Contrasting Confusion
Ginny was released from the hospital wing a few days later. She had a feeling Madam Pomfrey had wanted to keep her there longer, but that there was no medical reason to. Ginny didn�t really know how she felt about this. She was glad to be away from Madam Pomfrey�s twenty-four hour watch, but, on the other hand, she didn�t want to face her classmates.
When she walked into the Great Hall on the morning of her release, the room immediately went silent, as everyone turned to look at her. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, whispers broke out all over the room. As Ginny walked toward the Gryffindor table, she heard snatches of conversation.
�I heard she tried to poison herself��
��poor girl��
��never thought something like this��
Ginny quickened her pace and reached the table, sitting down by Ron.
�Hey Ginny,� Ron said hesitantly.
�Hi,� Hermione said from where she was sitting across from Ginny and next to Harry, �how are you feeling?�
Ginny didn�t feel like answering, so she busied herself with getting her breakfast, taking a few sausages and some eggs. Then, she looked up and saw them looking at her, waiting for an answer.
�I�m fine,� she said. �Can we please change the subject?�
�Okay,� Harry said, �so, Ron, what do you think of the new Quidditch practice schedule? Do you think three practices a week is too much?�
�Huh?� Ron looked up. �Oh, yeah. I mean, no, um�I don�t think it is. I mean�um�if it helps us beat the Slytherins��
Ginny threw down her fork and stood up. �If you must talk about it, don�t let me get in the way,� she said loudly. She stormed off, feeling the eyes of everyone in the hall following her.
She went straight to the library, knowing she could be alone there. She grabbed a book off the shelf and sat down at the nearest table. She opened the book, but didn�t read. Instead she just sat there, staring at the words that might as well have been in a foreign language.
She heard a shuffling of feet and looked up. Malfoy was walking between shelves, seeming to be looking for something. He looked her way briefly before going back to his search. Ginny wondered for a moment about what he was looking for before deciding that she didn�t care.
Ginny looked at her watch and decided she should be going to Herbology. She stood up and walked away, leaving the book behind on the table.
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco wandered through the library, half paying attention to where he was going. Once in a while, he looked over to where Ginny was sitting. At one point she was watching him so he was forced to look away quickly. The next time he looked, she was gone.
Draco sighed heavily and went back to searching the shelves. It had been partially coincidence that he�d been in here with her. He was actually looking for a book he needed.
Finally, he found it. He pulled out a book entitled Handwriting Analysis. He brought the book up to Madam Pince to check it out. She squinted her eyes at him for a moment before speaking.
�Bring it back in two weeks,� she said stiffly, handing him the book again. Draco fought back a smile. Madam Pince had been reluctant to let him borrow books since the incident when he�d accidentally turned a book into a bat and was unable to change it back. He�d had to pay a heavy fine that forced him to send a message to his father asking for money.
Draco shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts and thanked Madam Pince. Then he turned and left the library.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny got to the greenhouse just in time for Herbology. As she stood in the crowd of students, she saw some people glancing back at her nervously, but nobody spoke to her.
�Today class,� Professor Sprout announced, �we�ll be working with the Infensus ferns we planted last week. Remember, these are very hostile, so make sure to wear your gloves. Infensus ferns grow extremely fast, so we�ll be trimming them today. Now, watch how I do it.�
She reached forward and pulled one of the plants from the table toward her. It looked like a regular fern to Ginny. Then it started hissing loudly, whipping its leaves at Professor Sprout viciously.
�What you need to do,� Professor Sprout said, �is to simply grab one of their stalks, like so, and just cut it off at the halfway point. Make sure not to cut off too much, or you might hurt them. Also, keep them at arms length at all times. We don�t need to send anyone to the hospital wing with an eye poked out.�
Ginny went to where her Infensus fern was and pulled it toward her. Hers gave a small yawn and then started growling quietly.
�Friendly, aren�t they?� Colin Creevey said sarcastically, setting his fern down next to Ginny�s. The ferns hissed at each other briefly before turning back on Colin and Ginny.
Ginny didn�t answer and got to work trimming her fern. It hissed and clawed at her gloved hand, making the going extremely difficult. Finally, when the class was almost over, she set down her clippers and pulled off her gloves. The fern grumbled and started snoring.
�What good are these things anyway?� she muttered.
�Well,� Colin Creevey said, making Ginny jump slightly, �I suppose it�s probably used as some sort of a guard. I read that these were planted around Azkaban to discourage visitors. As if the dementors didn�t do that already.�
�Hmm,� Ginny nodded. She hadn�t really expected someone to answer her. In fact, she hadn�t even wanted an answer. Come to think of it, she didn�t even know why she�d said anything at all.
They were silent for the last few minutes of class. When Professor Sprout said they could leave, Ginny rushed out, beating all of her classmates to the door. She couldn�t risk anyone coming over and asking about what happened.
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco scratched out what he�d written on his parchment and threw down his quill with a heavy sigh. He had no idea what to write about. He was supposed to be writing an essay about inter-house relations for History of Magic class. He looked back over his textbook, trying to find something he could use, but there was nothing he could write about. Luckily the paper wasn�t due until the end of the year, which was a long way off, considering the fact that it was only November.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Professor Binns let the class out. While everyone else ran for the door, Draco took his time collecting his books. He had more on his mind than just the essay. When he stepped out, he saw what it was that he was thinking about.
Ginny was walking down the hallway at a hurried pace. She was looking down at the ground, so she didn�t see Draco watching her. When she passed him, her hair moved just enough for Draco to see her face.
She was crying.
* * *
Draco crumpled up his parchment and threw it at the trashcan. It would�ve gone in if the trash hadn�t already been overflowing with half started letters. Draco grabbed a new piece of parchment and thought for several minutes before starting to write.
Ginny,
This is the hardest letter I�ve ever had to write. I�ve gone over a million times in my mind the best way to say this, but I couldn�t think of anything, so I�m just going to say it. I was the one who brought you to the hospital wing. I wouldn�t be sending this letter, except that Madam Pomfrey told me what she thought might have happened. I know this might sound strange coming from someone you don�t even know, but why did you do it? I�m sorry, I shouldn�t be asking. Just, please don�t do it again. And if you would like someone to talk to, just send a reply. This owl will know where to bring the letter. If it�s all right, I would like to keep my name a secret for now. I�m sure if you knew who this was, you wouldn�t be pleased about it.
Draco scanned the letter and decided it was the best he�d be able to write. He folded it and looked to the book Handwriting Analysis to see what he was supposed to do next.
He got up and got his cauldron out of his trunk. Then, glancing at the book once in a while, he started adding in his ingredients. For once, he was glad to be a Malfoy. His father had given him several potion ingredients that weren�t required for school, some of which were actually not allowed for students. His father thought it was always good to be prepared.
As he got to the last ingredient, Draco hesitated. This was the part he was dreading the most. Yet, he�d come this far, it�d be a waste to have to throw out the potion now. He went back to his trunk and got out a pocketknife.
It was a very nice knife. The handle was made of silver and had the Malfoy family crest carved at the base. The blade itself was forged from a metal that Draco didn�t know the name of. All he knew was that it was enchanted so that it never needed sharpened.
Now, he went back and stood over the cauldron, holding his hand out over it with the palm facing upwards. He took several deep breaths before finally gathering the courage and slashing his palm. He bit his lip to stop himself from yelling in pain and let a few drops of his blood drip into the potion, which turned from scarlet to jet-black.
Draco wrapped a cloth around his hand to slow the bleeding. He shuddered at the thought of what Madam Pomfrey would say if he went to her about it. He looked back over the book to make sure he�d gotten the ingredients right and read the small paragraph at the bottom.
This spell will keep any witch or wizard guessing at who sent them a message, even if the answer is staring them right in the face. The true identity of the sender will only be revealed when he or she wishes to be known to the reader. Though this spell is often used in forgery, it is also innocently used by love-stricken witches and wizards to send anonymous letters to those they don�t have the courage to approach. This activity, however, is discouraged by the Ministry, as it seems to encourage stalkers. Such celebrities as Gilderoy Lockhart and Victor Krum have filed complaints over the use of this spell. Of course, since Gilderoy Lockhart was committed, now it�s just Victor Krum.
Draco finished reading this and went back to his cauldron. He scooped out some of the potion and carried it back to where he had left the letter, careful not to spill any of it. When he got there, he slowly poured the potion over the letter. He knew that if it didn�t work, it would mean he�d have to rewrite the letter and try again.
The potion blacked out the words on the parchment at first. For a moment, Draco thought he�d gotten something wrong, but then it slowly started to clear up. A few minutes later, it looked just like it had. There was no way of telling if it had worked, so Draco just had to hope.
Later on that night, he went up to the Owlery and sent the letter with a school owl. His eagle owl was the only one like it in the school, so he knew better than to send it with her. The spell might be good, but it wasn�t that good.
Please send a message back, he prayed silently as he watched the owl flying away. It can�t truly be said what he felt in that instant, as he wasn�t sure of it himself. Then again, there wasn�t much that he was sure of anymore.
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Author's note: Okay, okay, that chapter was a little shorter than the first two, but give me a break, I'm under a lot of stress! Anywho, I'll try to have at least on more chapter for this story by next week. Also on the agenda to work on this week, a new chapter for Key to the Past, maybe a bit of work on Planet of the Pixies, and, of course, lots and lots of work on chapter 37 of Order of the Phoenix. Like I said, give me a break, it's finals week! Oh, and please review :)
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