The Secret Admirer

The Secret Admirer

Chapter 1

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"Avada Kedavra," the infamous Harry Potter shouted.

"No! Harry don´t! Stop It!" Ginny Weasley cried as she flung herself in front of the motionless body that was lying on the floor.

As Ginny Weasley´s body grew stiff and then relaxed, Harry knew he had made the mistake of a lifetime. He rushed to her side and kneeled, picking up her lifeless body. "Ginny, Ginny no. Speak to me. C´mon Gin. Quit playing games." Harry cradled her head in his lap and cried, oblivious to the mass of students that surrounded him.

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When Ginny Weasley woke up she wondered for a moment about whose body was lying on the floor in her dream. Oh well, it´s only a dream, she thought. She glanced at the clock on the wall. The clock hand that was labeled `Ginny´ was pointing to late. "Oh no. Snape´s really going to get on my case this time. I´ll be scrubbing the dungeons for weeks," Ginny groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and changed her clothes.

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"Ah Miss Weasley. So nice of you to join us," Professor Snape drawled. "And now, besides the usual deduction of twenty points from Gryffindor, I would like you to stand up in front of the class and give your presentation."

A look of panic spread across her face when she realized that her report was not only half done, but was also laying on the floor of her room. "Uh, Professor Snape sir, I seem to have misplaced it."

"Too busy thinking about Potter, huh Weasley?" Draco Malfoy smirked from across the room where he was sitting with his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson.

Ginny blushed and was about to reply when Snape said, "Ah, Malfoy, where´s your paper?"

"I don´t have it," replied Draco as Pansy tried to convince Draco to take her completed paper.

"Oh how touching, Malfoy. Pansy´s trying to pawn off her slimy material to you. I can just see the love in the air," Ginny quipped as Draco and Pansy shot her looks of contempt.

Professor Snape quickly walked over and grabbed Pansy´s paper. He swiftly flipped through the pages before saying, "Where did you learn to write Parkinson? This paper is fit for a paper shredder, not my classroom. Sadly I do not own a paper shredder." A hurt looked flashed on Pansy´s face as Snape threw her presentation in his cauldron and it exploded. "Now," he continued, "Miss Parkinson, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Weasley. You are to serve detention tonight until I say you are to leave."

"But-," Draco tried to argue about why he should get stuck in detention but was aptly ignored by Snape as he called on Neville Longbottom to give his presentation.

Ginny groaned and dropped her head. Since she was the best Potions student Hogwarts had seen in years, Dumbledore had insisted in placing her in the same class as the seventh years. Despite that, Snape still tried everything to get her sent back to the other class. Ginny had gotten used to his comments about how much better she should do, etc., but she couldn´t get used to Malfoy´s stares and comments to the rest of the Slytherins. Perk up, she told herself, you shouldn´t let other people get to you that badly. Especially after you´ve witnessed the true evil that people can do. She shook her head and then concentrated on Neville´s presentation.

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Ginny made her way down to the Dungeons only to discover she was the first person there. Oh well, I guess I should just make myself comfortable, if that´s possible down here. She sat down on the floor and leaned against a wall to think. She waited for 15 minutes but no one showed up or even passed by the door. That´s odd. She stood up to leave, but the door in front of her slammed shut and bolted itself from the outside. Ginny spun around and grabbed for her wand, but it wasn´t there. "Where..." as Ginny looked into the shadows she found herself face to face with...

"Harry?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

He laughed. "I´m not your precious little Harry, although sometimes I wish I was with the looks you give him." She blushed and he laughed again and brushed his dark hair from his eyes. "Didn´t you miss me Ginny? I really have missed out little chats. How is Harry doing? Have you made any friends? Oh WHY are you looking at me like that?"

"You- you´re gone. I was you disappear before my own eyes-"

"Ah yes. Well your eyes can play tricks on you, can´t they? Besides, I can´t be destroyed. I´m much more than a memory Ginny. I´m a dream, a hope, and a wish for the future. But most of all, I am part of you." He smirked as Ginny tried to back away from him but stumbled over a chair and fell. "Look at me Ginny." He turned slowly for Ginny to get a good look. "If you said you weren´t the least bit attracted to me, I´d know you´re lying." Ginny blushed bright red and he laughed at her. "I´m here to offer you the dream of a lifetime. I will give you anything if you´ll do one thing for me."

"What´s that?" Ginny asked suspiciously, slowly edging away from him.

Tom laughed. "You know you can´t get away from me, but your efforts are amusing, to say the least. I want you to kill the heir of Slytherin."

"What? I think I´m done with that. Find someone else. Besides, I don´t know who it is."

"Yes well, I´m confident of your abilities Ginny. For now I must go. We will continue this chat later. Good bye Gin. Oh, and you´ll find your wand back in your right pocket." Tom Riddle then vanished.

"C´mon Gin, you´ve got to be kidding me. We all know Tom is gone," Harry said after Ginny told him the story.

"That´s what I thought but..." Ginny trailed off. "I don´t know." She continued after a moment, "Maybe his memory was not only imprinted in the book, but also in these walls."

Ron glanced up at the walls dubiously. "I think that´s a little far-fetched."

"Oh both of you quit being bothersome. Ginny has enough to deal with without you two bothering her don´t you Gin?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, thank you Hermione. I think I´m going to turn in now. See you all later," Ginny said.

"Bye Gin," the three replied.

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The next morning Ginny was down at breakfast when the owl post arrived. Three owls swooped down to deliver messages to Ginny. Two of the owls delivered their letters and left, but the third dropped a package and remained on the table. Ginny slwoly opened the package to reveal a necklace with a color changing stone. A note was attached that said:

Ginny looked up with a smile on her face and saw Harry wink at her and smile back. Ginny sat in silence for a moment, thinking to herself about how lucky she was to be admired by Harry when he was admired by most every girl in the school. She was awakened from her daydream when the owl let off a soft hoot and flew away. Ginny reached for on of her other letters and opened it. It was a letter from her mom and dad, wishing her a happy birthday. At least some people remembered she thought. She looked at the last letter with curiosity. Funny, but I don´t remember ever recieving more than two presents for my birthday. She opened the letter and then gasped in surprise. It said:

Ginny almost screamed when something fell onto her lap. She picked it up to look at it but almost dropped it when she saw what it was. It was a ring, but one that was so beautiful it could not be compared to any others. The band itself was made from diamonds that sparkled in the light and the stones were like nothing she had ever seen. A mix of about fifty different jewels made up a flat circle on the top of the band. All the colors were arranged to form different patterns when reflected in the light. Tilted one way a heart appeared; a different way made a star; another a moon, etc. Who could have afforded this? Seamus? Colin? Harry? It can´t be a joke. If it´s Tom... She shuddered. I´ll try to figure this out later.

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Three days later Harry still hadn´t asked Ginny to the dance, even though they were unofficially `together´. Since the dance was only a week and a half away, she decided to take manners into her own hands. She went to the owlery and found the owl which had delivered the letter. She took it back to her room where she wrote her `mystery man´ a letter.

Ginny attached the letter to the owl and opened the window for it. As soon as the owl took off she sat on her bed to think. Hmmm. I wonder who it is. I don´t recognize the handwriting, so it´s got to be someone I don´t know very well. This is driving me bonkers. The owl reappeared and dropped the letter on her desk. Ginny scrambled to open it.

The owl flew over to her with a ring of flowers on its neck. Ginny took the flowers and put them on her head. They were all roses entwined together. When she put them on they made her feel like a princess.

"Has my lovely lady sprouted flowers?" asked a voice.

"No Tom. And I am not your `lovely lady´," hissed Ginny.

"Well aren´t we the feisty one today?" Tom smirked.

"Where are you?"

"Tsk, tsk, Ginny. What happened to the caring for you friend Tom?"

"I got a little discouraged after you were going to kill me. Do you ever go away?" Ginny glared at Tom as he stepped out of the shadows.

"My dear, I will be here forever. I see Potter is quite smitten with you. Terrible shame. Your admirer has a much better personality than Potter."

"You know who it is? But how? Who?" Ginny looked at him curiously.

"Don´t be stupid Ginny. I know a lot more than you think." Tom paused and smirked before continuing. "I don´t think I´ll tell you who it is. And by the way, I cast a love spell on Potter." He disappeared.

"Oh wonderful. Thanks Tom," she muttered to no one in particular.

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A week later Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room talking when all of a sudden Harry got down on one knee.

"Ginny, will you go to the Christmas dance with me?" he asked.

"Oh Harry, I would love to-" Harry grinned, "but-" his face fell, "I agreed to go with someone else already."

"Who?" Harry and Ron exclaimed.

"Ummm. I´m not really sure. A mystery man of sorts."

"Virginia Weasley!" Ron exclaimed. "You are not going to the ball with a random person."

"I am not your pet for you to watch out for. I´m 16; I can take care of myself just like I have every other time you all ignored me." Ginny turned and fled the room, crying.

"What´s gotten into here?" Harry asked.

"Don´t you all get it? Ginny´s got a secret admirer plus she has to figure out whether she likes Harry or not," Hermione said as she turned to go to the dorms.

"What´s wrong with her now?" Ron asked. Harry just shrugged, looking quite forlorn. "Girls," Ron muttered.

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