Flipside

Chapter Eleven

It was a refreshing change for Ginny to finally get back to normal life at Hogwarts. Waking up, her roommates ignored her per usual, and she took no more than 10 minutes getting ready. Sitting down in the Great Hall for breakfast she received no strange looks or whispered comments, at least if she had, she never noticed. It was as if an Obliviate had been cast over Hogwarts.

She was seated snuggly between Hermione and Neville, quite content that the school had forgotten the events of the past week, culminating with the Halloween Ball. Finally, she would go back to being inconspicuous.

That was, until the morning post arrived. Ginny was surprised when an anonymous school owl swooped down on the table in front of her; attached to its claw was a hastily scribbled note on a torn-off piece of parchment.

Nice show you put on Friday night. How much did you pay him to go with you? Handfuls of Sickles, or did you actually have to go as far as Galleons? It wouldn't surprise me. On second thought, maybe you didn't pay him in money. Now that definitely wouldn't surprise me either.

Just watch your step, because soon the whole school will know what a 'good girl' Virginia Weasley really is.

Ginny gaped at the note, before looking quickly around the room for an unusual pair of eyes that may be staring at her. But none were there. 'The nerve of people!' she thought, 'suggesting I enticed Draco to go to the Ball with me using sex?' Softly, she nudged Hermione on her right, and slipped her the note under the table. Nonchalantly, she watched Hermione's expression as she read it. She mirrored the look of astonishment that Ginny had shown when she first saw the note. Wide-eyed, Hermione passed her friend back the letter with a confused shrug, showing she had no idea as to who sent it.

The day quickly went downhill from there. Everywhere she went she was met with lewd glances from the male Hogwarts population. Again she was met with silence every time she walked in the room. Ginny became paranoid when she felt the eyes of boys glancing up and down her body every time she went from class to class; even brushing up against someone would cause her to start.

The clincher was when she was approached by a daring fifth year Slytherin. She was waiting in front of her Transfiguration classroom, and he slide up next to her, pinching her bottom. When she spun around to face the culprit, she was met with a smug, pervy smile on his face.

"So do you fancy giving it a go then?" he asked, grinning widely at her, displaying a mouth full of uneven, moldy looking teeth.

"What?!" Ginny had gasped, still in shock at the nerve of this boy. He had to be half a foot shorter than her, but at least twice the weight.

"You know, let the cat out of the bag," he continued. Ginny could just looked at him in shock.

He gave her an impatient sigh. "Well? Do you fancy a shag or not?" he demanded.

Ginny almost screamed in anger. "Excuse me?! No I do not fancy a shag you sick minded little child! Get away from me," she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Then she couldn't believe it, instead of looking ashamed at her, he simply shrugged, and made to grab her arse again before sauntering off down the hall. She felt extremely disgusted, not mention violated at his act. She had a strong urge to skive off class and take a long shower to get any traces of him off her body.

After that the paranoia grew. She looked frantically about whenever she was walking the halls, and constantly caught boys winking at her, or giving her the once over. Feeling slightly nauseous, she headed to the solitude of the library at the end of classes, thankfully escaping from the school again. Unfortunately, solitude was not meant to be, for just shortly after sitting down at a back table, she heard voices coming from the other side of the shelves.

"...I know I heard about it too!" a girl's voice was saying, "Do you reckon it's true?"

"I don't know, but did you hear that she was caught snogging with some seventh year behind Hagrid's hut yesterday? Then she supposedly met another guy, a fifth year this time, at the astronomy tower later that night. I bet they did more than snogging," replied a scandalized second voice.

"Who knew the littlest Weasley had it in her," came the first girl again.

Ginny was flabbergasted, who was saying she did these things? When she wasn't meeting with Draco to chat in the Room of Requirement, she had been holed up in her room the entire weekend. As if she would want to meet some fifth year in the Astronomy Tower anyway!

As Ginny marched quickly out of the library, she could feel her stomach rumbling. Instinctively she turned towards the kitchens, but stopped herself just in time. Whoever this person was, they weren't going to get the better of her. She could be worse things than a 'scarlet woman' as Ron would put it. Resolutely she made her way towards the Great Hall, head held high.

Walking across the Hall, she looked straight ahead, and met no one's gaze. Sitting down so she faced away from the rest of the school, she saw her brother looking extremely put out, sitting across from her. His face had gone ridiculously red, and he was gripping his fork so hard she thought he might bend it.

"Err - Ron," she ventured, "What exactly is the matter?"

"Tell me it isn't true," he hissed through his teeth, "tell me you aren't some," his voice dropped to a soft whisper, "scarlet lady."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously Ron? You don't believe those rumors do you? Of course I didn't do any of that stuff people are saying!" Ginny was actually a bit upset at Ron now, "I can't believe you would actually doubt me!"

She saw him release his death grip on the fork, and noticed the redness in his face was from embarrassment now instead of rage. "Well, it's hard to know what to believe when your best mate swears those rumors are the truth."

"Harry?" she asked, to which he nodded, "I thought so. I wouldn't put it past him that he actually started some of them." Ginny shook her head, "I don't know what is going through that boy's mind these days..." she trailed off lost in thought.

Just then, an owl came soaring into the Hall, landing in front of Ginny. She was filled with a feeling of apprehension upon opening the letter, afraid that it would be similar to the one she received that morning. A feeling of relief flowed through her as she read the short note.

--G,

RoR Now.

--D

Reading Draco's shorthand, she quickly stuffed her mouth with a slice of bread, and mumbled a goodbye to her brother through the mouthful. Hastily she made her way out of the Great Hall, completely oblivious to any looks she received during her exit. She practically ran through the corridors, so she was panting when she reached the seventh floor; she pushed open the door that had appeared on the usually blank wall.

Barely stepping into the room, she felt a pair of hands grab her by the front of the robes. He pushed her up against the wall, and she instantly felt his lips sucking on the side of her neck. With a quick nip, he punctured her soft flesh, drawing out the metallic blood.

Giving a small yelp in pain, Ginny pushed him off of her. "Draco!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

Panting he replied, "Marking you as mine."

She reached up and felt the tender skin that he had just abused. She could feel the wetness of her blood, and the ache of a bruise already forming.

"You're only fueling the rumors," she moaned at him, "what are people going to think now?"

He smiled smugly at her. "They are going to be jealous of the fine specimen of man who was allowed to show the world he owned Ginny Weasley."

Ginny laughed giving him a soft reprimanding slap across the chest, "You don't own me Draco Malfoy," she said indignantly.

"That's what you think," he said with a smirk. "But seriously Gin, are you alright?"

"Alright?" she repeated slowly. "Of course I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be alright," she said in a rush, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I mean the attention is great, being known as Hogwarts' latest slut!"

"Oh Gin," he sighed, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Don't listen to anything they say."

"That's easy for you to say," she choked out between sobs. Tears were running freely down her cheeks she poured out the story of her whole day, starting with the note, the stares and whispers, the disgusting fifth year Slytherin approaching her, and culminating with the gossiping girls in the library.

"Don't worry," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Ignore the gossip and the stares. As for the Slytherin who made a move on you, I'll hex him when no one is looking." This merited a choked chuckle from Ginny.

They stayed like that for a long time, and he comforted her as she finally cried out a week's worth of frustrations. Finally, when she had cried out all the tears she had, she let him walk her carefully to the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room, leaving her feeling thoroughly cleansed of everything that had happened during the past while.