DM

Going back down into the dungeons, Ginny excuses herself and makes her way up to her dorm. Ash nods her head in the direction of mine, an unspoken question. I stand up and make my way towards it, whistling following us. The thought of doing something with her was sickening. I shut the door, casting a silencing spell, and for good measure stuffing a small rag into the keyhole of the door. I wouldn't put anything past the perverts that were downstairs.

I turn as Ash lit a cigarette, blowing smoke rings. Her pack sat on the table; I took one out and lit it myself.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask her.

"I want you to keep a closer eye on the bloody trio and Ginny. They tried something in Hogmesade, I don't want them to have the same opportunity here," she responds coldly.

"If they so much as touch a hair on her head, they're going to pay for it."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you had a crush on fire."

"You tell her this, and I will skin you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Come on, it's not like you can really die anyways."

"You can though."

"You wouldn't. We got horribly off-topic. Ginny's interested me since she's come to Hogwarts. She was nothing like what Weasel King thought she was. I could see the twins in her, more so than the rest of her family. The twins, I respected and out of her entire family, they are the only ones that I would want to talk to. And as far as I noticed, when the rest of her family left her, they stood by her helping as much as they could."

"What happened?"

I sit there and think about it, trying to remember what had happened my second year that would have caused the tight Weasel family to split the way that they did. The opening of the Chamber of Secrets? Could that really have been Ginny? A realization dawned on me, the diary that Father had slipped into her cauldron, it couldn't have been.

"She was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets," I mutter under my breath.

"Honestly, no wonder she has a Slytherin streak a mile wide," Ash jests lightly.

I take a drag, blowing the smoke at my ceiling.



"It's been too long since we've done this," I say.

"We just haven't had the time, and it's not like we don't have a stunning little red-head to think about," she answers.

"Yeah," I mutter before what she said completely sunk in, "you're a bitch."

"I do try."

She conjures an ashtray and stubs out her cigarette, summoning the pack, she lights another before sending it back to the table. She rests her head against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Her hand was unconsciously brushing against the scarf that she still wore covering the scars that the collar had made.

"There's a question that I want to ask you, but I am not sure if I should," I mutter.

"You know that there is no secrets between us, there are only some things that I do not want Ginerva to know, at least right now," she replies.

"What happened to you?"

"Oh, you know my Father; he wanted to keep me under his thumb as much as humanly possible. He tried to break me and he succeeded just not in the way that he wanted to. 'Death has to die thrice.'"

I stand up, tossing my cigarette butt into the fireplace, taking another one and lighting it quickly, "how did it happen?"

She stands up, her cig dangling from her lips. She turns her back and raises the back of her shirt. My stomach clenches at the pale web of scars that line her back. The bastard whipped her to death, at least it was one of them. If he hadn't already been dead, he would have been begging for death long before I granted it to him. Looking down at my watch, I realize that it was time for dinner.

"Do you think that we should go and wake Ginny, its dinner time?" I ask.

"Let her sleep, when she wakes up she'll more than likely make her way to the kitchens," she replies pushing herself up off of the couch.

Descending the stairs, the rest of the common room was empty, already in the great hall.

"Death, do you expect the Potty trio to try and start something tonight?" I ask her, slipping my mask into place.

"Does the sun rise?" she retorts, sweeping through the open doors of the Great Hall, I hurry to keep up with her while she makes her way to the Slytherin table.



I sneak a look at the Gryffindor table, and noticed that two glares were directly at Ash. I nudge her under the table and just motion with my eyes. Something that few would notice, most don't pay attention to the small details. She looks, and a small smirk plays at her lips.

I make myself a plate, keeping my eyes on the morons. Granger, for all that she's worth, and that's not much, was trying to keep them in their seats when they realize that Ginny was not right behind us like she normally was. The attempt to make it to our table is put to an end when Dumbledore rises. An eerie silence falls over the Great Hall immediately, faster than one can use the Silenco charm.

"I know that this is late notice, especially after the first Hogsmeade trip has already passed, but after conferring with my fellow staff members, we have decided that it would be best if we held an All Hallows Eve ball. Also, with the consent of the heads of the houses, there will be another Hogsmeade trip next weekend. Enjoy the rest of your meal," Dumbledore resumes his seat, his blue eyes twinkling, and it seems like it is at us.

"Wonder what the old coot has up his sleeve," I mutter under my breath.

"With the ball announcement," Ash asks, looking up at the staff table.

"No, with the fact that he's staring at us, you in particular."

"Maybe he just can't resist my feminine wiles."

"You have feminine wiles."

"They just don't work on you because you're out of my league. I like my kind short, stupid, and scarred."

I snort into my dinner, catching the jest in her voice. She waits patiently for me to finish eating, then stands up quickly.

"Let's go. The stupidity level is raising, and I for one don't want my IQ dropping," she sneers.

I stand as well. Returning to the Slytherin room, she bades me good night then heads up to her dorm. I knew that she wouldn't be sleeping, she rarely did even when she was younger.

I change quickly, dropping into sleep with dreams filled with a certain fiery red-head.