Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I do not own big parts of this since much of this is taken straight out of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Okay, so this starts in the beginning of the chapter "Dobby's Reward" in The Chamber of Secrets.

For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry's case) blood. Then there was a scream.
"Ginny!"
It was Mrs Weasley, who had been sitting, crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter. Harry, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. Fawkes went whooshing past Harry's ear and settled on Dumbledore's shoulder, just as Harry found himself and Ron being swept into Mrs Weasley's tight embrace.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"
"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor Minnie weakly. "But perhaps we should first call over your parents, Mr Potter."

Harry groaned inwardly as Mrs Weasley let go of him. He was fine. If they called over his parents and uncles – because obviously his uncles – and new Aunt Selene even if they still called her only Selene – would come too – and then there would be such a big fuss. He didn't want to worry them, he and everyone were fine. But he knew he didn't have much choice so he nodded as he hesitated for a moment and then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword and what remained of Riddle's diary.

"I'll go and make a Floo-call to your family. You all wait here."


Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down while Mr and Mrs Weasley fussed over Ginny and them, thanking them again and again. Hardly twenty minutes later running steps were heard in the corridor and in through the door came Uncle Moony, mum, Uncle Padfoot, dad and Selene, in that order. All of them still in their working robes. Something red was seen on Sirius' face, and when he realized Harry was staring at it he quickly wiped it off.
"Sorry it took so long. We were in the middle of arresting a couple for using Dark artefacts. We had to find someone to take over." He explained.

Then they spotted Harry and all of them cried out his name as they almost physically threw themselves over him. Everyone else quickly backed off and Harry tried to too but didn't get the chance as all of them began to examine every spot of him.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Minnie said you and your friends found the Chamber of Secrets and went down to find Ginny there? What did you think?" James muttered worriedly. "We're so proud of you, that was heroic, but we forbid you to ever do anything so stupid again."
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Harry spluttered, trying to get a word in and tried to shove his family away. "Fawkes saved me, I'm fine."
"Fawkes?" Remus looked at him strangely. "Dumbledore's phoenix? What exactly happened down there?"
"I think we would all like to know that." Minnie said tiredly.

Harry started to tell them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour he spoke into the rapt silence: he told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realised that he was hearing a Basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed the spiders into the Forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the Basilisk had died; how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom…

"Very well." Professor Minnie prompted him, as he paused, "so you found out where the entrance was – breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add – but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Harry?"

So Harry, his voice now growing hoarse from all this talking, told them about Fawkes' timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. But then he faltered. He had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary – or Ginny. She was standing with her head against Mrs Weasley's shoulder, and tears were still coursing silently down her cheeks. What if they expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore… how could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all? Instinctively, Harry looked at his parents and uncles who had a silent promise in their eyes. Ginny would not get expelled if they had a say in it. Dumbledore smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," he said gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."
Everyone looked worried. Harry had almost thought his parents and uncles would faint as he told them about Quirrell and Voldemort in the hospital wing last spring. Mum and dad had fought in the war and defeated the Dark wizard four times, so they knew exactly how dangerous he was, and Sirius, Remus and Selene had too been soldiers in the war, and both Sirius and Remus had barely escaped him once.
But relief – warm, sweeping, glorious relief – swept over Harry.

"W-what's that?" said Mr Weasley in a stunned voice. "You-know-who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not… Ginny hasn't been… has she?"
"It was his diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen."
Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.
"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.
"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school… travelled far and wide… sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

Mum, dad, Sirius and Remus, above everyone, listened in fascination. It was obvious that they hadn't known any of this. Selene too looked interested, but not as much, as she never had encountered the wizard herself, only his Death Eaters. Mr and Mrs Weasley simply looked horrified.

"But Ginny," said Mrs Weasley, "What's our Ginny got to do with-with-him?"
"His d-diary!" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year…"
"Ginny!" said Mr Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother. A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!"
"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it…"
Both Dumbledore and Uncle Moony opened their mouths at the same time but Remus was quicker.
"Shouldn't Ginny go to Madame Pomfrey?" he said gently, smiling reassuringly toward her. "She's exhausted and can have been infected with all kinds of magic."

"Exactly what I was going to say, Remus." Dumbledore agreed seriously. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. Isn't that true, Remus?"
Remus smiled innocently.
"I don't know what you mean, professor."
"Oh, I'm sure you know nothing about the large amount of chocolate that the elves reported to me was eaten by students every month. I keep track of that, you know."
Harry grinned as his uncles and dad began to whistle innocently, looking everywhere but the headmaster. He knew exactly how much his uncle loved chocolate, and especially how much he ate after the full moons. It was lucky that they were pretty rich, since Remus would never be able to pay for all that chocolate himself. Chocolate was pretty much the only thing he allowed people to pay for him since he was pretty much addicted.

"Harry and Ron will too go to the hospital wing." Mum ordered. "You will be checked up for any remains of Dark magic."
Dad looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah. Your mother is right. Who knows what was down there?" He probably felt that he should've thought of that, being Head Auror and all.
Dumbledore nodded.
"You will find that Madame Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice – I daresay the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
"So Hermione's OK!" said Ron brightly.
"There has been no lasting harm done." Said Dumbledore. Mrs Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken. Mum, dad and Uncle Padfoot made an attempt to do the same with Harry and Ron but Dumbledore held his hand up, stopping them.

"You know, Minerva." Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully to Professor Minnie. "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"
"Right." Said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter junior and Weasley, shall I?"
"Certainly." Said Dumbledore. She left, and Harry and Ron gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor Minnie meant, deal with them? Surely – surely – they weren't about to be punished.
"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules." Said Dumbledore. Ron opened his mouth in horror, but Harry glanced at his parents and uncles who didn't look worried even if Selene did until Sirius laid a hand on her arms and smirked. If they weren't worried then they wouldn't get expelled, right? They knew Dumbledore pretty well, after all.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words" Dumbledore went on, smiling, and Harry breathed in relief. "You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School and – let me see – yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."

Ron went as bright pink as Lockhart's Valentine flowers and closed his mouth again. Behind them Harry could hear his parents and uncles say small words in victory. Selene, who was a Hufflepuff and not a Gryffindor, didn't seem to care much that Gryffindor would win the Cup with those points.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Harry heard his parents twitch. Apparently they hadn't even noticed Lockhart, but none of them seemed to be glad over his presence now when they had noticed him. Unlike Mrs Weasley, mum and Selene didn't like him much. Just like dad, Remus, and Sirius, mum thought he was a blown up narcissist and Selene simply didn't care for celebrities, much to Sirius' pleasure since that meant she only had eyes for him. Sirius could be pretty jealous sometimes. Or gigantically jealous, actually. He didn't mind Selene talking to other men, mostly because she would break up if he tried to stop her, but if he saw that someone seemed interested in her or suspected that she had something more than a friendly interest in someone (not that Harry ever thought that would happen) but him, he would either hex the man if he could get away with it or sulk for days until she, dad, Remus or mum convinced him to stop. Not that he really thought that she would leave him, especially after they got married last year, but still. Harry supposed it was a matter of principle for Uncle Padfoot.

He turned around and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart…"
"Am I a Professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, wasn't I?"
"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired." Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore.
"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver moustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"
"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He pointed at Harry. "He'll lend you one."
"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the hospital wing, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry…"
Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at Dumbledore before he closed the door.

Dumbledore turned to look at Harry's family.
"Could we please talk alone?"
They looked at each other.
"Sorry, Albus, but we'll stay. We're not going to leave." Mum said.
Dumbledore nodded, seemingly having expected this. Harry hadn't thought something else either. The headmaster crossed one of the chairs by the fire.
"Sit down, Harry." He, said and Harry sat, feeling unaccountably nervous. "And you too, if you wish to." He added, looking at the adults, who sat down on his invitation.
"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you." Said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."

Harry heard Uncle Paddy make a sound that didn't sound very happy but Lily and Remus both hit him over the head and made him stay silent.
Dumbledore stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto his knee. Harry grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched him.
"And so you met Tom Riddle." Said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you and your family."
"How so?" Dad interrupted the headmaster, leaning forward in his chair, but the old man didn't look irritated but simply smiled and turned to him.
"Because his parents defeated and killed his future self, of course. At least temporarily, it seems."
"Oh." Dad leaned back again and crossed his arms. He had a look that was a mix of worry, anger, proudness and relief on his face, just like the rest of Harry's family.
Suddenly, something nagging at Harry came tumbling out of his mouth.
"Professor Dumbledore… Riddle said I'm like him. Strange likenesses, he said…"
Mum's eyes widened and all of his family leaned forward, apparently unconsciously.
"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully under his thick silver eyebrows at Harry. "And what do you think, Harry?"
"I don't think I'm like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. I mean, I'm-I'm in Gryffindor, I'm…"
"Of course you're not, Prongslet!" Sirius interrupted just as he fell silent. "How could you possibly be like that monster except that you're both parselmouths, which is completely irrelevant?"

A lurking doubt resurfaced in his mind, despite Uncle Padfoot's calming words. Sure, Sirius had met Voldemort and came from a Dark family, but still… there were a few things he couldn't look away from, and it seemed like he'd have to tell Dumbledore, and with that his family, something he had kept a secret for almost two years now.

"Professor," he started again after a moment. "the Sorting Hat told me I'd – I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while… because I can speak Parseltongue…"

A loud snort came from the adults and Harry winced as he looked over there, only to see his dad fighting not lot laugh.
"Slytherin's heir?" He succeeded to say. "You? Slytherin's heir? You're a Potter! A Potter and an Evans! You don't have a drop of Slytherin's blood! If anyone here has, it's Sirius, and that's irrelevant. Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" He suddenly became serious. "And don't worry about the Hat thinking you should've fit in Slytherin. I've had to learn that Slytherins aren't all evil, and that they've got a few good traits too, of which you do have a few, such as ambition and determination. And Harry, next time you have trouble in school, you must tell us. Okay?"
"Okay." Harry promised quietly. He hadn't wanted to worry his parents and had made Jasmine promise not to say anything to them. He had known it would subside eventually.
Dumbledore nodded, eyes twinkling slightly before he became serious.

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said he calmly, "because Lord Voldemort – who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin – can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he died. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…"
"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry asked at the same time his family asked the exact same thing, only exchanged the word 'me' to 'Harry'.
"It certainly seems so."

"So I should be in Slytherin." Harry said, looking desperately in Dumbledore's, mum's, dad's, Sirius', Remus' and even Selene's faces. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it…"
"Put you in Gryffindor." Said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students – just like James said. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue… resourcefulness… determination… a certain disregard for rules – which I'm sure I know where you've got it from…" He looked slyly at his family who only grinned. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."
"It only put me in Gryffindor, said Harry in a defeated voice, even less happy that his family was here now because while dad had said Slytherins weren't all bad, he still knew that Snakes weren't very liked here, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin…"
"Exactly." Said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned.
"If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."
Dumbledore reached across to Professor Minnie's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over and his family walked over to him in curiosity. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt.

Godric Gryffindor

"Gryffindor's Sword" Dad said breathlessly and Harry looked at the sword with big eyes as he heard his father's words. Dad, Sirius and Remus used to tell him and Jasmine stories about the Sword of Gryffindor when they were younger – mainly dad. He was a little bit obsessed with it and the legends surrounding it.
"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the Hat, Harry." Said Dumbledore simply.

For a minute, none of them spoke. All the adults but Dumbledore and Lily were too busy with watching the sword. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Minnie's desk, and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.

"What you need, Harry, is some food and sleep."
"And a check-up by Madame Pomfrey." Sirius added quickly and Dumbledore nodded.
"If you think that's necessary. I suggest you go down to the feast after vising Poppy, while I write to Azkaban – we need our gamekeeper back."
"I can't believe they thought Hagrid was guilty of this." Lily said exasperated. "We tried everything to get him out of prison but they were unreasonable."
"I'm sure Hagrid's very grateful." Dumbledore smiled. "I am. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet too." He added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"

He fell quiet and threw Remus a short, thoughtful gaze before looking over all of them and turning back to Harry.
"You may go, Harry. And I daresay that I think your parents and uncles will want a word with me. Am I right?"
"Damn right you are." Dad huffed, and Lily didn't even slap him for swearing in Harry's company but instead nodded, agreeing. "Harry, Selene will take you to the Wing. We'll meet up with you there."

Harry nodded dejectedly, knowing there was no point of arguing when his parents had those faces, and turned to leave with Selene's hand on his shoulder. He crossed to the door and had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.

Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering under his arm, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.
"Good evening, Lucius." Said Dumbledore pleasantly.
Mr Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room, nodding toward Sirius, Selene and dad with a scornful look on his face, totally ignoring mum and Remus. From what Harry knew about Mr Malfoy, which was probably because Uncle Moony was halfblood and mum was muggleborn. Dad, Sirius and Selene on the other hand were all purebloods. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.

"So!" Said Lucius Malfoy, his cold eyes fixed on Dumbledore. "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."
"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too. Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."
Mr Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury. Harry saw that his father and godfather were smirking triumphantly. They detested the Malfoys, and Mr Malfoy most of them all.
"So… have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"
"We have." Said Dumbledore, with a smile.

"Well?" said Mr Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"
"The same person as last time, Lucius? Said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."
He held up the small black book with the large hole through the centre, watching Mr Malfoy closely. Harry, however, was watching Dobby.
The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Harry, he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist.

"I see…" said Mr Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.
Harry half-listened as the headmaster and the pureblood kept talking but kept watching the elf intently. Still, behind the back of Mr Malfoy, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head. And Harry suddenly understood. He nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr Malfoy?" said Harry and earned a surprised but delighted look from Sirius who knew Harry was up to something. He always knew that.

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.
"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said.
"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Botts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book, and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"
He saw Mr Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench.
"Prove it." He hissed.

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Not now Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…"

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house elf.
"We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenched open the door, and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it. They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the way along the corridor. Mum looked pained and took a step forward, but both dad and Remus stopped her.
"There's nothing you can do about it, Lils." Dad said sadly. There was nothing illegal with treating your elves like that – yet – and scolding Mr Malfoy would only make him treat Dobby worse out of anger.
Harry stood for a moment, thinking hard. Then it came to him.

"But I can." He said. "Professor Dumbledore, can I give that diary back to Mr Malfoy, please?"
"Certainly, Harry." Said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember."
Harry grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office. After a moment his parents and uncles and aunt followed him. He could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry took off one of his shoes, pulled of his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary into it. Then he ran down the dark corridor.


"Mr Malfoy," he gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for you."
And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy's hand.
"What the…?"
Harry heard his family's (especially Sirius') laughter from behind as the pureblood stood there with the sock in the hand. Lucius ripped the sock of the diary, threw it aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to Harry.

"You'll meet your end one of these days, Harry Potter." He said softly. "You're a meddlesome fool, just like your parents and godfather."
He turned to go.
"Come, Dobby. I said, Come!""
But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure.
Master has given Dobby a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."
"What's that?" Spat Mr Malfoy. "What did you say?"
"Dobby has got a sock." Said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and Dobby… Dobby is free."
Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf. Then he lunged at Harry.
"You've lost me my servant, boy!"

All of the Potter-Black-Lupin family dragged their wands but Dobby was quicker, and shouted,
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!"

There was a loud bang, and Mr Malfoy was thrown backwards. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below. He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long threatening finger at the same time as Harry's guardians took a step forward, looking furious.
"You shall go now." The house elf said fiercely, pointing down at Mr Malfoy. "You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now."

Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last incensed stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at Harry, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes. "Harry Potter set Dobby free!"
"Least I could do, Dobby." Said Harry, grinning. "Just promise me never to try and save my life again."

The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile.
"I've just got one question, Dobby." Said Harry, as Dobby pulled on Harry's sock with shaking hands. "You told me all this had nothing to do with He Who Must Not Be Named, remember? Well…"

"It was a clue, sir." Said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Dobby was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his named, could be freely named, you see?"
"Right." Said Harry weakly. "Well, I'd better go. There's a feast and my friend Hermione should be awake by now…"
Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him.
"Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" He sobbed. "Farewell, Harry Potter!"
With a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared.

Smiling, Harry turned to his parents and other guardians who had been watching in surprise. But they seemed very happy with him and his mother hurried forward to hug him tightly.

"That was a very, very good thing to do, sweetheart." She said, smiling widely. "I'm so proud of you."
"I couldn't just leave Dobby with Mr Malfoy, mum. What else could I do?"
"Precisely the right answer, son." Dad said, grinning proudly and hugging him too. "But now… follow Selene to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey, and then you can go to the feast. Your mum and uncles and I are going to have a talk with Professor Dumbledore."

Harry felt sorry for Dumbledore even though he was sure the headmaster could handle his parents' wrath – if anyone could, of course. Especially his mother was scary when she was angry, when she was just waiting to explode. So he quickly nodded and led the way for Selene toward the Wing.


When he came to the feast, after Madame Pomfrey had told Selene there was nothing wrong with him and she needed to get back to her real patients, Dumbledore wasn't there yet. After twenty minutes he turned up, looking slightly shaken. Apparently not even the greatest wizard of the world was capable of handling the wrath of the Marauders and Lily Evans Potter. It was an amusing thought, even though it was a scary one, and he didn't think his parents should blame the headmaster. It hadn't been his fault. He hadn't known Harry and Ron had went down there.

Jasmine threw him a questioning gaze when he turned up, long after everyone, including Ginny, Ron and Hermione. She hadn't been called up to the office as it was his parents' decision on whether she was to be told or not, but he mouthed 'tell you later' to her and she seemed satisfied. If he didn't, Ginny was sure to tell her as they were friends.
In the middle of the feast, Hedwig came in with a note. Harry looked at the owl, surprised, but took the note and gave her a treat.

We had to leave for now, but tomorrow we're going to talk. Don't worry, we won't punish you, what you did was stupid but we suppose it was exactly what all of us would've done at your age. But don't get any ideas! Don't do anything like that again, or we will punish you. Also, Dumbledore will be keeping a closer eye on you if anything like this happens again from now on, to keep you out of this kind of trouble. Hopefully he won't have to.
Enjoy the feast!
Lots of Love,
mum, dad, Uncle Padfoot, Uncle Moony and Selene

Harry sighed in relief. His parents weren't angry with him. He only hoped 'keeping a closer eye on him' wouldn't mean that it would be harder for his trouble-making ways. Sure, he wasn't as big of a prankster as the twins or Jasmine, or the Marauders, but he was one of the Heirs of the Marauders and with that came some responsibilities, such as making sure to give everyone an interesting time at Hogwarts and making sure it never got boring.

He looked up at the headmaster who gave him a smile and shook his head, upon which Harry sighed in relief once more. It didn't seem so.
"Wha's th' note?" Ron asked, his mouth stuffed with chicken. "And wha' 'appened when I'd le't?" Harry smiled and began to tell his two best friends about his evening.


Review!

So, I got the request to write this for quite a long time ago and I've finally finished. I literally sat with the CS in my lap and copied it word for word about fifty percent of the time. Because much of it should probably be alike even if James and Lily had lived. I hope I did this good, but I'm not really sure. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and that I didn't disappoint. :)