Flipside

Chapter Five

Ginny continued to steer clear of the Great Hall and its crowds all week. Breakfast - if she ate at all - was taken early in the morning before the greater part of the school woke.

It was always the same people eating there each early morning; the trio of Ravenclaws, and Malfoy. The difference between them however, was that the other stayed in the Hall as it filled up; Ginny escaped quickly to the solitude of the library until classes started.

Lunch was skipped entirely, as she hid out in the library once again. Spending all this time isolated was doing wonders for her homework, each night the pile that she needed to complete was significantly smaller each time. The thought of it barely caused her to panic at all.

Each evening she met up with Hermione at their table after visiting the kitchens and grabbing them a snack. The duo worked in a comfortable silence together until late into the night. The silence was only broken on a few occasions when unwelcome students accidentally invaded their area, but they were turned away quickly at the glares shot at them by the girls.

With the weekend came the painful realization that she had two full days to occupy while trying to isolate herself from the school. She couldn't believe that she was actually dreading a break from classes, but the thought of at least 12 hours each day in the library nauseated her - and she couldn't think of an alternative.

After spending just Saturday morning buried under books working, Ginny found herself absolutely ravenous. Breakfast had been skipped for a few more hours of precious sleep. Feeling as restless as a caged animal she knew she had to escape for a while from the place that she had thought of as her sanctuary.

Ginny stepped out into the hustle and bustle of the corridors and began to wind her way down to the kitchens. As she walked she noticed that she was easily gaining on a familiar raven-haired boy in front of her, his arms linked with the Patil twins. Soon enough she found herself a few steps behind them, just within earshot of their conversation. 'No good can really come of this,' Ginny told herself, but curiosity kept her there.

"That Ginny Weasley," said one of the girls. "Ever since you two split she has been absolutely stuffing her face."

"Yea," cut in her sister, "I always see her rushing off towards the kitchens as soon as classes are let out."

Ginny seethed in anger. 'Stuffing myself!?' she thought. 'I haven't eaten a square meal in over a week.' Listening back into the conversation she heard something even worse -

"Yeah," Harry laughed, "I've noticed her arse getting a bit big."

'The nerve!' she thought. Ginny glared at the back of their heads, silently wishing that they would explode on her will alone.

Not wanting to bear witness to anymore of the conversation Ginny decided to take action. Allowing the trio to gain some ground on her, she took a few small, quick steps to gain momentum. She then suddenly burst through the group subsequently pushing apart Harry and one of the girls.

"Oh!" She gasped turning around, her eyes filled with a fake apologetic look, "I'm so sorry! It must have been that big arse of mine!"

Ignoring their looks of shock, Ginny quickly turned on her heel and continued on her way to the kitchens with a huge smirk on her face.

As the portrait of fruit snapped shut behind her, she sagged against it closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. A tugging on the bottom of her robes forced her to open her eyes and look down.

"What can I get young Miss?" a house elf asked. He looked up at her expectantly, with large round eyes that were popping out of his head. She almost chuckled at his appearance, obviously one of Hermione's free elves. His baldhead was adorned with a hat containing two holders on either side for a cup, with straws winding down to his mouth. It contained a bright green bubbling liquid. A black cape was wrapped around his neck with bright red lining. It trailed along on the floor about a foot behind him as he walked and caused poor innocent elves to become entangled in it. Finally he wore a plaid kilt, at least 2 sizes too big around his waist held up by a pair of rainbow suspenders - the kind you would expect to see clowns wearing at a circus.

Remembering that the elf was still standing there waiting for her order she replied smiling in spite of herself, "just a Butterbeer and slice of cake please."

A soft grunt from the other side of the room caused her to suddenly jolt her head up. Rubbing the crick that she had just created, her eyes narrowed and she grimaced as she saw Malfoy sitting at one of the long oak tables, eating a slice of pie - his own Butterbeer in hand.

The house elves that had been just previously bustling busily around the kitchens stopped, eyeing the pair as if expecting violence to break out as Ginny bore holes through Malfoy with her eyes.

He was the one to break the stony silence first. "Well don't just stand there - sit."

Ginny pulled herself together. "Ah, the prized Malfoy courtesy again is it?" she said, reluctantly pulling up a chair to the table across from him. As soon as her bottom hit the chair a house elf appeared setting in front of her a bottle of Butterbeer and a platter holding a whole decadent triple layered chocolate cake.

The two sat in silence eating for some time. Ginny had her head bowed over her food, her hair falling in front of her face creating a veil to hide behind. Curiously she tried to sneak glances at the Slytherin in front of her.

She jumped in her seat as he cleared his throat. "You should know," he began, "that isolating yourself is doing nothing for your revenge tactics. You put on a good show the first day, don't stop now." With that Malfoy tipped his bottle at her, and took a final swig. He then got to his feet and swaggered out of the kitchens without a glance back.

Ginny was shocked at his sudden attempt to give her advice. "Malfoy," she called after him, catching him as he stood framed in the doorway. "I think you mistook me for someone who cares about what comes out of your mouth. I don't need your advice. Just stay out of my life," she spat.

Without turning around he replied. "No," he said slowly, carefully choosing his next words. "Just because you asked - I don't think I will."

Ginny gasped and clutched at her Butterbeer, her hand shaking violently. The sticky liquid sloshed about in the bottle with some cascading over the rim. Feeling the substance tickling down her wrist she promptly set the bottle down. Ginny winced when she used more force than intended, and a loud thump resonated through the kitchen.

Shaking still, she saw Malfoy still standing in the doorway. He shook his head and walked off. Even with his back turned Ginny could sense the smirk that no doubt adorned his face. As she turned back to the table she noticed she was still shaking, but she didn't know whether it was from shock, rage - or fear.