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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: 171007; Chapter Total: 7079 |
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Episode Thirty-Two Surprise! Some strange high pitched insect was buzzing in Ginny’s head. It wasn’t until after she had tried to swat it away several times that she realized it was the alarm clock going off. Groaning, Ginny rolled over and slapped the alarm, hoping that would turn it off. Nothing happened. Ginny pulled herself up to look and saw that someone had removed the snooze button from the alarm. “Bloody marvelous,” Ginny muttered heatedly as she searched the annoying thing for an off switch. That crusade being won, Ginny threw the covers off and staggered over to the bathroom. The warm water felt wonderful and Ginny found herself almost falling asleep. It was going to be a very bad day. Or a very good day, Ginny thought to herself optimistically. Remembering Trista, however, she changed her mind again. No, very bad day. No matter what happens,something is going to go badly. Cutting the shower short so as not to tempt unconsciousness, Ginny jumped out and dressed quickly. She half-heartedly did her hair and makeup then slogged over to Trista’s room. “Good morning,” Trista sang as Ginny walked into the room. Ginny couldn’t help but feel her spirits rise with the enthusiasm of her friend. Ginny was about to say as much when the door opened. “Oh good, you’re in here too, Ginevra. I need both of you to pack up all of your things as quickly as you can.” “Both of us?” Trista asked, shooting a confused look at Ginny. “Well, yes, of course,” Connie giggled. “No matter which one of you stays, neither of you will be sleeping in these rooms tonight.” She was still giggling as she left the room. “Well, isn’t she a little ray of sunshine?” Ginny asked bitterly. “What do you mean?” Ginny looked at Trista for a couple seconds, contemplating whether or not to say anything. “Never mind. I just never believed that woman really liked anyone, that’s all.” “I always thought she was very sweet,” Trista argued, confused by Ginny’s opinion. “You’re probably right,” Ginny lied, smiling. The two parted company in order to do some packing and later helped each other finish up. They were brought a bit of food to eat while they were working and Ginny was struck by a bit of irony. “You notice that we’re doing all the work here, without any help from them, and yet they decide to bring us food?” “Well, they couldn’t very well pack our stuff up for us, could they?” “I don’t know. They did move rooms on us before, if you remember.” “I suppose.” The two sat down to rest as they ate then immediately got back to work. There wasn’t much left to be done by that point, and they finished up ahead of schedule. After leaving their packed bags where they were readily available, they changed into their dress clothes to await their final summonses (Trista’s, incidentally, was the one she wore the first day of the whole fiasco). They then made their way to the alcove to wait. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Ginny’s heard a sound coming from Trista. A very unlady-like snort came from Trista as she hastily wiped at her eyes. Who would have thought that Trista would be graceful in everything…except crying… “…Why are you crying?” Ginny asked confusedly, moving over to a seat beside Trista. “Oh!” she moaned into her hands. “I don’t even know!” She sniffled and reached for the tissue box sitting on the table beside the couch. “I was just thinking about which would be worse in this situation: being sent home or knowing that you had been.” “I’ve been thinking along those same lines. But why are you crying?” “Why aren’t you?” Trista countered with a small sob, snorting again as she inhaled a breath. Ginny had to try very had not to laugh. “I don’t know. I guess, because, if I get sent home, I know you will be happy and I won’t be angry at you for being so, and I hope you would feel the same if you were sent home.” “I would, of course,” Trista sniffled again and dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. “I just wish neither of us had to lose.” “Do you really consider it losing?” Ginny asked quietly. “What do you mean?” Ginny hesitated, wondering if she really believed what she was about to say. “Well, I don’t think either of us is really going to ‘win’ in this situation, so how will one of us ‘lose’? Obviously Harry likes both of us or we wouldn’t have gotten this far and I’m sure this is a really tough choice for him. If that’s the case, and we can keep it from being weird, I’m sure all three of us could be comfortable together after this is all over.” Ginny paused to let this sink in. “I know that if I ‘win,’ at least, I’ll want you hanging around. I think you and Hermione would get along great. And I hope that if you ‘win’ you won’t forget all about me either.” “Of course not.” Trista blew her nose. “Well then, nothing to worry about,” Ginny said in a chipper voice, hoping that she didn’t sound too superficial. “You’re right,” Trista said dabbing the rest of her tears away. “Augh! Look at me, I’m a mess. I’m going to go redo my make up before anything else happens.” Ginny laughed as Trista left. As soon as she heard Trista’s door close, Ginny stood up and repositioned her dress. Ginny wasn’t used to the halter-top dress that Hermione had convinced her to buy (and Trista convinced her to wear) she constantly felt as though she needed to rearrange something. The pulled at the fabric near her waist and sighed as she snugged it tighter. It was indecently tight, in Ginny’s estimation, when it was snug like that, but she had to admit it looked silly when it wasn’t snug. She was about to sit back down when someone walked into the room. Turning, Ginny both hoped and dreaded that it would be Harry. The blood rushed to her face, then left her pale as she saw it was only Connie. A very smug looking Connie. “Where did Trista go?” “To fix her makeup,” Ginny answered with apprehension. “Well, come on.” Connie began to leave and looked back when she noticed Ginny wasn’t following. “Well?” “Where exactly are we going?” “Well, neither of you are allowed to know which of you is going first, or what Harry’s final answer for you is. That being the case, you can’t be around each other when you’re summoned.” Connie came back and started tugging at Ginny’s arm. “I didn’t get to say goodbye to Trista though,” she struggled against Connie’s grip but her arm wasn’t loosened. “That won’t matter soon. Come on.” That won’t matter soon? It had a very ominous sound to it, and Ginny felt her apprehension rise. She didn’t remember their traverse through the castle, and only came out of her trance as the limo driver opened the door for her. Relieved that Connie didn’t seem to be about to follow her, Ginny was about to settle in for a peaceful ride. However, as she relaxed against the seat back she looked up to see both a cameraman and an interviewer sitting across from her. Swallowing back the scream that had threatened to escape her in fright, Ginny looked timidly at the two men sitting across from them. The interviewer was the same one from before, from her group date. “Oh, not you again,” she muttered. He smiled wickedly. “We are rolling, by the way, Miss Weasley.” “Peachy,” Ginny responded with an affected smile that melted into a bitter grimace. “So, what startling questions do you have for me today?” “Well, getting right down to it,” no, please, by all means, stall — wanker. “How do you feel about Janice being kicked off earlier?” “Considering that Janice was a lying manipulator who only wanted to win for publicity — and you can quote me on that, as well as look up the facts in earlier footage — and considering that she absolutely despised me and only chose to hide the fact when Harry was around…I don’t find that I miss her at all. How odd.” The interviewer blinked a few times. “Please, tell us how you really feel.” Ginny didn’t even give him the satisfaction of chuckling at his pathetic joke but instead merely waiting impatiently for him to get on to the next question. He cleared his throat when he realized she wasn’t planning on responding. “Right. What do you think of Trista? Hate her too? Is she conniving and evil as well, h’mm?” Ginny’s eyebrows scrunched up. “No. Trista has become a very good friend during the time we’ve been here. She’s a very nice person and I’m proud to have made it as far as her. I’m glad the two of us made it this far together.” “Mm’hmm. I find it very interesting that the one who was kicked off you claim to hate, and the one still left you claim to really like. How very interesting.” “What is this? Make Ginevra look bad day?” Ginny muttered. The interviewer asked her to speak louder, so she said. “If you had asked me what I thought of Janice and Trista last week I would have given the same answers. Janice has always been a bitch, and Trista has always been an angel. Does that answer satisfy you, or would you like to probe a bit deeper?” “You seem very tense,” he commented right on the end of her response. “Are you nervous?” “Are you daft?” was her only response. While the interviewer spluttered a bit at this insult, Ginny chanced a glance out the window. “What the — why are we going in circles?” She watched as they drove past the castle in the same direction they had gone when they left. “Didn’t Connie tell you? You aren’t allowed to know which of you is going to see Harry first, and since you know you left the castle first, we’re going to drive around for a bit so that you don’t know who is seeing him first.” “This is ridiculous.” Ginny began to ignore the interviewers questions as they got more personal and much more scathing. She watched again as they drove past the castle for a third and then a fourth time. Suddenly they were taking a different rode. They were no longer driving in circles. Ginny’s heart began to race. This was it. In only a few more minutes, she was going to find out whether or not Harry had chosen her. She wondered briefly how these shows actually ended. Was she to expect him to propose to her? Cripes! How would she respond to something like that? Heaven knew she liked him, maybe — possibly — loved him…but she didn’t know him nearly enough to marry him yet. She found herself squirming nervously in her seat with a sickly sweet grin on her face and red cheeks. The interviewer was still asking his unanswered questions and seemed not to notice her current state, for which she was relieved. She tried to calm herself down, thinking that soon the suspense would be over. Perhaps soon wasn’t the correct word though. After they stopped driving in circles it still took a good half hour more until they reached their destination. Ginny had gone from impatient, to excited, to bored, and back again during the ride. She was beginning to hope that it would just end, no matter how it played out. She was sick of riding in this stupid limo with this stupider interviewer. The limo stopped and the limo driver came to help her out. Before she had placed even one foot on the pavement, the interviewer asked his final question. “Do you think Mr. Potter is going to pick you?” Ginny paused. “I hope so,” she whispered. She wasn’t sure if the microphone had picked up her response and she didn’t really care. Giving her hand to the limo driver, she stepped out of the limo and, with satisfaction, heard the door close behind her. This is it. Ginny was led around a large building whose walls had ivy growing thickly over the brick finish. The ivy leaves swayed in the breeze and Ginny closed her eyes as she felt the breeze whip around her as well. What a beautiful day. She hoped it continued to be beautiful in her estimation. Around the corner, Ginny got her first glimpse of Harry. Her escort stopped and motioned her on. Harry stood at the end of a terrace overlooking a dazzling scene. But she didn’t see the scenery. She saw only Harry. He was holding a blue rose. Blue? What does a blue rose mean? Augh! I can’t stand this! She walked slowly down towards where Harry stood, hoping that she didn’t trip in the disastrous stilettos Hermione had picked out to match the dress. She had a hard time walking anyway, since she wasn’t looking at all where her feet were going, but staring instead at Harry. He looked unbelievably handsome. He was wearing a black tux with a black shirt and a tie that matched his greens eyes perfectly. Ginny had to remind herself to breath as she drew nearer and their eyes met. Ginny hoped she wasn’t imagining the emotion she saw burning in his eyes. “You look…beautiful,” Harry breathed when she reached him. “You are gorgeous,” she whispered back, blushing. She smiled to see him blush at her comment. She saw his eyes drift downward slightly before he brought his now widened eyes back up to her face, his cheeks redder than before, and cleared his throat. “I’m supposed to give a little speech,” he whispered, his lips barely moving. “It’s silly, but please don’t laugh.” She smiled with her eyes at this comment, trying not to give away that he had said anything. He cleared his throat again. “You and Trista are both wonderful girls and I’ve come to care deeply for both of you. But I have to choose just one of you. My decisions for you and Trista to progress during the course of this have not been a tough decision. I’ve liked both of you from the start. Choosing between you to has been a bit more difficult, but I have finally come to a decision.” Harry handed Ginny the blue rose in his hand and took her other hand in both of his. “I don’t feel we know each other well enough for me to propose to you just yet, but I wan the chance to get to know you that well.” Ginny didn’t dare breath. She wasn’t sure she had understood correctly. “I choose you, Ginevra ‘Ginny’ Weasley, if you’ll have me.” Harry grinned like a little boy as he said this and Ginny felt tears coming to her eyes. “Or, if you’ll have me.” Ginny heard the voice behind her and saw Harry’s face lose some of its color. She recognized the voice, but she didn’t want to believe it was true. She turned slowly, keeping her eyes locked on Harry’s until the last possible moment. She turned and looked into the face of the last person she had expected to see. “Neville!” ~*~*~*~*~* I’m sure you all hate me by now for how long it took me to update. I have no excuses except to say that I’m lazy, busy and recently had the flu really bad. Plus, for some reason, my creativity was completely gone and I figured you all would hate me even more if the chapter was short and sucked, so I thought I would take a bit more time, get my inspiration back and give you a longer more rewarding chapter. Hope you didn’t mind the wait too much…and if you did, I don’t want to hear about it -grins- |
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