Snitches and Spectrespecs

Chapter 2: Tears and Tricks

Ginny woke up feeling excited. She couldn't believe it was finally Christmas Day. She got up from her bed, saw the jar of fairies on the bedside table and remembered how fun it was spending Christmas Eve with Luna. Ginny could listen to Luna for hours, she loved all the wild imaginative things that Luna would speak of. People would often wonder how Ginny 'put up with' Luna. Ginny enjoyed the conversations she had so she didn't feel like there was anything bad to 'put up with'.

After her train of thought had finished, she looked around the empty dormitory and found nothing for her at all. She felt a surge of irrational anger. How could anyone forget about her?! She sat on her bed then remembered that she didn't have an owl, so none of her presents could have possibly been sent to her directly, so she rushed out of her dormitory and into the Gryffindor common room to see if any of her brothers had her presents with them.

Halfway down the stairs, she saw a messy black bush hovering near the back of an armchair. Confused, Ginny ran even quicker. She rushed into the common room, and couldn't find it near the scarlet armchair, where she had first seen it. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she saw some movement. She turned around to see the mysterious bush floating near the fireplace. She walked up to it and patted it, the leaves were very thin but dark. There were so many leaves on the bush, Ginny stroked it softly until...it reacted. She took a step back and realised something horrifying about the bush. It wasn't a bush. She knew exactly what it was now and hoped the not-a-bush didn't know she was there. She started tiptoeing backwards, her eyes still on the not-a-bush, but that was her mistake, then she felt a bit of wood, from the arm of a chair, poke into her back. Momentarily, she let out a small squeal of pain. It was too late. The not-a-bush turned around.

Harry Potter's emerald eyes stared back at Ginny.
"Ginny... What were you doing back there? Are you alright?"

She stood there, frozen to the spot, hoping the ground would swallow her. Atleast then she wouldn't have to look Harry in his gorgeous green eyes and tell him that she ruffled through his cute black hair. What was she thinking?! And what was she doing? Ginny clearly wasn't thinking straight, her nerves got the better of her. Her stomach did flips, her palms were sweating and a look of panic spread across her face. Would Harry think she had a crush on him? Ginny desperately didn't want him to think that, as she was convinced that it wasn't the case. She needed to reply to his question but she just didn't know how. She couldn't just say 'I thought your hair was a bush'.

She still tried to think of what to say to him but Harry turned away to gaze into the fireplace once more. Perhaps curiosity hadn't gotten the better of him. Maybe he didn't mind if people stroked his hair. Of course Ginny was grateful that she didn't have to answer, but she was uncertain on why he wasn't concerned about what she had done.

She realised that she and Harry were the only people in the common room.
'How romantic' a silly part of her brain suggested. Sometimes she wished that her mind would stop misbehaving and distracting her. She needed to get on and find her brothers to ask about her presents. That's it, prioritize and things will go smoothly. As she walked up to the back of the Fat Lady portrait to exit, she noticed something peculiar. An ear? Wait.. Oh no, this cannot be happening! Ginny recognised the Extendable Ear as it eavesdropped on her. Why and who?! Fred and George? I'm going to kill them! She could practically picture them laughing at her. Ginny was fuming. A mixture of confusion, betrayal and anger swirled around in her head.

At least things can't get any worse, besides ears can't see what I did...

The Extendable Ears may not be able to see her but the muggle camera device might... She noticed it hidden in a bookshelf. What was going on? Why was Harry the only other one here? She didn't care what people were thinking about her anymore. Her rage took the reigns as she forcefully grabbed the camera and kept smashing it against the wall. Tears of frustration dropped down her cheeks. She looked around the corner, Harry had disappeared. She spotted the ear again, her next target. But how would she destroy a fake ear?
She yanked the portrait open from the back, whilst picking up the ear. Two guilty faces smirked back at her in unison. Of course it was Fred and George, who else could it have been? Fred held the other ear and George was holding...presents?

Ginny stared angrily and the twins.

"In a bit of a mood, sissy?" Fred said rudely.

Did he see the tears?

"But we've got your presents!" George added.

Ginny had so many questions but also impatience. It wasn't a good mix.

"What's going on? Are you spying on me? Is Harry part of your plan? Where is everybody?" she blurted abruptly.

"What?" the twins questioned in sync.
"Could say that again but slowly?" George wondered.

"Nevermind, just give me my presents at the least."

She was determined to figure out what was going on but she knew that Fred and George weren't going to spill the beans themselves.

She snatched the gifts and ran down to the Great Hall. Atleast she could have breakfast with Luna. It would probably cheer Ginny up a bit. She tried to clear her head of anger by thinking about Luna.