Power He Knows Not

Ink and Blood

Harry dropped to his knees beside Ginny Weasley, his wand forgotten as he frantically tried to wake her, his fingers clasping her icy hand in his, the black book in her grasp unnoticed.

"Please wake up. Please Ginny, please don't be dead. Please..."

"She won't wake." A soft voice informed him.

Looking behind him, Harry saw a boy he had only seen before in a certain memory.

"Tom? How... why are you here?"

Harry shook his head. It didn't matter.

"Look, Tom, we have to get out of here. The monster, it's a basilisk. It could show up any minute. Can you give me a hand? We have to get Ginny out of here."

"It won't come until it's called." Tom said simply, as if that answered everything.

Harry frowned,

"What are you talking about?"

He slowly got to his feet, noticing for the first time, that Riddle was idly twisting his wand between his fingers.

"...Thanks. I didn't realize I'd dropped it."

Harry reached to take his wand, but Riddle only smirked at him.

"Actually, I think I'll hold onto it for a while."

Harry stared at him. What was he doing? None of this made sense. A nagging in the back of Harry's mind was trying to warn him, but he ignored it.

"What are you talking about Tom?" He asked slowly.

"I thought we could chat for a bit. After all, our previous interaction was rather... brief. And I have questions."

"What sort of questions? Can't this wait? We're not safe! The basilisk-"

"Won't come 'til it's called. Do keep up, Harry."

The cold, sinking feeling in his gut told Harry something was wrong, even as that voice in his head called for him to attack the older teen in front of him, to attack, before he regretted it.

"How are you here, Tom? You were-"

"A memory?" Riddle interrupted him again, raising an eyebrow, still smirking, "yes, well, it's a wonder what a few secrets between friends can do. Especially when those secrets include souls."

Harry felt cold all over, and it had nothing to do with his slimy, water soaked robes.

"What?"

Riddle scoffed, a sneer replacing his smirk,

"I thought you were supposed to be clever? I was the one who made Ginny Weasley open the Chamber of Secrets. I was the reason she killed the school roosters, and wrote threatening messages on the wall. I told her how to command the basilisk, and send it after the mudbloods. And she didn't even realize. She kept pouring out her heart to her diary, telling every one of her little secrets to it. To my diary. Giving me exactly what I wanted. Giving me her soul. In a few minutes she will be dead. And I will cease to be a memory."

Harry felt sick. Ginny had tried to tell them, he realized, that morning at breakfast. She'd tried to warn them.

"Which brings me to my question. You see, little Ginny told me all about famous Harry Potter, about how you defeated Voldemort when you were still a babe. So I find myself curious; how did a child with no particular magical talent defeat one of the strongest wizards in the world?"