Authors Note: Well, here's chapter three. Please, please review at the end.
Disclaimer: Harry, Ginny, Ron and all characters from the Harry Potter books are the exclusive property of J. K. Rowling. No money is being made from this story and no copyright infringements are intended. So don't sue!!!!
Dragons of Power
By
Shadow's Wings
Ginny Weasley watched from the stairs of number 12 Gimmauld Place as her brother greeted the famous Harry Potter with slaps on the back and lots of laughs. Harry was soon smothered in a hug by Ginny's mother. Several other Weasleys were clustered around Harry watching him and smiling. Harry was clearly happy to see them, but he was also clearly unsettled by being back in Grimmauld Place without Sirius. The Weasleys greeted him and then watched him carefully. Harry looked around uneasily and then back at the red-heads watching him and he smiled at them. The Weasleys seemed to accept this as confirmation that Harry was okay. Immediately they all broke into chatter and the group moved slowly into the kitchen.
Harry looked up at Ginny as he was swept along and she gave him a brief smile before he was pulled into the kitchen. As the laughter receded Ginny's smile immediately faded and a look of deep thought took its place. She stood on the stairs lost in thought until her mother stuck her head out and called "Ginny? Can you come help me with dinner?"
Ginny stuck a bright smile on her face and jogged down the stairs to the kitchen. "Hey, there's little Ginny"
Fred said with a grin. Ron was looking at her as though gauging her reaction to Harry. 'Idiot,' Ginny thought 'I had a crush on the guy two years ago and Ron still thinks I'm in love with him.' On the outside Ginny kept her brilliant smile and said cheerfully "Hi Harry, welcome back."
And she continued on her was to the kitchen. As she turned into the kitchen she looked back. It really was quite an amusing picture. Ron was watching her retreat with a frown while the twins grinned, Bill looked confused and Harry gaped at her. OK, so she had changed, she knew that. And apparently Harry had noticed. Ginny was now 5'5" and still growing with crimson hair that fell in gentle waves to her mid-back. She was thin, but athletic with a strong build and muscles. Her chest had filled out some without being huge and her black pants and dark green tank top showed off her attributes nicely. Ginny knew Harry never would see her as a girlfriend and that was okay with her, but it was nice to know she had the power to make him look.
Ginevra Weasley was not really the girl that most saw. Most people thought that she was young and coddled by her older siblings. Most people thought that Ginny was innocent and sweet, totally devoted to Harry Potter and the light side. But that was not all that Ginny was. What none of those people understood, except perhaps Harry if he took the time to think about it, was that she had seen the darkness at its darkest. No one knew what had truly taken place over the months that Ginny was under Tom Riddle's influence, and it was not what they would have thought. Ginny was probably the only Hogwarts student who could perform the Unforgivable Curses. Tom had taught them to her along with other dark magic. What no one, not even Harry, could understand was that Ginny liked Tom. Or she did for much of the time she spent with him. She liked what he taught her, she even liked the thrill she got from having power over other people when she attacked them. Even though she was young and slightly brainwashed, Ginny Weasley had chosen the darkness. The magic binding Tom in her mind was consensual. And that made all of the difference.
By the end she realized that Tom was not her friend. He made that clear in the Chamber of Secrets. What had previously been soft caresses to reassure her that she was beautiful when Harry rejected her became harsh and demanding. The gentle shakes and grips that let her know who was in charge became slaps and curses. Yes, Ginny had seen the darkness, and it never truly went away.
At the end of Ginny's third year, when Voldemort returned, Ginny knew immediately.
Ginny was sitting in the stands with some of the people from her year. She didn't have any close friends after being so solitary for her first year, but Colin and others let her hang around with them. Ginny watched nervously as first the Beauxbatons and then the Durmstrang champions were carried out of the maze. After that there was nothing. And more nothing.
It was nearly two hours later that she felt it. She felt a sudden sharp burning on her back, just above and to the inside of her left shoulder blade. With a yell she tried to reach around to feel it. And she felt the dark magic pour through her-- strong magic that she hadn't felt for nearly two years.
When the other third years looked at her in concern, Ginny hid her pain and said "Sorry, I think I got bitten by a bug. I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll be back."
Ginny ran up to the Gryffindor dormitories as quickly as she could and ripped off her shirt, wincing in pain. On her back was an ugly black mark that looked fresh and was oozing blood. She gasped in shock. She had seen that mark before—that was the mark that Tom had on his arm, the mark that he was going to give her.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, with only a bra on her top, Ginny saw the same apparition that she had seen so many times. A faint and fuzzy image appeared behind her and met her eyes in the mirror. At sixteen years old, Tom Riddle was truly handsome. He was fairly tall with jet black hair and green eyes. His hair was gelled to give it a rich, sleek look. His shoulders were broad and his arms well muscled. Tom stepped close behind her and ran his hands lightly down over her shoulders, circling the new mark. Still watching her face, he bent and lightly kissed the top of her shoulder. He smirked when she shivered. This was not real! Ginny told herself, and yet she knew it was. Over the last two years she had seen this image so often, but tonight it was clearer, the touch was more sensual and Tom saw the new mark. How could this just be her head pulling tricks on her? And then suddenly he was gone.
Since that night Ginny found that many of the remnants of Tom Riddle in her mind had grown stronger again. When the diary was destroyed almost everything of Tom Riddle disappeared. But he was still there. Bound by Ginny's consensual agreement to let him in, Tom Riddle remained in her mind. Now and then she would here his voice whispering in her ear or feel his strong hands on her shoulders. Sometimes she felt the dark magic in her when she tried a particularly powerful spell. But always these remnants were faint and fleeting. Until he returned.
A year and three months after Voldemort returned the images were so real that Ginny was sure Tom was actually standing there. And she was sure she could perform some of the most powerful spells known, even ones that involved dark magic. The difference was that he could not physically control her, and this time she was smart enough not to listen to the whispering in her ears. If she ever felt him get strong enough to control her, Ginny vowed that she would throw herself out the window. She would not let him use her again. But until then she stayed quiet, she did not give the slightest hint of the darkness that she carried within.
Now in the kitchen of headquarters Ginny helped her mother dish out the food and carry it to the larger room. As she moved among the chattering boys she placed a smile on her face and willed it to reach her eyes. She knew at this moment Tom was upset and angry. When she placed Harry's dish in front of him he was telling Ron something quietly and absentmindedly rubbing his scar. Ginny caught the words "scar," "vision," and "Voldemort", or rather she saw Ron wince and knew that Harry said "Voldemort." What was he talking about?
Ginny turned her back mostly to the two and began fussing with the spoon in a dish to her left and checking to make sure the food was warm. At the same time she kept her ears peeled for fragments of the conversation. She heard Harry say "I saw Voldemort questioning a man about someone who was mission or gone. It was a woman who was going to receive the dark mark and disappeared. The man, who was her father, said that she was kidnapped but Voldemort didn't seem to buy that. And he called her 'one of the most powerful witches' or something like that."
At that point Ginny had to move on, but as she left she snuck a look at her brother's face. He looked shocked and nervous as he always did when talking about Voldemort. 'Interesting.' Ginny thought, 'I wonder who he's talking about, she must be fairly young.' Ginny filed the information away to think about later. At the moment a bunch of Order members had shown up, including Lupin, and Harry was being mobbed again.
As Ginny hurried to prepare more food for the guests, she kept her ears open scraps of news. She didn't mind eavesdropping when she needed information and couldn't get it any other way. After all she was just little Ginny and shouldn't be told anything. Just little, sweet Ginny.