She awoke, feeling happy and refreshed. She dreamed about herself being with um…him, of course. But when she opened her eyes and began to realize the truth, a frown quickly overshadowed her face. The room was bright, and it would have been much brighter if she had not covered the windows with curtains. She was sad. The truth was that he was no longer there to comfort her, to make her feel happy. He was gone, nowhere to be seen in the room, and she had no choice but to get over herself and get ready to go to class.
She was striding in the hallway with her books when someone called her name.
"Ginny!"
She flinched at the voice, stopped, and turned around to face no other than Harry Potter himself.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Do you want to talk later? At lunch, I mean?"
"Oh yeah…um…I don't know if that's safe."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want Ron to come back and ruin everything again."
"Gin, I promise he won't this time."
"Whatever there is to continue, it will continue at the masquerade, alright!" Ginny said harsher than she had meant to.
She left him standing there, stunned and confused.
At lunch time, after eating at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Ron and Harry had a talk in their dormitory room when noone was around.
"Do you know what's up with your sister lately?" Harry asked.
"Oh please Harry, there's always something going on with that girl."
"But she acted all strange on me, like she's angry or something."
Ron shrugged. "Hormones, I guess. I mean, she's a teenager. What do you expect?"
"Do you think she's angry at…well, um…me?"
Ron raised his eyebrows. A sign of confusion. "Why would she be angry at you?"
The whole masquerade date thing was a secret Harry kept from Ron. Ron, being of course the older brother, would be very protective of his younger sister. (A/N: I mean, how would you feel if your little sister was going out with your best friend?)
Harry shrugged and gave a small smile. "Uh…no reason."
His best friend looked at him suspiciously before they moved on to another topic.
It was after school that day. Ginny was alone, walking to the Gryffindor Common Room from class. On her way, she bumped into Hermione, who seemed a bit angry and worried at the same time.
"Hello Ginny."
"Hi Hermione"
"I've been meaning to find you, you know. I'm worried about you. Is everything… alright?"
"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?" Ginny asked more rudely than intended.
"You weren't yourself yesterday. You looked upset, like you had something on your mind."
"Bad mood, that's all."
Hermione shook her head, disbelieving. "No, there's more to it than that."
"Ok, you're right. I was upset. It was just Harry, that's all."
"Oh? What did he do?"
"It's more like what he didn't do," Ginny said, her expression turning stern. She then broke down. She was bawling very much, her eyes red, her tears flowing endlessly. "For God's sakes, he never pays attention to me! When Ron's around, he pretends I'm not there. He acts like I'm nothing!"
"Are you…trying to say something, Ginny?"
"Even as a friend, he just totally ignores me. I would be his second choice. I'm always his second choice. He just uses me. I do fancy him though. Yes, I admit that."
Hermione sighed. "Boys. What are you going to do?" She smiled, but the smile did not look convincing enough. "What do you mean…he uses you?"
Ginny took a moment to explain. "When we're alone, it's like I mean something to him. He takes that advantage by asking me to that Halloween masquerade only the seven year students go to. Then he just brushes me away, like I mean nothing to him."
Hermione's eyes grew wide. It was uncertain whether her eyes grew wide because of excitement or something else.
"Well…are you going with him?" Hermione asked, curious.
"I guess. I told him yes, but that was before I acted kind of rude to him. But he deserved it for treating me like that."
"Well, you shouldn't act too quick on it, Ginny. I think you're just overreacting a bit. You'll mean something more to him soon. I'm sure of it. Just forget about him ignoring you. It's too soon to say anything."
That
night, Ginny was in her dormitory room, prepared to go to sleep. A
small, plain white candle stood on the nightstand by the bed, lit
with a small but powerful flame. The rest of the room was mainly
dark, but the curtains were drawn open this time. There was a bit of
light that seeped through the window. The light was of the moon, a
pure white glaze. She was seated on her bed, brushing her wildly red
hair. It was extremely long, but scorchingly beautiful. It was so red
that it looked like it could burn. No other girl in the school had
hair like that. With the last stroke of the brush, and her hair
completely sleek and silky, she lay down and went under the covers,
prepared to sleep. She did not, however, blow the lit candle. She
was, of course, waiting for a certain someone to come. She wanted to
see his face.
She was in
bed. She waited and waited. It seemed like an eternity. After an hour
or so, her eyes grew heavy. She struggled to keep them open, but was
no longer able to. She was too tired and weary. Finally, the candle's
flame had burnt out, and the room was dark with the exception of the
light that flowed through the window.
Her
eyes were probably closed for a minute or two when she heard a voice.
His voice, that is.
"Ginny…"
You are
the latest contender
You are
the one to remember
You are
the villain who sends her
Light
or dark, fantastic passion
Her eyes slowly opened. The room was still very dark. Perhaps there was a form under the moonlight. It was hard to tell.
"Tom? I can't see you."
There was a moment of silence. A small blow of breath was heard, and the candle was relit. There stood Tom, right before her very eyes. However, he was not solid. He was still faint. He stood beside her bed, a grin spread across his lips. The licking flames of the candle cast flickering light upon his face. What was strange was the fact that his body offered no shadows.
"Finally…I can see your face," Ginny said.
His face was simply beautiful, carrying extremely eloquent features, face that would be remembered forever. His body was also of a slender, flawless form. His hair was strangely and dangerously jet black, (the kind that was uncommon for most English people) a colour that seemed to match with his eccentric yet sharp grey eyes. His skin was incredibly fair, a very white but healthy skin, and not to mention oddly smooth. He gave a smile, one that penetrated the hearts of many, especially that of Ginny Weasley.
"Are you not glad I'm back?" he asked, his smile still remaining.
She looked at him and did not answer. Instead, she cried. She bit her lip as tears leaked down her supple white cheeks, hinted with a blushing pink. Tom looked concerned. He actually appeared to be worried about her.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
"Oh nothing…"
He sat down on her bed, attempting to look into her eyes.
"It's funny how nothing can affect you this much…"
She sat up and explained with a sob, "Why are you doing this to me? Why do you come to me after so many years? Can you imagine what I'm feeling right now? Do you know how much it hurts at the moment?"
There was another moment of silence. He stared at her, his eyes filled with a terrible intensity, piercing into her skin, gazing into her very soul.
"Ah…" he said quietly. "So you do believe I'm here, that I exist."
"I don't have much of a choice. You stand before me, as real as anyone can be."
He was real. He had to be real. There was no other explanation for this. But one question remained, no matter how many times it had been asked.
'Why now?' she thought. That was the most important question, the most bitter of them all.
He took a delicate finger of his and gently moved her hair out of her face. He then stroked her cheek. He did all this wordlessly. It was scary how much effect he had on her.
"It doesn't have to hurt. It shouldn't," he whispered.
"I don't think you should see me anymore," she said. The remark seemed to have come from nowhere.
There was dead silence. Tom froze, watching the girl very closely. Her words had stung him.
"And why is that?"
"It hurts too much."
"Is that what you really want? For me to leave and to never come back? Tell me, Ginny."
"No."
"Well then?"
She did not respond. She remembered how he had nearly killed her, how he sacrificed her life to save his, how he drained out her life… And yet he was standing right before her, giving her the impression that he had changed and improved, that he was different. She promised she would hate him, that she would not fall under the same trap again. It would be too stupid of her. Too silly. He manipulated her, possessed her… He won her with words, simple words that meant absolutely nothing. Nothing to him anyway.
He sat there, studying her, longing for an answer.
"I can't…" she muttered, shaking her head as if to shake off all the thoughts that were telling her to give in.
He held her by the shoulders. "Why are you doing this to yourself? Why are you not allowing yourself to be happy? To be pleased? To live in isolation?"
She looked away without a word. She was too afraid to face him, to meet those dashing yet darkly fervent eyes of his.
"You look different," he continued. "My, you've grown into a woman. A beautiful one, I must say. My guess is that you've come to believe my presence is an evil thing. That I'm an evil thing. An evil monster."
"I don't want to believe it."
"Then don't. What? Has the famous Harry Potter been filling your head with ridiculous ideas? What was it like when you awoke in that Chamber of Secrets? What did you feel? What did you think?"
"I was confused." Flashes of memories began to occupy her mind. "I was looking for you. I didn't know where you had gone."
"But then Potter told you?"
"He told me everything."
"And you believe him?"
"It makes sense. It makes so much sense."
Tom nodded slowly. "The first thing you thought of when you awoke was me, wasn't it?" His lips curved into a smile.
"Yes," Ginny admitted ashamedly, unwilling to look at him. Instead, she looked down at her bed.
"And there's a reason for that. It's because you miss me. It's because you want me. And I'm doing you a favour. I've come back. I'm here for you."
She looked back up at him. He looked so sincere, so…not evil. She placed her hand on his cheek as he allowed her to gently caress his face. She then touched his lips with her fingers.
"I must go…" he hushed.
"Will you come back?"
"If you want me to."
She looked at him once more without a word before drifting off to sleep.
