"Hello, sweetling." The greeting wasn't spoken but hissed. Ginny could feel his icy breath on her neck.
"I..let me go, please Tom, let me go." She whimpered.
"Not yet, my sweet. We have work to do, so much work." He ran his finger down her neck, his fingernail indenting the skin. Blood pooled from the tiny wound, and beaded down to her collarbone. "Don't you want to be a princess? I can make you one and then you can have whatever pleases you."
"I, I don't want to hurt anyone, Tom." Her voice quavered, never had she denied him before. The chickens, those chickens…she hadn't even realized she had been doing it. Now, now that she knew, she couldn't keep helping him, she couldn't, she wouldn't.
"If you were a princess you could have jewels and pretty dresses." His fingers closed around her neck but did not apply pressure.
"I don't care about jewels and dresses. I…please just let me go."
"I can give you Harry Potter." Ginny tensed. His fingers pressed into her skin as he whispered into her ear.
"If you help me, I can give him to you. He will be your prince and will love you for all eternity. That is what you want isn't it, Ginny dear?" As her childhood nickname rolled off his tongue Ginny realized she had to break free. Tom wasn't her friend or family. He was something else, he was something evil and she had unleashed him and his monster.
"No. You can't make Harry love me, nobody can. I don't want anyone else to get hurt. Good bye Tom." She tried to leave but Tom's grip held her tightly, nails digging into her skin. "Let me go, Tom!" she screamed but he wouldn't let her leave. Strong arms threw her towards the ground. Pain lanced through her as her body hit the floor, she tried to get up but Tom was too fast. He grabbed her wrists and sat on top of her, effectively pinning Ginny to the ground.
"You could've been a princess, Ginny. I would've made you my Queen, but now...." he smiled, it was cruel and vicious. "Now, I'll just have to dispose of you when I'm done." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Ginny suddenly felt cold and tired as though her life was being drained away. "Don't worry, Sweetling, it'll only hurt for a minute."
"Red?" What was that voice? Had someone come to save her? Ginny struggled against Tom's hold. She bucked and screamed against him, trying to break free.
"Ginny wake up!"
Ginny opened her eyes abruptly. Silver eyes were staring at her imploringly and a firm grip held her arms. Her body was soaked in sweat and her mind reeled, trying to grasp reality. She felt cold, like ice. Strong arms picked her up and carried her and placed her on a big bed. She felt something soft graze her arm, but her fear wouldn't allow her to move to see what it was.
"Come on, Red, come back to me." A male voice said. Who was it? She couldn't tell, it wasn't Tom, it was the man who called her. Had he saved her? Red, he called her Red. Who called her Red? It was someone she knew. God's, why was everything so hazy? A warm hand stroked her hair and a strong arm held her body. Those eyes, those silver eyes, how did she know them?
"Ginny, snap out of it." At her name reality came back like a slap in the face. Her eyes widened in realization, and her body shook in fear. She didn't even realize that she had wrapped her arms around Malfoy's neck and was sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. He held her close and didn't say anything. Finally her tears dissipated and Ginny pulled away to look at her savior.
"I'm sorry, I…" she choked on her words. She had never told anyone about everything that happened to her in the chamber. No one knew she still had nightmares but this dream was different. This nightmare felt real, so real it had traumatized her in waking.
"Red, I need to know. That wasn't just a nightmare. You are freezing and you are sweating, as a spirit you shouldn't be able to do that at all." She had forgotten she wasn't physical, the nightmare had completely blocked out reality. For a little over a month she had been disembodied and living with Draco Malfoy and her pet kneazle, Antigone.
"It was a nightmare. I've had them before but…this was different." She stuttered.
"Red, what was the nightmare?" his voice for once was gentle, without sarcasm or malice, just concern. This side of him made her want to pour out all the pain she had suffered from. Maybe he could understand. Maybe he could help. She needed to tell, and yet she didn't know how. The secrets she held for all these years, how could she let them free.
"A memory…the chamber. I...I was just reliving the chamber." She couldn't tell, she couldn't tell anyone. Not Draco, not Dumbledore, not Ron, not Harry, not Hermione, no one. Nobody could know, no one would understand. She couldn't tell, if she told him, he would tell Dumbledore, and then when she was back in her body they would send her back. That place…no she couldn't go back. Silence had protected throughout the years, it would protect her, and he would assume it was just a random nightmare, nothing more. She had built her walls after that year and she was not going to take them down.
Ginny's face was ashen and her body still shivered. She watched as Draco went to the end of his bed, on which she now sat. Moments later he came back and Ginny was enveloped in a large fleece blanket. Antigone, who she had almost completely forgotten about, jumped onto her lap, rubbing up against her, in an attempt to comfort her mistress
"Thank you," she whispered, while she stroked the kneazle.
"Red, you need to tell me. It is a serious problem when a spirit starts to experience reactions that are characteristic of the living." He wore a determined expression on his face, and Ginny knew that despite her internal stubbornness in the end he would find out. Draco Malfoy always got want her wanted. She wasn't talking about their silly little squabbles, those were all in good fun, but when Draco set his mind to something he got it. One may say, but Malfoy never beats Harry at Quidditch, but Ginny knew that was because he didn't want it as much as Harry did. If Malfoy became determined about a goal, he would eventually get it.
"It has never been like this before."
"This had happened before?"
"I've had nightmares about the chamber before but…I would just wake up at a certain point. This time…if you hadn't woke me…"
"Red,"
"Draco, this was to real. I, I'm usually the age I am now in the dreams but… this time I was 11 years old again. I felt everything and hear everything. It was real, all of it so real, just like before. I could feel him cutting me with his nails and the blood on my neck. I could smell the chamber and hear the basilisk in the background. It was like I was back there again, with him."
"With who Red?" His voice was that of surprise. Draco obviously didn't know everything about the chamber. She could not tell him, she could just pretend that it was only the basilisk. No she could not pretend anymore, the words were already screaming to break free. She needed to release it, or forever would it eat away at her.
"Promise me."
"What?"
"Promise me, that nothing I say leaves this room, without my permission."
"I, Red…I promise. Who was he?"
"Tom," she took a deep breath, "Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Voldemort…"
"He tricked me with a diary. I, I didn't know who he was at the time. I thought he was my friend, treated me like a princess. I was foolish little girl, I didn't know that but he did. He possessed me sometimes, made me do things. I never remembered them after I did them, but at night… I would have nightmares. It wasn't until it was to late that I realized they weren't nightmares." The words poured out like water, she couldn't stop their flow. This was dangerous, this was real, but she had to keep going. "When I told him no, he trapped me. He pinned me on the floor…and well he kissed me, that's all I remembered for the longest time. I, didn't realize what actually happened until now,"
"Red did he rape you?" Draco's voice was hard and angry. His jaw was tightly clenched, his fist curled tightly as his eyes bored into her. "If he did I'll fucking,"
"Even if he did you couldn't do anything now! He didn't though Draco, he did something worse something so much worse."
"What could be worse?" he had calmed a little, but still looked angry.
"When he kissed me, he was draining out my soul. He left just enough for me to be alive when Harry came. I, after Harry defeated him, it returned but…I had been unconscious for almost the entire battle. That's why I'm sweating and cold, Draco. He didn't rape my body he raped my fucking soul."
A/N: Sorry no humor in this chapter, I felt that this needed to be written. I originally was going to wait and put this chapter later but I realized that the story needed this to really get moving. Don't worry, Draco and Ginny are going to be at each throats again, don't expect these two to get mushy anytime soon.