"Ugh, can you stop already!?!"
The moment Ron saw the scene, he completely exploded.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, confused.
"I don't want to see my sister cuddling up with someone in public!" Ron roared.
His tone made it sound like Ginny had done something shameful.
Ginny, never one to miss the point, snapped back, "This corridor was empty to begin with. You were the one who barged in!"
As the officially acknowledged boyfriend, Dean looked incredibly awkward—he was dating his mate's sister, after all.
He shot Harry an awkward smile. Harry ignored him.
At that moment, Harry was still reeling from what he'd just seen, something roaring inside his chest, demanding that Dean be taught a proper lesson.
"Uh… come on, Ginny," Dean tugged at her sleeve. "Let's head back to the common room."
"You go yourself!" Ginny snapped, barely holding back her anger. "I need to have a word with my dear brother."
Dean tried a few more times, but when Ginny refused to budge, he had no choice but to leave—truthfully, he was more than happy to escape the awkwardness.
"Fine." Ginny flicked her long red hair back and glared at Ron. "Let's clear everything up right now. Ron, who I'm with and what I do with them has absolutely nothing to do with you."
"Yeah, that's right!" Ron was just as furious. Whether it was Ginny mocking him back on the Quidditch pitch or seeing his sister kissing someone, he spoke without thinking. "Do you think I want people saying my sister is—"
"Is what?" Ginny roared, yanking out her wand. "Is what? Say it clearly!"
What?
Loose?
Just because she'd had two boyfriends?
Ginny was livid, like a lioness gone mad.
"He was just saying it offhand, Ginny," Harry said instinctively, even as the beast inside him roared in agreement with Ron.
"Oh, don't pretend—that's exactly what he thinks!" As if she'd heard Harry's thoughts, Ginny suddenly turned on him. "It's because he's never hugged or kissed anyone in his life! Oh, wait, the only person who's ever kissed him is Aunt Muriel!"
Ron's face went from red to a dark, purplish shade. "Shut up!"
Ginny had no intention of easing off. She kept firing back mercilessly. "I won't shut up. You know every time you see Phlegm, you're staring at her, hoping she'll kiss your cheek—how pathetic is that?"
"If you were capable of hugging and kissing someone yourself, you wouldn't be so obsessed with what other people are doing!"
Her words stabbed straight into Ron's sorest spot.
Growing up, he'd always been the least noticeable child in the family—not as academically brilliant as Bill or Percy, not as charismatic as Charlie, and nowhere near as sharp or inventive as the Weasley twins.
Ron angrily drew his wand. "Do you even know what nonsense you're spouting?!"
He shoved past Harry's arm as Harry tried to block him, roaring, "Just because I haven't—out in public—"
In that moment, as her brother, Ron wasn't even thinking about the fact that she was his sister.
Harry kept trying to intervene, hoping Ginny would rein herself in.
But Ginny had never been the kind to swallow insults quietly. Being spoken to like that by her own brother, there was no way she would hold back.
She was a proud lion—not some tail-wagging cur.
"What is it, then? Kissing piglets? Or do you keep a photo of Aunt Muriel under your pillow?"
Ginny launched a merciless barrage of mockery—devastatingly effective, dealing critical emotional damage.
Ron completely snapped. A streak of orange light shot out from beneath Harry's arm.
Ginny clearly hadn't expected her brother to actually attack.
"Don't be stupid!" Harry cried—but it was already too late.
In that split second—Swoosh!
The spell was deflected.
Ginny slowly turned her head. In her entire life, she had never imagined that the person who saved her… would do so a second time.
Green school robes, platinum-blond hair.
Hogwarts' corridors—ask around and see who runs the place.
Draco Malfoy made a dazzling entrance.
Goyle and Crabbe followed close behind him. Blaise, furious, charged forward, shoved Harry aside, and slammed Ron against the wall.
"I was planning to see which unlucky Gryffindor I'd catch before heading off to a date with Asto," Malfoy said, standing behind Ginny.
He stared coldly at Ron, who was taking Blaise's furious punches, and sneered, "If Percy hears about this, you're dead meat, Ron Weasley."
"I thought you were just useless. Didn't expect you to have the nerve to raise your wand against your own sister."
He glanced down at Ginny and said arrogantly, "Stand aside. Or I'll dock your points."
That one sentence instantly shattered whatever fleeting goodwill Ginny might have had.
She didn't move. Malfoy stepped past her, folded his arms, and looked straight at Harry.
"Pfft~! Can't even keep your own team in line—what makes you think you can win a match, Potter?"
As captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, Malfoy could only think one thing:
when your enemy is tearing itself apart, why worry at all?
"Blaise," Malfoy called out, "give him a couple more punches. That should do it."
So that Blaise wouldn't get carried away and cripple Ron.
After all, everyone knew Blaise liked Ginny—seeing Ron cast magic at her today had crossed a line.
Slytherins didn't have a habit of swallowing their anger.
Ron was only spared because he was still stunned by the fact that he'd actually cast a spell on his sister—otherwise, given how many times Malfoy had beaten him up before, Blaise might not have been able to overpower him.
"Ron!" Harry finally snapped back to his senses and rushed forward, pushing Blaise away.
"Blaise!" Malfoy barked once, stopping him from advancing further.
He folded his arms, regarding Harry with a leisurely, mocking expression.
Ron fully registered the beating now, and combined with Ginny's earlier merciless taunts, he lost all control, like a maddened bull.
"What does this have to do with you, Malfoy!" Ron roared as he broke free.
"Sorry~ while I don't particularly like you redheads," Malfoy said with a vicious grin, "Ginny Weasley is Percy's sister, and also—"
He stepped forward and drove a punch straight into Ron's stomach, folding him over like a cooked shrimp.
Harry surged forward in fury, only to be seized by the shoulders and pinned to the wall by the two big brutes, unable to move.
Malfoy grabbed Ron by the hair with his left hand, forcing him to look up.
"Let me hear one more filthy thought from you about the sister of our Society member, you worm."
There was coldness in his eyes as he said, "And a little birdy told me that you still have filthy thoughts about Fleur, even though she's dating your brother. Pathetic pervert."
Malfoy released Ron's hair and let out a sharp whistle.
Goyle and Crabbe released Harry.
Outdoing others at being vicious? Heh~
Who could possibly top Slytherin's number-one "bad seed," Draco Malfoy?
Leading the Slytherins away, Malfoy dragged his right thumb across his throat and sneered arrogantly at Harry. "Go cry to your godfather while you still can, Potter."
Having delivered his threat, Malfoy felt refreshed and ready to go meet Astoria for their date.
It hadn't been easy finding this chance without Daphne finding out.
Harry glared after Malfoy. The beast that had been roaring at Dean moments earlier now wanted nothing more than to tear Malfoy apart.
No one else came down this corridor, so nobody knew what had happened.
Ginny had left as well, going off to find her best friend Luna to vent.
But before she went, she tossed one last barb at her brother.
"Hermione's also been close with Viktor Krum. You're the only one who finds that disgusting, Ron—and that's because your experience is worse than a twelve-year-old kid's!"
The look on Ron's face was murderous. Harry wasn't in a good state either, still simmering from Malfoy's taunts.
A sharp cat's meow cut through their heavy breathing.
It was Mrs. Norris.
If they were seen, Filch would definitely notice.
The two hurried upstairs, moving along a corridor on the 7th floor.
"Hey, get out of the way!" Ron snapped irritably at a younger girl.
She jumped in fright, dropping a jar of toad eggs she was holding.
The bottle shattered, slimy toad spawn spilling all over the floor—something that would take a long time to clean up.
The girl looked on the verge of tears.
But Harry felt light-headed, completely lost.
Once the anger Malfoy had provoked faded, images of Ginny kissing Dean kept replaying in his mind.
He told himself it was only because she was Ron's sister—that was why seeing her kiss Dean bothered him.
But as soon as he thought that, the images shifted.
In the empty corridor, it was him kissing Ginny.
The beast inside his heart rumbled with satisfaction.
In their turmoil, he and Ron walked away.
The little girl crouched down, gathering up the sticky toad eggs.
The edges of the shattered glass were razor-sharp.
"Let me handle it."
The voice came from the stairwell below. The girl looked up and saw Neville, who had shot up in height over the past year.
He came over and helped her clean up.
Hearing the noise, Filch hurried over and spotted the two of them.
"Mr. Filch, her things spilled," Neville said.
The girl was too scared to speak, so Neville explained instead. "We'll clean it up and head back."
Filch glanced at the badge on Neville's chest, then said grudgingly, "All right. You'd better make it quick."
Mrs. Norris jumped onto Neville's back, then leapt straight into Filch's arms.
Once they finished, the girl blushed and thanked Neville.
"Just be more careful next time," Neville said, scratching his head. His hand brushed against the toad eggs, leaving some stuck in his hair.
The girl let out a small laugh, then shyly thanked him again before running off toward her tower.
Neville thanked Filch as well, then turned and headed back to the tower.
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