Miss Independent
By: Arabella
Chapter One: Head Dork
She sat upon the window ledge in the highest tower; the astronomy tower. Tears slipped down her cheeks in narrow streams, dropping into a puddle on her cloak. Her brother, her favourite one, Charlie, he was gone forever. He had been snooping around for information useful to the Order of the Phoenix, and had been caught by a Death Eater in the process. Needless to say, he was dead.
She lifted her forlorn gaze to stare out into the vast sky as she thought about her brother. They'd buried him today. Of course the Ministry still claimed his death wasn't by the hand of a Death Eater, just that Charlie had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her mother, father, and brothers had all sobbed, along with others. Only she and Harry hadn't joined them. Harry didn't probably because he'd already seen many deaths in his short time. She on the other hand, merely chose not to express her sorrow publicly.
So here she was now, pouring out her grief after finally escaping from the throng of people who always seemed to be around her, commiserating. The Weasley's would be staying the night, and would depart in the morning, while the children could take time off if they wished to mourn longer. Ginny longed to be busy again, to forget it all.
The back of her neck prickled, and she had the sensation she was being watched. She'd barely spoken to anyone since they'd found out the terrible news, and certainly didn't want to start now. Sighing, she slipped from the ledge, back behind the safety of the castle, and turned to slowly make her way back to the common room.
~*~
Blaise had been roaming the school making sure no students were out of bed. When he'd caught sight of the shadow at the astronomy tower, he'd intended to order the student back to their common room immediately. However, as he stepped closer he saw the tiny figure of the youngest Weasley crying over her brother. The whole castle knew, and as Head Boy he had attended the funeral today with the rest of the staff and the Weasley family. He'd wondered then why she hadn't cried, but now he saw that she'd been saving her grief for private. He decided he'd leave her be. He should have turned to go, but couldn't seem to drag himself from the beautiful vision she presented him.
Seated upon the ledge, though somewhat precariously, the full moon shone down on her, her pale skin even paler in the moonlight. She looked almost like a goddess, apart from the hair that clung against her paleness like fire. 'I'll just stay here till she gets down, make sure she's safe and all' he thought, lying to himself - stepping back into the shadows, as he kept his gaze fixed on her.
Much to his disappointment, a few moments later she got down from her perch and patted the wall affectionately, as though saying goodbye to her brother for a last time, before retreating in the direction of her common room.
He, however, remained resting in his spot for a long time, trying to hold onto his mental picture, as well as wondering what it'd be like to have someone care for him like that. His mother had died early on, and his father was away much of the time with Death Eater business. Whatever family they'd been - had died with his mother. He frowned at the thought of his father, had he been responsible for the death of Charlie Weasley, or had it been another Death Eater?
Since Blaise's mother's death, Gabon Zabini had thrown himself completely into the dark arts and was now one of the most respected and feared Death Eaters, apart from the Malfoys. Urgh… Malfoy... Draco had been particularly rotten this year since Blaise had gotten the Head Boy position over him. He shook his head, and resumed walking through the halls once more. His feet seemed to instinctively lead him towards the direction of Gryffindor tower.
His senses went on alert when he heard a low threatening voice up the next corridor. He paused around the corner, to try and appraise what was going on.
Ginny had nearly reached the tower, when Malfoy had rudely stepped out in front of her, blocking her path.
"Where do you think you're going, Weasley? Puttering around the castle in search of extra money, are you?" he sneered. Usually, his insults pissed her off, and they still did, but she didn't have the strength to fight him off tonight.
"Not tonight, Draco... just let me return to my house," she replied quietly, rubbing her temples.
His eyes seemed to be gauging her shrewdly. "You honestly don't know, do you?" He was surprised that she hadn't attacked him or something already. She frowned.
"What don't I know, Malfoy? " her voice taking a slightly hardened edge, she glared up at him. He merely smirked at her.
"You don't know that my father had the honour of killing your brother."
Blaise groaned inwardly, hearing this. Trust Malfoy to brag about his father killing her brother. He heard a dull thud, and peaked around the corner, surprised to see Ginny on top of Draco, trying to get in a free hit at him wherever she could.
Malfoy laughed, and grabbed her hands, flipping her over and pinning her down with his weight. "You just made a big mistake, Weasley, you attacked a school prefect."
Ginny's face was red as she struggled against him, still trying to hurt him in any way possible.
Malfoy chuckled at the sight, "I like a little fight in women..."
At this, Ginny virtually growled, and spat in his face. "Go to hell, Malfoy." His complacent smirk was instantly gone, and he backhanded her with such force that she tasted blood. He wiped the spit from his face, "Big mistake, Weasley - you're going to pay for that." He slapped her once more, her cheek taking the brunt of the hit.
She struggled to focus her glare at him again, whispering dangerously, "No Malfoy, you made the mistake, the Head Boy is right behind you."
Blaise nearly jumped at his name. How had she known? True to form, he stepped out from behind the corner. Malfoy, to his surprise, just laughed.
"You think he'll do you any good, Weasley? He's a Slytherin, God you're dense." Her gaze finally cleared enough to see the Slytherin symbol embroidered onto the Head Boy's robes, she dropped her head back to the ground with a thud and gave a frustrated whimper.
"Actually, Malfoy.." he spat, "You can't do this."
"What?!" his golden head snapped back to Blaise's, he was used to getting what he wanted. Blaise thought quickly, trying to cover himself.
"You can't do that, I said. "
"And why, pray tell?"
"Because, I guess you're too horny to notice, but you're in the middle of a fucking hallway."
Draco's eyes widened, as the realisation that Blaise was right, dawned on him. Taking advantage of his current state, Blaise jerked Ginny Weasley up by the shoulders. Malfoy started to protest, but he snapped back, "Do this elsewhere, next time, understand? I can turn a deaf ear, but I can't afford to get caught up in a scandal. You know how it would displease the Dark Lord to lose a Prefect, much less a Head Boy to mudblood replacements." His eyes narrowed slightly, but nodded, and stood to leave, but looked back at Ginny.
"This isn't over, Weasel," he murmured, then flicking his gaze to Blaise, he asked accusingly, "What are you going to do with her?"
Blaise rolled his eyes, inwardly grating his teeth at the annoying ferret, " Please, Malfoy, I don't share your taste in mudblood lovers, I do however, share your interest in winning the house cup. Runt here, was out of bed at night. She's going straight to McGonagall, now get out of here before teachers come."
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Draco turned and left quickly.
Sighing, Blaise turned back around to Ginny, "You should be more careful where you roam and do your brooding.." She looked up at him, anger evident in her pale features.
"Bugger off, head dork." He caught her arm before she got too far.
"Not so fast runt." She whipped around, and shoved him away from her.
"You can't be serious about actually taking me to McGonagall, can you?" she cried. "I mean, what's she going to say about these bruises? Ugh, we've an imbecile for Head Boy."
He reacted quickly, shoving her into the wall, holding her there with his body. Then, to her surprise, he tilted her head back carefully, and traced his finger lightly over her black and blue cheek. She'd need to find a way to conceal them, or else Ron would go ape. Hermione would surely tell him if she went to her, speaking of which, Hermione was probably out snogging with Ron somewhere, she thought bitterly.
"He hit you quite hard, didn't he? " She heard him murmur. She sized this guy up, she wasn't sure whether to be glad or furious with him. On one hand, he'd saved her from a worse encounter with Malfoy, on the other he'd done it to save his own skin, as well as Malfoy's. Deciding to go with furious, she pulled her head from his grasp, wincing in pain as she did so.
"Yeah, you must be proud seeing your housemate hitting a girl half his size, huh?"
His fingers slid through her hair, gripping the flaming locks as he pulled her head back up to see him again. "No," he growled tersely. "I was disgusted." He held her gaze a moment longer, and then stepped back from her, pulling his wand out. She prepared herself to be hexed, but she never was. Instead, she felt her lip heal, and the pressure on her cheek relieved.
She was shocked, he'd healed her. "Why?"
Such a simple question, but such a complex answer that he didn't feel like answering to himself, much less her. He slipped back into his cool Slytherin persona, and smirked down at the red head. "Couldn't have you go whining to a teacher, the mudblood, or Potter, could I?"
She rolled her eyes, and moved yet again towards Gryffindor tower. " Right, later, head dork..."
"It's Zabini." He called after her.
"Related to Houdini, are you? " She replied not the least bit phased, and was surprised when she heard a rumble of laughter from him. Shaking her head, she started to round the corner, when she heard him call out to her yet again.
"Remember, you owe me one now, runt."
By: Arabella
Chapter One: Head Dork
She sat upon the window ledge in the highest tower; the astronomy tower. Tears slipped down her cheeks in narrow streams, dropping into a puddle on her cloak. Her brother, her favourite one, Charlie, he was gone forever. He had been snooping around for information useful to the Order of the Phoenix, and had been caught by a Death Eater in the process. Needless to say, he was dead.
She lifted her forlorn gaze to stare out into the vast sky as she thought about her brother. They'd buried him today. Of course the Ministry still claimed his death wasn't by the hand of a Death Eater, just that Charlie had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her mother, father, and brothers had all sobbed, along with others. Only she and Harry hadn't joined them. Harry didn't probably because he'd already seen many deaths in his short time. She on the other hand, merely chose not to express her sorrow publicly.
So here she was now, pouring out her grief after finally escaping from the throng of people who always seemed to be around her, commiserating. The Weasley's would be staying the night, and would depart in the morning, while the children could take time off if they wished to mourn longer. Ginny longed to be busy again, to forget it all.
The back of her neck prickled, and she had the sensation she was being watched. She'd barely spoken to anyone since they'd found out the terrible news, and certainly didn't want to start now. Sighing, she slipped from the ledge, back behind the safety of the castle, and turned to slowly make her way back to the common room.
~*~
Blaise had been roaming the school making sure no students were out of bed. When he'd caught sight of the shadow at the astronomy tower, he'd intended to order the student back to their common room immediately. However, as he stepped closer he saw the tiny figure of the youngest Weasley crying over her brother. The whole castle knew, and as Head Boy he had attended the funeral today with the rest of the staff and the Weasley family. He'd wondered then why she hadn't cried, but now he saw that she'd been saving her grief for private. He decided he'd leave her be. He should have turned to go, but couldn't seem to drag himself from the beautiful vision she presented him.
Seated upon the ledge, though somewhat precariously, the full moon shone down on her, her pale skin even paler in the moonlight. She looked almost like a goddess, apart from the hair that clung against her paleness like fire. 'I'll just stay here till she gets down, make sure she's safe and all' he thought, lying to himself - stepping back into the shadows, as he kept his gaze fixed on her.
Much to his disappointment, a few moments later she got down from her perch and patted the wall affectionately, as though saying goodbye to her brother for a last time, before retreating in the direction of her common room.
He, however, remained resting in his spot for a long time, trying to hold onto his mental picture, as well as wondering what it'd be like to have someone care for him like that. His mother had died early on, and his father was away much of the time with Death Eater business. Whatever family they'd been - had died with his mother. He frowned at the thought of his father, had he been responsible for the death of Charlie Weasley, or had it been another Death Eater?
Since Blaise's mother's death, Gabon Zabini had thrown himself completely into the dark arts and was now one of the most respected and feared Death Eaters, apart from the Malfoys. Urgh… Malfoy... Draco had been particularly rotten this year since Blaise had gotten the Head Boy position over him. He shook his head, and resumed walking through the halls once more. His feet seemed to instinctively lead him towards the direction of Gryffindor tower.
His senses went on alert when he heard a low threatening voice up the next corridor. He paused around the corner, to try and appraise what was going on.
Ginny had nearly reached the tower, when Malfoy had rudely stepped out in front of her, blocking her path.
"Where do you think you're going, Weasley? Puttering around the castle in search of extra money, are you?" he sneered. Usually, his insults pissed her off, and they still did, but she didn't have the strength to fight him off tonight.
"Not tonight, Draco... just let me return to my house," she replied quietly, rubbing her temples.
His eyes seemed to be gauging her shrewdly. "You honestly don't know, do you?" He was surprised that she hadn't attacked him or something already. She frowned.
"What don't I know, Malfoy? " her voice taking a slightly hardened edge, she glared up at him. He merely smirked at her.
"You don't know that my father had the honour of killing your brother."
Blaise groaned inwardly, hearing this. Trust Malfoy to brag about his father killing her brother. He heard a dull thud, and peaked around the corner, surprised to see Ginny on top of Draco, trying to get in a free hit at him wherever she could.
Malfoy laughed, and grabbed her hands, flipping her over and pinning her down with his weight. "You just made a big mistake, Weasley, you attacked a school prefect."
Ginny's face was red as she struggled against him, still trying to hurt him in any way possible.
Malfoy chuckled at the sight, "I like a little fight in women..."
At this, Ginny virtually growled, and spat in his face. "Go to hell, Malfoy." His complacent smirk was instantly gone, and he backhanded her with such force that she tasted blood. He wiped the spit from his face, "Big mistake, Weasley - you're going to pay for that." He slapped her once more, her cheek taking the brunt of the hit.
She struggled to focus her glare at him again, whispering dangerously, "No Malfoy, you made the mistake, the Head Boy is right behind you."
Blaise nearly jumped at his name. How had she known? True to form, he stepped out from behind the corner. Malfoy, to his surprise, just laughed.
"You think he'll do you any good, Weasley? He's a Slytherin, God you're dense." Her gaze finally cleared enough to see the Slytherin symbol embroidered onto the Head Boy's robes, she dropped her head back to the ground with a thud and gave a frustrated whimper.
"Actually, Malfoy.." he spat, "You can't do this."
"What?!" his golden head snapped back to Blaise's, he was used to getting what he wanted. Blaise thought quickly, trying to cover himself.
"You can't do that, I said. "
"And why, pray tell?"
"Because, I guess you're too horny to notice, but you're in the middle of a fucking hallway."
Draco's eyes widened, as the realisation that Blaise was right, dawned on him. Taking advantage of his current state, Blaise jerked Ginny Weasley up by the shoulders. Malfoy started to protest, but he snapped back, "Do this elsewhere, next time, understand? I can turn a deaf ear, but I can't afford to get caught up in a scandal. You know how it would displease the Dark Lord to lose a Prefect, much less a Head Boy to mudblood replacements." His eyes narrowed slightly, but nodded, and stood to leave, but looked back at Ginny.
"This isn't over, Weasel," he murmured, then flicking his gaze to Blaise, he asked accusingly, "What are you going to do with her?"
Blaise rolled his eyes, inwardly grating his teeth at the annoying ferret, " Please, Malfoy, I don't share your taste in mudblood lovers, I do however, share your interest in winning the house cup. Runt here, was out of bed at night. She's going straight to McGonagall, now get out of here before teachers come."
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Draco turned and left quickly.
Sighing, Blaise turned back around to Ginny, "You should be more careful where you roam and do your brooding.." She looked up at him, anger evident in her pale features.
"Bugger off, head dork." He caught her arm before she got too far.
"Not so fast runt." She whipped around, and shoved him away from her.
"You can't be serious about actually taking me to McGonagall, can you?" she cried. "I mean, what's she going to say about these bruises? Ugh, we've an imbecile for Head Boy."
He reacted quickly, shoving her into the wall, holding her there with his body. Then, to her surprise, he tilted her head back carefully, and traced his finger lightly over her black and blue cheek. She'd need to find a way to conceal them, or else Ron would go ape. Hermione would surely tell him if she went to her, speaking of which, Hermione was probably out snogging with Ron somewhere, she thought bitterly.
"He hit you quite hard, didn't he? " She heard him murmur. She sized this guy up, she wasn't sure whether to be glad or furious with him. On one hand, he'd saved her from a worse encounter with Malfoy, on the other he'd done it to save his own skin, as well as Malfoy's. Deciding to go with furious, she pulled her head from his grasp, wincing in pain as she did so.
"Yeah, you must be proud seeing your housemate hitting a girl half his size, huh?"
His fingers slid through her hair, gripping the flaming locks as he pulled her head back up to see him again. "No," he growled tersely. "I was disgusted." He held her gaze a moment longer, and then stepped back from her, pulling his wand out. She prepared herself to be hexed, but she never was. Instead, she felt her lip heal, and the pressure on her cheek relieved.
She was shocked, he'd healed her. "Why?"
Such a simple question, but such a complex answer that he didn't feel like answering to himself, much less her. He slipped back into his cool Slytherin persona, and smirked down at the red head. "Couldn't have you go whining to a teacher, the mudblood, or Potter, could I?"
She rolled her eyes, and moved yet again towards Gryffindor tower. " Right, later, head dork..."
"It's Zabini." He called after her.
"Related to Houdini, are you? " She replied not the least bit phased, and was surprised when she heard a rumble of laughter from him. Shaking her head, she started to round the corner, when she heard him call out to her yet again.
"Remember, you owe me one now, runt."