Out of the Shadows

Out of the shadows
Chapter 1 - A highly unlikely cooperation

She couldn't recall exactly when she had started to see him in a different light, but it surely had been some time in the beginning of her sixth year at Hogwarts. Ever since she had been enrolled in the school for wizardry and witchcraft, she had passionately loathed him. He had insulted her family and their name, he had mocked her, and he had made fun of her friends, especially the person who she had loved for so long. But eventually, even she had been over Harry Potter. It was that then she had suddenly found that one particular loathsome person quite intriguing.

She really hadn't exactly known what drew her to him. It wasn't just his good looks, although she had to admit that he did look quite stunning. His lanky figure, and his muscular arms and chest (Quidditch did its work for sure), accompanied by very appealing silver blond hair and unusual gray eyes that seemed to look right into your soul, probably made any girl dream about him. It wasn't just that, though. It wasn't just what he looked like; it was more his behaviour. It was more like the extraordinary arrogance with which he acted, the way he found it only natural to command everyone around him, how he felt better than anyone else, and the way he always got what he wanted, be it things or people, particularly girls. He sure as hell got any girl he wanted. Only, he didn't want her. Too bad, really.

She wished he did. But why would he? He thought so low of her family, and she supposed he also didn't find her too attractive, either. Especially since he always laughed about the Weasleys' red hair, and that was her most obvious feature after all. Moreover, he thought she was still all crazy about Harry Potter.

No, there wasn't any apparent reason why he would be interested in someone as sweet, cute, and especially unimportant as her, Virginia Weasley. She hated her name, especially since it still spoke the truth. Why did she have the feeling that she was the only girl in her year (let alone 7th!) that was still innocent? Even Hermione had gotten laid already, by her brother Ron. Not that she had minded until somewhile ago, but ever since Malfoy made her stay awake at night, she had had a different opinion on that matter. No, Ginny thought ruefully, she shouldn't be thinking like that about him at all, since he'd definitely never give her a second glance. Not Draco Malfoy.

Ginny Weasley suddenly sat up straight in her bed. She wasn't able to sleep again. It was because she was thinking about him, for God's sake, and it began to seriously annoy her. Almost every night, she tried to fall asleep without success. Her thoughts kept drifting to the cruel hearted Slytherin, and Ginny spent the whole night staring at the ceiling above her and the whole day trying not to fall asleep.

It was such a stupid situatuation, really, and of course, it was just the same that night. However, Ginny didn't want to lie awake staring at the ceiling again, so she quickly glanced around the room and seeing her roommates Eliza, Sharon, and Khyreen fast asleep. She quickly threw her robes on, grabbed her private poetry book, and slipped out of the dormitory. Luckily, the Common Room was deserted, so no one saw Virginia Weasley go for a forbidden night walk at three in the morning.

"Well, here we go," Ginny muttered to herself as she slipped through the Fat Lady's picture.

Hermione would go crazy if she saw her boyfriend's little sister wandering around the school in the middle of the night. Ginny grinned at the image. Well, Hermione doesn't know, so Hermione can't be angry. It was as simple as that. Walking through the hallways, she soon found herself in deep thought again. She couldn't quite understand how she could be so utterly obsessed with someone who most of the time didn't even talk to her. He probably felt too good for talking to someone like her. Besides, she was a year younger than he, and only a lowly Weasley.

Why did it always have to be like that? Why was all that crap important, anyway? Who you were, what your background was, what you had. Who the hell cared? Didn't it only matter how you really were? To her, it was all that mattered, but obviously everyone else had a completely different opinion. Well, except Hermione, Harry, and Ron of course. They didn't care either. But all the others, even her best friends, and of course Malfoy did.

She still preferred calling him by his last name, even when just thinking about him. It would just feel wrong to call him Draco. Ginny slightly cringed at the thought. Through all these years, she had hated him with all possible passion she possessed, and switching to first name basis, just because she was attracted to the git, would be plainly wrong.

No, he was Malfoy, evil, cruel, arrogant and incredibly attractive, and he'd probably always be that.

Yes, he'd definitely stay that, and she shouldn't even give it more thoughts. She was insane, hoping she'd ever have a chance with him. She was insane even thinking about him. It was impossible. She also was quite sure all her fellow Gryffindors wouldn't be too pleased about her affection for the pale Slytherin. No, Ginny thought once again, it would just never happen. No matter how much she thought about it, Draco Malfoy would always stay what he was: her archenemy.

Ginny sauntered around a corner, and being lost in deep thoughts about her family's worst enemy, she didn't notice the tall figure walking in her direction and seeming to be just as lost in thought as she.

She only noticed it when she suddenly crashed into something, or rather someone, really hard. Before she could react, she was already on the ground, with someone. She heard an annoyed "Fuck!" and recognized that it was a person lying on top of her. Ginny had hit her head really hard on the floor, and was now seeing multi-colored stars. But when she slowly opened her eyes after a long while of just staying in her current position, she was shocked to gaze right into a pair of silver-gray icecold whirlpools.

"My, what do we have there? If it isn't the youngest Weasel?"

Malfoy! God, why did she have the feeling that this was just her typical luck? A moment ago, she had been pondering about him in continuous thoughts, and now she felt herself wriggling beneath his strong and lean body, her head ringing, and feeling quite dazed from the fall. Being so close to the object of her day and night dreams didn't exactly help her condition, either.

"Umm, would you kindly get off me, Malfoy?"

The blond boy on top of her grinned wickedly and to Ginny's surprise he stood up. Since when did Malfoy do what anyone else wants? It was all very suspicious. Soon, though, she found out why he got off her.

"Oh, this doesn't happen to be yours, does it, little Weasel?" he drawled mockingly as he held up a large leather-covered book right above her head.

Ginny's heartbeat skipped. This really wasn't her day. Well, night to be exact. First, when wandering on Hogwarts grounds, she ran into Malfoy out of all people, and now she was standing here in a dark corridor on third floor with him and he had her poetry book.

Well, at least it wasn't her dairy. That would've been much worse.

But still, that book contained her own poetry, written all by herself. It displayed her deepest feelings and thoughts. My god, did it contain any hints about her obsession with him? Ginny tried to remember frantically. Yes, she had a few love poems in it, but not with a name or anything. He would probably just think she was still head over heals for Harry still. He couldn't read her secret thoughts. That was just wrong!

"Give it back now, Malfoy," Ginny said, trying to sound determined.

"Why would I, Weasley?" Draco grinned and started to examine the book closer. Written all over the leather cover in large red letters, he read the name "Ginny." "My, how cute, Weasley. Is this your diary? Should we take a little peek inside?"

Ginny tried to snatch the book away from him, but never succeeded. He held it up much too high for her to reach. Malfoy's eyes lit up in amusement as he began to read. To Ginny's horror, he actually picked a poem about himself. He began to read aloud.

"You

When our eyes lock, a warm tingle floods my body
When you look away, I suddenly feel cold.
But even when you're not around
All I see is you
You intrigue me by just existing
You steal my nights, and fill my days
I gaze at you
But you don't even notice me.
And I don't think you'd ever care.
Not for someone like me.
Never.
But still, whatever you may do,
All I see
All I ever think about
In my soul, my heart, my mind.
It's always you.
You."

Malfoy laughed out loud; Ginny grimaced. Of course, it was sappy. She had written it in a very depressed moment. Even she herself found it quite horrible by now, and she didn't even feel that way, especially not about Malfoy. Hell, she didn't even like him, let alone love him. That poem sounded like some lovesick puppy gushing over a big bad someone who doesn't notice her. It was turning out to be a wonderful night, really.

"I see you're still after Potter, Weasley," Malfoy drawled in a strange tone. "Trust me in one thing: he certainly won't notice you."

Ginny cocked her head and looked straight into his cold gray eyes. "And who will, in your wonderful opinion, Malfoy?"

Malfoy lifted his eyebrows and smiled broadly. "That, little Weasel, is for me to know, and for you to find out." With that, he walked away, disappearing in the dark hallway and taking Ginny's poetry book with him.

***

Back in his own bedroom he had gotten due to his prefect position, Draco sat down on his large four poster bed and began skipping through Weasley's book. It was obviously some sort of a poetry book, and Draco was quite amused at the depressive tone in most of Weasley's poems. So, she still was pining for bloody Potter. However, it surprised Draco how cruel Weasley described Potter in her writings. He had always thought that Potter was a typical Gryffindor: kind-hearted, brave, nice, and loyal. Well, appearantly not. According to the poems, he ignored Weasley, made snide remarks at her, made fun of her, etc. 'Weird,' Draco thought, 'really weird.'

In the back of the book, he also found some drawings and sketches. So the youngest Weasley was the artistic one. Although Draco would never have admitted it, he found Weasley's drawings quite impressive. She definitely was talented, but for unknown reasons, she chose to keep her talent to herself.

He wondered briefly what her first name was. Jenny? Jeany? Ginny? He suddenly remembered that her name was written on the poetry book's cover. Yeah, Ginny was her name.

Draco looked out of his window, watching the sun slowly rise. The Slytherin dungeons had charmed windows, so the students could still look outside. It would take some time until it was really daylight, since it was already mid-November, and they days became shorter and shorter.

"Draco?" Suddenly hearing a faint voice coming from outside his room, Draco quickly snapped the book closed and shoved it under his pillow. "Draco, are you in there?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Come in, Pansy."

The door opened, and Pansy slipped through it, only clad in her deep green nightgown, her curled blonde hair very messy and her head slightly hanging down. When she looked up, Draco suddenly noticed the dark rings under her eyes, and her usually so cheerfully skyblue eyes still filled with tears.

"Pansy," he said with only a slight hint of concern, "What's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

Despite of countless rumors about him and Pansy being a couple, the two of them had never had an affair. Draco had known Pansy all his life, and she was one of his friends. Pansy also wasn't stupid, although most of the students at Hogwarts thought so. True, she liked to dress up, wear make-up, and flirt with boys, but that didn't mean she wasn't intelligent. Actually, quite the opposite was the case. Whenever Pansy was alone, she pondered about her life, about her chosen path, and about the war.

"Father," she now cried out, "He - he wrote me."

Draco tapped on his bed and motioned for Pansy to sit next to him. "What's wrong, Pansy? What did your father write?"

"Here," Pansy said and handed him a letter with shaking hands. Draco slowly unfolded the parchment that had been sealed with the Parkinson's crest and began to read.

Dear Pansy,

I'm writing you for the matter of the recruitment. Due to this, your mother and I expect you back home for Christmas break. I certainly hope you feel honored to be offered such a great gift from our master, especially at such a young age.

You will take the normal train back to King's Cross Station, and your mother will pick you up.

Your father

"Recruitment? You're not even eighteen," Draco exclaimed, while putting a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "And girls usually don't get the mark at all, do they?"

Pansy sobbed. "No, not usually, but now they obviously do. I think it's because of the war. They need everyone." She looked up at Draco, her uncertain eyes still filled with tears. "Draco, I don't want to! I don't want to receive that fucking mark! I don't want to crawl at that goddamned commoner's feet!"

"Pansy!"

"I - I'm sorry," Pansy quickly added, "I know how high you think of him and that your father is in his inner circle and-"

"Pansy!" Draco said again. "It's not that. You just shouldn't speak so loud, you know the walls have ears here. And I bet you that some of our fellow Slytherins would just love to report your doubts to the Dark Lord."

Draco still couldn't believe his ears. Pansy thought about rejecting the mark? Pansy Parkinson? It wasn't that he thought she was evil and cruel, but merely the fact that she grew up in his environment, with people who worshipped Lord Voldemort, people who were absolute experts in the Dark Arts, people who wore the Dark Mark. Through all these years, Pansy had always been so excited about learning more in Dark Arts. Once, she had even told Draco that she envied him because he was male and could receive the mark. Now, she was offered the gift and refused to take it without any reason.

Pansy seemed to read his thoughts. "I do have reasons," she said slowly, "there - there's someone I like."

"Someone you like? You've got a boyfriend, Pansy?"

"No, no! Not a boyfriend. Just this boy I like. He - he doesn't like me back you see. But I - I love him-"

"You're in love and he doesn't even like you? Pansy, who-"

She cut him off with pleading eyes. "Please let me finish. He - he doesn't even talk to me, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that he will fight on the other side, on Dumbledore's side. The good side. I couldn't bear to fight against him; I just couldn't! Draco, how could anyone expect me to fight against the one person I love? How could anyone expect me to take the risk of killing him? It's impossible, absolutely out of question. I know it's the opposite of the path you will be taking, Draco, but I can't do it. I will not be a Death Eater."

Her voice was suddenly very strong and determined. Pansy had made her decision, and Draco knew that trying to persuade her was no use. She was very stubborn, and once she had made up her mind, no one could tell her otherwise. He did all he could do, and put his hand over hers, squeezing it slightly.

"Maybe you won't."

***

Walking back to her own dormitory, Ginny cursed herself loudly. Why in God's name did she even bring her damn book? She hadn't even planned to write any poetry that night, but had taken the book out of pure habit. Damn her own stupidity, damn her bad luck, and especially damn that bloody Draco Malfoy.

Ginny suddenly stopped in her tracks when she heard hushed voices from around the corner.

"What did you find out, Hermione? Anything about the amulet or the spell? Anything Harry saw in his dreams?" Ginny immediately noticed it as her brother Ron's voice.

"No, nothing so far." That was Hermione, obviously. "We have to keep looking for information. There must be something in Hogwart's library!"

"Maybe we should check the restricted section," said a third voice which Ginny recognized as Harry's.

What in Merlin's name were they looking for? They were trying to solve some stupid riddle again. Riddle. Ginny shuddered inwardly. She couldn't even think of the simply word without being reminded of him. Tom Riddle, with his beautiful face, his wonderful eyes. Tom, who had been her first real friend in First Year, who had listened to all her irrelevant problems. Tom, who almost killed her. She shuddered again.

"I'm sure it has something to do with the legend of Myraniad," Hermione now said.

"Myraniad?" Ron said, questioningly. Ginny was pretty sure he had rolled his eyes. "Hermione, what in God's name is the legend of Myraniad? It's not as if we do the same 'light reading' you do."

"Well I'm pretty sure you do know some of the legends about the great wizard Merlin. The legend of Myraniad is just one of them..." Hermione's voice suddenly trailed off, and Ginny knew that the trio was walking back to their dormitory.

She was a bit disappointed that they again hadn't included her in their plans. Then again, she had never been included before, except in her first year when Ginny had actually been the centre of all events. But ever since the Chamber of Secrets incident - or maybe because of it - Ron always made sure she had nothing to do with any of their sneaking around. Ginny wasn't mad at her brother for that. She loved him just as much as he loved her, and she knew that Ron was only trying to protect her. However, she wasn't eleven years old anymore. She now was sixteen and she saw herself as very mature, especially since she had gotten rid of her crush on Harry Potter.

Although, she didn't really get rid of it. She had merely replaced it with an insane obsession with the Slytherin ferret. Her thoughts returned to Malfoy and what he stole from her. 'Damn,' Ginny thought furiously, 'He has my book. Damn.'

She wasn't worried about the book itself, as it only contained poems and drawings, but of how Malfoy would use it. Ginny was pretty sure that he was going to make fun of her in front of everyone, just like he always did. He would read the poems aloud in the Great Hall and embaress her in front of the whole school. Harry would think she was still after him. Or even worse, maybe Hermione would immediately see through it and know who she really wrote about.

Ginny grimaced at the thought. That certainly was a terrible outlook. She knew exactly what Hermione would tell her. "What were you thinking, Ginny? Are you crazy, Ginny? Don't you remember all the bad things he has done? His father almost killed you! He's a Slytherin! It's Malfoy!"

Ginny also knew that Hermione would simply ignore the fact that nothing had happened at all, that Ginny hadn't talked to Malfoy any more than any other Gryffindor, and that there was absolutely no reason to worry. But they would worry. No, they'd be furious. Ron, especially. He'd probably kill Malfoy just for the thought of his little sister and a Slytherin. After all, when he had gotten angry at Hermione for going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, he's accused her of 'fraternizing with the enemy.'

She had to get back her book somehow. She had to get it back before Malfoy could show it to anyone, before Hermione, Ron, or Harry even heard of it. She also had to find out about that legend the wonder trio had been talking about.

This time, she wouldn't just let them leave her in the shadows and treat her like a little child.

She was more likely to know about Merlin than the trio, anyway. Hermione was muggle-born and probably only knew the Muggle stories, even if she did read a lot. Harry grew up with Muggles and hadn't known anything about the Wizarding world before he turned eleven and received his letter. Ron. . . Well, he's in a category of his own. He, of course, was a pureblood wizard. The Weasleys were, after all, a wizarding family with roots back to the old days, even if they were poor and had no money. However, all Ron had ever cared about was Quidditch and nasty hexes, unlike her. Ginny had loved it when her mother told her the stories of ancient wizards. Therefore, she knew absolutely everything about historical Merlin, and she was sure that this knowledge could be of great help in solving the mystery Hermione, Harry and Ron were after.

Ginny was determined to find out about the legend before the other three did. This time she would outdo them by far. The only problem was that they were three and she was only one. They had three heads to think, and she'd have to do all by herself, but she knew whom she could ask for help. It was a ridiculous idea, but it was worth a try. Yes, it was definitely worth a try.

***

Later that night, Harry lay awake on his bed, unable to sleep. Actually, he didn't really want to sleep either, as he'd only have weird nightmares again. He had had a lot of these lately. Really strange ones, too. Not about his parents or about Voldemort, but about the great wizard Merlin. It was always the same dream. He saw big dark eyes looking through an amulet and a deep voice spoke a spell over and over again.

By now, Harry had the spell and the amulet memorized. The amulet was golden with large emeralds on it. In the center, there was a symbol he had never seen before, a large black crow entangled with a silver snake sitting on a wand. Everytime he closed his eyes, Harry saw the amulet clearly in front him. By now he had drawn it out, so Hermione and Ron could picture what he could. None of them had an idea what it meant.

The spell was just as confusing. "Mea culpa est, mea fortuna erat, mea fatima. Fortunatio!" the voice in his dream always said. Harry had written it right below the drawing of the amulet. Hermione had translated it, as she of course she knew Latin. "It is my blame, it will be my future, my fate." Fortunatio seemed to be some kind of spell, but they hadn't found it in any of the books in Hogwart's library. The only possibility was now the restricted section.

Harry stretched and sighed loudly. He had almost forgotten the strange feeling that had overcome him during his conversation with Ron and Hermione in the hallway, as if someone had been eavesdropping. He had looked around the corner, but not seen anyone. Maybe someone else owned an Invisibility Cloak? Not likely, as they were very rare.

"Harry, why are you awake?" Ron's voice came from the bed next to his bed. "Nightmares again?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Harry replied, yawning, "I just couldn't sleep."

"Oh, okay," said Ron, relaxing. "You really should get some rest, though. You're always tired in class."

Harry knew that his best friend was right. He always kept himself from sleeping, just so he didn't have to bear any more nightmares, but his staying awake always resulted in being dead tired during the day. The teachers noticed that and weren't very happy about his condition, especially the Potions Professor, Snape, who had already taken numerous points off Gryffindor when Harry wasn't paying attention.

"Go back to sleep," Harry said. "I promise I will too."

"Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, Ron."

He really went to sleep. He did, and his dreams were once more haunted be crows, snakes, amulets, spells, and a deep scary voice.

***

The next morning, Ginny woke up very early. Last night, before she had gone to bed, she had sent off the Weasley family owl Errol with a short note to Malfoy. 'I want my book back. I might have some information for you in return. Let's talk about it after breakfast. G. Weasley.' She didn't know if he actually would want to talk to her, but it was worth a try. Plus, she really needed her book back. Thinking about the note, she actually felt a little bit guilty. She was, after all, somehow betraying her brother and her friends. But then again, they didn't act like they were her friends, so she didn't have any reason to feel guilty about it.

Hoping she could talk to Malfoy before anyone else was up, she went to breakfast as early as never before. Of course, she had no such luck. She could have figured that Malfoy would sleep in on a Saturday!

Ginny had to wait all through breakfast when Malfoy, later than anyone else, arrived for breakfast. By now, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting next to her, and Ginny groaned inwardly. She had wanted to talk to him secretly, not with everyone noticing, but she could probably just scratch that. He most likely wouldn't talk to her at all. Hell, of course, he wouldn't. She must have been very sleepy and tired to believe in it last night. He hated her passionately and he thought she wasn't worth a tenth of him. Why would he want talk to her on her request, when it was him who had something with which to blackmail her! Ginny almost laughed at her own naivety. Typical, really.

Too lost in her own thoughts, she didn't even notice Draco Malfoy standing up from his own house table and walking over to the Gryffindors. She didn't see him standing right in front of her, smirking widely, until Ron's feisty voice brought her back to reality.

"What do you want from us, Malfoy? Leave us alone and go where you belong!"

Malfoy just gave him an wry, arrogant smile, and cocked his right eyebrow. "Don't flatter yourself, Weasley; I wasn't even looking at you. I didn't come here for you. In fact, I just have to talk to little Weaselette here." he said, pointing his slender fingers at Ginny.

Ginny for her part, didn't know what to say. Firstly, she was still stunned that he actually agreed to talk to her, and secondly, she was delighted that he had given her a nickname. Weaselette. Okay, so it had an insulting ring to it, but it was still a nickname. Somehow, it also reminded her of that Muggle cartoon character Smurfette Hermione had told her about, and she had always found that cute.

"You'll bloody well leave my little sister alone, too, you bastard!" Ron cried out.

Ginny rolled her eyes and stood up, finally regaining her ability to speak. "I don't need a babysitter, Ron." She looked at Malfoy, then pointedly at the door, and he nodded. "I can handle myself, Ron. Stop worrying."

With that, she walked out of the Great Hall, Malfoy not far behind. She thought she had heard Ron call after her, but she wasn't exactly sure. She didn't care either. Well, maybe she did, but she absolutely had to get her poetry book back, and that would never happen if she followed Ron's advice.

"What did you want to talk about? What information could be worth giving back your book?"

Ginny pursed her lips irritably and tried to think of a way to persuade him to give the book back. She had briefly thought of giving him compliments, but Malfoy was an arrogant prat and probably used to compliments, so that wouldn't bring her anywhere. Money was out of question as well, since on one hand Ginny had none, and on the other hand, Malfoy had too much of it. All she could do was try to look nice in her stupid school robes and try to make him interested in the information she had.

"Well," she now said, looking up at him mysteriously, "I overheard a conversation between Harry, Hermione, and Ron last night..."

He didn't reply, but even though he tried to hide it, Ginny could tell he was interested. The way he cocked his head and the way his eyes lit up, clearly gave away.

"Seeing you're always jealous over Harry's heroism-"

"I'm not jealous of Potter!" Draco said hotly, "How can you even suggest that I-"

"Okay, okay," Ginny said, throwing her hands in the air desperately and kicking herself inwardly for making such a mistake "Wrong choice of words. Seeing you absolutely loathe how Harry gets so much attention while he doesn't deserve it at all..."

She trailed off suggestively, deciding to wait for Malfoy's reaction first. Malfoy just stood there, looking at her questioningly, though not as angry as he had been seconds before.

"Yes?"

"Well, you might be interested in the fact that the Golden Trio is again about to solve some nifty mystery, and I happen to know what they're trying to find out."

Malfoy lifted an eyebrow and looked at her intensely. "So, let me get this straight, Weasley. You want your book back in exchange for information I could use to outdo the Trio."

Ginny groaned inwardly. He'd never agree. Never. "Well, actually I thought we could - uh - outdo them ... together?"

He looked at her almost scandalized. "Are you insane, Weasley? You and I doing something together? Not even if hell freezes over! I do have a reputation to keep up, you know. And it's you who want something from me, isn't it? Really, Weasley, I didn't think you were that stupid."

Malfoy began to turn and walk away, but Ginny grabbed his arm and immediately let him go again when she saw the look on his face. "Come one, Malfoy. Think about it. Just think about it."

He looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Maybe I will, Weaselette," he said, and then he turned and left her standing dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway.

Ginny groaned. Now, that had gone well. She had neither gotten her poetry book, nor had he agreed to solve the mystery together with her. Wonderful! Was she so unconvinving? Obviously, she was. Of course, he might still agree to it after thinking about the whole thing, but there was little chance. Just like she had thought, to him, she was nothing but an annoying little Weasel, and he didn't under any circumstance want to be seen with her. She wouldn't solve the mystery. Once again, the others would...

"I'll do it."

Ginny jumped when she saw Malfoy standing in front of her again as if he had never left.

"Are you out of your mind? You scared me to death!" Ginny cried out angrily.

"I thought about it," Malfoy said, as if it was the most natural thing to think about something in so short a time, "And I'll agree under two conditions."

Ginny's heart almost stopped. He'd agree? "Yes?"

"You won't get your poetry book back until we have solved that thing."

"That's unfair," Ginny growled, "What good does that to me? You'll read it out to-"

"I won't. I'll just keep it. "

"Okay, fine. And the second thing?"

"I'm the leader; I make the decisions."

"Malfoy, that's really not fair! I-"

"I will not give your stupid book back otherwise. Deal?"

Ginny sighed heavily. Deal, he asked? What did she have to lose anyway? After all, that was all she had wanted from him, to help her with the mystery, and he also still had her poetry book which she needed back desperately.

"Deal," she said.

***

Two weeks later, precicely at midnight, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy sneaked into the restricted section of the library. As Ginny had found out when eavesdropping on the trio, they had checked all the books in the non-restricted section, and Ginny was hoping that Hermione would never miss something there. It saved her and Malfoy a lot of time, and left only the restricted section to look for information about the legend.

Ginny had unfortunately also found out that she knew nothing about the legend, that none of her numerous "History and Mystery" volumes contained any information about said legend, and so her advantage of being a pureblood witch who had always been interested in history was gone. She was sure she hadn't forgotten any of the stories her mother had told her; thus, this legend obviously was not a commonly known one. Malfoy had not heard of it either, but that wasn't surprising, since he admitted himself that history had never interested him at all.

Both of them were now wrapped in wide night black robes, Ginny's a hand down old cheap one from the second hand shop in Diagon Alley, Malfoy's a shiny, velvet, brand new designer robe, obviously expensive and most likely bought abroad.

Malfoy had insisted only researching during the night and secretly. He didn't want to be seen with Ginny, and he didn't want to be seen researching.

"I have, after all, a reputation to keep up," he now elaborated for the third time since they had met at the top of the stairs to the dungeons. "And it wouldn't do my status any good if I was seen doing non-school research with a Weasley."

"Why are you doing it then?" Ginny snapped at him angrily, but he only gave her a cold glare, and both of them fell silent again.

She knew, of course, why he was doing it. It was because he wanted to outdo Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Over the past years, Draco Malfoy had neither been able to be top of the class nor able to beat Harry in Quidditch. Everyone knew that Malfoy was ambitious and always trying to be the best, and this seemed to be his perfect chance to beat those two people who had always outdone him before. In order to beat them, he even agreed to "work" together with a Weasley.

Ginny shook her head irritably. They hadn't exactly worked together so far. Actually, they hadn't done anything at all, but the way this meeting had been agreed upon on showed how Malfoy wanted it to be. After lunch, he had simply bumped into her - her shoulder still hurt from it - and scowled, "Watch where you're going Weasley!" and then, for nobody to hear, he had quickly whispered into her ear, "Midnight, top of the stairs leading to the dungeons." She hadn't even had the time to agree or deny, because he had sauntered away with his Slytherin allies immediately.

She had been extremly annoyed about his behaviour, but still decided to go meet him. She could show him that it wasn't going to work like this later. And she definitely would show him.

They reached the library soon enough, and getting inside wasn't exactly difficult. Every student somehow knew the password, and Ginny had often been there to study at night when she couldn't fall asleep.

Getting into the restricted section, however, was new to her, and she didn't have any idea how to do it. Malfoy seemed to have no such problem, as he walked right over to the large wooden doors that separated the restricted section from the general section of the library.

Ginny watched him curiously as he came to stop right in front of it and drew his wand. He tapped the right door twice, the left door once, quietly muttered an incantation she couldn't decipher, and then tapped the keyhole of the right door. It opened silently.