Disclaimer: all J.K.Rowlings work, must add that a few characters do belong to me.
Thanks go to anime-babygurl, puss in boots 119, ginny2442, vixenfairy27, Spiritsha Master and Actrez for your reviews. All questions will be answered in time :)
Chapter 12 – Questions and Answers
As soon as she entered her world of dreams she felt it, pattering through her consciousness like an unseen rat. Eyes on her back and rustlings followed her as she padded across the familiar fields to the stream. Suddenly the summer paradise had taken a ghostly turn, the sun beat hard into the land and threw up a heat haze around Ginny, pushing her in and enclosing her with its malevolence.
She travelled down the centre of the small rivulet, hopping from one heated stepping-stone to the next as weightlessly as a feather but the knowledge of being followed began to weigh her down.
Abruptly, Exquiseta appeared in front of her, next to her another tiny brown-haired fairy appeared also. Before Ginny could ask who it was, Exquiseta cut her off:
"We should not be here, it is not safe," her tiny green gilded eyes darted across the seemingly serene rolling hills. "This is Tibbony by the way, an apprentice Sleepsoarer from the Weathered Faes." The brown-haired Fae curtseyed respectfully.
Ginny smiled briefly in greeting before turning her attention back to Exquiseta. "What is it? Why do I feel as though I'm being followed?"
The fairy queen paused as though debating with herself on how much to tell Ginny. She danced nervously in the stilled and porous atmosphere. "They are known as the 'Shadowers'," she started, her tiny liquid voice straining to carry across the heated distance. "They haunt the Reverse Worlds as well as Resumbria. But only occasionally."
"Reverse Worlds?" interjected Ginny, making the connection. "I've heard of them, as well as the 'Inverse', but next to nothing is known of them?" She finished the sentence on a high note, the question hanging in the air.
The petite fairy snorted derisively. "Just like humans; know all about everything around them, but nothing about themselves." She shook her head. "Anyway, the 'Inverse' and the 'Shadowers' are different names for the same thing. Traditionally these are the dark side of the light, the yin to the yang, the bits of you that you spend your entire life trying to hide."
Ginny nodded in understanding, her all-to-real hair following her hair as if in parody. Again she felt her surroundings press in on her, alerting her to the immediate problem. "That's all very well, but doesn't explain why, or indeed what's, following me."
Exquiseta scowled at her tone before puffing herself up importantly, extending her queenly character across the distance. "Usually they are not separated from a person's consciousness," she explained, a hint of pompousness sneaking into her manner.
"It is dire circumstances when they do though," piped up the brown-haired, speaking for the first time. At Exquiseta's admonishing look for interrupting though she wilted into silence.
"Yes, dire indeed," continued the flame-haired queen, her green eyes flashing. "Strong magic must be at work." She paused anxiously, her conduct almost tangibly changing. "Of course they would arrive here first," the fairy added, watching the hills.
Ginny hesitated, feeling as though the question she was about to ask may be very self-explanatory, but somewhere down the line she'd missed something. "Why here again?"
Both Faes fixed their eyes on Ginny. "Because you're Resumbria is so vivid and vibrantly realistic, your imagination makes it a force to be reckoned with," she replied, simply.
"You mean everybody has a Resumbria which is unique to them?" Ginny asked, throwing the possibility of looking ignorant to the winds.
"Exactly," agreed Exquiseta. "For example, mine is the forest of my Winglinghood."
"Mine is always autumnal," interjected Tibbony before blushing profusely as they looked at her curiously.
"Winglinghood?" she inquired, her brow crinkled.
"The very early stages of a Fae's life," explained the queen quickly, waving her hand at the irrelevance of the question. "Now, as I was saying, your Resumbria is so solid and diverse that it is easy for and unpractised, or indeed practised, Sleepsoarer to be sucked in."
Explains how Draco ended up in that nightmare about my family, Ginny reflected. I wonder how he got sucked in though – he's not a Sleepsoarer…
However, Ginny turned her gaze to the hills that shimmered in the heat haze, the trees taking on the effect of doing the limbo. The feeling of eyes on her back was still there, lurking just outside her vision, and the sun continued to beat down but somehow the supposed heat did not penetrate her skin leaving her internally cold and shivering.
"Why are the Shadowers here now though?" she asked interrupting the fairies that had been whispering furiously to each other.
"Well," began Exquiseta, "they cannot be separated from a person whilst they are conscious. But when the mind is at rest, with the right spells they can roam separately. Generally this is not a problem, but they are spirits of imagination, so in places such as here they become real, tangible and ultimately dangerous."
"Who would know such spells though?" Ginny asked feeling a chill tickle down her spine.
"Only someone versed in very ancient magic," replied the Fae queen, "watch your back my little one," she whispered hovering restlessly on Ginny's eye-level, before kissing her cheek.
Abruptly Ginny was jerked into the land of the waking, torn unceremoniously from her dream by none other than a smug-looking Persephone and a (now empty) glass of water.
# # #
"Settle down! Settle down!" squeaked the tiny charms professor, jumping up and down and waving his arms vigorously.
Draco watched Flitwick's attempts to control the older years flail ineffectually around his waist. He caught Blaise' smirk out of the corner of his eye and suddenly felt like a third year again when image was everything and all he had to worry about was making other people look stupid.
Dumbledore stood up and total silence effortlessly descended upon the gathered sixth and seventh years.
"Tonight you will not need any parchment, we will have our first practical Dark Arts Comprehension lesson."
There was widespread muttering as everyone deposited his or her parchment and bags in a corner of the dungeon (the only place that had been big enough to hold all the students at one time, much to professor Snape's annoyance).
Dumbledore began speaking again. "We are going to practise blocking against muggle weapons. Although the side that Voldemort – there was a communal intake of breath – leads goes to great lengths to demonstrate their hatred for muggles, it will not stop them from fighting dirty with guns and knives. Therefore we must educate you," he stated gravely. "Could you please get into groups of four?"
Instantly the group of students separated and merged simultaneously, creating an almost dance-like effect to onlookers. They detached naturally into not only houses, but also years within houses, and friendship groups within years.
Ginny and Persephone were generally held as mysteries so were left alone and apart from the other students. The redhead cast her eye over the fellow Hogwarts students trying to pick out those without a group. The only (and obvious) were Malfoy and Zabini who had been given a wide berth by all the other students, Slytherins as well. Perse caught her eye and they both snorted with mildly hysterical giggles.
The two Slytherins strolled over, their faces as emotional as the cold dungeon walls they stood next to.
Ron started forward, to do what Ginny wasn't sure. Draco glared him into the ground but Ron didn't flinch, if it hadn't been for Hermione clinging determinedly to his arms there may have been a problem. Harry watched, an unreadable look on his face as he eyed Draco's proximity to Ginny.
The headmaster cleared his throat, effectively averting the pupil's attention away from the unlikely grouping of the two Slytherins and younger Gryffindors. "First we will learn basic self-defence. If you are ever stranded without your wand and need to defend yourself, these are the essentials you must remember. Faye?"
Professor Morgian walked to the front of the makeshift stage so that they could all see her. A man, who Ginny didn't recognise, trailed behind her, watching the student body shrewdly.
"This is Reuben," she introduced briefly. Reuben stood at at least six foot five behind her, his face shadowed but judging the gathered students. A collective chill went through them all as they watched his profile. "Firstly, we will teach you basic holds and how to get out of them." The professor then proceeded to explain and demonstrate a pin know as the 'Strangle Hold'. To Ginny it looked quite complicated as the professor literally flung the man, Reuben, around her shoulder from having his arm around her neck. She did it quite a few times and gradually Ginny began to understand the mechanics of the defensive move.
"Ok," finished the teacher, panting slightly as she was out of breath, "now you try. Remember; you have to drop your shoulder first then twist your hips."
Ginny turned to find herself face-to-chest with Malfoy. She tilted her head upwards, catching a glimpse of the grey inscrutability of his eyes. She suddenly became aware that this was an echo of the same position they'd been in when The Kiss had happened. Blushing she ducked her head and took a decent-sized step away from him. Ginny didn't miss the smirk that blew across his features briefly, like lightning, and paused to give a well-deserved glare.
"You're facing the wrong way," he told her, matter-of-factly.
"No, actually I believe that would be you," Ginny retorted, mock politely.
He snorted. "I don't think you would quite be able to reach my neck," he derisively replied.
She looked around, realising that her would-be-partner had been cornered by Zabini with a strangle hold. Ginny turned her eyes back to Draco and all his six-footness.
Egad, I have to throw HIM?
Before she had time to protest, or even run away, she felt his arm slide around her throat, holding her tightly in place against him. Ginny closed her eyes, feeling shivers compete up and down her spine abandoning her knees to a jelly-like state. Get a grip, she told herself. This is Malfoy.
"Now you're meant to do something," whispered Draco's voice in her ear, disturbing the tiny, sensitive hairs and adding to the already riotous trembling.
Ok, focus! Come on Ginny; imagine how good it will feel to have him on his back at my feet. Ok, ok, need to pull his arm in order to breathe.
Ginny tugged the limb that was around her neck at the elbow, moving her chin into the crook of his arm thereby freeing her theoretically blocked airways.
That wasn't too difficult, so far so good. Ok, now drop the shoulder, twist the hips and kind of stick my bum out at a weird angle…
She jerked her shoulder forwards at the same time as her hips went in the opposite direction and Draco… stayed exactly where he was. He didn't budge an inch. Ginny could imagine the smirk that was forming on his features without even looking; she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. A quick glance around the dungeon showed that no one else was faring any better. Hannah Abbott had managed to dislodge Neville but then he had tripped and landed on top of her, knocking the air from her lungs. Ginny rolled her eyes.
Once again she tried the defensive move, imitating the professor and once again Malfoy stayed exactly where he was, making Ginny feel rather stupid.
I guess I'll just always have to hang onto my wand.
Draco stood impassively, the earlier amusement fading into something else. The diminutive Weasley's attempts to extricate herself from him were awakening something he didn't even know he possessed. He'd always been taught appreciation for the finer things in life, and the Weasleys certainly weren't one of them, but the girls squirming against his waist was connecting with something raw and primal within him. In other words she was making him want things he'd never properly understood before and it was becoming painfully obvious in the lower part of his body. On the other hand though, his pride wouldn't let her throw him and wouldn't let him walk away, so Draco was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Pun unintended.
"Is this the best you can do Little Weasel?" he inquired, the distaste in his tone slipping in naturally, Draco was unable to stop it.
She froze against him, and he could sense her irritation and growing anger. "I didn't ask for this Malfoy," she hissed in answer.
Ginny paused with her struggling to think, apparently the basic technique wasn't enough; she also needed a strategy. The effect of being this close to his body were beginning to take its toll on her brain, she felt all fuzzy, as though someone had stuffed cotton wool in her ears, only allowing her to see and hear him. Gradually Ginny became aware of hardness pressing into her lower back, and once the thought process had gone through her mind her face coloured, the heat from it spiking down her body. Then a plan popped into her head, strangely fully-formulated, as if part of her brain had been waiting for this moment for its completion.
Slowly Ginny turned and tilted her head until she had a clear view of Malfoy's neck, then simultaneously blew very gently on it, distracting him, and bought the heel of her foot down very sharply and precisely on his toes. Then rapidly dropped her shoulder, cocked her hip and successfully swung him round onto the ground.
The redhead looked down into his shocked orbs, noting that he looked very sweet when he was dazed. She glanced up, her eyes locking with Persephone's and they shared a smirk. Apparently something similar had happened there also because Blaise was also on his back looking incredibly confused and bewildered.
They met at the door leaving the grounded Slytherins without so much as a glance, linking arms both girls took a moment to bask in their triumph.
"Tough day?" inquired Perse, her eyes sparkling.
"Very," agreed Ginny grinning happily, not noticing the number of eyes that followed their progress from the dungeon.
# # #
The next day was Saturday, and the second Hogsmeade trip of the term. Ginny and Persephone wrapped up warm, scarves and warm woollen robes. Both of them were prepared for the possible Slytherin wrathful revenge after the display at the Dark Arts Comprehension lesson the day previous. However, they made it all the way to the horseless carriages without encountering either the Slytherin sixth years or, indeed, the golden triplet.
Persephone was quicker than Ginny because she sat on it, and had to extract the crumpled form from the carriage seat. 'Clue 3' was proclaimed on the front, Ginny sighed wearily, before curiosity took over and she began to unfold the creased parchment.
It read, 'Reminds you of fire, his second name too'.
Without even bothering to make sense of it she stuffed it in her pocket for later reflection. Perse did the same and they eyed each other from the opposite ends of the carriage. There were two pops and two more letters appeared next to both of them. Persephone picked up the one next to her inquisitively, before quickly putting it down.]
"It's for Dean," she explained to Ginny, who had already guessed, as the letter next to her had been labelled 'Seamus Finnegan'.
There were two more pops and two more pieces of parchment appeared on the other side of the girls.
"Jeez, how many are they planning to fit in this compartment?" Ginny exclaimed to the world in general. But the name on the letter stopped her breath sharply.
'Draco Malfoy'
She met her black-haired friend's eyes and they both grimaced anxiously.
# # #
After the opening and reading of the clues the six students had just sat in silence, the atmosphere practically simmering with unspoken emotion.
"What do you want to do when we get to Hogsmeade?" inquired Seamus, attempting to break the deadlock. Ginny bristled slightly at the assumption that her and Persephone would be automatically going with Seamus and Dean.
"Who says they're even going with you?" asked Draco, coldly.
Ginny looked at him sharply, trying to gauge his emotion from his face. This was about as easy as trying to eat peas with a knife.
"Well its not like they'd be going with you, is it?" scoffed Dean disdainfully.
"I think the choice is up to them," Blaise replied sharply
Ginny and Persephone looked backwards and forwards, feeling as though they were watching a very competitive tennis match.
Seamus put his arm around her shoulders possessively in the silence that followed, to her left she felt Draco stiffen in irritation though his face gave nothing away.
What the hell is going on here?
"So what do you want to do when we get to Hogsmeade?" she asked Persephone, echoing Seamus, a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Lots of shopping I think," Perse replied, her smirk mirroring Ginny's. "I think we'll go and try on lots and lots of robes."
"Good idea," agreed the redhead. "Then we can go get manicures or something."
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the boys looking less and less enthusiastic. Except for Draco, his eyes were darkened and he was watching her intently.
The awkward silence descended again. Ginny fiddled with the ends of her long hair, absently thinking that she should probably get it cut.
"So, Gryffindor for the cup this year?" Seamus tried again, but he said it more as a statement than a question, confident that he would get support.
"Tell me Finnegan, are you capable of interesting conversation?" asked the blonde Slytherin, eyeing the arm that was still firmly around Ginny's shoulders darkly.
"Yes, unlike some people, I can actually hold an entire conversation with my friends about non-dark arts related stuff," the Gryffindor retorted hotly.
"I don't like what you're implying," hissed Draco, his silver eyes flashing dangerously.
"We're here!" squeaked Ginny from between the two irate seventh years; she practically fled the compartment trailing Persephone behind her into the milky sunlight of a wintry Hogsmeade.
# # #
That evening Persephone and Ginny sat in their dormitory, viewing their new purchases. Ginny had a new black bra with detachable straps that went different colours depending on the wearer's mood. Perse had a new pair of jeans for weekend wear that were a one-size-fits-all – they shrunk or grew depending on who was wearing them.
The two girls mostly talked about what had happened in the compartment on the way there though. Persephone was confused because she was already torn between the Ravenclaw James and Dean, adding Blaise to the mix was just too chaotic. Ginny was unsure because sometimes she got hate vibes off Draco, other times it was quite the opposite, although the link was still there it seemed to becoming dulled and she didn't know why.
"Think of how mad my brother would go if I went with Malfoy though," Ginny said, laughing. "It would be worth it just to see the look on his face."
Persephone smiled. "So you definitely aren't a member of the Harry fan club anymore?"
"Nope," agreed Ginny, finding a brush and running it absently through her hair. "Harry was like a lesson for me, I don't think I'll ever let anyone hurt me as much as he did. The sad thing is he couldn't even help it." Her eyes ticked to their reflection in the darkened window. "No, Harry is a part of my past that is unchangeable but is also something I'll never voluntarily unearth again."
"Think it's time for bed," Perse reflected, deftly plaiting and unplaiting Ginny's long fiery hair. The youngest Weasley smiled at the gesture of familiarity before nodding in agreement.
"Yes, lights out."
# # #
The difference was tangible. As soon as she arrived she could tell there was someone there who had not been properly invited. They were out of sight, but not out of her mind.
She could sense them, not with hearing, sight or smell, but she knew they were near her.
Without warning an arm snaked around her neck squeezing her airways and pulling her flush against them.