Hogwarts a History – The eyes have halls
Chapter 02 – The Harry Potter Fan Club
…
"Where did you get this?"
"Let's just say, I have a very good camera man."
It was simply scandalous; the pre-pubescent mind could barely grasp; so vulnerable, so wet, so nekkid.
"What do you want. Whatever it is you can have it."
Ginny laughed, "Now Esmeralda, it's not like that," she said smoothly. "I'm just sounding people out right now. Testing your disposition."
"For what?" the young Hufflepuff asked suspiciously.
"I'm thinking of putting together a little club," said Ginny. "A secret club," she added conspiratorially.
"A club, for what? For this," she waved the naughty picture, greatly upsetting the man inside.
"The man, the legend, in the flesh. No more having to daydream about a character in a baby's book when we have the man right here, if you get my meaning."
She thought she did and was simultaneously intrigued and mortified, a conflict that played out in minute detail all across her face.
"I see you need some time to think about it," said Ginny, hardly oblivious to the other girl's inner turmoil. "You hang onto that picture. We'll talk again real soon."
Leaving the catatonic puff to her daydreaming, she strode calmly down the hall and turned the corner.
"So, how'd it go?"
She gave no startled exclamation finding Colin waiting for her, she'd known he was there. "She's in. She doesn't know it yet, but she will."
"You're sure?"
Ginny grinned; it had teeth, "Oh yes. And she'll bring others. That picture is going to make the rounds in Hufflepuff, mark my word Colin."
"If you say so, I just hope Harry doesn't find out."
That made two of them, "He won't," she said, for Colin as much as herself. "Trying to keep this secret from everyone in the castle would be impossible, but that's not what we're doing. We just need to keep it secret from Harry. That's much easier."
"Is it?"
"Oh yes. According to Ron, Harry's only real friends are him and Hermione. Harry isn't real good with other people, especially outside Gryffindor, and he absolutely hates gossip. Especially about him."
"Were we going to ask your brother to join, or that Hermione girl?"
"No!" she snapped, making Colin jump like a startled rabbit.
"Uh…"
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, "It's just, the idea of my brother, or any of them, finding out about this. I'd never hear the end of it."
"Oh, yeah, I suppose."
"Not to mention telling Ron anything is a bad idea. If he knew so would Harry before the end of the day."
"I see—and, Hermione?"
Ginny made a thoughtful expression, pretending to think on the proposition when in truth she'd already done all the thinking she needed to on Hermione Granger. "I don't really know her, but from what I've heard, she doesn't play well with others. Thinks way too much of herself."
"Not like you," the boy with the camera smirked.
"Watch it Creepy," she said in a restrained snarl. He shrugged but didn't bother a retort. "At any rate, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be interested in this unless Harry could be found between ten pounds of musty old parchment." The bushy-haired girls bibliophilia was well documented.
"That's not a bad idea," said Colin.
"Huh?" The what now? "Did I miss part of this conversation. What's a good idea?"
"Between parchment you said."
"Don't follow."
"What about paper?"
"A book?" not a bad thought.
"A magazine!" he said excitedly.
That was an even better thought. Lots of pictures of, thoughts on, articles about, Harry. It'd be a great place to post her future wedding photos.
"I like it, but not yet. Too much involved," she said, slowing down to keep focus on the short-term goals. "Put it on the back burner for now. Do some research in our spare time. Actually, one of my neighbors prints his own magazine."
"You think he'd help us?"
He might. Xeno was a bit odd but he seemed to like her. "I'll make a note to ask him the next time I go home."
One step at a time. The perfect marriage to the perfect husband didn't just happen overnight.
"Come on."
"Where we going now?"
"We need to find a Ravenclaw. I spotted a likely candidate in Herbology and I think I know about where to find her. You got that one really cool flying shot, the swoop and dive."
Colin quickly filed through a heavy handful of photos, pulling out a great moving pic of Harry on his broom doing something that would have any girl with even the most remote appreciation for broom mechanics gasping.
"That's the one," she said with a quick leer.
Placing another, more risqué picture beneath it, she hurried on to the hall between the Ravenclaw dorms and the library. Most people didn't know where the dorms that weren't their own were located; she owed this bit of knowledge to Fred and George. The devious brothers had given her the full tour the day after they arrived, which included the location of the other dorms, and instructions on how to get into the kitchen.
'They' would know where all the dorms were. They probably even knew how to get into them, though they hadn't shown her that.
That was okay, she didn't need in, as her quarry came stumbling down the hall, nose firmly in book.
"Perfect." Trust a Ravenclaw to be by the book predictable. "Ty Lin!"
"Yes—wha!" Unable to do two things simultaneously with any coordination, it only took a minor distraction to send her tumbling to the floor. So easy.
"You alright?"
"Owchee!" The petite east Asian girl pushed her face off the floor, looking around dazed.
Ginny used her confusion to retrieve the girl's book, something overly complicated in a language she didn't recognize; typical. "Need a hand."
Pulled to her feet the girl looked at Ginny, seeking a name to go with the face, "Weasley, wasn't it?"
"Lucky guess," Ginny joked, "call me Ginny."
"Ginny? Right, right, we have herbology together, don't we?"
"We do. Pretty sure this isn't about herbology," she said, hefting the book.
"Oh that. No, that was, I mean, I was just perusing the shelves when I found that. I never expected to find any books written in mandarin here."
"Must be really special. Maybe you shouldn't walk and read it at the same time. Wouldn't want to wreck it," she said, handing the book back.
"What happened?" said Colin, appearing at her elbow when Ty Lin was halfway down the hall and once again multitasking badly. "I thought you were going to talk to her."
"Sound her out," Ginny corrected.
"What's the difference?"
Ginny grinned when a startled yet undeniably intrigued 'eep' echoed down the hall. "One doesn't actually require me to say a word. A picture says so much more anyway, doesn't it?"
...
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