Things Change
A/N Ah, chapter six is here! Give me a holiday and the house to myself for a couple of hours and Voila! I'm getting chapters out at five a millisecond. Well, not quite, but hey, it's pretty close!
This chapy I don't have much to ramble about, so once again you are free from listening to me rabbit on about nothing all day. Lucky you!
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After a tiring and uneventful couple of weeks at school, the next Hogsmeade weekend had finally arrived, much to Ginny's delight.
Because it wasn't just school that was tiring.
Her love life was a bit of mess too.
Every time she saw Harry, her heart fluttered. Every time she saw Malfoy (much to her annoyance, of course), her heart fluttered. And now, every time she saw Thom, her heart fluttered. Thom had been so nice when he walked her back to the castle, not only taking her to the main entrance, but walking her most of the way back to her common room as well. He was funny, charming, delightful even, and it looked like he was actually interested in her. Boys were never interested in her. After the Chamber of Secrets, most people had kept their distance. Even four years later she was still a pretty unpopular girl, but now...She'd never even really met Thom before, but he was just so...nice. They had talked a lot in the two or so weeks after their first meeting, mostly in the library or outside in the chilly air. He had even said he wanted to take her to Hogsmeade with him the next time the trip was on. Imagine that, Ginny Weasley being taken to Hogsmeade by a *boy*! She was over the moon, to say the least.
He met her in the entrance hall, smiling and holding out his arm as she greeted him. She thought fleetingly about what the other girls would say if they could see her now. When she had said she couldn't go to Hogsmeade with them they had immediately asked why, but she wouldn't tell them, wanting to keep her friendship with Thom a secret from them for the moment.
They arrived at Hogsmeade in good spirits, surrounded by the other students as they all walked down the main street. Kids were disappearing into shops this way and that, and soon Thom and Ginny did the same, popping into Zonko's for some Sugar Quills for Thom and then into the Post Office so Ginny could send a letter to Bill.
"Hey Ginny," Thom said as they stopped outside Madam Malkins. "What'd you want for Christmas?"
"Christmas?" Ginny replied, her face pressed up against the glass as she gazed at a beautiful display of dress robes. "I haven't even thought about Christmas yet..."
"Well, I think I know what you want already..." Thom replied, opening the door of Madam Malkins and pushing her in.
Rows and rows of dress robes stared back at them, all in different colours. There was a desk at the back of the shop and a young and spotty assistant leaning against the wall, asleep.
Ginny wondered up and down the racks of dress robes quietly, reaching out a hand here and there to touch the smooth materials. Silk, velvet, taffeta...so many wonderful robes caught her eye, all in so many colours. Thom walked behind her, and she could see him smiling from the corner of her eye.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked playfully, looking at the price tag on a robe and taking a sharp breath.
"Oh, nothing...," Thom replied impishly. "I was just thinking about what a fifteen year old girl would like for Christmas, that's all..."
"Oh Thom, you *are* terrible. You've only known me for a couple of weeks"
"So?"
Ginny sighed, a smile on her face.
"So, why would you want to get lil' ol' me something, huh?"
"Because," Thom said, pulling a robe off the rack and holding it up against her. "I do"
"Oh really," Ginny answered, putting the robe back on the rail. She was walking backwards now, matching Thom's speed. "And do you think I'm going to get something for you?"
"Of course you are Gin"
Ginny nodded her head, grinning.
"Yes, you're absolutely right"
"I thought so"
Just then the bell above the doorway rang, and two people came in. They were Hogwarts students; a boy and girl.
"...Oh, and I was thinking about silk, maybe with a bit of velvet, but definitely *no* lace, that is so last century..."
Ginny groaned. Pansy Parkinson had just made an appearance; this was bad news. So, if Pansy Parkinson was in Madam Malkins with a boy, that meant...oh, great.
"Malfoy"
Draco looked at Thom with disdain, but nodded in recognition anyway. Thom was a half-blood.
"Walker"
Thom nodded and turned back to Ginny, but Malfoy carried on speaking. The 'conversation' clearly wasn't over.
"Consorting with a Weasley? I didn't think she was your type"
Thom frowned in annoyance. He turned back to Malfoy, and Ginny could see his hands were clenched under his sleeves.
"Yes, I am *talking* to *Ginny*. Got a problem with that?"
"Oh no," Draco replied. "She seems eager to be in your presence as well. Taken a fancy to him, have you? Or are you still pining after Potty?"
Ginny could feel her face redden with anger. Why was it that whenever she was around somebody she 'liked', she went red?
"You'd do well to shut up Malfoy. It might teach you something one of these days"
But he was ready for the quick comeback now, and he grabbed her arm, holding her up to him as if examining her.
"Still as feisty as...well, not quite ever, but anyway...what is it that makes a piece of filth like you so...spirited?"
But Ginny wasn't concentrating on what Malfoy was saying. She was looking at his eyes. They told a very different story to the one his mouth was telling. His eyes, in their grey coldness, seemed to be filled with...Ginny couldn't seem to find the right word for it. Hunger...longing, perhaps? As if he wanted something and it was *so* close and yet just out of arms reach. It scared her, and it fascinated her. What was he looking for? What was it that made his eyes seem almost...human?
"Not going to answer me Weasley?" Malfoy said, breaking through the fog of her brain, but Ginny sensed a slight waver in his voice, and knew she had seen what he was trying to keep a secret...maybe even from himself?
"No...no, I'm not" Ginny replied, pulling his arm from his grasp, almost in what felt like slow motion. She backed over to where Thom was standing.
"Get out of here Malfoy, and take Parkinson with you. She can come back another day"
Thom's voice sounded so strong and protective that Ginny almost wanted to melt into it. Malfoy, sensing that Thom wasn't going to just back off without an argument, pulled on Pansy's arm and left, dragging her out of the shop like he was trying to drag a ten tonne elephant instead of a whining girl.
"You alright Gin?" Thom asked, shaking her slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine...I just *hate* running into Malfoy, that's all" she replied.
Thom nodded in understanding, but Ginny doubted he really understood the reason. He pulled Ginny into him in a hug. It was the first time she had ever hugged Thom, and she leant against him gratefully, sighing into his scarf.
"Tell you what," he said, and Ginny could feel his chest vibrating as he talked. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks and have a butterbeer"
Ginny pulled back from Thom's embrace and smiled.
"Yeah, let's"
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The pub was warm and cosy, and Ginny went on a mission to find a table whilst Thom bought the butterbeers. She chose one by a window, a little booth, with a model Guy Fawkes standing next to it. November the fifth had been a couple of weeks ago, but somebody had obviously forgotten to take this model down. Even though it was mostly a muggle festivity, lots of wizard families like to celebrate it too. Ginny's family was one of them. Her father would always use some of those Filibuster fireworks that Fred and George loved so much. Outside in the garden in the cool November air, wrapped in layers and layers of thick wool, Ginny always loved to stand with Bill and Charlie and watch as the fireworks would -
'Charlie'
She suddenly realised, to her absolute horror and shock, that she hadn't thought about Charlie nearly all day. Usually he was always there, in the back of her mind, like a comfort blanket making her feel better, just like her necklace did. She reached up to it now, unconsciously fiddling with it as she stared into space vacantly, thinking about her brother. She felt guilty, as if she was forgetting him. It had now been, what, five weeks since she had 'heard' about his...
Pain flared up in her chest. She wasn't ready to forget, she didn't *want* to forget...she *couldn't* forget. She couldn't betray Charlie like that. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, making a solitary path down her cheek.
"Ginny? Are you alright?"
It was Thom, back with the butterbeers. Ginny looked up and nodded, patting the seat beside her. Thom sat down and put the beers on the table, looking a bit worried.
"Are you sure Gin? I don't think so. Is it Malfoy or something?"
Ginny shook her head, still staring at nothing, a faraway look in her eyes.
"I was thinking about Charlie..."
"Oh," Thom replied. She had explained what had happened to Thom already, about how Charlie had been one of the first casualties of the war. "Do you want to...talk or anything?"
Ginny nodded, tearing her eyes away from what she had alone been seeing and looking up at Thom. The pain in her eyes almost scared him. She leant against the back of the seat and fiddled with her necklace again, struggling to get the right words at first, but becoming more fluent as she went along.
"It's almost like it happened...years ago, not last month. Only a month...it seems like a lifetime's passed in the time it's taken to get to this moment. Someone else's lifetime, not mine.
"Pain's strange...Everyday you feel like you're getting there, feel that you're getting a little better, but you're not. You're just putting on a face, and even you think it's real.
"And then today I realised...I realised that I hadn't been thinking about him. Usually, usually he's up here" she said, tapping a finger on her temple. "Looking after me, always there. But today...today I wasn't really thinking about him. And it felt...it felt okay. But not now"
Thom stayed silent for a moment, before putting his arm around her and hugging her affectionately. Ginny leant against his shoulder, both of them in silence. They stayed like that for a while, before Ginny, feeling like she had just woken from a long sleep, yawned and stretched. Thom did the same.
"Pass me my butterbeer will you, Thom?" Ginny asked, yawning, and rapidly everything slipped back into place and they started talking again. Ginny smiled to herself as Thom gave her her butterbeer. Charlie was back with her now, she thought contentedly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. He was back.
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"Wow, two letters. I must be getting popular" Ginny murmured to herself as Errol dropped a letter on her head. He slumped against her glass of apple juice, some of his feathers floating in the green liquid. Ginny sighed and fed him some of her breakfast. He'd have to get himself up to the Owlery. Prodding him, he stood up on wobbly legs and spread his wings, flying through he window.
The letter was from her mother, she could tell by the writing. Opening it, she pulled out one of the shortest notes her mother had ever sent her.
//Dear Ginny,
Bill's changed his mind and is now coming to stay with us for Christmas. If you want to come home as well, we'd really love it Ginny dear. Send Errol with your reply, we won't worry if he's not here for a few days. Keep working hard.
Love, Mum//
"Oh Bill, now I'll have to go!" she muttered crossly, folding the letter up and shoving it in her bag. "If you weren't going I wouldn't feel I have to!"
Sighing, she was about to leave the table when she suddenly realised -
'Bill'll be bringing his girlfriend, I bet!' she thought to herself, and she raced back to the common room to reply to her mother that yes, she would be coming home for Christmas.
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"Bye Ginny, bye Ana, bye Sophie! See you after Christmas!" Lara and Lizzie yelled as the three girls made their way towards the Hogwarts express with their luggage. They waved back, piling onto the train with the other students. Finding an empty compartment, they dumped their bags on the seats and opened the window, leaning out and waving goodbye to the others as the whistle blew and the train pulled the station. As the station changed into snow covered fields and mountains, the girls sat back in their seats. Ana and Sophie began reading Witch Weekly, giggling like usual. Ginny just sat back and watched the scenery go by.
After about half an hour of sitting around doing nothing, she was getting pretty bored, and hungry, so she stood up and went in search of the food trolley. The compartments were all packed as she passed them. She ignored the happy noises inside them, feeling slightly deflated. She passed one where Ron was sitting with Hermione. A large, leather bound book was on Hermione's lap and she was reading quietly to herself. Ron was looking out of the window, his arm around Hermione's shoulders, fiddling with her hair. Ginny looked at them for a moment, before carrying on down the corridor.
They were in love. It had been so easy for the both of them, falling in love with their best friend. Like it was some sort of fairytale or something. Ginny couldn't deny the fact that she was jealous. Not of Ron or Hermione, but of the fact that they were in love. Ginny wanted to be in love too. But then again, Ginny didn't even know who she wanted to be in love with. Harry, Thom or even, perhaps...Draco?
She sighed. Life could be so complicated for a fifteen year old. Just then she bumped into somebody coming the other way down the corridor.
"God, do you have to bump into me *every* time you're going somewhere?" Draco cried angrily as Ginny tried to balance herself using the wall.
"No Malfoy, *I'm* just unlucky that it's *you* every time" Ginny replied, straightening her sweater.
Draco looked at her disdainfully.
"You really need to learn to *look*, Weasley. It might help you one of these days"
Ginny sighed, exasperated. "And maybe *you* should learn some manners, like, for instance, calling people by their first names?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, looking her up and down as she placed one hand on her hip in a stance of defiance.
"Me learn some manners? Well, if *I* learn some 'manners', why don't *you* learn not to be such a hypocrite?"
Ginny opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again. He had a point there, she thought reluctantly. She called him Malfoy permanently. Suddenly, she had an idea. A pretty crazy one at that.
"Alright," she replied. "From now on we will *both* call each other by our first names, even if we *really* don't feel like it. Deal?"
Draco thought for a moment, his head cocked to one side, before he straightened it and nodding.
"Deal. Is that okay for you, *Ginny*?" he said, putting extra emphasis on her name.
"Yes *Draco*, it *is*" she replied, putting the same emphasis on his. She paused for a second, then,
"I'm not shaking hands with you, you know"
"Neither am I"
And with that he pushed past her and carried on down the corridor. Ginny stared after him for a moment. Had she just made a deal with *Malfoy*? Ginny shook her head in disbelief. What was going on?
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A/N Ah ha, done! Yes, what *is* going on? I always seem to end with some D/G interaction, don't I? In fact *two* bits of D/G interaction! Lots of Draco in there, and lots of Thom too. He's a bit of a mystery isn't he? Do you like Thom, or do you hate him, or are you not sure? Btw, this chapter is set in late November, because Charlie died at the end of October, in case anyone was wandering. And Ginny's going to meet Bill's gf! Who will she be? Even I don't have a clue!
I got some more R/Hr in there too! They're like my little background couple. I won't have too much in there, but I'm having a bit.
I'm listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack at the moment (I know, I'm such a dork). Oh well, I love the songs in there, they're so cool! Music always helps me write. Anyway, they were the closest CDs! The instrumental (no. 1) on the second CD is very good to write to.
The mother ship has arrived back, by the way. No more house to myself. : ( Oh well, she's going to make me lovely curry, so I don't mind! That's not the only reason I love her of course. She's my mum!
Anyhow, you know what comes next! R&R pleez. It would make me very happy!
Thanks to my reviewers, you're all wonderful!
A/N Ah, chapter six is here! Give me a holiday and the house to myself for a couple of hours and Voila! I'm getting chapters out at five a millisecond. Well, not quite, but hey, it's pretty close!
This chapy I don't have much to ramble about, so once again you are free from listening to me rabbit on about nothing all day. Lucky you!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After a tiring and uneventful couple of weeks at school, the next Hogsmeade weekend had finally arrived, much to Ginny's delight.
Because it wasn't just school that was tiring.
Her love life was a bit of mess too.
Every time she saw Harry, her heart fluttered. Every time she saw Malfoy (much to her annoyance, of course), her heart fluttered. And now, every time she saw Thom, her heart fluttered. Thom had been so nice when he walked her back to the castle, not only taking her to the main entrance, but walking her most of the way back to her common room as well. He was funny, charming, delightful even, and it looked like he was actually interested in her. Boys were never interested in her. After the Chamber of Secrets, most people had kept their distance. Even four years later she was still a pretty unpopular girl, but now...She'd never even really met Thom before, but he was just so...nice. They had talked a lot in the two or so weeks after their first meeting, mostly in the library or outside in the chilly air. He had even said he wanted to take her to Hogsmeade with him the next time the trip was on. Imagine that, Ginny Weasley being taken to Hogsmeade by a *boy*! She was over the moon, to say the least.
He met her in the entrance hall, smiling and holding out his arm as she greeted him. She thought fleetingly about what the other girls would say if they could see her now. When she had said she couldn't go to Hogsmeade with them they had immediately asked why, but she wouldn't tell them, wanting to keep her friendship with Thom a secret from them for the moment.
They arrived at Hogsmeade in good spirits, surrounded by the other students as they all walked down the main street. Kids were disappearing into shops this way and that, and soon Thom and Ginny did the same, popping into Zonko's for some Sugar Quills for Thom and then into the Post Office so Ginny could send a letter to Bill.
"Hey Ginny," Thom said as they stopped outside Madam Malkins. "What'd you want for Christmas?"
"Christmas?" Ginny replied, her face pressed up against the glass as she gazed at a beautiful display of dress robes. "I haven't even thought about Christmas yet..."
"Well, I think I know what you want already..." Thom replied, opening the door of Madam Malkins and pushing her in.
Rows and rows of dress robes stared back at them, all in different colours. There was a desk at the back of the shop and a young and spotty assistant leaning against the wall, asleep.
Ginny wondered up and down the racks of dress robes quietly, reaching out a hand here and there to touch the smooth materials. Silk, velvet, taffeta...so many wonderful robes caught her eye, all in so many colours. Thom walked behind her, and she could see him smiling from the corner of her eye.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked playfully, looking at the price tag on a robe and taking a sharp breath.
"Oh, nothing...," Thom replied impishly. "I was just thinking about what a fifteen year old girl would like for Christmas, that's all..."
"Oh Thom, you *are* terrible. You've only known me for a couple of weeks"
"So?"
Ginny sighed, a smile on her face.
"So, why would you want to get lil' ol' me something, huh?"
"Because," Thom said, pulling a robe off the rack and holding it up against her. "I do"
"Oh really," Ginny answered, putting the robe back on the rail. She was walking backwards now, matching Thom's speed. "And do you think I'm going to get something for you?"
"Of course you are Gin"
Ginny nodded her head, grinning.
"Yes, you're absolutely right"
"I thought so"
Just then the bell above the doorway rang, and two people came in. They were Hogwarts students; a boy and girl.
"...Oh, and I was thinking about silk, maybe with a bit of velvet, but definitely *no* lace, that is so last century..."
Ginny groaned. Pansy Parkinson had just made an appearance; this was bad news. So, if Pansy Parkinson was in Madam Malkins with a boy, that meant...oh, great.
"Malfoy"
Draco looked at Thom with disdain, but nodded in recognition anyway. Thom was a half-blood.
"Walker"
Thom nodded and turned back to Ginny, but Malfoy carried on speaking. The 'conversation' clearly wasn't over.
"Consorting with a Weasley? I didn't think she was your type"
Thom frowned in annoyance. He turned back to Malfoy, and Ginny could see his hands were clenched under his sleeves.
"Yes, I am *talking* to *Ginny*. Got a problem with that?"
"Oh no," Draco replied. "She seems eager to be in your presence as well. Taken a fancy to him, have you? Or are you still pining after Potty?"
Ginny could feel her face redden with anger. Why was it that whenever she was around somebody she 'liked', she went red?
"You'd do well to shut up Malfoy. It might teach you something one of these days"
But he was ready for the quick comeback now, and he grabbed her arm, holding her up to him as if examining her.
"Still as feisty as...well, not quite ever, but anyway...what is it that makes a piece of filth like you so...spirited?"
But Ginny wasn't concentrating on what Malfoy was saying. She was looking at his eyes. They told a very different story to the one his mouth was telling. His eyes, in their grey coldness, seemed to be filled with...Ginny couldn't seem to find the right word for it. Hunger...longing, perhaps? As if he wanted something and it was *so* close and yet just out of arms reach. It scared her, and it fascinated her. What was he looking for? What was it that made his eyes seem almost...human?
"Not going to answer me Weasley?" Malfoy said, breaking through the fog of her brain, but Ginny sensed a slight waver in his voice, and knew she had seen what he was trying to keep a secret...maybe even from himself?
"No...no, I'm not" Ginny replied, pulling his arm from his grasp, almost in what felt like slow motion. She backed over to where Thom was standing.
"Get out of here Malfoy, and take Parkinson with you. She can come back another day"
Thom's voice sounded so strong and protective that Ginny almost wanted to melt into it. Malfoy, sensing that Thom wasn't going to just back off without an argument, pulled on Pansy's arm and left, dragging her out of the shop like he was trying to drag a ten tonne elephant instead of a whining girl.
"You alright Gin?" Thom asked, shaking her slightly.
"Yeah, I'm fine...I just *hate* running into Malfoy, that's all" she replied.
Thom nodded in understanding, but Ginny doubted he really understood the reason. He pulled Ginny into him in a hug. It was the first time she had ever hugged Thom, and she leant against him gratefully, sighing into his scarf.
"Tell you what," he said, and Ginny could feel his chest vibrating as he talked. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks and have a butterbeer"
Ginny pulled back from Thom's embrace and smiled.
"Yeah, let's"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The pub was warm and cosy, and Ginny went on a mission to find a table whilst Thom bought the butterbeers. She chose one by a window, a little booth, with a model Guy Fawkes standing next to it. November the fifth had been a couple of weeks ago, but somebody had obviously forgotten to take this model down. Even though it was mostly a muggle festivity, lots of wizard families like to celebrate it too. Ginny's family was one of them. Her father would always use some of those Filibuster fireworks that Fred and George loved so much. Outside in the garden in the cool November air, wrapped in layers and layers of thick wool, Ginny always loved to stand with Bill and Charlie and watch as the fireworks would -
'Charlie'
She suddenly realised, to her absolute horror and shock, that she hadn't thought about Charlie nearly all day. Usually he was always there, in the back of her mind, like a comfort blanket making her feel better, just like her necklace did. She reached up to it now, unconsciously fiddling with it as she stared into space vacantly, thinking about her brother. She felt guilty, as if she was forgetting him. It had now been, what, five weeks since she had 'heard' about his...
Pain flared up in her chest. She wasn't ready to forget, she didn't *want* to forget...she *couldn't* forget. She couldn't betray Charlie like that. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, making a solitary path down her cheek.
"Ginny? Are you alright?"
It was Thom, back with the butterbeers. Ginny looked up and nodded, patting the seat beside her. Thom sat down and put the beers on the table, looking a bit worried.
"Are you sure Gin? I don't think so. Is it Malfoy or something?"
Ginny shook her head, still staring at nothing, a faraway look in her eyes.
"I was thinking about Charlie..."
"Oh," Thom replied. She had explained what had happened to Thom already, about how Charlie had been one of the first casualties of the war. "Do you want to...talk or anything?"
Ginny nodded, tearing her eyes away from what she had alone been seeing and looking up at Thom. The pain in her eyes almost scared him. She leant against the back of the seat and fiddled with her necklace again, struggling to get the right words at first, but becoming more fluent as she went along.
"It's almost like it happened...years ago, not last month. Only a month...it seems like a lifetime's passed in the time it's taken to get to this moment. Someone else's lifetime, not mine.
"Pain's strange...Everyday you feel like you're getting there, feel that you're getting a little better, but you're not. You're just putting on a face, and even you think it's real.
"And then today I realised...I realised that I hadn't been thinking about him. Usually, usually he's up here" she said, tapping a finger on her temple. "Looking after me, always there. But today...today I wasn't really thinking about him. And it felt...it felt okay. But not now"
Thom stayed silent for a moment, before putting his arm around her and hugging her affectionately. Ginny leant against his shoulder, both of them in silence. They stayed like that for a while, before Ginny, feeling like she had just woken from a long sleep, yawned and stretched. Thom did the same.
"Pass me my butterbeer will you, Thom?" Ginny asked, yawning, and rapidly everything slipped back into place and they started talking again. Ginny smiled to herself as Thom gave her her butterbeer. Charlie was back with her now, she thought contentedly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. He was back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Wow, two letters. I must be getting popular" Ginny murmured to herself as Errol dropped a letter on her head. He slumped against her glass of apple juice, some of his feathers floating in the green liquid. Ginny sighed and fed him some of her breakfast. He'd have to get himself up to the Owlery. Prodding him, he stood up on wobbly legs and spread his wings, flying through he window.
The letter was from her mother, she could tell by the writing. Opening it, she pulled out one of the shortest notes her mother had ever sent her.
//Dear Ginny,
Bill's changed his mind and is now coming to stay with us for Christmas. If you want to come home as well, we'd really love it Ginny dear. Send Errol with your reply, we won't worry if he's not here for a few days. Keep working hard.
Love, Mum//
"Oh Bill, now I'll have to go!" she muttered crossly, folding the letter up and shoving it in her bag. "If you weren't going I wouldn't feel I have to!"
Sighing, she was about to leave the table when she suddenly realised -
'Bill'll be bringing his girlfriend, I bet!' she thought to herself, and she raced back to the common room to reply to her mother that yes, she would be coming home for Christmas.
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"Bye Ginny, bye Ana, bye Sophie! See you after Christmas!" Lara and Lizzie yelled as the three girls made their way towards the Hogwarts express with their luggage. They waved back, piling onto the train with the other students. Finding an empty compartment, they dumped their bags on the seats and opened the window, leaning out and waving goodbye to the others as the whistle blew and the train pulled the station. As the station changed into snow covered fields and mountains, the girls sat back in their seats. Ana and Sophie began reading Witch Weekly, giggling like usual. Ginny just sat back and watched the scenery go by.
After about half an hour of sitting around doing nothing, she was getting pretty bored, and hungry, so she stood up and went in search of the food trolley. The compartments were all packed as she passed them. She ignored the happy noises inside them, feeling slightly deflated. She passed one where Ron was sitting with Hermione. A large, leather bound book was on Hermione's lap and she was reading quietly to herself. Ron was looking out of the window, his arm around Hermione's shoulders, fiddling with her hair. Ginny looked at them for a moment, before carrying on down the corridor.
They were in love. It had been so easy for the both of them, falling in love with their best friend. Like it was some sort of fairytale or something. Ginny couldn't deny the fact that she was jealous. Not of Ron or Hermione, but of the fact that they were in love. Ginny wanted to be in love too. But then again, Ginny didn't even know who she wanted to be in love with. Harry, Thom or even, perhaps...Draco?
She sighed. Life could be so complicated for a fifteen year old. Just then she bumped into somebody coming the other way down the corridor.
"God, do you have to bump into me *every* time you're going somewhere?" Draco cried angrily as Ginny tried to balance herself using the wall.
"No Malfoy, *I'm* just unlucky that it's *you* every time" Ginny replied, straightening her sweater.
Draco looked at her disdainfully.
"You really need to learn to *look*, Weasley. It might help you one of these days"
Ginny sighed, exasperated. "And maybe *you* should learn some manners, like, for instance, calling people by their first names?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, looking her up and down as she placed one hand on her hip in a stance of defiance.
"Me learn some manners? Well, if *I* learn some 'manners', why don't *you* learn not to be such a hypocrite?"
Ginny opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again. He had a point there, she thought reluctantly. She called him Malfoy permanently. Suddenly, she had an idea. A pretty crazy one at that.
"Alright," she replied. "From now on we will *both* call each other by our first names, even if we *really* don't feel like it. Deal?"
Draco thought for a moment, his head cocked to one side, before he straightened it and nodding.
"Deal. Is that okay for you, *Ginny*?" he said, putting extra emphasis on her name.
"Yes *Draco*, it *is*" she replied, putting the same emphasis on his. She paused for a second, then,
"I'm not shaking hands with you, you know"
"Neither am I"
And with that he pushed past her and carried on down the corridor. Ginny stared after him for a moment. Had she just made a deal with *Malfoy*? Ginny shook her head in disbelief. What was going on?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N Ah ha, done! Yes, what *is* going on? I always seem to end with some D/G interaction, don't I? In fact *two* bits of D/G interaction! Lots of Draco in there, and lots of Thom too. He's a bit of a mystery isn't he? Do you like Thom, or do you hate him, or are you not sure? Btw, this chapter is set in late November, because Charlie died at the end of October, in case anyone was wandering. And Ginny's going to meet Bill's gf! Who will she be? Even I don't have a clue!
I got some more R/Hr in there too! They're like my little background couple. I won't have too much in there, but I'm having a bit.
I'm listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack at the moment (I know, I'm such a dork). Oh well, I love the songs in there, they're so cool! Music always helps me write. Anyway, they were the closest CDs! The instrumental (no. 1) on the second CD is very good to write to.
The mother ship has arrived back, by the way. No more house to myself. : ( Oh well, she's going to make me lovely curry, so I don't mind! That's not the only reason I love her of course. She's my mum!
Anyhow, you know what comes next! R&R pleez. It would make me very happy!
Thanks to my reviewers, you're all wonderful!