Just to make sure you know, the story begins before the short scene I wrote last time- this is the chain of events that leads up to that prologue.
If this is what I got all dressed up for, forget about it, thought Ginny as she struggled to walk in her tight golden dress and sore heels.
It was the night of the Yule Ball, and Ginny Weasley was currently in her third year, exhausted and finally free of her short-term boyfriend, Michael Corner. They had dated for about two months and Michael had asked her to the ball two weeks earlier. Ginny had accepted a little reluctantly, since she had been about to tell Michael that they weren't working out. However, it seemed that he shared her sentiments, as he had spent the whole night with a pretty Asian girl, Cho Chang. Personally, Ginny didn't mind at all. After an hour or two of picking at her food and rejecting many dance proposals, she marched straight up to both of them and broke up with him. She then spent the next two hours dancing merrily and meeting new people. It had been a while, and she was extremely relieved, but she eventually got tired and decided to go outside for a rest in the cool breeze.
That brought her to her current stare as she traipsed through the courtyard, searching for an unoccupied bench. She spotted one and sat down on the edge, sighing. She reached up to loosen the tight, complex knot her hair was tied up in- both the bun and the curled tendrils framing her face were messed up by then anyway. She was just bending down to relieve her swollen feet from their suffering when she heard two voices. The two people seemed to be arguing, but the male one sounded strangely familiar…
Curious, she hid deeper behind the bush so that they wouldn't see her and strained her ears to try to decipher what they were saying.
"-you can't tell me to stop seeing him! You always ignore me anyway, running off with those two friends of yours on silly adventures!"
"Silly adventures now, huh? Who saved the Philosopher's Stone in his first year? And then the whole mess with the Chamber of-"
Ginny flinched at the sound of his words, but more importantly she realized that it was Harry Potter speaking. Peeking over the bushes, she saw the familiar messed up hair and round glasses hiding emerald green eyes. And the girl…beautiful, completely dolled up in a flowery dress, with glossy, pitch black hair...
Cho Chang! Ginny immediately recognized her. That...that scarlet woman! She was his date? She spent all night flirting with Michael! Then again, if Harry was ignoring her...I know that feeling all too well.
Ginny had had a childhood crush on Harry- it was only natural, growing up with heroic tales about him and then finding out that he was her brother's best friend. She had followed him around secretly until her second year, when she saved her. The summer after the incident, she became very excited, thinking that he actually cared about her, not only as his best friend's sister. But after sending him a three-page long letter thanking him and asking how he was being treated with his relatives only to be answered with a short, awkward letter, she was officially disillusioned. He only thought of me as Someone to be Saved, that's all, she had lamented after contemplating the letter for the millionth time.
So Ginny gave up. If he didn't care about her, she didn't have to follow him unhappily forever, did she? She found that she was able to forget about him very quickly after the letters, and found herself in a large group of friends by the beginning of the year, since she wasn't too busy stalking some older guy that barely acknowledged her existence. Not that she disliked him in any way- he had saved her life, and she respected him for that. She was thankful. But she was happy to say that she no longer blushed or stuttered the few times they found each other in the same room. Ginny Weasley was someone now, and she was proud of it.
She shook her head to clear herself of all the thoughts and tuned back into the conversation.
"You're too full of yourself!"
"I'm not! I trusted you enough to tell you these things. I thought you cared."
"How do you expect me to care if I'm the only one doing anything for us? It's too late. You can't tell me what I can and can't do. I'm sorry, but we're done."
Ginny heard Cho as she walked away quickly. She stole a glance and saw Harry sitting with his back to her, apparently resigned to his fate. She sighed quietly and leaned against the bush, feeling bad for Harry. He had obviously cared about her more than she ever cared for him, and now he'd ended up broken. Merlin, she hadn't even known they were dating.
Poor Harry...she lost herself in her own thoughts.
"Ginny?" A voice from above her called her name. She looked up, eyes wide. Harry was looming above her, the look of surprise etched on his face softening as he fully recognized her.
"Ginny," he stated this time, raising an eyebrow. "You seem to be everywhere these days, don't you?" He sighed and rubbed his eyes warily. Ginny blushed and stood up, stumbling a little.
"Stupid dress- dumb gift from Mich- er….h-hi, Harry?" It came out as a question.
"You heard everything." It wasn't a question. She looked up at him timidly, fidgeting with her stiff, sequined halter neckline.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "About...everything…" She could tell he knew what she meant. His brows were slightly furrowed and she could see the pain clearly swimming in his eyes.
Cho must've really ruined him…
After a moment, he broke from whatever trance he was in and patted her on the shoulder.
"It's fine, Ginny, just...don't tell anyone." He turned around and walked away.
She knew what he meant.
…
However, she started doubting that the next day. Why did he have to be so...mysterious? So cold?
"You seem to be everywhere these days, don't you?"
What did he even mean by that? I barely ever see him! We've never had a conversation longer than the one last night!
Confused and annoyed, Ginny plopped down on her bed. She truly felt bad for Harry. With the state he was in last night, Cho was apparently all he cared about. He just didn't know how to take care of her, so he lost her.
Probably already snogging Michael. I wouldn't put it past her, Ginny thought. Although she did understand how Cho felt, the girl was known to let her emotions get the better of her and not make the best decisions.
Suddenly, she heard the door open.
"Hey Demelza. How was dinner?"
"Still not over. You need to eat, Ginny. Please go!"
"I'm not hungry!" The truth was that she didn't want to see Harry again. Ginny couldn't stand seeing him sad, and if Hermione had dragged him to eat he would be sulking the whole time, picking at his food. She felt that she couldn't afford to pity him, not wanting any feelings arising again.
"You're eating dinner. Go on!" Demelza glared at her. "You're gonna regret not eating later."
God, I hate it when she's right.
She pulled myself out of bed, grumbling. Not wanting to see her triumphant smirk, she walked out.
"See you." Pulling my wavy ginger hair up into a messy ponytail, Ginny walked down the stairs near the Great Hall with visible trepidation when all of a sudden, she felt a hand pull me into a dark corner.
"Wha-" Her words were muffled with a rough hand that covered her mouth.
What in sweet Merlin's name- She thought as I felt the person applying lipstick to her face and then smearing it all up. Ginny tried to turn around to kick the assaulter but failed- his grip was too strong. She struggled there for a minute, until the person turned around, still pinning her to the wall with his hand, and apparently grabbed someone else.
Ginny squinted in the darkness and saw Harry, of all people. He recognized her as well.
"What's happening?" he asked. He received no answer. "Tell us who you are," he growled forcefully.
"What kind of-" the poor girl wasn't able to get another word out before she found herself being roughly pushed with Harry into the Great Hall.
There was only silence as each pair of eyes in the Hall rested on them, transfixed by the scandalous image.
Smudged lipstick- check, ruffled hair- check, wrinkled clothes- check, completely out of breath...check. It was all too obvious what they had been doing. Finally, a Gryffindor second year gasped.
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!" As they recognized the redhead, gasps and murmurs spread across the large room in a flurry, as the fascinated students gossiped fervidly about the state the two were in. The professors were shaking their heads disappointedly.
Ginny couldn't care less. She was focused on her brothers- what would they think? Their shocked, disgusted expressions told her enough. But Harry was caught in a staring match with a certain Ravenclaw fifth year. Cho was looking at the scene unraveling before her with wide eyes that she soon narrowed. She met his eyes and she could tell Harry was pleading with her, but she quickly turned her back on him and focused on her book, an angry tear splashing onto the page she had been reading.
As Ginny, Harry, and Cho saw it, life as they knew it was over.
Hope you liked it!