Author's note: OMG, thank you so much the people who wrote reviews!
Disclaimer- Nope, I still don't own any of it.
Ginny hovered outside the portrait hole of the Gryffindor rooms, waiting for someone to come and tell her the password. She had forgotten it already, because she had been too busy thinking about the Potters and Professor Riddle.
"Its 'Chudley Cannons'" Neville told her proudly when he arrived.
"How'd you remember?"
"I've got it written on my hand."
"You can't write it down Neville." She chided. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you wrote the passwords out? The Slytherins broke in and painted the boy's dorms pink."
"It's in magic ink," he explained indignantly. "Only I can see it." He held up a chubby hand, which appeared to be password free, as proof.
"Oh. I'm sorry Neville," she said, stepping through the portal.
She passed Harry in the common room. He was by the fire, doing his Prediction homework. "Hmm. I die young, leaving no children." He muttered to himself, scribbling away. "That should satisfy her."
She headed for the stairs to the boy's dorm.
"You can't go up there." Harry objected, looking up from his book. His glasses dangled at the edge of his nose, and he pushed them back. It was a gesture that Ginny had seen many times, but something seemed very wrong with the picture. She rubbed her eyes, and decided that she was just tired.
Seamus, who was standing on the stairs, raised his eyebrows at her suggestively. "You can come up to our room if you want, Little Weasley."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pushed past him.
"Ron!" she called. "I need to talk to you!"
There was a muffled curse from the regions of Ron's bed. "Just a second!" he called back. There was a sound like someone scrambling for clothes inside, punctuated by several muffled giggles and regular 'shhh's.
He eventually tumbled out and snapped the curtains closed behind him before she could see in. He turned to her, trying to look nonchalant, running a hand through his messed up ginger hair. "What is it?"
"Ron," she glanced over at the bed. She was sure she could hear someone moving around in there. "When Harry was dropped off at the station, the people there to see him off" she paused for effect "were his parents."
"His parents." Ron repeated slowly. "Gee, Ginny. That's really weird."
She nodded. "I know-"
"Ginny." He interrupted gently. "Harry's parents are always there to see him off at the station. The Potters are the most devoted parents at Hogwarts."
"No!" she insisted. "They're not! Harry's parents are dead! They have been for fifteen years! You-Know-who killed them!"
"Ginny, are you feeling okay? Harry's parents are fine. They can't be dead, or they would have had trouble seeing Harry off. And who's You-Know-Who?"
"Voldemort!" she whispered urgently, shuddering at his name. "Tom Riddle!"
"Tom Riddle?" Ron shook his head. "Ginny, I don't know what you're playing at but there is no possible way that Harry's parents were murdered fifteen years ago by our new DADA professor. Tom Riddle is a pillar of the community. One of Hogwarts' greatest ever graduates. And a great teacher."
"It's all wrong." She whispered. "Why can't you see that - isn't that Hermione's robe you're wearing?"
He looked down at his robe. It was a girls robe with a silver P on it, and he wasn't a prefect. "Um. That's because.because." he stammered, searching for an explanation she would swallow.
Any slim chance he had of getting out of that situation gracefully was ripped to shreds by a peal of hysterical laughter from within the curtains of his bed.
"No, Ginny!" he said, but she flung back the curtains, to reveal Hermione, wrapped in Ron's robe, sitting on his bed.
"Hi Ginny." She said lamely, turning bright red.
Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione. "How long have you been together?" she asked.
Ron frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "We've been together since the second year. She came to stay with us this summer." He informed her. Hermione slid over closer and he put an arm around her waist. "Don't you remember?"
"Are you feeling okay Ginny?" Hermione queried, concerned. "You seem a bit. confused."
"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing." Ron suggested.
"I'll go with you." Hermione offered.
"Perhaps you should change out of my robe first." Ron said with an affectionate grin
"Okay. But you'll have to give me mine." She giggled.
"Ugh." Ginny said, turning her back. "You two are disgusting. I'll go by myself."
Ginny sighed and picked up an ancient copy of 'Teen Witch'. The cover promised to give her nine ways to tell if she was under a love spell, and the hottest new robes for summer.
There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her, but they were making her stay for a few days because memory lapses and hallucinations were not to be taken lightly.
"Ginny," someone said. She looked up from the love spell article. Harry was standing by her bed, weighed down with several heavy tomes. "Professor Riddle sent me to give you these. He said that since you can't attend class, you should study instead. Because, I quote 'you don't want to get behind in this subject'"
"He said that?" she squeaked. Was it some kind of threat?
"Yeah." Harry picked up the discarded magazine and scanned the love spell article. "Hmm. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Looks like Cho's got me under a spell." He flashed her an adorable grin and dropped the books on the bedside table. "Don't work too hard," he warned, before leaving.
What was that about Cho? She wondered, looking at the article again.
Do you think about the person at least twice daily?
Do you suddenly, inexplicably want to see them sometimes?
Do you have no qualms about letting people know how you feel about the person?
Do you plan your life with them years into the future?
Do you find everything about them, even their bad qualities, absolutely adorable?
Do you find yourself willing to do things for them that you wouldn't do for other people- carry books, cook, etc?
Is a large part of your day spent thinking up ways to impress them?
Do you have a picture of them in your wallet/cupboard/bedroom that you can't stop staring at?
Did your feelings for them emerge out of nowhere?
Ginny sighed and threw the magazine on the floor.
Ginny rubbed her eyes and yawned. The room was still in darkness, and her watch said that it was one o'clock in the morning (one oh seven to be exact) but she could hear whispers coming from somewhere.
"I doubt that this location is very safe. What if someone hears us?"
"Dumbledore has a lot of security around since the Philosopher's stone arrived at the school. There are experienced wizards hidden amongst the students, a big black dog patrolling the grounds and guards in invisibility cloaks walking the halls. You wouldn't know that they are there until they sounded the alarm. This is the only safe place."
"But, the patients?"
"They've been given sleeping potions. They won't wake till noon."
Oh, was that what that was? Ginny thought sleepily. She had only pretended to drink hers, as it tasted awful.
"We could go out to the grounds, by the lake?"
"If we went there, we'd trip over every couple at Hogwarts. That annoying weasel and his know-it-all girlfriend would report us immediately."
"Are you sure they'd be out there?"
"I've been watching the comings and goings of those kids since day one. Trust me, they're always out there."
"Fine, but I'll have your head on a silver platter if we get sprung."
"My lord, I know everything that goes on in this castle. This is by far the most secure place."
Ginny's eyes closed. She was trying to figure out who the voices were, but she was fighting against a fog of fatigue that enveloped her. She drifted off to sleep again.
So she didn't hear one of the voices say
"The Weasley girl. Ginny. She knows that something is not right here. Either fix the problem, or kill her."
Disclaimer- Nope, I still don't own any of it.
Ginny hovered outside the portrait hole of the Gryffindor rooms, waiting for someone to come and tell her the password. She had forgotten it already, because she had been too busy thinking about the Potters and Professor Riddle.
"Its 'Chudley Cannons'" Neville told her proudly when he arrived.
"How'd you remember?"
"I've got it written on my hand."
"You can't write it down Neville." She chided. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you wrote the passwords out? The Slytherins broke in and painted the boy's dorms pink."
"It's in magic ink," he explained indignantly. "Only I can see it." He held up a chubby hand, which appeared to be password free, as proof.
"Oh. I'm sorry Neville," she said, stepping through the portal.
She passed Harry in the common room. He was by the fire, doing his Prediction homework. "Hmm. I die young, leaving no children." He muttered to himself, scribbling away. "That should satisfy her."
She headed for the stairs to the boy's dorm.
"You can't go up there." Harry objected, looking up from his book. His glasses dangled at the edge of his nose, and he pushed them back. It was a gesture that Ginny had seen many times, but something seemed very wrong with the picture. She rubbed her eyes, and decided that she was just tired.
Seamus, who was standing on the stairs, raised his eyebrows at her suggestively. "You can come up to our room if you want, Little Weasley."
Ginny rolled her eyes and pushed past him.
"Ron!" she called. "I need to talk to you!"
There was a muffled curse from the regions of Ron's bed. "Just a second!" he called back. There was a sound like someone scrambling for clothes inside, punctuated by several muffled giggles and regular 'shhh's.
He eventually tumbled out and snapped the curtains closed behind him before she could see in. He turned to her, trying to look nonchalant, running a hand through his messed up ginger hair. "What is it?"
"Ron," she glanced over at the bed. She was sure she could hear someone moving around in there. "When Harry was dropped off at the station, the people there to see him off" she paused for effect "were his parents."
"His parents." Ron repeated slowly. "Gee, Ginny. That's really weird."
She nodded. "I know-"
"Ginny." He interrupted gently. "Harry's parents are always there to see him off at the station. The Potters are the most devoted parents at Hogwarts."
"No!" she insisted. "They're not! Harry's parents are dead! They have been for fifteen years! You-Know-who killed them!"
"Ginny, are you feeling okay? Harry's parents are fine. They can't be dead, or they would have had trouble seeing Harry off. And who's You-Know-Who?"
"Voldemort!" she whispered urgently, shuddering at his name. "Tom Riddle!"
"Tom Riddle?" Ron shook his head. "Ginny, I don't know what you're playing at but there is no possible way that Harry's parents were murdered fifteen years ago by our new DADA professor. Tom Riddle is a pillar of the community. One of Hogwarts' greatest ever graduates. And a great teacher."
"It's all wrong." She whispered. "Why can't you see that - isn't that Hermione's robe you're wearing?"
He looked down at his robe. It was a girls robe with a silver P on it, and he wasn't a prefect. "Um. That's because.because." he stammered, searching for an explanation she would swallow.
Any slim chance he had of getting out of that situation gracefully was ripped to shreds by a peal of hysterical laughter from within the curtains of his bed.
"No, Ginny!" he said, but she flung back the curtains, to reveal Hermione, wrapped in Ron's robe, sitting on his bed.
"Hi Ginny." She said lamely, turning bright red.
Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione. "How long have you been together?" she asked.
Ron frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "We've been together since the second year. She came to stay with us this summer." He informed her. Hermione slid over closer and he put an arm around her waist. "Don't you remember?"
"Are you feeling okay Ginny?" Hermione queried, concerned. "You seem a bit. confused."
"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing." Ron suggested.
"I'll go with you." Hermione offered.
"Perhaps you should change out of my robe first." Ron said with an affectionate grin
"Okay. But you'll have to give me mine." She giggled.
"Ugh." Ginny said, turning her back. "You two are disgusting. I'll go by myself."
Ginny sighed and picked up an ancient copy of 'Teen Witch'. The cover promised to give her nine ways to tell if she was under a love spell, and the hottest new robes for summer.
There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her, but they were making her stay for a few days because memory lapses and hallucinations were not to be taken lightly.
"Ginny," someone said. She looked up from the love spell article. Harry was standing by her bed, weighed down with several heavy tomes. "Professor Riddle sent me to give you these. He said that since you can't attend class, you should study instead. Because, I quote 'you don't want to get behind in this subject'"
"He said that?" she squeaked. Was it some kind of threat?
"Yeah." Harry picked up the discarded magazine and scanned the love spell article. "Hmm. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Looks like Cho's got me under a spell." He flashed her an adorable grin and dropped the books on the bedside table. "Don't work too hard," he warned, before leaving.
What was that about Cho? She wondered, looking at the article again.
Do you think about the person at least twice daily?
Do you suddenly, inexplicably want to see them sometimes?
Do you have no qualms about letting people know how you feel about the person?
Do you plan your life with them years into the future?
Do you find everything about them, even their bad qualities, absolutely adorable?
Do you find yourself willing to do things for them that you wouldn't do for other people- carry books, cook, etc?
Is a large part of your day spent thinking up ways to impress them?
Do you have a picture of them in your wallet/cupboard/bedroom that you can't stop staring at?
Did your feelings for them emerge out of nowhere?
Ginny sighed and threw the magazine on the floor.
Ginny rubbed her eyes and yawned. The room was still in darkness, and her watch said that it was one o'clock in the morning (one oh seven to be exact) but she could hear whispers coming from somewhere.
"I doubt that this location is very safe. What if someone hears us?"
"Dumbledore has a lot of security around since the Philosopher's stone arrived at the school. There are experienced wizards hidden amongst the students, a big black dog patrolling the grounds and guards in invisibility cloaks walking the halls. You wouldn't know that they are there until they sounded the alarm. This is the only safe place."
"But, the patients?"
"They've been given sleeping potions. They won't wake till noon."
Oh, was that what that was? Ginny thought sleepily. She had only pretended to drink hers, as it tasted awful.
"We could go out to the grounds, by the lake?"
"If we went there, we'd trip over every couple at Hogwarts. That annoying weasel and his know-it-all girlfriend would report us immediately."
"Are you sure they'd be out there?"
"I've been watching the comings and goings of those kids since day one. Trust me, they're always out there."
"Fine, but I'll have your head on a silver platter if we get sprung."
"My lord, I know everything that goes on in this castle. This is by far the most secure place."
Ginny's eyes closed. She was trying to figure out who the voices were, but she was fighting against a fog of fatigue that enveloped her. She drifted off to sleep again.
So she didn't hear one of the voices say
"The Weasley girl. Ginny. She knows that something is not right here. Either fix the problem, or kill her."