Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. However, any of the characters that crop up throughout the story that you do not recognise, are created by me and/or my co writer Darkflower2113.
Authors Note: Now, you should all know that this story is co written. Well I suppose that's what you would call it. I, Nesserz, write the story, and my charming BETAspeller and friend, Darkflower2113 comes up with many of the brilliant ideas that have made this story. It's hard to explain really. We've worked together and have collaborated our ideas. Darkflower2113 is the brains of this outfit and I am the bringer-to-life of those ideas. As you can see I really shouldn't be writing this story…however, here goes!
Without further ado, here begins the much-awaited story, 'Was It Something I Said?'. Come on, you know it was much awaited. Yes you do!
Was It Something I Said?
Chapter 1 –The Potion.Ginny Weasley awoke with a start and looked around the room that she was currently staying in. She looked to her left and saw the bed next to hers was occupied. She lay still until all the other people in her dorm got up and prepared themselves for the new school day.
Ginny didn't talk to the girls in her dorm much, except for the occasional 'Hello' and 'Excuse me' in passing. They seemed nice but they just weren't her type of people. She was rather quiet herself and didn't say much, though she certainly thought many things that she knew she couldn't say. Or rather she could, but people would probably just laugh at her. She wasn't well known though she was the sister of Ron Weasley, the boy that some people referred to as 'Harry Potter's best friend.' But Ron didn't see himself that way. Just as Harry's 'good mate.' She'd be surprised if anyone outside her year knew her. That fact didn't bother her much as she would rather have a few select friends than to be the centre of attention. That was what she hated most actually, being the centre of attention.
Twenty minutes after the girls in Ginny's dorm had woken up, they'd dressed and left the room in a hurry giggling insanely together.
Ginny sighed and finally climbed out of her own bed and padded softly to the bathroom and undressed for her morning shower. As she stood under the hard-hitting jets of warm water she began to think about the upcoming year and what it could possibly have in store for her.
The official school year had started a few weeks ago and Ginny had already had enough. She remembered the days when she loved being at Hogwarts. Those days were long gone. She'd headed back to all those awful Potions classes, against her own will. She didn't like Potions for the simple fact that Snape seemed to have it in for her. Of course, she was the only one that believed this, as no one else wanted to hear about her problems. Though she had told Hermione Granger once and she had just shrugged her off, saying that Snape picked on everyone. Ginny had protested, saying that Snape loathed her but Hermione just shook her head and went back to the book that she'd been reading at the time. Ginny was good friends with Hermione, though sometimes she found that the book loving girl was a little stand offish towards her, as though she knew that she was older and therefore better. Ginny didn't like this trait in Hermione, as she knew that she was a loving and caring person in reality so she chose to ignore the moments when Hermione acted a little differently.
One of the main problems that Ginny had was that no one really listened to what she had to say. She used to try to join in on Ron's conversations with Hermione; it rarely ever worked. He just told her to go and talk to her other friends. The only problem there was that she didn't have many close friends. Only Colin Creevey and sometimes he was a little too much to handle for a long period of time. Especially during Potion's lessons which they usually partnered. Freezing mid shampoo, Ginny's eyes widened and she chanted suddenly under her breath. "Oh no oh no oh noooo!" Potions. Ginny finished washing her hair and body, turned off the water and jumped out of the shower and went in search of her school uniform.
Damn Potions! I'm late, I'm late. I've never been late in my life! He's going to kill me!
She was just pulling on her left sock when she looked at the clock and saw that she was already five minutes late for her first lesson of the day. Cursing under her breath she shoved her foot into her shoe and her other hand searched the floor looking for the other one and once she realised it wasn't there, she dove off her bed and stuck her head under the bed, looking for the mate to her shiny black school shoe. She found it and cried out triumphantly, pulling her head out from under the bed and sneezing from the dust that had accumulated there. She grabbed her school bag and shoved in a few books, thinking that they were the ones that she would need for the day. She then grabbed her wand and tore out of the fifth year's dorms, through the Common Room and down the halls of Hogwarts.
It just figured that the dungeons had to be the furthest from the Gryffindor Common Room. She half wished that she didn't stay in bed to wait until her dorm mates had left before she got ready. Maybe she'd get up extra early instead and beat them out of the room. That way she'd have time for breakfast and to get to class on time. As this last thought entered her head, she bit her lip, thinking about how late she must be by now.
She'd just reached the corridor containing her classroom when her bag was ripped from her grasp. She turned around confused, and angry with herself for being late that she wore a scowl on her face as she looked into the cold eyes of Draco Malfoy. Ginny's own eyes widened slightly and she stood stock-still. Hoping against hope that he'd just give her bag back but knowing that it wasn't very likely.
"Weasel." He acknowledged. "Tacky little…bag you've got here. Which brother did this one belong to? The one with the untidy hair?" he sneered and Ginny opened her mouth to comment but stopped herself.
I seem to remember your father having hair right down his back. She thought as she looked at the pale Slytherin, dangling her bag in his grasp. How she wished she could say something smart and nasty to him but she knew she mustn't. Ron had enough troubles with him as it was.
"Can I please have my bag back Draco?" she asked, knowing that it was probably fruitless to even bother asking so nicely.
He looked taken aback for a second and held it out to her, though just as she reached her fingers out for it, he pulled it back and dropped it on the floor, it's contents spilling in every direction. Ginny held back a string of curse words that would make her father blush and knelt down and started to pull everything back towards her.
"My my. What a mess." He said, leaning casually against the wall nearest himself. Ginny clamped her mouth shut so as not to say something that she would surely regret later.
"Shouldn't you be in Charms Malfoy?" A voice behind her said as she put her hand on her Astronomy book. She stood up and was somewhat relieved to see Ron Harry and Hermione standing there, looking menacingly at Malfoy himself.
"Should be, but I'm not."
"Good. Skiving off the whole lesson then?" Ron said hopefully. Though Ginny could tell that he was trying to look tough standing there with his arms folded.
"No, if I did that, you'd be happy and we wouldn't want that now would we?" Draco said, smirking at the three of them and turning to face Ginny again. "See you around…Weasel." He said, tipping an imaginary hat to her and sauntering off around the corner.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief though she was slightly annoyed. She could have handled him herself…though…she mused, what would she have done? Stared mutely at him? She wasn't the person to stand up to some one as important as Malfoy. Important? What was she thinking; he was still as much of a ferret now as he was in his fourth year.
"Thanks you guys." Ginny said, brushing off her skirt and offering a smile of thanks to the three people standing before her.
"No problem. Let us know if he gives you any more trouble ok Ginny?" Ron said, putting on a look that said he could handle him single handedly. Ginny stifled a giggle and nodded.
"He didn't harm you did he Ginny?" Hermione asked, her eyes raking over Ginny, looking for any cuts or bruises.
"No no. I'm perfectly fine." Ginny said, spinning on the spot to show that she was all right. Hermione smiled and nodded her head slightly.
"Well we unlike Malfoy have to be in Charms right about now. Where are you meant to be?" Harry asked, frowning slightly.
Suddenly Ginny grabbed Harry's wristwatch and pulled it towards her eyes and gasped.
"Wait a moment…that time isn't anywhere near the correct time, I'm sure it's not." Harry laughed a moment later and explained that it was the watch he'd been wearing when he'd gone into the lake in his fourth year.
"Harry! I think it's time to get a new watch! It's been two years now." Hermione scolded him though she was shaking her head clearly amused.
Harry just shrugged and lifted his hand for Ginny to pass him, to head towards the dungeon. She waved them goodbye and hurtled the rest of the way down the corridor and skidded to a stop outside the dungeon that Snape taught in.
She crept in quietly and took her seat next to Colin and sighed gently when she had been seated for a few seconds without Snape swooping down on her. However she had relaxed too soon.
"Miss Weasley! How nice of you to join us." Snape said suddenly from in front of her, though he looked far less convincing than his voice had sounded. She groaned inwardly and began to apologise as profusely as she could.
"I'm so very sorry Professor, you see I was interrupt—"
"That is enough, I do not wish to hear about your dismal little social life any more. However, if you are late to one of my lessons again, you shall be serving detention. With me." he added as an after thought, obviously realising that was the actual punishment for the students.
Ginny silently fumed at having been cut off by the Professor. She was always polite to him and always carried out his instructions as best she could. Though she was a little more concerned about her Potions grade this year, as it was her O.W.L. year. She wasn't bad at the class but she still didn't like it much, though she did have to admit that Potions definitely came in handy for the many careers that were offered after Hogwarts. Ginny wasn't sure what she wanted to do, though Astronomy was probably her favourite subject. She'd love to find a new star and have it named after her. Ginny Star. She mused as she watched Snape write things down on the board in front of them.
She knew that she'd have to pay far more attention this year though; Snape hated her and was therefore likely to fail her if he could find a way so she would try her hardest not to give him one.
She watched as he turned back around from writing on the board. He folded his arms and with a bored expression on his face spoke in a monotone to the class.
"Right, now listen up you bunch of idiots. I am going to explain this once and once only. The Potion we are about to brew is extremely sensitive to any ingredients added that are not part of its recipe and method. Because this Potion is so sensitive, many different Potions could be created if you make the mistake of letting something slip…if you know what I mean." He said, looking over to the Slytherin side of the room and smiling lightly. "I will not be responsible if any of you make a stupid mistake as I have warned you and now you take it upon yourselves to complete this potion. Begin." He said, swishing his robes around him and disappearing into his office seconds later.
Ginny stared at Colin who shrugged and stood up to collect the ingredients. She really needed to stay awake now, the way Snape was talking, it was a matter of life or death if they messed up and knowing him, he'd stand by and watch, as they died a slow horrible death. Ginny shook her head of these morbid thoughts and how true they probably were and pulled Colin's cauldron towards her as she'd left hers in her room and started to read the instructions on the board and she started to mash the Stink Beetles they needed into a thick black paste. She pinched her nose as they let out their stench and coughed as Colin sat down.
"Do I smell that bad then huh?" he said, jokingly and she rolled her eyes at him. He set down the rest of their ingredients and they set to work, mashing and cutting and dicing everything they needed.
Once they had reached the crucial point of the Potion, Ginny and Colin turned around to talk to their fellow Gryffindors and were so busy talking that they didn't see Monique Danes sidle up to their Cauldron and 'spill' something into it. Minutes later she was sitting back in her seat, smiling with her friends and watching Ginny with hawklike eyes.
Ginny and Monique had been enemies since Ginny's first year at Hogwarts. She had accidentally knocked over Monique's Skin Replenishing Potion all over her as she had been knocked into the Slytherins table in that very classroom. Ginny had apologised but Monique had been too occupied to say anything to her; she was trying to separate her fingers as the Potion was spreading over them and gluing them together, as though they had never been separate fingers. Ginny had watched in horror as Monique held up two hands or what looked to be hands. (They were now two skin covered mitten-looking things.) "Well," Ginny had said, laughing feebly, "at least you know you made it right; it works." And Monique had given her the nastiest glare she could muster and Ginny had retreated back to her seat very fast indeed.
Monique had had it in for Ginny since then and every so often she would do something to her, just to keep her on her toes. Today, she had decided would be the day that she would administer another 'prank'. She couldn't possibly pass up this opportunity to wreak havoc on Ginny. So she'd taken her Powdered Unicorn Horn from her Potions kit (It was sparkly and pretty so she thought she'd put it in Ginny's Potion and maybe it'd make her look halfway decent.) She was a pure genius, that's what it was. She knew it too. She just couldn't wait until Ginny's Potion was tested and she'd be embarrassed beyond all belief. Everyone would be applauding her, Monique Danes.
"Time to test the Potions!" Snape called loudly, his voice echoing around the dungeon as he had checked all the Potions himself and now he wanted to administer one to an unsuspecting student. His eyes scanned the room and soon fell on the youngest Weasley sibling. He smirked and nodded for her to put some of hers in a vial and step up to the front of the class and to take some of her Potion.
Ginny gulped though she tried not to show that she was nervous but she figured everyone thought that she was, since she wasn't about to answer Snape back and tell him 'No.' so instead she stood up and followed his instructions and walked to the front of the room, her head held high and she sat on a stool that he had conjured there. She opened the bottle and tipped a few drops onto her tongue and looked at the Professor expectantly.
"Now we will see if Miss Weasley here was paying attention." He said and crossed his arms again. Ginny sat perfectly still on her stool while Monique bounced around excitedly in hers, awaiting the verdict.
"Are you, Virginia Molly Weasley?" he asked to snickers throughout the room. Ginny flinched slightly but found that she had to tell the truth to her question.
"Yes, I am." She said, closing her eyes.
"Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?" someone in the back called out, over the Professor's next question.
"No." she said, frowning up to the corner where she could see a group of people laughing heartily. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sat expectantly again.
"Do you have a secret that you are hiding?" he said smoothly.
"Yes." Ginny answered, thinking of her ordeal in the Chamber of Secrets. It had been kept quiet that she was the one who had been possessed and was opening the chamber, though she had the feeling that was why she had so little friends. They seemed to know more than she did.
"What is it?" Snape asked, looking as though he was enjoying himself now.
"Stop it! You can't ask her that!" came an angry voice from the left of the dungeon. It was Colin and Ginny was pleased to see that he was standing up for her.
"I shall ask what I like." The Potions master replied smoothly, disregarding Colin.
"She deserves her privacy, just like the rest of us do!" he said, and Ginny could see that he was getting annoyed.
"Mr. Creevey, I don't believe it is your business what I teach—"
"That's not teaching, that's invading privacy!" he said, standing up now.
"Detention Mr. Creevey. But why would you stand up for Miss. Weasley here? Do you have something that you would like to tell the class via a Potion?" he asked, waving the vial in the air temptingly.
"No, I don't." he said, sitting down again.
"Just as I suspected. You may go back to your seat now Miss Weasley, it seems as though your Potion has been brewed correctly. However, I award it a 'D'." Snape said, and the Slytherin side of the room let out a noise of approval for their Professor.
"What about an antidote?" Ginny asked him as he made to push her off the stool. Whilst thinking: You jerk! What did you give us a 'D' for! It was perfect!'
"The Potion wears off in an hour or so." He said dismissively as he waved her away. Ginny looked sympathetically at Colin to which he frowned and called out to Snape again.
"What'd you give us a 'Dreadful' for?" he said, glaring at the Professor. Snape just smirked and said simply:
"It was the wrong colour."
Colin was seething with anger so Ginny put a comforting hand on his shoulder and they packed up their ingredients and cleaned out his cauldron and headed out to Lunch in the Dining Hall.
"So you survived Potion's then?" Ron asked as Ginny sat down at their table with a thud.
"Barely." Was the only word that she supplied to describe her lesson.
"That bad? What happened?" Harry asked sympathetically as he better than anyone could understand what it was like to have Snape pick on you, not that he knew the full extent of it.
"I…he…well…long story that I don't feel much like reliving." Ginny said, smiling weakly and cutting a piece of roast beef and depositing it into her mouth. She watched Ron wrinkle his nose at it and she made a face at him to which he just smiled and continued eating his own food.
"What lesson do you have next?" Hermione asked her as the two boys began to talk about Quidditch. Ginny would have rathered talk to them about the sport than discuss lessons with Hermione but she was the only one ever willing to listen to Ginny's problems so Ginny wasn't about to ignore her, as she herself was so often.
"Care of Magical Creatures. Just what I need…fresh air." She said smiling wistfully through a window at the light blue sky outside.
"It should do you good. I hear you are going to be working with Unicorns today but you didn't hear it from me. Professor Hagrid wanted it to be a surprise but I thought you might like a heads up." Hermione said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
"Thanks, I love working with Unicorns! They're awesome." Ginny said as she continued to eat more of her food.
"I agree, magnificent creatures. They have so many amazing qualities that you wouldn't know they had, just to look at them. I mean look at all the useful things their blood can be used for! And the colour of it, it is truly remarkable."
"You're right. Uh I've got to go, I promised Colin I'd help him out down on the grounds with his camera." Ginny said standing up and saying goodbye to Hermione and the boys, who completely ignored her.
Hermione called to get their attention to say goodbye to Ginny but the time she had, she had already left.
Later that night Ginny sat at a round table in the Common Room trying to complete a chart about Unicorns that Hagrid had assigned them. She knew the answers but wasn't really concentrating on the work at hand. Ron and Hermione were bickering in front of the fire, as they tended to do when Ron was playing Chess instead of working on his homework like he should have been, at least, according to Hermione.
Ron continued playing his game as Hermione was whispering into his ear that he'd fail his sixth year and have to repeat it. He was swishing his hand about in the air, as if to get rid of a fly that was pestering him. Hermione didn't find this amusing at all, though it was apparent that Ron did and he was laughing along with Harry, though Harry's laughs seemed a little forced, as he could see how annoyed Hermione was getting.
Ginny was just settling down to work on her chart again, after watching the two them bantering. She rolled her eyes; surely they could see how they were acting? Apparently not, she thought as Ron stood from the floor and sat next to Hermione on the couch and ruffled her hair.
Unicorns have how many horns on their heads?
Uhm…let me think….one!
Unicorns are what colour when they are young?
Gold.
When they are fully-grown, what colour do they keep?
Pure—
"Ginny is there something you'd like to tell me?" came a voice in front of her suddenly and she blotched the word that she'd be about to write. She looked up into the angry eyes of one Ron Weasley.
"What do you mean?" she asked him, nonplussed.
"You know what I mean." He said dangerously.
"No, really, I don't." Ginny said, frowning at her brother. Git.
"Potions! The 'D' you got today!"
"H-How do you know about that?" Ginny asked, stuttering a little, as she always did when nervous.
"How do I--? I bloody overheard Creevey over there; talking about the 'D' you got today! What'd you do wrong?"
"Me? I didn't do anything wrong!" Ginny said, standing up to look Ron in the face, though she had to look up to look at him at all, he was so tall.
"You must have to have gotten that mark!" Ron said, his ears going red from anger. Ginny was rather mad too and she stood up to her full height and spoke again.
"I don't think you have any room to talk, Ron. Look at the Potions grades you get!" Ginny said heatedly. Ron mouthed wordlessly and walked away from her, back over to his place by the fireplace with Hermione and Harry.
Ginny sat back down in her seat with a thump and suddenly came over extremely dizzy. She put a hand to her head and closed her eyes due to the bright lights that seemed to be popping in front of her eyes. Then, quite unexpectedly, a chill ran up and down her spine and she stretched, opening her eyes and suddenly felt very, very different than her usual self.
She still felt dizzy and wasn't aware of what was happening around her until she heard the distant voices of Ron and Hermione bickering. Again. She'd had enough this time and was going to do something about it. She stood up and marched over to where they were sitting.
"Would you two shut up? Everyone but you two knows that you belong together so why don't you stop fighting about nothing, go find a broom closet somewhere and snog each other?" she said, not feeling remotely sorry for her comment. She continued to tell them what she thought and she vaguely thought how good it truly felt to be speaking her mind. "Hermione, for the smartest witch in your year, you aren't too bright are you? You belong with Ron, Merlin forbid. You poor girl. Anyways, you two need to sort out your priorities, everyone is sick of hearing you two yell and bicker. It's getting really old." She finished, nodding to prove her point.
"Ginny, you're way out of line here. This is none of your business and I think that—"
"I never said it was any of my business, I'm just speaking for the rest of Gryffindor tower, right guys?" she said, looking around and she got a few hearty cheers back and some nods from people who looked a little scared of her outburst.
"What, you've never seen anyone have an opinion before?" she said defensively, looking around at the group of people staring at her. "Ergh!" she cried in frustration as she gathered her belongings and headed towards her dormitory.
What she didn't hear were the ominous comments of:
'What's gotten into that girl?"
"Who is that girl?"
"Ginny Weasley! She's in my Potions class!"
"Never heard of her…better yet, I don't think I've seen her before today either."
Ron, Harry and Hermione were however, sitting in their seats, completely shocked by what they had just witnessed.
"Did she really just…?" Ron trailed off, looking at Hermione for a split second before blushing brilliantly. Hermione was also busy looking anywhere but at Ron.
"She did. Though it's not important what she was talking about, it matters that she actually stood up there and spoke her mind...." Hermione said, a smile lighting up her face. Maybe Ginny had finally decided that she wouldn't be anyone's shadow anymore. If that was the case, then that was excellent.
"You're happy about what she said?" Harry said, looking at the smile on Hermione's face.
"What? No, no you've mistaken the look. I was just thinking about something that Ginny said the other day." She said, waving her hand about dismissively.
"So," Harry said, grinning. "Are you two going to take her advice?"
Another Author's Note: Well there you have it folks. Months in the making and I've finally gotten around to posting it. I was having a bad day and I was trying to think of something that would cheer me up and you know what I came up with? 'Reviews!' Reviews from my lovely reviewers! Hinty hint hint hint!
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Don't get too excited, the other chapters are yet to be BETAed, so it might take a while as my BETA and I are still at school and have other commitments.
Thanks to everyone who read this!
Nesserz.