Chapter Seventeen – Flashback

Tom had been pacing the dungeon for four hours, waiting for Ginny to wake up. The whole time he had been in the cold room he had been deciding what horrid things he would subject her to. Thoughts of whips, chains, knives, and spells whirled around in his frantic brain. He had tried to befriend her, to comfort her, but all she did was complain and accuse him of things he wasn't. He had tried to be the husband she wanted but there were some things he wouldn't do. He wouldn't let her run all over him! He wasn't her slave!

With a swift turn Tom looked at the unconscious girl lying on the floor and glared at her. Gods how she infuriated him. It was as if she was sleeping just to piss him off. How he hated her right then. The urge to scream overpowered him and he let all his anger out by viciously punching the wall. Cursing at the pain that shot through his hand Tom pulled out his wand and stopped the bleeding.

Having completed yet another trek around the room Tom became impatient. Not wanting to wait any more Tom mutter a spell under his breath. Out of thin air appeared a bucket of icy water. Chuckling to himself, Tom levitated the bucket towards his wife and waited till it was directly over her head. He saw that Ginny was smiling in her sleep, making him even angrier.

She shouldn't be happy while he suffered. Not giving a damn Tom poured the water onto Ginny who sprung up at contact. Letting out a string of profanities Ginny pulled her clothing away from her body, trying desperately to stay warm and dry.

"What the hell?" Ginny said when she finally noticed her surroundings. The room – if you could call it that – looked like the place where she had been held captive before. The floor was still stained by the blood that had flowed from her head.

Memories flooded her head as she remembered the day. She had been Tom's prisoner, awaiting a marriage she had no desire to be in. With no food and water Ginny had become weak. She watched in her head as she collapsed onto the floor and went into a black world. How she hated this room.

Tears obstructed her vision as she crumbled to the floor. The memories were too much. She clenched her hair and pulled out tiny clumps. Letting out a tiny moan Ginny curled into a fetal position and let out pathetic cries of sorrow. The longer she lay there the more violent she became. Her fists began to beat into the floor around her. Not stopping even when her hands bled, Ginny pounded on the floor while Tom watched from a corner.

He hadn't expected such a weird reaction from waking up in the room. Sure he had hoped for her to remember everything, but her going insane hadn't been in his plans.

Deciding to make his presence known Tom walked over to Ginny and grabber her fist before it hit the hard floor. He tugged on her arm, trying in vain to make her look at him. She angrily pulled her arm away and crawled over to a corner. Pushing back the tears that threatened to fall, Ginny yelled silently at herself for her weakness.

She couldn't help it. The horrors of the room frightened her. She had been abused once here and she guessed that she would be soon again. Pulling herself together Ginny stood up.

Tom on the other hand stayed in a kneeling position watching his wife out of the corner of his eyes. He watched as she whipped away the tears, as she surrounded herself with a stony mask.

The girl before him wasn't the person he remembered. The once fiery woman from before was now a weakling, a sorry excuse for a human. No longer did he see a beautiful, talented, and confident woman with a 'if you mess with me you die' attitude. All he saw was…well, a pathetic creature.

"Your pathetic Weasley." Tom said, sneering.

Ginny whirled around on the spot and yelled back, "God damn it I'm a Riddle now and will be treated like one!"

A little shocked Tom stood still, letting what she had said sink it. When his brain finally understood her statement he laughed.

"So now you are a Riddle, eh?"

"Don't humble yourself. If I hadn't been kidnapped, blackmailed, forced into a marriage, almost raped, and almost killed, I wouldn't be here right now."

"You're absolutely right," Tom replied. "I have taken your life and destroyed it…broken you. I have made you into everything you hate. You are weak, bound to the man you hate, your enemy, and you love me."

Gasping Ginny marched up to Tom and poked his chest with her finger.

"I do NOT love you Tom. I hate you, just like you said. I am your enemy…your nemesis. So don't you think for one moment that I love you."

Pushing her back from him Tom began to poke her in the chest, mocking her.

"I don't love you Tom. I am your nemesis, that's why I am married to you and had sex with you tonight. You make me so horny. But I still hate you." Laughing Tom said, "Like you could hate me. You even admitted to me that you saved me earlier today."

"That was before I talked to…"

Realizing her mistake Ginny covered her mouth with both hands and closed her eyes tightly.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." She mumbled to herself.

"Talking to whom?" Tom asked, intrigued.