They were heading into November, and in spite of her estrangement from her twin sister, she felt as if she was becoming used to the way of life at Hogwarts in 1971.
She would arrive in the Great Hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and finish each meal alone.
Unless she was lucky enough to have a lesson with the Slytherins—the Black sisters held great sway over the rest of the House, and were more than happy to intimidate their Housemates into partnering with the "other McKinnon twin"—she and her assigned partner would then continue to work in silence. Ginny may have been even happy about it, if she hadn't known the real reasons behind both events: James Potter and Sirius Black; as well as Narcissa and Andromeda Black.
Nevertheless, she had gotten along well enough by herself, both within her lessons and the Great Hall, and had even done just as well in Defense; it was still her best class although she avoided partnering with Potter in lessons, and Professor Prewett had no argument with her, of it.
She continued to stay on the House team as a reserve player; she considered herself lucky that no one—bar Narcissa—within the team had discovered her stay in the Hospital Wing, nor her duel with Potter. Much to her surprise, Potter continued to keep well away from Ginny, whether it be in lessons, within the Great Hall, or even a corridor. Ginny expected to feel sad, or even disappointed, in this sudden change of behavior, but all she felt was relief. She didn't know whether or not it was a result of her past life or just a normal reaction, but she didn't let herself linger on this, too often.
What she did do was let life proceed as it was; although she had never forgotten Lord Voldemort and the existence of his six Horcruxes, she didn't let that keep her from living her life, and kept that in the back of her mind, letting life proceed as it was, until October 31st, 1971.
The morning of Halloween, had Ginny enter the Great Hall in a state of great astonishment: for each of the House tables seemed to have been rearranged of their allegiances. She shook her heard to clear of it, then refocused her gaze to get a better look at the Great Hall. Okay, so people hadn't completely taken leave of their senses: Lily and Snape were both at the Slytherin table, yes, but of the few people who had shown up for breakfast at this time, all of them happened to be at their proper Houses, barring she, Ginny, herself, who had not yet taken her seat at the Gryffindor table, as well as the Black sisters, both of whom were absent from the Slytherin table.
Wrenching her gaze away, Ginny forced herself to pad forward to the Gryffindor table, and wondered where her friends, Narcissa and Andromeda Black, happened to be, at this time of day. Had they opted to skip breakfast? Shrugging to herself, she took her own seat at the table, reached for both plates of bacon and toast, and made herself a bacon sandwich.
Ginny found herself relieved to see that students, including Lily Evans, returned to their proper tables, and had shown up, in the first place, such as the Black sisters. As her old friend, Hermione Granger, may have put it, had she still lived in the future: nothing good ever came from Inter-House relations.
When she had started her day, barring the fact that it was October 31st, she had thought it was just going to be another normal one, within both her lessons, Quidditch matches, and life, all in general. As it turned out to be, she had thought wrong: for Potter and Black were both nowhere to be found, not at the Gryffindor table, nor anywhere else in the Great Hall, as far as she could see. In fact, she wouldn't have even bothered to notice, in the first place, if it hadn't been for McKinnon, her former twin, bringing it to just about everyone else's attention in the Great Hall—and especially that of Ginny's attention.
"Hey, Ginny." Ginny, as it turned out, was minding her own business, and eating her own breakfast, as if McKinnon hadn't spoken. "Ginny," repeated McKinnon, in a louder voice; apparently she wouldn't take either no, nor complete silence, for an answer, and pressed on: "Would you happen to know where Sirius and James went? Only, I can't seem to find them, and I was wondering if you knew."
"No," Ginny said, as calmly as she could, under the present circumstances. "I don't know. And, in, the future, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your mouth shut about them to me."
With that, Ginny, bending her head down so that she wouldn't see Marlene's reaction, sat back down on the bench, with both a hard bump and a shark intake of breath. As much as she had tried to ignore it, she couldn't deny that something had changed, between her and McKinnon, there in the Great Hall, that morning. For one thing, she could feel the stares boring into her back, from just about everyone in the Great Hall, save for the teachers, perhaps. For another, no matter what she'd told McKinnon, the fact that Potter and Black were both nowhere to have been found as of yet, bothered her.
Since they were Potter and Black, appear they both did, before the end of the day; in fact, long before the end of the day, for they both had appeared in the last lesson before lunch. Appear, they both did, trudging from the door to their desks, with long sleeves, and pale complexions. They may had only looked suspicious to Ginny, however, for the remainder of the lesson had passed without any other qualms from the two boys. She had nearly talked herself into confronting them, when McKinnon had intercepted them, before they had finished gathering their things.
As far away as Ginny was from the desks of Potter and Black, she wasn't able to catch a word of their conversation between them and McKinnon. However, that didn't stop her from finding out the expressions on their faces. Though they remained pale and thin, they became more defensive as the interrogation continued. It had been clear that McKinnon's interrogation hadn't lasted as long as she'd expected, for Potter had whipped away from her—long sleeves; books piled high within arms, and all—with Black not far behind, storming from his seat to the classroom door, wrenching it open and slamming it shut behind him. Now, McKinnon and Ginny were the only two left in the classroom, and she felt a pang of sympathy for her twin sister.
Maybe I should go and talk to her, she decided. I don't know what I'd do without Narcissa and Andromeda.
And Ginny made her way over to Marlene.
"Hey," Ginny said softly, keeping a respectful distance from her twin sister. "I saw what happened. . ."
"I thought you didn't want to hear anymore of them," snapped Marlene; although the words sounded acidic, the conviction had been gone from her voice.
"I did," Ginny admitted, letting out a breath, and steeling herself to go on. "say that, I mean. But that's not true anymore, and I said a lot of things in anger, lately."
"Are you saying sorry to me?" Marlene wanted to know.
"I guess I am," Ginny confirmed, with a shrug. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you: you're my sister, my twin, and I love you," she went on, and in spite of everything, a weak smile had made its way onto Marlene's face.
"I guess I haven't been the best sister, myself, lately" confessed Marlene, and Ginny's eyes went wide, at her twin admitting a flaw. Ever since Ginny had awoken as one of the McKinnon twins, Marlene had never admitted she was less than perfect, at anything, and here she was, doing exactly that. "I promise to be better, though," she added.
"And treat my friends with respect," Ginny reminded.
"Yeah, and I'll—" Marlene wrinkled her nose, "—treat the pureblood freaks—I mean, the Blacks with respect. And you do that with Sirius and James, in return."
"Sure I will," agreed Ginny, and she stepped forward, after a beat of hesitation, to wrap her arms around her twin's frame. "Forgive me?"
"Always," Marlene murmured, and just like that, she and Ginny McKinnon were once again twin sisters.
I'll never choose my friends over my twin sister ever again, Ginny promised; and although that seemed a childish promise to make to herself, she had to accept that she was, in fact, a child, once again. I forgot to ask Marlene about what had happened with Potter and Black, she realized, as Ginny and Marlene unstuck from each other and made their ways to the Great Hall, once again. I suppose I'll find out, later on; they never do anything without everybody else hearing about it, of course.
Author's Note: Okay, so the mystery of Potter and Black had supposed to have been solved within this chapter, but I guess there will be a part two for that. [Kanye-shrugs]
I'm not telling you what the mystery is, but there are hints throughout this, and the chapter before last. And before you ask, no it has nothing to do with Lupin, since Potter and Black haven't even met him yet.
Please keep in mind that even though the chapter has ended, within the fic it's still Halloween. You know, to keep it symmetrical with Sorcerer's Stone.
Also keep in mind to review. Of course, you don't have to, but I'd appreciate it if you did.
