The Journey of a Lifetime

Disclaimer: This story contains ideas created by J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Four: A White Rose

The sunlight slowly filtered in through the few small windows up near the ceiling of the dorm, which could be seen from the outdoors right at ground level. The light slowly lit up the normally dark, but comfortable dorm room, and shined down on the five sleeping sixth year girls, who were comfortably nestled under heaps of blankets in their four-poster, green-curtained beds.

A brick fireplace stood in the center of the circular dorm that belonged to the current students, and five identical beds were spread out in a star shape across the room. Each bed had a small, polished oak table to its right side, a small window was up by the ceiling directly above the table, and a trunk was placed at the base of each of the beds. A door in the upper left corner of the room led to the girls' silver tiled bathroom, which was divided into five sections separated by curtains and silencing charms. Each section contained a large bath, a mirror, sink, toilet, and cabinet. Four out of the five sections were personalized with all sorts of hair products and cosmetics, and one mirror even had I love Zack scrawled at the top in bright red ink that slowly changed colors, hitting every shade of the rainbow.

The low light eventually settled around Ginny, blanketing her curled up, sound asleep form in its soft glow. Her mind vaguely registered the light, and the fact that it was morning, but her body was much too comfortable and relaxed to even contemplate waking up for a new day in her new world. The light, however, proved to be most persistent, and never went away. Unable to keep herself in the clutches of a relaxing, dream-free slumber any longer, Ginny's eyes slowly opened into wakefulness to see her green velvet bed hangings that were conveniently charmed with silencing charms that kept all noise out, and in.

Ginny slowly stretched and pulled aside her hangings, only to see that two beds were empty, one was still curtained, and the other bed had a dreary looking Crystal climbing out.

"Morning," Crystal murmured sleepily, making her way over to her own trunk and opening the lid to find some clothing to wear for the day. Classes started tomorrow, on Monday, and Ginny had been scheduled by Crystal and Sam to get a tour of the school today. Already knowing her way around, Ginny wasn't looking forward to having to pretend to be interested in the school at all.

"Sleep well?" Crystal asked as she closed the lid of the trunk and headed toward the bathroom and the section with the mirror containing the declaration of love.

"Yes. The bed was surprisingly comfortable." Ginny answered, glancing down at the bed she had slept the night in. The pillow was definitely a feather pillow, and the blankets were made of material she'd never have dreamed of using in a bed. There were three blankets on the bed; the lightest was hand-embroidered with patterns of small silver snakes, the middle was of Egyptian cotton, also with small snakes, and the heaviest was a dark green velvet, similar to the curtains.

"Of course the bed was comfortable," Crystal replied with a slight laugh, "Slytherin is the richest house, after all. We deserve good treatment. I can only assume that the Gryffindors and others don't have nearly as good a common room." With that opinion being stated, Crystal, silk dressing gown and all, headed into her bathroom cubicle.

Ginny decided to do the same, and with only one gaze back at the amazing bed she opened her trunk and pulled out a long skirt and blouse that she had bought in the muggle world, along with a bar of soap and some shampoo, and headed into the fifth and non-used bathroom section, which had most likely been magically added only the day before.

Half an hour later Ginny emerged from the bathroom, her clothes on and her hair dripping wet. She headed over to her bed and grabbed her wand off of the table she had left it on, and cast a quick drying charm on her hair. Instantly, all the water evaporated. Since Crystal was still in the bathroom, Ginny assumed, she started unpacking the things she could from her trunk. All her school books, rolls of parchment, jars of ink, fancy quills, and every other thing she had that was directly class-related, she put into the large cabinet-like bottom section of her table. In the top drawer she placed her schedule, and in the very back put her bag containing time-turner, vault key, and little remaining floo powder, among other objects.

Then she removed all the makeup Sam had bought for her from her trunk, arranged it creatively on her bathroom counter, and headed back to her trunk once again. All the shampoos, conditioners, bars of soap, and her other hair products she had purchased made their way onto the counter, as well. Once her toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash had settled into the remaining small spaces, Ginny's counter was just as filled up as any of the other girls'. She was actually rather proud of that.

Closing her trunk with a soft thud, Ginny turned only to find Crystal coming out of the bathroom, her hair already dry. She was wearing a black miniskirt and one of the halters she seemed to like so much. Ginny wasn't very surprised, since she was used to Crystal's taste in clothing. The one thing that had her truly surprised, though, was the fact that most of the people she had seen dressed in robes exactly like they would in her time. Deciding that it was only this way in the magical community and not the muggle one, which was obvious by the skirts and modest clothing, she brushed the unasked question aside without another thought.

Crystal, however, seemed to have a problem. "What the heck are you wearing?" she demanded shrilly, dumping her dressing gown into her trunk and hastily closing it. "It's, like, eighty degrees outside! And we'll be stuck wearing the disgusting uniforms for the rest of the year! You are going to change, right now."

Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but decided not to after a long second. Crystal could be unbelievably stubborn when she wanted to, and Ginny didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of her rants this early in the school year. With a soft sigh she caught the pale green sundress Crystal tossed her and trudged into the bathroom to change.

When she trudged out, Crystal just simply ushered her back inside to do her makeup. Ginny never cared about makeup or her clothes before. The only thing she fussed about was her hair, and that went untouched by Crystal since it was up to par in her eyes. An extra fifteen unneeded minutes later Ginny and Crystal both emerged from the bathroom. Ginny was a little annoyed, especially since a casual dress seemed so strange, but she couldn't blame Crystal. She only had her friend's best interests in mind, after all.

"All right," Crystal started, "It's about nine thirty right now, so I say we go wake up the guys, go get some breakfast, and then start your tour. You'll need to know your way around tomorrow for classes, after all."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh, even though she felt so strange in her sundress. "How late do they sleep?" she asked Crystal incredulously. She was usually an early riser, although she had been overly tired lately, and all her brothers never slept in past nine o'clock. Harry was the same way whenever he had spent time at their house.

Crystal laughed in return as the headed down the staircase back into the common room. "They could sleep all day long. Sam and I are the ones that wake them all up every single morning, but now I have you to help too."

Once they got back to the common room, which was already filled with kids, the younger children all moved to one side or the other to give the two older girls a passage from one dorm staircase to the other. Once they had made their way across the common room and started up the boy's staircase, Ginny voiced the question that she had been wondering about since yesterday. "Why do they always move aside?"

Crystal took a moment to respond, as if she had never really thought about the fact. "Well, I guess it's a sort of seniority system. The first years move aside for everyone, the seventh years for no one. The only people you have to always move aside for are the seventh years. Everyone does this, except Tom, that is."

"Why not Tom?" Ginny asked as they neared the target doorway atop the staircase.

"He thinks he's too good for that. Even as a first year, he wouldn't move aside for the seventh years. It's just his character. Everyone's used to it by now, and most people move aside for him, even the seventh years." she answered Ginny, not willing to elaborate any further on what exactly was Tom's status in the common room. It was already high to begin with, but once he was opened the Chamber of Secrets, it had increased tenfold. No one dared cross him.

Without even knocking on the sixth year boy's dorm, Crystal opened the door and the two girls walked inside, closing the door behind them. Just as Crystal had said, all the beds were curtained. "Watch and learn." Crystal said with a smirk, heading to the farthest bed.

She opened the curtain quickly, revealing a sleeping Mark, who instantly bolted awake as if an alarm had gone off. "Morning, Crystal." he murmured sleepily, as he sat up slowly with a large yawn.

"Why don't you wake up the two people on the right?" Crystal instructed Ginny, rather than asking. Without waiting for an answer, slipped into the still curtained bed on the left, which Ginny instantly assumed must belong to Zack.

She hesitantly headed over to the nearest bed and opened the curtains, just to find Sebastian curled up and snoring heavily. She couldn't help but giggle at him, and only laughed harder at the thought of Lucius or Draco sleeping in that exact position, snoring their head off. Her laughter woke up Sebastian, who lazily opened an eye, stretched, and then proceeded to groan loudly at being awoken.

"Crystal says time to get up." Ginny said, unable to resist the smirk that made its way onto her face, before she cautiously headed over to the final bed and slowly drew the curtains open.

The sight of Tom sleeping sprawled on his bed, breathing softly and evenly, and clad in a robe that had slipped open revealing him from the waist up, made Ginny's heart thud annoyingly loud in her chest. She glanced behind her at the room, and to her relief Sebastian and Mark had headed into the bathroom to bathe, and Crystal was no where to be seen. Ginny returned her gaze to Tom's toned abdomen, her eyes tracing across the lines of his abs, up to his muscular chest, and then to his peaceful face. She couldn't fathom how this handsome youth turned into the deformed snake man with glowing red eyes that called himself Voldemort.

As if sensing her presence above him, Tom lazily opened a single eye and smirked at her, causing Ginny to flush slightly. "Like what you see?" he drawled, raising himself up into a sitting position and yawning briefly.

Once he stood up completely and glanced over at Ginny, his eyes widened considerably and raked over her figure. Feeling even more awkward than before, Ginny shifted slightly from one foot to the other, the chiffon dress rustling softly with the movement.

Finally, she found her Gryffindor courage. "Like what you see?" she retorted, perching herself on the edge of his bed.

Tom smirked, leaning against the doorway into the bathroom. "Of course." he replied back, before heading into the bathroom to bathe, leaving Ginny alone feeling slightly foolish, heavily embarrassed, and a little confused all at the same time.

Ginny sat for a few minutes, just thinking about what exactly she had gotten herself into. She knew what Tom looked like, she had ever since she was eleven-years-old. Back then, she loved Tom just as much as she loved Harry Potter himself. But now, Harry was dead. Heck, he hadn't even been born yet! Tom was the real person now, and her long forgotten and hidden feelings for him were, to her horror, starting to surface again. The sooner she could get him to trust her unconditionally, the sooner she could attempt to twist his mind away from the dark perversions of the world he would envision as Lord Voldemort. It was a long shot, but she had to try.

Suddenly, the curtains around Zack's bed were opened and Crystal and Zack came out. Ginny got her first look at Crystal's boyfriend, and instantly wondered what Crystal liked about him. He was tall and rather beefy looking, with huge hands. He did have a nice face, though, and his slightly long, dark hair complemented his height and girth. He looked much too tall for Crystal, however, and appeared to be able to crush the girl simply because of his size. He wasn't smiling, either, and Ginny got the faintest impression that he couldn't care less about who the blonde girl latched onto his arm was.

"Hey Ginny, this is Zack. Zack, this is Ginny." Crystal said, motioning between the two.

Ginny smiled hesitantly at the boy, who just looked at her blankly in return. Her smile faltered and turned into a frown. She wasn't usually one to judge people and make instantaneous impressions about them, but she couldn't help it at the moment. She did not like Zack. End of story.

"Well, we're going down to get breakfast. You coming? Or are you waiting for the others?" Crystal continued, acting like nothing had passed between her boyfriend and friend, even though the cloudy look in her eyes gave her thoughts away.

"Um, yeah, I'm going to wait for Tom, Mark and Sebastian." Ginny answered, deciding that she didn't want to be around Zack any longer than was necessary.

Crystal nodded, gave Ginny a quick wave, and then her and Zack descended the staircase back into the common room.

Not really knowing what to do, Ginny sat silently on the edge of Tom's bed for a moment longer, before his voice sailed to her from the bathroom, a touch of laughter hidden in his tone.

"What?" Ginny replied, standing up and moving slowly toward the bathroom. She hadn't really understood what he said.

"My clothes!" he replied, getting slightly annoyed. "I never got my clothes. Get me some."

Once Ginny realized exactly what he said, she burst out laughing, unable to help herself. It seemed that Tom had been too interested in their like what you see conversation, and had forgotten to get clothes. Still laughing, Ginny opened his trunk for him and grabbed his clothing for the day, before closing the trunk and heading toward the bathroom.

Inside, she noticed it was pretty much exactly like the girls, minus the makeup and accessories everywhere. It was divided into sections so everyone could be bathing at the same time, as well. Tom's head was poking out of one of the curtains, and Ginny quickly handed him the clothes, bursting out into laughter once again when he took them with a huff and removed his head from her sight.

At that exact moment, Sebastian finished dressing and walked out of the bathroom to see Ginny laughing and walking away from Tom's section. "What's so funny?" he asked her, heading over to his trunk and returning his shampoo and sleepwear.

Ginny stifled her laughter and told Sebastian about Tom, earning a soft chuckle from him.

"Well, he won't be out for a while if you're still making fun of him, so why don't we head down to breakfast? I know you need someone to show you the way." Sebastian told Ginny as he stood up, offered her his arm, and headed for the door. Ginny accepted after a brief hesitation, and they made their way out of the dungeons and into the Great Hall, talking like old friends. Ginny was still shocked that she could get along so easily with a Malfoy, and also of the fact that this friendly young man could produce such a nasty son.

0o0

Ginny, surprisingly, was having a great time just talking and laughing with Sebastian over breakfast. Most of the conversation was about Quidditch and the tryouts, and how to impress Charlotte Fudge, the seventh year seeker that was the Slytherin Team's captain. Their conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a large group of girls into the hall. What shocked Ginny about the group, though, was that all the girls were surrounding one certain sixth year boy. Tom. And he didn't look in the least bit upset.

The gaggle of girls and Tom neared the Slytherin table, and then Tom sat down in the seat next to Sebastian. All the girls that were Slytherins followed suit, and crammed themselves as close to Tom as they could get. One almost pushed Ginny off of the bench, not even sparing her a second look or an apology. She couldn't expect much from a Slytherin, anyways.

"Morning Tom, Mandy, Stephanie, Charlotte, Becca." Sebastian said to the group, nodding his head slightly as he greeted each person in turn.

Charlotte and Mandy replied with their own greeting, but the other two girls ignored the Malfoy heir, their undivided attention focused completely on Tom.

"So Tom," purred Becca, a black haired girl with large, close together blue eyes, "What are you doing today? I'd definitely enjoy your company."

Stephanie, a heavyset girl with blonde hair pulled back into tight pigtails, glared at Becca. "Why would he want to spend the day with you?" she sneered, then turned toward Tom with a smile. "I was going to do some Quidditch practice. Why don't you join me? Everyone knows that you'll be the Captain next year. You should be the captain now."

Charlotte, the current captain, glared daggers at Stephanie. "If you keep this up, I'll take you off the team," she sneered, "And everyone also knows that you could never be the captain even in your wildest dreams."

"I could to!" Stephanie replied with a huff, elbowing Ginny in the ribs without even realizing that she had.

"Please! You wouldn't have even been on the team if your brother hadn't left you such a good legacy." Charlotte replied, crossing her arms and glowering, which made her look sinister.

Stephanie opened her mouth to make another retort, but was cut off by Tom's smooth voice. "I actually can't spend the day with any of you ladies. My day is going to be spent with Ginevra. I told her I'd show her around the school and the grounds, after all."

Becca blinked slowly. "Who's Ginerra?" she asked Tom with a frown, her eyes scanning the people around them.

"It's not Ginerra, it's Ginevra." Mandy snapped at Becca. "Honestly, how stupid are you? She's sitting right across from you!"

Becca looked up at the red headed girl directly across from her. "You're Ginerra?" she asked Ginny, her eyes focused on Ginny's vibrant red hair.

Ginny nodded slowly, not wanting to open her mouth and start the argument up again.

"How come you get to spend the day with Tom?" Becca continued, her tone and gaze suddenly turning icy. "This is your first day here! You have no right to even be in the presence of my Lo-"

"Shut it, Becca!" Sebastian interrupted, slamming a fist down on the table for effect.

Becca instantly closed her mouth tightly, pursing her lips in a thin line. She gazed over at Tom, who was glaring at her in a rather dangerous way, swallowed, and then jumped out of her seat.

"I just forgot! Got to go to the library for… something." she said quickly, scurrying out of the Great Hall.

Sebastian glanced over at Tom out of the corner of his eye, and Tom glanced back. They both shared a very quick, subtle nod of the head before Sebastian turned to Ginny. "Why don't I start giving you your tour?" he said to her as Tom slowly rose out of his seat. "Tom will come join us shortly."

Ginny nodded once again, afraid her words would betray her. Had Becca almost called Tom my Lord?

0o0

As Ginny and Sebastian left the Great Hall, Tom quietly excused himself from all the girls around him, promising to be back later. Each of them waved goodbye and watched him out of the corner of their eyes until he was completely out of sight, before turning back toward the table and talking amongst themselves.

Tom, however, had a set destination and a purpose at the moment. Becca would never go to the library, it just wasn't her style; so Tom headed back to the common room where she had most likely gone. His demeanor seemed normal, albeit the slightest bit icy, but inside he was seething. How dare the sniveling girl lose her tongue like that? He had known Ginny for less than a month, but he could tell that she knew more than she let on, and had secrets of her own. He was determined to find out what those secrets were, no matter how long it took. If that simple thing required punishing Becca, or being extra nice to the fiery redhead, he would do just that. Not to mention that he still wanted to know why coming into contact with her skin had such a strange affect on him.

Rounding the corner that lead to the stone wall that served as the entrance to the Slytherin dormitory, he spotted Becca standing against the wall, arms crossed lightly over her chest, waiting for him. At least she wasn't as much of an idiot and a coward as he had previously thought. Running from him would only make him angrier, and an angry Tom was one thing many people had already learned to avoid.

Murmuring the password, Tom entered the common room without another glance at the dark haired girl, whom he used to find attractive earlier in his fifth year. She followed him inside, silent, until the door swung closed behind them and latched with a strong click. Then, she started making noise again.

"Why does she get to spend all day with you?" Becca's voice was nothing short of a whine, although it was picking up in hauteur and anger. "She's just some ugly new girl who isn't fit to be in your presence! I thought that I would get to spend the first day back with you, in the least! Maybe Charlotte or Stephanie if you wanted to talk Quidditch, but not some Ginerra whats-her-face! Last year you liked me, and you promised me things," she continued, jabbing Tom in the chest with a finger, "and I expect you to hold up to those. I'm not some sniveling brat like that red haired freak, and I most certainly deserve your time more than that-"

Whatever she had been going to call Ginny was lost as she flew backwards a few steps and crumpled to the ground. Tom didn't look like he had moved in the least, although he was lightly flexing one fist at his side.

"That was for having a loose tongue," he said, eyes cold and hard. "And this," he continued, raising his wand to point it at her, "Is for assuming that I owe you anything when I most certainly do not." Not even a word was spoken, but a red light flashed out of his wand, and Becca began to writhe in agony on the floor.

"Now," Tom continued, walking around the writhing and whimpering girl slowly, "you will not say another disrespectful thing about Ginevra. You will not come to any meetings for the next two months. And you will most certainly not disrespect my eyes with your presence at any time of the day until those two months have passed. Have I made myself clear?"

His only response was a tearful nod.

0o0

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Ginny's tour had reached the Quidditch fields. They had taken a short trip to the three Herbology greenhouses, and down to the border with the Forbidden Forest, where the hut belonging to the groundskeeper stood. Due to the love they both shared for Quidditch, Sebastian had gladly suggested to show her his favorite location on the grounds. When they arrived, Ginny wasn't very surprised to see that it hadn't changed much from this time to the time she truly belonged in. The only real difference was that she would be in the Slytherin stands cheering on the players in green and silver, or even possibly playing Quidditch wearing green and silver robes. The whole concept still seemed oddly surreal.

"Well, this is it." Sebastian said proudly as they looked at the stadium. "Quidditch tryouts will be here in two weeks, so by then you should be able to find your way. You are going to try out, right?"

"Of course," was Ginny's reply, since she wasn't really sure how she would survive a year without playing in any of the games. Then again, she wasn't sure how she was going to survive riding a broom ten times slower than what she was used to. The Silver Arrows looked flashy, but by next year would be replaced with some much better styles with faster speeds.

"Want to fly around a bit? Get used to the stadium?" Sebastian asked her, and seeing the gleam in her eyes couldn't help but smirk. Taking the expression as a yes, which it most certainly was, he took out his wand and murmured, "Accio Silver Arrow." Ginny followed suit, calling her own broom to her.

When Sebastian caught his with ease, she knew that her broom should be here momentarily, but couldn't see it anywhere. Only at the last seconds did she realize that it was not coming from Gryffindor Tower, where she had been looking, but from the dungeons. Finally turning her head to look closer to the ground she saw it, and caught it successfully.

Not even waiting for another word from Sebastian, and not caring that she was wearing a dress, she mounted her broom and kicked off into the air. After doing a few lazy circles around the stadium, in which she realized that the handling of the broom was not as bad as she expected, she wanted to know exactly how fast the acclaimed Silver Arrow could go. Stopping at one end of the pitch she turned the broom ever-so-slightly with a slight pressure on the right side, until it was pointing straight down the pitch at the other set of goal posts. She started off then, leaning low over the broom handle and pushing it for all the speed she could get out of it. At top speed, she could finally feel the exhilaration she used to love before it became too dangerous to ride a broom outdoors. Sitting up straight she raised her arms out behind her, and tilted her head back to get the full effect of the wind and the speed at which she was streaking down the pitch. Closing her eyes for a moment, she completely forgot about Sebastian Malfoy and the fact that Tom would be showing up any minute now. It was only her and the wind.

The moment had to end, though. Opening her eyes again, she had to slow down considerably or risk slamming into the goal posts. Once she had slowed enough, she turned around and streaked off in the opposite direction, doing a few loops, as well as Quidditch maneuvers, in the air. She hadn't even noticed that Tom had entered the stadium and was watching her with a very curious expression on his face, until he shouted at her and motioned for her to come down.

Once she landed, Tom's earlier expression had completely vanished, and was replaced with a crooked smile. "I don't think you're even going to need to try out for the team," he told her with a bemused shake of his head. "I might as well just tell Charlotte now that you're in, so we don't have to worry about booking the pitch and getting spied on." His eyes traversed slowly over her flushed face, windswept hair, and cute sundress.

Noticing his gaze Ginny flushed, but said nothing. It wouldn't do her any good, after all. They would probably end up having another discussion like earlier in his dormitory, or she would end up feeling even more awkward in the dress. It was good that she had momentarily forgotten about her discomfort, but now that was back in full force. She assumed it would be some time until she felt comfortable in anything other than jeans, t-shirts, and school robes.

"Has Sebastian showed you the greenhouses and the forest already?" Tom asked carelessly, eyes rising to see the silvery-blonde fluttering around like a butterfly on his new broomstick. It seemed that the Malfoy could get just as carried away as Ginny when soaring through the skies. Although, it was Ginny who did the soaring. Sebastian's flying style was definitely more along the lines of fluttering, which was definitely amusing considering he was the better of the two beaters on the team.

"What about the lake? The garden?" Tom prompted after Ginny's nod in response to his first query.

The lake was definitely Ginny's favorite place on the grounds, besides the Quidditch Stadium of course. The squid was friendly enough; it had proven that by rescuing her best friend's little brother from drowning. This memory brought a little more sadness and longing for the time that had not even happened yet. She missed Colin Creevey, her best friend, and even his younger brother Dennis. Colin had helped her through so much in the years to follow the incident with Tom's diary, when the girls her age had treated her like some sort of freak. She would be forever indebted to Colin for his kindness, and may he rest in peace.

"I would love to see them." Ginny replied as if nothing else had crossed her mind. Forgetting about the memories that plagued her was the best course of action at this time.

"Then let me show you the way." Tom replied after a moment, as he offered Ginny his arm. Seeing her startled reaction was enough to bring a smirk to his lips, but she took his arm nonetheless, although very hesitantly. He needed to find out more about her, and what she was hiding. If getting her to trust him unconditionally was part of that, he would do whatever it took to make that come true.

They walked across the grounds in mostly silence as Tom led Ginny toward the more popular part of the lake shore. Very few students were there at the moment, and not at the spot he preferred, which was good, since he needed a bit of time alone with the red head at his side. Since the second she had taken his arm he had become lightheaded, even more cheerful, and the strange jolts of electricity running up and down his spine had started up again. They weren't painful at all, but he had many questions about them plaguing his thoughts. Would the sensations change, possibly magnify, if the contact became more than just the casual touch they shared now? What if he kissed her? Did she feel these things at all? He was determined to find out.

0o0

"Did you see that?" Tom asked, rising to his feet from where the two had taken a seat on the grass. Peering toward the lake, he nodded slowly to himself as he saw the large white tentacle rise above the waters yet again. "It's the squid. You should take a look."

Heeding his words, especially since she'd never actually seen the squid before, Ginny rose to her feet and scanned the pristine surface of the large lake. "Where?" she asked, taking a few steps forward until she was next to Tom. "I don't see anything."

In response to her query, Tom stepped behind her. Placing one hand lightly on her shoulder and pretending to not notice how she visibly stiffened, he pointed with his other hand toward where the tentacle had lazily drifted above the surface again. "Right there. See it now?"

Ginny rose on her tiptoes and squinted her eyes just a bit, and then noticed it. "Yes! I see it! That squid must be so huge!"

Tom's answer was only a soft chuckle. As he took a half step closer to Ginny, however, she broke the physical contact by stepping away quickly, almost too quickly.

"What about the gardens?" she asked him, turning her head to look at them from the distance they were at now. "I heard the roses are lovely at this time of year."

"I wouldn't know. I don't pay much attention to flowers." Tom admitted with a shrug, as he headed off in that direction, Ginny only a few steps behind him as he had not offered his arm to her this time.

The gardens were just the same as she always remembered. The roses were blooming in bright shades of red, yellow, pink, white, and even black. Tom absently picked one of the white ones and handed it to her with one of the crooked grins that reminded her so much of Harry. Taking the rose from him with a smile, her heart practically jumped into her throat. This exact same scene had happened only two months ago, although it was Harry Potter standing in front of her, not the boy she couldn't help but to love and hate at the same time.

0o0

Hair tied up in a bun with curled strands breaking free and falling in front of her face, Ginny was standing in the school gardens with Harry Potter. It was nearing sunset, and the whole sky had turned a striking shade of pink and orange. Harry absently picked one of the white roses growing nearby and twirled it in his fingers before handing it to her with one of the crooked grins that she loved so much.

Taking the rose from him she smiled softly before tucking it behind one ear, watching his striking green eyes follow her every movement. "Thank you." she whispered, although words were not needed. These moments they shared had become almost sacred, since they were so far between. Each day there was more news about muggle killings, death eater raids, top secret auror meetings being ambushed. The wizarding world was in a massive state of panic, and everyone demanded that the famous Boy Who Lived, their one true savior, go out and kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As if it was that easy.

"You can't leave, Harry." Ginny whispered again, her voice close to breaking as a tear slipped down her cheek. "The world can wait; You-Know-Who isn't going anywhere. You can't leave now."

"You know I have to, Ginny. I may not feel ready enough for what is to come, but I have to face it nonetheless. The world needs their hero, and without Dumbledore, I'm the one they need. I'm sorry…"

A few more tears trickled down Ginny's cheek, and she made no effort to wipe them away like she usually would, trying to stay strong. It felt like her world was crashing down. What if he died? What would she do then? He had tried to push her away, saying that You-Know-Who would come after her if he knew that they were close. She had stopped that nonsense easily enough, but there was no stopping this. The world needed their hero, and Harry, prepared or not, was going to give them that hero.

"What will I do if you d-don't come back?" she sniffled, her voice breaking as a few more tears fell unbidden. "What will any of us do? Stay safe for now, Harry, please."

"Ginny…" Harry started, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to stop himself from losing his brave face so early on in the conversation.

"Take this." Ginny said suddenly, and Harry forgot whatever it was he had been going to say. Ginny slipped the promise ring he had given her off, and was now pressing it into his palm. "Keep it for good luck. I can survive without it until you come back."

Eyes shining with unshed tears, Harry closed his fingers over the ring she had worn every waking moment since he had given it to her. "I will give this back to you, Ginny. I promise."

Flinging her arms around his neck, Ginny hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go. "I love you Harry James Potter. Don't ever leave me."

"I'll be back Ginny. I love you." Moving out of her embrace for a moment, he ducked his head and took her lips with his; kissing her with every last bit of himself he had left. He wasn't sure if he would live through this final encounter with Voldemort. But he was going to try, if only for the girl he was with now.

Leaning into his embrace and kissing him back with everything she had as well, the same thoughts floated through Ginny's mind. Although, for a memory, the kiss felt a bit too real…

0o0

Suddenly returning out of her reminiscing, Ginny understood why the last bit of her memory had seemed too real, too tangent. As her eyes focused on Tom once more, he took a half step closer until he was almost touching her. Heart pounding so hard it seemed to be coming right out of her chest, she silently willed it to slow down. People a mile away could probably hear it, and that was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Harry's green eyes… no… Tom's green eyes searched her chocolate ones for a moment before he bent his head and brushed his lips with hers, obviously testing the water and not wanting to do anything brazen just yet. Ginny's body seemed to refuse to obey her mind, however, as she returned his kiss with more pressure than even he had initiated it.

Taking that as the answer he needed, his lips came crashing down on hers, completely contrary to the soft, questioning kiss he had begun with. There was nothing gentle about the rough, passionate way their lips met and their tongues danced together, but Ginny felt as if her whole body was on fire. Knees suddenly giving way, Tom snaked an arm around her waist, holding her up and pressing her against him at the same time.

Her hands found their way up his arms to tangle in his dark hair as she continued to kiss him with all the pent up desire she had since her first year at Hogwarts. All the desire she had since Tom had told her he loved her all those years ago. Suddenly, however, the world came rushing back at her. Her mind, shouting at her to stop the entire time, could control her body again. With a startled gasp she pushed herself away from Tom, stood shakily on her feet for a split second, and then bolted up toward the castle.

0o0

Ginny was out of site before Tom could even move. And even then, the only action he could accomplish was sinking down on a nearby bench just to get off of his feet, which he didn't trust to hold him up any longer. Questions flew through his mind, mostly about why she had run. He had been gentle, until she had practically demanded a rougher kiss. Even at that point, he hadn't caused her any pain. He was sure of that. He wasn't about to do anything of the sort at this time anyways, especially since there was so much he wanted to figure out about her. Apparently he had done something to scare her, though. Maybe she had felt the electric jolts and tingles that time, and that was what had her nervous. They were so much worse during the kiss; he was surprised he even managed to stay on his feet. His body had felt like it was on fire, electric jolts had run along his spine, and the second he had an arm around her waist that arm had filled with tingles. It was definitely time to go to the library.

Once he felt that he was indeed in control of his feet, Tom got up and headed inside at top speed. Hoping that Ginny hadn't gotten too lost inside, but not really caring since she had run from him, he entered the library and started browsing the shelves, really having no idea where to start looking. All he knew was that something about Ginny wasn't right, and the strange feeling he continued to feel when around her was not right either. There had to be a valid, logical reason for her effect on him. He was going to find out; and starting Wednesday, he would make everyone else start finding anything odd about Ginevra Prewitt that they could. No girl should have an effect on him anywhere near the magnitude this one did. He was Tom Riddle!

0o0

Somehow, for some unknown reason, Ginny's feet had led her to the second floor of Hogwarts. As her quickened pace slowed, she rounded a corner and came face-to-face with the door to the floor's girl's bathroom. Heart thudding for what seemed to be the millionth time today; she stared blankly at the stretch of oak that led to the domain of Moaning Myrtle during her time. The ghost would not be here now, though, since she was off haunting some girl. Myrtle had mentioned to Ginny what she had done after death at some point in time, and although the name of the girl escaped her, Ginny knew the ghost would not be here.

Why, then, did her hand reach out for the door with trembling fingers? Why, then, did hisses form on her tongue? Why, then, did some part of her ache for the place she had first seem Tom so tangent? She wasn't sure. The basilisk was sleeping for now, so she didn't have to worry about finding it anywhere unexpectedly. And yet, the shadows hidden miles beneath the school were no warm and comfortable place a person went to just on a whim. Fingers brushing against the door, she pushed it only lightly, and it slowly moved inward. Gaping, as it seemed to move of its own accord, Ginny hesitantly stepped inside.

The spherical sinks stood right in front of her, now. Slowly, steps clicking on the tile floor, Ginny approached the sink that had snakes coiled around the faucet. Breath strangely even for being in such close proximity with the place she nearly died, her footsteps finally stopped. Reaching out a hand she slowly stroked the engraved snake, and opened her mouth to speak- but stopped. What good would opening the chamber do? She couldn't believe that thoughts like this were actually crossing her mind!

One hasty step backward, and a half turn toward the door, was all it took, however. She froze again, eyes widening as she realized that two people were walking toward the bathroom. The voices were so low she couldn't tell whether they were male or female, but the steady footsteps stopping just before the bathroom door were signal enough. Looking wildly around the bathroom, Ginny flung herself into one of the cubicles, and perched herself precariously on her feet on top of the toilet. Crouching down she balanced her elbows on her knees, and held her breath, not a moment too soon.

Two sets of footsteps entered the bathroom, speaking in hushed voices. Ginny leaned forward, but still could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

"Yes…you heard…Wednesday…Becca…curse…"

Straining forward and peering through the crack in the stall door, Ginny could see black school robes and the Slytherin crest on both students. Shifting her position so she could get a better look at the faces, Ginny was shocked to see Crystal and Sam conversing secretly. The two shook hands after an exchange of several more hushed words, and then spun on their heels and left just as promptly as they had entered.

Ginny emerged slowly from her hiding place, opening the door as quietly as possible. What had that been about? It didn't seem to be just coincidence that caused the two girls to meet in the unlikely place of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Hesitantly, Ginny walked to the door and peered outside, but the two girls had gone. What had they been talking about? All thoughts of the Chamber wiped from her mind, Ginny crept toward the door and then headed off down the hallway. Right now all that mattered was getting away from the suspicious location of the bathroom.

0o0

An Advanced Guide to Wandless Magic, Verbal and Nonverbal Curses, Bewitched: A Beginners Guide, Magics of the Heart, and other similar texts lay scattered over a library table occupied only by Tom, his eyes scanning the small text of A Beginners Guide to Magical Travel. Tossing the book aside with an exasperated grunt after several long minutes, he pulled Floo Powder: Convenient or Convoluted? toward him, and flipped through the pages to the index. The index, however, proved useless, and the book was tossed aside even faster than the last.

Placing his head in his hands, Tom did not notice a certain person making their way over to his table. Sebastian slid into the seat across from Tom, eyeing the books with a strong curiosity gleaming in his pale eyes. Raising a fair hand, he picked up one of the many thick tomes and opened it, flipping through the pages slowly, green eyes flickering over the text.

"What is all this?" he asked Tom, gesturing to the obvious sighs of research. Tom raised his head off of his hands, eyes searching Sebastian's face for any sign of mockery. Seeing none, he replied, trying to sound as casual as possible, "Just some research. It's nothing to be concerned about."

"Nothing to be concerned about?" Sebastian repeated with shock apparent in his tone. "I've never seen you be so engrossed in any sort of research before. This is a first time thing, Tom. I know I have something to be concerned about."

The Malfoy heir gazed over at Tom for a long moment before pulling one of the many books toward him and flipping through to the index. "Wandless magic? Nonverbal charms?" he asked with disbelief, flipping through a couple more pages. "What is all this about?"

"It's nothing, Sebastian." Tom's voice had hardened considerably. "If you want to know anything, then you'll just have to wait for Wednesday night. I will inform you, as well as the others, of what I need done at that time."

A slight frown creased Sebastian's face, but it disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared. "As you wish, my Lord." he replied matter-of-factly, inclining his head respectfully toward Tom. Raising himself out of his chair, he swept away from the table with all the grace befitting a Malfoy, leaving Tom alone to peruse through his books once more.

Time passed even more slowly after Sebastian had left, and Tom's research was not proving in the least bit fruitful. There was not even the slightest bit of information that aroused a second glance, and the research soon turned to boredom in which Tom was left staring off at a blank stretch of wall, thoughts drifting toward other matters. His gaze eventually trailed over to the restricted section, where some other probable research material stood untouched. He'd be getting in there soon, though. A note from a too easily trusting professor would do the trick well. He had some unfinished business on a much larger topic in the restricted section, after all, and after his summer excursion he couldn't wait to put his planning and careful study to the test.

A/N: This wasn't the real end of the chapter, as I had always intended to write more. I guess it will have to do, though. I'd like to apologize to all my readers for the time it has taken for me to post this, and also for not being able to continue this story. I want to so much, since writing it has been just as interesting as reading it. Maybe someday I'll continue this, but for now I'm going to have to discontinue. I've grown out of Harry Potter fanfiction over the last couple years, and honestly just no longer find it as interesting as I once did. If I write anything from here on, it'll be one-shots since there is no ongoing commitment with those. Once again, I'm sorry everyone! Your reviews have made me one happy writer, and got me this far. So thank you for this awesome experience!