Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Poor Pansy

Ginny felt amazingly complacent over the next few days. Why wouldn't she? By this time, her hair was red, there were no green stripes, Tricky owed her one more favour, and Malfoy…Malfoy.

She was basically planning on blackmailing him. Colin had kindly assisted, duplicating the compromising snapshot for her—several times. So, with about seventy-eight photos of Malfoy diving for a pillow with an expression of pure shock and utter horror, Ginny felt light-hearted and happy.

Even Harry had to say it was pretty funny. Ron was revolted. "No wonder he's such a prat. Look at his skinny little self. I'd be really mean if I looked like that."

"Ron, you're awful."

"That's okay, sis."

Tricky had been rewarded with a bottle of butterbeer from Ron. He didn't really like the stuff. He pulled a face when he saw that it wasn't a large bottle of hard liquor—preferably Firewhiskey—but he coped. And what's more, Ron unknowingly indebted him again.

But if the lass thinks of stuff for me to do like that…well, I'm not too angry at being indebted, then.

Ginny was firm and hard-hearted, but she had a conscience. She decided not to exploit the photos, so long as Malfoy left Sylvester and her friends alone.

Malfoy was made aware of the photos and he meekly agreed to stop tormenting the Gryffindors. But that doesn't mean I can't do it in my mind. HAHAHAHA!

Pansy Parkinson was a different matter.

Being Malfoy's girlfriend—in a sense—she was nasty, vile, cruel, repulsive, the whole nine yards. Plus, she'd stolen Hermione's book and pulled a nasty hex on her. Hermione had come out of the Hospital Wing with thick bandages around her right hand where Pansy had burnt with a particularly strong Stinging spell.

Another job for Tricky was forming in Ginny's clever mind.

00o0oo0o0ooo

Pansy woke up on the next Sunday morning feeling refreshed and happy. That Granger! And they didn't catch who did it. HA! Suddenly, she saw long fingers reaching for the makeup case beside her bed.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" She grabbed for the fingers. Too late! They vanished in a split second, along with her makeup case. "Damn!"

Pansy checked under her bed. There was no one there. Oh my God; things are getting weirder by the minute! This is Hogwarts School, after all, I guess. She went back to sleep. This is just a creepy dream. When I wake up again, my case will be there.

0oo0o0o000o

Pansy was right. The makeup case was still there. Yawning, she pulled on her robes and shoes and walked down the stairs. A few Slytherins were gossiping in the common room. A boy snickered. Scattered wisps of laughter floated about the common room. What's wrong with them? Ignoring the stares and stifled giggles, Pansy strode out of the hidden entrance to the common room and into the hall.

Once she'd reached the Great Hall, the students whispered and stared. They might have restrained their laughter, but for one little factor. Sylvester was there. And he wasn't, shall we say, the most discreet of human beings/wizards.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAA! LOOK AT HER FACE AND HER HAIR! HAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Gales of laughter broke forth at this point. No one cared about Pansy's feelings now, just about the fact that there was blue eyeliner on her mouth, lipstick around her eyes, and her brown hair seemed to have been painted with red, white, and blue to form a British flag (proper background music: Rule Britannia). Did I mention the fact that a Gryffindor lion was painted in gold on her face as well?

Ginny grinned to Fred and George, who were congratulating her on this latest conquest. "And she might be able to wash off the lion, but the hair isn't going to come out. At least for a while. I think hair is my specialty."

Hermione choked into her pumpkin juice. "Here is one that I have absolutely no compunctions about. Nice job, Ginny."

Tricky coughed loudly. "Oh yes, and you too," Hermione hurriedly put in. Tricky smiled.

Nothing could bring Ginny down. She was on a roll. But she felt that she should lie low for a couple weeks or so. And as for Tricky…

He now owed Ron.

But Ron stubbornly refused to give him a job until he thought…

Hmm. Free food. "Tricky, you must go and work in the kitchens. You'd like that. You'd be well fed. Go there and make me an éclair."

So it all worked out.

And Pansy's hair—it didn't come out for a while. A long while. So she took to wearing a ridiculously large hat that supported England's Quidditch team.

But she had to dispose of it when, bending over a cauldron in Potions, it fell into a Shrinking Solution and shrunk Snape for two days. Flitwick had to brew a Growth potion with the shrill and precise instructions from the little sallow man.

Unfortunately, potion making wasn't Flitwick's strong point, so Snape's nose grew twice its original size and Madam Pomfrey had another job on her hands.

Not before she told her colleagues and photographed him while he was asleep in the Hospital Wing.