And So It Begins
When Draco woke the next morning, he wasn�t quite sure what had woken him up at first. He got his answer when it happened again; there was a loud, persistent tapping noise coming from outside his window. He got up to see what it was and had to blink a couple of times to make sure he was seeing right. A large, coal black raven was perched outside his window, carrying a letter in its beak and glaring at him through blood red eyes.
�What the�� Draco said under his breath, going to open the window for the raven. It dropped the letter in his outstretched hand and stayed where it was, completely stationary and staring at him unblinkingly, reminding him of a poem he�d once read by a crazy Muggle man.
He shook his head, unfolding the letter while still casting nervous glances at the bird. A neat, unfamiliar handwriting met his eyes as he read down the page, hardly daring to guess at who had written them.
Your father has informed you that you are to follow my instructions. You have received a diary. You are to follow these directions as you read them. Go get the diary.
Draco immediately reached to his bedside table to picked up the diary, sitting down on his bed and placing it and the letter side by side, reading on.
Open it.
He reached out a hand to touch the cover of the diary, and it gave a shudder, as though this was the moment it had been waiting for. He flipped to the first page, which was still blank, and looked back to the letter, where there were written two final instructions.
Write your name in the diary and burn this letter.
Draco leaned over the side of his bed, grabbing his schoolbag and pulling out a quill and a bottle of ink. He dipped the quill in the ink and then hesitated, the tip of the quill just an inch from the page. He had a fleeting urge to slam the diary shut, to throw the letter out and pretend he hadn�t gotten it. But he knew he couldn�t. Being at Hogwarts didn�t protect him from the watchful eyes of his father, he knew that. There was no turning back. He put the quill to the page and wrote:
Draco Malfoy
The name shone for a moment before fading away. Draco only had a moment to wonder what happened before more words appeared on the page, written in the same color ink, but a different handwriting.
Hello Draco Malfoy. My name is Tom Riddle. I�ve been waiting for you.
Draco gave a start and slammed the diary shut. Had it just spoken to him? He�d known it must be enchanted somehow, but he never could�ve imagined this. After all, a talking diary isn�t something a normal wizard runs into every day. It seemed more like something a wizard who�s had their brains addled by magic would rave about on their way to St. Mungo�s in a straitjacket.
He shook his head. He couldn�t be losing his mind. His father had given him this diary perfectly aware that it was enchanted and that it would talk back to him. He had no choice but to go along with it. He opened the diary again just in time to see the old words fade away and dipped his quill in the ink bottle again.
There was a loud caw that made Draco jump and leave a huge inkblot on the diary page, which promptly faded away. He looked up to see the raven still perched right outside the window, not a feather moving, staring now at the letter, which had drifted carelessly onto the floor.
Draco understood immediately. He grabbed his wand from the table and the letter off the floor. The last line of the letter jumped out at him, seeming to now be written twice as big as the rest of the letter.
Write your name in the diary and burn this letter.
He nodded in agreement with no one and tapped the parchment with his wand. The edges turned black and curled up as the words were burned away. He watched until it had been reduced to a pile of ashes. He then looked back up to the window.
��Quoth the Raven, �Nevermore,��� he muttered as the raven, satisfied that all directions had been followed, spread its wings and took off, standing out against the clear, gray sky of morning. It was going to rain that day, Draco was sure of it. Even if it wasn�t supposed to, it would rain, because the weather at Hogwarts always seemed to follow with the events of the day.
Once the raven had disappeared into the distance, Draco slammed the window shut and turned back to the diary, where fresh words had appeared. He would follow the instructions, because he was a Malfoy. A Malfoy may lie or cheat or steal, but they will never disobey a direct order.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Dark Lord sensed the presence of the raven before he saw it. He held up his arm without hesitation and the raven perched just below his elbow, bowing its head respectively.
�Good girl,� he breathed, and the raven cawed and took off toward the forest. He watched her go, no doubt in his mind that she would come back if he needed her. Meanwhile, she had done her job. The Malfoy boy had followed the instructions, and his plan was going very smoothly. It would only be a matter of time now.
~~~~~~~~~~
�Harry? Harry, wake up!�
�Huh?� Harry�s head jerked up and he groaned as his neck screamed with stiffness. He seemed to have fallen asleep in the chair of the hospital wing. Now, he looked up to see Ron standing right next to Ginny�s bed, holding her hand and staring unblinkingly at her face.
�She�s awake,� Ron said.
�What?� Harry forgot the pain in his neck and leapt to his feet. Ginny was staring around in confusion, her eyes unfocused and bloodshot. Then, she saw Harry and her expression suddenly became serious.
�What happened?� she asked in a tired voice. Harry barely heard her however, as he exchanged a glance with Ron. Madam Pomfrey had said that she didn�t know what happened to Ginny, and nothing had been done to try to help her. So why was she awake now?
�Go get Madam Pomfrey,� Ron muttered. Harry nodded and walked quickly across the room to the office door, knocking loudly.
�Okay, okay, I�m coming,� a muffled voice said from inside. The door opened and Madam Pomfrey stood in the doorway, yawning slightly as she peered at Harry through beady eyes. �What is it, Mr. Potter? Does Miss Ginny need another sedation spell?�
Harry shook his head. �No, she�s awake.�
�What?� Her eyes widened quite a bit and she hurried past Harry to Ginny�s bedside, where Ron was helping Ginny sit up.
�Everything seems to be in order,� Madam Pomfrey was saying as Harry came back to stand with them. She finished taking Ginny�s pulse and pressed a hand to her forehead. �Fever�s gone. If I didn�t know any better, I�d say you were perfectly healthy.�
�What do you mean?� Ginny asked, looking between Ron and Harry. �What happened?�
�You don�t remember?� Ron said as Madam Pomfrey conjured a clipboard and started writing something, glancing up at Ginny once in a while.
Ginny shook her head. �Last I remember, I was getting on the train, and�� she paused, then shook her head again, �and that�s it.�
�You don�t remember the dementors?� Harry said.
�Dementors?� she looked at her brother, who nodded.
�They came on the train,� he said. �You went into some kind of a fit. You�ve been out for three and a half weeks.�
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the scratching of Madam Pomfrey�s quill on the clipboard as she continued to take notes. Then, a sound from behind Harry made him look over his shoulder.
Hermione was standing beside her bed, the curtains that she�d just pulled back still clutched in her hand, rubbing her eyes as though she�d just woken up. Harry had forgotten that she was there and by the look on Ron�s face, it seemed he had too.
�Ginny!� Hermione said, rushing over to stand beside Ron. �You�re awake!�
�All right,� Madam Pomfrey said. �I need to ask Miss Weasley some questions. Miss Granger, you should be all right to leave now, so you three go on down to breakfast.� And she shooed them from the hospital wing, closing the door before any of them could protest.
They all looked at each other for a moment before shrugging and starting off toward the Great Hall in silence. Ron and Hermione seemed to be avoiding each other�s eye, and Harry didn�t feel in the mood to try to get either of them to talk.
When they reached the hall, they were almost run over by Luna Lovegood, a sixth year Ravenclaw with long, blond hair and a tendency to embarrass her friends with all her crazy talk of things she�d read in her father�s magazine, The Quibbler. Of course, Harry was a lot more accepting of her since her father published an article that helped him regain the trust of much of the wizarding world.
�You�re back!� she said. �Is Ginny all right? What happened?�
�Ginny�s fine,� Harry said. �In fact, she�s better than fine, she woke up.�
�She did?� Luna said, not looking the least bit surprised. �I should go visit her then. Oh, and Hermione, I�ve been doing some reading, and I think I know what attacked you.�
�Should I be afraid to ask?� Hermione said, looking apprehensive.
�My father says there�s a Chimaera living somewhere around this area,� Luna said in a hushed voice. �The Ministry�s trying to keep it quiet, but a friend of a friend of my father�s has seen it. I�ll just bet that it attacked you.�
Hermione shook her head. �Not possible. Chimaeras are native to Greece, and besides, if I ran into one of them, I don�t think I�d be standing here right now.�
Luna sniffed indignantly. �Fine, don�t believe me! I�m going to visit Ginny!� She tried to leave, but Ron threw out an arm to stop her.
�I wouldn�t if I were you,� he said. �Madam Pomfrey�ll have a fit.�
�Aw, Ronald, I didn�t know you cared so much,� Luna smirked and kissed him on the cheek. He immediately dropped his arm, his ears turning bright red. Luna took this opportunity to head off toward the hospital wing.
�It�s okay,� Hermione said, ruffling Ron�s hair and making him blush even more. �I know she�s kidding. She is, isn�t she?�
�Of course she is,� Ron said, suddenly finding his voice. �Everyone knows she likes Harry.� Harry shot an angry glare at him and he shrugged. �If I�m going down, I�m taking everyone with me.�
Harry shook his head in mock disgust and they went to sit at Gryffindor table. All along the way, they talked about everything from Luna to Quidditch, but during this time, Harry and Hermione glanced nervously at each other, silently agreeing to steer clear of any mention of Ginny until they knew for sure that she was better. After all, it didn�t sit well with either of them that Ginny had suddenly woken up with no help whatsoever.
�Hey,� Hermione said suddenly, �Malfoy�s not here.�
�What�� Harry followed her gaze to the Slytherin table. Just as she�d said, Malfoy was nowhere to be found.
�Where do you think he is?� she asked. �I mean, I usually see him leave the common room in the morning, but since I wasn�t there��
�What are you babbling about?� Ron asked through a mouthful of egg. �Why do you care?�
Hermione was silent for a moment before finally shrugging. �I don�t know. I just don�t think Malfoy�s as bad as we think he is.�
Ron raised an eyebrow at her. �You�re delusional.�
~~~~~~~~~~
Hmm�this Potter boy must be horrible, the way you talk about him.
Draco dipped his quill back in the inkwell, quickly writing his answer back. He didn�t know why, but he had the urge to tell Tom everything, about the school, his life�everything.
Yeah. I still can�t believe you�ve never heard of him.
There was a pause before a response came up. Well, I don�t remember much. Everything�s a bit hazy, and people don�t usually tell me much.
Why?
This time, Draco was almost sure he heard the diary laugh quietly to itself, as though at a joke no one else had heard. Writing to me is not something to be entered lightly. Shouldn�t you be in class?
Draco looked at his watch and swore under his breath. Thanks, I have to go to Charms. I�ll write again during break. He didn�t know why he said this, but he instantly knew that it was true. He closed the diary and slipped it into his bag on his way out the door. Glad that Granger was nowhere in sight, he climbed out the portrait hole and started off toward Charms at a run.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tom smiled to himself as the Malfoy boy shut the diary. The boy had been easy to convince, his eagerness to follow directions being his downfall, just like his father. Yes, Tom had spoken to Draco�s father, if only briefly. He had not lied when he said that his past was hazy, but he did remember the Potter boy. The boy may have defeated him the last time, but now Tom knew something he didn�t. A loophole, known only to himself and�well, himself.
Yet, it was not himself. Voldemort was a separate person entirely. He had told Tom of his plan, though he had not explained the details. But this was to be expected. To tell Tom too much was to enter into a binding contract not even the darkest wizard would imagine signing.
Even as he thought about this though, Tom began to feel another memory fighting to be free. Though he was not getting information at the moment, he could feel himself becoming steadily stronger, as though some invisible person was writing to the diary, telling him her deepest and darkest secrets. There was another condemned soul out there whose contract had not yet expired.
~~~~~~~~~~
�Are you sure you don�t remember anything, anything at all?�
Ginny shook her head. �Like I said, all I remember is a feeling of being�alone, yet not alone. I know it sounds weird, but it�s true.�
Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes and wrote a quick note on her clipboard. �So, you�re feeling all right? Not feeling ill or anything?�
�No,� Ginny said. �I feel fine, just a little tired.�
More notes. �All right then, everything seems to be in order. You may go to your classes today, but make sure you take it easy.� She tore a piece of paper from her clipboard, folded it in half, and handed it to Ginny. �Show this to each of your teachers and they�ll know what to do if anything should happen.�
�What do you mean, �if anything should happen?�� Ginny asked as she took the note.
Madam Pomfrey hesitated a moment before giving her answer. �You�re recovery makes no medical or magical sense. I�m afraid it may be only temporary. I want you to come back if you start feeling ill or lightheaded or anything else out of the normal.�
Ginny nodded and started toward the door, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn�t be back. She felt fine. This was probably just Madam Pomfrey being her usual over protective self.
�Ginny!� Luna Lovegood shouted from down that hall, hurrying over and talking very rapidly. �They told me you were awake but I just had to see for myself. Did Madam Pomfrey release you? Are you going to class?�
Ginny nodded and Luna grinned. �I knew it. Nothing can keep you down.� She flung an arm around Ginny and started leading her down the hall. �What�s that in your hand?�
�A note for Professor Sinistra,� Ginny answered. �Madam Pomfrey must think I�m gonna collapse in class or something.� A sudden icy wave washed through her veins and she stopped, clutching the wall and shivering.
�Are you all right?� Luna asked.
The feeling was gone as soon as it had come and Ginny nodded. �It�s nothing, just a chill.� Yet, even as she continued toward the Astronomy Tower, she couldn�t help but think that it was something more.
~~~~~~~~~~
Draco followed the other students out to the courtyard for break, resisting the urge to smile when he saw that it was raining, just as he�d known it would. He quickly found an empty corner and pulled the diary out of his bag and opening it hurriedly.
I�m back.
I can see that. How was Charms?
Not bad, but we have to write an essay on the proper use of tracking charms.
Really? I don�t remember anything about that. Then again, I am the preserved memory of my sixteen-year-old self, so maybe I just never got to it.
So, do you know why exactly I�m writing to you? My father didn�t tell me much, but I know it must have something to do with You-Know-Who.
There was a definite pause, as the diary seemed to contemplate an answer to this. I can�t lie to you boy, I do know, but I can�t tell you, at least not yet. I need to make sure you trust me first. Like I said, writing to me is not something one enters into lightly. You should go now, before someone sees you writing.
Okay. Draco closed the diary and quickly put it back in his bag, looking around to make sure no one was watching. He thought he saw Granger looking his way, but she turned away so quickly that he was sure he must�ve imagined it. Just the same, as he made his way into the school, he kept a hand over his schoolbag to make sure the diary wasn�t visible. He still hadn�t forgotten what she�d said in the forest, and he knew he would have to be careful about writing in the diary around her.
_________________________________________________________
Author's note: Think you know what the Dark Lord's plan is? Remember, things are not always as they seem...
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