Chapter One: Escape from the Present
Ginny gritted her teeth and waited for the bludger to hit her. The impact almost knocked her off her broom, leaving a painful swollen feeling in her rib cage. She didn't dare ask for a time out because Gryffindor was already behind and the snitch had yet to be seen.
"Alright there, Gin?" Harry asked as he flew beside her.
"Yeah, go on Harry, I'll be fine." Ginny smiled, showing she was fine, but she wanted to cradle her wounded body.
She watched Harry fly off and she too flew back towards the Quaffle that was currently in Slytherin hands. She zoomed in and out of the players towards Regina Crafal, the Slytherin player with the Quaffle. They were soon head and head. No one doubted that Ginny was the fastest girl on a broom, and if Harry hadn't been around, she could easily have been the fastest person, boy or girl, in the whole school.
It unnerved Ron at first, who replaced Wood as both Captain and Keeper, but when he saw Ginny take bludgers as if they were marshmallows, and still be able to score an amazing amount of points, he would have gone down on his knees and begged her to stay on the team. But what everyone didn't know was that Ginny just took the pain on the field, the adrenalin coursing through her veins lessened it a little, but off field she'd be sore and unable to get out of bed the next day unless she put in a great effort.
Crafal and Ginny were nearing the goal posts and Ginny acted fast. She reached out as if to take the Quaffle, but Regina switched the ball from one hand to the other, as Ginny had planned. She did a flip over Regina and was instantly on her other side. She grabbed the Quaffle from the startled Regina, and turned around and began zooming towards the other end of the field. The two other Chasers were on either side, ready to ward off any threatening Slytherins, but they were all left behind.
What they hadn't expected was an attack from above. The only thing Ginny saw was a flash of green, and she began hurtling towards the ground, the Quaffle in her left hand, her broom in her right.
"This is it." She thought. "If this doesn't kill me it will put me out of playing for a long while."
She braced herself for the impact of the ground but it never came. She had closed her eyes, waiting, but when she didn't feel the dirt beneath her she looked up into Harry's green eyes.
"Harry?" Ginny asked, dazed. "Where'd you come from?"
Harry opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted from loud cheers coming from the Slytherins. Lee Jordan was announcing the snitch being caught by Draco Malfoy and it suddenly dawned on her.
"Harry, you moron, you caught me instead of the snitch?" Ginny freed herself from his arms and stood up next to him. "Harry, we'll never win now unless we get five hundred points next game and that hasn't been done in years! I can't believe you did that!"
Ginny walked passed the astonished Harry and picked her broom off the ground and headed towards the locker rooms. She slammed the door shut behind her and headed towards her locker. Flinging it open she thrust her Quidditch things into it and slammed it shut as well. She sat down on the bench and the pain in her chest rose. She didn't have time to nurse it because the other players came in.
"Ginny, are you ok?" Ron came running towards her.
"Yes, Ron, I'm fine." Ginny warded off everyone else with optimistic expressions, but when everyone filtered out she still sat there.
She must have sat there for at least an hour thinking over the whole game, wondering what went wrong, because by the time she took her broom to the broom shed on the other side of the field the sun was slowly setting over the trees. She was all alone and she needed to vent her anger. She climbed onto her broom and flew up into the chilling cold air.
At first she zoomed from one side of the field to the other but soon her zooming turned to casual flying. Ginny always felt at peace when she was flying. To feel the wind sweep through her hair, feeling the weightlessness of being above the world. It was her favorite thing to do! The sun was giving off its last rays of light when Ginny landed on the ground and deemed it time to head back to the castle for some pilfered food from the kitchens.
"Hey, if it isn't the little Weasley." A voice said, coming up behind her.
Ginny swirled around and saw Draco Malfoy hovering over her on his broom.
"I see you got Ron's old broom." Draco leered at the slender handle grasped in her hand. "You may be able to fly fast on it, Weasley, but from what I've seen to today the rule still stands…What goes up must come down." He smirked.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Ginny's eyes narrowed. "You knocked me off my broom." Ginny tried controlling her anger and the urge to hit Draco with her broom. "Just leave me alone."
Ginny turned her back towards him and continued walking towards the broom shed but Draco was still hovering close behind. She ignored him and his remarks about her flying, her family and everything else that seemed wrong in her life until they neared the castle. By this time he was off his broom and walking along side her.
"Listen," Ginny faced him. "I don't know what it is I've done to you, but I don't like you pestering me. Just knock it off and act your age!"
"I'll act my age when you learn not to fall." Draco reached out with his hand and roughly pushed Ginny.
She fell to the ground, causing the pain in her chest to flow through the rest of her body. She looked up at Draco, his eyes smiling at what he had done, and then he was gone. Forcing the pain down, Ginny began crawling towards the castle doors. She'd love to just report him and get him expelled, but as it was it was his word against hers.
She finally made it to her dorm room where she slowly crawled into bed, wishing she'd never have to leave it again. She had passed one of her friends in the common room who followed her.
"Are you alright Ginny?" She asked. "You look like crap."
Ginny smiled. "I can always count on you to tell the truth, Lisa." Ginny grimaced from the pain that was returning. "I could use some painless potion. Would you mind conjuring me up some?"
Lisa obliged and ran towards her cauldron. She plopped in a few choice ingredients and set the liquid to a bubble. Within fifteen minute she had Ginny drinking from a sour smelling concoction. Ginny pulled a twisted face, but suddenly her pain was gone and all she felt now were her sore muscles.
"How come you're so late? I thought you had been up here after the game but you weren't so I waited for you in the Great Hall and you never came. Where were you?" Lisa asked, sitting on the edge of Ginny's bed.
Ginny explained that she was just flying around and thinking things over. She omitted the whole Draco scene, not wanting to go into details. But as Ginny slept she couldn't get it off her mind. This wasn't the first time Draco had done something like this to her, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.
"Ginny! Wake up!" Lisa was yelling at the lump in Ginny's bed.
Ginny slowly opened her eyes to see Lisa running around the room, trying to find something by looking underneath the beds. She pulled a shoe out from behind a desk and wrenched it on.
"Ginny!" Lisa now came over to Ginny. "We've slept in! We have class in less than ten minutes and it's all the way on the other side of the castle!"
This news entered Ginny's mind and was processed rather slowly. Understanding dawned on her and she flung her sheets off of herself and ran to the wardrobe. She quickly put her school clothes on and thrust her feet into her shoes. Grabbing her bag and cloak, she ran out of Gryffindor Tower with Lisa.
"D'you think you could conjure up some toast?" Ginny asked.
They were both running down the corridor, glancing at their watches, doing last minute self-inspections. Lisa pulled her wand out and muttered a few choice words and four pieces of toast appeared, floating in front of them.
"Fanks!" Ginny began eating immediately.
At the end of the hall they could see students filing into a classroom and they made it just in time before the door closed. They grabbed some seats in the back and Ginny bent down to tie her shoes. Lisa was hurriedly trying to brush her hair before Professor Flitwick began.
By the end of class Ginny's stomach began to protest at the lack of food. On their way to their next class Lisa risked conjuring some more food and they ate greedily.
"I can't believe we slept in." Ginny said pulling out notes for her next class.
"I know! That hasn't happened in months."
Ginny stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the pieces of parchment in her hands.
"What? What's wrong?" Lisa asked, looking at the notes herself.
"Oh no, oh no." Ginny began rummaging in her bag, pulling out pieces of parchment then shoving them back in. "No, this can't be happening!"
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked again.
"I left my History notes in my desk! Oh no, and we have a test today!" Ginny began breathing irregularly.
"Just clam down, Gin. We have fifteen minutes before History of Magic. Just run back up to our room and get them. I'll save you a seat." Lisa smiled.
Ginny nodded and headed in the opposite direction towards the Gryffindor Tower. The halls were deserted so she was not interrupted on her way. The sound of her shoes clicking on the stone floor echoed around her as she jogged along. She reached her room, grabbed her notes, then headed back to class. But something was different. She could hear two pairs of feet.
Ginny turned around and saw someone coming up behind her.
"Well, well, well. We've got to stop meeting like this." Draco smirked.
"Leave me alone." Ginny gripped her wand in her hand but it was pointless. Draco disarmed her in a second.
"You weren't really going to use this on me, were you?" Draco looked at the slim wand, then back at Ginny. "You're definitely no match for me."
"What do you want?" Ginny asked, backing away a few steps.
Draco sighed. "It's complicated. I want so many things from you, where to start?"
Ginny's eyes roamed around the halls, wishing someone would pop out of a class to help her, but no one did. She watched Draco come closer, an evil smile covering his face.
"I'll scream." Ginny threatened.
"Go ahead. Look where we are." Draco waved his arm around the corridor. "These classes haven't been used in years. No one will hear you."
"Just leave me alone!" Ginny's face was beginning to turn red with anger.
"I don't think I will. I think I'll tell you what I want." Draco paused. "I want to see you in pain. I love the look of horror in your eyes…it's very becoming. I want to see you shake with fear."
A sudden coldness filled Ginny. It felt like someone had a tight grip on her heart, causing her blood to stop flowing. She began to shiver. Draco's words sent chills down her spine and she was honestly afraid of what he was capable of.
"Ginny?" Lisa came up behind them. "What took you so long?" She looked in Draco's direction.
"Here, take your wand back." Draco threw it at Ginny's feet then walked away as if nothing happened.
"Ginny, what happened?" Lisa asked watching Ginny pick her wand up.
"N-nothing." Ginny stammered.
"Don't lie to me. What's that prat done now?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Ginny!" Lisa grabbed Ginny's arm and forced her to look into her eyes. "Gin, you can tell me."
"Look, we'll be late for class. I'll tell you later." Ginny hitched her bag on her shoulder, then headed down the corridor, followed by Lisa.
During class Lisa kept taking sidelong glances at Ginny who pretended everything was fine. Lunch went by quickly. Ginny ate fast then got up and went to the library. Lisa refrained from asking then because there were many students in there. But when night came and they were both up in their dorm Lisa insisted.
"Wait 'til they fall asleep." Ginny looked in the direction of the three other girls they shared a room with. Lisa nodded her head and they climbed into their beds and waited.
Finally the calm breaths of the other girls told them they were fast asleep. "So?" Lisa said.
Ginny turned her head to face Lisa and began her story. She explained the many instances when Draco had come up behind her, pushed her down, humiliated her. She ended with the experience in the hall, which still gave her shudders thinking about it.
"But he's like that with everyone." Lisa justified.
"No, he's not!" Ginny paused to collect her thoughts. "He may tease everyone, but with them he just waits for an opportunity to come along. With me it's like he seeks me out with the purpose to hurt me. I'm afraid of what he'll do." A small tear glistened on Ginny's cheek.
"I've heard about this before." Lisa sat up, almost excited. "Remember last week in Divination? Trelawney told us about past lives and destinies? She said that two people who have overly strong emotions towards one another bind themselves together for ages always meeting each other in other lives. Just like bitter enemies and true loves."
"Man, I'd hate to be Malfoy's bitter enemy for an eternity." Ginny said.
"We could find out. Maybe if you are bitter enemies you can resolve the wrongs of past lives so you won't continue on." Lisa said.
"How?" Ginny asked.
"Well we'd have to break into Trelawney's office. She has this mirror in there that shows the person who looks into it their past lives."
"Great, Trelawney hides in her office all day!" Ginny sighed. "How are we going to get her out?"
There was a short space of silence before Lisa said, "I'll tell her I need help with deciphering an omen I've seen on the grounds and while we're outside you can go in and get it. We'll put it back when we're finished." Lissa reassured.
"What if we're caught?" Ginny asked.
"We won't be caught." Lisa said. "This will be so much fun."
They both drifted off to sleep, one feeling confidant, the other full of butterflies.
All Ginny had to do was avoid Draco for the next two days until Friday. That's when Lisa and her would act. It wasn't difficult; Lisa simply followed Ginny wherever she went. On two occasions they noticed Draco following them, but he soon gave up the chase.
Friday came along and Ginny followed Lisa up to Trelawney's tower. Ginny hid herself behind a large vase as Lisa went up to distract Trelawney. The minutes ticked by and Ginny began to worry that the plan hadn't worked. That's when she heard voices nearby, followed by two people climbing down the ladder.
"Well, dear, of course I'll help you decipher the omen." Trelawney's airy voice was heard. "But from the sounds of it, I'd say it wasn't good at all."
"That's why I need your help, Professor, so I can know for sure." Lisa said.
Ginny waited until she could no longer hear their retreating footsteps before entering the tower room. Ginny looked around, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. The room was filled with the usual tables and chairs. Towards the back of the room was a small door. Ginny opened it and saw that it was a small storage room filled with many strange things. A few broken gazing balls were off to the corner, along with an array of tea cups. In the very back was the thing Ginny was looking for.
The mirror wasn't like any mirror Ginny had seen. Its depths were clouded and a blue shimmer was emitting from it. Ginny grabbed a shawl nearby and swung it over the mirror and picked it up. Carefully she climbed down the stairs and out into the corridors. She let out a sigh of relief once she was far from the tower. Once she was in her room, out of site from prying eyes, she gave a sigh of relief. She propped the mirror on the top of a desk, but dared not uncover it. She waited for Lisa to return, pacing around the room hoping they hadn't been caught.
"Did you get it?" An exhausted Lisa asked coming into the room.
Ginny nodded her head and pointed towards the mirror. Lisa ran over to it and took the shawl off then gasped.
"It's beautiful!" She whispered, inching her fingers along the frame.
"It gives me the creeps." Ginny voiced.
"Ok," Lisa began, disregarding Ginny's concerns. "You stand in front of the mirror and look into its depths. I'm not exactly sure what's supposed to happen, but from what I read it goes through your past lives, one at a time, from the first to the most recent. I think I remember Trelawney say that when you gaze into the mirror time stops for you." Lisa paused, "Well, go for it!"
Lisa positioned Ginny in front of the mirror. "Now remember, you have to find out why Draco hates you so much…if he's in your past lives."
"Will he look the same?" Ginny quickly asked.
"There's supposed to be familiar features…I bet he'll have that stupid smirk plastered across his face. And you, well, you have that birthmark on your ankle."
Ginny's heart began to race. She was afraid to look into the mirror and began by fixing her eyes on the frame. It looked like it was traced in ancient runes—never had she wished more profusely that she had taken Deciphering Ancient Runes than then. The wood was old and dark; it looked at is if it was once painted a dark blue, but the paint was chipped in many places. Finally her eyes rested on the cloudy surface. The blue light appeared again, more brighter. It grew and grew until Ginny thought it was going to fill the whole room and then she felt a sort of dizziness and voices from far away. The voices got louder and her dizziness persisted until she finally blacked out.
(A/N: Argh, I had made a graphic for the title, but ff.net apparantly doesn't like that! Soooo, if you want to go see the wonderful graphic i made starring Alex Band from The Calling and some girl from a vogue website, go to It's so beautiful!!!)