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The moment she saw Tom she knew there would never be room for anybody else, her hand curling into his with trust. The thousands of hearts joining their names, the graffiti in the girl's bathroom and the doodles of variations of their names did not come close to this. His mouth at her ear and the steady drip, drip of water on water. If her heart cried out at this betrayal of her family she did not acknowledge it. "Precious Ginny," he spoke, sounding out the sibilants.

Feeling the warmth of his body at her side and seeing the rise and fall of his chest made her smile. "Will it hurt, Tom?" It was a child's question. She knew instinctively that Tom would never cause her pain.

"No, Ginny. It will be like a dream. Do you remember the dream with the snake?" His smile was thin, like the blade of a knife.

"Yes, Tom. He went to sleep. He didn't wake up for a long time." She frowned then her brow smoothed out. The snake in her dream had curled in on itself, the cold draining the life from the coiled body. It had only come back to life when the sun hung in the sky; Tom was her sun.

They stood, heads bowed, until Ginny's knees knocked together clumsily and she had to sit down. "I'm scared, Tom. What if it's not like the snake?" She could see a red light flash in his eyes but he smiled broadly, his expression anticipatory.

"I can't promise, dear. Have I ever let you down before? Have I ever broken a promise like your brothers or your parents or even completely forgotten you exist like heroic Harry?" The tone was calm and measured, playing her easily. His words stung her, made her remember the blank look on Harry's face when he saw her in the hallways. It had not been Harry who had comforted her when she had woken up with rooster feathers and red paint down the front of her black robes. It had not been Ron who had listened to her babble for hours until the words had dried up, ink stains on her fingers and bedclothes.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, her words echoing in the Chamber until her single sentence broke apart. Tom smirked when she threw her arms around him, her heart beating fast in her ears. He patted her head a few times, as one would a loyal dog.

The reality of him comforted her, his robes scratchy against her face. When he took her hands in his and carefully placed his mouth over hers she made a soft 'oh'. It was over so quick she felt cheated of her first kiss. She wanted more, she wanted his mouth moving along the curve of her neck, tasting the salt of her skin, tasting her. Ginny remembered when she saw Percy and Penny, Percy's hands moving restlessly beneath Penny's shirt, his mouth at her throat. The sound of moaning had left her rooted in place, warmth in her cheeks. She had felt so heavy, even the breath in her lungs had felt heavy.

Ginny wrapped her tiny arms around Tom's neck and kissed him simply. It degraded from there, she could feel his teeth clink against hers almost awkwardly. Ginny was embarrassed but when Tom pulled away he didn't look at her any differently. He wasn't even breathing hard while she felt the air has been sucked out of the room. The ground swayed beneath her, her thoughts spinning away in her head, and she had to lie down. Her back was dirty and wet, she began to cry.

"Ginny?" the concern was affected, he looked pleased. She clung to his robes and remembered thousands of lines written in thick black ink. She remembered whispering "Ginny Riddle" to herself until it almost felt real. Harry had been a sweet dream but Tom was reality.

"Harry is going to die here, isn't he? Just like I am." It was hard for her to get the words out, so great were the sobs rising up out of her throat, pulled out by Tom's unnatural smile.

"The mark of death has been on Harry Potter since he was a baby. It was only a matter of time." He laughed, it was cold and high. She cringed away from the sound but then tried to sit up. Tom pushed her back down, her head making contact with the stone floor with a crack.

"Please, Tom." Her voice was small, she pushed her now grimy hand into his, feeling his fingers flex around hers. Tom didn't pull away and the red that had flashed into his eyes faded away as if it had never been there.

"You know, I owned a snake. I found him dead one morning. I replaced him." Ginny tried to speak but her tongue felt thick in her mouth and she could only open her mouth helplessly. Her eyes were wet with tears. Tom pressed his fingers against her mouth and closed it. Ginny felt dirty when she remembered the flush of blood in her face the first time she told him that she loved him, that she would die for him. Rooster feathers had been in her hair, the paint on her hands not making fingerprints in the diary. As if she had never been. Those words she had written were gone and nobody would ever know she had ever spoken them. Tom would find a beautiful girl to replace her, jealousy curled in Ginny's stomach like a grey stone.

The fingers of his other hand pressed against hers one final time and he spoke, "Goodbye."

Her vision was blurring and she saw his figure stand up, brushing the dirt from his robes. He left her alone, the ink at the edges of her vision overtaking it. The wet stone against his shoes making a soft sucking sound that followed her into a sleep that was like death.