"Chamber of Her Secrets"
Chapter 1: Don't Pass Go
Author's Note: This is a rewrite of the old verson. :
"Thirty points from Ravenclaw and a detention for both of you," said Draco Malfoy, smirking as he rubbed his prefect badge until it gleamed in the dull light of his wand. "Now get to bed. Separately. The wizarding world doesn't need more idiots breeding."
The said idiotic couple glared at him and stalked off. Draco liked these kinds of nights; if he had to be wasting his time patrolling the castle for naughty students, he might as well humiliate a few people along the way. Grinning sharply, he continued his stroll down the corridor.
"Bloody simpletons," thought Draco, his mind still on the couple that he had just caught. "All over each other in a broom closet. A bloody broom closet! Couldn't even hold out until they got to the Astronomy Tower!" He began sneering at the dark. So preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice the large puddle looming before him. He fell onto the cold, wet ground.
He had slipped on water. Disgusted, Draco picked himself up and realized he was completely soaked. Rummaging through his robes, he took out his wand and performed a simple drying spell.
"Third floor corridor," muttered Draco, shaking his head. "Should've bloody known." He was standing right outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Moaning Myrtle was a poor ghost who had died young and stayed in her toilet, the place of her death, ever since. She was known to be mean, wail, and flood her bathroom. Apparently, tonight was one of those nights.
His ears perked up as he heard a noise coming from inside the bathroom. "Another rule breaking student to catch," he thought gleefully, pocketing his wand. He took a step towards the door and paused. This was a girl's bathroom and Draco Malfoy was most definitely not a girl.
The thought of disgracing whomever was inside the bathroom and giving them detention spurred Draco on. He hurriedly flung open the door, lest the person somehow sneak out before him. He was greeted with the sight of a girl with a mass of red curls crouching on the floor near the sinks. As she turned her head in surprise, Draco recognized her.
"Weasley," he stated with satisfaction clearly written across his face. "Weasley, Weasley, Weasley." He had caught a Weasley! Oh, joy to the world! He made a tsk-ing noise and gave her a look over.
She was tall - around five seven. Her frame was thin and her curves were lacking in some areas, but Draco did notice she had an extremely nice arse, and made a mental note to thoroughly berate himself later for noticing. After all, nice arse or no, she was still a Weasley. Her robes were tattered and obviously secondhand and the former black color had faded gray. She had sharp cheekbones, and a small, upturned nose with a light pinch of freckles sprinkled across it. Her eyes were a deep chocolate and were currently expressing one emotion: hate.
"Malfoy," she spat, standing up to her full height. "Are you aware this is a girl's bathroom?" Ginny hoped he would be embarrassed and leave. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side.
"Are you aware you are out after curfew?" Draco smirked. He wondered what she was doing here at two in the morning.
"I'm just going to the bathroom," said Ginny promptly. "I didn't know that was a crime." She seemed a bit unsure of herself, but glared at him defiantly.
Draco had been taught to sense a lie when he was very young, and right now, his inner lie detector was going mad. "Why not use the Gryffindor bathrooms?" Draco asked, looking at his watch. "Surely they are not too crowded at two in the morning."
"I'll have you know," started Ginny. She looked to the ground and then stared him in the eye. "Parvati and Lavender are holding a girls night and using the bathroom to do each other's hair…" Twirling a lock of her bright hair, she added, "… and other things."
Draco pounced. "Terrible as that is," he drawled. "You're still out after curfew. That earns a detention." He wanted to dance when he saw the girl open her mouth in protest and snap it shut quickly. It wasn't everyday a Weasley accepted defeat, and at the feet of a Malfoy, too.
Spluttering, Weasley huffed. "Fine, Malfoy, you've caught me and given me detention. You can leave now, you know." Please leave, she thought desperately.
"As much as I want to get away from you filth and breathe some uncontaminated air," he replied. "I'm rather curious as to why you're really here." Draco raised an eyebrow. He knew there was no 'girls night' as he had caught Brown and that oaf, Finnigan, making like rabbits in an empty classroom about an hour ago.
"I told you," said the Gryffindor, her face turning a bit red. "Lavender and Parvati are ---"
"No, Weasley, perhaps you didn't hear me correctly. I want the truth." He cut in.
"The truth is… it's none of your bloody business, Malfoy. So you can go back to your little snake pit and leave me alone."
"Two detentions for talking back to a prefect," snapped Draco. "Tell me or I'll make it three."
Crossing her arms across her chest, she glared at him with increased loathing. "Piss off."
"Alright, do it your way. Three detentions. Do you want to make it four?" replied Draco, determined to break her. For some odd twist of fate, he was really curious about the situation.
Realization dawned on her. Glaring harder, she knew he would just keep giving her detentions until she told. Having twenty detentions on her permanent record really wasn't looking to peachy.
Sighing, she said, "You have to swear to Merlin that you will never tell another soul." When he nodded, she continued, "I was going into the Chamber of Secrets."
Excitement flooded through Draco's veins. The Chamber of Secrets was a foggy part of Hogwarts history and Draco was very interested about it, especially since his second year, when someone had opened the Chamber and unleashed the monster within. "What! You mean it exists?" Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "How do you know about it?"
Draco saw a series of emotions run through her eyes: grief, pain, sadness, hate, and excitement, love. "I was taken down there in my first year," she said quietly, looking to the floor. "I was also the one who opened it and… everything." She didn't know why she had told him that. She hadn't even told her best friend, Colin Creevey! The only ones who knew about her experience with the Chamber were the teachers, her family, and her brother's friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Just the thought of admitting that she was weak and allowed Voldemort to possess her terrified her.
He scoffed. "You? The Heir of Slytherin? If you're the Heir of Slytherin, then Hagrid's my great uncle!"
She was angry. It was bad enough that she had opened the Chamber and she had set free the basilisk on innocent people, but for him to not believe her sorrow-filled tale? "I was possessed by Voldemort! I will… I'll prove it to you." How? And why do you want to? Her brain said. She ignored it.
"Going to set a basilisk on me?" sneered Draco.
Her cheeks flushed and Ginny cringed. "Don't even joke about it," she said through clenched teeth. "I'll take you down there."
As a boy, Draco had read Hogwarts, A History many, many times. His favorite section had been on the Chamber of Secrets. He had researched a lot on it, but unfortunately, there wasn't very much information on the Chamber, even in his father's dark books. The chance of actually going into the Chamber jumped at him and Draco snatched it.
"Okay," he said, his face passive, his mind screaming. "Open up the Chamber, Weasley."
Running a hand through her hair, Ginny crouched down and began looking at a particular sink. She leaned in close and began speaking to the sink.
Hold up, Malfoy, she isn't speaking. She's hissing! Draco thought. His eyes bulged. "You're a Parselmouth!"
Standing up and stepping back, she grabbed his sleeve and pulled his towards her. "No. I just picked it up during my first year."
Draco pulled himself out of her grasp, sneering. "Geroff me, Weasley. These are seven galleon robes and now I'm going to have to burn them to get your stink off of them."
Rolling her eyes, Ginny looked at the sink patiently. A sudden grinding noise erupted from the sink. It began to move and sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, big enough for a man to slide through.
"It really exists," whispered Draco, more to himself then Ginny. She nodded and tied her hair back into a ponytail.
"See you at the bottom, Malfoy!" Ginny exclaimed before jumping right down the pipe.
Draco went to go follow her down but then hesitated. Did he really want to go into the most evil of places? Who knew what kinds of creatures were down there? How many different deaths could he experience in the Chamber of Secrets? Bugger off, Draco thought. If Weasley is okay, I'm okay. Taking in a deep breath, he slipped into the pipe feet first.
The ride was exhilarating, to say the least. He felt as if he was on a long slide, covered with goop of some sort, which went on forever. At the end, he flew off and onto the ground, a pile of dust flying up above him. Sneering at Ginny, who was standing beside him, spick and span, he stood up and groaned.
"Silly of me," said Ginny, giggling. "I forgot to mention it was a bit of a dirty ride." Laughing, she took out her wand and yelled, "Scourgify!"
"We must be miles under the school," said Draco, picking at his robes.
"Under the lake," added Ginny. "That's why it's so.. moist in here." She began walking. "Hurry up now, we wouldn't want the great Draco Malfoy to get lost in the Chamber of Secrets, would we? Especially since no one could come and find you."
He glared and reached out to touch the slimy wall.
"Don't!" She yelped, smacking his hand. "That's some sort of pus. It will burn your fingers right off."
Snatching his hand back, he peered at her. "How big is this place?"
She shrugged. "There are a series of corridors down here; I've only explored a bit. When I'm bored, I just go rummaging through here. There's a library, full of dark arts books – bet your father would love to get a hand on them. There are a few bedrooms, all creepily furnished, and torture rooms." She shuddered. "Thumb screws and whips, Filch would have a field day down here."
"Why do you go down here?" asked Draco.
Ginny didn't answer. She kept walking and turned a corner.
"Why do you go down here?" repeated Draco.
She was silent again, and Draco gave up on asking her. He was surprised when she suddenly answered.
"Ever since first year, it's been the only place that truly feels like home." Touched by darkness, she was never the same.
They walked in silence, with only Ginny warning him about a few steps to watch out for, or a low ceiling. Finally, they came to a red drape. Ginny pulled it aside and smiled, "Welcome to the main room, which I like to call my room."
The walls were covered in posters of magical bands, Muggle bands, and people Ginny liked. The stonewall behind them was not viewable, even the slightest centimeter. Ginny had laid down a lush white carpet on the floor and it stopped a few feet away from Salazar Slytherin's large head and a pool of water surrounding it. In one corner was a large canopy bed and a matching dresser and on the other, a few tan couches, a rectangular box, and tiny square cases on a coffee table were arranged neatly. A desk was spotted in the middle right, covered with parchment and quills.
Draco was disgusted to see a large poster of Harry Potter, probably around age 10. on her wall.
"Still interested in Potter, eh?" he sneered.
"No," said Ginny, quickly. "That poster is there to remind myself of what a drooling idiot I was back then."
Draco smirked. "Yes, you're crush was just revolting. What was that poem you sent him again? His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a blackboard –"
"Shut up," said Ginny. She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I must say, I never got to thank you properly for telling him I sent it and publically humiliating me."
"My pleasure," said Draco, sneering. "So, what're we doing down here?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I came down here for a swim; you, you're down here because you're an annoying, threatening prat."
"Harsh words, Weasley," he replied.
"That's me, the harsh Weasley," said Ginny. "Turn around."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
"Because I'm going to get changed!" yelled Ginny, getting fed up with this whole Malfoy crap.
He snorted. "And you honestly believe I, a full blown horny male teenager, won't take advantage of this situation and turn around?"
"It's either turn around or I'll send you a few Bat Bogeys to distract you while I'm changing," said Ginny, glaring.
"Bloody hell, no need to get touchy," said Draco. "I mean, for a Weasley, you've got an okay body. The hair's a bit too bright for me, but I guess it's personal preference for your boyfriend."
"I don't have a boyfriend," said Ginny cuttingly. "Now turn around."
Draco turned around and covered his eyes with his hands. "Wow, Weasley, you sure know how to show a bloke a good time."
She ignored him. Draco tried again to provoke her. "I mean, I've heard about you, but I guess it's not true."
Ginny rolled her eyes and tapped him on the back. "I'm done; you can turn around now."
"Bloody hell, Weasley, what'd you have to sell to get that bathing suit?" asked Draco. The bathing suit she was wearing was a dark green material, probably silk or something of the like. It looked very expensive. "Your house?"
Ginny ignored him again.
"All though that probably couldn't even get you enough money for a meal at the Leaky Cauldron," added Draco.
"Just shut it," said Ginny, biting her lip. She tiptoed to the water and waded in. "Shut it and get in."
Draco weighed his options – sit here and be bored or take a quick dip. Boredom was not his favorite activity. Draco began taking off his clothes, robes first, then shirt and pants, until he got down to his boxers. As he approached the water, he stuck a toe in and found it surprisingly warm.
"How do I know you didn't just pee in it?" asked Draco, glaring.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "You, Malfoy, are a poofer." She splashed a bit of water at him.
"Hey!" he roared. "Watch the hair!" He stepped into the water.
"A tsunami couldn't ruin that hair," remarked Ginny, grinning mischievously. "There's too much gel." With that, she splashed him again.
"Watch it, Weasley," growled Draco, protecting his lovely hair.
"Or you'll what? Set Daddy on me? Oops!" Ginny taunted. She covered her mouth with her hand. "You can't! He's in Azkaban, where he belongs." Ginny didn't know why she was taunting him – nevermind, she did. It was all the jeering at her house, her family, her looks that set her off.
Draco glared at her with stony eyes. No one mocked at a Malfoy. "Shut your bloody mouth, Weasley."
"Why?" asked Ginny, her eyes wide. "Your father's a murderer. You knew it, I knew it, and now the entire wizarding world knows it."
"At least my father isn't some Muggle-crazy scum who doesn't even have a Knut to his name," spat Draco, trying to defend himself.
She shook her head, laughing. "You've used that insult so many times before, Malfoy. It doesn't hurt that much anymore." She grinned evilly. "The world knows the Malfoy family is scum and frankly, I'm glad."
Ferociously, Draco grabbed her wrists and pulled her close to him. Ginny flinched under his hold. Hissing, he said, "Watch your pretty little mouth, Weasley, or one day, something bad will happen to you." He pushed her away, sending her flying back into the pool. "But then again, it's just one less Weasley." Turning on his heel, he fled the Chamber and out of sight.
Her heart heavy, Ginny slowly walked out of the water. She felt terribly guilty for taunting Malfoy, but kept trying to tell herself it was his own fault. Somebody had to stick him in his place.
Sighing, Ginny performed a quick drying spell on herself and pulled on her robes. Grabbing her diary from her desk, she walked over to the couch and plopped down onto it. She began to write.
"Dear Tom,
Well, this was an eventful night, Tom. You certainly wouldn't believe it. Ron, Hermione, and Harry were up in the Common Room all night, making it extremely hard for me to sneak out to the Chamber. Thankfully, Hermione made them go to bed so they could rise early and start on their studies. (Ha!) Anyway, I got into the bathroom and suddenly Malfoy comes barging in. He was on Prefect patrol. I still don't know why Dumbledore made him a prefect – his family probably paid for it. He just looked at me said, "Weasley," over and over in his infuriating, snobby, obnoxious, 'I'm-Better-Than-You' voice. I wanted to hex his mouth off him, but unfortunately, I was the one with the disadvantage – being caught after hours and all. He gave me detention and then tricked me into telling him what I was doing by giving me detentions until I told. I have three, which really says something. Augh. I told him I was going into the Chamber and then the damn ferret didn't believe that I had opened it in first year! I took him down there to prove that I did and we had a swim. Things were going fine- he hadn't (meanly) teased me and I hadn't hexed him, but then I just had to open up my fat mouth and brought up his father and how he is in Azkaban. I literally told him that he was scum, his family was scum, and that the entire wizarding world hated him! It felt good, like I was giving him his 'due' or something. Serving justice and the like. I just couldn't stop myself! Now of course, I feel right guilty. No one deserves that – not even Draco Malfoy, the spawn of the devil. I should apologize but I won't. My Weasley pride won't let me, and anyway, he'd probably just say, "Oh! Did the little Weaselette think she hurt the big bad Malfoy's feelings?" or something arrogant like that. Why does he get so much joy from others pain?
Love,
Ginevra"
Ginny waited a bit. "Don't write back, don't write back," she chanted in her mind. When it didn't write back, she smiled and sighed in relief. Closing her diary, she placed it on the table and closed her eyes. Before long, she had drifted off into a deep sleep.
"Aw, come on, Gin!" exclaimed Fred, holding up a pastry to her nose.
"Just a bite!" yelled George, grinning at her. He wiggled his eyebrows and she giggled.
"We swear it won't do anything!" said Fred.
"… too bad," added George under his breath.
Ginny laughed. "For the last time – no! I don't want to be the laughing stock of Gryffindor!" Smirking, she leaned over the counter and whispered, "Gimme it; I'll sneak it onto dear Ronald's plate during dinner tonight."
George winked. "We always liked you best."
"Our favorite sister," replied Fred, walking around the counter. He gave her a big hug while messing up her hair.
"Ah! FRED! Geroff me!" squeeled Ginny, pushing her big brother away. "How would you like your favorite sister dead because you suffocated her?"
It was Saturday afternoon – a Hogsmeade weekend. Ginny had come to Hogsmeade with Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey. The three were currently visiting Fred and George's joke shop in Hogsmeade. The shop had done so well in Diagon Alley that they had expanded into Hogsmeade and were soon going to France if Fleur Delacour's connections were good. Fleur was dating their older brother, Bill, and was just too happy to help. Luna was busy rummaging through an aisle trying to figure out how many Portable Swamps she would need to cover her entire bedroom at home. Apparently, swamps attracted Seismic Kinkyrook Cyclops and Luna just had to see one. Colin was helping her with the math.
"Speaking of Ickle Ronnikins," said Fred, wiping nonexistent dust of his robes. "Has he asked Hermione out yet?"
Ginny shook her head. "Our dear brother is a big chicken. The Gryffindors and I have started a collecting pot. Bet when Ron will ask, and if you get the date correctly, you get all the money in the pot! Seamus is sure they'll be together next week, but I bet on Halloween."
George looked at Fred and Fred nodded. He took two galleons out of his pocket and placed him on the counter. "Put us down for October 5th," he said.
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Bit specific, aren't you two?"
"Let's just say we're good guessers," replied George.
"Ah yes," said Ginny, nodding. "And your great guessing skills really came in handing on your OWLs."
"Hey!" gasped Fred. "We got each got three, little sis!"
She snorted. "Three out of nine."
"Ooh, just you wait until this May, Ginbug," said George, "That's when the hype of OWLs really gets to you."
"You've already begun studying, right, Ginny?" said a voice. Ginny turned around and came face to face with Hermione Granger, followed by Harry Potter, and last, her own brother, Ron.
"O' course she hasn't!" said Ron, shaking his head. "She's been practicing QUIDDITCH!"
"Game next fortnight!" Harry said, grinning.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys and their toys…"
Ginny laughed as Colin and Luna came up to the cashier. "How many are you buying, Luna?"
"Twelve," said Luna, placing them on the counter.
"That'll be one galleon, seventeen sickles, and three knuts," said Fred, pressing a button on the magical cash machine.
Luna dished out her money and peered at all the visitors. "Hello Ronald. Hello Harry," she greeted. Her eyes lingered on Harry.
"Ready to go the Three Broomsticks?" asked Hermione, wrapping her cloak around her.
"Yeah, sure," said Ginny. She took the bag George had slipped her, the one containing the new tart to be tested on Ron.
Ten minutes later, all six of them were filing into one of the booths. Madam Rosmerta immediately came over to take their orders.
"Butter beer everyone?" asked Harry. "My treat."
Ron clapped him on the back. "Knew it was a great idea to become friends with you."
Hermione shook her head mockingly and folded her hands in her lap. "Harry, Ron, and I have been thinking a lot.. about the DA."
"Oh?" asked Ginny, shifting in her seat.
"Yes," said Hermione. "We'd like to start it up again."
"We really don't need to, you know," said Harry, shrugging. "But it was fun last year."
"I know I felt like James Bond sneaking into the Room of Requirement," said Colin.
Ron, Ginny, and Luna all looked perplexed. "Who?"
"James Bond… Muggle actor," said Colin, blushing. He shook his dirty blonde hair out of his eyes. "Never mind."
"Well, I think it's a good idea," stated Ginny, grinning. "I'm going to need all the practice for my OWLs."
"It's be a great experience for when we have to fight the blazing Heliopaths," said Luna dreamily. "I hear the Ministry has over ten thousand now."
Hermione shook her head and looked disdainfully at Luna. "We should ask everyone who was in the DA if they want to start it back up again."
"But we should still keep it secret," guffawed Ron.
"Yeah," said Harry. "But it should be open to the public."
"And Harry should still be our leader." Hermione added.
"Works for me," replied Ginny.
"And me." Colin said.
"As long as Dad doesn't call me away on search of the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, I'm there." Luna said.
"Brilliant," said Hermione. "I'll send owls to all the members… this is going to be a lot of fun."
Sighing, Ginny plopped down her large pile of textbooks on the library table. She had four exams coming next Monday, and she had to begin studying for her OWLs. They were only a few months away!
Grabbing The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 5 from the stack, Ginny set out to work. She turned to the right page and began to read.
"The Vanishing Spell is a complex spell involving the use of the mind and body. If the spell is cast correctly, the desired object would vanish. The item would not become invisible, but go away completely. The incantation for the Vanishing Spell is 'Evanesco'."
The fifth years had been working on this spell in Transfiguration. Hermione had told her it was on the OWLs, so she had better get it right. She had tried to make a snail vanish but couldn't succeed. While most of the class was vanishing mice, now, Ginny was still stuck on snails.
Professor McGonagall had given her own snail to practice on. Ginny took it out of her pocket and laid it gently on table. Clutching her wand, Ginny pointed at the snail and muttered, "Evanesco!"
Nothing happened.
"Damn it!" cried Ginny, slapping her hand on the table. "Why can't I do this stupid spell?" Growling at the snail, which she had an insane urge to smash, she raised her wand again. "Evanesco! Evanesco! EVANESCO!"
Still nothing.
Ginny pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed. This obviously wasn't working. She almost jumped out of her seat when she heard a voice.
"Trouble, Gin?" asked Dean Thomas.
Ginny smiled weakly. She and Dean had dated briefly a few months ago, but they both had decided to cut things off. Dean described kissing her as 'kissing my little sister' and Ginny felt quite the same. The two were still good friends.
"I can't master this Vanishing spell," groaned Ginny. "I need it for the OWLs and plus, we have an exam next Monday."
"I remember this spell," said Dean, turning a chair around and sitting in it backwards. "Neville splinched his rat in half. It's tail kept wiggling in mid air."
Ginny smiled. This was something that Ginny liked about Dean – he always made her laugh. "Yes, well, my snail hasn't even gone across the table." She looked down and sure enough, the snail hadn't moved an inch. She poked it with her wand. "Maybe it's dead." Red sparks flew out of her wand and Ginny hastily stopped.
"What you need…" said Dean. "Is concentration."
"That's easy for you to say – you're a whiz at Transfiguration!" replied Ginny.
"I'm not going to doubt myself," said Dean, grinning. "But I'm seriously serious. You have to imagine the snail vanishing. Come on, do it with me. Close your eyes and imagine the snail and everything going away." He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.
"I might as well – I've got nothing to lose," said Ginny. Pursing her lips, Ginny closed her eyes. What popped up in her mind wasn't the snail, but the Slytherin Prince himself. Draco Malfoy sneered at her. Get a grip, Ginny, this is your mind. Don't let a fake Malfoy make you feel inferior. Ginny squeezed her eyes and slowly, the image of Malfoy's glaring face faded. "I did it!" She cried aloud.
Dean chuckled. "Now, can you do it in reality, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny blushed. She hadn't realized she had said that last part aloud. Shrugging, she nodded. If she could vanish Malfoy, she could vanish a stupid snail. Fingering her wand, Ginny imagined the snail disappearing. "Evanesco!" She bit her lip and looked down.
"Congratulations, Gin!" cried Dean. "You did it!"
"I did it!" squealed Ginny, grinning from ear to ear. She jumped up, grabbed Dean, and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you so much, Dean. You're a genius!" She kissed him on the cheek and raced out of the library, books in hand. Running quickly, she didn't notice Dean's glazed expression as he touched his cheek with his hand.
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