Authors Notes: Thanks to all those who reviewed!
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it. They belong to J.K. Rowling.
Analyze This
After Ron's exclamation, Ginny found herself falling off of Cloud 9
The gravity of what she had just done sank in, and her euphoria was short lived. 'I just assaulted another student...' Along with that realization she felt sudden pain in her hands. Her knuckles were badly bruised and throbbed painfully. 'Damn him and his hard skull.'
That was the least of her problems. When Snape found out that she injured his prize student, she was certain that she would be found in some discreet dungeon, hanging by her ankles, hexed and cursed within an inch of her life. And what would her mum say? Looking down on Draco she noticed that he still sat motionless on the floor and began to worry. 'I didn't think I hit him that hard.'
"Oi! Ginny!" Her head jerked toward Ron's voice. "Are you okay?" He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to focus. To the entire world she just appeared to be inspecting her hands; as if the rapidly appearing bruises on them were nothing more than spilled ink. No one would be able to know the various thoughts and fears that were flying through her. Gripping her shoulders slightly, he stooped a bit to look her in the face.
"Ginny," he repeated. "Are you all right?" She finally met his eyes, as if startled out of a daydream.
"Well, yes…er…I'm fine, Ron." Her voice was very soft.
"Fine? You don't sound fine."
"Well I am!" she snapped, instantly regretting it. "I am fine. Just a bit shocked is all," she admitted.
"I'll say!" Colin blurted out; Lark elbowed him.
Hermione walked over to Ginny and the rest of her friends followed. The corridor was silent once again. No one knew what to say, or think. Draco Malfoy...walloped by a girl? A Gryffindor? A Weasley? It would have been less shocking to hear that Snape was secretly in love with Neville Longbottom!
Suddenly, Draco moved.
"So he's not dead," said Ron. "Why does nothing ever go my way?" Hermione elbowed him. "What, don't pretend that you weren't thinking it too." She looked very guilty all of a sudden and turned her attention back on the person on the floor.
"She, she hit me." His voice was slightly slurred. He felt his lip and then looked at his fingers. Blood was smeared on them. "She hit me," he repeated. Then the oddest thing happened.
He began to laugh.
It wasn't clear at first, it sounded like he was crying, but gradually, it became more pronounced until he was actually guffawing. With each laugh his jaw twitched unusually, his even features contorting. Laughing was painful, and he realized that, butthe thought only amplified his mirth. Ginny Weasley had hit him!
After a minute he stopped and sobered up.
"What, no one's concerned for me?" he asked. "I mean, she hit me! The scrawny, underfed, low-class, groupie, wench hit me! I'd venture to say my jaw was b-broken."
Audible gasps sounded throughout the hall. Crabbe and Goyle hung back from theirfellow Slytherin,gawping idiotically, not knowing what to do.
"You shouldn't call people names, Malfoy," said Colin bravely. "After what just happened to you –"
"What just happened was that a scraggly weasel scored a lucky punch," he said glaring. "Don't expect that to faze me."
"It obviously did, Malfoy! You're still lying on the floor, aren't you?" Ginny shot out. She was still angry and like Colin said, his name-calling was not alleviating the situation. Normally she was a complacent person who thought before acting. Her sudden rage was a new discovery.
"Don't downplay what I did to you."
Draco looked at her, his gray eyes frosting over completely. Ginny, even with her fury, barely suppressed a shiver from the icy gaze he held her in.
"I cannot believe you have the audacity to even address me," he whispered. "The only reason I'm still on this floor is to keep myself from committing a crime that could land me in Azkaban. Some common tramp isn't worth that."
"I'm not afraid of you, Malfoy," Ginny said, though her voice held a slight tremor.
"Do you know…do you even have any idea of what I could do to you?" he asked,rising slowly. "The willpower that it's taking me not to blast you to bits, to make you writhe in pain–"
"Shove it."
Even Ron sucked in his breath.
Dracostaggered toward Ginny, but Harry came between them.
"Come any closer you prick," he warned. "Come any closer and you'll be sharing Moaning Myrtle's toilet."
"What's this I hear about sharing Myrtle's toilet?"
The Headmaster appeared seemingly out of the blue. With the heated argument going on, no one had noticed his advance. Other footsteps were heard, and with them camethe faces of Snape and Professor McGonagall.
"What is going on here?" Snapedemanded. No one said a word.
"Someone answer me!" His eyes narrowed as they settled on the face of his student, who was now sporting glorious bruises alongside his shattered jaw.
"Don't all speak at once," said McGonagall, observing the 'ready-to-fight' stances of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Colin, Lark, and Draco.
Still no one said anything.
Then Draco spoke. "Don't feel like spilling, eh, Wonder Boy?" he said to Harry. "You, Weasel and Beaver always have so much to say; always sticking your noses where they don't belong. But I will enlighten the professors, don't worry. You see, I was having a little chat with Potter when all of a sudden Weasley -"
"Ron…" McGonagall started warningly.
"No," Draco corrected. "The girl. As I was saying, she comes out of nowhere – I suppose she wanted to defend Potter's honor – and attacks me –"
"YOU LYING SACK OF–"
"Mr. Weasley, please refrain from using such language in my presence!" McGonagall scolded. "From the state of things it would behoove you and your sister"- Ginny cringed - "to kindly keep silent."
"But –"
"Mr. Weasley, I assure you that things will be ironed out," said Dumbledore calmly. "But by making a fuss it will take much longer." To everyone he said, "As I see before me that there are two factions, I cannot count on a just, accurate account of what has transpired. Therefore I will ask a neutral party."
Calling upon Leah Trout, a meek Hufflepuff fourth-year he asked, "Leah, will you please tell the two professors and me what happened?"
Trembling due to all of the attention and the pressure of offending either Slytherin or Gryffindor, the girl nodded hesitantly.
"Well, Headmaster, sir...I saw Draco Malfoy approach Harry Potter. He spoke and said…well, he said that…" Leah blushed deeply and her narration tapered off. She didn't want to repeat what the words had been. Guessing atthe nature of what Draco's words were, Dumbledore asked her to gloss over that part of the tale. "We shall divulge the details later, my dear. Please continue."
Getting her steam back, Leah continued. "Er, right. So Malfoy said some things. Then Ginny Weasleysaid that…well…she said some things back. Then Draco got mad and said something worse…"
"This is getting us nowhere!" exclaimed Ron. "The arse with the bloody face over there accused my sister of hanging around Harry to…to well, you know, earn money. Then he put his filthy hands on her and rightly enough she laid him flat on his back! Now I'll be damned if this Leah – no offense, love – makes it sound like he was asking Ginny the price of peas in Persopolis and not…not manhandling her and coming onto her!" When Ron finished his speech, Hermione snorted. His scarlet face and flailing arms would have made the situation comical had it not been so serious.
"Er, well, thank you, Mr. Weasley, for your enlightening account of what happened," Dumbledore said. "You too, Ms. Trout; your's is also appreciated."
Turning to Ginny, who had been silent since he came on the scene, not wanting to incriminate herself further, he said, "Is this true, Ms. Weasley? Did you hit Mr. Malfoy?"
Ginny looked at him with a solemn face.
"Yes. Yes I did, Headmaster," she whispered.
"Why?"
"I…I've just been having the worst day. And I suppose when Malfoy teased me I lost it. I know I shouldn't have! I was just fed up!" She covered her face with her hands. "If I had been thinking straight I wouldn't have broken his jaw –"
Snape and McGonagall gaped.
Ginny wetnt even redder.
"Too true," Ron said. "If you had been thinking straight, you would have kneed him right in the –"
"Ron!" That camefrom Hermione, Harry and McGonagall. "Keep this up and I'm going to...knee you, Ron. This is serious, and all you're doing is making the situation worse."
"I for one have heard enough," Snape said with disgust. "It is obvious that Ms. Weasley behaved barbarically. But I will see to it that she is adequately punished. I would like to deduct 150 points from Gryffindor and put her on suspension from the Quidditch team-" Ginny gasped. "Naturally, she will have to serve detention and be excluded from any future Hogsmeade visits -"
"That is ridiculous, Professor Snape and you know it," McGonagall refuted. "There is no reason why Ms. Weasley shouldn't play Quidditch just because Mr. Malfoy has a foul mouth. She is not entirely to blame. Based on Ms. Trout's eyewitness account -"
"Which was decidedly eloquent," Snape interjected acidly.
"Let us not create more turmoil," Dumbledore interrupted. "This matterwill besettled privately."
Snape and McGonagall glared at each other with unmasked antagonism.
"I mean it. We shall adjourn to my office after supperand rectify the situation there. The students have had enough of a show." Raising his arms in the air to make sure that he captured everyone's attention he said a little louder, "Everyone, either go to your houses or down to lunch. The cooks will be most disappointed if no one partakes of their meal. Mr. Malfoy, please follow me to Madam Pomfrey's office."
Though all were loath to miss any more of the fight, they were obligated to follow the Headmaster's instructions. Within minutes the hallway was clear, leaving only the ones involved in the fight. Giving one last nasty look at the other six, Draco left with Dumbledore.
"C'mon Gin," Lark ordered softly. "You'll feel better after you eat something."
Ginny was pale, making her freckles stand out pointedly. Her hair had whipped around her during the argument, and despite maturation that she had undergone in the past three years, her fear made her look twelve again. Ginny resisted Lark's request.
"It's all right, Lark. I'm not especially hungry." Her hands were clasped together and still in pain, but she dared not go to Madam Pomfrey while Draco was there. "I think I'll go lie down until lunch is over."
"Are you sure?" asked Hermione. "You haven't eaten anything all day…"
"I wouldn't be able to get it down," she responded. "I'm just really tired." Turning away from the worried looks of her friends, she headed for Gryffindor Tower.
"Just make sure not to oversleep, Ginny," called Colin. "Unless you want a repeat of Potions," he joked.
She gave him a small grin. "I won't."
The day continued as normally as possible for Ginny. Colin and Lark accompanied her to all of her classes at Ron's request. As she had most of her classes with them it wouldn't be a problem.
"It's not safe, Ginny," he reasoned.
Normally she would have protested at her brother's paranoia, but the dirty looks she received from various Slytherins in passing made her decide otherwise.
"Fine," she consented. "But if Lark or Colin are late to any of their classes I'm going to fire them as my bodyguards. We're all on shaky ground with the teachers right now."
Soon, however, Ginny realized that she had Divination and then Arithmancy. While she shared Arithmancy with both her friends, they had Muggle Studies during her divination period.
"No, Colin," she said once again in a tired voice. "You can't walk me to Divination. It takes me almost twenty minutes to get there and you definitely wouldn't be able to get to Muggle Studies on time. You'd be almost fifteen minutes late."
Seeing that Lark was about to protest, she said, "Remember, I'll fire you if you're late. Then you can't trail me anywhere."
"Just be careful," Lark insisted.
In lighter spirits, Ginny half smiled, "What is the worst that could happen?" Lark giggled at the irony of the statement and dragged Colin down the hallway.
"Come on, Mr. Creevey."
Ginny watched them until they were out of sight, and then walked up one of the large staircases.
As the landings switched and turned she thought about what would happen after dinner. She was more at ease after taking her afternoon nap, and had resigned herself to accepting whatever punishmentwould befall her.Most likely she'd get a Howler from her mother and father, reprimanding her on her behavior. She could imagine what her mother would say. "What have I always told you about fighting, Ginny? It's the influence of those brothers of yours, and your father and I should have stopped at Percy!" Her father would most likely congratulate her and praise her for having backbone. He despised the Malfoy clan just as much as Ron.
All of a sudden, the staircases strayed from their normal rotation, leading to a dark hallway. Out of it came none other than Malfoy armed with his ever-present bodyguards. Ginny's eyes widened on seeing them, and shetried to get her hood up before they could spot her.But the movement caught their attention. As soon as he realized who it was, Draco hastened down the hallway, hoping to catch Ginny on the stairs. She tried to run the other way, but thesteps shifted once moreand she was left at a dead end.
"My, my, what have we here?" His eyes narrowed as he smiled devilishly at her. Ginny clutched her books closer to her as he advanced. They were the only weapon she had against him if he decided to attack her. She had good enough aim that she could chuck one at Draco's head and try and make a run for it.
Luckily, there was no need for that; just as soon as she thought she would die of fright, the staircase changed it's path. Draco stopped suddenly, seeing that he couldn't get to her. Becoming unfrozen, Ginny turned tail and ran, not feeling half as brave as she did when she hadhit him.
His voice chased her all the way down the corridor.
"Don't be late for our date!" His humorless laugh echoed throughout the passageway.
Ginny walked toward the doors of the Great Hall, eager for dinner. This was her first meal of the day, and not even fright could stop her from inhaling at at least a plate and a half of food. She pulled open the wide, polished, wooden doors of the room and entered.
"That's her!"
"The girl who knocked Malfoy out?"
"Can you believe she showed up? I'd be cowering under my covers."
"Hsssss!"
The last 'comment' was from the females in Slytherin. They were affronted that she dared harm their prince, and had taken to hissing at her whenever she passed. Avoiding the eyes of everyone she saw, Ginny quickly walked to the Gryffindor table and plopped down in the space between Colin and Lark. Ignoring the anxious looks of her friends, she immediately began eating. After awhile she noticed that they weren't touching their food and said with her mouth full of pudding,
"Wha', your food's s'not good? Well I fink iz dewishus."
"Oh, very funny, Ginny," Hermione said. "Swallow."
Following instructions, she said again, "What, none of you are hungry?"
"You're going against the devil after this, Ginny," Ron said abruptly. "How can you eat anything…?" Panicked and worried, he kept fidgeting with the tablecloth and twitching, as if he expected Draco to pop out from the air near him.
"Ron, I'm not scared; not with Dumbledore there. And if I say 'I'm fine' one more time today, I might just have to hit you." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and took a sip of water.
"Ronnie, old boy, it was nice knowing you," Colin said. The table laughed. Apparently they had all been listening to the conversation. The awkwardness was gone from dinner now and everyone began to eat.
After being wished luck about a thousand times, Ginny headed for the gargoyle statue that led into Dumbledore's office. She remembered walking the path after just coming out of the Chamber of Secrets in her first year. It seemed to her as if the Malfoys had a personal vendetta against her. First Tom's diary and now Lucius's son. As she approached, she realized that Draco was already there. Slowing her gait, she dragged her feet and kept her head down, hoping that Dumbledore would come soon.
"Well, Weasel," he said when she was close enough to hear him. "Funny seeing you here." Any traces of their fight were gone, she noted. His aristocratic face was back to perfection.
A mysterious force heard her prayers, and the gargoyle suddenly turned, revealing a spiral staircase.
"After you, my dear," Draco said mockingly. He opened his arms to the stairway, like a butler. Picking up the hem of her robes, Ginny hurried up the steps and soon entered the office. All three professors were present.
"Both of you sit down, please," Dumbledore said, gesturing to two ornate chairs that were worn from years of people visiting and sitting down.
They both sat.
"It has taken us awhile to decide what to do for your punishments," Dumbledore began. Ginny swallowed the lump that had formed in her now dry mouth. "Unfortunately, if you were thinking there were not going to be any points taken from your houses, you were mistaken. I cannot condone violence in this school, no matter what the situation." He was addressing Ginny, so she nodded shakily.
"However, there will not be any Quidditch suspensions, which you both should be happy with, and so should the heads of your houses. Mr. Malfoy, you are quite the Seeker and Ms. Weasley, I have yet to see you play, but no doubt you are as talented as your predecessors. But I digress.
"Ever since both of your parents attended this school, the legendary Malfoy/Weasley feud has existed. And while it proves for very exciting matches on the Quidditch field, it should remain there, not venture into the halls; and I blame myself for not trying to put a stop to this before now. Therefore, both your parents have been contacted by Professors Snape and McGonagall, and both have consented to the solution we have devised."
Ginny waited with baited breath. Professor McGonagall was expressionless, but Snape looked disgusted. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all, then, as his face was perpetually sour.
"Beginning tomorrow, during the second half of lunch, you, Ms. Weasley, and you, Mr. Malfoy, will attend counseling sessions twice a week."
There was a profound silence. Counseling...?
"My father would never consent to this!" Draco snarled, jumping up, his hair falling in his eyes. Ginny noticed absently that he didn't gel it down anymore.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy-"
"Fraternizing with common, Mudblood-lovers -"
"MR. MALFOY!" Ginny had never heard Dumbledore raise his voice before, and she hoped never to again.
He continued on in a more subdued voice. "Never use that language again. This is exactly why I want this counseling to take place. Close-minded beliefs like those cost lives and create ruin. As a student who many look up to, I hope that you will come to understand why this arrangement is necessary.."
Draco kept his mouth shut but retained the murderous look in his eyes.
"If you have any remainging concerns or questions, you may stay and ask them. You may even send an owl to your parents. But nothing will change this. This is your punishment, though I hope it will become an enlightening experience. If you do not have questions you are free to go to your rooms."
Draco stormed out of the room like a bat out of hell. McGonagall and Snape followed.
"Wait one minute, Ms. Weasley," Dumbledore requested. "You have been very quiet, unlike Mr. Malfoy who is probably raising quite a stir in the owlery right about now." She smiled at his dry humor.
"Well, honestly, Headmaster, I don't know what to think...I mean, I don't want to do this, but I suppose I'll have to. It beats getting kicked off of the team, at least."
"Spoken like a true Gryffindor," he said.
She began to descend the steps when he spoke again. "Don't worry about Mr. Malfoy, Ginevra. I'm sure that you two will get along perfectly well in due time." He smiled and his eyes twinkled. Giving him a small smile back, she continued down the stairs and for her room wondering if he was on something.
In due time must mean that she was going to kick the bucket some time soon.What a pity.
Reaching the Fat Lady, Ginny muttered,"Fortiter," and walked inside. She was met with the solemn faces of the Trio, Colin, and Lark.
Ron hopped up when he saw her. He was in red flannel pajamas and a white tee-shirt. Harry was wearing pretty much the same thing, except he had on a green shirt that brought out his eyes and blue flannels. Hermione, ever modest, wore a sky blue nightgown underneath her dressing robe. Colin and Lark were still in their uniforms.
"What's the verdict?"
"We-ll," she said, drawing out the suspense, and taking her school robes off in the same motion. She plopped down on the couch. "It seems to me that this will be the last time I'll be sitting on this couch at lunch."
"WHAT! They expelled you!" Ron began walking back and forth on the oriental carpeting. "We'll see about this! After I thrash Malfoy, I'm going straight to Dumbledore and giving him a piece of my mind!"
Ginny laughed. "Then, dear brother, you'll have to join Malfoy and me in counseling."
"Come again?" he asked, stopping his ranting.
"I won't be sitting on this couch at lunch, because I will be attending counseling sessions with Malfoy during the second half. I'll get to know the scared little boy inside of the man," she said sarcastically.
"Well, I'll be damned."
"I know," she said. "But I'm lucky; I'm still on the team."
Harry let out a huge sigh, and sat back wordlessly.
Hermione and Ginny laughed, thinking the same thing. "Nice to know what your real concerns are." He grinned and shrugged, adjusting his glasses.
"I'm going to turn in," Ginny said, getting up. "I'm beat."
"GOOD IDEA!" everyone said this at the same time. Ginny froze, startled.
"What's so good about it?"
"Well, Ginny," answered Lark. "It seems that when you don't get enough sleep, the world goes upside down."
Ginny rolled her eyes and resumed walking. Sticking her nose in the air, she just said, "Humph!" and ascended the steps.
Inwardly she agreed. Besides, she was going to need her rest. She had a big day ahead of her.
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- Femme