Come Undone

Invading my own value, parading my shy security, while gripping my innocence-thief

Whenever you steal, my punishments real, you gave me sorrow

DELERIUM

'...her brothers tease her...'

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed in the magic that is love. She was surrounded by it all the time, so of course she believed in it. Her parents loved each other very deeply, and her brothers, although they fought as brothers do, were very affectionate towards one another. She also happened to be the youngest and only girl to six older brothers, so this meant the little girl was spoilt and cherished by her family. However our heroine, for that is what she is, found it very lonely being the only girl to six boys. Sometimes they'd be simply wonderful brothers, playing with her for hours and letting her play with them. Sometimes they'd look after her and comfort her when she hurt herself. But sometimes though, they'd pick on her. Because that is what boys will do.

'...how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever liker her...'

One of the many things our heroine was teased about was the crush she got on one of her brothers best friend. They were both a year older than her, and her brother's friend was quite famous in the world they lived in. He seemed much more extraordinary and mysterious than the others boys she knew, including her own brothers. Her crush was well known, well liked and, although he was still young, quite the handsome little chap. So is it obvious why our heroine fell for this young man? He was what she wanted. A hero. Her hero. But unfortunately, this hero was frankly too busy with better things to do, rather than be hero-worshipped by the little sister of his best friend.

'...she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger...'

This young girl though, she got lucky. Just as this hero appeared in her brother's boring life, so did another hero in hers. And he was her hero. No one else's. Just hers. No one knew of him because he was a book. No, that's not right. He was a memory of a past soul in a book. One day, she had been looking for help, and there he was. He came to her. She wrote. He replied. She confessed. He listened. She fell in love. He did too.

'...so Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted...'

Or so she thought. Truth was- he lied. He didn't care. He never had. Oh he cared about something all right, but it wasn't her. No, he was after something, someone else entirely. The ironic thing about it all was that it was her original hero that he was after. He had been using her to get to the hero. As villains do. It's pretty obvious that's what he was. A villain. That's what villains do. And so that made her.... A damsel in distress. So no, he didn't love her. He needed her, exploited her, and when he no longer had any use for her, he decided to get rid of her. Because he could. Simple as that.

'...I knew you'd come...'

Or so he thought. At this point our original, no, real hero managed to come along in the nick of time to save his best friend's sister. He had to, you see. He's the hero of course. It's what they do. Just like the villain is destined to lose. It's the unspoken law of fairytale. How many fairytales have you read where the bad guy wins? Exactly. So. The usual showdown. Good guy says this, evil guy says that. 'I won't let you get away with this.' Evil laugh. Fatal error. Blah blah blah. Fast forward to the main bit. Good wins. Evil loses. Again. All hail the hero for saving the damsel in distress. The end.

'...That's all I wanted to know...'

Or so you thought. Well, of course it is, I hear you say. You've been told everything. The damsel in distress, the hero, the villain, the climactic showdown. The truth. The fairytale. That's it. Well, there's a footnote to this story. Fairytales lie.

'...Ginny simply loved me...'

The reality of it all was she did. She loved him. Even after he had nearly tried to kill her, she loved him. She still does. But he's gone, destroyed forever by the hero of this piece. The hero, who incidentally, decided he did want to be hero-worshipped by his best friend's little sister after all. Well, it took him long enough. But alas, it was a little too late. So here she is today, our heroine. Stuck between the memory of a first love and the reality of a true love. Then again, it could be the other way round. I forget. How very twisted you say. Why? Magic is in the eye of the beholder. And if love is magic... What our damsel in distress needs is some help. A sign maybe...

'...let me show you...'

*****

Virginia Weasley was bored. No, scratch that. She was bored stiff. Cardboard stiff. Whatever... cardboard was. She was sitting in her History of Magic lesson, half listening to Professor Binns drone on about yet another insignificant Goblin War. The goblins seemed to find the most trivial things to fight about, Ginny mused. They made Harry and Ron look like veritable Mother Teresas. She giggled at the thought of her brother and boyfriend in nun's habits. I must try and get that image down on some parchment, she thought as Professor Binns glanced up to what had dared to disturb him during his most fascinating talk. Ginny quickly lowered her head and began to pretend she was copying down the copious notes he had made on the blackboard.

When he had turned his attention back to his notes and his monotonous lecture, Ginny grabbed a spare piece of parchment from her bag and began to draw a sketch of her earlier thought. First she etched out Ron, giving him his customary scowl-versus-scared look she had become so used to seeing. He seemed to do it most often during Quidditch matches. Kind of constipated in a way, Ginny realised. She sketched the obligatory nun's outfit with headwear to boot, and then quickly coloured them in. There. The nun's habit brought out the blue in his eyes, she silently giggled. Happy with what she saw, she started to sketch Harry.

After a while though, Ginny was beginning to feel a little sick in her stomach. While Ron had been relatively easy to draw, Harry was proving to be trickier. No matter how many times she sketched him, it still didn't look like Harry. In fact, the figure was beginning to look more and more like... No. She wasn't going to go there. It was NOT him. It was Harry. Of course it was. Uncomfortable, she began to scrunch up the parchment as if to throw it away. Before she finally crumpled it into a ball though, she smoothed it out and took one last look. Ok, so he wasn't wearing his glasses and his scar was absent, but it looked like Harry. Kind of. Still, he did look a bit...

"Evil."

"What?"

Startled, Ginny looked to see what had spoken. She turned to her right and saw a Ravenclaw girl who always sat next to her in her History of Magic class. She was smiling. She smiled quite often at Ginny, but she'd never spoken to her before. Not many of the girls at Hogwarts did. The whole thing in her first year and her relationship with Harry had made sure of that.

"Harry. He looks evil. That IS supposed to be Harry Potter right? Your boyfriend?"

"Oh erm... Yes it is. On both counts."

Actually Ginny wasn't quite sure what her position with Harry was, seeing as the last she had seen him was two months ago, when he had come to see her father on 'Auror business'. He'd spent most of the day closeted with her father and Ron, before leaving almost immediately. He had spent a total of 12 minutes and 48 seconds with her that day. She knew how long because she had timed it. How terribly terribly sad.

"That's really good you know. Although.... He's not wearing his glasses and there's no scar on his forehead. Then there's the whole evil looking thing, of course."

Ginny laughed uneasily. Even this unknown girl had picked up on the differences. She HAD to get rid of the picture as soon as possible.

"Oh, that? It's just... I wanted Harry to look un-nun-like. You know, to clash with the outfit?"

She prayed to whatever god she could think of to make the girl believe her. They must have been listening because she replied, "Well he definitely looks very un-nun-like. Bloody sexy too. I say, would you mind if I took the sketch? Seeing as you were about to throw it away..."

Ginny, who had been itching to get rid of the picture as soon as the girl had opened her mouth, hastily etched on a pair of glasses and a lightning shaped scar onto the figure. She then pushed it into the open hands of the Ravenclaw girl, who looked quite bewildered at her behaviour. Ginny smiled weakly.

"There you go! I'm not too happy with it myself but if you like it... A Weasley original. Hope you enjoy it. But er... I don't think you should go showing it around. If people find out, they'll all want one. I er... I don't do drawings on demand. Ha ha..." she petered out as Professor Binns once again glanced around the classroom.

Conversation over, Ginny went back to her notes and started to copy down the ones she had missed. As soon as the class finished, she ran out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't notice the Ravenclaw gazing after her.

Heather, the Ravenclaw girl, watched the strange redhead Gryffindor go, wondering why she had run out of the room as if her worst nightmare had been in there with her.

*****

He first came to her in her sleep right after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. They were nightmares. Terrible, horrible nightmares. So much so, she had to put a silencing charm on her bed so the other girls in her room wouldn't hear the screaming every night. Every time she'd close her eyes, she would go back to the Chamber and relive the horror of what had occurred. Of what could have happened.

There he was standing above her, taking her energy, her life while she could do nothing to stop him. Oh she tried to get him to stop. She would beg, plead, tell him she loved him, and would do anything for him if he would stop, but he'd say nothing. She knew that Harry would come and rescue her, because he did last time, but it was so hard trying to stay awake... When she'd come to, Harry would be there by her side. Just like before. She would ask for his help in getting out, but Harry would just stare at her. At this point the fear would set in, and she knew Harry wouldn't save her. As she'd scream Harry would begin to laugh, they both would. So she would scream, they'd laugh and then Harry would thrust the Basilisk tooth into her stomach. She'd wake clutching her stomach as if to stop the blood from pouring out. She told no one about the nightmares of course. It would make things worse. He would say that to her. In the Chamber. At the time she had agreed.

But over the next two years, she began to understand his game. He used her fear to control her, to make sure the nightmares stayed the same. To make sure she would stay there. With him. Because that was what he was afraid of. Being alone. So when it would begin again, this time she learnt to stand up and kill him herself. She didn't need Harry to save her. She could do that herself. She was rid of him. But not really.

They started up again in her third year. Around the time of the Yule Ball. She'd been waiting for Harry to ask her to go with him for ages, but by the time he had, she had lost faith and ended up agreeing to go with Neville instead. He didn't want to go with her anyway. He'd asked Cho who had said no. She was going with Cedric Diggory. It was pretty obvious to everyone they were going to go together. But not to Harry. It was only after his first choice had vanished that he had remembered her. Hell, he had asked everyone else before her. So she wasn't even second choice. That hurt.

It still didn't stop her from dreaming about going to the Ball with Harry. Even though she had said she was going with Neville, she had silently wished Harry would be jealous with her decision and then plead with her to go with him. She dreamt of the Ball, of a place of glimmering beauty where she was the one who shone like a star, and everyone knew who she was. Not for what had happened before, but for her beauty, her elegance and the man who she had come with. But where was Harry? She would look for him, seeing glimpses of him but never reach him. Her Gryffindor friends, who'd take her in their arms and swirl her around so much she would get dizzy, continuously stopped her. She would try and escape but to no avail. But then... there he was. She would slip away from Colin and run towards the dark haired figure, who flickered in and out of her view. Almost as if her wanted her to chase after him.

So she did. She would pursue him; watch him as he deftly moved in and out of the crowd, disappearing at times. His grace, his poise would sing to her, bringing her closer to him like as moth goes to a flame. When she would finally reach him, she'd be flushed. With happiness, exhilaration, and love. She would laugh and smile prettily at him, victorious in the hunt. But then the smile would fade, as she'd see who she has captured. Him. He would smile at her, a smile which didn't extend to his eyes.

"Miss me?"

"What are you..." She wouldn't be able to get the words out.

"I'm here because you want me here."

"No..." He was lying. He was good at that. He had to be lying.

"Well. I'm here and er... Potter's not and seeing as this is your dream sweetheart..."

She'd flush. He had called her that when he had been in the book. It made her...

"He doesn't want you, you know..." As if to prove his point, he would point to her left and she'd turn and see. Harry and Cho together. Laughing. Smiling. Kissing. The tears would now begin to fall freely. He was always able to make her cry easily. Boys were good at that. But then, he wasn't a boy. Was he?

"No. He doesn't want you at all... But I do."

She would frown at him, not sure about what he was saying. She didn't want to think about the idea that he might want her. After all, look at what had happened last time. And anyway, he couldn't have her. He wasn't real. She would tell him that and he would laugh. A laugh that would touch her to the core of her soul and chill her heart. Another bad memory of a past time.

"Are you so sure about that, sweetheart? I may not be real, but I'm here. Inside of you. With you. Waiting for just the right moment to come back... and take what belongs to me. You."

"No. NO!" She'd run away from him now, too afraid to stay and fight, too afraid of his delicious words and the way they were twisting themselves around her heart and squeezing it until she couldn't breathe. She ran as if her worst nightmare had been there with her, and he had. This time though, he would stand and observe Ginny flee, instead of laughing cruelly as he done before. Instead he'd watch her run with a look in his eyes, which made her question her actions. Ginny wasn't sure whether to be afraid of that or not. She wasn't sure of many things now.

By the time she was in her sixth year, the dreams had changed yet again. Instead, this time there weren't of him, but of his older counterpart. Voldemort. Like the nightmares in her first year, they scared her, terrified her and so she told no one. She suffered silently, as did Harry, who had now become her boyfriend once Cho had left school. The pain, the torture she endured was kept under control inside of her, never to be let loose. She was afraid once it all came out, it'd come gushing out like blood or black ink. Never ending, never stopping.

Once Voldemort was dead, she had assumed the dreams would finish. But it was never that simple. He came back again, whispering sweet words into her mind; about Harry, about her brothers and her friends. Of how he was coming for her, to make her his queen, his everything. She resisted. Of course she did. She knew how he worked. He was a consummate liar. But, the way he spoke to her, the way he acted had changed. Almost as if he too wanted to believe in his words, wanted her to believe in him. There was no anger or malevolence in his tone, just sweet caresses which eased her battered heart. Made her breathe easier when her family and friends overwhelmed her. A word here, a word there would slip into her mind and lodge itself there and it would grow like a cancerous tumour, threatening to engulf her.

For the ones she loved, instead of making it better, made it worse. Her family would talk about her behind her back not knowing what to do with her, her friends, the few she had, whispered about her and her past. And the man she loved, thought she loved, would leave her crying, with bigger and better things to do. Important things to do. Making her not so important. When she wanted to be the most important thing in his world. It hurt.

*****

After writing the last sentence for her Arithmancy homework, Ginny put the parchment away and glanced at the letters on her bed. She realised she needed to catch up on her correspondence. She quickly skimmed the letters and decided to write the easier letters first and the harder ones last, giving her a chance to think about what to say. She hastily penned a letter to her mother and father and then to Charlie, telling them she was well and much better from last time they had seen her. She knew she was telling them what they wanted to hear, but didn't have the heart nor the courage to tell the truth. But she couldn't stop the small lies from being written down. The lying was easier she mused. Maybe it was contagious.

Ginny stared at the three remaining letters, deciding to concentrate on a reply to Harry last. Honestly though, she didn't have a clue what to say to him. They had broken up two weeks ago, with Harry being the instigator. He had said the usual things: about how they had drifted apart, they never got to see each other, and so on. She had stood there rooted to the floor, nodding numbly. She didn't say anything. She couldn't have. The words just stuck in her mouth. She still loved him, and knew he did too, but it was still over. They hadn't spoken to each other for days now. Ginny thought it was time for her to say the things she never got the chance to say.

But first she had other things to worry about. She had received letters from Ron and Hermione, sweet, uplifting letters that had soothed her worn out soul and had made her smile for what seemed like the first time in days. Somehow they knew the right words to say to help her, and she was grateful. She chose to write to them first, to thank them for what they had done and said.

'Dearest Hermione,

How are you? I hope you're well. Me, I'm not exactly great myself so... I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful letter. It was exactly what I needed. Especially since you're not here at Hogwarts. It's so strange and weird here now without you, Ron and Harry... Yes I said his name. No, I'm not going to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower. I'm quite... broken up about the whole thing, but like I told you before I've never really felt that things between Harry and myself were quite right. What with the thing with Cho and all the other stuff that's happened. Our relationship always seemed so... fixed. As if we were pushed in some ways together. It was like everyone expected us to get together, and because they wanted us together we got together for them. Not ourselves. And that's not what a relationship should be about, right? :sigh: Gods, I'm rambling on. So, yeah. Enough of me wailing on about my life. What about you?

I can tell you're not finding it easy at university. I don't know how I can tell, it's just... obvious. I feel the same way. I understand. And that's why I have decided to accept your offer to spend New Years with you. I think I need to be as far away from Hogwarts and Harry as possible. No doubt, it'd be good for you as well. I miss our friendship, you know. The other girls still keep their distance, even after Harry and I have broken up. I just sometimes feel so... isolated. You understand right? With you I guess it was your intelligence, with me it's just my plain weirdness. Sorry. I'm rambling again.

So. Back to the point. Cambridge. New Years. I'll be there. Just make sure I don't drink anything that will make me cry at four in the morning, ok? More importantly, there are things I need to talk to you about. I've put it off for long enough. I have to tell someone, and I'd rather it was you. I don't want you to get worried though, ok? It's not a big thing, so don't panic. I just... need to tell someone. I'd better stop here before you decide to come and see me or something.

Missing you loads, big hug and I'll keep subtly reminding Ron to write to you. One day he'll cotton on.

Much love, Ginny.'

Signing her name on the paper, she blew on it to dry it and then put it to her side. One down, she though, two to go. Reaching for another sheet of parchment, she began again.

'Dear Ron,

Oh how lucky I am to have a sweet brother like you. Thank you for the offer to turn Harry into a blast-ended skrewt, but I'm going to have to turn it down. I'll be fine. Really. I don't think Harry would be if you tried though... you do have a nasty habit to make things go wrong wand-wise. So yes, I'm fine and I will be fine and you don't have to worry. You might scoff at this but it's true.

I've known for quite some time that things between Harry and myself haven't been great. What with Harry making a name for himself as an Auror and me at Hogwarts, we've just never had any time for each other. In some ways, I've found it easier being without him than with him. I mean, I don't want to sound all cold-hearted... oh I don't know what I mean. I love him, I really do but I don't know if it's the REAL thing. Oh gods, I'm just confusing you and myself in the process.

But truthfully, I am glad in some ways that we have split up. I've never really known where I stand with Harry. You know, with Cho and everything that's happened with Voldemort. Now though... now I know. And it's good. I'm ok with it all.

I think maybe I should talk about something else. I've kind of had enough where my failed relationship is concerned. Too many bad memories and stuff. So.

Oh. Speaking of me being ok, no doubt mum told you about my funny turn in Hogsmeade. It really wasn't much. I just fainted outside Zonko's. Nothing else. The nearby medi-nurse had me up and running again after ten minutes. It was a bit strange though. She kept asking me if it was all right if she could take a blood sample. Strange that. I didn't think me fainting warranted a blood sample to be taken, but you never know. I might have an infection or something. I have been feeling a bit off recently.

Ginny carefully re-read the letter and realised she wasn't being as cheerful as she had wanted to be.

'And here I was trying to make you feel better about me, and I've probably made things worse. No, the truth is I'm fine. Good. Ok. Well etc etc. Ok, so I'm not exactly in the mood to go skipping and frolicking around Hogwarts, but then again, I'm not about to jump to my death over what has happened.

Oh and before I forget, I won't be spending New Years at home this year, I'm afraid. I know Harry loves spending New Years with the family so I thought I'd go to see Hermione instead. She seems a bit down cough*writetoher*cough so I think it'll be good for both of us. You know, two miserable single girls together on New Years, getting slowly and steadily drunk. Ok, so maybe not but you get my meaning. We can do girly things and not worry about you lot running into the room as canaries or whatever Fred and George have concocted this time round.

Anyway, that's all I can think of to say at the moment. I've got another letter to write (and yes it is to Harry) so I'd better get on and do it. I'll see you at Christmas, if not before.

Big hug, and lots of kisses.

Ginny.'

There. Ron's letter was finished. Now onto the hardest of the letters, she thought. Harry. She sat there looking at the piece of paper for what seemed like ages. Finally she scribbled a few words.

'Harry,

I had it all planned out, what I was going to say. Now I can't think of one single word. Funny how things never turn out the way you want them to. I should have learnt that lesson a long time ago.

Sorry.

Ginny.'

*****

"So. What shall we do now?"

Ginny watched as Hermione uncurled herself from her foetal position on the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. As she put the dirty bowls into the sink to wash, Hermione called out, "How about going down the pub? Or did you want to spend New Years here? Your call."

Ginny, who had been daydreaming, realised she had just missed something. "What?"

Coming back into the lounge, Hermione laughed at her friend. "Off in your own little world again I see."

The young redhead smiled sheepishly. She'd been daydreaming about nothing in particular really. Just of being happy with no problems, no bad things happening to worry about. A good place. "Sorry. I was just..."

"Honey, don't worry about it. I do it... well ok I don't do it at all but I seem to have developed a bad case of daydreamitis in my History of Magic lectures. Gods, my lecturer makes Professor Binns seem like... well, good!"

They both began to laugh now. Ginny, still laughing, looked up to see Hermione had stopped. "What?"

"Nothing! It's just... it's good to see you happy. What with..." The former Head Girl petered out.

Ginny sighed. She'd been staying with Hermione for two days now. She had thought they'd got over the whole break-up issue but clearly not. "You can say his name, you know. Harry. Harry Potter. Harry-The-Boy-Who-Lived-Potter. I'm not going to break 'Mione."

" I know! I know. It's just... Break-ups are hard. There's a lot of pain and hurt on both sides. And there's always the feeling of uncertainty of whether you've done the right thing or not. So smiling and being happy is a good sign."

Frowning, Ginny considered her best friend closely. Was it just her or did Hermione sound like she was talking from experience? She spoke this thought out loud, which seemed to fluster Hermione.

"Oh I'm not..." she started. " I mean, I've only ever really been out with Viktor. And Ron. Nobody else. No break-ups..."

"Ok," said Ginny, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever you say."

They sat there in silence, each trying to think of something to talk about. Eventually they both spoke at once, grinning at each other when they realised what they'd done.

"Ginny, you know..."

"I have to tell you..."

Ginny observed Hermione as she got up again and switched off the muggle television in the corner of the room. Hermione shared a flat with three other witches, two of whom were also muggle-born. For that reason, the flat seemed more muggle-orientated than usual. Ginny loved it. Like her father she found muggle things to be fascinating. She especially liked the muggle invention the television or 'TV' as Hermione called it. The films and programmes that it showed were basically an extension of a wizarding photo with storylines.

At first she had like the black and white movies that came on every time she went to Hermione's house. Over the last few days however, she had fallen head over heels in love with the collection of 80's fantasy films that Hermione had brought with her from home. 'Willow', 'Legend', 'The Never-ending Story', 'The Dark Crystal' and of course 'Labyrinth' which was her personal favourite.

The scene in the ballroom had sparked something in her when she had first watched it. It had reminded her of Tom and the dream she had in her third year. There were also a few similarities between Jareth and Tom, which she had spotted. Both were tall, handsome and evil. Ok, so Jareth stole children, which was hardly on the same par as what Tom... Voldemort had done, but he was still pretty bad. But very sexy. Why was it the sexiest men also happened to be evil, nasty gits? And why on earth did you still want them?

She voiced these thoughts to Hermione, who had replied knowingly with, "Because they're bad for you, of course. And because of that you can't have them. But then again, you always want what you can't have."

She was right. Of course Hermione was right, when was she ever wrong? The thought of Hermione being wrong was unfathomable. Unthinkable.

"...Ginny!"

"What? Oh gosh! I did it again didn't I?" She seemed to be doing it quite often, Ginny realised. She'd go off onto a whole different plane and not notice things around her. It had happened quite a few times in school, which had resulted in her having a talk with Professor McGonagall about the danger of daydreaming and how it could affect schoolwork. Her mother and father had also spoken to her about it, and she had tried to stop it from happening but it occurred quite frequently now. In some ways, they helped.

"That's ok. I was just asking you what you were going to say before."

Ginny thought for a few moments before remembering she was going to tell Hermione everything about the dreams about Tom. Just as she was about to speak though, a giant grey eagle flew through the kitchen window and made its way towards them. It dropped the letter it had into Hermione's lap before leaving the way it came. Ginny stared after it, so sure she had seen it before. But where? She turned to face her friend and saw the shocked look on Hermione's face. Had something happened to...

"'Mione! What is it? Is it..."?

"No!" Ginny frowned, wondering what was in the letter that had made Hermione so... on edge.

"No..." Hermione continued, much more calmly than before. "It's a er... It's a letter from one of my Professors. Er... Apparently he wants to see me straightaway about something in my course."

"What? NOW?" Ginny asked, confused and bewildered. "'Mione, it's New Years Eve!"

Looking even more flustered than possible, Hermione began to babble. "I know, I know! But this is about something important. A project! An important one. He really needs to see me about it and I should go. Because it's important. Really. Really important..." She slowed down as if she knew she was making no sense.

Ginny shook her head. Gods, what was her friend like? Even now she was still so obsessive about her work.

"Hermione. It's ok. I understand. Well, actually no I don't understand your thing about schoolwork but you know, I get it. So if he has to see you straightway maybe you should go now?"

"But what about..." The older girl pointed at the bottle of champagne they were keeping chilled for the New Years celebrations.

Ginny waved her question away. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"You could always go down to the pub. Hazel and the others are there..."

Grinning, Ginny pushed her friend towards the front door. "Hermione. Go."

"But--"

"Go!"

Giving in, Hermione grabbed her coat from the hanger and began to put it on. "Ok, ok! I'm going! I should be back... Well, I don't know when I'll be back. Hopefully it won't be long though. Are you sure about this?"

Ginny pushed her through the door and waved her off. "I'll be fine! You just... do whatever it is you need to do with your Professor ok?" she shouted at her retreating figure. She closed the door behind her quickly; keen not to lose the warmth in the flat. She padded back into the lounge and popped the video into the 'VCR' and pressed the 'play' button like Hermione had shown her. The video started with the familiar music beginning to play. Ginny grabbed the nearby blanket and snuggled onto the sofa and began to watch Sarah wish her brother away to another world...

Nearly two hours later, there was no sign of Hermione. Ginny had got up to the scene in the ballroom when she accidentally glanced at the clock. She was shocked to see there were only seven minutes left until the New Year began. Ginny frowned, wondering what it was that was taking Hermione so long. Maybe she and this lecturer of hers had gone to have a drink to celebrate New Years. Maybe this lecturer wasn't a lecturer at all but some new boyfriend Hermione had got on the sly. Hell, maybe there was a lecturer and he was her boyfriend. Ginny giggled at the thought of Hermione dating one of her Professors. Well, Professor Lupin was quite sexy for an older man. And Professor Snape of all people seemed to have acquired a fan club featuring predominantly of lower years.

Shaking her head, Ginny made her way to the kitchen. She saw the bottle of champagne Hermione had left and decided to have a little taste. It was New Years after all, and she was determined to have a good time even if she was by herself. She brought the bottle and a wineglass with her into the lounge and sat back down onto the sofa. She opened the bottle, not remembering to shake it like Hermione had told her to, and poured some of the fizzing liquid into her glass. She smiled as it overflowed all over her fingers and onto the green carpet. Not bothering to clean up after herself, Ginny took a tentative sip and giggled as the bubbles went up her nose. The champagne reminded her a bit of Butterbeer. They both gave the feeling of delicious warmth in the stomach.

She took another sip and sank back into the sofa; half waiting for the New Year to arrive while simultaneously watching the film come to an end. Soon seven minutes became five, five became three and so on, until there was only a minute left. Ginny had already finished one glass of champagne and had poured another. She had totally forgotten about Hermione and was now thoroughly enjoying herself. She got up with her glass and moved towards the giant bay windows, watching the merriment and fireworks outside. She was bored of the film by now. She'd seen 'Labyrinth' enough times in two days to know it was fast coming to the part where Sarah and Jareth had their final showdown. Where Sarah was strong enough to resist Jareth's tempting words and rescue her brother. Ginny wanted to be like Sarah in that way. Strong and capable of resisting.

10...9... Ginny could hear the countdown being shouted outside, other university students no doubt. She began to count silently with them. ...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

"Happy New Year Virginia."

So alarmed by the voice that had come from nowhere, Ginny turned round quickly to face whoever had spoken. She didn't notice her glass slipping from her fingers, the drink spilling into the carpet. She didn't notice the music drifting from the TV, the words she had loved when she had first heard them being sung so seductively. She was too shocked to notice.

"What... What are you... I..." The words wouldn't come out. The thoughts she was having weren't coherent, just strings of words and feelings coming into her mind. What was he...

"I said I'd come for you Ginny. And here I am." She watched numbly as Tom made his way towards her.

"But..."

"Shhh...." He was close enough for her to touch him. But she couldn't. Wouldn't. To touch him would make him real. If he was real then... The thought terrified her.

He turned towards the television and smiled, a slow and easy grin. It looked... good on him. Made him look different, she mused. She wondered what it would be like if he kissed her. Shocked at her thoughts, Ginny went to the television to switch it off, trying to ignore the young man in front of her. She didn't like it when he began to follow her, and when she was about to switch off the TV he stopped her. By touching her. Alarmed by his touch, she shied away from him but was stopped yet again when he grabbed her wrist gently. Frowning at him, she tried to get away but to no avail.

"Let me go."

"Not without having the dance I've been waiting four years for."

He pulled her closer towards him, a matter made easy by the fact she had no idea what he was talking about. He realised the two glasses of champagne had slightly inebriated her. He started to move in tune with the music and Ginny could do nothing to stop him. She was still wondering when he had asked her for a dance. She then suddenly remembered the dream in her third year. The Yule Ball one. With him and her. She had run away from him then.

Ginny pulled a face. Seemed like her thoughts were beginning to run away, like she had. Maybe the alcohol she had drunk was having a bad affect on her. It made more sense to believe that she was drunk rather than believe that Tom was really here. The whole thing was nothing but a nice champagne-induced dream. She smiled lopsidedly and began to sway in time with him.

He watched her closely. He knew she thought this was a dream and he had to make her believe. So he did the only thing he could think of. He closed the gap between them and kissed her softly. So sweet, she thought incoherently. Nothing like him at all. She thought he would taste of dark magic, evil. But he tasted of chocolate and other wicked things she craved and loved. She sighed as Tom started to kiss a little path across her face until he reached her ear, where he stopped.

"Will you come with me?" he whispered, although it sounded as if his words were echoing all around her. He offered her his hand.

She pulled away from him slightly shakily and stared into his eyes. His kiss had felt real. HE felt real. That meant... the whole thing was real. He had said he would come for her and he had. He'd told the truth. He wanted her, unlike Harry who had broken up with her. Harry didn't want her. The thought sobered her and she took another glance into the Slytherin's eyes. There was a look of almost... fear in his eyes, as if he was afraid she would turn him down. She realised she liked the idea that he was afraid SHE would turn HIM down. She was in charge, not him, not anyone else. Her.

She put her hand into his. "Yes."