'I'm not so sure about this, Tom,' Ginny murmured nervously, rubbing at her inner left arm.

She had come to the Forest for some peace and quiet, a chance to talk to her soulmate without the burning pressure of her peers trying to look over her shoulder and see what she was writing so frantically in her diary.

Little did they know; it wasn't hers.

The words came back quickly, the soft, flowing script every bit as soothing as Tom's voice.

Do you not trust me?

Ginny felt her heart contract. She couldn't bear the thought of her soulmate, her best and only friend, being hurt by her words.

'Of course I do,' she replied immediately, then hesitated. Flashes of lost memories rose, unbidden. 'I just… I think going to see you is making me mad,' she confessed. 'I'm not so sure about this, Tom.'

Just trust me. Let me take care of it.

His words reassured her, and she thought back to how they first met. She had discovered the unassuming navy leather journal with her belongings after her visit to Diagon Alley. She had every intention back then of going to her father, telling him it was a mistake, that someone had left their book in her cauldron… but then she'd seen the inscription on the inside.

Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Sitting on her tree stump in the Forbidden Forest, Ginny pulled up her sleeve again. The words traced there gave her comfort, despite the fact that they were written in Slytherin green. The first words her soulmate would tell her. "I am Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Her mother had rejoiced with her when the letters appeared at age seven. It meant that her soulmate was a respectable boy, that they would meet in respectable circumstances. After all, Ron had, "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way." Poor Ron had been given a lecture on the importance of scrubbing in the bath.

Never would Ginny have expected those words to come out of an enchanted diary. So instead of reporting Tom in, as she knew she should, she had indulged a little. After all, he was her soulmate. What was the worst that could happen?

Now, here she sat, four months later and with several gaps in her memory. She didn't know what to do, how to feel. How could she? Everything was whirling in her head, never resting.

You have a sickness, Ginny. Let me help you with that. Your magic is too strong to control by yourself.

It took Ginny a minute before she noticed the words were there, but when she did, the journal started to shine.

This time, she welcomed the oblivion.

Painting red feathers across the sky.

Sounds jarring and painful to her mind.

Tom, soothing her, telling her everything will be all right.

Please, Tom, just let me die.

She was back in Tom's Hogwarts.

She could tell from the blurriness around the trees, as if they weren't really real. Nothing had been real here, to start with. She'd passed through people as if she were a ghost, though Tom had quickly explained that they were the ghosts.

At first, Tom had been the same. Going through the motions, never noticing the small red-headed girl standing in the corner of his every memory.

But more and more, he was coming to life, bursting into colour and taking control of his own body. Now, Ginny rushed to hug him in her despair, and instead of meeting dust, she met a warm body that wrapped its arms around her and stroked her flaming hair.

She relaxed into his touch; it was everything she had imagined and more. She thought of her silly crush on Harry Potter, her longing for something as strong as the love of her parents, and knew that Tom was more real than that had ever been.

'You're getting stronger,' she murmured, because even though Ginny was often scared, she was never stupid.

'Your love for me is making me strong,' Tom whispered, his breath fluttering across her hair. 'By the end of the year, we can be together in your world forever.'

Ginny thought that she could melt there and then, but the terrified part of her that was losing her mind kept her rigid and upright.

'Tom,' she said, and to her horror, there were tears pricking at her face. She fiercely blinked them away before lifting her head to meet his dark, soulful eyes. 'What if I don't last until the end of the year? What if I lose my mind completely?'

A flash of red crossed his eyes as a smirk curled his lips, and for a minute, Tom was completely transformed. The image passed in an instant, and all that was left were caring eyes and pouting lips that brought her hands up for a kiss.

'Don't worry about it, Ginny,' he consoled, the rich honey of his voice coating the sharp edges of her fear. She felt herself start to relax. 'I'll make sure your mind and body are reunited, if it's the last thing I do.'

Ginny glanced down at her left forearm at the curling letters. I am Tom Marvolo Riddle. If there was anyone Ginny believed could do anything, it was Tom.

So she surrendered to his embrace, content to enjoy the few moments they could have together before she was pulled back into reality.

Her hands were shaking.

That was the first thing Ginny noticed when her senses came back to her.

After all, that's what made the axe fall to the floor.

She tried to scramble away, but the soft sand made her legs slip and slide until she found herself kneeling in the Black Lake, her robes bloating and sinking with the slight tide.

Her hands were bloody.

Ginny didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before. Her skin was painted red, the sleeves of her robes dripping dark drops over the white sand. There was more under her fingernails, but she didn't want to examine them too closely.

Without a word, she dipped her hands into the Black Lake, rubbing lightly at first, then scrubbing with all her might when the stain wouldn't come out. It was all she could do not to rip off her sleeves as she vigorously squeezed the fabric, grasping handfuls of sand in the hopes that the old wives' tales were true about fresh blood.

She didn't think about how the blood got there. How the axe was heavy with more than just metal.

She didn't want to.

Suddenly, the panic that she had kept close to her heart rose up once more and she leapt to her feet.

The diary!

Her breath came out in feverish gasps as she searched, patting down her pockets before casting her head from side to side. She couldn't see it anywhere. She needed it. It was her lifeline, her everything. She wouldn't be able to keep the darkness at bay without Tom. She clutched her left forearm, her link to her soulmate, so tightly she knew it would leave a bruise, but she didn't care.

Then she spotted it — lying a few feet away from the shore.

Ginny relaxed. She must have left it there so as to not get it wet.

Shrugging off her offending robes, she climbed the bank to reach the book. The leather in her hands felt like a balm to her soul, and she clutched it tightly to her chest.

Tom would keep the madness at bay.

QL Captain, round 6 - August: Ginny Weasley

Hunger Games - (AU) soulmate, (setting) Forbidden Forest), Dialogue: "I'm not so sure about this." / "Just trust me.", Genre: Hurt/comfort, Weapon: Axe

Hogwarts Assignment 1/Task 2: Hidden Tombs - write about someone being misled.

Auction - AU: Soulmate

I Forgot Day - Write about someone being uncharacteristically forgetful.

Shay's Musical Challenge: 15. The Great Comet of 1812 - write about someone falling in love with someone who they shouldn't be in love with

Easy character: Ginny Weasley

Truffle challenge - Bittersweet - write a fic with a bittersweet ending.