"Oh no…"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm having potions now and I can't find my book!" Luna looked wide-eyed at her red-haired friend. "I may have forgotten it at home…"

Ginny smiled and dug up her own potions book from her bag.

"Use mine, I don't mind. We never have potions together anyway, we can use the same book until you get your own back."

Luna hugged her friend.

"Thank you Ginny, you're such a nice friend! I'm really glad we met."

"I know right!" Ginny grinned. "And yeah, I'm glad too. I thought I was going to be all alone here, at mercy of my annoying brothers… I kinda still am, but…"

"It's always good to have a friend."

"Exactly."

Luna left for potions with Ginny's book under her arm. She could feel something inside the book, something unusual. It made her feel a bit like wackspurts were buzzing next to her ear. In class she found that another, thin book was stuck in the potions book. The moment she touched it, the unusual feeling became ten times as bad. Luna softly, carefully stroked the unknown book. It had an aura, slowly pulsating, almost like a heartbeat… Luna dared say it was alive! Her father had devoted an article to living books once; they were rare creatures that only showed their secrets to the most persistent of scholars, they loved to hide in libraries. Luna whispered to the book, so soft that no one could hear it.

"I will care for you… you wandered far from your library, didn't you?"

X

He could feel it… the touch, the energy… Buried as he had been for so long, he lapped up the sensation of someone touching him like a starving animal. He imagined the feeling of a quill scratching the pages of the diary again, power dripping into him again word by word… That short touch had already revived him, awakened him and with him his undying purpose. His protective casing may have been old and worn, but he was still young, just waiting to be released…

X

Luna took a deep breath, and wrote down her name in the living book.

"I am Luna Lovegood."

"My name is Tom Riddle. Nice to meet you."

Luna squeaked in delight. It was true! It was a living book and it deemed her worthy to talk to!

"Nice to meet you too. I have never met a living book before!"

"I am not really alive. I am just a memory…"

Luna shook her head.

"I know you are alive. I can feel it."

"How?"

"You have an aura. All living things have an aura, it means they have a soul."

"Interesting theory, Luna… Do you mind if I call you Luna?"

"Not at all. Can I call you Tom?"

"Please do so… I have been alone for so long, it would be nice to have someone call my name again. Would you like to tell me something about yourself? Or perhaps where I am now, and in which year? I have been without company for so long that I have lost track of time."

Luna lovingly stroked the diary. Poor Tom, he must be so lonely!

"I'm at Hogwarts, and it is 1992. What would you like me to tell you about?"

"Oh, everything. I'm a good listener, even though I'm just a book."

X

It worked! So easily misled, those young girls… This one even saw that he was no mere memory, and yet she didn't hesitate to pour herself into him word by word! Tom –as soon as he had introduced himself, the sense of identity had returned to him- couldn't help but smirk. It was too easy really. There was something though, a nagging feeling of discomfort on the edge of his mind, but he ignored it. It was probably just the Horcrux variety of muscle cramp, caused by fifty years of gathering dust somewhere.

X

Luna returned Ginny's potions book, but she kept the "Living Book" named Tom for herself. After all, how could she be sure that Ginny would talk as devotedly to him as she did? Tom had been alone for far too long, he needed plenty of conversation. She could see that there were a lot of dark colours in his aura, meaning that he was somehow fundamentally… unhappy. Luna hoped that she might be able to distract him from his dark inner thoughts if she could just tell him enough happy, sweet things.

"Hi Tom, how are you today?"

"I am doing as usual, not much changes around here. I am more interested in you, Luna. Please tell me more about yourself. I think you are fascinating."

Luna giggled at the compliment and drew a smiley face in the diary.

"Aww, Tom! That's nice of you to say. If only the Nargles would tell me such sweet things I wouldn't keep them away!"

"What are Nargles?"

X

The nagging feeling had become worse over time. Tom felt himself grow stronger every day the Lovegood girl talked to him, and yet… there was something, slipping through his fingers like sand. The moment he thought that, an image appeared in his mind, a time turner, an hourglass, he didn't know. Golden rings twisted ferociously around a glass vial full of black sand that slowly but steadily travelled upwards. It unsettled Tom greatly… after all, Horcruxes didn't have visions, Horcruxes didn't dream. He couldn't explain where the image had come from, and anything he couldn't explain was potentially dangerous. He would have to watch out with what he told the Lovegood girl, urge her to give him more of her memories, more of her strength. He was almost powerful enough to infiltrate her mind, and then he could finally fulfil his purpose. Tom concentrated on that, calming himself with thoughts of the triumph that soon would be his...

X

Luna had taken to caring for Tom. She often shook her head at the diary, wondering how such a smart young man-well, Living Book- could know so much and yet so little. She had to spell everything out for him! It was easy to see that he longed to talk to her, talk to anyone probably, that was why he always made their conversations lengthier than necessary. Luna stroked the book lovingly. He was just scared she wouldn't talk to him again, the poor thing... And that just wouldn't do!

She told him about her parents and life in Hogwarts, but most of all about the stories from the Quibbler. She told him about the man who flew to the moon on a Cleansweep 6 and brought back the first Moon Frogs anyone had ever seen, about the hunt for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack that supposedly lived in Sweden, and even about the Blibbering Humdinger that was truly a peaceful creature although it sometimes attacked people in yellow coats because it believed them to be bananas. As he always asked plenty of questions, Luna believed dear Tom really enjoyed their talk…

X

He couldn't concentrate. That was the problem; he couldn't concentrate anymore. The bizarre visions that had started with the unnatural hourglass thingy now came almost every hour. It were incomprehensible images of wrestling men with heads protruding from their backsides but many pairs of strong arms growing out of their front, dancing people with colourful wings around a pole with a rotting human head on it, and eyes, trees from which eyes grew like leaves that did nothing but stare at him. Tom wandered lost in the visions; unable to concentrate until the now familiar scratching of a quill would call him back to reality. As soon as he heard Luna Lovegood's happy voice again, Tom gathered all his resolve. He had to do it now, because otherwise… he didn't want to think about an otherwise.

X

The writing on the wall felt oddly familiar to Luna, as if she had seen it somewhere before. She didn't have the chance to study it in depth though, as the teachers ushered everyone away, worried looks on their faces. She decided to tell Tom about it.

"Dear Tom. Something odd has happened. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, apparently."

"Has it? Oh dear… Good thing then that you are a pureblood, no harm will come to you."

"Oh, I don't worry. I think it's fascinating. Did you know my father believes that the Chamber holds a very rare creature, an unknown species that may have been discovered by Salazar Slytherin himself but never made public?"

"That's… interesting."

"I think so too! I would love to go in that Chamber once and meet the creature, do you think it would eat me?"

"I honestly don't know."

"You're very quiet, Tom. Are you ill? Your aura doesn't look good; it's fluctuating like you are fighting with something inside. You don't have Murgling Booklice chomping at your pages, do you?"

"Not… that I know of."

"Booklice are very dangerous to Living Books, according to my dad. You should be very careful and tell me immediately if you get them!"

"I will."

"Now, tell me what is bothering you."

X

"Now, tell me what is bothering you."

Tom wanted to lie, but his little excursion into Luna's mind had exhausted him. He just couldn't muster the strength to think up a good lie, no mater how uncharacteristic that was to him. It was almost as if being in the girl's mind was… toxic to him, in some way. He hadn't felt this bad since… since he had been separated from the main soul, actually.

"I feel sick."

"Poor dear."

He could feel her; he could feel her hands stroking the pages. Stroking them! He wanted her to stop, he wanted her words but not her… her touches. They had been pleasing at first, but now… He didn't understand them, and all he didn't understand was dangerous.

"Tell me what you are feeling exactly. Perhaps I can help?"

"I see things, confusing things. I don't understand them."

"Maybe you are a seer, you may be experiencing visions of the future. They can be really terrifying. Do you remember what you see?"

"Sometimes. It hurts."

Tom didn't want to write that, but he barely had any control. He had only just kept himself from letting more slip. How scared he was, by example. Horcruxes didn't get scared. Horcruxes never got sick and they certainly never had visions of the future. Horcruxes had a purpose, and that was all they cared about. In the enclosed mental space of the diary, Tom felt as if there was a weight on his chest. He was lying down, concentrating on breathing. He didn't even have to breathe; he wasn't even alive! The sheer idiocy of it all made him want to hurl…

"Sssh… It's okay to be scared."

He didn't understand the girl. The girl was dangerous. The girl had to go.

X

Luna was worried about Tom. He was giving off strange vibes, and had been doing so for a couple of days already. Not to mention that his aura looked miserable. She had checked the diary for Murgling Booklice and even wrapped it in her butterbeer cork necklace so that the Nargles wouldn't bother him, but nothing seemed to help. Eventually she decided to write the poem to him that her mother always used to tell her when she was little.

"Dear Tom. I thought this might cheer you up. My mother used to read this to me and it always made me laugh. Hope it will make you feel a little better!"

The worm can turn;

Haven't you heard?

When you think upon it

It seems absurd.

Worms can turn near,

Worms can turn far,

It really depends

On where they are!.

Worms are turning

Everywhere.

One might be turning

In your hair!

Worms in an apple

Find turning hell:

'Cause apples are hard,

They can't turn very well!

X

The girl's sing-songy voice resounded through Tom's mind as she wrote that poem, word for word. It was powerful, every word was full of strength and magic… but it was also full of something else, something that made Tom sick in his stomach and brought up visions of worms with thousands of eyes, twisting and turning through his body. If he had possessed a physical body he would have been scratching and crawling at himself trying to get them out, that real it felt. He let out a pitiful whimper, for no one but himself to hear. He had the strength now, he had to finish the girl. Tom didn't care anymore that he would be stuck in the chamber after she died, that his purpose would be lost… No. He needed her to die, before she killed him. It seemed so unlikely, that a naïve eleven-year-old girl would succeed in destroying a horcrux, but Tom's fuddled mind made him think she could. The visions, the pain, the fear… maybe it had been her plan all along! He had to get rid of her, and fast

X

Luna woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. Her head felt strange, and the place she was felt even stranger. It looked like it was underwater, with algae everywhere and big puddles of water. In awe she stared at the sculptures that decorated the place. Snakes everywhere… this had to be… The Chamber of Secrets! Luna felt her heart jump up in glee. Tom must have brought her here! So thoughtful of him, since she had told him how much she wanted to see the Chamber!

"How are you awake?"

She turned, and saw a young man. He had a handsome face, but his eyes were wide and full of emotions Luna couldn't place right away. His aura however, she would recognize everywhere.

"Tom!"

She threw herself at him in a bone-crushing hug, which was not exactly what Tom had been expecting. He hadn't been expecting to turn corporeal in the first place; he had just wanted to kill the Lovegood girl by means of Basilisk. Yet as soon as he had reached the Chamber, the girl had fainted and he had found himself there, extracted from her body, finally a bit corporeal again. It had been a stroke of luck, but now he doubted how lucky exactly… He pushed her away.

"You should not be alive anymore! I'm eating your soul! How can you even be awake?!"

Luna sent him a sad smile and stroked over the diary she was still holding, sending a shiver through Tom's body.

"Oh dear Tom, you sound very ill… But I can see a lot of wackspurts around you; you are probably just very confused by them. Maybe you should lie down for a bit. It was really nice of you to bring me here, but I think you've exhausted yourself."

"No, this… this can't be…"

Tom muttered to himself. He could feel how his mind was succumbing to the bizarre visions again that were caused by the girl… she had control over him, and she just sat there, gloating, mocking him with that bizarre smile of hers, her bulging eyes piercing his skull! He bit his teeth, gathered all his willpower and yelled the commands for the Basilisk to appear. As soon as the great serpent would kill the girl he would be free of her… Perhaps she could just petrify the girl so that he could continue to suck power fro her…

X

Nothing of the sorts happened. Tom spaced out from time to time, which made his report on the events hard to follow, most of all to himself… but somehow he realized that the basilisk wasn't killing the Lovegood girl. He had ordered the basilisk to kill the girl and she didn't! Why didn't she? He didn't understand. He was just completely overwhelmed by a sense of not-understanding. When he felt the scribble of her quill on his pages again, he didn't know what to do anymore, succumbing to the images she planted in his mind. He had lost…

X

"Tom is ill. I've been trying to heal him, but he's a very difficult patient."

Luna explained to the enormous serpent, which appeared to nod in agreement. Luna smiled at it. Her father had always taught her that you came a long way with being friendly to creatures, and it appeared he was right once again. The snake hissed a lot at Luna, and most of it she didn't understand, but some things she did. Luna suspected it was because of Tom; he had gotten so attached to her that she could do certain things he could do too, just not as good. Both she and the basilisk looked at Tom, who sat on the floor of the Chamber, his robes getting wet and his eyes all wide while he muttered things neither Luna nor the serpent understood.

"Do you understand any of that?"

The snake gave a negative sounding hiss.

"I thought so. I wish I could get a healer or something, but I don't really dare to leave him alone, you know. He's not exactly in his right mind now and I would hate for him to hurt himself."

At this, the snake hissed something that Luna interpreted as "enthusiastic because possible solution". She looked at the serpent, which always kept its eyes close when looking in her direction.

"Do you know how to get help?"

Again, an affirmative hiss.

"Oh, great! That would be really sweet of you!"

Luna watched the snake slither into a tunnel, and then turned back to Tom.

"Don't worry dear, she'll get someone who can help you."

Tom only stared at her in horror, as if she was the most atrocious monster he had ever laid eyes upon.

X

She knew. She KNEW! That was why she was doing that, writing those short phrases of sickly sweet words in his pages, letting her hand run over the his worn cover, she KNEW what it did to him, how sick it was making him! Tom's mind was a true mess, and every bit of resolve he had left had since long deserted him. His Purpose was nothing but a vague echo in a mind filled with incomprehensible images. He wanted it to stop. He just really wanted it to stop so that he could sleep. He wouldn't mind the pain at first, he knew it would hurt, but then it would be quiet and he would finally no longer be. The thoughts tumbled through his head, uncoordinated. He just wished she would leave him alone. She had to leave him alone. He couldn't take any more. This torture was the most inventive he had ever experienced and it successfully did what nothing else had been able to do… it made Tom Marvolo Riddle want to give up.

(Author's Notes)

This is a gift fic for TheSillyKitten and Agnes Riemann. They inspired me and practically force-fed me this plotbunny, so now they get to suffer the consequences! *insert evil laughter*

Serious now, I hope you enjoy this story. As I said in the description, it's part of a three- or four-shot, depending on how I divide the text I've typed.

Luna isn't my fav character, but she had a certain charm to her... I imagine that her strange, seer-ish mind is a bit much for poor Tom to take... not to mention that Luna cares unconditionally, and she has that bizarre naivety over her. Tom is used to petty emotions, he just hasn't ever experienced someone really caring for him... it's sort of wrecking his thought patterns, as you can see. Also, as a horcrux he's slightly allergic to anything love-related.

Also, Luna makes friends with the basilisk although she's not a parselmouth. It would be just the thing for her to do, since she's so fascinated with magical creatures. I just take it that the basilisk understands English, but can't speak it. Artistic liberty, anyone?

Credits for the worm poem are unknown, if anyone knows where it comes from feel free to let me know, I like to credit the right people.

PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews, and I tend to return the favor when it comes to them! All sorts are welcome, critics and compliments alike!