Confessions of a Villain

Rating: PG-13

Summery: *Sequel to Cruel Beauty* It's been five years since Virginia last saw her aunt, but when Draco goes missing she is forced to rethink her past and seek help from the one person that she truly hates.

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize, I don't own

A/N Hmm, not really much to say. Sorry for the wait, here's the next chapter, and we're back to Virginia's viewpoint. Oh, and the song for the chapter is dedicated to someone *cough* Crystal *cough* who has yet to like one song that I've picked out, so here you go, my favorite Nirvana song (and yes, I've been a Nirvana fan since my cousin gave me Nevermind in first grade) and if you don't like this one then there is just no pleasing you, lol.

Oh, and so that you don't start off confused right off the bat, when we last saw Virginia she was preparing to go visit Fred and George so she could get something to change her appearance…well that didn't exactly work out as she planned.

Chapter Five

Come As You Are

Come, as you are. As you were.
As I want you to be. As a friend.
As a friend. As an old enemy. Take your time.
Hurry up. The choice is yours. Don't be late.
Take a rest. As a friend. As an old memory. Nirvana

"Did you really think that you would get away with it, that I wouldn't find out?"

I looked up at Bill with annoyance evident in my expression. "Well, it would be fairly stupid to say yes now."

He tapped his foot and resumed to the pacing mode that he had been in for the past fifteen minutes. Every so often he would turn towards me, shake his head in disbelief, and turn away again.

"Bill come on, you couldn't have really expected me to stay there forever."

He turned towards me once more, "I'm your guardian, I can do as I please."

"My last guardian wound up in Azkaban, sure that you want the title? Besides, I'm not a minor so therefore I am not in need of a guardian."

"You don't need a guardian," he repeated in a question form. "Only responsible adults do not require legal guardians, and you are obviously not that if you foolish enough to leave your protection!"

I rolled my eyes and allowed him to continue on his rant for a few more minutes before promptly telling him that I would curse him into the afterlife if he didn't just let it go. "Bill," I said in a mollifying tone, "there is really nothing that you can do about this. I'm out, I am not going back and that's the end of it."

He gave a half-hearted glare before sitting down next to me at the old couch that by miracle had held up for god knows how many years at the Burrow. "You know that I just worry about you, right?" I nodded and decided it would be best to just let him finish than interrupting with one of my famous comments. "For so long I wasn't able to do anything about my worrying, you were completely out of my control and my grasp. So if I seem overbearing now, it's only because I'm making up for the times when you were hurting and no one was there to protect you."

I looked away from him, saying nothing. He knew that I didn't react well to sappy confessions of brotherly love. I appreciated it, don't get me wrong, I just…don't know how to take it. Velena's first reaction would be to openly start laughing.

Bill smiled as to break the heavy tension and childishly ruffled my hair, "now, I know that you're an intelligent girl Virginia. So, why on earth would you have gone to see Fred and George? You know they can't keep a secret to save their lives…well that is any secret not about themselves."

"So," I said with a strained smile, "done with the lecture yet?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I told you that leaving was a stupid thing to do?"

"Yes," I answered obediently, "that was right before I told you to go hang yourself."

He nodded in remembrance, "well it seems that I've covered all bases, so yes, the lecture is now complete." There was an awkward sort of pause for a moment before he decisively smiled at me, "so," he said with a great deal of apprehension, "how are you?"

I flickered my eyes up towards him, "how do you think I am?"

"I know how you are. I've been there Virginia, it's hard, but it'll get better."

I sighed and looked away; I hated how whenever you have any sort of traumatic event there will always undoubtedly be someone around whom has 'been there.' Like it makes you feel oh so much better to know that someone else is deluding themselves into feeling what you feel; like they could possibly even comprehend the depths of my feelings…I shook myself of my bitter line of thoughts, I had been making a conscience effort to not seem so drab and pessimistic, but it was difficult sometimes.

Bill had misinterpreted my inner thoughts of animosity as a form of sadness of my recent 'loss' of Draco. "I'm sure that he's fine, he knows how to take care of himself. I know that for a fact." He said in a soothing manner.

"And how do you know that," I pressed, pleased with my given opportunity, "did you go with him on any of those assignments that I wasn't supposed to know about?"

He opened his mouth once before shutting it again. He carefully planned out his words before slowly saying to me, "that is neither here nor there Virginia. What matters is that he is experienced in the fields of…dangerous matters, and I rest in the assurance that he will be fine."

"Well I'm glad that you can rest in that assurance," the strained smile returned, "that is a pleasantry that I do not know of at the moment."

"You always seem to find a way to get the information that you want," Bill observed. "Fine. Yes I did serve with him a few times, I can't tell you where but I can tell you that the night that he disappeared he was in," he leaned in closely as if spies were around and said in a soft tone, "Azkaban."

Well, that certainly helped a lot. I gave Bill a judgmental glance before displaying a fake amount of gratitude for the information and berating myself mentally, I should have known better than to ask Bill; Charlie always was quicker to let things slip.

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Bill attempted to make the Burrow the new backdrop for my prison but I managed to slip away before that could happen. Obviously, I had been ratted out and caught in my scheme to disguise myself. Bill was had made a few valid points though, I should have never went to Fred and George.

One good thing did come out of it though; I managed to get one of their latest products. Titled An Ugly Person's Dream Come True their liquid transformer makes you into the exact opposite in appearances of what you were, therefore making you completely indistinguishable to those who know you. Appropriately titled, in my opinion.

I slipped the bottle into a pocket of my robe; I would get to that later. In the meantime, I apparently had someone to meet. After Bill had gotten through with his 'talk' I saw Charlie again for the first time in a long time. It was a sappy reunion, but not one that I regretted in the least. I had still yet to see Percy and Ron but I was sure that I would see from them and their very own advice and lectures in due time.

Charlie had informed me that for the past month someone had been sending owls everyday addressed to me. I could easily infer that he was reluctant to relay this information, as he wasn't sure if it was someone with hostile intentions or not. Charlie, not being the type to snoop through someone's mail, did not read the letters but did feel the need to express his belief that if the person wanted to meet with me, I should desist in their request.

Naturally, I am not one to desist in anything. They did want to meet with me, and even though I had no clue as to who 'they' were I figured that it was most likely someone with information that they wished to pass on to me. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence after word had gotten out about me going against Velena, people seemed to perceive me as someone who wanted to help civilization and wasted no time relinquishing their woes and wishes for my help.

Under normal circumstances I would shrug off most pleas, I was no savior, nor would I ever pretend to be such. However, these were not normal times and this information may very be something that proves to be extremely useful to me. So I went to their disclosed location to meet the mysterious individual, knowing full well that if they did want me to meet them for the sole purpose of harming me I could best them in a dual no matter who it was.

My suspicious eyes darted around the area; it was a dark place that did not seem friendly in the slightest. I had come here by their directions and found the place to be somewhat of a forest blanketed with a sinking feeling of impending doom. In short, it was my kind of place.

I turned my head around and looked for possible signs of life. Upon seeing none I contemplated calling out to see if I received a response but quickly decided negatively, I refused to yell at nothing, that would just be silly. So I patiently waited and constantly looked around, not wanting to be taken by surprise. As I was doing one of my many scans of the area I felt an ice cold touch near my shoulder. Suppressing the urge to jump out of fright and shiver at the bitter contact I turned around expecting to face something evil and ugly beyond belief…well I couldn't vouch for the former, but the latter was way off.

There before me was a handsome young man with friendly features and trusting bright blue eyes. He offered me an attractive smile that I did not return, I wasn't a friendly person by nature, this was not something subject to change.

"Hello Virginia, thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me."

"Yes," I responded coldly, "the intelligence in that decision remains to be seen though."

"I assure you," he said in a seemingly earnest voice, "I have nothing but honorable intentions. I only want to help reunite you with the one whom you are searching for."

Alarms in my mind immediately began to go off. He had been sending letters requesting my presence at a meeting with him for over a month, Draco hadn't even been missing for two days. "Funny," I said, making sure to guard my suspicions, "I don't recall losing anyone. I am normally very careful when it comes to remembering where I placed people…though there was that one boyfriend of mine that I left in a store once. To be fair though I did remember about him a few days later and when I found him again very minimal bodily damage was done."

His face betrayed no reaction, which I could respect; most people would be giving me incredulous looks by now and slowly backing away. "So you are not in search of one Draco Malfoy than?"

"What if I was? What have you to say on the subject?" There was his window of opportunity; I was fairly interested to see what he would do with it.

"I will lead you straight to him, all you have to do is ask."

All you have to do is ask. Why did that seem so eerily familiar to me? I repeated it several times in my head before it clicked and I let out a gasp before I could stop myself. "I know who you are," I stated with conviction, "nice try though."

He gave a small smile, "does it really make a difference if you know who I am? It only causes you to walk into this with your eyes wide open instead of blinded by your own stroke of luck; either way you still walk into it."

"And what makes you think that I will walk into your trap at all?" He smiled mysteriously but offered no explanation. I regarded him with a great amount of suspicion while my mind processed all this new information. The man before me, if you could call him that, was the one who is simply known as "The Riddler."

He was the example that most parents used when it came to teaching their children to not trust strangers. He would give you the world, only to take it away on a technicality; that was the most famous saying about him. He granted your fondest wish but not without a price. And that price was normally in some form of irony that would lead you to despise that which you had wished for.

For instance, one man wished to be head of a successful company. He was granted this request and the company was immensely successful…for about one day until it burned to the ground by a freak fire accident and was never rebuilt.

I smiled at him for the first time of our meeting, "exactly how stupid do you think I am? I am not about to make a deal with the equivalent of the devil."

"I understand that I have somewhat of a reputation," he said soothingly, "but I genuinely only wish to assist you in your task to seek out the one which you love. I will not double-cross you."

I merely raised an eyebrow. "Do not trifle with me, I am a Riddle myself and I would not suggest it wise for you to attempt to persuade me into dealing with you, it will not work."

"My powers are more limited than some would think Virginia. The only thing I am allowed is to play on words. Be extremely specific and you will find this experience to be quite beneficial and pleasant."

I knew that he was not allowed to lie about his powers, and he was right, if I could make sure my request had absolutely no loopholes I didn't see how it could be a bad thing. In an unusual burst of impulsion I made my request, "lead me to the Draco Malfoy which I am seeking and allow there to be not unwanted repercussions for this favor which you bestow upon me."

He smiled widely at the words and I immediately winced in regret, perhaps this wasn't as thought out as I had planned. He pulled something from his robes that I couldn't make out and simply stated, "As you wish."

Then my world went black, and well, it all pretty much shot to hell from there.

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A/N Wow, a semi-long chapter (for me anyway) and a cliffhanger. Lady luck is on my side tonight. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that most of you find me strange for the previous two sentences. Make guesses if you wish to where you think Virginia will end up, and no, it's not going to be the same place where Draco is, I'll tell you that right now. Come on, I can't make it that easy. I'll try to update soon but life and school get in the way sometimes. Reviews help though…and yes, that was a shameless hint, lol.

Thanks to:

Kinky Kiwi (Yes, I know Harry sticking his arm out non-existent windows was a tad on the strange side, I promise it will all come together at some point though. No promises when that some point will be, lol. Next chapter is Virginia again and then we return to Draco.), RonandHerm4eva (Glad you thought the last chapter was humorous, I'm trying to fit some in before the drama completely takes over, lol. Thanks for saying that Draco and Harry were in character, I appreciate it! And I'm actually not really sure what I'm going to do with Harry being concerned about Virginia, lol, any ideas on where to go with that?), Lady Coia (Lol, I'm rather enjoyed the window thing myself, it's exactly the sort of messed up thing that keeps my interest in the story. It does mean something, and you'll find that out later. Here's a hint, perception is a major part of it.), Aibi (I feel your pain! My English class is doing Macbeth right now too. I can appreciate Shakespeare, I like his sonnets, but Macbeth is just getting on my damn nerves! My only consolation is that I know he is going to die soon, lol.), frananddragon (Glad that you were enjoying Draco's bitter sarcastic remarks. Lol, I swear he is the male version of me, my friends always get on me for constantly making pessimistic 'downer' remarks. And yes the windows thing is important, keep it in mind!), Jersey Pike (I don't know, I think it's in the guy's rule of conduct or something like that, "thou shall not admit thou is lost until too damn late." Yeah, we had midterms last week too, *enter sarcasm here* they were a lot of fun.), Wizzabee (Good, I'm glad that you're enjoying the point of view switch! I always enjoy irony, so we should be seeing a lot of it with them searching for each other. And it's about to get very interesting in that search starting next chapter.), Enchanted Spirit (Lol, you're closer on your guess than anyone else has been. Always feel free to continue to give me ideas, lord knows I am always in need of inspiration and motivation, lol.), Shakespeare's Muse (Aw, thanks so much for saying that Draco is in character! As I love and admire your Draco so much, it means a lot to me! I hope that you update again soon!), Emerald Jersey, Crystal Megan, or whatever the hell your name is this week (I picked a rock song just for you! And I know that you probably care so much, lol. And I swear that I am getting to the first chapter of your story, but I kind of had a five page paper that was due today that I didn't even start on till two days ago…so yeah, I haven't had much time to do really anything besides that. I hope that you get to go to the school that you want and thanks so much for the long review again, much appreciated! I'll be e-mailing you sometime soon!)