The cold night air flowed against Ginny's pale skin, bringing the blood to the surface, making her skin pink with brown freckles. Her white night dress twirled around her feet. It was a loose night dress, rather shapeless, with a pink ribbon around the neck.
Ginny shivered slightly, her hands rubbing up and down her arms to warm herself up. She regretted not grabbing her dressing gown as well. She moved further onto the balcony, and leaned against the rail, looking out at the forest.
The breeze lifted up Ginny's bright red hair, whipping it across her pink freckled face. Ginny could feel it again. The glow at the centre of the forest. If she were asked about it, she wouldn't be able to explain it. It was a black glow, that she could feel, somehow, was there, in the centre of the forest. It seemed to be there more and more often lately.
Shivering once more, Ginny went back inside her dormitory, closed the glass doors to the balcony, the gold curtains hanging in front of them, and then the red curtains around her bed, before climbing onto the bed, pulling the thick red and gold blankets up to her chin, her head resting on the pillow and closing her eyes.
'Gin?' Her eyes opened, and she opened her curtains a bit, looking out to where the sound came from. Ari was in the bed next to hers, in a position mirroring hers, lying on her side, one hand pillowing her head further, the other holding the heavy red curtain open.
'Yeah Ari?' Ginny asked, feigning tiredness.
'Can you feel it again tonight?' Ari was the only one Ginny had told about the feeling at night. Ari was worried and had tried to convinve Ginny to tell the trio. Ginny, however, wanted to find out what it was first.
'No. I couldn't.' Ginny replied. Ari nodded sleepily, and let her heavy curtains fall back in place. Ginny pulled her hand back under the blankets, her own curtains falling back. Ginny tossed and turned in her bed that night, as usual. When she felt hot she threw the blankets off. When she grew cold, she pulled them back on. It continued until the sun peaked through the cracks in her curtains. With a sigh, Ginny got up and proceeded getting dressed on her bed.
She didn't have many clothes that were appropriate for school… To be perfectly honest, she had one outfit. A button up white blouse, loose on her thin body, and a black skirt that her mother had sewn up so that it wouldn't fall down, and which came to just below her knees.
All her other clothes were hand-me-downs from her brothers, which she definitely didn't wish to wear to class. Swinging her legs over her bed, Ginny stood up and opened her curtains. Ari was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said 'Bite me'.
'Ready?' Ari asked, grinning, holding out her arm with a mock bow. Ginny grinned back and slapped Ari's arm away, heading down the stairs to the common room.
'Hey Ari, Gin.' Hermione was the only other person in the common room. It was only 6, and since breakfast didn't start until seven people were generally still asleep.
'Morning 'mione.' Ginny said, walking over to the table Hermione was sitting at. There was a pile of books on potions in front of her, as well as a rather long scroll filled with tiny cursive writing. Small enough to fit four lines worth of normal sized writing into a line, but not so small that an old teacher with thick glasses wouldn't be able to read and understand it.
'There can't be any essays set yet, even for sixth years!' Ginny said. It was, after all, only the second day back at school for her fifth year. The feeling had begun halfway through the last year, and she had been hoping it wouldn't continue again when she came back.
'Well, no.' Hermione admitted. 'But Snape did hint at a five-foot long essay on how to detect different poisons at the end of last year, and I'm sure Professor Slughorn will be the same.'
'You need to take a break.' Ginny said, worried about her friend, but Hermione just gave an absent nod, and continued writing. Ari sighed and held out her hand to Hermione.
'Come up to the Owlery with us?' She asked. Hermione cast a forlorn glance at her essay, but stood up anyway.
'Sure.' She said, and Ari grinned, grabbed her hand, and ran out of the room.
'I feel so replaced.' Ginny said, as the two waited at the portrait hole for her. Ari gave her a grin.
'Deary,' she said, 'you're my first, I could never replace you.' She grinned devilishly, and tugged Hermione out of the portrait hole. The three friends walked up to the Owlery, Ari clutching a letter in her hand.
'Have to inform the 'rents that I got here alright.' She said to Hermione, who nodded. Ari's parents were very paranoid, and worried about her constantly. They wouldn't have even let her come to Hogwarts if Dumbledore himself hadn't come to guarantee them of their daughters safety.
'You guys are so lucky you're only children.' Ginny said, sighing as she sat down on a relatively feather and feces-less patch of bench. Hermione and Ari shared a lot in common in ways of parenting. They were both muggle born and raised only children.
'Yeah, I s'pose.' Ari said. Her parents were rich, and she had a lot of things, in both magical and non-magical world that Ginny would never be able to have.
The owl Ari picked out was a tawny school owl. It dutifully held out its leg, and she attached the square envelope containing her message to her parents.
Ginny stepped out to the balcony, into the open air, leaning on the rail and looking out at the forest once more. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt it again. The glowing. She looked over to Ari, to see that her friend hadn't noticed, but saw Hermione looking at her oddly.
'What?' She asked defensively, with a shrug. Hermione shrugged her shoulders back, and the three friends headed down to breakfast, Ginny looking over her shoulder every now and then, feeling like someone was following her.
