"Ginny?" Hermione asked, timidly poking her head into the 5th year girls' dorm. She was very surprised when an ecstatic Virginia hugged her.
"Herm! He hugged me!" She let go, and danced around the room. "He hugged me, he hugged me, la, la, la, la, la, la." She sang. Hermione looked at her in astonishment.
"What have you been eating?" She asked bluntly.
"Harry hugged me!"
"Oh. That would explain a lot." She muttered under her breath. Virginia giggled, not even caring that Hermione thought she was a nutter. Then, Virginia stopped. A blissful look came over her face, and she giggled again,
"'Scuse me!" She said happily, and she bounced out of the room.
"Ron, have you seen my socks?" Harry asked, frowning.
"Nope," Ron was currently tossing everything out of his trunk. "Have you seen mine? My favourite Chudley Cannons socks are missing." Then, he smiled in relief. "Oh, thank god." He whispered.
"What?" Harry asked, hunting under his bed for his socks. All he came up with was the ugly old pair Uncle Vernon had given him. He made a face, and tossed them aside. "I don't believe it, they're all gone! Even the mismatched ones Dobby gave me this Christmas, last Christmas, and the Christmas before that!"
"Harry, relax. This is a very, very good thing." Ron said. Harry stared at Ron incredulously.
"What are you talking about? ALL MY SOCKS ARE GONE!!!"
"Yeah, I know, isn't it great?" Ron grinned.
"You're mad." Harry said decisively.
"Don't you get it? This means…Ginny's not mad anymore!"
"Virginia?" Harry said blankly, "What's she got to do with this?"
"She steals socks from the people she loves, and if she's stolen ours, it means she's forgiven us for earlier!" Harry nodded, but his mind had stopped working after 'She steals socks from people she loves.' For some reason, he didn't know what, that left a tingling sensation in his stomach.
"So, Ginny, did you have anything to do with he fact that both Ron and Harry had to borrow socks from Dean Thomas because theirs were missing?" Hermione asked, eyes twinkling. She was very much aware of Virginia's sock fetish. Virginia lifted the hem of her robes, to show a pair of mismatched socks, one with a pattern of brooms, the other with a pattern of snitches on it. They were quite worn, as if old, but clean. She giggled.
"You know me too well, 'Mione." She said, snickering. Hermione giggled as well.
"You're really mean. Poor Harry."
"What about poor Ron?" Virginia teased.
"Oh, him." Hermione's face hardened. "I'm not happy with him at the moment, I never understood why we had to keep all this from you." Virginia smiled.
"Herm, I'm sorry that I ignored you earlier," She began, but Hermione stopped her.
"No, it's my fault, I should have told you anyway, not gone along with what the guys said. You were right, you had a right to know about what was happening to your friends and family." Virginia hugged her,
"Thanks, Herm, that was sweet." She said softly. "I've gotta go." She finished her lunch, and got up from the table, slipping out. Little did she realise; a pair of bespectacled emerald eyes were watching her intently.
"Merlin's Beard, Harry, just go talk to her!" Ron exclaimed, causing Harry to look up, startled.
"What? Talk to who?" He asked, frowning. Hermione, who was sitting next to Ron, piped up,
"Talk to whom." She corrected him. "And Ginny. We saw your eyes follow her out. If you like her that much, employ the Gryffindor courage, and tell her."
"I can't!" Harry moaned, thumping his head down on the table. "I know that she's gotten over her crush."
"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked, brow furrowed as she read over Ron's History of Magic essay (When, where, and why did the Selkie Rebellion take place?)
"Because she's completely enamoured with this guy that she's dreaming about. I heard her telling Tabitha Nichols."
"Enamoured, I'm impressed, been reading the dictionary, have you, Potter?" A cold voice sneered. Harry turned around, and glared at Malfoy.
"At least I spend my time doing something useful, Malfoy." He spat. Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"Reading the dictionary? Useful? Surely you can spend your time more productively than that."
"With what? Unlike you, he doesn't need to practice holding his broom right. Nor does he need to count his money, to check some warlock in a dark alleyway hasn't swindled him. Here's your book, 'Mione." Virginia had come up behind them, and she was carrying a thick book on curses. She grinned wickedly, "I found the one that turns you into a walrus with purple nose hair especially funny." Harry snorted at the look on Malfoy's face, and he smirked, as Malfoy hurried away.
"Brilliant, Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. Virginia smiled.
"Please, Ron, call me Virginia. I don't think I need to keep on telling you." She said lightly. "Ack, I've really got to go this time. I'm supposed to be making an enticing potion, so the fomhoire'll come to my next COMC class." She sighed. "Abby was supposed to help, but she got detention with McGonagall, and now I'm going to have to do it by myself."
"I'll help." Harry volunteered quickly.
"Ok, then, Harry." Virginia agreed. "Let's go."
Virginia shivered as the cold air of outside hit her, freezing her right down to her bones, even with her cloak on.
"Brr, it's cold out here." She commented, shivering. Harry nodded, and smiled at her.
"Yeah." He said, voice cracking slightly, and becoming a bit deeper. Virginia frowned, where had she heard that voice before? She shook it off, and continued walking. "So, what are the fomhoire, exactly? I don't think I've ever heard of them before."
"You should pay more attention in History of Magic, then." Virginia teased him, and felt her stomach flip over at the warm grin.
"With Binns? Unlikely." He replied. "So?"
"Ok, the fomhoire were the first types of faerie to ever inhabit Ireland, or, as they call it, Erin. They have four basic types, one for each element. They're really kind, but mischievous, and they absolutely love talking in riddles. They hate the people from Britain, or Briton, as it used to be called, because that's where the Tuatha De Dannan, who are the fair folk, or Elvin Faeries, came from, and they took over their land. So, yeah, they hate us, so we need a charm to get them to come out. Actually, they're more likely to come out if you're around, because you have the build and looks of one of the people of Erin, with your pale skin, dark hair, slender build, and green eyes." Virginia blushed, when she realised that the last word had come out as a sigh. Harry grinned down at her.
"Virginia," He began tentatively, then stopped, "Do you, er, know who it is who's your Dream guy?"
"No," Virginia began, "It's like-wait a sec, how do you even know about that?" Harry blushed Weasley red.
"I hear things." He mumbled.
"You've been eavesdropping on my conversations?!" Virginia gasped, "Harry James Potter-oh, mmm..." Harry cut her off with a kiss. She leaned into the kiss and pressed her body against his. She had to; she wouldn't have been able to stand otherwise. She gasped as his lips found the spot on her neck where her pulse was now pounding out of control. She felt his teeth graze an earlobe, then his mouth was devouring hers again. Her eyes widened, as she tasted his mouth, and recognised it as the taste out of her dreams! That realised, she threw herself into the kiss, and sighed in disappointment when it ended. Harry looks rather dazed. She thought mischievously, barely containing a giggle.
"Oh, wow..." He said.
"So, what was the question again?" She prompted. "It seems to have...slipped my mind."
"I can't remember." He said dazedly. Virginia grinned.
"Oh, really? I can. You asked me if I knew who my Dream lover was." Harry face fell suddenly.
"Oh, yeah." He said quietly, "All I know is that it's not me." He looked so sad, that Virginia couldn't help it. She kissed him softly, tenderly, trying to convey all of her love in that single brief caress. She wasn't sure that it had worked, but she knew that he was going to take some talking to, so he'd get off cloud nine.
"Harry, the Slytherins are calling Hermione a mudblood again." She said quickly. His face darkened.
"Where?" He growled, getting ready to leave. Virginia tugged him back gently.
"Relax, I doubt it, and besides, Ron'll take care of 'em. Harry, you are my dream lover."
"What?" Harry looked so astonished that Virginia couldn't help but burst into peals of delighted laughter.
"Yes, you are. You wanna know how I know?"
"How?" Harry asked. Virginia gave him a gentle, but searing kiss.
"That." She said. "I recognised the feeling of the kiss from my dreams."
"Oh." Harry nodded slightly. "Well, that's terrible!"
"What?" Virginia stumbled back, horrified. She felt her eyes fill with tears. She'd never thought that perhaps Harry wouldn't want her, especially not after those kisses.
"Yes, absolutely horrible. It's not fair!" Virginia cocked her head to one side, unsure of what he was saying. "You've kissed me more times than I've kissed you, unfair!" He pouted, and stamped his foot. Virginia giggled, and hugged him tightly.
"That can be remedied." She whispered, the smell of him sending shivers down her spine.
"Good." He growled, before dragging her off to a convenient broom closet.
THE END.