On Tuesday morning Kendra woke up late, much to her horror. Typically she got up an hour before breakfast; her hair took at least thirty minutes to tame. This morning, however, her roommates were already gone to breakfast when she stumbled out of bed. She got ready in a frenzy, throwing on robes and socks and shoes before tugging her hair back into a puffy ponytail. She grimaced at the exhausted pale face in the mirror, but there was no time to do anything about it.
Kendra arrived twenty minutes late and took her usual seat by Garren, who immediately commented on her haphazard state.
"Shove off," she grumped as she slathered butter onto her biscuit. She glanced down the table towards Draco, who was reading the paper, a frown on his face. The whole room seemed to be filled with charged energy; the other houses were whispering excitedly amongst themselves.
"Is something going on?" she asked Garren.
Garren shrugged and shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth. Without swallowing, he said some garbled words – something about art and strange tricks. Then Draco caught her eye and beckoned her over.
"You need to see this," he said, turning the paper to the front page. Kendra leaned over his shoulder and froze as she saw the headline: Team of Aurors Led By Alastor Moody Apprehends Bellatrix Lestrange.
Her mother was going to Azkaban. She didn't know whether to be upset or relieved; at the moment she was a little bit of both.
"I guess you don't have to keep an eye on me anymore," she said weakly.
Draco didn't laugh. "No, I do now more than ever. When she gets out, it'll only be worse."
"But…it's Azkaban. She can't escape," Kendra said. The idea made her sick.
"Oh, I'm sure she'll figure out a way," Blaise interjected. Apparently he'd been listening to their conversation. "She's a crazy b – "
"Blaise," Draco interrupted. "Be considerate. Even if it's true, you can't say that about people's mothers."
"No, it's okay," Kendra said softly. "I'm glad she's gone."
Blaise looked up at her with sympathy in his eyes. "Don't worry, we're here for you."
"Thanks." Kendra's eyes flickered towards the large clock at the end of the hall and groaned. "Shoot, I've got to go. My herbology class starts in a couple minutes." The boys waved her off and she headed outside to the greenhouses. It was a bright sunny day outside, which entirely contrasted with Kendra's conflicted mood. At least they were with the Gryffindors today – Kendra hadn't really talked to Ginny or Cass in a few days.
When she finally reached the greenhouse, she was happy to see that Ginny had saved her a spot. Professor Sprout was already talking, but fortunately her back was turned so she didn't see Kendra rush in.
"Devil's snare is an extremely rare plant," Sprout was saying. "We're very fortunate to have a specimen here at Hogwarts."
"Hermione had a run-in with some last year," Cass whispered. "While they were trying to stop Professor Snape from stealing the Sorcerer's Stone to bring You-Know-Who back to life."
"Snape was trying to steal something?" Ginny asked.
"Well, they thought it was Snape," Garren butted in. "But it was actually this Quirrel guy. And he had two faces!"
"He was trying to bring You-Know-Who back to life?" Kendra asked in horror. Her mother was crazy enough with him dead; she couldn't imagine how demonic Bellatrix would be if her master returned.
"Yeah, but don't worry. Hermione and them accidently killed him and the stone is gone now," Garren said.
"They killed someone?" Ginny questioned. "My brother, actually causing someone harm? Yeah, right."
"I think it was Neville," Cass said. "He does everything by accident."
"I had no idea any of that happened," Troy said, finally joining the conversation. "Hector and Bilius never said anything about it."
"None of the students know. I only found out because I read Hermione's diary over the summer," Garren said, obviously pleased with himself.
"I thought she told you," Cass accused.
Garren smirked. "She doesn't tell me anything. And she won't, not now that I'm a Slytherin. Besides, it's not like she was going to tell you. Aren't you glad I found out for us?"
Cass rolled her eyes at him, but she didn't deny it. Kendra smiled at their banter and wondered what it was like to have a sibling. Maybe if she hadn't been an only child, it wouldn't be so bad living with Bellatrix. Maybe it would be less weight on her shoulders.
"Don't make me give you all detention," Sprout said, glaring at Kendra and her friends. "You haven't been listening to a single word I said."
The group quieted down, but kept looking at each other and laughing throughout the rest of class. All of them except for Ginny, Kendra noticed. She seemed a little out of it today; her eyes were red and she kept nodding off.
"Ginny, are you alright?" Kendra asked her after class.
The redhead nodded. "I'm just tired and I have a headache. I think I'm going to visit Madame Pomfrey."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I'm fine, really. Thanks though," Ginny said, smiling at her friend. Kendra watched her walk away, concerned about Ginny's well-being. She looked like she was getting sick.
"Do you guys know what's up with Ginny?" Kendra asked as everyone else headed to the main hall. The twins, Troy, Kendra, and Ginny had got into the habit of walking together and hanging out between classes. Posie joined them occasionally, but she was closer with some of the other Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls – probably because of her sister.
"She's been kinda out of it the past couple days," Cass said. "She's probably just stressed out or something."
"Yeah," Kendra agreed, although she doubted it was that simple. She didn't want to make a big deal about it; she knew Ginny wouldn't like that and she wanted to be a good friend.
Ginny knew something was wrong when she wasn't smiling as much in her herbology class. Usually she couldn't stop laughing – her friends were awesome – but today she just wasn't feeling it. Nobody seemed to notice except Kendra; that girl was quite perceptive, and the kindest Slytherin she'd ever met. It was sweet of her to offer to accompany Ginny to visit the nurse, but Ginny needed a moment to sort herself out.
After downing a potion, however, she began to wish she'd accepted Kendra's offer. The drink took the edge off her headache but she still felt kind of off as she headed back to the common room. Her footsteps echoed in the empty hallways and her imagination began to run wild. She began hearing things around every corner and felt quite uncomfortable by herself.
So when Ginny heard soft footsteps that didn't match her own, naturally she scrambled to find a hiding place. Shortly after pressing herself against a pillar, she heard a door open and the footsteps faded away – whoever it was, they were gone. She walked around the corner and froze; she could see Percy in an empty classroom snogging a girl – Penelope Clearwater, no less. Was this the reason he'd been disappearing so much?
Ginny blinked several times, but her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Then, to her horror, Percy looked up and saw her. For a moment, she couldn't move. Once she came to her senses, she took off running down the hallway.
Did that really just happen?
Percy cornered Ginny the following morning as she was leaving the common room, grabbing her shoulder so she was facing him.
"Ginny, you musn't tell anyone. Promise me you won't tell mum or our brothers, especially not Fred and George. Give me your word!"
"Okay Percy," Ginny said tiredly, waving him off. It was too early for this kind of confrontation; he was making her head hurt.
Percy's anxiety changed to concern as he saw the look on her face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just tired. I've been getting headaches."
"Colds are going around, you might be getting sick. Whenever I'm under the weather I always take Pepperup Potion. It'll get you better in no time," Percy said quickly. He fished around in his bag and pulled out a small vial. "Here, drink this."
Ginny didn't want to keep talking to him and she suspected that drinking his potion would be the best way to get him off her case. She took it grudgingly and drank it down in one gulp – it tasted terrible. Percy looked satisfied and Ginny hastily bade him farewell before heading to class.
Draco was in much too bad of a mood to actually pay attention in his classes, not even potions. Ever since the newspaper article about Bellatrix getting arrested, he'd been stressing out over what to do. So when afternoon arrived and he headed to the Quidditch fields, it took everything in him to not strangle Oliver Woods and Potter right then and there.
Potter's pathetic friends tried to intervene, but Weasley managed to screw it up by cursing himself. He was hopeless. And as all the Gryffindors rushed him away in a trail of slugs, the Slytherins took the field.
How dare Granger accuse him of buying his way onto the team. Sure, the Nimbus 2001 brooms may have helped him win a spot, but he was definitely the best seeker in the Slytherin house.
"Well, you look pissed," Blaise commented as they mounted their brooms.
Draco scowled. "I hope Weasley chokes."
"What do you expect them to do when you call Granger a 'filthy little mudblood?' They're not the type to stand around," Blaise said.
"I don't know. They're pathetic, though. Granger would be better off without Weasley or Potter getting in the way."
"Personally, I don't know how they tolerate Potter. He's more obnoxious than even you," Blaise teased.
"Hey!" Draco reprimanded, though he couldn't help but smile, lifting his bad mood.
"That's better. Vincent and Gregory look like they're getting kinda lonely up there, come on."
"He did what?" Kendra asked in shock. She and Ginny were chatting through their combined charms class like usual and Ginny was informing her on what had happened the previous day on the Quidditch field – as told to her by Potter, who announced the event loudly and dramatically in the Gryffindor common room.
"Called Hermione a filthy little you-know-what," Ginny whispered.
"No way," Kendra gasped.
"Yeah. Ron tried to hex him, but his stupid wand backfired on him and he started retching slugs."
Kendra gagged. "That's nasty. Why doesn't he get a new wand?"
"Can't afford it right now. They spent all the extra money on mine."
"Oh."
Ginny guessed that Kendra had never had that problem. Anyone whose family associated with the Malfoys was probably filthy rich.
"Alright, you're dismissed. Remember to read pages ninety to ninety-five tonight. There will be a short test tomorrow."
The class groaned collectively as they started getting up. Ginny only caught the tail-end of what Professor Flitwick was saying. Before she could ask, Troy propped his elbows on her desk.
"Hey Ginny, my brother's having a Hallowe'en party and I thought I'd invite you and Cass," he said. The Granger girl immediately appeared beside him, her face lighting up.
"I haven't been to any wizard parties yet. It sounds fun!" she exclaimed.
"For which brother?" Ginny asked.
"Bilius. He's quite the popular bloke."
"But he's in Slytherin."
"He's a cool Slytherin. Not all stuck-up like Malfoy and the rest. Garren's going to be there, and we're trying to convince Kendra to come."
Where did that girl go? Her seat was vacant and she was nowhere in sight. She was awfully good at disappearing when she needed to – a skill Ginny wished she had.
"Well, I'm in!" Cass said. Ginny nodded in agreement; she couldn't pass up an opportunity to party. Hopefully she wouldn't get sick that night so she could have maximum fun.
"Where's it at?" she asked.
"The dungeons. The older boys are setting it up to be the best party joint."
"Ooh, that sounds awesome! I can't wait!" Cass said eagerly. Ginny had never seen her this enthusiastic about something – looked like this Granger was a partier.
The anticipated evening arrived a few days later. Not dressed in robes for once, the girls got ready excitedly while chatting about the event.
"I hope it's not too creepy," Ginny worried as she pulled on a pair of skinny jeans. "I hate spooky stuff."
"I love that kind of thing," Cass said. She swiped some red lipstick onto her lips and a layer of mascara onto her eyelashes. "What do you think?"
"You pull off that lipstick really well," Ginny complimented. "Can I borrow your mascara?"
"Sure." Ginny applied it carefully, managing to smudge it only once. With six older brothers, she didn't have a lot of experience with makeup. She didn't usually bother with it, but she wasn't one to shun being girly every now and then. Getting glammed up was kinda fun.
"Wow, you have great eyes," Cass noticed, her hands on her hips. "Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky tonight."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Cass, we're only eleven." Honestly, she was surprised Cass even used that phrase. How in the world was she related to Hermione?
Oh wait…she wasn't. Ginny kept forgetting that Cass had other parents. No one ever mentioned it, and the twins never said anything either. It was almost as if they'd always been Grangers. That seemed odd…
Cass sighed, drawing Ginny away from her thoughts. "I didn't mean it like that, Ginny. I meant, maybe we'll meet some cool people."
"Right," Ginny said skeptically. "Well, let's get going then."
By the time the girls arrived, the party was already in full force. Ginny spotted Garren right away – he was singing karaoke onstage and having a good time of it. They must've had an amplifying charm on him because she could hear his voice loud and clear. And surprisingly, he wasn't that bad – not bad at all.
"I can't believe he's singing," Cass said, though she didn't look embarrassed. "I'd be right up there with him if I could sing." Ginny suspected that was somewhat of an excuse, but she didn't say anything about it.
"Where's Troy?" she asked instead, raising her voice to be heard over the noise.
"I have no idea." They wandered the crowd for a few minutes and Ginny took in the sights around her. There was a large number of Slytherins and quite a few Gryffindors intermixed, an uncommon sight at Hogwarts.
"Hey, look who it is! Our little sister at a dungeon party!"
Ginny grinned, recognizing her twin brothers Fred and George instantly, even though they were wearing ridiculous costumes. "What are you two pirates doing here?"
"Bilius invited us, of course!" George said cheerily.
"Why are you here?" Fred asked. "Are you friends with his brother Troy?"
"Yes she is," Troy answered, suddenly appearing beside her. "Glad you could make it, guys! Did you hear Garren?"
Ginny laughed and Cass rolled her eyes. "Yes we did."
"Was that your brother?" Fred asked. "We were about to go talk to him about that stellar stunt he pulled off earlier. We could use guys like him in our brainstorm sessions!"
"I bet he'd love that!" Cass said, ignoring Ginny's discouraging gestures.
"Good. We're going to go find him," George said, and the twins took off, a bit slower than usual due to their matching peg legs.
Ginny shook her head, but she was smiling. Those boys were so crazy. She loved them to bits. People without any siblings were missing out. Which reminded her… "Has Kendra shown up?"
"Yeah, I saw her hanging near Malfoy and his gang. Let's go find her," Troy suggested.
They found Kendra exactly as Troy described: in the middle of a conversation with the blonde Slytherin, albeit reluctantly. She kept looking around as if she wanted to be anywhere but at a party on Hallowe'en.
"Kendra, I'm so glad you came!" Cass said, running to give her friend a hug. Draco stared at the Gryffindor girls, then at the dark-skinned boy beside him. The two seemed to share a silent exchange before the unnamed one smiled knowingly, his eyes on Ginny. She rubbed her arms self-consciously, wondering what that look meant.
"What are you doing at a Slytherin party?" Malfoy demanded, not looking very pleased.
"It's not just a Slytherin party," Ginny huffed. "And we were invited."
"By who?"
"By me, of course," a deep voice interrupted. Ginny turned to see Bilius himself walking up to them. The Walter boys seemed to have perfect timing. "It's nice to see you two again," Bilius said, referring to Ginny and Cass. "Garren's been having a blast so far."
Cass laughed. "Yeah, he's a big partier."
"I love it. He adds some much-needed life to the room. That's why I invited the Weasley twins. It's not a real party until they show up with their crazy inventions."
Ginny grinned and then burst into laughter when she saw the dumbfounded look on Malfoy's face. "You…you invited Weasleys?" he sputtered.
"Of course! Is there something wrong with that?" Bilius asked, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"No! I just…they're blood traitors!"
"So what? If they're adding to the party, it doesn't matter. If you're not going to liven up, you can get lost."
Malfoy scowled, but he didn't leave. The situation got a little awkward after Bilius walked away and no one else moved, but then Garren showed up.
"Hey guys, did you hear me singing? Aren't I totally the best?"
"Absolutely," Malfoy's friend said with a smile.
"Thanks, Blaise," Garrren said, grinning. "What are you doing at a party? I thought this kind of thing wasn't your scene."
"It's not. Draco needed a plus one, though, and I was the only guy available. Crabbe and Goyle aren't really conversation material."
Malfoy glared at his friend, but Blaise chose to ignore him, causing Ginny to chuckle. Malfoy then glared at her, but she kept smiling at him until he walked away in a huff while muttering something about getting a drink.
"Sorry about Draco, he's a bit of a prick," Blaise apologized. "It's not his fault, though. That's how he was raised."
Ginny had never thought about that. "It doesn't excuse his awfulness, though. He can be a decent human being like you."
Blaise chuckled. "I'm not really a decent person either, just in comparison to Draco."
"That's not true," Kendra disagreed, finally joining the conversation. "You're one of the nicest boys in all of Slytherin, at least to me."
"Thanks Ruby," Blaise said. He ruffled Kendra's hair affectionately and she mock-pouted at him. Ginny smiled at the exchange, seeing the sibling-like relationship that had grown between the two Slytherins over the past couple months.
"Hey, I know this song!" Garren said suddenly. "Let's go dance!"
"Yeah!" Cass agreed. "C'mon guys!"
"Alright," Troy said amiably, though less enthusiastically than the twins. "Ginny, you coming?"
"In a minute, I have to use the restroom." Her stomach was starting to ache again and dancing would just worsen the dizziness that was beginning to plague her. It was probably the confrontation with Malfoy that was making her queasy, and a quick breather would get her back into the mood.
"Do you want me to walk you?"
"I'm fine, but thanks."
"Okay. See you in a few," Troy said, and he walked into the crowd of dancing students. After saying goodbye to Kendra and Blaise, Ginny left the dungeons feeling pretty content about the party so far despite her sickness.
The next thing she knew, Ginny was lying in bed, clothing rumpled and hair a mess. Glancing out the window, she saw that it was the middle of the night. What happened? She climbed down the bunk bed and lit the tip of her wand to look around. Cass wasn't there so Bilius' party must still be going on. Why was Ginny here then?
Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Ginny grimaced. She was a mess. The mascara had come off her eyelashes and created dark rings below her eyes and she looked paler than usual. She scrubbed her face hastily with cleanser she found in Cass' stuff, and then stumbled back into bed. She had no idea why she was in her dorms instead of in the dungeons, but she wasn't about to sneak back down in this condition. Still overwhelmingly confused, Ginny rolled over and went back to sleep.
The news the following morning was frightening. The Great Hall was filled with whispers about the Chamber of Secrets and Filch. "What's going on?" Ginny asked as she took a seat with her friends.
"Filch found Mrs. Norris petrified last night, hanging from a torch in the second floor bathroom," Cass said, her voice low. "Apparently Hermione, Ron, and Neville saw her on their way back to the common room after going to some ghost's death-day party."
"Petrified?" Ginny said, a sinking feeling in her stomach. "What does that mean?"
Neville, who was sitting near them, leaned in to answer the question. "She was frozen in this weird position, like she was dead. It was really creepy when we found her because you could see her reflection in this giant pool of water on the floor and the room was super dark."
"Why were you guys in there anyway?" Troy asked.
Neville shrugged and didn't say anything. Wow. Was anyone in this school secret-free? Even Neville was up to something.
"Oi, we need to get going if we want to make it to Defense Against the Dark Arts on time," Troy said, looking at a golden pocketwatch.
"Is that new?" Ginny asked, leaning over the table. The watch was engraved with a roaring lion and the Gryffindor banner. "It's pretty."
"My mum sent it a few days ago as an early Christmas present. She thought it would come in handy since there don't seem to be many clocks around here."
Posie joined Troy, Cass, and Ginny on the way to DADA. For all his credentials, Lockhart was a terrible teacher. He was too busy promoting himself to actually teach his students anything useful.
Knowing that lilac was his favorite color was not useful. Ginny preferred the answer on the test she found at the beginning of the year. Speaking of which, she needed to find it – it would provide some much-needed comic relief for the otherwise pointless class period.
"Alright, today we're going to have a little contest to see how much you've learned. I will be pairing you up with someone and whichever team wins will get an autographed poster of me."
"Yay," Ginny said unenthusiastically.
Posie's eyes lit up. "No way, this is so exciting! I hope I'm paired up with someone like Hermione."
That was likely, seeing as they had this class with Ravenclaws today. As Lockhart began pairing people up, it was clear that he was splitting up the houses.
"Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood."
Ginny grimaced as she eyed the blonde girl in the front of the classroom. From what she'd heard, Luna was eccentric – so unusual that people called her Loony. Ginny tried not to prejudge people, but as she took the seat next to Luna, she couldn't help but think the girl was a little…dreamy.
"Um, hi," Ginny said. "Lockhart is the worst, isn't he?" That was the only subject she could think of to talk about.
"He's not nearly as bad as Nargles," Luna said.
"What are Nargles?"
"Oh, they're quite mischievous. They'll steal anything they can get their hands on, you know. My father wrote all about them in The Quibbler. I have some extra copies if you want one."
"I'm good, thanks," Ginny said hastily. This girl was clearly not in her right mind, but she seemed pretty harmless.
"Alright, here are your tests. Whoever has the most answered correctly at the end of class will receive a signed picture of yours truly." Like he just said.
The thick booklet on the desk was titled "Comprehensive Knowledge Assessment of Gilderoy Lockhart's Collected Works." Of course. Ginny shouldn't have expected anything else – like a test over content that they actually needed to know. If he was their DADA professor for all seven years of her schooling, she wouldn't pass her O.W.L.s, let alone graduate with any knowledge over the subject. Maybe she needed to learn on her own.
"I don't suppose you've read any of his books?" Luna asked.
"Not worth my time," Ginny replied.
"I agree. I read his Guide to Household Pests, but it didn't have any mentions of Nargles or Wrackspurts. It was not nearly as thorough as it should've been."
Mum would disagree, Ginny thought. She expected that her mother would support Lockhart's book to the end for all the help it provided over the years in the Burrow.
"Psst! Ginny!" someone whispered. She turned around and met Troy's eyes. "Do you know the answer to number three?" he asked.
"I'm still on number one," she said as she glanced down at her paper. What was the name of the first troll Gilderoy Lockhart encountered in his novel Traveling With Trolls? "I don't know, Brutus? Just make it up. It's not like we're getting actual grades in this class."
"But I want to win the poster," Troy said. "I can probably sell it on the black market for a ton of money."
Ginny laughed. For a second she thought he wanted the poster to hang in his room or something. "How would you find the black market, exactly?"
"I'm sure Bilius has a few connections," he replied, grinning cheekily.
"Nice." Sometimes Ginny wondered what would be different if any of her brothers had been sorted into Slytherin – even just one. She could see Percy being Slytherin. He didn't seem very Gryffindor to her, sneaking around to snog Penelope and always nitpicking everything.
Or if she had been sorted into Slytherin! She would've roomed with Kendra, of course. What did the Slytherin common rooms look like? Maybe Kendra could sneak her in sometime…she imagined the horrified look on Malfoy's face if he saw her there and smiled. That needed to happen.
"Ginny, class is almost over and we don't have anything written down," Luna said.
How long was she lost in her thoughts? Surely that hadn't been an hour! "Well, I guess we could try to answer some of them."
It took ten minutes to read through the questions and they had no idea how to answer any of them. With only a minute or two left, they began writing down random guesses, making it through most of the first page before Lockhart stopped them.
"Alright, leave your exams on the table when you leave and I'll announce the winner tomorrow," he said with an anticipatory grin. "You are dismissed. Until tomorrow, my faithful students."
Ginny rolled her eyes and looked over at Luna, who was messing with a strange pair of glasses. "Well, it was nice meeting you." She said the words as a goodbye, but she realized that she actually meant it. Luna was definitely weird and maybe a bit crazy, but she was interesting, and Ginny liked keeping things interesting.
"Yes. I'll see you around, Ginny," Luna said. She put on the glasses and slowly walked away. After a moment, Ginny shook her head and rejoined her friends.