Nobody's daughter ( a Harry Potter fanfiction)

chapter 10: Grudges resolved

The celebration feast was unusual. when we reached the great hall everyone cheered, Hermione ran towards Harry and Ron, Colin was greeted by the entire Gryffindor table, Percy Weasley pulled Penelope Clearwater aside before she could even get to the Ravenclaw table, the Hufflepuffs cheered so loudly taking Justin in that I doubted I'll ever be able to hear again, except for Conan who had run first and wrapped Sarah in a tight hug. I haven't felt that happy in a long while. once the celebration noise quietened a little, Hagrid showed up and the great hall exploded with cheers once more.
At last, Dumbledore silenced the students to make a few announcements, he started by assuring us that the attacks had certainly stopped, but when asked about the culprit he simply said, "It was the same as last time, Lord Voldemort" The entire hall flinched, "he was able to possess a victim by his memory, but there's no need to worry now, the memory is gone" chattering erupted again until Dumbledore had to silence them once more, he then announced the house cup winner, Gryffindor, apparently he had given Harry and Ron almost 200 points which put us ahead of Ravenclaw again. Dumbledore's last announcement was that the exams were cancelled as a part of the celebration, on hearing that, my head spun to the Slytherin table, Diaz met my eyes, that's it, the whole bet was off because a few students were petrified and then survived, that's ridiculous, okay that sounded selfish, what I mean is I'm very happy that everyone is okay again, but I did work for the bet all year, I mean for the..erm..Exams, I obviously wasn't working solely for the bet, ehm, moving on, the only other person upset by that news was Hermione.
"Wait, does that mean the bet is off?" Asked Sarah.
"What bet?" Asked George who sat just across from us, I told him and Fred about the bet I had with Diaz.
"I'm sorry for asking, I heard bet and thought it was something cool," said George with a grin and then joined Fred in a spoon sword fight.
"I can help you with that" said Hermione after hearing me talk about the bet, "how about you settle the bet on who got more house points"
"How would we know that, it's not like we count it," I asked confused.
"There's a spell you can use on the hourglass that records the points so you know how many points a specific student was responsible for"
"How do you know that"
"What? do you think I just take the win for granted, I have to make sure I made most of the points myself"
"You're mad," I said staring at Hermione "I love it".

When the food showed up on the tables and people started eating, I took my chance and pulled Harry aside, he came unwillingly, he looked awful, his clothes looked like they fell from a dog's mouth, one of the school shirt's arm was torn apart entirely, his eyes were red, but he just stood there grinning like an idiot.
"Every single detail, now," I said before he got a chance to talk.
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Harry," I said in a threatening tone.
"Fine," he said with a sigh and told me everything that happened in the chamber of secrets.
"Please don't give Ginny a hard time because of that, it wasn't her fault," said Harry after he finished telling me what happened.
"Of course, I won't, you think I'm that bad?"
"Well, Emma, you were pretty cruel-"
"Shut up," I said and walked around him.
my head was throbbing, Tom Riddle is Voldemort, Voldemort had once again put the whole school in danger while he was supposedly dead, he was just that powerful, wasn't he? And Ginny had to deal with that, she had been talking to Voldemort all year, he possessed her, made her do his bidding as if she was a marionette doll, she had to see her friends fall one by one and blame herself without even knowing what she did, I even blamed her for Sarah's attack, she was all alone, all the time, she was brave enough to try and get rid of the diary, but it came back, he used her soul and her mind until she was drained of everything.

Over the next day, the story about Ginny got around the school. Of course no one knew the specifics, but everyone had managed to grasp the whole "a student has been possessed" Idea. Ginny had supposedly left the hospital wing in the morning, but I hadn't seen her since.
All my attempts to quieten my thoughts all day had failed, everyone was happy and celebrating, but I couldn't join in, it felt like something was still weighing on me.
I sat in bed that night, the events of the whole year running through my mind, it was getting late, but Ginny hadn't come up to sleep yet, I couldn't get myself to sleep with all the voices running through my mind, toning out Sarah's continues snores, there was one main idea that I kept going back to. If I had been a better friend. if I was a sane person that didn't compare everyone to myself. if I hadn't blamed Ginny for everything. if I hadn't excluded her from everything. would she have written in the diary?
I was the reason she was alone, I was the reason she found refuge in Riddle's words, Luna's voice popped into my mind, "She used to tell me how you don't like her around" I was the reason she's always alone, I was the reason she's always writing in the diary. All the attacks, the petrified students, Hagrid going to Azkaban, Dumbledore leaving, this was all my fault, I let my envy eat me like it always does, I let myself get lost in anger and Ginny is the one who had to pay for my mistakes, simply because I was too jealous and full of hate to be a stable person. Suddenly another voice popped into my head,
"I was the only one who saw her for what she was-a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" My heart dropped and my eyes stung, that's who I was acting like? the woman who had ruined my childhood, had somehow managed to turn me into a copy of her, she was the reason everything was wrong with me, she's the reason I always envied people, and I was thinking just like her. She had grown by that hate, she had let it eat her alive, that hate is the reason Harry and I were treated the way we were, that hate was the reason she kept us from knowing who our parents were, I was being just like her, I had inherited her hate into mine, is that how I'm going to end up? Another Petunia Dursley, trying to blame everyone else for my problems? It felt like my mind was going to explode, I put my head in my hands and sobbed.
After what felt like hours, I stopped, I looked around, Ginny still hadn't come up, I didn't want that, I didn't want to be like that, I still had a choice. I wiped my eyes determinate, I am NOT going to be like my aunt, not if I have anything to say about it.
I descended the stairs to the common room, it was almost empty except for a second year who was sitting in a corner reading a magazine and Ginny, curled in the chair by the fire, alone. I approached her cautiously.
"Emma, you can gloat sometime else, just not right now, please," she said before I could talk, she sounded exhausted.
"I wasn't going to, I promise, can I please sit with you for a while?"
When she didn't answer me I pulled a chair nearby and sat next to her. We sat in silence for a few minutes, I was trying to form sentences in my mind, but I was coming up with nothing, I kept fidgeting, and the tense silence stretched between us.
"I'm sorry" I managed to choke out at long last, she looked at me, her expression was surprised, but also alarmed.
"For what?" She asked with a small voice.
I started formulating the next sentence in my mind again, when I heard the second year close his magazine and get up to go to the dorms when he passed us, he smirked, "I have no idea how did they not expel you, you're practically a death eater" he muttered looking at Ginny condescendingly, she seemed to sink lower in her chair.
"Sure, because she's going to listen to someone who has his shirt put on backwards," I said, he looked at his shirt, realized it and his face reddened a little.
"That's not" he started and then stopped, "why would you" he stopped again.
"Maybe try reading something that has words in it, then you might be able to form a sentence, instead of your... what's that a comic book?" I said again, eyeing him up and down.
"Shut up," he said angrily.
"I will when you apologize to my friend," I said jerking my head in Ginny's direction, he looked at her and then at me, I opened my mouth again, and he took his school bag and went to the boy's dorms.
"I'm sorry for that, they don't know what they're talking about," I said, my voice quiet again.
"Maybe they're right, I mean that was all my fault"
"No, it wasn't, Ginny that's you-know-who we're talking about, he had made way more powerful wizards do way worse things"
"Emma, I really don't want your petty, I know you couldn't care less about me, so what do you want?"
"Listen, Ginny, I-" I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I acted that way all year, I realize now that if I had been a better friend you wouldn't be so alone, maybe nothing of that would've happened, I was being extremely selfish, sometimes I get angry and I say things that I don't mean, sometimes my anger takes control, I don't want to be like that anymore, I know this is a long shot, but I was hoping that maybe, you can forgive me," I said all that very fast without meeting her eyes, I had never apologized for anything before, not because I did no wrong, but I was never given the chance. I stared at my hands, my eyes stung but I refused to let myself cry again, she was silent for too long, I slowly raised my eyes and met hers, and we stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
"I still don't get why you treated me like that, I never hurt you and you seem to get along alright with everyone else" I didn't know what to say, do I tell her the truth? I was jealous. Envious of every good thing you have and I don't, I let myself fall into it like I always do, no way.
"I guess I was just directing anger somewhere, I'm really sorry for that" I didn't know if that convinced her, but if didn't she didn't let it show.
"You really don't think everything that happened was my fault?"
"No, I don't, I think you're very brave for dealing with that all alone"
She smiled faintly, "I heard you spent last night with Luna, how did you hold your laughter in her presence, I need tips," she said grinning a little.
"Barely, I mean she says the most ridiculous things with a very straight face"
"I KNOW, how does she manage that"

And just like that, it was water under the bridge, turns out Ginny is a gossip machine, we spent the night giggling like school girls (because we are), and we stayed up until her brother Percy came down to check on the common room and sent us to our dorm.

"Emma Potter is the smartest witch in our year," said Diaz in a defeated tone as his voice echoed through the great hall during breakfast, no one other than our year paid that much attention, but I had my victory, I told him about Hermione's theory and he agreed, turns out I had passed him by seventy-seven points, which proved that I had won even without the points Madam Pomfrey gave me.
"Your luck might have come through this time, darling, but you just wait for next year, your defeat is simmering," he said in a cold voice before leaving, "keep telling yourself that, Diaz" I called after him.

Before we knew it, we were on the train back from Hogwarts, I have to admit, even with everything bad happening, the petrified students, the fights, getting my period, that was still the best year of my life. Harry, Ron, Hermione, the twins, Ginny and I sat in a compartment playing exploding snaps, Ron was taunting Hermione about Lockhart, "How could I have known he faked his books?" Said Hermione exasperated.
"Well, you supposedly are the smartest of us, I wonder how you missed that, were you too distracted by how handsome he is"
"Shut up, and I am the smartest of all of you, I figured out it was a basilisk long before you two if I wasn't petrified we would have been able to solve it way faster"
"Excuse me, Ron, but didn't you and Harry go and ask for Lockhart's help?" I asked before he could keep taunting Hermione.
"That's because we didn't have a choice, we had to save Ginny," said Ron defensively.
"I would've rather died than be rescued by Lockhart," said Ginny in turn.
"You know what, I liked you two far better when you weren't talking," said Ron, Ginny and I looked at each other and grinned.

We said goodbye at the platform, I hugged Ginny tightly and she promised to write to me. I felt wistful leaving, but I consoled myself knowing that we'd be back next year, all I had to do now was endure a few months with the Dursleys, that wouldn't be too hard, would it?

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