A/N- So beyond sorry about how long this has taken. I am a frog. No, I'm worse than a frog. I'm a blast ended screwt. I'm so sorry. Chapter 10 should be up soon too.


Two weeks. I had been here for two weeks. After the first week, I went to Headmaster Dippet and asked to be placed in all advanced classes. I couldn't stand to be in the regular 6th year classes anymore; everything we were learning, I had already learned in 5th year, or in the case of Defense Against the Dark Arts, 4th year in the DA. Dippet obliged and now I'm taking all "Advanced" classes. So far I loved them. The class sizes were smaller and consisted of the top students from all houses. There was more work, but most of it was projects that we worked on in class. Students were held to a "higher level of responsibility" and were encouraged to learn the material outside of class, so that class time could be spent practicing spells or making potions. Hermione would be bursting with pride. The only downside was that now I had Tom Riddle in every single class, flaunting his knowledge and his perfect marks. Bloody arse.

A few days ago, Tristan asked me on a date and I accepted, much to the delight of the girls in my dorm, especially Virginia. It's obvious she's in love with Abraxas. She seems to think the more she pushes me toward Tristan, the more Abraxas will stop liking me and begin to like her again. And I guess in a way she was right; when Tristan asked me out Abraxas just sort of… gave up. For two weeks he had been flirtatious and suggestive. Normally I would have given in after the first week, but something was stopping me. And then he just stopped. It was odd, though I suppose his friendship just means a lot to him and he didn't want to do anything now that I was "going with" Tristan. As for Tristan, for weeks he had been sweet and kind, standing up for me whenever anyone dared insult me and cheering me up when I felt out of place or overwhelmed. When he asked m e to accompany him on the upcoming Hogsmeade trip, I said yes without even thinking.

And then of course, there is Quidditch. The Slytherin team had regular practice three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays; the team members were required to do a two hour work out at least three extra times in addition to those practices. It would be an understatement to say that Abraxas worked us relentlessly. But it was worth it, because we would without a doubt be the best teams. Wednesdays were individual group days where each "group" (grouped by position) worked separate of the team. Today was Wednesday and Abraxas was working with the chasers.

"There are three of you; three chasers, on three brooms, each with their own individual mind." We stood on the far side of the field, by the locker rooms dressed in our work out clothes: black athletic shorts, grey tee shirts and trainers. (On Sundays we tended to go shirtless, as the sun was usually unbearable.) Abraxas paced as he lectured us. "By the end of the day I want there to be three chasers, on three brooms, flying as if they shared one mind. You will be able to know where your fellow chasers are at all times. You'll be able to tell what they're going to do before they're going to do it. We will work until you're perfectly in sync. You will become one."

Tristan, Roderick and I look at each other. 'Legimency?' we all seem to be thinking, 'Is that was Abraxas is touching at?' But no; when we look back at our captain, he's holding three pieces of black fabric. Blindfolds. This is going to take forever. (Thank Merlin the four of us have Wednesday afternoons off…)

"Blindfolds?" Roderick protests. "You've got to be kidding me!?" Abraxas smirks.

"The beaters are in the Room of Requirement practicing with bludgers, Nott will be joining them to work with a charmed Quaffle and practice hoops. You three will stay here with me, flying around and running drills while blindfolded until you're perfect." He announces, handing each of us a blindfold. We tie them around our eyes. We give each other one last, hesitant glance before the world goes dark.

"Mount your brooms. I'll be on mine to guide you." We mount our brooms and cautiously rise a meter or so in the air. I can feel Tristan to my right, hovering a little bit above me. Roderick has flown forward a ways and hovers there, on my left.

"Align yourselves so that you're in a straight line, all at the same height." It takes us a few minutes to do this, as Abraxas has forbidden us to speak to each other. "Good, now just like this, slowly fly across the pitch in a straight line." It only takes a few seconds for Abraxas to shout "stop!" I couldn't tell exactly where he was, but I knew he must be circling around us because his voice came from different places. "Ginny, you're going a bit faster than Roderick; Tristan you're going slower than Roderick - even it out please." What must have been a half an hour was spent trying to fly across the pitch. Soon though, Abraxas was spacing us out, having us fly farther and farther apart while still staying in line with each other. It was really hard at first. By the time we were able to fly far away from each other, doing tricks and answering Abraxas' rapid-fire questions about the locations, actions and decisions of the other two chasers, we had been flying for hours.

"Fly toward Tristan. Circle around him as if taking the Quaffle." Abraxas whispers to me. I nod to tell him I understand and make a sharp turn toward the other end of the pitch where I know Tristan is hovering. Smiling Abraxas flies away.

"Tristan, where is Ginny?" he asks. A few hours ago he'd charmed our blindfolds so that we couldn't see under any circumstances, nor could we take them off until he undid the charm. There was no way for any of us to cheat and Abraxas simply loved it.

"Flying toward me from the opposite corner of the pitch."

"Pull up just as she reaches you." Abraxas calls. Tristan pulls up, shooting into the air as soon as I turn to circle him. I hear Abraxas let out a whoop.

"Ginny – Rod is flying toward you. What's he going to do?" Abraxas asks. I think for a moment and reach out with my senses. Abraxas had me do an exchange pattern for a turn around, meaning a team member stole the Quaffle and needed to pass it off. Most likely, a beater or chaser would try to knock the Quaffle out of my hands at this point. Tristan would be too high to catch the Quaffle should it drop, leaving the only option to be….

"He'll dive as he reaches me, as if to catch a dropped Quaffle." I answer confidently. Abraxas cheers and lets out another loud whoop. We were perfectly in sync.

"Fly to the center!" We fly in; glad to be taking a break. I groan when I heard the tell-tale click of a lock. Here we go… time to add the Quaffle.

We worked nonstop until we were exhausted from practicing for so long, sore from falling and tender from being conked on the head more times than I can count. After hours of flying and becoming "one brilliant mind", we were happy to see the sun and downright giddy to be on solid ground.

We walked into dinner laughing uproariously and pretending we were still blindfolded.

"Stop teasing. It was a great plan and it worked." Abraxas whined. I laugh. He really is quite a good captain. I was surprised at first to see how creative his practices were and how serious he was about the team. He'd been captain for less than a month and already he was making changes that would take the team above and beyond.

"We never said it wasn't Abe. Different, but a great idea never-the-less." I assure him.

"It'll all pay off at the first game. I may even have the whole team do the same thing. We'll all be one the exact same wavelength! Yes! That's perfect. On Sunday we'll do our regular Sunday practice wearing blindfolds. I'm brilliant!" We all laugh and sit down, piling food onto our places. We greeted the rest of the team (they had finished hours ago) and were nearly done.

"How was practice?" Cassie strikes up conversation. I turn to her and raise an eyebrow. Even though I've only known her for two weeks, I can already tell when she's lying or trying to cover something up. Add the fact that she's not looking at the four of us who just came in and it's obvious something is up.

"What's the deal Cas?" I question. There is silence. I turn to the rest of the team and see that they are avoiding my gaze. Terry is even whistling, trying to act innocent.

"Terrence Zabini what have you done? I demand an honest answer!" No answer. What could he have possibly done that was so bad he had to resort to whistling?

"Terry -" I warn. He looks at me quickly before returning his gaze to his plate.

"I may or may not have gotten into a small fight with the Gryffindor team and they may or may not have challenged us to a friendly math next Saturday… and I may or may not have said ok." He said this all very quickly, wincing at the end as if expecting to be yelled at.

Shocked, I turn to Abraxas, trying to gage his reaction. He is silent. I can tell he is mentally calculating the consequences and how much practice time will have to be squeezed into the next week if we're to go through with this. And we would go through with this of course, because Slytherins simply could not refuse a challenge presented by the Gryffindors. We had to take them all and win them all. It was in our nature and of course, we had to prove Slytherin's pure awesome-ness.

"Terry, Kendall, I'd suggest an early bedtime. I want to see you both on the pitch at three in the morning. Nott, you and the chasers are called for Friday. They'll try to score on you and you'll defend until not a single one goes in. We'll have an extra practice Saturday night in the Room of Requirement for the whole team. Sunday's practice will be the same. Monday practice will be cancelled – that can be a whole team work out. Wednesday we'll run drills until they're perfect. Thursday we'll call in some reserve kids and scrimmage. Ginny, you mentioned that you once played seeker right?" I nod. "Can you practice with me tomorrow after classes?" I nod again.

"Tell the Gryffindors it's on and spread the word. Friendly match my arse!" We all cheer and Terry and Kendall rush out to finish last minute homework and go to bed. Knowing how much work I have for my advanced classes, I finish eating quickly and excuse myself as well. The rest of the team finished eating and began moving up and down the table, spreading the news and sending younger kids to tell the other students.


Up in my room I worked on my Advanced Potions project, unwisely avoiding completing my History of Magic reading. I wasn't even close to finished when I fell asleep, my body screaming for a break after the six hour practice earlier.

I hate arithmancy. Why in Merlin's name did I switch into advanced arithmancy? I'm terrible at arithmancy!

"If you hate it so much Ginerva, you should really just switch out. I'm sure Headmaster Dippet will let you – I think he fears you." I looked up to glare at Tom as he spoke. I hate when he reads my thoughts.

"I thought eye contact was needed for legimency." I bite.

"It is. That's to say, it is until I find a way around it." Tom replies, smirking at me from his position on the couch. "You were stabbing holes through your homework and muttering about "stupid arithmancy". I took a guess." And I hate when he acts all cocky and smirks like that. It drives me crazy! I can never decide whether to smack him or kiss him! Tom smiles, "I love you too Ginny."

I opened my eyes blearily and checked the time - 11:45pm. Groaning, I shoved my work off my bed and fell back to sleep.

I stood in a room full of people in Death Eater regalia. I had a feeling none of them could see me, because despite the way I drastically stood out (I was wearing my Slytherin nightgown for some reason) I was completely ignored.

"Tom, we've been looking for her for years. I think it's time to give up." I recognized that voice. That was Abraxas Malfoy. What the hell?

"I WILL NOT GIVE UP!" The man in the center of the room thundered and the walls shook. A few of the Death Eaters stepped back but Abraxas (his hood had fallen and long blonde hair fell down to his shoulders) stepped forward.

"Please Tom; you have to listen to reason. She's gone." I couldn't figure out what was going on. Why was Abraxas addressing Lord Voldemort by his childhood name? Voldemort turned and I stifled a gasp. This man was not the Lord Voldemort I knew, but Tom Riddle still. He was but a few years older. His eyes held deep sorrow and his nose looked to have been broken a few times. I tried not to laugh at the similarity between his nose and Dumbledore's.

"She is not gone," Tom hissed, "and I will not cease looking for her until I find her."

"If she doesn't want to be found, not even you will be able to find her." Abraxas reasoned.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again. I will not rest until I see my one true love again. I don't care if she doesn't want to be found. I must find her and I will search every crease and crevice of this earth until I do so." Tom pledged. A few murmurs rose through the group. Near me, a familiar figure shook his head in disagreement and sorrow.

"You'll have to tear the world apart!" Abraxas shouted. Tom's anger flared up.

"Then I'll do so!" he screamed. The chair behind him exploded and the dark curtains hanging around the room caught fire. "You know what is to be done." He continued once his anger was in check and the room was sorted out again.

"Where will you go this time?" Abraxas asked, as if this sort of thing happened all the time. "You quit your job – you have no money." Tom nodded; this all made sense; he knew this already.

"I shall go to Albania. I've wanted to go there for some time. Perhaps she remembered and is hiding there." Tom answered, moving to exit the small chamber."I do not know how long I'll be away."

He exited the room and the other young men took to cleaning up and preparing for whatever it was had to be done. They seemed well aware of their duties and seemed used to this routine.

"How are you Tristan?" Abraxas made his way over toward where I was standing and addressed the man next to me – the one who had been shaking his head.

"We all miss her. Doesn't he realize that?" Tristan Zabini responded. Abraxas clapped him on the shoulder and nodded sympathetically. "I can't believe she would just leave like that but it's been years!"

"He's consumed by his love for her. His whole life he lived not believing in love and then there she was – lighting up his life like a lightning bolt. Now he can't get her out of his mind. The lightning bolt disappeared and he doesn't know how to handle it. He doesn't know what to do with himself now that she's gone." Abraxas said solemnly. Tristan snorted.

"Don't tell me you've been reading Virginia's romance novels again?" Abraxas shook his head.

"Not this time mate. That one I got from Cassie." Tristan attempted a half hearted smile and shook his head again.

Standing where I was, I kept asking myself who was the girl they were all talking about? Obviously, if this is the future, Tom Riddle would start a war and become Voldemort all because of this girl – because of his mad obsession with finding her. Surely that wasn't good. Maybe that's why I was here – to stop this girl from stealing Tom's heart.

I wandered away, through the mansion-like house, thinking these thoughts to myself over and over and over again.

As always though, my dreams were forgotten as soon as they ended. The next morning, I awoke knowing I had dreamt something important, however as always, I couldn't remember a thing.


A/N - Thank you for putting up with me. Let me know what you think.