30 October 2005
A note from Starry: Hey guys! Be happy that this update was fast! But, I don't know when my next update will be so yeah. Sorry! My comp isn't doing well and so I don't know when I'll be able to update again.
Thanks to all of you that reviewed and please keep on reading! Thanks. I know that a ball might seem cliche but hey not everything is what it seems. So yeah... enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter Seven: Weasley's a History
Draco didn't have a class the next morning so after a long hot shower, he made his way down to the library to continue looking for anything related to, The Changing of the Lady. While he searched the books, he remembered having seen Echo fly off towards the castle making him anxious to go and search for her. Why had she lied to him when he had asked her if she attended Hogwarts? Could she actually be repulsed to be seen by him? Shaking his head making a few strands of blond hair fall in front of his face, he said, "It's not like I look like Weasley."
"Draco, would you go to the Silhouette and Harlequin Ball with me?"
Stopping in the middle of his search, Draco slowly turned around and with a confused look asked, "What ball?" What was Pansy talking about? When had this Silhouette and Harlequin Ball even been mentioned?
Pansy raised her left hand and began running her plump fingers through her jet black hair. "The oaf of Dumbledore mentioned it yesterday. He said this ball is of short notice and it will take place tomorrow at 8:00 PM."
"That doesn't leave anyone any time to buy dress robes or any formal attire!" Draco shook his head. What was Dumbledore thinking? And why were they even having a ball in the middle of the school year?
Shrugging the Slytherin girl answered, "I don't know why he chose tomorrow, but he says that we don't have to worry about our wardrobe. He said that tonight there is going to be racks of clothing in our common rooms and we can choose whatever we want from there. So what do you say, darling?"
Draco snorted before replying. "I don't have time to be socializing in an event that was not planned. I have better things to do than be standing in the middle of a room looking like an idiot." Before Pansy could say anything, he turned around and walked out to the Great Hall.
xoxoxoxoxox
"More biscuits missus?" asked a short thin elf.
Ginny shook her head while cleaning her mouth on the napkin that was in her right hand. She had woken up early and noted that there was a small table full of food. After a trip to the restroom and a quick shower, she had settled down and began enjoying her breakfast.
"Alright, Melmel will now be excused!" With a pop the elf disappeared along with the table and food.
With a smile and a full stomach, Ginny got up from the small cushioned seat and walked to the small desk that was parallel to her comfortable bed. She felt like a princess in this room. Her room back at the Burrow wasn't even half of the size of the bathroom! Her eyes wandered over to the big mirror that stood beside the bathroom door. Her smile faded and memories began rushing in.
Getting up, she walked over to the mirror and stared at herself. Everyone in Hogwarts had laughed at this person staring back at her. Her left hand went up to touch her freckled nose while her right hand pressed against her stomach. She tried to scratch off the freckles that adorned half of her face as her other hand tried to make her abdomen flat.
"Have you looked at yourself lately? You're grotesque…" she imitated Michael.
"Ginny?"
Startled by the sudden voice, she jumped and hit the mirror with her hand. The pain shot through her arm and with an 'ow' she made her way to the door. Pressing her head on the door she said "Yeah?"
"It's me, Hermione. I want to come in Ginny. Please."
'It's Hermione, she's your friend. She won't laugh. She won't laugh.'
Stepping back, Ginny slowly lifted her hand and touched the handle. With a quick intake of air, she opened the door and stepped aside to let the Seventh year witch in.
Hermione walked in and closed the door once she was inside. She surveyed the room and as she walked around, she whistled and nodded approvingly. "Wow, you have a really nice room."
"Thanks."
"Listen, Seamus told me what happened yesterday during lunch," Hermione took a step closer and placed a reassuring hand on the Sixth year's shoulder. "Ron and Harry are now hunting down Michael to ask him why he did that. He's a git, Ginny. Don't pay attention to anything he said, you are beautiful inside-"
"Oh, bollocks! That's bullshit and you know it. Don't come in here telling me about being beautiful and that everyone doesn't know me so they judge me and crap because it's all lies!" Ginny's face was flushed red with anger and she was now standing in front of the mirror again, studying herself. "You don't know how it feels like to be called 'ugly' or 'grotesque' you don't know anything!"
Hermione stood, staring at the redhead with wide eyes and a shocked expression. Ginny had never raised her voice to her in all the time they knew each other. Looking down at the floor, Hermione shook her head and with an angry expression as well began to say, "No, Ginny, I do know what it feels like to be called 'ugly' so don't go yelling what you just said. Just because people have said those things to you, doesn't mean everyone in the whole world thinks the same! I don't think you're ugly, Ron doesn't-"
"Ron's my brother, so he has to think I'm-"
"HARRY THINKS YOU'RE PRETTY!"
Ginny shut her mouth and glared at Hermione. "He thinks of me like a sister. He doesn't think of me as anything else but a sister!" She clenched her hands and unclenched them. Why were they yelling at each other?
"Look, I'm sorry you have to go through this. I really am, but you can't just get angry at everyone because one stupid idiot did something. I bet that somewhere out there there is someone who thinks you are beautiful." Ginny was about to say something but Hermione beat her. "Just wait and you'll see that someone is out there."
Strangely, at the words Hermione was telling her, Ginny's thoughts were immediately going to Draco. He had said to Echo that if he looked hard enough, he could see the beauty.
"Tomorrow there is a ball and you don't have to worry about dresses because the school is going to be giving out clothes in the common rooms later tonight."
Ginny looked up at Hermione and a questionable expression dawned on her. A ball in the middle of the year?
"When was this announced?" Ginny asked, forgetting about what had happened a few seconds ago.
"Dumbledore announced it last night at dinner. I don't know why there is a ball tomorrow but when he said it, there was a weird expression on his face. He also said that tomorrow, we can be our real selves without having to worry about anything." Hermione crossed her hands over her chest and peered over to Ginny, who spoke.
"What time is it?" she asked, hoping it wasn't after her transformation.
Hermione hesitated and shifted from foot to foot, clearly showing a bad answer. "He says it will start at eight in the evening…"
"Oh," Ginny bit her lip to keep her from screaming of frustration mixed with sadness.
Sensing this, Hermione cleared her throat and said, "I finally found a book that mentions something about your curse, but the bad thing is that someone checked it out."
Looking up with hopeful eyes, Ginny almost managed a smile. "Do you know who checked it out?" Whoever had it, wouldn't mind if they borrowed it for a few minutes, right?
"No, I don't know who has it. I'm trying to figure out who checked it out but Madam Pince won't tell me anything!"
"We must find out who has it! I mean, we're this close to making me normal!" Ginny sat on her bed, imagining her life as normal.
"That's why I'm going to leave you now. I need to continue looking for that individual, and when I do, I'll ask them if I could please borrow it for a few minutes." Hermione said, while making her way towards the door. "I guess I'll talk to you later? Ron, Harry and I will be back for you for lunch, alright?"
"Um, ok…" Ginny wasn't too sure about showing her face again in the Great Hall. She knew people were going to be laughing at her. She already dreaded the coming classes and eating in the Great Hall made her feel a bit sick.
The older witch nodded and closed the door behind her. Ginny was left sitting on her bed just staring at the wooden door.
Had Draco laughed at her the day before? She glanced at her reflection again and shook her head making a few strands of her crimson hair fall in front of her face. She smiled at the thought of Draco slowly approaching her and pushing back her hair to reveal her face and kiss her lips.
It was evident that both Ginny and Echo had fallen for Draco Malfoy. She still couldn't believe it but what could she do about it? One couldn't command the heart in love or any other feeling. It seemed that love had somehow snuck into her heart, making her fall for the Ferret.
'If only I could be Echo all day and night, then maybe I could go with him to the ball. Then maybe I could feel the sensation of being kissed.'
Her hair was still in her face and she was still staring at her reflection. She couldn't see her face and she liked that, because she didn't want to be staring at her ugly self. Her eyes immediately widened and she stood up. Of course! She could go to the ball with some form of disguise, right? If she went to the ball as Echo, she could say that make up and special spells had helped her get like that.
The bell rang, making her jump out of her thoughts. Groaning, she remembered that she only had a few minutes to get to class. In a rush, she picked up her bag and dashed out of her dormitory and towards her class. She still had all day today and tomorrow to plan a disguise for the ball.
xoxoxoxoxox
After his encounter with Pansy, Draco had gone to the Great Hall only to return back into the library. The library had been full that morning, but Draco hadn't cared. He had strolled through aisles of books looking for The Changing of the Lady, but he had had no luck. Until, he spotted a book that was right in front of Granger. He noticed that she was deep in concentration reading something off of a parchment. She bit her lip before looking up and scanning the books on the shelves. He felt disappointment sink in when he observed that she was about to touch it.
'Stupid Granger…'
He was about to go up to her and tell her to sod off when Weasley and Potter rushed in. He stopped and took a step back, hoping that they wouldn't spot him. He didn't want to lose his morning arguing with them about stupid things. He overheard as Weasley said something about finding Corner and making him pay for what he did to Ginny.
At the mention of Corner, Draco felt the need to sock the living daylights out of him. Stupid bloke had really hurt Ginny and why was Draco caring anyway? He hoped he could push out all thought of Ginny as he shook his head. When he looked up, he saw Granger walking out with both boys. His eyes immediately went back to the book shelves and smirked when he spotted that book still there.
He walked to the book and got a hold of it before anyone else could. He opened it and began scanning for anything that mentioned 'cures' and 'change'. He smiled (yes, smiled) when he came up with a few words that indicated, that this was the right book. He snapped it shut and walked off towards the check out desk.
As Madam Pince began casting spells on the book, to make sure it wasn't taken out of Hogwarts grounds, Granger walked back to the same spot she had been before the boys came in. Draco almost laughed when he saw her look in finding that the book she wanted, was now gone.
"Here you go. Take care of it and don't you dare do anything against it!" Madam Pince glared at Draco before moving her attention to Granger who was trying to see what book he had.
Draco hid it in his robes and with a glare towards the young witch, he walked out with a smug look. 'Now I'll find out what thing you have, Weasley…'
While walking through the corridor, he began to wonder if Ginny was ok. He hadn't seen her since lunch the previous day and deep down he wanted to go and find her to tell her that he would beat up Michael if she wanted. Draco stopped at this and thought, what is going on with me and Ginny? And since when do I call her by her first name?
Shaking his head, he started walking again and decided that some time in his room would be nice. Once on his bed he opened the book and began to read. After a few minutes reading, he was about to give up, when he read something that caught his interest.
El Cambio de la Dama is an old curse that occurs in certain families. This curse affects one female in the family and in rare cases, it can affect two females. In earlier years, no one had any knowledge on why this happened, until 1264 A.D. when a wizard discovered a pattern. Aldofino Weaxlees noticed that his great great great grandmother had possessed this curse and his younger sister, and only female, acquired this as well. Determined, Aldofino began doing research on his family history and found out that it only occurred to the last and only females in his family name. Seeing how his sister suffered from this, he decided to change his surname to Wesley and hope to stop the curse. He married, and had three boys. Aldofino died thinking that he had ended the chain of that retched curse. A few years later his grandson married and added one more letter to their surname. For decades, the Weasley family have not produced any females, so it can not be sure if the curse has been ended. The Weasley family is not the only family with this curse. Families that have had a past with this curse include, Guillen-
The bell rang, making Draco jump. He felt annoyed at the thought of having a class right now. He had been so engulfed in the text that he had forgotten about school. Closing the book, he slowly got up, promising himself to continue reading the text.
As he walked out of his dormitory, he began to understand how this affected Ginny. She was the only and last female in the Weasley family at the time. The only thing was that he still didn't know what the curse was! Picking up his pace so to not be late and without thinking, he said, "Don't worry Ginny, whatever you have, I'll cure it."
xoxoxoxoxox
The day continued with classes and normal everyday activity. Hermione kept searching for the book that she had lost, while Ron and Harry kept a look out for Michael, who mysteriously disappeared after having heard that he was being hunted. Ginny attended her classes but stayed away from any communication or contact with anyone else. People snickered and whispered as she would walk by, but Ginny would just ignore them. There were a few times where she wanted to punch a few of them, but remembering that she was in no need to be getting into trouble she decided against her actions.
When the Trio had asked her to join them for lunch, she had declined and said she had loads of homework. Understanding her answer, they decided to join her. All four them enjoyed a meal in Ginny's new room.
Draco went to classes and felt annoyance rise up as he took note that he wasn't going to be able to read anything else until later that night. His newly acquired information had made him forget about Echo and his question about her attending Hogwarts. Only Ginny and her curse inhabited his mind and even though he didn't know why, deep down he wanted to rid her from anything bad.
During lunch time, he had scanned the Great Hall for a particular redhead but found it disappointing when he didn't see her. Glaring at the Ravenclaw table, he hoped Corner wouldn't show up, or else he'd punch the living daylights out of him.
Soon eight o' clock came rolling by and it found Ginny sitting on the shore of the lake, staring off at the dark sky. She already had a dress for the following day's ball. It was a light green dress from the racks that had been put in the common room. Surprisingly she had found a mask that went with her dress and she was thankful. That meant she could go to the ball without having anyone find out about her secret. What would everyone say? Would they laugh and tell her to go back to her room? What would Draco say? Speaking of Draco… where was he?
She turned her head to the side and began surveying the area to see if she could spot the blond Slytherin. Right when she was about to give up, she spotted him running towards her. She felt as the atmosphere around her got stuffy as well as her breathing increasing a bit. She turned away from him and looked down at her hands, wondering if she wasn't a mess with her white pants and matching pajama tank top.
Closing her eyes, she hoped she wouldn't make a fool out of herself and opened them when she felt him sit beside her. His arm was touching hers and she could feel that his skin was warm as well as soft. She felt her stomach squirm at the thought of being able to feel the rest of him and if he hadn't spoken she would have screamed or said something about it.
"I thought you weren't going to be here. I guess I was wrong." Draco looked at her intently before moving his gaze towards the black waters.
Ginny nodded and shrugged. 'Please go to the ball with me! Why do you make me feel like this? You unexpectedly made your way into my heart and now I'm suffering because I can't tell you how I feel.'
"Echo, do you come to Hogwarts?"
Ginny stiffened and her eyes widened when she heard his question. 'Why is he asking me this? Oh no, did he find out about it? No, no, no this can't be happening to me. Shake your head no!'
She shook her head, making a few red strands of hair fall on her face. This made her remember her little fantasy with him pushing her hair back to kiss her. But panic won and she lifted her left hand and pulled her hair off her face and behind her ear. Why was he asking her this?
Draco stared at her with a suspicious gaze. He studied her face before studying the rest of her body. The way she was sitting made it a bit difficult to take a glimpse of her body but from what he could tell, she was small and not to tall. Her hair, he couldn't really tell what color it was since he always saw her at night, but he imagined it was a vivid red when the sun shone on it. He neared his face to hers and examined her face. From the moonlight, he could see that she had no freckles and her lips were round, perfect for biting on. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that because he wanted to find out why he had seen her go into Gryffindor Tower.
"Are you sure, you're not lying to me?"
At this point, Ginny was full of fear. She had just sat there like a deer caught in headlights, waiting for him to stop gazing at her so thoroughly. She wondered how long it was going to take him to tell everyone about her curse. She shook her head again, no I don't go to school here! Believe me and leave me alone!
"Why are you nervous then? You don't like me talking to you?" He scooted even closer to her and locked his gray eyes with her brown ones. He felt an all too familiar feeling and before he could process it, he was startled when Echo got up and began running away from him. "Where are you going?"
Ginny ignored his shout and started running towards the forbidden forest. He knew! He knew that she was Ginevra Weasley. She continued running, until she was sure he wouldn't follow. She became alarmed when she turned around to see which way she had come from. 'Oh no I'm lost. He knows my secret! My family is going to kill me when they find out… if I don't get killed in here first…' She hugged and cursed herself for having worn this attire. She closed her eyes and asked Merlin as well as other gods to guide her the right way. She kicked herself mentally when she remembered that her wand was sitting on her bedside table back in her room.
"Great, I don't have my wand and I'm lost—" She stopped and whipped around right after hearing leaves crunching a few feet away from her. Her heart was now pounding in her chest and she took a step back. The crunching of the leaves got closer and she was frozen on the spot. She couldn't move or even say anything, she just kept staring at the darkness hoping that it was Draco.
"What are you doing here?"
It didn't take a second for Ginny to hesitate when she let out a blood curling scream.
xoxoxoxoxox
Draco was no in his room staring at the open book in front of him. After Echo had run off, he had run after her but gave up when he saw her run into the Forbidden forest. He had remembered his first year experience and decided not to re-live it. Besides, she probably lived in there since she didn't attend Hogwarts, right?
What had happened? He was still asking himself what he had said to make her run off like that. At the memory of her eyes, he felt something inside stir. He had seen those eyes many times before in recent days, but where? He looked down at the book and decided to get his mind off of Echo and on Ginny by reading.
El Cambio de la Dama is also known as The Changing of the Lady. This curse has the power to change an individual with the power of time. A woman is one form in sunlight and another in moonlight. Her true form is not known and can't be known unless the maiden is kissed by someone who truly cares for her. While her virgin lips are touched, the savior must wish for her true form to show. This curse was originated when the wizard, Arles Weaxlees, couldn't court his cousin, Guinevere. He found out that she had married his brother, Hector Weaxlees. Arles said that since Guinevere wasn't his, her beauty wouldn't be anyone else's either. He cursed her by saying that she was only going to share her beauty with the night itself. Their last and only female offspring would be cursed as well but only they could be cured. A simple kiss could break the spell but it couldn't break Guinevere's as she had already encountered her first kiss. This cure is not known to be the true one, but it's the only one witnesses have said they've heard about.
Realization hit Draco as everything he had just read mixed with suspicions he had. He never saw Ginny at night and that day she had punched him, he had seen her right at transformation. Ginny had red hair and Echo had red hair, as well as the brown eyes. Of course! He had seen those eyes in Echo and then Ginny, he recognized them because they were the same ones! That's why Echo had run off to Gryffindor because she was Ginny. No wonder the Mudblood had been looking for this book. She was trying to come up with a solution but he had beaten her to it.
Ginny, where was she now? He jumped off his bed and mounted his broom. He needed to find her and tell her that he knew how to break her spell. It was just one simple kiss. One kiss. He ignored the shouts from Goyle, and flew right out the window towards the Forbidden forest.
Starry: Thanks for reading! This was the longest chapter in this story so far so be happy! Hehe. Please review and tell me your thoughts! Thanks!