A/N: I wrote this piece to explore the relationship between Ginny Weasley and Tom Riddle. How did their friendship become so close that Ginny felt she could trust Tom implicitly? What kind of relationship did they have, come to that? This piece is quite unusual in that there are no tag lines whatsoever; it is entirely the content of the diary. Use your imagination freely to imagine how Ginny might react and feel as she reads what Tom writes and thinks about what she'll put next. And use your imagination to fill in the gaps about what Tom thinks and feels, as this is never revealed in the books. It's quite condensed and I left out many bland conversations that probably would have passed between them.

I found a lot of freedom in writing this and I really enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it! It comes in installments so look out for the chapters that will soon follow! Please leave a review if you have time, or add this to your story alert if you think it's an interesting way of writing! Thank you so much for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, plot or world of Harry Potter. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling.


Part I

28th October 1992

Oh, so that's the date, is it?

Yes, who are you?

I'm Tom Riddle. Who are you?

Ginny Weasley

That's a pretty name.

How old are you, Ginny?

11

You must have just started Hogwarts, am I right?

Yes

I loved Hogwarts. It was my favourite place to be. You're very lucky to be just starting as a first year!

I wish I could be a first year like you again.

What year are you in?

In your time, I graduated a few years ago now.

But in these pages, I'm still fifteen.

My brother's 15

What's he called?

Percy

Do you have many siblings?

Six, all brothers

My! What a family.

I'm the first daughter in over a century!

That's very exciting!

What house are you in?

Gryffindor

I'm sure you fit in perfectly.

I don't know

What do you mean?

I have to go now, but I'll come back soon

See you soon, Ginny Weasley.

Back now

Where did you go?

To the feast

That was always the favourite part of my day at Hogwarts.

Mine too!

Were you in Gryffindor?

No.

I was in Slytherin.

Are you shocked?

No

Lots of people are in Slytherin

But you wanted me to be in Gryffindor?

It doesn't matter

It does.

I wanted to be in Gryffindor too.

Everyone says that Slytherins are weak and silly. I wanted people to understand that I was brave and clever too.

Do you ever feel like that?

Sometimes

My brothers are all very cool

How are they cool?

Bill was head boy, Charlie was quidditch captain, Percy is a prefect, Fred and George can do anything and never get in trouble, and Ron is best friends with Harry Potter

Harry Potter?

Yeah, they get on really well

Have you heard of Harry Potter where you are?

Yes, I have.

Harry spent part of the summer at our house

That must have been incredibly exciting!

It was!

And what is Harry Potter like?

He's really nice

Do you talk to him much?

We say hi sometimes

Perhaps you should talk to him more.

I don't think he'd want to be friends with me

I think he would.

Brave Ginny Weasley the Gryffindor, and what's more all your family is so interesting.

Is Harry in Gryffindor too?

Yeah

I'm just too shy to talk to him

I'm not very good at talking to people

You're doing very well talking to me!

You're different

You listen

Haven't you made friends at Hogwarts yet?

Not really

There's some girls who are nice but they're all friends together

And the boys are just silly

All little boys are silly.

Even I was silly once!

Shall I tell you something?

Ok

One time, I cast a spell on a friend, that every time he opened his mouth he wouldn't be able to talk, only make a noise like a donkey. All he could say washee-haw!all day every day until I undid the spell.

That's funny

Are you smiling?

Yes

But it's not very nice to hex people

No… but I was silly.

And he understood. We were friends.

What are you doing now?

I have to write an essay

For which subject?

Potions.

Oh, I love potions! Who is your teacher?

Professor Snape.

Severus Snape?

Yeah

I don't like him

From what I know about Snape, few people do.

Did he teach you potions?

No, I know him from outside of Hogwarts.

What is he like as a teacher?

He's very strict

He always gives us really hard work to do and it's not very interesting

Well, if you ever need help with potions, or any subject for that matter, you can always ask me. I'm happy to help you, Ginny.

I had the best potions teacher there ever was. He taught me a lot.

Who?

Professor Slughorn.

I don't know him

He retired recently.

Good luck with your essay, Ginny.

Thanks Tom

Will you write to me again? I've been so lonely.

I will

Will you always reply?

Always.

Goodnight

Goodnight, Ginny.