Harry Potter: Lost by Bear

By Bear

Summary: The Wizarding world is enjoying a period of peace. It has been ten years since Lord Voldemort fell, defeated in mysterious circumstances by the Potter family who gave their lives for the safety of the Wizarding world. However a mysterious Hogwarts letter and a plot against a ministry employee threaten to destabilise Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Rating: PG-13

Categories: Alternate Universe

This story archived at

http://www.siye.co.uk/siye/viewstory.php?sid=128652

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

Prologue

Author's Notes: Welcome to my first serious story in HP fanfiction! So please feel free to review with any constructive criticism that I can use to improve my story. Many thanks to my beta Jezzjamer2! I'm hoping to be able to add a new chapter roughly every week.

October 30th 1981

Unknown Location

Lord Voldemort watched as his servant shuffled into his chambers. Wormtail's shoulders were slumped and his head bowed.

"M-Master," he squeaked, falling to his knees in front of Lord Voldemort in a useless gesture of submission.

"Do you have news for me, Wormtail?"

Wormtail hesitated, as if he was unsure how to respond. He really is a pathetic specimen, thought Lord Voldemort.

The ratty little man stood, stooped and trembling, in front of his master as if waiting for the ground to swallow him up so he could escape the Dark Lord's notice. It was incredibly amusing to Lord Voldemort, that Wormtail actually thought that by betraying his friends he would be granted a place in his new world order.

"Who is the secret keeper, Wormtail?" demanded Lord Voldemort.

"My Lord, it will be easier than we could ever have hoped!" Wormtail paused as if savouring the moment. "They made me the secret keeper! Black thought they could outsmart you!"

Lord Voldemort let out a low hiss. "Excellent. So tell me... where are the Potters?"

Wormtail hesitated again. Lord Voldemort moved his hand to his wand and glared into Wormtail's eyes. Wormtail gulped and shrank back. Lord Voldemort made eye contact with Wormtail and stared at him. He stared into the depths of his pathetic mind, weakening his resolve, encouraging him to tell his secret.

"Master, the Potters live at number twenty five, Mill Lane, in Godric's Hollow," gasped Wormtail as he sank to the floor trembling.

Lord Voldemort's laughter echoed through the chamber. The Death Eaters that lurked outside approached and, with a gesture from their master, they removed the trembling Peter Pettigrew from his sight.

October 31st 1981

Godric's Hollow

The streets of Godric's Hollow were alive as children, magical and Muggle alike, celebrated Halloween. They moved from house to house in their search for sweets. It amused Lord Voldemort that tonight was the one night that he could blend easily into Muggle culture. Some of his followers could have so much fun here tonight as well. However, he was on a mission, the most important mission of his life so far; one that he dare not trust any of his followers to even know about. Tonight the hopes of the light would be crushed and the last remaining individual that could defeat him would die. It was ironic, Lord Voldemort mused as he strode across the town square, that the only person that could defeat him was a small child. A small and soon to be dead child, he corrected himself. The prophecy that Snape had overheard and reported had scared him in a way that Albus Dumbledore never had. True, he respected Dumbledore's skill, but the old man could not kill him. He had taken precautions against that. The prophecy, however, did scare him, but it was so much simpler to remove this threat before it could challenge him. After all, a child could not stand against him.

He was disturbed from his thoughts by a young girl crashing into his legs as she tried to keep up with a group of Muggle children that were running across the town square.

"Nice costume, Mister!" she exclaimed at the sight of him.

Lord Voldemort stared at her. Her eyes widened and she gave a frightened squeak as she looked into his cold eyes. Lord Voldemort began to reach for his wand, then stopped himself and allowed the child to scamper off. He paused; there could be no mistakes tonight and attracting attention before even reaching the cottage would be a mistake. He decided to leave the girl alone.

Lord Voldemort strode confidently down Mill Lane. Cottages peeked out from behind the hedgerows that bordered the road, which was dimly lit by sparsely scattered street lamps. Finally, he reached his destination, number twenty five. It was situated at the very end of the row of cottages. Lord Voldemort stepped through the small gate that marked the entrance to the property. Beyond the gate a path lead up to the cottage. The lights were on. The Potters were home. Lord Voldemort drew his wand and scanned the area. Surely Dumbledore had not been naive enough to assume that the Fidelius Charm alone would keep them safe. The grounds were silent; no Aurors, no members of that annoying Order of the Phoenix, only a quiet skittering noise coming from the hedgerow behind him.

A quiet skittering noise, almost like the sound a rat would make.

"Come out, Wormtail. I do not recall requesting your presence tonight."

"Master I...I only wished to ensure there were no problems," replied Wormtail his voice shaking.

"So, you doubt my competence Worm?!" snapped Lord Voldemort.

"N-No! Master, it's just I, I thought it would be wise..."

Lord Voldemort interrupted him. "Silence, Fool! This task is for me and me alone. You will wait here. I will deal with your insolence when I return."

Lord Voldemort strode up the path towards the house; he could not risk the sound of Wormtail's punishment being overheard by the Potters. He approached the door. Through the window he could see the two adult Potters; James and Lily sitting on the sofa in the living room. They had not noticed him. He scanned the room, searching for the boy. He was sitting on the floor in front of his parents. As he watched, Lily Potter picked up the boy. Taking one of his hands, she made the child wave to his father before carrying him out of the room, presumably taking him to bed. Now would be a perfect time for him to strike, the two Potters were separated.

As he approached the door to the cottage he briefly considered Snape's request that he spare the woman, and decided he would attempt to do so. After all, a loyal servant deserved a gift occasionally. However, if she were to die, well, other women could be found to please Snape.

He raised his wand to the door and said "Alohomora."

The door burst open and Lord Voldemort stepped inside the Potter's home. He heard a shout of alarm from within. Victory is mine thought Lord Voldemort as he strode to meet James Potter.

Chapter 1

Author's Notes: First real chapter, please let me know what you think.

Minerva

16th July 1991

Professor Minerva McGonagall was a teacher who loved teaching. Nothing gave her a greater joy than passing her knowledge on to all that came through the doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What she hated was administration, which was, unfortunately, a large part of the job of the Deputy Headmistress. The sending of the Hogwarts letters was one of her least favorite tasks. This year's task was proving just as tiresome, with another new set of textbooks, from yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell. She sighed. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Albus to fill the post, and competent candidates were few and far between. Quirrell had at least taught before.

With the letters completed, all that remained to be done was to address them. She was thankful this was a task which she could complete rapidly using a series of simple charms. She duplicated each year's letters and used a second charm to address them with details from the school's magical list of students. With a wave of her wand she sent the majority of letters off to the school's owls for posting. The only remaining letters were the first years and ones for the Quidditch Captains, Prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl.

The last task was to sort the first years' letters, ensuring that the Muggle-born students would have their letter delivered by a teacher to explain all about the Wizarding world. Minerva always liked to glance at the new admissions to see if there were any interesting names. There often was. This year was no exception with a Malfoy, another Weasley, young Neville Longbottom and the niece of Amelia Bones all starting school this year. Minerva had just sorted Susan Bones' letter into the pile to be delivered by owl when she encountered something she had not seen before. With surprise she examined the letter.

Behind the Bins,

Lane off Mare Street,

London.

Interesting, thought Minerva. There was no name on the envelope and a highly unusual address. She placed the letter to one side: as soon as the rest of the letters were complete she would question Albus about this.

Once she had finishing the remainder of the letters, she set off to the Headmaster's Office. Approaching the stone gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's Office, she rattled off the name of the strange Muggle sweet that was the current password. This caused the gargoyle to slide aside, allowing her access. Minerva never understood why the Headmaster picked these most ridiculous passwords. She knocked on the door to the office and entered. Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, paperwork neatly arranged in front of him and his long white beard tucked neatly out of the way. It perturbed Minerva that even when she came in on unexpected business, he always seemed as if he was expecting her.

"Minerva, what can I do for you today? Would you care for a lemon drop?" Albus welcomed her as he rose from his seat and gestured towards a chair in front of his desk.

"I have a slight issue with one of our new admissions this year," she replied as she took a lemon drop from the bowl on the desk. "It seems this particular student does not have a name."

Albus took the envelope from her and examined the address.

"You have examined the register of students I assume, Minerva?"

"Yes, there was nothing unusual there."

"Well, it seems that we have ourselves a mystery," replied Albus. "Most curious; I suggest you visit this location and attempt to find our student."

"What does this mean, though? In all my years here I have never seen such a thing," questioned Minerva.

"All I can offer is my best guess at this point, Minerva, but I suspect that the School itself has detected an eligible student who has somehow been overlooked by our registers," replied Albus.

"I'll visit the location this afternoon once all the other letters have been sent," said Minerva. "Do you really expect we will find anyone though?"

"I am confident that there is a student; Hogwarts would not have generated this letter needlessly. I am visiting the Ministry tomorrow and will check the Magical Births Register to see if that will shed any light on the matter."

Their business concluded, Minerva stood to leave the office. Albus' had provided some insight, but it would not be solved until they found the boy or girl, if they actually existed.

"Very well, Albus. Good Day."

"Good day, Minerva, and do have fun in London," replied Albus.

It was early evening when Minerva Apparated into a quiet corner of a public park near Mare Street. The street itself obviously served as a high street of sorts for the local Muggle residents. A steady flow of traffic moved along the road and the Muggles bustled along with their shopping. They were quite oblivious to the fact that there was a witch strolling along their street and that, quite possibly, a young wizard or witch was already living among them.

Minerva investigated several lanes leading off Mare Street. They were mostly dirty affairs, consisting of service entrances for the various shops that fronted onto the main street. It was the third such lane where Minerva made a discovery. She had investigated the bins in every lane so far; after all, that was what the envelope had said. Behind this set of bins a set of old newspapers were laid out on the ground partly covered by what appeared to be a pile of dirty old rags. It looked to Minerva as if someone was sleeping in this disgusting place.

As she knelt down to examine the makeshift bed a noise from the alley's entrance caused her to spin around, but there was nothing apart from the passing of the occasional Muggle on the main street. Sloppy, Minerva, she thought to herself. She had become too absorbed in investigating to check for danger.

After thoroughly examining the remainder of the lane, she had discovered nothing further of interest. Sighing, Minerva decided to wait it out and see if her student came back to their "home". This was the best lead she had so far. Transforming into her Animagus form, the silver tabby cat leapt gracefully onto one of the nearby walls separating the lane from neighbouring properties and waited.

The sun set, Muggles came and went on the busy high street, the neighbouring restaurants became busy with the evening rush and then quieted as evening became night. When the restaurants finally began to close and there had been no activity in the lane she jumped down off the wall and, transforming back, strode out onto the street. Looking about, she spied one of the staff from the nearby restaurant who was quickly packing up the shop front, obviously keen to be home after a long day at work.

"Excuse me sir?" Minerva said, attempting to attract his attention.

"We're closed, sorry, ma'am," he replied.

"Oh, no, I only have a quick question for you. Do you ever have any troubles with tramps around here? Or maybe runaway children?" questioned Minerva.

"From time to time, always after anything we throw out, you know. Haven't seen any for a couple of days, come to think of it. The coppers always tend to move them on when they can."

"Indeed. Thank you for your time, you have been most informative," said Minerva sighing.

The chances of her finding this lost child seemed to be getting slimmer. If he or she had been there, they were now gone. Finding a single child without a name in Muggle London would be like finding a lost wand in the Forbidden Forest. With her inquiries for today concluded, she strode back down the now near-deserted street and upon finding a secluded spot to Apparate returned to Hogwarts.

Minerva returned to her office and as she was depositing her cloak her office door opened with a soft click and Albus entered.

"Ah, Minerva. I trust your day has been productive?" He inquired.

"Unfortunately, not, Albus. There are definite signs that someone has been living there, but the locals have not seen any suspicious activity. I myself observed the area for many hours and found nothing," she replied sadly.

"This is most unfortunate. I fear that unless new information comes to light, there is little we can do for the poor child," Albus sighed.

"I am not going to give up so easily! I will return to the area to look for him or her. If a child is living in those conditions they need our help, badly," replied Minerva passionately.

"Very well, I will ask the Ministry to monitor the area when I visit tomorrow. However, I must insist that if the child is not found by the start of term, you leave the investigation to the Ministry. You will be needed here."

Minerva was about to object.

"Minerva, I am confident the child will be found, but you have responsibilities here as well," said Albus gently.

"Very well, Headmaster," Minerva replied with a sigh.

As Albus left her office, she silently swore that she would do whatever she could to ensure that this magical child received the education they were entitled to.

Ginny

October 31st 1991

"Ginny! Ginny!" A loud shout echoed up the stairs from the kitchen.

Ginny rolled over in bed and tried to go back to sleep. Even though the sun was now brightly lighting her room, it was far too early to get up. Since her brothers had all left for Hogwarts, there was less to do around The Burrow with just Mum around, so she had started sleeping later.

"GINNY! GET UP!!" the shouting continued.

She knew that meant it was now useless to try to sleep. If she didn't get up now, she would soon be dragged out of bed by her mother, so she grudgingly got up to start the day.

Ginny walked into the kitchen a short time later. She had been instructed to dress her best today as she was going to the anniversary ceremony at the Ministry. In honour of the occasion, she had put on her best skirt and favourite yellow top, which offset her fiery red hair.

"Oh, Ginny! You do look nice. Well done!" Her mum complimented as she entered the kitchen.

Ginny sighed. She swore sometimes her mum didn't trust her to dress herself... she was ten for Merlin's Sake!

"Thanks, Mum," Ginny replied as she sat down and began eating the breakfast. "What time do I have to leave today?"

"We have about an hour to sort out your hair before you need to Floo to your father's office," answered Mum.

"Mum! I'm old enough to do my own hair," Ginny replied, her temper beginning to show.

"I know, dear, but you must look your best today for the ceremony," Mum replied.

An hour and a quarter later, Ginny emerged from the fireplace at the Ministry of Magic. Even though she had been here several times with her father, the entrance to the Ministry was always daunting. She had entered at the far end of the Atrium and walked along the polished wood floor towards the fountain looking for her father.

"Ginny! Over here," her dad called as he stood near the fountain.

"Daddy!" she replied, waving back.

As Ginny trotted over to meet him she saw that the Atrium was different today. "Dad, is that stage for the ceremony later?" she questioned.

"Yes, Ginny. The Minister will stand there and give his speech. Look, can you see the monument they will unveil? It's the big block covered by a red cloth," asked her dad as he pointed.

"Yes, Dad. Can we go and look at it?"

"Not now, Ginny. We'll go after it's unveiled if you want. First, let's go and get some lunch before it all gets started," Dad said brightly as he took her hand and they walked off together towards the lifts.

Once they had finished their lunch Ginny and her father stood amongst the crowd of dignitaries, Ministry officials and members of the Wizarding public as they listened to the Minister's speech.

The Minister's voice echoed throughout the Atrium. "It has been ten years since He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell, defeated by the Potter family who made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the wizarding world."

From the position Ginny and her dad had taken, she couldn't actually see the Minister, but his magically amplified voice filled the chamber, and those assembled listened intently.

"We have assembled here today to celebrate the fall of evil in our world and to remember all those that gave their lives fighting for our freedom.

"We remember those who were injured, those who lost loved ones; wives, husbands, parents, brothers, sisters and friends. For even though the sacrifices made were immense, we know that those who made those sacrifices can rest easy knowing that we succeeded in driving evil from our world.

"Today, we unveil our statue of remembrance here in the Ministry of Magic. Let their sacrifices never be forgotten."

Once the Minister had finished speaking he pointed his wand at the statue and the red cloth fell away, revealing a smooth dark stone that reflected the light. It seemed to Ginny that from a distance it looked like the surface of the pond just outside The Burrow. Loud applause filled the room.

"Daddy! Can we go and look at it?" pleaded Ginny.

"Certainly, Pumpkin. Let's join the line. We may have to wait a while though," replied dad.

The queue moved far too slowly for Ginny's liking. Eventually, she and her dad reached the front of the line.

"Ginny, look here," her dad was pointing up at the monument.

Ginny was short, so she had to stand on her tip-toes to see the names that her father was pointing at.

Fabian Prewett

Gideon Prewett

"Who are they, Daddy?" she questioned.

"They were your two uncles, Ginny, your mum's brothers. They died in the war just before you were born," her farther replied sadly.

"Oh..." Ginny replied unsure if she should be sad or not. She had never met these people.

Her eyes scanned the monument looking for any familiar names. The three names near the bottom of the monument attracted her notice; they were the names the Minister had mentioned earlier.

James Potter

Lily Potter

Harry Potter

"Daddy, what happened to the Potters? How did they kill him?" Ginny asked as her father was leading her away from the monument.

"No one really knows, Ginny, except perhaps Professor Dumbledore. All we know is that You-Know-Who went to kill them, but when he tried to there was an explosion that killed him, Lily and Harry," her father replied.

"Harry would have been about my age wouldn't he, Daddy?" she asked sadly.

"He would have been in his first year at Hogwarts this year."

"Is he really gone, Daddy?"

"Is who gone, Sweetheart?" Replied her Dad.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Yes, he's gone. Even Professor Dumbledore has said so."

They walked, in silence, back towards the fireplaces to head home.

Family life is much quieter with all my brothers gone, Ginny thought as she sat with her Mum and Dad at the kitchen table at The Burrow for their evening meal. She was enthusiastically describing her day at the Ministry.

"Mum, have you heard from Ron yet?" she asked excitedly. She couldn't wait until she could go to Hogwarts like her brothers next year.

"No, Ginny. Your brother is in big trouble when he gets back for Christmas. He still hasn't written!" her mum replied in frustration. They had only heard that Ron had been Sorted into Gryffindor from Percy. "As it happens, I had a letter from Professor McGonagall today. Your brother nearly got himself hurt! He and his new friend Neville Longbottom ran off and nearly came face to face with a troll! "

Ginny squeaked, "He is okay, isn't he, Mum?"

"Yes, dear, luckily a professor stopped the troll, but he will be getting a Howler tomorrow," said Mum with her previous anger over the issue returning.

Ginny was relieved that her brother was fine, but the thought that Ron was off making new friends without her was making her feel even more lonely without him around. She was relieved it was only two more months until Ron and the rest would be back home for Christmas.

Adam

24th December 1991

Adam sprinted down the street, cursing his luck. The last guy he had tried to lift some money off had caught him in the act and was now pelting after him down the busy street. He couldn't get caught, he wouldn't get caught. If he was caught he would be taken to the cops and they would soon figure out who he was and what he had done. He dashed across the road, causing passing cars to blast their horns and brake to avoid him. It worked; his pursuer was forced to stop before he could cross. Taking advantage of his momentary lead, Adam ducked into a nearby side street and continued running.

Eventually, when Adam was satisfied that he had lost his pursuer, he slowed to a walk. He needed to catch his breath. His small size generally gave him one advantage, he was quick. His stomach groaned painfully, reminding him that he needed something to eat. It had gotten much harder recently to steal food. What little money he had was long gone. His clothes were stained and torn and he wore an over-sized coat that came down nearly to his knees. His light brown hair was growing long and shaggy, covering his ears and eyes, and forcing him to continually brush it away to keep his vision clear. Adam had always liked to keep his hair short; when it grew long it had a tendency to stick up uncontrollably. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that his current appearance always put shopkeepers on their guard when he walked in, resulting in it becoming nearly impossible to steal a sandwich or anything from a shop.

He wandered the streets aimlessly, looking for an opportunity. Truthfully, he hated stealing, but at this point he didn't have much choice. Things had been better a few months back when he had managed to stay in a lane behind a restaurant for several weeks. The foreign chef they employed had been kind and gave him whatever scraps he could. Then the lady in long black clothes had turned up. She had somehow known where he was--he guessed the chef must have told her. He hadn't stayed there since.

Adam eventually wandered back the way he came, until he came back to the main high street. Glancing in the window of a nearby shop, he noticed the date, it was Christmas Eve. Adam sighed; it would be his first Christmas on the run. He had been on his own for six months now. Still, maybe if he was lucky and could get some money, he could buy himself a Christmas treat. It wasn't as if he normally had many presents at Christmas anyway.

As he continued down the street he spotted his next target. The man stuck out a mile. He was gawking in the window of the local electronics store, as if he were a kid looking into a toy shop. He was wearing a type of hat that Adam hadn't seen before. It had a pointy top and it was bright red, the same colour as the man's hair which was poking out from underneath the hat. The man pulled out a small pouch and began rummaging inside it. As Adam watched he pulled out a £5 note, squinted at it through his glasses, and then stared back into the window as if trying to determine if he had enough money. Adam's stomach groaned again and he decided to make his move. He slowly approached the man.

Feeling incredibly guilty for what he was about to try and do, Adam said, "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes, son?" the man replied.

The man turned and Adam could see him look him up and down with a sad expression on his face. Quick as a flash Adam's hand shot out, grabbed the pouch the man held loosely in his hand and ran. He heard the man shout after him, but as Adam glanced over his shoulder he saw the man just standing in front of the shop with a look of shock on his face. Adam kept running. He didn't want to risk the man changing his mind and coming after him. He ran until the man was out of sight. Surprisingly, he had made no attempt to pursue him. Adam stopped to examine the contents of the pouch. He sighed with relief when he saw there was money inside it, plenty of money. He would be able to get something to eat at last.

As evening came, Adam walked through the local park. Picking out a bench he sat down and began eating the sandwiches he had bought. Despite his hunger he ate as slowly as he could, knowing from experience that if he went days without food he needed to go slowly. Otherwise, he would just be sick and waste the food.

There had been nearly ten pounds in the man's pouch, along with a collection of strange gold, silver and bronze coins. Adam had no idea what they were. With the money he had bought himself sandwiches, other bits of food that he could hopefully make last several days and his Christmas present to himself, a bar of chocolate.

Adam stayed in the park for the rest of the evening, watching the world. He felt much happier with food in his stomach. Things were looking up, he had food and enough money to last him some time if he was careful. As the sun began to set he stood up and began to walk again, looking for a place to sleep. He needed somewhere out of sight of the main roads; the last thing he wanted was to be spotted. Spotting a covered entrance to a building set back off the main street, he approached it. He needed to check there was nobody else there; nicking someone else's sleeping spot would be bad, very bad. Satisfied that it was safe Adam took off his coat, lay down and wrapped it around him like a blanket. He made sure his body weight was placed on top of his money; it wouldn't do for it to go missing while he slept, as had happened before.

Adam closed his eyes and as he attempted to doze off he muttered to himself, "Happy Christmas."

Chapter 2

Adam

July 27th 1992

Adam was feeling very pleased with himself. For the first time since he had run away, just over a year ago, he had managed to find somewhere he was able to stay for a reasonably long period of time. He had been living in the back room of an old abandoned factory for just over a month now, and it was working out reasonably well. Every morning during the week a truck would turn up at a nearby factory delivering lunch to the workers there and, if he was careful, he was able to take some food as the driver was unloading. He often suspected the driver knew he was doing it and ignored it. Adam silently thanked him for this every day.

He spent the day wandering around the area. There was a nearby park which had a small stream that allowed him to keep himself more or less clean. The park was quiet today. Occasionally, he would spot children from the local houses playing football and sometimes they even asked him to join in, which he loved. However, he was always careful to avoid any adults and he never told any of the other kids his real name.

Adam wandered back towards his temporary home carrying the small bag where he kept his food. He didn't dare leave it behind; if he did it would go missing. Adam turned onto a wooded path that split off from the main road. Taking the path would allow him to cut across to the industrial area. Adam always took a longer route back to avoid the traffic of workers heading home for the day because he didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention. As he walked down the path he saw two men coming in the other direction. He couldn't see their faces; they both had baseball caps drawn low over their eyes. He had seen these men in the area before. Adam knew that, like him, they lived in one of the old factory buildings, but unlike Adam, they earned their living by breaking into the buildings and vehicles in the area. He had always stayed well clear of them. Wanting to avoid trouble, Adam turned around and began walking back the way he came; he had managed to avoid these men in the past by simply keeping out of their way.

"Oi, kid!" one of the men called.

Adam kept walking. Hearing running feet behind him, Adam began to run back towards the park. If he could get back where other people were they would probably leave him alone. A stone hit the ground in front of him, but he kept running, his heart now pounding. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his knee; he lost his footing and he went flying to the ground, landing flat on his face. Adam tried to stand up using a nearby tree branch to pull himself to his feet, but the men had caught up to him. One of the men delivered a sharp kick to his already injured knee which forced him back to the floor.

"You shouldn't have run kid, we only wanted to talk to you," one of the men sneered. "We've seen you around. You seem to do quite well for yourself. We thought you must have some spare change..." the man laughed, " ...that you wouldn't need."

"I don't have anything," Adam said in a trembling voice as he struggled to pull himself to his feet. He felt the strange burning sensation deep within him begin to build again for the first time in nearly a year.

Adam's face exploded in pain, and he found himself on the floor again. He moaned in pain; he could feel what he assumed was blood trickling down his face. He looked up to see one of the men cupping his fist where he had just punched him. The other man had drawn a small pocket knife. He approached Adam, drew his leg back and kicked him viciously in the knee. Adam felt a sickening crunch and pain flared, causing Adam to scream out.

"Seems you got food in this bag, eh, kid," said one of the men. "We'll keep this for later. Now where's your money? You keep yourself well fed, we've seen you! Where is it?"

"I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING!" Adam screamed as he covered his face with his arms. The strange burning sensation continued to build, despite Adam's efforts to push it down. He moaned softly, "No, no, no."

Another kick to his side caused Adam to cry out in pain again. Suddenly, a large cracking sound filled the enclosed path as the building force inside him released. The two men flew violently backwards and across the path as a wave of energy, originating from Adam, swept across them. They landed in a heap, one of them crashing against a nearby tree.

"What the hell!?" one of the men shouted, his eyes wide with fear. "Screw this," he muttered, and grabbing his companion by the arm, they ran off down the lane.

Adam was shaking violently. His body sagged to the floor as he felt sharp shooting pains in his leg and he felt blood still trickling down the side of his face. He cursed himself. He had lost control again. True, it had probably saved him a beating, but if it wasn't for these things that always seemed to happen around him he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. If he was normal, he would have had a family. It was always the same; no one ever wanted a freak like him. Doing these things is the reason you'll never fit in with this family! Adam heard a voice from his past echo through his thoughts.

Adam shook his head. He hadn't gotten where he was feeling sorry for himself. Slowly and painfully, he got to his feet and began hobbling back home, feeling completely drained. He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

Sharp pains shot up and down his leg every time he put weight on it, and he was relieved when he reached the industrial park and found a fence that he could lean on. It was slow going, but he was nearly home now.

When he turned the final corner he saw her, an elderly woman dressed in a long black robe. She had black hair and her eyes were focused on him. Adam swore; he realised he had seen her before, that she was the one who had found him last year. She must be trying to track me down, Adam thought. Today couldn't get any worse! Adam turned around and attempted to make his way back the way he came. Maybe she hadn't recognised him.

"Wait!" she called to him.

Adam knew he had to run for it, but as soon as he placed his weight back on his leg, pain exploded again and his leg collapsed, sending him crashing to floor in a painful heap. Determined not to be caught, Adam slowly and painfully climbed to his feet, and tried to back away. The expression on the woman's face was curious and almost as if she was friendly. Adam dismissed this: no one would help him, it must be a trick. He continued to back away. It was to Adam's great relief and surprise that the woman suddenly turned around and left the lane, leaving him all alone.

Minerva

July 27th 1992

Minerva dashed towards the Headmaster's Office, a letter clasped securely in her hand. She knew it. The Ministry obviously hadn't been looking for the child as Albus had assured her they were. She had returned to the address that was on the previous letter on many occasions to search, but the child was long gone. Finding a lone child in Muggle London was simply beyond her means and to be fair to Albus she had trusted the Ministry to do their job as well. Reaching the Headmaster's office she stormed through the door with barely a courteous knock.

"Albus! There's another letter in this year's batch," she announced relieved to see that the Headmaster was alone.

"Pardon?"Albus enquired curiously.

"Another letter with no name, similar to the one last year," she replied handing him the envelope. "It has another strange address. Albus, this child is sleeping on the street. We must bring him or her to Hogwarts!"

Albus sighed deeply. "It appears the Ministry has not put their resources to finding this child as they assured me they would."

"Albus, I am going to find this child and I will continue looking until I do! I'm not giving up as easily as last year," said Minerva passionately. "I'm going to London. If I can't find him at this address, I would like you to arrange for others to help with the search."

"Very well, Minerva," replied Albus, his expression blank. She couldn't tell if he approved or if he was upset at their failure, but she was at least confident he would not interfere.

Minerva promptly left Hogwarts to travel to the address on the envelope.

Arriving at the location, she noticed the area was considerably more industrial than the area she visited the previous year. She wandered along the street taking in her surroundings. The road she found herself on bordered an industrial area on one side and on the other side an open grassed area, presumably for Muggle sports, separated the road from what appeared to be a cluster of houses.

The letter had instructed her to find unit fourteen, so Minerva wandered the industrial area searching for any distinguishing features. The industrial area consisted of a set of buildings enclosed by fences. A road wound its way through the area and a series of smaller footpaths ran between the units. This allowed her to easily leave the road and move between the buildings.

Minerva was walking down one of these paths when she first saw him. It was early evening and the industrial estate was deserted, with all the workers presumably having gone home for the day. Her eyes were drawn to him immediately; he was short and had long unkempt light brown hair. He was desperately thin, and wore ripped, stained clothes that seemed to hang off him. His face was bruised and there was blood staining his face, fresh blood she realised, a recent injury. He was leaning heavily on the fence, trying to keep his weight off his left leg. Minerva's eyes met his, and she saw his eyes were grey, that they seemed bright with intelligence, and now widened in fear. He spun around and started in the opposite direction.

He was obviously in great pain. She shuddered to think what must have happened to the boy, to make enduring the pain of walking on an obviously injured leg preferable to being caught by her, even though she had taken no hostile action against him.

"Wait!" Minerva called as she strode towards him.

On hearing her voice, full blown panic seemed to overtake the boy and he tried to run. As his left leg hit the ground it gave way and the boy screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. Clawing at the fence, he regained his footing and once again tried to back away from her.

This gave Minerva pause, and she considered her options. If she continued after him he would bolt and hurt himself even more; she could Stun him, but that would hardly gain his trust and would risk injuring him further. Coming to a decision she turned on her heel and walked back the way she had come. As she walked she glanced over her shoulder and saw the boy watching her, relief that she was leaving evident on his face.

Once Minerva was out of sight she transformed into Animagus form and, leaping over the nearby fence, dashed away, hoping that she could get back to the boy before he disappeared again.

She finally caught up to him on the far side of the estate, slipping through an open door of what appeared to be an abandoned building, number fourteen. The room the boy had set up in was small and dirty. It had a single dirty window through which a limited amount of light entered. The boy had obviously been staying here for a while; a makeshift bed had been constructed out of what appeared to be old clothes, a collection of food wrappings, and empty tins built up in one corner.

The boy, upon reaching the makeshift bed, sank slowly and painfully into a sitting position. He sat completely still for several minutes, staring into space, and then, as his body seemed to relax, he started to sob. This poor child had obviously been through something traumatic today, attacked or injured somehow, Minerva decided she was going to help as best she could.

Minerva approached the boy in her tabby cat form and rubbed up against the side of his body. He jumped when he felt her, but relaxed upon seeing the cat. The flow of tears began to slow and he began to stroke her fur.

"H-H-Hello, Kitty," he stuttered at the now purring cat. "W-w-will you keep me company tonight?" He shifted his body to allow the cat the sit, giving a small gasp of pain as he moved his leg. "I'm sorry I don't have any water for you. I'll try and get you some tomorrow if you'll stick around?" He gave a short laugh. "I'm talking to a bloody cat!"

He continued to stroke Minerva's fur for some time, obviously finding the action relaxing. Finally, he painfully straightened his injured leg, lay back on the makeshift bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Once Minerva was confident he was soundly asleep she made her move. Extracting herself carefully from under the sleeping child's arm, she transformed back into a human. After casting a mild Sleeping Charm on the boy, to ensure he would not wake up for several hours, she rummaged through his belongings that were scattered around the small room. She found nothing of value, other than the old clothes that were used to make the bed. He appeared to have nothing other than the clothes on his back.

Minerva gently picked up the boy, holding him securely in her arms and brought out her return Portkey. She always carried one with her in case she needed to return to the school quickly. She activated it and feeling the familiar tug, Minerva and the boy vanished from small room.

Adam

July 29th 1992

The first thing Adam noticed when he awoke was the softness of the bed he was lying in, and the differences in the room. He probably should have panicked, but he was just so damn comfortable in this bed. He sat up slowly and took in his surroundings. He was lying in a soft bed covered in a white sheet. There were curtains to either side blocking his view, but across the room he could see a window through which sunlight poured into the room, making it seem unnaturally bright. His body felt well rested. He put his hands up to his face. It was clean and there was no trace of his previous injury. He lifted his sheets to look at his knee. Someone had dressed him in a clean set of white pyjamas. Pulling up the leg of his clothes he noticed that his knee was no longer red and swollen, as it had been when he went to sleep.

Adam swung his legs to the floor and stood up. He felt a dull ache in his knee as he put his weight on it, but was happy to find it supported his weight. He walked gingerly across the room and looked around. The room contained many beds like his, each divided by a set of curtains, and there was a large door set in a stone archway at the far end of the room. The door looked strange to Adam, in fact, the entire room did. It was almost as if he was in a historic castle.

Adam made his was slowly towards the door. He didn't know where he was or how he got here, but he needed to find a way out. He turned the handle. It was locked.

"You should be in bed, young man!"

Adam froze; he slowly turned around to find the source of the voice. It belonged to a reasonably tall woman who was wearing what Adam vaguely recognised as a nurse's uniform, although, like everything in this strange place it seemed somehow old fashioned. Adam knew that he couldn't get out of the room, so he stood completely still, eyeing the nurse apprehensively.

"I didn't spend my time healing that knee of yours for you to be injuring it again by being out of bed," she informed him.

"Y-y-you fixed my knee?" Adam questioned shakily. "Why?"

"I help everyone who comes in here. Now back to bed, please," she replied kindly. "I bet you're hungry. I'll go and get you some lunch and when I get back I want to see you in bed."

Adam watched as the nurse disappeared behind the door at the far end of the room. He was trapped, but this woman had healed his knee and his face. Maybe he had found someone who would help him, well, at least until he had another accident. He didn't want to trust these people, whoever they were, but it wasn't as if he had much choice at the moment. Coming to a decision, Adam walked slowly back to the bed and sat down on it; he would stay here for now. If things went bad he would find a way to escape later.

"Ah, there you are, young man," the nurse said as she returned with a tray.

At the smell of the food Adam's stomach churned and growled; he was starving. He looked down at the tray that had been placed in front of him; he felt his mouth begin to water. Sausages, bacon, beans, a hot meal. He hadn't had a hot meal since... he couldn't actually remember the last time he had a proper cooked meal. Remembering that he had to use a knife and fork, Adam wolfed down the food in front of him.

When he had finished Adam looked up to see the nurse sitting in a chair next to his bed watching him.

"My name is Madam Pomfrey. Would you tell me what your name is?" the nurse asked.

"My-my name is Adam. Where am I?" Adam replied.

"Do you have a surname, Adam?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"W-Winters," Adam replied.

"Well, Adam Winters, nice to meet you. You are at a place called Hogwarts. You were found injured, so we healed you," she replied.

"When can I go?" Adam asked. He couldn't stay here too long, it would be best for him to leave; if he stayed, someone would get hurt.

"Adam, we had hoped you might like to stay here with us," Madam Pomfrey replied.

Adam shook his head. "No-no-no. I'll have to go, I can't stay here!"

Adam noticed the shocked expression on Madam Pomfrey's face. She didn't understand. If he stayed here people would get hurt.

"Adam, I will promise that if you don't want to stay I will let you leave, once you are better. However, you must promise to stay here until you are healthier. I also want you to promise you will listen to someone who will tell you all about Hogwarts," she smiled. "Once you hear about Hogwarts, you may well find you want to stay here."

"Promise?" Adam replied in a quiet voice.

"I'll promise if you will," she replied.

"I promise," replied Adam. If all he had to do was promise to stay here for a bit and listen to someone, then he would do it. Then he could leave.

"Thank you, Adam," she said with a wide smile.

"Madam Pomfrey, I had a cat with me before I came here. Do you know where it went?" Adam asked. He hoped the cat was fine.

She gave a short laugh, "Don't worry, Adam, the cat is safe here. I'm sure she will come and see you in a few days."

Adam

July 31st 1992

Adam had just finished eating breakfast when he heard the door open. He didn't pay much attention to it, assuming it to be Madam Pomfrey bustling around the small hospital. When the woman in black robes came around the edge of his curtains, Adam tensed. How has she found me here? he thought, shrinking back to the far end of bed.

"Adam, don't be scared," she called out hurriedly. "I'm one of the teachers here at Hogwarts. I was the one who found you. My name is Professor McGonagall."

It all clicked together in Adams mind: teacher, professor. Hogwarts was a school of some kind.

Madam Pomfrey walked around the curtains carrying a tray with a pitcher and several bottles on it. "Adam, Professor McGonagall is going to tell you a bit about Hogwarts today," she said as she replenished some liquids on his bedside table. "I want you to listen to her and remember your promise and stay in bed!"

Adam relaxed a bit, knowing the nurse obviously got along with the new woman, so he replied, "Okay."

Madam Pomfrey smiled and left his bedside. Adam could hear the sounds clinking glass, coming from a nearby cupboard.

"Adam, have you ever had strange things happen around you?" Professor McGonagall asked with a smile on her face.

Adam panicked. How did she find out? He was sure now they would send him away or to the police. He had to get out here. He pulled back the covers and tried to climb out of bed.

"Adam! Wait! When I was your age I used to have strange things happening to me too!" Professor McGonagall called hurriedly.

Adam froze. "What?" he asked. "Tell me." She had said she used to have strange things happening to her. That meant she had been able to stop it somehow.

"When I was young, I used to make things float around my house. I even broke things without touching them," she replied.

Adam had done those things, but he had also hurt people. He didn't want to tell her, but if he did maybe she could make it stop, maybe she could make him normal again.

"I-I-I've...I've hurt people," he admitted quietly.

He noticed the smile on her face falter for a second.

"What do you mean, Adam?" she asked gently.

"B-Before you found me, two men attacked me. I was really scared. I wanted them gone. There was a loud crack and they flew back across the path," Adam replied and then hung his head.

"Oh...oh, Adam! That's not your fault. You were only trying to protect yourself. You did nothing wrong," replied Professor McGonagall, relief evident on her face.

"So, is that what happens at Hogwarts, you teach us to be normal again?" Adam asked hopefully.

"No, at Hogwarts we will teach you to control your abilities, so things only happen when you want them to," she pulled out a small wooden stick and waved it at his breakfast tray, the tray rose up floated to the other side of the room where it settled on the floor with a soft clatter. "We can teach you to do that."

Adam's jaw dropped, he gasped. "I could do that?"

"And lots more!" replied the professor excitedly.

Adam felt as if his world had been turned on its head. Suddenly, he began to think that his powers, powers he had always treated as a curse and thought would exclude him from others, could be useful and maybe even fun, but even so he would always be different.

"I'll still be different, though?" Adam asked.

"Adam, you have a great gift. Yes, you will be different from others, but there are many like you. This year there are thirty children your age starting at Hogwarts and we would very much like for you to be one of them," she replied.

She had said there were others with these powers, so he wasn't different from everyone!

"Why do I have these powers?"

"Sometimes it is because your parents had them, sometimes it can be seemingly random. Take, for example, our best student last year. Neither of her parents were magical," she answered.

"I never knew my parents," Adam replied sadly.

She seemed to want him to continue, but Adam stayed silent, he didn't want to talk about before. While she waited she pulled a piece of brown-coloured paper out of her robe and handed it to him.

"This is your school letter. It was how we knew to find you," she stated. "Go on read it."

Adam gulped, "I can't read it, Professor."

"You can't read?" she replied in a shocked tone.

"No-no, I can read... before... I used to have glasses. I needed them to read things close up. They got broken ages ago," he replied, feeling his cheeks going red.

"Well, we will soon sort that out. This is your letter of acceptance for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she replied proudly.

Adam felt his jaw drop. Witches?Wizards?

"You're a wizard, Adam."

Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Jezzjamer2 for beta reading for me

Adam

August 19th 1992

Adam loved Hogwarts Castle. It was the most amazing place in the world. Once he had recovered from his injuries he spent his time wandering around the castle with Professor McGonagall. Together they had visited the Great Hall which had an enchanted ceiling that changed depending on the weather. Adam's favourite place however was the Astronomy Tower. From the top of it he could see for miles around; he could see the lake, the entire castle and the Quidditch pitch. Adam wasn't quite sure what Quidditch was, but he knew it had a pitch. Maybe when he came here properly he could be on the team. Adam had enjoyed it when he could play football with the other kids in the park back in London and he always felt hurt, not that he would show it, when they said he couldn't join in. When Professor McGonagall had taken him out into the grounds for the first time he had been staggered. Hogwarts Castle from the outside was impressive, to say the least. The castle was huge with its tall towers stretching up into the sky and hundreds of small windows hiding who knew what behind them. he thought that he could spend the rest of life there and still not visit every room.

It hadn't taken him long to decide that he wanted to stay at Hogwarts. He had been virtually certain that he would stay as soon as Professor McGonagall told him he would be with others the same age as he, others who had the same gifts as he did. Once he had actually seen the castle it was settled, he was going to Hogwarts.

Adam had been sleeping in the hospital since they brought him to Hogwarts, despite his knee now being fully healed. Madam Pomfrey had been able to find him some clothes that fit. They looked a little odd, but even so they were much better than what he had previously.

He had just finished getting dressed when Professor McGonagall swept into hospital wing.

"Adam, today we are going to go and buy all the supplies you will need for school," she announced.

Adam froze, he didn't have any money. Didn't they realise this? How was he going to be able to pay for anything? His shoulders slumped; he knew Hogwarts was too good to be true.

"Professor, I... I d-don't..." he stuttered.

"Don't worry about the money, Adam. The school has a fund available which helps children who can’t afford to pay have the opportunity to go to school," she replied soothingly. "The Headmaster has approved for you to use this fund, so the school will purchase all the equipment you need."

Reassured, Adam gratefully followed Professor McGonagall out of the hospital wing. They walked together through the corridors of the school until they came to a room that Adam had never been into before.

"This is my office, Adam," she explained as they entered. "We will be travelling to the shops using Floo. What you need to do is take a pinch of this powder, stand on the fire and shout, 'Diagon Alley'."

Adam did as he was told. After a few seconds of feeling like he was spinning on a roundabout really fast, Adam emerged at the other end, flat on his bum, in what appeared to be a pub. There were tables scattered around with a few groups of people sitting at them. He had messed up. Professor McGonagall had said they were going to the shops, not to a pub! He scanned the room looking for someone who could help him. Suddenly, he heard a whooshing noise behind him. Adam spun around and saw the professor emerge from the fireplace behind him.

"I thought I'd gone wrong somewhere," he admitted with a shy laugh.

"This is the Leaky Cauldron. It's at the entrance to the main wizarding area of London, called Diagon Alley," replied Professor McGonagall.

Adam thought that Diagon Alley was amazing. It was as if someone had taken all the fantastic things he had read about in books and then made shops that sold them. The first shop they visited was the opticians where Adam had his eyes tested. Luckily, the shopkeeper noticed Adam looking very apprehensive at the frames he had in his store, since they were all decidedly odd-looking. When the shopkeeper offered to use a set of Muggle frames, Adam gratefully accepted the offer; all the wizarding frames made him look like an old man.

Adam and Professor McGonagall visited a multitude of other shops. They bought school robes, books, a potions kit and a trunk. They even made a trip out into London so he could buy a few new sets of clothes. Adam was glad about this; he didn't particularly fancy wearing robes the whole time. Professor McGonagall had told him that at school they spent the majority of the time wearing robes, so lots of normal clothes weren't necessary. While in London, they also bought new frames for his glasses. Adam chose a modern-looking pair, where his new lenses would be mounted hanging from a thin black bar that ran across the top of the glasses.

Adam felt completely overwhelmed as they made their way with his packages to their last stop of the day. He had never before had this many things that were truly his. The last stop was to buy his wand; this was what he had been looking forward to the most.

"Welcome, Professor McGonagall and a new student!" said the creepy-looking man that was standing behind the counter of the wand shop. "Why I wasn't expecting you, young man? How surprising..."

"Just get him fitted for a wand please, Mr. Ollivander," Professor McGonagall replied shortly.

"Well, young man, which arm is your wand arm?" Asked the shopkeeper.

Adam looked up at Professor McGonagall, confused.

"Are you right- or left-handed, Adam?" she clarified.

"Right handed, sir."

Mr. Ollivander selected many wands. None of them did anything. Adam tried wand after wand, but still nothing happened. All the while Mr. Ollivander kept muttering. "Found a wand for every wizard, never one left unsatisfied."

Adam continued trying wands for over half an hour; with each wand that failed Mr. Ollivander went further back into his shop to get the next one. Adam was beginning to worry that there was no wand for him. Eventually, after forty two wands–Adam was counting–he came back with one more.

"I never thought I would find a master for this wand, but I suppose it is worth a try," said Mr Ollivander.

When Adam tried this wand it grew slightly warm and sparks flew out of the end.

"Excellent!" cried Professor McGonagall.

"My boy, this is a very interesting wand that has chosen you..." Mr Ollivander began.

"Just tell me how much, Ollivander," said Professor McGonagall, interrupting him.

Mr. Ollivander quoted a figure and they paid and left the store. Adam was bouncing with excitement. He had a wand! His own magic wand!

"What did he mean about my wand, Professor?" Adam asked as they wandered back down Diagon Alley.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Ollivander is always telling tall stories to young students about their wands. Pay no attention to him," replied Professor McGonagall.

They returned to the Leaky Cauldron. Professor McGonagall had decided that they should have dinner there before returning to Hogwarts. They ordered a meal and sat down at a nearby table, waiting for it to be prepared.

"Professor!" A loud voice boomed across the pub.

The largest man Adam had ever seen was approaching them. He towered over even Professor McGonagall and she was fairly tall.

"Hagrid, please join us," said Professor McGonagall. She pointed to Adam as Hagrid approached the table. "This is Adam. He is a new student who will be joining us this year."

"Pleased to meet you, Adam. Did you have fun shopping today?" asked Hagrid as he sat down.

"Yes, sir. I got my wand!" replied Adam excitedly.

"Well done! Don't call me sir, though. I'm just Hagrid," he replied. "Listen, Professor, I can't stay long, but I though I'd let you know. I had to split up a fight between the Malfoys and Weasleys at Lockhart's bloody book signing today."

"What happened exactly, Hagrid?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Well, looks like Malfoy junior insulted little Ginny Weasley and Malfoy senior joined in. Naturally, her dad took offence and I had to practically pull Arthur off Malfoy in the end," said Hagrid. He stood up reluctantly. "Well, I better be off. I need to find some flesh-eating slug repellent. Couldn't get any earlier."

"Bye, Hagrid," Adam waved as Hagrid left the table.

Their food arrived shortly after. While they were eating, Adam asked, "Professor, who are the Malfoys and Weasleys?"

"They are two wizarding families. They both have children at Hogwarts; I think the Weasleys' youngest will be in your year," replied Professor McGonagall. She raised her eyebrow at him. "Oh, and Adam, it’s not polite to eavesdrop on adult conversations."

They finished their meal in silence and, gathering all of Adam's purchases, they returned to Hogwarts.

Ginny

September 1st 1992

Ginny couldn't sleep, she was so excited. She was going to Hogwarts today! She had already packed her trunk and checked she had everything. She then checked it again. Upon repacking her trunk she found the present her parents had gotten her; they probably hadn't intended her to find it until she got to school, but she didn't see any harm in looking at it now, as long as she didn't mention it until she got to school.

It was diary, so she grabbed her quill and opened it, deciding she would make an entry now before the usual rush to King's Cross began.

Dear Diary,

My name is Ginny Weasley and I am going to Hogwarts today.

As she finished writing the text began to fade and eventually vanished into diary. Slowly, new writing became visible and took its place.

Hello Ginny,

My name is Tom. I went to Hogwarts as well; I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Do remember to tell me what house you get Sorted into.

Ginny slammed the diary closed with a squeal. Surely a diary wasn't supposed to do that. Thinking about it, Ginny decided it must be safe as her dad had given it to her as a present.

She was about to open the diary to write some more when her mum called from downstairs, "Ginny, Ron, Fred, George UP! UP! UP!"

Ginny threw the diary back into her trunk and pelted down the stairs, with one thought running through her mind. Hogwarts!

This is brilliant, Ginny thought several hours later, as her family dashed through King's Cross Station. It was her first journey to Hogwarts and she knew they were going to miss the train. When they reached the barrier, her brothers ran straight through one after another.

"We'll go through together, Ginny," her father said as he put his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

Ginny and her dad ran together at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Once on the other side she took in the sight of the Hogwarts Express, the giant red steam engine that would carry her off to school. For as long as she could remember she had been coming here to see off one of her brothers, but this year it was her turn! She was going to Hogwarts!

"Quickly, Ginny, we need to get you a seat," her dad said. "Go hug your mum and then get on the train. I'll get your trunk on!"

Ginny trotted over to her mum and hugged her; she accepted the pack of sandwiches her Mum had made gratefully. With a last glance around the station she hopped on the train just as it sounded its whistle and started to pull off.

Ginny waved out of the window until her parents shrank rapidly into the distance as the train gained speed. She stayed at the window watching as London receded behind the now speeding Hogwarts Express. Ginny swallowed, time to go and make some friends, or she could find Ron. She would go and find him first, she decided.

She made her way down the connecting corridor of the train until she found her brother's compartment; when she found it she peered in through the window. Attempting to put names to the descriptions her brother had given her wasn't too difficult. There was Ron, another boy, presumably Neville Longbottom, and a girl, presumably Hermione Granger, in the compartment.

She timidly opened the door to the compartment and stepped inside.

"Hi, guys!" she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"Hi, you must be Ginny?" Hermione asked brightly.

"Err... Hi," Neville said.

Ginny sat down on the only spare seat in the compartment. An awkward silence settled over the group and it gave Ginny the impression she was intruding on something.

"Ginny, what are you doing here? Buzz off with the other firsties," said Ron, suddenly glaring at her.

Brilliant, thought Ginny. Well, if he didn't want her here, she wouldn't stay. With a huff Ginny stood up and stormed out of the compartment.

"Ron!" She vaguely heard Hermione scolding Ron as she left the compartment.

Ginny wandered the corridor of the Hogwarts Express looking for another compartment. She passed several compartments full of older students... no point trying them. She glanced in a compartment full of first year girls and decided she wouldn’t try to sit there, either; there was too much girly giggling coming from that compartment for her liking. Having grown up with 6 brothers Ginny wasn't big on girly-girl things. There weren't many compartments left now, she was nearing the front of the train. The next compartment seemed to only have one occupant inside, a boy. He looked small enough to probably be a first year, too. She was about to move on, when she thought, He is probably as nervous as me. Ginny finally decided to go in and say hello. She could always find another compartment or squeeze into the giggling compartment later if she and the boy didn’t get along.

Ginny knocked on the door of the compartment and poked her head inside. The boy was busy looking out of the window, so she couldn't see his face, he was nearly as short has her and had light brown hair. He didn't appear to have heard her knock.

"Hi, can I sit here? I can't find anywhere else right now," Ginny said forcing her voice to sound chirpy.

Adam

September 1st 1992

Adam watched the countryside roll by. He had been one of the first to arrive at Kings Cross this morning; Professor McGonagall had dropped him off and then returned to Hogwarts. She had been very insistent that he travel on the Hogwarts Express; apparently he needed to make friends. He felt very nervous, too, because he hadn't had much contact with children his own age and had zero contact with wizarding children. When he was on the run he hadn't really associated with any children, and before that, well, he had always been an outcast.

"Hi, can I sit here? I can't find anywhere else right now," a chirpy voice disturbed Adam from his scenery watching.

Adam glanced over at the source of the voice, which turned out to be a girl, and she looked to be about the same age as him. Her most distinguishing feature was her long, vivid red hair. It came down below her shoulders and she had brown eyes. She gave him a funny look. Adam realised he had been staring and had not answered her.

"Er...Sure, come in," Adam replied, silently berating himself.

Adam took a deep breath, he needed to be sociable. For the first time ever this might be a place where he would actually fit in. He noticed that the girl had sat down on the seat opposite him.

"Hi, I'm Ginny," she said, smiling at him.

"Hi, I'm Adam," they both said at the same time.

They both laughed.

"Sorry. I'm really nervous," Adam admitted.

"Me, too. My brothers are all at Hogwarts, but it's my first year," replied Ginny.

"You have brothers? How many?" asked Adam.

"I've got six. Do you have any brothers or sisters at Hogwarts?"

Adam hesitated; he didn't really want to talk about his past to someone who he didn't really know that well. "Six! Well, it's just me here. I didn't even know I was a wizard until a few weeks ago!"

"Oh, so you're Muggle-born!" exclaimed Ginny.

"What?"

"It means your Mum and Dad weren't wizards."

"Oh, no. I guess they weren't," said Adam.

Adam and Ginny talked for the majority of the journey to Hogwarts. Ginny told him about the four school houses Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. She was certain she would be in Gryffindor as her whole family was there and Adam briefly wondered why Professor McGonagall hadn't mentioned these houses to him. He also quizzed Ginny on some of the questions he had about the Wizarding world. It turned out that Quidditch was a sport played on flying brooms and Ginny absolutely loved it. He couldn't believe that witches and wizards really flew on brooms and he couldn't wait until he could learn to fly. Ginny told him all about her family and how her oldest brother in school Percy was a prefect. She told him all sorts of stories about the antics of her mischievous twin brothers George and Fred, too, as well as her other brother, Ron, who was in the second year and, apparently, quite an arse.

Time seemed to fly while they talked. Ginny did most of the talking and Adam mostly listened, but neither seemed to mind. Eventually, they were distracted by a knock on the compartment door. They opened it to find a woman pushing a cart down the corridor. She seemed to be selling all sorts of strange sweets and other foods, most of which Adam did not recognise. Ginny signalled with a pat of her packed lunch that she didn't want anything; from her face Adam guessed that she didn't have any money. Adam was about to do the same when he remembered the two gold coins Professor McGonagall had pressed into his land when they left Hogwarts that morning.

"Erm, Ginny, I'm not very good with this type of money. Could you get me something? To share, I mean," Adam asked, blushing a bit. He didn't want to make a fool of himself by trying to buy more than he could afford.

Ginny blushed slightly, but took the money and bought a selection of sweets, including some strange jumping frogs made of chocolate and a packet of sweets that ranged in taste from delicious, to utterly disgusting. Adam savoured the bubbly feeling he got at actually having something to share with others.

When the train arrived at Hogwarts later that evening, Adam and Ginny left the train, now dressed in their school robes. Adam decided he liked the robes and he thought the way they swirled out behind him as he walked was very cool. They both looked around, unsure what to do.

"First Years! Over Here!" boomed Hagrid from across the platform.

Ginny grabbed Adam's arm and tugged him towards Hagrid. Adam momentarily flinched at the unexpected contact. This earned him an odd look from Ginny, but he quickly recovered. Together with the rest of the first years, they boarded a set of small boats and two other girls, who introduced themselves as Vicky and Demelza, got in behind them. The two girls seemed to already know each other as they immediately launched into a high speed conversation, punctuated with giggles every now and then. Ginny rolled her eyes at this and Adam had to stifle a laugh because he didn't want to seem rude, after all.

Adam had spent a fair amount of time at Hogwarts over the last few weeks, but his first sight of the castle at night was breathtaking. It seemed to him as if every window in the castle was bright with a twinkling light. The castle was reflected in the water in front of their boat as it moved silently towards the opposite side of the lake. An awed silence settled over the little fleet of boats as they approached their destination. All the whispers and giggles of earlier had disappeared as the small band of children were lead by Hagrid from the boats up a set of stone steps into Hogwarts.

Adam saw Professor McGonagall waiting for them at the top of the steps. She was dressed more formally than normal. Gone was her standard black robe and instead she wore an emerald green robe that seemed to reflect the light from nearby torches. Ginny identified her to him in a whisper, making Adam feel guilty of how much he had kept from Ginny so far, and he decided that once he got to know her better he would tell her his full story.

Professor McGonagall guided the group across the Entrance Hall and into a small room. Adam could distantly hear the murmur of many voices; all through his time here in the summer Hogwarts had seemed eerily quiet. Once they had all squeezed into the room Professor McGonagall instructed the gathered group about the four Hogwarts Houses and the upcoming Sorting ceremony. She largely repeated what Ginny had told him earlier. Once she was finished, she led the first years to the doors of the Great Hall. She pushed them open and led first years through. Adam breathed a sigh of relief. He had done it; he had made it to Hogwarts and made, hopefully, his first friend.

The Great Hall had always impressed Adam. However, now that it contained all the staff and students it was very intimidating. He glanced around. The students were all sitting at four long tables, presumably one for each house, while the staff sat at a long table facing the students. Adam's eyes were immediately drawn to the man who sat in the centre of the staff table, the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. If anyone's appearance matched Adam's mental image of a wizard it was Professor Dumbledore. He had a long white beard and was wearing a strange looking pair of glasses which appeared to be shaped like a half circle. Adam noticed that the headmaster was looking straight at him, as if he was judging Adam's every move, and it felt rather unnerving.

Adam watched as Professor McGonagall moved to the centre of the room and placed a tatty old hat on a stool that had been placed in front of the staff table. Once the professor had stepped back the hat began sing. Amazed, Adam tapped Ginny on the elbow.

"Is that a singing hat?!" He asked.

"I guess so," Ginny giggled. "My brothers wouldn't tell me about the Sorting; well, Fred told me I'd have to fight a troll!"

Adam snorted. "Who would want to fight a troll?"

"Ron nearly did...shh, I'll tell you later, looks like we're about to start." Ginny cut off her story as Professor McGonagall pulled out a sheet of parchment and began to read from it.

"Bradley, Thomas," Professor McGonagall called out.

Professor McGonagall placed the hat and his head, the hall was silent for several seconds.

"RAVENCLAW!" The Hat called.

The Ravenclaw table cheered wildly. Adam was now becoming very nervous. What if he wasn't good enough for any of the houses? What if Professor McGonagall wasn't happy with the house he was in? Would it matter if he was in a separate house to Ginny? He was disturbed from his musings by Ginny's disappointed sigh when a girl with blond hair was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"What's the matter?" Adam asked in a low voice.

"That was Luna. She lives near me. I'd hoped she might be in the same house as me."

"Does it matter that much if you're in a different house?" asked Adam curiously.

"Yeah, it does. You aren't allowed into another houses' common rooms, which is where you spend a lot of your free time," replied Ginny sadly.

This made Adam even more nervous as he waited. He guessed that when he heard Ginny's name he would be up soon after.

"Weasley, Ginevra," called Professor McGonagall.

Adam's stomach began to churn.

Minerva

September 1st 1992

Minerva had been paying close attention to Adam. Her heart had swelled with pride when she had seen him standing proudly in his school robes. She really hoped this was a start of a much better life for the poor boy. She was especially pleased when she noticed him whispering in hushed tones with Ginny Weasley. The Weasleys were exactly the sort of friends, in her opinion, that Adam needed to make. As Minerva had led the first year students into the Great Hall, she had watched as Albus had eyed Adam with something akin to suspicion. What on earth had Adam done to warrant his suspicion? .She decided to question Albus on it later.

She drew out the student list and called the first name to begin to the Sorting. At least this year had slightly fewer students than normal. The Sorting rarely surprised her anymore; of course there were times when a student was Sorted into an unexpected house. Most of the time though, students ended up where they expected and the Muggle-borns had no prejudices against any of the Houses and generally were happy wherever they went... except for Slytherin.

When Benjamin Vaisey was sorted into Slytherin. Minerva noticed that only Adam and Ginny Weasley remained.

"Weasley, Ginevra," she called.

She watched as Ginny walked nervously over to her. She placed the Sorting Hat on Ginny’s head and then waited with the other occupants of the Great Hall. While she waited, she covertly observed the reactions of Ginny’s brothers; all four were watching intently from the Gryffindor table and it looked as if they were more nervous than their sister. Looks like we have a Weasley that isn't an automatic Gryffindor, thought Minerva as the seconds ticked past. Even so, Minerva secretly hoped that Ginny Weasley would be placed into her house.

"GRYFFINDOR!!!!" That Hat shouted at last.

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers and Ginny Weasley ran over to join her brothers.

Adam was now standing by himself and looked decidedly nervous. She had, at Albus' request, not told Adam much about the Hogwarts house system. She suddenly wished she had defied him and steered Adam towards Gryffindor, but there was nothing to be done now.

"Winters, Adam," Minerva called and Adam made his way slowly over to the stool and sat on it. She placed the Sorting Hat on his head and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Adam's Sorting was by far the longest of the night and the longest Minerva had witnessed for several years. What are you talking to the Hat about, Adam? she wondered. The seated students were completely silent as they watched and waited with impatient faces; Adam was, after all, delaying their feast. She noted Albus watching with an intense expression. She also thought she saw Ginny Weasley watching Adam with a worried expression on her face, but when Minerva made eye contact the girl blushed and turned away.

"GRYFFINDOR!!!" The hat called at length, startling Minerva.

Adam jumped up and practically skipped to the Gryffindor table. Minerva was very glad to see Ginny Weasley move over to give him space to sit down and he received slaps on the back from some of the other nearby Gryffindors. As Minerva collected the stool and hat to put them away for another year, Adam turned around and gave her a massive grin. She smiled back and couldn't help but notice that he looked incredibly relieved.

The feast now proceeded as it had done for many years. Albus gave his usual speech during which he informed the students about the Forbidden Forest, which thankfully few dared to enter. He also informed them about the banned list of magical pranking items. This announcement, unfortunately, was generally ignored by the student population. Once the Headmaster had finished it was time to eat.

Minerva glanced along the staff table as she ate, they were all back again. Although if her threats were to believed this would be the last welcoming feast that Silvanus Kettleburn would be attending. Minerva desperately hoped this would also be the last, and only, welcoming feast that Gilderoy Lockhart would attend. Are we really so desperate that we must employ him, Albus? she wondered as she helped herself to a delectable slice of roast mutton.

With the feast nearing its conclusion Albus stood to introduce Lockhart. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher leapt up to stand by Albus' side and made a dramatic bow. Minerva promptly looked away. Who does he think he is a teacher or a performer?

"Minerva, would you join me in my office afterwards?" murmured Albus as he made his way back to his seat.

Minerva nodded her head, her eyes following Adam as he and Ginny Weasley were led out of the Great Hall by the Gryffindor prefects.

The two professors left the hall and walked in silence back to Albus' office. Once inside, they wasted little time on pleasantries. They both knew each other too well for that.

"Young Mr. Winter's Sorting was the most interesting tonight I think," Albus commented as he took his seat. "You did not..." he added with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I did not instruct him about the houses because you told me not to, Albus," Minerva interrupted sharply. "I am, however, very glad he is in Gryffindor and that he also seems to have made a friend in Ginny Weasley," continued Minerva.

"Ah, yes, I saw that as well. He will need good friends," Albus sighed. "I do feel that we must instruct our staff to keep a special eye on young Adam when he is here at Hogwarts."

"I will watch him the same as I would any Gryffindor," Minerva replied, "Why does he need to be watched more carefully?"

"Minerva, the last child from a background like Adam's that we took into Hogwarts would have started back in your second year. His name was Tom Riddle," Albus paused. "When he left school he decided to get revenge on the Muggles that had treated him so poorly. He abandoned his old Muggle name in favour of what he deemed a stronger name. He became Lord Voldemort."

Minerva inhaled sharply, "Albus, Adam is a young boy. He has been through a horrible time, but I know him. He has a good heart! He is not the next Voldemort!"

"I know, Minerva, but I let Tom slip through my fingers. If I had spotted him earlier I could have stopped him, I could have saved him!" Albus' shoulders sagged. "Do you know, Minerva, that Adam's wand contains a tail feather from Fawkes?" Albus questioned.

This rapid change of topic startled her.

"Fawkes only ever gave two tail feathers; one to Adam and the other to Tom Riddle," Albus continued before Minerva could respond.

Minerva could begin to see where Albus' paranoia had come from, but that didn't mean she was going to let him have his way easily.

"That is interesting," she said, choosing her words carefully. "However, you must give the boy a chance. He is a Gryffindor, which must show that he is different from Tom Riddle."

The two regarded each other intently and she saw his eyes still looked troubled; she would need to make a concession to please him.

"I will watch him, Albus, closely. Please, though, let's keep this between us until anything occurs to make us doubt the Sorting Hat's judgment tonight," she said.

"Well put, Minerva. You will watch Adam, but if you detect any sign of trouble you must report it."

"Very well. Good day, Headmaster." Minerva said.

She swept out of the room, angry that Albus had chosen to judge Adam harshly based on the actions of another. His concern that Adam could become the next Voldemort was unthinkable. Minerva had no doubt that Adam had a troubled past and she thought it likely he would suffer hardships because of it. However, there was one thing she was certain of and that was that Adam was not evil.

Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews. Big thanks to Jezzjamer2 and Arnel for beta reading and making this a beter story.

Ginny

September 2nd 1992

When Ginny awoke the next morning, she at first didn't know where she was. She was lying in a massive four poster bed with red and gold hangings. Hogwarts! She was at Hogwarts and in Gryffindor tower. She glanced around her room to see her roommates still asleep. Good. Ginny hadn't made much progress with Vicky and Demelza; they were obviously good friends before they came to Hogwarts and she felt, well, she just didn't seem to fit into their friendship. Ginny lay in bed watching the morning sunlight streaming in through the window that was next to her bed; it wasn't time to get up yet. She felt incredibly excited at the thought of her first day of classes.

Ginny thought back over the events of yesterday. It had been one of the most terrifying days she could remember. After her brother, the prat, had chucked her out of his compartment, she had gone and sat with Adam. At first he had seemed incredibly shy but once she got him talking, he was really fun to talk to. Ginny had enjoyed telling him all about the wizarding world and it was incredibly pleasing to see the wonder with which he greeted all the things that had been part of her life for as long as she could remember.

Then there was the Sorting. She had been absolutely terrified that if she didn't get into Gryffindor her family would probably never speak to her again. She had nearly burst out in tears in front of the entire Great Hall when the Hat told her she would do well in Slytherin; she had practically screamed at it that she wanted to be in Gryffindor with her brothers. The Hat had finally relented and sorted her into Gryffindor. She was so relieved when she sat at the Gryffindor table that she had to fight back tears of relief. Ginny was overjoyed when Adam also was made a Gryffindor. It would have been terrible after only just making friends with him for him to be sorted into another house. To be honest, with Ron seemingly wanting nothing to do with her now that he was with his school friends and the infuriating giggling that seemed to be a permanent fixture around her new roommates she needed all the friends she could get.

Ginny heard a noise from the other side of her room.

"Morning, girls!"Demelza said with a cheeriness that was unnatural for this time in the morning.

"Morning," grunted Ginny in reply as she finally dragged herself out of bed.

After dressing, Ginny left her room while her roommates were still messing with their hair. When she reached the common room she glanced around the mass of Gryffindors making their way down to breakfast but she couldn't see Adam. She felt guilty; she had rushed straight to her room last night leaving Adam looking lost in the Gryffindor common room. She didn't want to but she had to tell Tom about her Sorting and, she reminded herself, had to write to her mum. Ginny spotted one of the first year Gryffindor boys and after questioning him found that Adam wasn't in his bed when the rest got up.

Deciding that Adam must have already headed down to breakfast, Ginny began to make her way downstairs towards the Great Hall. There was still no sign of Adam at the Gryffindor table and he didn't appear while Ginny was eating her breakfast. While Ginny was finishing up the last of her breakfast she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Your timetable Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall said, handing her a sheet of parchment.

Ginny glanced down at her timetable. Crap! She had Charms starting in fifteen minutes. Grabbing her bag she dashed out of the Great Hall.

Ginny reached the Charms classroom after only getting lost once. The classroom was already half full. Unsurprisingly, Demelza and Vicky where sitting together so Ginny sat at an empty seat near the back of the room. Shortly after Ginny had sat down the professor entered the room; he was short, Ginny noticed, very short. While he was walking towards the front of the class Adam appeared in the doorway and looked around the room apprehensively. Ginny raised her hand and waved at him, pleased to see a smile appear on his face when he saw her. He ran across the classroom and sat at the desk with her.

The diminutive professor introduced himself as Professor Flitwick. He spent the lesson covering some background theory on charms, teaching them from the top of a pile of books behind his desk. Ginny found the lesson interesting, although she couldn't wait until they actually got to do some actual magic.

Once Charms was finished Adam and Ginny made their way to their next class which was Potions.

"Sorry about last night," Ginny apologised as they walked down to the Potions classroom in the dungeon.

"Don't worry, I pretty much went straight to sleep. The beds at Hogwarts are the softest I've ever slept in," responded Adam.

"Yeah, they are nice, but I sort of miss my room at home, you know? Where were you this morning?" Ginny questioned.

Adam hesitated, "I don't sleep well sometimes, so I went for a walk, then got an early breakfast and then got lost." He chuckled as they entered the Potions classroom and took a seat near the back.

Ginny realised after that first Potions lesson that all the stories her brothers had told her about Professor Snape were true. He had swept into the room with his long black cloak billowing behind him and immediately glared at the Gryffindors. Ginny decided that he must hate all the Gryffindors. Adam lost 10 points for not cutting up the ingredients small enough, she lost 5 for being unable to answer a question. Even so, by the end of the lesson Ginny and Adam had managed to make a successful potion. Ginny found that Adam struggled a lot with the ingredients; she supposed that must be because they were all new to him, but they worked well together.

Ginny was fuming as she stormed out of the Potions class, with Adam struggling to keep up. Snape had not give a single Gryffindor points for their potions, while all the Slytherins had points for completing it. Ginny had to force herself to keep quiet; she didn't want Gryffindor to lose more points because she got angry.

"Can you remember what we have this afternoon?" asked Adam as they made their way back up to lunch.

Ginny scrabbled in her pockets for her timetable. "History of Magic," Ginny sighed. "According to my brothers it's the most boring lesson."

Adam groaned in response to this. They sat down at Gryffindor table and began to fill up their plates with food.

Adam

September 3rd 1992

Adam had enjoyed his first few days at Hogwarts. The lessons were interesting, well, all except History of Magic, and for the first time he had friends, people who seemed to understand him. Ginny was great; he had thought that when she ran off on the first night she didn't want him around anymore now that she was in Gryffindor with her brothers. He was overjoyed when she had waved him over to join her in Charms yesterday and they had spent the day in classes together. In the evening they had gone exploring after dinner. One of the unusual things that Adam had noticed about Ginny was that she seemed to write loads, again last night she had disappeared in early evening to write. Adam didn't mind though, he guessed that was just the way Ginny was. He was also getting along reasonably well with his three roommates, Colin, Ritchie and Jack. He probably got on best with Colin as he was also Muggle-born.

Adam and Ginny were eating breakfast together, when he heard a loud squawk and an owl swooped in and landed in front of Ginny. Adam jumped back in shock. What was an owl doing here? He heard Ginny snicker. She was laughing at him!

"Oh, Adam, I am sorry! I thought you would have seen an owl before," Ginny flushed bright red.

"W-W-What's that tied to its leg?" Adam questioned. He was still feeling self-conscious.

Ginny unrolled the parchment and began reading. "It's a letter from my mum. She's congratulating me on getting into Gryffindor," Ginny replied once she had finished reading.

"So you send post by owl?" Asked Adam.

"Yep, if you want I'll show you how to do it tonight so you can send a letter home."

"Uh, sure," Adam said, hoping Ginny would forget by this evening. He grabbed his timetable out of his bag, hoping to distract Ginny.

"Ginny, we need to get to Transfiguration! We don't want to be late," Adam exclaimed.

They grabbed their bags and left the Great Hall.

They arrived in the Transfiguration classroom in plenty of time. Adam noticed Professor McGonagall sitting on the desk in her cat form. He and Ginny took a desk near the back of the classroom.

"Aw look, Adam, there's a cat on the desk," Ginny said.

Adam snickered when he realised that not many would know that Professor McGonagall could turn into a cat.

"Just watch; it's not an ordinary cat," Adam replied with a grin.

When the class was ready to begin, the cat leapt off the desk and transformed back into Professor McGonagall. Adam heard Ginny emit a squeal.

"You knew!"

Adam grinned in response.

Professor McGonagall's lesson consisted of them attempting to transfigure a match into a needle. As Adam and Ginny both took out their wands to begin their work, Adam noticed that Ginny's wand looked considerably different to his. His was slightly longer than hers and hers had tints of brown in it.

"Whats your wand made out of, Ginny?" Adam asked curiously. "It looks different to mine."

"It's my grandmother's wand, she left it to my mum when she died. It 's Ash with a dragon heartstring inside it." Ginny replied. "What's yours?"

Adam paused. "I don't know, we were in a rush when we left the shop and Mr. Ollivander never told me."

"Oh, well maybe you can ask Professor McGonagall. I bet she'll know!" Ginny replied. "We need to get on with this though, or we'll never get it done!"

Adam and Ginny struggled with the exercise that Professor McGonagall had set, as did the rest of the class. However, after an hour of staring at a match and willing it to change they had both made progress, Adam had made his match into a pointed sharp match, while Ginny had turned her match into a silver object, but it was still match shaped.

"Mr. Winters, Miss. Weasley, good work. Take five points each for Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall said as she came around towards the end of the lesson to check their progress.

Adam and Ginny both grinned in response to the praise.

"Professor?" Adam asked before she left to check on the next pair of students. "Do you know what my wand is made out of?"

Professor McGonagall paused. "Your wand, Adam, is holly and phoenix feather. It's erm, quite a rare combination."

Ginny winked at him and said. "Told you she'd know."

"Oh and, Adam, would you come by and see me on Saturday afternoon," the professor continued in a quiet voice so only Adam and Ginny could hear.

"Yes, Professor," Adam replied and he noticed Ginny looking at him curiously.

"What's that about, Adam?" Ginny asked once Professor McGonagall had left their part of the classroom.

Adam felt himself flush under the question. "Please, Ginny. I'll explain later." Adam replied, feeling decidedly uncomfortable.

Adam felt quite proud of his achievement with the match. This was the first class they had actually got to use magic in and he had been able to make something happen when he wanted it to and, even though it wasn't exactly the full transformation, it made Adam very satisfied. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall also gave the class their first homework assignment, an essay.

They made their way in slightly uncomfortable silence to their next class which was Defense Against the Dark Arts. This classroom was completely different than any of the others they had seen. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick each had relevant diagrams on the walls of their classrooms and even Snape had ingredients and other things in jars, which looked like they went in potions… maybe. This classroom was covered in pictures of the professor; it was slightly unnerving.

By the time the lesson was half done, Adam had decided that the one thing Professor Lockhart liked talking about more than anything was himself. His lesson consisted of him telling the class about his travels around the world. Then, the class had to summarise a chapter from their textbook Magical Me.

Ginny giggled as they began writing, "Look at all the other girls in the class," she said as she pointed to the other two Gryffindor girls. They seemed to be staring at Professor Lockhart. "They all fancy him!" Ginny giggled.

"Do you fancy him?" Adam asked, surprised by his own boldness.

"Oi! No!" Ginny flicked Adam 's arm, causing him to jump. "I think he's exaggerating all that he says he's done. I bet if we looked in all the books we would find things that aren't true."

Adam wasn't sure, but he decided to believe Ginny. After all, she knew much more about wizarding things than he did.

"This is boring. I wish we actually got to use more magic. The only class we even got to use our wands so far was Professor McGonagall's," Adam said. He wasn't worried about being overheard. Most of the class was talking now and the Professor didn't seem interested; he was writing stuff up at his desk.

The bell rang at last and they left the classroom to head down for lunch in the great hall.

"I'll be right back," Ginny said and she jogged off as they were approaching the doors of the Great Hall.

Adam saw Ginny approach another red haired boy, her brother maybe. He was with another boy and a girl. Adam sped up to try to catch Ginny when he saw the two boys head off into the Great Hall.

"Hey, Ginny," Adam said as he approached her.

She turned around to look at him and he noticed that there were tears welling up in her eyes.

"Um, what's wrong, Ginny?" Adam asked, unsure what to do, he had never encountered a crying girl before.

Ginny

September 3rd 1992

When Ginny saw Ron heading into the Great Hall, she realised that she had not spoken to him since the train two days ago. She was always closest to Ron out of all her brothers. He had been her closest friend growing up, so she wanted to fill him in on how everything was going.

"I'll be right back," she called to Adam, and she began jogging over to Ron. "Ron! Hey, Ron!" she called out as she got nearer, wanting to attract his attention before he got lost in the crowd of students now piling into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Ginny," he said, with a touch of anger in his voice. She could see him glancing around. "I told you before we left home not to bother me when I'm with my friends. I'll find you later maybe. Come on, Neville, lets get food."

"Ron!" Ginny heard Hermione try to chastise him, but he had already walked off taking Neville with him.

Ginny was upset and furious. Ron had always had time for her at the Burrow, but now he had Hogwarts friends he didn't want anything to do with her. To him, she was just little Ginny who should be quiet and keep out of the way. What upset her even more was that she felt tears forming in her eyes. Stop it, she chastised herself. She didn't cry over little things, she hated crying.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. He can be a complete prat sometimes," apologised Hermione. "I'm trying to educate him, but..." she trailed off.

"Hey, Ginny," Adam said, approaching her from behind.

She turned to look at him, cursing the tears still in her eyes.

"Um, what's wrong, Ginny?" He asked.

"Nothing, its just my brother being a prat!" Ginny said, furiously blinking her eyes, trying to clear the tears. "Let's go and eat."

Ginny noticed that Hermione was still walking with them; she was obviously showing her displeasure with Ron by sitting with them. As they sat down for lunch Ginny noticed Adam was acting shy again, probably because Hermione was there. Ginny realised she probably should introduce them.

"Hermione, this is my friend, Adam," she turned to Adam. "Adam, this is Hermione."

"Nice to meet you, Adam," Hermione replied and held out her hand.

"N-Nice to meet you," Adam replied quietly.

A slightly awkward silence settled between them. Ginny sighed. Adam obviously wasn't very good with new people.

"Hermione is just about the smartest witch in the school according to Ron, so if we need help with homework she's the one to see!" Ginny said brightly, attempting to break silence.

"Ginny! I'm not that smart, but if you do need help you can always ask," Hermione replied smiling.

"W-we got our first essay today, so I may have to ask you," Adam said with a slight chuckle.

They made small talk for the rest of the meal. Ginny mentioned to Adam that Hermione was Muggle-born like he was and Adam seemed interested in how she had found out about being a witch. Ginny actually liked Hermione despite the fact she was friends with her prat of a brother.

"What have you guys got next?" Hermione asked, as she was finishing her lunch.

"Herbology," Adam answered, stealing a quick glance at the timetable in his pocket.

"I have Defense next, I can't wait, I'm sure Professor Lockhart will be brilliant," Hermione replied with a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"See what did I tell you about Lockhart and girls," Ginny whispered as she nudged Adam.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Oh nothing, we just had him, he wasn't that good," Ginny replied, thankful that Hermione hadn't actually heard what she said to Adam.

"Is he new this year then, if you haven't had him before?" Adam asked.

"Oh, yes. Last year we had Professor Quirrell. No one knows what happened, but something happened and he was sacked. All classes were canceled for a whole day because of it," Hermione answered. "I'm sure Professor Lockhart will be much better though."

The bell rang and Hermione stood up.

"I need to catch up to Ron. I'll see you guys later. Bye, Ginny, bye, Adam," Hermione said as she grabbed her bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.

Classes that afternoon passed quickly for Ginny. Her Herbology class consisted mainly of exploring the greenhouses while the teacher, Professor Sprout, rattled off names of some of the plants and the tools they would be using throughout the year.

In the evening, Ginny decided to sit in the common room to work on her Transfiguration essay before she went to bed and wrote in her diary. Ginny loved the Gryffindor common room. It was a large circular room, with a warm fire and comfortable chairs scattered around the room in small groups. Each group of chairs had a small table for the Gryffindors to work on. The room was entirely decorated in red and gold, the wallpaper, the carpet and all the furnishings.

"Oh, hi, Ginny," said Adam. He was standing next to the sofa where she was working. "Working on the homework?" he asked.

"Yes. Come on, let 's do some of it together, if we can," said Ginny smiling.

They worked together on the essays for a couple of hours.

"I've had enough of this," said Adam, slamming his book closed in frustration. "I'm nearly done. I'll finish it tomorrow."

As he began to pack up, Ginny remembered that she had promised to show him how to send post.

"Don't pack up your stuff. Write a quick letter home and I'll show you how to post it," she offered.

Adam looked straight down at the floor and went red.

"I-I-I can't send any post," he said in a quiet voice, not making eye contact with her.

"Why? Is this what Professor McGonagall was on about earlier?" Ginny questioned.

"Yeah."

"Adam, what's going on?" Ginny was starting to get a little annoyed now; she didn't like people hiding things from her.

Adam was still staring stubbornly at his feet; he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"Adam..." Ginny said gently and put her hand on his shoulder. She drew her arm back sharply when Adam flinched away at her touch.

"I don't have anyone to write to, Ginny," Adam sighed and turned to face her. He had a very strange expression on his face, almost a mixture of sadness and fear.

"Surely you must have someone, Adam?" Ginny asked. She couldn't believe that Adam's family wouldn't want to write to him.

"I'm an orphan, I don't have any family, before term started Professor McGonagall found me and brought me to Hogwarts. I think she wants to check that I'm doing okay," Adam replied with a sad sigh and his shoulders slumped.

Ginny gasped. She felt a turmoil of emotion; she was feeling sad for Adam that he had no family, she couldn't believe how someone could be alone, she had so many family members. She was also feeling incredibly guilty for pressing Adam to tell her this.

"I'll understand," Adam said quietly, startling Ginny out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"I'll understand if you don't want to be friends anymore," Adam said with a sad look on his face.

"No!" Ginny nearly shouted. Did he really think she would stop being his friend just because he didn't have any family? "I'm still your friend; nothing you have said will change that!"

Adam turned to stare at her; she could see tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"T-T-thank you, Ginny," Adam said shakily, as he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them.

Ginny threw her arms around Adam and gave him what her mother called a patented Weasley hug. She felt Adam's back stiffen and his arms ended up in an awkward position as if he didn't know what to do with them.

"Sorry, not to used to those," said Adam with a lopsided grin.

Ginny blushed red when she realised she had just hugged a boy that wasn't one of her brothers. She glanced around the room, glad that none of her brothers seemed to have seen the hug. They would probably have been right over to hassle her about it.

"Adam, what did you mean when you said Professor McGonagall found you? Where were you staying?" Ginny asked feeling guilty for pushing Adam for more answers but her curiosity was piqued.

Adam was silent.

"I'm just interested in your life, Adam. Whatever you say, I'll still be your friend," Ginny continued gently.

"I was living on the streets. They put me in a home, but it wasn't nice there so I ran away." Adam replied.

"What do you mean a home?" Ginny asked, guessing that Adam probably didn't want sympathy.

"It's where children go that don't have any families. Don't you have anything like that in the Wizarding world?" Adam asked.

"I don't think so. I've never heard of any," Ginny replied.

Ginny and Adam talked for a long time. Adam shared some stories of his past and Ginny told Adam about her childhood and her older brothers who weren't at Hogwarts. By the time they were finished the two of them were the only ones left in the common room. It was very late.

Ginny panicked. She hadn't written in her diary yet and she needed to do that before she went to sleep.

"Its late, Adam, and I'm off to bed now. I'm glad you felt you could tell me about your past," Ginny said as she rapidly cleaned up her essay, quill and ink.

"Thank you for listening Ginny. It felt good to talk," Adam replied and he yawned loudly.

Ginny picked up her bag, and headed up the girl's stairs, she had a lot to tell Tom about today.

Adam

September 5th 1992

Adam stood nervously outside Professor McGonagall's office. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in," called Professor McGonagall from inside the room.

Adam walked in and took a look around Professor McGonagall's office; it was a small room, with a fire that crackled warmly, a desk which Professor McGonagall currently sat behind and several comfortable looking chairs that were set near the fireplace. It reminded Adam of a smaller version of the Gryffindor common room.

"Adam, come take a seat," Professor McGonagall gestured towards the chairs that surrounded the fireplace.

"How are you finding Hogwarts so far, Adam?" Professor McGonagall asked once she had settled in one of the chairs.

"I love it!"

"Are you enjoying all your lessons?"

"Yes, History of Magic is a bit boring, but all the others are good, except Defense Against the Dark Arts. All Professor Lockhart talks about is himself," Adam replied with a frown.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. Have you made any friends?" Professor McGonagall seemed to ignore his comment about Professor Lockhart.

"Ginny and Colin, I suppose. He is in my room."

"And have you told them anything about your past?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Well, Ginny got very curious, and after you asked to see me in front of her, she asked questions. So I told her. I don't know Colin that well yet though," Adam replied. He tried to make it appear as it was not a big deal telling Ginny, when in truth it had been very hard. He had been terrified that when she learnt he had no family and had to steal food for to survive she wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. He was incredibly relieved when she had said she would still be his friend. She had then hugged him; he hadn't been hugged in…well, he couldn't remember the last time he was hugged.

"I hope you can forgive me for giving you a push in the right direction," said Professor McGonagall. "It is never good to keep secrets from your friends."

Adam grunted. He was grateful to Professor McGonagall. If she hadn't made Ginny question him, he would probably not have told her. It was a massive relief not to have to hide his past from Ginny anymore because as they began spending more time together, he would have slipped up eventually.

"Adam, the main reason I asked you to come here today was to check that you are doing alright. I also want you to know that if you have any problems you can come and see me. If something is bothering you make sure you come and talk to me. Do you have any problems to tell me about?"

"Professor, why didn't you tell me about the houses? After we spent all the time together before term started, wouldn't you have wanted me in your house?" Adam asked.

"That is the reason I didn't tell you, Adam. If Gryffindor wasn't the right house for you and you somehow managed to get the Hat to put you in it to please me, you would not have been happy," replied Professor McGonagall.

This worried Adam. He had asked the Hat to put him in Gryffindor, not to be with Professor McGonagall but because he wanted to be in the same house as Ginny. What if he was in the wrong house? He was unsure if he should tell the professor this; they might move him and he was happy in Gryffindor, his friends were there, Ginny was there.

"Professor, has a student ever been moved between houses?" Adam asked, deciding that if he could be moved he wouldn't tell her about what the Hat had said.

"No, that cannot happen. The Hat has never made a mistake," said Professor McGonagall. When she said this, Adam decided he would trust her.

"Professor, when I put the Hat on it said I would be suited to Slytherin or Gryffindor. It was going to put me in Slytherin, but I told it I wanted to be in the same house as Ginny, so it put me in Gryffindor. What does that mean?" Adam asked in a quiet voice.

Adam was surprised when he saw that Professor McGonagall had a shocked expression on her face.

Professor McGonagall was silent for a moment before saying. "Adam, if the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, you belong here and from what I know of you, I believe you belong here as well." Adam heaved a sigh of relief as Professor McGonagall continued. "However, I would suggest we keep this between us. I would not tell any students or any other staff members that you were nearly in Slytherin."

"Why is that Professor?" Adam questioned, intrigued as to why he needed to keep quiet.

"Please, just do as I say, Adam. Slytherins have a reputation and I don't want you mixed up in that. Please do not tell anyone," Professor McGonagall replied starting straight into Adams eyes.

Adam felt uncomfortable now, but Professor McGonagall had always treated him well, so he would do what she said and keep it a secret. Their brief meeting finished shortly afterwards and Adam decided to make his way back up to the common room. He considered mentioning the Slytherin thing to Ginny, he trusted her to keep his secret and maybe she would know why it had to be kept a secret.

Adam was walking down the corridor away from Professor McGonagall's office, back towards the stairs to climb to Gryffindor tower, when he heard it.

"Come… come to me...let me rip you...let me tear you... let me kill you..." A strange voice seemed to emanate from the walls of the corridor. It seemed to almost float around Adam before vanishing with a quiet hiss.

Adam spun around and looked furiously left and right, searching for the source of the voice. There was no one in the corridor. His heart pounding, he ran back towards the stairway and climbed rapidly up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower. It was only once he was safely back in the Gryffindor common room that he allow himself to relax. He collapsed into one of the chairs by the fire, allowing his heart to slow and his mind to catch up.

Adam relaxed a bit, this might be completely normal for Hogwarts, he thought. He had to ask Ginny. She would know what that voice was. He glanced around the common room; Ginny wasn't there.

"Hermione, have you seen Ginny?" asked Adam as he approaching the table where Hermione appeared to by copying notes from a textbook.

"She left a couple of hours ago. I've not seen her since," Hermione answered.

Adam thanked Hermione and left the common room to search for Ginny. The voice had scared him, badly. Adam spent about an hour wandering the halls of Hogwarts searching for his friend. She still hadn't appeared at lunch time. After lunch a defeated Adam returned to the common room to wait for Ginny.

When Ginny appeared several hours later, stepping through the portrait into the common room, Adam jumped up and ran to her.

"Ginny! Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Adam? I've just been for a walk around," she replied, her voice slightly slurred. She looked exhausted.

"Ginny, you've been gone all day!" Adam exclaimed.

"What? No, I can't have been," Ginny swayed on her feet. "I don't feel too good."

Adam thought Ginny looked ill. His worries about the voice had been pushed from his mind by his concern for her. Adam began guiding her towards the girl 's stairs; he was about to take her up to her room when he remembered he couldn't go up there without setting off an alarm.

"Hermione!" Adam called across the common room. When Hermione looked around he pointed to Ginny and said, "She doesn't feel very well, could you take her up to bed."

Hermione left her books and helped support Ginny as she went up the stairs. Once they were out of sight Adam sank down on a seat by the fire. He would talk to Ginny about the voice he had heard when she was better. Maybe it was just one of those unusual things that happened in this castle.

Chapter 5

Author's Notes: Many thanks to my betas Jezzjamer2 and Arnel. Thank you for all the reviews

Ginny

September 14th 1992

Ginny felt excited as she pulled on her school robes and brushed her hair. Today the first years would have their first flying lesson! She raced down the stairs to the common room, where Adam should be waiting for her. Over the last few weeks they had come to an unspoken arrangement, Adam would normally wake up much earlier than her, so he would wait in the common room for her to come to breakfast.

After two weeks at Hogwarts she was really enjoying herself. The lessons were mostly interesting. She had made a good friend in Adam and was also getting along well with Hermione. It wasn't bothering her anymore that she didn't get on well with her roommates; if they didn't want to be friends with her then she didn't need them.

However two things were spoiling some of her happiness; her brothers and the strange dizziness that she had worked out also seemed to have affected her memory. The simpler of the problems was her brothers who were basically ignoring her: Percy was too busy being a prefect and the twins were too busy pranking and generally causing mischief. Ron however was the worst, he seemed convinced she was either out to embarrass him in front of his friends or trying to steal them from him. Ginny was slightly more concerned about the dizziness. It had occurred several times now but she hadn't told anyone, except Tom. Adam had seen her the first time, but the other two times she had managed to keep it a secret from him. He had enough on his plate without worrying about her and Tom had said it was nothing, so Ginny was happy to ignore it for now and hope it would soon go away.

"Come on, Ginny! Let's go!" Adam said as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Ginny knew that Adam was looking forward to flying as much as she was. She had told him all about how she used to sneak out of the house at night to fly because her brothers wouldn't let her fly with them. Well, there was no one to tell her she couldn't fly now!

Ginny and Adam ate a quick breakfast and made their way out into the castle grounds for their nine o'clock flying class. Outside there were two rows of brooms laid out on the grass. The teacher was already there standing with her arms crossed in the middle of the brooms and a few other students were already out on the field waiting for class to begin. They all seemed to be Ravenclaw's.

"Good morning, class, I am Madam Hooch, your flying instructor. Now step forward and each of you stand by a broom," Madam Hooch announced to the gathered students when the last of the class had arrived.

Adam and Ginny quickly stood beside two adjacent brooms, ensuring they got to stand next to each other. A few minutes later, the lessons began.

"Now hold out your hands above your broom and say, up," Madam Hooch continued.

"Up!" Ginny called and her broom flew straight into her hand, she glanced over at Adam and saw his face plastered with a massive grin, his broom had also flown into his hand on his first attempt.

"Now, class, mount your brooms and hover above the field," Madam Hooch called.

The class all mounted their brooms. Ginny guided hers into a graceful hover above the school grounds. She looked down and saw Adam wobble back and forth on his broom, he seemed to be having difficulty getting his balance right. Eventually he seemed to become more comfortable and he hovered, slightly shakily, up next to Ginny.

"This is awesome!" Adam exclaimed with a look of awe on his face. "You can see the entire castle from up here!"

Madam Hooch soon floated up to join them after she had assisted the remaining students in taking control of their brooms.

"All right, class, we are going to fly to the Quidditch pitch. Angle your brooms in the direction you want to travel and then command your broom to fly forwards," Madam Hooch ordered. "Once you reach the pitch stop your broom by commanding it to stop."

Ginny stuck her tongue out and, giving Adam a wink, shot off towards the pitch. When she reached the pitch she turned to watch the remaining students catch up to her. She was very surprised when Adam came barrelling towards her only a few seconds later. His broom shuddered to an abrupt ungraceful hover next to hers.

"You're an amazing flier, Ginny!" Adam called out, once he had gotten his broom back under control.

"Your really good too, a natural! This is only your first go!" Ginny complimented.

They spent the next hour flying laps around the Quidditch pitch, practising turns, climbs, dives and flying backwards. When the lesson finished Adam and Ginny made their way back towards the school both smiling in exhilaration.

"That was the most awesome thing ever!" Adam exclaimed. "Ginny, you're really good! Erm, isn't there a team for broom flying? If so, you should be on it."

Ginny laughed. "It's the Quidditch team. First years can't be on the team, so I can't try out until next year."

"You should try out anyway; you were the best in the class by far." Adam said.

"You should try out as well, Adam! You were nearly as good as me!"

Adam flushed red slightly. "I don't know the rules though,"

"I'll have to teach you before next year then," replied Ginny with a smile.

Adam

October 31st 1992

Adam's days had fallen into a steady rhythm. He went to classes and spent most of his free time in the common room, normally with Ginny. Although sometimes when Ginny disappeared to write in her diary, as she often did, he would play chess with Colin. Colin wasn't very good at chess, which was good because Adam wasn't either. Surprisingly, Adam also found himself getting along reasonably well with Hermione and she often helped him out when he was struggling with homework. For the first time in years Adam felt at home. The only thing's that had concerned him was the unusual voice that he had heard and Ginny's strange behaviour the very same night. Neither of those events had repeated themselves so Adam had decided to put them out of his mind and enjoy school.

Before coming to Hogwarts Adam had never really bothered with Halloween. It was a luxury that rich kids had with its sweets and costumes. However apparently in the Wizarding world it was a big deal. They were going to have a feast. Normal Hogwarts food was magnificent compared to what Adam was used to and a Halloween Feast, if it was anything like the Welcoming Feast, would be even more amazing. When Adam, Ginny and Colin, who had tagged along, reached the Great Hall Adam was amazed at the decorations. All the tables were decorated by miniature pumpkins, each with a flickering light inside them. Small black bats fluttered around the room above them and the enchanted ceiling was dark with the occasional flash of lightning. Adam thought it gave the perfect mood for Halloween. The three made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down.

"Welcome, students," Professor Dumbledore announced once the entire school was assembled. His voice caused all the scattered conversation in the hall to become silent. "Halloween has always been a major celebration in the Wizarding world. However, in recent years we have celebrated Halloween for a second reason. We remember this day as the day the You-Know-Who was defeated and we remember all those who gave their lives in the defence of the Wizarding world. Now before the feast let us all stand for a moment of silence."

The entire hall stood in silence. Adam digested what the headmaster had just said: this You-Know-Who must be some evil person, perhaps like a wizard version of Hitler. Adam had read about the Second World War in a book when he used to go to primary school. He would have to ask Ginny about You-Know-Who, she would know.

"Let the feast begin!" Professor Dumbledore called ending the momentary silence.

The food was amazing, especially the desserts. There was even chocolate cake! Adam had just cut himself a large piece and was devouring it when he felt Ginny stiffen next to him.

"Ginny?" he asked.

"I'm going to be sick, I'll be back," Ginny replied and shot out of the Great Hall.

Adam was tempted to follow her, but eventually decided against it. Ginny would have gone to the girl's toilets and he couldn't go in there.

As the feast drew to a close Adam began to worry about Ginny: she had still not returned. The feast finished with Professor Dumbledore sending everyone to bed. Urgently, Adam pushed his way to the front of the mass of students making their way out of the Hall and began running back toward Gryffindor Tower as soon as he could. If Ginny wasn't in the common room, he decided, he would go and look for her.

"rip...tear...killl," the voice echoed from a corridor as Adam passed it on the stairs.

Adam froze and squinted into the corridor. It looked empty. Adam darted down the corridor, determined to get to the bottom of what was causing this voice.

"so...hungry...for so...long," the voice came again.

Adam scanned the corridor looking for signs of movement. He was alone.

"...kill...time to kill..."

Adam stood frozen to the spot as the voice echoed around him. Part of him wanted nothing more than to run for safety, while another part of him demanded that he find out what this voice was.

"...I smell blood...I SMELL BLOOD!" The voice sounded again, this time from further down the corridor.

Adam set off at a run towards where the source of the voice seemed to be. Breathing heavily he rounded a corner and froze. There was red writing on the wall between two of the torches.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE

Adam also noticed there was something hanging from one of the torches. Adam looked left and right, the corridor was deserted so Adam approached the wall to see what the object was. Adam raised his hand towards the torch that the thing was hanging off.

"Enemies of the Heir Beware! You'll be next Mudbloods!" shouted a blond boy who must have come around the corner. He was followed by a crowd of other Hogwarts students.

Adam sprang backwards in surprise at the unexpected noise. A crowd of students now surrounded the writing and Adam. The school caretaker, presumably attracted by the crowd, pushed his way through the students to the front.

"My Cat!!" screeched the school caretaker as he recognised what was hanging from the torch, "You've killed my cat!!"

Adam stood frozen to the spot as the caretaker barrelled towards him with fury in his eyes.

"Argus!" Professor Dumbledore's voice echoed over the noise of the students stopping the caretaker in his tracks.

Professor Dumbledore approached and examined the cat. Once he was done he picked it off the torch and wrapped it in his robes.

"Argus, Mr. Winters, come with me," Professor Dumbledore ordered.

"Headmaster, you may of course use my office," Professor Lockhart called loftily from his position at the back of the crowd, he seemed to want to keep as far away from the writing on the wall as possible.

They walked to Professor Lockhart's office. Adam was terrified. They thought he had done this. They would expel him. Where would he go? He had nowhere to go! As they entered the office Adam was very relieved to see Professor McGonagall had joined the group on the way. She entered the room last and closed the door.

"You killed her!" Argus raged at Adam.

Adam shrank back.

"Your cat is not dead, Argus, she has been Petrified," Professor Dumbledore interjected in a quiet voice, his eyes fixed upon Adam the whole time.

"I'm quite sure Mr. Winters had nothing to do with this, he just happened to stumble upon to poor animal," Professor McGonagall said.

Adam felt a surge of gratitude for Professor McGonagall. She was sticking up for him!

"Mr. Winters, what were you doing in the corridor?" Professor Dumbledore questioned, his eyes still fixed upon him.

"I-I-I was looking for Ginny, she wasn't feeling well and left the feast, but she didn't come back," Adam replied. If he told them about the voices he had been hearing they would definitely think he was involved.

"Didn't you think she would go straight back to the common room?" Professor Dumbledore questioned again.

"I-I did, but when I passed the corridor I heard a noise and thought it might be her. I was first out of the Hall at the end of the feast."

"Albus! Petrification is a Ministry restricted spell above NEWT level. Do you honestly believe Mr. Winters could perform such a spell?" Professor McGonagall interrupted hotly before Professor Dumbledore could respond.

"No," Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"Very well, Mr. Winters, you may go," Professor McGonagall said quickly.

Adam didn't waste any time leaving the room and quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor common room. When he entered the common room he saw Ginny was sitting on one of the sofas.

Adam approached Ginny. "Why didn't you come back to the feast?!" Adam asked angrily.

"I never got chance. I only just got here!" Ginny replied in a cross-sounding voice.

"You left the feast an hour ago!" Adam replied.

Adam saw the confused expression that formed on Ginny's face.

"No, I came straight back here after the toilet," Ginny glanced at the clock on the wall of the common room. "What? An hour? I've been gone an hour? I must have taken longer in the toilet than I thought," Ginny replied, sounding confused.

Adam sighed and sat down next to Ginny and told her about the voice in the corridor.

"Adam, don't tell anyone about hearing voices. That's a very bad thing, even for a wizard," Ginny interrupted.

Adam continued his story, telling Ginny what had happened to the cat. Ginny gasped. Adam ignored her and continued talking.

When Adam repeated what the blond kid had said Ginny exclaimed. "Adam! Don't say that word!"

"What? Mudblood? What does it mean?" Adam asked.

"It's a very rude word for Muggle-born. From your description I guess the boy that said it was Draco Malfoy. He always harasses Ron in their classes," Ginny said with a distasteful look.

As Adam continued with his story, Ginny seemed to get more annoyed.

"I can't believe they think you would do that to a cat!" Ginny said angrily. "At least Professor McGonagall believes you,"

They sat together in silence for a while, the events of the evening running through Adam's mind as he attempted to work out how the voice and the attack could be linked. He was convinced they were linked. He then thought back to Professor Dumbledore's words at the feast.

"Ginny, who is that You-Know-Who guy that Professor Dumbledore was talking about?"

"Oh, that's not his real name, we don't actually ever say his name. He was a very powerful and evil wizard. He killed loads of people, including my Mum's brothers. He was killed on Halloween in 1981," Ginny replied.

"He was killed? How?" Adam asked. He was partly relieved that this You-Know-Who was dead; at least he wasn't the one causing trouble at Hogwarts.

"No one knows really. My Dad told me that he went to kill this family, the Potters, but when he tried to kill them something happened and there was an explosion that killed him." Ginny answered.

"The Potters?" Adam asked curiously.

"Yes, they were his last victims; James, Lily and they had a baby called Harry that was killed that night, too. It's a very sad story; but it's good that he is gone." Ginny replied, in a sad tone.

November 7th 1992

Adam and Ginny were walking together back towards Gryffindor tower from the Quidditch pitch; the first game of the year, Gryffindor vs Slytherin, had just finished. Gryffindor had won, but only barely. Adam still wasn't quite sure of the rules despite Ginny explaining them to him, but from what he understood Gryffindor had won the game by ten points, despite Slytherin catching the ball called the Snitch, which gave them 150 points. Despite not understanding the rules fully, Adam had enjoyed himself. Ginny had made sure that he was wearing his Gryffindor scarf and she had done the same. There would be no doubt which team they were supporting. When they reached the Gryffindor common room a party was in full swing celebrating the victory.

"Fred and George probably arranged this," Ginny said as she walked over to the large crate of butterbeer that had been placed in the centre of the common room and picked up two bottles. "Try some, Adam, its really good," Ginny passed him a drink and continued. "I'm just going to have a chat with my brothers," she gestured at the twins. "I've not spoken to them for a while."

Adam felt daunted, he wasn't used to large gatherings, so he wandered around the crowded common room looking for somewhere to sit down. As he was passing the chairs by the window he overheard a snatch of conversation.

"We need to find out who the heir is before they open the chamber again...."

Adam glanced around, looking for the source of the conversation. It was Ron, Neville and Hermione. Adam strained his ears in attempt to hear what they were discussing; perhaps they knew something about the Chamber. Not particularly wanting to approach Ron and Neville as he had never really talked to them, Adam decided to try and talk to Hermione later on.

"Why are you here all on your own?" Adam turned around to see Ginny's face.

"I just heard Ron, Neville and Hermione talking about the chamber, you reckon we could ask Hermione about it?" Adam replied.

"Yeah, better not ask Ron. He would probably just ignore me," said Ginny glaring darkly at Ron.

Adam and Ginny kept an eye on the three of them but it was sometime later before Hermione left the two boys to get some more drinks. As soon as she was on the other side of the common room they approached her.

"Hermione, we heard you talking about the Chamber. Have you found anything out?" Ginny questioned.

Hermione hesitated.

"Come on, Hermione! There's no harm in telling us what you know," Ginny continued.

"Okay. We found out the chamber can only be opened by the heir of Slytherin. It was a hidden chamber left by Salazar Slytherin himself."

"Who is the heir?" Adam asked.

"No one knows, but we think it's," Hermione lowered her voice, "Draco Malfoy."

"That makes sense. After Adam stumbled upon the cat he was there right behind him. Draco must have been waiting for someone to find it!" said Ginny excitedly.

Adam was relieved that they at least had a theory that supported his innocence.

November 8th 1992

The theory that Draco Malfoy could be the heir of Slytherin was still whirring around inside Adam's head as he lay awake in his bed later that evening. He looked at the little magical clock that he kept on his bedside table; it read half past twelve. It was very late. He glanced around the room; he could see two other sleeping forms and one empty bed. Colin hadn't come to bed yet. That was very unusual, Colin was usually the first in bed every night. He had probably fallen asleep in the common room, but Adam decided to go and look for him anyway. He didn't want him to get caught down there by a prefect.

When Adam got into the common room it was completely empty. Colin wasn't there.

"Rip...Kill...Tear," the voice came from the direction of the portrait that lead back to the corridor outside the common room.

Adam ran to the portrait and flung it open and sticking his head outside looked left and right. The corridor was empty.

"Headmaster, it's Creevey. He's been petrified. Why the boy was out of bounds I can't say," Adam recognised Professor Snape's voice echoing softly down the halls.

"Severus, I will take the boy to Poppy. I would like you to go into Gryffindor tower, see if Mr. Winters is in bed," Professor Dumbledore ordered.

Oh No! They thought it was him; he had to get back to bed. Adam slammed the portrait closed, raced across the common room, up the stairs, into his room and leapt into bed. He had barely gotten underneath his sheets when he heard the door open. With his heart pounding, he tried desperately to control his breathing, attempting to make it seem as deep as possible. He didn't dare open his eyes to see if it was Professor Snape in the doorway. After a few minutes he heard the door close but he still didn't dare open his eyes. A short time later Adam dozed off, hoping that he had fooled Professor Snape.

Ginny

December 17th 1992

Ginny and Adam were heading down to the duelling club that was being held in the Great Hall. It had been advertised in the common room and had been the buzz of the school for two weeks now. Ginny was looking forward to it. It would be very cool to learn some more dramatic magic than just making things float. Ginny, however, wasn't stupid; she knew the main reason for the club was because there had been an attack on a student a little over a month ago. Colin Creevey was now in the hospital wing. Adam and she often spent time visiting him, not that he knew they were there. She was very relieved when Adam had told her the story of that night; he was lucky that he wasn't implicated again. She'd had felt woozy that night, probably from too much butterbeer at the party, so she had ended up going to bed early.

Ginny and Adam had both attempted to research the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin. However, as with many others who were doing the same exact thing, they were unable to find any information. When they talked to Hermione, Ron and Neville, they discovered that the older students suspected the Heir was Draco Malfoy. Ginny also thought those three were up to something, but she hadn't been able to find out what, exactly, they were doing. She had, of course, told Tom about the attacks but even he hadn't been able to tell her anything about the Chamber. He did say that she shouldn't worry about the attacks too much. Ginny accepted that.

When they arrived in the Great Hall she was surprised to see how much the room had changed. The house tables were gone and a single raised platform ran down the centre of the hall. Ginny had hoped Professor Flitwick would be teaching the club, Bill had told her that he was a duelling champion. However when Ginny saw the two professors standing up on the platform, she couldn't have been more disappointed: Professor Lockhart and Professor Snape. They were probably the two professors whose lessons she hated the most.

Adam and Ginny took up positions near the back of the room, only just close enough so they could see the stage. They were among the last to arrive and Professor Lockhart soon began the class.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He is going to help me demonstrate the Disarming Spell, Expelliarmus," Professor Lockhart called to the assembled students.

"Expelliarmus!" Professor Snape shouted, pointing his wand towards his opponent. Professor Lockhart's wand flew out of his hand and he jumped in surprise.

"Excellent! Excellent! Of course I could have stopped that if I wanted to," Professor Lockhart called out to the class, after he had collected himself. "Now everyone pair up and practise disarming each other."

Adam and Ginny naturally paired up together. They turned to face each other.

"Expelliarmus!" Ginny called and Adam's wand flew out of his hand.

Ginny gave Adam a sly grin as he bent down to pick up his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Adam called and before she knew it her wand was flying out of her hand.

They continued practicing the spell on each other, they both giggled when Adam leapt out of the way of one her spells and Ginny accidentally disarmed her roommate Demelza from behind. Demelza looked around confused, obviously wondering who had just disarmed her. Adam and Ginny were having great fun, but the majority of the students in the room were far less successful and the club soon degenerated into chaos.

"Stop, Stop!" Professor Lockhart called, "Its obvious you need another demonstration. Weasley, get up here," he said, pointing towards Ron. "Now who else?" He mused scanning the room.

"Malfoy! You, too," Professor Snape interrupted.

Ginny felt herself tense when Malfoy stepped onto the stage with her brother.If he hurts him I'll kill him.

"Both of you will attempt to disarm each other. On the Count of three. One. Two. Three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Ron roared but his spell went flying over Malfoy's left shoulder.

"Serpensortia!"Malfoy responded and a snake erupted from his wand and began slithering towards a terrified-looking Ron.

"Don't worry, lad. I'll get rid of it!" Professor Lockhart shouted and he pointed his wand at the snake. With a bang it flew into the air and landed in the middle of the students that were standing on the floor.

Ginny gasped as she tracked the fall of the snake towards the area of the floor where she and Adam were standing. Once it landed it began moving in her direction sending the students in its path running for cover. Maybe, she though idly, it's attracted to my red hair. She felt Adam push his way in front of her and point his wand at the snake.

"Do you know a spell to get rid of it?" she asked as the snake approached them.

"No!" Adam replied. He sounded a little scared.

"Why did you push me out of the way then?" she questioned.

"I don't know!"

As the snake slithered closer, they backed away as the other students continued to scatter, but the snake kept following Ginny. Adam stayed by her side. Eventually they ended up against the wall of the Great Hall. It was then that she heard the noise; it was a hissing, rasping noise coming from Adam. The snake stopped and stared at him. He hissed at it again and the snake suddenly changed direction, slithered off and left the Great Hall.

Adam is a Parselmouth! Ginny realised in horror. That must mean he's evil. No! Ginny knew Adam wasn't evil, he was a lost orphan who didn't know anything about the Wizarding world and he was her best friend. He couldn't be evil. It was then that Ginny realised the entire crowd of students was staring at Adam who had gone deathly pale under the eyes of the entire room.

"Ginny, W-w-what?" Adam asked in a scared voice.

He doesn't know what he did! He must not know he is a Parselmouth! Coming to a decision Ginny grabbed Adam's arm and pulled him out of the Great Hall. They ran until they found the nearest empty classroom. Ginny pulled Adam inside and slammed the door.

"Ginny, what's going on?" Adam asked. "Why was everyone starting at me?"

"Adam, you just talked to a snake!" Ginny exclaimed.

"All I did was shout that it should leave us alone! I never expected it to work!"

"You were talking in hisses to it. That means you're a Parselmouth."

"Oh," Adam leaned against the wall, suddenly looking very tired.

"This is bad! Really bad! Parselmouths are all dark wizards!" Ginny exclaimed as she paced back and forth.

"I'm not a dark wizard!" Adam shouted. He was looking extremely distressed now; he slumped against the wall and slid to the floor.

"I know! But everyone else will think you are!" Ginny was now shouting as well.

The door to the classroom swung open and Professor Snape stood in the doorway.

"Winters, the headmaster requires you to come to his office," Professor Snape stated, looking extremely pleased.

Adam went deathly pale. Ginny grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Thanks again to my betas Jezzjamer2 and Arnel. For some reason when I submited the last chapter the last few lines were missing. I fixed it about a day or so ago but if you read it immediately after I updated then the chapter came to a rather jarring halt. So it might be worth just checking the last few lines of Chapter 5.

Minerva

December 17th 1992

Minerva rushed to the Headmasters Office. She had just been summoned by Professor Dumbledore because apparently Adam Winters was a Parselmouth. Although she had been summoned because he was a Gryffindor, it was more important, in her mind that she was there to ensure that Albus didn't give into his paranoid tendencies of thinking that this boy was the new Tom Riddle. Without her there he would quite possibly end up expelling the child.

As she swept into the office she saw that Albus, Severus, Adam and Ginny were already in the room. She was very glad to see that Adam's friend was sticking by him.

"What is going on?" Minerva asked.

"It appears Mr. Winters is a Parselmouth," replied Severus silkily.

"So?"

"Being a Parselmouth is a sure sign of being a dark wizard," Severus stated.

"Adam is not a dark wizard!" Ginny practically screamed at Severus.

"I know Adam is not a dark wizard, Miss Weasley," Minerva replied calmly. She hoped to keep this from becoming a shouting match.

"Albus, what do you think about all this?" Minerva asked. Albus had been silent so far and it would be his decision in the end.

Albus sighed. "Mr. Winters, when did you realise you could talk to snakes?"

"I-I-I didn't know until Ginny told me I'd h-h-hissed at the snake in the duelling club. P-P-Please sir, don't expel me! I've nowhere else to go," Adam pleaded.

Minerva's heart nearly broke at his words, she was still certain in her heart that this boy was not evil.

"Don't worry, Adam, just because you have an ability that is deemed dark, it doesn't mean that you have done anything wrong. You won't be expelled," Minerva reassured Adam while she glared at Albus.

"Headmaster, surely you can't mean to let this go!" Severus exclaimed. Minerva really hated that man sometimes.

"Minerva is right, Severus," Albus sighed. "Even though he has this ability we don't have any proof he has done anything wrong."

Adam sagged in relief, and Minerva saw a Ginny's face break into a relieved smile.

"Now, Adam, I want to talk to you a bit about this ability. It is hereditary so that means that one of your parents must have passed it on to you. Do you know anything about your parents at all?" Albus questioned.

"N-N-No, sir. I never knew them." Adam replied shakily.

"What is your earliest memory?" Albus questioned again. Minerva was pleased to see he was at least trying to take a gentle tact with the boy.

"The first home I was in."

"Do you know how you got there?"

Adam looked down at his feet and didn't answer.

"Adam? I need to know." Albus said firmly.

"I-I-I was always told I was left… in some bushes." Adam replied in a quiet voice, still looking at his feet.

Ginny gasped and Minerva saw Albus sink back in his chair. He looked slightly distressed; whether this was sympathy for the boy or because of his inability to get the information he needed, Minerva was unsure. She hoped it was the former.

"In that case, Adam, would you consent for me to take some of your blood? It is possible I could find out about your parents that way," Albus continued.

Adam's head snapped up and he stared at Albus.

"You could find out about my parents?" Adam looked almost excited at the prospect.

Minerva could readily understand this. It was only natural to want to know where you came from, so it was no surprise to her that Adam readily agreed to give Albus a sample of his blood. Once that was done Albus sent Adam and Ginny back to Gryffindor tower and Severus left to return to the dungeons.

"Minerva, you do realise I am putting everything on the line because of your trust in this boy," Albus said as Minerva was about to leave his office.

"I know I'm right about him, Albus. Please trust me, trust him," said Minerva and she turned and left the office.

Adam

December 18th 1992

Adam was fuming. When he and Ginny had gotten back to Gryffindor Tower last night after the duelling club the entire room had turned to stare at him. Ginny had raged at the Gryffindors, telling them in no uncertain terms that he was not a dark wizard just because he had an unusual gift. It had worked and the majority of Gryffindor house seemed to be leaving him alone. Adam chuckled; when Ginny got into a temper, she was impressive to say the least. Unfortunately the rest of the school wasn't so supportive. He and by extension Ginny were stared at and whispered about. He could deal with people whispering about him, but the fact they were doing it to Ginny hurt.

Adam and Ginny were currently on their way to the library to collect notes for the horrible essay that Professor Snape had set them. As they turned into the corridor heading towards the library they saw Draco Malfoy and two boys that Adam didn't know walking towards them.

"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin. Mudbloods flee before him!" Draco Malfoy shouted once he saw Adam. All three of them were laughing.

Ginny lunged towards Malfoy, but Adam grabbed her arm.

"Come on, Ginny," he said, biting back his anger. The two of them pushed their way through, making sure to knock Malfoy out of the way as they passed him.

When they got inside the library they took out the books they needed and started working.

"I bet he had a run-in with Filch, which is why he petrified his cat," one voice said from a table on the other side of the library.

"Colin was his roommate, I bet he petrified him in his sleep and put him where he would be found," a second voice said from the same table.

Adam stood up. Slamming his chair backwards. He'd had enough. He stormed over to the table where the voices were coming from and slammed the palm of his hands down on it making the books that were on the table jump slightly.

"Listen! I had nothing to do with the attacks! Yes, I can talk to snakes, but guess what… I didn't ask for that ability! I am not a dark wizard! So SHUT UP!" Adam shouted.

Adam stormed out of the library, leaving a shocked Ginny still at their table with two sets of school books in front of her. Once away from the library Adam walked aimlessly around the school for some time, wanting to allow his temper to die down before he met back up with Ginny. He hoped he hadn't annoyed her too much by storming off.

Adam began walking back towards the staircases, intending to climb back towards Gryffindor tower. When he turned the next corner he saw two strange objects. He approached them slowly. A boy wearing Hufflepuff robes lay still on the floor, his body frozen, and floating next to him was Nearly-Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. Nick was stained a evil-looking black colour. Adam froze, realising that if he got caught here now the Headmaster would expel him for sure, but these people needed help. He heard footsteps approaching from the direction of the staircases. Hating himself for being a coward Adam turned and ran back the way he had come.

Adam ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower, reaching the common room several minutes later. When he entered Ginny was nowhere to be seen so he took a seat near the fire, staring into the flames while he waited. Ginny walked back into the common room with his bag about an hour later, she was looking a little dishevelled. She soon joined him on the sofa.

"How did you get back here so quick? I left the library straight away," Ginny asked.

"I've been here nearly an hour," Adam replied. Ginny was behaving strangely again.

"Huh, I finished the bit I was reading and then came back, I must have lost track of time in the library," Ginny said shrugging.

"Ginny," Adam whispered. "There's been another attack, I saw a kid from Hufflepuff lying petrified on the floor. I heard someone else coming and didn't want to get caught at the scene so I ran," Adam hung his head.

"Don't feel bad. Better run than be expelled. I know you didn't do it, Adam," Ginny replied, comfortingly.

They sat there in silence, awaiting the inevitable discovery of the petrified student.

"All students return to their common rooms at once. All staff report to the headmaster's office for an emergency meeting. There has been another attack." Professor Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the school.

The common room erupted into a flurry of whispers and practically the entire common room turned to look at Adam.

"I've been sitting here! How could I have been attacking students!?" Adam shouted and he stood up and stormed up to his room.

December 25th 1992

To Adam, Christmas had often been just like any other day. Even before he was living on the streets it had never been that much different to the day before and the day after. Some years Adam remembered getting a small present, some years he had been given slightly nicer food, but he had never really celebrated Christmas. Thinking back, Adam did remember one Christmas he had celebrated, but remembering it made Adam remember the day after. He shook his head. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past.

Adam glanced over to the door of his room as another set of feet pounded down the stairs to the common room. He was surprised by the enthusiasm that the other students, who were staying for Christmas, displayed for the holiday. Realising he would get no more sleep today he climbed out of bed and dressed. The rest of the boys in his room had gone home for Christmas, well except Colin who was lying petrified in the hospital wing. Adam was actually quite relieved to be on his own. Ritchie and Jack never spoke to him about the accusations that were flying around the school but Adam couldn't help notice that they watched him cautiously, as if he would turn around and petrify them on the spot if they let down their guard. What had saddened Adam, however, was that Ginny had gone home for Christmas. She had tried to stay, but her mum had insisted that she come home. Ginny had been incredibly annoyed at this, as her mum was apparently letting her brother Ron stay over Christmas.

When Adam reached the common room, it was alive with the sound of presents being unwrapped. Ron and Neville were sitting on a sofa by the fire, their laps loaded with presents. He spotted Hermione over by the large Christmas tree that had been erected near one of the common room windows. She seemed to be passing presents out to the other two. Adam decided to head down to breakfast to get something to eat.

"Adam, there's some for you here," Hermione said in a quiet voice as he passed the Christmas tree heading for the portrait hole.

"F-F-For me?" Adam said surprised, he had not expected any presents.

He was even more surprised when Hermione handed him three reasonably large parcels. The most he had ever had before at Christmas was one small present.

"Thanks," he said, completly in awe of the gifts he had in his hands.

Adam ran over to an empty seat at the far side of the common room, he couldn't wait to open his presents. He ripped the paper off the first present. It was a book called QuidditchThrough the Ages and thick woollen hat in Gryffindor colours. Adam realised he had no idea who the present was from as there was no card; perhaps it was on the wrapping. Adam grabbed the paper he had thrown on the floor and soon found the tag. The present was from Professor McGonagall. Adam grinned at the thought of the stern Professor wrapping presents. Adam picked up the second package. It was from Ginny and she had sent him a brand new quill and a pot of ink. They were much nicer than the ones he currently had. Adam eagerly picked up his last present, he had absolutely no idea who this one could be from, there was no name on the tag. Tearing off the paper he found a packet of cakes. He popped one of the chocolate flavoured ones into his mouth. It was absolutely delicious! Adam was wrapping the cakes back up in their packet, wanting to save them for later, when he noticed a note attached to the underside of the packet.

Dear Adam

Happy Christmas!

I know this present may come as a surprise for you. My name is Mrs. Weasley. I am Ginny's mother. I just wanted to send you somthing to thank you for being such a good friend to Ginny this year. She writes home regularly and has told me a lot about you. Please do come over and introduce yourself at the end of term at Kings Cross.

Season's Greetings

Molly Weasley

With a large grin on his face Adam glanced at the presents he had received; this was his best Christmas ever! Suddenly with a sinking feeling in his stomach he realised he hadn't gotten Ginny anything, not that he actually could have gotten her anything. After buying some food on the train to school he had less than a Galleon to his name. Adam grabbed up his presents and dashed up to his room. At the very least he needed to write thank you letters to Professor McGonagall, Ginny and her mum thanking them for their presents.

Just before lunch time Adam entered the Great Hall. Apparently it was tradition that the teachers and all the students that stayed for Christmas would assemble for a Christmas Feast. Once again Adam was astounded at the amount of food Hogwarts provided. He was also surprised how few students were actually still at school. There was only a handful of Gryffindors, including Ron, Hermione and Neville. There were three Hufflepuffs and five Ravenclaws who Adam didn't know. The only Slytherin students that had stayed were Draco Malfoy and the two large kids that always followed him around; Adam still didn't know their names. After the feast Adam was the last student to leave the hall, just behind the two large Slytherins who had seemed to be able to consume more than their own body-weight in trifle. Once outside of the Great Hall, Adam headed up the staircase, while the two Slytherins headed down to the dungeons, presumably to their common room. As Adam started to climb the staircase he deciding to go and find Professor McGonagall to thank her for the present.

Adam entered Professor McGonagall's office and thanked her for the book and hat. He then left her office and made his way back towards the Gryffindor common room. He passed the two Slytherin boys again on the stairs near the second floor; they must be wandering around tonight Adam thought. He would remember they were here in case anything unusual happened tonight.

When Adam entered the common room it was empty, so he decided to sit down and read his new book by the fire. Adam was surprised that he felt lonely, after months on his own he had liked to think he didn't need anyone else, but without Ginny around he was feeling lonely.

Adam was awoken sometime later by the sound on the portrait opening, Ron and Neville stormed in, both of them looking very flustered. Adam saw Ron's eyes narrow as he saw him.

"I know its you, Winters! As soon as I have proof you'll be in Azkaban!" Ron shouted at him, his face now red.

Adam jumped to his feet angrily. "It's not me!" He shouted back. "I would never hurt another student!"

"LIAR! Keep away from my sister, or you will have four Weasley boys to answer to!" Ron said, his voice had now become dangerously quiet.

Adam kept his eyes locked with Ron's for several seconds, before Ron turned and, dragging Neville in his wake, stormed up to his room. Adam sank back into his chair, shaking slightly. How could Ron think he was responsible for the attacks? Adam definitely didn't want to loose Ginny as a friend, but he also didn't want the Weasley boys out for his blood. Once Adam had calmed himself down he gathered his books and trudged up to his empty room, he would need to decide what to do before Ginny got back after Christmas.

Ginny

January 3rd 1993

Ginny jumped down from the horseless carriage in front of the steps and looked up at the castle. She was glad to be back. If truth be told, she had wanted to stay at school over Christmas because all her brothers were staying and Adam would be on his own without her. However, her mum was determined that she come home, especially when Percy had decided to tell her that Ginny had been looking ill, that had really annoyed her. It wasn't that Ginny was unwell, she had just been feeling generally tired and down in the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays. However, a week at home had seemed to improve things. She still felt tired, but her dizzy spells, the ones that caused her memory blackouts, seemed to have stopped.   Over Christmas she had also become convinced that something was wrong with Tom. Every time she wrote in the diary, he kept asking about Adam. He didn't seem interested in her any more. Ginny thought that the charm the made her diary write back to her must have broken. She had meant to ask her dad about it, but she never seemed to remember when he was around. Ginny had decided to stop writing in the diary, but with it just sitting on her desk at home it had been just too tempting to write in it. She decided that she needed to get rid of it; she could always get her mum to buy her a new one and send it by owl to her.

"Ginny!!" she heard a voice call as she walked into the large Entrance Hall of Hogwarts.

Ginny looked around and saw Adam come barrelling down the stairs towards her, she felt herself grin as he ran towards her. Adam apparently hadn't thought of what he would do when he reached her. She thought for a second he may hug her but he stopped a few feet away looked awkwardly at his feet and blushed.

"Hi," he said lamely.

"Hi! Have a good Christmas?" Ginny asked.

"Yes! Thanks for the present," Adam looked down at his feet, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you one," he said in a quiet voice.

"Adam! Don't worry! I didn't get you a present because I wanted one back," Ginny replied emphatically.

They began walking to the common room together.

"Down here I need the loo," Ginny grabbed Adam's arm as they passed the second floor; hardly anyone ever used the bathroom on this floor and if she put the diary in the bin there, hopefully nobody would find it. She didn't want anyone knowing what she had written in it, and she didn't trust Tom not to tell anyone.

She entered the girl's toilet, leaving Adam outside. She put the diary in the bin and waited. She wanted to give the appearance that she had actually used the toilet. She left the toilet with the diary tucked under her arm. When she got outside she looked at Adam and then at the diary under her arm. What the hell? Turning around she left a bemused looking Adam and stormed back into the toilet. She threw the diary into the bin, glad to be rid of it and left the bathroom with it tucked securely under her arm. When she got back to Adam she nearly screamed when she realised it was still there. She stood there frozen in confusion for a few seconds.

"Ginny, what's the matter?" Adam asked.

Ginny turned around and stormed back into the bathroom again and opening one of the cubicles she threw the diary into the toilet and then flushed it in one smooth motion. Ginny felt her body move to try and grab the diary without any conscious thought on her part. She was too slow however and the diary was gone down into the U-bend. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, she was shaking now. Taking a few minutes to collect herself she stood up and left the bathroom.

"Ginny?" Adam asked as soon as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Um, toilet trouble," she replied, she didn't want to talk about the diary yet. Now it was gone she couldn't understand why she had wanted to keep it so badly. It was almost as if it could control her.

They began making their way back up to the common room. As they were approaching the portrait it opened and her brother and Neville stepped out.

"Hi, Ron, did you have a good Christmas?" Ginny asked brightly.

Ron spun around to look at her; she saw his eyes visibly narrow.

"Hello Ginny," his voice lowered. "Winters." He was glaring at Adam now.

Ginny sighed, boys, obviously something had happened during Christmas. No problem though she would get it out of Adam later. As they entered the common room Ginny headed back up to her room to check on all her things, promising Adam she would be right down for dinner.

After dinner that evening, Ginny and Adam sat in the common room sharing stories of their Christmas holiday. Ginny told Adam all about Christmas at The Burrow and Adam recounted his tale of the Hogwarts Christmas Feast. Ginny was careful to keep the discussion to this Christmas because she knew Adam didn't like talking about his past. If he wanted to talk about it he would. She wasn't going to push him.

"Well I'm definitely staying here over Easter," Ginny stated after Adam had finished his story.

"There's Easter holidays, too? How many holidays does this place have?" Adam asked.

It still amazed Ginny how little people had told Adam about Hogwarts before he came here.

"Yes we have two weeks off for Christmas, two weeks for Easter and then about ten weeks off for the summer," Ginny replied.

"Will you go home for the whole summer?" Adam asked. He sounded a little bit worried.

"Adam, the school closes for the summer, everyone goes home."

Adam sat there in silence, looking at down at his lap. Ginny suddenly realised why he was asking all these questions, he didn't have any family; he didn't have anywhere to go other than school.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will have sorted something out for you," Ginny put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll ask my mum and see if you can come to my house for a few weeks, she always likes having our friends around."

Adam's face lit up at this.

"Thanks, Ginny! I'd like that."

Ginny smiled at Adam, but she noticed his eyes were suddenly looking behind her; she turned around and saw Ron was glaring over at them.

"Adam, what's with Ron?"

Adam blushed and began to mumble something.

"No, tell me what happened," Ginny demanded.

"Um, well he told me to stay away from you; I think he believes that I'm behind the attacks."

Ginny was furious. How dare that prat tell her who she could or could not be friends with. Ginny stood up strode over to where Ron was sitting with Neville. She stood in front of him and put her hands on her hips.

"Ron."

Ron looked up; he had obviously seen her angry expression because he gulped. Good.

"How dare you try and tell my friends that they can't be around me!" Ginny's said angrily.

"He's dangerous, Ginny!"

"Shut up, Ron! Adam wouldn't hurt a fly. I trust him!"

"Ginny…" Ron spluttered.

"Ron, you go anywhere near him again and certain embarrassing things may suddenly become school knowledge," Ginny replied. That should shut him up, she thought smugly.

Ginny stormed back over to Adam and sat down next him.

"Problem solved," Ginny said, smiling. "Oh, where is Hermione by the way?"

"She's in the hospital wing." Adam replied.

Ginny gasped. Hermione had been attacked as well?

"No, No! She wasn't attacked, it was something else, it happened on Christmas day, Madam Pomfrey won't let anyone in to see her for some reason," Adam clarified. "Rumour is that her face was covered with hair."

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. "Poor Hermione! I'm glad she isn't Petrified though."

They sat together most of the evening helping each other finish the last bits of holiday homework that they had to complete for the next day. Eventually Ginny decided to head up to bed.

When she reached her room, she changed into her pyjamas and lay down in bed. Looking over at her bedside table she realised this was the first night since she had been at Hogwarts that she had not spent at least half an hour writing in the diary. She was incredibly glad to be rid of it. If it was that hard to get rid of, it couldn't have been a good influence on her.

Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews guys! Big thanks to my two betas Arnel and jezzjamer2.

Adam

January 4th 1993

Adam was very glad to have Ginny back at school. At least now he had someone to talk to and the way she had sorted out Ron had, quite frankly, been fantastic. Adam had, however, been worried by Ginny's unusual behaviour yesterday and her revelation that the school sent everyone home during the summer. Adam had always assumed he would just stay at Hogwarts, but if it closed where would he go? So he had decided to ask Professor McGonagall.

"Ginny, I need to go and speak to Professor McGonagall," he said as they passed her office on their way back from classes. "I'll meet you later."

As Adam knocked on Professor McGonagall's door, he glanced over his shoulder to watch Ginny as she wandered off back towards the common room. Eventually he was allowed in and entered the office.

"Hi Professor," said Adam trying to sound more cheery than he was.

"Adam, how are things?"

"Well, apart from half the school thinking I'm attacking students, pretty good," Adam admitted bitterly. He hated how quickly people in the school had condemned him.

"Adam, you must admit that you have suffered an unfortunate set of coincidences. Caught at the scene of the one of the attacks and possessing that talent of yours. Just make sure you do nothing to implicate yourself further and there will be no problems," Professor McGonagall counseled him.

"Thank you for believing in me," said Adam replied gratefully.

"So what can I do for you, Adam?"

"Ginny told me the school closes in the summer, and erm…" Adam hesitated.

"You want to know where you will go?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes! Can I stay at the school?" Adam asked.

"That is unlikely, usually the Ministry arranges summer accommodation in those rare occasions where students have nowhere to stay during the summer,"

Adam was disappointed, he had wanted to stay at Hogwarts. Well as long as they didn't send him to another home, he was done with those places.

"I won't go to a home," Adam stated bluntly.

Professor McGonagall stared at him for a second. "I will be sure to mention that to Professor Dumbledore," she replied, seeming a little taken aback by his strong view, but at least she didn't question him.

With the serious business out of the way they had a brief conversation about Adam's schoolwork. To Adam's delight he was, according to Professor McGonagall, doing well; not spectacularly well but he was in the top half of his year. Adam flushed with pride. Although he suspected much of his success was due to Ginny and Hermione's help.

Later, as he made his way back to the Gryffindor common room, Adam felt a hand tap him on the shoulder. He spun around and came face to face with the Weasley twins. Adam braced himself for another keep-away-from-Ginny speech. He smirked to himself, maybe he would set Ginny on them later.

"Adam," said the twin on the right.

"We saw what happened to Ron last night. Ginny is incredibly scary when she gets going," the one on the left continued. "Ron was very stupid to tell you to keep away from her."

"We don't actually believe you are behind the attacks. You're a Gryffindor, see."

"But these attacks have made us realise that we are not looking out for our sister as big brothers should."

"So we will be spending more time around her."

"We just thought we would warn you, so you wouldn't be offended."

"Goodbye Adam!" they said together in a cheery voice as they began to walk away.

Adam sighed. They weren't as obvious as Ron, but the message was loud and clear: The Weasley twins were going to be keeping an eye on him. Adam wished this was all over. When would the bloody Headmaster catch whoever was attacking the students? Adam wondered. He decided he was going to keep his eyes open for anyone behaving oddly. He hoped he might spot something that could be a clue as to who was behind the attacks.

Ginny

February 14th 1993

Ginny snickered; she had come up with the perfect revenge. Ron would pay for trying to keep Adam away from her. After breakfast she dragged Adam into a nearby classroom.

"I'm going to send Ron a valentine," Ginny stated.

"What?"

"It's going to be really embarrassing, to get him back for trying to scare you off," Ginny replied.

"How?"

"With the dwarfs that Lockhart has delivering messages," Ginny said proudly. "DWARF!"

Suddenly there was a tapping at the door. Adam rushed over and opened it and in strutted a dwarf carrying a harp.

"I want to send a singing valentine to Ron Weasley," Ginny told the dwarf.

The dwarf simply nodded.

"His eyes are as blue as the clear summer sky," Ginny started, giggling.

"His hair is as red as a ripe tomato," Adam continued, also starting to laugh.

"I wish he was mine, he's really divine," Ginny continued. "The boy that captured my heart. That's it, deliver it at lunchtime please." Ginny told the dwarf and he trotted out of the room.

Ginny and Adam dashed laughing to their first class, which was History of Magic. They sat near the back of the class and prepared themselves for another boring lecture. As Professor Binns droned on, Ginny fidgeted impatiently. She had been so full of energy recently. For the first time, since nearly the beginning of term she felt like she had been before she came to Hogwarts. Her tiredness had gone as had the dizzy spells and memory loss. She was convinced now it was all due to the diary and she couldn't understand how she hadn't figured it out earlier. It was almost like all the clues were fragmented in her head and they had at last pieced themselves together once she had thrown it away. The revelation had come in a flash of brilliance as she was lying in bed one night; every time she had a dizzy spell it had been immediately after she had finished writing in the diary. Ginny prided herself on being a reasonably intelligent girl; she couldn't believe that she went all these months without connecting the two.

At lunchtime Ginny and Adam sat in the Great Hall anxiously awaiting the show that was to come. There were several of the dwarfs moving around the room from student to student; when one jumped onto the Gryffindor table she knew it was time.

"I have a Valentine for Ron Weasley," the dwarf announced in a loud voice.

Ginny giggled as she noticed Ron spit out his food in surprise.

"His eyes are as blue as the clear summer sky,

His hair is as red as a ripe tomato,

I wish he was mine, he's really divine,

The boy that captured my heart," the dwarf sang.

More and more heads in the Great Hall turned to face Ron.

Ron's face was now as tomato-red as his hair; the dwarf took a bow and walked off, its task completed. Ginny watched as Ron looked around the Great Hall, realising that nearly the entire student body was staring at him. He gave a strangled groan and dashed out of the Great Hall. Neville who was sitting next to Ron looked around hesitantly before following Ron's retreat.

Adam and Ginny dissolved into giggles as soon as Ron had left the hall. A small cough behind them made them turn around.

"That was you two wasn't it?" Hermione asked, Ginny noticed the corners of her mouth were turned upwards as if she was trying desperately not to smile.

"Yep!" Ginny grinned, as she gestured for Hermione to sit down.

"Why did you do it?" Hermione asked. She seemed genuinely curious.

"Ron was an absolute prat to Adam,"

Hermione nodded.

"Hermione, I get the impression you and Ron have been investigating the attacks. Do you have any news?" Adam asked in a whisper.

"No. All we know is that it's not Draco Malfoy, which leaves you as the only suspect," Hermione said sadly. "Don't worry I believe you're innocent."

"Is there anything we can do?" Ginny asked.

"No, hopefully next time the attacker will slip up. I'm looking through the library for spells or anything else that can be used to petrify people," Hermione replied.

"So I guess we just keep our eyes out for any unusual behaviour," Adam concluded.

"Yes, but there have been no attacks for nearly three months now, either the attacker has left, or they are waiting for something," said Hermione.

May 6th 1993

Ginny and Adam were sitting in the common room, hunched over a table with a piece of parchment spread between the two of them. They were attempting to figure out any connections between the attacks. There hadn't been an attack for many months now and Hogwarts had seemed to almost forget about the threat looming over them. If it wasn't for the fact that two students were still lying petrified in the hospital wing everything would have been completely normal.

"October 31st, November 7th and December 18th," Adam said, looking up from the parchment in front of him. "Those are the dates of the attacks; can you see any connections between them?"

Ginny shook her head. There was a connection between the dates; they were all dates when she had one of her dizzy spells. She wasn't going to tell Adam that though, she'd also had dizzy spells at other times and nothing had happened. It was just a coincidence. Just like Adam getting caught at the scene of an attack. People still hadn't forgotten about that, so she wasn't prepared to admit to having a dizzy spell on the day of each attack. They didn't need more attention focused on them.

"Hermione hasn't come up with anything either?" Adam asked.

"No, there is a spell that can petrify, and a ritual, but she says if they used the ritual there would have been traces of it left at the scene," Ginny replied.

"So were stuck then?" Adam asked.

"Well, Hermione says she still has to look into potions and the possibility that it's a creature causing this," replied Ginny.

"So we are still waiting then."

Ginny suddenly felt the strangest feeling come over her. Ron had just entered into the common room and Ginny felt the sudden urge to stand up and run to him. What? Then she noticed; he had the diary under his arm.

"Ginny!"

She gripped the arms of the sofa, forcibly stopping herself from running across the room and grabbing the diary from him here and now, but that would be suspicious. She needed it back though. So much had happened that she had to tell Tom about.

"Ginny!" Adam said again, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh, oh sorry I was daydreaming," she replied.

Ginny decided she needed to plan how to get the diary back, it wasn't safe with Ron. She couldn't believe how silly she had been throwing it away. It needed to be kept safe and the only way to do that was to keep it with her.

"I'm going to bed," she said.

Ginny stood up and strode up the girl's stairs.

Adam

May 7th 1993

Adam was waiting in the common room for Ginny as he did every morning. She was late, which was unusual for her. Adam was worried about Ginny after her strange behaviour last night, so he continued waiting. When Ginny finally appeared after everyone else had left the common room she didn't smile in greeting as she did every morning, she looked slightly pale and there were bags under her eyes again; she looked like she did just before Christmas.

"Adam, I need your help," Ginny stated.

"What do you need?" Adam asked.

"Ron has stolen something of mine. I need you to keep a look out while I get it back."

"Okay," Adam replied, he wanted to see what she was up to.

"Wait here," said Ginny, gesturing to the bottom of the boy's staircase.

Adam waited at the bottom of the stairs, while Ginny dashed up the boy's stairs. She was up there fifteen minutes before she came back down the stairs, out of breath.

"Got it!" Ginny said.

Adam strained to look at what she had hidden under her arm. He recognised it instantly, her diary. He had assumed she had stopped using it. She hadn't been disappearing in the evenings to write in it as she had been doing before Christmas. Adam hadn't actually seen the diary since the crazy bathroom incident on the first day back.

Adam knew that Ginny had been much happier and more energetic since then and he also realised that he hadn't seen her looking as tired since last time she had the diary. It was probably nothing but he resolved to keep a very close eye on his friend.

They attended classes as normal that day; Adam never let Ginny out of his sight, except to use the loo of course. However, he did notice Ginny was yawning a lot and still seemed tired. Maybe she had just not slept well.

"Ginny, you should go to bed early tonight. You look really tired," Adam suggested as they finished their homework in the common room.

"I think I will, thanks, Adam," Ginny replied.

True to her word Ginny went up to her room. Adam also decided to take this opportunity to have an early night. So he also went up to his room, changed into his pyjamas and got into bed.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!"

Adam jumped awake, someone was shouting upstairs. Jumping out of bed he climbed the stairs to the second year's room and joined the small crowd that was assembled there. Peeking into the room through the crowd, Adam swore under his breath. The entire room had been trashed, sheets had been torn back cupboards opened, Ron's trunk had been completely upended and its contents scattered around the room. Not wanting to be around when Ron inevitably began demanding answers, Adam went back to his own room and hopped into bed. His other roommates were still upstairs, presumably gawking at the mess. He couldn't fathom why Ginny had thought it necessary to trash Ron's room to get the diary. He would have to question her about it tomorrow.

May 8th 1993

Ginny looked tired again, despite her early night last night. Adam resolved to ask Ginny about Ron's room after breakfast, he didn't want anyone else overhearing.

It was as they were leaving the castle to head down to the Quidditch pitch for Gryffindor's match again Hufflepuff that Adam pulled her off to the side of the path so they could have some privacy.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Why did you trash Ron's room?" Adam questioned. "I saw it last night. It was wrecked."

"What!" Ginny replied, her voice rising. "I did not destroy Ron's room! I can not believe you thought it was me!"

"Ginny..." Adam replied quietly.

"After all the times I stuck up for you!" Ginny was practically screaming now and tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Adam Winters, you are an even bigger arse than Ron!"

Ginny spun around and stormed off back into the castle.

"Ginny!" Adam called after her, but she was gone.

Adam ran through the halls of Hogwarts searching for Ginny. He checked the Great Hall, classrooms and each corridor as he climbed the stairs towards the common room.

"Have you seen Ginny Weasley?" Adam asked the Fat Lady, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes, dear, she came in and then left again; she was only in about five minutes."

"Which way?" Adam asked.

"She went back downstairs, I think."

Adam dashed off back down the stairs. He searched each floor again on the way down. Adam eventually found Ginny curled up in a ball just outside the second floor girls' bathroom. Adam gently touched her shoulder, she jumped, straightened up and looked at him.

"Adam?" she asked shakily. "Where am I?"

"You're by the second floor bathroom," he answered.

Ginny's eyes looked unfocused. Adam realised she was having another one of her strange dizzy spells.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"I don't know. Do you remember anything?" Adam asked concerned.

Ginny shook her head, her eyes were still puffy and red from crying earlier.

"Ginny, I am so sorry for accusing you. You believed in me, so if you say you didn't do it. I believe you." Adam said, staring straight into Ginny's eyes.

"Thank you," Ginny said in a quiet voice.

Adam held out his hand and Ginny used it to stand up.

"Let's get to the match," she said with smile.

They made their way back down the stairs. As they reached the deserted Entrance Hall, they saw Professor McGonagall walking across the room with two objects floating in front of her under a cloth.

Ginny grabbed his arm. "Adam, there's been another attack!" she squeaked.

"Looks like it," Adam said uneasily.

As Adam and Ginny began making their way across the Entrance Hall Professor McGonagall saw them. "Adam, you really do have a knack for getting yourself away from the rest of the school when there is an attack. I hope the two of you have been together?" Professor McGonagall asked when the pair reached her.

"Yes," they both replied at the same time.

Adam was immensely grateful to Ginny for not mentioning that they had been separated for most of the hour prior to the victims being found.

"I think you two will want to come with me," said Professor McGonagall.

They followed Professor McGonagall to the hospital wing. Professor McGonagall called for Madam Pomfrey and together they laid the victims down on beds and removed the sheets.

Ginny gave strangled cry. One of them was Hermione.

"No!" Adam shouted.

Adam looked down at Hermione as Madam Pomfrey examined her. She looked exactly like she had done at breakfast this morning, except that she had a mirror in her hand.

"Why would she have this in her hand?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to the other victim and Adam watched as she moved her wand over the other girl, Adam didn't know her name.

"They are both Petrified. There is nothing I can do until the Mandrakes are ready," Madam Pomfrey concluded.

Adam watched as Ginny moved over to touch Hermione; she had tears in her eyes. Adam realised that Hermione was probably the only other girl that Ginny ever associated with. Adam was pretty upset himself; he was, he hoped, just better at hiding it. He realised Hermione was the only student, other than Ginny, who believed he had nothing to do with the attacks.

"You two need to leave," Professor McGonagall stated. "You must promise me to go straight back to the common room immediately, the rest of the school will return shortly."

So they made their way slowly back to the common room. They gave the password, walked inside and collapsed onto the sofa by the fire. As they sat there Ginny pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket.

"I think Hermione had it figured out," Ginny stated in a dull voice, handing Adam the sheet of paper.

Adam read the sheet; it described a creature that looked to Adam like a giant snake. The paper also said that if you looked into the creatures eye's you died, and if you saw their reflection you were Petrified.

"A basilisk?" Adam exclaimed.

"It explains the mirror," said Ginny. "I bet if we looked at the other victims we would find they only saw reflections."

"Colin always carried his camera around," Adam mused.

"Exactly."

"How do we stop it?" Adam asked.

"I've no idea," Ginny replied, her face bleak.

Eventually the school began to filter back into their common rooms. Professor McGonagall had apparently cancelled the Quidditch match and the entire school had been confined to their common rooms unless accompanied by a teacher. Adam and Ginny got some funny looks as they came in, everyone was obviously wondering how they got back before them, but none had the courage to ask.

Ron and Neville were two of the last students to return to the common room. Ron seemed visibly upset when he entered the room. Adam realised there was going to be trouble as soon as he saw Ron staring at him with his face growing increasingly red.

"YOU!" Ron roared as he barrelled across the room towards Adam.

Ron threw a punch at Adam. Adam, however, knew all about avoiding punches so he was able to dodge out of the way.

"RON!" Ginny screamed at her brother, pushing between Ron and Adam.

"He...he got Hermione! He wasn't at the match! While we were supporting Gryffindor he was off attacking Hermione!" Ron yelled, he lunged for Adam again and was held back, this time by Neville who was standing just behind him.

"He was with me! Are you going to accuse me next?" Ginny shouted back, her eyes blazing.

"Come on, Ron, leave it," Neville said in a quiet voice.

"Mr. Weasley! What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall asked in sharp voice as she clambered through the entrance to the common room.

Ron glared at Adam before allowing himself to be led off by Neville to the other side of the common room.

"As you are all now aware, there has been another attack. Due to this all Quidditch and other social activities have been cancelled. No student will be allowed outside of their common room unless accompanied by a teacher. Any students found violating this will be punished severely. If you leave the common room without a teacher you are not only breaking rules but endangering your lives. Remember that," Professor McGonagall announced to the assembled Gryffindors.

Adam sank down into his seat.

"Everyone still thinks it's me, don't they," he asked.

"Students do I think, but I don't," Ginny replied with a sad smile. "I'm sure the Headmaster doesn't, if he really thought it was you, you would have been taken to his office by now."

"Thanks." Adam replied he hoped this would all be over soon.

Minerva

May 8th 1993

After finishing in the Gryffindor common room Minerva made her way to the Headmaster's Office. Albus had sent the four Heads of House to confine their students to their common rooms while he spoke to the governors. Minerva passed the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's Office and entered. Albus was sitting behind his desk; to Minerva he looked far older than he had earlier, as he sat with his shoulders slumped.

"The Minister has just left," he said in a tired voice. "He has decided to place Hagrid in custody, due to the similar occurrences at the time of his expulsion from the school."

"Surely Hagrid is not responsible?" Minerva questioned. How could the Minister think Hagrid was responsible?

"No. He is not. However, the Minister is quite happy to blame him. We must find the real culprit, Minerva, whoever it may be," Albus seemed to stare at Minerva with frightening intensity as he said this. His voice however then grew tired again. "The governors have also decided I should be removed."

"What? That's outrageous," Minerva replied.

"You're in charge for now, Minerva," he continued. "By Monday there will be Aurors here to secure the school, if there is another attack the school will close."

"How can I solve this if even you couldn't Albus?!" Minerva replied, she was truly scared for the students now, with Albus Dumbledore gone the school was vulnerable.

"Do not worry, Minerva, the school will still recognise me as Headmaster. If you need me I will return," he said and for the first time since she entered the office she saw the old sparkle back in his eye. "I have suspicions this directive to remove me is largely Lucius Malfoy's doing. I will make use of my time away and determine if he has any connections to these attacks."

"He could just be taking advantage of the situation," Minerva added.

"True, but an old man must keep himself occupied," Albus concluded.

Albus stood up from his desk and made his way to the fireplace.

"Well I must be going, remember Minerva, if you need me I will return."

With a pinch of Floo powder and a flash of green fire Albus Dumbledore left Hogwarts. Once he had gone Albus' phoenix, Fawkes, let out a screech, took flight and left the tower, presumably following his master.

Adam

May 8th 1993

Adam glanced over at Ginny who was sitting next to him in the Gryffindor common room. She was looking pale and tired again and she had bags under her eyes. Adam wasn't stupid, he realised that every day since she had the diary back she had been under the weather. It could be a coincidence but it was very suspicious that she'd had her first funny moment the day after she got the diary back, when she hadn't had one for months before. It all pointed to one thing, something was wrong with Ginny.

"I'm going to bed," Ginny stated suddenly.

She must be off to write in that diary, Adam thought bitterly.

"Goodnight, Ginny," he replied.

Ginny was his best friend. He had to help her somehow. He knew she wouldn't take him confronting her very well. Maybe her brothers would help. He couldn't go to Ron, he would probably try to punch him again, and he had never even spoken to Percy. He would go to the twins; they at least had been civil to him the last time they had spoken to him. He didn't think they would be as civil now that the rest of the Gryffindor's seemed to share Ron's opinion that he was involved in Hermione's attack. Everyone apart from Ginny was completely ignoring him but at least they weren't being openly aggressive.

Adam approached the twins as they sat with one of their friends. Adam didn't know his name.

"Fred, George," Adam spoke quietly trying to catch their attention.

"What do you want?" One of the twins answered. Adam flinched slightly, so much for a friendly reception, but he needed to push on, for Ginny.

"I think somethings wrong with Ginny, she's been acting funny."

"Well I dare say that's because her friend has just been petrified," the other twin answered.

"No, listen..." Adam began.

"Look, I don't know if you are the one attacking the students, but you are involved somehow. Don't try to drag our sister into it or shift the attention onto her," one of the twins replied, both were glaring at him.

Adam sighed; they weren't going to listen to him. He spun around and stormed up to his room; it looked like he was going to have to help Ginny on his own.

May 9th 1993

Adam and Ginny's first class the next morning was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lockhart had spent the majority of the lesson boasting about how he would take care of the attacker when he tracked him down. Adam wasn't paying attention to the class; he was desperately trying to think of how he could help Ginny. There was no way he would be able to sneak the diary away from her. He had no options really; he had to confront her and try to get her to see that the diary was bad for her. He just needed to find a way to get her on her own to do it. Now they were confined to the common room privacy was hard to come by.

The ideal opportunity presented itself on their way to their next class. Lockhart had decided not to escort them to Herbology as it was raining, so he left the class in the Entrance Hall and allowed them to walk the rest of the way on their own. They were walking together near the back of the class, now was his chance.

"Ginny, I need to talk to you," Adam said, as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her to one side of the path. "I'm worried about you. You've been acting funny since you got the diary back."

"What?" she asked, Adam noticed a curious expression on her face.

"You haven't been tired, since Christmas, you hadn't had any dizzy spells since Christmas and now that you've got the diary back, they've both started again. It can't be just a coincidence!"

"No...No," Ginny said shaking her head back and forth.

"Ginny," Adam said softly.

"No!" Ginny shouted. "He's a better friend than you will ever be!"

"Ginny what are you talking about?" Adam asked, now confused.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ginny screamed at him. She turned around and raced back into the school.

Adam ran after Ginny. She was fast but he was able to more or less keep up with her. At the second floor she left the stairs and ran down the corridor. Adam pelted down the corridor after her.

"Ginny!" he called, he was now out of breath.

Ginny froze suddenly in front of him. Adam skidded to a stop just behind her.

"Ginny?" He called again.

She didn't answer. She slowly began to turn around and Adam realised she had her wand in her hand. Adam was confident she wouldn't curse him. He knew he had upset her a couple of times, but she had never threatened to curse him. However, when he saw her eyes he knew something was badly wrong: they weren't Ginny's chocolate brown eyes, but two red, glowing orbs. She raised her wand. The last thing Adam saw was a red light coming towards him.

Chapter 8

Author's Notes: There is only one more chapter left after this one. There is a sequel though for their second year! Once again a big thanks for jezzjamer2 and Arnel for beta reading for me and thank you for all the reviews!

Minerva

May 9th 1993

"Professor! You need to see something!" Argus Filch gasped as he burst in through the door of the classroom disturbing her fourth years from their exercise on switching spells. Minerva decided it must be important as Argus had obviously run to get here.

"Class stay here. Do not move!" she announced as she swept out of the room.

"Follow me! There's a new message on the wall," Argus informed her as he lead her down the corridor.

When they reached the second floor she saw the message; it had been written below the one that had been left there on Halloween.

HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER

Oh no! Minerva thought. This could mean that a student has actually been kidnapped or killed and not just petrified.

Minerva swung into action, raising her wand to her throat she muttered the spell that would amplify her voice throughout the school. "All Students return to their common rooms immediately. All staff report to the second floor corridor."

Minerva rapidly tried to collect herself. With Albus gone, she was in charge. She had to lead the staff to deal with this crisis. While she waited for the staff to arrive she made her plan.

"Heads of House, go to your common rooms, check that all your students are there. Professor Vector, you check the Gryffindors." Minerva ordered, gesturing to Septima Vector, the Arithmancy Professor. "The rest of the staff are to ensure that there are no students left in classrooms or corridors. Once you have accounted for your students report to me in the Headmaster's Office," Minerva issued the orders sharply and all the staff dispersed to carry out their duties.

Minerva was pacing back and forth in the Headmaster's Office, waiting anxiously for reports back from the staff. Now she could understand why Albus paced so much. All the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students were already accounted for, Filius and Pomona having already returned. Just the Slytherins and Gryffindors to worry about now. She hoped the message had been written just to intimidate them. Merlin, she hoped no students were actually missing.

"All Slytherins are accounted for," Severus announced as he strode into the room, his robes billowing behind him.

"Thank you, Severus. What is keeping Septima!" she asked to no one in particular. Minerva was now extremely anxious.

A short time later Septima burst into the Headmaster's Office looking flustered.

"Professor! Two Gryffindors are missing!" she said, as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Who?" Minerva asked sharply.

"Ginny Weasley and Adam Winters,"

"Are you sure?" Minerva asked, with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"We searched all of Gryffindor Tower. They both disappeared as their class was walking from Defense to Herbology it seems," Septima replied.

"I told you that boy was no good! He must have taken her!" Severus snapped.

Minerva was horrified. Could it be true? Could she really have misjudged Adam so badly? He has always seemed so nice, so normal. She sank down into Albus' chair.

"Search the school. Look for any sign of where they may have gone, or where the Chamber is," Minerva ordered.

"We have already searched," Severus interrupted.

"Then search again!" Minerva shouted. "Don't stand and stare. Go!"

As the staff began to make their way out of the office the door burst open and Gilderoy Lockhart entered. He was panting and out of breath.

"Ever so sorry, must have dozed off," he announced looking around the room.

"Excellent, the very man, it seems a girl has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. I trust you can deal with this," Severus stated smugly.

"Yes, Yes," added Professor Sprout. "Haven't you been saying all along you know where the Chamber is?"

"I-I..." Lockhart replied stuttering.

"Go on Gilderoy, get to it, we will take care of the rest of the students," Minerva added.

She saw the fear in Lockhart's eyes. Minerva watched him glance around the room desperately.

"Very well," he squeaked. "I will just get ready."

Lockhart spun around and strode out of the office.

"Now we've had our fun, the rest of you back to the search," said Minerva, she was under no illusions that Lockhart could solve their problem, he'd probably just run and hide.

Once the rest of the staff had left the office Minerva put her head in her hands, she had allowed her personal feelings about a student to blind her, and now poor Ginny Weasley was paying the price for it. Worse, she didn't know if there was anything she could do about it, they had no idea where the Chamber was, or how to get in there.

"You have nothing to be ashamed about, Minerva," a voice from behind her said. "I was taken in by Tom Riddle too, at first."

She turned around and saw Albus standing by the fireplace.

"How?" She gasped.

"Oh, I never really left," Albus replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"What can we do Albus?" Minerva asked despairingly.

"I think you have done all you can, so far. However, I do think we need to call the Weasleys and let them know what has happened," Albus replied.

Adam

May 9th 1993

When Adam woke up the first thing he realised was that he was incredibly cold. He was shivering. He also had a thumping headache. Where was he? Ginny! He suddenly realised that Ginny had done something to him. He sat up and looked around the room that he was in; his entire body seemed to tingle and ache.

He was lying on a smooth floor in a dimly lit room. He was currently looking down the room, it stretched away far into the distance. The room contained many giant statues of snakes that towered up to the barely visible ceiling. Adam stood up slowly, and slightly painfully. He spun around trying to get his bearings. Directly behind where he had been lying a giant statue stood towering over him. It seemed to go right to the roof of the room. The statue was a very large bearded wizard, he looked very old with his beard stretching nearly to his feet. As Adam looked down at the feet of the giant statue, he caught a sight of something; something red.

"Ginny!" He shouted as he began running towards the statue.

Ginny was lying in a puddle of water flat on her back, her skin was incredibly white. Adam could see that she was still breathing; he knelt down by her side and shook her. There was no response.

"Ginny, Ginny, please wake up!"

"She won't wake," said a voice said from behind him.

Adam spun around, gripping his wand which was somehow still in his pocket. The voice had come from a tall black haired boy; he had a blurred look to him, almost like Adam was looking at him without his glasses on. He also had Ginny's wand in his hand.

"W-W-Who are you?" Adam asked desperately, tightening his grip on the wand. "What did you do to Ginny?"

"Oh my name is Tom Riddle, and Ginny is still alive," he smiled. "But only just though."

Adam rose to his feet and stared at Tom Riddle. He could almost see through him; it was as if he was nearly solid, but not quite.

"A-A-Are you a ghost?" Adam asked.

"I am...mmmm...a memory," he replied.

Adam tried to pick up Ginny, but he just wasn't strong enough to carry her unconscious body.

"Can you help me get Ginny out of here? Something, a basilisk we think, has been attacking people; we need to get out of here!" Adam asked hopefully.

"The basilisk won't come yet, not until I call it," Tom replied smoothly.

Adam froze. Suddenly it all made sense; Tom had somehow been attacking the students.

"You! You've been attacking the students!" Adam raged at him.

"Oh no, it wasn't me," Tom replied with a smug smile on his face. "Ginny here has been releasing the basilisk all year."

Adam refused to believe that, Ginny couldn't have been responsible, she just couldn't. Ginny was a good person, she wouldn't do this.

"LIAR!!" Adam shouted.

"Oh I dare say Ginny doesn't realise what she has done. You see, I've had to listen to her prattle on all year. Oh, how unfair her brothers were to her. Oh, how she missed her home. Poor stupid Ginny, the more she told me, the more power I had over her. Until eventually I could completely control her."

"How? She hasn't been meeting anyone, I'd have known," Adam questioned.

Adam saw Tom gesture over to Ginny, it was then Adam saw that clutched in her right hand was the diary, it all suddenly clicked in his mind, her erratic behaviour, the times when she was confused about where she had been. Tom was somehow linked to the diary.

"The Diary!" Adam exclaimed.

"Bravo my lad, Bravo!" Tom clapped his hands in a mocking gesture of congratulations. "Of course with you around I had to be more careful, but ensuring I left no visible traces of what I did when I took over her body and a quick memory charm when I was done was all I needed. You provided the perfect scapegoat for the attacks; Ginny told me all about you."

Adam glared at Tom, his wand still in his hand. Not that he knew many spells to help him here, but hopefully Tom didn't know that.

"Why though, why attack the students?" Adam questioned.

"Oh, ever since I learned about your unique talents, my target has been you and my plan has worked perfectly," Tom replied.

So Tom was after him. Adam couldn't understand what was so special about him.

"I have been most interested to meet you, Adam," Tom continued. "We are very similar you and I. I spent my childhood in a Muggle orphanage, too. Don't you hate how the Muggles persecuted you for your magical gifts? I bet you were an outcast, a freak! It was the same for me. Don't you feel anger towards them? Don't you want your revenge? I can give you your revenge. Did you see how quickly the school turned on you and placed the blame on you for the attacks, because of your background? Even here among Wizards you are different," Tom paused. "You see, you and I are both Parselmouths, Adam, a trait which is unique to my family line; Slytherin's line. How you ended up in Gryffindor I'll never know, but we are family you and I."

Could it be true, could Tom really be related to him? It couldn't be. Could it? He was a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin.

"When I have finished with Ginny, I will be human again. You would be my right hand Adam, the chief of my new Death Eaters. Together we could have our revenge on those that have wronged us! We can go back to those that tormented us and we can make them pay!" Tom shouted joyfully.

"What will happen to Ginny?" Adam asked.

"She will be dead so I can live!" Tom replied he eyes shining. "Will you take your place at my side Adam? Will you join me?"

Adam considered what Tom had told him. It did seem disturbingly familiar; the school had turned on him, and he had been an outcast as a child because of his magic. It made him angry but he didn't want to hurt people because of it. He had his friends at Hogwarts, as long as Ginny believed him and as long as his other friends believed him he would be fine. Friends. Adam felt his anger being redirect towards Tom when he realised that Tom had tried to take his friends away from him.

"You hurt my friends," Adam said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Tom replied.

"You hurt my friends," Adam repeated. His hand now on his wand in a deathly tight grip. "I would never join you."

"EXPELLIARMUS!!" Adam shouted. His spell sailed straight through Tom's body.

Tom laughed. "You fool, I could have given you power beyond your imagining, but now you will die. As will Ginny as soon as I am human again."

Tom turned to face the statue that Adam was standing at the feet of.

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" Tom hissed.

Adam saw the statue begin to move, with growing fear he watched the mouth of the statue open wide and within it he heard movement. In a flash he remembered the information on basilisks that Hermione had found. Adam squeezed his eyes shut and began to back away from the statue, being careful to avoid tripping over Ginny. As he backed away he heard a large object strike the floor of the Chamber and then a scratching, sliding, slithering sound.

"Kill Him," Tom hissed.

Adam strained his ears attempting to hear what was happening, he heard the slithering noise again, this time behind him. Adam pelted in the opposite direction, his heart pounding. He heard the slithering sound again, this time in the direction he was running. Panicked, Adam turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction keeping his eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly his body smashed into a hard object, winding him and sending him flying onto his back. He lay there on the floor for a minute, his body trembling and gasping to recover the breath that had been forced out of his lungs. He could hear the slithering of the basilisk drawing closer and closer. In a last attempt to escape Adam crawled backwards towards the object that he had run into. By the time he had reached it the slithering sound has ceased. Instead he heard a rasping sound, breathing. The basilisk was so close to him now that he could faintly feel the massive exhalation of the beast against his body, it smelled foul.

Adam waited for the inevitable; the basilisk would kill him soon. Adam felt despair welling up inside him. He couldn't do it, he couldn't save himself, and he couldn't save Ginny. Tom was going to win. He was a failure.

"End It," Tom hissed.

Adam instinctively raised his hands to cover his face; he was completely consumed by his terror and despair now. It felt like a burning in the pit of his stomach. He heard the basilisk inhale sharply and then a swishing sound as it reared, ready to strike. He then saw a flash of light so bright it shone through his closed eyes. He felt a large amount of sticky, chunky liquid cover him and heard the squelching noise as lots of small objects struck the floor around him.

"NO!" Tom shouted.

When Adam heard Tom's shout of anger it was his first indication that he wasn't going to die. Adam cautiously opened one eye and then the other. He was staring at the bloody stump of the basilisk's body. It was as if its head had been completely blown off. The snake was easily as thick as he was tall and bright green, apart from the deep red blood that still gushed in a slow stream from its decapitated body. Adam himself was cowering under one of the snake statues that seemed to support the ceiling of the chamber. He was covered in basilisk blood and chunks of flesh appeared to be stuck to his clothes. The floor around him was slick with blood and there were more chunks of flesh scattered around him. The only visible parts of the basilisk's head that were left were what Adam assumed to be its teeth. The fangs, along with chunks of basilisk flesh, seemed to have been scattered across a very large area.

Adam shakily got to his feet and began to make his way back over to Ginny, his body still trembling. Glancing down at her she appeared no worse than she had been before the basilisk came. That was one thing to be thankful for.

"You may have killed Slytherin's basilisk through dumb luck but that won't work against me!" Tom said his eyes blazing with pure fury.

Adam grabbed his wand, which had still somehow managed to remain in his pocket. He raised his wand intending to send another spell at Tom, maybe it would work this time, Tom seemed more solid than earlier. As Adam raised his wand he saw Tom whip Ginny's wand up to point at him. He saw a bright light and then he was flying backwards through the air. He hit the statue of Slytherin with a sickening crunch. The force of whatever spell Tom had used had spun him around in the air, his right leg hit first, followed by his shoulder and then his head. Adam dropped to floor like a stone and landed with a crunch.

Adam couldn't have been unconscious for more than a few seconds; Tom's wand was still pointing at him. He moaned in pain as he came around, he had somehow landed on his back. Fighting the pain and the darkness that threatened to cloud his vision he sat up. His right arm hung limply, he couldn't move it. He soon realised why his right leg was excruciatingly painful it was folded up under him at an incredibly unnatural angle. He could see a fresh red wet patch soaking his school trousers near his right knee. Tom was laughing at him as he struggled with the pain. In a flash of genius, that somehow forced its way through his pain fogged mind, Adam realised that if he couldn't attack Tom, maybe he could attack the diary itself. He fumbled around for his wand but it was gone. Crap! It must have flown out of his hand when he was knocked into the statue. Adam felt around for any other weapon he could use, all he could find was one of the basilisk's fangs.

"You have lost Adam, you are broken. Now you will die." Ton sneered.

"NO!!" Adam screamed.

He grabbed the basilisk fang in his left hand; he flipped himself onto his front, screaming with pain as his leg and arm moved. He frantically scrambled towards the diary, with his one good leg and one good arm, using the fang to pull himself forward. Tom fired a green spell at him, which impacted the floor, narrowly missing his limp right arm. The floor exploded showering him with fragment of stone. Finally, Adam reached the diary, which was still clutched in Ginny's hand, and with a mighty heave he plunged the fang into its cover, barely missing Ginny's hand.

A long piercing scream filled the chamber, and a torrent of ink erupted from the diary, soaking both Adam's and Ginny's hands. Adams vision was becoming dark, but as he looked up at Tom, he seemed to elongate as he screamed, Ginny's wand clattered to the floor as finally Tom burst into a thousand fragments of light, which faded into nothingness.

As the darkness closed in around Adam he reached out to touch Ginny, she had to wake up! He was barely able to move but he managed to reach out to her and place one arm over her midsection before he knew no more.

Ginny

May 9th 1993

Consciousness came slowly back to Ginny with the realisation that she had done something to Adam. She closed her eyes and tried to remember, finally remembering that she had Stunned him in the upstairs corridor. Why had she done that? Adam was her friend, and friends didn't do things like that to each other. She opened her eyes again and pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking curiously at her surroundings. She was lying in a giant chamber, it seemed incredibly familiar. It was almost as if she had been here before, but only in her dreams... An unfamiliar weight on her stomach made her glance down and she gasped in horror when she saw Adam's mangled body lying next to her, his arm draped over her protectively. Sitting up a little straighter, she inspected him more closely, only to have her stomach turn at the sight of him. His robes were covered in blood and he appeared to be badly injured. Scrambling to her knees, she crawled around him so she could see his face and have a better look at his injuries. What she saw brought tears to her eyes: his face was deathly white, his right arm lay uselessly at his side and one of his legs was bent at an unnatural angle. She shuddered when she saw a tip of white bone protruding from a tear in the cloth of his trousers on the side of his knee.

"Adam!" She called frantically trying to wake him.

"Adam!" She called again, giving his shoulders a slight shake.

Ginny watched as Adam's eyes fluttered open, involuntarily she smiled. He looked confused for a second but once he made eye contact he too smiled.

"Ginny," he said in a faint voice.

"Adam, what happened?" Ginny asked.

"Your diary, Tom" he gasped.

Ginny looked over at the diary; it had a massive hole in the front of it. As she looked at the diary, she felt a massive sense of relief that it was finally gone. Then the memory came back to her in a flash, she remembered earlier that day Tom had taken over her body again. Again? Had he done it before? She had a suspicion that he had, but when?

"Adam! I Stunned you!" Ginny cried, tears welling up her eyes.

"Wasn't you... was Tom," he seemed to be having difficulty breathing. "Help me."

Ginny saw her wand lying next to the diary. She picked it and the diary up and put them in her pocket. She then helped Adam to his feet, flinching when he screamed out in pain. She had to take most of his weight, feeling grateful that he wasn't any bigger than her. They began slowly making their way to the far end of the chamber, where the large snake pillars seemed to almost form a pathway that led away into the darkness. Ginny gasped when she saw that the basilisk was now decapitated. Hang on. Why did she recognise it? She had never seen a basilisk before.

"Wand," Adam gasped suddenly.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"My... wand."

Ginny realised Adam must have lost his wand.

"Accio Adam's wand!" Ginny cried instinctively holding out her wand with the hand she wasn't using to support Adam.

With a splash of water Adams wand came flying across the room towards her. She snatched it up and placed it with her wand back into her pocket. Adam was in no state to carry it right now. The pair made their way down the pathway; eventually reaching a large wall with two serpents carved into it. Ginny inspected the wall; it was a dead end.

"What now?" Adam asked.

How did Adam expect her to know! Wait! Tom had opened this wall when he was using her body. She thought back carefully, she had an image of herself standing in front of the wall hissing at it to open.

"You have to ask it to open, you know, hiss at it," Ginny said, surprising herself.

She saw understanding dawn in Adam's eyes.

"Open," he hissed at the wall.

Without a sound the wall slid smoothly apart. Adam and Ginny continued onwards, when they came across a giant snake skin they both shrank back in fright, causing Adam to fall to floor, gasping in pain.

Eventually they reached another dead end; there was only a vertical tube above them. Ginny had another flash of memory. It was of Adam falling down the tube and her following.

"I, erm, Tom pushed you down this tube to get down here," Ginny said meekly.

They both stood below the exit from the tube and looked up; they could see no light at all from it.

"Any ideas?" Adam asked.

"Ask it to open again?" Ginny suggested.

"Open," Adam hissed nothing happened.

"Stairs!" Adam hissed, still nothing.

"Take us up!" Adam hissed, in frustration.

The floor around them started to shudder. The section of floor they were standing on began to float, taking Ginny and Adam upwards into the tube.

Chapter 9

Author's Notes: Thanks to my betas Arnel and Jezzjamer2. This is the last chapter of the first book. The sequel will start to be posted shortly. Thanks for all the reviews I've recieved while writing this. There is an awful lot of information about this AU that hasn't yet come out yet, it will in due course so keep reading!

Minerva

May 9th 1993

"Albus? Minerva? What's going on?" Molly Weasley asked, as she emerged from the Floo with a concerned look on her face. "I'd literally only just walked back in the house when you Flooed. Was it the twins? What have they done?"

Minerva knew Molly Weasley reasonably well; she was a small woman with the same fiery red hair that her husband and all of her children shared. Minerva was dreading having to tell her that her only daughter was in mortal peril. She knew that Molly was fiercely protective of all her children, Ginny especially.

"Molly, please take a seat. Will Arthur be joining us?" Albus said soothingly.

"Not until later, he's on a raid at the moment. I can't contact him until he's returned to the Ministry," Molly replied. "I assure you, that any disciplinary matter I am quite capable of taking care of myself."

"Molly, this isn't about the twins, it is about Ginny," Albus stated.

"No, no. Ginny is a good girl, she wouldn't do anything," Molly replied. "You must be mistaken."

"Molly, you are aware that there have been several incidents during this school year?" Albus questioned.

"No! Oh no! Not Ginny, she's been Petrified?" Molly asked frantically, instantly making the connection.

"I'm afraid its worse than that," Albus said gravely. "Ginny has been kidnapped by the attacker and taken into a hidden chamber beneath the school."

Molly visibly sank down into her chair.

"Oh, Oh!" Molly began to sob. "Not Ginny, not Ginny!"

"We are searching for the entrance to the chamber as we speak, Molly. We are doing all we can and the Aurors are on their way to help," Minerva added.

"Who did this?" Molly asked, anger beginning showing through her tears.

Minerva hesitated.

"Who did this to my little girl?" Molly snapped, her eyes blazing.

"We believe that it was a boy. Adam Winters. There has been some suspicion of him during the year and he has also vanished along with Ginny," Albus replied.

Minerva glared at Albus; he ignored her.

"That boy! I even sent him a Christmas present because Ginny said he was lonely," Molly spat, her eyes now burning with fury.

"Some evidence points to him yes," Minerva replied carefully. "But nothing has been proven."

The next two hours were some of the longest Minerva had ever known. She Albus and Molly waited for news in the Headmaster's Office. It was all Minerva and Albus could do to prevent Molly from charging out into the school herself. Severus returned once briefly only to state that they had not yet found the missing students or the entrance to the chamber. This news only made Molly break out in a fresh sobs.

Minerva was sitting with Molly by the fire attempting to provide some comfort to her, when the door to the office burst open.

Adam Winters stumbled through the door, followed immediately by Ginny Weasley, who seemed to be supporting Adam. Adam was covered in blood and he was as white as a ghost. In comparison Ginny seemed fine, she was bloodstained but didn't appear injured. Molly emitted a furious roar from behind where Minerva was standing and she charged across the room, grabbed Adam by the throat and lifted him up.

"YOU MONSTER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY LITTLE GIRL!" Molly screamed at Adam.

"MUM!" Ginny screamed back.

Adam simply screamed in pain.

"MOLLY! Put the boy down!" Albus' voice rang with authority. "We need to determine what has happened here."

Molly stared alternately between Albus, Adam and Ginny. Ginny was desperately trying to put herself between her mother and Adam. Minerva felt a surge of hope, Ginny wouldn't be protecting Adam if he had just kidnapped her. Maybe he was innocent. Definitely there was more going on here than was obvious. Molly lowered Adam to the floor, where he promptly collapsed, moaning in pain.

Minerva saw Ginny rush over to Adam, with tears forming in her eyes.

"Mum, how could you! He saved me! He saved me!" Ginny cried as she tried to comfort Adam.

Minerva dashed over to Adam, intending to check him over.

"No! Stay back! You all think he did it! He didn't! He didn't!" Ginny cried, moving to block Minerva.

"Miss Weasley, will you allow me to examine Adam. I only want to check on his injuries," Albus said, trying to sooth the near hysterical girl.

Minerva watched as Ginny looked warily at Albus and herself. Before eventually nodding and allowing Albus to approach Adam.

Albus crouched over Adam and began speaking softly to him. She saw him click his fingers in front of Adam's face. The room was silent as Albus seemed to stare at Adam.

"Albus..." Minerva said softly.

Albus simply raised his hand, signalling for Minerva to wait. He stared at Adam for what seemed an age.

Albus suddenly stood up. "I think, Miss Weasley, that you should tell us your side of the story," he said.

"It wasn't Adam!" Ginny sobbed. "It was me! It was me all along!"

"Miss Weasley," Albus said softly. "You're saying you are the one who has been attacking students?"

"Yes!" Ginny replied, at this Molly gasped. "No! It was my diary, its been making me ill. I've been having black outs. Its been controlling me! I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to!" Ginny wailed.

"The diary?"Albus asked with sudden intensity. "You have it? Show me."

Ginny pulled a battered book with a massive hole in it out of her robes and handed it to the headmaster. Albus immediately began examining the diary, when he had finished he returned to his desk and sank down into his chair with his shoulders slumped.

"This is the key," Albus said in a low voice, shaking his head.

"Albus?" Minerva questioned hopefully. "Adam is innocent then?"

"Later, Minerva. The most important thing now is to get these children to the hospital wing."

Madam Pomfrey was summoned and she soon arrived, along with Filius, to take Adam to the hospital wing. Ginny insisted on going with him.

"Molly," Albus said. "Would you like to go with them?"

"I will, she will be safe with Filius for a moment." Molly replied sharply. "Because, I want to know what happened to my daughter."

Albus sighed. "While I examined Adam, I..." he hesitated. "I also examined his memories."

"Albus!" Minerva chastised. "That's highly unethical."

"Minerva," Albus replied gently. "I had to know," he paused. "Regardless of the morality of my actions. What I saw in Adam's memories confirm Miss Weasleys testimony, and the diary lends further support to this."

"I'm not following you, Albus," Molly interrupted.

Albus moved his fingers over the diary. When his fingers reached the hole, he froze for a second before continuing to examine the book. "I can feel traces of dark magic still here," he said softly.

Albus seemed to visibly sag in his chair. "I'm almost certain now. Based on what your daughter has said, that this diary has been forcing her to release the creature that has been carrying out the attacks."

"So that means!" Minerva began enthusiastically.

"Yes, Minerva, it seems I owe Adam an apology. This new evidence all points to his innocence."

Minerva saw the colour drain from Molly's face, she had, presumably, just realised that she had nearly attacked an innocent boy.

Minerva herself felt incredibly guilty. It seemed even after everyone in the school, including her, had lost faith and believed he was guilty, Adam was innocent and most importantly he had saved Ginny.

"Albus, Minerva," Molly said faintly. "Can I go and see my daughter now."

"Certainly, Molly," Albus replied. "Minerva, would you be so kind so as to show Molly to the hospital wing,"

Minerva ushered Molly out of the Headmaster's office. On their way down the spiral staircase Lucius Malfoy pushed past them. He was on his way up, with his house elf. Minerva ignored him, that man gave her the creeps. Albus hadn't mentioned he was expecting Lucius but as much as Minerva disliked the man he was, unfortunately, a school governor and presumably had business with the Headmaster.

Minerva continued purposefully towards the hospital wing, with Molly following. She needed to check that Adam was okay.

Ginny

May 10th 1993

When Ginny awoke the next day, the hospital wing was flooded with light. She hadn't slept so well for ages, it felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from her soul. Ginny sat up and hopped out of bed. She saw a nightgown lying on the chair next to her bed. She slipped it on. Gingerly Ginny pulled back the curtains surrounding her bed and stepped outside.

The hospital wing was silent. She could see several other beds that were surrounded by screens, one was the bed next to hers; the others were at the far end of the hospital wing. She poked her head into the cubicle next to hers; Adam was lying in the bed. He looked extremely peaceful and was obviously sound asleep, his breathing regular and deep. As Ginny looked at him she could see no visible traces of the injuries he had suffered. Injuries he suffered because of me, Ginny thought bitterly.

How could she have been so stupid? She had trusted Tom and the whole time he had been taking control of her body to do evil things. She had hurt her friends, Hermione and Adam. They would probably never forgive her. Well that wouldn't matter much, she would probably be expelled anyway.

"Ginny!" her mum called, interrupting her thoughts.

"In here, Mum," Ginny called back.

Ginny watched as her mum entered the cubicle with a tray of food in her hands.

"How are you, dear?" Mum asked putting the tray down on a nearby table.

"Fine," she lied.

"Adam is going to be fine dear, he will just need to sleep for a few more hours and the Petrified students will be revived in a few days," her mum continued, sensing her obvious distress. "Ginny, dear, nobody blames you. It wasn't your fault, you were being controlled."

"I should have realised what was happening, Mum! I could have stopped it!" Ginny replied.

"Professor Dumbledore says that the diary was a powerful magical object. There was no way someone your age could have fought against it. It isn't your fault! Professor Dumbledore doesn't blame you. I don't blame you and I'm certain Adam won't blame you either," her mum said in a comforting tone as she pulled Ginny into a hug.

"Why don't we sit down, have some dinner and I'll tell you about what's been happening at home," mum said as she pulled up a couple of chairs. Ginny smiled; her mum always knew what to say. The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk more about what had happened.

"Your father has been really busy at work these last few weeks. He came to visit you last night, but you were already asleep. He was out on a raid all of yesterday and couldn't get here until late," her mum continued as they began to eat.

They sat there for a while simply chatting, Mum filled her in on all the goings on and gossip. Bill was still working in Egypt with Gringotts although he hoped to come home next Christmas if not sooner. Charlie was still working in Romania with dragons; to her mum's great annoyance she had been unable to get him to commit to a date to next visit. Ginny sat there enjoying her mum's company, she had always been close to her mother. They talked about inconsequential things. Ginny was just relieved to get her mind off the diary, and the Chamber of Secrets. She wanted to be distracted.

"Ginny," a faint croak from the bed attracted her attention.

"Adam!" she squealed happily. She dashed over to his bedside and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," he snorted.

Ginny felt her mum approach. Adam seemed to tense when he saw her mum, he must be remembering when she attacked him.

"Adam, I am so sorry for my actions yesterday. I was just so scared for Ginny and they..." Mum hesitated. "They told me you were responsible. You saved my daughter and I can never thank you enough for that, Adam."

"Erm, no problem, Mrs Weasley," Adam said as he blushed bright red at the thanks. He wriggled about on the bed attempting to move himself. "Could you help me sit up?"

"Certainly dear," Mum said, as she helped Adam sit up.

While Ginny was fluffing his pillow she saw a pained look on his face, obviously he wasn't fully healed yet.

"Now your up, you must be starving, I'll just pop off and get you some food," mum continued once he was upright

Adam remained silent until her mum had left.

"Ginny," he began.

"Adam, I'm so sorry! How will you ever forgive me? The whole year everyone has been accusing you and it was me the whole time. I was supposed to be your friend!" Ginny cried.

"Ginny!" Adam said forcefully. "It wasn't your fault. I still want to be your friend. That's if you still want to be mine," he finished awkwardly.

Ginny was overjoyed to hear him say this. She had expected him to tell her to go away and never talk to him again. Almost without thinking she grabbed Adam in the biggest hug she possibly could. It wasn't until she heard a hiss of pain that she realised she had may have overdone it. Even so he had a massive grin on his face as she released him.

Adam

May 11th 1993

As Adam awoke he felt for the first time as if he was healed. The dull ache that had permeated his body was gone as had the throbbing in his leg and shoulder. He wriggled his shoulder, it seemed to have the majority of its normal movement back, previously it had simply hung limply at his side while it healed. He attempted to lever himself up into a sitting position. He managed to get himself halfway there before his arm gave way and fell back onto his side. Rolling over back onto his back he huffed. Obviously his arm wasn't as strong as he thought. As he lay there staring at the ceiling he heard a sound from the other side of his little cubicle. Giggling.

"Do you want a hand, Adam?" Ginny giggled. "One of yours doesn't seem to be working."

Adam decided not to answer that and simply growled.

Ginny appeared from wherever she had been and helped him to sit up. Physically Ginny had come through the ordeal in the Chamber virtually unscathed. Once the diary had gone her colour had come back and she seemed livelier and happier almost immediately. Adam guessed Ginny was still feeling incredibly guilty about what had happened and what she had been forced to do. As Adam saw it, someone had stolen her body for a few hours and done horrible things with it but it wasn't Ginny doing those things.

"So how are you feeling?" Ginny asked.

"Better thanks, my arm is still weak as you know, but no pain anymore," he answered. "How are you Ginny?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Ginny replied. "I'll get you some water."

Adam sighed as Ginny left the cubicle. She obviously wasn't fine but she didn't want to talk about it. Ginny returned a few minutes later looking nervous. Her nervousness was explained when the Headmaster entered the cubicle after her. He waved his wand and conjured a large armchair and sat down.

"Do sit down, Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said.

Ginny sat down on his bed, carefully ensuring she didn't touch his injured leg.

"Mr. Winters, myself and the whole school owe you an apology. I was wrong to believe you responsible for the attacks. I deeply regret my actions as result of this misjudgment," he paused. "This incident has been a wake up for me you could say," he paused again, waiting for a reply.

"Okay," Adam responded.

"I would like to explain a little about what happened," Professor Dumbledore said as he pulled the diary from his robe. Adam saw Ginny visibly recoil from it and he heard her squeak in fear as she saw it. "Do not worry, Miss Weasley, it is destroyed." Professor Dumbledore ran his fingers along the name on the front of the diary. "T. M. Riddle."

"He always told me to call him Tom," Ginny added.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was once a student here at Hogwarts. You and he share much the same background Adam and I suppose that is why I found it easier to suspect you. He was always a disturbed boy, he enjoyed hurting others even from a young age. I see now you are nothing alike."

"Thanks," Adam muttered.

"When Tom left Hogwarts he took on a new name. He became Lord Voldemort."

Ginny gasped at this, colour draining from her face. Adam was confused, he had never heard of Lord Voldemort.

"Who is Voldemort?" Adam asked.

Ginny jumped.

"We don't say his name, Adam. We normally call him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Ginny clarified.

"So he was the one that you told me about at Halloween. He killed the Potters?" Adam asked, finally understanding.

Professor Dumbledore coughed suddenly. "Pardon, Yes, that is correct, Mr. Winters." Professor Dumbledore paused. "Miss Weasley, Tom Riddle was a powerful wizard who has manipulated wizards far older and more experienced than you. So you must not feel bad about what has occurred. It was not your fault!"

"How did I end up with the diary though?" Ginny asked. "It was in with my school things."

"At the moment I do not know, but I will be investigating," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Professor, when I was down in the Chamber, Tom said I must be related to him because I'm a Parselmouth. That's not true, is it?" Adam asked, he didn't want to be related to Tom Riddle. To be related to someone who had done so much evil would be horrifying.

"Adam, I can say categorically that you are not related to Tom Riddle," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"How do you know?" Adam asked, his eyes widening. "The blood test!" Adam exclaimed suddenly. "Was it that blood test you did? What did it tell you?" Adam asked these questions in quick succession. He was relieved to know that he wasn't related to Tom Riddle, but incredibly curious about his past. Maybe Professor Dumbledore would find some long last family. Maybe he could go and stay with them.

"The blood test," Professor Dumbledore paused. "Well, I'm afraid to say I have no answers for you. However, I do know for a fact that Tom Riddle was the last of his family and he had no children."

Adam felt strangely disappointed. He hadn't really thought about it much up until this point, he'd had other things on his mind, but the blood test was his chance of finding out about his family and there was nothing.

"So, how can I talk to snakes then? If I'm not related to Tom?" Adam asked.

"That is another mystery I will aim to investigate. Over the summer hopefully," Professor Dumbledore replied. "It may shed some light on your heritage,"

Adam felt a surge of hope. If he wasn't related to Tom, then his parents must have been able to talk to snakes. According to Ginny being a Parselmouth wasn't that common… maybe he could find any family he had that way.

"Well, that is all I wanted to say. Are there any other questions you two may have?" The Headmaster asked standing up from his chair.

"Sir, where I am going to stay over the summer?" Adam asked, remembering his conversation with Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore's mention of the summer had jogged his memory.

"Ah yes, Professor McGonagall reminded me of this. With the recent troubles I have not been able to arrange anything myself. Normal procedure in these cases is for the Ministry to arrange something and they have have assured me that they will arrange somewhere suitable for you to stay over the summer," he paused. "Somewhere safe."

Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and made his conjured chair vanish.

"Good day to you Mr. Winters, and to you Miss Weasley. We are having a feast as soon as the victims of the attacks are restored." he smiled slightly. "Please make sure you are there," Professor Dumbledore finished with a slight twinkle in his eye.

He swept out of the cubicle leaving Adam and Ginny sitting on the bed together.

May 30th 1993

Today was finally the day that the Petrified victims were to be revived. Adam was waiting with Ginny just outside the hospital wing. According to Madam Pomfrey the revival process would be more or less instant and the victims would be back on their feet virtually immediately. So Adam and Ginny had decided to wait for Hermione once she was revived.

Adam and Ginny had rejoined the school the previous week, although there were still many suspicious looks thrown in Adam's direction. The story that Professor Dumbledore had told the school was vastly different from what actually happened. He had told the school that Adam and Ginny had been attacked and had managed to escape, identifying the attacker in the process. With the attacker identified Professor Dumbledore had been able to apprehend him. He had, however, refused to reveal to the school the identity of the attacker, despite the pleas of many of the students.

Once this announcement was made Adam received many apologies from the students who had previously accused him.

MrsWeasley had, however, told the rest of the Weasley children about Ginny's involvement in the attacks and how Adam had rescued her. Adam had blushed at this praise. Once the story was told the Weasley brothers had all shaken his hand, thanked him and apologised. Ron, much to Ginny's anger, had shaken his hand stiffly, nodded and then stormed off.

The other development that had occurred and caused considerable whispering within the school, was the disappearance of Professor Lockhart. He had vanished while Adam and Ginny were in the hospital wing. Adam privately believed it was because he was useless. However, Professor Dumbledore had simply stated it was because he had a family emergency.

Ron and Neville had also just arrived outside the hospital wing to wait for Hermione. They sat down next to Ginny. Ron was still avoiding all attempts at conversation with Adam. Ginny suddenly let out a high pitched squeal and leapt up from where she was sitting. The door to the hospital wing had opened and Hermione had stepped out. She was walking a little shakily and was still wearing the clothes she had been wearing when she was attacked but otherwise she looked fine. Well other than the fact she was currently the unexpected recipient of a Ginny Weasley hug. Upon seeing Hermione, Ron and Nevile also got up from their seats and made their way over to her. Adam hung back and waited for the reunion to finish before he approached. Hermione gave him a smile and Adam waved back.

"It was a basilisk attacking the students," Hermione said quietly. "The last thing I remember was hearing a slithering sound in the corridor, so I took out my mirror to look around the corner and then I woke up in the hospital wing about an hour ago."

"Oh, Hermione!" Ginny said, her voice breaking a bit.

"I think we should go somewhere more private," Adam said, Ginny's involvement in this was still secret. Adam wanted it to stay that way.

The five of them made their way to the common room. It was packed with Gryffindors. They decided to go up to Ron's room as Ron and Neville's other two roommates were currently busy in the common room.

"Hermione! It was me! I released the basilisk," Ginny confessed as soon as they were in the room. "The diary was controlling me somehow. I would have this dizziness and memory loss. That must have been when I was releasing the basilisk."

"How did you stop it?" Hermione asked, beginning to pace.

"It was Adam who stopped it. The diary made me attack him. He was able to stop the basilisk," Ginny replied, they had decided not to tell anyone else other than the Headmaster about Tom or the conversation with him.

"How the hell did you stop a basilisk?" Ron asked. Obviously the story Mrs Weasley told him must have been very brief.

"Umm I-I-I remembered what Hermione had on the sheet of paper in her hand," Adam answered. "So when it came out I closed my eyes. It had me cornered and then something happened to it and it just exploded. It was all luck really."

"It's wasn't luck, Adam, you saved me!" Ginny said strongly.

"Where was Ginny while you were fighting the basilisk?" Ron asked.

"I was unconscious. After it the diary took me over and made me stun Adam, I guess it made me drag Adam down into the Chamber. Then it made me go unconscious," Ginny replied.

"This diary has been controlling you all year?" asked Ron. Adam couldn't quite decipher the look on his face. It looked almost guilty.

"Yeah, my first memory loss happened only a few days after we got here," Ginny replied.

At this Ron went bright red. Without saying anything he stood up and left the room.

"What's up with him?" Ginny asked.

"I think he's feeling bad because he wasn't there for you," Hermione said gently.

"Should I go after him?" Neville asked.

"I'd leave him sort himself out," Hermione advised. "We have to be down for the feast soon anyway."

The small group all dispersed to go and get changed for the feast.

The feast was spectacular, as all Hogwarts feasts were. Which meant that there was far too much food for Adam to possibly eat. Adam did his best though and was careful to save room for dessert.

"Ahem," Professor Dumbledore stood as the meal finished. The hall grew silent, waiting for him to speak. "This year we have been victim to many unfortunate occurrences at the school. Some of our own students have been attacked. As a result of this it is my pleasure to announce that all exams are canceled!"

The Great Hall erupted into a massive roar at the announcement. The entire school was cheering and clapping.

"Ahem," The hall quietened, waiting for the headmaster to continue. "There is one person who I must thank on behalf of the school. Despite being suspected of the attacks this young man was able to fight back against the attacker and alert the teaching staff. This allowed us to apprehend the real culprit. So please come forward Mr. Winters to collect a special award for services to the school and two hundred points to Gryffindor!"

Adam groaned, he didn't want the attention but he didn't really have much choice now. The entire school was cheering, with the exception of some of the Slytherins. The Gryffindor table was home to the most enthusiastic applause. Adam stood up and walked to the head table. Professor Dumbledore handed him a small plaque. Adam quickly grabbed the plaque and scurried back to the Gryffindor table. As he returned he noticed Ginny was also clapping and grinning madly at him.

"Did you know about this?" Adam whispered.

"No! Although I wouldn't have told you even if I did," Ginny giggled.

Adam was even more of a hero to the Gryffindors when it turned out his two hundred points had been enough to push Gryffindor into first place for the House Cup, beating Slytherin by only 20 points. However, the biggest shock for Adam at the feast was when Professor Dumbledore announced the return of Hagrid. Hagrid had apparently been removed from the school by the Ministry, having been somehow also implicated for opening the Chamber of Secrets. This news caught Adam and Ginny by surprise for neither of them realised that Hagrid had left the school. Adam saw Ginny's shoulders slump, she was obviously blaming herself for Hagrid's removal. He touched her elbow and tried to give her a reassuring smile, which she returned weakly.

Adam hoped that Ginny would accept that none of this was her fault soon.

June 19th 1993

The day Adam had been dreading for weeks was finally here. It was the day he was leaving his new home, Hogwarts, to go and stay somewhere else for the summer. He was a little uneasy about where he was going to stay, but if the Ministry had sorted it out especially for him then it couldn't be that bad. He hoped he would be able to go and see Ginny towards the end of the summer.

As Adam and Ginny were leaving the castle to head towards the boats waiting to take them to the train, Professor McGonagall called him over.

"Adam!"

"Yes Professor?"

"Before you go, I just wanted to say its been a pleasure to have you here this year. You have come on so much since I first met you," she paused as Adam felt his face flush. "If you have any problems over the summer you can always send me an owl and I will do whatever I can to help. I may not be at Hogwarts all through the summer, but if you need me I will come and help you."

"Thank you, Professor, for everything," Adam replied, he really did feel very grateful.

It amazed Adam how much his life had changed over the past year. He had gone from stealing food and sleeping in abandoned buildings to living in a magical castle. He had gone from having no friends to having the best friend he could possibly ever ask for in Ginny. He had gone from a freak that made strange things happen to a wizard able to perform magic.

Adam couldn't wait to come back to Hogwarts next year.

Ginny

June 19th 1993

Ginny was staring out of the window of the train. She could just about make out Kings Cross Station in the distance.

"We're nearly there!" Ginny exclaimed, as she hopped up and down excitably on her seat.

"Oh," Adam replied. He sounded disappointed.

Ginny understood that Adam wasn't feeling anywhere near as enthusiastic about going home as she was. Well, he didn't really have a home to go to, did he. The Ministry was putting him up somewhere until he went back to Hogwarts.

"I'll definitely get my Mum to send you an owl, so you can come over towards the end of the Holidays! We can ask her on the platform if you'd like. I'm sure she will say yes," said Ginny as she bounced around the compartment tidying things from their trip away.

Once they had disembarked from the train Ginny and Adam strode across the platform.

"There they are!" Ginny shouted as she saw her mum.

Ginny ran over and her mum grabbed her into a big hug.

"Oh, Ginny! It's so good to have you home!" said Mum, obviously excited to see her.

Looking around Ginny saw Adam struggling through the crowd towards them with his trunk.

"Hello, Adam," Mum said as she saw him. "Are your parents here to pick you up yet?"

Ginny saw Adam flinch at this, she hadn't told her mum any of Adam's history. He hadn't wanted her to.

"Mum, Mum! Can Adam come and stay with us during the summer?" Ginny asked, hoping to distract her mother.

"Of course dear, we will just need to ask his parents and set it all up." Mum responded.

"Mrs Weasley, someone was going to be sent to come and pick me up today to take me home," Adam replied, he had obviously collected himself. "So erm, could you send an owl?"

"Oh, of course dear," she responded. "Who is picking you up?"

"I don't know. I guess they have some way to identify themselves."

"Could it be the man over there with your name on a piece of parchment, Adam?" Fred enquired with a wink.

"Oh," Adam replied. "I guess that means I should go, then. Goodbye Ginny, will you write to me?"

"Of Course!" said Ginny. She pulled Adam into a hug. She then whispered so only Adam could hear. "Good luck, I hope where they send you is okay."

Adam began to walk away towards the man who was holding the parchment with his name on it. He turned around and waved before the man lead him out of the King's Cross barrier. Ginny knew that Adam was really nervous about where he was being sent. She hoped he would be okay.

"My, my Ginny, your friend must be well off if his parents send a chauffeur to pick him up!" George commented.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ginny replied.

You have no idea how wrong you are George, Ginny thought as the Weasley family grabbed their trunks and began to make their way towards the barrier.

Table of Contents

Harry Potter: Lost by Bear

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9