Diary of a Hidden Girl
by Ash-Caro-Lynn
Chapter XII : Of Restorations and Rescue Missions
Date : 19 June 1993
"Three days, you two!" I said, slamming down books onto the table in the library I had taken over. I took one off the top of a stack, smacking Ron over the head with it, who was copying a passage from a book down. "No plagiarized homework! We need to study up! We need to read, we need to finish this homework, and we need to be ready! Three days left! You two need to stop fooling around! Listen up, or trip up!"
"That was a pretty passionate speech about exams," commented Harry, flipping through a book I had told him to read for revision.
"I'm channeling Hermione's spirit," I replied simply, plopping myself down on the seat next to him. "You're only on chapter eight?! I gave you that book fifteen minutes ago!"
"Hey, I'm skimming, I thought I was doing pretty well," argued Harry.
"I told you to start at chapter seven."
"You did?"
"Yes, I did."
"Oh."
He sighed, casting a glance at the pages of notes he had taken. "Well, that's a waste." I gasped, holding a hand over my heart in mock shock.
"A waste?!" I repeated. "Extra research is never a waste! Being extra informed is a good thing!" I looked over his notes. "You misspelled 'the.'"
"I can't help it," he replied, snapping the book shut. "We've been in here for hours."
"Well, they don't want us going outside," I replied. "What was I supposed to do? Organize a study group in the common room? Too noisy. Great Hall? We'd get food on everything."
"Alright, alright, you've made your point," said Harry, cutting me off. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, it's not my fault you took so long to absorb my brilliant reasoning," I replied. "I-"
"Students are to return to their dormitories at once."
"There's been another attack," I mumbled, gathering up my things. "What happened? Do either of you know?" They shook their heads. "Did they say they were going to give an explanation?" They shook their heads again. "Stop shaking your heads, you two!" Ron made to shake his head but quickly thought better of it. I sighed.
"I have a plan."
"Does it involve flying motorbikes?" asked Harry.
"Why in the world would it involve flying motorbikes?" I asked, completely taken aback at the odd question.
"You were talking about them before you went to get more books," he replied. I raised an eyebrow before pulling a silvery fabric out of my bag, shooting him a look. "Why do you still have that?"
"Because it always seems to come in handy," I replied. "All packed up? Good. Get under here."
"Where are we going?"
"We are going to find out what is wrong."
"What?"
"We're going to the staff room, Ronald, honestly. You can be so dull sometimes."
"MMF!"
"Shh!"
We were sitting outside of the staff room, trying to stay quiet - well, for the most part. Harry currently had his hand slapped over my mouth, so one could say that I had slipped up a little.
Apparently, a student had gone missing, and there was a message on the wall written in blood : 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.'
"Which student is missing?" I heard one of the professors ask.
"A first year Gryffindor," replied another. I cast a glance at Ron, who turned white as a sheet at the next two words.
"Ginny Weasley."
"Alright, team, we need a game plan," I said. "Group huddle."
"What's a huddle?" asked Ron as Harry and I joined our heads together. I rolled my eyes.
"Put your head in," I replied, and he closed off the circle. "How on earth are we going to save Harry's fangirl - ahem, I mean, Ron's sister - do any of us have any idea of how to get into the chamber?"
"Pipes," replied Harry. Ron and I turned to him. "The entrance is in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, it's the only logical explanation."
"And they call me the genius one," I muttered under my breath. "Lead the way, brother of mine!"
"I'm still not used to you two being twins," mumbled Ron.
"Neither are we," chimed Harry and I.
"I hate this bathroom," I commented as we entered the bathroom. "Alright, how are we doing this? It's said that only the heir can access the chamber... only the heir would be able to speak Parseltongue... Harry, say something!"
"I can't just use Parselmouth randomly!" he replied. "I have to have someone else who speaks it!"
"Uh, hello?" I said, gesturing myself. "Just... I don't know... Shy-aw-sa..."
"What was that?" asked Harry. I shrugged.
"Random sounds," I replied, jumping as I heard movement. I turned around, coming face to face with one of the sinks that appeared to have been opened up, revealing a huge pipe, covered with cobwebs and sticky sewage water. "Apparently, not so random..."
"It looks to be disturbed," mumbled Harry. He stuck his head in. "It's a bit like a slide," he said, his voice echoing from the walls of the pipe. "We'll have to go down."
"Shouldn't we tel a teacher or something?" asked Ron nervously.
"Ron, Gryffindor up," I replied. "It's your sister down there, after all. I'll go first."
And without hesitating, I pushed past Harry and Ron, sitting down and sliding down the pipe, my robes getting covered in the muck, but at that point I couldn't care less. "Hurry up!" I called to the other two, my voice bouncing off the metal walls of the pipe. Harry quickly joined me, landing at the ground with a quiet, "Oomph."
"There's a door," I said, starting to walk over. Harry followed, when suddenly, I heard a crash. "Ron?" I called, whipping around.
"Holly, Harry?" I heard his voice, but I couldn't see him. Fumbling around in the dark, I felt a rock, and gasped.
"The passageway's been blocked!" I cried, trying to push at the boulders.
"It's no use," replied Harry, trying to help. "They won't budge."
"It's okay, go on without me!" called Ron.
"You sure?" I called back.
"Someone's got to save my sister," he replied.
"What do you reckon these do?" I asked Harry.
We currently stood in front of a giant set of two doors, each with a snake shaped handle. I pulled on one, to no avail. I tugged harder, leaning back, and had no luck. "Damn it, open," I grumbled.
"You said that in Parseltongue," said Harry.
"Your point?" I asked, pulling on the door again. He shrugged. "Hold on a second..." I pushed the door open, and it did the rest of its own accord. "Now, I feel stupid."
"Together?" asked Harry, and we linked hands, walking into the unknown.
Date : 19 June 1993
"Woah..." Harry looked around the dark room, and I did too. It was a massive chamber, mostly grey and black, and my eyes were drawn towards a patch of fiery red. I rushed across the chamber, dropping at Ginny's side.
"Ginny," I whispered, shaking her. She looked to be asleep... her face looked so peaceful... but she wasn't moving. Her skin was pale, almost grey, and it seemed as though her life force was slipping away. I felt a chill go up my spine as a voice spoke.
"Can't say I expected to see you here, Potter." My head snapped up, and rested on what looked to be a boy, with dark eyes and hair, but his skin wasn't quite... real. He seemed to be some sort of spirit. "I was expecting your brother."
I put two and two together quickly. "Tom Riddle," I spat. "Guess you'll be getting more than you expected."
Harry quickly joined me, and looked at the spirit-ghost-boy-thing, fury shining in the eyes identical to my own. "You did this," he spat.
"Indeed, I did," replied Tom, eyes dancing. "Poor Ginny... she was such an interesting girl... so ready to pour her heart out..."
"Pour... her heart out?" repeated Harry, his eyes flicking from Tom to something lying on the ground. I moved silently over to the object. "What do you mean?"
"Well," replied Tom, "she was so ready to open up to anyone who would listen, and when she found the diary that your sister is holding now, she couldn't resist the chance. It took a little while at first, but it only took a few words to get her talking..."
"Writing," I corrected. He turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "To get her writing, not talking."
"Well, writing," he replied. "Yes... she put so much of herself into that book... she practically handed herself over to me..."
"No," I gasped out.
"Yes," he replied. "After that, little Ginny was so easy to control..."
"It was you," I spat. "You possessed her to write that message, didn't you?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd figure that out," replied Tom. "Yes, I did..."
I looked around the chamber, trying to find something - anything that could improve this situation. But all I saw were giant pillars and a statue of Salazar Slytherin - not much use in this situation. I was so caught up in searching that I didn't notice that Riddle had turned to the statue, and was now shouting something in Parseltongue : 'Help me, Slytherin, greatest of the founders four...'
"I knew it," I mumbled to Harry. "I told you, didn't I?"
"Knew what?" asked Tom, turning back to us, looking slightly amused. I shook my head, jumping as I heard a rustling sound from the wall farthest from us. I peered closer into the darkness, and could make out a dark shape... vaguely snake-like...
The Basilisk.
Shit.
In a chamber beneath the school, not having alerted any teachers of our being here, with a spirit who could control a monster and no weapon to use against it.
"This is bad," I whispered under my breath, rapidly pacing and running a hand through my long hair. Riddle smirked.
"A bit stressed there, Potter? Don't worry... I'm sure my monster will kill you nice and quick... though the venom isn't the fastest to act..."
I ignored his taunting, my eyes flickering from Ginny, to the diary, to the pillars, and to the silhouette of the giant snake, which was slowly getting larger as it neared us.
Suddenly, a glimmer of hope started to shine... literally. I frowned, and tried to squint to see clearer as a bright red bird flew into the chamber, trilling cheerfully. I had seen it before, but never in all its glory, always having visited its home when it was losing its old feathers and getting new ones.
"Fawkes," I gasped out. Harry and Riddle turned to stare at me.
"It's a snake, Holly, not a fox..." said Harry.
"Not fox, you fool," I replied. "Fawkes."
He followed my gaze, as did Riddle. "Dumbledore's bird," said the ghost-boy-thing, sounding amused. "And what's that he's carrying? The Sorting Hat?"
And so it was, the bird had a tattered old wizard's hat with a wide rip at the brim clutched in its talons. I watched, confused, as it descended, but the Basilisk was fast approaching.
"Don't look at it," I whispered to Harry, elbowing him. "If we look in his eyes, we'll die."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to fight it?" he asked, nervously glancing around the room.
"Harry, as a girl who adores plans and believes that everything has its place, I have only one piece of advice."
"What's that?"
"Wing it."
"This is not working!" I shouted as I rapidly dashed in circles around the chamber, the Basilisk hot on my tail. "Harry, do something!"
"What am I supposed to do?!"
"Anything!" I jumped to the side as the snake lunged forward, narrowly missing my leg. "The hat!"
"What about it?!"
"Is there anything in it?!" I swerved to avoid hitting a pillar and stumbled, almost falling. "HARRY?!"
"There's - a sword!" he called.
"What?!" I cried, almost stopping in my tracks. I dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. "Whatever you're doing, hurry up!" I moved to the other side before picking myself up. "I don't want to die!"
"You're not going to die," he said assuringly, and I could only hope he wasn't lying as a dreadful shriek pierced the air. "I got it!"
"I figured!" I replied sarcastically, rushing away from the snake and my brother. "Careful! Don't look it in the eye!"
"I'm not looking it in the eye!" he replied, "I've almost got it!"
I covered my ears with my hands as a shrill cry filling the chamber, echoing off the walls as a crash resounded.
"Is it dead?" I asked quietly after the noise had subsided.
"Yeah," replied Harry, and I detected pain in his voice. I rushed to his side, dropping to my knees.
"Are you alright?" I asked, carefully moving away the hand he had clutched over his right shoulder. I winced, realizing that a Basilisk fang was embedded in it. "This is going to hurt a little..."
"Argh," he gasped out, and I clutched the fang in my hand, having pulled it out. Thinking quickly, I ripped a piece of fabric off my robes, carefully wiping it off. "There's no use... Basilisk venom is deadly," whispered Harry.
"No," I replied, shaking my head furiously, though my hand was about as pale as the tooth clutched in it. "I'm not going to let you die, you're my brother, Harry, it'll be alright..."
I could see him slipping away, though, as his lids slowly drooped closed. I turned around, glaring furiously at the smirking Riddle before cautiously laying Harry on the ground, the fang clutched in my hand like a weapon. "I'll kill you," I spat.
"How are you going to kill me, Potter? I'm a spirit," taunted Riddle.
"That's it!" I grabbed the diary off the ground, and stabbed the fang into the book. Riddle let out a piercing scream as it seemed to burn a hole through it, and I felt the adrenaline rushing from my veins as I felt fatigue take over.
"W- Holly?" I heard a faint voice ask. I gasped, turning to the source of the voice - Ginny, still pale as a sheet, had awaken, and was now sitting up, staring at me.
"Ginny," I replied. "You're - it's going to be alright." I turned my attention back to Harry. Fawkes had laid his head on my brother's shoulder, and the bird was now singing a sad song as it cried. "Phoenix tears," I gasped out. They had magical healing properties. I brushed my own from my cheeks as Fawkes moved away. "I can't lift him..."
"Holly?" I turned around, and saw Ron, who seemed to have managed to clear away some of the boulders that had fallen. "Ginny!"
Brother and sister embraced, before Ron rushed over, helping me to lift my own sibling. The four of us left the chamber, covered in muck, slime, and in Harry and I's cases, blood.
An odd quartet we made, for certain, and I was sure that McGonagall thought the same as we knocked on the door to her office minutes later.
"I'm exhausted," I mumbled, stepping out of the showers into the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, finally clean after my encounter with Riddle and the Basilisk. I shuddered just thinking about it, throwing myself down on my bed.
"What, do I not get a greeting?" I gasped, shooting up and enveloping my best friend in a hug.
"Hermione!" I squealed. "You're okay! You're back!"
"I am!" she replied joyfully. "And I heard all of what happened... you and Harry and Ron were so brave..."
I flushed red. "You figured it out first," I replied. "You're brilliant, Hermione-"
"Brilliant?" she repeated. "Brilliancy is nothing compared to bravery, Willow. I may have figured out what the monster was, but I never fought a Basilisk - I can't even imagine-"
"Hermione," I interrupted, putting a finger over her lips. "I've missed you, but I swear to Merlin, you talk too much."
End-of-year exams had been cancelled, much to the joy of almost every student. Hermione, though she hadn't been prepared, was dismayed to hear of this, and though I had been stressing over them, it was still a bit of a disappointment to hear that all of my efforts had gone to waste.
Even so, the leaving feast was just as exciting as it had been the last year, if not more so. Everyone was relieved that the Basilisk had been killed, and that the Petrified students had been restored.
"Woah," I mumbled as yet another person thanked Harry, Ron and I for saving the school. "We're bigger heroes than we were back in first year."
"In first year, we saved Gryffindor from getting its arse kicked," replied Harry. "But this year, we saved the school."
"You three are so brave," started Hermione. "If-"
"Hermione, you're every bit as brave as we are." I shot the bookworm a grin. "You're smart, you're incredibly courageous, and if you had known we were going, you would have been right there in that chamber with us, just as you'd have been in first year."
"Willow-"
"Don't you dare underestimate yourself," I warned her, pointing my fork at her threateningly. "I know a guy who can pull swords out of hats and kill giant snakes with said swords."
Harry laughed. "That sounded a lot stranger than it seemed at the time."
"At the time, you were trying to be killed by a spirit that came from your best mate's younger sister's diary," I replied. "Not much is stranger than that."
"Well, I'd say the news I got last Christmas takes the cake for second place, then," joked Harry. I rolled my eyes.
"What news?" asked Hermione curiously.
"That, my dear 'Mione, is a story for another time," I replied. "For now, let's just enjoy the fact that we killed the Basilisk that Petrified you, that we saved Ginny from said Basilisk, and that we're all alive."
A/N : Whew! And that's the end! Thanks for reading! See ya'll in Diary of a Discovered Girl, soon!
