Chapter 3
"Ginny! Ginny! Come on, wake up!"
Ginny, somewhere in her sub-conscious, felt something being thrown at her, and she opened her eyes to find Mari sitting on her bed, hitting her with a pillow.
"Merry Christmas, Sleeping Beauty! Look! Gifts!" Marisol laughed, tossing her thick black hair behind her.
Sure enough, Ginny looked to find a large mass of gifts waiting for her at the foot of her bed. Marisol went over to her own bed and started opening her presents.
Ginny took the one from the top and started opening. She had received a beautiful green leather-bound sketchbook from Bill, small silver dragon figurines from Charlie, a beautiful midnight blue cloak from Percy, a big box of candy from the twins (which she decided against opening), a small charm bracelet from Ron, Chocolate Frogs from Harry (who was pretty much clueless on the subject of gifts for girls), a new set of colored charcoals from Cho, a book of pictures of unicorns and fairies and the like from Hermione ("see if you can draw these!") and the standard dark Kelly green sweater and a caramel egg the size of a dragon egg from her mother and father.
Ginny quickly got dressed, put the rest of the gifts aside save her charcoals and sketchbook, sat down in the common room and began to draw. Ever since Ginny was little, she had been extremely observant in the way things took form, and had a definite eye for detail. Drawing was her passion, and she had at least five sketchbooks full of drawings at the Burrow.
In the hour and a half the Common room was empty, Ginny had drawn every single one of her friends; Harry, Hermione, Marisol, and yes, even Ron.
She hadn't even noticed that Marisol had been watching over her shoulder.
"Ginny?"
Ginny jumped. "Yes?"
"Could I possibly.have that drawing of me? I'd really like it."
Ginny carefully tore it out, signed it, and handed it to Marisol, who examined it. The Marisol in the picture was sitting in the Library, staring intensely at a book. The eyes were expressive, and it definitely looked exactly like the real Marisol.
"Wow, Ginny, I didn't know you could draw!" Marisol breathed.
Ginny shrugged. "I've been doing it since I was little. Shall we go down to breakfast.erm..lunch?"
Marisol nodded, and the two walked down to the Great Hall, arm in arm.
The Great Hall was decorated in all of its finery, right down to the Ghosts singing Christmas carols. (Except the Bloody Baron, who looked ready to kill something.)
"Ah! More students! Please sit with us, it seemed a shame to use the House Tables when there are so few of us. Have some food!" Professor Dumbledore said happily, and motioned for the two girls to sit. They complied, and were suddenly surrounded by a vast amount of every kind of food Ginny could imagine. Ginny, as she piled some fried chicken on her plate, wondered where the house elves put all the food that the students and teachers didn't eat.
After the two friends were considerably full, they went back to their dorms to grab their heavy wool cloaks. Ginny thought beforehand and pulled a Chudley Cannons sweatshirt over her black Weird Sisters band T-shirt. She took a quick look in the mirror, and was glad that not many people were around for the Christmas holidays. Her shoulder-length, fiery red hair was a mess, and her brother's sweatshirt and her baggy jeans didn't exactly accent her curves. She sighed. Why couldn't she have something *interesting*, about her? Sure, her hair made her stand out a little, but that was about it. Why couldn't she be tall, like Hermione, or at least have pretty eyes, like Cho's inky black or Marisol's hazel? She had plain, uninteresting blue eyes, and because she was so petite, she really didn't stand out much. She ran a hand through her unruly hair, pulled on a hat, and led Marisol out of the Common Room.
They walked briskly outside. The scene outside was like one you would see on a muggle postcard; the snow blanketed everything outside, and the only light from where the two were standing from the castle to the other end of the lake was the dim light coming from Hagrid's window in his hut.
"Heads up!"
Ginny spun around and ducked just in time, but Mari wasn't as fast as Ginny so she received a snowball in the face by Ron.
"Agh! I'm going to kill you!" Mari cried, and chased after Ron. Pretty soon, it was an all-out fight between Ron, Ginny, Mari, and Dean and Seamus, who came out to all the yelling.
Three hours later, the five friends were soaking wet, laughing, and freezing as they climbed the stairs to the Griffindor common room. Ginny stepped back for a minute just to see the sun that was setting down over Hagrid's hut. It was truly a beautiful thing, because the snow and the ice over the lake reflected the setting sun, and made the lake look like it was ablaze with a wldfire of reds, oranges, and yellows against a backdrop of midnight blue and black. Mari's voice brought Ginny back to reality, and she followed her back to their dorm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ginny! Ginny! Come on, wake up!"
Ginny, somewhere in her sub-conscious, felt something being thrown at her, and she opened her eyes to find Mari sitting on her bed, hitting her with a pillow.
"Merry Christmas, Sleeping Beauty! Look! Gifts!" Marisol laughed, tossing her thick black hair behind her.
Sure enough, Ginny looked to find a large mass of gifts waiting for her at the foot of her bed. Marisol went over to her own bed and started opening her presents.
Ginny took the one from the top and started opening. She had received a beautiful green leather-bound sketchbook from Bill, small silver dragon figurines from Charlie, a beautiful midnight blue cloak from Percy, a big box of candy from the twins (which she decided against opening), a small charm bracelet from Ron, Chocolate Frogs from Harry (who was pretty much clueless on the subject of gifts for girls), a new set of colored charcoals from Cho, a book of pictures of unicorns and fairies and the like from Hermione ("see if you can draw these!") and the standard dark Kelly green sweater and a caramel egg the size of a dragon egg from her mother and father.
Ginny quickly got dressed, put the rest of the gifts aside save her charcoals and sketchbook, sat down in the common room and began to draw. Ever since Ginny was little, she had been extremely observant in the way things took form, and had a definite eye for detail. Drawing was her passion, and she had at least five sketchbooks full of drawings at the Burrow.
In the hour and a half the Common room was empty, Ginny had drawn every single one of her friends; Harry, Hermione, Marisol, and yes, even Ron.
She hadn't even noticed that Marisol had been watching over her shoulder.
"Ginny?"
Ginny jumped. "Yes?"
"Could I possibly.have that drawing of me? I'd really like it."
Ginny carefully tore it out, signed it, and handed it to Marisol, who examined it. The Marisol in the picture was sitting in the Library, staring intensely at a book. The eyes were expressive, and it definitely looked exactly like the real Marisol.
"Wow, Ginny, I didn't know you could draw!" Marisol breathed.
Ginny shrugged. "I've been doing it since I was little. Shall we go down to breakfast.erm..lunch?"
Marisol nodded, and the two walked down to the Great Hall, arm in arm.
The Great Hall was decorated in all of its finery, right down to the Ghosts singing Christmas carols. (Except the Bloody Baron, who looked ready to kill something.)
"Ah! More students! Please sit with us, it seemed a shame to use the House Tables when there are so few of us. Have some food!" Professor Dumbledore said happily, and motioned for the two girls to sit. They complied, and were suddenly surrounded by a vast amount of every kind of food Ginny could imagine. Ginny, as she piled some fried chicken on her plate, wondered where the house elves put all the food that the students and teachers didn't eat.
After the two friends were considerably full, they went back to their dorms to grab their heavy wool cloaks. Ginny thought beforehand and pulled a Chudley Cannons sweatshirt over her black Weird Sisters band T-shirt. She took a quick look in the mirror, and was glad that not many people were around for the Christmas holidays. Her shoulder-length, fiery red hair was a mess, and her brother's sweatshirt and her baggy jeans didn't exactly accent her curves. She sighed. Why couldn't she have something *interesting*, about her? Sure, her hair made her stand out a little, but that was about it. Why couldn't she be tall, like Hermione, or at least have pretty eyes, like Cho's inky black or Marisol's hazel? She had plain, uninteresting blue eyes, and because she was so petite, she really didn't stand out much. She ran a hand through her unruly hair, pulled on a hat, and led Marisol out of the Common Room.
They walked briskly outside. The scene outside was like one you would see on a muggle postcard; the snow blanketed everything outside, and the only light from where the two were standing from the castle to the other end of the lake was the dim light coming from Hagrid's window in his hut.
"Heads up!"
Ginny spun around and ducked just in time, but Mari wasn't as fast as Ginny so she received a snowball in the face by Ron.
"Agh! I'm going to kill you!" Mari cried, and chased after Ron. Pretty soon, it was an all-out fight between Ron, Ginny, Mari, and Dean and Seamus, who came out to all the yelling.
Three hours later, the five friends were soaking wet, laughing, and freezing as they climbed the stairs to the Griffindor common room. Ginny stepped back for a minute just to see the sun that was setting down over Hagrid's hut. It was truly a beautiful thing, because the snow and the ice over the lake reflected the setting sun, and made the lake look like it was ablaze with a wldfire of reds, oranges, and yellows against a backdrop of midnight blue and black. Mari's voice brought Ginny back to reality, and she followed her back to their dorm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*