Secret Pain

Disclaimer: Not mine. But I want Draco!

IMPORTANT Author's Notes: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EXPANDED! Also: I'm sure you've noticed Lucius Malfoy is NOT in Azkaban. I will address that in this chapter. some minor writers block, here it is… DUH DUH DUH, what you have all been waiting for:

Chapter Three!

Chapter Three: The Meeting

GINNY'S POV

Hermione, that's not too bad! She thought, cheering up considerably. She felt horrible for those who were paired up with Slytherins, especially Luna, who was paired up with Malfoy. While Hermione was Ron's friend, she had always been like a sister to Ginny. She grabbed her knapsack and went to her next class, Herbology with the Slytherins.

She arrived at one of the Greenhouses where the class was lined up. Professor Sprout hadn't yet arrived.

Ginny eyed Colin to gauge how mad he was at her. He was leaning against a tree looking in a different direction. He looked up and she quickly averted her eyes and turned around so her back was facing him. Professor Sprout walked up and unlocked the Greenhouse before telling them briskly to come in.

"Get into partners and put your gloves on." The class rushed to find a good partner. Ginny looked down at her scuffed shoes. She and Colin had always been partners. She looked over to where he and another Gryffindor were chatting merrily.

"Who doesn't have a partner?" The professor asked the class. Ginny ashamedly raised her hand.

"Mr. Maraticus, only two in a group, please. Come over here and work with Ms. Weasley." She said and a Slytherin in her year came forward, a blank expression on his face. Ginny's eyes widened. Oh, great, she thought as the boy walked towards her.

"Hi!" She said as cheerily as she could. The boy, Bradford was his name she remembered, looked at her but said nothing. "Or not…" Ginny quietly mumbled, pulling her dragon-hide gloves on as Sprout explained the assignment.

Finally, Professor Sprout told them to clean up. Ginny was amazed at how easy it was to work with a Slytherin and how much she could get done without saying anything more than "pass the dragon-dung fertilizer." It left her to just think things over. Her mind was unusually clear at the moment, but that surely wouldn't last.

"The people you picked today will be your partners for the rest of the year. Class dismissed."

"Bye, Brad." Ginny said to her partner, not expecting an answer, before picking up her books and heading to lunch.

DRACO'S POV

Draco watched Ginny by the greenhouse from his perch by the window in his History of Magic class. She and the Creevey boy were standing apart from each other. They went into their classroom, leaving Draco in one of his most boring classes with nothing to watch. Professor Binns was rambling on and on about something or another. Draco looked around the dusty classroom.

His eyes landed on the Golden Trio. The Weasel was whispering with Scarface about something or another. Mudblood Granger was avidly taking notes only taking a break every once in a while to contribute something to Weasley and Potters conversation. She listened to Potter before looking murderously down at her notes. Draco listened as hard as he could to what they were saying. He could only hear snatches of what Weasley was saying.

"Creevey had the nerve… I would have never… she reversed the charm…" Ahh… so they were talking about the Weaselette's little falling out with her pal.

Draco sighed. If the Dream Team was the most enthralling thing in the room, he was in trouble.

He glanced back at the window. He had to think of a way to get Ginny to talk to him about the Chamber. Although he didn't think she herself had opened it, she probably knew from her brother and his obvious involvement in it. He also needed to find out about his mother.

While there had always been questions in his mind as to how his mother had died, but it had never even crossed his mind until now that his father, his own father, might have killed her. He shivered at the thought. He had always looked up to his father, even more so since he had fooled the Ministry of Magic from locking him up in Azkaban twice. But now, all kinds of thoughts and memories invaded his mind. He recalled once his mother's face had been swollen and bruised but she refused to talk about it, only glancing at father. He decided to put off that issue until the Chamber secrets were revealed.

He would have to time charming her just right. He had often heard from Professor Snape that the Weaselette, however ludicrous it sounded, excelled at potions and would probably be doing the 6th/7th year joint project. If he and his partner, Looney Lovegood, did their potions work at the same time, he might be able to talk to her and gain her trust.

GINNY'S POV

Lunch had been uneventful. Colin had ignored her, Ron and Harry had glared at him, and Hermione had alternated between trying to make her feel better and preventing Ron from trying to beat Colin up. It was all giving her a headache.

Classes were over for the day so she and Hermione were in the library finding information on the invisibility potion. The library was dusty and warm. Ginny read the spines of the books in the potions section. Potions: A Beginner's Guide, Prosperity Potions, and Potions: the Guide to Those Sticky Potions You Love were some of the titles.

Ginny glanced down at the list in her hand. It was the books with references to their potion. She found one of them and pulled it out, stacking it on top of the huge pile of books she had collected. She took a pen out of her sock and marked that one from her list.

"Done, finally." She muttered trying unsuccessfully not to drop the huge stack of dusty tomes.

"Here, let me help." She heard a silky voice behind her say. She jumped, dropping the few books that weren't already on the ground. She looked up. It was Malfoy, though she had known that already. Maybe he was punishing her for talking back to him in the kitchens!

"Err, no thanks. I have it." She said picking some of them up. He grabbed some anyway.

"Doesn't look like it to me." He replied. She eyed him warily. This was not the Malfoy she knew. Was he going to wait for her to let her guard down before attacking? He must have seen her suspicious look, for he continued.

"I won't bite. Hard." She rolled her eyes, muttering about Austin Powers.

"Who's that?" He asked, sounding truly confused.

"Muggle movie. It's funny." She answered offhandedly.

"Of course, because your family is full of Mudblood lovers, isn't it?" He asked, sneering. Her blood began pumping faster and in her anger she felt herself grow stronger. She grabbed all of the books and spun on her heel before marching towards Hermione at the table.

DRACO'S POV

It was only by chance that Draco saw the Weaselette in the library. He was looking for information on the invisibility potion as well. He looked down one of the aisles, checking who was there. He didn't feel like having some first year Gryffindor staring at him and practically shaking in their shoes.

He saw the bright red curly hair of the Weasley and grinned a joyless, feral smile. He made his way towards her. She was humming softly. He didn't recognize the tune, but it fit her- sweet and innocent.

She grabbed a pen out of her sock. That's strange. He thought. She struggled with some heavy books. He crept slowly towards her.

"Here, let me help." He asked smoothly. She jumped, startled, and dropped her books. She glanced up at him.

"Err, no thanks. I have it." She replied stiffly picking up some of the tomes. He grabbed an armful.

"Doesn't look like it to me." She looked at him suspiciously and he said the first thing that came to mind.

"I won't bite. Hard." He added the last bit as kind of an afterthought. She had the nerve to roll her eyes at him. Then she started muttering something about someone named Austin Flowers, or Powers, or something.

"Who's that?" He asked, miffed and puzzled at her reaction.

"Muggle Movie. It's funny." She said struggling with the books. So of course he insulted her. Did she think he could let that lie?

"Of course, because your family is full of Mudblood lovers, isn't it?" She stiffened, for she had relaxed a little over the last few minutes, and glared at him before easily grabbing all of the books and stomping away.

He stared after her, mentally cursing himself.

"Damnit!" He turned loudly before fleeing the library, a stormy look upon his face. This would be a major setback in his plan to win over her trust and get her to talk. And, Merlin forbid, he felt bad for insulting her. What was going on here? His job at Hogwarts was to make the Gryffindor's life miserable! He'd done so for years! So where was this new found conscience of his coming from?

He tried to get it off of his mind and stormed into the common room. Blaise Zabini was there, lounging comfortably on the couch.

"Malfoy." He greeted, nodding his head. If there was one person in this world he could call a friend, it was Blaise.

"Zabini." He replied trying desperately to shake off his bad mood.

"Your two goons were in here earlier looking for you." Blaise said, rolling his eyes, referring to Crabbe and Goyle. Draco didn't reply and sat down. Blaise looked at him curiously but didn't say anything. That was one of the perks of the Slytherin house. Nobody asked many questions and kept mostly to themselves, preferring not to have little Gryf heart to heart talks. Nobody told anyone what they were feeling, with only a few exceptions. That was dangerous. If you spill your fears, your housemates exploit it.

GINNY'S POV

Cold swear covered Ginny as she woke up, gasping for air. She sat up quickly and looked around. She was relieved to find she was in her dormitory. The tip of her wand was glowing softly at the end of her bed. Ever since the Chamber, she hadn't felt comfortable in the dark. She quietly unwound the comforter from her legs and peaked out of her curtains. Everyone else was sleeping, the only sound being the heavy breathing of one of the other girls in her room. She grabbed her wand and grabbed her night gown before heading down to the common room and then towards the kitchens.

She tried not to think of her nightmare, but little snippets of it kept invading her mind.

Ginny opened her eyes and looked around. It was dark and she didn't know where she was. What am I doing here? She thought.

"Tom?" She whispered, standing up.

"Ahh, you're awake." A silky voice said. His voice. Although she knew he had been making her open the chamber and hurt those people, part of her couldn't- wouldn't- believe it. He loved her! He had said so, he wouldn't hurt her! Would he? He laughed and spoke as though he could read her mind. Is he a Legimens? She asked herself.

"Stupid girl. You just suited my needs. You told me all I needed to know. And for that, I thank you. Do you know who I am? Or, rather, who I become?" Tears had filled her eyes during his speech and threatened to spill over the sides.

"Why?" She asked quietly, holding back her tears with all her might. He gave a cold laugh.

"I asked you a question, and I expect an answer, even from a lowly Mudblood lover as yourself. Now answer me like a good girl: Do you even know who I am? Have you figured it out yet?"

"Tom Riddle." She whispered shakily, "Tom Marvolo Riddle." As she said this, he whipped out his wand and summoned his diary. In it he wrote his name. With a flick of his wand, the words rearranged themselves into I am Lord Voldemort.

"No, no, no, no…" She chanted to herself, backing away. She tripped and landed on the ground. He laughed his mirthless laugh. Ginny took a good look at him. He was dressed in all black robes. He was almost see-through, like a ghost. His eyes flashed dangerously.

"Oh, yes. And thank you very much for that interesting story about Harry Potter. I appreciate the information. If he really acts as brave and wonderful as you say he does, he'll be down here soon. I'll be waiting."

"I'll tell him! I'll tell him everything. I—I will, you know! I'll tell him to run." She said panicky.

"Oh, but Ginevra… in a few minutes you won't even have enough energy to lift a finger, let alone tell a young head-strong boy, Gryffindor at that, to leave his best friend's baby sister down here all alone in the dark. Poor, poor, little baby Ginny. She has a crush on the Boy- Who- Lived. He'll die. And it'll all be your fault. Of course, you'll die, too." Ginny tried to run, to get up, to get out, but she was growing weak. Why is that? She lazily wondered.

Tom was growing darker, more solid. He was taking her life away! No, no, no, no, nonononononononono, the word repeating in her head over and over again. She had to distract him! To get him mad. Maybe he'd forget about Harry. Her mind wasn't working correctly, it seemed. Thoughts seemed to slow down and she was having trouble holding on to a single one. She was losing control of her mind. Get him mad, get him mad. What would get him the maddest?

"Mudblood." She whispered.

"What?" He asked, the silky tone in his voice dropping instantly into a dangerous one.

"You heard me. You're a Mudblood yourself." He was next to her in a second, his hand flying towards her face at an incredible speed—

End of chapter, folks! I know, a cliffie of sorts.

Hope you enjoyed, this has been my favorite chapter to write so far.

REVIEW!

Liv