As Paige walked along the middle of the hallway, tending a bit to the right, she spied movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up she gasped in horror at the sight of Harry. He looked like he'd just been drug through some sort of hellish beast's torment. His glasses were just slightly askew, bent around his nose a little more than they should have been, his usually messy hair now seemed to have been struck by lightning, scratches and cuts marked his visible skin. Fawkes was the only thing that seemed perfectly calm. His beautiful feathers stood out on stark contrast to the grime that covered Harry from head to toe. Ron seemed a bit roughed up but not overly ruffled. Ginny was clinging to her brother, nearly catatonic from her ordeal.
"Yeah, I'll ask what happened later," she said as she approached them.
"It was a Basilisk. It's dead now," Harry said. Her already horrified expression grew in horror.
"You-The voice was-Well, I shouldn't be surprised, the signs were all there," she said. "C'mon. Where are you guys planning on going?"
"Professor Dumbledore's office. Fawkes is a bit weary and we should probably get him to his perch," Harry said. "Plus, Professor Dumbledore shoudl be informed that the attacks are over permanently."
"Alright. Let's go," she said, trying to force her breath she muttered, "This is gonna be as fun as a wake, I'm sure of it."
They walked in silence from the third floor until they reached the gargoyle defending the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Once there, Paige gave the password so an exhausted Harry wouldn't have to.
"By the way," she said as they climbed the stairs. Ron had some difficulty as Ginny was still clinging to him. "What the hell happened to you down there, Harry? Did you go mud wrestling with the damn thing?"
Harry laughed in spite of his ordeal. "Sure, we'll go with that," he replied.
Paige knocked on the door. "Enter," Professor Dumbledore said. Fawkes flew over her shoulder and landed on his perch, giving his master a friendly purr-like noise.
Arthur and Molly were there. "Ginny!" Molly cried running forward and encircling her now sobbing daughter in her arms. She also hugged Ron and squeezed Harry's shoulder before looking the pre-teen over with a disapproving look that clearly said that he needed a bath.
"Hello, Professor," Paige, Harry, and Ron greeted their Headmaster. Ginny was too overcome by emotion to speak. Eventually, her sobs gave way to quiet sniffles.
Finally Professor Dumbledore spoke. "Harry, perhaps you'd like to tell us what you know," he said looking kindly with sage-like patience at Harry, who had all but collapsed into a nearby chair.
So Harry began his tale of hearing the voice in the walls, discovering the truth about Myrtle and her bathroom. Entering the Chamber by use of Parseltongue, and the subsequent battle between him and the Basilisk. He concluded his tale by mentioning a diary and how he somehow instinctively knew to stab it with a tooth from the now-dead Basilisk. Paige was watching him mutely, her jaw slack from shock. She'd been so preoccupied with the Lockheart situation that she'd forgotten to find Harry to discuss what they were going to do.
Professor Dumbledore examined the diary with great interest. She'd seen Ginny with it a few times, but had believed it to be nothing but a journal for recording thoughts and feelings. He then held out his hand and Harry passed over the sword, which she'd only just noticed. She felt eyes looking at her and looked up at the Headmaster.
Everyone turned to look at her. It was then that she realized she might stick out, being the only green-robe-wearing person in the room.