Ron, Harry and Hermione had finished dinner rather quickly, and instead of wasting time in the Great Hall, they decided to come back up to the deserted Gryffindor Tower. Ron and Harry made themselves comfortable in front of the roaring fire inside the common room while Hermione momentarily excused herself to go to the Owlery.
As they waited for Hermione to return, Ron and Harry started discussing the latest Quidditch events. Ron had a copy of the new Quidditch accessories catalogue propped up against his knee and he was leafing through it. Every once in while he would point at an item and decide he would get it. By now, he was looking at 355 galleons worth of merchandise. Harry on the other hand seemed to be paying little attention to Ron, he was lost in his own thoughts somewhere. And Ron, being in the presence of anything Quidditch related, had forgotten life around him. Flipping through the pages of the magazine, he came upon the new model of the Firebolt, the Thunderbolt; guaranteed to be 3 times faster than the leading Firebolt, the new broom came in a variety of colours (gold, silver, ebony and lime green). Immediately, he perked up, "Hey Harry? I think you should get rid of your Firebolt." Ron presumed that next to the Thunderbolt, the Firebolt would fly like a beetroot with wings.
He looked up to see Harry gazing solemnly at the fireplace, his expression slightly troubled and agitated. In Ron's recollection, the last time Harry looked so gloomy was when he had seen his aunt and uncle after getting off from the Hogwarts express at the end of the school year.
"Did somebody cancel Christmas?" Ron inquired after taking in Harry's forlorn look. Harry looked up dazedly, not saying anything.
A minute passed with no reply from Harry, but Ron had long gone back to the magazine in his hands. Hermione had still not returned. After absently crossing his hands behind his head, Harry leaned back on the sofa, "Do you suppose I was too quick?" he voiced his thoughts.
Ron who still looking at his Quidditch purchases snorted, "Are you kidding me? It took you about two hours to find the snitch during practice this morning. If that's quick, then Snape is handsome."
Harry dismissively waved his left hand at him, he had never met anyone so obsessed with Quidditch. "No, I mean about Cho?"
"What about Cho?" Deep inside, Ron had a feeling this would be coming up. Last night, after dinner he had seen Harry and Cho having a little 'argument'. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, he had quickly left the area. Hermione was still inside the Great Hall talking to Neville at the time and she had not caught the fight between them, otherwise, by now she would have had Harry tell them.
Harry dropped his gaze again to the carpet. "Well, I was thinking…maybe Cho and I should've waited awhile before we started going out. You know, to get to know each other a bit more."
Ron knew much how much Harry had liked Cho throughout their time at Hogwarts, and trying to be as supportive as possible, he replied, "One fight doesn't mean it's the end Harry. I'm sure you two will make up soon."
Immediately Harry looked up, "Hang on, how did you know we had a fight?"
Ron's ears quickly started turning red and he buried his face in his magazine, "Well – not as though I was there on purpose, but I overheard you and Cho last night."
"Were you eavesdropping?"
"Of course not! You know me better than that," Ron replied tersely. He looked up see Harry expression, it was a cross between frustration and dejection. Deciding to take pity on him, he continued "But I'm sure you two will get back together."
"Well yeah, even if we do, it doesn't mean we won't fight again. Last night she was arguing with me because I forgot to send her an owl the entire day! What am I supposed to do? Send a bloody owl every hour? I have work to do!" He angrily glared at the fire, stewing over Cho's demand. But deep down, he was uncertain whether he was at fault; couldn't Cho just let this one go? Sure, the beginning of every relationship had a surplus of romance, but this was a tad too much.
They heard the portrait open, and in walked Hermione. For some reason, she was slightly giggling. Making her way over to where they were sitting, she sat down next to Harry.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked immediately. Harry continued glaring into the fire, for all he cared, Peeves could have announced his love affair with the Bloody Baron.
"It's the most absurd rumor I've heard in my entire life!" Hermione exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. Naturally, it piqued Ron's curiosity. Momentarily forgetting his magazine, he asked, "Has McGonagall turned Snape into a toad or something?"
"Only in your dreams, Ron."
"Well? What is it then?" He asked again. Suddenly, Hermione wasn't so sure if it was wise to tell him – after all, what she had heard was about his sister. Maybe Ron would go beat up the person she had heard it from, for starting such an outrageous rumor. He continued looking at her, expecting a reply. Finally, she caved, "Well, it's the silliest thing, really. I was on my way back from the Owlery, and a group of third years were walking in front of me. One of them kept laughing, and she kept repeating 'Malfoy and Ginny Weasley – Cutest Couple of the Year.' Naturally, it's some stupid joke they were discussing…"
Hearing this, both Ron and Harry burst out laughing. Harry, who had been looking rather melancholy the entire day, was actually doubling up with laughter. Ron managed to wheeze out "That is hilarious! Ginny and Malfoy, probably end up killing each other in 3 minutes if they were left alone" between guffaws. "The only thing they'd win would be the most mismatched couple in existence!"
Hermione cautiously said, "You're not mad at those girls for pairing up Malfoy with Ginny?"
"No, I'm not worried in that department. I'm sure Ginny will handle them once she hears about it. She's probably the only other person who hates him as much as we do." Ron replied with a careless shrug.
"It's true, Ginny will probably be livid if you tell her about this," Harry added, remembering her fiery temper.
Hermione gave a sheepish laugh, "I guess you're right," and she wrapped an afghan lying nearby around herself. Settling back on the sofa, she gave a content sigh and looked around her. She noted Harry's rather quiet expression and Ron's rather restless face, but she didn't say anything to them.
Ron himself was relatively skeptical about mentioning anything about the discussion he was having with Harry a few minutes ago. Unsure of what to do, he decided to keep quiet. It was after all Harry's choice to tell Hermione, he shouldn't be interjecting. While he was in the midst of these thoughts, the portrait door opened again.
"Well, speak of the devil – look who's here," Ron nodded towards his sister who had just walked in the door, along with Colin. Harry and Hermione both looked over their shoulders as well and saw her engrossed in a conversation with him.
Not seeing any of them by the fireplace, they both settled into arm chairs towards the back of the room. Colin's face was a little agitated, and Ginny seemed near exasperation.
"But I'm telling you! I had nothing to do with this. It was all David's idea," Ginny spoke earnestly, telling the truth to Colin. For once, it felt so good to not hide anything from someone.
"Of all the people in this school, you two had to pick Malfoy?!" Colin looked incredulously at her, obviously Ginny was out of her mind, he surmised. "I honestly can't believe you're doing this."
She gave a loud wail and threw her hands in the air, "You think this is up to me?! I'm telling you, when I get my hands around his scrawny little neck –," she made a rather gruesome gesture, using her finger to draw a line across her neck.
"Besides, he said the story will be published in tomorrow's paper," she added resignedly and slumped down on the arm chair.
Colin raised an eyebrow, "Oh, making headlines already? I didn't realize you two were so famous." Ginny noted his voice sounded rather dark, she vaguely recalled Snape using a similar tone that morning in class. "I suppose news of you dating Malfoy will be on the front page of the Daily Prophet?"
"No, just the school newspaper, and that's David's fault too!"
"I never realized David was such a bully," Colin said dryly, continuing to scowl over the predicament Ginny was in.
"Well, he's not that bad. He means well, except his ideas are very farfetched," she tried to reason.
Colin rolled his eyes at her, "But Ginny, come on – this is Malfoy we're talking about. He's probably plotting your death as we speak!"
Ginny had always thought that 'irrational' was Ron's true middle name, but now she was certain that Colin shared the same middle name as well.
"Colin, I hope you're done worrying about this because I'm heading straight to bed." She was sure that his worry was unwarranted, despite what Malfoy's image was to the public, he really wasn't as bad as he seemed. Spending an evening with him, where he wasn't acting like a jerk, was a surprising new experience for Ginny.
Just as she was about to get up, Ron attracted her attention. He waved his left arm in the air, indicating that he wanted to see her.
With an exhausted sigh, she bid Colin good night and made her way to where her brother, Hermione and (yikes, what that him?) Harry were sitting.
"I was just about to head to bed, what do you want?" Ginny asked her brother tiredly and she rested her elbows on the couch behind Hermione's head. She tried to look as aloof and disinterested around Harry as possible. He didn't even have the courtesy to look behind and greet her, she noted quietly. Instead, he was gazing intently at the fire in front of him, a slight glower on his face.
Ron gave a little chortle, waiting to see Ginny's expression. "Rumour has it that you and Malfoy are dating."
Inwardly, Ginny's heart starting beating furiously. She did not want to witness Ron's anger over this scenario. Deciding to play it cool, she said, "Oh? Is that what they're saying?"
"What? You're not angry?" Hermione asked curiously, peering over her shoulder expecting to see sparks flying out of Ginny's ears or something.
"Since when does dinner equate courtship?" Ginny scrunched her face like she was attempting to solve a riddle.
Ron gave a strangled gasp, Hermione actually turned around and even Harry shook himself out of his reverie to turn and look at her.
"You had dinner with Malfoy?!" Hermione said it in the exact tone as someone would say, "You enjoy killing puppies?!"
"It was actually a business meeting," Ginny lied. This didn't sound implausible, she thought pleased with her quick thinking. Ginny was about to give Ron a reassuring smile when she noted his expression.
It looked like he was about to go into conniptions, "You had business to discuss with Malfoy?!"
Without missing a beat, "Well yes, he's into investment banking and I know a few people at Gringo—" She was continuing her fabricated tale when she noticed that Ron was starting turn purple, and his eyes were about to pop out.
"What? No sense of humour?" She pretended to look surprised.
"This isn't funny, Ginny." Ron managed to say between clenched teeth.
"Oh relax. It's not the end of the world. I'm still alive! And I'm in one piece." Ginny really wanted to see how she was going to escape this unscathed, but she stood her ground.
Ron sneered at her, "Business or no business, you're not seeing him again." If there was one thing Ron couldn't tolerate, it was his younger sister acting without thinking things though. After all, he was the older brother, hence more responsible; he had to guide her through the unintelligent endeavors she continuously took.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Too bad, I have to talk to him at breakfast." She shrugged her shoulders apologetically, but she was hardly sorry.
"What in Merlin's name do you two have to talk about?!" Ron seemed absolutely livid and he glared menacingly at her, his Quidditch magazine lay long forgotten. Ginny might as well have told him that she was eloping with Filch to Timbuktu.
"Errr…" Ginny was dumbfounded for a few seconds, stalling she hazarded a reply "…the state of the economy?" Ron gave an angry snort. Ginny gave a little gulp, "Cauldron thickness?" This emitted another 'Hmph' from Ron. "Bad answers, huh?" She said in an airy voice.
"I don't care what you say – I don't want to see him around you," Ron said in a final tone and picked up his Quidditch magazine again.
Her temper starting to rise up, Ginny placed her hands on her hips and glared heavily at her brother, "You can't dictate my actions Ron. I can see whoever I want to!" Without waiting for a reply from him, she turned on her heel and went upstairs to her dormitory.
Ron started spluttering a reply, but Ginny was too far away. He huffed angrily and scowled at his sister's foolishness.
When Ginny went upstairs, Harry finally spoke, "Maybe it's a joke. You know, the ultimate hoax Hogwarts has ever seen?"
Ron's nostrils flared in anger and he looked up irritably, "There's a time and place for everything. Ginny's going crazy if she thinks she can go around with Malfoy discussing the…what was that excuse she had? State of the economy? Hah!" –He threw down the magazine again, "She should be worried more about the state of her sanity."
Hermione looked a little patronizingly at him, "Ron, if you want your sister to understand your point, then you shouldn't be bullying her."
He looked incredulously at Hermione, "So if she wants to skip around with a Death Eater, I'm supposed to smile and say 'Good idea, Ginny?'"
Ron got up disgruntled, too aggravated to continue the discussion and he curtly announced he was going to bed. Hermione and Harry nodded, murmuring 'good night'.
When Ron left the room, Hermione turned to Harry. "What do you think?"
Harry looked like he was lost in thought somewhere, but he responded slowly. "I don't think it's anything serious. Malfoy's a prat – Ginny probably has something else in her mind."
Hermione nodded her head, "I think I'll talk to her tomorrow, see what's going on." She gave a little yawn and got up excusing herself, leaving Harry to his troubled thoughts.
A/n 1: This is kind of a filler chapter – details and flow are important. I just don't want to skip into Ginny and Draco action without any prelude, so bear just a little longer.
A/n 2: So…eerrrr yes. Recently, I won an award for this fanfic – "Slowest updates in the last decade". It was pretty well deserved.
Truth be told, I only write this story when I have a lot of assignments and school work. (I also hold the award for the biggest procrastinator). So expect updates during mid-term season and exam time! And I don't really have that much interest in the story anymore, but I don't want to desert it either. So I just write it when I feel like it (mostly during procrastination season) - hence the lack of new chapters. But anyway, leave a review!