HP Fic - He's mad that trusts
Title: He's mad that trusts
Fandom: Harry Potter
Word Count: 1089
Rating: PG
Characters: Ginny Weasley, Tom Riddle
Summary: She cannot remember anything but the blood on her hands, far brighter than it should have been.
Warnings: Spoilers up to the second book.
It's a slightly old book, she can tell that straight away. Still kept in good condition, though, probably better than half the books she has for school. Don't be bitter, she reminds herself but it shouldn't matter if there is nobody around to hear. There's a name written in the book, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and she supposes that it must've been his notebook or diary. Funny that he never wrote in it; all the pages are blank. Useless to have it, she thinks but she puts it with the rest of her Hogwarts supplies anyway. It could never hurt to have an extra journal.
x
There is no particular reason for wanting to write in Tom's diary, none at all. It's simply because it's healthy for teenage (ok, near teenage) girls to write down their emotions. At least that's what she thinks she heard her mother say. In any case her writing does not have anything at all to do with the way Harry smiled at her today. Or the way her heart fluttered like trapped hummingbirds when he did. And she most definitely did not just write that in her sort of diary.
The funny thing about writing is the many directions in which it can take, and soon she is pouring out every harsh or unfair feeling that she ever had onto paper. She certainly feels better when she signs her name at the bottom with a flourish, however her feeling of contentment quickly disappears when she discovers that there is no writing on the page. Could I be going mad? She wonders, horror stricken at the idea. But then a most curious thing happens as words begin appearing on that very page. And they comfort her a good deal more than they should have.
I understand.
x.
She writes, everything she ever thought or felt or said gets told directly to Tom. In turn he helps her with his advice, cheers her up, and reassures her. He is her best friend, and she doesn't mind it so much that she has none in her grade. It doesn't matter at all, as long as she can confide in Tom.
x.
Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, what was I doing Halloween? She cannot remember anything except the blood on her hand, far brighter than it should've been. Then the whispers come of messages written on walls (in blood, in bright red blood) and a cat petrified. She must've been there, because everybody else was, but she can't remember it. She can't remember it at all.
She tells Tom of her dilemma, but he tells her that it is nothing. Her imagination is just frightening her, that's all. However, he would love to hear more tales of that great Harry Potter.
She isn't quite as happy to comply as she used to be.
x.
She starts finding rooster feathers all over her clothes. Her memory is jumbled and she can't figure out the differences between her dreams and her reality. She eats less and becomes paler. She can't bring herself to concentrate as hard as she used to on her classes. Everything goes by in a kind of half-daze.
Percy is the only one who really notices. He says that it comes from the whole shock of Mrs. Norris' being petrified.
"You were always very fond of cats, weren't you Ginny?" he says, confidant of her reply.
She nods yes, because she is too tired to do anything else.
x.
Colin Creevey is attacked next. He was in her grade, in her house. She doesn't ever recall herself talking to him. She barely talks to anyone.
She has no memory of anything she did that day. She doesn't even remember the Quiditch match.
She's glad Gryffindor won, though. She smiled when she heard.
x.
She didn't go to the infamous dueling club, but she knows that she was in the common room at the time. It's nice to be sure of something.
Supposedly, Harry spoke Parseltongue at the meeting. People are saying that he is the Heir of Slytherin now. He isn't.
She doesn't know why she is so convinced of it.
x.
It's Nearly-Headless Nick and Justin Finch-Fletchley who are next. She's never even heard of Justin before.
She tries to assuage her fears with Tom. He isn't helping as much anymore, he keeps saying that confusion is normal in that stage of life.
But Tom, I swear I'm going mad!
There is a long pause before his next words appear.
Of course you feel like you are, I did too at that age. Now how is that Harry Potter doing?
It's the first time that she begins to think that there is something severely wrong with Tom.
x.
By the time she comes back from Christmas Break she is sure of it. Tom must be the cause of her problems and her connection to the Chamber of Secrets. It's the only thing that makes sense. So she chucks the diary in the unused girl's bathroom
She starts to feel better after that, more like herself again. She talks to people in her classes, she eats more, she gets more sleep. She accidently stumbles on Percy and another prefect kissing, and she laughs afterwards. When was the last time she did that?
Why, she even decides to send Harry a valentine.
She almost screams when she sees the diary among his littered school books on Valentine's Day.
x.
It's not hard to get into the boy's dormitory. Definitely more difficult to actually find the diary among his many things. She makes a terrible mess, but she won't let that concern her.
She got what she came for; she can't let him know.
x.
But she must now. Hermione and Percy's girlfriend were attacked. Hermione was nice to her; she treated her like a friend.
She is going to tell Harry and Ron everything, and together they can stop it. Hogwarts will go back to how it used to be, and it will all be just grand.
Percy interrupts her and she stumbles. She can't, she can't, she can't. Barriers she didn't even know she had pop up, and she is unable to tell them.
She knows something will happen now.
x.
Harry wakes her up in a cold, unfamiliar place. She cries, trying to tell him what was happening, but she'll be expelled and a disgrace to her family and…
"It's okay, it's over now Ginny"
She can't stop her tears, but his words give her some relief.
It's over.
Originally posted: August 22, 2009