The ruckus of a confused classroom amplified through the stone corridors around Ginny. Fighting groups of voices saying "sick", "hurt", and "jinxed" flooded into Ginny's ears. The gossip around Beryl dissipated while conversations about Harry and muggleborn Justin Finch-Fletchley increased at an alarming rate. Stories bounced between vicious ears excited to hear the latest on the deepening feud. Tracing her fingers against the etching of cold hardened stone walls Ginny found a quiet corner to collect her thoughts. Warm colorful streams of light flickered from jeweled colored cut glass as a three-paned series drew her attention away from the chaos.

A woman with a crown stood on top of brilliant flames encroaching the bottom of her evergreen dress. Wood stacked in a circle at the woman's bare feet as she looked into the distance beseeching someone to save her. Ginny stared at the woman's delicate ivory face. It was full of determination and hope despite the flames spreading closer to her feet. The anger and hatred surrounding her was palpable. She stood tall and patient waiting for someone to break her free from the encroaching pain.

Then the woman's face transformed from proud acceptance to elation. A tall steely determined knight with golden flowing hair galloped towards her. His chest bore a ruby cross over his white tunic as he carried a shield with ruby and white stripes. His right hand held a sword shining crimson with drops of blood dripping from the tip. No army, fire, or king would come between him and this woman.

Ginny's eyes flitted to the final stained glass pane. The woman and man embraced away from the chaos of the fire and armies. His long flowing hair cascaded down his back. His arms wrapped tight around the woman's waist as he pulled her into his chest. Flaming red roses blossoming and a sleeping greyhound replaced fire at their feet. The woman's face softened with ecstasy and joy. The burden of the heavy crown fell beneath her left foot. She looked into her knight's face full of hope and new beginnings.

The last hopeful image of the woman stayed in Ginny's head for the rest of the morning. Sitting in the courtyard the wind billowed past her face chapping her lips and nose. She bundled deeper into her cloak and woolen jumper. Ginny desperately wanted to go home and see her parents and Bill. Memories of last year's Christmas on the dragon reservation flooded back. Charlie took her out on his broom. He didn't laugh when she said she wanted to steer. Unbeknownst to her parents, he let her fly solo. Determined to turn her into a seeker, like him, he charmed small rocks in the air for her to catch like a snitch. It would be even better to see Bill in Egypt.

It had been years since they could afford a visit to Bill. If anyone could help her unravel this rat's nest it was her oldest brother. While she loved all her brothers, there was something special about Bill. More than an older brother he treated her almost as if he was her second Dad. She crept into his bed during hot summer nights when she had nightmares. She ran to his arms for comfort when the twins pranked her or Ron ignored her. He had a simple way of making everything seem different and easier to manage.

"No one will understand."

No one would understand. She couldn't go home with Tom in her trunk. She struggled to work up her resolve to write home to Mum and tell her she wanted to come home. She knew going home meant confessing about Tom and writing in a book that wrote back. She needed help figuring out how to explain this. She needed help from one of her brothers.

Ron made the most sense. He was the least likely to judge and had Hermione at his disposal. The trouble with Ron was the one-third of a trio. A trio that included the last person in the world she wanted to find out how stupid and naïve she had been. Even if Harry was not present when she told them, there was no way they would keep a secret from him.

The twins were the next logical choice. Yet, they were taking the threats from Percy to leave her alone to the letter. Every time she tried to talk to them they would walk in the other direction late for a very important appointment.

That left Percy. Her stomach churned thinking about confessing to Percy. It wasn't that he wouldn't help her. He was the best suited to help her outside of Ron with Hermione. It was the inevitable disappointed expression he would wear as she confessed to writing in a diary that spoke back that she wanted to avoid. The lecture he would give on dangers of "ignoring father's wise lessons" she would need to sit through. No, not Percy.

"You are an arrogant insolent child if you think you can outlast me."

Sighing Ginny's stomach dropped. The cold wind blustered past her heating face. The noise of rustling branches and whistling air helped keep Tom's voice at bay. Her body shook from anxiety rather than the winter wind. The trembling started slowly, first her feet and then her legs. Before she knew it her hands and upper body joined in. The weight and enormity of the situation flooded over her.

She was not in control. He trapped her. With no other way out she had to tell Percy. Gathering her things she trudged her way to his makeshift "office". His office consisted of a self-conjured desk and chair by the witch statue with the humped back. The Head Boy and Girl kept required office hours down the hall, but Percy insisted on being available at regular intervals to offer his help. Fred and George liked to snigger behind his back saying he was developing his future as a brainless ministry whipping boy. He crafted his talent for following someone else's orders.

Percy sat in a wobbling conjured chair next to the cupboard. The chair had one leg slightly shorter than the others and rocked off-balanced as he tried to maintain his upright rigid posture. Ginny gently rapt on the wall next to him and he looked up from his parchment to focus on her face.

"Ginny! What a surprise! Do you need anything? Are you still feeling ill? Do you want some more pepper-up?"

"No, I am fine. I wanted to talk to you about something that has been bothering me."

"Oh, I was expecting this." He pulled his glasses off his face and started to clean them using a gold and maroon checkered handkerchief from his breast pocket. He looked through the lenses into the light inspecting them for spots.

"You were?"

"Yes, I thought you might be a little upset about going off to have an adventure in Egypt while your little friend stayed behind in the hospital." Guilt flooded Ginny remembering Colin. She forgot all about her friend still in the hospital, in the hospital because she hurt him.

"I told you they would never understand."

"Yes, you are right, I am a little upset still about Colin." Ginny looked down at the circles she drew with her feet.

"It's alright Gin. He will be right as rain soon," Percy drew her into a large awkward hug. Ginny's back stiffened in the embrace and she felt her limbs go rigid. Percy patted her arm twice when he realized she was not relaxing into the embrace. "Have you written back to Mum and Dad? Do you want to go to Egypt with them to see Bill? It would do you some good. You are so pale and look too thin. You need some of Mum's cooking to plump you back up. And Mum could use the cheering up and break."

"What do you mean?"

"Well after all the stress of raising the lot of us! This will be her first relaxing Christmas in over 16 years. Last year doesn't count. Remember how hurt Charlie was right before they arrived? Mum wrote to me she spent the entire visit worried sick. Think about it: no twins blowing anything up, no Ron to placate, no Charlie lighting himself on fire. Mum will actually be able to relax and enjoy a special day."

Ginny's stomach dropped. She had not considered the impact the secret would have on Mum. She only thought about the trouble she would get in for writing in a book that spoke back. Her Mum that worked so hard and never complained. Or at least never complained more than she should as the Mum of Fred and George. How could she take this away from her? How could she go home and tell her Mum that she had a talking voice in her head? A voice who showed her a white room and causing her to hurt her classmates? It would break her heart.

"Actually, I needed help to figure out how to tell Mum I want to stay here. I have important studies I need to focus on but I don't want her to worry," Percy studied her face and expression. Ginny shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"But you spent every day holed up in the library for the past few weeks. How are you behind? Do you need a tutor? I know you are too young to worry about your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, but the foundational education has a critical impact on your base understanding for years to come. You can't get behind now."

"I am fine, I just want more time to keep studying," Ginny shifted her weight between her feet desperately wanting to leave the conversation. "You know, so I can keep myself in a good position to impress my professors and follow in certain footsteps."

Percy leaned back on the unsteady chair and laughed. "I knew you were full of good sense. I tell you what, I will write Mum and tell her we all want to stay together in a spirit of sibling camaraderie. This way nothing will appear out of the ordinary and no one will worry."

"Thanks, Percy, I better be getting back to my studies," Ginny walked away with her head spinning.

The weeks leading up to Christmas holiday passed in similar fashion. Ginny avoided talking to her family and classmates. She spent her time either staring at the stain glass queen or escaping to the library. With her isolation deepening she was thrust into rising water. She knew she was barely treading water. Tom continued to invade her mind sending her down a spiral of shame.

The shame felt different than embarrassment. It felt different than fear or regret. Shame carried with it a new wave of indescribable sensations. It palpated. It pulsed through her bloodstream. It hurt. Every day Tom stayed locked in the trunk he fought stronger against her will trying to break her down.

Tom started to invade her dreams. Ginny's roommates had to cast silencing charms over her bed curtains to mute the thrashing and midnight screams. Ginny often woke in puddles of cold sweat with her heart racing and skin crawling.

Ginny prepared for another difficult night. Beryl glowered at her before yanking her bed curtains tight. Mira shrugged off Beryl's foul temper unconvinced Ginny was the cause of her illness in History of Magic.

"Do you want me to cast a silencing charm?" Mira asked Ginny with an apprehensive soft voice.

"Yes please," Ginny looked at her comforter as she responded. Her heart sank knowing she was unable to control her increasing out of control behavior.

"Are you sure I can't get your brother? Maybe a calming draught from Madam Pomphrey?" Mira's face was full of concern. She reached out to try and touch the edge of Ginny's curtains trying to push them aside to get a better look at Ginny's paling face.

"No. Please. I just need some sleep. I will be fine."

"Fine. Of course. I will show you fine tonight."

A chill flurried down Ginny's back. She curled into a tight ball huddle below her blankets. Her body shook with anxiety and she tried to focus on her breath to calm down.

Then everything stopped. The buzz and pressure returned. Ginny knew what was happening now. She knew Tom was taking over but she was tired. Tired of the daily fight. Tired of his constant barrage of comments. Tired of him lording her sanity and her words over her.

She pictured the stain glass picture of the woman. She felt the fire rising at her feet. She could see the border of armies preventing her knight from reaching her. The pressure and buzzing intensified. He was coming. He was swelling around her like the fire at the Queen's feet. She tried to picture her knight breaking through the siege. All she could see were her family and classmates' angry judgmental faces. Sobbing she felt the pressure and buzzing surge as she lost the image of the Queen and the rising mob.

Everything went black.