A/N: Just to warn you, this chapter does include some language eluding to possibly triggering content. A touch of fun, and then it gets a little dark.

-.


Chapter 9: I Know What I Did Last Summer

"Oi, Red!"

It wasn't until Ginny heard the footsteps jogging to catch up with her that she realized the boy had been addressing her. She turned, curious to see who might have adopted this new nickname for her, and found herself mirroring the boy's laughing smirk. "Zabini – I have to admit, I didn't think you'd ever be calling me out," she cocked a hip back, shifting her bag over one shoulder as she eyed him with a mix of amusement and suspicion. She'd assumed that night in detention had been a flirtation of convenience – she'd never really expected to talk to him again, although she'd passed him a few times and they'd exchanged smug smirks.

"Well, Weasley, if you hadn't ignored me earlier, I wouldn't have needed to," he jibed, playfully.

Ginny let her confusion show slightly, not entirely sure what he was talking about, but when he shrugged it off, she returned the gesture. "What can I help you with?" she asked, not unkindly, glancing at her watch to see how much time she had before class started.

When she looked back up, he was giving her an incredulous look. "Wasting your time, am I?" he ribbed, and Ginny rolled her eyes but tucked the offending wrist under her bag strap. Once she was satisfactorily refocused on him, he allowed himself to continue, shifting slightly.

Ginny had the distinct feeling that whatever minor adjustment he'd made had brought him much closer to her than he had been a second ago, and she was reminded of how he'd tricked her into an embrace during her detention. She gave him a look that made it quite clear that she saw what he was doing, but didn't explicitly call him out on it. Truth be told, she didn't mind all that much. She liked flirting, just not the male entitlement that tended to go along with it, so she'd lately stopped flirting with most boys. Zabini, though, held no threat. Or, at least, she'd thought he hadn't.

"I'm having a party this weekend."

She raised an eyebrow at that. So much for no threat.

"It'll be in Hogsmeade, so no worries about getting yourself another detention," he shot her a sly grin, his voice lowered as she felt his breath skitter across her skin not unpleasantly, harkening back to the previous detention (which Ginny refused to blush over). When she didn't object, he continued, "Saturday, 9 o'clock, in the dormer across from the Shrieking Shack." He didn't need to say it very loudly, close as he was, but he raised his voice as he began to lean away, "It's a fancy dress party – all sorts are invited." Before she had a chance to ask for any more information, he was already a couple of steps down the hall, "Be there!" He shot her a grin as he pointed to her in mock command, disappearing around the corner.


That weekend was Halloween. Or, more specifically, that Friday was Halloween. That night the Great Hall was all decked out with pumpkins and candles and streamers and bats, as was the annual tradition. The feast was full of delicious specialties, and the whole Hall seemed jovial. Ginny was prodding at a pumpkin flan as she joked with her friends Natalie Fairborne and Vina Zae, but faltered as she caught a pair of baby blue eyes staring at her from the Ravenclaw table.

Noticing, Vina followed Ginny's gaze. The coffee-skinned girl seemed about to say something to her ginger friend, but frowned at the odd look on Ginny's face. "…Ginny?"

Nat caught on, her straight brown hair whipping around as she snapped her head to look at the object of Ginny's gaze. "Ooh-" she turned back to Ginny, excitedly, and then caught on to the same edginess her friend had noticed. "What's going on with you and Stephen?" She had gone from gossip-happy to concerned, something Ginny would usually appreciate, but the redhead was less eager to share on this particular occasion.

Ginny had smiled tentatively, but then looked away from her… friend? She'd gone slightly pale, which had drawn her housemates' attention. "It's nothing," she waved a hand, dismissively, and tucked in to the flan in front of her.

Vina wasn't put off so easily, resting her elbow on the table as she watched her redheaded friend with unflinching scrupulousness. "Weren't you two flirting a lot at the end of last year?" She asked, carefully, shooting a wary glance over Ginny's head to Nat.

"Yeah," Nat agreed, nodding, her green eyes confused, "you said you'd hung out over the summer before the camping trip, but since school started-"

"We kind of drifted apart," Ginny interrupted them, making it clear she didn't want to talk about it. "I mean, we're still friends," she sounded slightly defensive, as she glanced back at the brown-haired boy, who had returned to laughing with his friends at the Ravenclaw table, "We just don't really hang out much."

The truth behind her relationship with Stephen Cornfoot was a bit more complex, and it was something she'd been trying not to think about. It wasn't all that hard to distract herself, to be honest. She focused her attention on the start of her sixth year, on classes, on fun activities, on books, or games with friends, or quidditch… she just wouldn't think about it. And yet sometimes it crept its way back into her head, and she had to keep reminding herself that they'd settled it, he'd apologized, they'd made their amends, swore it would never happen again, and gone back to being just friends. But when it came to tug at the corners of her subconscious, once a week or so, she drowned out the doubt with insistence of certainty and blatant distractions.

Ginny and Stephen had gotten to know each other around the same time Ginny had met Michael Corner. While Ginny and Michael were dating, she'd occasionally tag along when he was with his fellow Ravenclaws, and that's how Ginny and Stephen got to talking. They'd always had a decent rapport, and actually managed to form a very trusting friendship. The previous summer they'd hung out a lot. Their close friendship, which had always held a small touch of it, began to teeter on the edge of flirtation. They began to share secrets, and their late-night conversations became less and less friendly and more and more… something else.

Then, in late July, when she'd managed to get her parents' permission to go on a camping trip with several of her friends and some of their parents, they'd gotten closer than anticipated. Following a late-night oversharing session of teasing, flirting, and the divulging of sexual fantasies, they'd enjoyed an awkward (though basically enjoyable) snogging session. …Ginny may have possibly gone a bit further. But she had changed her mind partway through and… well, suffice it to say, she woke the next morning conflicted.

She didn't like to think about what happened that night. She didn't go as far with him as she had with Dean last year, so it wasn't that. She just… she just didn't like what she'd done, and she didn't want to think about it.

Her friends shared a concerned glance, but dropped the subject, and Ginny purposefully turned her thoughts elsewhere.


A/N: More will come out about the incident between Stephen and Ginny later on in the story. Just to make it clear: Stephen is not a villain! He's a decent, nice guy! The incident in question is rather complex, with guilt carried on both sides, as will be explained later on.

And I promise it will lighten up in the next couple of chapters! There's a party to attend, after all!

Please please please shoot me a review regarding this addition to the story: I want to know how much I should talk about it, or if this little mention was enough.

Thanks to everyone for reading - Turner