"To grunt and sweat"

It was marvelous in its beauty - scary, perhaps, for those not in Slytherin - but a cold grandeur nonetheless. They entered into a long pathway surrounded on either side by water. The walls held the heads of delicately carved stone snakes, and at the very end, the carving of a man's face, his beard flowing out on either side... "Slytherin," Harry said in surprise, then realized how obvious he sounded. "Should there be water here?" he added, feeling the water beginning to seep into his shoes.

"It's not supposed to, Tom said," Ginny replied, as they made their way down the vast cavern. "It's only supposed to be two rivers by the walls... something might have busted the pipes, but we're not entirely sure where the water is coming in from... here we are." She stopped them in front of the statue of Slytherin. "She must be sleeping," Ginny said. Harry noticed her hands were shaking. Carefully, she placed Tom's book down in front of them. "I, um, I didn't want to leave it out here," she explained nervously. "Not with someone wandering around..."

"What do we do?" Harry interjected. "I mean, I talked to him before, but -"

But he was cut off as before them, the book began to twist and turn in the water. It seemed to shrug - if a book could even shrug - and Harry felt it hit him suddenly, a wave that threatened to drown him. But it was a familiar feeling, an aura that echoed across the room like a siren's call, beckoning him in. Magic that spoke of power, of knowledge, of strength... the aura of Sirius, of Bellatrix, of Rhia, of...

Of Tom.

And when he opened his eyes, letting the magic wash over him like a calming boon, he saw the boy once more.

"You never did tell me your name," Tom said, considering him in the new light.

"Harry," he said, his mouth dry. "Harry Steward." The words came unbidden, though an echo he hadn't heard for years rung in his head. No, not Steward... but he ignored it.

"He can help." Tom told Ginny. "Come -"

"How can you be here?" Harry interrupted suddenly. "In the -"

"The magic in this chamber sustains me," Tom said slowly, silencing Harry. "It's not the easiest to project like this, but it can be done. Now you must listen to me - what was that?" he said suddenly, frustration suddenly showing.

"What?" Ginny asked. "Tom, you said we had to summon the Basilisk -"

"Someone's opening the entrance," Tom said coldly.

Ginny went white. "The boys knew the entrance..."

Whomever released the Basilisk knew the entrance.

Tom glanced at Harry, and Harry knew he was thinking the same thing. "Come. There isn't time. If they've entered the chamber, it'll only be a few minutes."

"How did they enter it though?" Ginny said worriedly. "You said no one else knew the language."

"You just told it to open," Harry said in confusion, but the two of them ignored him.

"We don't have time," Tom urged. "Come. Regina must be put to sleep once more, before something worse happens."

"Tom -" Ginny began, but was cut off suddenly but a sudden boom. Voices rose in the corridor outside. She cursed under her breath. "Potter."

"The Boy Who Lived," Tom said with a cold smile. "How interesting. Is he coming to save you?"

"The idiot." Ginny groaned. "What am I going to do?"

"Yes, unfortunately you won't be able to leave without some sort of explanation now," Tom said calmly.

"Tom!" Ginny complained, turning to face him. "What do I do?"

"We'll summon Regina," Tom said with a shrug.

"We can't kill him," Harry pointed out. A cold dread passed over him, but Tom didn't seem too worried. This Tom, at least, he reminded himself. A Tom who seemed far more foolhardy...

"We're not going to," replied Tom, who began to pace in front of the statue, considering it. "Regina needs to go to sleep. But who's to say where?"

"But -" Ginny started, a little nervous.

Harry understood at once though. "He'll think she's dead."

"Asleep, dead, it's all the same," Tom replied, but then looked at Harry. "Though that doesn't solve the issue of the scapegoat..."

"No," Harry and Ginny said at the same time, then glanced at each other.

"Harry's not going down for this," Ginny said suddenly. "We'll find -"

"That's not what he means to do," Harry interrupted, a strange lump in his throat as he looked at the boy once more. "Please don't. Not again."

Tom smiled curiously. "The headmaster knows there is only one heir of Slytherin, Harry," he said softly. "And I think you understand that."

"Harry?" Ginny asked slowly. "What does he mean?"

Tom ignored her. "Go, Harry," he urged. "Take the third tunnel on the left. You must not be found here."

"But I -"

"Oh, I think we'll meet again," Tom said with some confidence. "Go," he repeated, holding Harry's gaze. "You must trust me. You'll feel the effects, I'm sure of it. Better not to be knocked out in the open. The further away you are, the better it will be."

"I didn't tell you all of that for you to leave again," Harry protested. Ginny stood by silently, though he wasn't sure if she understood what he was admitting. He wasn't sure he understood. "Please. Don't do this. We didn't even get to speak..."

"Be reasonable, Harry," Tom said calmly. "You understand what must happen."

"No," Harry repeated stubbornly. "Why does it have to be you?"

"I'll survive," pointed out Tom. "Now that I know what awaits me. The diary is nothing, but it will convince Dumbledore of -"

"Why?" Harry repeated in anger. "Why will it convince him? Why did no one question it before?"

"You know why." Tom said slowly. "Go, Harry. Leave while you can."

And then he turned to Ginny, leaving Harry to his own growing dread.

"Now, Ginny," he heard Tom say, as he left for the third tunnel on the left. "When Regina falls asleep, I will open that door. Pretend to wake up slowly. And whatever they ask, say you only saw a boy in the diary..." Slowly, the voices died in the distance.

He made his way through the darkness, only seeing the intermittent light. It would lead to the Slytherin common room, he realized. The passage -

The pain swept over him like a tsunami, leaving him gasping for air. He fell to the floor with a groan. His mind felt ripped, something lost. But answered wouldn't come. Dimly, he remembered Quirell, how his head - the blood - had left him unconscious, crippled over in pain, choking for a breath that wouldn't come.

But as soon as it came, it left, and Harry leaned over, the air racing through his lungs fresh and unlike anything he'd ever tasted. It was done...

There was nothing left to do, he realized. He could drown... or he could live.

With a cry, he pulled himself to his feet. He was so close...

"Open," he hissed at the wall, and with a cry, he fell into the darkened chamber, thankful for the relief.

"Charles," she whispered, blinking. "You came...?"

"Sush, Ginny," Charles said gently, racing forward to lift her up. "How...?" He'd nearly shit his pants, when he first entered the chamber, but when the door swung open and the snake didn't move... "What happened?" he asked.

"I - I don't know -" Ginny stammered, and then groaned.

"No, careful," Charles said quickly, holding her closer. "You can't - I know this must be alarming, but I'm here now. We have to leave," he added, taking in the surroundings.

"The book..." Ginny groaned.

With a frown, Charles knelt. It was nothing special, a strange little book, sopped in the water that surrounded them. "I have it," he said awkwardly. "Come on."

"I thought you wouldn't come," Ginny whispered, as they hurried past the prone form of the snake. He tried to hide his shudder - she needed rescuing now, that was what he had to focus on.

"Come on," he said, pulling her close to him as they went back through the entranceway. Behind them, the door swung shut. Thank Merlin. He never wanted to go back there.

"What's going on?" Ginny said slowly, leaning into him as they took in the scene ahead. The rocks had nearly been cleared. And Ron -

"Ginny!" Ron said cheerfully. "You're alive!"

"We killed the snake," Charles replied. "It's over."

But as he leapt forward - it happened in a flash, too fast for Charles to see. Within a moment, Lockheart had grabbed Ron's wand and forced it to his neck. "Drop your wand," the professor ordered coolly. "Now."

Gulping down a sudden wave of fear, Charles lowered his wand. It slipped from his fingers unconsciously. Ginny shifted nervously, trying to hide behind him. He had to stay strong for her sake. She had only him to protect her.

"So," Lockheart said, eying him as he shift slightly. "You rescued the girl. Noble, I suppose."

"What are you doing?" Charles demanded, nearly paralyzed by the fear.

"Oh, don't fret." Lockheart smiled coldly. "The world will know what happened here. How Charles Potter and his friend -"

"Hey!" Ron protested, only to get a jab in the throat with his own wand.

"- lost their lives as they tried to save the girl from the Chamber of Secrets," Lockheart continued, ignoring him. "How I, Gilderoy Lockheart, bravely avenged their deaths... killing the beast within and saving the castle from a most gruesome deaths. I have to thank you, Mr. Potter - you've given me such a better story than I dreamed."

"Charles," Ron whispered, terrified. "Charles, he knew how to open the Chamber..."

"Come now," Lockheart said with a grin. "You didn't really think some first year unleashed a Basilisk on the school, did you?"

"What's a Basilisk?" Ron said dumbly.

"Silence," Lockheart ordered, eying Charles with a strange glint in his eye. "I need to concentrate. Memory charms are a little tricky, you see, and I'll need to erase quite a bit so you can't ever leave..."

"Why the bloody hell are you good at memory charms?" Ron repeated blithely.

"You really just won't shut up, will you?" demanded Lockhart, turning to Ron. "I never liked children, though I didn't really have a choice when Dumbledore asked. This'll shut him up for good. I really can't have Albus Dumbledore running around telling everyone I'm a fraud... really not good for business you see."

"But all that stuff in your books -" Ginny said, poking her head out from where she was hiding behind Charles.

"Books are always easy to write," Lockhart replied smugly. "Besides, no one was there to say anything different..."

"You didn't actually do the things in your book, did you?" Charles demanded, a cold realization sweeping over him as he saw the situation and the threat of a memory charm in a new light. "You just... oh Merlin." What had his tutor said about memory charms? No, they hadn't covered them. Only battle magic. He tensed his muscles. No, he knew what to do. He could save them all.

"I hadn't expected Dumbledore to hand me a new book on top of this," Lockhart admitted. "It'll be a bestseller, I'm sure of it. Me, avenging The Boy Who Lived? Wonderful, truly wonderful. Truly the icing on top of the cake. I'll just have to rework the ending to what I have now - boys, I really must thank you -"

"Professor," Ginny piped up behind him, "what do you have now?" She was really being so brave, and she must have been so frightened, blabbering away like that.

"Since you asked," Lockhart said smugly, "I suppose I can give you a preview - it's really nice to be able to finally tell someone, you know. All those professors, laughing behind my back. Well, they won't laugh now. If only they knew how truly brilliant I am. I can't take credit for the opening of the Chamber, of course - I really just stumbled into that in the fall - but it was easy enough to learn how to open it, and then just to let the Basilisk out. Horrid little beast, but it served its purpose." Charles felt Ginny tense in fear behind him. While Lockhart was occupied, he slowly began to inch down to grab his wand. "Then it was just a matter of killing the beast - it's the first one I've actually ever slayed myself," he admitted modestly. "I have a rooster in my office, just waiting to kill it. Really very simple -"

"So why didn't you just bring that in with us?" Ron demanded.

"What, and save you two?" Lockhart asked, puzzled. "Oh, I suppose I could have," he replied, thinking about it for a moment. "But then I'd have to share the stage, and I'm really not interested in that - oh, no, Mr. Potter," he said abruptly in anger. "Don't you do that. No, that won't do at all." He raised his wand to Charles before Charles could even move, and a sudden panic struck him. The light filled the chamber - there wasn't any time -

The boom echoed through the corridor. Coughing, Charles tried to whip away the dust.

Charles. His name was Charles, and he was in the Chamber of Secrets, and -

He blinked. Lockhart was sprawled on his back - and to his side, Ginny was there...

"You saved me," he said dumbly, looking at the red head. "How?" But Ginny seemed overwhelmed for a moment, and with a small sigh, her legs seemed to give out under her. "Ginny!" he said in alarm, grabbing her before she fainted to the ground.

"I think Lockhart lost his memory," Ron shouted from down the corridor. "Are you guys okay?" he added, after a moment's pause.

"Yeah, Ginny just fainted," Charles shouted back. "I can carry her. Come on, let's get out of here."

Harry woke with a yawn. The sunlight was shining brightly across the room. It must have been late in the afternoon - wait, that was wrong. The sunlight didn't come through the -

"- I'm sure you had your reasons," Sirius Black said coldly. "But dragging my daughter in - with no adult present - is absolutely against school rules."

Harry slammed his eyes shut and groaned inwardly. The damn Hospital Wing, again. Was he going to end every school year like this?

"Oh, it was only a chat." The headmaster's voice was sickeningly grandfather like. "I apologize most heartily, Sirius -"

"Lord Black," Sirius said slowly, as if speaking to a dimwit.

"I do apologize." They must have been a few beds down, but Harry could feel Sirius' anger from across the room. But what was he doing here - had...? "We have caught the person responsible."

"Yes, Lockhart never was the most trustworthy. That's the second professor you've employed that has attempted to kill students," Sirius pointed out.

"Ah, but they do have one thing in common," Dumbledore replied slowly. "I have reason to believe that Lord Voldemort - fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself, Lord Black - was involved in both... misfortunes."

"You have proof of this?" Sirius replied coldly.

"His magic was present on Professor Quirrell's body," answered Dumbledore calmly. "And a strange diary was found at the scene of this crime, a diary with the remnants of dark, ancient magic... no, I do not believe Professor Lockhart came upon this alone."

"Unfortunate, then, that Lockhart cannot be questioned."

"No, he confessed it all to young Potter before he was obliviated," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "An unfortunate happenstance, but a young girl's first love is quite pure, and Miss Weasley could not help but defend Mr. Potter. I understand she is still a bit tired from it all."

"Of course," Sirius said blithely.

"I am sorry for doubting your intentions," Dumbledore added. "You must understand... it was quite clear that Lord Voldemort was behind this from the beginning. But I did not foresee that a diary from his time as Tom Marvolo Riddle would make its way into the unsuspecting hands of our Defense Professor -"

The blood rushed into Harry's ears at Dumbledore's words, blocking out the rest of the conversation. Dimly, he was aware that they were leaving the Hospital Wing, leaving only silence in their wake.

Voldemort. Lord Voldemort. He Who Must Not Be Named.

Tom.

Yes, he had known. Somehow. But - but Tom had never said, had never said anything outright. Tom? Lord Voldemort? The murderer, the fanatic, the beast... and why? How? He was nothing special, nothing at all -

My followers.

Slytherin's Heir.

I go by many names.

Tom - no, Lord Voldemort, in his head.

What did He Who Must Not Be Named want with him?

Why had he never said anything?

Panic, anger, misery, rose in a violent mix within him. He wanted to throw up and sob at the same time. Tom - no, he wasn't Tom. Tom had never existed. Tom was a lie. Tom -

"Mr. Steward, you're awake," Madame Pomfrey buzzed, making her way over.

"Why - why am I here?" Harry said softly, moving into an upward position slowly. The headmaster hadn't said anything - not that Sirius had, either...

"Your dorm mates brought you in," Madame Pomfrey said as she bustled about, eying him sharply. "Said you'd passed out from exhaustion. They're quite worried about you, you know."

"I'm not tired," Harry argued automatically.

"Mr. Steward," Madame Pomfrey replied gently, settling the pillows behind him so he'd be more comfortable. "You are not the first student to come in like this, and I doubt you'll be the last. And I do hope you'll listen." She stood back, smoothing down her robes. "You need rest. No, not a word," she added, misunderstanding the look on his face. "Yes, I know you have lots of work to do, Mr. Steward. But it's not going to get any easier, and you'll be amazed at how better you will feel with just a little more sleep. Sometimes the answer is right in front of us the entire time." With a tired smile, she turned away to go tend to the other students. "Some food will be up in just a bit," she added. "You can stay here for the night."

It had always been there, Harry thought painfully as she walked away. He had always known.