*My Notes:*  I was reading the reviews last night, and I wanted to assure LiquidV that the candid comment I made about writing D/G was completely random and doesn't pertain to this story.  I believe in evil-till-the-endDraco, and that is how he will be portrayed in this fic.  However, I am always trying to challange myself with new ships I never have written before.  Perhaps one day you will see me publish a D/G...  But not now.  Femmeslash amuses me too much ^_~  Oh, and I haven't had time to sit down with my computer in a long time – endless apologies for a slow update :( Hopefully things will speed up after I finish this  PS:  Warning, Ginny gets a bit melodramatic...  Mwahaha!

*Chapter Ten:* /When You Come Home /

Harry yawned massively and gratefully dug into his dinner.  He speared a piece of pork roast and began slicing it into smaller bits with a knife.

"Good Quidditch practise, Harry?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"We all nearly fell off of our brooms when the rain started," he said.

"But that didn't stop Harry from catching the Snitch!" Ron added jovially.

Harry mumbled in a vain attempt to be modest and Hermione giggled at her friends.

"I could do without your inane chuckling, Granger," a voice cut in.

"I could do without your blockheadedness, Malfoy.  No one asked you to join the Gryffindor table," Hermione replied.  The filthy little prat!

"I could hear you across the room.  Can't a pureblood eat in peace these days?"  He paused.  "Besides, Potter and Weasley aren't great comedians – save your laughter for later.  It seems as though Hogwarts will get some real entertainment tonight."

"What, will you be prancing around in your girlfriends' flowery knickers?  It's an old act, Malfoy, and I'm beginning to become less and less amused at it."

Malfoy sneered, and although he knew he had been licked, he didn't let it faze him.  Let them laugh...They'll get theirs...

***

Ginny paced back and forth outside of the doors to the Great Hall.  She was shrouded in shadows and she wished she could stay there forever.  She didn't want to emerge from her hiding spot because she knew her short, neon green dress would change everyone's opinions of her, and Lavender's patented pink boa would only bring her closer and closer to being labeled a lady of the night or...  something...

This was dumb.  This was immature.  This was humiliating.  This was Malfoy's idea.

She kicked one of her sparkly purple platform shoes against a hard stone wall in aggravation, but when Malfoy's eyes sought her out and pinpointed her location with a superior 'go-ahead-ruin-your-life' look, Ginny took a step towards the hall.  The Master summoned and she came like a dog... Bound by her love for Hermione and the nightmares of the consequences of loving another woman, she could not fight. She quaked with defeat.  How difficult it is for one to aid the enemy.  How difficult it is for one to show weakness.

She muttered a spell, pointing her trusty wand to her throat – but it was like preparing her own poison.  Her wand was a spear poised and ready to drill into her heart and shake her bones until her soul escaped, moaning.

But still.  "Sonorus."

She stepped closer to the door and stood in the frame.  She shook a little bit.  Only a few heads turned, and only a little murmuring could be heard, but Ginny still trembled.  Why did she make herself do this?

Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth wide and sang, "What you want!"  She walked forward as calmly as she could, and almost smiled at all the confusion and disbelief she was raining down upon her fellow students.  "Baby I got.  What you need...Do you know I got it?  All I'm askin' is for a little respect when you come home..."  Her voice cut through the air as easily as a brick through a window.  But she was sweating under the bright lanterns' light and it was so stuffy inside.  If only she could be outside, sitting by the lake or under a tree – free from these gawking students!

"I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone.
Ain't gonna do you wrong 'cause I don't wanna.
All I'm askin' is for a little respect when you come home."

Ginny's adrenalin rush came to a halt when she heard some laughter, and some muffled "boos!"  She skipped over a few lines and came to the part she remembered the most vividly from listening to her father's records.

"Ooo, your kisses sweeter than honey.
And guess what?
So is my money.
All I want you to do for me is give it to me when you get home."

She sighed and looked around.  Her eyes, so close to welling up with tears, were a sure sign that she was finished.

But then...it might've begun at the Hufflepuff table.  Maybe Chantal was trying to apologize.  Or perhaps it started at the Gryffindor table.  Ron and Hermione and Harry – maybe they had instigated it.

The Hall was filled with applause.  All of the Slytherins were laughing cruelly, and Ravenclaw was still in sort of a stunned shock, but most of Hufflepuff and all of Gryffindor was cheering her on.  A few Second Year girls were singing "sock it to me, sock it to me!" – obviously muggle borns.

Ginny turned on her heel and ran back to her dormitory.  After taking off her platform shoes.

***

*My Notes…again:*  I'm here to credit all the lyrics of the song"Respect" to Aretha Franklin or whoever owns them.  Of course they are not mine.  And I want to apologize if I have done something wrong with my fic by including a song – it's not supposed to be taken too seriously.  But it's all part of my plot…  Which should have shown up by now, but if it hasn't, well, hang on for a bit longer. ^_~