Japanese Terms:

Ohayo: Hello

Ai: Love

Hai: Yes

Nani: What

Chigau: That's not right!

Baka: stupid; idiot

Mouichido: One more time

Kokoro: Heart

Ooh, you lot are going to hate me for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Oh woe is me…it cannot be…ever, forever, mine.

love sorta sucks

issalee

Draco drew away first, surprised that he was still getting intoxicated by these little, not so passionate kisses. He tried to conjure up a smirk, but it ended up as a goofy smile.

"What was that for?"

Ginny smiled up at him, wagging a finger mischievously. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Draco frowned. He hated being out-maneuvered, and so when Ginny made as if to move away, he caught onto her wrists.

"Come on, Ginevra. This 'friends with benefits' deal is getting tiring. Surely you'd want to be—more?" There, he'd said it. Draco watched in a sort of morbid fascination as Ginny's face reflected several emotions, one of them clearly being horror. He recoiled into himself then, seeing that, and the icy façade was back.

"Of course, I suppose the likes of you wouldn't dabble with me." He sneered, suddenly very angry. Ginny caught the note, and as the crowd around her continued to celebrate, ignoring the conversation between them, she was abruptly furious.

"I should be saying that about you, Malfoy."

"So it's back to Malfoy, then? Whatever happened to Draco?" he said, somewhat spitefully. Ginny's demeanor towards him changed completely then, and she pried her wrists away from him.

"I said I'd call you Draco when you were like yourself. Now you're like your idiot father." She knew immediately she had crossed the line, as a low growl wormed its way from Draco's throat.

"I thought, Weasley, that I had warned you enough times in the past not to use my father. Of course, I don't expect your kind, poor as you are, to pick up the newspaper sometimes and find your father's under assault too."

It was true. Just recently, people had been complaining that the remaining Death Eaters that had not been rounded up were rising to power, with a new person firmly established as their leader. Arthur Weasley was being bombarded with questions, as he was frequently on the scene, and many rumors were starting to make their way towards him. Ginny felt a blush rise in her cheeks.

"At least my father's not some dirty bastard who feeds children to snakes!"

Draco drew himself up to his full height, towering over her in his rage. His voice was soft but the words were laced with a deadly malice. "My father is a better man than you are a girl. He didn't play the consort to some half-breed fool with no body; he knew better, and apparently, had much more self-respect."

As soon as he said it, Draco wished he could take it back. Ginny's mouth flapped open like a fish's, and her face suddenly paled. Looking very much like a lost ten year old, she sniffed.

"Fine. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. Ron was right, you are no good."

Draco deflated, and he made as if to catch her hands again. "Ginevra, wait, I—" But she deflected his attempts, pushing past Gwinn, who was looking murderous, and everyone else. The last Draco saw of her, there was a trail of tears down her pale cheeks.

The Slytherin suddenly felt something on his arm, and he followed the hand squeezing his wrist enough to stop the circulation, and found himself looking into Gwinn's gleaming black orbs.

"You've made a mistake you'll forever regret, Draco Malfoy." The words weren't whispered with anger; rather, they held a hint of sadness, and then Gwinn was gone. Draco stood, gaping at the spot where the two had been standing, before someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Ronald Bilius Weasley, looking thoroughly disgruntled and with his hands on his hips was staring him down. "It's time to go, and I need to know, where's Ginny?"

Gwinn found her curled up in an alcove of the inside of the school, sobbing softly, and as he slowly became an Elemental again, he flew over to her and perched on her knee.

"Ginny, I am sorry. I didn't realize he was this—stubborn, but he will come around, I assure you—" But he was stopped when Ginny's hand shot out, pushing him off her knee so that he tumbled to the ground.

"No!" she said, breath hitching. "No, Gwinn, please. I don't—I don't want to be with him. He's just a cold heartless brat, and I made a mistake when I started kidding myself and thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was starting to like me."

The Elemental took no offense from her previous actions, flapping his wings instead so that he hovered right in front of her, long tail cracking behind him like a whip. "Your friends will be looking for you."

Ginny wiped her face, stifling another cry as she stood up. "And they'll find me, no worries." She picked up the Elemental, shaking her head.

"I swear, Gwinn, if this is my luck with guys, I don't think we'll ever get to meet Gwendolyn." She almost laughed as the beast's lips curved downwards in a frown, fangs glittering.

"Not like I'd mind, really."

She giggled, then.

Around seven that night, the Great Hall of Beauxbatons had been transformed, with upbeat music playing and decorations for the Japanese supporters. Even so, many non-Japanese enthusiasts came to the after-party.

When Ginny wandered down, now dressed in a form fitting, black dress with long bell sleeves and knee-high boots, the party was already in full swing. Feeling more than a little put-out as she spotted Tessa and Blaise were very busy in another corner, and Colin and Carina in another, she made her way over to the long wooden table sagging with food and poured herself a cup of pumpkin juice.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and she turned to see Harry grinning apologetically. "Sorry, Gin, just had to make sure it was you. Your brother near beat up Malfoy when he said he had no idea where you were."

Stiffening slightly at the name, Ginny nodded curtly. "Did he? Shame he didn't, though." As soon as Harry gave her a questioning look, Ginny changed the subject. "Where's Luna?"

The raven-haired boy scratched the back of his head. "Er…she says she has to make sure there aren't any Henners, else she can't dance. They'll tie her legs together while she does, otherwise."

Ginny nodded sagely. "Ah. Well, I'm off, I've got to go find some people to party with, dance and all that jazz. You're a taken man now, Harry. I can't be seen with you." She laughed as he colored, then melted into the crowd.

The redhead ended up dancing with at least twelve different boys before she managed to cross the dance floor, but as soon as she turned around, it was to see someone she hadn't been expecting; Yoshihiro Suzuki, smiling broadly.

"Ah, this is the girl who was so intent on the match!" He explained, and Ginny realized the whole Japanese Quidditch team was behind him.

Saado smiled at her, his blue hair neon under the lights. "Ohayo, ai, I'm Noriyuki Saado." Ginny managed to speak then.

"I know who you are…" she named the team members, and they all smiled even more at her, Suzuki especially. But Saado was right next to her, and as he slipped an arm about her waist, he winked roguishly.

"Hey, the real party's in the Japanese quarters. You wanna come?"

He flinched as Atsashi smacked him in the arm. "Nori, you baka, leave her alone. She's only about my age! You're old!" She seemed much more confident now that she had won her first game.

Saado looked scandalized. "Nani! Chigau, I'm only twenty-one! Hiro's got ages on me, like fifty years! No, that's Yuki!" Tanaka and Suzuki hit him on the head at the same time, earning a sigh from Reiko Kiuchi, while Kenichi just laughed.

Ginny suddenly felt as if they were a family, and wished she could have a job like that. Instead, she turned to Atsashi and grinned. "That was a beautiful catch you made; Harry would love to have you on the team."

"Harry Potter?" Atsashi said, eyes crinkling good-naturedly. "Ah yes, Madame Maxine told us he was here, and he's a Seeker too? The headmaster of your school, he let us have a look though his Pensieve; Potter-san is a very good flyer."

"Not as good as you." Ginny said earnestly. "I swear, even Harry's eyes were glazed over when he thought about you on his team. He's Captain now, but let me tell you, he's horrible and schedules practices every day."

They laughed, but Saado looked intrigued. "You are on the team? What position do you play?" Ito elbowed him, as if it was a rude question, but Ginny felt a strange pride swell up in her as she answered.

"I'm a Chaser, and I at least think I'm pretty good."

Tanaka chuckled. "That's the way to go about it. Mouichido, Sashi, tell the young one how you began." Atsashi smiled, eyes slightly misted over.

"Oh, hai. It was beautiful. At Kokoro School For Witches, our Quidditch teams were so competitive; I never even got onto one until my sixth year because they thought I wasn't good enough. But when I started, I trained every day, even though my Captain kept saying I could never make it. She knew how to make me try harder, though, and one day my cousin comes by and he sees how good I am. He tells me to stop by a practice, seen they're looking for a Seeker, and they'll check me out. It all just went uphill from there."

"Wow." Ginny said, honestly curious. "But who's your cousin?"

"I am." Suzuki pointed to himself as he ruffled Atsashi's hair. "Sashi here is lucky I had such great connections; me, Yoshihiro and Hideyuki have been friends since we were little things. Reiko was Hiro's old girlfriend, and Kenichi and Yosuke were Reiko's cousins. It all worked out, and it seems like we're all related."

"I can see that." Ginny nodded. "But you all seem so young! This team has been playing for how long with these same players minus Atsashi—two years?"

Ito nodded. "Hai. Hideyuki was twenty, Noriyuki was nineteen and Yoshihiro was eighteen. Reiko started at twenty, Kenichi at twenty-five, and I started at twenty-three. Atsashi here started the youngest, she's only seventeen now."

"And proud," added the teenaged girl. "But it looks like I've got to act my age now, and scout for some guys. Do you have any ideas?" She said, looking at Ginny. Suzuki suddenly seemed to be standing closer to her, glaring at all the boys looking their way, but Ginny grinned.

"You could try Seamus Finnegan—he's the Irish boy, just over there by the punch. He broke up with Lavender Brown a few months back, so he's free." Atsashi thanked her and wandered off, with Suzuki following her with his eyes.

"I don't like the way she walks." The spiky-haired man decreed. "Her hips move, and the boys look. I must be crazy—I've got to stop her!" But Reiko grabbed his sleeve, steering him away.

"Leave her be. Just because her brothers aren't here doesn't mean you have to take over for them." She looked over at Ginny. "He's so overprotective."

"I know how Atsashi feels," Ginny said forlornly. "I have six older ones. But they all get theirs, in the end." The group laughed, and Tanaka wandered off with Ito, Ogata and Reiko soon after.

"Tell me about your brothers!" Suzuki asked, eyes gleaming.

"I want to hear about your Quidditch team." Saado said.

Ginny grinned wryly as she and the two boys talked, spanning both subjects and enjoying herself greatly. By the time the party was over, they had managed to trade addresses and locations their owls could reach each other by. Ginny was surprised when Saado suddenly pointed out that they had ceremonial dragons to do such tasks, and she was sure she heard Gwinn muttering something about slavery in the back of her mind.

Atsashi came back a moment later, clutching the same information in her hand ad gushing about Seamus, the boy who "had such a great sense of humor it filled Tokyo ten times over!" Suzuki bristled a bit, but Ginny had already smoothed his spikes by telling him everything she could about the Irish boy.

"You'll owl—er, dragon, right?" she said, feeling a bit sheepish.

Suzuki and Saado smiled, almost identical ones. "Of course!" They answered, and then leaned down to kiss her cheeks. Ginny blushed as the two also gave her tight hugs, before waving and walking off with the rest of the team.

She touched a hand to each cheek, never once noticing the gray eyes that had been following her throughout the whole party.

Tessa burst into her room later that night, spouting apologies about missing the redhead greatly. Ginny smiled, ignoring them, and patted her bed.

"We've got some Cho-bashing to do." She said deviously. "As long as we do it off the Hogwarts grounds, Dumbledore can't blame us, and we're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Today," Tessa corrected her. "It's already two in the morning, Gin." The redhead waved a hand absently.

"Yes, yes, well, I have the plan. It was the one were planning to sneak into the Ravenclaw boy's dorm to do, remember? But then that trick about the chocolate fudge and vanilla pudding on Bill and Charlie distracted us."

"Oh….ooooooohhhhhhh." Tessa said, eyes shining. "Shall we do it now? Aislinn and Gwinn can help!"

"Of course!" Ginny said, rubbing her hands together. "Now, here's what we'll do…"

Cho Chang rubbed fiercely at her nose as she walked down the darkened hallways. It was still slightly squashed, although the nurse claimed it was just fine. Cho was a bit miffed, however, when she heard Harry had kissed Luna for punching her. No matter; Lovegood would pay, someday.

She was still feeling a bit saddened, as she had tried to make conversation with one of the Japanese team's players; a man with odd blue hair, she thought. She'd told him he should have made it normal, it would have suited him better than that horrendous color, and for some odd reason, he'd backed away and went back to his team.

It was at times like these that Cho Chang wished Cedric were alive. He at least, unlike the other boys of Hogwarts, had showered praises and lavish gifts upon her. Even when he caught her snogging that other boy—who was it? Oh, yes, Roger Davies. Well, everyone was snogging Davies these days, she told him, and he'd been ok with it.

The day he died, he had promised her all the riches in the world and more when he came out of the maze with the money. Cho really had loved him; but material things got in the way, and she never realized it till it was too late. By that time, Harry had the money, the fame, and all sorts of other things. She felt it was in her best duty to add herself to that list too.

Something moved in the corridor, startling her. Cho swung around, her black hair whipping in her face as she did so, and obscuring her vision. By the time she had managed to remove the hair amongst a slew of curses, the corridor was empty again, save her. Shrugging it off, she continued moving.

As she reached the stairs, she looked down and gasped. The steps had all been crystallized, frozen over so that it made a glass slide. As Cho gazed at it in wonder, she never noticed the thing fluttering behind her until a great gust of wind pushed her over, and she fell head over heels onto the slide.

Cho attempted a screech, just as someone cast a Silencing Spell on her from below. Still screaming mutely, she slid down and around, over banisters and past doors, descending from one landing to the next. About a minute after she first fell, Cho landed in an ungainly heap on the ground floor, peering about in an attempt to see her attacker.

Something caught her eye, and she looked over her shoulder. Brown eyes stared back before someone shouted "Stupefy!" behind her, and she was knocked out.

The next morning, the whole of Beauxbatons turned out to wave goodbye to the Hogwarts students. They gathered in the courtyard, and as they milled about, Madame Maxine appeared before them, in front of the iron gates.

"I 'ope you 'ave all enjoyed your time! We all 'ope to see you again, soon! Au revoir!" And she waved at them tearfully. A great banner unfurled above her in what was supposed to be the Hogwarts emblem, but instead of clapping, a great gasp arose in the air. Instead of the Hogwarts sign, a big, painted on white banner read "Crap Frog Leg School For Sale", and Cho Change was hanging from a line, blushing profusely and with a paintbrush in her hand. She was wearing nothing but a hot pink thong and bikini (which Ginny and Tessa had actually found underneath her clothes) and her body had been transfigured to look like she weighed eight hundred pounds at the least, which, when the thong/bikini set was added, caused a lot of illnesses that day.

Underneath the bigger words, in smaller blue print were the words: "Evil porker of a woman rules over kids with more beauty than brains, and even then it's just barely."

Now those words were a direct quote, uttered by Cho when she had woken up and had started muttering about anything and everything. Tessa had been reluctant to put it on, but when Ginny pointed out that since it was the truth it couldn't hurt, she had relented.

Cho had a split second to look around and wave meekly (she hadn't seen the sign yet) before a great roar went up.

Ginny and Tessa were sitting in a window, watching the results with delighted smiles. At that moment, they were sure nothing could have been funnier. Ginny had told Tessa about Draco's comments, and she had been furious, predictably.

"Maybe we should do the same to Malfoy." She said absently. Ginny glanced at her from the corner of her eyes.

"What happened to taking a leaf from Luna's book?"

"The leaf ripped."

Ginny smiled. "Ok, fine, I get it. You aren't going to let this go. But you have to understand, it's just because he's so smug and arrogant. If he wasn't, maybe he wouldn't have said those things, and maybe something could have happened." She stared into the distance, and a spark ignited in Tessa's brain. Aislinn caught onto it quickly, and relayed it to Gwinn, who immediately agreed.

Ginny missed the smirk that rose on Tessa's features, so much like the one Draco wore. If she had, maybe she could have avoided the next few events.

No offense to Cho-lovers, yadda-yadda-yadda, but if you're offended, do flame, I'd love a good laugh. She deserved that, and I'm not sorry to say, I enjoyed writing it. The joke was a result of a failed one; Nikki-chan and I had set it all up for the school, we had the banner saying Crap School For Sale all ready, but the sandbags we were supposed to use got tied around my legs and I ended up hanging upside down next to the sign. Needless to say, we were v.v. relieved when our principal decided it was funnier than anything else and gave us only a weeks' worth of after school detention. Where is the lurve, peoples?