Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful world of Harry Potter… it all belongs to the genius JK Rowling. Well, except for the plot and whatnot… that would be all mine. Also, I took the name from a song by Danzig.

A/N: I just wanted to give a little warning… this story will eventually contain OotP spoilers. I am just letting anyone who has not read it yet know… even though you should have read it by now! Oh, and thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them. Keep them coming!

Blood and Tears

Chapter 1

It had been two weeks since the students of Hogwarts returned to school. The Great Hall was packed full of students, as usual. They were eating, discussing Quidditch or the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. However, not all of the students at Hogwarts were as thrilled to be back in the vast castle. Ginny Weasley sat with Hermione Granger at the Gryffindor table during breakfast. She only picked at her food, not feeling very hungry at all. Surprisingly, Hermione was not shoving the food down Ginny's throat in some sort of a motherly way.

Ginny was having a hard time dealing with what had happened to her. The 'event' was really starting to trouble her. She was hardly eating and rarely sleeping… especially from losing Tom's diary. She knew it was evil. Nothing but evil. It was the reason her first year was so horrid. Yet, she found something almost comforting about the old, bloodstained diary. The sound of Hermione's whining voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"I still can't believe Dumbledore picked her to be Head Girl…"

Ginny had heard this more than enough times to know what Hermione was talking about. Hermione went on and on about it every chance she got. Most of the time Ginny just wanted to go off on Hermione. Tell her to get over it. Dumbledore picked Mandy Brocklehurst to be Head Girl. He is not going to change his mind just because Hermione Granger was upset. Obviously, he must have thought Hermione was not the right person for the job. Perhaps he had realized that no one would have listened to her considering she tends to be quite motherly toward, well, everyone… including teachers. It was rather disturbing, really.

"…a Ravenclaw…"

Ginny had learned to block out Hermione's rants. Not as if she really needed to hear Hermione repeat herself yet again. She only let herself hear enough bits and pieces so Hermione would not know that she was not paying any attention. So far, it had been working quite well.

"…fantastic! I can't believe we're finally having another…"

Ginny realized Hermione could not have still been going on about Mandy being Head Girl and turned to face the direction of the voices.

"Isn't that just great, Gin?" Hermione asked with an ecstatic look on her face.

"I didn't quite hear all of it…" Ginny mumbled, hoping Hermione would not realize that she had not been listening the entire time. By the look on Hermione's face, she had not realized a thing.

"Well, according to Padma Patil, Professor Dumbledore has agreed to let the Weird Sisters put on a concert here on Halloween! It's going to be some sort of Masquerade Ball."

Ginny's classes that day went by relatively fast. Divination, Muggle Studies, and double Potions. Exactly the way Ginny had wanted to start her week… with her favourite classes. Yes, Professor Trelawney was rather… odd, to say the least, but Ginny had always been fond of her. Muggle Studies was a given, considering her father's line of work; Mr. Weasley worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic. Although Professor Snape was not very fond of the Weasley children or Gryffindors in general, he was probably Ginny's favourite teacher at Hogwarts. He was rather unpleasant but his class was challenging and that is exactly the way Ginny liked it. She loved challenges.

After dinner, Ginny sat in the Gryffindor Common Room with Colin Creevey. Colin was utterly passionate about photography. He was somewhat shy and reserved, which simply made him more appealing to Ginny but he was also, without a doubt, one of the few people that could really make Ginny laugh. Actually, he was probably one of the only Gryffindors she actually enjoyed being around. Colin was her best mate. The only person she could count on. She felt as if they could tell each other anything… except about her recent encounter with Tom Riddle, of course.

"So, who do you want to go with?" asked Colin.

Ginny looked out the window they were sitting near. The wind was blowing through the trees, causing the branches to smack up against the glass. "Oh, I don't know," she answered, blushing.

The last dance Hogwarts had was the Yule Ball during her third year. Only fourth years and up were allowed to go but younger students could go if asked by an older student. Ginny had gone with Neville Longbottom, who was a fourth year at the time. They had had a rather good time but she only thought of him as a friend. Neville was nice. But nice was not exactly what Ginny wanted for some reason. Nice seemed almost boring. She wanted someone dangerous. Someone that would make her feel alive. Someone to keep her mind off her pain.

She was hoping someone would ask her to the dance but then again part of her wanted to go alone. She was not sure why she felt that way. It sounded somewhat romantic though. Go to the dance alone and meet someone there. Of course, that would only work if someone actually asked her dance. She was almost certain that would not happen.

"Personally, I wouldn't mind going with a certain Slytherin," Colin said sarcastically, pretending it was a joke by making a disgusted face.

"Oh, rubbish! You know you fancy Tristan! Stop pretending you don't," Ginny argued, throwing a pillow in Colin's face.

Colin blushed and looked down at his hands. Ginny was the only one at Hogwarts who knew that he was gay. He had told her the year before. He was still getting used to the idea, actually. He was shy about it and did not want anyone to know. At least not yet. However, Tristan made him want to let everyone know. Scream it to the entire Wizarding world. Perhaps even the entire Muggle world as well.

Tristan Avery was a sixth year Slytherin. The Avery's were your stereotypical Slytherin family. Pureblood. Rich. Powerful. Snobbish. Most likely Death Eaters. However, Colin did not seem to mind. He was fascinated by the fact that, although he was all those things, he was not afraid to let people know that he fancied boys. He was open with his sexuality and none of the other Slytherins even seemed to mind. Colin admired him for being able to let everyone know. He wished he could be that brave. Sometimes he even wondered if he belonged in Gryffindor… he didn't think he was brave at all.

Starting to feel a slight pain in her left arm, Ginny told Colin goodnight. Ginny climbed up the stairs to the sixth year girl's dormitory. As the ache in her arm began to throb even more, she bit down hard on her lip to distract herself from the pain. She was tired of pretending as if everything was fine when really she just wanted to break down and cry. She was too afraid to tell anyone simply because of the reaction she might receive. After deciding to keep it her little secret, she grabbed her shower things and headed toward the Gryffindor girl's bathroom. As she got closer, she noticed Hermione standing in front of the door, a line of girls standing in front of her.

"Okay, just calm down," Hermione said, loudly enough so the girls in the back could hear.

Ginny noticed Lavender and Parvati Patil standing near the staircase, looking on at the sight and whispering amongst themselves. As she neared, they stopped chatting. "Hey, girls," Ginny said, putting on her best fake smile. Both of the seventh year girls smiled back. "What can we do for you, Gin?" asked Lavender. Ginny motioned to the group of girls outside the bathroom. "Oh, right. Apparently everyone wants to shower but no one wants to go to one of the bathrooms outside Gryffindor Tower," informed Parvati.

Ginny sighed. She did not want to wait for the bathroom to open up. Showers made her unwind and that was certainly something she needed. I suppose I will just go to the other bathroom. I cannot believe everyone else would rather wait. Oh well, at least I will get a little privacy.

After grabbing her wand out of her dormitory, Ginny left Gryffindor Tower on her way to the bathroom. She was carrying her bath things in her right hand… her left arm was still stinging pretty badly.

"Well, look what we have here," came a familiar drawl.

This is so not what I need right now, she thought as she turned around to find herself face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy. "What the bloody hell do you want, ferret?" Ginny spat.

The words did not seem to affect Malfoy in any way. The term 'ferret' did not bother him anymore… mostly because Mad-Eye Moody was no longer teaching at Hogwarts. During Ginny's third year, Professor Moody had turned Malfoy into a ferret and made him bounce all over the corridor. Ever since, the Gryffindors referred to Malfoy as 'ferret' or the more popular 'the amazing bouncing ferret.'

Draco Malfoy stared coldly at the redhead. Ginny noticed how hard his eyes were… she wondered how much hate he must have had inside for them to be that cold. Feeling a chill run down her spine, she looked away.

"You do realize that I'm a prefect," he said coolly.

She looked at him strangely, "What's that got to do with anything?"

He smirked. The famous Malfoy smirk… how she hated it. "You're out past curfew…"

The pain in Ginny's arm reached an all-time high. It made her wince. She bit her lip, not wanting Malfoy to see how much pain she was in. Little did she know, Malfoy had noticed.

"Just don't let me catch you again, Weaselette. I may not be as pleasant next time." And with that, Malfoy turned and walked away down the corridor.

Pleasant? Ginny thought. Draco Malfoy… pleasant. Right, and Neville Longbottom's good at Potions.

Ginny curled up on the floor of the girl's bathroom. She did not feel like taking a shower now... not after experiencing such excruciating pain. The floor was cold… hard, just like Draco Malfoy's eyes. She had never noticed just how cold they were before. The room was completely dark but Ginny did not seem to mind. Perhaps she had not even noticed. She was crying harder than she ever had before, biting down on her lip to distract her from the pain. Her mind was filling with thoughts, memories. Memories from her first year. Memories from the Chamber of Secrets, where she had almost died. Where Tom Riddle had almost killed her. What did he want with her? She moaned as the next wave of pain shot up her arm.

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