Heart of Glass

Chapter One

Ginny pressed her body closer to the ground, sharp stones and roots dug into her, but she didn't care. Her hiding place was good - near the edge of the forest but far enough in that people would not think to look there. Her body was broken and bleeding, and the last thing she needed was someone like Ron to see her in a state like that. She decided to go about her death like a cat - dragging herself to a safe haven where she could die alone.

She was quite sure no one had seen her leave the castle. The castle was quiet that day. It had been overcast and blisteringly cold for several days, sending a general feeling of glumness over most of the student body. Most Gryffindors were in the commons, sleeping or catching up on homework. Some people, like Harry and Ron, were busying themselves by playing chess.

'Now, now,' she thought to herself, 'you mustn't think of Harry or Ron, or anyone. Just be quiet and lie here.' The day was growing quickly darker and the pink and purple dusk was settling in on the horizon. Ginny closed her eyes and smiled weakly. "This is the perfect place to die," she whispered.

Ginny was woken by the sounds of swishing cloaks and several strong voices calling, "Ginny? Ginny!" She recognized at least two of them well. She knew they must all be teachers, but from the crowd she picked out Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. She silently pushed her weak body down even closer to the red earth below - stained with her own blood. She knew if they did find her, they'd assume she'd been chucked there - they would never think she voluntarily put herself in the forest.

"Ginny!" came one last booming call from Hagrid. The voices retreated slowly away from her safe haven and she relaxed. Her body was becoming increasingly weaker, and her eyes were so desperate to close. She let herself sleep again, but kept an ear open for anyone who might come along.

~

Earlier that day, Hermione had noticed a change in Ginny. She seemed very quiet and withdrawn - more so than usual. When she sat at the breakfast table opposite Hermione, Hermione noticed she looked like she hadn't been taking care of herself. Her hair was stringy and matted, she had dark circles under her eyes, her finger nails were chipping and uneven...

"Ginny," she said brightly, spooning into her grapefruit.

"Yes?" Ginny mumbled.

"How is school going?"

"Fine."

"Are any of your teachers giving you a hassle?" she asked. She looked around for Ron who was bound to show up at any moment, hear the conversation and begin interrogating Ginny.

"No."

"Well how are you?" she tried. Ginny shrugged and pushed her oatmeal around in her bowl. "Not hungry?"

"Not especially," Ginny said with a weak, tired voice.

"Is something wrong, Ginny?"

"No, why would you think that?" she said, sitting up and smiling. "I'm just tired." She stretched and yawned, and greeted Harry and Ron as they sat down at the table. "I have to go meet my partner for this Potions assignment," she said abruptly. She stood up and wandered out of the Hall.

"She's been acting funny lately," said Ron. "Sort of reserved."

"I'm sure it's not much to worry about, right Hermione? Probably just girl-stuff."

"I'm sure it's nothing, Ron," Hermione smiled. She wasn't too sure if that was true or not, though.

~

Hermione was pressed close to Harry as they hurried down the halls under the invisibility cloak. Ron was already outside and waiting rather impatiently for them. Hermione couldn't help thinking this was, in part, her fault. She knew something was up with Ginny but hadn't paid close enough attention to the signs. Now Ginny was missing and they had no idea where to begin searching. Colin Creevy insisted he saw Ginny go outside earlier that evening but made nothing of it at the time. Though Colin was a capricious source of information, they decided to begin their search outdoors.

They met an antsy Ron who was dying to take off and run somewhere. "What we need to do is make a logical listing of where she could've gone to, and why," Hermione began, taking the cloak off and standing closely to Ron so she could see him.

"No time," he said, looking around wildly. "Harry, you go over thattaway, Hermione, you over there, and I'll go this way."

"Now just hang on a second, Ron. Hermione's right. We need to think about this."

"Ginny could be dieing, Harry! There's no time to think!" Ron spat.

"We don't know that she's dieing, Ron. Calm down. She might've just gone for a walk and fallen asleep or something," Hermione said calmly.

"Don't be stupid, Hermione! Dumbledore had faculty members out searching for her! Something's happened!"

"We don't know that, Ron! Dumbledore was just taking precautions. Ginny's been missing for several hours now - it's just smart to set up a search party. She's probably fine. Just relax," Harry soothed.

"Right, so why would Ginny have come outside around dusk?" Hermione said. The three stood around trying to think of a plausible reason that Ginny would've come out into the cold March night.

"To meet somebody?" Ron offered.

"That sounds reasonable," Harry agreed. "But who would she be meeting?"

"Maybe she was going to visit Hagrid, and got kidnapped along the way!" Ron said, panicked. "This is horrible!"

"Ron!" snapped Hermione. "Okay, let's say she was meeting someone. Who is irrelevant at this point. Where is the question."

"Maybe the pitch."

"Or the lake."

"All right, you two check those two places," said Hermione. "I'll look around the castle. We'll meet at Hagrid's in an hour or so." The trio split up and went off into the dark.

~

When Ginny left the Great Hall she hurried down some corridors and stairwells until she came to a place not often used anymore. It was just an ordinary hall that lead to another stairwell, but not many students needed to go to that area of the school, so she knew she could be alone. She slumped down against the wall to the floor and unfolded a piece of parchment. She began scribbling down her thoughts and feelings messily. She heard the familiar soft footsteps coming closer and quickly balled the paper up.

"What are you writing?" he asked in a rare, not-snarky tone.

"Nothing," she said quietly, pulling her hair out from behind her ear so it cascaded in front of her eyes. "Leave me alone."

"Gladly."

"Could you kill me?"

"Is that a request, or curiosity?" he sneered.

"Both," she said, looking up through the mess of red entanglement.

"You want me to kill you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

He was caught off guard. He swallowed and cocked an eyebrow, trying to look disinterested. "I have better things to do with my time, sad to say. Though ridding the world of a Weasley would be an excellent accomplishment."

She stood up, the parchment and quill still in her hands. Her hair was draped so only one eye could see through the mess. "Draco," she said weakly. "I can't live like this any longer."

"I don't care."

"Then why are you here?"

"I don't know!" She stepped forward, brushing her hair out of her face, and kissed him. "Don't do that," he said quietly. "I'm..." he trailed off. He pushed her away. "Don't do that!" he said again, this time angrily. He wiped his mouth disgustedly. She pocketed the note and quill, and stepped forward once more, kissing him again. He kissed her back so violently that he pushed her body and his across the corridor, and slammed her against the wall. He stepped back and wiped his mouth once more. "Stop it!" he yelled. She put her head down and her hair fell in front of her face again. "I'm leaving," he said coldly, taking one last stealing glance at her before turning and gliding away.

A small smile fell across Ginny's lips, and she slumped back down to the floor. She took the parchment out of her pocket and began scribbling again. I have fallen in love with Draco Malfoy, she wrote. This, in itself, is reason enough to die.

~

Hermione raced around the castle, searching hopelessly for Ginny. She knew in her heart Ginny wasn't chatting with some cute boy she had a crush on. She knew Ginny was hurt somewhere. She was agonizing over why she felt that way when she realized an hour had passed. She hurried to Hagrid's cabin where Harry was already waiting. "No luck," he said, toeing the earth.

"Same," Hermione agreed. Ron came tearing up from the lake and gave the same answer.

"She might've gone inside by now," Harry offered. "It can't hurt to check."

"Someone would be looking for us, in that case," Ron grumbled.

"Did you hear that?" Hermione said suddenly.

"Hear what?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Something from the forest."

"I doubt it was Ginny," Harry said, scratching his head.

"That's true," Hermione said. Although something was pulling her towards the forest. "I still want to check it out."

"It's a waste of time," Harry said. "If Ginny's in there, we're not going to find her."

"How can you say that?!" Ron roared. "She's my sister! We have to look!"

"Keep it down!" Hermione hissed. "Look, let's all just split up again and look around. Let's take less time this time. Half an hour or so."

"I'm heading back to the castle," Harry said. "I have a feeling she's already gone back."

"I'll check around the forest," Ron said affirmatively. "Hermione?"

"I'll just nose around the grounds a bit," she said absentmindedly. The three went their ways, but Hermione followed her instincts. She walked as quietly as she could around the edge of the forest, listening for any sounds like the one she had heard. At last, she heard it again. A small whimper. She wasn't sure how she was hearing such an insignificant sound, but she knew that she should be happy she was. She ran towards the noise, not even realizing she had entered the forest.

~

It was nearing dusk, and Ginny was just signing her note. She hadn't gone to any of her classes. She'd sat in the corridor all day, sometimes writing and sometimes just thinking about what had happened and was happening. She couldn't stand it any longer - the constant woe that followed her was killing her slowly. She was just helping it along.

She got up and went back upstairs to the entrance doors. She left the school at 6:43 p.m. She trotted along to the place where she knew he liked to go and smoke. She found him there, taking longs drags on his cigarette and staring off into the sky. "Hullo," she said blandly, crossing the dewy grass, still patched with snow in some places, and plopped down beside him. She plucked the cigarette from his fingers and took a drag herself. "So. Can you do it?"

"Do what?" he asked, annoyed.

"Pop me off. Do me in. Kill me," she said, blowing smoke rings in between words.

"Don't be stupid."

"What? A Malfoy can't kill a Weasley?"

"They would trace it back to me in an instant," he spat.

"Come, come. Daddy must be able to cover your tracks in no time. And you're smarter than that. You could do it. Plus, I wrote a note."

"I don't care, Weasley."

"You're in it."

"Let me see," he said, snatching the yellowed paper from her fingers. He scanned the words carefully, rereading some lines, especially those concerning himself. "You've fallen in love with me?" he sneered. "You have terrible taste."

She smiled weakly through her mess of hair. "Watch it," she said. "You've insulted yourself." He continued to read and finally folded it back up and gave it to her.

"It sounds pretty convincing," he said. "So why don't you just do it? Why don't you just kill yourself?"

"I can't," she said hesitantly. "I don't have it in me."

"So you want me to do it." He threw his cigarette butt into the dirt and squashing it with his toe. "I hate you anyway, I suppose." She touched his arm. He turned to face her and saw she was staring at him.

"Hate me," she said, kissing him. It was strange. Before, a kiss was all it took to repulse him, to make him push her away and call her nasty things. But this time, all he did was kiss her back, wrap his arms around her and whisper something nonsensical into her ear. He stood up, ready to head back to the school. "Draco!" she said, frustrated.

"This doesn't change things," he said. "Everything's still the same." She lunged at him and began hitting him with closed fists. They toppled down to the ground and she sat on his stomach, pounding on his chest.

"Hate me!" she pleaded angrily. "I'm a Weasley! Ron's sister! Hate me! Hate me!" He pushed her off of him and into a pile of muddy snow.

"Stop it!" he yelled. She scrambled to her feet and drew her wand.

"Kill me or die." Draco stood up and brushed the mud off the back of his cloak.

"Stop being foolish," he spat. "I do hate you." He took out his wand and pointed it at her.

~

"Ginny? Ginny!" Hermione called desperately, pushing through the brush and trees towards the quiet moans. They suddenly stopped. "Ginny!" she called once more. Then she tripped over what she thought to be a root, but quickly discovered was the foot of a girl. Of Ginny. "Oh, Ginny," Hermione cooed, crawling up to the broken body, lying half dead in the brush. She examined her wounds and then cradled her head. "It's all right now, Ginny," she whispered. "Ron!" she called. "Ron! Ron! I found her!"

"Hermione," Ginny said weakly.

"Yes, what is it?" Hermione asked softly.

"Please... just leave me here Hermione. Just leave me." Hermione became confused. What was Ginny asking? Suddenly Ron came crashing through the brush and squealed with delight and horror as he saw his little sister lying dishevelled on the ground.

"Ginny!" he shrieked, scooping her into his arms. "Oh, Ginny, Ginny, Ginny!"

"Wha's all th' racket over here?" came Hagrid's voice.

"We found Ginny!" Ron called happily, trying to hurry back out of the forest. "Come on, Hermione!" he called.

'What did Ginny say?' Hermione thought to herself as she stood up and hurried after Ron.