Time seemed to slow down once Ginny saw Cassidy standing behind her. Ginny’s heart thumped in her chest, and then sank when she realized how awful this last class was going to be. It was only the first day; there would be plenty more of these moments, and Ginny sighed with the thought.
She looked Cassidy up and down. The girl’s pristine new uniform mocked Ginny’s own, its pitch blackness looming over her like a death threat. Cassidy’s long blond hair seemed to be laughing at Ginny, bouncing up and down with Cassidy’s light chuckles as she watched Ginny carefully, waiting for her to break down.
Ginny took a deep breath, willing herself not to hyperventilate. It was only one class. She could make it through the hour and then sit in her dormitory alone for the rest of the night. She didn’t even need to go to dinner if she didn’t want to.
Again when she thought of her dormitory the magnitude of being in Slytherin hit her, and she bit her lip to keep herself from crying. If only she had been in Gryffindor, she wouldn’t have had to deal with Cassidy at all.
If only.
“Hurry up, would you?” It was Cassidy, tapping her foot and looking irritated. “Flitwick looks like he’s going to come over here if we don’t start the project.”
“Oh,” said Ginny, shaking herself out of her thoughts. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever,” replied Cassidy, sitting down.
Ginny steeled herself for a hard class and joined her partner to start working.
***
Half an hour later, things were not going much better. Ginny and Cassidy were having an awful time agreeing, and so far they had only decided to act as each other in their skit. It would be a conversation between the two, who had just met for the first time. Other than that, they had no idea what they were going to say. Cassidy had suggested reenacting their time on the train, but Ginny had shot it down, saying that they would also have to play the parts of Allie and Luna then. Since both of the other girls were in the class, Ginny didn’t know if they would want to be portrayed, especially Luna with her Crumple-Horned Snorkack comments.
“How about we pretend we’re in the Great Hall eating?” asked Ginny cautiously, well aware that this would probably be protested.
“No way!” exclaimed Cassidy. “That’s stupid.”
“Okay. . . .” Ginny trailed off, frustrated that it was taking so long for the pair to gather ideas. They were running out of time, and Ginny didn’t want to be the only group not to perform. All of the other students seemed to be enjoying themselves, almost finished with their presentations. She heard laughter coming from every corner of the room, and could practically feel friendships forming around her.
“Oh!” Ginny turned at Cassidy’s exclamation, and saw that her partner was bouncing in her seat. “We could pretend we’re interviewing each other for Witch Weekly!”
Ginny sighed inwardly. She didn’t particularly like Witch Weekly; she thought it was just a stupid gossip magazine. But they needed something, and Cassidy seemed enthusiastic about the idea. Not wanting to aggravate her, Ginny agreed.
“Sure,” she said, not trying very hard to sound excited. “That sounds great.”
“Fantastic!” Cassidy beamed at her, and Ginny was glad they had finally decided on something. Just as she was about to ask about writing down lines, she was interrupted by Professor Flitwick, who had climbed back up on his pile of books.
“Quiet down now,” he was saying, and Ginny turned to look. “That should have been more than enough time to get your ideas together. Now it is time for us to enjoy your skits! I’ve been looking forward to these for a while now, and I’m excited to see what you’ve all come up with! Would anyone like to volunteer to go first?”
The classroom remained silent as every group looked at the others, willing someone else to volunteer so they wouldn’t have to.
“Nobody?” asked the professor. He made a clucking noise with his tongue and scrutinized his class, seeming to search for weak links. “Ah, how about you girls?”
Ginny felt her stomach churn as she realized who Professor Flitwick was pointing to.
It was her and Cassidy.
Ginny gulped and glanced over at Cassidy, hoping to see her fright mirrored on Cassidy’s face. To her shock, Cassidy seemed to be gloating, smiling and delighted at their professor’s choice. “We would be happy to!” she cried, probably louder than she should have. She bounced out of her seat to the middle of the classroom, motioning for Ginny to join her.
Ginny got out of her seat self-consciously, and walked slowly to Cassidy’s side. Her heart felt like it was ready to jump out of her body, along with the rest of her precious organs, and die on the floor in front of her.
“Ready?” questioned Cassidy, and Ginny nodded quickly, unable to speak in her nervousness. Actually, she was shocked that she was able to move enough to show Cassidy that she was ready. Or, as ready as she was going to get.
“Hello,” started Cassidy, standing up straight and projecting her voice across the classroom. Professor Flitwick nodded his approval. “Welcome to Witch Weekly. Please take a seat, and we will begin your interview.”
Ginny and Cassidy sat on two chairs they pulled from behind desks, and Cassidy continued her speaking, still sitting with perfect posture. “I understand you’ve just gotten over spattergroit?” she asked, leaning forward with acted interest.
“Um,” choked Ginny, wondering what Cassidy was talking about, “no. . . .”
“Oh, but of course you are!” insisted Cassidy. “I can see the scars here!” She pointed to Ginny’s face. Ginny reached up and touched her cheek, feeling for anything that could possibly be mistook for scars.
“No, I –“ she started to protest, but was interrupted again.
“Well, memory loss is one of the symptoms,” concluded Cassidy, before moving on to another subject. “You’ve had a lot of diseases, haven’t you? Quite a survivor, isn’t she?” Cassidy turned to their class questioningly, and they nodded, smiling. Cassidy giggled and continued.
“And you were almost a Squib, correct? You just showed magic last week, and had to rush to buy your supplies and get here before the term started? How ashamed you must have felt.” Cassidy grinned evilly, clearly taking pleasure in torturing Ginny.
“No,” stated Ginny, becoming angrier by the second. The insults burned her cheeks, and she could feel herself getting redder and redder. Before long, she would look like a tomato, and she was sure Cassidy wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make fun of her for it.
“Oh, I see you’re in denial about it,” replied Cassidy, waving her hand and acting carefree. “We’ll move on to something else. You’re the first of your family in Slytherin, as I understand it?” She leaned closer to Ginny and put her head on her hand, raising one eyebrow and looking genuinely interested.
Finally something that’s true, thought Ginny. She answered, “Yes,” timidly.
“Oh, how wonderful!” Cassidy clapped her hands in fake happiness, grinning from ear to ear. “Maybe you’ll bring some glory to your family. I’ve heard they’re the biggest blood traitors the Wizarding world’s ever seen!”
Ginny’s heart skipped a beat. Blood traitors? She hated that phrase, that was used so often by other pure-bloods. She felt herself becoming red again, and struggled to regain control of her emotions. She looked over at the class, and saw them sitting in shock, their mouths half open, waiting for her to speak. Even Professor Flitwick seemed to be on the edge of his seat, as though he was unable to move until Ginny said something. He didn’t look like he was about to come to her rescue and punish Cassidy.
She returned her gaze to Cassidy, and saw that she was still staring at her intently, waiting for a response. The mischievous gleam was back in her eyes, their brown glow taunting Ginny. “Aren’t you happy to be the only daughter of your Muggle-loving parents? I’m sure they would be so proud if you found a Muggle to marry, don’t you think?” she asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.
Flitwick seemed to snap out of his stupor then, and said harshly, “That’s enough, ladies. Who’s next?”
Ginny, thankful for her professor, sighed deeply and breathed in and out slowly. Cassidy’s words had stung her, and she was extremely angry with her. Ginny could practically feel her blood boiling, and worked hard to cool it down so she could make it through the rest of the class. Looking at the clock, she saw that she only had ten minutes left. Ten minutes. She could survive ten minutes, couldn’t she?
The other presentations were quicker than Ginny and Cassidy’s, and each group only took a minute or two. There were still groups left over when the bell rang, and Professor Flitwick told them they would have to finish next time they met, on Friday.
Ginny left the classroom in a hurry and rushed back to the common room as fast as her legs would take her. Luckily, Cassidy and Allie hung back to speak to some of the first-year boys, and Ginny entered the common room alone. The only people there were older students, working on their homework or chatting quietly by the fire. Ginny hurried past them to her dormitory.
The room was empty, as she had known it would be. She had a good feeling it would remain that way for a while, while the other girls mingled and worked on their homework together. Ginny opened her trunk quickly, stacked her schoolbooks inside, and took out her most prized possession: Tom Riddle’s diary. She had a lot to tell him about.
***
2 September 1992
Dear Tom,
Today was horrible. It feels like the day has lasted forever, and it’s only a quarter after two!
First, I was late to breakfast. Professor Snape is really scary when he’s mad. I hope I don’t sleep in again, or I’ll have to live through that nightmare again too. Speaking of nightmares, I think I was having one right before I woke up. I was on the floor, so I think I rolled off the bed because I was frightened. I can’t remember a whole lot about my dream, but I know it wasn’t good.
Since I was late for breakfast, I was late for Herbology too. That didn’t turn out too badly, because Professor Sprout knew that there would be kids who were late the first day. I didn’t get in trouble, and the class wasn’t horrible. I actually kind of enjoyed it.
The rest of the day went fine, but then Charms was awful. We had to act out a skit, and we had to work with a partner. I didn’t think it would be that bad, until I found out that one of the mean girls from the train, Cassidy, was my partner. Our skit didn’t go well at all. She took over, and kept insulting me. She called my family blood traitors, and she called me a Squib and said I had spattergroit.
I hate Cassidy.
What am I going to do, Tom? How can I survive a whole year of this? And then another six before I leave school . . . ?
Oh, Tom, this is terrible.
Ginny
***
Luckily for Ginny, she didn’t have to wait long at all for Tom’s reply. She had only been working on her homework – an essay on Travels with Trolls for Defense Against the Dark Arts – when she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look, and saw that there were words forming on an open page in the diary. She quickly picked it up and started reading.
Ginny,
I think I know how to solve your problem. I know just the thing that will make you feel so much better about everything that has been going on.
It will take me a few weeks, but I should be able to help you by Halloween.
Hang in there.
Spellbound by ravenclaw1997
Chapter Notes:Thanks again to my mom for beta'ing, and letting me use her laptop when the computer was freaking out.
***
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Oh, you haven't reviewed yet? Well, you'd better, since I already thanked you.