Author's Note: Ok, so doing a bad job of studying, but much happier with this chapter than the last. I apologize again for the last one, it was obviously forced and I regret my approach to the time lapse.

ALSO! PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I have only had one review so far and I would like to know what the rest of your thoughts are.

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Chapt. 4:

Ginny was having trouble focusing on what Dumbledore was saying.

After the train ride, she felt terrified. Her only comfort had been seeing Hermione emerge from the crowd. All she wanted to do was run and hug Hermione, but she knew she couldn't without arousing some suspicion. Harry and Ron followed behind her and the four of them had sat together at the table.

She heard Dumbledore say explain that the dementors were there to stay, which made her feel very uneasy. She could tell that her friends, as well as the rest of the school seemed to be very uneasy at this news. Before she knew it, they everyone was shuffling around, obviously leaving for their respective common rooms. She followed suit quickly catching up to Hermione, though she noticed Harry and Ron were talking in hushed tones to Hermione, so she forced herself to hang back until they reached the common room. When they entered, the four of them found a seat near the fire chatted about what Dumbledore had told them as well as other new term stuff.

While she hadn't met him, this new professor sounded interesting to her. Although she knew she shouldn't laugh about it, Ginny found herself amused at the idea of a teacher giving out chocolate to help people feel better and found she wanted to plan out ideas for obtaining some for herself. She mentally shook her head and returned to the conversation in time to hear Ron excuse himself saying that he was tired, though Ginny suspected that his full stomach had caused his sleepiness. Then Harry followed suit saying he should unpack a bit before the guys all were asleep.

Ginny was hoping Hermione would stay with her and was extremely happy when Hermione turned to her and smiled. It wasn't until then that Ginny realized the common room was now empty. "Alone at last"

Ginny smiled back at Hermione. "I missed you today. I was about to come try to find you when the whole dementor thing happened and then the prefects were encouraging us to stay put until we arrived at Hogwarts. "

"I missed you too. I would have came to see you if Harry hadn't passed out like that. He scared us like hell, and he said he heard someone screaming, but no one else heard it. It was just scary. "

Ginny nodded in understanding. She opened her arms and gave Hermione a look. Hermione realized Ginny was opening her arms to her this time and gladly accepted, crawling up and curling tightly against Ginny as she reclined against the cushion against the arm of the couch. Ginny stroked her hand through Hermione's hair as they laid there content in each other's warmth. It wasn't until Hermione yawned that Ginny finally shifted until Hermione sat up. "We should go to bed love, can't have Hermione Granger falling asleep in class on her first day now can we?"

She was Happy to hear Hermione laugh at her teasing. Hermione joked back, "You and I both know I'd hardly miss a thing if I slept the whole day away, except for maybe with the new Defense professor.

Ginny laughed and threw up her hands in defeat. "Touché"
Both girls laughed before finally looking into each other's eyes. Ginny gave Hermione a small, tender kiss before finally walking to the stairs, hearing Hermione follow along behind her.

Ginny crept into her room and silently made her way into bed. She drew the curtains closed and striped down to her bra and underwear before crawling into bed. She knew it was going to be a long night as she could hardly dream of going to bed then.

What she hadn't told Hermione was that she came very close to fainting herself on the train. When the dementors had boarded, she begin hearing Tom Riddle's voice echoing through her mind. She even heard him calling her the names she had never been called until that dreadful night.

Ginny felt tears silently streaking down the sides of her face as she recalled the events on the train, and in turn the events of that dreadful night so many months ago. Eventually, Ginny fell into an uneasy sleep. She found herself walking through the chamber of secrets without intending to. She was conscious of the fact that she shouldn't be there, but her feet just kept moving forward. Then she saw the form of a teenage boy grinning at her when she entered the camber. She knew she should turn around and run away, but her feet kept carrying her forward towards him. Ginny tried to say something but her voice didn't make a sound. She didn't know why, but she knew everything about this place seemed evil to her and she began screaming, hoping that somehow if she screamed enough that she would free her body from this trance it seemed to be in. Then she felt him grab her shoulder and she screamed more, trying to shake him off, and she felt her body react, but then seem stiff again, his hand back on her shoulder. She could hear him laughing, and then she heard him say her name. She heard her name being said a second time, but this time it didn't sound like him, it sounded like a.. girl…

She opened her eyes and bolted upright. Blinking and staring around. She soon realized she was in her dorm room. She could see the moon and then she realized there was a silhouette against the window and she realized the girls in her room were all standing around her bed. "ugh"

"Are you Ok Ginny? You were screaming like crazy."
"Yeah, I'm ok, just a really bad dream."

She could see the girls exchange worried looks in the dark.
"Why were you screaming no in a dream?"

"I don't know, I just remember it wasn't pleasant, I don't remember the details," Ginny lied.

One of the girls spoke up first, "Ok, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I woke you guys"
"It's ok, just try to get some rest"

"I will"

The girls made their way back to their respective beds and drew their curtains again.
Ginny laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling in disbelief of everything. She was so frustrated with what just happened. She recalled the past few weeks in a lbur and realized she hadn't had a nightmare since Hermione had started staying with her, except maybe the night she told her. She remembered recalling later in the day that it seemed a little fresh in her memory again. She finally let her frustration get the best of her and got up, pulled her clothes on and quietly headed to the common room. She curled up on the sofa and stared into the fire trying to forget about her recent nightmare. She knew she could only blame the dementors and how they made her relive the whole moment again today for the nightmare tonight. After what seemed like an eternity, she felt her eyes get heavy and finally ell asleep again.

Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder. "Ginny, wake up"

Ginny groggily rolled over and slowly opened her eyes to find a concerned Hermione looking at her with her hand on her shoulder. "hey…"

"why are you already dressed and out here asleep Ginny?"

"I woke up early, didn't think I was going to fall back asleep, but I guess I was wrong huh?" Ginny grinned trying to encourage Hermione to believe her lie.

Hermione wasn't fooled, but realized the common room already had some other people in it and didn't want to press the subject any further so she nodded and playfully answered, "What was your first clue?"

Ginny laughed at her and sat up. "Let's go get some breakfast?"

Hermione nodded and grabbed Ginny's hand as she helped her up off the couch and then they headed down to the Great Hall.

When Ginny was almost through her cereal, one of the girls from her year sat beside her. Ginny hoped she wouldn't mention last night but was quickly disappointed.

"Did you ever figure out what that nightmare was about last night Ginny?"

She saw Hermione's attention snap to her with a look of concern.

"No, after I fell back asleep, I could barely remember anything, just you guys waking me up"

"Damn, would have loved to know what had you so upset." And with that she dove into her food, attention turned back to the other girl she had came in with as they struck up conversation.

She nervously looked back at Hermione before she felt like cowering at the look she was receiving. It said everything before Hermione needed to. Why didn'tyou tell me?What was it about?Is that why you were in the common room asleep?

Ginny nodded her head towards the door and Hermione nodded in agreement and took one last bite of her food before standing and walking towards the entrance parallel to Ginny on the other side. When they had made it up one floor, Hermione pulled Ginny off the stairs and down the hallway into an empty classroom.

"Spill it" her eyes conveying a sense of power to Ginny that she felt she would be stupid to challenge. She sat on the desk and Hermione sat in a seat in front of her.

"First off, I'm sorry. I don't want to lie to you, I just didn't know what to do"

"Fine, but what happened?"

"I had a nightmare" Ginny looked out the window.

"Well that much I got from your friend, but what was it about?"

Ginny sighed and looked at her hands, absentmindedly cleaning around her nails.

Hermione's demeanor softened a bit and she moved to sit beside Ginny, placing a hand on her shoulder. "please tell me?"

Ginny sighed again. It was about that night…

Hermione understood what Ginny meant and put her arm around her shoulder.

"The girls apparently heard me screaming no in my sleep, even though it felt like I couldn't say anything in my dream, I guess cause I couldn't in reality, I had no voice left in me at the time."

Hermione felt her heart break slightly at that comment. She couldn't imagine how helpless Ginny had to have felt.

"do you dream about it often?"

Ginny looked back out the window. "I used to. I dreamed about it a couple times a week, probably more, though I didn't always wake up from it to remember."

"Do you know if you dreamed about it after you told me?"

"I.. I think… It seemed fresh that morning. I wasn't sure if it was just cause I told you or because I had dreamed again. But then, I didn't dream about it until last night.

"Do you think it was because we came back?"

"No…." That hadn't even crossed Ginny's mind. "No… I think it was because of the dementors."

Ginny found Hermione's confused look somewhat amusing considering it was such a rare face for her.

"I didn't want to ruin our first night back by telling you last night… but when they boarded the train, it was like I was back in the chamber. I could hear him Hermione. I could hear him laughing, and I could hear him call me things… a filthy bitch.. .a .." Ginny's body heaved with a sob. " a slut."

Hermione pulled Ginny into an embrace. "you aren't any of those things Ginny, you hear me? You can't pay any attention to that sort of talk"

She felt Ginny give a small nod for her benefit, though she knew her words had little effect.

She pulled her face up to look her in the eye. "You aren't any of those. And I wish you would have told me yesterday. I know I can't really do much, but I want to be informed, and I want to be for you when I can, even if it's just holding you."

Ginny did seem to genuinely nod this time in understanding so Hermione released her chin and went back to the her recent pose with Ginny in her protective arms.

When Ginny finally seemed to settle down, she pulled back and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. "thanks Hermione"

"Anytime. You know I'm always here for you"

Ginny nodded. "We should get going, don't want to be late on the first day."

Hermione nodded, but pulled Ginny into a tight hug for a minute before finally leading the way from the classroom and back to get their belongings from their room.

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Authors Note:
A few sparks of ideas are running through my head after watching the third movie last night.
A little taste of what may be to come: Time Turner. I'm not sure where yet, but I think it will come into play.