Chapter 33: How do you know?

Zoey swallowed hard as she sneaked out of the Hufflepuff Basement with her wand in her hand. Her eyes stung slightly and she blinked several times before she continued to walk away from her Common Room. She had been crying. She cried because once again she had been taken over by diary and caused harm to one of her friends and she did not remember how it happened. She cried because she was too weak and couldn't help but fall into Tom's clutches. She cried because Ginny was taken to the chamber. She cried because she wished it had been her. Zoey cried because she was crying. It was foolish but she couldn't help it she just kept on finding more and more reasons to cry.

Zoey bit her lip as she stood behind a statue that she had hid behind back in fourth year. She gripped tightly to her wand and pulled out a piece of parchment from her pocket. It was the dead of night and everyone was in their House firms sleeping, everyone except for herself, a Ravenclaw and a certain pair of twins.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good,"

Zoey whispered out as she tapped the piece of parchment. She had taken the map from Echo before going back into her dorm to get ready for her nights adventure. She, Echo and the rest of the Weasleys heard about Ginny's capture not too long ago and she had witnessed the heartbreaking scene of the Weasleys going into frightened shock. .Echo had told Zoey to look for Fred while she went to search for George. For Echo it was easy to know where George went to hide since she had known him all her life but Fred was not the same with Zoey. She had never witnessed his sad moments and didn't know where he would go when he wanted to be alone to think.

Zoey truly felt at lost.

The map of Hogwarts appeared before her eyes. Zoey smiled before scanning the map. She caught sight of Echo and noted that the violet haired girl was heading towards and empty classroom where George was staying. Zoey nodded her head when she saw Echo enter the room; she began to search the names on the map again.

Zoey gave a gulp when she finally found what she was looking for. Fred's name was hovering over the Astronomy Tower. She bit her lip as she brought her wand back to the map and tapped it once more.

"Mischief Managed,"

The map slowly disappeared and in a second it returned to looking like a regular piece of parchment. Zoey pocketed the map and held her wand firmly in her hand.

"Lumos," she muttered and a bright light emitted from her wand. She hastily pulled out her handkerchief and placed it on the end of her wand in order to make the light dimmer. She did not want to wake the paintings or attract unwanted attention.

Zoey took a brave step forward and felt her heart beat faster against her chest. She had to be strong. She knew sooner or later she had to face her fears, she just didn't know it would be this soon. Zoey walked down the deserted hallway towards the dreaded direction of the Astronomy Tower. She passed by the different painting's that gave of soft snores and murmuring in their sleep. They really did amaze her that they could speak with children and help them when they got lost on their way to classes.

Zoey faintly wished she had a talking painting of her mother.

If she did then her mother might be able to help her.

Sadly, Zoey only had a photograph.

All it did was smile and wave up to her.

Zoey gulped as she reached a familiar staircase. She looked up and noted that with the darkness and the faintness of the light it seemed like it lead to nowhere. Unfortunately, she knew where it headed and even if she didn't she knew it was bad news. She took a step and gave a shaky breath.

One finished….a million more to go.

As Zoey climbed further up the stairs she noted that her heart had not gotten any calmer. In fact, it was beating so fast that she could have sworn that she would have a heart attack and fall down the stairs. The thought of that scared her, making her head up the stairs a little faster.

Zoey bit her lip when she finally reached the door. There was no turning back now. She was here and she would not leave. He promised he'll never leave her and it felt right to return the favor. "Nox," she whispered and the light died out. She pocketed her wand and handkerchief and pushed the door open. It made an eerie creak.

It was late and there was no light besides the dim stars. It did not help in finding her way through the Astronomy Tower. Zoey's heart quickened. What if she accidentally walked off the tower and fell to her doom. Zoey decided to take slower and smaller steps.

Zoey's eyes adjusted to the dark and saw Fred's silhouette near the edge of the tower. From what she could see, which was not much, he looked as if he were looking down instead of up at the beautiful night sky. Zoey took a breath as she stepped towards him. "F – Fred?" her voice came off as a shaky whisper.

She saw him move slightly.

"Fred?" she tried again, "Are you there?"

She heard a mumble.

She took it as a yes.

"Are you alright?" she asked. She knew it was a stupid question. Who would be if there sister was taken to a chamber to die and rot in forever?

"What do you think?" came Fred's reply. Zoey felt a pang in her heart.

"Sorry," she apologized, "Dumb question"

Zoey felt her knees wobble. She was getting closer and closer to him meaning she was getting closer and closer to the edge. She tried to take her mind of that fact.

They remained in silence for a few moments.

"She's gone," she heard Fred say, his voice was hoarse. "Gone forever"

"You don't know that," Zoey reasoned. She was not the best at comforting.

"It's obvious," Fred said darkly, "No one knows where the chamber is, not even the slightest inkling to its whereabouts. Lockhart claims he knows but then we all know he's a fraud'

"You don't know that," Zoey repeated.

"How can I not know that? The day he knows where the chamber is, is the day you fall in love with him," Fred said with slight anger in his voice. The thought that there was no chance in saving his sister was frustrating. If only he was older, knew more spells, stronger then he would have been able to do something.

"I don't know, he does seem quite charming at time," Zoey said with a shrug. She tried to keep the conversation casual.

"What –"

"What I'm trying to say, Fred, is that anything is possible. It's possible that Professor Lockhart knows where the chamber is just as it is possible that I will fancy him, though that is unlikely," Zoey explained.

"In other words, finding Ginny is unlikely," Fred said.

Zoey winced, "Sorry," she apologized again, "Wrong choice of words. Just forget that I said that"

Fred sighed and looked down. He watched as the trees below him blew in the wind. It was a cold night but he didn't wear anything over his robes. He did not feel the cold. He did not feel. He was numb.

"I don't know what do anymore," Fred confessed, "She's gone… I was supposed to protect her… help her through her first year in Hogwarts and what do I do? I prank Slytherins and get myself landed in detention!"

Zoey jumped as Fred angrily banged his fist into the rock hard surface.

"I was supposed to be the good older brother! I should have listened to mum! I should have been there for her! I remember she would approach George and I to have a simple game of Exploding snap and what not and we just blow her off so we could either come up with another prank or head of to detention!" Fred yelled. He felt bad for neglecting his roles. True, he was never the best example of an older sibling and it was a fact that he could careless who he was being a bad influence to but the thought of his sister being gone and him not even being there for her in her time of need hurt him, angered him.

"You couldn't have predicted this," Zoey whispered as she felt tears well up in her eyes. Fred was hurting and she could not help but feel it was partly her fault. If she had told Ginny the warning sooner then maybe she wouldn't be in danger right now, maybe she would have thrown away the diary, maybe this painful night would have never happened. Sadly, this was reality. Zoey could do nothing to change her past mistakes.

"It's not your fault," Zoey said when Fred did not reply.

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Fred cried angrily. Zoey never saw him shed tears before. "I should have been there for her. Maybe if I was then I would have seen signs of something wrong. Maybe I could have prevented all this. But no, I was just being a Weasley twin git."

"Fred.. It isn't your –"

"Stop telling me that, Zoey!" Fred yelled angrily at her. Zoey took a step back. "I blame myself for all this! You can't tell me otherwise! Just… just get out"

Zoey looked down. Fred was wrong to blame himself, he should have blamed her. It was after all partly her fault that Ginny was in the chamber. She did not remember the events that took place when she was possessed by the diary's power but she knew for a fact that she was there when Ginny entered the chamber; Zoey knew she was there but what she didn't know was why she didn't stay.

Zoey turned to leave. She was just about to take a step towards the exit when Fred spoke again. "No, don't leave," he said, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that"

Zoey turned around, "Then what did you mean?"

"I – it – what I meant was – Just, it feels painful y'know? It hurts to know that you can't do anything to save the ones you love," Fred said sadly, "I was just angered by that fact… sorry I took it out on you."

Zoey walked towards Fred and sat beside him. She felt her heart beat against her chest as she felt her back hit the thin air. She was so close to the edge. She could fall of she just lent backwards. She ignored that fact. It would be useless to be afraid.

She surprised Fred by pulling him into a hug. Fred's head rested on her shoulder as his nose grazed her neck. Zoey looked firmly at the wall in front of her. She did not know what brought her to do such a thing but right now she didn't care. She tried to ignore the fact that she was hundreds of feet from the ground and that Fred was so close to her.

"It's alright. It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up for it," she said in whispers, "Just… stay optimistic. Everything would work out in the end. It always does. Next thing you know… you'll see Ginny right as rain"

Fred stayed silent. He was tired. The news had stressed him out and all the anger bottled up within him exploded out of him and now he was exhausted. He wanted to argue with Zoey, tell her that what she said was impossible but a small pang in his heart just told him to believe what she said.

They stayed quiet for a few moments.

It was Fred who broke the silence.

"I thought you were afraid of the Astronomy Tower," Fred said softly.

"Heights to be exact," Zoey spoke.

"Then why are you here? Aren't you afraid?"

"Terrified actually. I'm here because I wanted to be there for you. I had to face my fears and get a grasp on what is really important. You"

Zoey blushed as she said this and quickly released Fred from the hug. Fred was in shock. He didn't expect her to say such things. He felt his own blush appear on his cheeks and his hear hammer in his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but Zoey cut him off.

"We should head back to bed now," she said without looking at him. She walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. She waited for Fred. Fred stood up and walked towards her. When she heard his moving footsteps she opened the door and stepped out.

The two of them walked down the stairs in silence and stopped when they reached the bottom. Hufflepuff Basement and Gryffindor Tower were on different sides of the school.

"Good Night," Zoey said with a soft smile to Fred before turning around to leave.

Fred caught her arm and made her face him. He leaned down and gave a soft kiss on her forehead. He lingered there a little longer as to inhale her scent. He smiled when he got a whiff of her coconut milk shampoo. "Good Night," he whispered before stepping away from her and heading his way towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Zoey watched his retreating figure quietly as her cheeks warmed up.

She felt like nothing could go wrong.

Sadly, she was mistaken.

Zoey was a few steps away from her destination when it happened.

Her head throbbed in pain as her eyes began to fog up. It was happening again. He was taking control of her.

"No…no…stop!" Zoey cried as her head throbbed even more. The pain was too much for her to handle and she dropped to the floor and withered in pain. She brought her hands to her head and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt him slowly invading her mind. "Stop… please… st –" Zoey continued no further. It was useless anyway. Her eyes open wide and it showed her pupils slightly foggy. She was taken over.

Zoey stood back up and turned around. She walked towards a direction her normal being did not know but her taken over self did. She walked in a faster pace than before but her footsteps remained unheard. She made quick turns and such to avoid running into objects and catching people's unwanted attention.

Zoey stopped in front of the second floor's girl's lavatory. She pushed open the door.

She walked towards the sink and was slightly surprised to see that the entrance had been opened. She looked down and suddenly heard an impatient voice in her head saying: Get down here, now!

A mist started to surround Zoey and her wings started to sprout out of her body. This time she did not cry in pain for she was in the state of mind where she could feel no pain. She could not feel anything.

Her wings stretched out and then stared to flap. Zoey's feet then left a few inches about the floor. She then dived down onto the passage way, her wings folding behind here, and before she would roughly land on the ground her wings caught air and lifted her. She then turned and started to fly towards her "master"

She heard voices when she reached her destination. Her wings folded back behind her and her feet were reunited with the ground. She walked the remaining steps to her master and caught his eye. She saw him smile maliciously. Near her master, stood a small black haired boy and a fallen ginger haired girl. Zoey knew deep down she knew these children but sadly she was in no control over her body. She took a few steps closer.

"Ah, but before anything Harry," he master, Tom Riddle spoke, "I would like to say that Ginny was not the only one venting in to the diary"

Harry looked confusedly at the man, "What do –"

But Tom cut him off.

"I do believe you are well acquainted with Miss Zoey?" Tom said as he raised his hand towards the direction of the possessed fourth year

Harry whirled around and his eyes widened, behind him stood Zoey who looked as if she were in a daze. Her eyes were glazed and foggy in appearance and her face held no emotion. These qualities did not shock him as much as what he saw that was attached to her back. Big arc angel wings were folded behind the girl yet because of their size he could still see the white feathers of the wings.

"What did you do to her?" Harry asked angrily as he looked back at Tom.

"The wings? Nothing, that's all her," Tom said, "You see Harry, the Emeraudes have a very special…gift if you could say"

Harry stayed silent as he waited for Tom to continue.

"There is a reason why I drained Ginny's powers and not Zoey. Clearly Zoey is the more advance and powerful witch but there is something about her that I cannot lose thus, preventing me from… how should I say this? Killing her," Tom said casually, "Each Emeraude is born with a power, a gift that no other wizard can have. Sure, there would be times were two or more Emeraudes share the same gift but never would there be a time where a none Emeraude will have it

"If I am correct by Zoey's wings she had been born with the power called "Angel's Soul" a very powerful gift though looked down upon by most in the Emeraude family. Do you know why Harry?"

Harry shook his head. The news was very shocking to him. He never knew.

"Because her power can only be used once. Just once. While her family can exploit theirs and use it whenever and however they like Zoey has a limit. For you see Harry, Zoey's power is the ability to bring those near death back to full health and or be able to bring back the dead," Tom informed, "Yes, she is able to bring the dead back to life, resurrect them if you will. Her power is unfortunately limited to only being able to resurrect one person for she gives half her soul to the person."

"So if she were to bring back two people," Harry gulped as he pieced the pieces together, "She would die…"

"You are a smart boy, Harry. Unfortunately for you, your life ends here," Tom said as he turned towards a gigantic stone face that stood behind him. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four"

Through glazed eyes Zoey watched as the stone face moved. She stayed rooted to her spot and her wings stretched a bit before folding back behind her. A voice in her head told her to move, to run away because danger was approaching yet she did not listen to it. She had no choice. She was stuck. She felt her eyes close.

She heard something slither on the ground and shortly after the slithering she heard the sounds of fast footsteps. Running. Someone was running away from the source of the slithering. Zoey heard many sounds, sounds of running and angry hissing even the sound that seemed like music, like the phoenix song but all the while she did not move from her spot, she did not open her eyes. She heard the sounds of a struggling fight and soon also heard the sounds banging, it seemed like the slithering beast had been harmed and was now thrashing all over the place.

Zoey then heard the soft voices of talking. Her mind was getting foggier by the second. She didn't know if she was being lifted from the possession or if she was falling deeper into it. She then heard a scream, a yell. It sounded like someone was being defeated.

She opened her eyes.

There she saw Harry near to collapsing and Tom slowly disappearing. In Harry's hand was a Basalisk fang and it was piercing through the diary. Zoey felt her eyes widen as Tom lunged towards Harry. Zoey's wings stretched and she leapt into the air. She flew to the front of Harry and her wings spread out shielding him. Tom let out a scream before fully disappearing.

Zoey looked back at Harry and saw Ginny stirring awake. Zoey felt faint. She fell back to the groaned and hissed in pain as her wings retreated back into her body. She once again felt her back exposed, she did not care.

"Harry," she said in a hoarse voice before feeling her eyes close and her body fall.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Zoey and Lockhart all flew out of the chamber safely with the help of Fawkes the phoenix. It had been a very stressful and frightening night and they thanked their lucky heavens that everyone got out alright in the end (not counting the near death experience and Lockhart's memory charm backfiring). They all made it out of the chamber, Zoey now slightly awake, and scampered out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They wanted to get away from the Chamber as soon as possible. The moment the bathroom door swung close a cubicle door swung open.

Out of the cubicle came Bridgit. She looked slightly troubled as she headed towards the entrance of the Chamber. She slid down the passage way and made her way towards the stone face statue. She winced a bit when she saw the fallen Basalisk. She approached the snake and pulled out her wand. With a wave the fangs of the Basalisk fell out and clambered on to the floor, its venom slightly seeping.

"Wingardium leviosa," Bridgit said with a swish and flick of her wand and the fangs levitated to the air. She walked out and stopped at the area near where she came from. She placed the fangs back on the ground and conjured a box. She levitated the fangs again and placed them in the box; she covered the lid and brought out a piece of parchment and quill from her pocket. She wrote a quick note and stuck it onto the box's lid.

She left the Chamber.

Zoey groaned as she began to wake up. She had felt that horrible headache and painful feeling in the pit of her stomach. It had happened again. Tom had possessed her once more. Zoey felt terrible, she wondered who she had attacked this time. She slowly opened her eyes to see herself in a very familiar room; she was in the Hospital Wing. Zoey's vision was rather blurred but she could make out the figure on the bed next to her. The figure was Ginny.

Zoey reached out for her glasses and placed them on before sitting up with a wince. Her back felt really sore. She sat up straight and saw Fred sleeping on the chair beside her bed. She reached out and touched his forearm. Her eyes widened when Fred jerked awake. He looked at her with a shocked look.

"You're awake," he said with a whisper before bringing her into a hug. Zoey held back her wince for her body was still sore. She smiled into his embrace and jumped slightly when Fred exclaimed. "SHE'S AWAKE!"

Zoey heard the scrambling of feet.

She saw her friends looking stressed and disheveled.

"Zwei?" Echo's still small voice was close to being inaudible.

Zoey looked up at her friend and felt a guilty feeling at the pit of her stomach. She knew she worried them all.

Zoey offered a small smile in response.

"Don't smile right now! You should be tired and resting!" Bridgit said, making Fred and George hit the back of her head

"But I think I've rested a lot thanks," Zoey laughed, "How long have I been out?"

"Two to three days," George answered ignoring the death glare Bridgit was giving him and his brother."

Zoey's eyes widened, "Seriously? Even Ginny?"

"Actually, Ginny's still out," Bridgit answered looking at the bed beside her.

"What happened exactly? All I remember is leaving a strange, horrid smelling palce with a very… off Lockhart," Zoey mumbled and caught sight of Echo rubbing her sleep deprived eyes. She was struggling to keep awake. "Echo… you okay?" Zoey asked. Echo slowly nodded

"Well…," Fred started, not knowing how to fully explain it.

"We don't know either," Bridgit simple said making Fred glare at her

"What? It's the truth!" Bridgit said seeing Fred's glare

Zoey closed her eyes as a flash of green eyes appeared in her mind, "Harry… WHERE'S HARRY?" she panicked.

"Relax…" Fred said pushing Zoey down so that she'd stay in bed.

"Over there," Echo pointed to a bed beside Ginny's

Zoey bit her lip as her head rested on the pillow. She looked over at where Echo was pointing, "What happened… after… after… whatever happened?"

"You fell unconscious on the floor. It was kind of fortunate that I was looking for my pocketbook when I came across you guys," Echo said, "George give me my thermos of coffee please?"

"In other words… you guys don't know the full event either?" Zoey asked as she saw George pass Echo the thermos

"Yep," Echo drank the thermos empty in one straight go.

"I see…," Zoey muttered as she felt her eyes closing again. She felt someone run their fingers through her hair a bit before soft footsteps echoed. They had left.

Zoey felt her mind shutting down until she heard a voice speak

"I know that you were controlled by the diary and that you were almost sacrificed because of Ginny and Harry. How Tom Marvolo Riddle would use you," Bridgit said in a soft tone.

Zoey felt her eyes snap open before sitting up.

"How do you know about Tom Riddle?"

DUN DUN DUN!

And that concludes their fourth year!

Sorry if the time they were unconscious isn't really... you know... exact... in the book... short? Lol, it just fit better you know?

Oh, and if you're curious as to why Echo was out that late, remember she went out to comfort George and yeah... late... lol...

KEEP YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER PEOPLE!

lol joke... or AM I?

yeah...

I would like to thanks ZoomSkater14 and HayleyParadox for helping me type up the last part of the chapter! Thank you :D

and thank you all for your reviews, favorites, alerts and questions!

Much Appreciated!

Oh! A lot of you asked where the Zoey and Ginny chamber scene was and there you have it! It's right here!

And you guys have been rather curious as to what Bridgit is exactly. I'll give you a little clue she's not a Seer. Keep on guessing :D

... Some of your questions kinda got answered through this chapter so I have nothing more to say...

Don't forget to review and ask questions!

I only own what I own

(Oh and advance apologies for any typos! D:)