Prologue

"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny, don't be dead, please don't be dead..."

Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. The basilisk! Harry realized, shutting his eyes. He should have been terrified, but the eerie music filling the hall swelled up inside him, unlike any birdsong he had heard before.

#

The basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.

A faint moan came from the end of the Chamber: Ginny was stirring. Her bemused eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over to Harry, in his blood-soaked robes. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.

"Harry, oh, Harry, what happened? How did we get here?"

"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the bloody sword. "The basilisk is finished. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

#

"You have no recollection of your kidnapper?" Dumbledore asked gently in McGonagall's office.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster," said Ginny, tearing up. "I remember being in my room, and then…"

Dumbledore raised her chin and gazed into her eyes, piercing blue on hazel. "Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away. Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up."

"But what of the Heir?" said McGonagall.

"What's to stop another attack?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"The Auror Office will investigate," said Dumbledore. "Without their pet monster, however, I suspect the Heir will have gone into hiding."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed Ginny out of the office as if they would never again let go.

Why are you doing this? Ginny whispered from the tiny corner of her mind that was still her own.

I was trapped in that cursed diary for fifty years, Tom replied, smiling with her lips. I have things to do.

#

Tom watched the countryside roll by the train track, oblivious to the yelping and laughter of Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys playing exploding snap. He couldn't get enough of the open sky.

Why are you keeping me awake this time? asked Ginny.

You're more useful this way, said Tom.

I´ll never help you, said Ginny.

We'll see, said Tom.

"C'mon, Ginny, just one round," said Fred. Or was it George? Would the girl be expected to tell them apart?

Yes I would, Ginny interrupted in his mind. And I won't tell you.

Stay out of my head, said Tom.

Stay out of my body! cried Ginny.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there aren't any basilisks out there waiting to jump us," said the the other twin.

"And even if there are," said maybe-Fred, "Harry here can always pull a magic sword…"

"...or magic machine gun…" added George.

"...out of thin air," concluded Fred.

"Don't be asses," said Hermione. "Give her time."

"We have given her time," Ron whispered not very discreetly. "Harry's fine, but she's been like this ever since…"

"Harry doesn't have the sense to understand how lucky they were," said Hermione.

"Hey!" said Harry.

"People deal in different ways," said Hermione, turning back to Ginny. "My parents know a counselor, if you'd like to try."

"Like a shrink?" said Ron. "She's not some crazy Muggle. I'm sure they can brew something up at St. Mungo's."

"Wizards are still human," said Hermione. "Unless you want to erase their memory, you can't just magically make someone better, any more than you can conjure food or real love."

"Ginny," said Harry, trying to change the subject. "What did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

What was it? Tom demanded.

Wouldn't you like to know, said Ginny. They're already suspicious. Pretty soon…

Legilimens, Tom said simply.

They were at Flourish and Blotts. That fool Lockhart was being cheered by a gaggle of witches of all ages. Ginny stood in the corner, trying to be invisible in her second-hand robes.

Nice rags, said Tom.

Ginny didn't answer.

Harry emerged from the crowd. "You have these," he mumbled, tipping a pile of books into her cauldron.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a sneering blonde boy. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

Tom was surprised by the heat of Ginny's fury.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny erupted.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" drawled the boy.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, pushing through the crowd. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," said the boy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

The memory faded.

I hate Malfoy, said Ginny.

They were in an empty classroom. Well, not quite empty: Percy was making out with a girl in the corner.

The door swung open and Ginny peered in. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for… Percy?"

"Ginny!" cried Percy, jumping clear as if bitten. "We were just… I mean…"

"Smooching?" supplied Ginny, grinning.

Percy's angry retort faded with the memory.

"Hello, Earth to Ginny?" said Fred.

Who was the girl? Tom demanded. I can dig for it if I have to.

Ginny hesitated.

"Percy's got a girlfriend," Tom said blandly. "I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. A Ravenclaw prefect. Penelope Clearwater."