" Amanda, she was so great. She talked so freely. I feel as if I have known
her for years."
" Ginny, you have been going on about her for half an hour now. Please let me finish the arithmancy homework. I am going to be so screwed up if I don't. Look, there is Neville. Go talk to him. He looks lonely." Said Amanda in a tone of boredom.
Ginny turned around. Neville was sitting on one of the chairs near the fire. He was wearing a long face. Ginny immediately went up to him.
"Hi Neville. How's life?" asked Ginny, sitting on the chair opposite him.
"Not too good, Gin. I just got an owl. Gram's sick and I won't be able to go home for the holidays. This just really sucks."
"Hey, we are here for you. Ron and Harry will keep you company and so will I. Hermione will be coming back in 2 weeks and so will lavender and Parvati."
" I guess." Said Neville with a soft sigh. " Excuse me gin, I have to do my potions homework. We have to research on invisibility potions. Want to come with me to the library?" he said in a hopeful voice.
"Sure" she said. She had to do some research herself. She had been lagging behind in her project.
A little while later...
Ginny sat poring over one of the diary of Randolph Rampant. It didn't seem to make sense. They weren't Latin or English or any part of any wizard language. Draco who had been with her for over an hour, had checked with the librarian. They had tried the reading it from the normal way, i.e. right to light, they had even tried the Arabic way of right to left and the Chinese columns. However nothing seem to make sense.
" It looks more like a number of letters of the English language just written for the sake of writing them," said Ginny getting expatriated.
"Yeah, maybe he wanted to practice his handwriting." Said Draco sarcastically. " Look, I am trying okay. You never know." said Ginny getting slightly annoyed.
They went back to poring over the books. Draco began to look for a pattern. To his surprise, he saw a small arrow pointing in a different direction in the center of each page. He became excited. Crossing out the other entries in his notebook, he started on a fresh page. He wrote down the letter that came immediately after the arrow and then the letters following it. After he finished the sentence, he glanced and read it out softly; still not able to believe he had cracked the code, which had tormented millions of great scientists all over the world. "The first day: I have no idea what to start with. Everything seems so new, so exciting. The students are eager to learn, bless their minds. Except for young first years, they are a little skittish in class. But that is expected of them." Draco read out from the book.
Ginny jumped. " What" she asked. " I did it. I cracked the code." Said Draco not a trace of emotion in his voice. He was never good at sharing his thoughts with people, and he did not want to act immature by screaming or acting like a six-year old.
He could see Ginny was trying to keep her cool. He had cracked the code, read out a few lines and now was acting perfectly cool about it. As if he had done nothing great. He knew she did not like that.
He expected her to blow. Instead she took the paper and began reading it in silence, translating in her mind. " This must be from when he had started teaching. Go further and start translating. I will start translating from page 8 you do it from page 16." Said Ginny
"Why don't we do one page at a time." Said Draco " that way, we can finish faster."
"Okay" said Ginny. They started from the top and finished the page within 10 minutes. There were some mistakes, but they decided that it was more or less okay.
Ginny began to feel hungry. She had not eaten anything since 3 o'clock and now it was nearing 8. She got up and began to pack her bag when she heard Draco call her back.
" Hey weasel, where do you think your going? As much as I despise your company I need to finish this project. So get your skinny ass back here."
"Forget it, Malfoy. I was here for quite some time. People get hungry, you know. I am hungry right now so don't test my patience." Said Ginny swinging her book bag on her shoulder.
"Weasel, get back here right now. You are starting to annoy me." Said Draco getting p and moving towards her.
He was now within 2 feet of her. Ginny pretended not to notice the distance between them and continued arguing like there was nothing wrong.
" You are a super spoiled brat. You can't get everything you want in life, you know."
"Shut up weasel. You don't know what you are talking about."
"Yes I do." Said Ginny gaining some courage from the fact that he was starting to get a little testy under the influence of what she was saying. " You think that just because you are a death eater you can get what ever you want, whenever you want. That is not. Ginny didn't get a chance to finish. Draco lost his temper and began shouting at her in a manner most unlike him.
" Shut up! You don't know what you are talking about. Just shut up. What I do is none of your business so keep your nose out."
Then suddenly he stopped. He looked at here as if he had just seen her. "Go." He said for of an order than anything else.
Ginny was too frightened to say anything. She slid behind him as silently as possible. Just as she reached the door, she turned around and saw Draco. He was sitting at the head of the table with his head in his hands. " Sorry" she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear her. She waited long enough to see the surprised expression on his face and then she left.
" Ginny, you have been going on about her for half an hour now. Please let me finish the arithmancy homework. I am going to be so screwed up if I don't. Look, there is Neville. Go talk to him. He looks lonely." Said Amanda in a tone of boredom.
Ginny turned around. Neville was sitting on one of the chairs near the fire. He was wearing a long face. Ginny immediately went up to him.
"Hi Neville. How's life?" asked Ginny, sitting on the chair opposite him.
"Not too good, Gin. I just got an owl. Gram's sick and I won't be able to go home for the holidays. This just really sucks."
"Hey, we are here for you. Ron and Harry will keep you company and so will I. Hermione will be coming back in 2 weeks and so will lavender and Parvati."
" I guess." Said Neville with a soft sigh. " Excuse me gin, I have to do my potions homework. We have to research on invisibility potions. Want to come with me to the library?" he said in a hopeful voice.
"Sure" she said. She had to do some research herself. She had been lagging behind in her project.
A little while later...
Ginny sat poring over one of the diary of Randolph Rampant. It didn't seem to make sense. They weren't Latin or English or any part of any wizard language. Draco who had been with her for over an hour, had checked with the librarian. They had tried the reading it from the normal way, i.e. right to light, they had even tried the Arabic way of right to left and the Chinese columns. However nothing seem to make sense.
" It looks more like a number of letters of the English language just written for the sake of writing them," said Ginny getting expatriated.
"Yeah, maybe he wanted to practice his handwriting." Said Draco sarcastically. " Look, I am trying okay. You never know." said Ginny getting slightly annoyed.
They went back to poring over the books. Draco began to look for a pattern. To his surprise, he saw a small arrow pointing in a different direction in the center of each page. He became excited. Crossing out the other entries in his notebook, he started on a fresh page. He wrote down the letter that came immediately after the arrow and then the letters following it. After he finished the sentence, he glanced and read it out softly; still not able to believe he had cracked the code, which had tormented millions of great scientists all over the world. "The first day: I have no idea what to start with. Everything seems so new, so exciting. The students are eager to learn, bless their minds. Except for young first years, they are a little skittish in class. But that is expected of them." Draco read out from the book.
Ginny jumped. " What" she asked. " I did it. I cracked the code." Said Draco not a trace of emotion in his voice. He was never good at sharing his thoughts with people, and he did not want to act immature by screaming or acting like a six-year old.
He could see Ginny was trying to keep her cool. He had cracked the code, read out a few lines and now was acting perfectly cool about it. As if he had done nothing great. He knew she did not like that.
He expected her to blow. Instead she took the paper and began reading it in silence, translating in her mind. " This must be from when he had started teaching. Go further and start translating. I will start translating from page 8 you do it from page 16." Said Ginny
"Why don't we do one page at a time." Said Draco " that way, we can finish faster."
"Okay" said Ginny. They started from the top and finished the page within 10 minutes. There were some mistakes, but they decided that it was more or less okay.
Ginny began to feel hungry. She had not eaten anything since 3 o'clock and now it was nearing 8. She got up and began to pack her bag when she heard Draco call her back.
" Hey weasel, where do you think your going? As much as I despise your company I need to finish this project. So get your skinny ass back here."
"Forget it, Malfoy. I was here for quite some time. People get hungry, you know. I am hungry right now so don't test my patience." Said Ginny swinging her book bag on her shoulder.
"Weasel, get back here right now. You are starting to annoy me." Said Draco getting p and moving towards her.
He was now within 2 feet of her. Ginny pretended not to notice the distance between them and continued arguing like there was nothing wrong.
" You are a super spoiled brat. You can't get everything you want in life, you know."
"Shut up weasel. You don't know what you are talking about."
"Yes I do." Said Ginny gaining some courage from the fact that he was starting to get a little testy under the influence of what she was saying. " You think that just because you are a death eater you can get what ever you want, whenever you want. That is not. Ginny didn't get a chance to finish. Draco lost his temper and began shouting at her in a manner most unlike him.
" Shut up! You don't know what you are talking about. Just shut up. What I do is none of your business so keep your nose out."
Then suddenly he stopped. He looked at here as if he had just seen her. "Go." He said for of an order than anything else.
Ginny was too frightened to say anything. She slid behind him as silently as possible. Just as she reached the door, she turned around and saw Draco. He was sitting at the head of the table with his head in his hands. " Sorry" she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear her. She waited long enough to see the surprised expression on his face and then she left.