by #Nea
Noticing me
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Tom was only slightly in shock as he left the Slytherin common room, but it was still the most shocking discovery he made in a long time. And Damn him too, for forgetting to ask her - was her name Ginny or something? - how she knew. But the most surprising part was the last answer, which threw him completely off course, although years of practice did make him cover it up well.
Well, she certainly couldn't be lying. After all, he had cast the Veritas on her, and he knew it worked; he had used it before.
But, this was the first time that they actually met.
But, she knew so much about him.
And, she loved him.
Those statements shouldn't be true at the same time, and just one of them would make her out to be lying.
Except that she wasn't.
Well, somebody could be using her, trying to manipulate her, and upon seeing his handsome face, she actually did fall in love with him. But that would be a greater problem, because that means somebody "good" already knows that he was Voldemort. But they would not send a transfer student in the middle of the year. A transfer student at the beginning of the school year is much less suspicious.
Besides, the girl wasn't even properly prepared for attacks if he was able to walk in and place a curse on her.
Ginny walked into the Great Hall, and turned towards the Gryffindor table before remembering that she was a Slytherin now. Glancing quickly around and hoping that nobody noticed her mistake, she walked towards the Slytherin table for dinner.
Dinner with the Slytherins was certainly very different. One wouldn't quite count it dismal, because the students held polite conversations with smiles plastered on to their faces.
But they didn't share insights, or secrets, or their thoughts on how bad somebody or someone is. They didn't laugh, and they did not have the physical patting or nudging or playing footsies. Ginny followed suit and sat at her seat and ate the pasta almost silently, letting her mind flow off into the land of daydreams.
"Hello, Ginny, I'm the head boy," Tom's voice said beside her and startled her.
Well, he looked the same as the boy in the diary, and she felt happy and embarrassed that Tom had remembered her name. Remembering that she should respond, she nodded her head a little.
However, he continued before she was able to chew and swallow the particular big piece of roast chicken. "I heard that all Weasleys get in Gryffindor."
"They do," Ginny answered good naturedly.
"And you..."
"Me t-," Ginny replied and caught herself. "I'm a second cousin, and adopted by the Weasleys a couple of months ago since the aunt and uncle I stayed with couldn't afford a child anymore. The Weasleys love children."
Tom arched an eyebrow at her. He noticed that she was a very smooth liar, but that she forgot to lie easily enough. If it wasn't for the slip, he might never had noticed.
"And your mom and dad?" Tom prompted again.
"They- well, mom died giving birth to me, and dad - he was a Weasley - was very sad and went on suicidal auror missions. So, I am not a true Weasley since I was raised up by my aunt and uncle - on my mother's side." Ginny found it almost fascinating the way the pieces fit right together. She just hoped that Tom wouldn't question her any further. So, she took the initiative. "And you? What's your family like?" Though she knew that it was the wrong thing to ask once the words were out of her mouth.
Tom took a long look at her. The story she was telling had no problem in it so far. But she acted nervous, and she certainly wanted to get off of the topic. He knew that there was no way she would have asked about his family otherwise, and he did not plan on telling her. She knew his family already though, so that couldn't be counted as telling.
"Well, my father was a muggle and my mother was a witch. She told him that she was a witch and he left her. Then, she died giving birth to me. So, I was brought up in a muggle orphanage." Of course, Ginny already knew that all that.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she managed to reply, and her eyes did seem to be a bit watery and cast downwards. Her hair hung a little ways above her face and added to the whole melancholy of her face.
She actually seemed genially sorry for him. And Tom made the conscious desicion of ignoring the voice in the back of his head that said he should treat her better. After all, that voice was usually spontaneous and gullible.
A couple of weeks later, Tom found himself drawn to Ginny. Although she was a transfer student, she was affable, and trusting. He could also count on her to not say anything. After all, she seemed to know all about him and she never breathed a word - so far as he knew.
He could hold conversations with her, and he could tell her about his latest worries and concerns. Sometimes, when he felt lonely, she would even give him a hug or let him lie in her lap.
You are using her, the voice in the back of his mind said. He replied with something like "it's part of being a Slytherin."
But Ginny is smart, cunning, and Slytherin. And she would never use you.
Except that she came to Hogwarts knowing all about me.
And he hated when his mind chose to be split about something. It created indecision, which leads to hesitation, which, generally, leads to losing. The stake could be a grade, a position, a job, or life. Tom did not plan on losing.
He was going to find out more about Ginny. He couldn't use the Veritas, though, because a person with two obliviates cast on them from the same person had a high chance of having the two obliviates cancelling each other out.
Well, he could always try to approach her. She loved him anyway.
"Oh, look, there's a butterfly," Ginny cried to Tom when they were outside doing a group research project. She tried to chase the flapping wings that spung around her. Instead, she tripped on herself and fell.
Tom looked at her and her face broke into a huge smile before she rolled onto her back.
"Isn't the sky beautiful?" Ginny asked, half to herself and half to Tom.
"Yes, it is right now, but it is not like this often," Tom told her.
Ginny shook her head a little on the grass, red contrasting the green. "I don't care. I wouldn't mind flying in storms as long as I could fly once in this kind of weather. It's like, I'll treasure it forever and ever and I'll always have that beautiful memory in me."
"Even if you don't get it again? You'd do anything for a beautiful memory?" Tom asked Ginny.
Ginny looked over at Tom and smiled a little private smile. "Yes, anything for a beautiful memory..."
It was odd, Tom thought, how Ginny was willing to risk everything for such a little thing. It was certainly naive, but it also held that little hope and childish happiness that could not be brought back once it was destroyed. It made him want her, though. He felt as if as long as he had Ginny, he had that little shining ray of light as well.
"How about now? Is now a happy memory," Tom asked.
Ginny smiled again and closed her eyes from the sunshine. She could feel the heat feircely on her whole face.
"Yes, now is one of the most beautiful memories I'll ever have," she said, half asleep and almost talking to herself. Then, she realized that it was Tom she was talking to and turned beet red. Quickly, she jumped onto her feet and made a clumsy pretense of looking at her watch. "Um... I, um... have to go-"
However, before she was able to finish the sentence, Tom's lips were on hers, lulling her into another world with their kiss.
They parted quickly though, almost shocking Ginny into the real world.
"I love you, Ginny," Tom said, and surprised himself.
And Ginny turned to a shade that was almost brighter than her hair. She managed to mutter something like "I love you too".
"Shall we go inside, princess?" Tom asked with a grand bow.
Ginny smiled and laughed happily at the gesture. "Why, I love how you can be such a gentleman at times," she said and blushed prettily.