Cruel Beauty

Rating: PG-13

Summery: Alternate Universe. When Ginny was six years old her parents died and she was left in the care of her mother's beautiful yet cruel sister. She raises Ginny with misguided views on love, will Ginny be able to love or is she too late to save?

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize is not mine

A/N Okay I know that a few chapters ago I made the promise that you would know who killed Maria by chapter sixteen. This is chapter sixteen, but I'm sorry, I can't fit it in right now! But I really do mean it when I say, next chapter. And you all can come after me with pitchforks or something if I don't put it in by chapter seventeen, lol!

Chapter Sixteen

Family Business

But if I fall asleep and death takes me away
Don't be surprised, I wasn't put here to stay
At night the evil armies don't play
So the family sticks together and we never betray. The Fugees

The door flung open and the person looked me over. "Ginny?" He spit out the food that had been in his mouth as he spoke. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hello Ronald." I tried to refrain myself from flinching at the chewed up food that had landed near me. "May I come in?"

He nodded dumbly and permitted entrance into the home. Before walking into the house I attempted to shake some of the water off of myself. When I felt as though I was no longer dripping with rainwater I went in.

The Burrow can best be described as…cozy. It wasn't quite as dirty as I had expected. It was obvious that someone had made an effort to make the inside of the house look somewhat presentable. I assumed that it was one of my eldest brothers; they seemed more responsible.

Ron guided me to the kitchen. All the Weasleys along with Harry and Hermione were laughing and eating. Ron cleared his throat, "look who's here," he said somewhat dryly.

The talking and laughter came to an abrupt stop and seven heads turned to my direction. For a few moments no one said a word as they all attempted to comprehend what was going on.

The first to regain their voices were Fred and George. They both walked up to me and gave hurt glares. "You don't belong here Evansole, go home."

Bill walked up behind them and put a hand on each shoulder, "she's family, of course she belongs here." I gave him an appreciative look; I was worried that everyone's reaction would be like this.

Charlie stood up from the table and politely asked everyone to leave so that he and Bill could talk to me. When the kitchen was clear they offered me a seat at the table and food. I took both as I was tired and famished from the long walk.

"Virginia, not that we aren't more than happy to have you here; but why did you come?"

I took a break from my food and looked at Bill, who had asked the question. "I just needed to feel real."

They both gave me questioning looks so I continued. "Ever since I was six I have been told to believe a certain set of rules; I have been raised to behave a certain way and I have always felt more like a modeled doll than a person. I recently discovered some things about my, I mean our, mother and I realized that I have six siblings whom I know nothing about. It's not how she would have wanted things."

Charlie looked shocked. "You're right, she wouldn't have wanted us to be separated."

Bill looked thoughtful for a moment, "dad, wouldn't have wanted us like this either." I waited for the inevitable flinch at the mention of my father, but it never came.

"Could you tell me about her? I mean both of you were older when it happened so I'm sure that you have a lot more memories than I do."

Bill started, "yeah, we can tell you whatever you want to know. The most important thing in the world to her was her children. She was always coming up with new activities for us to do and games to keep us occupied. We never had a lot of money, but it was never important."

I nodded, that was how I had always pictured her, the loving mother who would sacrifice anything for her children. "Did she ever mention anything about Velena or the Evansole family?"

Charlie took this one, "she told us once that she had a sister, but she said that she hadn't spoken to her in years. Apparently Velena did not approve of dad, he wasn't up to the Evansole standards. So mum was basically kicked out of the family. But she always said that the Evansoles were more like a boot camp than a family; she didn't miss any of them."

I glanced at the clock and realized that I had to leave soon if I didn't want Velena to notice anything. I told Bill and Charlie as much but asked one last question. "Do you what happened that day?"

They looked at each other, each silently willing the other to take the question. Finally since Bill was the oldest he answered it. "A group of people, anywhere between two and five, apparated onto the grounds and murdered them. The ministry searched for a while, but when it started to seem hopeless, they just stopped caring. They declared it a dead case and we still don't know who is responsible."

I nodded. I wondered how long the ministry had searched for Maria's killer before declaring it hopeless and giving up. I thought that these people were supposed to protect the citizens, not just quit when things got difficult.

"I better be going then. Do you mind if I use your fireplace to get back?"

"Of course," Charlie said. "Did you want to say anything to everyone else before leaving though?"

I thought about it for a moment. I had no clue what to say to them; pretty much all the other members of the family despised me. "Just tell them that…tell them that…oh forget it. Just make up something that they would find acceptable and tell them that I said it." They smiled and nodded.

I went to the fireplace and took a handful of floo powder. "Virginia?" I turned and looked at them both. "Don't go so long before visiting us again." I nodded at Bill who had made the request and gave Charlie a smile before disappearing into the green flames.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stepped out of the Evansole fireplace and walked into a familiar scene. Velena was sitting in the armchair looking livid.

"What exactly were you thinking Virginia?"

How did she always seem to know everything that I did? It was rather annoying. "What was I thinking about what?"

"Do not play games with me child for you know exactly what I'm talking about. What in the world possessed you to go to the Weasley's home?" She had now stood up and was glaring down at me with her dangerous blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't feel as though I needed an explanation to visit my family." I smirked up at her as I stressed the last word; I knew that nothing would irritate her more than that.

"They are not your family and I forbid you to ever be within a fifty mile radius of them ever again."

I rolled my eyes, "don't you think that is a little irrational considering that I go to the same school as some of them?"

"You dare sass me Virginia? Well, I see that you have finally grown a backbone; too bad it will do you no good. I'll transfer you to someplace so secluded and far away that I will make sure that you never even have the opportunity to see them again."

"Why do you hate them so much? What have they ever really done to you, what makes them so below you?" Why did I ask that question, when I already knew the answer. I could already hear her cold voice saying, "because they are Weasleys and we are Evansoles."

Sure enough not even ten seconds later, "they are Weasleys Virginia, and we are Evansoles. They are the servants and we are the masters, so therefore I do not need a reason to feel above them; it is simply implied."

"You do realize that we are blood related to them? You have always insinuated that you have some sort of control over me because I have 'your blood running through my veins.' But guess what, they have the same blood! They are just as much Evansoles as I am and yet you pretend that they are some sort of lesser being who are not worthy of even thinking of."

She was beginning to get so angry that she was losing the control over her emotions that she had taught herself years ago to keep hidden. Velena looked as though she were about to snap; so I continued. "I'm not the same little child that you had complete control over and I am not afraid of you. You tell me that I have no idea what you can do to me, but what you don't realize is that I no longer care! You can not stop me from seeing the people that I want to see and you can't make me believe things that I know are not true."

I stormed out of the room and gathered the few things that I wanted, my two diaries, and my mother's photo album. I didn't care about the rest of it. I went to the library where there was a spare fireplace and escaped to Draco's. I couldn't live with Velena anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I arrived at Draco's I found his room by memory. I walked straight in and hoped that he wasn't doing anything that he didn't want me to see.

He was sitting at his desk, which was facing the wall. When he heard the door slam open he turned sharply and fell out of his chair. He quickly tried to regain his composure; Malfoy's never allow shock to show.

"Hello Virginia, is there something that I can do for you?"

"Yes. I need a place to stay temporarily." His eyes narrowed in confusion as he walked towards me.

"You know that you are always welcome here, but may I ask why?"

"I left; that's all you need to know." He nodded and led me through his bathroom and out a door that was located at the other end. He said that I could stay in his spare bedroom for as long as I needed it.

He took my things from me and sat them aside. "Alright, now that you're settled in you can explain to me why you left." I opened my mouth to give him my previous answer but he cut me off, "and you saying that I don't need to know is not going to cut it for me."

I sat down in a nearby chair and felt like pouting. However I do not believe in pouting so I just kept it in. "I left because I can not take living with Velena anymore. She has all these senseless rules and I refuse to follow them anymore."

He sighed and sat beside me, "I know that it's annoying to go along with all their beliefs and rules; believe me I go through the same thing daily. But sometimes you just have to bit your tongue and bare it. You know what is expected of you from your aunt, and I know that you are more than capable of giving it. You just have to stop being difficult and pretend to agree with her ways; because in reality, what other choice to you have?"

"There is always a choice," I turned to face him. "I'm not you Draco, I can't be some little puppet attached to her strings."

His eyes narrowed, "and what is that supposed to mean?"

I gave a hollow laugh, "please, you are the miniature version of your father; you allowed him mold you into whatever he wanted. You would never disobey him and sometimes I don't think that you even want to."

"You don't even know what you're talking about. You're right, I don't disobey him; do you know what happens to people who disobey Lucius? I do; they end up in a great amount of pain. And if I disobeyed him in the way that you are suggesting, trying to break free from the family, then it would probably result in death on my part."

I looked into his sincere eyes but a part of me still didn't want to believe it. "Stop being so melodramatic; the worst thing that would happen would be him cutting off your inheritance."

He gave me a sinister smile, "don't be so naïve Virginia. You think that my father hasn't killed people before? I thought that you were intelligent and observant. And don't think for a second that Velena is not the same way. Lucius and her are two peas in a pod; they both believe that above all else you should uphold the family name. And God help those who attempt to disgrace it."

His eyes took on an evil glint, "who do you think killed your mother?" I sat in shock as the information sunk in, why hadn't I thought of that before? I suppose a part of me just didn't want to believe that someone would murder their own sister.

Draco's face softened and I could tell that he felt something that a Malfoy rarely felt, guilt. "I shouldn't have said that." I remained silent. "Look, maybe you should get some sleep; I'm sure that you've had a long day." I nodded and allowed him to kiss me gently before he left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Draco left I didn't want to sleep. But I didn't want to stay awake and think about Velena murdering my mother and then gaining custody of me less then twenty-four hours later.

There wasn't much to provide entertainment in the room; it was mostly just a spare bed and all of Draco's clothes that he couldn't fit into the closet in his room. So I took out Maria's diary thinking that reading her happy memories could make me feel better.

She wrote very differently than my mother. When I had read my mother's diary it was like something that was written to a friend, with warmth and love. But Maria's diary was very informal and seemed more like a report of events that you would give someone. It wasn't how I had expected her to write. But nonetheless, I read it. The first entry was not dated and neither were any of the others.

My assignment began today. I went to the only other house in the area and was easily granted permission to enter. I met Velena's niece; she acts just like her aunt. She seemed particularly cold and uncaring for a child. I got her to come over to the house and I was shocked at the quickness of the potion.

It was actually rather amusing to watch her transform into a compassionate individual. She was more than willing to relinquish any information after that. In fact, she was like an obedient little puppy dog. She gave me more information than the Ministry has ever had on Velena and I can already tell that she is going to be one of the most prized informants in the history of the Ministry.

I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion; this couldn't be right. I didn't understand the things that she had written, they made no sense. I knew Maria and the person coming out of this diary was not her…was it?

I scanned the rest of the book and searched for something to tell me any different. I desperately wanted to believe that it was all joke or some kind of mistake, but it wasn't. And I was forced to come to the inevitable conclusion that Maria, the one person that I could ever remember loving, was a spy for the ministry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Whew, a lot of things happened in that chapter. Sorry if anyone got confused, let me try and clear some things up for you all. All right so she went to visit her brothers and that was all nice but Velena found out, got pissed and yelled. So Virginia left and went to Draco's where they had a small fight (they'll make up, don't worry) and she found out our new Maria information. Now the big question is, was Maria a spy who manipulated Virginia? Or was the diary a fake? You'll find out next chapter along with the killer! Thanks for reading!

Celeste- Yes, I'm so proud of her, lol! I've been waiting to get to the part of the story where she can start accepting her Weasley family members and start hating Velena. Thank you for reviewing and don't worry about spelling, if I didn't have spell check this story probably wouldn't even be readable!

SugarGirl- I think the Weasley's reacted okay, they could have thrown her out, lol! (I probably would have!) Thanks for reviewing and I hope that you liked the chapter!

Frananddragon- Hmm, now that I think about it his lips on Cara's body kind of sickens me too. But don't get the wrong impression, she was just thinking about him kissing her neck and lips, not anything else. And you'll find out soon enough whether or not your theories on Maria's killer are right, but I must say that your reasons for Draco are good!

Marchione- Ha, sorry for the cliffhanger! Hopefully this update was soon enough and I just realized that I kind of left another cliffhanger in this chapter. Sorry, I don't mean to! But I update pretty quickly so I hope that makes up for it! Thanks for reviewing!

swt-angel-babi3- I know! I can't help myself on the cliffhangers though! I need to go to therapy or something, lol! Thanks for reviewing and hopefully this is enough to tide you over for a few days!

ToykoGal89- Thank you so much for the review! Here's your update and don't worry, there will be another one in a few days, I've already started on it!

Fallen Angel of Darkness- Actually, I have no clue how I have so many reviews! My entire goal for this story was to get 100 reviews by the end of it and now I have almost 200! That is so crazy I know! I can't really give advice, because I'm not sure how I have so many, but just keep with your story and quick updates. Thanks for reviewing and I finally got to the second chapter of your story! I sent it to you last night, hopefully it got to you okay!

nirvana- Aww, I'm sorry that your grandpa died. Mine died about four months ago and I know that it hurts a lot. I hope that you feel better soon and I'll pray for you and your family. Thanks for reviewing!

Nalia- Thank your friend for me for recommending my story! Thank you for all of the reviews that you left, I enjoyed reading all of your comments! Also it's interesting that you said the Malfoys are the killers, you think that it's a family thing huh? Thanks again!

Zainab- I'm really glad that my story is making you feel better! I hope that you get out of the hospital soon, they are no fun at all. Get well soon and I'll be sure to pray for you as well. Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me that you reviewed even though you're hurt!

k00lgirl1808- Thank you for the continuing reviews! I'm glad that you're getting into the story and you feel the suspense building!

Darcel- Thanks again for pointing out my mistake! Thank you for the compliment as well as the reviews!

AnGeL*Of*MiNe- I'm going to quote every teacher in the world and say that no question is a stupid question! Lol! I'll try to get the Evansole information out sometime but the next few chapters are going to around the Weasleys and Maria. Thanks for the reviews!

Mercurial- Thank you for your review and I hope that you liked this chapter!!

S.e.a- Wow, a lot of questions to answer in your review, lol! Very perceptive about the Molly and Gryffindor thing. Yes she was the outsider in her family, but she was still a member of the family and she was expected to uphold the Evansole name. I'm glad that you like the relationship between the Malfoys and the Evansoles and no problem about reviewing your story, I really liked it!

Lyss- Of course it doesn't mean that she is going soft! I can't have my girl turning into a wimp now can I? Lol, I'm a dork. Anyway I'm glad that you enjoyed the Molly information and thanks for the review!

Katherine K- I'm glad that you enjoying to story! Thank you so much for your continuing reviews and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!

Ace of Spades- Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad that you're willing to wait for the Evansole secrets, because I have some major issues that need to be taken care of before they come out! I hope that you liked the interaction between her and her brothers and don't worry, she won't lose Draco! Thanks for the review!

SamiJo- Thank you for the review! It means a lot that you think that this is original, I was looking for that when I started this story! Thanks again!

Crystal- Thank you for the compliment as well as the review!

Lone Templar- I'm not sure how much humanity I'm going to allow her to have. Right now I'm just kind of winging it with her emotions, but she won't ever be a goody goody type person. Thanks for the review!

crazyfriendsfan- You think that the story sad? Sorry that I made you sad, I didn't intend to. But don't worry, it won't always be depressing! Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you enjoy the characters!

Wow, that was two pages of thank you notes! Thank you all so much, it means a lot to me to get so many reviews!