CHAPTER TWO
The Leaky Cauldron
As we entered the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, Dad was saying something very earnest to Ron. Next to Ron stood Hermione and â“
â“ and Harry.
I stopped in my tracks. I felt a slow, deep flush spread beneath my freckles as I nearly met the green gaze of the Boy Who Lived. I tore my eyes away in time and stared at the floor, thinking that he was handsomer than I remembered, while I murmured a polite âHelloâ. Fortunately, Harry did not notice me at all, because Percy had claimed his attention.
I tried to remember the appropriate way to behave in front of Harry. He was my brotherâs best friend. Ronâs other siblings all considered Harry as at least a casual friend and spoke to him easily. I should have done the same. After all, Iâd speak politely to Lee Jordan, and spend a few moments asking him about himself ⌠wouldnât I? But it was too late now. Iâd missed the moment. Harry either hadnât noticed my omission, or had noticed it in the wrong way. And anything I did now would make the situation worse.
Hermione had smiled at me, but I couldnât think of anything to say.
Hermione.
She had Harry and I didnât.
And we had to share a room tonight.
I tore my eyes away from Hermioneâs smile, grabbed two of the shopping bags and made some excuse about sorting out my new stuff. She isnât hurting me on purpose, I reminded myself. Iâll just keep out of her way.
In fact dinner was much more fun than Iâd expected. I sat between Fred and George, which put me directly opposite Harry, so that I could look at him without apparently staring. Everyone had a great deal to say, and the five-course meal was very good. We might have sat around listening to the twins teasing Percy until midnight, but the hard chairs were really not very comfortable to people who had slightly over-eaten after a long dayâs brisk walking. In the end, I was the first person to stand up and announce that I really must go to bed.
Alone. Safe. I dropped onto the bed. And an earsplitting howl shot out from underneath me. I sprang up again and felt cautiously down the bedspread.
Fur. A cat. I had nearly squashed a cat. I stroked the fur cautiously and it began to purr. I nearly laughed with relief. It was only a cat. It didnât even seem to be an angry cat, although it must know that I had nearly squashed it. I felt my way to the candle niches in the wall and lit them. The cat was stretched out contentedly on my bed, a huge orange creature, still purring lazily.
My bed? I suddenly realised that the creature in front of me must belong to Hermione. I hadnât known she had a cat. But of course she would have left it on her bed over dinner. She had chosen the bed by the window. It wasnât my bed at all.
Abruptly, I pulled away from the orange cat, took my nightdress from my trunk, and tunnelled into it. Not alone. There was a cat in the room. There had been too much alone-ness last year. As I brushed my teeth, I reminded myself of my resolutions. This year, I will make friends. This year, I will concentrate on my studies. This year, I will think before I act. I picked up the cat and cradled it on my lap. This year, I will join in with at least two extra-curricular activities. This year, I will not follow Harry Potter. This year â“
The door swung open alarmingly. Was there a ghoul in the Leaky Cauldron? No, it was only Hermione.
âTheyâre still going strong down there,â she told me. âRon would have kept me talking all night. Silly, really. We have all year to talk.â
Ron. And Harry, of course, I thought.
Hermione sat down on the other bed and actually looked at me. âOh, look at Crookshanks, what a cheek! Heâs taken over your bed. Do you hate cats, Ginny?â
âNo, not at all â“ no, Iâm very fond of cats. Itâs all right, Hermione, you donât have to move him.â I was proud of myself. I had managed to say something sensible to Hermione, and say it pleasantly too.
âI noticed youâd left your stuff by the window, so I put Crookshanks on the other bed. But he obviously liked your idea better. Silly puss, you should ask before you take over other peopleâs furniture.â
âI didnât know you had a cat. Did you buy him today?â
Hermione did not reply until she had finished cleaning her teeth. âHeâs a birthday present. I bought him at the Magical Menagerie today. Although Iâm not sure how it will work out. Crookshanks has his eye on Scabbers, so of course Ron doesnât like Crookshanks. A load of fuss about nothing, if you ask me, because pets are always kept in dormitories. ⌠So, did you meet anyone interesting in Diagon Alley?â
No, you had monopolised the interesting person⌠I swallowed, and admitted: âI met Colin Creevey.â
Hermione pulled her nightdress over her head, and modestly began to remove her clothes from underneath it. âHowâs Colin?â Her voice was muffled through the cloth. âHas he grown over the summer?â
Thinking that was a very odd question, I replied abruptly that Colin still wasnât quite as tall as I was. After all, I thought, he lost six months of growing time last year. Itâs amazing that his Muggle parents let him come back to Hogwarts at all. No. No, I wonât think about that. Hermione shouldnât have reminded me. âColin was in a very good mood,â I snapped defiantly.
Hermione seemed surprised at my tone, but she said quite placidly, âHe always is. Do you know, when he woke up from being Petrified, his first words were, âHi, Madam Pomfrey, would you like a grape? Theyâre really for Harry Potter, but would you like one?â He hadnât broken his train of thought since the second he was Petrified, and he didnât seem at all surprised to find himself in the hospital wing, with his grapes and camera gone.â
Hermione doesnât mean to be tactless, I reminded myself. But that thought was jangling with a louder one: Thatâs exactly the kind of reason why I donât want Hermione to share my room! I stiffened my jaw, stroked Crookshanks furiously, and made myself ask: âWhat were your first words when you woke up?â And hoped it wouldnât show that I didnât care about the answer.
âNothing very original, Iâm afraid. I said, âThereâs a Basilisk right behind us, Madam Pomfrey! We have to warn the whole school.â So I suppose I hadnât broken my train of thought either. I really was surprised when I realised that I was up in hospital. Penelope was much clearer-thinking. She didnât say anything until sheâd had a good look around, and seen Madam Pomfrey revive Colin. Then she asked, âHow much time has passed?â And Justin said nothing at all until the rest of us had finished orienting ourselves, when he told Professor Sprout, âI am greatly obliged to you, Professor,â in that wonderful clipped Eton accent of his.â
She came to pick up Crookshanks, who raised his head for just long enough to let himself be transferred from my arms to Hermioneâs. He raised the volume of his purring. He hadnât minded being stroked by me, but it was obvious whose cat he was.
âBut Mrs Norris spat and yowled,â said Hermione. She was still talking about Petrification. âShe even tried to scratch Madam Pomfrey. She wasnât a good quiet cat, not like Crookshanks, was she, was she? Whoâs a gorgeous beastie, then? And Nearly-Headless Nick kept going on and on about how if the Basilisk could Petrify him, it ought to have been able to sever his head completely too, and could Madam Pomfrey do anything to complete his decapitation. As if she could do anything at all for a person whoâs already dead! If you ask me, heâs lucky that the mandrake juice worked on him.â
I moved myself to underneath my bedcovers. With any luck, Hermione would take the hint that I wanted to sleep. In fact my mind was racing, and I knew I would toss and turn, but at least I wouldnât be trying to think of things to say to Hermione.
âYou know the most surprising thing about waking up?â Hermione could evidently think of plenty of conversation points herself. It was a pity they all seemed to converge back on the Chamber of Secrets. âIt was noticing how different everything seemed. I was still thinking the same thoughts Iâd had on the day I was Petrified. But they didnât fit any more. I had to take in five weeks of changes in just a few minutes.â
âOh?â I tried to sound politely interested in the great psychological change in Hermione.
âYou see, it was all very quick. One moment Penelope and I were creeping out of the library, staring into her mirror in case the Basilisk should be on the loose, but not seriously expecting it would be. The next moment we saw the reflection of these two great yellow eyes. And I hardly had time to think, âIt is the Basilisk!â before Madam Pomfrey was feeding something into my mouth, and the mirror had gone, and the library corridor had turned into the hospital wing. I know now that it was five weeks, but at the time it only felt like a second. And I was bursting to explain that there was a Basilisk, and nobody must look at it, and we needed to bring in some roosters. It took me several hours to realise that my thoughts were all out of date.â
âOh?â Polite again. Talking about what Tom Riddle had done to Hermione was still easier than talking about what Tom Riddle had done to me.
âWell, the Basilisk had gone, thank goodness. So nobody was afraid any more. And there was no mystery to solve. And nobody was suspecting Harry any more. And I didnât have to waste any more energy trying to convince people that it couldnât have been him. And Hagrid had been cleared too. And the boys told me all about Lockhart â“ â
âLockhart?â I sat up straight in bed. âWhat did Lockhart have to do with anything?â
âWell, Ron told me ⌠oh, dear, that was tactless.â The colour drained from Hermioneâs face. For the first time she stopped talking and looked straight at me again. âGinny, Iâm sorry. Iâd completely forgotten how you were concerned with all that Chamber business. Of course you donât want to hear about that cowardly peacock.â
âProfessor Lockhart?â I asked again. âI didnât like him much, but what was the problem?â The truth was that I didnât have very clear memories of any of my Hogwarts teachers, only general impressions of the way Iâd felt about each one.
Hermione bit her lip. âDidnât they tell you how he behaved on the day you were taken down to the Chamber?â
âProfessor Dumbledore told me that Harry and Ron worked out where the entrance to the Chamber was. Lockhart went with them to rescue me. But there was an accident on the way and rocks fell down. Lockhart lost his memory and Ron was trapped. So Harry had to rescue me on his own.â I said that with some pride. Harry Potter had saved me â“ saved me from a Basilisk and from Lord Voldemort. When Hermione did not reply I stared at her. âIs there something they didnât tell me? Answer me! If this is about me, I have the right to know.â