Lady Darkness

Five years she had waited for this day. She was haunted by his memory-- the cool blue eyes, the tiny smirk.

Sitting on the floor of her dormitory, she ran her hands across the cover of the diary. Its leather was cold, smooth. She wondered if his skin would feel like that.
She would find out soon enough.

It had taken years of conniving, scheming. The hardest had been acquiring the book. Sweet, innocent Ginevra Weasley couldn't just go up to Lucius Malfoy and demand the diary of Tom Riddle.

Only in her fourth year had she finally found the means. She whispered her plans to the mad house-elf, Kreacher. When he went to work for the Malfoys, he got the diary for her.

Now, it was in front of her: the diary that had corrupted her soul, taken her innocence.

Ginny bent down and kissed the cover of the book. Now it was just a matter of making it work.

The Basilisk's poison had worked its way into pages, just as Tom's poison had worked it way into her soul. It was just a matter of removing it.

Ginny placed the diary back into the circle of candles. She shut her eyes tightly, dipping her fingers into the potion.

She pressed her fingers against the front of the diary, dipping her thumbs into the gaping hole left by the Basilisk fang. She began to chant. The words rolled off her tongue, despite being in a language thousands of years old.

She would be the vessel, take the diary into herself. She felt it rush through her, the inks and poison coursing through her veins.

"Potter," she heard the rasping his. Ginny opened her eyes, her smile widening as she looked upon Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"He's not here," Ginny purred. "It's been five years since you were last out. He thought he had destroyed you."

Tom moved closer. "Ginny? Is that you?"

She nodded. "I have waited for this for so long..."

"I was going to kill you." Tom's voice was cool, no tinge of regret.

"And I would have willingly gone," Ginny looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Now, I won't have to."

"I am still a memory," Tom commented, looking at his fuzzy hand.

Ginny stood up slowly, sliding her finger down Tom's cheek, just grazing the incorporeal figure, unable to truly touch him. "Only for now. I have taken the diary into me. You will grow stronger. You will take energy from me."

"So you will die for me now," Tom nodded.

Ginny chuckled. "Nothing so prosaic. Watch. Wait."

Ginny opened the door, gliding out of the room. She strode into the Common Room. She could feel Tom's gaze on her as she walked to Dean, who sat sketching by the fire.

She didn't want to do this in front of Tom, but it was necessary. She leaned in, pressing her lips to her "boyfriend's" lips. She felt him gasp beneath her, going stiff.

She smiled as she heard Tom gasp behind her. She pulled away from Dean, licking her lips. She watched as he fell, then turned back to Tom. "Feeling any better?"

"I have that boy, don't I? He's dead?" Tom cocked a brow. "How did you kill him like that?"

"I told you," Ginny laughed, "I took the diary into me. All of it. Even the Basilisk venom. They take the poison and you take their power as it escapes their body."

"You have gotten powerful," Tom reached to Ginny, grazing her forehead. His fingers touched her forehead, now solid enough to touch her. He chuckled. "This is all for me?"

Ginny nodded, leaning in. She whispered into Tom's ear, "Always. I have great plans for you."