The Stunner hit her square in the chest and she fell backwards, falling for an age straight through that creepy Veil. Hadn't been able to hear the whispering that Harry could before, but she could now, hundreds of voices clamouring over each other but she couldn't make out what any of them were saying.

"Stop making such a fuss, girl," a woman's voice said harshly, gripping Ginny's arm tightly and marching her along.

Ginny blinked, looking around and scrunching her nose at the overwhelming musty smell. She was in a small office of some sort, a curt looking woman was standing behind an old wooden desk stacked high with papers. The woman gripping her arm reminded Ginny of her mother, but without any of the warmth.

Her wrist was no longer broken. Her own hands were tiny, like she was a small child again. She swallowed, her heart pounding against her chest. She struggled against the hand that was starting to cut circulation off her upper arm.

"Name?" asked the woman behind the desk, squinting at her like she was some sort of odd insect.

"Virginia Griffiths," said the woman holding her.

Ginny finally managed to snatch her way out of the woman's grip and raced to the door. She didn't know where the hell she was, but she needed out now. Where was Harry?

"Bit of a handful, is she? Not to worry, we'll straighten that out. Sarah!"

Ginny ran through the cold stone hallway, looking for a way out. Door after door lined the hall, all numbered like they were cells or something.

A tall girl grabbed her around the waist, picking her up, "Hey now, where are you going?"

Ginny squawked in indignation. "Put me down!"

"No, because you'll keep running," the girl said, carrying her back the way she'd come, "I'm Sarah, and this is Wools Orphanage. You're Virginia, yeah? I'm sorry your mum's giving you up, Matron says it's because she can't afford to feed you any longer. Most of the kids here were given up because of that, but usually its when they're babies."

Sarah kept talking, and Ginny gave up the struggle, letting herself be carried all the way to what was apparently going to be her room.

"You're gonna be bunking with Tom, normally we give single rooms but we're running out of space. Tom's an odd kid, likes to be alone, doesn't get along with anyone. Just tell me if you have problems with him and I'll see if you can bunk somewhere else, but you should be alright."

The young woman put her down, holding onto her shoulder to be sure Ginny didn't immediately bolt. Good thing too, cause she was gonna.

The door opened onto a small bare room with two tiny ancient beds jammed against either wall and a single rickety closet in the corner. Sitting in the middle of the room with a tattered book in his hands was a boy, he stood and turned to face them before the door even swung all the way open.

He was tall for his age, and pale, with dark hair. His posture was regal. His eyes were like ice.

Ginny gasped. She knew those eyes anywhere, she'd seen them in her nightmares for two years. Riddle. He was just a little kid, but there was no mistaking him.

"Tom, this is your new bunk-mate, Virginia."

"Ginny," she corrected automatically. She didn't know who the hell this 'Virginia' was but she wasn't going to go by a name that wasn't hers.

He stared at her, those frozen eyes sending shivers down her spine.

"I'm Tom Riddle," he said.

Ginny stared back, trying to hold in a glare that honestly wasn't warranted. This wasn't the same person who lied and tormented and betrayed her, who tried to steal her very life force. This was just some creepy kid who didn't know his face was supposed to actually emote.

"I don't want to see this one stuck in a tree this time, got it?" said Sarah, hands on her hips.

"We don't always get what we want, Sarah," Tom said, his face eerily blank and his tone almost amused.

Ginny felt something in her snap. She'd gone through too much shit today already. "I'm not some pet you can talk about like I'm not here, and I'm not gonna be scared up a tree by some baby-faced snot bubble!"

Tom whirled at her, eyes blazing. "What did you call me?"

"No fighting, you two, or I'll call the Matron and she'll get the cane," said Sarah. No one was listening to her.

"I'll call you what I like if you're the kind of person who scares kids so bad they have to climb to get away from you!"

"You only just got here! You don't know me and you don't know them, so how dare you think you have the right to call names when I've done nothing to you!"

"Yet," Ginny spat, "Done nothing yet."

"At this rate it's going to be real soon."

Ginny smirked, "Told you."

Tom turned to Sarah, who was flexing her hands anxiously by the door, "I don't want to be in the same room as this brat."

Sarah let out a nervous giggle, "Well that's a first I suppose," she frowned, "Actually, can I talk to you for a moment, Tom?"

Tom frowned and glared at Ginny for a moment, before nodding and following Sarah out the door.

Ginny ran over and pressed her ear against the door. She didn't want to let the little psychopath out of eye-shot -or earshot- for a moment. She didn't want to be sleeping in the same room as him either.

The door muffled voices quite well, but she could still, just, make out what they were saying.

"...easy on her, Tom. Her mum's just... older than you were... having a hard time."

"Why should... care? ...mean to me... just like everyone else!"

Ginny frowned at that, it was true. She'd been quite rude to him when she'd never actually met him before, not this one anyway. It was the same person, he just hadn't actually done the crime yet. But did that make it okay? He was what, six? He'd been in his late teens when he'd hurt her. That was a decade before he'd be that person.

This was all too complicated, too much. She just wanted to go home. How did she even get here? Did the Veil take her somewhere? Some-when? Was she just dreaming? Was she dead? Were her friends even still alive? They'd been in trouble when she'd gotten hit by that stunner.

Oh Merlin, who even knew what that brain had done to her brother, and Luna and Hermione were both unconscious or maybe dead. But, the Order had just arrived, so surely they would rescue them all. They probably all thought her dead after she fell through that archway.

If it was the Veil that took her here, maybe it would take her back. She didn't want to live this 'Virginia's life. She stared at her hands again. Was she in another person? Her hands looked like they had when she'd been this little, but that was a long time ago. She needed to see her face to know for sure.

"I'll talk to the Matron. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone please," Sarah said as the door opened and Tom walked back inside.

Ginny watched Tom as he picked up his book, sat on his bed, and started reading again, ignoring her completely. It didn't look like the kind of picture book that she had been reading when she was that little. Well, she knew he was clever so it really shouldn't be surprising.

She was just distracting herself, apologising was never her strong suit, especially when she still felt a bit justified.

"Tom?"

He turned the page.

"Tom, I'm sorry. You're right, I don't know you and I had no right to start yelling at you and being rude. I'm sorry. I have no real excuse."

He looked up at her. The expression on his face was... odd. Like she was a puzzle he needed to solve.

"What?" she asked, trying not to squirm.

"You don't talk like other kids. You talk more like a grown-up."

Well, that would be because she was fourteen, not six. "Do I? That's pretty neat," she said, trying to make her speech more childlike and play it cool.

He stared at her for a moment longer, then walked over to her and shoved his book in her face. "Read this, out loud."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She opened to the first page, unsure if she should read properly or not, "One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it- it was the black kitten's fault entirely."

He snatched the book back before she could continue, his eyes wide and emotions warring on his face. "You're like me."

She blinked in confusion.

He frowned, "That's not fair at all, I'm supposed to be the special one! Then you had to go and be smart too, it's not fair!"

She backed up in alarm. She shouldn't have read properly. She was no Hermione, she was just way older than she looked, not that she could tell him that, if it would help at all. But the building tantrum deflated almost as soon as it started, the pendulum on his emotions swinging the other way like a manic bludger.

He smiled at her, a small, mad, quirk of his lips that looked all wrong on his face. "Lets start over. I'm Tom Riddle, it's nice to meet you, Ginny. Want to be friends?"