Title: Being Nice Doesn't Always Pay Off…
Author: Cactuskitty
Chapter: Thirteen
Summary: Ginny gets mad at a friend and decides that it's time for her to change. In this chapter, Ginny feels pain beyond belief…

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Harry Potter book series, they belong to J. K. Rowling, so please don't sue. All I own is the little plot there is, Hillary, Tibby, and Ryan… But that's not muck to brag about.

Chapter Thirteen: Brackish

I'd like to take you down and show you deep inside
My life my inner workings of self and lack of inner pride
To touch upon the surface is not for what it seems
And I take away my problems but only in my dreams

-Brackish

By Kittie

            "Ginny, we need to talk. It's important."

            Their conversation ran through her brain as she stared at the article. There had to be another explanation, she refused to believe that… She sighed as she felt the tears welt up in her big brown eyes, she waited, but they did not come. For some reason she still couldn't feel the impact of what he had told her, or maybe she had, but what she needed, right now, more than anything, to get out of the library. She would not let her weakness overpower her; now was not the time for faults.

            "Weasley, I see Potter has you worked up in a tizzy. That boy really needs to learn to acknowledge when he's not wanted." Malfoy drawled casually as he pulled out the chair next to her and took a seat. Ginny's emotions welted up in her throat, longing to burst through like a water balloon, eager to show her shock, but she could not allow her body to commit such a felon, especially in front of her sole competitor.  After taking a second to swallow her distressing and jagged little pill, she managed to sneer and tear her pale face from the newspaper, that had scolded her glittery russet eyes, to stare down her handsome blond counterpart.

            "What do you want Malfoy?" her voice frigid and empty, but not half as placid as her eyes. They looked utterly drained, tired, and old. Her eyes were parched, and not blazing with their usual passion that he had grown to admire. They were the eyes of a person who had seen much in their time, and dared him to try his luck.

Draco could tell by the way she had was holding her head with her right hand and covering the article with her left, that it wasn't something she cared to discuss with the likes of him. Whatever was in that article had cracked her shell and she wasn't embracing the change. She was trying to shove it to the back of her mind as they spoke, maybe to address the matter later or just forget it completely. Draco was very familiar with her type of person. They were the type who tried to turn a blind eye to the world in order to stay safe in the little secluded bubble that they had created for themselves. They blocked out the bad events and turned selective senses to the world. Yes, he was very akin to their type, how else do you survive in the house of a highly esteemed death eater, especially when you had seen the Dark Lord himself punishing your giving father with the Crutatcious Curse. With his mother's help he was able to suppress those painful memories and continue life without uncertainty.  Draco longed for the Dark Lord's reign to take up again, so that his father's name could be clear and things would take a turn for the better.

"Nothing much, other than to return your book." He paused momentarily allowing silver to meet brown for a second; Draco could have sworn that she quivered before tearing her eyes from his sight. He continued his account while carelessly tossing the thick book on to the oak table with a solemn eyebrow raised and a lighthearted sigh escaping his seemingly chaste lips, "Well, there surely was a syrupy ending to that trilogy." Teasing isn't much fun when your quarry was already beaten.

She unconsciously brushed her short crimson hair behind her ears before glaring at him in a callous manner, "I think the parting would have been difficult in any circumstance, especially after all they had lost."

"That's just it." He smirked, "Sure they had lost lots, but think of all the things they had gained in the end. They had more power then they ever could have imagined. It wasn't as though they had died or anything," Yes, he caught it that time she had noticeably flinched; someone had died and Potter alerted her of the fact by giving her that article. Always the protagonist, that putrid speccy-eyed git, "Just separated for Merlin's sake, but they made it seem like the end of the world. However, I would have let the bloody wankers sit in hell if it was my choice, and figured out an alternative, but they had to go and be all noble…"

"What do you mean 'you'd have let the bloody wankers sit and figure an alternative'? There are no alternatives! That was it." she exclaimed with her incredulous nose crinkled and eyes blazing. Draco smirked; she was back.

"Oh you overly dramatic sap-don't you know that there is always an alternative. No situation ever has to go one way." Draco said with a yawn before laying his head on his arms, which were crossed in front of him on the table, "That's the problem with you Gryffindors-all brawn and no brains…"

"I resent that comment, because last time I checked it was Hermione, and not, you who was the head of your class." She changed positions so that her head was now leaning on her left hand and she sat there sneering down at him.

Draco raised an eyebrow as he found it time to change tactics, especially since she was bringing up sore subjects, "That, littlest weasel, was a mishap."

"I'm sure it is Malfoy," Ginny rolled her eyes, "But it does seem to damper your point, if you catch my drift."

"You're calling me a hypocrite?" He questioned in disbelief, with his head shooting up off his crossed arms so that their faces were now level.

"Well, I prefer the word charlatan, but pretty much that's what I mean. . .yup, exactly." She nodded her head in emphasis, smirk broadening, and Draco himself felt the corners of his lips starting to turn up for a reason unknown to him. However, he managed to catch himself and turn it into a sneer before doing anything too drastic.

"Aren't you one then too? I don't see your name at the top list of your class?" He tried before noticing how bizarre it sounded.

Virginia shook her head lightly, smirk still glued to her face, before looking at him, eyebrow raised, and saying with a laugh hidden in her jeering voice, "Why? Are you looking for it?" Draco's mouth twitched in the right corner, there was something about her at that moment that was unnerving, maybe it was the contented glint in her eyes, or maybe it was the way her crimson hair framed her face, "I may not be especially clever like 'Moine, but I'm surely not strong. I tend to use my brain far more than instinct, unlike some people…" her voice was not indignant as he imagined, but cold and full of resent.

"I don't act on a whim." He scowled.

"Actually, I wasn't referring to you; you're oddly predictable. . .I was talking about someone else…" Virginia felt the tears pricking her eyes once again. She had managed to hold them off this long, why not a few more minutes? This pain in her heart was causing her to loose her concentration, a few second ago she had confessed her limitations to a Malfoy. She really needed to get out of the library before she exposed herself anymore, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to leave.

"'Oddly predictable'?" He scoffed with narrowed eyes, leaning back in his chair and involuntarily brushed back a few strands of his fair hair that kept falling into his face, "What do you mean by that?"

How was it that she was finding more closure in one of her biggest enemies then she did with Harry Potter, "What I mean Malfoy is that you are very easy to read at most times, and that you act on instinct so rarely that nothing you could do would surprise me because of your predictability." She replied nonchalantly while turning her back on him as she began to pack her books into her worn terrycloth sidesaddle bag. She tried to slip the article in there as well without his knowing, but failed as his stormy eyes studied her every move without her knowledge.

"So I'm not only a hypocrite, but boring too?" He questioned bitingly, scowl crossing his angelic features.

"I never said you were boring. I said you were 'oddly predictable'. . .you really have a problem with listening." Virginia waved her hand dismissively, and let the tears remain in their place, collecting. By Merlin's bead, she was no Cho Chang, the walking waterfall; she was not going to begin sobbing. That month had not gone in vain, she was able to hold her emotions inside her.

Draco raised an eyebrow in her direction before abruptly sitting up and sliding toward her like he had during so many other occasions, and began to coax in her ear as she continued packing just to watch the hairs prick up on her neck, "Well, I think that you really have a problem with being nice."

However, she surprised him by rapidly turning her head so that her own mouth was only millimeters from hi, and whispering in reply, "Well, Malfoy, I've told you once and I'll tell you again," His eyes closed halfway, and she took a deep breath, "Being nice doesn't always pay off…" With those words of finality she picked up her bag, still facing him, and stood.

As she turned around to leave she felt a large cold hand on her wrist; his voice rang in her ears as he reached into her bag, lightly brushing her waist with his right hand, and he stole something from within it's confines, "Thanks for the book. I'll be seeing you soon, Virginia."

Draco Malfoy was totally unaware of the tears rolling down her face as Virginia Weasley walked out of the library that day, and out of her safe, secluded, little bubble. Instead he fond himself opening the book that he had just borrowed and pulled out the newspaper article that had gingerly been tucked between the pages.

Beaubaxton Student Found Dead Off Campus

It was little over a month ago that sixth year student Ryan Nightingale, son of the creators of sugar quills, went missing. It was originally dismissed as teenaged rebellion, since he had been having conflicts with his parents. However, as their searching time elongated the concept of insurgence diminished and his family's worry increased. They had searched a better part of Great Britain when their search took a turn for the worst. The young wizard was found dead off the coast of Bristol last Sunday. After this weeklong investigation aurors have made the decision that his death had been premeditated. He appeared to have been on the receiving side of more than once Crutatcious curse before his captors finally killed him. His captors are still unknown and any information the Ministry has found has been with held in consideration of the Nightingale family.  

"Ryan was always a kind boy with a good heart. He never had any enemies in school, or got into any trouble. Why anyone would do this to our son is something unknown to us. He never did anything. He was innocent," says Gracie Nightingale, his mother. The aurors seemed to have no idea why Ryan was the target for this attack either, however they once again refused to confer any information. So any conclusion we can conclude as to the reason this sweet young soul was stolen from us must be reached on our own. Lets reach out to the Nightingales to this difficult time, and wish them condolences as the soul of their beloved son reaches the great beyond.

A/N: Well, there was chapter thirteen, and I think one of my best. What do you think? I love your feedback. Reviewers are some of my favorite people. ^o_~^  My little munchkin little sister, who is now nearly towering over my short 5'3 build, says to: 'say hello to all of those who review, and thank you to my betas Random Artemis and Mists of Avalon.' You guys rock! Sorry, that I haven't updated in so long, but I've been terribly busy with all the crap that's been going on at home and trying to figure out how to write this without going too far off from the HP series. I think I lied when I said it was going to start becoming an AU. I am going to, as you may have noticed, try to include certain elements from the fifth book, but not all. So it's only a partial AU, I think. . .

Thanks again!