Disclaimer: don't own it.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad people seem to be liking the plot! :-D
Chapter 6:
On Halloween morning, Ginny Malfoy awoke excitedly. She scowled as she looked into the mirror; her hair was still red. She had tried all kinds of natural hair-color restoratives, of course, but none worked, and she'd used other peoples' shampoos for the past few days, waiting until her mother's Malfoy shampoo arrived. Ginny had, of course, told her parents about what happened to her hair. They were furious and had written to Dumbledore that Maeve be punished, but with no avail, as the shampoo had been inspected with nothing wrong. Even Dumbledore had tried a hair-restorative! He wasn't nearly as strong as everyone said!
Tonight was the Halloween Feast. According to Draco, last years' had been quite exciting. A troll was found in the dungeons! Ginny doubted, somehow, that anything fun would happen this year, though it was rumored that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons. She was quickly becoming good friends with Tom, the person in the diary. He was just so understanding! Ginny had gotten into a habit of waking up early so she could write as much as possible. She took out the book, closed her bed-curtains, and lit her wand.
Dear Tom,
Guess what! Tonight is the Halloween Feast. Absolutely nothing exciting has been happening lately. It's such a bore. Last year something fun happened on Halloween- well, not fun, but exciting.
What happened? Asked Tom.
Well, the Defense teacher, who was hiding Voldemort or something, let a troll in, but nobody knew he did it until the end of the year, of course. But, of course, stupid Dream Team had to knock the bloody thing out and become best of friends. Why am I saying that, Tom? I've been getting the strangest feeling lately whenever Potter talks to me- like I fancy him or something! Maybe I only like it because it's forbidden, like Romeo and Juliet. I'm a Malfoy- and he defeated the Dark Lord. It's so exhilarating! But of course, he'd probably never like me because of Draco and how mean I am… and I could never go out with him or anything!
You're so funny, Gin. But I wouldn't worry. Something more exciting will happen tonight, I'll bet you anything. And Harry Potter? Yes, I suppose that would be exciting for you. It can happen one day- I'm sure you're a very beautiful girl, Ginevra. Harry Potter's probably drooling over you.
Yeah, right, Tom. Harry's probably in love with some Mudblood or blood-traitor (which I'd be if I ever went out with him!). But- oh, great. Jaclyn's alarm is going off and everyone's getting up. Hopefully my hair will un-redden a bit today. That alarm clock is so annoying- it sings the last song that was in the head of whoever set it. I'm guessing Kayla set it, because it's this stupid Muggle rap song. They have no taste, whatsoever.
I agree, Ginny. Good luck on your hair! Until next time- Love, Tom.
Bye! Ginny then shut the book closed with a loud snap. "Morning," came a voice happily, pulling Ginny's curtains to allow the light in and jumping onto her bed. Jaclyn, obviously. Jaclyn began jumping excitedly. "Get up, Ginny Malfoy," she sang. "Rise and Shine! It's Halloween! I heard the coolest song ever the other day- wanna hear it? Okay, here goes. 'IT's fun to stay at the YMCA!'" Jaclyn then began doing wild motions with her hands.
"JACLYN!" yelled Maeve, accidentally rolling off her bed in a cocoon of covers and then burying her head inside her pillow. "It's the bloody morning! SHUT UP!" Jaclyn frowned at Maeve, disgusted.
"Well then," she said in a hurt voice. "Fine. But let me tell you- morning just isn't fun without the YMCA."
"Morning," said Kayla standing up and flopping onto the other side of her bed, "is never fun." Ginny had always been a morning person. She stood up, yawing, and picked out a robe to wear. Halloween was always a free-dress day for some reason. She picked out a deep blue robe which brought out her eyes and looked kind of cool with her new hair and went to take a shower, with the stupid song Jaclyn had been singing stuck in her head.
Upon arriving at breakfast, Ginny pranced over to the Slytherin table to talk with Trista, Maeryn, and Draco (Eira was still not speaking to her, even though her parents had told her not to get on bad terms with the Malfoys). "Happy Halloween, Gin!" yelled Trista as Ginny reached the table. Trista's robes were bright orange. She saw Ginny's skeptical glance and laughed. "Maeryn dared me! Last night we played truth or dare… ugh, you don't even want to know! But at least it's festive," she laughed. "But I love your robes!"
"Thanks," smiled Ginny.
"Still no luck with the hair?" asked Maeryn sympathetically. "It actually looks really pretty red; I mean the blonde in it was really subtle anyway. You should keep it this way!"
"Thanks," said Ginny as Trista agreed with Maeryn, "but I'd rather not keep it like this. Everyone keeps telling me I look like a Weasley!" Trista and Maeryn both scrunched their noses. Ginny giggled. Suddenly, Draco reached the table.
"Happy Halloween, Gin."
"Happy Halloween, Drake." Draco scowled. He was constantly yelling at her not to ever call him that. Ginny then sat down for a few minutes' conversation. Soon she unconsciously began humming the song Jaclyn had been singing.
"Ginny!" scolded Draco. "Where did you hear that? It sounds like Muggle music!"
"Oh, sorry," said Ginny, examining her fingernails. "Stupid Jaclyn, a half-blood, was singing it to wake us up. I suppose it's a catchy tune. Trista laughed and Draco shook his head, chuckling. After another minute Ginny headed over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ceridwen- and, by coincidence, across from Potter. Ginny strained her ears to hear what he was talking about.
"I am wishing I never made the promise to Nick- I mean, a Deathday Party?" he trailed off, and Ginny rolled her eyes. Did they speak in code or something, those three? Suddenly, the Prefect sat down on the other side of Ginny.
"Good Morning, Ginny," he said kindly, buttering a roll. Ginny raised an eyebrow. What gave a Weasley any right to refer to her, Ginevra Malfoy, by her nickname?
"It's Genevieve," she said coldly.
"Of course," said Weasley. "You know, Malfoy, you are looking extremely pale. I think you need some Pepper-up potion."
"No I don't, but thanks anyway, Mum," said Ginny sarcastically as the Prefect tried to persuade her and a few other first years to take the potion. But she wouldn't argue his point- Ginny had noticed herself, she was extremely pale and had no idea why. She didn't really feel sick. But she couldn't argue the fact that her face was seriously lacking any form of color, so she eventually caved in and took the potion before Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Lockhart was telling them about defeating some Banshee. Yeah, right. After Defense and lunch, Ginny just had History of Magic. Before the Halloween Feast, she rushed back to her dormitory to speak to Tom. The moment she opened the diary, however, a funny feeling came over her… maybe she was too sick…
She awoke the next morning in her bed, feeling disturbed yet extremely calm. She got out of bed early and tried to think back to the Halloween Feast. She couldn't remember! The last thing she remembered was coming into the Gryffindor Tower. But how was this possible? Did she faint maybe? She hopped over to the mirror, trying to clear her head. She was still in her robes from yesterday- and they had white paint all over them. Ginny shrugged it off uncomfortably and changed before slipping into bed. Jaclyn's alarm went off about ten minutes later, and nobody seemed remotely tired this morning.
"Can you believe what happened last night?" asked Kayla immediately.
"I wonder if they've caught the culprit?" asked Maeve.
"I don't know," yawned Jaclyn. "What's the Chamber or whatever anyway?"
"You know," began Maeve, "I think I remember something about it- it was some myth about a secret chamber in the school, which had a monster inside it…"
"Really?" asked Ceridwen with a sharp intake of breath. "Ginny, you up?" Ginny nodded and sat up.
"What happened?" she asked fearfully.
"Where were you last night? Why didn't you come to the Feast?" asked Kayla, concerned.
"I- I guess I was tired," said Ginny through a dry mouth. "What happened?"
"There was an attack," breathed Ceridwen. "Filch's cat- I think she's dead. She was hanging over a puddle of water- and there was a message on the wall!"
"What did it say?" asked Ginny fearfully.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware," breathed Maeve.
"Your brother," said Kayla coldly, "Yelled that the- the 'Mudbloods' would be next…"
"Oh, my," said Ginny, more to herself than anyone else. "They don't know who did it?"
"No," said Jaclyn, "But Harry, Hermione, and Ron were found at the scene and taken to Lockhart's office with Snape, Lockhart, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Filch for questioning!"
"Really?" asked Ginny. "The stupid Dream Team gets away with everything…"
"You can't really think they did it!" said Kayla, eyebrows raised. "Everyone I've talked to thinks it was your brother."
"Are you kidding?" demanded Ginny. "And anyone you talk to is a disgrace to the name of Wizards, Mudblood," she spat, more out of fear than anything.
At breakfast, she rushed over to Draco importantly. He was talking with Crabbe and Goyle, about who the culprit was. "Draco!" Ginny said, a bit frightened, as she reached the table. As she opened her mouth to speak again, Draco shook his head, standing up, and leading her to the window, where nobody could hear.
"Before you ask," said Draco, "I didn't do it. But I completely agree with it. If you know who it is, tell them I'll help. Father warned me something like this was coming this year, and he gave me explicit instructions to keep my nose out of it. The same goes for you, Ginny. I guess he doesn't want people thinking it's you or I- as if! We would never be able to do something like that, sadly…"
"Do you think it's a Slytherin?" asked Ginny.
"Of course," said Draco. "It's Slytherin's Heir. But don't worry- Purebloods are completely safe. All right?"
"Why would I worry?" asked Ginny. "I'm the Gryffindor, remember?" Draco grinned tolerantly.
"I'd rather not…" Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. But- is the cat… dead?" No matter what, Ginny couldn't fight off the horrible guilty feeling that all of her evidence was pointing to her. She hated Mudbloods- but she didn't want to kill anyone! And she definitely wouldn't want to be expelled, if the person doing these things was her, by chance.
"No," said Draco sullenly. "Unfortunately… hopefully next time it's Granger…" Ginny nodded, though she was not agreeing.
A/N; Thanks so much for all the support and enthusiasm I've gotten so far for this story! Please, please review! Sorry this chapter was kind of short!
((Jinglez))