Two things to keep in mind for this one:

1) Voldemort was not sighted in the Ministry; therefore, the Ministry's slander campaign continues onto 6th year. No Umbridge though (hate the cow/toad; assume she was cooked by centaurs)

2) Ron's jealousy from second year did not change, so he and Harry have not been friends for more than a year. No Ron in the Department of Mysteries battle.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione looked around the Great Hall surreptitiously. As much as she didn't feel like admitting it, she was worried. The reason was a decidedly open spot near the end of the Gryffindor table, where a raven-haired sixteen-year-old normally sat.

She couldn't truly call him her best friend anymore, not since she had blown up and separated herself from him due to the "Half-Blood Prince's" book. That had actually been put to the test this very morning, which incidentally had been the last time Hermione had seen Harry the entire day, which only added to her worry, as she shared a number of classes with him.

Flashback.

In a corridor near the Gryffindor common room, two people approached each other from opposite sides, although one definitely didn't want to see the other.

Nose held in the air stubbornly, Hermione pointedly looked away as she passed by Harry, who was coming in her direction. Normally, she'd hear him try and talk to her, and she would simply ignore him or give him a one-word answer and continue on her way. The thoughts that she was his last true friend left after Ronald never 'forgave' him due to the Triwizard Tournament fiasco and that he must be missing her terribly; that he must be feeling an incredible amount of pressure due to the continued slander of his person by the Ministry; these were squashed under her pride and her stubbornness about the defiled book that Harry was using for Potions class.

To her utter shock, Harry didn't talk to her or even acknowledge her presence as she passed. This actually made her pause and look at him out of the corner of her eye, whereupon she noticed the devastated look of his face and how his shoulders were slumped, as if he carried the weight of the world (which he just might). The image of such a defeated Harry almost cracked the stubborn persona she projected.

Almost.

But by the time she actually wanted to say his name, he had turned the corner and disappeared from her view, leaving her alone in the corridor.

Flashback end.

Now, her worry was reaching very high levels. Harry had never missed a meal in the Great Hall. Was he in trouble? Could he be in danger?

Her questions would be answered soon enough, as dinnertime in the Great Hall was interrupted by the least expected reason.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Moaning Myrtle yelled as she phased right through the Great Hall doors and flew directly to the head table, drawing the eye of everybody in the hall.

"Miss Myrtle," Dumbledore greeted, noticing the panicked demeanour of the ghost. "Is something the matter?"

"Harry! It's Harry, professor! He- I mean, I saw him- He is…"

"Miss Myrtle, calm yourself," Dumbledore ordered, projecting his aura to calm the ghost, with some results. "Now, please explain coherently."

Myrtle nodded and squared her shoulders. "This morning, I was hanging around my usual toilet when I heard somebody come into the bathroom. I was naturally curious, as nobody goes in there, and when I looked, I saw Harry come in. I was so shaken by how he looked. His eyes were bloodshot and his entire faced looked like he had been crying recently. He completely ignored me, and instead, he opened the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and went inside!"

There were several gasps around the hall, the highest coming from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. The Weasleys because they were intimate with some of the place and were flummoxed as to why Harry would go there, and Hermione because she had heard from Harry as to what happened in the Chamber and couldn't understand why Harry would go there.

"Were you able to ascertain anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"Err, yeah. He whispering continuously, but I didn't catch most of it. I do remember that he was whispering several names though. Yours was one, professor, along with professor Snape's and professor McGonagall's names. He said something about Hagrid too, and then I heard him mention some of his classmates." Myrtle turned to the catatonically-silent hall and asked aloud, "Who are Ginny, Luna, Neville, Ron, and Hermione?"

The five people mentioned stood up at once, Ron a bit grudgingly.

"Oh, hey, I remember you two," Myrtle said, pointing at Ron and Hermione. "Which one of you is Hermione?"

With a small tick on her head, the girl in question waved.

"He was saying your name the most. He kept on mentioning it like a mantra, but I didn't hear what he was saying along with it."

"Was he?" Hermione said to herself in a low tone.

"Very well, Miss Myrtle," Dumbledore said, "I shall make sure to talk to Harry and ask him about this incident."

Myrtle suddenly shrieked in realisation and turned back to the old man. "I remember now why I was here! You won't be able to question him, professor, because he hasn't come out of there since this morning! He's still down there!"

"What could Harry want with the Chamber of Secrets?" Ginny asked aloud. No one could answer her.

"Do you think he may have taken another exit?" Professor McGonagall asked the ghost.

"No. I already asked several elves to see if they could find him, but they haven't seen hide nor hair of him. I asked them to check the Chamber, but apparently they can't apparate in there, so I can only assume he's still there."

Dumbledore nodded at the ghost and stood. "Then there's only one thing to do. FAWKES!"

Mere moments after the headmaster's call, his trusty phoenix flamed into the room, landing on the table and looking at the man inquisitively, while at the same time awing the students that had yet to see the marvellous bird.

"Fawkes," Dumbledore instructed, "Harry Potter is currently in the Chamber of Secrets. Do you remember where it is?" When Fawkes bobbed his head, Dumbledore continued. "I need you to go in there and bring him back."

Without further ado, the phoenix nodded and flamed away. To everyone's surprise, it came back seconds later empty-clawed, but frantically squawking at Dumbledore.

"You can't flame him here?" Dumbledore asked in a worry-filled tone, aware of what that could mean. When Fawkes nodded agitatedly, Dumbledore nodded back and reached for his tail feathers. As soon as he touched them, they disappeared.

To the worry of the five-some that had been called out by Myrtle, and of those that truly liked the young man and were on his side, Dumbledore and Fawkes were gone for a much longer time than anyone expected. When they returned, though, it was with a most unwelcome surprise.

The first thing that denoted something was wrong was when Fawkes flamed back into the room alone, circling the head table once before landing on the headmaster's chair. He emitted a mournful wail which made every pair of eyes in the room water, even the ones of the ghosts.

The second was when a small wave of magic flowed by the Great Hall, making most people shudder as it passed. The odd thing the teachers noted was that it didn't seem to span outward. Instead, it moved into the castle, as though one of the wards protecting it had shrunk massively.

Finally, with a loud crack, Dumbledore reappeared with Harry. Hermione sighed in relief at that and took a step forward, then stopped in shock when she beheld the scene.

Kneeling in front of the head table, Dumbledore was bent over a deathly-still Harry, head placed onto his chest and sobs wracking his form. Hermione's brain stopped momentarily as she looked on, watching as many of the teachers immediately ran around the table and stood around the pair, looking at Harry's form in either shock or sadness. Professor Snape was the most surprising, as he was looking down at Harry with wide eyes, his mouth repeating a single word.

A strangled scream erupted from Hermione's mouth as she finally understood what was happening, and she ran as fast as her legs could carry her towards the sight. Surprisingly, Luna beat her to Harry, running like a woman possessed and kneeling by Harry's head while sobbing uncontrollably. As she approached the group, she was barely able to distinguish what the blonde girl was saying.

"You stupid man! Why?! Why did you do this?! I thought you… I thought we… Why?!"

That was all the girl could say before she broke down into uncontrollable crying, an action that was rapidly mirrored by Hermione, Ginny, and Neville as the approached Harry's body as well.

"Harry! Harry, wake up! Come on!"

"Don't leave us, Harry, please!"

"Why? Why did you do that?"

The last cry was Hermione's, but despite feeling absolutely devastated at Harry's suicide, the one part of her that was always rational was yelling at her for abandoning him, for leaving him alone, all while knowing that he was going through such a troubling time. She couldn't do a damn thing to shut it up, so while she was crying over Harry's body, she was also berating herself for her stupidity.

Surprisingly, Ron also came up to Harry, his steps slow and deliberate. A shocked mask was on his face as he beheld the dead man.

"Oh god… why… damnit, I should've… I should've been there… I should've helped him…"

Ginny, understanding his distress, turned and grabbed him into a hug, whispering small comforts into his ear. Ron simply stared at the body of Harry over his sister's shoulder as tears fell from his eyes.

The entire Great Hall had gone quiet in sombre sadness. Nobody dared to utter a peep, but there were many wet eyes in the hall. The quidditch team players of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and even some of Slytherin's quidditch team were openly crying for the young man, as were many of Harry's classmates. Katie, being the only Gryffindor quidditch player left that had been there since Harry had started, was simply staring numbly at Harry's body, unwilling to believe what she was seeing. Colin Creevey, always having been a great fan of Harry, was sobbing uncontrollably with his face pressed against the table in front of him, while his brother Dennis was trying to comfort him. The members of the disbanded DA, having come to know Harry for the brave, yet quiet, young man that he was, were unabashedly crying as well.

Eventually, the tears of the group ran dry, and the first to stand from the group was Dumbledore himself, who seemed to have undergone a massive transformation. Gone was the usual grandfatherly persona, and in its place was the face and demeanour of a man who had seen more deaths than should have been necessary. He gazed over the silent Great Hall with a thunderous look, cowing many who stared back, and when he finally talked, his voice had a deadly quiet to it, yet still carried effortlessly across the Hall.

"Never in my long years as a Hogwarts instructor and headmaster have I ever been this… disgusted… yes, I think that's the right word… disgusted with a student body as much as I am now. Through your actions, a poor, innocent boy is now lying dead in this very hall, an event that I and all of my colleagues hoped would never happen. I know that many of you considered yourselves a friend of Mr… of Harry… but, through your inactions, the young man was forced to take on events and weights that even the most seasoned Auror would crumble under. He bore them dutifully, with nary a complaint… And it soon became too much."

The simple speech had a profound effect on the crowd of students, as they caused the boys and girls who once claimed to be friendly with Harry to have a good long look at themselves.

Dumbledore was about to say more, but a shriek from behind him caught his attention. Turning around quickly, he was startled to see a bright light rising from Harry for a moment before it solidified into a ghostly image…

… of the very same young man.