Chapter Six
Ginny knew that she was scaring Sirius.
Yet, she couldn't stop crying.
She had been holding it in for quite a while.
And there was no turning back now.
Tears streaked down her cheeks until they were raw.
Her entire body shook with sobs.
"Juniper!?" Sirius exclaimed, "Ginny! Hey, hey! Ginny! What's wrong!? What is it!?"
He gently put a hand on her shoulder and cried, "Oi; talk to me!"
She wanted to.
She really did.
But she couldn't get a word in edgewise.
Not when she was on the verge of hyperventilating.
Sirius twirled his wand and roared, "Accio Potions Kit!"
Ginny ducked out of the way as a small briefcase whizzed through the air.
Sirius quickly opened it and took out a small pink vial.
He thrust it into Ginny's hands and ordered her to drink it.
She did so without hesitation.
It tasted like a mixture of strawberry and peppermint.
She began to stop shaking and her tears soon dried up.
"Calming Draught," Sirius explained.
Ginny bit her lip and mumbled, "I'm…I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Sirius quickly said.
He paused before saying, "You don't have to talk about it but…"
"No, you deserve an explanation," Ginny interjected, "And like I was saying…I've…I've been holding it in for a while…"
"Clearly," Sirius wryly replied.
He jerked his head and Ginny followed her into the drawing room.
She smiled as Buckbeak fluttered his feathers.
She quickly bowed and Buckbeak nodded.
She sat against the hippogriff and Sirius plopped onto the dusty couch.
Ginny hesitated before saying, "I was so excited to start Hogwarts…all of my brothers had gone…all Gryffindor…all legendary…I couldn't wait! And what's more, I would finally be able to get out of my brothers' shadows and away from my parents' protective bubble. I was finally going to be able to be my own person! And I was so excited!"
She paused and Sirius gave her a sharp nod, prompting her to continue.
"And then," Ginny sighed, "I saw the diary. I thought that Dad must've slipped it into my trunk as an extra present. I started writing in it during my first night. And…it wrote back."
Sirius blinked and repeated, "It wrote back?"
"Every single time that I wrote," Ginny explained, "It answered all of my questions and gave me such…such lovely compliments; as if I was talking to an actual person."
She took a deep breath and shakily said, "And in the end, it was."
Sirius' mouth was hanging open.
"Well…it was a memory of a person," Ginny corrected herself, "An awful…awful person…"
"Who?"
But Sirius already knew.
Even before Ginny whispered, "Tom Riddle."
Sirius rose from the couch and walked over, kneeling next to her. He put a hand on her arm and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
"I didn't know," Ginny croaked, "I didn't know at the time."
"Of course you didn't."
Sirius' words were sincere and comforting.
"But that's not even the worst of it!" Ginny burst out, "He…he got into my head…he overpowered me…he made me do things…horrible things…I opened the Chamber of Secrets."
Sirius' eyes were now the size of Galleons.
"I didn't know that I was doing it," Ginny tearfully said, "Honestly."
Sirius nodded and whispered, "I've heard stories about the Chamber of Secrets. It was opened about thirty years before I attended Hogwarts. Isn't there a monster in there?"
"Was," Ginny replied, "It was a Basilisk. The memory of Tom Riddle used me to control it. He was able to petrify the students. Including Hermione! My own friend! Harry defeated it though. He ended up saving them. He ended up saving me."
"W…wait!" Sirius cried, "Ginny, were you…did you go into the Chamber?"
She wiped her eyes with her free arm and explained, "Tom was finally able to gain enough control over me…he…he made me enter it…I saw him come out of the diary and…and I passed out…I almost died…"
She broke off and tears streamed down her face.
Sirius pulled her into a tight hug and Ginny sobbed into his shoulder.
As horrible as recollecting it was, it felt so good to tell somebody!
She finally pulled back and he handed her his handkerchief.
She gratefully wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
It was a moment before he spoke:
"So, I guess that's a no on the diary, then?"
She let out a bubble of laughter.
"Listen to me, Ginny," Sirius gently said, "And listen carefully."
He waited until she was looking at him before saying, "You are an amazing woman. I don't know anyone who would be able to go through that and survive…let alone carry on. You have fought demons that nobody should have to fight; and you vanquished them."
Ginny opened her mouth to disagree and Sirius added, "And I know that some of them are still lingering…oh Ginny, trust me when I say that I know what that's like…I know it better than anyone…but you'll vanquish them as well."
Ginny sniffed and wiped her eyes.
Her voice quivered as she said, "You're…you're the first person that I've actually really talked to about this…Mum and Dad…they…they just sort of swept it beneath the rug."
"Surely, they realized how upset you were?"
"They didn't even comfort me when I first got out of the Chamber," Ginny squeaked, "I remember…crying…I was bloody hysterical…"
"Well, sure!" Sirius exclaimed, "I would be, too!"
"But they hardly even noticed!" Ginny cried, "Mum was hugging me but she never bothered to ask if I was alright or how I was feeling…and Dad…Dad yelled at me!"
Sirius raised his eyebrows.
Ginny took a shuddering breath before repeating his exact words, "'Ginny, haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps the brain!' I had just been possessed by Tom Riddle…and...and he made it seem like it was my fault! And ever since then, I've thought…what if he's right?"
"He's not," Sirius firmly said, "What happened to you was not your fault."
Ginny appreciatively smiled.
"Have they mentioned it since then?" Sirius quietly asked.
"Only in passing," Ginny sighed, "Mum's idea of healing is plopping an extra helping of food in front of you. And Dad just likes pretending that bad things haven't happened."
"Like Percy," Sirius muttered.
"Like Percy," Ginny agreed.
The two sat in silence for a moment.
"You were right to want to join," Sirius solemnly said, "And you were right to be angry when your parents wouldn't listen."
"Would you mind telling my parents that?"
"Oh, don't worry," Sirius darkly said, "I will."
Ginny looked up and stammered, "S…Sirius, I was just joking."
"I just want to exchange a few words," Sirius replied, "That's all."
Ginny uncertainly nodded.
"Do you mind if we talk about something else?" Ginny whispered, "Anything?"
And so, Sirius launched into a riveting tale about how he became an Animagus.
By the time he was finished, Ginny's adrenaline had crashed.
It was just as well; it was past midnight.
She informed Sirius that she was going to bed and he jokingly replied that he would see her in a few hours for tea. He then waited until she had entered her bedroom before walking down to the bedroom that had once belonged to his parents.
He kicked the door open.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sound asleep.
They now jerked awake and frantically looked around.
"Sirius?" Mrs. Weasley cried, "What the blazes are you doing here at this hour?"
"Is something wrong?" Mr. Weasley added.
"Yeah," Sirius hollowly said.
"Well, what is it?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.
"We need to talk," Sirius retorted, "Now."
He pushed past them.
"Hang on!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "You can't just come in—"
"Actually, I can!" Sirius shot back, "You see, this so happens to be my house! Sit."
"Excuse me?"
"Sit," Sirius repeated, "Stand if you must. I don't really care at this point."
He sat himself and quietly said, "How the hell could you do that to her?"
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Weasley spluttered, "Who are you talking about?"
"Ginny," Sirius cried, "How could you just forget that she was possessed by Voldemort?"
They both paled.
"We didn't forget," Mrs. Weasley defensively said, "We just don't like bringing it up."
"Well, guess what!?" Sirius snapped, "There's a fourteen-year-old girl upstairs who's traumatized and depressed and it would have been damn helpful if you had brought it up, whether you had liked it or not."
"Ginny's not traumatized!" Mrs. Weasley nervously laughed, "She was perfectly fine after we got her away from that diary. She's just a bit…"
"High-spirited," Mr. Weasley finished, "She's a teenager!"
"Yeah," Sirius growled, "She is. And she's also a survivor."
He started to walk away before adding, "And she should be in the Order."
His face fell as he solemnly said, "She's been fighting a war for years."