The Chamber of Secrets was empty but for two boys, a young girl, a fiery phoenix and a gigantic dead snake. The two boys, one lying on the floor, the other standing over him, faced each other.

The youngest boy, lay on his back, his head propped up by a pillar behind him. He wore what looked like a school uniform that had once been clean and tidy, but now was a mess of slime and dirt. Ripped, torn and covered in a dark stain that on closer inspection looked like blood.

He had pure black hair, emerald green eyes, framed by a pair of round spectacles and a scar, bright against the pale skin of his fore head in the distinctive shape of a lightening bolt. Someone who didn't know him, would've guessed his age at a small eleven year old or a more likely ten year old. To which the boy would've replied with an indignant tone that he was twelve closer to thirteen years old.

Of course the observer could be forgiven his mistake, given the twin lack of height and weight of the boy, the pale skin and the overall sense of slight ill health he portrayed. The boy lay limply on the floor, his back to one of the many pillars circling the room. His breathing was shallow and quick, and he held his left arm tight to his chest. The dark blemish that stained his clothes seemed to originate from this limb.

He trembled as he lay, poison flowing through his veins, making his muscles bunch and his mind foggy. He shivered, his body seemingly too hot then all at once the freezing chill of the stone he lay against reached into his bones.

The older boy stood in front of the younger, a giant corpse of a huge snake, sixty feet long, behind him. He too wore a school uniform, but his seemed curiously outdated, as if he just stepped through from the past. He looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, he was a tall boy, and he too had pale skin, and black hair which was combed to the one side in a smart looking parting.

From an objective point of view, he could be called handsome, even pretty. Yet there was something about him, perhaps in his eyes, that invited a certain wariness. A coldness that suggested the cruelty and violence within.

Of course more important was the fact that he was slightly translucent, the edges to his body were blurry and he seemed to exude an intangibleness, as if wasn't quite occupying the same space as everyone else.

The older boy leaned over the younger, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Your dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying." Said Riddle, a pleased smile crossing his face.

With a flutter of feathers, Fawkes had landed next to the younger boy. His bright plumage lighting the room with a soft orange glow. Harry Potter for that was name, looked down at the phoenix.

Harry blinked. Fawkes head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers.

"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry…. She bought you twelve years of borrowed time, but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…."

"If this is dying," thought Harry. "It's not so bad." Though the pain didn't seem to be getting any better.

The chamber remained blurry and dark. Harry gave his head a little shake, trying to clear his vision. He felt Fawkes head against his shoulder, he thought he saw a pearly patch of tears shining around the wound, the blood flow had stopped but the wound hadn't closed and the skin around the angry red stab wound was turning black, tracing like a spiderweb along his veins.

"Get away, bird," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him…. I said get away!"

Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a band like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet.

"Phoenix tears…" said Riddle quietly staring at Harry's arm. "Of course … healing powers, I forgot.."

He looked into Harry's face. "But to you, I think it won't make a difference," he poked Harry's wand into the wound, forcing a groan from Harry. "Too much poison in your blood, for it to make a difference."

"But I think I'll prefer too do it myself, more satisfaction that way, you see." He smiled mockingly.

He raised his wand…..

Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes has soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap….the diary.

For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thought, without considering, pushing through the crippling pain he felt, Harry seized the Basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then…He had gone.

Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.

Harry lay there, trying to control his breathing, trying not to scream, as the venom poisoning his body, tortured his muscles and nerves. It was all he could do, to lie still, and feel the cool stone floor beneath his back.

With Riddle gone, Fawkes felt it was safe enough to glide to a clattering landing next to Harry. A splendid mess of scarlet and gold feathers, he came to a halt, next to Harry's head.

He leaned over Harry's face to peer down at him through his black beady eyes. Harry stared back, trying to see through his foggy vision, it seemed to him that Fawkes had a sorrowful look on his avian face.

"I guess it's true what he said, huh Fawkes." Harry coughed out. "Too much venom, for you to do anything about it."

Fawkes let out a shrill cry, that conveyed his sorrow and despair, it echoed of the stone walls, multiplying until it seemed like a flock of phoenix's were crying in the chamber.

The noise tore at Harry's heart, making him feel his own mortality, yet somehow it lifted his spirits, and left him curiously content.

"It's ok, Fawkes, you did your best. You were magnificent against the monster, you really saved me there, if it wasn't for you, I would never have been to stop Riddle." Again he coughed, wracking his body.

"Just stay with me please, don't let me die on my own. I don't want to die alone," he rasped, his own tears joining Fawkes as they dripped onto his chest.

Fawkes stared back at him, his gaze inscrutable, then he gave a small chirp, and flicked his beak up to point to a corner of the chamber. At the same time, Harry heard a quiet moan, coming from the same direction that Fawkes pointed too.

Gingerly lifting his head, he looked over in the direction the sound had come from. There was a ragged bundle of black cloth huddled in a corner. Again he heard a small groan, and he saw the bundle twitch.

"Ginny" he whispered through clenched teeth, and as if she had heard him, the small bundle of cloth, made another slight movement.

"Is she ok? Is she going to be alright?" he asked Fawkes. The phoenix turned to take a long look, then turned back and shook his head slowly, with a sad look in his eyes. "But she's alive now, and Riddle's gone, she should be fine right?" he demanded from the phoenix. Fawkes hopped from foot to foot and gave a negative shrug in return.

Harry closed his eyes and tried not to cry, he had come down here, to save Ginny and he had failed. And now they were both going to die in this stupid chamber, in the dark and the cold. He had stopped Lord Voldemort from coming back as Tom Riddle, and by killing the basilisk, he had stopped it from killing any students in the school above. He knew that if he had to make the same choices again, then he would, there wasn't anyway he couldn't try and save Ginny, or decide to go into the chamber alone. But he didn't want to die and he decided angrily there was no way in hell that he was going to let him or Ginny die alone down here.

With a stifled whimper he rolled onto his stomach, the arm with the fang wound, flopping over with him. Fawkes took flight, and started to circle the chamber, piping his hauntingly beautiful music through the cavern. The song of the phoenix raised Harry's spirits, and allowed him to with a yell, to rise to his knees. He grabbed the elbow of his injured arm with his good one, and held it close to his chest. Struggling to his feet, Harry staggered as the room waved dizzily in front of his eyes, he dropped back onto one knee, trying with all his might not to throw up. Controlling himself took precious seconds, in which he felt himself weaken perceptively, he knew that if he got up and fell again then he would never be able to rise again.

Fawkes swept past his head, still singing his song, and the brief glow of energy this act gave him, allowed him to stand shakily, his strength almost gone. He strained to see the dark blur with a red top, that was Ginny to his fogged eyes. He couldn't see exactly how far away she was, but he knew it wasn't too far. One foot in front of the other, slowly, carefully, Harry stumbled over to the other side of the chamber. As he grew nearer, his sight coalesced into a clearer image, Ginny lay on her side, her arms gripping tightly around her chest, as if to hold something in. She looked normal in the pallid light given off by the chamber's torches. The only indication that something was wrong was the incredible paleness of her skin. It shone in the torchlight, and when Harry collapsed into a heap against her, he felt how deathly cold she was.

For a long second, Harry thought he was too late and she was already dead, but at the touch of his trembling fingers against her cheek, she made the most minute moan and shivered weakly against his fingertips.

"Shhhhh… it's alright, I'm here Ginny," he whispered, trying to comfort her. "It's me, Harry."

She didn't reply and her eyes remained closed, but she stopped shivering. Harry half crawled, half pulled himself up so that he could hold and gently pull Ginny's body so that she lay, with her head on his chest and his arms around her.

Ginny's eyes stayed shut, and Harry knew that she wasn't likely to ever open them again. He hugged her, "When they find us, at least the Weasley's will know I didn't let her die alone," he thought. His brain was becoming slow, his thoughts thick and muddled.

He looked down at the little girl in his lap, and his last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness was of how pretty, the fiery crimson colour of her hair was.

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As soon as he spotted Harry's head slowly dropping onto his chest, Fawkes finished his song. The boy was no longer able to hear and take heart from his music. The flaming bird, seemingly the only bright light in the chamber, completed his final circling flight and soared towards the two children. The room was now completely silent except for the shallow, nearly imperceptible sound of breathing from the two deathly ill children, and the feathery whisper of Fawkes gliding through the air.

He landed, his talons clattering against the stone floor, and slowly waddled over to the two prone bodies. His beady black eyes took in the scene they portrayed, Ginny, her appearance normal, expect for her unnatural paleness, lying in the lap of Harry, his clothes filthy and torn, scratches on his face and a visible spreading bloodstain on his shoulder.

He pondered the situation he saw in front of them, his tears couldn't save either of them, the basilisk venom had spread through too much of Harry's body for their healing power to counteract. Ginny's aborted soul possession wasn't the type of wound that he could help, and the diary had caused too much damage for her own soul to heal naturally. They were dying, the both of them, and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.

Fawkes settled down to wait for the end, he could tell that it wouldn't take too long for either of them. As their breathing further faltered, he grieved for them, or at least he felt as close to grief as an immortal avian was capable of feeling. Phoenix's didn't feel emotions as humans understood them, an evolutionary trait developed to keep an immortal intellect sane. Instead they lived completely in the here and now, their whole focus the present, it kept them from going mad, and it also allowed them to be forever in the light, their morals uncompromised by past decisions. They only had the very loosest of society's, formed of mainly friendships and a respect for the more experienced, older phoenixes. Even in their culture of independence, Fawkes was considered to be somewhat of a maverick, it was one of the reasons that he hung around with Albus Dumbledore so much, they were both what their own species would describe as being a bit peculiar, strange and a little bit odd.

Watching the kids in front of him, Fawkes felt something stir in his heart. "This wasn't right, something like this shouldn't be allowed to happen," he thought.

Fighting with Harry against the Basilisk had started new feelings to rise within him, he had felt a comradeship and a fighting spirit he had not felt for a long time. But a stronger and a more unfamiliar emotion was beginning to well up from deep inside his scarlet breast, it was anger, hot and thick, anger at the shade of Tom Riddle, anger at the evil beast that he had blinded. His fury rose to heights it had never reached before at the fact that two of the most innocent souls he had ever known were dying before him, and he could do nothing to alter it.

As his fury reached a crescendo, as he raged against the injustice, his thoughts desperately searched for a way to save the two children. They quickly thought of new plans and ideas, before just as quickly dismissing them as impossible or sure failures. Then in a bolt of pure inspiration, he considered an idea that he had never thought of before, that to his knowledge, no phoenix had ever thought of before. It was a mad, impossible idea, the kind of original thinking that only the mad or the genius and the fine line between the two could have come up with.

He knew that if he did this, then there was a chance he would be killing Harry and Ginny himself, but of course since they were inevitably dead anyway, it wasn't such a big risk. Beyond this issue, he didn't know what the other, older phoenix's would think of this course of action, but he could guess and he didn't think that they were going to be too happy about this, was an understatement.

But Fawkes didn't care, he was alone in this huge, cavernous chamber, the smell of dankness and decay surrounding him, and the small huddled form of two children in the corner, near him. And if he had the smallest chance, to save the two students, then he would take it, and dam the consequences. Resolution crystallised within him, he had made up his mind, and now nothing would sway him from his path. Harry and Ginny would die or they could live, and with his decision presented to him like that, there was only choice he could make.

Fawkes gave one last lingering look towards Harry and Ginny, the two of them, one curled up on top of the other, were clearly close to their final breath. Their breathing had become weaker and fainter and to his magically sensitive eyes the black shadow of death was already creeping over them.

He flapped his wings powerfully, beating at the air until the gusts stirred the clothes of the two children. With a jump, he was airborne, climbing rapidly to the ceiling of the chamber. Still pushing his wings forcefully against the air, he quickly gained speed, circling in large loops around the circumference of the chamber.

As he got faster and faster, his feathers already a golden red, began to glow brighter, their trailing edges producing small sparks. Then with a burst of light and a whooshing noise his wings became two incandescent arcs of flame, his speed multiplied, and it now would have been difficult for an observer standing in the centre of the room to turn fast enough to keep his eyes on the bird.

As he burned, Fawkes sang, a rising note, that seemed to be part of a greater orchestral movement, as if all the birds in the heavens lent their voices to it. Now he appeared to be made entirely of fire, from beak to tail, wingtip to wingtip, he was all aflame. Yet he seemed to have suddenly become more present, more real, as if only know were he allowed to show his true appearance, and what was before only a disguise, a lame imitation. His music rose to a climax, a sound that reached beyond the cage of our world, and pushed at the boundary, the sound, reverberated around the chamber and shook dust from the roof.

Now so fast, he was a blur of streaming gold flames, that left after images upon the eyes, he dived at Harry and Ginny. The instant he touched the slumped huddle of the pair, there was an explosion of fire, light and noise. The fireball, that had become Fawkes, Harry and Ginny, burned higher and higher, the stone floor beneath them, started to glow a cherry red and the flames licked at the ceiling, a full sixty feet above the ground.

Fawkes's song had not stopped, but spiralled continually upward, it had now gained a new harmony, and the piping music now seemed to be sung in a trio of tunes. The colour of the fire changed, from a scarlet red, to a deep purple, then it switched to a sapphire blue. All the while the columns around the room projected their vertical shadows upon the multihued walls. Then at last the colour slowly moved to a pure white, the music rose ever higher, in concert with the flames until with one last earth trembling note, and flash of light, everything stopped and the chamber of secrets was once more plunged back into darkness.

It remained quiet and black for a long interim minute, as if the room held it's breath, then with a pop, a lone torch flared back to life and light. It was followed in ones, and twos, then fives and tens by the other torches, until they had all relit. The chamber, once again alight with a ghastly green glow.

The basilisk's corpse remained unchanged, lying in it's huge bulk upon it's side, so too, did the small black diary, and fang of the basilisk, lie unmoved and unchanged upon the floor. Yet lastly, in the corner where Harry and Ginny had once lain, close to death, there had been changes.

Harry and Ginny now lay on their backs, side by side, Ginny's right hand held in Harry's left, between them. Their clothing remained unchanged, Ginny's clean and tidy, Harry's filthy, blood stained, ripped and shredded. Their physical health though had changed dramatically, Ginny no longer looked pale and pallid as corpse, her cheeks had a healthy glow to them, she breathed deeply and freely, her hair shone in the torchlight. She looked like she had simply fallen asleep, a small smile upon her lips, as if she enjoyed a happy dream. Harry's injuries had disappeared, the scratches visible on his face and hands, gone as if they had been washed off. The skin of his shoulder, showing through the torn clothing was whole and unblemished, the blood stain surrounding it seemingly to have no origin. The marks of the poison he had had flowing inside him had vanished, his veins no longer black and sick.

He too had a small smile upon his sleeping face, as if he as well had sweet dreams. His hand unconsciously flexed and gripped Ginny's tighter, she too squeezed back, and in sync their smiles grew a tiny bit wider.

There was an addition to the pair that had not been there before the fire. Upon Harry's chest there was a small pile of ashes, a little cone of soot, that moved up and down on the rise of Harry's chest. The cone twitched, there was definite movement, as something within the pile shifted, a small ashy avalanche trickled down from the top as a tiny bald head thrust up through the soot. The baby bird gave a quiet chirp and looked around at the scene he found himself in, he stared hard at Harry's face, then twisted his head to look at Ginny. He lingered on her face, then gave a satisfied little squawk, Fawkes didn't know what was going to happen now, but he knew that they weren't in danger any longer. He turned around in the ash pile, and burrowed back into it, he wriggled happily in pleasure, he felt warm and content, he settled down to sleep knowing that nothing here could harm the children, and sooner or later help would arrive.

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Ginny didn't want to open her eyes, she had come back to full consciousness slowly, in fits and starts, and with the return of consciousness came the return of memory. Her body felt heavy, and she felt cool sheets against her skin, in the background she picked up the low mumble of voices talking. Her mind raced, yet she determinedly kept her eyelids shut, she didn't want to open them.

She didn't know where she was, she didn't know what time or date it was, how she had got there or who was with her. What she did know and remember was Tom, trusted Tom, trusted Tom taking her down to the Chamber of Secrets and the hideous spectre forming out of the diary. The feeling as her life force, her very soul, was drawn out her body, so slowly, so ever agonisingly slowly. And she remembered his last words to her, before she slipped into the darkness.

"I'm killing you Ginny Weasley, I'm going to take your soul, and live, and you're going to die." He had whispered to her, standing fully formed over her kneeling body. "You should be honoured," he had said.

"You're going to be the instrument of my return, little Ginny Weasley is going to help Lord Voldemort return to his rightful place," he said. "And when your cold and dead, Harry Potter is going to come down here, looking for his best friend's little sister, and I'm going to kill him too."

She tried to fight back, tried to hold onto her soul, but he was too strong, his hold on her too complete, the awful things he said, tortured her more. She fell into despair, as all she could do was lie on the floor and struggle to keep her eyes open, and then she couldn't even manage that.

These were the last things she could remember, and they terrified her. What had happened? How was she alive right now, what had happened to Tom Riddle, and what had he done to Harry? These questions kept her from opening her eyes, made her heartbeat thrum as fast as a hummingbird, filling with terror.

She was going to be expelled, maybe sent to Azkaban, sent away from her family. She had helped Lord Voldemort return, she deserved to be in prison, had helped him petrify other students, petrify Hermione, Harry's and Ron's friend. And now Tom, had probably killed others, killed Harry, and it was all her fault. She was torn, afraid to open her eyes, and find out what happened, yet similarly she was desperate for answers, to know what had happened to leave her alive, when the last thing she could remember was dying, so she lay still and quiet, stuck in limbo, held captive by her fear.

"Ginny?" She heard a quiet voice call out hesitantly, and her heart leapt in her chest.

Her eyes opened in a flash, as she looked over to her left, from where she had heard the voice. Harry was lying down on a bed, with his upper body propped up on his elbows, looking at her from the next bed over. Her eyes urgently scanned his form.

"He was alive… he was alive," her thoughts rejoiced. Harry kept looking at her, his own eyes staring at hers in a desperate manner. She took in her surroundings, she appeared to be in the hospital wing, in a private room off the main ward, she recognised the the beds and decor, the smell also clued her in, the faint hints of medical potions and cleaning fluid, leaving a distinctive trace.

Her's and Harry's beds were the only two in the room, and bright sunlight shone through a wide window in the wall. "How had she got here," she thought. "And with Harry too?"

"Ginny?" Harry's quiet voice asked again. She realised that she had ignored him the first time, and she quickly snapped her gaze back to his face, he was looking at her like he couldn't believe that she was real. She gave a small nod in return, her chin touching her chest in a quick bob, she still heard the sound of talking voices outside the ajar door of their room, and she didn't want to attract anyone's attention, scared of what would happen now.

"Ginny….your alive, your fine?" He asked her, sounding confused.

"I'm fine, I think." She answered in a tiny voice, her gaze dropping from his, the shame flooding up through her. "But I don't understand, what happened, how am I here? The last thing I remember was Tom coming alive, up out of the diary, and then he said….he said….." She trailed off, tears beginning to drip from her eyes. The guilt pushed at her, and then then it all came out.

"Oh…Harry, it was me, I was the one who set the snake on the school, I talked to Tom in the diary and he made me do it, I swear….he made me do it…." The whole story burst from her lips. After she had finished telling Harry her story, she started to sob quietly into the bed sheets. "I'm going to be expelled, or sent to prison, and everyone will hate me." She sobbed a bit louder.

"It's alright Ginny, don't worry I believe you, Tom Riddle told me what happened, he told me that you couldn't help it, and I'll tell everyone else that it wasn't your fault." She heard Harry say. The words reassured, but she still had so many questions.

"But what happened….the last thing I remembered was Riddle and the chamber, how did I get here, and what happened to Riddle and you?" she asked desperately.

Harry looked first angry then sad, he spoke quickly at her, "You shouldn't believe anything that Riddle said, Ginny, he was a liar." He said determinedly, trying to convince her. And then he told her, about finding the diary, the spiders, him and Ron hearing she was gone, Lockhart, finding the chamber, and then confronting Riddle and the Basilisk alongside Fawkes and the sorting hat.

Ginny listened enthralled, despite herself, she couldn't believe that Harry had done this for her, even if it was for Ron's little sister, but the guilt still ate at her, and it continued to do so as Harry started to trail off. He started to speak with a confused sounding tone, he told her about getting bitten by the basilisk, her heart stuttered at hearing that, how he had then used the same fang to stab the diary and saw Riddle disappear. Speaking even slower now, he described how Fawkes had come to him, how the phoenix had tried to heal him, then given up, how he had spotted her and walked over to her.

He paused and then carried on, but giving off an impression of perhaps skipping a detail or two, he told her that his last memory was off falling unconscious next to her. "How we both got from there to here, and how we're both fine, I don't know," he said sounding puzzled.

"Maybe I can shed some light on that point," said a light, calm voice from the doorway. Ginny jumped in place, her head spun too stare at the person, who stood next to the door and had obviously been there, listening to Harry's story for quite some time. Albus Dumbledore's bright blue eyes, twinkled at them through his half moon spectacles.

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"Professor!" Harry shouted loudly, his shock transforming into joy. If Dumbledore was back, then everything was bound to turn out alright, he thought. His body suddenly felt much lighter, he could tell Dumbledore everything and he would be able to sort it out.

"Professor," he said not quite as loudly, "Professor, what happened? Me and Ginny were in the Chamber of Secrets and the last thing I remember is….." His voice fell silent before bursting out again. "Professor, it was Tom Riddle, I mean Lord Voldemort who opened the Chamber, he's been doing it this entire year, no one else, I think I got rid of him, but you've got to check Professor, sir." He said all of this at a blur.

"Harry…Harry…Harry," said Dumbledore quietly, the twinkle in his eyes growing bigger, "I have never been more proud of a student under my care, than I am of you at the moment." He said to Harry, smiling at him through his beard. "And you too Miss Weasley, unless I miss my guess, must've shown tremendous will power and courage this year too," turning to her.

"But I have to mention that I have known it was Lord Voldemort or Tom Riddle opening the Chamber, since Halloween, I must confess though that I had no idea how he was opening the Chamber, since his current whereabout I believe are somewhere in deepest, darkest Albania." He spoke to the both of them. "Rest assured that I hold Tom Riddle, fully and solely responsible for the actions of the Heir of Slytherin, and that no one else will receive blame for their part in this incident."

Harry felt relief, spread throughout his body, Dumbledore knew, or at least understood, that it wasn't Ginny's fault, everything was going to be ok. He slumped back against his pillows, now his thoughts ran to how they had arrived at the Hospital Wing, and if Ron was ok.

"Sir, do you know how Ron and Hermione are?" He asked, "And how did we get here?"

"Rest assured, my dear boy, both your friends are well, Miss Granger remains in a petrified state, but the mandrake solution is ready to be administered almost immediately. Your friend and brother is in perfect health and is anxious to see the both of you." Dumbledore said to them.

"As to how you arrived here, well that would primarily be my doing, when I arrived back at the school earlier yesterday, I found a ghost waiting for me in a my office. Can you guess which ghost it was Harry?" Dumbledore asked still smiling.

"Moaning Myrtle" guessed Harry hesitantly.

"Precisely Harry, Yes it was the shade of the late Miss Myrtle Fielding, who awaited me in my office, with a most unusual tale to tell me." He said, "she led me to her Bathroom and from there I was able to descend the tunnel to find young Mr Weasley and Professor Lockhart in a spot of bother. Mr Weasley told me what he knew, and I advised them both to remain there, whereupon I continued forward." He carried on.

"When I entered the open door of the Chamber of Secrets, I was astounded to discover the body of the largest Basilisk I have ever heard of. I also found the two of you lying still on the Chamber floor, as well as a few rather eclectic items. I immediately levitated both of you, and hurried back up to the Hospital Wing, picking up Mr Weasley and Professor Lockhart upon the way." He broke off.

"She told me that you were both physically fine and were simply in a deep sleep, and that it was best to let you stay in it. Since that occurred yesterday I have been mostly trying to reassure your family Miss Weasley and your friends Mr Potter, that you are both fine, they have already been in to see you already and are due back for another visit soon. I have also been awaiting your awakening, as I have been very much looking forward to you two explaining, to me what must be a very fascinating story of what occurred in the Chamber, and especially how do these odd items fit into it."

He laid the Sword of Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat, a small black diary and a broken off fang onto the foot of Harry's bed. "As well as an explanation for this," he reached into one of the voluminous pockets of his lurid purple robes and pulled out what looked like a half plucked chicken.

"Fawkes was not due a burning day, for another two months, for him to have undergone one, tells me that something important must have occurred." He said. Fawkes glared grumpily up at Dumbledore, before giving a friendlier look towards Harry. "As you can see, Fawkes can be a bit vain, and when he is at this stage of growth he, I'm afraid to say doesn't look his best."

Dumbledore walked around to stand between the two beds, which Harry and Ginny lay on, pulling his wand from his sleeve, he gave it a little flick, and a large cushion filled chintz armchair appeared between the iron cast beds with a pop. He settled himself down in it and chuckled at the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. "At my age, you start to take a little more care about your comfort," he said, "Now let us begin what must be a thrilling tale." He said leaning back.

Harry told him everything, Ginny chimed in, with what parts she knew, or when Dumbledore asked a relevant question. He asked them about, the diary, fighting the basilisk, when had Fawkes arrived and what he had done, and then finally the what had happened when Harry stabbed the Diary with the basilisk fang.

After they had finished, he sat there in his comfy armchair, stroking his beard and looking thoughtful, Harry watched him as his hand made the repetitive motion, obviously a long ingrained habitat. He saw Dumbledore's eyes glance to the little black diary, then to the basilisk fang, then back to the diary where his gaze lingered for a long while. Listening closely, Harry thought he overhead Dumbledore's low mumbling.

"Mmmmhhh…..Basilisk Venom…It's a possibility…." He murmured as his stare sharpened onto the diary.

"Professor…Sir," Ginny spoke up in a whisper, "What is going to happen to me now, I helped Tom, do those awful things, I should be punished." She started to cry again.

"Now..Now…Miss Weasley, much older and wiser wizards and witches have been tricked before by Tom Riddle, there shall be no punishment, and your role, in this affair shall not be disclosed to the school, beyond being an innocent bystander." Dumbledore told her grandfatherly.

"But….But…" Ginny tried to say.

"You must put aside the bad, and focus on the good, Miss Weasley, you will have come out of this situation a much wiser and therefore stronger witch, and I expect great things from you in the future." He spoke over her.

Harry agreed with Dumbledore, it wasn't Ginny's fault, he too had been tricked by Tom Riddle into believing that Hagrid, his friend, had been behind the opening of the chamber before. He knew how clever and cunning Tom was, and that as Lord Voldemort he would only grow in power and evil. Ginny should forgive herself, it was probably only her will power that stopped the basilisk from permanently killing any of the victims, no one had been killed or injured badly and the students who had been petrified were now going to be back to normal very soon.

He admired her courage in facing the situation, he thought she was brave to take the blame for her actions even if it was unwarranted, Ginny should never had this happen to her, she was too much a good person to be touched by evil, but he thought that now like him she would forever be marked by the touch of Lord Voldemort.

Harry then asked the question which he had been most curious about. "Sir….How come me and Ginny are both ok, when the last thing I remember is that I had been bitten by the Basilisk, and was getting worse, Ginny wasn't waking up after the diary possessed her, and Fawkes couldn't do anything to help either of us. Then I pass out and then the next thing we're both perfectly healthy and Fawkes is a baby?"

"To be honest harry," Dumbledore looked intently into Harry's eyes, "I haven't the foggiest. You both were at the centre of some very powerful and very rare magical forces, into which very little research has been done, I could only guess and then only loosely."

"Oh…" was all Harry could say in reply.

"Best put it out of your mind, Harry, somethings are best not to dwell on if no answers are forthcoming," said Dumbledore solemnly. Harry and Ginny both nodded, both happy to be simply alive and well.

"One last thing sir," Harry spoke quietly, "In the chamber Riddle, said we were strangely alike him and I, and well I can speak Parseltongue and the sorting hat wanted to put me in….."

"In Slytherin, Harry," Dumbledore smiled and raised an eyebrow. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Ginny jump at his words, and his heart sank, he hoped that Ginny wouldn't hold this fact against him, or that it wouldn't scare her.

"Harry, the reason that you can speak Parseltongue, and that the sorting hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, was because Lord Voldemort could speak Parseltongue, and was in Slytherin. On the night that he tried to kill you, Lord Voldemort inadvertently transferred some of his powers to you." Said Dumbledore.

Continuing softly he said, "Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort is the true last descendant of Salazar Slytherin and therefore the Heir of Slytherin, you need not fear becoming like him Harry, as it is our choices rather than our powers who make us what we truly are, and from the choices you have already made, I can tell you are becoming a good, and honourable young wizard."

"Right, sir," said Harry, he already felt much better after talking to Dumbledore and it wasn't until now that he truly started to calm down, in the certain knowledge that everything would be alright.

"If that is everything," Dumbledore waited for the two of them to nod, "then in that case, I suspect that there are some very anxious people waiting outside this door, and I think it around time, that I let them in." He smiled, "thought I will tell you, that I have already explained the main details I had worked out, and young Mr Weasley filled in the rest, so you should not have too many questions asked of you." And he opened the door.

Mrs Weasley was the first person through the door, teary eyed and tired looking, she rushed towards Ginny, who had a look of perseverance on her face as well as relief Harry noticed. The rest of the Weasleys followed, Arthur, Percy, Fred and George and then Ron. They crowded around both Harry and Ginny, and for several minutes the sound was too loud too hear anything but fragments of individual sentences. But Harry caught the main gist of it as recriminations, tearful thank you's and apologies and a overwhelming sense of relief and happiness.

Harry talked and laughed, and repeatedly told the story from his viewpoint whenever someone would ask, the Weasley's were immensely grateful and kept thanking him over and over, Harry had to repeatedly say it was no problem and he had no real choice. But they wouldn't take no for an answer, finally Molly Weasley simply grabbed him and hugged him until the breath left his lungs, but that was alright in Harry's opinion.

After a while, Harry heard Dumbledore cough from behind the celebrating red headed family, "Arthur, Molly, I believe Madame Pomfrey wishes to examine Harry and Ginny, one last time before they are released from her care," he indicated the mediwitch herself, standing next to Dumbledore by the door, a smile upon her face.

The Weasley's quickly got out of her way, the boys being ushered away by Mrs Weasley, Madame Pomfrey walked forward and began to run her wand up and down the air above Ginny's body, she hummed to herself while she worked, her wand flickering and making small circling motions. Eventually she must have got the results she wanted, because she smiled and finished her evaluation.

"You are in perfect health, Miss Weasley, no sign of any trauma, and no sign of any lingering effects of such a dark magic. All in all, better than anyone could hope." She said.

She then walked over to Harry, and began repeating the same motions over him, this time when she worked, instead of humming, she asked him questions on what had happened to him, in the chamber. As soon as Harry mentioned getting bitten by the basilisk fang in his shoulder, she seemed to focus in on that area, after a couple of minutes she stopped and spoke.

"Now Mr Potter, you will have to tell me the truth, if you want the best medical service, there is no possible way a Basilisk has bitten, if you had even the smallest bit of it's venom in you then you'd surely be dead.' She said sternly to him.

"It did, right in this shoulder, it burned, and I felt it starting to spread before I passed out." Harry defended himself.

"Mr Potter, basilisk venom is one of the most toxic substances known to wizardkind, any of the scans I have just done would have picked up the smallest sample of venom, or if venom had ever come into contact with you. You are completely clean, perfectly healthy, as if you'd never been bitten." She said starting to get angry.

"Ah….Poppy," Dumbledore, broke into the conversation, from where he stood next to the door. "Mr Potter speaks the truth, in fact I have here," he held the up the tooth, "the actual fang he was stabbed with, it still has Mr Potter's blood on the tip."

Madame Pomfrey, turned green and quickly turned around, and hurriedly began applying much more intricate wand movements to Harry's shoulder, she continued like this for five minutes, sweat beading on her brow until she suddenly stopped.

"I don't understand," she said, "if you had been bitten, then there would be a mark, something, anything left behind to show how close to death you had come, but even using Healer grade spells I can't find a single mark on you."

She turned around and looked at Ginny, "you too have absolutely no sign of anything wrong, which again is frankly impossible, if what the Headmaster told me is true."

"You can even, and I can't believe I'm saying is, leave the hospital wing and return to the rest of the school straight away, just make sure that if you feel anything wrong or unusual, that you come straight back here for me to take a look." Said Madam Pomfrey, then with threw her hands up in the air and left the room at a frustrated trot.

Harry and Ginny looked to each other, then in unison began to rip the bed sheets of their lower halves and began looking for their clothes. Mrs Weasley instantly set up a clamour, trying to keep the two children in their beds, insisting that they needed their rest, and that they should stay in bed, she carried on nagging at the two, until Mr Weasley gently gripped her elbow and led her out of the room.

The recent infirmary escapees found their clean school uniforms handed to them by Ron, and Percy respectively and went into their individual changing rooms, to get out of their hospital pyjamas. Freshly showered and changed into clean clothes, the two of them both rejoined the others and left the infirmary.

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Harry and Ginny, alongside her brothers, were walking along the final corridor leading to the Dumbledore's office, just before they reached the stone griffin guarding the spiral staircase, it slid to one side and they spotted a figure leaving the office in a great fury.

Harry felt the hatred, bubble up through him, as he recognised the man, Lucius Malfoy strode down the last steps, his expression twisted in a visage of anger and spite. As the group got closer to the angry wizard, he too recognised the students he was walking towards, his face developed an even more rage filled look, and his pace quickened, the cane in his left hand, striking the floor with an louder crack on each step.

As he got nearer to them, neither group nor wizard refused to move aside for the other, until finally Percy pulled Ginny and the twins to one side, against the wall, and Harry and Ron, reluctantly followed. Standing there, waiting for Lucius Malfoy to pass, Harry looked into the other man's eyes, they looked back at him furiously, angry hatred obvious, but Harry thought there was a hint of frustration and perhaps even a touch of desperation in the icy grey orbs too.

He grew level with Harry and the Weasley's, and for a second, Harry thought that he was going to pass them without saying a word, but suddenly he turned and faced Harry.

"You'll face, the same fate as your parents one day soon, boy," he sneered down at Harry. "One day you'll find out who here has the true power."

"Maybe, or maybe not," replied Harry, "I'm proud of my parents, I'd be happy if I could die half as well."

Malfoy didn't reply to this, just smiled hatefully, "You might get the chance to Potter." He swivelled on his heal and prepared to stride off again, but he seemed to catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

In one movement, he pushed past Harry and stood directly in front of Ginny, he invaded her personal space and angrily spat his words down at her, "You too girl, you should pick what you read more carefully I think." He smirked at her.

Then before Harry or her brothers could react, and get themselves between Ginny and Lucius Malfoy, she raised her foot and stamped down, the heel of her shoe pressing hard into the soft leather of Malfoy's expensive italian brocades. Malfoy, gave a strangled shout, and hopped onto one foot, then his hand made an aborted movement towards the wand holstered at his waist. Within that instant, Fred and George had moved into the gap between the two. Their own hands on their wands.

Lucius Malfoy slowly shifted his hand away from his hand, his gaze took in the group in front of him, as well as the approaching group of other school children at the end of the corridor and the member of staff with them. He stepped back gingerly, his foot still obviously in pain.

"All of you redheaded brats, and your blood traitor parents will one day be put in your rightful place, and I hope I'm there to see it." He hissed at them, too low for the onlookers to hear. "And when that happens, you'll regret this moment, I'll make sure that you do."

He finally turned and walked away, a slight limp in his step, as he did so Harry noticed the creature walking closely behind him, almost in Malfoy's shadow, it was Dobby, the house elf following his master down the corridor.

Once he had turned around the corner, Percy furiously rounded on Ginny, "What were you thinking Ginny, Mr Malfoy is an important man, he's close to Minister Fudge, Dad's boss." He shouted, "he could make it difficult for any of us to get a job, after we graduate,"

"You mean you, don't you Percy," Ginny said defiantly, "I will never give respect to that man, and if you didn't have your head up your ass then you wouldn't too." She walked past him, hitting his shoulder with her's as she did.

Harry and her other brothers followed her in support, none of them looking at Percy as they passed. In silence, they walked onto the upward moving spiral staircase and rode it up to the headmaster's office. Ginny led the way through the door and took a seat next to her parents who already in conversation with Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall who smiled at Harry and the others as they came in. Harry took a moment to take a closer look at her, she had deep bags under her eyes, which hinted at a lack of sleep in the last few nights, a few odd wisps of hair escaped the tight bun her hair was normally organised in and it was altogether the most ill kept Harry had ever seen her looking. But she had a small smile on her face, and the attitude of relief and delight that originated from her was almost visible.

His eyes looked around the room, it hadn't changed from what he could tell from when he had been in the office a couple of months ago, he focussed on Dumbledore's desk, and the objects placed on it. The bloody fang and the now clean sword, the sorting hat was back on his shelf, overlooking the room. But as Harry looked at the last object on the desk, an idea jumped into his mind. As the others were finding seats in the room, Harry leapt towards the desk, and the question rushed out of his mouth.

"Professor Dumbledore, can I borrow this diary!" he asked as his hand closed around the little black book.

"Certainly Harry, just be sure to bring it back," Dumbledore said, he said with chuckle, as if he had already guessed to the purpose of Harry's request.

"I will," he replied, as he ran back down the stairs, leaving behind a group of very confused and slightly worried friends, parents and teacher and one gleefully hopeful Headmaster. He hoped the mad idea, he had thought of, would work, it would free an oppressed creature and get a small bit of revenge against a deserving man.

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He felt a vague sense of satisfaction and pride, as he walked down to the feast that Dumbledore had asked McGonagall to organise, him and Ginny walked side by side down the stairs, he had freed Dobby and then watched him throw Lucius Malfoy down the very steps he was walking down now. Hopefully the rest of the school would stop believing that he was the Heir of Slytherin, as well the fact that the attacks would now stop, and above all the school would stay open, he wouldn't have to live all the time with the Dursleys.

The feeling felt like a hot, bright point within his chest, keeping him buoyant and carefree, ever since he had woken up in the hospital wing, it had been there, making him exhilarated and content, something he put aside to the good news he had received.

Harry had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pyjamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Harry didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward him, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring. his hand and apologise endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his and Ron's four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.

"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."

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It was only a couple of day's left of the school year, and to Harry they seemed to fly by, disappearing in a blaze of sunshine, lazy picnics on the lawn and games of quidditch in the sky. It was with only one day left at Hogwarts when Ginny managed to work up the courage and track Harry down for a conversation, Harry was alone, sitting in his favourite chair in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione and Ron busy packing in their respective dormitories. Simply whiling the hours away before dinner, and trying not to think about returning to Privet Drive, when Ginny nervously sat down in the seat next to him.

"Hi Harry, is it alright if I talk to you at the moment," she said, biting her lip and not looking him in the eye.

'Sure, is anything wrong?" he replied, sitting up straighter in his chair, he turned to look at her more fully. She sat with her legs crossed under her in the plush red armchair. Her hair half hiding her face in a scarlet waterfall, Harry was once again struck by the light from the fire shining off her tresses in copper radiance.

Ginny then seemed to half shrug, then in a peculiarly determined gesture, threw her hair back over her shoulder and looked Harry straight in his eye, "Nothings wrong, I'd just like to talk to you about some things…..please," she said, keeping her eyes on his.

Harry nodded his consent, he didn't mind mind Ginny asking him questions, and he also felt a curious inability to say no to anything Ginny suggested, the way she had stamped on Malfoy Sn's foot and her composure speaking to Dumbledore had left him very impressed by the girl. Plus when she had thrown her hair over her shoulder, he had inexplicably had the need to tuck a loose strand behind her ear, why, he had no idea.

"I just wanted to properly thank you for going into the Chamber of Secrets, and saving my life, and I should apologise for putting you in that position in the first place." She said looking guilty. "It was the bravest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Well….It was nothing," Harry replied quickly, "I mean it was something, I didn't mean to say that you were nothing, just that I'd do it for anyone." He gulped. "Not that you are just anyone, I mean that I was at your house last summer, and Ron's my best mate and well I couldn't just leave you down there." He finished his face a bit red, following his mumbled speech.

Harry took a deep breath. "I mean, your welcome," he finally said, at last.

Ginny's smile had grown wider and wider during his little speech, and her previous apparent nervousness had completely disappeared. "Thank you Harry, for doing it though, you say it like it's nothing, but not many people would have gone into a cavern where they knew a basilisk was." She said.

"Well maybe I'm just a bit thick then," said Harry, then laughed with her. He was intensely aware, of how relieved he was that she hadn't focused on his stumbling words, but had calmly moved on. It didn't make him feel stupid, like it would have if he had done that in front of almost anyone else. Harry was still struggling to get accustomed to the fact that people actually liked and admired him in the wizarding world. His time at the Dursley's had left several deep scars on his psyche, one of which was his lack of self confidence in social situations.

From this starting point, the conversation began to flow more easily, and they began to talk about other topics, and Harry discovered that Ginny also liked quidditch and flying, how she wasn't a allowed to fly at the Burrow but had to do it at night in secret. How she liked walking in the woods near her house, how she missed her two elder brothers, who were both out of Hogwarts, and how she felt a little bit stifled by her mother. But she also saw how Ron might feel a little bit shadowed by her brothers, being the youngest boy.

After a while Harry felt like he had found a new friend, and he saw Ginny for her own sake rather than as Ron's little sister. They finished their conversation, when Hermione and Ron came down from the dormitories and headed off all together to Dinner. Harry with a firm desire to write to her next summer, and keep in contact.

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The day of the train ride dawned, and Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione got a carriage together on the Hogwarts Express, Harry was in a pensive mood, he hadn't enjoyed the return trip last year, and he doubted he would ever enjoy these trips. Returning to the Dursley's was like returning to a prison sentence and he begrudged every mile that passed under the train wheels. Ron and Hermione didn't seem to notice, their mind's and voices's filled with thoughts and words of home, missed family and plans for the summer holidays. Only Ginny, sitting opposite Harry seemed to take note of his grim mood.

When Ron and Hermione had got up together to visit the trolley lady, she had taken the opportunity to ask him what was wrong. He had brushed her off, with a mumbled reply about missing quidditch, but he could tell he hadn't fooled her, mercifully she hadn't pushed him, and they enjoyed the quiet noise of the train rolling along the tracks in silence together for several minutes.

It's ok to not want to go home, Harry" Ginny had said suddenly. "But remember that Mum and Dad don't mind you comic over to the Burrow whenever you want, ok" she smiled sweetly at him.

He grimaced back, and tried to hide his face, not knowing how to deal with what she had said. Luckily Ron and Hermione returned then, their arms filled with the treats they had brought back. As the train finished it's journey into Kings Cross, Harry continued to think about what Ginny had said, he realised that she had not meant it in a superior or pitying manner, but in a simple invitation. And by the time that they had stopped moving and were getting their trunks down from the overhead racks, he felt comfortable enough, so that by the time that it was just him and Ginny left in the compartment to speak to her.

" Umm Ginny," he turned to face her, "about what you said, thanks." He said simply, and she gave him a huge grin in return. His heart a lot lighter, he stepped out onto the platform, more confident than he had ever been before about meeting the Dursley's.

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The bright sunlight, streaming through the open curtains of his window, woke him the next day, he groaned and rolled over and tried his best to go back to sleep, knowing that Aunt Petunia would wake him long before he actually wanted to get up and that any sleep he could get before then was precious. But it was impossible to return to the dream again, it had been good, something about fire and redness, but for the life of him he couldn't remember anything else. He sighed and turned onto his back, he stretched, his arms above his head and realised he could now touch the headboard while his feet hung over the end of the bed.

It had been a frosty reception by Uncle Vernon, when he had met him through the portal at Platform Nine and Three Quarters yesterday, they had hardly said a word to each in the car journey from Kings Cross to Privet Drive, and Aunt Petunia and Dudley had not been any better when they had arrived. Yet Harry remained upbeat, lighthearted and carefree, this summer would be different he decided there and then, in bed, he wouldn't let the Dursley's get him down, plus he would be able to owl his friends whenever he wanted, so he wouldn't be out of contact like last time.

He pushed himself of the bed and to his feet, if he was going to get up before Aunt Petunia, then he might as well get a nice long shower and maybe a good breakfast, he felt quite hungry. God knows how rare the chance to have the two of them were going to get.

He walked over to the window and stared out at the identical houses of Privet Drive and to the rest of Little Whinging beyond, not much had changed, No 8 Privet Drive still didn't cut his grass very often, which Uncle Vernon would complain about also often. He saw Mrs Figg opening her front door, to allow a multitude of cats racing out, and at the end of the street he read the newspaper board advertisement the corner shop had put out front, it's headline screaming, "CABINET MINISTER CAUGHT IN SEX SCANDAL!" Harry snorted, yes Privet Drive really hadn't changed.

But what Harry didn't realise and wouldn't realise until he got out of the shower and got dressed later, was that he had seen and watched all of this in flawless detail, he hadn't squinted, he hadn't had to focus especially hard, every single thing was perfectly clear and yet his glasses were still on his bedside table, half the room away.

Author's Note

I would just like to take the time to mention, that I do not own Harry Potter, and that some of the writing within is taken from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I would also like to mention that I have been inspired to write this by Midnightjen's Blood of the Phoenix, and stylistically by Deadwoodpecker's Backwards with Purpose, and Darth Marrs's Unspeakable Thinsgs.

I value all types of feedback, and will praise reviewers to the heavens. Enjoy

TRD90

P.S I am currently looking for a beta reader, anyone interested can PM me. Thank you.