Chapter; The Fourteenth
Breakfast Announcement
Trista stood just inside the door when Ginny walked through. Her escort, as well as Ginny's stood nearby; Trista's escort looked a bit perturbed by the fact that Trista had waited. Looking up slowly, Ginny saw the tears in Trista's eyes and almost started crying again. Again? What 'again'? I'm still crying!
"I didn't get to say goodbye," Trista whispered in anguish.
"She knew," Ginny responded just as quietly. The two hugged briefly and finally followed their escorts back to the rooms.
When they walked in, Ginny thought they had come to the wrong spot at first. For one thing, where there had been four doors in the small hallway previously, there were now six. One for each of us? Also, the furniture had changed; not only in number, but in style. The small couch had turned into an expensive looking love-seat. The comfy arm chair had been replaced by an even comfier looking reclining chair and Ginny thought she saw a control for a vibrator. Nice.
The biggest shock of all came seconds later when, after the escorts had left, Ginny turned to see another, slightly open door on the side of the alcove opposite the hallway with their rooms. That wasn't the surprising part though. It was the name on the door in large elaborate calligraphy that caught her eye. Harry Potter. He would be no more than 100 feet away at all times. This was too much to handle. He could walk through that door at any moment! Ginny thought, looking toward the door that led out of the alcove.
"Wow." Ginny jumped with a small yelp when Trista spoke. Don't do things like that to me when I'm fantasizing. Augh. That just sounds wrong. Stop thinking again.
"Can you believe this?" Trista asked. Ginny just shook her head. "I'm so sad that Tier had to miss this. She would have loved it." Ginny nodded, fighting back the tears.
"Oh. So you made it did you? I can't say I have much respect for Harry Potter's judgment on this account." An echo of her own thoughts from earlier spoken in Janice's voice narrowed Ginny's eyes before turning toward the speaker. "One of us was a mistake," Janice went on. "I'm sure we'll find out who soon enough."
Before Ginny could make a come-back she turned sharply after hearing the door open. No one came in. Must have been the wind. Turning back to Janice again, Ginny opened her mouth to give Janice a piece of her mind…when she heard something else. When she looked she saw that Harry's door was now closed. So, that's how it is.
Ignoring Janice completely now, Ginny turned to Trista. "Shall we find our rooms?" Trista nodded a little too empathetically. Without another word, Ginny glided past a still scowling Janice and entered the hallway behind her.
The second door on the right had Ginny's name on it and the first door on the left had Trista's. Beckoning Trista in behind her, Ginny closed the door to her room as quickly as she could. "What was that all about?" Trista asked. "I mean, I understood what Janice said, but you kept, well…not responding. What happened?"
Ginny was silent for a moment. "I think Mr. Potter has himself an invisibility cloak."
"Are you sure?" Ginny explained what she had heard. "And you're sure that the door to his room had been open before?"
"Positive. Do you know what this means though?" Trista looked at her blankly so Ginny explained. "There's no way for us to know when he's around. He could be anywhere at anytime. If I hadn't been sure to close my door quickly, he could have slipped in here. Though I don't know why he would have done that."
"Maybe he'll be around sometime when Janice is talking bad about you." Ginny gave Trista a slightly confused look which, strangely, made Trista blush. "I mean, when she being mean to you."
"Janice talks bad about me?" It didn't really need to be a question. Ginny didn't need Trista's apologetic nod to know it was true. Shaking her head, Ginny tried to change the subject. "That doesn't matter now. I mean, I should have known that she would talk smack about me, but… Anyway, has Connie been around? I mean, to tell us what's going on this next week?"
Trista's expression was unreadable as she responded. "I've been here no longer than you have, Ginevra."
There was a pause. "…Oh yeah. Right. We should go out and wait for her then." Suiting her words, Ginny hustled Trista out of her room and they went to sit in the alcove, which was now thankfully Janice-free.
Connie never came but Trista and Ginny had fun talking while they waited. Janice did not make a reappearance and Trista finally agreed that Ginny must be right about Harry because he never did appear to come back.
"Do you think he's sitting here in the room with us?"
"If he was, I would ask him to take the invisibility cloak off and talk with us. But…" Ginny put a finger to her lips. "I don't hear any extra breathing, so I doubt he's here.
Over an hour later the girls finally decided to head off to bed. Ginny found it almost strange to have a room to herself now but found it slightly easier to fall asleep knowing that Janice wasn't one bed over and potentially waiting for Ginny to fall asleep in order to kill her. Not that it would have happened before but the thought had crossed Ginny's mind every now and then. It was like sleeping in a room that you knew was full of bugs or some such pest and trying to convince yourself that they weren't going to crawl all over you. Not that I'm calling Janice a pest, of course. Ginny laughed at herself drowsily before sleep over came her.
The next morning as Ginny got ready (in her huge personal bathroom no less!) she found herself dreading the morning. They were going to be eating with Harry today, and one of the six of them would be going on a date with him. Making herself as presentable as possible, just in case she was the lucky one this time, Ginny picked out her favorite outfit. Her dark, sanded, greenish-blue denim trousers were, Ginny blushed to admit, tight in all the right places…but they didn't look bad. Ginny was petite enough that she didn't look trashy; far from it. For the top she wore a striped lavender and dark blue polo with the buttons undone and a white tank top underneath. Trendy yet unique.
She walked out of her room at the same time as Denise, who smiled warmly at her then dismissed her as she walked toward the dining area. Knocking on Trista's door Ginny tried to discreetly get a view of Harry's door. It was closed, but really, that could mean anything.
Trista opened her door a few inches and, seeing it was Ginny, gestured her in. Closing the door swiftly behind her, Trista then clutched at her stomach. "I am so nervous, Ginevra!"
Ginny laughed then agreed whole-heartedly. "I know. How can we possibly carry on a conversation with him; especially knowing that Janice is sitting at the same table?"
"That's a good point. We didn't know she existed when we got to eat with him before. Oh this is going to be horrible!"
"Don't be so worried. It'll be fine. She can't say anything rude to us with Harry around, and I don't think she'd be dumb enough to assume that he would be ignorant of any implications made by her as far as we're concerned."
Trista looked at Ginny for a moment, amused. "I…think I understood what you just said."
"Sorry," Ginny muttered.
They proceeded to breakfast with trepidation and Ginny felt herself blush furiously as she walked in and caught sight of Harry. Seated at the head of the table, Harry sat comfortably with Janice on one side of the table nearest him, and Denise across from her on his other side. Becky was just taking her seat next to Janice and, while Ginny hesitated in the door way, Laurie slipped in and took the seat opposite Becky. Trista and Ginny took the last two remaining seats; the two furthest from Harry, but across from each other at least.
Sitting on the same side as Janice, Ginny was able to glance down the table at Denise who was subtly tossing daggers at Janice with her eyes. Apparently I'm not the only one that dislikes Janice.
"Oooh, I can't stand her!" she heard from beside her. Becky was occasionally leaning forward on the pretense of looking at Harry, but it seemed she was actually doing this to glare at Janice. "She is so two-faced," she whispered to Ginny after realizing that Ginny had heard her earlier comment. "On our group date, she was acting all nice to everyone and pretending to be bashful around Harry, as though she wasn't wearing one of the skimpiest outfits any of us had ever seen. Augh! She makes me sick." Stifling a very amused smile, Ginny nodded interestedly and began spooning out some porridge for herself.
Breakfast went much as Ginny had anticipated: Janice dominated the conversation and hardly even let Harry get a word in edgewise while both Denise and Becky glared constantly at Janice, except when they thought Harry might see. Janice was apparently oblivious to this and, being so far from the action, Ginny and Trista merely conversed between themselves. Laurie, between Denise and Trista, seemed content to stay quiet and didn't even seem to pay attention to any of the conversations going on around her.
Ginny was leaning forward to pour herself another glass of pumpkin juice when Connie glided into the room followed by several cameramen. "Please, carry on as you were. Pretend we aren't even here."
Ginny knew this wouldn't be possible with some of them (cough Janice! cough) but decided to try it herself. She reached for the pitcher and refilled her glass and was about to take a sip when one of the cameras was directly in her face. Lifting one eyebrow, Ginny continued to raise the glass to her lips and even shot a half-sarcastic smile at the lens. Bloody cameramen.
This went on for several minutes until Connie cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. As she spoke, the cameramen continued to drift around the room capturing at apparent randomness. "Harry here has chosen six locations to where he would like to take the six of you on your dates. The girl and location for each of the six dates were again chosen at random, and the first of these six dates will be to Diagon Alley. This first date will be given to Ginevra Weasley."
Not expecting to be first (why, after all, when she'd been last for everything else) so saw no reason to delay the sip of pumpkin juice she had just allowed entrance into her mouth. At the announcement, that same sip became lodged in her throat, causing her to make a very unladylike choking noise before being able to regain control of her wind pipe. When her breathing was back to normal, and her face was as red as her hair, she smiled both in the delight she knew should be there and embarrassment as she saw how closely the cameras were now watching her. She glanced down the table at Harry and found him smiling at her. Heart almost stopping, she smiled back and her blush deepened even more, if that was possible.
After breakfast, Ginny was a mess. She stood pacing back and forth in front of her bed, where Trista sat watching her. "How did this happen?" Ginny exclaimed. "Up until this point, I've been last for everything. I was the last person to get a red rose for the past two ceremonies, and I was in the last group date. How could they suddenly throw this on me? I was content with last; I'm not sure I can handle first!"
"It was a random choice, Ginevra. It's not like they did it out of spite."
"though I wouldn't put it past Connie to do something like this out of spite."
Trista went on as though Ginny had not said a word: "You will have a wonderful time with Harry today, and you will end up being ecstatic that you were able to go first."
"But I'm not really first. Three other girls have already had dates with him."
"Stop being sulky." Trista's words brought an indignant squawk out of Ginny that she hoped had not sounded as impudent as she thought it had. "The difference here is that you get the date to yourself all day. None of the other girls have gotten that yet. They've only been with him alone for an hour or so at a time. And remembering your little escapade during your group date, I'm fairly certain you've had more alone time with our Bachelor than anyone else," Trista said with a tilted head and a smirk that almost screamed "so-stop-complaining." Ginny blushed.
Looking down at her watch Ginny blanched. "I still have over an hour." She looked at her watch again, then looked desperately at Trista. "Wait! I only have a little over an hour! Help me," she pleaded.
Giving suggestions for hairstyles and makeup, Trista was a great help to Ginny at this point. Ginny was practically a whirlwind running from one part of the room to the other looking for things and each time she finished something she'd ask how much time she had left. "Fifty-three minutes."
"But the last time I asked I had fifty-eight."
"That's because the last time you asked was five minutes ago. You still haven't found your shoes," Trista reminded Ginny who jumped as though burned and started another search through her room.
Trista couldn't help laughing. "Did you bring any robes?"
"They told us not to."
"Yes, but did you bring any?" Trista asked again.
Ginny paused. "Yeah, I brought one pair."
"Go try it on."
Ginny practically ran to get her robes and threw them on. Adjusting them, she turned to Trista. Wand raised, Trista twisted her mouth in thought and suddenly pointed her wand at Ginny muttering a spell. Ginny felt the length of her robes shorten slightly and the way in which it fit around her waist tightened. Indignant, Ginny was about to tell Trista to stop when she felt something else. The robe was slowly tightening somewhere else, but looking down she realized that it wasn't the robe that was getting smaller.
Grabbing herself, Ginny screeched at Trista. "What are you doing?"
Smiling wickedly, Trista just shrugged. "They look good."
"But they aren't real!"
"I just added a little extra padding to your bra. No one will notice."
"If no one will notice, then why do it?"
Trista seemed to contemplate this for a second before answering. "Because it looks good."
Exasperated, Ginny pulled out her wand and muttered the counterspell, but just as they were…deflating, she heard Trista mutter something again, and inflate again they did.
"Stop that. If you're not careful I'm going to end up lopsided!" Trista's laugh was less like the usual tinkling bells and was instead sounding a bit more like Tier's full-throated guffaw.
After much debate – and a little light hexing – Ginny finally allowed Trista to have her way, but with a compromise. "No, that's too big," Ginny grumbled. Trista sighed in mock annoyance and shrunk them slightly. "Still too big."
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Sorry the ending was kind of sudden. I just couldn't find a good place to end this one. Every time I tried it just sounded more and more superficial. Anywha, I hope you are all glad that this chapter was longer than most! I know I am :) Next chapter will be up (hopefully) on the 31st. I'm not exactly sure, because on the 31st my fiancé and I are going to his family reunion in Indiana. So, if I can get on the internet I might be able to post it. If not, it'll be up on the 1st and I'll try to get chapter 15 up on the 4th. Is that satisfactory? Hehehe
Scarlet Snow: I was hoping that the last chapter would get some emotions running; that's what I was going for :) Thank you so much!
NightWing509: Thank you. I was upset having to send Tier off, but really…I couldn't, with good conscience, let all three of them stay on. That's just unrealistic, so…
Spaced Out Space Cadet: Like I said to NightWing, I really didn't want to let Tier go home because I loved writing her, but Ginny, Trista and Tier couldn't possibly have all made it. That wouldn't be very rational. Besides, Trista is kind of taking both her own role and Tier's from now on (in case you didn't notice that in this chapter…) Oh Janice will get it…and certainly sooner than she thinks she will evil grins
Charming Visions: Thank you so much!
Chaos Girly: Yep, red like blood. I was hoping that didn't sound too poetic, but I wanted it to be a little out of the ordinary. Next chapter is Ginny's date; Yay! I'm really looking forward to that one!
Joy Cutting: Thank you. I'm sad about Tier too, but she couldn't have stayed and the story still be practical; not all your friends make it, you know?
Jamie Bell: You said cripes!! I love you! Lol (strictly platonically, of course) Well, see, Janice is very manipulative and also very convincing; girls like her often are. It's not Harry's fault; any guy would have had the same problem. I'm glad you like my story so much. I love writing it and it makes me feel so good that other people like it as much as I do. Thank you so much!
Danu3: Thank you! I hope you keep reading ;)
IceSugarHigh: In my story, they use regular muggle stuff. I've decided that, since this is several years after the stories take place, they've gotten over those complications, which is why they have TV and cell-phones and all that rot. Yes, Ginny still has Trista. And Harry giggles
Milky way bar: lol Random comments! Yay! Thanks so much. I didn't want to let Tier go, but I had to. Janice won't die, but something will happen…though maybe not what everyone wants to happen. And here's my update! Hehehe
Charming Seductress: Next chapter Ginny gets her date and we get lots of Harry/Ginny interaction! It will be lotsafun! Hehehe I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter. I have some great ideas! It should be one that will leave people laughing…at least, I hope so!
Aquaflower: If you thought that was a bad cliffie, you probably hate me now, for such a sudden ending. blushes I already apologized for that, though… Thanks for reading and I'm so glad you like it!
PrettyWithAJadedPistol: hehehe That's the whole purpose of Reality shows as far as I'm concerned; to have something to make fun of! I agree: Harry and Ginny are very cute! :)
Tricia Emily: New readers are ALWAYS welcome (especially if they review winks)!! I know, I really liked Tier but all three of them couldn't stay so Ginny and Trista were the only ones who could. No, this story really forces the readers to use the "Willing Suspension of Disbelief." In other words: if it seems like it can't really be happening, tough! Because that's still the way it is! Hehehe Harry doesn't know Ginny or Hermione or Ron. Though, despite that, he's still had all the same experiences (besides the one with Ginny his second year) and she still has most of hers too. It's confusing, I know, but it is an AU story, so I'm allowed to! Lol
Maggie: Ouch. I'm hurt. Lol Yeah, I know. But I really wanted to introduce some of the characters before they all got kicked off (plus, I wanted to show Ginny's reactions to their negativity, but I didn't want them all to be as big of wenches as Janice is). I hope that, besides that, you still like my story. I can't tell from a review what kind of inflection you put on things…but you sounded a bit bitter about my story… I hope that isn't true!
Snuggle the Muggle: I meant every word of it too! Yeah, don't all the readers wish they were confident? But see, Harry doesn't really confide in me much, so I'm kind of guessing here too ;) My computer does that too. Sometimes it would tell me that I had 13 chapters and other times it would say I only had twelve. I think this site is just dumb like that. Oh well. Like I said, I meant every word. If you ever write a book, you HAVE to tell me, because I will buy it the day it comes out. I love the images to portray, and you just make all the characters come alive. I mean, I didn't even really like George that much before RttWW, but now I'm in love with him! It's all your fault! Lol I'm really looking forward to your next post too :)
PippinsMyHobbit: Yeah, well my inspiration said that your muse slipped the first bit of alchohol in her drink without her knowing, so I think it is your muse's fault! So there! Lol Yay for being caught up! Hehehe My friend Will has been "reading" my story for weeks and he's still only on chapter 10! Dork… VSW? Erm…I've been neglecting it for this one… I'm sorry. When this story is done I'm planning on taking each of my other unfinished stories one at a time and finishing them. Whether that will work or not is anyone's guess though…
Harrysmom: Yeah, I'm really glad how the last chapter turned out. I was much more inspired to write that one than I was the chapter before. Well, your reviews make me smile! Yay!
Rayah Papaya: Yes, Janice is quite necessary for the plot, unfortunately. Yeah, I didn't want to kick off Christina or Tier but they both had their reasons, in my eyes. I'm surprised no one commented on the fact that Elizabeth was the only girl that had an individual date that didn't continue on… I didn't so much like her though, that's why she left! Lol
Chewy1: Yeah, the approach I'm trying to go for is to be…realistic (hence, "Reality:" it's not just talking about the show :) I'm glad that it's working so well. I hope that you did indeed find this chapter to be better than the previous ones. And I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be better than all the others too. I can't wait to write it. I have some really good ideas for it!
Loves To Read: I'm so glad you found my story, and I'm even more glad that you like it so much! If you're looking for good stories, you really do need to check out Snuggle The Muggle's stuff (Among the Muggles…Again, Return to the Wizarding World and Valentine Chocolates; they are superb!) That was exactly why I didn't let Ginny get the individual date…well that, and also, because everyone was expecting it, and I want to make sure that very few things happen how everyone expects them too. That's not realistic! I update every four days (when I can) so even if I've just posted, you don't have long to wait for the next chapter :) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing: that was a deliciously long review too. Thankie :)
21 reveiws, you guys! You rock my world! I love you so much! You're the greatest. Keep reviewing and I'll keep posting :) Jaa, mata ne!