Sunlight

We fell in love at first glance

When our eyes met when our hearts raced

But nothing ever lasts in this life

So it ends there and I'm sitting here.

With this bottle of wine in one hand

And a cigarette in the other

The only thing on my body is an impression of you

Some damn impression of you.

(5:30 Saturday Morning by Lennon)

"Do you have any last words, my dear Ginny?" Tom asked casually, as if he was discussing the weather. He was towering above her with a smile on his face that was neither malicious nor sweet, just overly pleased with himself. A complete lack of empathy.

Ginny looked up at him from her prone position on the floor and struggled to move. Minutes earlier, she could feel him draining the magic out of her, but now all she felt was a sensation familiar to floating. The chilly floor seemed warm compared to her cold skin. It enveloped her, taunting her with its warmth.

She glared at Tom as he laughed at her pathetic struggles. Her eyes raged at her utter helplessness. Tears were pooling at the back of her eyes, but she wouldn't give in and let them release. She wouldn't let him see her broken, eventhough they both knew she was.

She would die first.

Ginny opened her mouth and concentrated. She forced her tongue to work, desperate to get these final words right. It took every last ounce of her broken will to speak, but she did it.

"I will live to see you burn."

She felt a fleeting sense of pathetic triumph as she breathed out the words, and her eyes closed in rapture. She had done it. She had stood up to him. No matter what happens after this, she'll always have this moment.

The thought was a small comfort when faced with the reality of Tom's laughter echoing through the room. She clenched her eyes in an effort to block out the cutting sounds. It wasn't enough.

Ginny froze when she felt Tom run his hand along her cheek. He was so warm, so achingly warm.

"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny," Tom said softly as he caressed her cheek. Ginny couldn't help it. Even in her deathlike state, she ached for the warmth that he stole from her. Unconciously, she turned her face to the left and pressed her cheek into his palm, desperate for warmth.

She flinched when she heard him laugh and move his hand far away, depriving her of the last vestiges of her essence. Her breath became slower and she no longer felt the hardness of the floor. The darkness was no longer behind her eyes, it was everywhere. She was dying, and it didn't hurt.

"Oh Ginny. You always were such a Gryffindor, no matter how much I tried to break you of it..." Tom said, thinking it was an insult.

If Ginny had had the strength, she would have smiled. It's always nice to be complemented before you die.

Thank you, Tom.

And then the darkness took her.

"Ginny? Are you listening to me?" Padma asked and touched Ginny's arm. The younger girl jerked at the sudden contact and nearly fell out of her chair. She hadn't been listening to Padma or to any of the other Ravenclaw girls sharing her table. She had been too busy staring in longing at the table in the far right corner. The one that held the other second year Gryffindors.

"Sorry, Padma. What did you say?" Ginny asked, making her voice sound light and cheerful, and faced the Ravenclaw.

"I said it's getting late and I think that we should continue this conversation in the Ravenclaw common room. Coming?" Padma asked in the same intense way she always did.

"Of course! Just let me get my bag," Ginny said eagerly and stood up.

Ginny had gotten in the habit of spending most of her time with Ravenclaws, but this was the first time she had actually been invited to their common room. She sat with them in the library partly because she was impressed by their intelligence, but mostly because the other Gryffindors in her year never spoke to her.

They never forgave her for what happened in her first year. Ginny didn't know what was worse: the way they spread lies about what happened behind her book or the way they whispered about her even when she was in the same room. Faced with this rejection, Ginny had looked to other houses. She couldn't associate with the Hufflepuffs because she didn't respect them and the Slytherins all reminded her of Tom, so that only left Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaws were an opinionated, cold lot. They spent their time debating everything from music and art to war and politics. No subject was taboo. Contrary to popular opinion, Ravenclaws weren't indifferent to the problems of the world. They just felt dispassionate about humanity in general. Every argument was spoken in a rational detached way with perfect self control.

Ginny hardly spoke at the Ravenclaw table, eventhough she always had plenty to say. She didn't want to speak until she could control the inflection of her voice, like Padma. Now there was a Ravenclaw: Cool, controlled, and collected. Basically, everything she wanted be.

Every time a Gryffindor gave her that funny look, Ginny had wished traitorously that she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Sometimes she would lie in her bed late at night and think about how her llife would be different. By November of her second year, she had created a fantasy world in her mind of how it would be like, complete with friends and a whole new set of personality traits.

Just think of it: No weird looks from housemates. No nightmares about Tom. No mind numbing loneliness. No isolation.

She would never have been just another Weasley in Ravenclaw. She would have stood out on her own as the very first in her family to be a Ravenclaw in over 200 years. Her parents would have been shocked and proud, not like now. They would never look at her as if she was fractured glass that would shatter at any second. She would never have to beg for scraps of attention from Ron and all his friends.

All of these thoughts would run through her head late at night, so much so that she would dream about them sometimes and wake up feeling so happy. Only to have her dreams crushed when she would realize that nothing had changed. She was still a Gryffindor and just another damn Weasley.

Most mornings, she would curl up in her bed and swear to herself that she would stop living in a fantasy world and just accept the way things are. She would make all sorts of promises to herself, only to revert back to her regular patterns of behavior when night came.

Ginny sighed deeply and walked out of the library with the Ravenclaws. She liked being with them so much it hurt. Hanging out with them wasn't the same as being an actual Ravenclaw, but it was enough. It would have to be enough. There was no such thing as a resorting. She knew. She had checked.

Now if I can just manage to get through this night without looking like a total idiot in front of the Ravenclaws, maybe they'll invite me to come back, Ginny thought to herself desperately as she walked through the halls beside Padma and Mandy. She nodded her head at the appropriate times and before she knew it, they had arrived at the Ravenclaw portrait hole.

Padma stepped forward and said the password. The portrait swung open and Padma walked in after her housemates, with Ginny right behind her. As she stepped through the door, Ginny' eyes widened as she took in the scene before her.

She was standing in a sea of books. The entire common room was covered in bookshelves containing a variety of different multicolored tomes that had been written by Ravenclaw alumni. The only wall that didn't contain a bookshelf was adorned with the Ravenclaw house banner. Although it was near curfew, the common room was full of tables with students studying. Ginny sighed. It was a beautiful sight.

"Ginny! Over here," Padma called and waved her over. Ginny shook herself from her trance and walked over to Padma. She sat down on the couch and revelled in its plush softness.

"You're so easily amused, Ginny," Padma said with a thin lipped smile.

"Sorry," Ginny said and flushed. The other girls titterred behind their hands and looked at Ginny with rolled eyes.

Padma cleared her throat and said, "Right. Well, we were discussing the pros and cons of applying magic to Muggle technology. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Padma raised an eyebrow, leaned back on the couch, and crossed her legs demurely.

Another Ravenclaw leaned forward in her chair and said, "Why don't we discuss the practical applications of magic on Muggle beauty products. They're really quite ingenious. They--"

The girl was cut off by the boisterous laughter of several Ravenclaw boys. Frowning, Ginny turned around in her seat and glared at them. She was quite ready to say something, but the words caught in her throat at the scene in front of her.

Three older boys, possibly fourth or fifth years, were playing 'keep away' with a smaller blonde girl, Loony Lovegood. They had somehow managed to snatch her wand and were busy tossing it back and forth between each other while the little girl tried to take it from them.

Ginny turned back around and saw that Padma was also watching the scene with calculated, interested eyes. Some of the other Ravenclaw girls were snickering, but most of them just looked annoyed.

"Really! Can't we have a single evening without this disruption?"

"You'd think they would use a less barbaric way of teaching her a lesson!"

"Stupid Loony! What an embarrassment to our house!"

Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. None of the girls seemed interested in the fact that Lovegood was being bullied and no one looked like they were going to stop it. Exasperated with the lot of them, Ginny turned quickly to address Padma.

"Padma, aren't you going to stop them?" Ginny asked and pointed her finger at the scene.

"Don't mind them, Ginny. They do this every night. They usually get bored after ten minutes and throw her wand in the boys' loo. It's nothing unusual," Padma said casually, but she kept watching the blonde girl with icy detachment. Ginny just gaped at her, and Padma didn't seem to notice her distress.

"Nothing? It's not nothing! They're bullying her and you should go get help or do something!" Ginny said and her voice was raised.

Padma finally turned her eyes away from the spectacle to look at Ginny. She raised one well plucked eyebrow and said, "What does it matter to you? It's just Loony. It's not like she cares what they do to her. She never cries, never gets the slightest bit upset. In her mind, they're just playing a game with her or some other nonsense. Nothing to get so worked up about. Besides, I don't see you doing anything."

Ginny looked away in shame. Padma was right. She wasn't willing to risk the displeasure of the Ravenclaws to save one of their runts. They had been a part of her dreams for so long.

No. She wasn't going to do anything. She was going to sit right here beside Padma and keep controlled. She forced herself to remain sitting, but she couldn't control her mutinous eyes. They seemed to look back at Luna of their own volition. Ginny couldn't help it.

She watched as the boys tossed Luna's wand between them and flinched at their mocking laughter. She couldn't tear her eyes away. Ginny was able to contain her Gryffindor tendencies or she would have, if one of the bigger boys hadn't reached out and pushed Luna to the floor. It wasn't very violent. In fact, it didn't seem to affect Luna at all, but it snapped something in Ginny.

In a flash, she had jumped off the couch and was by Luna's side, helping her stand up from the floor. The Ravenclaw boys seemed momentarily surprised that someone had dared to interfere with their fun and were just standing there.

Ginny used this time to look at Luna and ask her, "Are you alright?"

The blonde girl just looked at her with her blue eyes opened wide. Then she tilted her head to the side and said, "I don't know who you are."

Ginny was stunned at the unexpected question, but she recovered and said, "I'm Ginny Weasley."

Luna inhaled sharply and her mouth parted open in wide circle, making her look like a fish out of water. Despite the fact that she had just been bullied for more than five minutes, this was the most emotional Ginny had ever seen her.

"You don't belong here," Luna said in a sing song voice, and Ginny recoiled from her as if she had been slapped. Before Ginny could ask her what she meant, an older voice intruded.

"Hey you, sod off," a boy said impatiently. Ginny's eyes narrowed.

"Give her back her wand before I hex your face off," Ginny said coldly. This had all gone on long enough. She stepped forward to stand right in front of the older boy and reached out quickly in a desperate attempt to grab Luna's wand, but the boy was too quick for her.

He snatched the wand away and lifted it up his head, out of her reach. Smiling, he taunted her.

"Looks like we've got another player, boys," he said with a fake smile. The other boys laughed as he threw the wand into their waiting hands.

"I won't play this game," Ginny said through clenched teeth.

"Come on, red, try to take it," said the other boy from behind her, who was now holding Luna's wand.

Ginny was furious. All her precious control was slipping away, leaving fiery wrath in its place. All she could hear was their mocking laughter that stung just like Tom's. She wanted so desperately to shut them up, to make them hurt.

Ginny looked up at the mean boy facing her and smiled as she took a step forward. The boy frowned at his housemates, confused. This wasn't how she was supposed to act. You were supposed to go for the person with your possession.

With reflexes sharpened by years of living with six older brothers, Ginny lashed out with her foot and perfectly collided with the boy's groin. She smiled in grim satisfaction as the boy crumpled to the floor cupping his battered, and no doubt small, package.

Without skipping a beat, she pulled her wand out of her pocket, aimed it at the boy holding Luna's wand, and said, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Thanks for that spell, Tom.

The boy fell forward onto the floor with a surprised look on his face that made Ginny snicker as she plucked Luna's wand from his hand. Ginny kept her eyes trained on any possible threats. So far, the Ravenclaws weren't retaliating, but that could change at any moment.

Ginny walked backwards to once again stand beside Luna. As she gave her back her wand, Luna smiled at her so brilliantly that Ginny felt her stomach clench and her cheeks flush.

"Thank you, Ginny Weasley."

"You're welcome, Luna," Ginny said a little breathlessly as she looked at the still smiling girl.

"Ginny! What do you think you're doing?" Padma hissed and stood beside the petrified boy with her hands on her hips. The other Ravenclaw girls were standing behind her with scowls on their faces. Everything about their body language was hostile.

Ginny quickly stepped in front of Luna so that she could protect her in case any of the girls tried something.

"Is this how you repay me after I've been so kind to you? How could you attack a Ravenclaw? Then again, I should have seen this coming, given your history of attacking students," Padma said coldly and Ginny flinched.

Her cheeks burned as her eyes watered, and her mind suddenly froze. Ginny was unable to come up with any good come backs. The wand in her hand began to shake.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt a pressure in her left hand. She looked to her left and gasped in surprise. Luna was holding her hand and smiling at her with those open cerulean eyes.

Ginny snapped out of her trance and gripped Luna's hand tightly. Then she glared at the assembled Ravenclaws with all the force she could muster and laughed.

Her laughter was so out of place that it made most of the Ravenclaws considerably nervous. A few took a hasty step back and looked around worriedly. Their anxiety only increased when Ginny raised her wand and pointed it at Padma.

"Do you want me to show you what a real attack is like, Padma?" Ginny asked softly. Padma paled and exhaled angrily, but she didn't take a step back like the others. She wouldn't lose face to a second year.

"Get out of my common room, you little Gryffindor reject, and take that poor excuse for a Ravenclaw with you," Padma said coldly.

Ginny's cheeks burned with rage and she was going to show Padma just what a Gryffindor reject could do, but Luna was pulling her towards the portrait hole with a great deal of strength.

Ginny barely managed to get out a single protest before Luna quickly pushed her through the door. Luna was in such a rush that they she tripped over Ginny's long legs and they both landed in a heap on the cold floor.

"And stay out," a Ravenclaw shouted as they portrait hole closed.

Ginny pushed Luna off of her and stood up angrily. "Why did you that? Why did you let them push you out of your own common room like that? You should have stood up to them and hexed them with a few good curses. You...What are you looking at?"

Luna was lying on the ground, with her hair scattered all over the floor. Her mouth was once again opened in a way that made her look dazed.

"You," Luna said softly and her eyes blinked open and shut rapidly. "You're so red. It hurts to look at you."

"Oh. Sorry," Ginny said with a confused frown.

"Don't be. It feels good, like sunlight," Luna said and sighed contentedly.

"Are you alright? You didn't hurt your head, did you?" Ginny asked worriedly, and crouched down on the soles of her feet. She gazed down at Luna and lifted a hand to touch the side of her face, but she stopped herself because she felt an incredible sense of dejavu.

Her breath caught in her throat and her hand shook, frozen above Luna's face. Luna opened her eyes and frowned at Ginny's pale face. Then she suddenly reached out, grabbed Ginny's hand, and used it to pull herself up. She stood next to Ginny, but she didn't release her hand.

"I'm wonderful," Luna said with a smile. Ginny flushed and dropped her hand. The realization of what she had just done hit her like a bucket of ice water and she covered her face with her hands in abject misery. She started to hysterically mumble to herself.

"Stupid Ravenclaws. Like I wanted to stay with them anyway. They're just a bunch of Slytherins with illusions of grandeur and goodness," Ginny hissed behind her hands.

She was so angry. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was going to be friends with the Ravenclaws, not enemies. They were going to listen to what she had to say, laugh at her jokes, and tell her she was witty. They were supposed to make her feel like she belonged.

When she felt a dampness slide between her fingers and cheeks, she cursed herself and her inescapable Gryffindorness that just wouldn't let her turn her back in the face of an injustice, no matter how small.

All of a sudden, Ginny felt a presence invade her physical space and the gentle tendrils of another person's body heat. She wasn't really being touched, but she could feel Luna's breath on her hands.

Slowly, Ginny lowered her hands so that they were just covering her mouth, and exposed her teary eyes to Luna's golden light.

Luna was standing directly in front of Ginny with her body only a breath away. Her face was just an inch away from Ginny's. She was so close that Ginny could see the flecks of gold in her blue irises.

"Hi," Luna said dreamily, and the soft exhalation of air dried Ginny's tears.

"Hi," Ginny said breathlessly. Luna was smiling at her in that same wistful way and once again had her head tilted to the side. She didn't look the slightest bit uncomfortable at her present situation.

Ginny, on the other hand, hastily took a step back and cleared her throat, avoiding Luna's gaze. Instead, Ginny turned around and glared at the Ravenclaw portrait.

"What are we going to do now? I can't let you go back in there, not with that inhospitable lot. I don't suppose you know how to contact Flitwick?" Ginny asked and Luna shook her head.

Ginny was at a loss for what do to. She didn't know how to find a teacher at this time of the night and she couldn't leave Luna out here like this. Filch could find her and give her detention. There really was only one other option, but she was hesitant to actually voice it.

"Have you ever been in Gryffindor Tower?" Ginny asked in a rush.

Ginny tentatively stepped through the portrait of the Fat Lady and looked around. Fortunately, the common room was deserted at this time of the night. It had taken them quite awhile to get here, what with Filch, Mrs. Norris, and Snape patrolling the halls, and it had already been late to begin with.

"Hurry, Luna," Ginny whispered, although she didn't know why, and motioned for Luna to come in. Luna stepped through the portrait hole and looked around with her wide vacant eyes that didn't betray what she was feeling at all.

"Follow me," Ginny ordered and walked steadily across the room to the Girls' staircase, with Luna close at her heels.

They tiptoed up the stairs and across the hall to the Girls' Dorm, keeping a watchful eye out in case anyone was still awake. Then they quickly speed walked to the 2^nd year room. Ginny opened the door and poked her head in just a little, listening for the voices of her two roommates. All she heard was the deep snoring of one and the incoherent mumblings of the other.

Satisfied, Ginny nodded her head to Luna and walked in. Together, they slowly walked over to Ginny's four poster bed. Unlike the other two beds that were very close together, Ginny's bed was at the very edge of the room in a dimly lit corner. Almost as if the girls wanted her bed as far away from theirs.

Holding tightly onto Luna's hand, Ginny slithered over to her bed and pulled back the privacy curtains for Luna. When they were both safely behind the curtain, Ginny let them fall back down and softly whispered a sound proofing charm, so that the other girls wouldn't hear them.

That done, Ginny exhaled the breath she had been holding and looked over at Luna, who seemed greatly amused by Ginny's collection multicolored socks lying on the floor.

Ginny yawned deeply and rubbed her eyes. Sneaking about was exhausting, both physically and mentally.

"Let me get you something to sleep in," Ginny said and walked over to her dresser. She fumbled around until she found something she thought was suitable: a large oversized Weasley jumper. It had belonged to her older brother, Charlie, before he had outgrown it.

Ginny picked it up and turned around to hand it to Luna and froze up completely. Luna, who must have been just as tired as Ginny, had already removed most of her clothing. It looked like she had started with her shoes because she only had her blouse and knickers on, and the blouse was on its very last button.

Ginny flushed a deep shade of crimson and turned around hurriedly. With her back still to Luna, she extended the jumper away from her body with her shaky left hand.

She cleared her throat and said, "You can use this."

She didn't look back until Luna took the jumper from her hand and uttered a soft, "Thank you."

Ginny, who still hadn't absolutely recovered from seeing Luna's semi naked body, busied herself with finding her own set of pajamas, which consisted of shorts and a tanktop. Anything else would have been too hot for her. She always felt too warm in bed.

She found them on the floor besides her closet and quickly changed into them, the entire time not looking at Luna. When she was finally ready for bed, she inhaled a deep breath and turned around.

Luna was laying in her bed.

She looked completely comfortable, too, as if it were her own bed and not someone else's. She was already underneath Ginny's comforter and had her hair draped all over Ginny's pillows. She was watching Ginny with a slightly parted mouth and her eyes kept blinking every few seconds.

Ginny felt incredibly ridiculous just standing there, so she walked up to her bed and sat down stiffly. Then she achingly lifted her legs up onto the bed and painstakingly laid her head down next to Luna's. Her whole body was tense and high strung, until she heard her giggle softly.

Frowning, Ginny turned her head to the left and stared at Luna's pale face. Luna giggled again and Ginny glared at her.

"What are you giggling at?" Ginny asked heatedly, but Luna's only response was another damn giggle, a little louder this time.

Ginny was getting mad now. She was lying in bed next to a strange girl who wouldn't stop her incessant giggling. She was tired. She was angry. She was--

Giggle.

It had escaped Ginny's mouth before she could stop it. It had just suddenly appeared out of the blue and had no particular reason or cause. And Ginny liked it.

Giggle.

This one came from Luna, but it wasn't really a giggle. It sounded different, more like a cross between a fart and a hiccup.

Ginny laughed out loud at her absurd thought and after a mere moment of stunned silence, Luna began laughing too. Before Ginny knew or could explain what was happening, her and Luna were laughing like a bunch of wild animals. Ginny's back was arched and she was pounding her fists into the bed as tears of laughter filled her eyes. Her side hurt in a way that had long since been forgotten.

Ginny turned to Luna and smiled at her so brilliantly with her teeth showing and her cheeks all rosy, and Luna smiled back.

"You should do that more often, you know," Luna said serenely as she turned onto her left side so that her face was lying next to Ginny's. The comforter crumpled as she moved.

"Do what?" Ginny asked, wiping her eyes.

"Smile," Luna said simply and reached out to innocently touch Ginny's cheek. But Ginny, who sobered up rather quickly, turned her head away and leaned up out of bed. She blew out the candle on her nightstand and laid back down on the bed, so that her back was to Luna.

"Good night, Luna," Ginny said stiffly. She heard Luna sigh deeply and the rustle of the comforter as she moved away.

"Sweet dreams, Ginny."

Ginny was walking through a corridor. There was darkness all around her, but she could see a flicker of light up ahead. She kept her hand pressed against the wall, tracing the rough edges with her figures, as she slowly made her way to a pale figure dressed in green and black.

When she realized who it was, Ginny froze in her tracks, and immediately tried to back away, but some unseen force kept pushing her forward, no matter how hard she tried to hold herself back.

In the back of her mind, Ginny knew this was a dream. It was always the same dream. She would walk to the Chamber of Secrets and Tom would be appear before her. He would touch her and laugh at her, and she would fall down to the floor, in the exact way it actually happened.

Only unlike in reality, where she had faced down her killer bravely, something else happened always happened in her dreams, something worse.

Ginny's hand slipped away from the wall of her prison and she felt herself move forward with a tantalizing surge of energy. The shadows blurred and the candlelight flickered once, and then she was on her back on the cold stone floor, once again staring up at Tom.

"Do you have any last words, my dear Ginny?" He would always ask that question, and the answer was never what it should be.

Ginny let out a deep wailing sob and closed her eyes. She had nothing to say to him, no shameless form of bravado. Words were nothing without conviction.

She had lived throught that terrible year, that Chamber, but the Ginny Who Survived often wished that she hadn't. She wished that Harry Potter had never found her, that she had never seen the looks of fear on her parents' faces, never lived to experience the constant rejection and isolation of a Gryffindor reject. Never had to live with the fear of it happening again or deal with the night terrors.

"No, Tom, I have nothing to say," Ginny said painfully and covered her face with her hand. She might still be bold, but she had lost her sense of self and replaced it with self loathing. Gryffindor. Ravenclaw. The hat was wrong on both sides. She should have been a Slytherin.

Tom laughed maliciously and his features became all the more grotesque. It always happened this way. The more she hated herself, the stronger he would become.

"You should have died, Ginny. It would have been a mercy for you. It must be hell for you to live your life knowing that you had one true taste of power and let it slip away," Tom said with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

Ginny wished that she could ignore him when he started rambling like this, but she was as powerless now as she was back then. She knew that she just had to wait this out, let him have his fun and maybe she could get out of here that much faster.

Tom crouched down on to the soles of his feet beside Ginny's body, and reached out a hand to cup her face. The touch shocked Ginny and her eyes shot open wide. His hands were cold. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Confused, she watched him caress her with his icy hand, never taking her eyes off his.

"It would be so easy for you to end it all, Ginny. Take the advice of your only real friend and just do it already. You know that no one would miss you and that your family would be glad to be rid of you. You could do them all a favor, Ginny," Tom said slowly and seductively.

Normally, this would be the point in the dream where Ginny would always stutter hysterically and say that she couldn't do that because she was too scared. But not this time.

Ginny felt something uncoil deep within her chest and wrap her like a warm blanket. Unconciously, she felt her hands clench into fists and her body tighten.

"You're wrong, Tom. I have a friend and her name is Luna. And compared to her, you are nothing," Ginny said with every ounce of conviction. Then she yanked her arms up and pushed Tom violently away.

He stumbled backwards in shock, giving Ginny enough time to stand up on her unsteady feet. She watched as the skin of Tom's face changed from a sallow pale to black scales, but she held her ground.

"You were just a pathetic little girl until I came along, Ginny. I was the one who made you something special. I was the one who made you strong. You're nothing without me," Tom hissed as his black face contorted.

Ginny flinched visibly, but this only made her angrier and more vocal with her rage. "You're just a dream. This is my mind, Tom, and you have no power here," Ginny said coldly, and she gasped as she felt the sudden weight of her wand fill her hand. Surprised, but not stunned, she lifted it and pointed it at Tom.

Tom laughed and said, "What are you going to do, Ginny? Poke me to death? You know nothing about dueling and even less about curses. I taught you everything you know, which isn't much, given your limited Gryffindor intelligence."

Gryffindor. He just called me a Gryffindor. At least, someone still thinks so.

"Do you remember what I said to you, Tom?" Ginny asked and she was suddenly very calm.

"I said, 'I will live to see you burn,' Tom, and I meant every word."

Ginny aimed her wand carefully at Tom just as he started running towards her, and said, "Incendio."

Flames burst forth from her wand and showered all over Tom's black body. His hair caught fire first, and then his robes. It took a few more seconds before the flames caressed his scaly arms and legs. In that time, he continued to reach out and walk stiffly towards Ginny.

"Burn," Ginny said, sobbing, her wand hand shaking.

"Burn, you bastard," she said once again, pouring more energy into her wand. She had walked steadily away until there was no where else to go and her back was pressed firmly against the will. Tom kept burning and walking.

"You're coming with me, Ginny," Tom managed to spat out even as his flesh crackled and popped under the intense heat. He reached out one last time and caught Ginny as she tried to run away.

His arms wrapped around her shoulders and held her tight. When he touched her, Ginny screamed and she didn't stop. She tried to break away, but she couldn't. The fire was spreading along his skin to her hair, setting it ablaze. Her whole body was on fire from her hair to her legs, but it didn't hurt.

She kept screaming as her soul purified itself in the cleansing flames.

Slap.

She felt the impact of the blow on her cheek.

Slap.

This time on the other side. It hurt, but it kept her from screaming again.

"Wake up, Ginny!" Luna exclaimed. Her eyes had lost their vacantness as she continued to slap Ginny's face.

She had been trying to wake Ginny up from her nightmare, but nothing had worked. She had finally resorted to physical violence, and was one step away from going to get help when Ginny's eyes shot open.

"I'm burning. I'm burning," Ginny sobbed and pushed Luna's arms away. She kicked at her comforter, sending it sprawling into the corner. She couldn't breathe. She was so hot.

Luna tried to reach out and hold her, but Ginny jerked her arms quickly above her head and tore off her shirt. It wasn't enough. She still thought that she was burning, and let out a agonizing sob. Her body contorted and her eyes leaked, but even her tears felt like scalding hot water. She was just about to start screaming again when she felt Luna touch her.

Luna reached out and grabbed onto Ginny's left arm to prevent her from hurting herself. Ginny released a stunned shudder. Luna's hands were so cold, so very cold.

Ginny raised her right arm and grabbed hold of Luna's left hand, which was freezing.

"Luna, help me," Ginny begged, but before she could answer her plea, Ginny pulled Luna forward abruptly and she landed on top of Ginny. Luna's icy cold legs felt so achingly blissful against her own fiery ones that Ginny cried out. In all the uproar, Luna had freed her own hands to use them to prop herself up besides Ginny's shoulders, and thus allowed Ginny to wrap her arms around her waist.

Ginny tried to steal Luna's cold through her jumper, but it was too great an obstacle. With a burst of insanity, Ginny pulled up Luna's jumper and gave her hands and arms free reign all over Luna's freezing back.

Luna gasped and fell forward onto Ginny's exposed chest. Her cold hands landed on her scalding neck and chest, and one of her legs fell between Ginny's thighs. With so much skin to bare skin, Ginny finally shivered. She no longer thought she was burning, but she was still on fire.

"Thank you, Luna, thank you," Ginny said and hugged her from under her jumper, rubbing the small of her back with a tiny hand. Luna sighed.

When the last fleeting terror of her nightmare left her, Ginny's sense of modesty returned and, eventhough it was scarcely possible at this point, she blushed deeply before Luna's blue eyes.

"I...I..." Ginny didn't really know what to say.

"You're better than sunlight," Luna said, and as if that cleared up everything between them, she tilted her head to the side and attempted to get off of Ginny, but Ginny didn't want that.

She hugged Luna tighter and said, "If it's alright...Can we just lay like this for a little while longer? Please?"

Luna didn't say anything, and Ginny thought for one heart stopping moment that she wasn't going to say, but then Luna melted against her and laid back down beside her. She wasn't directly on top of Ginny anymore, but she still had her left leg entertwined with Ginny's and her left arm relaxed on Ginny's stomach. Her head was nestled in Ginny's shoulder and her golden hairs tickled Ginny with each breath she took.

They laid there like that for the rest of the night, neither moving. Taking comfort in each other for different reasons.

When Ginny woke in the morning, it was to a cold empty bed. There was no evidence that Luna had ever been there or ever would be again.

Ginny thought that it all might have been a dream if it weren't for the sunburns on her skin and the disappearance of one old jumper.

fin