Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is JK's. Of course. Yadda yadda...

A/N: Wow, this one certainly took forever! I'm sorry guys!! But I had to make it great. It's unbeta'd, so it'll probably change greatly by the time I switch it on over to Fictionally. Anyway I'm sorry about the wait, please review though!! It keeps me wanting to write more....and even if you're just going to flame, I do take criticism...

Ill Fated For Life,

-Princess

Chapter 5

Ginny awoke, sweat dripping off of her face in a somewhat coordinated manner. Her pupils were dilated, and pulsating chills slithered down her spine, creating a very horrified expression across her face. Looking around, she noticed that she was lying in the middle of her Gryffindor-decorated bed and let out a sigh of relief. Her red hair spilled down her shoulders and across her face, giving her skin a pale complexion like that of an innocent lamb tainted by crimson blood. Standing up from the bed, she walked towards the bathrooms and pressed the icy cold water from the faucets against her face and neck in order to wake herself fully.

"Ginny! You're awake! Gosh, you must've really taken alot of that Sleeping Drought. You've been out for thirteen hours now!" Silvie Lewton, a fellow sixth year Gryffindor, exclaimed as she entered the bathroom. Ginny stared at her in confusion.

"What? I drank a Sleeping Drought?" Ginny asked, rubbing her temples while she tried to remember anything from the past day.

"Yea, you don't remember? Malfoy brought you to me after your detention and said that you had picked up a bottle of one of Snape's potions instead of your bottle of water and then passed out," Silvie explained.

"Wait, so I've already served my detentio...Oh. Oh my. Did I have a, you know, diary-type thing with me at all?" Ginny asked, suddenly recalling the truth of what had happened the evening before.

"Oh! Yes, actually, you did! It's in the hat box underneath your bed. Don't worry, I didn't peek," she teased as Ginny turned and ran back up to her room. Ignoring the happy gawks from the other girls who noticed her awake, she reached under her bed and pulled out a black, leather diary.

Hello again, Virginia...

Slamming the book back shut, she ran a hand through her hair and smiled an insane, unbelieving smile.

"QUICK! Does anybody have a quill?" she asked hurriedly, hugging the journal to herself in an attempt to keep anyone from snatching the marvelous creation from her. "HELLO?? Give me a quill!" she practically screamed. When one of the girls finally tossed her a bottle of ink and a quill, she ripped the diary open again and began to write.

Tom, is that you? She wrote, waiting patiently for any sort of response.

So, you have not forgotten me... was the quick and unwavering response.

Oh Tom! I thought we'd never meet again! She responded giddily, not caring to notice how different Tom's handwriting was from before.

You doubted even after I promised you I'd come back? Ginny frowned and bit her lip, pausing to think before she began to spill any more information to him.

I'm sorry, Tom, but it been over five years since your promise. She answered truthfully, knowing that she really could never purposely lie to him.

Oh, I see. I'm so sorry to have bothered you then.. Goodbye, Virginia. Ginny's heart dropped. She stared at the page, watching Tom's writing appear fully for a few seconds, not sure how to respond. Here was the man she had devoted herself to so willingly five years ago, but she had been cured of him, or so everyone had said; wouldn't it be unhealthy of her to see him again?

No! Wait...I don't want you to go; I miss having a person to talk to who actually listens to what I have to say! She replied finally.

What? That's a complete lie!! Tom answered, throwing Ginny off guard for a second.

What? She asked curiously, wondering what he could have meant when he said she lied.

I mean, someone has mentioned to me that you and Draco Malfoy had gotten pretty close... he responding, shedding some light upon her.

Emphasis on had. I mean, he was almost as easy to talk to as you, but...ugh, the boy hates me! And the feelings are just about mutual. She responded, suddenly becoming frustrated with Tom for no real reason at all.

Oh. Well, I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I must be going now, however. Goodbye, my sweet..

And the words ended there. Ginny stared at the diary, tears forming in her eyes from her lack of blinking as she waited for the words to disappear. When they didn't, she raised an eyebrow in worry and wonder.

Tom, are you there? Why didn't the words disappear? Tom?? But there was no reply. Looking around, she almost panicked, scared that someone might actually discover her secret this time.

"No, I wont let that happen," she muttered to herself as she pulled out a Pink sweater with a puke green 'G' on it and stuffed the diary inside one of the sleeves. Wrapping it up tightly, she shoved it underneath her pillow, making sure nobody was around to watch her do so.

"Ginny!" a voice came blaringly from behind her, causing her to jump and flip around.

"What did you see? It was nothing!" she bit out guiltily, grabbing on tightly to the pillow behind her. Hermione stared at her, a hint of worry hidden in her eyes.

"Nothing, what are you talking about, Gin?" she asked, crossing her arms in a patronizing way. Ginny just shook her head to signal that it was nothing. "Oh, okay. Well, aren't you coming?" she asked excitedly.

"Coming with you where?" Ginny asked, wondering what Hermione was so happy about.

"You're not coming with me anywhere; you've got a date with Harry today, you do remember?" Hermione asked seriously, her mind once again questioning Ginny's health. Ginny's eyes became wide as saucers as she looked to the calendar hanging on the wall.

"Oh, bloody hell! I completely forgot! This is definitely not my day. How much Tom do I have?" Ginny asked hurriedly as she jumped from her bed and grabbed wildly for her clothes.

"Excuse me?" Hermione was forced to ask once again. Ginny cocked her brow at her curiously. "You just asked me how much Tom you had," Hermione informed her. Ginny dropped the skirt she was holding in shock, but began to laugh shrilly.

"No I didn't! You've just heard wrong is all! How silly would that have been? Me, asking you how much Tom I had! It's laughable!" she babbled, trying to be as convincing as possible.

"Oh, okay. Well you have about five minutes. I'll be waiting for you down in the common room," as Hermione exited the room, Ginny fell to the floor in relief.

Light snow had begun to fall as Harry Potter helped Ginny Weasley down from the carriages that had transported many of the Hogwarts students to Hogsmeade for the day. The lightly colored marble walkway was barely visible by the time they had headed down near all of the shops.

"Well, mate, we'll leave the two of you alone. Byea Gin!" her brother informed the two of them as he directed Hermione off to a small shop that looked quite like a library.

"Wow, Ron must really be in love! I haven't seen him enter a library of his own accord since, well, ever!" Ginny exclaimed as she clutched tightly onto the bag that was at her side.

"Nah. I've seen Ron enter the library many a time. Especially when we're looking for information on, well, You-Know-Who," Harry informed her nonchalantly, unaware that his words had just had a bad affect on Ginny.

"Oh, well, sorry," she said as she directed off towards The Three Broomsticks, Harry following closely behind.

"I'm sorry, Gin! I didn't mean anything by it. I just let my bloody mouth get ahead of my brain. Forgive me?" he begged, smiling that amazingly innocent smile of his, and melting Ginny's heart.

"Oh, of course Harry! I could never stay mad at you!" she smiled, hitting him playfully on the shoulder. Harry had just reached over to begin tickling her when Madam Rosmerta stopped at their table.

"Anything I can help you with, dearies?" she asked them curiously, an odd twinkle hidden in her eyes as she studied them. Something about it brought a blush to both Harry and Ginny's cheeks.

"Yes please, I'll have a Butterbeer," Ginny said eagerly without a second thought.

"Make that two," Harry said, smiling at Ginny as he playfully kicked her from underneath the table.

"That'll be four sickles," she said expectantly as she jotted down their order. Ginny began to reach for her pocket book, but it was too late for Harry had already paid for both of them.

"Oh, thank you, Harry!" Ginny muttered happily, reciting word for word exactly what she had in her many dreams about this date.

"Anything to make you happy. Oh, and I forgot, I, er, got this for you," he added as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled red rose. Ginny's smile never wavered, though inside her spirits dropped a little.

"It's beautiful!" she lied easily, taking it from him and immediately smelling it as all of the other women who received roses would do. She didn't mean to be negative about it, it's the thought that counts, but the very thought of it was so unoriginal. He had no doubt gone to her brother for help. "So, how has Quidditch practice been going?" Ginny asked, trying to change the subject to something easier to talk about.

"It's been going smoothly. I reckon it'll be easy to defeat the Hufflepuffs. I mean they have great offensives, but their defense really bites," Harry began. Ginny smiled and listened intently as she sipped on her butterbeer. She was happy to get him talking about anything but what could be going on between them, though she'd never admit that to anyone who asked her. "...And then Seamus will swerve to the left and the game'll be ours!" he finished.

"That's an awesome play, but what are you going to do if Justin from the other team gets possession of the quaffle instead of Samantha, then you're play is doomed," Ginny muttered offhand, as if it would be something anyone could catch.

"Great point. You see, Gin! That's why we need you back on the team; you're great at catching flaws in some of the plays! Gosh, you try talking to Lavender about any of this stuff and she just giggles and says something about a sniffle, whatever that is," Harry laughed.

"Let's go for a walk," Ginny said suddenly, as she gathered her stuff and headed for the door as if she knew Harry would follow her, which he did.

"Sure, where to?" he asked curiously, obviously trying to make a great impression on her. What he didn't realize was that once you've already made an impression with a friend, there's no way of changing that when you want something more. First impressions always last.

"I don't care. Anywhere," she answered wistfully, taking deep breaths of the icy cold air. She followed Harry as he directed her around, neither of them speaking a word. As soon as they were in an area devoid of students, Harry stopped and turned to face her.

"Ginny, I have a question for you," he said after he got enough nerve to break the silence. Ginny's stomach did somersaults.

"Okay. ask away, Harry," she said, trying to sound as hopeful as possible. Taking his glasses off, he stared at her with those amazingly bright green eyes.

"I really like you, Ginny, and I know you like me too. Or at least you did. And when two people like each other, they usually become boyfriend and girlfriend, kind of like Ron and Hermione, you know? I mean the two of them didn't like each other at all and now look at them!" he babbled, losing the eye contact he had with her.

"Harry Potter, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" Ginny asked him, her voice not succeeding in hiding her amusement.

"That would be what I am asking, yes," he said added, his voice hopeful.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend! Nothing could make me any more happy than that!" she smiled up at him, not believing that her wish had just been granted. Reaching her hand out, she connected it with Harry's, feeling a spark of fire light between them. It was as if the dully lit sun disappeared from the sky and was replaced with a deep blanket of royal purple as the stars danced wildly around them. Misty green eyes caught milky brown eyes in attempt to finish the beautiful, waltzing masterpiece, and causing everything else around them to disappear until it was just the two of them standing in the deserted area. Her eyes fluttering closed, Ginny allowed a smile to sneak out to her lips in anticipation of their first real kiss. Harry's hands found her shoulders, and she could tell he was moving his head in towards hers. This was it, the real moment. This was what she had been dreaming about since day one. Only a few more seconds until their lips would meet. She expected it to be bliss; a feeling unlike any other in the world. What she hadn't expected was to feel a cold, leathery material pressed against her lips.

"Sorry to interrupt, Virginia, but you seemed to have dropped this a few feet away," came Draco Malfoy's syrupy voice. Ginny opened her eyes reluctantly to see what he was talking about, only to begin snatching wildly at her diary.

"How the hell did you know this was mine?" she asked accusingly, ignoring Harry's curious stares.

"I guessed. I mean you and Potter are the only ones in this area, and I only hope that Potter, here, isn't sissy enough to keep a diary," he insulted, allowing Ginny to snatch the diary out of his hands without taunting at all.

"I don't believe you. You read it, didn't you?" she asked, her voice reaching a panic. Draco smirked at her.

"Of course not, why would I ever do anything like that?" he drawled lazily, not convincing Ginny in the slightest.

"You liar! Why should I believe the likes of you?" Ginny countered, clutching onto the diary as if it was something of incredible value to the world. Draco turned around and began walking in the other direction, the direction in which all of the other students and professors were in, causing Ginny to follow heatedly.

"Believe what you want, Weasley," was all that he said, not turning to face her as an act of disgrace.

"Malfoy, you better hope for your dear, pretty face that you didn't read this, or I'll hex you so bad you wont know your head from your arse!" Ginny threatened, wand in hand.

"Save the threats for later, Virginia. I'm sick of listening to you're silly babbling," and before Ginny could fire any spells in his direction, he disappeared into a carraige.

"Wow, Gin. I've never seen that side of you before," Harry added incredulously. Ginny bit her lip before turning to face him.

"Er, I'm sorry, Harry! It's just that Malfoy irritates me so badly sometimes, you know?" she asked as she found them an available carriage.

"Yea, I understand, but you need to just ignore him, as Hermione would say," Harry preached carefully, doing his best to make sure Ginny didn't explode again. Smiling cooly, she sat back and clutched onto her diary for the rest of the ride.

The ride back to Hogwarts was a slow and quiet one, and as soon as Ginny arrived, she headed straight up to her room without a second glance towards Harry. Sitting on her bed, quill and ink in hand, she opened her diary in order to try and communicate with Tom once again. What was already written on the page shocked her.

The reason, my dear, that the ink doesn't disappear is because I didn't have enough power left in me to make the same type of journal. These words will always stay, though I may not be present at all times. I'm everywhere, you know...and speaking of being everywhere, how was your date with Harry Potter? He asked. Ginny's heart flipped. She had no idea what to say.

I..er..it was. It was fun, actually. I mean I tried to keep it as un-romance related as possible, but it ended with him asking me to be his girlfriend. She responded finally.

Oh. So, you said yes then, I expect? He asked, sending guilty shivers through Ginny's body.

Yes, Tom. I said yes. But you've got to understa-

No, it's quite fine. I understand, but just because Potter's a part of your life doesn't mean that I can't be, now, does it? Ginny's eyes opened wide. It was true, what he was saying. She could easily keep Tom a secret yet again, and besides, she did need someone she could spill her secret's to.

No, you're right, it doesn't. And I do want you in my life, Tom! Believe me, I do!

Good. You know that you can confide anything in me...ANYTHING...about anyone, right? And you'll help me to obtain any information I'll need to get out of here, wont you? You'll help me be with you...right?

Yes, Tom...of course.

Yes, Tom...of course.

A smirk rose to Draco Malfoy's lips as he shut the pages of a thick, black diary he had just finished writing in. Picking up a piece of parchment, he wrote the words 'She'll do anything I ask' on it, and sent it off to his father.

"Virginia...my sweet, stupid girl."