Attraction to Things Uncertain

I hear them...

Breathing.

They know what I have done,

All that I've been through.

I tell them

Secrets.

And who's to say,

It isn't so?

Move,

Don't move.

Stay a little while,

On my Linoleum.

Breathe,

Don't breathe,

Walk a thousand miles,

On my Linoleum...

Drink,

Don't drink,

Still I'm lying' drunk,

On my Linoleum

Dream,

Don't dream,

All that matters fades,

On my Linoleum...

Chapter 2: House of Leaves/The Ball/Linoleum

School started too soon for most people. For Ginny, it couldn't have come soon enough. She much preferred burying herself in schoolwork behind the walls of Hogwarts to lying around, doing nothing during the summer hours. As her fifth year slowly started, she got back into her routine of mainly staying out of the way and invisible to anyone who didn't want anything to do with her.

Her only friend, Natalie, was sick for most of the school year and eventually was sent home. She had some strange blood disease that only wizards could get, and knowing her luck, Ginny figured Natalie would probably die and then she'd be all alone during the rest of her school days.

Fall seemed short--it passed incredible quickly. Snow started to fall early into November, and most students preferred curling up in their dormitories to working. That wasn't an option until December, of course, and by then the students had other things to be worrying about.

"A Ball, can you believe it? New Years Eve, nonetheless!" Seamus said from the chess game he had been playing with Ron.

"Yes, but why would they have two?" Hermione asked curiously, looking up from a rather thick textbook.

"Two? There are two?" Ron said stupidly, losing a knight.

"Oh Ron, everyone is talking about it," Lavender cooed from her chair. In the past year she had taken a bit of a liking to him. Of course, now that Hermione wouldn't date him, he was happy for the attention. "There are two because Hogsmeade was holding one, and Hogwarts still wanted their own ball," she said all of this as if it were common knowledge. It was, actually, but Ron wasn't always with the times.

"So when is the Hogwarts one?" Ron asked, realizing he was losing terribly to Seamus.

"Week before Christmas," Harry said quickly, looking around the room suddenly.

"What is it?" Hermione asked him as he stared around.

"Oh, nothing...erm...have any of you seen Ginny?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, so now that Cho is avoiding you, in your sixth year you finally think to ask me," Ginny muttered from where she watched them. They jumped. They hadn't seen her sitting in the shadows behind the fireplace.

"Well, erm..." Harry started to speak.

"That's all right, I'm not going with anyone. Bloody stupid to take a date to a dance, if you ask me. Better to go on your own," Ginny shrugged.

"Are you...sure?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Just because I practically stalked you for three years of my life does not mean I have to keep doing it," Ginny said lazily, getting up with a stretch. "And now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." She passed the boys haughtily, but gave a smile to Hermione. "G'night, Mione," she said affably, going up the steps and disappearing. All stared after her.

"What in bloody hell was that all about?" Ron said after they heard a door slam upstairs.

"I don't think she's forgiven us from the summer," Harry said thoughtfully.

"But that was months ago! That girl needs to learn to let go," Ron said, shaking his head.

"Checkmate," Seamus said with a smile.

"What?" Ron shouted. "You won every week for the past three weeks! You can't keep winning!"

Hermione snorted in disbelief before returning to her studies.

~~~

Ginny lay in her bed, tired and angry at the world. There was no real reason to be, she was just tired of being left behind. "You brought it upon yourself, Weasley," she told herself angrily. "You should never have read that diary. No one wants to approach you because of it, even if it was years ago. Next time, think." She stared out the window at the slowly rising moon. It's light seemed to comfort her in a way, and she fell asleep looking at it.

~~~

The next few weeks went by quickly, and the ball approached. Students were eager, and had a hard time focusing in class. Teachers like Snape didn't appreciate it much, and house points were lost left and right. Ginny, unlike everyone else, dreaded the ball. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to it, she just did. "Wonder if I'm psychic like you, Herm. Maybe I'm going to die and I know it."

"Oh, I'm only psychic with the right exposure and you know it, and Gin, you're not going to die!" Hermione said, annoyed. "Listen, maybe you should reconsider going to the ball alone. Harry still needs a date," and he really wishes you weren't still mad at him, Hermione added thoughtfully.

"Well, I'm not going with him. Not after his little escapade in Diagon Alley," Ginny said finitely.

"Ginny that was months ago!" Hermione echoed Ron.

"Not so long, only the day before September. And since when does he show an interest in me? Whatever happened to sweet, preppy girls? When did creepy, red-headed, broken girls fit into his equation?" Ginny shouted. Hermione stared.

"Ginny, I had no idea you thought of yourself like that," she said quietly.

"Well, if you all had paid more attention to me, you would've known," Ginny growled, standing up and heading to her room. "Oh," she added angrily, "If anyone needs me I'll be changing into my hand-me-down dress robes for the ball tonight. Maybe if I'm lucky some passing, homeless wizard will give me his finest dress robes," Ginny finished, stomping the rest of the way up the stairs.

~~~

The ball was slightly boring, but only to Ginny, of course. She hovered by the punch bowl, taking the duty of making sure no one spiked it upon herself. Setting her cup down briefly, she noticed Draco Malfoy walking towards the doors to the grounds cautiously, then disappearing outside. The ball was only going to be inside, so why he was wandering out there..."What's that git up to?" she wondered aloud. Almost curious, she thought to follow, but decided against it. Anything that Malfoy was up to would be either incredibly dangerous or incredibly private. She didn't want to see him snogging anyone, and she would rather be bored than dead.

~~~

Draco crept around the bushes nervously, waiting for someone to spring up. Someone did, but behind him. Not noticing, he kept walking. The figure placed a hand on his shoulder and he let out a small cry in fear. Whipping around, he saw a boy of sixteen staring back at him with a smile on his face. "Hello there, Malfoy--oh, or should I say Draco," the boy said smoothly.

Draco frowned, but still shivered slightly. "Who-who are you? I thought that The Dark--"

"That The Dark Lord would be coming to greet you?" the boy finished, an eyebrow raising amusedly. He extended a pale, long fingered hand. "Tom. Tom Riddle."

Draco went to take it, and the boy finished. "Also known as Lord Voldemort." Draco blanched and stopped his hand from any movement. "I should be bowing, not shaking your hand," he said, starting to bend. Tom grabbed his hand anyway.

"Best keep up the charade in case anyone is watching," Tom said with a smile.

"Ah, erm...if I may ask you, milord, how is it you can be here?" Draco said nervously as Tom released his hand. "Won't Dumbledore know you're here?"

"Not anymore. He could only sense Voldemort. He wouldn't remember how it felt when Tom Riddle was near," Tom assured him almost lazily. "And no one will recognize me unless I want them to--I already tested it out in Diagon Alley--trust me," He sounded bored as he spoke, but brightened as he took out his wand. "Now, to the subject at hand."

Draco straightened, a small look of fear dawning in his eyes. "M-my test," he stuttered. He cursed himself inwardly for sounding so stupid.

"Yes..." Tom raised the wand and Draco tried not to cringe. Draco was used to being cursed by his father, but he assumed it would hurt quite a bit more from The Dark Lord himself. "Hold out your hand," Tom said, causing Draco to look curiously at him. Draco obeyed slowly, cautiously.

Tom pressed the wand onto his palm, and lifted it with a small waving motion. A vial appeared in Draco's hand, and he took it carefully. He stared into it. A greenish liquid swirled around inside the vial almost creepily. Draco looked back up in confusion. "Do you know the girl called Ginny Weasley?" Tom asked suddenly, pulling the wand back down to his side.

Draco frowned, wondering how he was supposed to respond. "Erm...yes, but what does that filthy Weasley girl have to do with--"

"Everything," Tom quipped. Stepping closer, he whispered. "I want you to slip that into her drink--I don't care how you do it, just do it without getting caught." He continued in a moment. "When she seems to be getting dizzy, she will most likely go sit down. I want to you make her go over to the door somehow--perhaps by having your little goons walk in her direction or something." Draco smirked at the mention of Crabbe and Goyle. "Once she is sitting, open the door outside. Leave the rest to me," he finished.

Draco stopped smirking. "That's all?" he cried, obviously surprised.

"That's all. You may go," Tom waved him away. Shrugging, Draco turned. Tom waited until Draco had put the vial into his robes; then spoke again. "Oh, and Draco?"

Draco turned. Tom brandished his wand quickly. "Crucio," he muttered.

After Draco had recovered, Tom leaned down to him. "Never insult Ginny again or so help me I will kill you next time," he hissed icily. Draco gulped, stood, and wandered inside with a fearful glance back in Tom's direction. Tom twirled the wand once, for show, and placed it into his pocket before running towards the Forbidden Forest.

~~~

"Bored, bored, bored," Ginny muttered, tapping her wand against the wall. "When is this ball over?" she groaned. She looked over at Ron and Harry. They were chatting excitedly--about Quidditch. Hermione was sitting down by herself at a table, reading, and Lavender Brown was trying to convince Ron to come and dance with her. Ginny stared almost ruefully at the group for a while, wishing she were part of it.

She then stepped outside of herself for a moment, and grinned bitterly. "Quintessentially a party here at Hogwarts, isn't it? Quidditch, homework, and loneliness," Ginny muttered, turning to get her punch. The glass was gone. "What? I just set it down!" she cried, looking around. She didn't notice her drink floating away in the air by use of the Accio charm. Draco was about 16 feet away, trying not to look too obvious with the charm. The glass came to him without any trouble, though.

Taking it in his hands, he set down his wand and pulled the vial from within his robes. Staring at the liquid one last time, he opened the vial and poured it. It mixed with the drink with a hiss, and a tiny Dark Mark floated above the glass as it turned back into the color of the punch. Draco frowned as the glass was almost full, and realized he couldn't put the entire potion in.

"Damn..." he muttered. Staring around as if begging for help, he realized none would come. "All right...well, he didn't say to put the whole thing in," Draco comforted himself. "So, if I don't, no one will care--end of story. Let's just get this stupid thing over with and get my Dark Mark," he said simply, corking the vial and placing it back into his robes. Using a reverse Accio--something he had learned from watching Potter--he put the glass back behind Ginny, who was still bewilderedly looking for her drink. She turned and saw it, and with much confusion, picked it up again.

"What the hell is going on around here?" Ginny asked the air. Shrugging, she picked up the glass and took a sip. Draco watched carefully. Nothing happened.

"Damn, she's not going to die from this?" Draco thought aloud, and then silenced himself as Dumbledore approached, dancing with Madame Pomfrey.

As he watched Ginny, she downed the glass over a long period of time. Still perfectly in function, she wandered over to Lavender briefly to chat. Draco groaned, but kept watching.

Ginny, meanwhile, was feeling slightly dizzy, but nothing serious. She talked briefly with Lavender, discovered the two had absolutely nothing in common, and decided it would be much better to leave. The dizziness grew a bit more, and she grabbed her head. "What is it?" Lavender asked suddenly as Ginny groaned.

"It's nothing...just a headache. I'm going to go sit down, ok?" Ginny muttered, walking away. Draco leaped up to guide her somehow towards a chair close to the doors to go outside, but he didn't need to. She went in that direction by herself, and even went outside. Shrugging, he returned to the ball.

"I need fresh air," Ginny was telling herself. "The ballroom is just too stuffy from all those people." She sat on a metal bench by the bushes to rest, before hearing something. Music. It was soft, but somehow compelling. "I thought we weren't dancing on the grounds..."she muttered softly as she stared. The music seemed to be coming from elsewhere, and she frowned. She stood, and the beat suddenly grew and captured her. The sound of it--it was definitely Celtic. And yet it sounded slightly like jazz as well--she could hear a saxophone playing the melody.

She looked into the darkness of the grounds. She lit her wand absentmindedly, and walked in the direction of the music. The closer she moved that way, the less she could think. She realized too late that she should have gone the other way. She was walking, but she couldn't stop. Her footsteps carried her towards the Forbidden Forest.

~~~

Ginny had not known, while she was still inside, that Harry had been looking over at her at periods and was noticing how bored she was. The last time he had checked, he was happy to have seen her talking with Lavender. However, as he looked now, he noticed she was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing Hermione away from her books and Ron away from Seamus and yet another chess match, he informed them of this fact. Out of their own curiosity, they followed Harry to ask Lavender where she had gone.

"She said she had a headache. Last I heard she wanted to go sit down," Lavender said calmly to Ron.

"But then where is she?" Harry asked when he had finally pulled Ron away from her.

"Maybe she's outside," Ron said with a shrug, turning to go back to his game. Harry grabbed his arm again.

"And if so, why is she? The dance isn't out there, it's in here," Harry said guardedly.

"Well, is she involved with anyone?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry glared, but Ron chortled. "Highly doubtful right about now. She's been a loner all year--well, except for the afternoon with that Tom Havenworth guy."

"What if he's out there?" Harry said suddenly.

"Why would he be out there?" Ron said, frustrated. "He doesn't even go to school here."

"Which worries me," Harry said frankly. "If he moved to London, why wouldn't he go here?"

"He does have a point...a very high percentage of Londoners go here," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Well look, I'm sure she's not out there snogging with some guy," Ron said, then upon Harry's nervous glance, added, "and she may just have a headache and wanted some fresh air!"

"Maybe, but what about that Tom? He's awfully suspicious," Hermione said quickly. "By what you told me of him, I'd even say that Tom Havenworth could very well be another Tom we know of."

"Tom Riddle?" Harry said, blanching.

"Wait a minute, he was destroyed!" Ron shouted.

"Yeah, but Voldemort is still around," Hermione shrugged.

"Don't say the name," Ron said with a shiver.

"That's who he reminded me of!" Harry shouted suddenly, causing them to jump. "In Diagon Alley, he did things that slightly reminded me of him. Like...he twirled his wand on the way out of Fortescue's."

"Do you think it's him?" Ron asked; shuddering to think Ginny had been around with him all day.

"Possibly," Hermione said," but let's not jump to conclusions. Tom Havenworth may be Tom Riddle, but we won't know until he does something terrible." As she thought more, she added, "And it could be that Tom Havenworth is a different person, but Tom Riddle could actually be meeting with Ginny."

"You think way too much," Ron said, shaking his head.

"Should we look outside?" Hermione asked Harry.

"I think that would be a good idea," Harry said, walking towards the doors.

"Wait a minute!" Ron shouted, grabbing Harry's arm. "What if--" he gulped, "he's out there?"

"Then we'll have to take that chance." Harry said angrily as he opened the door.

A quiet, pulsating beat entered their train of thoughts. Opening the door wider, they heard it. Music. It was very soft, and indistinct, but what they heard told them that it was most certainly magical.

~~~

Ginny stepped over the snow in a daze, forgetting what she had been remembering. All her thought was captured by the music that played softly around her.

"Yes, Ginny...follow me." The music spoke to her in words she barely understood. Something at the edge of her consciousness told her not to go, but her feet moved forward without slowing

~~~

Hermione and Ron followed Harry outside. "Where is she?" Ron said, clearly upset.

"She has to be here somewhere, she can't have gotten far." Hermione responded while pulling her wand out. "Lumos," she muttered, turning her wand on. She began to look around and gasped.

"What?" Ron said, frightened.

"There are tracks in the snow...he walked away from here," Hermione said.

"There are more by these bushes, but they aren't hers'...never mind, that's probably from someone snogging," Ron shrugged.

"We have to find her...wait a minute...these tracks are leading towards the Forbidden Forest!" Harry noted. They looked at one another and began to run.

"Come to me, Ginny, come," Harry heard a voice whisper. "There's someone talking in Parseltongue!" Harry added, and they sped up quite a bit.

~~~

Ginny was still walking when she sensed some sort of disturbance.

"Ginny!" A voice cried just beyond her hearing.

"Harry?" She asked in a daze. The music made her break into a run, running away from him. Panting, she reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest and nearly collapsed. Just then, a figure stepped out in front of her. A tall, cloaked figure, reached out a pale hand to her.

The masculine voice was soft and coaxed her closer. "Come Ginny, give me your hand." She took his hand as if she had always known him, known the voice. "Now hand me your wand," the voice added. She obeyed. The music was still pulsating around them, and she followed him into a clearing.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had fallen behind, panting from the run. "We--have--to--keep--up!" cried Ron, out of breath.

"They went that way," Harry said, pointing towards the clearing.

As they reached the opening, they saw Ginny, hand in hand with the dark figure, walking towards a glowing portal that was floating in mid air. It's orange light lit the clearing in the gloom, and the shapes of small, strange creatures scurried away from the brightness.

"Ginny! No!" Ron cried. The figure turned, surprised, and his hood slipped down. Harry growled and ran forward as he recognized the figure.

"You!" Harry shouted.

Ginny turned towards his voice, but Tom Riddle gave a sudden pull and they both disappeared into the light. Harry rushed forward at the portal, but it closed, releasing a large burst of bright light and sound as it dissipated in the darkness. They were alone in the clearing, and Ginny and Tom were gone.

I can hear myself I'm somewhere...in there...

Why is it called a house of leaves?