A/N: Next one….

*hides and ignores the fact that it's been about four months.*

Whoops…..

Prompt #48: 12/27/17

689 words, according to Google Docs.

I have entirely TOO much to worry about, Ginny thought frantically as she dashed to Transfiguration, struggling to pull a Christmas sweater over her head.

"Whoops!" She let out a whoosh of air and staggered backward as she collided with a very solid, very firm person. "So sorry - gotta run!" she tossed over her shoulder as she swept up her bag and continued her mad race to the classroom. "I'm really sorry!"

She didn't even notice that she had run into her boyfriend, Draco thought, a tad petulantly. But he resisted the urge to call after her - she looked like she had enough on her mind as it was.

"I can't believe I got another detention from McGonagall!" Ginny was complaining to Pansy as they trundled inside, brushing snow from their jackets from the greenhouses. "Honestly - I was only thirty seconds late!" Pansy smirked.

"I'm sure she'll have you do something easy - like mopping the Great Hall or helping Filch for a few hours." Ginny swatted her, but couldn't help a giggle escape her lips.

"Sure - and that'll be just wonderful." The two friends continued their friendly bantering indoors, but at the sight of Snape's swirling robe around a corner Ginny paled and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Careful - you might just lose all your remaining brain cells doing that," Pansy teased, but raised an eyebrow as Ginny rushed off in the direction of the Gryffindor common rooms.

"Sorry!" she shrieked over her shoulder. "I just remembered I have to finish a potions essay for after lunch!" Pansy sighed and shook her head, shooting a rare, affectionate glance at the redhead's fast-retreating form.

"What will we do with you, Weasley?"

Ginny frantically put quill to paper in a frenzy of stray feathers and ink as she fought against the clock to finish her essay. "Acromantula Venom is very rare and must be harvested from an acromantula soon after its death." She bit the tip of her quill, tapping her foot impatiently. "But what's it used for?" she asked herself angrily.

"You know, Gin, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

"I don't need your cheek right now, Ronald!" she snapped, not bothering to look up from her very short essay. Ron grinned easily at her, holding up two hands in surrender.

"Ginny's in the I'm-the-queen-of-all-of-Gryffindor-and-can't-be-bothered-to-say-hi-to-her-own-brother mood right now!" he called in warning to Harry and Hermione, who were currently studying together on the couch.

"You'd do well to stop bothering her and get back to your own essay, Ron," Hermione reprimanded. Ginny, who had learned to tune out their bickering by now, ignored them. Over the next half-hour, she furiously wrote seven more inches.

"There!" she exclaimed triumphantly, throwing down her quill at last. "Done!" Glancing around, she was bemused to find that the common room was empty. "Where did everyone go - RONALD!" Her last exclamation was punctuated by a crash as she rushed out the portrait hole, hair flying in a furious tangle of red. "What is it with people not telling me when lunch is?" she muttered irately as she fought against the wave of students traveling in the opposite direction. "I swear, Ron, you are going to get it when I find you." Her stomach rumbled, yet another reminder of the lunch she had missed.

Before she could reach the Great Hall, however, she found her way barricaded by a tall person with a green tie and prefect's badge - "Draco," she groaned, attempting to side-step him, "I really don't have time for this right now."

"Not even time for your own boyfriend?" he asked, effectively stopping her half-hearted efforts.

"Well - "

"Gin, relax." He pulled her to the side, out of the way of students exiting the hall. "We have a free block next - we can go down to the kitchens to get something to eat." A silence greeted this proposal. Draco frowned. "Ginny?"

"You mean we don't have potions today?" she asked, suspicion dawning as her boyfriend nodded quizzically. "PANSY! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Draco sighed, watching Ginny dash off once more in search of Pansy. Some things just never changed.