The First Year

Whirlwind

Ginny's stomach growled audibly in the library, sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet room. She glanced at her watch and her eyes widened at the time. She had slept through breakfast and worked through lunch. She was about to miss dinner entirely, if she didn't get down to the Great Hall. She stuffed her books into her bag, and ran out of the library, slinging the bag over one shoulder as she pelted down the stairs. Ginny skidded into the nearly-empty Great Hall, her trainers echoing through the threads of conversation that wound through the students still eating dinner. An eerie hush fell over them, and a few people snickered, while whispers rushed down the long tables like river currents. Frowning, Ginny slid into the Gryffindor table and spooned peas onto her plate. 'What's going on?' she asked Demelza.

'Nothing,' she replied quickly. Too quickly for Ginny's taste.

'How come I don't believe you?'

Demelza sighed and dug into her bag. 'This,' she said, holding out the Sunday paper. 'It's just rubbish from Skeeter.'

Ginny snorted. 'Then why did everybody get so quiet? It's just Skeeter. Not like she writes anything...' Her voice faded as she looked down at the paper. 'Oh... my....' she breathed. She turned the paper sideways, her head tilting in the opposite direction, gazing at the photograph. 'Hm.' She held it out a bit. 'That's... erm... ' A blush slowly rose up her cheeks. 'Had no idea Ron could do that...'

Demelza cleared her throat. 'That's not all...' She flipped the paper over, revealing the blaring headline: Golden Trio Torn Apart?

Ginny began to laugh. 'Oh, honestly...' She forked a piece of chicken to her plate.

'You really ought to read the article,' Demelza insisted.

Ginny shook her head. 'Nope. Not going to get pulled into that.' She reached for a bowl of carrots. 'It's all lies anyway.'

'How do you know?'

Ginny pulled her wand from her bag and pointed it at the paper. She whispered, 'Incendio,' and the paper burst into flames. When nothing was left but a pile of smoldering ash, she turned to Demelza. 'One, it's Rita bloody Skeeter. Two, I know how Harry feels about Hermione, and vice versa. Three, I know why Hermione went to Australia alone. Most people aren't going to believe that article.' She glanced around the Great Hall. 'Well, there are some who will, but Skeeter just writes stuff like that to get her name out there. She must be feeling neglected.'

'If you say so...' Demelza said doubtfully.

'I do.' Ginny speared a carrot with her fork. 'It's not the first time she's printed rubbish about Harry or Hermione. And it's not the first time she's been dead wrong.' She pushed a carrot around her plate. 'Besides, I have bigger things to worry about. If Dean doesn't come on as Keeper, I've got to try and find someone to do it, otherwise I'm going to have to do it, and I really don't want to do it.'

Demelza reached for a piece of apple tart. 'Why not?'

Ginny chuckled. 'Too much pressure.'

Demelza choked on an apple. 'Playing Seeker isn't enough?'

'You can catch the Snitch and still lose,' Ginny pointed out. 'Remember the World Cup before our third year between Ireland and Bulgaria?'

'Yeah...'

'Ireland won, even though the Bulgarian Seeker caught the Snitch,' Ginny said shrugging. 'If you let enough Quaffles through, anything can happen.' Ginny began to cut her chicken. 'Besides, it helps if you're somewhat taller. I don't have the reach for it.'

Demelza tried to visualize the other Gryffindor students. 'What about Connor?' Connor was one of the boys in their year. He was somewhat shy and reticent, rarely volunteering answers in class. He was also well over six feet tall with large, broad hands.