LIFE AFTER DEATH
Part Ten: Distractions.
Ginny was sat at Tom's desk in his study, which she had found unlocked upon his departure to some Death Eater meeting, but she hadn't been lucky in her search for the Contract; it must be somewhere obvious, somewhere so obvious she would never have possibly thought it could be there…. Their bedroom was a possibility, but then she remembered that he had left the room with it, and had not returned with it. But, had he? Ginny recalled hiding herself in the bathroom, and he had returned whilst she was still in there… but, she thought, he would not have taken the risk, he couldn't have known that she was going to go into the bathroom. Ginny promptly ruled out that suggestion, and continued to search for another.
Whilst she thought, she flicked through the parchments on his desk again, they were just maps of regions in England, and France; boring stuff. Then two pieces of paper fell from the pile, and as she bent to retrieve them, she realised that they were two photos. One was a Muggle photo of the dining room, this didn't interest her at all, so she put it back, but the other was a picture of herself; she was on the swing in the secluded area of the gardens, and she was pregnant, she supposed with Elizabeth, but Ginny couldn't ever remember having her picture taken. Tom must look at it frequently, she thought to herself, because it was rather worn in her eyes.
Ginny sighed, and stood up then, after placing everything back in its original place; sitting there was wasting time, and Tom could come home any minute, catching her in the act, which would not do at all. At least her curiosity had been fed, but she was a bit disappointed, because she always expected his study to be a bit more interesting than that, even finding some strange Dark Arts paraphernalia would have sufficed. Lazily wondering why he had a photo of her when he could look at her all the time, Ginny didn't notice that a pair of bauble-proportioned eyes were watching her every move….
They followed her intensively, until she turned the corner in the hallway, and once there was nothing to see, the large eyes disappeared with a CRACK!
"Who's there?" Ginny called out sharply, suddenly becoming very alert at the sound of someone Apparating. It was very dimly lit in these corridors, and her heart was racing so fast it made her dizzy, causing the lighting to seem dimmer; she was getting frightened, what if Tom had been watching her all along? Was he trying to punish her? He knew she didn't like things like this…. Then she screamed at the sudden feel of a hand on her shoulder.
"Ginny!" she gasped, almost buckling with fear; it was Tom…!
"Don't hurt me," she pleaded.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently in her ear as he spun her around to face him, "I just wanted to know why you are roaming around the hallways right now."
"What?" she whispered gingerly. "Don't pretend to me, you're frightening me on purpose." Ginny realised that she was sounding erratic, but she didn't care, she wouldn't let Tom lure her into a false sense of security, only to lash out when she least expected it.
"Ginny, you aren't making any sense to me," he said in a steady voice, "I've only just arrived home, why would I want to frighten you?"
"But, I…" she trailed off, just beginning to realise how much damage she was doing to her mission, she was going to make him very suspicious of her indeed if she continued on the way she was. There must have been someone else watching her, and for some reason, this made Ginny more frightened than anything ever had.
"Perhaps I shouldn't leave you by yourself at night anymore," he suggested in a bemused tone.
"I just thought I heard someone following me, was all," she insisted, but she suddenly felt glad that Tom was there, sure was sure that someone was following her, she had heard the very distinct sound of someone Apparating, and it couldn't have been Tom, because he always Apparated into the Entrance. "Maybe I was imagining it… I do get a little scared when you leave me," she added, just to throw him off, she didn't want to alert him, because then he would tighten security even more, and it would be impossible for her to move from one place to another without being detected. "Are you staying for the rest of the night?" she questioned in a small voice.
"Yes," he replied. "Don't worry, Ginny, I'll protect you from the monsters," he smirked.
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The House Elf wrung his hands together in a gleeful manner with the knowledge that he was about to give his Master, who would give him the pleasure of washing his feet as a reward. "Well, what information do you have for me, now, Zokori? It better be something good that I can put in this next letter," his Master warned.
"Zokori is knowings about the Dark Lord's wifeses," he said eagerly, waiting for his Master's approval to continue, and a wave of the hand gave him the green light, so he continued with fervour. "She is being snoopings around his study, she is beings lookings for something. Zokori knowses that Miss isn't being allowed there, but she is snoopings anyway."
"Hmm, interesting…" his Master muttered to himself. "What was she looking for?"
"Zokori is not knowings that," the House Elf said in a disappointed tone. "But, I is knowings about the Dark Lords new Wardses," he continued hopefully.
"So, my little threats are working then? No doubt he is becoming more and more distracted everyday," he said in an amused voice, which sounded like it didn't suit him at all. "Carry on."
"The Dark Lords new Wardses will only let him in, Zokori will not being able to Apparate from here and backs," the House Elf informed. His Master sat and contemplated for a while, and finally smirked to himself as he permitted Zokori to wash his feet.
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"Ginny, I'm going to lose my temper very soon, if you don't settle down this instant," Tom said in a firm tone as he sat up, and gave her a hard look. "There is nothing in this room. I checked it, you saw me check it thoroughly. The noises you are hearing are the same noises we hear every night."
"I've never heard them before," she insisted. "You're just saying that."
"The only reason you've never heard them before, is because you were never listening out for them before," he said in a berating tone. "For Merlin's sake…" he sighed, and lifted his hand in a graceful, sweeping gesture, which illuminated the whole room; there was nothing to be seen. "What did I say? There is nothing there," he said, satisfied, as he leant forward to kiss her once more.
"No, wait," she said hastily, pushing him away, "what's that?" Ginny pointed to a dark figure near her dressing table. Tom swept the light over in that direction, only to reveal his jacket hanging off the back of the chair.
"Oh my, it's a jacket, how horrifying…" he sneered.
"It could have been anything, Tom!" she said angrily. "Stop being so horrid to me, it's your fault I'm being like this; you sneaked up on me, and you won't tell me why you're so high-strung. It's not fair on me!"
"Why can't you stop whinging in my ear? It's getting on my nerves!"
"Stop shouting, you'll wake the baby," she said angrily. "Why do you always have to shout?" He smirked then, looking down at her crossed arms, and her defiant face. "Don't laugh at me when I'm upset, you know I hate it."
"I'm not laughing at you, I'm thinking about how lovely you look when you're angry," he murmured as he leant toward her again.
"I'm too upset, now, Tom -," but she was cut off completely as he kissed her, and pinned her down gently. She wriggled about restlessly for a while, trying to escape his grasp, but she tired soon. "You make me so angry," she whispered breathlessly, as he started to kiss her neck.
"Likewise," he said in a low voice. "Perhaps even more so."
Just then, the sound of a light banging made Ginny jump violently. "Tom! What is it? See what it is," she urged worriedly. "It's coming from the balcony."
Tom scowled, and walked furiously toward the balcony. "It's just a stupid letter!" he stated resentfully, as he wrenched open the glass door to let it fall inside; it seemed it had been charmed to navigate itself without an owl. The sender didn't want to be traced, and with this logic in Tom's mind, he instantly knew who was causing this unwanted interruption. "Go to sleep, Ginny," he ordered as he picked up the yellowed envelope.
"Where are you going?" she said uneasily as she clutched onto the bed cover. "You have to stay with me, Tom."
"I'm not going anywhere," he snapped, and immediately regretted it. Tom walked over to her, and sat beside Ginny, who seemed so tiny, and genuinely afraid that something was going to harm her. "I'll be right here, you don't need to worry," he said quietly, stroking her cheek, "just go to sleep, Ginny."
"O-OK…" she complied, and she laid down, ready to sleep.
He reached to touch her, but decided against it, and reluctantly moved away from her. Why did everyone have to interfere? When he found whoever was doing this, he was going to crush his skull, and torture him in ways that even the most hardened man couldn't handle.
Your Worship,
How much longer? It read. It seems to me like some outside influences are distracting you from the bigger picture, your Worship. Shouldn't you be sorting out your terribly flawed security charms, or do you really want to risk losing your most precious item? Of course, who could resist the charms of your very beautiful wife? You can hardly keep your hands off her, and who couldn't when she has such a lovely body?
I laugh now, my servant informs me of your wife's recent movements, which I am sure you know nothing of. I hear she has been looking through some of your things, things that are quite forbidden to her, how naughty of her to disobey you, to go behind your back and sneak around. But, of course, you wouldn't believe me; you don't want to believe that your sweet, little princess could ever disobey you. It's quite saddening to see how infatuated you are with her, when she clearly doesn't return it.
Either way, your Wards had better be fixed soon, because you'll never know when I could choose to pop in.
Tom almost screamed with rage, but remembered that Elizabeth was sleeping. Why did this person insist on making up lies about Ginny? She loved him, she had been so very willing, and affectionate recently, that no one could doubt that she belonged to him; it was obvious that she depended on him, just now was witness to that fact. And, he thought triumphantly, Ginny couldn't look anywhere that was forbidden, because she was free to go wherever she liked inside the house, except the study, which was always locked by the House Elves whenever he went out. Ginny had been in the Library all day, as she had told him, and one of the House Elves had seconded that earlier that evening when he was questioning her about it.
This anonymous letter writer was beginning to look more and more like a joker each time he wrote, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to torture him. He was still distracting Tom from more important matters, like making love to Ginny, for one.
He sighed, tired, and dropped the letter on the nearest table before he made his way to bed, to Ginny….
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Ginny woke up that morning, feeling pleasantly refreshed, and finding that Tom was sleeping, really sleeping, and not just pretending to make sure he woke before her. Everything seemed better in the morning; nothing could lurk in dark corners, or anything like that now. When she stood, and stretched, she picked up her new dark blue dressing gown from the floor, and wrapped it around her as she went to her dressing table.
At first, she went to pick up her brush, but a piece of parchment caught her eye; it hadn't been there yesterday. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was addressed to Tom, the words 'Your Worship' on the top of the parchment was a bit of a giveaway. Ginny wondered if she should read it, but resolved that it couldn't be that important if Tom had just left it where she could plainly see it, so she picked it up.
Her eyes moved along the words, and the more she read, the wider her eyes became. Tom couldn't believe the stuff about her, could he? Because he wouldn't have just let her lay there unaware, he would have dragged her out of bed, and hit her, and shout at her. He would have punished her. But, the part about the Wards irked her, and she contemplated whether this could be the source for Tom's restlessness, it had implied that she would be the one taken….
No, she wouldn't let herself be frightened anymore; not now, she couldn't let Tom know that she knew. Of course, Ginny had no idea why he had left that where he had, but she was sure that he didn't want her knowing about the contents of the letter, so she placed it back the way she had found it, and sat down, acting as if it were any normal morning, and began brushing her hair.
"Have you calmed down now?" His voice questioned after a few minutes.
"Yes, I feel much better now," she replied, turning to face him. He couldn't possibly believe that letter now, could he? She smiled sweetly at him, before turning to face the mirror again.
"Thank Merlin," he muttered.
"Oh, I found this on my dressing table," she said nonchalantly, picking up the letter, and walking toward him. "I don't think it's very important, just a flimsy bit of recycled parchment."
Tom took it from her, and tore it to shreds in front of her eyes. "You're right, it's nothing important…" he stood up, and kissed her on the head before he made his way to the bathroom. Ginny smiled to herself, elated. One thing that letter had got right was the fact that Tom would never believe that she was being disobedient to his wishes, because his pride was far too big, due to her making it so, she admitted to herself.
It did not matter, because now she knew she was definitely not under suspicion, and she continued to smile to herself as she went to check on Elizabeth, as she usually began to whine by now for food. "Is my little cherry-top not hungry today?" she said softly as she entered the nursery. Ginny looked into the heavily blanketed cot, only to find it empty. Now, Ginny would let herself start to get frightened. "Tom?" she called, her voice wavering anxiously.
"What?" he stood in the doorway.
"I-I… is the Nanny working today? It's Sunday," she said in a hopeful voice.
"No," Tom replied, his eyebrow rose slightly, questioning why she was asking him that.
"But, she has to be!" Ginny almost shouted. "Lizzy isn't here! She has to be working, where else could my baby be!"
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Brownonions: I pictured him different as well, how can anyone be born without feelings?
Bumblez 24: I can tell you're on sugar. LOL.
Motherlyclucker: I don't think I could join you. Stealing cookies would be bad for my soul, and, more importantly, my figure. :D
Studiofreek: Tom with multiple personalities would just be far too difficult to write, and your theory about it being Harry is really good. The distraction thing was to do with Ginny, but she didn't do it on purpose, it's just the fact that Tom is male, and we know that basically means animal (joking), so… he was distracting himself really, resulting in a missing baby.
Sapphire Crystal: You'll just have to find out for yourself why Tom finds Ginny so attractive. Update me with your findings.
A/N: OK, thanks for ALL your reviews, I was going to reply to every single one, but you might start thinking I'm only doing that to make the chapter seem longer, and, plus, I don't really know what to say to everything.
Also, I've been on holiday for two weeks, so that kind of put a damper on the update. I was in Spain, anyone else gone abroad this summer?