Ginny looked up at the glory of Hogwarts castle, a smile of homecoming in her eyes. She heard familiar voices behind her and quickly made her way to the carriages, hoping not to meet with them. Much to her chagrin, she ended up in a carriage with three people, two of whom she already knew. "Tom," she said, inclining her head slightly.
"Miss Wesley," he replied in kind, observing her rather closely.
Ginny avoided his gaze, a bit irritated to once again be in Dolohov's presence, but it seemed unavoidable with him in close acquaintance with Tom. She let her displeasure be known in her face. She glared at him whenever he dared look at her. The carriage brought them closer and closer to Hogwarts, closer and closer to the safety that that large building afforded. Ginny knew that once inside, she would be infinitely more comfortable.
Wondering how much power she had over Dolohov, she slowly drew her wand out, running her fingers over it, carefully. She glanced up at him to see him glancing at her wand then away very sharply, again and again. He looked incredibly nervous. Ginny tried to swallow the giggle, but it was too much, so she placed her wand down in her lap and laughed lightly, enjoying his squirming. He sent her a glare that she laughed at.
She looked at Tom, still smiling a bit, and found him studying her intently. She widened her smile, before looking back down at her wand. The carriage went back to its silent state and Ginny went back to staring at her own wand. She really did admire it. Her old wand had been a shabby hand-me-down and the smooth surface of this wood was something she had seen only in others wands.
"What is the core?" Tom asked, suddenly. Ginny was taken aback. That was, in the wizarding world, quite a personal question. One did not usually brag of the core of their wand.
"Might I ask what the core of your wand is, Tom?" she replied. He said nothing, staring down at her.
"Perhaps if we were in better company, I might have been inclined to tell you," she said. He glanced at his friend, who looked entirely displeased. Ginny was happy to see a smile, not on his lips but indeed in his eyes. She heard a chuckle from the other person in the carriage, who she did not know and smiled at her own comment. She did decide however to put her wand away. When they reached Hogwarts, the Slytherin she didn't know got out first. She followed him and was a bit surprised when he had his hand held out to her. She smiled and took it.
"Thank you, very much," she said. She looked up at the door to Hogwarts, hesitating slightly before walking to it. She did not wait for the others, following the other students into the hall.
Upon entering, her eyes drifted to the ceiling, one of the things she missed most dearly since she had been separated from Hogwarts after Voldemort had taken it over. She sighed contentedly.
"It will be there all year," a silky voice said very close to her ear. She jumped and looked back at Tom, who was walking away from her now. She glanced up at the ceiling once more before following him to the Slytherin table which was the same one it had always been.
Her eyes met with Headmaster Dippet's for a brief moment his look quite calculating like he knew not what to make of her. She sat down at the Slytherin table. The girl to her right was giggling incessantly and gesturing towards Tom, while the person on her other tried to engage her in conversation the moment she sat down by asking rather delicately, "Who the bloody hell are you?"
"Gin Wesley," she said, coldly. She did not want to get to know many of these people and certainly not this one who kept looking at her like she was a piece of meat. He made her sick actually. "And I know more curses than you could count."
"Do you now, well I can show you things with my wand that-"
"You have got to be kidding me," she cut him off, rolling her eyes. "Perhaps I should have been in Ravenclaw. Perhaps they have more intelligent pick up lines," Ginny muttered to herself, getting a cough from across the table, someone covering a laugh it seemed. She recognized him as the same who had helped her from the carriage earlier on. He was a bit handsome, she noted. He wasn't quite up to Tom's degree, but his face was pleasing enough and it seemed he had a sense of humor at least. Perhaps this era would not be as terrible as she had thought.
Ginny watched as the nervous first years followed closely behind a cheerful Dumbledore, who looked rather pleased with the batch of students he led in. She quickly bit down on the smile that threatened to show on her face as she thought of how wonderful Dumbledore was. She looked up at the ceiling idly. The stars were breathtaking.
Ginny looked down at the food as it appeared before her, and quickly served herself. She ate hungrily, as if she hadn't eaten for decades. She hadn't had lunch and indeed in the weeks before she had had little of anything very substantial to eat.
"You know it's not going to disappear," a voice said. Ginny set her fork down, her whole face turning bright red as she looked up at Tom's friend who she had yet to get the name of.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, looking rather abashed.
"Don't be," he said, smiling kindly at her. "Tom has told me of your encounter a few days ago. I would venture to say that I would be enjoying everything I could as fully as I could and that includes good food," he said, graciously.
"Um… I'm Gin, Gin Wesley," she said.
"Septimus Prince," he replied. Gin started at the name, but said nothing about it. She knew very well that Snape's mother's maiden name was Prince which meant that this man was related to him… not grandfather obviously, but… uncle perhaps, which meant that he was long gone before Snape had gone to Hogwarts at least, lest this should have been brought up in her conversations with him for she had many long conversations with him even when he didn't want them to be so.
This man seemed to have very few characteristics of Severus himself, but she could see a resemblance in face at least, perhaps when she knew him more she might find him to be similar in temperament.
"What's your favorite subject?" Septimus asked, as she stared down at her food, distractedly.
"I'm quite good a charms," she said, looking up. "But I imagine Defense against the Dark Arts will be exciting as well. I have not gotten much practical experience in the area of course, which is why I look forward to it," Ginny explained.
"And potions?" he asked. She laughed inwardly, so there was the connection!
"I've made a few, but I doubt I will have any skill in the area. It seems a tedious discipline," she told him.
"Then I shall definitely have to change your perspective. What say you, Tom? Shall we show this beautiful girl the true nature of a wonderfully brewed potion?" Septimus asked.
Ginny was surprised. Septimus and Tom seemed so close. She had never though that Tom kept such company at all. He had never mentioned Septimus in his diary and she was a bit surprised. She saw no reason to not befriend him if he was friends with Tom.
Ginny spoke amiably with him, exchanging banter about which subject was better charms or potions, but it seemed by the end of dessert, they had come to a tie. Ginny was a bit put out that she had not been able to win definitively.
She followed Tom down the stairs to the dungeons. The common room she found was a bit cold in comparison to the Gryffindor Common room but she sat by the fire and stared into it. She noticed Tom didn't leave right away. He sat on the couch not far away, also lost in his own thoughts.
Ginny's thoughts were morbidly engaged for quite a while, thinking of her family, her friends. She found herself becoming rather drowsy by the fire. Her eyes drifted closed. She didn't know for how long she had slept but she did remember a hand on her shoulder. She had looked up to see Tom looking down at her. He suggested quietly that she get some sleep before he disappeared through a door opposite the one he had already pointed out to her as leading to the girl's dormitories. Ginny watched him go a bit surprised that he had even bothered to rouse her.
Ginny pulled herself up the stairs, tiredly and took the only empty bed in the seventh-year girls dorm, noticing her trunk at the foot of the bed. She saw there were only three other girls and admitted herself a bit disappointed. Perhaps she would have to make friends outside of Slytherin. The prospect of creating friendships outside of her own house was daunting, but she soon remembered that she already had a few friends within Gryffindor, or acquaintances at least.
Ginny found a headache was quickly coming upon her. She dropped tiredly into her new bed, feeling the past days catch up with her fully. She drifted off, thinking of how kind Septimus had been to her.
Tom awoke in a terribly foul mood. He was greeted with Professor Slughorn asking him if he'd filled the positions for the Quidditch team yet. Of course he hadn't filled the team! They hadn't even scheduled the try-out. After that, Dumbledore had asked him how his plans for the quidditch team were going this year. Honestly, he could get no peace from these fools.
Why did Dumbledore care anyways? Just to see him fail? He found himself incredibly upset when Septimus asked whether he fancied a one on one on the quidditch pitch that night and he had lashed out at him rather ruthlessly.
Tom began to see everyone as a prospective quidditch player. He observed each person with careful attention. Septimus, who he had been sure would not speak to him for the rest of the day, pointed out during their first class: History of Magic, that the new girl had a strong yet light build for a female player, perhaps a seeker or a chaser.
Tom nodded slightly. "It is likely she knows nothing of quidditch," Tom told him.
"Might as well find out then shan't we?" Septimus asked.
"That's a dreadful choice. Look at her. She's sickly pale and much too thin. I'm quite sure she'll faint right off her broom and then it'll be your fault for having killed Dumbledore's protégé. That or Potter will rescue her in the middle of the quidditch match and make the two of you look like fools for putting her out there. How do you think Dumbledore will like that?" Antonin Dolohov hissed, hitting on the two points that he knew would irritate Tom the most about the girl. He didn't know why Tom liked her so much, but he needed to make sure he was being careful. She seemed normal enough, if a bit mousey and meek, but Dolohov wasn't sure about her yet and he didn't think Tom should be.
"Oh come off it, just because he tried to act like a chivalrous idiot doesn't mean Gin's best friends with Potter and his lot, and Dumbledore just wants to make himself feel important by helping the poor little orphan girl," Septimus said, effortlessly counteracting everything that Dolohov had said. "Look, I'm not saying she'll be good. I'm just saying she might be better than throwing a second year out there on a broom. Besides, it's in her eyes. She has spirit to her. You'll see it."
Tom listened to both rather disinterestedly. He could very well form his own opinion without those two dolts input. He saw Gin lower her head onto her arms and close her eyes and became interested. She caught on quickly that Binns could care less what they did.
His mind drifted to the day he had stepped in front of her in the middle of Diagon Alley. He had faced a lot of pain in his life and it made him strong, but what he saw in her eyes was not the distress of one incident or a series of abuse by a terrible attendant at an orphanage. There was pain in her eyes that had great depths and it was something he couldn't really understand. Perhaps… had she had a family before the orphanage? He had seen her look directly into the eyes of one of the threstrals when she was walking to their carriage, so he knew she had witnessed death, but how much?
Tom wished he had never agreed to be captain of the stupid quidditch team. He had much greater things to think about than quidditch. He felt the position frivolous and stupid, but now that he held it, he could do nothing but show how superior he was to Felton Potter. He would not be disgraced by not being able to handle such a lowly responsibility.
Tom saw something strange out of the corner of his eye. Gin was shaking terribly. He frowned and saw that Septimus had noticed as well. His look was one of worry. "Doria!" he hissed to the person sitting beside Gin who noticed the shaking and pushed on Gin's arm until Gin awoke with a sharp gasp.
Tom watched her look wildly around before her face turned bright red as it was apt to do. Her hands still shook as she focused her attention on the history professor's endless drabble, though he suspected that the stares of her classmates did not escape her notice.
His eyes flew over the Slytherins in the great hall. He noticed two second years that always talked excitedly about quidditch and knew that they would try out. Perhaps one of them might have some kind of skill. His eyes returned to the pale, red-haired girl who was talking with a sixth year girl from their house. She had a somber look on her face, while the other girl spoke animatedly.
He wondered idly if she was as good as she thought herself to be with charms. He didn't take the girl as one to exaggerate her own skill, but he couldn't help but doubt that she was as good as she thought, being that she had taught herself. You could only learn so much from a book.
Professor Slughorn had told him that it was his duty to ensure that the new student did not fall behind and he hoped she wasn't a completely incompetent witch, because he had better things to do that teach her how to perform "Alohamora".
Disgust shined in his eyes as one of them sat down in front of him at the Hufflepuff table and dared look up at him. He tried to hide his hatred from being conveyed on his face. He was sickened that so many of them were here in this room sitting. Every time he thought of it, no matter how many years he'd been at Hogwarts, it still made him think of his father, and it made him feel nauseous.
Ginny glanced to her left as Tom stood sharply from where he was sitting halfway down the table. She frowned as he walked out of the room, quickly. She looked over the hall and caught the eyes of a freckled boy with brown hair who was watching him go, his face reddening with indignation.
Ginny stood and followed Tom, making her excuses to the girl beside her. She saw him ahead of her in the hallway and realized with horror that he was headed for the second floor. Her quick paces matched his long strides in speed. She wondered how she could divert him.
"Tom!" she called. He stopped and turned his head, not looking very pleased to be interrupted from where he was going.
"Are you alright? You left the hall so suddenly that a few of us were worried. You have not taken ill have you?" she asked, weaving her words delicately as was the manner of the day.
"I have business to deal with," he said. "If you'll excuse me."
"You're sure you are all right?" she asked.
"Perfectly well thank you," he said, bowing his head and turning, leaving her standing there, more than a bit upset.
Ginny realized suddenly that this was the year that Tom would open the chamber of secrets. She cursed. She hadn't changed a thing yet! Ginny walked quickly towards Dumbledore's office, finding him sitting behind his desk, working on what seemed a hefty pile of paperwork.
"Sir…" she said from the open door.
"Come in, come in," he said, looking up at her. He waved his wand once she had come fully inside the office and the door shut behind her. He performed what she assumed to be a silencing spell and a locking charm on the door.
"Be sure that Professor Hooch has a healthy batch of mandrakes. I fear we will need them," she said, somberly.
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked.
"The heir of Slytherin is at Hogwarts," she told him. "He will open the Chamber of Secrets, and set loose the beast within."
"Beast within?" Dumbledore repeated alarmed. "Who is this heir?"
"That I cannot tell you sir. It would change far too many things," she replied.
"Yes, yes," he nodded. "I will point out to her the lack of knowledge her third years have on mandrakes, which they studied the second term of their second year. That should be easy enough to not rouse any suspicions."
Ginny nodded and a silence fell between them. She knew that he instantly suspected Tom, but she would not give him any more information to help him figure that out. "What manner of beast?" he asked, quietly.
"Basilisk," she murmured. If he was surprised he did not show it, only had a very somber expression.
"So it will attack the muggleborn students?" he asked.
"I believe it will," Ginny replied.
"Do you have any protection from it yourself?" he asked.
"It will not attack me," she said with certainty.
"But the other students are in danger of it," Dumbledore muttered.
"I will try to fight protect them against it as much as possible, but I cannot tell anyone else more than what I have told you. There cannot be more protection than what I offer."
Ginny thought of the dreams she had had when the diary had taken her almost completely. She knew the faces of those that Tom would effectively petrify and even the order, but not where he would attack them.
"It is time for class then," Dumbledore said. Ginny nodded. She went into the classroom ahead of him, which was still almost empty save a few Gryffindor Students. She sat in a seat a few rows back and waited for class to start. She was not surprised when Tom showed up just in time to not be late for the class.
She found herself next to the chatty girl who she had first sat at the Slytherin table and, much to her chagrin it was assigned as her permanent seat. She looked around to see that Septimus was in the desk behind her with another girl from Slytherin and Tom was to her right across the aisle sitting beside Dolohov. She glanced down as she felt a surge of magic appear before her. She frowned at the note that had come from nowhere. She glanced at Dumbledore, not that she expected him to reprimand her.
She read the letter. "If you want to play quidditch meet us on the pitch before dinner tonight."
She glanced over her shoulder to see Septimus with a smirk on his face, then glanced at Tom who had no expression on his regal features. He stared with loathing at a girl in the row in front of him and Ginny knew instinctively that she was muggle born. Ginny swallowed a sigh, seeing that this would be every bit as hard as she believed. She slid the note into her pocket carefully, looking around the room again. She saw Felton who smiled at her, then returned her attention to the front of the room.
Hours later, Ginny's hands ran over the smooth wood of the broom as Septimus held out to her. Tom's penetrating gaze sent shivers up her spine but she stood up straight, not ducking her head or averting her gaze as she met his evenly, her eyes hardening against his scrutiny. She felt a strange but not altogether foreign pressure in her mind and she raised her hand to her forehead, clearing her emotions quickly and allowing her mind to go blank as she sent a shock of magic to her head, pushing out the intruder.
Septimus looked back and forth between Ginny and Tom, confused at what had just happened. His friend's face remained completely unaffected but his eyes were glinting strangely as if he had just found a new and interesting challenge. Ginny looked up sharply to Tom. "I may had to teach myself but I am not a stranger to Legilimency," she said, darkly.
Septimus looked at Tom exasperated, but his friend had only a small smirk on his face in response. "I wonder at how you could have learned to resist it," Tom said.
"Mind Magic: Guide to Guarding your Greatest Secrets," Ginny said. She was not often called the quickest and most adaptive witches to go through Hogwarts in decades for no reason, besides Hermione had practically shoved books down their throats for as long as Ginny had known her.
"Read a quidditch manual too?" Tom asked, mounting his broom and zooming off with a challenging look. She narrowed her eyes, mounting the broom before her.
"Gin don't!" Septimus exclaimed but Ginny had already taken off. She allowed for a few hiccups in her pursuit, giving a rather convincing almost-fall that even had Tom turn to make sure she didn't slip from the broom.
"Perhaps you have potential," Tom said, calculatingly. Ginny held the broom handle hesitantly, letting it move her about a bit as she faced him, which earned her a roll of the eyes from Tom. In one swift motion he was beside her. He placed his hands over hers, showing her the proper way to hold onto the handle. Ginny had the grace to look a bit embarrassed, but when Septimus dropped to the ground below to release some bludgers, she turned the broom away from Tom, narrowly avoiding one of the feisty enchanted balls.
Ginny returned to her room a bit later, thoroughly regretting that "accidental" fall that had sent her tumbling thirty feet to the ground. Tom's condescending smirk was what she had been aiming for, but once she saw it on his face she wanted nothing more to beat him with her fist. Unluckily for her, she had broken her right arm and her left was occupied with cradling it away from him. She hadn't wanted to give him the satisfaction of healing her once again as if she couldn't take care of herself.
When Septimus had finally held her still and Tom had healed her arm she did proceed to hit him rather hard on the shoulder. Unfortunately that only seemed to make him laugh. She was furious. She had never known this humor from Tom but the entire time from the moment she hit the ground, he couldn't keep a smile from his face. He was infuriating!
She tossed her sweater on her bed, glancing at Maria Burrow, who sent her a rather nasty glare. She shook her head, walking to her bed and falling upon it, yawning lightly. Maria was the girl who had sung only praises about Tom when they had first met. Now, Maria seemed to think that Ginny was taking Tom from her or some other nonsense and had turned their other dorm mate Ruth Lestrange against her as well.
Ginny wasn't offended because she didn't like them much either. She had found a friend in Annabelle and was glad to be spared pleasantries with the two frivolous girls. Ginny was also pleased that the quidditch tryouts were only a week away. Sure, she had approached the possibility of playing quidditch scrupulously, but now that she knew skill in that area wouldn't take her further from her goal, she was determined to save her wounded pride, the pride she had turned her own knife upon by falling from her broom. She huffed, ignoring the irritated glance that Maria sent her.
Ginny was going to do her duty, but it would take quite a while to pull Tom out of this hole of darkness. She didn't even fully know it was possible, but she'd find out. She was already accepted by Tom as a sort of friend mostly due to the fact that she didn't fall all over herself to be around him like the other girls at Hogwarts did. Now, she needed to find a way to stop him before he killed Moaning Myrtle, who she had had the… pleasure… of meeting only a few days before.
The girl was an absolutely horrendous little complainer. If anyone so much as blinked at her, she would wail and shriek and go running off to a professor to tell them that she had been horribly misused. It was absolutely unbelievable. Ginny groaned inwardly, wondering why it was that girl who she had to protect more diligently than the others. She was absolutely ridiculous.
Ginny laid out on her bed, deciding that it really would be best to get some sleep. She wasn't very hungry so she simply put a ward up around her bed, common practice since Maria and Ruth had attempted to put a bunch of dung bombs in her bed while she slept. What they didn't know was she had had two very nasty brothers whose pranks far outmaneuvered their amateur attempt. She had the bombs in their beds in a few moments with a barrier to keep the smell from her and Annabelle. Smiling at the memory of their horrified faces, she allowed herself to relax into the comforter, letting sleep claim her.