As soon as Hermione was gone, Ginny heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Contatus," she muttered, removing the last of her glamour spells that had been keeping her looking as though she'd been mowed down b the Knight Bus. She looked in the mirror, and shook out her still-heavy limbs. She looked much better: cheeks rosy, eyes bright, hair cascading down her back in luscious red waves. Maybe she should should sleep on library books more often.
The robes were a pain. She shed them, slipping on her extra comfy sweatpants with her tank top, and her fuzzy pink slippers. Slipping out of her own dorm, she stepped lightly, sneaking into the 7th year boys' dorm.
"Sorry, Harry, love," she smirked, grabbing his invisibility cloak. She silently left the common room, grabbing her secret stash of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products to stuff in her pockets.
Now, what did he have first? She thought through Ron's complaints and managed to sort out that he had 1st, 3rd, lunch, 7-8th with Malfoy, while Neville had 2nd, 4th, 5th, lunch, and various hallway overlaps. What was that, then? 1st Ron had... potions. Damn. That'd be hard to slip into, but she would do it.
She tiptoed her way down to the dungeons, and was lucky enough to find a handful of students entering Snape's room late.
She slipped in, right behind Pansy Parkinson. She managed to maneuver herself until she was standing at the back of the classroom, in the corner, right behind Draco and Blaise's shared desk. She threw out her extendable ear, listening to their conversation.
She thanked any gods that happened to be listening for her good fortune. The topic for today's mid-class talk show was Christmas Eve and Christmas.
"So, how'd the Weaslette plan go?" Blaise asked, leaning back in his seat and cleaning the gunk of potions ingredients out from under his fingernails.
Draco winced. "Not well."
"So, the rumors of you hooking up...?"
He laughed, but quietly, "No hooking - quite a bit of fake snogging."
"Fake?"
"To get that ridiculous git-" he flicked a beetle eye at the back of Ron's head, "-furious. It worked, until she went out with Potter."
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy here?" Blaise smirked.
Draco was quiet. Ginny checked to make sure the ear was working. It seemed to be.
"I... kissed her," he said regretfully, nervously running a hand through his hair.
"I know..."
"No, I mean... I kissed her. For real." He paused, then, quietly, added, "...That wasn't how I meant to scare her..." He was almost silent, glaring so hard at his potions vial that Ginny was sure it would explode.
"...She was scared?" Blaise asked, obviously confused.
"I know, I don't get it either. I think I was a bit... harsh. I really didn't mean for it to happen..."
"But it did," Blaise finished for him, "And now you feel like a total prick for making her so sick she had to miss class."
"She's missing class?" He asked, looking at Snape, aimlessly.
"Uh-huh. You didn't see her at breakfast?"
"...No. Why? What happened?" He asked, taking notes on how to find and pick Morlock root.
"Frankly, she looked like shit. Her hair was a mess, eyes puffy, the whole shebang."
"Today," Snape announced, and the boys stopped their conversation, "You will have the opportunity to pick some root on our own grounds, so please at least attempt to organize yourselves into an orderly mass..." The whole class stood and pressed themselves toward the door, bundling themselves in their warm wools and furs.
