Ginny stormed into the Great Hall, paying little heed to the few students around her. The few stragglers left were quickly finishing their lunches as class was about to begin soon. She marched inside angrily, suppressing the urge to scream as loudly as she could; it wouldn't do well to earn a detention as well for disrupting other students. The nerve of David, trying to set her up with Goyle of all people! He might as well try to get her married to Snape. Angrily fuming she took her seat on the Gryffindor table; she grabbed a plate of Shepard's Pie and sat down ungracefully on the bench.
She felt extremely frustrated, David's plan was turning out to be useless. What good would it do to date Goyle? It would just make her the laughing stock of the entire school. She'd never be able to live it down—even her grandchildren would continue suffering.
Lost in her misery, she paid no attention to the people around her. Suddenly Colin Creevey, who spotted her from the Ravenclaw table, interrupted her train of thought.
"Ginny! Hi!" Colin said with a bright smile, walking over.
She looked up from the piece of pie in front of her and gave him a despairing forlorn look. Passers-by would assume she was an abandoned orphan.
"Well, good afternoon to you too," Colin said a bit sarcastically and he sat down next to her. "Why the long face? Did you fail that Transfiguration test too?" He asked curiously, grabbing an apple from the basket in front of him, and sat down next to her.
"What?" Ginny shortly forgot about David and his plans to get Harry jealous. "What are you talking about? I don't have Transfiguration until this afternoon." She looked at him perplexedly, trying to fathom what he was talking about.
"Oh, we had our class this morning. More than half the class failed the test! Everyone's saying that new teacher's assistant is really tough." Colin looked a bit dejected as he tossed the apple in his hand absentmindedly.
Ginny was fairly surprised to hear this because Colin was a bright student. A little frown appeared on her face and she wondered how he could fail his test.
"Since when do you fail tests?" She asked with concern. Last she remembered, Colin had spent the entire weekend at the library studying for his upcoming tests this week.
He gave her a short smile, "Well, truth be told, I thought the chapters being tested were 3 and 4. Turns out it was 3 to 5."
"Weren't you paying attention in class when Professor McGonagall told you about the test?" Ginny asked, taking a bite of her lunch.
"That's the thing! I'm almost certain we were told it was chapters 3 and 4, not 3 to 5! But the teacher's assistant insists she told us it was 3 to 5," Colin explained to her, frustration creeping into his voice.
Ginny felt something prickling in her memory, "Hang on—is it Cho Chang you're talking about?" Hadn't she overheard Harry mention that Cho would be a teaching assistant this year?
"Yea, that's right! Isn't she the TA for your class as well?"
"No- we have Edmund Brooks. He's not that great when it comes to explaining things, but he's fairly easygoing." Ginny thanked the fates she didn't have the same TA too. She wasn't sure if she could go through an entire class being taught by Cho; the end result would be either a suicide or a homicide.
Colin gave her an envious look. "Well, you're a lucky one! That means you probably aced your test." Taking a glance at his watch, he gave her a little smile and stood up. "Anyways, I should get going. I have class soon…when am I getting those Herbology notes from you?"
"Oh!" Ginny said flushing, she had completely forgotten about that. "Wait, I have them here." She fished through her bag and took out the notes for him.
"Here you go; you can return them when it's convenient," she said handing him the papers.
"Alright then, thanks!" Taking the notes, he put them in his notebook. "I'll see you later then." He turned around and walked towards the doors, heading off to his class.
"Yea, see you," Ginny called out to his retreating back. She turned to her almost finished lunch, but she did a quick double take when she noticed David walking through the doors.
"Hey! You there! Carrot top!" David yelled loudly, paying no regard to the attention he was attracting. He waved his arm wildly, and made his way towards her.
Ginny gave her full attention to the few bites of Shepard's Pie in front of her.
"Remember me?" He sat down beside her and gave her a beaming smile.
"No, not really," Ginny deadpanned. "Who are you again?"
"The guy who's about to make all your dreams come true. The genius who you should be eternally grateful to. The mastermind whose intellect is mind-boggling! The brilliant—" David's tirade was cut short by Ginny.
"Alright I get the point. What happened?"
"I have the most amazing news imaginable," David said as vaguely as he could and grabbed a cupcake from a nearby tray.
"You're being transferred to Durmstrang?" Ginny hazarded a guess.
"Try again," he replied undaunted by her dark tone.
"You've decided to elope with the Giant Squid?"
"Not quite," he said with a little grimace. "It has something to do with a certain Slytherin."
Ginny slapped her forehead, "Listen, I'm not dating him!"
"Can't date him or won't date him?" David inquired, feigning polite interest. Ginny was far too stubborn in his opinion.
"Both! I have a reputation to uphold. What kind of a Gryffindor would I be if I started consorting with Slytherins?" Ginny said irritated and she shot him a glare.
David chuckled a bit, "I wish you'd stop channelling Ron's spirit. 'Consorting with Slytherins…'" He rolled his eyes. Thinking quickly, he said, "Ok look, lunch is almost over. Let's talk more about this before dinner. How about you meet me in the courtyard?" David gave her an innocent look.
"Alright then, I'll be there." Ginny nodded her head and stood up. Grabbing her bag, she took a cupcake from the tray in front of her too.
David gave a melodramatic sigh, "'Parting is such sweet sorrow.'"
Ginny cast him a dubious look, "I don't know about that. Your plans are more sorrowful."
David pretended to give a scandalized gasp. "This is the thanks I get? My intentions are pure!"
"I don't know David, 'The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.'" Ginny cast another doubting look in his direction as she quoted an old proverb she had heard numerous times.
"I'm doing you a favour! You're supposed to be eternally indebted to me." David tried to look enraged, but he failed miserably. His impish smile was contagious and Ginny couldn't help smiling back despite her earlier anger.
"Listen, for now, let's just keep this to ourselves. I'm not sure if the boyfriend idea is so great after all…especially, when the only contender we have is Goyle." Ginny was sceptical about the whole deal, there were just too many flaws in this plan…the most important being there was no suitable guy to play the part. Gregory Goyle, no matter how hard he would try, would never be able to inspire a shred of jealousy in Harry Potter.
"Well, yes. Maybe we need to rethink this plan and modify a few things. I'm beginning to see your point about Goyle too," David said pretending to agree with her sentiments.
Pleased that David was finally seeing her point of view, Ginny nodded. They both got up and started heading towards the entrance doors, "But let's just meet anyways, to tweak up the plan a little," David tried to be as light about it as he could, trying his best to keep her in the dark about Malfoy.
"Alright then, I'll see you later for sure," she with a smile, suddenly feeling as light as a bird, completely ignorant of what David was planning. David, trying not to smirk, nodded just as happily, finalizing the plan in his mind and they parted their separate ways.
"…And then by the powers vested in me, I'll pronounce you man and wife," David's voice carried through the courtyard.
Ginny raised her eyebrows in alarm…now what was he planning? After her last class was over, she had made her way to Gryffindor tower to freshen up a bit. Now, as promised, she was making her way to see David. However, after hearing what David said, she was attacked with distrust, fearing the worst from him. Who was he talking to anyway? She peeked behind the bushes and to her dismay, she only saw David.
"David?" Ginny called out hesitantly, there was no way he could be rehearsing a wedding at Hogwarts. But one could never know with David…
He spun around upon hearing his name, "Ginny! How's it going?"
Was it just her imagination or did David sound thoroughly guilty about something? He stood there flashing a smile in her direction.
"Well, she's finally here," another unknown voice grunted, sounding irritated.
She turned to look at where the voice had come from, and to her revulsion saw the last person she was expecting. Draco Malfoy looked back at her with a cool and aloof expression. What was he doing here?
David, who was always calm and easygoing about everything, had the grace to look slightly abashed.
Another glance at David's face Ginny pieced together the pieces of the puzzle. Suddenly, many things started clicking together in her brain. Her insides seething, she didn't trust her voice. Clenching and unclenching her fingers, she turned to him with a shrewd expression. Her fiery hair added more menace to her demeanour, and she could've sworn David gulped in fright. After all, the Weasley temper was legendary for a reason.
For a few seconds, David looked faintly panicked. His mouth started to move, but no words were coming out. Finally, he managed to say, "seven years of experience," and pointed in Malfoy's direction.
Ginny took another quick look at Malfoy, and was stunned to see him smirking at her. The audacity of that ferret! She fixed him with a glare as well.
"What in Merlin's name is the meaning of this?!" Her voice was terse and annoyed; it had an air of authority about it, demanding answers.
Momentarily, David was unsure of how to respond, but he turned to her with a confident smile.
Thinking back to those early grammar classes, he started reciting from memory, "'This' is considered a pronoun and an adjective. It's used to indicate a person, thing, idea, event--" His definition was cut short as Ginny sent him another piercing glare.
"I wasn't asking for the technical definition of 'this'! I want to know what this is!" She gestured her arms in the air, referring to the absurd situation she seemed to be trapped in. Without question, David truly had the gift of infuriating a person without putting an ounce of effort into it.
"This is a courtyard," Malfoy supplied helpfully, mocking her arm gestures. So the gift had been given to Malfoy as well…
Not trusting her temper, she gestured David to follow her. He gave Malfoy a bewildered shrug, and followed her lead. Ginny led him to a slightly secluded corner that was out of Malfoy's earshot.
"You have exactly thirty seconds before I wring your neck David," Ginny threatened dangerously. "Start explaining, now!"
"He'stheboyfriendthat'llmakeHarryjealous," David to managed to say in one breath.
"First Goyle, now him?! Are you out of your mind?" Ginny stared incredulously at him.
"I hope not," he answered sincerely, "I have a test tomorrow. I can't afford to make a trip to St.Mungos…"
She let out a loud wail, "For once, can't I get a proper answer from you?"
David took a little pity on her; after all, it was going to be Ginny who was going to have to face her brother's wrath in about five minutes when she would walk in with Draco Malfoy. She'd need her wits about her, it'd be no good to irk her here and exhaust her senses.
"Well, look at this logically. You need a boyfriend to make Harry jealous and Draco needs a reason to annoy Harry. I feel you two make a good match," he tried to present his argument in a rational manner.
"I'm not going to date him." Her tone was final and absolute. A simple sentence that anyone could understand. Any normal and sane individual. Then, there was David.
"Uhh, I'm sorry, but it's a bit too late for that," his words were apologetic, but his tone was far from it. Behind his impassive expression, there was mischief twinkling in his eyes.
"And why is that?" Ginny was already dreading his answer. Her imaginative thinking wasn't helping at all. Most likely, David had put pictures of her and Malfoy in little hearts around the castle. And knowing him, they would all be charmed to sing sappy love songs. A fleeting look of horror passed on her face.
"Do you read the "Heard it at Hogwarts" column in the school newspaper?" David asked her with slight curiosity.
"No, that's just idle gossip," she replied darkly.
"Heard it at Hogwarts" was run by Matilda Liqper, a sixth year Ravenclaw student. While most of the content in the school newspaper was reliable and important, this column was any gossip's dream come true. It consisted of tidbits of news that were picked up around the school and were organized according to importance. Though Ginny paid no attention to the column, many other students read it religiously.
"But what about it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well, tomorrow morning, you and your Adonis are making the headlines. This way, everyone will know you're going out!" David said with a very enthusiastic smile. In his opinion, this was all the publicity Ginny would need to get Harry's attention.
Ginny felt faint…everyone?! Her life was going to be over…
She buried her hands in her hair out of sheer frustration. "No, no, no! This isn't happening!" Denial was such sweet bliss, Ginny couldn't handle all this.
Wholly unconcerned that her life was going to be over very soon, he said, "Oh yes, it is. And what's more, dinner's happening now. So let's go talk to Draco."
David led her back to where Malfoy was waiting for him. Ginny didn't put up much of a fight; she seemed too shocked to argue.
"What's the matter with her?" Draco asked with his customary scowl. Ginny looked pale and ready to faint, and from time to time, she would mumble something incoherently. She held on tightly to David's arm, in case she would pass out.
"She's amazed you're going to go out with her," David piped up immediately.
Malfoy gave what he concerned to be one of his winning smiles, but it really came off as a pained grimace. "Well, she can't be blamed," he said pretending to readjust his collar.
"Well, take her to dinner then. Make it really seem like you two are going out." David took Ginny's arm and draped it on Draco's. Surprisingly, she didn't make any comments, but looked at him passively and detachedly. A grim expression outlined her features.
"Cheer up, people will think you're going to a funeral with that face," David commented, giving her one of his patented smiles.
She scowled mutely; some of her emotions were beginning to come back to her. But what surprised her the most, was that Malfoy's arm wasn't as stiff and robotic as she imagined it to be. His body was relaxed, and it seemed so natural that he should be standing in such a close proximity to her. Even more surprisingly, he wasn't frowning or starting aloofly at her or David, he seemed ready to thoroughly act his part in order to taunt Harry.
"Well?" Malfoy fixed her with a questioning look. She looked resignedly; there was no use in arguing this anymore. Even if they didn't go to dinner tonight, by tomorrow morning every person at Hogwarts would know she was dating him.
"Lead the way then," Ginny muttered a bit crossly, cursing her fate. She couldn't imagine anything worse than this. With a deep breath, she followed him inside, her heart beating faster with each step she was taking.
Conveniently, David had disappeared. So now, it was just going to be her and Malfoy against the entire student population of Hogwarts.
'Parting is such sweet sorrow.' Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.184.
The definition of 'this', taken from dictionary. com