Date for Halloween -
The air was cold and crisp, leaves were beginning to fall. It was the day before Halloween; the next day would be Ginny's sixteenth birthday. Fridays were typically filled with excitement, for Ginny, this Friday was extra special.
Ginny walked with Ginger and Colin to their Arithmancy class. The three were talking happily about the rapidly approaching Hogsmeade trip and Quidditch games soon to follow. At the top of the stairs to the fourth floor, Ginny stopped in her tracks. Further down the corridor, she saw Harry in the middle of the hall, smiling and talking to Hufflepuff seventh year, Susan Bones. She watched Susan and Harry walking past the various classrooms. Harry bent his head close to Susan as she spoke into his ear. Harry looked down at her and threw his head back, laughing merrily. Susan reached out and lightly touched Harry's arm, speaking to him with a bright smile. Ginny fought to swallow a huge lump that had settled in her throat. With a wave, Susan turned and went into an open door; Harry lifted his hand in a friendly farewell then continued down the hall. Colin and Ginger nervously looked back from the scene before them to their friend. Ginny felt her heart rapidly plunge to the pit of her stomach. Her eyes searched in vain to find something to distract her. She blinked rapidly to try and stop the tears welling in her eyes. Ginny shouldn't have been surprised; she knew she Harry's friend and only his friend. She had known that at some point in time she would have to face this day.
Ginger walked over to Ginny, putting her arm around her waist and leaning her head on Ginny's shoulder. "Come on," Ginger whispered, "We should get to class."
Colin rubbed Ginny's back, releasing a deep sigh. Ginger and Colin looked sadly at one another while Ginny dug into her book bag to hide her sudden tears. They, too, had known something like this might happen, but were still at a loss on how to make it any easier. The remainder of the day, Ginny was quiet and distracted. She would sit in class and quietly take notes, not actively participating as she normally would. If the Professors noticed, none chose to make mention of Ginny's strange behavior.
Ginny sat in her final class, Potions, and wanted more than anything for the day to end. She had slowly gotten past the shock of seeing Harry with another girl. Now she was to the point of anger for allowing herself to feel hurt. 'What is the point of making promises to yourself if you're not going to keep them?' Ginny thought, stabbing down hard on a black beetle with her knife.
"Whoa, what did that beetle ever do to you?" asked Shane Lewis, a sixth year Ravenclaw and her lab partner.
"What?" Ginny said in a low voice, looking curiously at him.
Shane nodded towards the skewered beetle on the end of her knife. "I'm glad I'm not that beetle," said Shane, giving her a charming smile.
It was obvious that Shane was rather handsome with honey blond hair and startling, sky-blue eyes. He held the position of chaser for the Ravenclaw team. Ginny had heard on more than one occasion how lucky she was to be his lab partner. Professor Snape slowly moved past the tables with his hands clasped behind him, sneering down at the students while he checked on their progress. Shane took his attention back to his own cauldron until Snape walked on.
"Ginny," said Shane in a hushed voice.
Glancing around to see where Professor Snape was, Ginny leaned towards Shane. "What?" she whispered.
"How about the two of us go to the Halloween dinner, together?" asked Shane.
Ginny turned to look at him fully with an odd, startled expression.
Shane chuckled. "Is that a yes?"
"Is there something that you would like to share with the class? Something that you found to be so amusing concerning your potion, Mr. Lewis?" asked Professor Snape from where he stood a couple of tables away, glaring at Ginny and Shane.
"No Sir" Shane answered, hurrying to get back to adding the dandelion root to his cauldron. Stepping closer to their table the Professor loomed over the two.
"Then I presume there will be no more interruptions in your work?" Snape growled. Ginny did her best impression of a student properly chastised. In all honesty she had lost her fear for the Professor years back, but thought it was a good idea to not let on to that fact.
"Yes Professor Snape," Shane and Ginny said in unison. Snape gave them a final, nasty glare and walked on to terrorize some other helpless student. Shane and Ginny looked back at each other, suppressing laughter.
After class ended and all potions items cleared, the class began to file out into the hall, trudging up the stairs heading for dinner. Ginny was half way up when she heard someone call out her name. Turning around she saw Shane making his way up to her.
"You never gave me an answer" said Shane.
"What answer?" asked Ginny, continuing up the stairs.
"Ouch, Ginny, forgotten me already?" Shane teased. "Remember, I asked you to go to the Halloween dinner with me?" Shane reminded her.
"Oh! I'm sorry," said Ginny. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear self consciously. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her sternly of her promise to herself. Shane walked beside her quietly, waiting for an answer. "I think that would be nice Shane," Ginny finally said, giving him a smile.
Shane's eyes light up, "Really? That's great!" he said smiling back. "I'll see you at the end of the grand stairs," Shane said and waved goodbye, needing to head to the Ravenclaw house before dinner.
Colin and Ginger, who had came out of their history class, walked up and joined Ginny. "What was that about?" Colin asked, looking back at the retreating Ravenclaw.
"Shane Lewis asked me to go with him to the Halloween dinner," said Ginny.
Colin glanced behind Ginny to Ginger, who was on her other side. Colin raised his eyebrows in question. Ginger shrugged her shoulders, a worried expression on her face, and remained quiet. The three hurried to the Gryffindor tower to drop off their bags before heading to dinner. Ginny didn't mention Shane anymore that evening so Colin and Ginger thought it best not to bring it up. They knew she had to deal with her emotions in her own fashion. They could only stand beside her and give her moral support. Even if they knew her head was leading her down the opposite path of her heart.
After her early morning run and eating breakfast, Ginny decided to spend the majority of her Halloween Saturday on her bed. Her books were spread out around her. Lying on her stomach facing the foot of the bed, she was writing an essay on the many uses of pixie dust in daily living. Clark was curled up purring softly asleep on her pillow. Ginger sat on her own bed with her back against the head board, reading from her history text. Slamming the book shut, Ginger sat up and stretched.
"I can't take it anymore, it's a bright day and I want out. I think I will see if Colin wants to go for a walk," said Ginger as she stood, "Want to come with?"
Ginny looked up at her friend. Ginger continued her stretch, scratching her strawberry blond hair. Ginger glanced down at Ginny with aqua eyes and made a funny face at her friend.
"What are you staring at?" asked Ginger, dropping her hands to her sides. Ginny laughed.
"I'm looking at the girl who stole Colin's heart", Ginny answered.
"Too right you are!" Ginger giggled and walked to the door. "Are you coming with?" she asked, pausing with her hand on the door's handle.
"No", said Ginny, "I want to finish my essay."
With a shrug, Ginger opened the door, finding Hermione about to knock.
"Hi Hermione," Ginger said.
"Hello Ginger," Hermione said in return.
Ginger continued out, looking for Colin. Hermione sat down on Ginny's bed, reaching over to scratch Clark behind the ears. "Homework?" Hermione asked, glancing at the pile of books all over the bed.
Ginny wrinkled her nose, "Yeah, essays." Ginny noticed Hermione looking around a bit nervously. "Something you need Hermione?" asked Ginny.
"Am I being obvious again?" Hermione cringed.
"Only to me," Ginny answered, giving Hermione a smile. "Your hair is still looking great," said Ginny, reaching for a text book.
Hermione absently reached up and touched her hair. "Thank you I really like it," Hermione dropped her hand back onto her lap. "But that's not why I stopped by today."
Ginny sat up in her bed, crossing her legs. "Ok, so then what?" asked Ginny.
"Well," Hermione began, "I sort of heard something and was wondering if it was true."
Ginny stared at Hermione, waiting for her to continue.
"Word is spreading that you're going to the Halloween dinner with, Shane Lewis," said Hermione
"Word spreads faster than the speed of light around here," said Ginny dryly.
"So it's true?" Hermione asked, looking somewhat surprised.
"Why not?" Ginny said with a shrug, absently picking at a thread on her blanket.
"But I thought..." Hermione started and cut herself off.
Ginny waited for Hermione to finish her sentence.
"So what are you wearing then?" Hermione asked instead.
Ginny raised an eye brow. She noticed Hermione changed the subject, but didn't have the energy to find out why. In recent years the staff had decided to allow student to dress as they wished for Halloween dinner.
"I'm not sure yet. What about you?" asked Ginny.
"I'll find something," Hermione answered, "I was wondering if you'd do my hair for me."
Ginny smiled brightly, "Nothing else I'd rather do for my best friend."
Later that evening, Ginny stood behind Hermione, seated in a chair in the middle of the room. Anise McGee, a pretty brunette with a pert nose put her wand in her dress pocket. Sage Bowman, a shy, sweet girl with a heart shaped mouth and dark auburn hair, made her way to the door. Brandy Shepard, a quick witted blond, checked her make-up in the mirror on last time. Ginny's other room mates chattered happily about their dates and waved their goodbyes as they left the dorm. Ginger walked out of the adjoining bathroom, putting her earring in.
"I'm going to head off and meet Colin in the common room," said Ginger.
"See you in the hall," Ginny said, moving a lock of Hermione's hair. Ginger leaned over, giving Ginny a quick peck on the cheek and went on out the door. "Well I believe I'm done. Tell me what you think," said Ginny.
Hermione walked over to the full mirror near the bath entrance. Turning her head from side to side she smiled. Ginny had pulled the sides of her hair back with combs, then managed to curl every lock into a mane of spirals that layered down her back.
"Thank you Ginny I adore it," said Hermione, she walked over and gave Ginny a quick hug. "I had better hurry. You know Ron hates to wait," Hermione said, walking towards the door.
"Wait, here," Ginny said, rushing over to her night stand. She reached in and pulled out her bottle of, Personally Yours, perfume. "Use it," Ginny ordered, handing Hermione the bottle.
After dabbing some perfume on her wrists and neck, Hermione handed the bottle back to Ginny.
"Thank you. See you at dinner," said Hermione with a wave, hurrying out of the room. The scent of lilacs and hyacinths lingered in the air.
Ginny walked down the last of the stairs to the main entry and saw, Shane waiting at the bottom. He smiled at her nervously.
"You look great, Ginny," he said. Ginny smiled taking Shane's elbow as they walked down the corridor to the dinner. Ginny ran a nervous finger along the low neck of her blouse, fingering one of the open buttons. 'God bless these muggle water bras,' she thought to herself, dropping her hand back to her side. She ran her palm over her hip, feeling suede skirt which stopped well above the knee. She had left her hair straight, pulling the top back into a barrette, a simple but flattering style. As they approached the doors to the main hall Shane leaned towards Ginny's ear.
"You smell wonderful," he whispered.
Ginny's heart gave a small twinge of memory, hearing Harry utter those same words. She pushed the thought to back of her mind and smiled up at Shane, "Thank you."
Shane led her through the doors of the main hall where several students glanced over at them. Ginny glanced over and saw the Ron, Hermione and Harry sitting together, close to the Professors' table.
Ron caught sight of his sister. His eye brows rose up past his hair line. Ron quickly turned to Hermione, looking confused. Hermione glanced over and noticed Ginny enter with Shane Lewis. She turned back to Ron, pleading silently, hoping he wouldn't say anything. Ron saw the almost desperate look in Hermione's eyes and turned again to watch his sister, with a frown. Harry looked up from his plate to his two friends. Furrowing his brows in mild confusion he turned to see where they were staring. Harry's eyes widened as Shane bent his head to speak in Ginny's ear.
"Want to sit with your friends?" Shane asked.
"That's fine," Ginny answered. She glanced back at Harry long enough to see a mixture of emotions cross his features before a mask slide down over him.
Shane steered Ginny out of Harry's view and lead her to sit with Colin and Ginger near the end of the Gryffindor tables. Colin glanced down at Harry before turning back to give Ginny a stern look. Ginger mildly elbowed Colin as she reached for her drink.
As the dinner went on, Colin remained polite but distant to Shane. Ginger tried to keep up the conversation but finally slid into silence. Ginny was left in a state of confusion but tried to hide it the best she could. Shane talked happily to her about different subjects as the meal slowly went to desert, occasionally making her laugh.
Further up the table Hermione saw Harry wince when he heard Ginny's laughter. Hermione felt helpless, not knowing what to do. She wasn't sure anymore what Harry wanted and knew that his chances with Ginny were slipping away, if he ever did make up his mind. Ron looked bewildered; reaching under the table he squeezed Hermione's hand.
At the far wall of the Slytherin tables, Draco watched the entire scene play out. Sipping his drink he relished in sadistic pleasure at the little drama unfolding in front of him.
