Chapter 7 (Repercussions)

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling; I own nothing.

Upon waking up that morning, I found my head resting on something hard, and a tightness around my waist. I was frightened, until I slightly lifted my head and saw Colin's peaceful face in slumber. Sighing in relief, I again rested my head on his hard, broad chest.

I felt safe, being in Colin's arms. It felt really good, being there with him. He really was my knight in shining armor, as cliché as that was and sounded. I could depend on him, and knowing I finally had someone in my corner felt really good. I couldn't help but thinking though, that this was too good to last.

I noticed that Colin was slightly stirring in his sleep. I wondered, would he be getting up now? I didn't mean to disturb him in any way, at least not intentionally. And the only reason I hadn't moved yet was out of not knowing if he were really a heavy or light sleeper. I didn't want any movement on my part to bother him. Thinking that he was about to wake up, I moved to slowly get up.

But I felt a tighter tightness around my waist, that wasn't suffocating but it was enough to hold me in place. Smiling up at Colin with my head raised from his chest, I shook my head and placed it back down. I guess he'd wake up soon.

I wondered what time it was. Fortunately, I was able to find my wand in my robe pocket. Slowly reaching for it, I pulled it out and said the charm to give me the time. It was 10:15am. I knew upon returning to the common room, that the Trio were going to give me hell for staying out all night.

Hearing more shuffling on the other side of the room, I figured that Neville or Luna was stirring. And sure enough, they both were.

"Where are we?" said Neville loudly.

"Oh, Neville, don't you remember-we're in the room of requirement, and if my memory serves me correctly, Ginny and Colin are here too." she said dreamily and groggily.

I knew the instant their eyes found us, because I could feel them burning holes into my back. I was glad that Colin was sleep, so that he couldn't see the blush that had risen on my face.

I heard them getting up, vanishing their beds. I then decided it was time to face the heat.

"Morning, Luna, Neville. Good nights rest?" I asked meekly.

"Oh, yes Ginny, we slept fabulously." said Luna, looking deviously at Colin and me.

Walking over to Luna and slightly pulling her from Neville, who was used to this behavior of ours, I shook my head at her vehemently.

"It's not like that Luna. We were talking last night. He left his bed and came over to talk. We talked, I got sleepy and fell asleep on him. I guess he didn't want to bother me, so he slept there…in the same bed as me." I said mildly.

"Ginny, just admit it, you-care-for-Colin." she said smartly.

"Of course I care for him. He's my friend." I said heatedly.

"You know what I'm getting at. You like him more than just a friend. And he likes you too. I saw the way he was holding you. He-Likes-You." she said dreamily.

"I get what you're trying to say, Luna. And I'm not going to jeopardize our friendship." I said to her seriously.

"You're not going to jeopardize it…yet." she said, and walked away.

Looking over at Neville, who'd wakened Colin while Luna and I were talking, I shook my head at him.

Walking over to me, he patted me on the back.

"You know how Luna can be, Gin. And you know she's right about this." Neville said, then slapped me on the back one good time and embraced Luna.

Walking over to Colin, I began to gather our things up.

"Morning, Gin." said Colin sleepily.

"Morning, Colin. How'd you sleep?" I asked with a lot of trepidation.

"Oh, I slept great. You?" he asked, with more energy and clarity.

"Yea, last night I slept better than usual. Thanks for understanding everything, Colin." I said with a small smile.

"Don't mention it, Gin. Now, are you ready to go back to the common room, and hear your brother raise hell over where you've been all night?" said Colin, jokingly.

"No," I laughed. "I'm not ready. But why not? Lets go." I said.

Luna, Neville, Colin and I all walked to Gryffindor tower and entered through the portrait hole.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN, GINERVA MOLLY WEASLEY?"

I'd know that voice anywhere. Looking at Ron, I sighed and rolled my eyes at him. But it was freakishly weird how much he looked like Mum in that one moment. It felt like a taller, more lankier Molly Weasley was in front of me, and that really did scare me.

"Room of Requirement, with Luna, Neville and Colin." I said calmly.

Walking towards me, he looked like an angry bull. I actually shrunk away from him.

"You're lucky I didn't tell McGonagall, or worse MUM." he gritted out.

"And if you know what's best for you, you better not EVER tell anyone Ronald Weasley. Now, get out of my way." I said, pushing him back.

"I don't answer to you or anyone. I am of age, and I am Head Girl. Technically, I did not break any rules. And do you get that I AM AN ADULT. That's right, I'm grown. So the next time you even think about sticking that overgrown nose of yours into my business, you better think again, Ronald." I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"That's it. I'M GOING TO TELL MUM!" he said, turning around to go up the stairs.

Pulling out my wand, I uttered, "Petrificus Totalus."

"Alright, that is IT. Everyone calm down." said Hermione. Harry, Colin, Luna and Neville were grinning.

"Hermione, I love you, but step aside." I said. Sensing my tone, she listened for once and moved.

Stepping over to Ron, who was literally as stiff as a board, I looked him over. Then, I stared him down.

"If you tell on me, I will stick George on you. And he won't relent until I tell him to. You remember what I told him to do to your teddy bear, Ron? Yea, that was me. You broke my doll, you idiot. Now, if you tell Mum, I'll have him do worse this time." I threatened.

"You wouldn't dare," said Ron, eyes wide with fear.

"Try me," I whispered. "Finite Incantatum."

Getting up and looking at me, he nodded his head.

"Fine. But I'm coming to Hogsmeade with you and your lot." said Ron.

"No, you are not." I gritted out.

"Yes, I am. Think of it as your punishment. Besides, you're my sister. Its my job to annoy the hell out of you. And you owe me for what they did to my bear." Ron said heatedly.

I smirked at him, and nodded. He shook his head at me, and everyone burst out laughing.

Heading up the stairs to take a quick shower, I was now drying my hair and putting on my clothes. Since today was a Hogsmeade Saturday, I didn't want to play around about getting ready. I really needed to enjoy this Saturday, for some reason unknown to me. Going down the stairs into the common room, I saw that it was pretty empty. Everyone was gone. Feeling a bit dejected, I headed out of the portrait hole, down the corridors and steps, and entered the Great Hall.

Walking towards Gryffindor's table in the hall, I sat down beside Neville and Colin.

"Back to looking crappy, Ginny." said Neville. I stuck out my tongue at him and pushed him.

Then, Luna came stomping over toward us. She stopped in front of me, and put her hands on her hips. Pulling out her wand, she pointed it at my hair and it was back to its straight self.

"Ginny, why do you have to be so difficult. Just one charm, one." said Luna chidingly.

She had plopped down between Neville and I. Colin, upon seeing the charm on my hair, frowned.

"Finite Incantatum," he muttered disapprovingly. Then, he nodded.

"COLIN," Luna whined.

"Leave it, Luna." he said, grittily. Shaking his head agitatedly, he began to eat again.

Smiling at Luna, I charmed my hair into a ponytail and let it be.

Then, the trio came into the hall and sat in front of us. Ron looked up at me, and nodded. I knew he was going to say something to try and tick me off.

"So, Gin," he began. "Back to your usual crappy self." Ron grinned stupidly.

"Shut it, Ron." I said very sensitively to him.

But Colin glared him to death, and Ron looked at Hermione, giving her that "what's wrong with him" look. It was enough to thankfully make him shut up, and begin to disgustingly stuff his face. We all finished up our food, and headed out the big oak doors to Hogsmeade.

Ron had already grabbed me twice and put me in a headlock, ruffling my hair, welcoming the "real Weasley back." Laughing at him and his antics, we all continued down the street, into the Three Broomsticks, sitting down and ordering some butterbeer and in Ron's case, some warm mead.

"Guys, I have a couple of books I wanted to get, so um I'll be back." I said, getting up to head directly across the street.

But Ron, Harry, and Hermione had already stood up.

"No," I told them. "I'm big enough to handle getting a book right across the way. I'll be back before you even know I was gone." I told them.

Then, I made my way across the street and entered the book shop. Walking around near the back, I picked up a charms book about charming inanimate objects into homes. It seemed interesting enough. Turning around to make my way to the front of the shop, I saw Malfoy and Zabini.

Saying nothing to either of them, and trying to get around them, I was roughly pushed back against the shelf.

"What the hell do you two want?" I heatedly asked. In response, they annoyingly smirked.

"We desire an audience with you," said Zabini sarcastically. To this, I sighed tiredly.

"Why don't you both cut the crap and say what you've got to say. I don't have valuable time to waste on the likes of you." I gritted, with my mouth pursed.

"So the lioness actually has claws without the presence of her cubs." sneered Malfoy.

"You should speak. For the longest, Crabbe and Goyle were your shadow." I sneered back at him.

He step towards me then, and my first impulse was to back up. But I couldn't. The shelf was behind me, and there was no way out. In my head, I could quickly see how THIS was not working in my favor. No one at the front or middle of the vast bookshop could really see me, or them at all. I would have to get myself out of this.

Malfoy was right in front of me now, and I could see every feature of his face as clear as the clearest water there is. His cold, ice gray eyes with specks of blue. His white, marble skin that was taut and defined to his admittedly, well sculpted face. He had no blemishes on his skin, none. He was too aristocratic, too put together. But he had taste, that much was apparent.

"Like what you see, Weasley." he snidely commented. He moved closer to me. Our chests were touching.

I began to freak out, but at least I remembered that I must stay calm.

I must stay calm. Do not panic, Gin. No, no panic. I thought repeatedly.

"Malfoy, move-out-of-my-way." I said to him, glaring daggers.

His response was to move even closer, and to grab a lock of my hair from behind my head, and pull gently. His hand was fisted in my hair. Malfoy's hand! I could feel his breath on my cheek. His hand was caressing the left side of my waist. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Malfoy, I said move. NOW." At this, he sneered in my face, and moved his nose closer to mine.

"No one orders a Malfoy-no one. Especially a filthy Weasley like you." he said, without any meanness. Was he trying to seduce me?

All I knew was that I was not going to wait any longer to find out what he wanted to do. I tried to push him away, but he got even closer. His left hand wrapped itself around my throat, squeezing tighter and tighter. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe!

With both hands, he jerked my face closer to his.

"I told you I'd have fun putting you in your place, Weasley." he smirked at me.

And that was when I spat on him.

He then looked down at me with such coldness that I shivered. His right hand, that was holding the back of my hair, slapped me hard across my face, stinging my cheek. I would have fell if he hadn't have kept me stable with his left hand, that was choking me even more. He was going to kill me.

"You're a hard learner, Weasley." he literally spat in my face. Then, he delivered another smack to that same cheek. It felt like my face was broken.

Tears were coming to my eyes. The pain. That bastard wasn't holding any of his strength back. And I couldn't really breathe.

I was beginning to claw at his fingers. But nothing, not even trying to kick him where I knew it would hurt, was helping. He just laughed, and slapped me more. Zabini had to have silenced us, because the patrons did not hear me cry out when Malfoy slapped me a fourth time.

I tried reaching for my wand, slowly but Zabini saw what I was doing. He quickly disarmed me. After that, I knew there was no hope, unless Ron or someone came back here, looking for me. Please, somebody come before he kills me. Or worse.

He had slapped me again. A fifth time.

"Scream, Weasley. I want to hear your beautiful scream." he whispered in my ear.

Then, he bit me on my neck. He bit me hard, really hard. I felt light-headed now. Everything was swimming. But I knew he was biting me, choking me just enough so that I'd have some semblance of consciousness. He quit his deep biting into my neck and looked me in my eyes, where I could see my blood on his lips.

My eyes widened. That monster had bit me so hard till I was bleeding. And suddenly, he was viciously kissing me, choking me completely now. I couldn't breathe at all. He wasn't gentle. He was biting everywhere. On my tongue, I could taste the blood so, that it felt like I would choke on it. When he was done biting my bloody tongue, he looked at me again, and kissed me, this time biting down hard on my lip. I felt my lip split in half, he was biting down so hard, getting harder with every bite.

And I was crying now. The pain in my side, the banging in my head, the light-headedness. All of the blood in my mouth. Why hadn't I passed out yet?

"You're not screaming, Weasley." he chided evilly.

Then, he slapped me so close to my very busted lip, and I couldn't help but cry out.

But this time, I landed on the floor and I immediately took in all of the air I could.

Malfoy was now kneeled down beside me, with his hands holding each side of my face.

"You know, Weasley, I'm almost sorry for hurting something so beautiful." he smirked remorselessly down at me.

"Almost. But, I just had to do this." he said, kissing me again.

Really kissing me this time, not biting. Then, suddenly, there was a loud BOOM. Malfoy was now standing up, way above me on the floor. I heard yet another loud, BOOM, and all I could tell was that he was no longer near me at all.

"GINNY. Oh my God, GINNY," screamed Ron.

My brother was here, my big brother. He was near me now, I could see him clearly. He grabbed the side of my face, and I flinched in pain. I could hear others nearby. But all I could see was Ron, and the complete horror that was written all across his face. He picked me up enough to cradle me in his arms, and before I knew it, I was crying right there, on the floor in my big brothers arms. He too was shaking, and that was my last thought, before I could think no more. I welcomed the deep, dark blackness that was peace.