Chapter twelve

The new year came and went in a haze of white walls, well-wisher gifts and sleep. It was only the day before classes officially started once more, that the two Slytherin students were allowed to leave the hospital wing. For Harry, this was a source of relief, he longed to return to the ranks of his fellow second years, missing the easy fun that came with being surrounded by his friends. For Ginny, it was nothing but a source of anxiety. By Christmas, any tentative friendships she had formed with her peers had been crushed, sharp words severing ties that ought to have lasted her years. Ginny had sobbed into her pillow at the thought of the ruined friendship between herself and Astoria, who hadn't visited her during her stay in the hospital wing. When Harry and Ginny reached the passage to their common room, Ginny took a deep shuddering breath, hand poised to open the door and find somewhere to hide away, when a grip on her forearm paused her, she glanced to Harry, who was watching her intently,

"Listen, Ginny, if anyone gives you any trouble, let me know. Don't be a stranger, okay?" he said, she flushed at the genuine concern in his voice and nodded, voice failing her. He smiled slightly, pushing open the door. Slytherin house had waited up for them, and the normally stoic students cheered at their arrival. Draco, Blaise and Theodore dragged Harry away, thrusting a butter-beer into his hands whilst telling him that the points gained by himself and Ginny would be certain to win them the cup that year. Harry laughed at their enthusiasm, himself and Ginny had gained seventy-five points each for bravery in the face of the enemy, or something of a similar nature, and Slytherin was far ahead of the other houses.

Ginny herself was hardly unpopular, she was patted on the back by people she had never even spoken to. Her housemates smiled at her and a drink was pushed into her hand as she was jostled through the crowds. Her eyes scanned the students, smiling politely, though her heart wasn't really in the gesture. She paused as her gaze lit upon the object of her search, Astoria Greengrass sat, looking small and lonely, in a large armchair in the corner of the room. It was their usual study seat, where they would squeeze onto the chair together to hunch over a book. It looked so much bigger with only on person on it. Ginny took a deep breath, before making her way to the girl who she had shoved aside with such brutality.

"Astoria?" she asked, voice uncertain, "Can I talk to you?" the dark-haired girl nodded, eyes cautious as she peered at her ex-friend. Ginny sat down on an opposite armchair, and opened her mouth to apologise for all of the awful things she had said. Astoria beat her to it;

"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out, "I got angry and I wasn't there for you and you were almost killed!" she took a deep, shuddering breath, "I've been a terrible friend and if you never wanted to talk to me again I'd understand!" Ginny's eyes watered at the onslaught of words, and she threw herself forwards without pausing to think. Her arms wrapped around the girl,

"I was coming over to apologise to you!" she said, "I was horrible and-"

"Let's just forget about this whole thing?" Astoria cut in, shifting on her seat to provide more space, "Come sit, I need to show you this awesome thing from 'A Magical Guide to Charming your Prince.' It'll sway Malfoy for sure!" Ginny laughed, the first time since her return from the chamber, things were starting to look up. She slid into her old spot, offering her mug of butter-beer to the girl, who took a sip before handing back the tankard. They wasted the night laughing and talking, Harry glanced over at them from where he was sitting with his friends, and smiled at the happy picture. The firelight caught Ginny's hair, and she seemed to brighten the normally dark common room as she giggled with Greengrass. Harry slid back into his conversation, pushing the thought that Ginny Weasley was very pretty to the back of his mind, and immersing himself in talk of quidditch once more.

Despite the fact that the heir of Slytherin had been dealt with, nothing had really changed in the life of Harry Potter. His classes proceeded as normal, and Quidditch season, which he had missed in the hassle of the past months, was drawing to a close before he knew it. Slytherin destroyed Gryffindor; using underhanded tactics and the fact that Gryffindor had a sub-standard seeker to their utmost advantage. Dumbledore had told the students that the Heir to Slytherin was someone from outside the student body, who Harry and Ginny had incapacitated whilst being held hostage by the madman. This explanation did little to satisfy the curiosity of the student body, and Harry and Ginny were peppered with questions about their battle. The two were naturally very quiet about the whole thing, but their time of privacy was not destined to last longer then four months.

The petrified students were given the Mandrake solution surrounded by friends and family, despite Madam Pomfrey's insistence that the students were 'given some space'. Whilst most of the students had seen nothing but the reflected yellow eyes of their attacker and had no idea as to who was controlling the beast, Ronald Weasley had, prior to his petrification, met the blank gaze of his sister before catching sight of the basilisk in the hall window. Unfortunately, this meant that upon waking up, surrounded by half of his housemates and his family, his first reaction was to scream, catching sight of his younger sister at the fore of the crowd. He had pressed himself back against the headboard of the bed, eyes wide and panicked as he scrabbled to get away from the girl.

"Ronald!" his mother cried, worry lacing her voice at the sight of her son so frightened, the boy turned to look at the woman, before frantically pointing at Ginny,

"Mum! It was her! Ginny set the basilisk on me, she can speak parseltongue, she's the heir!" Or at least, that was what he tried to say before he was hit with a charm that made his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. Despite his mother's speed with her wand, the panic in his words was not lost on his fellow students. Ginny, who was white in the face shook her head silently, aware that everyone in the hospital wing had heard the first half of her brother's statement, and now believed she had set a basilisk on her brother. Madam Pomfrey, who looked very worried by what had been shouted, jostled everyone but the family from the room,

"This is what happens when you crowd them, they get hysterical, delusional even! Off with you all." despite the Matron's attempt to disguise the boy's words as nonsensical, the students murmured as they left, glancing over their shoulder at the lone Slytherin Weasley.

Despite everything being explained to the formerly petrified boy, the relationship between Ron and Ginny was strained. The boy would start at his sister's voice, flinch at her name. They avoided each other at all costs. This only furthered the rumours flying around about Ginevra's involvement in the Chamber of Secrets, and soon the girl was a social pariah in all but her own house. Slytherin seemed unperturbed by the rumours, ignoring them or scoffing in the rare situation that they were brought up.

"Honestly!" Astoria's sister exclaimed , as a group of Ravenclaws walked past her at breakfast, two weeks into her ostracisation, speaking loudly, "Don't these imbeciles know anything about family trees? I was taught this before I could walk. The Weasley family has absolutely no relation to Salazar Slytherin, so there is no way that Weasley could be the heir of Slytherin. She has seven older brothers who could have beaten her to the position if her family was somehow related to the founder." her cheeks were slightly flushed as she glared at the Ravenclaws, who sped off without another word. Ginny looked to the girl with wide eyes,

"Thank you…" she said, the blonde smiled slightly, a mere tweak upwards of pink lips,

"It's no problem. I hate to see these imbeciles disregarding basic family trees." the girl said, Astoria laughed slightly, cutting in,

"Daph' forced me to learn them, she was stricter then our parents!" the two girls smiled at each other and Ginny blinked, noticing suddenly the similarities between the two sisters. Both had the same sharp blue eyes facial shapes, though their hair colours were startling contrasts, Daphne's blonde against Astoria's black. Ginny smiled as the two girls slipped into casual sibling-style banter, mind wandering to her own brothers, three tables down. She was interrupted by her musing as a hand was thrust across the table,

"I suppose we've been terribly rude, I didn't formally introduce myself when we first met, I'm Daphne Greengrass. If my sister trusts you enough to allow you to use her first name then so do I." said the girl, Ginny accepted the hand,

"Call me Ginny." she responded with a wide smile, the girl who was sitting beside Daphne nodded politely,

"Tracy Davies." she said, Ginny smiled in return, and the four settled into easy conversation. Fifteen minutes before breakfast was over, Harry Potter and his friends ran into the hall, sliding into the seats beside the two second year girls with practised ease.

"I thought you guys were going to skip breakfast altogether this time…" said Tracy, grinning at Harry, who ran a hand through his hair with a half laugh,

"We almost did," he said, "Draco kept fiddling with his hair." the girl laughed as Malfoy let out an indignant squawk. Harry reached out and grabbed a bagel off the table, casually buttering it as himself and Tracy began to talk. Astoria nudged Ginny sharply,

"Eyes away, dearest…" she muttered, and Ginny flushed, having been caught staring. Astoria laughed at her embarrassment, "We can have a shared wedding!" she whispered, sending her friend a deeper shade of red. Harry glanced over at Ginny as she talked with her friend, the two were lost in their own world as they whispered to each other, he took a gulp of his pumpkin juice and ran a hand through his hair once more, a nervous habit. He waited until the girl glanced his way before catching her eye with a smile,

"Morning, Ginny!" he said, the girl smiled back charmingly, cheeks flushed from whatever she had been talking about with her friend,

"Morning Harry." she responded, and the boy's smile widened happily, before he resumed talking with the other second years. Astoria giggled slightly and Ginny glared at her, focusing on her breakfast.

Despite the minimalist nature of her conversations with the Harry, the fact that she was on first name basis with the Potter heir was a noticeable status boost for the younger girl. Astoria was Ginny's closest friend, but now, amongst her dorm-mates, things were significantly less stressful. The other three girls who Ginevra roomed with finally, after months of ignoring her, introduced themselves. First to come forwards was Camilla Carrow. The girl, tall with blonde hair and chilly grey eyes extended her hand, the faintest of sneers visible on her sharply angled face as she gave Ginny her name. Ginny stared at the hand with narrowed eyes,

"No thank you." she said primly, before returning to her book. She had not forgotten the girl's cruel words on her first days at Hogwarts, though she had previously not had a name to go with the face. When in the bathrooms, the arrogant girl had insulted her and then become outraged when Ginny had responded in kind. The girl's lips thinned at Ginny's response and swallowed before she spoke again,

"I understand that when we first met, I did not behave appropriately, and I would like to apologise. I shouldn't have insulted you so hastily." the words were clearly forced and the girl was the epitome of discomfort when Ginny glanced up at her once more. Finally, she shook the girl's hand.

"You shouldn't have, but I accept your apology." she said. Anger still bubbled in her gut as she looked at the taller girl, but Ginny suppressed it. She would do nothing to risk being as alone as she had been earlier that year. Though she couldn't picture herself and Carrow ever being on first name basis, she would try not to make enemies.

Next came Priscilla Parkinson, the girl was tiny, especially considering she spent most of her time with the willowy Carrow, and had mousy blonde hair and large brown eyes. She looked younger then all of the other girls, and Ginny felt her guard lower as she offered a hand with a polite smile,

"It's nice to meet you!" she said, having given her name, Ginny laughed slightly at the girl's chirpy tone, watching as she vanished as quickly as she had come.

Finally was Mary-lee Flint. The girl was large and brutish in comparison to her friends, and nodded to Ginny with a half smile and grunted her name.

Though she was now familiar with her room mates, Ginny remained relatively exclusive with her friendship, and it was noted by her housemates that only three people had been granted right to her first name (Astoria and Daphne Greengrass, and the Potter heir). That was until she befriended a Ravenclaw from the year above her. Ginny met Mandy Brocklehurst in the library, she was finishing her transfiguration homework when the girl came in, her face was red and her eyes were frantic as she scanned the library, she looked close to tears. Ginny watched her curiously as the girl slid into the seat next to her without a glance, hissing,

"Talk to me." the Slytherin complied, rambling about her transfiguration homework as several girls also wearing Ravenclaw garb rounded the corner, talking in voices almost too loud for the library. The leader, Ginny recalled the name of instantly, was Cho Chang. The girl was very pretty, and held the position of Ravenclaw seeker, her dark eyes narrowed as she took in Ginny's new comrade, and she muttered something to her friends before they wandered off to sit somewhere else in the library. The girl slumped in relief, "Thank you so much…" she whispered, Ginny nodded, turning the page of her transfiguration textbook before inquiring,

"What did you do to them?" the older girl shook her head, chocolate hair falling over her eyes in wild bangs,

"Nothing, it's just…" she paused, "They have been making fun of me for ages and then, I made the mistake of talking to Lovegood, and they began majorly targeting me."

"Luna?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows, the other girl nodded,

"You know her? She's like, the social pariah of Ravenclaw, but I'm hardly popular myself." Ginny frowned, herself and Luna had been friends before Hogwarts, yet she had seen hide nor hair of the other girl. The Ravenclaw continued rambling, "I don't know why, I just never really made friends with my housemates and then Chang and Edgecombe started picking on me and I guess it caught on but-" she paused, glancing at Ginny with wide eyes, "I guess you'd know about that, what with all this 'heir of Slytherin' rubbish." Ginny grinned at the girl's bluntness, and twirled on the end of her braid for a moment before she made up her mind and extended her hand,

"I like you. I guess you know my name but I'll introduce myself anyways, I'm Ginevra Weasley, but I go by Ginny, and you are?" the other girl flushed and took her hand,

"Mandy Brocklehurst, it's nice to meet you too." Despite the oddness of their initial meeting, Mandy stayed even after the other Ravenclaws trudged from the library, casting glances in their direction as the two worked through their schoolwork with playful banter lightening the air. Astoria joined them later and the introduction ran smoothly between the three girls. It became routine to see them huddled in the library, talking in hushed whispers.


Ok, so I know I haven't updated in ages, and I'm really sorry... I hope my updates will be a bit better from now on. Next chapter we will properly get some Harry/Ginny interaction, I swear! PLEASE REVIEW