Thanks to the Reviewers: And here we go: Falco (actually, it's just a coincidence. No Death Eater-ism for Anenome. I'd be surprised if she's even in it after this chapter. She's just a random character), liltrick89, Drusilla (I'm assuming you're a Buffy fan by your name? ^_^), Professor Weasley, ZiZzAmIzZ (I think that's the longest review I've got from someone. ^_^), Snicks, Catt, ChibiSuga (Cliff-hangers can be so cruel, just as I can be so cruel :D) As always, feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer them without giving away too much.
Friendly Neighbourhood Disclaimer: Clearly, you can tell what I do and don't own. If not, please leave. Now.
Chapter Notes: Ah, the opening scene for this chapter has been in my head for quite awhile now and was actually planned out before I started this fic. One of Tom, one of Ginny. In a room for most of the chapter. Alone. You do the math. Oh, and Tom swears this chapter. :D
Why would I chase your shadow
all my life
And be afraid of my own?
I'd rather be with you, I'd
rather not know
Where I'll be than be alone
and convinced that I know
~ Spin, Lifehouse
Tom smiled slowly at Ginny. He savoured the moment as he tucked the diary away in the pocket of his robes. "Why, hello, love." His tone of voice was pleasant, as if he was meeting someone for afternoon tea or something equally as normal as that.
"Oh, Gods, no." Ginny whispered, barely able to get the words through her trembling lips. Her limbs seemed to turn into water and she was vaguely aware that she dropped her wand.
"You do realize, this is just a beacon for them," Tom said, walking forward. He bent down to pick up Ginny's wand, but he never took his eyes off of her face. Ginny squeaked as he raised the wand. However, much to her relief, he only waved it in the direction of the window. Instantly, there was no window. And just as instantly, the room was filled with a soft light. "Handy little trick, isn't it?"
Tom's tone of voice was careless as he dropped Ginny's wand into his pocket, to rest beside the diary. He moved toward Ginny, who was beginning to completely freak out.
If one could look inside Ginny Weasley's mind at that moment, they would have seen a jumble of thoughts, all somewhat along the same theme as Oh, no, oh no, no, no and the same idea. She backed up as Tom drew closer. Suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder. She yelped in surprise.
"Ah, none of that now, Ginny love," Tom said softly, soothingly. His grip upon Ginny's shoulder was slightly loose, but it was tight enough so that it sent a warning signal throughout her nervous system. He pulled her gently toward him, then let his hand fall back to his side.
"What are you doing here?" Ginny finally scraped together enough wit to ask. "And the diary . . ." she trailed off, glancing toward the right side of his jacket.
"Chaos, panic and disorder," Tom said, a vaguely dreamy expression coming over his face. "It really is so much fun to cause any of those three that I can't pass up the chance of causing all three at the same time." He was walking around her now, surveying her. Ginny stood stiff as a board, basically because she was too frightened to do anything else. After all, it wasn't every day one met up with the younger incarnation of Lord Voldemort.
He was now standing in front of her. And rather entirely too close for comfort, as well. Ginny quite felt that her personal space was being invaded. However, now that Tom was standing in such close proximity to her, she was able to get a better look at him.
He was dressed rather differently from the last time she had really seen him, which had been in the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny was refusing to even acknowledge her dream-like trance. At this particular meeting here and now, Tom was wearing dark clothing - which wasn't too out of the ordinary, as dark clothing usually hints that a person is a villain. His shirt was a dark green and made out of velvet, or possibly silk. The light was dim enough in the room that Ginny wasn't all together too sure at what fabric Tom's shirt was made out of. Not that she really cared, of course. And she didn't really care of the fact that the shirt looked rather good on him. Although she was feeling rather under-dressed in a short-sleeved button-down shirt, denim capri pants and brown sandals. Of course, the uncomfortable feeling probably just wasn't coming from being under-dressed.
No, the uncomfortable feeling was coming from the fact that Tom was eyeing her with a rather wolfish expression. He was eyeing her like she was some kind of prey. And prey probably felt very much like how Ginny Weasley was feeling at the moment.
"How come you have the diary?" Ginny suddenly blurted out into the silence. With a slightly sickened feeling, she realized that there had been no sound from Diagon Alley since Tom had somehow made the window vanish.
"Now that, Ginny, is a very interesting question," Tom said, pulling Ginny's wand out of the pocket of the long, black robes he wore. He began twirling it lazily, not even looking at it. Ginny's attention, however, had strayed to the wand. Presumably because it was emitting green sparks as Tom twirled it. "I'm not going to tell you the answer, of course."
This caused Ginny's already weak courage to falter again.
"Isn't it funny," Tom began, as he took the diary out of his pocket and looked at it with a faint touch of reverence. "How such a small object can cause so much pain and suffering?" He dropped the diary back into his pocket, then returned his attention to Ginny, a smile of fiendish glee upon his face. "No, seriously. It is rather amusing."
Ginny's eyebrows raised of their own accord at this comment of Tom's. Okay, he is definitely as deranged as he was when I last saw him. Ginny thought wryly. She was slowly inching toward where the door was. After all, being stuck in a room in which the only one with a wand was Tom, a hasty exit was preferable.
"No, don't do that," Tom said quite suddenly. As a matter of fact, the command came just as Ginny's hand was almost on the doorknob. Rotten timing, she thought ruefully. "It isn't really good for me if you escape, you see." There was a slight flick of the wand he held in the direction of Ginny and she flinched, expecting him to cast a hex on her or something. Tom then pocketed the wand, a smile on his face.
"Ah, much better," Tom was now sounding rather pleased with himself. "Don't you agree?" Ginny just stood there, looking rather confused. A slight expression of exasperating flitted across Tom's face. "Well, turn around."
"Why?" Ginny asked, wanting to turn around but at the same time, she was completely terrified of the prospect.
Tom's expression instantly turned from one of cruel amusement to one that was so utterly blank that it was terrifying. It was as if someone had flicked a light switch. Ginny had seen him do this numerous times before. He strode over to her so quickly that she would have sworn that he had Apparated the few feet between them. His hands slammed into the wall behind her, one on each side of her head.
"Because," Tom said softly, so soft that she almost had to strain to hear him, even though his face was oh, so very close to her own. Ginny's eyes were wide as she stared into Tom's now-red ones, which were a mere few centimetres away from her own. "Because I want to see the expression on your face when you realize that there is absolutely no way to get out of this room until I let you go." He laughed slightly then, a noise that came and went with the slight curl of his lips. "Now, turn the fuck around, Ginny."
Ginny obeyed. She turned around slowly, hardly daring to breathe. Tom had been telling the truth. The door was gone and there was a solid wall where it had last been. She heard his chuckled and felt his breath move the hair by her ear. He was close, too close. She could easily move not even a half-step back and she would be leaning right against him.
"What did you do, Tom?" she demanded, trying to inject more authority into her voice than she felt at the moment. The only reply was Tom's soft laughter again. Ginny turned around to face him. "What did you do?" Her voice was louder now, more demanding and yet more panicked.
"Simple spell, really," Tom admitted slowly. He rested his forehead against Ginny's now and she stepped backward, so that her back hit the wall. Of course, this only caused Tom to move closer.
"Undo it," Ginny ordered, her eyes darting around. He was so close that he was the only thing that filled her vision at the moment. She glanced down at the floor, at the ceiling, at his chin, anywhere but his eyes. However, the thing that caught her attention was the fact that the pocket in which her wand and the diary resided was within arm's distance.
"And are you going to make me undo it, little Ginny?" It was a challenge and an invitation in one.
Ginny raised her chin and looked him in the eye. "Yes."
This surprised Tom. It obviously wasn't the answer he had been expecting to hear. Ha, Ginny thought semi-victoriously, the last time he saw me was when I was eleven. And he probably didn't expect me to change so much. Of course, what Ginny did next probably surprised Tom even more. She reached out and grabbed at his pocket. Her hand closed upon something and she yanked. Then, she ducked out from between Tom's arms and darted to the side.
Tom's eyes narrowed dangerously as Ginny clutched the diary close. Not the item she had intended to grab, but maybe it could have its uses.
"Ginny, give me back the dairy." His voice was completely level as he folded his arms.
"No." An immensely childish reply it definitely was. Ginny briefly toyed with the idea of stuffing the diary down her shirt, but knowing Tom the way she did, he probably would grab it and rip half the buttons off of her shirt in the process.
"Ginny, we've been through
this once before and I won that time." Tom was sounding infinitely patient
now. That was always a sure sign that he was immensely ticked off.
"Ginny love, I need for you to give me the diary," Tom said kindly, kneeling in front of her. She was sitting on the stone floor of the Chamber of Secrets, her socks and the bottom of her skirt soaked.
Ginny clutched the diary to her and looked up with wide eyes. "Why?"
"To finish this, I need to have the diary," Tom said in his way of explaining and yet at the same time, confusing her more.
"But I want to keep it," Ginny said.
"Ginny, you're acting like a child," Tom said, sounding disappointed. "I thought you were above -- "
"I am not acting like a child!" Ginny yelped, her expression turning into a furious one.
"Ginny -- "
"No!" Ginny cried forcefully. "It's my diary! Mine!"
"Ginny love," Tom reached out and stroked the side of her face. "You know what is going to happen." At Ginny's nod, he continued. "And for that to happen, I need the diary."
"Can't you do it without the diary?" Ginny asked pitifully.
"I'm afraid not, Ginny," Tom said, his fingers now playing with the strands of her hair. "You need to understand that I need the diary to make myself fully human again."
"I understand that," Ginny replied, chewing her lip. She could feel her nails digging into the leather cover of the diary and knew that there would be little half-moon markings when she let it go. "But it's the only thing . . . " she trailed off, adverting her eyes from Tom's face.
"The only thing what, Ginny?" Tom asked, moving his hand to her chin. Slowly, he forced her to look him in the eye.
Tears began to well up in Ginny's eyes. "If your thing doesn't work, then this will be the only thing that I have left of you!"
Tom instantly let go of her chin and sat back, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Ginny, I've told you countless times; nothing is going to go wrong."
"But what if it -- " Ginny was cut off by Tom lying two fingers on her mouth.
"Nothing will go wrong, Ginny," Tom repeated forcefully as he withdrew his hand, then held it out, palm up. "The diary, Ginny."
Willingly, Ginny surrendered
the diary.
However, Tom's pseudo infinite patience evidently was wearing off. "Give me the damn diary, Ginny."
"I will not," Ginny fired back. Ah, there. Somehow, with the diary back in her possession, she was feeling stronger and less frightened. Her arms were folded across her chest, with the diary tucked between them.
"Ginny, I'm being very patient," Tom said, "And if you do not give me back the diary this very instant, I will hex you."
"You wouldn't dare," Ginny replied. "If you hex me, then there's no way in hell that you'll be getting this diary back."
Tom sighed, almost wearily. "Ginny love, I don't really feel like playing your little games right now -- "
"Little games?" Ginny was all but shrieking at the outrageousness of it all. "Little games?" she repeated, her tone of voice dangerously low. "You lock me in a room without any possible escapes, threaten me -- "
"I did not threaten you," Tom said softly, keeping his hand near the pocket which contained Ginny's wand.
" -- and then tell me it's a game?" Ginny finished, glaring fiercely at Tom. It was safe to say, that if looks could kill, Tom would be a corpse before he hit the ground.
"But it is a game, Ginny," Tom said, smiling cruelly. He stepped forward and Ginny stepped back at the same instant. She became aware that the table in the room was pressing into her back. "And though it is a very amusing game, I will have to demand my diary back now."
"And I demand my wand back. And my freedom!" Ginny spat back. "But let's see? I don't have any of those things at the moment, do I!" Her voice rose in pitch until it was akin to an unearthly screeching.
Tom flew at her suddenly and she half-expected him to tackle her. She shoved the diary behind her back and held it there tightly as he stopped right in front of her. Once again, he was invading her personal space. She tried to move backward to get away, but as the table was there, it was highly impossible. Ginny gave a sort of half-squeak as she lost her balance and fell backward against the table, effectively trapping her arms and the diary beneath her back. The down side of that was that she was sort-of bent backwards so that she was lying on the table.
Of course, her position caused Tom to laugh slightly. "Ginny love, you are all together too amusing." He was now bending over her, with his hands once again, resting near her head, to prop himself up. Another thing that Ginny noticed was that his hips were pressed against hers.
"Don't call me Ginny love," Ginny said through gritted teeth. Her arms were beginning to go numb and her spine was beginning to hurt.
"And why not?" Tom asked, eyes wide and the perfect picture of innocence. Of course, he added the taunt, "Ginny love."
"Get away," Ginny demanded. "Get the hell away from me."
Tom's face got a whole lot closer. It was so close that if either of them moved a fraction of an inch closer to each other, they would have been kissing.
"As you wish, Ginny love," he breathed into her mouth. Then, suddenly, he was gone. Ginny blinked and slowly somehow managed to return to a standing position. But still, she clutched the diary tightly. Only this time, she made sure to keep her arms in front of her. She looked around cautiously to try and see him. But Tom was definitely gone. Or invisible. A chill strutted its way down her spine as she thought that. Slowly, she turned in a circle, surveying the room.
It was still exit-less. She let out a deep breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding. And then arms suddenly encircled her waist.
Ginny screamed and darted forward, trying to escape. However, no such luck happened to her. She was yanked back against Tom's body as he laughed slowly and quietly. Oh, how she was really beginning to hate that laughter.
"Don't be so frightened, it's only me." That was an oxymoron if she had ever heard one. Don't be frightened of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Now, that was a laugh.
"Let me go," Ginny said with quiet fury. She made sure that her grip on the diary was tight.
"That wouldn't be any fun, love," Tom whispered in her ear. He slowly moved his hands so that they rested on her hips. "And besides, you have something of mine."
Ginny tried to break out of his grip, but unfortunately, it was very strong.
"And I'm not letting you go until I get it back."
At this, Ginny growled softly. Which only caused Tom to laugh once more.
Silence fell between them.
Until Ginny felt lips close on her cheek. She jumped violently. "What the hell was that?"
"Ginny, there are three ways to get things done," Tom said, whispering right into her ear. "The easy way, the hard way and the fun way." Throughout his little explaination, he was dropping feather-light kisses along her throat. He nudged her hair aside with his chin. "You disregarded the easy way and I don't feel like going through the trouble that the hard way entails. That leaves the fun way."
At the end of that sentence, he bit down on her neck. Not enough to draw blood, but definitely not gentle in any way. The bite invoked a cry from Ginny. Which in turn invoked a chuckle from Tom. Ginny could feel his lips vibrating against her throat, but she didn't let that distract her. No, she was going to keep hold of this diary until hell froze over. Until then, she would just have to bear the alternating kisses and bites along her throat.
"Relax, Ginny," Tom said, pulling one arm tighter around her waist and moving his other one up to her own, which clutched the diary. He tried to pull her hands away, but she held firm. "This can be quite enjoyable for you."
"Stuff it, Riddle." Ginny commanded, entertaining the idea of biting his hand - the one that was trying to take the diary. But no, he'd probably like that, Ginny thought sourly. Needless to say, she was surprised when Tom left off trying to get the diary. Instead, he moved his hand to caress the side of her face.
Shivers were now dancing their merry way up her spine. Partially from the kisses and partially from the fact that the hand that Tom had near her waist was slowly creeping its way up the side of her shirt. Ginny twisted in his arms, trying to get away. She felt Tom stop kissing - biting - doing whatever to her neck and his hand stopped caressing the side of her face. Now, it was slowly turning her face to the side. She felt Tom slowly step around her and turn her in his arms so that they were face to face, with him still holding a firm grip on her chin.
"Give me the diary, Ginny," Tom said, his eyes dancing with something akin to delight.
"Not on your life," Ginny ground out.
"Fine then," Tom said. Those were the last few words that either of them spoke for a few moments. Most likely due to the fact that Ginny suddenly found Tom's lips upon her own.
Of course, the natural reaction if one is being kissed, is to kiss back. Which is what Ginny found herself doing. As well as closing her eyes. As well as noticing that Tom, aside from being an evil overlord, was a rather good kisser. As well as loosening her grip on the diary.
Then, quite suddenly, the kiss was over. Ginny opened her eyes in surprise and discovered that the diary was now gone from her grasp. And that Tom was grinning victoriously, tucking the diary into the pocket of his robes.
"I told you it could be quite enjoyable," Tom taunted her, pulling Ginny's wand out. He flicked it and instantly, the window and door reappeared. As that happened, Tom disappeared.
The only sound was the soft clatter that Ginny's wand made as it fell to the floor. Ginny herself reached a hand up to her lips and whimpered slightly.