Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I don't own Harry Potter.

"Behind the basic principle of the current moral fashion: 'moral actions are actions performed out of sympathy for others', I see the social effect of timidity hiding behind an intellectual mask: it desires, first and foremost, that all the dangers which life once held should be removed from it, and that everyone should assist in this with all his might: hence only those actions which tend towards the common security and society's sense of security are to be accorded the predicate 'good'! [...]"

- Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

Moral Fashion of a Commercial Society

By Sorrow in Shadow

Chapter Three – Mutation of Morality

"There is a continual moiling and toiling going on in morality – the effect of successful crimes (among which, for example, are included all innovations in moral thinking.)"

Ginny Weasley bit her bottom lip and stared out through soft brown AN: What color ARE her eyes? eyes at the crowds of drawling Slytherins. They huddled together in groups, and Ginny began to recognize several of them. Crabbe and Goyle, with their shoulders hunched and their muscular arms flexing as they attempted to impress girls who were far beyond their reach in the social ladder. Ginny momentarily pictured the two thugs climbing an actual ladder and suddenly finding the rings disappear beneath their sluggish feet. She smiled despite herself as she envisioned the two brutes falling into a deep ocean where Goyle yelled to Crabbe: 'I can't swim!' and the atrocious lug Crabbe replied with the same conclusion that their tiny brains had mustered.

Snapping out of her glorious reverie, Ginny concentrated on trying to find a way out. Pansy Parkinson glided – or tried to – past her, spraying a whiff of her new expensive perfume over her wrists and taking in the scent with a deep breath. Blaise Zabini, the only serious looking gal of the bunch, had her arms folded across her chest and was gazing uninterestedly over her nose at the two prissy immature girls who giggled – with their shrill, shrieks that could be called, for some inhuman reason, giggles – constantly while pointing out cute guys and talking in whispers. Ginny regarded Blaise with a raised brow and resisted the urge to snort. Blaise was absolutely gorgeous, Ginny had to admit. Many of the Gryffindor guys turned into mush at the very sight of the raven-haired beauty.

So maybe she was a little jealous. No problem, Ginny thought as she fingered her thick red hair and thought about her creamy brown eyes. Wrinkling her nose, she contemplated an escape attempt. They would certainly miss her in the Common Room. Hermione knew what she was doing though. Hermione would cover for her. But for how long?

I just need to get out of here safely... she thought, biting her lower lip and looking for a way out. The Slytherins were everywhere, like a corridor of snakes, climbing all over each other and whipping their tongues out like forked pitchforks pronging through haystacks and looking for a mark. Ginny shivered. Maybe if she could distract the ones by the door... How? The invisibility cloak only kept her from being seen, not heard or felt. Still, she didn't think she had enough time to wait the Slytherins out. She still had to get back to her own common room, and if she waited too long...

Well, Filch would be excited to catch her, wouldn't he? And there were – things – creeping around Hogwarts at night that she wasn't too keen on meeting. Ginny definitely didn't want to have a Harry Episode. She was too tired for that. The common room was very full, so she'd have to wait a little while. But her corner was feeling very comfortable all of a sudden, and there were a lot of people... Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a minute...

Suddenly Ginny jerked up, looking about her with wide eyes. The room was considerably dark, and she was alone. She gasped and looked down. A surge of relief swept through her when she noticed the cloak had not fallen off. Now was the perfect time to escape. She gathered the cloak about her once more for reassurance and began to walk silently towards the door. A voice stopped her, and she slowly turned her face to the source.

"Weasley..." was all she heard at first of the quiet mutterings. She glanced at the door then back at the shadowed corner of the common room. Frowning, she stood perfectly still, barely breathing. She really should be going... but she was curious. What time was it anyway? Ginny didn't know. She almost said 'hello' into the blackness but held herself back at the last moment. Cautiously, she tip-toed over to the source of the sounds and peered at the two shadowed figures of...

Pansy Parkinson and Crabbe?!

"...And that Weasley girl he seems to have such an interest in now?" Pansy was saying in a high-pitched, soft voice. Ginny felt her brows furrow. What the hell?

"Don't worry, Pansy," Crabbe returned, his deep voice hoarse and cracking as he tried to lower it. He ran his thick tongue across his lips and shuffled uneasily. "We'll make sure he doesn't look at her again." Ginny felt Pansy smile. She could just tell.

"Yes, and Weasley will be sorry she ever crossed Pansy Parkinson!" Pansy squealed, letting out a shriek of laughter. Ginny was disgusted and stumbled back, knocking into a suit of armor. She froze. Pansy and Crabbe turned and glared into the lighter areas of their common room. "Hello?"

"Who's there?" Crabbe asked sharply, sneering as he clomped forward clumsily. Pansy was close behind him, and Ginny knew she had to move quickly. "Who is it?" Crabbe asked again, groping about with his fat, sticky fingers. Ginny grimaced and leapt back, tripping and hitting the table with her back. She let out a small moan of pain and watched helplessly as Crabbe and Pansy turned towards her invisible self, coming closer and closer with hungry looks upon their pudgy faces.

"What is going on?" Draco yawned, coming down the stairs at a leisurely pace. This time it was Pansy and Crabbe's turn to freeze, and as they looked at Draco, they started to laugh uncontrollably. "Are you laughing at me?" Draco inquired angrily, his hands clenched into fists and placed on his hips in that 'rich boy' stance he did so well. Crabbe and Pansy were out of control now, and, having forgotten about Ginny, were bent double, still laughing. Crabbe was slapping his knee with his flabby palm, and Pansy was shrieking in mirth. Ginny shuddered. Who could ever hang around such creeps and slimeballs?

Draco glared haughtily at the two and ran a hand through his... hair? Where had his hair gone? Draco panicked, running around and looking for a mirror. He finally found one only feet from Ginny, and she could see his startled expression. Eyes wide, mouth open, and hands gripping at his bald head. She couldn't help it; she started to laugh too. He looked ridiculous! She was overjoyed and wiped a tear from her eye. Draco whirled around, eyeing Crabbe and Pansy with such a looming, ominous gaze that they shut up immediately. He scoffed and stomped back to his dormitory, gray eyes ablaze and fists clenched.

Crabbe and Pansy shared another laugh and a knowing glance, and proceeded to follow him. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. Then it struck her. Draco Malfoy had saved her without knowing it. She felt a strange tingling sensation at the irony and quickly left the Slytherin Dungeons. There was a prefect standing guard at the entrance, but she was able to slip past him without much difficulty. As she climbed the Grand Staircase and up to the Gryffindor Tower, she missed a step and fell forward... onto Mrs. Norris. With a yelp, the cat dashed off to find Filch, and Ginny squeaked and hurried along.

Filch was such a prat, if she ever met one. He was worse than Draco! Ginny cursed beneath her breath as she trudged up the stairs, passing the prefects' bathroom on her way up. She should ask Hermione, or Harry, or Ron, for the password. Surely they would know it. And she did so want to see the famed, private bathrooms. As she passed a row of bookshelves on the fourth corridor, she heard a scraping sound. Pausing, Ginny quickly backtracked and peered around the corner.

Coming from behind a bookshelf and laughing was Dean Thomas and... Lavender Brown? Ginny felt her face grow hot and her heartbeat quicken. They were giggling and fondling each other. Dean's hand was on Lavender's breast and she muffled another chuckle as she pressed her lips to his and lowered her hand. Dean moaned into her mouth as she gently started to stick her hand down his pants and play with his manhood. Ginny's eyes widened as she turned away, breathing heavily.

Lavender! The bitch! Ginny thought, tightening her fists and biting down on her knuckles to keep from shouting out. She should have known it. Dean was ambitious, that she knew. Besides, Ginny didn't give him any, and he certainly couldn't make a move on her in public, because Ron was always there, fuming. Still, Ginny was going to miss the cover and protection he provided her with.

She had half a mind to walk into the room right now and strip off her cloak. She way perfectly ready to do so, too. But... that would be rash. And Ginny wasn't rash. Instead, she tightened her – Harry's, actually – cloak and walked quietly into the room, where her boyfriend and her friend were busy making out. Biting her lower lip one last time, Ginny forced a cold expression filled with malice and betrayal onto her lovely face. She leaned against a wall and waited. They would have to break it off soon. They were both in need of air.

Finally Dean pulled away and touched noses with Lavender, smiling. Lavender kissed his lips once more in a sickeningly sweet manner and toyed with him a little longer, teasing him. Ginny didn't care. She had never liked Dean all that much. He was always one to boast or brag and act stupid with his friends. Ginny wasn't very fond of stupid people. They made her nervous because she never knew what they'd try. "Meet you tomorrow in our spot, eh Lav?" Lavender nearly squealed at his nickname for her, if it could be called that.

Ginny rolled her eyes and almost said: "Oh, please! She does it to every girl! I was 'Gin', you're 'Lav'! He just shortens your bloody name." But, of course, she didn't. Actually, she thought that Dean had a very limited imagination, and added that with his brain capacity to equal dumbass.

"Of course, Deany!" Lavender replied with another giggle. At least she wasn't as bad as Pansy. Ginny remembered her shriek of a laugh and shuddered. "Same place, same time. Midnight, as always, in out secret corridor!" Dean pressed a finger to her lips and grinned. He let her go, and watched her sway her hips as she left, his eyes shining with lust. Ginny grimaced and wondered what sort of curse she'd put on him tomorrow, when she arrived in their secret corridor at midnight.

(AN: Sorry it took so damn long! Eh heh. I apologize.)