Swordless Battles

Chapter One

A Horde of Slytherins

'Hi, may I sit here?' asked a timid voice. Over the noise of the chasing students in the corridor, Ginny hadn't heard the door open, and the girl standing in the doorway caught her by surprise.

''Course. Help yourself.'

The other girl smiled, and leaned back into the corridor, giving Ginny a few seconds to dry her eyes.

'Oi, Blaise, Pansy, Draco, come here!' the girl called into the corridor, waving her hand rather wildly to catch the attention of someone at the other end of the wagon. 'Vincent, Greg! There is an empty compartment over here.'

A feeling of foreboding filled Ginny. . . . She had heard those names before, and although she was quite unable to place them, she instinctively knew they meant nothing good.

Ginny looked closer at the other girl. She was younger than Ginny, had long, very light hair that reached to the small of her back, and bright blue eyes. She turned around and smiled at Ginny, who instinctively got up to help the younger girl carry in her trunk. After all, as a Prefect, she was meant to help other students.

'Thanks. I'm Selene.'

'Gins,' answered Ginny. She had gotten the idea for that name from Tonks, and she was very fond of it.

'Is that short for something?' asked Selene, her blue eyes looking lively and very interested.

'Virginia,' replied Ginny. 'Virginia Weasley.'

At this, Selene paled slightly. 'Uh-oh. I think I just ruined your trip to Hogwarts.'

Ginny looked at Selene, puzzled.

'Well, just don't mention your surname, and you might be alright. I'm Selene Cathering, by the way.'

She leaned out of the door again.

'Looks like the boys stopped in by Potter's compartment,' she informed Ginny. 'That will be a long wait.' She shot Ginny another one of those radiant smiles, and sat down opposite from her. 'What year are you in?'

For a moment, Ginny wanted to just answer, but then she realized this was her unique chance to see if she really looked like a second-year. 'What do you think?'

Selene paused for a moment, eyeing Ginny, and then, as if she had come to a decision, she brushed a loose strand of her pale blonde hair from her eyes and said: 'Well, that depends. See, around this age, it is very hard to tell. Height no longer works as a clue, because some girls stop growing around fourteen and stay that way. I guess you're either my age or older, which would make you fourth year or up. And, of course, you could as well be a seventh year.'

Ginny's face slowly brightened at Selene's diplomatic but true answer, and she smiled. 'I'm fifth-year,' she said. 'Gryffindor Prefect.'

'Oh, good job,' said Selene, nodding in respect, 'I'd like to be prefect next year. I'm in Slytherin.'

'Oh. . . .' This took Ginny by surprise, and not a pleasant one. Selene frowned at Ginny's expression. Just then, the door slid open and several people entered.

Ginny's face copied the one on Selene's when she recognized Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, and she scowled openly when Draco Malfoy entered, followed by his two bodyguards. Malfoy—the word filled her with blazing fury. She could still see, in her mind, the little "I" badge on his robes. . . him tossing Harry's wand up and down in Umbridge's office. . . him boasting about his father, who Ginny had had the misfortune to meet. . . .

'My sunshine,' said Malfoy emotionlessly, nodding to Selene. 'A classmate?' he asked, carelessly, his eyes flicking onto Ginny for the shortest moment. He didn't wait for an answer, but Selene must have expected that, because she didn't even open her mouth to give one. Crabbe and Goyle moved next to Ginny and begun eyeing her like she was a piece of cake, while Malfoy sat opposite from them, surrounded by the three girls. Ginny gave the whole lot a disgusted look, especially the two boys next to her. So much for privacy.

'So, what happened during the summer?' asked Pansy.

'You act like you didn't see me two weeks ago,' drawled Malfoy. 'Remember? The ball at my father's mansion?' He was talking to he like she was completely daft, but Pansy didn't seem to mind, because she responded:

'Well, don't tell me your life is so boring that nothing has happened for the last two weeks.'

Yeah, you ran into us in Diagon Alley and came off definitely worse. Remember? Ginny's lips curled into a self-satisfied smile, and she hid her face behind a book.

But Malfoy merely answered 'Watch whose life you call boring,' which seemed to end the conversation.

'So how was the ball?' asked Blaise, toying with her beautiful chestnut hair. Ginny had never given the Slytherin lot much notice - they slimy gits were a bit hard to miss anyways - but now she saw they all held themselves high and looked proud and elegant, compared to the people Ginny knew. Next to Blaise Zabini, she felt like a little hunched-down acne-covered teenager.

'It was magnificent,' answered Pansy, her eyes gaining a dreamy look

.

'It was the same as usual, except they forgot the caviar.'

Ginny might have just imagined it, but Selene seemed to be hiding a smile at Malfoy's last comment. She couldn't resist the temptation of openly mocking Malfoy without him realizing it.

'What a pity,' she cooed in a falsely sweet voice before she could stop herself. 'And you were looking forward to that so much.' For a moment, Ginny dreaded being recognized, as if she was a spy in an enemy camp, but instead, Malfoy met her with a challenging look.

'Yes, the caviar usually makes the ball almost worth coming to,' he answered lazily, wiping the smile off Pansy's face. Ginny saw that as a point for herself, and she straitened up all of sudden, feeling taller and older.

'Your girlfriend doesn't seem too happy about that,' she copied his lazy tone, except she added a hint of indifference and sarcasm to it. 'I advise you to use "Pansy" instead of "caviar" and "definitely" instead of "almost" next time. It might actually sound like a compliment, then.' She gave him a skeptical look, clearly displaying her opinion on his overall ability to compliment someone else then the person he saw in the mirror every morning.

'Well, you have a point, there is a set similarity between food and girls,' he answered at once, looking at her as if she were a two-day-old, dry, skinny chicken leg.

'Like what, the fact that your two cronies keep eyeing me like I were an apple pie?'

'That, too,' he answered, and as Ginny felt her anger rising, she thought she saw a spark of amusement in Malfoy's eyes.

'Well, at least food is easier to get than girls,' concluded Ginny, hoping this principle was true in the Slytherin house.

'Once both objects gain the characteristic of being strongly worth the effort, the amount of energy given into obtaining of either of them becomes equal.'

'Hey, you can't buy a girlfriend,' Ginny objected bluntly, trying to hold onto her common sense.

'You really think so?' answered Malfoy, and left that question open for her interpretation as he turned back to Blaise.

Ginny stared for a few moments in his direction, pondering over the last comment, and then decided he had a point, because Blaise and Pansy were probably interested in him mainly for his money. She should have phrased the question differently. Maybe "You can't buy love" would have worked, but then again, you can trust Malfoy to interpret that wrong too.

Eventually, Ginny lost track of the conversation, and begun watching the nature outside the window, which now became less cultivated and, for Ginny, much more pleasant to watch. Ginny was very deep in thought by the time the food trolley arrived, and she only returned to reality when Pansy waved her well-manicured hand in front of Ginny's face and snickered.

'Why, daydreaming about the best-looking boy at Hogwarts?' Malfoy asked maliciously.

'Harry?' Ginny blinked, confused. She hadn't even been thinking about him.

'No, stupid. Me.'

As if on cue, Crabbe and Goyle began guffawing. Pansy and Blaise collapsed into a fit of giggles. Ginny gave Malfoy a furious look, and he smirked at her.

'Right,' Ginny concluded wryly, her voice showing exactly her opinion on Malfoy's good looks.

'Anything off the trolley, dears?'

Ginny glanced at the plump witch with the snack trolley. She really didn't have any money on her, and even if she did, she wasn't about to waste it on food. But how could she not order anything without having to endure sarcastic remarks?

'Six of everything,' said Malfoy, clearly unhelpful on purpose. 'On me.'

Ginny looked at Selene for help, and then turned her frustrated look on Malfoy, who pointedly ignored her.

'Five sugar quills, two chocolate frogs and a saccharine apple,' she ordered haughtily. 'On the individual who thinks he's the "best-looking boy at Hogwarts", of course.' Malfoy fumed, but Ginny arranged her face to look wide-eyed and innocent, and he sighed and pulled out his gold.

Yesss. Ginny just made Malfoy's pockets several sickles lighter just using her verbal skills. She must tell Ron about that one. If Ron will have the time to listen, that is.

...

The rest of the trip passed pleasantly, or as pleasantly as it could when sitting in a compartment full of Slytherins. Ginny and Selene found a familiar ground - they spent most of the time playing chess, even, though reluctantly, joined by Malfoy for a game. To his complete fury and Ginny's delight, Ginny won, but it was a close miss. And a hard game.

Malfoy was a good player, she had to admit. He didn't mind sacrificing pieces when necessary, but never did so recklessly, or just for the fun of letting the opponent see he'd do anything to win. Just then, in the last part of the game, it occurred to Ginny that all she knew about Malfoy was that he was a son of a death-eater and worshipped his father, and most likely Voldemort as well. But still, in a way, she didn't know Malfoy. And wasn't the first rule of the Auror Academy: 'Know thy enemy'?

Ginny rarely played a game this hard, unless it was against Ron. And even when she played against Ron, she knew most of his plays and moves, since he was the one who taught her to play chess in the first place. Playing a stranger was something else.

Selene was an average player. She absent-mindedly fingered a moon-shaped silver charm she wore on a fine silver chain around her neck while the thought of her next move, and it was obvious she had a general idea of what she was doing but never had had as much practice as Ginny.

Having nothing better to do, Ginny played with Selene until they were nearing Hogwarts. Ginny had learned it was a common tradition in the Slytherin house to go change one's robes in the bathroom. It made sense, too, since Ginny doubted Slytherins wore Muggle clothes underneath their robes like she did. As Ginny returned into the compartment, she clasped the red-and-gold prefect badge onto her robes and quickly pulled her cloak on over it. Carefully, she perched her wizard hat on top of her red hair, and exchanged a brief glace with Selene.

'I suppose I'll see you around, then,' said Selene, a bit nervously, when it was only the two of them in the compartment.

'Yeah, definitely,' confirmed Ginny, nodding. She smiled at Selene, who smiled back, and glanced over her shoulder at the crowd of Slytherins, who seemed to be waiting for her.

'And. . .' her voice dropped, 'I'm sorry about—you know. . . .' her voice trailed off, but she cast another look towards the waiting Slytherins, and Ginny understood.

'No problem,' grinned Ginny. 'At least I got to see what it's like to be on the other side of the enemy line.'

It had been a joke, of course, but Selene gave her and odd look.

'Let's go, then,' said the blonde finally, and they both followed Blaise out of the compartment, an uneasy silence hovering in the air like a dementor.

Once out of the train, Ginny quickly separated from the group - she didn't know she had felt strained until she realized how relieved it felt to be able to spell "Ginny Weasley" with every inch of your body. She stood on her tiptoes, looking for the familiar red hair so similar to her own, accompanied by black and bushy brown. When she failed to find the three Gryffindors, she looked around for any other familiar face: Dean, or any of her classmates. . . Colin, for example, or Luna. . . but she didn't find any. Shrugging off a feeling of loneliness, she decided she might as well hold up to her Prefect duty and supervise the students as they filled the thestral-driven carriages.

'Please fill the all the carriages,' she called over the chattering crowd. 'Do not push each other. There is enough seats for everyone!'

Ginny broke up a group of fighting third-years, criticizing the Gryffindors harder than the others, naturally. It was a trait Ginny had, rather unwillingly, picked up from McGonagall. The Gryffindors were still glaring at her, scowling and talking, doubtlessly insulting her behind her back, when she sent a bleeding second-year into the hospital wing, escorted by a Hufflepuff fourth-year. Ginny was just explaining to a group of frightened-looking Ravenclaw second-years what those "spooky horse things" were when she heard a hiss in her ear from behind: 'You're threading on thin ice, Weasley.'

Ginny whipped around to see Malfoy glaring at her. It was the most unnerving glare she had ever been given. She cringed. She hated being crept upon from behind, and she was allergic to having people disrespect her personal space. Physically as well as mentally.

'Lost Potter, have you?' he asked. 'Tell, me, Weasley, does he know you spend hours daydreaming about him? Do you think he even cares you think he's the best-looking guy in this school?'

Ginny didn't like Malfoy's tone. It was obvious he was aiming for where it hurt the most, right into Ginny's own doubts. But why?

'What do you want,' she asked, pretending to be bored.

'You know what? I'm not at all surprised by Potter's obliviousness. I mean, who'd notice you.'

'What do you want, Malfoy,' she snarled.

'Oh, looks like I hit a nerve. I never knew it was me you were after.'

The world turned red, and for a few moments little sparks danced in front of Ginny's eyes.

'What do you want, Malfoy?'

'Just to warn you,' he said, in his most derisive tone. 'Go back to your brother dearest before you get hurt, little girl. You don't know what you're doing, mixing with the Slytherins.'

'Who do you think you are?' fumed Ginny, flushed with fury.

'Oh, I'm pretty much the leader of the sixth-year Slytherins,' he replied lightly.

Ginny snorted, but it was a faked snort. Make the enemy feel they're loosing, said a voice in Ginny's head. 'Of course, with your father in Azkaban and your family honor all stomped over in the daily prophet. You lost all your power, Malfoy, and you know it.'

'Shut up.' Ginny had never heard two words said so venomously. 'Shut your filthy blood-traitor mouth about my family.'

Ginny found herself backing away as Malfoy advanced on her. 'Detention, Malfoy,' said Ginny, but her voice was a bit too quiet and high-pitched.

Malfoy laughed, and it was cruel laughter. It made Ginny tremble.

'Same to you, Weasley,' he snarled. 'And I swear to you, if you don't keep away from Selene, I'm going to kill you.'

This was enough of a shock to make Ginny find her voice. 'How dare-'

But he had already disappeared into the mass of students, leaving Ginny standing there, fist balled, fuming. It was all some stupid prank. It had to be, Malfoy was a prefect, he wouldn't. . . . Ginny decided he couldn't have been serious. So it had all been a stupid joke. And Ginny had fallen for it.

'Who was that?' asked one of the second-years Ravenclaws. He was trembling. It was obvious he had heard every word of the exchange.

Ginny bit back an insult. In fact, she decided to refrain from mentioning Malfoy's house as well. As a prefect, favoritism of houses was supposed to be beneath her. In fact, favoritism of houses was supposed to have been beneath her even before she had become a prefect. Or so Angelina had said.

'Oh, just Malfoy,' she said breezily to the Ravenclaws. 'Draco Malfoy, sixth-year. But you know, his bark I much worse than his bite.'

I hope, added Ginny's mind.

But her mind reeled all throughout the ride back to Hogwarts. Had he been just acting, or had he been serious? She really did not know her enemies if she couldn't be sure if they were lying or not. The look of pure hatred in his eyes—but he had acted quite civil in that compartment. Had that been just because there were other Slytherins present? Should Ginny be afraid for her own life? Should she tell the teachers, or at least Ron? And most of all, why would he want her to keep away from one Selene Cathering? Ginny decided the best idea was to simply ask Selene about it. In anyone knew, it would be the blonde fourth-year Slytherin.