"Ginny, are you alright?" Harry asked her the next day at breakfast.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Ginny shrugged, absently, still pushing food around on her plate.

"Um... you really don't look too good, Gin," Hermione piped up, concerned.

Actually, Ginny was a complete mess. She hadn't brushed her hair, so it was in a tangled bush around her face; her eyes had deep bags (mostly because she hadn't been able to sleep); and her face was puffy, because she'd finally managed to fall asleep pressed against one of her library books, which managed to imprint itself onto her skin. Not a good night at all.

"I'm fine," she said, smiling reassuringly at both of them (Ron didn't bother asking, he was too busy devouring his eggs and bacon).

"Come on, Ginny, let's clean you up," Hermione dragged her friend out of the Great Hall, and toward Gryffindor tower. "Was it Harry? Did the date suck?" She asked, flicking her wand to clean Ginny up a bit.

"What? No!" Ginny smiled, "No way, the date was fine - but we're just friends. I just had a long night. You know... studying... reading..." Getting kissed by your worst enemy...

"Well, hey, if you ever need help with classes, I'm sure I'd be happy to do all I can. Just ask, if you need me," she smiled, patting Ginny's shoulder in a sisterly way. "What's your first class?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Ginny answered.

"Oh, I'm sure Mr. L will let you skip - aren't you ahead in that class?" Hermione asked, escorting Ginny into the common room.

Ginny's temporary shock at Hermione's suggestion was lost a bit in her haze of muddled thought. She shrugged, "I aced the O.W.L.s last year, so he figures he'll be doing mostly review stuff." Mr. Londoffbocvitzch (Mr. L for short) was the "free love" Defense teacher. Most thought of him as a hippie, but he was actually a pretty cool and well rounded person."Then skip. Rest a bit. If you still feel down, go get some Pepper-Up potion from the Hospital Wing," Hermione ordered, dropping Ginny at her dorm room.

"Thanks, Hermione," Ginny managed a small smile at her as she left.


A/N: Just a quick note - this is a newly added section marker, just so I could post something tonight for srivera -- the actual section is about 10 pages long. I'll try to type more tonight, we'll see. Quick review thanks to:

MalfoyJonasCullen1122

srivera

:P