A/N: Thanks for the reviews. This is a sort of explanatory chapter. Some funny bits. Some sad bits. Sorry it's late. The next few chapters might be late too – I'm having my bedroom reconstructed and I'm busy moving into the guestroom. Anyway. ENJOY! (Your only other option is death.)
Disclaimer: Get the idea into your head. I don't own it. Now move on.
The Letter P
Chapter Forty-Seven: P is for Partly Horrified
Devin nodded at her; lifted his wand… The last word that Ginny remembered was a sharp "Imperio!" And then the world went blissfully blank.
All that he remembered was a blur of dark red. Then he was cut off very abruptly by something grabbing the sides of his face rather painfully and then crushing his lips underneath her own. For the first time in what was probably… approximately nine years – Tom felt himself go completely red. Then, his brain still dead, his muscles numb, and his lips stinging, he walked away as though absolutely nothing had happened.
xxx
"Finite incantatem."
Ginny couldn't remember a thing. She racked her brains… nothing. She looked expectantly at Professor Devin, only to find that he was staring at her in a mixture of mingled shame, astonishment, and embarrassment. Turning to her classmates, she found their expressions identical.
"That's amazing! I don't remember what I did," Ginny said, for want of something to break the uncomfortable and very ill-foreboding silence. She gave a hesitant grin, unsure if it was right move.
And then the class exploded into laughter.
What'd I do? Ginny scratched her head. It couldn't be that bad. Could it?
"Alright, students, that's enough!" Devin said sharply. "Miss Peregrine, please return to your seat. Next…" he referred to the list that he was still holding in his left hand. "Alden Philips."
Still confused, Ginny headed back to her chair, beside a partly-horrified Grace. She flashed Alden an encouraging smile as she past him, but he gave her a wary glance in return.
Okay, what did I seriously do?
Hurt by Alden's behaviour, Ginny sank into her seat, a frown furrowing her brow.
"Imperio!" commanded Devin.
After a few seconds, Alden began to sing an Elvis Presley song, accompanied by the mandatory wiggling of hips. Amusing as it was to watch, Ginny was still deeply concerned by the stares she had received at the end of her turn – that hadn't happened to anyone else.
She took a piece of parchment from her bag, dipped her quill in ink, and then scrawled a note, reading: Grace, what happened to me? Why did everyone stare and then laugh? She then turned to Grace, on her other side. "Hey," she whispered, flickering her gaze sideways to check that Devin wasn't looking. "Grace." She tossed the parchment onto her friend's desk, and waited.
A moment later:
Erm. Your Imperius was kind of… unusual, let's say.
Frowning deeper, Ginny wrote back.
What do you mean? What happened?
I don't know what Devin cast for you to do, but you ended up… you ended up kissing Riddle. Heh.
Ginny raised an eyebrow sceptically.
Grace. He isn't in our class.
He came in. He sort of ran away after you finished.
Ginny stared at the response she'd got. She stared at it for a long time. Then her eyes widened and she started to choke.
Professor Devin looked up from setting the Imperius Curse on Oliver Quiney at the sound of a gagging Ginny, who was clutching at her throat and seeming to have a fit.
"Sshh!" Grace hissed frantically. "Ginny – Ginny, be quiet!"
The redhead gave one last splutter, drew a long breath, and then fell silent. People were staring; whispering; giggling.
They knew what I'd done. They…
Oh God.
"Calm down," Grace whispered once Devin had called Jack Swithin to the front. "It's okay – it's not really that big a deal-"
"Not that big a deal?!" Ginny screeched (quietly). "Grace! I just publicly snogged the Head Boy!"
"Yeah, but not deliberately," Grace pointed out calmly. "It wasn't as though you chose to do it."
Fuming, Ginny had to realise that Grace was right. "But – but – in public!" she cried. "In front of the entire class! Which, I may add, includes Gryffindors! And Gryffindors will tell the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs! And then Gryffindors will tell Eleanor Fionn! And she'll – she'll tell the whole world…" The seventeen-year-old gave a low moan and smacked her head down onto the desk. "Ow," she complained quietly.
"I do wonder, though," Grace mused aloud, "what command Devin must have given you."
Ginny turned her head slightly, and, from her position on the desk, made a do I give a damn face at her friend.
"I mean… it's not like he said to you: kiss Tom Riddle when he comes through the door," Grace mentioned honestly.
"…Grace?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
xxx
"So, Peregrine, did you think you could get away with snogging him? Think that because you were supposedly under the Imperius, people would think it wasn't planned?" Claude sneered at the end of class.
"I was under the Imperius," Ginny growled from between gritted teeth.
Claude smirked. "Sure."
Resisting the urge to rip the snide blonde to pieces, Ginny stuffed her things into her schoolbag (with a little more violence than had been intended, admittedly. She heard something snap, but ignored it). Then she straightened, and, for the second time, waited behind after Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Sensing the storm coming, Alden, who had seemingly overcome his shock, ushered a reluctant Grace from the classroom. Ginny, the storm-cloud in question, sent him a grateful glance. Then the door closed behind the two leaving Slytherins, and Ginny fixed her darkest stare on a weary, confused Professor Devin at the front.
"What did you tell me to do?" Ginny demanded. Screw politeness and respect to teachers at all time. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
Devin sighed. "Miss Peregrine, what happened was completely unintentional, and I assure you that I didn't know it was going to happen."
Ginny folded her arms defiantly. "That's not what I asked."
"Miss Peregrine, I admire your determination, and I understand your embarrassment, but due to your language and disrespect, I feel I must remind you that I am the teacher here," Devin said sternly.
"What did the hell you ask me to do?" Ginny snapped, close to shouting.
"Language, Miss Peregrine!" Devin said angrily in response. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"No!" Ginny said furiously. "You just want me to go so that you don't have to humiliate yourself by telling me how you screwed up!"
"Miss Peregrine!" Devin was turning red with rage now. "I am going to tell you two things. Firstly, I am asking you to leave not as an act of cowardice, but in punishment, as I will not tolerate such insolence! Secondly, I did not… so quote, 'screw up'. I will have you know that what happened was your fault!"
Ginny's mouth fell open.
I was under the bloody Imperius! How dare you try to push the blame on me!
"I'll tell you what I commanded of you, Miss Peregrine. I was running out of ideas. I know you teenagers – I was one once, contrary to popular belief!" the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor scorned. "You and your classmates would have been bored of repetition. I made a foolish decision in saying – and this, I promise to you, is accurate – do whatever you want."
Confusion. Then understanding. Then more confusion.
"What?" Ginny echoed dumbly.
"I told you to do whatever you wanted, Miss Peregrine. I could not control the outcome, and I realise now that it would have been exceptionally dangerous – what if you had wanted to blow up the school? Or kill your classmates?" Devin shook his head. "It was a bad idea, but it was not my fault." He twisted his lips into a grimace. "It was merely misfortune that Mr. Riddle entered at such an opportune moment."
… No.
He's lying. Defending his own pride.
Because that answer is just… just ridiculous. Impossible. Scandalous. NOT TRUE.
Ginny refused to believe her Professor. Because if she did, that would leave to the eventual conclusion of her wanting to kiss Tom Riddle.
And that was just wrong on so many levels.
"Well." Ginny wouldn't anger Professor Devin any further. "I'll leave you now." Her voice was cold. "Thank you, sir, for your time." She turned sharply on her heel and departed the classroom, the door swinging energetically behind her; a bewildered and guilt-ridden Devin sitting in her wake, his hooded blue eyes ashamed.
"Hey!" Grace fell into step beside the partly horrified, partly wrathfully anger redhead. "What's up?"
"What did sir say?" inquired Alden; he always used the appropriate term of respect when speaking of others, regardless of whether or not they were around.
For a moment, Ginny considered telling them. Then she decided against it. It was unfair, as they'd always been kind and truthful to her, and it seemed as though she'd done nothing but lie since she got her. Alden, she thought, would be a good person to tell. He was quiet, wouldn't spread it around, and also had a useful insight into how the hopelessly confusing male mind worked. Grace, however – nice as she was, and as good a companion, and probably closer she was to Ginny – was a gossip, and wouldn't let go of the false notion that Ginny, allegedly, untruthfully, fancied Riddle.
She repeated the words false notion once more in her head. She wasn't sure why. She just needed to hear the words – even just echoing in her brain.
"He… he didn't say anything," Ginny said.
"Oh." Grace looked put-out.
Alden flashed his gaze to Ginny's quizzically; she nodded in response. She'd tell Alden, she decided. But he'd be sworn to secrecy on his life.
"What have we got next?" Ginny asked loudly, not only veering away from dangerous waters while Grace was present, but also realising how to get Alden alone.
"I have History of Magic," Grace said.
Catching on, Alden tutted. "Arithmancy. I'll see you later, Grace." He stood on tiptoe to kiss his girlfriend, and then waved her away, into the direction of her next class.
As the brunette reluctantly left, Alden turned to Ginny, one eyebrow slightly raised. "So what did sir really say?" he said calmly.
Ginny glanced around, checking for anyone spying on them… and then told him the synopsis of the entire meeting. When she was finished, Alden was frowning. The sight of his troubled facial expression didn't make Ginny feel any better. "What d'you think?" she asked as they headed up the stairs towards Arithmancy.
Alden roughly licked his lips. "Well." His frown eased slightly. "So you say that you definitely don't like Riddle that way." His frown returned. "However, Devin says that you do."
"Yeah, basically. And," she added irritably, "you can take the emphasis off the words 'you say', because I'm not saying that I don't fancy Tom. I don't."
"Okay," Alden amended. "You don't like Riddle beyond the whole friendship thing, but Devin says you do."
Ginny was glad that she'd told Alden. Not only was he working things out in a logical manner as opposed to the embarrassing screeches of you fancy Riddle you fancy Riddle that would doubtlessly sprout from Grace's knowledge of the situation, but also he didn't stop to question when Ginny had become friends with him, and when she had started to refer to him as Tom.
"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "And I think that Devin's lying to cover his own back."
Alden looked amused at this. "Ginny, people don't do that here. The students do, but the teachers? No."
Her only reasonable solution now officially squashed, Ginny grumbled and kicked the wall.
"Don't worry about it," Alden reassured her. "It's probably just a big misunderstanding."
"Hell yeah!" Ginny snorted. "One big old misunderstanding – understatement! This is the worst misunderstanding ever! Because the fact is that people have to understand that I don't feel anything for Tom."
Alden shrugged, and the topic moved on to the safer topic of the Arithmancy homework.
And, unbeknownst to the world outside, a tall, dark silhouette stood frozen behind a tapestry of a little beribboned girl patting a sheep, having heard the entire conversation. Then, with only a flair of cloak that ruffled the left corner of the tapestry to give him away, the shadow stalked back down the corridor, his sharp footsteps hiding the sharp pain that no-one could ever learn of.
xxx
A/N: He's in waaaaay too deep. –tut tut- Please review…
XXX
Next Time:
Ginny, on the other hand, knew full well than Tom existed, and also was fully aware that he was avoiding her. For the sake of her own embarrassment at having publicly kissed him in front of a teacher, she was glad that she hadn't seen him. However, more than two weeks had passed, bringing late January in with the melting snow, and she was getting rather worried about if he was even still alive.
Not many people would have noticed it, save for Ginny, and that was because she was carefully watching every inch of Tom's anatomy for the slightest give-away of what was going on inside that big skull of his – but at these words, he quickly clenched his fingers into fists before releasing them.
XXX
YAY! Review replies!
creative-writing-girl13: All together now – awwwww! Hehe.
Fandy: Between me and you, he almost is…
Peacegirl: Haha, I've done that plenty of times. Thank you!
flashes-of-silver: Thank you for realising that no matter how much you pester me, I can't tell you any answers. THANK YOU! –worships- Trust me, there are lots of fascinating twists.
00jade: Ooh! –squee- I love after-effects, don't you?
SugarDumplings: Thanks!
somerdaye: Squeeing time! Die, verb-people, die! Lmao. Please don't die!
DeadlyCreative: Funny, sweet, but kind of sad as well. Because he knows that if it weren't for the Imperius, it never would have happened.
BDSanta2001: I'd love to be his courier! –drool- Dippet's hot. Haha, the Rave-Prom was one big, brilliant ole moshpit.
The-Quoi: I HAVE THAT STUCK IN MY HEAD NOW! THANKS A LOT! –huff- When the moon hits your eye, like a big ole pizza-pie, it's amour.
Saene: Ouch. I hope your hand feels better soon. Lol, you're the only person who remembered that she had to have had a command, and what could the command have been? Tell me your dream! I DEMAND IT.
Chimis: Haha, indeed it did. Well, whose subconscious DOESN'T?
Eriika33: Wow, thanks!
Taylor Rae: Thanks! Haha, it's like you get drunk, and start rambling, "So what you think is gonna happen, huh? Ginny and Tom kiss again or will they- THUD. (passes out)". Hehe. Sleep is a wonderful thing, ja.
xHeavilyxBrokenx: Three things. Uno: I love your pen-name. Dos: AWWW. Tres: I've been wishing I was Ginny for the whole freakin' fic!
Amberdream7: Thank you!
Kallie: Thanks, sorry it's late.
Courtney P: I've been fine, how are you? Thanks!
SiRiUsLyInLuV71: Well, yeah, it was kind of spontaneous, but I did say about three chapters ago that they were going to start studying the Unforgivables. And this is quite a long fic (a VERY long fic) so there's quite a bit left. Sorry.
Storm-brain: We should start a STH campaign! (Save The House-elves.) –marches with banner-