A/N: Okay, first off, thanks to all who reviewed the story so far (I'd list the names like I normally do, but I have homework to do). To one of my reviewers: yes, I know I could've made it more interesting from Tom's POV. But there's a reason why I couldn't. You'll probably see why later on...
This is the second installment of the story... Just keep reading, you'll begin to see what's going on sooner or later. I'm not absolutely certain if this will be a long story. But yeah, in this part, Harry actually enters the story. A few hints of R/Hr, too. Well, please read and review before I flip out about the few grammatical erros and change some things around. Enjoy.
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Chapter Two
Pleasant Surprises
As usual on a Hogsmeade weekend, Ginny went on her way to Hogsmeade, finished with all of her homework and that rather long chapter on psychological disorders. She was striving to swipe the Prefect title from her roommate, Daphne. The things she read were all very interesting - to some extent, fascinating - but all those big words (not that she was stupid, mind you) were starting to hurt her eyes. She was very happy when she was finally able to close her book and journey to her favorite store.
Gladrags Wizardwear.
Like most girls her age, or like most girls in general, she loved to shop for clothes. Hmm... rephrase that: Like most girls, she loved to shop for clothes and return them the next day. Especially those velvet and satin ones. Those were the best of them all. She couldn't afford them in her third year, when she first visited Hogsmeade, but then Fred and George made an out-of-the-blue effort on her birthday. They were very generous, to say the least. She still didn't have enough to keep the robes she bought and have some left over, but still...
When she got to the store, she browsed the formal section due to the upcoming ball on Christmas, though still without a date. She did, however, have so just in case…
She eyed the articles of clothing carefully.
"Purple, no…" she mumbled quietly to herself, coming across some royal purple dress robes. "Gold, no… Red, no… Black…?"
She pulled out the black satin dress robes. Glancing at a nearby mirror, she held the robes up to her body to see how it looked. Her eyebrows scrunched together in deep thought.
Maybe...
"No," said a familiar voice from nearby, as if reading her thoughts. She looked to see Rebecca. Ginny's expression of concentration didn't change.
"It's not your color," Rebecca went on to say. "It clashes with the bright red hair."
"How do you do that?" implored Ginny. "Popping up here and there?"
"Practice," she said shortly, staring at some velvet, midnight blue robes. She took them off the hook and handed them to Ginny. Her eyebrows went up. They were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Almost breathtaking.
Replacing the black satins, she took the blue velvets from her friend. As with the black robes, she held it to her body. Slowly, she smiled.
"I like them," said Rebecca, leaning against the wall and watching.
"I love them," said Ginny softly. "They're perfect."
She located the tag on the right sleeve, wincing slightly. Fifteen Galleons.
"I have just enough..." She glanced back in the mirror and sighed, giving in. "But I'll take them. I mean, I can just bring them back later on, right?" Her gaze turned briefly on Becky, who wasn't bothering to explore the rack.
"Aren't you getting anything, Becky?" asked Ginny curiously.
Rebecca slowly shook her head. "I'm not going to the ball this Christmas. I'll probably just sleep in… I was looking for you, actually."
"For anything in particular?" asked Ginny.
"I just wanted to see if…" she looked around a bit before continuing in a lower voice. "Did you talk to Harry yet?"
Ginny rolled her eyes wearily with a blunt sigh. "You've been asking me that for the past -" She paused to count the days on her fingers - "week! Why are you so worried about it?"
Becky bit her lip gently. She was worried about it, but why she was worried about it she didn't think she could say. She sometimes saw what Ginny didn't see - the way Harry looked at Cho. She didn't want Ginny to wait so long to talk to him, which would lead to Becky watching once more as Ginny moped around the corridors. So instead, she just shrugged and said something else.
"I just think…I don't know. You two would make a really cute couple, that's all."
Ginny looked at her oddly before glancing back in the mirror.
"Give me a little time," she said. "I still don't know where to begin."
"Just...I don't know, say 'hi' or something," tried Becky.
"Oh, yeah, that'll work," said Ginny sarcastically. "That's what I can do. I'll just go up to him tomorrow and say, 'Hi, Harry! I've been stalking you for the past five years! Let's have a drink!' Then we'll be best friends forever."
Rebecca chuckled, focusing on something behind Ginny.
"I don't think you have to wait until tomorrow," she whispered with laughing eyes. Ginny stared at her, a bit puzzled. But then she realized what she meant.
"You're joking," she said seriously, staring directly forward into the mirror. Her face was colorless. Rebecca's reflection slowly shook her head. Ginny's heart stood still as she looked to her side.
Oh, shit.
Harry stood at the next clothes rack, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
Ginny was pretty sure she looked very stupid right now, simply staring at him with wide, wide eyes. Too shocked to really keep a hang on the robes she still had in her hands, they dropped to the ground. With a small gasp, she quickly bent down to pick them up and put them back on the rack. She tried hard not to concentrate on Becky or the fact that she'd unknowingly confessed her strange fascination to her strange fascination.
Well, she hoped not, at least.
She then forced what she hoped was an offhand expression onto her face, though she was positive she was blushing profusely right now, and smiled weakly.
"Hi, Harry," she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest nervously. She felt her heartbeat speeding a little as a head-rush came over her. She leaned against the wall behind her for support, not trusting her legs to hold her up for too long.
"Hello, Ginny," he said with a small smile. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she said. Not daring to look into the mirror, she looked down at the floor, trying to believe her words. "I'm okay," she repeated. "You?"
"I'm good," he said with a small nod.
"So..." said Ginny, absently making a slight kicking motion with her foot. "Did you hear what I said or do I have to repeat myself?" she mumbled.
He could feel Harry's puzzled eyes on her. "Huh?"
Ginny eyebrows raised slightly at first, but then she relaxed and smiled a little in relief. "Nothing."
There was an awkward pause. Ginny's eyes remained on the floor for a little while before remembering Becky was quietly sitting behind her.
"Oh, yes…" she said, about to turn to introduce the other girl. "Have you met Becky, Harry --" She stopped suddenly.
She turned around to show who she was talking about to find her gone. Her back to him, he didn't see her surprised expression, simply responding with, "No. Where is she?"
Ginny laughed in disbelief. "She was just here," she said with a smirk. "I swear, that girl's always disappearing when I need her the most... Did I just say that?"
Harry just smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it," he said.
She looked at him with a combination of wonder and alarm.
He knows! said a voice inside her head. He knows!
Well, of course he knows! said another voice. He's always known that; you used to run out when he was in the same room!
Yeah, well… Shut up!
"About what?" said Ginny inquisitively.
"Er… introducing me to the girl, Becky," he said, thinking it had been implied.
"Oh," said Ginny with another weak smile. "Okay."
"Who is she, exactly?" asked Harry, causing Ginny to come out of her trance.
"Um, she's in my dormitory," she answered silently. "She sleeps in the bed next to mine. We hang out sometimes."
"Really?" he said, with raised eyebrows. "I've never seen her around."
Ginny looked at him curiously before continuing. "She's not a very social person," she explained. "She doesn't like crowds. I'm surprised I even ran into her. She just came in to --" she stopped again to reword the rest of her sentence -- "to ask me about our...Transfiguration project. We're partners."
Harry nodded a bit. During another short pause, she noticed Harry was carrying a few shopping bags, including a medium-sized gift box in his hands.
"What's that?" she asked, staring at the box.
"This?" he said, regarding it briefly. "Oh, I was just doing some early Christmas shopping."
"Smart thing to do," commented Ginny, hoping to inspire some type of conversation with her favourite person. "I still have to get started. I was thinking about starting today, but I kind of got sidetracked..." she said, pulling out the blue robes a little ways.
"I know what you mean," said Harry. "I saw some of those canary creams in Zonko's and just about had a field day."
They both laughed.
"Yeah, Fred and George have been quite successful lately," she said with a smirk. "Even with those stupid fake wands. Though that was pretty funny when they fooled Mum with one that one time."
"They're not that stupid, the fake wands," said Harry matter-of-factly. "They fooled Ron too."
"That's because Ron is easy," scoffed Ginny. "Last Easter, I noticed that a unusually large amount was missing from my candy. So to see who was doing it, I placed a Ton-Tongue Toffee in with my Every Flavor Beans and waited. And sure enough…well, do I really have to explain what happened there?"
"Fred and George gave a few of those to my cousin one time," said Harry. "Luckily, we were already leaving when my aunt and uncle actually came after them. Priceless moment, priceless."
Ginny smiled. "Memories," she said softly.
"Memories," repeated Harry, with a faraway look on his face. Ginny laughed a bit.
"If only there was a camera around..."
"Well, where you find me, you usually also find Colin," said Harry in a mix of dullness and humour.
Oh, I know, thought Ginny, who was grinning on the inside. Steadily, she felt the awkwardness melt away.
"Don't worry," she said encouragingly. "When you become a world-famous Seeker, you'll have personal bodyguards."
Harry smiled in a humble manner, looking into her eyes. She stared back, still bracing herself on the wall. They held each other's gaze for just a little while longer before she looked down at the floor.
"Well," said Harry finally, "I should probably get these wrapped before Ron and Hermione get in." He nodded to the couple sitting near the front of the Three Broomsticks. Ginny glanced looked back to see Ron and Hermione through the window, talking over a glass of butterbeer.
"I could either say, 'aw', or I could say, 'ew'," said Ginny, feeling conflicted as she stared at her friend and her brother. "Can't decide."
"Again, I know what you mean," said Harry with a slight wince. He sighed and began to head toward the door.
"I'll see you in the tower," he said, glancing once more over his shoulder.
"Okay," said Ginny. "Bye."
"Bye." With that, Ginny watched as he disappeared beyond the door and started down the street, a warm feeling flooding through her veins.
Just as he did leave, Ginny was startled when a pair of hands clapsed themselves over her eyes.
"Guess who?" said a playful voice.
"Rebecca!" murmured Ginny with clenched teeth. Becky moved her hands from her head and Ginny twirled around and began hitting her with her coin purse. Becky blocked and dodged from her swings.
"Why did you do that?" she said in mock anger. She stopped immediately upon seeing the old store clerk giving her an odd stare. She straightened and went scarlet.
"Sorry," she whispered. The clerk turned back to her register, clicking her tongue and muttering. Ginny turned to Becky, who turned to Ginny as well, sniggering with her for a moment before Ginny proceeded to pick out the midnight blue robes once again.
"Where were you?" asked Ginny.
"I was hiding inside of that clothing rack," said Becky simply, pointing to the rack on the right of the one Ginny had been at. Ginny shook her head, about to head toward the register.
"You'd better still be here when I'm done," said Ginny warningly.
"I will," said Rebecca, grinning knowingly at her friend. "But really, you did great."
"Thanks."
Not long now, thought Rebecca, watching as Ginny paid for her robes. Not long now.
*****************************************************************************Well, you have sat through another "eventful" chapter. Congrats. If there are any mistakes or errors (like I said, I have homework, so I'm going kind of quick), feel free to tell me. Thanks for reading.
