December 29 (Still)

The man—I should probably have learned his name—led me to another room. Actually, I was surprised to see this was the same room I had been brought to the first time I came here. Well, I didn't exactly come, like as of my own will, but you know what I mean.

He led me in the room and closed the door. Tom looked at me from his high backed, throne like chair. I glared at him, annoyed.

"My breakfast, Kitten?" he asked, quite amused. I had been given a platter of food, much better food than all the Death Eaters and my friends had probably had. I threw the platter on the table in front of him.

"Your meal, Sir." I said, my voice etched with venom.

"Feisty, feisty, Kitten. Am I going to have to declaw you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Enough with the stupid jokes, Riddle. They're getting annoying."

"Sit," he commanded, pointing to a chair in front of him. "Eat." he said, taking some food for himself.

"I've suddenly lost my appetite looking at your face, Riddle," I said. This wasn't true. Actually I was starving. But I would not dine with Tom Riddle.

"That was a command, Miss Weasley," he said, his voice rising.

I began to eat the food. It would have tasted good, elegant anywhere else. But now, it tasted like cardboard. My throat was dry and I could not seam to chew. I was scared, but I would not let it show. I tried with all my energy to make my face look passive.

We finished eating, and I was grateful. The platters disappeared, and Tom stood up and stared at me.

"What about my studies?" I asked. "The whole 'seeing the future thing'?"

"Oh, I made that up. It was all rubbish really. Just an excuse for you to be in my presence."

"Your disgusting," I spat. "Let me leave and help my friends. They have hard enough work on their hands without you around."

"Or, you could stay, and we could go to my rooms, pet," Tom suggested, looking me up and down in the stupid skimpy outfit. He ran a hand along my cheek, his fingers playing with my red, wavy hair.

I backed up, out of his reach. "We had a deal, Riddle. Keep your hands off of me."

"I said my Death Eaters would not mess with you and your friends. I never said anything about myself." His hand trailed down to the chains around my wrists and pulled me up against him.

"Don't twist my words Riddle. You said we. You and your perverted Death Eaters."

"Since when have I ever kept a deal, Ginny?" he asked, leering at me. I tried to squirm, but I couldn't move an inch.

"You will keep to yourself, Riddle." My voice was laced with warning.

"Why don't you make me?" he challenged, grinning. And then he began to kiss me. His tongue was everywhere in my mouth. It was disgusting and sloppy. I tired to push him away, but he was stronger. I felt frozen. This was a repeat of my First Year. Only this time, there was no Harry here to save me. No Order. No Draco. Ho badly I wished Draco were here. To beat Tom to a pulp and to cradle me in his arms. To wash away all the hurt and pain. It was only me this time.

I bit his tongue as hard as I could. He pulled away from me with a scream of pain. He was holding his tongue where two teeth marks had indented into it. I was glad I had brothers to teach me the next move. I kneed Riddle. Right in that place. That, very, very bad place. He keeled over. I backed as far away from him as I could get and tried to open the door, to no avail. It was magically locked shut. Alright, I needed a wand.

Tom Riddle, the fool, had left his wand right on the table. I began to run towards it, laughing at his self assured cockiness. Only this time, it was me who had overestimated myself. Tom saw me running for his wand and lunged at me, pain or no pain. I had it in my hand when his body landed on top of mine. The wand flew out of my hand and towards the far wall. The next events would have been comical, had I not been in a life or death situation. For, I knew if Tom got the wand before me, it would be the end of me. He would beat me until I couldn't move.

We both were crawling for the wand. If one would get in front of the other, we would claw each other to get in front. He had almost wrapped his hand around the wand. I grabbed his leg and bit it. I scurried past him as he clutched his leg, desperate to get the wand. I had my hand around it. I was raising it triumphantly. He jumped onto me, knocking the wind out of me. We both had two hands on the wand as we rolled around on the floor, wrestling to get it into our grips. He tried to point it at me as he said a curse, only for me to point it away in the nick of time. Only, Tom was stronger. He pulled it out of my grasp and yelled triumphantly.

Tom pointed his wand at me. He was angry, I could see it in his red eyes. I tried to roll away but he had pinned my arms and legs to the floor with just his legs. His eyes glinted maniacally.

"You are a very bad girl, Kitten," he said. "I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

"What are you going to do, Tom? Are you going to hit me again? Like last time. I saw the fear in your eyes. The fact that you had hit a girl, a young little innocent girl and tried to rape her, you were shocked. You were scared of your own self. Are you going to do it again?"

Well, whatever I was going for, using his weakness as a last resort, it didn't work. In fact, it only made him madder. "As a matter of fact, I think seeing you walk out of here (if you will still be able to walk) with some bruises and scars on your pretty face might teach you a lesson."

With that his fist slammed into my face. He punched my eye with a lot of strength, and I knew it would be black by morning. If I made it till morning. He punched me in the gut, making me wrap into a ball, clutching my stomach.

Tom stood up and kicked me in the stomach. And then in the head. He punched and kicked me until I was bloody and dizzy. I heard the door open, but could not see through my half swollen right eye. Two people walked in.

"Sir, it is lunch time." When had this happened? I must have passed out in the pain. "Perhaps," the mousy voice stopped when it noticed me there. I knew I looked horrible, my 'maids outfit' bloody and torn. My face swollen and beaten. I was clutched in a ball, and couldn't move for fear of more pain.

"I'll be there in a moment. Go and get a Death Eater to take her to her rooms."

I heard the footsteps leaving. A few minutes later I heard three sets of footsteps. Someone conjured up a hospital bed and lifted me on to it. I saw the face of Blaise Zabini and Goyle looking at me. They began pulling me into the hall, and we went through many hallways until I couldn't hear voices anywhere.

Zabini grabbed me by the collar and lifted me into a sitting position. "Time to have a little fun Weasley. Don't worry, it won't hurt," he said unbuttoning my dress.

"Mr. Zabini, I suggest you get to dinner." The voice was scratchy and deep, and sounded like a salty sailor's voice. My rescuer and ally had come to save me. "Now. We have a deal with them. We are not to touch them, any of them. Got me?"

I heard a body being slammed up against a wall. It was clearly Zabini's because his body went plummeting out of my view and I fell to the bed without him holding me up. Not that I wanted him to be touching me. It just sort of hurt my back to fall like that.

"Got it boy? I'll take her to her rooms, and you and Goyle can get your butts back to your own. Dinner is over."

I heard something like scared yes's that were probably accompanied with nods. Then two pair of feet could be heard running down the corridors until they were gone.

"Thank you," I said, my voice hoarse. It was probably from screaming earlier.

"Don't talk, you'll make it worse. You probably broke a rib or two."

I nodded, and winced as pain shot through me from a simple nod.

"I never asked your name," I said, trying not to breath.

"Jack."

"Jack," I repeated, and closed my eyes. "A sailor's name."

He stopped moving. "Aye, we're here." A door opened and he pushed the little bed into the room and closed the door behind him. Lauren and Bailey came running up to me. I smiled at them when they came into view.

"Oh! That horrible Riddle! Are you alright? Did he…"

Her voice trailed off and I shook my head. "I was lucky, he was preoccupied with beating me," I said, and tried to smile.

"Bailey, go run a bath. No soap or anything in the water, just clean, hot water. We have to clean these wounds up. And I need some rubbing alcohol."

I heard her go into the bathroom as the water began to run. I heard the cabinet squeak open as she found some with a triumphant aha!

"I need cloths to wash these wounds with. But I can't do anything if the bones are broken. Jack, do you know any healing spells?" she asked. She sounded completely trusting and almost as if they were friends. He must have already told them that he worked for the Order.

"I can't do anything about the bruises. But I do recall a spell to heal broken bones. It's a hard one, but I'll have to use it. It just might hurt a little, okay Ginny?"

I nodded but it put me in pain. I winced again.

"My sister was a Muggle nurse, so I know a lot about how Muggles cure broken bones. I'm going to feel if you have any, so try not to move."

"Like I can" I said. I tried laughing, but it made my ribs feel as if they had been kicked again. First he moved my arms around, and tried to get me to move them. I clenched my hands when he told me to, even though pain shot up through them. He said neither of them was broken. Then, he tried to move my legs around. When he touched my left leg I yelped in pain. I tried to sit up, but Lauren held me down.

"Your left leg is dislocated at the knee. You must have landed on it wrong when Riddle was…beating you. It's in a weird position. I'm going to have to put it straight."

I nodded, and I felt Lauren clutching my hand. Bailey grabbed my other hand. I noticed the water had stopped running.

Jack took my leg gently in his hands. I bit my lip as he bent it straight. He did it quickly, he knew it would cause more pain to jerk it, but it would be done faster. I bit my swollen lip so hard it bled as I clutched their hands. When all I could feel was throbbing, I lay back down.

"Now I'm going to have to check to see which ribs are broken."

I merely nodded and said "Just get it over with."

He felt around on my rib cage. "Two ribs broken," he said. "I should be able to heal those. But I can't heal the leg. I'm going to have to put a cast on it."

I nodded. He lifted me up and carried me into the bathroom where he set me on the floor. "I'll leave you ladies to clean her up, there's no reason for me to be in here. I'll give ya some privacy."

Jack closed the door as Lauren and Bailey tried their best to undress me without hurting my wounds. Some of them had stuck to the clothes with dried blood. They cleaned the blood off of me and wiped them down with rubbing alcohol. I was practically asleep as they did this, my body worn out from the pain. They nursed the wounds and dressed me into some night clothes we had been given.

Taking me out of the bathroom, they lay me on one of the beds. Jack fixed my ribs and put my leg in a cast. He left quietly, hoping not to get caught. As I fell asleep, Lauren sat on my bed, stroking my head and talking. I knew she was worn out, but would not sleep with me in pain. I felt as if she were my mother. I wanted to hug her for helping me, and let her cradle me in her arms. I wanted my real mother. I wanted my brothers. I wanted all of my friends at the Order. I had never realized how many people I really did love. How many people meant something to me. I had always felt like a loner, with no one I could trust or confide in. With no one to love me. I never realized how many people I really had there for me. And right now, I wanted all of them. I wanted them to save me and take me home. To rest in my own bed, where I was safe. To not have to worry about perverted creeps trying to rape me or Tom Riddle trying to beat me until I was nothing. But most of all, I wanted Draco. I wanted him to cradle me in his arms until I fell asleep. To kiss me lightly on the forehead as he rocked me and told me everything would be okay. I needed Draco to help me. To be my knight in shining armor. My prince. The boy that I was everything in the world to. I now knew what I saw in his eyes that scared me so. Love. I knew that he loved me with all his heart. And that it was a mutual feeling.

"I wanna go home," I whispered.

"I know," Lauren said, rocking me. She lowered her voice and her head, until could barely hear her. "Jack is going to help us. The Order is going to save us. We can go home."

"When?" I asked, desperate.

"Soon," she whispered.

When I asked for my journal she handed it to me so I could write all of this down. She knows how much it means to me. But my ink pen is running out. I don't know how much longer it wil