A/N: Yayyyyyy! Over a hundred reviews! –happydance- Thank you thank you! Enjoy this chapter. It's nice. Nice nice nice. OOooooohhhhhgle.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Though I wish it was.

The Letter P

Chapter Seventeen: P is for Point Your Wand

A nervous, high-pitched laugh escaped from Scott's lips – it was very uncharacteristic of him and made Ginny more suspicious. "Well, I didn't see any other girls!" he laughed, scratching the back of his neck and staring quite fixedly at the floor.

"Okay," said Ginny. "I believe you." She threw her lie back into his.

Smiling, Scott lowered his head down to hers, lips slightly puckered for a kiss. Also smiling, Ginny turned away and walked into the Great Hall, leaving Scott stranded in the centre of the Entrance Hall, lips pouting outwards and generally looking stupid.

…

"Hey," said Ginny, sinking into a seat beside Alden. She leaned further forwards to address Grace, on his other side. "Hey, Grace!"

"Are you feeling better?" asked Grace.

"It was so scary, Ginny. We didn't even know what happened! One minute you were acting, and the next you had collapsed – off the stage! Rosalind thought that you were pretending, but me and Riddle were next to you, and she could see that we were both panicked, and-" Alden started to say.

"Wait." Ginny cut him off, staring at him. "Riddle was panicked?"

Alden nodded, slathering a piece of toast with butter.

"I told you so," sang Grace. "He fancies you. You should chuck Scott so that I can marry him, and then you should go with Riddle."

"When – pigs – fly," said Ginny very clearly, and started to heap bacon onto her plate.

I love bacon.

"So is it true?"

"Is what true," replied Ginny, without looking up at where she knew Claude was sitting, across the table from her.

"That you collapsed in Muggle Studies," sneered Claude. "I mean, I know that anything to do with Muggles is repulsive, but considering that you are one, I think you should be able to hold back."

"Shut it," snapped Ginny.

"Oh!" said Claude, pretending to swoon onto her friends. "Oh, help me! I feel faint!"

"I said shut it!" Ginny snarled.

"Claude…" whined Ramira, a pale, dark-haired beauty, Claude's right-hand idiot. She was 1958's Cho Chang. "I don't feel comfortable."

"Me neither," agreed Avani, shivering.

"What?" snapped Claude. "Pull yourselves together." Then she looked around. "What is that?"

"It's like someone's watching us," whispered Ramira dramatically, pulling on one black tress.

Instantly, Ginny knew what was going on. She looked sideways and scanned the Slytherins sitting at the table. No – no – no – no – yes.

At the very end of the table, by himself, isolated from everyone else, was Riddle. He was quite far away, but Ginny knew that he had acute hearing… and he was staring at Claude angrily.

But she's insulting me. Not him.

Then he suddenly looked at Ginny. His eyes bored into her, glowing dark coals across the majority of the Great Hall.

No. Screw you. I'm not talking to you. I'm not even going to look at you.

"I'll see you in Charms, 'kay?" said Ginny quietly to Alden and Grace.

"Why? Where are you going?" Grace frowned.

"Just going to get my stuff, for class. My schoolbag. I didn't bring it down," Ginny lied, standing quickly and walking away, hoping that neither of her friends would notice her schoolbag slung over her shoulder and bouncing against her hip.

Well done. Think of a better one next time. You're getting out of shape with this lying.

I shouldn't have to lie! I should be eating bacon. But I'm leaving. It's all his fault. Stupid Riddle. Stupid Tom stupid Marvolo stupid Riddle. Stupid Head stupid Boy.

Ginny kicked the doorframe of the entrance to the dungeons before she continued through. Each step of each of the stairs landed hard, stomping her anger out onto the marble.

How dare he speak to me like he did yesterday! I'll curse his head off. I'll curse his arms off. I'll curse his legs off. I'll curse his nose off. I'll curse his-

"Peregrine."

What. The. Hell. IS HE DOING HERE?

Pretending that she hadn't heard anything, Ginny kept going. She stared pointedly at the floor and continued moving. Maybe if she walked fast enough, she could get to the Slytherin dormitory and slam the door on him.

I hope he doesn't have the password.

"Peregrine, wait."

An idea suddenly struck her. She needed to kill Riddle. They were alone in the dungeons. No-one would suspect sweet, ill, innocent little Ginny Peregrine, Prefect. She was in the perfect Head-Boy-murdering mood.

Resisting the urge to run and rip Riddle's evil little head from his massive body, Ginny turned, making she had the nastiest of death stares fixed on her face. "Yes?" She slipped her hand silently into her robe pockets and curled her fingers around her wand, holding it tight and running over the words avada kedavra in her head.

Pull it out and kill him… now –

"Look, Peregrine, I… I apologize for what I said last night," said Riddle, and for the first time in the whole time since Ginny had known him – and probably, she suspected, for the first time in his life – he sounded uncertain of himself.

Kill him! Do it! Now!

WHY ISN'T MY HAND MOVING?!

"I realize that my words may have been," he cleared his throat, "rather harsh." As he spoke his apology, his dark eyes were set – not on her – but on the ceiling, not moving from a spot just behind the glowing candle-lamp.

"Rather?" said Ginny coolly, raising her ginger eyebrows.

Irritated, Riddle's eyes flashed down to Ginny. "Peregrine, if I were you, I'd shut up and take the apology," he said, his voice cold again. "They're rare things, coming from me. Somewhat like a solar eclipse; they only occur once every seven years."

Seven. Seven Horcruxes.

"Why seven?" Ginny demanded suddenly.

Riddle eyed her for a moment, his calculating gaze flickering over her face, as if gauging her solemnity. Then, he said, "it's my favourite number."

"Oh."

Ginny met his gaze. He cleared his throat again, swallowed, and then he turned away, and walked back down the corridor towards the stairs.

Kill him! Kill him now! No-one's looking, for God's sake!

However, instead of firing the Killing Curse directly at the retreating back of the Head Boy, Ginny called, "Riddle?"

With a melodramatic swoosh of billowing dark robes, Riddle stopped. He didn't turn around completely, but tilted his head slightly, as to indicate that he was listening.

"Um. Thanks," she stammered, her stutters echoing through the stone corridor. "For taking me to the Hospital Wing. And… and it might have been my fault that I fell. Maybe."

Now did Riddle turn his face mostly to her, though his body stayed facing forwards (he couldn't turn his whole face, as he would either have to turn around or dislocate his spine). He said nothing, but inclined his head in a short nod, acknowledging what she had said, and then continued up the stairs.

Kill him! MURDER! NOW! Point your wand at him AND KILL!

Ginny gripped her wand tightly, flourished it from behind her back, and pointed it at the back of Riddle's head… and lowered it. She could kill him later.

Later.

…

A/N: Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh. Did you like it? Thanks to my beta SilvanXan. Review. Review. Do it or I'll stalk you and eat you.

WARNING: PLOT TWISTS! –manic giggle-

o00bubbles00o: YAY! ONE HUNDRED! Thank you! –glompsquiggle- Aww. Tell your dad I say thanks. –thumbs up- Tralala.

SilvanXan: The goods have been sent. Enjoy. xxx

creative-writing-girl13: Thank you!

chimis: Thank you! Evil die Scotty stab. –tiptoes away-

storm-brain: Thank you! Yeah, Scott's basically an asshole.

Saene: Ooh, I feel so loved now with all that love. WOO! Go vegetarianism-pacifisim-ism. I eat seafood though… anyway. Nah, we're all just masochistic on the inside. I'm considering maybe changing my pen-name to Masochistic Bubblegum. Hmmm. I love fairytales! And yeah, I hate how Disney takes good fairytales and screws them up. The Little Mermaid – a girl mourns after her prince and then stabs him. The Disney version – she turns into a human, loses her voice, flutters her eyelashes at him, and they get married. And have a mermaid baby, no less! Anywho. It's my favourite Disney movie, so I'm not complaining. –grin- Annnnyyyyway. Time to move on. Thank you!

midnightblue17: Thank you! You'll see.

XxRandomHeartxX: Oh, we all just love angst. If you want some REAL angst, go to my other fic, Montol (yes, that is indeed a shameless advert). It has three whole chapters of torture. –manic giggle- Well, Scott's a loser. –kick- Thank you!!