Unseen University for extra magic

Crawling back

The one exception was Ginny. It felt strangely empty without her presence, but we also couldn't bring ourselves to include her again. If she'd given me a proper apology, I would've forgiven her in a heartbeat, but it seemed that Ginny didn't want to admit that she was wrong, and she took to avoiding me like the plague. She ate meals with Hermione, and she sat next to one of the golden trio , her family or someone from another house in classes.

"How long is this going to go on for?" I asked Morgana one night. We were sitting in the common room, my legs draped over her as I read from the Advanced Potions making textbook and she practiced summoning objects from across the common room.

"Until she realizes she needs us more than we need her," said Morgana. With a flick of her wand, she made her Charms textbook fly to her left hand. I watched with envy...what I wouldn't give to be able to perform a spell so easily...

"What if she never realizes that?" I asked.

"Then she loses out on a good group of friends," she said with a one-shoulder shrug. "We can't force her to apologize for the shite she said, and I'm certainly not forgiving her until she does. It's her problem, not ours, If she's our friend, then she'll apologize to you. Until then, we wait."

With a sigh, I started to read the page about Strengthening Solution again.

I agreed with Morgana, of course. I didn't want a friend who talked about how annoying I was and then refused to apologize, In the end, our friendship was put to the test when Ginny approached me after our Charms final. She didn't say much, just grabbed me by the arm and tugged me away from the rest of our friends. Morgana and Evie looked ready to intervene, to tell Ginny this wasn't how you treated a friend, but I shook my head at them and followed Ginny obediently.

When she finally let go of my arm, we were standing in an empty corridor two right turns away from the Charms classroom. I immediately folded my arms across my chest and tried to look as intimidating and unforgiving as possible. Ginny had made me feel like shite, and I wasn't going to let her get off easily.

"Jessi..." Ginny could barely say my name as she stared at the ground and scuffed her foot against the stone floor, "I'm a bitch."

My jaw dropped. Ginny—I-can-do-no-wrong Weasley—was actually coming to a self-realization? Was she finally beginning to see herself as others did?

"I shouldn't have said those things," said Ginny. "It was mean and cruel and petty and even Neville asked how I could treat my friend that way after you lot had left the table."

My eyes narrowed, and I tried to put my unforgiving face back into place. It was a bit late though, and I think I looked more pained than anything else.

Ginny ran a hand through her Ginny hair. "I don't know why I said those things..."

"I do," I said, my voice flat. "Potter. It's always Potter with you."

"Why are you bringing Potter into this?" cried Ginny. "I'm not that bad around him, am I?"

"It's just..." Ginny bit her bottom lip. "I've liked him for so long..."

Tears actually started welling up in the corners of her eyes, and before I had time to think, I was patting her shoulder and telling her that everything would be all right. It was only after I told her that "Potter isn't worth your tears" that I realized I was supposed to be mad at Ginny, not comforting her. How did I get roped into this?

Suddenly, Ginny lifted her head, tears still in the edges of her eyes, and said, "You're right, Jessi. I am better than this."

"You may be Potter-free this year," said Ginny, "but You owe me a sickle."

I blinked. "What?"

"I mean," said Ginny, "i know Everytime you mention Potter or talk about him you have to pay a sickle yes?"

Before I could answer, Ginny had turned away and started down the corridor. However, she paused and turned to look over her shoulder at me, her brown eyes strangely fragile. "We're good, Jessi , right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

A wide smile spread across her face. "I don't know what I'd do without you lot."

Well, I guess stranger things had happened at Unseen University for extra magic over the years... But with all these resolutions, the new year was certainly going to be interesting.