The Mystimorph Chronicles

It had been easy for Ginny to avoid the Dream Team all day, since they had no classes with her. The rest of the day crawled on slowly for her, most likely a result of her anticipation of that night. She was fixed on going to the clearing again in hopes that the dragon boy would be there. She was slightly scared, considering the way their conversation had ended the night before, but she remained set on her decision.

In her dorm that night, Ginny finished the last of her mountain of homework, signing her name with a flourish at the top of the potions essay. Relieved, Ginny placed the remnants of her things inside her ratty cotton school bag, and, checking to make sure that the amulet was hidden amongst her nightgown, she lay down in bed, already half-asleep. "Now," she thought as she pulled the warm sheets up to her neck, all thoughts of the dragon erased from her brain in her tiredness, "I can finally get some peaceful sleep..."

Ginny was alone. She was sitting on a cold stone floor, surrounded by nothing but some decaying rat skeletons. Shivering, Ginny hugged herself tightly and wondered where she was. What was this place? The room was large and open, but void of any windows. The only opening out of the room was the tall, wooden door that stood high to her left. She stood up and reached for the doorknob, but it wouldn't obey the flicks of Ginny's wrists, staying mobile.

She could feel tears well up in her eyes as long-lost memories of the Chamber of Secrets flooded her. That's what this place reminded her of--the Chamber. One hand instinctively flew up to her neck to grasp her necklace, but she felt no bump under her robes. Images of the Chamber flew from her mind as she frantically searched for the amulet. Where was it?...

Once more, she looked around the room, trying to figure out what was going on. Was this a dungeon? Why was she here? What had she done?

Almost as if it could understand her thoughts, the door clicked and swung open, revealing an empty hallway. Ginny suspiciously moved closer to the door, squinting to get a better view of the dark passageway. She slowly made her way down the hall, darting this way and that to look around. Suddenly she paused as she caught the sound of footsteps behind her.

Ginny spun around, fruitlessly reaching in her pocket for her wand that wasn't there. Standing in front of her was a tall man whose face was in a dream-like blur. Who was this man? She didn't know the answer to that question, but she could already tell that he was dangerous. Her heart began to pump adrenaline throughout her body, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead as the strange man leaned over her menacingly, his wand inches from her face...

Ginny woke up with a gasp, clutching her bed covers. The sheets were sticking to her bare legs and arms with sweat, and her heart was still pumping as quickly as it had been a minute earlier. Slowly, her mind registered that she was in her bed at Hogwarts, and no longer inside the creepy stone hallway. "It was just a dream..." Ginny sighed, loosening her grip on the sheets.

As if to confirm that the whole thing had been a dream, Ginny reached for her necklace, smiling when she felt it there. She took it out of its hiding place to look down at the shining stone, however, it wasn't shimmering at all like it normally was. Right now, the amulet was completely dull, looking more like a solid red rock than its usual glassy jewel. Why was it so dull?

Suddenly, Ginny remembered that she had planned to head to the clearing again that night. Her sweat returned as she worried that it was too late to search for the boy; she couldn't go through another day until she'd talked to the other mystimorph again. Craning her head, Ginny looked through her bed hangings and sighed in relief when the dorm room's clock read only 10:48 PM.

Shaking any extra drowsiness away, Ginny moved quickly to the window and whispered the transformation spell. She flew straight down to the ground, then pulled upwards and skimmed the grass as she soared across the landscape. She raced to the forest, but she slowed down once she'd reached it. Making her way through the branches slightly more expertly than before, she finally broke through the woods and into the clearing. Her bright eyes met the slit eyes of the dragon, and as she landed on a low branch, she let a breath out that she didn't even know she'd been holding.

What is she doing here? Draco thought, fuming at the fact that the phoenix dared come back. "I thought I told you to stay away," Draco accused, glaring at the girl who had disturbed his peaceful sanctuary.

"Actually, you said, 'Go away,' not, 'Stay away.'" Immediately Ginny regretted her words; she should've known better than to respond in such a way to this hotheaded boy.

Draco answered with a burst of flames in her direction, which disintegrated just as they reached Ginny.

"Ow!" Ginny screeched, flailing her wings about. "That hurt! How come your flame hurt me when I'm a fire bird?!"

"Not too bright, are we?" Draco spoke condescendingly. Ginny was about to bite back with a smart reply, but decided that it might result in another fire burst. "Dragon fire is different from normal fire, so not even phoenixes are protected from it."

"Oh," Ginny muttered, embarrassed. "So, have you thought about what we talked about last night?" she asked quickly, changing the subject.

Draco was really beginning to hate this girl. She couldn't seem to understand that he wasn't interested in joining her in her little war, and she just wouldn't leave him alone! He didn't want to actually burn her with his fire, though; Draco may have liked to threaten and mess with others, but he would never seriously hurt someone unless absolutely needed.

However, he didn't know enough about this girl yet to cause her mental anguish from insults, so he decided he would have to coax her into changing back into human form. The best way to do this would be to pretend to give in to her, he concluded in his mind. "Yes, I have."

Ginny would have bitten her lip if she'd had one. She prompted him to go further, hoping that he wouldn't lash out at her again. "And?"

"You're right," Draco acted, knowing that she would fall for it. She may have had a bit of a mouth on her, but he noted that she was somewhat naïve.

"I am?" Ginny repeaed, shocked. "About what, exactly?" She wanted to make sure that he wasn't just messing with her.

Draco resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Was this girl always so stupid? "You're right about everything. The Second War, Voldemort, us, everything. If we've been prophesized to fight in the war, then it must be our destiny."

Ginny let out a sigh, relieved. The boy must have been thinking about it all day, like she had when she first found out, and he'd come to the same conclusion she had--there was nothing they could do. It was prophecy. Ginny's eyes shone happily at the dragon, wondering whom he could be and what had caused this change in attitude from just minutes earlier. "I'm glad you changed your mind."

"So am I," Draco agreed. He cursed himself inwardly at the corniness of that statement, thinking that the conversation had suddenly started sounding like some bad romance novel.

"So what are we going to do? Are we going to start planning fo-" Ginny began, but she was cut off by Draco.

"Don't you think we should find out each other's identities first? I would very much like to know whom you are, and I'm sure you feel the same way."

"Oh! Right!" Ginny exclaimed, wondering how she could've gotten so ahead of herself. "So... Who should go first?"

"You," Draco answered immediately. He planned to never reveal himself to the girl, and he had to admit he was curious as to whom exactly she was.

"O-okay," Ginny stuttered, suddenly nervous as she fluttered off the branch and onto the ground. What if he hates me after this? What if this person somehow knows about how I opened the Chamber five years ago, and they're scared of me? What if they can't stand to look into my hideous face?

"Well?" Draco interrupted impatiently. "Go ahead and transform!"

"Okay, okay!" Ginny closed her eyes tightly as if this would make it easier on her if the boy hated her true identity. "Mutatio Phoenix," she whispered. A second later, she heard a slight gasp followed by a deep growl. She opened her eyes hesitantly, greeted by an enraged dragon, smoke rings blowing out of its nose.

Not her... Draco thought, furious. Not that little brat! Not... "Weasley..." He spoke the last word aloud in an accusing tone.

What did he just call me? Only one person called her by that name, in that way that made it sound like she was the scum of the Earth. "MALFOY?!" Ginny gasped, eyes widening in shock.

Draco tried to smirk coolly at her, but he found this was impossible as a dragon. Quietly he whispered, "Mutatio Draco." When he was back to his normal human self, Draco responded, "The one and only." He smirked at the Weasley girl, watching, amused, as her expressions changed rapidly.

Ginny was shocked at first, but then she was filled with anguish, knowing that she was almost on the brink of tears. Why him? Anyone else. She could've handled anyone else! Her anguish quickly grew to anger, at both Malfoy and her horrible luck. Nothing ever seemed to go right for her! Malfoy was such a prat, and she knew she couldn't stand to be in the same room with him for long, let alone fight a war with him!

But wait... a little voice in her head spoke up. Don't you remember what he was saying earlier? He agreed to fight with you! Doesn't that mean he doesn't support Voldemort? And he was actually being civil to you, almost nice! Maybe Malfoy's not as bad as you thought he was... Ginny chose her words slowly as she asked her next question, "Di-did you mean what you said a few minutes ago? About fighting with me in the war?"

Was it actually possible for one girl to be so annoying? "Heck, no. Even when I didn't know it was you, I still didn't like you. That's very sad, even for you, Weasley. You've got a horrible body and a horrible personality. Besides, I'd never fight on the Light Side," he added to ensure that she still thought he was the little future Death Eater he always pretended to be.

Ginny closed her eyes, trying to ignore his comments. She wouldn't let him get to her. Not again. But the truth of his words cut into her like a knife, because it was obvious he had hated her before. She even fell for his stupid act, which he must've done just to get her hopes up. But this was Malfoy! He hated everyone! Why did it matter what he thought? Yet she couldn't convince herself that he was wrong about her.

She drew in a shaky breath, composing herself and trying to think of a clever, scathing remark. "You're one to talk, Malfoy! You don't even have any friends!" Okay, so it wasn't very scathing or clever, but it was true.

Draco's voice lowered to a deadly tone. "You don't know anything about me, Weasley. I'm not even going to argue with you, because you're probably too dumb to understand." He was angered by the truth in her words--the only things he had were lackies and suck-ups. He had no interest in making friends with his fellow Slytherins, though, because they all were aspiring Death Eaters. But that's why he'd make it in this world, he thought; friends did nothing but bring you down, and trusting people only led to treachery. That's what he told himself, at least.

Ginny took note of Malfoy's poor excuse for an insult. She must've touched on a nerve, so she continued. "No one would even want to be your friend! And for good reason, because you'd probably be a traitor and turn on them somehow."

Draco snapped at her words, covering the short distance between the two of them to roughly push her against a tree trunk. It wasn't the part about no one wanting to be his friend that made him blow up, but the part about being a traitor. He hated that word. Ever since he had secretly decided he didn't want to become a Death Eater, he'd had nightmares of Lucius finding out and maliciously whispering words of traitors and disgraces under his breath to Draco, right before he'd utter those two deadly words...

"Let's get one thing straight, Weasley..." Draco was squeezing her shoulders hard without realizing it, and he loosened his grip a bit as he read the look of physical pain on her face. "You...know...NOTHING...about me." He couldn't help his temper when somehow reminded of his vicious, hateful father who'd strike Draco down without another thought. Lucius, in fact, was the reason Draco was against causing others physical pain.

Ginny looked into Draco's silver eyes, reading his emotions. He was infuriated--that much was obvious. But she could also see fear in his eyes. Fear? What could Malfoy be scared of? There was also pain, she noticed, suddenly feeling guilty for what she'd said. She wouldn't have said it if she'd known it would actually hurt Malfoy like that; she had just been hoping to get him angry, which she had achieved at the same time.

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she continued to stare into Malfoy's emotion-filled orbs. He glared into hers, growing even more furious as he saw the pity in them. A single tear escaped one of Ginny's eyes, crawling down her cheek and leaving a trail of sorrow behind. Seeing this, Draco pushed himself off of her and walked backwards a few steps.

Free from Malfoy's grasp, Ginny fleed the clearing without another glance back. More tears fell down her cheeks as she tried to make sense of her thoughts. She was mad at Malfoy, of course, but she was also feeling pity for the hurt she'd seen in his eyes. Also mixed in was guilt for being the one who had caused the pain to float to the surface.

Curse Malfoy! Without any regrets, he makes me feel so bad about myself, and when I finally am able to do the same to him, he makes me feel guilty about it!

Suddenly, Ginny was back on the Hogwarts grounds, free from the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Without realizing it, she had made her way through the woods and back to the campus. Wiping the tears from her face, she looked upwards to find the window to her dorm. Not thinking, she whispered the transformation spell and flew into the window, her mind still a clutter.

A widening pair of blue eyes watched this scene silently from a window, blinking and then disappearing from view.