To Riality and nakedmolerat: Well, you're kind of supposed to be confused, but I explain in this chapter. Actually…I explain a lot more than I probably should in this chapter. Ah, well. Thank you also to marauding-siriusly. Sorry for the long chapter, it was sort of free-flow.

Disclaimer: …I don't own it.

Harry gritted his teeth as he removed rubble and wood from the surrounding area, mentally cursing Desdemona the whole time.

"Mmph!"

His eyes widened as he heard the exclamation. He removed one, particularly large piece of wood that looked to be a door, and a girl smiled groggily up at him.

"Hi. M'name's Katherine. I s'pose you're Harry Potter? Gin's told me about you?" The last comment seemed to be more of a question, and as Harry lifted her out of the debris, he nodded.

"Yeah, well, actually we're trying to find Ginny now, but me and Hermione are in charge of getting you and your brother free. Can you walk?"

Katherine nodded, and decided that until they were out of the house, it would be best if she had decided to just ignore Harry's unruly hair, or his shocking emerald green eyes, or…

"Um, well, I'm just going to see if I can help Hermione with your brother." Despite Katherine's protests, he had her lean on him as they stumbled into the kitchen. Hermione was wiping Sebastian's brow, and he winced as a long gash across his head bled freely.

"Damn evil Dark Goddess…" He mumbled.

Katherine smiled at him. "Well, it seems he's fine. But what about Ginny?"

Harry glanced back at the stairs. "I don't know, the screaming stopped a moment ago, but if they've found her or not…" he trailed off uncertainly. Hermione snorted.

"I know you want to go, Harry, so go already! I'll take care of these two, they'll be fine, trust me."

Harry nodded his thanks and shifted Katherine over to her, before sprinting out of the kitchen and bounding up the stairs. He almost collided with Ron, who was running down the hallway.

"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ron pulled him down another corridor. "I don't know, she stopped screaming and everyone just kind of split up! I think Soleil went down to see if Ginny went downstairs, but I don't know where the others are!"

"And Desdemona?"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

They both glanced down the hallway where the voice had come from. "A dementor?" Harry said.

"In the house? And no one has a wand!" Ron looked skeptical, but he rushed away with Harry nonetheless.

Blaise heard the shout and saw only the light, before he veered sharply to his left and blinked pointedly at Draco, who was standing further down behind.

"What the hell? How'd you do that?"

But Draco was moving past him, sprinting into the room. Blaise followed close behind, and found that after crossing the threshold, he was unable to move.

Ginny's body was visible from behind a thin, gauzy veil of black smoke. A slight man with black hair and haunted eyes was hunched over her, a knife in hand.

Ginny lunged for them, but the man grabbed her. Ginny scrambled frantically, but as the man pulled her back, she looked up and screamed a single word.

"DRACO!"

The blond-haired boy was like a being possessed. He struggled to get out of the magical bonds that were enveloping him, as his patronus clawed futilely at the black veil.

"Funny, isn't it?"

The boys managed to turn their heads, and found a dark-haired woman in a two-piece dress smirking at them. Two long, delicate fangs seemed to grow quickly from her upper canines.

"Who the hell are you?" Draco growled.

The woman laughed. "Desdemona, at your service, although I do believe these brats call me Dezzie. I hate that." Now that she was suppressing her power, Desdemona's voice sounded almost normal, except for the occasional venomous undertone.

"Tom!" She snapped her fingers, and the man holding Ginny stopped. He glared at her irately.

"What? What? She's right here, let me finish her off!"

"Tom?" Blaise stared. "As in, Tom Riddle? But you're dead!"

Tom let out a short, husky laugh. "Yes, I know that. But such is the power of the Dark Goddess Desdemona, future ruler of this world!"

"Shut up, Tom." Desdemona eyed Draco, who was still glaring violently at her. "I like you. But you don't seem to like me very much."

"Let Ginny go." Draco ground the words out through his teeth.

Desdemona tutted. "Oh, but my dear boy, I can't! You see, in order for Tom to come back fully, he needs some of his blood! And seeing as Harry Potter completely and totally demolished his body a year or so back, it ruins his chances."

"Then why do you want Ginny?" Blaise couldn't help it; he was curious.

Desdemona smiled, exposing two fangs growing on her lower canines. "Oh, Tom had a few—special things he was doing in the Chamber with her. She has more power than she knows, poor girl."

Ginny suddenly jerked herself out of Tom's grip, and shrank into a corner. Tom smiled evilly.

"She's still afraid of me. You remember what we did, pet? In the Chamber?"

Ginny's eyes darted briefly to the dagger clutched in his hand, and Tom laughed. Draco wrenched himself once more from the magic, but it held fast.

Ginny squirmed, and Tom sighed. "She tires me, and I only have until a while. May I, please?"

"No!" snapped Desdemona. "You have just as long as I do. We shall do it on the same day. Evil arisen doubly is better."

"What shall I do with her until then?"

Desdemona shrugged idly. " I really don't know, Tom, figure something out!"

Tom frowned, but brought his dagger down sharply onto Ginny's head, hilt first. She slumped, and a trickle of blood ran from her hair.

"You'd better hope she wakes up." Desdemona twirled a strand of hair idly. Draco let out a little moan as Ginny became unconscious. Desdemona noticed this, and recorded it for further use, just as footsteps sounded and Ron and Harry appeared in the doorway.

They took in the scene quickly, and Harry, who besides Ginny was the only person to have seen Tom, opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water.

"Riddle?" He finally gasped out. "T—Tom Riddle?"

Desdemona clapped, and Harry and Ron looked towards her. "Look at that, we all know each other! We could all be one, big happy family." She suddenly made a fist.

Harry and Ron flew into the room and the door slammed shut. The boys were held down on the floor by the same magic holding Draco and Blaise.

"Oops, did I lie?" Desdemona smiled. "And here I was, trying to be nice. Let me see…I believe you are Harry Potter." She pointed to Harry, who only scowled darkly at her. "And you…you look to be related to the girl. You could come in handy…"

There was a scraping noise; Tom had hoisted Ginny onto his shoulder, and the veil around them parted as he exited. As soon as they were out of it, however, the veil began to swirl ominously around them again, as if they were in a hazy glass cage.

"Is it that time already, Tom?" Desdemona asked lazily. He looked at her, and the distaste and hate on his face was visible. He obviously did not like his for-now Mistress, and she didn't care to hide her contempt of him.

"Yes, Desdemona. We have to begin the planning, now." He stressed the last word, and took a step forward. Draco's patronus, which he seemed to have forgotten, swooped underneath his leg.

Tom pitched forward, and flung out his arms. In the process, Ginny began to fall, but behind him. The patronus caught her and, with much flapping of the wings, began to fly towards the door.

Desdemona pointed one finger, turned it over, and curled it back towards herself. There was a popping noise, and the patronus disappeared. Ginny fell once more, although this time, she began to float neatly before hitting the floor.

"You can't escape, so I suggest you don't try." Desdemona began to walk towards the door, which swung open. Ginny floated behind her, and Tom brought up their rear.

In a moment, the boys felt a sort of tugging on their arms and legs. The black veil moved from its spot by the wardrobe and seeped underneath them. They found themselves being carried after the Goddess.

Desdemona glided down the hallways and the stairs.

Hermione was bending over Sebastian's right leg, and wrapping a cloth around it. She had taken a broken plank from the floor and somehow trimmed it down, so that it served as a splint.

Katherine was leaning against the sink, but as soon as the group entered, she raised her eyes.

Desdemona didn't give them a moment to think. She merely blinked, and the three were bound by invisible ropes. Without another word, she raised her arms, and a black smoke surrounded them.

"Where are you taking us?" Hermione struggled against the magical bonds.

Desdemona smirked as the smoke began to clear. "Seeing as I can't see the house, I'm going to leave you inside a very special room. You'll be let out when it's time for these bonds to be raised."

Before the smoke could be fully cleared, however, she stepped backwards, taking Tom with her. There was a loud slamming noise, and the assemblage was able to move again.

They were in a completely blue room, with hints of gray and purple on the walls. The air seemed distorted somehow, and most of them found it unnerving.

But everyone ignored the atmosphere, as Ron crawled over to his little sister and cradled her head in his lap.

"Gin…Gin, are you ok?" His voice cracked, and he buried his face in his hands. "It's not fair! Every single time you finally forget, something like this has to happen!"

Hermione exchanged a glance with Harry, before speaking smoothly to Ron. "What do you mean, Ron? Was there something Ginny had to forget?"

Draco, who had been itching to hug the redheaded girl as soon as he saw her lying on the ground, suppressed the urge and the pounding in his ears in time to hear Hermione's question. He listened keenly to Ron's answer.

"She was always so—different, after the Chamber. She didn't talk much, and when she came home, we were just so happy to have her back again! But she didn't sleep at night, and although she always acted just fine and happy when she was around people, we weren't stupid." Ron wiped a hand across his eyes, which were tearing.

"She cried sometimes, too. But we—as in, Mum and Dad and my brothers—decided to just let it go. She obviously wasn't going to tell us, and you know how Ginny gets when you prod her about something. Then, when Voldemort went down, it was all quiet for a long time. She was fine, and she wasn't pretending."

There was a lull after this comment, and no one at all spoke, until Harry glanced at his best friend. "But she's relapsed more than once?"

Ron nodded, his face tight. "You know that time the Giant Squid tried to eat her hat? And how freaked out she was?"

Everyone remembered. It had been a sunny day outside, the first after a series of cold days in September. So everyone had been outside. Ginny had been walking with Soleil along the water's edge, when the Squid had been paddling lazily on the surface. It had spied her hat, and for reasons unknown, decided to reach over and pull her in to get at it.

Ginny had been upset to the point where she couldn't speak for quite a while, even though she had laughed it off when climbing out.

"She started acting weird after that, and after the whole thing where Malfoy—your father," he stared pointedly at Draco, who couldn't restrain a wince. "Where Malfoy attacked her, and I'm very sure she probably had them while she was here."

Everyone looked at the twins, and Katherine let the tiniest of nods escape her. Sebastian merely closed his eyes.

"The point is," Ron said, suddenly looking years older, "Every time something remotely bad happens to Ginny, or someone she cares for, whatever it is that's bugging her comes back. I'm almost positive it's nightmares, but I just don't know about what."

"You—are an idiot." Draco ventured.

"I second that!" Sebastian sat up quickly and his eyes all but flew open.

Ron was too shocked to say anything, but Sebastian had to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. Katherine rounded on him.

"Why would you say a thing like that, Toad? These people just saved our lives, maybe, you can't tell them they're idiots!"

"I didn't." Sebastian blinked innocently up at her. "I only agreed with the person who said it."

Katherine punched him in the shoulder, and as he rubbed at it ruefully, she glared daggers at Draco. "And I suppose you're Draco Malfoy? Yes, Ginny's told us a bit about you…"

Draco ignored her and focused his attention on the Golden Trio. "Let me recap for you. Ginevra—it's not that bad, Weasel—comes out of the Chamber." Ron had flinched when Draco used Ginny's given name. "You make sure she's not on the verge of dying, scold her a bit, send her off to Pomfrey, then listen to the boy hero's tale and congratulate him on another job well done?"

"What's your point, Malfoy?" Harry growled, his face darkening rapidly.

"My point is," Draco sneered, "Did you ever, ever care to ask her what happened in there?"

"But—but she wouldn't have told us!" Ron protested, but Draco cut him off.

"She would have if you had cared, but once she went months with those nightmares and still no one said a word, you think maybe she just decided to let it go? Maybe she just decided, she's apparently not good enough for her family, so why bother heaping her troubles on you!"

Ron blanched as Draco's words hit home. They fit in exactly with Ginny's behavior, and what could have happened in her time in the Chamber.

Harry looked a touch frightened as he voiced the question on everyone's minds. "Do you think—do you think Riddle touched her?"

Draco stiffened, and took a moment before answering. When he did, his voice was laced with venom.

"If he did, I'll make sure he dies a slow, painful death."

The silence this time was deafening, and, as Draco glared at everyone in the nearest vicinity, daring them all to disprove his theory, Ginny stirred.

"If it's any consolation to you…I thought you beautiful when I first wrote to you. And now I find I'm right!"

She blushes.

"I'm not—I'm not beautiful. I'm very plain."

He smirks.

"On the contrary, Ginny, you're very, very dashing. Will you—will you do something, for me, Ginny?"

He whispers in her ear.

She blanches.

"But that's vile, Tom! I could never!"

And she looks into his eyes.

And is falling once more.

Into that pit of despair

Where everything he says is right, and she is the only erroneous thing.

Then there are voices…talking about her…superimposing over brief snatches of what she did. The images are her second year's fears, but the words are the present.

"She would have if you cared!"

If you cared.

If they cared.

She looks at the red on her hands, and runs back into her room.

"What's going on, Tom? I can't remember what I did all yesterday!"

"It will all be fine, Ginny, I promise you. Will you do something for me, please?"

He's holding her. She nods, and looks into his eyes.

No one cares.

No one knows.

"Do you care, Tom?"

He shakes his head.

"I don't. And I never did."

She is lost to the world once more, and when she returns, he is lifting the dagger hilt, to mark her body with the bruises. He only lifts the blade to make one long, running scar down the side of her stomach, and it stings like fire. The he hears Harry coming.

"I'll always be here, Ginny. When you're afraid…I'll come visit. You can close your eyes…but you'll still see me."

She screams, and the last thing she sees is his wicked grin, as he pockets the dagger in his voluminous robes.

And still, no one cares.

Ginny's eyes flickered open, and she blinked blearily at her brother, who was leaning over her. Behind him she could see the others, glancing to her from around the odd room they were in.

She felt dizzy, and knew she couldn't stay awake for long, so she sought out the pair of eyes she cared most about.

They were carefully guarded, she could tell, and yet no matter how hard she searched, the barriers would not break for her.

"Ginny. Are you ok? Can you speak to me?" Ron was looking down at her worriedly. Ginny didn't nod. Her eyes were still locked with Draco's, and in that moment, something inside her gave way.

"Do you even care?" she whispered, before fainting dead away.

"Ginny! Ginny!" Ron looked to be on the verge of tears before Hermione grabbed his hand and shook her head.

"She's fine, Ronald, she's just fine. But I think we should get out of here, so that she can get some real help." She looked over at the twins, who were still silently arguing, but stopped when they realized attention was directed on them.

"Yes?" Katherine eyed her rather suspiciously.

"I just wanted to know, do you know what room we're in? If anything, we need to find a way out of here before Desdemona—,"

"Dezzie." Sebastian grinned in what he thought to be a helpful way at her. She cast him an odd glance, but nodded.

"Right. Des—er, Dezzie, can't get her powers before we find a way to get rid of her. I have an idea, but if you know any better…"

Katherine shook her head shortly. "No, we don't. And even if we did, we couldn't tell you. Not because we don't want to—but we've been cursed, so that if we do, our death wounds return and—," she stopped as a sudden nosebleed overtook her.

Sebastian ripped some of the cloth from his black t-shirt and handed it to her. "Looks like you've said too much, Gossip Girl." He arched an eyebrow as she smacked him, but took the cloth anyway. "What? What?"

"Toad." She mumbled, but smiled affectionately, and turned to Hermione. "So where do you think we are?"

"In a Time Puzzle." She didn't bother waiting for them to think, as she knew none of them would have heard it before. "The Japanese wizards were always very smart, and they were especially interested in time. That's why their artwork is so detailed. You should see their shrines, and—,"

"Today, Granger, I would like to leave this room." Draco drawled. She turned red, flustered, but cleared her throat and started over.

"Yes, well, they were very smart. They were attempting to make a time machine sometime in the early 1800's, but those projects failed miserably. Finally, a team of highly skilled wizards came up with something; a Time Puzzle."

"And these puzzles do—what?" Sebastian was looking at her eagerly. "Did they do it?"

"No." Hermione smiled gratefully at him, as he seemed genuinely interested. "Well, yes, in a way. You see, they harnessed time inside of a room, but it always escaped unless it was held in by a powerful amount of magic. In this case, Desdemona."

Hermione began to pace. "Time Puzzles work in a complex way. They can go forward and backward in time, or freeze it for quite a while. The thing is, they only affect people inside. So time will go on normally for those outside, but for us, it will seem like minutes, or seconds. Or we could spend what seems like years in here, but turns out to only be a day or two."

"Years?" Soleil suddenly seemed very, very nauseous. Hermione ignored her, however.

"There were problems. No one could tell where they were going in time, or how long they could stay in. And the only way to get out was through the Time Puzzle itself. In each of the four corners of the room is a Japanese name, one of the founding wizard or witch's names. All these names describe something. You're supposed to find something you have with you that the name describes, like a person or object."

She looked up, her face flushed. "Can anyone speak Japanese?"

There was a long, drawn out pause before Soleil raised a tentative hand. They all stared at her, and she defended herself. "Hey, Ginny and I could get very bored at times! We thought it fun to learn languages so we could kill time!"

But Hermione was already forcing her to her feet, and leading her to a corner. "Here, read this one."

Soleil squinted for a moment. A small, raised platform stuck to the bottom corner of the wall had something written in kana on it.

"Er, Leiko. That means—oh, Gods, Ginny was always better at it then me…arrogant!"

"We need something arrogant!" Hermione exclaimed triumphantly. All eyes turned to Draco, who took a moment before turning a burning red.

"I am not arrogant!"

"Yes, you are." Sebastian grinned coolly up at him. "You're actually very arrogant, and as Ginny so quaintly put it, a pompous arse at times."

Draco scowled, but stalked over to the corner and stood there.

"If it's any consolation, she thought you were a very cute arse! Or was it had a very cute arse?"

"Shut up!" hissed Katherine, and she pinched Sebastian even harder, but everyone in the room had managed a smile.

Hermione marched Soleil to the next corner. It came faster this time.

"Right, that's—Tomo. It means twin, so I think one of them has to come." She gestured to Sebastian and Katherine.

"I'll go. Seb can't do it with his leg, anyway." Katherine stood and walked into the corner, and smiled a bit at Hermione before slumping against it. Harry couldn't help but notice she was cute when she looked disheveled.

"Ok, the next one is Aiko. I'm not sure on this one, but it might be beloved one, or little love."

"That's Harry." Ron looked up at them, blushing furiously. "Because of his parents, see?"

"Right." Harry stood and went over to his own little corner, eyeing the raise platform somewhat spitefully.

Soleil practically skipped over to the last one, confident in her success. But she visibly drooped as her eyes scanned it, and she licked her lips.

"This is in Japanese…but it's not a Japanese names. One of these founding persons was a foreigner."

"Can you still read the name?" Hermione asked anxiously. Soleil nodded.

"I think it's…actually, I can't get the name out, but the meaning's pretty clear. Little red haired one."

"Ron?" Hermione asked.

Soleil shook her head. "That symbol on the left would be different if it meant a guy…but even to be sure, I'm very sure I saw this when we were learning."

"I KNOW IT!" Hermione was suddenly jumping up and down in glee, and they all eyed her warily. "One of the founders of the Time Puzzle was a traveler, and stopped long enough to help with some major changes in the Japanese language and to work on this. She was a witch, but she had several names. Rogan and Roslin were the ones she went by most. They all mean red-haired one!"

"So…Ginny." Soleil turned to look at her the girl lying on the ground, still with her head in Ron's lap.

"You'll have to carry her, Ronald." Hermione was scrutinizing the situation as Ron lifted his sister up and carefully let her lean against the corner. "And from the looks of it, everyone has to touch their platform, so on the count of three. One…two…three!"

As soon as there was weight on every one of the platforms, there was a bright flash of light. Beams of green, red, white and blue shot out from the platforms and connected. There was a heavy creaking noise, and from the right side of the room, a section of the wall slid back to reveal a hidden door.

"We're out!" Hermione crowed.