Hey guys! Sooooo sorry for the ridiculous wait. I know how frustrating that is. I've been getting settled into college and honestly almost forgot about this story until the ever-effective friendly reminder! So anyway, here's this chapter, and I promise not to be so neglectful in the future! Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

Chapter 16: The Chamber, Part 1

Ellie had never felt more nervous in her life than she did the next day.

They weren't nerves for her own safety. She wore sunglasses during class change and stayed with groups. She hadn't talked to Ginny yet, but she would. Nothing of that nature scared her much. It was the fear that something would happen to someone else, and it would be all her fault.

Harry and Ron seemed to feel the same way, she noticed in every class, and between classes she saw that Fred, too, seemed down. He had lost every Fred-like quality about him. She felt guilty for dragging him into this decision that was probably the wrong one.

The four of them ate lunch together at an empty end of the Gryffindor table, none of them saying much. None of them seemed to be able to think of anything to say. Onlookers probably would have suspected something; they were all pale, quiet, and suspicious-looking.

"Okay, that's it," Harry finally said. "We've got ten minutes before Potions, and I don't really care if I miss all of Potions, anyway. Fred, don't you have a free period next, anyway?"

Fred nodded.

"Lockhart's walking us to our next class. We can probably just say we need to get something—he's not the most careful teacher about the whole precaution thing. Think we can pull it off?"

Fred nodded. "I'd say so."

"What did we leave?" asked Ron.

"Our Potions books, on this table," Fred said. "It's easy, we really can just leave them. And this is in the direction of Myrtle's bathroom, if we tell him when we head downstairs."

Harry nodded. "It makes sense. So will we need anything, to convince Myrtle?"

"No, but the Marauder's Map would have been smart," said Fred, "for when we're heading back. So we're not caught. I think it's in my trunk, though."

"I don't have the cloak with me," Harry said, "or I'd send one of us after it."

"Oh, I do," Ellie said, remembering when Harry had handed it to her for her bag. "It's in my bag. Shall I get the map, then?"

"If you're sure you'll be safe," Fred said. "Wear your glasses, and keep your eyes on the ground."

"I don't like it," Harry said. "Maybe I should go."

Ellie laughed. "It'll be fine," she promised. "Don't worry about me, I've got my shield and my whole transforming thing. I'm the best for the job." And before they could protest, lunch was dismissed. She ducked under the table to put on the cloak, and when she stood back up, none of them knew where she was. She grinned and kicked Fred's butt jovially before heading out. Fred chuckled a bit, not bothering to explain it to the others.

It was easy to avoid the hordes of people, because none of them were heading to the common room. She went quickly, glad that the stairs were all in her favor, and reached the common room soon. She wasn't sure how she would get through the Fat Lady, but luckily a small gaggle of teens headed out with a professor just as she headed in. She stuck a pen between the frame and the door so the Fat Lady wouldn't shut all the way. She knew it wasn't the cleverest plan in the world, but she hoped the Fat Lady would assume it was an accident.

Ellie started to head up to the boys' dorms to fetch the Map, but she froze in her tracks when she saw Ginny sitting in front of the fireplace, sobbing. Ellie dropped the cloak and ran over to her friend.

"Ginny," she gasped. "What's wrong?"

Ginny shook her head, still crying, but surrendered into Ellie's tight hug when it was offered.

"Ginny, please," Ellie whispered, not letting go. "I've been trying to talk to you all year. If you know something about the Chamber, you can tell me. I know more than you think. About the basilisk? Myrtle?"

Ginny pulled away from her, looking up in surprise. "How do you know all that?"

"Lots of detective work," Ellie replied. "Now, come on, tell me what's going on."

Ginny sighed and pulled out something Ellie recognized very well: the diary.

"It was you!" Ellie breathed. "I had a feeling, but too many signs pointed to no… so you stole it back from Harry after throwing it away?"

"It's evil," Ginny replied, "but at the same time it's like a drug, I couldn't leave it…"

Ellie shook her head. "What did it show you?"

"It didn't show me things," Ginny replied between tears. "It made me do things—the writing on the wall—in my own blood—"

Ellie's eyes changed from worry to panic. "Oh, my God," she managed.

"And helping the basilisk," Ginny whispered, "and setting things up… I'm the reason all of this has happened, Ellie."

"Don't worry," Ellie said quickly. "Look, we'll talk to McGonagall and get rid of the book and work things out."

Ginny's expression flashed to a look of anger. "We can't get rid of the book!" she shrieked, standing up. Ellie stood up as well, knowing this was the 'it's like a drug' part.

"Okay," Ellie said. "Okay." And yet all she could do was pray that it wasn't too late to go to McGonagall.

But Ginny just picked up the diary and opened it. "Look at this," she said. "This is Tom Riddle. He—I don't know who he is—he's controlling me. No one can stop him."

"We can," Ellie insisted, and reached out to close the book. But writing appeared, and Ginny's eyes skittered over the words, transfixed. Ellie tried to stop her from reading, but she couldn't. Ginny's eyes glazed over, and Ellie didn't seem to matter any more. Ginny stood up and headed over to the portrait, yanking it open, and Ellie regretted having left the pen. She pulled the cloak on out of habit, but had a feeling Ginny had her own magic protecting her. Ginny broke into a run. Ellie didn't know where she was headed, but followed, panic rising up in her. What was going on? How could Ellie stop her?

She pulled open her locket. Fred's face appeared instantly. "Where are you?" he asked, sounding not too worried.

"Fred, it's Ginny!" she said, high-pitched and nearly hysterical. "She did it all, the writing, the planning—that book is controlling her! I think she's heading to the Chamber now, Fred— " She glanced up but kept following, not knowing where they were headed.

"Oh, God," Fred managed, looking more scared than she had ever seen him. "Where are you going?"

"Looks like Myrtle's bathroom," she said, somewhat relieved. "That's where you are, right?"

"No—no, it's not!" Fred shouted. "McGonagall caught us and sent us to the hospital wing, that's where we are—we found out that the basilisk is using the pipes. I think that's where it would be, the pipes in Myrtle's bathroom, and the entrance…"

Ellie groaned and kept running, too scared for words. "You've got to find McGonagall," she said.

Fred said something to the other two, but Ellie saw Madam Pomfrey in the background. She was saying something about escorting them in a few minutes. Fred looked furious.

Ellie stopped abruptly; Ginny had stopped. She was cutting her fingers.

"Ginny, snap out of it!" she shouted, looking around frantically for teachers. She glanced down at her locket. "Fred, she's writing on the wall—what do I do, do I get help?"

"No!" Fred shouted. "Stay with Ginny! What's she writing?"

"Their… their skeletons…" Ellie didn't want to keep reading. "Fred, ask Madam Pomfrey, tell her it's an emergency—"

"Harry's working on it," he replied frantically. "Ellie, what does it say?"

"Their skeletons will lie—in the Chamber—" She choked on her own words.

"HARRY!" Fred shouted. "We've got to get McGonagall now!"

But Ginny was finished, and she was taking off again, this time toward the bathroom. "Our skeletons will lie in the Chamber forever," Ellie whispered as she ran.

She had to close the locket to keep up, but promised Fred she would use it again as soon as she got a spare second. Ginny stopped again in the bathroom, and Ellie clutched the cloak to her, knowing it might be her only form of protection against any human that would be in the Chamber. The Heir.

Ellie pulled out the locket again. "It's one of the sinks," she said to Fred. "The basilisk is saying something in Parseltongue—tell Harry to do that when you get here." And she snapped it closed. "MYRTLE!" she shouted. But the ghost didn't emerge; she must be scared out of her mind. "Myrtle, when Harry gets here, tell him to say 'open' to that sink in Parseltongue. Please."

Myrtle didn't reply, but Ellie had a feeling she would do it.

The Parseltongue stopped, and the sink rose, making way for a deep pit. Without further warning, Ginny jumped down. More scared than she had ever been in her entire life, and more than she could have ever imagined, Ellie followed.

She knew the basilisk was there. She kept her eyes on the ground and prayed that it couldn't sense her presence. Luckily the cloak was still on her. She pulled out her wand and slowly raised her eyes enough to look for any sign of the Heir, but she saw none.

"Ginny," she whispered, but Ginny was still in the trance. She opened the diary again. Ellie jumped on her, trying to knock it out of her hands, but it was no use. Ginny just stood back up and began to read.

Ellie stood back, knowing there was nothing she could do, and waited.

Ginny pulled out her wand and said a spell Ellie didn't recognize, pointing it at the diary. There was a huge blaze of white light, and almost out of the diary, a man appeared. As he did, Ginny seemed to lose a lot of energy. She tripped and caught her balance, but seemed to be in pain.

"Thank you, Ginny," said the man. "It's been so long."

Ellie studied the man carefully. He was young, probably in his twenties, with dark hair. He was handsome, and oddly familiar in a way. She realized that he was Tom Riddle.

"You're evil," Ginny whispered, clutching her stomach.

Tom smirked. "I try."

"They're coming for you," Ginny murmured. "Not just McGonagall and the professors—they'll bring Dumbledore…"

"Ah, but that will take some time, as Dumbledore isn't even here. Thanks to one of my old followers."

Ginny didn't seem to connect the dots, due to weakness, but Ellie did. One of his old followers… Lucius was the reason Dumbledore wasn't here. That meant Tom—was is possible?—was Voldemort.

"Harry will come, too," Ginny whispered. "Harry's more powerful than you. Even V—Voldemort couldn't kill Harry."

This seemed to make Tom furious. "Because of things out of his control," he nearly shouted, "and don't expect it to happen again!"

"It did happen again, last year," Ginny said, falling to her knees. "He beat you again."

So she did know.

"Smart girl," Tom said with a smirk. "Too bad you'll be dead in no time. As you grow weaker, I grow stronger. That's just how it works."

Ellie had to stop him. She had such a huge advantage. Ginny was waiting for her, Ellie knew. She just had to think of a spell… But when she made herself known, the basilisk would see her and petrify her, and once she was petrified, Tom would kill her…

But she couldn't let Ginny die!

Ellie sighed as quietly as possible and took out her wand, thinking back on the Dueling Club. They had learned several spells, and Snape had begun to teach them the art of silent spells. Ellie closed her eyes, focusing, and pointed her wand at Tom under the cloak. Stupefy, she thought, and gave her wand a tiny swish. To her huge surprise, he was thrown backwards and landed on the floor. Desperate not to let him get back up, she tried again: Petrificus totalus. His already thrown-down body became cold and unmoving. The basilisk didn't seem to know what to do, from what she could see of its lower body.

"Thank you," Ginny whispered.

Ellie sighed. At least Tom didn't have a wand. Maybe she could keep this up until backup arrived.

Still invisible, she pulled open her locket. Fred looked hugely relieved when he saw her, but she gave him a worried expression, and he realized he should use the words feature. She saw him concentrate, and a kind of text appeared on the screen, almost too small to read.

McGonagall & teachers found the writing. Closing school. We were going to tell her where but they sent Lockhart instead. Heading for Myrtle's bathroom with him now.

Tom was stirring. She pointed her wand. Stupefy. It didn't seem to work as well, but he was thrown back down. Honestly it gave her a very empowered feeling. Ginny, who was starting to lie down in pain, gave her general area a weak smile. The basilisk was slithering around the same way a pacing human would.

She tried to send text back. Riddle is the Heir. Ginny is weakening. Basilisk here.

Fred looked more than surprised. You OK?

He doesn't have wand. Trying to keep him down. Riddle is Voldemort. HURRY.

Riddle was stirring again. She tried another spell, but apparently as his strength was returning he was able to block them better. This one he blocked almost entirely.

"Ginny, Ginny," he said. "You're not alone. You've brought an invisible friend, haven't you? Who is it, then? Do I have the honor of meeting Mr. Potter?"

Ellie said nothing. She took a few very quiet steps backwards, glancing at the locket and seeing that they were in the bathroom. She prayed that they would get here soon.

"So your brilliant plan is to walk around in circles?" Tom asked, sounding amused. "Whoever you are, that's not a very clever plan. Waiting for backup? Only Parseltongues can get down here, and that means only Mr. Potter. And if you aren't Mr. Potter, I'm still not worried, because Harry isn't exactly going to be your savior."

Ellie tried to ignore him.

Tom stood, deep in thought, trying to consider his options. Finally he said something in Parseltongue. The basilisk seemed to inhale, then almost blew air, as if it were fire, all around the room. Ellie grabbed her cloak, but it was no use; the bottom fluttered around, and she knew Tom had seen her feet.

She sighed and yanked the cloak off, facing him head-on.

"So it isn't Harry," he said. "It's the little girl from last year. Nice sunglasses." He started to say something in Parseltongue, but Ellie thought ahead.

"They give you your image and the things you believe," she started to sing, her voice wavering nervously. "Open your eyes—tell me, what did you see? And I just think you thought it would be…"

The basilisk reached out to bite her. She shut her eyes and continued to sing. It struck her orb of a shield and almost bounced backwards.

Tom's expression went from surprised to amused. "A Perelli charm."

"And how does it feel to be out on your own?" she sang, ignoring him.

"You weren't the first," he said. "There was one other. I'll find the way to counter that soon, my dear. I won't be the first to do that, either. This won't protect you forever. Even if Daddy wanted it to."

She glared at him but kept singing, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him.

"And now it's too late to go home-Stupefy—It's hard to be free when you're down on your knees…"

He was knocked over again. She had a feeling it had something to do with her confidence. The basilisk was still trying to get past her shield, and she had a feeling her shield was getting weaker.

"Take it easy til you—Petrificus totalus—make it alone."

And then a crash sounded, and Ellie knew Harry was coming.

Review for update! I promise, promise, promise it'll just be a few days this time, as long as I get some positive feedback of course :)