The Blood of A Virgin
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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot.
Summary: Draco has a hidden childhood obsession. It has taken control of his mind; and has lead him to emphasize a Gryffindor as a victim. But what happens when the victim tries to change him?
***
"Ginny?" Someone was shaking her vigorously, but her eyes were glued together, and refused to open. She had been in such a great dream...she had been dreaming about being normal, about having somebody love her...
"Ginny!" the voice grew louder. She awoke, and turned to her right, seeing that it was her brother, shaking her.
"What?" she snapped.
"Did you sleep here?" he asked, a look of concern flashing through his face.
"Yes," she muttered. "Must've dozed off...what's it to you?"
Ron was still staring at her, dazed. His lips were quivering as he spoke, "What's that on your cheek?"
"What?" Quickly, her hand rose to her flesh. She felt something wet there. To her startled surprise, as she took her hand away, she saw spots of red on her fingers.
"Oh, that," she murmured, avoiding his eyes. She didn't bother dipping into his thoughts - she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"What happened to you?" he breathed, his eyes wide.
"Nothing!" Ginny lied. "I don't know what happened to my cheek..."
"Here, hold still, I'll do a healing charm..."
"Ron!" she complained, as he grabbed his face with both hands and pointed to the space between her lips and cheek.
"Reparo!"
A tingling, numbing feeling was spreading across her skin...at first, Ginny was relieved to see that it was working...but then, she gave a cry as there was a sudden stinging sinking into her skin.
The wand flew out of Ron's hand. He looked at her, a mixture of puzzlement and surprise on his face. "What's going on...why isn't it healing?"
"Maybe you did it wrong...listen, I'll fix it myself, okay?" Before he could protest, she hurriedly walked upstairs to her dorms.
***
Draco groaned as he turned over - the sunlight was proceeding to persue to him to wake. Sunlight? Immediately, he bolted upwards and looked out the window. It was sunny, the air dewy but otherwise clean and refreshing - it was as if it had never rained.
***
"Do you ever try to help yourself?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"I think about other things. Like schoolwork, or...Qudditch, anything."
"Does it work?"
"Sometimes...I can avoid it for a while but..."
"But what, Draco? Perhaps this is another step to your recovery."
"Don't you get it?" he yelled, almost flinging himself off the chair. "There's no recovery. There is none."
***
When Ginny went upstairs, she took out the round-shaped mirror she brought from home and looked at herself. A gasp restrained itself in her throat. Her slightly freckled face looked back at her, her wavy auburn hair, her wide, brown eyes, but there was dried blood traced across in lines from her mouth to her cheek.
Taking her wand, she tapped it four times, muttering a charm she had learned just a few weeks before.
The blood vanished quickly, but as Ginny lowered herself to observe further, she saw that there were two, thin scars gleaming on her skin.
***
"Why do you fight it, Ginny? Why? You could be a Seer, and you are one of the few people that can read minds without Legilimency. I doubt many know that there are such humans. They are very rare, you see - we haven't even got a name for them in the Wizarding world, perhaps the muggle world knows it...but that's not that the point."
"Why does everything it's so great? Isn't it better to just leave without knowing everything? What if you wanted to know something about someone and ...when you read their thoughts; they're someone completely different?"
"It's a gift, Ginny...make the best of it."
"How is it a gift? Tell me. Go on," she challenged.
But the person before her seemed to have no answer.
***
Draco sat in the Transfiguration room, looking around the scattered students that were chattering. Professor McGonagall was standing before her desk, waiting for the rest to come inside.
Today, he had told Crabbe and Goyle to sit together and leave him alone. He felt no ambition nor anticipation of them whispering in his ears, or laughing stupidly at every joke he told. He caught his breath, however, when Ginny Weasley was the last person to come in. Professor McGonagall gestured toward the classroom, obviously telling her to sit wherever she wanted.
Ginny muttered something back to her, and an expression of lighthearted shock rinsed through the wrinkles of the Professor's face as Ginny proceeded upwards in the classroom, to the Slytherin's side, and took a seat next to Draco.
He swallowed, expecting to see her glare at him, or whisper that she was going to get him sacked. Instead, she did the thing that he would lastly expect her to do. She smiled at him.
A slight, hesitant smile.
Sweat was pouring through his forehead, and he looked away, avoiding her eyes. Their shoulders were touching, making it immensely difficult to concentrate. But throughout the lesson, Draco could swear he was trying to refrain from smiling himself.
***