Christmas was a normally joyous occasion in the Hogwarts castle. This was no different. But Draco Malfoy, however, had his woes. A letter from his father had informed him of his current situation; the Ministry of Magic had written to him, having investigated his private stores. The amount of Dark Arts equipment in there was astounding, the Ministry had told him, and they ordered him to leave his manor and his respectable job.
The Ministry members were sick of being bullied around by Lucius. They were tired of his threatening. So they booted him off the committee. Lucius was not happy. Not happy at all. He tried to get his position back, but to no avail. Since the fall of Voldemort, Lucius was no threat to the rest of the committee any more.
So young Draco Malfoy had taken the blame.
This had not been as rough as the last punishments Draco had taken. But he was not used to it this time because things had been going well with the renowned family lately and he had been happier. He hadn't even teased Potter about his scar lately. And he had been talking to Ginny a lot which had brightened his spirits, because when she wanted to be, she could be quite good company, in Draco's opinion.
Draco had been sent home for a day. And he returned with scratches, bruises and cuts along his body and legs. He had no worries, his robes would cover them all. They usually did.
Basically, the snappy and spiteful Draco was back. He didn't like his father when he was like this. Not at all. It wasn't his fault, so he shouldn't have been beaten. Draco wanted to talk to Ginny again, she listened well. He could tell her that he charmed the shrubbery on his feet just to get out of the living hell in Potions.
*****
Ginny hid her wand inside her robes. She had gotten Draco's owl, and his sweet letter, and walzted down to the Hall for breakfast. She gobbled her toast with marmalade jam up, eagerly waiting for Divination to come. Who knows what she would see this time?
Amelia was in a good mood, which put Ginny in a good mood, which made Ron smile when he saw her arriving at Divination late.
"Sorry Professor Trelawney," Ginny said with a small smile, as she went to sit down with Harry and Ron.
"You are pardoned, young Ginny." Professor Trelawney said. "Only two minutes late. 'Tis alright."
Ginny smiled at her again. She was feeling happier lately, for some odd reason. The snow had been Ginny's favourite part of Christmas (excepting the presents) for quite a while. She always loved the snowball fights with Fred and George, because they made it fun with their great tricks and hiding places. They would sneak up on people, and pelt them with snowballs until they (the person) actually felt like a snowball themselves. Remembering her first time in the snow made Ginny happy. But it was probable that Fred and George wouldn't be able to play in the snow this year, because they were in their seventh year, and had quite a bit to do and study for. Ginny sincerely hoped they could play, though.
Ginny payed a lot of attention in Divination, as always. Ron commented on how she was acting like Hermione in Transfiguration mode (which made Ginny and Harry raise their eyebrows at each other) and Ginny replied that he was acting like an idiot. Childish, yes, but Ginny didn't know what else to say. He always brought up Hermione in conversation. She just wanted him to come out and tell everyone...
Her brain launched into a dream sequence.
~~~~~
Ron was standing, proud and tall, at the top of a big table. His arms were opened wide, and he was talking. Ginny was sitting next to Hermione, who was at the end of the table, beaming up at Ron.
"I, today, have decided that I... I, Ron the Second, greatest Quidditch player in the world, have caught the Snitch in Hermione Granger's heart. I am asking, today, would you have the pleasure of marrying me now, Hermione?"
"Oh, yes, yes Ron, I will!" Hermione exclaimed.
They ran towards each other to the side of the table, skipping with their arms extended. Hermione jumped just as soon as she reached Ron, and he caught her and kissed her lovingly, whilst spinning her around.
Meanwhile, Ginny and Harry, who was for some odd reason wearing a Chudley Cannon's suit, were sitting complaining about the food, while Ron and Hermione held each other, and everyone else sighed.
"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww." Everyone else said. Ginny nearly fell off her chair.
"Ginny... Ginny?"
~~~~~
"Ginny?!!" Said Ron, waving a hand over her face. She had her head laying on the table, and she looked up at Ron.
"Hermione?" Ginny said, kind of sleepily.
"Erm, no." Ron blushed. "This is Ron."
"Oh... yeah. Sorry. Day dream, I'm supposing." Ginny grinned guiltily. She was still jealous of Hermione for matters she had no idea about. Hermione had an aura of confidence and intelligence around her, Ginny thought.
"Heh. In Divination, Gin?" Harry asked. Ginny jumped, kind of. Harry hadn't called her Gin, according to her memory, before.
"Umm.. never mind. What are we trying to do again?"
Ginny didn't really pay attention in the Divination lesson that day, which surprised herself and others in the class. Professor Trelawney was surprised too. Ginny couldn't put her finger on what was putting her off, but still wanted to know what it was. By bedtime, she had finally figured it out.
"AHA!!" She exclaimed, making Amelia, who was sitting beside her, jump. "Eureka, I've got it!"
"Eureka? What the..?" Amelia said, rubbing her head.
"I've remembered what I forgot! Hee-hee..." And she bounded up the stairs to her dorm, leaving Amelia in question and calling after her, looking like a lunatic.
Ginny walzted to her bedside table, which had Draco's letter on it, along with other various items. A clock, nailpolish, and spare parchment, quills, and ink. She picked up the letter. On the top of it read 'GW' in green ink. Ginny planned to write back in red ink, to symbolize her beloved Gryffindor. Somehow it seemed very romantic to Ginny. She read the letter again.
Ginny,
I am rather bored. I haven't seen you around in quite a while! Maybe we should meet up some time? How's about in Hogsmeade on the next trip? We can make arrangements if you want. I am hoping you can come.
Crabbe and Goyle say hello. They don't approve of us being friends. Stuff them, eh?
Anyway, I have to go now. My eagle is getting anoyed at me because I write too slow... I'm horrible in the mornings, but that's another story. Well, have a good day. I await your reply!
-D
Re-reading it made Ginny shiver. They were friends! She made haste to reply.
Draco,
Yeah. I just remembered to write back now! I'd love to meet up with you in Hogsmeade, that would be nice. Thanks for inviting me! Where will we meet? And I'm not too sure of the date we're going to Hogsmeade next... but sixth years are allowed to go to Hogsmeade on their own on the weekends, right? Since there isn't much Dark pressure at the moment I think sixth years are allowed to. So I can come with you on the weekend!
Say hello to Crabbe and Goyle from me, and tell them to keep their noses out of other people's business.
Oh, your eagle is beautiful. I've seen it at breakfast with the Owl Post. I'm borrowing Pig (Pigwideon, what a cute name! Don't you think?), Ronny's owl, for this letter.
Good day!
-Gin
There. She had finished. She went and grabbed Pig from Ron's dorm (luckily, no-one was there, and Pig was just sitting on the bed-post doing nothing) and she set him off.
"To Draco Malfoy," Ginny whispered, almost cooed, to Pig. He made a kind of face, if any. "Oh, come on, he's not as bad as you think. Now go."
Pig flew off.
Ginny went back down to the Common Room, and went back to sit next to Amelia again. She sat in the cushy, fluffy chair, and watched Amelia and George play chess. Amelia was not very good at chess, as she soon found out.
"Five to me, zero to you." George said, leaning back in his chair, with a satisfied smile on his face. "I think you need some practise." Ginny giggled.
"Ahh, stuff you." Amelia said, in her assortment of accents. "I haven't played chess for a while! And I'm not a sore loser!" She said the last part when George looked at her quizzically. Ginny kept giggling.
She looked around, and spotted Ron and Hermione, sitting at a table, Harry was nowhere to be seen. Their heads were bowed. Hermione's face, pretty and oval-shaped, was blushing a deep red, and partially hidden by her thick hair that was dropping across her face. They were obviously talking about something serious. Ginny quickly thought of something... she got her wand from her pocket and pointed to the couple, subtly so no-one could see, and whispered 'Toxifus'. Their conversation could be heard clearly in Ginny's ears, and she listened intently.
"...I don't know, Ron, how could we?" Hermione said, worriedly. Ginny still watched them, and their words fitted perfectly with how their lips moved.
"We have to! I can't go on like this, Ginny looks at us all weird and stuff, and I think some people might be catching on." Ron's tone of voice was annoyed.
"What would your mother say? Ron Weasley, I thought she taught you how to tell the truth..."
"You can't talk, keeping things from Harry and everything."
"Don't snap at me..."
"Yeah, well, you lied with the time-turner."
"Don't accuse me of lying! I just want to keep the peace. You know how Harry, Fred, George, Ginny, everyone would act if they knew we'd been together in secret. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Truth. This is what it all comes down to. You think about it, and then we'll see." Ron said, and Hermione left the table.
Ginny could still hear Hermione muttering to herself as she went up the stairs and into her dorm. She was humming to herself in her dorm, and Ginny shut the sound off her. Ron was sitting in silence, his head bowed. Then, he suddenly whispered 'Ahh', and he went to the fireplace at the head of the Common Room. Ginny thought this was a good time to shut the sound off him too, and whispered 'Rit'.
"EVERYBODY, LISTEN HERE PLEASE!" He yelled, and everyone went quiet except for a few giggly second years who were told to shut up. "Thanks. Umm... I called everyone to listen because I'd like to proclaim something, if I'm using that word in the right way," He laughed nervously, and a few shifted. "You may have noticed me and Hermione, e-hem, Hermione and myself acting strangely lately, and I want to tell you why... umm... Hermione and I have been secretly seeing each other for quite a while," Many people stared at Ron in disbelief, some even glared at him. Ginny was happy he came out with this information. Harry, who was sitting next to Fred with a book of Quidditch strategies on his lap, looked hurt. Ginny supposed this was an act because he already knew what was going on. "I'm sorry to say it like this, but ... umm ... it was just an impulse. Heh heh, a bit of a stupid one eh?" No laughter. "Umm.. I'll just be... stepping ... out now." He sidestepped towards the stairs, and galloped up them. The room exploded with chatter. Ginny turned to Amelia.
"Dear God," Amelia said, sarcastically. "That was a shock. I knew it was coming."
"You knew it was coming?! Ugh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this 'revelation'. I'm going to bed early. I can't be bothered staying up. G'night."
She travelled up the stairs to Hermione's dorm. She stopped at the door, and knocked. A muffled voice from inside called 'Come in,'. Ginny entered the room.
Hermione sat on her bed, with a book open on her lap. She had her finger running along a page, and was frowning. Her eyes were travelling along the page also.
"Hey Gin," Hermione said, still frowning at the book. "Whatcha doing up here?"
"Umm... Ron told everyone." Ginny said abruptly. Hermione looked up in shock.
"What? I don't know what you're taking about..." She busied herself by shutting the book and shuffling around to find a place to put it.
"No, Hermione, he told everyone about your secret liason, to put it bluntly." Ginny was making harsh sentences, but she had no other way of putting it.
"Oh. That. Well. I suppose it was for the best. Surprised?" She gave a short laugh, and wiped her eye, of which had leaked a tear earlier.
"Nah. I saw it when you came over in the summer. I forgive you, don't worry." Ginny said this while looking at Hermione closely. "And be warned, he told the whole house. You're going to get a whole lot of crap from people."
"Well," Hermione gave a look of relief, and smiled at Ginny. "At least I won't get curses like the Rita Skeeter thing and that rumour about me and Harry..."
They shared a laugh. Ginny felt the tension in the air release. Ginny bid goodbye, and Hermione stayed in her dorm looking rather sickly.
When Ginny had finally gotten to her dorm, Amelia was sitting on her bed, reading an Arithmancy booklet on how to do something-or-other. A reply for Ginny (hopefully from Draco) was resting on her pillow. Ginny went to get it, and Amelia spoke.
"Who's the letter from?" Her tone was curious, and like Hermione, she didn't look up from the book when she spoke to Ginny.
"Good ol' Draco." Ginny said simply. She picked the letter up and smiled. It was from Draco. She would open it later, not in front of Amelia. "Wasn't that a show Ron put on?"
"Oh yeah. Predictable though. You knew from Divination?" Amelia was looking at Ginny now, and tilted her head in question. She looked like a cocker spaniel all of a sudden.
"Nah. Me and Harry were looking for Hermione for some odd reason, I forget, but that's beside the point and we saw them in the forest near our house." Ginny shrugged. "Ahh well. All for one and one for all. It was in Ron's best interest, Hermione was getting annoyed at him."
"You listened in?" Ginny nodded to Amelia in reply. "Ahh. Great minds think alike. I listened in too. It's really privacy-invading but... anyway, that's why I lost so bloody badly in chess. I'm actually pretty good usually. I thought you were going to bed?"
Ginny remembered that she was going to get to bed, and got ready. Once she was about to get in the covers, she drew the curtains around her bed, and read her letter. Amelia, being the sleep-loving type, was already asleep.
Ginny,
Okay, I think we can meet safely (when no-one can see because of the Gryffindor/Slytherin thing) this weekend. I'm not sure though. We'll meet at the park bench in the Phillip the Good Memorial Park, if you want. The park bench under the tree near that shiny statue.
Uhh... I wouldn't say that to Crabbe or Goyle to ttheir faces, so I'm not going to pass the message on.
That owl is a MIDGET! It's cute though. And the name certainly is original.
Crabbe and Goyle are catching onto our letters, Goyle read a bit of one. He can't read very well, so we're lucky. I want these letters to be kept private. Hopefully, I'll see you in a corridor or something. Maybe the Transfiguration one now. Get my drift? Be quiet though.
-D
Ginny stood up. She undid the curtains of her bed, and went to get her dressing gown. No-one queried her, they were all asleep, so she safely slipped down to the Transfiguration classroom. She almost ran into Professor Flitwick, but she ducked behind a suit of armor and hid. When she arrived at the classroom, Draco was sitting on a chair, looking to the ground. When Ginny silently opened the door, he stood up.
"Hi," He said. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," She said breathlessly. She had to sprint the last few corridors. "You?"
"Good. You got my hint."
"Yup. Everyone was asleep, so I thought, 'what the heck', and I just came."
Draco stepped forward.
"So." He had an unusual expression on his face, one that Ginny had not seen before. "What about next weekend?"
"I can most likely come. But if I can't, I'll tell you." She shivered. "Well..."
"Well, did anyone see you coming here?" Draco asked, his face pale in the moonlight that was showering in the window.
"Nope. I nearly ran into Professor Flitwick though. I wonder what he's doing up at this hour...? Maybe he's visiting a lady-friend."
They laughed, and Ginny walked to the window.
"What're you doing?" Draco asked.
"I'm looking out the window, stupid." Ginny replied. "I haven't looked out of this one at night-time before." The Transfiguration window looked out onto the lake, and the moon shone in it like a massive pearl. The trees were casting weird shadows onto each other, and Hagrid's hut had a fire lit inside of it. She saw Hagrid pass the window, and looked around at Draco.
"Why don't you like Harry?"
Draco's forehead creased into a frown. He was obviously thinking hard.
"Bad vibes." Ginny giggled a bit. "We met in a shop at Diagon Alley, and we just haven't liked each other since then. Oh, and I called Ron a ruffian, and I called Hagrid an animal. Heh. Not very becoming. So we just don't like each other. He's an okay guy, but I don't like him cause he don't like me."
"Oh." Ginny said. They were silent for quite a while. Until...
"We're friends, right?" Draco suddenly asked.
"Yeah, why'd you ask?" Ginny said, tinging a bit pink.
"Wondering." Draco yawned. "I'm tired. Do we want to stay here or go back to our Common Rooms?"
"I don't know, what about you?"
"If you're tired too, then we'll go."
"Okay. Walk me to my Common Room?"
Draco agreed. They walked to the Gryffindor Common Room, more likely the Fat Lady's portrait.
"So this is where you get into Gryffindor Tower?" Asked Draco.
"Yup. Just gotta say the password, and I'll be in!" Ginny said cheerfully, but added "Don't tell anyone, or I'm in deep doo-doo."
Draco laughed. "O-okay. Well, I'll be going now. Bye."
"Bye," Ginny echoed. She waited until Draco was gone. "Jabberwocky." She said to the Fat Lady.
"Thanks for waking me up at this hour!" The Fat Lady yelled, shrilly, but luckily no-one awoke. Ginny waltzed up to her dorm on winged feet.
"So-- you're going somewhere with Draco?" Amelia asked the following day, before classes. "I can't believe it..."
"It's not that big a deal." Ginny said simply. "We're going for coffee and ... stuff."
"Ooooookay then. If you think so..." Amelia was looking at Ginny as if she was mad.
"Friendly-like." Ginny added.
"Oh. Okay. For now..." Amelia said cheekily, and dodged out of the way when Ginny aimed to smack her around the head.
*****
"Hello, my name's Cheyne and I'll be your waitress at the Cauldron Cafe for today. Are you ready to order?" A valley-girl looking waitress asked Ginny and Draco what they wanted for the day. Ginny ordered a coffee, and Draco did the same.
They gained many weird looks from people, and neither of them knew that they were being closely watched.
When their coffees had arrived, they sipped them lightly, and no-one spoke for a minute.
"Why aren't we speaking?" Draco asked all of a sudden.
"I dunno. You tell me..." Ginny's cheeks prickled for no reason.
"Well, do you think we should talk about stuff instead of sitting here drinking coffee and being silent?"
"Fair enough." Ginny said, shrugging. "What are we going to talk about?"
"I dunno. You tell me." Draco replied, grinning.
"Where have I heard that before?" Ginny said, putting her finger on her chin in mock wondering.
"Geez, I don't know." Draco said, in tune. "Umm.. that wasn't a conversation, was it?"
"Shut up, conversations are supposed to come up naturally." Ginny said, looking into her coffee. She pretended it was a crystal ball. "Do you do Divination?" She asked, still staring into the coffee glass.
"Yes. Why?"
"Seen anything yet?"
"Yeah, a whole lot of nothing. Wow."
"No, I mean see. Inner Eye." Ginny looked up from the glass. "I see stuff quite a bit. Got no idea what it means though."
"Yeah."
"What was it?"
"I saw... kind of a dragon sort of thing. Unusual. Professor Trelawney said it was the inner sub-conscious of my child aspirations or something." He looked to his feet. "Bloody cow. I doubt I ever really thought about a dragon in an admiring way when I was a kid at all."
"Have you ever read the comic series 'Rocko the Dragon Trainer'?" Ginny asked. "Ron used to read them all the time, then he shifted onto that Mad Muggle character... they're stacked all over his room at home. It's terrible."
"Uhh... I've got some comics at the manor, but I don't know. I've got a few varieties of series'."
"Fair enough. Comics never interested me, although there was a series of manga that could only be found at Diagon Alley that I particularly liked. It was called Sailormoon Super S, or something like that."
"What's Sailormoon?"
"Oh, it's wonderful, it's about these eleven girls who are have superhero names after the planets, plus the moon and a smaller version of the moon, and they have powers and they fight against the Black Moon and they have magical cats that can talk and all this stuff happens."
Draco laughed. "Really."
"You don't believe eleven girls can do that kind of thing?" Ginny sparked.
He laughed again. "No."
"Well you should read it, you might learn something." She said proudly.
They sat silent for a minute which seemed like an hour.
"Was that a conversation?" Draco queried, looking up meekly.
Ginny smiled. "On theoretical terms, I'd say... yes. It was."
"You talked about comics? What were you thinking??!" Amelia stood, her hands on her hips, in the dorm.
"Well, it came up naturally. We didn't know what to talk about. Geez, I don't know." Ginny stacked two extra robes into her trunk for the day. "Wait, I know a better subject, how about toilet jokes! Yeah, that would be splendid..."
"Tell me you're joking." Ginny sniggered and Amelia glared at her. "I need to teach you things. I really do."
"Ahh well. That's life." Ginny grinned widely. "At least I'm getting some action!" Ginny ducked from a pillow that flew from Amelia's way and giggled evilly.
*****
The woman with the long, curlish blonde hair looked upon the smoky black crystal ball and smiled. It was all going to plan. Lucius Malfoy had been in contact with her and told of his son's affections with the red-headed girl, and the wheels were in motion.
She had emptied her hidden shack of the dead bodies and buried them outside, like a mass grave. But Maya knew that in time the room would be full of the souls again. It was a pasttime of hers... she owed it to her fellow late Death Eaters and Voldemort followers. But ever since Voldemort had been slain by that meddling fool Dumbledore, Maya's hatred for the old coot had grown even more, if that could be possible. She made her prayers to him, like he was a god, every morning and night, and killed animals for sacrifices. She wished the good old days would return, when killing anti-Voldemort campaignists were killed by the handful. Some day she would get her revenge. Some day... and that day would be whenever she felt neccesary.
But now was the time for praying to the dead Voldemort.
"Voldemort. By the light of your evil I will live through troubled times. I swear alleigance to you forever and on. Thank-you. Voldemort."
Anyone who would have seen her then might have thought her insane, but she was very clever, with what left of her conscience she had. Maya excelled especially in Divination and Astronomy, so looking through her crystal ball she could see practically anything she wanted to. Voldemort had used this to its full extent, and Maya herself was used as part of the Potter plan, with her infamous crystal ball.
She lay down on her bed, made of wood and hardly comfortable at all, and fell asleep with her hair draping across her face. A slight breeze blew in from the open window, and she dreamed of the good days when Voldemort was in power and all was well.
To be continued!
-My fanfiction-
Author's Note:
It's fun writing evil characters, but it's really really fun writing INSANE evil characters! Writing this took too long because of school and everything. I apologise. Well, hope you enjoyed reading about my lovely evil character! Any comments on the elusive Ginny/Draco thang will be welcomed with open arms.