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SIYE Time:23:04 on 28th March 2024
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Reality Bites
By Trinka

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom
Genres: Comedy
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 760
Summary: Ginny is persuaded to be on a Bachelor-type reality show against her better judgement. Who is the hunk all the women are fighting over? We know him. We love him. But in my story, Ginny's never met him. NOTE: If you think you'll hate this story, read it anyway! I hate reality shows too, you know! lol Trust me, you'll love it...I proclaim in as non-arrogant a way as possible... *sweat drop*
Hitcount: Story Total: 170326; Chapter Total: 7269







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Episode Sixteen
Discussing the Past



Ginny was still floating when she got back to her room that night. No one had been around when she and Harry had returned to the alcove so they hugged, which raised Ginny another couple of inches in her floating and went to their separate rooms.


Wondering where Trista was, Ginny closed the door and leaned her head against the cool wood for a moment to compose herself. Turning, she found Trista asleep across her bed. Ginny laughed and walked over to her friend, giving her shoulder a faint shake. Trista opened her eyes slowly. “I wondered when you were getting home. Was it fun?”


“Immensely,” Ginny responded.


“Well?” Trista pressed. Ginny had decided not to give any details unless Trista asked for them, so as not to seem to be bragging…but Trista did ask, so Ginny told practically everything.


“And by the way,” she finished. “I’m going to kill you for the padded bra thing. I saw my brothers in Diagon Alley, because they own a shop there, and they noticed that I was not my normal size.”


Trista blushed and smiled wickedly but made no move to apologize. Ginny figured she wouldn’t.


“So,” Trista began hesitantly, as though afraid of the answer. “Were there any intimacies?”


Oh yeah…that was a part that Ginny left out. “Nothing of note,” was Ginny’s reply. To some people holding hands really isn’t worth noting. I’m not lying. She told herself.


Ginny couldn’t tell if Trista believed her or not, but she changed the conversation either way. “Janice was absolutely atrocious today while you two were gone. I have never heard such language out of anyone before. And the kinds of things she was talking about! If I was the type of person to do such a thing, I would have slapped her!”


This raised Ginny’s eyebrows. If Trista had almost shown a temper, Janice must have really been unbearable. “Did she talk about me at all?”


“That’s what I almost slapped her for. She was saying all sorts of terrible things about you; implying that you would do the kinds of things that one would more likely assume of her. She is absolutely infuriating!”


“Don’t let it get to you. Apparently it’s not the first time she’s told people stuff like that about me. I do wonder, however, why it’s me she has it in for. I mean, what did I ever do to her?”


“Maybe —” Trista stopped suddenly.


“If you have an idea, do tell.”


“Well, remember after the first rose ceremony? She thought that you had used that one girl being sent home as a ploy.”


“That’s right. Joice Turner. That very well could be. She thought I was going to be manipulative like she is, so she wanted to get rid of me before I could get rid of her.”


The two were silent for a time. Eventually, Trista announced with a yawn that she had to go get some real sleep now, and Ginny agreed that sleep would be a good thing. Realizing that she had nothing to worry about until the next rose ceremony, Ginny slept better than one might have expected.


The next morning, Harry and Denise left for their date right after breakfast. Trista and Ginny spent the day together in Trista’s room. Trista, it seemed, had smuggled some contraband into the castle, so they spent their time watching movies on Trista’s television with a silencing charm on the room so that no one would hear the noise and wonder what they were doing.


Later that evening, right before dinner, Ginny decided to test out her stock from her brother’s store. Ginny had never heard Trista laugh so hard once she returned to normal after eating a Canary Cream. She promised to go check out the store sometime and Ginny told her not to tell them that their sister had sent her; who knows what kinds of pranks they would do to her then. Trista agreed with enthusiasm and they used the last couple hours of daylight with Ginny describing the wares at Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes while Trista merely asked questions and laughed her head off.


The next morning a wonderful thing happened. Well, it was both wonderful and depressing: Ginny only saw Janice at breakfast and she was gone for the rest of the day. Of course, this meant that it was her turn to go on a date with Harry, but that bitterness couldn’t quite compare with having a Janice-free day. The other five girls played games all day and, with the exception of Laurie, who seemed to collapse into herself as they day went on, they all seemed to enjoy themselves.


When Ginny asked Laurie what was wrong, she had simply glared at her until Ginny backed away. “What crawled up her arse and died?” Becky asked when Ginny walked back over to the group.


“Poor girl,” Denise cooed dramatically. “She misses Janice.” Her fake pout turned into a grimace of disgust as she made a quiet gagging noise and rolled her eyes.


“Oooh! I have an idea on how to pass the time.” Becky sat up as she spoke and her eyes were aglow with a malevolent pleasure. “We’re all here after the same guy, so let’s talk about our ex’s. I know I have some good stories, and I’m sure the rest of you do as well!” The other girls expressed their agreement and Becky went first.


Becky described the most interesting parts of her most interesting relationships which just seemed to go on and one, despite the fact that she told them she was leaving a lot out. “Good grief, Becky. How many guys have you dated?”


Becky looked thoughtful for a moment after Trista’s question. “I can’t remember anymore. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of them.”


The other girls’ love lives were nearly as elaborate as Becky’s, though Denise shared some rather that left Trista blushing, and Ginny wishing her own face wasn’t nearly as red as Trista’s.


Laurie left the alcove about halfway into Becky’s recitation and when it came time for Trista to share, Ginny heard a shower start down the hall. Ginny just didn’t quite understand Laurie.


Trista’s stories were romantic but short, yet they were nothing compared to Ginny, when she finally spoke.


“Ginevra, you’ve only dated one guy?” Denise asked in disbelief.


“No, I’ve dated three guys, but only one of them was serious.”


“Well, gosh, if we were only talking about the serious relationships, I wouldn’t have been talking as long as I was.”


“Wish we’d made that rule at the beginning then,” Becky whispered to Trista in a stage whisper that caused Denise to throw a pillow at her.


“Anyway,” Trista prodded. “Tell us about the serious relationship then.”


Ginny sighed, not sure if she wanted to divulge this information, but figuring that she might as well, since they already had. “Well, we met in school several years ago. He was a year ahead of me, the same age as my brother Ron and we were in the same house. He was atrocious at Potions, which just so happened to be one of my best subjects, so I was a year ahead and in the same class as them. Ron set the two of us up for a tutoring session and we just kind of hooked up after a while.”


“Go on.” Trista urged.


“What’s his name?”


Ginny answered Denise hesitantly. “Don’t laugh. His name was Neville Longbottom.”


“Longbottom? That’s horrible! The poor guy.”


“Ginevra Longbottom,” Becky intoned with a deep voice. “Just doesn’t sound right does it?”


“I thought it did…which is why when he asked me to marry him several months ago, I said yes.” There was silence for several minutes after this statement.


“What happened?” Trista asked, barely above a whisper, as though afraid to break the silence.


“I’m not exactly sure. We were working on some stuff together using his skill with Herbology and mine with potions, and one day, I figured out the problem we had been struggling against with a certain synthesis. He was furious that I figured it out without him — I had stayed late a couple of night to work on it. I guess he just couldn’t handle my success. It was quite pathetic if you ask me, but there was no changing it. He broke off the engagement and I went back to live with my best friend Hermione. Coming on this show was Hermione’s idea of a rebound for me.”


“That is so sad.”


“Yes well, after dating for over five years…?”


Silence reined once again as all the girls tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood. None of them could think of anything, so eventually, they all excused themselves and headed off to bed.


Trista stayed with Ginny. At length, she finally spoke up. “So, he broke up with you.” It wasn’t a question, but Ginny nodded anyway, staring at the grains in the wooden coffee table in front of them. “Are you still in love with him then?”


“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know? I mean, I thought I still was…until I came here. Is it possible to be in love with someone as deeply as I had been with Neville when I’ve known him for a fraction of the time?” Ginny turned her gaze quickly to Trista. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I’m in love with Harry. What I’m asking is, if I do fall in love with Harry…would it be real? Or would I just be rebounding?”


“I’m sorry but I can’t answer that question.”


“I figured as much,” Ginny replied with a sad smile.


Trista smiled back at Ginny before she stood up and walked to her room. After the door was shut, Ginny continued to sit there. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep after all that, so she stood and walked out the door into the garden.


It was dark and much cooler than during the day and Ginny found it refreshing. She sat on one of the many stone benches along the path and just breathed deeply.


After several minutes she heard the door open and heard someone speaking. Janice again? Why must she always ruin my respite out here?


“I told you I would make it through the ceremony. I’ve told you that I’m going to win the whole thing. Why do you never believe me?” Janice was on her cell-phone again. “Dustin, you’re my ex-boyfriend; you should know better than anyone that I can get exactly what I want?” There was silence for a moment before Janice snorted a laugh. “Her? If she makes it past the next ceremony, I know how to get rid of her. It will be a piece of cake. I mean, Harry practically eats out of my hand right now.” Janice went on to talk about several clandestine snogging sessions that Ginny knew were not true, since the supposed times they took place were when there was no way she would have access to Harry, but it was alright, because it didn’t seem ex-boyfriend Dustin was believing a word of it. “You just wait. I will win this. And when I do, I will have the most famous man in the entire wizarding world at my beck and call. You watch.” These last comments were made with a voice slightly raised in anger, and she then loudly closed the cell-phone and stalked back inside.


Any chance of calming herself down before going to sleep ruined, Ginny walked dejectedly back into the castle, slipped into her room and fell into a disturbed sleep.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


A/N: Sorry if this chapter was a little boring. Next chapter is better and the one after is one of my favorites!! Keep reading and thanks so much for the reviews!
Reviews 760
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