A/N: So, it's looking like this story is going to turn out pretty long. I've finished writing through Draco's second year, which ended up being five chapters total. In my defense, Draco keeps begging for internal dialogue and I'm weak. But I'm pretty sure you guys don't mind at all. ;)

Even after he'd dried it out, there was absolutely nothing else to be found in the diary. Draco took to carrying it around with him, too paranoid to leave it anywhere out of his sight.

He was working on his Potions essay in the library when an idea struck him.

The Weasley girl had been writing in the diary, hadn't she? Myrtle had said as much. He pulled it out of his bag and flipped it open to the first page. His quill poised, he thought for a moment, and then carefully wrote.

Today that idiot half-blood Finnegan exploded his cauldron in Potions and broke Weasley's wand.

It almost seemed like nothing would happen, but then the ink slowly sunk into the page, and disappeared. Then new fine black lines began to appear. Draco couldn't tell if he was excited or nervous.

That is most unfortunate.

Draco stared at it with wide eyes.

Who is this?

I could ask you the same, the writing formed. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Draco hesitated before writing, my name is Draco Malfoy.

Ah, a Malfoy. I am delighted to meet you.

Draco shivered a little as he read the words. He knew he had to be very careful with what he wrote next. Whoever this was writing him, knew how to bring back the Dark Lord, and open the Chamber of Secrets.

His quill scratched loudly in the quiet library.

Would you happen to know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?

It was a suspenseful few seconds before the writing replied.

How about I show you?

Draco had barely had time to read the words before a little window seemed to open up on the page, and then he was suddenly falling, falling, falling…

With a jolt, he landed in a corridor. He turned around, confused. He'd fallen into a book, and then into a corridor? It didn't make any sense.

Although, he thought, it looked quite a bit like the corridor that led to the Slytherin common room. It was worth a look, he decided, and headed toward where the entrance should be.

"You're going out, Tom?" A girl's voice whispered, and Draco halted.

"I just need a book for an essay," a voice answered her. Tom, Draco supposed, and wondered if it was the same Tom that had written him back from the diary. It was too good to be a coincidence.

He walked a little farther down the hall. Sure enough, it was the Slytherin common room entrance. The girl whose voice he'd heard was standing in the doorway, Tom in front of her.

"Hello," Draco said. "I'm looking for Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

Neither of looked at him, or even seemed to acknowledge his presence. Draco felt a cold sliver of fear sliding down his back.

"Hello?" He tried again, stepping closer, and speaking a little louder. Nothing. He wasn't even paying attention to what the two were saying anymore – something about it being dangerous to wander about alone after hours.

Draco waved a hand in front of their faces, and there was still nothing. He tried tapping Tom on the shoulder, as the boy pushed away from door and started down the corridor, and watched in horror as his hand simply passed right through.

He was on the verge of crying when he remembered what Tom had written.

How about I show you?

He must be in a memory, Draco realized. Like in a Pensieve. He'd never actually looked in one, but his father had one, in his study, and Draco had seen him use it before.

Tom was almost out of sight now, and Draco scrambled to catch up to him. He didn't know what would happen if he went too far from the person whose memory it was. (And he didn't want to find out.)

Tom still didn't seem to notice him dogging his steps, which only confirmed Draco's theory that this was all a memory.

A few staircases later, and Draco realized that they were going to the third-floor bathroom. At least, he couldn't think of anything else in this direction. They definitely weren't going to the library, which was what he'd told that girl. What was he really up to, Draco wondered.

He glanced up and down the corridor suspiciously before ducking quickly into the girl's bathroom. Draco followed, feeling uneasy.

Tom was standing in front of one of the sinks, and he leaned forward and stroked the side of the faucet. That was… really weird, Draco thought. He heard a slight noise behind him, like a sniffle, coming from the stalls, but he ignored it in favor of watching Tom, whose eyes were still fixed on the faucet.

Tom spoke, and said… something. It sounded like he was coughing and hissing at the same time, and also trying to talk. Draco looked at him nervously.

The sink suddenly slid forward towards them, and the whole circle of them broke apart, revealing a giant pipe going straight down beneath them. Draco's mouth dropped open in shock. Was this the Chamber of Secrets? Hidden in the girl's third floor bathroom?

Tom had leaned over the pit, and was speaking in that weird way again, and Draco suddenly had a very, very bad feeling about this.

Tom backed away from the hole, and there was a sort of slithering sound rising up through the pipe, getting closer and closer, and then a giant, scaly head emerged, with huge, glowing eyes.

It was a basilisk, Draco realized, and quickly looked away. Although, this was a basilisk from a memory. He could probably look at it, and not die. He'd already kind of seen its eyes.

Well, it was better not to risk it, he decided. Tom was talking to it again, in what must be Parseltongue. Draco chanced a glance over and saw that he had his eyes averted as well.

He heard a soft snick noise behind him, and turned to see the girl that had been crying in the stall stepping out, and wiping her tears away.

"Hey," she started to say, but then she looked up, and Draco recognized her.

It was Myrtle.

"No," Draco said, futilely.

Draco had never seen someone die before.

He didn't have to look himself to know that the basilisk had seen her. Myrtle had a split second to arrange her face in an expression of surprise and confusion, and then her body went stiff, and she toppled over. Draco couldn't help himself. He ran over to her side, and stopped, hovering over her.

She looked like the people in the hospital wing, petrified, except her skin was grey and her eyes were lifeless. Draco shivered a little. Seeing her like this felt all wrong.

"Filthy mudblood deserved it," Tom's voice said, right behind him, and Draco jumped. Tom was looking straight at him, and Draco had to remind himself that this was just a memory, and he couldn't actually –

"Don't you agree, Draco Malfoy?"

*author cackles madly*