Ginny Weasley would already be gone.
That thought lingered like a shadow behind Cassius's eyes as he continued down the corridor with Luna.
Her steps were soft and careless, her hum drifting lightly in the air, but Cassius's focus had narrowed to a single point—timing.
The diary would soon seize control.
He only needed to give it permission.
Setting off a hidden protocol awaiting the activation key within its pages to begin the endgame.
Enacting the final possession which would spell the end of this years canonic events.
They reached the junction where Ravenclaws and Gryffindors split toward their respective towers.
Luna slowed, rocking heel-to-toe, hands folded behind her back, as though she already sensed she was no longer needed in this moment.
"You're going to interfere now," she said dreamily.
Cassius didn't ask how she knew.Luna often knew things she shouldn't.
"I'll see you this evening," he replied.
"Mm," she nodded. "Do be gentle with her."
Cassius arched a brow. "With who?"
Luna blinked once.
Slowly.
Before she just turned to leave as simple as that, heading for the staircase on her way to her new dormitory having long since already heard about the location from Cassius on their walk back from the castle.
Her robes having shifted from the Blue, to the Silver, the Raven, replaced by a Dragon.
It would probably be a good shock at dinner when Luna entered the great hall to eat with the others at the draconis table sporting draconic robes all wondering just who was foolish enough to challenge the unbeatable Cassius only to lose yet another house member, while Ravenclaws would probably be glad to be rid of her, and her eccentric behaviour.
He said nothing to that.
He simply turned and walked.
The corridor bent like a spine beneath him, lanterns flickering overhead.
Students trickled out from classrooms having chosen the weekend a perfect moment to get in some extra spell practice, chatting loudly, creating natural cover.
Cassius wove between them with practiced ease—unnoticed, unremarkable, a shadow moving with purpose.
He reached the staircase leading up to Gryffindor Tower just in time to see a flash of red hair bounce down the steps.
Ginny.
Her brow was furrowed, her fingers tight around the spine of the diary tucked protectively to her chest.
Perfect.
She was alone.
Cassius kept to the railing's shadow as she stepped onto the landing.
She didn't look around—her thoughts were clouded, distracted, strained by weeks of nightmares she couldn't name.
She walked right past him.
Cassius pivoted—silent, smooth—and fell into step beside her.
She didn't notice.
Now.
Just a moment of contact.
His sleeve brushed hers.
Barely.Ginny flinched, as though something shivered through her bones.
Cassius's hand lightly grazed the diary's leather cover.
A whisper of magic leapt from him into the book—a programmed sigil, dormant until now—threading through the diary like ink dissolving into water.
Ginny gasped softly.
She clutched the book tighter, confusion knitting her brow.
Cassius walked on, expression neutral, as if the moment had never happened.
The protocol was awake.
~
Ginny came to a halt halfway down the empty hallway, her breath catching in her throat.
She pressed the diary flat against her chest, palms suddenly sweaty.
"W-why does it feel… warm…?"
Her voice trembled like she was afraid of being overheard by the book itself.
Cassius slowed but did not look back.
The magic was settling in.
A faint pulse rippled through the leather—timed precisely, like a heartbeat syncing with her own.
Ginny stumbled against the wall, blinking rapidly as the ink inside the diary rearranged itself, letters re-forming into runes only the bewitched could feel.
Her shoulders slackened.
The book opened on its own.
A soft flutter of pages.
A hush of breath Ginny didn't realize was hers.
Her pupils dilated.
'Tom Riddle's' handwriting glowed faintly—only for an instant, only for her—before fading back into innocent ink.
'One more time, only one more time, do what i say.'
Her lips parted, trembling.
"I… I don't want to…"
The diary pulsed again.
Cassius watched—still without turning—as her feet shifted, eventually her posture changed, her expression melted into a blank, receptive calm.
Her fingers curled reverently around the diary's spine.
Her breathing evened into a hypnotic rhythm.
The command had taken.
Ginny whispered into the empty hallway, voice colorless and hollow:
"Yes… thy will be done."
Cassius's eyes gleamed.
Phase one was complete.
Choosing not to linger lest he be discovered as the puppeteer pulling the strings, Cassius left the girl to enact the final planned moments.
Returning to his own dormitory, getting a receptive smile from Lady Draconis as yet another concubine had been acquired from her perspective to further spread her lineage in the future.
While the girls were gushing over Cassius's recent capture and questioned her near endlessly, and thanks to Luna's unique style of conversing all eyes were drawn to Cassius on his return.
Glares heavily fixed in their eyes.
Something he saw and could only stare back responding simply with. "What?"
"You brute!"
"How could you take her into the forest!"
"In a challenge to show her innocence!"
"What?"
As the three elder girls with blushing red faces started interrogating him and berating him for his actions Cassius could only be confused.
i mean from their choice of words one would misunderstand that Cassius had done something improper to poor sweet little luna but nothing of the sort happened.
He like her yes, but he didnt like children in that way... ick.
Seeing his confusion and innocent eyes not understanding why four of the girls were showing outright hostility towards him Hermione acted as the arbiter.
"What did you do to Luna in the forbidden forest?"
"Is that what this is all about?" Cassius exhaled, still not understanding their hostility, perhaps they were jealous he got a horn, or that luna received the gift of a unicorn hair? "I mean we made a wager entered the forest together found a clearing with what we needed in it, and then it sort of just happened y'know?"
This seemed to work against him as hermione joined in with glaring at him, leaving only the amused Lady Draconis, and the every smiling Luna.
It would take hours for Cassius to finally find out what was wrong, and begin explaining things properly clearing up the misunderstanding.