ILLEGAL DEFENSE GROUP
DOLORES JANE UMBRIDGE
HAS BEEN APPOINTED TO
THE POST OF HOGWARTS
HIGH INQUISITOR
"I can not believe it!" she was still barking at Demelza, her eyes glittering alarmingly. "Fudge approved a Educational Decree and dumped that woman on us ... I can't believe it!" she added, tossing the paper aside with a snap.
"And now she also has the power to judge other teachers," Ginny mumbled mournfully.
It was just the two of them chatting in the Gryffindor Common Room after class, warming up from the November cold that had just arrived. The days had passed very quickly and not only had things changed... but they were made worse: The toad Umbridge had become the Supreme Inquisitor of Hogwarts, which gave her the power to fire teachers and have all activities under her command.
"At least you went well ... Professor Vector was put under pressure today," Demelza whispered sadly, rubbing her hands to warm them further. "And that Umbridge was just awful ... we couldn't have expected anything better in the present day!"
Ginny didn't answer and continued to stare into the flames of the fire as if they could tell her something.
"What's going on with you?" Demelza asked gently.
"I could ask you the same thing," the girl retorted, more aggressively than she wanted. She slowly turned to her and assumed that usual expression she had when she was terribly annoyed: "Well ... I don't know how to explain it! Colin spends his time with his little brother, the others are always in clubs and you seem to want to avoid us all ... indeed, you absolutely want to avoid us all. It seems to me to have gone back in time four years when in my first year there was only me and ... "she inspired deeply and said the name without any more fear, "Tom Riddle ... to keep me company"
"But you have your brothers and Hermione Granger!" Demelza protested, immediately avoiding to the first year topic.
"They have their friends, they don't hang out with me at Hogwarts except to chat"
"But..."
"Demelza, you have to tell me what's happening to you!"
A tense silence fell upon them, only the two of them: the other Gryffindors in the room were all cheerful.
"So?" Ginny pressed softly, abandoning her harsh and aggressive tone.
"My parents both believe the Daily Prophet," Demelza said unexpectedly, her eyes filling her with tears of anger again and gradually streaking her face.
"And you believe ..."
"Dumbledore!" the girl interrupted with a loud voice, and a very small sob escaped him. "I believe in Dumbledore and that's exactly the problem: Umbridge and my parents who work at the Ministry know I'm on their side, but that's not true at all. I can't stand not rebelling, I can't stand not responding to that treacherous sneaky old woman about that lousy book ... but I have to contain myself otherwise she'll make my parents pay "
And so, that was the reason that Demelza was always very sad and stayed all the time by herself? Because she was so sad that she just couldn't rebel and tell Umbridge about her for fear that her parents, who are very close to the woman, might suffer the consequences of what she did or rather ... what she said. For Ginny the situation was somewhat similar to that of her friend but with some differences: Arthur was not close to the woman, as he worked only in a secondary department of the Ministry, and this could give him some protection ... plus the protection of the Order of the Phoenix.
Ginny hugged her friend, hoping she wouldn't burst into tears.
"I'm sorry ..." she whispered to her as Demelza wept silently.
"I can't wait for her to go," she said ominously, letting her friend go and wiping her tears before anyone could see her. "Also because I can no longer manage not to attract attention in class, it's becoming ... unbearable!" she added, with a chuckle.
"Everyone misses a certain know-it-all," Ginny giggled cheerfully, patting her cheek. "Now you just have to tell the others everything ... even if I have to admit that it will be very difficult to catch them with all the courses they follow. But anyways... you don't have anything to do with all this?"
"No!" Demelza protested indignantly.
"Little sister!"
"Dear little sister!"
The sudden arrival of the twins prevented Ginny from answering her suspicions. The two girls turned to watch the two approach them, one muttering her disappointment towards her brothers who since they had revealed their biggest secret (secret that had made her sister very angry) were trying to be as affectionate as possible with her to be forgiven ... which made them strangely boot-lickers. But that only took a back seat in her mind.
"Guys!" Ginny greeted them brightly, with an amused smile.
"Hello," George said, swooping down on her sister to kiss her cheek as Fred threw himself headlong onto the red sofa. "Demelza, how's your life?" he then added politely, taking a seat on the arm of his sister's chair.
"Wonderful"
"This is what we wanted to hear! Listen to me, we were wondering ..." Fred began and that tone was far from being of little concern, "if we could feed the toad some Puking Pastille in her tea or Fever Fudge. So, tell me if it's not a brilliant idea! "
"Not a brilliant idea," Demelza replied quickly, shaking her head.
"We just have to perfect them and that's it," George added, puffing up his chest proudly.
"This is the best idea you've ever come up with and I'm serious ... and don't look at me like that, you!" cheerfully said Ginny to Demelza, thrilled at the very idea of seeing Umbridge throw up suddenly or seeing her covered in really annoying pus-filled buboes.
"She Learns from the masters, Demelza. Aaaaah our beautiful little sister always agrees with us!"
"Beautiful and untouchable little sister!"
Fred and George almost literally jumped on top of her sister to hug her and hold her tightly, which the sweet Demelza was very scandalized by. If only the twins knew that her sister had suddenly become absolutely touchable by her boyfriend they would have gone mad so it was better not to break that little news.
"Guys, Ron and I have to ... oh, this is called pedophilia."
Hermione's amused voice reached the boys' ears, including Demelza's, but Fred and George continued to annoy Ginny by tickling her all over and flipping her left and right ... she didn't need Vomiting Pills!
"Now stop!" Hermione snapped authoritatively after a few seconds, pointing eloquently to the prefect pin. "If someone saw what you are up to here and especially your sister, what do we Prefects look like?"
"Hermione, relax ..." Ginny grunted, coughing, and pulling off one of her brothers.
When everything was back in order as Hermione wanted, after a series of small protests from the twins who laughed at the girl's every attempt to gain some authority and the respect that the Prefects should have from the other students, Ron finally silenced Hermione and took command of the situation by starting to speak, although he did so with some difficulty due to Demelza's presence ... perhaps because she shouldn't have been there.
"I'll wait for you there," the insightful girl said, and walked off to a nearby desk so the teens could talk quietly. Once Demelza was gone, the situation became much more serious and constructive.
"So what going on?" a suspicious Fred asked.
"In short ... let me do it, Hermione, you take too long!" Ron snapped irritably as Hermione opened her mouth to speak.
"Ah, it takes me too long?" she retorted stubborn. "Very well ... don't expect my help in the future, Ronald!" and she was silent.
Ron snorted his disappointment but Fred was starting to get seriously impatient too; Ginny and George, on the other hand, seemed quite amused.
"May we know what you are going to do?" Ginny finally asked, grimacing and staring at her brother.
"Learn to defend ourselves," Ron replied in a low voice, "forming our own illegal Defense Against the Dark Arts group even though toad wll never permit it. And guess who our teacher will be? Harry .. . of course!"
"We couldn't sit idle," Hermione added, casting a softer look at Ron.
The three weasleys gasped, surprised and excited by what they had just heard.
"We're trying to get more trusted people to join this meeting tomorrow morning at the Hog's Head," said Hermione hastily, and in her tone there was a small note of pride in what they were really about to do. "I mean, we thought it was better to be prepared for what we deserve out there ... although to prepare we have to act in secret because if Umbridge finds out our intentions ..."
"... Mom will kill us," Ron concluded in a whisper.
"Or worse!" Hermione corrected him seriously. "They could expel us from Hogwarts forever and goodbye education!"
"Is expulsion worse than killing for you?" George asked, but he was smiling.
"She needs to review her priorities," Ron muttered, giving her an exasperated look, then rolled his eyes.
"This defense group idea is fantastic, anyways," Ginny interjected brightly, returning to the subject. "We need to be able to stand up for ourselves, of course ... and if Umbridge refuses to, we need to take action!" she added.
The girl's voice let out all her excitement and her way of promptly getting involved: Harry could really help them because he was the best in defense and to create an illegal group under Umbridge's nose was just the icing on the top of the cake, a sublime touch. They would be fighting right under her nose ... and she and the Ministry wouldn't even notice that!
"Lee will agree and definitely attend tomorrow's meeting," Fred said cheerfully, leaping to his feet and nudging George. "I didn't expect you Prefects to be so enterprising, I must confess. Well, see you tomorrow!"
"We will invite many trusted people!" George guaranteed and together with his twin disappeared to give a voice around.
"At this point, can I invite someone too?" Ginny asked curiously, indiscriminately thinking of Michael.
"Yes, but remember ..." Hermione whispered in a warning tone as she leaned forward, "only people who are trusted and who don't believe Harry and Dumbledore are madmen, please."
Ron nodded firmly and so did Ginny, and then gave them both a radiant smile. Instinctively her eyes met those of Demelza, who was still sitting by the desk and waiting for her, and in an instant the girl knew that Demelza had overheard their conversation: her very sad eyes clearly told Ginny that she would take it with all of herself but that because of her situation ... she couldn't.
"Michael! Michael, where are you?"
"MISS,BE QUIET!"
"Excuse me..."
Madam Prince swooped down on Ginny like a vulture as she desperately searched for her boyfriend: she was sure he was there because before class he had told her he was going to practice what he had learned that day in defense. Ginny really wanted to stop him and tell him that Harry would take care of it from now on but she had to find him quickly ... before the nine o'clock curfew went off.
"Michael!" the girl hissed.
"Look at the girls of today ... in my time no one would have dared to scream like that in ..."
Ginny turned a corner of the library, so that Madam Prince's voice became just an annoying hum, and she found Michael Corner sitting in the back of the room with his wand in his hand and an open book: he sounded exasperated and stressed.
"What are you doing here?" he gasped when the girl touched his back.
"I'm glad to see you too," Ginny retorted coldly, decidedly annoyed by that not very cheerful greeting.
The situation eased when Michael put down his wand and approached her to give her a long kiss on her lips, and they remained kissing in that passionate way before the girl interrupted everything to explain the situation to him. In a flash, she explained everything Ron and Hermione had explained to her but his frowning expression didn't turn to ecstatic like hers and the twins had.
"Well? What's wrong with you?" Ginny snapped in perplexed.
"Does that Potter have to teach us how to defend?"
"Yup"
"Mmh ... I don't like it" Michael decided with a snort.
"But ... but ..." the girl was visibly displaced, "but why don't you want to?"
"He ... well, everyone thinks him a visionary!"
"Only fools. Listen to me, do you believe the Daily Prophet or not?" Ginny went straight to the point, before saying more.
"I don't know who to believe anymore ..."
"You're an intelligent person, don't you think Harry would never have lied about something so important?" she insisted, trying to reason with the boy who seemed rather confused. "Well, look at it with a little logic: V-Voldemort murdered his parents, could he ever come up with something like that just because he wants to get attention? He hates to get attention because he didn't choose to be famous because someone killed his parents and ... "she gave him a sad and melancholy look, realizing that she was about to convince him," he thought he was counting on those few of us who believe him, and I was counting on you "
Michael was obviously sweetened by all of that, and after a few seconds he replied: "Okay, okay ... I'm still pretty confused but I think I'll listen to what he has to say, because he doesn't seem like a bad guy. "
And that was the second set of fantastic news that happened that day.
By notifying Michael, Ginny had guaranteed the presence of two other people very close to the boy, his two best friends. Obviously, the girl had also told her friends but unfortunately some of them were in the same situation as Demelza or were too busy with groups to join that kind of illegal association, but Colin Creevey immediately got involved by deciding to drag with him also his little brother.
At ten o'clock on a fine morning, Ginny said goodbye to her friends and walked to the front door where Michael was waiting for her.
"Hey!" the boy greeted her and approached her to give her a kiss.
"What are you doing?" Ginny asked through gritted teeth as she slowly walked away from him.
"Oh, right ... goodness, but when are you going to tell your brothers that you have a boyfriend?"
"Hi guys," she said, ignoring Michael as he kept muttering curses against that situation.
"Hello!" Terry answered with a big smile, waving at her.
"Hey, we really wanted a nice trip to Hogsmeade," Anthony commented brightly.
"Yes, that's exactly what I thought," she replied the girl, adjusting the red gloves that her mother had made for her. The four teens were about to continue towards the front door and enter the snow, when a voice forced them to stop.
"Guys! Guys, wait for me!"
The four whirled to their left, and Ginny slowly focused on a tall, blond, upturned boy she had never seen before at Hogwarts: he was friends with the three, but Michael had never named or introduced him to the girl.
"Zacharias!" Michael exclaimed.
The boy named Zacharias walked over to them panting, then said, "I heard Granger tell Hannah and Ernie about the Hog's Head meeting with Potter, so ... well, I thought I'd come over and hear what he's got to do to tell us "and gave a slightly stretched smile.
"Yeah, maybe he can really help us," Terry retorted and Anthony nodded vigorously.
"I really hope so, otherwise ..."
"Otherwise, what?" Ginny interjected with feigned curiosity, because the arrogant and superior tone of that blond boy particularly annoyed her. Not only had he not been invited and had overheard a conversation at the Hufflepuff table, but he also allowed himself to make implicit threats about what he would do to Harry if he didn't find the help he hoped for ... it was just pompous!
Zacharias turned to her side, and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" he asked him.
"I could ask you the same question," she retorted.
Terry and Anthony giggled loudly because their friend had been cornered by a girl, but Michael seemed quite calm and even detached that this Zacharias was being rude to his girlfriend.
"I'm Zacharis Smith, from Hufflepuff," he muttered, holding out his hand reluctantly and Ginny grabbed her.
"Ginny Weasley ... I'm from Gryffindor," she introduced herself, withdrawing her hand.
"Well, can we go now?" Michael said with a chuckle.
Hogsmeade's ride to Hog's Head was hell for the girl, as Michael let Zacharias Smith ask his girlfriend inappropriate and teasing questions the whole time until Terry had to shut him up and start talking to him about something else. . And of course, Ginny was very grateful and winked very eloquently.
What kind of boyfriend did I choose? she wondered when Smith asked her another question.
"... I don't know, okay? Why don't you pester Michael, since he's much smarter than me?" she blurted out the girl, after Zacharias Smith asked her a hundredth question about Hogsmeade and the whole village to prove her brainpower even though she wasn't a Ravenclaw. But rather ... to be a Hufflepuff he didn't have to be patient, good and all? The hat had done something wrong when he Sorted him, she was sure of that.
"Ginny ... be less harsh on him ..." Michael whispered in her ear, blushing.
"Come in and don't make me regret coming here with you!" the girl immediately ignited, pushing him inside her.
The three Ravenclaws entered the room, followed by a furious and already exasperated Ginny, who quickly hid her emotions to enjoy the cheerful and festive air that was breathed there (as well as a filthy air) and a haughty Zacharias Smith , who seemed to have lost all his ability to speak in front of all those people invited into the club. But that was only good for everyone, because every time he opened his mouth he would have to be shot.
The place was crammed with students Ginny knew: Neville went and sat down amicably next to her (Michael frowned), while Dean Thomas, Lavander Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil and Luna Lovegood took their seats next to him. Colin and Dennis smiled brightly when they saw her enter and the twins offered her some Butterbeer; there was also Lee Jordan, Cho Chang and one of her friends (the girl's stomach twisted), the three Gryffindor chasers, some Hufflepuff boys that Ginny only knew by sight and of course the three founders of that group of defence.
Then, a high-pitched voice silenced the chatter.
"Er ... hello!" Hermione said suddenly, quite nervous. "Well, you all know why we are here: I thought we had better take matters into our own hands and by this I mean that we must learn to defend ourselves seriously, not only in theory but also with real spells"
"But you also want to pass the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam at OWLs, right?" Michael asked stupidly, and Ginny conspicuously rolled her eyes and listened to Hermione's obvious answer. Had she definitely gone to his brain? Everyone wanted to pass an exam, that was clear.
"Sure!" Hermione replied hastily, obviously. "But even more I want to be well trained in defense because ... Lord Voldemort is back" she added firmly, and several people held their breath at the mere hearing of that name.
"Where is the evidence that You-Know-Who is back? Dumbledore believes him!" he accused Smith aggressively, pointing to Harry. Ginny got annoyed again but she probably wasn't the only one in that room who was annoyed: Ron was going on the attack.
"Who are you?" the boy asked, very roughly.
"Zacharias Smith," the Hufflepuff replied in the same haughty tone. "And I think we have a right to know how Potter says You-Know-Who is back!"
"Okay," Harry said impatiently, and he stood up under everyone's bewitched eyes. "What makes me say Voldemort is back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school about it last year and if you didn't believe him you won't believe me ... and I'm not going to waste the afternoon trying to convince anyone "
"Dumbledore only told us that Cedric was killed! He didn't tell us any details!"
"If you've come to find out what happens when Voldemort kills someone, I can't help you"
And that shut Zacharias Smith's mouth.
"Er ... is it true that you can produce a Patronus Charm?" interrupted a girl with a long braid who belonged to Hufflepuff.
"Yes," the boy replied.
"And you killed a Basilisk with a sword in Dumbledore's office?" Terry asked curiously.
"Er ... yes"
"And in his first year," Neville interjected, "he saved the Philological Stone ..."
"Philosopher," Hermione hissed.
"Yes, that ... from the hands of You-Know-Who!" "Not to mention the trials he had to pass during the Triwizard Tournament last year," Cho interjected with evident admiration, and Ginny whirled towards her in a fury, resulting in a pain in her neck.
"Look, I don't want to be modest ... there are certain things I've done on my own ... but what I mean ..." Harry tried tensely, who when that silly Cho talked had become a very intense pink.
"Are you trying to get out of it?" Zacharias Smith retorted disdainfully.
"I have an idea ... why don't you shut your mouth?" Ron snapped with growing anger.
"Okay, okay! But the point is: do we all want to take lessons from Harry?" Hermione cut her off quickly, trying to avoid a fight between Ron and the haughty Hufflepuff. "This is an important thing ... we are talking about how to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort!"
"Well said!" exclaimed another Hufflepuff, named Ernie McMillan. "Personally I think it's very important, even more important than OWLs! I just can't understand why the Ministry sent us a teacher who prevents us from using defensive spells at a critical time like this."
"In our opinion, the reason Umbridge doesn't want to train us in defense is because she believes Dumbledore can form some kind of army to overthrow the Ministry," Hermione promptly informed them, but Ginny had definitely fallen into the world of thoughts: she was delighted to watch. Harry, who stood with his head down and occasionally found himself looking at Cho's side, with some disappointment on the part of the redhead who didn't know where all that anger was coming from. Ginny even felt the urge to drown the girl in Butterbeer, and only have her resurface when she was sure of her drowning.
Cruel yes, but her insides boiled so much and for no reason.
"... yes, the Minister of Magic has an army of Heliopods!" Luna was saying, when the girl finally came to her senses.
"No he doesn't have it!" snapped stubborn Hermione.
"Yes, he does"
"What are the Heliopods?" Neville asked blankly.
"They are spirits of fire, great flaming creatures that ride burning all that ..."
"They don't exist, Neville"
"Yes they exist!"
"Sorry, but what evidence is there?"
"There are a lot of eyewitness accounts! You're so dull that you need things to be shoved under your nose ..."
Ginny snorted amused: it was time to intervene and close that theater.
"Hem hem," she interjected in such a faithful imitation of Professor Umbridge that several of them looked around for the source of the sound, before seeing her and bursting out laughing. Michael looked at her with a smirk, and the Creevey brothers were definitely rolling with laughter. "Didn't we have to decide how often to meet?" she added, because she just she couldn't stand being in there anymore with Harry who only had eyes for that Chang.
"Yeah… you're right, Ginny," Hermione agreed quickly, and they all started arguing about where and when to meet, causing a stir in the club. "Okay, we'll decide the frequency and look for a place and ... um ... I think ... we should all write our name here to know who is present today and I also think we should all agree not to divulge what we are doing ... "the girl pushed a sheet of parchment out the door," so if you sign above you will agree not to tell Umbridge or anyone else "
Fred took the parchment and began to write his name with conviction, then passed it to George who imitated him and passed it to Zacharias ... who naturally hesitated and muttered an excuse not to write his name. Ginny practically snatched it from his hand to write her name. Understanding the problem, Hermione reassured everyone that they were in no danger if they added their name to that short list that was created and eventually everyone added their name.
"Should we go?" Michael asked his girlfriend.
"I can't wait ..." she muttered between her teeth. She got up from her chair and greeted Neville, the Creevey brothers and Dean, who looked pretty down in the dumps, and then took one last look at Harry, who was still looking over that silly Chang's side, and hurriedly out of the club together to the three Ravenclaws and that idiot Zacharias Smith, who had annoyed everyone at the meeting with his equally idiotic remarks.
"So ... it was a good meeting!" Anthony said cheerfully, stopping by a shop window selling school supplies.
"Yes, right. What do you need in here?" Terry asked, stopping too.
"Just a sheet of parchment, I'll be quick"
"I'll come too, come on"
As soon as the two were gone into the shop, Smith muttered cruelly, "That Potter ... we are so willing to take lessons and what does he do? He is modest and keeps repeating that he was helped and that he followed his instincts, is that..."
"But it's true!" Ginny snapped furiously, raising her voice and looking at the boy with pure exasperation. Was it possible that this Zacharias Smith had nothing better to do? It was better if the day Hermione warned Hannah and Ernie at the Hufflepuff table he'd been sick. "Do you want to stop whining and muttering? The important thing is that we can now take defense lessons!"
"Nobody told you anything, I'm not talking about you or even with you!"
"Yes, but you're talking about Harry!"
"And why are you defending him like that? You're with Michael, not Harry Potter!"
"But this ... this has nothing to do with that"
"Why don't you both calm down?" finally snapped Michael, now exasperated by the constant bickering of the two.
Ginny snorted with impatience: Would she have continued to defend Harry Potter to the point of boredom? Yes, she had done it now and she had done it before, and besides ... she definitely would have done it again if someone said something bad about him. But the real question was her: why did she persist in defending him in all fronts? He wasn't a friend of hers, it was like ... she didn't know either, maybe an obsession. Like when she wanted to drown Chang in Butterbeer!
Anyway, the girl was more than sure that damned Zacharis Smith had definitely given Michael something to think about about her defending Harry Potter on every occasion. In fact, all the way, Michael Corner didn't say a single word ... unlike Ginny who started cursing in a low voice all the time, thinking of a near future in which she would throw a well-placed bat-boogey Hex at that Hufflepuff.
"I enjoyed the meeting so much, it went pretty well!" Hermione confidently told Ginny that night, when they were both alone in the now deserted and littered Gryffindor Common Room. "I admit it, I bewitched the list we signed ..." she glanced at her friend, who returned a look puzzled enough to look for explanations, "why can't we trust everyone present? What if someone wants to betray us and to blurt out our intentions to Umbridge in comparison to Eloise Midgen's acne will look like a cute sprinkle of freckles. "
"Really?"
Ginny chuckled and thought Hermione was most likely right: even she wouldn't trust some people she barely knew ... especially that Zacharias Smith, who hadn't really shown absolute Hufflepuff loyalty in the club. Soon, the girl's mind was elsewhere again ... it was back to her boyfriend and his prolonged silence, it almost made her sick. And his cold greeting had made her sick too, to tell the truth.
"Er ... something wrong?" Hermione asked softly, and the redhead nodded darkly.
"That idiot Zacharis Smith made me angry because he was starting to criticize and I defended Harry and ... I think Michael ... well, you understand? I can't even defend a friend and he immediately becomes mad , like when I spent time with him on the train! Sure, I was wrong but he could also understand ... but no. He sulks, and now it will take weeks before he talks to me like before!
Hermione didn't investigate any further, because she knew Ginny was just letting off steam while she told her those things. Obviously, the brightest witch of her age had already understood everything and she didn't need to ask questions, maybe she understood more than Ginny understood.
"Anyway ... I have to tell you something," Hermione muttered, red in the face.
"What is it about?"
"Er ... I ... I told Ron that you and Michael are together."
Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, but she said nothing.
"It escaped me!" Hermione added quickly, taking Crookshanks in her lap and stroking behind his ears. "Seriously, don't be mad ... I wasn't going to tell him! In the end I had to tell everything because Ron was breathing on me but ..."
"Don't worry," the girl assured her, giving her a smile.
Ginny was not at all betrayed by the fact that Hermione had told her brother that she had a boyfriend, in fact, it was much better this way: at least Ron would not have been shocked if he had seen his sister and Michael kissing in an empty classroom while he was on guard as prefect. I mean, I'm not saying that he wouldn't have been shocked but at least he would have endured the shock better.
"Don't worry, you did well. He should have known ... but how did he take it?"
"He kept asking questions!" Hermione snorted as she thought back to what had happened before her, and unable to hold back the laughter. "And then he said he thought you liked Harry ... I really think he preferred his best friend to Michael Corner."
"And what did you say him?"
"I told him you liked Harry but dropped it months ago," Hermione replied and Ginny nodded rather darkly. Yes, she liked the boy months ago but had given up ... had she really given up? Yes, they were just friends and that's it. "Oh, I forgot ... Harry said something too ..." the girl added, but there was something troubling about her tone.
"Did he say something?" Ginny repeated tensely, showing anxiety that the boy had talked about her.
"Yeah, um ... he asked me, 'So is that why she's talking now? She never spoke in front of me before' ... yeah, I know ..." Hermione hastened to say when she saw the offended and furious expression of the friend, "I know it was a stupid question but he is really stupid when it comes to girls!"
"Really nice of him," Ginny replied crossly, her eyes tingling.
"I tried ..."
"Now I was the one who didn't speak, wasn't I?" the girl interrupted, startling Hermione. "Have I ever shed in the presence of the great and famous Harry-my-friend-sister-is-ashamed-of-me-Potter? Now it's my fault that when I spoke he didn't even know I was in his same room because my voice was like an indefinite hum to him? It was obvious that then I was silent! "
She had done it again ... she had spat out of her every bitter thought that she had passed through her mind in those few seconds, showing interest in that boy. So she was just the annoying little living mummy to him?
"He didn't listen to me and he never listened to me!" she screamed before she knew it. Hermione was visibly mortified, and so mortified that she tried to get close to Ginny before she started screaming again. "It was obvious that I was silent, I even stopped wanting to talk when he was there!"
"I'm sorry, I know it would have bothered you ..."
"Who wouldn't have been bothered? He has always ignored me ... and now he is surprised that now I'm with Michael and, as your dear best friend said, I speak in the presence of the famous and very important Harry Potter?"
"Ginny, I know very well that it is difficult for you now, because I know equally well that he has never been indifferent to you," said Hermione softly, fearing that her friend might attack her again. "But know that, only in this moment, he really seems to notice you as you are, and that's why ..."
"... did he realize that I magically manifest the faculty of language with my voice?" Ginny interrupted, contemptuously. Obviously Hermione had nothing to do with it but at that moment Ginny just didn't know who to blame and who to talk with, if not with her. So angry that she almost forgot that her friend had just told her that Harry was beginning to notice her for who she was ... and now that she thought about it, it was the first time Harry had talked about her with his friends, which obviously it couldn't help but please her.
"I'm sorry ..." Hermione said again, genuinely sad.
Ginny smiled at her, uncertain and still angry at the boy.
"I'm going to bed. And you'd better go too, tomorrow we have a long day ahead ..."
Author's corner
Hey there!
Yes, this chapter is quite boring because it has to resume the situation in which our characters are immersed up to their necks, and unfortunately it is a chapter that had to be done. Obviously, in the next there will be more movement because it is going to create the Army of Dumbledore and the rebellion. Only at the end there is the shadow of a movement: Ginny is angry because Harry treats her really badly even if she does it without realizing it and she, who never stops thinking about him, feels bad. Well, we know Harry will change his mind!
See you next time!
T/N
Sorry for the late update guys i procrastinated a lot since i moved into a new house near my uni with roommates and last night i got a bit too tipsy to work lol. Anyways this chapter was kinda boring for me but we finally are starting on more action for ginny. It is not edited btw, helena will pass by later to edit it since she has exams rn.