CHAPTER 3
Ginny nervously stood before her fireplace with Floo powder in her hands. Though because she was shaking she was getting powder all over the floor. She cursed and dipped her hand into the bowl for more powder. A week ago she put in her resignation. They weren't that sad to see her go so she was glad to leave. She had her bags and her wand and all her books. She was ready to go to Hogsmeade, but she was frightened. "Ginny what are you doing? Oh great now you're talking to yourself out loud that's just great, now people will really think you're crazy." She nodded resolutely and squared her shoulders, prepared to go through with this. She threw the powder into the fireplace and spoke loud and clear, "Madame Rosemerta's!" Ginny stepped into the large fireplace and was immediately swept up and away.
She landed hard on the floor of Madame Rosemerta's. She got up slowly and brushed off the soot and dust from her clothes. She looked up to see an entire room full of people watching her expectantly. She smiled shakily and picked up her bags and walked outside. She turned her head and saw Hogwarts, which she hadn't seen for four years. She caught her breathe and smiled up at the sky. She was finally home. She walked through the gates of Hogwarts and down the pebbly road until she reached the large red doors of the school. She set down her bags and paused before the great doors. Did she really want to do this? She sighed and reached a hand up and rapped on the large door.
Professor McGonagall opened the door to see Ginny Weasley standing before her. McGonagall looked much older than Ginny remembered her as. She had the dark emerald robes and her hair tightly in a bun but her eyes gave her away. They seemed to shine with compassion and sympathy...with pity. 'She knows', Ginny thought, 'she knows about my family and the Grangers.' McGonagall's face softened and she gave her a rare smile. "Come, come in Ginny, I'm so happy to see that you have accepted the position as librarian." Ginny nodded in response, she didn't trust these people anymore, there was something odd going on, and she would find out what. She collected her bags and followed McGonagall inside.
"Oh, it was awful when Madame Pince died. We had a large funeral for her, because she deserved it. Do you know that she has been with us for sixty-two years? That's almost as long as I've been alive. It's a shame, It's a terrible shame. But now we have someone who is very competent, a librarian already. I do believe though if you need some assistance, Madame Pince left some notes in one of her drawers." Ginny looked shocked though tried to hide it. She didn't know McGonagall to ever say so much at one time. She noticed though how she wrung her hands every couple of minutes. She narrowed her eyes and pondered, something was not right. Something was terribly wrong.
"Ah, here we are," they stopped before a painting of a beautiful little blonde haired girl.
The girl in the portrait giggled, "password?" She jumped up and down twirling her hair, and causing Ginny to smile. She looked to McGonagall for the password.
She shook her head, "make up one."
Ginny pondered for a second, "amo mi familia." The portrait opened and Ginny stepped through followed by McGonagall.
She looked at Ginny and asked, "what does your password mean?"
Ginny looked around the spacious room to finally settle her gaze on McGonagall, "it means I love my family." McGonagall looked quite taken aback as if that was the answer she did not have in mind.
"Well your right next door to the library and dinner is at the usual time in the Great Hall, hope to see you there." Before McGonagall left through the portrait Ginny put a hand on her shoulder and she nearly jumped through the roof.
"Is something the matter Professor?"
McGonagall shook her head, "no, I might be catching a cold though. I must be going though, I'll see you at dinner." With that said she hurried through the portrait and the picture was shut. Ginny looked around her room not feeling at all comfortable. What was going on here?
McGonagall came storming into Dumbledore's office not bothering to check to see who else was in the room. "I won't do it Albus, I can't! That girl is no snitch!"
Dumbledore looked at her through his moon shaped glasses, "it seems you're not the only one here. Draco seems to think that also." McGonagall looked at Malfoy while she breathed loudly, trying to get in sufficient air. She collapsed into the chair next to him and looked to Albus sorrowfully.
"Do you know what her password is? It almost broke my heart, if I'm saying this correctly she said, amo mi familia. It means I love my family. Is that the mind of a snitch?" Albus put his hands together for lack of anything else to do.
"Minerva, I realize this is hard on you but we can never really be sure. I hate to do this, I truly do, but we need to know. And if we don't find out then somebody else will try and it won't be as nice." McGonagall looked away with her chin on her palm.
Malfoy looked up at the tall ceiling, "do you think she knows?" McGonagall looked at him as did Dumbledore.
Dumbledore frowned and said, "for her sake...I hope she does not."
Ginny looked around the spacious room and was glad to see that it was well furnished already. There was a large window overlooking the school grounds and a desk set up before it. She thought that was nice. She could do her work while she looked out at the view. There was no couch but there was two large chairs that sat by the fire. She neared the fireplace and got out her wand. She thought for a moment and remembered the spell for fire. A few seconds later she smiled at her success. She sat in one of the squishy chairs and sank down into it. She dragged one of her bags next to her and opened it to find her glasses and the book that she had recently been reading. It was a muggle book which she seemed to love so much. It was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. She slipped on her glasses and she opened the book to the page she left off and immediately became engrossed. A couple hours later she glanced at her watch to see that she was five minutes late for dinner. She jumped out of her chair and set the book and glasses down on the small table between the two chairs. She looked down at her jeans, sandals, and red T-shirt. She put her red hair in a pony tail after finding a hair tie. She opened the portrait and stepped out into the cold hallway. Luckily her chambers were near the Great Hall so she was only ten minutes late.
She walked into the Great Hall to find all the staff staring at her. She was starting to find this very aggravating. She walked slowly to the staff table and sat in the last chair that was inevitably next to Snape, who was the only one to not have noticed her. She glared at them all, "take a picture it lasts longer!" They reared back and began to have meaningless conversation with the person next to them. Ginny speared a piece of ham and slammed it down on her plate and took a long drink of her Butterbeer. She wiped her mouth with her arm and sent a glare at Snape who seemed to have been watching her with amusement. He merely smirked at her anger and went back to eating his meal. She set her fork down and leaned her head against her hand. She found that she was no longer hungry anymore so she pushed her chair back and strode from the room and the staring eyes of her colleagues.
She fled to the library which also seemed to serve as her refuge. She sniffled a little and was amazed to find that she was hurting. She thought that those people in there were her friends, 'I guessed wrong' she thought.
She began to look through the many books that littered the room. She ran her fingers over the dusty books and smiled. This was where she belonged. She went over to one of the student tables and sat down.
She remembered when her, Hermione, Ron, and Harry would sit at this table and talk about classes or other events that were bothering them. They would sit there sometimes plotting ways that they could get Snape fired or find a curse that they could use on Malfoy. She realized that she shouldn't be here. This place was supposed to be Hermione's. She was supposed to be the one to take over for Pince. She was supposed to have a happy marriage with Ron and have three or more kids by now. But she couldn't because she was dead. Ginny's shoulders sagged and a mournful sob escaped her mouth. "It was all my fault, it was all my fault." Suddenly she felt strong warm arms encase her and she clung to it. She needed to feel connected to someone, to be cared for. She sobbed into the shirt of her savior and didn't even bother to see who it was. The person stroked her hair and didn't say phrases like, 'it'll all be all right' or 'just let it all out,' he just held her. After a few minutes of crying she stopped and held onto the person, having an insane thought of just staying there forever. No, she told herself, she finally found the strength to lean back and she stared up into the warm gray eyes of Draco Malfoy.
He reached out a hand to touch her face. For a moment she closed her eyes and relished the touch, but soon snapped out of it. She leaned back away from him, and got up from the table. She was beginning to make her way out of the library when Malfoy asked, "what's all your fault?" Ginny stopped in mid step. She didn't think any one heard her.
She said as coldly as possible, "none of your damn business," and walked out the door leaving behind a very dejected Malfoy.
The next morning Ginny woke up feeling much better then she did the day before. The bed she was sleeping on was very comfortable and incredibly large. Ginny snuggled deeper into the black satin sheets and smiled. "I could stay here all day," she said out loud. She sighed and closed her eyes for just a moment she told herself. "Just for a moment."
She was in the bathroom and she felt happy once again. The bathtub was as large as an in-ground medium sized pool. There were faucets on the side of the "pool" for scent, bubbles, and she wasn't quite sure what else so she just turned them all on. She immediately threw off her clothes and dove into her "pool." She swam a couple of laps but suddenly got overwhelmed by bubbles. It got so bad that she couldn't see the actual bathroom. The bubbles were everywhere, she struggled to swim to the edge and turn off the faucets but she couldn't move. "This is ridiculous, I'm going to die by bubbles." She continued to tread water but she didn't know how long she could do that. What was she going to do? Suddenly she thought she heard her name through the portrait, and she yelled, "HELP! HELP I'M IN THE BATHROOM! Oh it's no use whoever it is doesn't know my password." She groaned, but then heard a familiar voice at her bathroom door.
"Ginny? It's Draco, do you need something?"
"Draco?" She was about to ask how he got in there but decided to ask later.
"Come in, I need help." She heard the door open and a loud laugh. "It's not funny," she growled. Then she heard him laugh even louder.
"Oh yes it is, you turned on all the faucets didn't you? I did that myself once, luckily I was close to the side and it didn't get nearly as bad as this."
He let out another howl of laughter until Ginny yelled, "quit laughing and turn off the faucets!"
"Ok, ok, hold your britches. Wait you're not wearing any." Ginny growled because she could just see his smirk. All of a sudden she felt a large splash right next to her and she screamed. She pushed some of the bubbles out of her way and saw Malfoy's head. "MALFOY!"
He smiled and held up his hand, "I know, I know. I have my wand though." He reached down for it and his face went pale.
"What, what did you lose it?"
He smiled nervously, "uh...would you be mad if I did?" Ginny let out a scream and put her hands around his neck. He pushed her off and held his hands toward her.
"Listen, it can't have gone far, let's just search for it." She glared at him and turned away from him and searched for the wand. She put her hands out relying on her sense of touch and not her sense of sight. She slowly felt a hand on her butt caressing it.
"Malfoy, my butt is not your wand."
He chuckled and squeezed her butt cheek, "but this is nicer to hold." She was just about to reach around and slap him when she felt the wand.
"I found it!" She grabbed it and turned around.
"Great, now give it to me." She slapped him hard on the face.
"There, now here's the wand."
He rubbed his red cheek, "Ow, I need to learn some physical self defense." She smirked and handed over his wand. He grabbed it and said a few well chosen words and all the bubbles disappeared, though the bad thing was that she was naked and he could see through the clear water. He smiled mischievously at her.
"Keep your eyes up Malfoy and swim to the side." He smiled once again and did as he was told. He pushed himself out of the "pool" and got a towel for himself. "Turn around," Ginny said to Malfoy once she was at the side.
Malfoy made it look like he was pondering something when he said, "no, I think I'll stay for the show."
Ginny smiled, "fine." She climbed out of the pool and Malfoy's jaw went slack. He stared at her firm, large breasts and her muscular legs and arms. He stared at her flat stomach and the triangle of hair just below it. She walked right up to him, making sure to invade his space, when she reached around him and took a towel off of the rack. She didn't bother putting it around her but instead began to dry off her body. She then put a hand behind Malfoy's neck and pushed him close to her body. "Kiss me Draco," and his lips instantly captured hers. His arms went around her pushing her so close to him that she could feel his erection. She moaned into his mouth when his tongue darted out to meet hers.
"Ginny," he groaned, "Ginny, Ginny."
Ginny sat up in bed to find Malfoy leaning over her. She screamed and he jumped back.
He held up his hands, "whoa, hold on. You sure do have a good set of lungs there."
She pulled up her blankets, "it was just a dream," she whispered to herself.
Malfoy looked concerned, "did you have a nightmare?" Ginny looked up at him and her whole face went red.
"I can't say a nightmare." Ginny gave him a confused look, "how did you get in here?"
Malfoy looked at her and shrugged, "what did you mean last night when you said it was all your fault."
Ginny's face went pale, "that's not the same. You're trespassing, so get out."
Malfoy shook his head, "I only came here because Dumbledore wants to see you."
Ginny rolled her eyes, "oh he does, does he. That's mighty wide of him." Ginny's admiration for Dumbledore had continually gone down the drain since she got to Hogwarts. "Well if Dumbledore wants to see me than I must go." Malfoy continued to stand there as if he had something else to say. "Anything else" Ginny asked.
Malfoy looked down, "no, nothing else." He walked out of the room and she heard the portrait slam shut. She flopped back onto her pillow, today the students would be coming and she had to look her best. She pushed the sheets off of her and walked into the bathroom. She stared warily at the "pool" and decided not to turn on any of the faucets.
After a quick bath she hurried up and got dressed, in a long black skirt, a white short sleeved button up shirt, and her crisp black robes. The skirt came to her ankle and she whirled around allowing it to fly around her. She giggled and continued on with her morning routine. She put her hair back into a severe bun on top of her head and slipped on her black rectangle shaped glasses. She laced up her Victorian style boots and applied some makeup and was on her way to the Great Hall. Breakfast was being served so she didn't have time to see Dumbledore, 'Darn' she thought sarcastically.
She entered the Great Hall with her head held high. Defying anyone to even look at her wrong. She wished she knew what was going on. Maybe that's what Dumbledore had to tell her, now she felt immature. Surely Dumbledore would tell her what the problem was. That's what he was there for. She slipped into a chair that happened to be between McGonagall and Malfoy. She nodded to them both and started to pile eggs and bacon onto her plate.
She looked down the table for coffee. She would need at least three cups to get her through the day. She saw the pot at the end of the table by Snape. She got up out of her chair to the coffee, just as she was about to pour herself a cup it was torn out of her hands by Snape. He poured himself a cup and gave it back to her. She looked at him, appalled by his behavior, "that's ok, it wasn't like I was in the process of pouring myself some coffee. You know just because I was here first doesn't mean that you can't rip it out of my hand and take some for yourself and leave none for me," she said with biting sarcasm. He merely lifted his cup in a salute to her and went on with his breakfast. She slammed her cup down on the table and sat down in her seat. She furiously crammed her food into her mouth but almost choked so she slowed down.
Malfoy looked at her absently atop the paper he was reading. He pushed his full cup of coffee towards her. "You can have mine, I didn't drink from it." She looked down at it and then up at him.
"But aren't you going to drink it?"
He shook his head, "Naw, I hate coffee I just get it because it makes me look cool." He flashed her a dazzling smile and for a moment there, she couldn't breathe. She slowly took the cup and smiled shyly.
"Thanks," she put some sugar and creamer into it, and drank it while she thought of what just transpired. She always thought that Malfoy was some brainless twit, who didn't have an ounce of decency in his body. Well he used to be like that she thought, but now he seemed relatively nice.
As she continued to think she didn't notice the person coming up behind until she felt the hand on her shoulder. She screamed and nearly spilt her coffee all over herself. She turned around to see a chuckling Dumbledore, "I'm sorry my dear. I didn't mean to startle, but if you would meet me in my office I would like to discuss some things with you, if you don't mind."
She smiled shakily up at him, "no, I'll be there in a few minutes."
He nodded, "take your time, I'm in no rush," and he left the room and she was surprised to see that she and Malfoy were the only ones in the room. He glanced over at the table from behind his paper and began to meticulously fold his paper up. He was in mid-rise from his chair when he looked down at her.
"Would you like to go to Hogsmead with me today?" She looked up at Malfoy suspiciously, but she saw the sincerity in his eyes.
"Sure, when did you want to go?" He looked at his watch and frowned.
"Well I have to get my classroom ready so I'd say about 2:00, does that sound good?"
She smiled, "yeah that sounds fine." She got out of her chair taking a last sip of her coffee and was walking out of the room when she noticed that Malfoy was walking beside her.
He grinned and said, "I'll walk you to Dumbledore's. You can never know what might pop out at you, so you'll need a strong man by your side."
She laughed, "if you find any let me know."
He put on a shocked face and said in a feminine voice, "well I never." They continued in comfortable silence, just happy with each others company. When she came to Dumbledore's office he was continuing on until she placed a hand on his arm. He looked down at it then looked at her.
"Malfoy, I don't mean to pry, but your different from what you were in school. What made you change?"
He smiled softly and patted her hand, "we can talk about that at Hogsmeade, along with a few other topics." With that he left her there to her thoughts. 'What did he mean by other topics?' She knew though, he meant the deaths of her family and the Grangers. She didn't know if she could talk about that just yet, but if he was going to tell her about his past, it seemed only fair.
She sighed and looked at the gargoyles standing before the entrance. "Oh no," she groaned. She didn't know the password. 'This will take forever,' she thought. She flung out all the wizard, and muggle candy she could think of. After ten minutes, she was getting frustrated and deeply angry. "Hey lets try chocolate covered cockroaches?" All of a sudden the gargoyles moved and the door was opened. "You've got to be joking."
She stepped onto the revolving staircase that took her up to Dumbledore's office. She knocked and heard a distinct, "come in!" She opened the door and walked into the spacious office. She sat down in a chair before the desk and waited for Dumbledore to look up from his work.
He pushed aside some papers and folded his hands together. He smiled at her over his moon shaped glasses. His blue eyes though were not sparkling, he seemed to have aged considerably since the last time she saw him. "Over the years I always thought it nice to have guest speakers come in and I've always had the librarian make the plans for it and I was wondering if you would be up to the job?"
She shrugged, "I guess so. What would you like me to do?"
"Oh it would be simple things like decorating the gym, and enlisting people to help you. You would of course be in complete control."
She nodded, "who would be the guest speakers do you know?"
"Well we have a man named Dominus Rodendo. He finds Magical Creatures and brings them back safely and into a great environment. I thought it would be nice for the students to see what they can do after school. There's also a woman by the name of Celeste Bompio. She is a well known magical doctor who combines muggle and magical medicine."
Ginny smiled, "that would be interesting."
"I thought so, but our most recent guest is coming in, in a few weeks. I believe you know Harry Potter."
Ginny's smile immediately failed. "I don't mind working with the other two people, but I refuse to work with Harry."
Dumbledore frowned, "why forever not. I thought you two were friends?"
"Were being the key word there. We don't talk, and I have nothing to do with him."
Dumbledore sighed, "well that will be fine then. You will work with the others and I'll find someone else to work with Harry."
She smiled gratefully, "thank you Professor Dumbledore." Dumbledore waved a hand at the formalness.
"Please my dear. You are a member of the staff. Call me Albus as I hope you allow me to call you Ginny."
She nodded her head and said, "is there anything else you wish to discuss with me?" She asked hoping that he would explain to her the reason behind the strange actions of the staff. Dumbledore shook his head without much thought.
"No, nothing that I can think of my dear." Ginny grew cold inside, 'fine if he's not going to tell me.' "Well better be off, much to do."
Hey all, please review because this is my first story that I've put up here and I need the constructive criticism. And I do stress CONSTRUCTIVE. Hope you all enjoy!
