Part 1: Ginny, Moony and the Dementor Okay then, first up, I seem to be having a Ginny renaissance after writing so much on the Trio. Also time to throw in one of the Marauders into my writing. A couple of things. First off, this chapter is capable of being a standalone oneshot, but I also am planing a second chapter at the end of the year after Lupin resigns. Here, Ginny suffers from the presence of the Dementor on the Hogwarts Express, and finds that the new DADA teacher is no bumbling Gilderoy Lockhart. She also receives an unwelcome message: Harry is fallible, just like everyone else. Also making an appearance in this chapter: Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood- hope you enjoy my characterisations of them.

The wind pounded the exterior of the now-slowing Hogwarts Express, rattling the carriages violently. As another deafening shriek from the wind interrupted Colin Creevey's excited jabbering with Ginny, the lanterns in the carriage flickered into life. Luna Lovegood looked up with a start and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Much better," she smiled. "It's somewhat easier now to read about the Heliopath Attack on Aberdeen that Daddy was investigating…" Ginny caught Colin's eye and exchanged a slight grin. Ginny had never gotten to know Luna properly, what with the events of last year, but the train journey here so far had forced her to reconsider her opinion of the eccentric Ravenclaw. The girl was compassionate, surprisingly blunt with the truth, and surprisingly insightful.

Of course, there was also her bizarre beliefs in the existence of Heliopaths, Nargles, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and Merlin knew what else. There was also her latest fashion accessory: the butterbeer cork necklace, although Luna had reassured Ginny it was solely to drive away Nargles. Not to mention the radishes…

Then again, it would be somewhat hypocritical to judge Luna when Ginny herself had trusted the words of a teenage sociopath with no conscience. As an amusing thought crossed her mind, she chuckled internally. She and Tom Riddle had one thing in common: a really unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter. However, thinking about that simply brought back memories of the slimy pipes, the venomous hissing in her ears, and the horrified expression on each of her victims….

She shivered and plucked up the courage to ask Luna a vital question. Colin had readily demonstrated his willingness to forgive and forget, but was Luna really prepared to be in the same carriage as the girl who had spent an entire year possessed by the most evil wizard on the planet?

"Anything on last year there Luna?" she asked her friend, now reading the latest edition of The Quibbler upside-down.

"No," Luna replied, still reading the magazine upside-down. "That was the previous edition. Daddy didn't mention you by name, but he ran it all. Lucius Malfoy was named, and he also decided to run a full feature on Riddle and his framing of Hagrid." Ginny looked at her, agape, while relief flooded through her. She now had a new-found affection for the magazine Luna was now reading.

"How did you…."

"Penelope Clearwater. She told us everything she knew from Hermione Granger. As I understand it, she's now Head Girl."

"She's also now my brother's girlfriend," Ginny groaned, stretching her arms and yawning. "It's all been about his darling Penny all freaking summer." Colin stifled a giggle, and she stared him down, hawk-like. Finally, Colin was able to manufacture a façade of seriousness.

"Well, Ginny," he began all too innocently and without guile. "Aren't you being a tad hypocritical?" Ginny felt her face flush redder than her hair. She was not, under any circumstances, discussing her crush on Harry Potter. Especially given she could barely speak a word beyond "Hello," to him. Not to mention that ever since last May, it had only strengthened….

Luna closed the magazine with a snap, and stared reproachfully at Colin. "It's not nice to tease people over who they fancy," she said calmly but sternly to the mousy-haired boy sitting to Ginny's right. Ginny's face only went redder, while Colin appeared at a loss for words. She had to take the conversation out of this decidedly dangerous territory. Any rubbish question would do: this was an emergency.

"Why do you read upside-down Luna? I've never seen you read the magazine right-way up." Luna turned her head to stare at Ginny, eyebrows raised, and Ginny instantly felt a small stab of guilt over her bluntness.

"Oh, it was my mum's outlook on life. You get a whole new perspective on life when you view it from a different viewpoint. Just like you, for example. Last year, I always felt a spike in the number of evil Wrackspurts in your presence, and came to the conclusion they were part of you. Now they're gone."

"You….you sure?" Ginny spluttered.

Luna smiled serenely. "Oh yes, Ginny. You can be possessed by evil, but it doesn't make you evil." Ginny smiled back, somehow knowing that she'd sealed her first secure friendship since patching things up with Colin. All progress from the damage inflicted by Tom. Then her other friend decided to speak up.

"Hey Luna? I was thinking….do you want me to take your photo?" Ginny rolled her eyes, but Luna instead beamed at the offer.

"Why not?" she smiled. "I've never had my picture taken before. My parents always thought cameras brought bad luck, but they were wrong. Diaries on the other hand…." Ginny didn't know whether Luna was joking or being serious, so she shrugged at Colin as he pulled out his camera, and focused the lens on Luna. A bright flash illuminated the carriage from the clearly Muggle camera- by the looks of it a newer, flashier marque than his wrecked one. "Nice camera," she grinned.

""I know," Colin replied enthusiastically. "Funnily enough though, we never got insurance for the other one."

"Yeah, because Muggles are totally going to pay up if you just explain that a giant snake's gaze fried it…."

"Hang on, shouldn't I be getting payment from you?" Colin laughed back. He was the only one Ginny could have a laugh with over the Chamber business- and it had been excellent therapy on the ride home.

"I told you, take it up with the Basilisk. Or Tom. But no court would accept a rotting snake corpse or a ruined diary as defendants…."

"Fine. I'll consider half-a-dozen Chocolate Frogs a fair payment for the camera. Deal?"

"Deal," Ginny chuckled. "She turned to Luna. "Changing the topic; are The Quibbler publishing details on Sirius Black's escape?" Luna shook her head.

"No, we're leaving that to The Prophet. But we do have an article on Stubby Boardman…."

Without warning, Ginny was flung into Luna's lap as the train suddenly applied full brakes. She swore as Colin looked out the window.

"We're coming around the Viaduct," he explained. "I think I can see Hogwarts." At that, he aimed his lens at the distant, rain-wrapped silhouette of the castle. But that didn't explain the sudden braking…

"This can't be right," Ginny muttered as she gingerly got back to her seat. For some unknown reason, a tiny worm of fear had begun to wriggle in her stomach. After a few seconds, Colin withdrew from the window as the train came to a complete stop. Loud thuds and muffled squeals echoed from neighbouring compartments, indicating luggage had fallen off the racks and hit students.

"Blimey," he muttered. "There's now a curtain of rain coming down- can't even see the Lake." Luna continued reading, while Ginny looked out the left-hand window. The green of the hills nearby were now indistinct, hidden behind a miniature waterfall of rain pouring over the glass. As she watched, heavier raindrops began hitting the window, exploding and freezing into dozens of tiny ice crystals. Within seconds, the window had become all but opaque, as she began to feel the compartment itself begin to cool down. Then, all lighting was extinguished. Luna looked up and put away her magazine, while whistling the Hogwarts Song. Colin and Ginny exasperated glances, the latter shrugging as she picked herself up, sliding open the door.

"I have the feeling we may be here for a while," she told her two companions. "I'll just check on Ron's compartment." Colin nodded, pulling on a fur coat that looked several sizes too big for him and shivering. With a nod, Ginny began to walk at a brisk pace, feeling Goosebumps erupt on her arms. This was September. What was with this rotten weather?

As she passed from the front carriage to the second, Ginny stopped. Through the gap in the carriages, and above the sleet that was now hitting the train, she heard it.

A long, hoarse, rattling breath.

Ginny felt all the oxygen rush out of her lungs with a gasp. Whatever had made that sound was bad news. She gave a glance out the window. It was completely iced over, but she could see the black silhouette of something flapping in the wind next to the window. Cloaked Aurors? Or was it the lakeside reeds? Even as the train rocked ever more violently, the wind's roar was dying down. Ginny felt as if earplugs had been slapped over her ears, deadening any sound. Was it happening to her again? And what had made that sound?

There it was again.

Instantly, a panicked, ridiculous thought crossed her mind: get to Harry's compartment. He or Hermione would know what was happening.

She began to run, skimming any compartment for a sign of bushy hair- or dark, messy hair…. Compartment J, Compartment K, they had to be here somewhere, she thought, stumbling in the gloom that was darkening every second. Ahead of her, she heard hissing and a yelp of pain that could only be Neville's. Good….at least there was someone familiar down this end of the train. And if there was hissing, that meant another occupant of the carriage was…

"I'm going to ask the driver what's going on." Ginny's heart leapt. Hermione. Deliriously relieved, she rushed towards the sound of the door sliding open, only to collide with someone else coming out of it. With her speed, the other person was knocked over, while Ginny also fell with a thud.

Both she and the other student emitted squeaks of pain.

Panting as she pulled herself up, Ginny stared as the other person also picked themselves up. The squeal did sound familiar.

"Ginny?" came Hermione's voice.

"Hermione?" she replied, massaging her thigh.

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron-"

"Come in and sit down-"

Ginny stumbled into the compartment, sitting down at the first opportunity. But then….

"Not here!" came Harry's frantic voice. "I'm here!" Ginny shot back up again as if burned. Of course karma being karma, she'd be the one sitting on Harry Sodding Potter of all people. But her bumbling wasn't over yet, even as her cheeks began to thaw out slightly.

"Ouch!" cried Neville.

"Quiet!" a hoarse, authoritative voice from somewhere in the dark ordered. Ginny couldn't put her finger on it, but the voice sounded reassuring to her, for some reason. A soft, crackling noise came from her right as the owner of that voice produced a series of weak, shivering flames. It lit up the face of a man, probably in his mid-thirties. His face was heavily lined and his hair unhealthily grey, but his eyes were alert and wary. Probably the new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, she realized.

"Stay where you are," he ordered the compartment at large, but he gave Ginny a slight smile of reassurance. This was a man who seemed to know his craft. He got to his feet slowly, eyeing the corridor outside while holding the flames in front of him.

But before he could reach it, the door swung open.

Standing in the doorway, robes flapping in its own shimmering wake of chilled air, was a hooded figure whose head almost touched the now-brittle ceiling. No face was visible beneath its hood, no arms, no legs. Just this hooded creature and its ominous presence, which simply reeked of evil. Beside Ginny, Neville gave a muffled whimper of fright, and she placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him, determined to not show weakness herself in front of this menacing creature. Neville's tension appeared to ease slightly with the contact, his teeth chattering and his eyes wide. Then she spotted what Neville had, and her stomach turned over.

A scabbed, slimy hand protruded slowly from the folds of the fabric as the creature appeared to consider first of all Neville, then her, slowly turning its hooded face. Unbidden, images of the diary, the bloody messages, and of the fully-formed Tom Riddle all rushed to the front of her mind. Her tough façade had slipped, and she once again felt infested, possessed and unclean.

Out of the corner of her left eye, she saw Harry aim his gaze downwards and gulp at the sight of the decayed hand, eerily illuminated by the Professor's flames. The creature, apparently sensing Harry's gaze beneath its hood, slowly turned towards him and let out a hoarse, rattling breath that appeared to suck all the oxygen out of the cabin.

Ginny's eyes began to water, and she felt her chest constrict as a new wave of cold swept over the compartment. She could no longer see Harry, Ron or Hermione, and Neville was an indistinct blur beside her. The yellow streaks of the shivering flames turned to eerie green, and their crackling turned to the rasping of scales on stone.

Then, she heard a venomous voice speak beside her, chanting for blood, and she began to shudder violently. Valiantly struggling to remain conscious, Ginny tried to brush away the fog that had penetrated her vision, but her arms had become lead weights, useless for anything but a few lazy strokes. She had to remain conscious, or who was she going to attack next? Even as she watched Ron regarding her while wearing the sort of expression that he typically reserved for spiders, she heard the sickening contact of Petrified flesh hitting stone on the Seventh Floor.

Kill the Mudblood. Tom was back again, laughing at her, taunting her for setting the Basilisk on Hermione and Penelope. She saw movement to her right, and she saw the hooded creature slowly hover towards Harry, inch by inch. Desperately struggling to find circulation in her feet, eyes now streaming, she attempted to stand. But then Tom spoke again, just as the creature drew another hoarse breath.

Don't you dare, you silly girl.

Like the flick of a switch, her vision was gone, and she was back in the Chamber of Secrets, facing Tom Riddle's gauntly handsome features as he stared mockingly at her dying form.

"Did your Blood Traitor father never tell you to not trust strangers? Or to never trust anything that doesn't show where it keeps its brain? Pity, you could still have lived."

Even as she heard Ron whimper "Ginny? Hermione?" with a genuine bite of fear in his voice, Ginny heard herself ask Tom the question that had been bugging her all year. Why her?

""I don't know how I came to be in your possession, Ginny. I'm just a diary after all….Goodbye….It was nice writing to you."

At that, the Chamber began to spin again, just like it had originally, but instead, the compartment was coming back into view as beyond her horror and fear, she felt a surge of anger at what Tom had done, and she also began to remember other things….Harry had rescued her with Fawkes and Ron,…and wasn't it Luna who just minutes beforehand had said that being possessed by evil didn't make her evil? She had survived this, being possessed by Voldemort. She had friends.

Just then, Harry began to be wracked with spasms. From what little Ginny had seen of him during the last minute, he'd been suspiciously rigid and pale. Now, with a great jerk, his body heaved itself off his set, and he fell to the ground, foetus-like and twitching as though being tortured. Beside her, Neville was whispering something that sounded vaguely like "Mum? Dad? Stop it, make them stop it…", but he at least looked conscious. Hermione was looking paler than ever; Crookshanks hopped off her trembling lap and retreated to the far corner of the compartment, where he hissed angrily at the intruder. Scabbers was nowhere to be seen, but he was squealing loudly from beneath the terrified Ron's jacket. The hooded creature drew another breath, this one a long-drawn-out death rattle as it began to glide towards its chosen victim— Harry Potter. Its revolting arms extended outwards from its cloak, reaching for Harry as though it was trying to embrace him. She heard another cackle of laughter from Tom.

For the Professor, it seemed that enough was enough. He stepped over Harry's body and pulled out his wand in a swift flourish, aiming it at the hideous apparition. He spoke to it, cold anger lashing every syllable. "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go." The creature didn't move one inch. Instead, it appeared to defiantly stare at its challenger directly in the face, letting out another one of those horrible rattling breaths.

With a sigh, the man muttered an incantation that was drowned out by the creature's rattle, and he aimed his wand at where its heart should have been.

A silvery shield of light bloomed magnificently from the wand, morphing into a four-legged creature that to Ginny looked like an oversize dog, before it charged their enemy, hitting it in the chest. Radiant light filled the cabin, pulsating in waves from the animal's chest as Ginny felt the same energy and uplifting of spirit that accompanied Phoenix song. For a split-second, the creature was framed in the door, struggling in vain against the energy aimed at it. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone, and the glowing animal slowly evaporated into thin air.

With a satisfied smile, the Professor stowed his wand, bent over the now-still Harry to check his pulse, then nodding, straightened up. He approached Neville and Ginny, both still frozen to their seats with shock, fear and amazement.

"How do you do?" he said politely, offering his hand to both of them. "I'm Remus John Lupin, your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. You both okay? We should be moving again very soon, so you'll be up at the Castle eating dinner in no time."

Even the thought of hot dinner couldn't snap Ginny out of her funk. She felt as though she'd been involved in a car crash. Her head was spinning, her chest felt heavy, and she had to take multiple heaving gasps to steady herself.

"It's all right," reassured Professor Lupin calmly. "Exposure to one of those things for the first time is always nasty." He then proceeded to sit down beside the far window, eyeing Harry with concern- and, it seemed to Ginny, recognition. The first slight surge of anger began to pump through Ginny's veins. Of course he'd recognise Harry Potter. Him and his scar- couldn't they see the thoroughly decent and brave thirteen year old underneath it all? Ever since she'd been plucked from the Chamber, she'd barely even glanced at it, knowing that his scar was a physical manifestation of the time Tom Riddle not only hunted him down as well, but also stripped his family from him. It wasn't a badge of honour, but a mark of evil. Unbidden, silent tears began to fall.

She made eye-contact with Hermione, who was looking at her with sympathy. "You…you relived it again, didn't you? The Chamber?" Ginny nodded. Hermione apparently understood her condition….presumably because she and everyone else had had it happen to them…relive their worst experiences. Squinting closer at her friend's pale face, she noted the traces of tear tracks. "How about you then?" she croaked, struggling to maintain composure.

To her surprise, Hermione let out a dark chuckle. "Well, until two Halloweens ago, in fact, I wasn't exactly the number one socialite with lots of friends…in fact, I'm still not. But primary school was the worst."

Nodding in understanding, Ginny turned to Ron, who was muttering without looking at her. "Spiders, ruddy, horse-sized monsters, they were." At that, she sworn she could have seen Hermione's arm twitch very slightly at that, as if she was resisting hugging her dopey brother. But why though? Oh yes, she now remembered the likely motivating factor as to why Ron and Harry had visited Aragog's cave, and it was all her fault, too….

"Hey Ginny," Neville's voice whispered from beside her. Turning, she saw him glance nervously around the compartment, as though about to commit wrongdoing. Professor Lupin appeared to be putting on an air of nonchalance and disinterest in the muffled conversations between her and Neville, as well as Ron and Hermione, who were now exchanging glances at Harry and whispering frantically. She heard snatches of "his parents, you think?" and "You-Know-Who?" Meanwhile, she noted the windows had begun to thaw with the creature's absence.

"Yeah, Nev?" she replied, leaning closer to hear whatever he was going to say. He took another nervous glance around the cabin, then leant over to whisper in her ear.

"I heard again…flashes of…..childhood. When I was one…. The most horrible sounds."

Ginny nodded slowly, ignoring her tears still silently falling. Neville needed her assistance, and she couldn't do that if she was broken and weeping over the Chamber, or over the unconscious Harry. She gestured for Neville to continue, who looked more frightened than ever.

"I've never told anyone about it. But what happened was…"

Just then, a groan came from Harry. Ginny snapped her attention away from Neville to look over at the stirring form lying in front of her feet as the train let out a violent shudder accompanying engine reignition. Quick as a flash, Hermione rocketed out of her seat, leaning beside Harry and placing her hands on his shoulder and his chest as he lazily moved his arms, blinking slightly. Ginny winced as she began slapping his face. The lights flickered on, and the train slowly began to move again.

"Harry…..wake up….stay with me. Say something! Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"

After a particularly painful slap, Ginny winced as Ron slid over a seat and crouched beside Hermione, also examining Harry. In the light, he looked deathly pale. He'd clearly had it worse than even Ginny, and that was no mean feat. However, the uninvited image of Harry, her saviour, lying still and cold filled her with horror and she sat back, wrapping herself in her own misery as Harry got up unsteadily. She barely resisted throwing her arms around him….but that wouldn't do. She was a Second-Year Gryffindor, not some lovesick shrieking violet out of one of her dorm mates' trashy romance novels.

The next minute or two passed in a daze as she heard Harry nervously enquire as to who screamed, and a perplexed Ron and Hermione did their best to explain that none of them had heard any screaming. A loud snap made her jump and look over at Professor Lupin, who had just broken an enormous slab of what looked like Honeydukes chocolate into smaller pieces. Fred and George had smuggled some back for her two Christmases ago, and it was divine.

"Here," he smiled at Harry, offering him the first and largest piece. "Eat it. It'll help." Harry took the chocolate, but didn't eat it, instead enquiring what had entered their compartment and attacked him.

"It was a Dementor," Lupin explained. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban." Ginny felt sick as she remembered her dad returning from an Azkaban trip, white and shaking. So that was the identity of that horrible creature. Unrestrained, they could be incredibly dangerous….

Lupin crumpled up the Honeydukes wrapping and put it in his pocket. "Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…." At that, he got up, pulled open the door, and stepped outside into the chilly corridor.

Ginny tried to block out the conversation Harry was having with Ron and Hermione, who were explaining the sequence of events, and that Professor Lupin had stopped the attacking Dementor from harming him any further. Thank goodness Lupin had been there…otherwise….

Otherwise, she'd have felt even more vulnerable in the future without Harry's protection, and her grief over it all would have only been a secondary concern if Tom Riddle ever reappeared in her life again. How were any of them supposed to face up to him, without The Boy Who Lived? She heard Ron confess that he felt like he'd never be cheerful again. Just at that moment, the sob she'd been attempting to stifle and bury burst out of her chest and the tears began to fall more freely. Hermione picked herself up, sat on Ginny's left, and put an arm around her, all the while tracing circles on her back in a way that was reminiscent of her mum. But Hermione surely only knew half of the reason behind her anguish.

Ginny took a glance at Harry again, and he looked feverish and demoralised. She wanted to tell him that given his past, collapsing in front of a Dementor was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, but she was incapable of stringing any words together. So instead, she laid back, shut her eyes and let Hermione comfort her, reminding her that the Chamber was history, and none of it was her fault.

The waterworks had thankfully stopped, and Hermione had returned to her seat, when Professor Lupin reappeared. He took an amused glance at the compartment's occupants, none of whom had consumed their chocolate. "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know," he said with a wry smile.

Now she remembered her uneaten chocolate, Ginny wolfed it down, and felt virtually all of her fears and self-doubts vanish. The Dementor was gone, Harry was recovering, and a whole clean new slate of a year awaited her at Hogwarts. She could prove to everyone that she wouldn't let her past drag her down, and she could show everyone the real her. She looked out the window to her left. The sleet had given way to heavy rain, and the ice had now vanished. She looked over to see Harry wolf down his own chocolate, and smile with gratitude at Lupin.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Lupin announced. He then peered at Harry's face. "Are you all right, Harry?"

Harry looked down, his cheeks reddening slightly from the attention. "Fine," he managed to mutter.

Lupin smiled, and took his seat between her and Neville. Always one who acted on impulse, Ginny leaned forward to say something to him. She was so grateful that a competent, skilled Defence teacher was here for this year, she had to say something.

"Thank you Professor," she managed earnestly but awkwardly. Lupin turned to smile at her, the lines on his face far more clearly visible. "Why, thank you for that, Miss ….?"

"Weasley. Ginny Weasley."

"Another Weasley, eh?" Lupin chuckled. "All I was doing was my job. Nothing more."

"I know," she responded, smiling properly for the first time in ages. She leaned forward and dropped her voice. "I also meant for helping…" For some bizarre reason, she was unable to whisper 'Harry,' and realised how foolish she must look. However, Lupin didn't say anything, only a slight upwards twitch of his lips giving him away. She felt more emboldened. "For helping Harry, I mean. Gave us all a right good scare, and I mean," she grinned. "The world does sort of need Harry Potter around, doesn't it?"

"Absolutely," Lupin chuckled. He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you Ginny, and I have no doubt with energy like that, you'll be leading my Second Years in Defence." Ginny gave another grin as Lupin gave her a pat on the shoulder and moved over to speak to the still-nervous Neville. Within a couple of minutes, the round-faced Gryffindor was happily engaged in conversation with Lupin over the history of his pet toad, Trevor. So, they had a Defence teacher who was skilled, good with students, and who had diffused a dangerous situation in this compartment just minutes beforehand, thank Merlin. This year was going to be exponentially better than the last.

She felt even more relieved when the colour began to return to Harry's face. The boy who was now biting into his chocolate with gusto was the same boy who had, with the help of Ron and Hermione, found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, then slayed the Basilisk and stopped Tom singlehandedly.

However, for the first time, she'd seen a new dimension to Harry: vulnerability.

And that, more than anything else she'd experienced during this train journey, had terrified her.