A/N: I would do reviewer replies to everyone but I'm a bit rushed at the moment so THANKS to everyone who reviewed! I love you all, really I do! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
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The Weasley and Potter families sat round the table staring at Ginny. Jane and Rose were sniffling slightly, Mark and James looked embarrassed and Sirius and Molly were simply playing footsie under the table.
At the doorway stood Harry, a large heavy book of healing spells clutched to his chest. He was smiling reminiscently and looking at Ginny fondly.
"That was lovely Gin," said Hermione beaming, "I always wondered what happened then…"
James grinned at his aunt, "You forgot your jumper? Couldn't you think of a better excuse?" Hermione laughed and shook her head.
"I never was a good actress!"
Ron drummed his fingers on the table. "This is all very well…" he said, "But let's get on with the real story now, ok? No-one cares about Harry and Ginny!"
A murmur of disagreement ruffled through the eager audience and Harry and Ginny frowned at him.
"Well, we are in this story as well!"
Rose looked at her dad surprised. "If you want to be in the story so much, why don't you just tell the next bit?"
There was a general murmur of assent from the table. Ron looked positively alarmed.
"I'm not very good at telling stories!" he said quickly, "I'd rather read from my diary!"
At this point Harry chose to join in. "I never knew you had a diary!" he said, taking a seat beside Ginny and showing everyone his newly cured tongue proudly.
Ron shrugged his shoulders non-commitally and looked embarrassed. Hermione rolled her eyes and spoke to the table.
"I'll carry on the story, it was just after Ron and I left Harry and Ginny…"
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I quickly pulled Ron by his Quidditch robes roughly round the corner into an empty classroom. Ron looked extremely puzzled, though not at all annoyed at my rough man handling of him.
"'Mione, what the bloody hell are we doing in here?" he asked, looking enquiringly at me while I peered round the door to try and catch sight of Harry and Ginny. "I thought you were going to get your jumper?"
I rolled my eyes. "Ron, there was no jumper!" I said exasperatedly, "I just wanted to leave Harry and Ginny on their own to…you know, see what would happen!"
It took Ron a couple of seconds to process this information. "So…" he said slowly, "Harry and Ginny…fancy each other? But I thought Ginny gave up on him…and Harry has never shown any signs of liking her!"
I looked at him incredulously. Harry hadn't shown any signs of liking her!
Even a blind, deaf badger could have picked up on the fact that Harry had been growing increasingly moody lately, only to brighten up at the news that Ginny and Dean had had a row.
Or even notice that whenever Ginny dropped any of her books Harry was always the first
to pick them up and he seemed to be a permanent shade of scarlet whenever she was around.
But then again, boys aren't extremely perceptive, Ron least of all…
"Ron," I said, "You aren't going to go all big-brother-protective on Ginny are you? If you do, I can guarantee that Ginny will not thank you for it! Harry would never do anything to hurt her you know, and he cares about her very much…"
It was Ron's turn to look at me incredulously. "Who says I was going to object?" he said indignantly, leaning against the wall. "I'd choose Harry over Dean for her anyday!"
I was so relieved, I almost hugged him. Even though he had made a stupid, over-protective remark, at least with Ron's blessing, Harry and Ginny could be together without any hassle.
Everything was working out just as I planned all because of my great matchmaking skills! Now all I had to do was figure out who the mysterious figure in my dream was…
For some reason, Ron seemed very embarrassed. He kept clearing his throat and tapping his fingers against the wall whilst I peered round the door to try and catch sight of Harry and Ginny.
I quickly shut the door as a third year Slytherin girl walked past; she paused and looked at the cupboard door puzzled, but merely shrugged and carried on walking.
"That was close!" I breathed. "I thought it was Harry and Ginny!"
"Hmmmmmyeeerrkk…." croaked Ron in a strangled voice, his hand suddenly brushing against mine.
I suddenly noticed exactly how small the cupboard was. Ron and I were almost nose to nose and I could practically smell him, the strong smell of grass mixed with the subtle scent of oranges. How nice it would be to just reach up and kiss him….
Oh.My.God. Kissing Ron! What on earth was I thinking? Was I delirious? Or just plain mad?
Blushing furiously, I shot out of the cupboard and tried to regain my composure. I heard Ron scramble out behind me.
"It's ur…getting pretty late." said Ron, looking at his wristwatch.
I just could not look him in the eye so I chose the coward's method of fiddling with my hair and looking at the ground.
"Yeah…um..you go, I'll meet you at the common room…" I said to my split ends, "I'm just going to go for a quick walk…I'm a bit hot you see, and um…" I decided to stop my pathetic rambling and aimed a quick smile in the general direction of Ron (I was still hiding behind my hair!)
"Well goodnight 'Mione. See you in the morning." Ron replied, with a small smile. He turned and walked away, his red and gold Quidditch robes billowing behind him. When he reached the staircase, he gave me a last wave and disappeared from view.
I stood in the middle of the corridor, my mind reeling and my thoughts swirling around my head. Why in Merlin's name did I just think about Ron like that? Ron was one of my best friends, that was all.
I mean, he wasn't bad looking and he could be sweet at times but come on, this is RON we're talking about! The boy who always asks to copy my homework, my sparring partner in our frequent arguments and my friend who can always cheer me up when I'm down with an unfunny joke or mis-timed anecdote. Certainly not boyfriend material!
I started walking slowly back to the common room, trying hard not to let my thoughts stray to the cleaning cupboard fiasco. But no matter how hard I tried, Ron's nice scent and my utter embarrassment kept creeping into my thoughts. I needed to talk to Ginny quickly but not mention Ron. I wanted her unbiased advice.
I started to walk more quickly, climbing up several flights of stairs, passing several Ravenclaws who greeted me enthusiastically but I hardly heard them. My mind was still on Ron and it was with great surprise that I bumped into…who else, but Malfoy. Looking very dishevelled and very very drunk. His silvery-blonde hair was sweaty and matted and the strong stench of Firewhisky stuck to him to glue.
"Ohh…'Ello Grraaaanger…" he slurred, looking surprised and stumbling backwards. "Didn't see you there…I'm a little out of sorts you seeee.." He lurched forwards and clutched my arm.
"Get off Malfoy!" I snapped, "You are incredibly drunk just because your team lost. How pathetic!" I wrenched my arm from his grip and marched down the corridor.
"Wait foor meee!" he howled and began to follow me, staggering along behind and muttering something about turkey.
I rolled my eyes and walked on more quickly. I did not have the time or patience to deal with him.
"Ooh, noo you don't.." he slurred, "Come back here, you Mudblood you…" He made a final burst of his strength and grabbed my shoulder.
"GET OFF!" I yelled, losing my temper. He swung me round to face him and thrust his face into mine, his lips pursed. "Givvuz a kiss.." he drawled, smirking cockily.
I had had just about enough of stupid Malfoy thinking he was the resident Sex-God of Hogwarts and in an unusual burst of self-confidence, I kneed him in the groin and marched quickly away, leaving him groaning and moaning on the floor. (A/N: Yay! Girl power!)
I was breathing quickly, and as I neared the Fat Lady I felt a wonderful sense of adrenaline, like I could do anything as long as I was confident enough.
"Dedalus Diggle" I said to the Fat Lady who swung open to let me through. I climbed through and found myself face to face with Ron.
"Hi.." he said, looking up from his solitary game of chess. "Good walk?"
"Yeah…" I said slowly, "Met Malfoy on the way back." Ron's face darkened and he put a pawn down a tad too viciously, causing the poor pawn to break in half.
"He…ur..tried to kiss me…" I said, watching Ron's face carefully, "He was very very drunk, pathetic really…"
"That scumbag!" shouted Ron angrily, "Who does the ferret think he is, Lord of Hogwarts or something?"
He stood up abruptly, knocking the chessboard to the floor. "I'll go and teach him a lesson that he will bloody remember in the morning!" He strode quickly over to the portrait hole.
"Ron! Stop overreacting! Ron…wait!" But it was too late. Ron had already gone. I grimaced slightly at the thought of what might happen to Malfoy, but as I headed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory I consoled myself with the fact that he probably wouldn't remember it much in the morning anyway…
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A/N: Did you like it? The next chapter will be very different to the others, I like it and I hope you will too. Sooooo……PLEASE PLEASE review! All who review will get a review from me on one of their stories!
Bye! xxx