Chapter 3: Getting the facts straight
The teenagers in the room stared at Ginny Weasley as if she had grown another head. Harry asked totally perplexed. "Come again?!"
The redheaded girl in the hospital bed glared at him. "Are you deaf or what?!" Pointing at Draco Malfoy to her left she repeated slowly so that the last would understand it. "I said I don't want to see your faces. I want him. Draco. Got it?!"
Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other. "Did she just say Draco?!!"
The boy in question wasn't quite sure what was going on. 'Is this a joke? Or did she hit her head just a bit too hard? Why is she staring at me like that?' He had to resist the urge to step back but there was no way he would show his uneasiness in front of his enemies. Luckily he was saved though.
"My my. This is indeed interesting." The headmaster had appeared out of nowhere in the room.
"Dumbledore!" Harry burst out and ran over to the old man. Hermione who had been too shocked and hurt to say anything else so far had come to a conclusion. "Headmaster. Malfoy has done something to Ginny. He must have bewitched her. She would never ever say the things she just did."
The old man nodded. "Indeed Miss Weasley seems to have experienced quite a change in attitude. If you don't mind I'd like to talk with her under four eyes." Harry and Hermione looked unhappy about the request but knew it would be in vain to argue. Dragging the silent Ron with them they were followed all too eagerly by Draco Malfoy and his sidekicks. Relieved to be out of the infirmary they made their way as quickly as possible to their common room each of them thinking about the weird behavior of the youngest Weasley.
In the meanwhile Dumbledore had inquired of Ginny's health and offered her a lemon drop which she politely declined. "Well, would you like to tell me what happened?"
The girl sighed. "Look, I fell. Now my head is hurting like crazy and as soon as I came to those idiots were bothering me."
"You mean Mr. Malfoy and his friends?" Dumbledore asked carefully.
Ginny looked at him as if he has lost his marbles. "No! Of course not, I'm talking about Potter and his sidekicks. It was probably them who got me in here in the first place. Then they wanted to see me in my helpless state." Ginny looked definitely upset.
"Now now, my dear. Calm down. I think you misunderstood. I am sure your brother only wanted to help."
"Exactly if Draco wouldn't have been here who knows what could have happened."
Dumbledore stilled. "Are you implying that you and Mr. Malfoy are related? Tell me what your name is."
Ginny stared hard at him. "Headmaster. I know I hit my head but I know quite well who I am. Ginevra Malfoy which makes me the sister of Draco Malfoy. Maybe you should go and have your head examined." She added nastily.
Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Oh dear, that's even worse as what I have expected."
"Excuse me. Just what are you getting at?" It was obvious that Ginny was annoyed. "Would you mind leaving me alone now? I would like to rest."
Dumbledore nodded. "Of course Miss um Malfoy. Have a good rest." The old man got up and trudged over to Madame Pomfrey who waited in her office. He quickly informed her of the turn of events. The nurse asked curiously as what to do next. "Obviously she suffers from some kind of brain damage as I couldn't detect any kind of magic. What do you think Poppy?" Dumbledore plopped a new lemon drop in his mouth. It was easier to think that way."
Madame Pomfrey shook her head. I did a thorough check-up. There is nothing wrong with her brain. Though I think she suffers from a concussion. But that doesn't explain the shift in her memories."
"Hm, I think we need some time to figure this out. We should keep a close eye on her for the time being."
The nurse nodded but frowned suddenly. "There's a problem though. I can't keep Miss Weasley forever in the infirmary and I strongly advise against telling her any upsetting news. If we tell her that she is not who she thinks she is, it could lead to a psychological trauma. There could be done serious damage to her personality."
Dumbledore sighed. "I see. Now that complicates matters of course. Well, I guess we have no other choice as to make the Weasley a Malfoy."
Pomfrey's eyes widened. "What?! How can we do that? She believes it but what about the rest of the school?"
"I think I just know the right charm to make everyone believe that Ginny is actually a Malfoy. As long as the kids are in school everything should be fine." The old man smiled secretly.
"What about the children? They have witnessed everything. I wouldn't recommend meddling with their memories. They are too strong."
Dumbledore stroked his beard. "I will have to talk to the Weasley's, Harry, Ron and Hermione. As for Mr. Malfoy," he frowned, „I will have to think about something suitable to convince him to go along with our wishes." Dumbledore sighed and vanished to his office while Madame Pomfrey rushed to a very impatient young lady complaining about pains in her neck, head etc. 'Very Malfoyish indeed!' groaned Madame Pomfrey inwardly.
In the meanwhile Dumbledore had called Draco Malfoy and his two companions in his office. Mustering the three fifteen year old boys in front of him, he wondered, how they all got into this kind situation. He just hoped that the youngest Weasley was not once again victim of a deatheater plan. Dumbledore cleared his throat and started to relate as best as he could as to what was going on.
Draco Malfoy on the other hand had other worries. He had been suspicious as soon as he entered the office of the old headmaster. The Malfoy heir had seriously thought that the old man had bought his lies. Usually he could be quite convincing and more trouble was just too much to bear right now. 'Well, let's hear what the old man has to say.' He put on one of his most bored expressions possible and proceeded to listen.
"Well boys, I have some serious news for you as well as a very favorable proposition. As you all know Miss Weasley had a very unfortunate accident this evening." Dumbledore looked deeply into the boys eyes and Draco felt his cronies shaking in their boots.
'He doesn't know. He cannot bloody know about this.' Draco shanted in his mind trying in vain to get rid of his goose bumps.
"This accident seemed to have caused a disturbance in her brain with the result that it affects her memory and her personality. So to speak she does not think of her as Ginny Weasley anymore." Dumbledore looked at the boys to see if they could follow him.
The three teenagers stared back at him. Finally Crabbe asked, "If she doesn't see herself as a Weasle, then just who…"
"…does she think she is?" finished Goyle. Replaying the scene in the infirmary, they almost jumped out of their chairs and chorused in unison: "A Malfoy?!"
The blonde in question snorted. "No way! This is totally ridiculous. A Weasley as a Malfoy? Two words one shouldn't even mention in the same sentence." Draco spat annoyed.
"Unfortunately Miss Weasley thinks differently and Madame Pomfrey suspects a major trauma if we tell her the truth now."
"So what?! That girl is none of my business." The blonde almost shouted. Sometimes it was just hard to keep ones manners when confronted with so much idiocy.
"Yeah, none of our business," his friends chorused beside him.
Dumbledore smiled at the three. "Well, I think you made it your business when you were so worried for our dear Miss Weasley maybe an hour ago." The old headmaster looked meaningful at them.
'He knows. God damnit!' Draco swore in his head. 'And to top it off he's trying to blackmail me.'
Dumbledore smiled wisely at them. "I know you are a very responsible prefect Mr. Malfoy. You wouldn't want to give your father any troubles now would we?!" Draco Malfoy knew he had lost - at least for the time being. He hated to play along with Dumbledore but he remembered the last talk he had with his father very clearly. No screw ups this year. Right now he had no other choice than to play along, he just hoped that Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't mess anything up. The blonde leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "What do we have to do?"
"Not much." Dumbledore smiled that secretive smile again. "You just have to pretend that Ginny is your sister and a Slytherin for the time being. Keep an eye on her. It'll be easy. When you three wake up tomorrow morning, you'll see what I mean."
With that he let the boys go. "Why did you go along with his wishes? I'm sure our fathers could get us out of this." Crabbe asked discontented. "I don't want to watch that Weasley girl."
Draco waved his hand to silent him. "I want to be a Weasley babysitter as much as you do. But you know what is at stake this year. We cannot afford to burden our parents with this crap. We take care of this ourselves. Anyway." He brightened suddenly. "We have a Weasley to play with and Potter, the Weasel King and the Mudblood can do nothing but watch." Laughing nastily the three made their way to their common room.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
I'm still getting used to the characters so please bear with me. Please let me know how I did.