A/N: Some SR-GAP action. A VERY interesting chapter. Well. It's important. That's the main thing. And it has a cliffie. Yay! Scottie and Ginny…ie are now dating. –swoon-
Disclaimer: Not mine. Though I wish it was.
The Letter P
Chapter Fourteen: P is for Public Displays of Affection
Smiling, Scott nodded. "Come on, I'll take you…" he frowned, "wherever it is that you're going." He kissed Ginny's nose gently, before lacing his fingers gently through hers, and together they walked away down the corridor.
A small sigh came from the shadows, and then the watcher returned to his dormitory.
…
Five minutes. It was time enough to see Scott before Muggle Studies, wasn't it?
Ginny glanced indecisively between the stairs to Muggle Studies and the stairs to Divination, which Scott had next. Mmmm…Scott, she decided, and hurried up the Divination Tower steps, vibrant red ponytail bouncing on her shoulders.
It wasn't as if Professor Gladwyn would be cross with her star pupil; she wasn't in any danger of a detention. At least, she hoped not.
"Scott?" she called, looking around. Oh, I hope he hasn't already gone up to class, she thought crossly, peering up the ladder to the attic classroom. "Scott, where are you?"
Suddenly tanned hands came over her eyes, and she squealed happily. "Scott, stupid," she said, turning around, "couldn't you just say, here I am, my love or something?"
"Here I am, my love?" tried Scott, a grin on his handsome features. "Hey, Gin."
The redhead's eyes narrowed. "I've told you a thousand times, don't call me that," she said quietly.
"Sorry." Scott lowered his head to hers and kissed her. "Aren't – you – supposed – to – be in – class?" he asked between kisses.
"Aren't you supposed to be keeping your hands off me in public, due to Dippet's warning on PDA?" retorted Ginny, smirking.
"Public Displays of Affection, my arse," said Scott, rolling his warm brown eyes. "Where else am I supposed to snog you?"
"Not here, apparently," replied Ginny. She quickly burrowed into Scott's robes pocket and dug out his pocket-watch. "Hm," she flipped it open and looked at its face.
Late! Damn!
Ginny swore under her breath. "Gotta go, Scott. Later, alligator," (she winced inwardly – I hate saying that. It annoys me endlessly. I can't wait until that greeting goes out of style) she said, standing on tiptoes, brushing her lips against his quickly, before scurrying down the stairs.
The Slytherin thundered down the steps, back up more steps to the Muggle Studies classroom, and then through the door. "Sorry I'm late, Professor," she apologized, and hurried to her seat, beside Alden.
"You really shouldn't see Scott before classes," Alden hissed. "You're going to be late for everything."
"Mr. Philips, Ms. Peregrine? Please, quiet," said Professor Gladwyn. She was new that year, and the best Muggle Studies teacher that Ginny had ever had – she would say the best all-around teacher, except that she was tying with the late Remus Lupin. She was young, and slim, and she also looked beautiful. Nothing she did was dull, and she still managed to gain respect from the rowdier students with her fierce, feisty side.
"Sorry, Professor," Ginny and Alden chorused, getting their books out.
"No, no, put your books away," said Professor Gladwyn. "We are beginning a new topic. I trust you are all familiar with the Tales of Beedle the Bard?"
There were noises of general agreement, while some muttered things about immaturity and that they didn't want to learn about Beedle the Bard.
"Muggles have the same sort of thing. They call them fairytales," said Gladwyn. She flicked her wand and the word 'fairytales' appeared on the board. "We will be learning the fairytales, and at the end of the two-week project, a fourteen-inch essay will be due in concerning your favourite Muggle fairytale, the summary of it, and why it is your favourite."
Many groaned; Ginny smiled. She was a 'Muggle-born', so she knew all about it (actually, she had just borrowed a Hans Christian Anderson book from Hermione and read all the fairytales in advance).
"Does anyone know of any Muggle fairytales?" asked Gladwyn.
Ginny shot her hand into the air.
"Ms. Peregrine?"
"'East of the Sun and West of the Moon', Professor," Ginny said. "It's a Norwegian tale, telling of a prince who was turned into a beast, and could only be healed if a young girl lived with him for a full year of her own free will."
"Excellent. Five points to Slytherin," said Professor Gladwyn. "Any others?"
Alden raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Philips?"
"I think there's one called 'The Little Mermaid'," he said uncertainly. "Muggles imagine mermaids as beautiful creatures with an incredible singing voice, and a young mermaid princess ignores her six older sisters' warnings and falls in love with a human… but then she kills him. I forgot why."
… that's impossible. I'm called the Weasley Princess. The red-haired princess, the youngest of seven… and I killed my love.
Shivering, Ginny stared determinedly down at her desk.
"Well done. Five points to Slytherin. Anyone else?" inquired Professor Gladwyn.
A Ravenclaw offered 'Cinderella' and a Hufflepuff answered with 'Thumbelina'; a Gryffindor raised his hand, but got the answer wrong.
Take that, lousy Gryffindor!
Realizing her thoughts, Ginny was shocked.
I'm really turning into a Slytherin!
Or were you just a Slytherin all along…?
"Now, those answers were very good, thank you to those of you, but none of guessed the fairytale that we will be doing," said Gladwyn. "We will be doing 'Sleeping Beauty'."
Someone at the back of the room moaned and started to complain quietly to someone nearby.
"We'll be acting it out today, so that can really understand the plot, and then next lesson we'll be going over it in our books, before starting on 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'." Gladwyn brushed a strand of curly mahogany hair from her eyes, and handed out scripts. She returned to the front of the classroom, and looked around at her students. "I'll be playing as the narrator. Who would like to be Prince Charming?"
Abraxas Malfoy, the father of Lucius, raised his hand lazily. He was an arrogant toerag and wanted nothing better to have the ladies' swooning for him.
"Very well. Mr. Malfoy as Prince Charming. And who as Sleeping Beauty?" asked Gladwyn, putting on her reading glasses and looking down at her script.
The majority of the girls in the class raised their hand – including one of Claude's friends, the beautiful Avani Mohana. When she saw Ginny looking, her chocolate-latte eyes narrowing to slits, and she shot a rude hand-gesture at the redhead before flicking her long, effortlessly shiny, dark hair over her shoulder and raised her hand higher.
"Hm," said Professor Gladwyn, observing each candidate girl. Then her eyes rested on the non-candidates, the ones who had not put up their hands.
Her eyes were resting on Ginny.
Oh no. Not me. Not me. Not me not me not me, please, please, if there's such a thing as angels, HELP ME-
"I think Ms. Peregrine would make a fine Sleeping Beauty," said Professor Gladwyn, smiling.
Angels? SCREW YOU!
"What?" cried a Hufflepuff whose name Ginny didn't know. "But – but Professor, Sleeping Beauty's blonde!" She tugged hopefully on her strawberry-blonde plaits, fluttering her eyelashes.
"Excuse me?" snapped Avani. "What's that supposed to mean? I can be as much a Sleeping Beauty as you!"
"Whatever," said the Hufflepuff, rolling her large grey eyes expressively. "Professor, choose me!"
"Alright then," said Professor Gladwyn, smiling at the Hufflepuff. "What did you say that your name was?"
"Rosalind Keefe," said the girl, a triumphant air to her tone.
"Thank you, Ms. Keefe, I feel you'll be perfect for the role of the Evil Witch," said Professor Gladwyn with a warm smile.
The blonde, namely Rosalind, gasped. "But – but Profeeeessoooorr!" she whined.
"Quiet, Ms. Keefe, if you will," reprimanded Professor Gladwyn.
Sensing a perfect opportunity, despite her loathing for her own acting part, Ginny turned and flashed a smug grin to the blonde.
…
"Oh, but I wonder where this staircase leads," read Ginny, flinging her arm out dramatically to where the 'staircase' was. "I think I'll climb it – whatever could await me atop it must surely be an adventure."
She moved across the conjured stage, which she had thought couldn't fit in the classroom, and pretended to walk up the stairs.
Knock, knock, knock.
Ginny looked over at the door, where someone was asking to enter the Muggle Studies classroom.
"Ignore it, Ms. Peregrine," instructed Professor Gladwyn, before going to answer the door.
Looking down again at her script, Ginny opened the 'door' and stepped into the 'room' where the spinning-wheel was waiting. "Well, what is this?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound as full of childish wonder as she could make it.
"Professor Gladwyn?" said quietly a very familiar, cool voice.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I apologize for interrupting your lesson. Professor Berthold asked me to come and ask for a Grade B Advanced History of Magic textbook," said the familiar, cold, formal male voice.
What the hell is he doing here?
Determinedly ignoring him, and the tiny part of her brain that was now strangely conscious of embarrassing herself by being Sleeping Beauty, she said, "Oh, look! A spinning-wheel! I do love to spin," and clasped her hands (and script) to her chest.
A very cross-looking Rosalind stepped onto the stage. "Try spinning, my darling," she said, looking extremely resentful and murderous towards 'Sleeping Beauty'. "It will create whatever you most desire."
Will it create my best friends and my family again? Will it create a portal to take me home? I doubt it.
"It sounds fabulous – I think I shall begin to spin at once!" Ginny exclaimed with false joy.
Professor Gladwyn said something to Riddle and left the room.
Suddenly she was hit by a pang of wooziness. Her head filled with pain, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open. Ignoring it, she continued; looking delightedly at the spinning-wheel.
"Then spin," snapped Rosalind angrily, folding her arms across her chest.
Blood-
Ginny moved to where the conjured spinning-wheel stood.
Pain-
Her head was swimming, and her vision was blurring.
Ron-
She raised her hand to the spinning wheel.
Harry-
Riddle was speaking. She could no longer make out his words.
Hermione-
She was aware of someone calling her name worriedly.
Luna-
She touched her finger to the spindle.
Mum-
"Hermione? Mione, did you hear the news? Harry got a-" the words were never finished because Ginny ran into her best friend's room and came to see the bushy-haired Muggleborn on her bedroom floor, red and sticky and somehow a lot smaller than Ginny ever remembered, because her arms were in the corner, and her legs were mutilated, and her head was GONE and her best friend was in pieces, and she was screaming, screaming, screaming –
Blood, pooling around her feet. Ron's screams echoed and echoed, of absolute agony, his face draining of all colour as his body rapidly emptied of blood onto the floor around her... her, screaming, screaming, screaming –
Charlie screamed out. "Ginny… go…" he ground out, before it twisted into another scream. His hands twisted in horrific, demonic shapes as he battled his own mind. "GO!" he howled, and then a blood vessel burst in his temple and it was on Ginny and she was screaming, screaming, screaming –
The green light flashed brighter than anything, and a single tortured scream rose up from everyone present as their only saviour fell. Ginny was screaming louder than anyone. The green eyes of her first love widened, bulged, and then his glasses fell. And Harry tumbled forwards lifeless; Ginny ran to him, screaming, screaming, screaming –
George. Snape cursed his ear off. Then his nose. Then, suddenly, horrifically, half of his face was gone. It was as if God had decided, 'no, I don't think his face came out quite right, hang on, give it back'. Except, what kind of God would do this? And Ginny was screaming, screaming, screaming –
Luna shouted out, shaking. Ginny ran to her side, but she felt immediately as though she would be sick when she saw that her close friend was having a brain haemorrhage. Blood poured from the blonde's ears, matting her shiny hair, as well as from her nose and mouth, and she was gagging on some sort of white foam. "Luna – Luna!" Ginny cried, but then her friend's eyes bulged out, one downwards and one sideways, and then Luna keeled forwards, collapsing on top of her. Blood was on Ginny, on her hands, on her clothes, in her MOUTH, and she was screaming, screaming, screaming –
Molly Weasley was clinging to her husband, fear etching onto her features as she screamed. "Not my children!" she sobbed. "Not my children! Please!" Tears streamed down her face; Lord Voldemort laughed at the display of emotion. He waved his wand – with a twisted scream and in an explosion of blood, Bill fell. "NOT MY CHILDREN! PLEASE!" Ginny's mother screamed. Ginny stood watching, tears flowing. "Mum!" she screamed. "Mum!" Then the screaming rose up, higher and higher, and Ginny could only distinguish two phrases: from her mother, "Take me instead" and from Lord Voldemort, "Very well". Then the blood was everywhere, and the kitchen of the Burrow was destroyed by it and parts of the Weasley family were everywhere, and Ginny was screaming, screaming, screaming –
Vaguely, echoing in some distant chamber of her brain, she heard, "Professor!" shrieked. Then all went dark.
…
A/N: DUN DUN DUNN! Bwahaha cliffie of doom! Mwahahahharr. The next chapter will be VERY interesting. You'll all like it. That's a promise. And if you don't like it then I'll eat yoh skinny ass. Thanks to my beta SilvanXan. Enjoy the rest of the fic! REVIEW! DO IT! NOW!
o00Bubbles00o: I know! The normal ones are always the crazy ones. People are always like: "Aw, I remember Bob. He was also such a quiet and sweet boy." And then Bob comes back and eats everyone. ARGHHH! Holy hallway snogging, indeed, my friend.
KayRose: Nyanyanya. I can't tell you that. Then I'd ruin the plot. –pokes tongue out- Aw, my name's weirder than yours. KayRose is a really pretty name.
AppleC0re: Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!
midnightblue17: Yeah. Poor little emo Voldie in the darkness. No-one likes him. –sob- I LOVE HIM! –hughughug- Anywayyy. Thank you.
storm-brain: I've got loads of P names ready, don't worry. Thanks though, I'll probably use them. And I wasn't sure whether to rename the previous chapter "Poetic Poison" because it fits in with it, and also I might use "Place of Sanctuary" later. Whaddaya think? Thank you!
Sakura999: Thanks! I might try that. Maybe when I've finished the fic on FanFiction first.
Saene: I love your pen-name. And yes, actually, it is supposed to be 1946… but I already did the research for the 1958 instead, and also it's crucial to the plot that in present-time, Voldie isn't like seventy or something. Because that would just kind of be like pedophilic. And I didn't just give away part of the plot. –shifty eyes-