Warnings
At times it was difficult seeing, due to the great amount of white smoke coming from the train. Ginny had to turn her head every other second to make sure that Fred was still walking next to her, pulling her trolley in front of him.
"Really Fred... Believe it or not I do know how to pull that one on my own" Ginny pointed out for the tenth time that morning, nodding towards the trolley.
But Fred simply ignored her and didn't stop until they'd reached the far end of the train. Over here, not as many people were gathered, saying goodbye to their parents, friends and sibilings.
"Have a great term sis" Fred said, turning around to face her.
Ginny hugged him tightly.
"I hope the shop continues to go well!" she said. "I'll miss you so much. All of you"
She realized that this was true; she was even close to tears at that very moment. Ever since Christmas Day when she'd visited Godric's Hollow and run into Blaise Zabini she'd come to appreciate all of it in a way she hadn't before. Her family.
Sure, Ron was away with Harry and Hermione (hopefully) and Percy refused to speak to any of the other Weasleys but they were all still alive. And Ginny was so grateful that she had now gotten to spend some time with the people who mattered the very most to her...
"We'll miss you too" Fred said, bringing her back to reality. "You know, George and I could really use someone like you to help us run Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. What you did with the fireworks on New Year's Eve was amazing!"
Ginny laughed.
"Well, I'm not going to take all credit for it! It wouldn't have worked out if you and George hadn't helped"
They were both silent for a short while before Ginny said:
"Thanks for coming with me here, now that mum and dad were both busy..."
"I'm glad to" Fred said, grinning. "After all, this place brings back a lot of memories. And I trust George to handle the shop for a couple of hours"
"Yeah, considering the number of customers you manage to keep that could actually be hard" Ginny pointed out and Fred laughed.
"Well, it's worth losing a few of them if that means I get to see my dear little sister off"
Ginny knew he was only teasing; he knew how much she used to hate being the youngest member of the family and being treated differently because of it... She rolled her eyes and grimaced.
"Very funny" she said sarcastically but turned serious as she added:
"Promise me to look after mum and dad, especially mum... I'm still a little worried about her..."
"Yeah..." Fred mumbled. "You would think that Ron would send a letter or at least a note saying that he's okay now that he probably knows that their appearence in Godric's Hollow was in the Prophet. He must have known that mum would worry sick"
Ginny nodded slowly. Fred wasn't the only one who'd been thinking about this. During the past two weeks it had actually been easier than she'd imagined to keep Harry out of her mind but Ron was, of course, a completely different matter. He was her brother and she'd always love and care for him, no matter what.
"There must be a reason" she said quietly and Fred sighed, shrugging.
"Well, only time can tell... Until then I suggest you try to enjoy your sixth year and focus on not letting the Carrows and Snape bring you down"
He blinked at her and Ginny informed him:
"Believe me, I'm working on that one! I'm thinking about 'accidentally' slipping Amycus a puke pastil..."
Fred laughed.
"As long as you don't get yourself into too much trouble"
Ginny raised her eyebrows skeptically.
"Did I just hear those words coming from the mouth of the GREAT pranker and owner of a joke shop Fred Weasley himself?!" she teased. "Someone, call the Prophet immediately!"
"Don't tell anyone I said that. Besides, as soon as this is over I'll go back to being my reckless, hilarious and creative self" Fred said smugly and Ginny bit her lip, looking away from him now.
"Do you really believe that?" she mumbled. "That this will all end, I mean... That things will go back to the way they used to be?"
Fred, somehow, made her look at him again and as he smiled he managed to make Ginny feel calmer than she had in months.
"I have a feeling things are turning for the better, Gin" he said. "And I think it'll happen sooner than we know"
Ginny smiled back, grabbing her trunk and owl cage from the trolley as the whistle that declared that the train was about to depart blew.
"I really hope you're right. But until then..."
She drifted off. There was so much she wanted to say. But there was no time.
"Until then" Fred simply repeated, waving as Ginny boarded the train and waved at him from a window.
Then, the Hogwarts Express started moving and he was soon completely out of sight.
How do you make a time line haha
"Did you do anything fun during the holidays Neville?" Ginny asked as they made their way off the Hogwarts Express a couple of hours later.
It had been a long ride and Ginny had spent most of it reading, which was really nice. That was one of the many things she liked about Neville and Luna; they didn't mind just sitting there, not spending the entire ride talking. Everything was just so... relaxed and simple between the three of them.
"Not much, I spent christmas with my grandmother" Neville replied and then added, his voice low:
"And we... we were at St Mungos to visit my parents"
"Oh" Ginny only said. "How were they?"
She never knew exactly what to say when Neville mentioned his parents, which wasn't too often. In fact, she was pretty sure she wouldn't even have known about it if it weren't for that day back in her fourth year when she'd ran into him at St Mungos while she was visiting her dad...
"All right I guess" Neville said, shrugging slightly. "I mean, they're always the same... But grandmother thinks they actually recognize me"
There was a trace of happiness in his voice now and Ginny put her hand on his arm softly.
"Well, how couldn't they? I don't think we can ever fully forget the ones we love"
Neville smiled slightly and Luna said, her voice dreamy:
"I'd like to come with you and visit them some time, if that's all right"
Ginny smiled to herself as she saw Neville's surprised and happy looking face expression.
"R... really?" he asked and Luna nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course"
Neville smiled widely at her as they were making their way towards the carriages that would take them up to the castle.
"I'm sure they'd love you" he mumbled, his cheeks turning slightly red at his own words.
Luna smiled back.
"That's nice. Thank you"
Right then, they were all interrupted by Madison, Emily and Caroline who turned up out of nowhere. Madison hugged Ginny tightly.
"Hi!" she said. "Did you have a nice holiday?"
"Absolutely. What about you?"
Madison shrugged.
"It was okay I guess, I spent most of the time with my family. You were at home the whole time?"
Yes. Except for when I was in Godric's Hollow looking for Harry and the others, only to realize how much I needed to stop looking for him. Oh, and I also ran into Blaise Zabini (I know, again!) who told me he speaks Italian...
No, there'd be no need to tell Madison that. In fact, no matter how relaxed everything was between Ginny, Neville and Luna, she didn't even think she'd tell them. If Charlie didn't trust her when she told him that Blaise wasn't that bad she was pretty sure that they wouldn't, either.
"Yeah..." Ginny said instead. "Yeah I was"
Then, mostly to drop the subject, she quickly looked around.
"Seems hard to find an empty carriage today" she said.
And she was right. Students had already occupied most of them and she thought it would be nice if they could all sit together...
"Over here!" Emily called and waved at them.
Ginny, Neville, Luna, Madison and Caroline all walked over to her and started climbing into the empty carriage. Right as Ginny was about to get in Madison asked, her voice low:
"Why is Blaise Zabini staring at you?"
Ginny wasn't sure she wanted to, but she couldn't stop herself from looking the way Madison nodded. Her gaze locked with Blaise's for a split second before he looked away, turning to speak with Draco. Ginny clenched her jaw and then climbed into the carriage, closely followed by Madison.
"Well?" the latter urged as they'd sat down and Ginny rolled her eyes.
"He wasn't staring at me" she said determinedly and Madison snorted.
"Whatever you say..."
"Who's staring at who?" Neville asked curiously but Ginny hastily replied:
"No one. The more important question right now is: why is Lucas McLaggen making his way over here?"
It was a great way to change the subject, but Ginny wasn't making it up. Right before the carriage was about to be pulled away by the, for some, invisible thestrals Lucas climbed inside together with a friend. He sat down beside Ginny.
The carriage started moving and they all fell completely silent. Neville cleared his throat uncomfortably and Madison gave Ginny a look, as if to say: I thought he hated you.
Well, so did Ginny herself... But apparently she'd been wrong, since Lucas now said, his voice full of confidence:
"Hello Ginny! Long time, no see. Did you have a good holiday?"
"Um... yeah sure" Ginny said, forcing herself to give him a small smile. "And you?"
"Oh yes" Lucas said. "I went skiing with my grandparents in Vermont..."
Ginny nodded towards him as if to show that she listened carefully, but she really didn't. In fact, all she could think about was Madison's words from earlier:
Why is Blaise Zabini staring at you?
Why indeed...
How do you make a time line haha
"Okay Neville, which is the most important ingredient in Veritaserum?"
Ginny tried her best not to roll her eyes as Neville looked really thoughtful. Ever since they'd got back to school a week earlier she'd asked him this question (and many others) almost every day to prepare him for Slughorn's Potions test on Friday. But obviously, Neville had real trouble learning the answers...
Now he furrowed.
"I... I know this" he muttered and Ginny smiled encouragingly at him.
"It starts with an..."
But she stopped speaking as she heard a high pitched laugh and even though she didn't want to turn around she could tell who it came from. Daphne Greengrass had just entered the Great Hall together with Blaise and Draco. Ginny could see how Daphne held onto Blaise's arm as if her life depended on it...
"What are you looking at?" Neville asked and Ginny quickly turned back to him.
"Um..." she just started and Neville raised his eyebrows questioningly.
But luckily they were interrupted as Madison sat down next to Ginny, looking really exhausted.
"How was it?" Emily asked immediately and Ginny furrowed and asked Madison:
"How was what, what did I miss?"
Madison grimaced and helped herself to some dinner.
"I just spent three hours alphabetizing all books in Alecto Carrow's personal library" she said darkly and Neville pointed out:
"Well, consider yourself lucky. I've heard detentions with the Carrows could be a lot worse..."
"But the books were all horrible!" Madison exclaimed. "I couldn't help opening a few of them and you should have seen the pictures! I mean, did you know that one could actually split one's soul and put parts of it in different objects to live forever?!"
They were all silent for a moment, pondering over what Madison had just told them, before Caroline stated:
"That sounds mental"
"I know!"
Madison sighed tiredly and took a sip from her goblet filled with pumpkin juice.
"But why did you get detention in the first place?" Ginny asked curiously.
"I told Alecto that muggles have managed to travel to the moon and back without using magic. Apparently that's not what she wanted to hear..."
Ginny felt slightly sorry for Madison, knowing that the Muggle Studies lessons must be even worse for her since she was muggleborn... She snorted, feeling slightly disgusted.
"Why am I not surprised that that was all it took for her to give you detention?"
"Because she's an ass" Madison replied simply and then, apparently keen on changing the subject, she asked:
"So... what are we studying?"
"Potions" Neville replied dully. "I have a test on Friday and I'll never make it! I shouldn't have let Slughorn convince me to take this class..."
"If you keep thinking like that then I'm sure you won't make it" Ginny replied indignantly. "For once, you just have to BELIEVE in yourself Neville..."
But she drifted off again. Once more Daphne had caught her attention by laughing very loud at something Blaise or Draco had just said. Then, she broke into hysterical giggles and whispered something to Pansy who started laughing, too. Blaise and Draco both seemed quite pleased with themselves. It gave Ginny an uneasy feeling, thinking that Blaise had actually been happy to make Daphne Greengrass laugh like that...
Exactly what was so funny, anyway?
"At least some people are enjoying themselves..." Emily said dryly, nodding towards the Slytherin table. "I'll bet a thousand galleons that Greengrass and Zabini will be married by the time they graduate..."
"Next question Neville" Ginny interrupted Emily hastily, grabbing Neville's Potions book and looking intently at him.
She didn't want to hear what Emily was about to say. The whole thing made her feel sick. Not to mention really annoyed.
But why? What was it to her who Blaise Zabini intended to marry?
Neville grimaced and covered his face in his hands.
"I give up" he said.
How do you make a time line haha
Half an hour later Ginny and her friends were about to finish dinner just as Blaise, Draco, Daphne and Pansy left the Slytherin table and headed for the exit of the Great Hall. Ginny, for some unexplicable reason, felt her pulse quicken and turned to speak with Madison just to have something to do.
But she could still feel it. Feel Blaise's intense gaze at her as he passed the Gryffindor table, apparently unaware of the fact that he could be spotted staring at a gryffindor, a bloodtraitor and a Weasley... Ginny couldn't help it; she turned her head again and stared right back at him.
Their gazes locked. His face was expressionless, but if she'd have to use a word to describe it she'd say "frustrated".
Maybe it was because she felt confused; after all she'd caught him staring at her three times now. She wanted to show him that, in fact, it would be easier if he just came forward and said hello. After all, they'd met in Godric's Hollow. They'd talked. He'd told her about his dad and something made Ginny believe that that wasn't something he usually did.
Or maybe it was just because she hated Daphne even more than usual right now, clutching to his arm like a bloody monkey...
Whatever the reason behind it was, the actual point was that Ginny Weasley gave Blaise Zabini a brief smile, not even caring about the fact that Draco Malfoy seemed to notice it.
A second later Blaise quickly turned his face away from her and left the Great Hall, leaving Ginny wondering if she'd just committed one of the biggest mistakes of her life.
Blaise's point of view
"What the hell was that?"
For a moment, Blaise was too consumed by what had just happened to even realize that Draco was adressing him. Then, he turned to look at him and tried to look completely unbothered as he asked:
"What do you mean?"
Draco nodded towards the entrance of the Great Hall, where Ginny Weasley was still inside having dinner with her friends.
"The Weasley girl smiling at you"
Blaise rolled his eyes.
"She wasn't smiling at me"
But he could tell from the way Draco raised his eyebrows that he didn't sound too convincing...
"Did she hit her head during the holidays or something?" he asked as they started to make their way towards the dungeons. "Developed a crush on you or something?"
"Who's developed a crush on you Blaise?"
Daphne quickly grabbed his arm again, as if protecting him from whatever person he and Draco were talking about.
"No one" Blaise snapped back and somehow managed to make Daphne let go of him. "As usual, Draco doesn't know what he's talking about"
"Draco, tell us!" Pansy begged, trying her best at a cute smile but only managing to look desperate. "Who were you two talking about?"
Draco cast Blaise a quick glance before he said, smirking slightly:
"Ginny Weasley"
Daphne made a disliking sound.
"Ugh! Well, in that case I feel sorry for you Blaise... She's not just ugly but a filthy bloodtraitor as well..."
"Well, Blaise happens to think that she's good looking" Pansy interrupted her friend and Blaise noticed the horrified look on Daphne's face before she asked him:
"What? You do?"
"No I don't" Blaise replied shortly, starting to get really annoyed. "Can we just drop this subject, it's completely pointless even discussing it..."
"He said so back in fifth year" Pansy interrupted him. "And we all know how hard you are to please, Blaise..."
"You know what would really please me right now? You two shutting up"
And they actually did. Blaise had sounded angrier and ruder than he'd meant to but they were really getting on his nerves and he needed to sleep... Punching Draco in the face for bringing the matter up in the first place wouldn't be too bad, either...
They were all walking in silence for a short while before Daphne pointed out:
"Well, you don't have to worry Blaise. If that filthy bloodtraitor ever comes near you I'll make sure she'll regret it"
"I take your word for it" Blaise replied shortly, knowing it was true.
And he hated himself for the thought that immediately crossed his mind:
I have to warn her.
How do you make a time line haha
On Friday afternoon Ginny was walking through the dungeons, making her way to Potions class, alone. She, Madison and the other sixth year gryffindors had this lesson with the Rawenclaw students so one would think that Ginny would be accompanied by Luna.
But just like the rest of their classmates Luna had left her Potions things back in her dorm and she therefore needed to head up there before the lesson started. Ginny had actually, for once, remembered to pack them into her bag this morning.
But as she approached the door leading into the classroom, she silently wished that she'd forgotten to pack down her things as well. The seventh year hufflepuffs were exiting and they were closely followed by the slytherins. Ginny contemplated trying to find some place to hide but then figured that that would only make her look foolish. Instead, she walked with her head held high and pretended like she barely felt anything as Pansy Parkinson walked right into her.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" Pansy said with a squeaky voice, apparently imitating Ginny from the event at King's Cross before christmas. "I really didn't see you!"
The other Slytherin girls laughed and Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Yes you did Parkinson, that's what makes it so sad"
Pansy narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Daphne Greengrass reached her to it and walked into Ginny so hard that the latter dropped her books on the floor.
"Oops!" Daphne said, smiling evilly.
Then, without another word, they all passed Ginny by and left. She growled out of frustration and then bent down to grab her books. Why were they doing this to her, their behaviour had been even worse than usual during the past couple of days... Had she done something she wasn't aware of? Other than simply being Ginny Weasley, that was...
As she looked up again she found herself staring right into the eyes of Blaise Zabini, and he didn't look happy as he passed her without a word. Then, as he was out of sight she heard him telling Draco Malfoy:
"You go ahead, I forgot to ask Slughorn something"
Oh no.
A second later he reappeared and walked straight up to her.
"I need to talk to you" he said, his voice low.
Ginny sighed, trying to look unbothered.
"Fine, I'm listening"
Blaise looked around quickly and then muttered:
"Not here"
Ginny hesitated.
"My lesson starts in ten minutes"
"I'll be quick" Blaise said shortly and to her great surprise he grabbed her arm and led her down the corridor.
She had to stop herself from gasping out loud. The bare touch sent what felt like electric shocks through her entire body and as he let go of her she could still feel the warmth right where his hand had pressed against her robes...
Ginny soon found herself in another corridor that she'd never been in before and after having walked half way through it Blaise stopped and turned around to face her again. She waited, but he didn't say anything. Ginny crossed her arms, hoping she succeeded in looking truthfully annoyed.
"Well?" she asked. "What do you want?"
Blaise dropped her gaze for a moment. She could see how he clenched his jaw before turning to look at her again.
"We're not friends, Weasley"
His voice was hard, cold. Ginny stared right back at him, ignoring the sudden sting of pain that she felt at his words.
"I know that"
She did. So why did it hurt when he said it out loud? Blaise sighed.
"You do?" he asked and actually looked like he didn't believe her.
Ginny snorted.
"Believe me, I have far more important things on my mind than walking around wondering whether we are friends or not, Zabini" she said.
What things?
She continued:
"But I'm well aware of it, how could someone like you possibly want to befriend a bloodtraitor like myself?"
Blaise glared at her.
"You know it's not about that"
"Oh, do I?" Ginny asked, hating how her voice sounded so... weak. "I actually think that's exactly what it's about, you're just too much of a coward to admit it"
It felt nice. Nice to finally tell him what she'd been thinking about for the past couple of days. And she knew she was right. That was the reason he didn't return her smile that night after dinner, the reason he seemed to have avoided her completely ever since...
A slytherin like himself couldn't ever smile at someone like her. At least not in a nice way.
It was just wrong. And it drove her mad.
He still hadn't looked away from her.
"You're wrong" he hissed and Ginny retorted immediately:
"Then what is it about? Tell me right now, because I'm sick of..."
She drifted off. How was she supposed to complete that sentence? "Sick of these thoughts taking up my time?" Never. He didn't deserve to know that...
"Sick of what?" Blaise asked but Ginny just shook her head.
"It doesn't even matter" she said hollowly.
Blaise sighed deeply. She noticed that he looked more tired than usual, with dark circles under his eyes.
"The reason I didn't smile at you and that I've been avoiding you is not because of who you are"
Ginny stared at him, silently debating whether she ought to believe him or not...
"Then what is it about?"
Her words came out as a mere whisper this time. Was there something else that was wrong about her? Something Harry had come to realize eventually, too? And why did she even care?
"It's not you" said Blaise quietly. "It's them"
Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Them?" she repeated questioningly and Blaise nodded towards the way they'd come.
"What just happened, was Daphne and Pansy being nice" he said sternly. "You don't know what they're really capable of"
Ginny was quiet for a few seconds.
"And you do?" she then asked.
Blaise snorted.
"I've known them for over six years, of course I do"
Some sort of realization fell upon Ginny's face. She snorted.
"So that's why they've been acting like such bastards, simply because I smiled at you..."
Blaise didn't say anything and they both fell silent. Ginny couldn't help wondering if the reason why Blaise knew exactly what Daphne and Pansy were capable of, was that he'd sometimes joined them doing things like the one they'd just done to her. Had he supported them? Actually enjoyed it?
Blaise brought her back to reality by saying, his voice hard again:
"If they spotted me smiling back at you, or even worse talking to you, they'd do something much worse than making you drop your books"
Ginny could see on his eyes that this wasn't an empty threat. He was deadly serious as he continued:
"So stay away from me"
Even though Ginny had just been told exactly why she should stay away from him that didn't make it hurt any less. First Harry, then Blaise... It seemed like all people ever did was pushing her away. And why did they both assume that she couldn't take care of herself? She wasn't helpless for god's sake!
Ginny swallowed two times and refused to drop his gaze even though she could feel that tears were about to erupt in her eyes... Why did everything have to be so complicated?
"I'm not afraid of them" she said angrily. "And I don't need someone to look out for me all the time, I have done quite well on my own so far, thank you very much"
Blaise looked surprised. Ginny added:
"But don't worry, staying away from you won't be a problem. It's not like I ever planned to do something else"
And then she stormed off, fuming as she headed for her Potions lesson.