Can We Say UGH?!
Disclaimer: Again, I obviously own none of this, because if I did, do you really think I would bother posting it HERE? No, I would get it published so I could actually make money……besides, this is a FANFICTION site, so the fact that I don't own this goes without saying. Duh!
A/N: To all my reviewers, the ones that actually like the story, thank you! big hug You all rock!
She was still a bit red when she stepped into the carriage. "You okay, Gin?" Colin asked.
"Hmm? Oh! Yes. Well. Ah, I'm fine," she answered, persistently shaken by the previous scene she had caused.
"No, your not. Spill," Monica said with a roll of her eyes.
"Fine! Okay then! Your cousin and my idiot brother embarrassed me in front of Harry...and Hermione! Yeah, I was completely humiliated in front of Harry and Hermione! And Malfoy, for that matter," Ginny burst out, burying her face in her hands.
"Ah," started Colin.
"Erm," began Monica at the same time. The two stopped, looked at each other, and Monica said, "You go first."
"Right then. Okay, Gin, I think you shouldn't worry about this sort of thing. I mean, Harry and Hermione know that it wasn't your fault, and they'll probably forget about it by the time we get to Hogwarts. As for Malfoy, the same thing goes, really, and even if it doesn't, it doesn't matter because we all know he's a git and we don't care about his opinion," Colin told Ginny.
"Exactly," nodded Monica. "That's what I was going to say, only more. I think you should get revenge on Ron and Draco."
"What?!" Ginny yelped, looking up. "Are you crazy? Revenge on Ron is fun and easy, I mean, I can just do something to my hair. But revenge on Draco?!"
"Why not?"
"What could I do that wouldn't get me killed?"
"Oh…good point…"
"Actually, it isn't," Colin spoke up. "I can think of something you could do."
"Really?" Ginny questioned skeptically.
"Of course, you may not want to, being as you're a little too innocent for this sort of thing…" Colin continued slyly.
"Okay Camera Boy, spill it, and no dumb insults. You know how much I hate being called innocent." Ginny retorted.
"Just as much as I hate being called Camera Boy," Colin replied silkily. "Now then, what I was thinking you could do, is…well, I know it sounds bad, but…you could try to get Malfoy to fall in love with you."
"WHAT?!" Ginny shrieked. "Are you CRAZY?"
"Colin! How could you even think that?! My cousin is a bloody bastard, remember? Why in hell would you want him to love Ginny?!" Monica yelled.
"Hey! Don't get all upset…it was just an idea!" Colin protested, holding up his hands defensively. "Besides, don't you think it would be the perfect revenge? I mean, think about it. A Slytherin who hates, no detests, the Weasleys falls in love with one of them. Then, she rejects him…"
"You know…actually, Gin, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea anymore," Monica admitted.
"What? But…I can't get him to even like me, let alone fall in love with me! And, if I did…well, I wouldn't be able to! I mean, I'm not…I'm not…pretty enough for him, and he thinks I'm too poor, and he has the worst opinion of me…it just wouldn't happen!" Ginny exclaimed, not seeing the sense in the whole plan.
"Okay, let's start at the beginning on that one. First of all, you're right, you're not pretty, you're gorgeous! Second, it's true that he thinks you're too poor, but if our plan works, that won't really matter. Next, he only has the worst opinion of you now. With some work, that'll all change. And finally, it WILL happen. Trust me on that," Monica said firmly, getting a very stubborn look on her face.
Ginny sighed. It was rather pointless arguing with Monica when she got like this. "I'm not agreeing to anything involving Draco right now," she said carefully. "However, I will consider it. Does that get your royal stamp of approval?"
"Most definitely," Monica grinned. Colin rolled his eyes. "Hey, it's better than nothing! Besides, I don't see you trying to convince her, or anything!"
"No…it's not that. I can't belive you can't – oh, wait, I know why," Colin said, provoking an air of mystery.
"Spill. Now," Ginny said.
"You know, it doesn't work as well when you say it, Gin, it just really doesn't. Besides, you wouldn't understand what I have to say, so I'll tell Monica later on. If it ever applies, I'll tell you, so don't worry," Colin shook his head, smiling. Ginny almost growled in frustration.
"You are SUCH a royal pain," she muttered.
"Hey, at least I'm royal," Colin laughed.
"When will you tell me?" Monica asked suddenly. "Because, I think I know what you're talking about, but it's a little crazy, so I'm not sure."
"Well, what I have to say is crazy, so maybe it is. I'll tell you whenever Ginny's not around," Colin replied.
"Gee, thanks," Ginny said sourly.
"Oh, come on, Gin, you know we love ya," Monica laughed. Then, pausing a moment, she whipped out her wand, pointed it at Ginny's head, and said, " Pelinegro!"
"NO!" Ginny squealed, but it was a moment too late. "MONICA!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
"Because…I thought…well, I'm right," she said, astonished.
"Black hair with pale skin is a very…striking effect, Gin," Colin said after a moment.
"I knew that's what it was…oh, god, Ron is going to kill me," Ginny groaned.
"Wasn't that what we were aiming for?" Monica said, coming back to her senses.
"Well, no, not entirely, we were talking revenge and – well, I suppose so…but Monica! I cannot believe you!" Ginny moaned. Shaking her head, she pulled out a mirror and groaned again. "Oh, great…I look like a Goth."
"That's okay, Gin. It'll make Draco notice you," Colin replied cheerfully.
"Oh yeah, that's just perfect," Ginny said sarcastically.
"Hey, you said you were going to try our idea!" Monica protested.
"I am, but I didn't exactly have…this in mind when I agreed."
"Well then, what did you have in mind?" Colin inquired.
"Um…"
"Exactly."
"Hey! Just because I don't have an answer ready immediately doesn't mean I don't have one deep…deep down. Girls are complex, you know," Ginny retorted.
"Yeah. Girls are just so complex that they confuse themselves, even," Colin laughed.
"Hey!" Monica objected.
"Oh, come on, you know I was just kidding," Colin grinned.
"Yeah, sure," Monica grumbled.
"Guys! Focus please! What am I going to do now?" Ginny cried.
Monica sighed. "Same thing you were going to do before. Try and get Draco to fall for you. Do whatever you want to do about it. Have fun! It's supposed to be a fun experience," she replied.
"How can I have fun with Ron chasing my tail?"
"Don't worry about it."
The three sat in thick silence, each deep in thought about the situation. It was meant to be fun, and all, but still…Ginny had no idea what to do. They arrived at the castle a few minutes later, and Ginny was still clueless. Well, I guess I'll just make it up as I go along, she thought.
They got out of the carriage and headed to the open doors of Hogwarts. Ginny kept her head down to avoid the stares and whispers. "Don't worry, hon," Monica told her. "You're beautiful."
"Yeah…sure," Ginny mumbled.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, put your hood up," Colin remarked.
"Will do."
Ginny glanced around and put up the hood of her robes. She wasn't sure whether or not she liked having black hair, but was positive that she didn't like the attention it was receiving. With it covered, she felt more comfortable, and strode more confidently to the Great Hall. The three friends took their usual seats at the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the Sorting Hat.
Unfortunately, Ron, Harry, and Hermione also chose to sit at that end. "Ginny," Ron hissed, "take your hood down!"
Without giving her a chance to, he leaned across the table and pushed it back. Ginny squeezed her eyes shut instinctively, not wanting to see Ron's face go purple, and Hermione's, and Harry's, go white with shock. She awaited the vicious yells that were sure to come, but didn't hear a thing. Opening her eyes, she realized that Professor McGonagall and the first years had entered. At least Ron had enough control to wait until a more proper time for his…lecture.
Ginny sighed and looked helplessly at Hermione. Surprisingly, the Head Girl was grinning, though shaking her head. "Go, girl," she whispered.
Ginny took a deep breath and smiled grimly. She couldn't focus on the sorting; the feeling that someone was watching her was overwhelming. She glanced around quickly, and caught…Harry. They blushed at the same time, and he looked away. She looked away too, not wanting him to look back and see her staring.
She then found herself eye-locked with a set of what seemed to be round gray ice cubes. It took her a moment to realize that, rather than ice cubes, she was looking at Draco Malfoy. Before she could turn away, a little voice in the back of her mind whispered, god, he's sexy.
Her head jolted forward at that. What? Malfoy? No way… she thought back to the voice. But there was doubt now, and she turned around again. He was still staring at her. And he still looked gorgeous.
Maybe this whole making-him-fall-in-love-with-me thing won't be so bad after all, she thought. She smacked herself internally. Draco is a prat, and I have ever reason to no like him, she told herself. Even if he is very good-looking. Taking a deep breath she looked away, promising herself internally that she wouldn't look anywhere save the high table for Dumbledore's speech and the food that would soon be in front of her.
She was in luck because at that moment, Dumbledore began his speech. "Welcome back to Hogwarts for another fine year. I'm sure you're all starved, but please spare just a few brain cells' worth of thought for an old man's important ramblings. As you all know, the traditional rules of the school hold: no one in the Forbidden Forest, third years and above with permission are the only ones permitted in Hogsmeade, no broomsticks for first years, and no magic in the corridors. There are a few new items added to Mr. Filch's list of banned trickeries…I believe most of them are the latest Weasley's Wheezes," he said, glancing at Ginny and Ron with a twinkle in his eye. "You may look at the full list on Mr. Filch's door if you decide that your judgment of what is proper may not be the same as his. In any case, the more exciting item: for the first
time in quite a while, we shall be having a Welcome Back Ball this Saturday evening at 7 pm." At this, excited whispers rose from the students. "Formal dress is required, and dates are, of course, welcomed but not required. Well, now that you have this happy event to converse about, enjoy the feast!"
With these words, the platters filled up with a wide assortment of delicious foods, and Ginny quickly made herself busy with the potato salad and roast chicken. She loaded up her plate and began eating slowly but deliberately, trying to focus solely on her food so as to avoid making the mistake of looking at someone she shouldn't be looking at or thinking certain thoughts about a certain someones who she was supposed to be slyly seducing or quickly getting over.
However, Ron had other ideas. As soon as his plate was full and he was well into a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy, he began to lecture her. "GINEVRA WEASLEY! Don't you dare just sit there as if nothing is going on! I can almost understand the freckles thing…in fact, I understand that one perfectly," he added hastily, as Hermione gave him a look. "But what on earth were you THINKING when you did…THAT???"
"Actually, I did it, and while I was doing it, I was thinking of how stunning she would look while managing to piss you off all at the same time," Monica interjected with a sweet smile at Ron. "I mean…how stunning she would look and how much it would…shock you."
Ron glared at her. "I should have known that—"
"Ron, don't start, it really isn't her fault—"
"How is it not her fault, Ginny? Did someone make her do it?"
"Well, no, but—"
"No buts!"
"Just let me finish! Ronald Weasley, sometimes I think you're worse than Percy! I mean, come now, I just changed the color of my hair! Its not like I grew horns, or sprouted wings, or got a tattoo, or pierced my nose even! It's just my hair color! And would you know, if it wasn't for you, I might not have even done it!" Ginny hissed at him around a mouth full of glazed carrots.
"My fault, wha—"
"WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE NOT TALK WITH YOUR MOUTHS FULL?!" Colin suddenly burst out. There was silence for a moment at that end of the table before the other Gryffindors simply shrugged it off and went back to their meals. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Monica however, stared at Colin for another few seconds.
"I never knew that bothered you," said Monica after a bit.
"Well, it does," said Colin, blushing a bit. "Sorry…I just couldn't take it."
"You know, I think you need to hang around us more, if you're going to be like that," Hermione said approvingly. "Ron needs help with his table manors." At this suggestion, Colin smiled brightly, Monica smirked, Ginny tried to laugh quietly, Ron managed to look furious, embarrassed, and frustrated all at the same time, and Harry's eyes opened widely as he tried silently to get Hermione to retract her statement.
Hermione looked around at their varying expressions and snorted. "Oh, honestly," she said, rolling her eyes. "Can't you all take a joke?"
Colin looked vaguely disappointed at this, Ron's blush deepened, and Harry wore a mask of inexpressible relief. Ginny just sighed and looked around. Big mistake.
Once again, her eyes met those of one of the Someones. She blinked and quickly refocused her gaze so as to see his whole face, not just the captivating gray of his eyes. He appeared to have been calmly watching her for some time, and as of now, was looking at her thoughtfully while eating his way through a slice of carefully buttered bread. Noticing her looking at him, he cocked one eyebrow as if to say, well, what did you expect?
She blushed and tried to look down, but found that her head had somehow frozen in place, and her eyes had forgotten how to move. The only thing on her face that could move was her jaw, which promptly dropped, making her look both dignified and quick-witted. Draco smirked and shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair, winking at her, which provoked a typical Weasley reaction. Ginny's face flushed to a shade that more than made up for the loss of her red hair.
"Hey…Gin?" said Monica, poking her.
"What? Oh," Ginny muttered, finally able to tear herself away from the Someone. Monica seemed to see what was on her mind.
"You know, I think there are better ways of getting his attention as opposed to staring at him with an open mouth," she said sagely.
"I know, it's just…oh, this is stupid, I can't do it!" Ginny said, getting frustrated. "I am so not the seductive type, and he's so…"
"Dreamy?" Colin finished with a wicked grin.
"Should I smack you now or later?" Ginny asked.
"Later, thanks," Colin replied as their plates cleared and desert appeared. " I want to enjoy my trifle in peace," he added, helping himself to a portion surprisingly large for someone of his rather small build.
Monica looked at her. Ginny sighed. "Oh, don't you give me that," she said with a grin.
"Come on, you don't even seem mad at him anymore. What happened to all the fire over being embarrassed?" Monica asked.
Shrugging, Ginny replied, "I don't know…I guess now that it's done, it wasn't that big of a deal." With a quick glance at Harry just to make sure he wasn't by any chance looking her way, she added, "And besides, he's not what I'm interested in. It's just not worth the effort."
"What's not worth the effort, Gin?" Ron interjected, his mouth clearly full of mint ice cream. Ginny could feel Colin shudder beside her and was careful to swallow before answering.
"None of your business, Ron. Honestly, wasn't the hair color change bad enough for you? I want some space," she said, looking at him sternly. This wasn't the first time she had mentioned his overprotectiveness to him, but he seemed to need reminding, and she didn't feel like shouting quite yet. "I'm, what…oh yes, SIXTEEN years old now…and I know quite well how to take care of myself, thanks. Really, Ron, if I need your help, I'll come and ask for it!"
Ron looked as though he was just bursting to say something rather unpleasant in reply, but managed to restrain himself with a glare from Hermione. "Right, then," he finally said with a resigned sigh. "Just...you won't go getting a tattoo, will you?" he added anxiously.
Ginny laughed. "No, don't worry, Ron. No tattoos. Maybe the wings though...just kidding," she added hastily at his look of horror. He shook his head in mild frustration and went back to his desert. Monica took the opportunity to poke Ginny again.
"So...what about it?" she asked.
"What about what?" Ginny answered, pretending not to know what she was talking about.
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about. Are you still going to try and make Draco fall in love with you?"
Ginny glanced over at him quickly, thankful that he was too busy with an enormous sugar cookie to notice. "I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, it would be hopeless, because I couldn't do it, and I'd feel really stupid trying, and it would make his opinion of me even worse..."
"First of all, since when do we care about his opinion? Second of all, I think you'd be better at it than you'd expect," Colin interrupted.
Ginny just looked at him. "Okay, the first point is valid, but where on earth did the second one come from? And also, why are you so keen on me doing this?" Colin shrugged noncommittally. Ginny turned to Monica. "Well, he's your cousin. What do you think?"
"I think he's an interesting person once you get to know him, sort of. Okay, not really, to be perfectly honest, almost my entire life, he's been a spoiled prat, and I've hated him for oh so long," Monica said. Then, she took a deep breath. "But I think there's more to him than that. At least I'm hoping there is. I've tried to get it to come out, but he doesn't seem interested in listening very much to me. I think it's because I'm family. Thus, he automatically distrusts me." She smiled bitterly. "In this family, blood relation isn't necessarily a good thing." She was quiet for a moment before adding, "I think you would be good for him. I think you could bring out the good in him, and he would help you establish yourself. He's been through a lot, which is party why he's such a terrible moron right now." She smiled. "Is that enough for you?"
Ginny thought about this for a minute, chewing slowly on her last bite of raspberry cream cake. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I guess I can give it a try." She smiled feebly; it seemed like it would mean a lot to Monica if Ginny redeemed her cousin. Monica grinned at her widely.
"And here we go," Colin muttered. Ginny turned around and smacked him as the plates cleared. They got up and headed towards the tower, following the crowd of first years.
"Hey, you know, as much fun as this black hair is...the color really needs to change. I don't know what to, but really...it's gotta go," Ginny said to her two friends.
"Well, Weasley, I think black is interesting enough, but if you insist," drawled a cold voice behind her. "Verdocentium!"
Well well...that was interesting enough, yes? More of a plot going now...I actually know what I'm going to be writing! So, I bet you can guess who the cold drawling voice belongs to...but can you guess what happened to her hair? Wait in find out....in the meantime, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!
thanks so much....
SpArcLeS-MaLfOy