- - - Stop and Stare*

[GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY]

Ginevra sighed. She who could see thestrals and who couldn't was a touchy subject. She knew Luna could, and that she wasn't against admitting it, but it was still something rather personal for someone that was not yourself to share with a person they barely knew. Because they didn't know Draco Malfoy, not really anyways. She didn't know if they ever would.

"Luna, and Neville"

[/b] She said shortly, now finding her pen increasingly interesting. Everyone, well other than some half-bloods and muggleborns, knew of thestrals and why some could see them and some could not. "I can now too."[/color] She said, rolling her shoulders in a shrug. So could Hermione and Ron presumeably. They all saw Sirius Black die. It happened not too long ago and the pain was still fresh. She hadn't known him, not well at least, but she did spend a summer with him with the Order.

She shivered, barely noticeably as the sadness brought down the natural heat that pooled in her body otherwise. Happiness, Love, Lust, Anger, Betrayal, indiferrence they all seemed to be 'hot' emotions. They caused her internal temperature to rise only slightly, but that few degrees seemed to make quite a difference nowadays. She pushed the sadness away, tugging on her ability to bring the bit of extra warmth back into her body.

"I don't know about Lavender, Cho or Padma though. I've never been close to any of them." She said. Lavender got on her nerves, Cho was generally unpleasant towards her, jealousy and anger tended to play quite well together whenever the she and Cho were in the same room. She assumed it would get better now that neither of them particularly fancied Harry anymore. Well, she knew she didn't at least. She couldn't speak for Cho. Padma was nice enough, but a Ravenclaw and Ginny didn't have too many friends outside of Neville and Luna.[/blockquote][/size]

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

Luna and Neville. Well now that was something interesting. Both had witnessed deaths and he was interested in knowing who’s deaths, how did they die and such. Something he could use against them if they wanted to turn from him. A little bit of blackmail never hurt to keep a group together right? She went on saying she could see them too. Now who could Ginny have seen die, all her siblings and her parents were alive, so who. Well he wouldn’t push it yet. He'd wait, bide his time before asking. She was unsure about the others but that didn’t matter, having 3 people that could see them was enough.

"Very well. We'll need to tell the others and perhaps find out more about the creatures in the forest from Dumbledore. I don’t care if he tries and stops us from going in there, I’m going no matter what," he said. What would they need, how long were they going to go for, more and more questions formed in his head. Food was a must, unless they wanted to go hunting, that could be fun, getting all frustration out on an animal. Tents, how many would they need? Well they had fire and water sorted thanks to Ginny and Lavender. He couldn’t see anything else they'd need; well the others might come up with something. He knew the topic had died down and now he simply stared up at the magical ceiling.

[GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY]

"I don't know. Dumbledore has not shown any sort of outward emotion toward us, and Harry is his Golden Boy." She said with a sigh. She trusted Dumbledore, really she did she just did not want to take trust and turn it into blind faith. She knew that, that could be catestophic to them. She could not see Dumbledore being against them as strongly as Harry is, or at all, but in a way she could see Harry's unease towards them. They were powerful, and if Voldemort was able to get his hands on any one of them it could be dangerous. She did not see Dumbledore getting close to them, or wanting to speak with them for prolonged periods of time.

"There might be some information in the restricted section, or even in some of the general books it just might be a little hard to find. It's not like I have anything better to be doing with my time." She said with a shrug. It was true. With potions being so completely simple for her this year, on top of that she hung out with Neville. Herbology was becoming simple. She had never had trouble with Defense Against the Dark Arts, or really any of her other classes besides transfiguration, and Divination.

"My brothers taught me a few things about sneaking around the castle. I can get myself through all of the secret passages."

[/color] She said with a shrug. She got taught by her brothers. Not to mention she was still in her head at the time she was posessed by Voldemort. He had to get around in her body without getting caught or it would look odd. She closed her eyes, willing the memories away. A bad thing about her memory is that when something frightened her, it replayed like a movie in her head. She was no parslemouth but she could still get into the Chamber if she wanted to. Not that she ever would. It was only one word and her mouth remembered the pattern. She had used it so many times that it stuck around.

The forest would likely get cold, she assumed that because she ran hot, someone like Lavender would be the opposite. Running constantly cold. She was not sure but that might not be the best of Weather for her to be out in. Ginny could not possibly keep them all warm all the time. The Chamber was large enough, and no one really knew how to get into it like they did the room of requirement. She shook her head. Not even an option. The forest would work perfectly. She had seen Lavender outside without a coat just the other day.

"I might be able to owl mum and dad for our tent. It's magiced to fit all us Weasleys in it so it should be large enough, and if not dad taught me how to alter it. It keeps warm pretty nicely and that way we would have less things to carry in case something went.....less than smoothly" She said, trying to get her mind off the chamber again. She had been so good at forgetting it before, but since Harry brought it up she couldn't get it out of her head. Out of her nightmares. She swore Cho, Lavender, Padma, and Pansy were going to kill her the other night. She woke up screaming in a cold sweat. She went to pomfrey for dreamless sleep potions, but those weren't even enough sometimes. Memories got through sometimes because technically they were not dreams in the normal sense.[/size][/blockquote]

[]

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

He hadn’t expected her to speak. Instead he thought she'd simply get up and leave, but she surprised him. Who Dumbledore really turn his back on them? Didn’t he always preach about how he treated all his students equally, pft yeah right?
"What about Snape then, I’m sure he'd help," he suggested. He never thought library holding any information, it could be a good try, but then wouldn’t they have to know exactly what to look up. He nodded once, if she wanted to try the library that she could.

Oh he knew about the secret passages, he had yet to find the majority of them. They had definitely made sure they were well hidden when the castle was built. And to have her know them, it was perfect; they could sneak around without anyone else knowing what they were doing, or where they were going.

She went on about the tent her family had. If they had the tent that would be one less thing to worry about and one less thing he had to remember to bring or at least acquire for them.
"Wouldn’t they be suspicious as to why you want it though?" he asked. Were her parents even suspicious of their daughter now, what did they think of her new abilities? They were purebloods yet were also blood traitor; did they even remember the old ways? He doubted she had been brought up like he had, learning of the past and of the old ways, perhaps his parents along with the other purebloods that had been taught the same way were hoping the elements would show themselves yet again.

[GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY]

She mulled it over, out of all the teachers Snap seemed like the best person to ask. Not only had he given the group a safe haven, but he seemed to approve of the Elementals. Admittedly he was her favorite teacher, as twisted as that seemed for a Gryffindor. Then again, if Harry found out that might cause some new and special complications. Harry didn't trust Snape. It would make him think they were all turning dark side, despite Snape's place in the Order of the Phoenix. "I think he's our best bet."

[/color] She said firmly, partially trying to convince herself as much as agree with him.

She tsked at the thought of her parents being suspicious. "Dad, he never learned much about us. Mum, well her parents were more traditional purebloods. I think if I wrote her a frantic, but deceiving, letter about freaking out that I, or any of the others, might hurt someone if we don't get a handle on our abilities she wouldn't see a problem with it. If that doesn't work I could always owl the Twins. I'm sure they'd be able to smuggle it out or replicate it."[/color] She said, deception shouldn't be something she had to do. The elementals should have been given proper supplies to train their abilities to begin with. It was as if the teachers were asking one of them to lose control. She knew all it would take was a brief slip from the right elemental to cause great devastation. [/size][/blockquote]

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

So she agreed with the whole going to Snape, well at least he was one professor that they had on their side, even if the potions master had the dark mark upon his arm. Oh how Draco would love to get rid of the mark for Snape, but he was still unsure where he stood. He was often around Dumbledore and yet his father said that Snape never missed a meeting. He was being a double agent, but for what side, Draco still hadn’t worked that one out yet.

She went on about writing a frantic, deceiving letter. That could actually work, especially if she slipped in the fact that she could hurt the golden boy. He knew, just like everyone at the school how loved Harry bloody Potter was by the Weasley's, doting on him all the time. Just because his parents died didn’t mean it gave him the right to worm his way into another family, into Ginny's family. Oh the twins, the terrible twos that even he had to admit were humorous when they were here, surely they'd listen to their only sister.
"Alright," he agreed, "It won’t hurt to try, just don’t mention where we're planning on going with it, I don’t want anyone else to know, I’m not going to save anyone's arse that follows us, especially Potter," he spoke, his eyes turning to her, lazily looking her up and down. She had changed dramatically since her first year. He could remember that she had been a meek little girl, always trying to hide and now...well he didn’t know what had happened but she was more confident that ever before and it wasn’t because of her new ability, no something else had changed within her and he couldn’t help but admit he liked it.
"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" he asked, his eyes landing back on her face.

[GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY]

"I'm not stupid. My mother would have a heart attack if I mentioned that I was going to be galavanting around th Forbidden Forest."

[/color] She snickered. Why everyone assumed she was either dull or too innocent to know when to lie and when not to was beyond her. Just enough truth to make it sound believable. She realized, as a first year, she had been quite naive. Though, her brothers weren't much better. None of them even noticed she was being possessed by a sixteen year old version of arguably the darkest wizard in existence. She could hold that against them, but she didn't. She had almost liked being invisible. It was, if nothing else, far less complicated. She was not constantly having to watch out to make sure she was not going to offend someone or cross a line.

She noticed him give her a once over and it made her extremely uncomfortable. She remembered the first time she met the boy. Staring down his nose, and insulting Harry Potter. At the time, she pictured herself in love with the supposed hero. She remembers putting on her little girl angry face and telling him to leave Harry alone. Then he used that to embarrass Harry more by making a comment about her being her girlfriend. She recalled wanting to beat the crap out of him. She grew up with seven brother, she would probably have been able to take his twelve year old self. Though her parents would have scolded her if she made a scene. So much has changed since then.

He asked her a question. She laughed. It was a rather dumb question. She knew what he meant but they way he worded it would lead him into a series of land mines if she were any other girl. Sure there were plenty of things she would like to discuss. It would be less annoying for him if he had asked, if there was anything else pertinent she would like to discuss. Or anything else she would like to discuss with him. She realized he probably assumed that, that much was obvious.

"You need to think about how you word your questions. Luna would likely go off on a tangent about nargles or something, and I'm sure a handful of girls would profess their undying love for you, and the ones who don't would go on and on about how crappy their day was or such ilk."[/color] She said, jokingly. It was sad that this was the most normal conversation she's had since this whole mess started, and it was with the boy she had once called an enemy. She could not believe that so much had changed in such a short time, but it was something that she was forced into. She had to grin and bear it if she wanted to have anything resembling a normal life.[/blockquote][/size]

[DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY]

He raised an eyebrow, now that was something that was entirely debatable. Ginny and stupid, well in her first year she had been, trusting a diary to the point of obsessing over it and in turn it possessing her even if no one knew it at the time. Yea sure his father had slipped the book in with hers but she had been the stupid one to put quill to the pages and start writing in it. Was she even suspicious of the thing? He knew he would have been. A book that could talk back, yea very suspicious. At least he wouldn’t write all his deep inner thoughts and feelings down in it like she had.
"Whatever, just get damn the tent," his reply was a bit short.

She dare try and tell him how to speak now, a blood traitor...ok he really had to stop referring her and the others to that if they were to get on enough to train their powers with one another. At least he didn’t have to use the demeaning name of mudblood on any of the elements. But still how dare she.
"You haven’t answered the question," he spoke, ignoring most of the spiel she had just said, coming into it about the girls professing their 'undying' love for him. He already got that from a few girls in the years below him and he always brushed them off. They were weak, pathetic little girls that had nothing better to do than drool over some guy...him and annoy the hell out of him by trying to get him to go on a date with them. When would they get the hint that he was just not interested in them nor would he ever be?

[GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY]

When she had told him she was not stupid, the expression on his face made her blood boil. The raised eyebrow was enough to tell her what he was thinking. She wasn't going to say anything, she was not one to speak on the assumptions she made about what people were thinking. If she was wrong she'd just look dumb. If she was right, they could still deny it. It wasn't like she was skilled in legilimency or anything, though sometimes she thought it might be a particularly handy skill to have. She had a feeling that's a power she would abuse if it came down to it, however. She scowled, beginning to fold up her parchment overly neatly. She would need to make a trip to the owlry later. She pulled out a piece that was unwritten on to begin writing her letter on.

She thought of being overly sarcastic towards him. 'Of course, master Malfoy, anything master Malfoy, would you like someone to wipe your arse for you now master Malfoy.' Though she bit her tongue. He might take her literally and that's not an argument she wanted to have.

"I was teasing you twit. Leave it to you to take the most trivial jokes quite literally and get offended by them." She said flippantly. It reminded her that they were still a Weasley and a Malfoy. The two families did not mix, and it was a miracle that they had yet to try and murder each other from being alone in the same room for such a long period of time. She stood up, stepping to the other end to the Slytherin table. She didn't want to be near him, but didn't want to go back to the common room just to have people watching over her shoulder to see what she was writing. She wasn't even worried about the Slytherins. Moreso Lavender or Cho or Padma.

And the two of them were going to be in a tent in the middle of the forest where no one but the other elementals would be around to see them murder each other. Besides, she figured they would end up killing each other, rather than one of them killing the other. That way neither of them would go to Azkaban for killing the other.