Chapter 18: Onward to Summer

Ellie had never experienced anything as rewarding as entering McGonagall's office to see the expressions on the waiting people's faces. Dumbledore was there, and as soon as he saw them, a relief she had never seen before flashed behind his blue eyes. Ron and Ginny's parents were there, and the second Molly saw Ginny, she burst into tears of joy. Arthur, too, extended his arms for his daughter with more expression of love than Ellie had ever seen. As he did, Molly reached out for Ellie.

McGonagall was the first to seem to notice what was happening. "What are you three doing here?" she asked Fred, Harry, and Ron. "We were told everyone was in their houses for the night."

"We kind of snuck out," Harry said. "Lockhart asked for our help. He had no idea what he was doing. We wanted to tell you what we knew, but he told us to go straight there."

"You're fired," Dumbledore said cheerfully to Lockhart.

"Am I?" Lockhart asked curiously. "What was my job?"

"He had a bit of a mishap with my wand," Ron explained. "Terrible, isn't it?" He didn't sound like he thought so at all.

"So you three saved our girls?" Molly asked. Ellie was touched that Molly considered Ellie her own.

"I wouldn't put it that way," Fred said, grinning at Ellie. "One of 'em sure didn't need saving."

Everyone turned to Ellie, who blushed a little. "I think Harry and I saved each other an equal amount of times," she decided.

"Everyone," Dumbledore said, "have a seat. The best way to find out what happened is to let Ellie and Harry describe the chain of events."

Everyone sat, and Harry glanced at Ellie to begin.

She cleared her throat, trying to think of when it all started. "Well," she said, and glanced at Harry. "There was this diary."

Harry lifted the diary. Dumbledore looked more interested than anyone else.

"Before I start," Ellie said, "since everything turned out okay and no one died and we pretty much killed Voldemort again, can we get a sort of amnesty for anything we might have done wrong?"

Harry laughed a bit, and Dumbledore nodded. "I think you deserve at least that."

"Well, it all started in Diagon Alley when Lucius Malfoy, who is by the way the most awful guy you will ever meet, gave Ginny this diary." She nodded to Harry, who lifted the dead diary for all to see. "We didn't think anything of it at the time, but around New Years, we—er—came across that girls' bathroom upstairs, the one Moaning Myrtle lives in."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"And we found the diary and took it back, and we figured out it was sort of possessed. The guy, Tom Riddle, showed us this weird vision of why Hagrid was arrested the first time the Chamber opened."

McGonagall looked curious, and Dumbledore looked like he was listening very, very closely.

"But Ginny was sort of—addicted—to the diary," Ellie said carefully, "by no fault of her own, and she stole it back. We didn't know it was her. We didn't know what to do. If you recall, Professor," she added to Dumbledore, "I tried to warn you about her."

Dumbledore nodded. "I take full responsibility and apologize profoundly."

Ellie was glad. "Anyway, nothing really happened until the day Hermione was petrified. We went to ask Hagrid about it. It was the same night you came to arrest Hagrid. And, as both of you might know, I attacked Fudge and helped Hagrid escape." She prepared herself for the worst.

Dumbledore laughed. "I did know. I appreciate what you did."

She smiled with relief.

"Harry, you want to go?" she asked.

He nodded and spoke. "Okay," he said. "So Hagrid told us to follow the spiders. That was all he said. We didn't do anything until yesterday, and when we did, we ran into Aragog—the spider that was suspected all those years ago. He told Ellie and Fred that the monster was a basilisk."

Ellie weakly lifted the fang, causing everyone in the room to gasp; no one had realized that Ellie and Harry had fought a basilisk.

"We were going to tell you today, Professor," Harry said to McGonagall. "But we never got the opportunity, with the class changes and everything, and we wanted to ask Myrtle before going to you, because we found out Myrtle was the girl who died."

McGonagall nodded. "When you told me you were on your way to Hermione, you were actually going to her bathroom."

Harry nodded and turned to Ellie.

"While they were doing that, I went back to the common room to get something," she said. "They went to the hospital wing, where they figured out that the basilisk was using pipes, and I found Ginny in the common room. She was crying, and started to tell me what was going on, but she snapped back into the trance and went upstairs—she cut her fingers and—"

Ginny hiccupped, and Mrs. Weasley let out a sob.

"—and wrote what you read," Ellie said. "I had to follow her into the Chamber, I couldn't leave her alone. I used this locket—it's sort of a communication between me and Fred—to tell him how to get in. That was when they looked for you, but Lockhart told them to come with him instead."

Everyone looked transfixed; this was the moment they had been waiting for.

"Ginny said a spell I've never heard before," Ellie said, "and Tom—he came out of the book. As he began to get stronger, she grew weaker. He didn't have a spell, and I was still—er, I was invisible." She didn't elaborate. "So I did that nonverbal thing, Stupefied him and then used Petrificus Totalus a few times, but he got stronger and it didn't really affect him, and he had the basilisk—it was there, in the room, I had to keep my eyes down—blew my cloak off and he saw me, but I used my shield to protect myself until Harry got there."

Now Harry spoke. "He revealed that he was Voldemort—a Voldemort who did this diary trick when he was sixteen to preserve a bit of himself for the future. He asked me how I had survived all those years ago, and then he challenged me. But Fawkes came and blinded the basilisk, and the Hat gave me the sword." He held up the beautiful sword for all to see. "Ellie levitated a stone I was on so that I could get to the basilisk's head, and I killed it, but its fang got in my arm."

"Fawkes cried on his wound and saved him," Ellie explained, "and then he used the tooth to stab the book, which in turn killed Tom—Voldemort. Ginny was saved as he died."

"And then we all met up and lived happily ever after," Ron finished.

They had to answer a lot of McGonagall's questions, but they were honest about everything. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thanked Ellie and Harry over and over again, until finally Dumbledore asked for everyone except Ellie and Harry to be excused. "You can visit Hermione," he suggested. "She should be restored by now."

Ron needed no further instructions; he ran outside, followed by everyone else. Harry and Ellie followed Dumbledore out of McGonagall's office, down the stairs and into Dumbledore's office.

They sat, and Fawkes, instead of on his perch, flew back to Ellie and settled on her shoulder.

"Fawkes has taken a liking to you," he said with a small smile to Ellie.

"I've taken a liking to Fawkes," she replied, stroking the bird's head affectionately.

"So you sent him to us, then?" Harry asked Dumbledore. "You knew, somehow, that we were in the Chamber?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "On the contrary, I had no idea. Fawkes came when he sensed your loyalty to me and knew that you were in danger."

"Wow," Ellie said. "Smart bird."

"Very," Dumbledore replied. "Now, I can sense that you both have questions for me. Ellie, I'm fairly sure what yours is. Harry, I'm less sure. I have been trying to ask you all year."

Harry nodded grudgingly. "Yes, sir, I know. I'm sorry I haven't asked. I felt like it had to do with favoritism, and I didn't want special attention."

"A very smart thing for you to do," Dumbledore agreed, "but it was not favoritism, but my worries about the safety of a student."

"I know," Harry said. "You're right. It's just, I keep wondering whether I am like Riddle, whether I am what the Sorting Hat thinks—marked for evil, belonging in Slytherin. And I speak Parseltongue, like him."

Dumbledore understood. "I had wondered. The Hat did tell me something of that nature." He glanced at the Hat, which seemed so lifeless not on someone's head. "Harry, when Lord Voldemort attacked you, he transferred some of his powers to you. That is the only reason you have them."

Ellie half-gasped; Harry seemed disgusted. "So I should be in Slytherin," he said. "That's what the Hat saw, the bit of Voldemort that's in me, that makes me this way."

Dumbledore shook his head. "The Hat," he said, "put you in Gryffindor, Harry. You know why."

Harry shrugged. "Because I asked not to go in Slytherin."

"Exactly." Dumbledore smiled. "And that is the difference between you and Tom Riddle. It is that choice that makes you who you are, not your ability."

Ellie understood, and apparently so did Harry, as a smile of realization seemed to light up his face.

"And if you need further proof," said Dumbledore, "I think you should take a closer look at your sword."

Harry did as he was told. He turned the sword over, seeing the rubies on the hilt blaze beautifully in the firelight. He read the name engraved in the hilt carefully: Godric Gryffindor.

"That's incredible," Ellie breathed.

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat," Dumbledore told Harry.

Harry was silent, but Harry could tell it was getting to him. He understood.

"And now, Ellie," Dumbledore said, turning to her. "The more you learn of Voldemort, the more you learn of your father. I know the real reason you saved Hagrid—who I'll have to return to Hogwarts soon. It was because you know more than anyone how awful Azkaban is. You fear it. For your father."

Ellie nodded guiltily.

"We contacted your mother today," Dumbledore said, "and learned what she has already told you. I understand you both are to spend the summer at Ellie's, with little or no supervision?"

Ellie shrugged and nodded.

"It is not my place to intervene," Dumbledore said calmly, "and I trust you both. I am sorry for you, Ellie. Know that you are welcome with the Weasleys, if you prefer."

Ellie shook her head. "I think I just want to have a quieter summer this year, Professor," she said.

He nodded. "I understand. As for your father, I wish I knew the answers to your questions. The only thing I know is a name, and I doubt a name makes any difference." He shook his head. "All I can do is suggest that you let this go. There is no escaping from Azkaban, and this can only haunt you."

Ellie nodded. "Yes, Professor." She wished it were that easy.

She wasn't sure if they were finished, but before any of them could decide, they were interrupted as the door burst open and in walked Lucius Malfoy. At his heels was Dobby the house-elf. Harry's eyes widened.

"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore greeted.

"Yeah, evening, jackass," Ellie said very loudly. Dumbledore almost smiled, not reprimanding her in the slightest; Harry laughed out loud. Lucius stared at her in surprise for a second, obviously never having been spoken to that way before, before turning to Dumbledore.

"You've come back," he said, sounding very agitated. "The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see," he said, "the other governors contacted me today saying that they'd heard Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back at once. They mentioned being threatened by you, oddly enough."

Lucius went pale, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

"So, have you stopped the attacks yet?" he asked, obviously proud and assuming Dumbledore hadn't. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore. "I suppose I should say, Mr. Potter and Ellie have."

"Well?" Lucius asked, surprised.

"It was your main man," Ellie snapped at him. "Voldemort." She glared at him with much more hatred than he was using for Dumbledore.

"He was using this diary," Dumbledore said, holding up the diary.

Lucius said nothing. Dobby, however, was giving him away with his expression.

"A clever plan," continued Dumbledore, "because if Harry and Ellie hadn't discovered this book… why, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will."

Again Lucius stayed silent.

"I'm not going to dance around it like he is," Ellie snapped. She had seen it, and she remembered it. "You're a disgusting, worthless excuse for a man, Lucius, even more than your frat boy of a son." She was amazed Dumbledore wasn't stopping her. "And it's pathetic that you would do that to a little girl. I saw it."

"Prove it," Lucius hissed. It still seemed obvious he had never been insulted this way.

"No one will ever be able to do that," Dumbledore said calmly. "Which is why I must admit you're a bit cleverer than I should have thought. Then again, I would advise not to do something of this nature again… If I told Arthur Weasley who it was that did this to his daughter, he might find some way to prove it—you know fathers and their love."

Ellie and Harry saw Lucius's wand hand twitch, but he didn't make a move for his wand. Instead he ordered Dobby to leave with him. He opened the door and kicked Dobby through it before following.

"Professor," said Harry, glancing at the diary. "Can I give this back to him?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Certainly."

Ellie raised her eyebrows but followed Harry outside, even more confused when she saw him pull off his sock and stuffed the diary into the sock. "Mr. Malfoy," he shouted when he caught up with Lucius, "I've got something for you." He forced the sock into Lucius's hand. Lucius ripped the sock off and threw it aside to Dobby, looking from the ruined book to Harry.

"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too."

Ellie gasped at that and, before she knew what she was doing, drew back a fist. She was just inches away from punching him, but Harry grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Lucius laughed. "Nice try," he sneered. "Come, Dobby." Dobby didn't move. "I said, come."

"Master has given Dobby a sock," said the elf. "Master gave it to Dobby. Dobby is free."

Lucius stared at the sock in disbelief, then turned to Harry and lunged at him. "You've lost me my servant, boy!"

But there was a loud bang, and Lucius was thrown backwards. Dobby had intervened to save Harry. As Lucius rose, face livid, he pulled out his wand. But Ellie was faster: in a split second hers was up and she shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

His wand was thrown from his hand. Ellie smirked. "You learn a lot when you battle Voldemort twice." She grinned. "And win."

Lucius glared at her.

"I mean, you know, Harry did most of the work. I helped a bit. So did a few other kids. Kids, you know, our age? He wasn't exactly hard to beat."

Harry grinned.

Lucius, with one last scathing glance, picked up his glance and hurried out of sight.

"That," Harry said with a grin, "as out of character as this might seem for me to say, was incredibly hot."

She grinned, threw an arm around his neck, and kissed him.

The feast was incredible. Harry and Ellie went straight there, still covered in soot and dirt, amused to find that most of their classmates were in pajamas. The celebration lasted all night. Ellie took a seat with Harry, Ron, Hermione—who she embraced with a warm, tight hug, Dean, Seamus, the twins, and Ginny. Everyone she loved was with her, and everyone in the Great Hall seemed to be talking about them.

Hermione was probably the happiest. "You did it!" she screamed when she saw them. "You solved it!"

Justin Finch-Fletchley also came, apologizing endlessly for suspecting him. Then Hagrid turned up, hugging Ellie and Harry tightly, and thanking everyone else for the support.

As if that weren't enough, the House Cup points were awarded. Gryffindor didn't need nearly as many as they were given to win: two hundred points each for Ellie and Harry, a hundred each for Ron and Fred, and fifty each for Hermione and Ginny.

Next, McGonagall rose to tell them exams had been canceled as a school treat in all the chaos. After her announcement came one from Dumbledore saying that Lockhart would not return the next year, one which even the professors were relieved to hear.

The feast ended as warmly as ever, and students were free to walk back to their common rooms on their own, something that they hadn't been able to do in ages.

The rest of term was wonderful, but as usual it had a hint of sadness. This year, instead of worrying about missing Harry, she was worried about missing the Weasleys—something she usually had the luxury of not caring about. Still, knowing that they would have each other over the summer helped Harry and Ellie pass the time comfortably in each other's company, always hand in hand, now public to the school. They never fought and always felt warm and perfect together, and Ellie couldn't remember a time when she had been happier. One of her favorite parts, she noticed in the back of her mind, was that she wasn't constantly wondering what things with Fred could be like. She liked Harry too much for that.

Finally, and yet much too soon, it was time for the journey home. Ellie hugged Hagrid good-bye and boarded with Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George. It was a crowded compartment, but she couldn't bear the thought of not spending every possible second with them. She even got up at one point to share a few minutes of the ride with Ginny.

When she returned, Harry was telling Ron about phones. "I showed your dad how," he explained, and glanced up at Ellie. "She can give you her number."

Ellie gave her number to Ron, then exchanged with Hermione as well. "And you two better call," she added to the twins. "I'm going to have Weasley withdrawal this summer."

"And Potter overdose," Fred added, grinning.

She laughed. "That, too," she said, grinning teasingly at Harry.

The train pulled to a stop, and everyone stepped outside and onto the platform at King's Cross.

"Okay, so phones, owls, everything," Ellie said, and sighed. "We'll be fine, right?"

Fred and George looked like they were taking the separation the hardest. She hugged both of them, lingering sadly on her hug with Fred, but gently pulled away, joining Harry at his side.

"We'll be fine," Fred promised.

And they split up, the Weasleys to the magical world and Hermione, Harry, and Ellie through the gateway to the Muggle world.

And then face-to-face with a limo driver holding up a sign that said ELLIE.

Harry grinned. "I'd say this summer's going to be interesting."

And that's a wrap for Chamber of Secrets! With no delays (except a few days for me to see who reviews, of course), Prisoner of Azkaban will be up next! Oh, and just one little comment – I do realize that realistically, Harry couldn't spend the summer anywhere but his home, because of his shield charm. But when I started this, the seventh book hadn't even come out yet… so, anyway, try to overlook that!

Please review!