The Lady's Apprentice

Chapter I: The Little Glass Pyramid

She was running. She was always running, endlessly.

The forest grew darker as she ran deeper inside. She could hear heavy foot falls behind her, but she kept on moving. She wouldn't let them get her. She'd never let them get her.

She tripped over the root of a tree, falling flat on the hard forest floor. She panicked, pulling herself up and looking frantically behind. She could see their shadowed figures. They were nearing.

She stumbled again as she ran forward, tripping over her own feet.

Vaguely aware that she was what they were after, and of who they were...They weren't teachers, she knew, they were far worse. And she knew they were more menacing even than Death Eaters.

She felt her chest tighten as she forced herself forward. Breathing soon became a burden and she needed to rest, but where could she rest in the Forbidden Forest? She was trying to escape one danger, only to send herself into another greater risk.

She fell again, smacking the side of her face on the trunk of a tree. She tried to get to her feet, but found herself trapped as the tree branches scraped at her face.

The foot treads came nearer and she cried out, just as the forest became a whirl of dull colour, fading into nothingness...

***

Ginny Weasley woke, startled.

She was lying on the damp grass near the lake, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Night had fallen and the moon and stars were in the sky, shining down on Hogwarts. The reflection of the stars on the lake glittered like white diamonds in a black cave.

Ginny sighed and sat up, clutching her pounding head. This was the second time she'd woken up on the Hogwarts lawn with no explanation as to how she'd gotten there.

The grounds were void of people, save Ginny herself, and dancing light could be seen shining in the castle windows. Ginny dragged herself to her feet and trudged slowly to the castle entrance.

It was yet the second week of term, and Ginny was now in her fifth year. Ginny wasn't a Prefect, which was a slight disappointment to her mother, but to her father's delight, she had made the Gryffindor Quidditch team in her fourth year.

Ginny slipped her hand into her robe pocket and picked out a little object she had come across three weeks prior to this evening. The little object was constructed from glass in the shape of a small pyramid. Ginny had considered it a belated birthday present from an anonymous source, and had forgotten to tell anybody about it.

She'd found a tawny owl on her bed at the Burrow, gripping a small package in its talons. Once Ginny had retrieved the package, the owl flew away without awaiting a return note. Ginny had hastily unwrapped the package and found a small glass pyramid. Engraved on one face of the pyramid was the word 'Perimonath.'

Thus far, Ginny didn't know the pyramid to have any special powers, but sometimes she felt it could be dangerously powerful in the right hands. But perhaps she was only exaggerating at these times.

Of course, even if the pyramid were dangerous, Ginny wouldn't seek help from anybody nor tell anybody she had it, because she almost wanted it to be a danger. It had been almost five years since she had properly encountered great evil, and though she wouldn't admit it, she hoped for another perilous situation to come upon her.

The Hogwarts entrance hall was deserted, so Ginny decided to go straight to her dormitory. She climbed the marble staircase, the pyramid still in hand.

Ginny tripped over the top step, landing face flat on the landing.

Unfortunately, somebody saw.

"Well, Weasley," Draco Malfoy drawled. "Where have you been? Were you eating a second supper? Of course, if you want to fit into your fat mother's old robes as a means of saving money, you'll need to gain a little weight so you'll need all the practise you can get!"

Ginny clenched her fists and got to her feet, scowling. "Don't you dare insult my mother," she said through clenched teeth.

"I'll insult whoever I please," said Draco. Then his eyes drifted to her right hand, which was holding the little glass pyramid. "What's that you've got there, Weasley?" he said, eyeing it suspiciously.

Ginny tightened her grip on the pyramid and stuck her hand in her pocket.

For a moment, it looked as though Draco would reach into her pocket and retrieve the pyramid, but he quickly retreated. "Fine then, I don't care," he said. "I only hope it kills you."

Ginny fought down the urge to slap the blond haired boy across the face.

"And I'll bet Potter hopes it kills you too," said Draco. "And for that matter, I suppose Granger wants you gone and all. Really Weasley, does anybody like you?"

"Get out of my way," Ginny said, stepping forward trying to pass.

Draco blocked her way. "I don't think anyone does like you," he said. "You're always by yourself. It must get boring, having only yourself for console. You're a real waste of a person, you know that? Nothing should be so ugly and filthy, and not to mention queer."

Ginny glared up at Draco. He towered over her, being at least a head taller.

"You're also a waste of space," said Draco, grabbing Ginny's wrist. He forced her hand out of her pocket.

Ginny strengthened her hold on the pyramid. Unfortunately, she held it too tight, regretting it greatly later. The sharp edge of the glass pierced into the flesh of Ginny's palm painfully. Ginny winced at the pain, but held the pyramid tight.

Draco wrenched the little object out of Ginny's grasp. "All this trouble for a piece of glass?" he said, looking in disbelief at the cut across her palm. "This is certainly not crystal, if that's what you thought. But then again I suppose glass is a treasure for people who've never seen gold."

"Give it back, Malfoy!" Ginny yelled.

"Are you going to send this home to dear mummy and hope she can eat a decent meal for once?" said Draco. "Sorry to be the one to tell you Weasley, glass can't buy you anything."

Ginny raised her left hand, the one which had not been cut, as though to slap him, but Draco held her hand back with his own hand.

"Were you planning on transfiguring it?" Draco asked, still eyeing the pyramid. "Because you know, you'd need a brain to transfigure something, and a brain is definitely something you lack."

Without thinking, Ginny slapped Draco with her right hand, leaving a streak of blood across his pale face.

Draco dropped the pyramid and began rubbing furiously at his cheek. "Apologise for that!" he shouted. "And after that, beg for pity! Because Salazar have mercy, I will kill you, Weasley, mark my words!"

Ginny quickly picked up the pyramid which had fallen to the ground, stuffing it back into her pocket, and hurried away, not wanting to stay around because knowing Draco, he would probably go through with his promise and kill her, or at least torment her in some physical manner.

She scuttled to Gryffindor tower, walking as fast as was possible. The Gryffindor common room was packed, and Ginny was not in the mood for small talk with her fellow pupils, so she went straight to her own dormitory.

The other fifth year girls were still in the common room, so Ginny was alone in her dormitory. She sat down on her four-poster bed and drew the red hangings around herself.

She looked at the wound to her hand and blew at it furiously, hoping to numb the pain. Madam Pomfrey would probably have a quick cure to such a cut, but at that moment, Ginny didn't want to bother going to the hospital wing.

Ginny lay her head on her pillows and looked up at the ceiling. She became suddenly aware that there were tears streaming from her eyes. She wiped at them furiously with the backs of her hands.

The growing pain in her right hand was agonizing, but Ginny ignored the ache as best she could. She pulled the little glass pyramid out of her pocket and slipped it under her pillow, as she did every night in fear that someone may find it.

***

Draco stomped to the dungeons, trying to make as much noise as he could, which was difficult for one usually so light on his feet. He passed Millicent Bulstrode in the corridor, and he wasn't at all pleased when she winked at him.

The Slytherin common room was almost empty, save Pansy Parkinson and Morag MacDougal, who were whispering rapidly in a corner. Draco glared as he passed them, and to his dismay, Pansy giggled and blew him a kiss.

Thoroughly disgusted, Draco stormed into his own room, slamming the door as noisily as possible behind himself. He sat down on a side of his bed from where he could see his reflection in the long, upright mirror. He scowled when he saw the streak of blood across the cheek of his reflection.

"Weasley blood," he muttered, rubbing furiously at the bloodstain, which had now dried in an almost perfect straight line. As he rubbed, only a few smudges could be removed, but a line of red still remained on his cheek.

He raised his wand to his cheek. "Scrubbus," he muttered, expecting the blood to be cleaned away. However, the bloodstain remained. Draco cursed under his breath.

Just then, the door swung open and Pansy stood in the doorway.

"Hello, Draco," she said.

"I don't have time for you right now," said Draco.

"Ooh, you're hurt!" Pansy cried, swooping in on Draco. She spat on her hand and rubbed at his cheek. "Why won't the blood go away?" she asked. "Does it hurt?"

"I don't know why the blood won't go away," said Draco. "And no, it doesn't hurt."

"Do you want to go to the hospital wing?" said Pansy. "Do you want me to take you?"

"No, and no," said Draco. "I'm perfectly fine."

"You don't look fine," said Pansy. "How come you're bleeding?"

"I'm not bleeding," said Draco.

"But there's blood!" Pansy squealed.

"Pansy, please," said Draco. "Stop rubbing my cheek!"

"But I'm trying to clean it!" said Pansy.

"Well stop," said Draco. "It isn't helping. Now what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say hello," said Pansy. "Now is that so wrong?" She batted her false eyelashes in a way that made Draco want to vomit.

"Well I don't want to see you right now," said Draco. "So why don't you leave, and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay," said Pansy. "But it's Saturday tomorrow, so maybe we can spend the day together?"

"I don't know," said Draco. "I really wanted to, er, go flying tomorrow."

"I'll watch you," said Pansy. "And then maybe you could take me for a nice ride around the grounds."

"Pansy, get out," said Draco.

Pansy strolled to the door and exited the room.

"And close the door!" Draco added after her.

Of course, Pansy did not close the door, aggravating Draco even more than he already was. He got to his feet and slammed the door closed. He then proceeded to go into his bathroom, where he washed his face a total of seventeen times, without the result he hoped for, as a red streak shone across his left cheek, standing out against his pale skin like a Muggle in Diagon Alley.

***

Ginny awoke the next morning feeling terrible. Her throat was sore, her head was pounding, and her neck was stiff. Opening the hangings around her bed, she lifted her heavy eyelids and immediately shielded her eyes with her left arm as the brightness strained her vision. Pale yellow light flooded in through the windows, and the other four beds in the room were neatly made. Ginny groaned, dragging her body out of her bed.

She felt dizzy as she stood, and took a moment to focus her eyes, and still, her head spun achingly. She walked across the cold stone floor, shoulders hunched over, to the bathroom.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and scowled. Her eyes, which looked reddish and sore, had dark circles under them and her skin was flushed. There was no question about it, she looked ill.

Considering it was a Saturday, Ginny decided she would take a long, warm bath, hoping she would feel revived afterwards.

Unfortunately, Ginny's warm bath became a freezing bath. Ginny cursed whoever had used all the hot water, cursing magic plumbing for having limited heated water.

After her stressful bath, Ginny dressed into her robes. She looked only slightly better after bathing, but she still looked tired. Her head still hurt, but her neck was no longer terribly stiff, although her throat was still a little sore.

Ginny had almost forgotten about the cut she had received on her hand the previous night. She looked at her palm, where there was now a diagonal scab about three centimetres across. Ginny smiled at the scabbed cut; she was almost proud of it.

Finally, after she had stuffed the little glass pyramid from under her pillowcase into her pocket, she decided she was ready for breakfast, though it would be a later first meal than usual. Just before eleven o' clock, Ginny trudged out of Gryffindor tower and made her way towards the Great Hall.

As she was descending the marble staircase to the Entrance Hall, Ginny groaned at the sight of Draco Malfoy guarding the doors to the Great Hall, his goons Crabbe and Goyle on either side.

Draco didn't speak when he saw Ginny, but he eyed her suspiciously as she passed. Ginny was surprised to see that Draco still had the bloodstain across his cheek.

Only a few late breakfasters remained in the hall, most of them Hufflepuffs. Ginny took a seat at the Gryffindor table, where only two first years remained eating. Ginny shovelled food onto her plate, realising for the first time the hungry pain in the pit of her stomach.

After breakfast, Ginny made the quick decision to visit Hagrid, secretly hoping Harry would already be there. She left the Great Hall and passed Draco and his goons on her way out of the school. Luckily for her, Draco made no remark, nor did either of his practically voiceless comrades.

Ginny crossed the Hogwarts grounds to Hagrid's Hut. She found Hagrid outside, hunched over his garden.

"Morning, Hagrid,"Â Ginny said politely.

"All righ' Ginny?" said Hagrid, looking up at her. "What yer bin up to?"

"Oh nothing," said Ginny.Â

"Tha's nice," said Hagrid, returning to his work. "Yer wanna help me ou'?" he said, pulling some sort of plant out of the soil. "I've jus' gotta replan' pumpkin seeds. Apparan'ly, some wolves or summat got inter my crops las' night and ruined everythin'."

"Er, yeah, all right," said Ginny. "What do you want me to do?"

"Ge' me a shovel," said Hagrid.

Ginny crossed over to a shovel, which was leaning against the wall of Hagrid's cabin and passed it to him. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Nah, I'll be done in a sec," said Hagrid, stabbing the soil with the shovel. "You go inside an' make yerself at 'ome."

"Okay," said Ginny, leaving Hagrid to his work and entering his house.

Shortly, she was joined by Hagrid, who offered her tea and Ginny accepted graciously.

The two of them sat before the fire drinking tea in a happy sort of silence.

"I can't seem to figure out what 'appened to the pumpkins," said Hagrid.

"Didn't you say it was wolves?" said Ginny. "Or could it have been something else?"

"I don' know," said Hagrid. "It mighta bin wolves, or it coulda bin summat else. But what that summat is, I don' think I wan' ter know, if ya get my meanin."

Ginny shuddered ever so slightly at this thought. "It could just be wolves," she said, trying to reassure herself.

"But what would wolves want with my pumpkins?" asked Hagrid. "I think we're goin' to have ter look inter this properly. Ter tell yer the truth, and don' go tellin' people this, but I think it were horses."

"What about centaurs?" Ginny suggested. "Or unicorns?"

"It were horse hoofs," said Hagrid. "It was like someone rode a horse over the pumpkin patch."

"Why would anyone do that?" said Ginny.

"I don' know," said Hagrid. "Bu' I'm gonna talk to Dumbledore bout it. I might take a couple o' pupils inter the forest with me to look into it - we migh' just find a couple o' horse riders."

Ginny chuckled at the thought of horse riders in the forest, but Hagrid didn't seem to think it a chuckling matter, so she quickly retreated and turned her chuckle into a hacking cough.

"You feelin' okay?" Hagrid asked.

"I've just got a bit of a cough," said Ginny. "It's nothing terrible."

"Maybe yer should go ter the hospital wing," said Hagrid. "You migh' be gettin' ill."

"Oh, I'm all right," said Ginny. "Let's talk about something more pleasant, shall we?"

Ginny spent the afternoon with Hagrid, and didn't get back to Hogwarts until after tea. She had nothing to do back at the castle, so she went to her dormitory and decided to take a nap before supper.

***

Draco had spent the entire day avoiding Pansy, so he wasn't at all pleased when she tracked him down after tea.

"Draco," she said. "I haven't seen you all day! We were supposed to go flying together!"

"Oh, I changed my mind about that," said Draco.

"Where are you going now?" Pansy asked, noticing Draco had stood up and was on his way out of the common room.

"I don't know," said Draco. "Away from here." He really wanted to say 'Away from you,' but his father had told him many times to treat anybody and everybody in Slytherin with courtesy, as they were 'his people.'

Draco walked out of the dungeons, Pansy trailing him. When he reached the Entrance Hall, he saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger on their way out of the school.

"Well, well, look what the House Elves forgot to clean up," he drawled. "They're really slacking lately, don't you think?"

"Of course they are," Ron retorted. "You're still here, stinking up the whole bloody school with that rat stench."

"Ron, don't," Hermione protested. "Don't start any trouble."

"Why not, Mudblood? Afraid they won't make you Head Girl if you get into a spot of trouble?" said Draco. Â

Ron clenched his fists angrily at the sound of a word as nasty as 'Mudblood.'

"No, Ron," said Hermione. "Leave him, he isn't worth it."Â

"Not worth it?" said Pansy. "A pure-blood not worth it? You've got a lot to learn Mudblood, a lot to learn. You ought to be bowing down to me and Draco, you filthy Mudblood."

This time, Harry clenched his fists also.

"Just ignore them," said Hermione.

"If only it were that simple, Granger," said Draco. "I mean, I know Gryffindors are born ignorant and incompetent, but for something so clueless and dumb, it's hard to ignore-"

Whatever Draco wanted to say, he never got to say it because at that moment, Ron lurched at the blonde boy, knocking him to the stone floor.

"It's about time someone taught you a good lesson," said Ron, punching Draco in the nose. "And maybe after this I'll turn you into a ferret and you can be an ugly, slimy, bloody-nosed ferret, rather than just an ugly, slimy, bloody-nosed git."

"Ron, no!" Hermione cried. "Ooh, if you get caught, you'll be in so much trouble!"

"Yes he will be," said a voice from behind Hermione.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione cried.

"Professor, please, Malfoy started it," said Harry. "He called Hermione a-"

McGonagall held up a hand to silence Harry. "Both boys will be punished, regardless of who 'started it,'" she said. "Mr. Malfoy ought to be thoroughly ashamed! What sort of Prefect goes around picking fights?"

Ron got to his feet, making absolute sure he kicked Draco's side in doing so.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, march yourselves to my office," McGonagall snapped. "We'll discuss your punishments there."

"I don't think I should be punished," said Draco, sitting up, not able to stand quite yet. "Weasley just jumped on me out of nowhere!"

"Your excuses may be effective on Professor Snape," said McGonagall, "but they certainly will not convince me, Mr. Malfoy."

"My father'll hear about this," said Draco, "and you will be sorry."

"I'm quite certain I won't, Mr. Malfoy," said McGonagall, starting up the stairs. "Now come along, you two, we have your punishments to sort out."

"You can't punish a Prefect!" Draco called after her.

"Get up, you filthy git," said Ron, kicking Draco in the side again.

Draco winced. Normally, he would have had a snide remark to throw at Ron, but seeing as Crabbe and Goyle weren't around, it wouldn't be safe to say anything rude to a Weasley, least of all Ron, the most short-tempered of the lot.

McGonagall led the two boys into her office and shut the door behind them.

"Well," she said, taking her seat at her desk. "You both know very well fighting is against the rules, yet I always seem to catch the two of you battling. I wonder why this may be?"

"He started it," said Ron, "he can't keep his mouth shut."

"I could keep my mouth shut if I didn't have to put up with nonsense like you," said Draco.

"There's no need arguing," said McGonagall, looking sternly at Draco, "I think the punishments we give you boys aren't paying off as well as they should. Can either of you suggest a way to put a stop to your quarrelling?"

"Expel him," said Draco. "Easy as that. He's no asset to the school, and it'd do us all some good not to have to see his ugly face."

"Mr. Malfoy, I may well suspend you if you can't behave," McGonagall snapped.

"That's not for you to decide, now is it?" said Draco. "All you can do is try and convince Professor Snape to suspend me, and believe me, he wouldn't dream of it."

"Mr. Malfoy, for your rudeness, I'm going to have to take additional points from your house!" said McGonagall. "As for punishment for fighting, twenty points from each of your houses, and detention this evening with the grounds keeper. Also, Mr. Malfoy, you can expect extra punishment for your behaviour."