And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
Chapter Fifteen
When Ginny was eleven-years-old, she had unwillingly led to the petrification of several of her classmates, including Hermione. And now, Ginny had a good sense of what that felt like.
She was utterly petrified.
Her body was completely rigid as she stood in the center of the hellish chamber.
Only her eyes seemed to move; darting around with fear.
In fact, her body only moved when she heard someone whisper, "Juniper…"
Well, it didn't move so much as it jumped about three feet in the air.
"It's okay," Sirius quickly said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "You're alright."
Ginny slowly turned her face upwards.
Sirius was giving her a very kind look though his eyes were shining with fear.
"We're…we're in the…" Ginny stammered.
"We're not," Sirius quickly said, "It's an illusion."
Ginny tried to comprehend this.
Yet, she could feel somebody's eyes on the back of her neck.
She nervously turned and let out a small scream.
Tom Riddle was crouched behind them, throwing her a sinister smirk.
Sirius spun around and swore.
"Ginny, listen to me!" Sirius loudly said, "This isn't real. None of this is real!"
"But it…it seems so…"
"I know," Sirius interjected, "I know…believe me…I know…but it's not real."
Ginny tightly shut her eyes but tears managed to squeeze their way through.
"Say, Ginny," Sirius abruptly said, "Have you ever wondered what Tom Riddle would look like if he was wearing a tutu and had bright pink hair?"
Ginny opened her eyes at the mere absurdness of that statement.
She blinked as she saw that Sirius' words had come true.
The devilish man standing before her was wearing a tutu and had bright pink hair.
She confusedly glanced at Sirius.
"Welcome to the chambre de l'esprit," Sirius glumly said, "Or as Reg and I called it…the chambre de l'enfer."
"What…what is it?" Ginny fearfully asked.
"It's a chamber that detects your thoughts," Sirius explained, "It then manifests those thoughts into realistic images. They look real, feel real, sound real, smell real…I even suspect that they taste real. Mummy and Daddy Dearest would put Regulus and I in here whenever we misbehaved. All of our worst demons would come to life."
Tears welled up in Ginny's eyes once more.
"That's…that's horrible!" Ginny croaked, "How did you survive?"
Sirius gestured to the bizarre figure of Tom Riddle with a tutu and pink hair.
"You see," Sirius quietly said, "This room can see what you're thinking. And so we would think of the most random things. It helped…"
He steered her away and added, "Come on…let's get out of here."
"Wait!"
Ginny stopped and Sirius gave a start.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.
Ginny slowly turned to face the demonic man. The tutu disappeared and his hair became jet black once more. Sirius watched with a mixture of awe and admiration as she stepped forward and punched Tom Riddle square in the jaw.
Sirius let out a small laugh.
It faded into a stunned silence as Ginny tightly closed her eyes. She clenched her fist and barred her teeth. Sirius watched as Tom Riddle slowly dissolved into a cluster of butterflies.
"How…how did you…?" Sirius stammered.
Ginny opened her eyes and whispered, "You said that it manifests our thoughts. I just thought of him disappearing. In fact…"
Sirius glanced around as the Chamber of Secrets disappeared. Tall trees grew from the ground and rose into the blue sky. Within a few minutes, they were standing in a beautiful forest.
Sirius amazedly glanced at Ginny.
"Fred and George aren't the only ones with an imagination," Ginny pointed out.
Sirius beamed.
He also began to think of different things. The two began walking deeper into the forest, never reaching the opposite wall. Sirius grinned as he felt the grass, moss, dirt, and leaves.
It all felt so real…
Different insects flew around them. Groundhogs, rabbits, and other small creatures scurried past them. Ginny laughed as she bent down to pet one.
Sirius closed his eyes and imagined a winding river. His eyes flew open at Ginny's gasp and he proudly realized that he had created the body of water, complete with a waterfall. Ginny reached down to touch it. She accidentally stepped forward and landed right in the water. She scrambled to the bank and began to laugh as she realized that she was soaking wet.
Sirius chuckled and waved his wand, drying her off.
He then cupped his hands and focused. Ginny smiled as thousands of tiny stars appeared in his hands. Sirius gently threw them up into the air and they stuck to the sky.
Ginny sat down on an overturned tree and glanced around.
In just a few minutes, the two had created a place of their very own.
A place that nobody else knew about.
Sirius joined her.
"Your parents had the ability to create this beautiful place," Ginny pointed out, "And they just used it to torture you and your brother?"
"Welcome to my family," Sirius cynically said.
"So," Ginny whispered, "Here we are…the man who never had a childhood and the teenager who's childhood ended abruptly."
Sirius looked pained.
He hesitated before gently saying, "Hey, hey! We were still able to make this place. If we were able to do that, I reckon that we're not adults yet."
Ginny smiled as she agreed.
The two eventually made their way back to the door. They slipped out into the corridor and Fred and George sighed with relief.
"We were just about to come in after you," Fred cried.
"Are you alright?" George asked.
"We're fine," Ginny sincerely said, "Really!"
"What's in there?" Fred curiously asked.
"It's a secret," Ginny replied.
The twins dramatically pouted and groaned.
In the end, they kindly nodded and let it be.
Later that night, Ginny found herself sneaking back over to the door. She slipped inside and saw that somebody had already built the forest.
"Hey, Juniper," Sirius cheerfully said, "Fancy seeing you here!"
He was sitting on a tree trunk. Two mugs of tea sat next to him.
Ginny smiled and sat on the grass.
Sirius handed her a mug and said, "'Beats sitting in the kitchen, eh?"
"Definitely," Ginny agreed.
She glanced up at the sky and beamed as several stars shot across it.
From that moment on, the two spent their insomnia-fuelled nights in the chamber. Sirius continued to tell stories about his days at Hogwarts. Ginny told him about how she had always wanted to play for the Holyhead Harpies and how she was thinking about joining the Gryffindor Quidditch Team and how she missed Percy. Sometimes, the two didn't talk at all. They just sipped their tea and stared up at the stars.
Eventually, the two went into the room in the afternoons, when they were supposed to be cleaning. Unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by Mrs. Weasley.
One afternoon, her mother pulled her aside.
"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley softly said, "Can we talk?"
Ginny's jaw fell open.
Her mother wanted to talk!?
Not just lecture but genuinely talk!?
Ginny nodded.
"I've noticed that you and Sirius seem to be spending quite a bit of time together," Mrs. Weasley admitted, "And I was just…well…I just wanted to…I…erm…"
"What?" Ginny asked, "What is it?"
Her mother led her into the stuffy parlor and sat her down.
"Ginny, dear," Mrs. Weasley sighed, "When I was at Hogwarts, I took Muggle Studies with a professor…Professor Whiteworth. He was a dashing man! He was handsome, intelligent, and always knew just what to say."
"Where are you going with this?" Ginny uncertainly asked.
"The point is," Mrs. Weasley slowly said, "I know what it's like to have a crush on an older man and…"
"OH MY GOD, MUM!"
Ginny leapt to her feet, shaking with anger.
"You think that…that…I…ugh!" Ginny spluttered, "You really don't understand, do you!? You have no bloody clue!"
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley gasped.
"Do you really want to know the truth?" Ginny hissed, "I do love Sirius! But not in the sick, twisted, way that you're thinking! Sirius is…is like…he's like my father!"
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "You…you have a father!"
"Yeah," Ginny snapped, "But in six weeks, he's been more of a father…hell…he's been more of a parent than you or Dad!"
Mrs. Weasley was speechless.
"Sirius listens to me!" Ginny thundered, "He understands me! He knows what I'm going through! And he actually cares about me!"
"You mean to tell me that an escaped convict knows more about my own daughter than I do!?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
"Yes," Ginny simply said.
She spun around and stomped out of the room.
Mrs. Weasley was not done.
Later that day, she ended up cornering Sirius in the kitchen.
"I want to know what your relationship is with my daughter," Mrs. Weasley growled, "And I want to know now!"
"Alright, alright!" Sirius cried, "Take it easy!"
"I will not take it easy!"
Her eyes held fire.
"Blimey," Sirius yelped, "Get a grip, will you!? Did Ginny say anything!?"
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley hissed, "She said that you were like a father to her!"
For a moment, Sirius looked immensely touched.
"Well!?"
"Well, what!?"
"What do you have to say or yourself?"
"I…don't understand," Sirius admitted, "What's the problem?"
"I want to the meaning of this!"
"You're raving," Sirius calmly said, "I'm just trying to give Ginny a bit of guidance; that's all. She's been through a lot. She needs someone to look after her, to listen to her, to understand her. I'm not your enemy here, Molly. We both want what's best for Ginny."
"I'll decide what's best for Ginny," Mrs. Weasley snapped, "She's my daughter! And I say that the best thing for her is to stay away from you."
Sirius looked stunned.
At long last, he whispered, "If…if you think…that that's best."
"I do."
"Then," Sirius heavily said, "I'll respect your wishes. But I think that you're making a terrible mistake."
"I know what I'm doing, Sirius," Mrs. Weasley growled, "She's my daughter!"
"Yeah," Sirius muttered, "Keep telling yourself that."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Sirius was already stomping away.
Mrs. Weasley followed him and cried, "You think that you're better at parenting my daughter than I am, don't you!? Admit it!"
"Fine!" Sirius exclaimed, "I admit it!"
He stormed up the stairs.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
"NO, I'M REGULUS!" Sirius bellowed, "OF COURSE, I'M SIRIUS!"
The curtains fell and Walburga started to shriek.
Sirius sighed.
He was getting really sick of screaming mothers.
Author's Note: Yikes! Drama!