Chapter Five

The two girls found their way back to their dorm room and they sat down on the beds, Millicent folded up her edition of Teen Witch Weekly and turned to Ginny matter-of-factly.

"Ginny, tell me, do you really think Harry killed Mrs. Norris?" She asked, leaning in close.

Ginny toyed with the hem of her robes before finally looking over at Millicent. "I don't know. I hope he isn't…" She took a deep breath to steady her churning emotions. "It just doesn't seem like Harry you know? I always fell asleep at night hearing about how kind and thoughtful the Boy-Who-Lived was. He would sacrifice himself to save others; give up anything to protect the helpless."

Millicent pulled up her legs, sitting down indian style. "Well maybe Harry isn't all that the stories make him out to be. Maybe he's just a normal kid who-"

"Who kills cats?" Ginny asked sarcastically, "No. That's just not Harry. He's the perfect hero. And heroes don't kill cats." She added this last part in a serious tone, as if she was trying to convince herself and Millicent at the same time.

The older girl sighed, reaching for a parchment from the top of the nightstand.

"Well, I'd better get started on my homework for McGonagall."

Ginny nodded, "Me too. Snape gave us an essay four pages long. Yay," Ginny finished off in a sarcastic tone before reaching for her new silver quill that Draco had bought her.

The Next Day...

It was Saturday, and Ginny was on a mission. She rose up early, at 4:00 and quickly showered and got dressed. By 5:15 she was out on the Quidditch Pitch where two figures stood waiting in the darkness, their tall frames silhouetted against the faint lines of pink and orange painted across the horizon behind them.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Little Slytherin." Said a familiar voice.

"Yes, now what should we, two staunch, tricky Gryffindors do to her?" Asked a similar tone.

Ginny glared over at the twins, not that they could see her facial expressions.

"Fred, George, I need the Gryffindor password." She said sternly.

Fred crossed his arms, "Really?"

"What will you do for us?" George asked.

Ginny sighed audibly. It wasn't unexpected—in fact it was quite anticipated—that the twins would want something in return, but it would have been nice if they had actually done something for their little sister without demanding tribute. "I'll try out one of your experiments for you." Ginny said sullenly.

Fred laughed, "No, we would never make our little sister a guinea pig. However," George took over,

"We would have no qualms in making Ronald one."

Ginny walked over to them, whispering fiercely,

"Then what do you want?"

George turned to Fred, "What do we want?"

"Well for starters, we want our own jokeshop,"

"and a nice cozy little room to lock Ron in,"

"and that bastard Voldy to be dead-!"

"I don't have all day!" Ginny said between gritted teeth.

"Testy little girl aren't you, Gin?" Asked Fred playfully.

Ginny growled at them. Fred turned to George,

"Are you sure you didn't slip some "Instant-Wolf-Morf" into her drink?"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" Ginny shrieked.

George sighed, "We want the Slytherin Password in return."

Ginny stared at them in disbelief. "What the bloody hell would you want with the Slytherin password?"

Fred patted her on the head, "Now Ginny dear, you don't want to know the answer to that."

"So, is it a deal?" George asked.

Ginny glared at them. She knew better then to give them the password, but she had to get into the Gryffindor Dormitories!

"Fine." Ginny said, "What's the password?"

"Not so fast!" George exclaimed, "We want the Slytherin Password first."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Baboon Eats Slugs."

Fred laughed, "Oh Ron would die if he heard that!"

"The password?" Ginny prodded.

"Oh, right." George said, somewhat deflated.

"Bananna Split." Fred answered, "Apparently Gryffindors really like food just like Dumbledore."

"Who comes up with the passwords?" Ginny asked.

"You don't know?" Fred asked in shock, "It's the Seventh Year Prefects!"

"We almost decided to become Prefects just because of that," George said.

"Imagine all the passwords we could have made, 'Snape has oily hair' or-," George cut him off.

"However the Cons outweighed the Pros, so we decided not to become prefects."

Ginny nodded, "Ok. Thanks!"

She swiftly made her way back into the school and marched right up to the Fat Lady. The figure in the portrait rose up from her bed, yawning in discomfort,

"You're a Slytherin," She said prissily, "These are Gryffindor Dormitories. However," She peered closer at Ginny, "You do have rather familiar red hair."

Ginny glared at her, "Oh just shut up, will you!" The Fat Lady murmured something about the lack of Slytherin Manners and Ginny nearly screamed out 'Bananna Split'.

The portrait swung open and Ginny entered the abandoned Gryffindor Common Room. She decided that the red and gold was a little gaudy and nothing like the cool serenity of the Slytherin colors. And, she fumed inwardly, I have no idea which of these stairwells leads to the Girls' Dorms!

Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to try, she randomly picked a stairwell and quickly reached the Dorms. She swung open the door and found herself in a long hallway. She knocked on one of the doors and heard distinct snoring from within. She recognized it immediately. Ginny swung open the door and made her way over to Ron's bed, trying to ignore the figure of Harry sprawled out on his bed, his thick black hair hanging over his eyes. Ginny blushed when she saw him and quickly turned away.

"Ron!" She hissed, "Ron, wake up!"

Her brother rolled over on his side, "Go away—slugs stole my lunch money…slipped on Snape's hair. Cat ate my homework…" His voice trailed off and a loud snore erupted from him. Ginny rolled her eyes and viciously hit him on the head. Ron yelled and woke up, rubbing his head and squinting through the gloom over at Ginny. She looked over his sleeping room-mates quickly. None had woken up, fortunately.

"Ron!" She whispered fiercely, "I need to talk with you. Come on, now!" She grabbed at his hand and dragged him (despite his protesting) to the Common Room.

Sitting him down in front of the magically starting fire, she faced him.

"Now, tell me, did Harry kill Mrs. Norris?"

Ron stared at her, "What the bloody hell are you talking about!"

"Did-Harry-kill-Mrs.-Norris!" She repeated impatiently.

Ron closed his eyes, "Go away Ginny, I don't know what you're talking about—you obviously had a dream about Harry which isn't too surprising. Leave me alone now."

Ginny sighed audibly, watching Ron go up the stairs. She'd just have to ask Hermione.

The young Slytherin quickly ran up the stairs and found Hermione's room soon enough. When she opened the door though, Ginny was shocked to see that Hermione Granger was already up, reading her books by light of her wand. Hermione looked over at Ginny,

"How did you get in here?" She asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Call it my Slytherin Sixth Sense. Anyways, can you come down to the Common Room?"

Hermione sighed as she closed her book, "This better be quick. I was doing research."

They made their way downstairs and sat down on the couch.

"Now, what is it you want?" Hermione asked, getting straight to the point.

Ginny paused, "Well. I want to know what happened last night. Did Harry kill Mrs. Norris? Is he really responsible?"

Hermione leaned back against the cushioned furniture, "I have no doubt that Harry is innocent. Even Professor Snape said that Harry was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'." She paused, apparently wondering how much she should tell a Slytherin, "Harry found Mrs. Norris in the hall like that. Someone else is responsible for what happened, not Harry. I'm trying to find out who that someone is." Hermione concluded.

Ginny nodded slowly, trying to hide the giddy relief that had washed over her. Harry was innocent. Harry was still her hero. He hadn't proved to be different from the stories. "I just have one more question. Why doesn't Ron know about this? When I asked him all he could talk about was how slugs had stolen his lunch money and…" She trailed off, "I don't even remember the rest."

Hermione laughed, "Ron is…" She shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder how I can stand to hang out with him. He is so immature! Not to mention his intelligence is the size of a pea!"

Ginny nodded in agreement, "I'd say a little less than a pea."

Hermione smiled, "Well to answer your question. Ron didn't know because he was working with Neville when his cauldron exploded. They both got sent to the Hospital Wing."

Ginny laughed, "It serves him right. All Ron can do is tease me about Harry."

Hermione seemed to stiffen a little, "You…care about Harry then?"

Ginny was too busy toying with her thumbs to notice Hermione's discomfort. "Yes, a little…" She sighed, "Maybe a lot. But," She looked earnestly over at Hermione, "You won't tell anyone will you?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. I won't." The Gryffindor stood up, "Was there anything else?"

Ginny stood up as well, "Um yes, actually. I was wondering, would you mind giving me the Gryffindor Password whenever it changes? I might have a need to come talk with you again, because well," She smiled a little, "As fun as Millicent Bulstrode is to be around, she's a little superficial and doesn't quite understand things as well as you."

Hermione nodded quickly, "Ok. Just as long as you don't go abusing the power you have through the passwords. Because we're not supposed to be exchanging passwords after all." She said the latter in a reproving tone before heading up the stairs.

And then, just as suddenly as she had mounted the stairs, Hermione paused. She turned to face Ginny, "Do you really like Harry?" She asked in a strange tone.

Ginny nodded, however even as the older girl turned up the stairs, Ginny's Slytherin instincts kicked in. Why was Hermione asking a second time?

A/N:

The next update might be awhile, I don't know. Thanks for your reviews!

iip91: I can't tell you who's opening the chamber. You'll just have to wait and see (smiles evilly). Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Escritor: Wow, interesting story. Maybe I should watch people's faces when we have quizzes handed back...

angeilcmayuka: Yes, the same thing happened to me. I started out thinking Ron was OK, but then my opinion of him slowly went downhill...

Maegmel: I'm not threatening anyone (I think you mixed me up with the other inhabitant of the house) and if you keep on believing I'm threatening you, I'll box your ears! (The latter part being said in jest of course...threatening people my butt...)

CCoLoMBiAnMaMi11: I will try to keep entertaining you and my other reviewers. It will prove to be a grueling and dangerous task. I may lose arms, possibly even legs in my quest against seriousness. But I will not back down from the battlefield until hilarity rules all! Until I have achieved the utter goal: CHOCOLATE! (yes, I am looking forward to Halloween...my last record of candy was 314, I will beat it this year--I might need to bring two pillowcases with me rather than just one!)