The Mystimorph Chronicles

Ginny awoke the next morning, groggy and with a pain in her chest. Shifting to her side, she found that the dull throb was being caused by the amulet being pushed into her breast as she slept face down.

Pulling the amulet out of her pajamas, Ginny took a good look at it. The chain was a bright silver color that shone against her pale skin. Attached to the chain was the jewel, set in a small plate that was the same silver color as the chain links. The jewel wasn't glowing like it had the night before, but it still gleamed brilliantly with a rich red color. She wondered if the stone was ruby or not, considering she'd seen pictures of rubies before that weren't nearly as beautiful as her stone.

Deciding that she would wear the necklace to school that day, she buried it back inside the folds of her pajamas and sat up in bed. From the position of the sun and her roommates, Ginny concluded that she still had another good thirty minutes to sleep in. However, she was fully awake by now, so she quietly got out of bed and got her things, moving towards the bathroom to get ready.

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was prepared for her first day of school. She was clothed in her Hogwarts robes and she wore her hair limp around her body, taking care that her necklace was hidden from view by numerous strands of her auburn hair. When she was satisfied with her appearance, Ginny walked downstairs into the common room, which was completely empty. She smiled and shook her head, knowing that all of the students were still used to their summer sleeping schedules.

Making her way through the hallways, Ginny closed her eyes and leaned her head backwards. She loved listening to the silence of the halls when she was alone in them; the only sounds were her soft breathing and the thumps of her tennis shoes against the stone floor. As Ginny was usually surrounded by clumps of other fifth year Gryffindors during the day, she rarely got moments completely to herself. She thrived on such times, as it was tiring to always be part of a sea of people.

When the sight of the Great Hall's main doors emerged into her view, she slowed her pace, still savoring the empty halls. Her moment was ruined, however, as Malfoy turned into the hall slightly in front of her. Ginny rolled her eyes at his back, knowing full well that he'd walked right in front of her on purpose. Not being one to start a fight, she stopped in her tracks in order to let Malfoy continue his trek into the Great Hall.

Noticing that Ginny's steps had grown silent, Draco paused and turned his head around to smirk at her. "Well, if it isn't the littlest Weasley!" he said, feigning shock.

Once more, Ginny rolled her eyes at the boy in front of her. "Do our conversations always have to start off with those words, Malfoy? You've got to start being more creative."

Draco twisted his entire body so that he was now entirely facing the Weasley. "I wouldn't exactly call our run-ins 'conversations.' Besides, you think your opinion matters to me at all?" he replied, lifting his eyebrow to emphasize his point.

Ginny smirked. "If you had any taste, you'd care what I thought," she answered.

"I don't think you're one to talk about taste, wearing the clothes that you do and hanging around those people you call friends."

"Oh, wow, that really hurts, Malfoy." Ginny had found, over the past couple of years, that sarcasm was the best way to deal with Malfoy's insults. He was so predictable; he always made fun of her monetary status, hand-me-down possessions, or the fact that she was friends with the Dream Team. It was almost pathetic that he never had new material. She usually would just grow fed up with his persistence and leave in a huff, satisfying his thirst for causing her frustration. This time, though, Ginny had too much on her mind to let Malfoy get to her.

"Tired of the old insults you're used to hearing, Weasley?"

"You're quite the quick one."

Draco glared down at the cool-headed girl. The events the night before had caused him to lay awake all night, so this morning he was tired and angry at everything--the girl, the prophecy, his father... When he'd seen the Weaselette that morning, he was looking forward to venting his frustrations on her. The fact that she was not falling so easily into his trap infuriated him even further, and he decided to try a new approach. "Well, I do have brains AND good looks, which no one can say for you. No wonder Potter never took interest in you. You're not exactly a beauty, Weasley."

Ginny crossed her arms across her small chest, shifting slightly from one foot to the other. This was new. This was unpredictable. This was irritating.

When Draco noticed the uneasiness in Ginny's face, he smirked and knew he'd struck a chord. He knew that what he was saying was untrue, as even he had to admit that the youngest Weasley's features were sickeningly endearing. But she seemed to be insecure about them from her reaction, and so he continued. "How'd you ever get those old boyfriends of yours? Are you *that* easy? Though I doubt you have much in that department, either."

Ginny gave Draco a deadly glare, enraged that he could read into her thoughts so deeply. He was mirroring the exact thoughts that she wondered so often to herself--how HAD she gotten those boyfriends? Ginny remained silent once more, her voice caught in her throat.

"Not even going to defend yourself, Weasley? I guess it'd be useless to try, anyway." Draco lifted a hand to Ginny's rapidly reddening cheeks, lightly running his fingers across her freckles. "You should at least do something about these freckles."

Ginny raised her own hand to harshly slap away Malfoy's, finally finding her voice. "I care about your opinions about as much as you care about mine," she choked out, noticing that her statement sounded completely unbelievable.

Malfoy just smirked, not even caring that she'd dared to slap him. He was satisfied now, he realized as he stared into her blazing eyes. A second later, the area in front of him was unoccupied as Ginny pushed her way past him into the Great Hall.

Draco watched as the Weasley walked into the Great Hall, then made his way in himself. There were very few students seated inside, and unluckily for him, one of them was Pansy Parkinson.

He moaned to himself as he saw the hungry look on her face, directed at him. Goodness, the girl actually had a lot to offer, both mentally and physically, but she was a pure leech. She hung onto his every word and had been openly desperate for him ever since their break up the year before. He couldn't understand how he kept himself from just hexing her into oblivion.

"Draco!" Pansy squealed, jumping up out of her seat and placing her hands in Draco's, who didn't grip them back. "I missed you so much this summer!"

"You saw me on the train yesterday, Pansy."

"I know, but that was only for a few minutes! Didn't you miss me this summer too?"

"I don't MISS people. I tolerate them when they're around," he replied truthfully, removing her hands from his and seating himself at the Slytherin table as more students began to fill up the room.

"Oh, Draco!" Pansy giggled, pretending to be amused by what he'd said, even though she was really angered by the comment. She didn't know why she just didn't give up on the boy, but then she remembered that he was rich, handsome, and born into a powerful Death Eater family. She'd put up with him if she could eventually win him back.

Ignoring Pansy as she took a seat next to him, Draco stared at his fellow Slytherins and fell into deep thought. How many of them truly *were* on Voldemort's side? It was known that there had never been an evil Hogwarts graduate who hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. Many decided to turn that statement into a fact that all Slytherins were to become Death Eaters when they grew older, but this was by no means true. All Slytherins kept a front of being on Voldemort's side, but Draco knew that some of them were being dishonest, just as he was.

The news the night before had still shocked him. Even though he wasn't on Voldemort's side, Draco had never considered fighting with the *other* side. The idea of war in general didn't appeal to him as it is, because Draco wasn't one to willingly risk his life for others. But, if he had to take part in the Second War, he'd much rather it be on the Light Side. He'd realized this the night before while contemplating things. He'd also decided that he'd rather fight with Dumbledore than see Voldemort win, but he couldn't imagine a situation where that would matter.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Pansy asked, faking genuine worry. She was angry that Draco wasn't paying attention to her, as being ignored by a Malfoy didn't look too good to others. "You haven't listened to a word I've said, and you're staring off into space!"

Draco continued to ignore his whiny ex-girlfriend, shaking himself out of his daze and recognizing the Weasley girl across the hall from him. He glared as he saw her laugh at something Potter had said. Right now, Draco was wishing the same unhappiness on her that he felt himself, and he was furious that she wasn't still depressed because of his insults earlier. He must be losing his touch.

--

Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table a few minutes after Ginny had arrived, no doubt there because Hermione had woken the two up early. They sat down around Ginny, who had a glazed look on her face as she stared off ahead of her. Having had time to cool down after her encounter with Malfoy, Ginny was now wrapped up in her own, more important thoughts.

Harry, sitting across from Ginny, raised his eyebrow. "I know I'm cute, Ginny, but you don't have to stare."

"What?" Ginny replied instinctively, then his words registered in her mind and she laughed, along with Ron and Hermione. "Sorry, Harry."

"What's up with you, Ginny?" Ron asked, seeing the look on Ginny's face. Her laugh was genuine, but the smile on her face looked slightly forced, and her eyes remained distant.

"Yeah, you HAVE been a bit...off ever since you're birthday," Harry agreed.

"What do you mean by that?" Ginny snapped. She didn't know why she snapped at them, or why she felt so offended by her friends' words. What they were saying was true--she HAD been acting differently since her birthday. She often found herself in deep thought about mystimorphs and prophecies, and today she had even more on her mind, what with her encounter with the other mystimorph and all. But big things were happening to her, so she was allowed to be "a bit off"! Especially when Malfoy seemed to have finally realized how to best upset her...

"We're just worried about you," Hermione answered, startled at Ginny's reaction. "You haven't been talking to us as much as you used to, and sometimes you'll just stare off for minutes at a time with a glassy look on your face."

At Hermione's shocked and hurt expression, Ginny's disposition changed. She shouldn't have lashed out at them like that. After all, they were just concerned for her. "It's okay, Hermione, really. I'm fine!" Ginny put on a smile to prove that she was happy, promising herself that she'd start acting more normal around them so they wouldn't suspect anything.

The three looked unconvinced, but decided to drop the subject for now.