AN: I'm trying... I'm not all that happy with this chapter... It's the whole public humiliation thing. Well, I hoped it lived up to your standards... Please continue as I begin writing the next chapter.

"Students," the Great Hall immediately fell completely silent, "as you well know, disobedience is prohibited. Punishment varies from student to student, starting at a small detention to means that have been void for several years now. You may be hit, cursed, or such as this case, publically humiliated in front of your peers."

The greatest dark wizard of the century began to circle me, ready to strike and sink his fangs into his victim. Poison would sink its way into my veins and I would soon be just as dead to many of the students as if a basilisk had just bit me.

"Many of you know Ginevra Weasley as the Gryffindor Princess. You think that she is pure and innocent. You believe that the fact that she was re-sorted into Slytherin was a fluke. The truth is… it wasn't.

"Ginevra, here, has no bravery. She hurts herself in order to escape reality. Years ago, she would talk to me, telling me how she was scared of the most trivial things. As a first year, she was still scared of what may be under her bed. She would look under it every night."

"That's a lie." My tone was flat.

"Would you take Veritaserum and still answer the same way?" He turned to look at me; the look on his face could only be described as gloating.

I ground my teeth. "Of course."

"And of course, little Gin-bug, has become a liar. That's what your parents call you, is it not, Gin-bug?" I kept my mouth shut. "Is it true that your brother still goes after any guy that you find to be attractive? Do you still need protecting from boys?" A couple of snickers could be heard. "How would Ronald feel if you told him that you gave your first kiss to the sixteen-year-old version of me? She practically jumped me."

I could feel heat rush into my face. The Gryffindor's were looking at me with a look of betrayal. "I did no—"

"That was after the time that she was still convincing herself that she loved Harry Potter, but truly, compared to me, he was nothing. How was it that you described him? Hair as black as a chalk board and… what was the other part…?"

"Eyes like a fresh pickled toad!" The voice came from the Hufflepuff.

"Ah, yes. That was it. I guess that is pretty hard to forget when it was pretty funny. It was sung too, was it not?"

"Ha. Ha." I wished looks could kill. The prat would be dead several times over by that point.

"When the littlest Weasley entered the Chamber of Secrets, fully aware, she wanted me to hold her hand. She was shaking like a leaf. She still trusted me, even after I had her petrify Hermione Granger. She knew that she did it, but she didn't want to lose her only friend. Still not doing too well in the friend department, are you, Dear?"

My nails cut into my hands, surely leaving small crescent marks. "Piss off."

"That is no way to talk to me." Suddenly, I was hit with the Cruciatus Curse. Surprised, I wasn't able to hold back a scream of agony.

The curse felt even worse than it had the other day. It felt as if my insides were on fire. I couldn't breathe. My body was trying to turn itself inside out as I was being stabbed by invisible swords. Then… it was over.

At some point, I must have fallen over because I was lying on my side. I began to push myself up, ignoring my muscles' screams for me to stop. I could feel warm, sticky liquid that I knew to be blood run down from my palms to the ends of my fingers. After what felt like forever, I was on my feet.

"Let this be a lesson to you all. This is a new age at Hogwarts. Disrespect will not be tolerated. I can be merciful, but only if you earn the right. You may go to your seat at the Slytherin table, Ginevra."

I slowly walked in the direction of the Slytherin table before turning and walking towards the Gryffindor table. Within seconds, Malfoy grabbed my wrist and was leading me back to the Slytherin table. I closed my eyes and slowly let out all of the breath that I had. It was becoming pointless to try fighting them. I wasn't contributing to anything great like Harry was. I would always be poor, pathetic Ginny… and that didn't set right with me.

I wrenched myself out of Malfoy's grip before taking off at a sprint out of the Great Hall. People would talk, but I had to get away. I had to regroup. I needed time to think. There was only one place that I could go now to do that. I ran to the seventh floor, almost blindly. I didn't think about the fact that no one was following me, trying to stun me, or curse me.

I made it to the room with no problem. The room welcomed me, as it did all students that needed it. It was a recreation of the Gryffindor common room. Tears welled up in my eyes; it was the most at home that I had felt since the sorting. I sat down in one of the couches in front of the fire, tears fell and I curled myself up into a ball.

Once I reopened my eyes, I noticed that the Gryffindor colors had faded to green. It was a replica of the Slytherin common room. I also realized… that I wasn't alone.