Author Note: coughs Seriously. I don't intend to be a pervert! coughs It's just that Mousey is damn fine to perve at. coughs Anyway! I don't know if this chapter can be called good. I have to confess that I myself cried while writing this chapter (sounds cliché); it was extremely hard to write it all down… Okay! Let's get started.
Disclaimer: Almighty JK Rowling vs just me. C'mon… What have I got against her? Characters borrowed so far: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Colin Creveey, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Tonks, Sloper and Kirke, Alastor Moody umm… and oh yeah! Voldemort (I recommend calling him Voldie, it just sounds sooo cute). Other characters appeared out of thin air (a.k.a. nowhere a.k.a. nothing a.k.a. me brain).
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Half an hour later, I found myself facing the Fat Lady Portrait. I was hesitating as to enter the Common Room and gamble with the odds that Harry might still be sitting around, or to stay behind and camp overnight in front of the portrait, risking detention from Filch. Hmm, I wonder… Would it be Scarhead or Cat-loving Squib? I chose Potter.
Much to my delight, I didn't see Harry lingering around in his favourite armchair in front of the fire; I spied Hermione instead. She looked very serious reading important-looking parchments that were carelessly scattered on the table in front of her. I didn't think that she would mind having someone to help her with her reading, so I came to sit on the floor next to the table.
"Hey, Hermione!"
She looked startled at my arrival. Great! My ability to walk around unnoticed has definitely improved! It is very important not to make any noises if I wanted to prank the twins successfully. I still can't forgive them for successfully blocking my Bat Bogey Hex when all I am doing was spending endless hours perfecting it.
"What are those?" I nudged towards the mess on the table.
"Prefect reports." She frowned, "I thought teachers would give that sort of responsibility to people with at least the ability to write a comprehensible sentence."
"Not necessarily," I quickly interrupted.
She looked over at me, "What do you mean?"
I grinned, "One word – Ron."
She chuckled, "Oh yeah, I suppose you've got a point there."
She resumed reading the report she was holding. Five minutes later, she gave up and threw a disgusted look at it, "This person has the same brain capacity as a mountain troll." She passed the report to me, "Read it."
I glanced to the top of the fairly long report. It read: 'Prefekt Repoat - Munth Orgust by Riley Roland (Yer 5, Revanclau)' in a writing that could easily pass as of a seventh-year-old kid.
I chuckled, "Seems that the Sorting Hat needs a new brain."
"He hasn't got any," Hermione replied.
I laughed dryly at her remark. I tossed the parchment I was holding over to the direction of the mess on the table. I could see from the corner of my eye that Hermione leaned back on her chair, looking very comfortable, although you could see clearly that her gaze was sharp as ever. I put my I'm-serious-you've-got-to-listen look and turned to her.
"Something happened, didn't it?" she asked when I was halfway opening my mouth.
I was surprised. How does it that she knows everything!
"Guess," was my only reply.
"Well," she began, "You had another Quidditch practice this evening, didn't you?"
I nodded.
"Ron came in at around an hour ago, looking very sweaty and – I have to say this – he was radiating a very distinguished odour. Naturally, he wanted me to help with homework but I had to shoo him away, 'cause I swear his smell could knock me all the way to Antarctica. So anyway, I'm guessing that the practice finished then."
I nodded again, admiring her ability to evaluate a situation in detail.
"Then, at about twenty minutes ago, Harry came in looking all dreamy – could almost pass as Luna's fraternal twin (I had to comment at that remark, "What? The blonde and the scarhead? You've got to be kidding!") – and he went straight upstairs without even once glancing my way or any directions for that matter. And that is saying something, seeing that we have two-foot Transfiguration and Potions essays due tomorrow."
Gee… She is good… I blinked at her; I could feel that my face grew warm. She smirked meaningfully at me. Honestly. I didn't even know if she could smirk before. Bloody Ron is poisoning her.
"Fifteen minutes later, you came in through that portrait hole looking very nervous and jumpy." At my confused look she said, "You didn't think that I could observe so much with that lot of rubbish around, did you?" she pointed at the pile of parchments.
I couldn't fight back a grin, "You sly kid, you!"
She sent a dignified smile at me, "Why, thank you."
I rolled my eyes for what must be the thousandth time that evening.
"So, what happened between you two?" she promptly asked.
I wasn't sure if I should tell Hermione about the most recent incident. After all, it was a kind of private matter for me. So, I decided to ask her something that I thought was very fundamental.
"Has Harry always been vague to you?"
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I know that he is always vague to me, used to be anyway since he used to never tell me anything. But it's better now that he tells me stuff -"
She cut me off, looking very confused, "What does him being vague have got to do with whatever happened tonight?"
I was unsure if I should tell her the incident in detail.
"He – well, he," I started, making unnecessary gestures, "he kissed me. Again. Without explanation."
To my surprise, she looked somehow delighted. I didn't think it was normal for her to be curious to know what sort of damage her best-friend-almost-like-brother has done to me.
"Umm…Hermione? Shouldn't you be, well, umm… dis – disgusted?"
Her eyes widened, "Disgusted! Disgusted!? How dare you!"
She continued, "I," she pointed at herself, "Hermione Granger," she sighed, "has spent endless amount of hours trying to convince him that you," pointing at me, "is the only person whom he," nudging her head towards the boys' dorm staircase, "should tie his heart to."
"Err – tie his heart to?" I asked, unsure of the exact meaning of her expression. She ignored me.
"Now after all my efforts seem to be paid off, you tell me that I should be disgusted?" she asked testily.
"Well, shouldn't you be?" I replied innocently.
"Ho ho," she laughed dryly. "No."
She confuses me sometimes.
"So anyway, what are you going to do about Harry?" she asked.
I shrugged, "To be truthful, I still don't even know what I personally think about him nowadays. When he used to not talking to me, I was sure that the feeling that I felt was hero-worship thing; nothing more than a crush. Now…"
I was at loss of words. Now that we are friends, I think of him as – well – as a friend. I enjoy the attention that he gives me; I value the trust that he has on me – he confided the whole matter concerning the prophecy to me.
It seemed to me then, that all the previous infatuation I had of him had suddenly disappeared, and is being replaced with something else. But of what exactly this something is, is a matter that I have yet to explore.
Hermione was studying my expressionless face with great interest.
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Colin had just told me at breakfast to forget his earlier date invitation and that he would like to go with me and my friends. Seriously, that lad has got to have some nerves.
But, his decision to tag along with us made me register something that I couldn't figure out before: Dennis doesn't tag along with Colin anymore. I wondered if there had been any fights between them…
Just as I was about to open my mouth to politely ask the reason of the strange occurrence, I caught the sight of the Front Gate that made my jaw dropped.
It seemed that almost every single student who has a parental consent to visit Hogsmeade went to Hogsmeade today. Ah, yes. Dumbledore had mentioned that this visit might be the only visit this year, due to the persistent looming threat from Death Eater.
So, naturally, all carriages were packed.
After a long and exhausting deadly battle against the rest of the aggressive students, I found myself sharing a carriage with Luna, Colin, Erika (she was practically begging me to help her with clothes shopping), and Neville (no surprise there; I have always suspected that he has a thing for Luna ever since they met. It's so cute!).
As was expected, Aurors were seen around Hogsmeade. I was hoping I would run into any Aurors I know (like Tonks, for example) but all I could see were fierce-looking Aurors that I didn't even dare to greet. Geez… what is wrong with those people? The Aurors were scanning through the passing carriages with an accusing look in their eyes as if they were hoping that each and every single student was Death Eater in disguise. With that kind of look, you would expect that Voldemort would suddenly jump on you from the corner and say 'boo!'.
We got off the carriage a few blocks down the High Street. It was very windy and all I wanted was to sit around in Three Broomstick, doing nothing. I wasn't that lucky, though. At the very moment I stepped out of the carriage, Erika pulled my hand and dragged me along behind her, to go straight to each and every single clothing shop in Hogsmeade.
Needless to say, different flashes of colours and glimpses of figures that I could hardly make out fazed me and I got my first struck of headache of the day then and there.
After twenty-three shops later, trolleys of clothes and swollen feet, Erika decided that it was time for lunch. She, of course, had ignored my previous complaints during the last five hours in order to find 'the perfect robe'.
I was standing at the doorway of WTeen '00, eager to leave for a bottle of Butterbeer across the road, when I saw Harry. And not with the usual gank; he was with Parvati. They were about to enter Madam Puddifoot's that was located right next door.
I turned around in a rush, mentally re-focusing my destination back inside the store. Unfortunately, I bumped into Erika, who was standing right behind me all those time, knocking over what must have been around fifty shopping bags she charmed to trail us around.
"Ouch, Ginny!" Erika said, rubbing her temple where I had knocked her earlier – we are just about the same height. "Since when did you start liking shopping?" she asked, plainly confused of my abnormal trait.
As luck would have it, Parvati had located the source of commotion – knocking over fifty shopping bags wasn't a quiet job – and waved at us, before I could bury myself underneath the mess.
"Are you alright?" she yelled out.
Erika's eyes travelled to the couple and at me, who at that very moment attempted to hide behind a random leaflet I found lying around – back and forth; comprehension dawned in her face.
She quickly piped up, "Oh yeah! We're okay. We were just – umm – going to – umm – claim for a refund 'cause – umm – I just changed my mind. Yeah!" She added a lopsided grin to stress her point.
I had to resist the urge to smack her head for coming with such a lame excuse.
"Oh, okay then," Parvati replied, unsure, and waved good-bye at us.
Harry, on the other hand, smiled grimly at me before quickly turning away to open the café door for Parvati. I had no idea of what made him do that. Now that I think about it, it might be that I caught him hanging around within the radius of five metres around the overly-girly café.
I cast a Shrinking Charm on Erika's shopping bags before entering the Three Broomstick; we didn't want Madam Rosmerta to start yelling at us. It was lucky that Neville, Colin, and Luna saved some seats for us because that place was overly packed even more than usual.
"Life's suck!" I slammed the table after my first gulp of Butterbeer.
The other four people I shared my table with looked at me wearily.
"Umm… You know… I – I mean with You-Know-Who looming around," I explained myself.
There were nods and murmurs of grim agreement.
"Yeah… You know what? I hope the war would end quickly, and then we could get on with our lives." Erika paused, "Not that I think a lot of people would easily be able to forget all the deaths and crap stuff that have happened."
Her remark was accompanied by thoughtful silence, contrasting the loud noises that come from all corners of the room.
"I'm telling you," Luna broke unexpectedly, "the Ministry should have approved my Dad's request to recruit an army of Spiked-Headed Hydroskunk cross-bred with Short-Snout Snorting Crumplesnack."
I exchanged glances with Colin who was raising his eyebrow in hope of some explanations. I looked at Neville; he was blushing furiously. Erika looked as if she was temporarily deaf and resumed to sipping her Butterbeer.
She continued with a serious expression on her face, "It is said that the odour that they produce is very effective against any practices of Dark Arts."
Erika choked at her Butterbeer. Colin was red in the face because of all the laughter that he had been holding. Neville was at a loss of how to react.
Yes, very effective indeed.
I grinned at Luna, "Thanks for letting me know, Luna. I'll make sure to tell Dad about that."
The atmosphere around the table became much lighter after that. I silently thanked Luna for her light remark, whether it was intended or not. While the other occupants of the table were engaged in a conversation, I looked out of the big front window. It seemed that the wind gust had become stronger; students and other people could be seen hurrying to find a nearby shelter.
Then suddenly, I saw Ron, Hermione, and (surprisingly) Harry walking across the window. They were entering the café. I felt someone nudging my arm, I turned.
"Look out, here comes your knight in the shining armour," Erika said with an obvious smirk on her face.
I frowned at her. But before I could defend myself properly, I was forced to move over to make room for the three aforementioned people.
"Hermione!" I exclaimed upon seeing that it was her who was shoving me in order to spare herself some space to sit.
"Sorry, Gin," she smiled apologetically, "there's no other seat anywhere else."
I forced myself to look grumpy.
"Well, you can always at least ask me first before taking a seat," I mumbled.
She looked at me studiously, "Is something wrong?"
I had to force myself not to jump on her, instead I spoke to her sternly, "You didn't tell me."
She looked confused at first, and then with a swift look at Harry, a comprehension dawned at her face.
"Ginny, look -", she began to explain.
I had to force myself not to look interested and ignored her. Hey, I had to show her that I was upset at her for not telling me!
I turned my head around so she was facing the back of my hair and joined the conversation held by the other half of the group. It was actually an interesting topic; they were discussing a plot against Professor Snape – which of course was highly unlikely never to be executed.
I knew that Snape is in our side (although I highly doubt it), but it doesn't mean that he doesn't deserved any special treatments for being a git. I proposed that he should be drowned in his own damned cauldron. That would be ironic.
Suddenly, I felt a pair of eyes watching me from the other side of the table. I didn't need to check to know to whom those pair of eyes belonged to. I took a deep breath, and as abruptly as I could, I cast a reproachful glance at Harry that I hoped to relay the anger and disgust that I felt deep inside. He looked away. I resumed my conversation with the others.
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"Ginny, we need to talk," Harry called out when I was making my way out of the horseless carriage; the others have run inside to avoid the heavy rain that was pouring down from the dark night sky.
At that moment, I felt my life had recently been decorated by constant déjà vu.
Erika waved from the other side of Front Gate – over where it was sheltered and dry. I ignored Harry and was about to catch up with Erika when I felt a hand grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" I gritted my teeth and shrugged his hand off my shoulder forcefully.
His expression was dark, yet unfathomable, "Listen, I need to explain about-"
"There's nothing to explain!" I cut him off.
I forced myself to look up at him, ignoring the painful throbs on my head, "Way to go, Mr. Vague." I realised that my voice shook with emotion, although I kept a straight pose and tried to send him one of my you'd-be-a-rotten-corpse-if-you-try-to-mess-around-with-me glare.
"What-", he stared at me, confusion was plainly radiated by his expression.
I stormed away from him as gracefully as I could, leaving him in the rain.
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Author Note: It seems that I tend to write a lot lately. It was really hard to capture the sense of betrayal that Ginny obviously felt upon seeing Harry together with Parvati. I owe you an explanation for that (I promise!). Anyway, I want to make some sort of agreement with you. I'm going to update as soon as I see 35 reviews – I just need to add some finishing touch for the next chapter. Oh yeah! If anyone wanted to send me any ideas for sub-plots, just send me an email. My email address is in my profile page.