed the cameras were zoomed in on him he dimwitted-ly questioned 'What? Is there something on my face?'.
There was a discreet snort emitted from the small girl next to Ethan and with a laugh he changed the channel.
"Thank Merlin, I mean if I had to watch one more snog session before that prat got his head out of his arse long enough to see his gi- Wait, what is this?" Ginny questioned eagerly, while a catchy theme song came on. Soon it introduced many people and claimed to be a new reality TV show where the contestants battled it out to win the grand prize of 10,000,000 pounds.
Ethan shot an amused glace at Ginny as she grabbed one of the muggle 'Skittles' and popped it in her mouth. Drinking the grape soda Ethan had given her quietly, both friends watched as a girl with pretty gray eyes stumbled on a balance beam 50 feet in the air, causing her to land rather unpleasantly on a mattress at the bottom.
"Ooooooowwwww!" they both said simultaneously. Still they watched as more and more and more contestants tried and failed to succeed.
"This is so addicting," Ginny muttered to Ethan. He nodded his head dumbly, not taking his eyes of the screen and shoving a hand full of skittles in to his mouth.
"Isn't it just Princess?" he questioned just as quietly, both apparently to transfixed on the TV to notice a dark haired person coming towards them.
"And who might this lovely lady be Ethan?"
Sock- Phew. I got that done. Now I don't feel like such a jerk for not updating in such a ridiculously long time. See, I am a rather...lazy person. As most of you can already imagine. But I did it. So don't hate me too much...
Ok, so now that my apology is out of the way, on to the chapter commentary. I brought Ginny into the amazing-ness that is muggle reality TV! Personally I love watching idiots with no sense at all comment on their ever so tragic lives as they sit around and do absolutely nothing to stop said tragedies. It gives me a warm feeling inside. Oh and those insults at the beginning of the chapter- yeah, feel free to use them at your leisure.
Now on to the disclaimer I suppose. I do not own Harry Potter, or Ball Point, or Skittles. They all belong to other (different) and more successful people. Still Ethan Harper is all mine. Hands off ladies.
Oh! And I failed to mention, one of my friends was reading this a while back and thought I had switched ships from Harry/Ginny to Ethan/Ginny. I have one thing to say to this- HELL no. Seriously, if any of you are expecting this...well...it's not happening. Trust me. He's her best friend. And not the Hermione/Ron 'best friends' but the Harry/Hermione best friends. All though they do get rather close, nothing at all happens.
OH! (again) and ANOTHER thing. I am in need of a beta. Most likely someone with a better grasp on grammar then I obviously seem to have. So if you know anyone, send me a message or what not.
So...with that. I implore you to review.
