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Hope
A Change Of Heart - Chapter 4: Hope by melkior
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 20:25
Ginny woke up early, just as she had
planned. She hoped to avoid the other Slytherins that morning, which
would save her more trouble and possibly even keep her safe from
additional pain.
As a small child, she had been energetic, and many times her curiosity and adventurous spirit had resulted in a bruise or a small cut. That had never stopped her, though. Her mum always healed the wound, gently admonished her for being careless, and then let her continue to play.
However, she had never got hurt this badly, and no one had ever hurt her on purpose. She had a hard time understanding how someone could be so cruel. Worst of all, her mother was not there to make it feel better. At least not to heal the physical pain.
Throughout her childhood, she had always had a brother to turn to if her parents were away. Even though she was sometimes bothered by their over-protectiveness, she had always been comforted by the knowledge that there was someone who could set aside some time for her and only for her.
She lacked that comfort at Hogwarts. Percy ignored her completely, much as he had over the past three summers. Fred and George obviously had got used to the fact that their sister was in Slytherin, but they had not really shown any inclination to talk to her or ask her about her situation.
Ron was a git. That was really all she could think about her youngest brother. Somehow, she had managed to get past his rejection on the train, but he found other ways to anger her. He glared at her during meals or when they passed in the corridors, as though he had set out to alienate her in every way possible. Sure, he had ignored her the previous summer, but now it almost seemed as if he did not like her anymore. That hurt a lot. More than the bruises on her arm and shoulder.
Her mother’s letter, however, showed only kind support. Ginny noticed that some of the words in the letter had been carefully chosen, but the love and kindness were still there.
Every house has both good and bad sides. It’s up to you to recognise them and embrace the good while trying to avoid the bad. If you can find the good things, you’ll do your house proud, and more importantly, you’ll do us proud. Don’t forget that.
The letter was from her mother, but it sounded more like something her dad would say. She understood what her parents were trying to say, and she decided that she could do it. She had to do it since there was no other way out of the situation.
Apart from her parents, the only other person who had shown support for her plight was Harry. She still could not believe that she had been angry with him. Even if he had not reacted the way she had wanted him to at the time, he had still offered his friendship and help. She had a hard time believing that, too.
Even though she had only really known him for a couple of weeks, Harry held a special place in her heart. Harry Potter had been her favourite conversational topic for years. She had always been fascinated by his story, and her father had been wheedled into telling it every night until she was almost eight. She had fantasised about him many times, imagining what it would be like to play with him, hold his hand, or just sit near him. Well, she had thought about marrying him, too, but now that dream was like something from someone else’s life.
When she had seen that lost little boy on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, she had felt drawn to him. She had wanted to be his friend. After she had found out that he was Harry Potter that pull had only increased, but she had been forced to wait a year to meet him.
That year could not have ended soon enough. She had wanted to join him at Hogwarts and spend time getting to know him.
Now, that longing was a childish fantasy. Her great Hogwarts adventure with Harry Potter had turned into a nightmare in which she had been ostracised by her housemates and vilified or ignored by her brothers.
Her gloomy mood did not help her get out of bed. She realised that if she did not get up soon, she would not find the common room empty.
She cleared her mind and focused on Harry, the only hope she had. He had said he would help, and Ginny was sure he could. She had to believe that.
She picked up her clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom, careful not to rouse her roommates from sleep.
Harry woke up covered in sweat and groggy, as if he had tossed and turned all night. He tried to catch a fleeting image from his dreams. They were fuzzy, and the scene disappeared before he had any chance to grasp it. Looking at the sweat-drenched pillow and feeling his rapid heartbeat, he decided it was probably better that way. He was not a stranger to nightmares, and some of them had happened while he was awake.
A voice murmured in the dorm, and Harry stuck his head through the curtain to find its source. His eyes landed on Ron, mumbling in his sleep. Harry desperately wanted to have his best friend back, but he had a hard time figuring out how to make that happen. He had thought about approaching Ron, but that felt wrong, as if he were apologising. No, until Ron apologised to Ginny, Harry had no intention of speaking with him. His mind was set on that. If Ron could treat his own sister like dirt, there was no telling what he could do to someone who was not even a blood relation.
Maybe Tom could help him. His diary-friend was smart and supportive. Tom’s insightful words could improve the situation. He wished he could write to Tom immediately, but his roommates were bound to wake up soon.
Sighing, he got out of the bed and winced as his feet touched the floor. Considering that he had been standing the whole time at his last detention, he was not surprised by the ache.
When he got into the bathroom, he heard a sleepy voice. “Dearie, you could really do with washing your hair.”
Looking at his reflection, Harry frowned. His hair was full of dust. Cursing Snape’s filthy storage room, he went into the shower cabin.
“Harry, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Harry glanced at Hermione, who was hurrying across the Common Room towards him. He wanted to duck out and avoid her, but he had expected this. And, if he ran, she would just become more insistent. He turned to face her. “Yes,” he sighed.
“I… well, I wanted to apologise.” She spoke quickly, and Harry had a hard time catching all of her words. “I never meant to bother you with my questions. I was just worried. Still am.” She offered a small smile.
Harry was pleasantly surprised, but he was also still wary of Hermione’s inquisitive nature. It was not that he did not trust her, but sometimes her enthusiastic inquisitiveness got out of hand, even if it was something completely irrelevant like his detentions.
“I had a couple of bad days, Hermione. With the detentions, Ron, and what’s happened to Ginny… Well, let’s just say that your questions didn’t help.”
She nodded and bowed her head. “Um…”
“You still want to know how I got the detentions, right?”
“Yeah,” she said, raising her eyes to meet his.
“Remember when I went for a walk during the train ride? I ran into Malfoy, and the usual happened. I didn’t do anything, Hermione, but a Slytherin prefect caught me with my wand out, and I got a week’s worth of detention.”
A small frown appeared on Hermione’s face as he spoke, and it deepened with each new bit of information. “I’m sorry you got a detention, but you should have been more careful.” Harry glared at her, and she held up her hands and smiled in apology. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want you to spend the whole year in detention.”
Harry relaxed a bit and nodded in acceptance. “It’s only a few more days, and then it’ll be over.”
“But it doesn’t sound right,” Hermione said, tapping the side of her nose. “No one was hurt, right?” At Harry’s nod she continued. “Well, then I don’t understand how you could get such a long detention.”
“Well, I just figured it was Snape’s doing.” Harry was not overly concerned about that. Even if Ginny was not mad at him anymore, he still felt like he deserved the punishment.
“All detentions lasting a week or longer need to be approved by the Headmaster,” Hermione said matter-of-factly.
“How do you know that?” This was completely new to Harry, and he wondered if he should start paying more attention to what the teachers were saying.
“Honestly,” she huffed. “It says so in Hogwarts: A History.”
Harry blinked. “That wouldn’t stop Snape from saying something else happened.”
Hermione shook her head. “Even so, Professor Dumbledore would still need to investigate the situation before confirming the detention.”
“Maybe he just thought I deserved it,” he said, looking down. Harry was used to adults in his life deciding he needed to be punished.
“I don’t think the Headmaster would do something like that. Are the detentions bad?”
“Well, yeah. Snape has us cleaning different parts of the dungeons.”
Hermione raised her eyebrows. “Us?”
“Ginny and me. We have the detention together. I thought Ron told you.”
“I haven’t spent much time with Ron since you pointed out how he treats his sister. It’s not nice.” Hermione looked around the common room. “Why is Ginny there?”
“I don’t know. I asked, but Snape interrupted us. And later I forgot to ask again.” He felt really stupid for forgetting something important like that.
Hermione seemed to accept his explanation. “Maybe that’s why Professor Dumbledore approved such a long detention for you.”
Harry scratched his head, making his hair even messier. “What do you mean?”
“To keep her company. Help her adapt. It must have been a shock for her.” Hermione’s tone suggested it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
Harry could not really follow that logic. It did not sound like something that teachers would do. “Um, wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of having a detention?”
“Oh, right. I hadn’t really thought about that. I’ve never had one,” she said with a proud smile. “I guess it’s supposed to be unpleasant.”
Harry chose to ignore the smile. “Yeah, but at least it’s not so bad when Snape leaves us.”
“He leaves you? Alone?”
“Well, he always has something else to do, so he leaves us.” He shrugged.
“And you still don’t think you’re there to keep Ginny company?”
“Um, no. We barely have time to talk. He always gives us so much work that we hardly finish it on time.”
Hermione changed her stance instantly. “If you say so. What’s Ginny like?”
The change of topic was a bit strange to Harry, but he answered the question. “She’s nice. I don’t think she likes it here, though.”
“As I said, it must have been a shock,” Hermione said.
“No, it’s not like that. I mean it is, but there’s more.” Harry struggled to put his thoughts into words. “How do I say it? Back at the Burrow, I couldn’t really talk to her. She was running away all the time, and I thought she was uncomfortable around me.”
He raised his head to look at Hermione and she motioned for him to go on. “But she was never sad then. Now, her eyes are so sad. Even when she smiles. I offered to be her friend, and she seemed happy enough about that, but her eyes still looked sad.” He stopped when he noticed that Hermione wanted to say something.
“Her eyes… Harry, that’s very perceptive.” She sounded surprised.
“Er… I don’t think so. It’s easy to see.”
“You really seem to like her.”
Another change of topic. “Yeah, I do. She’s a friend.”
“I’m sure she appreciates it.” Hermione smiled, but Harry was not sure why.
He was becoming less comfortable with the discussion with every unexpected change of subject. “Err, how ‘bout we go and get some breakfast.” His stomach grumbled, reinforcing his statement.
Hermione giggled. “Sure, let’s go.”
Ginny, like the rest of the first-years, had only one class on Fridays, so she spent the time before lunch on the school grounds with Luna. It was nice to be with her friend, and avoiding the Slytherins was a bonus. Her shoulder and arm hurt less than before, and she was sure that missing her housemates that morning had helped with that. Of course, thinking of someone else bolstered her euphoria.
“He said he would be my friend, Luna. I can’t believe it!”
“Wasn’t he one before?” Luna’s gaze was unusually focused on Ginny as she spoke.
“Well, no. I mean, I barely knew him.”
“Was he an enemy?” Luna asked.
“No. Of course he wasn’t. Why would he be my enemy?” Ginny asked. Even thinking about Harry as her enemy was disturbing. She was not sure what Luna wanted to accomplish with the question.
“Did you like him? Before, I mean.”
Ginny blushed. “You know I did.”
“Of course I do. I just wanted you to say it. Does he like you?” Luna picked a blade of grass and started twirling it between her fingers.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t think he dislikes me. At least I hope not.” What had Harry thought about her before? Asking had not even crossed her mind.
“Well, did he run away from you or try to scare you? Or did he make loud noises while running around you?”
“Um, no. I’m afraid I did all the running away,” she said as her blush deepened. “And what does running around me have to do with anything?”
“That’s how Nargles act when they don’t like someone,” Luna said, blinking. “I thought everyone knew that. Daddy wrote about it.”
“I’m afraid I never heard about it. Sorry.”
“Oh, well. In any case, that means he didn’t dislike you. Therefore, he liked you. So he was already your friend.”
“Luna, that makes no sense at all.” Ginny really loved her friend, but she had the strangest ideas.
“It doesn’t need to. Did his presence make you happy?” Luna asked, picking another blade of grass and using her wand to link it to the first one.
“It did. Even if I didn’t show it.” In truth, she had been extremely shy around Harry, but that did not mean his being there had not been pleasant.
“Then he was your friend. That’s what friends are all about. Making you happy.” Luna continued to prod the grass in her palm with her wand. As she did, it began to resemble the outline of a heart. “You always make me happy. That’s why I think you’re my best friend.”
Ginny was not sure how to respond, so she threw herself at the blonde, hugging her fiercely. “You’re my best friend, too, and you just made me happy,” she whispered as Luna returned her hug.
“It is time, Severus.”
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be prudent to wait a bit longer?”
“No. We have waited long enough.”
“So no charms are necessary?”
“None. We’ll just let the situation unfold on its own.”
“Do you really think he’ll do it?”
“I have no doubts about him.”
“And I have no confidence in him.”
“That, of course, is your prerogative.”
“Will you monitor them?”
“I will let you know when your part becomes necessary.”
That afternoon, Harry did not feel like writing into the diary. He had a lot to think about, and he could always speak with Tom later. Because of his detentions, he had fallen behind on some of his homework, so he sat in the armchair in the corner of the common room reading his Herbology textbook.
For the first time, the subject of the class was interesting. He was reading about Mandrakes. Just like Hermione had said, Mandrake was a powerful restorative and useful in counteracting many spells. The American Mandrake, if harvested during a full moon, was the key ingredient in the post-Cruciatus potion. Harry was unfamiliar with the potion, but he was sure it would come up in his classes. The European Mandrake shared almost all of the properties of the American plant, the only difference being that seedlings re-potted during a leap year could be used to cure petrification and sometimes even help patients in a coma. The cry of the grown plant could be fatal, but the effect was not instantaneous and could be prevented with an extremely mild dosage of any snake venom that caused paralysis. Harry decided he did not want to know how snake venom could help with anything.
Someone cleared their throat, and Harry turned around and found Ron looking at him. Unsure what Ron wanted and uncomfortable starting a conversation with him, Harry stayed quiet and waited for Ron to say whatever he wanted to say.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had detentions with her?” Ron’s voice was emotionless, and the flat tone felt out of place.
“Her? You mean Ginny?” Harry wondered why Ron did not say her name.
“Yeah,” Ron said, grimacing.
“I didn’t think you’d care.”
“I don’t. But I still wanted to know.”
“Why?” Harry closed the book in his lap and gave Ron his full attention.
Ron blinked. “So I could warn you.”
“Warn me about what, Ron? Your sister?” Harry’s indifference slipped as anger crept into his voice.
Ron pushed onward, oblivious. “She’s a Slytherin, Harry. She’s not like us. I accepted it, and you should, too.”
Harry surged to his feet and glared at his one-time friend. “What’s your problem, exactly? She’s your sister! You should be thinking about how to help her! Imagine how she must feel there!”
“I can’t help her! There’s nothing to help her! What’s with you, anyway? It’s not like she’s your friend.” Ron matched Harry’s anger with his own.
“She is my friend! And if you don’t want to help your own sister, fine! But don’t try to stop me from doing it.” He pushed past Ron and went towards the portrait hole.
“Your friend?” Ron snorted. “You don’t even know her. Listen to me, I’m giving you advice as a real friend.”
“Apparently you don’t even know how to be a brother, Ron, let alone someone’s friend.” Ron’s face became red instantly, but Harry did not wait for an answer. He left the common room, slamming the portrait behind him before Ron could say anything.
Ginny accompanied Luna to Ravenclaw tower and then walked towards the dungeons for her detention. She felt much better and more light-hearted after spending most of the day Slytherin-free. The only reminder of that house had been her green-trimmed robes, but those she could ignore. Besides, she really liked green. She had always felt it was a shame that such a pretty colour was wasted on that house.
She was looking at the ground as she thought about her day, and suddenly she bumped into someone. Mindful that she was not at home, she opened her mouth to apologise, but a pair of green eyes stopped her from doing so. Now there was a great use for that colour.
“Hi,” Harry said. “Are you okay?”
“Hi.” She smiled shyly. “I’m fine. I wasn’t looking where I was walking. Sorry.”
He waved off her apology. “Doesn’t matter. I was preoccupied myself.”
“I didn’t run away this time,” she said, mostly to herself.
He blinked and started laughing, and she felt her face heating. “So you didn’t. I’m glad.”
She nodded. “So am I. And let’s face it, I couldn’t. We have detention.”
“Right. Let’s hurry. We don’t want to be late.” He started walking, but Ginny stopped him with her hand. She needed to tell someone, and somehow Harry seemed like the perfect choice, but for some reason the words stopped on the tip of her tongue.
“Ginny, we’ll be late,” Harry said.
Biting her lip, she took a breath. “I . . . I mean . . . can, ah . . . can we talk?” Harry glanced down the hall toward the dungeon. “Later, I mean.”
“Sure,” Harry said, obviously perplexed. “Anytime.”
“It’s important,” Ginny said, and Harry frowned and then he smiled at her reassuringly, and Ginny knew that he would listen and help her if her could.
”If Snape leaves us, we’ll talk,” Harry said. “Otherwise, we’ll just do it afterward, curfew or not.”
Feeling suddenly lighter, Ginny nodded. “Agreed. Let’s go now.”
She squeezed his arm, let go, and hurried down the hall right beside him.
The dungeons were dark, as usual, and the flickering light of the widely-spaced torches on the walls only made them more unpleasant. Ginny always rushed through the dungeon corridors, wanting to leave them as soon as possible, but all of her nervousness disappeared with Harry next to her.
Snape was waiting for them, standing next to the Potions classroom’s open door. He motioned them to enter with a sneer and closed the door behind him.
The room was unusually filled with light. Ginny found it strange because it almost seemed pleasant-looking.
“Sit!” Snape barked, showing them two desks, each with a single chair, located at the front of the classroom.
As they sat down, Snape waved his wand, and a parchment and a quill appeared on each desk. “Seeing that the other parts of the dungeons are too delicate to allow your presence there, even if it’s only to make them spotless, you will write lines for today’s detention. Hopefully, I will have something more productive for your time tomorrow.”
Ginny nodded and saw Harry do the same. Writing lines did not sound so bad. This particular detention was starting to look stranger and stranger.
“You will write this sentence one hundred times,” Snape said, flicking his wand at the board. Text slowly appeared on the dark surface:
I will not allow my hot-headedness to rule my actions, and I especially will not attack other students.
Ginny managed to suppress her tears. She was the one who had been attacked. She had got a detention just for trying to defend herself. Harry looked quizzically at her once the words appeared. She had to tell him what had happened.
“Start, now!” Snape’s exclamation was so sudden and loud that it made her jump slightly in her chair.
She grabbed her quill, curious that there was no inkbottle anywhere. Shrugging, she started writing. When the quill left no mark on the parchment, she suddenly understood. Fred and George had told her all about these.
Harry obviously did not know how the quills worked. “Professor, um, there’s no ink,” he said. “My quill isn’t writing.”
“Foolish boy! These are Lines quills. They have been charmed with the line you’re supposed to write. You are writing into the quill, not onto the paper. When you are done, I will check the quill to determine how many lines you have written. I’ll be back later.”
His cloak billowed behind him as he left the classroom. Ginny waited for a few moments and then turned to Harry, who was dutifully writing his lines. She could see that he found it hard to keep track of his writing when he could not see the results.
“You can stop writing, Harry.” He raised his head to look at her. “The twins told me about these ages ago. They’re simple to fool. Watch!”
She winked at him and pointed her wand at the quill. “Auge,” she said, and the quill blinked ten times before she lowered her wand and ended the spell.
Harry looked intently at her quill. “What did that do?”
“It made the quill think that I’ve written the sentence ten times. It’s simple, really, you just say the spell and count the blinks. When there’s enough of them, lower your wand. Give it a go.”
She watched as Harry gleefully repeated the spell and made his quill blink twenty times.
“That’s enough,” she interrupted him. “You don’t want to do too many, in case Snape returns early.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” He lowered his wand.
“We’ll just do it every few minutes, okay?”
He nodded. “You said you needed to tell me something. What is it?”
This was it. As much as she had wanted to tell him, now she was reluctant to do so. But there was not enough time to dwell too long on it. Snape could return at any second, and she needed to tell Harry.
She took a deep breath, trying to regain some composure. “You asked me how I got detention in the first place?” He nodded, so she continued. “Apparently we got the detention for the same reason. Attacking a student.”
Harry was obviously surprised. “Um, who did you fight with?”
“No one, Harry. I . . . I was attacked, and I defended myself,” she said, looking down.
“Who?” His voice was loud and sharp. “Who attacked you? What did they do to you?”
His concern warmed her. “Some older girls from Slytherin. It wasn’t anything bad, but I didn’t want to let them off so easily. So I retaliated, and I got a detention.” It was not completely true, but it was as much as she was willing to share.
“Are you sure that’s all?” His eyes never left hers.
“Well, sometimes they say nasty things about me,” she offered.
“Are you sure you didn’t get hurt?”
She wanted to confirm that, but then he whispered, “Don’t lie.” Those simple words made her stop and tell the truth.
“They... they pushed me into the wall when I passed them. I’m small, and I couldn’t keep my balance,” she said quietly.
“Oh, Ginny...”
“I have a couple of bruises, but nothing else. I promise.” She gave him a weak smile.
“We have to go see Dumbledore,” he said after a moment.
“Harry, even if we do, Snape won’t do anything about the other Slytherins,” she said sadly.
“I’m not talking about stopping them.” His voice was quiet, but determined.
“Then what?”
“We’ll get you re-Sorted.”
“What?” she asked, stunned. What was he talking about? Surely, students could not be re-Sorted. She had never heard of that before. “Harry, I don't think they can do that.”
“I don’t care! We will get you re-Sorted. There’s no way you’re going to spend seven years with those snakes. I don’t care what we have to do to get you out of there.”
She had to smile. “You really mean that?”
He seemed surprised that she had asked. “Of course. We’re going to see Dumbledore. Now. We’re going to tell him all about it.”
Ginny was confused. “You mean, straight away?” She had never expected that Harry would suggest something like that.
“Yes. You’re not spending another night with them! I won’t allow it.”
“What about Snape?” she said timidly.
“We can avoid him. There’s no way he’s stopping us. We’ll sneak up to Dumbledore’s office.”
“You sound so sure about that.”
“I am.” He looked at her for a moment before continuing. “Let’s go!”
She stopped him. “Are you really sure about this?”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I am. Let’s go before Snape comes back.”
“Thank you. That really means so much to me. Even if it doesn’t work-“
He cut her off. “It will work.” He opened the door and peeked outside. “It’s clear,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her out of the room.
Ginny let him drag her through the eerily quiet corridors. They were almost out of the dungeons when Harry pulled her into a small alcove.
“I’m so stupid!” he said. Even though he was only whispering, the sound still seemed loud to her.
This was it. He had realised that she was not worth doing all of that. Ginny tried to dismiss that thought, but it was the only explanation she had for his words. “What is it?” she asked timidly.
“I…” He ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I don’t know where the headmaster’s office is,” he whispered.
It took a couple of seconds for his words to break through her nervousness. The problem was nothing dire. In fact, it was something she could solve, or at least help with.
“That’s easy, Harry.” His head snapped back up at her words. “It’s on the seventh floor, behind a gargoyle.”
“How do you know that?” His voice was curious.
“The twins told me. I guess with all the mischief they get into, they’ve visited it a few times.”
He chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I can see that happening.”
She smiled back, but it did not last long. “There’s another problem.”
“What is it?”
Her nose wrinkled in thought. “If I remember right, the office has a password. You need it to get inside.”
Harry’s face fell. “Oh…”
Ginny looked at the floor, thinking. They could go to Dumbledore tomorrow. Then, they could ask one of the prefects or even a teacher to take them there. If, of course, Harry was still willing to go through all of that for her.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. She raised her head. His face was determined again. “We’ll knock on the gargoyle, shout, talk to the portraits. Whatever it takes.” His eyes flashed with something both scary and wonderful at the same time.
“That won’t be necessary, Potter. After this show of disobedience, I will personally escort both you and Weasley to the Headmaster.”
Ginny shrieked as Snape appeared out of nowhere. They were caught, and she had no idea how they would get out of this situation. Harry looked scared, too, but she could see that he was also angry.
“Fifty points from Gryffindor, and as much as it pains me, fifty points from Slytherin. Running away from a detention? Yes, that’s certainly something the Headmaster should deal with. Perhaps I can finally be rid of you both.”
Snape fixed both of them with a fierce scowl and motioned for them to follow him. As they trailed behind the angry teacher, Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand. He squeezed it slightly and gave her an encouraging smile. She understood what he was trying to tell her. They were still going to see the Headmaster. Maybe there was some hope yet.
As a small child, she had been energetic, and many times her curiosity and adventurous spirit had resulted in a bruise or a small cut. That had never stopped her, though. Her mum always healed the wound, gently admonished her for being careless, and then let her continue to play.
However, she had never got hurt this badly, and no one had ever hurt her on purpose. She had a hard time understanding how someone could be so cruel. Worst of all, her mother was not there to make it feel better. At least not to heal the physical pain.
Throughout her childhood, she had always had a brother to turn to if her parents were away. Even though she was sometimes bothered by their over-protectiveness, she had always been comforted by the knowledge that there was someone who could set aside some time for her and only for her.
She lacked that comfort at Hogwarts. Percy ignored her completely, much as he had over the past three summers. Fred and George obviously had got used to the fact that their sister was in Slytherin, but they had not really shown any inclination to talk to her or ask her about her situation.
Ron was a git. That was really all she could think about her youngest brother. Somehow, she had managed to get past his rejection on the train, but he found other ways to anger her. He glared at her during meals or when they passed in the corridors, as though he had set out to alienate her in every way possible. Sure, he had ignored her the previous summer, but now it almost seemed as if he did not like her anymore. That hurt a lot. More than the bruises on her arm and shoulder.
Her mother’s letter, however, showed only kind support. Ginny noticed that some of the words in the letter had been carefully chosen, but the love and kindness were still there.
Every house has both good and bad sides. It’s up to you to recognise them and embrace the good while trying to avoid the bad. If you can find the good things, you’ll do your house proud, and more importantly, you’ll do us proud. Don’t forget that.
The letter was from her mother, but it sounded more like something her dad would say. She understood what her parents were trying to say, and she decided that she could do it. She had to do it since there was no other way out of the situation.
Apart from her parents, the only other person who had shown support for her plight was Harry. She still could not believe that she had been angry with him. Even if he had not reacted the way she had wanted him to at the time, he had still offered his friendship and help. She had a hard time believing that, too.
Even though she had only really known him for a couple of weeks, Harry held a special place in her heart. Harry Potter had been her favourite conversational topic for years. She had always been fascinated by his story, and her father had been wheedled into telling it every night until she was almost eight. She had fantasised about him many times, imagining what it would be like to play with him, hold his hand, or just sit near him. Well, she had thought about marrying him, too, but now that dream was like something from someone else’s life.
When she had seen that lost little boy on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, she had felt drawn to him. She had wanted to be his friend. After she had found out that he was Harry Potter that pull had only increased, but she had been forced to wait a year to meet him.
That year could not have ended soon enough. She had wanted to join him at Hogwarts and spend time getting to know him.
Now, that longing was a childish fantasy. Her great Hogwarts adventure with Harry Potter had turned into a nightmare in which she had been ostracised by her housemates and vilified or ignored by her brothers.
Her gloomy mood did not help her get out of bed. She realised that if she did not get up soon, she would not find the common room empty.
She cleared her mind and focused on Harry, the only hope she had. He had said he would help, and Ginny was sure he could. She had to believe that.
She picked up her clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom, careful not to rouse her roommates from sleep.
Harry woke up covered in sweat and groggy, as if he had tossed and turned all night. He tried to catch a fleeting image from his dreams. They were fuzzy, and the scene disappeared before he had any chance to grasp it. Looking at the sweat-drenched pillow and feeling his rapid heartbeat, he decided it was probably better that way. He was not a stranger to nightmares, and some of them had happened while he was awake.
A voice murmured in the dorm, and Harry stuck his head through the curtain to find its source. His eyes landed on Ron, mumbling in his sleep. Harry desperately wanted to have his best friend back, but he had a hard time figuring out how to make that happen. He had thought about approaching Ron, but that felt wrong, as if he were apologising. No, until Ron apologised to Ginny, Harry had no intention of speaking with him. His mind was set on that. If Ron could treat his own sister like dirt, there was no telling what he could do to someone who was not even a blood relation.
Maybe Tom could help him. His diary-friend was smart and supportive. Tom’s insightful words could improve the situation. He wished he could write to Tom immediately, but his roommates were bound to wake up soon.
Sighing, he got out of the bed and winced as his feet touched the floor. Considering that he had been standing the whole time at his last detention, he was not surprised by the ache.
When he got into the bathroom, he heard a sleepy voice. “Dearie, you could really do with washing your hair.”
Looking at his reflection, Harry frowned. His hair was full of dust. Cursing Snape’s filthy storage room, he went into the shower cabin.
“Harry, may I speak with you for a moment?”
Harry glanced at Hermione, who was hurrying across the Common Room towards him. He wanted to duck out and avoid her, but he had expected this. And, if he ran, she would just become more insistent. He turned to face her. “Yes,” he sighed.
“I… well, I wanted to apologise.” She spoke quickly, and Harry had a hard time catching all of her words. “I never meant to bother you with my questions. I was just worried. Still am.” She offered a small smile.
Harry was pleasantly surprised, but he was also still wary of Hermione’s inquisitive nature. It was not that he did not trust her, but sometimes her enthusiastic inquisitiveness got out of hand, even if it was something completely irrelevant like his detentions.
“I had a couple of bad days, Hermione. With the detentions, Ron, and what’s happened to Ginny… Well, let’s just say that your questions didn’t help.”
She nodded and bowed her head. “Um…”
“You still want to know how I got the detentions, right?”
“Yeah,” she said, raising her eyes to meet his.
“Remember when I went for a walk during the train ride? I ran into Malfoy, and the usual happened. I didn’t do anything, Hermione, but a Slytherin prefect caught me with my wand out, and I got a week’s worth of detention.”
A small frown appeared on Hermione’s face as he spoke, and it deepened with each new bit of information. “I’m sorry you got a detention, but you should have been more careful.” Harry glared at her, and she held up her hands and smiled in apology. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want you to spend the whole year in detention.”
Harry relaxed a bit and nodded in acceptance. “It’s only a few more days, and then it’ll be over.”
“But it doesn’t sound right,” Hermione said, tapping the side of her nose. “No one was hurt, right?” At Harry’s nod she continued. “Well, then I don’t understand how you could get such a long detention.”
“Well, I just figured it was Snape’s doing.” Harry was not overly concerned about that. Even if Ginny was not mad at him anymore, he still felt like he deserved the punishment.
“All detentions lasting a week or longer need to be approved by the Headmaster,” Hermione said matter-of-factly.
“How do you know that?” This was completely new to Harry, and he wondered if he should start paying more attention to what the teachers were saying.
“Honestly,” she huffed. “It says so in Hogwarts: A History.”
Harry blinked. “That wouldn’t stop Snape from saying something else happened.”
Hermione shook her head. “Even so, Professor Dumbledore would still need to investigate the situation before confirming the detention.”
“Maybe he just thought I deserved it,” he said, looking down. Harry was used to adults in his life deciding he needed to be punished.
“I don’t think the Headmaster would do something like that. Are the detentions bad?”
“Well, yeah. Snape has us cleaning different parts of the dungeons.”
Hermione raised her eyebrows. “Us?”
“Ginny and me. We have the detention together. I thought Ron told you.”
“I haven’t spent much time with Ron since you pointed out how he treats his sister. It’s not nice.” Hermione looked around the common room. “Why is Ginny there?”
“I don’t know. I asked, but Snape interrupted us. And later I forgot to ask again.” He felt really stupid for forgetting something important like that.
Hermione seemed to accept his explanation. “Maybe that’s why Professor Dumbledore approved such a long detention for you.”
Harry scratched his head, making his hair even messier. “What do you mean?”
“To keep her company. Help her adapt. It must have been a shock for her.” Hermione’s tone suggested it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
Harry could not really follow that logic. It did not sound like something that teachers would do. “Um, wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of having a detention?”
“Oh, right. I hadn’t really thought about that. I’ve never had one,” she said with a proud smile. “I guess it’s supposed to be unpleasant.”
Harry chose to ignore the smile. “Yeah, but at least it’s not so bad when Snape leaves us.”
“He leaves you? Alone?”
“Well, he always has something else to do, so he leaves us.” He shrugged.
“And you still don’t think you’re there to keep Ginny company?”
“Um, no. We barely have time to talk. He always gives us so much work that we hardly finish it on time.”
Hermione changed her stance instantly. “If you say so. What’s Ginny like?”
The change of topic was a bit strange to Harry, but he answered the question. “She’s nice. I don’t think she likes it here, though.”
“As I said, it must have been a shock,” Hermione said.
“No, it’s not like that. I mean it is, but there’s more.” Harry struggled to put his thoughts into words. “How do I say it? Back at the Burrow, I couldn’t really talk to her. She was running away all the time, and I thought she was uncomfortable around me.”
He raised his head to look at Hermione and she motioned for him to go on. “But she was never sad then. Now, her eyes are so sad. Even when she smiles. I offered to be her friend, and she seemed happy enough about that, but her eyes still looked sad.” He stopped when he noticed that Hermione wanted to say something.
“Her eyes… Harry, that’s very perceptive.” She sounded surprised.
“Er… I don’t think so. It’s easy to see.”
“You really seem to like her.”
Another change of topic. “Yeah, I do. She’s a friend.”
“I’m sure she appreciates it.” Hermione smiled, but Harry was not sure why.
He was becoming less comfortable with the discussion with every unexpected change of subject. “Err, how ‘bout we go and get some breakfast.” His stomach grumbled, reinforcing his statement.
Hermione giggled. “Sure, let’s go.”
Ginny, like the rest of the first-years, had only one class on Fridays, so she spent the time before lunch on the school grounds with Luna. It was nice to be with her friend, and avoiding the Slytherins was a bonus. Her shoulder and arm hurt less than before, and she was sure that missing her housemates that morning had helped with that. Of course, thinking of someone else bolstered her euphoria.
“He said he would be my friend, Luna. I can’t believe it!”
“Wasn’t he one before?” Luna’s gaze was unusually focused on Ginny as she spoke.
“Well, no. I mean, I barely knew him.”
“Was he an enemy?” Luna asked.
“No. Of course he wasn’t. Why would he be my enemy?” Ginny asked. Even thinking about Harry as her enemy was disturbing. She was not sure what Luna wanted to accomplish with the question.
“Did you like him? Before, I mean.”
Ginny blushed. “You know I did.”
“Of course I do. I just wanted you to say it. Does he like you?” Luna picked a blade of grass and started twirling it between her fingers.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t think he dislikes me. At least I hope not.” What had Harry thought about her before? Asking had not even crossed her mind.
“Well, did he run away from you or try to scare you? Or did he make loud noises while running around you?”
“Um, no. I’m afraid I did all the running away,” she said as her blush deepened. “And what does running around me have to do with anything?”
“That’s how Nargles act when they don’t like someone,” Luna said, blinking. “I thought everyone knew that. Daddy wrote about it.”
“I’m afraid I never heard about it. Sorry.”
“Oh, well. In any case, that means he didn’t dislike you. Therefore, he liked you. So he was already your friend.”
“Luna, that makes no sense at all.” Ginny really loved her friend, but she had the strangest ideas.
“It doesn’t need to. Did his presence make you happy?” Luna asked, picking another blade of grass and using her wand to link it to the first one.
“It did. Even if I didn’t show it.” In truth, she had been extremely shy around Harry, but that did not mean his being there had not been pleasant.
“Then he was your friend. That’s what friends are all about. Making you happy.” Luna continued to prod the grass in her palm with her wand. As she did, it began to resemble the outline of a heart. “You always make me happy. That’s why I think you’re my best friend.”
Ginny was not sure how to respond, so she threw herself at the blonde, hugging her fiercely. “You’re my best friend, too, and you just made me happy,” she whispered as Luna returned her hug.
“It is time, Severus.”
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be prudent to wait a bit longer?”
“No. We have waited long enough.”
“So no charms are necessary?”
“None. We’ll just let the situation unfold on its own.”
“Do you really think he’ll do it?”
“I have no doubts about him.”
“And I have no confidence in him.”
“That, of course, is your prerogative.”
“Will you monitor them?”
“I will let you know when your part becomes necessary.”
That afternoon, Harry did not feel like writing into the diary. He had a lot to think about, and he could always speak with Tom later. Because of his detentions, he had fallen behind on some of his homework, so he sat in the armchair in the corner of the common room reading his Herbology textbook.
For the first time, the subject of the class was interesting. He was reading about Mandrakes. Just like Hermione had said, Mandrake was a powerful restorative and useful in counteracting many spells. The American Mandrake, if harvested during a full moon, was the key ingredient in the post-Cruciatus potion. Harry was unfamiliar with the potion, but he was sure it would come up in his classes. The European Mandrake shared almost all of the properties of the American plant, the only difference being that seedlings re-potted during a leap year could be used to cure petrification and sometimes even help patients in a coma. The cry of the grown plant could be fatal, but the effect was not instantaneous and could be prevented with an extremely mild dosage of any snake venom that caused paralysis. Harry decided he did not want to know how snake venom could help with anything.
Someone cleared their throat, and Harry turned around and found Ron looking at him. Unsure what Ron wanted and uncomfortable starting a conversation with him, Harry stayed quiet and waited for Ron to say whatever he wanted to say.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had detentions with her?” Ron’s voice was emotionless, and the flat tone felt out of place.
“Her? You mean Ginny?” Harry wondered why Ron did not say her name.
“Yeah,” Ron said, grimacing.
“I didn’t think you’d care.”
“I don’t. But I still wanted to know.”
“Why?” Harry closed the book in his lap and gave Ron his full attention.
Ron blinked. “So I could warn you.”
“Warn me about what, Ron? Your sister?” Harry’s indifference slipped as anger crept into his voice.
Ron pushed onward, oblivious. “She’s a Slytherin, Harry. She’s not like us. I accepted it, and you should, too.”
Harry surged to his feet and glared at his one-time friend. “What’s your problem, exactly? She’s your sister! You should be thinking about how to help her! Imagine how she must feel there!”
“I can’t help her! There’s nothing to help her! What’s with you, anyway? It’s not like she’s your friend.” Ron matched Harry’s anger with his own.
“She is my friend! And if you don’t want to help your own sister, fine! But don’t try to stop me from doing it.” He pushed past Ron and went towards the portrait hole.
“Your friend?” Ron snorted. “You don’t even know her. Listen to me, I’m giving you advice as a real friend.”
“Apparently you don’t even know how to be a brother, Ron, let alone someone’s friend.” Ron’s face became red instantly, but Harry did not wait for an answer. He left the common room, slamming the portrait behind him before Ron could say anything.
Ginny accompanied Luna to Ravenclaw tower and then walked towards the dungeons for her detention. She felt much better and more light-hearted after spending most of the day Slytherin-free. The only reminder of that house had been her green-trimmed robes, but those she could ignore. Besides, she really liked green. She had always felt it was a shame that such a pretty colour was wasted on that house.
She was looking at the ground as she thought about her day, and suddenly she bumped into someone. Mindful that she was not at home, she opened her mouth to apologise, but a pair of green eyes stopped her from doing so. Now there was a great use for that colour.
“Hi,” Harry said. “Are you okay?”
“Hi.” She smiled shyly. “I’m fine. I wasn’t looking where I was walking. Sorry.”
He waved off her apology. “Doesn’t matter. I was preoccupied myself.”
“I didn’t run away this time,” she said, mostly to herself.
He blinked and started laughing, and she felt her face heating. “So you didn’t. I’m glad.”
She nodded. “So am I. And let’s face it, I couldn’t. We have detention.”
“Right. Let’s hurry. We don’t want to be late.” He started walking, but Ginny stopped him with her hand. She needed to tell someone, and somehow Harry seemed like the perfect choice, but for some reason the words stopped on the tip of her tongue.
“Ginny, we’ll be late,” Harry said.
Biting her lip, she took a breath. “I . . . I mean . . . can, ah . . . can we talk?” Harry glanced down the hall toward the dungeon. “Later, I mean.”
“Sure,” Harry said, obviously perplexed. “Anytime.”
“It’s important,” Ginny said, and Harry frowned and then he smiled at her reassuringly, and Ginny knew that he would listen and help her if her could.
”If Snape leaves us, we’ll talk,” Harry said. “Otherwise, we’ll just do it afterward, curfew or not.”
Feeling suddenly lighter, Ginny nodded. “Agreed. Let’s go now.”
She squeezed his arm, let go, and hurried down the hall right beside him.
The dungeons were dark, as usual, and the flickering light of the widely-spaced torches on the walls only made them more unpleasant. Ginny always rushed through the dungeon corridors, wanting to leave them as soon as possible, but all of her nervousness disappeared with Harry next to her.
Snape was waiting for them, standing next to the Potions classroom’s open door. He motioned them to enter with a sneer and closed the door behind him.
The room was unusually filled with light. Ginny found it strange because it almost seemed pleasant-looking.
“Sit!” Snape barked, showing them two desks, each with a single chair, located at the front of the classroom.
As they sat down, Snape waved his wand, and a parchment and a quill appeared on each desk. “Seeing that the other parts of the dungeons are too delicate to allow your presence there, even if it’s only to make them spotless, you will write lines for today’s detention. Hopefully, I will have something more productive for your time tomorrow.”
Ginny nodded and saw Harry do the same. Writing lines did not sound so bad. This particular detention was starting to look stranger and stranger.
“You will write this sentence one hundred times,” Snape said, flicking his wand at the board. Text slowly appeared on the dark surface:
I will not allow my hot-headedness to rule my actions, and I especially will not attack other students.
Ginny managed to suppress her tears. She was the one who had been attacked. She had got a detention just for trying to defend herself. Harry looked quizzically at her once the words appeared. She had to tell him what had happened.
“Start, now!” Snape’s exclamation was so sudden and loud that it made her jump slightly in her chair.
She grabbed her quill, curious that there was no inkbottle anywhere. Shrugging, she started writing. When the quill left no mark on the parchment, she suddenly understood. Fred and George had told her all about these.
Harry obviously did not know how the quills worked. “Professor, um, there’s no ink,” he said. “My quill isn’t writing.”
“Foolish boy! These are Lines quills. They have been charmed with the line you’re supposed to write. You are writing into the quill, not onto the paper. When you are done, I will check the quill to determine how many lines you have written. I’ll be back later.”
His cloak billowed behind him as he left the classroom. Ginny waited for a few moments and then turned to Harry, who was dutifully writing his lines. She could see that he found it hard to keep track of his writing when he could not see the results.
“You can stop writing, Harry.” He raised his head to look at her. “The twins told me about these ages ago. They’re simple to fool. Watch!”
She winked at him and pointed her wand at the quill. “Auge,” she said, and the quill blinked ten times before she lowered her wand and ended the spell.
Harry looked intently at her quill. “What did that do?”
“It made the quill think that I’ve written the sentence ten times. It’s simple, really, you just say the spell and count the blinks. When there’s enough of them, lower your wand. Give it a go.”
She watched as Harry gleefully repeated the spell and made his quill blink twenty times.
“That’s enough,” she interrupted him. “You don’t want to do too many, in case Snape returns early.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” He lowered his wand.
“We’ll just do it every few minutes, okay?”
He nodded. “You said you needed to tell me something. What is it?”
This was it. As much as she had wanted to tell him, now she was reluctant to do so. But there was not enough time to dwell too long on it. Snape could return at any second, and she needed to tell Harry.
She took a deep breath, trying to regain some composure. “You asked me how I got detention in the first place?” He nodded, so she continued. “Apparently we got the detention for the same reason. Attacking a student.”
Harry was obviously surprised. “Um, who did you fight with?”
“No one, Harry. I . . . I was attacked, and I defended myself,” she said, looking down.
“Who?” His voice was loud and sharp. “Who attacked you? What did they do to you?”
His concern warmed her. “Some older girls from Slytherin. It wasn’t anything bad, but I didn’t want to let them off so easily. So I retaliated, and I got a detention.” It was not completely true, but it was as much as she was willing to share.
“Are you sure that’s all?” His eyes never left hers.
“Well, sometimes they say nasty things about me,” she offered.
“Are you sure you didn’t get hurt?”
She wanted to confirm that, but then he whispered, “Don’t lie.” Those simple words made her stop and tell the truth.
“They... they pushed me into the wall when I passed them. I’m small, and I couldn’t keep my balance,” she said quietly.
“Oh, Ginny...”
“I have a couple of bruises, but nothing else. I promise.” She gave him a weak smile.
“We have to go see Dumbledore,” he said after a moment.
“Harry, even if we do, Snape won’t do anything about the other Slytherins,” she said sadly.
“I’m not talking about stopping them.” His voice was quiet, but determined.
“Then what?”
“We’ll get you re-Sorted.”
“What?” she asked, stunned. What was he talking about? Surely, students could not be re-Sorted. She had never heard of that before. “Harry, I don't think they can do that.”
“I don’t care! We will get you re-Sorted. There’s no way you’re going to spend seven years with those snakes. I don’t care what we have to do to get you out of there.”
She had to smile. “You really mean that?”
He seemed surprised that she had asked. “Of course. We’re going to see Dumbledore. Now. We’re going to tell him all about it.”
Ginny was confused. “You mean, straight away?” She had never expected that Harry would suggest something like that.
“Yes. You’re not spending another night with them! I won’t allow it.”
“What about Snape?” she said timidly.
“We can avoid him. There’s no way he’s stopping us. We’ll sneak up to Dumbledore’s office.”
“You sound so sure about that.”
“I am.” He looked at her for a moment before continuing. “Let’s go!”
She stopped him. “Are you really sure about this?”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I am. Let’s go before Snape comes back.”
“Thank you. That really means so much to me. Even if it doesn’t work-“
He cut her off. “It will work.” He opened the door and peeked outside. “It’s clear,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her out of the room.
Ginny let him drag her through the eerily quiet corridors. They were almost out of the dungeons when Harry pulled her into a small alcove.
“I’m so stupid!” he said. Even though he was only whispering, the sound still seemed loud to her.
This was it. He had realised that she was not worth doing all of that. Ginny tried to dismiss that thought, but it was the only explanation she had for his words. “What is it?” she asked timidly.
“I…” He ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I don’t know where the headmaster’s office is,” he whispered.
It took a couple of seconds for his words to break through her nervousness. The problem was nothing dire. In fact, it was something she could solve, or at least help with.
“That’s easy, Harry.” His head snapped back up at her words. “It’s on the seventh floor, behind a gargoyle.”
“How do you know that?” His voice was curious.
“The twins told me. I guess with all the mischief they get into, they’ve visited it a few times.”
He chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I can see that happening.”
She smiled back, but it did not last long. “There’s another problem.”
“What is it?”
Her nose wrinkled in thought. “If I remember right, the office has a password. You need it to get inside.”
Harry’s face fell. “Oh…”
Ginny looked at the floor, thinking. They could go to Dumbledore tomorrow. Then, they could ask one of the prefects or even a teacher to take them there. If, of course, Harry was still willing to go through all of that for her.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. She raised her head. His face was determined again. “We’ll knock on the gargoyle, shout, talk to the portraits. Whatever it takes.” His eyes flashed with something both scary and wonderful at the same time.
“That won’t be necessary, Potter. After this show of disobedience, I will personally escort both you and Weasley to the Headmaster.”
Ginny shrieked as Snape appeared out of nowhere. They were caught, and she had no idea how they would get out of this situation. Harry looked scared, too, but she could see that he was also angry.
“Fifty points from Gryffindor, and as much as it pains me, fifty points from Slytherin. Running away from a detention? Yes, that’s certainly something the Headmaster should deal with. Perhaps I can finally be rid of you both.”
Snape fixed both of them with a fierce scowl and motioned for them to follow him. As they trailed behind the angry teacher, Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand. He squeezed it slightly and gave her an encouraging smile. She understood what he was trying to tell her. They were still going to see the Headmaster. Maybe there was some hope yet.
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