As Ginny, Cedric, Sophie, Cho, Steven and Justin walked down to Hogsmeade, Ginny noticed Rebecca and Julia walking down on their own. Those two were joined at the hip, almost literally. She never saw one without the other, and she was grateful that she had the ability to make new friends. It didn't seem like they did. She felt a little sorry for them as Julia glanced at her. Rebecca appeared to be gossiping about Ginny, as she kept shooting her pointed glares. Colin was walking along side them, saying nothing at all but obviously staring at her. She could feel his eyes staring at her back. It made Ginny feel uncomfortable.
Sophie chatted incessantly to her. She was currently talking about the new dress robes shop she wanted visit today, and was busy asking Ginny if she wanted she wanted to join her and Cho. Ginny smiled at her kindly and replied, "Actually, that's a good idea! I need to go and get some new ones." Her mother had specifically given her money to spend on robes. She hadn't had time to get them before school started.
Cho was quiet the entire walk to The Three Broomsticks. When they arrived, it was packed with students and they had to wait in the queue. Cedric draped an arm around her and whispered, "Having fun?" Ginny nodded happily and replied, "It's nice to hang out with different people for a change. It's refreshing to not be around Harry, Ron, Hermione and Colin all the time." Just as she said it, Colin, Rebecca and Julia slipped in behind them. Luckily there were three groups of people in the line behind them and Cedric chuckled, "Yeah, it must be difficult being friends with the Chosen One and all that." He winked at her to let her know he was joking. She giggled and replied, "Shame, you know Harry hates being called that."
Sophie jumped at the mention of Harry's name as she giggled, "Has Harry got a date for the Yule Ball yet?" Ginny shook her head and replied swiftly, "Nope. But I know who he wants to ask." Ginny regretted saying that because immediately the girl was begging for details. Ginny refrained from rolling her eyes as they took a seat in a far corner booth. Cedric noticed and quickly changed the topic to the second task.
Ginny learnt that the sound coming from the egg was a mermaid's song. He told her discreetly once everyone else was distracted. Ginny whispered as the waitress bought all of their Butterbeer's to the table, "Does anyone else know?" Cedric shook his head and replied, "Nope, no-one except Cho knows and now you." Ginny gritted her teeth. This girl has so much influence over him. Cedric noticed how tense her face had become at the mention of the girl's name who was sitting two seats away from her. He leant down and whispered in her ear, "I had to tell her. She was pestering me and wouldn't leave me alone until I did." Ginny sighed as she took a sip of her drink and whispered, "I know the feeling."
The rest of the conversation was pleasant enough. Sophie took up most of it and Ginny didn't mind that. She was easy to talk to. Cho, however, remained as quiet as a mouse. Ginny was seriously not enjoying being around this girl. Ginny was constantly on the receiving end of many death stares from her and it made her feel not wanted. The rest of Cedric's friends were as sweet as she could have imagined them to be. Stephen was funny and he often joked with Sophie. She later found out that the two of them were going out. It made the world of sense and she remarked, "You guys make the perfect couple!" as she finished her Butterbeer. Sophie blushed for the first time and Stephen raised his drink to Ginny, "Cheers to that!" he grinned at her. Justin was quiet and mainly spoke in whispered conversation with Cho. Ginny found it really rude and distracting.
When they all finished, Sophie announced, "I need to go and get my robes now. You coming, Gin?" Ginny shook her head and replied, "I'd actually like to go to Honey Dukes. I haven't been yet." Their eyes all widened in surprise and Cho laughed, "Oh yeah, you're like three years younger than us! Is this your first trip to Hogsmeade?" Ginny flushed as irritation coursed through her. She had to control herself from shaking as she composed herself, "Nope. I've been here a few times, but I've just never visited." The older girl smirked obviously at her in front of the entire table, and Cedric murmured, "I'll come with you, Gin. Here is our cash. See in you in a bit."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door. Ginny bit her lip, trying to keep her frustration at bay before Cedric sighed, "I'm sorry about Cho. She had no right to taunt you." Ginny gritted her teeth and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care." He pulled her to a halt and sighed, "You're allowed to care, Ginny. I'm sorry I didn't stand up to her. I just know that getting in a fight with her isn't worth the trouble. We've had lots of them."
Ginny nodded as they entered the sweet shop. The shop was mint green in color with thousands of sweets stacked around in no discernible order. There were rows after rows of colorful combinations and containers filled to the brim of Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans and the like. There were sweets Ginny had never seen before. The shop was packed and she wasn't surprised to see Fred and George two isles away. Ginny turned to Cedric and whispered, "Let's hide quickly!" He followed her without question until they were far enough away that the twins wouldn't see them. Cedric whispered to her, "Who are we hiding from?" Ginny sighed and looked up at him, "My twin brothers are over there. I don't want them to see you with me." Cedric grinned mischievously, "Why? Are you ashamed?" Ginny laughed and replied, "NO! They're just going to mock me until the ends of the earth and back again." He smiled kindly and whispered, "Ah! The joys of being an elder brother." Ginny rolled her eyes and found that Cedric was particularly close to her. They were standing inside an alcove which was indented between two shop walls. She felt his hand brushing hers and at that moment she heard the twins' voices incredibly close. She froze, and turned her head stiffly to watch them walking out with Lee Jordan.
Ginny exhaled with relief. Cedric chuckled, "Well that was…entertaining." She blushed and shook her head, "That's not even bad. Okay let's get some sweets!" The two of them scoured the shop. Ginny ended up buying a whole bagful and she left happily munching a sweet she'd never had before which was called a Strawberry Cream. Cedric had laughed at the name when she'd scraped at least ten of them into her bag and he had commented, "The name suits you. Your hair smells of strawberry!" Ginny had blushed and asked, "Is that a bad thing?" Cedric had grinned, "Nope. It's a very good thing."
Now they were walking down towards the clothing shop called Dress Robes. Cedric commented, "Original name! They couldn't have come up with anything more imaginative?" Ginny laughed as she chewed on a sweet, "Nope. Some people lack the imagination entirely!" He chortled and shook his head in amusement, "You can say that again!"
When they entered, the shop was so old fashioned that Ginny felt like she'd stepped into another century. The walls were covered in oak wood and so were the rest of the furniture and the dressing rooms. There were two long isles of dresses and one long isle of menswear. There was a lady behind the counter who looked like she belonged in the 18th century. She wore a high wasted, black pencil skirt, red puffy blouse and thick rimmed black glasses with her hair done up. Ginny heard Sophie's voice from the changing room.
The woman at the desk looked up and smiled at them, "Hello there. Would you like to try on a garment?" Ginny cast a sidelong glance at Cedric. He suppressed a grin and Ginny refrained from rolling her eyes at the word garment. This lady even spoke like she belonged in the 18th century. Ginny replied quickly, "Uh, yes please. I'm looking for a dress for the Yule Ball, at Hogwarts." The lady mumbled under her breath as she got up and asked, "What size are you, dear?" Ginny blushed. She wasn't about to tell her in front of Cedric! Cedric caught on quickly though and smiled kindly at her, "I will wait outside for you, Gin." She smiled gratefully as the lady pulled out several dresses that would fit. One was long, black and strappy. She didn't look good in black. It made her look like a ghost. Another was bright, fluorescent pink and made her want to barf just looking at the color. The third one was pale green, almost a pastel color, with and orange ribbon that tied around the waist, a sweetheart neckline and was knee-length in height.
Sophie came out of the changing room at that moment in a bright blue gown and she flashed her white teeth at Ginny, "What do you think?" It suited her, but Ginny had a feeling that because the girl was so model-like, anything would suit her. Ginny smiled politely and replied, "It's pretty! Good choice." Sophie rolled her eyes. As nice as she was, she was acting like a diva when she replied, "But it can't just be pretty. It had to be drop-dead gorgeous!"
Ginny felt like she wanted to run out the school and back to Hogwarts. Cho was sitting on a chaise in the dressing room waiting area and she told Sophie to find another dress. Ginny picked up the green one and said, "I'll take this one." The shop assistant smiled and said, "Sure! Go and try it on." Ginny shook her head quickly, "Nah, its okay. I will adjust it with magic if I need to." The shop keeper frowned but she quickly rang up the dress and Ginny paid.
Ginny left the shop as quickly as possible. Cedric was waiting for her outside with Justin and Stephen. Stephen grinned at her, "So I see you guys went to Honey Dukes without us. How thoughtful of you." Cedric rolled his eyes, "You know I had to get Gin out of there before Cho went full on jealous." Ginny frowned and asked him, "How come you consider her a friend if she treats you so badly?" she asked curiously. Cedric shrugged and replied, "We've been friends ever since we were little because our mum's are friends. I kind of have to tolerate her even though I don't like her that way." Ginny nodded and finished the sentence for him in her mind, 'and even though she likes you that way.' The situation reminded her so much of herself and Harry it was uncanny.
Eventually the other two girls had bought their robes and they made their way back to school along the stone path. When they reached the entrance, Ced's friends said goodbye and Cedric turned to her. He had his usual smile plastered on his face and he grinned, "I hope you had a good time today." Ginny blushed as she nodded, "Of course I did." He whispered in case she was within ear shot, "Sorry about Cho." Ginny shrugged, "No worries, Ced. I know how it goes. That's what my friendship with Harry is like. All. The. Time." He smiled and replied, "It's nice to have someone who understands," before kissing her quickly on the lips. He pulled away quickly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ears as he whispered, "See you tomorrow?" A massive smile broke across her face as she nodded and watched him walk away. She waited until he had disappeared out of sight and then headed towards the lake. She needed time to herself to think things over and to calm her beating heart down before she faced Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Author's note: Yay so I managed to write another chapter! This was a fun one! Hope you guys like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!