In which everyone starts to read, Ginny and Seamus make up, and Draco eats curry.
By the time Ginny got out of Dumbledore's office, Seamus had disappeared. She thought about running after him, but decided against it; she could always corner him in the common room later. She slowed down to wait for the other Gryffindors.
"Hey," said Hermione, as she and her two best friends caught up with Ginny, "We didn't think we'd be able to catch up with you: You were off like a shot."
"Oh, sorry," said Ginny, "I was trying to catch up with Seamus, But he seems to have disappeared."
"Right then," said Ron, "Buzz off Ginny, we have important things to discuss." "Ron!" exclaimed Ginny, "You are the rudest person I have ever met in my entire life!" She turned to leave, but Harry stopped her. "You don't have to go, Ginny," he said, ""And we don't have anything important to talk about he adde, with a meaning ful look at Ron. He smiled at Ginny, who smiled back, and was miraculously able to keep herself from blushing. Am I getting over him? she wondered, I hope so. She could tell that they were lying, and did have something important to discuss, but she didn't say anything. After all, there were better ways of finding things out than asking.
Seamus climbed through the portrait hole and walked over to one of the couches. He didn't pay any attention to Lavender, who was batting her eyelashes at him, but she walked over anyway.
"Hello Seamus," said Lavender.
"Go away Lavender," said Seamus. She walked off. Seamus sighed and sat back. He had a lot to think about, but he was not fated to be left alone for long. An angry-looking Ginny Weasley was headed toward him and it looked like she was in a take-no-prisoners sort of mood. She sat down next to him and glared.
"What have I done?" asked Seamus confusedly.
"What have you done?" she replied in a tone of disbelief, "Only ignore me for no reason all day."
"No reason? All right, I'll let that pass, but would you just tell me what's so great about Malfoy?"
"Malfoy?" She was genuinely confused now. "What about him? I hate his guts and I'm beginning to think that Dumbledore is out of his mind, making us work with him." "Look, Ginny, I saw him last night. You can't get out of it. You were sitting there talking to him in the early hours of the morning."
"Oh," said Ginny, and began to smile, "That wasn't Malfoy - well, it was a Malfoy, but it wasn't Draco. Remember that guy in Dumbledore's office? Andrew? It was him. He's Draco's brother, but it's sort of a secret."
"How do you know him though?" asked Seamus, "and why did you let him into the common room?"
Ginny puased for a moment. She wasn't really allowed to tell Seamus anything about Andrew, but she had to tell him something. Finally she said, "I don't know how he got in, but he was allowed to be here. He's a Gryffindor alumnus, so he could have gotten the password even if he wasn't on a secret mission or something."
"All right, said Seamus, "I'm sorry I got mad at you, but still, that guy is a total wanker."
"He is not. Stop being silly. How about we get started on reading that book?"
"Right then," said Seamus. He opened his copy of Hogwarts' Defense and began to read aloud.
Harry, Hermione and Ron sat down on Ron's bed. Ginny had been right. They did have something important to talk about, but at the moment, she wasn't around to listen. After the three had talked for a while, Hermione took out her copy of Hogwrts' Defense. "Oh right, said Ron, "Herm, you can read aloud to us."
"You're just trying to get out of work, Ron," she replied, "but all right."
"Oh no," said Harry, sitting up. I forgot about Cho. I was supposed to meet her after class. Sorry, you two, but I have to go."
"No you don't," said Ron, pulling Harry down onto the bed, "You are going to forget all about her and listen to Hermione read."
Harry grumbled, but relaxed. The truth was, he would rather hang with his friends than with Cho, but there was no way he'd admit that to anyone. He sat back as Hermione began to read.
Padma put away her finished homework and pulled out her Hogwarts' Defense book. She was looking forward to reading it, but she was also a little scared. Her wish for an adventure had come true with a vengeance. She didn't really know any of her team-mates at all. Everyone knew the famous Harry Potter and his two side-kicks, and she had a couple of classes with Draco Malfoy, but she'd never really spoken to any of them. Oh well. What did it really matter anyway? She reminded herself to ask Dumbledore if she would be given any extra credit, then opened her book and began to read.
Draco walked into the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. He turned around for moment nd asked them if they knew what was for dinner. They always did.
"Uh," said Crabbe, scratching his head, "It's curry night. Damned Pakis." Draco smiled. "Well, thanks for the escort," he said, "but I'll hve to leave you here." He let his smile broaden as he walked toward the empty end of the Slytherin table. He loved curry, and Crabbe and Goyle were a couple of prejudiced idiots. He sat down and helped himself to large portions of Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Vindaloo, Saag Paneer, Paratha, and Basmati rice. He pulled out his copy of Hogwarts' Defense and began to read. By the end of dinner, Draco had discovered which of his classmates parallelled which of the long-dead heroes of this book.
Tom Jullien was Darco himself. That was easy. Tom was a rich, good-looking Slytherin with a sarcastic sense of humor, whose father owned the largest store in Knockturn Alley.
Hugh Dysart was Harry. Hugh had saved a whole stadium full of wizards and witches at the Quidditch World Cup in 1802, when he was two years old. He had been hit with a curse by Vroomfondel's predecessor, Majikthise. The curse had been ment to wipe out the entire crowd, but it killed no one, and Majithise was never heard from again. Hugh was also Gryffindor's star seeker. Really, thought Draco, That's so much of a coincidence, it's silly.
Paph Marsh was Ron, poor but proud and always in the shadow of his famous friend. Iris September was Hermione, too smart for her own good. Julian Kestrel was Seamus, clever and witty. Ophelia Odelin was Padma, shy and quiet, but clever. Rosetta Black was Ginny, pretty, poor, and fiesty.
How are we going to live up to them? wondered Draco. A second later, he realized that he had just related himself to his team-mates with a "we", and felt disgusted with himself. ##################################################################### I'm having trouble w/ ffnet, as is everyone these days, so I can't credit the reviewers. The ones I remember re these: Sophie and Hannah, thanks as always, and long live Sluggy! Hermione2, no, I don't hate you and I wasn't really talking about your review. Hazel Harman, here it is, finally. hope this measures up to your standards. Thanks everyone, even the ones I haven't credited here. Also, happy ending, or semi-sad ending? It really depends on whether you want it Draco/Ginny or Seamus/Ginny, and if you want history to repeat itself or not. Please tell me. Melody