See the prologue for the disclaimer.
Afraid of the Dark
Written by LJP
Chapter 5
When Ginny woke up the next morning, she was surprised to find herself in bed. She was also surprised to discover that her arm did not hurt at all. She glanced down at the skin of her forearm. There was a light outline of the Mark. It was gray and looked as though someone had taken a pencil and drawn it there.
Sitting up in bed, she realized that her formal robes were gone, replaced instead with her favorite pair of pajamas. Her necklace and pendant was still around her neck, the sapphire growing heavy against her chest. Unfortunately, Ginny couldn’t even remember returning home the night before.
"Ginny?" Her mother poked her head in the bedroom door. Ginny had just enough time to pull a sheet up to cover herself. "Honey, are you okay?"
She nodded. "Of course Mum, why?"
Molly Weasley stepped inside the room. "You missed breakfast. It’s past 11, almost time for lunch. You’ve never been known to sleep late, are you sure nothing’s bothering you?"
Ginny shook her head and shrugged. "Nope. I’m perfectly fine Mum. I was just tired. I stayed up late working on the six feet of parchment Professor Snape assigned to us over break." A lie. Her mother didn’t seem swayed. "Really. I’m fine."
Molly crossed her arms over her chest and scrutinized her daughter. "Lunch is almost ready. Your brother, Hermione, and Harry were thinking about a trip to Diagon Alley today. Thought you might be interested."
"Sure Mum. That’d be great." Another lie.
Her mother sent her a small smile before turning away and leaving, the door clicking shut softly behind her. Ginny let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding.
Slowly, she rose from her bed, leaving the sheets laying in a rumpled mess behind her. As she approached the mirror, she reached up to unclasp her necklace, letting it fall into her hands. She stared at it for a second, captivated by the beauty of it. Then, she opened the top drawer of her armoire and laid it carefully between her silk knickers. Biting down on her lower lip, she slid the door closed.
Ginny looked up at herself in the mirror.
Something was different. She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what it was. She looked different, older even. Her hair had a strange, natural golden gleam to it, and it fell in perfectly laid curls against her shoulders. Her eyes were darker than she seemed to remember them. There looked more violet than blue. And there was an odd twinkling in them. Her complexion was clear, smooth, and the dotting of freckles that had one adorned the bridge of her nose was no longer visible. Ginny cocked her head to the side to get a better look. She looked, well she looked quite beautiful.
After spending far too much time admiring herself in the mirror, Ginny moved to change out of her pajamas. She automatically reached for a short-sleeved maroon blouse, but caught herself just in time. Instead, she grabbed a long-sleeved, tight fitted gray sweater. She pulled it over her head quickly, extracting her long hair from its grasp. She found a pair of fitted black slacks shoved into the back of her closet and reached for them. Before pulling them on, she muttered a quick anti-wrinkle spell to flatten them out.
She paused once more before the mirror as she began to pull her hair back into a familiar ponytail. She stopped suddenly, staring at herself. She thought better of it, and let her hair down, falling naturally around her face.
Ginny smiled at herself. A real smile, not one of those sickenly sweet fake ones she always put on for show. She was amazed at her own beauty. Why hadn’t she ever noticed it before? A little touch of violet eye shadow to bring out her eyes and a dab of deep red lipstick later, she was ready to go.
With a newfound bounce in her step, Ginny headed down the stairs.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already through devouring their lunches by the time Ginny appeared in the kitchen. "Good morning everyone!" She greeted them warmly, much to their surprise, and began to sip at the soup her mother had placed in front of her.
Ron almost didn’t recognize his own sister when she appeared in the kitchen. "Ginny? What’s the matter? You look...uh...you look...."
"Beautiful." Harry finished, unable to take his eyes off her.
Ron looked at his best friend in horror. "That wasn’t exactly the word I was looking for. I was thinking more along the lines of ‘different.’" His face turned bright red.
Hermione playfully slapped his arm. "Ron please." She turned to look at Ginny. "You do look very nice this morning Gin." She complimented. "Did you do something different to your hair?"
Ginny shrugged as she took a swallow of water. "Not really." She lied. "Same as always." No one seemed to notice that she was, for once, actually wearing her hair down, instead of pulled back into a tight bun. That was the difference.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat when she noticed Harry still staring at her. "Are you going to Diagon Alley with us today Gin?" He asked, moving his seat a little closer to her at the table. She smiled nervously.
Wasn’t this what she always wanted? The famous ‘boy who lived’ to acknowledge her existence and *want* to spend time with her? Why, then, did it feel so wrong?
"Sure Harry. That is, if you all don’t mind me tagging along."
Ron opened his mouth in protest, but Harry cut him off. "Nonsense Gin! We’d love to have you." He reached out and laid his hand on top of hers, caressing it softly. She had to fight hard not to pull it away.
"Great!" She plastered a fake smile onto her face and returned her attention to her lunch. This was going to be a long day.
***
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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.