Authoress' Note: This has to be the first time I don't care that I got no reviews. This story is way too much fun! Oh, and the speech Ginny makes to Hermione is mostly from something I wrote before on the topic; some people will recognize it.
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
--
"So how was work?" Ginny asked Hermione as they walked through the metal barrier to go back home. Hermione drained the last bit of her coffee before answering.
"A total nightmare. The Irish Ministry wants to host the World Cup this year when they fully well know that it's our turn. I have to say, Wood's not happy at all, he keeps writing them Howlers about being bad sportsmen, I've been up to my ears in their return Howlers!" Hermione groaned, tossing her Styrofoam cup into the nearest bin. Ginny giggled.
"Wood is fanatical about the sport isn't he?" she said, sipping her smoothie. Hermione laughed.
"That's an understatement. Even Harry says he's never seen Wood so angry about a Quidditch related subject, and that's saying something." The two girls popped into their apartment simultaneously and kept chatting like nothing had happened. Ginny picked up the remote and clicked their television on, a Muggle habit they had a soft spot for. A woman's face appeared on the screen, looking grim like newscasters tend to.
"Saffron Jones reporting for CNN. I'm standing on the corner of Lancaster Square where a bizarre occurrence has taken place. Apparently, officials got an anonymous call in from this telephone booth," Saffron Jones motioned behind her, "saying that some people had mysteriously gotten to the top of this apartment behind me and were sending sparks of sorts down at the crowd below. Local authorities found three bodies at the scene, but they cannot find any plausible cause of death. Back to you Phil." Ginny muted the TV.
"You think it was Death Eaters?" Hermione didn't even look up from the magazine she was looking through to answer.
"Well of course it was Death Eaters! They've been unusually active ever since LV got blasted by Harry. They're furious; it took them so long to get him back and now they're back to square one." Hermione turned a page of Martha Stewart Living before throwing it on the coffee table. Ginny sat on one of the kitchen stools listening raptly. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before they bring him back like he was, but Harry's goal is to make sure that doesn't happen. Personally, I don't think it can be avoided. I'd rather take him out, one big old splashy deal, instead of having this-this shadow of a threat looming over our heads like a bloody Doomsday." Ginny grinned.
"You really are amazing Herm," she said as she threw away the plastic cup her smoothie had been in before.
"I know." Hermione picked up her magazine again, but it wasn't a minute before a huge barn owl came screeching in through the skylight. Hermione calmly put the magazine back down and began to take the letter off of its leg.
"That's Ron's owl isn't it?" Ginny asked curiously. Hermione flushed a tiny bit.
"Yes." Once the letter had been removed, the owl hopped onto the armchair the girls had bought at a nearby garage sale the year before and proceeded to peck at the upholstery. Ginny gently lifted it off of the chair and brought it to the kitchen counter as Hermione scanned the parchment.
"Well? What does it say?" Ginny went to read over Hermione's shoulder.
Hey Gin & 'Mione-
Harry and I were going to have a sort of grand old dinner party thing at the Dancing Duck, sort of a reunion so to speak. We've made reservations for 8…tonight ok with you?
-Ron
Ginny groaned. "I can't believe him! That's the restaurant I work at! I need money! Plus, I can't go to dinner there, it'd be much too weird." Hermione rolled her eyes and hit her on the head with the parchment lightly.
"Don't be silly, you can come just as well as I can come."
"Think about it this way Herms- if you ordered the lobster a la Charles, I'd know that Chef Rigeletto spat in it three times for good fortune!" Hermione made a face.
"Okay, I get your point. And now I'm definitely not getting the lobster…well, I'm going, it'll be a nice opportunity to see everyone again," she said, getting out some parchment and scribbling a reply. Ginny sank into the sofa next to her.
"Oh fabulous. Thanks for your support roomie," Ginny replied sarcastically. Hermione stopped writing.
"Well what do you want me to say?"
"That-that…oh I dunno, go to your stupid reunion dinner," Ginny said grumpily. Hermione grinned gratefully.
"Thanks Gin!"
"Yeah whatever." Ginny, now in bad spirits, rose to get changed into her waitress' uniform. She called over to her shoulder to Hermione as she went, "But if I'm your waitress you can expect lots of good fortune!" Hermione couldn't help laughing as she watched the barn owl fly back out the skylight from where it came from.
--
Placing her employee's card on the check in table, Ginny took her nametag from off the board where all the others were pinned. Pinning it firmly to her breast pocket, she surveyed it critically: 'Virginia Eve Weasley'. Why did they need her full name anyway? Everyone knew she was a Weasley, no need to make it public. Geoff, the manager, came forward with outstretched arms. Ginny gave him a hug.
"Hey there Geoff, miss me?" Geoff leaned back to look at her.
"Between last night and today missy, I do believe you've gotten skinnier!" Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes, but it was just a game they played every night. Geoff was one of those guys whose movie star looks got him lingering glances on the street and more Valentines than one could count. Only his very good friends, Ginny included, knew that he was gay. Ginny herself in fact, before she became friends with him, mooned after him for a short period. Anyway, she loved him like another brother, although God knows she didn't need any more.
"No skinnier than usual," Ginny commented, grabbing the reservations book and looking down it. "Oh will you look at that: 'Party of Eight, H. Potter'. Try not to encourage the jolly festivities will you Geoff?" Geoff looked at the book over her shoulder.
"Ah, a missed dinner date opportunity?" he asked knowingly. Ginny swatted him with a menu.
"No, just a reunion dinner," she said, trying to sound nonchalantly. Geoff laughed.
"Yeah right. And I bet your roomie, you know, the one with great hair? I bet she's going too and you're just bitter," he taunted, coming much too close to the truth. Ginny ignored him and looked for her initials next to the dinner parties she'd be serving.
"Mr. and Mrs. J Kingswallop…Mr. and Mrs. M. Flint…oh God, why the Flints? They're a bloody nightmare!" Ginny complained, poking the aforementioned reservation savagely with her Biro pen.
"That's why they're your clients; you're the only one who can somewhat handle them," Geoff explained. Ginny looked back down at the book.
"But it says party of four, which means they're bringing two of their loathsome friends too! No, I can't do this, I don't care how much-"
"15 galleons," Geoff cut in simply. Ginny's brown eyes widened.
"15…oh bother," she said pouting. This meant the matter was closed. Geoff smiled.
"Good. Now, I've taken the liberty of giving you Mr. Potter's reservation too…don't worry, I promise you'll leave with heavier pockets!" Geoff added, seeing Ginny's beyond horrified face. "Plus, I won't make you have any show-ups. Just a few reservations, ok Ginny my sweet?" Ginny sighed.
"God, if I wasn't so desperate for the money, I swear…" and with that, she picked up two menus and waited for the Kingswallops to show up.
--
It was a long time waiting for the illusive couple, or any of her reservations for that matter. Ginny picked at her blue uniform; it had been one of her requests to have a blue one. Each waitress/waiter was given a different color uniform, but Ginny had been adamant about blue. Geoff had finally given up trying to get her to wear the pink and gave in. Ginny had been so excited she had even gone out to buy matching blue sandals.
An elderly couple came in, chatting happily. Ginny went up to them. "Hello and welcome to the Dancing Duck. Do you have reservations?" The elderly man nodded.
"James Kingswallop, and this is my wife Rena." Ginny nodded, inwardly incredibly relieved someone had finally shown up.
"Right this way sir," Ginny replied, showing them to a table and giving them their menus. James Kingswallop looked closely at her nametag.
"Weasley eh?" Ginny nodded again. "Tell your father James Kingswallop says hello; he helped me out of a spot with the Ministry about fighting yard gnomes." Ginny fought the urge to laugh, and instead came out with a professional 'Yes sir' before walking back to the door while they decided what to eat.
The door tinkled open almost immediately, and a terrified Ginny noted the familiar profile of Marcus Flint, along with his wife Millicent. Two other people stood behind them, the woman laughing loudly, the man quite sullen and silent. Ginny took a deep breath and put a friendly smile on her face. "Welcome to the Dancing Duck, I'll be your waitress this evening." Marcus Flint turned around slowly and a malevolent expression came across his face. Ginny gulped.
"Ah yes, Miss Weasley- I daresay you've served us before?" Ginny nodded, feeling rather like a puppet now with all of the nodding. The other couple looked up and Ginny gasped as she recognized.
"Violet?" She said before she could help herself. The other three looked at her strangely, but Violet looked equally astonished.
"What are you doing here?" Violet asked incredulously.
"I-I work here…I didn't know you were a witch!" Ginny replied, eyes wide.
"Likewise! And you're-good heavens, you're Ginny Weasley." It was a statement of incredible distaste. Ginny fought the urge to smash her over the head with the menus.
"Yes. And you are…?" Ginny asked coolly.
"Pansy Parkinson." Ginny mentally smacked herself for not connecting the pug face to the one she knew so well from school.
"Of course. Well, I've got your table over there, so if you'll just follow me…" Pansy's boyfriend was looking very amused by now, and that's all it took for Ginny to recognize him as well. The juice man; Draco Malfoy. Ginny shook herself and started to walk confidently towards their table. Pansy was now talking to Millicent ("I swear, I had no idea!) as Ginny rolled her eyes and brought the chairs out from under the table. They all sat down and took the menus from her without a word. Draco Malfoy was now looking at her with increased interest, which Ginny completely ignored. "I'll be right back with the wine list," she said, and walked away.
She walked into the kitchen and promptly began to search for Geoff. Her face was flushed from anger and humiliation as she started yelling. "Geoffrey Mitchell Price, you'd better give me more than 15 galleons for this bloody table!" Geoff came out of his office looking bemused.
"What on earth are you gabbing on about?" he asked, surprised at her sudden temper flare.
"Those sodding Flints brought equally repulsive friends, if not worse, and I reckon you knew about it!" she accused. Geoff held up his hands. "All right, let's not get over excited here!" From anyone else it'd be insulting, but Ginny knew well that he meant no harm by it.
"Fine," she replied sulkily. "It's just-oh my God, could I have a worse table?!? The Flints, Pansy Parkinson, and Draco Malfoy?!? There had better be a good explanation." When Ginny said the names 'Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy' Geoff had burst out laughing.
"No wonder you're so angry! Those two are incredibly…well, let's just call them incredible then shall we?" Ginny didn't reply or laugh. "What? Is he like an ex or something?"
"No!" Ginny screamed, losing it again. "That's just bloody ridiculous."
"Whoa girl, sorry!" Geoff said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "I just find this incredibly amusing-"
"Oh you're no better than they are," she fumed before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen, yelling "I expect no less than twenty galleons now!"
The swinging doors slammed behind her and she stood looking at seven people she knew very well standing and staring at her. She blushed hard as she walked over to greet them.
Hermione looked very close to laughing, and Ginny couldn't help but see the funny side of it all when she saw her expression. "Yes well, maybe it's funny to you lot, but I'm being forced to serve the table from Hell." This was the cue for her seven friends to burst out laughing. Ginny giggled as she slid seven menus from the menu rack. "Nice to see you-Seamus, Harry, Parvati, Hermione, Ron, Colin, Lavender." They nodded while laughing to her in greeting as they followed her to their seats. Hermione put her napkin neatly on her lap and whispered as Ginny bent down on the pretense of filling her water glass "So who's at this table?" Ginny straightened up and made a face while the rest of her friends shut up to listen.
"Let's just say it couldn't get any worse," she replied, nodding her head to where the Flints, Pansy and Draco sat. Everyone simultaneously made a face.
"Oh Gin that's horrid!" Parvati exclaimed, looking sympathetically at Ginny. Lavender was looking more closely.
"Great Scott, is that Draco Malfoy?" she asked disbelievingly, looking at his broad frame with a raised eyebrow. Ginny nodded. Ron's head immediately jerked up from his menu to where the others were looking at.
"So the bloody wanker's showing his face again is he?" he asked, a hint of a mischievous grin on his face. Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and shrugged as Ginny went around the circle filling water glasses.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
Ron grabbed a roll and launched into an explanation. "You see practically as soon as we graduated, Ferret Face was offered a place on France's Quidditch team."
"No!" The girls exclaimed, and all the men nodded gravely.
Harry, who was a huge fan of the sport having played it religiously himself, joined in the conversation. "But to understand how much England hated him for a bit, you have to realize that England was actually planning to ask him when they heard I wasn't going into Quidditch. So basically it was a race against the clock. I told England no the week of graduation, and they were going to ask him two weeks later. France beat them to it and he accepted." Hermione leaned back in her seat grinning.
"Well that explains it! I was wondering why he never turned up to torment us again." Ron nodded.
"I was surprised too, but as he's in France most of the time we are lucky enough not to have to see his ugly mug at all." Ginny was about to add something when the bad tempered yell of Marcus Flint rang out across the restaurant.
"Weasley!" Ginny jumped.
"Oh Lord I have to go. Catch up with you later." She turned around and walked over to them with her wand and notepad out and ready. Her friends back at the table shook their heads in pity.
--
"Poor girl, those four are unbearable," Seamus remarked in his thick Irish accent, taking a swig of water. Ron and Harry nodded grimly in agreement while Parvati and Lavender looked over occasionally and giggled hysterically. Hermione frowned.
"What's so funny?" she asked, playing with her salad fork.
Parvati looked up with a grin. "Have you taken a good look at Mr. Malfoy there Herm?" Hermione raised her eyebrow.
"Can't say I have." Harry and Ron looked up sharply at the giggly duo.
"Why, what's up Lav?" Harry looked closely at Lavender who motioned with her head at the table in question.
"France must've agreed with him, that's al I have to say," Lavender answered simply. Ron gagged on the roll he was now eating and Hermione's jaw dropped.
"You're not actually suggesting that Draco Malfoy-" Hermione stopped and started again. "Let's look at this objectively. Draco Malfoy, bane of our existences in Hogwarts, scrawny ferret faced Draco Malfoy whose parents are in Azkaban as of now, hot?!?" Lavender and Parvati nodded, to everyone else's complete revulsion.
"Just wait 'till he stands up hun, I guarantee a great big smile," Parvati said, patting Hermione on the shoulder. Hermione, completely shocked, looked at Ron and they both silently agreed: there was something in those pre-dinner cocktails. Harry, meanwhile, decided to get into a less controversial subject, such as Quidditch, with Seamus.
"I'm telling you, Ireland has the right to want to host! We did maybe ten years ago!" Seamus was saying hotly. Harry shook his head, drinking some water.
"No way man, we reserved the slot and it's ours. No way you're going to take it away again!" Harry argued.
"Bloody greedy if you ask me," Seamus muttered. Harry grinned.
"Maybe so; welcome to England mate." They both roared with laughter and the whole restaurant turned to see who the culprits were. "Oh Christ," Harry muttered. He wasn't prepared for another ambush of loyal fans; he got worse than that though.
Harry looked across the tables to see Draco Malfoy turned around with a malicious smirk on his face. He knew it well as he had seen it practically everyday in his school days. Ginny, who was just taking their menus from them, had stopped dead in her tracks mid-reach for Marcus'. There was a tense pause, and then everyone went back to their business.
Except for Draco Malfoy of course.
The now silent party of seven watched as Draco muttered something in Pansy's ear, who broke out into a similar smirk, and got up to walk over. Hermione's eyes widened despite herself; Parvati and Lavender weren't entirely wrong about him. Maybe it was the extra Quidditch practices, but he was definitely looking (there was no other word for it) hot. His gray eyes were cold as ever, but in them was a tiny spark of mischievousness, not unlike Ron in his playful moods. However, this spark wasn't warm or friendly at all; it was frozen in its place.
He reached the table and looked directly at Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were sitting side by side. "So the Dream Team really is still together…and I thought it was just a rumour." Ron's face was contorting drastically into what Hermione would label as fury/horror. She took it in her hands to reply as she feared if either of her comrades answered it would involve smashing glass. Behind Draco, Hermione could see Ginny standing horrorstruck…and hurt. But before she had a chance to investigate it, she was saying something to her former arch nemesis.
"Nice to see you're together with your own Dream Team as well Malfoy," she replied casually, with the air of someone talking to their bank manager. Draco shrugged.
"I wouldn't call them a team per say…more like a gathering of idiots." Parvati bit her lip to keep from laughing, which set Lavender off as well. "But that's not why I came over." To everyone's annoyance, he took it upon himself to sit in the eighth vacant chair; the one that Ginny would've sat in had she been able to come.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ron asked, jaw clenched. Hermione flashed him a warning Look, and Ron fell silent.
Ignoring Ron's inquiry, Draco continued. "I suppose you all hate me, and you really shouldn't feel any other bloody way towards me. I have three things to say to all of you, and then I hope to God I'll never see you ever again- especially you, Weasley." Ron took this as a compliment. Draco started ticking them off on his fingers. "One: I joined up with our French neighbors because I could. Two: Don't worry, I still loathe you all. Three: Your little sister really grew, didn't she Weasley?" Draco took a second to enjoy the immense rage Ron was now displaying all over his freckled face. "Right, then I'll be going back to my dinner. Happy Eats." And with that, he was back at his table. Ron was shaking with anger.
"That no good son of a-"
"Ron, did we really expect anything else?" Hermione said, trying to calm him down a little.
Ron paused. "Well no, but still…and I was wondering why I hated him so much!" Everyone laughed. Harry looked 'round for Ginny and frowned.
"Where's Gin?" Heads turned, trying to locate their waitress/friend. Hermione looked concerned.
"She never leaves work, never!" Seamus shrugged and went back to his roll.
"Ah, I'm sure she's just in the kitchens or something. Nothing to worry about, I'm sure." There was a murmur of agreement, and reluctantly, Hermione went back to the conversation.
--
"Geoff, I'm taking off for the rest of the night, I don't care if you only pay me 2 bloody Knuts!" Ginny yelled into Geoff's office, wiping her eyes with her hand as she shoved her nametag on the board. Geoff's head popped out and his jaw dropped when he saw the distressed state of her.
"Ginny love, what happened?" Ginny just shook her head, fearing that if she spoke she would bawl like a little baby. Geoff knitted his brows together in concern. "I'll get Harold to cover for you." Ginny nodded gratefully and breathed in deeply, trying to contain herself. She marched determinedly to the back door at the rear of the kitchen, almost as if she was afraid she wouldn't make it, flung open the door, and wrapped her coat around her as she started trudging through the alleyway. It was halfway down the alleyway that she realized she had gotten her suede sandals wet and therefore ruined when she completely broke down. Not because of the sandals, but just the general suckiness of the day. She put her hand over her mouth trying to stifle the tears and sat on a garbage can miserably. It was only when she heard a silken voice say "Now look what we have here" that she looked up and narrowed her eyes.
"Get the fuck away from me." Draco looked supremely amused.
"Language Weasley."
"I don't care," she said stubbornly, wiping her eyes and sniffing. The last thing she wanted was Draco seeing her like this after his insults. To her surprise and dislike he came and sat down on the garbage can next to her.
"I thought I'd find you here."
"Delightful Malfoy, really amazing how you used your skills to find me," Ginny replied extremely sarcastically. Malfoy twisted his mouth in a very odd manner.
"Yes, I take pride in my navigational skills." He waited for a response but all he got was her back facing towards him. Drops of rain started to cascade from the sky and Draco could distinctly hear Ginny letting off a stream of four letter words that would make even the toughest biker blush. "I expected more from you, honestly." Ginny whirled around, her face murderous.
"I frankly don't give a damn what you expect of me," she countered, her tears mingling with the rain now falling freely from the skies. The chopsticks fell out of her hair and into the trash on the ground, her hair getting soaked from rain, making it darker than the usual fiery red. Draco's own very precisely gelled hair was getting messed up, but he didn't seem to notice.
"All I'm saying is I thought you were tougher than that. You know, get an insult, flip the offender the finger, continue daily routine kind of girl," he said and Ginny almost laughed.
"What on earth made you think that?" she asked, curious despite herself.
"Well first off, the juice incident," he reminded her, smirking. Ginny remembered. "You didn't seem too pleased, and I think I remember you saying what an 'insufferable prat' I am as I left." Ginny nodded, pleased with herself.
"Well yes, you were frightfully rude." She wiped her face of the moisture and got up, ready to leave. "Don't expect me to get snivelly and then fall at your feet in 'womanly defeat' Malfoy, but don't expect me not to hear what you're saying either." Ginny decided that to leave before he could make another snide comment, leaving him sitting on the garbage can behind her in the pouring rain.
--
Ginny ran across a Muggle street holding her umbrella above her. She had been walking for fifteen minutes already, and was far away from the restaurant already (the fact that she Apparated helped a bit as well). The sky was hammering torrents of rain down on her, and it did nothing to brighten her mood any. Then, almost as if it was there just for her, she saw one of those small gardens that London sometimes has inside squares of houses. An idea came into her head and she walked up to the gate, shook out her umbrella, and whispered "Alohomora!" The gate swung open and she walked in to sit down heavily on the nearest stone bench.
The garden was one of those classically gorgeous ones with marble urns and overgrown flowers everywhere. The droplets of rain hung on every leaf as if they were designed to fit it, and the grass was springy and wet to the touch. Ginny traced the bench with her finger, breathing in the somewhat soothing scent of the damp. Breathing in slowly and exhaling, she silently reprimanded herself. It had been a long time since she had lost control like that: but then again, it had been a long time since anyone had brought her first year at Hogwarts up.
--FLASHBACK--
Ginny walks over to the table with a pretense of a carefree waitress. Marcus Flint closes his menu and orders the lobster and his wife asks for the same. Hiding a smile at the choice, she asks Draco and Pansy what they would like. Pansy orders the chicken Caesar; Draco orders the beef special. Breathing a sigh of relief that Flint hadn't made a nasty comment yet, she bends down to take the menus. Draco leans back comfortably in his chair and asks nonchalantly, "So how's Tom?"
Those three words are all it takes to get the memories flooding in. Ginny stands in shock as the unpleasant laughter is passed around the circle; Draco isn't laughing. Just looking at his prey with those slate gray eyes.
--
Remembering Tom Riddle was something so unexpected that Ginny hardly knew what to do with herself. For years after the trying ordeal in her first year she had been trying to forget the fact that she was basically possessed by the most dangerous wizard of her time. The tactlessness of Draco's statement cut the tape so to speak; it was like a signal for the horrendous memories to circle her head.
The importance she felt at finally being noticed; Tom had only vaguely known one Weasley, and didn't associate Ginny with him. He accepted her for being a truly sparkling individual, full of life and warmth; but he took it all away. Everyday he'd ask her how her day went, and Ginny would answer with a one word sentence like "Fine" or "Good". But Tom always knew. He always knew how horrid the day had gone or how happy she was at the moment. He always asked her to write down every detail, every emotion, and Ginny would without a second thought.
Tom was most interested in her feelings for Harry however. Ginny poured all of her love for him and all of the frustration she harbored at his obliviousness, and he lapped it up like a cat with cream. When he came out of the diary, Ginny could still remember the mocking laugh he unleashed on her and the one word he uttered before she fainted: "Pathetic."
Ginny's eyes welled up with tears again and she bit her lip hard to stop them from tumbling down her face again. It wasn't often that she cried anymore; if she did, she never let anyone see. But she had let Draco Malfoy see, the one who made her cry, and Ginny wouldn't forgive herself for that. She took one last look around the garden after this internal vow and then Apparated to her flat.
--
When another waiter had come to cover for Ginny, Hermione knew at once that something was wrong. She flashed one angry look at the back of Malfoy's head before uttering a quick apology to Ron and Harry before grabbing her bag and coat and walking out. Ron and Harry now were completely confused and upset at Ginny's disappearance, and of course Ron blamed Malfoy for it. As Hermione left, she could hear the remnants of her company debating over what could have caused it.
It started to rain hard as Hermione scanned the outside to try and locate the fiery red hair she now knew so well. Finding nothing, she Apparated to the flat. It was empty; Hermione rounded it three times before giving up on finding her there. Somehow, maybe through that best friend sixth sense, she assumed that Ginny would be returning soon. She crossed over to the stove and filled the kettle with water to boil for some tea when she got back; it seemed like it was a soothing tea kind of night. It had started whistling when Ginny popped into the living room, soaked to the last stitch of her clothing, and red-eyed. Hermione almost dropped the tea kettle in fright.
"Oh my God Ginny what happened? What did that son of a bitch do?" She asked, a tinge of fury in her voice. Ginny took one look at Hermione still in her 'out to dinner' clothes and kettle in hand and she broke out into a frown.
"Why aren't you at the restaurant with everybody?" Hermione grinned slightly.
"I know as well as anybody that an emotional Weasley on the loose is no light matter," she replied, trying to make Ginny smile. It worked; Ginny gave her a small smile and Hermione sighed with relief.
"You guessed right." Ginny threw her sopping wet coat on a chair and flung herself on the couch. Hermione poured some tea into a cup and handed it to Ginny before pouring her own. Ginny smiled gratefully and took a long sip. Hermione waited patiently for her to say something as she settled herself down in a chair across from her. "Well, I can't say I like Malfoy any better than I did before," she said quietly, chuckling in an empty sort of manner. Hermione's face fell.
"What did he say?" she asked softly, her hands clenching up in the folds of the armchair.
Ginny set the tea down on the coasters Hermione had knit before and sighed. "It's nothing, I don't know why I took it so…literally."
"Nonsense! He can be really hateful when he's not just idly being sarcastic, if I remember correctly," Hermione commented, taking a long sip of her own tea. Ginny looked up at her and nodded.
"I suppose. Well, I guess what he said just sprung a lot of unwanted memories in my head." Hermione found it best not to reply to this, and Ginny was grateful as she mulled over the last couple of hours in her head. It made her nauseated every time she thought of it; looking up at Hermione's worried face, she realized she should tell her. She was her best friend after all. Hermione jumped slightly when Ginny finally started to speak.
"He mentioned Tom 'Mione. And I know, after all these years I should be over it, and I was! But when he said that…it was just so profoundly moving. In the bad way." Hermione's face changed into a weird mix between rage and worry. She didn't interrupt though. "It's terrifying every time I think of it," she whispered, clutching her tea mug again. "Tom stole my soul; it's worse than Imperio, he did that too." Ginny fell into a brief silence as she remembered the bliss she got when the Imperius Curse was performed on her. She remembered the way her mind was wiped blank of any worries she might have had. "I was a wraith, a shadow, and the worst thing was that no one ever bothered to realize it." Hermione could have killed herself with the amount of sorrow in Ginny's shaking voice, and it scared her. "I poured out my heart to Tom, he sympathized, he cared. And when he told me the truth…" she trailed off momentarily. A nearby lamp exploded, but Ginny didn't seem to notice. "…I broke down. I shut down more like, I couldn't thin, so I just fainted." A weird, unearthly grin flickered across her face. "Black."
Ginny didn't dare look at Hermione's reaction to all of this, so she plunged on. "Black was good," she continued softly. "I couldn't see the red hair which as labeled me as 'another Weasley'. I couldn't see the green eyes that seemed to follow me everywhere; both Harry's and Tom's. I couldn't see the gold and maroon that so warmly decorated the Common Room…I couldn't see the piercing green skin of the Basilisk. I welcomed black." The shards of glass from the lamp started melting into a puddle of ooze into the wooden floor. "I don't like thinking about it," Ginny declared almost confidently. "It made me sick; sometimes I had to run into the bathroom before it was too late it's that nauseating. It was and still is disgusting that I let him do that to me." Ginny looked up at Hermione with tears threatening to brim over. "Dumbledore can go on about 'more powerful wizards than I have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort', I really couldn't care less! Didn't they get that I was ashamed and humiliated?" Hermione and Ginny both knew that was a rhetorical statement. Ginny suddenly gave a small laugh.
"Nothing is a secret in Hogwarts. When Harry successfully got the Philosopher's Stone, everyone knew. You remember?" Hermione nodded silently. "When Cedric was killed, everyone knew exactly how. It was pretty much the same in my case. Second year wasn't fun." Ginny's face darkened at remembering it. "I heard whispers everywhere and I did my best to ignore it, but you sort of can't avoid it when it's everywhere." Ginny's voice grew mocking. "'Did you hear about Ginny? Weasley, you know, red hair? She attacked everyone, she was taken over by You-Know-Who! Poor Ginny, I wonder how it happened?'" She stopped dead and sipped some tea. "You know something? So do I." Hermione and Ginny were both crying at this point, although silently.
Hermione got up and sat next to Ginny, giving her a hug. Ginny started sobbing into Hermione's shoulder saying "I'm so stupid!" Hermione shook her head.
"You're one of the smartest people Gin, don't even think that!" Ginny tried to smile but only ended up giving a watery sort of expression. Hermione wiped away her own tears and gave Ginny a tissue from the coffee table. Ginny blew her nose and watched in puzzlement as Hermione started scribbling away furiously on a piece of parchment.
"What're you doing?" Ginny asked, wiping the running mascara onto the tissue. Hermione folded the parchment and gave it to her owl Helena who was sitting on the telly.
"I think it's time for a little reunion."
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