PRE-CHAPTER NOTES: Three cheers for the HP-Lexicon! Also, I've recently stumbled upon a story called "Walking Higher" by Faith Accompli (which is a fantastic story, I might add.) Within reading the first chapter, I realized that my story idea is slightly similar to hers. Albeit, both of our stories include bringing Tom Riddle back from the dead via his diary, my story is going in a completely different direction than hers. Therefore, anyone who flames me on this basis will be promptly chucked off a cliff.
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In actuality, Ginny was not going to Charms: she was going exploring. She generally wasn't one for skiving off, but she just happened to be particularly curious at the time — maybe it was Tom's doing. In any case, Hogwarts was huge, and barely a third of it (if that) was used for classrooms and dorms. The entire north end of the castle was unused, as was the sixth floor. Students were generally discouraged from wandering; since the castle had a mind of its own and could change whenever it felt like it, it didn't take much to get lost .
But wander she did — and needless to say, she became lost fairly quickly. The corridor was entirely empty, save dust, cobwebs, and the occasional statue. Most of the doors stuck shut so horribly that not even Alohomora could open them. The doors that did open led to old, dusty classrooms that looked as if they had not been used in at least a century. Ginny was led to believe the castle once held many more students than it did now, which made her question why the number had shrunk so significantly.
The corridor then took a 90-degree turn to the right, and then dead ended a few metres after that. However, when Ginny turned to go back the way she came, she was faced with a stone wall.
"But... I-I just came that way –"
'It's Hogwarts,' Tom reminded her, 'It does what it wants.'
Ginny about-faced and the once-dead end was a corridor that curved sharply to the left. She grumbled to herself, knowing that she would probably spend the rest of the day trying to find her way to someplace recognisable.
'Stop,' Tom commanded. He paused. 'Turn left.'
"Tom, there is no place to turn into. I'll walk into a wall!"
'Turn left. And walk quickly,' he commanded more fiercely.
Ginny sighed, shutting her eyes tightly, walking toward the wall. She opened an eye to peek, and in doing so she realised that she was no longer facing a stone wall. Instead, she was in a large room with lavish silver and dark green decorations: wooden chairs with green velvet on the seats surrounding a round dining table which seemed to be cast iron charmed to appear silver, a throne that matched the chairs and a smaller coffee table that matched the dining table, silver drapes across the sun-faded emerald-painted stone walls… Even the doors and fireplace were silver and green. There was a darker green rectangle on the wall to her right, where Ginny assumed a painting had once hung.
'Welcome to the private chambers of Salazar Slytherin.'
"The founders got private chambers? Lucky bastards," she mumbled to herself.
'Of course they did,' Tom scoffed, 'They wouldn't exactly share the dormitories with the students, would they?'
Ginny looked down, feeling stupid for even making such a remark.
'The door on the far left of the back wall leads to his bedchambers,' Tom continued, 'and the door straight ahead is his study and personal library. On the right, there's a hole behind the tapestry of the Adder that leads to the old Slytherin common room.'
"Someone's been here before." Ginny smiled. "And I wasn't aware that there were 'old' Slytherin dorms…"
'According to one of the diaries kept by Salazar in his study, the Slytherin dormitories were once on the north end of the fourth floor when Hogwarts first opened. It was destroyed in some great battle against some evil person, and by the time it was rebuilt, the Slytherin students decided that they were perfectly comfortable staying in the Dungeons. Thus, they are now unused. Salazar did not really go into specifics — my guess is that person, the battles, and everything else associated with it is hush-hush and under lock and key somewhere at the Ministry of Magic.'
Ginny let out a short "oh" before browsing the chambers. They were surprisingly not dusty; she figured that the house elves took great care of this room. She made a mental note to visit the kitchens and ask a few of them about it. The bedroom was pretty basic: a four-poster wooden bed backed against the wall with (surprise) green coverings and a small sideboard to the left.
The study, however, was fairly large, with mostly-full shelves along the walls. Ginny figured that missing books had been donated to the library, and quite possibly the Restricted Section. She browsed the titles, picking out books to stuff into her rucksack: a stack of diaries, an early copy of Hogwarts: A History (to search for deleted content on the mystery 'evil person' and the battles against them), a scroll marked 'map of Hogwarts,' Lost and Found: An Encyclopaedia of Rediscovered Ancient Magic, and An In-Depth Study of Why The Twenty-Three Unforgivable Curses are Unforgivable. The last book especially sparked her interest. Obviously, twenty of the Unforgivables had been forgotten or erased from history. As she turned to leave, a final book caught her eye. It was another journal, but it was marked with thick, bold letters: 'Addinox vs. Hogwarts, c. AD 917.' She grabbed the last journal and stuffed it into her sack as well, leaving the study and heading to explore the old Slytherin common room.
The common room was huge — twice the size of the Gryffindor common room, but less decorated. In fact, it was barely decorated at all. There were a few silver drapes and a statue of a gargoyle in one corner and nothing more. Ginny sat down on a bench, stretching her legs.
"Do you think Dumbledore has any charms on this place? I mean, do you think he watches it?"
'He probably doesn't know that it exists. It's not exactly in Hogwarts: A History, and the only way in is through Salazar's chambers or through that gargoyle over there.'
Ginny smiled. "This would make a fantastic base for our operations. Tom, do you know how to get here and to Salazar's chambers off-hand?"
'Of course.'
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"Oy, Gin! Where the bloody 'ell 'ave you been?"
"A Cockney, Ron, really — you're turning into a sodding Cockney," Ginny chastised.
"Mind your tongue, young lady," he scolded.
'Tell him to shove off. We've got reading to do,' Tom said.
"Shove off, Ron. We've got reading to do," she said, turning on her heel walking away.
"Who's 'we?'" Ron called after her, but Ginny ignored him, rolling her eyes as she climbed the stairs to her dormitory.
Ginny literally flopped down on her bed with a sigh. She slid her rucksack off her shoulders and sat it next to her. Reaching inside it, she pulled out the book on the Unforgivable Curses and flipped it open to the first page. Just as she did so, Hermione came up the stairs and into the sixth year girls' dorm.
"Hey Gin, your brother was worried sick about you, y'know."
"I bet he was." She rolled her eyes, trying to concentrate on the book.
"That book looks positively ancient! What is it? Did you find it in the library?" Hermione continued, fascinated with Ginny's find.
Ginny held the book up so Hermione could read the title, but said nothing. Hermione silently read the title, and her eyes nearly bugged out.
"Oh gosh, Gin! Do you know what this means?"
"Yep," Ginny replied, but Hermione ignored her response. Hermione was off on a tangent.
'Are you going to let her just take your book like that? Really now," Tom chided.
"Twenty of the Unforgivables have been lost! Or they're being kept a secret by the Ministry! Or," Hermione gasped, "Twenty of the Unforgivables are now forgivable! Do you mind if I see that?" Hermione snatched the book from Ginny's hands without waiting for a reply. She sat down on the end of Ginny's bed, flipping to a random page and reading aloud to her.
"'Caducus, the doom curse, is recorded to have first been banned in Vascona (now Western Kingdom of Leon and Eastern Kingdom of Pamplona)' — that's Northern Spain if you didn't know — 'in AD 512. It was officially deemed an Unforgivable Curse in AD 634 by the Wizards' Council at a meeting in Mercia (central Kingdom of England) and banned internationally –'"
'I am the Heir of Slytherin and as far as I'm concerned, these books belong to me. I will not have that Mudblood filth pawing all over my book! Now tell her to hand it over or I will!'
"'The curse roughly translates to 'destined to die,' and is so aptly named because once cast –'"
"Hermione," Ginny interrupted, "I'm trying to study."
"Oh, sorry! Right then, here you go," she said, shutting the book and handing it back to Ginny. "Will you be at dinner, or do you plan on disappearing again?"
Ginny glowered. "Yes," she spat, "I'll be there."
As soon as Hermione was out of the dorm, Ginny rolled her eyes again and reached into her rucksack for a cigarette and immediately lit it, taking a long drag.
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Dinner was a disaster. Choruses of "where have you been?" and "you weren't in class; are you ill?" seemed to continue through the entire meal. She took a bite of her shepherd's pie as Dean Thomas took a seat next to her.
"Hey, Gin! I noticed you weren't at breakfast or lunch today. Are you feeling okay?" he paused, cracking a smile in jest. "Or were you skiving off? I knew it, our ickle Ginnykins is a right troublemaker, she is!"
Ginny slammed her fork down in anger. "I'm fine, Dean. And what I do and where for that matter has nothing to do with any of you lot," she seethed, turning to Hermione. "And you! Yes, I smoke fags. Last I checked, sixteen was the legal age to smoke them, and I do recall someone being of that age... Hmm, let's see — oh right, that's me! Now, if you'll excuse me…" She stood abruptly.
"We were just worried about you, Gin," Ron said sheepishly.
"Maybe you didn't hear me on the train at the start of school — try worrying about someone else for once! Neville blows things up daily and I never hear you worrying about him!"
Neville's face reddened with a combination of embarrassment and insult, and Ginny felt a pang of guilt at her remark. She pushed the feeling aside and let out a short 'hmph,' lifting her nose skyward and stomping out of the Great Hall.
"Bleeding idiots, the lot of them," she muttered to herself as she rounded a corner and climbed another set of the many staircases leading to the seventh floor.
'You consort with Gryffindors, Ginevra. What did you expect?' Tom said. Ginny could practically feel him smirk.
"Oh shut up, you," she said as she neared the Fat Lady. "'Draco Malfoy is a regular shirt lifter,'" Ginny quoted Hermione's ridiculous choice of password.
The Fat Lady turned to a lady in a white dress who was visiting her painting. "That's the girl, deary! She's the one that I was talking about earlier."
"'Draco Malfoy is a regular shirt lifter,'" she said more firmly.
"She smokes, you know," the Fat Lady continued to her friend. "Why, you can smell the smoke right off her!"
"You can't smell," Ginny reminded her. "Will you just let me in already?"
"You have to say the password, dear."
Ginny closed her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "'Draco Malfoy is a regular shirt lifter!'"
"Am I now?" came from behind her as the Fat Lady swung open.
"Bugger-all, Draco!" she shouted. Ginny walked around to the side of the portrait hole, where the Fat Lady now faced. "This boy is a Slytherin. He may know the password, but do not let him in. Do you hear me?"
"But Ginny, love! Don't you want me to come visit on those long nights when you're oh-so-lonely?" Draco joked, placing his hands over his heart.
"He's a real looker, deary. He'd be a smart match, Slytherin or not," the Fat Lady commented.
Ginny narrowed her eyes, setting her jaw and climbed through the portrait hole. To her luck, it swung closed before Draco could come after her. She marched up the stairs to her dormitory, where Janis Davies was in the middle of a heated snog-session with her girlfriend, Cecilia Banks.
"Out! Out, get out!" Ginny shouted, pointing to the door. The two girls jumped apart, startled. Janis wiped her smudged lipstick from her face and the two girls scurried out of the dorm room like dogs with their tails between their legs.
"She may be sex on legs but she sure is pissy," she heard Cecilia tell Janis as they scrambled down the stairs.
Ginny buried her hands in her hair, distraught. She paced back and forth a few times before intentionally falling forward on her bed, reaching into her rucksack for her pack of cigarettes.
'Moody, are we?'
"Don't be a dick, Tom," she growled, rolling over and lighting her cigarette with her wand.
'Might I remind you that it was your idea for us to share a body?'
"Well maybe it'd be a good idea if I put you back in the diary! How'd you like that, huh!"
'You wouldn't do that.'
"And what makes you so sure?"
'You know bloody well what "makes me so sure."'
"I really think you're going mad, talking to yourself like that. You should probably get help, yeah?" Draco said from the doorway.
'And the tosser returns,' Tom snorted.
"I thought I told the Fat Lady to not let you in!" Ginny shouted hysterically.
"She didn't. These two dykes climbed out the literal hole in the wall, complaining about you. I snuck in before the Big Fat Oaf snapped shut, like the sneaky little devil I am." He smirked, obviously proud of himself.
"Get out!" she screamed, chucking her cigarette at him.
Draco jumped backwards trying to avoid being burnt. He promptly stomped on it as it hit the floor, putting it out. "Hey, hey! There's no need for that –"
"And now you made me waste a perfectly good cigarette!" She jumped up, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him toward the stairs. He nearly toppled over, but he caught himself against the wall, regaining his footing.
She pulled her wand from her pocket, pointing it at him. "I will Bat-Bogey Hex you to Hell and back if you don't get out now!"
"Ginny –"
"Naresium Chiroptera!"
Draco's hand shot up to his nose as his bogies flew out, rapidly growing and attacking his face. He turned from her, running down the stairs.
"And stay out!" she hollered at him. Ginny heard the Fat Lady open and close.
'Well done. I must say, I'm impressed.'
"Belt up, I'm cross with you as well," she scowled, pulling another cigarette out of her pack and lighting it.
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Tom normally wouldn't possess Ginny, but she has been making little effort to find out how to revive him and he felt it necessary to speed the process along a bit. And what better way to do so when Harry sodding Potter was sitting in the common room alone at midnight?
"Hey Harry," he began, trying his best to mimic the way Ginny would speak to her comrades. "I was hoping we could talk for a bit? About the spell which was used to bring You-Know-Who back, since we never really did… And since I'm in the D.A. and all…"
"Sure, Gin. What do you want to know?"
Perfect.
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Ginny woke up with a start, sitting up abruptly. She glanced at the clock — it was nearly two in the morning. Somehow, she had a feeling that Tom had done something while she was 'sleeping.'
"Tom," she growled.
'Yes?' he replied innocently.
"What'd you do?"
'Oh you know… A bit of this, a bit of that. I found out how my older self was reincarnated, spell and gory details and all. I figured it'd help.'
"Yes, but — you didn't ask me! I could have done it!"
'But you didn't.'
"Go to sleep, Ginny," Janis groaned.
Ginny lowered her voice to a whisper. "Well you haven't been much of a help either," she countered. "You expect me to open the Chamber of Secrets when you've barely taught me Parseltongue?"
'Tomorrow, then.'
"Good."
She lay back down and rolled over in an attempt to find a comfortable position. Ginny was about to fall asleep when Tom interrupted: 'Oh, and you're going to Hogsmeade with Harry on Saturday, by the way.'
"But I'm supposed to go with Draco!"
'You declined.'
"Yes, but I was going to apologise for the Bat-Bogey Hex and –"
'Find a new way to apologise.'
She scrunched up her face, rolling over again. "Fine," she gave in, closing her eyes and falling asleep.
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POST-CHAPTER NOTES: The incantation to the Bat-Bogey Hex is unknown, so I made it up. 'Naresium' is Latin for 'nostrils,' and 'chiroptera' is the scientific order of bats. Also, don't flame me because I didn't "warn" about a lesbian reference. Lesbian and homosexual themes should not have to be "warned" about. And if I should, then maybe everyone else should start "warning" about heterosexual themes, yeah?
