Chapter 2
A Memory of Haunting
xoxo
Ginny had always been excited for the time when she would be attending Hogwarts, it had to be said. She could remember each and every one of the stories that her older brothers would tell her during the time of their academic years, allowing her dreams and imagination to conjure visions of her version of a Hogwarts life. She always fantasised about all the adventures she could have been a part of, all the Quidditch she could have had the chance to play, all the friends she might have made.
But due to her meeting a certain friend, she was experiencing a reality that her visions had never been successful in predicting.
Tom's latest request involved her writing her farewell message on one of the many walls that kept Hogwarts castle standing. He then instructed her to open the entrance to a strange and secret place in moaning myrtle's bathroom before the redhead timidly made her way to the location that Tom was directing her towards.
'Don't worry, you're nearly there,' Tom's vocals assured in her head, she felt safe because Tom was with her, he was her strong, brave and protective best friend.
But Tom couldn't completely prevent her from floating in waters of terror since she had no idea where she was, or what could be lurking within the crevices of this creepy world. All Ginny knew was that she was staggering along a hard stone material that was very wet and slimy, this introduced worries of slipping as she made a contribution to the mixture on the floor, that being the blood that was dripping from the large cut in her arm, which had enabled her to paint the crimson quote of her departing from life. Her other arm held the small, black diary she had been writing in all year, close to her rapidly beating heart.
Her lips released constant whimpers of pain as her brown eyes perceived a blank canvas of the darkest velvet, she couldn't see where was she going, nor had any idea where she was, which only increased the anxiety within her.
But as she continued with the journey, green flames ignited from either side of her, making her flinch in fright. She discovered the emerald flames to sit upon statues of snakes that clung to the rows of pillars that stood either side of her. Another two fires lit as she passed them by, creating a murky green tinge for the atmosphere. She was finally able to see the rest of the environment, the only complete darkness that chose to stay was the black mist that fabricated Ginny's thoughts of the walls and ceiling. She frantically prayed to Merlin for a promise to ensure that nothing would jump out at her since she doubted she'd be-able to defend herself from any harm inflicting creatures that could possibly roam these floors.
'Don't be scared, Ginevra, nothing will harm you whilst I'm here, just keep going.'
When she reached the last pillar, her eyes widened in horror at large stone head with a beard of serpents attached to it, resulting in her drowning in oceans of intense fear. She was made to be even more scared when the impact of Tom's comfort left her, she no longer felt his presence, nor was she able to hear his voice, he was no longer here to keep her safe.
'Tom?...Tom? Where are you?! Please don't leave me!' Ginny mentally screamed at her friend, only to receive the sound of her cries, and nothing more.
Ginny felt her body shaking in dread as her mind desperately begged her legs to carry her away from this horrible place. She turned to break into a run, which was a bad idea because it resulted in that fear of slipping coming true. Her feet slid across the floor until her body collided with the hard, stone ground.
Slime crept onto her hair and robes as she began to tearfully wail from the painful sensations that were shooting throughout her body. She curled herself into a ball and wept as the oozing substance ventured into her sliced arm and increased her soreness whilst adding a commotion of stings.
She discovered that her other arm was now very lonely with the absence of the diary she had been carrying. Her instincts created orders to push herself from the ground and look around for the missing book, the constant throbbing feelings never permitting her the sweet relief of a painless state.
Her eyes didn't meet the velvet tinted cover of her inanimate best friend, but a pair of shiny, black shoes that were attached to legs which were clothed by charcoal grey trousers. Footsteps echoed throughout the shadowy walls, along with the sounds of Ginny's sorrowful howls.
"Shhhhhh," a soft, calming voice whispered as Ginny felt herself being lifted into some cradling arms, her cheek rested on a jumper covered chest. "There, there, my sweet Ginevra, you're fine now, everything is going to be alright."
"T-t-tom," she sniffed. "I-is tha-that you?"
"Yes, Ginevra, it's me," his voice confirmed. His voice, a set of vocals she had been wishing to hear for months and months now, a voice that ignited a feeling of warmth within her and chased all the fears and pain away. A voice that soothed her to where her eye lids began to grow heavier and heavier as she sleepily yawned in Tom's comfort.
"Yes, sleep my love," Tom continued in his poetic song as his lips kissed the young witch's forehead. "Have dreams of knowing how proud I am of you. You've done such a brave and noble thing for the wizarding world."
She tried to look up at his face, she didn't know if it was because of her tear blurred eyes, or if he actually looked like that, but the image of him was very unclear, as if it was out of focus. The only things she could make out were the colour gradients that started at jet black that faded to a ghostly pale white, which transformed into a mixture of emerald green and dark grey.
"No, Ginevra, close those eyes and dream, dream for eternity as you make this beautiful sacrifice that I promise will bring balance to this corrupted magical community."
Wait? What?!
Ginny started to panic once more, realising what Tom had just said to her, he was sacrificing her? She was going to die?
That thought plagued her with a shock infested disease. After all these months of Tom telling her how special she was, how he comforted her as her times of distress, how he advised her in her moments of need, how he convinced her that he was her only friend and the only one who ever truly cared for her, and now she found out that it had all lead to him ending her life.
She wanted to scream, open her eyes and get herself as far away from Tom as possible, but she was not permitted to do so, her eye lids remained sealed together as she started to drift in the winds of unconsciousness.
She felt too tired to talk; so she used her thoughts as a way to communicate with Tom once again.
'Tom, please, I don't want to die!' She mentally cried, he cruelly sniggered at her childish begs.
"Hush Ginevra, once you're asleep, everything will be perfect," he murmured in her ear, his malevolent vocals now sending shivers of profound fright coursing up and down her spine.
She was sinking deeper and deeper in waters of her demise, her inner self was sobbing once more. She was dying in the arms of Tom Riddle, the wizard who had once been her escape from the unpleasant elements of this world.
She conjured up one last thought and received a reply from him, the last memory of her living days.
You tricked me.
You shouldn't have trusted me, you stupid little girl.
xoxo
"Ginny-Gin. GINNY!" Michael loudly repeated in attempt to calm his panicked girlfriend, his hands left her wrists to rest on the top of her arms before he gently shook her from the havoc saturated trance.
She met his worried gaze that had watched all the colour drain from her fair and freckled face, droplets of the Arctic Ocean trickled from her sweat drenched hair to dampen her forehead.
The two of them were breathless; Ginny's lungs struggled to gain a healthy flow of oxygen through her heavy pants as a worn out Michael inhaled a large amount of air for recovering purposes.
They didn't speak for several minutes after that point, they just stared at each other, not knowing what to say or do as they calmed themselves down.
It was Michael who ended the silence after they had regained their strength. "So, what was that all about then?" He wondered, clouds of concern roamed the skies of his voice as he waited for answer.
It was at that point when Ginny realised that she had lost complete control of her actions, her lips spoke of a reply that she had no intention of telling him. "Nothing, just leave it," she suggested in quite the harsh tone.
Michael's features painted a flabbergasted appearance as he continued with, "Don't tell me nothing, you were screaming and lashing out at me as if I was going to attack you, I thought you were having a fit or something," he lectured. "Please tell me what's wrong."
"I said nothing, so leave it at that and go away," Ginny angrily demanded through gritted teeth as she glared at their eye contact.
Michael's shock transfigured into a face of a wounded soul. His blue eyes grew larger as the level of worry heightened within them. "What's it going to take for you to start being honest with me? You've been really off with me since we came back to school, and I-"
"May-be it's because you never cease in pestering me to an extent to where I'm wondering why I'm still with you," Ginny cruelly snapped at him, no trace of emotion could now be detected on her face as she nastily slapped his hands away from her and took a step backwards, folding her arms and continued to lock him with a fixed stare of intimidation.
"My friends don't know why I bother with you," he weakly told her. "They say you're just some bitch who's using me and not with me because you like me, and all those times I've stuck up for you-"
"Your mistake, not mine," she matter-of-factly spat at him. Her words acted as a malicious blade that sliced and shredded his heart until only a dark hole remained in his ribcage; his discontinued blood flow would slowly devour his living state until he would die a slow and painful death.
"I've always said I'd be there for you," he managed to croak as he felt his throat become so dry that it would put a desert to shame. "It was a promise that I thought I'd always keep, but if you continue to push me away like this, I can't be here forever." His hurt enhanced when Ginny rolled her eyes and exhaled a breath of impatience. "When you're ready to go back to being Ginny Weasley, that kind and funny girl I met at the yule ball, send me an owl or something."
At that note, he removed his part in their conversation and stormed away, leaving her alone with the intruder in her head.
'Good girl, Ginevra, I'm so proud of your commitment towards me.'
'But it was you saying all those things to him!' Ginny mentally retorted. 'I would never be so horrible!'
'But you have been, allowing him to believe that you share the same feelings when really, your heart belongs to another. I must say, even I'm impressed, I never thought you'd be capable of such vindictiveness.'
Ginny had no comeback for this, he was right. In a way, she had manipulated Michael. May-be she deserved what was about to happen to her, a suitable punishment for Ginny Weasley, the spiteful hypocrite.
'That's not true!' she internally argued. 'Yeah, I'm not completely over Harry, but that doesn't mean I don't care about Michael!'
She wasn't going to let him do this to her, not again. He had used similar techniques to make her think that no-one loved her in her first years at Hogwarts, distancing her from those who did truly care for her as he dragged her to the pit of her near death experience.
'I think you'll find, Ginevra, that it's too late to have such rebellious thoughts,' the voice pointed out through a snort of untainted malice. 'Now, be that obedient little princess I grew very find of all those years ago, and make your way to the place where all the secrets are hidden.'
Ginny's legs began to unwillingly carry her in a certain direction, a journey she had desperately hoped to never take ever again.
'Something needs to occur that didn't take place last time.'
xoxo
MoonPrancer's thoughts: Hello there! :) I hope you're well and having a lovely day! Thank-you so much for taking time out of your day to read my story, I really hoped you enjoyed! :D
Reply to guest review on the previous chapter - Aww thank-you so much for your kind words! :D I was really nervous about Ginny's, Harry's and Cho's behaviour in this chapter because I believe it's a little out of character, but necessary for the story at the same time! I am really glad you liked it though! :) Yeah Ginny/Tom stories are one of my favourites to read! :) I love this couple and really enjoyed writing this story! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! :) thanks for reading and leaving me some awesome feedback, it really means so much to me! :)
I hope you're well and having a lovely day! :D
