Mirror of the Past

Chapter two: Cries for help

The cemetery was as silent and lonely as always. The grey headstones inspired only fear for those few people in Little Hangleton that still believed in the mystery of the Riddles' deaths, and, for those who didn't know the whole story, curiosity. The graveyard was overlooked by the once proud manor of the Riddle family and, in the mist of the night, it reminded the people of terrifying scenes ripped from Edgar Allan Poe's books. That was why, for the past two years, they had buried the dead in the new cemetery just a few houses away from the manor. But that wasn't the only reason...

Folk in those parts, especially the "new comers" as the people of Little Hangleton liked to call their new neighbours, said that every night they could see a black silhouette walking past the creepy graves and that on rainy nights, when the lightning illuminated its face, there was nothing there at all.

Those stories were part true: indeed, every night, a black figure walked past the graves but on rainy nights, when lightning illuminated its face, the people couldn't see anything because of the black hood that silhouette had, covering its face.

The silhouette that visited the cemetery had been coming there for over three weeks, and people could only see it at midnight, its robes polishing the grave stones as he walked right past them to the back, where the shadows hid him easily. What the people didn't know was that once hidden by the black of night, the hooded figure would take its hood off and let out a piercing sound that echoed until the wind would lose it in the darkness. This particular sound was a call that never received a response, and yet he never stopped trying.

Finally, on one rainy night, the loud echo of the figure in black got a response. It was a different shriek, louder and sharper, but nonetheless from another strange creature, somewhat unlike the one from the cemetery. Suddenly, lightning hit the ground exactly where the black stranger had stood but there was nothing there at all, although the strange echo could still be heard in the dead of the night.

The next day, at the town's pub, all the "new comers" were gathered in small groups and talking rapidly about the latest events with "the ghost beyond the grave" as they usually called the figure from the cemetery. A small man, with white hair and a horse face, told everybody that the ghost had come to life to haunt someone or look for a priceless possession that he lost before dying.

The man was rather close to the truth: the figure from the churchyard was indeed looking for a priceless possession; in this case a diary that had once belonged to Voldemort It had been lost long ago, and none of his servants dared to rest until it be found. So far, he had found nothing, since the diary was in Draco Malfoy's possession and, unfortunately for Voldemort, he was at Hogwarts.

***

Ginny continued to stare at Draco transfixed. Finally, she regained her voice and yelled, "Where did you get this, Malfoy?"

"I found it in my father's office! Besides, what's your business what I have and where I got it from?"

He snatched the diary from her and ran, hoping to catch up with Crabbe and Goyle, so that he could get far away from Ginny. They all came to a halt as they were invited into the black, "horseless" carriages that were waiting to take them to the castle. Draco hurried inside and, pulling his two gorilla like friends behind him, closed the door immediately so that Ginny wouldn't notice him.

The carriages started moving fast towards the castle, almost jumping over the bumps and humps in the road. When they arrived, the wind was blowing with such power that they could see the Whomping Willow battling with the wrathless wind, far in the distance. Draco and his fellow Slytherins were the first in line to get inside the castle, where the warmth of the fires met their cold cheeks.

They all sat down at their tables, waiting for the first-years to arrive. Suddenly, a great pack of shivering first-years came into the Great Hall. McGonagall left them waiting in front of a four-legged stool and came back shortly afterwards with a pointed wizard's hat, which she placed on top of the stool. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. For generations, this old hat had been sorting young students into the four houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Draco watched the hat with interest. He remembered just too well how six years ago, he had been called up in front, to be sorted into his house. He also remembered how the hat barely touched his slick hair when it had yelled Slytherin. He smirked at the thought of it but remembered that at that time, he didn't have Tom. Although it was hard for him to admit, nowadays Tom was the only reason he wanted to live.

At the other end of the Great Hall, Harry Potter was thinking about the time he had been sorted into Gryffindor. He had been called up to try the Sorting Hat. He was trembling from head to foot as he placed the Sorting Hat on. First, the hat told him that he could be great in Slytherin, but Harry was desperately whispering "Not in Slytherin, not in Slytherin..." The hat then placed him in Gryffindor, although Harry doubted even now that he was a true Gryffindor.

A few seats away, Ginny Weasley was thinking of her own sorting. She had sat beneath the Sorting Hat, waiting to be sorted. In her case, the hat instantly yelled Gryffindor and she was free to go. But Ron wasn't there, not even on her sorting day. In fact, Ron had never been there when she really needed him. He hadn't been there when Tom was taking over her mind, he wasn't there every time she was alone. But to be honest, neither were any of her other brothers, not even Percy.

When he was at Hogwarts, Percy never really sent any owls to their mother, he just wanted to scare them and when he wasn't patrolling the corridors, he was too busy spending time with Penelope to even think about Ginny or her problems. The twins weren't interested in her life anyway, since they spent all their free time thinking of new jokes and games they could use to make some money. And Ron... well, Ron was too busy with his own problems to remember that Ginny even existed. Of course, he didn't really have problems; he was just wondering how to become Hermione's boyfriend without creating a love triangle.

The only one Ginny loved was Bill. He had always been there for her, and when he had visited in her third year, he was the only one that wondered what was wrong with her. And he was the only one who sent an owl in her second year, recommending her some new, fun subjects. But unfortunately for her, he worked at Gringotts, all the way in Egypt.

"Ginny, what's wrong? Did you fall asleep?"

Ginny was startled by Harry's voice. She looked around her and saw that the Sorting Hat was about to sing its song:

"Ah! A new handful of first-years

Have come to Hogwarts, oh! the dears!

Here they'll learn magic and more

Please don't tell them what they're in for...

So if in Gryffindor you ought to be,

You're among the brave ones, just trust me;

But if your mind is oh so sharp and clever,

No doubt in Ravenclaw you'll belong forever.

The Hufflepuffs they be loyal as all can tell

And with the hearts of gold you will dwell

The sneaky Slytherins always get their way,

And they always have something sly to say

You're safe with me, don't be afraid

And you'll belong where I'll have said."

The Great Hall burst into applause as McGonagall unfolded a roll of parchment and called up:

"Brewbottle, Daniel!"

A little boy with a pale face and brown hair sat down, waiting for the hat to decide. In an instant, the hat yelled: Slytherin!

"Brownie, Michael!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Crestwood, Kenya!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Gutenberg, Carmen!"

"Gryffindor!"

And so on until Zorb, Claudia was sorted into Slytherin. Dumbledore stood up and announced with a deep gravity expression on his face:

"Tonight, I am very sorry to announce, there will be no feast in honour of our new first years."

There was a loud, disapproving murmur from the crowd.

"I know you're all hungry and I understand that you're very shocked but that is the situation and I'm afraid I can't do anything to change it. Now, I would kindly request that the school Prefects lead their houses to their dormitories."

There was a very irritated whisper from the children that made their way to their dormitories. Harry, Hermione and Ron decided to investigate, as always, why couldn't the house-elves prepare any feast at all. By the time they reached the portrait that led to the kitchens, they were all panting. Hermione waited for a ghost to pass by before she could tickle the pear that opened the door.

From a brief glance, the kitchen was obviously a mess. There were frying pans all over the floor, cook books in the four, once spotless sinks, flower on the walls, pancakes stuck to the ceiling, three legged stools in the fire place, milk and cookies in the broken oven, Yorkshire puddings in the cupboards and pumpkin juice spilled all over the place, including the scared house-elves themselves. Hermione walked up next to a house-elf and asked who had done this, but the shocked house-elf refused to talk.

"It's hopeless, they're too scared to talk. Some of them were babbling something about a school ghost."

"Let's try to find Dobby, I bet he'll tell us everything."

They made their way through the porridges and extra crispy bacon lying on the floor until they reached the pack of scared house-elves, some of them covered with chocolate and cream. Harry walked closer, wanting to spot Dobby.

"Dobby! Are you here?"

A pair of great, big, green eyes watched them intently. The eyes widened as they saw the three children.

"Harry Potter has come to see Dobby!"

The small creature got up and hugged Harry's knees. His once clean tea-cosy was obviously spreading cream all around, as he shook his head in amazement. His bat-like ears sprayed Harry, Hermione and Ron with little bits of pudding and yet he was very pleased to see them.

"Dobby, what happened here?"

"What does Harry Potter mean?"

"Well, this place is a mess."

He jerked his head to one of the sinks, realising that Dobby was too excited to remember the mess surrounding him.

"Peeves, the Poltergeist did this. He was very angry because the Headmaster denied his coming to the Feast, so he came here and destroyed everything."

"But couldn't one of the teachers just clean this up with a swish of a wand?"

"Of course they could, but the ghosts told him all about the incident when the hat was singing its song so there was nothing left to do."

"Are you absolutely sure that Peeves was the one who did this?"

Dobby nodded firmly. He watched as they threw each other suspicious glances then said,

"Dobby is wanting to tell Harry Potter bad news."

He watched as Hermione was trying to calm down the other house-elves then continued,

"Harry Potter must not be angry with Dobby. Dobby telling her not to leave, but she not listening to Dobby."

"Who did you tell not to leave, Dobby?"

Dobby waited a few seconds then burst into tears and refused to say another word.

***

There was a circle surrounding him. He could hear the echo of his deep, petrified breathing losing itself in the creepy silence. There was no escape. His eyes tried to pierce the deep shadows, but to no avail. The dungeon was oddly familiar. A glowing shadow that reminded him of a phantom, stepped in front of him and with an icy voice, asked,

"How long are you going to live? Did you ever ask yourself when the real great Lord would take over your mind? Did you think, just for a minute? What is left of your thoughts? I live with them, you feed them to me, and you give me life. But what is left of your memories, Draco Malfoy?"

BUFF! Draco woke up in an instant. He had fallen out of bed. It was the first time he couldn't sleep. He rubbed his eyes and tried to figure out his surroundings. The dormitory came into focus and he could make out a shadow at the window. He opened it and let the eagle-like owl inside. The owl dropped a letter on his bed, then swooped out of the open window and fled to the Owlery.

He rested his head on the pillow and opened the letter. It was from his mother. Not even in the dead of night could he mistake the family crest: two snakes forming the letter "L", crossed by another three that formed the letter "N" and all this in the middle of a golden "M". Luckily for him, the ink was still glittering so it was easy for him to make out the message:

Dear Draco,

I sent you this letter, probably disturbing your dreams, since I need to inform you that the Ministry of Magic has taken your father to Azkaban. They came just a few minutes ago, with several Dementors, snapped his wand in two and took him to Azkaban. I just don't know what to do. They wouldn't explain why they took him. I'm scared, Draco.

Your mother

Draco read and re-read the letter over and over again but couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't understand it: his father was in Azkaban and Voldemort had risen once again... but wait a minute. If Voldemort was back, then surely he would have come after Lucius, since he had the Dementors on his side. But then again, if the Dark Lord controlled the Dementors, why were the Dementors with Fudge when he snapped his father's wand in two?

He got up fast, pulled his robes on and left the room, the letter clenched tightly in his hand. Unfortunately, Pansy, who was talking to Millicent and Blaise in the common room, heard footsteps coming from the spiral staircase that led to the boy's dormitory. Finally, Draco appeared, his robes whooshing behind him, looking pale and taking deep breaths, as though trying to calm himself down.

"What happened to you, Draco? Did you have a bad dream?" She eyed him suspiciously, then continued, "What's that in your hand?"

Draco ignored her and continued his way on, then disappeared around the other side of the wall. Pansy's face went oddly scarlet, and, with not another moment to spare, she followed him.

On the other side of Hogwarts castle, up Gryffindor Tower, in the girl's dormitory, Ginny was tossing and turning from one side to another in her bed. She too, was unable to sleep. From the moment she had entered the Gryffindor common-room, she hadn't stopped thinking about Tom's diary. How had it gotten into Draco's hands? What if Draco started trusting Tom as she had once done? And what if Tom told him everything she had confided in his pages, five years ago?

Ginny untangled herself from the covers, pulled open the tapestries surrounding her four-poster and looked out the window, the starry sky vividly reminding her of the lovely nights she used to spend at the Burrow. She got up and started pacing the room. What would Draco think of her if Tom told him everything? She stopped and sat down on the window sill. But why did she care if Draco thought ill of her? What was his business what she had written in that wretched diary? And why should his opinion bother her?

But then, what if Draco didn't keep it to himself? What if he told all the Slytherins what she had once written, and taunt her every time he saw her in the corridors? And what if soon enough, the whole school would find out the secrets she had confided in Tom's pages?

The blood chilled inside her body at the mere thought that Harry could find out what she had written about him and her love for him. Sure, she didn't fancy Harry anymore, but she couldn't just ruin his impression of her, could she? She left the mirror, cold as ice, and made for the window again, trying to calm herself down. She thought hard of the approaching morning. What if Draco told everyone in the Great Hall at breakfast that she had written all those things on the wall, and that she had killed all those school chickens in her first year? Now she was trembling hard. Maybe she should run away from Hogwarts like Fred and George had done in their seventh year.

But what excuse would she have? At least at that time Umbridge was here and everything was awful. Besides, what would her mother say if she saw her at the Burrow, when she still had another year to come? Her head was buzzing with all these thoughts swirling inside of it. What was there to do? She decided that her only chance of ordering a little of her thoughts was to take a stroll out on the chilly grounds.

As she tightened her scarf around her neck, a little, pearly white object fell from her trunk. It was round and inside it were all the Weasley's faces, all ghostly and smiling at her. She had gotten it last winter, from Hermione. It was a Cupidmirror, which showed all her loved ones. And if she ever truly fell in love, then the face of the man she loved would appear, as ghostly and transparent as the others. Ginny clutched it tightly and left the dormitory quietly.

She made her way down the spiral staircase leading to the common room and just as she reached the last few steps, Percy sneezed. The sneeze was muffled by the Cupidmirror's glass but she was pretty sure its echo had made its way to the dormitories. Ginny jumped the remaining stairs and raced out of the common room, the Fat Lady's portrait yelling half indignantly, half angrily after her, "Hey, what are you doing out of bed at this time of the night? It's past midnight!"

But, just as Ginny expected, all the commotion had woken up one of the students. Harry Potter stood up and put his glasses on. The dark dormitory came into focus: his trunk at the foot of his bed, his jeans and jumper at the other side of the bed, a pair of socks dangling from the top of his owl's empty cage, 'Worn-up broomsticks and Clichéd Tactics' on his bedside table, along with his quill and ink bottle. He saw his room mates, all aligned on his right, Neville snoring loudly. He tried to remember what had woken him up and the Fat Lady's screams started buzzing once again in his head. Mainly out of curiosity, he decided to see what all the uproar was about.

After finding all his clothes, he got dressed and before leaving, decided to look out the window in case whoever had caused all the fuss had thought of a late stroll in the school grounds. But there was no one there except the dark silhouette of Hagrid, the Game Keeper, Fang at his heels, marching towrds the Forest. Harry tiptoed to the other end of the dormitory and left it quietly, assured by Neville's loud snores that no one was awake.

He was followed by the Fat Lady's indignant reproaches all the way down the marble staircase. Harry continued his way down the flag of stone steps to the chilly grounds. He regretted leaving his cloak and scarf in the common room at once, and shivered as he made for the greenhouses. The darkness was silent, enclosing in around him. Even the Whomping Willow had fallen quiet and still, as though petrified. He heard a loud, spiteful laugh coming from the first greenhouse. Harry believed that more than one person was inside, since it was always unlocked, it was a great place for young people to shag. As he approached the two figures hidden by the palm tree leaves, he heard Malfoy's malicious voice speaking coldly to a person that Harry believed, was on the edge of crying.

"So you thought of visiting that great oaf, Hagrid, in the dead of night, because you were embarrassed anyone would find out?"

"No... that's not true... I couldn't sleep," said a shaking voice that sounded oddly familiar to Harry.

"You really expect me to believe you?" drawled Malfoy, obviously enjoying the pain he caused.

"You can think what you want, you wretched child! I wouldn't give a Knut on what you think!"

Harry dared to approach the door, and he could finally see the outline of Draco, pinning Ginny to the wall.

"You couldn't give a Knut on my thoughts because you don't have a Knut!" he snarled back at her.

Ginny's ears went pink and she raised her hand, ready to slap him. But Draco stopped her hand in mid air and turned it with a smirk.

"Did you think I was going to let you slap me like the Mudblood did, Weasley? I'd have to wash twice after your filthy hand touched my face!"

"Let go of me, you bastard!"

Draco let go of her and stepped back. Ginny rubbed her wrist, where a small bruise had appeared. Draco kept smirking until Ginny, quivering with fury, pushed him hard. For a moment, Malfoy lost his balance and staggered backwards. He finally caught the bottom of Ginny's robes and pulled her down with him. She fell over him, face forward, their faces inches apart, Ginny's eyes sparkling with rage, Draco's as cold as ever.

At this point, Harry couldn't suppress a rain of giggles. Ginny's furious look left Draco's eyes for a moment and rested on Harry, who was standing in the doorway, leaning on the door frame. Draco pushed Ginny away and stood up. His hair was a bit messy but he regained his sneer again.

"Eavesdropping, weren't you, Potter?"

Harry finally stopped giggling and replied almost immediately,

"I heard enough for a night, Malfoy, I'm sure Pansy's going to be destroyed when she finds out you're friends with a Gryffindor." He turned his head to Ginny, who was still sprawled on the floor, "I thought you still had a bit of decency in you to know better than be friends with a Malfoy."

Ginny went even more scarlet, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm not friends with him," she finally managed to say.

"And who do you think will believe you, Weasel?"

Pansy stepped out from the shadows, her black eyes shooting daggers at Ginny, who still hadn't managed to stand up. Her short, black hair was partly hiding the sparkling fire in her look and she was chalk-white.

Ginny turned her gaze to Draco, silently asking for support. But the idiot was enjoying all the chaos this little meeting had caused, and looked from Pansy's pug face to Harry's furious one, with obvious satisfaction on his face. She finally decided she had to defend herself alone, so she stood up and faced Pansy.

"Do you really think I'm friends with this rich, spoiled brat?"

"Now, what was that last bit again, Weasley, rich? You'd better not forget that, Weasel, it's worth more than your pitiful life," snarled Draco triumphantly.

Ginny opened her mouth to argue, but her words were cut off by Harry.

"You said you weren't friends with this ferret, so then why are you with him?"

"Watch your mouth, scar head!" Draco snaped back at him, a pink tinge appearing in his pale cheeks.

"I was visiting Hagrid, but he wasn't at his hut so I went back. That's when I bumped into him."

Although Harry didn't want to agree with her, because she had woken him up, he had to admit she was right. He himself had seen Hagrid and Fang leave the hut and walking into the Forest. He was saved from the disgrace of having to lose in front of Draco by Pansy, who didn't believe a word Ginny said.

"You're a liar, you filthy Muggle lover!" she yelled hysterically.

"Hey, what's this?"

Ginny turned to Draco, who was now holding her Cupidmirror, observing it carefully. She jumped and tried to snatch it from him, but he simply held his hand away from her reach.

"Hey, look, there's that poor Muggle lover, his pig wife, that dragon lover, the leather skin boots idiot," Ginny turned as red as a tomato, "the snivelling dork, the two identical weasels and the freckled chess player," he ended.

"It's amazing they still have room inside that thing," completed Pansy.

They both proceeded on laughing loudly. Ginny was still crimson and her eyes made Harry shiver. Suddenly, she launched out of nowhere over Malfoy and started slapping him hard, scratching him painfully on the neck. Draco was yelling like a maniac and Pansy was trying to hold Ginny back. Harry came and helped her, although he was still amused by the scene. They managed to hold her back while Draco had time to draw away and avoid her sharp nails and powerful slaps.

His face was full of scratches and as red as Ginny's from all the slapping. His hair was a mess, shooting in every direction and his shirt was ripped, revealing an even more scratched and bruised chest. Pansy came by his side while Harry was left alone to hold a distressed Ginny from launching herself again at Malfoy.

"Calm down, will you?" Harry finally yelled and threw Ginny on the floor.

Pansy helped Draco up and, holding him tight, left with Draco still moaning in agony. Harry rounded on Ginny, who was trying to calm herself down, her Cupidmirror clutched tightly in her shaky hand.

"What on earth was all that about? All that show for a stupid breakable glass! You really are awful and..."

"Shut it, will you?" Ginny snaped and left the greenhouse, still trembling hard with rage.

***

"Ginny did WHAT?" Ron yelled the next day.

Harry had told everything that happened the past night during breakfast to a shocked Ron and a bewildered Hermione. He wasn't surprised to notice that at the Slytherin table, Pansy was in deep conversation with the other Slytherins and that Draco hadn't showed up. Just as Ron and Hermione had started talking about the situation, Harry saw Ginny slip from her chair and out of the Great Hall.

But even if Ginny had avoided Ron, it was inevitable to try avoiding Snape during double Potions in the afternoon. Clearly, Draco had gone directly to Snape and had told him everything. Everything except what a bastard he had been.

Ginny made her way down the stone steps leading to the freezing dungeons, prepared for two hours filled with Snape's reproaches and detentions. As soon as she had reached the classroom, she opened the door and quickly stepped inside, knowing she was late. All the students were seated in their desks, adding ingredients to the boiling cauldrons. She threw a scared glance over to the teacher's desk, and, exactly as she expected, Snape's slimy head popped out of the shadows, an obvious grin on his face.

"Late, Weasley, just as I thought. Ten points from Gryffindor should teach you a lesson."

Ginny, mumbling something about unfair took her place at the far end of the classroom, where she placed all her things and started reading the instructions on the blackboard.

The two hours were filled by Snape's breath at the back of her head, and by his chilly voice that never stopped complaining about her watery potion. The end of the lesson finally came and Snape requested that they all bring a sample of their potion. And at this moment, Ginny decided it was pay back time. She did a charm on the potion so that it was no longer watery. She gave a sample of it to Snape and was on the edge of leaving, when he called back for her.

"Now, Weasley, you will come in this dungeon at eight o'clock today and we will discuss your behaviour from last night. Understood? Oh, and, twenty points from Gryffindor for performing a Liquid Charm on your potion."

Ginny left the dungeons, her spirits lower than ever. Of course, not that she expected Snape to forget something that important. She arrived at the Great Hall and ate dinner in a hurry, then decided to do her homework before her meeting with Malfoy and Snape.

But her problems started before her meeting with Snape, beginning with her encounter with Ron in the common room. From the first step she put on the common room carpet, Ron stood in her way, pompously staring down his nose at her, strongly reminding Ginny of Percy.

"Well, you'd better start explaining yourself, Ginny Weasley, or I'll have to take matters in my own hands."

"Where should I start?"

"The beginning. What were you doing out in the grounds after curfew?"

"I wanted to visit Hagrid."

"At that time of night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"How did you meet Malfoy?"

"He couldn't sleep so he thought of a late night stroll."

"Why were you kissing?"

"Ronald Weasley, take that back!"

For a moment, Ginny strongly reminded Harry of Mrs. Weasley. She was the only one to call him 'Ronald'.

"Harry said you were kissing. Do you deny it?"

"Of course!" she said hotly. "Harry's exaggerating."

"You fell over him, I saw you!"

"So? If I fall over you, does it mean I kiss you?"

"Sure, take that ferret's side, why don't you?"

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, seeing what insufferable brats you've become, I'll go to my meeting with Snape and 'the ferret'. Oh, and Harry, be careful, I'll be sure to shag Snape before curfew."

She left the common room in a rush, almost stepping on Neville's toad. Although it was only seven thirty, she decided to go to the dungeons. She reached it in no time and knocked on the door. There was no response. She opened the door and stepped in, where she met a bandaged Draco. From the first glance she knew he hadn't visited the hospital wing but requested that Pansy should heal him.

That was so obvious because Ginny had enough experience in bruises and scratches that she was sure Madam Pomfrey could heal them in an instant. But, as she expected, the show-off wanted to look helpless and on his last breath just to attract more attention and look even more pitiful. Too bad, because to her, he looked ridiculous.

But Ginny couldn't care less. She had to seize the opportunity to ask him something that was worrying her for a long time.

"Malfoy, how exactly did you get your hands on that diary that fell from your trunk when we arrived?"

"How do you know it's a diary?"

Ginny fell silent. She felt that Malfoy was the last person she would confide in about Tom.

"I know and that's that."

"If you don't answer me, than you won't find out my reasons for how I got the diary."

"Why won't you co-operate, Malfoy? Why don't you want me to help?"

"Do you really want to find out my reasons?"

"Well, no, I was just asking for my general knowledge. Of course I want to know your reasons!"

"Ok, you don't need to get sarcastic."

"I doubt that."

Draco ignored her and continued,

"Well, first, you're a Weasley, second you can't help me because you're still in love with Tom and you're under his influence and last but not least, I don't need help."

"Did Tom tell you that?"

Draco smiled.

"He's my best friend. I like him."

The door open and Snape came in.

Draco changed his sneer into a hopeless, sad face.

"Mr. Malfoy, you look awful. Please sit down and tell me everything exactly how it happened.

Two hours later, Ginny left the dungeon, completely exhausted. She had earned a month's worth of detention and had lost fifty points for Gryffindor. She stopped as Draco rushed to get past her, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear,

"You're a good actor. Maybe there is hope for you to become something more than a spoiled brat."

She stood straight once again and left him in the middle of the corridor.