Back from deep water

Chapter 2

She was back in her private place, the little spot of her yard that she had discovered the summer after she had been entombed in the chamber of secrets. She had been de-gnoming the garden alone while all of her brothers were in the orchard playing Quidditch. She was chasing an extra- chubby gnome, when it had gone down a hole under the largest tree in her yard. She ran head- first in the tree, but instead of the resounding clunk that she had expected to hear, she ran through into a quiet little private garden.

There she was. The air was silent except for the voice of the sun. It was sounded weird, but she could hear it. The plants and the animals and the sky, they actually spoke to her there. There, everything was peaceful and right. Ginny walked slowly down across the rock path, her feet lingering across the rough surface of the stone, memorizing every feature, every crack, like all of it was slowly becoming a part of her.

How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was... what was it that had happened to her? She sat by the reflecting pool of her oasis, looking deep into the water. Sometimes, the water made her see things; maybe she could see why she was here now. She saw... what was it? It was... Ron! It was and Harry! They were together. Harry was... around Ron's waist? Oh yes, she remembered now. Hermione and her were going to go upstairs to talk to Harry when they had opened the door to see Harry and Ron in a VERY awkward position. Hermione grasped for Ginny's shoulder moaning quietly.

"Oh my god..." And that's when everything went wrong. The same cruel laughter that haunted her every night since the end of her first year at Hogwarts, echoed throughout the Weasley's tiny kitchen. There was an explosion and the fatal flash of brilliant green light that was infamously known Avada Kedavra curse. Hermione screamed, and the scream wasn't so much heard by Ginny as felt. Through the throbbing of the green, Hermione's scream became a tangible, living thing itself. And in the scream, Ginny saw the tall, wiry, haunting figure of...

"Tom," Ginny breathed, and the peace of her oasis and her vision was broken. The sunshine seemed to become violent, the animals screamed, and the water in Ginny's reflecting pool seemed to boil with the intensity of the vision of the creation and destruction of her world. The normally clear sky turned black and the wind ripped through Ginny's clothes and seemed to scream in her ears a horrible message in an ancient tongue. All she knew was what it meant.

"I'm coming for you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, and you can run but I will never stop following you..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" she cried in agony, sorrow and ecstasy all at once. She screamed and cried and whimpered, her voice doing what seemed like a dance with the wind. Then there was another explosion, and she was gone.

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Harry lay in a demented sleep. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Voldemort. Where did they all go? Wait, Voldemort? No, it wasn't the Dark Lord; it was before the Dark Lord, Tom Riddle. What was he doing in the Weasleys' Surely it had just been a drunken dream. Please, please let it not be real. Harry squeezed his eyes shut and prayed.

"Potter," came a drawling voice that Harry knew all to well, "I can see that you're awake so you might as well open your eyes and let go of the lingering dreams of Weasley naked." Harry's eyes snapped open.

"Malfoy, what in the blue hell are you doing here? Come to think of it, where is here?"

"You are in St. Mungo's. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ... the second... showed up at Weasel's house and exploded the kitchen. Ron is in the next room and I wouldn't walk into Hermione's room if I was you."

"Why not! What did you do to her?"

"NOTHING! It's just that Granger's, well, I don't know how to say this but..."

"TELL ME you - you stupid, you - you foul you -"

"Calm down Potter, don't hurt yourself with that original language. I just don't think I should tell you what I saw while you're in this fragile state."

"Listen, I don't care, she broke up with me because she had a freak out and started calling me gay. She asked he if I was leaving her for a man and then ran out of the room."

"Oh, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Well, its common knowledge that sometimes when a person is homosexual and they are with a straight partner, they imagine that their partner is gay in order to free themselves."

"That is the most intelligent thing I have ever heard you say, Malfoy, but I still don't get what you are trying to tell me, and how do you know this stuff?"

"Well, I was going to go into the Mudblood's room to make sure she wasn't dead yet when I hear some absolutely disturbing noises coming from within."

"What do you mean, Malfoy?"

"I mean, that by the sound of it, Mudblood was snogging someone in her room."

"That still doesn't tell me why you think that Hermione is a lesbian."

"Because Potter, unless Mudblood saying, 'I'm so glad you're my girlfriend' suggests something other than lesbian-ism, by all means let me know what that is!"

"WHAT!"

" Yup, that's right old boy, you got dumped by one girl for another girl! And honestly Potter, I have to say that I'm not surprised that she turned out this way."

"I feel like such a loser. Oh, well, onto the fallback plan. Where's Ginny?"

"Wow, Potter, you sure are sensitive. And what do you mean? The youngest Weasel wasn't with you all when you arrived."

"WHAT? Where's Ginny? Where's my fallback! I'm The Famous Harry James Potter! I defeated the Dark Lord when I was a baby! I can't be without a girlfriend! I AM HARRY POTTER!"

"Are you quite done with your little rant, Potter? The fact that you defeated the Dark Lord before is exactly why I am here."

"What? Did you finally decide to betray that father of yours?"

"Not exactly, but I'll explain in a little bit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron's head hurt, badly. It was a dull, throbbing pain, worse than any hangover he had ever had. The light hurt. The sound of the clock on the wall hurt. It was like he was being attacked by millions of tiny, but nevertheless, hurtful drills. His brain went over everything that he was supposed to keep in check.

Do you have your watch? There.

No bleeding? None.

All male parts intact and capable of doing what they do best? All good.

Are both of your eyes working? Yes, unfortunately there is nothing good to look at.

Do you know exactly where Ginny is and what she is doing and why she is doing it? NO! WHERE IS GINNY!!

Ron sat up with a jolt, or rather, tried to. He hit his head on the metal pole hanging directly above him and fell over sideways into the meal left out for him. Ron groaned and rolled back onto his pillow

"Ginny..." he groaned, and fell into an unconscious world of nightmares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny ran, and pain shot through her chest. Fire raged up her throat and down through her stomach. Everything was burning. She tripped over a rock in her path and crashed down onto the raging earth.

"Oh, Tom, why have you done this to me?" Ginny whimpered. She hunched over herself and wept into her now ragged clothes.

"Ginny?" Came a voice from far off. It was a caring, familiar voice. Was it? Could it be?

"Ron?" she whispered. Ginny saw the tall, wiry frame. She saw the red hair and the freckles. Ginny staggered to her feet and reached out her arms for the boy who always took care of her. He reached out his hands and she stumbled into her brother's caring arms.

"Ron, why are you so cold?" Ginny murmured. It was then that she realized. He was covered in blood. The freckles she thought she had seen were the crimson life of another, flecked across his face. His deeply brown hair was drenched in blood, appearing burgundy under the fire in the sky. But worst of all, were his eyes.

They were the same cold eyes that had haunted her in her dreams. As his eyes bore into her skull, they became reptilian and his grip became iron. Ginny struggled and tried to get away from her walking nightmare. She beat her fists against the Tom's chest, frantically trying to escape. The feeling of fighting Tom unlocked Ginny's memory.

She woke up in a dark, unfriendly place. She didn't know where she was or how she had gotten there. She looked around. All she could see was scary statues, and a tall boy who she had never seen, but seemed familiar

"Tom?" she asked. The boy nodded. "Tom, I don't know how I got here! Do you know where we are? I'm afraid Tom!" She ran into his open arms. "Tom, we've got to get out of here!" As she tried to run for what seemed to be the most likely exit, Tom's arms locked. She struggled and kicked and hit Tom, but it only seemed to make him stronger. Just as she was feeling faint he laughed. As Ginny sunk into oblivion all she heard was that horrible, frightening laugh. That laugh...

Ginny was jerked back into the present by Tom's laughter. This time she wouldn't try to get away. She was going to finish the nightmare that she had started in her first year. Her hands reached for his neck, encircling it. Ginny squeezed with all of her might. Tom stopped, reaching for Ginny. The harder she squeezed, the smaller this living demon seemed to become. She clenched her hands together until her hands were only grasping each other.

Ginny stared at the blood covering her hands so intently that she didn't hear the hidden figure yell "Stupefy!" Ginny fell to the ground once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry sighed.

"Fine, Malfoy, you don't have to explain... for now. If you want me to trust you, though, you're going to have to do one little thing."

"No, Potter, I'm not going to take off my pants and pretend to be a good boy that just can't help being bad for you."

"GAH! Baaaaad mental images!!" Harry said, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "I meant that you have to take me to Hermione, so I know that she's okay. Then, as soon as Ron's awake, you have to take me to see him as well.

Draco sighed. "Fine, fine, let's go see Granger...perhaps if we're lucky we'll walk in on a little lesbian action."

"Hermione is not a lesbian!" Harry cried

"Whatever, whatever," Draco said as he headed out the door, and Harry swore he heard him mumble, "Always knew she'd turn out to be a doughnut-bumper." The walk down the sterile halls of St. Mungo's seemed to take forever for both boys, although as soon as they reached Hermione's room, it seemed like it had taken way too short. Harry swung open the door.

"Hermione! Are you all ri-- WHAT THE--" Harry swore. Loudly. Hermione looked more than all right. In fact, so did the girl she was snogging.

"Pansy!" yelled Draco, "What in bloody HELL are you doing here?"

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