Riddled

|17| Christmas Morning

A couple days later Tom had made her do it again. Two more were Petrified, a second year student named Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick. Both victims now lay frozen in the hospital wing alongside Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey.

Ginny started spending a lot of time in the library, sitting in between tall shelves, reading books about magical creatures; serpents in particular. She was beginning to remind herself of Hermione, who she also spotted in the library often, buried in a book, sometimes accompanied by Ron and Harry.

She searched nearly every book about magical creatures, other than the ones in the Restricted Section. She couldn't think of any excuses to tell her teachers so they'd write her a note giving her permission to visit this section of the library.

She searched hundreds of books, hunting through every page. No book brought up the Basilisk. She wanted to read about it to see if she could find a way to defeat it, but there was no luck.

Christmas holidays arrived. Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were invited to visit Bill in Egypt, as the Weasleys did every other year, but decided to remain at Hogwarts. Percy claimed as a prefect, it was his duty to remain at Hogwarts to aid the teachers during a dark time. Fred and George said they'd stay and see if they could have some fun around the castle (probably thinking up their next great pranks) and Ron was still too terrified after the Howler incident to face Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny herself had wanted more than anything to go, to see her parents, to leave Tom's diary behind. But Tom's hold on her was going stronger. As much as she hated it, Ginny felt tethered to him, as though anything beyond Hogwarts was outside a boundary she was confined in. Hogwarts had become her very own prison.

She'd barely written to Tom; she never wanted to talk to him again. He terrified her. At first she'd felt bad for him, a young man with a broken soul, captured in a diary, all alone. After the attacks began, the diary lay abandoned under her mattress.

Nat and Wendy stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas as well. It was awkward, awaking each morning in the same room as them. Nat and Wendy would burst into chatter and act as though Ginny wasn't there. Ginny couldn't blame them; she understood how strange she'd become, skipping meals, spending hours and hours alone in the dormitory or in the library, falling asleep at odd times for hours on end, roaming the corridors like a ghost, entranced. She noticed her appearance had become drained-looking as well. Her brown eyes were dull, like someone had taken the spark out of them. She'd become thinner and paler. She knew it was because Tom was slowly taking her life away, to make it in to his own. By the end of the year, I'll be dead, she thought miserably. Still, Tom had said maybe he'd spare her if she was good and helped him. A glimmer of hope flared up inside her. She made a note to herself to obey his every command, not to resist at all.

Christmas morning arrived. Ginny was awoken by the sound of gleeful cheer and chatter from Nat and Wendy. Ginny quickly got out of bed and dressed, ignoring the pile of presents next to her bed. She'd open them later, her only goal was to get out of the dormitory and away from Nat and Wendy as soon as possible. She willed to be invisible...

"Merry Christmas," someone said shyly. Ginny flinched and turned around. It was Nat. Her long dark hair was braided down her back and she wore a kind, genuine smile- the first Ginny had seen in a while.

"You too," replied Ginny. Why on earth was Nat talking to her?

"Do you want to open gifts with us?" asked Wendy.

"Ummm, okay," said Ginny, sitting down on the floor with the two girls.

"Here, Ginny," said Nat, and handed Ginny a gift wrapped in festive red paper. Ginny took it, shocked.

"I- I didn't get you anything..." Ginny mumbled, embarrassed. She could feel her face growing hot.

Nat laughed. "It okay, Ginny!" she said. "Just open it!"

Ginny tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a paper bag. MADAM FERNBOUGH'S FINEST GROUND COFFEE BEANS, said the label.

"You know, so you won't fall asleep all the time," Nat explained. "You'll be more perky!"

Ginny laughed, reaching over to hug Nat. The coffee wouldn't help her problem, but she was glad to be on speaking terms with Nat and Wendy again.

"Now open mine!" Wendy urged her, handing her an emerald green package. The colour reminded Ginny of Slytherin, which reminded her of Tom, which made her stomach turn, but she pushed the thought away as soon as it came and opened the package. Inside was a pale pink sweater. Ginny looked up, the sweater matched the ones Nat and Wendy were wearing. She beamed and thanked Wendy.

She vowed not to think of Tom or the Chamber of Secrets for the duration of the holidays.

~~~

author's note

Question for the readers:

Have you taken a sorting hat quiz? What house are you in? I'm in Slytherin, apparently. Comment down below what house you're in!

xoxo zoe