A/N: This is a short story I entered into a fan fiction contest on HEX, but it didn't win :( So I'd like you guys to review and tell me what you think of it!
Virginia Weasley's Diary
Ginny sat on her rickety old bed in her little room at The Burrow and turned the book over in her hands. How had it arrived in her cauldron? They can't have bought it; it looked too expensive. She thumbed through the pages curiously, it was a diary, an old one, fifty years old to be precise; it said so in faded letters on the cover. Whoever had owned it hadn't written in it, and yet, the pages looked worn somehow.
She set the book down on her bed and bent down looking through the other things in her cauldron, tatty books, hand-me-downs from her brothers and other things of equal embarrassment, finally, right at the bottom, she found what she was looking for, some ink and a quill. She sat up, dipped the quill in the ink and wrote on the first page of the diary:
My Name is Virginia Weasley, but everybody calls me Ginny.
To Ginny's amazement the ink disappeared as if fading right into the parchment. She turned the page and looked on the other side to see if it had sank through, but there was absolutely no sign of it, not a spot. To surprise Ginny further the ink began to reappear, but it wasn't Ginny's words, nor were the words written in round untidy handwriting that was Ginny's own, but the letters were large, fancy and each perfectly formed.
My Name is Tom Riddle, but I can't tell you what everybody calls me.
Ginny frowned, but excited and curious she replied to this message underneath.
Why not?
The reply came quicker this time, less than a few seconds later.
Because it's a secret.
Ginny didn't quite know how to reply to this message, but as she thought another message appeared on the page.
Are you at Hogwarts?
Ginny wrote her reply as quick as she could, excited as she was.
No, but I am starting this year, I do hope I'm in Gryffindor, all of my family are and they'll be SO disappointed if I'm not.
Ginny hadn't really discussed the Sorting Ceremony and the house she wished to be placed in, the youngest of seven children she felt she'd be a great disappointment to her brothers and her parents if she wasn't in Gryffindor. The reply to this message came back even quicker, in an angry scrawl.
Wouldn't you rather be in Slytherin?
Ginny didn't have to think about her reply, although she hadn't heard much about pupils from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff she'd heard enough about those from Slytherin to know she didn't want to be in that particular house one bit.
No, I've heard about people there, I don't want to be like that horrible Draco Malfoy.
The reply to this was much calmer it seemed, perhaps Tom was only slightly interested.
Who is this Malfoy you speak of?
Ginny got annoyed just at the thought, and she hadn't even met him – yet.
He's a horrible boy at Hogwarts; he's really mean to Harry and Ron.
This time the reply came word by word, slowly, as if it was a lazy reply.
Who are Harry and Ron?
Ginny smiled to herself and wrote back, happy to have someone to share her thoughts with.
Ron's my stupid brother. Well, he's okay I suppose, he's better than Percy. Percy is another of my brothers. I've got six. Harry is Ron's best friend. Harry Potter. He's just the best.
Now, Tom seemed a little more interested, although Ginny, of course, didn't know why.
Why do you say that? Why is Harry Potter the best?
Ginny's heart leaped, and she gushed:
He's The Boy Who Lived. He's the only person who has ever survived the Avada Kedavra curse, and he was only a baby, AND he got rid of You-Know-Who at the same time!
This time there was a long pause, longer than when Ginny wrote her first message; she was about to close the diary thinking Tom wouldn't reply when-
He banished Lord Voldemort?
Ginny gasped at the sight of the words on the page, and quickly, shaking it fear as she did so, wrote a rushed reply.
Please, don't say the name!
There was a second's pause and—
I do apologise. Tell me Ginny, would you be so courteous as to take me with you to Hogwarts? I went there myself and I do miss the place EVER so much. You can tell me all about your little friend Harry - and his amazing story.
Ginny replied instantly, smiling with glee.
Of course I'll take you with me Tom! It'll be like having a friend in my pocket!
This is where the story of how Ginny and Tom became friends comes to an end; however, it is not the end of their story. Not by far.