Authors Note: I don't own J.K. Rowling's work… nething u recognize isn't mine, either that or u recognize it from the past 6 chapters!!! Duh… oh and thanx r due to my beta reader, Alex, who actually corrects after these things r posted and to all my adoring fans (cries and does the prom queen wave) ok I kno… corny righ??? Newayz, what r u reading this 4, u should b reading the story… DUH!!!
Out of this world
Chapter 7: Waking Up
Silence surrounded Ginny as she walked through dark corridors. Something made her feel scared, terrified almost. It crept through her thoughts in the back of her mind. Cruel laughter filled the halls around her, high pitched and cold. She spun on the spot searching for the source.
"Tom?! Tom this isn't funny. Where are you? Tom?! Please! Please stop this Tom. TOM!" she screamed it almost halfheartedly into the nothingness. She sank down to the floor in a shivering heap, listening for any noise, anything that might clue her into where he was.
A cold hand gripped Ginny's arm startling a scream out of her. She looked up expecting to see Voldemort when…
Ginny felt herself be shaken roughly awake. She opened her eyes slowly as if scared of what she would see. Crouching in front of her was a man in his mid-forties with a hooked nose and greasy black hair. His cold green eyes looked over her in rare worry. She looked at her arm and found that it had been his hand on her arm.
"It was a dream? Tom he's not, he's not here is he. Please tell me he's not here!" she looked at her teacher as though she were sincerely terrified of being found out by her old friend.
"No He's not here Ms. Weasley, though I am curious as to why you are. Why are you not in your dormitory?" Professor Snape never had been one for sympathy.
Ginny looked around her and realized it was still night. 'Maybe just past midnight, judging by where the moon is.' She thought back to what had happened. Why was she sitting in the corridor across from the portrait of the fat lady? Draco, the kiss, detention, her running, crying, couldn't remember the password.
"Oh um… I don't… I couldn't… I couldn't remember the password to get in when I left my detention. I was so tired that I just sat down and I guess I fell asleep. I'm sorry if… I didn't mean to…" her anguish from the past night spilled out and she started sobbing tiredly on the floor. Awkwardly Snape put his hand on her back and patted it. He surely wasn't used to comforting his students.
"Ms. Weasley if you don't stop crying I'll have to send you down to the hospital wing. Though I do sense you're not telling me the whole truth, so letting you think up another excuse might be a bad idea. How about we go down to the kitchens and get you a cup of cocoa? Then once you've calmed down a bit, you can tell me the real reason you were sitting in the hallway screaming and crying in your sleep. Alright?"
He helped her up and walked her down many winding passages. She was too disoriented to remember which way they had gone. Was Snape really expecting her to tell him how she had been dreaming about Voldemort? How part of her had wanted him to come? Or even about Draco and how he had been so sweet and nice to her. She wasn't sure, but the smart thing would probably be to follow him.
They came to a stop in front of a very familiar bowl of fruit with an even more familiar and ticklish pear. Snape tickled it rather roughly and a shrill giggle broke through the quiet corridor. Ginny cringed remembering the laugh she had heard in her dream, and quickly walked through the passageway to the kitchens.
20 or so sleepy looking house elves walked slowly over to greet the two, yawning tiredly like they had just been woken up. Ginny felt a pang of guilt at having them wake up to help her. Snape it seemed didn't even feel gratitude for the drowsy creatures as he ordered them to get two cups of hot chocolate.
He escorted a trembling Ginny to a small table near the fireplace and deposited her in a chair none too gently. When the house elves had brought them their drinks Snape bid them leave and they returned to where Ginny could only assume, was their quarters.
"Now, Ms. Weasley, if you don't mind telling me again exactly WHY you were asleep in the hallway?" he sipped his hot chocolate through pursed lips, and from the expression he wore on his face, Ginny could tell that hot chocolate was NOT one of his favorite drinks.
"I was really tired when I finished my detention, and when I finally got up to the entrance to the common room I couldn't remember the password. So I… I sat against the wall hoping some one might come by to you know, let me in, and I guess I may have fallen asleep. That's all."
"Ms. Weasley I know that's not the whole truth. I've known you for 6 years now and you hardly forget a thing. You are in fact one of the more promising students I have, and I know it takes much more than just exhaustion to make you forget something that is important. The only time's I have seen you mess up have been when you were enduring something deeply traumatic. Now if you don't mind let's try this again and this time, try telling the truth."
Ginny swallowed. The Potions master had always been able to see right through her. And although he intimidated her on many levels, as well as despised her for her heritage, he was possibly one of her favorite teachers. She respected him as her teacher but didn't know if she trusted him as a confidant.
"Sir I… I don't…" she stuttered over the words trying to think of an excuse to use.
"Ms. Weasley, I asked for the truth if you please." His smooth voice was battered lightly with slight malice, but a tinge of something softer lay behind it.
"Professor, honestly I was just confused. This boy… he did something that scared me a bit… nothing bad, it's just. Professor I just wasn't thinking straight. Honest!" she hadn't really lied. Lying would mean that she would have said the opposite truth, and all she had done was omit bits of information.
"That may be but why, after you had forgotten your password, had you not tried to find Professor McGonagall?"
"I…I was too tired… I just… I couldn't… I fell asleep too quickly I suppose." Ginny ducked her head. She hadn't even thought to go to Professor McGonagall.
"Very well. Now do you mind telling me what you were dreaming of that made you call out the name 'Tom' in your sleep? I have an idea, but I would much rather have you tell me yourself than go on instinct."
There really was no point to lying. Ginny had a strong feeling he would be able to tell if she did. She took a slow sip of her cocoa, trying to remember as much as she could about the dream. "I… I dreamed I was in a corridor. It was really dark and quiet. And then I heard a laugh, but at the same time not. It was so cold it sent shivers down my spine. It was Tom's laugh. I called out to him, telling him to just show his face, telling him he wasn't funny. Then a long, cold, white hand grabbed my arm and spun me to face the owner and… You woke me up. I thought you were him at first, I could have sworn. But than I readjusted to the light and you weren't. You couldn't have been."
She whimpered into her mug and felt the long held-back tears threaded their way down her cheeks. 'It wasn't real! It… it couldn't be real? He… I didn't really want him to come back did I?' The thought stung like millions of wasps in the back of her mind. Her body convulsed slightly as bile rose in her throat trying to force its way out. She swallowed the acidic mixture back down, utterly disgusted with herself.
"Weasley if you don't mind, I really prefer not to deal with hysterical students in my free time. You're free to go. Find Professor McGonagall and get the password if you can't remember it still, and go to bed. I'll see you in class tomorrow."
"Thank you Professor. Good night!" Ginny plodded back up to the common room relatively calmer. When she arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, the woman was wide awake and seemed to be waiting for her.
"There you are my dear, I saw you walk off with the Professor and thought I'd stay up and wait for you. Better hurry along to bed now my dear, you have classes tomorrow after all." The woman smiled gently at Ginny.
"Thank you. 'Mandragora.'" The portrait swung back revealing a very dark, very empty common room, save for one person who should not have been there.
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A/N: think u can guess who it is??? Can u??? Can u??? ok, is not that hard to figure out but newayz… u like??? I hope so, I worked hard to make it longer so u people would stop badgering me… n I kno that Snape liking Ginny or nething is highly unrealistic, but I think is gonna happen… maybe… possibly… it could happen… its HIGHLY LIKELY!!! Ok im incredibly insane but TOO bad!!! If yall don't review lots ill b upset so review review review!!!… n tell me how insane I am aiight??? Ok good, good night!!!