This story was written for round 3 of QLFC, Season 9. All required info is at the end of the story.
No warnings apply.
Beneath Ginny's teeth, a fresh apple crunched. Skin red as the autumn leaves. Jack-O-Lanterns abounded, lit and floating. Their sinister grins a laugh. She'd write about it to Tom tonight. He'd love all this.
"I'm going up to the Tower before tonight's feast, you wanna walk with me?" asked Neville from across the Gryffindor table.
"Scared you'll get lost on Halloween?" joked Ginny.
"Last year a troll got loose," said Neville.
Ginny blanched. "Ok, yeah, let's head up."
They reached the Gryffindor Common Room without any issues and Ginny darted upstairs to her dormitory. She made sure she was alone before whipping out her diary. The pages were all blank, but she thumbed ahead to today's date anyway. Tom had assured her that recording everything precisely was the only way to retain her memories.
31 of October. She dipped her pen in ink and began. As she wrote, the page swallowed the ink until the page appeared blank again. But it was far from empty. She breathed in deeply waiting for Tom's reply.
Are you alone?
She replied quickly. Yes.
Come inside the pages. I want to show you something from my Halloweens at Hogwarts.
Ginny eagerly leaned into the book, knowing an adventure awaited. This time, however, her vision went black and instead of falling into Tom's memories, she seemed to fall asleep.
She woke in her bed, the diary beside her head and the bed hangings shut around her, hiding her from the others. Daylight poured in, filtered red by her crimson bed curtains. It was morning already. Whispers came from the other first year girls getting ready. They spoke about a message, a chamber, a dead cat.
Ginny felt heavy as stone. It was as though she hadn't slept a wink. But there was something else. Something just out of reach, like a word stuck on the tip of her tongue.
A cat. Why could she picture a cat? Hadn't her roommates been mentioning one? Maybe that was why.
"Ginny? You up?" called her roommate.
"Yeah, I'll be down late. Go without me."
The room emptied moments later as Ginny's mind worked to unravel the secrets of last night. She couldn't remember getting into bed at all. Finally, she looked down and saw she was still wearing her robes. They were covered in something bright red.
A scream pierced the room and only after a few seconds of it did Ginny realise it came from her. She silenced herself.
Her hands were stained red as well. Was it blood? Trembling, she touched her robes. It was crisp, hard. Not blood then. It was paint. Only paint.
But how did it get there?
Whispers were everywhere in the Hogwarts halls.
"Who is the heir of Slytherin?"
"What's the monster in the chamber?"
"Draco says he's the heir!"
"The monster must be quite evil."
"Could someone in classes with us really be this evil?"
"Mum's talking about bringing me home for good after Yule Break."
"Everyone thinks it's a boy, but there's no reason to think that."
"Ginny, you look pale. Are you all right?"
She looked up at Percy after he repeated himself again.
"Fine, yeah," she assured him.
"Well, study hard. It's a difficult time, I realise, but we'll be fine once we catch the culprit behind it all and expel them," said Percy with a gentle smile.
Ginny nodded miserably. He meant to expel her. He would figure it out soon. Percy was too nosy not to figure this out.
She wrote again to Tom. He tried to console her. Finally, he offered another adventure to cheer her up.
She woke to more lost time and another attack.
Her father's words trickled through her mind as tears streamed down her face: Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.
Why had she been trusting Tom so much? She had to get rid of the diary. That would stop this. Stop her.
Her shoes slapped on the wet tile of the second floor girl's bathroom. Ginny knew this place, though she'd never been there. The sink was the Chamber's entrance. She recognized the snake on the broken faucet, though she'd never seen it before. Could hear the Parseltongue slip from her lips, though she couldn't speak it. She could open it now, go inside, wait. Tom would be there with her. She was sure of that.
"No!" said Ginny with a rush of adrenaline.
She ran to the farthest stall and slammed the diary into the toilet bowl. Even submerged, the diary held its swallowed ink. Her secrets remained intact, waterproof. She stepped back, even Myrtle hid from her. Terrified of what she'd become.
But the moment she saw Harry had the diary, she realized she'd been wrong. She needed Tom. She was nothing without him. She missed his voice, his memories, his soul. She missed him. She felt so alone without him. Nobody in school understood her like he did. Nobody included her like he did. Not even her brothers. She felt separate from everyone, isolated. She needed Tom back.
So, she stole the diary back from Harry.
In the weeks that followed, madness took hold. Tom was angry with her, it seemed. He wouldn't talk to her now that she'd stolen the diary back from Harry. Had he told Harry her secret? Did Harry know she was who opened the Chamber of Secrets?
Spring arrived and Tom began to speak to her again. His voice became a constant whisper in her mind.
We'll be together soon, Ginny. I promise you this.
You will write your farewell and come to the Chamber to be with me.
We will be together forever.
The buzzing Great Hall moved in and out of focus. She knew she was there—could smell the sausage, hear the chatter, feel the humidity of spring rain seeping from outside—but she felt separate from it all. Isolated.
Professor McGonagal had just finished announcing that the mandrakes were ready and those petrified would be woken. That they might catch the culprit at last. Ginny's throat stuck, dry with fear at the prospect. Everyone would learn the truth. Everyone would know what she'd done.
At the Gryffindor table, Ron and Harry sat alone. Hermione still petrified because of her.
That was her fault. Her fault. Hers. And soon, everyone would know.
But she'd come here for a reason. Tom had quieted since she was to go to him tonight. These were the final moments she might be in control of herself. She knew what he was planning to do to her now. Knew she had to get help. Harry would help her. Somehow, deep within herself, she knew that to be true.
It didn't make this easier.
Light flickered around her and the edges of her vision grew dark. She shot a look upwards at the charmed ceiling. Gray sky, quiet rain. It bore down. Heavy. She had to push through. She had to tell him.
She sank beside her brother on the bench. Despite that she was too scared to look at Harry, his bright green eyes found her. They held concern? No, sadness. Her fault. Had to tell them. Had to tell him. Harry would understand—Harry had to know.
"What's up?" asked Ron.
Her hands couldn't settle in her lap. It didn't matter. She had to tell them before everyone found out she'd opened the chamber. She'd unleashed the monster and the basilisk. Had to, had to, before it was too late.
She shot a furtive look up and down the Gryffindor table to make sure only they could hear her.
"Spit it out," said Ron impatiently.
Harry watched her. Concern? No, sadness. She had to tell him. Now. Before Tom returned. Before his silencing weight of control was too heavy to push away.
"I've got to tell you something," screamed Ginny with all her might. It came out as a whisper.
"What is it?" asked Harry. Pupils thickened. Concern—it was concern. Ginny lightened.
"Well?" said Ron.
Harry leaned closer, his face even with Ron's. Ginny swallowed, her throat finally loosening.
"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?" asked Harry in a whisper.
She took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell Harry everything.
No. Tom's voice curled around the word. She lost her breath. He was back.
A hand fell on her shoulder. Was it Tom's? Had he come to flesh after all? Was she already dead?
She shuddered.
"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty," said Percy.
His voice cut through her like a blade. A reminder of Penelope who was now petrified. Her throat tightened again as she snuck a glance up at her older brother.
His eyes were upon her. Angry oceans. Unforgiving. He knew. He knew.
He knows. Tom's voice was a warning. A command to flee.
Ginny shot up, gathering herself, and ran.
QLFC Round 3 - Pride of Portree, Beater 1 (reserve): The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe: Write about someone hiding a big secret.
Optional Prompts Used: (word) whisper, (theme) isolation,
Word Count: 1502
Title: Stained with Swallowed Ink
Summary: Ginny's got a secret she doesn't even understand. No one can know, which makes her certain everybody knows.