FOUR

     Harry was pacing in front of the thick oak doors of Dumbledore's office, trying to figure out he was going to say. Or, what he was even going to do, really. It had only been about an hour since his session with his newest patient, and he was already anticipating their next one, but there was something he needed to know before going back into that room with Tom Riddle, with Lord Voldemort.

Tom may have had some sort of effect on Harry when they talked - the way he looked at Harry and spoke to him made tingles go up and down his spine - but he knew he shouldn't get too sucked into this criminal's facade. He knew he had to be cautious despite his unrelenting curiosity of the man, and he's determined to go do what he should have done before.

He had wanted to go into his first session with Tom with an open mind, so had forgone looking too much into his most recent and severe victim - Ginny Weasley. Now though, after their second meeting, and his realization that Tom might be affecting him more than Harry was affecting Tom, he has decided he just has to know.

Abruptly stopping his pacing, Harry settled down in one of the hard metal chairs nearby, holding his head in his hands. He was just making himself anxious for no reason, thinking about it so much. He will just make a visit to Ms. Weasley and then return for his next meeting with Tom. Everything will be fine. She will be fine.

Harry sat there for a moment longer, collecting himself, before standing and swiftly knocking on the hard wooden door. He might have knocked a bit harder than necessary, seeing as it hurt his knuckles, but he barely noticed that as he worried his bottom lip and waited for a response. He heard some papers shuffling and then a throat clearing before hearing a "come in."

He opened the door swiftly, careful to close it behind him and turned to face the head of Hogwarts asylum, Albus Dumbledore, sitting at his desk. Dumbledore, giving him a small polite smile and gesturing Harry towards one of the seats in front of him, spoke up first. "Harry, I thought I'd see you here today. How did your second session with Tom Riddle go?"

Harry honestly wasn't sure how their session went, it had been interesting and informative, and slightly exciting, but Tom was hard to read, and for all he knew, the informative part of the session was just manipulation. "Fine. It was good." Harry said quickly, sitting down in the plush red chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I just... I just wanted to come and ask you about Ms. Weasley. Ginny Weasley."

Green eyes were focused intently on the aging face of Dumbledore as he hummed and nodded, grabbing one of the files near him. "I had a feeling this would come up Harry, and honestly I'm surprised you didn't come asking about her sooner. Before you went to meet Riddle."

Harry blushed a bit, feeling as if he was being criticized for being so careless and walking in to meet a criminal before fully seeing what they had done. "I... I would just like to know more about what happened. With her and Riddle." he stated, trying to keep his tone professional and devoid of the anxiousness he was feeling.

Dumbledore hummed again, nodding his head and flicking through the file in his hands. There was an uncomfortably long silence in the room as Harry awkwardly shifted in his seat and Dumbledore continued to peruse the papers in front of him. After what felt like at least a couple minutes (even though it was actually more like ten seemingly drawn out and uncomfortable seconds) of Harry awkwardly watching Dumbledore read and react to his readings, the head of the Hogwarts Asylum set down his papers and gave Harry a small, sad smile. "Well Harry, truthfully I was already going to request that you know more about Ms. Weasley's situation, and you coming here first has made it all easier. There is restricted access to her room, but with my company you will be able to pay her a visit." Dumbledore paused to look up at the old grandfather clock he kept in his office, "We can go visit her now, if you would be so inclined."

Harry balks at his casual acceptance of his request, he hadn't been expecting this to be so easy, and he certainly hadn't been expecting to be allowed in to see her immediately. "Um, yes sure we can go see her now." he acquiesces, knowing that he shouldn't pass up on this immediate opportunity, even if he's suddenly not so sure this is a good idea. Before, he felt confident that learning more about this case was the right way to go, but now being faced with the reality of meeting one of the most talked about victims of the man he had sat across from a mere hour ago, he feels anxious and almost excited.

There's a feeling bubbling in his chest as he follows the headmaster down the hall to the restricted section that few have been allowed down. It's quieter than he had imagined, and their footsteps echo as they walk past each door, all the way down to the one at the end.

Dumbledore pauses in front of the door labeled "Weasley, G." to look back at him with a grim look, "Harry, I want you to know that I am showing you this not because I think you will end up like her, but only so you can understand just how cautious you need to be around this man. He is truly a manipulative monster, and sometimes this can be hard to remember." Harry nods at this, thinking of the words that Tom had said to him mere hours ago. Tom Riddle was certainly a monster, and now Harry was finally going to see just what kind he was.

The headmaster unlocks the door, and as he opens it, Harry can hear a soft muttering coming from within. The door opens fully, and then he can see the red-haired woman that the ramblings are coming from. She turns to them as they walk in, and her face seems to darken with hatred as soon as she sees Dumbledore. "You! Let me out of here old man!" she stands up, looking enraged, and frankly, less insane than Harry had been expecting. She only has eyes for the headmaster as she spits out, "I don't belong in here! This is your fault!" Harry tries to contain his shock as Ginny stalks toward them, but Dumbledore doesn't seem to be worried, so he keeps his cool. As she approaches, he sees her eyes, filled with loathing and presenting the insanity that he has heard so much about.

"Now, Ginny," Dumbledore says in his old grandfatherly voice, "Calm down dear, I know this is hard for you, but it's for your own good." He turns to Harry, looking solemn, "I'm going to leave you two in here for a chat, not to worry though, I shall have guards posted outside the door just in case she tries anything untoward." Before Harry can even get a word in edgewise, the wizened man has turned and swiftly exited the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Harry stiffens as he realizes he's just been left alone in a room with a woman that has been classified as insane, and is currently raging about the man that brought him here. He glanced nervously at her, thinking about all the questions he had about her situation, but being unable to voice them as she glares at the closed door.

After a few seconds she turns to him, looking contemplative. "You're the Dark Lords new psychiatrist huh?" Harry blanches at her blunt tone and is about to respond when she continues. "How is he? The Dark Lord, I mean. Has he talked to you much? What has he said?" The questions come one after another, and she starts to look almost frantic with each one.

Harry's confusion grows, and he finally gets out, "What did he do to you?" Everyone knows that Lord Voldemort had done something to her, but no one truly knows what, only that it had to be something terrible for her to be committed into the same hospital she worked at. But these questions didn't seem to be ones that would come from a traumatized patient. She almost seemed worried.

Ginny seems to find his confusion amusing, and the corner of her mouth ticks up as she looks him up and down. "He didn't do anything. I did it. I killed those guards and I would do it again. Lord Voldemort does not deserve to be in here. And neither do I."

Harry's mind reels with this new information and Ginny takes his silence as an invitation, gliding over to him with a slightly crazed smile on her face. "Don't you get it? He is the Dark Lord. It took me a while to see it, but he is a monster in a world of monsters, and he is the best one. He is my Lord." She's nearly cackling by this point, and Harry almost feels entranced by her words. He has even more questions now, but all he can think about is how powerful and convincing Tom must be, to lure an upstanding psychiatrist to his side, even getting her to kill for him.

Ginny is fully laughing at this point, possibly at his completely befuddled expression, and he almost feels awed by her confidence. He had been expecting to find a broken shell of a person in this room, but instead he's found someone that may be crazy, but is as lively as ever, and devoted to the man that many call evil.

The door behind him opens, and he turns to look while Ginny stops laughing. Dumbledore is at the entrance, looking grim, and he beckons Harry out. Ginny's face is twisted into a scowl, and she turns to Harry, her mood completely flipped from her exuberance from before. "Take care, fresh meat. Tell my Lord I await orders." She waves him off, and Harry has enough sense of mind to respond with, "My name is Harry," before walking out the door.

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A/N
hello sorry that i hadn't updated in years i actually forgot about this until someone commented and i was like oh yeah i have wattpad lmao. anyways i'm gonna try and update more thanks for reading :)

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