Under Her Spell, Book Two, Edward Masen in: One Step Closer to Forever

by Bubbleybear

Hoping for a quiet year at Hogwarts seemed to be too much to ask for. An ominous note left on the wall, a petrified cat, and a teacher that seems to want nothing to do with teaching the resident immortals. Who will defend them from the monster that lurks within the castle?

12. Chapter Eleven - Solving the Riddle

Hello everyone! It's posting day! I just want to let you know that so far I've been able to find time for my writing while going to school, so I'm not too far behind. The third story is coming along nicely.

Thank you to Pienuniek and Sally Hopkinson for all of their hard work keeping me in line, and the chapters pretty. I'd be lost without the both of them.

Harry Potter and Twilight belong to JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, I'm just having a ball combining them. No copyright infringement is intended.

See me at the bottom.

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12 – Chapter Eleven – Solving the Riddle

Instead of a fall into the unknown, this year we were sliding down a pipe into the bowels of the castle. I couldn't believe that the chamber had been there all this time and nobody had ever found it; it certainly hadn't been that hard to find it. But I suppose we did have advantages that no one else had ever had, such as Harry and I understanding Parseltongue.

I could hear Isa sliding down behind me, and even though she knew what was going on, she was having fun. There was nothing like finding the fun side of life, and she not only did that for herself, she was teaching me how to as well. There was a thump and some crunching from beneath me, letting me know that Lockhart had made it to the bottom. His thoughts revealed he was scared out of his mind and totally grossed out at the situation he found himself in. I didn't realize why until I shot out of the end of the pipe.

Thanks to a small lift at the end of the pipe, I was able to land on my feet, but what I landed on was worse than I thought. There seemed to be hundreds, if not thousands, of skeletons all over the floor. These had to be what the basilisk had been feeding on during the time it had been down here.

I was just about to look around but Isa shot out of the end of the pipe. She was also able to use the lift to land on her feet, though her reaction to landing on the bones had me chuckling.

Eeww. This is really disgusting. They are animal bones, right?

I nodded, knowing she was looking at me but not answering with a verbal reply. I didn't want to give anything away to Lockhart. When I turned to walk away through the tunnel on the opposite side, torches placed at irregular intervals burst into life. The effect was such that it cast an eerie glow all around us. The tunnel was tall enough that I only had to stoop a little. I watched through Isa's thoughts as she turned to our tag-along and pointed her wand at him.

"Off you go, sir," she sneered. "Wouldn't want you to miss a moment of this; have to get it right for your next book. Oh, that's right, there won't be another one."

I snorted at her condescending tone but only kept a precautionary watch on them in the back corner of my mind. The reason for that was I had just stumbled onto proof of what we were hunting. It was a snakeskin, and probably the longest one I had ever seen. I was trying to work out how long it was, and if I had to guess, it was about thirty feet in length. I was stunned into silence at what we were facing; it just didn't seem real that there was something like this under our school.

"W-what i-i-is that?" Lockhart stuttered.

"This would be the monster that we are chasing," I answered in a careful, neutral tone. I didn't want to make him immobile from fear, but I didn't want Isa to know I was more than a little worried. "If you had been half the teacher you thought you were, you would know what this is."

"Then why are we still standing here. We should be running away!" Lockhart screamed, trying to do just that. He spun only to come face to face with a very angry Isa. Her eyes had started to glow again. "Move or it's going to kill us!"

She laughed at him. It was a slow, methodical laugh, but one that seemed to freeze Lockhart where he stood. He may have frozen but he was still shaking hard from the fear that was coursing through his veins.

"What are you laughing at?" he demanded, causing me to look up sharply at him. Isa caught my eye but shook her head.

I'll handle this; you keep investigating, she told me before looking back to Lockhart. "You are an idiot." I should have scolded her for name-calling, but I just couldn't find it in me to care. "Had you actually looked at that thing there, you'd realize it was a skin, not the actual monster. So settle down."

Lockhart collapsed. Either the fear got to him or the adrenaline from confronting Isa did, and when she told him to settle down, the relief was too much and he just dropped.

"Braveheart the bold, pfft," Isa scoffed. She peered closer at him, and I knew she could hear his heartbeat flying in his chest. "Shame; I really wanted to scare him some more." I chuckled at her while she came over to stand next to me, inspecting the basilisk skin. "This thing is huge."

I nodded but said nothing as we continued to look over the skin for anything we could use against it. We were quiet and as such could tell when Lockhart started coming around. Neither of us paid him that much attention. I did notice when Lockhart started to come up behind us, but I thought that he was going to use us as a shield and stay behind us, so I wasn't concentrating on his thoughts. I had placed my wand into my back pocket when I'd landed from my slide; I hadn't thought it would be a problem because I hadn't factored in Lockhart's stupidity.

It turned out to be a mistake, on his behalf.

Without thought, he lunged toward me and pulled the wand from my pocket. He was, however, not that smart. Isa and I turned to face him, and instead of producing a spell, he just stood there, looking at us with a smug look on his arrogant face. Well, that was until he opened his mouth.

"Don't move that wand arm, Miss Swan. Can't have you firing on a teacher, now can we?" It was a rhetorical question, and we knew that, not that it stopped Isa answering silently.

Oh, don't worry, professor, I wouldn't dream of it. Here she added an internal snort. Not that I need to since Teddy's wand won't work for you. Although, try firing a spell at me, and I'll retaliate.

"I'm the one in control here, and it would be in your best interest to just stop what you're doing. We're going to have a little chat, and you're going to listen." Here he paused, gathering his thoughts, if what was going on in his head was anything to go by. Isa and I just stood there waiting with our arms crossed and little smirks on our faces. "You don't know what it was like being me growing up. While being magical, I was less than average, but I always dreamed of being this big adventurer. Solving riddles and puzzles that nobody else could …"

Blah, blah, blah. Everything is always about him, isn't it?

I choked out a short laugh but covered it with a cough when Lockhart looked over before he continued his poor-me monologue.

"I think his whole life has been about him, Isa," I whispered at vampire pitch. "Even his childhood was all about him."

Ugh, his poor parents.

"It wasn't until I reached my last few years of schooling that I found out how gifted I was with memory charms. And it was there, during my last year of school, that I figured out how to use it to my advantage. Many of the students around me had wild stories and memories of growing up and going on fantastic adventures, and that was how my first book came about. Fantastical Memories of Growing Up Magical," he sighed, looking wistful.

His thoughts, however, showed exactly what he had done to some of his classmates. I was absolutely disgusted. How could he have done this to someone else, let alone that he'd done it to people he'd known?

"After the success of my experiments, I traveled all over the world, meeting wizards and witches alike. I learned their stories, listened, and took notes." Here he smirked; it was dark and evil and just this side of the people I used to hunt.

He disgusts me. He enjoyed taking away those memories and any pain that it gave them and their families. The look on Isa's face was horrified; she couldn't fathom that someone could do this. He would make a great death eater. I nodded to her thoughts.

Lockhart never noticed our silent conversation, so lost in his memories as he was. He shook himself out of it, thinking that he didn't want to give us a chance to take the wand from him. What he didn't know was that we were letting him hang himself; our memories would be proof of his crimes, and I couldn't wait to show the world.

"But enough of my memories. Don't worry; the world will know what happened here. How I was too late to save the girl, how you two lost your minds finding her body, and how I barely escaped with my life after the monster killed you both." At this, Isa and I snorted; he didn't seem to understand that we were immortal. "And if you are to survive being left down here to die, then you won't remember it, at all." He did a simple twist of his hand one-hundred and eighty-degrees and blurted out, "Obliviate!"

Looks like we'll learn this spell sooner than later, Isa thought as we just stood there looking at Lockhart with contempt.

"Why isn't it working?" Lockhart yelled in frustration.

"Because that wand only works for me or Isa," I stated with clear enough conviction that it stopped Lockhart dead in his tracks. "That wand was made just for me by a master wand maker that goes by the name of Virgulo Opifex." Something flickered through his mind at that name, mostly jealousy, but there was something else, something I'd have to analyze later.

Lockhart threw my wand toward me in a fit of rage before pacing away from us. I was quick but Isa was quicker because as I picked it up she'd copied the movement Lockhart had made.

"Obliviate!" she growled. Because she was pissed off and horrified at what Lockhart had done, she'd put more oomph into her spell than normal. It shot out of her wand at an alarming speed and hit him so hard that it flung him back into the rock wall behind him, knocking him out cold. But that wasn't even the biggest problem. No, the biggest problem was the large crack we heard when he hit. Then it was the rumble that followed.

"Oh, shit," I swore, knowing I would regret that later but pulled Isa underneath me to protect her from the rock fall she'd accidentally started. After a while, I realized we weren't getting pelted by the stone as I'd expected and looked up. Isa's shield must have shot out when she knew what was happening and protected us. Slowly, I allowed her out from beneath me, and we stood looking around at the destruction her spell had caused.

"Um … I think that was a little strong," she mumbled.

I snorted into a laugh, then let it go. Once I'd settled down, I turned to see she had a contrite expression on her face. "You think, sweet girl?" I asked with a chuckle laced through my question. I looked around again only to find that I couldn't see Lockhart anywhere. "What about our professor?"

"He's safe in a separate bubble over there somewhere." Isa pointed to another section of rock where Lockhart had landed that was rounder than the other piles around us.

"Good." I looked up to see that the rock had piled up around us but not on top, the roundness of the bubble had made it slide down the sides. "Can you push the rock aside before releasing your shield so it doesn't drop on us or Lockhart?"

"I can do that and do one better for him." Isa raised her hands above her head in the prayer position. From what I could see in her mind, the bubbles of her shield—both the one on us and the one over Lockhart—became pointed, making the rocks that were still on the top slide off. It left the top of Lockhart's cell open for him to breathe.

What Isa did next completely shocked me. She must have worked harder on her shield than I thought because she reached forward and, with two hands, lifted the section of rock in front of us with her shield. It gave us a way out of our pile, and as she placed more rock around Lockhart, it made sure that he couldn't go anywhere and get lost before we got back with Ginny.

I listened to Lockhart as she sealed him in his rocky tower. He was waking up, but his thoughts weren't making any sense. They were muddled and childlike.

"That should hold him," Isa said when she was done, pulling me from my observations.

I looked up at the structure Isa had created. It was a work of art. "Why a tower?"

"Because I couldn't make a gilded cage."

"Miss Marie, is that you?"

Isa and I looked at each other, both of us confused by the childlike voice that came from the other side of the rock wall.

"Miss Marie, where am I? I'm scared."

What's going on with Lockhart?

I held up a finger to let her know to wait a minute. I listened to the very childlike thoughts going through Lockhart's brain as I picked up my wand. "I think … I think you may have removed more than a few memories from his brain with your spell, Isa. Like maybe the last twenty or so years' worth."

Oops. She snickered slightly. That'll make giving back memories easier, nobody to counteract what we're saying.

"Miss Marie? Are you there?" the high-pitched trembling voice of Lockhart wailed out from behind the rock wall.

I leaned down to whisper in Isa's ear. "You should answer him. Miss Marie was his Veela nanny back when he was a child."

Then in a voice I'd never heard from Isa, she spoke to Lockhart only. "Don't you worry, little one," she started, her voice strangely hypnotic. I could tell from Lockhart's mind that it seemed to set him at ease. "We're in the place of dreams, of nightmares. Just close your eyes and sleep. All will be well when you wake up again; I promise."

Funny enough, Lockhart calmed enough from Isa's voice to fall right to sleep on the hard and jagged rocks surrounding him.

"What was that?"

Isa shrugged her shoulders. "Something to do with my Veela side, I think. I suppose it's the voice they use to get men to do what they want. Come on; we have to save Ginny."

Isa grabbed my hand and towed me farther along the tunnel we had found ourselves in. Walking along, the torches lit up the carcasses, giving them a gleam. The eye sockets were cast into darkness from the shadows, and sometimes, I swore I could see little yellow eyes peering out of them before I shook my head. I had to be seeing things.

Oh nooooo! Isa's thoughts burst into my head. What's that? She let go of my hand and ran off into a darker section.

I turned my head in the direction she went to see what had caught her attention, only to find the skeleton of an animal I'd never seen before. "Isa, be careful! You don't know what's hiding here!"

One side of the skeleton seemed to glow in the dark while the other was in deep shadow; the fact that it was easily the biggest one here showed just how menacing this monster was. It could take down an animal the size of a large horse.

"Oh, Teddy, this is bad. Very bad."

"What is? What is this?"

"Come look." I walked around to the dark side where Isa was standing to find a collection of bones that shouldn't be there, and I couldn't work out what they were; not only that, but on closer inspection, the skull seemed to be that of a bird with a very large beak. Isa must have seen the confused look on my face. "This is the skeleton of a Hippogriff, another of the world's most majestic animals."

Hippogriff? Hippogriff? "Half horse, half eagle? They get to this size?"

Isa ran her hand on the animal's head before she turned to look up at me. "Yes, this is a fully grown one. I'm scared. The basilisk was able to take down something of this size, and it flies, Teddy! How are we supposed to beat something like that?"

"We do our best, sweet girl," I said as I dropped down and pulled her into my arms, placing a kiss on her head. "It's all we can do; being the immortal creatures we are might give us an advantage though."

"Let's hope so," she murmured, running her hand over the head again before standing back up.

I followed suit before taking her hand this time and leading her down the tunnel. She stood behind me, clinging to my arm as the shadows loomed all around us. The tunnel sloped downward at a slight angle; we could hear dripping water, just adding to the creepiness that I'm sure Salazar Slytherin had been going for. Just before we were to head around a corner, we'd slowed to listen, making sure there wasn't anything waiting for us. Isa let out a blood-curdling scream and let go of my arm. I spun around to find her swiping at her head and jumping up and down.

"What? What is it?"

"Something landed on my head! Get it off; get it off!"

I tried for a few minutes to get close to her but with her jumping around I couldn't get close enough. "Isa, I can't see if you don't stop moving!"

She paused, whimpering, but let me have a look. I ran my hands through the back of her hair first, in case, whatever it was, had moved with all of her frantic movements before inspecting the top of her head. I'd made it halfway along her skull before I encountered something and froze.

"What? What is it? Am I going to die?"

"No," I let out a large breath, letting go of the anxiety she'd made bloom in my chest. "No, it was just a drop of water, sweetheart. Just water; you're okay."

I pulled her into my arms as she started to cry just a little. She had to release the anxiety she was feeling. "Are you okay to continue?"

Isa pulled back and looked me dead in the eye. She'd composed herself and pulled on the strength I knew was inside of her. "Yes. Ginny is one of my best friends. We're going to save her."

I nodded. "We are."

After listening again for a minute, we walked around the corner and found that the tunnel ended at a large round door. The door itself wouldn't have been remarkable in any way, apart from being down here under the school, if it wasn't for the fact that it was locked with what seemed to be five stone snakes. At five points around the door, metal hoops stuck out of the rock. Each hoop was clamped in the mouth of one of the snakes.

Isa and I crept toward it; we wanted to investigate but were unsure what would happen if we got too close.

"That looks like a tunnel exit or entrance," Isa murmured, pointing at a dome shape at the bottom of the door. In fact, it ran around the whole left side, covering what I thought was the hinges.

"What do you wanna bet that something needs to be said in Parseltongue to open it?"

Isa snorted. "Considering the bathroom, I'd be a sucker to take that bet."

Both unsure about what would happen once I'd said the correct phrase, we both took half a dozen steps backward. We didn't know what Salazar Slytherin had planned for his chamber.

"What should I say this time?"

"I think you should just go with the same word; it worked before."

I nodded, concentrating on the door. "Open," I hissed in Parseltongue.

We waited for a few seconds, hearing nothing, and just as I was opening my mouth to say something else, there was a metallic click and the sound of stone grinding on stone. Isa and I froze, with our mouths open, as another large green snake wound its way around the door, unclamping the mouths of the other snakes from the rings and pushing them back into the center. Each mouth dislodged caused an unholy screech followed by a resounding thunk. When all the snakes had been loosened from their clamps and the green snake finished its circular route by disappearing into the hinges again, the five snakes slithered back with that creepy grinding noise.

But none of that was as loud, or ominous, or hurt our ears as much as the groan that the door made when all was said and done. The dark tunnel that was revealed behind it was lit sparingly by the same kind of lanterns as those we already passed. The whole set-up only increased the trepidation we were feeling.

Well, that was creepy.

"Uh huh. Certainly made me want to go down there," I said with a little sarcasm as a shiver ran down my spine.

Isa looked up at my face to see whether I was telling the truth or not before she snorted. Yeah, about as much as I want to get a tooth pulled.

I reached out my hand for Isa's, waiting for her to give me hers. "No time like the present."

Let's go. My molars are calling to me.

This time, it was my turn to snort before I stepped over the lip of the door, leading us into the dark.

~*~UHS~*~

More lanterns lit up once we'd stepped over the threshold, but it didn't make the experience any less creepy. The corridor that we'd stepped into was the perfect archway, but it was what lay alongside the narrow pathway that caused a shudder to run through me, an almost violent one, because there, every ten feet, lit from behind, was the statue of a snake. Now snakes don't usually bother me all that much, but these? These were huge. Standing at least twelve feet high, way above our heads, with mouths wide open, tongues hanging out, and fangs on display. They were so lifelike that I felt like they were going to hiss and lunge at any given moment if we made the wrong move, and I could see them all the way along the path.

I hadn't realized that I'd stopped and hunched over into a hunting crouch to protect myself and Isa until she'd caught up with me and pulled on my robes to get my attention. Even once I'd stood, I reached back to grab her hand, again, because she was clinging to me for all she was worth.

Salazar Slytherin really liked snakes, didn't he?

I nodded, then realized she wasn't looking at me but at the statues on either side of our walkway. "That he did, baby girl. Maybe because he was the only one who could talk to them?"

Maybe, she thought, still looking at the snakes standing on their tails. Does it look like the eyes are following us?

I noticed a slight decline in the path when I turned to look. While creepy with the yellow stones for eyes that seemed to be lit from within, they weren't following us. Though I would not have been surprised. "No, sweetheart. It's just your mind playing tricks on you. If they creep you out that much, don't look."

She focused on the back of my head as she followed me. The path we were on really wasn't that wide. Her thoughts were creeped out, scared, worried, and angry all at once. She flickered between them so fast that sometimes even I had trouble keeping up.

The path started to become steeper as I turned around to face her. I spoke, placing my hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes. "I know this is scary, Isa, because I'm scared too. But you can't let that get the better of you. Focus on your anger, focus it at the person who deserves it, and use it in the fight that we know is coming. Because Riddle isn't going to let Ginny go without one."

"We're going to have to face the basilisk too, aren't we?"

I stood, not wanting to lie to her. "I believe so. He's going to use everything in his arsenal."

Isa grabbed my hand then pointed behind me. "Then let's give him what he's waiting for."

~*~UHS~*~

We were quiet as we followed a never-ending pathway deeper into the mountain under the castle. The statues continued until we came to the end of it. The pathway started widening into what seemed to be an amphitheater. There were large steps that could be used for seating, leading down to a shallow pool at the bottom. At the far back, opposite the entrance we came through, was another statue. This one, though, was not of a snake but of a person. It towered over us. This person was dressed in robes similar to what other witches or wizards wore, with a wand in one hand and a ring on the other. He was standing in a relaxed, defensive pose. Farther up, there was a stone replica of a necklace with a snake emblazoned on it, almost covered up by a very impressive beard. His whole face was arrogant, like he knew something we didn't, but the smirk that was almost hidden by his beard transformed his face. It went from arrogant to something completely evil, causing a shudder to run down my back.

But it was the eyes that drew my attention. Instead of the yellow stone that had been in the snakes, this one had green, and they were carved into multifaceted round stones that reflected what light there was from the torches high above our heads. The head was also covered in a large array of curls—long curls, the whole thing making up what I assumed to be Salazar Slytherin.

This statue creeped me out more than the snakes; there was something so off putting about it.

All of it held my attention until Isa dropped my hand with an earth-shattering cry. "Noooooo, Ginny!"

I hadn't even noticed that she had started walking alongside me to start with because I had been so taken in with the size of the cavern we were now standing in. But with her cry, she bolted away from my side, down the stairs, and off to the side where Ginny's body was lying. I had missed it in my perusal, and I felt terrible for that.

"Isa, wait," I called, chasing after her. "Be careful!"

Isa slid to her knees next to Ginny. She was lying on her stomach with one hand out in front of her, like she'd had her wand in her hand, and her face turned to the side. Isa's hands fluttered around Ginny's head, smoothing out her hair and calling to her. Carefully, I rolled her onto her back, trying not to move her too much in case there was damage, and then checking to find her pulse.

I looked up at Isa as I took my cloak off to give Ginny some more warmth. "She's alive, Isa. Barely, but her pulse is there. She's freezing, so we'll have to try and warm her up."

Isa nodded with a few tears on her cheeks, pulling off her cloak as well so we could wrap them around her.

"You're early," a voice echoed through the theater, and I briefly wondered if the statue had spoken. "Hey! Who are you?"

We both stood and turned to face where the voice had come from.

"Ah, Tom Riddle, again we meet," I sneered.

That brought him up short. "What do you mean? I've never met you."

I chuckled, but it wasn't a happy sound. Crossing my arms, I looked over to the young man who would one day become the most feared dark wizard of all time. "No, you haven't. But the run down, barely living, shadow of a man that you have become has tried to go up against me once before …"

"And guess what?" Isa brought his attention to her. "He lost."

"No!" Riddle growled. "There is no way he was defeated by you … you …"

Isa and I smirked at the fact that young Tom Riddle was so disturbed by the fact he was beaten that he couldn't finish his thought.

"Now, what have you done to Ginny?"

It was Riddle's turn to smirk. I looked him over as he contemplated whether he was going to answer or not. The figure that stood before us was not a full human being; he seemed to be partly transparent, and he blurred around the edges, like he wasn't really there. I wasn't sure we would be able to touch him. I wasn't sure he was actually in this plane of existence.

"I haven't done anything to Ginny. She did this to herself."

I growled low but loud. "Don't argue semantics, Riddle. You were a part of this; now explain how!"

Riddle just stood there, enjoying the fact that he had the advantage over us. I couldn't even use my mind reading on him because he didn't seem to be a sentient being.

While I had been checking out Riddle, Isa had been looking around the chamber. She spotted something that had been near Ginny that we must have missed when we were focused on her earlier. She left my side and walked over to Ginny, catching Riddle's attention, but it was his reaction to Isa picking up the object that caught my interest.

"Here, Teddy." Isa handed a book over to me. She'd noticed his reaction as well.

"Don't touch that," Riddle grumbled.

"Why? What has this got to do with anything, and what are you?"

Riddle smiled and spread his arms wide, like a game show host. "Me? I am nothing but a memory. A memory stored in a diary for fifty years."

I kept an eye on Riddle through Isa's eyes; she watched him, trying to figure out how he'd started to manifest. I, however, looked down at the diary. It was the same one Isa and Hermione had found in the girls' bathroom, the same one Ginny had stolen back when she'd discovered we'd had it.

"This is how you were doing it, wasn't it? You somehow gained Ginny's trust by talking to her in this diary, like you showed Isa that memory of you framing Hagrid, and then you used that friendship against her by getting her to do your bidding. Right?" I looked up sharply as I asked my questions to see his reaction, and from the slight widening of his eyes before he tried to hide it, I knew I was right.

"Oh, how could you do that?" Isa asked quietly in a voice that would usually bring forth anyone's guilt. But not Riddle.

He chuckled, but it wasn't a happy sound; it was a condescending one. "How could I not? It was surprisingly easy to gain her trust. I just had to listen to the very boring, very inconsequential problems of a pre-teen girl worried about how she's going to fit in to a school that has seen too many members of her family before her. Whether she's going to make friends or even one day have a boyfriend. From there, the more she used the diary, the more she gave of herself, the more power I gained. It wasn't long until I gained enough to start controlling her; she just never knew it was happening.

"Eventually, though, she became scared, scared of what the diary could do, the power it had over her, and she tried to get rid of it. And then, who should get a hold of it but you." He pointed at Isa. "I knew you weren't human, but I couldn't get a grasp on what you are while you were within the diary. I knew, though, that if I could get you to interact with me, then I could become that much more powerful than if I was sucking the life from Ginny here …" At this, he cackled, and it was a truly evil sound. It made me shudder like when someone runs their nails down a chalkboard. Isa and I both growled at the thought of Riddle using her life force to further his return back to the world; it caused him to cackle that much harder.

"But then this silly little girl decided to take back the diary, worried about what I would tell you when she saw you with it …"

Riddle continued to ramble, so much so that I tuned him out. Sure, I'd analyze what he had to say later, but I was also being distracted by the fact that the more he rambled, the clearer his thoughts became.

Are we letting him ramble for a reason? I nodded to Isa's question because she was getting bored with him also.

Once his thoughts were clear enough, I interrupted his monologue. "Riddle, who were you waiting for when we first came in?"

He was irritated due to my interruption; you could see it all over his face. This sixteen-year-old Voldemort wasn't as skilled in hiding his reactions as the fully-grown one trying to come back from his half-existence.

"It's none of your business, pest." To my surprise, a vague image started to take shape in the space were Riddle's thoughts had begun to form. It was an image I loathed—the image of a blond man I was becoming all too familiar with. I kept my growl at bay with great difficulty.

Isa noticed the change in me straight away but kept it to herself other than to think, You know who he was waiting for. It wasn't a question but a statement of fact. She didn't even want me to confirm. But it was her longing side-glance that got to me. Ginny isn't waking up. What do we do?

I was about to open my mouth, to do something—anything—to egg Riddle on when he interrupted me with a question I wasn't expecting. "Where is Harry Potter, hmm?"

Our mouths had dropped open at his question, but both of them slammed shut when he started to laugh once again. "The great Harry Potter is all but dead thanks to the monster in the Chamber of Secrets!"

I growled long and loud, garnering his attention. "What do you know of Harry Potter?"

The smile that Riddle let loose was creepy. It was something reminiscent of what I'd seen on Aro of the Volturi in Carlisle's memories. One that meant unspeakable horrors because you'd just fallen for his trap; one that would mean death to anyone who crossed his path. It was as evil as one could truly get, and if Riddle displayed that at sixteen, well, I'd hate to think about the things he'd done by then.

Then he sneered. "What don't I know about the great Harry Potter? He's dead to the world, you know, but not to you, and not to a few people who know about him. It hasn't reached back to me, I'm sure, but one day, it will and I hope for your sake that he's prepared …"

Again, we let him ramble, Isa sitting back down next to Ginny, trying to keep her warm while I read Riddle's mind. The stronger the presence was in this world, the clearer his thoughts became. It seemed that Malfoy senor had been a very busy man; he was the previous owner of the diary and kept sixteen-year-old Riddle updated on everything going on, and then, of course, Ginny filled in the rest when she had taken ownership of it.

I'd heard enough, and Isa was getting angrier by the minute.

"Enough, Riddle. I don't want to hear any more of your pointless drivel; you're actually succeeding in giving a vampire a headache."

Riddle smirked. "I'll let that slip-up of my name pass, but that's only because I am the greatest wizard of all time."

Isa snorted loudly. "You may have turned into the darkest wizard since Grindelwald, but you are by no means the greatest. That mantle still lies with Dumbledore."

The murderous look that crossed Riddle's face had me taking a step in front of Isa and Ginny for their protection. There was no way I was going to let this specter or what-ever-he-was hurt them at all.

"You think you can st …." He was cut off by a loud squawk, a war cry from a very large bird.

We all spun to face the direction the call had come from to see a large blur of red and yellow come streaking into the amphitheater around us. It slowed when it reached us only to reveal Dumbledore's beautiful pet bird, Fawkes. He was a stunning creature, a magnificent phoenix that hovered above us only to drop something at Isa's feet.

Riddle burst out into that maniacal laughter once again. "This is what Dumbledore sends his champions? A song bird and an old hat?"

That was indeed what had come to us in the chamber. Fawkes had dropped the Sorting Hat at Isa's feet. What are we going to do with that?

"So, champions, let's see if you can beat the monster of the late, great Salazar Slytherin." Riddle then hissed out a string of words, in Parseltongue, that I could only hope to understand before turning to the statue in the background.

Isa and I followed his line of sight only to discover the mouth of the statue beginning to open. The sound was unbearable, worse than the sound of stone grinding stone when we opened the door. I couldn't describe the sound that it made; there just weren't words for it.

Fawkes screeched before taking off higher when something started moving inside the mouth. The wider the mouth opened, the more it moved. It wasn't until I saw something yellow glowing from within that I realized what it was.

"Close your eyes, Isa. Don't look at the yellow, glowing eyes!"

Isa and I split in different directions, her running off to find somewhere to hide while I grabbed a hold of Ginny and took her out of the line of fire. I had to make sure she wasn't going to be hurt any further. There was a loud splash, and I knew that the basilisk had landed. I checked on Isa to see that she was looking around for me, and once she had my attention, she pointed over to the other side of the pool.

Riddle is directing this thing. We need to distract him.

We both looked over at the man in question when he laughed again. "Speaking Parseltongue won't help you now! The basilisk will only answer to the true heir, and that's me!" His laughter that time was just this side of crazy. I'm not sure Tom Riddle was entirely sane. "Get them; kill them," he hissed in Parseltongue.

I placed Ginny behind a short wall at the top of the amphitheater, the one I used to lean against, then started using what I could to make my way toward Riddle. I kept the basilisk in my peripheral vision, noting that it wasn't tracking me as much it was Isa. That concerned me a little. I knew she was immortal, but that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt, and Riddle must have thought the same thing because the next thing I knew, he had a wand out and had aimed it at Isa. Where he got that, I didn't know, and I couldn't tell from his thoughts. But he had no thought about attacking me, just the one that he thought could give him more life power and pull him out of the diary faster.

I didn't even think; I just reacted. One minute, I'm watching him pull a wand on my sweet girl, the next I'm firing off one of the very spells we'd learned from Dumbledore this year from my own wand. I didn't even realize I'd pulled it from my pocket.

But it was enough. Enough of a distraction that Isa was able to take off around the side of the basilisk and for Riddle to turn his sights on me.

"I'm going to bury you two alive when I leave this place! No one will ever find you!"

"What is it with you people and not really understanding that Isa and I are immortal? I mean really, we could dig ourselves out. We have all the time in the world!" I shouted at him as I dodged a spell aimed my way.

We continued trading barbs and spells for the next few minutes. I spouted off spells that I didn't even know I'd mastered. My magical instinct took over, and let me tell you, my two instincts combined were a bit frightening to behold. I wasn't sure I was in complete control of either of them, and that scared me.

While I was inwardly freaking out about what was happening with my instincts—well, more about how I was able to recreate spells without actually having been taught them, and what spells I could possibly produce by accident—I was able to keep track of Isa through our link. She was keeping the basilisk busy but not looking at it; Isa knew to keep her face away.

I was never gladder that my mind could think of many different things at once as I was at that moment.

I'd just hidden behind an outcropping of rock when there was another screech from Fawkes and a mournful cry from the basilisk, causing all of us to look up. I couldn't believe my eyes; Fawkes was attacking the snake, pecking and clawing at the eyes of the basilisk.

"No!" Riddle screamed. "NO! Get away from it, you stupid bird!" Tom lifted the wand he had, which I noticed didn't seem to be firing the spells that he wanted, and aimed for Fawkes.

I couldn't let him hurt that bird, so after firing off another spell that seemed to go right through him, smashing into the rock wall behind him and spraying rock everywhere. "What's wrong, Riddle? Afraid now?"

He flung another spell my way. "Never! Just because the basilisk can't see, doesn't mean he can't hear your precious mate. She's never going to defeat it."

"Ha!" Isa laughed out. "That's what you think. Thank you, Professor Dumbledore!"

Riddle and I both turned to see what Isa was thanking the professor for only to see her pulling something long and shiny out of the Sorting Hat. It took a few seconds to realize what she had grabbed was a sword; the damn thing was nearly as long as she was tall, but she wielded it like a champion.

"There is nothing you can do now, Riddle. I'll take down your monster, and then we'll save Ginny. You will be just a memory!"

The fight really began in earnest. I made my way between Riddle and Isa before he could get any closer and started to really trade spells with him. The ones of his that hit me did about as much damage as the ones of mine that connected with him. Neither of us could make any headway, but at least, he was unable to hit Isa because every time he managed to send one in her direction, I was able to either deflect it or I took the hit myself.

"Do you really think you stand a chance against us? Especially considering we really are immortal? Something you've been wanting since you were our age?"

He gave off an approximation of a growl. "When I return, be it today or another day, I will be stronger than anyone can imagine, and I will be the immortal world leader. Everyone will fear me!"

"But it won't be today!" Isa called. Riddle looked up, his mouth dropping in shock.

I kept an eye on him but spun side on to see that Isa had managed to climb up to a higher ledge so she was on an even playing field with the basilisk. I watched in horror as the snake lurched at her, mouth open, fangs out, and hissing in anger. But Isa was stunning in all her magical glory. The yoga that she'd taken and continued through the year had really helped her to control her feelings, which then helped her to control her magic.

She was standing on the shelf of rock, her eyes lit from within, and brandishing that sword like she'd been doing it all her life. As the basilisk lunged for her, she lifted it high into the air, and before the basilisk knew what was happening, the sword pierced through the roof of his mouth and came out through the top of its head. A haunting wail echoed through the chamber while the basilisk jerked back in shock before flailing and collapsing in a heap in the shallow pool at the base of the statue.

All of that happened in the blink of an eye, but Isa dropping the sword and starting to collapse herself seemed to happen in slow motion. I ignored Riddle's gleeful laughter and sped underneath to catch her. She landed in my arms, still conscious and breathing but clearly injured.

"No, no, baby girl. It's okay; I'm here. You're going to be okay." I panicked as I placed her on the ground and searched her for the injury. It wasn't until I noticed a hole in the sleeve of her uniform that I pushed it up and found part of the basilisk fang stuck in it. I could see the venom trying to spread. "Isa, talk to me, sweetheart, please."

"Here," she hissed, putting her hand inside her robes and pulling out the diary that I must have dropped at some point. "Do it; pull the tooth out, and do it."

I hushed her, trying to get her to stop talking. But her mind opened up like a wildflower in bloom—I hadn't even felt it close, and she showed me that the best way to destroy the memory of Riddle was to destroy the book.

"I don't want to hurt you," I whispered into her ear, "and pulling that out is going to let the poison spread."

She chuckled weakly. "Immortal remember; I'll be okay. Do it, Edward, finish this version off."

I held her for a little bit longer, agonizing over what I had to do, only to become angry at the fact that Riddle was laughing behind us still, and the longer I took, the louder he laughed.

"I told you that you wouldn't leave down here. It's amazing how quickly the venom will spread. Are you sure she's immortal because it sure doesn't look like it!" He cackled.

I growled so loud that it shook the ground causing even the specter version to stumble a little, taking him by surprise. I glared at him over my shoulder while surreptitiously getting ready to pull the fang from Isa's arm. I apologized silently to her.

"I know she's immortal," I growled, letting the diary drop open to the ground, which caught his attention, "but let's see if you are!"

I pulled the tooth from Isa so fast that she didn't have time to react before turning and slamming it into the diary. An unholy scream resonated around the chamber, coming from Riddle. I watched in disgust as he grabbed his face, which seemed to be burning from the inside out.

Again, Teddy. Do it again.

I closed the diary before stabbing it through the cover with the tooth again, this time making sure that it went through the entire book. We both watched as other patches of fire seemed to burn all over his body before he seemed to burst into flames then disappeared. Quicker than even I could discern, I spun back to Isa and pulled her into my arms, shaking with repressed sobs because even though she said she was immortal, I was really worried that I was going to lose her.

I was so lost in my grief that I didn't hear Ginny approaching us until she fell down in front of me. "Oh, Edward, what happened? I'm sorry; this is all my fault." She burst into tears while grabbing Isa's arm, the one that the basilisk had pierced. "I didn't even know what I was doing!"

"No, Ginny," Isa whispered from my arms. "Not your …"

"Save you strength, Isa. We have to get you out of here, get you to Dad." I shuddered.

I was just about to get to my feet when Fawkes landed next to Ginny.

Let me, I heard in my head. I can help.

Before I could react, Fawkes leaned over, placing his head to Isa's arm and releasing a few tears, causing them to drop right onto the open wound. Ginny gasped when I sucked in a breath as we watched the hole close right up and the venom exit it and slide down innocently to the floor.

My tears have healing properties. I could not let one so innocent be so hurt. She may not have died but she would have scarred. Fawkes looked up to me.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I will never forget what you have done for her. I am in your debt."

No. You are not. You would have done the same, this I know.

I nodded before picking Isa up; she had passed out from the pain and from being healed. I nodded to Ginny to pick up her wand, which Riddle had dropped. At least, now I knew where he got it from, the Sorting Hat and the diary, while I managed to grab the sword Isa had been using, only noting that there was writing on the blade but not paying much attention.

"Come now, we need to get going. I'm sure there are plenty of people worried about all of us, but especially you, Ginny."

Ginny nodded and followed me silently as I lead the way out of the chamber. I hoped I would never see this place again.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Ginny asked quietly when we had reached the place that Isa had kept Lockhart imprisoned. "And who's in there?"

"He's nobody. Never was and never will be again. Isa made sure of that." I looked to the tunnel we had come through before scanning the roof around us. It seemed the only exit was the one we'd come in through. I could climb out of here, but how was I going to get the rest out? I wasn't sure that Wingardium Leviosa would lift them that high, especially if I had to climb myself. "I don't know how to get us all out of here." I looked over to where Isa had hidden Lockhart. "First, I need to dig him out."

Between Ginny and me, we managed to make a comfortable pallet out of our cloaks for me to lay Isa on before I dug out our clueless professor. It took me a few minutes to explain to him what was going to happen, but his childlike mentality helped with it.

Just as I was finishing up with Lockhart, Isa came to, and she was not a happy camper.

"What happened to your robes?" she asked with no small amount of venom in her tone.

I looked down at them to see not only dirt from digging Lockhart out but singe marks and burns in some places. "Uh, I guess that's where some of the spells Riddle was flinging at you met their mark. But, I'm okay, nothing to worry about!" I spread my arms wide trying to placate her.

Isa stood there, her hands on her hips, mouth pressed in a tight line, and eyes glowing with the intensity of her emotions. I hoped she could keep them under control.

"Nothing to worry about? Nothing to worry about!" she shouted. "And just what do you think would happen if he was at full strength and sent a fire spell directly at me that you decided to jump in front of? Huh? Answer me that? And don't say you wouldn't because look at what you did in there!" Isa pointed over my shoulder toward the chamber to emphasize her point. "You are talking about this with Dumbledore when we get topside, and you're going to find a better way to defend not only me but yourself that doesn't involve putting you in harm's way. DO YOU HEAR ME?"

Instead of arguing, I decided that nodding my head in agreement was in order; besides, she was right. I really did need to learn more about defensive spells and defending us without doing something so stupid.

While Isa and Ginny walked off to calm Isa down a little bit, I investigated the tunnel we had come in once again, still unsure what to do. Fawkes managed to land on my shoulder this time, trying to capture my attention.

I can help. As a phoenix, I can carry immensely heavy loads, probably almost as much as you. Let me help you get them all out of here.

"Thank you, Fawkes. I'd really appreciate the help." I spun around to see that Isa and Ginny were on their way back over to me. "Isa, sweetheart," I called when she wouldn't really look at me, "I promise I will talk to Professor Dumbledore about training me in a duel situation and about more defensive spells. I promise. Now, we need to get out of here. Fawkes will carry Lockhart and Ginny while you scramble up on my back, and I'll climb us out, okay?"

"Thank you, Teddy." She pulled on my hand so I would lean down for the kiss she bestowed on me before she giggled and pulled herself onto my back. As I stood, we both looked over at Lockhart to see that Ginny had also done the same and that Fawkes was landing on his shoulders, getting ready to lift them both off the ground. "Home, Teddy!"

I laughed at her reference before turning and running toward the pipe, only to let Fawkes fly out in front of me. I didn't know what kind of reception we'd get when we climbed out, but at least, I knew for certain that Hogwarts was safe from the monster in The Chamber of Secrets.

~*~UHS~*~

We bumped into no one after climbing out of the chamber and into the girls' bathroom. No one was there waiting for us, which was a little surprising. I knew Jasper and Esme were aware we were going to find it, and I was surprised that they didn't follow us.

I could hear, though, that they were still in the school; in fact, all of our family was, as well as the Weasleys.

"We have to go to McGonagall's office; that's where Dumbledore is."

Isa and Ginny nodded but Lockhart turned to me. "Who's Dumbledore?"

Ginny's mouth dropped open at his question, her thoughts spinning out in all directions. She didn't understand why our professor didn't know what was going on.

I grabbed Lockhart by the arm and started guiding him toward the door but talking to him and Ginny at the same time. "Professor Dumbledore is the headmaster of this school, and we need to go see him. We'll explain everything when we get there, okay?"

Ginny nodded, following us silently, but Lockhart was anything but silent. What I found interesting now was that he was fascinated by everything. His mind being so childlike that it was capable of understanding things his adult mind had gotten confused about. I was hoping that, with time and a little effort, he might be rehabilitated and become a productive member of society.

Fawkes flew over our heads, not leaving us as we made our way to McGonagall's office. The whole castle had been put into lockdown; that was why we never bumped into anyone on our way. Once we made it to the grand staircase, we all looked up to the moving staircase. We had a lot of stairs to climb before we reached McGonagall's office. I just hoped everyone was up to it.

"This is just like magic!" Lockhart exclaimed about both the moving staircases and the pictures that talked and asked how Ginny was doing as we made our way up. The girls were giggling at Lockhart but sobered when we walked through the door to see both of our families standing there, looking at us.

It was quiet for a split second before Molly and Esme cried out in joy and bolted across the room pulling Ginny, Isa, and me into their arms. Esme smothered us in hugs and kisses, hugging one of us tight then grabbing the other one over and over again. Molly was crying and nearly squeezing the life out of poor Ginny, at least, until she released her and pulled me into her arms.

"Thank you, Edward," she whispered before pulling Isa into her arms as well. "Thank you, Bella. I can't believe you did that for Ginny."

"I love her, Mrs. Molly. Ginny is my best friend, and I wouldn't have let her die without a fight."

"And there is no way any member of my family is threatened without us doing something about it," I murmured to Molly. "You're family to Isa, but it's not just that. You guys brought my Isa to me, helped us assimilate into the magical world, and have been here through everything so far. There was no question that we would do our best to save her."

There was a quiet scoff in the background. Ron was standing in the back of the office with his arms crossed. While everyone in his family was making a fuss over Ginny, he was pissed off and grumbling. It wasn't that he didn't love Ginny, or that he didn't want her saved, he just didn't want the spotlight taken from him, and he knew that with her disappearance, it was going to be about Ginny for a long while. The more he grew up, the more selfish he became. I didn't know what was going to become of him.

Molly burst into fresh tears and hugged us tighter again. "Thank you, just, thank you."

After releasing us, the rest of our family descended. There was dry sobbing, tight hugs, kisses, and more than one threat about us going off on our own, even after telling Emmett that Jasper and Esme knew what we were doing.

"I don't care. You could have used more help. Jasper should have gone with you or, at least, gotten me. What the hell happened down there?"

"That's something I would like to know," Dumbledore spoke up from behind McGonagall's desk where Fawkes had landed on the back of a chair, standing tall and regal. "Please, everyone, sit down, and we'll have Edward and Isabella tell us what happened."

"Are you Professor Dumbledore?" a voice spoke up from the back of the room. We all spun to face Lockhart. From the thoughts around us, we'd forgotten he was there.

"I am." Dumbledore peered down at Isa and me, to which we both smirked and shrugged our shoulders. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gilderoy Lockhart. I'm ten years old. What do you teach here in this school?"

Dumbledore strolled down from the dais that McGonagall's desk stood on, peering at Isa and me as he moved past us, to stand in front of Lockhart. "Well, Master Lockhart, we teach all sorts of things in this school. Why don't you go with Professor Whitlock,, and he can take you somewhere where you'll be comfortable."

"Take him to the hospital wing," I whispered, telling Jasper Dumbledore's thoughts. "Explain to Madam Pomfrey that he's bumped his head and lost his memories. It'll keep him safe for now."

Jasper nodded, guiding Lockhart out the door. And the fact that I can hear all the way over there is a bonus.

I snickered at his thoughts before turning back to a stern-faced Dumbledore, who had moved back behind McGonagall's desk, placing the things we had brought with us upon it. "Now, please tell me the events of this night. Master Masen, you first …"

We spent the next several hours going over everything that had happened that night. Once our recovery of Ginny was handled, the Weasleys left to take her to the hospital wing to be checked out. They were relieved that it seemed Ginny had no ill effects from what had happened.

"Now I want to know what happened after I was pulled away from the school. But first, Carlisle, why don't you take Isabella down to Esme's office in the castle and check on her. The rest of your family can follow. I'll talk to Edward while you do that."

"But …" Isa was about to argue.

"No, sweet girl. Go. I can tell Professor Dumbledore everything. Plus, I need to talk to him anyway."

She nodded reluctantly but grabbed Carlisle's hand and followed them all out the door. I turned back to see that Dumbledore was watching silently and his mind was closed. He pointed in the direction of a cupboard hiding a pensieve and asked me to bring it over to the desk. After I put it carefully on the desk, I pulled my wand from my pocket and retrieved the memories from my mind. I watched in silence as Dumbledore reviewed everything that had happened since that night in Hagrid's hut, including what had happened down in the chamber.

"Isabella is right, Edward. We must do something so you are not put in harm's way. And I think I shall bring you a few books to read on defensives spells, something for your instincts to grab a hold of that will not put you in danger of using one that you shouldn't." Here Dumbledore stopped to think. "Riddle revealed a lot down there in the chamber, more than he should have. And Lucius will become a problem."

"He should be removed from the school board," I urged, causing Dumbledore to look up at me in surprise. "I have someone I trust feeding me information."

"Do you wish to share?"

I shook my head. "Not at this time, no. This person came to me for a reason. I'm not going to betray that trust."

"Nor do I wish you to. You trust this person explicitly?"

"I do. They've been a help this year."

Dumbledore pursed his lips. I didn't think he was entirely happy with my answer but let it drop. "You took note of this sword when you picked it up. Do you know why this was able to appear to Isabella in the chamber? Or why you were able to pick it up?"

I shook my head; I hadn't even thought about it. "I just wanted to get Isa to Dad to check her over. The sooner we were out of the chamber the better."

He nodded. "That's fair. I expected no different. But pick it up now and have a look at it."

I stood from the chair I had sat in and walked over to the desk to pick up the sword, still covered in the blood and venom from the basilisk, to have a clear look at the weapon Isa had been wielding. It was beautiful in its intricacies. A golden handle with rubies placed throughout the hilt, the largest in the end of the handle, with a likeness of who I presumed was one of the original teachers carved into it. But it was the blade that caught my attention, made of silver and definitely some of the best craftsmanship I had ever seen, that had the name Godric Gryffindor carved into it. My gaze snapped up to Dumbledore's when I read the inscription.

"Yes, Edward, this sword was made for Godric Gryffindor, and only a true Gryffindor could have pulled this from the hat. Only true Gryffindors could have wielded it as well as Isabella did. The fact that it didn't disappear when you went to pick it up means that you are also a true Gryffindor because, while others can hold it, it only appears to Gryffindors in need."

I carefully placed the sword back on the table. I wanted to say something, anything, because I'd never felt as accepted anywhere as I did here, but just as I did, I heard someone coming this way. He was at the bottom of the stairs and coming up. I raised my finger to my lips to advise Dumbledore to keep what he was about to say to himself. I could see the barest hint of a smirk on Dumbledore's mouth, meaning he knew, knew that this confrontation was going to happen tonight.

We stood in silence as we waited. The person in question didn't even knock on McGonagall's door; he just barged right in like he owned the place, and from his thoughts, he thought he did. But if what I was hearing from Dumbledore was true, it wouldn't be that way for very much longer.

"So, it is true; you're back," the intruder sneered. His blond hair was straight down his back like he'd taken a straightener to it that morning. What did surprise me, though, was that Dobby, the poor house elf whom he was abusing that morning in Diagon Alley so long ago, was trailing behind him.

This was my chance to free him, if I was able to.

"Well, Lucius, when Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the chamber, the governing council saw fit to bring me back. In fact, it seemed several of them were warned that you would harm their families if they didn't agree to get rid of me in the first place."

Lucius sputtered at the accusation Dumbledore let roll. "How dare you! My concern has only ever been for this school and the students who reside within."

I couldn't help it. I snorted, loudly, which caused Lucius's glare to come spinning to me.

"What do you think you're doing here? In trouble?" Lucius fumed.

"Actually, no. I was just returning the things that had been brought to us in the Chamber of Secrets. Things that helped kill the basilisk, and I was bringing evidence to Dumbledore on how it was opened in the first place."

"B-basilisk? Who opened the chamber?"

"Voldemort, in a fashion. He took control of a student, by way of this." Dumbledore dropped the diary heavily onto the table. We both saw the flinch that Lucius tried to hide, but it was Dobby's thoughts that caught my attention.

That was in Master's possession earlier this year. This was what Dobby was trying to keep Harry from; couldn't let the Boy who Lived to get hurt again.

And there was more proof that Lucius had something to do with this.

"Voldemort? That belonged to Voldemort?"

"Let's not beat around the bush, Lucius," I sneered at him. "You know damn well it was. Don't try to deny it."

"I don't know what you mean! How dare you!"

Dumbledore coughed gently. "Doesn't matter right now. Edward and Isabella were able to save Ginny from the monster, kill it, and destroy the diary."

I could hear Lucius grinding his teeth at that. He knew that was not how it was supposed to go down. "Well, let's hope that they'll always be here to save the day."

"Don't worry; we will be. Seeing as we are immortal and all that." I smirked while waving my hand dismissively. But something about the way Dumbledore had said destroy the diary made me wonder about something he'd had us study earlier in the year. Could it have been a horcrux?

"For now, Lucius, I believe you should be going. I hope that no more of Voldemort's old school things will reappear."

Instead of a goodbye, Lucius spun around, fluttering his robes out behind him, and stalked off out the door after kicking poor Dobby to the floor and demanding that he hurry up. I couldn't stand that the poor house elf was treated that way, and it must have shown all over my face because Dumbledore called for my attention. When I turned, he was holding out the diary.

"Perhaps this should be returned to the rightful owner." His eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Perhaps you're right." I grabbed the diary from him and took off out the door and down the stairs, using my natural speed to catch them in a corridor. "Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Malfoy!"

"What do you want, you abomination?" He wheeled around to face me.

"I just wanted to return this to you. It was given to you by your Dark Lord, after all."

He snatched it from my hand before handing it to Dobby, just as I hoped he would. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Come along, Dobby, there are things that need to be done."

Dobby hesitated just a little, he wanted me to apologize to Harry for him but couldn't say anything in front of Lucius. So I decided to give him a hand.

"Open the diary." He looked at me skeptically. "Just do it. I promise everything will be fine."

Dobby looked down and slowly opened the diary, only for it to fall open at a specific page. He looked up at me with tears in his big round eyes, knowing I had helped to do this.

"Dobby, what are you doing?" growled Lucius.

"Master has presented Dobby with clothes."

"What are you going on about?"

"Master has given Dobby a sock. Dobby is free!"

The look Lucius gave me would have killed me on the spot if he'd been able to. I pulled the leg of my pants up to show him where I had taken off my own sock to be presented to Dobby.

"You have cost me my servant!" Lucius bellowed, pulling his wand and striding toward me. "Ava …"

Before I could pull my own, Dobby popped in front of me. "You shall not harm Edward Masen!" Dobby held up a hand in front of himself, pushing it toward Lucius; a powerful wave of magic flew toward the has-been wizard, throwing him back through the air. "Nor shall you harm any of his friends!"

Lucius was dazed and confused but was caught unaware when Dobby clicked his fingers and made him disappear, to where I had no idea. Dobby turned to look up at me, sheer awe expressed all over his face.

"You helped free Dobby, Master Masen. How can Dobby ever repay you?"

I laughed quietly. "How about instead of trying to save my friends lives, you come tell me about it first, and we can work on it together."

Dobby seemed to blush, just a little, and gave me a sheepish smile in return. "Dobby can do that."

"Great, now how about we go collect Isa, then I'll introduce you to everyone in the hospital wing. Including Harry and his family. Then we can fill them in on how you helped." I held out my hand for him to take, which he did, quite happily.

"Gladly, Master Masen."

With a click of his fingers, we popped into Esme's office.

~*~UHS~*~

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Hmm quite a bit revealed in this chapter. What do you all think?

One more chapter to go for Book Two - One Step Closer to Forever, see you all in a fortnight!