pariahs // a linny story

wordless communication

ginny sat silent at breakfast, drawing swirls in her porridge with her spoon. her friends talked excitedly beside her, eagerly discussing the shops in hogsmeade. "and i want to go to mchavelocks, maybe get a new hat for the winter..." ginny caught bits and pieces of their conversations, but she wasn't really listening. she didn't feel like going to hogsmeade. it was like a small holiday, a celebration, and she felt guilty just thinking about it. she couldn't go to hogsmeade, not after what had happened. whenever she played quidditch, her stomach tightened in guilt. it was so hard to do anything remotely happy knowing that fred, and probably george as well, could never feel truly happy ever again.

"are you coming to hogsmeade, ginny?" saige asked, and ginny was brought out of her thoughts and back to the present. she saw alina and talin exchange a glance, wordlessly making ginny self-conscious. ginny looked back to saige, who gave her a small and hopeful smile. ginny bit her lip, then shook her head. she couldn't go.

alina and talin's eyes flicked to each other's again before staring at ginny with a look of contempt and disdain. "look ginny, we're going to go sign up for the trip. you're missing out." talin said in a way that ended the discussion immediately. talin stalked off to the front of the great hall, alina following close behind. saige got up from the table and paused. she turned to ginny apologetically, opened her mouth, then closed it. she frowned worrily at ginny before she followed talin and alina.

ginny turned back to her porridge, sighing and holding back the tears that were forming in her eyes. so much had been said by her friends with barely any words being spoken. she knew what the exchanged glances meant. her tears began to roll down her cheeks. she wiped them off her face angrily. she was stronger than this. she had always been. hell, she had six older brothers to toughen her up.

 five.

her thoughts were once again interrupted, this time by yelling across the great hall. ginny looked ahead of her to see talin, arms crossed, glaring at hermione granger. hermione, who realized everyone was staring at her, lowered her voice. she was clearly angry, her eyebrows knit together and her eyes staring talin down. alina was standing behind talin, clearly scared by what hermione was saying but nevertheless had her hands on her hips. saige was cowering by the wall, frowning not in anger but in sadness.

ginny dropped her utensils on her plate, got up, and walked out of the great hall. "ginny, wait--" saige called as ginny passed by the small crowd of people signing up for the hogsmeade trip. ginny kept walking. she could hear saige asking her to wait, and ginny began to turn around, giving in. 

hermione and saige were both there. "ginny, look, i'm sorry about talin--" saige began, but hermione cut her off. "ginny, i have to talk to you." hermione said quickly, and, grabbing ginny by the arm, walked off towards the common room.

saige walked back towards the great hall.