Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.


Chapter 7 – Return to the Chamber of Secrets


Ginny was surprised when, in the days following her little outburst, she was not summoned to Snape's office for punishment, and even more that Voldemort seemed to have listened to her. Though they were clearly unhappy about it, Amycus and Alecto had stopped torturing students except in certain detentions when they deemed the crime particularly bad; in other words, whenever the Gryffindors and Ginny's friends were involved. Although far from perfect, things at Hogwarts settled down in the following months though the DA was quite active. Ginny lost count of the number of Slytherins who fell unsuspectingly into a prank, as did the Carrows, though they got caught even when they were expecting it. However, for all the DA's actions, Ginny was not a part of them and it was for this reason that she was left relatively alone by both Snape and Voldemort. The Dark Lord made surprise visits to the castle every few weeks, demanding to see for himself that Ginny was alright, even though the lack of activation of the necklace already told him that. His obsession with her safety was understandable, if not somewhat creepy if she was being honest, for he truly did care. Not for her, of course, but for the horcrux inside her, and his care told her of his fear. They knew that the one thing Voldemort feared above all else was death; it was why he had gone to such lengths to stop himself from dying. As one of his anchors, he cared for her enough so as to ensure she was not hurt or in any way damaged. That was the risk with making a horcrux out of a living being. They were far more susceptible than inanimate objects and that vulnerability on their part was a vulnerability on Voldemort's. It was why he kept Nagini close at all times, and Ginny supposed that she should be happy he didn't keep her close at all times and allowed her at least a semblance of freedom.

As Christmas drew near, the DA attempted their most daring prank yet: trying to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from right out under Snape's nose. Unsurprisingly they had been caught, and Ginny had spent the night that her friends were to be punished in the company of Nagini away from the castle, both Snape and Voldemort deeming it unwise to test her limits. This way, while she knew that the punishment was taking place, and knew it would be severe, she was not anywhere near where it was taking place and those involved had been ordered not to tell her anything, in the hopes that lack of specifics would not rile her up as much. Given the state she found her friends in the following day, especially Luna and Neville, their hopes were misplaced. The fact that Luna did not return from Christmas break only made things worse, and sadly they only went downhill from there. Not long into the new term Neville disappeared. Ginny spent a frantic few days searching and eventually found a note randomly in the hall before her as she passed by the Room of Requirement. All it said was 'I'm fine' and given the location she'd found it, she knew where Neville was hiding out.

After that, students began disappearing quite regularly and Ginny knew them to be hiding with Neville or the Carrows would not be so up in arms, nor would Snape be so agitated. In late March, Ginny found an all too familiar radish earring lying in the hallway by the Room of Requirement, which she'd taken to passing every chance she could without being suspicious, and knew that Luna had returned to Hogwarts. Needing to see her friend and know that she was alright, Ginny cast a powerful disillusionment charm one night and went and paced before the wall in the seventh-floor corridor, begging the room to let her in. It did not do so, though she was still granted access when a hand shot out and pulled her inside. Ginny had Luna and Neville both in a death-grip that she would not release until they pried her off them, claiming the need to breathe.

"You're alright!" She gasped, trying not to cry as she looked them both over. Neither looked well, exactly, they were pale and thinner than she remembered, each having a few cuts and bruises visible, but they were alive and even smiling, telling her that all things considered the damage was minimal. "Tell me what happened." She then demanded and Luna told her tale, Neville's being mostly known already. She'd been taken off the train on the way home for Christmas and held in the cellar at Malfoy Manor for a few months. It was Harry, Ron and Hermione who rescued her, along with a couple others being held there, Ollivander and a goblin named Griphook. The trio had been captured themselves but with the help of Dobby had managed to escape, taking Luna and the others with them. After she'd recovered enough at a location Ginny told her not to tell her, she was free to go and returned to Hogwarts.

"I know there's not much I can do here, what with having to hide and all, but I feel I need to be here." She said.

"You've been a great help, Luna." Neville corrected. "Especially with the younger students, once they turned up."

"You're the one who's been invaluable, Neville. He really gets this room." She explained. "It's why you couldn't get in, but we knew you were there. Neville knows better than anyone how to get exactly what you need from this room and not leave any loopholes." Neville blushed.

"Well I'm glad you're both safe." Said Ginny. "What about the others?" They didn't need to know who she was asking after.

"Hermione was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange." Luna admitted, unknowingly putting the witch at the top of Ginny's hit list right after Voldemort himself. "But she'll be alright, and was almost fully healed when I left. Last I saw them they were planning something with Griphook." Her lips thinned.

"Goblin's can't exactly be trusted." Ginny guessed what Luna was thinking.

"They promised him the Sword of Gryffindor for his help." She explained to Ginny how the one they had tried to steal from Snape had been a fake that had then been put into Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts while the real one had been missing until Harry, Ron and Hermione had showed up with it. "But they seemed to need it, and I'm worried that he will either double cross them, or deem their transaction complete before they do and take the sword before they're ready to give it up."

"What could they need the Sword of Gryffindor for though?" Neville speculated. "It can cut things, but what can it do that a severing charm can't?"

"It can destroy highly magical objects." Ginny breathed, realization dawning. After learning she was a horcrux, Ginny had researched enough, with the help of the books Dumbledore had confiscated, to try and find a way to remove it from her. She hadn't found one. The only known way to destroy a horcrux was to damage its container irreparably by either magical or physical means; for a live horcrux, that meant death. There were very few things that could destroy something so utterly, though Ginny had not delved into them; however, hearing of the trio's need for the Sword of Gryffindor gave her her answer. "Harry used the sword to stab a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets my first year." Neither had heard this story before. At the time, they had not been the good friends they were now, and by the time they did become good friends, it was not exactly something Ginny or Harry were talking about. It also was never exactly something to come up in conversation, nor was it really relevant to anything, until now. "Goblin silver only takes in that which makes it stronger. It's why goblin made objects never rust, or show any wear on them. Basilisk venom is highly magical and has only once known cure. It would make the sword stronger and so it's imbibed with it forevermore."

"But why would they need basilisk venom?" Was the next question and this time it was Ginny's lips that thinned.

"I can't tell you that." She raised her hand to her necklace, telling them that that was something she'd been ordered not to talk about. She let them think that was the only reason, not mentioning that it was information they were better off not having for their own safety. Neville and Luna nodded accepting that explanation. "But we can help them." An idea had suddenly formed in her head. "If Luna is right, then they might not have the sword for much longer, but they'll still need it."

"So how can we help them? They need basilisk venom and it's not exactly something we can just go out and buy at an apothecary." Said Neville.

"No, it's not." Ginny agreed. "But there happens to be a dead basilisk with a head full of fangs lying beneath the school."

"And as basilisk venom never dries up the fangs will still be quite deadly." Luna added.

"But how do we get in?" There was never any question that they would be doing this together. Ginny merely smiled.

"We need an exit from this room near the first floor girls' lavatory." If Luna and Neville thought that at all odd they said nothing as they followed Ginny out when a door appeared. After checking that the coast was clear, the three entered the lavatory and Ginny went to stand before the sink she only vaguely had memories of, yet knew well thanks to Tom. She stood there for a moment, contemplating returning to the Chamber after all these years, her mind screaming at her that it was a bad idea. However, if Griphook did indeed double cross the trio, then they would need these fangs, and that need overrode any lingering fear and doubt. Taking a deep breath, Ginny said the only word necessary to gain access, the language itself being the key, rather than the word.

"Open." She was thankful that her friends didn't flinch at her use of parseltongue though they jumped slightly when the sink began to move, descending into the ground and leaving a black hole for them to fall through.

"This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Neville was understandably surprised. "A girls' lavatory?"

"It wasn't always here." Said Ginny. "After all, the Chamber pre-dates the castle's plumbing." She stepped forward and was working up the courage to jump down the hole when Luna spoke.

"Hello Myrtle."

"Damn." Ginny muttered under her breath, having forgotten about her.

"What are you doing?" The ghost demanded, though surprisingly not unkindly.

"We're doing something very important, Myrtle." They let Luna talk, knowing that in her early years at Hogwarts she had had no friends, at least none living, and so had made friends with some of the ghosts instead. It didn't surprise them that Luna had made friends with Moaning Myrtle; if anyone could get Myrtle to be friendly it was Luna. "Would you please not tell anyone? The war could end very badly if you do." Myrtle seemed to think on it for a moment before nodding.

"I certainly don't want him to win. Not the one responsible for my death." After discovering how Myrtle had died, Harry had taken the time to inform the ghost that it had been a basilisk, Slytherin's basilisk to be precise, that had killed her, though it had done so on the orders of a teenage Voldemort. Myrtle had not known anything about the cause of her death beyond seeing the bright yellow eyes of the basilisk, and though it had done little to improve her disposition to people, she had appreciated the information nonetheless.

"Thank you, Myrtle." Luna said with a smile and sent the ghost a little wave as she vanished through the wall. "We can go now." She then said to her friends and rather than risk any more interruptions, Ginny screwed her courage together and jumped down the hole. It was an odd feeling when she landed on the bones of hundreds of chickens. She knew what to expect thanks to Tom, though she herself had no memories of this. Still, she knew the way and began to lead them through the tunnels. Luna and Neville audibly gasped when they reached the basilisk's shed skin and she knew they were wondering how a twelve year old could have defeated something so big and powerful. The cave in Harry and Ron had told her about came next, though as Ron had shifted enough of the rock to get Lockhart through, the three teenagers had no problem and it wasn't long before they arrived at the doorway to the Chamber itself. Another hiss in parseltongue saw them granted access and with a choked cough the three cast bubble-head charms on themselves; the stench was that over whelming.

"There's barely any circulation down here to begin with, and it's had a dead basilisk rotting in it for five years." Ginny muttered as she climbed down the ladder. "Well, welcome to the Chamber of Secrets." They could not deny that it was quite awe-inspiring to be in Salazar Slytherin's fabled chamber, even if the reasons behind its creation, and why they were here now weren't so awe-inspiring themselves. Ginny led them to the front of the Chamber where the basilisk's skeleton lay, stopping at the spot where Harry had stabbed the diary, the black stain of ink still visible in the stone. Though they wondered why she stopped, neither Luna nor Neville asked and merely gave her a moment before following her to the basilisk itself. "Careful not to let it pierce you." She warned as she pulled a fang free. Not knowing how many they would need, the three took nearly all the fangs, conjuring a bag with many charms on it to stop it from ripping or being cut open. They left only two fangs as a very last resort should they still need the venom after all the ones they'd collected today were gone. Even knowing they only had a certain amount, Ginny conjured another bag and placed a single fang inside.

"What's that for?" Neville asked.

"I'm keeping one." She said, reaching up to touch the necklace. "He says I cannot remove this by physical or magical means, but that's not exactly true. The venom in the fang will render all his spells useless and I can get rid of it when I'm ready." She assumed. If basilisk venom was enough to destroy the nearly indestructible magic protecting a horcrux, she could see no reason why it would not be powerful enough to destroy the magic protecting the necklace.

"It's too early right now." Luna agreed. "You gave your word, after all."

"Yes, I did." Ginny ground out. "Though neither of us expected to keep our word when the final battle starts. He'll know when I take it off and when the battle starts is the perfect time. It'll drive him barmy that he has to find me the old fashioned way, it may even give us a few minutes of surprise." It was said without any true conviction. Though she knew that it would indeed upset him, he would be expecting her to at least try to remove the necklace when the battle started so there would be no surprise when she succeeded beyond the hit to his pride knowing that she found a way to break his spells. Their task complete, the three returned above ground, Ginny giving Neville and Luna the rest of the fangs, knowing they were in a much better position to get them to Harry.


A/N - The final battle begins next chapter!

Review please!