“No bloody way. Are you serious?!” Millicent Bulstrode squealed.
Pansy nodded. “Yup. Draco told me. He said they’re absolutely gaga over each other.”
Daphne glared at her two roommates. “Will you two shut up?” she snapped. “I’m trying to do my homework, and I don’t really care about who’s doing who.”
Pansy shot her a superior look. “Shows what you know. They’re Gryffindors. No hanky panky allowed.”
“So some Gryffies are getting some action, whoop dee doo,” Daphne said sarcastically, rolling dark green eyes.
“What’s more, it’s Potter who’s getting some,” Millicent said, dark eyes gleaming maliciously.
Daphne leant forward, suddenly interested. “Potter? With whom?”
“Oh, we’re all ears now, aren’t we,” Pansy snarked.
“Shut it, Parkinson, I can go find Malfoy and ask him,” Daphne threatened, standing up. She knew Pansy would hate it if she didn’t get to spread the gossip around.
Sure enough, the blonde huffed, “Oh, sit down you dumb bint. From what I heard, Potter is sweet on Weasley’s little sister, the one with the weird name.”
“Ginevra,” Daphne said.
“Huh?” asked Millicent.
“Her name is Ginevra. It’s a derivation of Guinivere.”
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Daphne found him in the Kitchens, enjoying a cup of tea and a large piece of chocolate cake. “Is it true?” she asked, sitting down across from him and pouring herself a cup of tea without ceremony.
Malfoy raised one white-blonde eyebrow. “Is what true, Daphne?”
“Don’t play dumb, Malfoy. And it’s Miss Greengrass.”
He rolled his silver eyes. “Yes, it’s true. I heard Potter worrying over where he was to take her this morning. It’s sickening.” The Slytherin prince made a face.
“Definitely,” Daphne agreed. “The question is; what do we do about it?”
“Why, Miss Greengrass, what are you implying? Potter’s the Wonder of the Wizarding World, a hero. He freed us from the bonds of the evil Lord Voldemort. We owe him a lifelong debt!”
Daphne snorted inelegantly. “Don’t be so dramatic, Malfoy. We might agree that mudbloods and Muggles are necessary and don’t need to be eradicated, but we’re not about to dance around a Maypole of Peace with them, either.”
“True,” Malfoy allowed. “Very well, Miss Greengrass, what did you have in mind?”
The dark-haired girl leant forward. “What I had in mind, Draco, was a double date.”
A slow, sinister smile spread over the silver-haired boy’s face. “Why, Daphne, I do believe I like you.”
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“Just as I suspected,” Parvati said. “Volumising Conditioner. Hermione, your hair has too much volume. You don’t need to be encouraging it.” The Indian girl rolled dark eyes in exasperation. “Lav, we’ll need some smoothing formula and a defrizzer.”
Lavender nodded. “Right.” She summoned them. “Okay,” she said, as Parvati went to work on Hermione’s hair. “What to do about you, Ginny?” She smoothed her hands over Ginny’s head. “Oh, so silky! Parvati, you simply must feel this.”
Parvati copied Lavender’s action. “You’re right. I’m glad to see one of you takes good care of their hair. Pity about the colour, though.”
“What’s wrong with the colour?” Ginny demanded, glaring at the pair.
“Nothing, of course,” Lavender hastened to assure her. “It’s just it’ll be hard to find an outfit to match is all.”
It was rather ironic, Hermione mused, that her glare, which frightened so many first and second years, and could even make Harry and Ron behave, had no effect on these two, but Ginny, who had none of Hermione’s prefect responsibilities, had a glare that did. “Why are you doing this the Muggle way?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you just wave your wand?”
“It’s not that simple, ‘Mione, as you should know,” Parvati admonished.
“We have potions and spells that can help us in the beauty department, yes, but to apply those potions with magic takes away from their potency,” Lavender explained. “Not even magic can do everything.” She ran a brush through Ginny’s hair, then murmured a spell.
Ginny’s head suddenly felt lighter. “What did you do?” she asked.
“I restyled your hair,” the blonde replied, holding up a mirror.
Ginny turned her head to the side, and noted that her hair was now cut to just below her shoulder blades. Whatever Lavender had done caused it to frame her face in a way that it hadn’t before, and, amazingly, it made her face look thinner.
“Long, straight hair with your round face isn’t a good look,” Lavender clarified, seeing Ginny’s surprised expression, and running a potion through the red locks. “So I’m going to curl it slightly, and shape it some more. I’m also going to give you a few highlights to break up the red.”
“Okay…” Ginny agreed slowly.
“There, Hermione, your hair’s a bit more manageable now.” Parvati said, looking relieved. “I’ll give you some highlights too, and I’ll leave a bit of wave in your hair, it looks good. Then we’ll get started on the body and face.”
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“Well, it took three hours, but you’re done,” Lavender said, smiling in satisfaction.
“Thank god,” Ginny whimpered. “There isn’t a single part of me that hasn’t been plucked, brushed, or potioned.”
“Ditto,” Hermione agreed with a groan. “At least you didn’t get tanned.”
“Only because my, and I quote, ‘skin looks totally fabulous with my hair’,” Ginny retorted, rolling her eyes.
“Shut up, you two look great. I think it’s our best work yet, Lav!” Parvati said enthusiastically. “Now, tomorrow we’ll help you choose an outfit, Ginny, and we’ll take you shopping very soon. Oh, we’ll do your make up tomorrow, too.”
“Thanks…I think,” Ginny said uncertainly. “Well, we’d better get down to dinner.”
“No you don’t. You two will eat up here,” Lavender commanded. “Keep your new look a surprise for tomorrow. Parvati and I will get the house-elves to bring you something up, and not a word, Hermione Jane Granger.” She swanned out.
“Well,” Hermione said, “that was…interesting.”
“If you ever drag me into something like this again, Hermione Granger, I will personally rip you limb from limb,” Ginny threatened.