Life Is Cruel

Cruelty

:NOUN

Inflected forms: pl. cru·el·ties

1. The quality or condition of being cruel.

2.

Something, such as a cruel act or remark, that causes pain or suffering.

*~*~*~*~*~*

'Life is cruel.'

This frequently used phrase is a frequently discussed one as well.

Many people think, well, life can't be cruel, because life isn't a thing. It is not a living being, and therefore cannot inflict pain or suffering.

Just as many others think, well, Life is a thing, because It's being lived.

Whatever the case, a large majority of Earth's inhabitants like to blame their problems on this one, simple sentence. Why this is so remains unknown, since after saying 'life is cruel,' and then going back and living it would seem a bit depressing, but we're straying from the point.

The point is that this exact piece of controversial literature was going through Ginny Weasley's head at breakfast one morning.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Life is cruel.

Why? Why am I forced to live this life of bitter irony every day? Why must I wake up to the same mocking torture every morning? Why can't I seem to find a reason to enjoy just one minute out of twenty-four hours? Why is Harry staring over my shoulder?

Ginny Weasley quickly glanced around, wondering what on earth Harry Potter had found more interesting than her this time.

Oh.

Oh dear.

Cho Chang.

Pretty, popular, kind and caring Cho Chang.

There wasn't a girl in Hogwarts you could find who was any nicer.

Ginny hated her.

Ever since Harry had first let it slip that he fancied her. It was always about Cho. Stupid name, she thought darkly. What kind of person goes around calling their daughter Cho, anyway? No one she wanted to associate with.

She turned back to her toast and began buttering it a little too forcefully, causing the butter knife to rip the bread in half. She threw the knife down with a clatter and began to eat the mutilated piece of toast, chewing so hard her teeth were grinding together.

Of course it was Cho he was looking at. He never looked at her in any way other than brotherly. He would probably never see her as anyone but his best friend's little baby sister. It made her want to stab him with the butter knife repeatedly. Afterwards, of course, she would fall to his side and then stab herself as well. She couldn't help it. She was just too... sensitive? No, that wasn't it. Nice? No. Infatuated? Damn.

"What's the matter, Gin?" asked Ron, who was eyeing her suspiciously as she continued to spread another piece of fragile toast. "All the food here is served already dead." Ginny glared at her brother, who was wearing a smug look, obviously satisfied with his last, rather stupid remark. She lifted the piece of toast up to eye level and began to break it into halves. She didn't stop until her plate was littered with crumbs and fragments of what could no longer in any way possible be called toast. She then stabbed one of the larger fragments with the knife and ate it, staring at Ron all the while.

The smug look faded as he shook his head in a bewildered manner and went back to eating. Good, she thought. Go ahead and stuff yourself. Go back to leading your uncomplicated little life and leave mine be. I hate you. She glanced around the table in a meaningful manner and addressed them with a mournful look. I hate you all.

Over all, it was a typical Monday morning for her.

Stupid Harry Potter. Stupid, adorable, sweet, heroic Harry Potter. Stupid Harry with his beautiful green eyes and fluffy black hair. Harry and his absurdly round spectacles that made him look so innocent and cute. Lovable Harry Potter. Damn.

Ginny watched Harry stare over her shoulder like he did every other day, absorbed in her own thoughts. She couldn't help it if she loved everything about him. The way his hair stuck up in every direction. The way his eyes seemed to glow when he looked at you. The way he always seemed so serious and sure. The way he occasionally missed his mouth with the spoon he was eating his oatmeal with. Ginny absentmindedly reached over for another piece of toast and found herself grabbing at air. She had eaten the last piece. Bugger. She glanced down the table and spotted another plate full just out of reach.

"Seamus, would you mind passing the toast?"

"My pleasure, Ginny," said Seamus, addressing her cleavage. He handed her the plate and she snatched it away from him, rolling her eyes. Well, she thought, that's the last time I leave any buttons undone and sit next to Seamus. He continued to glance down her shirt at regular intervals until she finally threw her knife down once more as he did so for the sixth time.

"Do you MIND?!" she yelled, attracting the attention of half the school. Seamus, unabashed, simply shook his head and continued eating. Ginny let out a shriek of frustration. All the boys in Gryffindor were always flirting with her, catcalling as she walked by or pinching her bottom as they passed. All the boys, that is, except for Harry Potter. Of course.

Harry was always found moping around in the common room, feeling sorry for himself about Cho. How Cho would never go out with him, and how he wasn't good enough for her. It made Ginny want to scream. She did occasionally, but Harry never took any notice. In fact, he didn't now. He was still staring over at the Ravenclaw table, still missing his mouth causing oatmeal to dribble onto his chin.

Ron cleared his throat and scooted down a bit away from Harry.

"Uh, Gin, why don't you sit over here?" Ginny glared at her brother and stuck her nose in the air.

"I can take care of myself, Ron!" she said haughtily. She looked across the table and saw Dean Thomas staring seductively at her. He winked and flashed her a you-saucy-wench grin.

Ginny cleared her throat and stood up, making her way around the table to the other side. She sat down in between Harry and Ron and faced her brother. "Not one word." She turned back to her plate and grabbed another piece of toast.

She continued eating, and tried to ignore the fairly conspicuous stares she was getting from every table. Eventually people began to eat again and the usual morning conversations were resumed. As she looked up from her last piece of toast, though, she caught one pair of eyes that were still looking over at her. Icy, grey eyes that made her want to shiver and look away. Eyes that seemed to see right through her, even. The cold, piercing eyes belonged to none other than Draco Malfoy, enemy of all things Gryffindor. As soon as he noticed his stare was being returned, he went back to eating as if nothing had happened. Of course, Ginny told herself, nothing had happened. He was simply glancing over here because of the slight disturbance before. Yes, that was it.

She turned back to her food, and found to her delight that Harry was no longer staring at Cho, but simply eating. She began to work out in her mind something to say to him, but nothing very witty popped up. She decided on something nonchalant, so as not to seem too interested.

"Harry, you have something on your chin."

Okay, so that wasn't exactly what she would call a great conversation starter, but at least it broke the ice. Harry turned faintly pink and wiped his chin off.

"Thanks, Ginny," he mumbled. "Good thing you saw that and not...er, someone else." His eyes wandered over to the Ravenclaw table once more.

"Bloody hell." she murmured. Would she ever get more attention than Cho?! She groaned and slammed her head against the table, causing her glass to tip over and her milk to seep into the tablecloth.

Life, she mused, is cruel.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny made her way through the rest of the Monday morning fairly well after that.

It was the afternoon that started off badly.

Ginny was in a foul mood, as she always was when she was in the Charms room.

Charms was the one class she hated most. She hated it more than Potions. And on Monday morning, of all the mornings, she had it. She sat listening to Professor Flitwick drone on in his squeaky voice. Ginny had often wondered at the beginning of the year if his voice could drone, since it was so high pitched everyone had to clamp their hands over their ears when he shrieked after toppling off of his pile of books, and this happened at least twice every day. She didn't wonder anymore.

She knew.

She didn't really enjoy any of her classes. They kept her away from Harry, her only reason for living.

History of Magic was terribly boring, with Professor Binns droning on in the background about Goblin rebellions and Dragon uprisings. In fact, he was worse than Flitwick. But at least she didn't have to pay attention. She usually got in a few naps in, or zapped flies on the window sill, or doodled on her books. There was one she had devoted to Harry. It was full of hearts and love poems, and she intended to give it to him when she was finished with it.

It would most likely end up in her trunk under her socks, though.

Potions was a class that was almost tolerable for her. Sure, Snape was a slimy bastard in need of a good shower, but other than that, he wasn't all that bad. She greatly admired the way he could make the Hufflepuffs quiver just by looking at them. It was a talent she wished to acquire. But Harry didn't like him, so she tried her best to show that she hated him as well.

Transfiguration was another class she disliked. McGonagall was unbearable. She was always snooping around the room, looking over your shoulder, making sure you were keeping on task. Ginny had lost good pictures that way. She had been drawing this really lovely image of McGonagall being eaten by a dragon, and had used red ink for detail and everything. Of course, this had earned her a detention, and she had never seen the picture again. It was a shame, really.

Charms... Charms was just horrible. There was nothing to do. There were portraits on the walls of the Charms room, unlike any of the other rooms. So, if a portrait caught you doodling, or sleeping, or generally not paying attention, they would yell out and alert Professor Flitwick, who, in turn, would yell in his squeaky voice and give you a detention. Ginny did not want another detention, so she simply stared at the professor, looking engrossed in his lecture.

She was, of course, looking out the window behind him. The birds were chirping and flying by, and the sky was a deep shade of blue. Ginny envied the birds whenever she was in that class. They were free, flying about in the wind, singing merrily, and she was stuck in the stuffy Charms room. The unjustness of it all was making her squirm.

"And now I would like everyone to practice." Ginny blinked and Professor Flitwick came into focus. He was waving his stubby little arms enthusiastically, motioning for them to stand. She stood. "Now everyone, pair up with a partner, and get started!" Ginny looked around nervously. Everyone seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing but her.

A short Ravenclaw came over by her, and smiled politely. She had glasses, and her eyes were very big, making her look like she was a year below the rest of them.

"Hello. Would you be my partner?" Ginny nodded and then started speaking in a quiet whisper, so the portraits couldn't hear her.

"What are we doing?" The girl rolled her eyes and succeeded in looking more superior than anyone in the room. Ginny didn't like the way her nose went up into the air. It made her want to hex it off.

"Cheering Charms, of course," she said, sounding as though she had more important matters to attend to. Ginny scowled. She rolled up the sleeves on her robe and narrowed her eyes. This girl was going to be aching with laughter for days, she thought fiendishly.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The time went by fairly quickly after that, and a few times Ginny had had to sit on the ground she was laughing so hard. Those Cheering Charms were really quite fun. Life wasn't all that bad. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and that was all that mattered. Ginny noted that the Ravenclaw girl was lying on the ground laughing also, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She laughed at her openly.

Take that! she said mentally. I hope your ribs are bruised for a week!

Once the students had calmed down a bit, Professor Flitwick told them all to study the charms they had been working on earlier on in the week. Today's lesson had more or less been a break from all that. Ginny grinned stupidly, for no apparent reason.

Of course, everyone was grinning stupidly for no apparent reason.

Professor Flitwick dismissed them all, and they left smiling widely. Some were still chuckling. Ginny took a deep breath and grabbed her book bag.

As she walked out of the Charms classroom and made her way to the Gryffindor Tower before lunch, she bumped headfirst into the very girl she never wanted to meet. All traces of the Cheering Charm she had been hit with just minutes before were now gone - the impact had seemed to jolt her back to reality. She felt the same as ever. Generally annoyed and irritable.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Cho Chang bent over and helped pick up Ginny's books as well as her own. Typical, Ginny thought as she looked at the pretty girl in front of her with narrowed eyes.

Pretty annoying, that is.

"Oh, no problem. I never mind getting knocked over in the middle of the hallway by the one person I loathe most in this school," she said quietly. Cho didn't hear her and was smiling good-naturedly as she stood up and handed Ginny her books that she had picked up. Ginny snatched them back as she put on a fake smile, which she found was actually quite hard to maintain for a certain period of time.

"Thanks," she said through her teeth, which were grinding together so hard she thought they might shatter any second. She threw her book bag over her shoulder and tore off down the hallway before Cho had time to say anything to her. She made her way through the twisting corridors without really paying attention to where she was going. She knew the route to the Gryffindor Tower by heart, and made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady in less than 5 minutes, which was a personal record.

"Chocolate Frogs," she spat as she stood in front of the painting while the Fat Lady looked down at her.

"Oh, we're not in a good mood this morning, are we?" she asked as she swung open, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny growled and stomped her way through the hole, across the common room, ignored the whistles coming from the boys, stomped extra loudly up the flight of stairs leading to the girl's dormitories, and finally into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She threw the bag down onto the floor next to her bed and then flopped down onto the covers, burying her head in her pillow.

Oh, life is cruel.

The one person she hated the most in the school, and she just happened to bump into her. The irony of it all was tearing away at her, like birds ripping away at a freshly caught worm. How could Harry manage to like someone who didn't like him back, and be completely oblivious to someone who did like him? It was terrible, being overlooked everyday, no matter how hard she tried to get his attention.

It's not going to be like this forever, she thought determinedly. I'll make him see me, even if I have to run naked through the school yelling "I LOVE HARRY POTTER!!"

...Not that she would seriously consider doing that, but it was obvious that something drastic would have to be done.

She heard the door open and someone come in, but she was too busy moping to get up and look. Couldn't anyone tell that she wanted to be left alone?

"Ginny, are you coming down to lunch?" It was Hermione. And, Ginny thought darkly, she sounds cheerful. How could anyone be cheerful after what happened to her? It was inhumane.

"I lost my appetite," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. She felt the bed bend under the weight of her friend as she sat down next to her.

"Oh, come on, Ginny. It's not healthy to skip meals, you know."

"No." Nothing she said could make her go. Nothing she said could make her go anywhere for the rest of her tragic life.

Hermione spoke after a thoughtful pause.

"Harry's coming with us since Quidditch practice was cancelled, but I suppose if you don't want to come down..." Her voice trailed off as she watched Ginny spring out of bed and bolt out the door. After a moment her head reappeared in the doorway.

"Come on, we haven't got all day!"

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny sat at the Gryffindor table, poking half-heartedly at a piece of steak while people talked around her. Every meal she went to seemed to turn out the same. Horrible.

She had managed to snag a seat next to Harry, but the only thing he talked about was Quidditch! That's all any of the boys were talking about. The next match against Ravenclaw was coming up in a week, and Ginny couldn't get a word in edge-wise. Hermione was sitting across from her, ignoring the sports-related conversation as well. They had tried to carry on their own conversation earlier, but the boys were simply too loud. She stabbed a piece of steak and began to cut it into tinier pieces. She imagined that had the boys been talking a little more quietly, she would have been able to hear it cry out in pain. She smiled grimly.

Suddenly she sprang upright, having heard mentioned something she did not want to hear about for the rest of her life.

Cho.

Oh no.

Cho was the Ravenclaw seeker. Ginny groaned. Would she ever get away from that girl?!

She eavesdropped on their supposedly sports-related conversation and began to eat slowly, her eyes not leaving her plate. They were talking about how to get around her during the game. She had always tried blocking Harry whenever she could, and this, to quote Oliver Wood, their old Quidditch captain, was something that "WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!!"

"You know, Harry," said Fred, leaning across the table so they could hear him, "you could just knock her off her broom and say it was an accident. That would get her out of the way." He and George began to laugh, and Ginny could hardly contain herself from doing the same. She imagined Cho falling through the air, with a horrified look on her face, ending with a resounding thump. She sniggered softly.

Harry had turned a very light shade of pink and shook his head.

"Tha's chee'ing," he said around his food, staring fixedly at his plate. His face was becoming steadily redder by the second. George nodded sympathetically.

"Oh, that's right. That's the one you fancy, is it?" he asked. Harry was now about the same color as a ripe tomato. Fred nodded to George. They both turned to him in a business-like manner, addressing him in a business-like tone.

"You want her to notice you, right?" asked George, sounding as if just asked Harry if he wanted to save money on insurance. Ginny glanced over as Harry looked up at them, something glinting in his eyes. Hope? Ginny rolled her eyes and stabbed at another piece of steak.

"Right," said Fred, not waiting for an answer. "Then what you need to do-"

"Is knock her off her broom anyway--" continued George,

"And then save her," finished Fred. Harry, now back to his normal complexion, shook his head and then rolled his eyes in much the same fashion that Ginny had done just a moment earlier.

"Yeah, that would go really well," he said sarcastically. "Wouldn't she be mad at me for knocking her off her broom in the first place?" Fred and George both shook their heads.

"Not if it was an 'accident'." Harry looked over to the Ravenclaw table and then back to the twins.

"You're both barmy. You know that?" Fred smirked and George looked quite flattered. Ginny caught Hermione's eye and they both sniggered into their drinks. Her twin brothers were always up to something, and it was usually something they shouldn't be up to. Last week they had both been caught red-handed while trying to bewitch a toilet to talk to its most recent user--while still in use. The whole affair had been quite funny, and Fred and Georges' spirits hadn't dampened in the least when they had been given their punishments. No points had been taken from Gryffindor (amazingly) and they both served their detentions that night. No one knows what they had to do though, since whenever someone asks them what happened they simply reply with, "Goodness, don't the toilets look absolutely spiffing?" and leave it at that.

"Well," said Fred, turning back to his neglected plate, "it does work, you know. Tried it on Angelina in third year." Harry had a look of vague remembrance on his face.

"I remember that... Angelina fell off her broom after-- wait, no. You did that?! I thought she got hit by a bludger!" Fred winked at him.

"And I'm a beater." Harry stared at him incredulously. Fred only shrugged as he helped himself to some treacle. "Told her I was aiming for the Slytherin behind her." Harry continued to stare and Fred took on a slightly defensive tone while his brother began to snigger quietly. "I caught her, didn't I? And I only hit her broom. No harm done." Harry was forced to nod in agreement. Angelina had been perfectly fine afterwards. She had even seemed a little clingy towards Fred, come to think of it. Well. That certainly explained that.

"Anyway," he added, a wicked smile on his face, "it must've done some good. She went to the ball with me last year, and now, of course." He and Angelina had been 'going together' - including the mushy holding hands and smiling dreamily at each other nonsense - since the beginning of the school year, and they both seemed quite content. Ginny looked over at Angelina Johnson, who was sitting a ways down the table to her left. She looked to see if she had heard any of this but it seemed she hadn't.

Hermione decided to speak up, now that the talk had quieted down a bit.

"At any rate, Harry, you had better just concentrate on finding the snitch and deal with, er, everything else when the time comes," she said, and with that, the whole conversation seemed to come to an end and everyone went back to eating.

Ginny could have kissed Hermione she was so happy--her moment had come at last! Harry was concentrating on eating instead of chatting, and Ginny racked her brain for something worth saying to say. But, like always, whenever she wanted to say something witty, everything she had learned within her fourteen years of life scurried away, leaving dust balls and bits of fluff behind.

Well, she thought, you can never go wrong with a compliment. But what would she say?

Would she comment on the alluring quality of his beautiful green eyes? How, after looking at him, she never wanted to look away?

No. Not at lunch.

Would she tell him that his modest personality was downright sexy because he was trying not to be? How his charming smile made her knees want to buckle and her tongue to hang out while drool began to puddle on the floor?

No. Not in front of her brothers.

How about in the morning, when he had just woken up, and his striped pajamas and half closed lids made her want to freeze the moment so that she could admire and adore him forever after?

No. Not in front of the rest of the school.

No.

No.

No.

Ideas came and went, but nothing appropriate came to mind.

After what seemed like an eternity (but had actually been only 5 seconds) she decided to stick to the current topic.

"You're the best seeker we've ever had, Harry. You'll do great." Perfect! Brilliant! Amazing! She congratulated herself mentally on the casual tone of her voice, the wording of the statement, and the fact that it was only polite to reply. And Harry, being the kind, modest boy that he was, certainly would. And he did.

"Thanks Ginny," he said, and smiled.

Oh, that smile! It made her heart want to flutter right out of her chest and out the open window, while the rest of her remained behind and crumpled into a dazed heap. She stopped chewing her steak in fear that should she keep staring at the dazzling sight before her, she might bite her own tongue off.

She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life. She looked into his eyes--those marvelous green eyes. They were by far the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. Underneath was a bright green, and at random places dark green slashes made the effect in which she felt like she was staring at a filibuster firework in mid-explosion. His smile was endearing. His teeth were not perfectly straight but not horribly crooked, giving them an adorable, off-kilter quality. His hair was as untidy as it ever was, simply adding to the mix of things she loved about him.

And then, the moment was shattered.

By none other than her brother.

"Gin's right, you know," said Ron, not noticing the hateful stare he was receiving from across the table. "Cho doesn't stand a chance against you." At the very moment Ron said "Cho," Harry's eyes glazed over. He had also, in an attempt to stab another piece of pie, missed the plate by two inches and had instead stabbed the table, due to the fact that he was now staring fixedly over at the Ravenclaw table.

Draco Malfoy watched with detached interest as a frustrated shriek echoed through the Great Hall, and a red-haired girl stomped her way out through the open doors and out of sight. He looked over to the Gryffindor table, and found people looking at the place they had last seen the girl before she had disappeared out of view in a completely bewildered manner. All of them were doing so, in fact, except for Harry Potter, who was staring over at the Ravenclaw table. Interesting, he thought, and then went back to eating.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! How was it even possible?!

Ginny sat by the lake, throwing pebbles forcefully into the water. Her face was flushed with anger as she whipped the stones continually, her pent up emotions running loose. As she had been storming out of the castle in a blinded fury she felt only rage. After lessening the rock population on land for a while though, she began to feel depressed as well.

Damn that Harry Potter.

NO! No. Not Harry.

Damn that Cho Chang.

Ginny was jealous and she knew it. Why shouldn't she be? Cho had always managed to ruin every chance she had gotten with Harry. Every time she talked to him, she came up into the conversation somehow. It had to be some kind of unexplainable phenomenon. "Hello Harry, how are you?" "I'm fine... have you seen Cho recently?" "Hi, Harry. You were absolutely fantastic! I've never seen the snitch caught so fast! I-" "Thanks, Ginny. Did Cho leave already?" "Harry, can I ask-" "Can I talk to you later, Ginny? I just saw, er, someone... go out, I'll be right back."

As it were, he wasn't right back, and he never did talk to her later.

"Cho bloody Chang," she muttered to herself under her breath. Everybody simply loved her. She was so nice, and so pleasant to be around. Well, she isn't! Ginny thought angrily. She stole Harry's heart, and she doesn't even acknowledge his presence! She makes my life a living hell without even trying! Ginny threw the rest of the stones in her hand into the water, causing ripples to cover the surface.

Ginny stopped.

And stared.

She watched as the ripples became larger and larger, spreading out across the lake at a constant speed, until finally, after becoming quite large, they disappeared.

She grinned mischievously.

Cho Chang, she thought to herself with glee, you are about to get yours.