Author's note: I am so stupid. I had to reload chapter five, because I forgot that the Fat Lady wasn't around after Sirius ripped her and that Sir Cadogen replaced her at the Gryffindor entrance. I can't believe I forgot! Anyhow… Chapter six, yay! It is a bit jumpy time-wise, but I know this story is dragging, so I tried to speed things up. I hope that didn't take away from whatever quality it may have had. A mistake in the very first sentence, that's what I get for not reading it over thoroughly!
ooo
Ginny closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She gave her corner of the room one last good look before turning to leave the room with Ashlyn. As she boarded the Hogwarts Express, and settled herself for a relaxing ride, her thoughts drifted. The other night Ginny had awoken in the study after completing the spell, only to find the room disheveled and the Diary innocently placed in the middle of the mess. Though nearing one in the morning, she had obsessively cleaned the room before finally ridding herself of the Diary. She had decided that tying a rock to it and chucking it into the lake would be good enough, since she had found that fire would not destroy it. Her conscious finally feeling unburdened for the first time in over a year, Ginny was very excited about the Holidays and a satisfying break at the Burrow.
Of course, a satisfying break soon turned into hectic preparations for Christmas, including gift shopping, decorating, cleaning, and cooking. She had run around acting similar to a rooster with its head cut off, not regaining any energy that she had lost during school. Finally, two weeks later, after days of enduring Fred and George's experiments, Percy's lectures, and her parent's coddling, Ginny once again found herself trudging up the grounds to Hogwarts Castle. The hazardous snow quickly set about trying to bury her, and it did not help that her bag had managed to weigh considerably more than she had remembered. There was fifty meters between where the Carriages dropped the students off and the Castle entrance, but to Ginny, it was as if she was not making any progress.
"Wait a second, I'm not moving!" Ginny yelped and began flailing her arms helplessly, realizing with a jolt in her stomach that the bag was caught on something. She tugged harder against whatever was holding her back, when it suddenly let go and she went flying face first into the heavy layer of snow on the ground.
Laughter was the first thing that reached her ears once she had retrieved her head from the snow. Her hair had covered her face, so she spent a humiliating thirty seconds trying furiously to get her eyes and mouth uncovered. This made the laughter double. She finally set herself straight, looking up to find Draco Malfoy and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, doubled over with mirth a few feet away.
Ginny grit her teeth, intending to bite his head off, but she decided that it was not worth it. Closing her eyes, she calmly counted down from ten to one, or, down to three rather. Before she could finish her counting, a snowball hit her square in the face. She decided closing one's eyes in a time of war would not necessarily help. Her face started to tingle from the cold.
"Having fun, little Weasel?" Draco was staying a good distance from her, but he still had a look of intense pleasure on his face. He nodded at Crabbe and Goyle, and this seemed to be a way of dismissing them, as they both hurried off to the Castle.
Malfoy watched them go before he started to approach Ginny. She wanted to glare, yell, kick, do anything hurtful to him, but found that the cold air was quite restraining. She took to shivering and clattering her teeth instead. Her knees had gone numb, for she had not yet gotten off the ground.
"You are one incredibly peculiar person, Weasel," Malfoy said as he reached her and knelt to her eye level. "Now, care to explain what the hell happened before Hols?"
Ginny frowned at him, out of both anger and confusion. She kept her mouth shut and tried to stand.
"I suspect that you are not quite yourself." He knocked her back into the snow. "Last year, as I understand from Father, you were possessed by the young memory of the Dark Lord. As I also have been informed, he was supposed to have left you after the end of last year."
Ginny was finally able to stand, but found her legs quite unstable. She tried to look around, ask anyone for help. The empty white grounds greeted her quietly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Draco frowned at her lack of cooperation. He looked at his expensive black boots as he thought over what he wanted to say.
Ginny took his thoughtful consideration of his feet as a time for her to get away. She began backing up, and when he still did not notice, she turned, and ran as fast as the snow would let her.
Draco looked up in time to see the fleeing Weasley catch her boot in the snow and tumble face first into it, again. He sighed and walked over to her limp form, half buried in white fluff. Grabbing her securely by the hood, he yanked her up. He ignored her blushing and disorientated look on her face, and asked, "The memory of this 'young Dark Lord' character isn't gone is he?"
"I d-don't kn-know what T-tom said t-to you, b-but he's gone n-now," Ginny said between her chattering teeth. She wrapped her arms around herself, hoping that her shaking legs would have enough strength to get her back to the Castle.
"He's gone? Since when?" Malfoy looked down his nose at her suspiciously.
"Since I t-trapped him in the Diary b-before Christmas!" Ginny was quite sick of this talk, quickly growing very cold, and again turned to leave.
Draco absently wrapped a tighter grip on her hood, yanked to halt her leaving, and continued, "This was after he told me that Lord Voldemort was coming back?"
Ginny faced Malfoy again, her face twisted in a puzzled fashion. Having given up on clattering her teeth, her mouth hung open for a pause. "Riddle told you Lord Voldemort was coming back? Well, he is Lord Voldemort. What else did he say?"
"He told me I would be the one serving him when he did," Draco snorted. "So, you can see why I am rather concerned with this whole issue of yours."
"My issue?" She let out a growl, "My issue? This would have had nothing to do with me if it wasn't for your father!"
"Yes, but the fact is that my father did what he did, and now you are a big factor in this problem." Draco still had her hood wrapped around his fist.
"Whatever, Riddle's finished. I trapped him in the Diary and then let the book sink to the bottom of the Lake," she said and set to work unraveling Malfoy's hand from her hood.
"Last year he was supposedly gone too." Draco's glove had managed to tangle itself in the fabric of the Weasley's hood. Not paying it much heed, he began to help her try to get it uncaught as he talked. "Are you certain he is gone now? Is there any irrefutable evidence of his demise?"
Ginny sighed, "No. I cannot say that there is. I'll have to go see Professor Snape some time soon, and Dumbledore as well. It's about time that I 'fessed up to them about all I have been doing." She took off her gloves and tried again to get Malfoy's hand from her hood.
"Oh, here, let me get it," Draco said distractedly and pulled out his wand, and making sure Weasley's hair and both of their hands were out of harm's way, he executed a searing charm. His glove fell despondently to the ground.
Ginny watched the glove fall and her reflexes automatically made her bend to retrieve it. Her hand hit Malfoy's as the both reached for it, and they mumbled simultaneous apologies. She straightened herself out and held Malfoy's glove to him, smiling embarrassedly.
"You don't happen to play Quidditch, do you?" Draco asked without thinking as he took back his glove. His warm fingers touched the deathly cold hand of Weasley's.
"My brothers never let me play with them, but that didn't keep me on the ground for long," Ginny answered lightly. She meant to add more when it hit her suddenly that she was standing outside in the freezing cold, having a civil conversation about Quidditch with Draco Malfoy. His face fell, and he must have realized the same thing. She said quietly, "I should probably get inside."
"Yes, I expect my housemates are waiting for my arrival, as well" Draco had to refrain from shuffling his feet awkwardly.
They walked silently up to the Castle doors, and nodded mutely to each other in a way of goodbye when they parted.
Ginny had a very distinct trail of puddles following her to Gryffindor Tower. Sir Cadogan gave her a chivalrous greeting before she stumbled through the entranceway. She unceremoniously dropped her bag in front of the fire and sank to her knees. Tugging off her soaking wet gloves, cloak, scarf, and boots, she began to feel a bit warmer.
Comfortable, but still rather lonely, Ginny craned her neck to see if she could spot any friends in the common room. In the far corner, she saw Colin, Sycamore, and Dean Thomas crowding around Ashlyn. This was not an uncommon sight of her. The group laughed, and Ashlyn's silvery-brown head bobbed happily.
"Sick isn't it?" Ginny raised her head to the new voice besides her.
"Hello Fides," she began in greeting, but stopped at the sour look on her roommate's face.
"I swear it's like Ashlyn unknowingly possesses some sort of magnetism that boys are haplessly drawn to," Fides drew her eyebrows in a disapproving manner. "I cannot stand her. Walking around like some wilting flower…" Her voice jumped an octave as she mocked, "Oh, poor me! I am ever so helpless! Look at my weary, but still beautiful face! And my dull hair, which still looks better than anyone else's does, but isn't it so lifeless? I am ever so weak all the time. I guess I'll just leech off all the boys for their help! Poor me, the attention from the entire guy population of Hogwarts just won't do!"
Ginny observed her roommate quietly. Fides was pretty, but jealousy was not becoming of her. Ginny knew that Fides had a crush on a Hufflepuff boy in the beginning of the year, but the girl had seen him with Ashlyn and had immediately assumed the worse. Deciding to stick up for Ashlyn, since she was too far out of earshot to do so herself, Ginny said "She doesn't ask for the attention."
"How do you know?" Fides was not looking at Ginny, but still resolutely glaring at Ashlyn. She twisted one of her brunette curls around a finger absently. Then, her face softened, "Well, I guess she never has said anything about Nils."
Nils was the Hufflepuff.
"That's because she doesn't care for him. At least, not like you do," Ginny knew this for certain. Ashlyn had confided in her that she had always gotten butterflies in her stomach whenever Oliver Wood was within twenty feet. 'He's not that much older!' Ashlyn had forlornly exclaimed one evening.
"What do you think it is about her?" Fides was vaguely referring to Ashlyn's uncanny charisma.
"I couldn't tell you," Ginny answered honestly.
"Do you know, Sycamore's told me that he can't shake the feeling there's something odd about her," Fides said gossipingly as she leaned closer to Ginny. She lowered her voice and held a hand around her mouth secretively, "He says that even though he thinks she's fetching, that there's a strange aura that follows her."
"He thinks she's fetching?" Ginny asked, a smile pulling at her lips with a bit of excitement. She soon regretted saying that and swallowed a lump in her throat at the annoyed look Fides gave her. Dropping the smile, she asked as seriously as she could manage, "I mean, what is he implying with that 'aura' stuff?"
"No idea," Fides said and sat back, her face thoughtful. "He says he can't help picking up feelings like that from people. The first day of Potion's last year, he said it about Snape too. In fact, he's even said it about you…"
Ginny smiled nervously and tried to look innocently puzzled at the suspicious look Fides cast out the corners of her eyes.
"Of course, I don't buy any of it. He once tried to convince me that your brother's rat was hiding something sinister," said Fides before breaking into a laugh. "I mean come on, a rat? Who is he trying to fool?"
Laughing uneasily, and hardly thinking anything about Scabbers, Ginny wondered what Sycamore Mordant had said about her.
ooo
"You mean to tell me that you preformed an illegal, uncertified spell by yourself, without any supervision, or any care that something harmful could have happened to you? Then, you thought it would be good to go ahead and destroy the book, and not think anything of that," Snape asked, looming over Ginny threateningly.
She gulped in response.
"That is enough, Severus." Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, his eyes thoughtful from behind his lenses. He leaned on his elbows, letting his hands form a triangle with his fingers. "Ginevra, would you care to show me to this study where you completed the spell?"
"Of course, Headmaster," Ginny said, anxiously getting up from her chair.
Half an hour ago, she had been contentedly chatting with Fides, but then she had decided to talk to Dumbledore and Snape sooner than later. McGonnagal, who she had gone to see in order to get the Headmaster's password to his office, was also listening to Ginny's story. They had all seemed rather disappointed with her, though Snape was the only one to outright voice it.
The walk to the tapestry of Rhea seemed like an eternity to Ginny. She was nervous, she did not think of the ramifications of the spell, and she had tried not to think of how it could have gone wrong. The possibility of whether this spell was enough to get her expelled was something else she was trying hard not to consider.
They had reached the tapestry. Her arm shaking slightly, she pulled back the material and unlocked the door. Dumbledore 'hmm'-ed thoughtfully, as if he had suddenly remembered this room. She pushed opened the door and entered.
It was empty.
Ginny gasped as she started to the bookcase. Something was wrong. The books, the chest, even the cauldron was nowhere to be found. She spun around and faced the teachers, her mouth moving soundlessly.
"Is this some sort of joke, Miss Weasley?" Snape sneered at her unkindly.
"What is the meaning of this?" McGonnagal's regal voice was tinted with annoyance and stress.
"I don't know," Ginny was at a loss. She had left the room tidy, just the way she had found it. She went back to stare at the vacant shelves, and then checked all of the drawers of the desk for anything. Everything was gone.
"I am afraid that I can do nothing to you, Ginevra," Dumbledore spoke for the first time since entering the room. Snape gave him an incredulous look. The Headmaster continued, "If there is no evidence of you ever doing the spell, or using illegal ingredients, or even being out of your dorm late, then I can give you no punishment. Other than giving your teachers, myself included, false information."
Ginny did not mean to gape, but some things just happen.
"So, Minerva, what would you say is appropriate for young Miss Weasley?"
"Yes, Minerva, whatever shall you do?" Snape cast a bored expression to the ceiling. Of course, this action is not to be confused with 'rolling one's eyes'.
McGonnagal's smile quirked at Snape, "I do not see fit that punishment is needed…"
"And she says I spoil my students," Snape huffed.
"However, I wonder if it would be suitable that Miss Weasley be restricted to class, the Library, the Dining Hall for the next three weeks and at all other times she should remain in her dorm."
Ginny's face would have made any goldfish proud. She had known McGonnagal to be strict, but this was positively harsh. Even Snape looked a bit taken aback.
"Then again, maybe I do not wonder," McGonnagal turned and stepped out of the study.
Dumbledore, chuckling, followed her. Snape looked a bit irked at having bought McGonnagal's 'detention sentence'. Ginny just sighed in relief.
At least, she would have sighed in relief if Snape had not turned and cast a Legilemens spell at her out of nowhere. Her mind's barriers now went up mechanically, and when the spell hit her, she had the familiar feeling of something cold and slimy digging around her skull. It was an uncomfortable feeling, except when she went to rub at it her hand bounced off the side of her skull. She was grateful Snape was too occupied to notice.
The slimy hand feeling faded, and Snape's eyes refocused. The severe lines on his face lessened, and he announced, "Congratulations Weasley, all the tenants, save you of course, have checked out."
The teachers returned to Dumbledore's office to speak, and Ginny was free to wander back to her dorm. As she walked, the question of what happened to everything in the study nagged at her conscious. She stepped into the common room and someone caught her sight.
"Ashlyn," Ginny stated. Her friend looked up at her pleasantly, smiling and waving her over. She numbly obeyed and sat down in the overly cushioned chair.
Ashlyn was busy sewing a scarf, she held up what she had down so far, and Ginny nodded in approval. "I want to give it to Oliver. He's over there, talking to Harry and Ron right now. Of course, I'll probably just remain the type of girl who admires him from afar, but still the thought of―"
Interrupting her friend, and coming out in a more accusatory voice than either of them would have liked, Ginny said quietly "Have you been to the study behind the tapestry of the dragon and that warrior lately?"
"No, the last time I had to hide in there was…actually it was with you, on Halloween," Ashlyn had been a bit taken aback and looked a bit puzzled at the subject matter. "What's up?"
"Does anyone else know about that room?" Ginny wondered, if someone went in the room to clear it out, then was it possible that they had been in there at an earlier point? Someone could have fiddled with the materials at any point.
"You're the only person that I've told." Ashlyn put her scarf down and gave Ginny her full attention. "Something's wrong. What is it?"
"There were a few things in that room that I used for something before break, and when I went down there today they had vanished," Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and slumped deeper into the chair. "Do you know of anyone who might have access to it?"
"Anyone could have access if they knew it was there."
"I can't believe this," Ginny racked her hair distractedly. "The ingredients could have been tampered with, even the books, his notes, anything! How could I have risked the security?"
"…Uh. Want to fill me in?" Ashlyn asked, still confused as ever.
"Yes, I do. No, I can't," Ginny sat forward. She could not stand the fact that her mind was constantly listing all of the terrible things that could have, or still happen if a person tampered with anything in the room. "I'm going for a walk."
"It's going on eight…" Ashlyn pointed out.
"I'm going to bed."
"It's only eight o'clock…" she said again.
"I'm going to go think for a while." Ginny rubbed at her neck tiredly.
"It's only, wait no, never mind. Go ahead," Ashlyn went back to sewing the scarf.
Ginny grabbed her discarded articles in front of the fire and retreated to her room. She neatly put her things away, and then leaned onto her bed with a heavy sigh. She did not realize when she fell over, falling asleep within a minute after sitting down.
ooo
Ginny was back in the swing of classes in no time. She had stopped worrying about the spell and had decidedly started concentrating on her work instead. Her grades jumped back and she even began to feel more energized as January mowed on. As dismal as the Castle could have been, with most of the students still recovering from the lack of Holidays, Ginny had found the demands of studying almost relaxing. Focusing on her work was giving her much to think about and little time to worry over the past. She participated more in classes and socialized with her classmates, feeling more outgoing than ever before.
"No, really?" Madeline Corial said excitedly as she walked with Ginny to dinner at the end of one fine February day.
"Yep, and I have an especially great Bat Boogey hex too," Ginny laughed. "I used it on Fred and George when I was nine. Of course, Charley was livid when he found out I had used his wand, he ended up getting a warning from the Ministry for it! But, he was more understanding when he saw that my hair wouldn't stop wriggling all over the place that a bunch of snakes."
"Wow, you're so lucky! Growing up in a magical home with six amazing brothers, it must have been great," Madeline said wistfully, still giggling a little. She and her sister were muggle-born. With a sadder tint to her voice, she lamented, "It's going to be really hard for me after Katherine graduates this year. She says she going to live in the Wizarding world, and will have to come visit us at home during the Holidays."
"I know the feeling," Ginny said as they entered the Great Hall, "Both Charley and Bill live away from home. Bill's in Egypt and Charley's in Romania."
The two sat down at the Gryffindor table, where they were soon joined by more second years.
"I can't believe he gave me such a low mark, I worked on that Potion so meticulously." Colin was complaining as he set about getting food. "I mean, I work so hard in that class, doing everything as carefully as possible! Right, Fides? Aren't I really careful?"
Fides Winslow, who was Colin's partner, shrugged her shoulders. "Yea, you're careful. But that doesn't mean you don't cut like your hands are cucumbers. I just don't think you're cut out for Potions work."
There was a collective laugh, and even Colin seemed to agree. "Well, fine. So I'm bad at one thing―"
"Don't forget Transfigurations―"
"Or Charms―"
"And―"
"―Ok," Colin interrupted, a smile tugging at his lips, "So I'm pretty bad at a lot of things, but how did you do, Ginny?"
Ginny, who had been reading her History of Magic notes, looked up at her name, "Huh, what?"
"Colin wants to know how you did in Potions. Not that it will be anything less that your normally perfect marks," said Sycamore.
"Well, I…" her cheeks warmed, and she modestly bowed her head.
"See, I'm her partner, and I can tell you she's like a pro in the subject." Sycamore boasted for her. "Like this one time, I added snail eyes to a potion instead of newt toes, not sure how I managed that, but Ginny was able to tell me how to salvage it anyhow. Well, actually she more than did it herself than tell me."
"I was an easy mistake for anyone to make," Ginny started. Syca gave her a theatrically exasperated look. "Well, OK, maybe it was a very odd mistake, but it was nothing harmful."
"Ginny, the potion started emitting brown smoke."
"Well, just because it wasn't supposed to be smoking―"
"It was supposed to be as solid as molasses, but was instead like vinegar."
"And it wasn't as thick as it should have been―"
"It was dreadful."
"It was easily righted," Ginny said, laughing at the memory despite her better judgment.
"Ginny, admit it, you're a Ravenclaw in Lion's clothing," Colin stated. There was a murmur of agreement.
"I don't think so," Ginny said, "I like to think I am brave too."
"Brave," Fides said, smirking, "You're like a little wisp of a girl, Ginny. What have you done that's brave?"
"I've done plenty of things," she answered, feeling a bit defensive.
"Only because someone's asked you to, but have you done anything spontaneously brave?"
"Well, what have you done that's particularly courageous, Fides?" Ginny turned the tables.
"I fought off a Lethifold by myself," she bragged easily. There were a few gasps, as everyone knew how dangerous those things were. "And I was only ten when it came up on me, if I hadn't done something…"
Her eyes were foreboding, and shining with honesty. Ginny could not believe it, "No way, that's incredible!"
"It was just something I had to do," she held her nose high in the air.
"Last summer someone broke into our home," Madeline started, "I was able to hit him with enough magic to scare him off, though. My mother said that the man could have done anything if I hadn't stopped him."
"I went to France with my Dad to go Troll recruiting, but I ended up having to knock one out when it went bonkers and whacked my Dad with his club," Sycamore said curtly, nodding his head.
"I risk my neck trying to photograph Harry all the time!" Colin piped up, though no one was sure if he was trying to be earnest.
Everyone then glanced at Ginny expectantly. Her mind reeled trying to find something she could share with them, but came up blank. She could not say anything about Riddle, or sneaking around the Castle at night. "Maybe I don't have a heroic story to share, but I―"
"You've been too sheltered by your brothers to do anything," Fides seemed to seal the argument with this. Her smug face dropped, and she added almost reassuringly, "But the sorting hat must have seen something in you if he ended up placing you in Gryffindor."
Ginny would have answered yes, except she that couldn't. She remembered the exact moment when she had been sitting on that stool, the Sorting Hat speaking to her.
'Ah yes, a bright mind we have here. You would do very well in Ravenclaw, where you'd shine out even in the midst of other great scholars. And, though Helga would love to see your type of loyalty in her house, you are feeling overshadowed by your brothers, are you? Want to prove yourself, I see. Pureblood and deep ambition, Salazar would have modeled his student after you. Slytherin is the house where you could thrive. Oh, but you are brave. Buried deep in your heart, I see it. Yes? You like the idea of Gryffindor, feel you would do best there? Well, all right, if you do insist. You would have been welcomed in Slytherin, but either way, it seems you will be great…GRYFFINDOR!'
"I have to go," Ginny shoved her notes away and pushed herself up.
"Oh, come on, I didn't mean anything by this, Ginny," Fides said and cocked an eyebrow questioningly. Her smiled faded as it became obvious that Ginny was on the verge of tears. The redhead grabbed her bags and vanished. "Huh, poor thing. She's so teary!"
Ginny did not hear any of the comments as she shrank out of the Great Hall, rubbing at her eyes as she went. She stumbled up the staircases, salty drops still flowing steadily. She thought with a sick twist to her insides, that her friends were right. They all seemed to have proved their Gryffindor valor, while she had done nothing in comparison. Her foot raced for the next step, and hit nothing.
She fell forward and painfully slammed into the staircase, one of her legs dangling in the missing step. Ginny had bitten her lip when she had fallen, and it now was bleeding profusely, the blood mixing with her tears on the tip of her chin.
For a few minutes, she laid there, not moving and crumpled. Everyone was in the Great Hall. She would just have to wait, she thought miserably, for when her friends would find her and likely laugh at how she had gone and managed to get herself hurt.
Ginny heard someone coming down the stairs, and humiliated, buried her face behind her hair. With her voice sore from crying, she said shakily, "Do you think you could help me, please?"
The footsteps stopped on the stair above her head, and she hiccupped. Two spindly hands wrapped securely around her shoulders, and she was gathered in someone's arms. The person smelled like cold air, trees, and strangely of leather. She looked up through her red locks and saw a beautifully familiar face. Her heart missed a beat.
"Sir-Sirius?"
"Miss Weasley," he said, an arrogantly handsome smile lighting his features. He carried her up the stairs, his arms holding her close to his chest. She could hear the steady thump of his heart as he walked, or rather, gracefully floated down the halls.
He stopped in front of a painting and tapped the bed in it twice. It swept open to reveal an enormous―
"Linen closet, the elves keep all the sheets, pillows, comforters and all that other great stuff here," Sirius said as he put her down gently. "I used to hide out in here all the time."
Though the room was amazing huge, they size of a small auditorium, and filled with columns of white sheets, and colored blankets, Ginny was standing for only a second before she had encircled Sirius' waist in a hug. She exclaimed happily, "I can't believe you're back!"
"I told you I'd be back," he stroked her hair and emitted a laugh. Her skin tingled at the sound, and she smiled into his ribs.
"Wait a second," she said and pulled back. She snapped, "What do you think you're doing here?"
He seemed to wilt, "What's wrong?"
"You! You being here, it's not safe! If someone saw you, if you were caught―" Ginny's tears were renewed and she hugged Sirius again, not being able to finish.
"Ginny," he pet her back and lowered to the ground with her, "Listen, nothing's going to happen. Well, I won't be caught. You don't have to worry about anything like that."
He tore a piece of his shirt off and pressed it to her bleeding lip, he brought one of her hands up to hold it there. Sirius continued, "Anyhow, enough about me, how about you?"
Ginny hiccupped again, her eyes wide, "What about me?"
"Well, I come back to find you bruised and bleeding. You've been crying too. What's been going on? Last I heard, there was something about Occlumency lessons with Snape…"
"Well, a lot has happened since Halloween…" Ginny told Sirius everything. She started with the lessons and how Riddle would resurface in her, how she would get his memories. Then she moved onto Implimency. Then to the hidden study and the spell, all of the materials she had used and all of the books she had read. How her schoolwork had suffered, and then how she had finally just gone and performed it. Then she told him about the most recent encounters with Malfoy and her friends. Finally, when her voice and eyes could handle no more, she concluded, "And then I left them, because I was afraid about what the sorting hat had said, and I couldn't stand sitting around them. And that's the last thing that happened, before you found me."
At some point in her story, Ginny had curled up against Sirius's arm and chest while sitting in his lap. She wondered what her parents would do if they saw her now.
"The Sorting Hat was right," Sirius' voice was coming from somewhere above her left ear.
"It was?"
"You are intelligent, and loyal, and determined," his throat vibrated against the side of her head, and she leaned closer into him. "You're also very brave. You try to find the best in a person, no matter who they are said to be, and that's one of the most courageous things you could do. I mean that from personal experience."
She sighed into him as he played with her hair tenderly.
"I'm sure you did everything exactly right for that spell, I know you did," Sirius said sincerely. He asked, "How are your brothers? And Harry?"
Ginny tensed, "They're, uh, they're doing well."
"That's good," Sirius noted her sudden edginess, and dropped the subject. He stroked at the curly end of a lock of her hair. "You should be getting back to your dormitory now, Gin."
"I know." She didn't move.
He laughed and dragged her up with him when he stood. "I would offer to escort you―"
"Don't worry about me. It's you who has a bounty on his head." Ginny exhaled softly. "Just, take care, Sirius. Promise?"
"I promise," he took her in his arms one last time before he was a dog again.
She pushed open the painting door and watched as he shrank away down the corridor. "Bye…"
Ginny walked down the opposite hall, her mind still reeling over her meeting with Sirius. She turned a corner and almost walked into Professor Lupin, but he caught her shoulders before she did.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," Ginny said and collected herself.
"Hullo, Ginny," Lupin's voice was oddly husky. His hold on her shoulders remained firm.
"Professor, are you feeling ill?" She looked over his slightly trembling stance and pale skin, and finally his eyes. Ginny leaned forward on her toes to see that they were amber and glittering with raw emotion. His nose twitched, "Is something―"
Lupin bent down to rest his face in the bend of her neck, and moved his hand through her hair. She could feel the heat radiating off his body. He breathed in through his nose heavily, allowing his eyes to flutter shut. "Your fragrance…it has been tainted…"
He stood back roughly, and seemed to come to his rational senses. The amber tint had faded, and he rubbed at his forehead as if it pained greatly. Lupin sighed, swaying slowly where he stood.
"I'm sorry, Miss Weasley, you'll have to forgive me. It seems I'm running a fever," he said, his voice exhausted. He added almost inaudibly, "For a moment, I could have sworn it was him rounding the corner…"
Ginny's heart was pounding so fast, she was sure if it kept at this rate it would beat right out through her ribcage. She was still crammed against the wall where Lupin had bent over her. Her breathing was sharp and fast, causing her to feel dizzy. "I need to get back to Gryffindor tower, Professor."
"Go, go…" Lupin waved a hand at her dismissively. His voice was still rough, "I need to get back to my office…"
She just swallowed and could not help but duck away and start running. Her heels clicked steadily as she flew up stairs and down halls. Ginny's throat was dry and her ankles must have been bleeding, but she made it to Sir Cadogan without slowing.
The knight bowed at her, his helmet slamming shut over his face. "You look like you've been on quite an expedition my Lady!"
"Yea, yea," Ginny said this password, only to hear Ron's loud voice booming through the common room.
"BLOOD, HE'S GONE! AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"
From across the room, Ginny could not visually tell what her brother was holding up to Hermione's face, but Ron's face merely reddened as he yelled, "CAT HAIRS, HERMIONE! CROOKSHANKS' CAT HAIRS!"
Ginny wandered over to Fred and George who were, along with every other person in the room, watching the drama between Hermione and Ron. George leaned over to whisper, "Crookshanks finally got to Scabbers, it seems."
ooo
Ginny woke as if something had struck her. It took her a few moments to realize where she was and what was happening. She was in her bed and sleeping, when someone had screamed. She reached out to her bedside table, grabbed her wand, and lit it up. She saw Fides Winslow due the same and bound to the door.
"What's going on?" Madeline Corial turned on her lantern and pulled on a robe over her pajamas before following Fides.
Ashlyn was still dead asleep and snoring softly. Ginny did not wake her as she too headed into the common room where it seemed many people were popping up looking just as bleary eyed and confused.
She heard Ron before she saw him. "Perce — Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"
Everything went very still. Ginny's legs seemed to turn to jelly and she stumbled backwards. She heard McGonnagal enter and say something, when again Ron spoke up.
"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME WITH A KNIFE!"
ooo
The weeks leading up to the Quidditch Final were the worst Ginny had ever endured. Filled with as much guilt as she had experienced last year, she was finding herself unable to do anything with any of the vigor she had acquired after Christmas. She was back to being the miserable, quiet little girl of her first year. She kept seeing herself with Black, handing him her trust, only to have him gleefully smash it into a million pieces. Ginny was driving herself mad with shame and disgrace. She was not brave enough to go to Dumbledore and admit to him what she knew. Ron could have been killed, and as guilty as Neville may have felt for losing the passwords, she felt ten folds worse. She was just as gullible, naïve, and stupidly trusting as ever before.
Hermione was not making things any better. She would seek Ginny out and try to comfort her about Ron, saying that everything would be all right, and then burst into tears. Ginny would end up awkwardly reassuring Hermione that Ron and Harry were not going to get themselves killed or anything of the sort.
The day before the Quidditch final, the atmosphere was heavy with anticipation throughout the entire Castle. Ginny was one of the few at the Library studying for exams. She was doing extra research on mythical beasts, when Luna Lovegood joined her.
"Hello, Ginevra," the blonde said dreamily as she sat down. She eyed Ginny's book and got an interested spark in her eye. "Thrilling subject matter isn't it?"
Ginny laid the book down and nodded, "I guess you could blame Charley for getting me so fascinated with it."
"Dad is having a related article published in the Quibbler in July," Luna said, organizing her own study materials as she spoke.
"Really?"
"Yes, it's on Hybrids, actually." Luna unscrewed her inkwell and continued, "Everyone says that they can't happen. The blood would never be stable for any creature to be procreated. We know that excuse is rubbish, of course. There are plenty of cases of mixed bloodlines, such as Werewolves, and half-Giants, and wizards with Veela or vampire blood."
Ginny furrowed her eyebrows, something was tugging at the back of her mind. She scratched her nose and shrugged instead. "Sounds cool, when's the article coming out?"
"September, I'd expect. Dad's still waiting on an interview from this guy who claims he's part-Veela and his wife had been a werewolf. Of course, that's nothing compared to this Ministry worker who says he has a Heliopath that he's trying to breed with a Thestral. Dad's pretty concerned with that one, says it might be risky to have something like that in our magazine."
"A Thestral?" Ginny tilted her head. "Aren't those the creepy horse things that predict death?"
"Oh, no. They are quite harmless, in fact. We have them here at the Castle, you do know," Luna said, her normally large eyes widening.
"I've never seen them."
"Have you ever seen someone die? If you haven't, that's why." Luna's voice was distant. "I saw my Mother pass, that's why I can see them."
"I'm sorry," Ginny cast her eyes downward. "You told me about that, I should have realized."
"Don't be sorry. I'm not," Luna said wisely, and turned her attention to her work. Ginny followed her lead and got back to her studies as well.
ooo
That night, the common room was bursting with excitement from everyone about the Quidditch Cup Final. As much as she wanted Gryffindor to win the match, Ginny found to noise and activity to be a bit overwhelming. Without bidding anyone goodnight, she retreated to her bed around seven that evening.
Early the next morning, a cool breeze woke her up. Ginny sniffed loudly and turned on her side, facing the open window. The moon lit the room and she looked around to find all her roommates well asleep. One was muttering tiredly. Ginny got off the bed and gazing back to the window, she made her way to its ledge.
The rays of the waning moon drifted over the Hogwarts grounds and castle, climbing the stones to Ginny, where it basked her in its ethereal touch. She inhaled the night and sighed, something she had been doing much of late.
Her mind was itching with questions, making her restless. The bedroom was rapidly becoming too restraining, its walls too constraining for her mind. She wanted nothing more than to leave, so she did, grabbing her wand and a cloak as she went. Ginny stayed silent as she crept out of the common room, highly aware of the fact she was out of bed after lights out, yet not caring at the same time.
"Lumos," she whispered, not wishing to wake any of the portraits, as the light would be bad enough. A few stirred as she passed, thankfully, none woke.
Walking around Hogwarts Castle in the night is a very different experience than in the day, Ginny decided. There seemed suddenly to be many more routes for her to take. The staircases had switched themselves again since that afternoon, and the corridors were dim. She thought she had been almost at the Great Hall, but found herself in very dungeon-like settings. She realized that she was no longer in a familiar hallway.
"Hello, there!" An alien voice crooned and Ginny stopped abruptly and spun around.
"Who's there? Where are you?" she brandished her wand threateningly. To her, the way was empty.
"I'm right here," the wizened voice spoke again. Ginny turned around once more and spotted a lone portrait on the wall.
Holding her wand up to the painting, she asked, "Who are you?'
"I am Kenelin of Mursdon," the portrayed wizard said pompously, though the name meant nothing to Ginny. She looked at his tunic and lavish robes, his long silvery beard and baldhead, and figured that he must be centuries old.
"My name is Ginny Weasley, nice to meet you Kenelin."
"May I inquire as to why you are down this hallway Miss Weasley?"
Ginny did not have a straightforward answer for him and took to looking down both ends of the passage before she answered, "Just having a stroll around the castle."
"I don't see many students down this way often." Kenelin said this, but Ginny could hear his curiosity for her intentions in his tone of voice.
"Well, Hogwarts is a big place," she trailed off.
"'Tis an odd time to be out for a stroll." He was prompting her again.
"I had trouble sleeping," Ginny answered him awkwardly, looking down at her tatty nightgown.
"Couldn't sleep you say? Well, I always find that reading does the trick. In fact, behind me is a room that is full of great tombs of interest." Kenelin had a lock of his beard in his hand and he was idly curling it as he spoke.
"A hidden library?" Ginny asked, her interest growing.
"It is more or less of an abandoned History of Magical Literature room."
"Sounds good enough, may I enter?"
Kenelin smiled, "Of course. So rare is this, I would not say no." He swung forward and Ginny bounced through the portrait hole.
Inside it was a gloomy and empty room, but the aged smell of ink and books was comforting to her. Ginny did not live for books, maybe last year it could have been argued that she lived for a certain diary, but she was not as avid a reader as Hermione. That was not to say she had never spent nights curled up reading texts into the early morning, though. They had especially been consoling in the hours where sleep would not come, or refuse to be peaceful.
It was this thought in mind that brought Ginny to the expansive shelves crammed with books on the far wall of the classroom. She scanned the titles embossed along the spines, shivering slightly in a cool draft, having not bothered to grab a warm cloak. Her fingers found a particularly ancient tomb, its leather spine wrinkled with age. In very faded silver script read Legend Maker. Ginny pulled it off the shelf, which was a hard task due to the sheer volume of texts crammed into the case, and flipped impatiently to the page of the first chapter.
Something was luring Ginny to the story, she did not know what it was that was so important, but the swelling feeling inside her was telling her she needed this book and the information held within it. She had finally turned to the right page when—
"With a past like yours Virginia, one should think you would learn not to trust every book you cross so easily."
Ginny slammed the book shut and spun around, her body shaking. With what emotion she could not tell. Fear, anger, even…anticipation. Was this to be her second chance to right Riddle and prove her worthy? "I've heard your voice one too many times not to know it is you, Tom. Where are you?"
The room was getting cooler, but otherwise remained as it had been when she first entered, empty and gloomy. She drew the book to her chest, clinging to it there, its presence comforting her still.
"After you got rid of me in the study, I was suddenly free to roam the halls as I pleased. No Gryffindor limbs attached."
"That can't be, I put you back into that Diary…"
A very arrogant laugh drifted through the room, "Don't you understand, darling? I meant for you to perform that spell all along. And it is why I am here right now. You likely would never had found out how to do it, if it wasn't for the fact I laid all it out for you, sweetheart."
Ginny still could see nothing of Riddle. This is not happening, she thought as she squinted around the room and took a step towards the door, her breath hitched in her throat.
"Sorry Red, but there will be no leaving me this time."
A chair flung itself across the room and slammed into the door, two more piled themselves on top of the first. The cherry wood desk followed, sliding across the floor, four legs screeching as it went.
"Like someone won't hear all this…There's a head boy, a caretaker, and I'm sure a number of teachers walking the halls tonight," Ginny was praying that someone would come, but she had a way of avoiding detection by authoritative figures.
"No one is near. Even if they were, I have sealed the room with a silencing charm. When they do come, I will be gone, just not before I get what I came for."
The blinds rattled loudly and the lighter objects in the room began to quiver as a wind picked up, an electric crackle went through the air. Ginny shrieked and dropped to her knees. Something shattered, and books from the case behind her fell forward, several hitting her as they plummeted to the floor. She curled further into a ball and brought one arm to cover her head. His cool laughter reached her ears over the commotion.
"Ah, Virginia, such a sweet little thing you are," now the voice was accompanied by approaching footsteps, "And such a wonderfully powerful little witch you are too. Yes. Young, but so full of energy. Life and dreams, ambition and will, and the power to back everything up. Just the elixir I need…" the footsteps stopped. Ginny could see his black shoes shining up at her through her bangs. Then there was a hand as his knees bent downward. The long white fingers found her neck, and lifted her upward.
DO something! You have a wand! Use it! Ginny shut her eyes and clutched at her book. She extracted one hand and reached for her wand…Just to your pocket…
"Sweetheart, you may have your eyes closed, but—"Riddle's free hand found hers and thread his fingers through her own, "Nice try…"
Ginny groaned as he shoved her to the wall, crushing her hand awkwardly against the wooden panels. She opened her eyes.
"See, was that so hard?" Tom Riddle was not unlike Harry, but his features were sharper, and darker to Ginny. He had higher cheekbones and a narrower chin. His eyes were a deep blue, and did not seem to favor reflecting light. His hair was black, short of the auburn highlights that Harry had. His skin was pale and clear, his lips a frosted mauve. Ginny had only seen him twice before, and that had been in his diary, a memory he had shared with her, and once in Snape's classroom, when she had looked in the mirror to find him staring back at her.
"I asked you a question, Ginny, dear, now answer it," Riddle smiled as he tightened his hold on her neck, squeezing in on her windpipe. Ginny blinked back the tears in her eyes and tried not to choke at the saliva in the back of her throat. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Well, no, I suppose in this case it would be the serpent…"
His eyes looked thoughtful, and his smirk widened. Riddle let go of her neck and hand, only to grab her shoulders and knock her back into the wall. He fished her wand out from inside her nightgown.
"What are you doing—" she opened her mouth to inquire and maybe scream a bit.
"Perfect…" Riddle had other ideas as her secured his hold on her and leaned forward. His lips captured hers, and his tongue slipped into her mouth, sliding over her teeth and then her tongue. Ginny tried to kick out at him, but he had his entire body pressed against hers. She clawed at his shoulders, then his neck and finally his hair. She could feel his smile as she ripped her hands through his hair. Ginny's eyes were screwed shut, her nose wrinkled in disgust, and her lungs were unpleasantly tingling with lack of oxygen. And finally, she stopped resisting.
Riddle laughed into her as he pressed himself firmer against her, his tongue exploring her mouth more as he deepened the torturing kiss. Ginny cried, becoming very weak now. This was a familiar feeling, one she had experienced before in the Chamber. Riddle had returned, had again gotten the best of her, and again was killing her, and she again could do nothing to stop it.
Just as she felt that her lungs were deflating of their last breath, the door slammed open. For a wild second she thought it would be Dumbledore coming to rescue her.
Riddle dropped Ginny at the intrusion and she made acquaintance with the floor once more. She looked up dizzily at what remained of the doorway through her tears, not expecting to find a slightly tousled Slytherin standing in the rubble of the desk, chairs, and door he had blown apart in order to get into the room.
"Nice to finally see you, Tom Riddle," said the silky voice of Blaise Zabini.
oooooo
Author's note: Madeline's fight with the burglar was based on something a friend of mine did when a guy broke into her apartment. Of course, she didn't use magic, but it was still amazingly brave of her!
There must be so much OOC-ness in this chapter. I'm sorry! Hmm, I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry if things seem a bit hard to believe. And as for Sirius smelling of leather, I don't know, I've just always imagined him like a lovable, (sexy, -hehe, did I say that?) roguish motorcyclist with leather chaps. Haha, I know, I know, you probably think I'm batty. So, moving on, there are many clues laid out in the chapter that should make some things a bit more obvious. And, uh, yay for that scene with Draco and Ginny! I had so much fun writing it. And Blaise is back, too! And Tom! I took out the scene with Snape and Ginny doing another Implimency lesson, it didn't really fit well. So, sorry! Though I doubt it was really missed… OK, since I am babbling, I think I'll just stop myself with: I LOVE MY READERS (and reviewers!) SO MUCH! Check out my profile for extra information and updates on new chapters, too!
Garnet Til Alexandros XIII: Long reviews are the greatest! Theories are WELCOMED! They're so cool!
Ciardra: Sycamore's not smart per se. I have a little write-up on him in my profile if you'd like to read it. It's only a paragraph, but I put it there because it just wouldn't fit into the actual story.