A/N: Hey! I know I'm a horrible person for ignoring disclaimers, so for
future reference: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters,
places, or plot ideas. If I did do you think I would be writing this
pathetic fic? I would be finishing the fifth book instead of going off and
getting pregnant like J.K.R. Ok, now that that's done, hope you like this
chapter!
Oh, this is fun. So nice to watch her squirm. I'll just forget about transfiguration. Why did I have to be so stupid anyways? I shouldn't even be in her class. I just had to fail that last year. My father had beaten me so many times over my slipping grades. Oh well, at least now I had someone to play with.
Draco was back at the Slytherin table pushing the food around his plate so that Pansy thought he was eating. That simpering, whining, pug-faced girl was always nagging about something. He always wished that he could just get rid of her, but her parents were important death-eaters and his father was supporting any relationship between the two of them. Draco looked over at the Gryffindor table where the little Weasley girl was laughing with her friends. It's a pity that the Weasley's are pureblood, Draco thought, they give the rest of us a bad name. They are always associating with mudbloods too. Granger, Jones, well, Jones isn't such a waste. She is very hot. Come to think of it, Ginny's not a waste either. What? No. Remember, this is just for revenge purposes and maybe a good shag or two.
"Draco, you're not eating. Are you feeling all right?" Pansy whined. Somehow she managed to whine no matter what she was saying.
"I'm fine. I think I'll just leave now. Goodbye Pansy," he replied curtly. He almost managed to leave, too, but she noticed Ginny's necklace at his wrist.
"What's that? I didn't know you wore jewelry. Let me see."
"What? No," he said, but he was too late. Pansy had grabbed his wrist and was looking at the necklace.
"Where did you get this? It's a necklace. It's a girl's necklace. Have you been seeing someone? Behind my back? Whose is it?"
"No I am not seeing anyone. It wouldn't matter if I were because we are not together. There is no we. As for whose it is, why should I tell you?" Then he did leave taking Ginny's necklace with him. Ugh. Pansy can be so annoying. He walked past Finnigan and Granger. He had his tongue down her throat as usual. It was disgusting. Draco tried not to gag.
While walking to the dungeon common room of Slytherin house, Draco examined the necklace he had found in the hall after his midnight-encounter with Ginny. The little gold chain held a pendant with a small blue flower and a gold seven. It was very nice and Draco couldn't find out where a Weasley would get something that nice. It would take her whole family's help to get a necklace that nice. She must have gotten it for a present one year. It was probably the only present she got that year. I should probably give it back, he thought, but why? It can be used as a bargaining tool.
*((*
"He is getting so annoying," Alanna said as soon as Malfoy was gone, "First he insulted both of us. Then he stole your necklace, and now he is just being an all around jerk. More so than usual."
Ginny cringed at the mention of the necklace. She didn't really want anyone else to hear, especially Harry. He was so overprotective of anyone close to him, Ginny included. She looked at Alanna and the other girl knew immediately that she had said the wrong thing.
"What do you mean, he stole Ginny's necklace?" Harry asked. Dean had gone off to talk to some fifth year girls, so he wasn't part of the conversation. Harry was looking at Alanna.
"Well, she just said that she lost it and I thought that he might have taken it because he had been acting strange around us lately."
"You're a worse liar than I am," Harry said jokingly, "but if you're lying then tell me the truth."
"I-uh-er," Alanna said looking over at Ginny for support. Ginny had her head on the table and looked depressed.
"Well? Spit it out."
"But-er-well, Ginny ran into Malfoy when they were both out of bed later then they should have been and he got her out of trouble, but it involved both of them squished behind a suit of armor so she thinks that he might have taken it," she let out quickly. She wasn't able to lie to Harry so she didn't try for long.
"What?! What do you mean you 'ran into' Malfoy when you should have been in Gryffindor tower? What were you doing? Malfoy?"
Ginny groaned and started banging her head on the table softly. "Ugh. I didn't tell you because I knew you would overreact. I was just going for a walk and Malfoy pulled me behind a suit of armor so that Peeves wouldn't catch me. He stopped me from getting detention."
"Malfoy stopped you from getting detention? By pulling you into a very tight space?"
"Yes. That's all that happened, nothing more."
"I don't believe that."
"Well that's fine. You don't have to believe the truth. I don't really care if you want to go into denial. Now, if you're quite through interrogating me, I think I'll go to bed. Lanna, you can stay here. Goodnight."
"Ginny wait," Harry said. Ginny ignored her.
"Let her go," Alanna said, looking at Harry. He held her gaze longer than he should have. She started to flush and looked down. "I think I'll just go up to bed too. Maybe I can talk to her. And Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry," she said and walked out.
*((*
Malfoy walked into the Slytherin common room. When he saw the people there, he turned right back around and left. He decided to go for a walk around the halls. He walked by the great hall right when Ginny was storming out. She looked very upset and on the verge of tears. I wonder what she's so upset about, Malfoy thought. He decided that since he didn't have anything better to do, he would follow her and see what the problem was. He waited a few seconds so that she wouldn't notice him following her. Alanna walked out in that time. Hmm, maybe the two of them got in a fight? He quietly trailed the two girls. He thought it was strange that Alanna never tried to catch up with Ginny, but didn't think much about it.
Then Malfoy had a thought, once I follow them to their common room, what am I going to do? It won't accomplish anything. He sped up so as to get closer to Alanna. Once he was directly behind her, he grabbed her wrist and put his other hand over her mouth. He soon realized that it wasn't a good idea. Alanna was a lot tougher than you would think from looking at her. She bit his hand and he bit his lip to stop from crying out. She kicked backwards and hit his shin. This time he did give a small cry of pain, and fought back a little. He took his hand off her mouth and grabbed her by her waist. He was lucky that dinner was still going on. The only other student was Ginny and she was too preoccupied at the moment to notice the scuffle going on behind her. That was about to change.
"Let go! Let go and let me fight you for real!" Alanna shouted. Ginny turned around and saw her friend in the clutches of Draco Malfoy. She immediately got out her wand and walked toward the fighting couple. She tried to think of a spell to use and drew a blank. The first spell she came up with after a moment was a Jelly Legs Curse. She said the spell and pointed her wand at Malfoy. The curse hit its mark and Malfoy nearly fell over. He let go of Alanna in his struggle to keep his balance. He then got his own wand and performed the counter-curse he had learned in charms the year before.
"Hey!" Alanna shouted, "What was that about?"
"Yes, what was that about?" Ginny said.
"Holy crap! Why did you kick me?" Malfoy said, rubbing his sore shin.
"Oh, gee, I wonder why. You only grabbed me. I didn't even know who you were. If I had I would have aimed higher."
"Sure, I was just going to have a little fun, while I admit it was a stupid idea, I wasn't going to hurt you."
"Oh, really, what were you planning on doing?"
"I hadn't really planned that far ahead. What I really wanted to do was talk to Ginny. You can go now surfer chick."
She turned to Ginny. They looked at each other for a moment and then Alanna turned and left without a word. Ginny turned back toward Malfoy. "What do you want?"
"Just to talk to you like I said. What was the deal at dinner?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked looking at the floor.
"Well, you did leave in the middle and there was something going on between you and Alanna."
"It wasn't anything important. Harry's just mad at me now. Doesn't really matter. But, while we're on the subject, why do you have my necklace?"
"What are you talking about?" he said mimicking her earlier phrase.
"I know you have it. I saw it. Why won't you give it back?"
"Do you really want it back?"
"Yes."
"Really, really want it back?" he said quietly, moving closer to her.
"Yes," she said, frustrated with his teasing.
"What will you give me for it?"
"Anything."
"Anything?"
"Yes, anything."
"That's a pretty big offer."
"I don't care, just give me my necklace." There was a sound of people coming down the hall. Dinner was over. Ginny knew that Harry would be one of the first out of the great hall since he was worried about her. She just wanted to get her necklace back and go to bed. She did not want Harry or her brother to find her like this. Malfoy was really close to her face. She could just feel his breath tickling her cheeks and forehead slightly. One of his perfectly gelled strands of blonde hair had come loose so it was hanging in his face. His eyes were locked with hers, stormy gray and chocolate brown fighting to keep the others gaze. Struggling to not be the first to look away. He moved his face even closer to his. She felt her stomach flutter. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her first thought was that his lips were surprisingly soft, but then she felt his tongue at the seam of her lips. She slowly opened her mouth a little. She felt his tongue slide in, exploring the warm recesses of her mouth. He pulled away too soon for her liking and gave her the necklace off his wrist. He turned to walk away and when he did he saw Harry and Ron. Ginny didn't know they had seen her. She was still staring where Malfoy had been. She turned the opposite way and headed to the common room oblivious to the outside world. She hardly heard her brother trying to start a fight with Malfoy and Harry holding him back.
Once Ginny was back in the common room, some of the sheen of his kiss had worn off. He was Malfoy. He had kissed her. Why? She had said she would do anything for her necklace, and she would gladly kiss him to have it back, but why? He must have had some reason for it.
"So, how'd it go?" Alanna asked once Ginny sat down in one of the red high- backed chairs.
She thought about lying, but Alanna would be able to tell. She just settled on the truth. "He kissed me," she said flatly as Harry and Ron walked in.
"Yes he did! I'm going to kill him!"
"Oh, don't tell me that these two saw?"
"It appears that way, I honestly didn't notice."
"We saw all right. Ron went ballistic, as you can see. What were you thinking Gin?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. I didn't want him to kiss me. Anyway, it's not that big of a deal. I got my necklace back."
Then Ron went after her. "What were you thinking? Are you crazy? Do you know who that was who just had his tongue down your throat? Do you know who his father is? Do you remember what he did? To you and the family? Have you lost your mind?"
"Gee, for someone who has been too busy to even acknowledge me because you always have your tongue down Chelsea the Hufflepuff's throat, you certainly are taking an interest when I kiss someone you don't like."
"Don't you even get started on that. You completely ignored me all summer, you and Harry both. You were too busy being Harry's girlfriend."
"I was not! He didn't try to get rid of me all summer. He was the only person who seemed to notice me. Mum and Dad hardly knew I was living there since the twin's joke shop took off. They have hardly been there anyway. They're always flying away for some fancy trip. Alanna couldn't come out because she went to California to visit relatives. You were too busy talking to Chelsea by floo. Mum and Dad should never have let you use the fireplace so much."
"You weren't exactly being supportive! The first time you met her, you didn't like her. You didn't even give her a chance."
"You know, I really hate you sometimes. We used to be really close, but ever since you attached yourself to Harry and Hermione, you've forgotten all about me. I can see why you want to be friends with them, you can automatically be grouped with their achievements 'cause we all now that you won't ever have any grand accomplishments like Harry defeating Voldemort and playing Quidditch for England or Hermione getting a perfect score on her N.E.W.T.S. You know that you'll never be quite in their league and, guess what? So does everyone else. Except maybe your airhead of a girlfriend."
"I hate you too!" he shouted and ran up the stairs to his dorm. His whole face was red as well as his ears.
Harry stared at Ginny. He was angry, but didn't lash out at her. "I think I'll just go and try to fix this," he said, staring pointedly at Ginny. He then walked up the stairs after Ron.
"That's it! I am going to leave and become a hermit so I don't ever have to talk to anyone ever again," Ginny declared to no one in particular. Alanna was still sitting there staring into space. She had zoned out when Ron said that Ginny was Harry's girlfriend over the summer. No matter how untrue it was; she had taken it seriously. "Lanna? Something wrong? I thought I was the one who just ruined my relationship with my brother."
"How could you?"
"How could I what?"
"You knew I liked him."
"What? Oh, no, see, Ron was just being mean. I didn't have anything romantic at all with Harry. I wouldn't do that to you. In fact, well, I can't tell you, but if I could, you would be ecstatic."
"I thought I could trust you."
"But, I didn't. Ask him yourself. I promise I'd never."
"I don't want to hear it. You can just go back to being Malfoy's whore."
"But. Lanna."
Alanna walked slowly up the stairs to her dorm. Ginny lay down on the couch in front of the fire and fought the urge to cry. Then all the other Gryffindors came in through the portrait hole. Dean was still flirting with the fifth years. He wasn't ever serious, but he made all the younger girls feel special. Steven Wood came in and flashed her a huge smile. She tried to smile back. Seamus and Hermione came in, hardly pulling their lips apart while walking. Neville was in the hospital wing again. He had broken his wrist when he dropped his cauldron in Potions. The noise that all those happy people were making became deafening to Ginny and she just about gagged when Seamus and Hermione resumed their usual position: her sitting on his lap, firmly attached by the lips. She got up and thought about going to bed, but Alanna was there so she went out through the portrait hole.
Ginny ended up in the owlery. She liked to come up here sometimes. It was so peaceful. The only sound was that of hooting owls trying to get some sleep. It was cool in the late October evening. She sat down by one of the windows and looked out on the lake and the rest of the grounds. She didn't even notice when someone came in and was standing behind her.
Oh, this is fun. So nice to watch her squirm. I'll just forget about transfiguration. Why did I have to be so stupid anyways? I shouldn't even be in her class. I just had to fail that last year. My father had beaten me so many times over my slipping grades. Oh well, at least now I had someone to play with.
Draco was back at the Slytherin table pushing the food around his plate so that Pansy thought he was eating. That simpering, whining, pug-faced girl was always nagging about something. He always wished that he could just get rid of her, but her parents were important death-eaters and his father was supporting any relationship between the two of them. Draco looked over at the Gryffindor table where the little Weasley girl was laughing with her friends. It's a pity that the Weasley's are pureblood, Draco thought, they give the rest of us a bad name. They are always associating with mudbloods too. Granger, Jones, well, Jones isn't such a waste. She is very hot. Come to think of it, Ginny's not a waste either. What? No. Remember, this is just for revenge purposes and maybe a good shag or two.
"Draco, you're not eating. Are you feeling all right?" Pansy whined. Somehow she managed to whine no matter what she was saying.
"I'm fine. I think I'll just leave now. Goodbye Pansy," he replied curtly. He almost managed to leave, too, but she noticed Ginny's necklace at his wrist.
"What's that? I didn't know you wore jewelry. Let me see."
"What? No," he said, but he was too late. Pansy had grabbed his wrist and was looking at the necklace.
"Where did you get this? It's a necklace. It's a girl's necklace. Have you been seeing someone? Behind my back? Whose is it?"
"No I am not seeing anyone. It wouldn't matter if I were because we are not together. There is no we. As for whose it is, why should I tell you?" Then he did leave taking Ginny's necklace with him. Ugh. Pansy can be so annoying. He walked past Finnigan and Granger. He had his tongue down her throat as usual. It was disgusting. Draco tried not to gag.
While walking to the dungeon common room of Slytherin house, Draco examined the necklace he had found in the hall after his midnight-encounter with Ginny. The little gold chain held a pendant with a small blue flower and a gold seven. It was very nice and Draco couldn't find out where a Weasley would get something that nice. It would take her whole family's help to get a necklace that nice. She must have gotten it for a present one year. It was probably the only present she got that year. I should probably give it back, he thought, but why? It can be used as a bargaining tool.
*((*
"He is getting so annoying," Alanna said as soon as Malfoy was gone, "First he insulted both of us. Then he stole your necklace, and now he is just being an all around jerk. More so than usual."
Ginny cringed at the mention of the necklace. She didn't really want anyone else to hear, especially Harry. He was so overprotective of anyone close to him, Ginny included. She looked at Alanna and the other girl knew immediately that she had said the wrong thing.
"What do you mean, he stole Ginny's necklace?" Harry asked. Dean had gone off to talk to some fifth year girls, so he wasn't part of the conversation. Harry was looking at Alanna.
"Well, she just said that she lost it and I thought that he might have taken it because he had been acting strange around us lately."
"You're a worse liar than I am," Harry said jokingly, "but if you're lying then tell me the truth."
"I-uh-er," Alanna said looking over at Ginny for support. Ginny had her head on the table and looked depressed.
"Well? Spit it out."
"But-er-well, Ginny ran into Malfoy when they were both out of bed later then they should have been and he got her out of trouble, but it involved both of them squished behind a suit of armor so she thinks that he might have taken it," she let out quickly. She wasn't able to lie to Harry so she didn't try for long.
"What?! What do you mean you 'ran into' Malfoy when you should have been in Gryffindor tower? What were you doing? Malfoy?"
Ginny groaned and started banging her head on the table softly. "Ugh. I didn't tell you because I knew you would overreact. I was just going for a walk and Malfoy pulled me behind a suit of armor so that Peeves wouldn't catch me. He stopped me from getting detention."
"Malfoy stopped you from getting detention? By pulling you into a very tight space?"
"Yes. That's all that happened, nothing more."
"I don't believe that."
"Well that's fine. You don't have to believe the truth. I don't really care if you want to go into denial. Now, if you're quite through interrogating me, I think I'll go to bed. Lanna, you can stay here. Goodnight."
"Ginny wait," Harry said. Ginny ignored her.
"Let her go," Alanna said, looking at Harry. He held her gaze longer than he should have. She started to flush and looked down. "I think I'll just go up to bed too. Maybe I can talk to her. And Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry," she said and walked out.
*((*
Malfoy walked into the Slytherin common room. When he saw the people there, he turned right back around and left. He decided to go for a walk around the halls. He walked by the great hall right when Ginny was storming out. She looked very upset and on the verge of tears. I wonder what she's so upset about, Malfoy thought. He decided that since he didn't have anything better to do, he would follow her and see what the problem was. He waited a few seconds so that she wouldn't notice him following her. Alanna walked out in that time. Hmm, maybe the two of them got in a fight? He quietly trailed the two girls. He thought it was strange that Alanna never tried to catch up with Ginny, but didn't think much about it.
Then Malfoy had a thought, once I follow them to their common room, what am I going to do? It won't accomplish anything. He sped up so as to get closer to Alanna. Once he was directly behind her, he grabbed her wrist and put his other hand over her mouth. He soon realized that it wasn't a good idea. Alanna was a lot tougher than you would think from looking at her. She bit his hand and he bit his lip to stop from crying out. She kicked backwards and hit his shin. This time he did give a small cry of pain, and fought back a little. He took his hand off her mouth and grabbed her by her waist. He was lucky that dinner was still going on. The only other student was Ginny and she was too preoccupied at the moment to notice the scuffle going on behind her. That was about to change.
"Let go! Let go and let me fight you for real!" Alanna shouted. Ginny turned around and saw her friend in the clutches of Draco Malfoy. She immediately got out her wand and walked toward the fighting couple. She tried to think of a spell to use and drew a blank. The first spell she came up with after a moment was a Jelly Legs Curse. She said the spell and pointed her wand at Malfoy. The curse hit its mark and Malfoy nearly fell over. He let go of Alanna in his struggle to keep his balance. He then got his own wand and performed the counter-curse he had learned in charms the year before.
"Hey!" Alanna shouted, "What was that about?"
"Yes, what was that about?" Ginny said.
"Holy crap! Why did you kick me?" Malfoy said, rubbing his sore shin.
"Oh, gee, I wonder why. You only grabbed me. I didn't even know who you were. If I had I would have aimed higher."
"Sure, I was just going to have a little fun, while I admit it was a stupid idea, I wasn't going to hurt you."
"Oh, really, what were you planning on doing?"
"I hadn't really planned that far ahead. What I really wanted to do was talk to Ginny. You can go now surfer chick."
She turned to Ginny. They looked at each other for a moment and then Alanna turned and left without a word. Ginny turned back toward Malfoy. "What do you want?"
"Just to talk to you like I said. What was the deal at dinner?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked looking at the floor.
"Well, you did leave in the middle and there was something going on between you and Alanna."
"It wasn't anything important. Harry's just mad at me now. Doesn't really matter. But, while we're on the subject, why do you have my necklace?"
"What are you talking about?" he said mimicking her earlier phrase.
"I know you have it. I saw it. Why won't you give it back?"
"Do you really want it back?"
"Yes."
"Really, really want it back?" he said quietly, moving closer to her.
"Yes," she said, frustrated with his teasing.
"What will you give me for it?"
"Anything."
"Anything?"
"Yes, anything."
"That's a pretty big offer."
"I don't care, just give me my necklace." There was a sound of people coming down the hall. Dinner was over. Ginny knew that Harry would be one of the first out of the great hall since he was worried about her. She just wanted to get her necklace back and go to bed. She did not want Harry or her brother to find her like this. Malfoy was really close to her face. She could just feel his breath tickling her cheeks and forehead slightly. One of his perfectly gelled strands of blonde hair had come loose so it was hanging in his face. His eyes were locked with hers, stormy gray and chocolate brown fighting to keep the others gaze. Struggling to not be the first to look away. He moved his face even closer to his. She felt her stomach flutter. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her first thought was that his lips were surprisingly soft, but then she felt his tongue at the seam of her lips. She slowly opened her mouth a little. She felt his tongue slide in, exploring the warm recesses of her mouth. He pulled away too soon for her liking and gave her the necklace off his wrist. He turned to walk away and when he did he saw Harry and Ron. Ginny didn't know they had seen her. She was still staring where Malfoy had been. She turned the opposite way and headed to the common room oblivious to the outside world. She hardly heard her brother trying to start a fight with Malfoy and Harry holding him back.
Once Ginny was back in the common room, some of the sheen of his kiss had worn off. He was Malfoy. He had kissed her. Why? She had said she would do anything for her necklace, and she would gladly kiss him to have it back, but why? He must have had some reason for it.
"So, how'd it go?" Alanna asked once Ginny sat down in one of the red high- backed chairs.
She thought about lying, but Alanna would be able to tell. She just settled on the truth. "He kissed me," she said flatly as Harry and Ron walked in.
"Yes he did! I'm going to kill him!"
"Oh, don't tell me that these two saw?"
"It appears that way, I honestly didn't notice."
"We saw all right. Ron went ballistic, as you can see. What were you thinking Gin?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. I didn't want him to kiss me. Anyway, it's not that big of a deal. I got my necklace back."
Then Ron went after her. "What were you thinking? Are you crazy? Do you know who that was who just had his tongue down your throat? Do you know who his father is? Do you remember what he did? To you and the family? Have you lost your mind?"
"Gee, for someone who has been too busy to even acknowledge me because you always have your tongue down Chelsea the Hufflepuff's throat, you certainly are taking an interest when I kiss someone you don't like."
"Don't you even get started on that. You completely ignored me all summer, you and Harry both. You were too busy being Harry's girlfriend."
"I was not! He didn't try to get rid of me all summer. He was the only person who seemed to notice me. Mum and Dad hardly knew I was living there since the twin's joke shop took off. They have hardly been there anyway. They're always flying away for some fancy trip. Alanna couldn't come out because she went to California to visit relatives. You were too busy talking to Chelsea by floo. Mum and Dad should never have let you use the fireplace so much."
"You weren't exactly being supportive! The first time you met her, you didn't like her. You didn't even give her a chance."
"You know, I really hate you sometimes. We used to be really close, but ever since you attached yourself to Harry and Hermione, you've forgotten all about me. I can see why you want to be friends with them, you can automatically be grouped with their achievements 'cause we all now that you won't ever have any grand accomplishments like Harry defeating Voldemort and playing Quidditch for England or Hermione getting a perfect score on her N.E.W.T.S. You know that you'll never be quite in their league and, guess what? So does everyone else. Except maybe your airhead of a girlfriend."
"I hate you too!" he shouted and ran up the stairs to his dorm. His whole face was red as well as his ears.
Harry stared at Ginny. He was angry, but didn't lash out at her. "I think I'll just go and try to fix this," he said, staring pointedly at Ginny. He then walked up the stairs after Ron.
"That's it! I am going to leave and become a hermit so I don't ever have to talk to anyone ever again," Ginny declared to no one in particular. Alanna was still sitting there staring into space. She had zoned out when Ron said that Ginny was Harry's girlfriend over the summer. No matter how untrue it was; she had taken it seriously. "Lanna? Something wrong? I thought I was the one who just ruined my relationship with my brother."
"How could you?"
"How could I what?"
"You knew I liked him."
"What? Oh, no, see, Ron was just being mean. I didn't have anything romantic at all with Harry. I wouldn't do that to you. In fact, well, I can't tell you, but if I could, you would be ecstatic."
"I thought I could trust you."
"But, I didn't. Ask him yourself. I promise I'd never."
"I don't want to hear it. You can just go back to being Malfoy's whore."
"But. Lanna."
Alanna walked slowly up the stairs to her dorm. Ginny lay down on the couch in front of the fire and fought the urge to cry. Then all the other Gryffindors came in through the portrait hole. Dean was still flirting with the fifth years. He wasn't ever serious, but he made all the younger girls feel special. Steven Wood came in and flashed her a huge smile. She tried to smile back. Seamus and Hermione came in, hardly pulling their lips apart while walking. Neville was in the hospital wing again. He had broken his wrist when he dropped his cauldron in Potions. The noise that all those happy people were making became deafening to Ginny and she just about gagged when Seamus and Hermione resumed their usual position: her sitting on his lap, firmly attached by the lips. She got up and thought about going to bed, but Alanna was there so she went out through the portrait hole.
Ginny ended up in the owlery. She liked to come up here sometimes. It was so peaceful. The only sound was that of hooting owls trying to get some sleep. It was cool in the late October evening. She sat down by one of the windows and looked out on the lake and the rest of the grounds. She didn't even notice when someone came in and was standing behind her.