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Onto the long waited story…Read and Review because I love thee! Hahaha…riight…

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Chapter 9 Harry sat in the bedroom he shared with Ron. Thinking of Ron, Harry had absolutely no idea where he was. After meeting Carissa, they had flooed back to 12 Grimmauld Place. Ginny seemed to still be steaming about Charlie to Dumbledore, while Mrs. Weasley tried to calm her down. Draco had his own room, only because Ron and Harry had aggressively refused rooming with him.

His head pounding, he decided to wander around and look for Ron. He strolled down the hallway, his mind other places. He peeked into the rooms around him, curious to where everyone was. Finally he reached the end of the hallway, and there stood one door.

It was slightly open, just enough so Harry could see a small portion of the room. And there sat Carissa, her hands in front of her, with a miniscule fireball floating above her cupped warm hands.

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Draco sat alone in his room. He was in no mood for insulting the Weasleys, or Potter, or even this stupid shabby house, if that's what they call this piece of junk.

But he had no urge to ruin their lives at the moment. Because his life is ruined.

It felt as if color wasn't important to the world anymore. It felt as if shadows exploded with every step each cold-hearted person took. It felt as if emotions shivered because of the evil of the world. It felt as if tears ran dry and deserts stood moist. It felt as if the world was no more. Because his world was gone.

Draco laid back and with a slight creak the bed adjusted to his weight. He closed his eyes, as his thoughts were swept away to past memories.

"Come on, Draco!" Narcissca Malfoy's voice soothed into her little son's ears, "You can do it! Almost there!"

She abruptly burst into applause and showered him with hugs and butterfly kisses as he reached his goal. He had walked from the dining table all the way to the armchair. It was the first time he had walked from one place to another without falling.

Everything was perfect…except –

"NARCISSCA!" Lucius's angry voice rang through the Malfoy Manor. Narcissca cringed. She knew what was coming.

A creak of the floorboards caught his attention. His eyes snapped open and focused on the petite redhead in front of him. She wasn't smiling. Instead she had a pure look of determination etched across her face.

"What do you want?" he sneered, giving her a deep glare.

Ginny's look of determination faltered slightly, and giving a sigh she relayed the message. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

She turned around and placed her hand on the doorknob. But she didn't open the door just yet.

"I'm not hungry." Draco's gruff voice stubbornly refused. He didn't want to eat at a table full of mudblood lovers.

Expecting her fully to persist, he prepared himself so he could throw insults at her and her family. It was always easier to let your anger, depression, innermost rage and sadness all out on another hopeless person.

He was surely surprised when her face took on a look of sadness. "Look, Malfoy, I'm really sorry about – " Her voice was gentle, and quiet.

"I don't need your pity Weasley." Draco argued, facing away. His voice held a tone that was indescribable. It was filled with hate, depression, rage and anger, loss, sadness, and somewhere deep inside, fear.

Ginny's face hardened. "It's not pity Malfoy. It's called sympathizing with you. Not pity." She turned around and opened the door slightly. Then changing her mind, and still not facing Draco she gave him some quiet words of advice.

"Even the best fall down Malfoy. But only the better of the best can bring themselves back up." And with that she left. Without a scowl or a smile. She left with a look of pity. No, not pity. Sympathy. Yes, sympathy.

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Carissa sat on her bed in the middle of the room, warming up her hands. She floated a fireball slowly, increasing it in size with every breath and ounce of concentration.

She thought she heard a sound coming from her doorway. She got up from her bed and checked her doorway. No one was there.

Shutting the door, Carissa sat back down on her bed, where she had earlier placed two cups. One cup was filled with water. The other was filled with earth, soil, grass, and dirt. On the other side of the room was a piece of paper stuck to the wall, with a red dot in the middle, and other circles surrounding it. Sort of like a home made target.

She closed her eyes and raised her hands from her stomach up to her chin, in front of her, palms facing up. The soil in one cup slowly rose with her palms.

Scrunching her eyebrows together in concentration, she felt the surge of power flow through her. The earth hovered in the air for a couple of minutes, when suddenly it jerked towards the target. It hit a little off bull's eye.

Letting out a deep breath, Carissa opened her eyes. Seeing where the soil left a mark, she grimaced slightly.

Grabbing the light blue book sitting on the small bedside table, she flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. Skimming through it quickly, she carefully placed it back on the bedside table.

Glancing at the book once more, for good luck, Carissa closed her eyes. Concentrating hard, she raised her palms slowly once again. Changing the position of her right hand so the palm of that hand faced forward, she slowly brought it back. Then with all her might she thrust her palm forward, and the soil floating in front of it, hit the target right at bull's eye.

Opening her eyes, and seeing where the second fresher soil's mark was made, she smiled with satisfaction. "Nice Carissa." She encouraged herself.

She got up to take the target down, or rather the piece of paper down. But then she decided it was for the better to leave it up. This way it would cover the crack in the wall made from the force of the soil.

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Ginny and Amber embraced eachother excitedly. A bit to the right, Hermione was talking rapidly to an engrossed Ron and an amused Harry. Blaise seemed to be quietly murmuring something to a sullen Draco. Ginny noticed the grave look back in his eyes.

It might seem wrong for a Weasley to feel bad to a Malfoy. Especially a Malfoy that had ridiculed her family for ages. But it disturbed her greatly to see him. He always had some sort of mask covering his face, as if he was scared to let others see his emotions. But she understood that. He had no one there for him. She knew how it felt. She too had experienced it in the Chamber of Secrets.

Hermione, Blaise, and Amber have demanded to stay here as soon as Winter Break came around. Ginny was elated to finally have some female company, and not those bumbling idiots.

She noticed Carissa standing a little ways off awkwardly looking around. She seemed so out of place and lost that Ginny invited her over to join their conversation.

Carissa seemed a bit surprised at the invitation but accepted it gratefully and quickly joined their circle. Ginny soon found out that Carissa wasn't as shy as she appeared to me. She seemed to be a sweet but outgoing girl, who wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and had infinite opinions on everything!

Glancing around, Ginny saw Harry glancing over at Carissa with a bit of uncertainty. Ginny had no clue why, but she figured she'd just have to wait and find out. Or she could just interrogate him later. She decided on the latter.

But that would have to wait until later. For now, she'll just simply live. Simply.

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A/N: Yay! cheers for me! the 9th chapter is done ladies and gentlemen! applause thankyou thankyou! Anyways, hoped you liked it  - sorry it took a bit long, I got braces I tell you! And whoa they hurt sooo much – but I can actually eat (after a week of drinking soup, this is the jackpot for me).

Review dahlings (well that was odd…)…let's try that again…Review and you get a cookie! HoPed you LikEd iT!

The cookie is not real. You may, however, imagine it in your mouth.