Judge Not

The Beginning of Another School Year

Ginny Weasley was trying everything to stay awake and listen to her friends, but it was impossible. The gentle sway of the train, the soft velvety seats, and the rhythmic chuga chuga chuga of the Hogwarts Express was lulling the exhausted girl to sleep. She sighed to herself, her head lulling sleepily. Her friends´ voices droned in her mind like a video with its volume set way too low, and the only thing to hear was a murmur.

If only Percy had been able to sleep last night instead of feeling restless and deciding to work on his project of magically expanding a flower pot from a distance--his newest assignment for the ministry. It probably wouldn´t have been so bad if his spells hadn´t continually rebounded off the pot, causing it to fall and shatter. Each time, the noise echoed throughout the silent household. It was a wonder that Ron and their parents didn´t wake up. Ginny had tried to fall back asleep by counting hippogriffs, but the crashes and the frequent repario´s always managed to jolt her awake. Poor Percy. Ginny felt the latest project just as ridiculous and unnecessary as Percy´s first assignment for cauldron thickness, but suspected the ministry had put him up to it to stay away from their bigger projects. To stay away from them.

Percy was a smart boy, but an insufferable know-it-all. Ginny had overheard Arthur talking with Molly just last week about how many letters he´d found in his mailbox complaining about Percy. He was doing his best to keep his son´s job at the ministry intact, but it wasn´t doing much good. It didn´t matter that Percy was trying his best. There was just no communication factor--a large part of working with the ministry.

"Percy, you have to tone it down a little. Fudge himself talked with me about your attitude last Monday. They...they...I´m sorry, I have to be blunt," Arthur sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. "The workers in the ministry find you difficult to get along with. You constantly criticize them, try and give advice to people who have been working there for twenty-five years as if they just arrived yesterday, and nag your superiors to get their work done. This isn´t Hogwarts anymore. You´re not a prefect now, Percy. Not head boy. You need to get along. They threatened to take your job. Percy! Don´t walk away from me..."

"Hey Gin?"

"Percy?" Ginny pushed the door to her brother´s room open cautiously, looking in.

"Whaddya want?" a hoarse voice grumbled in the direction of the bed. Ginny smiled sympathetically and slowly walked over to the bed, stooping down and raising the covers.

"Aren´t you a little old for that?" She asked gently. Percy´s head turned to her and his eyes were pained. If she didn´t know better, she´d think he´d been crying. But Percy didn´t cry. Not after living with Fred and George´s teasing. Even if the twins had moved out to work at their gift shop, it was habitual.

"Does it matter?" His voice sounded so young.

"Here. Take my hand and come out, silly."

Percy took the hand like a small child and Ginny helped him out from under the bed. They sat on the edge of the bed side by side. Percy let out and embarrassed grunt and trained his eyes onto the floor. Ginny smiled slightly as she humored him and looked away, suddenly fascinated with the stars outside a nearby window.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked him softly.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. He didn´t like talking about it, Ginny knew, but sometimes things overwhelm you and you can´t help but open to the person who offers to listen. This is exactly what Percy did now.

"I know you know the situation, Gin. I saw your shadow outside the study when dad talked to me, so I won´t bother to explain. I can´t lose this job. It´s everything I´ve worked for. It´s my dream. I want to do well in it, which is why I work so dang hard. I just don´t understand why people have to be so hard to get along with?"

"Percy, I´m going to be blunt. You were like this at Hogwarts, which was fine then, because you were supposed to nag people and such. You were prefect and head boy. But," Ginny held up a hand as he tried to protest her statement. "But you can´t do that anymore. People don´t like it. You´ve just got to learn to get along with them and understand that they make mistakes."

Percy opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it slowly. He sighed, leaning forward and burying his head in his hands. Ginny put a hand to his back and rubbed it gently.

"Gin, if I´m as bad as everyone says, how am I supposed to change what I do? It´s all I´ve ever known to be. But I really want to keep this job."

"Remember the Chamber, Percy?"

"Yeah..."

"When I discovered that my most trusted friend was controlling me, using me to hurt people and nearly killing them, I tried to run away. I threw the diary in a toilet in Moaning Myrtle´s bathroom, I guess hoping to drown it. It didn´t work. He came back and used me again. It turned out I needed someone to help me--and Harry did--by defeating the basilisk and the diary."

"So what does that have to do with me?"

"I think your habits are a lot like that diary. You keep writing in it and eventually it will attempt to destroy you. Maybe you need someone to help you defeat the basilisk."

"And you´re applying for the job?"

"Why not? I´m your sister, aren´t I?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Do you want to try by yourself?"

"I don´t know. Aren´t you going to Hogwarts next week?"

"And what´s the owl post for, Percy?"

"It´s just that...we´ve never been very close before."

"Maybe it´s about time we were."

"Hey, Ginny!" Someone was calling her from far away. The voice was deep and soothing, but annoying. Annoying because she was tired, she wanted to sleep, and the voice wanted her to wake up.

"Go `way." Ginny´s arm thrust out and connected with something. There was a thud, a groan, and a fit of giggling. Ginny opened her eyes and looked down on the floor curiously. Her mouth widened into a smirk when she saw Colin Creevey sitting splayed out on the floor, one hand gingerly rubbing a red cheek.

"Geez, Gin! If I had known you punch people when you wake up, I wouldn´t have tried. I just thought maybe you wanted to be awake when we reached Hogwarts. `Course, it´s still forty-five minutes away."

"Then what´s the deal waking me up?" Ginny complained.

"You snore." Colin smirked. The other two people in the compartment laughed as Ginny blushed. She shook it off and smiled sweetly up at her friend.

"Sorry about the punch, Colin," Ginny ran her fingers through her hair to get it out of her eyes. She needed a ponytail holder. "I´ll try and aim better next time."

"Better not try anytime soon then! Although, it´s something I´d like to see." Janet chuckled, earning a mock glare from Colin.

"Hey, come on, guys. Let´s leave Sleeping Beauty alone for a few minutes to wake up. I want to finish my story, anyway." Bobby smiled.

Ginny rubbed her eyes and stretched tiredly, silently thanking Bobby. Colin went back to his seat besides the boy and the three began chattering about their summers again as if nothing had ever happened. They were so absorbed in the story, they didn´t even notice as Ginny scrutinized them. She had been so tired when she boarded the train, that she hadn´t really paid attention to her friends. It had been a long summer, and all four of them had been pretty busy.

Colin had changed an awful lot, Ginny noticed, watching him. He wasn´t quite as annoying, and didn´t carry that blasted camera around anymore, thank goodness. The mousy hair had grown out to a sandy blond color, and Colin had cut it so it was slightly spiky in the front with the help of a little gel. Just that one change had done wonders for him, bringing out features never noticed before. Colin was actually quite handsome with a strong jaw line, a straight nose, full lips and wide blue eyes. He was taller and well-built, quite muscular from his summer job at a muggle construction company. He would probably be a good boyfriend, but Ginny never considered that. He was strictly her friend and that´s how they both wanted it to stay. There were too many differences between them and neither cared to try.

Bobby was a bit of a giant for a boy, although he didn´t have any giant blood. Ginny guessed him to be as tall as Ron, at 6´2, which was astonishing for a sixteen-year-old. He was a bit oriental-looking; since he was a Japanese-American. Bobby had black hair, hazel eyes, and a gentle demeanor. He wasn´t as good-looking as Colin, with a crooked nose and small eyes, but he had charm. It was just too bad he was unavailable. Bobby had a muggle girlfriend named Patricia, who knew about the fact he was a wizard. She was a lucky girl. It was rumored that on Patricia´s birthday, Bobby had her mother take her shopping and then proceeded to cover the floor of her bedroom with rose petals using a spell he´d learned. Ginny had asked him if it was true, and to her great surprise he had confirmed it.

Janet was Ginny´s best friend. She was a pretty girl, with wavy blond hair and emerald eyes. She was the only one of them that could never get a tan or burn, and was stuck with a pale, white color. It suited her very well. She was one of those rare souls, where nothing much ever bothered them, with a happy-go-lucky personality. Her bubbly attitude was infectious, and a big help in getting the two girls to become friends. Janet and Ginny had been roommates ever since their first year, but it was not until the end of their third year that they had gotten close. Ginny had to build her trust with Janet, since she was a lot more cautious after the incident with Tom, but eventually she felt comfortable to tell Janet about the Chamber of Secrets. Amazingly enough, Janet kept Ginny´s confidence and did not tell a single soul. Instead of scaring her away, as Ginny had feared, the secret bought them closer.

Ginny, like Colin, had changed a lot as well. She wasn´t a skinny, pale, little girl anymore. Now, she was slender, with an hourglass figure and auburn curls that reached her mid-back. She stood at a height of 5´10", and had a tan from her visit to Romania to visit Charlie.

"...and then, we went to Ireland to see the leprechauns, cuz dad´s fascinated with `em, and..."

Ginny fixed her stare on Colin, pretending to be listening, but her thoughts drifted back to Percy.

"Percy Weasley! I´ve been trying to go to sleep for hours--I´ve got to take the train tomorrow and I´m going to be dead on my feet because you´re working on this ridiculous project!" Ginny fumed, standing at the door to Percy´s room in her nightgown, glaring at her brother.

"Sorry, Gin--I couldn´t sleep. I just thought I´d work a little bit..."

"This is exactly why everybody´s so frustrated with you at the ministry, Percy! You´re a workaholic. You don´t know how to relax. Calm down, get in bed. Read a book. And no, not this one! You aren´t allowed to read anything about the origins of flower pots. Admit it. This stuff is boring--wouldn´t you be more interested in a book about Quidditch? Maybe a mystery?"

"But Gin, this is work. I´ve got to..."

"At three in the morning?"

"I guess not...Sorry Gin."

Ginny smiled, walking over to hug her brother. Amazing how easy it was becoming.

"Gin, I´m not sure if I´ll be able to see you off tomorrow. I want to tell you something before you go. If there´s any thing you want to talk about, will you please tell me? I promise no one else will know."

"Okay, Percy. I´ll promise to do that if you owl me at least once a week, okay"

"Of course."

Ginny sighed, missing her brothers all the sudden. She stood, and her friends looked up in surprise, "Guys, I´m going to go find Ron. I´ll talk to you later, okay?" They nodded and moved to let her pass.

"Probably going to get another nap." Colin muttered as she closed the door behind her.

Ginny wandered down the hall of the Hogwarts Express, idly wondering where her brother and his friends were. She had last seen Ron going into a car near the front, so she headed there now. Ginny had a special relationship with Ron. After the incident with the Chamber of Secrets, he had begun talking with her more, and included her in his group until she was able to feel secure with kids her own age. Even then he made sure Ginny new she was always welcome to hang out with him and his friends. He was her protector. She told him almost everything, and he did the same for her. .

Ginny had been so lost in her own thoughts, walking slowly and staring at the carpet, that she didn´t notice the figure in front of her until she crashed into him.

"Oof!" The figure stumbled, catching his balance by thrusting a hand against the wall. "What the heck? Oh. It´s the Weasley brat."

Ginny groaned, picking herself up off the floor. She hadn´t been nearly as lucky as the boy and had fallen smack dab on her rear. "Of all the people I had to crash into, why did it have to be Draco Malfoy?" She muttered, looking up at the Slytherin.

Draco didn´t really look that much different from all his years at Hogwarts. The only thing that really changed about him was his height. By now, he was probably half an inch shorter than Ron. He still had the slicked back blond hair, pale skin, and sharp cut features--which was probably because he was so skinny. It looked as if he´d lost weight over the summer, but Ginny couldn´t be sure. But she wasn´t concentrating on that right now. There was a saying around the students of Hogwarts that Draco´s greatest weapon was his eyes. The color would have been striking on anyone else--an enchanting gray-blue--but on him, they were like ice daggers that pierced through you. They reminded you of something dangerous and evil, a force not to be reckoned with. If you looked into them, it was all anyone could do to keep from shivering or walking away as fast as they could. Those eyes seemed to penetrate her now, and Ginny nearly froze in fear. She shook herself mentally, reminding herself he was only a grade above her, and she could easily defend herself if she had to.

"If you´ll excuse me Malfoy," Ginny straightened her robes and moved to walk around the boy. She nearly bumped into him again as he moved in front of her. Startled, Ginny looked up at Draco. He sneered back at her. She attempted to pass him on his other side, but he stepped in front of her again. She frowned.

"Problems, Weasley?" Draco sneered.

"Only the overgrown ferret in front of me," Ginny grumbled, still attempting to pass him. He didn´t respond. Ginny was about to step to the left again, ready to punch him, but it was as if he deflated all the sudden. He toppled forward into her and it was all Ginny could do to keep from screaming. "What the..." Ginny tried to push him off, but he weighed more than he looked, and she could barely budge him. "Get off, you jerk!"

He groaned slightly and Ginny raised an eyebrow. Maybe something really was wrong. She lowered the boy to his knees and shook him gently, "What is wrong with you?" He moaned again, and his head lulled back. Ginny almost gasped aloud. His eyes stared back at her, now a pure sky-blue. They seemed to be pleading with her to help him, and were racked with pain and a sort of sadness. He seemed to be trying to say something, his mouth opening and closing but no sound. A hand reached up and desperately grabbed her wrist, but it was so weak she could barely feel it there. What was going on? "Draco? Do I need to get someone?"

He didn´t answer. Ginny half-turned and was about to call out for help when she felt the hand on her wrist tighten and yelped as she was violently thrust aside. She didn´t expect it and fell on her rump once more. Draco glared furiously at her, standing as if he´d never been on his knees at all. If that wasn´t odd enough, his eyes were once again almost completely gray. He scowled and brushed off his robes. As Ginny stared up at him in shock, he stepped over her and stalked off in his usual gait, not looking back.

"What the heck just happened here?" Ginny said aloud, picking herself up for the second time in five minutes. She stared down the hall where Draco had disappeared and leaned against the corridor wall, completely confused. Several students passed her on their way to the food cart, giving her curious looks. Ginny didn´t notice. It took her a few minutes to collect herself, and she started walking again, setting to her previous task of finding Ron. She didn´t really pay attention to where she was going, and later would be amazed that she had been able to find Ron´s compartment at all.

"Oh, hey Gin!" Harry exclaimed, smiling up as the girl entered the compartment. Hermione smiled, pausing from a book she was reading long enough to pat the space besides her, inviting Ginny over. Ginny sat down besides Hermione and was not surprised to see the girl bury herself in the book once again. Ginny held chewing noises and looked up, giggling at the sight in front of her. Ron and Harry had found the food cart, and like every year, had bought a mountain of treats about two feet high. The pile lay in between them now, and dozens of wrappers surrounded them.

"´ey inny! hoco ate og?" Ron handed her the treat, his face red from the amount of chocolate in his mouth.

Ginny laughed, accepting the chocolate, "Ron, mom would have a fit if she knew you were so rude in front of your friends!"

Ron swallowed and made a face at her, "Aw, she won´t care."

Ginny smiled watching the boys exclaim over the card that came with the chocolate frog Harry had found. It would seem that the company had released a brand new set of cards, nearly 400. It was amazing how little the boys had changed in personality. Physically was another story.

Hermione was the one who had changed the most. Her bushy hair that had become her trademark was finally tamed, and straightened. She wore make-up now, although she hardly needed it. She wasn´t very tall, about an inch or two shorter than Ginny, but she was slender with an hourglass figure.

Ron was very different as well. He was, of course, tall, and no longer a gangly skinny little boy. He was muscular from helping Charlie with the dragons over the summer and his new tan complimented his red hair.

Harry had not changed so much--his hair always out-of-control, his facial features remained gentle and smooth. He had gone with the Weasleys to Romania, so he too, was well-built and tan. He was still shorter than Ron, at about 5´11", a height ideal for a male seeker.

Ginny´s thoughts shifted away from the two boys to Draco. Why had he been acting so strangely in the hall? She had thought immediately afterwards that this was something to tell Ron, but now she wondered about it. As much as she loved her brother, she knew that if Ron found out, he would use the information against Draco, who was the trio´s sworn enemy. While Ginny held no sympathy for the Slytherin, she didn´t like spreading rumors. No, it was better to keep the information to herself. It wasn´t really that important. Shaking her head, she looked back at her brother and friends and listened to them for a bit, happily joining in on a conversation about Quidditch matches.

From the outside, there was nothing peculiar about the mansion. It was huge, made only of imported marble. It rose three stories, and had a large spacious porch that went around the whole house. The yard suggested that at one point a little boy had lived there, for on one tree, the largest and oldest in the neighborhood, there was a small tree house. A tire swing still hung from one of the limbs, and a ladder of boards was nailed up the trunk. Any normal muggle might take one look at the house and think a wealthy family that loved their little boy lived there, they were plainly normal, and continue on with their lives. But the wizard that knew the house shivered in distaste. Anyone of magical blood would see the tire swing and tree house were an illusion, and all there was of anything was a big slash in the middle of the trunk as if lightning had struck it. Wizards and witches passing by shivered, sneaking glances at the windows.

Anyone who had been inside would tell you it seemed like one of those houses that were like a maze with traps and secret passageways that only the owner knew. The inside was also only marble, and entering the door you would find yourself in front of a grand staircase. Anyone who stepped on the first step could not take another, the stairs acted as a backwards escalator to anyone without permission. To the left was the living room, a huge room with a large, marble fireplace and soft leather furniture. Moving pictures were framed and hung about and around the fireplace. Most pictures were of a beautiful, healthy little boy, running and dancing around his proud parents. The most recent seemed to be of the boy, now a teenager, standing at a family portrait with his mother and father, now stern and fierce.

If one looked close, they would see a vast difference from what the boy had once been, and what he supposedly now was. If one would examine last portrait, they would probably notice that he now had the same identical expression and commanding demeanor. The resemblance was uncanny. This would usually come with the assumption that all it was was the fact that the boy had inherited his father´s habitual expressions.

Looking to the right from the entrance hall, there was a perfectly normal study; full of bookshelves carefully dusted, a freshly polished wood desk, and another large fireplace. There were no other rooms in sight, although the mansion looked as if it would have quite a number on the bottom floor. And this, by itself, was curious.

"House elf!" A furious voice thundered throughout the house. There was a soft scuffling of feet, a slap, then a sharp whimper.

"I thought I told you--I wanted this room straightened, the chains cleaned, and the bars removed. We won´t be using it until December." Lucius Malfoy growled at the cowering elf.

"Sorry sirs. Zonky is not doing job right, he´s not! Will do now." The voice whispered.

"You better--you wouldn´t want to be killed, now, would you?" Lucius sneered.

"No sirs."

"Get to it. The torture room as well."

"Yes sirs."

Lucius watched the elf scamper off and smirked.

Percy,

I thought you might like to know I am finally back at Hogwarts. The feast was great, and I loved seeing all my friends again, but I was so glad to finally crawl into bed for a good night´s sleep. You know it´s your fault I was so tired, right?

It´s only been 24 hours and I already have something I need to tell you that must remain confidential. I happened to bump into Malfoy on the train today. He was rude at first, and wouldn´t let me by, but something strange happened. He collapsed into me and when I helped him down, he seemed so weak, and it was as if he were begging for help. I asked him what was wrong, but I don´t think he could really answer me. Before I was able to get help, he shoved me aside and walked off. I didn´t know what to make of it. Maybe I´m imagining it, but I was strangely reminded of an old memory. I won´t tell you because it seems so ridiculous right now. I guess he may have just gotten motion sickness or something.

How are things at the ministry? Are you trying to get along with everybody? Write back soon.

Love you,

Ginny