Riddled

|15| Tom's Ultimatum

Over the next several days, Ginny was terrified. She didn't bother writing to Tom. She had so many questions for him, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answers. Memories and daydreams flew through her mind and she couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't.

I Petrified Mrs. Norris, she kept thinking. I don't know how I did it, but I'm sure I did, and now I'm losing my mind and I'm going to get expelled.

November brought fluffy white snow and buzzing rumors to the Hogwarts grounds. Everyone assumed that Harry was the heir of Slytherin, and that he attacked Mrs. Norris. The reasoning behind these accusations was that Harry had spoken Parseltongue to a snake during a Duelling Club meeting, organized by Gilderoy Lockhart. It was the one and only Duelling Club meeting there ever was.

Ginny had taken to sitting with Ron, Harry, and Hermione in the common room and during mealtimes, which she regularly attended now due to the fact she had refrained from writing to Tom. Wendy and Nat were still not speaking to her.

"It's ridiculous, really," said Ron one day at dinner. "I mean, Harry, you can't be the heir of Slytherin. You're not even in Slytherin."

"Who're you planning to attack next, Harry?" joked Fred.

"Stop!" Ginny told him. "It's not a laughing matter!"

"Well, just in case you really are the heir of Slytherin, Harry," said Ron, ignoring Ginny, "Could you Petrify Malfoy and Snape for me?"

Even Harry, who'd been acting serious and mature about the Petrifying, laughed at this. Tears sprang to Ginny's eyes. Ron looked over at her.

"Honestly, Ginny," he scoffed. "Mrs. Norris is a cat. A cat!"

"But whoever did it is still out there," Ginny argued. "And they're going to do it again." Before anyone else could say anything, she left the table and went up to the Gryffindor tower. When she entered the common room, she sat by the crackling fireplace and cried silently. She got up after a few minutes, wiped her eyes and went in to the dormitory, reaching under her mattress. She didn't want to talk to Tom, but she was desperate.

I know I'm the one who attacked Mrs. Norris, she wrote.

You aren't. But you opened the Chamber of Secrets and released the monster that did.

What monster?

It's called a Basilisk. It's a giant snake with a deadly gaze. You meet its eyes directly, you die, and if you see its eyes through a reflection, you get Petrified. It also has a venomous bite. I'm glad you wrote to me, Ginny, because I've been meaning to tell you we're going to attack someone again tomorrow.

No. You lied to me. You told me that you needed my help to open the chamber because there was something in there that would repair your soul.

Stupid girl. You're the one repairing my soul. I'm draining all your strength out of you. By the end of the school year, you'll be dead, and your skeleton will lie in the chamber forever. The only reason we're opening the chamber, Ginny, is to release the Basilisk so we can eliminate every Mudblood in this school. You're lucky I'm letting you live this long. I could suck all the life out of you in an instant if I wanted to and you'd die right here and now, and I'd regain my strength and continue on with killing all the Mudbloods myself. Your choice Ginny. Help me now and maybe I can find a way to spare you... To reward you...

She had no choice but to comply.