Disclaimer-If you like it, assume I don't own it. The Potterverse belongs to JKR, Steve Klowes, Scholastic and WB. Fanon belongs to the multitude. . .I'm simply paying homage. Most of this scene is from GoF by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made.

The character of Professor Auriga Sinistra as she appears here is the artistic masterpiece of She'sAStar, who was kind enough to lend her to me—to my endless gratitude!

Author's Notes—This chapter was inspired by Lamentations of a Starry-Eyed Twit by She'sAStar, and Diaries of a Dungeon-Dwelling Moron by Gedia Kacela. I highly recommend you read them. (You'll be able to understand the chapter without them, but they're highly entertaining, and well worth your time.)

Progress has been a lot slower in this work, but I hope you'll all stick with me anyway. As you all know, I may not own it, but I work hard, and I love it, so if you read it and enjoy it, please review it! Please don't print or post this elsewhere without my knowledge.

HBP—I'm still digesting. Good stuff, bad stuff, interesting stuff…and stuff I really wish I could have seen more of! Yup. Food for thought…and the GoF movie is on the way!

And—oh, yeah—I know there are a couple little things in previous stories I should adjust to be in canon, but its either revision or new posts...slow though they may be…

ArachnasLoom-Your question about the next chapter came just as I was wondering if anyone would even notice it when I finally got around to posting…I hate the delay in the chapters, too, but such is life. I hope the next chapter will come a lot faster, but no promises. grins sheepishly and sighs Anyway, I hope you keep reading!

Rayny- Lamentations ROCKS! I can't get enough of Snape and Sinistra, either. ;-) Isn't it interesting that—as Ginny is finding out—even when magic exists there are no easy spells to make life easy? On the other hand, as painful as all that teenage angst is, it's weird how the experiences enrich us for all the rest of our lives…I hope Ginny will discover that as well. coughs

J. Rhaye—She's a Star is responsible for the interesting additions to Snape's character, but she was nice enough to let me borrow them. There is definitely more there than meets the eye, I highly recommend the fics that inspired that little scene. ;-) As for heartbreak, I always remember how L.M. Montgomery's Anne series (and interestingly, many people-myself included-think Ginny has much in common with Anne) described Anne as experiencing the highs and lows of life with far more intensity than most other people, but while the lows might be crushing, the highs were far more than an equal compensation. ;-) Thanks for the encouragement! Hope this chapter lives up to your vote of confidence! HUGS

EEDOE-Thanks for your support, your input, and your presence in my life, without which I would be much the poorer. hugs

Ginny tried to hide in sleep long after she'd woke, but eventually had to heave a sigh of defeat and roll out of bed. She pulled on a plain, gray pleated school skirt, grabbed the sweater and blouse closest to the top of her trunk, unwadded the robe she'd discarded the night before, and donned it like a drop cloth. She gave her hair a few cursory strokes of the brush and pulled it into two of the most tattered braids she'd ever produced without any awareness of either the mirror or of her reflection in it, in spite of several offended harrumphs issuing from that direction.

Gritty-eyed and morose, she slunk down the back stairs toward the kitchen where she could continue licking over her wounds in peace—the house-elves would fawn over her, but their concern would be nothing more personal than what she wanted for breakfast, a prospect that actually sounded quite comforting.

"—be able to serve them better if you're given the rights you—Ginny!" Hermione looked as if she couldn't decide whether she was happy or uncomfortable, and had merely ended up settling on sheepish. Ginny knew how she felt.

"Oh. Um. Hi, Hermione," she said, rather inadequately, she thought.

The house-elves bustled about, filling it a long pausewith crème puffs, pasties, eggs, and tea.

For a while, Ginny and Hermione could focus on the food and not one another. Somehow, Ginny found herself hungrier than she'd thought anyone with a broken heart could be, and Hermione didn't seem to be a slouch in that department either.

"So…you're still talking to me, then?" Ginny ventured, fiddling with the last biscuit on the plate.

"What are you going on about?" Hermione asked, looking surprised.

"Well," Ginny began awkwardly, "Ron--"

"Oh, forget Ron—Ron's a prat!" Hermione interjected in a huff. "Listen, Ginny, you were right. We shouldn't sit around waiting for Ron and Harry to notice us. But you were wrong."

Ginny blinked. Now she understood how Gilderoy Lockhart had felt after his memory charm backfired. "Hermione, that makes absolutely no sen--"

Hermione, however, hadn't waited for the obvious response. "I mean," she continued, waving her arms expansively, nearly taking out a passing house-elf in the process, "maybe it is our fault they haven't noticed us—let alone the fact that we're girls--" Here she relieved her feelings by accompanying admission with an offended snort—"Because we haven't forced them to. Look at the types of girls they do notice. Cho Chang. Fleur--" Another even more violent snort made the name somewhat incoherent—"Delacour. Girls who aren't sitting around waiting for boys like Harry and Ron to notice their good qualities; on the contrary, girls so outgoing and confident their qualities—even if they aren't that great—demand to be noticed. Girls who have been noticed by other boys and who aren't afraid to enjoy the attention--" by now, Hermione was so out of breath she was forced to break off.

"Hermione," Ginny said miserably, "you and I don't want to be like Fleur Delacour or Cho Chang. And even if we did…I just don't think we could be."

"And thank Merlin for that!" Hermione retorted fervently.

Ginny grinned wryly. "But, then, what--"

"I'm just suggesting that we stop waiting," Hermione explained with a sigh. "If other boys ask us out, let's go and have a good time, and enjoy what we've got—like Cho and Fleur do. Let's quit worrying about how to impress Harry and Ron, and just relax and be ourselves. Maybe if they get to see what we're really like, they'll start to appreciate us. If not, it really will be their fault if they haven't noticed us—and at least we'll already be having fun."

"Somehow I just don't think it will be that easy," Ginny said wistfully.

"Do you have any better ideas?" demanded Hermione.

"No, not really."

"Well?" Hermione crossed her arms and glared, looking unnervingly like McGonagall about to tell off some unlucky student.

"You have a point," Ginny grudgingly admitted. A few days ago she'd wanted to keep talking to Harry, but she'd been too afraid of making a mistake. But—if Hermione's new theory was to be believed—she had nothing to lose even if she did make a mistake, and she might have everything to gain.

On the other hand, if she started hanging out with Harry and Ron whenever she felt like it, instead of waiting for an invitation that never came, she might have to hear Harry admire Cho Chang. "Not that it's going to be easy."

"Let's go see Hagrid," Hermione said by way of non-response. "I want to know if he's taken my advice for asking Madam Maxime to the Yule Ball yet."

"He asked your advice?" Ginny asked, wondering if she ought to feel a bit offended that he hadn't wanted her opinion as well.

"Um, well…" Hermione said, which was answer enough. Ginny grinned.

"Say, Hermione," she said, suddenly remembering something as they left the kitchens, "Guess what happened last night."

"Ron choked on his own tongue when Fleur came in to dinner," Hermione said promptly.

Ginny exploded into snickers of wild—and amused—surprise that quickly became awkward sputters of guilt. "Um…not exactly." She coughed, and proceeded to recount her odd encounter with Professor Sinistra and Snape.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Hermione mused

Ginny shrugged, and waved at Hagrid as she caught sight of him through his window, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, as much to keep warm, as to catch his attention. He didn't seem to notice, but, then, she thought that might just be her fate. Ginny sighed.

"Well, then, jes' don' stand there," Hagrid boomed. "Come in, come in."

As it turned out, this was a rather tricky feat to perform, as most of the hut was already taken up with Hagrid, though he tried to stand out of the way behind the door, and Madam Maxime, who was seated quite regally in Hagrid's usual arm chair, sipping tea.

"Oh, we didn't realize you had company," Hermione said, sounding somewhat taken aback. "We can—we'll just come back later then."

"No, no, don' be silly," Hagrid objected. "We haven' had a chat in a long bit. Have a seat—like some tea?"

All in all, the impromptu party wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as Ginny had expected. Madam Maxime had a knack for charades that was quite unexpected, and Hagrid's booming laugh never seemed to stop shaking the hut. It was a bit unsettling, but in a way that insured Ginny left with a happy glow on her face, a glow that even the cold walk back to the castle couldn't displace.

And, as she and Hermione ducked into the warmth of the castle, they found it was looking a lot like Christmas.