My Eternal Curse

My Eternal Curse

By Mara456

Rating: PG (subject to change)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters that are recognizable in this story. I only own the plot and my own original characters. I don't make any money off of this so please don't sue me. An interview with J.K. Rowling regarding fanfiction can be found at http://writersu.s5.com/law/moreharrypotter.html

Description: Ginny thought she was free of Tom Riddle forever... only to discover that he never really left. Now she must confront him and her own worst fears before it's too late. But how do you fight an enemy that knows you better than you know yourself?

Archive: Ask me first. I'll probably say yes.

A/N: Sorry I couldn't post this sooner, but I was too busy working on chapter six to post this till now. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but it couldn't be helped. I'll try not to take too long to post the next part. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Five

Those who do not learn from history...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great Hall, and sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He got the distinct feeling he was being watched. He slowly looked up, and studied the other people at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that some people were watching him and whispering, while others only risked a casual glance. Both Ron and Hermione seemed oblivious to this. Having lived with the title 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' for the last six years, Harry was used to people staring, but something about the look in their eyes was both familiar, and unsettling. Harry had a bad feeling about this, something was wrong... but what? Harry let his gaze casually wander across the Great Hall. Many of the people at the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff tables were acting just like the people at the Gryffindor table, but the people at the Slytherin table who watched him had cruel smirks on their faces. Harry felt his stomach lurch slightly at this. He looked up at the teacher's table. Everything seemed normal until he noticed that sitting next to Professor Dumbledore, was Professor Trelawney. Professor Trelawney had decided to join them, again... this had to be a record of some sort. She was almost never seen outside her rooms, much less in the Great Hall with everyone else. She looked up from her plate and stared right at him. Her expression immediately shifted when she caught sight of him. It was a look he knew all too well; it was the one she got every time she predicted that he going to die. He shook his head, and returned his attention to his own plate. Whatever was going, on he would find out soon enough.

"So, how does it feel Potter?" Draco Malfoy asked, startling Harry out of his reverie. "To be marked for death by one of your pathetic groupies..."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spun around to see Draco Malfoy with a smirk on his face. Harry glanced at his friends. They had no idea what he was talking about either.

"What!" Harry exclaimed.

"I, for one, hope the rumors are true," Draco drawled. "The great Harry Potter taken out by his own broom... If you ask me, it's a fitting end for you."

"What are you going on about, Malfoy?" Ron asked, with a dangerous edge in his voice.

"Poor, little Potter," Draco drawled lazily. "You're always the last one to know... Well, if you want answers, try the head of your little fan club... Ginny Weasley."

Draco turned to leave but Ron jumped out of his chair and stood in his way. Harry and Hermione stood by his side, ready to hold him back, if need be.

"What does my sister have to do with this?" Ron asked.

"Get out of my way!" Draco demanded as he tried to get past Ron in vain.

"What is going on Malfoy?" Harry asked. "And what does Ginny have to do with it?"

"Why don't you ask her, Potter," Draco said with a smirk on his face. "Unless you plan to attack me in front of the teachers, I suggest you get out of my way."

Draco walked past them, and headed back to the Slytherin table, with a self-satisfied look on his face. Ron and Hermione looked at the rest of the Great Hall for a moment before returning their gaze to Harry.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Ron said, "but I think we should go find Ginny and find out."

"Agreed," Harry said. "But where is she?"

"Let's try the library," Hermione suggested. "She's been going there a lot during lunch."

*~*~*

Albus Dumbledore watched Professor Trelawney look up from her plate, and stare at Mr. Potter with one of her trademark 'this one is marked for death' looks. How many times has she predicted young Harry's death? He had lost count. Only one of her visions pertaining to Harry had come true, and she didn't even remember making it. Which was probably for the best, considering his colleague's eccentric nature. Why was she here? She almost never leaves her rooms without a reason. When she arrived she hadn't even made a scene. She just sat down next to him and started eating. Something was different about this, but for the life of him he didn't know what. Normally, he was kept apprised of such things. Unfortunately, between leading the side of light against Voldemort and running Hogwarts, he had been so busy that some things had fallen through the cracks of late. This was definitely one of them.

"So, how do you predict Mr. Potter will die this time?" Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eyes. Professor Trelawney was so startled by the sound of his voice that she almost jumped out of her chair when she heard it. She took a few moments to compose herself before answering.

"I wish you wouldn't take the Inner Eye lightly," Professor Trelawney said stiffly.

"Believe me, I don't," Dumbledore said. "Quite the contrary. Actually, I believe 'The Sight' is a very rare gift, which should be respected. I haven't seen a great Seer among the ranks of Hogwarts in a long time... Present company excluded, of course."

"Except for Mr. Potter perhaps..." Dumbledore thought.

"You may be wrong about that," Professor Trelawney said. "It was not my Inner Eye that witnessed this vision, but that of one of my students. My Inner Eye told me she was talented."

"Who?" Dumbledore asked, curiously.

"Virginia Weasley," Trelawney said, almost proudly. "With my help, she could become a great Seer..."

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked.

His colleague eagerly launched into the tale of what happened. Dumbledore listened, thoughtfully. He knew that she loved to embellish such things, but he could tell that she did very little of that, this time. Was the girl's vision just a dream, like she had claimed? Or was it the real thing? If it was, then Harry was in danger. But from what? Why would he fall from his broom? He had to give this careful thought... Professor Trelawney looked at him almost expectantly.

"I'm sorry Professor," Dumbledore said. "I just remembered a matter that I must attend to... If you will excuse me."

Albus got up, and walked out of the Great Hall, without another word.

*~*~*

Ginny ran into her empty dorm room and locked the door behind her. She had spent the entire day avoiding Harry, Mark, and just about everyone else, for that matter. Harry probably wanted to know if the rumors were true, or if she was just making it up. Ginny knew she would have to talk to him sooner or later, but as far as she was concerned, the later, the better. Meanwhile everyone else around her was either avoiding her like the plague, or constantly pressing her for details. Ginny lost her temper with the last group, and threatened to predict each of their deaths if they didn't get out of her way. They practically ran over each other to get away from her.

Then there was Mark. He seemed like a nice guy, who was genuinely interested in her. But the last guy who seemed genuinely interested in her turned out to be a young You-Know-Who. She liked Mark but... No, she wasn't going to risk something like that happening a second time. Whether or not there was a chance he would find out about her secret. It was better to be alone than to ever be hurt like that again... but she was never alone, was she? Tom was always there, watching her. She was never going to be free, at this rate. She would always have to answer to him in one form or another, as long as they were together. But, when was the last time she didn't have to answer to somebody? She couldn't even remember if there ever was one. She shook her head. This was getting her nowhere, fast.

"Need my help little princess?" Tom asked.

"No," Ginny said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Tom asked. "I'd say that you've gotten us both in quite a mess in an incredibly short period of time."

"I have just one little dream, and everyone goes ballistic," Ginny said quietly, as she sat down on her four poster-bed. "Stupid Divination teacher just had to tell everyone "it's a vision of Harry's death," and now everyone's freaking. Tom, what am I going to do?"

"WE are going to go talk to Potter, and tell him it was all just a dream," Tom said. "With luck, the others will forget this ever happened the next time they encounter something round and shinny."

"What if it was a vision?" Ginny asked, uncertainty creeping into her thoughts once more.

"All the more reason not to tell him anything," Tom said. "The more paranoid he is, the more suspicious he'll become. We can't afford that right now. Keep in mind that I could not see this 'so-called' vision of yours. I don't know what to make of that yet... We'll just have to keep an eye on Potter, and hope that he's better on that broom than I thought." There was a knock on the door. "Speaking of The-Boy-Who-Lived... "

"Ginny are you in there?" Ron called through the door. Ginny got up and opened it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing before her.

"Come in," Ginny said. They entered the room, and she closed the door behind her. "I know why you're here... and I'm sorry."

"What is going on Ginny?" Harry said. "Why are people saying I'm going to die, and seem to think you're at the center of it?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Ginny said.

"How did it happen?" Ron asked.

"I fell asleep in Divination class," Ginny explained. "I had a dream that you and I were flying on brooms over the Quidditch field. I turned away from you for a moment, and then I heard a scream. The next thing I knew, I saw you fall off your broom, and I couldn't stop it... and as you fell, I heard this horrible laughter ringing in my ears."

Harry stiffened when Ginny mentioned the laughter she had heard. Harry looked almost thoughtful, her brother looked terrified, and Hermione seemed rather skeptical about the whole thing. Ginny figured Hermione would act like this, after Hermione's last encounter with Professor Trelawney. Ginny took a deep breath before continuing.

"I cried your name out in my sleep, Harry," Ginny said. "Professor Trelawney demanded to know what I'd seen, and I told her... I keep telling everyone it was only a dream, but no one will believe me. I'm so sorry, Harry! You've got to believe me. I didn't mean to start all of these rumors about us. I should have just kept my mouth shut."

"It's ok Ginny," Harry said. "I believe you didn't mean for this to happen... Did it feel like a dream?"

"No," Ginny said, taken slightly by surprise at the question. "It felt like I was really there."

"Don't worry Ginny," Hermione said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Professor Trelawney likes to make something out of nothing, to get attention..."

"You're sure it's nothing?" Ginny asked.

"Positive," Hermione said. Harry seemed to agree with Hermione, but Ron didn't seem convinced. Ginny just wished that she were convinced.

*~*~*

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting together in the otherwise empty common room later that evening. Everyone else had gone to bed. Hermione was still working on her homework, while Harry and Ron were playing one last game of wizard chess.

"Was Ginny lying?" Hermione asked, almost to herself. The room was silent for a long moment.

"Nah," said Ron. "She's a horrible liar. She couldn't lie to me if her life depended on it."

"She wasn't lying," said Harry. "I'm sure of it."

"Maybe she's been having this dream for awhile now," Hermione said. "It would explain a few things. That could be why she was acting so strangely."

"But that wouldn't explain why she spent all of her time in the library," Harry said.

"Hermione's right," Ron said. "She's probably been acting strange, because of this whole dream thing... Maybe, we're reading too much into this. Ginny's probably just worried about you, Harry."

"Maybe," Hermione said, thoughtfully.

Harry wasn't so sure, but chose not to press the issue further.

*~*~*

Remus Lupin waited for the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class to arrive, enjoying the all too brief silence. The war hasn't been going too well lately. Voldemort always seemed to be one step ahead of them. It was as if he knew what they were up to. They had intercepted two spies Voldemort had sent their way, thanks to Severus, but from the looks of it another had gotten through. How that happened, much less who it was, still eluded them.

Of course, Sirius wasted no time in pointing a finger at Snape, and Severus wasted no time in almost ripping Black's lungs out with his bare hands, at the accusation. You'd think that after working together for as long as they had, they would have learned something. I guess some things never change.

A few moments later, one of his fifth year students arrived for class alone. It was young Miss Weasley. She looked depressed. Remus could smell the tension, and quiet panic that seemed to radiate from her, on what was fast becoming a daily basis. Come to think of it, she's been more than a little despondent, of late. Of course, all of those rumors surrounding her and Harry didn't help either. At first, Lupin thought that she was making it up for some reason, but after observing her more closely for a stretch, he realized that she believed it, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself yet.

"Hello Miss Weasley," Remus said.

"Professor..." Ginny said, taking notice of him for the first time since she entered the classroom. She looked up, and met his gaze. For a second, Remus saw something in her eyes... something dark, and unnatural about them, but it vanished as quickly as it came. What was it?

"Are you feeling well, Miss Weasley?" Remus asked, feeling concerned.

"I'm fine, Professor Lupin," Ginny said. "It's just..."

"The rumors," Remus said. It was not a question.

"No matter how hard I try, no one wants to believe me," Ginny said.

"Do you believe it, Miss Weasley?" Remus asked.

"No... yes," Ginny said hesitantly. "I don't know... Do you believe it?"

"I believe that you aren't lying," Remus said. "You saw something, but you're not yet sure what to make of it. Visions and dreams hold two common aspects. Nothing is rock solid about them, and they often happen for a reason. Either way, someone is trying to tell you something."

"What do you think I should do?" Ginny asked. "Should I just try to ignore it, and pretend it never happened?"

"That is up to you," Remus said thoughtfully. "But I think ignoring it may do more harm than good, at any rate. Try to give this careful thought before you decide."

"Is the future set in stone?" Miss Weasley asked.

"No," Remus said, after giving his answer some thought. "I am no expert on the subject, but I know of a number of cases where disaster has been averted because they knew in advance, it was going to happen. I believe that the future is what you make it. Just because you see something, doesn't mean its going to happen."

"What if I'm the cause of Harry's..." she paused for a moment and looked away. "Maybe everyone would be better off if I lock myself in a closet till its over."

"For all you know, taking yourself out of the equation could make things worse," Remus said. "Trying to be mindful of the future can be good, but not at the expense of living your life. Don't be afraid to live your own life just because you don't like what you see. Who knows? Maybe that's the key to preventing it."

Miss Weasley looked like she was about to speak, but thought better of it when the other students started to enter the classroom. She looked up at him, smiled for a moment, and thanked him for the advice. Then she pulled out her textbook and started reading, falling back into her usual patterns. He continued to study her, on and off, during class. He got the distinct feeling that her possible vision was only the tip of a very ugly iceberg.

*~*~*

Ginny spent most of lunch that day wandering through the grounds, thinking about her conversation with Professor Lupin. He had a point. She couldn't spend the rest of her life hiding, but did she have a choice anymore? What if someone found out? The response over her vision would be a picnic compared to what they would do to her if they found out about Tom. There didn't seem to be any getting around that.

"I'm so sick of this," Ginny said. "Nothing I do is right. Everything I do just seems to make everything worse."

"Then perhaps it's time to take my advice, and stop trying so hard to live up to the expectations the others have of you," Tom said. "You're so wrapped up in 'what ifs' that you're making things worse, and, to top it off, you're miserable."

"What do you care?" Ginny snapped.

"I'm tired of listening to you whine every waking moment," Tom said, irritably. "The longer you act like this, the more likely your constant panicking and dark moods will attract unwanted attention. Like today, with the werewolf. He knew something was wrong. If you keep acting like this you're just going to hurt us both."

"What do you want me to do?" Ginny thought. "Just turn off my emotions, like you?"

"I can't completely turn off my emotions," Tom said. "However, I can teach you to hide them better and, in time, become a better actor than you can ever imagine... Look, this behavior is getting us nowhere. You don't have to brood all the time. Just learn to live with it, and move on."

"Live with it?" Ginny laughed bitterly. "That's a good one."

"How do you think I feel?" Tom asked, struggling to keep his own emotions in check. "Thanks to Potter and Dumbledore, I don't even have a body of my own. Imagine how I must feel about that."

"Well you should have thought about that before you went toe to toe with them," Ginny said. She sat down under a tree, leaned back on it, and closed her eyes for a moment. "Misery loves company... I never understood what that meant, till now. Here we are. We're alive, we have this body, and nobody has a clue as to what's really going on, and all we can do is make each other miserable."

"That's one way to look at it," Tom said. "Here's another. We have made a pact to work together. Our lives are inextricably linked to one another, but you haven't accepted that fact yet. As long as you keep spending every moment of every day wrapped up in futile thoughts of escape, we will never be able to do what must be done. The sooner you see that, the better off we'll both be... Do you want to be miserable for the rest of your life Ginny?"

"Of course, I don't," Ginny said.

"Then stop brooding, and allow yourself to deal with the reality of it," Tom said.

"Easy for you to say," Ginny said.

"You'd be surprised," Tom said. "What did you think I did all those of years I was hiding inside your mind? Crocheting? No, I learned to deal with this. Sooner or later, you will have to do that as well."

"And if I don't?" Ginny asked.

"Then I can almost guarantee you'll stay miserable," Tom said. "It's your decision."

Ginny didn't know what to say to that.

*~*~*

It watched Ginny talk to herself from a distance. It couldn't hear what she said. If it had, it would have had its answer, in one form, or another. But it heard nothing. It tried in vain to read her lips, as she sat down under a tree. It cursed silently. It was still too far away to see Ginny's lips clearly. It would have moved closer if it could, but that was still too dangerous for it at the moment. It had sensed her unusual sensitivity when it had first encountered her. It knew that she was more than she seemed. It knew she had potential... If it got too close, it would scare her off or worse, it could be discovered. At the moment it only wanted to observe her, and work on a way to get past her sensitivity to it. Perhaps once that was accomplished, it would be able to do more. It was nothing, if not patient. It could wait. For as long as it needed too...

*~*~*

Almost two weeks had passed since Ginny's 'so-called' vision. Ginny couldn't wait until Professor McGonagall returned to Hogwarts. Their Head of House had left in the middle of the night, because of a family emergency, almost three weeks ago. The substitute teacher was really getting on her nerves. If Ginny didn't know any better, she'd think that the substitute was a Squib. The other students had finally relaxed their guard around her. Harry and the others, seemed a little less suspicious of her every move. Then, there was Mark. He was undeniably interested in her, but didn't voice it again after she had explained that she didn't want to be romantically involved with anyone. He had asked her why, but she refused to explain further. He would never understand anyway. Who could?

Ginny thought about none of this, as she headed to Potions class. The only thing on her mind at the moment was getting to class early, so she could discus her grades with Professor Snape. She had decided that her constant black moods and panicking wasn't getting rid of Tom any faster, so she threw herself into her studies instead. Potions was one of her best subjects. She liked Potions; despite of the way the Potions master treated her. Ginny wanted to make sure she reached her full potential, and needed to ask Snape if there was any way she could improve her potions making. The idea of such a discussion would terrify most of the non-Slytherins of her year, but it barely fazed her. Compared to Tom living inside her head, this was easy. She heard nearly tense voices as she approached the classroom. After a moment, Ginny realized that the voices belonged to Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Ginny strained to hear what they were saying, but couldn't. A few moments later Dumbledore left the classroom, going the other way. She took a deep breath, and entered the classroom. Snape didn't seem to notice that she was there.

"Professor Snape?" Ginny asked. Snape looked up at her with his usual look of disdain.

"What do you want, Weasley?" Snape snapped.

"My grades in potions are fair..." Ginny said. "But I think I can do better. I was hoping you could tell me what I needed to do to bring out my full potential?"

"Mediocre is more like it," said Snape. "But your still better than most of your dunderhead classmates... I suggest you get a tutor if you're serious about improvement. Try Mark Dippet, he's one of my best students, and he wouldn't mind tutoring you."

"Mark?" Ginny said. "Can't someone else tutor me?"

"I take it you know him?" Snape asked, his scrutiny of her intensified.

"He's in my Divination class," Ginny said.

"He is the best person to help you in the areas your having trouble with," Snape said. "If you're serious about improving your grades, unlike your idiotic Gryffindor classmates, then I can think of no one better to tutor you... Unless there's some reason you don't want to ask him?"

"No, sir," Ginny said. She didn't want to ask Mark for help any more than she wanted to tell Snape why she didn't want to work with him... and she did want to improve. "I'll ask him later today... Thank you for your time, sir."

Snape looked behind her and noticed that some of the class had arrived.

"I suggest you set up," Professor Snape said. "Class will begin in a few minutes."

"Yes sir," Ginny said. She took her seat in the front of the classroom, and set up her cauldron. She had the feeling that this was going to be a long afternoon.

*~*~*

Tom watched from the depths of Ginny's subconscious as they entered the library in their search for Mark. They found him situated at a table nearby a window. Ginny and Tom watched as Mark furrowed his brow in concentration. Whatever he was working on, it wasn't working out. Tom felt as Ginny steeled herself for a few moments, then they went over to the table.

"Hi Mark," Ginny said, feeling her trepidation return with full force. Mark looked up from his work and smiled at her. She smiled back feeling her trepidation slowly turn to nervousness. Ginny hid all of this under the mask of aloofness Tom had been teaching her to wear over the past two weeks.

"Hello, Ginny," Mark said. "I've been expecting you... Snape asked me earlier about tutoring you."

"Will you?" Ginny asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty decent at potions. I just..."

"You want to reach your full potential," Mark said. "I'd be more than happy to help you Ginny. Please take a seat, and we'll discuss what you feel you're having problems with."

Ginny took a seat and they fell into an outwardly relaxed academic discussion. Inwardly however, Ginny was feeling more than a little afraid, but not nearly as bad as when she first encountered him. Tom felt the tension in Ginny's mind recede into the background, as they discussed schoolwork. Tom listened to her thoughts of feeling safer when on academic ground, and mentally smiled. She would never believe him, but in many ways she was just like him when he was younger... She had so much potential, and he would be damned if he would let her waste it. As Tom watched the exchange between the two, he felt an intense pang of... What? He pushed the thought aside and returned his attention back to Mark, watching his every move with even greater intensity. The three lost complete track of time and none of them noticed till Ginny glanced out the window, that night had fallen. She checked the time.

"We're gonna have to pick this up next time we meet," Ginny said. "It's almost time for dinner."

"I guess so," Mark said, sighing softly. They both got up and collected their things. Tom noticed how heavy the bag was with all of those new Potions books added into the batch. Then they walked out of the library together.

"I wish there was a way I could repay you," Ginny said, almost sheepishly.

"I've been needing a Charms tutor for awhile now, but I haven't been able to find anyone available," Mark said. "I heard you're really great in Charms. Care to tutor me?"

"Sure," Ginny said. "Why don't we meet the same time tomorrow and we can see what areas you're weak in."

The three of them walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

*~*~*

Ron and Ginny sat by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Ron watched Ginny stare off into space, her mind a million miles away. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting so strange? Ginny had always seemed a little strange to him, but not like this. It was weird to watch her stare off into space like that, almost like she wasn't even there... Ron felt horribly unsettled by that almost empty gaze, and more than a little unnerved. Was she just daydreaming? Or was it something else, that she wasn't telling him about? He couldn't be sure...

"So..." said Ron, trying to make conversation. "Are you planning on going to the Hogsmeade trip?"

"There's a trip?" Ginny asked, her eyes snapping back into focus and setting their gaze on him.

"Yeah," Ron said. "The notice was put up just this afternoon."

"Oh," said Ginny. "I guess I forgot to check for new notices."

"Where were you this afternoon?" Ron said suddenly. "I looked all over the place, but I couldn't find you."

"If you must know, I was in the library," Ginny said. "Working with a tutor."

"A tutor?" Ron said. "For what?"

"Potions," Ginny said.

"Ginny, your grades for Potions are more than good enough," Ron said. "You don't need a tutor."

"Snape said that I do if I want reach my full potential," Ginny said.

"Snape told you that?" Ron asked. "Why?"

"Because I asked him," Ginny said.

"You asked Snape about your grades?" Ron asked, incredulous. "Willingly?"

"Yes," Ginny said. "I asked him because I wanted to know what I needed to do to bring up my test scores for my OWLs."

"So you just walked up to Snape, and asked him?" Ron asked.

"There is nothing wrong with wanting to do better..." Ginny grumbled.

"Have you heard about the Gryffindor Quidditch team's tryouts scheduled for this weekend?" Ron asked, trying to change the subject.

"Ron, you're captain of the team, and you've been going on about it nonstop for a week," Ginny retorted. "How could I not hear about it? Why do you ask?"

"Are you planning on trying out?" Ron asked.

"No," Ginny said.

"Come on Gin," Ron said. "I've seen you. You're great on a broom! We need Beaters who can think fast, and know how to use a broom, especially after what happened to our Beaters last year. Just say you'll try out. Please?"

Ginny didn't answer him.

Ginny wanted to try out, but she was afraid of what might happen if she agreed. Then Ginny remembered her conversation with Professor Lupin from awhile back.

"What if I'm the cause of Harry's..." she paused for a moment and looked away. "Maybe everyone would be better off if I lock myself in a closet till its over."

"For all you know, taking yourself out of the equation could make things worse," Remus said. "Trying to be mindful of the future can be good, but not at the expense of living your life. Don't be afraid to live your own life just because you don't like what you see. Who knows? Maybe that's the key to preventing it."

Professor Lupin was right. She would be hiding if she did that, or worse, she could cause it through inaction.

"I'll do it," Ginny said. "Only if you promise me that if I make it on the team, it'll be because I'm good enough. Not because I'm your sister."

"I promise," Ron said.

"Thank you," Ginny said, fervently hoping she wouldn't regret this.

*~*~*

Ginny and Mark finished their latest round of Charms tutoring and headed down to the Quidditch pitch together. Tom watched the two silently, with great interest, as Harry and Hermione greeted them. As Ginny introduced them to Mark, Tom noticed the almost imperceptible change in Mark when he spoke to Harry. There was an odd, almost dark tension there, which vanished before Tom could examine it further.

"Interesting..." Tom thought.

Mark and Hermione headed for the stands to watch.

"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked. "He said he would be here."

"I don't know," Harry said. "Ron left his broom with me for you to practice on. He'll probably be by later to see how we're doing. Now, lets get started."

First they went over the basics of working with Bludgers, and started practicing with one. Ginny missed the Bludger only once out of ten attempts to hit it.

"How am I doing?" Ginny asked.

"You're doing pretty good," Harry said. "You can hit the Bludger. Now lets see if you can handle ducking them."

Harry flew up to more than sixty feet in the air. Ginny, following his lead, elevated with him. They worked on her dodging the Bludger any way she could, for ten minutes. Ginny noticed Ron talking in the stands with Hermione. An alarm bell went off in her head at the sight and she turned to ask Harry for a timeout. It happened so fast, that time seemed to slow for Ginny. Without warning Harry cried out in agony, clutching his scar tightly with both hands. He slipped off of his broom, plummeting headfirst to the ground below.

Ginny didn't freeze this time, as she heard an echo of the same horrible laughter from the dream. Without even making the conscious decision, Ginny sped towards him, relying on pure instinct and talent to get her through this. She tried to catch him in midair, but was knocked off of her own broom by the force of Harry landing on her. They both hit the ground with a sickeningly painful thud, and Ginny knew no more.

________

TBC