A/N: A line in bold without quotation marks is something written. Thanks for reading and especially reviewing and special thanks to Shygui for being a great beta. If you would like a different view of Daphne, check out "A Blank Canvas" by TideTurner27.

Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. – JK Rowling

Daphne had worn the cloak before but it was quite different being under it with Harry. For one thing, she felt hot. It wasn't that Harry himself was hot but being next to him was – or something like that. Also, she wasn't accustomed to smelling a boy. She'd gotten a whiff of Crabbe once that had almost made her gag but Harry smelled – nice. This whole effect he had on her was rather unnerving. She really didn't want to think about that. She really wasn't ready for the direction those thoughts might go.

Two prefects finally showed up for them and they were able to trail after everyone through the door and kept their distance but followed the Gryffindors until they got to the second floor. Their first and obvious stop was the loo and hallway where some key events related to the chamber had occurred. It had been awkward walking together so it was just convenience that led her to put her arm around Harry and walk so close to him. Really.

They first stopped in the hallway and saw why the announcement was made. There was a new message:

Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever

She felt Harry tense up but couldn't think of anything that might comfort him. They quietly made their way to the loo and found nobody. Why wasn't anyone here? It was pretty obvious that this was a key to finding the Chamber of Secrets yet they were the only ones here. Harry put down his book bag and started to remove the cloak so she stepped out to make it easier for him. She decided to also try to make herself useful.

"Myrtle? Are you here?"

A ghost suddenly came right through one of the stall doors and looked at her curiously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Daphne Greengrass, I'm a friend of Harry's." She felt that associating herself with Harry might get her more cooperation from the ghost since they'd already met.

Myrtle looked at Harry and addressed him. "You again. What do you want this time? Are you doing another potion?"

Daphne gave Harry a curious look while he blushed and muttered, "I'll tell you later."

Harry cleared his throat and spoke to Myrtle. "Actually I came to ask you about how you died."

That led Myrtle into a convoluted story about someone named Olive Hornby and she just sort of skipped over the interesting part. Daphne decided to try to get her to focus on what they really needed from her.

"I'm sorry to hear about Olive but you skipped the interesting part. What exactly happened when you died?"

"Oh. Well I was in there," she pointed over her shoulder towards the stall she'd just emerged from. "Then I heard a boy doing this strange hissing. Well, I didn't care what he was doing, he wasn't supposed to be in the girl's loo so I came out to tell him to go somewhere else and then I just… died."

Daphne tried again. "Did you see who it was? Did you hear anything else?"

"I didn't get a chance to see much of anything. I do remember some big yellow eyes and then my body seized up and I started to float away…. But then I came back. I wanted to haunt Olive Hornby."

"Where were the eyes?"

"Over there, by the sinks."

She had pointed to a sink next to Harry so he went over to check it out and Daphne quickly was at his side. Harry was the first to see it, one of the taps had a small snake etched into it. As he tried to turn it Daphne was surprised to hear Myrtle above them. "That tap has never worked."

She looked over at Harry and murmured, "We know he spoke Parseltongue."

He nodded and then looked at the tap and said, "Open."

At this moment, humour was far from appropriate but she still had to fight a smile when she said, "That was English, Harry."

He huffed in frustration and seemed to stare even harder at the tap. Then some creepy hissing came out of his mouth and she looked at him in fascination. She then stepped back when the tap began to glow and spin and before they knew it, the sink sank out of sight and a large pipe was in its place. Daphne cast Lumos and peered as far as she could see. It seemed to be an endless black hole.

In that moment, she just knew he was going to just jump down the hole and she wondered if there was any possible way to talk him out of this. They looked at each other and then Harry said, "I'll go first." She felt like she'd missed her moment and now whatever was going to happen was inevitable and she didn't like this feeling of not having any control. Once he slid out of sight, Daphne sighed, sat down with her feet in the hole and froze. She tried to take a deep breath and then push off but only the deep breath part happened. It was finally the thought of him dying alone because she'd been too cowardly to follow that finally forced her to push off.

Her heart was pounding and she was suppressing the urge to scream and she had to resort to forceful Occlumency to control herself. She was deeply regretting not talking him out of this as she was going down farther than she expected and faster than she liked. Suddenly, it levelled off and she slid to a stop in a tunnel big enough to stand up in. Harry was already up and peering around as far as his lit wand allowed.

She wanted to sit there and recover but she had to put a stop to what Harry was doing immediately. Before she even finished getting up, she muttered the privacy spell and then moved near him.

"Harry, you have to be more careful. Do you at least have your stone out?"

He held it out to her with a hint of a scowl but she gave him an even bigger one back. "You have to keep your eyes down. You know what happens if you look him the eyes? You're dead just like Myrtle, that's what. BE. MORE. CAREFUL."

She saw that message sink in as he looked abashed. "I have a mirror." She stopped what she was saying as he gave her a surprised look. "I'm a Slytherin, remember? I know what a direct view of a basilisk would do to me so I have started to carry a mirror with me at all times. I will go first and check things out. If I get petrified, you use the stone immediately and then get me out so I can eventually be revived. Promise me?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course."

She knew she could depend on him but it still wasn't easy to put her fate in anyone else's hands. There was no backing out now though so the only direction left was forward. She sighed and gave him a serious look. "Just… please be careful." Honestly, this boy was going to be the death of her. She noticed they were both filthy so she cast Scourgify on both of them.

She removed her small mirror and started to walk forward but paused in consternation when she heard crunching. What? She gulped when she saw the myriad of skeletons littering the entire floor area. It would be hard to sneak up on anything. She cast Silencio towards her feet and then towards Harry's. He gave her a smile that made her feel better. She really couldn't believe that she was doing this and she resolved to never admit this to anyone.

She took a fortifying breath and then walked up to the first turn and slowly moved the mirror out so she could look beyond the turn and frowned when she had to force her hand to be more still. She then put more of her magic into her Lumos and all of the tunnel before another turn became visible. She gasped slightly when she saw something snake shaped but then calmed when she saw that it was a shed skin, not a snake. However, the skin was frighteningly large. Just how big was this basilisk anyway?

She looked back at Harry who looked worried so she moved closer to put her mouth near his ear to whisper to him. She was so close that his hair tickled her nose when she whispered, "There's a snake skin in the next part but no snake."

Harry looked a little distracted and seemed a bit pink but he nodded his understanding so she moved around the corner and kept walking with her eyes down, using her mirror as much as she could and listening for any hint of movement. When she got to the middle of the snakeskin, she couldn't help but stop and marvel at the size of it. She looked back at Harry and his face must look like hers. This was no small snake they were trying to find, it was a true monster.

She had just started walking again when a small stone fell in front of her and she jerked back and looked up. However, the ceiling of the tunnel looked fine so it appeared safe to continue. She took another deep breath and resumed walking to the next bend in the tunnel. She made sure that Harry moved to stand by the wall like she did and then slowly moved the mirror out around the corner again. She could see the tunnel ended with a blank wall with two large snakes carved around it. It was foreboding but not dangerous so she motioned for him to follow.

They slowly walked up to it and looked at the snakes. The eyes seemed to be emeralds and they somehow managed to glint as if they were real eyes. She had never really had a problem with a snake being the symbol of her house but this was definitely creepy. She exchanged looks with Harry again and he looked as intimidated as she felt.

It seemed pretty obvious that this would open when he told it to but they had to have a plan first. She cast the privacy charm again and stepped nearer to him. Even though she knew more about magic and the world of magic, somehow being near Harry made her feel safer. It made no sense to her but it was a fact that she could not refute.

"We have to have a plan. We can't just open this and stand right in front of the opening, it could be waiting for us. I think we should get next to a wall again and when you open it, I will check everything with the mirror."

"I've been thinking. Whoever is waiting probably knows I'm a Parselmouth so he'll be expecting me but not you. You should wear this. You can be my backup."

He held out his cloak to her again and she felt emotions bubbling up nearly uncontrollably yet another time. How is it that he could make her feel all of these things? She thought she had developed such good emotional control yet time and again he made her feel like she had no control at all. However, she had to concede that he made an excellent point. Good, he was starting to think like a Slytherin. Well, at least sometimes and that was an improvement. She took it and gave him a grateful smile and was a little surprised when he blushed. Good, she could make him feel things too, she wasn't alone in this.

When she had it on she realized that the plan wasn't perfect. She'd have to move her arm out to see around corners and he had to tell if she became petrified but it was still good to be concealed as much as possible. She moved nearer the entrance and the nearest wall and made sure he followed her. When she was as ready as she could be, she whispered, "now."

She moved her arm out so he could see it and was looking at the wall as she heard him hiss again and the wall split and began to open. At first she could see nothing but darkness through the slot that opened but gradually the side walls with columns in the distance came into her view. If this was the chamber, it was big, no make that huge. She widened her scans of the area as the walls continued to slide open. By the time they were fully open, she could tell that they were at the end of a rectangular room.

She quietly took a couple of steps forward and continued to scan around. Other than the columned walls, the only thing she noticed was an odd statue carved into the farthest wall. Then she saw a small form on the floor and based on the red hair, it had to be Ginny Weasley. She continued to double check, even scanning up but all she saw was a very high ceiling. The chamber was immense, bigger than the great hall. Based on the puddles and dripping she could hear, she wondered if they might be under the lake. She had seen no sign of danger but she knew it had to be in there, somewhere.

She brought her arm back under the cloak and she turned back towards Harry and saw him looking in her direction with worry evident on his face. She could just cast the privacy charm and talk to him but felt drawn to go near him and whisper into his ear again. She noticed that he had no idea she was moving and he still stared in the same direction. As she slowly neared him, she saw he was becoming more concerned so she moved in and whispered to him.

"It's a huge room with a high ceiling. We're on one end of it and all I see is an odd statue with Ginny Weasley laying on the floor near it. Nothing else. Be careful where you look. I'll be behind you."

He had tensed when she began to whisper and as she began to withdraw she looked at his cheek and considered giving him a kiss 'for luck' but let the moment pass. She stepped back and watched him as he seemed to shake something off and carefully began walking in and looking around, thankfully keeping his head down as he carefully scanned around.

She nearly cursed as she realized she'd been so focused on using her mirror that she didn't have her stone out. She got it out of her pocket and held it against the handle of her mirror. She could tap it with her wand quickly if the need arose now.


Why did she keep whispering in his ear like that? She'd been so close he felt her breath on his skin both times and it made him so nervous and hot. His heart was thundering so much it was hard to hear anything else. He had to calm down!

He kept her advice in mind though and was very careful as he entered the chamber. He wished there was more light and had a hard time not flinching each time he saw the reflection of torch light in the puddles as he passed them. He hoped that Daphne was careful as stepping in a puddle would give her away.

Suddenly he saw Ginny ahead and couldn't wait any longer and ran to her. He had his stone in his left hand and his wand in his right and nearly dropped them to check her but stopped himself in time. He had to be ready, they were the only protection he had with him. Well, other than his hidden ally.

He pressed the back of his right hand against her neck and was relieved to feel a heartbeat. However, she felt colder than he liked. "Ginny?" He tried to shake her shoulder but suddenly he heard a boy say 'Accio stones' and he abruptly found his left hand empty as the stone soared away from him. He brought his wand to bear in that direction and saw a ghostly boy twirling a wand in his hand and smirking at him. Fortunately he only heard one stone hit the rock floor so Daphne was still armed.

"Who are you?"

The spectre laughed and asked a question back. "Who do you think I am?"

He almost said Voldemort but since it was a boy he changed his mind. "Tom Riddle."

Harry suppressed a smile as he saw the boy was disconcerted. "She never told you about me. How did you know?"

"Did you really think you fooled everyone when you framed Hagrid?"

The boy looked outraged. "Are you telling me that half-breed idiot actually figured it out?"

"No, not Hagrid."

The boy seemed to regain his composure. "Dumbledore then. I knew I never completely fooled him."

He was about to tell him a friend figured it out but that could be dangerous. He didn't dare say anything that made Riddle/Voldemort suspect he might not be alone. He groped for a new subject.

"What have you done to Ginny?"

That got a curious look from Riddle. "You really care about her? She seemed so convinced the rich, famous, heroic Harry Potter would never care for her."

Harry really didn't like his sarcastic mocking of Ginny but didn't let himself get distracted. "I care about all of the Weasleys. They've been very friendly to me."

"How did a baby defeat the greatest wizard who ever lived?"

Daphne was right, this bastard certainly was full of himself. "Ha! The greatest wizard who ever lived would be Dumbledore or maybe Merlin but not you – Voldemort." The spectre didn't like that. Harry grinned this time.

"What could a mere child know of such things?"

"Enough to beat you."

"Impossible! You're trying to trick me. How was I defeated?"

This wasn't getting them anywhere. Maybe he could make a deal with him. He'd probably be overconfident enough to say too much. Harry needed an advantage as he had no idea how to fight a spirit. "I'll answer your question if you'll answer mine."

Riddle pointed a wand at Harry. "You first."

Harry readied himself to cast a shield but didn't flinch. "I don't trust you. You first."

Tom scowled at him but slowly his face cleared. "Fine. I can afford to be generous. What was your question again?"

"What did you do to Ginny?"

"Ah, that. She trusted too much, gave away too much to a complete stranger."

Daphne's lesson on thinking like a Slytherin came back to him as he saw an example of what she'd taught right in front of him. Riddle was deliberately trying to make the subject seem unimportant and was giving as little away as possible. He disliked the idea but he had to puff up his ego a bit, play the scared, uninformed boy to him.

"You? How could trusting too much do this to her?" Harry was relieved to see the sly smile reappear on Tom's face. It was working.

"I knew I couldn't continue Salazar Slytherin's noble work while I was here. Dumbledore was watching me too closely and I didn't want to spend any more time in that filthy Muggle orphanage than I had to. I didn't want to leave it undone though so I put a memory of my 16 year old self into my diary. Eventually I would find someone to continue my work and so that is what I set out to do."

"I had no idea it would take so long to happen though. Much time was lost to me." Riddle looked distracted and regretful. However, his face cleared and he looked at Harry with his smirk again before Harry could think of how to prompt him once more.

"Then poor little ignored Ginevra Weasley started to write in me. Such inane, silly things she wrote too, much of it about you. She has such a crush on you. Pathetic, really." He gazed at Harry with malice but Harry was using Occlumency to keep himself calm and Tom didn't get the reaction he hoped for.

"She also poured out her secrets to me. She gave me so much that I was gaining power from her until finally I began to manipulate her, pour a little of me into her. Eventually I was able to take her over for a time. Do whatever I wished while she slept. She fought me though, she was stronger than I expected. I wanted those mudbloods dead, not petrified."

Riddle then fixed Harry with a stare again before he finished. "Your precious 'greatest wizard' Dumbledore was driven from this school by a mere memory of my 16 year old self. Don't try to pretend that he is greater than me."

Harry gritted his teeth but refused to rise to the bait. He didn't know what to do yet, it wasn't time to goad Riddle and he needed more information or maybe just an inspiration.

"Your turn."

The determined look from the ghostly boy told Harry that he wasn't going to get more until he gave him something. He didn't want to tell him anything but then he realized that he had little to share. Nobody knew what had really happened that night, least of all Harry himself. He could safely repeat what he'd heard and it wouldn't give Voldemort much at all.

"Nobody knows exactly what happened that night. My mother gave her life for me. My Muggleborn mother, by the way. Somehow, that made it impossible for you to kill me and you were defeated by your own spell." Harry saw his eyes get a faraway look and he began to speak softly as if thinking to himself.

"Yes, old magic, ancient magic, sacrificial magic. My older self was careless, should have seen that coming." Then his eyes refocussed on Harry and he got his smirk back. "You really aren't that special then. It was your mother and my other self's carelessness."

Tom then gave him a speculative look that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. "We're quite alike, you and I. Both half-bloods, both orphans, both of us Parselmouths and probably the first since Slytherin himself and we even look similar. Perhaps we were meant to join forces."

Harry wanted to reject the idea and curse him but controlled himself. Harry still wasn't sure what to do and he might still be able to get more out of him, something important. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Power, Potter. It's all about power. There is no good and evil, there is only power and those bold enough to seize it and those too weak to even try. Do you have what it takes to be truly great?"

After his time with Daphne, he had an answer for that question. "Yes. I do." Tom's speculative look reappeared but then slowly faded and he shook his head.

"It's a pity we'll never find out. It would be fitting for us to duel now, Potter. However, you came sooner than I anticipated and I'm still too early in the process of absorbing her life force. Expending too much magic would be a setback and I want to get this done. It's time for you to face the might of Slytherin's monster. We'll see how the famous Harry Potter fares against that."

Riddle looked up and although he was hissing, Harry understood him just fine. 'Greatest of the Hogwart's four'? Apparently, Riddle wasn't the only one with an ego problem. However, he had to act fast. Ginny was too close to the base of the statue. If a huge snake came down on top of her, she could be crushed!

He kept his face away from the statue and grabbed her arm with his free hand and began dragging her away. The sounds above made it clear that the snake was emerging so he hissed up at it to stay back.

That made the shade laugh. "He won't listen to you. Only I can command him."

He was still dragging her away when something heavy hit the floor and made him stumble. He let go of Ginny but kept looking away. He had to depend on Daphne now, he'd done all he could do. Relief washed through him as he heard a rooster crow and the snake begin hissing and thrashing in pain.

His attention went to Riddle as he shouted in shock. "What?! Who else is here?"

Harry heard the snake take its last breath and lie still. Things were finally going their way but then before Harry could react, Tom slashed his wand and an arc of red light went out in the direction of the crow. Harry's heart dropped when he saw a startled rooster appear out of nowhere, fluttering and squawking as it headed to the floor.

He also saw Daphne's hand appear and her mirror fall to the ground as her hand followed. He saw the mirror break and her hand lie still along with one of her feet and part of her leg that showed where they had emerged from the cloak that was still mostly covering her. No! What had he done to her? He felt like the whole world stopped as he looked at her lying there, even his heart had seemed to stop beating. He was held in a moment of disbelief and impending loss.

He wanted to run to her but again before he could move he heard a snarled "Avada Kedavra!" No! He knew from one of Daphne's lessons that a Protego was of no use. He had to summon or conjure an object…. He was very relieved when the spell struck the rooster instead of Daphne. The rooster fell over dead.

He turned to Riddle with a snarl. It was time to end this. No more talk, he was going to finish him! That's when he realized that the spectre looked weaker, more transparent and wavering. He had weakened himself! He felt a grim smile form on his face.

"Expelliarmus!"

He might be weaker but he was still fast. He easily evaded Harry's spell and returned Harry's look with a snarl of his own. "Even weakened, I'm still more than enough for you, Potter. Your friend is down. Where is your precious Dumbledore now?"

Down, he said down, not dead. He felt marginally better but he was still stymied. How could he end this? However, his mention of Dumbledore brought back to mind the strange thing Dumbledore had said. Could that be the answer?

"Dumbledore is still here as long as someone is still loyal to him and help will be given to those who ask." He was asking, very hard but silently while Tom laughed. They were both startled to hear some eerie but pleasing bird song. Then Harry spotted the source. "Fawkes!"

The brilliantly plumed bird circled over them once and then he landed on Harry's shoulder while releasing something into his free hand as Harry reached for it. Even as he was realizing what it was, he heard Riddle scoff, "A bird and the sorting hat? That's your help?"

He looked at Riddle who looked confident and relaxed. Wait, he was content to let time pass. Why? Then he remembered, he was absorbing Ginny's life force. As he grew stronger, she grew weaker so time was on his side, not Harry's. He still didn't know what to do. Then he remembered, the hat could talk to him! Maybe it had an idea!

He put the hat on his head and was thinking intently 'I need help to defeat Voldemort' over and over. Unfortunately, all he heard was Tom laughing, not a word emerged from the hat. Harry was beginning to panic when something hard and heavy hit him on the head.

Damn! That hurt! He was seeing stars as he tried to get the hat off his head while Fawkes fluttered away and he felt something long and heavy begin falling away from him as it finally emerged from the hat. When he recovered a moment later he saw a large sword with rubies laying with the blade inside the basilisk's mouth. Then he realized how close the snake had gotten to him before it died. Wow! That was close!

The mystery though was: how could a sword help him defeat a spirit? They were made to cut something material, something solid. As he stared at it he saw what must be venom dripping on to the blade but strangely, whatever it was did not dribble off, it disappeared! Was the sword somehow absorbing it? What was that thing?

"Gryffindor's sword! What a marvellous trophy! It's just what I need to continue my legacy. I can become greater than my other self ever dreamed."

Harry turned to see Tom looking at the sword with longing. If his enemy wanted it then he would deny it from him. He switched his wand to his left hand and reached down and took it by the grip. He was surprised when it felt fairly light in his hand. By the size of it, he had expected it to be hard for him to handle.

He saw Tom smirking at him again as he spread his hands. "Let's see what you can do with a sword then. Come on, I'll give you a free swing." He just stood there, smirking and waiting.

Harry realized he was going about this wrong. He was paying attention to what his enemy wanted him to instead of what was important. The problem though was, what was important? He'd had a feeling that he was missing some key point but what? He ran what Tom had said before through his mind again and then he realized what it must be. The diary. The dark artefact was a book. What a great place to sneak a book to someone else: a bookstore!

Tom was still staring at him and waiting. His enemy was inactive and that suited Harry just fine. He wouldn't provoke him unless it was to his advantage. He had to find that book. Tom was still in transition, if he hurt the book, he'd probably hurt Voldemort. He very much wished to do that now.

He tried to look nervous and uncertain while he was really searching for the diary. He finally spotted it near where Ginny must have been originally. It didn't look like much but it was now his target. He circled as if looking for an advantageous position and Tom just continued to watch and smirk. Finally he saw the book in his peripheral vision, in front of his right foot. Good then, time to make a stand.

He realized at that moment that he was holding the sword wrong. He wanted to stab it, not cut at it. He carefully used his left hand to steady the sword by the point as he shifted his grip. Then he looked at an overjoyed spirit.

"You're holding it wrong. Do you want me to give you a lesson?"

"I'm holding it just as I need it. I'm going to do this!" He brought his hand up looked down at the book and stabbed just as Tom began to shout 'no' but then it dissolved into a scream. Harry was shocked to see that he'd not only stabbed through the book, the sword had apparently also gone a few inches into the stone floor! What was this thing made of?

As if that wasn't enough, the book seemed to be sizzling as if it was exposed to something very hot and leaking ink at a furious rate. He heard what sounded like a last gasp and looked up in time to see the ghostly boy dissolve into nothingness. He had won.

He promptly abandoned the sword and hurried over to Daphne and flipped the cloak off of her. He looked her over for any wound and found none. He then saw that she was breathing and sobbed in relief. Behind him he heard a groan and then a mutter. "Wha' hap'n?"

He looked back to see Ginny looking pale and disoriented but she was starting to sit up under her own power. "Ginny! You're OK. Tom is dead and so is the basilisk. I have to help Daphne though."

Maybe Daphne was just stunned. What was the counter again? He realized he wasn't holding his wand and found it lying neglected beside Daphne. "Rennervate!" She seemed to twitch but that was all. He had to try again. "Rennervate!"

Her pretty blue eyes fluttered open and he felt like he hadn't seen such a beautiful thing in his life. "Daphne!" He pulled her up into a hug before she could utter a sound or even move.

He felt her arms go around him as she muttered, "Harry?"

"Yes. It's over. I got him."

"I'm so proud of you. You realized it was the diary then?"

"Yeah, took me a few minutes though. I still have to work on my Slytherin side."

"I think you're doing pretty well already."

He felt her shaking and he was pretty sure she was crying. He just held her as he didn't know what else to do. He heard Ginny getting up and then he heard her gasp. She'd probably seen the basilisk. It was a very impressive sight he had to admit. Eventually, Daphne started to let go and he helped her to her feet. She was slightly unsteady at first but quickly gained her balance.

They both turned to look at Ginny and saw her shivering with tears streaming down her face as she stared at Harry. Her attention made Harry a little uneasy but he pushed it aside as he took a couple of steps toward her.

"Ginny, are you OK?"

"It was me. It was all me. I tried to fight him, I did. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to do it…."

She burst into tears, stepped forward and grabbed Harry in a tight hug as she sobbed into his shoulder. It had felt good to comfort Daphne but this made him rather uncomfortable. He turned to look at Daphne and at first saw a dark look on her face as she looked at Ginny. He was beginning to wonder what that was about when she gave him a tentative smile. He relaxed and tried to shrug at her with a smile of his own. Suddenly he saw the glint of amusement in her eyes and she relaxed too and stepped over to join them.

"It's all right, Weasley. He's fooled a lot of people in his long life. I don't think they'll give an 11 year old trouble for falling for his lies."

Ginny recovered herself enough to pull back and look at Daphne. "Who, Tom?"

"Yes. Tom Riddle, later known as Lord Voldemort."

Ginny gasped and recoiled as if she'd been slapped. "You-know-who?! That was you-know-who?"

Harry tried to reassure her then. "Yes. It was Voldemort. He was a student here who graduated in 1945. He left the diary to reopen the Chamber of Secrets and kill all the Muggleborns in Hogwarts."

She gasped and stepped back. "Somebody died?!"

"No! That was what he intended but not what he accomplished. He said you were strong and stopped him from killing."

She shivered and hugged herself as she looked down in shame. "I don't feel strong."

"You should. He said you were strong. I'm impressed."

He felt Daphne take his hand so he looked at her and she seemed to be searching his face for something so he smiled at her and she relaxed. To his surprise she leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder. It made him feel good and confused at the same time. He looked at Ginny in time to see her look away, blushing and probably disappointed. He wasn't sure as he hadn't gotten a good look at her face. What was going on with these two girls anyway?

He began to look around and assess all that they'd have to bring back with them. Then how they entered hit him and he wondered how on earth they could slide up the pipe. Then he saw Fawkes peering at him from his perch on the dead basilisk.

"Fawkes, I don't suppose you know how we can get out of here, do you?"

It had been intended mostly as a joke but he was surprised when Fawkes trilled an answer and ruffled up his tail to make it obvious. Was he saying that he could carry them out?

Daphne lifted up her head and told them. "Phoenixes can carry heavy loads. I'm sure he can fly us out of here."

That seemed a bit far-fetched to Harry but he was the one who knew so little about the magical world so he'd take her word for it. "Well, I guess we better get everything together then." They separated and Harry went to the sword and was surprised at how easily he pulled it back out. He then gingerly removed the diary from it. It was rather gross and he didn't want to put it in a pocket.

He saw Ginny looking around for something. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find my wand."

"Oh, um, here. Could you hold the sword for me? Watch out, the blade is sharp." He held it out to her with the point down and she gingerly took it and put the point on the floor to take the weight. Harry then glanced where Riddle had been but didn't see the wand either. He took out his wand and said, "Accio Ginny's wand."

It came flying to him and he caught it awkwardly with the hand holding his wand. He turned to Ginny had held it out to her. "Here you go."

She took it gingerly as he heard a surprised Daphne ask, "You can do the spell?"

"Well, yeah. You told me it was a good spell to know so I worked on it over break. You know it too, why are you surprised?"

"Harry, I know it but I can't get it to work completely for me. Things don't fly to me, they twitch or roll! That is a fourth year spell!"

"A wand is light so…." Harry shrugged, he wasn't sure why she was so surprised.

"Harry, I used a feather and it just twitches or rolls a little bit."

"Oh. I'm sure you just have to work on it a little more."

Daphne smiled and shook her head at him. She then held out his cloak but he shook his head. "No. You need that to sneak back into your common room. At least, I hope you can. I assume you don't want anybody to know you were here."

"If it's possible, yes."

Harry turned to Ginny who was standing holding her wand and the sword and looking uncertain. "Ginny. Nobody can know that Daphne was here. You can tell the truth about everything except leave her out of it. OK?"

"Yeah, sure, Harry. I'll do that."

Harry turned back to Daphne to see her staring at the basilisk corpse. He knew it was impressive but her expression seemed more speculative than awed. When she looked back at him, she told him something that surprised him.

"This would be worth a lot, just in potions ingredients alone. There are other markets for the teeth, venom and skin. This body is worth a fortune. You should arrange to have it harvested."

"Me?"

"Yes, by right of conquest. You killed it."

"No, you killed it."

"I just used the stone plus if we're lucky, nobody else will know I was here at all."

"Oh, right. Who would do it though?"

"My father could make arrangements or you could contact the goblins."

"Could your father make the arrangements but still keep his name out of it?"

Daphne paused to think. "He should be able to but I'll contact him to make sure. If not, I'll find out who to contact amongst the goblins."

"Good. Do I need to get Dumbledore's permission?"

"No. This isn't part of Hogwarts plus he can't interfere with your right of conquest. But it would be courteous to inform him."

He smiled at her. "I'm lucky to have you around to tell me this stuff. I would have had no idea."

She blushed and then said, "We better get out of here. People are worrying."

It was Harry's turn to blush. She was totally correct. He looked at Ginny and saw that she was uncomfortable holding the sword so he took it back and held it with the book so he still had a free hand. Fawkes must have understood them as he was already hovering before them and offering his tail feathers. He asked Ginny to pick up the sorting hat and take it with her.

The trip was a little surreal as they trailed along behind him as if they had featherlight charms on them. Maybe that was the secret, not the bird's strength but that the phoenix could make them light. Once they were back in the tunnel, he could hear the door shutting and once they were back in the girl's loo, the sink closed as well.

Myrtle's surprise and slight dismay at his survival was their initial hero's welcome. Harry glared at Daphne as she only partly suppressed laughter at the revelation that Myrtle had hoped to share her toilet with Harry. He pretended to glare at her as he said, "Don't you have a common room to go to?"

"Sorry, I don't want to interfere with the adulation of your adoring public." She disappeared under his cloak before he could think of a good riposte. He huffed and then looked at Ginny who looked lost and forlorn.

"They won't expel you for this."

His only response was an uncertain shrug. He saw that Fawkes seemed to be waiting for them and they followed when Daphne must have opened the door. Fawkes led Harry and Ginny to McGonagall's office and after a significant look at her door, he flamed away. As he got nearer he could hear that there seemed to be several people in there. He exchanged a nervous look with Ginny and then he opened the door with Ginny seeming to try to hide behind him.

Her attempt at avoiding attention was a spectacular failure as they heard Molly Weasley shriek "Ginny!" and proceed to engulf Ginny in a hug. Harry just hoped she'd survive that encounter after all she'd already gone through in the last few months.

Harry faced his own uncomfortable moment as he saw the male Weasleys from Ron right up to his father staring at him in open-mouthed shock. He guessed that the sword and ruined book were odd things to carry around but why they were looking at him liked he'd grown a second head?

It was the voice of their head of house that broke the stare down amongst the males in the room. "I wonder why it was reported to me by the prefects that all of my Gryffindors were safe in the common room yet I find you walking into my office with someone we had feared was dead."

Suddenly the twins and Ron descended on him and were pounding him on the back and congratulating him like he'd just caught the snitch to win the Quidditch cup. He was too overwhelmed by the welcome to have any idea what Percy or his father might think. A few moments later he found himself being thanked profusely by Mr. Weasley so that was a relief. He was a little intimidated by the hug he was engulfed in by Mrs. Weasley but he fortunately never felt suffocated.

"Was it a basilisk?" Harry was surprised that Dumbledore was in the room and now he also saw where Fawkes had ended up as he was there on the headmaster's shoulder.

"Yes. The stone worked perfectly, it died before it could hurt anyone."

Dumbledore nodded and then said, "Good. I am also curious as to how Miss Weasley came into possession of the sorting hat."

He then looked at Ginny clutching that very artefact to her chest and looking around like she expected them to attack her. Harry was about to speak up when she managed to quietly say, "Harry had it."

"Actually, it was Fawkes who brought it to me. I was even more surprised when I managed to pull this out of the hat." He lifted the sword and everyone gaped at it like they hadn't noticed it before. He moved over to Ginny had held out his hand. "I'll return it for you."

She handed it off so quickly you would have thought it was burning her hands. He then walked over to McGonagall's desk and after laying the hat on it, he laid the sword on top of the hat.

Dumbledore peered at it. "Most curious. I would guess that it is Gryffindor's long-lost sword."

"That's what Voldemort said."

Molly Weasley screamed and Harry flinched back and rebounded off of McGonagall's desk. Harry watched as the Weasley parents managed to prod the basic story of what had been happening the last few months from their crying daughter. When they got to the part of what happened to his diary Harry held it up and said, "I destroyed it."

Mr. Weasley began to ask, "How could he have enchanted a diary…."

The headmaster quickly interrupted and said, "I think it is best to get young Miss Weasley off to Madam Pomfrey to be checked out. I would also suggest some bedrest after her ordeal. She will face no discipline from us regarding what has happened this year."

Mrs. Weasley pounced on that idea and quickly had their entire brood moving towards the hospital wing. Eventually, it was just Harry, Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Minerva, I think it best if you announce the all clear to the rest of the school. It would also be a good idea to contact the elves and tell them to prepare a celebration feast for tonight. For now, the students can have lunch in their common rooms. I daresay the students would appreciate a good time after what has happened the past few months. It can also be a party for the return of our two petrified students."

After a questioning look at the headmaster, she nodded her agreement. "I'll get right on it." She then hurried out of the office to leave Harry alone with Dumbledore. When Harry had heard about the enchantment of the diary from Voldemort's shade, he had wondered how that was possible. He hoped he was about to find out but the way the headmaster had distracted them all, he suspected it was a secret that Dumbledore would keep to himself.

"Come, Harry, let us retire to my office to continue our conversation."

Harry turned to retrieve the items that he'd placed on McGonagall's desk only to find that the sword was gone. How could something so large disappear from next to him like that? He looked to the headmaster for an explanation but he looked as surprised as Harry felt.

"There was an old rumour that Gryffindor's sword was enchanted to appear to anyone of his lineage or who held his ideals if they had need of it. I presume it appeared when you were in desperate need?"

"Yes, professor. That's exactly what happened."

"I would guess then, that now that it is no longer required it has returned to whatever place it has been waiting all this time. Perhaps it will appear again someday when someone has great need."

Harry certainly had no other explanation for it so he nodded his agreement and collected the hat to go along with the diary and followed the headmaster to his office in silence. Dumbledore didn't even need to give a password to the gargoyle and they proceeded right up into his office.


Daphne paused for a moment to watch Harry and Ginny follow the phoenix down a hallway. She was watching for any hint of the Weasley girl making a move on Harry but the redhead was keeping to herself and looked distraught and distracted. She didn't want to think about why she was so concerned about what some other girl might want with Harry.

She shook her head to clear it and headed down to the dungeons, being careful to be quiet and to not be taken unawares by someone on patrol. When she got to the place where she could enter the Slytherin common room, she hesitated. She'd heard from Harry that McGonagall had sealed the Gryffindor entrance when nobody should be going in or out. She wondered if Snape could have done the same now. She decided that he didn't seem concerned enough about them to do something like that.

She gave the password and placed herself so she could see in as soon as possible. If she had any witnesses, she'd flee as quickly as she could and hope nobody discovered her. She considered it unlikely though as the entrance started with a hallway that had a bend in it. Only a small portion of the common room could see the door directly. She'd have no idea what to do if there were someone watching though. Where else could she go?

She suppressed a sigh of relief when the only person who could see the door was Tracey. In that moment, she was very glad she had a good friend like her. She had just entered while Tracey feigned disinterest when she heard someone begin to move. She moved to the far wall and froze and just after the door had closed, her head of house looked around the corner suspiciously. She didn't even dare breathe while he was peering around and didn't relax until he lost interest and disappeared back around the corner.

That had been way too close but she was appalled by Snape's foolish look towards the door. He'd have been dead if it was the basilisk and it was not a very Slytherin thing to do despite how unlikely it would be for the basilisk to be able to enter the door. Perhaps Malfoy wasn't the only one to be miss-sorted. Tracey suddenly began to push off the wall and turn towards the dorms and Daphne quickly realized that she was clearing the way for her to follow and get to the dorm undetected. She saw the other two members of her dorm sitting on a sofa. Poor Millie looked dreadfully bored while Pansy was going on about something.

They got there without issue and Daphne was caught in an unexpected embrace even before she'd gotten the cloak completely off. She had to comfort her friend when she babbled about being left behind, worrying, the bad influence of Gryffindors and the like. She just held her and let her wind down on her own. She knew she wouldn't have a serious issue with her friend, she just needed to vent.