Author's Note: Aren't Author's Notes fantastical? Yeah I just wanted to quickly give credit to The Julianna Theory For "Goodnight Starlight", about a line of it is played in this chapter and I changed a few of the words to make it more suit brother and sister and not lovvverrrss-s-s-s-. That's about it, enjoy the chapter.
Confrontations And The Morning Of The Ball
"Hey..."
Laura looked up from her bed. Her eyes were bloodshot and her make-up was running.
"Well this is lovely ." she muttered rubbing at her eyes.
Travis smiled but didn't move yet.
"Jay told me some stuff..." he said choosing his words slowly and carefully
Laura's red eyes jumped towards Travis, scanning him with a suspicious glare.
"What kind of stuff?" she asked alarmed
He paused then walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed.
"Stuff I wish you'd told me before."
Laura gave an odd grunt and threw her hands into the air hysterical with sadness.
"Yeah, so now you're mad at me too? Ever give any thought that my wonderful brother never said a word before tonight either? God, no of course you didn't but I really wish you would have because having one of my best friends mad at me over something that's ancient history anyways-"
"Shhhh..." Travis cut her off, "I'm not mad at you, of course I'm not mad at you." he promised almost laughing, "I just...I wish you would've told me."
New tears were rolling silently down her cheeks.
"Oh, fuck La don't cry." he said in a pained voice, guiding her head to his shoulder with his left hand, "You wanna talk about it?"
She gave a shuddering breath and looked up
"Did he tell you like...everything?" she asked
Travis shrugged rubbing her shoulder comfortingly
"I guess so..." he muttered
"So then he told you about the last night?" she asked recklessly
"The last night?"
"Yeah the last night with my dad." she stammered quickly "The night when my mom came and-and- I still have scars from that night, wanna see?"
"Laura you don't have to-"
"You know, I sat in my room for twenty four minutes and fifty one seconds waiting for J.J to come back and get me-"
"La-"
"He told me no matter what happened to stay in my r-room and he would come back and g-get me and I would've, I would've stayed, I dunno if I've ever told him that-"
"Laura it's-"
"But he never came back, so I just sat there listening t-to my dad-my dad-"
She gave a violent shake
"And th-then he...he came up and he wanted me to leave but J.J s-said-he-h-he said to wait s-s-so I wouldn't g-go with d-dad and h-he-h-he t-took me and-"
"Laura!"
"My mom wouldn't stop screaming!"
"LAURA!" he cried as she burst into tears "It's okay."
She buried her face into his shoulder as he rubbed her back gently "Breathe..." he muttered wide eyed "You're gonna give yourself a fucking asthma attack."
"I'm so sorry...I sh-should've told you." she whispered "It's just...embarrassing."
"God...don't apologize...you're not the one who should be embarrassed just because you dad was an asshole."
There was a pause
"I miss him Trav." Laura croaked finally, "He's my dad...I love him."
Travis just shook his head, lost for words. He couldn't stand to tell Laura off when she was in this state, but he did agree with J.J, and did not understand why Laura would ever want to see her father again.
"He used to...to talk to me like I was beautiful or something." she muttered in a hollow voice
"Well he better have." Travis said sharply.
She sniffed
"What?"
"You are beautiful..and he doesn't deserve you." he said in disgust
Laura looked up. Everything old and bloody from the past was unravelling into a mess she was wrapped around in. And even things so right and beautiful it was disgusting seemed wrong.
But it had been too long coming and it was too strong not to confuse her. It was too real not to hurt them...
As if on cue their lips met hungrily grasping each other as she felt his hands slide down her neck before they pulled apart, both in shock.
"Thank you." she answered finally in a rough whisper.
"I've gotta go down to dinner." he murmured after another pause
Quickly, Laura nodded.
"Yeah. Right. You-you should go. I'll come down later."
He nodded too, looking scattered.
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm...I'm great." she smiled weakly and Travis headed to the door and exited.
He made his way back to the common room, which was deserted except for J.J, still sitting on the couch facing away from him. With a guitar in his hands. Travis didn't say a word yet.
"Close your eyes, you're beautiful when you're sleeping." he sang strumming quietly "Tonight may all your dreams come true...I know sometimes it's lonely when you're sleeping, and it's lonely for me too. It's all right. Just know that when you're sleeping, he's far away from you."
Travis took a step forward listening intently
"And what we've got here isn't special. And what we aren't is-"
"What the fuck are you doing?" Travis piped up finally.
J.J didn't jump. He just stopped strumming abruptly and glanced behind him.
"Is she pissed at me?" he asked
"Well yeah, but what else is new? What the hell is that you're playing?"
J.J put down his guitar and shrugged
"I wrote it a while ago..."
"How long ago?"
He wrinkled his brow as though the conversation was paining him.
"I was...ten."
Travis stared at him blankly.
"You wrote that when you were ten?" he asked
"Well actually probably more like...almost eleven. It wasn't long before we got our letters."
"I don't believe that. You were ten when you wrote that?"
"Well...I kind of touched it up a bit when I was a little older, but basically-yeah."
Travis looked as though he didn't know what to say
"Well...why? What is it?"
"I wrote it for Laura." J.J said bluntly "She used to be really bad at getting to sleep...she couldn't stop crying."
There was an awkward pause
"Well...why the fuck haven't you ever played it before?"
J.J put down his guitar.
"I just...don't really like remembering nights when I had to play it so my little sister wouldn't have to cry herself to sleep."
Travis walked up behind the couch and faced him.
"All right. You want me to say it? This is fucked up. A lot of the shit going on right now is fucked up. But...you don't even live in Ashmore anymore Jay. You live here. At Hogwarts. So I don't see how, whether or not you're going to see your dad is an issue right now. I mean god knows, I'm not judging either of you. I don't know what kind of bullshit you went through. But I mean we've gotta get past this man, seriously. The ball's tomorrow."
"So?"
"So I don't know! Everything's fucked up this year! That Migell kid is seriously screwing with Ginny's head, and she's busy as hell as it is. I think she's keeping some shit from us and it's not good! Davinee and Leon are having issues with their parents and shit and I know that no one's supposed to anything but they are. I don't know what is up with Kyler, but it's not like we see her that much anymore now that she hangs out with that slutty ex girlfriend of yours and I miss her and we all do-"
"Who?"
"Kyler, not the slutty ex girlfriend! Although she is hot...but we need to talk to Kyler because something is going on with her, we need to talk to Gin, we need to talk to Leon and Davinee and now you and Laura have gotta work things out and I think you should tell everyone else about this bullshit with your dad, because I'm sure they would just wanna help and also because, I do not like being the only one who knows. And maybe Jay, the ball is a chance to work all this shit out and just get back to where we were last year, the whole Six Musketeers bullshit. But if you can't stop being pissed at your dad long enough to realize how much you love your sister...I mean seriously it isn't about him. It's just about how he's fucked you up. Laura didn't do anything. You guys have gotta sit down and talk about some shit. We all do. And on another note...besides all this...the band is gonna be completely shot to hell if we all can't get over our baggage...or at least write some decent music about it! All six of us need to shut up and look around at the other five for a minute so we can unfuck up everything that's gotten fucked up. But if you don't care then I'm out." he finished breathlessly
"Well. I only caught the end of that speech but it was quite moving."
Travis whipped around
"Kyler!" he exclaimed "Erm...how much did you catch?"
"The part whee you said fuck a lot." she shrugged "But...Jay I wanted to talk to you."
J.J looked confused
"What's up?" he asked her
She gave an oily smile.
"Would you go to the ball with me?"
Just then the portrait hole swung open and Ginny entered weighed down with textbooks and parchment. She collapsed in an armchair across from J.J and looked around.
"Is someone painting us or something?" she asked as no one was moving.
J.J was still staring at Kyler. He glanced over at Ginny for a moment and smiled.
"No...and Kyler...sure."
Ginny wrinkled her eyebrows
"And I'd love to know what's going on."
Kyler flashed her pale eyes over.
"Nothing...I'm going to dinner."
"Yeah, I'll come down with you." she shrugged standing up and following Kyler out the portrait hole.
J.J and Travis were left again once more. Travis cleared his throat awkwardly
"So you're uhh...going to the ball with Kyler then?" he asked
"Seems so doesn't it?" J.J asked cooly
"And the fact that you're madly in love with your sister's best friend?"
"Let's not get into that now shall we?"
La mer...
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Au ciel d'été confond
Ses blancs moutons...
La mer...-
"Thanks for waiting." Kyler smiled stepping out of the bathroom stall "Man were you just sleeping or something?"
Ginny blinked
"No...just resting my eyes...I'm sort of tired." she said distractedly. It wasn't the first time she had heard that song in her head...she hated how familiar it was...
"Ginny? Go play outside would you? Dinner's almost ready."
Ginny dropped her rag doll on the floor and scampered out the front door without another word. She was only five after all. Her mommy rarely let her play outside alone...
When she slammed the door shut the fresh air hit her hard in her little face and Ginny let out a giggle, staring around the emptiness surrounding her. She stepped off the old cement porch and glanced around one more time. Only it wasn't quite empty.
Standing a far ways in front of her was an unfamiliar looking man and a girl about Ginny's age. There had never before been people other than the Weasleys at the Burrow. Never...
"Hello!" Ginny called out excitedly running in their direction.
The little girl turned around and walked towards her. When they met she looked down at the ground as though unsure what to do.
"I'm Ginny." she said sweetly
"Hi." the girl offered. "My name is..." she paused "Jane Macintosh."
The man still hadn't turned around.
"That's a nice name." Ginny said cheerily "What're you doing here?"
The girl looked around
"I came here once before...and I liked it..."
Ginny touched a hand to her flaming, shiny hair almost as though self conscious. But she was much too young to be at all familiar with this particular emotion...
"You came here before?" she asked offhandedly no longer bouncing on the balls of her feet.
The man in the dark coat was tapping his foot.
"Yes...and today I thought I would bring a friend."
"This is private property you know!" Ginny exploded puffing out her chest, with much pride. "Why would you come here in the first place?"
The girl turned her nose up a bit, determined to keep her dignity.
"I stumbled upon it. It's nothing special."
"You just said it was." Ginny spat. Normally she welcomed company regardless of their potential for being dangerous. She had never noticed things like this before.
The girl paused.
"La mer...
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs..."
Ginny looked up abruptly. Was the man singing?
"I brought this man I know...his name is...Frank."
Ginny was staring at the man's back. Why had he not turned around? Why was he here?
"How do you know him? Why would you bring him to my house?" she questioned at an alarming rate.
The little girl with demonically adorable features seemed to cower.
"I saw you here once before...Frank asked me to find him a girl with red hair...he likes girls with red hair." she told her accordingly
Ginny didn't blink, her hand still touching her obvious red hair.
"La mer...
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Au ciel d'été confond
Ses blancs moutons...
La mer...-"
"Where are your mommy and daddy?" she asked the girl quietly. There was something off about this whole situation.
"I don't know...Frank is babysitting me...he's their friend."
How on earth could anybody be friends with a man who did not even turn around.
"Go away." Ginny spat suddenly
"What? Why?"
"Go away now. This is my house. This is my special place. You can't come here. And neither can...that man."
Before the girl could respond in a clash of movement that seemed like so much as so little had happened outside the two of them in several minutes, the front door flew open and the tall man with the dark coat called Frank whirled around.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "Get over here RIGHT NOW!" There was flour smudged on her nose and she carried an empty frying pan as she stalked over to her sullen daughter. "What on Earth have I told you about talking to strangers?" she snapped
"Ma'am?" the man spoke for the first time. Mrs. Weasley's eyes snapped towards him but she continued addressing her daughter.
"I'm sorry mama." Ginny almost whispered
"Ma'am, if I could–it's truly not her fault-" he said earnestly
"Mama I'm so sorry. You're right." Ginny pleaded "Just...please make them go away." she said in a small voice
"Ginny go inside right now." she commanded and Ginny uncharacteristically obeyed only catching the tall man's next phrase
"Actually ma'am if you'll give me a minute of your time I do believe I have a tempting business proposition for you."
Ginny thought nothing of it and slammed the door.
"Gin?"
Ginny's eyes snapped open and glanced around. She had been leaning on a wall in a now near empty hallway with her eyes shut. J.J was standing next to her.
"Where's Kyler?" Ginny asked stupidly
J.J shrugged
"I thought you were with her...she must be at dinner."
Ginny said nothing, her eyes darting around the hallway
"Are you okay?" he said glancing concernedly into her eyes
"Uhhh yeah. Yeah." she answered lamely
"Erm...you coming to dinner?" he asked
Ginny was still hardly listening
"Um. Yes."
She wasn't moving. J.J steered her in the right direction and they started to walk.
"What's up with you lately?" he asked her gently
"I'm fucking exhausted." she admitted
He didn't seem convinced.
"And that's all?"
"And that's all." she repeated as they entered the Hall and went to sit down. Kyler was indeed already there, as were Travis, Adam and Laura.
"Hey." Travis nodded to J.J with that sullen nod most guys used when addressing each other
"Hey man." he grunted back. "What're we talking about?"
"The Ball." Kyler smiled
"Oh. What about it?" he asked
Travis shrugged.
"Just figuring some stuff out. Ginny has to meet...that guy Migell... but that's not until an hour into the Ball...so we figured we'd all meet in the common room about 7:00 and head down together."
J.J wondered if this had anything to do with Travis's so called plan to figure most of everything out at the ball.
"That sounds gnarly." Laura said staring at her potatoes. "So what are you handsome boys wearing?" she grinned
All three of them shrugged and grunted like boys do. Laura sniggered.
"We all bought our dresses at Hogsmeade the last visit." she told them "Well, me, Gin and Dee did. Kyler I hope you have a dress. Unless you're wearing dress robes." she wrinkled her nose at the latter prospect
Kyler shook her head immediately
"No way in hell. I have a dress. I don't think anybody's gonna be wearing dress robes this year."
"Hey." J.J suddenly said to his sister. She looked up. "Are we good?"
Slowly Laura nodded. Adam wrinkled his eyebrows, but said nothing. And Kyler hadn't heard Ginny realized, as she raised her head and noticed in awe that Kyler was singing, in an almost silent voice. Ginny's eyes went unbelievably wide.
"La mer...
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer-"
"What are you singing?" Ginny burst out. Her voice was shaking with emotion.
Kyler looked up.
"Huh?" she asked as though clueless. But Ginny was not going to take any bullshit.
"What the hell are you singing!" she repeated
Kyler stared at her not saying anything.
"WHAT-" Ginny started
"It's just a song!" she exclaimed finally.
Ginny could feel tears in her eyes.
"How do you know it?"
Kyler's eyes were going red as well.
"A man I used to know...used to sing it..." she murmured softly
Ginny stared at her bursting with rage
"And...and that man...he never laid a finger on you did he?" she whispered
Adam, J.J, Travis and Laura were all looking extremely confused, from Kyler to Ginny to Ginny to Kyler...
Ever so slowly, Kyler stared into Ginny's eyes and shook her head no.
"Oh my god..." Ginny tried to say though no words came from her mouth. "Oh my god. You-you-you're...you're...that girl..."
Kyler was biting her bottom lip. She nodded.
It was all Ginny could do to keep herself from sobbing.
"What's going on?" Adam asked finally. Someone had to ask. But there was no way in hell Ginny was going to let this get any bigger. She forced a smile onto her face. She was good at that.
"Nothing..." she beamed
"Yeah," Kyler agreed, smiling too "Gin's just helping me out. I told you guys this right? I joined that club Flitwick started. That drama club. We might be putting on a play at the end of the year. Just did a little improv for practice."
Ginny stared at Kyler. She had never seen that girl lie so well. Especially for someone else's sake. But she didn't care. She still hated her. She wanted her dead. It was her who had brought him to the Burrow. It was all because of her.
But still Ginny laughed.
"Yeah. We're pretty good aren't we?"
Laura snorted, and J.J smiled giving her a look as though saying "You didn't join that weird club did you Gin?"
She shook her head no.
Laura giggled and poked at her ham with a spoon. The topic was changed at an alarming speed.
"So when's the first match of the season?" Adam asked. Kyler and Ginny were still locking eyes.
"Mmmm, it's...next week right? Slytherin vs Ravenclaw...I think. Right Gin?" Travis piped up
Ginny didn't hear him
"Gin?" J.J repeated
"I think I'm gonna puke." she said quickly, dashing from her seat and running out of the Hall.
It hadn't been a lie. For several days now Ginny had been growing accustomed to sticking her finger down her throat at just about dinner time. She hardly had control of it by now, she realized as she ran to the nearest bathroom. But it didn't matter. More than anything she had just needed to get out of the Hall. Ginny didn't know how she would ever speak to Kyler again. It had been her fault almost everything she had gone through. If Kyler had never came...if Kyler had never brought Frank. She sobbed, falling to her knees on the cold stone floor, thinking of what could have happened. Until other thoughts started to kick in. It wasn't totally Kyler's fault. Her mother did not have to agree with it. And her mother would not have agreed to it, unless it was to help the family. She was helping Ginny not be worthless, she realized jabbing her middle finger down her throat again. Her mother was the nicest person in the world for finding a role for Ginny in the world. Otherwise she was worthless. Worthless. She should thank her mother. She should thank Kyler. She wouldn't. She wouldn't ever speak of this again. It was simply more proof that she was good for nothing. But she should, she told herself shoving two Vietax down her throat, and unlocking the bathroom door. She should.
–But everyone I know has got a reason to say...put the past away.--
"Whoa..." Adam said simply as Ginny ran from the Hall "You think she'll be okay?"
"She's looked really sick for a while now." Travis said staring at the entrance to the Hall "I think it's Quidditch and all those classes and everything. It's too much even for her. She isn't eating."
"Maybe she won't be able to go to the Ball tomorrow." Kyler said failing to hide her happiness
"I'm worried about her." J.J said simply "Someone should go find her."
"I'll go brother dearest." Laura said standing up "I'm done anyways." she dropped her fork carelessly onto her plate with a clatter and hopped away from the table.
"Cool." J.J agreed. But when he turned back to the table he realized Kyler too had already left in a huff.
Laura didn't manage to hunt Ginny down, before her Quidditch practice or after when she spent three hours in the library doing not just her homework but Migell's too. Obviously doing it was not something she wanted to do but she was so up and down these days between hating herself or hating everyone else or doing both or not having the time or energy to do either, it was just so much easier to take it and do it without an argument and not have to deal with her mother being upset over the Minister not liking her father because the Minister's son who happened to be dating Ginny's father's daughter was annoyed when she would not do his homework and complained to his rich daddy. It was just too much thought. Stupid bastards. Currently Ginny was hating everyone else. Sometimes she was full of complex almost unexplainable emotions; drawing deep into her past, thinking about the thoughts others must be happening, wondering what was supposed to be, what could have been, whose fault it all was and whether it was really anybody's fault at all, what was happening to her. What had happened in her first year with Voldemort. All the things that had happened to her before her first year. And the unbelievable pressure to easily do well in anything she tried both before and after her first year. Other times she was simply pissed off. Perhaps the Vietax was affecting her brain. Causing moodswings. Actually they weren't really mood swings. The thing that swung was more like the way she thought about things. Maybe it was the Vietax causing the thought swings. Or maybe her ultra fucked up life was finally taking a toll on her. She couldn't always play the Perfect Unaffected Girl Card. It just wasn't real.
When she finally finished it was late. Curfews for Prefects were a bit later because of Prefect Duties she hated to admit she'd been neglecting lately. But she was still a little past it when she stumbled, freezing cold into the common room. It was virtually empty. She knew the curtains around her bed were drawn shut and Davinee, Laura and Kyler probably suspected she was already asleep in there. Part of her wanted to go up the stairs and crash. But she just couldn't manage it.
Ginny sat woozily down on the couch in front of the fire and yanked an open weave blanket down from atop it, wrapping herself tightly. Her teeth were chattering. Her limbs were shaking. The castle was well heated, why was she so cold? Ginny felt her eyes fluttering shut and she didn't stop them. Her face felt odd. She did not worry about falling asleep in the common room. She felt too awful to go to sleep. It felt good just to rest her eyes.
Suddenly Ginny heard sounds coming from the Boy's Staircase. She didn't give a shit. She just stayed there, trying not to shiver. It was J.J she saw, looking half awake. She didn't move. If he saw her, he saw her. She didn't want him to. She didn't not want him to.
He was probably heading to get some water from the jugs the house elves put out on the tables in the common room, but he didn't get there because he did spot her.
"Gin?" he looked down at her
"Hi." she managed, her teeth still chattering
He sat down on the couch by her. He was wearing nothing but boxers and plaid pajama pants. His dark hair was still spiked. Ginny wondered how he wasn't freezing his ass off.
"Are you okay?" he asked looking at her concerned
"I'm okay." she replied simply
"No, you're not." he said unconvinced. He could see her sweating and shivering.
He touched her forehead with the back of his hand.
"Jesus, you're burning up." he said urgently
He quickly grabbed the blankets draped over the two armchairs by the fire and threw them on top of her first one, staring into her eyes and summing up her state. She was hugely pale.
He talked in a quiet voice as most people did at night, as though they were afraid to wake anyone up no matter how far away they were, or they were afraid to wake themselves fully up. Or they didn't have enough energy to use a normal voice. He talked in one of those voices but Ginny could read the urgency in his words.
She made more room for him to sit down and when he did she rested her head in his lap. His stomach felt even colder than she was.
"How long have you been down here?" he asked her sharply
"Only a few minutes...I was in the library." she answered.
He touched her hair and looked down into her face with raised eyebrows
"Well, you're really sick."
Her face was contorting. He was right. And now that she knew she could feel her pain. She could feel it. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she cried from pain that was physical. She'd forgotten pain could be this physical.
"Gin..." he murmured stroking her hair. He didn't say anything else. Just her name did fine. With his right hand on her forehead, he reached with his left to the table beside the couch. He flicked the lamp on, then pulled open the drawer.
Ginny actually grinned as she realized what he was doing. She remembered their third year when they had investigated what was in those drawers. They spent a good amount of time laughing at how utterly, surprisingly random the items in that drawer had been. A half eaten bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans, an orange drinking straw, a tube of wart cream, a pad of paper–but no quill...and a thermometer. And it was the same things. In over five identical drawers. The same orange drinking straw, the same tube of wart cream. The same thermometer.
"Open up, turkey." he said. She would have smiled, she really would have if it didn't hurt.
J.J waited for the mercury to settle. It didn't take too long. He furrowed his brow looking almost scared.
"Holy shit, it's 105.9. Is that safe?"
"How the hell should I know?" she replied half joking half not. Tears rolled down her face and burned her cheeks
"Oh Gin..." he muttered. "You have a bad fever...you should be asleep..." He pulled her up so she was sitting, the whole of her body weight resting on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her shaking body.
She loved being able to cry and having an excuse for it. She loved not caring that he saw right through her stupid excuse.
"Where've you been?" he asked her
"L-library..." she choked out lamely
He exhaled softly indicating laughter
"No...I mean...where've you been?"
Ginny had understood him the first time. She sniffed.
"I don't even know..."
"Well you're here right now...so stay..."
It wasn't a question. It wasn't a command. It didn't matter what it was anyways...she stayed. She stayed in his arms not speaking, not moving. He knew something more than this was wrong and he wanted to make it go away. He held her so tight as though to force her pain and fever and past to pass right through her skin and into his. And maybe he did absorb her ache. Because after so many minutes in his arms, she finally fell asleep.
"You have displeased me." Ginny murmured softly
"I know..." a voice shook. But it was hidden behind a hood... Ginny knew that voice
"Are you sorry?" she asked him
"Does it matter at all?" the voice rose slightly with defiance. Whose voice was that? Ginny had to know...
"No." she said instead "No it does not."
She didn't in the slightest bit remember choosing her words. They came easily and as though they were not her words at all. But she had to fight for what she wanted to say. She had to know whose voice that was...
"Tell me...tell me..." she started but could not finish. It was hard to control what she was saying.
"My lord?" another hooded figure asked. This one sounded concerned though and not at all defiant.
"Who are...what...what am I saying...what am I...Wormtail...WORMTAIL!"
No. She had to know who was behind that hood.
"My lord are you-"
"Remove...remove your...Wormtail...you told me...you told me you had fixed this. You horrible worthless maggot. Lying waste of flesh." Ginny hissed.
Wormtail did not step forward from the crowd of Death Eaters
"My lord is something-"
"REMOVE YOUR HOOD!" Ginny barked at the first Death Eater finally "YOU REMOVE YOUR HOOD NOW."
The Death Eater was still defiant. Ginny could tell by the slow speed and hesitation at which he removed his hood. But still he removed it. He was still loyal. He removed his hood. And Ginny felt her mouth drop.
"Percy-"
"My lord!" a death Eater gasped. A large snake was at her feet. It seemed to know something was not normal. Something was not as it should be. And it lunged at Ginny's arm. She tried to scream, but once again she had lost control over words. The snake's teeth closed on her arm just before she ripped it away and-
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ginny jerked awake in a cold sweat on the couch. It had not been her who had screamed. J.J's eyes opened abruptly too. Immediately he looked at her confused.
"Gin? Was that-"
"Not me." she said simply but his eyes were fixed widely on her left arm. Frightened she too glanced down.
"What the-"
Two huge marks as though made by teeth were fixed blatantly by her wrist. But she wasn't bleeding. Because they were fading away. In a matter of seconds it was as though they had not been there at all. He stared at her in awe but before either of them could speak sounds from both staircases broke out. They could hear thumps and hurried voices. And yet another scream. J.J jumped off the couch.
"You can't get up the Girl's Staircase." Ginny pointed out. It didn't matter. The source of the chaos appeared at the foot of the stairs that instant.
"It'll be okay!" Davinee was exclaiming helping Laura down the stairs. But she looked scared out of her mind. And there was blood...Ginny could see the blood too well.
"Davinee!" J.J asked
She looked shocked to see him.
"Jay what are you doing here?"
Her eyes flew from Ginny to the couch and the blankets to a shirtless J.J. She cocked a single eyebrow. Ginny looked away. J.J seemed not to notice.
"What the fuck happened to you?"
Laura leant against the stone wall, shaking with her eyes shut tight
"The window...the window..." she whispered through tears.
Her arm was cut and mangled. J.J eyed it but didn't ask.
"What happened?" he asked now talking to Davinee, but she was crying too. More sounds were coming from the Boy's Staircase...Ginny felt guilty inside her fever for sitting and not moving and not helping and just bowing her own head and crying too. She trusted Davinee. She knew that there was probably something very real to cry about.
Suddenly Travis, Adam, Harry and Ron all appeared at the foot of the Boy's Staircase. Travis surveyed the scene. Ginny was sitting on the couch covered in the blankets, still shivering and white as a sheet. Laura was leaning against the wall still, but now her eyes were open and red as she clutched her blood soaked arm, and an emotionally distraught Davinee had slid down the wall and sobbed to the ground her face in her hands. Whilst J.J was looking just as confused as the four other boys.
"Oh my god Laura." was the first thing Travis said "How...what..." he walked over to her and made to help her sit down or do something to help her arm but she protested with a sob
"DON'T!" she screamed sharply "I'm not...I don't deserve...I d-did it. It was my fault."
Davinee spoke through her tears as well
"N-no, you didn't do it, it w-wasn't...it wasn't..."
"Ginny?" Ron asked almost nervously
Ginny just shook her head trying to show she didn't know what had happened without having to explain why. Harry glanced at her. He was wide eyed. One hand was clutching his wrist...
"Dee." Adam said shakily "Are you okay?"
Davinee just shook her head in her hands not looking up.
"I don't know okay!" she snapped finally "I just...I don't-"
Laura looked as though she was about to collapse. It was to the point where Travis walked over and held her shoulders in case she toppled over, despite her earlier protests.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked weakly "What happened to your arm, why are you so upset?"
Laura just sobbed.
"The window..." Davinee muttered hollowly "Kyler...Kyler..."
"Where is Kyler?" Adam asked sharply, realizing she wasn't there "In bed still?"
"She...she fell." Davinne breathed
No one spoke for a second.
"What do you mean?" J.J asked finally
"We woke up." Davinee croaked simply. "I don't even know what happened. The window was broken. The glass was everywhere. We heard something and it woke us up...and Laura...the glass...she got up and tripped onto the glass...it was everywhere..." she paused
"And Davinee wasn't in her bed." Laura said finally sounding a bit calmer. "She wasn't there. She wasn't."
There was another pause
"And you think she fell out the window?" Adam dared finally, not stupid enough to come right out and say how ludicrous that sounded.
"She did." Davinee spat at him sharply. "Her bed was by the window too. Something happened."
"I'm sure there's a reasonable explination." Travis pointed out gently
"Well then why the fuck wasn't she in her bed? And why was the window broken in the first place?" Laura asked plainly
"What the fuck were you two doing down here?" Ron spat at Ginny and J.J suddenly.
Everyone was startled by the sudden change of subject.
"Huh? What us?" Ginny asked bewildered.
"Yeah, you. J.J, I thought you were a good guy, what the hell are you playing at!" he practically yelled
"You're fucked man." J.J responded "It's not like that. I wouldn't."
"You wouldn't fuck me?" Ginny asked suddenly, her new found insecurity triggering the need for reassurance even though it was only digging her deeper into a hole
"What? I mean- I didn't say-"
"Hey yeah, why were you two down here so late?" Adam asked confusedly
"You asshole, why are you thinking about that!" Davinee screamed at him "Kyler is DEAD!"
"There's gotta be a good explanation for all of this!" Travis protested almost laughing. Too often was he the only rational one.
Ginny slouched further into the couch trying to take all this in. If Kyler was dead...on the same day she found out about Kyler being...there had to be a connection. This had to be her fault. It just had to.
"So wait, though– all of you heard me scream?" Laura asked suddenly confused. It was odd that they had all heard her. And it was just too convenient that the only people who had heard her were her friends...
"No." Ron responded bluntly, "Harry was already up. He woke me up. And then we heard you scream."
Harry shot him a piercing look as if to warn him to say no more on the subject.
"You were awake?" Ginny asked strangely "Why?"
"Why were you down here?" Ron asked
"I just got back from the library and J.J-"
"And J.J what!"
"Would you all please shut up!" Laura snapped finally. She wasn't crying anymore despite her arm. "Jesus Christ!"
Ron glared at her.
"My little sister has been violated!" he yelled
"Don't Ron." she warned him sharply, with a roll of her eyes. "You have no fucking clue what you're talking about. Why is it only now that you care about my well being? Where the fuck was this five years ago?"
Ron's eyes went wide.
"Don't even. That was for the good of our family and you know it was."
"Yeah it brought home the money right?" she asked coldly
"What are you two talking about?" Travis asked suddenly
"Nothing." they said in unison not unlocking their eyes
"We have to go out and find Kyler's body!" Davinee begged
"Don't be stupid Dee, I'm sure she didn't fall out the window."
"She did. You weren't there."
"Are you sure she just wasn't like...I dunno, did you ask Caroline if she knew where she was?"
Davinee paused.
"We went into her room." she said slowly "But Caroline wasn't there."
Nobody said anything for a moment. Whether Kyler fell out the window or not there was no place that the two of them could be that didn't spell out trouble.
"Well.." Adam croaked finally "She's probably with Caroline then."
"Where?" Laura asked sharply
"Look...I don't know okay?" Adam told them running a hand anxiously through his hair. "And I don't know what you two were doing down here, and I don't know what you two were just talking about." he said pointing first to J.J and Ginny and second to Ron and Ginny, "And I don't know how the window broke...and I know some weird stuff is happening this year...but it's like 3 in the morning, can't we settle on this out later?" he almost pleaded.
"No wait." Ginny croaked, "Just one second, please?...Harry...why were you up already?"
He stared at her intently
"Because..." he started "Because...I thought I heard...a snake...in the room..."
She stared right back, for the first time understanding something.
"Really?" she whispered
He nodded at her his scar seeming to jump out more vividly than any of his other features.
"A snake?" Travis asked bewildered "I didn't think you could really hear snakes."
Harry flashed his eyes to him.
"Believe me." he told Travis darkly "You can."
There was a pause in which no one spoke, before slowly they all began to gather their bearings and head back to bed. Travis ripped off a piece of his t shirt and tied it tightly around Laura's arm. J.J watched Ginny carefully as she stood up, still shaking. Neither of them knew why they hadn't just said they were down there together because Ginny was sick...maybe it was because that really wasn't the reason...Harry and Ginny exchanged knowing looks that confirmed they would talk about it later, and Ron pointed a finger at J.J.
"I'm after you blood." he warned.
Ginny rolled her eyes and shoved Ron out of the way as she passed him.
"Ignore him..." she muttered to J.J "And Jay?"
"Mmm-hmm?"
She looked innocently into his eyes "Thanks."
He looked back
"For what?"
They were the only two people not yet heading up the stairs
"I don't know." she answered.
He nodded
"Thanks right back half pint." he responded, sticking his hand on her head and messing up her hair before they both headed up to bed.
No one slept that night. Though no one spoke Ginny could tell they were all awake just as she was. Davinee had things on her mind, with her father, stepmother going through a rough time, and Ginny knew Laura was hiding something–and now this. It didn't take a genius to realize that sleep was hardly even an option for these girls...
Kyler was not in the common room the next morning. The five of them trickled in, in an uncertain order but nobody wanted to be the one to mention Kyler first, nor to bring up anything to do with the previous night first which was probably why Travis didn't ask about Laura's arm and though Harry was across the room looking anxious he didn't ask Ginny for a chat just yet.
So the five of them sat in silence and waited, sneaking looks at each other every so often and talking animatedly with their eyes...until-
"So, d'you guys just wanna go to breakfast without her?" Leon blurted out finally
"Without who?" Laura challenged
"Kyler."
"Well we're gonna have to at some point seeing as she's dead!" Davinee snapped
But before any of them could protest, which someone surely would have the portrait hole opened and voices flooded in.
"No, he wasn't not really, but at least I got some money and-"
Kyler stopped talking when she spotted the five of them on the couch. Sure enough like Adam had predicted she was with Caroline.
"Oh hey guys." she said casually "I thought you'd be at breakfast already."
"We don't usually leave for another five minutes." Adam pointed out
"Oh. Okay I guess." she shrugged
"Did you break the window in our dorm?" Davinee shouted suddenly
Kyler chose her words carefully
"I...I didn't think it broke. I couldn't really fit through it."
Ginny made a face
"Why were you going out the window?"
"Oh because I...I mean I wasn't...I was just leaning sort of I guess." she said changing her mind mid answer
"What in hell are you wearing?" Davinee asked her sounding disgusted
But this made Kyler absolutely snap.
"What the fuck is with the interrogation?" she shouted
"What the fuck is with the leather booty shorts?" Laura asked quietly
Kyler actually blushed and said nothing.
"Well you know rules actually say that you don't need to be in uniform after curfew." Caroline shrugged
"And before 8AM?" Travis asked
"Rules also say that you aren't supposed to be out after curfew." J.J pointed out with a roll of his eyes
"What the hell are you, the-" Kyler started but was interrupted
"You're a prefect Caroline." Ginny almost snorted staring at her revealing outfit
"I know." she said cutting her eyes at Ginny. "And we weren't out after curfew. We were just in the common room and we got up early this morning."
And though every single one of them knew that wasn't true-...no one protested. All they wanted to know for sure was if Kyler was lying to them, and of course it was clear now that she was.
"Okay." J.J said finally, "Are you coming to breakfast now at least?"
"Yeah, we're coming." Caroline said loudly, "If you'll wait for us to get changed real fast?"
Laura shrugged
"Sure I guess."
She grinned.
"Great. Two seconds."
And the two of them ran up the staircase.