So I plan for this to be longer than my first story. I make no promises on updates as I work full time. I edit my own stories so if there's anything I missed please let me know. Reviews are appreciated, flames are ignored unless they're construstive. And as usual I own nothing :)
The summer seemed to fly by and before Ginny knew it she was back on the Hogwarts Express on her way to start her 2nd year. She sat alone in the compartment, knowing everyone was avoiding her just as they had all summer. The few times she had found herself in a room with her family or Harry they had tried to treat her normally. But she knew what they thought. They thought she was tainted by Tom Riddle. And how could she argue? She knew she was.
Ginny had tried to convince herself that it wasn't her fault. She'd had no experience with dark magic and she was, after all, only 11 years old. How could she have known what the diary really was? She had tried to tell people but everyone was too busy for her. After spending a few weeks over the summer alone with her thoughts she finally realized that everyone else was to blame. No one had been there for her and everyone ignored the signs.
Wizards far greater than her had made the choice to not act on her behalf. And she paid the price for it. She paid by having to share her body with the soul of Tom Riddle. No one could fix that or make her forget. Ginny was interrupted in her thoughts by the sound of the compartment door sliding open. She prepared to yell at Ron for disturbing her when she saw she one person she liked even less than her brother at the moment.
"Well, look at this, the youngest Weasely all alone." Dracos voice drawled. Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wished it had been Ron coming to check on her.
"Sod off Malfoy." The smirk on Dracos face disappeared.
"You might want to watch who you're talking to Weasely, wouldn't want another diary in your luggage would you?" Ginny flew out of her seat, wand drawn and pointed at Draco.
"I'm not the same Weasely I used to be Malfoy. I won't hesitate to hex you." Draco was surprised to see a fire he had never before seen burning behind her eyes. For once he decided not to press his luck.
"Have a good year Weasely, that is if you have any friends after last year." Draco let the compartment door slam shut behind him while Ginny released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She put her wand away and sat heavily back into her seat. She'd felt something she'd never felt before when Malfoy spoke to her. She had never felt angrier and had never felt more powerful. She knew that if it had come to it she could've easily taken Malfoy. She knew she should be more wary of things that she didn't understand but she couldn't help but thoroughly enjoy the power she could feel rushing through her veins.
Ginny slipped into her robes after realizing they would be arriving at Hogwarts in a matter of minutes. As she dressed she couldn't help but scoff in disgust at the state of her robes. It was clear that they had been second hand having been patched numerous times. She had never resented her family's lack of money until now.
"I was lucky to get a new wand and not a second hand one". She thought rolling her eyes as she gathered her things and prepared to get off the train. As she stepped onto the platform she couldn't help but notice the stares she was receiving. She held her chin high and made her way through the crowd ignoring the whispers. She was pleased to see most of the carriages had already started making their way towards the school. This made it easier for her to avoid people. She climbed into one of the carriages and was relieved that it was empty. Hopefully it would stay that way.
She heard the handle to the carriage turn and inwardly groaned. Padma Patil started to climb into the carriage, her sister close behind her, before getting a good look at who was already occupying it. She looked up and noticed Ginny. She stumbled a bit and Ginny could have sworn the girl looked scared of her.
"We'll just find another carriage…" Padma mutter under her breath before backing out of the carriage and shutting the door. Ginny smirked as she heard Padma hurriedly whispering to her sister. Ginny closed her eyes and laid her had against the back of the seat hoping that the carriage would start moving at any second. She heard the carriage handle turn and opened her eyes, expecting another scene like the one with Padma. Unfortunately the gray eyed blonde continued to climb into the carriage and sat himself across from her.
"Find another carriage Malfoy." Ginny spat with venom in her voice. She would never forget his comment about the diary.
"Wish I could Weasely, but we're the last two left and there are no more carriages. I'll try not to enjoy your company too much." Ginny briefly considered hexing him but figured it wouldn't be the best way to start out the year, as tempting as it was. The carriage finally began heading towards the schools and Ginny and Draco sat in silence for a few moments. Ginny glanced at Draco and noticed him unconsciously rubbing his forearm.
"Dark Mark hurting?" Ginny questioned, glaring in his direction. Dracos head snapped up and his icy gray eyes met hers. She wasn't sure what to expect and lightly grasped her wand in her robes, preparing to defend herself.
"I'm not the same Malfoy I was Weasely." He stated flatly as he dropped his hand from his arm. Ginny released her grip on her wand slowly relaxed.
"Could have fooled me." She coolly said. She was shocked to see Draco smirk. She knew that she had changed over the summer and wondered if maybe she wasn't the only one who had changed. Neither spoke for the rest of the ride, each choosing to look anywhere but at each other. Regardless of their slight confrontation the tension in the carriage seemed to slowly evaporate.
The carriage came to a halt in front of the school and Draco slowly climbed out.
"See you later Weasely." He said glancing behind him at her. Ginny just nodded, too shell shocked to say anything back to him. She sat in a stunned silence for a few moments before collecting herself and climbing out of the carriage and making her way to the great hall. She cringed as she heard all the happy voices echoing off the walls. For a brief moment she wished she could be like everyone else. Back at school after a great summer and happy to see friends that she missed.
She shook her head, getting rid of the thought. She knew that after last year she would never be like these people. She would never fit in and she would never be happy. She planted herself at the end of the Gryffindor table. The few people near her gave her nervous glances and moved in closer together, away from her. She didn't mind. Sorting was over with quickly. With Tom gaining more power, fewer and fewer students were coming to Hogwarts.
Ginny dug into her dinner, losing herself in her own world.
"Ginny?" A timid voice spoke so quietly that Ginny almost didn't hear it. Ginny raised her head and saw Parvati nervously staring at her from across the table. Parvati leaned closer to Ginny as if to whisper a secret.
"Did you really do all those things everyone is saying you did last year?" Ginny dropped her fork onto her plate with a clatter.
"Why? Do you want to learn how it was done? Maybe you want to know what it's like to be possessed." Ginnys voice dripped with ice. Parvati had the dignity to look embarrassed as her face flushed red
"Maybe if you had been the one possessed you'd have enough attention that you wouldn't feel the need to gossip about everyone else!" Ginny hadn't realized that her words had turned into a shout. She looked down the table and noticed half of the Gryffindor staring at her stunned and the other half look at their plates. Ginny pushed the bench back and stormed down the table to the Gryffindor Prefect.
"What's the password?" Ginny asked through gritted teeth. The Gryffindor Prefect looked like she was going to pass out.
"G..Gillyweed…" Once Ginny knew the password she turned on her heel and stormed out of the great hall. All she wanted at this point was to lie in her bed and forget this day had ever happened. She knew she had scared everyone with her outburst. If she was being honest with herself, she had scared herself as well.
She entered the common room and made her way up the stairs to her dorm and threw herself on her bed, closing the curtains around her. She let out a breath and closed her eyes. She realized that the reason she was scared was because of how great it felt to have people be scared of her and how she would love to have that feeling again.
