A/N: *sings* I love you, you love me, we all love Tom and Ginny(and Draco)! All right, next chapter! I know, I know, it's been a terribly long wait, and this is a terribly short chapter. But things have been a little . . . "hectic," around here lately, and this is all I can get out right now. Be warned, it gets really sappy.
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all related characters and situations are the property of JK Rowling, Warner Bros Studios, and various other third parties unmentioned here. I only own the plot.
They were sitting in the armchair, facing the fire, watching the flames dance and lick at each other, in a strange and captivating type of dance. His arms were wrapped around her, and the two bodies produced one silhouette, which spread out in a pool of darkness across the carpet.
She snuggled closer to him, and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, inhaling his smell of pine and soap and pepper. He was finally back, her love. She had longed to be able to see him, to touch him, to be held by him. And now she had her wish.
"I said I would come back for you, didn't I?" he asked, awakening her back to reality.
She smiled, and gazed at him lovingly. "You did. I had almost given up, but you did."
He grinned at her, and reached for her left arm. He slowly drew the sleeve of her emerald jumper back, revealing the skin beneath. It was pale, and delicate, with the small tracery of veins visible just below the exterior. He took one pale, manicured finger, and ran it over the surface. Ginny marveled at the finger. It was the color of moonlight, and long and precise. His hands were those of an artist, gentle and talented, beautiful in their own right.
"Do you remember asking for your tattoo?" he asked.
She nodded. "I want to show everyone that I believe in you," she said, looking into his eyes.
He smiled slowly, revealing a row of commercial-white teeth. He withdrew his wand from his pocket, and pointed it at her arm.
"Jestumpirla," he whispered, and she gasped as the color appeared. Tears sprang into her eyes as the first bits of pain came. It felt as if tiny snakes of lava were coiling themselves around her arm, and branding her with their mark.
"Shh," said Tom soothingly. "I'm sorry it hurts, but it will only last a minute. I promise." He lightly kissed the top of her head.
Bright green threads traced their way across her arm, crossing and dragging into a frail pattern, reminiscent of a spider's web. They were last in their own ballet, jumping and falling and sliding around each other, before settling themselves, and forming a skull, with a snake slithering out of it's mouth.
The pain had stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. "It's beautiful," she said, awed. She turned her arm to the light, to see it better. The fire made it sparkle with a crystalline essence, seeming ethereal. "It's so beautiful."
He kissed her on her forehead. "I'm glad you like it." He paused, and then continued on. "Why do you believe in my cause?" he asked, genuinely curious. He knew that he had charmed his way into her brain, but never understood the depth he had achieved in her heart.
Love was what had ensnared her at the beginning. Ginny's love for Tom, and her need to have his approval. Gradually it grew so that she associated loving the cause with loving Tom himself. Tom wouldn't understand, though, even if she explained it. Seventy years of being lonely and abandoned never made him understand love.
"Because I just believe in you," she said, and gazed her wide brown eyes into his own. "I have faith."
He blinked, registering her words. I have faith.
A funny stirring arose in the Dark Lord's chest. He had been given money, women, and devotion. He had been given the worship of thousands of Death Eaters. He had almost been given the world, if that scrawny Potter had not taken it away. But Ginny's gift was different, and eons more meaningful.
No one had ever given him their faith.
* * * * * *
Draco sighed, patiently waiting in his chambers, as he was wont to do when Lord Voldemort was in residence. Awaiting his orders, as he was certain they were to come. No doubt the Dark One had come up with some ingenious scheme to overthrow Hogwarts, that needed to be fulfilled by Draco and Ginny when they got back after holiday. Or at least some plot to lure Potter away from the castle.
He was irked. To say the least. He rolled over, and rubbed his temples, trying to stop the potential headache that was forming. Don't think about it. He thought. Don't even think about it.
Jesus Christ! Did you see the way she was looking at him in there? It was sickening!
Only because she's never looked at you like that, isn't that right, Draco?
No! I don't care. She was just around for some snogging when I wanted some action.
Yeah, sure, uh huh. I'm certain that's why you're obsessing over the damn girl. Because she was just for action. By the way, did you happen to look at her while she was looking at him? Seems like you're not going to be in the spotlight anymore . . .
He cringed, and squeezed his eyes shut. No, it was just a figment of his imagination. It was a trick of the light, caused by the irregular light of the fire. There was absolutely nothing in her eyes that were any different. Absolutely nothing that was different.
But there was. No matter how valiantly Draco tried to deny it, the facts still remained. Ginny seemed awed simply by Voldemort's presence. He had seen the looks on adoring Death Eater's faces, but it was nothing compared to her gaze. There was an extra spark in them, like a fire that had burnt down to the embers, and had suddenly blazed back into being.
A fire that wasn't there when she was kissing Draco, telling him she wanted to be with him.
He felt defeated, and one solitary tear dripped down his cheek. He loved her, he realized, even though he had always know it. She was the only person he had ever loved. His Ginger.
And she was in love with the Dark Lord.
Did you like it? Hate it? Review, and tell me!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed at least once for ch 7, 8, 9. Sorry if I left anyone off!:
Dazma, i.e, Draco Fan, Lucius, shanm, sasori, Aerial, Spiffy Chan, Laughing Gas Girl, audig, Lisa, Lady-Nimoe, Adria, Manissetan, Nirejseki, Danie, Ditzy spacecadets, Wasn'tMe, Ewok, ~*Frankie*~, supergirl, Kasumi, Akawsha, Princess of Mordor, hpangel, greeneyes-blackleather