Disclaimer: All HP characters belong to the wonderful and talented J.K.
Rowling.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Hope you like!
Facing Fear
Chapter 3 Allusions and Instinct
Lost.
Ginny was hopelessly lost. The dungeons weren't exactly her favorite place to roam around, especially at night when the only sound she could hear was her own footsteps. She now wished that she had paid closer attention to where that room was.
She thought back to earlier that day when she had left the room. She had somehow found her way back upstairs then, but everything looked different now.
So, she wandered aimlessly, cursing Draco underneath her breath, hoping that she wouldn't run into Snape, and all the time searching for that blasted room that Draco had told her to meet him at tonight. Ginny would have given up about half an hour ago had she known the way back to Gryffindor. 'This is so ridiculous.' Ginny thought. 'I do not want to be here...'
Ginny whipped her head around. Her eyes scanned every inch of the damp narrow corridor. She had just heard one of the most frightening and oddest sounds. Her pace quickened, as did her heart.
"Ohhhh."
There it was again. A low moaning sort of sound that seemed to echo through her brain. Her eyes soaked everything in, but nothing was to be seen.
A shadow flickered across the wall, and she turned down a passage off to her left, hoping to find the source of the sound, but dreading to at the same time.
"Ginny."
It was the same low, whispery voice. Ginny felt a pounding in her head, an over-whelming desire to run, but she didn't have anywhere to go. The voice knew her name.
She rounded a corner. The voice was still moaning, shadows still flickering, but she seemed to be gaining on whomever, or whatever it was.
"You're late."
Ginny had run dead into Malfoy as she turned the corner. She was shaking violently, her face set in an expression of alarm.
But suddenly she knew.
"It was YOU!" Ginny cried, resisting the urge to pound her fists against him. "You were the one making those noises!"
The previous sneer on his face was replaced by his all-knowing smirk.
"Fear is dangerous." He said, almost scorning down upon her.
Ginny was extremely put out. "Are you telling me that this was all some sort of a test?!"
"Uh huh. And- you- failed." He spaced the words apart, as if she was a young child, and didn't understand a word he was saying.
Ginny moved her lips, stuttering over words, and feeling even more stupid. She couldn't even begin to express her anger.
"The most important principle of being the Slayer, is having no fear of the unknown." He continued, turning, and walking away.
Ginny had no choice but to follow, she had no idea where she was.
"If the Slayer has fear, then there is no hope."
Ginny bit her lip to keep from saying something smart. Instead she concentrated on the route that Draco was taking, until she realized that they weren't headed for that little "training room". She suddenly found herself upstairs in the Entrance Hall.
Draco sighed and turned her way, looking at her in a way that said he'd rather be listening to Professor's Binns boring lecture on all the many Goblin Rebellions.
"Our first lesson," he began, motioning for her to follow him out of the large double doors, and across Hogwart's grounds. "Will be on facing the unknown..determining good from evil.."
Ginny couldn't help but interrupt at that statement. "I've decided that you're evil." She said, with a smirk of her own.
He didn't even stop walking.
"Listen Weasley, I'd rather be training Pansy Parkinson than you."
"I bet you would." Ginny said sarcastically. "Although I doubt that very much "training" would be occurring between the two of you."
Malfoy turned to her, a revolted look on his face before snapping, "You're an insufferable little brat Weasley."
"Grow up Malfoy. I don't have to be here."
Ginny thought Draco might hit her, but she stood her ground, clinching her fists at her side. Even she knew that she could over-power him...even if it might be a bit difficult. But she definitely wasn't handicapped when it came to physical abilities right about now.
Draco saw her erect and ready posture, and relaxed. He plastered a fake smile on his face, and through gritted teeth told her to keep moving.
Ginny watched him as she walked slowly behind him. Every now and then he would turn around and tell her to hurry up, but that only caused her to slow down.
"That's it!" He said after telling her to hurry up for about the tenth time, only to result in having her take a more leisurely pace. "Run."
"What!?"
"You heard me Weasley! Start running."
Ginny's stunned expression quickly turned to one of intense dislike. "I refuse to do that."
"Good luck then." He said, displaying a nasty smile, and looking around the dark grounds, his eyes finally coming to rest on the Forbidden Forrest. "You never know what will venture out of there around this time of night."
And without another word, he started off at a sprint.
Ginny watched him with fury, but the sound of something alive nearby got her running. She had soon caught up with Malfoy.
"Thought so." He said, as they ran along side each other.
Ginny refrained from retorting and instead asked, "Why are we heading towards the forest, if there are evil creatures in there?"
"Because it's your job to fight evil creatures." He answered, as if it were the most obvious thing.
"But I haven't had any training on how to fight." She said, frustration and fear welling up inside of her.
"Training is just to better prepare you." Draco said, slowing down as they neared the edge of the forest. "You already have instinct. Use that."
Ginny didn't want to use her instinct. She wanted to be up in her warm bed, tucked safely away from all the scary things from old fairy tales. The whole internal argument she had been having all day started over again. A part of her knew that she really didn't want to do this, didn't want to be under Malfoy of all people's training, didn't want to be the Slayer. Another part of her was full of curiosity, and almost a feeling of duty to her peers and even all the adult witches and wizards..even the muggles. Draco had said that there was only one Slayer to protect humans..and muggles were definitely included in that category. If she were really the Slayer, and she refused to protect those in need, then who would?
Hoping that she wouldn't regret her decision, she followed Malfoy into the forest, putting aside her pride and readying herself for the....danger.
As they went in Ginny moved toward Malfoy without realizing. For some reason she just felt safer near him, because he seemed to know what he was doing. This struck Ginny as very odd once she finally realized it...never had she even considered putting trust in a Malfoy.
Suddenly Draco held out a hand to stop her, then motioned for her to follow him behind some trees.
"Look over there." He whispered, while indicating a clearing.
Ginny focused her eyes over to the clearing, searching for whatever he was pointing to, but she didn't see a thing.
"Are you sure I'm the Chosen One?" She whispered. "Because I'm not seeing anything."
"Shh. Just watch." He said impatiently.
Ginny watched the clearing, her eyes glazing over the ground, the trees, the bracken, but still seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
But a second later her sharp hearing picked up on something, and she moved her gaze upward, listening to the scraping sound. There was something large and black moving slowly down one of the trees. She assumed it had claws, which was making the scraping noise.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a balmo, a magical forest creature that only comes out at night. It has poor hearing, but excellent eyesight, so don't make any quick motions." Draco answered, never taking his eyes off the balmo.
"What magic can it do?" She asked, fascinated with the creature. As it wandered around the clearing, the moonlight shone on its jet black fur coat. It somewhat resembled a bear, except smaller, with long pointy claws, and a squished nose, that rested very close to his huge beady eyes.
"The balmo can create allusions. It can also move at very fast speeds if it's frightened."
"What do you mean, allusions?"
"Images of things." He answered. "Including himself. If you ran into one of them and spooked him, he may create the allusion of about a dozen more balmos charging at you, and you wouldn't be able to tell which one was real."
Draco turned to Ginny, and she noticed a smirk playing on his face. "Let's see if you can tell which one is real."
And without another word he shoved Ginny out of their hiding place. She rounded on him, anger flashing in her eyes, ready to give it to him, when she caught sight of the balmo.
Its large beady eyes were on her, sizing her up, and calculating the distance between them. Ginny felt the blood drain out of her face, as the balmo began pacing back and forth in front of her. Suddenly about six more balmos appeared, drifting between the trees, all of them looking very real. They intermingled with each other, and Ginny lost sight of the original. But she didn't have time to try and remember which was the real, for they were all charging at her.
Glancing up she saw a low branch, and jumped up, swinging herself off the ground just as seven balmos ran under her. They circled around quickly, and Ginny saw a couple of them heading up the tree she was hanging from.
'Only one of them is real.' She reminded herself. 'The others are just an allusion..which means they won't make any noise...they're just images.'
As soon as Ginny was in the face of danger, all of her senses seemed to gain vigilance, including her hearing.
She heard a rustling of leaves on the ground, and glanced down to see one very angry balmo directly underneath her. She knew at once that it was the real balmo, not just an image. It was the one making noise.
Ginny swung her body back, then forward, then back again, and released on the last swing, hurling herself forward and away from the original balmo. She turned just as it charged at her. Spacing both legs firmly apart, she faced it, and planted her right foot in the creature's nose with a powerful kick. It bounced back, and let out an awful screech before the other allusions vanished and he went running into the darkness of the forest.
"You're definitely the Slayer..As much as I hate to admit it." Draco had stepped out of his cozy little hiding place.
Ginny glared at him, and thrust both her palms in his face. "Look my hand are all scraped from the rough bark on that tree!"
"It'll heal." He said without a care. "I guess that's enough tonight."
She shouldn't have expected him to be concerned to begin with. The rich, stuck- up brat.
Ginny led the way out of the forest, muttering to herself under her breath about how unfair life was. Draco stopped her in the Entrance Hall.
"You used your instinct out there, and you did fine." He said, as though admitting that she had done well hurt like having a tooth pulled.
Ginny felt her jaw drop. She stared at him with tension, unsure of how to answer that. She finally decided on complaining.
"Yeah, well my hands got all scratched in the process."
Draco walked over to where she was standing, and took both her hands into his. Ginny was surprised at how gentle his touch was, and felt her heart speed up.
"Look." He said, glancing down at her hands.
Ginny did so also, and was surprised to see that there wasn't a mark on them.
"Another capability of the Slayer, is fast healing."
Ginny stared dumbfounded, from her hands back to Malfoy. He cleared his throat and dropped her hands quickly.
"Now get out of my sight Weasley. We'll start the real stuff tomorrow night."
Ginny felt the anger surge through her again. The Weasley's were known for their bad tempers. But she held her tongue. She watched him disappear down the steps toward the dungeons and Slytherin House.
She shifted her gaze out the doors, and into the darkness...where unknowing to her, one was watching.
A/N: I'm very fond of cliffys, but this isn't a huge one. I know there hasn't been much d/g action yet, but don't worry, it's coming!!
Thanks to these wonderful reviewers:
The Dragon's Angel, Snow Devil (ozziegirlclaire) (thank you! Your review was very helpful, and I'm trying my hardest to make everything as clear as possible!), Rainbow Dreamer (aw, thanks! I love developing characters like Ginny, that you don't know that much about in the books. It's great fun!!), Milkey Way (Lol I love your reviews, you seem to have a great personality! Thanks!), Eclipse2003, james- waterford, Happy little Rin-chan, Aieron Granger (I love buffy and hp too!! Your review was so energetic! Lol. Thanks!), and Chocalate Muse.
Thank you all!! Keep reviewing!
Everyone else, make me smile and review too!!
A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Hope you like!
Facing Fear
Chapter 3 Allusions and Instinct
Lost.
Ginny was hopelessly lost. The dungeons weren't exactly her favorite place to roam around, especially at night when the only sound she could hear was her own footsteps. She now wished that she had paid closer attention to where that room was.
She thought back to earlier that day when she had left the room. She had somehow found her way back upstairs then, but everything looked different now.
So, she wandered aimlessly, cursing Draco underneath her breath, hoping that she wouldn't run into Snape, and all the time searching for that blasted room that Draco had told her to meet him at tonight. Ginny would have given up about half an hour ago had she known the way back to Gryffindor. 'This is so ridiculous.' Ginny thought. 'I do not want to be here...'
Ginny whipped her head around. Her eyes scanned every inch of the damp narrow corridor. She had just heard one of the most frightening and oddest sounds. Her pace quickened, as did her heart.
"Ohhhh."
There it was again. A low moaning sort of sound that seemed to echo through her brain. Her eyes soaked everything in, but nothing was to be seen.
A shadow flickered across the wall, and she turned down a passage off to her left, hoping to find the source of the sound, but dreading to at the same time.
"Ginny."
It was the same low, whispery voice. Ginny felt a pounding in her head, an over-whelming desire to run, but she didn't have anywhere to go. The voice knew her name.
She rounded a corner. The voice was still moaning, shadows still flickering, but she seemed to be gaining on whomever, or whatever it was.
"You're late."
Ginny had run dead into Malfoy as she turned the corner. She was shaking violently, her face set in an expression of alarm.
But suddenly she knew.
"It was YOU!" Ginny cried, resisting the urge to pound her fists against him. "You were the one making those noises!"
The previous sneer on his face was replaced by his all-knowing smirk.
"Fear is dangerous." He said, almost scorning down upon her.
Ginny was extremely put out. "Are you telling me that this was all some sort of a test?!"
"Uh huh. And- you- failed." He spaced the words apart, as if she was a young child, and didn't understand a word he was saying.
Ginny moved her lips, stuttering over words, and feeling even more stupid. She couldn't even begin to express her anger.
"The most important principle of being the Slayer, is having no fear of the unknown." He continued, turning, and walking away.
Ginny had no choice but to follow, she had no idea where she was.
"If the Slayer has fear, then there is no hope."
Ginny bit her lip to keep from saying something smart. Instead she concentrated on the route that Draco was taking, until she realized that they weren't headed for that little "training room". She suddenly found herself upstairs in the Entrance Hall.
Draco sighed and turned her way, looking at her in a way that said he'd rather be listening to Professor's Binns boring lecture on all the many Goblin Rebellions.
"Our first lesson," he began, motioning for her to follow him out of the large double doors, and across Hogwart's grounds. "Will be on facing the unknown..determining good from evil.."
Ginny couldn't help but interrupt at that statement. "I've decided that you're evil." She said, with a smirk of her own.
He didn't even stop walking.
"Listen Weasley, I'd rather be training Pansy Parkinson than you."
"I bet you would." Ginny said sarcastically. "Although I doubt that very much "training" would be occurring between the two of you."
Malfoy turned to her, a revolted look on his face before snapping, "You're an insufferable little brat Weasley."
"Grow up Malfoy. I don't have to be here."
Ginny thought Draco might hit her, but she stood her ground, clinching her fists at her side. Even she knew that she could over-power him...even if it might be a bit difficult. But she definitely wasn't handicapped when it came to physical abilities right about now.
Draco saw her erect and ready posture, and relaxed. He plastered a fake smile on his face, and through gritted teeth told her to keep moving.
Ginny watched him as she walked slowly behind him. Every now and then he would turn around and tell her to hurry up, but that only caused her to slow down.
"That's it!" He said after telling her to hurry up for about the tenth time, only to result in having her take a more leisurely pace. "Run."
"What!?"
"You heard me Weasley! Start running."
Ginny's stunned expression quickly turned to one of intense dislike. "I refuse to do that."
"Good luck then." He said, displaying a nasty smile, and looking around the dark grounds, his eyes finally coming to rest on the Forbidden Forrest. "You never know what will venture out of there around this time of night."
And without another word, he started off at a sprint.
Ginny watched him with fury, but the sound of something alive nearby got her running. She had soon caught up with Malfoy.
"Thought so." He said, as they ran along side each other.
Ginny refrained from retorting and instead asked, "Why are we heading towards the forest, if there are evil creatures in there?"
"Because it's your job to fight evil creatures." He answered, as if it were the most obvious thing.
"But I haven't had any training on how to fight." She said, frustration and fear welling up inside of her.
"Training is just to better prepare you." Draco said, slowing down as they neared the edge of the forest. "You already have instinct. Use that."
Ginny didn't want to use her instinct. She wanted to be up in her warm bed, tucked safely away from all the scary things from old fairy tales. The whole internal argument she had been having all day started over again. A part of her knew that she really didn't want to do this, didn't want to be under Malfoy of all people's training, didn't want to be the Slayer. Another part of her was full of curiosity, and almost a feeling of duty to her peers and even all the adult witches and wizards..even the muggles. Draco had said that there was only one Slayer to protect humans..and muggles were definitely included in that category. If she were really the Slayer, and she refused to protect those in need, then who would?
Hoping that she wouldn't regret her decision, she followed Malfoy into the forest, putting aside her pride and readying herself for the....danger.
As they went in Ginny moved toward Malfoy without realizing. For some reason she just felt safer near him, because he seemed to know what he was doing. This struck Ginny as very odd once she finally realized it...never had she even considered putting trust in a Malfoy.
Suddenly Draco held out a hand to stop her, then motioned for her to follow him behind some trees.
"Look over there." He whispered, while indicating a clearing.
Ginny focused her eyes over to the clearing, searching for whatever he was pointing to, but she didn't see a thing.
"Are you sure I'm the Chosen One?" She whispered. "Because I'm not seeing anything."
"Shh. Just watch." He said impatiently.
Ginny watched the clearing, her eyes glazing over the ground, the trees, the bracken, but still seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
But a second later her sharp hearing picked up on something, and she moved her gaze upward, listening to the scraping sound. There was something large and black moving slowly down one of the trees. She assumed it had claws, which was making the scraping noise.
"What is that thing?"
"It's a balmo, a magical forest creature that only comes out at night. It has poor hearing, but excellent eyesight, so don't make any quick motions." Draco answered, never taking his eyes off the balmo.
"What magic can it do?" She asked, fascinated with the creature. As it wandered around the clearing, the moonlight shone on its jet black fur coat. It somewhat resembled a bear, except smaller, with long pointy claws, and a squished nose, that rested very close to his huge beady eyes.
"The balmo can create allusions. It can also move at very fast speeds if it's frightened."
"What do you mean, allusions?"
"Images of things." He answered. "Including himself. If you ran into one of them and spooked him, he may create the allusion of about a dozen more balmos charging at you, and you wouldn't be able to tell which one was real."
Draco turned to Ginny, and she noticed a smirk playing on his face. "Let's see if you can tell which one is real."
And without another word he shoved Ginny out of their hiding place. She rounded on him, anger flashing in her eyes, ready to give it to him, when she caught sight of the balmo.
Its large beady eyes were on her, sizing her up, and calculating the distance between them. Ginny felt the blood drain out of her face, as the balmo began pacing back and forth in front of her. Suddenly about six more balmos appeared, drifting between the trees, all of them looking very real. They intermingled with each other, and Ginny lost sight of the original. But she didn't have time to try and remember which was the real, for they were all charging at her.
Glancing up she saw a low branch, and jumped up, swinging herself off the ground just as seven balmos ran under her. They circled around quickly, and Ginny saw a couple of them heading up the tree she was hanging from.
'Only one of them is real.' She reminded herself. 'The others are just an allusion..which means they won't make any noise...they're just images.'
As soon as Ginny was in the face of danger, all of her senses seemed to gain vigilance, including her hearing.
She heard a rustling of leaves on the ground, and glanced down to see one very angry balmo directly underneath her. She knew at once that it was the real balmo, not just an image. It was the one making noise.
Ginny swung her body back, then forward, then back again, and released on the last swing, hurling herself forward and away from the original balmo. She turned just as it charged at her. Spacing both legs firmly apart, she faced it, and planted her right foot in the creature's nose with a powerful kick. It bounced back, and let out an awful screech before the other allusions vanished and he went running into the darkness of the forest.
"You're definitely the Slayer..As much as I hate to admit it." Draco had stepped out of his cozy little hiding place.
Ginny glared at him, and thrust both her palms in his face. "Look my hand are all scraped from the rough bark on that tree!"
"It'll heal." He said without a care. "I guess that's enough tonight."
She shouldn't have expected him to be concerned to begin with. The rich, stuck- up brat.
Ginny led the way out of the forest, muttering to herself under her breath about how unfair life was. Draco stopped her in the Entrance Hall.
"You used your instinct out there, and you did fine." He said, as though admitting that she had done well hurt like having a tooth pulled.
Ginny felt her jaw drop. She stared at him with tension, unsure of how to answer that. She finally decided on complaining.
"Yeah, well my hands got all scratched in the process."
Draco walked over to where she was standing, and took both her hands into his. Ginny was surprised at how gentle his touch was, and felt her heart speed up.
"Look." He said, glancing down at her hands.
Ginny did so also, and was surprised to see that there wasn't a mark on them.
"Another capability of the Slayer, is fast healing."
Ginny stared dumbfounded, from her hands back to Malfoy. He cleared his throat and dropped her hands quickly.
"Now get out of my sight Weasley. We'll start the real stuff tomorrow night."
Ginny felt the anger surge through her again. The Weasley's were known for their bad tempers. But she held her tongue. She watched him disappear down the steps toward the dungeons and Slytherin House.
She shifted her gaze out the doors, and into the darkness...where unknowing to her, one was watching.
A/N: I'm very fond of cliffys, but this isn't a huge one. I know there hasn't been much d/g action yet, but don't worry, it's coming!!
Thanks to these wonderful reviewers:
The Dragon's Angel, Snow Devil (ozziegirlclaire) (thank you! Your review was very helpful, and I'm trying my hardest to make everything as clear as possible!), Rainbow Dreamer (aw, thanks! I love developing characters like Ginny, that you don't know that much about in the books. It's great fun!!), Milkey Way (Lol I love your reviews, you seem to have a great personality! Thanks!), Eclipse2003, james- waterford, Happy little Rin-chan, Aieron Granger (I love buffy and hp too!! Your review was so energetic! Lol. Thanks!), and Chocalate Muse.
Thank you all!! Keep reviewing!
Everyone else, make me smile and review too!!