Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Here's the next chapter. Also, I updated on my other stories, too. Enjoy the story and don't forget to review in the end.
Chapter 2 Gaining respect but losing some
Ginny smiled at the expressions on the Slytherins faces. Crabbe and Goyle looked even more stupid than usual while Malfoy began turning red in the face since he was so angry. Pansy Parkinson, on the other hand, looked around the Common Room, glared at Ginny, then turned on her heel and pushed open the portrait, walking outside still dressed in her nightgown.
Ginny looked at Malfoy in confusion.
"Where's Parkinson going?" Ginny asked. Malfoy smirked. "Off to get Professor Snape, I expect." He drawled.
Ginny's eyes widened a little. 'Snape?' she thought frantically. 'Okay, keep your cool. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? He'll take away a few points, maybe give you detention, but I'll finally gain some respect!'
"What are you smiling about?" Malfoy asked, quite rudely. Ginny then noticed she was smiling at the thought.
"No need to be rude. I was only thinking on how much better this place looked." Ginny replied coolly, not wanting to be intimidated by this group.
Malfoy seemed to redden a bit more. "I'm surprised your even here, Weasley," he snapped, "by the way you follow Potter, Weasel King, and the Mudblood, like your some lost little puppy-"
He never finished his sentence. Ginny brought her hand up and slapped him hard across the face. Malfoy held his cheek, looking stunned. Ginny just glared at him, letting her anger and frustration take over her.
Just then, Snape walked in with Pansy Parkinson at his heels, smirking. Snape took one look around the room, then looked at Ginny with his infamous cold eyes.
"What did you do, Miss Weasley?" Snape asked coldly.
Ginny flinched inwardly, but tried to look brave on the outside. She looked around the room on mock concern. "Oh, well, I tried to make the room a little brighter Professor, but something must have gone wrong. But I must say, it looks so much better like this, doesn't it?" Ginny asked, looking up at her Professor innocently.
Snape just seemed to get more livid. "Change it back." He hissed.
Ginny was about to say something, but was taken aback by this question. Change it back? How could she when she didn't even know what spell caused it?
'Nice going, Ginny! How are you going to get yourself out of this mess?'
"Um....actually, Professor, I was thinking-"Ginny started to say, but was but cut off.
"Do it, Weasley. Or I can promise that the consequences will be much worse." Snape hissed menacingly.
Ginny's head snapped up. She looked at the Professor defiantly. She lost all innocence in her voice. "Is that a threat, Professor?" she asked, her voice becoming surprisingly cold and calm.
"Very good, Ms. Weasley. Change it back. Now." Snape drawled, quite loudly actually. Malfoy and Pansy were smiling, while Crabbe and Goyle looked as clueless as ever.
"I don't think I will." Ginny said through clenched teeth, expected a blow of some sort. Ginny saw Malfoy's eyes widen slightly.
"Ah, I see. So, decided to take the same route as your pathetic brothers have? Your older brother, Potter's sidekick. I see you are no different from him, following after Potter like a lovesick puppy-"Snape said loudly, his lip curling into a horrible smile.
Ginny felt tears sting her eyes, but she wouldn't let herself cry, not here. She tried to resist the urge to run from the room, to block out Snape's voice, but she could still hear the rest of his words.
"-Sixty points from Gryffindor as well as a full week on detention. Since you seem to love the Slytherin house so much, you will come back here every night for the next week, around five o'clock, under the watch of Mr. Malfoy here, and do what he asks."
Ginny looked up at her Potions teacher in horror. Did she heard him right? No! She couldn't have! Snape just seemed to smile in that evil way only he could pull off, while Malfoy looked like Christmas had come early.
'Oh, how I'll kill that git! Both of them! If Malfoy pushes me too far, I swear, he won't live to see graduation!' Ginny thought savagely.
"Back to your Tower. Now." Snape ordered. Ginny quickly walked past them and out of the Common Room. When she reached the end of the corridor, she broke into a run, not stopping until she reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady.
Ginny woke up. She wanted to sleep forever, to forget about last night. She sat up groggily and glanced at her clock. She received a bit of a shock, it was already noon! Lunch would be starting soon. She shot out of bed and got dressed quickly. She brushed out her long red hair and ran out of the dormitory. When she reached the Gryffindor Common Room, several people turned around and clapped.
Ginny looked a little confused, but smiled nonetheless. There were cheers of 'Go Ginny!' and 'Way to show your wild side!' across the room. When the clapping died down, Ginny walked up to her friend, Summer, looking expectantly for an explanation. Summer just grabbed Ginny's arm and the two sat down on a red velvet couch.
"Ginny! I can't believe it! That was awesome! The whole school heard about it. It's all over. I mean, yeah, sure, you lost Gryffindor fifty house points, but still! The Slytherins still weren't able to get their Common Room back to normal-" Summer just kept on rambling until Ginny stopped her.
"Summer, what are you talking about?" Ginny aked, completely nonplussed.
Summer only returned a look of confusion. "Your prank. It was all over the school. How you turned the Slytherin Common room into gold and red." Summer explained, looking at her friend with concern.
Realization suddenly dawned on Ginny.
"Of course! I remember! What's everyone saying?" Ginny asked excitedly.
Summer looked just as excited. "Well, I wouldn't be suprised if everyone began clapping when you go downstairs to the Great Hall! Snape hasn't been able to remove what you did to the Common room. What kind of spell did you use anyway?" Summer asked, looking at Ginny in completely admiration.
"Oh, well, you know, a very complex one." Ginny replied, trying to sound as if she knew what she was talking about. She knew she sounded stupid, but what else could she do? She had been waiting for this for along time, people were looking up at her! Not just the guys she caught staring at her because of her looks, but people looking at her for something she did.
'You didn't do it though.' Said a nagging voice in her head. Ginny quickly shook her head, trying to get rid of the voice,
'I was there when it happened.' She argued back.
"Hey, Ginny!" Seamus called. Him and Dean made their way over to the pair of girls. It was true that Ginny had gone out with Dean, but they had broken up and still remained good friends.
"Blimey, Ginny, that was bloody brilliant what you did back there!" Seamus commented. Ginny grinned at them.
"You'll give the Golden Trio a run for their money if you keep playing pranks like that!" Dean said.
Ginny smiled even more at this. The Trio?! How could she forget. They were the whole reason she did this, to impress them. She had to find them and see what they thought of it.
"Hey, speaking of the Golden Trio, have you seen them?" Ginny asked sweetly.
"Harry and Ron got up early this morning saying they had to meet Hermione somewhere. They might be at lunch though, want to head down there?" Dean offered.
Ginny and Summer agreed and the four of them made their way to the Great Hall. When they entered, the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff tables began to clap loudly for Ginny.
"And to think, just since today, the clapping and attention usually would have gone to Harry, Ron, and Hermione." Ginny said smiling widely as the four of them made their way to the Gryffindor table. Summer blushed at Ron's name.
As disgusting as it was, Summer had grown to fancy Ron, as Ginny fancied Harry. Quite a few girls did like Ron, which Ginny found annoying. She had to admit, her brother was good-looking, but, well, it was her brother. Most of the girls, however, fancied Harry, and often got jealous of Hermione.
They four of them ate lunch while laughing and talking about different things. It was a Saturday and a nice one at that. It was a clear, sunny day with just a little breeze through the air. Ginny was suddenly fond of everyone around her. This is what she wanted. She got the respect she had wanted for so long. And to think, all because of a silly little prank.
Ginny bid Summer, Dean, and Seamus good-bye. They had spent the whole day by the lake, but now it was around five and Ginny had to head to the Slytherin room for her first detention. 'It was well worth it though.' Ginny thought. She found it odd, but she couldn't find the Trio all day.
"Good luck, Ginny!" Dean called and he and Seamus disappeared into the Great Hall.
Ginny turned the corner and instantly bumped into the people she had been hoping to see all day-Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Sorry." She mumbled and stood up and smiled at them all. She expected them to congratulate her on what a fine prank it was, that they were sorry for not inviting her and to join them on their next prank. What she didn't expect, however, were their cold stares they ere giving her. Especially Ron.
"Er....hi." Ginny said in a small voice.
"Spare us the innoecnt act. Why did you do it?" Ron snapped.
"Not only did you get in trouble, but for something you didn't do!" Hermione added.Ginny just stared at them in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Why did you take credit for the prank we did?" Harry asked her quietly. Ginny stared at them. Of course! That was why they were so upset. They pulled off one of the biggest pranks they pulled so far and didn't even get credit for it!
"I was trying to impress you guys!" Ginny blurted out without meaning too. She instantly felt herself flush.
"Impress us or Harry?" Ron shot back.
Ginny winced slightly at the harshness of his words.
"Ron." Hermione warned.
"Stay out of it, Hermione." Ginny snapped. Hermione looked quite taken aback.
"No, Ron, I wasn't. But even so, at least my tactic of impressing one is a nice one, unlike you, who decided that your way of impressing Hermione is by constantly arguing with her." Ginny retorted.
Ron glared at Ginny while Ginny just glared back. Then, giving her one last dirty look, Ron turned on his heel and walked off without looking back. Harry and Hermione stood there for a second. Ginny was actually hoping they would comfort her, but she had no such luck today. Harry and Hermione turned away from her and ran to catch up with Ron.
Ginny stood there for a second, trying to register everything that had just happened. She and Ron usually got along pretty well. They snapped at each other once in awhile, but were friends nonetheless. She gave a huge sigh, turned around, screamed in surprise and fell to the ground.
The person standing behind her, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, just smirked at her.
"Guess your friends aren't as loyal as you thought, hm?" Malfoy drawled.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked rudely.
Malfoy just ignored that question and went on with taunting her. "So, it wasn't your idea, then? You took the credit of something the blood traitors and Mudblood did? You less like a Gryffindor than I thought."
"Shut up, ferret boy. Now what do you want?"
Malfoy stepped up so close to her she could feel his breath on her face.
"Bet you think your so tough, huh? Well, think again. Your stuck in the Slytherin house every night. I'd watch your mouth if I were you." Malfoy threatened dangerously.
"It's five o'clock now. I have to head up there now. So get off." Ginny snapped,, trying to hide her fear. Malfoy stepped back and smirked. 'I hate that stupid smirk of his.' Ginny thought, while glaring at him.
The two made their way up to the Slytherin room in silence. When they walked in through the portrait, Ginny gasped. The Common Room was a mess. Books, papers, quills, and clothes littered the floor. Ginny looked disgusted.
"Slobs." Ginny muttered under her breath.
"Clean." Malfoy ordered, indicating the mess. Hating him, Ginny did as she was told. She began piling a stack of papers, when Malfoy bent down next to her, his mouth next to her ear.
"You see, Ginny, you came here planning to play a little joke on us. I guess you didn't realize the joke was going to be on you?" he whispered quietly, making Ginny shudder.
A/N. End of chapter two! Chapter three is on its way! Don't forget to review!
