See the prologue for the disclaimer.
Afraid of the Dark
Written by LJP
Chapter 3
Three weeks earlier...
Draco Malfoy watched the girl sweep into the Great Hall. Her dark red hair was pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck, and her face wore no make-up. Her body was hidden underneath the standard Hogwarts school robes. He narrowed his eyes and tried to see her. He didn’t want to see "just another Weasley," as he had so affectionately called her before. He didn’t want to see the 11 year old his father had dumped a dangerous diary on. He wanted to see the woman she had become.
Ginny Weasley felt someone watching her, but in a room as big as the Great Hall, it was impossible to tell who it was. Self-consciously, she pulled her books against he chest and hurried to an empty seat across from her older brother Ron.
"What’s the matter Ginny?" Hermione Granger, Ron’s girlfriend, asked as she slid into the seat.
Ginny shook her head. "Nothing Hermione. I’m fine."
"Are you sure?" Harry Potter, the boy — no the man now — she had crushed on and obsessed over for the past six years, asked, sounding almost worried.
Surprised at his apparent concern, Ginny managed a weak, but inconvincible nod. "Really." She finally said. "I just thought someone was staring at me." She shrugged. "That’s all."
None of them said anything more to her. They all turned to each other, much more interested in each other. Especially now that Hermione and Ron had reached the stage of their relationship when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. And Harry was busy flirting with anything with breasts — except her. Ginny was miserable.
Draco watched her curiously. He had always expected her to be part of the Fantastic Four, but it seemed to him at the moment, it was more accurately the Three Musketeers and the Wanna-Be.
He hadn’t even noticed her until this year. Before, she had been a scrawny, red-headed, freckle-faced child. But he had accidentally bumped into her on the Hogwarts Express on the first day of school, and he was shocked to find she had grown up.
She wasn’t wearing her Hogwarts robes then. Instead, she had on a new, white blouse and knee-length blue and gray plaid skirt. Her hair had been down then too. Draco wondered what made her wear it pulled back.
Ginny started talking to Potter and Weasley, but it didn’t seem like they were much more interested in her as they were in anything but Quidditch and girls. He wanted to hear what they were saying.
Before he had the chance to cast a conversation emphasis spell, the windows opened up and hundreds of owls flew in. There were several large, dark-colored owls that Draco immediately recognized. The largest of them flew directly toward him, dropping a small, black envelope into his lap.
Draco swallowed. He had been expecting this.
Severus Snape sucked in a breath as he saw the owls swoop in. The Headmaster turned to him. "Is there a problem Severus?"
"It’s time." Snape said calmly. "The owls arrived today."
There was a hint of worry in Dumbledore’s voice, and it made even Snape uneasy. "How many?"
"It’s difficult to know for certain. I see somewhere around ten right now, but the Dark Lord requires an affirmative response before anything else happens. And I couldn’t even be certain how many are his owls. There’s also Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to worry about."
"I see." The two men were silent. "When will you know for certain?"
"After the ceremony. It’ll take place during Christmas break. We may have a good idea then of how many to expect. They’ll have to go home in order to be at the initiation."
"I worry Severus." Dumbledore sighed. "I believe he may be gathering the forces, preparing for an attack. I do not know what I should do."
Snape turned to look at him. Dumbledore trusted Snape with everything. And Snape respected the Headmaster. He, as well, trusted him with his life. "I will do everything in my power to ensure that does not happen."
Dumbledore smiled softly. "I know Severus. I know."
Ginny’s jaw fell when a very large owl flew up to her and dropped a small black envelope at her, landing in a pile a mashed potatoes. She made a face and picked it up curiously. Her name was written in small, neat script on the front: Virginia Annabel Weasley.
"Where’d that come from?" Ron asked, suddenly taking an interest in his sister’s life. "I’ve never seen that owl before."
Ginny looked up at him. "I don’t know Ron. I haven’t opened it yet. Perhaps if you stop bothering me, I will find out." She smiled sweetly at him.
Ignoring both the look of surprise on Ron’s face and the questioning, curious looks she was receiving from him, Harry, and Hermione, Ginny meticulously peeled open the envelope. She pulled a small, folded piece of paper out of it, and looked down at it.
"It is with great pleasure that I inform you that you have been selected as a candidate for an esteemed honor. The Dark Lord requests your presence at a ceremony initiating you as one of his loyal followers.
"If you find you are unable to commit to such a difficult task, no response is needed. You will forget this ever happened. However, if you agree, a response is required within a period of twenty-four hours. At that time, this letter, and your memory of it, will no longer exist."
Ginny swallowed hard.
"Gin?" She spun around to look at Ron. He strained his neck to look at her letter. She pulled it away. "What’s the matter? It just looks like a letter from Mum. Probably wanting to find out how school is I’d wager."
She looked at the letter, then at her brother. "What?"
"Your letter. It’s from Mum, right?"
"Oh." Ginny said. "Of course." Ron’s attention returned to his girlfriend.
Of course You-Know-Who — Voldemort — would hide his tracks. The letter was probably charmed so that only Ginny saw it for what it was. Everyone else would just see a letter from her mother.
Ginny looked around her. Everyone was laughing, talking with their friends, kissing their boyfriends. Ginny had never had any of that before. Sure, she had her brothers, but they never paid attention to her. Her closest girl friend was Hermione, but Ginny wasn’t sure if she could even consider her a friend. As for boyfriends — she was long over her obsession with Harry. Still, she found him attractive, and would jump at the chance to date him, but it would never happen. Harry never gave her a second glance.
She had no one. No one since she had Tom Riddle her first year. With him, she had felt safe; she had felt loved. So, she knew what she was going to do.
Quickly, she penned a brief "I agree" at the bottom of the letter. The owl was sitting a few feet away from her, nibbling on a piece of bread. She tied the letter back onto the large bird’s claw and watched him fly away.
She never noticed Draco Malfoy do the exact same thing.
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Draco and Ginny belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros and various other corporations. They are being used here without permission and/or affiliation with the above. None of the authors listed here make any profit from these stories.