The not-so-Common Cold
Hermione Granger, bushy hair and Weasley Jumper firmly in place, was cleaning up the mess of the Christmas Party which had occurred the evening before in the Common Room. Every Gryffindor had been there…well, every Gryffindor except Ginny Weasley, Romilda Vane and Dean Thomas; their whereabouts had remained a mystery, however there was much speculation, between students fifth year and above, that they had been invited to the elite party…The Christmas Party. Run by, it was rumoured, Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin.
A noise.
Someone was padding down the staircase from the girls dormitory. Who in their right mind is up this early? Thought Hermione, completely forgetting that she herself was already wide awake this Boxing Day and cleaning the blasted Common Room before the House Elves got a chance. A wide awake, scarlet haired package came slowly into the semi-darkness.
"Ginny?"
"Mmm, oh, Hermione!" Her voice was husky - a slight sniffle to her words that wasn't to have been detected yesterday; where had that come from?
"Where were you last night?" the brunette put down the Butterbeer Bottle she was levitating to the bin and went to stand in front of where the youngest Weasley had seated herself.
"At a party. Like everyone else." she replied smoothly.
"Which party?" sighed Hermione, her eyes slanted in suspicion.
"Oh, Ravenclaw. With Luna - is it time for break-breh-breh-achoo!-breakfast yet?"
Hermione covered her face from the germs the younger girl had sneezed all over the place, "Yeah, I'm sure it has, Gin…" suddenly a sly sort of expression slipped onto her face, "…and, Ms Weasley, where did that Cold appear from, eh?"
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Nowhere. Just a Common Cold…I'm sure they're not that irregular in Winter." and in perfect deadpan, the crimson haired witch stood and slouched out of the Common Room the older, with a slight smirk on her features, following her, careful not to ruffle the Weasley's feathers again. Harry and Ron she could mollify but an angry Ginevra Weasley was not to be toyed with. Her temper was as legendary as her Mother's.
0x-
As Ginny walked into the hall the few students that were up smiled at her as she passed, hoping that the redhead would see them too and she would return the gesture - Ginny Weasley was fairly well known amongst Hogwarts Students. She had Bill's daring, Charlie's flying skills, Percy's intelligence, Fred and George's mischief making skills and Ron's carefree, ballsy nature…though inheriting the Weasley's attributes wasn't always good, as she also had acquired Bill's scruffiness, Charlie's crude language, Percy's grammar nit-picking tendencies, Fred and George's lack of tact and subtlety and Ron's sheer laziness…she also had the Prewitt's dark red hair, and good looks - not really the pretty or cute face that fourth and fifth year males were interested in, but an elegant beauty, high cheekbones, slightly slanted large brown eyes and a little cherub pair of pouting lips, that seemed to attract the seventeen year old boys of the castle.
You couldn't say her figure was as desirable as Pansy Parkinson's or Lavender Browns with their voluptuous curves but she was in proportion, with small curves - her bum had been the topic of conversation between many students boys and girls alike, - and long slim legs. She was about 5"7 but had very petite bone structure. Most like to think they could protect her - she far from needed it.
She sneezed loudly and let out a loud, barking cough - everyone who had been looking at her hastily turned away. Ginny Weasley may have been an ace Quidditch player but - ew - they sure as Salazar didn't want her germs.
"Pass me the jam, Hermione." came the stuffy voice. Hermione, taking pity on the poor girl, even though this cold was clearly her own doing, and took the half butchered piece of toast from between the redheads hands and promptly threw it on to an empty plate beside her, she then picked up a fresh slice and buttered it liberally before layering it in Black Cherry jam.
"Thanks - achoo - 'Mione."
"Eh, no problem, Gin, no problem…"
Scanning the Ravenclaw table she saw a very sleepy looking Mandy Brocklehurst, her blonde hair appearing as though it had seen much better days and her large grey eyes red and bloodshot from what would seem to be the remains of a particularly heinous hangover. However, hangover or not she would be able to help Hermione with her…enquiries. The brunette stood suddenly taking Ginny by surprise.
"Where are you going?"
"To Ravenclaw - I need to ask if Mandy has my Transfiguration notes." The fact that if Mandy had finished with the Transfiguration notes for the NEWT class she wasn't even taking she definitely would not have them with her at the table in the Christmas holidays while she sported a sore head, never even entered the mind of Ginny Weasley who now sat poking miserably at her eggs and bacon wishing half-heartedly that she could taste them.
0x-
"Mandy!" greeted the Head Girl brightly.
"Ugh, not so loud, Hermione. What are you doing over here anyway?"
"Well…I wondered if you could tell me which boy Ginny found herself with last night - was it Michel Corner? I had no idea he was under the weather…really shouldn't have been playing Quidditch a couple of days ago with a cold as bad as that…I mean Ginny's practically dying over there…" she rambled.
"Er, Hermione, why for the sake of Rowena Ravenclaw would I know which boy Ginevra Weasley was philandering the night away with?"
Hermione's face fell slightly, "well…I, er, she --"
"Spit it out, Woman, you're beginning to really pis--"
"Wasn't Ginny at your House Party last night?" cut in the brown haired girl.
"What? No."
"Oh…well, I guess I misheard her then…" Mandy turned back to her coffee and groaned in relaxation as the fumes wafted to her nose. The Gryffindor girl stood and returned to her respective table, staring at Ginny oddly.
"What, Hermione? Have I bleeding grown an extra head or something?"
"What's that about you giving head, Weasley?" sneered a voice. Both girls turned and found themselves looking up into the faces of Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Gregory Goyle. The speaker had been Parkinson…of course.
Hermione blushed at the obvious innuendo on behalf of the younger girl, Ginny however simply turned back to her food and said in an expressionless voice, "Jealous, Parkinson?"
"As if, Weasley, as if."
The redhead sighed. "Look, I know you Slytherins aren't the smartest Kneazles of the litter but surely you can follow the stench back to your own table?"
Pansy scowled but walked roughly away, her hips swaying furiously.
"Ack. Now look what you gone and done, Red" started Blaise and he followed the temperamental bottle blonde to the Green decked table. Draco graced Blaise's back with a withering look as though wondering how he dare sink so low as to talk civilly - heck, down right playfully - to a Gryffindor and a Weasley no less.
"And now, Goyle," smirked Malfoy, "we see why some mammals eat their young." he stared piercingly at both teenage girls and strutted away. The bigger boy guffawed stupidly, however, quickly stopped and began to scuffle after his blonde companion after eyeing the wands Hermione and Ginny were pulling out of their robes.
"Suddenly - cough - the atmosphere seems to have been dampened." stated Ginny, her voice scratchy, before moodily standing up and coughing all the way out of the hall.
0x-
Luna dreamily wondered over to the Gryffindor table and took a seated beside a very pensive looking Hermione.
"Hello Hermione."
"What? Oh, hello, Luna."
The blonde stared for a moment at the Gryffindor before saying, quite vacantly, "so, who do you think it was? Or is?"
Hermione snapped out of her reverie and looked at the Ravenclaw as though she had just stated she no longer believe in the Crumple Horned Snorcack. "Luna, what are you on about?"
"Well…Ginny, of course!" she patronised, "I thought you would already have it figured out - where that mysterious cold appeared from; I mean it could have been the Gillius Bug I suppose, but I haven't detected any in the castle so the only logical answer is our Ginny partook in some rather vigorous snogging." this was all spoken in one breath a tone that may have suggested she were talking about washing dishes, not the secret love liaisons of their mutual friend.
"Mmm, well it had crossed my mind." replied the older girl cryptically.
"I'm sure it had. Now, I thought as there aren't many students in school at Christmas that it would be fairly easy to find out who it was she playing Tonsil Tennis with all last night."
Hermione looked slightly taken aback by Luna's idea - not only was the usually dreamy girl suggesting a plan, she was also acting as though she were really going to try with some effort to discover just who had given Ginny that cold.
"Well…" began the brunette slowly, "I am Head Girl, so I do have that list of…er, Students staying here…and I can access those files that'll tell me who ordered Cold Cures."
Luna beamed. "Perfect." the blonde now simply stared, with her large blue eyes, at the Gryffindor.
"Er…Luna?"
"Yes?" her eyes not dislodging, from the faint freckles across Hermione's nose, once.
"I'm going to get those records…how about we meet in the Library in twenty minutes?"
"Sounds marvellous. You don't know when Ronald will be out of bed do you?"
"Um - no. He and Harry will probably sleep most of the day…hangovers and stuff." said Hermione wistfully, she had wanted to see Harry this morning…wake him up properly…
0x-
Ginny sighed and settled herself in the corner of the library, quite a few of the students were in there today, apparently all checking out books for various Homework assignments that were to be finished by the start of term. Being the procrastinator she was, Ginny was reading one of Lavender's sappy romance novels instead of starting on her impending Transfiguration essay. It wasn't a bad book really, it had a half sustainable plot and was not as predictable as most…perfect for a lazy Boxing Day reading while she sniffled and coughed; she supposed that if she went to see Madame Pomfery she could get a Cold Cure but then she would get that horrible rash that the potion seemed to give to her…she'd rather suffer for awhile and anyway…Hermione would give up questioning her about exactly where Ginny had snaffled her illness from eventually…
Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini walked passed her and both shot her lingering looks before moving along silently to the Potions aisle.
0x-
"Well here it is." Hermione produced the first list.
Gryffindor
Ronald Weasley
Harry Potter
Dean Thomas
Seam Finnigan
Hermione Granger
Lavender Brown
Parvati Patil
Romilda Vane
Ginevra Weasley
Colin Creevey
Dennis Creevey
Ravenclaw
Luna Lovegood
Mandy Brocklehurst
Michel Corner
Terry Boot
Stewart Ackerly
Sally Fawcett
Anthony Goldstein
Padma Patil
Lisa Turpin
Hufflepuff
Hannah Abbot
Susan Bones
Eleanor Branstone
Owen Cauldwell
Justin Finch-Fletchley
Ernie Macmillan
Laura Madley
Zacharias Smith
Megan Jones
Rose Zeller
Slytherin
Draco Malfoy
Blaise Zabini
Pansy Parkinson
Gregory Goyle
Malcolm Baddock
Millicent Bulstrode
Daphne Greengrass
Graham Pritchard
Hermione took out another list of those whom had received the Cold Cure potion from the matron in the past week. She then took a quill and wrote a new list of student who remained at Hogwarts and who had not taken any medication thus making them perfect candidates for Ginny's mysterious partner.
Lavender Brown
Colin Creevey
Harry Potter
Terry Boot
Anthony Goldstein
Zacharias Smith
Draco Malfoy
Daphne Greengrass
Blaise Zabini
"Well, now we can cross out all the females…and that will leave us with an even shorter list."
Hermione stopped, the ink-soaked nib hovering millimetres above the name Lavender Brown - Luna was staring at her once more, this time her dreamy expression looking incredulous. "What?"
"Why did it have to be someone male for Ginny to kiss?"
The brunette looked slightly stumped…she had just assumed…"Well…Ginny's not, er, gay, Luna."
"Pfft. Why should Ginny submit to Societies pressures to be heterosexual?"
Hermione rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Look, Luna, I really don't think Ginny, er -- swings that way."
"Ginevra swings what way, now?" a voice slit through their conversation and both turned to see Daphne Greengrass. She was tall -- 5"11 -- and so slender, her legs were looking like they would snap in half if it were not for the fact it looked as though they were carrying the weight of a feather. Her hair was thick and jet black, falling in large curls around her face and onto her shoulders. Her eyes were large and bright blue, scarily so, her features were striking and captivating. Hermione often thought she would make a killing in the Modelling industry - she even had the Pre-Madonna attitude not to mention a large sprinkle of the Diva genes.
"Can we help you?"
Daphne looked down her ridiculously straight nose at both the other girls and nodded, producing a long dark green cloak from thin air. "This is Ginevra's cloak she left it last night - and, before you get your knickers in a twist it was not me she was snogging the face off of…nor was it any other female."
"How do you know?" snapped Hermione, annoyed that the stupidly pretty Slytherin knew more about Ginny than she did.
"Because Ginevra was at mine and Blaise's party. She's been there every year since her third year." and with one more withering glance over her broad, yet willowy, shoulders she departed, leaving Hermione's mouth in the shape of an 'O' and Luna stroking the emerald fabric of Ginny's robe.
"So, I'm guessing Daphne knows who Ginny was with then." said Luna serenely, plucking the sheaf of parchment out of Hermione's grip and crossing off all the names that belonged to females.
"…well, it's not Harry so you can cross his name off of there." said Hermione stoutly, biting her bottom lip thoughtfully, "and not Colin…also, if you ask me Zechariahs Smith has never, ever, been kissed in his entire life, let alone by Ginny."
"So, that leaves us Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini." summarised Luna, "this will be fun, and also it'll keep me away from Ravenclaw for the afternoon, people have taken to teasing about my newest pair of earrings Daddy gave to me…" Hermione was suddenly experiencing one of those awkward moments Harry had told her about when she felt an unusual swell of pity towards Luna.
0x-
"Gin-eee, Gin-eee!" cooed Luna, her voice a strange likeness to one, Fleur Delacour. Both the blonde and Hermione Granger were suddenly either side of the redhead, lurking at her shoulders and disrupting the youngest Weasley's reading time.
"Wha?" grumbled Ginny, her voice sounding scratchier than ever.
"Me and Luna have been thinking, you see."
"…don't strain yourself…"
Hermione scowled at the interruption but was not deterred, "…and we know you were sucking the lips off of someone yesterday…"
Ginny's hands flew to her temples, she sighed and began to massage little circles either side of her forehead.
"…at Zabini's and Greengrass' party, no less."
Ginny raised her half open eyes to Hermione's face, "…what?"
"Oh don't look so surprised I know. Greengrass told me, here's your cloak by the way…besides I'll make you feel guilty for not tell us later."
The redhead grunted but secretly felt relieved and sincerely hoped that she wouldn't tell this new to her brother or Harry…the last thing she needed was those two hounding her as well.
"Anyway Ginny…she more or less confirmed you were smooching someone at that party…no was Zabini - cause you know, I don't think you should be doing that, it'll only rile up Parkinson - or was it Malfoy?" Hermione scoffed at the latter.
"Ugh. It's none of your business, honestly, can't you just leave it alone?"
"Well, if you'd tell us we would." hissed Hermione, looking hurt, "why can't you tell me, at least? I'm your closest friend." Luna coughed loudly and Ginny smiled.
"Because it really doesn't matter."
"Well, if it really doesn't matter I don't see why we can't know…"
"The more you try to deter us, Ginny, the more curious we become…"
"Curiosity killed the Cat, Luna."
"Then I'd say I'm jolly glad I'm not a feline."
Ginny ground her teeth and mutter something like 'not yet anyway.' before standing, directing a sarcastic wave in the direction of her two friends before stating to the entire library, "I'm ill and I am not in the mood to be interrogated by you two, so if I storm out of here I expect not to be followed!" and with a flick of crimson hair she was striding briskly towards the door and letting it slam, much to the annoyance of Madame Pince.
"Well." Luna and Hermione sat at the now empty desk, there faces impassive if not slightly amused, "I'd say we handled that well…"
0x-
The sunset illuminated the castle grounds making them an eerie sort of orangey red, the corridors a pale glow that was only there at dusk. Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood were walking in silence, one that Hermione found quite awkward and the blonde found serene until…
CRASH.
Draco Malfoy came sliding through a tapestry, his eyes wide in shock, his hair a scruffy mess and his clothes rumpled. It appeared he'd come across peeves lurking in a suit of armour…sure even the troublesome spectre appeared seconds later, Malfoy's bag clutched in his translucent hands…one, two, three…the contents of said bag fell on to Malfoy's white blonde head and scattered around him.
Hermione was torn between yelling at the poltergeist and laughing at the grumpy Slytherin on the floor, his face splattered with blots of bright red ink. Luna however, was not looking at the fallen boy in the centre of the corridor who was now cursing in several tongues while throwing thins alternately into his back and at Peeves, she was focused on a small gold bottle that had rolled towards her and had now been stopped by the tip of her toes. She bent and picked up the small vial.
Saint Marcela's Cough Potion
Works instantly, removing all trace of cold virus.
25 Galleons.
She shoved it beneath the brunette's nose and Hermione nearly choked. Malfoy? And Ginny…? It would make sense…explain why she had been so very quiet about things…but…MALFOY?! Trust the ferrety git to have expensive, exclusive, potion…probably so he didn't need to have steam spurting out of his ears with Pepper-Up. . .
"Oi. Granger. Hands off that."
"You know, Malfoy, you really shouldn't have medication unless it's verified by Pomfrey."
"So?" spat the Slytherin, "Just hand it back. Now."
Hermione threw the bottle and he caught it with Seeker-quick reflexes.
0x-
"So…it was Malfoy?" clarified Luna once they were quite alone in the corridor once more.
"Well…that would make sense, I suppose…" sighed the brunette.
0x-
Two days later Ginny sat in the grounds, wrapped up in several layers, her prominent nose red and stuffy, Ron stood next to her and Harry the other side of the female redhead.
"You really ought to go in you know…you're ill, Gin."
"For the tenth time, I'm bloody fine! It's just a Common Cold!"
That evening a certain intelligent, brunette, Gryffindor and a particularly odd, blonde, Ravenclaw watched from the Great Hall's doors as an Eagle Owl, easily identifiable as Malfoy's pet, dropped a note in the lap of one, Ginevra Weasley, of Gryffindor.
Her large milky brown eyes scanned the neat, green penmanship;
Ginevra,
…there is nothing Common about my Cold.
Draco Malfoy
0x-
Author's Note: This is my poor attempt at humour. Erk.
It's was a Christmas present for my Bo.
=]
Tasha x