Nothing belongs to me.
XCIV: Trouble Lurking
She felt kind of bad hiding in bathroom stalls and listening as unsuspecting Slytherins poured out their souls to moody, insecure ghosts – like the way she was again now.
This was exactly the sort of insensitive thing Ron would do. At least Ginny had the sense (and the tact) to keep everything she heard and saw to herself.
It was wrong, Ginny knew it, but she couldn't help it.
There was something strange and exciting about sitting on a toilet seat and eavesdropping while Draco Malfoy talked about his feelings.
Ginny silenced her thoughts for he spoke again.
"I feel so alone this year." He paused. "I mean, I've always been alone…I have friends, but we don't talk, and they don't understand what I'm going through. No one understands me…except maybe you and Mother.
"Father never understood me. He never had the time to get to; he never made time. Off somewhere, doing something important. To tell you the truth, I'm quite glad he's in jail.
"Did he abuse you?" asked Myrtle in a hushed voice.
"Not physically, verbally and emotionally, yes – when, when I was younger." Malfoy quickly added.
"It's no surprise I'm closer to my mother. I might even go as far as to say that I love her more. She is a remarkable woman. Mother is strong, sweet, caring, intelligent, and independent."
Inside the stall, Ginny smiled. A week or two before she would have never have believed that Draco Malfoy was capable of being human and not the spawn of Satan as everyone believed.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, and Ginny waited for him to speak again, hanging on the edge of her seat. Literally.
Ginny slipped sideways off the toilet, hitting her head against the stall.
"Ow." she murmured, one hand flying to the bump sure to form.
The thought of any head injury she may or may not have obtained was ripped from her mind when the stall door opened to reveal the equally stunned Slytherin.
"Well," he said finally after an intense staring session, "it seems someone is having trouble lurking."
AN/: Yes, I know…I'm quite ashamed of this last line, but in my defense when I wrote it, I didn't know how to use the phrase 'trouble lurking' and in my twisted mind, I thought it was similar to the phrase 'trouble sleeping'. But looking back at it now, two years later, it's glaringly obvious. Trouble lurking, as in the sense of trouble lurking around the corner, or however you'll have it.