Disclaimer: Me no own anything.
A/N: Okay, back in business, I hope everything is going good so far…in the sense that you all like it and everything! Read and enjoy! {:o)
Malfoy sat in his room mesmerized by the picture that he held in his hands. He had picked it up after it fell out of Ginny's bag a few days ago, he had forgotten about it until now when it fell out of his Potions book. It was a beautiful drawing of the morning sunrise, but it was as though it was alive, you could still see the sketch lines and the shadow smudges but the picture moved as though caught forever in that one morning. It was drawn by a lake- Malfoy recognized it as the lake behind the castle. The water's surfaced was rippled by the gentle breeze and the trees swayed their branches slightly. The colors where there but they were light, as though a white translucent screen was over the picture. In the corner of the picture on a small rock, he could see the initials G.W. So Ginny drew this? That must have been what she was doing that morning by the lake. Who would have though a little twirp like that could have such talent? He put the picture aside and crawled into bed. Tomorrow was Friday and they didn't have classes; the teachers had some sort of meeting to discuss some important teacher thing…
Wednesday passed without incidence for Ginny and Thursday wasn't bad either. She hadn't cut herself since then, she was sort of afraid to; she felt powerful, more in control than she had ever felt, and she wasn't used to that. So her knife had stayed safely tucked away in her dresser drawer, and she tried to concentrate on her schoolwork instead. But it had been two days since she had picked up her knife and her cuts were starting to itch; it was all Ginny could do not to scratch them open. Grateful for the day off tomorrow, she climbed into bed and fell asleep.
~*~*~
The next morning Ginny woke up early, like she did every morning when she knew she could sleep in. This always made her mad because once she was up, she couldn't go back to sleep. So she got dressed, and took her journal and leads down to the lake. Before she sat down, though, she scanned the area, to make sure she was alone. Seeing as she didn't find any Malfoys lurking about, she sat down and started to draw. It was still very early though and the sun was just barely visible through the trees, so she didn't notice that she had overlooked Malfoy who had concealed himself behind a large tree. He didn't know what made him go to the lake that morning, but he just had a feeling she would be there. Malfoy was always awake before the break of dawn; he was a restless sleeper. Ever since his father had started performing the Crucaitus Curse on him about two years ago, he hadn't been able to sleep well. Malfoy watched Ginny draw for about five minutes until his curiosity got the better of him. He got up and sneaked up behind Ginny soundlessly.
"So how do you do it Weasley?"
Ginny heard Malfoy's cold voice behind her and jumped with a start. She turned around angrily to face Draco.
"Do what Malfoy, although I doubt whatever you are talking about is any of your business!" she spat at him. How dare he spy on her!
"Make them come alive?" he said, pointing to her picture. The one she was drawing was of an ocean scene; a sunset. She was only half finished with the picture so it was still a black and white, motionless sketch.
"Oh, I –just…" she stuttered out, not expecting his question. How did he know about her pictures? But then she realized that that had been where her lake picture had gone. Malfoy had taken it. "I don't know how to explain it, they come to life on their own when I'm done with them."
" Would you like to see?" she asked hesitantly.
"Uh, I guess so…" He replied just as hesitantly. What was up with this random change in attitude? I thought she hated me… maybe this is some kind of cruel joke…no I don't think so, that look was too sincere… Oh well. And with that, Malfoy sat down beside her and waited for her to finish her drawing. About five minutes later she was done. The result was one of the most beautiful things Malfoy had ever seen…and he didn't exactly go around thinking everything was beautiful.
Ginny laid down her pencils and tilted her paper so that Malfoy could see it better. It was still for a few seconds and Malfoy thought for an instant that she was just fooling with him. But then, color began to sweep across the drawing; the light tan color of the sand, blues mixed with the reds, pinks, oranges and yellows reflecting from the sunset onto the foamy sea. Then it started to move. The waves gently lapped against the shore and seagulls flew in and out of the picture, diving to grab small fish out of the water. It was like a miniature silent color film. But then Malfoy realized who he was sitting next to; the girl who he had been fighting with for the past weeks that school had been going on- the girl he hated with a passion. Quickly he got up and put on his best smirk.
"That's it?" he asked trying to hide his true impression. Wiping the dirt off of his hands he started to walk back up to the castle.
"Not so fast Malfoy," sneered Ginny, making Malfoy turn around, "I attempt to put our previous arguments aside and show you something that I hold very personal, something that I have never shown anyone, and you just act like it's nothing! Well, congratulations Draco. You've succeeded in making me feel like an idiot! What was I thinking, showing my drawing to you?! Draco Malfoy! You would never understand anyway! And what made you think you have the right to spy on me?! Now you better leave before I think of a good curse, and don't even think about threatening me with your wand, you know I'm faster than you anyway. Now get out of my sight!!"
"Whoa, slow down Weasley! I'm going, I'm going! Jeez!"
And with that he left, his cloak sweeping behind him. But what he didn't know that in his hurry to get up, his knife fell out of his pocket. Ginny saw the knife with the fierce looking black dragon carved into it and picked it up. Feeling it's weight in her hand, she took out her own knife and compared the two. Draco's knife was bigger, with a slightly larger blade, and the metal was some kind of dark steel. She thumbed the blade and pulled her hand back quickly as a small bead of blood formed on her thumb. Draco's knife was definitely sharper, and she wondered what he used it for. Feeling as though she needed someway to relieve her anger, she took his knife and brought it to her skin; pressing down she hardly felt any pain as it sliced her skin. It also cut deeper than her knife- the blood came faster and flowed longer. But afraid of being caught by someone in broad daylight she left it at that one cut.
~*~*~
Malfoy was angry with himself for doing something so stupid as to talk civilly to a Weasley- what had gotten into him? But he was angrier at Ginny for yelling at him. Why was he so weak when it came to this girl? She wasn't big or strong or anything- she didn't even know how to stand up for herself until this year. What made her so different from the rest of his enemies? I will beat this "weakness- just as I have over come every other obstacle thrown at me. I will get revenge. He told himself this but he still could not forget the hurt look on her face after he had laughed at her drawing- he knew she hated herself for letting him get close to her. But know I have the advantage Ginger…I'll just have to find a way to make that journal fall into my possession…
Ginny spent most of her day off outside, drawing mostly; but she visited Hagrid for lunch and he showed her his newest charges for his Care of Magical Creatures classes. They were fenced in from all sides in a sort of dome, and Ginny soon found out why. The creatures were small things that greatly resembled baby turtles- however, they had the ability to float when they pulled their legs in their small shells and popped what looked like miniature umbrellas out. I was quite a humorous spectacle, Ginny thought as she watched the tiny turtle gliding around inside the cage. She also noticed that they had a tendency to meow like cats. After talking to Hagrid for a while, Ginny bid him good bye and walked back to the castle.
She went back up to the Gryffindor common room and smiled at Hermione, Ron and Harry as she made her way up to her room. After the Potions incident Hermione had made Ron tell Ginny what had really happened. She was mad at him for a little bit, but soon she had forgiven him, she couldn't stay mad at anyone for long. That was, with the exception of Draco Malfoy. She felt that having his knife gave her a definite advantage over him. She didn't know if the knife was important to him, or what he used it for, but she knew that if she had anything of his, that he would probably go to many lengths to get it back.
Sunday came, and since Ginny had already done all of her homework, she was bored. Her mind wandered to the hallway she had found with the glass doors. She wanted to go back, so she could explore the room with the guitars; so she climbed through the portrait hole of the common room and set off in search of the hallway. She vaguely remembered going up a flight of stairs that was next to a large picture of some severe looking man- Professor Beaker, it read under the picture. This was when she was still down in the dungeons, so that's where she headed. After about fifteen minutes Ginny had found the staircase to see a small hallway with a statue of some old wizard at the far end. Once in the hallway she didn't know what to do, she just remembered running up the stairway and being in the hallway with the doors. Maybe there's a trap door of some sort… she thought, feeling the walls carefully, in search of some button or lever. After about five minutes of looking and not finding anything, Ginny grew frustrated and went to sit down against a wall and she fell right through it.
Rubbing her head, Ginny sat up and looked around her, seeing that she had fallen into the place she had been looking for. Checking to make sure she was alone, Ginny got up and set off in search of the guitar room. A few seconds later she came to the door and lifted her hand to the knob; hoping it wouldn't be locked. It wasn't. She slowly opened the door entered the room. It was a large, brightly lit room with wooden floors and a high ceiling, it was also circular; Ginny assumed this was so the acoustics would be better. It somewhat resembled a small ballroom. Around the room were many guitars, different makes, different styles, different ages, there were at least a hundred. Electric and acoustic…but the electric ones didn't need cords and amps. They were powered by magic. Ginny saw one that caught her attention, it was electric, a violent shade of purple, with holes cut out of the body. She picked it up surprised at how light it was and sat down in the chair that was placed in the middle of the room. She lightly strummed her fingers against the strings, hearing the notes ringing around the room before fading away. She had seen people playing the guitar before and had been mesmerized by it- the way their hands fly over the strings and the beautiful chords that came from the instruments. She put the guitar back on its stand and circled the room, taking in the other types of guitars. Some were large and bulky, those were mainly the acoustics; there were oddly shaped ones with only four strings- some had big differences, others were subtle, you only noticed them if you were looking. Ginny was extremely interested in learning to play the guitar, and decided to check out some books on it the next time she went to the library. Leaving the room, she walked the length of the hallway, examining the other rooms, before heading back to the common room and to her warm bed.
About a week had passed when Draco received another letter from his father:
Draco,
I expect you are doing well in your classes. Do not, however, forget about
what is coming up at the end of this year. You will be appointed a Death Eater the
evening you turn 18. I hope that even though you can not physically run through your
exercises that you are running through them mentally. I want you to be prepared for
Lord Voldemort. I have told him many things about you, and he feels that you will be
a strong addition to the group. Remember, do not show emotion in front of him, he
can sense your weaknesses from miles away. Never show your emotion.
Lucius
Draco crumpled up the letter and tossed it into the fire. He was well aware of the fate that awaited him, but he did not want any part in it. He hated his father, and his ways; Draco never wanted to be anything like him, and certainly not a Death Eater. He didn't know what he was going to do though, his father was a powerful man, high up on Voldemort's list.
Thinking about his ill fated future always stressed Draco out; so he looked to his knife to calm him down. Except this time, his knife wasn't there. He looked all over his room and upon not finding it anywhere, he thought about where he could have lost it. The last time he remembered having it was that morning out by the lake, when Ginny had yelled at- Ginny!!! That stupid Weasel took my knife! How dare she?!?! It is time for my revenge, and I will make her pay severely…
A/N: Yeah, I know, this chapter kind of dragged on, but I had to get those things in there somewhere, seeing as they'll play a bigger part as the story progresses… I hope you like, it will get better as it goes on, just have patience with me. {;o)