Expectations

Chapter 3: Under the Sunlight

“I know what you’re doing,” Hermione said the next, standing in the doorway of Ginny’s dorm room with her arms crossed over her chest and frowning.

“Of course you do,” Ginny responded automatically. A second later, what Hermione had said processed through her mind and she froze where she was, lying on her back on her bed, her feet at the headboard while holding Witch Weekly above her head. Damn Fred and George, she thought angrily. Those two had hounded her with that line for so long…

Hermione raised her brows, walking forward and stopping in front of Ginny bed, looking down at her friend.

Ginny blinked. Hermione’s face looked rather interesting upside-down… You could tell that she had a freckle just above her lip on the right side. Well, the left side if she had been right-side up.

“Ginny, are you listening to me?” Hermione asked, frowning again.

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, lowering her magazine till it rested on her stomach. “You were saying?”

“Where did you lose me?” Hermione sighed.

“Right after you told me you knew what I was up to,” Ginny said smartly.

Hermione grumbled under her breath and walked around the bed. She sat down next to Ginny, looking at her hands. “Ginny, I don’t think you should be messing with Slytherins.”

“Who said I was messing with Slytherins?” Ginny asked, her mocha eyes widening innocently.

“Ginny…” Hermione said, frowning again. “I’m trying to be serious here. I don’t know why you think you’ve gotten over Harry this quickly, but in any case, you shouldn’t be hanging around with Slytherins!” She said the last bit desperately, looking pleadingly at her friend.

“Since when was I hanging around Slytherins?” Ginny demanded, sitting up abruptly and looking Hermione in the eye.

“I saw you watching one of them yesterday at lunch. And then he left, and you followed directly after!” Hermione said, her face worried.

“Hermione,” Ginny said wryly, “it’s hardly a crime to leave the same time someone else does.”

“He’s a Slytherin, Ginny,” Hermione said pleadingly.

“I know that! Not all Slytherins are Death Eaters, you know!” Ginny snapped, falling back to a reclining position and pulling her magazine back up to read more about some Ministry official’s secret affair with a barmaid.

“Ginny!” Hermione pulled the magazine out of the red-head’s hands.

“Hey!” she interrupted, “I was reading that!”

“Ginny, please listen to me!”

“I’m listening to you, ‘Mione,” Ginny said acidly, glaring at the Gryffindor prefect.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Hermione whispered, looking down at Gilderoy Lockhart’s face on the cover of Witch Weekly. “Is that such a horrible thing?”

“It is when it didn’t stop Harry from hurting me,” Ginny bit back, yanking the magazine out of Hermione’s hands. “And he’s your best friend,” she finished, pointedly ignoring Hermione by concentrating on her magazine.

Ginny didn’t look up when she heard Hermione rush out of the room, nor when she heard a few of her roommates enter with hushed voices. She was used to their whispering behind her back now. At one point, they had wanted to be her—now Harry had broken up with her, they just wanted to talk about her.

She sighed, sitting up and putting the magazine on her bedside table, not making eye contact with any of the other girls in the room. Hurriedly tying the laces to her shoes, she barely remembered to grab her cloak before racing out of the room. There weren’t very many people in the common room, for which she was very grateful as it meant less people witnessing her exit.

She just wanted to go outside. She wanted to get outside and feel the breeze in her hair. Being outdoors just made her feel so much freer than being cooped up inside. She did well in her studies, but during classes she often found herself drifting off, staring out the window and wishing for someone to come and take her away.

It was probably why she had always wanted to be Harry’s girlfriend. In her mind, his saving her from the Chamber of Secrets in her first year was nearly the same as rescuing her from the dreariness of the indoors.

Finally, she was there. Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the cool, fresh air permeate her senses. Looking up at the sky and smiling, she felt peace for the first time that day.

“Ginny!” a voice called from behind her.

Ginny turned around and smiled at the blonde-haired girl running up to her. “Luna!” she said, hugging her friend and grinning. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a few days! We don’t have as many classes together as we used to.”

Luna smiled absently, her red, pink and white heart earrings looking rather out-of-place in the middle of November. “I’m doing well,” Luna said, “though have you heard about the Chintins? Apparently it’s very close to becoming extinct; my father’s seeing what he can do about it. One of our top writers is going to interview those who have been helping with its survival.”

“Really?” Ginny asked, trying to keep her tone amazed. She loved Luna, she really did, but sometimes it was hard to keep a straight face when she was talking about Chintins. She looped her arm with Luna’s, and the two began walking towards the lake, discussing the newest edition of The Quibbler.

Halfway to the lake, they had fallen silent, and Ginny was debating whether to tell her friend about Harry’s betrayal of her, and her plan to get him back.

“Luna?” Ginny asked hesitantly.

“Hmm,” the girl replied absently, watching as a flock of birds dipped and soared high above the lake.

“Did you hear about me and Harry?”

Luna looked at her friend, her eyes focusing on Ginny’s face for the first time in nearly a year. “Yes.”

Ginny was rather surprised that Luna’s normally absent nature had taken such a quick turn. “Well, I…” she trailed off. How was she supposed to say this? “I want him back, Luna,” Ginny whispered, tears coming to her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but before she knew it they were pouring down her face in torrents, no matter how much she tried to stop them. Luna’s arms came around her, and Ginny sobbed onto what was probably her best friend’s shoulder with abandon.

“Shh,” Luna whispered, patting Ginny’s back. The Ravenclaw was a good four inches shorter than Ginny, so it probably looked strange to any passersby. Ginny had thought she was past sobbing with such feeling, but it appeared she wasn’t.

After a few minute, Ginny let go of her best friend and smiled tremulously. “I’m sorry about that, Luna,” she whispered. “I just… I really want him back, and I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about it yet.”

Luna nodded, her eyes still focused on Ginny’s face. “I understand,” she said, smiling. Abruptly, the unfocused look came back, and Luna was again the girl Ginny knew, with gaudy earrings and a love of creatures whose existence was still unproven. Ginny smiled, wiping the few remaining tears from her face. The best thing about Luna Lovegood was that she was there when you needed her, and not just in the physical sense.

***

Ginny walked back to the castle slowly, watching the grass in front of her as she walked. It was the middle of November, and there still hadn’t been snow. But it would no doubt happen soon, and then it would certainly get cold.

She sighed, looking out at the grounds. Not very many people were outside, probably because of the weather. A few lower-year Slytherins, a couple of seventh-year Gryffindors, a large amount of Hufflepuffs… And a very large group of Ravenclaws, all gathered around Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and stopped walking, turning slightly to the left to face the group. She wasn’t certain she wanted to confront Cho, but the sight of the older girl who had cost her Harry… She took a shaky step forward before stopping again.

She could do this. Couldn’t she? Why not?

But what would she say? She didn’t want to go up there hoping to humiliate Cho and end up doing the same to herself… What would she say? “You made my boyfriend break up with me, prepare to die?” Oh, Cho would die alright—from laughing.

The longer she stood there, watching Cho with all of her friends, all of them laughing together and having fun… The worse she felt.

Cho had something she didn’t. Ginny had no idea what it was called, but Cho could make friends. People liked her; they were almost drawn to her it seemed.

Ever since the Chamber of Secrets incident, it had been difficult for Ginny to make friends. It wasn’t the way other people saw her, precisely; after all, no one besides her family and Harry and Hermione knew that she had been the one Tom was working through. It was the fact that after the Chamber, she’d had a hard time trusting people, and hadn’t made friends because of it.

Now it was too late. Everyone had their own little clique, and she wasn’t in any of them. Oh, she had Luna, of course, and she would never regret that. She and Luna were almost two of a kind, both outcasts from their classmates because of things they couldn’t change about themselves.

Ginny sighed. She couldn’t do this. She was getting depressed, and that certainly wasn’t a good thing.

A hand clapped itself on her left shoulder and Ginny froze. “Something wrong, Ginny?” a deep, male voice asked.

Ginny turned around, smiling slightly. “Blaise,” she nodded at him. “No,” she said, answering his question.

He raised a black brow. “You’ve been standing there watching Chang and her friends for at least five minutes. Something has to be wrong.”

Ginny shrugged his hand off her shoulder. “Nothing’s wrong,” she reiterated.

Blaise looked uncertain, but left the matter alone. “Alright then.” He nodded towards the castle. “Want to walk with me to the castle? I thought we could talk about this plan of yours some more.”

Ginny nodded, and they began walking side by side across the lawn. “What was it you wanted to talk about?” she asked hesitantly, glancing over at him.

“I suppose it was just what we’re going to do now,” he said, rolling his shoulders slightly. The action caused Ginny to remember that he had joined the Slytherin Quidditch team as a Chaser this year. “You never mentioned just how this plan was going to be put into action.”

Ginny blushed. “I guess I didn’t think that far.”

“Then I suppose it’s lucky I did?” he asked rhetorically. “Anyway, this walk of ours probably won’t go unnoticed, so I suppose it’s the first step, right?”

Ginny nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“Well, next weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend, so I suppose officially I’m here to ask you to go with me.” Blaise turned his head towards her, his black eyes looking straight into hers. His eyes were nothing like Harry's. Although they both seemed to have hidden depths, Blaise's seemed...sadder, almost.

“And I suppose I should say yes then?” Ginny asked, raising a brow.

“Of course,” Blaise said, the edge of his mouth turning up slightly in amusement.

“Then yes, of course I will,” Ginny replied, a small smile on her face.

Blaise reached over, placing his hand on the small of her back in what was no doubt a proprietary action. “I also thought we might study in the library some,” he continued, “as that will probably attract Granger’s attention, considering how much time she spends there.”

Ginny nodded distractedly. “Right.”

“Has she said anything to you?” Blaise asked.

“Why do you ask?” Ginny replied nervously.

Blaise raised a brow. “Answering a question with a question, are we?”

Ginny scowled at him slightly. “Yes, she did. So?”

“I was just wondering,” Blaise said, dropping his hand from her back to hold up both of his in mock surrender.

Ginny grinned, and suddenly laughed. She was actually having fun.

And to the rest of the students watching them, that fact was blatantly obvious.