Chaos

Chapter 1: A Great New Year

Ginny Weasley smiled to herself as she walked up to the Astronomy Tower, early on Monday morning. It was the start of her fifth year, and she was quite happy the summer was over. After Sirius's death at the end of last term the people in the Order were not quite as enthusiastic about fighting the good fight.

To be honest, Ginny thought this summer would be better. Not so many cries of "let's save the bloody world from evil scum." Surely the Terrible Trio would leave her alone as well. Hell, if she was really lucky Mum would let her stay with friends. She had so many plans for the summer, and sadly none of them had come to pass.

Instead she and the Wonder gang had spent the whole summer sorting through Sirius's thing, and spending "quality time" at the Burrow. Even better was the fact that the Great Harry Potter wanted to cry on her bloody shoulder the whole time. Ginny kicked a rock away at the remembered annoyance. Her saving grace had been Hermione and Tonks. Hermione had been all too happy to study with her, and Tonks delighted in telling them all about an Auror's life, and about Dark Wizards. Ginny would never tell any of them that she favored the Dark Arts, or that she was unaffected by Sirius's death. She would surely never say that she expected many more.

Ginny finally reached her destination, just as the sun was rising. She smiled and tilted her face up to the sky. Tom had always loved sunrise. He said every new day marked a new chance. She still missed him terribly. He was one of the few people who bothered to try and get to know her, the real her.

Ginny did not see herself as bad; she did not want Tom to win the war. She expected him to though. The Order and the Dream Team were not weak or pathetic to her. She certainly did not hate them. No, it was not nearly so black-and-white for Ginny Weasley. She found them all horribly naive, that was all.

With Sirius, Snape, and Dumbledore they might have stood a chance. If, that is, Snape and Sirius would have worked together. Did they think the Dark Lord allowed dissent in his ranks? Ginny snorted to herself at the mere idea. He would never allow anyone to fall out of line. And it was only too easy to obey someone when the punishment for not doing so was death. Without Sirius, Ginny knew they were doomed.

She was not happy about the prospect of watching her family die and fall apart, hell she was not looking forward to her own possible death. But she had spent the wasted summer learning to accept it.

Ginny cocked her head to the side as she contemplated whether she would miss the others. She might miss Tonks and Hermione. She doubted that she would miss Harry, or any of the others. Then again if it weren't for Harry her whole family wouldn't be in perilous danger right now.

"Weasley, what are you doing here? Waiting for Longbottom or just praying that The Prat That Would Not Die will appear?" Draco smirked, and Ginny almost laughed. Considering what she was just thinking that was damn funny, not that she would ever let the likes of Malfoy know that. The prat could use some dressing down in her opinion.

"Actually, Malfoy, I was wondering if you would bounce if I dropped you from this ledge. It is so good of you to come along so that I might find out," Ginny said sweetly.

Draco raised an eyebrow and let his silver eyes wander up and down her body. "Well," he drawled, "you have grown up now, haven't you? It's a pity you're on the losing team."

"Oh, Merlin. Please tell me that was not supposed to be a complement," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "Though I suppose you have a point about that last bit," she muttered, more to herself than to him. His eyes widened a bit in shock. Well well, he thought, maybe the littlest Weasel knew more than black-and-white. Maybe she saw the shades of grey that her whole family seemed to refuse to see existed. Interesting.

"What's the matter, little Weasel? Did Potty snub you for your brother? Tisk, tisk, I always knew he had horrible taste." He grinned and winked at her. "I'm sure we could figure out a way to make you feel all better, I have a talent for such things."

Ginny snorted and shook her head. "In your dreams, Malfoy. I had come up here for some peace and quiet. Since that is clearly no longer an option, I'll be going now. Oh and Malfoy," she said over her shoulder, "don't get any ideas about recruiting me for the Dark Side. Not only won't it work, but I'll lose my only halfway decent sparring partner."

With that she was gone from sight, leaving Draco staring after her. The girl had given him an idea. There was a spark of a plan forming in his brain, and just in the nick of time too.

He had no clue what had just happened, but he had a feeling that the youngest Weasley did not fit easily into her family's mold. How convenient for him if that were true. He wondered if, just maybe, he had found someone to help him.

Draco was rather happy about the term finally starting. He may be lonely at Hogwarts, but it was much worse at Malfoy Manor. Here, at least, there were people his own age. Some of them even had brains, and used them. Now if he could just find one who was willing to talk to him civilly.

Draco longed to have a friend, even just one good friend, to talk to and spar with. He had cronies and hanger-on. Harry Potter had friends. Draco was surrounded by acquaintances that made him look good.

What's worse was the fact that his own father was someone's crony, not his own man. Draco would never become a Death Eater. He would never bow to someone else's whims! Soon, very soon, his father would know that. Voldemort would tell Lucius, Draco would not need to. He expected to die shortly after the end of the term. The Dark Lord said that he would not kill Draco. That would not stop his most devoted follower, Lucius Malfoy from doing so. After all, hadn't Lucius raised his son for the sole purpose of being a Death Eater, just like daddy? How could he allow his own son to insult him, and his Lord, of course, like that?

Draco met with Voldemort at the end of last term. The Dark Lord read Draco's mind or heart, or soul, or some such. This was apparently how one earned the right to get the Dark Mark, and kiss some monster's robes. Ha!

"You believe in a pureblood society as I do, young Draco," the Dark Lord hissed. "But you do not see me as a pureblood; you don't even see me as human. You find me a hypocrite, more's the pity. Still I take no insult, I have heard worse, and I shall hear worse still in my immortal life. You are dark, and you are strong. Would that you had the will to follow me, we could do great things together. But you could never follow me, or anyone else. So I will not have you, and I will not kill you. I am sure your father will do that for me. I do not envy you your future."

With that the Dark Lord cackled, and Draco shrugged. He could not follow this monster, and he couldn't join the "good guys." There was no choice but death, and he had to accept that. That was all there was to it.

They struck a deal that night; if Draco did not start his own group, Voldemort would not tell Lucius until the school term started. The Dark Lord had obviously been in a good humor that evening. Draco was grateful for that bit of luck. Still, Draco knew that he would die by the end of the term. The only thing left to decide was how to spend the remainder of his life.

One thing he knew was that he was going to have fun, for the first time is his life. And he was going to raise hell. Draco grinned from ear to ear as this thought came to him. Oh yes, he was going to raise hell, for everyone.

He turned and headed down to the Great Hall, chuckling to himself as he went. This was going to be a great year, he would see to that.

Ginny slid into a chair at the Gryffindor table, and started loading up her plate. Almost no one was there yet. A good portion of her fellow Gryffindors were not morning people. The Ravenclaw table was almost full. She wished she'd let the hat put her in Ravenclaw, but hindsight was 20/20. Luna waved to her; she waved back and smiled as she tucked in.

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Dean wandered in looking bleary-eyed and not quite awake. They took seats by Ginny, and started putting things on their plates.

"Where's the coffee? Oh, thanks Ron." Hermione muttered. Ginny couldn't help but grin. Her closest female friend was always a bit out of it in the mornings, and usually quite grumpy. She always said she didn't know what she was doing until she had her first cup of coffee. Ginny wasn't nearly as surprised by their lack of hellos as she was by the fact that they sat by her at every meal.

It still amazed her that they found her so inept, yet insisted on hanging around her. Every time there was any action she was supposed to run off to play with dolls or some garbage of the like. Honestly if her supposed friends couldn't even trust her to take care of herself why did they want anything to do with her? It was as if she was a mate most of the time, but anytime danger was about she magically turned into a 3-year-old little girl without enough sense to tie her shoes in the morning. What astounded her further was the fact that she may well be the only one who could hold her own around Voldemort. Harry had confessed to her in his many, many, many blubbering confessions over the summer, that he had nearly pissed his pants out of terror every time the Dark Lord appeared. She knew better than to lose her cool. That was exactly the effect he was going for, after all. Why would anyone give him that type of satisfaction?

"Ginny, you seem to be drifting. Is everything okay?" Harry looked at her with his oh-so-concerned face. She wanted to roll her eyes. If the boy didn't back off she might just have to hurt him. He was starting to cling, and that was driving her mad. They were not good friends! When would he pick up on this?

"I'm great Harry. I was just thinking about what I need to do this next few weeks. No need to worry."

"Oy, Ginny are you trying out for Chaser this year? We could sure use you," Ron said in between bites.

"Yeah, we are hoping to get those two hopeless beaters out of there, and we need to fill all three chaser positions. What a mess. Hey Dean, you and Seamus should come try out too." Harry looked as worried as he always did when someone asked him to prove himself. Why anyone would put him in as captain when they knew about his emotional state was completely beyond Ginny. But she supposed McGonagall knew what she was doing. She sure hoped McGonagall knew what she was doing!

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to trying out. I really didn't want to keep the seeker position. Thank Merlin that Dumbledore lifted the ban, Harry. When are try-outs?"

"Next Wednesday, sometime around seven. What about you Dean? We really need all the help we can get."

"Sure, I'd love to try out. And I'm sure Seamus will be there too. It should make his mum proud," Dean said with a snicker.

"Who else do you guys think would be good," Harry asked.

This launched them into a discussion about Quidditch that lasted through the rest of breakfast. Seamus and Neville joined them in the talk when they got down to the Great Hall. Seamus informed them that he was already planning on trying out for a beater position.

"I would sure love to try out for chaser, Harry," Neville said. "But even I know that I have to be the worst flier at Hogwarts. I'm best served on the ground."

Harry smiled at the boy and told him that if he changed his mind they would be happy to help him practice before tryouts, but Neville held fast to his decision.

Ginny looked up to see Hermione making one of her typical schedules already. She could hardly expect anything less from Hermione. Ginny looked at her own class schedule to find that she had Defense, Arithmancy, and Charms today. She wondered how nutters the new Defense teacher was this year.

Ginny looked up at the staff table to see Ms. Richards, the new DADA professor talking to Snape animatedly. That didn't bode well, but she decided to get to know the woman first. Professor Richards was from some place called Boston in the United States, and was really pretty. Still, she was a DADA professor, and she was getting along with Snape. Ginny didn't hold out much hope.

She looked over at the Slytherin table, almost against her will. Malfoy was not hard to spot. Not only did he have the most distinct hair in the school, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Beside him Goyle was snogging Pansy senseless, not that that was a hard thing to do, Ginny supposed.

Ginny was wondering what that was all about when Malfoy turned and winked at her. Now that wasn't normal at all. Oh dear, she would be willing to bet that just because she didn't hex him up in the tower he thought they were friends or conspirators. This just would not do. Ginny glared at him, and got up to leave.

"Ginny, wait, don't you want to walk to class with us? It will just take a few more minutes," Harry said. Hermione looked up from her schedule and shook her head at Harry. He looked rather confused.

"Harry my class is in another part of the castle altogether. It would be rather pointless to wait for you all when we would have to part five seconds later. See you guys at lunch." With that she was off to Defense.

"I'm worried about her," Harry said.

"Trust me, we can all tell," Hermione put in sarcastically. "What I want to know is why you are so damn worried? She's fine. How many times do I have to tell you she is fine? I should know I am one of them after all."

"I know you are. You two huddle up in a corner with more books than normal people would know what to do with. You did it all summer, when you weren't running around after Tonks, begging her to tell you stories. It isn't that though. Ginny seems so sarcastic, and cynical. Sometimes she is downright mean, lately. That just isn't like her."

Ron laughed, he couldn't help it. "What you mean," he said, "is that that is not like the Ginny you knew in her first three years. My sister has always been like that. She just got really upset after...well, you know. And I won't have you discouraging her from being who she is, just because you're worried. She is acting just fine, and there is no need to ask her if she is okay every five seconds. This is Ginny, Harry. This is my Ginny, my family's Ginny. If you don't like her that is your problem, mate."

Harry was shocked. He had never heard Ron talk to him like that before. He supposed that he had just better get used to the fact that Ginny wasn't the sweet, sensitive girl he thought she was.

"I'm sorry Ron, Hermione. I'll stop pushing, I swear. Let's go, we'll be late to class."

"That's usually my line," Hermione said with a chuckle. They headed out to Herbology, talking and laughing together as though nothing had ever happened.

** ** **

Draco was forming a plan, and he liked the results thus far. He got Goyle and Pansy off his back by pairing the up. This worked so well that he decided to get Crabbe to shag someone too. He just had to figure out who the unlucky girl would be. The hardest part was going to be finding out if Ginny would help him with his little game. He had to talk to her. Draco had a feeling that convincing this youngest Weasley to cause a bit of mayhem would not be too much of a problem. This biggest problem would be convincing her to cause that mayhem with him.

Finding her alone was another issue. He knew she had Quidditch tryouts and classes of course. Her brother never seemed too far behind her, and that Mudblood Granger was hanging around her all the time. At least she wasn't hanging all over Potty still. After dinner seemed to be his best chance to get her alone. Now he had to bide his time. Draco went to his first class, still grinning.

** ** **

Professor Richards was very humorous and boisterous as well. She told them that they would go back to studying dark creatures, and mix that with jinxes and countercurses. Ginny hoped they might just keep the woman for two years, maybe three if they were really lucky.

At the end of the day she had homework in all three classes, and she was exhausted. Ginny liked it that way thought. It made her miss Tom less. Hermione was a great friend, and Ron was probably her favorite brother, but no one had ever been as good a friend to her as Tom had.

She had stopped dating after she dated Dean. They had had sex, and it had been all Ginny could do to keep from killing him afterwards. She had felt so dirty. Dean knew something was wrong, and he wouldn't leave her alone until she told him her secret.

He swore he would never tell a soul, and then he held her for a long time. They broke up that night, but he was one of her few good friends. The problem with Dean was the same problem Ginny had with everyone around her. They all saw everything in black and white. They were good, other people were bad, and the two shall never meet. Harry was the worst one about this. Ginny knew better. People usually had shades of grey. There were no true monsters. Even the man who had ended up as a monster had started out as a sweet, confused young boy. Nothing was cut and dry, as Harry would have it be. Every story had two sides, and there was no "true" or "right" side to any story.

She went to the Great Hall for dinner before she hit the books. Hermione was planning to head to the library after dinner, and asked Ginny if she wanted to join her. Ginny grinned, as did Mione, and they could not help but start laughing.

"What's with you two?" Harry asked.

"I'll even give you a head start Gin, that should help." Hermione grinned impishly at her friend, and watched as she took off running. This was a game that they played. They raced each other to their favorite study spot. Whoever got there last had to get the pumpkin juice and snacks they would consume later that night.

Ginny was in such a rush that she didn't really watch where she was going. She bumped into someone on her way out of the Great Hall, and turned to apologize. She stopped in her tracks as she saw whom she had run into.

"Don't worry about it Weasley. No harm done," Malfoy said easily. Ginny was confused, but took off again. She waved her thanks as she left the Hall.

He knew where she was heading, and he knew how to get her alone tonight. After looking around the Great Hall at all of the shocked faces, Draco knew that the first part of his plan would work wonderfully, and it would scare them all!

He chuckled to himself as he left the Hall. It was working already. To think, all it took to send the masses chattering was one half decent comment from him to a Weasley. Taking a secret passage he knew about, Draco went to stand between two statues just outside of the library doors. There she was, rushing to the library with an armload of books. This was absolutely perfect.

Draco grabbed her, and pulled her into his hiding place. Well, he more guided her to his hiding place. The only thing he could get a hold of was her bright red ponytail, so he did just that. He pulled her ponytail enough to guide her, but not enough to hurt her. Ginny only looked mildly surprised, and more than a little amused.

"What, exactly do you think you're doing, Malfoy," she whispered. She had a cute little lopsided grin on her face that he found adorable.

"Let's go somewhere more private. I have a proposition for you, Weasley. If you don't like what I have to say, I'll leave you be." Draco smiled his most winning smile, and motioned for her to join him.

Ginny shrugged and followed him up three flights of stairs to the Room of Requirement. She was very much out of breath by this point.

"I just came from here you bastard. Oh well. Just so you know Malfoy, if you try anything I'll hex you into next year. Take that any way you want to." Ginny proceeded to wait for Draco to pace in front of the picture the required amount of times, then followed him into the room once the door appeared.

He chuckled and opened the door, holding it wide for her. She took her time going in, but her eyes widened when she was the interior of the room. He prodded her along to hurry up and get out of the corridor.

Draco shut the door as soon as he could, and grinned at what he saw. There were two poofs across from each other, and maps all around the place. There were defense books, and history books galore. There was everything they needed to cause the kind of chaos he wanted right there at his fingertips. He took a seat, and waited for her to speak.

"Spill it, Malfoy. What's this all about? What does it have to do with me? And make it quick, because I'm sure Hermione is already wondering where I am." Ginny threw herself down on the other poof, and waited impatiently for the answers to her questions.

"I'll get right to the point, Weasley. I can see you're in a hurry, and the last thing I want to do is draw attention to the fact that we are both missing. I refused to become a Death Eater this summer. I actually refused Lord Voldemort. My father doesn't know yet, but he should be finding out shortly. As soon as he knows my father will plot my death, and it will not be a long time away, I assure you. So, I have less than a year to live if I'm lucky. There is no way around it. I refuse to work for Dumbledore, or with Potter, just as much as I refuse to work for the Dark Lord. As long as I'm here, I intend to have some fun. Old Voldemort won't succeed in the end, but he will cause a hell of a lot of trouble before the Dream Team bring him down. Well I want to make things a bit harder for all of them before I go, and I want your help."

"You really think he won't win? He's willing to do anything, he's willing to play dirty, and so are his followers. They would do anything to win. Look at Dumbledore's side. You think any one of them has ever managed an Unforgivable? Think they could play dirty? How can you think they even stand a chance of winning?" Ginny furrowed her brow in frustration, then let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Thanks for your concern, Weasley," Draco said sarcastically. He didn't look too unhappy though. Damn it if he actually looked amused.

"Sorry, Malfoy, it's just a lot to take in all at once. Do you think that Voldemort will order it, or will your father just kill you for refusing his Lord? I have no delusions of trying to talk you into running to Harry to save your life. You know what you want, and I know better. Besides, if you did join the 'good side'," she snorted, "you'd wind up dead anyways, more than likely. You want to have fun hm?" She cocked her head to the side, and bit her lip. "What exactly did you have in mind anyways? I'm not saying I'll do anything with you...yet. I'm just curious."

Draco grinned, then got to his feet and started pacing in front of her. He pulled out a clove cigarette, and lit it as he paced. He stopped to offer her one, and she took it from the silver case, as he held his lighter in front of him for her to use. Ginny had to admit that she always did find him attractive. It wasn't so much his looks, and Merlin knew it wasn't his attitude, though at times that did have a certain appeal. He knew the real world, just as she did. He knew about the shades of grey you found in people. He knew that there was a little bit of bad, and a little bit of good, inside everyone.

Draco did not speak until he had lit her cigarette. Ginny was mildly amused to find that an ashtray had appeared beside her poof, but then this wasn't called the Room of Requirement for nothing.

"I do think the Order will win in the end. Yes, I know that Dumbledore's forces are calling themselves the Order of the Phoenix. Don't look so surprised. The Death Eaters and the Dark Lord know a lot about the Order, and to tell you the truth they are terrified. You know I keep having to remind myself that I don't have a side. I always figured that I would follow in my father's footsteps, and be dark. But I don't want to follow in my father's footsteps; I don't want to follow in anyone's footsteps. That is why I am here, talking to you. I don't have a 'side' and I get the feeling that you don't either." Ginny nodded. "I thought at much. So, my plans aren't fully developed yet, partially because I wanted to wait to find out where you stood. But, my first step will be the same no matter what. I intend to start being very very nice to people, especially to Gryffindors. This seems like such a small step I know, but it isn't. Can you guess what this will accomplish?"

Draco looked like he was greatly enjoying his little speech, so Ginny decided to humor him and play along. Hell, he seemed to have a good idea, and the poor bastard was going to die soon. She might as well play along until it stopped being fun.

"Oh yes, I know just what will happen. Harry will be confused as all hell, as will the Order. Meanwhile, Voldemort will be terrified."

"He certainly will when my father figures out that I have stolen his copy of all the Dark Lord's plans and information. Can you begin to imagine just what they will do? And the precious Order will not have a clue as to why the Dark Lord is panicking. We can go from there. My question to you is are you in or are you out?"

"I will be included in all the decisions of future plans? I will be your partner, your equal in this?" He nodded, and she grinned "I'm in."

They shook hands, and he winked at her. Suddenly two glasses of butterbeer appeared next to them. They took the glasses, and Draco said, "I do believe this calls for a toast. To the best damn school term ever."

He raised his glass, and Ginny clinked it to hers.

"Let the games begin," she murmured.