Over the next few days, I started to get very annoyed with Colin. When he wasn't stalking Harry, he was tagging along after me and Dana. He knew that Harry had spent part of the summer at my house, and that my brother was his best friend, so he talked non-stop about him, seeming to think that I was as fascinated with Harry as he was. I, of course, was equally, if not more, fascinated with Harry, but would never say this out loud, so I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes.
"Isn't it so great to be able to spend so much time with Harry?"
"Wow, I wish my brother's best friend was Harry Potter!"
"What's it like having Harry in your actual HOUSE?!?!"
By this time, I was starting to think that Colin fancied Harry. I spent the rest of the week going to classes and doing a lot of homework, nothing really interesting happened for a while. I also starting becoming pretty close to Hermione, we weren't best friends (that was Harry and Ron's job), but we were pretty close and spent some time together. By the time Friday rolled around, I found myself bored. Dana was doing homework, which I had already finished. I was dying to see Ron, or maybe someone else who might be with him. Then an idea struck me, I could go to Hagrid's! They were friends, and Harry spent a lot of time over there. So I got up and walked down to his hut. I looked around, realized no one was there, and was about to turn back to the castle, very disapointed, when I heard a voice.
"Hey, are yeh another Weasley? Ron's little sister?" Hagrid asked.
I jumped and said akwardly, "Oh, er, yeah. I was just, erm, looking around the grounds. Nice pumpkins, they're, er, big."
"Yeah, I'm growin' 'em fer the Halloween Feast," he replied.
"Oh, well, I'll just be going then, I have a lot of homework," I lied, I was just feeling uncomfortable and wanted to get away. Hagrid was HUGE, and a little bit intimidating.
"Alrigh', but come on dow' for a cup o' tea anyday," he said.
"Okay," I said, then smiled and started walking back to the castle.
Later that evening, I was sitting on a chair by the fire, writing in my diary.
Dear Tom,
I can't believe how stupid I am!
It can't be that bad Ginny, what happened?
I was down by Hagrid's hut, trying to get a glimpse of Harry, I thought maybe he'd be there, and Hagrid found me. He's HUGE! And now I've promised to go and visit him.
You can't do that, Hagrid isn't a good person.
What? Why not? Harry, Ron, and Hermione are friends with him. He's scary, and I don't want anything to do with him, but he can't be that bad if they're friends with him, right?
I don't know why they hang around with him, but he got expelled when I was at Hogwarts.
Really? What for?
I can't tell you Ginny, but stay away from him.
Er, okay, I guess so.
Good, I don't want anything to happen to you
As October rolled around, I started getting very attached to Tom Riddle. I always wrote in her diary, finding myself unable not to. Tom was so understanding and nice, and I just loved talking to him. I found myself becoming more and more obsessed with him, and I was acting less and less like myself. I didn't notice it at the time, but others around me did.
"Ginny, are you okay? You've seemed kinda off lately..." said Dana.
"I'm FINE!" I retorted angrily, although I couldn't figure out why I would be angry.
"Ginny, you look a little pale," said Percy one night.
"I'm fine Percy, don't worry," I replied.
"But you don't look fine. You know, sickness is going around, maybe you should take some of Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup Potion," he said.
"I don't need any, I told you I'm fine," I insisted.
"Well, you look pale to me," he said right before he grabbed my arm and frog-marched me to the hospital wing.
By the time the end of October arrived, I was so withdrawn that people stopped trying to talk to me. Even Dana got sick of me insisting that I was fine, when I obviously wasn't. But what did I care? I didn't need friends, I had Tom, and I could talk to him all day. I finally stopped paying attention in class, thinking about what I was going to say to Tom that night instead. I stopped doing my homework, I would write to Tom instead.
Dear Tom,
It's Halloween today. There's supposed to be a great feast tonight. I don't know if I'll go though, I might stay and talk to you.
That's nice Ginny, no one's ever given up so much just to talk to me.
Yeah, well...
Hello, Ginny?
Sorry Tom, I just suddenly got really tired, I was fine before...
Well, maybe you should take a nap, I can wait a while for you to talk to me.
Yeah, that sounds go-
But before I could finish that sentence, I fell asleep, right on top of the diary.
When I woke up, I felt refreshed and looked around. I realized that she wasn't in my room anymore. I gasped, jumped up, and looked around. I was in one of the halls. That's when I noticed the writing on the wall.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
It was written in blood. My eyes got wide, and I realized that I had to get away from there. What if someone found me there and thought that I had written it? I started walking away when I noticed something beneath the message. I had been so occupied with the words that I didn't notice it before. I looked closer and almost screamed with shock.
It was Mrs. Norris, hanging there by her tail, stiff, her eyes not moving. My own eyes got just about as wide as Mrs. Norris' when I started running. I got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, quickly said that password, and raced up to my room. What happened? Who did that to Mrs. Norris? And most importantly, how had I gotten there? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep on the diary. I couldn't recall ever moving from where I had fallen asleep. I was shaking when I reached out to grab the diary, and jumped back in shock. There, on my hand, was red paint. The exact shade as the writing on the wall. But no, I didn't do that, I can't've, I would never hurt Mrs. Norris, or anything else for that matter.
I ran into the bathroom and started scrubbing my hands, my vision blurred because of tears. I was so scared, how had this have happened? I know I didn't do this.I would remember, wouldn't I?
Dear Tom,
I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me. I can't've attacked Mrs. Norris, I would never do something like that!
I wrote the next day and waited for a reply. Nothing. Frustrated, I slammed the book shut and proceeded to the common room. My anger and worry must've shown on my face, because Ron walked up to me, Harry and Hermione following, seeming to think that I was upset because I loved cats.
"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," he told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." I felt like I could cry at these words. "Stuff like this doesn't ofter happen at Hogwarts," he said, not entirely making me feel better. "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time." And this made me truely scared, what if they expell me? "I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled." This statement made me feel even worse, and I was sure that Ron had noticed, because he quickly added, "I'm only joking!"
For the next few days, the entire school population talked about nothing but the attack and the message, which was very tiresome. I was trying to forget the whole thing, but the constant conversation about it was not helping. Plus, I couldn't get Tom to reply to me. If he was human, I would say that he was avoiding me.
TOM! Please answer me, why won't you reply anymore? It's been almost a week, talk to me!
I'm sorry Ginny, I've been very busy.
Too busy to talk to me?! I needed you! What can you possible be busy with?! You're a book!
I'd appriciate it if you didn't talk to me that way.
Well I'd appreciate it if you didn't ignore me.
I apologized Ginny.
Okay, you're right, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so worked up, I just needed someone to talk to and you weren't here.
It's quite alright, what's on your mind?
I think I attacked Mrs. Norris, I don't remember what I was doing, and there was red paint all on my hands.
I'm sure there's a logical explanation.
No, there isn't, I somehow ended up in the hall where she was attacked, but I didn't go there!
It's probably nothing, I wouldn't worry about it. Just try to forget about it.
But people are thinking that Harry is the heir of Slytherin. What if they expel him?
If he didn't do anything, he won't be expelled.
At this, I got frustrated, closed the diary, and felt my eyes tear up. No, I wouldn't cry, I didn't attack anyone, no one was going to be expelled, and everything would explain itself soon. I walked down to the common room, only to be cornered by Percy.
"Ginny, what's wrong? That Pepperup Potion did nothing for you, so whatever's wrong isn't your heath," he stated.
"Nothing Percy, just... erm... make sure Harry and Ron and Hermione aren't expelled, okay?" I asked.
"Expelled? What on earth for?" he said, shocked.
"Oh, er, just please?" I said, before bursting in tears, unable to stop.
"Ginny, they didn't do anything to that cat, you must know that!" he said, before walking away.
I woke up on Saturday, today was the day of the first Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. I couldn't wait to see Harry play, I had heard nothing but good things about his skills, and was anxious to see for myself. So I dressed and made my way down to the Quittich pitch, sitting by Ron and Hermione, as Dana still wasn't talking to me.
"Hey Ginny," they said together, and I nodded in reply.
"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three... Two... one..."
And the whistle sounded. All in all, it wasn't too great of a game. A bludger started chasing Harry right away, and I was worried out of my mind for him. The worry drove all other thoughts from my mind, even the events of Halloween, which I hadn't been able to stop thinking about. All of a sudden, Harry stayed still, staring at Malfoy. Of course, the bludger hit him, breaking his arm. He spectacularly caught the snitch, then pelted to the ground. I screamed with Hermione, as Ron gasped. All three of them ran down to the pitch, with the rest of the Gryffindors. Lockhart did the stupidest thing I had ever heard of, he removed the bones in Harry's arm.
Later that night, I was sitting in her dormitory, talking to Tom.
Oh Tom, Harry was almost attacked by a bludger today, I was so worried. Then Lockhart took out all the bones in his arm!
I'm sure he'll be fine, Madam Pomfrey will fix him up.
That night, I abruptly awoke to voices, belonging to Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore. I sat up and realized that I was, once again, no longer in my bed. I jumped up and hid around the corner until they carried a body past, and that's when I realized who it was, Colin Creevey.
I rushed back to the Gryffindor tower and dug through my suitcase until I found what I was looking for, the diary.
Tom? Are you there?
Decided to talk to me, have you?
I'm sorry, but I need to talk to you now.
Okay, go on.
There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad... I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!
Don't be silly, do you remember attack anyone?
No, but I don't remember doing anything else at the time either!
Don't worry about it Ginny.
How can I not worry about it?!
Just think about something else.
I CAN'T!
Frustrated, I slammed the diary shut and stormed down to the common room. Fred and George came up to me and knew right away that something was wrong, they had always been very good at reading my feelings.
"Whats wrong Ginny?" they asked together.
"Nothing, don't worry about," I said, for what felt like the millionth time since school started.
"Look, Colin and Mrs. Norris will be patched up in no time," said Fred.
"Yeah, the mandrakes will be ready soon, Professor Sprout told us," agreed George.
"Yeah, I know," I said.
Them being petrified wasn't what was bothering me, it was the fact that I did it. That's when Fred and George told me that they would find a way to cheer me up. I rolled my eyes, got up, and went to the library. I decided that I would do some homework, since I didn't have anything else to do.
Later that night, I was walking back from the library when I passed a statue, Fred jumped out and scared me half to death, he was covered in fur. I screamed, which made Percy come running. He looked rather pink in the face, and I couldn't figure out why it appeared that he had just come out of a closet, but I decided that I had better things to worry about. The three of us were walking back to the common room, when George jumped out of another statue, covered in boils. But I was expecting it this time, the twins never did anything alone and I knew that George would be around somewhere.
"YOU TWO HAD BETTER STOP THAT OR I'M CALLING MUM AND TELLING HER THAT GINNY'S HAVING NIGHTMARES!" yelled Percy.
"No Perce, don't," I wailed, and that was the end of my brothers trying to cheer me up.
The day after the dueling club, where the whole school had found out that Harry was a Parselmouth, I was sitting in my dormitory, thoroughly upset. I hesitantly picked up the diary and opened it, but before I could write anything, became really tired. I decided that Tom could wait, and I got in my bed and fell asleep.
The next time I woke up, I was in the hall, again. My heart sank, knowing what had likely happened. I looked around and saw Justin and Nearly-Headless Nick. My eyes started to fill up with tears when I heard footsteps. I jumped up and ran the other way, hiding around the corner. The next thing I heard was a thump, whoever it was probably tripped over Justin. Then I heard Peeve's voices, then Harry's. Peeves started screaming at the top of his lungs, and the hall was suddenly crowded. I felt horrible, knowing the Harry would be blamed for this, again. I just hoped that he wouldn't be expelled. Fred and George found this whole thing very funny, although I failed to see why.
On Christmas morning, I woke up alone in my dorm to a pile of presents at the end of my bed. I got a traditional Weasley-sweater from my parents, a book from Hermione, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from Ron, and a box of Chocolate Frogs from Fred and George. I looked down at the last un-opened present confused, who else would send me a present? It turned out to be from Hagrid, and I felt immensley guilty, it was a large tin of treacle fudge. Maybe I should give him a chance after all, he seems pretty nice, despite his size.
At the Christmas dinner, I sat with my family, Harry, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, all of us sporting new sweaters. I was surprised when the trio rushed out of the Great Hall after practically inhaling their food. They were definitely up to something, I just wasn't sure what it was. I usually knew everything that involved my family, I had good skills at knowing things that I shouldn't. Lately, though, I wasn't myself. No one could figure out why.
Author's Note: Chapter four! I decided to make the chapters longer, I like long chapters anyways. This one isn't as long as the rest will be, Christmas just seemed like a good place to end a chapter. I'm going to finish up COS in the next chapter or two I think. Please review, I want to know what you think. Chapter five will be up soon!