Full Summary: A spell gone wrong sends Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy back to Hogwarts and into their sixteen year old bodies. While struggling to trust each other enough to find a way back, they must deal with their own moral issues. Can they stop the war before the people they love die or are they fated to watch their history repeat itself.
Pairings: Draco/Ginny, slight Ron/Hermione
A/N: don't own don't sue
The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Called Out in the Dark' by Snow Patrol
Just so you know, Ginny and Harry will not be getting together, even if it is canon. It's a terrible pairing, completely cliché beyond words and I like to pretend that bloody awful epilogue doesn't even exist.
Chapter Two
It's like we just can't help ourselves
'Cause we don't know how to back down
We were called out to the streets
We were called out into the towns
How the heaven's they opened up
Black arms of dazzling gold
With our rain washed histories
When we do not need to be told
Show me now
Show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This my chick, this drunken centrefold
We are listening and we're not blind
This is your life, this is your time
We are listening and we're not blind
This is your life, this is your time
I was called out in the dark
By a choir of beautiful sheets
Now it's the kids took back the parks
You and I were left with the streets
Show me now
Show me the arms aloft
Every eye trained on a different star
This my chick, this drunken centrefold
We are listening and we're not blind
This is your life, this is your time
We are listening and we're not blind
This is your life, this is your time
When the fog cleared Ginny found herself surrounded by strangers. Adult strangers. Ginny was not the screaming type but had she been, she would have been lifting the roof right now. After a few endless moments of sheer paralysing terror, Ginny finally recognised the faces grouped around her. Once the initial shock had worn off, pain raced back into her body. She must have sitting at the table besides her. A chair was thrown backwards and she was sprawled rather indelicately on the floor. Her skirt had hiked up and her hair had fallen out of its pins. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan were leaning over her with concerned expressions. Ginny blinked.
"Dean?" She whispered shakily, reaching out automatically for her boyfriend.
"She's alright." Dean sighed in relief, taking her hand and helping her into a sitting position.
She clung to him briefly, alarmed at the breadth of his shoulders and the confused features so much more mature than she remembered. After a moment she let go of him. She was strong, she wasn't the type to cling to boys for protection. There was a loud ruckus and then Ron burst through the crowd of curious onlookers. He went white when he saw Ginny on the floor. Ginny was moved that little bit closer to tears. Her favourite brother, who she remembered as tall and gangly with a face full of freckles, a mop of unruly hair and a permanently amused expression, had grown into a tall broad man with laughter lines around his mouth and strong shoulders.
As Ron knelt down to check on her, he exposed Hermione behind him. Ginny goggled at her.
"Hermione. You're pregnant!" Ginny blurted out.
They stared at her. Harry had appeared besides Hermione and she could see her other brothers crowding in behind them. There was a commotion and she stared at Draco Malfoy as he emerged, looking immensely dishevelled. He glowered at her and she glared right back. People were fussing around her and he slipped into the crowd with a last glare of loathing over his shoulder. Feeling faint and slightly dizzy, she gained her feet and fled the room.
She dashed past surprised revellers, who grunted at her as she elbowed them out of her way. She practically threw open the bathroom door. She stared at herself in the mirror. She was sickly white under all her freckles but her reflection was not the girl she was used to. She looked… older. Beautiful. Sophisticated. Far from making her feel better this only made her feel much worse. She splashed some cold water on her face with shaking hands.
Hermione waddled into the bathroom, peering at her cautiously.
"Are you alright?" She asked, leaning against the counter.
Ginny nodded. Hermione didn't look convinced.
"I think I must have bumped my head. I'm fine. I think maybe I should go home." Ginny said shakily, unable to look at Hermione in her current state.
It took several long minutes for Ginny to convince Hermione that all she needed was some fresh air and a lie down. She begged Hermione to say her goodbyes. When she got outside she relished the cool air on her burning cheeks. After a second she realised that the bright flame besides her was reflecting off a head of silver hair. They glared at each other in silence. Ginny cast an anxious look over his shoulder and he snorted.
"Don't worry, Weasley. I couldn't exactly take out the entire room without being stopped now, could I? I evaded their notice."
"'Evaded their notice'." She scoffed, tossing back her head. "I bet you did. Creeping around like the slimy snake you are-"
"Snakes aren't actually slimy, Weasley." Draco interrupted icily. "That's a common misconception usually held by particularly stupid people."
"Well you look bloody slimy." She snapped angrily. "Your hair slicked back like you've just been on a date with the Giant Squid."
If she'd noticed that his hair wasn't currently slicked back but brushed into two gleaming wings over his ears, she didn't comment on it. She was feeling a little better actually, this was familiar territory. Fighting and squabbling with Malfoy was as natural to a Weasley as breathing.
"Now listen here, Weasley. I will not be spoken to like that… especially not by some silly red-headed bint with all the charisma of a Chocolate Frog. A squashed Chocolate Frog."
She felt her cheeks flush hotly and gave a little squeak of outrage.
"Don't you talk to me about charisma you nasty little toad. You've got all the charm and grace of a syphilitic goat." She hissed.
"That's rich coming from someone who can't cross the Great Hall without tripping over something." He snarled back at her.
"Well what I may lack on my feet I more than make up for in the air. Which is more than could be said for you. The best place for you to put that expensive broomstick of yours would be right up your-"
"Do we have a problem here?" A voice thundered over them.
They both turned on the intruder with matching furious expressions but they deflated the instant they saw the rather mountainous bouncer squinting down at them. He would have made Crabbe and Goyle look weedy. A group of wizards queuing to get into the bar were gaping at them over his shoulder. Ginny realised how ridiculous they must have looked. Two fully grown adults bickering like children in the middle of the street.
"We're fine." Draco snapped imperiously, gesturing for him to leave with his fingers.
The bouncer stared at him in disbelief, then he drew himself up to his full impressive height.
"Whatever this is. Take it elsewhere. Now." He ordered when Draco opened his mouth furiously.
Draco looked thoroughly prepared to answer back but Ginny grabbed his arm, much more impressive than she remembered it being, and dragged him away. It was difficult going on the cobbles in her heels. If she was used to wearing them now her body hadn't retained the skill and in the end she came to a halt.
"Stupid things." She murmured irritably, tugging off the heels and gripping them in one hand.
To her surprise Malfoy had come to a halt a few steps away and was apparently waiting for her. She ignored him and squinted at the buildings around them. They looked vaguely familiar.
"What are you doing, Weasley?" Malfoy called out to her, his impatient voice echoing around them.
"I don't know where I live, jackass." Ginny screeched, panic surging up through her chest.
She felt faint again. They'd been preparing for a war. She'd grappled with the thought of losing her friends and family, come to terms with the kind of things she might have to do but this was totally beyond her scope. She felt dizzy and she sat down very suddenly on the curb. It was damp beneath her skirt. After a moment a shadow fell over her and she flared up at Malfoy. He was so much taller than she remembered, his shoulders broad and well-structured. She supposed he'd been well built at sixteen, she hadn't really thought about it.
She cast her mind back. The last time she'd seen him was lunch time. She'd been arguing with Dean about something. He'd borrowed her gloves and not returned them. It seemed ridiculously trivial now but she'd been furious then. There had been a lot of noise suddenly and when she'd turned with everybody else Malfoy had been bent double with laughter at something Zabini had said. She hadn't really paid too much attention, it was only Malfoy after all.
The scowl on his face as he glowered down at her was very familiar despite the smooth older features.
"Leave me alone." She snapped venomously, staring down at her bare toes already going numb on the wet cobbles.
"Don't be such a brat." He snarled, reaching down and yanking her up to her feet.
She was so surprised that she didn't even fight back.
"What are you-"
"We're in this together." He gave her a look that told her he didn't hold much hope for their chances. "So let's get on with it."
"Where are we going?"
"Home." He grunted.
She dug her heels into the pavement so suddenly that he almost stumbled. He glared at her. She was shaking her head, the drizzling rain caught in her hair and shone like a net of jewels.
"Malfoy Manor?" She could barely get the words out in her horror. "Death Eater Central? I don't think so."
He could see her bright eyes darting around, calculating how to get away from him. He lifted his eyes and prayed for patience.
"Don't be so fucking stupid!" He snarled. "My parents have a summer home near here."
"Why can't we go to my parents' house?" She threw back at him sharply, her chin tilted stubbornly.
"Like I'm going to walk voluntarily into a Weasley shack."
He saw the familiar anger flare deep in her eyes and her cheeks turned pink. Her painted nails curled into her palms as she balled her little hands into fists. He eyed her warily, wondering how quickly she could get to her wand in a new body.
"Nobody will be there. In case you haven't noticed, Weasley, it's not summer." He pointed up at the sky for emphasis.
She did not like the idea of being alone in a strange place with Draco Malfoy, but she was at a loss. She was tired, the numb shock and adrenaline wearing off and leaving a bone-weary exhaustion in its wake. Maybe she'd wake up and this would all be a dream, she'd be warm and safe in her four-poster anticipating a delicious breakfast and a lazy weekend.
"Well?"
She looked up at him. It was hard to marry the spoiled nasty bully she knew with the Draco Malfoy standing right in front of her. He seemed so cool and self-assured, impatient of course frowning down at her. To her utter amazement, she felt a flicker of trust flare to life in her stomach. He was right. They were in this on their own. She stepped awkwardly into the circle of his arm and they Disapparated.
Ginny kept her eyes squeezed closed tightly, wondering for a moment if the world might be back to normal when she opened them. It didn't work. When she opened her eyes they were standing under a huge oak tree, the branches steadily dripping rainwater down onto them. She squinted. She could just about make out the outline of a rather huge house in the darkness in the distance. It looked cold and forbidding and not particularly pleasant. She followed Malfoy silently through the trees, her bare feet picking delicately.
"Nice place, Malfoy. What's your winter home a castle in Transylvania?"
His grey eyes slid sideways, his surprisingly long lashes star-fished in the rain.
"A ranch in the mountains, actually."
She glared at him. They reached the front doors with no interruptions and she peered around disappointedly.
"I kind of thought it'd be a lot more difficult to get into a Malfoy-occupied stronghold."
"If I hadn't been here you wouldn't have made it within fifty years, Weasley." He sneered, putting one broad white hand flat against the mahogany door.
Whatever complex magic was happening, there was no indication of it but the doors swung open silently and he stepped over the threshold. Ginny took a deep breath and followed him.
mrs. c – here's more :)
Queen of Night – thanks a lot, here's an update for you