Title: Reflections of You
Author: Drake Roberts (aka: Shelley)
Rating: PG-13, for now. I'll warn you if I have to up the rating.
A/N: Yeah I know. I need to write faster. Believe me, if I could, I would do nothing but write all day. I tried to give you a longer part this time since it's been a while. I'll try my hardest to get this out faster, even if I have to chain myself to my laptop for the next few weekends. I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters and I am not making any money off of this work of fiction. Quite the opposite, in fact. I work on this when I should be developing my own characters so that I can publish something original and others, hopefully, will write fan fiction about something I actually own.
With Madame Pomfrey and Snape in the back and Hermione off to parts unknown, most probably to research something or another, Ginny got her first opportunity to get a good look at both one of the school's newest arrivals and the mysteriously ailing Draco Malfoy. She was amazed at the difference between the Draco Malfoy she'd grown to know and loathe and the fragile looking boy in the bed in front of her. Asleep he looked entirely too vulnerable to stand up to the image she held of him as a cocky Slytherin bully. She didn't think she'd ever seen anything that shook her view of someone quite so much.
"He a friend of yours?"
At the other's words, Ginny realized with a start that she'd been staring. Xander chuckled at the girl's blush.
"N-no," Ginny stammered. "I was certain that he hated me until breakfast this morning."
"What happened at breakfast?" he asked with genuine curiosity. Maybe he could learn a little bit more about the boy he'd decided to watch over.
"He saved my life."
"Huh," Xander responded in a very Oz-like manner, at least for him. "Where I come from, the ones who really hate you try to kill you." He paused. "Or sometimes they become obsessed with you, but that only happens if you're a Slayer."
Ginny frowned at the unfamiliar term. "What's a Slayer?" she asked.
Xander just waved the question aside with a shake of his head. "I can't really tell you without the G-man raining fire and brimstone down on my head, but I'm sure in a big wizardy place like this someone knows." He could tell by the look on the younger girl's face that she wasn't exactly happy with the answer he gave her, so he quickly sought a change of subject. He looked around briefly, and decided to go with something obvious. "So, where am I anyway?"
Ginny recognized his tactics, but it was a valid question, so she let the American get away with it for once. "You're at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"I'm in a school?" Xander asked in bewilderment.
"Well, the hospital wing of the school to be precise," Ginny corrected with with a touch of amusement in her voice.
Xander thought that statement over for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, that explains all the kids in here, I guess. My school didn't have a hospital in it though." He snorted. "Probably should have considering everything that happened there. It would have saved on the ambulance charges if nothing else."
"Where are you from?" Ginny asked. His comments had made her curious. She wanted to know where the Portkey had taken her last night.
Xander mustered up a weak grin. "Sunnydale, California. Born and bred."
Ginny's eyes went wide. "I went all the way to California last night? Wicked!"
Xander's smile became a little more genuine at Ginny's obvious excitement. He sat in silence as Ginny muttered to herself about his little revelation until she finally seemed to wrap her mind around the situation. The two sat in relatively comfortable silence for a few minutes until Xander decided to steer their conversation back to the matter at hand. There was still something he wanted to know.
"So, this guy saved your life, huh?" he asked, indicating the blonde boy still sleeping, oblivious to the entire conversation.
"Yes," she answered distractedly, still somewhat lost in thought.
"What's his name?"
Ginny's head shot up and she stared at Xander in disbelief. "You don't know who he is?"
"I haven't really had time to ask, you know," Xander answered in irritation. "The whole him being delirous, shortly followed by unconscious kind of got in the way of the dialogue."
At the older man's tone, Ginny realized how harsh her question had sounded. "Sorry, that sounded crass. I mean, you've been helping him, sitting with him for hours, and you don't even know his name?"
"Yeah," Xander answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "He needed the help. What's your point?"
Ginny could hardly believe her ears. The man truly didn't understand why she was so surprised. She'd watched him soothe Draco earlier. He'd cared for Draco just as gently and attentively as her own mother was when she or one of her brother were ill, defended him against antagonizing students, and even now watched over him. All of this, he'd done for some one he'd never met. And, the American acted like anyone would go out of their way to show such kindness, that going out of his way to help a complete stranger was no big deal. Ginny knew better.
"You are a rarity," Ginny told him with a smile.
"Yep, that's me. No one else compares," Xander responded in a mock superior tone. But she could tell he didn't get it.
He didn't think his actions warranted any kind of praise; they were instinctual. Still, the least she could do was answer his question. "His name is Draco Malfoy."
Xander looked to the boy on the bed, then back to Ginny in puzzlement. "He doesn't look very dragon-y to me."
"Not at the moment," Ginny frowned. He definitely had a point there. Without his ever present sneer and superior attitude, he was. . . smaller somehow. With a shrug, she pushed that thought until it lead to sympathy, or Merlin forbid, worry. "but trust me, usually he's quite the bully."
"Don't care for him much, do you?" Xander taunted lightly.
Ginny hesitated. "Not really. He's a total git, pardon the term. He's arrogant, egotistical, and a real pain in the arse when he decides to annoy you."
"Sounds like a real prince," Xander said snidely. Then he grinned. "Reminds me of someone from high school."
"School bully?" Ginny asked, eager to learn a little more about this stranger.
"Worse," Xander retorted. "Egotistical doesn't even scratch the surface. To hear her talk, the sun rose and set at her will."
"Her?" Ginny remarked.
"Yes, her. "She ruled the school like she was queen and the rest of us poor slubs merely playthings to cater to her whims. She had a select few that followed her around like puppies, and everyone else was fair game for her scathing remarks, yours truly most definitely among her favorite victims. And if you got on her bad side. . . . Man, she was Satan in heels."
"Yeah, that's Draco. Royalty in his own mind." She smirked. "I wouldn't totally reject the heels either. You can't really tell what people wear under their robes." She giggled a little at the word picture that made. "So, what happened to this girl?"
Xander smiled. "She grew up."
"So, she outgrew her superiority complex?"
Xander chuckled softly. "Hell, no! She's still Queen C. She has the tact of a troll in a china shop. Her tongue's just as sharp as ever, and it's even more dangerous to piss her off now that she's so good with a sword. But she's one of the most dedicated and passionate people that I know. She'd walk through the fires of Hell to help her friends. If she believes in something, she won't let anything stand in her way. She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to fight for it." Xander's gentle smile turned mischievous. "And she's a great kisser."
Ginny's mouth dropped open in shock. "You snogged her!"
"I'll never look at a broom closet the same way again," he told her with a wink. They both dissolved into fits of laughter.
Their laughter was the first thing Madame Pomfrey heard when she reentered the main room of the infirmary. She looked over to the bed in the corner and saw Xander grinning at Ginny Weasley as they sat at Draco Malfoy's bedside. It was good to see the young American smile, she decided.
Ginny was thinking much the same thing. She'd seen Xander sad and angry; she liked this playful, kind hearted man much better. But even as he joked and kidded, she still saw behind it to something else. It was his eyes that gave him away. Even as he laughed, she saw it. Infinite sadness. Behind the jokes, he was haunted. She was no stranger to tragic eyes, she'd been pinned by their stare twice before.
Eyes just as full of sorrow and worry had pleaded with her to walk away less than six hours ago. It had been the shock of her life to realize those expressive orbs belonged to a Slytherin she'd thought as cold-hearted as a snake. The reasons behind his look and his actions remained unclear, but it was something she was desperate to discover.
As for the first time she'd seen someone so haunted, well when she had witnessed that raw and traumatized gaze, too worn to ever be innocent again, she'd known exactly why they were that way. After all, she'd been staring in the mirror.
Looking over, Ginny noticed the mild, yet pointed look Madame Pomfrey was giving her from across the room and decided it was time to leave. Maybe she'd catch up with Hermione. Almost unconsciously her gaze shifted to Draco. Or, maybe she'd go somewhere and think on her own for a while.
"You want me to tell him you stopped by?" Xander asked with a tiny grin. He'd noticed the Mediwitch as well.
"No!" Ginny exclaimed, then blushed at her outburst. She bit her lip, then continued. "Don't tell him anything. It would probably just disgust him knowing a Weasley sat within twenty meters of him." Ginny sighed. "Just. . . .look out for him. I don't like him, but for some reason he helped me. I want to know what possessed him to do something so. . .not him."
Xander nodded to her request, then suddenly felt Ginny's arms wrap around his own neck. She gave really strong hugs for such a tiny little thing. "Look out for yourself too," she told him. "Don't want you staying in here any longer than you have to."
Xander hugged the back, feeling better than he had in weeks. It was kind of sad that he was this starved for attention. Part of him wanted to just hold onto her and soak up the offered affection, a rare gift to him lately. Over the last few years he and his friends had all entered into serious relationships. Anya had been a very passionate person, as her stories could attest, but the closeness he'd shared with Buffy and Willow had slowly eroded. He used to give and get hugs all the time. Well, he'd been more of a giver than a getter, but still, he'd shared a bond with the two. It had been second nature to clasp Willow's hand while they watched TV, drape an arm over Buffy's shoulders as they walked to class, or to all sleep over in Buffy's room on the weekends. Even the rampaging crush he'd had on Buffy right after he'd met her hadn't interfered with the almost constant physical interaction he'd kept with both of them.
The contact made him feel good in a way that wasn't sexual in the least. An offered hug or reassuring nudge took away some worry, eased some of the overbearing stress in the fight against evil. As long as Willow was playfully swatting at him, Buffy was rolling her eyes at his latest pun, and Dawn knew she could get as many hugs from him as she wanted, he felt safe. Helping and supporting his girls made him happy.
Over the last couple of years, his friends had stopped coming to him for help. He didn't blame them, and even expected it. He'd moved on with his life too. But over the last few years Willow and Buffy had become. . .colder, somehow. The casual closeness they had shared had disappeared leaving an emptiness deep inside him. A chasm he desperately wanted to fill. He didn't blame anyone for this. He'd genuinely grown to like Riley after a while, and Tara. . . .oh, god, poor Tara. She was the sweetest person he'd ever met, and he missed her. What Willow had done to Warren in retaliation horrified and sickened him. That didn't mean he wasn't glad the bastard was dead.
Shaking off his moment of introspection, Xander ended the hug. Ginny beamed at him before looking away shyly, surprised by her boldness.
"I need to go," she told him reluctantly. "Do you need. . . .some food or anything?"
Xander shook his head. "Nah, I'm good." He settled back in the chair at Draco's bedside before he caught Ginny's attention once again. "Wait, we forgot the most important part."
Ginny turned back around. "What?" she asked in confusion.
A hand was offered to her. "Xander Harris. And you are?"
She shook the offered hand and scrutinized the young man for a moment. Strange name for a muggle, but it suited him, she decided. "Virginia Weasley, well, Ginny for short."
Xander gave her a lopsided grin that made her heart flutter just a little. Did he have a clue how good he looked when he did that? "Nice to meet you, Ginny. Have fun at your Scooby meeting."
Now Ginny was confused again. "What?" she asked feeling rather redundant.
"I'll tell you if you come back later and spill the details of what you and your friends say about me," he answered with a cheeky grin.
"What makes you think I'm leaving to talk about you?" she retorted defensively.
He shrugged. "I know the type. Besides, that brunette girl thinks so loud I could almost hear her. She's a total research girl. The second you meet up with her, she'll ask you at least three question and make one book reference. Then she'll grill you about everything you talked about with me."
"And this doesn't bother you?"
"Nope. Just as long as I'm in the loop. With all of these sick kids, including Draco here, I wanted to know what you guys come up with. Something Hellmouthy is definitely going on here."
She thought about asking Xander about that "hell mouth" term, but figured he'd be as tight lipped about it as everything else. "Goodbye, Xander. I'll be back later. But if I'm going to spy for you, I wanted some answers too."
"Yes, ma'am," Xander quipped with a mock salute. "I live to serve."
"What took you so long? Did you find out anything about Malfoy or that strange man? How is he even able to be here? It clearly states in Hogwarts, a History that muggles are not able to see the school much less enter it unless they are put through a number of spells."
Ginny bit her lip to keep herself from laughing at her bushy haired friend. She'd been avoiding Hermione, Ron, and Harry since she left Xander and Draco in the hospital wing earlier that day. She'd thought about finding some abandoned classroom to hide in, but then remembered Snape's words to her about not going anywhere alone. In the end, she'd gone to Professor McGonagall's office. She'd told the older woman that she needed a place to study for her History of Magic final in peace, but she was almost certain her Head of House had seen through the flimsy excuse. Still, she'd let her stay there without a fuss and not tried to pry. Ginny hadn't come up with any answers in the hours she sat in McGonagall's office, but she knew she couldn't avoid talking to her friends any longer.
"He's a muggle?" Harry interrupted, clearly shocked. "That doesn't make any sense," he whispered.
At his comment, Hermione's focus quickly shifted to him. "What's that supposed to mean?" She stopped and took a deep breath. Hermione told herself that she needed to calm down. She wouldn't get any answers if she transfigured her friends into newts. Although it would be funny.
"All right," she began again after her little self pep talk. "I am tired of not knowing what is going on here. So everyone better start sharing right now."
"Yeah, what she said," Ron added. "I know even less than 'Mione."
Harry figetted uncomfortably. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, who's this bloke with Malfoy for starters?"
"He's the muggle," Hermione told him dismissively.
"How the hell did a muggle get to Hogwarts?" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione sighed. "With a portkey."
"Oh, obviously," Ron scoffed. "because every muggle knows how to use a portkey."
"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione admonished.
Ron groaned in frustration. He got out of his chair and confronted the pacing Hermione. "Then why is he here," Ron retorted.
Hermione stilled. She knew that the young man had been with the girl Snape seemed nervous around, but she had no clue why. "I don't know. He came with a girl."
"What girl?" Ron was getting more confused by the second. "Since when is there a girl?"
Hermione realized she was going to have to explain so everyone was at least on the same page even if it was about twenty pages back from where she wanted to be. "When we got to where the portkey sent us, the strange man you saw with Malfoy was holding a girl, well woman actually. She looked hurt. Snape wanted to bring her here because of something she did." Hermione, in her haste to tell the story, didn't notice Harry's shudder at that remark. Ginny however did. "But the guy wouldn't let Snape near them." Hermione grinned. "I have never seen anyone talk to Professor Snape like that. He told him. . . ."
Hermione trailed off, and her eyes widened. "He saw through your invisibility cloak, Harry!"
"Maybe he isn't a muggle," Ginny suggested.
"But he didn't know anything about wizards until we appeared in front of him. He thought we were going to a SciFi convention."
"So he doesn't know anything about magic?" Ron asked.
"No, he knows about magic," Harry spoke so quietly that the three barely heard him.
Harry swallowed heavily; he knew that there was no way he could escape telling his friends about his "episode".
"This has something to do with what happened to you last night, doesn't it?" Ginny asked nervously.
Harry nodded at the younger girl. He was surprised she had made the connection before Hermione. "I saw what happened to them. . . .to him on the top of that bluff"
"What bluff?" Ron interrupted.
"The one we found the two on," Ginny answered her brother quietly. She turned back to Harry. "What happened?"
Harry shuddered. "He saved us all."
"You mean," Ron interjected, "the crazy talk and those bloody scary black eyes were all from that man?"
"No," Harry denied. "The eyes and all of the. . . .rage and power were what he stopped. That was the girl. She was in so much pain that the only way she thought it could go away would be to. . . ."
"To burn it all," Hermione whispered in stunned horror as her mind made the connection with what Harry had spoken that night. "She tried to end the world."
Ginny gasped even as her brother paled alarmingly and sunk into a nearby chair. Two years ago she'd become intimately familiar with someone who wanted to rule the world, but to want to destroy it? Why would anyone want that? Her mind struggled to grasp the possibility, trying as she sat in silence to understand the forces that might drive someone to such lunacy.
Her brother's struggle was far from silent. "She tried to end the world! What for? And if she used magic, how in Merlin's name did a Muggle stop her? Drop a piano on her?"
"Stop being so melodramatic, Ron," Obviously Hermione had recovered enough from the shock to chide her favorite target. Although her voice still shook slightly. "In all likelihood he caught her unawares at a time when she was vulnerable during a spell and subdued her. I doubt it ever came to a head to head confrontation."
She smiled, proud to have finally solved a piece of the mystery. That is, she smiled until she looked at Harry's pale face. She quickly sobered. "There was a confrontation?"
Harry nodded.
"His chest," Ginny spoke aloud as it came together in her mind. The others turned to her curiously. She blinked slightly at the sudden attention, but plunged ahead. "When he stood up to leave. . . .it looked like a wild animal had tried, rather successfully to maul him. Something had slashed him on his cheek and across his chest."
"So. . . .a few blows get thrown and he overpowers her?" Ron guessed. It seemed feasible in his mind. The guy he'd met earlier had been rather intimidating.
Harry shook his head absently. He wasn't so much giving his friends answers as reliving the moment. "He never laid a finger on her."
Hermione was getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Did he talk her out of it?" she asked hopefully.
"No."
"Then what?" Ron practically growled in frustration.
"There was a statue," Harry croaked, his mouth going dry. "An effigy to a Goddess. She knocked the man, her friend aside like a fly and threw every bit of strength she had at the idol."
Harry stopped suddenly. His whole body shook with suppressed emotion. "She wanted to die." He paused. "No, that's not quite true. She wanted the whole world to die. It didn't deserve to live after what it took from her." The Boy Who Lived took a deep breath, visibly getting his emotions under control. "But there was one thing she didn't count on."
"Her friend stopped her?" Hermione asked. The sinking feeling was getting worse.
Harry smiled sadly as he shook his head once again. "He put himself between her and the idol and stayed there until her magic ran out."
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stared at Harry in silent shock. None of them had ever heard of such a thing, at least not since Harry. And with him, it was far from voluntary. The silence stretched out as each was lost in their own thoughts. Could they do what this man had done? Could they stand up to a friend like that? What would have happened to them. . . .to everyone if he had failed?
"There's still one thing that I don't understand," Ron began, once again breaking the silence.
Harry smiled at him wanely. "Just one?" he asked.
"If this man is a muggle, then why is he Ferret Boy's new bodyguard?"
Harry seemed to become more like his usual self as he mulled the question over in his head. "And why was Draco in the hospital wing? He looked like someone had cursed him with about six different diseases."
Ron nodded. "Yeah. And why would anyone ever want to help out that slimy git?" He snorted. "Whatever happened to him, I'm sure he deserved it."
He would have continued his slandering of the silver-haired Slytherin but was stopped by Hermione's hand on his shoulder. She didn't say a word, just pointedly moved her eyes in Ginny's direction. Ron followed her gaze and noticed how pale his little sister had become.
"What did he do to you?" Ron asked, his tone dangerously calm. Ginny gulped nervously even as she mentally noted with no surprise that her brother and Hermione came to almost identical conclusions At times the two thought frighteningly alike.
"Well. . .," she began, extremely aware of the curious stares she was receiving now from all three of her friends. "You see, he kind of. . . . .saved my life at breakfast."
You know, Ginny thought, Harry and Ron looked decidedly like land stranded fish with their mouths opening and closing like that. Hermione looked at the two boys sympathetically. "I know how you feel. I reacted much the same way when Professor Snape told me about it earlier.
"Professor Snape?" Ron stuttered, his face flushing in anger. He glared at his little sister. "Start explaining right now. No more trying to throw us off topic."
"That's the problem," Ginny argued. "I can't explain it. It doesn't make any sense!"
"Well, then try harder," Ron said through gritted teeth.
Ginny clenched her jaw to hold back the scathing remark at the tip of her tongue. She knew it would start a shouting match before she even uttered it. Her brother was right. She needed to tell everyone something if for no other reason to wrap her own mind around what had happened that morning. Hours of sitting in McGonagall's office had not help, maybe sharing with someone else would. She'd just start at the beginning of it all, and hoped her thoughts pulled themselves together as she went. She suddenly wished she could have brought Xander with her. She really needed some emotional warmth at the moment.
"Last night after you and Harry went to the hospital wing, Hermione and I took a portkey with Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore to Sunnydale, California."
Hermione gasped. "We went all the way to California. I didn't even think that was possible." She stopped, frowning. "Why does that city sound familiar?" She knew she'd read something about it somewhere. She'd look for references to it later.
Ginny nodded in answer to Hermione's first question, then continued. "After you and Snape left, Professor Dumbledore told X-" She stopped abruptly. Xander hadn't offered his name to just anyone, so she wouldn't betray that trust just yet. "the man that his friend needed to learn to control her magic and that the people at Hogwarts could help. That's why they're here."
"But if it's the girl that needs help then why did the guy should up too?" Ron asked
Ginny sighed sadly. "Because he didn't want her to be alone."
"She tries to burn the whole world and the bloke is worried she'll be lonely?" her brother interrupted once again. Ginny shook her head. Sometimes her brother was so dense.
Hermione saved Ginny the trouble of clubbing Ron over the head with a blunt object by taking matters into her own hands. "No, you ninny! He loves her. It's romantic."
Ron groaned. "Oh, no, not this sap again. Next thing you know, you'll be sending the American singing bloody Valentines." He shifted his attention back to his only sister. "And none of this tells us a thing about Malfoy."
"I'm getting to that part!" Ginny defended. "This morning after Hermione left the Great Hall for class, I went to talk to Professor Snape. I wanted to know if he knew anything about our newest guests. All of a sudden someone jerks me backwards by the waist and a cauldron whizzes past my nose. I turn around and find out it was Malfoy pulling me out of the way."
"It was probably his plan in the first place," Ron muttered irritably.
Ginny scowled. "You didn't see his eyes, Ron! He was scared! Not "I'm going to get in trouble" scared. Terrified, of his own housemates! And there was something different about the Slytherin when they confronted the two of us. I mean, a few of the Slytherins are bullies, but that was the first time any of them have really frightened me. They surrounded us. . . .I really don't want to know what would have happened if Professor Snape hadn't come over to investigate. As soon as he asked what was going on, the other Slytherins backed off."
"He took us out of the Great Hall and," Ginny paused as the scene replayed in her head. "Something was wrong with Malfoy. It was like he was delirious or some such thing. He didn't even realize we were there. Professor Snape had to shake him to pull him back into reality." Just the thought sent a chill up Ginny's spine. "I know that we've all had trouble with the Slytherins before, but I think this morning something else was at play."
She caught the incredulous looks on Harry and Ron's faces and sighed. They weren't accepting her theory, but then again, she had not expected them to either. But something evil was stirring. She knew this on some instinctual level. The two boys still saw her as a scared eleven year old, but she noticed the thoughtful expression on Hermione's face and felt a glimmer of hope. She decided to continue.
"Draco pushed himself into a corner and just huddled there, eerily still. But he saw something, I believe. I got the feeling he was. . . fighting for control against some force even though I couldn't see anything there."
Ron frowned. "That is ridiculous, Ginny!"
"Well you're the one who asked!" she shot back, hurt. Her brother knew she didn't make things up, especially about something so important. "If you weren't going to believe me, why did you even ask in the first place? You should have just jumped to conclusions like you always do."
For his part, Ron did look sheepish after that remark. "Sorry, Gin. But you've got to admit that it's hard to believe."
Ginny shrugged. "You weren't there. You ddn't see him." Ron found himself unable to meet his sister's steady gaze.
"What about the muggle?"
Both Ron and Ginny turned at the sudden question. "What?"
Harry swallowed, not particularly wanting to be the group's focal point at the moment. "What about the muggle man? Why was he with Draco when we saw him in the hospital wing?"
A smile came to Ginny's face at the mention of Xander. "He was just helping him out. He didn't even know who Draco was until I told him earlier. He just saw someone who was hurt and needed to help him." She sighed. "And he doesn't even think anything of it."
"Who is this guy, a bloody saint?" Ron muttered. "To tell you the truth, he made me nervous."
"Well, if the American is to be believed," Hermione chipped in. "to Draco he felt "warm". I'm not sure what to make of that statement."
Ginny frowned. "You didn't feel it when we were in the hospital wing?"
Hermione shook her head in confusion. "Feel what?"
"Being around him is like. . . .like wrapping yourself up in a wooly blanket after you've played in the snow all day, or basking in the glow of a bonfire late at night. When I was talking with him I felt comforted, safe, like he could protect me from anything."
"Listen to yourself, Gin," Ron interjected. "This stranger is protecting a Malfoy nd you're practically spouting love sonnets about him. He can't be up to any good. You're under his influence."
Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You don't know what you're talking about, Ron. No one's controlling me." She clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "No one will ever control me again."
Hermione and Harry exchanged nervous looks at the youngest Weasley's suddenly intense tone. Ron, however, much like older brothers worldwide, remained oblivious to his sister's rapidly boiling temper and continued unheeded.
"No one else felt anything from the American. Hell, he scared me, to tell you the truth, and Harry couldn't get away from him fast enough."
"You went after Malfoy," Ginny argued. "He was protecting him."
"Protecting him?" Ron snorted. "And Malfoy is so deserving of protection, Gin. He may have saved your life, but Draco Malfoy is an evil, manipulative snake with no regard for anyone except himself. Anyone protecting him has to be bad news. And you are falling for it. Open your eyes. You're their puppet."
"I am no one's puppet!" With a booming crash, the main window of the Common Room shattered. Glass showered down around the four Gryffindors. "No one's! Not even yours, Ron." Ginny glared at her brother, her face flushed with rage. She hadn't even flinched when the window broke.
Ron's face paled as the implications of what he'd said to her hit him. "Gin. . . ."
"Save it!" Ginny said, voice cracking. "Just. . .just leave me alone."
The three Gryffindors could only gape in shocked inaction as Ginny turned and fled the Common Room in a swirl of her robes. It was several moments before anyone could speak.
"Did that just happen?" Harry whispered.
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione snapped. "How could you say something so cruel? You know what happened to her during her first year."
Ron just stood staring at the door Ginny had sprinted through moments ago, still in shock.
"How could that happen?" Hermione heard Harry ask.
"I'll tell you how it happened. Ron let his mouth get ahead of his brain; that's what happened!"
Ron finally pulled his gaze from the door and looked at his feet. "What have I done?"
"No Hermione," Harry interjected more forcefully. "I mean that."
Hermione looked up and realized that Harry was looking not at her and Ron, but at the hollowed out remains of the Common Room window.
"You're an expert on Hogwarts, a History, 'Mione. What is wrong with this picture?"
By this time, Ron's attention had shifted to his friends. His worry only increased as the color drained from Hermione's face. The young woman clamped onto the back of a chair as her knees threatened to knock. Harry and Hermione shared a look.
"What?" Ron asked, now seriously anxious. "What is it?"
Hermione met his worried gaze with a shocked one of her own. "Fifty years ago, during a Quidditch match, an out of control Bludger crashed through a second story window of the castle and struck a young Hufflepuff in the head. The boy was fine after a few days, but because of this incident, and also in the event of an attack, certain actions were taken." Hermione paused and Ron saw a flicker of fear pass over her face, but it was quickly repressed. "Since that day every window in Hogwarts has been charmed to be unbreakable."
TBC. . . .
Ooooh. The plot thickens!
