Sorry that it took me so long to update this, but I am back in college again, and the work load is crazy. Lit majors do not have it easy, let me tell you. As it just happens, both of the classes that I had today were cancelled, so ya'll got lucky there.
I'd like to thank all the people who have read this, and have left me reviews, even if you didn't leave me a review, thanks for reading . hope you enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter Two
I saw them leaning against the wall from my last class, and I had to fight the smile on my face. The rest of them weren't there, only Ash and Malfoy. They look over at me as I come out of the room, and immediately take up positions on either side of me. I could feel the curious stares of the people in the hallway, wondering what two Slytherins were doing walking down the hallway with a Gryffindor.
"What's up guys?" I ask.
"Well, that little plan that you have, if you want to do it before dinner then you have to tell us what it is that you want us to do, and maybe get our input, seeing as how we all know what makes the Golden Trio, Potty especially, tick," Malfoy says.
They escort me out of the castle to a tree near the banks of the lake, the others sitting there and waiting. The crowd was bigger than it had been in the Room of Requirement.
"What's up with all the people?" I ask, a little nervous.
"Well, Snape came into the common room telling everyone that you wanted to get revenge on Potty for something, and these are the people that we selected out of the volunteers," Ash says, "looks like he's managed to get himself enemies in powerful places."
As we walked over, the people clustering under the tree look up with an expectant look on their face. And the cold anger inside of me gave a little jump for joy. This is going to be so much fun. Malfoy and Ash both lean against the tree, looking at me like the others were, and I knew that this was going to go better than I thought that it would.
"Well, I want to make Potter jealous, really jealous. Show him what he had, that he so casually threw away," I say.
"And I guess that I'm part of that plan," Malfoy says, and I nod at him.
"Ash, if you don't mind asking me, why aren't you following the schools dress code?" I ask her.
"Dumbledore told me not to worry about it for the first week. Considering that it's a Hogsmeade weekend he told me that I could get the appropriate robes then," she answers, lighting a cigarette.
She pushes off of the tree and walks in a circle around me, giving me an appraising look that raised the hair on the back of my neck.
"We're about the same size," she comments off hand, "and since the dress code says that you just have to wear the tie and the robes, who says that you have to wear the exact uniform."
I caught onto her train of thinking.
"As long as it's a skirt and a button down shirt, there's nothing else in the dress code that says what we have to wear," I say, and evil smirk on my face.
"That was your last class, correct?" she asks.
I nod at her, and her smirk matches mine.
I begin to outline the plan to them, and they all caught on rather quickly. Some of them calling out their own suggestions, and after thinking about it, I knew that this was going to be great. The meeting came to an end, and Ash put her arm over my shoulders. I felt the friendly affection flowing from her. She led me down into the dungeons, through the common room where the others were spreading the plan to everyone else. And I realized then, that Slytherin wasn't as bad as I thought it was. They all stood together, against an outside threat, all petty disagreements put aside for the moment.
She led me up a flight of stairs to the girls dorms, throwing open her wardrobe, motioning for me to take a seat on the bed.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask her, "as far as I know, you don't have a personal grudge against Potty and the Golden Trio."
"Things aren't what they seem," she mutters, her hand going to her throat.
I notice for the first time that she's wearing a scarf. I knew that the castle was cold, but not that cold. The weather was quite nice in my own opinion.
"Why are you wearing that scarf?" I ask.
"My own reasons," she answers.
With a little a ha, she pulls out what she had been looking for. It was a button down shirt, like the dress code dictated, but it was artfully ripped in places to show skin of the stomach, and a hint of cleavage. She handed it to me, and then motioned for me to get changed. I loosen the tie at my neck, unbuttoning the shirt that I had been wearing to put this one on. She watches me appraisingly, then goes back into her wardrobe, coming up with a skirt, putting it on the bed for me to change into.
When I finish, she gives a low whistle then moves away from in front of the mirror. I stared at the girl staring back at me. The shirt showed hints of a flat toned stomach and milky white flesh, contrasting nicely with the black shirt. The skirt was the same length as the one that I had been wearing, with belts hanging from it, bringing nice attention to my legs. Slipping the tie back on, I could help but think that a green and silver tie would go so much better with this outfit than my red and gold one.
She motioned for me to turn slowly, and I couldn't help but admire the way that I look. She slips her shirt over her head, and turns her back to me. I couldn't help but wince at the web of scars across her back, crossing the beautiful tattoo on her back. Slipping into a button down shirt and skirt, she turns back to me.
"Ready?" she asks.
"As I'll ever be," I answer.
She leads the way back down into the common room, and I noticed Snape was sitting on one of the couches. He stood up when I walked into the room, giving me an appraising look.
"The outfit suits you, the tie doesn't," he says, his voice silky, "if what the common room is buzzing about, Gryffindor is not the house that you should be in."
"I think that I already told you what house I was supposed to be in," I say casually.
"Yes, and I confirmed the matter with the sorting hat," he replies.
"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to keep the hope out of my voice.
"Well, Dumbledore said that the choice was up to you. Professor McGonagall said that she would support that."
"So, you're telling me that I can be in Slytherin?"
"If that is what you so desire."
I stand there, thinking about it. I could walk out on Gryffindor, and all the high-handed beliefs that it held. The unquestioning adoration of the Prat. Get under his skin even more by walking out on him, into the arms of their archenemies.
"It is," I say, knowing that it was where I was meant to be.
He nods, and I could see the smile on his lips, "your things will be moved after dinner."
Ash' arm lands across my shoulders, "Welcome to Slytherin."
The rest of the Slytherin common room had grins on their faces, a side of themselves that they dared not show the rest of the school. Snape reaches into a pocket of his robe and pulls out a silver and green tie, handing it to her with a small kiss on her cheek.
"Welcome to Slythering, Ginerva," he says softly before exiting the room.
I slip the tie into my pocket, already working it into my plan. The bell rang, signaling that it was time to go to dinner. I close the front of my robes, nod to the others and slip out of the common room. They waited a heartbeat, and then followed her out into the hallway.
Pausing in front of the door to the Great Hall, she slips inside, her face flushed and angry. The rest of the Slytherins come in behind her, led by Malfoy and Ash. She knew that the prats assumed that the reason she was angry was because of them, and they settled back into their meals, trying to ignore the scene that they were making.
She took her usual seat next to Harry, fighting the nausea at being so close to him. He looks up from his plate and tries to put his arm around her, pull her closer to him. She avoids his touch like the plague.
"Do not touch me," I hiss at him.
He gives me a confused look, but I see his eyes stray to the blonde farther down the table. This was the opening that I was looking for. Taking a deep breath, I level the glare that I learned from Mother at him.
"So, the rumors are true then! You are cheating on me!" I yell, loud enough to get everyone's attention. I felt the eyes of the Slytherin on my more than I felt anyone else's eyes. This was the cue that they were looking for.
"What? No! I would never," he tries to cover, looking embarrassed.
"Don't bother trying to deny it, I saw you two in the common room last night," I continue.
Ron looks up from his food, something that I never thought that he would do, and Hermione shoots me a glare to tell me to quit making a scene out of myself.
"So what if he sleeps around a little bit, Gin. It's not like you told him that it was going to be an exclusive relationship," Ron says, automatically siding with Harry.
"And what business is it of yours, who shares my bed or not?" Harry snarls.
"I'm supposed to be your bleeding girlfriend, Harry. Does that mean nothing to you?" I snarl back.
"Well, apparently it meant more to you than it did to me," he answers, his green eyes crackling, "but since you have no proof of this, then we will finish this after dinner, in the common room."
I look around at all of the other Gryffindor's faces, and I could tell that one by one, they all sided with Harry, even though he was the one being unfaithful. I throw myself backwards over the bench, years of Quidditch training keeping me from falling on my arse.
"No Harry, there will be no discussion later. I saw you with my own eyes, this relationship is over. I wash my hands of you," I snarl, reaching up and yanking off the Gryffindor tie and throwing it in his face, shucking my robe and throwing it on the floor. I make to storm out of the room, and Ash stops me before I could reach the end of their table. She rests an easy arm around my shoulders, and I could feel the glare of The bloody prats, and the stares of the rest of the school.
She pushes me into the seat that she had vacated next to Malfoy, sending a glare down the bench. They all hurried to move down one so that she could sit down again. He leaned down like he was whispering in my ear.
"When you took that robe off, I thought that Potty's eyes were going to pop out of his head," he whispers, and I laughed easily.
"I do have Ash to thank for this outfit. I find myself wondering if she'll let me raid her closet more," I answer, looking over at her.
"I think that it could do that," she answers me.
"If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it?" Pansy leans over to ask.
"Made it," she answers her.
"You design clothes?" Pansy asks, a gleam in her eyes.
"Yes, I do. Didn't have much else to do in my spare time," she replies cryptically.
Malfoy sets a plate down front of me, filled with food. I shoot him a suspicious glance.
"We wouldn't poison anyone, at least, anyone in our house," he says smoothly.
I look up when there's movement on the other side of the table. Potty the wonder boy and my brother were standing there, Potty was holding my robe and tie out to me. I glare at him but he doesn't falter.
"Come back where you belong, Gin," he says, holding the clothes out to me.
I make it look like I was thinking about it. Reaching out, I take the robe and empty out my pockets onto the table. Picking up the green and silver tie over my head, I put it on.
"But I am where I belong," I say smoothly.
Ron looks from my tie to my face, turning red.
"What do you bloody think you're doing?" he all but screams at me, "wait 'til what mum and dad hear that you've done. They'll bloody disown you."
"They did all but that once they found out what happened to me after my first year. Thinking that I should have stopped it, that I should have been stronger. If you took your head out of your arse, then I think that you'dve seen it too," I say back to him, deadly calm.
"They must've done something to you. They must've cast some spell to make you think like this," Harry mutters under his breath, taking his wand out of his robes.
Ron follows Harry's lead, leveling his wand at my face. The Slytherin table rises to their feet, but before anyone could be hexed, Snape glides over, a sinister smile on his face.
"What's this boys? Are you harassing the newest Slytherin?" He says in a silky calm voice, his dark eyes cold.
"We were just wondering why my sister is sitting with the snakes, and not in Gryffindor like she'd been sorted," Ron says, glaring at the Professor.
"That, Mr. Weasley, is something that you'll have to talk to Dumbledore about, if your sister has not told you," he says.
I duck quickly as a spell flies over my head, and I glare at Potty.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor for trying to hex another student. And I think that a week's worth of detentions with Filch as well," he sneers.
The boys glare in my direction, then slink back to the Gryffindor table. I let loose the breath that I wasn't aware that I had been holding. I realize that Potty had left my tie and robe on the table, in the hopes that I would take them. I stand up, Ash and Malfoy standing as well. Leaving the Great Hall I keep my chin high, fighting the laughter bubbling up inside of me. Once down in the dungeons safely, I let loose the laughter that I had been holding in.
"You make a damn good Slytherin, glad to have you in our house Ginerva," Malfoy says, resting a light hand on my back.
"Thank you," I answer.
We go into the common room together. I say good night to the two of them, heading up into the girls dorms to get my stuff settled in.
"I would never have thought that she had it in her. Go against Potty and the weasel," I say, sitting in a chair before the common room fire.
"She does have guts. And is cunning as hell," Ash answers, sitting in a chair.
She pulls out a cigarette and lights it. I reach over and pluck it from her hand. She glares at me and lights another one. We sit there in silence for a few minutes.
"Do you think she knows?" I ask her.
"About what she is? I don't think that she knows," she answers.
"Shame that. When are you going to tell her?"
"In time, let her get settled into life as a Slytherin first, and then I'll talk to her about it."
She conjures and ashtray with her wand, flicking her ashes into it.
"What do you think that she meant by almost being disowned by what happened her first year?" She asks me finally.
"I really don't know. Can't say I paid that much attention to her that year," I answer, "I was too busy trying to figure out who the Heir of Slytherin was."
"Right, all that stuff with the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets," she mutters under her breath.
"Why did you tell Dumbledore that you were in America?"
"The best way to explain why I wasn't here the first day of the first year. I don't think that I want to tell him where I really was."
"Isn't there going to be a transcript or something that has to be transferred?"
"Forged one."
"Right. Shouldn't have brought it up."
She gets up and stretches.
"Think that I'm going to go up and call it a night too," she says.
"Night, death," I say absent-mindedly.
"Don't say that where innocent ears can hear you," she whispers, going up the stairs.
I look around sheepishly, before heading up to my dorm as well.