Author's Note: Yes, yes, yes, I know it has been forever since I've updated. School really takes a toll on one's free time. Thanks to readers (including my mom ) who keep insisting that I get off my butt and update. As for my beta, Amber, sorry about not getting back you (if you're still reading this) and hopefully I'll have a chapter ready for you soon. And I'm still very much alive in case you're wondering.

Disclaimer: Same as in Chapter 1, nothing's changed.

Chapter 2: The Strangest Things….

"Hermione! Will you-ugh!" The grunt came as yet another heavy book was piled onto the load that Hermione was making Ron carry.

She and Ron, much to his dismay, had been in the library all Saturday morning looking through various books. As the day faded into the early afternoon, Hermione appeared to be just getting started. Ron, having nothing better to do, felt slightly obligated to lend a helping hand. This did involve Ginny after all.

However, he was beginning to think that Hermione's efforts were somewhat unnecessary. Ginny was fine now. There was no sign of the "Gininne" nonsense that had nearly driven him mad and Ron wanted very much for it to stay that way. He couldn't help but feel that the deeper the two of them managed to dig, the more he wasn't going to like whatever it was they uncovered…and the more afraid he was of making things even worse for his sister.

"Hermione, I know we said that we wanted to get to bottom of what was wrong with Ginny…"

"And that's precisely what we're doing, Ron…"

"…Well I think…."

"…Oh! Here it is, 'Personality Alterations through the Power of Potions' by Gidious Humperdink. Hold this, please."

Hermione added this particularly bulky book to the collection that Ron was already holding. He felt his knees buckling. As he struggled along behind her, he was certain that if she piled on just one more book, his poor back was going to break.

"I'm glad you think I can carry a limitless amount of books, but Hermione, I don't think I can carry anymore. Especially not if I'm supposed to see where I'm going."

"Fine." She nudged a wadding Ron in the direction of the their table, a gesture he didn't really appreciate, since he nearly fell over.

Hermione didn't notice. She was too busy trying to wrap her mind around what had happened to Ginny. Hermione didn't care if Ginny was "back to her old self". For her, it wasn't enough. There was no explanation as to why Ginny began to act so strangely in the first place. It didn't help that the peculiar behavior stopped so suddenly, almost as if Ginny were awakening from a bad dream.

Hermione couldn't get that image of Ginny in the girl's dorm with Professor McGonagall out of her mind. Seeing her tearful, confused, and humiliated hurt Hermione deeply. Someone did that to Ginny. Even though there was no definite proof as to who was responsible, she could at least find out what caused the behavior, if it might happen again, or worse, if there's a possibility of permanent damage. For Ginny's sake as well as for her own peace of mind.

Hermione was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of a heap of books bouncing off the wooden table in front of her. A few nearby students snickered as Ron drew a warning glance from Madame Pince.

"Ron," Hermione hissed, "those are valuable reading materials. I doubt you can afford to replace them. I know I can't."

"Sorry," Ron muttered sitting down slowly, "It was either the books or my back."

Hermione sat down, taking the book, "Personality Alterations through the Power of Potions" from the top of the stack.

Ron was about to ask Hermione if she needed any more of his assistance when there was a small commotion at a nearby table. Hermione continued to flip through the pages of the book she had, but Ron turned to look. It was Ginny. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. He watched as she folded a piece of paper neatly in half and stuffed it into her bag. Without bothering to take the books that she had with her, she stood and began moving rather quickly towards the entrance to the library.

At the moment, finding out what was going on with his sister was a bit more appealing that continuing to be a source of labor. He decided to go after her.

"Hermione, I think I'm going to go. I'll see you later."

Engrossed in what she was reading, Hermione gave a small, "Mmhmm," and turned the page. Ron stood and walked away, shaking his head at what he felt was a waste of a perfectly good Saturday afternoon.

Ginny walked quickly down the hall, avoiding eye contact, determined to get as far away from the library and that horrible nightmare as possible. At least she thought it was a dream, but she couldn't be to sure about anything anymore. And that damn note. Was it someone's idea of a joke? It wasn't very funny.

"Ginny! Wait!"

Ginny glanced over her shoulder, but already knew who was calling her. She really wasn't in the mood to talk.

Nevertheless, she slowed down and allowed Ron to catch up with her.

"Yes, Ron? What is it?" Her tone was a bit sharp, but she wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

"Sorry," Ron said when he finally caught up to her, although he hadn't done anything that he needed to apologize for…nothing that she knew about.

"Ron, I've really got to get back to the dorm, I've got so many things to do-"

"I know you do, Ginny; you've been very busy lately. I've seen you, I mean, I haven't really seen much of you, and when I do, you've got your nose in a book."

"Is that bad?"

"No, I guess it isn't. But, I was a bit worried about you. I saw you in the library, and you look like you'd had a bit of a scare."

"I dozed off and had a bad dream," Ginny said with a shrug, "Blame it on too much studying. Anyway, it's hardly anything to be worried about. Really."

"Alright then, just making sure." Ron leaned over and gave Ginny a kiss on her forehead. "Now," he said, "since you've said it, I'll expect that when I get back to the Common Room, you'll be there, books in hand, studying like a good little girl?"

"Of course," Ginny said sweetly, "I live to be the good little girl that my big brother Ron can be proud of."

"If that weren't dripping with sarcasm, I'd consider it a nice thought."

"RON! Come quick!"

The pair looked behind them towards the library, where Hermione was frantically waving.

"Ms. Granger! I don't care how many hours you spend here weekly. This is still a library!"

Hermione turned and offered a quick apology, and then went back to waving for Ron.

"Well, I guess that means you're needed."

"Yeah," Ron sighed, "If that means what I think it means, I'm going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting."

"Bye Ron."

As Ginny headed away, Ron walked slowly back to the library. Whatever she wanted couldn't be that important.

"Ron, will you hurry up!"

Or could it?

"Ginny! Ginny wake up! Please wake up!"

The body in Harry's arms would not wake up, no matter how much he pleaded. She wasn't moving, she wasn't breathing, and she was very cold.

What had happened?

He had walked into the crowded common room to find her sprawled on the ground, and no one had so much as screamed.

No one did anything…but talk and laugh and go about their business, as if there WASN'T a very dead young girl on the floor.

Harry spotted Ron among the crowd, laughing with another boy about something inappropriate.

"Ron! Do something! Call someone!"

Ron turned to Harry, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why would I do that?"

Harry stared at him in disbelief for a full minute before lifting Ginny's limp form halfway off of the floor.

"This is why! Ginny! Your sister Ginny is dead. She's not breathing, she's cold as ice…why the hell ELSE would I ask you to call someone. Go! Get help!"

Ron shook his head.

"That's not Ginny, Harry. That couldn't possibly be Ginny."

Others around Harry nodded and murmured in confirmation.

"Of course it's Ginny!" Harry looked around desperately, "Have you all lost your minds? Please! Someone get help!"

Hermione came forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Harry, I don't know who you think that is, but it's not Ginny."

She pointed. "That's Ginny, right there."

Harry looked up and there was Ginny, sitting on the common room sofa directly across from where he was kneeling. "Hello, Harry," Ginny giggled, "What have you got there? Because that's certainly not me."

What did he have then? He looked down.

It was a corpse. A red-haired, freckle-faced corpse…with no eyes. Just two empty sockets accompanying a broad smile.

The thing reached up and touched his face. Harry couldn't move. Something wasn't letting him.

It spoke. "We're going to be so close you and I," It said as it leaned up slowly, almost floated towards his face. "We're going to be together for a long time."

It kissed him. The sensation of its dried, icy lips was enough to make Harry scream…

"Harry! Wake up!"

Harry was shaking all over. It took him a moment to realize that he was in the common room, and that it was empty. And there was no dead body on the floor.

He wiped the perspiration from his forehead as Ginny sat down next to him.

She had heard crying upon entering the Common Room and saw Harry. It seemed she wasn't the only one being plagued with scary nightmares.

"Are you okay, Harry?" she asked.

Without saying anything, Harry pulled Ginny in for a very tight hug.

"Harry, I'm happy that you're glad to see me, but I need to breathe."

Harry finally let go, exhaling deeply. That dream was too real. Just the thought of Ginny being dead and being that helpless shook him. And that creature...

"It must have been some bad dream," Ginny said with a whistle.

"Yeah," Harry admitted quietly. He was a bit embarrassed by the fact that he had actually been crying. He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes quickly.

"It's okay, Harry." Ginny said reassuringly, "If it makes you feel any better, I had a really scary nightmare myself, just a few minutes ago. I'd tell you, but you'd probably laugh."

"No, I wouldn't laugh."

Ginny bit her lip. He didn't know anything about the note, so what harm could it do? At least he would cheer up a bit.

"Well, it was really creepy. I dreamt that I was in a room, and I was about to leave when this thing came in. It floated around the room, even got in my face. And the really creepy part is that it looked just like me, except it didn't have eyes….it was so real that I-"

Ginny paused when she saw how pale Harry had become.

"I woke up with quite a start. I think I drew a bit of attention to myself. I was so startled by it that I ran off and left my books at the library. I really didn't feel like going back but I realized as soon as I got here that I'd probably have to. I can't study without my books can I?"

He hadn't heard anything else beyond her dream. It just wasn't possible.

"Ginny," Harry began urgently, "Are you sure about the features? What she looked like, her having no eyes…you're certain that's what you saw?"

"Yes," Ginny nodded, "Like I said, whatever she or it was, it was right in my face." She leaned closer to Harry, until she was so close, she could practically taste what he'd had for breakfast.

"It was this close," she stated, "there's no way I'd have see anything but what I did. It looked just like me, even sounded like me. And it…"

"What?"

Harry was too caught up in what Ginny was telling him to be bothered by her closeness.

"The thing had a name, I think. Gininne."

She moved away, "Everything has been so fuzzy these last few weeks, but I don't remember that name at all." She studied Harry's horrified expression. "Does it mean something to you, Harry? If so, please tell me."

And there you have it! Chapter 2. I'm going to be pretty busy in the next few weeks, but since I finally think I know where I'm going with this story I should (hopefully) finally get this thing updated.

And for those of you who are wondering, Draco will be showing up in the next chapter, when something very interesting will be revealed concerning the seemly innocent overdose (See Wickedly Delicious, "Overdose")

Thanks for reading and feel free to offer a review or comment, ask a question, or offer some helpful criticism. I know I need it. ;p

+ Black Pearl +