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Reality Bites | ||||||
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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: 171011; Chapter Total: 7399 |
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Episode Twenty-Three Scream The ride home the next morning was a silent one. Harry and Ginny had both put on their happy faces when the others were around and even pretended that they weren’t upset with each other. In the limo it was a different story. Harry seemed to be deep in thought and Ginny felt no need to interrupt him because she knew she’d just say something she would regret later. She was quite upset with the boy across the way from her. Ginny could feel that her eyes were puffy from crying herself to sleep but she very much doubted that Harry would notice…seeing as how he was refusing to look at her at the moment. Though he hadn’t really spoken to her all morning at least he wasn’t being rude about it. She could say that much about him. Ginny’s face reddened thinking of the things she had said last night; thinking of the things he had said. It wasn’t in embarrassment that her cheeks colored, but anger. How could he really believe that horrible strumpet over her? How could he possibly think Janice more trustworthy? She didn’t want to allow herself to look at him, but she found that she couldn’t stop herself. This time, unlike other times that her eyes had been drawn to him, she didn’t see him as the handsome young man that he was but as a boy; a boy who was mad at her because of a rumor. She found herself running over in her head all sorts of things that she could say to try and convince him that he was an utter prat even though she knew she’d never say any of it. She wanted to, though. She was just itching for an argument. Poor sleep from the night before had her irritable and sitting in silence with a person that thought she was a liar was getting her ire up. I never thought I’d have to tell myself to stop thinking around Mr. Potter when it wasn’t some sappy fluff that I was thinking about instead. This time I need to stop thinking before I open my mouth and give him the rough side of my tongue. It was a very long ride. Even their driver seemed to feel the tension. He seemed caught between wanting to close the divider between himself and the moody young people and keeping it open on the off chance that he would need to break up a fight. The tension caused by the driver wasn’t helping the other two much. Actually, Harry didn’t seem effected by any sort of tension; he was completely absorbed in his own thoughts. Ginny was tempted to wave her hand in front of his eyes to see if she could get some kind of reaction but, she admitted grudgingly, she was afraid of his reaction. Ginny saw that Harry was almost startled when they pulled into the castle driveway. If the circumstances had been different, Ginny would have laughed as she told Harry how comical his face had looked when pulled from his inner monologue. As it was, she kept her mouth closed and her face smooth. No point in doing something that could possibly make him even more mad. Ginny groaned silently at how cautious she was having to be. Bloody boy! The driver tentatively came and opened the door for the two of them. Harry stepped out and, without seeming to be thinking, offered her his hand. She took it as she crawled out of the limo. He came to himself by the time she had straightened and gave their hands a pensive look. Ginny hastily let go in case he read something into it then, to her shame, she felt herself blushing. Busing herself by straightening the skirt she was wearing, she averted her eyes and headed toward the castle without a backward glance. Silence wasn’t an issue as they were escorted back to their rooms, as it always seemed a sacrilege to talk while the formal escorts were around. They were suddenly flanked by cameramen and Ginny thought about how Hermione had told her that the producer had installed cameras throughout the Burrow so that they wouldn’t have to fit a dozen cameramen inside. Talk about nerve wracking. Hermione hadn’t informed her of this until the morning, so Ginny had only had a couple of hours to think of the consequences of this. Who knows if they had had cameras in the hallway the night before when she and Harry had been talking. She tried to keep her face smooth so as not to give anything away then realized, too late, that she had given something away; normally she’d be smiling her face off. Pasting a sappy smile on now would do no good so Ginny merely sighed and pretended the cameras weren’t there. Quite a feat as they seemed to circle the two of menacingly. They’re like camera vultures. Leave me alone! Once again, Harry seemed oblivious to it all. Ginny wondered what he was thinking about but, of course, didn’t think it wise to ask. They reached the alcove and Harry headed straight to his room with out looking back. Ginny wanted to do the same, but as she headed toward her room, a figure stepped out in front of her. “Did you have a good time?” Janice asked in a sickeningly innocent voice. Ginny didn’t feel like giving Janice the satisfaction of an answer, so merely glared at her until her smile deepened. Not exactly the reaction I was anticipating. “That bad, huh?” Her throaty laugh echoed through the room making Ginny want to cover her ears. “I think now would be a good time to start packing, don’t you?” Quirking an eyebrow, Ginny walked past her. “I had been planning on it already, thank you.” Ginny continued walking, but stopped just outside her room and turned to Janice. “How does it feel knowing that if you win it will be because you manipulated everyone around you and that Harry couldn’t possibly feel anything for you as you really are?” Janice threw back her head and laughed. “Don’t you get it?” she walked toward Ginny as she spoke. “I don’t give a damn about Harry Potter; I only care about the Boy Who Lived. Do you know how much publicity I could get from winning this? And afterwards, when I tire of him, I can drop him and make a big scene buying me more air time and making him look worthless.” She smiled wickedly. “Did you ever notice how much the daily prophet loves to slander him? They’ll have a field day! And my very good — very close — friend, Dustin, will be given exclusive interviews. This will boost the careers of many people; least of all me.” She put the innocent mask back on. “I’m simply doing this for the greater good.” Ginny’s entire being felt on fire. That Janice would even consider doing such hurtful things to Harry made her want to explode out of her skin. About half-way through her spiel Ginny’s throat had tightened and it took several seconds before she realized that she was growling with every breath that she exhaled. This had gone far enough. “How dare you,” Ginny hissed. She didn’t realize just how frightening she sounded until she noticed that Janice eyes had widened and she took a step back. “Harry Potter is the most noble of men. He despises the attention he gets and you would force him into more simply for your own sport.” Ginny couldn’t talk. She had never been so upset with anyone in her life. She saw everything through a tint of red. She’d always read of that happening and never really believed it possible, but she believed now. With a growl born of exhaustion, irritability and pure hatred, Ginny pulled her arm back and with a bout of speed she didn’t think possible, slammed her tightened fist into Janice’s face, twisting her hand as it made contact. The scream that escaped Janice’s mouth was sweeter than any bird’s trill; more beautiful than any of nature’s sounds; more descriptive than any song by Debussy. It carried in it’s timbre a sense of infinite release. Ginny wished it would go on forever. She didn’t wait around to see if it would, however, and instead walked directly into Trista’s room without even knocking. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Okay, if I don't get a lot of reviews on this chapter I will be emotionally wounded! This is one of my favorite chapters, so I hope you all like it too! |
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