Disclaimer: Copyright of J.K. Rowling. All rights reserved.

A/N: Sorry for such the long wait. That was horrible of me! Thanks for all the support thogh, guys. Please review!

Chapter 5 The Night

Waves of curving white mist covered a sleeping figure and hid her well from the oncoming attack. Several explosions came from the distance and shrill screams ripped through the air pulling her from her passive slumber.

Ginny Weasley shot up and listened carefully to the pain filled shrieks. Her eyes widened and she took off running through the woods, ducking and dodging trees as she went. She narrowly missed some low hanging braches, but being distracted she tripped on an upturned root and skidded across the forest floor scraping the skin off of her kneecap.

Cursing under her breath furiously, she watched as crimson blood trickled down in small rivers over her porcelain, white skin. She shuddered, but didn't linger long as another scream filled her ears.

Her breath quickened as she shuddered from the immense pain filling each scream. Ginny continued running as fast as she could to get to her family. No matter the rows and differences they had in the past. When it came down to it, they were her family and she would take care of them.

When she finally reached the area what she saw took her by surprise. There lying on the cold, hard ground was her mother. A bit of blood ran down her temple as Ginny stood horror transfixed. A scream rippled in her chest as she turned away and shook with sobs.

Her mother looked dead. Molly's chest was completely still and her lips were a pale blue. Tears dripped down Ginny's cheeks and she continued running to wear she saw Hermione huddled by the house.

Hermione was shaking in terror as flashes of green bounced off the walls. Death eaters and aurors were battling everywhere the eye could see. The redhead pulled her friend into a hug and shielded Hermione's eyes from the onslaught. The two girls froze in fear as someone chuckled deeply behind them. They whipped around to look up into the sneering face of Lucious Malfoy.

"The Dark Lord has been waiting anxiously for your arrival," he spit down at Ginny, his eyes gleaming maliciously. The smaller girl stood up with her eyes flashing.

"And-and I take it, you want me to go with you," Ginny said standing up slowly and nervously shifting from foot to foot. The tall blond male didn't reply, but moved his wand to point at something behind her. Within seconds, a thump was heard from behind her and the redhead knew that her friend had been stunned.

Somewhere to her right, Ginny heard someone call her name, but the only thing she could see was Lucious Malfoy's wand pointing at her forehead and then a scream tear through her body. Everything went dark.


Groaning deep in her clogged throat, Ginevra tried to sit up. Her body went rigged and she fell back in pain. She was chained to the floor.

Peering out into the murky darkness of the room through heavily lidded eyes, she let out a harsh cough. Where the hell was she?

A set of footsteps filtered through the dust and met her ears. Ginny squeezed her eyes shut in order to fool whoever it was that was coming.

The footsteps stopped right next to her and the air was thick with a blanket of silence for a long time. Suddenly, the youngest Weasley felt a sharp pain shoot up her ribs.

"Get up girl. I know you're awake." Malfoy. Why did is always have to be Malfoy? She must have done something in a past life to seriously screw him over because he seemed out to get her, personally. He had been making a point to make her life miserable since her first year. That or he sent the damnable Malfoy Jr., or better known as Ferret Boy between her and her brothers, to make her life hell.

Ginny glared up at him and spit on his shoe. "Wench!" Malfoy shouted enraged as he reeled his foot back to kick her again. Ginny really needed to learn control over her anger. She had heard a few ribs crack that time.

Mumbling, Malfoy reached down and unlocked her chains from the floor. She was still handcuffed, but at least she could sit up.

Lucius however, had other plans. He grabbed the ends of her chains and started to drag her out the door.

"Hey. Hey! I can walk, you know." Lucius ignored her and tugged on the chain abruptly, sending her forward. Struggling to gain her balance and stand up, Ginny was heaved into a large room.

The room was bare save for a fireplace, a large regal looking chair, and a table. The chair was faced at an angle so Ginny couldn't see who was in it, but it didn't matter. She had enough wits about her to know that it was Tom.

"I've been awaiting this day for several months now, Ginevraaa," her name came out as a hiss on his tongue. She glanced back at her captor, a strange look masking his face, as he dragged her forward to sit around seven feet away from Riddle. Ginny then realized that Voldemort wasn't speaking in English. He was hissing out words in parseltongue.

"B-but...!" Ginny said her eyes widening.

"Yessss," Voldemort said smirking from his place in the chair, "you are able to understand ssssnake language." Ginny thrashed around violently, trying to escape. Lucius swiftly kicked her in the back and she hunched over again in pain.

"Weasley, I'm sssure that you're aware that powersss can be transferred through powerful ssspellsss," Voldemort said this in a slow and precise tone. "Take Potter for example."

Ginny winced. She winced from the pain of her beating. She winced from the torment of her perhaps dead family and friends. But most of all, she winced from the name Voldemort had said. Potter.

Ginny couldn't help but hate him, but just the same, something left of her childish visage loved him with every counteracting thought or feeling in which her hatred bore. It was to be her curse…and, perhaps, her savior.

No more could she hate him for what he had done to her; for leaving her alone when she needed him most. But she remembered that she hadn't been this way last year. She had always felt the twinges of pain, of loneliness, but never to such an extreme. It had manifested. And while she battled it over the years, the hatred of those who never truly looked into the windows of her soul and saw the cracks of despair, it slowly consumed her. It engulfed her in a field of sorrow and betrayal. But what did it mean…?

"Yessss, what does it mean?" Ginny's eyes snapped up to Tom Riddles. "Think about it, Weasley, when did things truly start to take over?"

Ginny's eyes widened. It had all started...!

"…when I received a body," Riddle finished for her.

"What do you mean?" she gasped.

"I mean, young one, that you posses my thoughts and feelings of the past. When Potter destroyed my diary, my teenage form didn't just disintegrate. It needed a new home, you."

"I-I'm turning into you?" her voice cracked from the strain as a fresh wave of tears started pooling in the bottom of her deep brown eyes. She had always had her speculations, but it couldn't be. It just couldn't be! And there he was, her ultimate torturer, sitting there smirking down at her with malicious intent.

A profound banging resounded into the abyss of the room. Malfoy dropped her chains and walked swiftly out of the room only to return a few moments later.

"Potter, Dumbledore, and a gang of aurors have arrived, Master," Malfoy spoke while bowing low towards the ground.

Voldemort's red eyes glinted evilly, "let them in."