By Serendipity7
Author's Note: Ah, chapter nine. Um...a plot is sort of forming for this story. I know how it's most likely going to end anyway. The ending will leave things way open for a sequel if you guys want one, which I think you will. It's Saturday night and I will be posting this chapter in two days and yet I'm not much farther in chapter ten then when I was last week. School has kept me busy and I'm worn out even as we speak. But never fear, I'm sure that chapter ten will be finished by the time I need to post it.
Disclaimer: Don't own the HP characters...don't own the band Atticus (though you should all listen to their music, they're brilliant!)...sadly I don't own Brad Pitt either (Jennifer's very lucky!)...
Busy Thursday
Thursday morning the boys and I stood in the men's room, eating our breakfasts and watching curiously as Fred and George dropped a cherry bomb in one of the toilets. There was a loud explosion along with a sudden wave of water and I suddenly realized that Fred and George were geniuses to provide everyone with slickers. Ron gave a lugubrious stare at his now soggy pop tart and threw it in the bin.
It hadn't even been a week since we both got girlfriends and yet it seemed like it's been years. Seeing as Ron was grounded for a week (Hermione had only gotten two days of punishment, I guess her parent's aren't used to punishing her) I have been spending most of my time with Ginny. We mainly just hung out at the apartment and watched TV, sometimes accompanied by Sirius. Sirius had later informed me that it was sort of de ja vu seeing me and Ginny together because I'm nearly the spitting image of my father and she is very similar to my mother with her red hair. As for Ron's relationship with Hermione, well so far with Ron being grounded, it has consisted mostly of holding hands and stealing kisses at school, though Fred had confided in me the day before that Ron had been sneaking out at night to visit her. I didn't know what was going on during those midnight rendezvous and didn't think that it was any of my business to ask.
After a polite applause we all ditched our slickers and left the bathroom before some teacher walked in to see what the commotion was about. Not wanting to be anywhere in near vicinity of the bathroom we all just decided to make our way to our first hour classes. Draco and I headed off to the west wing of the school while the others made their way to the east wing.
I had to hand it to Draco; he was being really good about this whole me going out with Ginny thing. He was even more tolerable than usual, to everyone. It also made me a bit nervous. Draco never backs down from what he wants and if he wants Ginny, then he would get her. But at the moment, he was acting like a normal person.
"I've got Satan," he said, indicating his backpack. "We turn him in today."
"Yeah," I confirmed.
"You know I'm going to miss the little guy," he added, almost wistfully as we entered the classroom and placed Satan in the box that Snape set out which had 'baby drop off' scrawled on it. "I think that we are going to get a good grade. He hardly cried for me."
I nodded, still in thought over this sudden change. The bell rang and we waited the five minutes as the class slowly filled up. Then it was all back to normal. Snape did roll and Draco got out of class because he couldn't find his Atticus CD.
After ten minutes of searching, I found my Atticus CD oddly enough in Pansy's locker. Then I remembered that I used to drop off some of my junk in her locker when we were still going out. I wondered vaguely for a minute how she was but then shrugged and decided that I really didn't care anyway.
I had decided to let Potter have some fun with Weasel IV for awhile so that it would be more of a challenge stealing her away. I also decided to take a break from girls in general for at least a week. I had already used up my freshmen play toys and I was discouraged at the fact that it was only the beginning of October and I only had three more classes of girls to go through; not to mention that I've been through about half the girls in my class anyway.
After returning my CD back to my locker, I dropped into the nurses office (haven't been there all week, Mrs. Pomfrey must have been missing me terribly!) said my hellos and took my complementary lollipop before sauntering into the men's room to check up on the damaged toilet. No teacher seemed to have noticed it, but the Weasel Twins were still there, heads tilted to the side as they stroked their chins thoughtfully.
"Look at the angle at which that pipe comes up," one (I still for the life of me can't tell them apart) said as if he were commenting on some piece of artwork. I looked to where he was pointing.
"Yes, it's remarkable," I said disinterested and trying not to yawn. I noticed that they both had passes and nearly laughed. They considered themselves pranksters but they hardly ever broke any rules. Couldn't they even just make some lame excuse to leave class and wander the halls aimlessly as I do?
They were both looking at me but none of us were talking. It was a very weird moment.
"I have some peroxide that you two can use if you want. I've been hearing that you're looking for some so I brought it to school today. It's in my locker," I declared.
They looked at me suspiciously.
"And what do we have to do for it?" one of them (why did they have to be identical?) asked.
I shrugged.
"Nothing," I said, and for once it was the truth. "I get a chuckle out of your pranks just as much as the next person and as long as I know that it's going to a good cause, I can part with one bottle of peroxide!"
They turned and began conversing in low whispers. I stared at my reflection while they talked it over. Finally they turned back around.
"Alright," one of them (they should wear nametags) said. "Let's go to your locker."
"I'm so happy!" I exclaimed in PE for what had to be the hundredth time that week. Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled at me. We were standing in a long line of girls, waiting our turn at trying to kick the soccer ball into the goal. The boys were on a different field doing archery again. I could vaguely make out the forms of Ron, Harry, and what appeared to be Draco having sword fight with some arrows. I began daydreaming about spending time with Ron until I was forced back to reality by Ginny tapping my arm. "Huh?" I asked.
"You're next," she told me, and feeling a bit embarrassed at making people wait I went up and kicked the ball. It wasn't so bad. I didn't make a goal but I would have were Mrs. Hooch not being goalie. I went off to the side and a minute later was joined again by Ginny (she made the goal by the way) who was looking bemused.
"It's hard to believe that my brother is the one that caused this sudden euphoria in you," she said incredulously shaking her head.
"You have no idea!" I told her excitedly. "I feel like reaching out and doing something nice for someone!"
Ginny laughed but at that very moment Principal Dumbledore came strolling across the field with a girl beside him. She was slouched over because she was holding her books close to her chest as though trying to shield herself from our eyes. She had frizzy bright red hair and was wearing baggy clothes that might have been in style three years ago. I tried to get a good look at her face but was unable to seeing as her glasses took up most of it. Principal Dumbledore stopped and conversed with Mrs. Hooch in low whispers. She nodded and announced to the class that we were getting a new student.
"This is Noelle," she said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. A few of the nicer girls mumbled some form of hello, but many had begun whispering insults about the poor girl. I looked at Ginny who nodded and we waved her over.
"Hi," we both said when she came near to us.
"Hi," she said, smiling shyly.
"I'm Ginny and this is Hermione," Ginny said, indicating the two of us. "So when did you move here, Noelle?"
"Last week," Noelle replied.
"Well, welcome to Hogwarts High, you'll love it here!" I told her, but she was looking around at some of the other girls as though she was unsure of whether or not she would.
Snape didn't like his new hair color and sent both George and I to the office. Dumbledore was busy showing a new girl to her class so we were bored.
"Got any twos?" I asked George.
"Go fish."
"Those are the druggies," Hermione pointed out at lunch as we took Noelle for a tour of our school's cliques. Noelle looked at the group of kids on the grassy lot all of whom were listening to Billy Beerbomb's latest tale of rehab avidly.
"And those are the jocks," I said, pointing in the opposite direction. "You can play a sport in this school but the jocks are the ones who join every sport and are permanently glued to their varsity jackets."
Noelle laughed.
"And who is that group?" she asked pointing to a group who were under a tree.
"That's our group," I told her. "The two girls are Lavender and Parvatti, both of whom are very nice but you can only talk to them for so long before you find yourself bored. And the boys sitting next to them are their boyfriends, Seamus and Dean."
"The four boys playing hackey sack next to the table are Ron, Harry, Neville, and Draco. Ginny, when did Draco start hanging out with us?" Hermione asked me.
"I have no clue; he must be lost," I replied.
"Speaking of lost, where are your other brothers?" Hermione asked.
That's when I noticed Fred and George's absence.
"Hmm, they're probably up to no good," I said as we came to our clique.
Harry and Ron stopped playing hackey sack right away and told us that they'll get us some chicken nuggets from the cafeteria. I thought that they were taking this boyfriend thing a bit too seriously but I didn't say anything.
Draco also stopped playing hackey sack and after giving Noelle a disgusted look, he asked what was for lunch.
"Chicken nuggets," Hermione told him as we sat down.
He thought for a moment before mumbling something about the school's chicken nuggets being edible and began walking off.
"Do you want chicken nuggets?" I asked Noelle.
"Er...sure," she replied.
"Hey, Draco!" I called to Draco's receding back. He turned around. "Would you get Noelle a plate of chicken nuggets too, please?" I asked him. I expected him to say no but he merely shrugged and nodded before walking off again.
"What's gotten into Draco lately?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"I don't know," said George as he and Fred finally joined us at the table. They took out their prank planner. "But I think we'll save the switching his mousse for whip cream to a later date," he told Fred. "I mean, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have been able to give Snape a makeover!"
Fred nodded his consent and they both scratched off the last planned prank for the day.
"What do you mean, give Snape a make over?" Lavender asked.
Fred pointed to the other side of the lunch yard to where Principal Dumbledore, Mrs. McGonagall, and a now bleached blonde Snape were chasing after a pig. Principal Dumbledore tripped over his beard.
Noelle laughed.
"Is your school always like this?" she asked.
The twins seemed to just notice her.
"Who are you?" they asked simultaneously.
"Fred, George, this is Noelle," I told them. "She's a new sophomore."
They nodded their helloes as the boys returned, placing the plates of food in front of the people that they got them for. We ate and talked for awhile. The boys finished before us and they all left the table to go off and play hackey sack yet again. Us girls talked about Brad Pitt for awhile until Noelle changed the subject.
"So you all have boyfriends?" she asked and we all nodded. "Oh," she said glumly.
"I'm sure that we can find someone for you," said Lavender goodheartedly. "Now, let's see who's singe?"
"Neville," suggested Parvatti.
Hermione and I both shook our heads.
"I think he and Hannah Abbot have something going on," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"Ginny, what about Fred and George?" Parvatti asked.
I shook my head.
"Fred has been in love with Angelina since he was five and George isn't the steady type. His idea of a date is a party where he'll most likely spill beer on you."
Lavender had begun naming off every boy she knew.
"Justin, Colin, Ernie, wait! I've got it! Draco!!!"
"Yeah!" Parvatti and very surprisingly Hermione exclaimed.
"He just broke up with Pansy!" Lavender added to confirm that he was the perfect choice.
Noelle looked dreamily over to where Draco was playing hackey sack with the others.
"Well he is good looking, and he seems nice," she said. The rest of us made faces to one another as if saying 'For today'. "But I don't think that I'm really his type," she added shyly. "I mean, I'm not very pretty."
"Of course you are!" said Hermione and Lavender nodded.
"We just need to clean you up a bit," Parvatti stated.
"Yeah, makeover!" Lavender squealed. "What do you say?"
"Well..." Noelle said, drawing the word out as she sent another dreamy glance at Draco. "Sure, why not?"
Hermione looked at me while the other girls began to giggle uncontrollably.
"Are you going to help us, Ginny?" she asked and she seemed to be testing me about something.
"Of course," I said, though I didn't really want to. I wasn't sure that I wanted anyone to go out with Draco.
There was only twenty minutes left until the final bell rang and I was trying desperately to stay awake in History. Potter and I had been playing poker for awhile but he soon grew tired and wished to take a nap before we went to soccer practice. After awhile I couldn't take listening to Mr. Binn's dull voice so I snuck out of the class and found myself wandering the halls yet again.
I walked down the art hallway to admire the new portraits when I saw it. On the bulletin board was a flyer for a Halloween dance in the school's gym. I groaned. I would have to make an appearance at it and I would need a date too. I spent the rest of seventh period pondering whether I should just pick some random girl or try to get Weasel the IV to leave Potter behind.
Author's Note: This is one of my most favorite chapters. Is most favorite correct grammar? You have to excuse me...I have a head cold. I'm sorry that I didn't get to posting this on Monday as I had planned, I tried to but FF.Net must have been having problems (or my computer just sucks) so I gave up intending on posting it on Tuesday...but I was sick with my head cold (IT WAS TERRIBLE) on Tuesday and still wasn't feeling quite like myself yesterday so...