Ginny's letter

I quickly tug Pansy's sleeve and together we quickly leave the tense air of the dinner room. Silently we make our ways upstairs. The owl is softly hooting.

Pansy's long, bony fingers softly pat the barn owl. "Do you think it traveled from far?"

I shrug. "One way to find out.."

I take the envelope and pull a piece of newspaper and a letter out of it. I immediately recognise the redheads on the piece of newspaper in the picture. Ginny smiles brightly at us.

Pansy sighs loudly. "Too bad this is your mysterious owl post."

"What did you expect?" I glance at Pansy.

She sighs again, now more dramatically. "Well, it could have definitely been more exiting, couldn't it?" Her eyes light up mischievously. "You got have gotten a mysterious love letter. Or you could have gotten an ancient letter with some great mystery."

I snort. "You read too much crappy romance novels."

She looks haughtily at me. "I'd like to inform you that Farini's novels are not crappy romance novels, thank you very much."

I quickly read the newspaper. The Weasleys had won a drawing. "Either way, Pansy, aren't you happy for Ginny? I guess the money went to some people who could use it." It seemed to be quite some galleons.

Pansy looks a bit sour for a second. "Well I guess," she sniffs, "Maybe they should get a new owl. This one barely made it here. Look at it."

I look at the barn owl. I could not admit I silently agreed with her. "It seems very loyal.."

Pansy then starts feeding the owl some treats, which it gratefully took. "Loyal," Pansy says, "Well I guess so. This flight almost was the end of the poor thing. That should count as loyal."

I softly stroke the owls feathers. "You had quite the journey, didn't you?" I softly ask the owl, which softly hoots complainingly back.

Pansy leans into my shoulder. I did not notice how close we stood, while petting the barn owl. She has a soft smile on her face. "They should let it retire and feed it lots of owl treats," she decides. "Well, read me the letter, what has that redheaded devil to say?"

Pansy now leans a bit more into my body. I feel strangely distracted. I then read her the letter.

Draco,

Guess what! Dad won a drawing and now we're going to visit my brother Bill in Egypt. Bill is my oldest brother. I haven't seen him in quite a long time. I am so excited. Mum and dad have been very worried though, ever since what happened with Tom.

Then some sentences are scratched out.

It would be nice to see Bill, though. He never treated me as a girl. And he's just cool. I mean, he is a curse breaker, that is kinda cool, right?

Then some more sentences are scratched out.

Ron has been extremely fussy too, as if mum and dad are not enough. He barely lets me go for a stroll on my own. Can you believe him? Git..

Then some more sentences are scratched out. I smirk, being able to make out one of them: I hope he gets lost in some tomb.

Either way, I really wanted to write to you. Ron almost threw a fit. Mum and dad told him to shove it, though. I didn't know where you stay, so I hope Errol did not have to fly too far. He is quite old and the journeys become harder. Give him some owl treats, he'd like that, but don't let him rest for too long. Just a few days or Ron will kill me. Harry's birthday is coming up, so he wants to send him a letter and a present. Did you know Ron and the twins had to save Harry from those horrible muggles he stays with? Apparently they locked him up.

Then more sentences are scratched out.

Isn't it horrible? Either way, Egypt! I can't wait. I have never seen much outside of Britain. I hope Bill will show us some really cool stuff that mum won't like. At the moment she still thinks everything is dangerous for me..

Then a few scratched out sentences. I can only make out a few pieces. Doesn't help.. nightmares.. thanks.. still cannot believe I did all those things.. Tom.. so nice.. I'm glad.. friend.

Bill is cool though. He's always been cool. He'll probably show us some tombs and mummies. I can't wait to hear his stories about all his adventures. I haven't felt so excited since, well, since I'd go for Hogwarts for the first time. And then, well, you know.. Either way: I'M GOING TO SEE A PYRAMID!

I snort.

Either way, have a nice summer, Draco. PS If you see Vin tell him I miss him. And let him read my letter. PPS If you see any of the others: Pansy, Greg, Theodore, Astoria, Daphne, Blaise or Millicent. Pass on my greetings.

Pansy is still slightly leaning on me. She has her eyes closed and I do not think she really heard anything from Ginny's letter. Maybe that was better, Ginny might not have wanted Pansy to read through it. Pansy seems to have noticed that I stopped talking. "Well, I hope our friend will have a nice time in Egypt," Pansy then softly murmers.

I smirk. "You weren't listening to a word I said, were you?"

Pansy blushes. She looks pretty when she blushes. "I did listen to your voice," she says, fluttering her eyes at me. "You have a really nice voice."

Again I cannot help but notice how close we are standing. I feel confused and feel my cheeks flush. "I better get Errol to Artemis. So he can rest."

Pansy blinks confused at me. I quickly walk away.