Hey guys- Well, this is it. Chapter eight, told by Harry. Huge hugs and thank yous to the kind souls who reviewed me again, after I'd lost all my other reviews. Yep, that's right. They've been ripped mercilessly from me, banished some black abyss deep in the heart of the internet, and I will never ever see them again. :( So please review, if only to make me feel better. Much love to all of you! -Scabbers
Glass Slippers
By Scabbers
Chapter 8- Harry
So there we stood, like any ordinary group of people, except Lavender and Seamus had each somehow acquired an identical twin, and a lot of the guys were wearing tights. We stared dumbly at each other for a while, until Hermione, followed closely by Ron, burst into the center of our little circle, clutching a book of advanced and dangerous spells to her chest.
"Mystery solved," she declared, cheeks flushed. She opened the book to a page she had bookmarked, and held it up while she paraphrased the text. "So you," she said, pointing to the snarling costumed Lavender," Are the evil twin. And you," her eyes focused on Seamus's disgruntled double, "Well, I don't know who you are yet, but we'll all find out when the Polyjuice Potion wears off."
Amazing. I don't know how she does it.
"Hermione, Ron, I'm impressed," said Dumbledore, and they both blushed at the praise, "And I imagine this book should be able to give us some guidance on how we might proceed."
Hermione nodded, face already buried between the book's yellow pages. "Well, it says here that the force of good must overcome the force of evil. I'm pretty sure that means you, Lavender." She licked her lips. "Yes, I'm positive. They have a counterspell here for you to say, too....Oh!"
Suddenly, she was grinning like crazy. "Let me see," said Lavender, so Hermione showed her. "Are you kidding?" Lavender giggled, and we all regarded her expectantly, wondering what, exactly, was so funny.
But we were quickly distracted, because just then, Seamus #2's Polyjuice Potion began to wear off. Suddenly, I felt myself staring at the familiar trembling figure of Peter Pettigrew.
Ron was the first to recover from the shock of it. "Wormtail!" he hissed, "I should have guessed." Lavender looked equally horrified, and she kept wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
"Well," I said, struggling to keep my voice calm, "I can guess you were trying to do something to me." Wormtail stared back at me, eyes wide. He said nothing.
"So, I was just wondering, any reason you chose to do whatever it was you were planning during this play? Because you do know, I wasn't in it, don't you?" It was nice being able to talk this way to the man that betrayed my parents, I decided, while he was stuck in the firm grip of two Ravenclaws who looked like they might have a bit of giant blood in them.
I was all set to say something I would probably regret later, when Ginny Weasley of all people, in that blue Cinderella dress, started talking. "You were there that night, weren't you?" She was speaking right to Wormtail. "When we were practicing my lines. I thought I heard a rat. Did you hear one, Harry?"
I blushed, because at the time, I'd been thinking of other things. Ginny turned back to Wormtail and continued. "You saw him practicing with me, and you assumed he was the prince or something. You're a pretty lousy spy, Scabbers, you know that? And you ruined our play." Then, she spat in his face, turned around, and stalked off to the dressing room. And before I knew what I was doing, I followed her, hesitating only a moment at the sign that said "Girls".
"Um, Harry, you're a boy," was the first thing she said.
"Yes...I, er, realize that," I replied, my voice sounding higher than I would have liked. "But I wanted to talk to you." She didn't say anything; she just looked at me with those big eyes, so much like Ron's, but somehow different.
"Well, I wanted to tell you I thought, I mean I didn't get to see much of it or anything, but I thought you did a really great job. Really. Great,"
"Thank you." She smiled at me. I don't think I'd ever seen her smile like that just at me before. It was...nice.
"I mean it. And Ginny, I'm really sorry that your play got messed up because of Wormtail...and because of me. I feel terrible."
"Don't. It wasn't your fault, Harry. And I'm glad I practiced with you, even if it did get Wormtail all mixed up. It was more fun with you than with Justin. I MEAN...I mean, all those funny voices you did and stuff."
I smiled and lowered my voice. "Like this, my lady?" She laughed, and it made me feel all funny, like it was Cho Chang standing there dressed like Cinderella, instead of Ginny Weasley. Why was it that I'd always thought of Ginny as so much younger. What was she, three months younger than me, four? I found myself noticing the way her red hair caught the light, and the freckles that seemed to have been sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. I looked at her, and I saw her looking at me, too.
Then the door opened, and the light reflected off another head of red hair. "Hey, am I interrupting anything?" interrupted Ron.
"No!" we said in unison, blushing. Ron smiled. Well, anyway, Lavender's about to overcome evil out there, if you want to watch." He gave us a little wave, then frolicked away.
"Well," I said, in my Prince Charming voice, "Shall we?"
"Certainly," she replied, sounding very much like Cinderella. She attempted a graceful curtsy, but her glass slipper caught on her dress, and she tumbled to the ground, landing magnificently on her butt.
I looked at her sitting there, her face Gryffindor red, and I thought, " Well, what do you know. She's the same Ginny Weasley she always was." I reached down to help her up, but I didn't let go of her hand, just in case.
I mean, it can't be easy, walking in glass slippers.
The whole crowd we'd left behind (sans Peter Pettigrew, of course, who was on his way to Azkaban) was still clustered by the prop table to watch Lavender in her shining moment.
"You know," she said, living up the glory for all it was worth, "My evil self is kind of cute. Do I really have to do this?"
"Yes," said Hermione, evidently not in the mood for jokes, "Do you remember the counterspell?"
Lavender giggled. "Of course." She closed her eyes, raised her wand, and said with a smile:
"Bibbidy bobbidy boo."
So with that, good triumphed over evil, the ugly stepsister turned beautiful, Cinderella found her real prince, and they all lived happily ever after.
The End
~
That's all, folks. I hope you liked it. Really, I do. It was fun to write, anyway. And, if you noticed, I included Scabbers in there, even if he did get sent to Azkaban in the end.
Oh, and if you were wondering, yes I was once in a school production of Cinderella. I was a Ball Guest. :)
Glass Slippers
By Scabbers
Chapter 8- Harry
So there we stood, like any ordinary group of people, except Lavender and Seamus had each somehow acquired an identical twin, and a lot of the guys were wearing tights. We stared dumbly at each other for a while, until Hermione, followed closely by Ron, burst into the center of our little circle, clutching a book of advanced and dangerous spells to her chest.
"Mystery solved," she declared, cheeks flushed. She opened the book to a page she had bookmarked, and held it up while she paraphrased the text. "So you," she said, pointing to the snarling costumed Lavender," Are the evil twin. And you," her eyes focused on Seamus's disgruntled double, "Well, I don't know who you are yet, but we'll all find out when the Polyjuice Potion wears off."
Amazing. I don't know how she does it.
"Hermione, Ron, I'm impressed," said Dumbledore, and they both blushed at the praise, "And I imagine this book should be able to give us some guidance on how we might proceed."
Hermione nodded, face already buried between the book's yellow pages. "Well, it says here that the force of good must overcome the force of evil. I'm pretty sure that means you, Lavender." She licked her lips. "Yes, I'm positive. They have a counterspell here for you to say, too....Oh!"
Suddenly, she was grinning like crazy. "Let me see," said Lavender, so Hermione showed her. "Are you kidding?" Lavender giggled, and we all regarded her expectantly, wondering what, exactly, was so funny.
But we were quickly distracted, because just then, Seamus #2's Polyjuice Potion began to wear off. Suddenly, I felt myself staring at the familiar trembling figure of Peter Pettigrew.
Ron was the first to recover from the shock of it. "Wormtail!" he hissed, "I should have guessed." Lavender looked equally horrified, and she kept wiping her lips with the back of her hand.
"Well," I said, struggling to keep my voice calm, "I can guess you were trying to do something to me." Wormtail stared back at me, eyes wide. He said nothing.
"So, I was just wondering, any reason you chose to do whatever it was you were planning during this play? Because you do know, I wasn't in it, don't you?" It was nice being able to talk this way to the man that betrayed my parents, I decided, while he was stuck in the firm grip of two Ravenclaws who looked like they might have a bit of giant blood in them.
I was all set to say something I would probably regret later, when Ginny Weasley of all people, in that blue Cinderella dress, started talking. "You were there that night, weren't you?" She was speaking right to Wormtail. "When we were practicing my lines. I thought I heard a rat. Did you hear one, Harry?"
I blushed, because at the time, I'd been thinking of other things. Ginny turned back to Wormtail and continued. "You saw him practicing with me, and you assumed he was the prince or something. You're a pretty lousy spy, Scabbers, you know that? And you ruined our play." Then, she spat in his face, turned around, and stalked off to the dressing room. And before I knew what I was doing, I followed her, hesitating only a moment at the sign that said "Girls".
"Um, Harry, you're a boy," was the first thing she said.
"Yes...I, er, realize that," I replied, my voice sounding higher than I would have liked. "But I wanted to talk to you." She didn't say anything; she just looked at me with those big eyes, so much like Ron's, but somehow different.
"Well, I wanted to tell you I thought, I mean I didn't get to see much of it or anything, but I thought you did a really great job. Really. Great,"
"Thank you." She smiled at me. I don't think I'd ever seen her smile like that just at me before. It was...nice.
"I mean it. And Ginny, I'm really sorry that your play got messed up because of Wormtail...and because of me. I feel terrible."
"Don't. It wasn't your fault, Harry. And I'm glad I practiced with you, even if it did get Wormtail all mixed up. It was more fun with you than with Justin. I MEAN...I mean, all those funny voices you did and stuff."
I smiled and lowered my voice. "Like this, my lady?" She laughed, and it made me feel all funny, like it was Cho Chang standing there dressed like Cinderella, instead of Ginny Weasley. Why was it that I'd always thought of Ginny as so much younger. What was she, three months younger than me, four? I found myself noticing the way her red hair caught the light, and the freckles that seemed to have been sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. I looked at her, and I saw her looking at me, too.
Then the door opened, and the light reflected off another head of red hair. "Hey, am I interrupting anything?" interrupted Ron.
"No!" we said in unison, blushing. Ron smiled. Well, anyway, Lavender's about to overcome evil out there, if you want to watch." He gave us a little wave, then frolicked away.
"Well," I said, in my Prince Charming voice, "Shall we?"
"Certainly," she replied, sounding very much like Cinderella. She attempted a graceful curtsy, but her glass slipper caught on her dress, and she tumbled to the ground, landing magnificently on her butt.
I looked at her sitting there, her face Gryffindor red, and I thought, " Well, what do you know. She's the same Ginny Weasley she always was." I reached down to help her up, but I didn't let go of her hand, just in case.
I mean, it can't be easy, walking in glass slippers.
The whole crowd we'd left behind (sans Peter Pettigrew, of course, who was on his way to Azkaban) was still clustered by the prop table to watch Lavender in her shining moment.
"You know," she said, living up the glory for all it was worth, "My evil self is kind of cute. Do I really have to do this?"
"Yes," said Hermione, evidently not in the mood for jokes, "Do you remember the counterspell?"
Lavender giggled. "Of course." She closed her eyes, raised her wand, and said with a smile:
"Bibbidy bobbidy boo."
So with that, good triumphed over evil, the ugly stepsister turned beautiful, Cinderella found her real prince, and they all lived happily ever after.
The End
~
That's all, folks. I hope you liked it. Really, I do. It was fun to write, anyway. And, if you noticed, I included Scabbers in there, even if he did get sent to Azkaban in the end.
Oh, and if you were wondering, yes I was once in a school production of Cinderella. I was a Ball Guest. :)