Slytherin Forever! Book One: Blood Ties

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Chapter Two: First Moves.

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It's the hardest thing to do

To see it coming over you

Never thought I could break the rules

Now I got nothing to lose

- Nothing To Lose, Lullacry.

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"As you all know, I am Gilderoy Lockhart. I will be the one to arm you against the evil forces of this world so that you can grow up safely. We will start the lesson with a little quiz. It is nothing to be worried about, I just want to get an idea of how much you know."

As Lockhart finished talking and started handing out the quiz papers a long silence fell in the whole classroom. Marita was noting every hex she knew down on a piece of parchment - Ginny saw it because Marita was seated next to her - and Natalya was staring out of the window. Alisha looked extremely happy about the quiz, Ginny realized after a moment. Dev was filing her nails and did not look down at her paper once. Ginny decided she should probably get started so she looked down at her own copy.

She stifled a giggle as she read the questions. All of them were related to Lockhart's personality and not to the things he did, and Lockhart was the exact thing Ginny didn't know anything about. She had never wanted to know what color Lockhart's robes had been at the 'Witch Weekly' award show, unlike her mother who saved everything that had to do with Lockhart. Ginny left her paper blank.

Lockhart collected the papers and swallowed as he showed them to the class. Marita and Dev started to laugh uncontrollably as they saw that every single paper was blank. Their laughter caught the attention of Natalya, who had missed the point completely and was looking around the room for somebody to explain it to her. Natalya's facial expression (a mixture of surprise and confusion) was so funny that everyone started to laugh.

"It is quite a disappointment," Lockhart said after they had finished. "You should all read my books as homework and I will make another interesting quiz for you. What do you say to that, then?"

Some Slytherins shrugged mutely, but others dived under their tables to control their laughter. Ginny did neither. She had read Lockhart's books once and that was enough. She would just try to remember some things told in them.

Lockhart's lesson continued in a relaxed atmosphere with him telling all about the grand defeat of the Jules, a particularly dangerous clan of vampires. Ginny soon found herself laughing along with the majority of the group at some of Lockhart's weirder antics to repel vampires, and his insistance on checking his reflection in a nearby mirror every five minutes. When the hour ended the group came out of the classroom looking completely alert and ready for the rest of the day.

"You know your homework!"

Lockhart motioned for the Gryffindor group to go inside as he shouted the homework assignment once more to the Slytherins. Natalya and Dev led the way to the Transfiguration classroom (taking a wrong turn because Dev still did not seem to know the way) and Ginny laughed along with the twins Trevor and Nelson Baddock as Alisha did a pretty good impression of Lockhart.

Transfiguration was difficult, and the only person who had managed to produce a perfect needle out of a match was Marita. She explained to the group as they walked to the Charms classroom that her father was an Animagus and that she had learned the trick from him. Ginny made a mental note to ask Marita for that trick later on seeing as her own match had done nothing else than lying there like a match.

Charms was about water-repellant incantations, and Ginny enjoyed the lesson thoroughly. When Thomas Rivers used a different spell and ended up with one short sleeve and one long sleeve on his sweater Professor Flitwick toppled off his chair and ended up in the bucket of water they had been practising with. This event caused Natalya to say the wrong spell and set her book on fire. Ginny had saved Natalya's book and the Slytherin house points by using a simple 'Extinguish' spell. It had earned her five housepoints and that brought the total of earned points so far on fifteen.

Lunch was rather uneventful, seeing as only Alisha was available to talk to. Natalya and Thomas were trying to finish the Charms homework, and Dev was arguing with the twins about pranks while Marita was stuck in the library with Jayden McCoy to do the Transfiguration assignment.

The free hour was spent in the library by all Slytherin first-years. Most of them were making homework, but Ginny had done that under lunch and was looking hexes up in a book with the promising title: 'Hexes For Male Foes'. Natalya looked over Ginny's shoulder and read some of the more painful hexes out aloud for the others to hear, which caused quite a bit of laughter. When Ginny thought that she knew enough hexes to stand her ground against Malfoy she took her diary out of her pocket.

I'm having a great time with the Slytherins, Tom! The lessons went well, apart from Transfiguration that is extremely difficult, and I love to be near my new friends.

Transfiguration was not my strongest point either, so I cannot be of much help there, but I am glad everything else goes so well.

Yeah, and I did not want to be in Slytherin at first. My brothers always told me that Slytherin was the House of evil wizards and I am not evil or anything. Now I realise that Slytherin is just a House with ambitions and clever people. But I wonder what my family has to say about the fact that I want to stay here...

There has never been something like a re-Sort, Virginia. You don't have to worry about being transferred to a new House, especially if you don't want to.

I think I don't really fit in here.

Why not?

Alisha and Natalya are really funny, Marita is clever and already knows that she is going to be an Unspeakable when she grows up and Dev is just... Dev.

But you are Ginny. A very intelligent little lady with a certain flair for bringing joy to somebody else's life. Don't you even dare to think about the others as better than you. You are at least as good, if not better!

Thanks Tom. I'm so glad that I've got this diary to confide in... It's like a friend I can carry around in my pocket. I have to go now because we have History of Magic next. Two hours!!!

Back to your pocket it is then. Promise me you will write again soon.

Promised.

Ginny felt relieved after the talk with her diary. She had been worried about not fitting in, but Tom had wiped all of her worries away with a couple of words.

"My sister told me Binns is really boring," Dev said to Ginny. "He goes on and on about the Goblin rebellions and only he can make them sound as if they are nothing more than just a friendly conference."

"The rebellions are quite a large historical part of this country," Ginny said. "I doubt that even Binns could make them as boring as your sister tells you."

But Ginny soon found that Dev's sister Pansy had been absolutely right. Binns had the gift of keeping a class silent but that was because everybody fell asleep or was desperately trying to stay awake. Ginny dozed off as well after taking some notes about the Goblin rebellion of 687.

When the lesson was over Alisha was trying to wake Dev up, who had fallen vast asleep after the first two sentences Binns spoke. When she finally woke she was in a bad mood and stalked off to the common room. Ginny waved to the rest of her little group of friends as she walked up the stairs towards the library where she had to meet Malfoy.

Ron stopped her in the library corridor. He was alone, Ginny noticed, and looked annoyed about something. His icy tone scared Ginny a little bit as he asked her a question.

"Why are you in Slytherin?"

"I am in Slytherin because the Sorting Hat thought that was the best option."

"The best option," Ron said hollowly. "My sister, my very own SISTER is fraternizing with the ENEMY!"

"I am NOT fraternizing with any enemies, Ron! Now let go of my arm or I swear that I'll hex you."

Ginny's voice dropped to a menacing whisper as she finished the sentence. Ron looked as if he had tasted something extremely dirty and whispered before he left:

"Don't even think about coming back to the Burrow this summer. You are no longer a member of my family, Virginia. Not anymore."

When he had disappeared from sight Ginny slid down against the wall and started to cry. She didn't know for how long she had sat there - must have been quite a while - when she heard a voice say her last name. She looked up and saw Malfoy kneeling down in front of her.

"What are you crying about, Weasley?"

His voice was kinder than Ron's voice had been, but Ginny started to cry even harder. Malfoy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and helped her to stand.

"M-my brother is mad at me," Ginny stammered. "He said I was 'fraternizing with the enemy'."

"Are you?"

"I don't think so. Slytherins aren't enemies, are they?"

"Not for you. Your brother is a different story," Malfoy answered. "When I get him in my hands I will send him to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Your family stays your family, no matter what."

"A matchbox? You do realise that my mother will send you home to your family in a matchbox as well, don't you Malfoy?"

"I am fully aware of that," Malfoy said softly. "But your brother went out of line."

"What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"Your House choice. I wanted to test you a bit, to see if you really belong with us. I've watched you at lunch with your friends. You seemed to interact quite good with them, even though some are Slytherins at heart. But now that Weasel has been so stupid to say this to you it just doesn't seem fair anymore."

"I never knew you were this nice."

"Neither did I. And stop calling me Malfoy. We are housemates, and therefore you should call me by my first name: Draco."

"Only if you call me Ginny."

Ginny walked to the common room with Draco, who was a newfound friend. It had really been a strange month, Ginny thought once more. She had no idea that within a matter of days this strangeness would take an unexpected turn.

***

Salem Academy of Magic. Salem, Massachusetts. United States of America.

"Mel, I am wary about letting you go."

The headmistress, Professor May Sheldon, looked at the young woman in front of her and sighed. Melanie Smith was one of the best Divination teachers Salem had ever seen, and May was not keen on letting Mel go as she had requested.

"I know that. But I can stay with Catherine during the day and go out in the night. I have to go to London, May. I can sense that my presence will be needed there soon. Hogwarts is about to experience something that nobody will forget anytime soon. I have to be there to help."

"Is it really so urgent?"

"Yes."

"I will not keep you here then," May decided. "All the best to you and your friend. I hope to see you soon."

"All the best."

The slim woman rose and after she had nodded curtly at her former boss she left the office. May scribbled a note on a piece of parchment and thought about what she had just done. The energetic Diviner had been a source of inspiration for everyone of the staff, and going to London was dangerous for somebody as delicate as Mel.

Mel's condition was going backwards. A journey to Britain was the last thing Mel needed right now, because some memories could not be erased. Mel's pale features and thin body were a sign of bad health, and her already greying hair was not the healthy color it had once been. Secretly May hoped she would see the black-haired woman among her staff again but knew deep inside that this was too much to ask.

***

Durmstrang School For Magic, somewhere in Bulgaria.

Igor Karkaroff scrutinized the young Auror in front of him. She did not look into his eyes as she spoke but she had a superior smirk on her face that Igor detested immediately. Her pepper-colored hair reached down to her waist and she was quite pretty, but Igor felt no comforting warmth radiate from her at all. Her name was familiar to all magical people: Shanna Malfoy.

She had been raised in a Death Eater household after the unfortunate death of her mother, Rissa, who had died at the hands of Aurors. The whole wizarding world knew her name after she completed her Auror training, becoming one of the persons her family would have to fight, and married Sirius Black. After he was sentenced for life in Azkaban Shanna had disappeared from view as well. Now she had resurfaced, and was asking Igor for a job as Dark Arts teacher at Durmstrang.

He sighed and shoved the contract he had been holding towards the girl. A mumble of gratitude was heard as she signed the contract. Igor did not know if he had made the right decision, but there had not been much of a choice. Dark Arts teachers were hard to find and Igor was glad that it was an Auror who took the job on, even if it was somebody like Shanna.

***

A week later.

Ginny was dreaming once more. She was standing on top of a hill in her nightgown and looked at a small village down below. The howling of a wolf could be heard in the distance, never coming closer and never fading, and a healthy summer breeze caressed Ginny's hair.

Yet something was wrong. The peaceful village did not belong there, and neither did the summer breeze. It was winter instead of summer, and the village was nothing more than a group of snow-covered rocks. What caused the illusion was standing right behind Ginny, watching over her shoulder.

Tears streamed down Ginny's cheeks as she called out to the one friend she needed right now, but he did not appear. She was alone, she knew that for certain deep inside, but it felt like somebody was with her all the time. Something was moving inside of the walls. There were no walls in her dreamland, she realized after a moment. But it was too late already as she woke from her dream.

She collapsed on the floor of a bathroom, breathing heavily as she fought for control. Only when she did not hear the cold and cruel laughter inside of her mind anymore she sat upright. She didn't know why everything was red, but she still managed to get out of the bathroom without bumping into anything. Ginny ran back to her common room and seated herself in one of the chairs.

Something bad was happening to her. She didn't know what caused it, but she knew that she had to find out soon before even worse things started to happen. She regained her normal sight after a couple of minutes, nothing that had not been red before was red now, and just before she fell asleep she made a mental note to research certain things in the library tomorrow.

Tom watched Ginny's sleeping form with a satisfied smile on his face. She had done exactly the thing he wanted her to do. He recalled her red eyes with a frown though, seeing as his temporary control of her body should not trigger such a strong reaction. Maybe there was more to little Ginny that met the eye, but Tom doubted it.

She was naive and easy to control. Her friends would form an obstacle soon, but Tom knew that he would have success in the end. This would become a year to remember... Tom was sure of that. With Ginny's strength he would be brought back to life.

And Harry Potter, the boy who had defeated him, would die at the hands of the greatest wizard of all time: Lord Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore would not be there to save the boy, and neither would his friends. Nobody would suspect the youngest Weasley to be the source of this evil. It was perfect.

***

The library was closed. Not even Peeves, the poltergeist dared to go in there at night. Stories had been told about the Hogwarts library by anyone who had passed by at midnight. Those stories were usually a part of a very lively imagination, but sometimes they were true.

If anyone had passed by tonight that person would tell a story to anyone who would want to hear it. Books flew out of the shelves, even in the Restricted Section, and opened themselves. The subject of all opened pages of the books was something that was as old as the school itself, built by one of its founders.

The Chamber of Secrets.

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