Die to Live

Chapter One

By Mell8

--

Memories are in italics. Present time is in normal script.

--

Ginny took one last look at the small black book in her hands and slowly readied herself for the hardest thing she would ever have to do. She held the book over the porcelain bowl and dropped it into the water with a small splash. Ginny pushed the lever and sent the water swirling down the toilet bowl, carrying the book down into the depths of Hogwarts plumbing. Three words spun around on the book. Three angry words that glared at the redhead as tears started to run down her cheeks. Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The diary disappeared down the U-bend and Ginny ran out of the bathroom accompanied by Moaning Myrtle's yelling. The diary was gone. Tom, her only friend, had been flushed down the loo. He could not control her any longer. There would not be any more mysterious black outs after writing to Tom or waking up in an abandoned corridor to find herself covered in chicken feathers or dried blood.

Ginny knew that somehow Tom was forcing her to do these awful things. Through her Tom was attacking students and leaving messages on the wall. He was trying to kill people she knew. It was only a matter of time before Dumbledore, or worse, Harry, caught her doing something, even unknowingly, for Tom. Then she would be expelled and her mother would be so angry.

Ginny knew that the best thing for herself, her family, and for the rest of the school would be destroying the horrible diary and erasing Tom from this world. Yet, Tom was her only friend. No one else in the school would bother to talk with her. Only Harry and his friends spoke with her and that was only on rare occasions. Tom was always there, eager to listen to her problems and always so polite and helpful. It hurt to give him up.

Ginny started running. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried her hardest to get away from the second floor bathroom and the memories now swimming through the sewers. Without realizing it, her feet were taking her into the dungeons, away from the happiness in Gryffindor tower into the dark hidden places of Slytherin. She should have been running in the other direction. Tom still lived down in Slytherin; he just hid under a different name, Voldemort. He would never go into the tower were Harry slept. Ginny knew she should run up to Harry and tell him everything but she was afraid of the revulsion the she would see in his face once Harry knew what she had done.

Even at the tender age of eleven, Ginny knew that telling Harry her secret would destroy every chance she had of Harry returning the absolute love that she felt towards him. Instead she ran to the dungeons where she could hide from Harry until she was sure that she could live with the secret.

Ginny kept running even though she knew she was lost. She had passed the door to Snape's classroom a long time ago and now she was faced with slimy walls and no clue where to go. Ginny finally came to a stop and with a teary sigh sank down to the floor. Once she caught her breath she would try to retrace her steps.

Ten minutes later Ginny was still horribly lost. Her crying had stopped in favor of finding a way out of the dungeons. It was well after curfew and if Filch or a Prefect came by there was nowhere for her to hide. The corridor Ginny was walking down was a blank stretch of wall without a doorway or a secret passageway in sight. She could get into a lot of trouble being caught out here.

Ginny kept walking, hoping that she would find something familiar when the blank wall to her left suddenly was not very blank. The wall became semi-transparent and two people slipped through it. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

She squeaked and scrambled backwards, hoping that they would walk away without seeing her. Her luck was not in. Malfoy turned to see what had squeaked and stopped short when he saw her red hair. He smirked and tapped Zabini on the shoulder. The black haired boy turned and smirked down at Ginny.

"Well, what do we have here?" Zabini drawled. "A little Gryffindor far away from her den. Did you know that Snakes eat little cubs like you?" Zabini glared down at Ginny. Malfoy reached up and whispered something in Zabini's ear. Ginny could almost make out the words diary and littlest Weasley. Her breath caught. How did they know? Had Tom forced her to tell them when he had been controlling her? Or, had one of their families planted the diary where they knew she would find it?

Zabini nodded and whispered something back but Ginny was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to focus on what he was saying.

"What should we do with you, little cub?" Zabini asked with Draco smirking over his shoulder. "Tell you what, we were just about to head down to the kitchens for a late night snack. You come with us while we decide." Before Ginny could do anything Zabini grabbed her left arm and Malfoy grabbed her right. They proceeded to drag her down the corridors to the kitchen. Ginny did not even bother trying to get away. She knew that the boys were stronger than her and she honestly did not really care. What Tom had been doing to her was far worse than whatever these boys could think up.

The house elves immediately swamped them, asking what they would like to eat. Malfoy let go of Ginny and went to talk to the house elves in private while Zabini dragged Ginny off to a table where they both sat down. Malfoy joined them a minute later. The three of them kept silent while they waited for the house elves. Ginny stared at the table wondering what the two Slytherins were going to do to her and Malfoy and Zabini looked at Ginny, Zabini with pity in his eyes. Malfoy kept his emotions hidden.

Finally the house elves came and put three huge slices of chocolate cake in front of them. Another house elf came carrying three huge glasses of milk on a small tray. The elves bowed and walked off and both boys eagerly dug into their cake. Ginny kept staring at the table.

"Eat the cake Weasley," Zabini drawled. "I wouldn't want to waste such good chocolate."

Ginny looked up at Zabini but he was already concentrating on his cake again. She sighed silently and picked up her fork and started to eat the cake.

Zabini and Malfoy finished their dessert well before Ginny was halfway through her piece. She was not sure if she could finish the rest and she stopped and looked at the boys.

"Do you want the rest?" she whispered, surprised that she was offering the two Slytherins anything. She pushed her plate towards them and Malfoy immediately started stuffing his face. Zabini smiled down at Malfoy and shrugged at Ginny as if he was trying to laugh about Malfoy's eating habits with the Gryffindor.

"Look little cub," Zabini said when Malfoy finished eating, "I will not tell you how we know about the diary, but we want you to know that you can tell us what the diary is forcing you to do. We understand what you are going through and we want to help you."

Ginny looked at Zabini in shock. How could two Slytherins, these two in particular, want to help her? Zabini looked open and helpful while Malfoy's face was closed and covered with a hard scowl. Ginny guessed that this had been Zabini's idea and the black boy had forced Malfoy to go along with him.

Ginny opened her mouth once to answer, closed it, and when she opened it again the entire story came pouring out. She told the boys everything that Tom had forced her to do and about how she had gotten rid of the diary.

Ginny blinked and sighed as she brought herself back to the present. One of her best friends, Draco Malfoy, was running off into the Forbidden Forest with the traitor Snape not far behind him. Harry Potter, her boyfriend, was running after both of the Death Eaters, unsuccessfully trying to stop them from getting away.

Blaise walked up behind Ginny and sighed as the last bit of blond hair was lost to sight among the sprawling trees. "He made his decision," Blaise said with a grimace.

"Yes, but was it the right one?" Ginny whispered. "Is this really what will make him happy and keep his family safe?" She shook her head and turned to look at the dark boy behind her. "I wonder what he did anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know," Blaise answered with a shrug. "But I'm sure Potter knows. When you find out, tell me so I can bother Draco about it. Together we might be able to find a way to free Draco from Voldemort."

Malfoy bent down and picked up a small black book off the floor with a shocked expression that Ginny saw him quickly erase from his pale pointed face. What was Riddle's diary doing with Harry's things? Ginny knew she had flushed it so what was Harry doing with the diary? Malfoy pretended that he thought the book was Harry's diary and waved it around menacingly while taunting Harry. Harry got the book back and Malfoy spun to glare at Ginny.

"I don't think Potter liked your valentine much!" he called spitefully after Ginny. She saw his glare and knew that what he really wanted to say was 'did you lie to us two nights ago?'

Ginny shrugged at Malfoy in a fast gesture that she knew Malfoy's quick eyes could catch and disguised the movement by covering her face with her hands and running into her next class.

That night Blaise found Ginny and pulled the small girl into the kitchen.

"I thought you destroyed the diary, little cub," Blaise asked quietly.

"I flushed it down the toilet!" Ginny whimpered, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know how Harry found it!"

Blaise's face darkened. "I hope Riddle doesn't try to control Potter."

"Oh, no!" Ginny gasped. "What if Tom tells Harry everything? Harry would hate me! I have to get the diary back." Ginny jumped up and ran from the kitchens. She quickly dried her tears and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. Hopefully Harry wouldn't be there so she could search his room for the book.

A few hours later Harry told Ginny everything. He explained that Draco had used the vanishing cabinet to bring the Death Eaters into the castle and had been ordered by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore. Harry told everyone who was listening about what had really happened on the roof that night and everyone learned about what Snape had done.

But Ginny learned something else that night. She had found a way to save her friend.

Draco Malfoy had to die.