that my body froze in bed
if I just listened to it
right outside the window
"Bye, Mum!" Ginny Weasley called into the kitchen.
"Have a nice day, Ginny!" Molly Weasley said, hurrying into the small sitting room to hug her daughter. Ginny returned the hug. She pulled out her wand, and Mrs. Weasley stepped back. With a loud crack, Ginny Apparated to her job in Diagon Alley. Mrs. Weasley sighed. Soon it would be time for her youngest child to leave the Burrow, where Ginny had been living with her parents since her graduation from Hogwarts two years earlier.
Ginny walked into Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions and immediately felt at home. Ginny had spent most of her time after graduation working, and now the small shop was the place where she felt most comfortable. At the Burrow, Ginny couldn't get away from the questions about her last two years at Hogwarts, but Madame Malkin never pressured Ginny about anything.
"You're early, Ginny dear!" Madame Malkin appeared in the door to the back room where supplies were kept.
"I was bored at home, and I thought that you might have something for me to do before you opened the shop," Ginny told her amiably.
"Of course, of course! It's the Christmas season, after all! Everyone wants new dress robes! Can you take inventory? I was dreadfully forgetful last night, and I didn't write down what threads I needed."
"I'd be happy to," Ginny replied, sliding past Madame Malkin into the back room. She shrugged out of her coat and set it down on a chair. Ginny picked up the parchment headed "Inventory" and a quill and set about counting spools of thread.
-Flashback-
Ginny lay in her bed, depressed. She was no longer the tiny, shy girl that she had been when she had started at Hogwarts, but she was still far from happy. To her, her hair was too frizzy- though in reality, it was a lovely cascade of auburn waves down her back-. She was too fat. True, she wasn't as skinny as some girls, but many of her male peers thought her shape was just right: she had curves, not angles.
Ginny had been noisy and rowdy when she was with her friends up until three weeks ago. That wasn't the real Ginny. That had been the Ginny that wanted to fit in. The real Ginny thought that the loud Ginny was obnoxious and annoying and was certain that everyone else thought so too. So, loud Ginny became the old Ginny again, the quiet one. Since then, everyone's interest in her had lessened, and she had found herself alone most of the time. To make everything worse, Ginny, having lost her endless source of dates and escorts, had fallen back on her old crush: Harry Potter. Of course, he was still Ron's best friend, and Harry would never even consider dating Ginny.
That was why Ginny was so depressed tonight. It was because she was alone. She had no one to talk to. She still had a few good friends, but not a best friend, and definitely not a boyfriend. She couldn't even talk to Ron. She especially couldn't talk to Ron. He would laugh at her.
It just wasn't fair.
-Back to the Present-
Ginny had been working in the back room for an hour when she heard Madame Malkin calling her. Thank you! I was about to die of boredom in there! Ginny thought as she hurried out of the storeroom.
"Ginny, would you mind assisting me out here? There really are too many people for me to help all of them!" Madame Malkin asked. Ginny sighed. People. At least it would be better than working in the back. Ginny nodded.
"You're a dear!" Madame Malkin gushed as she moved away to take the measurements of an elderly lady. Ginny stood awkwardly near the wall, waiting for someone to ask her for help choosing a color of fabric that went with his or her eyes or something trivial like that. Sure enough, when the elderly lady came back and Madame Malkin had moved on to someone else, the woman headed straight for Ginny.
"Excuse me, but do you think this print would flatter me?" Ginny considered the hideous Christmas tree print fabric.
"It would look fine, but this poinsettia print would look absolutely beautiful with your complexion," Ginny said politely. Green, red, and pasty white. The gray-haired woman looked at it.
"Oh, yes, I couldn't agree more!" Ginny walked slowly back to her spot near the wall.
The bell clanged as the door opened. Ginny looked up and saw a blond young man walk in. Oh no. Oh, dear Merlin, no! Ginny thought frantically, her heart speeding up. She suddenly wished that she was still taking inventory, no matter how boring that was. Because Draco Malfoy had seen her and was walking towards her.
"I need-" then his eyes widened, and he recognized her. She saw a flash of an emotion in his face, but then it was gone, and Draco continued in the same haughty voice. "I need some dress robes."
"Let me get my measuring tape," Ginny murmured, not looking at Draco.