A/N: Lala. Hello. This chapter isn't very interesting. It's just a joining chapter, leading from one plot point to the next. Blah. Have fun…
TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN REVIEWS! OMFG!
Disclaimer: I own it all. Every plot, every character, every spell, every place. Not.
The Letter P
Chapter Twenty-Six: P is for Playing Matchmaker
The swift transition from 'aloof, cold, but still harmless Head Boy' to what could only be described as Lord Voldemort was petrifying. And it had happened… for her.
"Peregrine, are you-" His words were laced with something that could be defined as concern – only, of course, if the definer was drunk. Because Riddle simply wasn't concerned about anyone. Period.
"Come on. Let's get you checked up at the Hospital Wing," said Alden, taking no half-hearted protests of 'dunwanna' for an answer, and dragging a reluctant Ginny away from the small crowd that had gathered, the unconscious Malfoy, and the tall, pale, dark-haired boy, who Ginny was terrified might actually have a heart after all.
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Ginny was perfectly healthy and ready to leave, half an hour and a few potions later. She had some bruising on the side of her head, and her lip was bleeding, but the potions would, allegedly, clear that up within a day. However, before it cleared up, it would swell, and the Prefect did not look forwards to spending the afternoon sporting a fat lip.
"If I ever see Malfoy again, I'll rip his face off," Ginny growled as she, Alden and Grace departed the Hospital Wing.
"No!" gasped Grace, and the redhead thought that the other Slytherin girl was going to admonish her for such violent thoughts, but instead advised, "Rip his balls off instead. Not only will it be much more painful, but it will prevent the attempting-to-rape situation from ever happening again – all of that sexual tension will be gone."
Both Alden and Ginny gave their friend an odd, are-you-nuts look, before deciding that they didn't want to know, and swerving the conversation to less bizarre topics.
"So what class do we have next?" Alden hastily asked, avoiding Grace's blue eyes.
"Snogarella!" chirped Grace.
Without hesitation, Ginny translated, "Charms."
Alden frowned. "How…?"
"Oh, it's easy once you get used to her way of speaking and how her mind works," Ginny said with a shrug. "She fancies Trey Capulet, that blonde Hufflepuff, and he's in our Charm class. When asked what class she has, and she comes up with a strange word that has snog in it, it means Charms."
Raising his eyebrows, Alden shook his head. "I don't want to know anything about Grace and snogging," he said. "That just brings on a series of mental images that I never want to see again."
"Why?" smirked Ginny. "Jealous?"
And, to her great amusement, both Alden and Grace rapidly attained a funny colour of purple and looked away.
Hm. Interesting… Very interesting…
Smirking to herself, Ginny said, "So, how about that ball?"
"What ball?" asked Grace, frowning.
"Oh!" Ginny gave an accurate impression of wide-eyed confusion. "But… don't you know? The Christmas Ball! Dancing, music… mistletoe…" she chimed, hazel eyes sparkling wickedly.
Grace shrugged. "I'll probably go," she said nonchalantly. "But I'll need to buy a new dress. My other one is getting too short; I've grown so much in a month."
"Well, you still have the rest of November, and most of December to buy something," said Alden absently, not really paying attention.
"Merlin!" Ginny put her hands on her hips. "I'm not talking about what to wear. I'm talking about who to go with!"
Grace's cheeks coloured pink, but she said defiantly, "We don't have to go with anyone."
"I s'pose not," said Ginny, inspecting her fingernails. "But it would be so romantic, wouldn't it?"
"Hm," said Alden vaguely, acting as though he couldn't care less, though his ears were glowing.
Damnit! Will they just ask each other out?
"Who might you ask, Grace?" inquired Ginny. "I mean, as a third-party person with no personal interest in the matter," she added, glancing up warily.
"Dunno." Grace's face was now red.
"Well. Do you like anyone?"
"Er. You know about Trey," Grace said, waving her hand feebly.
Gr… fine. Time to play my final card. And if this doesn't work, then your relationship is screwed
"What about you, Alden?" Ginny asked, turning to face him. She discreetly shook her fringe into her eyes and peered at him through it, cinnamon eyelashes fluttering. "Are you going with anyone?"
He mumbled something incoherent, his ears now like beacons at sea.
"Has anyone asked you?"
"…no."
"Then, technically, you're still fair game," Ginny prompted, triumph lacing her words.
"S'pose."
Ginny knew that she was embarrassing him – when the well-pronounced geek starts to mumble and abbreviate, you know you've got him.
"Okay," Ginny said, and paused, as though she was thinking something over, before blurting out quickly, "Alden, d'you wanna go to the ball with me?" and ducking her head, as though humiliated.
Come on, come on, blush Ginny willed her facial features to turn red, holding her breath and straining the blood vessels in her cheeks.
She looked up through her eyelashes. Alden's brown eyes were boggling at her, and he was fighting to control his surprise.
Grace wasn't quite as good as it. All colour had drained from her face, turning her a ghostly white, and her jaw had dropped, splaying shock openly across her features. She stammered, "b-b-b", no real words coming from her lips.
"Well, Grace is going to go with Trey Capulet, so you might as well, right?" she gave Alden a flirty wink.
"I… I…" Alden swallowed, hard. "I… suppose." He was trying to slip back into the calm, composed manner that he usually held. "Yes… yes, Ginny. Alright. I… yes."
"Hey!" Ginny gasped, turning to the brunette. "Now, you ask out Trey, and we can go on a double-date! It'll be so romanceville!"
"Yeah…" said Grace, her voice strained.
"Great," Ginny beamed. "Anyway, maybe Malfoy and his friends will leave me alone now that I have another boyfriend," she joked; she pulled out her Charms books and struck up a conversation about their homework, and whether her companions thought that they had done well.
As they neared the door, Ginny looked over at the notice-board near the door. On it was the broad black letters:
HUFFLEPUFF-SLYTHERIN QUIDDITCH MATCH. FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON – YOU CAN'T MISS IT! SATURDAY, NINE O'CLOCK.
"Ooh," said Ginny as she, a sulky Grace, and a still-stunned Alden lined up outside of Charms. "That sounds like fun. I should go for a fly tonight – it's only in two days, and I haven't had much practice."
"Okay…" said Alden, staring ahead in a state of shock at, apparently, the fact that he now had a girlfriend.
Grace didn't respond. Since accepting that Alden was now dating Ginny, she was fuming. She fired a filthy glare at Ginny, before folding her arms and dropping against the wall with a loud hmph.
Mmgh… Ginny worried her lower lip with her teeth. She hoped that she hadn't compromised her friendship with Grace by trying to play the matchmaker – though, admittedly, via the jealousy game.
"Alright, students, hush now!" called Professor Vander, waddling around as fast as he could on his fat little feet. "Quiet, quiet, yes, quiet. In you go, go on now, yes, quiet, go on."
With one last glance at her emotional friends, Ginny entered the classroom and found her seat, her mind racing with a thousand things. Svengali. Myrtle's murder. Matchmaking. Quidditch.
A million questions unanswered.
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A/N: Sorry that it's so short. Thanks to my beta SilvanXan. REVIEW! You know you want to….
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XxRandomHeartxX: Damn this fic! It's giving me weird dreams! I had one today where I was crossing the road with Tom Riddle, and then I got hit by a bus. And then I taught an elephant to dance! WTF?! AARGH. I saw Piro once at a French circus. Had nightmares. –shiver- Thanks! Yeah, don't we all just want a Ginny in our lives?
creative-writing-girl13: WOO! VICTORY DANCE! –dancedancedance-
o00Bubbles00o: Thank you! Whoa! Really? What film? Then I could go to the cinema and be like: "I KNOW THAT PERSON! WELL. DISTANTLY, ANYWAY!" Hahaha. That'd be so cool.
AppleC0re: Haha, I loved that too. Thanks!
ricekrispies: Well, we are know that Malfoy's kind of freaky. So I just used him. Lol. Thank yewww. And I can't tell you the answer. He could be. He might not be.
Leah: Yeaup. Something is fluttering inside Riddle's little brain. Something that screams: DAAAMN SHE'S HOT. Lol. Hehehe. Thank you for the review! Hey! That rhymed!
storm-brain: Thanks! Yeah, Myrtle's damn cool. And what d'you mean "that kind of person"? What kind of person?
Pixar: Woo! A new reviewer. Hi. Yeah, I fell off my chair laughing when I wrote that part. I suppose it helped that I was on a sugar high. Hm. Same – screw killing him, I'd just piss him off! Lol! Thanks!
chimis: I certainly wouldn't kill him. I'd just go up to him and say: "DAMN you're hot." LOL. Well, him starting to like her is a little obvious, but she doesn't like him. :( poor Tom.
KayRose: Thank you! I haven't actually gone to France yet, lmao. My next post will be on Monday when I get back so… I'll tell you about it then.
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