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Ginny slowly closed Luna's book and put it on her bedside table before she locked her gaze with his.
"What are you doing here?" she asked and hated herself for the chilliness in her voice.
Because she shouldn't even be mad at him, she shouldn't care the way she actually did. But she couldn't lie to herself, either... His words still hurt.
We are not friends, Weasley. Stay away from me.
And the way he hadn't said anything today when Daphne and Pansy teased her about Ron... But then again, why would he?
Blaise answered her question simply by asking another one himself:
"How are you?"
Ginny snorted, crossing her arms and sitting up slightly in bed. She didn't want him to think that she looked weak... But since when did she care what he thought?!
"What's it to you? We're not friends, remember?"
Blaise dropped her gaze and then moved a bit closer to her bed. Ginny silently thanked god that she'd at least decided to wear a decent looking pair of pyjamas this night... He looked up at her again, his eyes burning with something she couldn't quite put her finger to.
"You're right" he said calmly. "We're not"
Ginny sighed tiredly.
"Then why are you here?! As far as I know it's not so common for people who are not friends to visit each other in the hospital wing"
To her great surprise he actually smiled briefly but then pressed his lips together, as if he didn't like what she'd just said or what he was about to reply to it.
"I guess you're right about that too" he said, crossing his arms slowly.
Ginny glared back, feeling like she wanted to destroy every part of him. That dark hair, those perfect eyebrows, the intense eyes, the muscular and tall body, that stupid snake crest on his shirt...
"You're making no sense whatsoever" she snarled. "But I guess that shouldn't surprise me by now"
She turned away from him and grabbed her book again just to have something to do. It was all too much to take in... She'd started pretending to read it when he asked, his voice annoyed:
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ginny sighed again. What was the point of even pretending? Her head started to throb painfully again as she slammed the book shut and locked her gaze with his, forcing herself not to look away despite the intensity in his eyes.
"It means that you confuse me, Zabini. And not in a good way"
She added the last part, feeling as if she was five years old again and her mum asked her if she'd stolen sweets from the cupboard and she said no even though she'd actually done it.
It was a strange feeling.
"And you think you're so much easier to understand?" Blaise asked cooly. "You think everything you say and do makes sense?"
"At least I'm not a hypocrite!" Ginny interrupted him heatedly. "At least I know where I stand! We've met up several times for god knows what reason and most of the time you've actually been civil towards me! No mean nicknames, no talk about my family being unworthy or 'filthy'. Hell, you even told me about yours!"
She cast him a quick glance and noticed that his face expression was blank. He just stood there, arms crossed and waited for her to continue. So she did, feeling so much lighter when she finally got it all out:
"And I'm so mad at myself for being naive enough to think that you'd actually..."
She drifted off, didn't know how to continue. The silence that followed was the longest between the two of them so far.
"That I'd actually what?" Blaise asked, his voice hard.
Ginny looked up at him, swallowing several times.
"That you'd changed" she whispered, knowing he'd hear her anyway. "But then... Then you ask me to stay away from you and when Greengrass and Parkinson said those awful things about my family today you just stood there!"
Still no change on his face.
"You just stood there" Ginny repeated, her voice hollow now. "And I know that that shouldn't come as a surprise. But it does"
She looked away from him, hoping that she'd manage to stop the tears from erupting in her eyes. Not here. Not now.
"Well it shouldn't"
His words made her look up.
"I am who I am, Weasley. You can't change that"
"No" Ginny said, her voice low. "I guess I can't"
They simply looked at each other for a short while, none of them speaking a word. Ginny felt like there was so much more she wanted to say but she also knew that she'd never be able to put words to any of it. This was not like anything she'd ever felt or experienced before.
And she hated the way it made her feel.
"I shouldn't have come here"
To Ginny's great surprise she found herself getting angry by his words. Then why did he? Why did he have to come down here, make her confused only to change his mind and leave? Why not just save her and himself all the trouble?
"I couldn't agree more" she snapped.
He turned around to leave but stopped after only having walked a few steps away from her.
"Forget that we ever spoke to each other. We'll go back to pretending like the other one doesn't exist. It's easier that way"
Ginny felt a tear running down her cheek as she watched him leave and wiped it off furiously. It's easier that way, how could it possibly be easy? Nothing was easy these days.
How do you make a time line haha
Ginny couldn't be more happy to be allowed to leave the hospital wing the next morning. Madame Pomfrey had finally been willing to admit that Ginny didn't have a concussion and let her go to class while muttering: "And don't you dare forget the potion I gave you for the pain..."
Ginny tried her best not to sound or look annoyed when she had to guarantee several of her classmates at least ten times that morning that she was perfectly all right. What she really wanted was to head back to the dormitory and go straight to bed... She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before; the thoughts concerning her latest encounter with Blaise simply refused to leave her alone.
Why had he showed up in the first place?
We'll go back to pretending like the other one doesn't exist.
Well, if that's what he really wanted...
Ginny's friends seemed to notice that she was in a bad mood, too. During lunch Madison asked, her voice worried:
"Are you not feeling all right? Do you want us to take you to Madame Pomfrey?"
Ginny sighed slightly, smiling at her friend.
"No, it's not my head... I'm just tired"
Tired of Blaise Bloody Zabini taking up my thoughts.
"Well, then you'd better cheer up now since we have some really important matters to discuss!"
Emily sat down opposite Ginny and looked intently at her. The latter grimaced.
"Do I want to know?"
Emily raised her eyebrows.
"You know, I'm actually surprised I even have to tell you this. You're Ginny Weasley, one of the most good looking girls at Hogwarts! At least a dozen guys will ask you..."
"Ask me to what?" Ginny interrupted her slowly, feeling worried. "Not another Slughorn party, right?"
The thought of the last one still made her shiver; Blaise finding her crying in the library, the fight with Dean...
Dean.
She hadn't talked to him since before the game yesterday, wasn't he the slightest curious to know how she was? Ginny looked around the Great Hall but couldn't spot him anywhere. Shouldn't he be at lunch now, too?
Emily interrupted her thoughts by continuing:
"No, Slughorn has nothing to do with this. But does February the fourteenth ring a bell?"
Ginny turned to look at Neville who shrugged. She thought about it for a second and then asked, her voice sounding about as uninterested as she felt:
"That's Valentine's day isn't it?"
"You bet it is, best day of the year!" Emily exclaimed and Caroline squealed excitedly. "Who are you taking?"
Ginny snorted.
"I'm not taking anyone..." she started but Madison interruped her:
"Oh yes you are Ginny Weasley! I'm going with Marwin and you promised me weeks ago that you'd be there so it wouldn't be too awkward!"
Ginny opened her mouth slowly and then closed it again. She sighed in defeat.
"I did promise that, didn't I?" she muttered.
"YES! And don't you dare back out now!" Madison said. "There's got to be someone you're willing to take..."
"Oh yes, I'm sure there is" Ginny said sarcastically. "How about Lucas McLaggen?"
She'd meant it as a joke but she could tell from the looks that Madison, Emily and Caroline gave each other that they didn't find it funny.
"Actually... that's a good idea" Emily said slowly. "I mean, he still seems interested in you, right? He rode in our carriage on the way up to school after the holidays..."
"And he's the biggest prat I've ever met!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm not taking him!"
Madison sighed deeply.
"Well, take whoever you like as long as you take someone. It'd be really strange if you showed up alone, like a third wheel..."
"Great" Ginny muttered, thinking that this would be just as bad as finding a date for Slughorn's christmas party.
Why did people need stupid dates for everything these days?
"Can't wait"
How do you make a time line haha
Ginny returned to the common room straight after dinner that night, not even bothering to attend to her already enormous pile of homework that only seemed to grow by the second... She was just about the head up the stairs to her dormitory when someone called:
"Ginny!"
She stopped walking, turned around and found herself facing none other than Dean Thomas. He was standing in front of the fire place but hurried towards her as soon as their gazes locked.
"How are you?" he asked immediately. "I wanted to visit you in the hospital wing last night but they'd thrown a celebration party here and..."
Why didn't that reason seem good enough?
"I'm fine" she replied and somehow hoped that Dean would hear the annoyance and tiredness in her voice.
She wasn't in the mood for bad excuses.
"Are you sure?" Dean asked hesitantly. "I heard you hit your head quite hard..."
Well, apparently not hard enough for you to leave that party for five minutes...
"It's nothing" she interrupted him. "Madame Pomfrey said I could leave, no concussion"
"Oh... Okay then"
They were both quiet for a short while and Ginny waited, but she wasn't sure of what. An apology? Another Are you sure you're all right? Maybe.
"Hey I was thinking... It's Valentine's day soon"
Dean brought her back to reality with an unpleasant thump. Before she had time to say anything he continued quickly:
"I was thinking... Since things ended quite... badly between the two of us at Slughorn's christmas party, would you like to go with me? We could try again..."
Hang on a second... Try again for what exactly? Please don't let him think...
Ginny cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Um... You know Dean, I'm really tired and I really need to go to bed so... Can we just talk about this tomorrow?"
"Sure"
He smiled at her, apparently quite satisifed with her answer. Ginny gave him a brief smile back before she hurried up the stairs and into her dormitory. Once in bed, the thoughts wouldn't stop spinning through her head.
We could try again...
Was Dean still in love with her? After everything that had happened, all fights they'd had... Was that it? She groaned to herself. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she and Dean Thomas were meant to be friends and friends only. If he really did like her, agreeing to go with him to Hogsmeade would only get his hopes up and that wouldn't be fair.
She couldn't do that.
After lying awake for at least an hour, despite feeling exhausted, she made up her mind:
She had to say no to Dean without hurting him. And find another date...
She turned around in bed one last time and closed her eyes. At least she had two weeks to come up with someone whose company she could stand in Hogsmeade for an entire afternoon. It'd be all right.
Hopefully...
How do you make a time line haha
"And after the goblins took over the eastern parts of France in 1766..."
Ginny was about to doze off again, her elbows sliding over the desk in front of her. Madison leaned her head against Ginny's shoulder and seemed to be fast asleep already. Professor Binns had really outdone himself this time; this lesson was more boring and uninteresting than any other Ginny had ever been unlucky enough to attend.
She forced herself to sit up straighter in her chair and took a quick look around the classroom. Every single one of her classmates was either asleep or about to fall asleep. Ginny didn't blame them; the only person she knew who was able to listen to and actually care for the things that professor Binns told them about was Hermione.
She looked at her watch; almost half an hour left... She closed her eyes, thinking she might as well try to get some actual sleep, when a loud sound made her and most of her classmates look up. There was a knock on one of the windows and Ginny could make out the silhouette of a bird, probably an owl, just outside.
Professor Binns furrowed; Ginny was pretty sure this was the most interesting thing that had taken place during his class in at least fifty years... Her ghost teacher floated towards the window and opened it. An owl flew inside, hoo-ing indignantly, and Ginny recognized him immediately.
It was her brother Bill's owl.
Without really thinking she stood up and held out her arm. The owl flew towards her and landed on it, now looking quite pleased with himself. Ginny could see that there was a letter tied to the owl's leg and her curiosity got the best of her.
"Professor Binns, may I be excused?" she asked. "This could be important"
She could feel her fellow classmates look at her and then at their professor who sighed.
"Fine Weatherby, but don't forget the essay I assigned for next week..."
Ginny just nodded and grabbed her bag.
"I'll come with you" Madison said and took her things with her as well. "If I have to stay in here for another twenty five minutes I'll die..."
She muttered the last part under her breath so only Ginny was able to hear her.
As soon as they'd exited the classroom and closed the door behind them Ginny tore the letter open, her heart pounding furiously. She knew that Bill wouldn't contact her like this unless it was really important...
Ginny
I'm sorry I didn't write to you earlier but Ron wouldn't let me.
Ginny stopped reading. Ron? Ron was with Bill? She continued:
However, I know I'm doing the right thing by telling you the whole truth. Ron's been staying with me and Fleur for a while. Apparently there was some sort of disagreement between him, Harry and Hermione. I've told mum and dad that I've received a note from him saying that he's all right. You're the only one who knows about the ''fight'' though, he didn't want the whole family to think that he'd ''bailed'' on his friends. However, I think he'll be back with them soon enough...
This is about all I can tell you at the moment and frankly, it's about all I know.
Hope you're all right. We miss you.
Bill
Ginny stared at the letter, her hands shaking. Ron was all right. He was perfectly all right and he was with Bill and Fleur. She briefly wondered what kind of disagreement he, Harry and Hermione had had but that didn't really matter now. He was all right!
"What is it? What did he say?" Madison asked, bringing Ginny back to reality.
She squealed happily and hugged her friend.
"Ron is all right!" she exclaimed. "He's staying with my brother and his wife! Oh thank god!"
Madison hugged her back, laughing.
"I told you things would work out, didn't I? Oh, this must be such a relief for you..."
"You have no idea..." Ginny said and then added:
"We have to go find Neville and Luna!"
And without another word they both hurried down the corridor to go look for Neville and Luna and tell them the great news, Ginny still clutching the letter in her hand.
How do you make a time line haha
Before they reached the door leading into the classroom where Neville was Ginny stopped and turned to face Madison.
"Why don't you go find Luna?" she suggested. "We'll get in contact with them both quicker that way"
Madison nodded and set off down the corridor again. It didn't take Ginny as long as she'd expected to convince Mc Gonagall to let Neville leave. As soon as she mentioned Ron Mc Gonagall turned around in the doorway and called:
"Longbottom! Grab your things, there's someone here to see you! Now hurry up, it might be important!"
Ginny could also spot a smile on Mc Gonagall's thin lips before she closed the door behind them.
"What's happening?" Neville asked confusedly but Ginny barely had time to open her mouth before Madison and Luna were back.
"How did it go?"
"Nightmare at first..." Madison muttered. "She was in Alecto Carrow's class"
"I had to tell her I'd swallowed a puking pastil" Luna said calmly. "After that she really wanted to get rid of me"
Ginny and Neville laughed and then the latter asked:
"So... what's so important it couldn't wait until dinner?"
"It's Ron" Ginny said, grinning widely as she held up the letter from Bill. "He's all right, he's been staying with Bill and Fleur, that's all!"
Luna's eyes widened and Neville laughed out of happiness.
"Really?! That's great! But why isn't he with Harry and Hermione?"
"I think they got into some sort of fight, Bill never said what it was about though" Ginny replied. "Anyway, the point is that he's alive and okay"
"That's great" Luna said dreamily. "But if he's been staying with them, why didn't we find out until now?"
Ginny held up the letter again and read out loud:
"Ron didn't want the whole family to know that he'd 'bailed' on his friends"
"Well, I'm sure he'll be back with them soon" Neville said and Ginny nodded.
"Bill thinks so too. Anyway, I just thought you should know. You can go back to class now if you'd like, I have to go to the owlery and..."
"I don't think Alecto will let me in now" Luna interrupted her. "After all, she thinks I vomit uncontrollably"
"And I'd give anything to have a reason to skip Transfiguration, it's not exactly my best subject anyway" Neville said, shrugging.
Ginny smiled at them both before the three of them turned towards Madison who held out her hands in exasperation, sighing heavily.
"Professor Binns. Need I say more?"
How do you make a time line haha
The four of them had almost reached the Entrance Hall when they found their way blocked by Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle. The fact that Crabbe and Goyle were both twice the size of an average person made it impossible for Ginny and her friends to pass them by. She sighed heavily.
"Perfect timing..." Madison muttered sarcastically under her breath and Pansy turned to look at her.
"Did you say something, mudblood?"
Ginny could see how Madison paled slightly; she wasn't the Slytherin girls' usual victim and she wasn't used to being treated like this. Ginny felt the anger rise inside of her.
"Honestly Parkinson, what is the problem? Did I do something that I'm not aware of to make you and your friends hate me even more than usual? How many times do I have to tell you to just lay off?"
They couldn't possibly do all of this simply because she'd smiled at Blaise that one time. There had to be more to it...
"Do the math bloodtraitor, it's not that complicated" Daphne said, her voice filled with fake sweetness. "We'll leave you alone if you stay the hell away from Blaise"
Ginny's heart stopped for a second. She didn't dare to look at her friends but she could see their curious gazes from the corner of her eye. She swallowed. How would she explain this to them?
But was a smile really that bad for Daphne and the others? Talk about overreacting...
"Lost your voice, have you Weasley?" Pansy asked.
As usual, Crabbe and Goyle just stood there snickering; Ginny seriously doubted whether they had brains at all... Daphne continued:
"A pathetic smile is one thing but forcing him to come visit you in the hospital wing? It seriously disgusts me, what do you have on him?"
Ginny scoffed in disbelief. For a second, she almost forgot about the fact that her friends had heard Daphne's every word.
"Forcing him? He said that?" she spat.
She could see Pansy and Daphne look at each other quickly before Daphne said:
"No, but we can add two and two together, Weasley. We saw him entering the hospital wing that night and you were the only one in there. Why would he come and visit you, unless there's something in it for him?"
Ginny actually laughed this time and crossed her arms before glaring at Daphne.
"You know, that's a very good question! Why don't you ask him that? I'm sure he'd love to tell you, almost as much as I'm sure he'd like to know why you two have been spying on him"
To her great amusement she could see how the Slytherin girls' cheeks turned slightly red and Daphne cleared her throat, apparently keen on changing the subject:
"Heading for the owlery, are you?" She glanced at the letter in Ginny's hand. "To send a letter to your parents at the mental hospital Longbottom? Surely you must know by now that they won't be able to read it..."
Ginny saw how Neville looked down, suddenly looking extremely fragile and weak. At that very moment, she felt like strangling Daphne.
"Shut up..." he said quietly but the slytherins merely laughed and Madison cut in:
"That's the best you've got Greengrass?"
Daphne turned to look at her.
"Oh, believe me I have far worse. But I'm saving that for later, mudblood"
"DON'T CALL HER THAT!"
Ginny had had enough. All mean words, the questions about Blaise, the way they just wouldn't leave her and her friends alone... It all set her teeth on edge. She drew her wand and it didn't take long before everybody else did the same.
The next second all Ginny could make out were lights of different colours. Crabbe was smashed right into the wall behind him and Luna and Neville both landed on their backs. Madison disarmed Daphne and managed to grab ahold of her wand.
"GIVE THAT BACK YOU FILTHY MUDBLOOD!" Daphne screamed and Ginny thought that it was a miracle that no teacher had heard them yet...
She looked at Madison and grinned appreciatively.
"Nice one!" she called over the sounds of spells flying in all directions and Madison made thumbs up.
But turning her head to look at her friend was a huge mistake on Ginny's part. That split second was all Pansy needed to aim her wand at her. Ginny didn't hear the exact words that Pansy cried out but before she had time to properly react bright red fire shot towards her. And it moved at quick speed.
She knew none of her friends would be able to do anything. And they didn't even know what spell Pansy had used... Ginny closed her eyes. This was it. She waited.
But the pain never came. She heard a gasp coming from Madison on her left and as she opened her eyes again she only saw the huge shield that had appeared between her and Pansy. She looked around to see who had conjured it and it didn't take long before her gaze locked with Blaise's who still had his wand pointed at the shield.
He didn't look happy.
Before Ginny knew it he'd approached the slytherins and grabbed Pansy's wand from her. He pressed his face close to hers and hissed:
"Are you out of your fucking mind?"
Pansy looked ashamed but still managed to cross her arms and look up at Blaise.
"What?" she asked and Ginny could hear her voice trembling slightly. "She's just a bloodtrait..."
"SO YOU THOUGHT YOU'D JUST FINISH HER OFF IN THE SCHOOL CORRIDOR?"
Even Ginny flinched, standing several metres away. She'd never seen Blaise look so furious before. In fact, she'd never even heard him raise his voice... He was usually the quiet one, the one that didn't lose control. Well, not now...
Pansy opened and closed her mouth several times, but she didn't say anything.
"Blaise..." Daphne started, holding out her hand to touch his arm but he pulled away quickly.
He picked up Daphne's wand that Madison had dropped on the floor and then gave it to her before throwing Pansy's back to its owner. She just managed to catch it.
"Just get out of here" Blaise said, his voice cold as ice. "Now"
Pansy and Daphne looked at each other and then Daphne asked:
"But aren't you coming with us..."
"NOW DAPHNE!"
Madison, Neville and Luna all stared at Blaise as if they'd never seen him before. Ginny herself was still too shocked by the whole thing to even move. If he hadn't turned up, if he hadn't conjured the shield... she'd probably be seriously injured or worse...
Luckily Pansy, Daphne, Crabbe and Goyle all listened to Blaise and it didn't take long before they'd disappeared down the corridor. Blaise just stood there, looking after them for a few seconds before he turned around again and approached Ginny with quick steps.
Oh no...
His face was only centimetres away from hers and for some ridiculous reason she felt her heart starting to pound at least ten times faster than normal as she began:
"You... I... Wha..."
Nothing she said made sense.
"I tried to warn you, remember?" Blaise said, his voice hard and low. "Pansy doesn't know when she's crossing a line. She could have killed you"
And then he turned around and left. Why did he always have to leave before she came up with something good to say?