Author Note: WHOA!! Three weeks! Oh my God! I seriously am sorry for the long update, but finally! I have to confess that I was actually slacking with the writing, especially with Christmas and New Year stuff. You know… My parents dragged me to meet other people and going away for weekends and stuff. It was good; gets me some time away from being depressed due to the fact that I was kind of locked up the whole December! Well, there was shopping and other things but anyway… What the hell am I talking about!!
This is what I want to say before you read this chapter: This chapter is written in present tense form. I had this chapter in mind, and in my original planning, it meant to be used as one of the earlier chapters. But then a lot of stuff came to my mind and this chapter got kind of pushed forward a few chapters because the story works that way. Anyway, I had this huge stalemate before I started writing this chapter and that's when I got slacked. But, hey! It's done now, isn't it? And that's what matters! So, what are you waiting for? Get started!
Thank you very much for all my wonderful reviewers for the words of encouragement! Special thanks for my faithful reviewers… Vicki told me that I actually forgot to mention the professor who caught them kissing. She guessed right; it was McGonagall. I actually mentioned that they went into Transfiguration classroom, so there you go!
Disclaimer: You know what I'm about to say! I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. I DO NOT INTEND TO MAKE ANY PROFIT FROM THIS STORY IN ANY FORM. There! I used all caps so you guys could see better!
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It is a snowy Wednesday morning. For the past two weeks, the weather has got quite rough. I have Herbology first up today. Sure, it won't be comfortable inside the Greenhouse with the foul smell of dung fertiliser, but at least it will be warm in there. That is the concept of a greenhouse, right?
I come down to the Great Hall, feeling refreshed and ready to tackle another day. I am one of the early-breakfasters, since I find myself woke up uncharacteristically early that morning. Judging by the sleepy, sour faces, it seems that few students who are already down eating either have unfinished homework and intend to finish it at the breakfast table, or have the problem of getting some sleep. I spot Neville sitting rather separately at the end of the table, quill in right hand slumped against a large piece of parchment, his left hand pouring a small jug filled with maple syrup that is dripping from his plate full of egg and sausages onto his robes, his head limp and his eyes are half-closed. I walk over to him and take a seat, planning to give him a wake-up call.
"Up, Neville!" I said brightly, gently smacking his left shoulder to wake him, "rise and shine…"
"HUH, WHA – WHA HAPPENED?!? WHERE'S THE CHICKEN?" he jumps up abruptly and looks around helplessly, too surprised to realise that he is in fact in the middle of the Great Hall, pointing his quill around randomly as if it was his wand. I can hear some people snickering; I, on the other hand, nearly fall off my seat due to too much laughing.
He rubs and blinks his eyes to get a better look at his surroundings; his gaze falls on a couple of Slytherins who was snickering and pointing at him, some mimicking his demeanour earlier with over exaggeration. He sits down; his face is burning with embarrassment. I feel slightly guilty.
"Sorry, Nevile…" I say apologetically, "Didn't mean to surprise you like that…"
He smiles shyly at me, "Well," he mutters, "it was kind of my fault for dozing off in the first place anyway."
"But still," I argue, not wanting him to take all the blame on himself, "I was kind of wrong to surprise you when you were still half-asleep…"
He grins sheepishly, setting aside his plate that was now resembled goo and taking a fresh one from opposite him.
"Never mind," he says, helping himself to a generous amount of hash brown and hot cakes.
"Okay…" I shrug. "So, how're things?"
He swallows a spoonful of hot cakes, "Good, good!"
I am glad to hear it, "Oh, that's wonderful, isn't it?"
"Yeah," he mumbles – his mouth is full with food, "how about you?"
I hesitate telling him the truth. If I told him the truth he probably would want to help. And if he wanted to help, that means I have to tell him details. Now, that is something I am not quite prepared for.
"Things are fine," I blurt quickly, although I am pretty sure that my tone isn't so convincing. He looks at me funny. I can sense that he is going to analyse me next, I pretend to choke.
Thank goodness that Harry and Hermione decide to walk into the Great Hall at that moment. I quickly half-wave at them to indicate that they have to take seats near me. Although, that is quite impossible since more students have arrived at the table and now occupied most empty spaces. Hermione manages to squeeze in between me and a grumpy-looking third-year that was sitting next to me.
"Where's Ron?" I ask.
"Dunno," Harry answers, taking a seat opposite Neville, "I think he said something about looking for his homework. Anyway, what's the first lesson today?" he asks to no one in particular, rummaging through his backpack.
"Potions," Hermione answers. Both boys grumble at this.
"How could I forget!" Neville grunts. Harry snorts in reply.
"Potions!" he scoffs, spitting every single syllable in disgust, and stabs at his food moodily. Everyone knows that both Harry and Snape hate each other.
I feel sorry for him in a sudden. He might be thinking about his dad and Sirius at that moment, and how they used to hold grudge with Snape. I know for a fact that he still partially blames Snape for what happened in the Ministry of Magic a year ago. He still thinks that Snape should have somehow alerted us earlier, so the whole thing shouldn't have happened at all. Although deep down, I know that he blames his own self and feels responsible of the rash and reckless action that he took. I can't help to kind of admire him of his nobility.
It doesn't mean that I have to like him. Just admire him. Really. Especially with the extensive amount of face-sucking activity we have been doing a lot lately.
I nudge his foot underneath the table. He looks up questioningly at Neville, clearly accusing him of what had been my doing. But, Neville is apparently too engrossed with his food to notice Harry giving him a strange glare. Instead, he took a jug full of warm milk and pours it into his bowl full of cereal.
Harry gives in from accusing Neville and returns to his breakfast. Feeling really annoyed that he gives in quite easily, I try again. I brush my foot with his leg. He abruptly jerks up, nearly sending his plate full of food across the table. I can't help it. I snort to my porridge and unfortunately, as a result of that, I choke and spurt my food back out, thus blowing my cover.
"Ginny!" Hermione scolds, forcefully smacking my back to help me with my choking.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," I say, stopping her before she creates any permanent damage to my spine. I steal a glance at Harry, who is currently eyeing me with an obvious triumphant smile on his face. I try to look innocent.
I can see a glint of evilness in his eyes. Uh-oh… What's he going to do now?
"AAARRGH!" Neville cries out in alarm, lifting and rubbing his right leg. His eyes are pointing towards Harry and staring at him as if he was off his nuts.
"Bloody hell, Harry! Can't keep you own feet to yourself!"
I laughed out loud. I think Harry tried to get me back for what I did, but failed dismally. Now I know how pathetic his aiming is.
A sudden rush of wind alerts me of the coming of owl posts. I look around, hoping to find Errol. I have no luck, though; I can't spot Errol. I might just borrow Pig from Ron to send a letter to Mum tonight.
An abnormally large brown barn owl swoops just above my head, dropping a copy of the Daily Prophet to Hermione.
"Uh-oh," she gasped, searching in her pocket, "I think I'm running out of change…"
I quickly searched my own pocket; I find two Knuts.
"Here you go," I say, handing her the bronze coins.
"Thanks Gin," she smiles, putting the coins into the pouch on the owl's legs. "The last time I didn't give tips, the bird insisted on following me all the way to class! It just kind of stayed on top of my head!"
"Ha ha! Yeah!" Harry chuckles. "We didn't want to lend you any money – it was too funny! Remember Ron telling you that it was thinking of nesting on your head?"
Neville and I laugh at that. Hermione pouts.
"I still couldn't believe that I actually had to borrow money off McGonagall!" she sighed. "Anyway…"
She sets her plate aside to make room for the paper. Just after she finishes straighten the creases out, she gasped. Her spoon falls and clatters on the floor. I panic all a sudden.
"What is it?" I ask her curiously.
She quickly grabs the newspaper away from my reach and looks at me strangely – clearly not wanting to let me know whatever it is on the first page. My stomach seems to have twisted itself. I look at the boys; they are too bewildered and curious of whatever it is that is making Hermione acts ever so strangely.
"Hermione," I lower my voice threateningly, "don't try to play secretive with me…"
Her eyes widen at my sudden change of mood and she looks over to the boys with an expression that obviously says 'I'll-tell-you-later'. I feel my eyes narrowed at her unusual demeanour – she never have kept any secret from me before. I feel cheated.
I hastily grab my wand on the table; just about to yell 'Accio' to get the paper, but it seems that both boys are quicker.
"Expelliarmus," Harry cries out; my wand slips out of my hand. One thing is on my mind: grab the newspaper! I quickly reach out to Hermione, but Neville figures out what I'm trying to do – he grabs my left hand.
"Aargh!" I cry out just at the moment when Ron steps into the Great Hall.
"What's going on here?" he asks, evidently bemused of the scene that is happening right in front of his eyes. Hermione's eyes widen and she is looking at Ron warily.
"Ron!" I yell, struggling to free my arm from Neville's unexpected strong grip. "Back me up!"
"What?," he asks, stopping right behind Harry. "What do you need backing up for?"
"This!" I say, pointing at Hermione with my free right hand, that soon become not free anymore since Neville strangles that one too. Ron still didn't get the hint.
"Huh? What's wrong with Hermione?" he asks, taking a seat next to Harry and helping himself to a large portion of food. Apparently the scene in which his own sister is strangled by another friend of his is not considered terribly urgent that he needs to suspend his breakfast. Hermione seizes the chance and mutters a Vanishing spell on the paper, leaving no traces behind.
"ER-MY-KNEE!" I bellow. I think I've managed to capture most of the students' attention by now. They are all whispering and shooting funny glares at me. I ignore them.
Now that Hermione has got rid of the newspaper, Neville has finally released both of my hands. I cross my arms and sulk. My eyes caught Ron who is still very occupied by his breakfast.
"RON!" I snap. "You're meant to help me!"
He rolls his eyes at me and manages to swallow a whole piece of bacon before responding.
"Seriously, Ginny, I don't see what all the fuss is about!" he calmly says, now ladling baked beans onto his toast. I can't believe it! I mean, after that obvious strangling and some vanishing done… Wow. You can't get any thicker than that!
"He's right, you know," Harry suddenly pipes up. I send a glare at his direction; sadly, he doesn't cower. I take a deep breath.
"Why do I even bother…," I mutter and leave them without even bothering to say goodbye.
I move over to the Ravenclaw's table, spotting Luna who is enjoying a conversation with Justin Finch-Fletchley. I take a seat next to her.
"Hey," I greet her sourly, still upset of the others' behaviour earlier.
"Morning," she replied dreamily. "What makes you move here?"
I grunt. I'm about to explain the reason why, when I caught the sight of a copy of today's Daily Prophet in front of me. This is my chance!
I grab the Daily Prophet from the grasp of whoever it was the person reading it.
"Hey!" I hear a boy's voice. "Didn't your mother teach you some manners!"
I simply ignore him. He was reading the middle section of the paper and it is folded in half. I unfold the paper to find the front page. I flip and flip… And find that I'm missing the whole sheet of the front and back page.
"Dammit!" I stare at the boy whom newspaper I stole. I narrow my eyes to make myself look a bit more intimidating.
"Where's the front page," I hiss. The tiny, annoying-looking boy jumped off his seat at the sound of my voice.
"I-I dun-dunno…," he mutters quietly, apparently to timid to speak in normal-length sentences.
"Where is it!" I demand.
"What are you looking for?" asks Luna dreamily.
"I'm looking for-" I gasp. She is holding a badly-wrecked sheet of paper. It looks suspiciously like the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"Gimme that!" I grab what remains of the page from her hand. This obviously wasn't a good idea since I manage to tear the already badly-torn and destroyed page. Luna is still holding the other torn-part of the paper; I have the upper part of the page.
I smooth the creases and try to make out the tiny smudged prints. The writing on the top that is supposed to say 'The Daily Prophet' is now missing an 'e' and '-phet'; the 't' is missing its top. My eyes snaked down to the bold headline in the middle of the page. I find that it suddenly becomes very hard to breathe.
The headline says 'Ambush in the Ministry of Magic'.
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Author Note: HAH! That's a cliffie for you! Okay. So what do you think? Good? Bad? Very well done? Or extrememly crap that it's not worth looking at? Please… please… please hit that button that says 'Submit a Review'… I thank you sooo much if you do that. That would be very very great!!