MIDORI – Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I own Myleene, Kym, Jason and the plot. Everything else is JKR's.
Ginny rubbed her temples and stared at the test in front of her. 'Professor Snape sure must be angry to give us a test like this…' Ginny thought to herself. She looked around. 'Damn! Everyone else seems to know what they're doing… maybe I should've studied instead of going out last night…'
"TIME UP! Hand in your test, please and forward out. NOW!" Professor Snape barked. Ginny looked down at her empty test paper.
'Uh-oh…'
*~*~*~*~*
Ron paced in front of a sobbing Ginny. "Gin?" he asked. "Why… I mean, how did you fail that test? Apparently everyone else got almost top marks!" which made Ginny sob even more.
Hermione placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Gin? Did you study?" Ginny shook her head. "Well…" huffed Hermione. "No wonder you failed! What were you doing instead?" Ginny opened her mouth to answer but a voice came from behind Ron.
"She went out, didn't you, Gin?" Harry asked softly, not wanting to meet her eyes. Ginny looked shocked but nodded mutely. Harry sat down next to her and looked her in the eye, saying his next comment slowly. "I think… that you should stop hanging out with Jason." Ginny opened her mouth to object but, once again, someone was too fast for her.
"Typical!" Jason scoffed. "Wanna take her away from us, do you?" Kym and Myleene were standing behind him, looking like how Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle usually looked like. Harry stood defiantly.
"No, I'm trying to look out for her best interests. If she's failing her schoolwork because she's going out with you then-"
"Then it's none of your business!" Jason shouted, attracting the attention of everyone in the common room. "You're not the boss of her. If she wants to hang out with us, then let her!" he added in a quieter voice.
"No," Harry shook his head. "I don't have control over Ginny, nor did I ever say I did. But her mother and father do and I think that as soon as they find out what type of lifestyle you've led Ginny into, they'll soon ban her from you lot as well!" his eyes sparkled with anger and Jason's eyes met his – green sparks fighting with blue flames.
Ginny stood up and touched Harry on the shoulder and he turned towards her, his eyes begging her to listen to him. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I like them and I'm fine. It's only one bad mark. I'll make up for it. So you two can relax, OK?"
Harry looked thoroughly pissed off and Jason, Kym and Myleene looked relieved and ecstatic. Harry sighed and stomped up to his dorm, Hermione and Ron following in the same direction.
Jason hugged Ginny. "Thank God," he whispered into her hair. "I thought we were gonna lose you!"
Myleene watched the scene. 'He hasn't gotten over her. Perhaps we'll use it to our advantage. And we can still kill the idiot – Harry, Ginny and Jason.' She grinned appreciatively as the plan formed in her mind.
'I'll tell Voldemort tomorrow. He shall be pleased.'
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny lay in bed that night, thinking about what Harry had said. That they were a distraction, that they were pulling her away from those who loved her, that they were a bad influence, that they were deceiving her. She remembered the relief on Jason's face, as well as Myleene and Kym, and the disappointment on Harry's.
'As soon as they find out what type of lifestyle you've led Ginny into, they'll soon ban her from you lot as well!'
Ginny scowled. Who did Harry think he was, trying to control her life like that? She rolled over and pulled out several capsules from her drawer. She got up and walked towards the sink, swallowing the ecstasy in one. She was overcome with a wave of happiness and deep calm. She also felt independent.
'I don't need Harry, Ron or Hermione. I don't need J, Kym or Myleene. Nor Mum or Dad. I don't need anyone.'
"DO YOU HEAR ME?" she shouted out loud, waking up the entire tower. "I DON'T NEED YOU!"
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny sat in the common room, grumbling. She had ten minutes before she had to go to detention for 'disturbing the peace'. 'Rules were made for breaking – nothing ventured nothing gained.' She grumbled. She watched someone sit down next to her and she looked up. 'Great…' she thought. 'Harry.'
"Hey, Gin…" he said uncertainly. She snorted in reply. "I don't understand why you're angry with me… I mean, didn't do anything but try to help-"
"You didn't do anything but try to take control of my life!" she snarled and Harry shrank back. "You hardly know me yet you think that you can go ahead and try to interfere with my life!"
"I know more about you than you think I do," he whispered.
"Really?" she scoffed. "Tell me everything about me then."
"Well, you love purple and blue but you don't go much for yellow. You love apple pie with an extra dollop of cream but you're allergic to nuts. You…"
"Whoa!" she interrupted and looked at Harry as if seeing him for the first time. "You notice that stuff?"
"You're really smart but lately, you've been getting pretty bad grades." He stopped talking and looked at her before he continued. "And I can tell that you're about to be in major trouble."
She shook herself out of her reverie and stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned and her eyes widened as Harry took one of her hands with the both of his.
"Gin," he said quietly, looking her right in the eye, "you have no idea what you're putting your body through. One minute, you're absolutely healthy and good-natured, the next you're taking ecstasy and God knows what other drugs, as well as smoking and drinking and being forever moody. You-" he said and he was cut off yet again.
SLAP!
"Don't you dare tell me how to live my life!" Ginny stood up while Harry's eyes were wide with shock and his hand clutching the area where she had slapped him. She bent down towards him. "You have no idea what goes on in that world because, even though you're big, brave Harry Potter, you're too darn scared to get out and try it! Well, guess what, Harry? I'm my own person! I don't need people like you and Ron telling me what to do and when to do it. And I'm trying out the world that people that don't need others live in and you wanna know something? I love it, Harry! So keep your trap shut and nose out of my damn business!" With that, she stood up and, with one last defiant stare towards Harry, swept out of the common room, closing the portrait hole behind her.
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny stomped towards McGonagall's office to serve her detention but everything that Harry said suddenly made sense. Her grades had been going down and she had barely spoken to anyone but Jason, Kym and Myleene since they got here. She noticed people giving her dirty looks and skirting her in the corridors and people whispering behind their hands. Perhaps what Harry said was really meant to make her sit up and take notice of what she was doing to herself, to her life.
She stopped walking towards the office and turned and ran towards the bathroom. She burst in, scaring a few girls, and stared at herself in the mirror. Gone was the pretty girl of fourteen, with her soft, deep brown eyes and happy smile. There was a girl, who looked at least twenty, with hard eyes that looked like they had seen all the horrors of the world. And there was no smile, but a permanent frown, although at that very moment, her eyes were wide with shock, mouth hanging wide open.
'Ginny,' A tear slid down the cheek of the empty face staring back at her. 'What have you done to yourself?'
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny ran into her dorm, quickly changed and threw herself at her bed, rolling herself into a comfortable position. She stared at the canopy but her eyes weren't seeing. They were hazy and unfocused, yet her mind was clear. She had been in the wrong and owed everyone who had tried to say something to her an apology. Especially Harry.
She had been slowly killing herself. Sooner or later, she was bound to have overdosed on ecstasy, her favourite. It brought her to such highs and she knew it would be a painful process to kick the habit of reaching out and swallowing it when she needed to feel the rush of energy.
And the cigarettes! How many had she had? 'Who knows? Who cares?' she thought miserably. 'I wouldn't be surprised if Harry never spoke to me again, the way I've been acting!' Her jaw was set and her mind made up.
She was going to save herself, no matter what the cost.
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny crawled down the stairs. She found it amazing that she really couldn't get by without ecstasy for so long. She rolled herself up into a ball as she sat on the lounge in the common room and groaned. Then she noticed Jason running towards her.
"Man!" he shouted as he approached her. "That detention really did it to ya, eh?"
"Oh…" she remembered her detention. "Yeah, I'm so knackered now…"
"Cool!" he looked ecstatic. "Wanna go out for a drink? It's Saturday, club's open…"
"NO!" she shouted. That was the last thing she needed in her state. Jason looked shocked and a little hurt. "Ummm… I mean, no thanks. I just feel like lounging around today. In fact, I have some things to do, so I'll see you later!" she quickly got up, resulting in another groan and hobbled over to the fifth year boy's dorm.
Jason watched her walk away and his fists clenched. 'She's gone to see Potter. I can tell.'
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny tentatively knocked on the door. She heard a knock, a crack, an 'ouch!', and then the door opened to reveal Neville Longbottom - in his pyjamas. 'Whoa!' she thought. 'And I thought I slept late!'
"Hi, Gin!" he stuttered. "Are… you here to-to see Ron?"
"Uh…" she paused. "Well, yes. Can I come in?"
"Oh…" he turned around, looked at the room and probably the boys in it and turned back to Ginny, a nervous smile on his face. "Can you come back in ten minutes? Some of us are-"
"Sure!" she answered quickly. She didn't want to know how the others were. She turned and ambled back to her dorm to neaten up her things and get changed. She looked at her wardrobe and shuddered. 'Have I really been walking around in these clothes?' she thought incredulously. She shook her head and threw them in the bin.
"GIN!" Kym screamed. She approached Ginny, shock and disbelief written on her face. "Wh-what are you doing?"
"Turning over a new leaf." She continued sorting through all her clothes. "Or rather, turning back over to the old one." She smiled at Kym and watched as the door opened to reveal an angry Myleene.
"Can you believe the nerve of that Sna-" she started complaining and watched Ginny with wide eyes. She looked over to Kym who was watching Ginny with mild fascination and severe distaste.
"Gin?" Myleene tapped Ginny on the shoulder. Ginny didn't move, so Myleene tried a different tact. 'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" she barked. Ginny jumped and turned around. Then she stood up, eyes wild with anger.
"What the hell am I doing? Don't you see what you're doing? I'm trying to save myself! All this drinking and smoking and drugs – it's killing us and I don't want to die now. I love my life I'm having fu-"
"You're having fun, Ginny, because of the drugs, smoking and drinking-" Myleene cut in. Ginny shook her head in disbelief.
"See? Can you see what I'm getting at? We're fourteen, we're too young to go out clubbing and stuff like that. We're too young to drink and it's so bad to-"
"My, God, woman!" Myleene interrupted. "Can you hear yourself? You sound like bloody Mother Teresa! (A/N: Just remember, I respect Mother Teresa and what she did but Myleene and kym are the type of people [at least in this story] who don't. Mother Teresa - RIP) you're not going to freaking save the world! You'll be of no major loss to everyone else. And think about it – you're going to die eventually anyway! What's the point in being a good girl?"
"The point is so you can make a difference! You saw what Mother Teresa did-"
"And no one else can do what she did, so give it up, Gin!" Kym cut in. "Are you in or out?" her eyes bore into Ginny like a drill and, when she turned to Myleene, she noticed the same look. 'Obviously, I'm not welcome anymore…'
"Out."
*~*~*~*~*
A few minutes after that confrontation, Ginny walked back towards the boy's dorm. She knocked on the door and stepped inside. The boys were actually pretty neat, or maybe the house elves just came and cleaned up. She noticed that only one boy as in the room - Harry.
"Harry?" she whispered and he looked up, eyes narrowing when he saw who it was. "Can I talk to you… please?"
He cleared his throat and shrugged. She knew he would go pretty easy on her, but she also knew that the situation would've been much better if she didn't slap him. She walked towards the bed and sat down.
"I'm sorry!" she blurted out. He looked at her in amazement. Of everything she could've said, he did not expect it to be that. He thought that she would try to convince him to go out with her sometime. He wrapped his arms around the sobbing Ginny.
"Oh, Gin…" he whispered into her hair. "It's OK. You'll make it through and you'll have everyone here to help you!"
She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly felt one of the most wonderful feelings ever. She felt a floating sensation as though very thought and worry in her head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. And somewhere, deep in her mind, where she had control over herself, she recognised the feeling. The Imperius Curse.
'Insult him! Hurt him!' the curse spoke to her. The problem was, she couldn't fight it. She'd have to do what it told her to do. And she was crying inside.
"Piss off, Harry!" she shouted as she pushed Harry off of her. Harry looked surprised. 'Man! I didn't think her mood swings were that bad!' Harry shook his head.
"Gin-"
"Don't 'Gin' me! I can't believe I actually apologised to an orphan like you." She stood up and Harry looked positively angry now and sat up on his bed. She shuddered. "What was I thinking?" and she ran from the room, leaving an incensed Harry behind.
*~*~*~*~*
Kym looked over Myleene's shoulder and whispered, "Did it work?"
Myleene kept muttering to herself and Jason hit Kym on the arm. "You're not supposed to distract her! Otherwise the spell will be broken and Ginny will be in control again!" Kym nodded, understanding.
Then, Myleene opened her eyes, turned to the others and grinned. "Done."
As if on cue, Ginny raced from the boy's dorm, red hair flying and face covered in tears.
Ginny collapsed on the bed, now regaining control of her body and cried. She couldn't believe that she had said that to Harry, but, of course, it wasn't really her. 'Harry doesn't know that.' She thought miserably. She had a sudden idea. 'Today was not a good day to stop…'
With that, she slowly opened her drawer and hesitated before taking out four of the pills inside.
She swallowed them in one.
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny rolled over. She looked groggily at her watch. 5:00AM. 'Damn…' she thought. 'Must've dozed off. Guess I'll get up. Do some of the homework I was supposed to do last night.'
She got up and fumbled around for her slippers, picked up her bag and turned to exit the dorm. She noticed that Myleene and Kym's beds were empty. She shrugged and continued walking down the stairs. She sat down at a table and worked for about five minutes before her mind turned to more important issues. It all came back to her, quite suddenly.
The issue with Jason, Kym and Myleene. Her sudden outburst towards Harry and the hurt and anger evident in his eyes when she had made that stupid comment. She rested her head against Standard Book of Spells (Grade 4) and she felt a familiar sting in the corners of her.
Her life had turned upside down. Harry was right. She should've been content with her life the way it was. She had a family who loved her and a group of friends that understood and cared for her. She had been happy, but not happy enough.
Somehow, she had managed to find more happiness in a corrupt life of drugs and alcohol, with three friends who she barely knew and who barely knew her. She had barely seen her former friends and, when she did, they whispered behind their hands, evidently gossiping about her.
She wiped the tears threatening to fall furiously and sniffed, reaching for the box of tissues lying on the table when her head suddenly jerked up. She had heard footsteps. 'Who on earth would wake up at five o'clock in the morning?' she wondered. Then she saw the front of a broomstick and she mentally slapped herself. 'Duh, Gin,' she thought furiously. 'Quidditch practice!'
She stood up and gathered her things, praying that it was not Harry who was the owner of the broomstick. She grabbed a tissue, turning her head behind her to check if she left anything behind and, while she was doing that, she was not paying attention to where she was going and bumped straight into the owner of the broomstick.
"Oof!" Harry gasped as some ran right into him. 'Who the hell is up at five o'clock in the morning?' he noticed red hair.
"Ron?" he questioned. The person stirred and he noticed that it was long red hair. He sighed. "Ginny?" she looked up, fear in her eyes and she coughed and stood up, brushing off her robes.
"Sorry, Harry." She whispered. "I guess I didn't see where I was going…"
"Well, that's obvious." he sneered and immediately wished he could take it back. Her eyes began to shine and she sniffed. 'Crap!' he thought. 'She's going to cry.'
"Gin?" he said out loud. "Look, I-" she looked up and he saw that she had already begun to cry. "Gin…" he whispered.
"Forget it, Harry." She mumbled. She looked up, right into his eyes and her breath caught in her throat. She hated and loved those eyes all at once. She held back a sob and screamed while she ran. "Just forget it!"
*~*~*~*~*
Jason stood in the stairway, watching the scene unfold. He was happy, angry and sad, all at once. He was happy because it seemed to him that Ginny and Harry would never get together. He was angry because Harry had made her cry. And he was sad because it seemed that Ginny's affections still lay with Harry.
'Damn bastard.'
He stood and walked back towards his dorm and looked out of the window in his room, hoping to see something that would take his mind off Ginny. His eyes narrowed when they fell on two figures flying on broomsticks flying towards him. He opened the window as soon as he identified them as Kym and Myleene. Myleene neared him while Kym hovered further away.
"We're going to Master to tell him how the operation is going. Keep Ginny away from Potter for now. And make sure you don't let anything slip or else he'll kill you." She explained and flew away, Kym following her.
He sighed. He buried his head in his hands and rubbed his face and stretched it. He was sick of pretending. He knew that if he ever felt like telling Ginny the truth, he would and then he would be killed.
Then, God, let him die.
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny almost spat out her scrambled eggs as she laughed at Jason's joke. She was glad that he understood her feelings about quitting their type of lifestyle. He told her that he was wondering if she would ever figure that out, even though he said he wished she never did. She was happy to have a friend like him.
He looked at her Transfiguration book. Animagi.
"Hey, Gin?" he asked. "If you could become an Animagus, what animal would you be?"
"A turtle." She replied immediately. He raised his eyebrows at her and she grinned before she looked down towards her plate. She laughed. "Sounds stupid but I've always liked turtles. I used to have one as a pet before my brothers, well… you don't want to know…"
Jason laughed. "I don't know what I'd want to be actually. I guess that means I'd prefer to be human."
She grinned again at him and he felt as if all the weight of the world had been lifted with just her smile.
Then why did he feel so goddamn rotten?
*~*~*~*~*
"Master, I fear that we may be losing Jason. He seems to have fallen hard for the Weasley and has just tried to hide his feelings for her …" Myleene explained. Voldemort snarled and Nagini hissed and wriggled towards the girls who both took a step back. Voldemort hissed and Nagini turned and slithered back towards him.
"Well then kill him." He suggested simply.
"Ah," began Myleene. "But I thought, maybe we could use it for our advantage." Voldemort nodded, a sign for her to continue. She took a deep breath. "Well, J loves Ginny and so does Potter. So if we kidnapped Gin, J and Potter would come for her, maybe even the rest of the Weasleys would tag along. We lure them here, J and Potter fight for her and kill each other or something and we kill the rest. Everyone here would be dead!" she finished with a flourish and a grin.
Voldemort was very quiet and Myleene began to worry. If he didn't like the idea, she'd have to kill Jason.
He began to smile. "Well, if you can pull it off, go ahead. That is all." He turned and walked away.
Kym and Myleene grinned and grabbed the broomsticks. They flew back elated and wondering when to execute their plan.
*~*~*~*~*
Ginny sat, looking at the chessboard, wondering whether to move her knight or her bishop. She picked up her bishop and moved it three places diagonally. She captured Jason's queen and looked up grinning. He grin faded when she saw him grinning. She looked at the board and groaned. Jason picked up his knight and moved it down towards her king in an L-shape.
"Checkmate." He smiled and put the pieces away. She looked up after he was done to catch him yawning.
"I'm done for tonight." He muttered. "See you tomorrow, Gin." He grabbed her hand, smiled and walked away. She looked around and noticed that the common room was empty. She sighed and heaved herself up. She was still feeling like crap, having not made up with Harry and not giving up on ecstasy yet. It just felt too darn good when she was on it.
She heard the portrait door open and Kym and Myleene stepped into the room, spotted Ginny and smiled. Ginny tried to avoid their eyes but she squealed as one of them grabbed her shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.
"Gin!" Kym looked pleasantly surprised to see her but Ginny could see past the façade. There was something up and she knocked Kym over and ran for the girl's staircase, before she was knocked to the ground by Myleene.
"Not so fast, Weasley." She grunted and she tried to hold onto the writhing Ginny. she smiled when she turned her over and saw that Ginny was crying.
"What do you want?" Ginny wailed.
Myleene smiled and looked over to Kym who looked amused. Myleene looked back towards Ginny who gasped. Myleene was no longer a pretty girl with purple hair. She looked like a demon.
"You." The face snarled and Ginny screamed as she felt her body in such pain as she had never felt before. She couldn't make anything out. She couldn't see. She couldn't hear. She could barely breathe.
Yet, as the blinding pain almost disappeared, she felt it again, and this time, she heard it. A sound so familiar. From her first year.
A high, cold cruel laugh.