A/N: Told you it would come soon—I bet you didn't expect the same night, did you, my dears? Like I said, I've had this one written for quite some time, just waiting to be posted. FYI, there's a character switch in the middle of the chapter. Short, but worth it, I hope.

I woke to a calm voice and a gentle shake, the pain in my body slowly fading away. I opened my eyes to focus them on Draco's face, his worry more than apparent. I reached up, as if in a dream, and touched his pale cheek in silent thanks before I pushed myself up on my elbows, looking around. There were the usual Death Eaters filing into the area, the usual trees, the usual ground. But in the middle of the circle, in the place I usually occupied, Todd was chained to a stake. My boyfriend, taken hostage! What had I done wrong to deserve his punishment? "Ginny," he whispered, "help me…"

I stumbled to his side through the snow, tripping once on a patch of ice, until at last I brushed his hair from his forehead and dropped kisses over his face. "Are you alright?" I asked anxiously, running my hands over him; he looked horrible, all battered, bruised, and dirty. He had more than one open wound, and it was all I could do to stop myself from going into hysterics.

He slowly lifted his dark head, and stared into my eyes—but those weren't his eyes that I saw. They were red, blood red, a glaring, horrible color that screamed wrongness.

He stared at me with those terrible eyes, the chains around his wrists falling away, his wounds and hurts dissolving into thin air. He stood slowly, leaving me crouched on the ground, looking up at him. Terror gripped my heart, and I felt certain that tonight, I would die.

--- --- ---

I was forced to stand in silence as I watched the one that I had hated and envied so long deceive Ginny. Flashing red eyes whirled around the circle, and a too-familiar laugh rose through the air, revealing Ginny's precious Todd for who he really was: Lord Voldemort.

Slowly the bone-chilling laugh faded away into nothing, and I watched in anguish as he circled Ginny, who was now sitting upon the ground in shock. Each of his steps raised the temperature of my blood; each glance brought an angry thought into my head.

"Ginevra Weasley…how simple it is to trick you," he said, pausing in his walk.

There followed a brief silence, and then Ginny said, "But…why?"

"Because you would not have had me before. I was weak and disfigured—who could blame you for not being attracted to me as such a misfit? But now I am your dear, sweet, Todd, the American who stole your heart so easily," he replied, his words searing my ears and making me want to bash his head in to silence him. But he wasn't done. Oh, no.

"The boy was coming to Hogwarts either way. I merely…intercepted him, changed his name. He got himself into Gryffindor, and for that I was grateful. After all…who would be suspicious of a Gryffindor? So I commandeered his body, possessing him in the same way that I possessed you, dear little Ginny."

"So…you…it…it was all a lie?" Ginny asked him, pathetically, and the misery in her voice wrenched my heart. At that point in time, I would gladly have broken the circle just to comfort her. But no, I was bound to remain in my spot, watching the events unfold with the kind of icy detachment the others managed to exercise so well.

"Not all of it, my pet," replied the Dark Lord, removing his wand from his pocket and whipping it through the air. He wrote out Todd's name, and then gave his wrist a swift flick; the letters re-arranged themselves to spell out "I AM TOM RIDDLE." His eyes flickered back to their normal brown for an instant, and he bent to Ginny's level as the words faded, dragging his fingers across Ginny's cheek gently, carving burning trails of bitter hatred into my heart. "Of course it wasn't all a lie. This body…it isn't a lie. This body doesn't lie to you." He brought his mouth to her ear, nuzzling it with his nose before saying in a stage whisper so we all could hear, "And it won't lie to you tonight."

A thrill of hate burned through my body, bringing a cold sweat to my brow as bonds appeared around Ginny's wrists, fastening them to the stake even as the shackles clenched around her ankles, leaving her helplessly spread-eagle upon the cold ground before the man who had been so dear to her.

And I could do nothing to stop him. Not unless she asked for my help, because I had never promised her voluntary aid, and that in itself had been implicit in the charm I had given her. I was just as helpless as she was. I could only stand and watch unless she activated that charm, or called out verbally to me.

She thrashed beneath him, or tried to, but her bonds were too tight. He knelt on the ground, and everyone could hear the sound of his zipper coming undone—a slow buzz. I felt like I might explode; there was nothing but burning hatred within me—it was starting to cloud my vision, blocking out the horrid scene in front of me.

I was living and breathing my hatred as Ginny shrieked, trying to discourage the Dark Lord. My back was afire with pain, and I could've sworn my hair was falling into my face as I sweated profusely beneath my robes. The jumper was becoming itchy and uncomfortable.

Then, suddenly, I felt the spot in my head that alerted me to Ginny's strife blaring. I didn't know how she'd done it, but she'd activated her charm.

I felt a mighty roar explode from within me, along with a huge wave of pain, and then…nothing.

A/N: There you have it, folks. Todd is Voldemort. I promise you'll learn about what's going on with Draco next chapter.

Forgive me for the cliffhanger, but I had to do it. The next chapter is the real confrontation, and there's no sense in spoiling the surprise, now is there?