I was asked in a review if Harry/Ace had different glasses, and realized that, for all my planning, I kind of forgot to mention them. Sorry about that. Assume they were bought along the rest of his new stuff between first and second year. But I'm not sure which type of glasses would look better on him :/ Any ideas? Because, seeing both Ace and Marco's styles, they could be any kind of horror easily (let's accept it, colour combination isn't their strong point.)

You know, I'm halfway through my exams, but the Chamber scene was already written, two exams done and I REALLY needed a break, so here you go.

There's a lot of expectation about whether or not they'll take Lockhart to the Chamber with them, so let's see :) (as always, beta read by The Red Harlequin On The Luna.)

Chapter 14: The Heir of Slytherin

Marco had told Ace and Ron to head to the bathroom while he took a short detour. He hoped Severus wouldn't mind he had raided his potions' supplies, but Ace wasn't anywhere near his former shape and a basilisk was out of his league, even much more out of Ron's. Marco intended to take on the thing himself —he had been wanting to do so for years, after all— but it was better to be prepared for anything. That was why, as an afterthought, he had gone to Albus' office and picked up the Sorting Hat. He didn't know what Albus had meant when he had told him the hat would help whoever was in need of it, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to take it.

He had to wonder, as he approached the bathroom, why Lockhart was with Ace snf Ron when, by all intents and purposes, he should be far from the school by now.

Ace's wand aimed at Lockhart told him everything he needed to know. Apparently, it was time for revenge. Marco wouldn't interfere, the guy had more than earned it.

Lockhart gave him an interested look when he flew in —though Marco had the feeling he was more likely thinking how his image would improve with a phoenix of his own instead of why he might be here in the first place— and no one commented on the old hat and moleskin bag he was carrying.

They all ignored Lockhart's attempts at convincing them to let him leave and Ace hissed at the sinks, which just parted open to reveal a dark, deep tunnel of which they couldn't see the bottom.

When Lockhart tried to talk his way out again, Ron kicked him in.

Ace and Ron slid down the pipe and Marco flew in after them. It was dark, damp and dirty. It landed on a dark tunnel equally dark, damp and dirty, and everyone but Marco ended up covered in grime.

Ace lit his wand and they advanced forward through the tunnel. As they moved, animal bones began to appear in their path, proving that something had been eating down there. Soon, they stumbled upon the giant shed skin of a snake. It was huge, but of course a basilisk that had been down here for a thousand years would be that big, and Marco found himself eager to fight it. This promised to be the most interesting fight he had had in centuries —which, really, was kind of depressing, considering the fights he used to get into.

Unsurprisingly, Lockhart took advantage of the distraction to try to attack them and escape.

Marco didn't bother to intervene. The idiot had stolen Ron's wand, he could feel the memory spell would backfire before he fired it.

The result, however, was a convenient one.

The tunnel caved in, separating the group. Ron and Lockhart were left in the half heading the way they had come in, while Ace and Marco could advance forward.

"Ron!" Ace yelled at the wall.

"I'm here!" Ron yelled back. "I'm okay — this git's not, though — he got blasted by the wand—"

A thud followed by a loud "ow!" signalled that Ron had most likely hit Lockhart.

"What now?" Ron said. "Can't Marco kick the wall in or something?"

Marco transformed, ignoring the possibility that Lockhart could hear him. He would deal with the idiot later.

"I won't." He understood that Ron wanted to save his sister, he really did, but it would be safer for everybody involved if he stayed behind.

"What?! Why not?!" Ron demanded, sounding both angry and desperate.

"We're up against a basilisk, and who knows what else." This place messed with his haki, he could only feel the two of them and some rats nearby. Slytherin had outdone himself with the warding, no arguing there. "You wait here and keep an eye on Lockhart, we'll take care of it."

Another "ow!" told them Ron had released his frustration on Lockhart.

"You better get my sister back!"

"We will, Ron," Ace promised. "Just wait here."

Looking at Ace, they both nodded and turned around, walking further down the tunnel. The place was creepy, and it didn't get any better when they came face to face with a solid wall that had two entwined snakes carved in it, no doubt another barrier for anyone who wasn't a parselmouth.

Harry stopped himself when he was about to order the wall to open. There was something he would rather be sure of beforehand.

"Before we go in," he said, "are you sure a basilisk's eyes aren't one of the few things that can actually kill you?"

Next to him, Marco smiled, but they both pretended Harry hadn't sounded worried.

"It's not the first of these things I've fought."

Curious, Harry turned to him.

"Really? When'd you fight one?"

"A couple millennia ago, in what now is Peru."

There it was, a reminder that Harry didn't know exactly how long Marco had been around, only that it had been long. Unfortunately, now was not the moment to ask. He made a mental note to do so later; he had been putting this conversation off for almost a year now.

Nodding, he looked at the wall and ordered it to open.

The chamber they saw past the now parted wall was even creepier than the corridor that had preceded it –and, in any other occasion, it would have screamed 'adventure', but now things were too serious for that. It was dark, illuminated in a greenish light and full of huge, towering columns.

Harry looked at Marco, knowing that he would warn him if the basilisk was around, and Marco nodded to the other end of the chamber, where an ugly stone statue of a man stood as tall as the chamber. There was no giant snake in sight, which meant it was probably somehow behind it —or maybe inside, the thing was big enough to easily fit a serpent the size of the skin they had seen. Between the statue's feet, facedown, was the prone figure of Ginny Weasley and, forgetting about deadly basilisks, Harry ran to her, Marco following at a more sedate pace —which told him she was at least alive.

Harry took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Ginny was so pale that, hadn't he already known she wasn't, he would have thought she was dead. But she wasn't, instead breathing weakly while Harry muttered uselessly for her to wake up.

Marco came to stand next to him, and it was only habit that allowed him to process with the little attention he was paying that he was standing guard over him, ready to attack at the slightest sign of danger.

"She won't wake."

Harry raised his head to see a dark haired boy of around sixteen leaning against a pillar nearby. There was something off about him, but he didn't bother to try to figure out what it was.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Before the boy could answer, Marco did.

"That's Tom Riddle."

"What? Voldemort? Great," muttered Harry.

Riddle looked surprised, but recovered quickly.

"You know who I am? I'm impressed, though I can't say the same about you." He turned to Harry. "You, however, I have heard about. You are Harry Potter, aren't you?"

"Why does he look like that? That's nothing like what Voldemort looked like last year," Harry asked Marco, ignoring teenage Voldemort.

"I don't know," Marco admitted. "He's Voldemort, but as he was back in school. He doesn't feel at all like the guy from last year. Guess that explains why I didn't notice him." Marco looked frustrated, but also as if he was piercing together a mystery. "And he's not entirely there." His eyes slid to the floor, and for the first time Harry noticed the black diary open next to Ginny.

"That is because I am not entirely out of the diary yet," Riddle said calmly, still leaning against the column as he had been before.

"Wait, you're in there," Harry looked at the diary, then at Riddle, "but also there?" That didn't make any sense at all.

"I am a memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years."

Harry blinked, that didn't make sense, either.

"Whatever." He looked at Marco. "Do we kill him?"

That got Riddle to at least move away from the column. He looked surprised.

"Kill me? You cannot kill me."

Harry scoffed.

"Of course we can." He pulled his wand out of his pocket where it had stayed since he hadn't needed to aim it at Lockhart anymore.

"Curious… You don't act at all like I expected."

Not in the mood for a conversation about how the world expected Harry Potter to act, he threw a cutting hex at Riddle. It hit him, but strangely in didn't have any effect. That was when he realized that what he had noticed off about Riddle was the fact that he was blurred, almost like he was a ghost, but different to the ones up at the school. He seemed almost entirely solid.

While this happened, Marco had knelt down and was now holding the diary.

"Ace," he called, "try burning this."

"Ace?"

They both ignored Riddle, and Harry fired an incendio at the book. It rebounded, and hit Marco, who was still holding the diary, square on the chest. Blue flames sprang to life and devoured the normal fire before it could even touch the fabric of Marco's shirt.

"How did you do that?" They both turned to see Riddle looking in fascination at the spot where Marco should have been badly burnt, his eyes glinting with what could be defined as hunger. For the knowledge, Harry guessed. Not that he could replicate it.

"None of your business. What'd you do to Ginny?" he demanded, going back to what mattered here.

"Strictly speaking, I did nothing to her, at least not at first. She did it to herself."

Harry glared, not caring at all about the word games Riddle seemed to like.

"Whatever it is, undo it."

"Why? That would be against my own interests."

"Undo it or we'll make you," he threatened, and Riddle just smiled.

"I think that just failed, Harry."

Harry gritted his teeth.

"We'll keep trying. Something will work."

"You can do that, I suppose," Riddle said, nonchalant, "but, while you do, we can talk. I have been most anxious to meet you, after all, Harry."

"Oh, really?" Harry tried the cutting hex on the diary, but it again rebounded and hit Marco, who didn't even react. He was busy studying the book.

"Of course. You seem to know who I am, which, I'll admit, is impressive." Riddle smiled pleasantly. "By what I gathered, not many seem to have figured out my identity, as I had intended. But passable deductive skills don't explain how you, a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent, managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time. How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Oh," Harry blinked, "that's it? Hurt pride?"

He would have sworn Riddle's smile faltered for the shortest of moments.

"No, it's mere curiosity. How could such an impossible occurrence actually happen?"

"Why is Ginny's presence in the diary as well?" Marco asked, interrupting. Teen Voldemort didn't seem too pleased about that, but he recovered so quickly Harry wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking at him. He had to admit it, he had great acting skills.

"That is because she poured her soul into it with each entry she wrote, with every secret she shared with me, every thought she-"

"I see," Marco interrupted, again, and suddenly Harry was sure he was doing it on purpose. Marco threw the Sorting Hat at Harry, who caught it midair. "Why don't you try talking to it? It's been around for a long time, maybe it has an idea."

"Why don't you?" Harry retorted.

"I have a cover to maintain."

Harry looked dubiously at the hat. He didn't fancy another session of mind reading.

"You know," Harry said to Riddle, more to stall than anything else, "you're not the most powerful wizard around. As far as wizards go, I bet Dumbledore is stronger, and then there are the non-wizards that can beat you, too."

"Non-wizards?" Riddle had been about to say something when Harry had mentioned Dumbledore, but that second comment had offended him far more.

"Yeah," he gestured at Marco with his head. "And I'm stronger than you, too."

"He is not a wizard?" If Ginny hadn't been unconscious and barely holding onto life before him, Harry would have laughed at the shocked and horrified expression that took over Riddle's face, expression that turned to hatred as he watched. "A muggle at Hogwarts? In Salazar Slytherin's Chamber?!"

Whatever Riddle had planned for this meeting vanished then from his mind and, tense and furious, the young Lord Voldemort turned around to look at the giant statue and hissed at it.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

"Finally," Marco said, a slow grin stretching his lips.

As the mouth of the statue opened, Marco placed the bag he had been carrying next to Harry and stood up.

"Close your eyes until I tell you."

Harry did as he was told, and he heard the sound of a huge body slithering down stone. He heard it hit the floor of the chamber, and Marco had yet to move.

"Kill the man, but not the boy." Riddle ordered.

Then, Harry heard Marco's booted feet running, way faster than a normal human could, away from where Harry and Ginny were, to another part of the Chamber.

Riddle began to laugh, but his laughter was cut short just as a blue flash of light burst behind Harry's tightly closed lids, and mad, high and desperate hissing filled the cavernous space.

"…What?" Riddle breathed out, a word Harry barely heard, and Harry chuckled.

"Bet you weren't expecting that."

"How did…? He's a muggle!" Riddle exclaimed, to himself more than to Harry.

"Ace, you can open your eyes," he heard Marco's voice. It wasn't a yell, but it reverberated across the whole room.

Harry did.

"I said he wasn't a wizard," he told Riddle, "I never said he fit your definition of non-magical people."

A look over at the fight –Marco was back to human form and was currently running left of the basilisk— proved Marco had gouged the serpents' eyes out. He had blood on his legs to show how, exactly, he had done it.

Riddle was still staring and, Harry was sure, had he been any less shocked, he would probably be yelling about right now.

"You wanted to talk?" Harry asked, just to mess with him. He had no intention of answering any of Riddle's questions. The diary skidded across the floor when it repelled Harry's blasting spell. It hit Ginny on the thigh and stopped there. "Sorry," Harry told her, picking the thing up.

"He has called you 'Ace' twice," Riddle said, forgoing his previous question, "why? You are Harry Potter."

Harry shrugged.

"I'm also Ace. It'd be weird if Marco called me Harry."

Riddle was staring at him with a strange expression.

"What are you?"

That one Harry would answer. He grinned.

"A pirate."

Riddle, if the way he clenched his jaw was any indication, didn't like that response.

"Don't play with me, Harry. When the basilisk is done with your friend it will come for you. How fast you die depends on how much you cooperate."

Harry blinked, stared at Riddle, then he blinked again and snorted.

"Oh, man, you're serious? That snake's got like two minutes of life left, depending on how much Marco wants to play." As if to confirm his words, a loud crash reverberated through the whole cavern.

"Don't be stupid, that your muggle friend can turn into a bird doesn't mean he has anything to do against the greatest of all serpents." He said it with such certainty that Harry was sure he had managed to convince himself of it.

Voldemort was arrogant, there was no doubt there. Arrogant, extremely confident, sure of himself… and obsessed with immortality.

Harry grinned.

"Nah, your snake doesn't stand a chance. Even if Marco wasn't so much stronger, it couldn't kill him. Want to know why?" He didn't wait for an answer, suspecting the no longer composed Tom Riddle wouldn't give him one. "Marco is immortal."

Riddle's enraged response was drowned by the sound of the basilisk's body crashing into two pillars, taking them down with it.

Silence filled the chamber, the two of them staring at the scene of the thirty feet snake sprawled, unmoving, across the middle of the room.

"Looks like he didn't feel like playing," Harry said, unable to resist it, and rolled out of the way when Riddle lunged at him —or, more precisely, at his wand.

When Harry knelt up, Marco was next to Ginny; a thin, sharp white fang held in one hand. Then he threw the fang at Harry, and he caught it. He didn't have time to be confused before the lines about the basilisk he had read came to mind.

Deadly and venomous fangs. Huh.

The idea of poisoning a diary should be stupid, but paper you couldn't cut nor burn wasn't normal paper, so Harry didn't think twice before sinking the fang into the book he still held in one hand.

A piercing shriek filled the chamber, and ink began to pour from the diary, down Harry's hands, staining his knees and finally falling to the floor. Riddle, who had just stood up after his failed attempt to get Harry's wand, fell to the floor, writhing and screaming in pain.

Then he disappeared, as if he had never been there.

Harry looked at Marco, who just stared back at him.

"What the hell was that?"

"No idea."

A soft moan drew their attention and they both turned to Ginny, who had woken without either of them noticing and now was sitting up, her skin having regained a healthier shade.

Her eyes took first in the dead basilisk –which was right in her line of sight— then Marco kneeling next to her and then moved to Harry, still on his knees a few feet away. She blanched again when she noticed the ruined diary in his hands.

She turned into a sobbing mess, and began to mumble only half coherent apologies and explanations. Harry looked at Marco, who signalled that he should be the one to try to calm her. It made sense, of course, Harry was the one who knew her, but he didn't like it any more because of that.

"Harry — oh, Harry — I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy — it was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-diddt mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and – how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I rremember is him coming out of the diary —"

Standing up, Harry walked closer and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright," he told her, "Riddle's gone, and the basilisk dead. You're fine now."

It didn't work, though, because she continued.

"I'm going to be expelled! I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and — w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"

Harry looked at Marco for help, but Marco just shrugged, letting him know he was on his own here. Marco stood up, taking the bag and the hat with him.

Harry began to mutter reassurances at Ginny, trying to calm her down. Her sobbing diminished, but she was still distressed and worried sick about the consequences of what had happened.

"Ow."

That drew their attention and they turned to see Marco take the Sorting Hat off, rubbing his head. A sword fell from the hat. Noticing them watching, he shrugged.

"I wanted to see why Albus had sent the hat."

Next to him, Ginny let out a breath. Her lips twitched, and Harry thought she would have laughed in another situation.

Marco bent down and picked up the sword. It was silver and had rubies on the hilt. In another life, it would have been an interesting addition to one's treasure. Right now, Marco was studying it speculatively.

"It will do."

Much to Harry and Ginny's confusion, Marco walked over to the basilisk's head, opened its mouth and stabbed it right inside it.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, eyes following the now bloodied sword as Marco pulled it out.

"You can't say you killed the basilisk with it if it doesn't have blood."

"Oh, right." Harry hadn't even thought they would need a cover story for the whole mess.

Ginny was looking between the two of them.

"Harry? Who is this man?"

That, too, was something that needed to be addressed.

"Can you keep a secret, Ginny?"

They had bought the story about how Ron and Ace had 'accompanied' Lockhart to the chamber –this part not so much, it seemed only Mrs. Weasley actually believed Lockhart had gone in voluntarily— and Ace had managed to defeat the basilisk with Fawkes' help –which technically was true, Marco thought— and the sword –which so happened to be the sword of Gryffindor, Albus said. Well, they mostly believed the story; Marco was sure Albus suspected Ace wasn't telling the whole truth, but had left it be and rewarded Ace and Ron for their bravery. Not that house points and a shiny trophy meant much, but it was something.

From there, Ginny, who had promised not to say anything about Marco, was dragged to the hospital wing, Albus proved he had known all along that Lockhart stole his stories from other people and erased their minds, it was said the basilisk's victims were being unpetrified right now –which made both Ace and Ron immensely happy about Hermione and Marco realized there was another revelation coming, this one probably loaded with questions— and finally Ace, Albus and Marco were left alone in the office. Albus, of course, had wanted to talk to Ace about Riddle, and it was fortunate Ace had been able to look at his lap in what could be seen as either nervousness or exhaustion after the events of the day, or he wouldn't have been able to hide the fact that he knew more about Tom Riddle than he should have.

Ace was proving very capable of avoiding Albus' eyes without seemingly pretending to.

Marco liked Albus, and he trusted him about many things, but this whole mess with Voldemort wasn't one of them. Albus reminded him far too much of Sengoku in his strategies for that to be the case.

Though Albus revealed something interesting, something Marco hadn't realized himself before, something hadn't told Marco about as he sometimes did when he needed to think or get something off his chest; he had said Voldemort had transferred some of his powers to Ace the night he attacked him.

That was something they would have to think over, it might explain the reason for the prophecy that tied them together.

It could wait a day, though. When Ace was leaving for the feast –Marco had all the intention to follow— Lucius Malfoy entered Albus' office. And with him came Dobby.

That was one mystery solved.

Seeing the house elf bandaged up, Marco felt a little bad for threatening him.

While Malfoy spewed venom at Albus and Albus countered in his calm manner, Dobby cowered at his master's feet, trying to clean his shoes. He did, however, look up once, and his eyes met Marco's. The look there was enough for Marco to understand that Dobby had realized exactly who he was. Dobby somehow managed to look even more scared, and Marco felt guilt crawl up his gut. He nodded at Dobby as non-threateningly as he could.

When the diary came up in the conversation, Dobby turned to Ace and quite obviously tried to tell him it had been Malfoy's doing and hit himself after every attempt. Luckily, Ace caught on and nodded. Dobby then twisted his ears in self-punishment.

When Malfoy left, Harry barely remembered to ask Dumbledore if he could take the diary before going through with his impromptu plan. Putting the book in his dirty sock brought a sense of satisfaction just by imagining Voldemort's reaction if he knew the fate of his diary, and that feeling only increased when Malfoy took it without realizing what it was.

Of course, Malfoy was in such a hurry to get rid of the offending garment that he threw it at Dobby, unwittingly freeing him.

Harry could have cheered when Dobby attacked his former master and made him flee. Not that he couldn't have dodged whatever spell Malfoy had wanted to fire at him —and beat him, if he got close enough to throw a punch— but it was nice to see he had someone else to count on.

As long as Dobby didn't try to save his life again, of course.

The feast, Harry decided, was the best he had experienced at Hogwarts. It was nothing like the parties the Whitebeard Pirates threw, and juice was nowhere near as good as booze to party with, but seeing everybody so happy after all these months, everybody dressed in their pyjamas and eating as much as they wanted, was great.

When Hermione came running to them, Ron and Harry engulfed her in a double bear hug and held her there until she complained that she couldn't breathe. She wanted to know everything that had happened since she had been petrified, and fired all sort of questions at them. Harry convinced her to wait until they were alone, looking around pointedly. Luckily, she was better than either Harry or Ron at getting hints.

Justin came to apologize for suspecting he was the Heir —Harry was too happy to care about that at the moment— and exams, much to Hermione's dismay, were cancelled; it was announced Lockhart couldn't come back next year, and the teachers cheered as much or even more than the students did; and at around three in the morning Hagrid came back, which only made Harry want to party even harder.

Harry was sure the next day no one showed up outside of a bedroom before, at least, lunch. He woke up for dinner.

To be continued

Originally, I wanted to leave the scene at the Chamber so that Riddle could say most of what he does in canon, but realized with these two it'd be impossible. I managed to fit some important facts and that's about it (I hope Riddle wasn't too out of character.) Also, I know it's ridiculous how they got the sword, but there is no way Harry would've shown the loyalty to Dumbledore here that originally brought the hat (and it was already there anyway.) Dumbledore said only a true Gryffindor could get it out of the hat, and we all know Marco fits the bill, so there xD

Now, if you're wondering why Marco put the hat on after saying he had to maintain his cover, it's simple: right after saying it, he realized the hat is sentient, and so has known his secret since the moment he transformed. He was checking what Albus intended for the hat to do, but he was also convincing it to keep his secret.