Author: Life.In.Pixels
Title: Camp HORROR
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Summary: Ginny Weasley, sweet red-haired virgin decides to join Camp Hogwarts. But who was to know that Camp Hogwarts turns into one of utter horror when she discovers that her counselor is none other than the blond Draco Malfoy. And it doesn't stop there: lies, plotting, death, and more lies surround them. It only spells one thing for Ginny, uh oh.
A.N: Please enjoy my first chapter. I think this was the second fanfic I ever wrote so be kind and please review! Enjoy.
Chapter One
Horrible Surprise
A young girl lowered her heavy backpack onto the leaf covered ground. She eyed her new surroundings, if not, a little dubiously. Beside her, Ron re-adjusted his pack with a broad grin on his face. They had arrived at their summer camp. Well…in front of it anyways.
'Yeah, you would be happy,' the girl thought with a little frown clearly etched onto her features as she looked over at Ron.
She crossed her arms and nearly glared at her brother. At this time, Ron decided to conveniently pay attention to his younger sister, Ginny. Seeing the frown, the angry features and a slight redness in her cheeks told him one thing: she was going to throw a tantrum.
…even though she was sixteen already….
Turning slowly away from his angry little sister, he took a step towards the camp that they had arrived at. He watched the carefully strung up banner that was fluttering meagerly in the small breeze.
He only had a moment to sigh before Ginny started pounding childishly on his back. "Not fair, not fair!" she yelled in white fury.
Ron caught her fists before she could deal any real damage to him and held them arms length away…at a safe distance. She resorted to glaring at him.
"Grow up Gin," he told her, somewhat amused at how childish to could be at the age of sixteen.
She in return glared harder at him and threatened to pound him again. "I'm trying to."
Ron sighed and ran a hand through his flaring hair that was mirrored in his sister's. "Please," he pleaded, "Do we have to go through this again?"
Ginny withdrew her fists, said nothing and pouted instead.
At this moment, a woman rushed past them. "Come come," she said in an urgent strained voice. "This way, this way." Her hair was tied up tightly in a ponytail. She allowed no stray tendrils to frame her somewhat gawky looking face. The hawk-like nose that she peered down at them was definitely a wizard trademark, in this case, witch trademark.
"Oh, Mr. Weasley, just the person I wanted to see!" she exclaimed with a small wry smile. "Come come; come help me with these students pouring in to the camp!"
Ron stared up at the woman that was obviously one of the teachers from Hogwarts. "P-pr-McGonagall?" he demanded in shock. Beside him, Ginny's eyes also widened. The bouncy cheerful but tired looking woman was actually Professor McGonagall?
McGonagall put one hand on her hip and frowned in disapproval. "That's Professor McGonagall to you, young man," she promptly corrected him. She was wearing blue khaki shorts with an over-sized muggle t-shirt. There was no sign of any magical wands or the well-known Hogwarts cloaks.
Ginny's anger had dissipated in her apparent shock. In truth, the professor looked…well…in polite terms, funny-looking.
McGonagall then attempted to drag Ron over to two huge trees that marked the entrance of the camp. A huge banner stretched across the two trees read in bold and messy letters:
Camp H.
The full name of it was actually Camp Hogwarts, but whoever made the banner hadn't planned out the space permitted and had ended with just the 'H'. But McGonagall obviously thought the banner was fantastic, which led Ginny to believe that the professor had made the banner herself.
She placed herself between the two trees and smiled in a satisfied way. She then plopped down on a wooden stool and pulled out a cardboard box that she had stored behind one of the trees.
"Now, hand over your wands," McGonagall demanded as she stretched out her hand. "No one enters the camp until they've given me their wands."
Ginny reached for hers which was tucked in her back pocket and gave it to the professor without a hassle. Ron on the other hand took his time in looking for his wand. He had been reluctant in the first place to work in a muggle/non-magic camp.
"I can see all the problems," he had said to Hermione when she first presented the idea to him on the last few days of school in Hogwarts.
"Problems?" Hermione had asked a little curiously.
"Of course problems!" Ron had said his face going red. "I mean," he spluttered, "Who would want to work in a muggle camp?"
Hermione frowned; her pose against the couch was suggesting anger. "I would," she said rather quietly.
"Oh," Ron had managed to come up with. "Well… in that case…" he muttered. At this point, he looked towards Harry for help.
Harry simply shrugged. "Even if I was interested, I'll be spending the summer with the Dursleys and …" he shrugged again. "You know them… it's unlikely that they'll let me go."
Ron gave a sigh while Harry shrugged apologetically again. Hermione however frowned again. "Harry," she said in a somewhat pity-ish voice. "Are you sure they won't let you? I mean, this counselor job at the camp is actually going to pay you Galleons."
"What! Galleons you say?" Ron asked immediately before Harry exclaimed. "I couldn't… especially if I was earning wizard money."
"Didn't you know?" Hermione asked in almost exasperation to Ron. "You earn Galleons if you agree to be counselor. And if professor McGonagall chooses you, of course." She threw a sympathetic look towards Harry.
"What about Gin?" Harry asked.
"Well… the age required is seventeen…and Gin is sixteen… sorry about that Gin," Hermione had said as she gave Ginny an apologetic look.
Ginny shook herself out of the memory and followed Ron into the camp. She looked back and watched as each student handed their wands to McGonagall. She wondered briefly how the professor would know which wand was whose at the end of the camp.
Once inside the camp, her sight was met with something she would have never thought of encountering upon her life. Students were rushing here and there; tents were flapping as they were being put up. But the chaos of putting up a normal tent without any magic was devastating. And the smell of burnt food filled the air. She felt a giggle rise at the thought of a passing muggle who would probably look into this camp and see all these struggling kids. They looked a spoiled lot that had never touched any hardships of life. If it was any normal kid without magic, Ginny thought they could put up a tent just fine… but the wizarding community had magic in their lives… therefore resulting in this chaos…She snickered again.
"Come on," Hermione gestured, tugging Ron away from some of his mischievous friends. "We have to show Ginny her campsite and get to the clearing before McGonagall."
Ron followed reluctantly after a strained "bye" to his friends. Ginny followed behind quietly, taking in the lush forest that surrounded them and the damp musty smell of old leaves. She walked at a slow pace behind the two that were now arguing over the responsibility of counselors. Ginny rolled her eyes at the sky.
A sign of frustration on Hermione's part stopped the argument. And they settled into an uncomfortable silence. It seemed forever until they arrived at Ginny's designated campsite area.
"There's your campsite Gin," Hermione exclaimed with a wide grin, anticipating her reaction.
It was a beautiful area. But 'area' was too ugly a word for it. The place was shaded by magnificent ancient looking trees. These trees surrounded the campsite as if making a protective fence around it. And the campers were to camp right in the middle of this fence. The light green leaves shielded the harsh rays of the summer sun, letting in only beams of warm light and nothing else. Thus making the campsite warm and not hot. It was truly beautiful.
Ginny dropped her backpack in surprise. She had never seen such a sight. After another moment of taking in the scene she turned to Hermione rather slowly. "That's gonna be my campsite?" she asked, if not somewhat incredulously.
Hermione nodded anxiously. "Do you like it?"
"Do I like it? I love it!" Ginny said with a huge smile. "Thanks 'Mione! It's absolutely gorgeous."
Hermione gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," she murmured. "I was thinking you wouldn't like it."
Ginny laughed. "Thanks." Hermione only nodded. Ron, however, did not miss the sigh of relief from Hermione.
"Er.." he began wondering how to put his outrageous question. It was evident that Ginny loved the place, yet something was nagging at him… and it had something to do with Hermione's weird attitude and anxiousness on whether his little sister liked the place or not. "Er…" he began again.
Ginny turned towards him with a slight frown. It was known that Ron was way over-protected. "Um..Ron?" she interrupted him. "There's not going to be any monsters in that area," she said, misinterpreting his hesitation. "You don't need to be so overprotected. I'm sixteen, I can protect myself."
Ron frowned back at Ginny. "What?" he spluttered out, his ears going red. "I- I wasn't going to say something like that!" Both Hermione and Ginny gave him disbelieving looks. "It's true!" he exclaimed.
Ginny looked away back to the campsite. Her campsite.
Ron plunged on. "Well…it's like this. What's with that campsite? I mean, all good things come with a price. What's the catch behind that?" He gestured towards the campsite and Ginny turned towards the pair again, her attention caught. Ron looked at Hermione who had gone extremely pale. "Is…Is it Galleons I have to pay? I mean, I don't have Galleons right now…" he added meekly.
Now Ginny was staring. The Weasleys were a poor family and Galleons didn't just come and go as they liked…
Hermione gave the brother and sister both a wide-eyed stared and suppressed the urge to laugh. Of the all absurd things Ron could think of it had to be money. "Well?" Ron probed, now totally convinced that the catch was money.
"No…" Hermione said slowly.
"There's no catch then?" Ginny asked rather innocently.
"No…" Hermione replied more slowly.
"Then what's the catch?" Ron asked frustrated and now impatient.
"The catch is…" Hermione paused and was about to continue when a shrill whistle sounded and echoed throughout the woods of the entire camp. "Oh look," Hermione sighed in relief. "McGonagall is calling all students towards the platform; she's going to make an introductory assembly. Let's go Ron, we have to be there. And you too Gin, you have to listen to it and find out who your-" she winced, "Camp counselor is." Saved by the bell…
Gradually all students arrived to the "platform." The Platform wasn't a platform at all. It was just another campsite area, except this campsite area was larger than most others because it was for the professors. The crowd of students from all over the forest had come to the "summoning". They stood messily in rows awaiting the instructions or the beginning sentence of McGonagall's call.
Ginny was of the few who had a clear look of everything since she had arrived early because of Hermione's pushing…verbally. And now she thanked Hermione for her "on-timeness."
Upon arriving Hermione had ushered Ron to the front where they had lined up neatly facing the crowd. Ginny guessed it was the 'camp counselor line'.
The humming and buzz of chatter was suddenly cut off when McGonagall appeared. She didn't apparate though; she walked promptly and primly in front of the crowd. Pacing up and down she gained their undivided attention. Although chatter had stopped, the occasional snicker could be heard because of McGonagall's attire.
"Ahem," McGonagall cleared her throat signaling silence. The silence spread over the large crowd and it became shushed. "Welcome to Camp Hogwarts," McGonagall began, twisting her hands in front of her a little nervously. It was her first time supervising a muggle camp.
"As you know, you all have enrolled into this camp…" she trailed off. It was obvious she didn't have her speech memorized to heart. "Ahem," she cleared her throat again. "Well… as I was saying. All Hogwart rules apply here except for one. There will be no magic use in this camp. If you are caught with a wand or indulged in any magical way, you will be immediately expelled from this camp. Even though we are in a remote location and away from Muggles, we cannot guarantee that a Muggle will not accidentally and suddenly stumble among us and witness … our magic. So, all magic will be banned from this camp." Now that McGonagall was more relaxed, her speech was smoother.
"There will other professors that will be wandering around the camp so do not even try to use magic forbidden." Because of the content of the speech and the hot sun that was blaring from above, the students soon became restless and chatty. Large snippets were lost in McGonagalls speech. Ginny could only catch the occasional words: Black Forest, forbidden to enter, do not attempt, dangerous, that's why, rules, obey, follow, counselors. She could only piece together some words while the others made no sense. After a while, she gave up. Letting her eyes scan through the counselors she saw that two students from each House were chosen. That meant two Gryffindors, two Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs…and lastly but not least, two Slytherins. Her sight caught the infamous pale blonde hair, the well-known smirk of Malfoy. She shuddered inwardly at the bad luck of the camp and those who were to be under his lead as camp counselor. A sudden thought hit her, what if she was one of those unlucky ones to be put under his command? She shuddered again at the thought. Her eyes trailed back to his face only to find him smirking at her. That was an even disturbing thing. She quickly looked away in time to see McGonagall pull out a huge book from somewhere.
The crowd calmed down again at the commotion. McGonagall was apparently having a lot of difficulty lugging the book in front of the crowd without magic. Professor Flitwick rushed to her aid and the two of them had the book in front of the crowd, leaving very amused students and a huffing Flitwick and McGonagall behind. Ginny stole a quick peek at Malfoy again and found his attention diverted. She sighed with relief.
"This is the Rule Book," Professor McGonagall explained once she had regained her breath. "It was written by Professor Flitwick for this camp. There are three main rules," she paused as she struggled to open the book. Once it was opened, she read, "Rule One: Do not use magic under any circumstances. And especially in front of a Muggle. All discussion about magic is to be kept to a minimum. Consequences will be issued severely if one has failed to comply." She paused here and eyed everyone from behind her glasses. The crowd kept respectably silent so she continued.
"Rule Two: Do not lie to your Camp counselors. There will be no lying or disrespecting the professors and the people who will be supervising you. Consequences will be issued severely if one has failed to comply." She paused again and instead of eyeing the students she gave Professor Flitwick a weird look. She obviously thought this was common sense and not a rule at all. Flitwick just shrugged.
"Rule Three: The most important rule. Obey every command of your counselors no matter what. The safety and responsibility of your safety is in your camp counselor's hands so listening to them is extremely important. Consequences will be issued severely if one has failed to comply." She slammed the book shut and pushed it into Flitwick's hands leaving him to carry it away himself.
"These rules are very important. More specific details can be found if you read the book." McGonagall's comment was met with incredulous stares. She gave them a 'what' look. The students wouldn't want to read that book, especially if such a huge book contained only THREE rules. That left one wondering how detailed each rules was. McGonagall continued and said, "Well.. now that's over with. I will be telling you your counselor's names."
Nervous shuffling could be heard. Ginny looked around and thought, 'It's obvious the nervousness. No one in their right mind wants to be under Malfoy's supervision… and obey every command? That's like…' She didn't even get to finish her thought when McGonagall read:
"…Cho Chang, Ginevra Weasley… Your camp counselor will be Draco Malfoy from Slytherin." Her life seemed to flash before her eyes in stars. She must be dreaming, having a nightmare or something. Like, what were the chances of falling under Malfoy's supervision when it was general knowledge that the Malfoys hated the Weasleys and vice versa?
Then Ginny recalled Hermione's reactions and nervousness from before. She knew that Malfoy was to be her counselor. She risked a look at Malfoy and immediately regretted it. Malfoy was giving her a much benevolent look, full and complete with the horrible smirk.
Ginny's esteem shrunk. She had come to this camp to have a relaxing holiday, not a horror. But… her train of thoughts were interrupted by a loud exclaimation.
"NO!"
Ginny looked back towards the counselors but before even seeing she already knew where the interruption had come from. Why, who other than her annoying, jerky, sometimes funny, older brother, Ron Weasley? She saw him talking furiously to Hermione who was trying to restrain him from any further outbursts. McGonagall was busy ignoring Ron and reading her list. Ginny sneaked another look at Malfoy and found his smirk even wider. Well, at least one human was having fun at this camp…
"No, I refuse. You hear me? I refuse!"
"Calm down, Mr. Weasley. I don't see why you would refuse? I don't see the problem."
"The problem," Ron answered seething with rage as he jabbed a finger at Malfoy who was standing at a distance, "IS HIM!"
"That's not very polite Mr. Weasley. I'm afraid that since you've become a counselor doesn't give you the right to –"
"The right? You're talking about rights to me?"
"Ron, just shut up!" Ginny interrupted, which earned a reproachful look from Professor McGonagall.
"I must say Ms. Weasley, that's hardly appropriate language…"
"Who cares about appropriate or inappropriate language? As long as you switch my sister from Malfoy's 'supposedly' supervision-"
"Mr. Malfoy! I don't see the prob-"
"I DO!"
At this moment Hermione took upon herself to elbow Ron in the ribs.. hard. "Shush Ron. You're being rude."
Ginny was sure Ron had an excellent comeback but was too busy getting his breath back from Hermione's attack that he didn't have time to voice his opinions.
"Now, Ms. Weasley will be under excellent care," McGonagall eyed Draco Malfoy. "I've had at least fifty recommendations of Mr. Malfoy's ability to care for young people."
"Hah!" Ginny laughed sarcastically. She couldn't help it. Fifty recommendations of "Malfoy's ability to care for young people"?
Ron nearly choked.
McGonagall continued on. "I will not be switching anyone with anyone. Any further arguments will just earn you a black mark Mr. Weasley. Mr. Malfoy fully understands his responsibilities as a camp counselor. He will abide by rules and if anything should happen, Ms. Weasley will have our undivided attention."
"He understands his responsibilities? The prat doesn't even know the meaning of responsibility." Ron practically spluttered. "Ginny has your undivided attention if something should happen? What if it's too late! What then! What if-"
They were drawing attention and the occasional snicker from the onlookers. Ron was embarrassing them all. And Malfoy was getting the laugh.
Ginny interrupted. She couldn't stand the smirk on his stupid face anymore. "Professor McGonagall?" She asked politely before McGonagall could respond to Ron. "I believe it may be alright. Malfoy wouldn't dare try anything." She then turned her gaze to Ron and dared him to say another word.
Ron at this point, finally, also noticed the people and the infamous smirk. "Are you sure Ginny? I mean-" he whispered softly.
"I'm sure Ron. I can take care of myself. Believe me," she muttered back.
Hermione nudged Ron and whispered as well. "Just let it drop Ron. It's going nowhere. Professor McGonagall isn't going to change it. I already asked her before."
And that was that. It was settled. And her summer fate was decided as she followed after Malfoy.
A.N: Well, there's my first chapter.. rewritten and everything. Tell me what you think… was it better (for those who read my original), was it good (for those who are reading this the first time). Please do drop off an encouraging review! Thanks.
To be Continued…