Ginny sat apprehensively in her room, surrounded by her secondhand books, robes, her wand, and a pile of brand new Lockhart books, all of which were smiling and winking at her. She did not know what to think at the moment—she had thought that Draco was not concerned with her family name, but apparently that meant everything to him. She had heard of the Malfoys—they hated Muggles and those of ‘impure’ blood; her father was not fond of them at all, but he tolerated them.
She looked at the small slip of parchment in her hands that had recently arrived via Draco’s owl, which had swooped in the window and immediately left without waiting for a response. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she read the note, over and over:
Why didn’t you tell me you were a Weasley?
It was amazing how hurtful the nine words were, sitting there on the paper staring her in the face. She could not help who her family was, or their reputation. The letter made it sound as though ‘Weasley’ was a dirty swear word. She felt a hot tear run down her face and land on the parchment, absorbing into the paper and blurring the name ‘Weasley.’
Ginny ran her hands through her hair as she tried to sort out the situation mentally. Apparently Draco hated Harry, and Weasley’s. Ginny was undoubtedly a Weasley, something she had neglected to tell him for the past five years. Did this mean that Draco no longer wanted to befriend her?
She still did not understand how her last name could make such a difference. Her father had once told her that there were wizards out there who only cared about bloodline and class—she had never thought that Draco would act like them. She knew his father was condescending to her family, but she never expected Draco would follow in his father’s footsteps, especially when he always had been so fun and gentle with her.
She wiped her tearing eyes with her sleeve and grabbed a piece of parchment and a new quill. Unsure of what to say, she sucked on the end of the quill in thought as the tears ran down her face. How could he just ruin their five years of friendship with his ridiculous bias against her surname?
Ginny took in a deep breath, trying to steady her composure before beginning to create her letter to Draco.
Draco,
I’m sorry I never told you I was a Weasley—I didn’t know it mattered so much to you. I know you dislike my brothers and Harry, but I hope you don’t throw away all of our fond memories just because of my surname. You’re my best friend Draco, and I would hate to lose you over something so insignificant. Please write me back—I don’t know what I would do without you.
-Ginny
Rereading the letter, Ginny began to cry all over again. She still could not believe what he had said about her family at the bookstore—she had no idea that his hatred of Muggle-lovers ran so deeply. She really did not know what to do—she wanted to be able to talk to him, because he was the only one that listened to her, but if he was going to be angry because her last name was Weasley, there was really nothing she could do.
She fetched Errol and sent the letter to Draco, before retreating to her room to look through her new Hogwarts items.
~*~
Draco sat bitterly on his bed, glaring at the wall. He was torn between whether or not he could continue his friendship with Ginny—it was a hard choice: family versus friends. If he followed his father’s wishes and avoided Ginny, then she would be angry and never talk to him again—he would lose his best friend. On the other hand, he could secretly be Ginny’s friend, but if his father found out, Draco would have severe repercussions. He knew in his heart that Ginny’s friendship was worth the risk; however, he could not bring himself to admit it.
He decided to try to justify his father’s viewpoint for a moment. Ginny was a Muggle lover and a blood traitor—any self-respecting wizard knew that those were the worst qualities to exhibit. Of course, it was his father who had told him that those were the least desirable attributes, so perhaps they were not relevant to his situation with Ginny.
He mussed his hair with his hand as he contemplated what to do. Everything that he was supposed to hate about Ginny was solely because his father told him to. Draco loved and respected his father very much, but he was unsure if he really wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Draco did not know much about his father’s business—only that he operated under extreme secrecy and precaution, and the Dark Arts heavily influenced him. Draco was only twelve, and he recognized that he was too young to have decided what he wanted to do with his life. However, he knew that as long as he listened to his father, he would be pushed towards the Dark Arts and his father’s mysterious dealings. Draco desperately wished that he had an escape route—someone to show him that life was not as his father planned out for him.
Before, that person had been Ginny—she had shown him that not everyone cared about blood purity and class—and he had believed her. But now he had made her angry about his jealous insecurities concerning Harry Potter and his friends. He needed someone like Ginny to serve as a balance for his difficult home life—but because she was a Weasley, he was fairly certain that the long-term outcome of their friendship would not be pleasant. Besides, it was not like he had a romantic interest in her or anything—she would probably be a good girlfriend though, he mused. After all, he had kissed her that one time in the Ministry… He shook his head—Ginny was his best friend, and as wonderful as she was, he did not want to advance their relationship for fear of ruining what they had. Well, what they would have if he could bring himself to continuing the friendship…
A sudden rapping on his window brought him back to reality. He looking in disbelief at the decrepit owl tapping frantically on the window, as though it was going to fall out of the air and die at any moment. Draco opened his window and allowed the owl into the room. He raised his eyebrow as the owl dove into the room and fell onto the middle of his floor. He carefully picked up the feeble owl and carried him over to his own owl’s water cup before untying the letter attached to its leg.
Seeing the old, dilapidated owl reminded him again that Ginny was a Weasley. He read her letter slowly, pondering what he should do about the situation. She sincerely wanted to be friends still, despite his behavior in the bookstore. Her forgivingness reminded him about how fantastic she was, and he knew deep down inside that he did not want to lose their five years of friendship. However, he did not want to deal with it right now—maybe he would be able to make a more coherent decision in the morning, he figured. It would be a huge risk to defy his father, and he needed more sleep before he could resolve the problem. Exhausted, Draco collapsed onto his bed, the letter in his hand as he drifted off to sleep.
The following morning, Draco still had no idea whether to obey his father or befriend Ginny. Noticing that her owl was still sound asleep, recovering in his room, he took the opportunity to pen a short letter, telling her that he was sorry for his actions, and he wanted to get together at Hogwarts sometime so they could talk in private. He was not quite certain how the last part would fare, but he figured they could sneak somewhere secluded to talk at some point. Once her owl had recovered, he fed it some owl treats and water before he tied the letter onto her owl’s leg with the same cheap piece of string that Ginny’s letter had arrived with, and sent him out the window.
~*~
A week had passed since Ginny had sent her apology to Draco, and he had not yet responded. Errol had returned the day after she sent him out, exhausted and empty handed, save for a tie on his left leg with no letter attached.
Resignedly, Ginny had begun to give up on reconciling with Draco—if he was going to be inconsiderate and ignore her, then she was not going to press the issue any more. She had spent the majority of her last weeks at home sulking in her bedroom and lazily packed everything she would need for Hogwarts. All she had left to pack was her textbooks—those were trickiest, because they were the heaviest of all her luggage. She picked up all of Lockhart’s books one by one and neatly laid them out on top of her clothing, trying to balance the weight throughout the trunk. As she grabbed her battered, used copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration, a shabby little black book fell out onto the floor. Curious, Ginny picked it up—it was nondescript Muggle diary, with the name ‘T. M. Riddle’ smudged on the first page. Ginny flipped through the rest of the book, but the pages were all empty. She threw it aside on her bed—she would look at it more thoroughly later once she finished packing all her Hogwarts items.
Finally she had packed everything neatly into her trunk except a single quill and the tatty diary. She had never written in a diary before—she had always believed them to be a stupid waste of time, but she needed someone to confide in. Also, since Draco was obviously not talking to her right now, the diary seemed like a reasonable thing to try. Opening the front cover carefully, she smoothed down the first page and brushed off any dust. She thoughtfully sucked on the end of her quill, wondering how to start.
Figuring she should commence by introducing herself, she dipped her quill slowly into her ink and then started writing. “Hello, my name is Ginevra Molly Weasley,” she wrote concisely, but adding small flourishes onto her name for effect. She smiled at the way the ink seemed to set onto the page. Suddenly, the words she had written faded away, leaving the page momentarily blank before different words started oozing out of the page.
“Hello, Ginevra. My name is Tom Riddle—how did you happen to come across my diary?”
Ginny watching in shock as the unfamiliar handwriting began to fade away—she had never seen a diary like this before. She remembered her mother had told her never to trust something if she could not see where it kept its brain, but Ginny figured she could talk to it a little more before she got rid of it. “I found it in my textbooks while I was packing for school,” she wrote carefully in the diary. She watched as her words faded away into the paper only to be replaced with the same unfamiliar handwriting.
“Really? And what kind of school do you go to Ginevra?”
She looked at the diary curiously—it seemed harmless to her, despite all the warnings her mother had given her about things like this. Wanting to learn more about the diary, Ginny responded. “People call me Ginny, not Ginevra, and I go to a wizarding school—it’s my first year,” she wrote, trying not to give away too many specifics about her school. However, she figured that since the diary was responding, it was probably enchanted by a wizard.
She continued to write to the diary for several hours, just about general conversational topics. She tried not to reveal too much about herself, but she did not really see a reason not to trust the diary. Tom seemed to truly care about her, and he was very interested in everything she said.
Finally, it was time for sleep so she said goodnight to Tom and lay back in her bed. It was nice to have someone to talk to, especially since Draco seemed to be ignoring her. Maybe having a diary was not such a silly thing after all.
~*~
It was nearly time to return to Hogwarts, and Draco had still heard no response from Ginny. He assumed that her raggedy old owl managed to journey back to her home; however, she had never responded after he sent his letter, so he was not certain. Perhaps she was angry about that one day in the bookshop, or perhaps she was upset that he suggested that they wait until the first week of school to meet.
Thinking about what Ginny was doing, Draco lazily threw his textbooks into his trunk. He would be leaving for his second year at Hogwarts tomorrow, and he was almost looking forward to it. No longer would he have to deal with his father at the Manor, but instead he would have to hear the many heroic tales of Harry Potter, and the Golden Gryffindor Trio. Draco sighed bitterly—perhaps this year would be different. He looked over at his new Nimbus Two-Thousand One, the newest model of racing broom on the market. He ran his hand over the smooth handle—it really was the epitome of racing perfection, and he could not wait to join the Slytherin Quidditch team. His father had promised that he would be accepted; Draco was not quite sure how he would manage that, but he knew his father had a great deal of power, and he would succeed somehow. Besides, he was not bad at Quidditch.
Looking over at his owl napping in its cage, Draco briefly wondered if he should send Ginny another letter. Perhaps she never received his last letter, and he would hate for her to be angry that he never wrote back. Nah, he decided. She probably got it—he would just wait until they were heading to Hogwarts. Then maybe he would be able to talk to her.
~*~
Ginny frowned as she was woken up at the crack of dawn to get ready for Hogwarts. This year there were five members of her family heading to Hogwarts, which required a great deal of preparation. Ginny hurriedly put on the clothes she had laid out for herself, and she rushed around the house looking for items she had forgotten to pack.
Finally it was time to leave—Ginny lugged her trunk out to her father’s Ford Anglia and got into the front seat with her mother. She stared wistfully out the window as the house she had lived at for eleven years faded off into the distance—it would be strange to be away from home for a year, even though she would have four brothers with her.
However, barely after the house had disappeared from sight, George insisted they return for his box of Filibuster fireworks that he had forgotten, and a mere five minutes after that Fred demanded that they return because he had left his broomstick. Finally they were on the road, making decent time to the station. Ginny started daydreaming about what Hogwarts would be like—she had heard so many great things about it, and her brothers and Draco had described it to her so many times.
Draco… She could not believe Draco had not written her back. At least she had Tom to talk to now—wait… Did she remember to pack her diary? She had left it under her mattress for the past week—but she did not remember putting it in her trunk
“Dad! I forgot my diary! We need to go back!” she shrieked loudly. She felt a little bad about making them turn around again, especially since they were almost to the highway, but she knew she needed her diary as her confidant, especially now since Draco was angry with her.
They went back to the Burrow one last time so she could retrieve her precious diary from her bedroom, and then they were immediately on the road again to King’s Cross Station. They reached the station at quarter to eleven—only fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express would leave. Quickly pulling her trunk from the car, Ginny hurriedly followed her mother into King’s Cross. She briefly remembered the previous years she had been here, always having to watch her brothers leave her behind. This year, it was her turn to go off to school, leaving her parents behind.
She felt her mother grab her hand and briskly walk her through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾ after Percy, her father and the twins. There was only a minute left before the Hogwarts Express was going to leave. Rushed, her mother and father bid her a fast farewell, and her brothers grabbed her trunk and pulled it onto the train. She tried to give her mother and father a hug, but her brothers grabbed the back of her jumper and dragged her on the train, explaining that the train was about to leave.
Suddenly, she found herself in a train compartment, waving good-bye to her parents as the train slowly pulled away from the platform—everything had happened so fast, and now she was on her way to Hogwarts. She was almost sad as she watched her parents become tiny spots on the distant platform—her brothers had disappeared elsewhere on the train, and she had barely gotten to say goodbye to her parents.
She looked around the compartment she was in, there was a short boy with mousy brown hair standing next to her, excitedly taking pictures out the window with a camera. In the corner there was a straggly looking girl with long dirty blonde hair, intently reading the latest issue of the Quibbler. Ginny looked at each of them in turn, but they both seemed content so she did not bother to introduce herself. Bored, Ginny decided to go roam the train and see if she could find her brothers.
Looking down the long hallway, she did not see anyone in either direction, except Percy talking to another prefect with curly black hair. Figuring her brother would not want to be bothered, she set off in the other direction, peeking into the windows of compartments as she passed.
The first compartment she looking into had a load of older students, laughing raucously about something one of them had said. She did not recognize any of them, so she continued down the hallway. Suddenly, Ron’s friend Hermione emerged from the next compartment, looking up and down the halls.
“Ginny! Have you seen your brother?” Hermione asked while still curiously peeking into the compartments around them.
“Uhh… Which one?” Ginny asked facetiously, although she honestly had no idea which brother Hermione was talking about anyway.
“Ron. And Harry. I haven’t seen them, and neither has anyone else. Do you know if they got on the train?” Hermione asked Ginny. Thinking for a moment, Ginny could not actually remember seeing her brother and Harry on Platform 9 ¾ as she was leaving. She looked at Hermione and shook her head.
Exasperated, Hermione sighed loudly and grabbed Ginny’s wrist, dragging her down the hallway to go search for the two of them. Ginny felt happy to be included in Hermione’s quest for her brother, it was a nice change from being ignored from everything related to her brothers and Harry. She and Hermione engaged themselves in random conversation about the summer and everything that happened. She discovered that Hermione was Muggle-born, and very smart—Ginny figured that she was the ‘Mudblood’ that Draco was always raving about in his letters.
The two of them continued down the train, peeking into windows looking for Harry and Ron. They found Fred and George in a compartment, cracking jokes with other students—neither of them had seen Ron or Harry either. Ginny glanced into the next compartment—sitting on the bench next to the window was an unmistakable head of white-blonde hair.
Staring at the back of Draco’s head for a moment, she wondered whether she should go say hello, or whether she should ignore him. Suddenly, a pug-faced girl who was sitting across from Draco saw Ginny staring through the window. The girl said something inaudible and Ginny watched as Draco whipped around and looked her straight in the eye. His face seemed to be expressionless—neither inviting her to enter nor giving her any sign that he hated her. The pug-faced girl in the compartment sneered at her, and the rest of the girls in there broke out into a sinister laughter. Embarrassed, Ginny ducked away from the window and hurriedly ran to catch up with Hermione, who was still peeking further down the train.
~*~
Draco continued to stare at the window where Ginny’s snooping face had just disappeared. Perhaps she was looking for him. He looked around his compartment—it was the same as the previous year; Vincent and Gregory were munching away on their many snacks and candies, and Pansy was gossiping and laughing, except this year she had dragged some of the other Slytherin girls into the compartment. Draco did not understand why she could not find her own compartment—the train was full of compartments, and yet she always chose to sit in his, oftentimes uncomfortably close to him.
He went back to staring out the window, wondering what he would say to Ginny. Now that he knew she was a Weasley—he would never be able to freely talk to her in public. The Slytherins would never forgive him for dropping to such a low level, and he was fairly certain that he would get beaten up by all the Weasley brothers for talking to Ginny—not that he could not handle them, but he still preferred to avoid the situation all the same.
Perhaps he could go talk to Ginny in private—there probably was a stray empty compartment somewhere in the train—the one that Pansy and friends belonged in, at least. He had to talk to Ginny eventually, whether it was here or at school, it did not matter in the least. Besides, he missed their fun conversations—she could always make him laugh. Deciding to go find her, Draco stood suddenly, making a show of extreme boredom, and signaling for Vincent and Gregory to stay put. Then, without saying anything at all (especially not to Pansy and her followers), he strode out of the compartment into the hallway, on a mission to find Ginny and talk to her.
~*~
Hermione seemed to be giving up with searching for Harry. “I really don’t know where they are, but if you find them, tell me, okay?” Hermione told Ginny. Nodding, Ginny agreed and said goodbye. She watched as Hermione disappeared into a compartment with a group of giggling girls—a set of twins with long dark hair, and a few more second year girls. Sighing, Ginny turned on her heel and resignedly headed back to her compartment.
Suddenly, Draco appeared stealthily from his compartment, looking back and forth down the hallway, as though he was taking a huge risk venturing out into the hallway alone. His face stayed apathetic and calm as he registered her presence in the hallway. He swiftly strode down the hallway towards her, and then continued to walk past—but tapping her slightly and making a gesture telling her to follow him. Waiting a moment to make sure no one was watching, as that seemed to be his intent, she idly followed him down towards the end of the train, watching as his disappeared into a random compartment.
Finally, she reached the door to his compartment, and cautiously walked in. It was completely empty except for Draco, and as soon as she had entered he quickly moved to lock the door from the outside and cover the small window that allowed a view in. Ginny gave him an inquisitive glance, wondering why he was being so precautious about talking to her. She was beginning to feel very uncomfortable, because it seemed as though Draco was afraid to talk to her in front of everyone else. She did not see what was so horrible about talking in public, or not caring if someone else were to walk in on their conversation—but Draco was not taking any chances.
Draco took several more moments checking to make sure that their meeting was completely private before conclusively turning to face her, offering her a weak smile. However, Ginny was in no mood for his apologies—he had insulted her family that day in Flourish and Blotts, and then he had not written anything to her since then—and now he was blocking off their meeting from the outside world, as if he were ashamed to be talking to a Weasley.
She sat down grumpily in the corner of the compartment and glared at him—he must have some reason for coming here, and she figured she would let him talk first so that she did not start yelling at him for no reason. Draco seemed a little unnerved at her stony behavior, especially because it was completely uncharacteristic for her—but he had severely hurt her, and he had not made any moves to apologize, even after she had written him.
Draco seemed to be at a loss for words. “Ginny, I—I’m… I’m sorry…” he started, stumbling on the words as though he had never apologized to another person in his life.
Ginny stared at him for a moment longer—great, so he was sorry. And what did that really mean? “So—can we be friends, or does my last name just ruin everything?” Ginny asked bitterly.
Draco contemplated for a moment as Ginny glared at him, “Well,” he started, “I’d like to be friends, but—” he trailed off in his thought.
“But what?” she asked, “but you can only be friends with me in secret? We can only be friends at your convenience? I’m sorry Draco, but that doesn’t seem like a situation that is going to work for me.” She snapped angrily. “You can’t just insult my family in public, and then expect everything to be okay with me! I am a Weasley, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you don’t like it, then I can’t help you because it’s not something I can change—”
“—It’s not that I want you to change,” Draco started “It’s just that I didn’t know that… Well… My father always told me things about your family, and… I don’t know, Ginny—there are just too many people who would think it’s strange for me to be friends with you.”
“And that’s supposed to justify it?” she demanded. “If you’d rather maintain your reputation rather than talk to me, then go ahead—it’s not worth it to me to befriend people who are obviously so caught up in themselves—”
“Excuse me? If I’m caught up in my reputation it’s only because I have one to maintain, unlike some people,” Draco interrupted. She was starting to make him very angry with her many accusations. He had come here to talk, not to argue—but apparently she had a lot bottled up inside that she had to get out.
Ginny glowered at Draco—she knew her family did not have a high status like his, but he did not need to persistently remind her. She shook her head and added solemnly, “You know, Draco, I thought we had something. You were such a great friend—you were always fun to be around, and you were always there for me when I needed you. Maybe you’ve always hated my family—but there’s no difference between now and last month except now you know my surname, and if you’re really going to let that ruin everything, then maybe you aren’t who I thought you were. Secrecy is one thing—I don’t mind if we don’t tell anyone we’re friends, but I can’t stand you insulting my family time and time again.” Sighing unevenly, she looked at him with teary eyes momentarily before dejectedly dropping her gaze to the floor.
She waited for a moment, to see if Draco would counter what she said and tell her he was sorry and that he wanted to remain friends, but he made no immediate move to do so. She sighed deeply and shook her head once more before slowly rising to exit the compartment. Not looking back, she miserably traipsed back to the compartment with the mousy boy and the strange blonde girl.
Upon reaching her compartment, she saw that the boy had moved out of the compartment—probably taking pictures somewhere else in the train, and the girl was now circling random words in the Quibbler and drawing lines artistically across the page, as though trying to make a bizarre connection in the magazine spread.
Desolate and feeling as though she had lost her best friend, Ginny flopped onto the bench next to the window. Wiping the unshed tears from her eyes, she knew it would not do her good to dwell on her argument with Draco, but she still felt as though she needed to tell someone what was wrong. Pulling her diary out of her pocket, she flipped it open to the first page and began to write.
~*~
Draco watched the empty door that Ginny had disappeared through. He had felt as though they could never be friends after that one day at Flourish & Blotts, but now the reality of the situation had solidified before his eyes. She had wanted him to defy everything his father had ever taught him—and that just was not something he could do. He lay down on the bench in the empty compartment and stared dismally at the ceiling.
He felt almost sad—Ginny had walked out, leaving him alone but making his life somewhat easier. If she was going to be angry with him, then he did not have to deal with being torn between her friendship and his father. It was probably better this way anyway.
Finally, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, and Draco followed all the older students up to the castle. He was happy to not have to take the boats across the lake like he did last year. Sitting down at the table, Draco idly listened as his classmates talked about their summers and all the exciting things they had done. Draco nodded at the proper moments and issued an occasional smirk, which was his interpretation with a laugh.
After what seemed like an eternity, Professor McGonagall entered the hall, announcing that the first years were coming. A long trail of timid looking students entered the Great Hall, in awe of its magnificence. Draco yawned loudly—the ceremony really was quite tedious; it was horrible enough having to participate in it the previous year, but it was even worse watching it. He amused himself by looking at each first year, trying to guess what house each would end up in.
Finally, his eyes fell upon Ginny, who was distracted by her twin brothers waving wildly on the other side of the Great Hall. He stared wistfully at the back on her head, wondering if it really was better to ignore her. No matter how hard he tried, he could not forget the feeling of when he laughed with her. She was the only person that he had shown his ‘true’ self, the one that was not concerned with reputation and class. Too bad he was not allowed to act like that in everyday life, he thought bitterly.
Draco distractedly listened to the Sorting Hat’s new tune as he continued to stare at Ginny. He was starting to regret their argument on the train, and he wished that he could go back to being a little naïve child at the Ministry of Magic, not really knowing or caring about bloodlines and status. Watching as the first years tried on the hat one by one, Draco could not help wishing that by some strange occurrence, Ginny would end up in Slytherin because then he would be able to talk to her. However, much to his dismay but just as he expected, she was sorted into Gryffindor, with all the rest of her siblings and the Golden Trio. Feeling defeated and depressed on the inside, Draco struggled to display a self-satisfied expression on his face as he watched the rest of the sorting ceremony. Regardless of his conflicts with Ginny, he still had a reputation to maintain—he could not let Ginny ruin everything his father had built for him, no matter how nice she was.
Leaning across the table, he engaged himself in a conversation with Marcus Flint about Quidditch and the house team. He haughtily smiled as Flint acknowledged that he had already been approached about Draco’s Quidditch skills, and that Draco would be welcome on the house team, especially after his father’s contribution. Draco had no idea what his father had donated, but if it secured his position on the team, Draco would not argue. He smiled smugly—perhaps this year he could rival Harry Potter and his Quidditch skills.
He glanced at Ginny, who was sitting with her back to him at the Gryffindor table, involved in an energetic conversation with several other first years. Draco knew it would be a long struggle to either ignore Ginny or reconcile with her. Deep down inside, he wished he could do the latter, but he knew that he had to wait for her to settle into school and cool off. Draco figured if Ginny continued to be mad at him, then it would be easier for him to stop thinking about her—or so he hoped. It was going to be an interesting term…
A/N: Tell me what you think, or if it’s boring, or if it should go in a different direction. I just enjoy feedback (a lot), so anything you tell me (good or bad) is appreciated.
She looked at the small slip of parchment in her hands that had recently arrived via Draco’s owl, which had swooped in the window and immediately left without waiting for a response. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she read the note, over and over:
Why didn’t you tell me you were a Weasley?
It was amazing how hurtful the nine words were, sitting there on the paper staring her in the face. She could not help who her family was, or their reputation. The letter made it sound as though ‘Weasley’ was a dirty swear word. She felt a hot tear run down her face and land on the parchment, absorbing into the paper and blurring the name ‘Weasley.’
Ginny ran her hands through her hair as she tried to sort out the situation mentally. Apparently Draco hated Harry, and Weasley’s. Ginny was undoubtedly a Weasley, something she had neglected to tell him for the past five years. Did this mean that Draco no longer wanted to befriend her?
She still did not understand how her last name could make such a difference. Her father had once told her that there were wizards out there who only cared about bloodline and class—she had never thought that Draco would act like them. She knew his father was condescending to her family, but she never expected Draco would follow in his father’s footsteps, especially when he always had been so fun and gentle with her.
She wiped her tearing eyes with her sleeve and grabbed a piece of parchment and a new quill. Unsure of what to say, she sucked on the end of the quill in thought as the tears ran down her face. How could he just ruin their five years of friendship with his ridiculous bias against her surname?
Ginny took in a deep breath, trying to steady her composure before beginning to create her letter to Draco.
Draco,
I’m sorry I never told you I was a Weasley—I didn’t know it mattered so much to you. I know you dislike my brothers and Harry, but I hope you don’t throw away all of our fond memories just because of my surname. You’re my best friend Draco, and I would hate to lose you over something so insignificant. Please write me back—I don’t know what I would do without you.
-Ginny
Rereading the letter, Ginny began to cry all over again. She still could not believe what he had said about her family at the bookstore—she had no idea that his hatred of Muggle-lovers ran so deeply. She really did not know what to do—she wanted to be able to talk to him, because he was the only one that listened to her, but if he was going to be angry because her last name was Weasley, there was really nothing she could do.
She fetched Errol and sent the letter to Draco, before retreating to her room to look through her new Hogwarts items.
~*~
Draco sat bitterly on his bed, glaring at the wall. He was torn between whether or not he could continue his friendship with Ginny—it was a hard choice: family versus friends. If he followed his father’s wishes and avoided Ginny, then she would be angry and never talk to him again—he would lose his best friend. On the other hand, he could secretly be Ginny’s friend, but if his father found out, Draco would have severe repercussions. He knew in his heart that Ginny’s friendship was worth the risk; however, he could not bring himself to admit it.
He decided to try to justify his father’s viewpoint for a moment. Ginny was a Muggle lover and a blood traitor—any self-respecting wizard knew that those were the worst qualities to exhibit. Of course, it was his father who had told him that those were the least desirable attributes, so perhaps they were not relevant to his situation with Ginny.
He mussed his hair with his hand as he contemplated what to do. Everything that he was supposed to hate about Ginny was solely because his father told him to. Draco loved and respected his father very much, but he was unsure if he really wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. Draco did not know much about his father’s business—only that he operated under extreme secrecy and precaution, and the Dark Arts heavily influenced him. Draco was only twelve, and he recognized that he was too young to have decided what he wanted to do with his life. However, he knew that as long as he listened to his father, he would be pushed towards the Dark Arts and his father’s mysterious dealings. Draco desperately wished that he had an escape route—someone to show him that life was not as his father planned out for him.
Before, that person had been Ginny—she had shown him that not everyone cared about blood purity and class—and he had believed her. But now he had made her angry about his jealous insecurities concerning Harry Potter and his friends. He needed someone like Ginny to serve as a balance for his difficult home life—but because she was a Weasley, he was fairly certain that the long-term outcome of their friendship would not be pleasant. Besides, it was not like he had a romantic interest in her or anything—she would probably be a good girlfriend though, he mused. After all, he had kissed her that one time in the Ministry… He shook his head—Ginny was his best friend, and as wonderful as she was, he did not want to advance their relationship for fear of ruining what they had. Well, what they would have if he could bring himself to continuing the friendship…
A sudden rapping on his window brought him back to reality. He looking in disbelief at the decrepit owl tapping frantically on the window, as though it was going to fall out of the air and die at any moment. Draco opened his window and allowed the owl into the room. He raised his eyebrow as the owl dove into the room and fell onto the middle of his floor. He carefully picked up the feeble owl and carried him over to his own owl’s water cup before untying the letter attached to its leg.
Seeing the old, dilapidated owl reminded him again that Ginny was a Weasley. He read her letter slowly, pondering what he should do about the situation. She sincerely wanted to be friends still, despite his behavior in the bookstore. Her forgivingness reminded him about how fantastic she was, and he knew deep down inside that he did not want to lose their five years of friendship. However, he did not want to deal with it right now—maybe he would be able to make a more coherent decision in the morning, he figured. It would be a huge risk to defy his father, and he needed more sleep before he could resolve the problem. Exhausted, Draco collapsed onto his bed, the letter in his hand as he drifted off to sleep.
The following morning, Draco still had no idea whether to obey his father or befriend Ginny. Noticing that her owl was still sound asleep, recovering in his room, he took the opportunity to pen a short letter, telling her that he was sorry for his actions, and he wanted to get together at Hogwarts sometime so they could talk in private. He was not quite certain how the last part would fare, but he figured they could sneak somewhere secluded to talk at some point. Once her owl had recovered, he fed it some owl treats and water before he tied the letter onto her owl’s leg with the same cheap piece of string that Ginny’s letter had arrived with, and sent him out the window.
~*~
A week had passed since Ginny had sent her apology to Draco, and he had not yet responded. Errol had returned the day after she sent him out, exhausted and empty handed, save for a tie on his left leg with no letter attached.
Resignedly, Ginny had begun to give up on reconciling with Draco—if he was going to be inconsiderate and ignore her, then she was not going to press the issue any more. She had spent the majority of her last weeks at home sulking in her bedroom and lazily packed everything she would need for Hogwarts. All she had left to pack was her textbooks—those were trickiest, because they were the heaviest of all her luggage. She picked up all of Lockhart’s books one by one and neatly laid them out on top of her clothing, trying to balance the weight throughout the trunk. As she grabbed her battered, used copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration, a shabby little black book fell out onto the floor. Curious, Ginny picked it up—it was nondescript Muggle diary, with the name ‘T. M. Riddle’ smudged on the first page. Ginny flipped through the rest of the book, but the pages were all empty. She threw it aside on her bed—she would look at it more thoroughly later once she finished packing all her Hogwarts items.
Finally she had packed everything neatly into her trunk except a single quill and the tatty diary. She had never written in a diary before—she had always believed them to be a stupid waste of time, but she needed someone to confide in. Also, since Draco was obviously not talking to her right now, the diary seemed like a reasonable thing to try. Opening the front cover carefully, she smoothed down the first page and brushed off any dust. She thoughtfully sucked on the end of her quill, wondering how to start.
Figuring she should commence by introducing herself, she dipped her quill slowly into her ink and then started writing. “Hello, my name is Ginevra Molly Weasley,” she wrote concisely, but adding small flourishes onto her name for effect. She smiled at the way the ink seemed to set onto the page. Suddenly, the words she had written faded away, leaving the page momentarily blank before different words started oozing out of the page.
“Hello, Ginevra. My name is Tom Riddle—how did you happen to come across my diary?”
Ginny watching in shock as the unfamiliar handwriting began to fade away—she had never seen a diary like this before. She remembered her mother had told her never to trust something if she could not see where it kept its brain, but Ginny figured she could talk to it a little more before she got rid of it. “I found it in my textbooks while I was packing for school,” she wrote carefully in the diary. She watched as her words faded away into the paper only to be replaced with the same unfamiliar handwriting.
“Really? And what kind of school do you go to Ginevra?”
She looked at the diary curiously—it seemed harmless to her, despite all the warnings her mother had given her about things like this. Wanting to learn more about the diary, Ginny responded. “People call me Ginny, not Ginevra, and I go to a wizarding school—it’s my first year,” she wrote, trying not to give away too many specifics about her school. However, she figured that since the diary was responding, it was probably enchanted by a wizard.
She continued to write to the diary for several hours, just about general conversational topics. She tried not to reveal too much about herself, but she did not really see a reason not to trust the diary. Tom seemed to truly care about her, and he was very interested in everything she said.
Finally, it was time for sleep so she said goodnight to Tom and lay back in her bed. It was nice to have someone to talk to, especially since Draco seemed to be ignoring her. Maybe having a diary was not such a silly thing after all.
~*~
It was nearly time to return to Hogwarts, and Draco had still heard no response from Ginny. He assumed that her raggedy old owl managed to journey back to her home; however, she had never responded after he sent his letter, so he was not certain. Perhaps she was angry about that one day in the bookshop, or perhaps she was upset that he suggested that they wait until the first week of school to meet.
Thinking about what Ginny was doing, Draco lazily threw his textbooks into his trunk. He would be leaving for his second year at Hogwarts tomorrow, and he was almost looking forward to it. No longer would he have to deal with his father at the Manor, but instead he would have to hear the many heroic tales of Harry Potter, and the Golden Gryffindor Trio. Draco sighed bitterly—perhaps this year would be different. He looked over at his new Nimbus Two-Thousand One, the newest model of racing broom on the market. He ran his hand over the smooth handle—it really was the epitome of racing perfection, and he could not wait to join the Slytherin Quidditch team. His father had promised that he would be accepted; Draco was not quite sure how he would manage that, but he knew his father had a great deal of power, and he would succeed somehow. Besides, he was not bad at Quidditch.
Looking over at his owl napping in its cage, Draco briefly wondered if he should send Ginny another letter. Perhaps she never received his last letter, and he would hate for her to be angry that he never wrote back. Nah, he decided. She probably got it—he would just wait until they were heading to Hogwarts. Then maybe he would be able to talk to her.
~*~
Ginny frowned as she was woken up at the crack of dawn to get ready for Hogwarts. This year there were five members of her family heading to Hogwarts, which required a great deal of preparation. Ginny hurriedly put on the clothes she had laid out for herself, and she rushed around the house looking for items she had forgotten to pack.
Finally it was time to leave—Ginny lugged her trunk out to her father’s Ford Anglia and got into the front seat with her mother. She stared wistfully out the window as the house she had lived at for eleven years faded off into the distance—it would be strange to be away from home for a year, even though she would have four brothers with her.
However, barely after the house had disappeared from sight, George insisted they return for his box of Filibuster fireworks that he had forgotten, and a mere five minutes after that Fred demanded that they return because he had left his broomstick. Finally they were on the road, making decent time to the station. Ginny started daydreaming about what Hogwarts would be like—she had heard so many great things about it, and her brothers and Draco had described it to her so many times.
Draco… She could not believe Draco had not written her back. At least she had Tom to talk to now—wait… Did she remember to pack her diary? She had left it under her mattress for the past week—but she did not remember putting it in her trunk
“Dad! I forgot my diary! We need to go back!” she shrieked loudly. She felt a little bad about making them turn around again, especially since they were almost to the highway, but she knew she needed her diary as her confidant, especially now since Draco was angry with her.
They went back to the Burrow one last time so she could retrieve her precious diary from her bedroom, and then they were immediately on the road again to King’s Cross Station. They reached the station at quarter to eleven—only fifteen minutes before the Hogwarts Express would leave. Quickly pulling her trunk from the car, Ginny hurriedly followed her mother into King’s Cross. She briefly remembered the previous years she had been here, always having to watch her brothers leave her behind. This year, it was her turn to go off to school, leaving her parents behind.
She felt her mother grab her hand and briskly walk her through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾ after Percy, her father and the twins. There was only a minute left before the Hogwarts Express was going to leave. Rushed, her mother and father bid her a fast farewell, and her brothers grabbed her trunk and pulled it onto the train. She tried to give her mother and father a hug, but her brothers grabbed the back of her jumper and dragged her on the train, explaining that the train was about to leave.
Suddenly, she found herself in a train compartment, waving good-bye to her parents as the train slowly pulled away from the platform—everything had happened so fast, and now she was on her way to Hogwarts. She was almost sad as she watched her parents become tiny spots on the distant platform—her brothers had disappeared elsewhere on the train, and she had barely gotten to say goodbye to her parents.
She looked around the compartment she was in, there was a short boy with mousy brown hair standing next to her, excitedly taking pictures out the window with a camera. In the corner there was a straggly looking girl with long dirty blonde hair, intently reading the latest issue of the Quibbler. Ginny looked at each of them in turn, but they both seemed content so she did not bother to introduce herself. Bored, Ginny decided to go roam the train and see if she could find her brothers.
Looking down the long hallway, she did not see anyone in either direction, except Percy talking to another prefect with curly black hair. Figuring her brother would not want to be bothered, she set off in the other direction, peeking into the windows of compartments as she passed.
The first compartment she looking into had a load of older students, laughing raucously about something one of them had said. She did not recognize any of them, so she continued down the hallway. Suddenly, Ron’s friend Hermione emerged from the next compartment, looking up and down the halls.
“Ginny! Have you seen your brother?” Hermione asked while still curiously peeking into the compartments around them.
“Uhh… Which one?” Ginny asked facetiously, although she honestly had no idea which brother Hermione was talking about anyway.
“Ron. And Harry. I haven’t seen them, and neither has anyone else. Do you know if they got on the train?” Hermione asked Ginny. Thinking for a moment, Ginny could not actually remember seeing her brother and Harry on Platform 9 ¾ as she was leaving. She looked at Hermione and shook her head.
Exasperated, Hermione sighed loudly and grabbed Ginny’s wrist, dragging her down the hallway to go search for the two of them. Ginny felt happy to be included in Hermione’s quest for her brother, it was a nice change from being ignored from everything related to her brothers and Harry. She and Hermione engaged themselves in random conversation about the summer and everything that happened. She discovered that Hermione was Muggle-born, and very smart—Ginny figured that she was the ‘Mudblood’ that Draco was always raving about in his letters.
The two of them continued down the train, peeking into windows looking for Harry and Ron. They found Fred and George in a compartment, cracking jokes with other students—neither of them had seen Ron or Harry either. Ginny glanced into the next compartment—sitting on the bench next to the window was an unmistakable head of white-blonde hair.
Staring at the back of Draco’s head for a moment, she wondered whether she should go say hello, or whether she should ignore him. Suddenly, a pug-faced girl who was sitting across from Draco saw Ginny staring through the window. The girl said something inaudible and Ginny watched as Draco whipped around and looked her straight in the eye. His face seemed to be expressionless—neither inviting her to enter nor giving her any sign that he hated her. The pug-faced girl in the compartment sneered at her, and the rest of the girls in there broke out into a sinister laughter. Embarrassed, Ginny ducked away from the window and hurriedly ran to catch up with Hermione, who was still peeking further down the train.
~*~
Draco continued to stare at the window where Ginny’s snooping face had just disappeared. Perhaps she was looking for him. He looked around his compartment—it was the same as the previous year; Vincent and Gregory were munching away on their many snacks and candies, and Pansy was gossiping and laughing, except this year she had dragged some of the other Slytherin girls into the compartment. Draco did not understand why she could not find her own compartment—the train was full of compartments, and yet she always chose to sit in his, oftentimes uncomfortably close to him.
He went back to staring out the window, wondering what he would say to Ginny. Now that he knew she was a Weasley—he would never be able to freely talk to her in public. The Slytherins would never forgive him for dropping to such a low level, and he was fairly certain that he would get beaten up by all the Weasley brothers for talking to Ginny—not that he could not handle them, but he still preferred to avoid the situation all the same.
Perhaps he could go talk to Ginny in private—there probably was a stray empty compartment somewhere in the train—the one that Pansy and friends belonged in, at least. He had to talk to Ginny eventually, whether it was here or at school, it did not matter in the least. Besides, he missed their fun conversations—she could always make him laugh. Deciding to go find her, Draco stood suddenly, making a show of extreme boredom, and signaling for Vincent and Gregory to stay put. Then, without saying anything at all (especially not to Pansy and her followers), he strode out of the compartment into the hallway, on a mission to find Ginny and talk to her.
~*~
Hermione seemed to be giving up with searching for Harry. “I really don’t know where they are, but if you find them, tell me, okay?” Hermione told Ginny. Nodding, Ginny agreed and said goodbye. She watched as Hermione disappeared into a compartment with a group of giggling girls—a set of twins with long dark hair, and a few more second year girls. Sighing, Ginny turned on her heel and resignedly headed back to her compartment.
Suddenly, Draco appeared stealthily from his compartment, looking back and forth down the hallway, as though he was taking a huge risk venturing out into the hallway alone. His face stayed apathetic and calm as he registered her presence in the hallway. He swiftly strode down the hallway towards her, and then continued to walk past—but tapping her slightly and making a gesture telling her to follow him. Waiting a moment to make sure no one was watching, as that seemed to be his intent, she idly followed him down towards the end of the train, watching as his disappeared into a random compartment.
Finally, she reached the door to his compartment, and cautiously walked in. It was completely empty except for Draco, and as soon as she had entered he quickly moved to lock the door from the outside and cover the small window that allowed a view in. Ginny gave him an inquisitive glance, wondering why he was being so precautious about talking to her. She was beginning to feel very uncomfortable, because it seemed as though Draco was afraid to talk to her in front of everyone else. She did not see what was so horrible about talking in public, or not caring if someone else were to walk in on their conversation—but Draco was not taking any chances.
Draco took several more moments checking to make sure that their meeting was completely private before conclusively turning to face her, offering her a weak smile. However, Ginny was in no mood for his apologies—he had insulted her family that day in Flourish and Blotts, and then he had not written anything to her since then—and now he was blocking off their meeting from the outside world, as if he were ashamed to be talking to a Weasley.
She sat down grumpily in the corner of the compartment and glared at him—he must have some reason for coming here, and she figured she would let him talk first so that she did not start yelling at him for no reason. Draco seemed a little unnerved at her stony behavior, especially because it was completely uncharacteristic for her—but he had severely hurt her, and he had not made any moves to apologize, even after she had written him.
Draco seemed to be at a loss for words. “Ginny, I—I’m… I’m sorry…” he started, stumbling on the words as though he had never apologized to another person in his life.
Ginny stared at him for a moment longer—great, so he was sorry. And what did that really mean? “So—can we be friends, or does my last name just ruin everything?” Ginny asked bitterly.
Draco contemplated for a moment as Ginny glared at him, “Well,” he started, “I’d like to be friends, but—” he trailed off in his thought.
“But what?” she asked, “but you can only be friends with me in secret? We can only be friends at your convenience? I’m sorry Draco, but that doesn’t seem like a situation that is going to work for me.” She snapped angrily. “You can’t just insult my family in public, and then expect everything to be okay with me! I am a Weasley, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you don’t like it, then I can’t help you because it’s not something I can change—”
“—It’s not that I want you to change,” Draco started “It’s just that I didn’t know that… Well… My father always told me things about your family, and… I don’t know, Ginny—there are just too many people who would think it’s strange for me to be friends with you.”
“And that’s supposed to justify it?” she demanded. “If you’d rather maintain your reputation rather than talk to me, then go ahead—it’s not worth it to me to befriend people who are obviously so caught up in themselves—”
“Excuse me? If I’m caught up in my reputation it’s only because I have one to maintain, unlike some people,” Draco interrupted. She was starting to make him very angry with her many accusations. He had come here to talk, not to argue—but apparently she had a lot bottled up inside that she had to get out.
Ginny glowered at Draco—she knew her family did not have a high status like his, but he did not need to persistently remind her. She shook her head and added solemnly, “You know, Draco, I thought we had something. You were such a great friend—you were always fun to be around, and you were always there for me when I needed you. Maybe you’ve always hated my family—but there’s no difference between now and last month except now you know my surname, and if you’re really going to let that ruin everything, then maybe you aren’t who I thought you were. Secrecy is one thing—I don’t mind if we don’t tell anyone we’re friends, but I can’t stand you insulting my family time and time again.” Sighing unevenly, she looked at him with teary eyes momentarily before dejectedly dropping her gaze to the floor.
She waited for a moment, to see if Draco would counter what she said and tell her he was sorry and that he wanted to remain friends, but he made no immediate move to do so. She sighed deeply and shook her head once more before slowly rising to exit the compartment. Not looking back, she miserably traipsed back to the compartment with the mousy boy and the strange blonde girl.
Upon reaching her compartment, she saw that the boy had moved out of the compartment—probably taking pictures somewhere else in the train, and the girl was now circling random words in the Quibbler and drawing lines artistically across the page, as though trying to make a bizarre connection in the magazine spread.
Desolate and feeling as though she had lost her best friend, Ginny flopped onto the bench next to the window. Wiping the unshed tears from her eyes, she knew it would not do her good to dwell on her argument with Draco, but she still felt as though she needed to tell someone what was wrong. Pulling her diary out of her pocket, she flipped it open to the first page and began to write.
~*~
Draco watched the empty door that Ginny had disappeared through. He had felt as though they could never be friends after that one day at Flourish & Blotts, but now the reality of the situation had solidified before his eyes. She had wanted him to defy everything his father had ever taught him—and that just was not something he could do. He lay down on the bench in the empty compartment and stared dismally at the ceiling.
He felt almost sad—Ginny had walked out, leaving him alone but making his life somewhat easier. If she was going to be angry with him, then he did not have to deal with being torn between her friendship and his father. It was probably better this way anyway.
Finally, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station, and Draco followed all the older students up to the castle. He was happy to not have to take the boats across the lake like he did last year. Sitting down at the table, Draco idly listened as his classmates talked about their summers and all the exciting things they had done. Draco nodded at the proper moments and issued an occasional smirk, which was his interpretation with a laugh.
After what seemed like an eternity, Professor McGonagall entered the hall, announcing that the first years were coming. A long trail of timid looking students entered the Great Hall, in awe of its magnificence. Draco yawned loudly—the ceremony really was quite tedious; it was horrible enough having to participate in it the previous year, but it was even worse watching it. He amused himself by looking at each first year, trying to guess what house each would end up in.
Finally, his eyes fell upon Ginny, who was distracted by her twin brothers waving wildly on the other side of the Great Hall. He stared wistfully at the back on her head, wondering if it really was better to ignore her. No matter how hard he tried, he could not forget the feeling of when he laughed with her. She was the only person that he had shown his ‘true’ self, the one that was not concerned with reputation and class. Too bad he was not allowed to act like that in everyday life, he thought bitterly.
Draco distractedly listened to the Sorting Hat’s new tune as he continued to stare at Ginny. He was starting to regret their argument on the train, and he wished that he could go back to being a little naïve child at the Ministry of Magic, not really knowing or caring about bloodlines and status. Watching as the first years tried on the hat one by one, Draco could not help wishing that by some strange occurrence, Ginny would end up in Slytherin because then he would be able to talk to her. However, much to his dismay but just as he expected, she was sorted into Gryffindor, with all the rest of her siblings and the Golden Trio. Feeling defeated and depressed on the inside, Draco struggled to display a self-satisfied expression on his face as he watched the rest of the sorting ceremony. Regardless of his conflicts with Ginny, he still had a reputation to maintain—he could not let Ginny ruin everything his father had built for him, no matter how nice she was.
Leaning across the table, he engaged himself in a conversation with Marcus Flint about Quidditch and the house team. He haughtily smiled as Flint acknowledged that he had already been approached about Draco’s Quidditch skills, and that Draco would be welcome on the house team, especially after his father’s contribution. Draco had no idea what his father had donated, but if it secured his position on the team, Draco would not argue. He smiled smugly—perhaps this year he could rival Harry Potter and his Quidditch skills.
He glanced at Ginny, who was sitting with her back to him at the Gryffindor table, involved in an energetic conversation with several other first years. Draco knew it would be a long struggle to either ignore Ginny or reconcile with her. Deep down inside, he wished he could do the latter, but he knew that he had to wait for her to settle into school and cool off. Draco figured if Ginny continued to be mad at him, then it would be easier for him to stop thinking about her—or so he hoped. It was going to be an interesting term…
A/N: Tell me what you think, or if it’s boring, or if it should go in a different direction. I just enjoy feedback (a lot), so anything you tell me (good or bad) is appreciated.
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