Ginny's Crush

Ginny stared out the window at the Quidditch pitch, a pencil between her fingers and an offensively difficult Arithmancy problem propped up against the cold glass. She checked the enormous clock on the library wall. She sighed. Only five o'clock. She knew surely the team would be out as long as they could, provided none of them fell off of their brooms from hunger. So she settled herself down for at least another hour and a half of staring blankly at a sheet of parchment. She waited, and waited. After what seemed like a lifetime, the clock finally struck six, and she dared to peek out the window again. But this time, there was no sign of the team anywhere. Her heart pounded fast as she wondered what could have happened. He always came to the library after practice. Always. She was sure of it. No wonder, either; she'd been following him there every day, all month, since the beginning of term. There was no way... She dropped her books as he called her name. "Yes?" she called back, a little too anxiously, wincing as she dropped another book, this time straight down on her foot.

"Do you know where Quidditch Throughout the Ages is hiding?" He smiled at her, his gorgeous eyes flashing in the setting sun. She breathed deep, but couldn't find anything really clever to say, so...

" Uh uh." Wow, smooth Gin. But he just smiled and leaned over. This can't be happening. Her heart pounded faster and faster as the clock ticked on. He just stood there, his arm over her head. Then he walked away, book in hand, and sat down at a table. She sighed. That was it? She could still see him clearly, so she tried to regain some dignity and look a little saucy. She hiked up her skirt a bit, and put her feet up on the shelf in front of her. She noticed, with a surge of felicity, that he could not appear to take his eyes away. He would look down at his book, seeming unending interested, but his focus would slip, and she would peer over the edge of her book, teasing him mercilessly; biting her lip, playing with her hair...but, to her great disappointment, he remained glued to his chair. Pulling the book up over her face, trying her hardest not to look frustrated, she weighed her chances. She could leave, and spare herself some self-esteem, but what were the chances that another wonderful opportunity would come up like this?

She remained sitting in the window for a few minutes, watching him. Then she got an idea. She stood up and pulled off her cashmere sweater to reveal the pristine, white, button-up shirt below. She unbuttoned it, pushing her look a bit beyond school rules, but who was going to see her here? She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and was pleased to see that he was thoroughly absorbed in her actions. She smiled and undid one more button, revealing the middle of her scarlet bra, and walked nonchalantly over to his table, pretending to look for a book directly over his head, pushing her breasts into his face. She smiled sweetly down at him and asked, "Do you know if there are any rules around here about the students' sexual activity?" He stared at her, trembling, moving his mouth in an odd fashion, emitting nothing but strange croaking sounds. "Okay then," she said, growing pale, "I'll just... just...ask someone else." She dropped back on her heels and stared at him for a second, then ran out of the library, up two flights of stairs, into the Gryffindor common room. She found Hermione in a corner, studying. Ginny barely noticed the yearning gazes she was sending in Ron's direction before she collapsed next to her, shaking profusely and sobbing.

"I screwed it up, I screwed it up," she whispered softly.

"What'd you screw up, honey?" Hermione asked her in a soothing tone. She caught Ron's eye and twirled her hair around her little finger. He looked at her, completely bewildered, and buried his nose in Pro Quidditch Strategies.

"Well, it's nice to see him reading..." she declared half-heartedly.

"You don't have to flirt with him, you know," fired Ginny. She was quite upset that her best friend was so crazy about her brother that she didn't have time to hear her story. "He already likes you. A lot actually. Surprising he doesn't just start snogging you right here and now." Her tone was icy, but Hermione looked at her with an expression that told her that that was exactly what she wanted him to do right now.

"'Mione!" she pleaded, choking on the tears that were filling up her throat.

"Oh, right dear, I'm sorry, it's just...well, tell me what happened."

Ginny proceeded to tell her every detail of what happened, but stopped when she told Hermione that she'd taken her sweater off.

"Well, Gin, don't be so hard on yourself," she cooed gently, making Ginny's spirits rise, "I know as well as anyone that it's damn hard to be sexy during your period."

Ginny turned her eyes to her in an expression of feigned disgust. "That wasn't the problem!" she stated forcefully, all the while wondering at the fact that she knew.... She told her the rest of her story in a hushed voice.

"Wow, Gin." Hermione gasped as she finished. "What did he do?"

"I don't know, I ran for it." She stared at Hermione, looking for reassurance, but Hermione was staring past her, mouth gaping open, towards the portrait hole. She whipped around, her long, curly, red hair smacking Hermione, wanting to see the cause of the abrupt disturbance. She flushed as the very topic of their conversation walked cautiously over to their corner, looking nervous. His eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration, making Ginny swoon. Maybe this is it...she thought, but as he came closer, he dropped a bundle of things in her lap. She watched sadly as her sweater fell open and her quill, papers, and books fell out.

"You...you left these in the library." He looked extremely uncomfortable. He turned gently and swept back out of the portrait hole, his robes billowing behind him. When he'd gone, Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder as a fresh wave of tears poured over her. Hermione patted the back of her head for a while, but around 11:00, she started dozing off, so she headed up the steps to the girl's dormitories. Ginny was alone in the common room as she began to sort through the things he'd brought back to her. Her Arithmancy problem, still unfinished, the swan quill that Ron had given her for her birthday, her books...she pulled one out from the bottom of the pile, one she'd never seen before. It was a large book, around ten inches thick. It had a deep purple cover, and red and gold ribbons were hanging out of the middle. She opened to the marked page and read the top line.

Hogwarts students are welcome to engage in conventional or magical sexual activities.

Magical? Her heart pounded hard against her chest; she was

feeling more and more passionate by the second. The top of the page announced the book as The Official Hogwarts Rulebook . She shut it quickly as she heard someone coming down the boys' staircase. Ron and Harry's faces appeared at the bottom. Harry was holding his Invisibility cloak.

"What is that?" Ron asked suspiciously.

She smiled angelically up at the two of them. "My ticket to Paradise."

At that, she ran up the staircase, taking the steps two by two, leaving two positively befuddled boys behind her.