Auror: Look, Miss Weasley, go home, try to find some evidence, maybe letters he's send you and when you find something of significance, come back. Until then, unless we see some proper evidence, there's nothing we can do.

Tell them. Fuckin hell, just tell them! You were raped, tell them!

Ginny: … Okay.

And with that I was back to square one.

When I came up for my fifth year at Hogwarts, things only got worse. As I was following the newspaper over Blaise's shoulder at breakfast, I read that Theodore and his father had been barred for an incident about 3 months after I'd gone to the Department of magical Law Enforcement. And for a moment I thought that might be the end of it, but he just multiplied across all other areas of my life.

Theo: The nerve you show me, rubbing your new boyfriend in my face!

Professor McGonagall: All right, that's enough, Mr Nott.

Theo: You've made an enemy of me, Ginevra! Make no mistake about that!

It was killing me, all of it. A free pass to skip a year in my studies on account of Theo, offered little to no comfort in the face of everything. I thought about quitting Hogwarts and changing schools or just all-together, pausing my studies for a while, but I just didn't wanna give him the satisfaction of taking any more than he already had. So all there was left to do was lie and wait, questioning what else he might be capable of. Blaise and I were back to being best friends and me and Draco were now dating. As I lay in in Draco's bed, waiting for him to come back from quidditch practice, all of a sudden, there was a lot of turmoil downstairs.

Draco: Fuck! Someone just threw something in my face!

Ginny: What's going on?

Draco: Someone just fucking attacked me!

Ginny: What?

Draco: I thought it was acid or something. I thought I was gonna go blind!

Blaise handed Draco a towel.

Ginny: Bloody hell! I mean, what was it?

Draco: I don't know. It was, like, a fizzy drink, or something.

Blaise: It was that Theodore dude. The one who gave you tutoring lessons last year? I saw him running down the courtyard when I came to the window.

Ginny: Oh, yeah. No, I… I remember him. Yeah.

Draco: What is going on here?

For the first time in about 9 months, I felt tears swell up from my tear ducts. I could no longer hold the tears from my past inside. So I cried. The weight of the world suddenly making my knees weak. As my eyes welled from tears, either one of them caught me from falling to the ground and I cried. I cried like I'd done on Theo's shoulder after he'd raped me the night before.

Ginny: I'm so sorry. I tried to get him to stop, but he didn't. I swear, I tried.

I weakly whispered my apologies against their chest.

Draco: Ginny?

Draco, the one who's chest I was wetting, took my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him.

Draco: Ginny, … what the fuck did he do to you?

And so I told them. No more lies, no more fucking secrets. I told them about the tutoring lessons, the drugs, the touching, … even the rape. Everything. They turned me inside-out with their questions and I compelled. They tried reaching for the pockets of my most tightly-held secret and I gave it to them. No more withholding, just the plain, exact truth.

Blaise: Fucking hell.

I could see the tears welling up in their eyes as well.

Blaise: Why didn't you fucking tell us?

Draco: No, Blaise, stop it. Ginny, listen to me. You have done absolutely nothing wrong.

Blaise: Yeah, no. That's not what I meant, ginny. You are not the one the blame here.

I questioned whether this was it. The warm feeling of their embraces after I'd told them about Theo changed something in me, made me realize I wasn't alone after all, made me feel safe. Was this the high I'd been looking for? Love? As I lay next to Draco in bed, later that evening, we talked some more about how it all happened.

Draco: Jezus, I can't imagine what you've been through.

Ginny: … Yeah, me neither.

Seeing me doze off into my thoughts, Draco quickly took my face in his hands like he'd done earlier and made me look at him. He kissed me softly on the lips. As I smiled into the kiss, it got more and more intense. As we were kissing, his hand trailed down my stomach, circling my belly button, going lower and lower before pausing at the rim of my sweatpants. Not seeing any complaints from me, entered my pants, he trailed his fingers down my pubic area, then down to my labia. As he parted my outer lips, I let out a gasp. He stopped for a moment, but then continued, touching my sensitive clit, going even more down, sliding his fingers teasingly against my introitus. Slowly starting to enter me, Draco moaned. I suddenly panicked and sat up straight.

Ginny: Oh, I'm sorry. No. I'm … I'm not ready. I'm sorry. M…My body, it's just not letting me.

Draco: Hey, don't worry. It's fine.

It was strange. After all the awful things that had been done to my body, I just couldn't lose myself in intimacy anymore. Like, now there were feelings involved, it all just felt too much. The touch, the love, the confirmation. Over the next fortnight after repeated failed attempts, I started noticing a change in Draco. Days spent predominantly in bed, skulking around the house in yesterday's clothes, blurring the line between day and night without his usual spark.

Ginny: Is everything ok ay?

Draco: Yeah, I'm fine.

Then I would wake in the night to find him shrinking inside of himself.

Ginny: Is everything okay?

Draco: My God, stop asking that.

Draco got out of bed as I clipped on the light.

Ginny: Well, maybe if you explain, I might be able to help.

Draco had scoffed at my remark.

Ginny: Look, Draco, if this is anything to do with all this awkward sex stuff-

Draco: No, it's the way you make me feel during the sex stuff. I've just… I've never had any problems turning on girls before.

Ginny: No, no, Draco, it's got nothing to do with that. It's just the whole Theo situation. That's what's getting to me here. I just… I feel so fucking stressed.

Draco: But what are you even doing to fix the situation, Ginny? We've been stuck inside for God knows how long now, waiting for you to figure it out.

What he said wasn't batshit. We had spent the last 5 days of our holiday, stuck inside Blaise and Draco's shared quarters.

Ginny: Well, I've been to the Department of Magical law Enforcement, but they were useless.

Draco: Well, did you mention what happened to me? Did you mention the fact that the moron threw a fizzy drink in my face? Did you mention the rape, the drugs, his previous allegations? Did you mention any of that?

Ginny: … Of course I did.

Now, that was a load of batshit, right there.

Draco: Then why hasn't an Auror been round?

Ginny: …

Draco: Oh, I know! It's because you didn't say shit!

The door slammed shut, as Draco left to go sleep on the couch. I felt ill to my stomach. And I know what you're gonna say. I should have gone then and there. I should have grabbed Draco's hand and told him how scared I was. But still my shame won out. I just had to find a different way.

Auror: We can't charge someone for wanting to stay away from you, Mss Weasley.

Ginny: It's not about the wanting to stay away from me. Read the letter! He's threatening me!

As I had been lying in bed, a week prior to this event, following a stormed-out Draco, I had suddenly remembered the letters Theo had been sending me of late. I recalled a certain one that had made my blood run cold.

Dear Ginevra fucking Weasley

I hope you enjoy getting fucked by your new boyfriend. I certainly enjoy your absence. So I'll tell you this now, for the first and last time. Stay away from me, and I will leave you alone. If you do not follow my request, there will be consequences.

Kind regards

Theo

Auror: Look, we can go through the whole process if you'd like. We can do the SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, feedback, scenario planning and risk assessment, but it will all indicate the same outcome. The likelihood that the thread will take place is simply way too small, seeing as you would have to be the one to cause it and the impact if and when it does is not even indicated. Look, I'm sorry, Mss Weasley, but we can't charge someone on account of an absent threat.

Ginny: But you shouldn't be allowed to even send someone something like that!

Auror: If anything, this letter implies that he's gonna stay away.

Ginny: Oh my, God. I really think you're missing the point here.

Auror: I'm simply giving you the arguments he'll come back with. To arrest someone, on the basis of a letter, we need a credible threat or something sexually aggressive towards you. Again, if I could see any evidence that would suggest violence, I-

Ginny: Oh, Jezus fucking Christ. He's ruining my life here!

Fuck it! I'm not letting Theo ruin my life AND my relationship, no longer.

Ginny: All right. Search his name in the system.

Auror: Very well. What's his name? Theo, I assume?

Ginny: Theodore Nott. There'll be something there. I'm telling you.

The woman before me was hesitant at first but then called someone from the back.

Auror: Please find the name Theodore Nott and present me with his full criminal record.

Intern: Yes, ma'am.

A full ten minutes later, the nervous intern came back with Theo's full record. The lady before me, sighed, but took it. When she started to browse through the sheets, however, her facial expression changed.

Auror: Right. Just… Tell you what, why… why don't…why don't I get you your, um…Actually, why don't you just come through to the back? 'Cause I'd better get my… my supervisor just to look through this.

We sat in a cold, kill interrogation office. My hands were sweating, as I tried to rub them dry on my pants. The Auror sat before me, nervously, as she occasionally glanced my way.

Ginny: I'm sorry, is there someone coming?

Auror: Yeah, uh… Oh, just… just now, in fact.

A tall woman, with darker skin, dressed in a blue crew neck with matching grey pants and blazer, holding, supposedly, Theo's record and a notebook in her hand, walked in. With that, the Auror left the office, as her supervisor sat in front of me.

Woman: Good afternoon. I'm Detective Joanne Culver. So… Theodore Nott.

Ginny: Yeah.

Detective Culver: Well, I can't say too much here, but all you need to know is he is a very serious young man. So serious, that he once stalked an Auror.

Ginny: Right.

Obviously. I've read the newspapers, the articles, the interviews of his supposedly other rape victims, you dumb shit.

Detective Culver: My colleague tells me you two attend the same school. Hogwarts, I recall? Is that correct?

Ginny: Yeah, that's… that's correct.

Detective Culver: Good. Now, ideally, you would draw up a timeline for us. Everything that's happened between you two thus far, to give us a sense of the scale of it.

Ginny: All right. And in the meantime?

Detective Culver: Well, we will talk to him, warn him regarding any future conduct.

Ginny: Great … Then what?

Detective Culver: You'll be surprised at how much the presence of Aurors can change things, Mss Weasley.

Ginny: Oh, I get that, but you literally just said he's a serious young man who even stalks Aurors.

The Auror's presence at Theo's quarters did indeed bring with it a sudden silence. Strange, eerie silence. Weeks went by and I started to panic. I found myself awake at night, worried, terrified, in fact, that I was gonna get up one morning to find he'd killed himself. A letter in front of my door, explaining that I was the reason why. Did I miss him? Was there some part in me that missed him? I didn't know anything anymore. So, in a tailspin as to where this all might end, I felt abused, again.

Detective Culver: Have you put together a timeline?

Ginny: Uh, not yet. Sorry I… I haven't found the words.

Detective Culver: Well, no problem. Just get it to us when you can. So, we spoke to Mr Nott.

Ginny: What did he say?

Detective Culver: Well, he was surprisingly cooperative in the end.

Ginny: Really?

Detective Culver: He said he was embarrassed and went on to accept our offer of help. In fact, he has attended two of our social-adjustment courses since we last spoke to him.

Ginny: Social-adjustment courses?

Detective Culver: It's usually for ex-convicts who have done lengthy prison sentences, but it helps with reoffenders as well.

Ginny: So, did he say anything else?

Detective Culver: Nothing that causes concern.

Ginny: So, that's it, then?

Detective Culver: That's it. If he contacts you again, we'll move the process on to the CPS, who will decide the judicial outcome and likely result in you obtaining a full restraining order.

Blaise: So, what? He just accepted it?

Ginny: Yeah. Strange, right? I at least thought he'd say something back. You know, make shit up. But apparently he was cooperative.

Draco: Weird.

There was a sudden knocking on the window. Opening it I found an owl, covered in brown feathers, a letter tied around it's scary claws.

Draco: Who's is it?

There were only two people in the world that called me Ginevra. Theo, being one of them, was definitely out of the picture, because surely with the police now involved, he'd be foolish to do anything, and the other person…

Ginny: It's from my mum. Anyway, I'll get back to her later.

Later that night, after I'd gone back to the Gryffindor tower, seeing as me living with Blaise and draco wasn't the best solution after all, I opened up my mum's letter. Or so I thought…