Fragments

Chapter 3

Anonymous Phone Calls

Ginny Weasley looked around the Great Hall and could barely suppress a grin. Any way you looked at it, it was just funny: students dancing everywhere with Professor McGonagall leading them. Looking over at Malfoy she saw the blonde slightly swaying with the music. Ginny raised an eyebrow and looked at him with an amused grin. After a moment he realized that she was looking at him.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled after a moment, which made Ginny grin wider.

"Don't you like the music, Malfoy?" she yelled back. "It looks like you're having a pretty good time."

"I do not like Muggle music!" he snapped over the sound. "And it's too bloody loud!" he concluded, crossing his arms. Ginny rolled her eyes and turned back towards the doors, having the feeling that Malfoy liked the music more than he was letting on.

As the doors to the Great Hall closed, the sound of Jordy Birch drifted into nothingness. Ginny looked around and found herself once again alone with Malfoy. He stopped suddenly and turned to her, grabbing her wrist.

"Alright Weasley," he said in a dangerous voice, his blue-grey eyes flashing. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she sneered and tried to jerk her wrist back, only causing him to hold on tighter. "Hey-" she started, but was cut off.

"Don't you think it's a little odd, Weasley," he hissed, pulling her closer to him. "That your dreams and imagination have taken over Hogwarts? How there seems to be nothing of me here but my body?" Ginny stopped struggling, she hadn't really thought of it that way.

"What are you saying?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm saying, Weasley," he sneered back. "That I don't think we are in Hogwarts anymore."

"What?" she gasped. "Then where in Merlin's name are we?"

"Tell me," he started. "Have you ever seen the Slytherin Common Room entrance?"

"Uh, no," she said, curious as to what he was getting at.

"And did you see that old bat Moody turn me into a ferret and bounce me around?" he asked seriously.

"Yes," she said with a giggle, remembering it. "You made a very cute--Ow!" she was cut off once again by him twisting her wrist and glaring angrily at her. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Anyway, I am assuming that the game show had some sort of impact in your life." She nodded slightly, remembering how hard she and her friends had laughed. "And I am also assuming that your fantasies about Snape are your childish way to make him seem less threatening." She frowned at that but kept her mouth shut. "Same goes for McGonagall. And did you ever envision Hogwarts with red carpet?"

She paused for a moment to think. Memories came to the surface of her mind and with a slight frown she said: "Yes. When I was little I always thought it had red carpet from the stories Bill and Charlie would tell me."

"How quaint," Malfoy said sarcastically. She glared at him but he ignored her and continued. "And I suppose you never looked at the paintings in the dungeons."

"No," she said, realizing that she really hadn't. "But then... what does it all mean? Where are we?"

"I think," he paused, frowning, "That we are in your mind."

"WHAT?!" she screamed, causing him to frown even more. "How the hell are we in my mind?! And why are you here?!"

"I don't know!" he snapped back. "Something probably happened when you knocked me down the stairs."

"It was Peeves!" she bellowed. "And it was your fault!"

"That old ghost is crazy," he snarled.

"That's it," Ginny said slowly, realization hitting her. "It was Peeves."

"Well you already said he "knocked" you down the stairs. What does that have to do with me being trapped in your head?" he hissed.

"You've touched a ghost before, right?" He rolled his eyes at her. "I'll take that as a yes. It just feels all cold right?" He nodded impatiently. "Well, when I touched Peeves, it felt like I was dying inside."

"That's impossible," he sneered. "Ghosts can't kill you by touching you."

"I know that," she snapped. "They also can't push you down the stairs, can they?"

"Either way, how the hell do I get out of here?" he sighed.

"You?" she demanded. "What about me?"

"It's your mind Weasley," he hissed.

"So?" she demanded. "Doesn't mean I want to stay in it. I like the waking world just fine, thank you very much."

"Whatever," he said, finally letting go of her wrist. She began to rub it. "Let's just go to your bloody Common Room. It's where you spend most of your time, right?" She nodded. "Maybe we'll find a way out in there."

"Maybe." She shrugged. "I assume you know the way there?"

"But of course," he said valiantly.

"Why am I not surprised," she muttered shaking her head.

~*~

After a few flights of stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny began to hear giggling. She looked towards Malfoy, who was walking beside her, to see that he heard it as well.

"Now what?" he asked her, irritation in his voice.

"Dunno," she said with a shrug. "But I think it is coming from down here." She walked towards the hall that led to Professor Flitwick's Charms classroom. As they approached the door she confirmed that the giggling was definitely coming from inside, for the sound got much louder and more defined.

She reached out her hand to open the door but Malfoy's hand shot out and grabbed hers. She looked up at him with a mixture of aggravation and curiosity.

"Before we go in there," he drawled, looking at her coolly. "What do you think of Flitwick?"

"He's short and funny," she said simply, taking her hand out of his grasp and opening the door. She felt her jaw drop and saw Malfoy do the same.

Inside the room were about three dozen dwarfs, goblins, and other short creatures and people. They were all lounging in the desks or just standing about giggling insanely at what appeared to be a Muggle television. She could see the show Friends was playing on the screen but couldn't figure out why they were laughing so hard. They seemed to be the new episodes, not the old.

She shifted her eyes to the front of the classroom where Professor Flitwick was standing on his usual pile of books. Above his head was a giant sign that read: Professor Flitwick's Club for Vertically Challenged People, in bold red letters.

None of the occupants seemed to notice the two of them standing in the doorway for they continued with their insane giggling. Ginny simply stood there staring into the room. 'It must be true then,' she thought numbly. 'I dreamt this two weeks ago. We must be in my mind. But how? And why is Malfoy here? What if he is nothing more than a part of me?' she thought suddenly, 'What would that mean?' After a moment she felt Malfoy pry her fingers off the doorknob (which she was holding onto very tightly) and close the door. She turned and looked at him, still wide-eyed.

"You're a twisted child, you know that, right, Weasley?" he asked, glancing at the door wearily. All Ginny could do was nod her head then once again continue the trek to her common room, Malfoy following close behind.

~*~

After the Flitwick incident, it did not take long for Ginny to get to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Instead of wearing her usual pink dress, the Fat Lady was wearing blue. Ginny rose her eyebrow at this but decided not to say anything to Malfoy. 'Did I ever actually think that?' she wondered but her musings were cut short.

"Password dears?" the Fat Lady asked. Malfoy turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Uh..." Ginny started. 'What was it again?' she thought a little worriedly. It wasn't like her to forget the password.

"You don't know it, do you?" Malfoy sneered after a moment. "We are in your mind and you don't remember. Are you by chance related to Longbottom?"

Ginny looked at him angrily but again turned to the Fat Lady, deciding to take a chance. "Snootchy Bootchies?" she said tentatively. To her immense relief the painting swung forward to reveal the entrance of the Common Room. She grinned at Malfoy and stuck her tongue out at him.

Upon entering, Ginny was a little disturbed to see the room full. Everywhere she looked she saw people waving at her and smiling. None of them however, seemed to notice Malfoy, much to her relief. If they really were in her mind then they had better be careful. She had imagined some pretty twisted ways to seek revenge on him.

"Hey Ginny!" she heard a familiar voice call. She looked to her left and took a double take. Fred and George were standing in their usual corner, wearing their school robes. She walked over to them, Malfoy trailing behind, looking around.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked skeptically. "You left last year."

"We're baaaaack!" George said beaming.

"Great huh?" said Fred.

"Um... sure," Ginny said slowly, wondering why her mind thought they would return. Sure it was fun having them around (there was rarely a dull moment), yet she still wanted them to have success in their lives and not become professional students or something like that.

"Oh my god," she heard Malfoy mutter, interrupting her thoughts.

"Excuse me," she said to the twins and turned towards him. "What?" she asked.

"It's Potter," he started, staring wide-eyed at something.

"What about him?" Ginny asked impatiently. 'It's the Common Room for crying out loud! He's always in here.'

"He has a mullet!" he said in wide-eyed disbelief.

"What?" she snapped back. "That's impo-" she stopped short after following his gaze and saw Harry with a mullet. And a greasy one no less. She gasped Grace-style. "Oh my god!"

"Hey Ginny!" her brother, Ron, called her over from beside the mullet clad Harry. She gulped then slowly walked towards them. "Hey Gin," her brother greeted her. "You wanna go to the Yule Ball with Harry?" he asked. She heard Malfoy laugh behind her.

"Um..." she started. 'This is just like my bloody third year,' she thought. 'Except now I have no one to go with and I don't like him anymore.' She glanced at the mullet boy beside her brother. "I'm already going with someone."

"Who?" Ron asked in disbelief. Harry simply stared at her. 'I can't say Neville," she thought, so she picked then next best man.

"With him," she said, gesturing over her shoulder at Malfoy who instantly stopped laughing. "Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy and my sister?" Ron demanded, turning red.

"Yup," Ginny chirped. "Ain't it great? Got to go!" She hooked her hand back and grabbed a still stunned Malfoy's arm. She then pulled him up to her dorm room. It was deserted and looked just as it should.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded after a moment as she began to search her room for anything unusual.

"Oh come on," she sighed, looking under her bed. "It's not like they're real. They aren't going to remember any of it."

"Yeah, but I will," he said in a daze.

"It wouldn't be that bad," she hissed and threw a pillow from her bed at him.

"Hey!" he called and threw the pillow back, hitting her in the face. Ginny made a squeak and reached down to grab another pillow, not letting her eyes leave Malfoy who was now trying to hide behind the bedpost. Her hand clasped around what seemed to be a book. Looking down she let out a horrified scream and flung it at the wall opposite her as though the object had burnt her hand. It hit it with a loud 'thunk' and fell to the floor. 'Oh no,' she thought with horror, staring at the book. 'He can't be here as well.'

"What has gotten into you Weasley?" Malfoy drawled as he walked over and picked up the book. "It's just a diary." He looked down at it. "Hey, isn't this the one that Potter had back in my second year? What are you doing with Potter's diary?" He moved to open it.

"DON'T!" she shrieked, leaping over the bed and knocking it from his hands. "It's not Harry's! It's Tom's!"

"Tom?" he asked confused. "Tom who?"

"Tom Riddle!" she snapped. "AKA Voldemort."

He looked down at the book.

"Oh," was all he said.

There was a sudden noise that caused Ginny to jump and look around frantically.

"What now?" he asked her exasperatedly.

"Don't you hear that?" she asked. He just raised his eyebrows at her. "It sounds like some sort of ringing," she said, walking towards the door, the diary lying on the ground. Forgotten.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To find out what it is," she said and walked out of her dorm and back down to the Common Room. She let out a gasp of surprise when she realized everyone was gone.

"Where did they all go?" she asked Malfoy as he stopped just behind her.

"How am I supposed to know, Weasley," he sneered. "It's your mind. Not mine. I'm just along for the ride."

"Lucky me," she muttered darkly and proceeded to leave the room. Once back in the hallway they walked in silence, with Ginny leading.

"So what is it that you hear exactly?" Malfoy said after a few minutes.

Ginny stopped. "You really can't hear it?" she asked, turning to face him. He shook his head. 'I wonder why?' she thought. "It's some sort of ringing but it has pauses in it." She said softly. "And it's really bloody annoying," she hissed after a moment.

He seemed to be looking at her almost sympathetically but she brushed it off as a bored look. 'Why would Malfoy offer me sympathy,' she thought and continued towards the ringing noise, which was becoming ever louder and more distinct. Malfoy followed her after a moment and began walking to her left.

They rounded a corner to their right and Ginny stopped short, Malfoy right along side her.

"Is that..." He trailed off, staring at the two figures before them.

"Dumbledore and Voldemort wearing baseball caps?" she asked. He nodded slowly. "Yup. I think I dreamt this a few months ago." She grinned and regarded the scene. Alubus Dumbledore and Voldemort were both crouched on the ground alongside a phoenix and a large snake. Both were wearing baseball-caps (Dumbledore's was red, Voldemort's green) and seemed about ready to race the creatures against each other.

"My Fawkes can beat your stupid old snake any day," Dumbledore said like one school boy taunting another.

"Nu-uh," Voldemort said in much the same tone. "Nagini is ten times better than your prissy looking bird."

Malfoy turned to Ginny and looked at her. "Why the hell are we standing here?" he asked.

"Because it might help us figure a way out of here," she said then added, "Besides, I can't remember how it ends." At this she saw Malfoy roll his eyes. She ignored him and turned her attention back to the boyish looking men.

"Hey! My "Prissy looking bird" made your crappy wand!" Dumbledore snapped.

"So?" Voldemort hissed. "My "stupid old snake" tried to eat the Boy Who Lived. Beat that!"

"My bird saved the Boy Who Lived," he hissed back.

"Dude!" Voldemort gasped with a mixture of shock and astonishment.

It was at this moment that the two creatures before them decided that their owners were not serious about the race and decided to take matters into their own hands. Or rather, beak and fangs. They shot out without warning and darted down the hall, both neck and neck with each other.

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan's voice suddenly boomed through the hallway. "It looks like they are at a complete stalemate. Neither seems to be able to pull ahead of the other!" Dumbledore and Voldemort stopped bickering, looked at each other then took off down the hall after their pets. The creatures rounded a corner and disappeared from sight, the two men following suit.

"Oh," Ginny said simply. "That's what happened." Malfoy sighed in annoyance.

"Figures," he muttered then turned and faced her. "Isn't there something you were chasing after?" he asked her pointedly.

She paused and listened for the noise. It was still there, and sounded closer than ever. "This way," she said simply and headed off down the hall in the opposite direction the others had gone. A second later she rounded a corner, Malfoy behind her, and stopped in front of a door.

"In there?" he asked her. She nodded, then took a deep breath and opened the door. The sound increased exponentially and she covered her ears. Malfoy now seemed to hear it as well for he did the same. The classroom was empty except for what appeared to be a Muggle telephone booth in the center of the room.

"It's a telephone!" she said as realization struck her.

"So?" Malfoy called. "Now what? How do you get it to shut up?!"

Rolling her eyes, Ginny walked over to the booth, opened the door and grabbed the phone, which was shaking slightly as it rung. She paused a moment then lifted it off the receiver and raised it to her ear. Unlike her brother, Ginny knew enough about Muggle technology to work it if the need arose. The ringing stopped mid ring and Malfoy lowered his hands and walked up to the door of the booth.

"What is it?" he asked her but she ignored him. She could hear breathing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" she asked nervously. Who could be phoning her in her head?

"Ginny," a horribly familiar voice said. "It is so good to hear your voice again after all these years. I am waiting for you, just as I said I would. You know where I am. I can't wai-"

Ginny ripped the phone from her ear and stumbled backwards in fright. Malfoy, who was standing in the doorway, fell to the ground in surprise. She went right down with him.

"Weasley," he growled. "What the hell?! Get off me!"

Ginny looked down and vaguely realized she was sitting on Malfoy's chest. She shifted and sat on the ground beside him. He sat up and looked at her angrily.

"What was that all about?" he snarled.

"He's here," Ginny said numbly, staring at the phone which was now hanging by the cord, swinging slightly.

"What?" Malfoy asked in confusion. "Who's here?"

"He's in my head," she said, not listening to him. "He's still here. He's been here the whole time."

"Who?!" he demanded, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to look at him. She looked into his blue-grey eyes.

"Tom Riddle."

~*~