I saw you this morning, you were moving so fast.
Can't seem to loosen my grip on the past.
And I miss you so much, there's no one in sight.
And we're still making love
In my secret life.

I smile when I'm angry. I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do to get by.
But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right.
And I'd die for the truth
In my secret life.

Hold on, hold on, my brother, my sister, hold on tight.
I finally got my orders,
I'll be marching through the morning, marching through the night,
Moving 'cross the borders
Of my secret life.

Looked through the paper, makes you want to cry.
Nobody cares if the people live or die.
And the dealer wants you thinking that it's either black or white.
Thank God it's not that simple
In my secret life.

I bite my lip. I buy what I'm told.
From the latest hit, to the wisdom of old.
But I'm always alone, and my heart is like ice.
And it's crowded and cold
In my secret life

Disclaimer: Harry Potter ™ belongs to JKR and WB. Song Lyrics (In My Secret Life) ©Katie Melua

4: Seeing Red

The two weeks heralding Easter passed quickly as Ginny and Riddle slipped into an easy familiarity around each other. Riddle was still, in many ways, unsure of how to act around Ginny; she knew things about him that no one else knew. But she also accepted him more than anyone else.

It was the little things that he liked the most. Like the way she decided what time breakfast would be, but it would be up to him to choose when – and where – to have dinner. And when they retired for the evening to their separate rooms she would reappear in his room thirty minutes after they said goodnight and would massage the bruise oil into his sullied skin. It was unspoken arrangement that just seemed to happen. Riddle would never admit it, but he loved the way her soft, chocolate eyes would sweep his form when he entered the room, appraising him and checking that he was alright in one look.

In his turn, Riddle did things that Ginny appreciated. Despite – or perhaps because of – his upbringing he seemed able to sense what restaurant served good food and had good service without having to look at the menu. He still kept his Slytherin mask in place most of the time, of course, but Ginny still saw the slight curve of his lips when she smiled at him, or when she took his arm. He relaxed more in her company, too. In some ways it was a great relief that Ginny knew almost everything about him and accepted him for it.

Because she did accept him. She accepted his past, and the way he lived now and she didn't try to change him. Ginny knew that somewhere along the line something had changed – a tiny, imperceptible little thing – but this Riddle, her Tom, was not the same as the Riddle in the diary. And she was happy with that, because it meant that he wouldn't become Voldemort and she had done what she'd come back to do.

It all seemed too easy. Ginny hadn't actually done anything. She'd annoyed him, argued with him, proven that she had an intelligence and wit to match his and saved him from the orphanage, but nothing more than that. She hadn't even put any effort into it; only done what she always did. Maybe that was it, but Ginny still had a niggling feeling that something was just wrong. She knew now that the diary started the day they returned from the Easter Holiday, so maybe the greatest trial was yet to come.

For now however, the pair were happy to enjoy each others company and the glories of London town. It was, perhaps, less spectacular than its usual glory, due to the war, but there were so many places to go – places to see. And, when they could not think of anywhere to go in London, Ginny would apparate them further away – to Liverpool or Manchester. Once she even took them down to the south coast, to a thriving tourist town with long, beautiful beaches.

Then they would return and the hotel would welcome back 'the new Mister and Missus Craigson' which, the first time he heard it, left Riddle choking on nothing. Ginny had quickly rushed him to their room, sniggering at him the entire time.

'Mr and Mrs Craigson?' he managed to get out.

'Well, I booked our rooms in my name and I guess they think we're on our honeymoon,' Ginny said, with an easy shrug of her shoulders.

'Honeymoon? As in married? To you?'

Ginny laughed out loud, a free, natural sound. 'Is there something about me that makes me un-marry-able?'

Poor Riddle had flustered for another moment, before he recovered and his emotionless façade fell back in place. He had taken her hand and bent to kiss it, more than a little startled when her lips snagged his on the way down. It was gentle, brief and teasing – for, the next moment Riddle straightened up, leaving the much shorter Ginny behind. She had laughed her goodnight to him then, and whisked out of the room, her summer dress twirling out around her. But she did not leave before Riddle caught the tiny flash of sincerity in her eyes.

That was the first of quite a few stolen kisses through the two week period – the most important of which the day they went to check on the other children from the orphanage. They were all doing much better, but most had to start their education from scratch and nothing could be done for the mental scars that they children had received. They had all individually thanked Ginny, one in particular marking herself in the older girl's memory.

'I want to say sorry for shouting,' the eleven year old told Ginny nervously, wringing her hands and fiddling with the bottom of her cardigan.

Ginny recognised the girl as the one who had shouted out against them, demanding to know why they were being sold like cattle. 'It's OK, sweetie,' Ginny told the girl, once again crouching down so she was the same height as her. 'If it was me I'd have done the same.'

The girl smiled at that and a pulse of… something washed over Ginny. When she investigated further she realised that this little girl would be joining her and Riddle in Hogwarts the following year – there was magic pulsing through her veins. Ginny turned to look up at Riddle, who had insisted on accompanying her. The flash of recognition in his eyes showed that he too saw this girl as another witch.

'It's Keara, isn't it?' Ginny asked the girl gently. Keara nodded. 'How would you like to–' but she was cut off by Riddle.

'No. Craigson, no. It isn't your fault that this happened, you can't just–'

'Riddle,' Ginny said, turning on the boy with eyes blazing. 'She needs to understand. She's one of us and since I'm the one with the money, you will just have to sit back and trust my judgement.'

But his words had set off her mind working, so Ginny stopped to consider for a moment before posing the next question. 'Keara, I'm going to be out of the country for a couple of months, but when I get back how would you like it if I adopted you?'

The girl stared at Ginny in confusion for a moment before launching herself at her, arms and legs curling around this young woman who was offering what seemed like the world. Ginny laughed. 'I'm guessing that's a yes, then?'

'Yes, yes, yes!' the girl cried, letting go and smiling widely at her.

Ginny took her by the shoulders and looked directly into Keara's eyes. 'You will have a lot to learn, and there may be quite a lot that seems too unbelievable to be true, do you think you can cope with that?' she asked, ignoring the snort that Riddle gave off.

Keara considered the question for a moment. 'Will you be there to help me?'

'Yes. Riddle will be, too. You'll have to get used to his sarcasm, though. But you'll soon see he's really all soft and squidgy on the inside,' Ginny replied in a whisper too quiet for anyone but the other girl to hear. Keara giggled and then gave Ginny a quick hug goodbye before she ran off to tell the others.

Riddle watched the exchange through narrowed, suspicious eyes, but did not say anything. Ginny soon made arrangements with the matron – Mrs Devenham – and money swapped hands before Ginny and Riddle left. He asked her why the matron thought Ginny had a son, and she replied by recasting the glamour so that he, too, could see it. Riddle had smirked then and pressed his lips to hers.

That kiss had been the first that he had stolen from her, rather than the other way around. It was also the only one that had deepened beyond just a swift peck of the lips. It left both of them with their mind reeling and smug smirks in place. Tom because he had such an effect on her and Ginny because she was right – he really was soft and squidgy behind that Slytherin mask. Not in a literal way, but in the way that he was just such a nice person when they kissed. Although nice really wasn't the best way to put it.

The second week passed much as the first had, with the exception of Easter Sunday itself, when they both slept in and spent the entire day in their room reading and eating the mountains of chocolate that the Hotel had sent as compliments to their 'only honeymoon couple this season' which had both Ginny and Riddle chuckling. Perhaps this pretending to be married thing did have its benefits.

On the last day before their return to Hogwarts the two of them had gone on a boat trip that went down along the Thames, a little way along the coast and then back up to the docking point, stopping off at cafes, bars and shops along the way. They had risen early and the sun was starting to greet the horizon by the time the boat was making the final leg of its journey.

'You know, Craigson,' Riddle addressed her as they both leant over the railing to watch the river bank slowly drift past. 'I've been thinking.'

'Uh oh,' Ginny teased, 'that can't be good!' Then she ducked as he swiped at her head.

'Why do we still call each other by our surnames?' he asked in all sincerity.

'I don't know. Habit?' Ginny replied softly.

'I think I'd like it if you called me Tom,' he said in the same tone as her.

Ginny said nothing, but loosed her hands from each other and laid the one closest to him palm up as it rested on the barrier. Tom placed his hand in hers and they both watched as their fingers entwined. Then they both turned back to watching the bank as they steadfastly ignored the slightly pink tinge that their faces had got, even as they admired the effect of the blush on the other's features.

There were no kisses – stolen or otherwise – that night. They had simply said goodnight with smirks that showed the other how much they'd truly enjoyed each other's company. Maybe, though neither of them would say so, those smirks could really be counted as smiles. Proper smiles.

The next morning rose early and they rose with it, quickly packing their new clothes, along with the things they had bought at Diagon Alley to replace what Tom had left at the orphanage. As had become natural for them, they walked into the station arm in arm. To start off with it had been a necessity, to avoid the accusing gazes of the public at a young lady and young man being in the same company without an escort, then it became comfortable and now it was simply the way things were between them. They didn't really notice that it was unusual until they saw the raised eyebrows and speculative gazes of the rest of their year – specifically the Slytherins.

'Well, well, well,' Eileen said in greeting as she saw them, before wrapping Ginny up in a hug and nodding at Tom.

'Habit, Eileen. The hotel I've been staying at thought we were a honeymooning couple, and since it brought great benefits…' Ginny trailed off, her eyes sparking mischievously.

'I'm guessing you mean champagne and chocolate, not sex,' Eileen stage whispered, well aware that Tom and many others could hear her.

Ginny smirked, raising an eyebrow at her friend. 'Why exactly would the hotel staff be providing sex if I had him?'

Tom turned a beautiful crimson colour before he slipped his mask back in place and left the two girls to chat, stalking stormily onto the train, and snapping at anyone who got in his way. His behaviour only made Eileen and Ginny giggle all the harder.

'Oh, he's hot when he's pissed off,' Eileen said, following his progress along the train with her eyes.

'I think he's hot all the time,' Ginny told her. 'Besides, much as I know you love to appreciate the good things in life, try and keep your ogling to a minimum.'

'Are you going out, then?' Eileen asked, interest diverted from Tom.

Ginny shrugged, then frowned. 'I'm not sure. Kind of. We've kissed a couple of times and I did ask him out, but it's…'

'Complicated?' Eileen filled in with a knowing gaze.

'Yeah,' Ginny agreed on a sigh.

'Don't worry about it, Ginny, love. Everything about Tom is complicated. Just be thankful that you managed to get a kiss or two out of him. That's more than what anyone else has ever got,' Eileen told her.

Ginny smirked at her again. 'I'm flattered.'

By that time Katrina, Yuna and Matisse had turned up so conversation swiftly turned to what everyone had been doing over the holidays, giving time for Ginny to mull over her feelings for Tom.

He was definitely not the boy she remembered from the diary, and that comforted her even as it worried her. But Ginny knew, as she settled down next to him in the compartment he had found for her and the others, that there was little she could do about it at the moment. Besides, as she looked at that handsome face and blue-grey eyes she knew that she would do anything to keep harm from coming to him. Oh, yes. Ginny knew too well the signs and recognised that, whoever he really was, she was slowly but most definitely falling in love with Tom Riddle. And, if she wasn't very much mistaken, he returned the feelings.

He was a very complicated person, but Ginny knew that from the moment she had picked up the diary when she was only eleven. His past, though, wasn't nearly as complicated as he made it out to be. It was turbulent, yes and it had, no doubt, left scars that he would carry with him for the rest of his life. But it was simple. He was abandoned, abused and then given a gift that he never dreamed of deserving – magic. That magic gave him a power over others, and having to abandon it for the holidays was, for him, like giving up the ability to speak and hear.

'So, Gin, what did you do over the holidays?' Yuna said, swiftly turning the conversation back to Ginny and Tom.

Ginny yawned. 'I saved him from his orphanage by inviting him to stay with me, adopted the cutest little girl who also lived at the orphanage and will be joining Hogwarts next year and then spent the rest of the time lazing about London with Riddle here,' she drawled lazily at them.

'And he didn't bite your head off?' Katrina said, blinking dumbly at her.

Ginny raised a hand to check her head was still in place, ignoring Tom's raised eyebrows and Eileen chuckling quietly. 'Yep. Still there.'

'Wow,' Yuna said, shaking her head. 'and you adopted some kid? Aren't you a bit young?'

Ginny sniggered. 'Well, the matron thought I was a little bit older than I actually am–'

'She thought you were my mother,' Tom hissed dangerously.

'–so it actually wasn't all that hard. Plus, I'm only officially adopting her once we return home for the summer holidays so I'll only be looking after her when we aren't at school. How hard can it be?'

Eileen was laughing out loud by this time. 'Your mother!' she managed to get out.

'Actually she thought Tom was the school friend of my son, but otherwise… yeah.' Ginny said, watching as her friend tried to compose herself.

'Sorry,' Eileen said once she'd calmed down. 'That's just so weird.'

Ginny smiled ruefully, agreeing with her. It was a little odd.

'She called you 'Tom',' Matisse said to Tom, the curiosity obvious in his tone.

'It is my name,' the prefect replied stiffly, turning his gaze out of the window.

'Yeah, but–'

'Matty, leave it,' Yuna warned her brother. 'They'll tell us when they want to.'

Ginny smiled gratefully. She really did not feel like trying to explain her relationship to the others. Eileen had been OK, but she had understood. The dark eyed girl seemed to look at the world differently, more perceptively than most. Pity, really, that Snape hadn't inherited that characteristic of his mother – maybe then he would not have been so prejudiced against Harry and his unwanted fame.

'Ginny, you alright?' Katrina asked, nudging the other girl's knee.

'Huh? Oh, yeah,' Ginny replied with a flicker of a smile – gone as soon as it came.

'Remembering the past again?'

'Mm,' was Ginny's only response. She really didn't want to talk about her past. She loved and respected her new friends, but they were different. They would never replace the gaping holes in her life that the deaths of her friends and family had left. In some ways, that was a good thing, but in others… Ginny was just the tiniest bit homesick.

Luckily the others took the hint and turned to a new topic – quidditch. Ginny listened half-interestedly, but was under no inclination to join the quidditch team of the past. Firstly it would be weird, playing against the red and gold team, rather than with and secondly it was too much of a reminder of her past. She wanted to be able to let go.

So Ginny tuned out the excited talk of her friends, not really noticing as another of the Slytherin boys entered and joined in the conversation. Not really noticing as Tom's hand clasped hers as they both stared out of the carriage window. Not really noticing that she fell asleep against Tom's shoulder. Not really noticing Tom's tiny, curving smile as she did so, or the speculative gazes of their friends. Not really noticing the utter contentment that settled over the small group.

They arrived earlier than normal at Hogsmeade station and were greeted by the usual horseless carriages that were waiting to take them up to the castle. Ginny paused to pat the nose of the thestral pulling their carriage, before climbing on. The others looked at her incuriosity, but Eileen smiled. She could see them too. Ginny raised her eyebrows at this, realising that she really aught to get to know the young Miss Snape better. Maybe it was too much to try and save her as well as the world, but right now the world didn't seem to be doing so badly.

Ginny and Tom found that when they linked arms to go to the Great Hall it no longer surprised anyone. In fact, Katrina went up to link her arm through Ginny's free one.

'So, tell me Gin, did you have a good holiday?' she asked.

It was a loaded question and they both knew it. Ginny chose not to answer, only smirking at her friend and raising an eyebrow at her, asking her why she didn't already know. Katrina laughed and shook her head despairingly.

Dinner that night for the sixth form Slytherins was a light affair. Ginny cautiously greeted the other two girls in her dorm; Georgia and Henrietta, and nodded to the two other boys who hadn't shared their train compartment. Then they settled down into light conversation about the holidays and the various exploits of the twins who, despite their quite, studious appearance, knew exactly how to rile people up.

It was shortly before dessert was served when Ginny caught sight of a familiar mop of hair on the other side of the hall.

'Excuse me, I'm just going to say hi to Harry,' she told her friends, ignoring the warning that Theodore gave and the raised eyebrows of Tom.

Ginny made her way along the end of the tables until she reached the Gryffindor room, ignorant of the fact that by the time she reached the opposite side of the hall almost everyone's eyes were turned to her.

'Hey, Harry,' she greeted the black haired boy, who stood and turned to give her a rib-cracking hug. He, too, was ignoring the glares of his fellow Gryffindors and the Slytherins and the interested, slightly afraid, gazes of the other half of the school.

'Hi, Ginny,' he said, letting her go and grinning widely. 'You have a good holiday?'

'The best, you?' she replied, drawling her words for the benefit of his classmates, but eyes flashing with the real humour she felt.

'Not bad, not bad. I'll see you sometime tomorrow,' he volunteered.

'Sure, see you around.' And with that Ginny made her casual way back to the Slytherin table, only noticing the silence when she looked at her friends, all of whom were looking at her at various stages of astonishment. Except for Eileen, who was too interested in her food.

'What?' Ginny asked, affronted. 'He's my friend, too.'

'We know, but did you have to do it during dinner, in front of everyone and make such a scene?' Yuna asked, rolling her eyes.

Ginny sniggered. 'Yeah,' she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Riddle only responded by raising the eyebrow that wasn't already at his hairline.

'Oh, shush, Yuna,' Katrina chastised. 'If Ginny wants to bring Harry's attention to this table, I'm not complaining.'

That caused another round of sniggers and broke the tension, everyone turning back to the dessert that had appeared on the table. Ginny looked up to see Tom's gaze still on her, and nudged his foot under the table, essentially reminding him where he was. His expression did not change, but his eyes warmed a little and he too turned his attention to the black forest gateau.

'Students,' Dippet introduced himself when the food was either finished or cleared away. 'I am sure you are all wondering what happened before the holidays, and we are pleased to announce that it was nothing more than a magical accident and Mr Wilson will be returning to us shortly before the summer exams, once Professor Slughorn has concocted the potion Madame Hollis needs. Now, I wish all of you goodnight and good luck with studying for your exams after the half term holiday.'

A universal groan went up and Ginny saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkling merrily. She herself was unworried about the exams. They would, of course, not be exactly the same as the ones she had taken at the end of her first time round the sixth year, but she had passed them with flying colours and she had an extra years practise this time round. There were five weeks before the one week holiday, and then two weeks of exams. Ginny had no doubt that the rest of her year and the year above and below would be studying fantastically hard. Ginny still remembered Hermione's chastising when she had caught Ginny and Harry kissing in the library, rather than studying.

Sighing, Ginny stood with the rest of the school, pushing Theodore away when he wrapped an arm around her, laughing at his and the other boys' antics. It was friendly and comfortable, this kind of banter. She watched Theodore's eyes linger on Eileen and rolled her own eyes. Really, for someone so insightful, Eileen had no idea of Theodore's crush on her. Not that he had a clue she had a crush on him either. Ginny glanced up at Tom, who had also seen where Theodore's gaze.

'Not tempted to play matchmaker?' he asked her, once again taking her arm in his.

'Oh, definitely. But I'll leave them to figure it out for themselves first,' Ginny replied, ignoring Tom's disbelieving face.

The sixth year Slytherins walked together down to the common room, Ginny and Tom bringing up the rear; watching their classmates joke around and catch up with each other.

It was a good thing, too, or else the others would have seen Tom's face suddenly light up with excitement and just a little fear. Ginny saw, though. Ginny saw and knew what it meant.

'The Basilisk?' she questioned softly. Tom answered with an abrupt nod. 'You should go and talk to her, then.'

'How do you know it's a her?' Tom questioned curiously.

Ginny shrugged, offering a half smile. She turned to face him, then took the back of his neck gently with one hand and tugged him down, kissing him. It was fierce, passionate, but at the same time caring and loving. Just like Ginny, Tom mused.

'Remember who you are,' Ginny breathed out across his lips when they drew back slightly. She didn't know for sure, but she had a bad feeling about this. She kissed him again, softly and briefly this time, before letting the hand at his neck fall. Ginny hadn't realised until then that his arms had come around her too.

Tom kissed her one last time before letting her go and disappearing off in the other direction. Her kiss had left his mind a little befuddled, but it had been oh-so-nice and wonderful and told him so much about her. Ginny could love like that kiss; he had never before realised that passion could be gentle too.

Ginny watched him leave with a slight, dreamy smile on her lips. She turned back to see Katrina and Yuna staring at her expectantly. Eileen, too, was waiting for her, but without the same expectation.

'Is there something you want to tell us?' Yuna asked, prodding Ginny in the ribs as she came up to take her arm.

'No,' Ginny replied honestly.

'Aw, you know you want to…' Katrina said, taking her other arm.

'Help?' Ginny asked plaintively of Eileen.

The other girl just laughed and shook her head. 'Nope, I want to hear this just as much as they do.'

Ginny pouted, but the other girls just dragged her the rest of the way to their dormitory and then demanded the full story. Ginny tried pleading the fifth, but none of the other girls knew what that meant and would undoubtedly not have let her get away with it anyway.

'I don't want to tell you guys anything,' Ginny whined at them as they tried, yet again, to pry the story from her.

'No, but we want to know,' Eileen reminded her.

Ginny turned her despairing gaze to the other two girls of the room, who had yet to say anything. 'Help?' she asked again, this time to them.

Georgia and Henrietta shook their heads. 'We want to hear this too,' Henrietta said.

'Yeah, Tom's never shown interest in anyone, much less kissed them,' Georgia agreed quietly.

Ginny huffed. 'Fine. Traitors.' The other girls all beamed back at her. 'I rescued Tom from his orphanage over the holidays, since I was kind of lonely on my own and he was the only one whose address I knew. Whilst we were at the hotel the staff there… presumed we were a honeymooning couple and sent us loads of chocolate and things. We didn't see reason to correct them.'

'So you're married?' Henrietta said on a breath.

Ginny turned to the girl in astonishment. 'No, we most definitely are not married. We just got so used to treating each other like a couple in public we, well, kind of became a couple,' Ginny finished her story.

Katrina burst out laughing. 'You two are so weird!' she said between giggles.

Ginny frowned at her. 'Well it's the truth!' Not all of it, but the truth nonetheless.

Eileen went over and sat next to Ginny, whispering in her ear so the other girls wouldn't here. 'That isn't everything, is it? I've noticed that Tom comes back after the holidays a lot worse of than when he leaves, but he came back this time just the same. Talk to me about it sometime?'

'You won't tell? Tom would probably blow up if he found out I told you, let alone anyone else,' Ginny replied, just as quietly, but twice as nervously.

Eileen gazed at Ginny a long time before answering. 'I promise not to tell. Perhaps there are some secrets that I have and don't want to be the only one knowing them anymore.'

Ginny nodded in understanding. She liked Eileen, and could see that the other girl had something she wanted, perhaps needed to tell her. She had never been able to turn away from someone who needed her help before, and now was not the time for her to start. So Ginny grinned and gave Eileen an impromptu hug.

'You know,' Eileen said, laughing. 'You hug people way more often than a normal Slytherin.' The other girls hastily agreed with her.

'Oh, you're just jealous that I got a hug out of Theodore and you didn't,' Ginny said, sticking her tongue out.

Eileen blushed and the other girls, sensing weakness, turned like a pack of proverbial hyenas to the scent of new blood. The six girls talked late into the night, only finally collapsing into sleep when the Head Girl, a fellow Slytherin with very straight blonde hair blasted into their room, shouting about the noise before charming their lights so that they would not turn on again until the following day.

As soon as she left the girls all started giggling, but followed her orders and settled into bed. In the darkness Ginny caught Eileen's eye and winked at her. The girl replied with her own wink before they turned over and drifted off to sleep, thoughts tumbling and strange as they tried to figure out the way their lives were heading.

The next morning something was different. No one could tell what exactly was wrong, it just was. The sixth year Slytherin girls went down as normal, causing there entrance and sitting down sedately, as if they didn't know every single eye in the hall was turned towards them. Ginny hid her grin and winked across the table at Riddle, who did not respond.

He saw her action, but there was no flash of familiarity in his eyes – no sense of amusement at all. He blinked at her and continued to eat his food. Ginny frowned at the action but thought maybe it was just their return to Hogwarts that had his change in mood. Her mind wandered back to the first date in the enchanted diary and she tried hard to pretend that it didn't bother her. For the most part she succeeded.

Ginny walked to her first lesson of the day, Charms, with Eileen and Francis, the cheery boy who she'd been partnering in Charms for a while now.

'So, what's wrong?' Eileen prompted as soon as they were out of ear shot.

'Tom. He's acting weird,' Ginny said quietly, then shook it off, saying in a falsely bright tone; 'I'm sure it's nothing.'

Eileen raised a questioning eyebrow at her, but the other girl decided not to push it, choosing instead to tease Francis about the bright pink of their usually green Slytherin emblem on his cloak. This plan to distract from the topic of Tom failed, though.

'Aw, come on, Prince. It's hardly my fault Tom was in a particularly vindictive mood this morning, now is there?'

Eileen winced at Tom's name, realising that it had been the wrong thing to say.

'Tom's in a mood this morning?' Ginny said, jumping to the subject like a dog to a bone.

'Don't get me wrong, Tom's always in a mood in the mornings–' Ginny nodded, remembering the mornings during the holiday when she'd tried to get him up early. '–but he was in even more of a mood this morning than usual.'

'Ginny?' Eileen prodded gently, seeing the look on her friend's face.

Ginny turned to Eileen with concerned thoughtfulness written all over her feature. 'I'm not sure, Eileen. I have my theories, though. I guess we'll just have to wait until third period.'

'Potions?' Eileen asked in momentary confusion.

Ginny quickly confirmed that, 'Potions. With Slughorn as a teacher and Tom as my partner.'

The other girl swiftly picked up the significance as they arrived at the Charms classroom and filtered through the doorway, both of them turning back to teasing Francis about his badge. Friendly conversation soon started up, but was cut across as their teacher entered the room.

Shortly after their professor's arrival it became clear – to Ginny's delight – that they would be talking about animagi. This was not a subject that would be covered in the future, so the material was new. Since Ginny was becoming more determined than ever to become and animagus she fell upon the information greedily, her notes more scribbled and accurate than any she had taken in previous weeks – even years. Eileen watched her with a very slight smirk on her face – the two girls both had a free period next so she'd get to the bottom of it then.

As for the teacher – he was a little baffled by the sudden attention from a student who previously had not paid much attention, but as all good teachers do he recognised that thirst for knowledge and found himself teaching three lessons worth of information in just one lesson simply for Ginny's sake. The rest of the class, though vaguely interested, spent the lesson doodling absently, contrary to Ginny's fastidious attention.

Consequently the end of the lesson came far too soon for the teenager, who, after bidding Francis goodbye, found herself cornered by the ever-perceptive Eileen.

'Have you started yet?' she asked, choosing not to introduce the topic of Animagi. They had, after all, been learning about it for the past hour.

'Started what?' Ginny asked, feigning innocence.

Eileen rolled her eyes. 'The preliminary potion.' Duh.

'I don't know what you're talking about, Eileen,' Ginny said, desperately trying to create the image of confusion and failing miserably.

'I'm not going to turn you in, you know,' Eileen assured her.

'But…?' Ginny continued, knowing that Eileen did not want to just stop there.

'But can I help? Become one too?' the other girl asked, fluttering her long, dark eyelashes at her in a pleading way.

Ginny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She didn't want to say no, but she didn't want to say yes, either. Eileen was the closest friend she had in this time, and if Ginny had been planning this before she most certainly would have told Luna – and probably Hermione, Ron, Neville and Harry, too. But she still felt alienated in this time. To her, it wasn't real, not really. It may be a life or death situation for hundreds that she was holding in her hands, but the whole situation was… surreal. It was one huge game that she only had one go at. If she failed she'd probably die. If she succeeded she'd probably disappear in a puff of non-existence. Either way, on a personal level, it was a lose-lose situation.

'Yes, OK,' Ginny agreed after a couple moments' hesitation. A slow grin spread across Eileen's face, her obsidian eyes glittering. 'But no one else can know. I have reasons beyond just wanting to try it out, and it needs to be kept secret.'

Eileen looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head very slightly. 'It's to do with Tom and you aren't going to tell me, are you?' It wasn't really a question.

'I'm sorry, Eileen. I have a million and one secrets that I'm bursting to tell everyone – anyone. But I can't. I just can't. One day, maybe, I'll be able to tell you about it,' Ginny paused for a moment, her eyes meeting Eileen's as she made her promise. 'One day, when we're wrinkled and old and have our grandchildren running around our feet I'll tell you the truth. The whole truth – everything. I doubt you'll believe it, and pass it off as senility, but I will tell you.'

The words 'If we live that long,' hung between the two girls as the sat down in their usual spot in the library. Neither of them spoke their doubts – not wanting to make their admission verbal – but it was there, almost palpable in the dusty atmosphere.

'Listen, Gin… thanks. Something tells me that, if you could, you'd tell me everything right here and now. But there would be consequences,' Eileen started, uncertain where she was going.

Ginny nodded her affirmation. 'And, unfortunately those consequences far out weigh my need to tell someone.'

Eileen studied her hands for a long moments, the thin, nimble fingers winding and twining around each other in constant movement. Then a thought struck her. 'Why don't you write it down?' she suggested.

'What – in a diary?' her friend asked hesitantly.

'Sure, why not?'

Ginny blinked a couple of times before she realised that really was a very good idea. The idea of writing in a diary certainly brought back bad memories, but there was no chance of a repeat performance – especially if she bought a notebook new. Ginny had slipped easily into writing in the book everyday years ago, it would be easy enough to slip back into that habit, even if the book didn't reply. It also sparked of another idea.

There was no reason to give up on Tom just yet, as he may well just be adjusting back into school life, but if he ever did turn into the same boy Ginny had known in her first year, then she needed a plan. And now, thanks to Eileen's suggestion, she had one. And it wasn't nearly as complicated as splintering her soul and forcing a bit into a diary in the hopes he might pick it up and write in it.

Because, despite the fact she had talked mostly about herself when she was eleven, it was irrefutable fact that Ginny Weasley (Craigson, she reminded herself) knew Tom Riddle. Oh, she didn't know everything, but she knew an awful lot. She knew who his mother was, who his father was, who his mother's family were. She knew about the cave near his old orphanage. She knew about the new orphanage. She knew how to make him smile, or if not smile, then smirk. She knew how to interest, annoy, enrage, inspire, enrapture him. She knew who and what he liked and what he loathed. She knew his strengths and weaknesses. She knew who he was, more than anyone else ever had or would, of that she had no doubt.

Ginny knew she was probably making a big deal out of nothing. So Tom was in a mood this morning – that was no abnormality, especially in the morning. But the blankness in his eyes when she had winked at him earlier worried her. His emotionless mask was good, but even he was not the infallible. Maybe for someone else, but not for her; not after the two weeks they had enjoyed in each other's company getting to know the other, from their talk to their silences.

'Ginny?' Eileen asked nervously.

She glanced up and smiled apologetically. 'Sorry. Yeah, I will try the diary idea. It just made me think a lot about… things.'

Eileen gave a carefree laugh. 'Things,' she repeated.

Ginny grinned back, claiming innocence again. 'Things,' she confirmed.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment before a bout of unexplainable giggles overtook them for a few minutes, only fuelled by the furious glare of the librarian. They soon settled down into their studying, however. After all, Ginny's notes were nearly illegible and they needed that information if they truly intended to go through with their plan.

Ginny leant casually against the door frame of the potions classroom. Her classmates were milling around, chatting quietly, but she had eyes for only one of them. And he had not arrived yet. To the casual onlooker it would seem as though she had fallen asleep standing up, her eyes closed and her head tilted so the honey red hair was mussed slightly by the wall. Her school bag had slipped from her shoulder and was now pooled at her feet, blue ink slowly staining the flagstones, a clear sign it had been dropped.

But Ginny was not asleep – far from it. She knew that her ink was leaking, but did not care – all the books had protection spells and with a flick of her wand the ink would return to the pot anyway. But with her eyes closed it was easy to sense other peoples' magic.

It wasn't a precise art, as lots of people had very similar magical abilities, but you could tell someone apart from others by the amount of magic they held. Most people did not know they had this ability to sense magic, and those who did know knew that it was mostly a waist of time. Ginny was one of those who knew that. But with Harry and Tom it was not quite as pointless as it usually was. Ginny's… ex-boyfriend was cloaked in a soothing amount of power that, whilst it exceeded greatly those around him, could easily be mistaken for the average. It was a gentle, calming sort of power that took pride in its ability to sustain, rather than change.

Tom, on the other hand, was entirely different matter. There was more than one reason why people did not enjoy being around him, whether they were consciously aware of it or not. He bristled with power. Every movement he made could be sensed by feeling his magic and Ginny had become acutely aware of this quite early on in their relationship. Being around that sort of magical capability was not painful, per se, more slightly discomforting. It was like when you bruised yourself; you knew it was their, couldn't help but notice, but it became a dull sort of ache in the background that you soon forgot even existed.

Of course, Tom had become proficient in masking the power he emanated, but he usually didn't bother. So, as Ginny stood there looking as though she was asleep she was actually awaiting Tom's arrival. It wasn't like hearing or smelling, but it was a strange combination of the two. Magic had a strange, sweet taste that tempted, yet threatened at the same time. The stronger it got, the more tangible it became, tasting stronger and smelling spicier.

Which was how Ginny knew of Tom's arrival outside the Potion's classroom ten seconds before he turned the corner and became visible. Visibly all she did was open her eyes and pick up her bag, a quick flick of her wand taking care of the spilt ink. Then she went back to leaning against the door frame, ignoring the class mates surrounding her and smiling benignly at the newcomer.

'Hey, Riddle,' she said casually. It seemed like nothing more than her usual greeting – only the Slytherins would know she had adapted to calling the boy 'Tom' and she had only talked to Eileen enough for any of them to see it as different. It was the first of a couple of subtle tests Ginny had set.

'Craigson,' he acknowledged.

First test: failed. But not to worry, they had only been calling each other by their first names for a day or so now. 'Back to surnames already? It was your suggestion I call you Tom in the first place.'

There was a silence of only about a second, but it was long enough for Ginny to know something was not right. Maybe not necessarily wrong, but certainly not right. Tom always had an answer or an excuse ready before you finished posing the question.

'But I did not imply that I would follow your example. You, after all, did not address me by my first name.'

That sounded a little more like him. 'True. But do call me Ginny,' she insisted.

'As you wish,' he acquiesced. Now that really didn't seem like Tom. No matter what the subject or his opinions on it, if he could think of a way to oppose something with that much of an opening for an argument, he would take the opportunity. Not for any particular reason other than to disagree.

Slughorn chose that moment to make his entrance and shepherd the class into the potions lab. Tom stepped ahead of Ginny and she allowed him to, following quietly and observing his movements. He sat where he usually did and did not react as she slid into the seat next to him, taking out her potions book and writing equipment. It was at this point Ginny realised that Tom did not have his bag.

'Do you want to borrow some parchment and a quill?' she asked him, already getting the spare out of her bag.

He nodded once and took the objects from her. He frowned once at the bend in the end of the quill, where the feather had broken and lay unevenly. Ginny shrugged, a slight smirk dancing on the edges of her lips as she watched him without a hint of apology. Her equipment may not be the best, but they both knew his was worse.

'You have money, Ginevra, why not purchase a new pen?' he asked in an undertone as they began taking notes on Slughorn's lecture.

'I feel no great need. It still works and that is the important thing.'

'Perfection is prerequisite,' Tom murmured, more to himself than to Ginny. But she heard nonetheless.

'Prerequisite to what?' she inquired of him.

Tom stopped writing and glanced up. Ginny felt chilled to the core as she watched his eyes that now seemed entirely grey – no hint of colour in them at all. A curious little smile settled on his face. It was neither happy nor sad. In fact it was completely devoid of any kind of emotion at all. Yet there it was, curving across his face like it had been placed there by accident.

Then he leant towards her so that his lips were directly above her ear. 'I have a secret, sweet little Ginevra,' he whispered no louder than a breath. 'But I can't tell you. Not yet. But soon I will. Very soon.'

His voice sent shivers down Ginny's spine and it took her a moment to realise that she too had stopped writing, her hand shaking slightly as it hovered above the paper. Then she recovered herself and continued writing, her own smile, matching his, decorating her face. Pretty little doll-smile, more fake than her pretence that everything was normal.

He leant back and continued writing.

Then there was silence except for the scratching of quills. Even Slughorn's voice seemed to fade into nothingness as Ginny read what Tom was now writing on a clean sheet of paper.

Ginevra Molly Weasley. Born on the eleventh of August 1981. Started Hogwarts at age eleven and was sorted into Gryffindor house. Fell in love with Harold James Potter, who died (circumstances unknown). She travelled back in time from 1998 to 1943. She decided, for reasons unknown, to lie about her age and birth date and restart her sixth year, despite receiving above average grades. Resorted into Slytherin house. Is known friends with Eileen Prince, Katrina Salvatore, Theodore Grant, Francis Parry, Yuna Yteshi, Matisse Yteshi and

His pen paused then for an undeterminable amount of time. Perhaps it was mere seconds, but for either of them it could have been hours.

Tom Riddle.

Ginny's blood ran cold, her face going impossibly pale. He stopped writing then and pushed the paper towards her. He knew she had read it – he was expecting a response.

Uncertain on how to react Ginny slowly ran her fingers over his elegant handwriting. In that truly beautiful script he had told her life story in only a paragraph. A slow smirk crept across her face as Ginny lowered her quill to the paper and began writing.

'Alright, class, you now have half an hour to complete the initial brewing. You will be completing the task on Thursday, off you go,' Slughorn announced and turned to sit at his desk, taking out a stack of papers and starting to go through them. The students immediately moved to start the task, talk already bubbling up.

Ginny folded the paper neatly and walked around the desk to get to the store cupboard and retrieve her cauldron. The note fluttered from her fingers and landed on the desk before Riddle. Then she turned away, watching him surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye. She saw his fingers – as elegant as his scripture – unfolding the note and his mask breaking momentarily. His normally pale skin turned that much whiter and his eyebrows rose considerably. But then the façade was back. And his emotionless smile was back in place.

Funny. Before now his mask had no expression at all. Ginny wondered vaguely where the smile had come from. As she turned fully away from him she allowed a tiny, victorious smirk to grace her features, remembering what she had written back.

Ooh, well done! Except, you got one thing wrong. It is quite well known how my Harry died. He was murdered in cold blood… by a certain Mister Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Perhaps she shouldn't have told him. But it didn't really matter – he knew everything else, so why shouldn't he know this? Ginny didn't like to think about how he could possibly know all this, but for now she felt confident that she could taunt him for knowing only part of the truth.

The last half of the lesson passed almost exactly as it always did. Riddle did not attempt to add the wrong ingredients to the potions of those working around them, but tried with extra vigour to spoil Ginny's potion. Again and again he added the wrong ingredients or gave the potion and extra half stir as Ginny was occupied with preparing the next part. Ginny did not know this potion, she had never studied it before, but she knew what counter acted the things he changed, so she acted without saying a word.

She did not whistle like she did sometimes and only those who knew the dynamic between the pair could tell the difference between their usual working atmosphere and now. Before it had been – whilst not friendly – a companionable silence. Now the air was thick with unspoken words, accusations, insults and they berated each other with their eyes.

By the end of the lesson Ginny's potion was exactly as it was supposed to be, though her cauldron contained somewhat more than the others. Slughorn noticed this and raised an eyebrow, a sympathetic twitch of his mouth the only sign that he knew what had been happening. Oh, he had always known, but as he had yet to catch Riddle in the act there was very little the teacher could do.

Ginny packed her things away in continued silence, her throat thick with boiling fury. The boy was insufferable! Riddle watched her actions with a slight show of actual amusement in the ever-constant smile-that-wasn't. Whilst he had failed in sabotaging her work he had succeeded in the main aim of his actions – infuriating her.

Ginny followed her nemesis from the room, her bag swinging and bouncing against her thigh, the brush of it against her school uniform and their footsteps the only noise as the rest of their classmates disappeared as quickly as possible down the corridor to get to lunch.

'How did you find out, Riddle?' Ginny asked easily, quietly. She had already reverted back to calling him 'Riddle' in her mind due to his actions.

'A little birdie told me,' he replied in an utterly serious tone.

'What other stories did your songbird sing?' she quipped, playing his game.

Riddle's smile grew ever so slightly and he turned his head a little so he could see her expression. 'Oh she told me many things. Including the way you let the little mudblood fuck you into the mattress like the wanton whore that you are.'

Ginny stared at him in shock at his little outburst – the insults falling so casually from his tongue as though he was stating the state of the weather.

This was not the Tom Riddle she had come to know over the last couple of months since Christmas. This was the Tom Riddle she had spilled her heart and soul to during her first year. The Tom Riddle who had so callously tossed her life aside in the attempt to get his own back. Pity he had failed, really. He had become ugly as his soul had bits hacked off of it over and over again. And if she had died? Well then at least she would be at peace. At least then she wouldn't be in this complicated, confusing maze Snape had thrown her into. There was more here than anyone had ever realised and she had been tossed straight into the middle of it. Ginny only hoped she could escape with her sanity in tact.

As it was, his words were the final straw for Ginny. His magic may be strong, but it was relaxed and almost… hampered by something. In contrast, she was a burning pit of emotions, each one sparking and fuelling her magic so that it reached an energy level it had only ever once reached before when Ginny had been told the final battle had started before anyone was ready. Then she had been incensed. Now she was furious.

He was standing before her with a broad smirk telling her that he knew exactly what he was trying to do, but Ginny was, for once, happy to let him rile her up. If it ended up with him getting what he deserved (and she would see to it that it would) she was quite happy to follow his lead. He stood there and practically beckoned her to attack him.

Blinded by her temper Ginny disregarded her wand, choosing instead to punch him squarely on the jaw. Unfortunately she had never really punched anyone before and so the power behind it was lost in bad technique – making her hand hurt as much as his jaw. But Riddle did not seem to want to attack back. He just continued to smirk at her.

Ginny lunged towards him and the dagger that he had drawn from his pocket slipped easily between the material of her jumper and skirt, then sliding like it was penetrating butter between her ribs. Ginny, somehow did not stop moving and managed to slam Riddle bodily against the wall behind him, the only sign she gave of receiving a wound was the slight intake of breath that caused her breathing to falter a moment before it once again evened out.

Placing her left hand over the wound Ginny carefully withdrew the blade with her free hand. She looked up at Tom's cool, nonchalant gaze she thrust the weapon through his left hand, finally getting a furious, roaring response. She staggered backwards a couple of steps, watching stoically as Riddle howled, his hand bleeding almost as quickly as her stomach. No doubt someone would have heard him and would be heading down to find out what was wrong, but right now Ginny couldn't bring herself to care.

Then, somehow, she managed to find a peace within the swirling whirlpool of her emotions – the eye of the storm. She clamped both hands over the point where the dagger had entered her and once again looked up to meet his gaze.

'Are you scared yet Tom?' she asked calmly, her brown eyes almost black. 'Is breathing suddenly difficult? Is your heartbeat getting faster and faster? Because if it isn't then you're a fool.' Her eyes fluttered shut, her face looking terribly pale and drawn. Then she leant against him, one hand reaching up to clutch the blade wedged into the wall, the other trying to staunch her blood flow, but only spreading the dark, sticky substance everywhere. Ginny leant up and pressed a kiss to Riddle's jaw.

'Do you remember this?' she asked. He turned towards her, trying to figure it out, but all in vain. Ginny pressed her lips to his, fiercely trying to bring him back, trying to get her Tom back. But he did not respond to her and Ginny felt her legs start to tremble beneath her.

'Don't you remember at all?' she asked desperately.

Riddle watched dispassionately as Ginny then fell to the ground, the dark stain of her blood growing larger by the second. With a little difficulty Tom managed to wrench the dagger from his hand and the wall. He leant over the girl on the floor and wiped the blade quickly on her robes before he slipped it back into his pocket. Casting a healing spell on his hand Riddle stepped over Ginny's prone body and walked off with a slight spring in his step.

As he walked away he whistled a childish tune – a silly little song magic folk teach their children.

A/N: Do you want me to supply the du-du-duuuuun noises, or are you capable of producing your own?

Yes, yes, I know! Tom is evil! Muaha, finally. So many people have been telling me that Tom isn't evil enough, well (with a little tinkering and arguing with Greg, that muse of mine) I have come up with a plot that will cover it! So, I now present the new, evil, dark-lord-in-training Tom! He is evil enough now, right? I dunno, it's hard to write people who are evil. Especially since I don't believe in 'good' and 'evil' – there's sick, masochistic, confused and sadistic, but no evil. It's all down to psychology, of which I know nothing. Aaaaanyway, what I'm trying to say is I find it hard to write truly evil people. Especially ones as cute as Tom.
I've also come up with a gorgeous little twisty bit in the plot line that you people should (hopefully) adore, and keep me away from the 'omg, this story is soooo cliché' reviews. Talking about reviews… please leave me one? It really makes my day, and it stops my inspiration from going away on holiday. Which is good, considering how often he likes doing that. Yes I have personified my muse/inspiration/plot bunny/whatever. His name is Greg. He's cool.

And, no, you don't need to tell me I'm crazy, my friends see fit to inform me of this daily. But thanks for your concern.

But, yeah, please leave a review and thank you so much for reading so far!! I can't promise when the next chapter will be up, except I hope it's soon, just like you guys!
Lots of love to all you wonderful people,
Cal
xxx