Dear Tom
Author: wandrin_dreamer
Title: Dear Tom
Challenge: At Hogwarts, Paradise Lost
Summary: The only devils that existed in The Burrow could be found within the pages of a book. Perhaps that should have been her first warning...
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Word count: 2 220
Notes/Warnings: May offend sensitive readers with biblical allusions/blasphemy.
Thanks to my wonderful betas, tajareyul, browneydweasley, ladytonks and jocap. All other mistakes are mine.
Dear Tom
Dear Tom
Hello Ginny. And how are you today?
I don’t know if I should be talking to you.
Oh, come now, Ginny. I am harmless. I am just a book. How dangerous can I be? You can tell me anything.
Thanks Tom. It is so nice to have a friend I can carry around with me.
~*~
Ginny put her quill down and listened. She could hear the boys laughing as they enjoyed a game of makeshift Quidditch. She longed to join in, but they would never let her play with them. Perhaps she would write and tell Tom about that tomorrow.
He was right. What harm could he really do? She was just being silly. Nothing dangerous could be found between these walls. The Burrow was Paradise, a haven. Mouth-watering aromas wafted through the house, laughter sounded daily, the clicking of her mother’s knitting needles as she put more love into each Weasley jumper than rows of purl and plain; what more could she have wanted?
The only Devil that existed in The Burrow could be found between the pages of a book. It was in one of these books that Ginny had first heard the triumphant story of the all-powerful and magnificent Harry Potter who had banished the most evil wizard ever known to Hell. He was too great to be just her hero, so she had made Him her God.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
No, Tom. I don’t want to.
You think you have a choice, you silly girl?
No. I will talk to Harry. He will … he will…
He will what? He will never love you. Not after what you have done. You will disgust him. Now come to me.
~*~
The first thing Ginny realised was that she was cold. A chill was spreading up her legs and penetrating her bones from the damp, freezing floor beneath her feet. She was standing in a chamber she had never seen before. How had she come to be here? Was this another one of her memory lapses? Was she still at Hogwarts? She didn’t know.
A feeling that something sinister was watching her made her turn around tentatively and stare into the green murkiness that filled the massive room. She didn’t know what she had been expecting to see - perhaps something scaly and fanged. But the stillness that surrounded her - filled her - was perhaps worse. She squinted into the darkness, not sure if she wanted to find a solid, tangible threat, or whether she would be ‘happier’ with the unknown lurking presence that she could feel. It was then that she noticed the pillars, etched with spiralling snakes, stretching into the darkness that hid the ceiling; and the masculine, unfeeling stone feet on either side of her.
She shivered. The chill was spreading. It had coiled passed her knees and was half way up her thighs. She wanted to move - to leave this place. Every sense she possessed was screaming ‘danger’, telling her she should go. But she couldn’t. Something was keeping her there. She dropped her eyes to the floor and spotted the diary lying open near one of the feet. And suddenly her apprehension grew. The monsters that lurked in her imagination suddenly seemed tame when compared to the unknown dangers that diary now represented. Her need to escape magnified, but her legs wouldn’t obey her commands. So she stared at the diary, as if wishing it to disappear.
She felt betrayed and dirty. For now she knew beyond a doubt that she had been behind the attacks. She had been used. Used by ‘someone’ she had trusted, ‘someone’ she had told her deepest secrets to, ‘someone’ she had considered a friend. But no. She had allowed it to happen. Hadn’t she kept going back to the diary, for the most stupid reasons, even after she had grown suspicious? A voice in the back of her head was telling her she was going to die because of her stupidity, and that she was going to deserve it. Her throat grew thick and it was suddenly very difficult to breathe.
The cold had crept past her thighs and was clawing at the pit of her stomach with frosty, relentless fingers. Her legs shook, both from the cold and from the lack of strength to hold her weight. She sank to the floor, a whimper escaping her lips as she realised that she would not be able to leave now. She would die, and the last thing she would see would be the diary lying on the floor, taunting her, humiliating her. She clutched at her stomach, trying to ease the spreading cold that was possessing her completely, leaving only numbness in its wake.
The pages in the diary started to flutter as if being turned by an invisible hand. And then it fell still; open on a date Ginny couldn’t read. Slowly, painfully, something started to emerge. It spiralled, coiling, twisting, winding, snake-like from within the book before it began to take shape. Without being told, she knew instantly that the image that was forming was Tom Riddle. Time seemed to contradict itself as it simultaneously sped up and slowed down until at last, the ‘boy’ she had been talking to all year stepped out of the diary. He looked down upon her, a smile on his face that did not convey happiness or warmth - only victory and cold amusement.
“Hello, Ginny,” he said, in a voice that carried confidence and superiority. He leered down at her.
She felt naked somehow - exposed. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself, to protect herself from his gaze. But her arms seemed to be held in place by icy hands and an invisible leaden weight. She felt as though her soul was clawing its way up her spine, trying to get away from the horror that she was experiencing. The numbness was spreading - consuming her completely.
Riddle knelt down beside her and clutched her face in his blurry hand. His fingers were as cold as the room - too cold to belong to someone alive; his icy breath caressed her cheek. He spoke softly, but she could still hear him over her sobbing.
“It won’t be long now. And when ‘dear’ Harry Potter comes to rescue you, it will be too late and I will be strong again. I will destroy him. And it will all be thanks to you.”
“Nooo!” Ginny wailed, the cry tearing at her throat, as the full brunt of her stupidity was realised. She felt like she had just taken a horde of bludgers to the stomach. Harry was going to die because of her. Her hero, the boy who had saved them all, was going to pay because of her foolishness. She had never despised herself more than she did in those passing minutes.
She twisted, trying to wrench herself away from Riddle. She had to do something. She couldn’t let Harry die. She tried to use her arms; she tried to fight. But it was useless.
Riddle smiled, his enjoyment of her agony plain. He released her chin as if she was something filthy and began pacing the room. He kept glancing at his hands.
The iciness crept into her chest. Her lungs felt heavy; her heart felt like it was pounding in a vacant, echoing chamber within her. But the coldness - no, it was emptiness - was spreading. She felt like she was losing herself. And she was helpless to do anything about it.
In the distance she heard a noise and knew it was Harry. He had come for her. But He was going to die. The new wail that would have left her was smothered as the world went black.
~*~
Dear Tom
Ginny.
What’s happening? I think I am going crazy. People are being attacked and I think I am the one doing it, Tom.
It was you. You opened the Chamber of Secrets. You wrote the message on the wall. You killed Hagrid’s roosters. You set the monster on the Squib’s cat. You attacked the Mudbloods. It was YOU, Ginny…
~*~
Ginny gasped as heat and awareness raced back into her body. It felt like she was caught in the path of a particularly large wave. The sensation flooded her. Her skin tingled, her scalp seemed to crawl with some unidentified life, every hair on her body stood to attention. Only a tiny piece of coldness, right in the pit of her stomach, remained. She opened her eyes and sat up.
What she saw terrified her more than seeing Riddle himself. Harry was running towards her. With one look, with one word, He could so easily destroy her - hurt her more than Riddle ever could, because He had such an important place in her heart. But she would deserve it. Guilt and shame swelled within her. There were no excuses for what she had done.
She forced herself to look anywhere but in those brilliant green eyes. She couldn’t bear to see the judgement and revulsion that would undoubtedly be there. She saw the serpent, dead upon the floor; she saw the hole gouged into the diary - two more Devils banished. She saw the flaming bird soaring above His head; she saw the bloodied sword glimmering in His hand as if on fire. Her heart began to beat dryly as it mourned the loss of what it had never had.
He spoke. His words were concerned, kind, everything she didn’t deserve. She was dirty, used. Someone as great as Him should not care about a stupid little girl who had managed to get herself into a lot of trouble. But He did. Hadn’t He come all this way to rescue her?
He hadn’t blamed her. He had brought her back from the clutches of Tom. He had protected her.
He was more real than a faceless God now, so she made Him her Saviour.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
It is so good to have a friend I can talk to and carry around in my pocket.
I will always be with you, Ginny…
Ginny opened her eyes and lay in bed, breathing heavily. Those words, which had sounded so comforting and friendly five years ago, still haunted her. It felt like she had spent a lifetime fighting them, trying to prove Tom wrong. She would not allow him to be a lingering part of who she was. She was stronger than that.
That small piece of coldness from the chamber remained within her. It had taken many years before she had finally understood. It was not a piece of Tom that had stayed behind as a permanent reminder of her sins. Rather it was a piece of herself that Tom had stolen. She could finally identify it, give it a name - her innocence.
She rolled over onto her side and punched her pillow into a less comfortable shape. Anger pumped in her blood. She wanted her own revenge. She would do anything and everything in her power to stop Tom.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
He will never love you. After what you have done, he will despise you, Ginny.
It was not the first time Tom had been wrong. But then, what could a man, who only knew hatred, ever know and understand about love?
Harry and Ginny stood side by side on the threshold of their future. One more step and they would leave their sanctity behind.
The wind was blowing slightly and there was a definite hint of charred wood and smoke lingering on it. Destruction was their past and it was their future. Now would be the last moment to enjoy the illusion of calm. Harry inhaled deeply and drew himself up to his full height. His face steeled and a look of unwavering determination replaced the few telltale signs of his nervousness that only she could read.
She knew now. He was neither a God, nor a Saviour. He was just a man. And that made him more special, more extraordinary, than any divine status could because Gods did not die. For he had lost so much already, more than what was right for anyone to lose, and he was risking the very last thing he had to offer - his own life.
As she looked up into his eyes and twined her fingers through his, she realised that he was also more than just a man - he was her man.
They could see the future panning out before them. It would be difficult. It would be filled with pain. It would be filled with evil and great darkness. But in the end, there was hope. And hope was what was making the future bearable. If they were lucky, perhaps they too would have the chance of rebuilding the Paradise they had lost.
“You ready?” Harry asked, brushing the strands of hair from her face that the wind had dislodged and tucking them behind her ear.
“Yes,” she whispered, trying to let him know with a squeeze of her fingers that she was with him to the end.
Side by side, hand in hand, they left the last remnants of the world they knew and loved, ready to face the Darkness that would come.
‘Dear’ Tom was waiting.
Title: Dear Tom
Challenge: At Hogwarts, Paradise Lost
Summary: The only devils that existed in The Burrow could be found within the pages of a book. Perhaps that should have been her first warning...
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Word count: 2 220
Notes/Warnings: May offend sensitive readers with biblical allusions/blasphemy.
Thanks to my wonderful betas, tajareyul, browneydweasley, ladytonks and jocap. All other mistakes are mine.
Dear Tom
Dear Tom
Hello Ginny. And how are you today?
I don’t know if I should be talking to you.
Oh, come now, Ginny. I am harmless. I am just a book. How dangerous can I be? You can tell me anything.
Thanks Tom. It is so nice to have a friend I can carry around with me.
~*~
Ginny put her quill down and listened. She could hear the boys laughing as they enjoyed a game of makeshift Quidditch. She longed to join in, but they would never let her play with them. Perhaps she would write and tell Tom about that tomorrow.
He was right. What harm could he really do? She was just being silly. Nothing dangerous could be found between these walls. The Burrow was Paradise, a haven. Mouth-watering aromas wafted through the house, laughter sounded daily, the clicking of her mother’s knitting needles as she put more love into each Weasley jumper than rows of purl and plain; what more could she have wanted?
The only Devil that existed in The Burrow could be found between the pages of a book. It was in one of these books that Ginny had first heard the triumphant story of the all-powerful and magnificent Harry Potter who had banished the most evil wizard ever known to Hell. He was too great to be just her hero, so she had made Him her God.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
No, Tom. I don’t want to.
You think you have a choice, you silly girl?
No. I will talk to Harry. He will … he will…
He will what? He will never love you. Not after what you have done. You will disgust him. Now come to me.
~*~
The first thing Ginny realised was that she was cold. A chill was spreading up her legs and penetrating her bones from the damp, freezing floor beneath her feet. She was standing in a chamber she had never seen before. How had she come to be here? Was this another one of her memory lapses? Was she still at Hogwarts? She didn’t know.
A feeling that something sinister was watching her made her turn around tentatively and stare into the green murkiness that filled the massive room. She didn’t know what she had been expecting to see - perhaps something scaly and fanged. But the stillness that surrounded her - filled her - was perhaps worse. She squinted into the darkness, not sure if she wanted to find a solid, tangible threat, or whether she would be ‘happier’ with the unknown lurking presence that she could feel. It was then that she noticed the pillars, etched with spiralling snakes, stretching into the darkness that hid the ceiling; and the masculine, unfeeling stone feet on either side of her.
She shivered. The chill was spreading. It had coiled passed her knees and was half way up her thighs. She wanted to move - to leave this place. Every sense she possessed was screaming ‘danger’, telling her she should go. But she couldn’t. Something was keeping her there. She dropped her eyes to the floor and spotted the diary lying open near one of the feet. And suddenly her apprehension grew. The monsters that lurked in her imagination suddenly seemed tame when compared to the unknown dangers that diary now represented. Her need to escape magnified, but her legs wouldn’t obey her commands. So she stared at the diary, as if wishing it to disappear.
She felt betrayed and dirty. For now she knew beyond a doubt that she had been behind the attacks. She had been used. Used by ‘someone’ she had trusted, ‘someone’ she had told her deepest secrets to, ‘someone’ she had considered a friend. But no. She had allowed it to happen. Hadn’t she kept going back to the diary, for the most stupid reasons, even after she had grown suspicious? A voice in the back of her head was telling her she was going to die because of her stupidity, and that she was going to deserve it. Her throat grew thick and it was suddenly very difficult to breathe.
The cold had crept past her thighs and was clawing at the pit of her stomach with frosty, relentless fingers. Her legs shook, both from the cold and from the lack of strength to hold her weight. She sank to the floor, a whimper escaping her lips as she realised that she would not be able to leave now. She would die, and the last thing she would see would be the diary lying on the floor, taunting her, humiliating her. She clutched at her stomach, trying to ease the spreading cold that was possessing her completely, leaving only numbness in its wake.
The pages in the diary started to flutter as if being turned by an invisible hand. And then it fell still; open on a date Ginny couldn’t read. Slowly, painfully, something started to emerge. It spiralled, coiling, twisting, winding, snake-like from within the book before it began to take shape. Without being told, she knew instantly that the image that was forming was Tom Riddle. Time seemed to contradict itself as it simultaneously sped up and slowed down until at last, the ‘boy’ she had been talking to all year stepped out of the diary. He looked down upon her, a smile on his face that did not convey happiness or warmth - only victory and cold amusement.
“Hello, Ginny,” he said, in a voice that carried confidence and superiority. He leered down at her.
She felt naked somehow - exposed. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself, to protect herself from his gaze. But her arms seemed to be held in place by icy hands and an invisible leaden weight. She felt as though her soul was clawing its way up her spine, trying to get away from the horror that she was experiencing. The numbness was spreading - consuming her completely.
Riddle knelt down beside her and clutched her face in his blurry hand. His fingers were as cold as the room - too cold to belong to someone alive; his icy breath caressed her cheek. He spoke softly, but she could still hear him over her sobbing.
“It won’t be long now. And when ‘dear’ Harry Potter comes to rescue you, it will be too late and I will be strong again. I will destroy him. And it will all be thanks to you.”
“Nooo!” Ginny wailed, the cry tearing at her throat, as the full brunt of her stupidity was realised. She felt like she had just taken a horde of bludgers to the stomach. Harry was going to die because of her. Her hero, the boy who had saved them all, was going to pay because of her foolishness. She had never despised herself more than she did in those passing minutes.
She twisted, trying to wrench herself away from Riddle. She had to do something. She couldn’t let Harry die. She tried to use her arms; she tried to fight. But it was useless.
Riddle smiled, his enjoyment of her agony plain. He released her chin as if she was something filthy and began pacing the room. He kept glancing at his hands.
The iciness crept into her chest. Her lungs felt heavy; her heart felt like it was pounding in a vacant, echoing chamber within her. But the coldness - no, it was emptiness - was spreading. She felt like she was losing herself. And she was helpless to do anything about it.
In the distance she heard a noise and knew it was Harry. He had come for her. But He was going to die. The new wail that would have left her was smothered as the world went black.
~*~
Dear Tom
Ginny.
What’s happening? I think I am going crazy. People are being attacked and I think I am the one doing it, Tom.
It was you. You opened the Chamber of Secrets. You wrote the message on the wall. You killed Hagrid’s roosters. You set the monster on the Squib’s cat. You attacked the Mudbloods. It was YOU, Ginny…
~*~
Ginny gasped as heat and awareness raced back into her body. It felt like she was caught in the path of a particularly large wave. The sensation flooded her. Her skin tingled, her scalp seemed to crawl with some unidentified life, every hair on her body stood to attention. Only a tiny piece of coldness, right in the pit of her stomach, remained. She opened her eyes and sat up.
What she saw terrified her more than seeing Riddle himself. Harry was running towards her. With one look, with one word, He could so easily destroy her - hurt her more than Riddle ever could, because He had such an important place in her heart. But she would deserve it. Guilt and shame swelled within her. There were no excuses for what she had done.
She forced herself to look anywhere but in those brilliant green eyes. She couldn’t bear to see the judgement and revulsion that would undoubtedly be there. She saw the serpent, dead upon the floor; she saw the hole gouged into the diary - two more Devils banished. She saw the flaming bird soaring above His head; she saw the bloodied sword glimmering in His hand as if on fire. Her heart began to beat dryly as it mourned the loss of what it had never had.
He spoke. His words were concerned, kind, everything she didn’t deserve. She was dirty, used. Someone as great as Him should not care about a stupid little girl who had managed to get herself into a lot of trouble. But He did. Hadn’t He come all this way to rescue her?
He hadn’t blamed her. He had brought her back from the clutches of Tom. He had protected her.
He was more real than a faceless God now, so she made Him her Saviour.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
It is so good to have a friend I can talk to and carry around in my pocket.
I will always be with you, Ginny…
Ginny opened her eyes and lay in bed, breathing heavily. Those words, which had sounded so comforting and friendly five years ago, still haunted her. It felt like she had spent a lifetime fighting them, trying to prove Tom wrong. She would not allow him to be a lingering part of who she was. She was stronger than that.
That small piece of coldness from the chamber remained within her. It had taken many years before she had finally understood. It was not a piece of Tom that had stayed behind as a permanent reminder of her sins. Rather it was a piece of herself that Tom had stolen. She could finally identify it, give it a name - her innocence.
She rolled over onto her side and punched her pillow into a less comfortable shape. Anger pumped in her blood. She wanted her own revenge. She would do anything and everything in her power to stop Tom.
~*~
Dear Tom
…
He will never love you. After what you have done, he will despise you, Ginny.
It was not the first time Tom had been wrong. But then, what could a man, who only knew hatred, ever know and understand about love?
Harry and Ginny stood side by side on the threshold of their future. One more step and they would leave their sanctity behind.
The wind was blowing slightly and there was a definite hint of charred wood and smoke lingering on it. Destruction was their past and it was their future. Now would be the last moment to enjoy the illusion of calm. Harry inhaled deeply and drew himself up to his full height. His face steeled and a look of unwavering determination replaced the few telltale signs of his nervousness that only she could read.
She knew now. He was neither a God, nor a Saviour. He was just a man. And that made him more special, more extraordinary, than any divine status could because Gods did not die. For he had lost so much already, more than what was right for anyone to lose, and he was risking the very last thing he had to offer - his own life.
As she looked up into his eyes and twined her fingers through his, she realised that he was also more than just a man - he was her man.
They could see the future panning out before them. It would be difficult. It would be filled with pain. It would be filled with evil and great darkness. But in the end, there was hope. And hope was what was making the future bearable. If they were lucky, perhaps they too would have the chance of rebuilding the Paradise they had lost.
“You ready?” Harry asked, brushing the strands of hair from her face that the wind had dislodged and tucking them behind her ear.
“Yes,” she whispered, trying to let him know with a squeeze of her fingers that she was with him to the end.
Side by side, hand in hand, they left the last remnants of the world they knew and loved, ready to face the Darkness that would come.
‘Dear’ Tom was waiting.