That night while going through her things, Ginny found a small black book. It was clearly meant to be a diary, but as she flipped through it, all the pages were blank. Her mum must've stuck it in with her things when she wasn't looking. She pulled out a quill and opened to the first page.

Written neatly at the top of the page was a name: T. M. Riddle. It must've been his once upon a time, but it looked like he hadn't ever written in it. She put her quill to the paper and paused for a moment, wondering what to write. A diary was a big thing and she wanted to start it right.

Realizing she was letting the ink pool up, she lifted the quill. To her surprise, the ink faded and disappeared. She wasn't using invisible ink so the only explanation was magic. Maybe it had a secret-keeping spell on it? She could write anything she wanted in it and no one would be able to read it. With this thought, she wrote her first sentence with confidence.

I don't like Draco Malfoy. The words faded just like her ink blot and she smiled, feeling a little powerful.

Ginny was about to write something else when words reappeared on the page: Neither do I. She stared at the words in shock. The book could talk? She looked back at the name at the top – it was written in the same handwriting as the words that responded to her. Was Riddle the name of the book or an actual person?

My name's Ginny Weasley. Who are you? She held her breath as the words disappeared. Seconds later, she received another answer. I'm Tom Riddle. It's nice to meet you. Why don't you like Malfoy?

He's an annoying prick who won't stay out of my business. He keeps trying to keep me from being friends with Slytherins.

That sounds about right, Tom wrote back. The rest of his family is the same. They're traitors.

Tom must've been one of the good guys, if he thought the Malfoys were traitors. Ginny continued writing to him for a while longer before climbing into bed, filled with an excitement that lingered into the following days and weeks.

It wasn't until the end of September that the first years finally started using their wands in charms class. It took Ginny a few tries to master her first spell, but she was much better off than most of her peers.

"How are you doing that?" Posie asked, eyes wide as she watched Ginny's feather float across the room.

The youngest Weasley shrugged. "I just said 'wingardium leviosa' and it rose into the air." She guided it through the air so it landed on Troy's head, who glared at her. Ginny smiled innocently and he rolled his eyes.

"I wish it worked like that for me," Cass said, watching them. Her feather was twitching on the desk as she repeated the incantation without success.

Troy wasn't doing much better. After shaking Ginny's feather off his head, he managed to get his own into the air for a few seconds before it sank back down and refused to move again.

"Blast it!" he cried in frustration. His wand seemed to agree because suddenly his feather burst into flames. Posie stared at the burning feather in horror while Cass and Ginny burst out laughing, earning them another glare from Troy.

"Your face was priceless," Ginny said between breaths.

"Whatever. It's almost time for flying lessons," Troy said, glancing at his watch.

The group headed out. Ginny couldn't wait; flying was one of her favorite things and today was the first day they'd be allowed to actually mount. They'd be using a class set of brooms, but Ginny knew she'd be able to catch on fast.

When Madame Hooch gave the Gryffindors permission to pick up their brooms, Ginny had to resist the urge to fly away right then and there. She missed being able to get away, the freedom of soaring through the sky.

Not all her friends felt the same way. Cass and Garren didn't seem to be having any difficulty mounting, but Kendra hadn't even lifted hers off the ground, instead starting at it fearfully as it lay in the grass.

"What if it takes off after I mount it? I don't know how to control it!" she worried.

Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "That's the point, Kendra. You're not going to learn how to control it if you don't use it." How was this girl in Slytherin? She acted like a Hufflepuff.

Garren, on the other hand, was right where he belonged. Madame Hooch was already annoyed with him since he mounted without permission. He didn't even seem to care. Ginny secretly admired his attitude; she may have been a rebel at home but she didn't have the guts to openly break rules at school.

"Since this is the first time some of you will be flying a broom, I asked two of your peers to come help out. Both are highly skilled for their age," Hooch announced.

And of course, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter walked onto the field, an awkwardly large gap separating them. It didn't look like the boys were friends – a shame too, since they were both obnoxiously pretentious and clearly made for each other.

"Look, it's your guard dog," Cass teased, smirking at Kendra.

The raven-haired girl groaned. "Why does he have to show up everywhere?"

"Well, how else is he going to make sure you're behaving?" Ginny joked. "You'd better stop talking to me before he grounds you for misconduct."

Sure enough, the first thing Malfoy did when he spotted Kendra was question her choice in friends. "Why are you hanging out with these losers?" he sneered. "You should be talking to Slytherins who are worthy of your presence."

Ginny wanted to wipe that nasty sneer off his face. The arrogance he was emanating was contaminating her air.

"Garren's here and he's a Slytherin," Kendra pointed out, crossing her arms.

"Kendra," Malfoy said warningly, a serious look on his face. Something passed between them, a wordless exchange ending in a long sigh on Malfoy's part. Whatever just happened, it seemed that Kendra had won.

"You can leave now," she said rudely.

"I don't think so. I'm here to help my fellow students with their flying, so I'm going to stick around and see how well you're doing."

Kendra paled a little, but didn't back down. It looked like she finally found her Slytherin backbone. "I don't need any help."

Ginny couldn't stop herself from laughing at her friend's blatant lie. Kendra glared at her and Malfoy's eyebrow rose. "What's so funny?" he asked, finally acknowledging Ginny's presence.

"Oh, she needs help," Ginny said once she managed to stop laughing. "She's afraid of her broom."

"I am not! I'm just concerned for my safety."

"You're afraid," Ginny said with a smirk. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Malfoy smiling too.

"You have to be confident, Kendra," Malfoy said. He summoned his broom and Ginny's eyes widened, recognizing it as a Nimbus 2001 – the newest, fastest broom around. She tried to look unimpressed when he caught her eye, but the growing smirk on his face told her that she failed. She cursed him under her breath as he mounted and flew into the air. I hope you fall off your broom. Unfortunately, he didn't, landing smoothly after executing a series of loops and dives. Kendra's eyes were wide along with almost everybody else.

Ginny grudgingly admitted to herself that he was skilled, but refused to show it. Looking around, she was grateful to see Garren seemed just as unimpressed she was trying to be. Their eyes met and he grinned suddenly. "Want to race, Ginny?"

She knew she shouldn't, but she hadn't flown in so long…she scanned the crowd for Madame Hooch. It looked like she was focused on helping some struggling Gryffindors. Might as well go for it, then.

"You're on!" Ginny said, anticipation starting to rush through her. As she mounted her broom, she caught Malfoy watching them. If he reported them, she wouldn't hesitate to make him regret it.

"Alright, first one to the edge of the lake wins," Garren decided. "Cass, start us."

His sister looked between them in excitement. "On your marks…get set…go!"

They took off, dodging students in the hopes of avoiding detection by Hooch. There would probably be less air resistance up high, but Ginny hesitated to ascend; she really didn't want to get caught. Garren was beginning to pull ahead, though, so she took the risk and urged her broom up. No way was he beating her.

Ginny started gaining on him, but he noticed and rose into the sky ahead of her. She scowled. Obviously his lead was because his broom was faster, not because of skill. The only way she could beat him was by maneuvers. She waited until there were a couple hundred meters left before plunging towards the ground. The dive managed to pull her ahead of him and she won by a full broomlength.

Ginny dismounted, grinning widely from the satisfaction of flying and winning the race. Garren got off beside her, pouting. "Your broom was faster than mine," he complained as they walked back to the group.

"It was not. You're just upset that I beat you."

Garren tried to disagree, but gave it up when he realized they both saw right through his excuses. "You're pretty good. Have you flown before?" he asked.

"Thanks. Yeah, I've been flying for years. I want to play Quidditch next year."

"Really? Me too. We should practice together."

"Okay, that would be great!" Finally, someone who liked Quidditch as much as Ginny did. She knew there was open field on Fridays; they'd be able to practice then.

"That was awesome!" Cass exclaimed as Garren and Ginny approached the rest of the first years. "You guys were so fast!"

"Yeah. Draco looked so shocked," Kendra said with a giggle.

"Where did he go?" Ginny asked. "Wait, never mind. I don't care."

"You just got beaten by a girl," Cass teased, elbowing her brother.

"Lay off," Garren grumped. "It wasn't a fair race. I was expecting her to be slow."

"And the fact that she wasn't makes it unfair?" Cass asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…"

Before Garren could say anything else, he was interrupted. "That was some decent flying," Potter said as he walked up to them. Great. Why him? Ginny supposed the fact that he even noticed them was a compliment in itself; he was about as self-absorbed as Lockhart.

"Thanks?"

"But, you two broke the rules, so I'm going to have to report you to Madame Hooch."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Ginny protested. "That's stupid. We're in the same house!"

"Rules are rules. Come on," Potter said. Ginny groaned in disbelief, but followed him reluctantly, her arms crossed in annoyance. Garren was winking at his Slytherin friends as they walked across the field – he didn't seem to give a crap that they were about to get into major trouble, and because of Potter, no less.

"What are you doing, Potter?"

Ginny never thought she'd actually be glad to hear Malfoy's obnoxious voice. Her eyes flashed between the two second years as they faced off.

"These two were breaking the rules, so I'm taking them to Hooch." There was a challenge in Potter's voice, as if he was daring Malfoy to argue with him. Of course, the prick didn't back down.

"I don't think so. Slytherin isn't losing any points today. If you want to report your own Gryffindor, be my guest," he said. He grabbed Garren and the two of them walked off, leaving Ginny with Potter, who had now replaced Malfoy at the top of her hate list.

No way was she letting Potter take her to Hooch now. "Oh look at the time," she said quickly, glancing at an imaginary watch on her wrist. "I gotta go." Before he could say anything, Ginny hurried away to her friends.

"Did you get a detention?" Kendra asked in concern.

"Nope. Malfoy stopped him."

"Really? I guess he's good for something," Cass said.

When the Gryffindors got back to the dorms, Ginny wrote about racing Garren and getting caught by Potter. I hate him. He's such a goody-goody. I hate him more than Draco Malfoy.

He sounds awful. I'm sure he'll get what's coming for him eventually, Tom replied.

She told him about how Kendra was afraid of flying and how Malfoy ended up saving her from detention. Telling Tom everything about her day had become a daily occurrence over the past month. She felt like he was one of the few people who truly knew her; her brothers loved her, but they didn't really understand her. Tom was her closest confidant.

"What are you up to?" Cass asked, her head appearing over the side of the bed.

"Nothing," Ginny said quickly, stuffing the journal under her pillow. For some reason, she didn't want anyone to know about it.

"Okay." Cass gave her a weird look but didn't say anything.

Friday couldn't come fast enough. Garren was already on the field when Ginny arrived. Both of them had to use school brooms, which sucked, but it was better than having no broom. There were a few other people practicing; Ginny recognized a group of older Gryffindors from the house team on the other side of the pitch.

"I hope I can play Quidditch next year," Ginny said as she mounted her broom.

"Yeah, I'd like to be a beater," Garren agreed. "Being able to club people with giant balls without getting in trouble? Awesome."

Ginny laughed, rolling her eyes. "You are such a Slytherin." Her eyes found the Gryffindors again, spotting Potter among them. "My dream is to be a seeker, but Potter has that part nailed."

Garren followed her gaze and smirked. "I bet I could figure out a way to get him out of the picture next year."

"I don't think a noble Gryffindor could consider your offer…but I'm more of a rebel," Ginny said with a grin. "You're positively devious!"

"A Gryffindor plotting against her own housemates? I would've that was beneath even a Weasley."

Ginny groaned, recognizing the obnoxious voice right away. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"I'm here to play Quidditch, of course." His eyes dropped to the two friends' rides. "Are those school brooms?"

"Yeah, what of it? Not all of us are spoiled rich prats like you," Ginny snapped.

"Take it back!" he demanded. "My father will hear about this!"

"Whatever," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you don't mind, Garren and I are trying to practice."

Malfoy scowled and Ginny struggled to keep a straight face. Clearly she failed, if the angry fire in his eyes was any indication. She really needed to work on hiding her emotions before it got her into serious trouble.

"Are you seriously practicing with Weasley? Wouldn't you rather play with your fellow Slytherins?" Malfoy asked Garren, gesturing to the group gathering nearby. It seemed like he was changing tactics, since insulting her wasn't going anywhere.

Garren looked at his housemates, to Ginny, and back at Malfoy. "I'd love to play with you guys, but only if Ginny can too. Kendra would be mad if I ditched her best friend."

Ginny smirked – there was no way Malfoy could argue against that. Calling her Kendra's best friend probably infuriated him. Was it so inconceivable that a high-bred Slytherin like Kendra wanted to associate with a Weasley? Who were that girl's parents anyway? They had to be pretty powerful if they could use Draco as a babysitter.

"There is no way a blood traitor is playing with us, especially on that sluggish broom," Malfoy spat.

"Oh please, it wouldn't matter if I had a freaking Nimbus 2001. You'd never let me practice with you – you're too afraid," Ginny said. She knew she was baiting him, but it was so easy…and kind of fun.

"I'm not afraid of anything, especially you."

"Sure you're not," she said cheerily, trying to aggravate him even more. She could see straight through his tough guy act and she was going to figure out what he was scared of. The more dirt she had on Malfoy, the better. She made a mental note to find Ron and Hermione later; they probably knew more than she did.

"You're going to regret this, Weasley," Malfoy said huffily before walking off. Ginny wasn't sure what he was talking about; it sounded like he was just trying to leave with dignity. She wouldn't regret anything – that prick was no threat to her.

"You are the coolest girl ever," Garren said, an awestruck look on his face. "He totally ran out of comebacks."

Ginny grinned. "Thanks. Now let's fly. I just wasted ten minutes of practice time arguing with that prick."

It absolutely infuriated Draco the way she thought she was better than him. She was a blasted blood traitor for Merlin's sake! She should've been groveling at his feet, but instead she was hurling insults at him like that mudblood Granger. What was with those unruly Gryffindor girls? The Slytherin girls would never dare to be rude to him.

"Draco, you okay? What were you doing talking to the Weasley girl?" Blaise asked, sounding a little concerned.

"I'm fine. She's a bloody nuisance," Draco grumped. "She and Kendra are determined to be friends. I refuse to be killed over a stupid friendship!"

Blaise nodded, a serious look on his face. He was one of the few people Draco trusted enough to confide in. He knew that Draco had to watch Bellatrix's daughter or risk his life and the honor of his family.

"Maybe you need to try a different tactic. You're letting her get to you. You need to turn the tables and annoy the heck out of her instead."

"That requires talking to her," Draco complained. "I don't want to lower myself to that level."

"You're Draco Malfoy. There's no way you can lower yourself just by talking to her."

Blaise's logic was quite reasonable, as always. After considering his friend's words, Draco managed to calm down. "This is why you're my best friend, Blaise."

"Oh, it's my excellent advice, not the fact that my father is one of the richest men in the wizarding world?" he asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"Well, that certainly helps."

The boys laughed and Blaise put a hand on Draco's shoulder. "C'mon, let's play Quidditch. I think my team is going to win this time."

"I doubt it. I'm Draco Malfoy, remember?" The Slytherins split into two groups and began scrimmaging like they used to the previous year. Now that Draco was a second year, he was determined to be on the Quidditch team. The seeker position was as good as his due to the generous donation his father made to the house team.

"Look out!"

Draco narrowly dodged a random Hufflepuff who had come too close to the Slytherin group. "Watch where you're going, freak!" he shouted after her. He could see her eyes fill with tears before she darted off the field. He may not have official authority to kick anyone off the field since it was open practice day, but he had plenty of unofficial authority. Everyone listened to him. Except…

He saw a shock of red in the corner of his vision – the Weasley girl, a look of disgust on her face. Remembering Blaise's advice, he faked a smile and gave her a cheerful wave. The shock and disbelief on her face were so worth it.

"Blaise, you're a genius," Draco said, pausing the scrimmage for a moment. "I'll just annoy her until she gives up on being Kendra's friend. It's going to be fun."

Blaise smiled, but there was something about it that made Draco uneasily. Maybe the way his friend's eyes were glinting mischievously.

"What's that look for?" Draco demanded.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how all this turns out, that's all," Blaise said. "Let's get back to the game."

"Alright. Back in your positions, everyone," Draco called. Blaise flew off and Draco noticed him glance towards Weasley with that same knowing smile. Sometimes Draco wondered what went on in that brain of his. Blaise was a mystery, even to his best friend.

"And then he had the nerve to wave at me just after scaring a Hufflepuff out of her mind!" Ginny exclaimed. "He's the most frustrating git I've ever known."

"I'm glad Garren stuck by you," Cass said. "Sometimes I worry about him."

"Naw, Garren is great." The two girls were laying on their beds after Friday's dinner, Cass finishing up her charms homework and Ginny discretely writing to Tom. She'd been doing it more and more often lately; she felt like she could tell him anything. There were no secrets between them; he knew all her deepest fears and secret crushes – Troy and (sometimes) Garren – and she trusted him with that knowledge. He was her best friend and he was all hers.

"Hey! Cass, Ginny – we're about to start a game of Exploding Snaps down in the common room. You guys want to join?" Posie asked, poking her head into the dorm.

Ginny finished her sentence and closed the diary. Maybe Troy or Neville would be there. "Sounds fun. I'm coming." She hopped off the top bunk and followed Cass down the spiral staircase. She almost ran into Percy on her way out; she'd barely seen him over the past couple months.

"Watch where you're – oh, hullo Ginny. How are things?" Percy asked. He switched from prefect to brother in an instant, making his sister a little nervous.

"Um, fine," she replied. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cass inch away until she was out of sight. What a great friend. Thanks for leaving me with the stuffy prefect.

"I heard that you got detention."

"Yeah, a month ago." Ginny hadn't gotten a detention since August, and it was nearly October now.

"Yes, well…I hope you've learned from it. Breaking school rules is never good," Percy advised her. Ginny tried not to roll her eyes. She didn't do anything wrong – it wasn't her fault Snape had a stick up his arse.

"Don't worry, Percy. I'm sure you have things to do, so…" Ginny took a step backwards, hoping to end the conversation.

"Right." Percy paused awkwardly, glancing towards the stairs. "Well, I'm off. Nice seeing you, Ginny. Take care."

"You too," she said politely. She turned and found Cass quickly. It looked like they started a game without her. She spotted Neville outside the circle and, after a moment's hesitation, sat down beside him.

"Hey Neville, why aren't you playing?"

"Last time I played, my hair caught on fire," he said dismally. "I don't think I'm ready to get back into it yet."

"Oh. I'm sorry." How was that even possible? Poor Neville – he always seemed to have such bad luck.

He shrugged. "I saw your brother talking to you. What was he saying?"

"Just commenting on my detention I got on the first day of school."

Neville grimaced. "I had detention last week and Lockhart made me answer his fan mail for him. It was terrible."

"Gross. Lockhart is more self-absorbed than Potter and Malfoy combined."

"For sure. Honestly though, Potter isn't that bad. Once you get past the boasting and the arrogance, I mean. He's a decent guy and a really good Quidditch player."

Ginny stared at Neville in disbelief. "Next you'll be telling me that you and Malfoy are chums. Potter tried to report me for breaking the rules earlier this week. Me, a Gryffindor. He's not a prefect, he shouldn't be enforcing the rules like that. That's Percy's job."

Neville didn't respond right away, and when he finally spoke, he was drowned out by cheering from the circle. It looked like Fred had won the game – by cheating, no doubt. As the next round commenced, Ginny joined the group. A few people had left between rounds, including the twins, but a considerable number of Gryffindors were still gathered around the fire.

Ginny settled into a spot between Cass and Troy. Everyone left was from younger years. She spotted Ron and Hermione (and Potter, unfortunately) on the opposite side of the circle, arguing about something. Posie was nearby, chatting with some other girls. There were a lot of faces she didn't recognize even after being there for a couple months.

"Alright, we're going to play the Bavarian version this time," the dealer boy announced. After everyone got their cards, the fast-paced game began. Ginny could barely keep up as the cards matched up with those in the center. She caught on eventually, though, and managed to jump in quickly enough that her cards didn't explode.

She wasn't so lucky the next round. Although the cards didn't explode loudly, Ginny's ears started ringing and a wave of nausea came over her. She excused herself and went to bed with a bad headache.