Ginny smiled as she looked around the Burrow. As great as Hogwarts was, there was nothing that compared to the home where she had grown up. She loved waking up in her own bed to the smell of her mother’s cooking and the sounds of explosions from Fred and George’s rooms.
As she wandered down the hallway, she ran her hand along the wall, fondly remembering her childhood at the burrow. She felt so much older now, after having been at Hogwarts for a year, completely separated from everyone—talking to Tom...
Suddenly, she was distracted by her brother Ron, yelling into the fellytone her father had brought home from work. It was a strange Muggle gadget—she was not quite sure of its purpose.
“HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I—WANT—TO—TALK—TO—HARRY-POTTER!” her brother yelled into the device. Ginny shook her head and started laughing at Ron’s strange behavior. If that was how that fellytone was supposed to be used, then she had been giving Muggles a little too much credit for their famed inventions.
The weeks passed by quickly as she wasted the days away sleeping, eating, trying to sneak out her brothers’ racing brooms, writing to Draco, and halfheartedly doing her summer assignments. However, the best news came several weeks into summer vacation, when her father unexpectedly won seven hundred Galleons from the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
Her parents had decided to use most of it on a trip to Egypt to visit her brother Bill; however Ginny knew they would be finally buying her some new robes and supplies that were not hand-me-downs from her six brothers.
The rest of the summer passed in a blur of happiness, and she regained the freedom that she had longed for during her traumatic first year at Hogwarts. Through rushed secretive letters, she managed to correspond with Draco, but soon enough it was time for school to start.
~*~
Summer was turning out to be quite miserable at the Malfoy Manor. Getting sacked as a school governor and having the set-up concerning Ginny and the diary revealed certainly did not improve Lucius’ mood. Draco idly spent his time as far away from his father as possible, which tended to be one hundred feet into the air on his broomstick.
As the summer continued to progress, Draco found little to do besides practice Quidditch and attend to his summer homework, which was extremely tedious and boring. He deeply wished that he could see Ginny, or at least write to her. Or write to anyone, even Crabbe or Goyle—he had spent his summer in solitude with no one to talk to, and it was getting to the point that talking to a wall would be more interesting that his current situation. There was no point in going to the Ministry, since he already knew Ginny would not be there. Halfway through summer, he was idly reading the Daily Prophet where he came across a picture of Ginny, accompanied by her family in Egypt. Taking in her cheery face, he smiled at it for a moment, but his smile was quickly replaced by a frown. She was surrounded by her many brothers, many of which hated him—but that was alright, because he did not fancy them either. At least Ginny was no longer upset with him, because that was all that really mattered.
Ginny had written to tell him that she was going to Egypt, but they had not corresponded since she left. It was too difficult, especially since her family’s owl was very unreliable, and her family would notice if his owl was bringing her letters. Letter writing was going to be a bit difficult from now on—particularly because her parents were quite wary of Lucius, and would most likely be watching for Malfoy owls.
Draco sighed. Aside from thinking about Ginny, the most interesting thing that had happened all summer had been the break-out from Azkaban. Apparently, a high-security inmate named Sirius Black had somehow escaped from Azkaban. Draco knew that Black had somehow been involved with the death of the Potters, but that was about it. Draco wondered how it was even possible that the only person who had ever broken out from Azkaban was somehow related to Harry Potter, thus highlighting Potter in his never-ending spotlight of fame. Draco was looking forward to school starting immensely—not to see that dratted Potter again, but so he could escape the monotony of summer and see Ginny’s smiling face again.
~*~
Ginny smiled fondly as she laid her clothes neatly into her trunk. For once, she had enjoyed a splendid evening at the Leaky Cauldron with her family, Hermione and Harry, and now it was time to head to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. She had been a little timid around Harry, as he had saved her life last year, and she knew her brothers had taken her uncharacteristic shyness the wrong way, but she did not really care anymore.
Her family piled into special cars loaned by the Ministry, a new perk her father had managed to wrangle up this year. It was nice being about to sit and enjoy the ride through Muggle London to get the train, rather than Floo-ing to the nearest fireplace and trekking to Kings Cross Station.
Soon enough, Ginny was waving good-bye to her parents as the train slowed began to pull away from the station. She had not yet seen Draco, but it was only a matter of time before she could share her joyous memories of summer with him.
Following Harry, Hermione and Ron into a compartment, she planned to spend most of the train ride hanging out with them. However, as soon as they had settled down, Harry muttered something to Ron and Hermione.
“Go away, Ginny,” Ron said rudely. Taken aback, Ginny glared at her brother for a moment.
“Oh, that’s nice,” she said bitterly, and stalked out of the compartment. Looking up and down the corridor, she was not sure where to go, so she began to wander the corridors.
~*~
Stretching his arms, Draco yawned obnoxiously in the middle of Pansy’s long discussion of how to wear her hair on the first day of classes. She had insisted on sitting with him, probably because she enjoyed the attention from Crabbe and Goyle, who were staring at the Pumpkin Pasty she was eating with undying fascination. Draco, on the other hand, was less than thrilled by her presence, he had places to be and people to torment.
Halfway through Pansy’s story of how her parents had bought her a magnificent diamond necklace because they had missed her so much at school, Draco abruptly stood up. “I’m going to take a walk,” he said brusquely as he turned and left the room. Pansy seemed unaffected, and turned to Blaise Zabini across the cabin and began her story from the beginning.
A moment after leaving the cabin, Crabbe and Goyle joined him in the hallway, and they all began to walk down the hall. After patrolling nearly the entire train, he finally found Potter. He confidently pulled open their door.
“Well, look who it is,” he drawled out, looking over their room, noting that Ginny was no where to be found, “Potty and the Weasel.” He heard Crabbe and Goyle sniggering behind him. Just seeing Potter and his ridiculous friends again made him want to provoke them somehow. A summer alone with his anger bottled up inside him made him inch to hit something.
“I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley, did your mother die of shock?” He said snidely, as he hoped to god that Ginny was not hidden somewhere in the cabin. Ron stood up angrily, and Draco felt some of his anger release. Suddenly, he heard a snort come from beneath a lump on the bench. “Who’s that?” he asked, stepping backwards, afraid of who it might be.
“New teacher,” said Potter, a smug grin on his face, “What were you saying, Malfoy?” Draco glared at Potter and his measely friends a moment longer. As long as the lump was not Ginny, he was safe – though fighting a weasel in front of a new teacher was also not his cup of tea.
“C’mon,” he mumbled to his cronies as he turned and left the room, disappointedly heading back towards Pansy and the cabin of annoying stories. Suddenly, a flash of red hair bounced into his field of view. Eager to see Ginny, he pulled some candy and treats out of his pockets and gave them to Crabbe and Goyle. “I’ll meet you back in the cabin,” he said, watching as they rushed away without a second glance.
Walking up behind her, he carefully noted that they were alone in the corridor before discreetly tapping her on the shoulder. “Hello, Ginny,” he said in a hushed voice as she turned to face him.
“Hi!” she exclaimed excitedly before giving him a hug that he could only return halfway, for fear that some Gryffindor might come out into the hallway, or worse, a Slytherin. She seemed a bit taken aback by his lack of affection, but it was nothing to worry about. Surely she understood the limitations of the public part of their friendship now that they were back at Hogwarts.
“So how was Egypt?” he asked her quietly.
“It was great!” she said happily, as she broke into a discussion of all the tombs and pyramids and amazing sights she had seen. He could feel a smile rising to his face at her pure joy and excitement. However, he heard a door open abruptly behind him and footsteps come out into the hall. Ginny was looking behind him with an uncertain expression on her face, not knowing how to handle someone finding the two of them together. He knew how to handle it though.
“I told you to stay out of my way, Weasley,” he said arrogantly, lightly pushing her aside and striding off down the hallway, trying to ignore the hurt expression that had found its way onto her face. Certainly she had to understand why he had just done that.
Suddenly, the train slowed to a stop and the lights went out. Draco looked around, groping the walls as he tried to find a way back to his cabin. He ran into a small moving lump, which upon further investigation turned out to be Ginny. “Hey Ginny, I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, trying to envelop her into a hug, but he felt her squirm out of his grasp and bang into the wall, before running down the hallway away from him. A cool breeze swept down the train, and a feeling of intense terror was rising inside of him as everything became unbearably cold. Uncertain of what to do, he opened a door to a random cabin, trembling, and went inside.
~*~
Running as fast as she could in the dark with no sense of direction, Ginny tried to find a cabin with people she knew. “Ron?” she asked, opening a random door, only to receive negative responses. So many emotions were running through her – she had been so happy for a moment to finally be with Draco, but then he had shunted her as soon as another person had come into view. But then, the lights had gone out and he had held her, and it was so… perfect. But she could not deal with him only being a friend half the time – it just would not work.
Suddenly, the hallways were feeling very cold. Opening a door, she tried to go inside but promptly tripped over something and fell on the floor.
“Who’s that?” said a familiar sounding female voice.
“Who’s that?” Ginny asked, feeling around the room trying to find a bench.
“Ginny?”
“Hermione?” she asked, finally finding a bench. “I was looking for Ron –”
“Come in and sit down –” Ginny heard Hermione said as she grabbed her arm and pulled her across the cabin.
Ginny put her hand down expecting to find a bench, but found a warm body instead, “Not hear!” she heard Harry say. “I’m here.” Ginny winced and quickly pulled back her hand. She tried to move across the cabin to her original spot, tripping on people as she went.
“Ouch!” she heard someone that sounded Neville say.
“Quiet!” said an unrecognizable voice suddenly. Ginny froze where she was momentarily, before quickly finding a bench to sit on.
A dim light filled the compartment, and there was a strange man with light brown hair wearing shabby robes holding a wand. “Stay where you are,” the man said hoarsely as he walked towards the cabin door. Suddenly, the door began to slide open.
Ginny gazed in shock as a cloaked figure filled the doorway, and the room became cold. She felt cold all over – deep underneath her skin. She felt like her entire body had turned to ice, almost as though she had been dunked inside a giant pool and then thrown into a glacier to die. There was a rushing noise, and she started to hear voices in her head. The soft voice of Tom Riddle, telling her everything would be okay – but she felt as though she would never be happy again. She heard Tom laughing, wickedly. She shivered uncontrollably.
Suddenly, everything stopped, and the coldness lifted. Ginny breathed in deeply, and shuddered as she let it out. What was that cloaked figure, she wondered to herself. She tried to push her dark thoughts of Tom out of her head, but they were just replaced by Draco. Draco and his on-again off-again friendship. Ginny sighed. The effort she put into trying to befriend Draco would probably never be reciprocated. Perhaps it was just better to ignore him.
A/N ~ Hmmm… I haven’t written in a long while, yah? I think it was because it’s too hard to write about D/G in the third book – because they’re too young (imo) for a lot of relationshippy stuff – but I can’t have them keep fighting forever, so I just stopped writing. So this chappie was just some fights and such, and then I figure I’ll finish up the 3rd book in another chapter or so, so I can move onto more interesting stuff. If I ever want to, can go back and elaborate, or perhaps add some sort of subplot. I have no idea anymore.
As she wandered down the hallway, she ran her hand along the wall, fondly remembering her childhood at the burrow. She felt so much older now, after having been at Hogwarts for a year, completely separated from everyone—talking to Tom...
Suddenly, she was distracted by her brother Ron, yelling into the fellytone her father had brought home from work. It was a strange Muggle gadget—she was not quite sure of its purpose.
“HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I—WANT—TO—TALK—TO—HARRY-POTTER!” her brother yelled into the device. Ginny shook her head and started laughing at Ron’s strange behavior. If that was how that fellytone was supposed to be used, then she had been giving Muggles a little too much credit for their famed inventions.
The weeks passed by quickly as she wasted the days away sleeping, eating, trying to sneak out her brothers’ racing brooms, writing to Draco, and halfheartedly doing her summer assignments. However, the best news came several weeks into summer vacation, when her father unexpectedly won seven hundred Galleons from the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.
Her parents had decided to use most of it on a trip to Egypt to visit her brother Bill; however Ginny knew they would be finally buying her some new robes and supplies that were not hand-me-downs from her six brothers.
The rest of the summer passed in a blur of happiness, and she regained the freedom that she had longed for during her traumatic first year at Hogwarts. Through rushed secretive letters, she managed to correspond with Draco, but soon enough it was time for school to start.
~*~
Summer was turning out to be quite miserable at the Malfoy Manor. Getting sacked as a school governor and having the set-up concerning Ginny and the diary revealed certainly did not improve Lucius’ mood. Draco idly spent his time as far away from his father as possible, which tended to be one hundred feet into the air on his broomstick.
As the summer continued to progress, Draco found little to do besides practice Quidditch and attend to his summer homework, which was extremely tedious and boring. He deeply wished that he could see Ginny, or at least write to her. Or write to anyone, even Crabbe or Goyle—he had spent his summer in solitude with no one to talk to, and it was getting to the point that talking to a wall would be more interesting that his current situation. There was no point in going to the Ministry, since he already knew Ginny would not be there. Halfway through summer, he was idly reading the Daily Prophet where he came across a picture of Ginny, accompanied by her family in Egypt. Taking in her cheery face, he smiled at it for a moment, but his smile was quickly replaced by a frown. She was surrounded by her many brothers, many of which hated him—but that was alright, because he did not fancy them either. At least Ginny was no longer upset with him, because that was all that really mattered.
Ginny had written to tell him that she was going to Egypt, but they had not corresponded since she left. It was too difficult, especially since her family’s owl was very unreliable, and her family would notice if his owl was bringing her letters. Letter writing was going to be a bit difficult from now on—particularly because her parents were quite wary of Lucius, and would most likely be watching for Malfoy owls.
Draco sighed. Aside from thinking about Ginny, the most interesting thing that had happened all summer had been the break-out from Azkaban. Apparently, a high-security inmate named Sirius Black had somehow escaped from Azkaban. Draco knew that Black had somehow been involved with the death of the Potters, but that was about it. Draco wondered how it was even possible that the only person who had ever broken out from Azkaban was somehow related to Harry Potter, thus highlighting Potter in his never-ending spotlight of fame. Draco was looking forward to school starting immensely—not to see that dratted Potter again, but so he could escape the monotony of summer and see Ginny’s smiling face again.
~*~
Ginny smiled fondly as she laid her clothes neatly into her trunk. For once, she had enjoyed a splendid evening at the Leaky Cauldron with her family, Hermione and Harry, and now it was time to head to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. She had been a little timid around Harry, as he had saved her life last year, and she knew her brothers had taken her uncharacteristic shyness the wrong way, but she did not really care anymore.
Her family piled into special cars loaned by the Ministry, a new perk her father had managed to wrangle up this year. It was nice being about to sit and enjoy the ride through Muggle London to get the train, rather than Floo-ing to the nearest fireplace and trekking to Kings Cross Station.
Soon enough, Ginny was waving good-bye to her parents as the train slowed began to pull away from the station. She had not yet seen Draco, but it was only a matter of time before she could share her joyous memories of summer with him.
Following Harry, Hermione and Ron into a compartment, she planned to spend most of the train ride hanging out with them. However, as soon as they had settled down, Harry muttered something to Ron and Hermione.
“Go away, Ginny,” Ron said rudely. Taken aback, Ginny glared at her brother for a moment.
“Oh, that’s nice,” she said bitterly, and stalked out of the compartment. Looking up and down the corridor, she was not sure where to go, so she began to wander the corridors.
~*~
Stretching his arms, Draco yawned obnoxiously in the middle of Pansy’s long discussion of how to wear her hair on the first day of classes. She had insisted on sitting with him, probably because she enjoyed the attention from Crabbe and Goyle, who were staring at the Pumpkin Pasty she was eating with undying fascination. Draco, on the other hand, was less than thrilled by her presence, he had places to be and people to torment.
Halfway through Pansy’s story of how her parents had bought her a magnificent diamond necklace because they had missed her so much at school, Draco abruptly stood up. “I’m going to take a walk,” he said brusquely as he turned and left the room. Pansy seemed unaffected, and turned to Blaise Zabini across the cabin and began her story from the beginning.
A moment after leaving the cabin, Crabbe and Goyle joined him in the hallway, and they all began to walk down the hall. After patrolling nearly the entire train, he finally found Potter. He confidently pulled open their door.
“Well, look who it is,” he drawled out, looking over their room, noting that Ginny was no where to be found, “Potty and the Weasel.” He heard Crabbe and Goyle sniggering behind him. Just seeing Potter and his ridiculous friends again made him want to provoke them somehow. A summer alone with his anger bottled up inside him made him inch to hit something.
“I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley, did your mother die of shock?” He said snidely, as he hoped to god that Ginny was not hidden somewhere in the cabin. Ron stood up angrily, and Draco felt some of his anger release. Suddenly, he heard a snort come from beneath a lump on the bench. “Who’s that?” he asked, stepping backwards, afraid of who it might be.
“New teacher,” said Potter, a smug grin on his face, “What were you saying, Malfoy?” Draco glared at Potter and his measely friends a moment longer. As long as the lump was not Ginny, he was safe – though fighting a weasel in front of a new teacher was also not his cup of tea.
“C’mon,” he mumbled to his cronies as he turned and left the room, disappointedly heading back towards Pansy and the cabin of annoying stories. Suddenly, a flash of red hair bounced into his field of view. Eager to see Ginny, he pulled some candy and treats out of his pockets and gave them to Crabbe and Goyle. “I’ll meet you back in the cabin,” he said, watching as they rushed away without a second glance.
Walking up behind her, he carefully noted that they were alone in the corridor before discreetly tapping her on the shoulder. “Hello, Ginny,” he said in a hushed voice as she turned to face him.
“Hi!” she exclaimed excitedly before giving him a hug that he could only return halfway, for fear that some Gryffindor might come out into the hallway, or worse, a Slytherin. She seemed a bit taken aback by his lack of affection, but it was nothing to worry about. Surely she understood the limitations of the public part of their friendship now that they were back at Hogwarts.
“So how was Egypt?” he asked her quietly.
“It was great!” she said happily, as she broke into a discussion of all the tombs and pyramids and amazing sights she had seen. He could feel a smile rising to his face at her pure joy and excitement. However, he heard a door open abruptly behind him and footsteps come out into the hall. Ginny was looking behind him with an uncertain expression on her face, not knowing how to handle someone finding the two of them together. He knew how to handle it though.
“I told you to stay out of my way, Weasley,” he said arrogantly, lightly pushing her aside and striding off down the hallway, trying to ignore the hurt expression that had found its way onto her face. Certainly she had to understand why he had just done that.
Suddenly, the train slowed to a stop and the lights went out. Draco looked around, groping the walls as he tried to find a way back to his cabin. He ran into a small moving lump, which upon further investigation turned out to be Ginny. “Hey Ginny, I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, trying to envelop her into a hug, but he felt her squirm out of his grasp and bang into the wall, before running down the hallway away from him. A cool breeze swept down the train, and a feeling of intense terror was rising inside of him as everything became unbearably cold. Uncertain of what to do, he opened a door to a random cabin, trembling, and went inside.
~*~
Running as fast as she could in the dark with no sense of direction, Ginny tried to find a cabin with people she knew. “Ron?” she asked, opening a random door, only to receive negative responses. So many emotions were running through her – she had been so happy for a moment to finally be with Draco, but then he had shunted her as soon as another person had come into view. But then, the lights had gone out and he had held her, and it was so… perfect. But she could not deal with him only being a friend half the time – it just would not work.
Suddenly, the hallways were feeling very cold. Opening a door, she tried to go inside but promptly tripped over something and fell on the floor.
“Who’s that?” said a familiar sounding female voice.
“Who’s that?” Ginny asked, feeling around the room trying to find a bench.
“Ginny?”
“Hermione?” she asked, finally finding a bench. “I was looking for Ron –”
“Come in and sit down –” Ginny heard Hermione said as she grabbed her arm and pulled her across the cabin.
Ginny put her hand down expecting to find a bench, but found a warm body instead, “Not hear!” she heard Harry say. “I’m here.” Ginny winced and quickly pulled back her hand. She tried to move across the cabin to her original spot, tripping on people as she went.
“Ouch!” she heard someone that sounded Neville say.
“Quiet!” said an unrecognizable voice suddenly. Ginny froze where she was momentarily, before quickly finding a bench to sit on.
A dim light filled the compartment, and there was a strange man with light brown hair wearing shabby robes holding a wand. “Stay where you are,” the man said hoarsely as he walked towards the cabin door. Suddenly, the door began to slide open.
Ginny gazed in shock as a cloaked figure filled the doorway, and the room became cold. She felt cold all over – deep underneath her skin. She felt like her entire body had turned to ice, almost as though she had been dunked inside a giant pool and then thrown into a glacier to die. There was a rushing noise, and she started to hear voices in her head. The soft voice of Tom Riddle, telling her everything would be okay – but she felt as though she would never be happy again. She heard Tom laughing, wickedly. She shivered uncontrollably.
Suddenly, everything stopped, and the coldness lifted. Ginny breathed in deeply, and shuddered as she let it out. What was that cloaked figure, she wondered to herself. She tried to push her dark thoughts of Tom out of her head, but they were just replaced by Draco. Draco and his on-again off-again friendship. Ginny sighed. The effort she put into trying to befriend Draco would probably never be reciprocated. Perhaps it was just better to ignore him.
A/N ~ Hmmm… I haven’t written in a long while, yah? I think it was because it’s too hard to write about D/G in the third book – because they’re too young (imo) for a lot of relationshippy stuff – but I can’t have them keep fighting forever, so I just stopped writing. So this chappie was just some fights and such, and then I figure I’ll finish up the 3rd book in another chapter or so, so I can move onto more interesting stuff. If I ever want to, can go back and elaborate, or perhaps add some sort of subplot. I have no idea anymore.
To Be Continued.
Ladidah is the author of 4 other stories.
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