"You're kidding."
"No." Libby tapped her French-manicured nails on her black-leather-clad hip.
Harry looked at her with a sneer.
"I live here, Potter. In fact, I'm the one letting you crash here. But if you dare cross me, I will turn you into the slimy snake you are and feed you to the Slytherins." Libby drawled lazily. "Goo' night."
"Honestly, they're going out now!" I exclaimed to my friends with a smile. I twirled a lock of my fiery red hair around my finger.
"Well, we have to split, Gin." Amber told me, grabbing my other two friends and walking off to Divination.
I shrugged and reached for another lime lollipop from my khaki book bag. I was supposed to spend a detention in the Astronomy tower during my free period for talking during History of Magic.
The instant I walked into the Astronomy tower, Professor Sinstra yanked the lollipop out of my mouth. She's pretty cool, you know? She's the youngest teacher of all.
"You'll get it back at the end of your detention, Ms. Weasley." She told me, shaking the lollipop at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, Professor." I uncrossed my arms and removed my work robes. Knowing Professor Sinstra, who normally handled my detentions, detention would be like study hall in the Astronomy tower.
"Mr. Malfoy, this is the person that will be serving your detention with you."
Malfoy? Where was that name familiar? The boys must have talked about him more than once at the dinner table. Was it positive? Was it negative? Hmm.
Undoubtedly he knew who I was. I saw over the shoulder of Professor Sinstra that he was scowling. But I stepped out from behind her, and his jaw did a momentary drop.
I shrugged. Maybe it hadn't quite gotten around to him that I had developed.
Not too much. I was still small, petite, my mum says. And I still had fiery red hair. But my skin is actually working with the whole red hair thing. I suppose it's because I don't look so pasty. But the roundness that shot out helped, too.
It wasn't a great change, really. It was just one that had been hidden by years of hand-me-down robes. Now that I sort of fit them better, the change is more—Noticeable.
I kept my lips closed and sort of floated over to one corner of the room to read my book. Great Gatsby. Deathly boring, but fairly interesting on the whole.
"Weasley, why didn't the news of you growing up ever reach my ears?" Malfoy managed to drawl after several moments. I rolled my eyes. His voice was quiet, and almost gently flirtatious if there wasn't such sarcasm in it. Hey, it was some sort of decent pick-up line.
"Sorry, I didn't realize you wanted a subscription to the Patil Daily Dish." I sneered back.
Score one point, Gin! You managed to say something sounding cool and sophisticated.
"I mean there were rumors of you and Finnigan fooling around—" He began and in a second I was in a rage.
"Seamus and I? Hardly! He and Lavender were too busy batting their eyelashes at one another for me even to be his little dish on the side!" I nearly shouted, standing over his lazy figure and giving him a death glare.
"Not that you wanted to be, of course?" He replied simply. I sat down again, closer to him.
"Of course." I said coolly.
"You have grown up, Weasley. No matter what, I will always admire you for being beautiful, intelligent and not being able to control that temper at all times." Malfoy chuckled. "It's rather attractive."
"Thank you, I suppose." I replied politely. Then I remembered he might hit on me again. "Not that I want to know what you find attractive, but thank you for finding me acceptable."
Note my sarcasm, please.
"I not only find you acceptable, I find you so damn attractive it's taking all of my self-control to keep me from kissing you."
Now that was unexpected.
"Is time up, Professor Sinstra?" I demanded, short of breath.
"I don't see why not. Here, Miss Weasley. Until next time, stay out of trouble and keep your mouth closed." Professor Sinstra handed me my lollipop and I went on my way, tugging at a fiery red curl nervously.
"I'm being stalked by a silver-haired freak." Ginny said flatly, throwing herself into a chair and not really caring that no one was around. Her friends were still in Divination and her other friends were all in the hospital wing.
"Really, Gin?" A small voice asked. It was Neville. She smiled.
"I know you don't have the greatest history with this person, but I want you to be impartial." Ginny rushed, bouncing over to him. All that confidence and she could still confide in Neville.
"Go on."
She smiled at him. He was always good with problems. He seemed to adapt a lot more than people ever could have thought. "I just had a detention."
"Another one, Gin? What is this, your fourth?" Neville murmured, his fingers fluttering around her waist, holding her close and warm.
"Never mind that. So I enter the room and Malfoy can barely see me, but I see him. He's scowling, probably because of my red hair, it's sort of obvious I'm a Weasley, you know. But then his jaw drops and I realize he's checking me out!"
Neville had a hearty laugh. "Malfoy and you? That's almost as absurd as the fact that his father doesn't teach him anything in the Dark Arts."
"He doesn't? That makes him all the more appealing!" Ginny exclaimed, but she turned back to the subject. "And then he goes, 'Weasley, why didn't you tell me you grew up?' And I go, 'Well, I didn't realize you wanted to know!' I was real cool and such, and then he goes, 'I heard about you and Finnigan..' and then I get really mad. 'I wasn't even his dish on the side!' and then he goes, 'Not that you wanted to be?' and I said, 'Of course not!' and then he actually complimented me! Three, no four times!"
"And what did he say?" Neville asked, all excited. Nothing interesting had happened in Ginny's 'love life' since the whole affair with Seamus Finnigan.
"That I was beautiful, intelligent, that my temper was attractive and I was irresistible. Not his exact words, but that's what he said!" Ginny rushed.
"Definitely interesting." Neville replied.
"But I was right. I have a feeling I am about to be stalked." Ginny said flatly, pulling away from Neville. "Thanks for giving a damn."
"Any time, Gin, any time." Neville replied.
"Potter, will you shut up?" Libby shouted through the door.
"WHAT?"
"Your bloody shower-singing is getting on my nerves!"
"It isn't any better than what you call crooning!"
"This is my damn penthouse and I'll croon whenever I damn well please!"
"I am. I am being stalked." Ginny declared, sliding into a seat next to Neville.
"What?" He looked up and she banged a large basket of lime lollipops onto the table.
"I am being bloody stalked." Ginny muttered with a lollipop in her mouth. Neville grabbed it and stared at her like she was from Jupiter.
"Wha?" She said, the lollipop back in her mouth. "Just because I don't like him doesn't mean I can't enjoy the lollipops!"
"He's staring at you." Neville hissed.
"I'm beautiful. So sue me." Ginny snarled back.
"And Seamus is glaring at you."
"Seamus had his chance. Plus, he's got Reggie, the lousy womanizer."
"If he was so lousy, how did he manage to womanize you?"
"Oh, shut up, Neville."
"What is she doing?" Seamus hissed, pulling Reggie closer.
"It looks as if she's handling a problem, Seamus." Reggie told him simply, looking at him sweetly. "Seamus, I understand as much as anybody that you want to protect those you love and might have previously loved, but Ginny is fourteen. She knows how to take care of herself and Draco Malfoy is not hard to take care of."
"What about Hermione last year?" Seamus asked. "Explain that."
"Ginny and Hermione are two different people, Seamus. Hermione is the outspoken but oddly shy person and Ginny is an outgoing and manipulative person. If anything, Malfoy is going to lose, Seamus." Reggie said patiently.
Seamus still glared in Malfoy's direction, but his look softened as his gaze fixed upon Reggie. He was glad to have her.