AN: Written for Pairing Tombola stall at the Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Ginny Weasley/Tom Riddle
Ginny Weasley was sheltered, she was the youngest child of seven and the only girl, it was inevitable that she was coddled and protected as much as her family could manage. From a young age she was kept close to her mother, only being allowed to join in the more of her brothers' rambunctious actions as she got closer to Hogwarts age. She wouldn't have been surprised if her mother would have never allowed her on a broom, if her dad hadn't stuck by her she would have been kept on the ground until her first flying lesson at Hogwarts.
Hogwarts was a dream come true for Ginny, it was her chance to be Ginny Weasley, her chance to be herself and grow out from the constrictions her family placed on her. She would be at school with four of her older brothers, but they were all involved with their own things and she would be able to make friends. She wanted friends, she had Luna and her brothers, but she wanted more friends, maybe even just one, someone to understand Ginny as she was.
A chance encounter in a bookstore gave her that friend, that was the first time that she met one of the strongest influences in her life. Lucius Malfoy was in an a brawl with her father, commenting on her poor quality school supplies when he did it, slipped her a tiny little piece of her future. To many it was an innocuous little diary, but to Ginny it was the start of something that would change her life.
That day she gained a small blank book, but over the days and weeks that followed she had gained a confidant, a friend. Tom was everything that she had ever dreamed of, someone who listened to her empathised with her and just generally understood her. He always responded to her and she was made to feel important, as if she would be someone. She realised eventually that Tom was pushing her, pushing her to better herself and become someone that she was happy with. He wanted her to become Ginny, not Ginny Weasley, but Ginny, he wanted her to be herself.
Things never go to plan though, Tom had become the most important person there was in her life, but he was in a book, he wasn't there. When Ginny had confessed her desire to see him, to sit with him and chat instead of having to write out all she wanted to say, he had proposed a solution. It was a plan that she had been more than happy to go along with. She hadn't been too sure at first about letting a bloody great basilisk loose out around the castle, but it would have been suspicious if she had just disappeared, at least there would be some credibility to her disappearance. A blood traitor going missing when someone was on a crusade for blood purity would not be suspicious at all.
She had underestimated her brother's love for her though, and she was surprised to find herself coming round to find that she had been 'rescued' from Tom by Harry with some assistance from Ron. She managed to make everyone believe her story though, and soon she was being coddled and smothered once more by her family. She fell in line with their expectations of her though, being the perfect Gryffindor daughter, crushing on the golden boy hero, never showing what was beneath the surface. The only outward sign of her true feelings was a tiny little scar on her right hand, the place where she had cut herself to give a blood oath binding herself to Tom.
Ginny would wait for Tom to return and she hoped that he would wait for her to grow a bit, but in the end she would be his Lady Ginny. She would be coveted and protected, but never coddled or smothered, it wasn't in Tom's nature. She would be able to defend herself from any slight and she would enjoy her position as Lady of Britain, even if it did mean that she had to cut her family ties to gain her position. Her future with Tom was assured, he just had to return to her first.