* * *
Ginny speared a boiled potato with her fork rather harder than necessary and shoved it into her mouth grumpily. She impatiently tucked a flyaway strand of red hair behind her ear and looked up to see Harry, Ron and Hermione watching her, identical expressions of alarm on their faces.
"Are you all right, Gin?" Hermione said gently, her tumbling, unruly brown curls quivering slightly.
"I'm fine," Ginny said impatiently, looking down at her plate and prodding her food. She poked at another potato miserably, wishing she could get out of the Great Hall, away from the presence of everyone around her. As she brooded, the swarthy face of Draco Malfoy began to materialize on the blank, pale potato. Ginny gaped in disbelief for a moment, then made a loud noise of outrage and smashed the potato to a pulp with her fork.
It was very quiet all of the sudden. Ginny raised her eyes from the demolished potato.
"Uh, Ginny," Neville Longbottom said concernedly from a few seats down, "If you don't like potatoes, that's fine, but you don't need to get angry at them."
"And there are mashed potatoes right here," Dean Thomas put in, holding up a dish of them, "You don't need to make them yourself or anything."
Ginny closed her eyes, throat tight with outrage. What was going on? She wasn't going to scream, she wasn't going to scream…
"I'm fine," she said, the effort of trying to remain calm making her voice quiver uncontrollably, "I just need to get out of here, that's all." She threw down her napkin and began to stand up.
"Ginny, come on," Harry said, gently reaching across the table and trying to force her back down, "We all think it's better if you stay with us for a while."
Ginny's eyes suddenly looked like two dark, swirling masses of cloud, ready to burst at any moment.
"Oh really?" she said softly and dangerously, barely able to contain herself any longer, "And since when do you decide what's best for me, Harry Potter?"
Harry looked at her, eyes wide. He began stammering defensively, but Ginny cut him off.
"I am not a child, Harry," she continued in a penetratingly icy voice, "I do not take directions from you, or anyone for that matter. If you really wanted to help, you could have paid attention to me back when I was younger, back when I actually wanted you to notice me."
Harry gaped at her, so did everyone else in the area who felt that this was far more interesting than the food on their plates.
"If only you had had half a brain back then, Harry," Ginny said, shaking her head, "Then maybe, maybe things would have turned out differently. Now if you'll excuse me," she said delicately swiping away Harry's hand, "I'll be leaving."
All Harry could do was watch as Ginny Weasley strode purposely out of the hall, hair and robes streaming behind her in two rivers; one of shadow, and one of fire.
* * *
"Are you insane?" Draco laughed as he chewed on a green bean, "That is the most unfair question I've ever heard."
Blaise grinned wickedly. "I just wanted to see what you would say; I could use a good laugh."
"Asking me who I would rather snog, with the choices being Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode hardly qualifies as entertainment in my book," Draco shot back.
"But honestly, if you had to choose one…" Blaise promted, his grin growing wider, "Who would it be?"
Draco suddenly caught sight of something very odd. It seemed as though someone had stormed away from the Gryffindor table in a rage, leaving a beaten down and gaping Harry Potter staring after them. A red-haired, freckled someone…
"Ginny," Draco murmured quietly, craning his neck to get a better look at the Gryffindor table.
"Ginny?" Blaise said suddenly, giving Draco a look that suggested he had more than just pumpkin juice in his goblet.
Draco suddenly snapped out of his trance and looked at Blaise. "What did I just say?" Draco asked, alarmed.
"Let me lay it out for you," Blaise said slowly, still looking puzzled, "You said that in a choice between Pansy and Millicent, you would rather get it on with…Ginny. Ginny Weasley."
Draco blinked, "Did I?"
"Mate, I think we have to go get your little blonde head examined," Blaise told him directly.
Draco slowly picked up his fork and began eating again. Who cared what went on at the Gryffindor table anyway? Who cared about Ginny Weasley? Of course, how could anyone not notice that scene? It looked as though Ginny had just shot down the famous Potter.
Meanwhile, Blaise was still rambling. "You've been off color a bit lately, Malfoy," he said lightly as he chopped up some broccoli, "I mean, even Pansy would be better than a Gryff!"
What was going on with Ginny, Draco wondered, ignoring Blaise. Why was she acting so different all the sudden?
"Seriously though," Blaise chatted on nonchalantly through a mouthful of lima beans, "Millicent Bulstrode even! Though she would probably take up the entire closet…"
"Shut up, Zabini," Draco yelped, startled, "I'm trying to eat!"
"Good," Blaise quipped, "Get some food in your stomach, then maybe you'll start talking sense again."
There were a few moments of silence between the two boys as they continued eating. Then Blaise gave a low murmur, "Ginny Weasley…"
Draco looked up and stopped right in the middle of grabbing a few chicken wings off a platter. "What about her?" he asked suspiciously.
"Well, I guess I can see why you said what you did," Blaise said slowly.
"You can?" Draco asked, his face screwed up in confusion.
"I mean, she's not exactly hard on the eyes," Blaise chuckled in a low voice, a slightly sinister grin spreading across his face.
Draco dropped the chicken leg he was holding.
"All right," Draco said, wiping his fingers off on a green silk napkin, "Why don't we both admit ourselves to St. Mungo's? At least we can keep each other company."
"Oh come on, man!" Blaise shouted, waving a piece of corn on the cob around for emphasis, "Don't start with me when you know it's true."
Draco didn't answer, but ducked as bits of corn began to fly off Blaise's cob and pelt surrounding students in the face.
"I'm not saying anything," Draco said stubbornly. But he couldn't help picturing Ginny's long, red locks flowing down nearly to her waist, her dancing brown eyes and her small, fit figure.
Draco must have had a wondering expression on his face because Blaise said slyly, "Ah, now you see what I'm talking about. You knew I was right all along."
Draco sneered good naturedly at his friend. "Don't let it go to your head, Zabini," Draco said, then finished in a low whisper, "God knows it's big enough already."
Blaise's mouth dropped open. "Hey!" he shouted, pretending to be personally insulted, "At least I don't have more gel in my hair than a werewolf has fur!"
Draco threw a roll at Blaise, who didn't duck quickly enough and was hit smack in the face.
"Well, my friend," Draco said, leaning forward with a playful grin, speaking quietly and holding his wand up in front of Blaise's face, "Unlike a werewolf, I will not attack you unless I have a reason. Unless you are an insufferable prat of course, then you might as well drop to the floor when you see me coming."
* * *
The torches burned brightly in their holders as Ginny silently walked down the hallway towards the Gryffindor Common Room. She had thought about going outside for a while, but the pouring rain had convinced her to take a drier alternative.
She turned a corner rather slowly, kicking at the stone floor with her black strap-on shoes miserably and realized with a jolt that she was not headed in the direction of the Gryffindor commons, but down near the dungeon level of the castle.
"What on earth," Ginny wondered aloud as she noticed the dimness around her. She had thought she had been paying attention to where she was going.
Ginny heaved a loud sigh and began to turn around, back towards her own commons when she stopped, a fleeting sense of adventure coursing through her body, compelling her to walk deeper into the dungeons.
Ginny grinned, her bad mood suddenly not mattering much anymore. Hadn't she overheard a conversation that Harry and Ron were having last year? They had talked about a time they had actually gotten into the Slytherin Commons in their second year. They had spoken about the entrance being concealed behind a stone wall…
Ginny ran her fingertips excitedly over the bare, damp stones as she cautiously tiptoed down the narrow passage. After a few minutes of searching and finding nothing she suddenly felt a hairline crack in the smoothness of the wall. Her grin grew wider, but fell as soon as she realized she didn't know the password.
"Damn," Ginny muttered in disappointment, "Oh well, not like I really wanted to get in there anyway. They probably have all sorts of things in there to do with dark magic or something," she finished, feeling dejected.
As she turned to leave she heard a kind of creak, a sound like stone scraping over stone. Ginny whirled around surprised to see a panel of the stone wall pushing aside to reveal an opening into a low room.
Ginny snorted, one eyebrow raised. "Dark Magic, it figures."
Very cautiously, she looked around. There was no one to be seen. Luckily, neither Filch nor Mrs. Norris had decided to begin patrolling the dungeon area yet.
Ginny slid slowly through the opening in the wall, pulling her flowing robes after her. When she reached the other side the piece of wall immediately slid shut behind her with a thump, making her start. She turned around and straightened up, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
"Oh wow," she breathed, eyes widening.
The Slytherin common room was elegantly decorated in many shades of green and silver. Numerous lamps were hanging from the low ceiling, illuminating everything in soft, green light. Surrounding the ornately carved fireplace were many high-backed, black chairs heavily gilded with silver. Beautiful green and black velvet tapestries adorned the walls, depicting silver serpents writhing and twisting around large letter S's. The cold, stone floor was covered in a thick green carpet and the walls shimmered eerily around her. On all the long tables, black, iron wrought candleholders stood, the metal twisting upward like vines, supporting the glowing candles.
Ginny walked over to one of the tables that stood near the fireplace and delicately ran her fingertips over the carved snake on one of the legs. Who knew that the Slytherin commons would be so elegant?
She tiptoed around the room, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Small statues stood in all of the corners, and she felt like they were watching her. Each was of the same man, holding a snake in each hand as the serpents wound themselves around his arms. Carved script on the bases read 'Salazaar Slytherin'.
Looking at one of the lifelike statues, Ginny muttered with a grim smile, "You were one ugly git, Slytherin."
As she shook herself mentally and began walking back towards the stone entrance, a staircase at the far corner of the room caught her eye. She walked to it and looked up into the shadows. Well, there was no one around to stop her.
As she ascended the stairs, she came to a large, circular room. Doors were lined all around the walls, each with a name plate on it.
"Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode," Ginny read, squinting in the dim light to see the names, "They each have their own room?" Ginny couldn't remember how many times she had wished for her very own room in the Gryffindor commons, but year mates had always shared one dorm, and that was the way it was. Ginny felt a little envious as she kept reading the names. As she made a full circle around the room, she stopped in her tracks.
"Draco Malfoy," she read, a slight grin creeping over her face. And on an impulse, hoping that there were no locks on the doors, she grabbed the silver handle and pushed. The door opened without a sound.
As soon as she stepped into the room, torches all around the walls burst to life with bright green flame and Draco's room was immediately illuminated.
Standing against one wall was a narrow, black dresser. On top of the dresser the shadows of a few objects were outlined. Ginny walked over and inspected them closely. She grinned as her eyes took in the matching silver brush and comb with the bottle of hair gel next to them.
Next to the dresser stood a large oval mirror framed in dark oak. Ginny gazed at her reflection. She could just imagine Draco standing here every morning as he fixed his hair.
There was no closet, but a set of six silver hooks hung on a nearby wall. Five of the hooks held five perfectly neat, pressed Slytherin boy's Hogwarts uniforms. The last hook sported Dracos emerald Slytherin Quidditch outfit. His Nimbus 2001 was propped up in the corner next to it.
Ginny's eyes fell to the thick black carpet beneath her feet, then to the bed standing against the wall. It was very elegant, with a canopy of what looked like green velvet. The floor brushing curtains that enclosed it had been tied back with silver holders, revealing the green silk sheets and satin covered pillows. Embroidered in silver on the top sheet was 'Draco Malfoy'. The pattern carried through to the pillows where the initials DM could be seen in silver as well.
Ginny raised her eyebrows, a small smile inching across her face. Draco certainly liked to have things personalized.
Ginny looked around once more. She suddenly felt a little sad. It was a very beautiful room, but it had a depressing air about it.
Without thinking, she sat down on the foot of the bed and rubbed her hands over the shiny, slick sheets.
"So this is what it feels like to be Draco Malfoy," she sighed, falling back onto the pillows.
As she was lying there, staring up at the canopy a wild thought crossed her mind. If Draco was a Deatheater, he would have to have his black mask somewhere in his room.
Ginny sat up quickly and jumped off the bed. It was an order from Voldemort that they needed to have their disguise with them so they could be wearing it when he summoned them. Ginny had concealed hers deep in her trunk that morning before she left for school, Draco might have done the same.
She quickly walked over to one of the trunks at the foot of the bed and wrenched it open.
"Books, parchment, ink," Ginny muttered as she rummaged through it impatiently, "Quills…where is the bloody thing?"
She snapped the lid of the trunk shut and moved on to the second one. It was empty.
"Robes must have been in there," she muttered, and moved on to the final one.
As she opened the lid of the last trunk expectantly, she restrained herself from letting out a cry. The last trunk was empty.
Standing up, hands on her hips, Ginny noticed the dresser. She nodded, seeing the vertical row of five drawers.
She pulled open the drawers in a frenzy and sifted through their contents. The first three contained nothing but spare socks and some extra green and gray striped ties. As Ginny opened the fourth drawer, she couldn't help but let out a stifled giggle. It wasn't everyday she discovered Draco's underwear drawer.
As she struggled not to loose herself completely at the sight of the many green silk garments embroidered with the now familiar silver initials she reached out to shut the drawer, but a loud noise made her stop in her tracks.
Horrified, she ran to the closed door and listened hard. The sounds of voices and footsteps descended upon her ears. With a tremendous jolt Ginny realized that the Slytherins had just entered their common room.
Ginny froze. How had she lost track of time? The feast couldn't be over already!
The sound of laughter and people talking and shouting grew louder. Sweat began to pour down Ginny's face. How was she going to get out of this one?
Frantically, she flung herself under Draco's bed just as the rumble of footsteps coming up the stairs met her ears.
Under the bed, she found that she was accompanied by an old wizard chess set, an old broom and a book that looked as though it had been taken from the library.
Ginny struggled not to sneeze as she breathed in grains of dust.
The sounds of Slytherins in the circular room were definitely audible now. She could hear them all shouting to each other mixed with the sounds of doors opening and closing.
With a rush of cold fear, she heard Draco's door open. A pair of shoes walked right by the bed and went over to the dresser.
Peering out just a tiny bit, Ginny saw Draco standing with his back to his bed, his blonde hair gleaming.
"Why were the torches already on?" Ginny heard Draco mumble to himself.
Ginny held her breath.
"Damn those ruddy house elves," Draco growled.
Ginny heaved a sigh of relief. Then a new pair of feet appeared in Draco's doorway.
"Are you coming down, Draco?" came the voice of Blaise Zabini.
"Yeah, in a minute," Draco said, his voice sounding confused, "You haven't been going through my underwear drawer by any chance, have you, Zabini?"
Blaise let out a snort. "Oh yeah, got to seize the opportunity, you know?"
"Shut up," Draco said, throwing a sock at him.
"It was probably a house elf, mate," Blaise told him, "A female one."
Draco snapped the drawer shut. "One of these days someone much less tolerant than me is going to decide they've had enough of you," he said to his friend.
"And it's because of that very fact I try to stay away from short tempered people."
Draco laughed, picked up his fallen sock and stuffed it back into a drawer.
Want to play chess?" Blaise asked, "Everyone is already down in the common room."
"Yeah, sure," Draco said, "Just let me find my set."
Ginny's heart nearly stopped. She stared at the chess set that was lying right next to her under the bed. "Bloody Hell," she thought to herself.
"I think it's under my bed," Ginny dimly heard Draco say.
She felt dizzy. There was no way she was going to get out of this one. Her face was burning hot, with ice cold sweat dripping down her cheeks. She saw Dracos knees as he began to bend down in order to see under his bed. This was it.
"Wait, that old thing?" Blaise chimed in, making Ginny's breath catch in her throat, "It's older than Professor Dumbledore. We can use mine instead."
"Well, all right," Draco decided, standing upright once more and walking out of the room with Blaise.
As the door shut with a click behind the two boys, Ginny stared unmoving at the floor. She couldn't breathe. That was too close. There was no telling what would have happened if she had been caught. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. Being caught in the Slytherin commons, in Draco Malfoys room no less, was not exactly something that she wanted to be caught doing on her very first day back.
"At least they're gone," Ginny breathed, her voice shaking. Then another terrible thought hit her as hard as if someone had slapped her. How in blue blazes was she going to get out?
Ginny began swearing under her breath. She couldn't go back the way she came because all the Slytherins were down in their common room.
Lying underneath Draco's bed, Ginny gave one last look around, sighed long and hard then propped her head up on her elbows. As much as she hated the idea, there was nothing to do but wait until all the Slytherins went to bed, and then make an escape.
"Oh lovely," Ginny grumbled dispiritedly, "I'm going to have to watch Malfoy change. This is my lucky day." And with a groan, she slumped down and waited for nightfall to come and release her from her velvet and silk bedecked prison.