Twisted

Ginny sat up with a jolt, her heart furiously pounding in her chest. She could feel the sweat clinging to her body, blanketing her with the chill of fear. Shakily she wiped her forehead, moving the sticky hair out of her face and threw the blankets off her body. She dizzily stood up off the bed and gasped as her feet touched the cold stone. Hugging her arms around her body, Ginny walked towards her trunk and grabbed her robe. She wrapped the thick garment around her freezing body and walked quietly out of the dorm room. Relief swept over her as she saw the fire was still burning in the grate, and she quickly made her way towards the fireplace and sat down.

Ginny stared at the flames, watching them curl and twist through the air, almost like a snake. She clenched her fists slightly as she remembered her dream. He was in it, that snake that had haunted her for so long. Tom Riddle, the boy who she had put so much of her energy into, only to find out he was the past Lord Voldemort. She had to congratulate herself on being able to lie so easily to the people around her. It was truly a gift being able to act like she did not carry the baggage of the memories. But now that the dreams where coming back, she wasn’t sure how long she could keep up her façade. It would have been so easy just to fall back into her fit of self pity, but what was the point? Yes, she had almost let herself be killed because she was foolish enough to trust Tom. She had thought he was her friend, only to find out he was using her life to regenerate himself. A cruel twist of fate, but one she had simply had to accept. If she let it get to her, what hope did she have in being happy? She had to at least try, even if it was only pretending. It wasn’t like anyone wanted to hear her problems anyway. Harry had his own problems dealing with Sirius being killed and having Voldemort hunting him. No one wanted to hear about poor little Ginny Weasley’s worries and fears about Tom Riddle. That was in the past now; been and gone.

Ginny sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. Today had been a long day, and perhaps that was why she felt so shaken. She frowned to herself as she remembered the strange situation she had found herself in. She had been saying goodbye to her friend Karmen, when she had felt someone watching her. As she had looked around for the culprit, her gaze fell on Draco Malfoy. She had been surprised at first, but then her surprise turned to a curious inspection of the boy before her. He looked like he had been through a rough summer. His hair was unkempt, and his eyes had dark rings underneath him. His skin seemed even more sickly and pale looking, and his body thinner than normal. She remembered the sort of connection she had felt with him when she looked into his mercury eyes. Though they were cold, and so much like hard steel, she could almost see the raw pain in his eyes. Something was hurting him, much the same way Ginny’s past hurt her. She felt a bond in that moment, though it was an unwanted bond. Draco Malfoy was an idiot. He was a nasty, selfish piece of work. She wanted nothing to do with him, but even knowing all this, she couldn’t help but pity him as much as she pitied herself.

Ginny groaned as the fire went out and sat huddled against herself as the darkness gathered around her. She did not want to go back to bed. She was afraid that if she fell asleep Tom Riddle would come back into her dreams. It was always the same thing, always the same words…

Ginny glared at the darkness around her. There was no way she was giving into him. Never.

“Raining again.” Ginny muttered, gazing out the window despondently. She turned her eyes back to the front of the class and stared at Professor Delacroux’s back. She didn’t really like this teacher. He was so cold, and always looked at her with a smirk. It made her shiver, like he knew something about her. Ginny flinched slightly as Karmen nudged her in the ribs. Turning her gaze to her blonde friend, Ginny looked at her questioningly.

“Do you know the answer to this question?”

Ginny looked at the question Karmen was pointing at and frowned. They were studying sphinxes at the moment, but she hadn’t really been paying attention over the class. She shrugged and went back to looking out the window. She paused slightly, as she saw Draco Malfoy walking on the muddy grass. He was clutching his robes to his body, talking to somebody, but she couldn’t see who as he was blocking the way. She watched his expressions, seeing his frustration as he tried to reason with whoever he was talking to. He sighed and turned to the side, looking back at something. Ginny caught a glimpse of a tall girl with medium length black hair, it was Pansy Parkinson. Her blue eyes were watching Draco with an irritated expression, as she said something to him. Ginny desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, now that her curiosity had been caught. She slowly eased the window open, and shivered slightly as the cold wind seeped through the crack. Voices floated up towards her, and Ginny leaned in listening intently.

“Don’t even think about walking away from, Draco Malfoy!” Pansy said angrily.

Draco spun to look at her in frustration, completely oblivious to the rain pounding against him. “I can’t tell you, Pansy. Look, I appreciate your concern, but please just let me be with this.”

“Let you be with what? Am I your friend or not, Draco? Because I though friends were supposed to tell each other when they’re in trouble.”

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair. “You don’t understand, Pansy. This isn’t some-” Draco broke off and gasped, clutching his arm in pain. He fell to his knees, cradling his arm against him, his teeth gritted in pain. Ginny watched curiously as Pansy knelt down beside him, a concerned expression on her face.

“What is wrong with your arm, Draco?” She asked more softer. Ginny edged forward, as their voices were becoming more muffled making it harder for her to hear.

“It’s nothing.” Draco said dismissively and stood up. Pansy grabbed his arm and pulled the sleeve up. She gasped and let go of his arm, staring at him through wide eyes. Ginny could only watch, her mind spinning with what this meant. Though she had not seen what was on his arm, she already gathered what would be there. A Dark Mark, a tattoo that was a sign of being a Death Eater. But then why would Pansy look so horrified? Everyone knew the Slytherins didn’t care if you were a Death Eater, they were all evil, weren’t they?

“Now do you see?.” Draco said angrily.

“Miss Weasley, your answer?”

Ginny jumped and looked at Professor Delacroux. She could see the smirk twisting his lips, and the cold humour in his blue eyes. She stared about at the other students, but knew they were not going to help her.

“I…I don’t know, Sir.” Ginny replied stiffly. She felt ashamed at having been caught out like that. Normally she tried to be good in class, but he was just so annoying. Plus, she had been really curious to find out what was wrong with Draco and Pansy. Now she wasn’t sure if she was glad she knew or not. It left her with more questions than answers.

“Miss Weasley, I would like you to stay behind after class. We need to talk.”

Ginny nodded, hanging her head so he would not see her anger. She spent the rest of the class keeping her head down and doing her work. The bell chimed, letting her know class was finished, and Ginny watched as the students filed out of the classroom, leaving her alone with the Professor.

“Come here.” Professor Delacroux commanded, his handsome face watching her through his cold gaze. Ginny tried hard not to roll her eyes, and pushed herself away from her chair. She walked up to the Professor, gazing at him through her deep chestnut eyes, noticing the smirk still fixed on his face.

“You’re probably thinking I’m going to give you a lecture, aren’t you?”

Ginny stared at the ground. All she wanted was to leave and go get some lunch. She didn’t care what stupid game he was playing. It was obvious he didn’t like her, so she doubted he was about to let her off for not paying attention in class.

“Well, I hope you are listening to me this time, because I have something of importance to say.” At that Ginny lifted up her eyes and watched him curiously. Professor Delacroux smiled slightly, giving a stark relief to his normal cold appearance. “There that’s better now, isn’t it.” Smoothing down his navy robes, he went back into his professional mode and picked up a piece of paper. “I’m moving you up a year for this class. I’ve seen your work, and you are very advanced for your age in Defence Against the Dark Arts. There is no point you being in here, as today has shown.”

“What?” Ginny said in surprise. Why would he move her up a year? She wasn’t even that intelligent. She was better at potions than what she was DADA, not to mention she was hardly a model student like Hermione. It was ridiculous.

“I told you, I’m moving you up a year. There is no point keeping you in here, and as you know, the war with Voldemort has escalated to the point where hardly any students are coming in, so the classes are much smaller. Professor Snape has also agreed to do the same, if you really want to know.”

Ginny shook her head in wonderment. This was so strange. She stared at the paper in his hands and frowned. “What’s that then?”

“This is your agreement paper. You just sign here and you have permission to go to the other class.”

Ginny nodded and took the paper. She quickly signed her signature and handed it back to the Professor. She didn’t bother to question why he was doing this, or Snape of all people, it really didn’t matter either way.

“Can I go now?” Ginny asked as her stomach grumbled slightly. Professor Delacroux nodded, and Ginny quickly made her way to the door.

“Oh, Miss Weasley.” He said halting her steps. “Your Head of House will give you your new timetable.” Ginny nodded and left the room, musing over everything that had happened so far. First she finds out Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater, and now that she’s going to move up a class. Ginny gasped and stopped in her tracks. That meant she was going to be in class with him…. She frowned and continued to walk. For some reason she just couldn’t see him being a Death Eater, or see Dumbledore letting him into the school knowing that he was one. She remembered hearing that Draco Malfoy was under Dumbledore’s protection, but she didn’t know why. All she knew was that something had happened to him over the summer, and now he was not allowed to leave the castle under any circumstances.

“Maybe he does know?” She mused out loud. It was possible that Dumbledore had found out Draco was a Death Eater and was now keeping him in the castle to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. But then that didn’t make sense. Sighing to herself, Ginny realised thinking about this was going to get her nowhere.

She smiled as she saw the Great Hall doors and walked in to the delicious smell of food. She spotted her friends at the Gryffindor table, but moved towards Harry, Hermione and Ron instead. She thought she might as well tell them what had happened.

“Hey, Ginny.” Ron said between mouth fulls of food. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. Hey listen, did you know that I’m being moved into your Potions and DADA class?”

Hermione dropped her fork and stared at Ginny incredulously. “You mean, Professor Delacroux and Snape are actually letting you do something good for yourself.”

Ginny laughed and nodded her head. She was glad Hermione was taking it so well. She was worried that Hermione might get upset since she did not get moved up a year, even though everyone knew she was the most intelligent witch in her year, maybe even the school.

“Well that’s great. I won’t have to put up with these two all the time then.” Hermione said with a broad smile. Ginny laughed at Ron’s offended expression and looked at Harry.

“You don’t seem too pleased. Don’t you want me in your class? Ginny said cheekily, though she inwardly felt hurt.

Harry shook his head, looking aghast at the impression he had given her. “No, it’s not that…I just.”

“Lupin said that the werewolves have been more active lately. Quite a few families have been attacked, including the Minister of Magic’s son.” Hermione said in a quiet voice. “Harry’s just being his usual worrying self.”

Ginny looked from Hermione back to Harry and nodded understandingly. Sometimes she got annoyed at Harry always thinking that everything was his fault. No doubt he thought the werewolf attack was his fault too. She knew Harry understood Voldemort was the one ordering all these attacks, but she could tell that he still felt guilty, as if it was his fault in a way too.

“Well, I thought I’d tell you guys anyway. Oh hey.” Ginny said remembering her problem. “Do you guys know what’s up with Malfoy?”

Harry instantly went into suspicious mode, as well as Ron. Hermione frowned and shook her head. “Why do you ask?” She said curiously.

Ginny shrugged, not really sure she should tell them. She didn’t know why she was protecting him, but she knew better than to point the finger before she knew all the details. Fiddling with her food, Ginny gazed at her plate. “Oh, you know, I’ve just noticed he’s not looking too well lately.”

Hermione frowned. “I did hear that something had happened to him over the summer. The Slytherins don’t want anything to do with him, even Crabbe and Goyle have ditched him.”

Ginny nodded, for she had noticed the same thing. “I wonder what happened.”

Ron stared at them, his mouth full of food. “Who cares? Malfoy’s a git.” Hermione and Harry laughed. Ginny sighed, realising there was no point talking to them about it. They all hated Draco Malfoy, and had good reason too. She didn’t really know him as much as they did, so she couldn’t judge, and she had to admit she didn’t really like him either. For some reason though, she couldn’t get the pain she saw in his eyes out of her head. No one who felt pain like that could be completely evil, so it made her want to find out the truth; to find out just what caused that pain, and why he would have let himself become a Death Eater.

Ginny frowned to herself and continued to eat her lunch, her eyes straying to the Slytherin table. Draco wasn’t there today, and neither was Pansy. She moved her eyes away from the Slytherin table and caught Professor Snape’s eye. She shuddered slightly and continued her scrutiny of the Hall. Finally she realised she’d had enough and stood up.

“Well, I might go catch up on some Charms homework.”

Harry, Hermione and Ron nodded, as Ginny headed off towards doors to go to the library. She wandered down the corridor and paused slightly, as she heard some familiar voices coming up the hallway.

“So, you think it’s true then? That he’s betrayed the Dark Lord?”

“He’s under Dumbledore’s protection now, isn’t he?”

Ginny quickly darted into the shadows and listened, peering out just enough to see Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, and Theodore Nott all standing in the Hallway. Nott glanced about cautiously and turned back to the other boys.

“I heard that Lucius tried to get him initiated into the ranks but Draco didn’t want to. Well, you know what happens to people who say no to Lucius” Nott said with a small grin.

“But would he really do that to his own son?”

Nott smirked. “I thought you knew what Lucius was like.”

Goyle and Crabbe fell silent, both pondering over what Nott had said. Goyle looked around warily. “Did you hear about his mother?”

Nott nodded his head, a thoughtful expression coming to his face. “It’s a shame you know, she was quite a looker.”

Crabbe and Goyle laughed, the sound making Ginny feel sick as she wondered what had happened to Narcissa Malfoy. She couldn’t believe that these people used to be Draco’s friends. Surely they would feel at least some pity for him. At least she had her answer though. He hadn’t wanted to be a Death Eater. Lucius Malfoy had made him.

“Yeah, well anyway, whatever happened, he’s been awfully quiet lately. Him and Pansy are up to something.”

“Well, it’s not like we can do anything. We’d be kicked out of school if we do anything to him. Best just to let him deal with it.” Nott said firmly.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Ginny watched as the three boys walked away and frowned to herself. What on earth was going on?