The Very Secret Diary of Ginny Weasley

Chapter Ten: Christmas at Hogwarts

             Ginny awoke the next morning, after an uneasy evening of sleep. Her heart was shattered. The only thing she could think to do was to talk to Tom. Even now, the tears still poured down her face, as she dipped her quill and began writing. “Dear Tom, something terrible has happened again! There’s been another attack, and I don’t know where I was, but I woke up near Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick petrified on the floor!”
           “That is terrible Ginny. Did you have another dream also?”
           “Yes, it was terrible! I saw Harry this time. At least I think it was him. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen to me, and he called upon the snake from the Dueling Club to attack them!
           “You seem unsure that it was Harry who attacked young Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. Why?”
           Ginny could still see the glowing red eyes in her mind, and the terrible high-pitched laughter that accompanied them, ringing in her ears like a nightmare from which she could never awake from.
           “After Justin and Nick were attacked, Harry’s face changed, like he was no longer himself. But it had to have been him, or at least Hagrid’s influence on him. It had to!”
           “You are sure of it?” Tom wrote.
           “Yes! I was so scared. I left Justin and Nick there in the corridor. But as I ran away, I ran into Hagrid not too far away. I know he made Harry do it. Tom, this is getting far too out of hand. I think it’s time I tell someone about what I’ve seen.”
           “I do not feel that is a very good idea right now.” Tom wrote back quickly. “They are already aware of Hagrid’s connection to the Chamber of Secrets. I am sure they have it under control. There is no need for you to interfere any more than necessary. Besides, what would everyone think if they knew that you were somehow involved? What would your parents think? I think it is best that you refrain from telling your story for now.”

           *          *           *

           The fate of Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick spread like a wildfire through the school. And after the events of the Dueling Club, nearly everyone suspected Harry anyway for Justin and Nick’s unfortunate state.
           Ginny counted the days until the end of term. Her Mum and Dad sent word that they would be spending Christmas in Egypt this year, visiting her oldest brother Bill. That meant that the clan of Weasley kids, along with Harry and Hermione, would have Gryffindor Tower entirely to themselves for the Christmas holiday.
           She was more than happy to spend the holidays with her brothers, although lately, Fred and George had become almost unbearable with all the joking about Harry being the Heir of Slytherin.
           “So Harry, who are you attacking next?” Fred shouted across the common room on the last day of term.
           “Yeah, you’d better hurry up and get one more in before they all get on the train back to London!” George chimed in.
           Harry turned and gave them a small smirk as he followed Ron and Hermione out the portrait hole.
           Unfortunately, instead of trying to cheer her up, they only made Ginny feel worse . . . if that was possible.
           “Haven’t you two had enough of that already? It’s getting rather old,” Ginny said, looking up from her potions homework.
           “Ah Ginny, loosen up will ya,” Fred said.
           “It’s all in good fun,” George finished. “Besides, we all know you’re the one who does all of Slytherin’s evil work anyway.”
           “That’s not funny! Not Funny at all!” she spat out at the twins, storming out of the common room herself.

           *          *          *

           Ginny heard a faint knocking on her dorm room door Christmas morning.
           “Yes,” she answered groggily.
           The door cracked open and Hermione poked her head in. “Happy Christmas Ginny!” she said cheerfully.
           “Oh,” Ginny sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes. “Happy Christmas to you too. But I really must ask, what are you doing up here?”
           “I just came from Ron and Harry’s room.”
           “You did?” Must be nice.
           “Yes, I couldn’t wait to give them their presents. Not to mention it was quite fun just to catch them off guard in their pajamas,” Hermione giggled to herself.
           Blimey, I wish I was her, Ginny thought to herself, green with envy.
           “Anyway, I brought you a present too,” Hermione said, as she sat down on the edge of Ginny’s four poster, and handing her a small gift.
           Ginny couldn’t help but look at her with appreciation. “I don’t know what to say,” she said gratefully. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t really get anything for you.”
           “That’s alright. I didn’t expect one. And I don’t expect you to go off and get one now either. But I thought you would like this. Open it,” she said, almost bouncing with anticipation.
           Ginny opened the small gift. It was a muggle diary.
           Hermione continued. “I know that you’re quite a private person. I thought you would like something to keep all your secrets in.”
           Unable to contain her enthusiasm for receiving the gift, diary or not, Ginny leapt at Hermione, hugging her. “Thank you Hermione! Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how much this means to me!”
           Hermione left Ginny to get dressed and join her family and friends down in the common room to open their gifts. Their mother sent them the usual Weasley jumpers (Ginny’s was baby blue) as she did every year, along with a note from her mother.

Dearest Ginny,

           Percy tells me that you haven’t been yourself lately and you haven’t written you father or I in several weeks. I’m very concerned about you.

           Just please promise me that you will take some time out to spend with your brothers this Christmas holiday. I know that your first year hasn’t been easy for you, but I have faith that you will eventually adjust. Know that we love you dearly, and that we are always here for you if you need us. Have a Happy Christmas.

Love always,

Mum

             Ginny smiled at her mothers’ caring, and agreed to herself to keep the promise to her mother as she tucked the note into her pocket.
           As they continued opening gifts, she was especially pleased when she noticed that her Mum took her advice on the choosing the color for Harry’s jumper again. A huge grin rolled across her face as Harry pulled on the rich plum jumper. Even Hagrid sent her a tin of treacle fudge, but she quickly tossed it in the trash as soon as no one was looking.

           *           *          *

           The Christmas feast was unlike anything that Ginny had ever seen. Several frost covered trees lined up the Great Hall amongst the holly wreaths and dry falling snow falling from the ceiling.
           The tables were filled with several rich foods, all of which every bite better than the bite before. She was rather disappointed after the wonderful time they had spent together that morning, that Hermione, strangely enough, wasn’t there for the last half of the feast. She quickly wolfed down her dinner and excused herself from the table.
           “Where are you going?” Ginny asked.
           “Er, I have some Potions homework I wanted to get an early start on,” Hermione answered hurriedly as she rushed out of the Great Hall.
           In between supper and desert, Professor Dumbledore lead the hall in several Christmas carols. The only downside to the festivities was Hagrid, nearly drunk on numerous jugs of eggnog, singing boisterously along with the rest of the students.
           It’s disgusting how he could be so smug and cheerful at a time like this, she thought as she glanced at Harry, who was now laughing at Ron for singing the wrong words to ‘Come All Ye Faithful’.
           And poor Harry, he doesn’t even know what he’s done. I wish I could help him somehow, she said to herself, trying to put the painful thoughts out of her mind and do her best at keeping her promise to her mother.
           By far the most amusing part of the evening was when Fred had secretly charmed Percy’s badge again, this time stating ‘Pinhead Boy’. For most of the night, Percy couldn’t figure out what everyone was laughing at until desert. But once he realized what they Fred had done, he stormed out of the Great Hall in a fit.
           As they were all finishing up their deserts, Hermione suddenly rushed back into the Great Hall.
           “Ron, Harry, I need you to come with me now, I want you to take a look at my homework.”
           “But we’re still eating,” Ron said irritably, shoving another large spoonful of Christmas pudding into his mouth.
           Ginny watched as Harry gave Ron a knowing look, and Hermione glared at Ron with her hands placed firmly on her hips.
           Harry and Ron help Hermione with her homework. There is something definitely wrong with this picture, she thought.
            “I thought you two were going to join us all in some dueling practice in the common room after the feast?” she asked innocently, looking for information.
           “Maybe later Gin,” Ron said, taking one last bite before he got himself from the table and followed Harry and Hermione out of the Great Hall.
           “So much for spending time with my family,” Ginny grumbled to herself sarcastically.

           *           *          *

           Ginny was writing in her new diary as she watched Fred and George play a game of exploding snap, now bored of giving each other boils. Percy had already come back from pouting and went to bed, but Hermione, Ron and Harry still hadn’t come back from wherever they were.
           Even though she knew it wouldn’t be the same as writing to Tom, Ginny still thought it would be fun just to write down some harmless poetry about Harry of course, careful not to unleash any of her more harmful secrets.
           “So what do you write in that diary anyway?” George asked her curiously.
           “Do you really want to know?” Ginny said, watching her brother lay down another card.
           “No,” Fred answered for his twin jokingly. “I just can’t imagine you having such an exciting life enough to write it down in a diary every day.”
           Ginny gave him a hard look, very reminiscent of her mothers. “I don’t just write about my day, you know. I write poems too, and sometimes I draw,” she said defensively.
Fred chuckled. “I can’t imagine who you would be writing about,” he chided.
           “It wouldn’t be a certain messy haired Gryffindor seeker would it?” George snorted.
           Luckily, Ginny was saved by any further teasing as Ron and the messy haired Gryffindor seeker climbed through the portrait hole, laughing hysterically themselves.
           Fred nodded at the laughing pair, “They must know about your diary too.”
           She gave him a contemptuous look, before it occurred to her that the trio of inseparable friends was down by one.
           “Where’s Hermione?” she asked. “Is she still working on her homework?”
           “There was an accident,” Ron sputtered out, hardly able to say the words through all the snorting.
           A wave of worry swept over Ginny, instantly drawing the conclusion that Hagrid had struck again. “What happened? Was there another attack? Is she all right?”
           Harry waived his hand assuredly. “Oh no, nothing like that,” he looked back at Ron and smiled.“She just er,” he paused to think, “She just put in the wrong amount of ingredients into her Potion that’s all.”
           Ron, who had slightly managed to compose himself for a moment, instantly burst into laughter again, clutching his sides. “She turned herself into a cat!”

           *           *          *

           Ginny slept in late the next morning, up with worry, as well as curiosity about Hermione’s backfired potion. In fact, she had been sleeping quite well since the end of term. Her Mum was right. Spending what little time she had with her brothers seemed to be quite rejuvenating for her, and apart from the writing in her new gift the night before, she had hardly written in her enchanted diary since the term ended.
           She decided to visit Hermione after breakfast that morning in the hospital wing, but to her dismay, once she reached the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey wasn’t allowing any visitors, but Harry and Ron for at least a few weeks.
           Disgruntled, Ginny came back to the common room and found Fred and George snickering to each other at the study table.
           “What are you two on about?” she asked, curious about the joke they had just shared, and hoping that it would cheer her up also.
           “Nothing,” George said, chortling. “Nothing that would ‘keep me from feeling blue, ‘”
           Ginny’s eyes widened in horror. No, they didn’t.
           “If only I had round glasses, behind eyes so green,” George finished.
           “And the sweetest smile I ever had seen,” Fred chimed in, stifling a laugh himself.
           They did. I’m gonna kill them!
           “How could you read my diary?” she bellowed.
           As if on cue, Percy rounded the corner to Ginny’s rescue. “What’s going on here?”
           “They . . . they read my diary!” Ginny shouted, stifling a cry.
           “Fred, George, that was horrible of you! How could you invade Ginny’s privacy like that? You know how important that is to her!”
           Ginny was furious. She couldn’t hold back her anger any longer, and instantly broke into tears. She ran up to her dorm room terribly hurt, but for the most part embarrassed. The last thing she heard as she ran up the stairs was Percy telling them he was going to owl Mum about it.
           Ginny knew now that they were going to receive a punishment from Mum so severe that they would have wished themselves in Azkaban Prison. But it wouldn’t be enough to save her from the torment she was going to endure from the twins for the rest of the school year, if not the rest of her life.