Still not quite as many funnies, but still very plot-essential.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. I love that word. Whoever can find what it means first chooses which companion I will write for this: what Ron saw, Ginny and Hermione's inside story, or Snape's side.
In this chapter: Harry and Ginny talk, several people don't talk, and Harry pulls a Giles.
Love/Hate Relationship
Chapter Six: Encounters
The series of arguments left silence in its wake. Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other, Hermione and Ginny weren't speaking to each other, Ginny and Ron weren't, Ron and Harry weren't, and Harry kept trying to talk to Ginny, but she ignored him. She grew so tired of his attempts of communication, she sealed up the hole between the DADA and Arithmancy classrooms.
The night after the big fight, Ginny was to be found curled up in a secret loft at the top of the South Tower. The little coves were easily found if you knew where to look, or if your brothers were Fred and George Weasley. There were eight main ones, one at the top of each tower and one at the bottom. Ginny was fond of the South Tower Cove. It overlooked the lake and was the most comfortable of the eight, being not as cold or damp as the coves under the castle, not as hot as the North Tower Cove, and had a better view than the East and West Tower Coves. But another current advantage was its distance from Gryffindor Tower. She could do her homework without people pointing and whispering, and without Harry trying to talk to her.
She sighed and tossed her completed Arithmancy essay aside. She was out of excuses to hide. Flipping out her wand, she said, "Accio Broom!"
Her present for becoming a prefect, a Comet 360, soared through the trapdoor and onto her lap. She stroked her hands along the handle. The Comet 360 had all the speed and maneuverability of the Cleansweep 11, plus an Anti-Burglar Buzzer, inbuilt Warning Whistle, a Self-Straightening- Brush, inbuilt vibration control and anti-jinx varnish.
"A nice broom, that," said a casual voice.
Ginny stood up very quickly, and the broom rolled of her lap. Harry, sticking out of the trapdoor entrance from the waist up, caught it, and wriggled through the tiny hole.
"How do you get through that thing?" he asked conversationally.
"Please move," Ginny said quietly, looking down at the floor.
"No," Harry refused simply.
"Fine, then," Ginny replied coolly.
She calmly mounted her broom and kicked open the long window in the side of the tower. With a hard kickoff, the broom took her at least fifty feet into the air — and that was just from the window.
She steered the broom over the castle and towards a courtyard near the Great Hall. It was temporarily deserted, so there were no students to point and whisper. She tucked the broom under her arm and started off towards another one of the coves. To her utter fury, someone blocked her.
"How did — why won't — " she spluttered angrily, glaring fiercely at Harry.
He didn't move or answer. She tried to sidestep him and he blocked her again.
"MOVE!" she shouted.
"No! I want to know why you set all this up!"
"Didn't you learn enough from Hermione?"
"No!"
"FINE!" she yelled.
With an annoyed half-snarl, she plopped down onto a bench. Harry sat down next to her. Ginny took several deep breaths and began, her voice much calmer than it was a moment before.
"Hermione and Ron have been dating since Hermione's sixteenth birthday. I got an idea, and Hermione agreed to help me with it. She knew about the plan."
"What was the plan for, if Ron and Hermione were already going out?"
"Partly so I could have a laugh when you lost."
"Haha. So funny."
"It would have been!" Ginny said defensively, but her voice was softening. "The other part was to...well..."
"You wanted to get together with me."
"Don't say it like that! I felt like I would never have a chance with you if you hardly knew me. I thought that a plan like this would give me a laugh and it would help you know me better."
"It was a good plan," Harry admitted. "But Ginny, I — I — "
"You don't like me that way," Ginny said heavily. "I know."
"But I do know you a little better now. I would be glad to be your friend, if you would still let me."
"Why would you think I wouldn't?"
"To put it bluntly? I beat the stuffing out of your brother."
"Ron's a prat. He deserved it. I've half a mind to break his nose myself. Speaking of which, how long did it take Madame Pomfrey to mend that?"
"Six hours."
"Nice, Harry."
"Thank you."
"We'd better get back to the common room."
"Yeah."
Ginny tucked her broom under her arm and smiled faintly all the way up to the common room.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.
"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis," Ginny said in one breath.
"Who thinks of these passwords?" Harry asked amazedly, shaking his head.
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. I shouldn't have asked."
They climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. They went to sit on one of the couches by the fire and nearly sat on Ron and Hermione.
"They've made up," Ginny noted.
Harry took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt. "Yes, I am doing this so I won't see their excessive use of tongue."
"Men," Ginny sighed, shaking her head and starting up to her dorm.
She made sure that no one heard her crying that night.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. I love that word. Whoever can find what it means first chooses which companion I will write for this: what Ron saw, Ginny and Hermione's inside story, or Snape's side.
In this chapter: Harry and Ginny talk, several people don't talk, and Harry pulls a Giles.
Love/Hate Relationship
Chapter Six: Encounters
The series of arguments left silence in its wake. Ron and Hermione weren't speaking to each other, Hermione and Ginny weren't speaking to each other, Ginny and Ron weren't, Ron and Harry weren't, and Harry kept trying to talk to Ginny, but she ignored him. She grew so tired of his attempts of communication, she sealed up the hole between the DADA and Arithmancy classrooms.
The night after the big fight, Ginny was to be found curled up in a secret loft at the top of the South Tower. The little coves were easily found if you knew where to look, or if your brothers were Fred and George Weasley. There were eight main ones, one at the top of each tower and one at the bottom. Ginny was fond of the South Tower Cove. It overlooked the lake and was the most comfortable of the eight, being not as cold or damp as the coves under the castle, not as hot as the North Tower Cove, and had a better view than the East and West Tower Coves. But another current advantage was its distance from Gryffindor Tower. She could do her homework without people pointing and whispering, and without Harry trying to talk to her.
She sighed and tossed her completed Arithmancy essay aside. She was out of excuses to hide. Flipping out her wand, she said, "Accio Broom!"
Her present for becoming a prefect, a Comet 360, soared through the trapdoor and onto her lap. She stroked her hands along the handle. The Comet 360 had all the speed and maneuverability of the Cleansweep 11, plus an Anti-Burglar Buzzer, inbuilt Warning Whistle, a Self-Straightening- Brush, inbuilt vibration control and anti-jinx varnish.
"A nice broom, that," said a casual voice.
Ginny stood up very quickly, and the broom rolled of her lap. Harry, sticking out of the trapdoor entrance from the waist up, caught it, and wriggled through the tiny hole.
"How do you get through that thing?" he asked conversationally.
"Please move," Ginny said quietly, looking down at the floor.
"No," Harry refused simply.
"Fine, then," Ginny replied coolly.
She calmly mounted her broom and kicked open the long window in the side of the tower. With a hard kickoff, the broom took her at least fifty feet into the air — and that was just from the window.
She steered the broom over the castle and towards a courtyard near the Great Hall. It was temporarily deserted, so there were no students to point and whisper. She tucked the broom under her arm and started off towards another one of the coves. To her utter fury, someone blocked her.
"How did — why won't — " she spluttered angrily, glaring fiercely at Harry.
He didn't move or answer. She tried to sidestep him and he blocked her again.
"MOVE!" she shouted.
"No! I want to know why you set all this up!"
"Didn't you learn enough from Hermione?"
"No!"
"FINE!" she yelled.
With an annoyed half-snarl, she plopped down onto a bench. Harry sat down next to her. Ginny took several deep breaths and began, her voice much calmer than it was a moment before.
"Hermione and Ron have been dating since Hermione's sixteenth birthday. I got an idea, and Hermione agreed to help me with it. She knew about the plan."
"What was the plan for, if Ron and Hermione were already going out?"
"Partly so I could have a laugh when you lost."
"Haha. So funny."
"It would have been!" Ginny said defensively, but her voice was softening. "The other part was to...well..."
"You wanted to get together with me."
"Don't say it like that! I felt like I would never have a chance with you if you hardly knew me. I thought that a plan like this would give me a laugh and it would help you know me better."
"It was a good plan," Harry admitted. "But Ginny, I — I — "
"You don't like me that way," Ginny said heavily. "I know."
"But I do know you a little better now. I would be glad to be your friend, if you would still let me."
"Why would you think I wouldn't?"
"To put it bluntly? I beat the stuffing out of your brother."
"Ron's a prat. He deserved it. I've half a mind to break his nose myself. Speaking of which, how long did it take Madame Pomfrey to mend that?"
"Six hours."
"Nice, Harry."
"Thank you."
"We'd better get back to the common room."
"Yeah."
Ginny tucked her broom under her arm and smiled faintly all the way up to the common room.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.
"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis," Ginny said in one breath.
"Who thinks of these passwords?" Harry asked amazedly, shaking his head.
Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. I shouldn't have asked."
They climbed through the portrait hole and into the common room. They went to sit on one of the couches by the fire and nearly sat on Ron and Hermione.
"They've made up," Ginny noted.
Harry took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt. "Yes, I am doing this so I won't see their excessive use of tongue."
"Men," Ginny sighed, shaking her head and starting up to her dorm.
She made sure that no one heard her crying that night.
