Luna Lovegood was ecstatic. The Chamber of Secret, she was in Slytherin's legendary Chamber of Secret. Well, the Shadow aspect of it, and in the company of an angry Devourer, but those didn't mattered, she had an article to write.

Were those sculptures hand-made or had magic been involved? Was the Salazar's statue accurate? Where could led that tunnel? The Basilisk's nest maybe? Where was the beast's body anyway? Oh, silly her, there was none. Harry had absorbed it. Now, how many entrances were scattered around the school grounds? She would have to make a plan.

"Cease thee useless running, girl."

The ravenclaw stopped dead in her tracks, camera in hand, and turned to the Devourer. The motion was almost in slow motion, reenforcing the uneasiness of the demon at seeing the wicked grin on her face. Remembering that human-filth or not, that girl was 'The Nightmare', the Devourer wisely choose to shut up, return to his work and let her do her things.

- DWW -

Harry James Potter was a patient boy.

Just not that patient.

Which was precisely why, upon finding that the headmaster had left the castle on an errand, he decided to deal with the diary himself.

The Chamber of Secret was available to contain whatever could happen, and he would have Luna with him. Things would be fine.

He had forgotten one tiny little thing… Luna Lovegood was a reporter and just couldn't put a good subject aside.

"Lunaaaa."

"Coming."

The blonde girl soon returned to the chamber from one of the smaller side tunnel. Her eyes were shining with that weird dream-like sparkle.

"Did you knew that there is a potion lab down here?"

"No, I did not."

The witch had just spent close to three hours running around, taking notes and pictures, switching between Shadow and the material world every now and then. With every discovery, her face had lightened up a little more, harassing Harry with questions all the while. The Devourer had originally been studying the diary when she had began, but had hurried to finish his inspection. The demon had then quickly retreated, letting the young wizard deal with her.

"Are you done now?"

"Sure."

"Good."

Now that The Quibbler's readers were satisfied, or would be, it was finally time to open the small black book. Luna's claim regarding it's unnatural nature had been proven right, as the Devourer's screening had revealed that the diary did contained something fool. The Basilisk had been pretty adamant that it belonged to her master's heir, as she had seen him with it and his scent still lingered on the leather.

Unwilling to let the Ravenclaw endanger herself, Harry grabbed a feather and opened the diary of one Tom. M. Riddle.

That thing was meant to be written on, and that's what he did.

"My name is Harry James Potter."

He waited a few second as the ink was slowly swallowed by the paper.

"Hello, Harry James Potter. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

- DWW -

Things looked grim for Hogwart's headmaster.

Or rather, he was looking grimly at something. But he had reasons to, if the diary in front of him really was what he believed it to be.

A horcrux, a part of one's soul put as failsafe in an object in order to escape death. As long as the soul remained, the wizard would be an undead, capable of being recalled back from beyond the veil by a number of dark rituals.

That process was among the most vile he knew, calling for a cold-blooded murder and the desecration of the body, and yet for an instant, Dumbledore was glad for it. If Tom had truly created an Horcrux, making any sort of pact with demons from Shadow was now beyond his reach. None would want a mutilated soul.

The old wizard momentarily shivered at the thought of a Devourer-fused Voldemort.

Recovering, he held up the battered and punctured journal, the thing happily oozing black goo in his sleeve.

"Can you explain what happened to it?"

"Well..."

- DWW -

It was too easy.

Harry was writing, the diary was answering. The soul in it – for it had to be one – was polite and open. It had showed concern about the assaults, the seconds since his own time in the school, and tried to gain Harry's trust. To do so, it had provided memories, evidences concerning Hagrid's past actions and a pet of his. The scene was incriminating at worst, and misleading at best.

Harry wasn't fooled.

He had related the entirety of the discussion to his demon and basilisk, which reactions hadn't been pretty.

The snake had been scandalized that the heir hadn't objected to the other speaker's descriptions of the events. A death fifty years ago, several unnecessary petrifications now, the heir had truly manipulated her into hunting his enemies. That he had even tried to pin the blame on others spoke volumes on the man that she had once trusted.

The Devourer, just like the wizard, had accurately guessed that the heir had somehow left his soul in the diary. Given that he had had the ability to open the passageways and mind-control the basilisk to do his binding through the use of parseltongue, that was the only reasonable explanation. More simply, mere memories wouldn't have been able to write back in the diary without a proper conscience. The demon was just as offended about it as the snake. Mortals weren't supposed to accomplish such acts of rebellion against life by themselves. The last ones he had seen attempt such a madness, had started a chain of events which had led to the shattering of the Godslayer Sword. With the God of the Land dead and the Sword destroyed, Dimensions had started to shift and what had once been the Dreamworld had fallen. Ever since, there had been nothing but Shadow. Humans where foolish, and always will be.

"Harry, I think I have something."

Putting down his quill, Harry turned to Luna. Far from being done with her articles, the girl had eagerly followed the whole conversation, taking more notes for future references.

"What is it Luna?"

"He said his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, right? Well, check this out." she said, showing her notebook.

That specific page had been covered in letters. Being who she was, she had been searching for a hidden message, something in the name of this student from the past. As absurd as it may sound, she had found one.

- DWW -

"Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yep." asserted Luna, "It was a good old anagram, easy-peasy."

"How very sharp of you, Miss Lovegood."

"I aim to please."

Her smile was wide. Curiously, it shined once, in perfect synchronization with the headmaster's legendary eye-twinkle.

Harry sweatdropped.

"Now, what did you do next?"

- DWW -

"Harry, what are you waiting for?"

"Are you're sure about this, boy?"

"Do you have a better idea?" asked said boy, his voice clearly irritated.

The demon apparently didn't, mentally shrugging before going silent.

"Harry."

The wizard grumbled. Between The Devourer and Luna, he couldn't get one minute to think about it. But that thing was harming students, and the time to ponder his thoughts was long gone. He had to act.

[Do it.]

The basilisk, currently in charge of the body, answered the command.

[With pleasure.]

Opening her jaw wide, she bit in the diary. Her poison, one of the most lethal and potent magical ingredient on the planet, melted leather and paper with ease. An inhuman scream escaped the decaying journal as the thing immediately started to ooze black slime.

- DWW -

Albus was contemplative. Things were bleaker, and yet brighter than before.

"It screamed… so it was one."

"You know what it is?" asked Luna.

"I do, even though I must admit that I'd prefer not to. That diary was an horcrux, the darkest magic of all, created through murder of an innocent."

And thus, the old wizard explained what it entailed, emotion akin to disgust in his voice. The atmosphere in the room went down by several degrees.

After an eternity of uncomfortable malaise, Harry shyly asked the one thing on his mind.

"I was one, right? My scar was a horcrux. That's why I had those headaches around Quirrell."

Dumbledore's face fell, he opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to reassure the boy, to tell him that he still had time, to explain why he had kept that secret.

He closed it instead, adopted a contemplative look and said "Was? Harry, you did say was. But why using a past tense? It makes no sense… unless..."

The two students were smiling, a revelation hit him.

"Unless you're confident that it is behind you."

The headmaster facepalmed "Of course, you died last year. With the Devourer only claiming you, the horcrux either went to the other side or was devoured in Shadow."

"The Devourer ate it himself." beamed Harry, "He recognized the feeling when the diary got bitten and told me about it."

"Did he eat that piece too?"

"He did. Oh, and he's saying that it tasted fool."

"Yes, I would have assumed it would."

It was a ripped soul part, after all, one belonging to a dark wizard.

"I've been wondering something, Headmaster." interrupted Luna, "Do you think that Harry could be a natural parselmouth? After all, the horcrux has been gone for a long time and he still kept the ability."

"Your guess is a good as mine, miss Lovegood. He could indeed be a natural, or the horcrux could have left an imprint."

"It could also be a side-product of the Devourer eating the pieces." mused the girl.

"No, that one isn't possible. He never gains abilities from a soul, unless he fully incorporate it. Even then, the soul doesn't share it with him. We may be together, but he'll never learn parseltongue, just like I'll never be able to produce basilisk venom."

Dumbledore smiled warmly and said "Natural or not, your gift should be nurtured."

"I think my dad bought a parselmagic tome to try and decipher it a few years ago. I'll see if he still has it."

"That would be most helpful miss Lovegood. I believed that I also have a few grimoires, and will see to have them delivered to you. But for now, you should go back to your common rooms. Curfew is in twenty minutes and I wouldn't want miss Granger to chastises you again, Harry."

The two students thanked him, leaving the office after wishing him a good night.

The headmaster, never loosing his smile, put the destroyed artifact in a drawer which he charmed heavily. Satisfied with his work, he allowed himself a lemon drop.

Now, what to say about this during breakfast?

- DWW -

The great hall was just as lively as any other morning since the beast had been slain. The cheerful mood was interrupted by the distinctive sound of a spoon hitting repeatedly a glass.

The headmaster making a declaration at breakfast? That was unusual.

"Students, I have the pleasure to announce that the supposed heir has been stopped."

All eyes turned to the Gryffindor table.

Potter was still there, eating a pancake and talking to his newly rumored girlfriend Luna Lovegood. He wasn't even acknowledging the looks he was receiving.

But if the heir had been stopped, and Potter was still here, then it meant that … he was innocent?

"Now, don't look at mister Potter like than. His involvement has always been a pure coincidence. In fact, the one responsible never was a student, but an extremely dark object. It has been successfully destroyed yesterday and shall never threaten anyone ever again."

A Gryffindor readhead shivered at the dark object part, before smiling weakling after learning of its fate.

It went unnoticed.

"Thank you for your attention, you may return to your meal."

- DWW -

Hermione had a weird look on her face.

He knew that look.

It was the one stating that he was about to be in big trouble.

"Harry James Potter, tell me you didn't do it."

"It depends. What am I supposed to have done?"

"When the headmaster told us about the culprit being caught, you weren't surprised. Because you already knew."

Well, no need to lie there.

"Yes, I knew. What of it?"

"How?"

"Remember when Luna kidnapped me in the common room?"

His friend nodded slowly, the motion reluctant, as if rust had paralyzed her neck.

In fact, Harry even believed that he had seen an emotion cross Hermione's eyes.

Hurt.

But that couldn't be, right? She had no reason to be hurt. None at all.

He brushed the feeling away and carried on with his explanation.

"She'd just found the diary."

"What diary?"

"The dark object, responsible for this. It was a diary."

"So you took it to Dumbledore then."

"Yes."

Silence fell for a few seconds.

"So… Luna and you are… together?" she asked in an unsure voice, eyes locked on the floor.

Harry hesitated.

Hermione being shy? Acting nervous? Impossible.

Yet she was, and he had the feeling that he may know why. Maybe, as twisted as it sounded, she feared that his supposed relationship with Luna would come between them. That their friendship would be over.

Stupid, completely and utterly stupid. First of all, he would never date Luna. And even if he was dating her, he would never abandon Hermione.

So now, he had two choices. He could lie, go along with the gossip and enjoy his free time, but hurt his friend in the process. Or for once, he could say the truth. A half-truth at least. Explain to Hermione that it was but a joke, a mean for him to be left alone.

It wasn't a choice, it was an obvious move.

"It's… well… no. No, we're not together."

His friend relaxed immediately.

"We both needed some alone time, and could get any by ourselves, so she thought about this. Now we can use each other as an excuse if we need to."

"I… see."

She was relieved, it was manifest with that small smile she was making now. And was that an unshed tear in her eyes?

"So, why do you need that time alone?" she asked more joyfully.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you think a guy would want to be alone?"

She caught on what he was thinking and blushed slightly.

"Please, tell me it's not for that."

He smirked.

"It's not."

"Thank Merlin."

"Though I can't help but wonder what you know of that, Hermione, or why you thought it may be what I was doing."

"I...I..."

The blush started to reach star-fusions proportions.

"Okay, I was just joking so calm down. Take a deep breath, that it. Now, to answer your question, I need the time to read."

"But… you can do that in the common room."

"True, but it's not quiet enough."

"What about the library then?"

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. Madame Pince is a demon."

And he knew his stuff about demons.

"Besides, I can't train in the library."

"Train? For quidditch you mean?"

"No, not for quidditch."

He breathed deeply and started to explain that he was a target. Always had been and always would be. Voldermort's followers were out there, and they had years of magical knowledge on him. For that reason, he had to learn. He needed to be as prepared as possible.

Hermione wasn't pleased and tried to make a speech disturbingly resembling one of Dumbledore's. He was young, he had much to live for, he shouldn't act this pessimistically and…

"I'm not the one who need to be convinced. Unless you can somehow make the Death-eaters back away, I'll keep on being pessimistic."

And it wasn't being pessimistic when you'd already died twice in as many years.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired. Good night."

She answered, but he had already left.

- DWW -

From there, the year went smoothly.

Classes resumed, and if Snape's actions toward him worsened – since the man had apparently decided that the loss of the basilisk and the general good mood were Harry's fault –, the other teachers were apologetic for their misconceptions.

Ron came to apologies, along with a few others. It all ended up brushed under the carpet, as if it never happened.

Truth be told, Harry couldn't care less. He spent his free time in the Chamber, making it his official unofficial quarters after a bit of cleaning up.

There, he practiced spells, potions, everything that may be useful to keep him alive… again.

When he wasn't himself, he let the basilisk roam the Forbidden Forest and the demon hunt in Shadow. Luna even accompanied the Devourer on a few escapade. He stopped to shiver in her presence after the third one, but would still flinch slightly when she made an abrupt movement.

Hermione tried on a few more occasion to discuss his choices, but it always ended the same way. She would began to patronize him, he would made it clear that neither of them had a voice in this, she would be disappointed, but ultimately yet reluctantly agree.

The end of term finally came, with the sound of students packing and the clear whistle of the Hogwarts Express.

From his seat, Harry watched the school gets small and smaller.

"See you soon." he whispered, his mind already turned toward the family he'd prefer not to see.

On the opposite couch, Hermione eyed him warily.

"Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You were day-dreaming, Harry." she said.

He sighed.

"I'm fine, Hermione."

Or he should be.

His family would probably ignored him once again, leaving him to his loneliness.

"Stop worrying, boy. Thou know it won't last and we'll be there for thee."

True.

And now, with the basilisk and the Devourer, he had two different ways to escape. Maybe he would have to let the snake take over during dinner and slither away from the table. He could already see the look on his uncle's face. Maybe he would even have a seizure.

He chuckled.

Yes, this summer would be interesting.

[Can't you speak more quietly? I'm trying to sleep here.]

The wizard ignored the lazy snake and grinned at his friend.

"We all are."

Dead Wizard Walking - End of Book I