The Unforgettable Fire

CHAPTER 5: Year 4, Part 1, Learned

I had successfully alienated me from everyone that I could possibly rely on. Though I admit I would have to be more stupid than anyone would have ever thought if I was planning on relying on Slytherins. I remind myself that I am a Slytherin, in body and in mind now. I learned a deadly lesson that day in the great hall, emotions are dangerous. Emotions are the reasons people die. Emotions are the reasons people sacrifice. Emotions are the reasons people hurt. I didn't want to hurt anymore. I never wanted to hurt that much again, ever. It is unimaginable, having to face those years of hate and bigotry, and fear, and loneliness. I see now that I was wrong, and it was a very Slytherin thing to do to go and hide under the sheet of ignorance. Whoever coined the phrase, "Ignorance is bliss," was right. I would rather not now the good things about emotions, like love and tenderness; I would rather hide from the pain and hurt along with the love, than face them all at once. That was what distinguished me I think. A Gryffindor plunges head first into the fray, her wand drawn and a determined mindset. A Slytherin watches for a while, then after determining that it is safe, she wanders out at the last minute, taking down one or two of the foes, then claiming the victory the Gryffindor earned. We are weak, we are pathetic, I am part of the we.

I would have walked with my people if I could find them, but I couldn't. I obviously was more Slytherin than Gryffindor, but I was also brave, why else would I have beaten the shit out of that bitch Pansy? Why else would I have had the guts to pull that prank on them? I sure as hell don't know, I'm asking you. I think now I have no people...well, I have one person...but you'll learn about them later.

That summer would be the summer I learned. It was like an addiction, a new addition, a new drug for me to immerse myself in. You know how addicts move from one drug the more potent ones? How they need to find something more powerful to subside their needs after them become immune to the first drug? I'm not saying that I would ever need a more potent drug than Nysilia's ring, but I never realized there was a more potent one. I to tell the truth, it was hard from me to separate myself from the Ice Ring, even to this day, I feel the need. But to my credit, I was able to cut down the time I used it to nearly a fourth, though that was mainly because I was busy doing something else.

I was given something early in that summer; and I discovered something too...

Ginny was doing her customary "thinking" session in her tree house. She had been in there roughly two days with out food or sleep, and really, she wasn't all that tired yet. It was the third day around noon, about the time the sun would create little specs on the light brown wood of the tree house though the leaves, that she began to slip. The place between sleep and awake opened up to her, and she willingly stepped though the door.

She stepped though a metaphorical as well as a physical one, and found herself in a dusty room that was stacked with books. Bookshelf upon bookshelf as high as she could see and then messy stacks of books an all of this in a room littered with paper quills and empty ink bottles. She inhaled deeply and could practically smell the age of the books. It was alluring to her, like a familiar and comfortable smell.

"Hello, Virginia," a kindly voice said.

A woman, half hidden by the books stacked on an old desk seemingly appeared out of no where. She was small of stature, but cute in an elfin, child-like way. She had a button nose, very pale skin, and bright purple eyes, which disturbed Ginny just in the slightest way. The woman's hair was black as midnight and in a messy bun at the top of her head which was partially held back by a pair of reading glasses. The woman wore plain black robes and the most interesting thing about her appearance was the huge tattoo that wound around her neck and partially onto her face. On closer examination, Ginny saw that it probably extended down to her arms as there were more winding lines that appeared from under her sleeves.

"Hello," Ginny said in an awed voice, still was she enchanted by the age of this room.

"It was so nice of you to come; I was hoping I'd get a person to talk to. I haven't had any candidates in almost one hundred years, more I think. Oh, how forgetful of me, I'm Chani, the Virgin of Intellect. I believe I'm the only actual virgin of the seven of us, though Nysilia refuses to tell us. Anyway, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," Ginny said.

Chani stood up and walked over to a shelf, the only shelf devoid of paper and books, and took off it a single, small box. She opened it and inside held a small ring made of solid silver. Inscripted in the side was a language Ginny had never seen.

"It says 'Virgin-Maiden of Intellect' in Tamil, the oldest known language. It is for you," she said, holding it out to Ginny. She took it and examined it. "Probably not the most fancy of rings, but definitely the only one that will make you smarter. Don't get me wrong, you'll have to work to get there, but soon, you will be multiplying polynomials and discussing the Bolsheviks with the best of them.

"Now there was something I was supposed to say...Oh, I impart my knowledge and training to you Virginia Weasley."

Then Chani looked at her and smiled, "I hope you are the one Virginia, the time is coming dangerously close, Morgana has been ranting it for decades. Though in my opinion seers are very rare and highly unreliable."

"Tell me about it," Ginny said under the breath.

"Oh," Chani said in recognition, "You put on Nysilia's and Morgana's rings at the same time, didn't you?"

Ginny nodded.

"Terrifying isn't it?"

Ginny frowned, "I wasn't scared."

A muscle in Chani's mouth twitched and she said, "Of course not."

Ginny licked her lips and brought up enough courage to ask her what she had wanted to know. "What are those tattoos for?"

Chani looked at her hands and said, "These tattoos? Well, I suppose that after I studied the Hindu religion, I wanted the sign of intelligence tattooed on me. It sounded like a good idea at the time."

Ginny coughed, "It sounded like a good idea at the time?"

Chani nodded, "Yes. That is my logic. I was very young at the time though. You know, Albert Einstein once said, 'There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe.' Very smart man, he was, Albert Einstein; though he was years and years and years after my time."

Ginny smiled at this, she would have to figure out who this Einstein man was; he sounded entertaining.

"Oh, my time is running short now," the elfish woman said, her voice fading slightly, "It is called a public library, Muggles use them!"

And Ginny faded off into the real world once again.

I guess I never did understand why Chani was Nefertiti's favorite sister. She was weird, not totally aware, and very innocent by my standards. She was in some ways like a Ravenclaw, but more like no house at all.

But I did take her advice, and that was when I discovered the Muggle public library. Okay, this is great. Anyone, with a card, can check out a book, no money, no time limit, and read it. Or just stay in there and read. And get this: they have basically EVERY book EVER made. And if they don't have a book you want, they will order it for you for free. It was awesome, especially once I discovered what Chani's ring made me want. Information: that is the name of the game.

Oh, but there is a lot to know, and once I put that ring on, I wanted it all. Knowledge, truth, these are what I craved, I still crave.

Euclid, Plato, Sigmund Freud, Carl Marx, Robert Heinlein, Charles Darwin, John Steinbeck, Vladmir Lenin, William Shakespeare, Leon Trotsky, Charles Dickens, Renee Descartes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Robert Frost, Montesquieu, John Locke, Homer, Francois Voltaire, Emily Bronte, Aristotle, Copernicus, Virgil, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, J. D. Salinger, Joseph Stalin, Arthur Miller, Ulysses S. Grant, Erich Remarque, Joseph Heller, Alexandre Dumas, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Bram Stoker, Daniel Keyes, Maya Angelou, James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, William Goldring, J. R. R. Tolkein, Thomas More, Leo Tolstoy, Tennessee Williams, and Jane Austen.

I loved them, and believe me, when you have been in the back of a library and the silence is both welcoming and suffocating, they seem to love you too. But I loved Jane Austen. I loved Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility. I loved the Bronte sisters almost as well. Jane Eyre made me cry almost as hard as Wuthering Heights. I loved philosophy just as much and would have paid with my soul to have just one conversation with Voltaire, or Trotsky, or Lenin, or even Locke. I yearned to live the lives of some of the characters. I was swept away with the Company in Lord of the Rings. I was captured in the two line beauty by Ezra Pound. I groked with Michael in Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. I cried when Pip and Estella walked off together into the sunset (they did too get together!) I even wanted to visit the worlds of Brave New World and 1984.

I loved them all, and I became engrossed. I walked around with a book in front of my face for Merlin's sake!

There is something about that ring that can just move you. You get enwrapped in a book and it is like you are living it. Not to mention that you're read and comprehend like that! Seriously. I mean, some people read in words or full sentences; with the ring on, you read in paragraphs. You absorbed information like a sponge and even when you took it off, it didn't disappear. You understood what you read, fully understood, and you knew. It was like you were the all-knowing force in the universe. It was power. It was release. It was numbness. It was escape.

But all good things must come to an end, and so did my library about two months into summer. I had read the whole library in the small town of Ottery-Saint Catchpole. It was no mean feat either, there were a hell of a lot of books in that library!

And then I made a mistake. I'd been reading Muggle books for a good two months and as you know they have no magic in them. Wizarding books do. Out of sheer boredom, I read Quidditch Through the Ages. BIG mistake. Normal wizards, not wearing Chani's ring, want to go out and play a friendly game of Quidditch after reading it. I wanted to join Puddlemere United and be their starting Chaser. I must have had to snap myself back into reality thirty or forty times that week. The book had mad residual effects, I had read it and finished it in one afternoon and I wanted to play Quidditch for the next three weeks! And I did. Constantly. I stole our broom a fair number of times for midnight rides. And sure, I'll tell you the truth, I was damn good at it. I loved it.

Really, it needed to stop. I still wanted to continue writing and painting and reading, I loved these things, they were my first form of distraction. I wanted to write one minute and fly the next. Let's just say I never read a wizarding book while I had Chani's ring on again.

I had pretty much blocked off the outside world with the exception of Draco (whom I owled almost three times a week, and surprisingly enough he owled back) when it happened...

"Really! He can come, for reals? And Hermione too?" Ron shouted at the dinner table.

Ginny rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book.

"Ahem, yes," Ginny's father answered. "Dumbledore said he should come and live with us for the remaining month of summer, it would be safer."

"Safer than what?" Fred asked. Even though he and George had moved out at the end of their year and started their shop on the money Harry gave them, they hung around the house like they lived their.

"Never you mind that," Ginny's mother said sternly, putting more potatoes on Fred's plate and shaking her head disapprovingly.

"This is fantastic!" Ron said happily, "He can stay in your two's old room and Hermione can stay in Ginny's."

Ginny coughed and almost dropped her book in her potatoes. "She most certainly can not!" Ginny said indignantly.

Ron's smile faltered a bit. Ginny knew how important it was for him for everyone to get along. Ginny's mom cut in and said, "I'm sure Hermione would like a room to herself, Ron. Harry can stay with you. That means you two," she said eyeing Fred and George, "Will have to clear out all your trick stuff and other things you may have in there."

Fred and George smiled to themselves and Ginny returned to her book. She was reading Candide or Micromegas. It was by Voltaire and it was in French, just one of the numerous (German, Italian, Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese) languages she had taught herself that summer.

Ginny was about to leave the table, when her mother said, "Ginny?"

"Mother?"

"I am asking you to be civil to Harry and Hermione while they are here. I want it understood that I won't take any insolence from you while they stay here."

Ginny looked hard at her mother and said, "I only give the amount of respect and love that people give me. I give the same amount of 'insolence' as well."

The she pressed her book to her chest and walked up the stairs to her room.

As you can tell, my mother and I don't exactly get along. In fact, it would be safe to say, we don't like or even love each other. No. Not even way, way, way down. It just isn't there. She hadn't said "I love you" to me for the past two years and I wouldn't let her start now. We were different people with different lives and perspectives and opinions and most of all morals. She was Gryffindor and I Slytherin.

But the damage had been done. He was coming and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it. Looking back...no; that is a story for another time, later maybe.

At any rate, I made sure I wasn't in the house the time he came; I didn't want to deal with it. Actually I was in Germany at the time. Illegal Floo networking, gotta love it. It is called being Slytherin, I happen to be good at it. I happen to be sneaky, when I need to. I also happen to have a father who can get me access (unwillingly albeit, but access) to the WWFN or World Wide Floo Network.

I popped back into the house at about ten thirty that night with a copy of Friedrich Klopstock's "The Messiah". A fantastic play if I may say so myself, but written in Seventeenth Century German. Anyway, it was, needless to say, a bit awkward, as Ron, Hermione, and Harry were all in the kitchen, talking after everyone had gone to bed.

Ginny was rushed back into the house by green flames and a sucking feeling, grateful she didn't loose the German library's copy of "The Messiah" because Franz would kill her if she did.

She dusted herself off and looked up. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were looking at her in the oddest way. She looked at herself again and didn't see anything different. She was wearing black, as usual (she swore she wouldn't wear anything after Cedric's death) and had no deformities that she could see.

"What?" she asked in an irritated voice.

Hermione put on a fake smile and said, "It is nice to see you again, Ginny."

Ginny nodded and said, "Likewise."

"Hello, Ginny," Harry said, still looking oddly at her. It could have been the light, but Ginny could have sworn his eyes didn't shine as brightly as they used to.

"Hello, Harry," she said in a cold voice, determined not to be intimidated by them. It wasn't like they were trying, but it

Good Merlin! I don't know how to explain it. It is like this: I just walked in on them, probably talking about Cedric, and I just walked in. Coincidence? Yes. Weird? Yes. There, that is the best I have.

Ginny saw Hermione's head turn sideways to read the title of the book. "'The Messiah'? Isn't that in German, Ginny?"

"Ja nicht daß es irgendein von Ihrem Geschäft ist. Verlassen Sie mich allein. Alle, von den Sie michallein verlassen," Ginny answered in German. Then she turned her head coolly and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"She speaks German?" Hermione asked. Ginny could hear her still because she had stopped as soon as she was out of ear shot.

"She's been reading a lot," Ron answered. "She disappears from time to time, we don't know where she goes. Then she turns up to eat...sometimes. She always comes back with lots of books though. We've seen her reading books in French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, you name it; she probably knows the language."

"I never knew she was that smart," Harry said, sounding puzzled.

"She's damn smart," Ron scoffed. "She's gotten top of her class for the past three years. I mean, last year, she took Advanced Transfiguration-"

"The seventh year course?" Hermione asked, sounding surprised.

"The very same," Ron countered. "Took top of class in that too. She is also taking an advanced Arithmacy class next year. She may even be in your class Hermione."

There was a silence after this. Ginny could tell Hermione didn't like having to compete with her. Good, Ginny thought, maybe I'm proving to something to someone. Then she walked up the stairs into her room and closed the door.

To get the better of Hermione Granger! Ah, I was in heaven! I of course wrote Draco all about it, he was, in a way, like my second diary; except he wrote thoughtful and thought provoking things with out trying to steal my soul, at least literally. It was very satisfying. Yes, satisfying is a good word for it.

So something had to happen. I can't be around Harry Potter for long with out something weird or embarrassing happening.

Let me recreate the scene for you. Okay, I'm standing in my shower, bathing, what else? And to clarify, yes, it is MY shower. I get my own bathroom because I'm the only little girl in the family. Anyway, I'm taking a shower...

Ginny was-

Cut! Cut! Cut! I think I have to clarify. I am beautiful by the way. Yes, I'm not so naïve that I don't know that I am beautiful. You know how Weasley women develop fast. Yes, I'd just finished 'developing' near the middle of summer. I had just barely reached my height goal of 5'7 (that is three, the big zero-three, inches taller than my mother) and had filled out in all the desirable places. Apparently I was quite the 'looker,' as some would say.

Okay, on with the story.

-rinsing the shampoo out of her hair languidly. The hot water rushed over her soothingly as she bathed and she smiled to herself. She was alone again. It was hard to find time to be alone in her house. Sure Percy had moved out around the beginning of summer, and the twins hadn't slept in the house since they got out of school, but she had 'company.' Actually, her brother had company and she was trying her hardest to ignore and avoid them. Especailly the piercing and inquisitive gaze of Hermione, whose new favorite past time was quizzing Ginny on her knowledge.

Ginny turned off the shower and dripped dry for a minute, trying to soak up the last of the warmth. She opened the glass door and began searching around for her owel. Then a gust of cold air hit her and she looked up.

Harry was staring at her, his jaw open almost as wide as his eyes. Ginny uttered a weak scream and grabbed her towel, throwing it around her body quickly. By the time she looked up again the door was closed and Harry was no where to be seen. Had it not been for the breath of cold air in the room, she would never have known he was there.

Embarrassing enough for you? It sure as hell was for me! I was self conscious...oh, wait, no I wasn't. Actually, I was only mildly embarrassed with the whole situation. The fact that Harry was hurting a lot more than I was over it was enough to satisfy me. But it did get me thinking. Maybe it was time for me to solve the whole virginity issue. I mean, sure I was thirteen, but I looked like a sixteen year old. Besides, I was in Slytherin and I know for a fact, from one of the participants, that Pansy Parkinson is, in fact, NOT a virgin. Yes, I'm sure it took you all of point five seconds to figure out it was Draco. Aside from being mildly upsetting that I had to listen to him whine about her technique for the next day and a half, it is extremely upsetting that I even know about it.

Then I did something stupid. Actually, it was so stupid it was stoopid. Yes, with a double 'o.' Anyway, the 'stoopid' thing was putting on Hina's ring. She warned me. She told me. Did I listen? No. No, I didn't. As soon as I put that ring on I had the insatiable need to be naked and in the same room as an equally naked member of the opposite sex. Hina wasn't kidding.

NO! No, no, no a thousand time NO! I didn't 'shack up with' Harry. As far as I was concerned he was a Gryffindor whom I had mixed feeling for.

Actually, the first person I thought of was Franz. He was young, four years older than me at least, and he worked for his father in the German library I always went to. You know how you can tell when a guy is checking you out? You know how he'll strain to look you in the eyes and not at your chest? It was kind of like that. Now I'm not making any excuses, but that is just what men do. They check women out. It is natural and healthy and the get very sick if they don't. Actually, that last part is a lie, but seriously, it isn't like it is a crime to look at a woman, just as long as you don't corner her in a dark alley and rape her afterwards.

At any rate, that was the sort of vibe I got from him. You know the sort of all-you-have-to-do-is-say-when vibe? So, it was only natural for me to go to him. I would have preferred some one like Alexi, but Franz would do, Alexi might take it the wrong way. But Franz would see it how I did, just as an experience. Plus, he didn't speak English, he wasn't a wizard, he didn't know how old I was, and I couldn't possibly become attached to him. (Okay, apparently virgins are 'clingy' to the first people they sleep with. I read this in some book, I don't even remember the name of it now.)

I took the Floo to the library in Germany, right in front of Ron, Hermione, and Harry's noses no less. I walked out of the wizard's bar and onto the main streets of Berlin, making my way to the library.

"Guten Tag, Franz," Ginny said, walking up to Franz as he was shelving some books that were in High German.

"Guten Abend, Fräulein, wie geht es Ihnen?"

Oh, I suppose I should un-translate this for you, eh?

"Good day, Franz!"

"Good morning, miss, how are you?"

"Franz! It is me, Virginia!" she said with a smile.

"Ah, Virginia! Come to read some more? I haven't found any books you haven't read yet, come back in a few days," he said with a wink.

Ginny took Hina's advise and slipped on Nefertiti's and Hina's ring at the same time. Then she winked back at him, something she had never done before, and said, "I'm sure you can find something for me to do. I mean, I came all the way here..."

Immediately she saw the change. He looked like he was trying very hard and not succeeding in the slightest to look her in the eye and keep his hands well away from her. Ginny took it one step further, almost not able to bear Hina's ring on her finger anymore. "I have a problem, Franz. Maybe we could solve it together. Do you know a place we could go?"

He looked like he was having trouble stringing more than two words together and Ginny smiled slightly and then whispered into his ear, "Take me, Herr."

An almost feral look came into his eyes and Ginny though she might have made a mistake. He was a lot bigger and muscular than she was, I mean, he was a big, brawny German boy; what else could she expect? But if he wanted to take advantage of her in anyway, he could.

But as he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back of the library and down some old stairs, she knew the only thing he was going to take advantage of was the chance to get off on the job.

He closed the door quietly and she felt him press her against the wall of the small room. She could barely see him in the half light, but her eyes adjusted and she saw his were sparking with something akin to animalistic lust.

He put his hands on either side of her head so she couldn't escape even if she'd wanted to and began kissing her harshly. Only through the knowledge the ring gave her was she able to calm him down. She put her hands on his broad chest and ran them up and down his pectorals and stomach. He almost immediately calmed and began kissing her deeper, his hands seeking under her shirt. She arched her back to him and he growled.

Really, all in all, the whole experience was educational. Yes, I know, an odd reaction for losing your virginity to a fair haired, blue-eyed German boy in the back room of a library, but it wasn't anything to brag about. It was good, but I didn't, at that time, see what people made a big deal out of. I thought maybe it was because it meant something when you made love to some one you knew and had feelings for, but I didn't know. In reality, it felt good, but not that good. I've had better with I'm sure you'll hear about in greater detail.

At any rate, my virginity was lost, Franz was Obliviated, and I was free of the one task put on me by Hina; good day all in all.

I came back to the house around one in the morning and was surprised in the most awful of ways.

"Where were you? Mum was worried sick, Ginny!" Ron said in a harsh whisper as she Flooed back to the house. Hermione and Harry were waiting as well.

"Well I guess what they say is true," Ginny said in a dry voice, "no one ever does expect the Spanish Inquisition."

"The what?" Ron asked, baffled.

"It was a time in Muggle history when the Spanish punished those that weren't of their belief by killing hundreds, burning libraries, and destroying religious icons," Hermione supplied.

"Oh," Ron said. Then after realizing he'd gotten off topic, he said in a threatening voice, "I think you owe us an explanation."

Ginny did a double take, her eyebrow arched and looking royally upset, "I...owe you...an explanation? Now that is funny, me owing you something. I'm not sure how that is. But sure, if you must know, I was making wildly passionate love to a German boy in the back room of the Berlin Library. Happy, Ronald? Good! Nighty-night, now!"

Then she cast him a searing glare and staled off to her room.

"Ron," she heard Harry say as she walked away, "she was joking."

"But it is funny," Hermione said thoughtfully, "I've seen her with the book she was carrying before."

Heh, I bet that got his blood boiling for a while. Me OWING him something, it was enough to make me scream. Feh, stoopid Ron.

Other than that, my summer was grand. Okay, so grand maybe not so much, but I did get a lot of reading done. I decided to go in chronological order. I don't know, I'm organized. I even read the Bible, if you can believe it. I'm sure you're wondering either one of two things, A) What religion DO witches and wizards fallow? B) What did you think about it? Well, in answer to question A, I'd have to say, it is pretty much a free for all. Some choose to follow the Old Ways and worship the goddess and observe the solstice and equinox festivals. Some choose to follow the new religions, a. k. a. Christianity, Catholicism, etc. Others still choose to follow no religion. I loosely observe the Old Ways, but nothing to the extent of extreme worship. I mean, I have to stay a little loyal, I was born on the autumnal equinox or Mabon as it is named in the Old Ways. In answer question B, well, it is a nice story, but I'm not going for it. Personally, either Jesus was the greatest fraud of his time, or he was a great wizard. Either that or the whole thing is true. But, just me, I don't believe it. I mean, pu-leez, virgin birth? Uh-uh, sorry.

I basically didn't do anything different the second half of summer than the first. I did however find many interesting ways to sneak out of the house. Apparently, Fred and George had a secret way of leaving (unnoticed of course) though their closet. I really don't know how I discovered that, jus one day, I was reading about wizarding construction techniques and the next I was examining their closet. Chani's ring really does help you connect thoughts I guess.

At any rate, that is how I got out most of the time. The other half of the time I just used the Floo when no one was looking, though Harry, Hermione and Ron had an annoying habit of being at the fireplace when I returned. Couldn't they just keep their noses in their own business? I finally, about a week before term started, decked Ron and told him if he stalked me like this at school I would curse him so bad he wouldn't walk straight for months. Had I known that I would have gotten such a good reaction I would have done it earlier.

I got my things from Diagon Alley with out seeing Draco; he had been in France for the past month and wouldn't return until he got on the Hogwarts Express. I was anxious to be out of the house, away from my mother and Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Finally the day of term came and we all headed off to the Hogwarts Express.

It was the same big red engine. It was the same sounds. It was the same (at least in spirit) nervous first years. It was the same whistle and smell of busy people trying to get in and out of the crowded station. It was all the same. But Ginny wasn't the same. She would never again be that nervous first year; she would never again be that carefree child. She was a cold machine by her fourth year and she was safe and fearless. And Slytherin.

"Virginia," she heard a familiar cold and disinterested voice say.

Ginny smiled briefly before turning around. "Draco Malfoy," she said, staring into his gray eyes with something akin to fondness. It may have been her imagination, but she could have sworn he gave her a quick sweep with his eyes before looking at her face. She raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Draco answered with a slight smirk.

Ginny was about to open her mouth when she saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron approaching from behind Draco. Ginny shifted her eyes towards the three and shaking her head at Draco almost imperceptivity. That malicious spark in his eyes lit suddenly and he turned around to greet the three Gryffindors.

"Not now," Ginny whispered in his ear. The three Gryffindors had stopped, apparently expecting some sort of verbal harassment. But amazingly enough, Draco took Ginny's advice and looped his arm in hers and walked her onto the train.

"What does she think she is playing at?!?" Ginny heard Ron say loudly.

Draco didn't say anything until they got on the train and in a private car. "Put on your school robes," he ordered.

"What?" Ginny scoffed, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Before some one sees you," he said, riffling through the bag and throwing her black robes at her.

They hit her in the head and Ginny tore them away and said in a flustered voice, "What are you talking about?"

Almost immediately the compartment door opened and Abram Montague and Carl Warrington, two seventh year Slytherin Chasers walked in, smirks on their faces.

"So," said Warrington, "it is true, Weasley has goods."

Montague was licking his lips, looking interestedly at the youngest Weasley. "Trying to keep her all to your self, Malfoy?" he asked.

Draco sneered and said, "As a matter of a fact, Virginia and I are going out, so if you don't mind, keep your hands and eyes to yourselves."

He stood and looked the two seventh years in the eye intimidating, crossing his arms as he asserted his authority. Ginny hadn't noticed how tall Draco had gotten until that moment. He had not only gotten taller, but he had filled out a bit. He wasn't quite as muscular as Franz or Alexi, but he was lean and had a height advantage.

The two seventh years frowned and Montague said, "Now, now, Malfoy, share and share alike. But if you are going to be greedy, just tell us when you're done."

Warrington gave her a lingering look and the older Slytherins left the room. Draco sank into the seat beside her and said, "That is why."

Ginny was silent for a moment and said, "They would rape me, wouldn't they?"

Draco nodded. "You are only safe now because they think you belong to me; wouldn't want to upset me in case news gets out to my father. But the damage in done, I suppose you'll be the talk of the common room, how do you like that?"

Ginny frowned, "Not at all. I worked hard at being a shadow."

Draco looked her in the eye and shook his head, "You'll never be a shadow, Virginia. You're the flame that makes the shadows." He reached over and twirled her bellybutton length, bright auburn hair in his fingers before dropping it in a disinterested way.

There was a silence for a while and Ginny said, "I'm trying out for the third Chaser position this year."

Draco looked doubtfully at her. "You know there hasn't been a female on the team since like, the seventies?"

Ginny nodded, "Alicia Dorny played keeper from her second to seventh year. In her seventh year she captained the team to house championship and after that she played for the Falcons for ten years. I read about it over the summer."

Draco smirked, "Oh, that is right, you were quite the bookworm this summer. 'Rousseau says this, Darwin says that.' I thought I'd die if I saw another Shakespeare quote."

"Cela a raison, le garçon. Je parie je peux parler plus de langues que l'école entière monte, aussi," she retorted in French.

"Gute Aufgabe, aber Sie kann diesen sprechen," Draco said in retaliation, testing her knowledge of German.

"Você pensa de você é assim esperto, Draco Malfoy. Pode você falar o português?" she asked in Portuguese, effectively ending the debate.

"Damn!" he said, sounding amazed, "Just what languages did you learn?"

Ginny smiled and said, "German, Italian, Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Farsi, Greek, Dutch, Danish, Latin, and Finnish."

Draco blinked a couple of times, "Fluently?"

"Those are all the ones I know fluently. I am on my way to being fluent in Arabic, Bulgarian, Hindi, Hebrew, and Serbian," she answered truthfully. She shrugged, "What can I say, I'm good at it."

"Apparently," Draco said dully, looking out the window.

Scared the shit out of him, didn't I? Yes, I like to think I did. I find intimidating people with my intelligence is fun. Anyway, we went to the Sorting Ceremony together and I was forced to endure spiteful glances from Millicent and Pansy once again. It turned out Pansy had gotten her nose fixed and she was a great deal prettier for it and I can't believe I just said that. Well, it was kind of true. She was no where as pretty as me. I am happy to say that I was the prettiest girl in my year and maybe even the school with the exception of maybe Cho ChangFawcett, another Ravenclaw, and Mary Lindstrom, a seventh year Hufflepuff with big, teary looking blue eyes and long blond hair.

I think now the reason I was attractive to my fellow Slytherins was because I was like forbidden fruit. I was a Weasley with wild red hair and I was extremely beautiful and full figured. Of course they looked at me! I was the new gossip and I hated it. I did know that it would die down after a while, but it wouldn't be easy to bear.

But eventually it passed. It was past Mabon and I was fourteen and enjoying the feeling of learning. We picked up a DADA teacher who looked like she had been through the mill a bit. She was in her mid thirties but looked like she was a little younger. She had long brown hair she kept in a braid down her back and brown eyes, almost black. The most interesting thing about her was her scar however. She had a long scar from her left cheekbone to her chin almost. Her name was Brigid Allen. I recognized the name; she had been a Gryffindor prefect when she was at Hogwarts. She had gone on to be an Auror and had worked under Moody for ten years before retiring for personal reasons. I liked her fine, though she seemed a bit uneasy with me in particular, probably because she knew of my family and knew I was the only Weasley in Slytherin.

School went on with out any hitches until the first of October, the day of Slytherin tryouts for the open Chaser, Keeper, and Beater positions. It was because Marcus Flint had finally graduated, as had Bletchley and Bole. I knew that there was no one better than me out there, but the fact that my broom was sup-par worried me. I had been looking at it for months, literally. It was beautiful and smooth and it would ride oh so nicely. Too bad it was a Nimbus 2000. But I had solved the price problem. After reading in a few Muggle magazines, I entered in an essay contest. I entered and won, surprisingly. So I just went over to Gringotts, exchanged the money and put it all in my safe. It was just waiting there to be spent. So I did it. I took seventy five Gallons out of my vault and ordered the broom a short week before tryouts. All I have to say is thank Merlin it got there on time.

Ginny waited nervously at the breakfast table. It was the day before tryouts and she still hadn't gotten the broom she ordered. The familiar rush of wings was heard and a huge barn owl swept in the Hall carrying a broom shaped package. It landed with a thump right in front of Ginny, causing quite a stir at the breakfast table, before getting off into the air again.

Draco looked sideways at her and she said, "It's here." Then she stood up, shouldering spite filled glares from Millicent and Pansy and interested looks from Warrington and Montague along with her bag, considerably lighter with out the Transfiguration book. She headed off to the dormitories to drop off her package before heading to Professor Vector's class.

It was soon her free period, not having Transfiguration with the rest of her class mates, and she headed out on the field to get her broom legs again. Ripping off the brown packaging, she got on the broom lightly and pushed off. She relaxed as she rose higher in the air, smooth and fluid. Ginny looked up into the sun and out of the corner of her eye saw something rushing at her. She did a barrel role to her left and spun into a neat dive before pulling up and looking around.

Warrington, Montague, and Andrew Derrick were about twenty feet above her, Derrick with a club in his hand and a smirk on his face. Ginny began wishing that she had worn her shirt all the way buttoned, or sweats, or a parka, or really that she hadn't come all the way out there at all. The way Montague looked at her made her uncomfortable and she instinctually put Nysilia's and Nefertiti's rings on for support.

"Well, well, well," Warrington said, "what have we here? The youngest Weasley with no Draco to protect her?"

The three seventh years laughed and Ginny said coldly, "I don't need a protector," while flying to their level.

Warrington ignored her and said, "Trying out for the team, Weasley?"

"No," she said sarcastically, "I just bought a broom and am flying it around for the hell of it."

"No need to get so touchy, Weasley," Warrington said, gliding a bit closer to her. Ginny held her ground fearlessly. Warrington put on a fake sympathetic look and said, "Poor Weasley. I wonder do you know the real reason Malfoy keeps you to himself? No, you wouldn't. You're just a good fuck and when he gets bored with you, it will be our turn," he mocked, flying to he was face to face with her, "And you'll find out we aren't so forgiving of loose tongues."

Ginny frowned and grabbed the collar of his shirt, "You listen to me, Warrington. I'll not be intimidated. I'll not be mocked and I'll not be 'fucked' as you call it. I suggest backing off a bit before my Weasley temper gets any worse."

Then she pushed him away roughly, sneering. He looked surprised, as did Montague and Derrick. She gave them a lingering look of superiority before speeding off to the castle.

The next day after their last hour, Ginny walked out onto the pitch with Draco. There were seven other hopefuls, including a boy from Draco's year, Blaise Zabini and a boy from her year, Jonathan Wilkes. The others Ginny had seen in the common room, but didn't know their names. She was the only girl, which made her mildly uncomfortable. But she still had on Nysilia's and Nefertiti's rings for comfort and confidence, which helped ebb her queasiness.

Warrington's eyes roamed her body and Draco put an arm around her waist and sneered at him. Ginny did her best to remain indifferent, but with all the possessive male testosterone, it was hard not to just punch everyone and name herself captain.

"Malfoy, Weasley, nice to see you finally showed up," Warrington said smoothly.

Yeah, I bet it was, the bastard. Merlin I hated him, I hate most Slytherin, though that isn't abnormal. I wanted to prove myself so much that moment, it was like a raging inferno inside me, something I could never ignore. I like to think I impressed the hell out of them that day, those bastards. They had no choice but to put me on the team; I was too good. I was too good and they knew it; that was possibly the best thing about it.

Grudgingly, Warrington, the new captain, selected me as the new Chaser, Jonathan Wilkes as the new Keeper, and a Sixth year boy, Henry Morrison, as the new Beater. I was, of course, the only girl, and the smallest player. Everyone out weighed me by about forty pounds. But I was also quicker than everyone, something that our team could use against the opposing teams as a surprise tactic. Slytherin was famous for strength, not speed or tactics. With Draco and I on the team, tactics and speed would become two of our strong points.

Thank Merlin Warrington wasn't too stupid to figure this out; I may have had to beat it into him with Derrick's bat if he didn't. But that doesn't mean that the guys on the team left me alone; far from it. They made fun of me, made sexual jokes, tried to look up my skirts, grabbed my butt (in practice and in the halls), tried to brush up against me when ever they could, and were general assholes. But only when they thought Draco didn't see.

Other than being on the Quidditch team, life didn't change much from last year. I still stayed to myself. I still almost lived in the library. I still wrote in my diary, composed poems, and sketched and painted whenever I could. I still did well in classes (thank you, once again, Tom). Draco still tucked me in every night. Though really we had conversations now as oppose to the previous years where we would just exchange insults and whatnot. I actually talked to him. Really, he isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He doesn't want to be a Death Eater, or so he tells me, and he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. He says all he really wants to do is be filthy rich and do nothing, perhaps play Quidditch if he was bored. He wanted to own things, land, people, a Quidditch team or two, and he wanted power.

The only things that changed were the fact that I met Professor McGonagall every Thursday that I would be having Transfiguration and we worked on my Animagus training and the fact that I was on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Actually, I lie; there were a few other changes. I liked boys...a lot actually. And they liked me...more actually, than I liked them. Boys from every year and house looked at me, and Draco gave them death glares, which kept most of them at bay. But let me tell you, it is weird and slightly uncomfortable to have boys that have, in the past, look at you like you are the Dark Lord himself, to now look at you like they want to kiss you. It is really weird. I can tell you though, Draco liked it a lot less than I did. Don't fool yourself, I wasn't in love with Draco and he wasn't in love with me. I think his logic was that I was his, a sort of beacon to draw more attention to him. He didn't want me, but he didn't want other people to have me more; that is what bothered him about other people looking at me. It was like a weird older brother I had never had...or something like that.

But all these things a weathered and some I was thankful for. I didn't want to have to fend off every boy in my year and older everyday, and Draco helped me with this. As long as I was his possession, I wasn't anyone else's, and I was okay with this. Because in reality, I wasn't his, I wasn't anyone's, I was my own person and though it didn't look like it on the outside, I didn't care.

I think this bothered my brother actually. He looked at me with hatred in his eyes one day and pity the next. He never said anything, but I could tell he was torn. Funny thing about Gryffindors I guess, the never quit. He would never quit on me. In his eyes, I would always be his little sister and he my older brother. I think it helped him mentally to live. Seriously, if he felt half the pain I did about being sorted into Slytherin, he would have a mental breakdown. If he suppressed half the pain I did, he would probably go crazy. But it still didn't stop him from the anger he no doubtedly felt toward Malfoy. It was common knowledge that Draco kept company with Pansy, and I can tell you it is true. I can tell you it is true and Draco hated it. Suggestion of his father, once again. So they were a couple, which bothered Ron. In his eyes, and the eyes of most of the school, I was the concubine of Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson was the wife...even though they weren't married. They thought this would be what it would be like when we were older.

The whole school knew that he preferred my company over Pansy's, and so did Pansy, which she hated more than anything. But the one thing she hated, correction, two things she hate more than knowing Draco preferred my company to hers (even though we were only talking, nothing else) was knowing she couldn't do anything about it, and no knowing what we were doing all alone in my rooms. I'll tell you the truth, I did nothing to discourage these rumors; both Draco and I thought I would be safer that way. Plus, it helped that I got the satisfaction of casting dirty looks back at Pansy and Millicent.

But life went on. Halloween passed soon the first match of the season came, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. We hadn't played Gryffindor since they beat us in the House Cup my second year and every one was pissed about it. Even I drew up enough emotion to get a little upset by the Gryffindors' constant reminders of our loss to Harry Potter's fantastic snatch. Draco was getting particularly nasty towards the fantastic trio and was resorting to using me to get under their skin. I almost punched him after he grabbed my butt in front of them. He didn't do that again, but he did make nasty insinuation about his and mine sex lives, which made the blood of my brother (who, to his credit, replaced Angelina Johnson as the third Chaser on Gryffindor, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet were seventh years this year) and Harry (who had been voted team captain despite his age) boil outrageously.

Tempers finally boiled over the day of the match...

"Just once, that is all I ask Virginia," Draco said in a plaintive voice, looking over at Harry and Ron, who were talking in hushed voices with some other fifth and sixth year Gryffindors.

"No!" Ginny hissed.

Draco seemed a bit put out, like a boy who had gotten his favorite toy taken away. Except in this case Draco's favorite toy was her and used her constantly to annoy and upset Gryffindors, which was sort of a past time of his. "Don't you know what they are saying about us?" he said in a calm voice, "We might as well, they already think they know. And think how mad their get, I can almost see it now..."

"Your acting like a seven year old, Draco," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. Then he gave her huge puppy dog eyes and his lip quivered. He looked most un-Draco. "Is that the face you give your mother when your father won't give you something?" Ginny asked in an exasperated voice.

Draco stopped and smirked, "It works really well, doesn't it?"

Ginny looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "This one time, and that is all."

Draco's smirk turned into a full out wicked smile. "Good."

Ginny put her hand up as he leaned closer, "One condition!"

Draco hung his head, "What?"

"I go with who ever I want to the Yule Ball," she said seriously.

Draco seemed to think this over for a moment, "No Gryffindors and no Hufflepuffs."

"Deal," Ginny said quickly.

Draco's smile returned and Ginny put down her bags, she wasn't going to need them for Draco's plan. She saw Draco make eye contact with Harry and sneer. Then he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Just act like your enjoying it," he whispered into her ear before nibbling on it seductively.

It wasn't that hard to enjoy it, Draco was an expert after all. One hand against the wall and the other pressing her body into his, he kissed her. Ginny put on a mask of pleasure and licked her lips when Draco nibbled her ear. She was giving people a show and she knew it; Draco knew it and was relishing in it.

Not thirty seconds later, Draco's lips were torn from hers and he was sent reeling into a wall of the halls. Ginny opened her eyes and saw Ron and Harry pounding Draco, a herd of Gryffindors on the outskirts of the fray. Warrington and Montague were immediately in the middle, pulling Ron and Harry off Draco and beating on them expertly. Soon the other Gryffindors joined and then more Slytherins.

Finally a teacher came, it was Snape, which wasn't good for the Gryffindors, as they all got detention for a week and Slytherins only got warnings. However Ron and Harry both got month long detentions with Snape, a special punishment just for them. Really though, they were the instigators, even though Draco provoked them. But Snape would never see it that way and neither would McGonagall when they tried to explain their loss of points and detentions.

"Miss Weasley," Snape said in a cold voice as he was walking away, "I would like to see you in my office in thirty minutes."

Ginny walked over to the bruised Draco and frowned, shaking her head, but she didn't say a word. Ron and Harry were looking at her like she were Satan himself at the moment, and a flash of rage bore into her, how dare they judge her, after all they'd done to her!?!

Draco walked over to Ginny and put his arm around her waist. "See you tonight," he said coolly to Ron and Harry.

"Good luck," Ginny added in a voice more icy than Draco's. Then she stood on her toes and brought Draco into a quick but passionate kiss, right in front of them, then walked away, her hand in Draco's and a smirk on her lips.

"My, my, my, Virginia," Draco said quietly as they walked away, "Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

Ginny smirked, "Germany."

Draco raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

No, I'm not particularly proud of that moment. Nor much of my life after it. I had become what I never wanted to be. I was the puppet and the puppeteer. I was the crew and the captain. I was the hypocrite and the liberator. I was lower than low but above everyone. Outside I was freezing, but inside I was burning. It was painful to say the least, painful and hypocritical. But it was just the beginning.