Those- Who- Lived
Chapter Eleven
The pipe down to the Chamber was dark, long, and slimy. Harry went before Prince did and slid down, trying not to think about what might be at the bottom. Neville had been sent to go find McGonagall and tell her about the Chamber, the message, and the basilisk, and that he and Prince were going down after it, and whoever had been taken. The general feel was that it just might be Ginny, and Harry didn't want to risk her being stuck down there in what was likely mortal peril.
Prince's response to that had been a sneer. Harry had rather rudely told him where to shove it, and received a laugh in response.
The pipe finally levelled off, and Harry was shot out into a large circular room littered with small skeletons. Prince came shortly thereafter, landing where Harry had vacated, and he stood slowly, looking warily around the room, his hand going nervously into his pocket and then coming back out holding his pellet gun. Harry nodded, feeling several times calmer. Thinking to lighten the mood, Harry grinned weakly.
"What is it with us getting into all the stuff Dumbledore should have taken care of?"
Prince scowled deeper. "Dumbledore is a meddlesome old codger, and a manipulative bat."
Harry felt his mouth twitch bitterly, remembering the howler he'd heard Dumbledore receive. "You know, while he was at the Longbottoms', Dumbledore got a howler from a man and a woman reaming him out for trying to use their nephew as leverage against his father, who apparently was Professor Snape."
Harry said it all in an evenly curious tone of voice, but Prince froze suddenly behind him. Harry looked, and was surprised to find Prince staring at him, his mouth faintly open, looking completely gobsmacked. Harry frowned thoughtfully before understanding dawned. It explained a lot. "You're … you're Snape's son? The …"
Prince looked twice as trapped once more, and then chewed his lip before nodding slowly in defeat. "Uh … yeah. It's, it's … please."
Harry blinked, and shook his head slowly. "I won't breath a word …" Because if my dad finds out I'm friends with Snape's son, he won't think twice before reaming me out.
Prince looked him over once more before he nodded slowly and moved deceptively quickly into the lead. Harry followed him silently turning over what this meant. It explained Snape's attitude toward Prince, and Prince's to Snape, as well as several other factors. But it opened many more questions. Why was Prince apparently so close to his uncle? Why hadn't he been raised by Snape? Why had no one known? And why was his name different? It seemed so strange, but as Prince slowed ahead of him, Harry forced himself back to the present, and looked ahead in Prince's wand light. Something glistened, and Harry strained his eyes to see.
"What … that looks like skin, Prince."
"Snakeskin. Basilisk skin." Prince said reverently. "Merlin, Mary and Morgan, it's huge."
Harry winced, and looked across the large shed skin. It was a lot bigger than he'd thought it might be, looking to be over twenty feet long, even though he had avoided considering that.
"Prince, your gun won't even tickle it, will it?" Harry asked hoarsely. Prince didn't answer, instead looking the skin over from head to toe and talking to himself. When Harry thought he heard some number come off his lips, Harry stomped his foot and growled, "Prince!"
Prince jumped and looked back at him. Harry glared. "This will still be here. There's someone trapped down here and we have to find them."
Prince blinked and ducked his head, looking mildly shame-faced. "Sorry, we do need to go." He took the lead once more, and Harry fell into step behind him. The dark tunnel continued, turning and winding through the darkness. In front of him, Prince strode with a calm Harry found himself mimicking, and slowly, as he acted the part, he began to feel more comfortable in it. He did know a few good curses, and he could certainly find a creative way to bring an end.
He hoped.
A second door loomed over them and Harry looked up nervously at the snakes guarding the portal. Harry didn't need to glance over at Prince. The doors looked as though they were alive, and Harry hissed quietly, "Open." The snakes' glinted and pulled apart, splitting to reveal the chamber beyond. Harry stepped forward a moment and stopped, Prince standing nervously beside him. Both surveyed the Chamber in awe.
Towering stone pillars led into the long, dimly lit room, supporting a ceiling lost in darkness above. A dim greenish glow lit the gloom that hung over the area, and each column was carved in giant twining snakes. Harry felt his heart pound against his ribcage and breathed carefully.
"Prince?"
Prince nodded faintly and stepped forward, scanning the area unceasingly and changing his pellet gun into his right hand, his wand now in his left. Harry swallowed and fingered his own. Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches. Brother of Voldemort's and destined for great things. Harry's back straightened. He could do this.
They walked to the last row of pillars and stared up at the large statue ensconced at the end. It was a large statue of a man, with a monkey-like face, an ancient look and a long, thin beard almost level with the sweeping robes he wore, above his large, grey bare feet. Between the feet, face down on the smooth chamber floor was a small figure in black robes with gleaming red hair. Harry glanced at Prince only a moment before he ran quietly forward to grab her and shake her, rolling Ginny over to look down at her face and whisper her name in the cavernous room.
"Ginny, Ginny wake up." Harry felt his blood chill as he looked at Ginny's face. She was white and cold, her eyes closed as though asleep, but she wasn't responding. "Please wake up."
Harry heard Prince hiss in surprise before another voice spoke.
"She won't wake."
Harry turned and found a lean, black-haired boy standing by the nearest pillar. Prince was watching him from several feet away, his body tense, and Harry wasn't sure what to think. He warily eyed him, and then returned to trying to wake Ginny. Finally, he found a weak, fluttery pulse and felt something in him relax.
"She's alive, Prince, but just …" Harry glanced up and saw Prince nod marginally, not taking his eyes off the black-haired teenager. Finally, Prince jerked his head up at the boy.
"Who are you?"
The black-haired boy looked Prince over, before stepping forward to give a marginal bow. "Tom Riddle."
The announcement made Harry stiffen even more. Tom Riddle was the owner of that diary, a diary he now saw once more lying on the ground at the edge of Ginny's reach. Ice seemed to crawl down his spine, and Prince glanced down at the diary as well. It should have been with McGonagall …
"You are not real." Prince announced slowly.
Riddle smiled thinly. "I'm not. Yet. I'm a memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years."
Harry saw Prince stiffen at the modifier of 'Yet' Harry once more looked down at Ginny, and then he whipped out his wand and summoned the diary to his hands. Riddle stiffened in a very satisfying way to see the diary move into Harry's hands.
Prince smiled thinly in turn. "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Riddle seemed to relax once more, and smiled a dark little smile. "A lot, actually."
"You opened the Chamber fifty years ago, didn't you? You framed Hagrid." Prince observed. He managed a casual tone Harry never would have with such loaded words. Instead, Harry focused on working Ginny into a position where he might be able to lift her. The diary he pocketed. "How did you manage it now? What sorts of enchantments are on that diary?"
Riddle smiled once more, and Harry felt nervous once more. That smile was very nerve-wracking to see. "It's a secret, that. But the diary was certainly important."
"Clearly." Prince allowed, looking like he was discussing politics over tea. Harry really did hope he could manage that kind of cool. It seemed very useful. "It's quite the riddle." Riddle's face darkened, and Harry noted a short flash of triumph in Prince's eyes. "I've never heard of a pureblood family named Riddle, you know. Are you a half-blood?" Prince's face darkened. "A half-blood heir of Slytherin?"
"Clearly," Riddle growled. His composure seemed half-gone, "You understand nothing."
"What kind of monster uses a child to do their dirty work?" Harry snarled. It seemed just the thing to say, as Riddle snapped his eyes to him and glared once more.
"It was all I needed, James." Harry froze. "Yes, I could recognize you. I look at more than mere words when someone writes, and though I couldn't tell who you really were, once I saw you again, I knew. And I was forced to use whatever comes into my realm. Ginny here worked perfectly. Small, she was. Weak. Simple. It was easy to overcome her. I strengthened every time she wrote and poured all her little secrets into my pages, until I could give in return, put some of my strength into her and get what I wanted."
"So you controlled her." Prince drawled. "Killing roosters, writing messages, ordering your serpent to attack. Your basilisk." Prince sneered. Harry stiffened; he'd apparently missed a lot of what was going on. "What a waste of a magnificent creature. A waste of heritage."
Riddle looked once more to Prince and looked him over slowly. "And what would you know of heritage? You, who aren't even British, who don't belong here, in this castle, with others of more noble blood. You can't be pureblood, boy."
Prince darted a glance to Harry and hesitated, before he straightened and met Riddle glare for glare. "You deceive yourself. You may have parseltongue, but I am more Slytherin than you could be. I have stronger wizard blood; I am a true heir of Slytherin. My gift is blood borne; so don't tell me you have greater power. I was raised out of Britain so that I would survive."
Harry forced his jaw to remain shut and not gape. Prince couldn't be telling the truth, but Harry couldn't find it in himself to doubt him. Riddle's reaction, however, was to freeze in place. He was staring at Prince with an unreadable expression, but ever so slowly, the mask cracked and what showed through was unadulterated hate.
"You … a petty child, with no history … cannot be an heir. There are no heirs other than myself. I made sure of that."
Prince smirked. The expression made Harry want to smack him one and he half-liked the boy; Riddle looked fit to commit murder. His hands twitched, and he growled,
"Would that I could still kill you now. Would that one of you would fall prey to me in your time."
Prince's expression faltered. "Who are you?" He asked. "Who would you be now?"
Riddle looked at him, and then scratched at the air with his finger. In it's wake remained burning yellow fire, until he had written out,
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
He waved his hand behind the writing, and the letters moved and changed places. Where his name had been, now stood the phrase,
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Prince stared at him long and hard, and Harry felt himself freeze in place. This was Voldemort?
"I'd used that name in Hogwarts, among only my most trusted. I became great; I know I did. And then something happened and I slipped out of sight. I will return, and you two, both of you," Riddle's burning eyes scanned over Harry and Harry glared back unflinchingly, "will be among the first to die. Mark my words."
Prince yawned unconcernedly, and then walked over to Harry, pulling the diary from his pocket. "Enchantments can break, Riddle. What can a memory do to affect the present?"
Riddle had apparently had enough. He growled and turned from both of them, striding forward to face the statue, looking up at its face in reverence. Harry was directly in front of him, but Prince suddenly stepped over to grab Harry's arm and pull.
"Ditch Ginny by its foot, he's getting the goddamn basilisk." Prince snapped quietly, staring at Riddle as he hissed at the statue, ignoring his words.
Harry felt the blood drain from his face and quickly laid Ginny back down, sliding her against the foot, "But is she safe …"
"He won't dare harm her, Harry, he needs her." Prince growled, pulling him away and towards the columns at the walls. "We, however, are in danger. Do you know any useful spells against basilisks?"
Harry shook his head bluntly, and then swallowed. "We can't fight it if we can't look at it. We need to blind it first off."
"Do you know the spell?"
"Something like conjuntiv-something?"
"Shit." Prince swore. He quickly ejected the small magazine from his gun, which Harry thought might be different from last year but he wasn't sure, and replaced it with another striped neon green. Harry looked at him curiously. "Acid pellets. It's damn strong, should be able to blind the thing. If I shoot right." Prince's face was dead white and his hands trembled faintly. Harry knew his own were shaking rather hard. They both looked over and watched Riddle. Harry had missed whatever Riddle had said to the statue while he and Prince were getting out of his way, but now he saw that the mouth of the statue had ground open, and something was moving inside. Prince grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the ground, using Harry's distraction to get him off balance.
Something huge hit the stone floor of the chamber, and the ground shuddered. Harry slammed his eyes shut, knowing the snake was uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. He next heard a gunshot, followed by several more. Sharp hissing exploded from the snake, a mess of words Harry didn't bother to try and understand. Riddle hissed once more.
"Kill them! Brush it off and kill them!"
Prince fired again, at least five times, and more hissing sounded. Harry could see nothing, keeping his head down and his eyes ground shut. Again, Prince fired, bringing forth more, absolutely furious hissing. Harry heard a click, a faint cuss, and it seemed the Prince was fishing in his pocket for something, amongst much clinking. A muttered, 'Where the –purple!' preceded another click and then three more shots, louder than before. The basilisk exploded in enraged spitting, thrashing and making the ground tremble. Prince grabbed Harry's shoulder roughly.
"Get up and get moving! Open your eyes."
Trusting him, Harry scrambled up and looked. The snake before him was thrashing furiously, dark blood coating its face. It turned, and Harry stiffened before he saw that both the snake's eyes were now useless. One was a mass of flesh, the other, burned white and stuck half-shut. Clearly, whatever Prince had used had worked. Riddle was hissing furiously.
"Ignore the pain, kill them! You can still smell; kill them both!"
Prince ran across the chamber, heading for the far wall and Harry followed. The snake was still swaying drunkenly, seeming unable to gain its bearings. It hissed, licking at the air, and then, before their eyes, it lunged. Harry tripped as it slammed past his back, knocking him off balance. Prince spun, catching him where he was, and then something smashed across Harry's skull, throwing him to the ground as someone yelled in panic. The ground shuddered, and Harry rolled painfully across the floor, looking out and feeling his blood freeze. Prince lay weakly on the floor, blood coating his shoulders, his eyes tight with pain. The basilisk, clearly what him thrown him away from Harry, snapped forward and bit into his leg. Prince screamed, and the snake dropped him, guiding its head to look over to where Harry was, and opening its mouth.
The reaction was completely unconscious. Harry was sure he was still thinking that Prince was dead saving his life, but his wand came up, and only a thought later a pale blue spell struck the snake in its open mouth. It thrashed backwards, spitting in pain. Harry knew the next spell well, though, could clearly see where he was going.
"Reducto! Diffindo!" One after the other, the spells went straight into the snake's mouth. The patch of silvery ice at the back of the snake's mouth shattered into its throat, the cutting curse slipped into the centre of the damage, straight through to sever its spine. The snake dropped heavily to the ground, its tail thrashing in place. It took several more moments before Harry really caught on that the snake was dead, and the room was silent save for someone gasping for breath not far away. Harry's heart sank, and he forced himself to stand and stagger to Prince's side.
Prince's skin was pasty white, and shining with beads of sweat. The skin on his shoulders was torn and bleeding from being slammed into the ground, and his leg was bleeding sluggishly where the snake had bit him. Overtop of the wound was the diary, a hole clean through the cover. Harry hadn't even realized Riddle was gone before then, but with the diary destroyed, he was nowhere to be found.
A faint gasp came from over by the statue, and Harry dimly remembered that Ginny had been there. Coughing slightly, he called out, "Ginny, are you awake? Are you –you okay?" Harry was still staring at Prince's tight face, where he was panting shallowly with his eyes shut tightly. Around his neck, a pendant burned a steady brilliant white.
"H-Harry?" Ginny's voice trailed over. "Harry, w-where are we? Wh-what happened, you –Oh!" Harry presumed she'd seen the basilisk, and short, unsteady steps came their way. Ginny fell to her knees by Prince's side, and clasped her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Merlin, what –Oh, what have I done, what's happened? What's going to happen? It's terrible!" She was crying, then, sobbing weakly, and finally, Harry stood on unsteady legs.
"Ginny, stop. We have to get him – have to get out of here." Harry gave her a firm look, and clamped down on his own panic. "We just – he has to get out of here. Um …" Harry wracked his mind for the spell, and, finding it, gestured Ginny out of the way before he cast, "mobilicorpus." Prince lifted off the ground, and as Harry turned, he floated gently behind. Harry felt slightly disturbed, and firmly looked away, aware of the spell even without seeing it. Harry turned to Ginny and grabbed her hand. "Now, we need to go." Harry picked the diary off the floor and firmly started for the exit. If they could get him out, Prince would be fine. He had to be.
The walk back seemed twice as long as had been to get there, even though Harry broke into a jog partway along. Ginny fought to keep up with him, tears still streaming down her face. However, Harry had never been happier to see his parents than he was when he found them milling about the bottom of the pipe, watching for others to come down. Harry saw them and yelled wordlessly. James spun, his wand raised, and then choked as he saw Harry.
"Harry!" James ran straight over to him, pulling him into a hug, but Harry pushed him away quickly, and pointed to Prince.
"Dad, he's dying! Please, he has to get back up. I don't know … the basilisk bit him when he was keeping me safe. Please!"
James stared in horror, and Lily took over spelling Prince, quickly heading back to the bottom of the pipe, where Sirius had just come down. She cast one spell, and yelled up the pipe.
"I've got a poisoned student, he needs to go up the pipe. Someone get that portkey down here now!"
Harry remained his James' embrace for several moments more, until he saw Ginny standing aside looking forlorn and pale. Harry squirmed, and gently pointed Ginny out to his father. James frowned, but called out,
"Ginny, come over here. You look pale. I'm so sorry all this mess happened. Come over here."
Ginny hesitantly came over, and Harry pulled her up against him, into James grip with Harry as well. Remus came down, then, and James pulled them over to the length of knotted rope he had.
"It's keyed straight into the Hospital wing." Remus stated. "Everyone hold it. Lily, you have the boy?" Lily nodded, and Harry grabbed on with Ginny beside him. The jerk grabbed them, and they were yanked out of place, landing roughly in the pristine white of the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was already preparing a bed, and Professor Snape stood nearby. His colour became ashen when he saw Prince floating there, and he grabbed him out of the air and took him straight to the bed, lying him down and yelling an order to Madam Pomfrey. James picked Harry up and placed him on a bed across the room, sitting beside him and holding him against his side tightly. Harry watched the goings on around Prince with tight focus, his body shivering with cold and dread.
Prince was shaking now. Harry hadn't looked at him the entire trip up, not wanting to see how far everything was going. His skin had become flushed, and he was sweating heavily as he shuddered in place, his hands clenching and releasing as he tossed and turned. The white necklace he was wearing was flickering now, and the cloth near it was smoking lightly. Snape suddenly came back in, thrust several vials at Madam Pomfrey, and then angrily dropped in front of the fireplace, tossing in the floo powder and thrusting his head through.
As Harry stared, James hugged his tighter and the gently picked up Harry's necklaces. "Son, are you going to need a new one of these every year?"
Harry turned his attention back to his father and blinked slowly. "What?"
James let Harry's snake pendent drop back to his throat and held up the remains of the small key-shaped pendent that alerted his family upon him ending up in danger. It was twisted out of shape and cracked, and Harry stared. He hadn't even noticed it heat up in the middle of the fight. Harry could only shrug helplessly, and hug his father back.
"Don't know. I don't mean to, it just … happens."
James chuckled and held him close. "I suppose they do. I can't really judge; you've been doing what we've taught you, doing what is right." Harry felt his father hesitate, "I'm proud of you, Harry. For everything you've done, this year and last. Absolutely everything."
Harry felt his breath catch, and just remained in place, soaking in his father's love, before a rather loud ruckus made him look up once more. A scruffy man came through the floo first, stamping his feet out, and turning to catch the man who followed, a taller blond who looked a little harried, and who was wearing thick, utilitarian robes. In his arms was a large box, filled with phials and clinking lightly, which had clearly thrown his balance off. They both placed it down quickly, and the blond paused to spit a small vial out of his mouth.
"Does anyone know the length the basilisk was? I need to know how much venom it likely had." The tall blond snapped.
Several people shook their heads, but Harry slowly raised his own and murmured, "It was more than twenty feet long."
James blinked, and froze, reflexively relaying the words, "Harry says it was more than twenty feet long."
The man glanced up, his face tight, and immediately went to Alan's side, swearing faintly as he pulled the stopper from the vial and upended it completely over Alan's leg, letting the contents – a frighteningly small amount indeed – pour over the wound before he tapped gently at Alan's cheek. The scruffy man looked between them, and spoke quietly. A dismissive gesture was made; the man straightened and then spoke.
"Severus, if you could help Green out? He's going to need several of those quickly, now most like. I'm going to see what all happened, okay?"
Severus nodded curtly, and stalked over to Green, as the scruffy man stepped away and pulled up a seat on the bed Harry was seated on. He paused, and then smiled at James.
"Geoffrey Alfaerus. You interrupted a 'discussion' between Lucius Malfoy and myself last summer. You would be James Potter, correct?"
James freed a hand and met Geoffrey in a handshake. "I am indeed. You are?"
"Alan's guardian. I've been taking care of him his whole life. So, Harry was with Alan when he got himself bitten? What was happening that two children took care of something that should have been left to adults, or, better yet, the Headmaster?" Geoffrey asked.
"I would have dealt with it, had I been allowed to remain here as headmaster." Dumbledore announced, coming through the door. "However, circumstances went beyond my control when I was suspended. I grieve that the children felt the need to deal with it themselves." Dumbledore walked over, and gave Geoffrey a small smile. "It's good to meet you in person, Geoffrey."
"I wish I could say the same." Geoffrey allowed in a tight voice. "However, I'm still wondering what happened. What was it that preceded this? Severus said something about a Chamber of Secrets and petrified students …"
"Yes, it was the Chamber of Secrets that was being opened, and students were being petrified. However, I believe I am missing as much of the picture as you are, and would like to hear from young Harry how he came to solve our mystery for us …"
Harry squirmed under the scrutiny and looked down; missing the nasty look Geoffrey shot Dumbledore. James rubbed Harry's head, and finally, Harry began to talk. He talked straight through the diary, to the assumption of the basilisk (mentioning only his knowledge, not Prince's, but Geoffrey nodded as though he understood anyways) and onward through to Prince grabbing him to drag him along to meet Myrtle, as back-up, supposedly, because he could talk to snakes and warn of the basilisk coming. Prince asked him to open the sink, Neville was sent for backup, and they went down. Harry roughly told of Ginny's involvement, and of Tom Riddle, sparing nothing, through Prince's shooting, the basilisk's final attack, and when Prince got poisoned but did in the diary anyways. Geoffrey frowned at that, and straightened.
"Green, there might be contamination in that wound. Some ink, possibly with lingering enchantments."
Green responded with a very rude and confusing phrase that made Madam Pomfrey gasp, and start lecturing him. Green appeared to ignore her and demanded several things at once from Pomfrey and Severus. Both glared at him, but went about the designated tasks with efficiency. His language could apparently wait. Geoffrey and Dumbledore looked back to Harry, who merely shrugged.
"That's pretty much it. I went to see if Prince was okay, Ginny woke up, and we brought Prince back to the end where you guys were coming down the open way behind us. Now …" Harry stared at his shoes in silent worry. He jumped when someone placed their hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Geoffrey giving him a crooked smile.
"You did good, kid. You did very well, better than I would have expected from someone so young. I'm sure Alan will be fine; Green's put him through worse before, sure enough. Basilisk poison …" Geoffrey laughed lightly. "His necklace could handle that, but it really helped you got him up here fast. It helped a lot."
Harry nodded slowly and curled up against James again, trying to ignore the niggling worry in the back of his head that told him he knew Geoffrey was playing it down. The bed shifted as Geoffrey stood and left, and Harry felt the rumble as his father spoke. "So, everything seems to be in hand?"
"Indeed." Dumbledore answered. "The Chamber shut once no one was inside, so exploration will have to wait until the children feel better. I'm sure Alan will recover fully; his uncle, at least, is confident of it. However, I believe Harry has had a trying evening and would best sleep it off."
Harry nodded against James' chest, and James laughed, and called out. "You got a calming or sleeping draught over there?"
A glance proved that Green lifted his head a moment, and slipped his wand into his hand. A phial from the shelf near Pomfrey's desk lifted, and shot their way. James yelped, but Harry sat up quickly and, true to any seeker's skill, caught it easily. A bark of laughter came from the group across the hall, followed by Pomfrey's strident voice once more. James stood to lay Harry back in the bed, and checked out the phial before handing it back over. "It's a full dose, Harry, so drink it all down, alright? You'll be feeling better in the morning."
"You'll tell me how Prince is, though, right? Please?"
James smiled softly. "Of course I will. You heard Geoffrey. Mr. Green has it all in hand."
Harry smiled faintly and drank, laying back onto the crisp sheets, and resting his head. He felt more than ready to just drift away on the next breeze, but sleep eluded him for several minutes, even as he relaxed completely. James left, apparently thinking him asleep, and Harry heard him talk to Geoffrey.
"How is Alan, then?"
"What makes you think he's other than what I said?" Geoffrey's tone was amiable and light. Clearly, James didn't believe him.
"I saw his pendent flickering when he was brought in, and it was burning through his clothes. The poison was more than it could handle, wasn't it? Basilisk poison …"
"It was. Green is half-panicked still. Alan is holding onto life something fierce, but snake venom is hardy, and that of a basilisk is strong. That pendant has been treated with phoenix tears, but as they're not in his system, they can only stop it temporarily and as it is ... If Harry had been any less together in getting him out of there, Alan would've been dead by the time you found them. I'm surprised Green even had phoenix tears on hand, and to have used them all up and still be fighting … I'm sure he'll pull through; the poison from the basilisk must be gone, I'm sure." Geoffrey's sincerity seemed strained.
There was silence, and then James gruffly said, "Thank you, for at least letting Harry relax."
"He's twelve. Mortality is real, but his eyes … He's worried sick about Alan. Are they friends?"
James snorted. "Hardly. They probably barely know each other. I know they ran into each other on the train, but Alan's in Slytherin and Harry's a Gryffindor. But wouldn't you freak out if someone was nearly killed in front of you? From what he said, Alan was bit keeping Harry safe. Any child would feel responsible."
"Indeed. It was an observation." Geoffrey allowed. "I think Green does have a handle on it, though."
"He looks almost hyper." James observed, amused.
"He is." Harry heard his father choke. "Green loves challenges. He's both hyper and absolutely tense. Alan is always playing with potions with him, so he knows more than any of us, and I'm sure he's never had to worry about enchanted inks before …"
Harry relaxed, finally slipping asleep, losing track of the conversation as he finally slowed down. He remembered, though. That was not a conversation he was going to forget.
IIII
The next morning, Harry was released to take Ginny to the morning, celebratory feast of the end of the terror. Everyone was ecstatic to see them, asking questions non-stop. Harry sent Fred and George as well as Percy pleading glances, and between the older Weasleys and Neville, they managed to get peaceful seats at the table with a buffer on either side. Ginny was sniffling quietly, and Harry was dead silent. Neville didn't bother to ask. Percy wasn't so observant.
"Harry, what's to be sad about? You look terrible. I'll have you know I'm very glad to see you had the sense of mind to both send someone for help and still go down to clear up the mess. Although, you really shouldn't have done so alone, I don't see how we would have managed had you not gone. Ginny might be dead."
Harry quietly clenched his fist around hid fork. "That's the problem, Percy. Prince is still sick."
Percy blinked and began a question. His question became a yelp, however, when the twin across from him gave him a firm kick to the shin. He turned on him instead, demanding to know why he was acting so childish. While he was causing a scene, Harry stood from the table and left the Great Hall, even before Dumbledore had time to make the announcement about the lifting of the current precautions. Neville watched him go without following. Harry had never been more grateful for how close he was to Neville before, as he slipped out of the Hall in silence, with no one noticing. Slowly, Harry made his way up to the library, to the dark back corner where he'd first run into Prince.
Tears he'd been fighting since the day before, tears held back by adrenaline and shock, slipped from his eyes as he curled into a corner on the floor. Harry pulled a book randomly from the shelves and propped it on his knees, struggling to concentrate. His father had told him that Prince was still unconscious, but that everything was in hand and he should be waking within the week. He'd said the damage had been bad; it was a basilisk, but that he'd truly saved Prince's life. Harry had forced himself to simply look concerned. His father wouldn't have understood how simply devastated Harry was to hear that. He'd grown attached to Prince. Prince was smart, clever, and he didn't care that Harry wasn't exactly Gryffindor. Harry didn't feel like he had a set of limits in which he had to stay with Prince, limits Harry felt every time he talked to another Gryffindor. He'd only ever been this comfortable with Neville before, and now … Harry was losing his best friend.
Giving up on the book, Harry curled into a ball in the corner and hid from the world.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing, and even those who don't review (although I'd love you if you did) The schedule remains at one chapter every second Thursday, and I hope you are all enjoying the story.
Fire & Napalm