Our Diary
Chapter 5 -- Exploration
Disclaimer: JKR has the ownage. Amazingly, that hasn't changed.
Author's Note: It's been far too long since I've updated. I am going to try to update more frequently from now on, though. Honestly.
Please forgive my attempts at writing dialect. I'm not very good at that aspect of conversation.
Enjoy! Fill your lives with the glory of this story! or... read it... or something...
Directly after classes, Ginny ran up to her dormitory, and collapsed on the bed. Her school bag bulged with at least five very heavy volumes. Her face was so pale that her skin seemed stretched tight against her skull. Her freckles stand out alarmingly, and there were dark shadows under her eyes. She fumbled under her mattress, and pulled out the little diary.
September 14
Tom...
Hmm?
Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I stayed up all night working on schoolwork, like you told me to...
All night? Good girl.
I think I'm all caught up, now. All my teachers were rather startled.
Fine.
So... I did what you said. Does that make up for... what I said yesterday?
Not entirely. But it makes me feel better... that you care enough about me to follow my advice. How are you feeling now?
Oh god. I'm so tired, I could sleep for the next month and still want a nap... I've never stayed up all night before!
Well, congratulations. Remember this: good students must work all night in order to learn enough. You want to be a good student, correct?
Yes, Tom.
How many nights would you stay awake for me?
What kind of a question is that?
Idle curiosity.
Er... I don't know.
Very well. But, now, Ginny dear, I suggest you rest.
I'm really not tired...
Rest now.
Her eyes immediately fluttered shut, the book still open in her hands. A few minutes passed, during which her mouth twitched frantically. Finally, she became still, and her eyes opened again. Instead of their normal blue color, they were now a sharp green. Her eyes focused and scanned the room with a calculating gleam that looked immensely out of place in her young face.
She stood up, and strode to the door. Twisting the knob viciously, she left the room and ran down the stairs.
As she ran, she thought: We have success. An inferior mind -- weakened even more by exhaustion -- it is laughably simple to enter.
Her newly green eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to recall the ancient, unchanging hallways of the school. If she took the stairs to her left... then ducked into the passageway behind that tapestry of a confused monk... down a few more stairs, and she would be outside.
She reached the small door that she remembered led to the outside, and kicked it open. Her mind clicked through a mental checklist. She has always been sustained by whatever small newts and animals she can find in the Chamber. But perhaps to bring Her some fresh, red deer meat... and we must take care of the roosters...
Reaching a decision, she marched rapidly towards a small wooden hut that she recalled as the abode of the groundskeeper. In her day, he had been a rather timid, lightly bearded man who had a remarkable connection with the animals he worked with. He disliked the company of humans, and thus, she had been able to safely bring meat and dispose of roosters without his interference or questioning.
In her day, the chickens had lived in a small coop behind the groundskeeper's hut. She walked purposefully in that direction. Suddenly, a man-- a massive beast of a man-- emerged from the hut. Surely they would not let one of impure blood work as groundskeeper.
He saw her, and ambled over to her. She noticed a vast ring of keys attached to his belt. Yes, that inhuman thing must be the groundskeeper...
"All righ', Jahnny?" he greeted her jovially. "Wha're you doin' down 'ere?"
Her mind raced. What would that little sap be doing down here, if she were in control?
"Oh, nothing much! I was just wondering if maybe you'd seen Harry around somewhere!" she said, carefully making each sentence end in a cheery trill.
The giant groundskeeper chuckled. "No'm, I have not seen 'im. But I wi' tell 'im you was lookin'."
Ginny forced her voice to sound nervous. "Oh, no, thanks! That's really not necessary! I'll find him myself! Bye!"
Damn. I can't get Her the meat now, with that oaf watching me. And going after the roosters is even more impossible. But we needn't hurry things -- it is several weeks until we will need Her. And these things must be done with careful dramatic timing.
She walked away from the groundskeeper, carefully shuffling her feet in the way she imagined Ginny's timid personality would. She wove her way back to the castle, and it was not until she was sure she was out of the groundskeeper's sight that she resumed her quick stride. She made her way to Ginny's dormitory, and carefully laid down upon the bed. Her body twitched, and relaxed. The diary slipped out of her hand, and closed.