Attraction to Things Uncertain

Chapter 3: Amazed

~~~

"Set her down gently...gently you idiot!" The first voice Ginny heard (within the strange dreams she thought she must be having) was angry with someone else.

"My apologies master..." The second voice was obediently fearful.

"No matter. Just go away and leave me here." The first voice sounded tired and annoyed.

"Of course, milord." The second voice said hurriedly.

"Oh, and bring her something to eat." The other voice softened a bit.

"Milord?" The second voice was confused.

"For when she wakes up." The first voice replied as if it was talking to a child.

But I am awake! Ginny said aloud, or at least, she tried to say aloud. It came out a soft mumble.

"Milord...the girl..."

"She will not wake now. Leave." The first voice sounded familiar now that Ginny was thinking. But only just.

"Yes, master." There were footsteps, and a closed door. She heard softer footsteps--like those of a cat, slowly move in her direction.

"Ginny...soon you won't remember much...the potion I gave you will have erased your memory and instead given you a new memory: vague, and untrue, but a memory. I will help make that memory real, Ginny. And you will never have to go back to your old memories ever again."

Go where? A small voice in her head questioned. Go to Hogwarts of course, go back to your family. Another voice answered matter-of-factly. Hogwarts? What's that? Where's that? The first voice asked. Why do you need to ask? You know! The second voice replied. Because I forget...I forget everything now...

Ginny cried out, more voices talking in her head, and curled into a small ball, trying to block them out. She was dimly aware of a hand stroking her hair softly and whispering words of comfort--but unsurely, as if it didn't know how to. Soon the noise died down and she was aware of the blackness on the back of her eyelids...dripping blackness that surrounded her. She took a deep breath and went somewhere deep inside herself. Soon, Ginny Weasley was nothing than a mere memory.

~~~

Tom Riddle sat cross-legged in a timeworn chair, reading the Daily Prophet with increased frustration. "There was no struggle...damn those reporters for embellishing the facts! Potter didn't help any though..." He dropped the paper slightly, looking upward and speaking falsetto, "My girlfriend has disappeared! I could've saved her! That bastard stole her!" Giving a snort, he looked back down. "In...other words, of course." The door opened and he looked up.

Wormtail approached him carefully, trying not to disturb him too much. "Milord, the girl--"

"Yes, what about her?" Tom said nastily.

"She is stirring. I thought you should know," he finished softly. Tom, in his newfound youth, leapt up and ran past Wormtail, nearly knocking him down. Turning into a hallway that was covered in dust, he threw open a door with fading red paint. There, by the window, was a bed. And on it, Ginny was waking.

"It's amazing to me I can't
Seem to say what I'm doing here"

"Where--where am I?" she cried, looking about her in confusion. She looked down at the covers. They were a soft green--velvet. Looking further around the room, she noted almost everything was fine and rich--mahogany wood, silken curtains on the four-poster...everything was perfect. I've never seen anything so perfect or rich before in my entire life! she thought. Why would you think such a thing? It's not like you're poor...or are you?

"You're home, Ginny," the boy in front of her replied. He was tall and thin. His pale skin seemed to bring out his sharp features and long fingers. He looked very regal in his outfit--black suede pants and a white peasant shirt. He stepped forward with a half nervous look on his face--as if not sure how she would answer.

"My tongue is all twisted around the air
I'm looking for words that were so well rehearsed
But I can't find them anywhere"

"But--but where is home?" she asked quietly, pulling the emerald covers around her like a shield.

"Here--Scotland, actually." He approached cautiously and sat on the edge of the bed. "Do you remember anything, sweet?" The word sounded strange.... too syrupy coming from him. Ginny ignored it and thought hard.

"I remember," she thought. She remembered riding on a horse. Somewhere...it was night--no, it was day! That was silly, she wouldn't go riding at night! So yes...she had been riding. The image came to her mind almost unbidden. The boy, riding with her. They were racing--and there had been a tree-- She realized she was saying this all aloud. The boy looked pleased. Somehow, Ginny couldn't help thinking that the memory was a bit...odd on the edges. Fuzzy...superficial.

"Do you remember anything else at all?" the boy said hopefully.

Ginny thought. "You're Tom!" she shouted suddenly, smiling.

"That's right, Gin," Tom said happily. "Very good..." His look changed to one of worry again. "But you don't remember anything else?" Ginny thought again, and a pain seeped through her mind. She grasped her forehead with a cry. Tom took her arm. "There, there, don't think." She opened her eyes to look at him. "It seems like it would be a bad idea right now. You've been through a lot today. I think you need some rest."

She nodded and lay back down. He got up and went to leave. "Tom!" she called. He turned. "Could you...could you stay with me? In the chair over there?" She pointed to a mahogany chair that was gorgeously carved. It was the closest thing to both her and the window.

"Of course," he said. "Let me just get the paper and I'll be right back," he said affably. She nodded. He turned and left, closing the door behind him. As soon as he was out, a smile crossed his face. "Riddle, you're just too good for the rest of the world," he said softly. He strutted down the hallway to his small parlor. Reveling in self-congratulation, he almost forgot about returning to Ginny

~~~

"With you there's no easy answer
It's true
You change the equation that I add up to"

"Thank you for the tea," Ginny said, looking up from her breakfast the next morning.

"You're welcome," he replied, looking over the paper with increasing dislike.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"The world," he replied with a sigh.

Ginny giggled. "That bad?"

"Oh yes." He threw the paper down. Nagini, his pet snake, hissed as it just missed her tail. "My apologies, Nagini, I didn't aim that on purpose!" he said calmly in Parseltongue. Nagini glared--as much as a snake could glare--and left the room with a flick of her tail.

"What does the paper have to say," Ginny asked, waving her hand to the paper now on the floor.

"Oh, nothing. The Ministry is in an uproar again...typical things." It wasn't a lie, after all. They were in an uproar--searching for her. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"So...so tell me again. We were out riding, and I hit my head on a branch."

"Yes. It's a wonder you aren't dead," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "A little quick thinking on my behalf, and you were saved," he added dryly.

"Oh yes, always the hero," Ginny added with rolled eyes. They both laughed. "I still don't remember anything about life--or why I'm here. Or what I do."

"You go to Hogwarts," Tom shrugged.

"Then where's my family?" Ginny said with a wrinkled nose.

"And all of the things that I thought I knew
You turn it around"

Tom paused, and sighed. "Ginny...this isn't going to be easy to explain..." She set her tea down, sensing a moment of seriousness coming. He gazed at her over folded hands. "Your family was rather...well...misunderstanding of you. They ignored you. I was a dear friend of yours and took it upon myself to rescue you from them."

"Another heroic effort," Ginny muttered, but it was without mirth.

He nodded. "The Ministry doesn't want you to stay with me--doubtless when you return they'll even stoop low enough to say I kidnapped you," he said harshly, looking at the paper on the floor. He reached forward and took her hands in his. "Ginny, you must promise me that no matter what happens, you'll trust me. That you won't believe what they say."

"Of course, Tom, you're my best friend." A memory of them out on the front porch, laughing, entered her mind. He smiled.

"Good."

"Just one thing," she said slowly.

"Yes?" he said carefully.

"Well...why doesn't the Ministry like you?"

Silence filled the room. Tom sighed. "Ginny...I've done some--things. Things that were illegal." Ginny frowned. "But you must understand it was for a greater purpose!" he added. "For our goal!" he finished with relish.

"The goal of..." she said, waiting for the rest.

"Power," he said softly. A light was shining in one corner of his eyes. "Don't you remember our motto, Ginny? There's no such--"

"Thing as good or evil. Only power, and those too weak to use it," Ginny finished automatically. Despite remembering them saying it late at night in the library downstairs for years during secret discussions, Ginny couldn't help thinking how strange it sounded coming from her.

"That's right," Tom said with a grin. "You have to listen to me, Ginny. There are some people who would have our chance at power. Being where we are with power, some people would like me dead. Thus...the best thing we can do is fight back. And with you and me on the same side, they won't have much of a chance" he said smugly, leaning back in the chair.

           "Wait...how can I help?" Ginny asked suddenly, placing her fork down onto the placemat.

"I'm amazed
When push comes to shove what I'd give to you"

Tom smiled. "You help by remembering." He stood, patting her lightly on the arm. "We'll restart your training again tomorrow...once you've settled in a bit more," he added as he stood in the doorframe, silhouetted in the light.

"Everything"

"Wha--what training?" she asked with a yawn.

"You'll see," Tom said coyly.

"Does this mean I get to party all day today?" Ginny asked sleepily as she walked back over to the bed.

"We'll see. First you have to sleep a bit more--you're much too tired to do anything else."

"You like using the word see, don't you?" Ginny asked as she pulled the covers around her.

"Yes. But no more...you're falling asleep," he said softly.

"No--" she slurred, "no I'm not." Soon her breathing told him she had fallen asleep. HE shook his head and left the room.

"I'm amazed
The hallways I wouldn't mind crawling through
And I'd do it for days and days

I'm amazed, I'm amazed

The places you're taking me to"

~~~

"Hold it a bit more erect---no, now it's too far. You have to be loose, and yet steady." Tom was pacing on the catwalk through the garage. The garage itself had been built on to the house--it was technically more of a gym or a laboratory than a garage. Tom hated cars--and this was a much better use of the room. Staring down, Ginny was on the floor beneath him, holding her wand and trying to assume proper position.

"Isn't that a bit oxymoronic?" Ginny asked angrily, trying not to fall with the way she was balanced.

"No, not at all. What I mean by loose if more like---like flexible," He leaned against the catwalk now, casually instructing her. The glass in the room glinted in the sunlight.

"So then I stay steady, but the wand is flexible," Ginny asked, looking up at him carefully.

"Yes," Tom said with a nod.

"Then how much longer until I actually cast a spell?" Ginny asked, frustrated.

"Now." He suddenly vaulted over the edge of the catwalk and plummeted down, only to pause in the air above her--apparition-like. Ginny, crouching still out of reaction, frowned at his cocky grin.

"Yeah, all good and showy, but I have spells to cast," Ginny muttered.

Tom laughed. Pacing the air, he surveyed her position again. Then he looked up suddenly. A spider was hanging from the catwalk. It came down in the air slowly on it's shimmering thread, finally pausing just above their heads. "Do you like spiders, Ginny?" Tom asked softly, looking back down at her.

"Not really," Ginny admitted. "I don't like them much at all. Ron sort of fueled that fear."

Tom smiled. "Why don't you kill it then?"

Ginny stared at the spider. "It's up there! I'm down here, I can't kill it!"

"Yes, Gin, you can." Tom allowed himself to drop to the floor behind her with a click. "There's a handy little spell for that."

"What spell?" Ginny asked, eyes still following the spider's path.

"Wait,"

"It's called the Kedavra Curse," Tom whispered in her ear. Ginny shivered. She didn't think it was just the way he had breathed on her neck, either.

"I recognize the name..." Ginny said.

"I thought I had this down
I built all my cages and my hide out
And I,"

"Well, we have discussed it before," Tom said carelessly. "But you were never ready But now--" and a steely glint appeared in his eye. "Now you are more than ready. Now you can do anything you want to--with my help, of course," he added.

"I covered all my bases

I locked the door, I shut all my windows"

"Something about it, though...something doesn't seem right," Ginny said, looking into the air as if trying to remember something she had known once. But there was nothing to remember. She could remember every day spent with Tom--every evening by the fire, every moment just being friends. How could there be anything more than that?

"But you"

"Now, Ginny...there's nothing wrong," Tom said cheerfully.

"You creep in like a whisper, it's true."

Ginny was still frowning uncertainly. Tom approached her slowly form behind. "Listen...I'll help you."

"I try not to listen, yeah, but I hear you"

His breath on her neck made her shiver. "What's the incantation?" Ginny asked, shaking slightly.

"I'm not really sure just what it is you do"

"Avada Kedavra," he whispered.

"But do it again."

Ginny shook like a limb in a breeze. Tom placed a hand on her shoulder and for a minute she stopped. "What's the matter?" he asked calmly.

"N-nothing. It sent chills up my spine, is all," Ginny said with a false smile.

"That's because the spell summons Death himself to this very room. When you cast this spell, you have the power to end one life, but begin another somewhere else. Fascinating, isn't it?" he added, still whispering. He pulled his hand away.

"W-why are you whispering?" Ginny asked finally.

Tom suddenly reached forward and grabbed her left hand. She gasped. He took the wand from her right and placed it into her left. "You're ambidextrous, aren't you?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"Y-yes," she said, trying to stop her heart from beating so fast.

"Then use your left hand for once. It's much more interesting." He didn't let go of her wrist. His fingers, icy cold and long, sent tremors down her spine.

"Ah, I see," she said, swallowing nervously. She had, at least, regained the use of her vocal chords.

"Now, do you want to get rid of that spider, or not?" he asked. He was still quiet, but not whispering anymore.

"Yes," Ginny said, closing her eyes.

"Then say it. Say the words," Tom hissed softly in her ear. The Parseltongue made her toes curl. She loved the way it sounded...There was a pause as she opened her eyes and stared at the spider above her. It moved tauntingly at her.

The words dripped off of her lips, "Avada Kedavra." A green light filled the air with a rushing sound. She gasped and closed her eyes as she felt Death move past her swiftly. But he wasn't coming for her--no--he was heading for the spider. The spider...

"I'm amazed"

She opened her eyes again to see the spider lying on the floor. The thread hung still in the air above the catwalk, but it didn't glimmer anymore. Behind her, Tom breathed a sigh and let go of her wrist. "Well done." Ginny stared at the spider on the ground--only now, now it didn't seem quite so scary anymore.

"When push comes to shove what I'd give to you"

And the way Tom stood possessively behind her didn't frighten her, either. In fact, she rather liked it. She smiled to herself as she remembered the incantation. Yes, it would be quite fun using it now...not half as bad as she had thought it to be. "Would you like to eat?" Tom asked, weaving a finger tauntingly along her shoulder blades. She smiled happily at the sensation.

"Everything."

"Yes," she said. And they left the spider, lifeless on the floor.

"I'm amazed."

~~~

"The walls that I wouldn't mind crashing through
And I'd do it for days and days
I'm amazed, I'm amazed"

"Are you sure it will work, milord?"

"Of course it will. She's my little secret weapon. She needs a bit more time to train and learn...but I should have her home right after Christmas."

"She's--she's staying her for that, too?"

"Yes. Why Lucius, you look shocked."

"Well, won't everyone at Hogwarts want her back as soon as possible?"

"Now, now, Lucius don't grow soft. We'll return her--after I'm through with her."

~~~

"At all of the things I know you have done
'Cause this time I think we've really won
The tables have turned
Now I'm taking my hat off to you
You said "we'll see"
But darling it's all clear to me

I'm amazed"

Author's Note: That was an awesome chapter to write. This here is my baby--my favorite chapter. I don't know what else to add to it so...hope you enjoyed it because that's all you're getting until Chapter 4. The song within the chapter was: "Amazed", by Poe. A big thank you to my reviewers, and as you can see there was no need for the Death Eaters. I've been writing this all along. ::wink:: I was going to use the song: "Terrible Thought" by Poe in here, but "Amazed" was really all I needed.