Judge Not

Disclaimer--I Do *pencil breaks* aw, dang guess I can't say it after all! *snaps fingers* I don't own Harry Potter...

Author's Notes--Due to the fact I wrote a crappy chapter and have now gotten 2 betas to help me, I decided to repost this. If you've read it before, it's pretty much the same thing, just written better. I also was kind of hoping for a few more reviews, cuz I'd really like opinions. Thanks to my two reviewers for the old chapter four--Dropped Rose and Ambarture!

A Control Curse Called Domin...What?

"Colin, get those quills out of your nose. It's not funny--it's juvenile and disgusting," Ginny scolded her friend.

Colin grudgingly removed the quills from his nose and slumped back against his chair in frustration.

"I hate Professor Trelawney," he grumbled. He stared down sulkily at his half-finished homework.

Ginny had come into the library to do some research for charms. Colin had followed because if Ginny was in a good mood, she would usually help him come up with creative answers for Divination. Unfortunately, she was too absorbed in the book she was reading and Colin was getting bored fast.

Tap tap tap

Ginny turned the page

Tap tap tap tap

She jotted down a few notes, then went back to the book.

Tap tap tap

*sigh*

tap tap tap tap

*ahem*

tap tap tap

"Colin!" The boy stopped tapping his quill against the table and looked up at her innocently.

"Yeah?"

"If you're bored, go find Janet to help you with your homework and leave me alone. I'm busy," Ginny growled, glaring at Colin.

"What did I do?"

She sighed, "Just go. I do better when I'm working by myself."

He grumbled as he collected his things, then paused, turning back to her, "Are you sure you don't have any idea about--"

"No."

"All right then. Good night, Ginny. Don't forget curfew is in an hour."

"I won't. Thanks Colin," She smiled up at him and he grinned back before walking out of the library.

Ginny took a moment to look around the room. A Hufflepuff girl was collecting her things to leave, the only other person left in the library was seated several tables away from her. She squinted to see who it was, and was startled to find it was Draco Malfoy. He was hunched over a scroll of parchment, scribbling furiously.

She stared at him for a moment. Usually, she wouldn't have given him a second glance, but the image of the incident on the train was firmly etched in her mind--even now, a month later. She hardly ever saw him in the halls between classes and never paid attention to him in the Great Hall. So each time she did see him, she would observe him. He hadn't had any incidents even slightly resembling the one on the train, but she still watched. There was something about the way he'd looked at her, as if he were begging for help.

He looked all right, despite the fact that he seemed to be very tired. His hair was falling slightly into his face--he must have run his hand through it a few times and loosened the gel. His tie was also undone and draped around his neck, swinging freely when he moved. The robe and sweater-vest had been thrown off long ago and the white shirt underneath was rumpled.

Ginny stifled a giggle. Draco was supposed to be a perfectionist, and the way he looked now was anything but.

Draco looked up suddenly, as if thinking about something, and caught sight of Ginny staring at him. He scowled at her until she looked down, embarrassed at having been caught. She returned to working on her charms essay.

She was so engrossed in it, she did not notice Draco get up and take his book back to the shelf. She also did not notice that he did not come back.

He was moving. He watched himself pick up a book and turn, walking towards the shelves. He knew the book had come from one of the back shelves from his observations earlier, and there was no one in the library at this time. It would be the perfect chance to practice regaining control of his body. He decided to wait until his double reached the shelf, before attempting to control his body once again.

After a long month of trying to regain control at every chance he got, it was not really an effort to get control. It was keeping it that was difficult. He was trying to improve his endurance, but the longest he had been able to maintain control on any particular part of his body was five minutes. He had to develop the endurance factor before moving to more difficult tasks of attempting full body and mind control. He had made an attempt before, but was pushed back with tremendous force. His double had been so overwhelmed with the side effects, that he was forced to skip classes for the rest of the day to rest.

Not that the double had minded.

His double was at the shelf. Draco silently pondered to himself which part of his body to control as the double searched for the book's original place on the shelf. He decided to work on the arms again. There wasn't any benefit to be gained from the head or legs, so he might as well. It would also be a good idea to attempt controlling two different body parts today; although what the other was he couldn't decide yet.

Amazing how much strategy was needed just to regain control of his body, he mused to himself.

He felt the double's relief as the correct spot for the book was found, and he chose that moment to take over the arms, dropping the book to the floor. The double moved his head to look down at the arms and he could feel the confusion emanating from his double. He smirked inwardly. He loved to play with the double like that; it was almost as if it were payback. He lifted the arms, and to the double's horror, pushed a number of the books off the fourth shelf.

He didn't mind the disruption. If Madame Pince had caught him and issued him a detention, it would be a perfect opportunity for more practice.

It was unfortunate, however, that Ginny Weasley was on the other side of the shelf.

Ginny breathed out a sigh of relief as she finished writing the final sentence to her charms essay and glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to ten. Perfect. Fifteen minutes was more than she needed to get back to the Gryffindor Tower. She put all her things in her bag and stood to take her book back to the shelf. She walked to the very back of the library, carefully scanning the rows for the correct place. She had barely pushed her book in on the third row, when what felt like the entire fourth shelf of books fell onto her head.

"Ouch!" she yelped. She shot up and looked around at the scattered books and then through the hole they'd left, expecting to find Peeves. She saw Draco instead.

"Malfoy, why did you do that?" She complained, rubbing her head.

He didn't answer. He seemed rather preoccupied with his arms at the moment, and was staring at them in a mixture of confusion and horror. Ginny scoffed and was about to leave when he surprised her.

"I'm sorry, Ginny."

Her eyes shot wide open at this. Had Draco Malfoy apologized?

He looked every bit as confused as her and, it appeared, trying to look at his mouth. That obviously wasn't very successful. Then, his head gave a jerk, and he looked at her.

She nearly jumped. It was those eyes again. The crystal, sky-blue eyes that had been so icy blue-gray only moments before. They were pleading with her again.

"Ginny, help me."

"What?"

"Trapped...curse... called...domin..." He faltered.

"Are you okay?"

He glared at her with his icy blue-gray eyes.

"What are you talking about Weasley?" he snarled, before stalking off, leaving Ginny in complete shock.

She shook her head, and muttered, "I really must be going crazy."

She made it back to the dorm ten minutes late, thanks to Draco. She didn't know why she had picked up the books he had knocked over. It was lucky she hadn't been caught by Filch on her way back. Janet and Bobby had waited for her, but asked no questions, assuming she forgot the time. Ginny told no one about what happened in the library, but the next day, went straight to the owlery, describing the night's events to Percy

Their correspondence was quite regular by now, and Ginny often gave Percy advice on awkward situations he would describe to her in his letters. The advice appeared to be paying off, because in the last letter, Percy had written describing his outing with two men around his age after work one day and having "a grand old time." Percy was very grateful to her, and was eager to return the favor, often reminding her in his letters to explain any problem she was having to him, and he would do his best to help her.

The last time she'd written about Draco, they had both agreed to wait and see if there were any other events similar to the incident on the train. Percy suggested Draco might have been acting, but added a note saying that was very out-of-character for him, so they ruled that out.

Ginny received her brother's reply that very morning, at breakfast. She was startled at how fast her brother had responded and hastily opened the note.

Ginny,

Hullo to you, and I'm glad you're doing well. It was a real surprise to wake up this morning with that owl in my face. Thanks a lot.

I'm concerned about what you described happened between you and Malfoy. That is very strange behavior, especially for him. Interesting that he mentioned a curse. I have a suspicion, but I need to do a little research on that. That little clue, "domin..." is going to help me a lot. I think the brat may be under the influence of a control curse. Still, it's a little early to tell, what with only two incidents. I'll get back to you on that. Tell me if anything else happens.

Take care,

Percy

Ginny stared at Percy's letter, rereading it a number of times. A control curse? Controlling Draco? How horrible. She looked over at the Slytherin table, and found the blond boy glaring at her. She stared at him in fascination for a few moments, before he winked at her and turned away. She frowned in thought--although they were on opposite ends of the Great Hall, she could have sworn he had looked dazed for a moment before winking at her.

She turned back to her table and stared at her food, ignoring her friends' chatter. Control curse, eh? Maybe she would pay another visit to the library.