Fire and Ice

The Black Lake II

Every thought that had pondered through Ginny's mind before she leaped into the lake vanished. As soon as her body had contact with the water, all she could think about was every nerve in her body turning into ice.

Her mouth opened in momentary shock, only to swallow gallons of black and blue. Her feet, once swimming with ferocity, slowed into a dull kick as her body was dragged further and further down.

Oddly, a green light seemed beckoning beneath her feet. Besides the ebony surroundings, it was all Ginny could focus on. As her lungs reached the peak of their capacity, her body stopped struggling sunk towards the light.

**

"Stupid girl! Wake!"

Ginny screamed as a voice entered her head. "What, what?!" She cried, too scared to even acknowledge the fact that she could scream underwater. A dominating, 7 foot giant loomed above her, with a beard so long it carressed the lake floor beneath them. She stumbled before regaining her balance. "I recognise you, I... no!"

Standing before her was the fourth head on the Hogwarts banner, the opposite side of her house maker, Godric Griffindor. "Salazar... Slytherin?!"

"You're quicker than your mate, Weasley girl. He was dubious for far longer."

"My mate... Draco? He's here?!" Ginny's chest exploded with emotion as she screamed his name.

"Silence, you foolish girl. The youngest Malfoy is dead. It is knowledge common to all."

Refusing to back down, Ginny snarled at the ancient figure who loomed above her. "You're dead too, yet you're here! He could be here!"

"And the moving portraits of the dead. Are they here too? The ghosts who roam the castle. Are they here? You are foolish for someone of your blood, girl. I am not alive. I am a phantom."

Feeling as though her beau had died all over again, Ginny's knees buckled beneath her. Slytherin waited impassively until her breathing slowed to a normal pace. She stood.

"Why am I here? I came to die. I wanted to drown. I should be dead."

Slytherin scoffed as he stroked his beard. "A pureblood is harder to kill than with water, girl. Much less a pureblood of your power."

Ginny jerked as if a fly had hit her face. "Yes, I know about my bloodline, my healing powers. I don't see the relevance. Why aren't I dead?!"

"You know why. Think. What has happened to your powers since your mate died?"

"I... I don't know. I haven't used magic since he died."

Salazar's eyes lit with a momentary fury before disappearing. "Light that torch," he said, pointing to an empty lantern not far away. "Now. You don't need a wand." He interrupted as Ginny opened her mouth.

Biting her lip, Ginny whispered the incantation in her head. Suddenly, the entire arena they stood in lit up as if 50 magicians combined their powers to make light out of darkness. She blanched.

"The Malfoy boy's powers did not explode into nothing when Riddle was killed. It funnelled into you. Well, not quite yourself, but the purest blooded child in existence."

"That's diabolical," Ginny spat. "No pure blood person has anything to hold over a half blood, muggle born or muggle. It's-"

"Silence. Within magic, it cannot be denied that the most powerful magicians are bred with the purest blood. It is why mostly the most powerful are found in Eastern Asian countries, where pure bloodlines are kept... pure."

"But if I'm not the most pureblood, and Draco is... dead, then who..." Ginny's mouth dropped open.

"Throughout wizarding history many pure bloodlines were destroyed, but some still flourish, most notably the Weasleys and Malfoys. There has been fortune tellers and prophecies whispered of a child coming from their midsts, but due to the endless strife between the two, the prophecies had been proven false. Until now."

He stared at Ginny with a ferocious concentration.

"The child in you will grow to become the most powerful wizard of all. Inside it not only has the purest magic, but the inherited healing powers of Godric and duelling powers of myself. The child will be impervious to the Killing Curse due to the sacrificial desth of his father. He will end strife between both wizards and muggles both. He is the true Chosen One."

Ginny slowly stood to look at Slytherin directly. At only five foot three inches and 120 pounds, she appeared miniscule in front of him. But a fire had ignited inside her.

"I had always believed that muggles and mudbloods were beneath wizards. Your mate had shown me otherwise. And your child will make an excellent Slytherin."

"I need to go. I need to go back. I need-"

"Close your eyes child. Let your magic guide you."

And as he faded from her vision, Ginny felt her magic build stronger and stronger, until she blasted through the water like a phoenix through fire.