Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything in it belongs to JK Rowling
WARNING: This chapter is over 14,000 words long, might need to take a break in the middle of it.
Within the Shadows Ch 13
Daphne gasped as she felt something wrapped around her body, the last memory of the basilisk finding them caused her to panic and she was struggling to find her breath, she was about to try and push it off of her when she heard crying. She took a moment to realize she wasn't in the library, but the infirmary? 'What am I doing here? What happened?'
It was then she looked down and saw it wasn't the basilisk that was wrapped around her, but a little girl. Daphne's eyes widened as she recognized her sister. A soft smile came on her face as she wrapped her arms around her little sister and soothed sweet words to her. "It's okay Tori, I'm alright."
Astoria was still crying, but she could hear her tears quiet down a bit from her words, and she stopped trembling. Daphne gently pushed the girl slightly off her to look at her face, she could see Astorias face was bright red, and with tears sliding down her face. Her heart broke at what her sister had been going through.
"I-I thought I'd never see you again, th-that you'd be petrified forever." She said quietly, her lower lip trembling.
Daphne smiled at her sister, she moved her hand and cupped her sister's cheek, and smiled softly at her. "It's okay Tori, I'm fine, I promise not to leave you again."
That brought the biggest smile Daphne's ever seen on her sisters face, as she nodded eagerly at her words.
She looked around and for the first time realized how much commotion was going on in the infirmary. Every bed was filled and had about two or three people around it. As if there weren't enough people she saw a few professors racing back and forth with something in their hands, along with what she presumed were Aurors?
"Tori, what's going on? How long was I petrified?" She asked looking back at her sister.
Astoria looked back at everyone else in the room and she saw a frown forming on her face. "You and a lot of students were found petrified in the library a few hours ago. I was asleep in my room because of a headache, I didn't know what happened to you until a few hours ago." She could see her sister start to break down, so she quickly rubbed her sister's shoulders to remind her she was okay. "They're shutting down the school, a squad of Aurors was brought in, and tomorrow morning we'll be going back home." She finished explaining.
Daphne was about to respond before she felt the room start shaking, she yelped in surprise and grabbed her bed for support, she felt her sister grabbed on to her as well as the shaking continued. Soon the shaking ceased and both sisters let go of one another.
"And that's been happening as well, though it only started a twenty minutes ago the shaking has been happening a few times already." Tori explained.
Daphne frowned at that, earthquakes never happened at Hogwarts, so the fact that not only one but multiple ones didn't make sense, something was wrong. She started looking around, she knew Hermione was probably one of the victims and she wanted to make sure she wasn't still petrified. She sighed in relief as she saw on the bed beside her the bushy haired girl slowly getting up.
"Glad to see you're alright as well." She called out grabbing Hermione's attention.
She looked back at her, a small smile on her face. "Yes, looks like the Mandrakes came through. Happy to see you're alright yourself." She saw her looking around the infirmary a small frown on her face. "Do you happen to know which bed Ginny is in?" She asked sounding concerned.
Daphne frowned at that when she did a quick look she didn't see the ginger girl, she looked around again and didn't notice her.
"Tori, did you happen to see where Ginny Weasley is, she was with us in the library." She asked her sister.
A troubled look came over Astoria's face, she bit her lip and quickly glanced down not making eye contact with her. Daphne knew instantly that something wrong had happened, the only other time she made that face was when they learned their pet passed away. She saw Hermione climb off her bed and walked over. She gently nudged her sister hoping to tell her whats wrong.
"There was a message written in blood a few hours after you both were found petrified." Astoria took a deep breath before continuing. "The Heir kidnapped her and another student."
Daphne could feel her heart start to break after she and Hermione tried so hard to reassure the girl and making her feel better, this happened to her. It wasn't fair. She saw Hermione have a sad look on her face, clearly thinking the same. Unfortunately Astoria still had a troubled look on her face, clearly, there was more bad news.
"What is Astoria? What are you leaving out?" She prodded gently.
The little girl started to shed a few tears slowly shaking her head. "I'm so sorry Daphne." She said quietly. "The Heir also took Scarlet."
Daphne couldn't process what she was just told. Scarlet was taken? 'Tori must be mistaken.' She didn't notice herself taking heavier and heavier breaths, all she could her was her heart pounding against her chest. 'He's probably back in his common room with the rest of the students.' But as her eyes frantically looked around, she saw all the victims have their closest friends at their bedside. 'No, no, no, no.' She looked at Hermione hoping that she had some answers, but as she saw her slowly shook her head she knew there was no denying it. Daphne didn't feel the first tear drop, or the next, what she felt was her sister wrapping her in a hug. She let out a small cry as she clung on to her sister for deer life and buried her face in her shoulders, not bothering to keep herself quiet and letting the pain out.
She felt another pair of arms around her as she heard a few sniffles from Hermione. It was ironic, a few hours ago they hated one another, ready to hex each other, but now they were two wounded souls, both needing the other for support for their lost friend.
It was a few minutes before they slowly broke apart, she felt a little better knowing she wasn't alone. It was funny, she often felt the need to push people away, outside of Tracey and family she didn't care about anyone and she was contempt with that for awhile. But then Scarlet got introduced in her life, and over time she grew to enjoy his company, though his humor often was left to be desired. Then she got introduced to Potter, Granger, and Weasley. They weren't exactly friends but they were fighting for the same goal, and that united them in a way she never thought possible. Because right now she felt better that she wasn't alone.
"Dumbledore!" A voice shouted full of concern. Professor McGonagall was racing down the infirmary to where she saw Dumbledore standing with a few other professors.
"Yes, Minerva?" The Headmaster asked.
"I'm afraid more students are missing." McGonagall told him, worry evident on her face.
A few gasps were heard from nearby students overhearing the conversation. "Which ones?" He asked solemnly.
"Potter, Weasley, and Davis aren't in their commons rooms." She informed him. Daphne could feel herself start to panic again, she just lost Scarlet, she couldn't lose Tracey as well, they'd been together for nearly her whole life. She could feel herself shaking and struggled to take steady breaths. She could see Hermione not taking that news any better as she seemed to have trouble standing up, and had to lean on her bed for support.
A dark Auror dressed in purple robes ran over to them. "I'm afraid they aren't the only ones missing. One of my aurors is also missing." He added looking just as concerned.
"Which one Shaklebolt?" Dumbledore questioned immediately.
"Auror Tonks, I believe she was a recent graduate of your school. She disappeared after we arrested Hagrid and hasn't been seen or heard from since."
Daphne could see a frown form on the Headmasters face. "I think your missing students Minerva and your missing Auror Shacklebolt aren't actually missing, but rather choose not to be found." He told both of them after a few moments of thinking.
They both had a confused look on their faces. "Albus why would they not wish to be found? There's a monster terrorizing this school as we speak!" McGonagall asked astonished at such a notion.
"Last year mister Potter and his friends broke curfew to stop Quirrell to steal what was underneath the school, it is by no means a coincidence that once he heard his friends had been kidnapped that he went off to find the chamber. Add to reason the relation Nymphadora shares with young Shade she may have accompanied him on this crusade." Dumbledore explained to them.
"All the more reason we should find them, I'll send any Aurors I can spare." Before Shacklebolt could walk out the room started to shake again, this time much more violently, causing a few people standing up to fall down, and a few potions to fall out of their shelves and break on the floor. It lasted for almost thirty seconds before stopping.
"I'm afraid there's not much we can do, I have a feeling the cause of theses distributing tremors is being caused by mister Potter and his friends engaging the Heir." Dumbledore explained helping McGonagall stand up.
"All the more reason we should find and help them." Shacklebolt responded while helping a few students.
"Unfortunately the location of the chamber is still hidden, I myself have tried to find it with little success, I'm afraid the students and your Auror are on their own." Dumbledore told them gravely.
"You can't be serious Albus, they're just kids." McGonagall pleaded.
"I'm afraid so Minerva, I've sent Fawkes out to see if he can find them, but there's nothing left we can do." He finished with a sad look on his face.
Daphne looked down at her bedside table and saw the mirror Scarlet had given her for her birthday. She slowly reached for it and brought it closer to her, hoping that it could give her some comfort. "Please win."
XXX
"Easy Scarlet." Tonks said slowly standing up and having her hands out in front of her. "It's me Tonks, I know you're scared right now but I came to save you."
She knew Scarlet must've been freaking out, being kidnapped the way he was, he just needed to take a deep breath and realize who she was.
She frowned as the wand that was still being pointed at her didn't lower in the slightest. She looked him in the eye and saw no emotion in them. Scarlet wasn't scared or on edge as she thought he might be, not angry at who he thought was the Heir, nothing.
"Scarlet, we came to save you and Ginny, you're safe." Harry reassured right beside her, he mimicked her actions by having his hands out.
Scarlet eyes flickered between the two of them, a smile broke out on his face. Tonks sighed in relief as he finally recognized them. She was about to step forward and hug the boy before she noticed the smile on his face turned into a smirk, a very familiar smirk the Heir had.
"So you two are the last hope Dumbledore has sent to save his school? How truly pathetic has he become?" Scarlet mused before laughing at them.
Tonks was confused on what was going on, she'd never heard Scarlets laugh sound so dark. She made a step forward and before she could react felt a sharp pain cut her arm. She brought her hand up to the cut applying pressure, she looked at where it came from and saw Scarlet frowning at both of them.
"I wouldn't move if I were you, Nymphadora. Next will be aimed at your throat." Scarlet uttered darkly, but it wasn't his voice that said it, it sounded much older.
Tonks seethed at him, this wasn't Scarlet, he knew better than to call her by her first name. "Who are you!?" She roared. "The real Scarlet would never hurt his friends!"
He smiled at her, amusement in his eyes as if he was onto some joke she couldn't figure out.
"Tom?" Harry asked.
The imposter looked back at Harry. "Well done, Potter. I wasn't sure if you would recognize my voice." He complimented.
"Listen we got to go we have to save Ginny." Harry continued, Tonks didn't know who this Tom was and how Harry knew about this character. This wasn't making any sense.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, you see as Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." He said, not caring for the life of the girl beside them.
"Who. Are. You." Tonks seethed, she needed answers now!
He looked at her with amusement. "My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Or as you all have been calling The Heir."
Tonks' eyes widened at this, she knew Lockhart couldn't have been the Heir of Slytherin, but she didn't know why Scarlet was like this.
"You were in the diary, a memory, what did you do? How are you even here?" Harry asked.
Scarlet or Tom reached inside his robes and pulled out a black leathered dairy, the same one that matched the description from what Harry and his friends told her. "You see fifty years I opened the Chamber of Secrets and unleashed the Basilisk onto the school."
"You framed Hagrid didn't you?." Harry asked.
"It was my word against his, only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent." Tom sneered.
"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Harry smiled, that caused Tom to have a look of annoyance on his face.
"He certainly kept a close eye on me after that." Tom continued, annoyed at Harry's comment. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the chamber again while I was still at school. So I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages. So that one day I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"That still doesn't explain why you are in Scarlet's body." Tonks interrupted.
"For fifty years I waited until someone was naive enough to use this book. It seemed young Shade needed something to unleash his anger upon, so he wrote in the book the stupidity of two Gryffindor students who crashed their car in the lake on the first day of school. I made my presence known and the boy continued to write in this book throughout the school year. My influence over him growing." Tom explained circling around them.
"He would've realized what you were doing to him, he's smarter than that." Tonks bit back. Along with gathering information she was buying time. Defenseless, and with no wand she needed to come up with a plan quickly.
"He wouldn't even if he was even aware of what was going on. I needed to distract Scarlet's mind for the first few weeks, so when he told me the abuse he suffered under those filthy muggles, I used that to my advantage and made him relive those nightmares every time he fell asleep. While his consciousness was busy dealing with them I had free control on him and made him do whatever I please." Tom explained.
It suddenly made sense why Scarlet's nightmares popped up and weren't going away. Tom was the cause behind it. She curled her fist, Scarlet had been a wreck for months because of the nightmares. "You tortured the poor boy!" Tonks yelled.
"Perhaps, but by plaguing his thoughts with those memories allowed me free reign to open the chamber and to unleash my pet onto the school, and petrify any student I want." He answered, showing no remorse for his actions.
"Why target the Weasleys, I thought your grudge was against muggle-borns." Harry questioned.
"They still are, but when Scarlet wrote about those blood traitor Weasleys on the first day I knew they needed to be dealt with, to send a strong message to any purebloods who have forgotten the old ways." He sneered.
"How does Lockhart fit into all this?" Tonks asked.
"I needed to be careful if Dumbledore even suspected what I was up to I would've been done for. I knew I couldn't be in two places at once, so one night Scarlet was writing to me about his new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. From what the boy wrote of his accomplishments I knew he would be useful, so I had Scarlet use the Imperius curse on him, I dressed him up in that ridiculous outfit and had him be my figurehead. He tasked Malfoy with recruiting my followers and commanding the beast in my absence."
"That's why he's been tired the entire year, you've had him running around this school at night and he didn't even know it." Harry guessed, he felt a bit guilty now for how he talked and thought about the wizard the entire year, no one deserved what Tom did to him.
"Smart boy." Tom complimented. "But now his usefulness is over, soon I'll be free from the dairy and will be able to impose my power onto this world."
"Why bring Ginny down her, why not petrify her like all the others?" Tonks asked.
"The magic of life and death is tricky magic, I needed to sacrifice a soul." Tom explained, he walked over to the girl in question and briefly looked down at her.
"So you're going to sacrifice both of them?" Tonks didn't like where this was going.
Tom shook his laugh, a small laugh escaping his lips. "No, originally I'd planned to sacrifice Scarlet, the longer he wrote in this book the more of his life force would've been drained. But then I learned about him, how truly different he was from the others. As my influence on him grew I saw first hand how powerful his core was, and what kind of wizard he would turn into. By combining his raw power and with my own and knowledge of advanced spells I would be the most powerful wizard the world has ever known." Tom explained to them.
Tonks narrowed her eyes at that, she didn't notice anything strange with Scarlet's magic the few times she met with him, unless. "That would explain how he easily won each of his matches during the dueling club." Tonks acknowledged remembering what Scarlet told her, she'd been too blind by his easy accomplishments that she didn't even question how he was able to duel at that level. She scolded herself for missing the obvious.
Tom smirked at her response. "Yes, that was my first test, surely either of you would've suspected how a second-year student with no previous dueling experience was able to fight well enough and perform the spells as well as a full grown wizard. By fusing myself to him I increased his magical core twofold."
"So you're just using him, like Lockhart, like Malfoy, they were all just tools for you to use!" Harry shouted for the first time losing his cool. Tonks grabbed his arm trying to calm the boy down, they couldn't provoke Tom, not yet.
Tonks' eyes widened as she felt his wand, it was tricky but if she could grab a hold of it without Tom seeing she might be able to surprise him. There was an issue of whether the wand would respond to her, they were tricky things and mainly listened to their masters. However, it was still possible to conjure spells with it just not as powerful or as easy as doing it with their own wand. She nudged Harry hoping he would continue distracting Tom.
Tom frowned at Harry's words, he seemed almost disappointed from his words. "I'm surprised, you would defend someone like Scarlet who holds a very low opinion of you and all of your friends.."
"Your wrong, Scarlets my friend he would never think like that about us!" Harry responded, he tried to make a step towards the Heir but Tonks held him back.
Tom raised an eyebrow at him. "Hermione Granger, an intelligent witch with the annoying trait of showing it off any chance she gets because of her insecurities, much to the frustration of her peers. Ron Weasley, an idiotic boy who's only thoughts in life are about food and Quidditch, and I believe a former bully of Granger." Tom listed off.
Tonks knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to get a reaction from Harry, and from the looks of it, was working. She was close she knew where his wand was but Tom wasn't taking his eyes off of them, she just needed one moment to be distracted.
"Last but not least Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, as such a powerful wizard couldn't answer a simple potion question a five-year-old could do. A boy who's celebrated for his accomplishments yet his knowledge of the magical world is poor, a disappointment in every way possible." Tom smirked at him. "My personal favorite, hated so much by a lot of people in Hogwarts including his own aunt and uncle."
Harry snapped at that comment he ran forward charging at Tom, the Heir simply smiled as he unleashed a spell right at Harry, the boy was knocked off his feet and landed ten feet away by one of the statues.
"You can include me in that list of disappointed." She heard Tom mutter to himself.
'Damnnit! I was so close!' Tonks scolded herself, she wasn't able to grab Harry's wand, and now she was out of options.
Tom's attentioned returned to her as he kept his wand pointed at her. "I've humored your questions long enough, I'm afraid this is where you die Nymphadora." Tom said slowly, the tip of his wand turning green.
Tonks saw enough photos to recognize the sickling green color of the killing curse, the fact that it was coming from Scarlet and his wand sickened Tonks.
"Ava-" Tom was cut off as a spell shot straight at him, he dived at the last moment to dodge the spell that hit the water behind them.
"Not so fast vile villain!" A male voice said, Tonks looked over her shoulder and she saw Lockhart 20 feet away with his own wand drawn looking quite upset.
She heard Tom growling in anger as he picked himself up. "Seems you've been broken of my control." He seethed at the interruption.
"Yes, you should know nothing can hold me down forever, not even the Imperius Curse." Lockhart gloated walking closer to them with his wand pointed at Tom.
'Thanks to mine and Harry's help.' Tonks thought bitterly, but she knew this was the opportunity she needed. A quick glance at Tom and he was staring Lockhart, she took a few steps back to see if anyone noticed but they were locked in a heated stare.
Just as Tom retaliated she ran over to Harry and turned the boy over, she breathed a sigh of relief as he looked uninjured, just unconscious.
"Harry." She whispered and shook him slightly, she looked behind her to make sure the attention was off of them. Lockhart and Tom were exchanging spells causing a few of the statues to be blasted into small rocks.
She heard the boy stur below, he opened his eyes and he had a groggy look to him. "What happened?" He asked sitting up.
"You got blasted, but I need you to give me your wand Harry." She asked quietly.
The boy reached into his robes and pulled out his wand before handing it to her. She gave the boy a small nod before helping him up.
She soon heard the fighting stop, she turned around and saw a frustrated look on Tom's face. He put his wand down and started speaking, her eyes widened as he started speaking parselmouth, it unnerved her seeing Scarlet speak like that.
"We have to hide!" Harry yelled pulling her behind a fallen statue providing them some cover.
"What's he saying Harry?" Tonks whispered looking around them.
"He's summoning it." He said quietly with a small look of fear in his eyes.
Tonks knew right away what he was referring and before she could respond she felt the chamber start to shake, right behind Tom the water erupted and out came the largest creature Tonks had ever seen. She quickly ducked and covered Harry with her body as the basilisk emerged.
"Wh-, wh-, t-thats, a snake!" She heard Lockhart stuttering.
"Yes, and she's quiet hungry." She heard Tom smirking at the man, she wanted to desperately jump over and help but her priority was Harry, and in truth, she had no idea on how to handle Tom and his pet snake.
Tonks could hear the quick patter of steps as she assumed Lockhart had turned around and started running. It was a few moments before she heard Tom command the beast to follow. Her heart beat faster as all she could hear was the patter of steps quickly followed by the basilisk slytherin closer. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard the beast screech, quickly followed by a yell as it caught up to him. Tonks could feel her heart beat faster as she could hear the fear in the man's screams. All she could do was tighten her hold on Harry. She could hear a struggle going on, but that ended with a resounding crunch. She nearly gagged as she could hear beast crunching on the professor, she could feel Harry shaking underneath her, the realization coming to both of them that they might die.
She could hear Toms laugh echoing throughout the chamber. "Potter, Tonks. Were you really naive enough to think you could stop the Heir of Salazar Slytherin!? You two half-breeds are NOTHING!" It roared his voice changing at the last word. "My pet, seek them out, and kill them!"
She could hear the basilisk screech in response before slytherin throughout the chamber, as large as it was they were bound to be found. She eased off Harry and stayed crouched behind their cover, she saw Harry slowly get up and a kneeling position.
XXX
Harry was berating himself, his insistence to come in the chamber had caused a lot of problems. Because of him Tonks was constantly worrying over him and unable to focus on Tom. He swallowed hard as he heard the basilisk coming closer. He looked over at Tonks hoping she had an idea but she was biting her lip in thought, no ounce of confidence in her.
Guilt started to rise in Harry, it was his fault it came to this, he noticed something was wrong with Scarlet the past few months and didn't do anything to help. There were so many signs, the constant nightmares, his power boost in the dueling club and most worrying was his personality change. He found it odd after the incident on the first day he wasn't as angry, in fact, he seemed nicer after that day, more friendly to students and more sociable.
It was now that he realized how big of influence Tom had over Scarlet, just from the memory he witnessed Scarlet had been displaying the same mannerisms Tom had, and most creepy was his appearance. Scarlet had changed his hair and eyes after the first day, at first it seemed like a simple change but he could now see the resemblance between them. It was the exact same style as Tom. The darker comb over hair, and the same eyes he stared at.
Harry knew he had to do something, maybe he could speak to the snake the same way Tom did, but he wasn't sure. If it didn't work or if he couldn't use his parlsemouth abilities he'd just announced their location, indangering Tonks.
He took a deep breath knowing what he had to do, he looked over at Tonks and she saw him look back at him. Harry gave a slight smile before standing up and running towards the other side of the chamber. He could hear Tonks whispering harshly behind him but he was long by then. It wasn't long before the basilisk saw him and he felt it quickly follow him.
It wasn't long before he could hear and feel the Basilisk right behind him, he knew he was out of time. Harry turned around, mindful to keep his head down. "Ssstop!" He spoke in parseltongue. To his surprise and glee, the Basilisk seemed to pause in its attack, just stopping right before him.
"Don't lissssten to him my pet, he issss an imposssster, kill him!" Harry's heart dropped as he heard Toms command, almost on cue he could see the body of the snake rise above him as it schreeced in response. He dove out of the right before its jaw smashed into the stone floor he was just standing on, causing the chamber shake.
"Parsletongue won't save you now Potter, it only obeys me!" Tom yelled out across the chamber.
'Was worth a try.' Harry thought to himself as he hid behind a snake pillar, he knew he was done, he could only hope he could distract the snake long enough for Tonks.
Before he could react he felt the statue exploded behind him, he felt his feet leave the ground as he was launched. He flew in the air for a few moments before landing hard on his back. Harry was disorientated from it, he could barely make aware of a green shape in front of him. He could feel his heart starts to beat faster when he recognized the shape as the basilisk. 'This is it, sorry everyone.' His body still sore there was no way he could get up and run away before being eaten, he closed his eyes and braced for death.
He heard basilisk right on top of him, a low growl emanating from its open jaw. Right before it was about to lunge at him a cry was heard. Harry cautiously poked his head up and his eyes widened at a bright red bird flying in his direction. It was there that he recognized it as Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Anyone who walked in the Headmaster's office would see the phoenix sitting on a perch right beside Dumbledore's desk, it was a beautiful creature to gaze at, and right now it was giving him hope that maybe they had a chance.
Fawkes flew over his head dropping something dark in front of him before charging at the basilisk, Harry didn't turn around but he could hear the fight ensued. Talons scraping on flesh caused the snake to screech in pain, Harry winced at the painful sound, but glad that Fawkes was winning. He reached over and grabbed the dark cloth, only when he picked it up he noticed it was a witches hat. 'No wait, it's the Sorting Hat?'
"NO!" Harry didn't have much time to think why Fawkes would give this to him before he heard Tom yell out.
Harry finally looked at the battle and was ecstatic as he saw that Fawkes had clawed at the snake's eyes, effectively blinding it. The basilisk wouldn't be able to petrify or kill them by looking at them.
"Your stupid bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still find you with its other senses!" Tom roared, outraged that his pet was permanently scared by this.
Harry knew this was true, he still didn't have any idea on how to stop this creature but he needed to put some distance between him and it. He started running off the path through a puddle of water towards some pipes in the distance. The basilisk must've heard his footsteps as it swung its tail widely in his direction, only to hit the floor causing him to stumble as the impact caused a slight tremor amongst the chamber. He soon regained his footing and continued running at full speed, he could hear the basilisk close behind, he climbed into a nearby pipe, just in time too as he heard the snake crash into the wall behind him causing another tremor.
He quickly saw a small crack in the large pipe, enough for him to squeeze through, an opening which led him to a small room filled with black water. He turned around and saw the basilisk roaring behind him trying to get through but the opening was too small. Harry sighed in relief as he safe, at least momentarily. He glanced down almost forgetting about the sorting hat in his hand.
"Okay, now why did Dumbledore give this to me?" Harry asked himself.
XXX
"Is this the part where you kill me Nymphadora?" Tom mused walking through the chamber.
It unnerved Tonks how carefree this person was acting right now. She knew he was just trying to get a reaction from her, exposing her location. Right now she was hidden behind a pillar underneath an invisibility cloak. 'Just a little closer and I'll be able to stun the bastard.'
She noticed Tom stop ten feet away from her, just far enough away for him to react and dodge her spell if he was quick enough, which she knew he was. 'Come on, come on! One more step!' She could feel herself gripping the wand so tightly, that it might've snapped if it was an ordinary piece of twig.
She saw Tom looking around for her, she was almost certain he was about to take another step forward before his head suddenly turned in her direction. Tonks held her breath in nervousness, he was staring right at her. 'He can't actually know where I am?'
Her moment of reassurance was literally and figuratively blown away as Tom cast the Ventus jinx in her direction. Tonks gasped in surprise as her invisibility cloak was blown off her.
She saw Tom smirked at her, clearly, he'd been toying with her the entire time.
"I'm disappointed, for someone training in the Auror Academy, they'd done a sloppy job of training you in the art of stealth. Or maybe they're standards are truly that low." He commented, tilting his head slightly in thought.
Tonks grit her teeth at that comment, again Tom was just trying to get her emotional. She took a deep breath, she knew the only way she would win is if she was calm.
She stood up slowly keeping her wand out in case he attacked. "I'm going to make you regret those words when I bring Scarlet back and put you in that damn book." She threatened until she was a few feet away. Tom smirked at her answer.
"Assuming there's anything of Scarlet left." Tom respond, they soon started circling one another, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
Tonks narrowed her eyes at that comment. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I've been influencing Shade ever since he opened my diary. His appearance, mannerisms, and his own thoughts were aligned with my own." Tom explained, taking great delight at Tonks expense.
Tonks could feel herself getting angrier with each answer. Her hand holding the wand started to shake.
"His youth and fears were my allies, so busy dealing with his nightmares, he never saw, he was running right into my trap." Tom gloated with a sinister smile on his face.
"How do I get him out." Tonks uttered quietly, fury evident in her voice.
"Scarlets gone." Tom simply replied.
"How do I get him out!" Tonks roared.
"Suffering in an endless nightmare for all eternity. A broken promise Nymphadora Tonks failed to keep!"
It was as if any self-control she had snapped at the comment of her promise to her friend. Tonks roared as she fired off the stunning spell. Tom smiled at her, clearly succeeding in provoking her, but she didn't care. She watched as Tom unleashed the killing curse at her. Both spells met between them, causing an explosion upon impact blowing both of them back.
XXX
"I don't appreciate getting wet, Mr. Potter." Harry jumped as a voice startled, he looked around only to frown when he saw no one else in the room.
"Down here." That same voice announced.
Harry glanced down and saw it was the sorting hat speaking to him. He noticed it had a frown on its face and dripping wet.
"Oh, sorry." Harry said rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Just don't do it again." It simply said.
"Why did Fawkes bring you down here? Did Dumbledore send you to help." Harry asked, and for the first time excited that he might be receiving help.
"No." It replied.
Harry's face fell at that answer, he frowned at the hat. "If you aren't here to help me, why are you here?" He asked.
"Let me rephrase my answer, I can't help you, not directly." It replied ominously.
Harry could feel himself getting annoyed at the hat, they didn't have time to just sit here and do nothing. "My friends are in danger, I don't have time for riddles. Can you help me or not." Harry snapped taking a few steps towards the small crack.
"I can't help you until you've proven yourself to be worthy."
Harry faltered in his steps, he looked back down at the hat. "Worthy of what? And how?" Harry asked.
"By answering my questions."
Harry groaned at this, he didn't have time to sit here and chat on Merlin knows what, a snake was on the loose and Tonks was on her own.
"Fine, but make it quick." Harry rushed.
"Why are you doing this." It asked him.
"To save my friends and everyone inside Hogwarts." Harry instantly answered it was his motivation to why he spent the entire year finding out who the Heir of Slytherin is, to save Ron's brothers who'd been petrified, to save Hermione and Daphne who'd risked their lives to help.
"Why are you risking your life to save the same people who are scared of you, who believe you're the dark wizard petrifying everyone." The hat asked.
Harry frowned at that question, selfishly it was in part because he wanted to save Ron's brothers and his two friends. As he remembered the somber atmosphere of the infirmary, he knew he couldn't sit there and do nothing, he knew he had to stop the Heir once and for all, not just for his friends, but for every student and person inside Hogwarts.
Harry took a heavy breath answering. "No one deserves to live in fear, to have to watch their backs wondering if they're the next ones to be petrified. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hurt by their words and treatment towards me the past few months, but just like me they're scared."
The hat seemed to be thinking over his words, not saying anything for a few moments before speaking. "Is the reason why you don't feel resentment towards them because you know what it's like living somewhere where your life is in constant danger?"
Harry could feel his mouth go dry, he knew immediately what the hat was referring to, the constant abuse he received from his aunt and uncle. He initially wanted to ask how it knew that, but he remembered on the first day that the hat told him it can search his mind to determine which house he would be best suited for. He'd never spoken to anyone about it, he was certain Hermione knew, but he'd never discussed it with her about it.
He'd never consciously made that connection before, but having it pointed out to him he did see the similarities. For so long he'd always watch his actions, making sure to move very slowly and thoughtful to not do anything that would provoke his uncle's anger. Taking a moment to think over every single word he'd say to not offend his aunt. Many times at night underneath the stairs in his bedroom he'd wish that someone would help him.
The students at Hogwarts might not be abused, but they were living in fear every day hoping some sort of hero would come and save the day. He was certainly no hero, but he wasn't going to stand by and do nothing about it, it was why he ventured into the forbidden forest, why he ventured into the chamber of secrets, why he was currently distracting a bloody snake.
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Harry answered quietly.
"Even though some of them are in Slytherin?" The hat pondered.
Harry almost scoffed at that answer. The time he'd spent with Daphne and Tracey had shown him there was more to the green house than Draco Malfoy. There were kind people, who were just as smart as Hermione, just as enthralled with Quidditch like Ron. They weren't different from Gryffindor except with the color of their robes.
"I don't care which house they are in, or what kind of blood they have. Some are even my friends, and as Dumbledore told me, anyone who asks for help shall receive it." Harry replied honestly.
The hat didn't say anything for awhile, and he couldn't make out the facial expression on the hat, but if he could make a guess it looked to happy?
"I have to say Mr. Potter you remind me more and more of Godric Gryffindor." The hat chuckled. "Despite a difference of opinions he had with Salazar Slytherin he still valued him as a dear friend, and Salazar felt similar. I'm glad to see Shade was able to show you that."
At the mention of his friend and his current condition, the reality of his situation came back to him. "Now Mr. Potter are you ready to do everything within your power to save Scarlet Shade?" The hat asked finally.
Harry nodded instantly, he'd do anything to save his friend. "Yes, I let down Scarlet once, I don't plan on doing it again."
The hat smiled at his answer. "Glad to hear, now reach inside me."
Confused, Harry reached inside the hat, his entire arm was nearly inside before he felt his hand touch something hard. He grasped if firmly and started pulling, he was amazed as he saw it was a very long sword. It was pure silver and there were rubies encrusted onto the hilt of the blade. Looking closer he saw the name Godric Gryffindor engraved just beneath the hilt.
XXX
Tonks batted away another curse watching it impact a wall close by causing a small hole in the wall. It became fairly evident that the combination of Toms and Scarlet's magical core mixed together were far more powerful than her own. Add to the fact Tom was well knowledgeable on darker more advanced magic. Which he easily exploited forcing her to be defensive the entire fight. She sidestepped as another spell sailed past her, she recognized it was a bone breaking curse.
She side stepped behind another statue using it as cover. She knew a direct fight wouldn't end well, she needed to change tactics. 'Time to show you what the Auror Academy taught me Tom.'
"Hiding Nymphadora? I expected more than just cowardly tactics from an Auror." Tom mocked, she heard him fire a spell and impact her cover. She shielded her head as some of dubris fell on top of her.
"Fumos." She whispered, she watched as a cloud of smoke erupted from the tip of her wand. She waved her wand around her concealing her immediate location in smoke.
Tom frowned at his opponent. "Another cowardly tactic? Keep running Nymphadora, I'll just knock down any holes you crawl yourself into." He swiped his wand in front of him creating a huge gust of wind that blew away the smoke.
To his disappointment she wasn't there before he could react he felt the ground underneath him explode. He sailed through the air landing harshly on the concrete floor on his back. He quickly recovered as he stood up eyes narrowed looking around him. Once again he didn't see her anywhere. Like before, the ground erupted underneath him causing a much more powerful explosion. He roared in pain as the stone pelted his body and was lifted off his feet. He grit his teeth as he landed just in front of the statue of Salazar Slytherin. Slowly getting up he scanned every inch of the chamber but didn't see her anywhere.
It was then he realized he was searching in the wrong places. He smirked as his eyes locked in the large body of water around him. "Clever girl." He muttered. He swiped his arm in front of him causing a large ripple in the water. He soon motioned his arm in a circular motion turning the once calm pool of water into a rapid whirlpool. He smirked as he saw pink hair poke above the surface. He raised his arm up and lifted the auror in a ball of water. It was to his disappointment as even though she was struggling in the water, she had cast a bubble head charm to be able to breathe.
"My fullest compliments Tonks, I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to find you. I'll be sure to never make that mistake again." He darkly finished.
Tonks yelled in pain as the ball of water trapping her shrunk down and was squeezing her body tightly. If it wasn't for the bubble-head charm she'd already be dead having drowned in water, but she knew Tom was purposely not popping it, longing her pain. Every second this went on, more and more pressure she was feeling around her body, any second she was sure her body would snap under the pressure. She grit her teeth fighting through the pain as she pointed her wand up.
"Ascendio!" She screamed through the pain as she shot out of the water like a cannon towards Tom.
She could see his jaw slacken as he wasn't expecting such an odd maneuver. She smirked as he may be more powerful than her, but if there was one thing Tonks had on her side, was unpredictability. Scarlet would attest to that.
She flew into Tom, her fists the first to make contact with his chest. The rest of her body crashed into him and the momentum carried them a fair distance. They finally stopped with Tonks on top of him her weight crushing him and making him immobile, and her wand pointed right between his eyes.
Tonks smirked in victory, she had defeated Tom. As she looked at his face she expected to see him glaring at her, rage clearly evident, but there wasn't any sign of that. In fact, he seemed to be smiling?
"You just got your arse kicked by a half-blood, what are you smiling about?" Tonk sneered at the Heir below him.
"You think you won? How naive are you?" He started laughing at her only for him to start coughing at the pressure she was applying to his body. "Any harm you cause onto me, you're only hurting Scarlet's body."
She leaned her head forward, her eyes dangerously red and uttered. "Then give him back to me."
"I told you Scarlets gone, all that's left of him is what I corrupted." He answered vaguely, the smile never leaving his lips.
Tonks narrowed her eyes at him, she had every urge to use every painful spell she knew on Tom but had to restrain herself. Hurting him would only damage Scarlet's body.
"I don't believe you, Scarlets one of the strongest people I know. He suffered years of torture by those bastards of muggles and he's come out the strong boy I know him to be. What you put him through is nothing compared to that!" Tonks always had to remind herself that Scarlet was only thirteen years old. He was always so mature, more so than she is right now, and after everything he went through was one of the strongest people she knew.
"You don't believe me? Why don't I show you!" Before Tonks could react, Toms placed both of his palms on the side of her head and his eyes started to glow brightly. She didn't know what was going on, she didn't know this kind of magic. All she could hear was Tom laughter as her vision was enveloped by the light.
XXX
Harry didn't know how long he'd been running down the large pipe, but all that matters was the basilisk hadn't found him yet. He may have a weapon now but the close confines of the pipe weren't ideal place to fight, he needed to get out quickly.
It was then he saw a light up ahead and it was only getting brighter, he had to shield his eyes with his robes as it was too bright to even look at. He'd only seen something like that when diary he'd first communicated Tom with sucked him into the diary and showed him that memory. Harry had a sinking feeling that it wasn't a coincidence. Once he felt the light start to dim he raced off towards the exit.
He reached the end of the pipe and made a small jump onto a puddle of water. He was near the statue of Salazar Slytherin. He raced forward and the first thing he saw was Ginny's body. He ran over and quickly checked on her, afraid that it might've been too late and they might've lost her for good. Harry sighed in relief as he could still hear her breathing, although it sounded a lot shallower than when he first got her, he knew he was running out of time.
"Yes Potter, the process is nearly complete. In a few minutes Ginny Weasley will be dead, and I will cease to be a memory." Tom spoke out from behind him.
Harry turned around and saw Tom getting up from the floor, his robes were slightly ripped, and his lip was bleeding, looks like Tonks had really put up a fight, but as he glanced around he didn't see her anywhere.
"Wheres Tonks?" Harry yelled out as he stood protectively in front of Ginny.
"That Half-breed will be of no more concern to me anymore, you should be more worried about yourself. In a few more minutes I'll be free to continue Salazar Slytherin's noble work." Tom told him walking over to them, showing no concern over the weapon in Harry's hand.
"Well you haven't finished it this time, right now the Mandrake draught will be ready, and everyone who is petrified will be alright again." Harry took a slight step back, he didn't want to use the sword to hurt Scarlet, only the snake.
Tom smiled darkly at him. "Haven't I told you, killing mudbloods, half-bloods, and blood traitors doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now my target has been Scarlet, and you."
Harry's eyes narrowed at his comments, he knew since piecing together the whispers he'd heard in the hallways throughout the year, and the attack in the dungeons of Hogwarts that Tom must've been keeping an eye on him, but he still didn't know why.
"How is it a baby with no extraordinary magical talent, was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" Harry could feel Tom getting angrier with each word. "How did you escape with nothing but s scar!? While Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed!"
Harry could feel his hands clench harder at the mention of his parent's murderer. "Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time?"
An eerily calm look fell on Tom's face. "Voldemort is my past, present and future."
Tom turned his back to him as he took out Tonks wand and wrought in the air. "Tom Marvolo Riddle." With a quick swish, Harry saw the words scramble spelling out something new. His eyes widened as the new words appeared and read out. "I am Lord Voldemort."
"You? You're the Heir of Slytherin?" He asked shocked at the revelation. "You're Voldemort." It was a statement, not a question.
Tom turned back to him, only he didn't recognize Scarlet's face at all. Tom morphed it back to the face he saw back in memory. "Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy muggle fathers name!" He snapped, causing Harry to flinch. "No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry snapped back.
"Dumbldores been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him."
At that moment the large body of water surrounding the chamber exploded spraying him with water. Harry turned around saw the basilisk emerge from the water, thrashing around the chamber. He reaffirmed his grip on the sword, backing away from Ginny, not wanting her to get in the middle of this fight.
Soon the snake stopped thrashing and it seemed to be zeroing in on him, even though it was blind it's hearing was still perfect, with the chamber floor covered in water his foot created tiny splashes that only made his steps louder. It hissed as it moved closer
Harry gulped as the beast moved closer, its numerous fangs staring right at him. He'd faced giant acromantulas, encountered deadly plants, and even faced the disfigured face of Voldemort, but staring in the face of the basilisk terrified him the most. He had to take a deep breath just to stead his arm holding the sword. A quick glance at Ginny's body and his eyes narrowed, he needed to do this, his friends were counting on him!
The basilisk roared before it lunged head first at him, Harry rolled out of the way as it struck and broke the chamber floor he'd just been standing on. With the head of the snake right in front of him, he raised the sword over his head and struck!
XXX
Tonks didn't know where she was, one moment she was in the chamber, the next she was standing in the middle of a room. A house she was almost certain, but unlike her own home where she felt warm and safe. This one made her skin crawl even standing in it. The hardwood floors were scratched up and some boards even broke in half. The couch cushions were all ripped apart, stuffing all over the floor. The windows were cracked and dirty, and the walls had mold growing on top of it. However, all that was tame compared to what she saw next. Right in front of a lit fireplace was a chair with ropes around it loose on the floor. She took a big gulp as a long stick with an X on the end was lying close to it, and worst of all she saw a dark stain underneath. She took a heavy breath as she walked closer and confirmed her suspicions. It was dried up blood.
Tonks nearly gagged at the sight, and she took several steps back. 'What is this place, why am I here?' She looked around, frantically looking for a way out.
"There's no escape." A quiet voice spoke up behind her.
She was startled by the sudden voice, she turned around and saw a dark figure standing in a corner of the room. The figure walked into the room and Tonks heart soared as she saw it was Scarlet! She was about to walk over and give the boy a giant hug before she saw he was very different.
As his hair used to be black, it was now dark grey, she could see red veins shining brightly on his face and trending further down his neck and probably surrounding his entire body, and most chilling of all was his eyes now shone a very violent shade of red.
"Scarlet, what did he do to you?" She whispered in horror, what had Tom did to him?
Scarlet tilted his head at her, his red eyes never leaving. "What's the matter? You don't like the real me?" He questioned.
Tonks shook her head at his question and stepped forward. "This isn't who you are, this is what Tom has changed you into."
Scarlet frowned at her answer, and slowly shook his head. "No, the Shade you know is the one I wanted you to see, the one who pretends not to be hurt by all the things he had to endure, who pretends to care about you and all those pathetic students."
The room around them started to change, and before Tonks could ask what was going on she saw the room which used to be dirty, was now cleaned and maintained. She furrowed her brows at why the sudden change before she heard voices behind her. She saw three people standing by the fireplace.
The first was a short man, he was bald and dressed in black with the exception of his neck which had a piece of white cloth sticking out. Was that a priest? The other she instantly recognized as Scarlet's father. He was old, probably older than her father, with his choice of mustache and clothing that resembled something they wore back in the '60s. She gulped nervously as she looked down at the last person in the room, a small child strapped to the chair begging to be let go.
Her eyes widened in horror as she watched the short man stepped forward with the stick with the X on it, smoke coming off it, it was very hot, and as he plunged it on the chest of Scarlet. Tonks closed her eyes as all she could hear was the blood-curdling scream of someone she cared about a lot. She could feel the tears rolling down her face as she remembered how terrified and scared Scarlet looked when he showed her the abuse he went through that night back in London. She tried to move her feet to save him but she was unable to move. She looked back at saw Scarlet, not staring at the scene playing out, but at her.
"Why are you doing this!? Why are you showing me this!?" She demanded pointing at the scene in front of her.
"To show you that the boy you thought I was died that night when that priest branded me with that X." It answered back calmly as she noticed the room changing back to how she first found it and the screaming fading away. "I was broken and alone, I wanted the pain to end." He started circling her, never once taking his eyes off her. "But then I realized why I was feeling this pain, it was because I cared about someone. I let myself form attachments to my pathetic excuse of parents, and when they turned on me that made the pain much worse. So I secluded myself in my home for years, knowing there would be no more pain."
A dark look soon came across his face, the first expression of emotion he showed her. "Then you came barging into my life, you showed me your friends, your home, and family, you bragged right to my face the nice things you have, that I should've gotten but didn't!"
Tonks flinched at the accusation. She shook her head sadly at him, tears still falling down her face. "I didn't do those things to make your feel worse Scarlet, I did it because I wanted you to experience those things you missed out on."
Unfortunately, she could see her words meant nothing as Scarlet looked even angrier at her. She sighed in frustration as she knew her words alone wouldn't get through to him, she needed to show him somehow that what Tom manipulated him into thinking is wrong. As she glanced around the broken room there was nothing, nothing but Scarlet's old memory. 'Memory! This is Scarlet's mind! If he can access the bad parts, maybe I can show him the good as well.'
Tonks closed her eyes and focused on one particular memory she had of him, she didn't know if this would work but she had no other choice. She smiled in glee as she could feel the room start to change once again, she could see the anger on Scarlet's face morph into confusion as he looked around the changing room.
"What are you doing!?" He demanded.
Tonks smiled back at him. "Showing you you're wrong."
The room changed into a more familiar setting, her living room. Specifically, during the holidays last year when she had brought Scarlet over.
A small smile broke out of her as she saw herself and Scarlet by the christmas tree going over what gifts they'd gotten. She laughed as she saw herself making Scarlet very uncomfortable as she was showing off the present Jess had gotten her, a very pink and lacy pair of bra and knickers. To this day she'd never seen his face as red as it was now.
She noticed out of the corner of her eye Scarlet walk over beside her and looking at the memory as well. He didn't say anything, nor did his face give away how he was reacting to this memory.
The scene then shifted to herself and Scarlet, joined by her parents enjoying warm hot cocoa by the fireplace, laughing and enjoying themselves.
"I didn't bring you over during the holidays to show off my family Scarlet. I brought you over because I wanted you to know what it felt like to be loved, to be a part of a family, and most importantly you weren't alone as you thought you were." She spoke softly, putting her hand on his shoulder.
Soon the room changed and multiple memories started appearing, the first one with Scarlet and Daphne having another of their usual banters.
"You are just not a good listener."
"And you like the sound of your voice a bit too much."
"I have the voice of an angel"
"More like a banshee, but I'm not judging."
Another appeared, this time on Halloween when Scarlet had found Hermione crying in the bathroom.
"Listen, I've felt what it's like to be at odds with your house, the nicknames, the chatter behind your back. But you know what? It's because they don't understand us. I've seen your work, you're very intelligent, more intelligent than any of those other idiots. If you need someone in your corner, I can be that person."
"Please stop." She heard Scarlet mutter, but she didn't listen, he needed to see this.
The next one was with Katie Bell and her apology on behalf of Gryffindor house. Scarlet didn't admit it to her, but she knew it meant a lot to him to be accepted for who he was.
"Harry defended you by saying that if we had reached out to you at the beginning of the year then maybe you wouldn't have needed to find support from outside of Gryffindor. I know it's a long time coming but I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know a few others will come up to you at some point, I just you'll be willing to give Gryffindor an honest chance?"
It wasn't often she'd get to see Scarlet be genuinely happy, and when he gave a real smile to Katie it warmed her heart to see how much he'd grown.
More and more memories started popping up, all happy moments of Scarlet's life spent with his friends. She could see it having an effect as the boy started to clutch his head, almost as if he was in pain.
She grabbed both his shoulders and stood in front of him. "You need to fight it Scarlet." She swept her arm over the numerous images popping by. "This is who you are, not what Tom is telling you."
She could see him struggling, she wished there was something more that she could do, but at this point, all she could do was keep cheering on Scarlet. "I know the real you is in there, I'm right here and I'm not going to give up on you."
"No!" Scarlet yelled as dark aura surrounded him, it was so strong that it pushed Tonks back to the other side of the room. Her heart sank as Scarlet was soon enveloped in a dark mist, the only thing she could see through it was two piercing red eyes glaring back at her.
"Bombarda!" Scarlet yelled as a blast broke through the mist. Tonks crossed her arms in front of her right as the blast hit her.
XXX
Harry had to hold back the pain in the arm as the sword bounced off the scales of the snake, it was like trying to slice through stone.
"You really thought that pitiful sword could cut through the tough exterior of the basilisk!? How naive are you?" Tom mocked from behind him.
Harry growled in frustration, what was the point of being given the sword if it couldn't harm him. Unfortunately, the second thoughts occupied him enough that he didn't see the Basilisk tails hit him on the side. Harry cried out in pain as skidded across the floor a couple of feet from Tom and Ginny.
He could hear the Basilisk roaring in triumph, thinking it was about to win. Harry felt similar, as his body was too sore, from the earlier fight and running, he was exhausted. He barely had enough energy to stand, he had to use the sword as a crutch to get up in a standing position.
When the snake charged again he knew he didn't have it in him to roll away, he parted his legs to a more powerful stance and had the sword raised with both arms.
'Think, think! If the scales are too dense to cut through then I have to strike somewhere else.' Harry's mind was going through any possible solution he had, it was moments like these he'd wish he'd paid more attention to DADA class this year, or even to Hermiones and Scarlet's words.
It was then that Harry noticed the Basilisk eyes or lack thereof. His eyes widened as he realized not every part of the snake was covered in its scales, including the open jaw that was staring right at him. He grit his teeth as the snake loomed closer, he'd only have one chance at this. The snake soon reached him and rose above him, its big figure making him pause for a moment.
"Kill him!" Tom ordered.
The Basilisk roared in response to its master before lunging at the Harry its jaws ready to eat him. Harry pulled the sword back, ready. Right before the jaws were about to bite into him, he thrust his sword forward and rammed it inside the jaws of the beast, so deep that it pierced through the snakes head.
The beast jerked back in pain, as its deathly screech filled the chamber, Harry had to cover his ears at the loud pain. He hated to think he was the reason he'd caused such pain to a creature that was only obeying Tom, but he had no choice, it was either the snake or him.
It flailed for a few more moments, crashing into the statue of Salazar Slytherin before collapsing ont to the ground, causing the chamber to shake.
It was then Harry was hit with a sudden pain in his arm. He looked down and saw a tooth of the Basilisk embedded into his arm. With a painful gasp, he pulled the fang out. He looked at the wound on his arm and could see a dark liquid seeping out. His eyes widened as he saw a dark liquid mixed in the blood. He stared down at the fang and guessed that it must've contained venom. He could feel the energy leaving his body quickly, he imagined he didn't have enough time left before he succumbed to it.
He took a few steps toward Tom and Ginny before his legs gave out right in front of them.
"Remarkable isn't it? How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body." Harry looked up and could see Tom standing over him, revealing in his victory. "I guess you have a little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear mud-blood mother soon, Harry." He said with disgust as he talked down to him.
Harry reached over and grabbed Ginny's hand, the same one that was clutching the diary. 'I'm so sorry I couldn't save you Ginny.' His body was too weak, he couldn't even stand if he wanted to. Tonks was gone, he didn't know where. He'd failed her, his friends, and everyone at Hogwarts.
"Funny, the damage a silly little book could do. Especially in the hands of a frightened little boy." Tom smirked in delight.
Harry gritted his teeth in anger at the words, he couldn't give up, there had to be something he could do? He looked over at the book in Ginny's hands, the cause of all of this. He still had the fang in a death grip, if he could pierce the diary with it, maybe destroying it might finish this. He grabbed the diary and pulled it in front of him, he brought the fang closer and was about it stab it with it.
"No! I won't let a little boy stop my resurrection! Cruci-"
"Pretificus Totalus!" Harry watched at Toms body froze right about when he was going to use the torture curse. He looked behind him and saw Ron and Tracey both using the body-bind spell, keeping Tom in place!
"Now Harry!" Tracey yelled, trying to keep the spell up.
"Do it!" Ron encouraged.
Harry gave a brief smile to his friends before bringing the fang down on the dairy.
XXX
Tonks was using all her effort to keep her protego shield spell up, but it was difficult as Scarlet kept blasting her, spell after spell. There wasn't even a house left after all the damage that was being caused. She knew a direct confrontation would be useless, the powerful blasts sent her way showed Scarlet was in a different tier of power compared to her, even if she did win that wouldn't solve anything, Tom still had control.
It was after the last blast that her shield broke. Tonks fell to one knee, taking deep breaths. She had used up all her energy keeping it up. She glanced up at her friend looking down at her, she couldn't hurt him, not after she promised to take care of him.
"I won't fight you Scarlet, I won't hurt you as your parents did." She told him.
Scarlet just shook his head at her pitifully, lowering his wand. "Your promise that night meant nothing to me. You are nothing to me. I only used you so that you could show me how to master my metamorphmagus abilities so that you could teach me more powerful magic." A dark smile formed on Scarlet's face. "Now I'm more powerful than you'll ever be, I don't need you anymore."
As much as Tonks wanted to say his words didn't affect her, that it was only Tom speaking such things, it still broke her heart to hear it from his voice. She wiped away the tears that were starting to fall, she wouldn't break down, not now. It took everything in her to stand back up, a look of defiance on her face, she was going to save Scarlet! If spells or words couldn't get through to him, then maybe herself could!
Scarlet frowned at her, clearly disappointed she still hadn't given up. He simply raised his wand back up and pointed it at her. "Bombarda."
He watched as Tonks made no effort to roll out of its way, merely standing her ground and absorbing the blast. No matter, it would just save him the time in killing her. However, he was disappointed to hear no screams of pain coming from her, maybe he'd killed her?
As the smoke cleared away he was disappointed to see she was still standing. "I won't give up." He heard her mutter before marching over to him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Scarlet growled before sending another curse at her. He watched as Tonks took the full brunt of the spell again, and just like last time it seemed to not slow her down as she continued forward towards him.
"What? This can't be? How are you still standing?" Scarlet questioned in disbelief as he continued to send more and spells at her, and each one not slowing her down, or seemed to be causing her pain. "This is impossible why won't you go down!" He roared at her, but she still walked over to him, a defiant look in her eyes as her entire body started to glow pink. "That's impossible, is that your magical core!?"
"I won't give up." She said again, Scarlet tried to take a step back but he found both his feet were locked in place, how was she doing this?
"Don't come any closer! Stay back!" He yelled as he struggled to move away from her, and for the first time, Tonks could hear the fear in his voice.
"No matter how dark your heart has become, I will always care about you, Scarlet Shade." She told him as she stood right in front of him. The pink glow growing even brighter.
"No!" He yelled out in anguish as the light enveloped him.
XXX
As soon as Harry pierced through the pages of the diary a bright light shone through and black ink spilled over it and onto the floor. The same light he experienced when he was sucked into the diary. He could hear screams coming from Tom, it was working!
"Keep going!" Ron and Tracey yelled, trying to maintain their control over Tom.
Harry pulled the fang out, closed the book, and stabbed it again through the cover, with more black ink seeping through.
XXX
"You may be stronger than me, but there's one way good will always triumph over evil. I'll never stop loving you." Tonks told him softly as she enveloped the boy in a hug, surrounding her magical core around him and his own. "I'm going to change you back Scarlet."
XXX
"What's happening to me!? Let me go! LET ME GO!" Tom yelled as Harry, Ron and Tracey saw as he started to become enveloped in a bright light. It soon became too much and all three had to shield their eyes.
After a few moments the light died down, Harry slowly lowered his arm unsure on what he was going to find. He just hoped that Scarlet was back. The first thing he noticed was that there were two figures sitting right where Tom had been moments ago. He quickly recognized Tonks, he didn't know where she came from but from the looks of it she was alright. He noticed she was staring down at something, following his gaze, he found Scarlet lying on the ground below her, passed out.
"Is he alright?" Tracey was the first to speak up taking hesitant steps towards them.
Tonks looked up gave her a small smile. "Yeah, he's alright, just took a lot out of him."
A small groan was heard, all four of them looked over to see Ginny sitting up.
"Ginny!" Ron yelled as he ran over and engulfed his sister. Harry could see the look of relief on both siblings faces as they hugged one another, it was a stressful year for both of them, he was glad it was finally over.
Harry smiled at the two of them. He remembered in his early years with the Dursleys he wished he had that with his cousin Dudley, he tried a few times to be best friends with the boy, but he quickly realized that wasn't the relationship he would ever have. Dudley was more interested in beating Harry up and looking at him like he was the worst thing he'd ever seen, a horrible trait picked from parents.
He would never say it out loud but he was jealous of Ron, jealous of the family he had, siblings who played with him, parents who loved him. As Harry looked down at where the basilisk's fang pierced him and saw the flow of blood and venom seeping out, he smiled. Glad that he got to experience what it was like being a part of a family during those few weeks he stayed over at the Weasleys before he died.
His shoulders sagged and Harry could feel his body becoming numb, he didn't have much time.
"Harry?" a voice asked him.
He lifted his head and saw the concerned look of Tonks staring back at him. He gave her a small smile. "We did it Tonks, the snake is dead, and Tom won't be controlling Scarlet anymore. I just wish I'll be able to see everyone again."
He saw Tonks lower her eyes and looked at his right arm. She gently put Scarlet down and quickly ran over to him. She looked at his arm, and he could see her mind racing with ideas on how to help him. He knew there was no cure, at least not one she would have on her right now.
"It's okay Tonks, I'm just happy that my friends are safe." He whispered, not having much strength to even talk.
Tonks looked ready to argue, but before she could say anything Fawkes landed beside him. "You were brilliant Fawkes, I just wasn't quick enough." He told her.
The Phoenix looked right at him when it came to magical creatures he wasn't expert, but looking at the tears starting to form around the bird's eyes, she must've felt sympathetic toward him. She then looked down towards his arm, he saw the first few drops of tears fall and land directly on his wound. His eyes widened as he saw the leaking blood and venom stop, even more so the wound appeared to be closing!
Not only that but he could feel his strength returning, he stood up a little straighter confused on what was going on. A second ago he felt as though he was close to dying, now he felt alright.
"Of course, phoenix tears have healing powers." He remembered fondly when he first met the bird in Dumbledore's office, he'd been explained the wonder powers it had, he just didn't think he'd see it in person. "Thank you." He told Fawkes.
Harry looked back to Tonks, Ginny, Ron, and Tracey had walked over to them. "Its alright everyone, it's over. It's just a memory."
"I look forward to putting behind us." Ron said happily looking towards Tracey and Ginny.
"Come on everyone." Tonks announced standing up with Scarlet in her arms. "Let's get back, everyone must be worried."
Tracey gasped as she remembered something. "The Mandrakes should've been administered by then, Daphne must be back now!" The auburn haired girl ran off towards the chamber entrance. Ron and Ginny remembering their petrified siblings quickly ran after her.
Tonks and he ran quickly behind them, for the first time in a long time he was happy.
Authors Note: This chapter was a lot harder to write than I originally anticipated, It went through several revisions as well. At the end of the day, I'm happy with it, I just hope that the change in storytelling this chapter wasn't bothersome.
Also, I'm sorry for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger for so long, partly because as stated above this was a difficult chapter to get right, and mainly my computer crashed and I ended up losing 9000 words written on this chapter. It's now fixed and as the summer I should have more time to write more.
Also I reached a major milestone I always wanted to do with my fanfic and that is write a chapter longer than 10,000 words. I remember there were certain chapter were I was struggling to even write 2,000. The fact I had enough motivation and ideas to write over 5 digits suprises me, and I feel I put forht my best effort on this chapter, and hope you all enjoy it!
Changing the story to making Scarlet the one behind everything this year was one of the first ideas I had, I tried to leave several clues, one being I think I wrote a nightmare/flashback in each chapter someone was found petrified, also I teased in chapter 13 that Scarlet had found a way to handle his anger, that is writing down your feelings and thus how his interaction with the diary began.
This will affect Scarlet going forward, he's just been possessed by a memory for almost a year, there will be repercussions of this, he won't just be magically fine. One repercussion and probably the biggest one I'll show you next chapter, and trust me, it can't be easily ignored or fixed.
The next chapter should be the final one of year 2, and then we'll move onto the summer and then to year 3. The chapter during the summer arc will probably be longer than last time as there are still a few loose ends that need to be handled before school starts up again. Thanks for reading, I'll see you in the next chapter.