Disclaimer: After all the previous disclaimers is there anybody there who
still have doubts about me not owning Harry Potter? What?!! Who are you???
Oh, well just for you - I do not own Harry Potter. J.K.Rowling does - the
happy woman. She doesn't seem to understand her happiness though as it
takes her so long to get out book 5.
Authors notes: Again thanks to all those who reviewed the story and previous chapter. It's only you who keep me posting sooner, 'cause I usually take my time checking the places corrected by my wonderful beta- reader. I'm not in a hurry here ^_^. Talking about beta-readers: special thanks to Lins, my beta-reader, who doesn't give up on me, no matter what nonsense I manage to write sometimes ^_^. Bucky: Hey, I happen to like Snape character. There's still hope for him, or at least for me it seems so. He is not all that bad like let's say Malfoy, although there are wonderful fanfics about Malfoy (very OOC) out there. If you are not against the whole idea, try Davesmom's or Reiko's fanfics - they are awesome. And just for you - this chapter's quite long and was updated sooner, just like you had asked ^_^. Well, no babbling anymore, here's the new chapter. Enjoy! And don't forget to review! Please?
Nemezis Rose
Chapter 5
"HARRY? Where are you?" - this time the whisper became louder. Ginny was looking around frantically, afraid of being spotted by the Hogwarts potions master.
Merlin, if he catches me - I'm expelled! Hmm, he has good taste - those bunny slippers are fantastic! Can't believe Professor Snape actually wears them. Can it be my brothers' scheming? Nah! Fred and George can do anything, but still even they are not THAT stupid. They'd know better then piss off their "oh-so-favorite" professor. Well, isn't it strange - there're no windows in such a big room.
"HARRY?" - Ginny moved towards the room, which was probably Snape's bedroom.
Where's he? Did he fall asleep? Well, then I wonder how am I going to find a black cat in an equally black room? - Ginny entered Snape's bedroom quietly.
What?? No windows again? This is just creepy! Suddenly Ginny heard a quiet meowing, she turned to the direction of the sound and was greeted by two green lights, shining rather brightly in the dark.
"Oh, there you are? Just exactly what are you doing in Snape's bedroom, I wonder, huh? Well you don't have to answer," - Ginny snorted, scooped Harry in her arms and quietly slipped out of Snape's chambers.
She was hurriedly walking along the quiet corridor when suddenly a loud crash was heard, followed soon by Filch's gravelly growl:
"Peeves!!! What's going on here?! Oh, I see, there's a student."
"Oh, no! Hermione!" - Ginny felt Harry tense in her arms and rushed towards the noise to be greeted by the sight of Filch cornering..Draco Malfoy, who was looking rather dizzy.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Malfoy, what do you think you are doing here at such a late hour?"
"I don't know how I appeared here, I swear! It's a mistake, I'm sure it's one of the Gryffindors' silly jokes!" - Draco's voice acquired an unpleasant whiny note. Filch suddenly stepped away from Malfoy, his face positively unconvinced by Draco's excuses, and Ginny gasped: Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her in all his glowing glory, quite literally - his silk white boxers were positively glowing with bright pink hearts and little chubby, rosy cupids, shooting arrows into them. The cupids were actually moving on the material and giggling stupidly.
Oh, GOD. I don't believe it. What kind of boxers are these? I mean yeah, Malfoy has always been completely nutters, but, well, I've never thought of his head disease as being incurable. We all make mistakes I suppose. - Ginny looked at the small furry bundle in her arms, which seemed to be completely preoccupied with watching the small cupids fly across Draco's boxers with admiration. Ginny looked at Harry worriedly - the eyes of the kitten were shining with something she could easily identify as mischief and something else; she was not sure what it was exactly, but it made her worry. Suddenly one of the cupids shot another and the offended cupid started to chase the offender. The kitten's body tensed and Ginny gasped again, she strengthened her grip on the fur ball and placed one of his ears close to her lips:
"I don't think so, Harry! You are not going to show your awakening hunting instinct here, trying to catch a silly cupid on Malfoy's shorts for God's sake!"
The kitten looked at her guiltily and Ginny decided not to tempt fate anymore; she chose the longer way to the Gryffindor tower, leaving Filch and Malfoy behind, only sad about not having a camera to immortalize such an incredible thing.
Ginny took off Harry's cloak when she was close enough to the portrait of the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady looked at her with disapproval: "Well, what do you have to say about wandering around school at such a late hour? Have you been to astronomy tower? I can tell this is always about that tower," - she sighed dramatically: "I can only hope George Weasley wasn't your companion there, 'cause then you'll be officially the number nine.Oh, I forgot - he is your brother, right?"
Ginny was watching the fat lady amused to no end: "Umm. I was only looking for my kitten actually - I couldn't find it in the tower and was very worried about him."
"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry then. It's a good thing nobody saw you wandering around the castle. Tell me the password and go to sleep."
"Mad twins' chambers," - Ginny laughed at the password. Her brothers definitely ruled this year. Fat lady huffed at the password, but opened the entrance to the tower obediently. A relieved looking Hermione in blue pajamas met Ginny in her bedroom, a small red kitten sleeping peacefully on her knees. The half empty vial with a very familiar-looking liquid stood on the table.
"Ginny, I was so worried! Nobody saw you, right?"
"No," - Ginny smiled, - "but somebody else was spotted this night."
"Who?"
"Well, it was our favorite ferret actually!"
"But how?"
"Merlin knows what he was doing there, but it was rather amusing. I'll tell you all in the morning - I'm so tired and feel absolutely elated the day is over at last. I guess you already gave the antidote to my pain-in-the-ass brother?" - Ginny said, gently putting Harry on her bed.
Hermione poured the rest of the vial in the saucer for Harry to drink it more easily, which he did hurriedly. Hermione smiled at Ginny: "Well, yeah, I thought one or two hours won't make that much of a difference. At least we won't have to cover up for Ron for those hours. I also changed the potion a bit - made it act a bit quicker I hope, so it will take about 20 hours instead of 24 to change them back." "Oh, I thought about it too, but was worried about the aftereffect." - Ginny undressed and put her pajamas on not noticing Harry's eyes become wide as saucers at the process. Hermione was too horrified to notice this also: "What aftereffect?!!" "Umm. skin, glowing nice-green in the dark for two hours or so."
"Oh, God. How could I have missed it??"
"Well, I don't think you should worry about it. It's nothing, really. Compared to the whole thing, I mean." - Ginny yawned sleepily, tucked her sheets around herself and in a second was sound asleep. Harry huffed at Hermione disapprovingly. You just wait till I tell Ron about it. You won't hear the end of this, "Little Miss Know-it-all" - he thought.
"Harry, you are not going to tell Ron, right? Right?" - Hermione looked at the black kitten worriedly. The kitten looked at her with innocent green eyes and yawned. He snuggled closer to the sleeping redhead and closed his eyes.
"Great! Just great!" - Hermione muttered, but had nothing else to do but leave for her own room to get some sleep. She scooped the red kitten in her arms to take him with her. He didn't wake up, only wheezed adorably. Oh, so you do snore in your sleep. Harry was right after all. - Hermione smiled. She lied down on the cold sheets, put the kitten beside her and sighed.
Well, at least I also have some good blackmail material, she thought.
"Rise and shine! It's eleven o'clock in the morning!" - an abnormally cheery voice chirped above Ginny's ear.
"Gowayimtired," - was the only reply as the redhead hid her face under the pillow. "Nope, I'm not going to let you sleep through the whole day - it's Christmas Eve for God's sake! And it was snowing all night too! We're going to have a white Christmas!" - Hermione cried out, exasperated.
Ginny took the pillow off her sleepy face and was greeted by the shining face of Hermione and two kittens, sitting on her bed and looking rather pleased about something.
"Nooo," - Ginny whined: "Can't I just sleep through the whole thing and get up when they will be just Ron and Harry again?" After some serious persuasion from Hermione, Ginny relented and made it to the bathroom at last, still grumbling about being awakened so rudely.
Well, seems like it's a Weasley thing to get up late, whining like babies, - Harry snorted.
Harry, I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you. I can easily tell the twins that you were sleeping with my little sister when we're back. And it won't be a lie, you know. It'll be really interesting to see you constantly changing colors, taking different shapes, smoking, blowing up or anything else they can come up with.
Why, thank you, Ron. I suppose it doesn't matter much to you that I was a cat too. Besides, look who's talking! I can tell them you've been sleeping with Hermione and they'll tease you endlessly and mercilessly, - Harry hissed, rather annoyed. Ron growled, but said nothing in response.
Hermione looked at her best friends and couldn't hide a smile - they looked funny and so incredibly cute like that! Come to think of it, Ron is just as cute as a kitten as he is when he's angry at me, - Hermione sighed dreamily, then stopped abruptly: Merlin, what am I thinking? Ron .cute? My best friend is cute??! Oh, damn, no - it's just. well. umm. stress from all this madness. Completely forgetting that she was not alone in the room, Hermione muttered aloud: "Yeah, it's just stress! I can't think my best friend looks cute, especially when angry! Right??" - Hermione stopped when she saw the kittens looking at her incredulously. The red one particularly looked rather angry. She blushed.
Is she talking about Ginny? - Ron asked Harry, now looking incredibly stressed himself.
Well, this is just plain weird. I don't think so. Suppose she was talking about.umm. one of us.
Oh, this helps a lot! I'm quite sure who she thinks is cute here. We all know that you just reached the top of cuteness lately! - Ron scowled at Harry, looking rather pissed off.
Oh just drop it, Ron! We both know that it's not me who's always having arguments with Hermione. In fact I cannot be cute when angry with her, 'cause I'm never angry with her in the first place!
So, you think it's me she's talking about? - Ron quietly asked Harry, looking astounded and hopeful at the same time.
Well, it's either you or Ginny.
Ginny?? So, you think Hermione can be. well.interested in girls? - Ron stuttered.
Well, it's rather common for wizard society, isn't it? Going both ways I mean, - Harry looked serious, but a little mischief was present in his eyes; however, the mischief was not noticed by his confused friend.
When Ginny came out of the bathroom she was met with a death glare from her brother. "It's funny, Ron, even as a cat your emotions are still as plain as the nose on your face. Why are you angry with me now? I thought we already reached some understanding here - in the evening you'll be quite all right!" - Ginny said aloud thinking: Or almost all right, taking into account the glowing affect, which is actually not my fault. The black fur ball seemed to be laughing now. Ginny smiled at how cute he was.
Why, Ginny, your brother is just jealous of you! He fancied Hermione for quite some time now, but is just too much of a chicken to ask her out! - Harry started laughing and because of that missed the moment when his best friend launched at him. In a second he was pressing Harry against the floor and hovering over him: I do not fancy Hermione, - Ron was emphasizing each word while speaking.
Sure. you. don't, - Harry was laughing so hard now that he found it difficult to speak: You're just. in love with her, and is jealous of your own little sister because of it! The girls were almost rolling on the floor with laughter at the scene; even though they couldn't understand what was being said between the two kittens, the images of them fighting were just hilarious. At last Hermione just took Ron off Harry easily: "If only I could stop you this easily when you are fighting with each other as humans!"
"Let's go to the lake - I'd like to have a snowball fight with you!" - Ginny smiled, now completely awake.
"Well, then be ready to loose!" - Hermione laughed: "This is a witch- extraordinaire you are going to fight with! And just yesterday we found out that you are only better than me in potions."
"We'll see about that! Don't forget I grew up with six brothers!" - Ginny ran out of the room laughing. ____________________________________________________________________________ _
Hermione's face was flushed red and she was breathing heavily. Ginny was laughing at her, a snowball in her hand. The kittens were sitting a safe distance apart.
"I give up! Stop it Gin." - the snowball hit Hermione's ear, interrupting her: "Hey! I said I give up! But now. This means war!" She ran to Ginny and pushed her into the deep snowdrift, Ginny fell, but took Hermione with her of course. When they emerged from the snow at last they were both laughing so hard, they had to hold each other so that they wouldn't fall. When Ginny managed to stop laughing she saw that Harry and Ron had come closer to them and were looking at them with different expressions - Harry definitely amused and Ron . well.
Hmm. Is it my imagination or does my brother still look angry with me? - Ginny thought. Just then the idea struck her, she looked at Hermione, who understood her without words and nodded vigorously. Ginny grabbed her unsuspecting brother and threw him into the same snowdrift from which she and Hermione had just emerged, and saw Hermione doing the same to Harry. The kittens were quite capable of finding their way out of the snowdrift - the snow was soft, so they just went through it. But they were covered with snow now. The girls scooped them in their arms and went to the castle.
"Hermione, we need to change and go to the dining hall - we are almost late for dinner already!" - Ginny exclaimed looking at the big clock hanging on the wall.
"Ginny, I never noticed you before worrying about being late to the dining hall!" - Hermione smiled.
"Well, I skipped breakfast." - Ginny mumbled, looking sheepish. She suddenly caught a glimpse of silvery-blond hair as Draco Malfoy passed by looking decidedly angry.
Probably sulking about detention or points taken from Slytherin House. Why was he wandering at night I wonder? And what happened to his boxers? - Ginny thought, but aloud she asked the other question about Malfoy that bothered her: "Still, what I want to know is why Malfoy decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays! His horrendous family will miss such a valuable family mem." - Ginny stopped half-word when she saw Severus Snape standing in front of her and looking strangely at the sleeping black fur ball in her hands. Sleeping? When did he fall asleep anyway? - Ginny thought, then looked at her professor questioningly. Does he suspect something? After all I don't actually know what happened in his chambers last night. Harry can tell about it only after he is human again. - her thoughts trailed off: What if.
"I'm glad your cat came back to you Miss Weasely. You shouldn't let him wonder around the castle!" - Snape looked at Ginny strictly.
"What do you mean professor?" - Ginny tried her most innocent look: "He's been sleeping on my pillow at night."
Snape looked like he wanted to say something, but then decided against it. He threw a strange look at the kitten again and then left mumbling something under his breath.
"Wow, that was close!" - Hermione sighed, obviously relieved.
"You know, Hermione, I think Professor Snape is not half as bad as you think."
"Yeah, and Malfoy is an angel and will soon grow himself a pair of nice white wings and a nimbus!"
"Well. Malfoy does look like an angel. A fallen angel of course," - Ginny batted her eyelashes innocently.
Hermione laughed: "So, you do have a crush on Malfoy, huh? Poor Harry - dumped and forgotten."
"Hey! I didn't say I have a crush on Malfoy!"
"Well, he obviously has a crush on you!"
"So what? It doesn't mean I have to fall for him too!"
"But he is so cute!" - Hermione batted her eyelashes too and Ginny stuck her tongue out at her.
After dinner, Ginny and Hermione were sitting in the common room. Ginny was just filling Hermione in about Draco Malfoy's night escapade and his incredible boxers, when Fred and George burst into the room laughing loudly.
Ginny looked at them suspiciously: "Do you by any chance have something to do with Draco Malfoy's new branded boxers and night-walking around the castle?"
Her brothers snickered and Ginny was now completely sure about them being the cause of Malfoy's troubles. Then Fred seemed to catch something: "And how did you find out about it, Gin? We didn't make it public. yet."
Ginny smacked herself on the head mentally:
"Err., I was in the kitchens. I couldn't sleep and decided to go get some warm milk.So, when I was coming back to the tower, I saw Filch and Malfoy, who was looking unusually nice in his glowing boxers with the chubby cupids; though he looked rather upset with the whole thing for some reason." - Ginny laughed at her brothers' and Hermione's reactions.
"Well, soon we'll be not the only ones who know about this incident. We are going to make it quite well known!" - George laughed and the twins left to the boys' dorm whispering excitedly about something. "Leave it to a Weasly to find 2:00 AM kitchen raids perfectly normal!" - Ginny laughed: "Care to play a game of chess?"
"Why, of course!" - Hermione lifted an eyebrow at Ginny: "Are you at least half as good as your brother?"
"I'm better than that!"
The girls spent two more hours playing chess. Ron was watching the game curiously, huffing all the time, especially after each of Hermione's moves. Accordingly, Ginny won the game and Hermione, finding out one more thing Ginny was better at, told her, laughing, that she wanted to catch up with her potions problems in the library. So she left, taking Ron with her 'cause he obviously was going to tag along with her anyway.
Ginny climbed on her bed, took out her sketchbook and pencils, and put Harry on the pillow, wanting to make a sketch of him while he was still a kitten. He sat still for a while, but then the bright colored pencils caught his attention and he jumped on them, making them roll around the bed, and then hunted them, accompanied by Ginny's melodious laughter. At last he stopped chasing the pencils and looked like he was wondering what the hell was he doing. Ginny couldn't suppress the urge to squeeze him gently - the cuteness of the kitten turned out to be more irresistible than the handsome features of the Boy Who Lived. They finally fell asleep in the mess of pillows, pencils and sheets of paper.
Hermione yawned and looked at her watch: "Oh, I completely forgot about the time! I missed supper too... Ginny probably did too, or she would've come for me. Probably fell asleep again, that sleepy head!"
She looked at the red kitten, who was also yawning, but not because of lack of sleep - he was obviously bored.
"Well, Ron, no need to show how bored you are. You can tell me soon enough though, not that I want to hear it!" - Hermione gathered the books and went to Madame Pince. When she came back, she was greeted with the sight of Draco Malfoy sitting on the chair which she occupied just a couple of minutes before, holding the red kitten in his hands. The kitten was certainly not glad about the whole situation, and was trying vigorously to escape.
"Malfoy! Let him go immediately!"
"Or what Granger?" - Draco asked with a sneer.
Hermione looked at her watch nervously and gulped: "Or you will be very sorry indeed."
To be continued..
Well, hope you guys liked it. Please review, I'm in a desperate need of feedback.
Authors notes: Again thanks to all those who reviewed the story and previous chapter. It's only you who keep me posting sooner, 'cause I usually take my time checking the places corrected by my wonderful beta- reader. I'm not in a hurry here ^_^. Talking about beta-readers: special thanks to Lins, my beta-reader, who doesn't give up on me, no matter what nonsense I manage to write sometimes ^_^. Bucky: Hey, I happen to like Snape character. There's still hope for him, or at least for me it seems so. He is not all that bad like let's say Malfoy, although there are wonderful fanfics about Malfoy (very OOC) out there. If you are not against the whole idea, try Davesmom's or Reiko's fanfics - they are awesome. And just for you - this chapter's quite long and was updated sooner, just like you had asked ^_^. Well, no babbling anymore, here's the new chapter. Enjoy! And don't forget to review! Please?
Nemezis Rose
Chapter 5
"HARRY? Where are you?" - this time the whisper became louder. Ginny was looking around frantically, afraid of being spotted by the Hogwarts potions master.
Merlin, if he catches me - I'm expelled! Hmm, he has good taste - those bunny slippers are fantastic! Can't believe Professor Snape actually wears them. Can it be my brothers' scheming? Nah! Fred and George can do anything, but still even they are not THAT stupid. They'd know better then piss off their "oh-so-favorite" professor. Well, isn't it strange - there're no windows in such a big room.
"HARRY?" - Ginny moved towards the room, which was probably Snape's bedroom.
Where's he? Did he fall asleep? Well, then I wonder how am I going to find a black cat in an equally black room? - Ginny entered Snape's bedroom quietly.
What?? No windows again? This is just creepy! Suddenly Ginny heard a quiet meowing, she turned to the direction of the sound and was greeted by two green lights, shining rather brightly in the dark.
"Oh, there you are? Just exactly what are you doing in Snape's bedroom, I wonder, huh? Well you don't have to answer," - Ginny snorted, scooped Harry in her arms and quietly slipped out of Snape's chambers.
She was hurriedly walking along the quiet corridor when suddenly a loud crash was heard, followed soon by Filch's gravelly growl:
"Peeves!!! What's going on here?! Oh, I see, there's a student."
"Oh, no! Hermione!" - Ginny felt Harry tense in her arms and rushed towards the noise to be greeted by the sight of Filch cornering..Draco Malfoy, who was looking rather dizzy.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Malfoy, what do you think you are doing here at such a late hour?"
"I don't know how I appeared here, I swear! It's a mistake, I'm sure it's one of the Gryffindors' silly jokes!" - Draco's voice acquired an unpleasant whiny note. Filch suddenly stepped away from Malfoy, his face positively unconvinced by Draco's excuses, and Ginny gasped: Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her in all his glowing glory, quite literally - his silk white boxers were positively glowing with bright pink hearts and little chubby, rosy cupids, shooting arrows into them. The cupids were actually moving on the material and giggling stupidly.
Oh, GOD. I don't believe it. What kind of boxers are these? I mean yeah, Malfoy has always been completely nutters, but, well, I've never thought of his head disease as being incurable. We all make mistakes I suppose. - Ginny looked at the small furry bundle in her arms, which seemed to be completely preoccupied with watching the small cupids fly across Draco's boxers with admiration. Ginny looked at Harry worriedly - the eyes of the kitten were shining with something she could easily identify as mischief and something else; she was not sure what it was exactly, but it made her worry. Suddenly one of the cupids shot another and the offended cupid started to chase the offender. The kitten's body tensed and Ginny gasped again, she strengthened her grip on the fur ball and placed one of his ears close to her lips:
"I don't think so, Harry! You are not going to show your awakening hunting instinct here, trying to catch a silly cupid on Malfoy's shorts for God's sake!"
The kitten looked at her guiltily and Ginny decided not to tempt fate anymore; she chose the longer way to the Gryffindor tower, leaving Filch and Malfoy behind, only sad about not having a camera to immortalize such an incredible thing.
Ginny took off Harry's cloak when she was close enough to the portrait of the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady looked at her with disapproval: "Well, what do you have to say about wandering around school at such a late hour? Have you been to astronomy tower? I can tell this is always about that tower," - she sighed dramatically: "I can only hope George Weasley wasn't your companion there, 'cause then you'll be officially the number nine.Oh, I forgot - he is your brother, right?"
Ginny was watching the fat lady amused to no end: "Umm. I was only looking for my kitten actually - I couldn't find it in the tower and was very worried about him."
"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry then. It's a good thing nobody saw you wandering around the castle. Tell me the password and go to sleep."
"Mad twins' chambers," - Ginny laughed at the password. Her brothers definitely ruled this year. Fat lady huffed at the password, but opened the entrance to the tower obediently. A relieved looking Hermione in blue pajamas met Ginny in her bedroom, a small red kitten sleeping peacefully on her knees. The half empty vial with a very familiar-looking liquid stood on the table.
"Ginny, I was so worried! Nobody saw you, right?"
"No," - Ginny smiled, - "but somebody else was spotted this night."
"Who?"
"Well, it was our favorite ferret actually!"
"But how?"
"Merlin knows what he was doing there, but it was rather amusing. I'll tell you all in the morning - I'm so tired and feel absolutely elated the day is over at last. I guess you already gave the antidote to my pain-in-the-ass brother?" - Ginny said, gently putting Harry on her bed.
Hermione poured the rest of the vial in the saucer for Harry to drink it more easily, which he did hurriedly. Hermione smiled at Ginny: "Well, yeah, I thought one or two hours won't make that much of a difference. At least we won't have to cover up for Ron for those hours. I also changed the potion a bit - made it act a bit quicker I hope, so it will take about 20 hours instead of 24 to change them back." "Oh, I thought about it too, but was worried about the aftereffect." - Ginny undressed and put her pajamas on not noticing Harry's eyes become wide as saucers at the process. Hermione was too horrified to notice this also: "What aftereffect?!!" "Umm. skin, glowing nice-green in the dark for two hours or so."
"Oh, God. How could I have missed it??"
"Well, I don't think you should worry about it. It's nothing, really. Compared to the whole thing, I mean." - Ginny yawned sleepily, tucked her sheets around herself and in a second was sound asleep. Harry huffed at Hermione disapprovingly. You just wait till I tell Ron about it. You won't hear the end of this, "Little Miss Know-it-all" - he thought.
"Harry, you are not going to tell Ron, right? Right?" - Hermione looked at the black kitten worriedly. The kitten looked at her with innocent green eyes and yawned. He snuggled closer to the sleeping redhead and closed his eyes.
"Great! Just great!" - Hermione muttered, but had nothing else to do but leave for her own room to get some sleep. She scooped the red kitten in her arms to take him with her. He didn't wake up, only wheezed adorably. Oh, so you do snore in your sleep. Harry was right after all. - Hermione smiled. She lied down on the cold sheets, put the kitten beside her and sighed.
Well, at least I also have some good blackmail material, she thought.
"Rise and shine! It's eleven o'clock in the morning!" - an abnormally cheery voice chirped above Ginny's ear.
"Gowayimtired," - was the only reply as the redhead hid her face under the pillow. "Nope, I'm not going to let you sleep through the whole day - it's Christmas Eve for God's sake! And it was snowing all night too! We're going to have a white Christmas!" - Hermione cried out, exasperated.
Ginny took the pillow off her sleepy face and was greeted by the shining face of Hermione and two kittens, sitting on her bed and looking rather pleased about something.
"Nooo," - Ginny whined: "Can't I just sleep through the whole thing and get up when they will be just Ron and Harry again?" After some serious persuasion from Hermione, Ginny relented and made it to the bathroom at last, still grumbling about being awakened so rudely.
Well, seems like it's a Weasley thing to get up late, whining like babies, - Harry snorted.
Harry, I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you. I can easily tell the twins that you were sleeping with my little sister when we're back. And it won't be a lie, you know. It'll be really interesting to see you constantly changing colors, taking different shapes, smoking, blowing up or anything else they can come up with.
Why, thank you, Ron. I suppose it doesn't matter much to you that I was a cat too. Besides, look who's talking! I can tell them you've been sleeping with Hermione and they'll tease you endlessly and mercilessly, - Harry hissed, rather annoyed. Ron growled, but said nothing in response.
Hermione looked at her best friends and couldn't hide a smile - they looked funny and so incredibly cute like that! Come to think of it, Ron is just as cute as a kitten as he is when he's angry at me, - Hermione sighed dreamily, then stopped abruptly: Merlin, what am I thinking? Ron .cute? My best friend is cute??! Oh, damn, no - it's just. well. umm. stress from all this madness. Completely forgetting that she was not alone in the room, Hermione muttered aloud: "Yeah, it's just stress! I can't think my best friend looks cute, especially when angry! Right??" - Hermione stopped when she saw the kittens looking at her incredulously. The red one particularly looked rather angry. She blushed.
Is she talking about Ginny? - Ron asked Harry, now looking incredibly stressed himself.
Well, this is just plain weird. I don't think so. Suppose she was talking about.umm. one of us.
Oh, this helps a lot! I'm quite sure who she thinks is cute here. We all know that you just reached the top of cuteness lately! - Ron scowled at Harry, looking rather pissed off.
Oh just drop it, Ron! We both know that it's not me who's always having arguments with Hermione. In fact I cannot be cute when angry with her, 'cause I'm never angry with her in the first place!
So, you think it's me she's talking about? - Ron quietly asked Harry, looking astounded and hopeful at the same time.
Well, it's either you or Ginny.
Ginny?? So, you think Hermione can be. well.interested in girls? - Ron stuttered.
Well, it's rather common for wizard society, isn't it? Going both ways I mean, - Harry looked serious, but a little mischief was present in his eyes; however, the mischief was not noticed by his confused friend.
When Ginny came out of the bathroom she was met with a death glare from her brother. "It's funny, Ron, even as a cat your emotions are still as plain as the nose on your face. Why are you angry with me now? I thought we already reached some understanding here - in the evening you'll be quite all right!" - Ginny said aloud thinking: Or almost all right, taking into account the glowing affect, which is actually not my fault. The black fur ball seemed to be laughing now. Ginny smiled at how cute he was.
Why, Ginny, your brother is just jealous of you! He fancied Hermione for quite some time now, but is just too much of a chicken to ask her out! - Harry started laughing and because of that missed the moment when his best friend launched at him. In a second he was pressing Harry against the floor and hovering over him: I do not fancy Hermione, - Ron was emphasizing each word while speaking.
Sure. you. don't, - Harry was laughing so hard now that he found it difficult to speak: You're just. in love with her, and is jealous of your own little sister because of it! The girls were almost rolling on the floor with laughter at the scene; even though they couldn't understand what was being said between the two kittens, the images of them fighting were just hilarious. At last Hermione just took Ron off Harry easily: "If only I could stop you this easily when you are fighting with each other as humans!"
"Let's go to the lake - I'd like to have a snowball fight with you!" - Ginny smiled, now completely awake.
"Well, then be ready to loose!" - Hermione laughed: "This is a witch- extraordinaire you are going to fight with! And just yesterday we found out that you are only better than me in potions."
"We'll see about that! Don't forget I grew up with six brothers!" - Ginny ran out of the room laughing. ____________________________________________________________________________ _
Hermione's face was flushed red and she was breathing heavily. Ginny was laughing at her, a snowball in her hand. The kittens were sitting a safe distance apart.
"I give up! Stop it Gin." - the snowball hit Hermione's ear, interrupting her: "Hey! I said I give up! But now. This means war!" She ran to Ginny and pushed her into the deep snowdrift, Ginny fell, but took Hermione with her of course. When they emerged from the snow at last they were both laughing so hard, they had to hold each other so that they wouldn't fall. When Ginny managed to stop laughing she saw that Harry and Ron had come closer to them and were looking at them with different expressions - Harry definitely amused and Ron . well.
Hmm. Is it my imagination or does my brother still look angry with me? - Ginny thought. Just then the idea struck her, she looked at Hermione, who understood her without words and nodded vigorously. Ginny grabbed her unsuspecting brother and threw him into the same snowdrift from which she and Hermione had just emerged, and saw Hermione doing the same to Harry. The kittens were quite capable of finding their way out of the snowdrift - the snow was soft, so they just went through it. But they were covered with snow now. The girls scooped them in their arms and went to the castle.
"Hermione, we need to change and go to the dining hall - we are almost late for dinner already!" - Ginny exclaimed looking at the big clock hanging on the wall.
"Ginny, I never noticed you before worrying about being late to the dining hall!" - Hermione smiled.
"Well, I skipped breakfast." - Ginny mumbled, looking sheepish. She suddenly caught a glimpse of silvery-blond hair as Draco Malfoy passed by looking decidedly angry.
Probably sulking about detention or points taken from Slytherin House. Why was he wandering at night I wonder? And what happened to his boxers? - Ginny thought, but aloud she asked the other question about Malfoy that bothered her: "Still, what I want to know is why Malfoy decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays! His horrendous family will miss such a valuable family mem." - Ginny stopped half-word when she saw Severus Snape standing in front of her and looking strangely at the sleeping black fur ball in her hands. Sleeping? When did he fall asleep anyway? - Ginny thought, then looked at her professor questioningly. Does he suspect something? After all I don't actually know what happened in his chambers last night. Harry can tell about it only after he is human again. - her thoughts trailed off: What if.
"I'm glad your cat came back to you Miss Weasely. You shouldn't let him wonder around the castle!" - Snape looked at Ginny strictly.
"What do you mean professor?" - Ginny tried her most innocent look: "He's been sleeping on my pillow at night."
Snape looked like he wanted to say something, but then decided against it. He threw a strange look at the kitten again and then left mumbling something under his breath.
"Wow, that was close!" - Hermione sighed, obviously relieved.
"You know, Hermione, I think Professor Snape is not half as bad as you think."
"Yeah, and Malfoy is an angel and will soon grow himself a pair of nice white wings and a nimbus!"
"Well. Malfoy does look like an angel. A fallen angel of course," - Ginny batted her eyelashes innocently.
Hermione laughed: "So, you do have a crush on Malfoy, huh? Poor Harry - dumped and forgotten."
"Hey! I didn't say I have a crush on Malfoy!"
"Well, he obviously has a crush on you!"
"So what? It doesn't mean I have to fall for him too!"
"But he is so cute!" - Hermione batted her eyelashes too and Ginny stuck her tongue out at her.
After dinner, Ginny and Hermione were sitting in the common room. Ginny was just filling Hermione in about Draco Malfoy's night escapade and his incredible boxers, when Fred and George burst into the room laughing loudly.
Ginny looked at them suspiciously: "Do you by any chance have something to do with Draco Malfoy's new branded boxers and night-walking around the castle?"
Her brothers snickered and Ginny was now completely sure about them being the cause of Malfoy's troubles. Then Fred seemed to catch something: "And how did you find out about it, Gin? We didn't make it public. yet."
Ginny smacked herself on the head mentally:
"Err., I was in the kitchens. I couldn't sleep and decided to go get some warm milk.So, when I was coming back to the tower, I saw Filch and Malfoy, who was looking unusually nice in his glowing boxers with the chubby cupids; though he looked rather upset with the whole thing for some reason." - Ginny laughed at her brothers' and Hermione's reactions.
"Well, soon we'll be not the only ones who know about this incident. We are going to make it quite well known!" - George laughed and the twins left to the boys' dorm whispering excitedly about something. "Leave it to a Weasly to find 2:00 AM kitchen raids perfectly normal!" - Ginny laughed: "Care to play a game of chess?"
"Why, of course!" - Hermione lifted an eyebrow at Ginny: "Are you at least half as good as your brother?"
"I'm better than that!"
The girls spent two more hours playing chess. Ron was watching the game curiously, huffing all the time, especially after each of Hermione's moves. Accordingly, Ginny won the game and Hermione, finding out one more thing Ginny was better at, told her, laughing, that she wanted to catch up with her potions problems in the library. So she left, taking Ron with her 'cause he obviously was going to tag along with her anyway.
Ginny climbed on her bed, took out her sketchbook and pencils, and put Harry on the pillow, wanting to make a sketch of him while he was still a kitten. He sat still for a while, but then the bright colored pencils caught his attention and he jumped on them, making them roll around the bed, and then hunted them, accompanied by Ginny's melodious laughter. At last he stopped chasing the pencils and looked like he was wondering what the hell was he doing. Ginny couldn't suppress the urge to squeeze him gently - the cuteness of the kitten turned out to be more irresistible than the handsome features of the Boy Who Lived. They finally fell asleep in the mess of pillows, pencils and sheets of paper.
Hermione yawned and looked at her watch: "Oh, I completely forgot about the time! I missed supper too... Ginny probably did too, or she would've come for me. Probably fell asleep again, that sleepy head!"
She looked at the red kitten, who was also yawning, but not because of lack of sleep - he was obviously bored.
"Well, Ron, no need to show how bored you are. You can tell me soon enough though, not that I want to hear it!" - Hermione gathered the books and went to Madame Pince. When she came back, she was greeted with the sight of Draco Malfoy sitting on the chair which she occupied just a couple of minutes before, holding the red kitten in his hands. The kitten was certainly not glad about the whole situation, and was trying vigorously to escape.
"Malfoy! Let him go immediately!"
"Or what Granger?" - Draco asked with a sneer.
Hermione looked at her watch nervously and gulped: "Or you will be very sorry indeed."
To be continued..
Well, hope you guys liked it. Please review, I'm in a desperate need of feedback.