Title: The Little Slytherin
Author: Rita Screecher
Author email: ritascreecher@excite.com
Category: comedy, parody
Keywords: Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy
Spoilers: none
Rating: PG-13 for language and "scary moments"
Summary: A parody on the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid".
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. "The Little Mermaid" belongs to Disney (and Hans Christian Andersen, for that matter, even though Disney twisted the entire story). The song "Part of That World" belongs to Disney. The parody on the Disney movie and song belongs to me.
A/N: Response to a challenge set by our dear Amethyst Jackson to rewrite a Disney movie using Harry Potter characters. Here are my characters and their Disney counterparts. Of course, they're not an exact fit...but oh well.
Ginny Weasley = Ariel
Draco Malfoy = Prince Eric
Mr. Weasley = King Triton
Blaise Zabini = Ursula, the Sea Witch
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Ginny Weasley let out another cackle as she stabbed the defenseless little Flobberworm. It gave a little squeak, convulsing around the slick knife stuck in its middle, before flopping bonelessly to the ground. Not that it had bones in the first place.
Ginny calmly slid the limp Flobberworm off of her knife and flipped it onto the growing pile of dead Flobberworms beside her. She wiped the gore and blood off her fingers and the knife with a handkerchief, then reached into the pail for another Flobberworm.
"How about I slit you down the middle first?" she said aloud, fingering her knife almost lovingly. She smiled. It wasn't a happy, oh-that-nice-fuzzy-feeling smile. Holding the squirming Flobberworm down with one hand, she lifted up her knife, positioning it above the Flobberworm's head.
"Ginny Weasley!"
A frightened, astonished voice interrupted her reverie, and her aim slipped. The knife embedded itself into the ground half a centimeter from the Flobberworm's head. Ginny whirled around, angry at being disrupted.
"What do you want?" she said impatiently, then gulped as she stared up into the face of Professor McGonagall.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" McGonagall breathed, staring at the pile of dead Flobberworms, the one now frantically trying to get away, and the knife.
"Well, I told Hagrid that if he was going to force us to do Flobberworms again this year, I'd kill them all," she explained, in a matter-of-fact tone. "And, what do you know - it's Flobberworms again."
Professor McGonagall was absolutely speechless. She blinked a few times at the rather angelic looking face of Ginny, then finally found her voice.
"You are to leave off this...barbaric hobby of yours," she said shakily. "Return all the remaining Flobberworms to Hagrid. Then report to Professor Dumbledore and turn in that knife of yours. Five points from Slytherin for possession of a serious weapon, and another five points for...well, this," she said, and gestured towards the bloody scene.
"But, Professor," Ginny said, "I'm not in Slytherin, I'm in Gryffindor." (Like all Weasleys, she added to herself rather ferociously.)
Professor McGonagall blinked again. "Slip of the tongue," she said. "I'm so used to telling off Slytherins for this sort of behavior that, well..." She shook her head and walked back towards the castle.
Ginny sighed. She looked back down at the carnage and smiled. Then she cleaned up the mess she had made and buried all the dead Flobberworms in a hole she had dug before for this purpose. She took up her knife, cleaned it off one last time, returned it to its sheath, and stuck it in her bag. Picking up the pail of Flobberworms, she trudged off down the grassy path towards Hagrid's hut.
She was trekking past the lake when suddenly she heard a shout. She turned, and to her horror, saw someone flailing about in the water. And it didn't look like a nice little afternoon swim - it looked like the person was drowning. She squinted, and with a shock, she saw that it was...
"Draco Malfoy!" she said with a gasp, then yelled, "I'm coming!" And without a second thought, she flung the Flobberworm pail down and jumped headfirst into the lake, robes and all. Her entire body tensed up upon entering the lake. The water was absolutely frigid. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on getting to Draco, who was now slipping below the water. She dove down and blindly grabbed. She managed to get a leg, which she held onto fiercely. She hauled him up, up, up, and together, they broke the surface of the water. Getting a firmer grasp on Draco, she managed to swim back to the edge of the lake. After tossing him onto shore, she climbed up out of the water herself, exhausted and freezing cold.
He was blue, and completely bedraggled, but there was no mistaking him. She kept staring at him, as he gave a choke and turned and vomited all over the ground. He looked up at his savior, eyes a bit unfocused.
"You saved me," he managed. His eyes unfocused even more, and now he was staring nearly right through her. "An angel saved me," he said, more to himself than Ginny. Then he passed out.
***
After seeing him faint, Ginny immediately ran the rest of the way to Hagrid's hut, completely forgetting about the Flobberworms. She pounded on his door, and when Hagrid appeared, looking puzzled, she told him that she was passing by the edge of the lake when she saw Draco Malfoy sprawled on the ground, soaking wet and apparently passed out. She left out the part about her saving him altogether, reluctant for anyone to actually know that it was she who saved his life. No doubt the Gryffindors would be disgusted with her, saving Malfoy's life. Although Hagrid seemed a bit hesitant to help a Malfoy, he wasn't about to let a person actually die. He followed Ginny back to the edge of the lake and carried Draco to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey tutted over the state of him and shooed everyone away while she got to work. No one noticed or questioned Ginny's soaking wet robes, and the minute she could, she raced back up to her dorm and changed into dry clothes and put a spell on her wet hair to dry it.
The whole school was thunderstruck. From what Draco Malfoy could remember, and told everyone, he was taking his new Firebolt for a ride across the grounds, and accidentally toppled into the lake. He, not knowing how to swim, nearly drowned, if it wasn't for a mysterious girl that saved his life. He couldn't remember anything about his savior, except that her hair looked like an angel's halo.
Who was the mysterious girl? For weeks, it was all anyone could talk about. Who had saved Draco Malfoy's life, then ran, refusing recognition for her heroic efforts? After much heated discussion, the whole thing was dropped and forgotten about by most.
Ginny, however, spent the following weeks in a daze. She couldn't forget the look that Draco had given her when she pulled him out of the lake, a look of pure love and gratefulness. She had fallen in love instantly. But when she accidentally let this slip to her parents, they went absolutely berserk. ("A Weasley and a Malfoy?" Mr. Weasley had shouted, absolutely dumbfounded. "A match made in hell, that is! We've been mortal enemies for generations! What were you thinking?") She finally told them that it was her idea of a joke, and ended the discussion.
Ginny also couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that she was supposed to be in Slytherin. When she went up to Dumbledore's office to turn in her knife, she was told to wait for a few minutes while Dumbledore went to take care of a few things. Her eyes fell on the Sorting Hat, and after a few minutes of pondering, she slipped it on and waited for the voice to appear at her ear.
"Ah, you again. Gryffindor, was it?" Ginny nodded, then felt foolish. Could the Hat see her nodding?
"Yes, I can, don't worry." The Hat paused. "Gryffindor, was it?" it repeated. "Hmm...how odd..."
"What's odd?" Ginny said aloud, her heart beginning to pound.
"Well, I usually don't go back on my decisions, but you...it almost seems like I made a mistake!" the Hat said. "You shouldn't be in Gryffindor - I see plenty of courage in you, yes, but there's also cu -"
Here the Hat was cut off. Ginny had hastily pulled it off upon hearing Dumbledore's footsteps in the hall outside the door. When Dumbledore entered the office, she was back in her seat and the Hat was in its normal resting place.
"Hello, Ms. Weasley," Dumbledore said, taking his seat behind his desk, blue eyes twinkling. "You were going to give me something?"
"Yes," she said reluctantly. She reached into her bag and handed him the knife, her hands unwilling to let it go. Her eyes watched the knife as Dumbledore took it out of its sheath and looked it over.
"What a lovely knife," he said. "I can see why you like it so much." He smiled at her. She didn't smile back.
"Tell you what, Ms. Weasley," he said carefully. "Why don't you just hold onto it for now." He held it out to her, handle first, and she stared at it, then back at him.
"Are - are you serious?" she asked.
"Of course I am," Dumbledore replied. She took it back slowly and tucked it into her bag. She looked back up at Dumbledore.
"But why?" she said, suddenly suspicious.
"Just promise me to not use it against any people," he said, his eyes smiling at her. "Or Flobberworms, from what McGonagall tells me."
"Thank you, Professor," she stammered, rising. "Thank you very much. You don't know what this means to me." Then she turned and fled.
***
Up in her dorm room, in the safety of her four-posted bed, curtains shut tight with a spell, Ginny replaced the knife in its little holder, beside two others exactly like it. She looked over her collection of "all things Slytherin" in the trunk she kept them in and smiled, a bit sadly. She opened her mouth and began to sing, softly at first, but then louder as the song progressed.
"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything
Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can one small trunk hold
Lookin' inside here you'd think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got knives and swords aplenty
I've got snakes and serpents galore
You want Slytherin banners? I've got twenty
But who cares, no big deal, I want more
I wanna be where the Slytherins are
I wanna see, wanna see 'em cursin'
Walkin' all over those - what do you call 'em?
Oh, Huffles
Being all nice you don't get too far,
Evil's required for being Slytherin
Stealing everyone's - what's the word again?
Duffels
Down where they talk, down where they mock
Down where they tease house-elves with socks
Wanderin' free, wish I could be
Part of that world.
What would I give if I could live out of this tower
What would I pay to spend a day cold in the dungeons
Betcha down there, they don't care
If you have brilliant red hair
Bright young women
Wantin' some Slytherin
Ready for Draco
And ready to know what the Slytherins know
Ask 'em my questions and get some answers
What's Crucio and why does it - what's the word?
Burn
When's it my turn, wouldn't I love
Love to torture Muggles and Mudbloods
No longer me
Wish I could be
Part of that world."
She sighed, a long, deep sigh.
"Poor dear," a voice purred near her ear. "No one left to turn to."
Ginny gave a little shriek and turned around. Blaise Zabini was sitting on her bed behind her, looking quite serene. She smiled at Ginny.
"How - how - how the hell did you get in here?" Ginny gasped. She remembered her trunk, and whirled back around, slamming it closed and locking it tightly. She turned warily toward the Slytherin girl again.
"Did you see that?" she said nervously.
"See what?" Blaise said, inspecting her fingernails. She looked up. "Oh, that trunk full of Slytherin stuff? So you have a little Slytherin fetish, eh?" She laughed.
"How did you get in here?" Ginny repeated, almost shouting.
"Oh, I'm sure it really doesn't matter," Blaise said. "What does matter, toots, is what you're going to do about your little crush on Draco Malfoy. The entire Slytherin House, that is." She laughed again.
"So I'm offering you a little deal," Blaise said. She reached into her voluminous sleeves and pulled out a flask. Leaning over, she tugged a lock of Ginny's hair out of her head and dropped it into the flask. Ginny peered inside, and watched as the liquid turned a bright red color, the exact shade of the infamous Weasley hair. She handed the flask to Ginny to hold, and from her other sleeve, produced another flask. In this, she dropped a strand of her own black hair. The liquid faded to a light yellow.
"I'm not sure I understand," Ginny said slowly, handing the first flask back to Blaise.
"This," Blaise held up the two flasks, "is Polyjuice Potion. When drunk with a bit of someone inside it, you can turn into that person for exactly one hour."
"So you're saying..."
"I'll turn into you, and you turn into me," Blaise said.
"But why would you want to do that?"
"Well, you want to be a Slytherin," Blaise said. "And I am madly in love with Seamus Finnegan. But, you know, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? No, darling, won't work. So the only way for us to be together is if I turn into you. And the only way you and Draco will be together -"
"-is if I turn into you," Ginny said, her eyes lighting up. "And I'll be a Slytherin!" Her heart was beating faster and faster with the prospect of both her dreams coming true.
"We'll have to continue making the Potion to keep it up," Blaise said, "and make sure you drink it at least once every hour."
Ginny nodded, staring at the flask.
"So?" Blaise said. "Will you change identities with me?"
"Of - of course!" she said, eager to drink the Potion. She reached out for the flask, but Blaise held it out of reach.
"There must be payment, of course," she said. "To make sure you don't reveal this little switch to anyone."
"Payment?" Ginny said blankly. "But - but I don't have anything."
"Your brother," Blaise said.
"My brother?"
"Yes."
"Erm - which one?"
"Oh, silly me - the 7th year dish, Ron," Blaise smiled. She leaned closer, confidingly. "My friend Pansy is just mad about him. See, this way all three of us get what we want! I get Seamus Finnegan, Pansy gets Ron, and you get Draco and the added bonus of being a Slytherin."
"But how am I supposed to actually give her Ron?" Ginny asked.
"It's not a matter of giving, it's a matter of setting them up," Blaise said. "Pansy hasn't had a date ever since Draco Malfoy asked her out for the Yule Ball in our fourth year...and I heard from a very dependable source that there's going to be a Winter Ball on Christmas Eve. She can't go alone! So all you have to do is get your brother to fall in love with Pansy, and get him to ask her to the Ball."
Ginny's head spun. How was she going to do that? Then she shook those thoughts off.
"Deal," she said. Blaise's eyes lit up.
"Wonderful, darling," she cooed. She handed Ginny the light yellow colored potion.
"Cheers," Blaise said, and clinked flasks with Ginny, winking. They downed the potions in one gulp.
***
"Blaise!" a voice called out from the din of the Great Hall. It was breakfast, and everyone was busy eating and opening parcels. Ginny stood in the doorway, disoriented. She absentmindedly took another sip of the Polyjuice Potion that was in the flask she kept in her bag. She began heading toward the Gryffindor table, out of pure instinct.
"Blaise!" the voice yelled again. Ginny finally remembered who she looked like, quickly backed away from the Gryffindor table, and turned towards the direction of the voice.
It was Draco Malfoy, sitting at the Slytherin table, eyes crinkled towards her in confusion.
She immediately went over to him, and sat down in the empty seat next to him.
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you come earlier?" he asked her. "I kept calling you, and you were ignoring me." His eyes narrowed. "You're not becoming friendly with the Gryffindor bunch, are you? Especially those filthy Weasleys."
Ginny's heart sunk a bit, hearing him say her name as though it was poison. This wasn't turning out how she expected.
"So what did you want, Draco," she said, a bit listlessly.
"A letter came for you," he said briskly. "Your owl gave it to me when it couldn't find you." He handed her a small, square envelope. On the front it said "Blaise" in curly red letters. On the back, there was a small, circular stamp in red ink. She leaned closer and found that it said "Ginny Weasley" in minuscule letters around the edge of the circle. The letter was obviously from the real Blaise. She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Blaise was seated comfortably between Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan, and she was chatting amiably with Seamus. She looked up, caught Ginny's eye, and gave the tiniest of winks.
"Well?" Draco interrupted. Ginny looked up at him. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"Of course," she said.
"Am I allowed to read it?" he said, and playfully reached over for the letter. Ginny clasped the letter closer to her, suddenly fearful.
"No!" she said loudly, then a bit softer. "No, it's private."
Draco looked miffed. "It's private," he mimicked. He turned back towards his bacon.
Ginny swiveled around in her seat and opened the letter. It was very short and to the point.
" 'Blaise' -
When are you going to set up Ron with Pansy? Don't forget, you've got only three more weeks until the Ball...
-'Ginny' "
"There's nothing there," Draco said, surprised. Ginny let out a startled gasp. Draco was hovering over the letter, trying to read it. He snatched it away from her, and held it high above his head.
"There's nothing written on it!" he repeated, trying in vain to make out some words on the creamy colored parchment. He handed it back to Ginny, eyes questioning. Ginny took it and looked at the letter again. The message was still there, clear as day. She thought quickly as she stuffed it back into the envelope.
"Mum must have mailed it before writing anything on it," she invented, giving a little laugh. "She's a bit absentminded at times." Sliding the letter away into Blaise's bag, she looked up at Draco nervously, seeing if he'd buy this.
"...Right," he said finally, staring at her. Apparently he didn't believe her at all.
"So...did you hear about the Winter Ball?" Ginny said, quickly changing the subject. "Have you decided who you're going to ask?"
Draco looked down at his plate. "Actually, no," he said. Now it was Ginny's turn to not believe him.
"Come on, you can tell me," she said, smiling. "Who's the lucky girl?" Draco shook his head, still staring at his eggs. He speared a sausage and bit off a corner. Ginny let out an inaudible sigh.
"Well, I'm off," she said, slinging Blaise's bag over her shoulder. "Have to take care of some things." Like trying to find Blaise's classes, for one, she thought. She rose from her seat and left the Great Hall.
She was walking down the corridor towards Defense Against the Dark Arts when Draco caught up with her.
"Can you keep a secret?" he asked her, his grey eyes serious. She looked up at him and nodded. Draco looked around and pulled her into an empty closet nearby, closing the door behind him.
"Lumos," he whispered. A light burst from the tip of his wand, illuminating the dark closet. His face looked very pale.
"You can't tell anyone about this," he said to her. "Promise?" He was gripping her arms tightly; she could barely feel them anymore.
"I promise," she whispered back.
Draco took a deep breath. "I want to ask the girl who saved me to the Ball," he said, then added hastily, "I know no one really knows who she is, but can you please help me find out? I'm...in love with her."
"You're in love with a girl you don't even know?" Ginny said incredulously. "A random girl that saved your life and then ran off?"
"I know, it sounds insane," Draco mumbled.
Ginny was crumbling inside. The whole plan was falling apart. How was she supposed to make Draco love her as she was now if he was in love with her old self? Then a very Slytherin-ish plan dawned on her, and she smiled. How was he supposed to know that he was in love with her old self?
"Draco," she said poutingly, "Look at me." Draco looked down at her, puzzled.
"Don't you recognize me?" she said. "I was the one who saved you."
Draco stared at her, then laughed. "How do I know that you're not setting me up?"
"Why would I do something like that?" Ginny asked.
"Well, maybe because you've had a crush on me ever since fourth year..."
"Right, and that's why I saved you from the lake!" Ginny quickly improvised.
Draco looked at her skeptically. "So if the drowning person was, say, Goyle, you wouldn't save him because you don't have a crush on him?"
"What do I look like, a damn Gryffindor?" she said.
Draco paused. "Fine, say you were the one that saved me. Do you have any proof?"
"Ask me anything! Anything about the day that I pulled you from the lake!"
"Fine. What did I say when you pulled me out of the lake?"
Ginny furrowed her - Blaise's - brow. She replayed the scene in her mind. She pulled him out of the water...and he looked up at her, eyes unfocused, and said -
"You saved me," she said slowly. "An angel saved me." She looked up at Draco, and watched his grey eyes widen.
"How - how did you know?" he said. "How could have you known?" He stared at her for a while, silent, obviously turning the situation over and over in his mind. Finally he broke into a brilliant smile, very un-becoming of a Malfoy.
"It's you! It's really you! You were the one who saved me!" He stared at her again, a bit unsure of what to do. Ginny took charge and wrapped her arms around him.
"Say you'll take me to the Ball," she whispered. He straightened a bit, and in a very official tone, said, "You're going to the Winter Ball with me."
Ginny laughed and impulsively drew his head down and kissed him.
***
Life was perfect. Ginny lay in Blaise's bed, smiling to herself. She was going to go to the Winter Ball with Draco Malfoy in three days. She had beautiful new dress robes that she bought at Hogsmeade for the occasion. She was, miraculously, passing all of Blaise's classes, even though they were a year more advanced than what she was learning before. And she was a Slytherin. What could go wrong?
Right on cue, an owl fluttered through the open window of the dorm and dropped a letter on the bed. It flew off immediately, but not before Ginny recognized it as being Blaise's owl.
"What could she want?" she wondered aloud. She picked up the envelope. Like the last letter, "Blaise" was written on the front in red ink and perfect calligraphy. She turned the envelope over, noting the small red stamp on the seal, and ripped it open.
" 'Blaise' -
I believe the payment for this little switch was that you would set Pansy up with Ron. I've had enough of your excuses; that you've been too busy, that you never see Ron, that Ron wouldn't even talk to you when you tried to hook him up with Pansy. Besides, Seamus Finnegan won't go with me to the Winter Ball; he said I was too young for him, and he asked Lavender Brown instead. I'm sick of being in Gryffindor, and I'm sick of being you! The deal's off. I believe there's enough Polyjuice left for three more days, enough to last until the Ball. I don't know if there's enough to last the whole way through the Ball, but we'll just have to see, eh? Won't Draco be happy to know he's been lied to this whole time. Won't he be happy with you. Ah, first love. But you should've known that this switch wouldn't last forever.
-'Ginny' "
***
It was over. Three mere weeks of heaven, of being Slytherin, of being Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, of living Blaise Zabini's rich and lavish lifestyle - and now it was all dashed to the ground. It was completely and utterly over. In three days, Ginny would be a Gryffindor again, no longer Draco's sweetheart, no longer Slytherin. Just another flame-haired, freckled Weasley with hand-me-down robes and a second-rate wand. A second-rate life.
Ginny cried, muffling the sound in her pillow so Blaise's nosy roommates wouldn't ask her what was wrong.
Three more days.
Morning of Day One...
"Draco?" She touched his arm, and he looked up at her, startled.
"Yes?" he said, a bit annoyed at being interrupted in his "deep" conversation with Crabbe.
"Can I talk to you?"
He followed her out of the Great Hall. Ginny looked around and pulled him away and up a nearby staircase.
"Where are you taking me, Blaise?" he asked, confused. She didn't answer, just tugged on his sleeve to make him walk faster.
They stopped in front of a door, which Draco recognized as the closet they were in when he asked her to the Winter Ball. Ginny led him into it and locked the door behind him.
"Lumos," she said, and the tiny closet was filled with light.
"What's this all about, Blaise?"
Ginny said nothing, merely pushed him down onto a cardboard box that was on the ground behind him. The box threatened to collapse under his weight. Draco looked up at Ginny, bemused.
"Do you love me?" she demanded.
"What?"
"Do you love me!" she repeated, her voice rising a bit.
"Of course I do," Draco said.
"Unconditionally?"
"What are you talking about?" Draco stared at her, completely bewildered. Then understanding dawned on him, and he nodded knowingly. "Is it that time of month again, Blaise?"
"Stop calling me that."
"Calling you what?"
Ginny sealed his mouth with her own. She reveled in the kiss, trying to memorize what it felt like. He tasted like pancakes and syrup, and pumpkin juice as well. She leaned into him, hands roving all over his face, his hair. The cardboard box groaned and sunk a bit more with the weight.
Finally backing off, she looked at him. His eyes were sleepy, and he seemed to be lost for words. Finally, he spoke:
"Wow." He smiled up at her from his precarious perch on the box. "What was that all about?"
Ginny paused, staring at him. The question was echoing in her mind: Would you love me no matter what - or whom - I looked like? She opened her mouth, but it wouldn't come out. It just wasn't the right time.
"Nothing," she finally said, sitting down on the ground heavily. "Nothing."
And for a while, they sat there in the musty closet, just looking at each other, listening to the silence between them stretch.
Evening of Day Two...
"Blaise, I know you're keeping something from me."
Ginny looked up at Draco from her dinner plate, startled.
"What?" she said, her heart starting to pound.
"Are you cheating on me?"
"What?" she repeated loudly, and felt her face begin to flush. She quickly suppressed it as best she could, and lowered her voice. "Where did you get that idea from?"
Draco looked away. "Nowhere..."
"No, Draco, I am not cheating on you. For Merlin's sake. I'm a bit quiet and you think I'm cheating on you. Aren't you a hasty fellow; jumping to conclusions like that."
"But you don't deny that you're keeping something from me," he said quietly, barely putting any inflection on the end of the sentence to show that it was a question. Any other person listening in on the conversation would have thought he said it, not asked it. He stared at his pumpkin juice. "Do you."
Ginny couldn't look him in the face. "No, I don't deny it," she whispered, so softly that she herself could barely hear it, much less Draco. She got up from the table and left the Great Hall without finishing her dinner.
Morning of Day Three...
"Guess what day it is, Blaise," a voice came from the bed beside hers. Ginny woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily. Someone had opened the curtains that she had carefully closed around the bed. She looked down at herself, grabbed a handful of hair, inspected it. Red. She groped for the half-filled flask that was next to her pillow and quickly drank a few drops. She felt the uncomfortable change, then relief as she looked at the cascade of black hair that was now falling around her shoulders. She looked up, irritated at being woken. She already knew who it was, hovering over her. Only one person could have known who she was, or who she was supposed to be, even though she had looked like her old self. Pansy was sitting on her own bed, cross-legged, peering into Ginny's face.
"What do you want, Pansy?" she said slowly.
"I said, guess what day it is." Pansy sneered.
"You know, when you make a face like that, you look exactly like a pug-dog," Ginny said. She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. Pansy leaned forward as well, straining to hear. "Maybe that's why my brother hates you. Maybe that's why I couldn't bribe him into going to the Winter Ball with you, not even with a million Galleons. Not that anyone would accept a million Galleons to go to any dance with you. Draco Malfoy only went to the Yule Ball with you because he felt sorry for you and your pathetic face."
Pansy snapped her head back and quickly got up from her seat on the bed, heading in the direction of the bathroom, but not before Ginny caught a glimmer in Pansy's eyes, something that looked uncomfortably like tears. She shook the guilty feeling off, pulled the curtains tightly around the bed, spelled it shut, and fell back asleep. After only a few minutes, she was her red-haired, freckled self again. A few drops of Polyjuice Potion, and old Polyjuice Potion at that, doesn't go very far.
Afternoon of Day Three...
Ginny stared at the half-filled flask, sloshing the contents around, listening to how much was in it. She groaned softly. She was still in bed, but not asleep. When her other roommates tried to talk to her, to ask her if she was feeling sick, if she'd still be able to go to the Winter Ball, if she couldn't, could they take Draco instead, she ignored them and pretended to be asleep. Her curtains were spelled tightly shut, so no one could open them except for her. She stared at herself again. She was trying to save enough Polyjuice Potion to last through the entire Ball, and the only way to do that was to not drink any of it until ten minutes before the Ball, by her calculations.
"Half of what's left ten minutes before the start of the Winter Ball...which is at 8:00 PM..." she murmured, writing it all down the back of her - Blaise's - old Astronomy homework with a spare quill, "then split the other half into eight equal parts...drink one part every thirty minutes during the Ball..." She furrowed her brow, staring at the parchment. "So that means I drink half of what's left at 7:50 PM, then the first one-eighth of what's left at 8:20, then the next one-eighth at 8:50, then 9:20, then 9:50, then 10:20, then 10:50, then 11:20, and the last part at 11:50." She frowned. "That's cutting it awfully close to the end of the Ball at midnight...but I should think that it will last."
She looked at her dress robes, which were laid out on the bed. They were floor-length and made out of a heavy but surprisingly silky material. The dark green color brought out Blaise's hazel eyes. Underneath, she wore a green dress that was a shade lighter and a centimeter shorter than the robes. The robes fastened just below her chest with a silver clasp, and opened up to reveal the dress underneath. She had also purchased a pair of dazzling black heels that were spelled to be more comfortable when worn than regular Muggle heels. The entire ensemble was insanely expensive, an amount of money she wouldn't have dreamed about spending on clothes, more like a new house. But Blaise's family was filthy rich, and Blaise had practically thrown the money at her when they first made the switch, without Ginny even asking ("Well, if you're going to be me for the Winter Ball, you've got to look good and keep up my gorgeous appearance," she had said in a very practical, matter-of-fact tone, piling Ginny's lap with golden Galleons). Ginny wondered if she was going to be allowed to keep the outfit when they switched back. Probably not, she thought. Just like Cinderella...only left with a single glass slipper. Only I won't even be allowed to keep the shoes! She laughed a little. Glancing at the clock, she sighed, realizing that it was only 4:00 PM.
Four more hours to kill, she thought. Then I'm Blaise for one last time.
Evening of Day Three...
"There you are, Blaise!" Draco rushed at her as she emerged from her dorm and into the common room. "I've been waiting for you! What took you so long?"
"Draco, I need to tell you something," she began, but Draco wasn't listening.
"Don't you love my new robes?" He displayed his forest green robes for her to admire. She smiled, nodding in appreciation. "Draco -"
"Come on," he interrupted impatiently, pulling her out of the empty Slytherin common room and up the steps towards the Great Hall. "We only have five more minutes until the start of the Ball. Everyone else has already left." Ginny silenced and allowed herself to be pulled along.
"Here we are," Draco said, gesturing towards the heavy doors of the Great Hall. Stepping forward, he swept the doors open and said, "After you." Ginny entered, and Draco took her hand as the doors swung closed behind them.
It was straight out of a dream. The teachers had really outdone themselves that year - there were five tall Christmas trees around the room, one in each corner and one in the very center. Each tree was decorated with delicate loops and whorls of sparkling silver and crystal, and candles had been magicked up around the room as well. The long House tables had been whisked away, and in their place were countless round, glass tables with golden chairs around them, scattered about the room. Everyone else had already been seated, but Ginny and Draco found a table for two near the teachers' table. Ginny looked around the vast Hall. Blaise and Pansy were nowhere to be seen (Probably couldn't bear being seen dateless for the Ball and went home, Ginny thought viciously).
The minute they sat down, Dumbledore rose from his chair. The Hall quieted instantly.
"Now that we've all finally been situated, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas," Dumbledore said. "You older students will notice that we are using the same system of ordering dinner as we did during the Yule Ball. So, let the feast begin!"
Ginny picked up her tasseled menu and looked through it, much too excited to really eat. Remembering just in time, she glanced down at the small watch she was carrying in her purse. 8:20 PM, she thought to herself. She removed a small vial from her purse, popped the stopper off, and downed it.
"What's that?" Draco said abruptly, looking up from his menu.
Ginny snapped her head up, trying not to look too guilty. "What's what?" she said, in as innocent tone as she could manage.
"This." He reached over the table and gently pried the now empty vial from her hand. "What's this?"
"Oh - my medicine," she explained quickly. "If I don't drink it once every half hour, I just feel so sick...it's just a little bug going around, it's nothing serious."
Draco stared at her appraisingly, then handed the vial back to her. She took it and put it back in her purse, nestled against the other seven vials.
"Well, don't forget to drink it," he said. "We wouldn't want you throwing up all over my pretty robes. Or yours," he added as an afterthought.
"No, I'm counting on not forgetting," she said.
"Caesar salad," Draco said. For a minute, Ginny was bewildered, but then realized he was ordering. A small salad appeared in front of Draco.
"Aren't you going to order?"
Ginny looked down at the menu again. "I'll just have what you're having," she finally said, putting down the menu.
"Caesar salad," Draco repeated, and an identical plate appeared in front of Ginny.
"Thanks," she said, and took up her fork.
They ate in silence for a while, Draco only speaking to order some steak for both of them after the salad.
While they were in the middle of dessert, Ginny set down her fork firmly. Draco looked up at her, startled.
"The cheesecake isn't that bad, is it?" he said.
"Draco, I know you're angry with me," Ginny began, "because I'm keeping something from you."
Draco set his fork down as well.
"And I just want you to know, that what I'm keeping from you, hopefully shouldn't affect what we have."
"And what is that?" Draco said coolly.
"You know, you and I. Us."
"What about us?"
"Why do you have to make this so hard?" she burst out.
"Because you can't tell me the truth!" he countered.
Ginny quickly glanced at her watch again. 8:50 PM. She drank another one-eighth of the Potion.
"What sort of medicine is that, anyway?" he said, his eyes narrowing. "Why don't you just get Madam Pomfrey to give you some sort of potion to get rid of your little stomach-ache?"
"Maybe I can't tell you the truth because you never trust me!" Ginny said.
"Maybe I can't trust you because you won't tell me the truth!" Draco shot back.
Ginny was silent again. Is this really how you want to end this? she asked herself.
"Look, Draco, I'm sorry," she began again. "I don't know what you want to hear. I can't tell you the truth, but I can tell you that it shouldn't affect...love."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not cheating on you, I'm not secretly in love with someone else, and I'm not snogging some other boy senseless in a hall closet. Isn't that enough?"
"Does "cheating" include you shagging someone else?" Draco said sullenly.
"For Merlin's sake, Draco, even if I was shagging someone else, I don't exactly feel obliged to share that with you! But if it makes you happy, no, I'm not shagging anyone. I have never shagged anyone in my life. But what I'm keeping from you shouldn't affect us. It shouldn't change how we feel about each other."
"Then why can't you tell me?"
"It's not the right time. I know that's a really pathetic excuse, but please, just believe me. I'll tell you when I'm ready and the time is right."
The band Dumbledore had hired had already started playing, and a few couples were revolving slowly on the dance floor. Ginny's gaze wandered towards them.
"Would you care to dance, Draco?" Ginny asked.
10:20 PM...
Ginny drank her fifth vial of Polyjuice Potion as Draco waited. They were hot and sweaty from dancing for more than an hour, and they decided to take a break and have Ginny drink her "medicine". They had agreed to forget Ginny's little secret for the time being and just have fun, though Ginny was still waiting for a good time and a right way to tell Draco who she really was without having him completely go ballistic and hate her forever.
They sat there for a while, getting back their breath. Draco talked about his plans after Hogwarts ("My dad wants me to take after him, you know, become a Death Eater") and Ginny listened attentively. When he asked her what she was going to do after graduation, she shrugged and said, "I'm not sure yet...probably something in the Ministry of Magic."
"Nothing to do with the protection of Muggles, I hope?" Draco said. "Not like that Muggle-loving Weasley."
Ginny's heart contracted. A little voice in the back of her head said, How are you so sure that he'll still love you after he finds out that you're actually Ginny Weasley?
I'm not sure. That's the thing. I'm not sure at all.
The band struck up a slow number, and Draco pulled her back onto her feet.
"Come on, Blaise," and they headed back out onto the dance floor. Draco pulled her close, and they swayed back and forth, Ginny's hands clasped behind Draco's neck, Draco's hands, well...let's just say in a lower region. Ginny buried her face in Draco's robes.
"Blaise?" Draco said. "Are you crying?"
"No," she said, her voice muffled. "Why would I be crying?"
"I dunno. It just seemed like you were."
"Draco -" She looked up at him, her eyes very bright.
"Yeah?"
"Would you love me no matter what?"
Draco was silent. He stared off into space. "Yeah, I think I would. Unless you killed my parents or something." He looked back down at her, smiling a bit.
"No, I meant would you love me no matter what I looked like?"
"What do you mean?" he said, furrowing his brow. "Like, would I love you even if you were really ugly?"
"No, not exactly..."
"Well, I think I would love you even if you were really ugly. Or fat."
"Draco, you're kind of missing the point."
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to tell you the truth, Draco. How do I put this..." Ginny was silent, pondering. Finally: "If I may quote from Shakespeare: 'What's in a name?' "
"What?"
" 'That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet', " Ginny continued desperately. "Don't you agree?"
"What are you talking about?"
"But what if I was, say, a daisy? Would you think I smelled as sweet as a rose?"
"Blaise, whatever you want to say, just say it!"
"Draco -"
But suddenly there was a familiar wrenching inside her, and she felt herself begin to change.
She had forgotten to take the Polyjuice Potion at 10:50.
Ginny tried to break away from Draco's grasp, but he held on to her tightly. He stared at her, his mouth ajar. She looked away, unable to look at him in the face.
Finally her bones stopped moving, and the dress robes she was wearing suddenly felt very loose. She looked down. They went past her feet by a good three inches, and there was a lot of extra material now bunched up around her.
She looked up at Draco.
There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and they all took a few steps back from the couple, leaving them enclosed in a big circle of people, alone. The music grinded to a halt.
"Ginny Weasley?" Draco gasped. He seemed to be struggling for a reaction. His face was twisted up, almost as though he was about to cry. "I can't believe this," he finally said. "So this is the truth? This is what you were keeping from me? That you're not really Blaise? That I've been in love with a Weasley? What else did you lie about, Ginny? Are you going to tell me that you weren't the one who rescued me after all? Are you going to tell me that you never loved me in the first place?"
"No!" Ginny cried. "That's the only thing I kept from you, Draco, you have to believe me! My true identity, that's the only thing I lied about."
"The only thing? You're saying it as though it's a tiny thing! It's a big thing! Not even knowing who I'm going out with? And it turning out to be a Weasley?"
"I know, I know it's a big thing! But don't you see? This is why I couldn't tell you it was me, Ginny Weasley, that saved you, because I knew you would hate me forever!"
"But why? I don't see any true motive in you becoming Blaise, except for the purpose of going out with me! Except for the purpose of making me look completely idiotic!"
"Not everything's about you, Draco!" Ginny shouted. "Not everything revolves around you!" She was practically screaming by now. Completely losing her head, she yelled, "Fine! You want to know the real reason why I became Blaise?" She plunged a hand into her robes, took out her wand, and shouted, "Accio Sorting Hat!"
There was complete silence as the crowd waited. A minute later, the frayed Sorting Hat whizzed over everyone's heads and landed on Ginny's outstretched hand. She was staring at Draco, her eyes hard, her breath in ragged gasps.
"I'll tell you the real reason why I became Blaise."
Ginny jammed the Hat onto her head. The entire crowd was holding its breath. The only sound was Draco and Ginny's irregular breathing. If anyone were looking at anything but Ginny, they would've seen Dumbledore slowly get up from his place at the teachers' table, eyes twinkling, a slight smile on his face.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The word was like a gunshot, and everyone in the room jumped about a foot. Ginny slowly removed the Sorting Hat from her head. She looked at Draco steadily, then at the murmuring, whispering, pointing crowd, and finally straight at Dumbledore.
"That's why."
Morning of the first day after Christmas Break...
"Before we eat breakfast, I'd like to make an announcement. Due to special circumstances, we'd like to hold a small Sorting Hat ceremony," Professor Dumbledore declared. "I'm sure that by now, you all know what the circumstances are. Ginny Weasley?"
The Great Hall fell silent as Ginny stood up from her place at the Gryffindor table and slowly made her way to the front. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there, sitting at the High Table next to Professor McGonagall. Bill and Charlie were there as well; however, Percy couldn't make it, owing to an important meeting of WATCB (also known as Wizards Against Thin Cauldron Bottoms); Fred and George were also tied up, but for different reasons: they had just opened their very own joke shop, affectionately called "Hey Mum, Look, We've Got Our Own Shop - And You Said We Wouldn't Amount To Anything", or "GOOSAYSWATA" for short. Ron was sitting at the Gryffindor Table, between Harry and Hermione, alternating between grinning like a nutter and fighting back tears ("Where did we go wrong?" he kept repeating, until Hermione had finally whacked him on the head to shut him up). Draco was beaming from his spot at the Slytherin table. He had decided that even though Ginny was a Weasley, she sure as hell didn't act like it, so it had to be okay to love her.
Ginny sat down on the stool, smiling widely, as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head by Dumbledore. It sat there for what seemed like two seconds, before it said, quite loudly, "Haven't I Sorted this particular girl twice already? And now you want me to do it again?"
McGonagall hurried up to Ginny and whispered something to the Hat. The entire school watched as the two got into an argument, which finally ended, obviously in McGonagall's favor, by the Hat yelling out sulkily, "SLYTHERIN!"
The school cheered as the Hat was removed from Ginny's head and Ginny bounded down towards the Slytherin table. She sat smack-dab between Malfoy and Crabbe, while Blaise and Pansy watched from a distance, apparently in a foul mood.
"Thank you for your patience!" Dumbledore yelled over the din, and food appeared on the tables. The cheering doubled in volume in a matter of seconds, and Ginny realized that the school had been cheering not because she had finally been Sorted into the proper House, but because they were finally getting their food.
"You like me! You really like me!" Ginny said sarcastically, and pitched in to a pile of scrambled eggs.
***
Off in the distance, a voice began to sing:
"No longer me,
I'm at last finally
Part of this world."
***
Off in the far distance, a voice began to ponder:
"I'm sure this story violates copyright laws somehow. Must figure out a way to mooch money off of the author. Perhaps a claim that if this is exposed to children, it will destroy their vision of a happily-ever-after Disney tale? Yes, yes...better go call in the lawyers."
***
Off in the far, far distance, a voice began to shout:
"First Disney, now this! The mermaid is supposed to die in the end! Why must people insist on massacring my masterpiece of a short story?"
***
Off in the far, far, far distance, various voices began to scream:
"Will you shut it already? We're already tired of this story!"
THE END!
(roll credits)
Author: Rita Screecher
Author email: ritascreecher@excite.com
Category: comedy, parody
Keywords: Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy
Spoilers: none
Rating: PG-13 for language and "scary moments"
Summary: A parody on the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid".
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. "The Little Mermaid" belongs to Disney (and Hans Christian Andersen, for that matter, even though Disney twisted the entire story). The song "Part of That World" belongs to Disney. The parody on the Disney movie and song belongs to me.
A/N: Response to a challenge set by our dear Amethyst Jackson to rewrite a Disney movie using Harry Potter characters. Here are my characters and their Disney counterparts. Of course, they're not an exact fit...but oh well.
Ginny Weasley = Ariel
Draco Malfoy = Prince Eric
Mr. Weasley = King Triton
Blaise Zabini = Ursula, the Sea Witch
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ginny Weasley let out another cackle as she stabbed the defenseless little Flobberworm. It gave a little squeak, convulsing around the slick knife stuck in its middle, before flopping bonelessly to the ground. Not that it had bones in the first place.
Ginny calmly slid the limp Flobberworm off of her knife and flipped it onto the growing pile of dead Flobberworms beside her. She wiped the gore and blood off her fingers and the knife with a handkerchief, then reached into the pail for another Flobberworm.
"How about I slit you down the middle first?" she said aloud, fingering her knife almost lovingly. She smiled. It wasn't a happy, oh-that-nice-fuzzy-feeling smile. Holding the squirming Flobberworm down with one hand, she lifted up her knife, positioning it above the Flobberworm's head.
"Ginny Weasley!"
A frightened, astonished voice interrupted her reverie, and her aim slipped. The knife embedded itself into the ground half a centimeter from the Flobberworm's head. Ginny whirled around, angry at being disrupted.
"What do you want?" she said impatiently, then gulped as she stared up into the face of Professor McGonagall.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" McGonagall breathed, staring at the pile of dead Flobberworms, the one now frantically trying to get away, and the knife.
"Well, I told Hagrid that if he was going to force us to do Flobberworms again this year, I'd kill them all," she explained, in a matter-of-fact tone. "And, what do you know - it's Flobberworms again."
Professor McGonagall was absolutely speechless. She blinked a few times at the rather angelic looking face of Ginny, then finally found her voice.
"You are to leave off this...barbaric hobby of yours," she said shakily. "Return all the remaining Flobberworms to Hagrid. Then report to Professor Dumbledore and turn in that knife of yours. Five points from Slytherin for possession of a serious weapon, and another five points for...well, this," she said, and gestured towards the bloody scene.
"But, Professor," Ginny said, "I'm not in Slytherin, I'm in Gryffindor." (Like all Weasleys, she added to herself rather ferociously.)
Professor McGonagall blinked again. "Slip of the tongue," she said. "I'm so used to telling off Slytherins for this sort of behavior that, well..." She shook her head and walked back towards the castle.
Ginny sighed. She looked back down at the carnage and smiled. Then she cleaned up the mess she had made and buried all the dead Flobberworms in a hole she had dug before for this purpose. She took up her knife, cleaned it off one last time, returned it to its sheath, and stuck it in her bag. Picking up the pail of Flobberworms, she trudged off down the grassy path towards Hagrid's hut.
She was trekking past the lake when suddenly she heard a shout. She turned, and to her horror, saw someone flailing about in the water. And it didn't look like a nice little afternoon swim - it looked like the person was drowning. She squinted, and with a shock, she saw that it was...
"Draco Malfoy!" she said with a gasp, then yelled, "I'm coming!" And without a second thought, she flung the Flobberworm pail down and jumped headfirst into the lake, robes and all. Her entire body tensed up upon entering the lake. The water was absolutely frigid. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on getting to Draco, who was now slipping below the water. She dove down and blindly grabbed. She managed to get a leg, which she held onto fiercely. She hauled him up, up, up, and together, they broke the surface of the water. Getting a firmer grasp on Draco, she managed to swim back to the edge of the lake. After tossing him onto shore, she climbed up out of the water herself, exhausted and freezing cold.
He was blue, and completely bedraggled, but there was no mistaking him. She kept staring at him, as he gave a choke and turned and vomited all over the ground. He looked up at his savior, eyes a bit unfocused.
"You saved me," he managed. His eyes unfocused even more, and now he was staring nearly right through her. "An angel saved me," he said, more to himself than Ginny. Then he passed out.
***
After seeing him faint, Ginny immediately ran the rest of the way to Hagrid's hut, completely forgetting about the Flobberworms. She pounded on his door, and when Hagrid appeared, looking puzzled, she told him that she was passing by the edge of the lake when she saw Draco Malfoy sprawled on the ground, soaking wet and apparently passed out. She left out the part about her saving him altogether, reluctant for anyone to actually know that it was she who saved his life. No doubt the Gryffindors would be disgusted with her, saving Malfoy's life. Although Hagrid seemed a bit hesitant to help a Malfoy, he wasn't about to let a person actually die. He followed Ginny back to the edge of the lake and carried Draco to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey tutted over the state of him and shooed everyone away while she got to work. No one noticed or questioned Ginny's soaking wet robes, and the minute she could, she raced back up to her dorm and changed into dry clothes and put a spell on her wet hair to dry it.
The whole school was thunderstruck. From what Draco Malfoy could remember, and told everyone, he was taking his new Firebolt for a ride across the grounds, and accidentally toppled into the lake. He, not knowing how to swim, nearly drowned, if it wasn't for a mysterious girl that saved his life. He couldn't remember anything about his savior, except that her hair looked like an angel's halo.
Who was the mysterious girl? For weeks, it was all anyone could talk about. Who had saved Draco Malfoy's life, then ran, refusing recognition for her heroic efforts? After much heated discussion, the whole thing was dropped and forgotten about by most.
Ginny, however, spent the following weeks in a daze. She couldn't forget the look that Draco had given her when she pulled him out of the lake, a look of pure love and gratefulness. She had fallen in love instantly. But when she accidentally let this slip to her parents, they went absolutely berserk. ("A Weasley and a Malfoy?" Mr. Weasley had shouted, absolutely dumbfounded. "A match made in hell, that is! We've been mortal enemies for generations! What were you thinking?") She finally told them that it was her idea of a joke, and ended the discussion.
Ginny also couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that she was supposed to be in Slytherin. When she went up to Dumbledore's office to turn in her knife, she was told to wait for a few minutes while Dumbledore went to take care of a few things. Her eyes fell on the Sorting Hat, and after a few minutes of pondering, she slipped it on and waited for the voice to appear at her ear.
"Ah, you again. Gryffindor, was it?" Ginny nodded, then felt foolish. Could the Hat see her nodding?
"Yes, I can, don't worry." The Hat paused. "Gryffindor, was it?" it repeated. "Hmm...how odd..."
"What's odd?" Ginny said aloud, her heart beginning to pound.
"Well, I usually don't go back on my decisions, but you...it almost seems like I made a mistake!" the Hat said. "You shouldn't be in Gryffindor - I see plenty of courage in you, yes, but there's also cu -"
Here the Hat was cut off. Ginny had hastily pulled it off upon hearing Dumbledore's footsteps in the hall outside the door. When Dumbledore entered the office, she was back in her seat and the Hat was in its normal resting place.
"Hello, Ms. Weasley," Dumbledore said, taking his seat behind his desk, blue eyes twinkling. "You were going to give me something?"
"Yes," she said reluctantly. She reached into her bag and handed him the knife, her hands unwilling to let it go. Her eyes watched the knife as Dumbledore took it out of its sheath and looked it over.
"What a lovely knife," he said. "I can see why you like it so much." He smiled at her. She didn't smile back.
"Tell you what, Ms. Weasley," he said carefully. "Why don't you just hold onto it for now." He held it out to her, handle first, and she stared at it, then back at him.
"Are - are you serious?" she asked.
"Of course I am," Dumbledore replied. She took it back slowly and tucked it into her bag. She looked back up at Dumbledore.
"But why?" she said, suddenly suspicious.
"Just promise me to not use it against any people," he said, his eyes smiling at her. "Or Flobberworms, from what McGonagall tells me."
"Thank you, Professor," she stammered, rising. "Thank you very much. You don't know what this means to me." Then she turned and fled.
***
Up in her dorm room, in the safety of her four-posted bed, curtains shut tight with a spell, Ginny replaced the knife in its little holder, beside two others exactly like it. She looked over her collection of "all things Slytherin" in the trunk she kept them in and smiled, a bit sadly. She opened her mouth and began to sing, softly at first, but then louder as the song progressed.
"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything
Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can one small trunk hold
Lookin' inside here you'd think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got knives and swords aplenty
I've got snakes and serpents galore
You want Slytherin banners? I've got twenty
But who cares, no big deal, I want more
I wanna be where the Slytherins are
I wanna see, wanna see 'em cursin'
Walkin' all over those - what do you call 'em?
Oh, Huffles
Being all nice you don't get too far,
Evil's required for being Slytherin
Stealing everyone's - what's the word again?
Duffels
Down where they talk, down where they mock
Down where they tease house-elves with socks
Wanderin' free, wish I could be
Part of that world.
What would I give if I could live out of this tower
What would I pay to spend a day cold in the dungeons
Betcha down there, they don't care
If you have brilliant red hair
Bright young women
Wantin' some Slytherin
Ready for Draco
And ready to know what the Slytherins know
Ask 'em my questions and get some answers
What's Crucio and why does it - what's the word?
Burn
When's it my turn, wouldn't I love
Love to torture Muggles and Mudbloods
No longer me
Wish I could be
Part of that world."
She sighed, a long, deep sigh.
"Poor dear," a voice purred near her ear. "No one left to turn to."
Ginny gave a little shriek and turned around. Blaise Zabini was sitting on her bed behind her, looking quite serene. She smiled at Ginny.
"How - how - how the hell did you get in here?" Ginny gasped. She remembered her trunk, and whirled back around, slamming it closed and locking it tightly. She turned warily toward the Slytherin girl again.
"Did you see that?" she said nervously.
"See what?" Blaise said, inspecting her fingernails. She looked up. "Oh, that trunk full of Slytherin stuff? So you have a little Slytherin fetish, eh?" She laughed.
"How did you get in here?" Ginny repeated, almost shouting.
"Oh, I'm sure it really doesn't matter," Blaise said. "What does matter, toots, is what you're going to do about your little crush on Draco Malfoy. The entire Slytherin House, that is." She laughed again.
"So I'm offering you a little deal," Blaise said. She reached into her voluminous sleeves and pulled out a flask. Leaning over, she tugged a lock of Ginny's hair out of her head and dropped it into the flask. Ginny peered inside, and watched as the liquid turned a bright red color, the exact shade of the infamous Weasley hair. She handed the flask to Ginny to hold, and from her other sleeve, produced another flask. In this, she dropped a strand of her own black hair. The liquid faded to a light yellow.
"I'm not sure I understand," Ginny said slowly, handing the first flask back to Blaise.
"This," Blaise held up the two flasks, "is Polyjuice Potion. When drunk with a bit of someone inside it, you can turn into that person for exactly one hour."
"So you're saying..."
"I'll turn into you, and you turn into me," Blaise said.
"But why would you want to do that?"
"Well, you want to be a Slytherin," Blaise said. "And I am madly in love with Seamus Finnegan. But, you know, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? No, darling, won't work. So the only way for us to be together is if I turn into you. And the only way you and Draco will be together -"
"-is if I turn into you," Ginny said, her eyes lighting up. "And I'll be a Slytherin!" Her heart was beating faster and faster with the prospect of both her dreams coming true.
"We'll have to continue making the Potion to keep it up," Blaise said, "and make sure you drink it at least once every hour."
Ginny nodded, staring at the flask.
"So?" Blaise said. "Will you change identities with me?"
"Of - of course!" she said, eager to drink the Potion. She reached out for the flask, but Blaise held it out of reach.
"There must be payment, of course," she said. "To make sure you don't reveal this little switch to anyone."
"Payment?" Ginny said blankly. "But - but I don't have anything."
"Your brother," Blaise said.
"My brother?"
"Yes."
"Erm - which one?"
"Oh, silly me - the 7th year dish, Ron," Blaise smiled. She leaned closer, confidingly. "My friend Pansy is just mad about him. See, this way all three of us get what we want! I get Seamus Finnegan, Pansy gets Ron, and you get Draco and the added bonus of being a Slytherin."
"But how am I supposed to actually give her Ron?" Ginny asked.
"It's not a matter of giving, it's a matter of setting them up," Blaise said. "Pansy hasn't had a date ever since Draco Malfoy asked her out for the Yule Ball in our fourth year...and I heard from a very dependable source that there's going to be a Winter Ball on Christmas Eve. She can't go alone! So all you have to do is get your brother to fall in love with Pansy, and get him to ask her to the Ball."
Ginny's head spun. How was she going to do that? Then she shook those thoughts off.
"Deal," she said. Blaise's eyes lit up.
"Wonderful, darling," she cooed. She handed Ginny the light yellow colored potion.
"Cheers," Blaise said, and clinked flasks with Ginny, winking. They downed the potions in one gulp.
***
"Blaise!" a voice called out from the din of the Great Hall. It was breakfast, and everyone was busy eating and opening parcels. Ginny stood in the doorway, disoriented. She absentmindedly took another sip of the Polyjuice Potion that was in the flask she kept in her bag. She began heading toward the Gryffindor table, out of pure instinct.
"Blaise!" the voice yelled again. Ginny finally remembered who she looked like, quickly backed away from the Gryffindor table, and turned towards the direction of the voice.
It was Draco Malfoy, sitting at the Slytherin table, eyes crinkled towards her in confusion.
She immediately went over to him, and sat down in the empty seat next to him.
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you come earlier?" he asked her. "I kept calling you, and you were ignoring me." His eyes narrowed. "You're not becoming friendly with the Gryffindor bunch, are you? Especially those filthy Weasleys."
Ginny's heart sunk a bit, hearing him say her name as though it was poison. This wasn't turning out how she expected.
"So what did you want, Draco," she said, a bit listlessly.
"A letter came for you," he said briskly. "Your owl gave it to me when it couldn't find you." He handed her a small, square envelope. On the front it said "Blaise" in curly red letters. On the back, there was a small, circular stamp in red ink. She leaned closer and found that it said "Ginny Weasley" in minuscule letters around the edge of the circle. The letter was obviously from the real Blaise. She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Blaise was seated comfortably between Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan, and she was chatting amiably with Seamus. She looked up, caught Ginny's eye, and gave the tiniest of winks.
"Well?" Draco interrupted. Ginny looked up at him. "Aren't you going to open it?"
"Of course," she said.
"Am I allowed to read it?" he said, and playfully reached over for the letter. Ginny clasped the letter closer to her, suddenly fearful.
"No!" she said loudly, then a bit softer. "No, it's private."
Draco looked miffed. "It's private," he mimicked. He turned back towards his bacon.
Ginny swiveled around in her seat and opened the letter. It was very short and to the point.
" 'Blaise' -
When are you going to set up Ron with Pansy? Don't forget, you've got only three more weeks until the Ball...
-'Ginny' "
"There's nothing there," Draco said, surprised. Ginny let out a startled gasp. Draco was hovering over the letter, trying to read it. He snatched it away from her, and held it high above his head.
"There's nothing written on it!" he repeated, trying in vain to make out some words on the creamy colored parchment. He handed it back to Ginny, eyes questioning. Ginny took it and looked at the letter again. The message was still there, clear as day. She thought quickly as she stuffed it back into the envelope.
"Mum must have mailed it before writing anything on it," she invented, giving a little laugh. "She's a bit absentminded at times." Sliding the letter away into Blaise's bag, she looked up at Draco nervously, seeing if he'd buy this.
"...Right," he said finally, staring at her. Apparently he didn't believe her at all.
"So...did you hear about the Winter Ball?" Ginny said, quickly changing the subject. "Have you decided who you're going to ask?"
Draco looked down at his plate. "Actually, no," he said. Now it was Ginny's turn to not believe him.
"Come on, you can tell me," she said, smiling. "Who's the lucky girl?" Draco shook his head, still staring at his eggs. He speared a sausage and bit off a corner. Ginny let out an inaudible sigh.
"Well, I'm off," she said, slinging Blaise's bag over her shoulder. "Have to take care of some things." Like trying to find Blaise's classes, for one, she thought. She rose from her seat and left the Great Hall.
She was walking down the corridor towards Defense Against the Dark Arts when Draco caught up with her.
"Can you keep a secret?" he asked her, his grey eyes serious. She looked up at him and nodded. Draco looked around and pulled her into an empty closet nearby, closing the door behind him.
"Lumos," he whispered. A light burst from the tip of his wand, illuminating the dark closet. His face looked very pale.
"You can't tell anyone about this," he said to her. "Promise?" He was gripping her arms tightly; she could barely feel them anymore.
"I promise," she whispered back.
Draco took a deep breath. "I want to ask the girl who saved me to the Ball," he said, then added hastily, "I know no one really knows who she is, but can you please help me find out? I'm...in love with her."
"You're in love with a girl you don't even know?" Ginny said incredulously. "A random girl that saved your life and then ran off?"
"I know, it sounds insane," Draco mumbled.
Ginny was crumbling inside. The whole plan was falling apart. How was she supposed to make Draco love her as she was now if he was in love with her old self? Then a very Slytherin-ish plan dawned on her, and she smiled. How was he supposed to know that he was in love with her old self?
"Draco," she said poutingly, "Look at me." Draco looked down at her, puzzled.
"Don't you recognize me?" she said. "I was the one who saved you."
Draco stared at her, then laughed. "How do I know that you're not setting me up?"
"Why would I do something like that?" Ginny asked.
"Well, maybe because you've had a crush on me ever since fourth year..."
"Right, and that's why I saved you from the lake!" Ginny quickly improvised.
Draco looked at her skeptically. "So if the drowning person was, say, Goyle, you wouldn't save him because you don't have a crush on him?"
"What do I look like, a damn Gryffindor?" she said.
Draco paused. "Fine, say you were the one that saved me. Do you have any proof?"
"Ask me anything! Anything about the day that I pulled you from the lake!"
"Fine. What did I say when you pulled me out of the lake?"
Ginny furrowed her - Blaise's - brow. She replayed the scene in her mind. She pulled him out of the water...and he looked up at her, eyes unfocused, and said -
"You saved me," she said slowly. "An angel saved me." She looked up at Draco, and watched his grey eyes widen.
"How - how did you know?" he said. "How could have you known?" He stared at her for a while, silent, obviously turning the situation over and over in his mind. Finally he broke into a brilliant smile, very un-becoming of a Malfoy.
"It's you! It's really you! You were the one who saved me!" He stared at her again, a bit unsure of what to do. Ginny took charge and wrapped her arms around him.
"Say you'll take me to the Ball," she whispered. He straightened a bit, and in a very official tone, said, "You're going to the Winter Ball with me."
Ginny laughed and impulsively drew his head down and kissed him.
***
Life was perfect. Ginny lay in Blaise's bed, smiling to herself. She was going to go to the Winter Ball with Draco Malfoy in three days. She had beautiful new dress robes that she bought at Hogsmeade for the occasion. She was, miraculously, passing all of Blaise's classes, even though they were a year more advanced than what she was learning before. And she was a Slytherin. What could go wrong?
Right on cue, an owl fluttered through the open window of the dorm and dropped a letter on the bed. It flew off immediately, but not before Ginny recognized it as being Blaise's owl.
"What could she want?" she wondered aloud. She picked up the envelope. Like the last letter, "Blaise" was written on the front in red ink and perfect calligraphy. She turned the envelope over, noting the small red stamp on the seal, and ripped it open.
" 'Blaise' -
I believe the payment for this little switch was that you would set Pansy up with Ron. I've had enough of your excuses; that you've been too busy, that you never see Ron, that Ron wouldn't even talk to you when you tried to hook him up with Pansy. Besides, Seamus Finnegan won't go with me to the Winter Ball; he said I was too young for him, and he asked Lavender Brown instead. I'm sick of being in Gryffindor, and I'm sick of being you! The deal's off. I believe there's enough Polyjuice left for three more days, enough to last until the Ball. I don't know if there's enough to last the whole way through the Ball, but we'll just have to see, eh? Won't Draco be happy to know he's been lied to this whole time. Won't he be happy with you. Ah, first love. But you should've known that this switch wouldn't last forever.
-'Ginny' "
***
It was over. Three mere weeks of heaven, of being Slytherin, of being Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, of living Blaise Zabini's rich and lavish lifestyle - and now it was all dashed to the ground. It was completely and utterly over. In three days, Ginny would be a Gryffindor again, no longer Draco's sweetheart, no longer Slytherin. Just another flame-haired, freckled Weasley with hand-me-down robes and a second-rate wand. A second-rate life.
Ginny cried, muffling the sound in her pillow so Blaise's nosy roommates wouldn't ask her what was wrong.
Three more days.
Morning of Day One...
"Draco?" She touched his arm, and he looked up at her, startled.
"Yes?" he said, a bit annoyed at being interrupted in his "deep" conversation with Crabbe.
"Can I talk to you?"
He followed her out of the Great Hall. Ginny looked around and pulled him away and up a nearby staircase.
"Where are you taking me, Blaise?" he asked, confused. She didn't answer, just tugged on his sleeve to make him walk faster.
They stopped in front of a door, which Draco recognized as the closet they were in when he asked her to the Winter Ball. Ginny led him into it and locked the door behind him.
"Lumos," she said, and the tiny closet was filled with light.
"What's this all about, Blaise?"
Ginny said nothing, merely pushed him down onto a cardboard box that was on the ground behind him. The box threatened to collapse under his weight. Draco looked up at Ginny, bemused.
"Do you love me?" she demanded.
"What?"
"Do you love me!" she repeated, her voice rising a bit.
"Of course I do," Draco said.
"Unconditionally?"
"What are you talking about?" Draco stared at her, completely bewildered. Then understanding dawned on him, and he nodded knowingly. "Is it that time of month again, Blaise?"
"Stop calling me that."
"Calling you what?"
Ginny sealed his mouth with her own. She reveled in the kiss, trying to memorize what it felt like. He tasted like pancakes and syrup, and pumpkin juice as well. She leaned into him, hands roving all over his face, his hair. The cardboard box groaned and sunk a bit more with the weight.
Finally backing off, she looked at him. His eyes were sleepy, and he seemed to be lost for words. Finally, he spoke:
"Wow." He smiled up at her from his precarious perch on the box. "What was that all about?"
Ginny paused, staring at him. The question was echoing in her mind: Would you love me no matter what - or whom - I looked like? She opened her mouth, but it wouldn't come out. It just wasn't the right time.
"Nothing," she finally said, sitting down on the ground heavily. "Nothing."
And for a while, they sat there in the musty closet, just looking at each other, listening to the silence between them stretch.
Evening of Day Two...
"Blaise, I know you're keeping something from me."
Ginny looked up at Draco from her dinner plate, startled.
"What?" she said, her heart starting to pound.
"Are you cheating on me?"
"What?" she repeated loudly, and felt her face begin to flush. She quickly suppressed it as best she could, and lowered her voice. "Where did you get that idea from?"
Draco looked away. "Nowhere..."
"No, Draco, I am not cheating on you. For Merlin's sake. I'm a bit quiet and you think I'm cheating on you. Aren't you a hasty fellow; jumping to conclusions like that."
"But you don't deny that you're keeping something from me," he said quietly, barely putting any inflection on the end of the sentence to show that it was a question. Any other person listening in on the conversation would have thought he said it, not asked it. He stared at his pumpkin juice. "Do you."
Ginny couldn't look him in the face. "No, I don't deny it," she whispered, so softly that she herself could barely hear it, much less Draco. She got up from the table and left the Great Hall without finishing her dinner.
Morning of Day Three...
"Guess what day it is, Blaise," a voice came from the bed beside hers. Ginny woke up, rubbing her eyes groggily. Someone had opened the curtains that she had carefully closed around the bed. She looked down at herself, grabbed a handful of hair, inspected it. Red. She groped for the half-filled flask that was next to her pillow and quickly drank a few drops. She felt the uncomfortable change, then relief as she looked at the cascade of black hair that was now falling around her shoulders. She looked up, irritated at being woken. She already knew who it was, hovering over her. Only one person could have known who she was, or who she was supposed to be, even though she had looked like her old self. Pansy was sitting on her own bed, cross-legged, peering into Ginny's face.
"What do you want, Pansy?" she said slowly.
"I said, guess what day it is." Pansy sneered.
"You know, when you make a face like that, you look exactly like a pug-dog," Ginny said. She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. Pansy leaned forward as well, straining to hear. "Maybe that's why my brother hates you. Maybe that's why I couldn't bribe him into going to the Winter Ball with you, not even with a million Galleons. Not that anyone would accept a million Galleons to go to any dance with you. Draco Malfoy only went to the Yule Ball with you because he felt sorry for you and your pathetic face."
Pansy snapped her head back and quickly got up from her seat on the bed, heading in the direction of the bathroom, but not before Ginny caught a glimmer in Pansy's eyes, something that looked uncomfortably like tears. She shook the guilty feeling off, pulled the curtains tightly around the bed, spelled it shut, and fell back asleep. After only a few minutes, she was her red-haired, freckled self again. A few drops of Polyjuice Potion, and old Polyjuice Potion at that, doesn't go very far.
Afternoon of Day Three...
Ginny stared at the half-filled flask, sloshing the contents around, listening to how much was in it. She groaned softly. She was still in bed, but not asleep. When her other roommates tried to talk to her, to ask her if she was feeling sick, if she'd still be able to go to the Winter Ball, if she couldn't, could they take Draco instead, she ignored them and pretended to be asleep. Her curtains were spelled tightly shut, so no one could open them except for her. She stared at herself again. She was trying to save enough Polyjuice Potion to last through the entire Ball, and the only way to do that was to not drink any of it until ten minutes before the Ball, by her calculations.
"Half of what's left ten minutes before the start of the Winter Ball...which is at 8:00 PM..." she murmured, writing it all down the back of her - Blaise's - old Astronomy homework with a spare quill, "then split the other half into eight equal parts...drink one part every thirty minutes during the Ball..." She furrowed her brow, staring at the parchment. "So that means I drink half of what's left at 7:50 PM, then the first one-eighth of what's left at 8:20, then the next one-eighth at 8:50, then 9:20, then 9:50, then 10:20, then 10:50, then 11:20, and the last part at 11:50." She frowned. "That's cutting it awfully close to the end of the Ball at midnight...but I should think that it will last."
She looked at her dress robes, which were laid out on the bed. They were floor-length and made out of a heavy but surprisingly silky material. The dark green color brought out Blaise's hazel eyes. Underneath, she wore a green dress that was a shade lighter and a centimeter shorter than the robes. The robes fastened just below her chest with a silver clasp, and opened up to reveal the dress underneath. She had also purchased a pair of dazzling black heels that were spelled to be more comfortable when worn than regular Muggle heels. The entire ensemble was insanely expensive, an amount of money she wouldn't have dreamed about spending on clothes, more like a new house. But Blaise's family was filthy rich, and Blaise had practically thrown the money at her when they first made the switch, without Ginny even asking ("Well, if you're going to be me for the Winter Ball, you've got to look good and keep up my gorgeous appearance," she had said in a very practical, matter-of-fact tone, piling Ginny's lap with golden Galleons). Ginny wondered if she was going to be allowed to keep the outfit when they switched back. Probably not, she thought. Just like Cinderella...only left with a single glass slipper. Only I won't even be allowed to keep the shoes! She laughed a little. Glancing at the clock, she sighed, realizing that it was only 4:00 PM.
Four more hours to kill, she thought. Then I'm Blaise for one last time.
Evening of Day Three...
"There you are, Blaise!" Draco rushed at her as she emerged from her dorm and into the common room. "I've been waiting for you! What took you so long?"
"Draco, I need to tell you something," she began, but Draco wasn't listening.
"Don't you love my new robes?" He displayed his forest green robes for her to admire. She smiled, nodding in appreciation. "Draco -"
"Come on," he interrupted impatiently, pulling her out of the empty Slytherin common room and up the steps towards the Great Hall. "We only have five more minutes until the start of the Ball. Everyone else has already left." Ginny silenced and allowed herself to be pulled along.
"Here we are," Draco said, gesturing towards the heavy doors of the Great Hall. Stepping forward, he swept the doors open and said, "After you." Ginny entered, and Draco took her hand as the doors swung closed behind them.
It was straight out of a dream. The teachers had really outdone themselves that year - there were five tall Christmas trees around the room, one in each corner and one in the very center. Each tree was decorated with delicate loops and whorls of sparkling silver and crystal, and candles had been magicked up around the room as well. The long House tables had been whisked away, and in their place were countless round, glass tables with golden chairs around them, scattered about the room. Everyone else had already been seated, but Ginny and Draco found a table for two near the teachers' table. Ginny looked around the vast Hall. Blaise and Pansy were nowhere to be seen (Probably couldn't bear being seen dateless for the Ball and went home, Ginny thought viciously).
The minute they sat down, Dumbledore rose from his chair. The Hall quieted instantly.
"Now that we've all finally been situated, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas," Dumbledore said. "You older students will notice that we are using the same system of ordering dinner as we did during the Yule Ball. So, let the feast begin!"
Ginny picked up her tasseled menu and looked through it, much too excited to really eat. Remembering just in time, she glanced down at the small watch she was carrying in her purse. 8:20 PM, she thought to herself. She removed a small vial from her purse, popped the stopper off, and downed it.
"What's that?" Draco said abruptly, looking up from his menu.
Ginny snapped her head up, trying not to look too guilty. "What's what?" she said, in as innocent tone as she could manage.
"This." He reached over the table and gently pried the now empty vial from her hand. "What's this?"
"Oh - my medicine," she explained quickly. "If I don't drink it once every half hour, I just feel so sick...it's just a little bug going around, it's nothing serious."
Draco stared at her appraisingly, then handed the vial back to her. She took it and put it back in her purse, nestled against the other seven vials.
"Well, don't forget to drink it," he said. "We wouldn't want you throwing up all over my pretty robes. Or yours," he added as an afterthought.
"No, I'm counting on not forgetting," she said.
"Caesar salad," Draco said. For a minute, Ginny was bewildered, but then realized he was ordering. A small salad appeared in front of Draco.
"Aren't you going to order?"
Ginny looked down at the menu again. "I'll just have what you're having," she finally said, putting down the menu.
"Caesar salad," Draco repeated, and an identical plate appeared in front of Ginny.
"Thanks," she said, and took up her fork.
They ate in silence for a while, Draco only speaking to order some steak for both of them after the salad.
While they were in the middle of dessert, Ginny set down her fork firmly. Draco looked up at her, startled.
"The cheesecake isn't that bad, is it?" he said.
"Draco, I know you're angry with me," Ginny began, "because I'm keeping something from you."
Draco set his fork down as well.
"And I just want you to know, that what I'm keeping from you, hopefully shouldn't affect what we have."
"And what is that?" Draco said coolly.
"You know, you and I. Us."
"What about us?"
"Why do you have to make this so hard?" she burst out.
"Because you can't tell me the truth!" he countered.
Ginny quickly glanced at her watch again. 8:50 PM. She drank another one-eighth of the Potion.
"What sort of medicine is that, anyway?" he said, his eyes narrowing. "Why don't you just get Madam Pomfrey to give you some sort of potion to get rid of your little stomach-ache?"
"Maybe I can't tell you the truth because you never trust me!" Ginny said.
"Maybe I can't trust you because you won't tell me the truth!" Draco shot back.
Ginny was silent again. Is this really how you want to end this? she asked herself.
"Look, Draco, I'm sorry," she began again. "I don't know what you want to hear. I can't tell you the truth, but I can tell you that it shouldn't affect...love."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not cheating on you, I'm not secretly in love with someone else, and I'm not snogging some other boy senseless in a hall closet. Isn't that enough?"
"Does "cheating" include you shagging someone else?" Draco said sullenly.
"For Merlin's sake, Draco, even if I was shagging someone else, I don't exactly feel obliged to share that with you! But if it makes you happy, no, I'm not shagging anyone. I have never shagged anyone in my life. But what I'm keeping from you shouldn't affect us. It shouldn't change how we feel about each other."
"Then why can't you tell me?"
"It's not the right time. I know that's a really pathetic excuse, but please, just believe me. I'll tell you when I'm ready and the time is right."
The band Dumbledore had hired had already started playing, and a few couples were revolving slowly on the dance floor. Ginny's gaze wandered towards them.
"Would you care to dance, Draco?" Ginny asked.
10:20 PM...
Ginny drank her fifth vial of Polyjuice Potion as Draco waited. They were hot and sweaty from dancing for more than an hour, and they decided to take a break and have Ginny drink her "medicine". They had agreed to forget Ginny's little secret for the time being and just have fun, though Ginny was still waiting for a good time and a right way to tell Draco who she really was without having him completely go ballistic and hate her forever.
They sat there for a while, getting back their breath. Draco talked about his plans after Hogwarts ("My dad wants me to take after him, you know, become a Death Eater") and Ginny listened attentively. When he asked her what she was going to do after graduation, she shrugged and said, "I'm not sure yet...probably something in the Ministry of Magic."
"Nothing to do with the protection of Muggles, I hope?" Draco said. "Not like that Muggle-loving Weasley."
Ginny's heart contracted. A little voice in the back of her head said, How are you so sure that he'll still love you after he finds out that you're actually Ginny Weasley?
I'm not sure. That's the thing. I'm not sure at all.
The band struck up a slow number, and Draco pulled her back onto her feet.
"Come on, Blaise," and they headed back out onto the dance floor. Draco pulled her close, and they swayed back and forth, Ginny's hands clasped behind Draco's neck, Draco's hands, well...let's just say in a lower region. Ginny buried her face in Draco's robes.
"Blaise?" Draco said. "Are you crying?"
"No," she said, her voice muffled. "Why would I be crying?"
"I dunno. It just seemed like you were."
"Draco -" She looked up at him, her eyes very bright.
"Yeah?"
"Would you love me no matter what?"
Draco was silent. He stared off into space. "Yeah, I think I would. Unless you killed my parents or something." He looked back down at her, smiling a bit.
"No, I meant would you love me no matter what I looked like?"
"What do you mean?" he said, furrowing his brow. "Like, would I love you even if you were really ugly?"
"No, not exactly..."
"Well, I think I would love you even if you were really ugly. Or fat."
"Draco, you're kind of missing the point."
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to tell you the truth, Draco. How do I put this..." Ginny was silent, pondering. Finally: "If I may quote from Shakespeare: 'What's in a name?' "
"What?"
" 'That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet', " Ginny continued desperately. "Don't you agree?"
"What are you talking about?"
"But what if I was, say, a daisy? Would you think I smelled as sweet as a rose?"
"Blaise, whatever you want to say, just say it!"
"Draco -"
But suddenly there was a familiar wrenching inside her, and she felt herself begin to change.
She had forgotten to take the Polyjuice Potion at 10:50.
Ginny tried to break away from Draco's grasp, but he held on to her tightly. He stared at her, his mouth ajar. She looked away, unable to look at him in the face.
Finally her bones stopped moving, and the dress robes she was wearing suddenly felt very loose. She looked down. They went past her feet by a good three inches, and there was a lot of extra material now bunched up around her.
She looked up at Draco.
There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and they all took a few steps back from the couple, leaving them enclosed in a big circle of people, alone. The music grinded to a halt.
"Ginny Weasley?" Draco gasped. He seemed to be struggling for a reaction. His face was twisted up, almost as though he was about to cry. "I can't believe this," he finally said. "So this is the truth? This is what you were keeping from me? That you're not really Blaise? That I've been in love with a Weasley? What else did you lie about, Ginny? Are you going to tell me that you weren't the one who rescued me after all? Are you going to tell me that you never loved me in the first place?"
"No!" Ginny cried. "That's the only thing I kept from you, Draco, you have to believe me! My true identity, that's the only thing I lied about."
"The only thing? You're saying it as though it's a tiny thing! It's a big thing! Not even knowing who I'm going out with? And it turning out to be a Weasley?"
"I know, I know it's a big thing! But don't you see? This is why I couldn't tell you it was me, Ginny Weasley, that saved you, because I knew you would hate me forever!"
"But why? I don't see any true motive in you becoming Blaise, except for the purpose of going out with me! Except for the purpose of making me look completely idiotic!"
"Not everything's about you, Draco!" Ginny shouted. "Not everything revolves around you!" She was practically screaming by now. Completely losing her head, she yelled, "Fine! You want to know the real reason why I became Blaise?" She plunged a hand into her robes, took out her wand, and shouted, "Accio Sorting Hat!"
There was complete silence as the crowd waited. A minute later, the frayed Sorting Hat whizzed over everyone's heads and landed on Ginny's outstretched hand. She was staring at Draco, her eyes hard, her breath in ragged gasps.
"I'll tell you the real reason why I became Blaise."
Ginny jammed the Hat onto her head. The entire crowd was holding its breath. The only sound was Draco and Ginny's irregular breathing. If anyone were looking at anything but Ginny, they would've seen Dumbledore slowly get up from his place at the teachers' table, eyes twinkling, a slight smile on his face.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The word was like a gunshot, and everyone in the room jumped about a foot. Ginny slowly removed the Sorting Hat from her head. She looked at Draco steadily, then at the murmuring, whispering, pointing crowd, and finally straight at Dumbledore.
"That's why."
Morning of the first day after Christmas Break...
"Before we eat breakfast, I'd like to make an announcement. Due to special circumstances, we'd like to hold a small Sorting Hat ceremony," Professor Dumbledore declared. "I'm sure that by now, you all know what the circumstances are. Ginny Weasley?"
The Great Hall fell silent as Ginny stood up from her place at the Gryffindor table and slowly made her way to the front. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there, sitting at the High Table next to Professor McGonagall. Bill and Charlie were there as well; however, Percy couldn't make it, owing to an important meeting of WATCB (also known as Wizards Against Thin Cauldron Bottoms); Fred and George were also tied up, but for different reasons: they had just opened their very own joke shop, affectionately called "Hey Mum, Look, We've Got Our Own Shop - And You Said We Wouldn't Amount To Anything", or "GOOSAYSWATA" for short. Ron was sitting at the Gryffindor Table, between Harry and Hermione, alternating between grinning like a nutter and fighting back tears ("Where did we go wrong?" he kept repeating, until Hermione had finally whacked him on the head to shut him up). Draco was beaming from his spot at the Slytherin table. He had decided that even though Ginny was a Weasley, she sure as hell didn't act like it, so it had to be okay to love her.
Ginny sat down on the stool, smiling widely, as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head by Dumbledore. It sat there for what seemed like two seconds, before it said, quite loudly, "Haven't I Sorted this particular girl twice already? And now you want me to do it again?"
McGonagall hurried up to Ginny and whispered something to the Hat. The entire school watched as the two got into an argument, which finally ended, obviously in McGonagall's favor, by the Hat yelling out sulkily, "SLYTHERIN!"
The school cheered as the Hat was removed from Ginny's head and Ginny bounded down towards the Slytherin table. She sat smack-dab between Malfoy and Crabbe, while Blaise and Pansy watched from a distance, apparently in a foul mood.
"Thank you for your patience!" Dumbledore yelled over the din, and food appeared on the tables. The cheering doubled in volume in a matter of seconds, and Ginny realized that the school had been cheering not because she had finally been Sorted into the proper House, but because they were finally getting their food.
"You like me! You really like me!" Ginny said sarcastically, and pitched in to a pile of scrambled eggs.
***
Off in the distance, a voice began to sing:
"No longer me,
I'm at last finally
Part of this world."
***
Off in the far distance, a voice began to ponder:
"I'm sure this story violates copyright laws somehow. Must figure out a way to mooch money off of the author. Perhaps a claim that if this is exposed to children, it will destroy their vision of a happily-ever-after Disney tale? Yes, yes...better go call in the lawyers."
***
Off in the far, far distance, a voice began to shout:
"First Disney, now this! The mermaid is supposed to die in the end! Why must people insist on massacring my masterpiece of a short story?"
***
Off in the far, far, far distance, various voices began to scream:
"Will you shut it already? We're already tired of this story!"
THE END!
(roll credits)