As with the previous chapter, there are some direct quotes from the series. This time from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, chapter twenty four, Sectumsempra.
Descent
"When we came back the next year, he was different. He came to the first few of my lessons and then just stopped turning up. Every time he saw me, he would insult me somehow, but it was … different. There wasn't the mean spirit he had before, but he was also colder.
"I didn't see him on the train to Hogwarts. Harry said he stayed in his compartment with Parkinson. I didn't really want to see him either; he had been a real bastard. I didn't have the chance to look for him anyway. Slughorn dragged me into his little Slug Club meeting."
"Slug Club?" Angie asked slowly, eyebrows raised, a small smile on her face.
"Yes," Ginny answered with a roll of her eyes. "Slughorn gathered anyone he thought was going to be someone or who had connections, like Zabini was there because of his mum. Harry was there, well because he's Harry."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Gin," Angie began, a full-blown grin on her face. "Why the hell were you in the 'Slug Club'?" she mocked.
Ginny glared at her, playfully shoving her arm. "I hexed this guy Smith and Slughorn saw me. Thought I showed 'great potential'. I think I became even more appealing when he started to hear about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."
"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"
"Oh right, sorry. Yeah, the twins, Fred and George, started a joke shop. They started inventing in their fifth year, except mum doesn't know that. She thinks they only really started their sixth year, when they moved onto things that exploded. She's at a loss as to how they can come up with all these different concoctions for their sweets, yet they could only manage three O.W.L's each. Like Canary Creams," Ginny said, suddenly animated as she talked about her brothers, bringing a smile to Angie's face. "Little bit of that in a biscuit and you turn into a giant, yellow canary.
"I couldn't enjoy half their products at first though," Ginny continued darkly. "I was their guinea pig for a while, when Hermione stopped them using first years. I was the easiest to hold down, apparently. It's not funny!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Gin," Angie said, not sounding remotely sorry as tears of mirth began to leak out of her eyes.
Ginny scowled at her, crossing her arms over her chest.
"My nose bled for six hours before they worked out why I reacted differently to them!"
That admission only made Angie howl with laughter, grasping her stomach in an ineffective attempt to stave off her laughter. Ginny's scowl only seemed to heighten her amusement. Ginny rolled her eyes and attempted to maintain her fierce scowl as laughter bubbled through her.
"If you're quite finished?" Ginny sniffed, a grin breaking over her face. Angie shook her head. "Fine, I'm getting some more chocolate then."
Ginny stomped lightly to the kitchen, rummaging through Angie's cupboards to find the block of chocolate she knew must be there somewhere. She found a block of top-deck chocolate, and ripped the paper and foil off, placing the broken block on the plate. She momentarily considered leaving half the block in the kitchen considering they were on their second block of chocolate for the night, but quickly dismissed the thought, happily popping a piece in her mouth. One could never have too much chocolate.
When she returned to the lounge room, she found a somewhat sobered Angie eagerly awaiting the chocolate and remainder of Ginny's tale in equal measure. Ginny curled herself up on the couch, resting her arms on a pillow on her lap.
"So where were you?" Angie asked, waggling her eyebrows. "Have we reached the sex yet?"
Ginny shot her a false look of mortification, before laughing lightly. "No not yet. I'm only in fifth year."
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"All right, I'm going!" Ginny bellowed as she rushed out of Moaning Mrytle's bathroom, a small pool of water creeping out from under the door. "No wonder the bloody bint never had any friends," she muttered as she began to stalk down the corridor, shaking the water from her shoes. Having covered no more than ten feet, Ginny stopped in a huff, took her shoe off, and began muttering drying charms over her sodden foot.
"Weasley," a voice barked from behind her making her jump. She spun around.
"Merlin, Malfoy," she gasped, her hand over her chest, her heart racing and breathing slightly frantic. "Make noise when you walk, scuff your shoes or something, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"What are you doing here?" he said angrily, glaring at her and clenching his wand by his side.
"I was going to the bathroom," she replied equally as angry. How dare he question her. She had every right to be here.
"No one uses that loo," he spat, gesturing to Moaning Myrtle's rapidly flooding bathroom.
"Take a Calming Draught already, Malfoy!" she gasped exasperatedly, looking at him in disbelief. "I was busting, and this was the closest loo. Why do you care anyway?" she asked suddenly. "It is the girls' bathroom."
He stared at her for a fraction too long before answering. "I am a Prefect," he said quickly, but pompously, causing Ginny to roll her eyes. That was his excuse for everything.
"It is my responsibility to regulate any suspicious behaviour from students and frequenting an ill used bathroom would constitute suspicious behaviour, especially from you, Weasley."
"What do you mean 'especially from me'?" Ginny asked, mouth agape. "I'm very well behaved."
Draco just looked at her, eyebrows raised. Ginny stared resolutely back, her arms crossed defiantly. Draco cocked his eyebrow anew, shooting her a questioning look.
"I'm moderately well behaved," she amended, throwing her arms in the air dramatically with a sigh and roll of her eyes. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I can be where ever I bloody well want," he answered hotly.
"Well, so can I!"
They glared at each other, a silent battle of wills ensuing, neither wanting to be the first to break eye-contact. The bell rang, echoing through the corridors, the sound of shuffling feet and chairs grating on stone floated towards them. Ginny swore violently. She was going to be late for Herbology … again. Draco smirked as she hurriedly put her shoe back on, hopping on one leg as she did so.
Laces undone, she took off down the corridor, slipping inelegantly on her shoelaces, flailing to keep her balance; her bag slipped down her arm and trailed along the floor behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, anticipating some scathing comment from the blond, but he wasn't there. She peered down the corridor unable to find any trace of him. Shrugging, she continued down to the greenhouses, rushing to her lesson.
She didn't see much of him outside the Great Hall. He had come to the occasional piano lesson out of habit, she supposed, in the first few weeks of term, but his presence had become more and more intermittent, until he stopped showing up altogether. She found she missed his caustic remarks. She had become used to him being around and now he was more like a zombie.
The odd feeling of yearning to see him became highly irritating the longer he stayed away from her. It didn't make sense; she didn't even like the pillock!
She watched him from across the Great Hall as he picked at his dinner, his face pale and drawn. He gave a tight smile as Parkinson attempted to draw him into a conversation she was having with Zabini and Goyle. He kissed her cheek lightly and whispered something in her ear, which caused her to pout at him, before he got up, leaving his plate untouched.
Shovelling the last of her steak and kidney pie into her mouth and grabbing a couple of bread rolls, Ginny made her excuses to the increasingly aggravating Dean. Honestly, she was glad classes had started again and she had an excuse not to be able to spend time with him.
She followed Malfoy at a distance, dodging around those hurrying through the halls to dinner. He pushed past the thinning crowd towards the library, and disappeared from view, weaving between the stacks. Ginny growled slightly as she prowled the stacks attempting to locate him.
As she neared the back of the library, usually reserved for couples' rendezvous, a harassed looking Ravenclaw pair rushed past her, muttering about dirty, foul mouthed Slytherin gits. Glancing around furtively, Ginny snuck up behind Draco.
"What'cha doin?" she asked cheekily, peering over his shoulder.
Draco slammed the book he was flicking though shut, hiding the cover with his arms.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Weasley?" he whispered furiously.
"What are you reading?" she asked curiously, slipping into the chair beside him and reaching for the book under his arms.
"That's none of your business," he snapped, stuffing the book into his bag. He swung the bag over his shoulder and made to leave, the fierce scowl that he seemed to reserve for only her and Harry plastered to his face. She lifted herself from the chair, standing directly in front of him, blocking his path. He made to move around her and she dodged in front of him.
"Move, Weasley," he said threateningly, reaching into his robe for his wand.
"Why didn't you play in the last Slytherin Quidditch game?" she asked ignoring his command. "It's not like you to miss a chance to lose to Harry."
"I said move," he bit out, leaning down in order to get right into her face, his nose a parchment's width away from hers.
She felt his breath, coming in short angry bursts, on her face. "And what's with the first years you always seem to have around you?"
"Weasley," he warned, pulling his wand out and digging it into her stomach.
Ginny glanced down at the wand, the tip disappearing beneath the fabric of her robes. She glared up at him, whipping her wand out of her back pocket and running it up his thigh.
"Malfoy," she said, mimicking his tone. "And all the different girls," she continued. "Doesn't Parkinson get jealous?"
He dug his wand harder into her stomach, cocking his head to the side and glaring down at her.
"Think about it, Malfoy," she whispered, her head tilted up towards his face, twisting her wand into his flesh, and moving it slightly towards the inside of his thigh. "Who can do more damage?"
He dropped his wand from her stomach, and took a step back, pocketing his wand.
Ginny raised her wand slightly before lowering it with a speculative look at Malfoy, and dropped it into her robe pocket.
"Why are you so … subdued?" she asked, holding his steely gaze. He met her gaze with cold fury, a sneer etched so deeply on his face she feared that the ugly expression would be permanently fused to his features. "Harry's got it in his head that you're the reason why Katie was cursed and Ron was poisoned," she informed him.
He surged forward, grasping her upper arms, and before she had a chance to do more than gasp, he slammed her back against the bookshelf. He forced his knee between her legs, hoisting her up. His fingers dug into her upper arms as he held her in place, her face level with his.
"Get your freckled nose out of my business," he hissed into her scared, but contemptuous face. "Unless you want to experience a very painful accident. Do I make myself clear?"
She glared at him, refusing to give him an answer. His face contorted as a fresh wave of anger lit up his eyes and he shook her fiercely, the movement knocking books from the shelves.
"I said," he said slowly, his voice now soft and calm, but with a dangerous gilt to it. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," she hissed, glaring at him. "Let go of me."
He pulled away from her, his fingers uncurling from her arms, and she dropped to the floor. Ginny watched as he stormed out of the library, his robes billowing behind him ominously; the swirl of black encasing him.
Ginny rushed out of the library to her dormitory fuming. How dare he do that to her, that self obsessed jerk. She was still breathing heavily as she gave the password to the Fat Lady, and avoiding Dean, made her way up to her dormitory. As she lay on her bed, she wondered when she had started shaking.
Ginny avoided Malfoy in the following weeks; ducking out of view when she passed him in the corridor, and sitting with her back to Slytherin table when in the Great Hall.
Occasionally though, she looked around for him; just to check he was still there. Increasingly, to her frustration, he wasn't. He wasn't there that night and Ginny found that, after finding no trace of neither Malfoy, Crabbe nor Goyle, she didn't feel much like dessert.
She made her way back to Gryffindor Tower sitting herself down beside Ron, who was talking quietly with Hermione, trying to ignore the whisperings of the castle.
Harry Potter had attacked Draco Malfoy.
Harry came back to the common room after being summoned by McGonagall, pale and quiet, dodging the curious glances, furious glares from the Quidditch team, and barely concealed glee from McLaggen. Ginny sat quietly as Harry gave his version of events in the bathroom, as well as his meeting with McGonagall. He wouldn't meet her eyes.
"I told you there was something wrong with that Prince person," Hermione hissed the second Harry had stopped talking. "And I was right, wasn't I?"
They continued to argue over the book, each becoming increasingly more incensed at the other and convinced that they were right, but Ginny was only dimly aware they were still talking. Harry had almost killed Malfoy. Malfoy had almost tortured Harry.
Her own version of events played on a loop through her head, clarifying with every detail Harry gave. Malfoy raising his wand to curse Harry unprovoked and Harry defending himself with the Prince's spell. She saw blood spraying across the bathroom, sending Moaning Myrtle into a spin. You had to mean Unforgivables. Maybe Malfoy wouldn't have been able to curse Harry, so that meant that Harry had viciously attacked Malfoy with very little provocation … but Harry wouldn't do that … Malfoy would have cursed him though. He had scared her, bruised her, without a second thought, so who knows what he would have done to Harry … but he had been crying.
It made her head spin. Ginny closed her eyes, exhaling heavily, and she forced her imagination to the shadowy domains of the back of her mind.
"-got a reputation for Potions brilliance you don't deserve," Hermione said nastily, tearing at Ginny's fragile nerves.
Harry finally looked up at her as she snapped at Hermione.
"Give it a rest, Hermione," she exclaimed exasperatedly. "By the sound of it Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!"
"Well, of course I'm glad Harry wasn't cursed," Hermione exclaimed, a hurt look of her face, stunned at Ginny's tone. "But you can't call that Sectumsempra spell good, Ginny, look where it's landed him! And I'd have thought seeing what this has done to your chances in the match-"
"Oh, don't start acting as though you understand Quidditch," Ginny spat, "you'll only embarrass yourself."
Ginny glared resolutely at a spot just past Ron, who after sharing a glance at Harry, hurriedly picked up the closest book, Ancient Runes: A guide to unlocking the secrets of the past, and disappeared behind it, apparently enthralled, as he sat in that position for the next half hour, hiding himself from view. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat looking from her to Hermione, who was determinedly glaring the other way. He kept trying to catch her eye, but Ginny kept her eyes firmly plastered on the wall behind Ron.
The other students gave them a wide berth out of equal fear of Harry's reaction and the combined fury of Ginny and Hermione's wrath. Neville momentarily made to stop as if to talk to them, but took one look at Ginny's face and suddenly took a sharp left, colliding with Seamus. It was then Ginny decided that she was going to bed. She gave Neville a small smile as she passed, which he returned almost fearfully, before she took the steps two at a time.
She laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, utterly convinced that the stone had just moved, when she decided that perhaps sleep would be hard to come by tonight. Her dorm mates were fast asleep, their breathing becoming slow and deep more than an hour ago. Ginny huffed, scowling at the slab of stone that was now taunting her with its stillness. It was all bloody Malfoy's fault that she couldn't sleep. Bugger him. When had she started to care whether he lived or died?
Cursing his name, she quickly threw on a pair of trousers and pulled a dressing gown over her pyjama shirt, and crept out of Gryffindor Tower. She slinked down the darkened hallways, ducking behind a tapestry as Mrs. Norris strolled past her. The suspicious cat stopped fleetingly to sniff the air. Ginny held her breath, letting it out in a relieved sigh as the dreaded feline disappeared around the corner, tail in the air.
She cringed as the hospital wing's door squeaked, quickly slipping inside and closing them slowly. Scanning the room, her eyes fell on Malfoy, who lay in fitful sleep, separated from the other patients.
"Malfoy," she hissed, pulling the blinds closed, glaring at them as the metal rings grated on the frame. "Malfoy, wake up."
She shook him softly by the shoulder, hoping fervently that he was adequately healed so that she wasn't hurting him. He batted her hands away clumsily as he woke, his eyes narrowing as they became accustomed to the darkness of the hospital wing.
"Weasley, what are you doing here?" he sneered, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Come to finish the job your boyfriend started?"
She scowled at him. "No," she spat. "I came to see what the hell you thought you were doing using an Unforgivable on him. And he's not my boyfriend," she added after a moment.
"Not for lack of trying," he snorted. "And it was self defence."
"You," she began louder than was strictly safe. She leaned into him. "You started it!" she exclaimed in a whisper.
"Precious Potty tried to kill me," he spat, glaring at her, his lip curled in distain. "It was lucky Moaning Mrytle was having a dry day other wise I'd be worm food right now."
"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped nastily. "If he'd killed you, you'd be in Saint Mungo's morgue right now."
Ginny took a deep breath. It was no good attacking him like she had, no matter how much the tosser deserved it; it would only make him defensive. She began again, softly, trying a new tact.
"Malfoy, what were you doing in the bathroom?" she asked, not daring to meet his eyes, but unsure as to why. She waited with bated breath, not one hundred per cent certain she really wanted to know the answer, but she had learnt that hard way that ignorance was only bliss for those who wish to be deceived.
"None of your business," he snapped quickly. He seemed to be telling her that a lot lately. Bloody annoying.
"Harry said," she faltered, taking a deep breath before she continued in a soft, questioning voice. "Harry said you were crying?"
"I bloody well was not," he exclaimed in horror. "Malfoys do not cry," he said as if that ended any argument one might have.
"Malfoy," she whined, "stop being so difficult and tell me why your vampire-y arse was crying in Moaning Mrytle's bathroom."
"Vampire-y?" he repeated sceptically, eyebrows raised.
"You know because you're so pale," she offered weakly, gesturing in the general direction of his head.
"That would be the blood loss."
Ginny balked slightly, only now noticing that his torso was thicker than usual and white bandages could be seen between the buttons of his thin pyjama shirt. Oh god, her mind screamed, he almost died.
"Not up to your usual standard," he continued calmly, pulling the blankets as high as he could, without making it obvious that was his intention to hide his chest, and maintaining the façade that her mortified stare didn't make him uncomfortable.
"Oh, um," she stuttered finally as he stared at her as if to force her to make some kind of noise with the sheer power of his mind. "Right, well, I-I think I'm losing my edge, I, umm, have no one to, er, sharpen my claws on," she finished rather lamely. She pulled the small white chair that sat at the foot of his bed closer to him and sat down, crossing and uncrossing her legs under his gaze. "You stopped coming to my lessons," she blurted out, instantly regretting every having opened her mouth.
"I wasn't required to attend anymore," he said simply, with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yeah, I 'spose."
They sat in awkward silence, their eyes darting around the small room created by the wall of curtain. The silence was broken only by the rich snores of the boy closest to them. Ginny's eyes widen slightly, and she ducked her head quickly, as her ever roaming gaze accidentally passed through the path of Malfoy's.
"So, um, you heard Snape gave Harry detention every Saturday for the rest of the year?" she asked clumsily, staring at a spot just past his cheek, unable to endure the tense silence any longer.
"Oh, yeah, Ravenclaw will flatten you," he said with a half-hearted sneer.
"You said that last year," she replied with a small smile that he returned tentatively.
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"Except Ravenclaw didn't flatten us," Ginny told Angie happily. "I caught the Snitch and we won the Cup."
"So that's when you and Harry got together?"
"Yeah," Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. "He kissed me after the match. In front of everyone. Hard to believe that I was so happy about it."
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Ginny sat quite contentedly in her piano lesson, pleasantly distracted.
"Ginevra, focus please," William said, taking a deep breath. "Mr Potter is not within sight and should not be able to so thoroughly distract you. You have another thirty minutes left of your lesson, which is costing me many Galleons, I would appreciate it if you concentrate."
"Sorry, William," Ginny apologised, without a hint of remorse. She hadn't thought she was that distracted. It was just she and Harry, Harry and her … together, was still so new, and everything was exciting.
It had been two weeks since he had kissed her after the Quidditch match and Ginny couldn't have been happier, although a little less time with Ron would have been nice. She didn't know how Harry put up with Ron and Hermione. She rather enjoyed being with them in the holidays, and she loved them both dearly, but Ron and Hermione's bickering seemed to increase as soon as they entered the castle. It had gone from being cute and amusing, to down right annoying. On top of that, Ron keep shooting her small satisfied smirks that spoke of approval and then hastily looked away in embarrassed disgust, whenever Harry touched her.
As her lesson came to a close, with not much more accomplished, a thoroughly haggard William, shooed her from the music room with a wave of his hand, lamenting that if he was still able to feel pain, he was sure she had just given him a migraine.
She walked out of the double doors, William floating through the wall across from her and down to his rooms to 'have a lie down'. Ginny rolled her eyes as she watched him disappear and turned to make her way back to Gryffindor tower, only to stop, shocked as Draco pushed himself off the wall.
"You still rush," he sneered, beckoning for her to follow him.
"You only said I couldn't rush Beethoven and Bach," she said cheekily, recovering from her shock. "Nothing about Loahie."
"Are you entirely incapable of playing music as it is written?"
"Yep," she replied happily.
Draco shook his head apparently disgusted by her lack of remorse. "Trust a Weasley to destroy the classics," he scoffed. He turned down a seldom used corridor, taking the long way back to Gryffindor tower.
"What is that on your neck?" Draco asked, as Ginny ran her fingers through her hair, lifting it off her neck for a moment.
Ginny's hand flew to her neck, covering the purpled mark. "Nothing," she replied quickly, a small, embarrassed smile creeping onto her face before it broke into a broad grin.
Draco looked slightly green as he spoke, "I can't believe you let Potty touch you. He's barely a Half-Blood and he's a bloody prat."
"High praise coming from the High Priest of Prats," Ginny quipped happily. Not even Malfoy's snooty and sour demeanour was going to spoil her mood.
Draco rolled his eyes dramatically. "One," he said seriously, "I am not a prat and two, if I was, I would be the King of Prats, not some bloody lackey."
Ginny snorted as she broke into a skip, bounding in front of Draco.
"What in the bleeding hell are you doing now?" he asked in exasperation.
"Skipping," Ginny chirped. "You should try it. Come on, it's easy!"
Draco stared at the clearly deranged girl in front on him and sighed. It was disturbing that this interaction was not nearly as disturbing as it should have been. He was just too damn used to her antics.
"Come on!" she called playfully. "I assure you I will not tarnish your evil, Slytherin reputation by telling the school you skipped."
Ginny's face fell as Draco's face hardened, her happiness at having him come to her lesson fading away as his stride increased, and he walked briskly and purposefully through the corridor. He brushed past Ginny, who stood stuck to the spot at the sudden change in atmosphere, and she watched him ascending.
"Malfoy," Ginny started, falling into step beside him. "What's wrong? We were having fun."
"We," he sneered, "were not doing anything."
She grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her, forcing him to come to a stop. He shook off her hold on him, scowling fiercely at her. The torch light shimmered behind him, casting moving shadows across his pointed features, making the scowl seem more intimidating than usual.
"What is going on with you?" Ginny demanded. "You've been off all year."
"You don't know me, Weasley. Do not presume to know if I am 'off'," he bit out coldly.
Ginny started slightly; he hadn't spoken to her like that in a long time. She had forgotten just how vicious he could be. Not even in the library had he spoken to her like that. Then he had been angry and dangerous, but now he was just cold and calculating, as though no emotion existed behind his words. It was worse than in the library. Draco turned on his heel, apparently satisfied by her reaction, and continued up the stairs.
"No," Ginny snapped, grabbing his arm again, stopping him just before the landing. "You don't get to go all harsh and then expect me to let it go. You have been off all year. You've been quiet, you're always tired, never eating, you're all touchy, your grades have fallen, you stopped playing Quidditch, you always look nervous and-"
"I am none of those things," he thundered, getting in her face in a successful effort to intimidate her; Ginny backed down a step. His eyes shone with anger and malice as he continued with harsh authority, "and you will let it go, you delusional harpy."
Draco made his way to the landing before Ginny regained her nerve. His face contorted in anger as her voice cut through the silence of the castle once more.
"Don't you dare walk away from-"
She shrieked, causing Malfoy to turn sharply around, as the staircase moved out from beneath her. She flailed helplessly for a moment, desperate to regain her balance and stay on the edge of the stairs. She pitched forward as the staircase changed direction and let out a shrill cry as she felt nothing but air beneath her feet.
Images of her mangled body being discovered by house-elves filled her head as time seemed to slow. She imagined the pain she would feel on impact and wondered how long she would have before she was crushed on the ancient stone.
Suddenly, she felt warm, strong arms grab her around the chest and pull her towards the safety of the landing. Ginny felt herself being pulled backwards as Draco lost his footing and her back hit solid body and her arse hit stone; an arm resting around her neck.
"I've got you," he puffed, her legs still dangling from the knees down from the edge of the landing. "I've got you."
"Stupid stairs," she cried, slightly hysterical, crawling to her feet. "Shouldn't the fucking things be charmed against that sorta shite?"
"One would think," Draco replied after a moment, regaining his composure. Ginny stood not a metre away from him, breathing heavily, her hands on her chest. He noted the sound of stones grating against each other and said flippantly, "Least they were charmed not to rearrange with something in front of them, you might have ended up being legless." A sardonic smile took control of his face as he turned away from her, unsatisfied with the state of his heart rate.
She stared aghast as he calmly strode down the corridor. "Do you think my near death experience is funny, Malfoy?" she yelled after him.
"Mildly," he replied coolly.
"I cannot believe you – you prat!" she cried as she caught up to him.
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