Disclaimer--None of this is mine. It's all JK Rowling, WB, and Scholastic property. I hope JK, Steve, and my fellow fanfic writers see my imitation in the way it is intended, as the sincerest form of flattery.

Author's Notes--

Strawberries and Blueberries-Surprise! :-) I try to update fairly regularly...the momentum helps keep me writing. There will be a couple of what I consider romantic interludes for Harry and Ginny before the end of the story, but no outright romance...I like staying true to the cannon timeline, and I think a little anticipation is a great thing. I hope that doesn't keep you from reading.

GangsterSteph--I love FictionAlley, but I don't think they love me...my grammar is too imprecise. I'm thrilled you were interested enough to seek Ginny out here. ;-) Thanks for letting me know my story's given you a lot of laughs...it makes me feel less off-balance with all the quiet snickering I do at the keyboard. I love Ginny's sense of fun and mischief...if she wasn't a prankster I'd have a hard time seeing her as a Weasley. ;-) You're right about Tom being easy on Ginny...he's actually got a bit of a soft spot for her because she's the avenue of his rebirth into the world. I think Tom reveres anything that benefits himself. Tom is quite dashing...more charming than Harry in a lot of respects! He's very nasty, but in a subtle, almost understated way--good call on the psychological torment. I think that's actually his preferred method for kicks as it's far more dangerous...I think you're right about Ginny having a hard time getting away...

EEDOE--I want a Lockhart dartboard myself! I love the scene with Fred and George...it just seems so much like something an older brother would do. I thought Ron's gesture was sweet, too...it was about time for him to remind he's not heartless, just a little preoccupied. I'm tickled pink that you're tickled pink...*hugs*

Bill--This installment is still subdued, but I think it produces a little more addrenaline. :-) I know Luna hasn't shown up yet...I realized that after I posted my last notes...but soon she'll make a brief appearance. It just feels right to have Ginny interested in Quidditch--I can picture her jumping up on her feet waving her fist and telling the ref off from the stands, can't you? ;-) Charlie must have been watching her a little closer than Ron and the twins who assume she's not interested...Good for him! I suspect Ginny is not only a Quidditch fan, but swears a bit more than anyone in the family realizes--gives her a sense of power, and suits her need for mischief. Ginny is VERY reminiscent of the twins...can't you imagine what havoc they could reach if they joined forces? *snickers* I'm so glad you reviewed...I was waiting to see what you thought! Meet you at the end of the chapter! *hugs*

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After a while, Fred and George disappeared, muttering about something they wanted to work on-probably not homework whatever it might be-Percy marched off, stiff with importance, to his Prefect duties, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were hunched over the table, heads so close together they looked like one lumpy being, and it occurred to Ginny that this would be a perfect time to practice Quidditch, it being far too cold, gray and snowy, for anyone else to be much interested in budging from the cozy Christmas glow of the castle.

She slipped unnoticed away from the table to collect her cloak, gloves, and scarf from the dorm, and walked across the lawn to the broom shed. She took one of the school brooms, available to any student who wished to practice, and took to the sky. She dove, she looped, she swirled, playing, enjoying the freedom of the air, imitating what she had seen Harry-and the other players-do in the matches she'd seen with Lee. When flight began to soothe her into sleepiness, Ginny dug a mundane rubber ball out of her pocket and began tossing it about, envisioning passes, the snitch, and spectacular goals.

It was so dark by the time she finished that she could barely find the shed to put the broom back. She picked her way carefully across the grounds, squinting in the glow from the tip of her wand, breathing silent relief as her feet hit the flagged stone floor of the entryway.

Ginny knew mum would be herding her off to bed, if she weren't there already, but she wasn't at home, and mum wasn't here. Smirking to herself at the faint taste of rebellion, she pulled the diary out of its hiding place. Sprawling out across the bed, Ginny began by writing -Happy Christmas, Tom-in letters as large and loopy as she could make them across the middle of the page.

--Happy Christmas, Ginny-the page returned almost immediately. -I take it you've had a pleasant holiday?-

--It's been great...I wish you could celebrate...it must be boring, stuck in a diary-

--I inhabit Hogwarts just as you do...only my home is Hogwarts as I remember it...I was happy here...but it is tiring to relive the same moments over and over again-

--Wouldn't it be great if you could step out of the book and into a new memory?-

--I can. You help me do it every time you share your memories with me.-

--Aww...that's sweet. -

--If I'm sweet, I owe it to you.-

Ginny blushed. -Tell me about your Christmas-

--I will if you want me to...but...I could show you instead. If you want.-

Ginny grinned at the sudden hesitation. Tom was always so confident. -Show me? That sounds like quite a trick.-



The parchment seemed to pull thin even as she wrote on it, light shining through from some inexplicable core, dissolving the book from the center outward. Ginny shrieked, pulling back slightly. But she could see, almost as if through the thin film of someone's living room curtains, shapes moving within the book. Curious, she reached out to touch them, and her fingers passed through the book, meeting no resistance...Her stomach lurched as she fell into time...



She was standing in a room she had never seen before. Huge windows at the back swum with odd blue and green light, as if water were shifting on the other side. People she didn't recognize sat on long, low, black leather sofas that looked so slick, she didn't understand why they didn't slide off. Thick pine branches hung with delicate bubbles swooped across the mantle and garlanded the ceiling. A tall boy who seemed vaguely familiar was standing at her shoulder. "Excuse me," she said, awkward and hesitant. "Where am I?"



"Don't tell me you don't know the Slytherin Common Room when you see it," the boy said, sounding amused.



Ginny lurched backward into a table and caught the edge with her hands, trying to keep herself upright. "Tom?"



"The one and only," the boy said with the suggestion of a bow. "Surprised?"



"You could say that," Ginny said faintly. Tom smirked. The expression made him look more familiar than ever, and she could feel recognition struggling deep in her bones, trying to rise to the surface.



"See what you're missing?" Tom teased.



The entire room felt cool and light and slick, and Ginny found herself picturing being trapped in the center of a large block of ice. "Very impressive," she said, fighting the urge to frown. "How did I get here?"



"I brought you through your connection to me," Tom said conversationally. "This place is as much yours as mine...the creation of our shared thoughts."



"That sounds...nice," Ginny said, torn between feeling touched and profound discomfort, "but what does it mean?"



"Why does it have to mean anything," Tom countered, "Isn't it enough that this time and this place belong to us-we are part of them because we are part of one another?"



"I..." Ginny began, not knowing what she meant to say. Something about his face leaning into hers made her stomach twitch uncomfortably...she couldn't help feeling as if she'd seen it before...



"You," Tom said smoothly, in a way that only made her stomach struggle harder, "are a very special person, Ginny. Without you to recall my memories, I wouldn't exist at all."



"I...uh...you're special too, Tom," Ginny said, casting a wild look at the oblivious people around them. /They probably don't even know I'm here/, she thought with a strange feeling of surreality. /Because I wasn't./ Unconsciously, she raised a hand to her head, wondering if this was just another symptom of going mad.

"Yes," he said softly. Maybe it was the confusion of her spinning thoughts, but suddenly he sounded like the snake she thought she'd heard. "I am...even more special than Harry Potter."

Startled, Ginny tried to pull away, but even if the table hadn't been blocking her path, Tom moved far too fast. His lips struck against hers in the quick, sharp jab of a striking snake. Something cold-impossibly cold-and very black sunk into her with a fanged bite. It coiled through her, wrapping around her insides, squeezing her in a serpentine embrace. She gasped in a feeling akin to pain, a thin sob of fear and despair.

"What are you doing?" she tried to shout, his lips obstructing hers.

Tom laughed, a high cold sound. A sound without mercy or mirth. And Ginny saw his face murkily in the distance, as if lurking in the depths of a misty mirror...