Harry Potter Fanfic Number Two: The Dates
October came faster than anyone had expected. The air became colder and it was the time for hot butter beer on the occasional trips to Hogsmeade.
Ginny sat in the common room by the crackling fire of gold. She was twisting her ginger hair nervously and staring out into space. Crookshanks meowed and hopped on to Ginny's lap.
Ginny finally broke away from her daydream and saw Hermione and Katie leaving the girl's dormitories looking formal as they prepped for their dates. Ginny was prepping for her date, too.
For years, she found it so interesting to talk to Hermione, Katie, and Padma about their dates. Hermione and Ron made a perfect match, and Ginny was proud of her brother for his spectacular decision.
Katie and Seamus Finnegan, went out often, so Ginny seeked Katie's help with advice for these kinds of things. Padma and Roger Davies had been together for a while now, and Padma adored him.
Ginny, Padma, Katie, and Hermione were best friends for as long as they could all remember and at first, Ginny was uncomfortable with the idea that all her friends had dates, but now that Ginny was experiencing it herself, she felt flustered and excited.
Mandy and Fay watched in admiration, and Hermione, Padma, Katie, and Ginny giggled, looking nervous and flustered. Personally, the girls thought Mandy might not have too long to wait. Justin had been spending a lot of time with her lately.
Ginny brushed her hair until it shimmered and wore her fanciest robes; they were teal with sequins and white lace.
"Wow, you look amazing," Katie beamed, coming up behind Ginny.
"Thanks," Ginny replied twirling in front of the mirror.
"C'mon," Hermione led her friends out of the common room. "If we don't leave soon, we won't have time to finish our homework after going to Hogsmeade."
Hermione's periwinkle dress billowed out behind her as she left the common in a rush. Padma's traditional Indian pink dress made a delightful jingling noise as she hurried after Hermione with the train of her matching pink head dress trailing behind her.
Katie's long lavender dress slowed her a bit, but she still looked gorgeous. On the way to the one eyed witch portrait, Hermione stopped short.
"Hermione-?" Padma began but Hermione shushed her.
Ginny and Katie listened intently. There was an odd sound coming from above. "What's that?" Padma questioned. "Do you hear it?"
"It sounds like a potion exploding. Or maybe it's someone sick? Or both?" Katie laughed.
Ginny wanted to investigate, but there was no time; they'd be late to the Three Broomsticks for sure. The Three Broomsticks were pretty much empty except for a group of boys circled around a table in the back. "I'll meet you girls later." Katie waved and headed in a different direction to meet Seamus in Hogsmeade. Katie and Seamus preferred to walk together on their own.
Hermione and Ron were meeting at the Beatle and the Bay, the most romantic restaurant in Hogsmeade. As Hermione opened the door to the Beatle and the Bay, she noticed Ron sitting at an empty booth. Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear and went to join him. Padma, Ginny, and their dates both agreed that there was no need to go to a romantic place to have a romantic time. So Padma and Ginny met their dates on opposite sides of the Three Broomsticks.
"Hi," Ginny said shyly, sitting down at a table with Harry.
Harry was the best thing that ever happened to her, and Ginny thought he was the bravest, most adventurous person in all of Hogwarts. She enjoyed their dates together more than anything, even when they just sat, talking and talking, enjoying each other's company.
Ginny pulled a few strands that had fallen in her face behind her ear and sat down across from Harry. He had already ordered two bottles of butterbeer and was sipping one noisily.
"Hey," Harry said, placing his feet on the table. "How's it goin'?"
Ginny blushed, but inside, she wondered why Harry was acting so uncharacteristically immature. Usually, he wore his best clothes to a date, but tonight he was just wearing his old Quidditch robes.
Had Harry lost interest in her? She looked over at Padma's table. Padma was sitting uncomfortably, hiding her head in her hands as Roger chuckled and talked to himself. Roger stuffed a couple cakes in his mouth, and laughed at Padma when she looked disgusted. What had happened?
"So, you're wearing teal?" Harry asked, his eyes sweeping over Ginny.
"Well, yes, it's my best robe. For a special day like today," she said, blushing profusely.
Harry looked as if he were about to spit out his drink, but caught himself and calmed down. "Ginerva..."
Ginny stopped. Ginerva?
"You know I only like green. Teal is so unflattering on you," Harry continued, sipping his butterbeer carelessly.
What was going on?! Ginny thought, speechless.
The date was awful. She wanted to collect Padma, Hermione, and Katie and get out of there.
"Uh, well, it has been a lovely time, but we best be going," Ginny said anxiously. With a quick wave, she half ran over to Padma and told Roger they had to leave.
Padma muttered, "About time," and hurried away with Ginny.
"Oh, you are not going anywhere!"
Padma and Ginny stopped short.
"What?" Padma asked, confused. Ginny looked at Harry. Strips of slick bleach blonde hair was showing through as Harry's face began changing.
"Polyjuice!" Padma whispered, freezing. Harry wasn't Harry at all; it was Malfoy! The same had happened with Roger, only it was Goyle!
"Run," Padma cried.
Ginny sprinted out the door, holding Padma's hand. They ran to the Beatle in the Bay hoping to see Hermione and Ron, but both were missing. They looked around for Katie, but she, too, was gone.
They came to an alleyway now with Goyle and Malfoy on their tails. They cornered the girls.
Taking out their wands, they shouted, "STUPEFY!"
Malfoy hit Ginny square in the chest and Goyle targeted Padma. Their heads hit the wall and soon, the girls began fading away.
The last thing they saw before the world went black was the two boys laughing harshly as they bent over the girls.
Ginny opened her eyes to find herself in a sort of cage, with Hermione, Katie and Padma beside her. Her head ached and she was practically buzzing with curiosity and confusion.
"We thought you would never wake up!" Hermione said dramatically.
"While you were dozing away, we all figured out that our dates weren't really our dates at all. It was Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. They somehow fooled Harry, Ron, Roger, and Seamus, and they used the Polyjuice Potion to trick us too!" Katie explained.
"How did you figure all that out?" Ginny asked groggily. "And where are we?"
"I think we're in the Shrieking Shack, but I can't be positive. And we heard them because they're right there! But, they can't hear us because of the Muffliato spell," Padma pointed.
Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, and Pansy huddled around in the corner of the room around a cauldron bubbling with the rest of their polyjuice potion. "Now that we have them all, we can turn them over to the Dark Lord, just as he requested. He needs the most powerful people at Hogwarts. We got them alright," Malfoy whispered from a few feet away.
Hermione gasped as she heard Malfoy talking. "Well, we can certainly do a little magic of our own," Hermione crossed her arms. "I've got a plan," she announced, "I know how to get out of here but we can't all escape without drawing attention to ourselves, Ginny I'll need you." Hermione finished. Ginny looked confused.
Meanwhile, Malfoy, and his friends were busy waiting for Voldemort's servant, Peter Pettigrew, to arrive to pick up their prisoners.
"But, what about the other three?" Pansy flipped her hair.
Goyle looked at her in confusion. "Mandy? Fay? Justin something-or-other?" Pansy rolled her eyes. "Remember them?"
"Just because their friends with Potter, doesn't mean they'll be of use to us. Practically everyone in the school knows Potter." Malfoy bit back, fiercely.
"Yeah but"- Pansy was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Peter suddenly appeared at the door. The Slytherins were surprised; they hadn't expected him to come until much later.
"Give me everybody," Peter croaked wickedly.
"Of course," Malfoy nodded, unlocking the girls' and the boys' cages. He hadn't noticed that Ginny was missing.
"Thank you, Malfoy," Peter replied.
When did Pettigrew suddenly have manners? Pansy had grown suspicious, and crossed her arms. She looked around, surprised that their plan was working, until she realized Ginny was missing.
"Look!" Pansy gasped. "Where's the Weasley girl?!"
Malfoy's face darkened as the realization hit him.
"You!" Malfoy seethed, pointing at Peter.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Ginny's voice shouted from Peter's body.
"Accio broomsticks!" Hermione yelled at the same time. Ron got on and Hermione held on tight.
"Back to Hogwarts! Before Pettigrew arrives!" Harry yelled, getting on his broomstick. Everyone followed suit and whizzed away.
"GLAD THE TRANSFIGURATION PLAN WORKED!" Hermione shouted from behind.
"LOOK BEHIND YOU!" Ron shouted speeding up to Ginny's side.
Pansy followed, getting on a broomstick of her own. She yelled a spell that Ginny couldn't understand, when blood blinded her eyes.
Ginny screamed, her broomstick losing control.
"Ginny, I've got you!" Harry yelled. Ginny plummeted, wind roaring past her ears.
"I've got you," Harry repeated as she landed safely in his arms.
"Thanks," she whispered breathlessly. Ginny was cut in all sorts of places, and she tasted blood, but Pansy was still right behind them.
"STUPEFY!" Ron's voice screamed. Pansy fell off of her broomstick, screaming the whole way.
Pansy landed hard, hard enough to knock her unconscious and snap her broom in two. But this time, there was no dashing hero on a broom to catch this damsel in distress.
As soon as Hermione got off the broom, she started panicking.
"WE HAVE TO TELL DUMBLEDORE, GOODNESS KNOWS WHAT MALFOY COULD BE PLANNING NEXT, OH THAT LITTLE-"
But Padma covered her mouth before she could say it.
"No. We can't tell Dumbledore; we have to deal with them ourselves!" Katie rebelliously exclaimed.
After dinner they mounted their brooms back to Hogsmeade and surprise attacked Malfoy and his gang. Then, after getting more brooms, Harry tied them onto enchanted brooms.
But not everything went according to plan.
"What happened to my Draco?" Lucius fumed.
"Oh, hi," Roger gulped. No one else spoke.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Lucius yelled.
"I'll have you know that Draco illegally imprisoned us for Voldemort," Hermione blurted indignantly. Everyone glared at her.
Lucius smiled evilly. "Good, shall I finish the job?"
The Minister of Magic rounded the corner suddenly, but just on time.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Malfoy?" he asked.
"Yes," Seamus interjected, pointing to Draco and his friends.
The Minister nodded. "I'll deal with them. Lucius?"
"Just leaving," Lucius sighed bitterly. The Minister nodded curtly, and took his leave.
"Yes!" Ron squealed like a mouse, and the eight students high-fived each other on another victory in the battle with Draco.
Without warning, Roger grabbed Padma from around the waist and kissed her, just as Seamus whirled Katie around.
Ron cheered goofily, hugging Hermione.
"Well, it looks like we should celebrate too," Harry hinted shyly. Ginny blushed.
"Yeah, maybe we sh-"
Harry kissed Ginny suddenly, square on the lips. Ginny kissed him back, not caring that her friends were staring. She knew that today had been an adventure that could have led to death, but if each adventure ended like this, she would gladly have a near-death experience every day.