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 Sorry that updates have been coming a little slower. But think of it this way, my slow updates are still faster than a lot of authors, right? So don't get too upset if I can only get one or two chapters out a week. School has been crazy lately and I haven't had as much time as I would like to write. Anyway I wanted to thank all of you so much, I reached 200 reviews this weekend!! It was the perfect birthday present for me, you guys rock! So now that I've rambled, here's the next chapter!

Chapter Seventeen

Otherside

I heard your voice through a photograph
I thought it up it brought up the past
Once you know you can never go back
I've got to take it on the otherside Red Hot Chili Peppers

Have you ever overheard someone fighting with someone else or passed one of those really bad muggle car accidents? You know that you should just move on but there's that part of you that wants to know exactly what happened in that car crash; and if there is going to be a fistfight, you are going to be there to see it.

That's how it was for Maria's diary and me. After I had read that first entry, I should have just shut the book, and threw it away. That way my memories of her would have been preserved and not tarnished. But I did look; and the truth changed everything for me.

I can't even tell you how long I sat there, just staring at the words on the page silently wishing that they would change into something else. At one point I thought that I was going to cry but the tears never came. I felt cold inside, I felt as though all the things that I had learned while I was with her were now useless.

She was a spy. She was using me to get information on Velena. Those two phrases just kept running through my head. I could picture myself counting down the minutes until I got to see my precious Maria again; while she was at the Ministry laughing with her coworkers about that clueless little kid that she was manipulating.

I hated her. She was the one that made me feel and now the only thing that I felt was rage. I thought that she loved me like a daughter but all she saw me as was a witness to some unknown crime that she was trying to solve.

I shed tears for her. I cradled her dead body in my arms and I would have gladly traded my own life for hers. She made me believe that I could be a good person; she made me want to be one. I even compared her to my mother. But I was wrong, my mother was a good person and Maria was a fraud. And for once in my life, I didn't care that she was dead.

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Even after all of my revelations, I still sat there in shock. I would go minutes without blinking and I would have stopped breathing if my body didn't force me to do so. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing was real. I remember hearing a saying once, "life's a bitch and then you die." I didn't really understand it, but now it was becoming clearer as everything else meshed together.

The sun rose. I only noticed because the intense light started to blind me. Draco came in; I presume to wake me up. He dropped the glass of water that he had brought me. If I hadn't been sleep deprived and half out of my mind I would have found it somewhat humorous that I had shocked him twice in less than twenty-four hours.

I held the diary out for him to see. "Did you read this?"

"Not all of it. I read enough though."

"Why did you give it to me?" He walked closer to me but still kept his distance. I wasn't sure if he thought that I might hurt him or if he was afraid to look at my dreadful appearance up close.

"I told you that you needed closure on the situation. You had Maria living in this little dream world that you created for her in your mind. You saw only what you wanted to see and your memories of her were false."

"I'm going to ask you this for a second time, and don't avoid the question this time, because I won't stand for it. How did you get Maria's diary?"

He came closer and I attempted to search his eyes as he answered. But his eyes failed me. They always subtly gave him away to me; but now they showed me nothing, they were impassive and cold. "I took it from her house."

"You just took it? How did you even know that she was dead, I didn't tell you until the school year began."

"I told you that you didn't know what you were getting yourself into by becoming involved with her but you refused to listen to me. I told you that I would deal with it if you didn't."

I stared at him in disbelief, "so what are you saying, that you killed her and then stole her personal belongings?"

He sighed with impatience, "I was twelve Virginia. Even I am not evil enough to murder someone as a child."

"Then what are you trying to say? How did you take care of it?"

I must have looked unstable because he felt the need to ask if I could handle knowing the truth of the situation. "I'll be fine Draco, just tell me."

"My father killed her."

I gave a ghostly smile, "I should have suspected as much. Would you care to share with me why?"

"You already know why, she was a spy for the Ministry. If you want to know how he knew then that is a different story."

"Alright Draco, how?"

He ran a hand through his hair and sat down beside me. "As you know he's on the Board of Governors and one day they held a meeting and the news was revealed that they finally had landed an informant on Velena Evansole."

I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue. "Lucius and Velena have always had a…partnership of sorts. They protect each other and have some sort of understanding. So naturally, he felt that it was his duty to squash this informant since Velena was indisposed that summer." He made sure that I was facing him before finishing his story, "imagine my surprise when I discovered that the prized informant at the Ministry was you."

"So why did he kill Maria and not me?"

"Because I explained to him that she was using you to get things on Velena. I told him that if he took her out of the equation you would no longer be a problem. So he let you live; he didn't even inform Velena of your misdeeds."

He looked at me expectantly. "What, are you waiting for me to thank you? At this point I could really care less if I was alive or not."

"I care if you're alive or not though."

I dismissed his statement temporarily. "I want to speak with him."

"Who?" Draco asked.

"Your father."

His eyes widened and he jumped off of the bed as if he had been burned. "No!"

"It wasn't a request Draco. I need to speak with Lucius and I will do so with or without your permission."

"Virginia you are not in your right mind at the moment. You are not prepared to meet with him, I will not allow it." I shrugged and headed towards the door. "Wait," he called after me. "Fine, I'll take you to him. But promise me that you'll be careful of what you say."

"You have my word."

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I know that I must have appeared slightly crazy to actually want to talk to Lucius but I felt that if I wanted any real answers; that's where I would find them.

Draco led me to one of the studies in the Manor and hesitantly knocked on the door. Lucius's voice could be heard from inside permitting entrance. Draco entered with me behind him.

"What is it Draco…Virginia! I wasn't even aware that you were here."

Draco cleared his throat, "yes father, Virginia wishes to speak with you."

Lucius nodded, "very well then. Draco you have permission to leave." He motioned for me to take a seat in front of his large oak desk. "So, what can I do for you Virginia?"

I took the seat. "I want to know of your relationship with my aunt."

"The Evansoles and Malfoys have always been closely intertwined. We are equals and each has a certain amount of respect for the other." You can always tell that someone has something to hide when you are forced to ask specific questions to receive any sort of an answer.

"Fair enough. Now, what was your relationship with my mother?"

"Molly?" I nodded. "Why do you wish to know?"

"Aside from the obvious fact that she is my mother, I want to know because I want to know what affect that relationship had on Velena."

"I knew of her simply because she was an Evansole. I could not tell you what affect our 'relationship' had on Velena because we didn't really have one. I can only remember speaking to her a small number of times. She was not the eldest Evansole so therefore she had no influence in the family.

So he didn't know that I had the diary. I had thought that perhaps Lucius had instructed Draco to give them to me but if that were true then he would know that I was aware of his advances on my mother. I did wonder though, what he felt for her. I wondered if he was like Draco in school and my mother was like me. He and his son were alike; but I knew that there was no chance of an "Arthur" stealing me away. I was a different person than my mother, even if I didn't like to admit it.

I finished up with a few unintelligent questions about Velena to give him the impression that my sole purpose in the visit was to gather information on my aunt. After he had answered three of my useless questions I thanked him and left.

I returned to the room that Draco provided me with and found him waiting in it. I refused to answer his inquiries and assured him that I was fine. I found my mother's photo album and diary and placed them with Narcissa's cloak that Draco had given me.

I saw Maria's diary sitting in the corner of the bed where I had left it. I picked it up and contemplated on what to do with it. I turned it over a few times before walking over to the fire and throwing it in.

I got pleasure out of watching the black book disintegrate into nothing. I felt as though all of the lies that she had fed me were burning right along with that book. I released it all from myself and tried to rid my thoughts of her. I didn't want to need her anymore.

Draco glanced at my scarce belongings, "leaving?" I nodded. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know. I just need to get away for a while. I need to have the time to discover who I really am because as of right now; I have no clue."

"When will you return?"

I shrugged, "I'm not sure. School starts in one month; I'll be on the Hogwarts Express at that time if I don't return sooner." He walked into his own room and returned with a new looking broomstick in his hand.

"I know that you hate flying on them; but you'll need some sort of transportation." I thanked him and added the broomstick to my small collection. I assured him that I wasn't upset with him in any way and explained that I just needed time to be alone.

He walked me downstairs and out the front door so I would be able to start flying from the ground; he knew that there was no way I would just jump out the window. I mounted the broomstick in an ungraceful manner and prepared to leave.

"I'll try to give you as much as a head start as possible on Velena," he promised me. "Be careful and don't trust anyone." He dug into his pocket and gave me a large sack full of money, "for emergencies," he explained. I nodded and accepted the gift.

And with that I left the Malfoy Manner and headed for an unknown destination. It was nice to not know where I was going; to simply fly and feel free. It gave me the time that I needed to sort out my complicated thoughts and for once I knew that somehow, things would work out.

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A/N All right so now you know who the killer is. I don't think that any of you were really surprised that it was a Malfoy; but maybe I got you a little bit on which one? I had a lot of Draco guesses and while that would have been interesting I couldn't do it to Virginia. Come on, the poor girl has been through enough, lol! Oh and congrats to Nalia, who was the only reviewer to guess the Malfoys as the killers, which I accepted as a correct answer!

And if I could send cookies or something out I would to Nalia (again) and S.e.a who both thought of the possibility of Maria being a spy before I even revealed it. Those girls are psychic or something, lol!

fantasy angel- Hey thanks for reviewing and I'm glad that you didn't take any hard feelings toward my review. I read the next chapter of your story and it was much better! I meant to review but I'm lazy and I forgot, lol! Glad that you like my story and I'll read your new one as soon as I can!

k00lgirl1808- I'm glad that you can feel the suspense in my story! Thank you for all of the reviews that you've left and I hope to hear from you again soon!

Darcel- Good things come to those who are patient, lol! So now you know who killed Maria, hopefully you aren't upset or anything over who I chose. Thank you for reviewing and I hoped that you liked the chapter!

crazyfriendsfan- Ha, thanks for the dramatic music, lol! I'm glad that you liked the plot twist and thanks for the review!

icefaery- Yea, maybe it's clearer why I just wanted to get Maria in the story and dead, lol! I was hoping that too many people didn't suspect that she was a spy or something so I'm glad that you didn't see it coming. And good catch with the potion but I'm not telling what it was until another couple of chapters. Also thanks for your guess on which potion it was, when you have a certain thing in mind it's interesting to see what other possibilities might be. Thanks for reviewing!

SugarGirl- Thanks! Yea I'm glad that the Weasley's didn't throw her out too. Although I'm not so sure if I would be so kind-hearted, lol! Thanks for reviewing!

Frananddragon- Yes, I know, our dear Maria was just a manipulating Ministry worker. I shouldn't be given original characters because I abuse them even after death, lol! Thanks for reviewing!

ToykoGal89- Hmm, well I don't know if I would call Maria evil because after all she was gathering information on our resident story villain (Velena). I'm glad that you liked the fact that she went to visit the Weasleys and thanks for appreciating the quick updates! Thanks for reviewing!

Katherine K- So you don't want to believe that Maria would betray Virginia? Well I guess that I haven't revealed fully whether or not it was the real diary; but never fear, even if it is there is still a lot more story behind that whole thing. Thanks for reviewing!

Zainab- I'm glad that you're out of the hospital! Sorry that updates have been a bit slower than usual but with the last few weeks of school I have had unbelievable amounts of homework so I haven't been able to write as much as I would like to. Thanks for reviewing!

Nalia- Man, you just guess everything don't you? Lol, I'm actually glad that some people are seeing some of the given hints and putting things together. You must be a very observant person. Thanks for the reviews!

Celeste- I'm glad that you think the story's interesting! Yes, it appears that Maria did use her. Poor Virginia. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the chapter and sorry that you've had to wait so long for this one to come out! Thanks for reviewing!

Crystal- I agree, Velena does deserve to burn in hell. Evil woman what kind of sick mind creates a person like that…oh wait it was my own, lol! Okay I'm dumb! Anyway thanks for reviewing and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!

Marchione- Hmm, where will Ginny go? You were right about not being able to stay at the Malfoy's for too long but I guess that we'll just have to wait until the next chapter to see where she ends up! Thanks for reviewing!

Evie- Ha, you want Draco and Ginny to kill Lucius and Velena. That would be an interesting form of revenge for the two of them to get on their guardians! Don't worry, they aren't fighting anymore and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story! Thanks for reviewing!

Ace of Spades- Yea the Maria thing did kind of make her go off her rocker a little, lol! Thanks for reviewing and I was so happy with the ending to Take a Dive, it was great!

AnGeL*Of*MiNe- I agree, quoting teachers is horrible, lol! Don't worry it was a one time thing, I normally fall asleep during class so I wouldn't even know any other quotes, lol! Thanks for reviewing!

S.e.a- I'm in awe of your sixth sense also, good job! I was wondering if anyone would catch on to the whole spy thing. Thank you for recommending my story to Nalia and your welcome for answering all of your questions! Thanks for reviewing!

Arlyta- Thank you so much for the reviews! Good guess on Draco and since it was the same family, it was close! Don't worry about messing up your review, I do that constantly! Glad that you like the story!

BlackMage- Thank you so much! I'm really happy that you enjoyed the character development because I actually spent a long time simply thinking about exactly how each character would evolve in the story. Thanks for all the wonderful compliments that you left and thanks for the review in general!

Also a special thanks to Lyss, icefaery, Keita, Ace of Spades, and BlackMage for reviewing Astraphobia!!!