Darkened Souls: The Chamber of Secrets
Another bit of my sketching of this fic.
Not quite chapter tw but i'll call it that as it follows the previous one.
I waited until all the fuss and bother with my rescue settled down before trying to speak with Harry. As it was, it was the last day of term before I finally got to speak to him without someone coming up to congratulate him and Ron. I say he and Ron, because Ron was an ever present during those days. Part of it, I know, was because he had played a big part in my rescue. Yes, he hadn't been one to fight the basilisk, but he had gone down into the chamber, he had faced Gilderoy Lockhart, and he was prepared to face Slytherin's monster to save me. My brother, my loudmouth lets-stuff-my-face git of a brother, really was a hero. Under normal circumstances I would be very glad to see him get the praise and adulation he was receiving especially as Hermione had treated him as such. But, in reality he was a hindrance to my plans and the sooner he left Harry alone the better.
My plan had been to spend some time with Harry and talk about the unexpected gift that Tom Riddle had given him. I understood, from my own experiences with that bastard, that Riddle had given him more than just the ability to speak the snakes. If I was right, he had passed on to him a whole library of information which, when allied with Harry's own power and integrity would make Harry Potter an unstoppable force.
I knew as soon as Harry had awoken me that the price that Tom had paid to possess me was to give me all of his knowledge. It wasn't enough for him to just give me instructions; I had to know exactly what to do. So here I was, an 11-year-old girl with the knowledge of the most powerful 16-year-old since Dumbledore, and I would hazard a guess that Tom actually knew more than Albus did. I was thankful that he hadn't left me his memories; some of his knowledge was bad enough, thank you very much.
So here I was, desperate to talk to Harry, to let him know that he had within him the power to defeat Lord Voldemort if we could just unlock it. I could sense it Tom's presence within the scar on his forehead, a piece of his soul if I was not mistaken. And if I was right then we had work to do because, well getting access to the information contained in a bit of a Dark Lord's soul wasn't going to be the easiest of things. I knew that we probably had the whole summer, well at least as much as the summer as Dumbledore was prepared to allow Harry to spend away from his relatives, to work on it but I wanted Harry to start now. There were things that he needed to do before we could start delving around inside his mind and all these fawning idiots were getting in the way.
The other reason that I needed to talk to Harry was that he was giving me strange looks at despite the fact I knew that he was curious as to what had actually happened during the chamber, he wasn't trying too hard to get rid of those who were stopping is talking in private. I knew enough about Harry to know that he hated what he thought was the undeserved adulation that he received, and the fact that he was prepared to put up with it rather than talk to me was, to be frank, more than a little worrying.
~*~
I knew that Ginny wanted to talk to me; I did want to talk to her, really I did. So much had happened; so much had changed since we had rescued her. I say we, because it was a joint effort. Hermione was the one who worked out that it was a basilisk; Ron had come with me without hesitation and had faced up to Lockhart as well. Plus I had help from the Sorting Hat and from Fawkes as well.
Part of the reason that I didn't talk to her was that wanted to give Ron time to have his place in the sun. He struggled so much with a sense of inferiority, and who wouldn't give the brothers that he had, I really to give him the chance to shine. I had a feeling that a lot was going to change once Ginny and I talked properly and that Ron would more than likely lose his place is my best mate. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to Hermione, but I knew that however important she had been to me at this point in time that would change as well. I didn't think that she would take it as badly as Ron and therefore we would probably stay friends unless, of course, she chose Ron rather than me. What troubled me was why and how did I know that was the way it was going to be?
In the end it was only a very brief conversation that we managed before we left for the train. I had been in the library and given that exams were cancelled it was a very empty place as everybody was outside enjoying the sunshine they could now that Slytherin's monster was no more. I sensed rather than heard her coming and barely looked up when she sat down in front of me.
"So, this is where the hero of the hour is hiding?" she said with a laugh.
"Hardly the hero," I replied still scribbling on the parchment in front of me.
"Okay," she replied, "the small four-eyed git who had the nerve to go and rescue a very silly little girl. Is that better?"
I put my quill down and looked up and found myself confronted by a very intense pair of chocolate brown eyes.
"What do you want, Ginny?" I asked. She was the one that wanted this meeting and no matter how curious I, was certain whatever it was she had to say, I wasn't sure I actually wanted to hear it. I hadn't quite got to the point where curiosity had overcome my fear and stare that she was giving me wasn't helping.
"I want to talk; surely friends can talk, Harry, without it becoming a big thing?"
"Yes, friends can talk and I'm very happy to talk to you, Ginny, but I'm not really sure what you want to talk about."
That wasn't the truth; I knew that she wanted to talk about what had happened to her in the chamber and talk about my connection with Tom Riddle, and that scared me. It was bad enough that my scar hurt when I was near him, the fact that Ginny thought that there was a greater connection than that really worried me.
"Okay," she said taking in the deep breath, "I want to talk about what happened to me and what happened to you on the night of Voldemort killed your parents."
Before I could respond, before I could tell that there was no way that I wanted to talk about my parent's death she continued.
"When you destroyed the diary you killed Tom Riddle, but you left, or rather he left, a huge amount of knowledge which even now I'm just beginning to sort through. But, and here's the big thing, I have, ever since I woke up, sensed his presence in your scar."
Before I could react, she reached up and touched my forehead. To my surprise I didn't flinch, instead I closed my eyes as her soft fingers ran over the ridge of angry flash that I kept hidden beneath my fringe. It was impossible for me not to enjoy a soft touch and I found my breathing slowing and my nervousness dissipating. She stopped and let her fingers drift down the side of my face before she withdrew her hand and I opened my eyes.
"I know you think that it's a bad thing," she said her voice barely above a whisper, "but this could make all the difference in your fight against him. Because in that scar I think that he has left a piece of his own soul, and if he has, then in there is all the knowledge that you will need to fight him. The difficulty is that I don't know how to access it, at least not yet. But I will, so help me God I will."
She paused, and her hand reached out once again to touch the side of my face.
"I promise, Harry, and I will stop at nothing to ...", she leaned forward and I felt the warmth of her breath on my forehead and her soft lips caressed the scar sending shivers through me and causing my whole body to fill with belief that things could be different.
"There you are, Harry!"
It was Ron and at the sound of his voice Ginny withdrew and stood, quickly taking a few steps back so that when Ron rounded the corner and saw us there was a least a couple of feet between us.
"I hope Ginny isn't bothering you too much. I know she probably is having a few difficulties, what with you having saved her and you being her knight in shining armour as well." He was laughing as he said it and was so wrapped up in his newfound confidence that he didn't notice that he was the only one.
A quick glance at Ginny told me that Ron would pay for those remarks and probably pay quite a high and painful price
.
"Ginny isn't a bother, Ron, she never was and never will be."
"Well, that's all as maybe, but Hermione is looking for you and I promised to help. So put your books away - why you are studying anyway when there are no exams - and come and join me and Hermione outside. Ginny, don't you have your own friends to play with?"
And with that, Ron turned and left. I looked to where Ginny had been to apologise but she was gone.
Not quite chapter tw but i'll call it that as it follows the previous one.
I waited until all the fuss and bother with my rescue settled down before trying to speak with Harry. As it was, it was the last day of term before I finally got to speak to him without someone coming up to congratulate him and Ron. I say he and Ron, because Ron was an ever present during those days. Part of it, I know, was because he had played a big part in my rescue. Yes, he hadn't been one to fight the basilisk, but he had gone down into the chamber, he had faced Gilderoy Lockhart, and he was prepared to face Slytherin's monster to save me. My brother, my loudmouth lets-stuff-my-face git of a brother, really was a hero. Under normal circumstances I would be very glad to see him get the praise and adulation he was receiving especially as Hermione had treated him as such. But, in reality he was a hindrance to my plans and the sooner he left Harry alone the better.
My plan had been to spend some time with Harry and talk about the unexpected gift that Tom Riddle had given him. I understood, from my own experiences with that bastard, that Riddle had given him more than just the ability to speak the snakes. If I was right, he had passed on to him a whole library of information which, when allied with Harry's own power and integrity would make Harry Potter an unstoppable force.
I knew as soon as Harry had awoken me that the price that Tom had paid to possess me was to give me all of his knowledge. It wasn't enough for him to just give me instructions; I had to know exactly what to do. So here I was, an 11-year-old girl with the knowledge of the most powerful 16-year-old since Dumbledore, and I would hazard a guess that Tom actually knew more than Albus did. I was thankful that he hadn't left me his memories; some of his knowledge was bad enough, thank you very much.
So here I was, desperate to talk to Harry, to let him know that he had within him the power to defeat Lord Voldemort if we could just unlock it. I could sense it Tom's presence within the scar on his forehead, a piece of his soul if I was not mistaken. And if I was right then we had work to do because, well getting access to the information contained in a bit of a Dark Lord's soul wasn't going to be the easiest of things. I knew that we probably had the whole summer, well at least as much as the summer as Dumbledore was prepared to allow Harry to spend away from his relatives, to work on it but I wanted Harry to start now. There were things that he needed to do before we could start delving around inside his mind and all these fawning idiots were getting in the way.
The other reason that I needed to talk to Harry was that he was giving me strange looks at despite the fact I knew that he was curious as to what had actually happened during the chamber, he wasn't trying too hard to get rid of those who were stopping is talking in private. I knew enough about Harry to know that he hated what he thought was the undeserved adulation that he received, and the fact that he was prepared to put up with it rather than talk to me was, to be frank, more than a little worrying.
~*~
I knew that Ginny wanted to talk to me; I did want to talk to her, really I did. So much had happened; so much had changed since we had rescued her. I say we, because it was a joint effort. Hermione was the one who worked out that it was a basilisk; Ron had come with me without hesitation and had faced up to Lockhart as well. Plus I had help from the Sorting Hat and from Fawkes as well.
Part of the reason that I didn't talk to her was that wanted to give Ron time to have his place in the sun. He struggled so much with a sense of inferiority, and who wouldn't give the brothers that he had, I really to give him the chance to shine. I had a feeling that a lot was going to change once Ginny and I talked properly and that Ron would more than likely lose his place is my best mate. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to Hermione, but I knew that however important she had been to me at this point in time that would change as well. I didn't think that she would take it as badly as Ron and therefore we would probably stay friends unless, of course, she chose Ron rather than me. What troubled me was why and how did I know that was the way it was going to be?
In the end it was only a very brief conversation that we managed before we left for the train. I had been in the library and given that exams were cancelled it was a very empty place as everybody was outside enjoying the sunshine they could now that Slytherin's monster was no more. I sensed rather than heard her coming and barely looked up when she sat down in front of me.
"So, this is where the hero of the hour is hiding?" she said with a laugh.
"Hardly the hero," I replied still scribbling on the parchment in front of me.
"Okay," she replied, "the small four-eyed git who had the nerve to go and rescue a very silly little girl. Is that better?"
I put my quill down and looked up and found myself confronted by a very intense pair of chocolate brown eyes.
"What do you want, Ginny?" I asked. She was the one that wanted this meeting and no matter how curious I, was certain whatever it was she had to say, I wasn't sure I actually wanted to hear it. I hadn't quite got to the point where curiosity had overcome my fear and stare that she was giving me wasn't helping.
"I want to talk; surely friends can talk, Harry, without it becoming a big thing?"
"Yes, friends can talk and I'm very happy to talk to you, Ginny, but I'm not really sure what you want to talk about."
That wasn't the truth; I knew that she wanted to talk about what had happened to her in the chamber and talk about my connection with Tom Riddle, and that scared me. It was bad enough that my scar hurt when I was near him, the fact that Ginny thought that there was a greater connection than that really worried me.
"Okay," she said taking in the deep breath, "I want to talk about what happened to me and what happened to you on the night of Voldemort killed your parents."
Before I could respond, before I could tell that there was no way that I wanted to talk about my parent's death she continued.
"When you destroyed the diary you killed Tom Riddle, but you left, or rather he left, a huge amount of knowledge which even now I'm just beginning to sort through. But, and here's the big thing, I have, ever since I woke up, sensed his presence in your scar."
Before I could react, she reached up and touched my forehead. To my surprise I didn't flinch, instead I closed my eyes as her soft fingers ran over the ridge of angry flash that I kept hidden beneath my fringe. It was impossible for me not to enjoy a soft touch and I found my breathing slowing and my nervousness dissipating. She stopped and let her fingers drift down the side of my face before she withdrew her hand and I opened my eyes.
"I know you think that it's a bad thing," she said her voice barely above a whisper, "but this could make all the difference in your fight against him. Because in that scar I think that he has left a piece of his own soul, and if he has, then in there is all the knowledge that you will need to fight him. The difficulty is that I don't know how to access it, at least not yet. But I will, so help me God I will."
She paused, and her hand reached out once again to touch the side of my face.
"I promise, Harry, and I will stop at nothing to ...", she leaned forward and I felt the warmth of her breath on my forehead and her soft lips caressed the scar sending shivers through me and causing my whole body to fill with belief that things could be different.
"There you are, Harry!"
It was Ron and at the sound of his voice Ginny withdrew and stood, quickly taking a few steps back so that when Ron rounded the corner and saw us there was a least a couple of feet between us.
"I hope Ginny isn't bothering you too much. I know she probably is having a few difficulties, what with you having saved her and you being her knight in shining armour as well." He was laughing as he said it and was so wrapped up in his newfound confidence that he didn't notice that he was the only one.
A quick glance at Ginny told me that Ron would pay for those remarks and probably pay quite a high and painful price
.
"Ginny isn't a bother, Ron, she never was and never will be."
"Well, that's all as maybe, but Hermione is looking for you and I promised to help. So put your books away - why you are studying anyway when there are no exams - and come and join me and Hermione outside. Ginny, don't you have your own friends to play with?"
And with that, Ron turned and left. I looked to where Ginny had been to apologise but she was gone.