Cruel Beauty

Chapter Five
The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most

Buried deep as you can dig inside yourself
and hidden in the public eye.
Such a stellar monument to loneliness
Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes
and perfect makeup but you're barely scraping by—Dashboard Confessional

Draco Malfoy is one of the more interesting people that I've met in my lifetime. I find that we are very similar creatures, especially in our thirst for revenge. You never wrong an Evansole without repercussions and you most certainty never wrong a Malfoy without expected death; or so Draco will lead you to believe.

I didn't even bother to correct Draco at the feast; I simply glared and plotted his untimely death in my mind. My new motto in life was that if people could not get my name right then they didn't deserve for me to talk to them. I sat with my new "family" and refused to speak with anyone. I heard the conversations going on around me and they could only be labeled as the pointless jabbering of children.

When the Welcoming Feast was over the students were all led to their common rooms by the prefects. As I was following my house out of the Great Hall I heard someone running behind me and shouting the name Ginny. I didn't turn around—as if I was going to respond to that.

Eventually the person caught up to me and grabbed my arm, forcing me to spin around.

"Gin, what you forgot your name? What was that at the Sorting? You are a Weasley and don't you forget it." It was the twins and a shorter clone of them. Great, a family reunion.

"First of all my name is not 'Gin', I am not some sort of alcoholic beverage; it is Ginevra. And my last name is most certainly not Weasley. I was raised an Evansole and that is who I am. You can be assured that I will not forget that."

All three took a step back from me as if I had struck them, the youngest looked as though he was about to start to cry. One of the twins glared down at me, "You're right, you are not a Weasley."

"Well, I'm positively delighted that we have that cleared up. Now, if you will excuse me I have better things to do." I walked away with all three red heads fuming at my back. As I turned the corner I came to the realization that I had no clue where my common room was and the rest of my house had long since departed.

This was just a terrific end to my day, I decided, getting lost in a castle. I began to reason with myself, I knew that the Slytherin rooms were located in the dungeons, so I would simply go there and find them.

I began my decent to the lower areas of Hogwarts when someone in a hooded black robe suddenly appeared in front of me, "Lost, Evansole?" The person lowered their hood to reveal my blond friend from dinner.

"How about that," I sneered, "you can teach an old dog new tricks, nice to see that you learned my name."

Draco did this weird upward smirk thing; I think it was supposed to be a smile.

"I saw your little exchange with the resident underprivileged orphans and I have to say that you're worthy of the Evansole name."

I knew before this that I was "worthy" of the Evansole name, so it shouldn't have been any big shock to me. But, to hear a cruel, evil person pretty much call you one, kind of makes it official. You know, that whole takes one to know one thing. I rolled my eyes, "Nice to have your approval."

"You know, I would hate to for a fellow Slytherin to get lost in this castle. Perhaps if you ask me nicely I'll show you where Slytherin quarters are located."

I glared at him. An Evansole asks favors of no one. "Fuck off," I said merely for the shock value and for the fact that despite hearing the words come from Velena, she would have had a fit if she heard me utter them. "I can find Slytherin on my own," I said with confidence.

For a moment he did look shocked, but he quickly covered it. "That is certainly not polite of you. However, as a Slytherin I applaud your inability to be nice and shall show you Slytherin despite your rude behavior." I shrugged and he led the way. We walked in silence, each trying to prove our superiority over the over. After a few moments of our wordless battle Draco spoke, "I don't believe that I've properly introduced myself to you, I'm Draco Malfoy."

"I knew who you were." He raised his eyebrows in question. "Only a Malfoy would have that white-blond hair."

"Yes, I suppose that it is a trademark of sorts. Although, the same could be said about the Evansoles and their red hair."

"Touché." We reached a portrait of a snake and Draco said the password, pureblood—what a shock. The painting swung open to reveal a room done lavishly in green and silver. I silently judged my new home, though the color scheme was a bit to the extreme, it would do.

Draco pointed out the staircase to the girl's dormitory and I went up to see what my room looked like. I was mildly disappointed when I entered my room and discovered that I was sharing it with three other girls.

The girls introduced themselves when I came into the room; Melinda, Theresa, and Lauren. I had noticed these girls at dinner and they seemed to have known each other before they came to Hogwarts. This was all the better for me, if they were already a little group then I didn't have to worry about them trying to involve me. As I said before, I did not do well in social interaction with most children my age.

They seemed to be waiting for me in initiate conversation with them as they all just stood there nervously staring at me. I decided that I was bored with this and crossed the room to where my trunk was. I opened it and pulled out my copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Greatest Works.

I went over to my bed, propped myself up on the pillows, and became absorbed in my favorite poem, "The Raven." Edgar was really under appreciated in the muggle world. But then again he wasn't really cherished in our world either. But what squibs really are?

After my roommates had gone to sleep I went back over to my trunk, took out my photo album, and went down to the common room.

I sat by the ever-present fire and opened the book to the marked page of my mother waving to me in my favorite picture. I returned her smile, I knew that she hadn't been in Slytherin, but just being in the same school that she attended made me feel closer to her.

"You know, if people see you smiling they might get the impression that you have feelings." I jumped slightly as I heard the voice behind me. I turned around and saw Draco looking faintly evil with the fire reflecting off of his face.

"Well, that would be a misinterpretation, now wouldn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose it would be." He walked over to my chair and looked at the picture, "Who is that?"

I started to snap the book shut and tell him to mind his own business, but decided to do otherwise. "That is my mother when she was seventeen."

Draco stared at the picture intently, "She looks like you." I didn't respond. He sat down beside me and I could tell that he wanted to look at the photo album with me, but some things just aren't shared. I didn't want to share my mother with anyone. I didn't want others receiving her friendly smile and graceful wave and I did not care if it was selfish.

I got up from the chair and closed the album. I told Draco that I was tired and then retreated to my dormitory. Draco watched me leave for a moment, before doing the same.