Ginny held Draco as tightly as she could, trying to squeeze all the bad memories of Tom out of her head. Snuffling into Draco’s robes, she wondered how she could have possibly thought that Tom was good—all the signs had been there the whole time, and she had been to dense to notice. So caught up in her new friend that she had neglected everyone else she knew. Like Draco. He had tried to help her several times—he had cared, and she had not accepted it.
Separating herself from Draco, she looked into his worried eyes. “I—I don’t know…” she started quietly, taking deep breaths as she tried to tell Draco what was wrong. ”It’s just that—well… I can’t believe that I was so stupid…” She waved her hands distractedly, trying to find the right words to describe her relationship with Tom. “I just thought that—well… I thought you hated me—and… and I talked to T—erm… Or uhh… I don’t know—”
A faint clattering of footsteps suddenly arose down the corridor. Frightening, Ginny glanced wide-eyed and apologetically at Draco before turning on her heel and sprinting down the hallway. Draco had already risked so much by coming for her today, and she did not want to jeopardize everything he stood for at Hogwarts, no matter how much she disagreed with it. Not looking back at Draco, she frantically scrambled into a nearby classroom to escape whoever might be coming down the hall.
~*~
Bewildered, Draco stared after Ginny, his mouth gaping open as she ran away. They had been so close to some sort of clarification, but then she had just abandoned him to look stupid as several sixth years rounded the corner, giving him a strange gaze before continuing on their way.
Ginny was clearly upset about something significant—if only he knew what it was. Staring absentmindedly down the hallway to the classroom where she had run, he contemplated chasing after her; however, just as he had made up his mind to follow her, she burst out of the classroom and dashed down the hallway, probably back to her common room, he figured.
Draco thoughtfully reflected over their fleeting embrace and her teary face. Ginny did not deserve to be treated in a way that would make her cry—he would not stand for it. In all his years of knowing her, the only other times he had seen her upset was when he had triggered the conflict himself. It was not in her character to be randomly troubled. There had to be something or someone instigating this, and Draco vowed to find out what it was. He may not be able to confront her in public, but certainly he could work to determine what caused her distress.
More contented and with a new mission in mind, Draco set off towards the Slytherin dormitories
~*~
Running down the hallway, Ginny tried to make sense of everything that had just happened to her. Tom had caused everything, so she had flushed the diary down the toilet, then she had run into Draco and they had been civil, but then she had heard footsteps and fled into an empty classroom, where she had gotten promptly shooed out by her brother Percy who had been snogging a Ravenclaw prefect named Penelope. It all seemed very unreal—her best friend Tom was causing her to do dreadful things, Draco had managed to converse with her without rude jokes about her family, and Perfect Percy had a girlfriend. The last revelation was the most shocking—she had always thought Percy to be very prude and reprove behavior that involved kissing in empty classrooms.
Everything was a bit unusual today, she figured. At least now she did not have Tom—assuming he was the foundation of her problems. Sighing greatly, she trudged back to the Gryffindor dormitories, ready for some time alone and a long nap.
~*~
Time passed quickly in the next few months—the attacks on students had ceased, but there was still an air of anxiety and suspicion. Many were still concerned that the monster would strike as soon as enough students left their guard down. Draco found the whole matter to be quite frivolous—if the heir of Slytherin really wanted to strike, nothing would stop him.
On the brighter side, Ginny seemed more like her normal self. Draco saw her looking livelier and she talked to her friends more. She was appearing at the Great Hall for breakfast more often, which meant she was sleeping more. Overall, she appeared to be very content with life—which made Draco happy.
Draco had not had the chance to talk to her significantly since their day in the hallway. However, they no longer avoiding each other in the hallways, and he had tried to lessen his insults of her family, particularly in her presence. He had also taken to taking the paths to his classes that he knew would coincide with her routes, hoping that he would catch a glimpse of her, ensuring that she was still smiling and jovial.
Valentine’s Day finally rolled around—that despicable holiday where everyone suddenly got mushy and cuddly, and people were expected to convey their hidden emotions to the ones that they adored—or something like that. He had never been fond of Valentine’s Day, or anything it denoted. To him, the best feature of his day was when his mother sent him a huge box of Honeyduke’s chocolates.
The Great Hall was garishly decorated, entirely thanks to Professer Lockhart the resident lurid fool. Not that it was something to be thankful for—in fact, it was quite atrocious and very repulsive. Certainly the gaudy environment could not possibly facilitate anyone’s romantic interactions. However, as Draco looked around the Great Hall, he was revolted to see many couples snuggling and making out, making him want to vomit horribly in the corner.
Terribly sickened, Draco eagerly left the Great Hall so he could walk to his first class in piece. However, as he wandered in the proper direction, he was suddenly distracted by a small dwarf tugging on Harry Potter’s bag. Potter’s back ripped apart, scattering his belongings out all over the floor.
“What’s going on here?” Draco asked amusedly as the dwarf cleared his throat loudly and prepared to sing. Stifling a laugh, Draco looked back and forth between the dwarf and the blushing Potter, entirely entertained by the situation.
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard
I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord
Draco snickered at the ridiculous valentine—it would have been embarrassing for anyone to have received that outlandish poem—but Potter… It was priceless. Draco was abruptly brought back to reality as Percy strived to disperse the crowd who had gathered around him, Potter, and the dwarf.
Not wanting to let that weasel Percy overcome him, Draco picked up a random piece of Potter’s belongings. It looked to be a tattered, old, black diary. “Wonder what Potter’s written in this?” he mused, beginning to flip open it’s yellowed pages.
“Hand it over, Malfoy,” said Percy severely. Draco smiled smugly to himself and ignored Percy’s orders.
“When I’ve had a look,” Draco said, flashing the diary teasingly at Potter, wanting to see what reaction he would get.
Percy began to speak pompously again, but then Potter pulled out his wand. “Expelliarmus!” he yelled, and Draco felt the diary lift out of his hand and fly across the room into Ron’s waiting arms. Draco sneered at Potter’s impudence—how dare he one-up him yet again. Looking around angrily, he suddenly noticed Ginny, looking very uneasy in the corner. Had she sent that ludicrous valentine? Draco could not believe how she had embraced him that one day, crying, and then she turned around and sent Potter a valentine when he did nothing but ignore her. At least the song she had sent him was thoroughly awkward and embarrassing for Potter.
“I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” he yelled at Ginny as he passed. She seemed thoroughly upset as she covered her face with her hands and ran into class. Draco felt a fleeting sense of regret as he realized that he had struck her; however, as soon as Ron Weasley pulled his wand on him, all thoughts of remorse vanished. Luckily, Potter saved Weasley from unnecessary fighting. It was a fortunate move for Weasley, for if he had started anything, Draco fully intended on hexing him to the ground.
~*~
Ginny burrowed her head into her arms as she sulked at her desk. She had entirely forgotten about that silly valentine—Tom had convinced her to send it. Harry had thought it was completely absurd—he would probably never talk to her now. And Draco… Draco probably thought something horrible of her. She was not entirely sure, but his most recent comment certainly showed that their relationship was on unsteady ground yet again. However, beyond the valentine and Draco, was the absolute worst thing ever—Harry had managed to find Tom’s diary. What if Tom told her everything? She would most certainly be expelled. She tried to reassure herself that he had not figured out how to work the diary, but she had the gut feeling that everything was about to go horribly wrong.
Over the next few weeks, she kept a careful, low-key watch on Harry and his activities. She needed to find a time to sneak into the boys dormitories without being noticed, so she could steal back the diary before Harry learned all her secrets. Finally, one Friday night the Gryffindor common room was abnormally empty, and Harry was out practicing Quidditch. Stealthily creeping up the stairs to the boys dormitories, she swiftly determined which trunk belonged to Harry. As rapidly as she could, she rummaged through his stuff, trying to find the diary without making a huge mess. However, she was not having any luck, so she resorted to throwing his stuff out of the floor as she frantically dug through his chest to find the diary. Finally, she found it, tucked between several of Harry’s textbooks. She quickly stuffed it in her pocket and fled down the stairs.
Fortunately, the common room was still empty as she reentered. She promptly ascended the stairs to the girl’s dormitories and thrust the small diary in the space between her mattress and her bed frame. She did not want to think about Tom right now—perhaps she would inquire later what he had told Harry, if anything. She hoped to Merlin that Harry had not discovered the secrets of the diary, but with her luck, Tom had probably told Harry everything. She buried her head in her hands, and collapsed onto her bed, anxious for a long, undisturbed night of sleep.
The next morning, Ginny woke up after a restless night of sleep. As much as she wanted to relax, she had not been able to escape the fear that Tom had told Harry all of her deepest secrets.
Unable to avert corresponding with Tom, she grabbed the diary from beneath her mattress and nervously flipped it open. Pausing for a moment, she quivered as she held her quill delicately over the page, fearful of what would happen if Tom had betrayed her. Slowly, she concisely wrote her question: “Tom, how much did you tell Harry Potter?”
“Ahh… Ginny… How I have missed talking to you… I have not told him anything of consequence… Perhaps I can show you…”
Ginny had a fleeting moment of comprehension as she realized that when Tom sucked her into the diary, that was when he forced her to attack students. She struggled to stop Tom from pulling her in, but he was now too powerful. Finally giving up, she fell into the inviting dark hole and the evil of the diary swallowed her up.
~*~
Draco awoke bright and early—today was the day of the Griffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. While he assumed that Gryffindor would defeat the Hufflepuffs, he loved to watch Quidditch. He would just have to disregard who the scarlet-robed team was, and he would have a jolly old time. Perhaps he could pretend that Ginny was on the broomsticks instead of those other Weasleys—that could provide some entertainment.
Eating a leisurely breakfast at the Great Hall, he enjoyed a brisk conversation with Pansy, for once not bothered with her flirty antics. He found that if he distractedly nodded at everything she said, it satisfied her immensely. Too bad he had no real interest in her.
Lazily wandering out to the Quidditch pitch, Draco admired the fine weather. It was perfect weather for playing—too bad Slytherin was not playing today. He climbed up into the bleachers and sat behind Crabbe and Goyle, who were eagerly snacking on some breakfast food they had stolen from the Great Hall.
Draco idly watched as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams marched onto the field. Suddenly, as the teams were about to mount their brooms, Professor McGonagall rushed onto the field with a megaphone.
“This match has been cancelled,” she said loudly though the microphone, causing a loud uproar of angry students. Shocked, Draco looked around in surprised, trying to determine what had happened. He heard speculations arising as to what could have caused the match to be cancelled, but nothing certain. He watched as McGonagall led Potter and Weasley off the field and towards the castle. Figures that they would get priority in discovering why the match was canceled, he mused to himself.
Slowly meandering back to the common room, Draco listened for hints of what had happened. The most probable truth seemed to be that another student had been attacked. Turning down a deserted hallway, Draco headed towards a secret passageway he knew that would place him closer to the hospital wing, where he was certain there would be action if another student had been attacked.
As he made his way down the passage, he was shocked when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from ahead. He flattened himself against the wall, and stood silently as a ginger haired girl pattered by him. “Ginny?” he asked, wondering what she was doing running through here. Turning towards him, she looked at him with teary eyes.
She let out a few shuddering sobs before she spoke, “Penelope Clearwater and… and… and Hermione!” she started, sniveling terribly. “They were attacked!” she howled as tears began streaming down her face.
Looking at her in shock, Draco wondered why she was so entirely unhinged because of this attack. Certainly, he did admit that it was surprising about the attacks, but she had not acted like this following the previous attacks. Perhaps because it was the Mudblood Granger who was petrified—Potter’s friend. Ginny did fancy Potter, or so he assumed as she had done nothing to prove otherwise.
Still, he felt concerned for Ginny’s distress. He reached out to her and gave her a hug, trying to comfort her as best he could. He felt safe in the secret passageway, knowing that no student would find him there with her. He allowed himself to let down his usual guard as he soothed Ginny, who had not yet ceased her hysterical crying.
After several minutes, she seemed to have calmed down enough to talk. She looked at him, still appearing as though the slightest wrong move would maker her burst into tears again. He carefully tried to discern what the best move would be—she was obviously unstable, but clearly needed some form of support.
Suddenly, she opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She did this several times, giving her the appearance of a large scarlet fish. Suddenly she blurted out, “I didn’t do it!” before turning and scampering down the passage.
Baffled, Draco watched as she receded into the darkness. Of all of the strange encounters he had experienced with Ginny over the past few months that was certainly the most bizarre. He slowly turned and began retreating towards the Slytherin common room, trying to determine the significance in what Ginny had said to him.
~*~
Ginny climbed into the Gryffindor common room, where she was greeted by a solemn gathering of students, all conversing gravely about the attacks and who the heir of Slytherin was. Ginny nodded good-night to her brothers, and treaded upstairs to her bedroom. The room was empty, but she drew the curtains around her bed shut anyway. Once she was in complete privacy, she wrenched the diary from her pocket and hurled it behind her bed. She hated Tom, with every bone in her body. She hated the way he tricked her and deceived her, and she hated how he compelled her to commit actions that she did not wish to perform.
All because of her stupidity and failure to recognize Tom for what he really was, Hermione had been petrified, along with that Ravenclaw girl that Percy was so taken with. It was all her fault. She was too trusting—she had become too dependent on him. Too entranced to notice that he was what was causing all the horrors in her life. And now her ignorant actions had created turmoil for even her siblings, who she loved more than anything.
She thought briefly about Draco, who she had encountered in passing in the halls. He had tried to comfort her again, and yet, she had fled. He must think she was crazy and rude. She felt bad that all she did was run away from him these days. Feeling a hot tear slide down her face, she buried her head in her pillow, wondering how she would ever fix all the mayhem she had caused for herself.
~*~
Over the next few days, turmoil and fear grew in the school—not only had two more students been attacked, but suddenly Hagrid had been removed, and Dumbledore had reportedly stepped down by request of the governors, one of which was Draco’s father.
The day after those two had left, Draco had received a very pleased letter from his father, detailing how superb it was that Dumbledore was gone, and how Draco should take advantage of this opportunity to promote the headmaster’s faults, as well as endorse more suitable headmasters.
“I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore,” he told Crabbe and Goyle, regurgitating everything his father had told him in his letter. “I told you he thinks Dumbledore’s the worst headmaster the school’s ever had. Maybe we’ll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won’t want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won’t last long, she’s only filling in…” He felt a little repentance at his foul statements, but he was only obeying his father’s orders.
Draco tried his best to keep observe his father’s wishes; however, it became increasingly difficult given the dismal mood of the students at school. The weeks continued to pass slowly, and the students remained trepid and worried at the possibility of more attacks.
One night three days before their first exams, Professor McGonagall announced that the Mandrakes were finally be ready, and that the students would finally be unpetrified. As unfortunate as it would be to have that annoying Granger back, at least finally the mystery concerning the Chamber would be solved.
Glancing around the Great Hall, he watched as the other students cheered and yelled raucously, entirely thrilled that the whole ordeal would finally be solved. Suddenly, Ginny entered the room, looking anxious and pale, twisting her hands together nervously. She sat down next to her brother Ron and Potter, and looked as though she was about to say something. Draco frowned, and momentarily wished that the Slytherin table were closer to the Gryffindor table, so he could eavesdrop. Draco was considering finding a reason to head casually in that direction, when Percy joined the Golden Trio and Ginny, breaking up the conversation and sending Ginny fleeing out of the Great Hall.
Concerned, Draco stood abruptly and excused himself before heading out of the Great Hall, wondering where Ginny had disappeared to now. He searched all the places where he had seen her before, but to no avail. Finally he reluctantly gave up, and decided it would be best to attend to his classes.
~*~
Ginny scurried back to the Gryffindor common room after Percy had told her to go away in Great Hall. She had wanted to tell Harry the truth about the Chamber, but when Percy had come, she came to her senses and fled before she caused more damage for herself.
Falling down on her bed, she crawled to the end and rummaged through the space between the bed and the wall until she located the dusty diary. Tonight all the petrified people would be back—Tom would have failed in his sinful plot, and Ginny would be able to forget about the whole nightmare. Finally there was light in the dark tunnel which had been her tumultuous first year at Hogwarts.
Smugly, she opened the diary and quickly inked, “Tonight the petrified people will be revived, and everything will be better. You were unsuccessful in your plot,” she wrote, feeling self-satisfied that she had finally recognized Tom for what he really was. Now she could finally be free of that wretched diary. She smiled haughtily at the page as her words faded away, and Tom’s handwriting slowly replaced it.
“That’s what you think.”
Separating herself from Draco, she looked into his worried eyes. “I—I don’t know…” she started quietly, taking deep breaths as she tried to tell Draco what was wrong. ”It’s just that—well… I can’t believe that I was so stupid…” She waved her hands distractedly, trying to find the right words to describe her relationship with Tom. “I just thought that—well… I thought you hated me—and… and I talked to T—erm… Or uhh… I don’t know—”
A faint clattering of footsteps suddenly arose down the corridor. Frightening, Ginny glanced wide-eyed and apologetically at Draco before turning on her heel and sprinting down the hallway. Draco had already risked so much by coming for her today, and she did not want to jeopardize everything he stood for at Hogwarts, no matter how much she disagreed with it. Not looking back at Draco, she frantically scrambled into a nearby classroom to escape whoever might be coming down the hall.
~*~
Bewildered, Draco stared after Ginny, his mouth gaping open as she ran away. They had been so close to some sort of clarification, but then she had just abandoned him to look stupid as several sixth years rounded the corner, giving him a strange gaze before continuing on their way.
Ginny was clearly upset about something significant—if only he knew what it was. Staring absentmindedly down the hallway to the classroom where she had run, he contemplated chasing after her; however, just as he had made up his mind to follow her, she burst out of the classroom and dashed down the hallway, probably back to her common room, he figured.
Draco thoughtfully reflected over their fleeting embrace and her teary face. Ginny did not deserve to be treated in a way that would make her cry—he would not stand for it. In all his years of knowing her, the only other times he had seen her upset was when he had triggered the conflict himself. It was not in her character to be randomly troubled. There had to be something or someone instigating this, and Draco vowed to find out what it was. He may not be able to confront her in public, but certainly he could work to determine what caused her distress.
More contented and with a new mission in mind, Draco set off towards the Slytherin dormitories
~*~
Running down the hallway, Ginny tried to make sense of everything that had just happened to her. Tom had caused everything, so she had flushed the diary down the toilet, then she had run into Draco and they had been civil, but then she had heard footsteps and fled into an empty classroom, where she had gotten promptly shooed out by her brother Percy who had been snogging a Ravenclaw prefect named Penelope. It all seemed very unreal—her best friend Tom was causing her to do dreadful things, Draco had managed to converse with her without rude jokes about her family, and Perfect Percy had a girlfriend. The last revelation was the most shocking—she had always thought Percy to be very prude and reprove behavior that involved kissing in empty classrooms.
Everything was a bit unusual today, she figured. At least now she did not have Tom—assuming he was the foundation of her problems. Sighing greatly, she trudged back to the Gryffindor dormitories, ready for some time alone and a long nap.
~*~
Time passed quickly in the next few months—the attacks on students had ceased, but there was still an air of anxiety and suspicion. Many were still concerned that the monster would strike as soon as enough students left their guard down. Draco found the whole matter to be quite frivolous—if the heir of Slytherin really wanted to strike, nothing would stop him.
On the brighter side, Ginny seemed more like her normal self. Draco saw her looking livelier and she talked to her friends more. She was appearing at the Great Hall for breakfast more often, which meant she was sleeping more. Overall, she appeared to be very content with life—which made Draco happy.
Draco had not had the chance to talk to her significantly since their day in the hallway. However, they no longer avoiding each other in the hallways, and he had tried to lessen his insults of her family, particularly in her presence. He had also taken to taking the paths to his classes that he knew would coincide with her routes, hoping that he would catch a glimpse of her, ensuring that she was still smiling and jovial.
Valentine’s Day finally rolled around—that despicable holiday where everyone suddenly got mushy and cuddly, and people were expected to convey their hidden emotions to the ones that they adored—or something like that. He had never been fond of Valentine’s Day, or anything it denoted. To him, the best feature of his day was when his mother sent him a huge box of Honeyduke’s chocolates.
The Great Hall was garishly decorated, entirely thanks to Professer Lockhart the resident lurid fool. Not that it was something to be thankful for—in fact, it was quite atrocious and very repulsive. Certainly the gaudy environment could not possibly facilitate anyone’s romantic interactions. However, as Draco looked around the Great Hall, he was revolted to see many couples snuggling and making out, making him want to vomit horribly in the corner.
Terribly sickened, Draco eagerly left the Great Hall so he could walk to his first class in piece. However, as he wandered in the proper direction, he was suddenly distracted by a small dwarf tugging on Harry Potter’s bag. Potter’s back ripped apart, scattering his belongings out all over the floor.
“What’s going on here?” Draco asked amusedly as the dwarf cleared his throat loudly and prepared to sing. Stifling a laugh, Draco looked back and forth between the dwarf and the blushing Potter, entirely entertained by the situation.
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard
I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord
Draco snickered at the ridiculous valentine—it would have been embarrassing for anyone to have received that outlandish poem—but Potter… It was priceless. Draco was abruptly brought back to reality as Percy strived to disperse the crowd who had gathered around him, Potter, and the dwarf.
Not wanting to let that weasel Percy overcome him, Draco picked up a random piece of Potter’s belongings. It looked to be a tattered, old, black diary. “Wonder what Potter’s written in this?” he mused, beginning to flip open it’s yellowed pages.
“Hand it over, Malfoy,” said Percy severely. Draco smiled smugly to himself and ignored Percy’s orders.
“When I’ve had a look,” Draco said, flashing the diary teasingly at Potter, wanting to see what reaction he would get.
Percy began to speak pompously again, but then Potter pulled out his wand. “Expelliarmus!” he yelled, and Draco felt the diary lift out of his hand and fly across the room into Ron’s waiting arms. Draco sneered at Potter’s impudence—how dare he one-up him yet again. Looking around angrily, he suddenly noticed Ginny, looking very uneasy in the corner. Had she sent that ludicrous valentine? Draco could not believe how she had embraced him that one day, crying, and then she turned around and sent Potter a valentine when he did nothing but ignore her. At least the song she had sent him was thoroughly awkward and embarrassing for Potter.
“I don’t think Potter liked your valentine much!” he yelled at Ginny as he passed. She seemed thoroughly upset as she covered her face with her hands and ran into class. Draco felt a fleeting sense of regret as he realized that he had struck her; however, as soon as Ron Weasley pulled his wand on him, all thoughts of remorse vanished. Luckily, Potter saved Weasley from unnecessary fighting. It was a fortunate move for Weasley, for if he had started anything, Draco fully intended on hexing him to the ground.
~*~
Ginny burrowed her head into her arms as she sulked at her desk. She had entirely forgotten about that silly valentine—Tom had convinced her to send it. Harry had thought it was completely absurd—he would probably never talk to her now. And Draco… Draco probably thought something horrible of her. She was not entirely sure, but his most recent comment certainly showed that their relationship was on unsteady ground yet again. However, beyond the valentine and Draco, was the absolute worst thing ever—Harry had managed to find Tom’s diary. What if Tom told her everything? She would most certainly be expelled. She tried to reassure herself that he had not figured out how to work the diary, but she had the gut feeling that everything was about to go horribly wrong.
Over the next few weeks, she kept a careful, low-key watch on Harry and his activities. She needed to find a time to sneak into the boys dormitories without being noticed, so she could steal back the diary before Harry learned all her secrets. Finally, one Friday night the Gryffindor common room was abnormally empty, and Harry was out practicing Quidditch. Stealthily creeping up the stairs to the boys dormitories, she swiftly determined which trunk belonged to Harry. As rapidly as she could, she rummaged through his stuff, trying to find the diary without making a huge mess. However, she was not having any luck, so she resorted to throwing his stuff out of the floor as she frantically dug through his chest to find the diary. Finally, she found it, tucked between several of Harry’s textbooks. She quickly stuffed it in her pocket and fled down the stairs.
Fortunately, the common room was still empty as she reentered. She promptly ascended the stairs to the girl’s dormitories and thrust the small diary in the space between her mattress and her bed frame. She did not want to think about Tom right now—perhaps she would inquire later what he had told Harry, if anything. She hoped to Merlin that Harry had not discovered the secrets of the diary, but with her luck, Tom had probably told Harry everything. She buried her head in her hands, and collapsed onto her bed, anxious for a long, undisturbed night of sleep.
The next morning, Ginny woke up after a restless night of sleep. As much as she wanted to relax, she had not been able to escape the fear that Tom had told Harry all of her deepest secrets.
Unable to avert corresponding with Tom, she grabbed the diary from beneath her mattress and nervously flipped it open. Pausing for a moment, she quivered as she held her quill delicately over the page, fearful of what would happen if Tom had betrayed her. Slowly, she concisely wrote her question: “Tom, how much did you tell Harry Potter?”
“Ahh… Ginny… How I have missed talking to you… I have not told him anything of consequence… Perhaps I can show you…”
Ginny had a fleeting moment of comprehension as she realized that when Tom sucked her into the diary, that was when he forced her to attack students. She struggled to stop Tom from pulling her in, but he was now too powerful. Finally giving up, she fell into the inviting dark hole and the evil of the diary swallowed her up.
~*~
Draco awoke bright and early—today was the day of the Griffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. While he assumed that Gryffindor would defeat the Hufflepuffs, he loved to watch Quidditch. He would just have to disregard who the scarlet-robed team was, and he would have a jolly old time. Perhaps he could pretend that Ginny was on the broomsticks instead of those other Weasleys—that could provide some entertainment.
Eating a leisurely breakfast at the Great Hall, he enjoyed a brisk conversation with Pansy, for once not bothered with her flirty antics. He found that if he distractedly nodded at everything she said, it satisfied her immensely. Too bad he had no real interest in her.
Lazily wandering out to the Quidditch pitch, Draco admired the fine weather. It was perfect weather for playing—too bad Slytherin was not playing today. He climbed up into the bleachers and sat behind Crabbe and Goyle, who were eagerly snacking on some breakfast food they had stolen from the Great Hall.
Draco idly watched as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams marched onto the field. Suddenly, as the teams were about to mount their brooms, Professor McGonagall rushed onto the field with a megaphone.
“This match has been cancelled,” she said loudly though the microphone, causing a loud uproar of angry students. Shocked, Draco looked around in surprised, trying to determine what had happened. He heard speculations arising as to what could have caused the match to be cancelled, but nothing certain. He watched as McGonagall led Potter and Weasley off the field and towards the castle. Figures that they would get priority in discovering why the match was canceled, he mused to himself.
Slowly meandering back to the common room, Draco listened for hints of what had happened. The most probable truth seemed to be that another student had been attacked. Turning down a deserted hallway, Draco headed towards a secret passageway he knew that would place him closer to the hospital wing, where he was certain there would be action if another student had been attacked.
As he made his way down the passage, he was shocked when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from ahead. He flattened himself against the wall, and stood silently as a ginger haired girl pattered by him. “Ginny?” he asked, wondering what she was doing running through here. Turning towards him, she looked at him with teary eyes.
She let out a few shuddering sobs before she spoke, “Penelope Clearwater and… and… and Hermione!” she started, sniveling terribly. “They were attacked!” she howled as tears began streaming down her face.
Looking at her in shock, Draco wondered why she was so entirely unhinged because of this attack. Certainly, he did admit that it was surprising about the attacks, but she had not acted like this following the previous attacks. Perhaps because it was the Mudblood Granger who was petrified—Potter’s friend. Ginny did fancy Potter, or so he assumed as she had done nothing to prove otherwise.
Still, he felt concerned for Ginny’s distress. He reached out to her and gave her a hug, trying to comfort her as best he could. He felt safe in the secret passageway, knowing that no student would find him there with her. He allowed himself to let down his usual guard as he soothed Ginny, who had not yet ceased her hysterical crying.
After several minutes, she seemed to have calmed down enough to talk. She looked at him, still appearing as though the slightest wrong move would maker her burst into tears again. He carefully tried to discern what the best move would be—she was obviously unstable, but clearly needed some form of support.
Suddenly, she opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She did this several times, giving her the appearance of a large scarlet fish. Suddenly she blurted out, “I didn’t do it!” before turning and scampering down the passage.
Baffled, Draco watched as she receded into the darkness. Of all of the strange encounters he had experienced with Ginny over the past few months that was certainly the most bizarre. He slowly turned and began retreating towards the Slytherin common room, trying to determine the significance in what Ginny had said to him.
~*~
Ginny climbed into the Gryffindor common room, where she was greeted by a solemn gathering of students, all conversing gravely about the attacks and who the heir of Slytherin was. Ginny nodded good-night to her brothers, and treaded upstairs to her bedroom. The room was empty, but she drew the curtains around her bed shut anyway. Once she was in complete privacy, she wrenched the diary from her pocket and hurled it behind her bed. She hated Tom, with every bone in her body. She hated the way he tricked her and deceived her, and she hated how he compelled her to commit actions that she did not wish to perform.
All because of her stupidity and failure to recognize Tom for what he really was, Hermione had been petrified, along with that Ravenclaw girl that Percy was so taken with. It was all her fault. She was too trusting—she had become too dependent on him. Too entranced to notice that he was what was causing all the horrors in her life. And now her ignorant actions had created turmoil for even her siblings, who she loved more than anything.
She thought briefly about Draco, who she had encountered in passing in the halls. He had tried to comfort her again, and yet, she had fled. He must think she was crazy and rude. She felt bad that all she did was run away from him these days. Feeling a hot tear slide down her face, she buried her head in her pillow, wondering how she would ever fix all the mayhem she had caused for herself.
~*~
Over the next few days, turmoil and fear grew in the school—not only had two more students been attacked, but suddenly Hagrid had been removed, and Dumbledore had reportedly stepped down by request of the governors, one of which was Draco’s father.
The day after those two had left, Draco had received a very pleased letter from his father, detailing how superb it was that Dumbledore was gone, and how Draco should take advantage of this opportunity to promote the headmaster’s faults, as well as endorse more suitable headmasters.
“I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore,” he told Crabbe and Goyle, regurgitating everything his father had told him in his letter. “I told you he thinks Dumbledore’s the worst headmaster the school’s ever had. Maybe we’ll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won’t want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won’t last long, she’s only filling in…” He felt a little repentance at his foul statements, but he was only obeying his father’s orders.
Draco tried his best to keep observe his father’s wishes; however, it became increasingly difficult given the dismal mood of the students at school. The weeks continued to pass slowly, and the students remained trepid and worried at the possibility of more attacks.
One night three days before their first exams, Professor McGonagall announced that the Mandrakes were finally be ready, and that the students would finally be unpetrified. As unfortunate as it would be to have that annoying Granger back, at least finally the mystery concerning the Chamber would be solved.
Glancing around the Great Hall, he watched as the other students cheered and yelled raucously, entirely thrilled that the whole ordeal would finally be solved. Suddenly, Ginny entered the room, looking anxious and pale, twisting her hands together nervously. She sat down next to her brother Ron and Potter, and looked as though she was about to say something. Draco frowned, and momentarily wished that the Slytherin table were closer to the Gryffindor table, so he could eavesdrop. Draco was considering finding a reason to head casually in that direction, when Percy joined the Golden Trio and Ginny, breaking up the conversation and sending Ginny fleeing out of the Great Hall.
Concerned, Draco stood abruptly and excused himself before heading out of the Great Hall, wondering where Ginny had disappeared to now. He searched all the places where he had seen her before, but to no avail. Finally he reluctantly gave up, and decided it would be best to attend to his classes.
~*~
Ginny scurried back to the Gryffindor common room after Percy had told her to go away in Great Hall. She had wanted to tell Harry the truth about the Chamber, but when Percy had come, she came to her senses and fled before she caused more damage for herself.
Falling down on her bed, she crawled to the end and rummaged through the space between the bed and the wall until she located the dusty diary. Tonight all the petrified people would be back—Tom would have failed in his sinful plot, and Ginny would be able to forget about the whole nightmare. Finally there was light in the dark tunnel which had been her tumultuous first year at Hogwarts.
Smugly, she opened the diary and quickly inked, “Tonight the petrified people will be revived, and everything will be better. You were unsuccessful in your plot,” she wrote, feeling self-satisfied that she had finally recognized Tom for what he really was. Now she could finally be free of that wretched diary. She smiled haughtily at the page as her words faded away, and Tom’s handwriting slowly replaced it.
“That’s what you think.”
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