Disowned And A Promise

There was a slight moan – Harry got up and saw the remains of the diary blow away. He went to the other side of the chamber and bent down to Ginny.

"Harry – I'm so sorry!" she said, "I–I s-swear I d-didn't mean to do it. R-Riddle took me over- and- made me do those things."

"It's over Ginny. Riddle is gone and so is the diary. He can't harm anyone else," Harry said. He showed her where the diary was and where the remains of Riddle was.

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Harry held her. "I've been looking forward to coming to Hogwarts since Bill came here and now I'll have to leave. Mum and Dad will kill me!"

"I won't let them expel you Ginny," said Harry, "If they expel you, they will have to expel me! I won't let them expel the girl I love." Ginny looked up at him.

"Did you say you love me?" she asked.

"Yes I did. I love you Ginny," Harry said.

"I love you too Harry." she replied. He bent down and kissed her. She returned the kiss. They both turned away from each other, blushing. Dumbledore's pet phoenix, Fawkes, led the way to the entrance. Harry took his wand, the sorting hat and the sword which the hat gave him and took Ginny's hand and followed him. At the shaft which led to the chamber from the bathroom, Harry took hold of Fawkes who then carried them up the shaft.

They ended up back in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The entrance to the chamber sealed itself. Fawkes led them to Dumbledore's office, in which Molly and Arthur were there with McGonagall and Dumbledore.

The Weasleys threw themselves upon Ginny. Molly was in tears. She had been told Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets and killed.

"What happened?" everyone asked, so Harry decided to explain the whole thing.

"It was all a plot by a Tom Riddle with an accomplice to restore himself. He had implanted memories in a diary which would feed on an unsuspecting victim. It would take over the person writing in it and in the Chamber of Secrets, it would gradually kill the writer while their magic and life force would allow the memory of Tom Riddle to come alive."

"Voldemort was very clever." Dumbledore said. "Not many people knew that Tom Riddle was once Head Boy here, over fifty years ago. After he left Hogwarts, he turned to the Dark Arts and became Lord Voldemort. Hardly anyone recognised the handsome young man who came from a Muggle orphanage and became one of the best students of his generation."

"But what does Ginny have to do with this? You-Know-Who only wanted to kill Muggle-borns and Half-Bloods. We're purebloods." Arthur said.

"It was me!" Ginny wept, "I found his diary and I wrote in it. He took me over. He forced me to open the Chamber of Secrets and set the monster on the Muggle-borns. He almost killed me and would have done it if Harry hadn't been there."

"Riddle forced Ginny into the chamber where his memory fed on Ginny's life force. When I found her, she was almost dead," Harry said, "The memory of Riddle told me what she had done and that he had taken her over. He learned a lot about me when Ginny wrote in the diary. He set the Basilisk on me but Fawkes came and blinded him. He also brought me the sorting hat which gave me a sword. I killed it as it dug it's fang in my arm." He showed the group where the Basilisk had bitten him. "Fawkes healed me before the poison could kill me. I took the fang and stabbed the diary with it. Sadly, I got a bit carried away and the book was completely destroyed, but the memory of Riddle was destroyed forever."

"What? Could you explain that again please?" Molly asked. Everything was explained again. Her face turned from fear to disbelief.

"Why didn't you try to get rid of the diary?" asked Molly.

"She did try to get rid of it. I found it in a bathroom and had a look. Riddle showed me a memory of how he framed Hagrid of opening the chamber 50 years ago. But it soon went missing again," Harry said.

"There's one thing I don't understand – if you had the diary Harry, then how did Ginny get it back?" Arthur asked

Ginny burst into tears again. "I went into his dorm room, went through all his stuff and took it!" she cried, ashamed of herself. Both of the adult Weasleys had moved away from Ginny.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe it." Molly eventually said. Her face turned from disbelief to anger.

"Which part don't you get?" Harry asked, partly shocked that something was not clear.

"I believe you, dear." Molly said to Harry, "I just don't believe Ginerva. If she didn't want to do any of those things, she would have either gotten rid of that diary or handed it into someone who could do something about it." Ginny continued to cry.

Dumbledore stepped in. "It is a good thing you managed to save the day Harry. If the attacks continued and it was known Ginny had opened the chamber and set the Basilisk loose, then the Weasleys would have been shamed forever. Arthur's position in the Muggle office would have been in jeopardy and his Muggle Protection Act would have been dismissed." Dumbledore said, "I am prepared to give Miss Weasley the benefit of the doubt. Older and wiser wizards have been fooled by Voldemort. I will not punish her for this incident and she is free to attend Hogwarts next year with Mr. Potter."

Arthur had been whispering with Molly. He stood up. "Then she will not be a student under the name of Weasley. We do not believe she was under the influence of a diary for over a year. I would have thought more of my only daughter. I didn't think she would share You-Know-Who's views regarding Muggle-borns. She has brought shame on the entire family – I hereby disown Ginerva from the Weasley family." Ginny's eyes widened and she ran from the office and down the stairs. Harry slowly stood up from his chair and tried very hard to remain calm.

"Listen to me! It is not Ginny's fault she got possessed by Voldemort! Both Hermione and I noticed she was acting weird all year and tried to find out what it was. And how dare you accuse her of disliking Muggle-borns! Hermione is our best friend and she is a Muggle-born. My mother was a Muggle-born! If Ginny shared anti-Muggle-born views, then she would have been placed in Slytherin! She would not have been my friend when she found out; she would not have been Hermione's friend!"

Both Molly and Arthur were shocked at Harry's outburst. He continued.

"I am shocked and surprised at you. Dumbledore told you himself that Riddle and Voldemort are the same person and can do stuff like this with ease. He believes Ginny and so do I, and I'm not the first person who would support Dumbledore on many things considering he was the one who sent me to the Dursleys! You two have made this past year the best in my life since my parents were killed. You've become the closest things to parents I've had ever since. I've not told anyone this, not even Ginny, but it was getting to the point that I was going to start calling you Mum and Dad. But I can't do that if you're going to disown Ginny and throw her out to the wolves. I am not going to abandon the girl that I love. If you disown her, then you will have to disown me."

Molly was surprised. "You love her Harry?"

"Yes, I love her, Molly. I might only be 12, but I believe she is the one for me. She is the only person who understands me and when I'm old enough, I'm going to ask her to marry me and I hope she accepts. I love you two as well, and your family. I was hurt and angry at what Ron did with his Fan Club but I forgave him and convinced you not to withdraw him from Hogwarts because he was family! Please don't make me choose between the family and Ginny, because I will pick Ginny any time. Now, if you don't mind, I am going to find Ginny, and I am going to comfort her. She has been through a whole lot this year and you blaming her for it is not going to help matters. It is just as much my fault for not saying anything, but I never thought it was something like this! Now, please think about your decision to disown her. I do not want you to undo your choice because of me and to keep me happy. I want you to make this choice on your own." Harry left Dumbledore's office. The headmaster had taken papers out of his desk, and placed them on his desk.

"Perhaps we was… a little bit too hasty" Mr Weasley said slowly.

"I will not back down, Arthur. She has brought great shame on this family and by doing this, we can minimize the damage." Molly said.

"But what about Harry? He won't want to stay with us if we continue with this."

"I believe he will back down. Give him a chance to cool down. He'll see reason in a few days." Dumbledore said. Dumbledore passed the disownment papers to them. "I must remind you that as soon as you sign this, Ginny will be officially disowned by your family and forbidden to return." Both Molly and Arthur signed the papers, officially disowning Ginny. "What about Harry?"

"We won't do anything about him yet, Albus. He's been through a lot with that battle in the chamber and isn't thinking straight. We'll give him a chance to see reason. But if he doesn't and we do disown him, please make sure he doesn't go back to the Dursleys. We couldn't live with ourselves if our choices here led to him having to go back to them and they kill him," Arthur said.

Dumbledore didn't answer Arthur's request. As Molly and Arthur signed the papers, the headmaster's eyes twinkled.

#

Harry caught up with Ginny next to the lake. He sat next to her and put his arm around her.

"I believe you, Ginny," he said to her. She sunk her head into his shoulder crying. "I won't let anything happen to you. If I can get to Gringotts after term ends without the need to ask anyone, I'll see you're alright."

Ginny looked up. "There is always the Knight Bus. We can summon that and go to Diagon Alley, but I don't want you spending all your money on me."

"Ginny, when I met the goblins at Gringotts, they told me that the Potters are the richest family in England. The vault you saw was just my trust fund to see me through Hogwarts. I will spend as much money on you as I like. I will see to it nothing happens to you. I love you Ginny and I will look after you."

"But, you've got a family who loves you now" she replied sadly.

"I will not be part of that family if they disown you for something which was not your fault! I would rather live with the Dursleys than be part of a backstabbing family, but I am not going back there either. How about this – we'll get a magical tent like your dad borrowed last summer for that camping trip. We'll buy supplies and camp out for the summer. We'll invite Hermione and she can spend some time with us."

"But what if Hermione doesn't survive this?" Ginny asked, tears seemingly about to stop.

"She has – she's on the way." Harry pointed out a familiar bushy haired girl running towards them. They stood up, and within moments they both got a faceful of brown bushy hair!

"Ginny, I heard what happened. I don't blame you for this at all. You were acting under someone's influence," Hermione said.

"Thank you." Ginny replied tearfully, and hugged the girl tightly.

The three of them sat at the lake cuddled up to each other, looking forward to many years of continued friendship and adventures. Harry told Hermione their plans and she said she would love to camp out with them. She did say that her parents had a holiday to France planned for some of the holidays but would camp out with them as soon as she could.

#

The next day, there was a big feast to celebrate. Dumbledore announced that Harry had won 200 points for Gryffindor (and winning them the House Cup again) and was being given an award for Special Services to the School. He also announced that Professor Lockhart had been fired for being a fraud and running away when he was needed, and so he would be on the lookout for a new DADA teacher for next year. All the students cheered and several teachers were seen to cheer as well, including McGonagall, and to everyone's surprise, Professor Snape. Harry felt this would be the only time he and Snape would agree on anything. But as the year finished, not everything was OK. Percy, Fred, George and Ron were all forbidden to talk to Ginny, and Harry was also being ignored by them (although Fred and George slipped him a message saying they believed Ginny and would never betray her and would talk to Bill and Charlie on her behalf). The low point of the end of term (in Hermione's opinion) was the fact that the exams had been cancelled as a school treat.

The three companions shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. No one bothered them, not even Malfoy and his thugs. Harry and Ginny spent the journey cuddled up to each other and Harry was holding Hermione's hand. It was therapy for all three. When they got to Kings Cross, they walked together. Hermione went to her parents and they drove away after saying goodbye. Thankfully, there was no sign of the Dursleys. The Weasleys ignored the couple. When Ron, Fred, George and Percy got to them, they went away. Ginny started crying again.

"Let them get on with it Gin," Harry said. "No one deserves parents who think so little of their children." The two of them walked out of the station and to a local Muggle café where Harry bought both of them some Muggle drinks (which Ginny had never drunk before). "I'll see you through this Ginny – I promise you", and he meant it. Harry had read about this sort of thing in books while at Hogwarts, but he had assumed that it had fallen out of legal use. Harry had never thought so much fury even when he discovered that Dumbledore had placed him with the Dursleys. While he waited for Ginny to finish her drink, Harry began to plot.

A/N: The first proper chapter of the story. Hope you all like it, and if not, then please say why. I've made additions to the original text, and added extra where it was needed.

#

Would like to say thanks to all of those who reviewed my ten minute one shot! That's a first for Fanfic I believe. Back to the A/N

#

In the next chapter we will see what has been going on with Dumbledore, and Harry keeps his promise to Ginny.

I would like to take this chance to make an appeal to you all. To all those who read this before on zeropolis79's page – now known as The Submarauder – I would love if you could tell all of your friends that it's back under my name. This means that all of you can enjoy it again. Should you bring back people, then you will receive the Order of Merlin First Class for services to Fanfiction.

To those awaiting the latest chapter of "I'm Not Going" – it is completed, but I am having someone test read it – A FIRST FOR ME – as I want the scene to be right.

If you have ANY questions about this chapter, then please tell me in the review you leave, and the same goes for anything you don't understand… I always reply to each review if possible. Please be aware though that I give first replies to my loyal and faithful reviewers from my fics.

Reviews and PM's in the normal manner

Regards:

Pixel

PS: I would like to make it clear that I AM the real JK Rowling, so bow down to your evil ruler!