FICLET: Belching Smoke (Ginny/Astoria)
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rarepair_shortsTitle: Belching Smoke
Character Pairing: Ginny/Astoria
Prompt: a smoky haze
Rating: PG
Word Count: 980
Summary: Ginny was hoping for some assistance with a broken printer.
Author's Notes: This series will probably flow loosely and stay mostly unconnected.
Link to Prompt Table: http://bluemermaid.livejournal.com/116133.html
"I think the printer's broke," says Ginny.
"Oh, do you think?" Astoria hesitates in the doorway, reluctant to enter the print room, where Ginny is standing in the midst of a cloud of smoke. Ginny's cheeks are smudged with what Astoria supposes is ink, and her red hair is slowly fanning out around her head in a comical approximation of a lightning strike. "I'd never have guessed, thank you ever so much for the warning."
"Pardon me," Ginny says, punctuating her sarcasm with a cough. "I was hoping for assistance. But I see you're more concerned with keeping your robes neat than with helping someone."
Astoria wrinkles her nose. "Isn't there a crew for this? Or don't you have a reparo in your spell repertoire?"
"Well, I've already tried that," Ginny says. Astoria thinks she might be rolling her eyes, but the smoke is getting thicker and it is harder to read Ginny's expression. "I'm not entirely incompetent with a wand. I'm stuck, and the printer isn't listening to any spells at the moment."
"Stuck?" Astoria's curiosity gets the better of her; she takes one hesitant step into the room. Almost immediately a wave of bitter-smelling heat hits her, so overwhelming that she can barely breathe. "How are you stuck?"
"I don't know." Ginny is quickly disappearing into the smoke; even her voice sounds smaller, which is quite a feat for the outspoken girl. "I was trying to make copies of my latest, this rotten thing just started belching smoke, and now I can't move all of a sudden. My legs are frozen."
"Merlin, has somebody cursed the thing?" Astoria lifts her wand and mutters a quiet lumos, casting a weak beam of light into the cloud. "I can't see a bloody thing."
"Ooh, language, Astoria," Ginny's voice says with a laugh. "Just go call for the Spell Maintenance Department, won't you? They'll sort me out, if you're unable."
"No, no," Astoria says. "I'm quite capable of figuring out a simple printer malfunction, I should think." She is frightened, to be honest; she's wearing a new robe and her hair's looking better than it has in days. Losing herself in a smoky haze was not on her agenda for the day. But she can't embarrass herself before Ginny. She can't articulate exactly why, but she cannot let it go.
"Be careful," Ginny calls out to her.
Astoria takes another step and feels a weight drop into her stomach. She has stepped in something wet and sticky, and her legs have gone numb. "Oh, dear."
There is a muffled huffing noise from somewhere very close to her. "Shit," Ginny says, and Astoria is startled by a sudden hand on her shoulder. "You've gone frozen, too, haven't you?"
Astoria coughs; the smoke is quite thick, and she is squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm afraid it appears that way."
"You just had to go and step in it." Ginny sighs beside her. "Now we'll have to wait for the next sucker to wander on through before we get anywhere." There is a pause, in which Astoria coughs again. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised," Ginny says slowly, "if this were some sort of a trick aimed at our new reporters."
"What sort of a trick?" Astoria asks sharply.
"Oh, I don't know, something like...someone throws up a smoke screen and hides something silly underneath it. Like a Chilly Toes Puddle." Astoria can just hear the laughter in Ginny's tone.
"What on earth is a Chilly Toes Puddle?" Astoria demands, as something cold and wet continues to seep into her pumps.
"Just a little something new I cooked up over the weekend." Ginny laughs, and Astoria opens her eyes as the smoke begins to dissipate from the room. "I never expected you to actually come in here, Astoria. Bravo."
"You've tricked me," Astoria says, her mouth gaping open.
Ginny's hair is still a mess when the smoke clears, leaving her leaning against a very not-broken magical printer as Astoria stands beside her in a round blue circle on the floor. "I'm testing some new ideas for my brother's joke shop," Ginny says with a grin. "Thanks ever so much for the help."
"I am horribly embarrassed," Astoria replies. She tries to yank her foot out of the puddle, but it is no use; she is sealed tight to the floor. "Could you please get me out of here? It's very unpleasant."
"Oh, sure, no problem," Ginny says. "After I snap a few photographs, of course. For the yearly company Christmas party, you see."
"Potter," Astoria says warningly. She ought to be furious, ready to curse Ginny Potter and perhaps even quit the newspaper in an attempt to salvage her offended dignity. However, Ginny has been rather nice to her outside this little stunt, and it was fairly harmless, really. Astoria's outfit doesn't even look smoke damaged. Still, the threat of a camera is too much. "No photos. I will insist upon that point."
Ginny looks at her for a moment with an expression that Astoria cannot place. Finally, she bends down and taps the corner of the blue circle with her wand. It slips quickly out from under Astoria's feet and rolls up neatly in Ginny's hands. "All right," Ginny says as she rises to meet Astoria's gaze. "No pictures. But I will be telling people about this."
Astoria smiles neatly at Ginny; she is already pondering some sort of playful revenge. A friendly game between equals sounds quite amusing to Astoria at the moment. "Do tell," she says to Ginny, reaching out to lightly squeeze her friend's arm. "I'm sure it will provide quite an amusement."
"Oh, I know that look. I'm not touching a single thing you give me for the rest of the week," Ginny replies with a laugh.
"You're lucky I won't force you to replace my shoes," Astoria says.
Character Pairing: Ginny/Astoria
Prompt: a smoky haze
Rating: PG
Word Count: 980
Summary: Ginny was hoping for some assistance with a broken printer.
Author's Notes: This series will probably flow loosely and stay mostly unconnected.
Link to Prompt Table: http://bluemermaid.livejournal.com/116133.html
"I think the printer's broke," says Ginny.
"Oh, do you think?" Astoria hesitates in the doorway, reluctant to enter the print room, where Ginny is standing in the midst of a cloud of smoke. Ginny's cheeks are smudged with what Astoria supposes is ink, and her red hair is slowly fanning out around her head in a comical approximation of a lightning strike. "I'd never have guessed, thank you ever so much for the warning."
"Pardon me," Ginny says, punctuating her sarcasm with a cough. "I was hoping for assistance. But I see you're more concerned with keeping your robes neat than with helping someone."
Astoria wrinkles her nose. "Isn't there a crew for this? Or don't you have a reparo in your spell repertoire?"
"Well, I've already tried that," Ginny says. Astoria thinks she might be rolling her eyes, but the smoke is getting thicker and it is harder to read Ginny's expression. "I'm not entirely incompetent with a wand. I'm stuck, and the printer isn't listening to any spells at the moment."
"Stuck?" Astoria's curiosity gets the better of her; she takes one hesitant step into the room. Almost immediately a wave of bitter-smelling heat hits her, so overwhelming that she can barely breathe. "How are you stuck?"
"I don't know." Ginny is quickly disappearing into the smoke; even her voice sounds smaller, which is quite a feat for the outspoken girl. "I was trying to make copies of my latest, this rotten thing just started belching smoke, and now I can't move all of a sudden. My legs are frozen."
"Merlin, has somebody cursed the thing?" Astoria lifts her wand and mutters a quiet lumos, casting a weak beam of light into the cloud. "I can't see a bloody thing."
"Ooh, language, Astoria," Ginny's voice says with a laugh. "Just go call for the Spell Maintenance Department, won't you? They'll sort me out, if you're unable."
"No, no," Astoria says. "I'm quite capable of figuring out a simple printer malfunction, I should think." She is frightened, to be honest; she's wearing a new robe and her hair's looking better than it has in days. Losing herself in a smoky haze was not on her agenda for the day. But she can't embarrass herself before Ginny. She can't articulate exactly why, but she cannot let it go.
"Be careful," Ginny calls out to her.
Astoria takes another step and feels a weight drop into her stomach. She has stepped in something wet and sticky, and her legs have gone numb. "Oh, dear."
There is a muffled huffing noise from somewhere very close to her. "Shit," Ginny says, and Astoria is startled by a sudden hand on her shoulder. "You've gone frozen, too, haven't you?"
Astoria coughs; the smoke is quite thick, and she is squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm afraid it appears that way."
"You just had to go and step in it." Ginny sighs beside her. "Now we'll have to wait for the next sucker to wander on through before we get anywhere." There is a pause, in which Astoria coughs again. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised," Ginny says slowly, "if this were some sort of a trick aimed at our new reporters."
"What sort of a trick?" Astoria asks sharply.
"Oh, I don't know, something like...someone throws up a smoke screen and hides something silly underneath it. Like a Chilly Toes Puddle." Astoria can just hear the laughter in Ginny's tone.
"What on earth is a Chilly Toes Puddle?" Astoria demands, as something cold and wet continues to seep into her pumps.
"Just a little something new I cooked up over the weekend." Ginny laughs, and Astoria opens her eyes as the smoke begins to dissipate from the room. "I never expected you to actually come in here, Astoria. Bravo."
"You've tricked me," Astoria says, her mouth gaping open.
Ginny's hair is still a mess when the smoke clears, leaving her leaning against a very not-broken magical printer as Astoria stands beside her in a round blue circle on the floor. "I'm testing some new ideas for my brother's joke shop," Ginny says with a grin. "Thanks ever so much for the help."
"I am horribly embarrassed," Astoria replies. She tries to yank her foot out of the puddle, but it is no use; she is sealed tight to the floor. "Could you please get me out of here? It's very unpleasant."
"Oh, sure, no problem," Ginny says. "After I snap a few photographs, of course. For the yearly company Christmas party, you see."
"Potter," Astoria says warningly. She ought to be furious, ready to curse Ginny Potter and perhaps even quit the newspaper in an attempt to salvage her offended dignity. However, Ginny has been rather nice to her outside this little stunt, and it was fairly harmless, really. Astoria's outfit doesn't even look smoke damaged. Still, the threat of a camera is too much. "No photos. I will insist upon that point."
Ginny looks at her for a moment with an expression that Astoria cannot place. Finally, she bends down and taps the corner of the blue circle with her wand. It slips quickly out from under Astoria's feet and rolls up neatly in Ginny's hands. "All right," Ginny says as she rises to meet Astoria's gaze. "No pictures. But I will be telling people about this."
Astoria smiles neatly at Ginny; she is already pondering some sort of playful revenge. A friendly game between equals sounds quite amusing to Astoria at the moment. "Do tell," she says to Ginny, reaching out to lightly squeeze her friend's arm. "I'm sure it will provide quite an amusement."
"Oh, I know that look. I'm not touching a single thing you give me for the rest of the week," Ginny replies with a laugh.
"You're lucky I won't force you to replace my shoes," Astoria says.
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Date: 2012-05-27 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-29 04:26 pm (UTC)