A few days had passed and it was now the weekend. Sadly, Greta didn't know who to hang out with. Ron was too busy being mad at Harry for making the Triwizard Tournament, Harry was somewhere else doing who knows what, and Hermione wanted to study in the library. Greta was by herself for the day and it hurt her.

After a while of thinking, Greta decided to read one of her muggle books from home (being a half-blood meant having things like this). She grabbed a copy of one of her manga from home-- "The Quintessential Quintuplets"-- and went outside to the courtyard, and found a tree to sit under.

Just as she opened her book, Greta noticed that several students were wearing pins that said, "Potter Sucks!"
         
Everything about this is immature, she thought.

Just minutes afterwards, she could hear some sort of commotion going on nearby. Then, Greta heard tiny footsteps approaching. She looked up from her book to spot a white ferret with silver blue eyes.

"Aww, a cute little ferret!" Greta squealed, holding her arms out. "Come here, ferret. Come here."

The ferret came.

Greta carefully scooped it up and cradled it in her arms.

"Woah, I've never held a ferret before. It's so soft!" she said with curiosity. She stared into the ferret's shiny, pale eyes.

"I'm gonna call you… Snowy Fox," Greta decided. "You kinda look like one. So pretty!"

She snuggled Snowy Fox close to her cheek. Snowy Fox seemed reluctant to get cuddled at first, but quickly opened up. It started to rub up against her cheek and made happy chirp noises.

Then, Greta gave Snowy Fox a tiny kiss on its head. That seemed to make Snowy Fox shy again. Greta set it down on the grass. She picked up a leaf that had fallen from the tree.

"You wanna play, Snowy Fox?" Greta asked the ferret. She was waving the leaf back and forth on the grass until Snowy Fox pounced on it.

"You're such a good boy," Greta praised the ferret by stroking its fur. Greta and Snowy Fox played together for a while longer until Professor McGonagall strutted up to them.

"I apologize for interrupting, Miss Clayton," Professor McGonagall began, "But I'm going to need that ferret."

Greta looked at her with pleading eyes. "Is there something wrong with him, Professor?" she asked.

"That ferret is actually a student," Professor McGonagall explained. "Professor Moody forgot that he wasn't allowed to use animal transfigurations on students. I have to take the ferret now in order to turn him into his normal form."

Greta's face flushed. "Y-yes, Professor."

As she handed Professor McGonagall the ferret, Greta thought, Oh, crap! That was a student?! What am I gonna do? Snowy Fox could've been anyone here!

"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Clayton," Professor McGonagall smiled. "I must get going now. See you around!"

She then walked away, Snowy Fox staring into Greta's creamy brown eyes. Greta hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment. She had kissed a student by accident! What would everyone think? By that point, Greta's face was bright red like a tomato. She was even too embarrassed to read her manga.

"Oi, Shorty!" a familiar voice sniggered. Greta lifted her flustered face out of her hands and glared. It was Malfoy. He wore a classic smirk on his face, his hands in his pockets, and for some strange reason his blonde hair was a disheveled mess and he appeared to be flustered.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Greta sighed.

"Oh, nothing much," Malfoy said lightly as he waved his hand around. "I just, eh, overheard that conversation you had with McGonagall. You know, about the ferret."

"That's none of your business!" Greta snapped.

"Well, now it is, Clayton, knowing that you're a ferret snogger," Malfoy cackled.

Greta blushed and looked down at the grass. She was so close to breaking down into tears.

"I-I only kissed it on the head. Everyone kisses cute animals," Greta argued.

"Still, it's kinda messed up that you're willing to kiss a ferret. So pathetic! Are you really that desperate?" Malfoy smirked.

He then glanced towards where the manga was placed. He snatched it off of the grass and scoffed, "What is this?"

"It's a book made in Japan. It's a romcom and it's very interesting. Now give it back," Greta huffed.

"A romcom, huh? Sounds like a way to keep boys away from lonely half-bloods like you. How pathetic!" Malfoy shrugged.

That was the last straw. Greta couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, her face tear stained, and glared at Malfoy.

"I've had it with your bullcrap, Malfoy! Give me back my manga," Greta demanded.

"Manga? What the crap is that?" Malfoy asked. He continued to clutch onto the book.

Greta swiped her arm forward as an attempt to retrieve her book. She missed.

"I said to give it back," she growled in frustration.

"Woah, there, Shorty!" Malfoy laughed. "You might not wanna get too angry now. I'm only messing with you."

"You're a jerk!"

"I know I am. That's kind of my thing."

"Why won't you just give it back?"

"Cause I don't want to. I wanna try and read it."

"Only specific people will understand how to read that. You have to read it backwards."

"Pfft, whatever." Malfoy opened the manga, stared at it for a few moments, then suddenly realized that he couldn't read it in the right order. "This is stupid! How does anyone manage to read this piece of junk?"

"Hmph! Just what I thought, you jerk," Greta smirked and she quickly yanked the manga out of Malfoy's hands. She looked around to make sure that no one was around then slapped Malfoy in the face. "Don't ever take my things away again! I hate your guts, Malfoy!"

Greta stomped away towards the Gryffindor common room, leaving Malfoy holding his face, staring at her in awe.

When she had arrived, Greta collapsed onto her bed and punched her pillow repeatedly until she had calmed down.

She took a few deep breaths and thought to herself, Why does Malfoy have to be such a jerk?! He needs to learn to mind his own business!

She glanced towards her manga, which she had thrown onto her bed. She picked it up and studied the quintuplets on the front cover with their bright color schemes. Suddenly, Greta's eyes filled up with tears.

"Was he right? Is this book really for people who're lonely?" she mumbled sadly. "A book meant to fulfill dumb romance fantasies? To make me feel better about myself?"

In truth, reading manga did make Greta feel better about being single. Manga was something that made Greta laugh, sympathize, and feel strong emotions. Something that helped her cope with all she was dealing with. Other muggle books had the same effect. Now that Malfoy had exposed her, she felt as if manga had no true meaning anymore. He had spoiled the fun of reading manga.

"Hey, are you alright?" a voice asked gently. Greta didn't say anything. She knew it was Hermione, but she didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Hermione sat down beside Greta and placed her hand on Greta's shoulder. "What's going on?"

Greta wrapped her arms around Hermione's shoulders and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Malfoy," Greta stated bluntly. "Called me a ferret snogger and a half-blood who can't get dates."

"That cockroach," Hermione hissed under her breath. "He has no right to say crap like that to you." She rubbed Greta's back comfortably. "I'll go find Malfoy and talk some sense into him. I found your cat by the way! Here she is now."

Hermione scooped up Lucky Charm and handed her to Greta.

"There. Doesn't that feel better to have a cute cat to snuggle with?" Hermione smiled.

Greta laughed a bit. "Yeah, it does," she said. "Thanks, Hermione."

"No problem," Hermione replied. "Now it's time to beat some Malfoy butt for my best friend. I'll check on you later, ok?" Hermione stood up.

"Sure," Greta smiled.

Hermione then left the common room.

Word Count: 1364