This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers...
Thank you to:
HyperSquishy-Thank you for being my repeat reviewer! It means a ton to have reviews at the beginning of a fic...that way you know people are reading it. I think maybe the chapter could've ended on a dark note, but it was too good to resist...thanks again HyperSquishy you're the best!
Lolo-Thank you soo much! In this fic my Draco is definitely gonna be darker, he's not gonna warm up to Ginny in like .2 chapters although he may seem too...oh no! spoilers!
KatieMalfoy19-Thank you. I'm really excited that you like it...I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
louey31-Yes I know this part is a little confusing...hopefully it'll all become clear in the subsequent chapters...thanks for being my best reviewer! It means the world to me! I know only too well what you mean by how dreamy Draco is...all of my friends hate him, but I just adore him...err...sorry about that too much information I know...
LunarianPrincess-Thanks! I'm so glad that you enjoyed the story enough to review...I'm also delighted that you found it interesting/intriguing...hopefully this chapter will answer some questions? (Unfortunately, it'll cause even more questions to surface...oh no!)
Disclaimer: Let's go over this again, I own absolutely nothing except the Eagles jersey on my back. Dies IMPORTANT Title shamelessly stolen from the delightful children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day I unfortunately do not own any rights to this story, merely my own rather worn copy of it. All rights for that story belong solely to their owners and the author Judith Viorst.
AN: Some characters are going to act highly out of character, this is not an accident, it is for a reason, they have to act OOC in order for the plotline to continue.
Chapter 4: Ginny and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Ginny woke to an empty dorm room. She rolled over to look at the clock, 7:45. Strange, usually most of the other girls were still in bed at this hour. She had a killed headache and wondered why. Had last night truly happened? It seemed, in retrospect, more suited for some fantastic dream. Still, Ginny thought ruefully, it had happened, and the only comfort was it was over. Never would she have to even speak to Malfoy. If only she knew how terribly wrong she was.
Draco woke slowly, reluctantly opening his eyes with great misgiving. The world slowly took shape, and rather belated, Draco realized Crabbe was about the only thing he could see. The boy's face being mere inches from Draco's own.
"Cra-Crabbe, I have to see your ugly mug ever day, I don't want it to be the first thing I see in the morning." Draco said irate.
Crabbe hastily withdrew, he had apparently been peering intently at Draco, perhaps wondering why he was not yet up.
"What time is it?" Malfoy muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"...7:50" Crabbe grunted finally, after consulting his watch for a minute or so.
Draco dressed quickly, "Well what are you waiting for?" He snapped.
They ascended from the dungeons to the main hallway. Draco strode forward confidently, terrified first and second years leaping to get out of his way. Draco smirked, he owned Hogwarts. Anyone who didn't get out of his way fast enough earned a kick from Malfoy or a beating from Crabbe and Goyle.
Meanwhile, Ginny had to struggle through the same crowds that Malfoy was parting like butter. It was weird, Ginny thought, the Common Room had been just as deserted as her dorm, normally it was full of stragglers. Ginny was shunted aside suddenly by a burly 7th year.
"Hey!" She yelled, furious.
There was a path a little ahead of her, and she fought her way to it. She broke through the crowd, only to collide with something very tall and blond.
"Ooofh," the person said.
"Oh I'm so sorry," Ginny said automatically, and then she looked up and saw it was Malfoy.
"Malfoy," she said tentatively.
"Weasley," he drawled, pulling himself up to his full height.
"I didn't mean to knock into you, I was just struggling through the crowd, I didn't see you."
"Like I care, tell you what boys," he said, addressing Crabbe and Goyle, "Let's show Weasley how Slytherin royalty do crowds."
"Hurry up," Malfoy snapped at her as he strode forward.
The crowds began to fold behind Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Ginny, feeling the suffocating crowds press against her, jogged to keep up with the lanky blond.
"Why are you being so nice Malfoy?" Ginny asked, watching as the crowds did indeed make way for the Slytherin hot shots.
"Nice?" Malfoy sneered, "I'm not being nice- I just have something I need to tell you."
"What?"
Malfoy turned and stared straight at Ginny, his eyes cold, "If you tell anyone about this," he gestured to his right forearm, "I'll kill you."
"The thorn?" Ginny asked dumbly.
"No moron, my Mark."
They were now in the Great Hall, Ginny walked to Gryffindor's table, Malfoy's threat ringing in her ears. She shivered in spite of herself. Now that he was a Death Eater such a threat had to be taken seriously. He wasn't a pale, scrawny, rich, mama's boy any more- well actually he still was Ginny decided, except he now had a Dark Mark on his arm.
The absurdity of the situation hit Ginny. Here she was, talking calmly with Draco Malfoy, as if he wasn't a Death Eater. What the hell was wrong with her, Ginny wondered. Right after breakfast she ought to tell Dumbledore that there was a Death Eater in the castle.
She smiled at Neville, Seamus, Dean, Ron and Hermione, all of whom had been huddled over the table, apparently deep in conversation. They all glanced at her, but none of them smiled, in fact, hey all had cold expressions.
"Hi guys," Ginny said, guess I wasn't the only one who got a lousy sleep last night, she thought to herself.
No one responded to her greeting and Ginny's brow furrowed. There was definitely something wrong, why, Neville looked positively green!
"What's wrong?" She asked, starting to feel alarmed.
Everyone looked pointedly at Harry who sighed loudly and said in a queer voice, "Ginny, we heard some strange rumors."
Rumors? She thought totally bewildered."About what?"
Harry's face took on a strange expression, "About you."
"Me?" Ginny said in disbelief.
"Yeah we heard- -" Harry was suddenly interrupted.
"Were you or where you not with Malfoy last night?" Ron demanded, his expression stormy.
Ginny, caught by surprise, could only gape at Ron, when she finally recovered her voice she stammered, "Ye-Yes, but we had detention together."
"Oh really? Then how come I've heard that you were found wandering the halls together?" Ron retorted.
"What? Well we got lost-"
"Oh?" Ron said, a wry smile on his face, "Then how come I heard you and Malfoy are the ones who have been trying to break into teacher's rooms?"
"Wha-What?" Ginny sputtered.
She found herself once again lost for words. 'Did everyone really think they were the ones who had been breaking into the Professor's rooms?' She wondered. Everyone had known for weeks about the mysterious person or persons who had broken into the offices of Prof. Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Prof. Sprout, Prof. Trelawney, Prof. Flitwick. No one knew who they were or what they wanted. As far as everyone knew, they had not stolen anything, merely ransacked the offices. There was a persistent rumor that those responsible were in fact Death Eaters.
"We haven't been trying to steal from the teachers. That's ridiculous!" She searched the each of her friends faces, anxiously, desperately looking for a flicker of...what? Sympathy? Understanding? Hermione and Harry uneasily looked away when she scrutinized them. Neville ducked his head, Seamus turned away, only Dean and Ron held her gaze. "Dean?" she said. Good old Dean, he'd support her, only yesterday he had told her that he wanted to be with her.
Dean however looked betrayed and disgusted, "I...waited dup for you last night- while you snuck around with...Malfoy? I...don't think this'll work..." He then turned his back on her.
"Dean!" She cried out, her eyes misting over with tears. Almost unwillingly, she turned to her brother, "Ron?" She cringed, his face was clouded with anger and his ears were scarlet.
"You," he said, looking revolted, "You're a Death Eater sympathizer!"
"No!" Ginny gasped. No, he couldn't, she wasn't, they knew surely? How could they think that?
"Yes," he pressed, "Maybe you've always been one. We only have your word that you opened the Chamber of Secrets unwillingly. Maybe you had it in for the Muggle-born! You and Malfoy working together even then? You seemed mighty cozy walking in together to breakfast!"
"You...bastard," she said slowly. She found she was shaking with suppressed anger, "Fine," she spat, "Fine, I see that you believe I'm guilty, well I don't need you, any of you. I'll prove I'm innocent and then you'll all be sorry! So just sit there you hypocrites and betray me...I...I hope you rot!"
She ran from the Great Hall, hot tears spilling from her eyes. How could they abandon her like that? How could they believe stupid rumors and not her? She suddenly despised them, all of them, pretending to rationalize their decision to kick her out. How could Dean dump her?
"I'm better without you!" She shouted to an empty hallway. "Ron! How dare you insinuate that I knowingly unleashed the Basilisk and sicced it on...Mudbloods...like...Granger!"
She never heard the low chuckle from behind her.
Draco was having a marvelous morning thus far. He'd sent two Hufflepuff 3rd years into hysterical tears, he'd beat up a 7th year Gryffindor, and now his mother had sent him a care package of sweets and a note saying that his grandfather Abraxas Malfoy had died and left Draco half of his fortune- 300 million galleons. Old Abraxas had always been inordinately fond of Draco, often comparing Draco to himself when he was younger. This was heady praise as Abraxas was a literal genius in the Dark Arts, in fact, as a boy little older than Draco was now, he'd actually came up with the Crucius curse. Along with all the wealth, half of his estates were passed on to Draco. That meant he was currently the third richest wizard in the world (after Mathilda Malfoy – Abraxas' ill-tempered wife, and Draco's own father, Lucius Malfoy) and he had not even turned 17 yet! Poor old Grand Abraxas, Draco had actually been rather fond of him, and he'd been one of a select few whom Draco actually respected. Now he sat, wondering if his day could get any better.
He only half-listened as Pansy gossiped happily, suddenly he heard his own name. "Wa-What?" He said.
Pansy frowned but dutifully repeated her latest scoop. "Everyone's saying that you and that Weasley girl are the one's behind the break-ins?"
"Break-ins?" Draco echoed, his brain still rather fuzzy from imagining the new custom built one of a kind broom his new wealth could buy him.
"How have you not heard about the break-ins? Everyone's been talking about them for weeks!"
"Are you going to explain or what?" Draco said icily.
"Oh, well, it's just that recently someone has been breaking into the Professors offices, no one knows who though, no one is sure what they're after either. But I heard that they're after a prophesy... I was just wondering if this was a...you know," Pansy lowered her voice, "A mission..." She returned to a normal voice, "So are you behind the break-ins?"
Malfoy shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not."
"But ...you were with Weasley last night," Pansy persisted, "Weren't you?"
"Yeah, why Pansy, wish it were you?" He said snidely, the other Slytherins laughed loudly.
Pansy flushed, it was well known she had fancied Draco for ages.
Blaise who was sitting next to Draco, nodded to the Gryffindor table, "Looks like the girl's in trouble."
All the Slytherins looked up, they could see an obviously furious Ginny and an equally angry Ron and Dean, all arguing.
"I wish we could hear what they were saying," Draco said.
Blaise performed a clever magnifying charm and suddenly the Slytherin table was privy to the private Gryffindor talk.
Dean's voice sounded as if it was right next to them, "I...waited dup for you last night- while you snuck around with...Malfoy? I...don't think this'll work..."
The girl said Dean's name, sounding if she was about to burst into tears. She turned to her brother, Weasel King, seeking support no doubt.
"You, you're a Death Eater sympathizer!" Ron said, appalled.
"No!" The Weasel girl said. She sounded, Draco thought, as if her world was crashing down around her ears. It probably was, he realized, in a rare moment of insight.
Weasel King didn't stop there, "Yes, Maybe you've always been one. We only have your word that you opened the Chamber of Secrets unwillingly. Maybe you had it in for the Muggle-born! You and Malfoy working together even then? You seemed mighty cozy walking in together to breakfast!"
The Slytherins all let out a low whistle; even they were well aware how serious such a charge would be for Gryffindors.
'The girl Weasel seems to have it coming for her,' Malfoy thought, with a tad less relish then normal. However, the fiery redhead proved him and the rest of the Slytherins wrong.
"You...bastard," she said faintly. Then her voice rose to a squeaky pitch, "Fine, Fine, I see that you believe I'm guilty, well I don't need you, any of you. I'll prove I'm innocent and then you'll all be sorry! So just sit there you hypocrites and betray me...I...I hope you rot!"
With that, the girl ran from the room. All of the Slytherins turned to Malfoy who grinned and said, "You know, I think the littlest Weasel could be a Slytherin."
All of the other Slytherins agreed, she had a temper, and she wasn't like the rest of the happy-go-lucky Gryffindors.
Blaise, after a pregnant pause said, "You know Draco, that little Weasel is upset with her friends and family...she's a rash Gryffindor, swayed by her emotions. We could easily persuade her to join our cause. Think how badly she must want revenge- he family is very close to Dumbledore, no doubt she's got information that He'd be interested in."
"I dunno," Pansy interjected, "She's been pretty vehement about the Dark arts, she's really against them. Plus, in her first year, He had her under His power, I think it'd be really difficult to get her on our side."
"Well that's why Draco needs to initiate it," Blaise replied.
"Me?" Draco said, perplexed.
"Yes," Blaise stated, "You are the one she trusts the most. You are the one she cares for the most of all of us, not that that's saying much, nonetheless." He paused, "Well? What do you say?"
Draco hesitated, it didn't feel right to hoodwink a girl who had just been publicly disowned by her family and friends.
"Maybe," Blaise said carefully, "Maybe you care for the girl, and don't want to see her hurt."
Draco's eyes flashed, steel and cold, "Careful Zabini," he snarled, "Don't forget which of us is a full-fledged Death Eater. I don't care for that Weasel, I'm Draco Malfoy- I care for no girl. We'll do it."