Toast Chapter 9 Urges
Ginny walked into the Great Hall the next morning, rubbing her eyes; convinced that if she moved them enough they wouldn't collapse on her. She tiredly plopped down by Colin; her hair set all a mess. Placing some toast on her plate, she spread the strawberry jam over it neatly. A huge yawn escaped her lips as she went to take a bite. Suddenly, she turned to Colin.
"I know what we'll use! TOAST! After all, it is what got me into this mess anyway!" Ginny exclaimed. Colin looked at her a bit funny, but nodded his head.
"Did you memorize the incantation yet? It's a bit more complicated than your average day charm. I'm not even sure if Flitwick would teach it," Colin asked, rubbing his head tiredly. Not only had they stayed up until all hours of the night, but also they had woken up early so they could talk without anyone hearing. Ginny hadn't thought it necessary, but Colin stuck to his idea stubbornly. She tried to take another bite of her toast, but another yawn blocked its way.
"I STILL don't understand why we had to get up so darn early. It is five o'clock in the morning and we BOTH just went to bed an hour ago!" Ginny whined a cute little pout on her face.
"Because I said so!" he laughed, flicking her freckled nose. She stuck her tongue out at him, and wasn't surprised when he crossed his eyes and began jumping around as if he was a chimpanzee.
"Guess who I am..." Colin asked amidst all the jumping and squawking.
"Who?" she asked lazily; mulling a thought in her head.
"Malfoy!" he chuckled, sitting back down after getting many strange and disapproving looks from the teachers that were up and about. Ginny rolled her eyes, sitting up.
"Now that we've talked, I'm going back to bed," she sighed, stumbling out of the Great Hall's doors. Colin shrugged his shoulders and munched on a fatty piece of bacon.
A smile lit Ginny's face as she thought of sleeping in late. After all, it was Sunday, and she had no classes to attend. She bumped into something firm and hard; thinking it was just the wall again. (She had a tendency to walk into walls believe it or not.) Lazily, she looked up into cool, gray eyes. Instead of gasping like she normally did, she just groaned.
"It's you again,"
"Your point?" Draco asked, raising one eyebrow as he always had, looking skeptically at her.
"Get out of my way. I need my beauty rest and no one is going to stop me. Not you, not Harry, not Dumbledore, not even Tom. Now if you'll excuse me-" Ginny began, but was rudely cut off by Draco.
"Tom?"
"Tom Marvolo Riddle... you know He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Actually we're old chums, it's just when he betrayed me and tried to kill me to get power for himself and then disappeared, things didn't exactly wind up peachy keen between the two of us. So I guess he could only stop me by magic because I'd spit in his face if he tried to talk to me. Now PLEASE let me pass!" she grunted. Draco laughed in her face.
"I REALLY don't have time for this, and you're really hacking me off, so move!" she snapped, willing to give anything to be sleeping in her bed.
"I don't think I shall," he sneered, a smile in his eye. Ginny huffed out in anguish as Draco Malfoy gently shoved her off her last nerve.
"You're slick and sly and think your cunning, but you'll never guess to you what's coming. You sneer and laugh; well you're just one great arse. For all those who you have tortured, this hopefully will bring their fortune. You laughed at me, so let it be. I end this here and now, you are toast you flaming cow!" she spat out the incantation, waving her wand from inside her pocket. Draco hadn't realized it was a spell, but looked at her as if she should be at St. Mungos.
"You need to go to Pomfrey more than anything else, or maybe a shrink..." he laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He let out a small chuckle, moving out of Ginny's way and slid into the Great Hall.
"Finally, bed!" Ginny smiled, and trudged up the stairs.
~*~
"Didjya do it?" Blaise asked, thudding down next to Draco.
"Yeah, she didn't notice though." Draco snorted with laughter. Blaise clapped him on the back.
"Good Job mate!"
"Why do you always say 'mate'? It's uncommonly irritating."
"Because I can. Pass the toast please." Blaise asked, looking expectantly at Draco. Draco felt his bladder suddenly expand, water filling it up to the brim. He felt as if he were about to burst. Draco ran out of the Great Hall and into the nearest boy's toilet. When he returned, he received odd glances from most of his fellow Slytherins.
"What in bleeding tarnation was that all about? I just asked you to pass the bloody toast!" Blaise howled. Draco's eyes grew wide once again as he sped off to the toilets. This time, Blaise followed him.
"Holy cricket, what's the matter with you? I say toa-" Blaise began, but Draco kicked him in the shins before he could finish the word.
"Don't say that word to me again or I'll rip this pipe off the wall and thrash you with it!" Draco hissed, washing his hands in the sink
"You may be an ornery little bastard, but you sure are a clean, ornery little bastard! All right, all right. I won't say it again. I'll give word to the others too okay?" Blaise rolled his eyes, walking out of the bathroom, his hands shoved into his pockets.
"This is really going to piss me off..." Draco mumbled, stomping out of the bathroom. A stray tendril of hair flew into his face, he swatted at it angrily, but it remained in its place.
"Now I remember why father made me slick my hair back!" he grumbled, kicking a stone on the floor. He watched in amusement as it smashed a vase to pieces.
The sounds of feet padding on the floor swept into his ears. Looking around, seeing that there was no one else to pin it on, Draco ran; he ran like he had never run before. He dashed by the Great Hall, ducking into the dungeons, coming face to face with Professor Snape.
"I hear your journal has been returned into your possession. Congratulations Mr. Malfoy. How did you ever manage to do it? Who was the thief?" he inquired, twiddling his thumbs in anxiety.
"Just misplaced it sir. Found it under my bed, that's all," Draco lied, not knowing why he felt the need to protect Ginny from Snape's wrath. He came to the false conclusion that he only wanted to deal with her himself.
"Yes, yes Mr. Malfoy. Move along now, there's no need to sit in the dungeons all day. Sharpen your Quiddich skills, we DO have a gave this Friday and if you want to beat Potter I suggest you practice," Snape growled, dismissing Draco. Draco made a rather rude gesture to Snape's back before he went to prowl about the castle.
~*~
It hadn't been three hours before people began waking Ginny up from her much needed slumber. Someone tapped impatiently at her shoulder, trying to wake her. Ginny half woke up; but didn't stir. The person began jabbing at her shoulder, hissing at her to get up under their breath. Ginny rolled over; her eyes still glazed from sleep. She mumbled at them and started swatting at their face. Bushy brown hair and chocolate eyes zoomed into view.
"Erg, Hermione give me five more minutes... PLEASE!" Ginny babbled, her eyes fluttering shut. Hermione let out an exasperated sigh as she called from someone out in the hallway. Harry and Ron timidly stepped inside.
"Help me with her, she won't budge!" she whispered, pointing at Ginny's motionless body. Ron and Harry looked at each other, then moved to get Ginny up. Ron tried to pick up her head while Harry hoisted up her legs. Ginny's body immediately tensed, making it ten times heavier.
"We'll murder her if we carry her down the stairs like that. You'd think that after being her brother for sixteen and a half years I could pick her up. She's one stubborn mule I tell you. She used to do this when Mum tried to pick her up out of bed in the mornings when we were little," Ron sighed, sitting down on her bed. Harry groaned.
"I don't feel like waiting another couple hours to talk to her just because she decided to stay up with Colin all night... not to be rude or anything..." Harry added, running his fingers through his hair. Ginny snapped up, shoving the blankets off her body.
"I've already hexed someone just because they wouldn't let me sleep. Ron can tell you I get awful grumpy so please go complain and moan somewhere else, particularly where I can't hear you if that's not asking too much. After all I did hex Malfoy, your enemy, so I guess I did you a favor. Please repay me and let me sleep for just another hour!" she snapped, shooting daggers at them all with her eyes. They stumbled back, appearing to be afraid of her.
"You listen here Ginny, you have been nothing short of awful to us all year. We've tried to be nice to you; we've tried to be patient; but I, for one, won't take this anymore. No one deserves to be treated like dirt, and something has to be wrong with you if you're acting like this. You used to be kind and gentle. A genuine soul, but now you are just seeking revenge and wreaking havoc on everyone who tries to stick by your side. You may not consider me your best friend, Ginny, but I'll always think of you as someone I can talk to. I don't know where that Ginny went. She's gone and now you're here. I've been putting up with you in hopes of getting her back, but now I see that it's useless. Something is eating away at you, but you won't tell anyone what it is. How can you expect us to help you if you won't let us get in close proximity to you?" Hermione exploded, breathing gently. She almost seemed calm, but Ginny could tell she was enraged.
"It's always me isn't it? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I just got tired of tagging along with the famous 'trio'? Do you honestly expect me to try to work my way in with you after you've kept me out of your little circle for years? Well something's coming to you if you honestly believe that. I am not a puppet anymore. I am not going to be walked all over, and I need someone who will treat me special, not as just one of the Weasley's, or Ron's little sister. You all can't offer me that, so why should I try to wiggle my way in anymore? It's useless and now that I've seen that I'm through with all of this. Get out of my room. No Ron, you stay!" Ginny roared at them. Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, telling them he would be out in a second, and turned to Ginny.
He didn't offer words, he didn't offer scorn, he just hugged Ginny. He embraced her whole-heartedly, not caring what she had just said. He patted her hair gently, kissing her forehead.
"So you hexed Malfoy?" he asked her, looking at her sweetly. Ron had always been her favorite brother. He was always the one that understood what she was going through.
"Yeah, and I stole his diary," Ginny smiled coyly. Ron goggled at her.
"You what?" he stuttered, his eyes growing wide.
"You heard me Ronald Weasley!" she grinned.
"What was in it? What did he write about?" Ron asked eagerly, waiting for more. Ginny opened her mouth, only she couldn't talk. The words she was trying to form wouldn't form themselves, and she just sat there mumbling nonsense to her brother.
"You okay Gin?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yeah, it's just that, I can't tell you..." she muttered, looking down at her feet.
"Of course you can! I may tease him about it, but that's nothing big!" Ron exclaimed, trying to convince his sister to tell him.
"No Ron, I physically can't tell you. My body won't let me. It's as if a sock is gagged in my mouth every time I try to tell you. I'm sorry!" Ginny sighed.
"Well try writing it down," Ron snapped, grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill. Ginny took up the quill in her hand, and began to scratch on the parchment, but she could only manage to write squiggles before the quill flew out of her hand. She gazed up at Ron, horrified.
"Looks like he hexed you as well," Ron groaned, disappointment dripping from his voice.