Chapter Six: Brand New Day.
Ginny Weasley and her friend Penny Riven raced along the corridors of Hogwarts, late again for History, but then they were never missed.
Ginny felt great. The autumn weather had brought an unexpected warm spell and the golden myriad of afternoon colours outside somehow cheered her up. This morning Hermione and Neville had clubbed together and bought Ginny some sweets from Honeydukes and a couple of trick sweets from Zonko's too. Ginny thought Neville was being really sweet, but she suspected Hermione was trying to match-make them so that Ginny would forget you-know-who.
Penny and Ginny crept into the back of the class. Penny was wearing a new robe today that her doting mother had sent her. Ginny was always a tad jealous of Penny's wardrobe, but Penny always helped Ginny and, as they were about the same size, Penny had offered to tailor her old robes to fit Ginny.
The lesson dragged on, and the pair chatted about clothes and how big brothers were awful - Penny had an older brother called Cedric, but he had graduated last year, so now at least Penny had the run of Hogwarts without having her every move presided over.
Ginny suspected that Penny was taking pity on her, but what the hell. Ginny had been a bit harsh on herself lately, and was feeling fine now that romance was not in the air.
"Boys do get in the way don't they?" she told Penny as they eventually left the class.
"Oh my, yes." sighed Penny. This was the first reference of any kind to Harry Potter that Ginny had made since she burnt her box of memories last Friday and Penny was unsure if this was a good or bad thing. Would she start missing Harry again and wind up leaving her and her friends to go off on a silly crush again? Penny hoped not, but realised that it was up to Ginny, no matter what she did.
"Yeah. Let's promise never to fall in love again eh?" winked Ginny.
"Yeah." smiled Penny nervously. "Oh come on silly - let's go find Annabelle and Kat. I want to know how Kat got on with Draco last night!"
Katrin Sturmdash and Annabelle Lupin were two Hufflepuff friends they had befriended last year through their Astrology classes. Last month, Draco Malfoy had 'accidentally' broken Katrin's wand - which had devastated her as it was a present from her grandmother. So for the past few weeks, Penny, Kat and Annabelle had been plotting their revenge.
"Did you get him Kat?" asked Penny.
Kat, a short and pretty dark-haired girl looked glum. "Oh, hi Ginny. Erm, no. Draco was not going out to Hogsmeade, but he's currently returning fro Hagrid's class, so we're going to go get him now - coming?"
Penny could not be stopped and helped Annabelle with the sack. Ginny looked confused, but Annabelle explained en route. Annabelle was a large and strong girl with long blonde hair. She had been nicknamed 'Hagrid's Little Sister' by the Ghast twins, but one swift slap stop anymore name-calling. Annabelle was strong, but gentle and only got upset if people took issue with her size.
Inside Annabelle's sack was a lot of little eggs, all dark and warty.
Ginny did not recognise them, but the girls continued on outside and began spreading them all over the leaf covered path, down which Ginny could see Malfoy and his two cronies Goyle and Crabbe. Kat threw and armful of leaves over the eggs to hide them and the four retreated behind a nearby hedge.
"Of course, I never liked Hagrid. Ghastly man." sneered Malfoy.
Ginny looked behind the gruesome trio and her heart leapt as she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron amble along behind. Annabelle saw them too, but pinned Ginny back. "Oh no you don't Ginny." she growled. "You stay here or you'll ruin the ambush!"
The four girls could hardly contain themselves as Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe walked into the carpet of stink-eggs. The eggs once cracked, blossomed forth a noxious green spray which immediately detonated all of the surrounding eggs, until every single egg had exploded. As the green fog cleared, the girls began laughing as the three victims staggered out as crying and gasping wrecks. The girls bounded out and began taunting and jeering them as Harry, Hermione and Ron appeared.
"Damn!" cried Malfoy. "I'll get you for this girls!" he snarled.
The girls giggled, and Malfoy retreated hastily before Harry and the others arrived to gloat. Ron was really impressed by Ginny. "Wow! Did you organise this Ginny?"
"Oh, not... no." she managed, noticing Harry nearby. Penny bounded over.
"Oh Ron, us girls work as a team! It was Kat's idea, Annabelle's eggs and we were here to laugh at Draccy. I mean Draco." Everyone laughed, and this made Ginny relax. Ron had not been too happy lately either for some reason and everything seemed to be coming together nicely.
"I never knew you were so devious" said Harry to Ginny as the seven of them walked back. Ginny blushed, but smiled at him all the same.
"A girl's got to have a bit of mystery to her, don't you know..." she smiled. Harry laughed and the group chatted all the way back.
Kat and Annabelle were happy too. "Oh, I can't wait until I see Malfoy again!" beamed Kat.
"Why's that then?" asked Penny
"Oh Penny! This is only stage one! I intend to punish that brat every week until he apologises for what he did. And even then, I'll probably want to keep on doing it a bit more!" The girls laughed.
Annabelle sidled up to Ginny. She hugged Ginny. "Nice to see you hanging around with us again. We thought we'd all lost you to that Potter you know." And with that she winked at Ginny and left, laughing with Kat.
Ginny Weasley and her friend Penny Riven raced along the corridors of Hogwarts, late again for History, but then they were never missed.
Ginny felt great. The autumn weather had brought an unexpected warm spell and the golden myriad of afternoon colours outside somehow cheered her up. This morning Hermione and Neville had clubbed together and bought Ginny some sweets from Honeydukes and a couple of trick sweets from Zonko's too. Ginny thought Neville was being really sweet, but she suspected Hermione was trying to match-make them so that Ginny would forget you-know-who.
Penny and Ginny crept into the back of the class. Penny was wearing a new robe today that her doting mother had sent her. Ginny was always a tad jealous of Penny's wardrobe, but Penny always helped Ginny and, as they were about the same size, Penny had offered to tailor her old robes to fit Ginny.
The lesson dragged on, and the pair chatted about clothes and how big brothers were awful - Penny had an older brother called Cedric, but he had graduated last year, so now at least Penny had the run of Hogwarts without having her every move presided over.
Ginny suspected that Penny was taking pity on her, but what the hell. Ginny had been a bit harsh on herself lately, and was feeling fine now that romance was not in the air.
"Boys do get in the way don't they?" she told Penny as they eventually left the class.
"Oh my, yes." sighed Penny. This was the first reference of any kind to Harry Potter that Ginny had made since she burnt her box of memories last Friday and Penny was unsure if this was a good or bad thing. Would she start missing Harry again and wind up leaving her and her friends to go off on a silly crush again? Penny hoped not, but realised that it was up to Ginny, no matter what she did.
"Yeah. Let's promise never to fall in love again eh?" winked Ginny.
"Yeah." smiled Penny nervously. "Oh come on silly - let's go find Annabelle and Kat. I want to know how Kat got on with Draco last night!"
Katrin Sturmdash and Annabelle Lupin were two Hufflepuff friends they had befriended last year through their Astrology classes. Last month, Draco Malfoy had 'accidentally' broken Katrin's wand - which had devastated her as it was a present from her grandmother. So for the past few weeks, Penny, Kat and Annabelle had been plotting their revenge.
"Did you get him Kat?" asked Penny.
Kat, a short and pretty dark-haired girl looked glum. "Oh, hi Ginny. Erm, no. Draco was not going out to Hogsmeade, but he's currently returning fro Hagrid's class, so we're going to go get him now - coming?"
Penny could not be stopped and helped Annabelle with the sack. Ginny looked confused, but Annabelle explained en route. Annabelle was a large and strong girl with long blonde hair. She had been nicknamed 'Hagrid's Little Sister' by the Ghast twins, but one swift slap stop anymore name-calling. Annabelle was strong, but gentle and only got upset if people took issue with her size.
Inside Annabelle's sack was a lot of little eggs, all dark and warty.
Ginny did not recognise them, but the girls continued on outside and began spreading them all over the leaf covered path, down which Ginny could see Malfoy and his two cronies Goyle and Crabbe. Kat threw and armful of leaves over the eggs to hide them and the four retreated behind a nearby hedge.
"Of course, I never liked Hagrid. Ghastly man." sneered Malfoy.
Ginny looked behind the gruesome trio and her heart leapt as she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron amble along behind. Annabelle saw them too, but pinned Ginny back. "Oh no you don't Ginny." she growled. "You stay here or you'll ruin the ambush!"
The four girls could hardly contain themselves as Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe walked into the carpet of stink-eggs. The eggs once cracked, blossomed forth a noxious green spray which immediately detonated all of the surrounding eggs, until every single egg had exploded. As the green fog cleared, the girls began laughing as the three victims staggered out as crying and gasping wrecks. The girls bounded out and began taunting and jeering them as Harry, Hermione and Ron appeared.
"Damn!" cried Malfoy. "I'll get you for this girls!" he snarled.
The girls giggled, and Malfoy retreated hastily before Harry and the others arrived to gloat. Ron was really impressed by Ginny. "Wow! Did you organise this Ginny?"
"Oh, not... no." she managed, noticing Harry nearby. Penny bounded over.
"Oh Ron, us girls work as a team! It was Kat's idea, Annabelle's eggs and we were here to laugh at Draccy. I mean Draco." Everyone laughed, and this made Ginny relax. Ron had not been too happy lately either for some reason and everything seemed to be coming together nicely.
"I never knew you were so devious" said Harry to Ginny as the seven of them walked back. Ginny blushed, but smiled at him all the same.
"A girl's got to have a bit of mystery to her, don't you know..." she smiled. Harry laughed and the group chatted all the way back.
Kat and Annabelle were happy too. "Oh, I can't wait until I see Malfoy again!" beamed Kat.
"Why's that then?" asked Penny
"Oh Penny! This is only stage one! I intend to punish that brat every week until he apologises for what he did. And even then, I'll probably want to keep on doing it a bit more!" The girls laughed.
Annabelle sidled up to Ginny. She hugged Ginny. "Nice to see you hanging around with us again. We thought we'd all lost you to that Potter you know." And with that she winked at Ginny and left, laughing with Kat.