A/N: And here it is: the third chapter. Much thanks to Sharon for beta-reading this one. Also, my reviewers: civateteo, M, Imp, gibson girl, SugaRushin4HP (why didn't i think of this name?), FredrickWeasley, Sache8, Elektra, and Poison Tears, Ginny, eleven sapphire, angelic01 and Butterflygurl. Wow, that's a lot of people.
Another brief note: my other fanfic, "Loose Screws," is suffering greatly. Not so much in reviews, but in readers. I've noticed a lot of people have removed it from their favorite's list... I'm just saying to go check it out, tell me if I should continue because I've spent a lot of time on that one (I already have the Christmas portion of it written up, plus some of the ending; it should be going quicker soon). Thank you.
Okay, enough of my moping, back to this story. This one's a cliffhanger. We see more of Harry and less of Rebecca. I can see by your reviews that this Rebecca character is getting kind of suspicious...
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I may be soft in your palm
But I'll soon grow hungry for a fight
And I will not let you win
My pretty mouth will frame the phrases
That will disprove your faith in man
So if you catch me trying to
Find my way into your heart
From under your skin
Fast as you can, baby
Scratch me out, free yourself
Fast as you can
Chapter Three
Life Is Beautiful
"But seriously, why did you disappear on me?" asked Ginny late that night, sitting up with Rebecca in her bed. "I was going to introduce you." She shrugged.
"I guess I just thought you needed some privacy," she said earnestly. "I know how much you like him, Gin. I don't want to interfere."
"Says the girl who kept going, 'Talk to him! Talk to him! Talk to him!' over and over again."
"It worked, didn't it?" said Becky matter-of-factly.
"I swear I could still hear you in my sleep," said Ginny, ignoring Becky. "You just wouldn't stop until I did something..." she paused and exhaled gently. "Thanks," she added.
Becky smiled modestly. "What are friends for?"
"So anyway, we did talk a little," began Ginny. "About nothing, really. He said he was Christmas shopping, and I said I was going to start today but got sidetracked, and then he told me about how he found some Canary Creams in Zonko's - you know, I told you about how my brothers invented pranks and things like that?"
"Yeah," said Rebecca, nodding.
"And then I told him about that one Easter when Ron ate that Ton-Tongue Toffee - I told you about that one too, right?"
She nodded with a smile. "And his tongue turned purple and grew, like, two feet?"
"Yeah," said Ginny, laughing. "He was stuck that way for...an hour or two, I believe. That was so funny... Where was I? Oh yeah, so then he said that Fred and George did the same thing to his cousin and then --"
"Ginny, you forget one thing," interjected Rebecca, eyes sparkling. "I was hiding in a nearby clothes rack. I could hear you."
"Right, of course…" said Ginny, somewhat, embarrassed. "But still…" she fell back on her bed with a deeply contented sigh.
"Maybe you were right," she said softly. "Maybe he really does like me. Maybe he was just afraid to talk to me or something… Well, I don't know about that one." She stared vacantly up at the ceiling, a smile slowly forming on her face.
"Maybe something could happen soon," she whispered.
Rebecca rose from Ginny's bed, stretching before climbing into her own.
"Maybe," she said quietly, laying her head on her pillow. "'Night, Gin."
"Night, Beck."
Ginny woke again on yet another normal morning. However, this one was different somehow.
Well, that's the way it always seems at the start of winter holiday, especially when it starts early. You often don't know why you feel that way. Perhaps it's just the way that the sun wakes you up with a soft, warm touch; maybe it's the fact that you're free for the day, no work and all play if you please. Or possibly, it's knowing something wonderful, absolutely wonderful, is bound to happen and you just can't wait.
Either way, life is beautiful. Everything you see: lovely, brilliant. Just…beautiful.
And Ginny woke up early that morning before everyone else and excitedly jumped right out of bed, not very worried with the cold air and the freezing floors beneath her feet. Or the overcast skies and the snow that ceaselessly fell to the ground. Or the fact that she still had a Transfiguration project to be completed by the end of winter holidays.
After all, the warm water of the shower would ease her chills, and her coats would keep her warm in the outdoors, and they had upwards of two weeks to do the project. Right now, these things just didn't matter. What did matter was something else entirely.
She quickly showered and dressed, going down to the Great Hall afterward for breakfast. As usual, she sat with the four other girls in her dormitory. She ate quietly, occasionally sneaking glimpses at Harry. Once, he caught her looking. After a moment, they both turned away, blushing. The girls around her giggled while her brother gave Harry a suspicious look.
After she finished with breakfast, she then headed off to Hogsmeade to begin her Christmas shopping as she had "planned" to do a few days before. Needless to say, the first place she went was Zonko's.
She explored the many isles, finding many things of interest, including Filibuster Fireworks, decks of Exploding Snap, and even her brother's fake wands. No Canary Creams.
"They're in the candy section," said a voice behind her. She jumped and whirled around. There stood...Harry? At first, like last time she found him standing near her, she was utterly speechless.
"You'll also find the Ton-Tongue Toffees there, as well as any food products that Fred and George have invented."
She just stared at him, flabbergasted.
"How did you know all that?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged. "Wild guess," he replied with smiling eyes. Ginny felt a tingling in her cheeks and looked away, smiling sheepishly as she thought back to breakfast.
"Sorry about that," she said quietly.
He glanced at her with a puzzled look. "About what?"
She blushed even deeper.
"Breakfast?" she tried. "I mean..." She exhaled deeply. "I saw the look that Ron gave you when you looked back at me..."
It was now Harry's turn to blush, his skin reddening just a little.
"Yeah..." he said somewhat archly, also looking away. Ginny began to add on, seeing his expression.
"Really, if I've made you uncomfortable, I'm --"
"No," said Harry abruptly. Ginny looked at him, slightly taken aback.
"I mean... No, you didn't make me uncomfortable. And no, Ron didn't hurt me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here talking to you."
He smiled at her briefly before returning his gaze to the floor. Ginny, feeling braver now, was the one to break the silence this time.
"What are you here for?" she asked.
"Oh! Right," said Harry, apparently having forgotten why he was there. Nonchalantly, he reached behind her and picked up a package of Filibuster Fireworks. She could just barely feel his breath on her shoulder as he did so. Her breath caught in her throat for a brief moment.
Not looking at her, he absently bounced the package in his hands.
"Still Christmas shopping," he said silently. She looked at the fireworks for a second.
"Oh. Well, me too..." she said. "But I think that someone knows what they were getting."
"If it makes any difference, I've gotten quite good on acting surprised."
Ginny smiled slightly at him, looking up into his warm, green eyes. In that simple movement, everything seemed to still, but she willed herself to talk all the same.
"I'll see what I can do," she managed, though in a register higher than normal.
"Thanks." He suddenly became aware that he still had the fireworks in his hand.
"I should probably go pay for these," he said, taking a step backwards away from her.
"Alright," she said, another sheepish smile coming on her face. "I should probably go get those Canary Creams..." With some difficulty, she turned and headed to the candy isle. Once she was out of sight, she was smiling broadly to herself. Absently, she picked up a box full of Canary Creams, all the while thinking of Harry's eyes and how they had bored into her for only a few, precious seconds.
Those beautiful, beautiful eyes... She felt a small chill go through her spine.
But she noticed something different about him just then. A different look in his eye, a difference in the way he acted, a difference in the things he said to her... She couldn't tell. It was a bit scary.
But whatever it was, she kind of liked it.
She then carried the box over to the cashier, her arms straining under its weight. She had to admit: arms were not her strong point.
But hey, this is for Harry.
So she managed to get it out of the isle anyway. And to see that Harry was still there. She raised a curious eyebrow.
"Did you already buy the fireworks?" she asked him, heading to the line. He looked down at them momentarily.
"Yeah," he said shortly. "I'm going to the Three Broomsticks to meet Ron and Hermione, actually. I just thought you might want to come."
She simply stared at him, to taken aback to process his last comment. He was going to the Three Broomsticks. He thought she might want to come. So he's waiting for her. Unable to talk, she simply nodded. He smiled kindly, surprising her yet again as he took the Canary Creams out of her hands. A bit dumbfounded, she glanced at him again before turning away, going scarlet once more.
This was before he teasingly said, "These aren't that heavy," and handing them back. She almost dropped them. She huffed in mock indignation.
"Yes, they are," said Ginny, her arms loosely hanging onto the box. "Arms are not my strong point."
Chuckling, he helped get them onto the counter to pay for them. A while after she did, they were walking down the street to the Three Broomsticks. Seeing Ginny still slouching under the weight of the box, he took it from her once again, placing it his bag with the fireworks. He didn't hand them back this time.
"Thanks," she said shyly.
"You're welcome," he said, matching her tone. Another thought entered her mind.
"Harry?"
He looked sideways at her to show he was listening.
"How did you know I was getting those?"
He shrugged, as he did last time. "I remember mentioning that I saw them in Zonko's..." he said. "Apparently, so did you."
Ginny looked at the ground, blushing yet again. Why can't I make it stop? He continued.
"And you know, you can probably sit in the bleachers during Quidditch practice."
That certainly stopped the blushing. For a little while, anyway. Her eyes widening, she stared at him, open-mouthed. He knew that?
"You saw me?!" she exclaimed incredulously.
"Yeah, last week," he said in a comical tone. Her eyes widened even more in realization.
"I thought you were looking at Colin!"
"Why would I want to look at Colin?" joked Harry. "He might catch me off guard and snap a photo of me."
"Oh, my God…" she mumbled, covering her face in her hands. "Is that the only time you saw me? I'm sorry about that --"
"No, it's okay," he said reassuringly. "I didn't mind. Really, I didn't."
She removed her face from her hands, revealing her bright red face.
"You don't?"
"Not really," he said honestly. "It's actually kind of flattering, if you don't mind me saying so." Ginny laughed at his smug expression and then raised an eyebrow.
"How do you know I was looking at you?" she said cunningly. He looked back at her.
"Are you implying that you were goggling at Ron or Colin?" he replied cleverly.
"Ron, no," she replied with a snort. "Colin…maybe." Harry stared at her for a moment before looking forward with a grin on his face.
"You were not," he said defiantly. Impishly, he ruffled her hair a little. She huffed, pushing his hand from her head with a chortle and beginning to smooth her hair back to its desired placement. She then proceeded to do the same to him, finding it was probably no use since his hair was always in disarray and today was no exception.
"That's not fair!" she exclaimed. "Yours is already messed up!"
"That's the best part of it," he said teasingly. She glared on the outside, but on the inside – as always – she was smiling broadly.
Soon, they arrived at the Three Broomsticks. Again, Ron's eyes doubtfully fell upon Harry and how he was walking in with his little sister in tow, but he later shrugged it off and asked what was in the bag.
After lunch, she left from Hogsmeade and as soon as the other three were out of sight, she ran all the way back to the castle.
Becky's not going to believe this!
The moment she reached her dormitory, she was completely out of breath, panting very heavily. Rebecca wasn't there, like she usually was. Ginny let out a small groan of frustration, then heading back down the steps. Exiting her dormitory and heading for the library, she sooner or later ran into Daphne, the Prefect in her dormitory. Usually, this would upset Ginny, but under these circumstances, she swallowed her pride and went up to her. Bravely, she tapped on Daphne's shoulder. Daphne turned around to face her, seeming considerably surprised to see Ginny there, slouching and trying to catch her breath.
"Ginny," she said in vague alarm. "What is it?"
Ginny just sort of shook her head, waving a dismissive hand. "It's nothing. I'm just trying to find Rebecca. Do you know where she is?"
Daphne gave her nothing more than a confused glance and a simple sentence that threw Ginny off completely.
"Who's Rebecca?"
*********************************************************************************Oooooooooohhhhh...... This Rebecca character is getting rahter suspicious. Well, thanks for reading. And don't forget to look at my other story, "Loose Screws". I really need to know if I should keep writing that one.
