Author's Note: Okay, so I'm feeling kind of happy (and moody) today, so I'll give you this chapter, this is probably the longest chapter in the story. This chapter will be hopping between Tom's point of view and Ginny's point of view, it will be very sudden, and so you may see Ginny's mind and then quickly turning to Tom's. It's a bit confusing, and probably boring, but I'm hostile today so just humor me, huh? Thanks. Oh, and a thanks to Greace Sophia Merced Zimara, to Martín and to Mariana MERCED which have helped throughout this whole thing, and whose fault it is that I made SIX chapters in ONE week. ~_~ The bastards… I love them! Hee! ^_^ Come on, you guys, don't look at me like that… Oh, and the bet is off, I had my friends read the post by Dork Annonymous and they frowned, they literally frowned! So a thanks to Dork for that post, they needed that.

Chapter 7

~A moment's hesitation~

Tom stared at Ginny for a while before he fully understood the content of these words. Slowly, his jaw dropped and he touched her neck to confirm the news was right; they were, she didn't have the Drop on. He slowly reached for his own Drop and found that it was there. He then stared at her, her brown eyes were staring at him as well. 

She looked odd in his Slytherin uniform, her red curls clashed rightly with the green and silver of the tie, he noticed it was undone. She looked beautiful, as the robe hung loose from her, and her innocence was so overwhelming that it made hi want to take it away from her. He then took her hand in his and dragged her away from the Transfiguration Class; he would make up an excuse to Dumbledore later. He dragged her down to the grounds, and into the Forbidden Forest.

She put up no resistance, though she did look quite shaken. She seemed to have noticed that without her Drop, she wasn't protected. He smiled inwardly at the possibilities that this could bring. He now stopped on a clearing surrounded by tall tree trunks. He saw her eyes looking around her deseperately, he smiled to her.

"I'm not going to harm you, if that's what you think." He said.

"In your mind, harm is very underestimated." She replied icily. He smirked at her.

"You know me well," he replied and crossed his arms, just staring at her.

She stared at him for a long time; he was leaning against one of the trees and just plainly looking at her. She thought his gaze was chillingly burning into her, and she felt nauseous, she wasn't used to this yet. Being out of her time was finally paying its toll; she felt her soul getting older which each day, each minute, and each moment. She felt rather uncomfortable and the urge to go running away from him grew by the minute. She came to find that the feelings she felt for him were fainting, and she wondered if it had anything to do with that dream…

However it would be too awkward for her to run from him, so she just looked back at him in silence. She smelled the fresh air; its musky scent traveled through the morning air, and she wondered if this would be the last time she would smell that. The cold morning wind hit softly against her face, making her hair fan out behind her in a blur of scarlet.

He looked intently at her, and very jealous that he was, he wanted to keep her to himself; nobody else's to see, nobody else's to touch… She'd ask for it, she'd charmed him to a point when she had become an obsession to him. That was part of why he had brought her to the forest, just so no one else would see her. Though he knew someone had. She wouldn't tell him now, perhaps, but he knew nonetheless.

Ginny looked at Tom, very aware of tiny droplets of rain that had begun to fall upon her randomly. The thick foliage of the trees did not reach the clearing in which they were. It was now that she noticed the little distance between the two of them and images flashed through her head at light speed, and once again she heard voices on her head.

…and it will eventually become Salazar's Soul—isn't it beautiful?

Accio! I'm sorry; I can't let you do this, Tom, not yet. Nor do I think I will ever let you. Adfligo!

Ginny shook out of the trance and stared wide-eyed around her, Tom was still smiling at her. She raised a hand to her head and rubbed it, again, she had recognized her own voice, and she had an unbearable headache, as often when she had her visions. She looked up at Tom, his smile broadened.

"Feeding on your little ability to foresee?" he sneered, making him sound like a person she knew from her own time. "Well, you asked for it. It's your gift. It's your curse, learn to live with it… or die without it."

"You take fun in making me miserable, don't you?" She stated glaring at him. He let out a high laugh that made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.

"No," he said "I take fun in making others miserable. But you, I actually enjoy making you go mad. It's quite entertaining." He said this very coldly. "Don't think I haven't noticed your change towards me over this past day."

"You're very observant; I would be surprised if you didn't notice." She spat, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?" he demanded and started approaching her, she took several steps backward until something blocked her way, she looked back briefly, it was a tree. So now, she was trapped. He stood before her, so close to her that he could actually feel her body heat, or so he thought. However, she didn't answer his question. "I thought you loved me." He sneered, like making fun of her.

"You said it yourself… loved: past tense, Tom." She replied acidly. He eyed her briefly, and then smirked. He put his hands on her shoulder and leaned in to her ear.

"You do know I can make you love me," he said into her ear and felt her shiver under him.

"And why would you do that? Why do you want to hurt me?" she whispered in a painful voice, he could sense all the hurt coming out in only two sentences and he felt like hell. But he wouldn't show it to her.

"Who said I want to hurt you?" he replied sincerely. But then he noticed what he had said and decided to play around it. "I thought I was already hurting you."

"Bastard." She hissed and attempted to move out of his grip but he didn't let her. How could he be so cruel towards her? She gave up trying to resist and sighed deeply, it was now pouring rain and it was cold. She was soaking and shaking slightly.

She felt as he pushed her hair out of her face and began to kiss her neck tenderly, she didn't deny that it felt nice. But she could well enough say that she didn't want that, not with him, not now anyway. The only reason why she did not resist to his touch was because a part of her urged him—wanted him—to continue, and the conflict was enough to make her go out of her mind.

The Slytherin robe she had had on was now lying on the floor, she stared at it while he kissed her neck, and she hadn't noticed when he'd taken it from her. His right hand came to cup her face and she soon found that his lips were on hers, kissing her savagely, she, at first, didn't return his kiss, but he started kissing her softly and passionately, slowing his pace, and she, reluctantly, kissed him back.

He then seemed to conform with that simple gesture and his hand traveled now to cup the back of her head, making her move with the same rhythm as he was moving. He tasted strongly of moonbeam, frost and midnight air all in one, with a faint taste of rain and very early morning.

He had apparently learned to be patient, because he was being very gentle, very kind and she almost wondered if that was Tom Riddle kissing her. However, her reason was gradually fading and in came the other part of her that wanted him. Her hands gradually traveled to his back and held him around the middle, she felt him smile against her lips. He slid the tie off of her and threw it next to the robe. She gave a little squirm and she felt him laugh slyly. She now noticed that his other hand was around her waist, rubbing it in little circles.

He was being oddly lovable towards her. He was leading her to the very edge of her most intimate desires; she would soon lose all of her self-control. His touch was burning her, or so she thought. He knew exactly how to treat her; he knew exactly how to kiss her, where to kiss her, where to caress her and how to caress her.  Her legs were almost not able to support her weight, apart from the tenderness of the moment, the rain was ice-cold and she found herself clutching him to keep herself warm.

His hand was now undoing the buttons of her blouse, and immediately her mind started shouting warnings to her. It had gone far enough, if she didn't stop now, she wouldn't stop, and she would regret it afterwards.

She pushed him away, took the robe and the tie from the floor and ran away towards the school. The rain fell like a storm down on her, her hair tangling slightly, soaking and pouring down water. She ran quickly towards the grounds of the school, the rain was ceasing gradually, and it suddenly stopped raining, though the sky was still cloudy and the clouds looked as if they would pour the water out of them at any moment.

Students started to emanate from inside the castle, most of them not paying attention to her. She was now crying and perhaps her tears were getting unnoticed because of her rain-wet face.

Only one student approached her: David Potter.

He put his arms on her shoulder and she fell towards him, breaking down completely. He patted her awkwardly on her head while she sobbed. Soon, Scott Weasley and Stuart Granger joined David and the three of them started comforting her. When she had calmed down, she looked up at them; her eyes felt swollen and puffy. The three of them stared down at her carefully.

"Are you okay, Evans?" asked David letting his hands linger on her shoulders. She nodded briefly.

"I'm okay;" she said "I'm sorry for that,"

"Not to worry," said David "What happened anyway?"

"Let her be, David," said Scott aggravated and grabbed Ginny's wrists and pulled her towards him affectionately, he put an arm around her shoulder. "Sure you're okay? No need to see Madam Trinner?"

"Madam who?" said Ginny absentmindedly while on the arms of her soon-to-be grandfather.

"The nurse," said Stuart staring at Scott and then passing his glance to David who shrugged. Ginny was amazed of how unusual the situation was: the grandfathers of her friends comforting her without knowing who she was.  She untangled herself from Scott.

"No, not worry, I need to go anyway," she said. She then felt something burn at her throat and she looked over the three boys' head and caught Tom staring at her through the distance, she eyed her wearily and the three boys turned around to see who she was looking at.

"Riddle, the Head Boy." Said David disdained "He's so weird… I dunno; he's bad company."

"I would like to know how he knew Rubeus—you remember, that third year who was expelled two years ago—was the one that opened the Chamber of Secrets." Said Stuart acidly, loathing on his voice.

"I dunno," said Scott as Tom approached them. Tom stood before them and surveyed Ginny. He then beckoned her to him, she slowly made her way towards him and Tom dragged her a little further apart from the three boys.

"They are." She said reading his expression rightfully. "They are the Heirs at this time."

"Perfect," whispered Tom and wiped Ginny's face from her tears. He then kissed her forehead and then both her cheeks. "I'm glad you're socializing with them, that way they will give them to you voluntarily. Are you still willing to be the Source?"

"Of course I am," said Ginny lowly. "I said I would help you, and I will," she couldn't have him believe that she wasn't planning to continue with the plan, besides, she wanted to… to some extent.

He then smiled down at her and embraced her tightly, almost lifting her feet off the ground, he was tall after all. She was aware of the three boys watching her but she didn't pay attention to it. Her hands were resting on Tom's chest and she leaned her head against it, he passed his hands through her hair, untangling the little knots of her wet strands. He then kissed the top of her head sweetly.

It was very odd that he was so sweet towards her, and even odder that he was doing it in public. Several people were staring at them, and most girls shot Ginny menacing looks, as if jealous of that red-headed stranger. David, Scott and Stuart's jaws dropped at the sight of the two of them and some girls that passed across the scene whispered frantically and excitedly, Ginny only caught a few phrases like "They are so cute!" and "Aw, when will I have someone like that?" and "Who would have thought he liked red-heads… if I'd known…"

But now came the bigger conflict, a part of her was willing to love him, but the other part wanted to forget him and treat him as he was, a memory.

"I need you to go back down to the Chamber," he said stroking her hair tenderly. She looked up at him.

"The basilisk is there, it came out, it said that I was fresh meat, that you promised that to it." She said.

"I'd forgotten all about Aurora," said Tom. "I'm sorry, I'll get fetch her something later, I had promised her Potter and Granger, but you sent them back…"

"She won't harm me?"

"She won't harm anyone if she isn't commanded to. Don't worry." He then flicked his finger on something on her neck and tapped it. "Besides, if you're wearing this, she won't dare go near you."

Ginny looked down in awe to see that her Drop of Inroro was dangling from her neck again, she touched the ribbon, and she couldn't believe that it had been there as it was the first time he'd put in on her.

Tom smiled again. "I think I know how these Drops work," he said, and she herself understood. It was amazing, the power these little things had. She slowly reached down his robes, he stared at her, she brought out his own Drop of Inroro and held it in her hand, with her other hand, she held her own. Hers was burning into her palm, his wasn't. She wondered.

"I think I know what they are," she said. He eyed her.

"Do you?" he asked staring at the Drops as well.

"Our souls, deposited in these tiny vials; I have yours, you have mine." She stated. "Just as we've always had each other's soul; but now we can use them against ourselves. That's why it burns. Because the soul you have is mine, not yours. And I have yours, not mine. I don't think people are supposed to have two souls—or in our case—half of each soul. The half of your soul that I have compensates for the half of my soul that you have.

"Let me explain this. My soul, the one I still have inside of me, is only half a soul; this half that I haven dangling from my neck completes my soul; same with you. " she finished and smiled triumphantly.

"So if we weren't to have these Drops…?" he asked expectantly "We would die?"

"No," she said and bit her lip thinking. "I could survive without my Drop moments earlier, remember?"

"Then what is the meaning of all of this? I only did them as a tracking device, Ginny. Not as a Soul Scepter." Tom said in frustration.

"It doesn't matter," she said and crossed her arms. "You obviously did not read the book carefully, therefore these are the consequences. But I don't know how these things works truly. I only know how to use them as a tracking device, and as a protection device."

"Exactly," he said "But your soul is more complex, I cannot figure out how to use it as a protection device."

"It only protects you against me." She said and tilted her head.

"Exactly," he admitted and stared at her eyes. She stifled a laugh.

"You're not afraid of me… are you?" she asked tauntingly and a mysterious smile spread across her lips.

"I don't know if I'm safe with you anymore," he said truthfully "I don't need to lie to you. But you keep secrets from me, my darling."

"And you try to engage me in physical actions which I'm not ready for yet," she said "So we're even."

"True," he admitted and stroked her hair once more, a coolly smile on his mouth. "We'll see if you're not ready."

"Tom—" she started warningly.

"What?" he asked managing his face as innocent as possible. She eyed him suspiciously and he laughed. "Don't worry for now," he said smirking "We'll have time for that later."

"What makes you think I will do that with you later?" she asked raising her eyebrows at him. She saw him shake his head in wonder. "Tom…"

"Don't pay attention to that now, darling." He put his hands on her shoulder again and whispered so only she could hear "Now go back down to the Chamber, look in the Book, and when I get down there I need you to tell me the ingredients I need for the Activation of the Chamber."

Ginny nodded and walked away from Tom; he squeezed her hand before she left. She looked back at him and he said "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"Put on the robe," he said signaling at the soaked robe, she put it on and he dried it with a spell. He then put her tie around her and left it undone.

"You don't know how to do them?" she asked puzzled. He shook his head and smiled at her.

"I do know, you just look better with it undone," he stated. She smiled briefly.

"I'll see you later," she said and turned around to leave.

 She waved to the three boys who were still trying to believe their eyes; she smiled slyly, shrugged and entered the castle to make her way to the second floor.

On the way there, she crashed against an elder with ginger hair and beard. She looked up at him from the floor and laughed nervously.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm sorry." Said Ginny when she had recognized him. The professor smiled kindly down at her and helped her stand up from the floor.

"Not to worry, Miss Weasley," he said. Ginny smiled while brushing the dust off her robes and straightening up. She then shook her head back so her hair would get out of her face.

"Thank y—what did you call me?" asked Ginny wide-eyed and staring at him, How could he now? He didn't… right? Dumbledore chuckled sweetly and patted her back.

"That's your name, Miss Weasley, isn't it?" asked Dumbledore, he interpreted her silence for a yes. "Now come on, follow me to my office, I believe we have to have a chat,"

A/N: There you have it! Hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review, please!

~Blue