A/N: Sorry everyone for being late posting this latest chapter. I recently started a new job and have been settling in. I also went on holiday to Florida for two weeks and have been going over this chapter for a while as I wasn't happy with the first draft. I think that this works and I can go forward with the story from this. Let me know what you all think in the reviews and messages. I hope you enjoy the next chapter of my story.

Chapter 31: The Chamber of Secrets

Harry only dropped a few feet before he found himself sliding down a chute into the depths below Hogwarts' main level. It spiralled around for a while before the chute became a straight line and he could see ground. He stumbled forward slightly due to the momentum and the uneven ground beneath him, but was otherwise fine. Cautiously, he walked forward and heard an audible crunch underneath him. Looking down, he saw bones scattered across the floor.

~Well, it looks as though the Basilisk hasn't struggled for food down here. Some were likely fed to it directly all of those years ago, but its been extremely lucky that so many rodents and other animals have stumbled across this place~ Harry said.

~You need to be extremely careful, my Harry. Bones here mean that it often comes to the entrance too. Keep a low profile for now~ Sabrina said.

Harry nodded and began to walk in the shadows. It didn't take long before he made another discovery. He found a long line of shed skin that seemed to go on for ages. The Basilisk was the obvious culprit, which meant that this particular one was likely to be fully grow and massive. Possibly 50 feet or more in length, he wagered. He needed to tread carefully.

As Harry moved forward, he noticed just how quiet and empty this area seemed. This reinforced his theory that he was expected. It was likely now that Tom had the Basilisk in reserve, waiting to call on it rather than let it roam free and attack him early now. Thinking this, he quickened his pace and carried on until he reached what looked like a circular vault door.

The door had multiple snakes moulded onto it. Considering that there was no other path to take, Harry guessed that this was the door to the main part of the Chamber of Secrets. Once again going with simplicity, he spoke just one word in Parseltongue.

~Open!~ Harry ordered.

Just like with the sink, the command in Parseltongue worked and a snake appeared from a tube on the left of the door. The snake slithered around the door, causing each of the other snakes to back up slightly. Once the first snake went back into the tube, the door slowly creaked open and revealed a new area.

Harry looked inside and saw a long walkway, glistening from the water that had washed over it from the sides. Snake head statues erupted from the water surrounding the walkway and peered over it, giving off an intimidating vibe. At the end of the walkway was a statue of what Harry assumed was Salazar Slytherin.

Harry went through and climbed down the ladder onto the walkway, making a small splash as he landed. He walked forward slowly and cautiously, looking down every path past the statues just in case he could see any movement and defend himself from an attack. Eventually, his attention was diverted when he saw something at the end underneath the statue of Salazar Slytherin.

As Harry got closer, he realised that it was a person. A small person with long red hair lying motionless on the ground.

"No...Ginny!" Harry cried out, hoping that he might make her react if he was loud enough.

Harry threw caution to the wind and ran over to Ginny, collapsing to the floor as he reached her. Carefully reaching forward, he placed a hand on her cheek and felt how cold she was. Her breathing was also extremely slow and laborious. She was alive at least, but only just.

"Ginny...I'm here...You need to stay with me and wake up, you hear? Please...don't let me be too late," Harry pleaded.

Harry needed to find the diary. If he could destroy it, then Ginny would wake up, right? He was just about to check inside her robes when a voice came from his right.

"She won't wake," the voice said.

Harry looked up in surprise and saw a figure coming out of the shadows. Once fully in view, the figure revealed itself as a 16-year-old Tom Riddle. Upon seeing the person responsible for Ginny's condition, Harry reacted instantly and drew his hazel wand.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled.

Harry watched in confusion as the spell went through Tom and hit the wall behind him. What was going on?

"Huh, I almost felt that," Tom mused, touching his chest where the spell went through.

"How did my spell go through you?" Harry asked, his curiosity winning out for now.

Perhaps, if he kept him talking, Harry could make Tom slip up and reveal the way to get Ginny out of his grasp.

"Well, it's because I'm not quite here yet but, it won't be long now," Tom said cryptically as he walked towards Harry.

Harry looked at Ginny, then back to Tom and it clicked. Why did he have to be right?

"You're using Ginny, aren't you?" Harry asked, clenching his fists.

"A perfect deduction, Harry. She wasn't lying when she said how smart and perceptive you are," Tom said with a grin.

"Whatever you're doing to her, I'd suggest that you stop it right now," Harry said.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that, Harry. As poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger. When I take the last bit of her mind, body and soul, then I will finally be strong enough to create a new body. As you can see, I have already made considerable progress, but it's still not complete," Tom explained.

"Well, I'm afraid that I can't let you continue with your plans. It looks like we're at a little bit of an impasse," Harry said mockingly.

"But you've already helped me so much, Harry," Tom said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, taken aback by Tom's comment.

"Aren't you curious to know how I managed to possess little Ginny and make her do everything that I wanted?" Tom asked back, taunting Harry.

"Alright then. How did you do it?" Harry replied, not giving into Tom's taunting words.

"It was quite simple. By continuing to talk to her and listen, she opened herself up to me. Once she was open, I took my chance. Though, I would never have been able to possess her so easily and get to this stage now without you, Harry," Tom explained.

"What do I have to do with this?" Harry asked, worried about the answer that Tom would give.

"You see, simple talk about lessons and her day-to-day activities wouldn't be enough to open her up for me, but talking about her feelings would," Tom explained.

"What are you saying, Tom?" Harry asked, fists clenching as he was piecing the truth together.

"Eventually, she told me about what her mother and brother did to her. How they would torment her, hurt her and treat her like dirt. She told me about Dumbledore's fall into darkness. That little piece of information was like music to my ears. Knowing that the great Albus Dumbledore had fallen so far was the closest thing to true bliss for me. And then there was you..." Tom explained, trailing off at the end with a sickening, knowing grin.

Harry gritted his teeth at the thought that this monster was using Ginny's insecurities, worries and pain to feed his twisted self. He wanted nothing more than to destroy Tom right now, but he knew that he couldn't yet. He needed to keep Tom talking to find out how to sever his connection to Ginny. However, Harry would soon wish that he had just silenced the sick ex-student instead as the next words that Tom spoke would be hard to hear.

"Do you realise just how much your presence affects little Ginny? She practically worships the ground that you walk on. She would do absolutely anything for you if it would make you happy. You're so amazing in her eyes that she doesn't feel worthy of you most of the time," Tom taunted.

"What?" Harry asked incredulously, not understanding where Tom was going with this.

"As much as I despise positive emotions, her feelings towards you were too easy to use against her. A little bit of advice here and a little bit of listening there and she opened up so quickly," Tom taunted, chuckling away to himself as he said the words.

"No..." Harry said quietly.

Harry's mind started to panic as it processed what he always knew, yet tried to ignore. Ginny cared too much about him and he, in return, cared too much about her. After all of the confidence and determination that he had gained, hearing this and learning of his indirect failure by getting her involved proved too much for him.

"Poor little Ginny Weasley is completely in love with you, Harry. Everything you've ever done for her has only served to bolster those feelings down to her very soul. Her insecurities about your relationship only made it easier for me. She became so open to me because of this that I was even able to possess her while not even being in her direct possession. As long as I was near her, I could do it. I could feel her worry and love for you when she saw you leaving earlier and I was able to use it to possess her again. This was also the reason how I was able to siphon her energy so early too," Tom explained, enjoying the effect his words were having on Harry.

"Shut up!" Harry growled.

Harry's control began to slip. Black energy exited his body like hot steam as his aura flared. Sparks of magic began to emit from his hazel wand as his grip tightened and his eyes burned with rage.

"I should really be thanking you, Harry. In trying so hard to protect her, you instead made her more vulnerable to me. Now, she will die and the greatest Dark Lord in history will be reborn thanks to her foolish feelings for a mere boy," Tom said, mockingly.

"I said shut up!" Harry bellowed as he lifted his wand up and, without thinking, fired a spell at Tom in anger.

Tom merely stood there with a smile as he knew that the spell would go straight through him. However, his smile faltered when he truly felt the spell connect with him and send him flying across the Chamber, landing on his back a few feet back. He got up and stared at a now enraged Harry in shock.

"How did you manage to hit me? Your spells shouldn't be able to affect me while I'm in this state," Tom questioned.

Firing off the spell and seeing Tom get hit shocked Harry and snapped him out of his rage-induced state. After taking a few calming breaths, he wondered how he did that. He didn't think, he just reacted. He didn't even say anything to cast the spell. It was like his very soul knew what to do...His soul...That was it. He had instinctively used Soul Magic.

When Harry had read up on the subject, he noted the uniqueness of this branch of magic. Many spells, like detecting and investigating spells such as the one that he had used on the diary when he first found it, seemed to be just like any other, but focused on the soul of the person being investigated. Some 'spells', however, were quite...different. These 'spells' did not require any incantations nor did they require something external to manipulate like Elemental Magic. Instead, the user's will and intent to do a certain action must be so great that their very soul can feel it and respond in unison with the user's mind to allow their will to affect the environment around them with the branch's unique form of 'spells'. These 'spells' can have effects like many normal spells or they could have completely unique effects depending on the user's will.

Due to the nature of how these 'spells' become reality, Soul Magic could also be used to not only physically affect the environment, but spiritually as well. Spirits or souls of others can also be affected if the user so wishes it. Offensively, Soul Magic could destroy an enemy's will to fight without even physically harming them, as their body would not be able to hold out if their soul is too weak. Passively, Soul Magic could be used to bolster allies by strengthening their souls and resolve or it could be used to heal a damaged or tainted soul.

With these thoughts in mind, Harry realised what Tom really was. No mere memory or even a simple strand of his old essence. Tom was a part of his original soul.

"The part of yourself that you placed in the diary was a part of your soul, wasn't it?" Harry asked for clarification.

"Yes?" Tom answered, confused at where this was going.

Harry pondered this and came to a horrid conclusion about the truth of the diary.

"The diary – your diary – is a horcrux, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"So, you figured it out. I'd ask how you know of horcruxes, but you'll be dead soon and I won't have to worry about it. However, I would like to know how this all relates to you being able to hurt me?" Tom responded.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Unfortunately, I don't think that it'll do you any good to know. You probably won't be able to use it anyway, nor will you be around long enough to try and use it or study it," Harry said mockingly.

"You think that you're so clever and powerful, don't you? You're nothing! Just a child! There's no way that you could've overpowered me! How did you do it?!" Tom angrily asked.

"I just told you how. You're not very good at listening when you've been knocked down, are you?" Harry taunted.

"I don't mean that! How did you manage to survive Lord Voldemort?! How did you survive with nothing but a scar while he was destroyed?!" Tom questioned, his eyes burning with rage.

"Why do you care about that? Voldemort was after your time. Wait, were you one of his followers? Aww, is poor Tom sad that his good-for-nothing master was killed by a one-year-old?" Harry enquired, taunting Tom further in hopes that he would falter and open himself up for an attack.

Unfortunately for Harry, Tom gave Harry a deadly glare before he shook his head and schooled his features. This newfound calmness rubbed Harry the wrong way. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Voldemort is my past, present and future. Let me show you something, Harry. Then we'll see how confident you are," Tom said.

Tom pulled out a wand from his robes that Harry recognised as Ginny's. Tom then began to write his full name in the air, the letters burning like the anger in Tom's eyes from just a moment ago. Once he had finished, he waved Ginny's wand and the letters rearranged themselves into a sentence. A sentence that shocked Harry to his core.

'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'

"You're Voldemort?! Then that means...you were the first horcrux that he ever made! That's why I felt that something was wrong with your diary!" Harry exclaimed, realising that he had found another one of Voldemort's horcruxes unintentionally.

"Yes, I was. Did you really think that I would keep my filthy muggle father's name while I went about the work of my ancestor? No...I fashioned myself a new name. A name that I knew that witches and wizards would one day fear to speak as I became the greatest magic wielder in the world!" Tom explained.

The shock of finding one of Voldemort's horcruxes quickly turned into anger as Harry glared at the young version of the man who took his parents from him and tried to kill him twice already. Now, Tom was trying to take the most important person in his world away from him. Tom seemed to relish in his anger as the monster of a man began to smirk at him, causing his anger to grow.

"You are nothing more than a pathetic, paranoid murderer. You were so afraid that you went to try and murder a defenceless child just because of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you weren't so paranoid, you would never have had to worry about that child rising to stop you as you never would've marked him," Harry retorted, moving some of his hair to show the faded, but still visible lightning bolt scar.

"How dare you insult me! You will soon regret those words!" Tom growled.

"Idle threats won't work on me, Tom. However, I always make good on mine. You will regret what you did in the future and you will regret trying to take my Ginny away from me," Harry threatened.

Sabrina, who had been hiding in Harry's shirt to listen in on the conversation, looked up at Harry in shock at hearing him refer to Ginny as his. This was the first time that he had done this and the possessiveness in his voice was chilling. Tom had crossed a line that only a few before had. Harry had to hold back with the others to avoid ruining his plan, but he didn't need to with Tom. This evil soul was going to receive the full power of Harry Potter's rage as it began to build up once more after Tom's revelation.

"We'll see about that, Potter," Tom said with a sly grin.

Tom then turned to the statue of Salazar Slytherin and raised a hand, ready to call for something.

~Speak to me, Slytherin! Greatest of the Hogwarts four!~ Tom hissed.

Harry wondered what Tom was doing. It sounded like a password for something, but what? Just then, Slytherin's mouth began to open, revealing a dark tunnel inside. Rustling and hissing could be heard inside the tunnel. That could only mean one thing. The Basilisk was coming.

"Using your pet to attack me instead? Rather cowardly of you, isn't it Tom?" Harry mocked, hoping to taunt Tom into calling the Basilisk off and fighting him one-on-one instead.

"You won't goad me this time, Potter. It's time to match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter," Tom responded.

Harry scowled slightly. He wasn't going to get under Tom's skin this time it seemed. Time for a plan B. He would have to time it perfectly, or everything would be lost before the fight had even begun. The sounds in the tunnel continued to get louder as he gripped his wand tightly, waiting for the right moment. A few seconds later, the Basilisk's snout began to appear through the tunnel and Harry struck.

In one swift motion, Harry pulled out his holly wand and aimed both of his wands at where he presumed the Basilisk's eyes were located. He had already decided on which spell to use for his plan. It would be satisfying to see Tom's face when he used the very spell that the young Dark Lord had used against him earlier.

"Confringo!" Harry bellowed.

As the spells left his wands and more of the Basilisk's face began to emerge, Harry closed his eyes and waited to see if he succeeded. First came the sound of explosions. Then came the painful screeches. Finally, the loud splash as the Basilisk fell down and began to thrash about in agony.

"No!" Tom cried.

Harry hesitantly opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the thrashing Basilisk with blood pouring out of its eye sockets. He looked over to the enraged Tom and gave him a smirk, angering the young Dark Lord further.

"You may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you!" Tom growled.

~Get up! Focus on your hearing and nose and kill him!~ Tom ordered.

The Basilisk finally calmed down after hearing its master's direct command and rose up, smelling the air and listening for any sign of an intruder.

~Harry...enlarge me~ Sabrina hissed quietly so that the Basilisk couldn't hear her.

~No, Sabrina. There's no way that I'm letting you fight that monster!~ Harry hissed quietly back.

~You need to take care of Tom so that you're free to destroy the diary and save Ginny. We can't afford to have you wasting your time on the Basilisk. Please, let me help you, my Harry. Just this once~ Sabrina pleaded.

Harry stared into Sabrina's eyes for any doubt or hesitancy. She showed nothing but determination to help her beloved master. With a heavily sigh, he nodded. She wasted no time in slithering down his body and onto the floor below, revealing herself to Tom.

"You plan to face me with that pathetic thing? What's she going to do against the King of Serpents?" Tom asked as he began to laugh.

"Just watch, Tom...Engorgio!" Harry said.

The spell acted instantly and Tom's eyes widened as Sabrina grew and grew. Tom began to get worried as Harry kept the spell going until she was the same size as the Basilisk. At this point, he finally stopped the spell as she glared down at Tom.

"You were saying, Tom?" Harry taunted, earning a growl from Tom in return.

~Shall we begin?~ Sabrina asked, looking back at Harry.

~We shall~ Harry replied.

Tom was confused about what Harry and Sabrina were planning, but he was brought out of his thoughts when the Basilisk, who had heard the conversation between Harry and Tom, lunged forward at the master and familiar pair. Before he could order his servant to wait, Sabrina flicked her tail and sent the still slightly disoriented Basilisk into the wall.

As Sabrina lunged at the Basilisk again, Harry turned to Tom with his two wands sparking in his hands. Now that he could focus on Tom, his anger, fear and hatred filled him up as he stared into the eyes of the young man who tried to take everything from him once more.

"You made a grave mistake in using my Ginny for your twisted game, Tom. Now, I'm going to make you pay," Harry said.

"You will never stop me, Potter. I beat you once and I'll do it again," Tom said, raising Ginny's wand.

"You caught me off-guard back then, but I will not lose again," Harry responded coolly, raising his wands as he got into his battle stance.

The two wizards stared each other down for a few seconds, waiting to see who would make the first move. With a growl of annoyance, Tom fired the first spell, a blasting curse, hoping to quickly end the duel quickly. Unfortunately for him, this is exactly what Harry wanted.

Expecting the attack this time, Harry was able to bat the blasting curse away with his holly wand and quickly followed up with a Soul Magic blasting curse with his hazel wand. The almost simultaneous actions caught Tom off-guard as the spell scored a direct hit, blasting him backwards. He hit the ground hard, surprised at the power behind the spell being even greater than the instinctual one beforehand as well.

"How did you do that? You weren't this strong before," Tom said as he struggled to his feet.

Harry merely stared at Tom with cold, unblinking eyes as some wisps of black energy came off of him every so often.

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you. I will make you hurt using all of the power that I have and you will regret the day that you hurt my Ginny!" Harry said.

With Harry's final declaration, he began his assault. With two wands and no restraints, he began to fire multiple spells with speed and precision. Tom may have experience and skill on his side, but even the most experienced person will falter under constant pressure. If he kept up his assault and prevented Tom from fighting back this time, then he could win and save Ginny. With that singular goal to save her in his mind, he kept pressing his enemy.

Tom was actually shocked by the change in Harry. He thought that, after he beat the boy in little Ginny's body, this would be easy. A few taunts here and there to break the boy, then he would feed him to the Basilisk. Instead, the Basilisk was now blind and was being overpowered by the boy's familiar and he, the great Lord Voldemort, was being pressured. The frequency and speed of the boy's spells made it impossible to counter. Was he holding back this entire time? Or was goading the boy about little Ginny actually going to be his greatest mistake after all?

The sound of angry hissing and spell fire filled the Chamber as the fights continued, with Harry and Sabrina slowly gaining the advantage. Realising this, Tom knew that he would need to change his tactics. While Harry may be strong, his inexperience would allow Tom to use this particular tactic effectively.

"Expulso!" Tom bellowed.

Still focused on his duel with Tom, Harry quickly put a shield charm in front of himself. He was confused for a second as he saw Tom turn his arm away at the last moment and fire the spell away from him. However, confusion turned to shock and fear as he realised that the spell was heading straight for Sabrina instead.

~Sabrina! Look out!~ Harry warned.

Unfortunately, Sabrina could only look at Harry in confusion before the spell impacted and sent her flying into the wall behind her. The power that Tom had put into the spell was enough to knock her out instantly as her head whipped back and hit the wall hard. Once she fell unconscious, the enlarging spell on her also faltered and she reverted back to her usual size.

~Sabrina! Sabrina!~ Harry cried out in desperation, hoping that his cry would somehow wake her up.

"Expulso!"

Using Harry's momentary lapse in concentration, Tom fired at the young wizard this time and successfully landed the hit, sending him flying across the Chamber. He landed hard and rolled a few times due to the momentum of the spell until he was right next to the unconscious form of his familiar. He grit his teeth as he painfully got to his feet, only to be greeted by the snarling Basilisk.

~Dinner time, my pet~ Tom hissed sadistically.

Harry's eyes widened as the Basilisk quickly lunged forward. He managed to roll away just in time to see the great snake put a crack in the floor where he once was. He wanted to run and lure the Basilisk away, but he couldn't risk it when Tom could then do whatever he wanted to Ginny and Sabrina. He couldn't leave them. He had to protect them, no matter what. Even if it cost him his life, he would be happy as long as those two were safe.

Harry stood up defiantly and raised his wands ready to fight the Basilisk, who was now focused completely on him due to being the only one moving and making noise. He stared at its bleeding eyes and spoke to it, sending a clear message to the foul beast.

~If you want Sabrina, then you'll have to get through me first~ Harry hissed.

Tom looked on with a smug grin, fully expecting his Basilisk to win. However, there was still one small part of him that was wary of the power that the Potter Heir wielded. He caught a glimpse of it during their short duel and he hoped that the Basilisk would be able to prevent the boy from utilising it. Oh well, if the boy did start to do some damage, then he would join in the fray. A 2-on-1 of their calibre would be too much for any magic wielder to handle, even one as gifted as Potter.

The Basilisk hissed angrily at Harry's challenge and reared its head back, ready to strike forward. Seeing this, Harry prepared himself.. He had to defeat this creature and Tom right now or he would lose his girls. He had to protect them. This overwhelming need to protect strengthened his resolve as he dug his heels into the ground, waiting for the Basilisk to make the first move. As this need and his resolve grew, something strange happened.

Harry saw something glint in his peripheral vision below him. Looking down, he saw a glimmering handle seemingly materialise embedded into the ground. Suddenly, a voice appeared in his head that seemed to speak directly to him.

'Grasp the handle and claim that which is thine by blood, young heir.'

Pausing for a moment as he tried to figure out what was going on, Harry failed to notice the Basilisk begin its lunge towards him. When he did see the Basilisk's open jaws coming towards him, he acted out of instinct and grasped the handle as instructed. In one swift motion, he pulled the handle out of the ground, revealing a slick, silver blade that clashed with the Basilisk and deflected its path. The Basilisk painfully struck the concrete ground and left a large crater where it hit, then reeled back to try and compose itself.

Harry looked from the Basilisk back to the sword and stared at it in awe. Examining it closely, he noticed that the handle was encrusted with rubies and it seemed as though there was something engraved on the blade.

"Godric Gryffindor," Harry muttered.

This was the Sword of Gryffindor. So, that's what the voice meant by it being his by blood. Harry had claimed another part of his birthright and how fitting that he was now using a Gryffindor relic against the Slytherin Heir and monster. Harry gained a newfound confidence from this, feeling his ancestor's approval and his will to succeed become ever stronger. Tom, on the other hand, was worried. He recognised the sword from historical documents and knew that he needed to kill Harry now and finally claim the final Founder's relic that was kept from him. He was the greatest wizard of the age! He deserved to have them all!

Tom fired off a spell, hoping to catch Harry off guard while he was examining the sword. Fortunately for Harry, he finished and looked up just in time to see the spell coming his way. He raised the sword and deflected the spell towards the Basilisk. The spell exploded in its face and caused it to hiss loudly in pain.

Distracted by his pained servant, Tom never saw the spell that Harry sent his way in response and got sent flying across the Chamber again and away from the current fight for now. Harry then turned his full attention to the Basilisk, who had finally gotten composed and was hissing angrily at him.

Gripping the sword firmly in both hands, Harry moved into a defensive stance. He needed to be smart. Merely running around the Basilisk and trying to find a weak spot in its hide would be unwise and leave him open. No, its soft underside was the true target. If he could use the Basilisk's momentum against it, like he did with Vernon and Dudley, he could counter it. If he could deal enough damage, then the Basilisk would be down and vulnerable to a fatal stab, if he hadn't already had the opportunity by then. He needed to wait this battle out and let the monster tire itself. Taunts and lures would win him the day here, not blind slashes at what looked to be a near-impenetrable hide.

The Basilisk finally recovered and hissed angrily. Harry tapped his foot loudly on the wet floor, causing a small splash to get the Basilisk's attention. Once it homed in on him, he prepared himself for the assault. As the Basilisk lunged forward, he waited for it to get within range before side-stepping to the left and used the movement to cut into the underside of its neck. The Basilisk hit the ground hard and recoiled sharply, screeching in pain as a small trickle of blood leaked from the wound. It wasn't a large gash or anything, a testament to the giant snake's sturdiness, but the attack still damaged it.

This continued for some time, with Harry dodging or parrying the Basilisk's, at this point, mindless lunges and countering with a slash across its underside. After the last strike, Harry noticed that the Basilisk was now covered in blood as its wounds began to take their toll on it. It was getting slower and was having to breathe harder to compose itself and get enough energy for another lunge. He was also breathing hard after all of these attacks, feeling the strain from his parries and counters. He could feel the force of the Basilisk's lunges in his arms, but he knew that this may be the last strike. He steeled himself and got ready for what he assumed would be the last bout in this engagement.

Tom, who had just recovered, was amazed at Harry's tactic of using his servant's own body against itself. However, that didn't mean that he would accept his servant's defeat. No, it just meant that he would have to deal with this himself, like he always had to in the end.

~Stop!~ Tom ordered.

The Basilisk stopped itself before its latest lunge and looked over to where it heard its master's voice. It looked towards his voice with confusion. Harry merely kept his guard up as he wondered what Tom was up to.

~Stand down for now. Potter has made a fool of you. I will deal with him myself~ Tom hissed in disappointment.

The Basilisk hung its head in shame and slithered out of the way of its master as Tom walked over to face Harry again.

"You've surprised me, Harry. To think that you could summon the Sword of Gryffindor and fight toe-to-toe against one of the greatest beasts known to wizard-kind. Truly commendable," Tom mockingly declared.

"Thanks for the compliment. So, are you ready to give up?" Harry asked.

"Ha ha, you are a funny one, aren't you? No, I'm not giving up. You might have been about to defeat my servant, but I highly doubt that you can keep up against me after parrying and countering all of those attacks. The fight must have taken its toll on you as well, am I right?" Tom taunted.

Harry gritted his teeth. Tom had noticed him straining after all. His lack of training with the weapon, as well as with anything period recently, meant that he would overextend himself most of the time. While it may have been working out against a blind, tiring Basilisk, he got the feeling that overextending himself willy-nilly against Tom wouldn't end well for him.

"I've still got enough energy to take you down, Tom," Harry said.

"I have to give you some credit, Harry. A lesser wizard would've given in by now, but here you are still standing and willing to fight. I will enjoy finally crushing that will of yours, just like I crushed your little girlfriend's," Tom taunted.

Harry's irises briefly turned black in response to the talk before he fired a spell at Tom. The Slytherin Heir dodged the spell and fired one of his own back at Harry, who also dodged. The spell fire was trade back and forth for some time, with neither side seemingly willing to give up. Harry, however, was noticeably starting to struggle. His breathing was laboured and he had used so much magic so quickly that he was dangerously close to overexerting himself, yet his body and soul just would not surrender to Tom's onslaught. This only infuriated the young Dark Lord further.

Tom just couldn't understand how a mere 12-year-old child who had skipped out on his training, was already weakened by multiple fights prior to this one and had less experience than himself could actually match him spell for spell. His motivation seemed to be so great and it enraged Tom to think that he might be bested by this boy all because he had a sentimental bond with the tool being used to revive the mighty Lord Voldemort.

At that moment, Tom smiled maliciously. If Potter's motivation was saving his little girlfriend, what would happen if there was no-one to save? After all, he had already drained most of her energy by now and he could just suck up the rest once her soul left her body. His connection to her would allow him to draw it away from her weakened, useless soul. There was no better time than the present, so Tom got himself positioned between Potter and Ginny and made his play.

~I have no more use for her. The girl is all yours, my dear servant~ Tom hissed.

The Basilisk reared its head as if the confirm what its master said. When Tom turned his head around and nodded, the great snake hissed in delight and slithered over to Ginny's lifeless body and flicked its tongue out, smelling the air and getting the scent of fresh meat. When Harry realised what was happening, he panicked.

"No!" Harry yelled.

Harry rushed forward, but Tom expected this and fired a powerful blasting curse at him, sending him flying across the Chamber. He landed on the hard floor in pain as the strain that his body had taken took its toll, making it hard for him to get up. His body ached and shook as he tried to steady himself and stand. When he did try to stand, he buckled and fell to his knees. He had drained too much of his stamina and magic and his body was cracking under the pressure. Tom merely grinned and turned to the Basilisk.

~Do it~ Tom ordered.

Harry watched in horror as the Basilisk opened its mouth and lowered its head towards Ginny, ready to take a bite out of her. He was going to lose her. He was going to fail her all over again.

"No...No! Not this time!" Harry screamed.

Every fibre of Harry being screamed in unison to get to Ginny. Even if his body was beginning to fail, he would not give up on her. His magic heard this and used the quickest method that it could to get to her and everything went black.

Tom watched in shock as Harry seemingly faded into his own shadow, only to then find him reappear out of the shadow cast by the Basilisk looming over Ginny. Due to his shock at seeing Harry do something that he thought impossible after seeing him look so broken on the floor, he couldn't react in time to stop what Harry was about to do.

Harry opened his eyes and came face-to-face with the open maw of the Basilisk that was trying to eat Ginny. Running entirely on instinct, he gripped the sword still firmly in his hand and lunged forward. The Basilisk could smell the meat entering its mouth and clamped down. Unfortunately for it, it never knew that clamping down caused the sword held by its assumed meal to pierce through its upper jaw and into its brain.

Harry screamed as the Basilisk hissed in pain. The great snake reopened its mouth almost instantly, allowing Harry to quickly draw his now bleeding arm and the sword back, as it began to mindlessly thrash around. The pain consumed it completely, flaring in every nerve in its body, before everything stopped and it fell down lifeless.

Harry held his bloody arm and stared in awe at the dead Basilisk, still slightly shocked that he managed to kill the monster that had been plaguing the school all of these years. However, that didn't last long as pain shot up his arm and he hissed in pain. He slowly walked over to Ginny before collapsing to her side, dropping the sword as he fell.

Tom finally got over his shock at losing his servant when he saw Harry fall. He composed himself and thought that he would just have to find a replacement, just like he did for any other disposable tool. The important part was that his servant did its job in the end. The boy didn't have much longer to live now after being bitten. Nothing would stand in his way.

"You truly are outstanding to watch, Potter. Bravo! However, your efforts were all in vain," Tom mocked.

"What – Argh! – do you mean?" Harry asked, hissing in pain as his arm flared again.

"You see, the Basilisk has one more special way to kill someone. Its venom is extremely powerful. In fact, I'd say that you only have a few minutes to live. Looks like you'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry," Tom explained.

Harry gritted his teeth as he glared at Tom before looking over to Ginny. She was so pale now. He took her hand in his good one and softly stroked it. Was he too late?

"It's funny, really. How much damage a silly little book can do in the hands of a stupid, pathetic little girl. Both of you will be responsible for the death of the other. When you die and I return, I will honour your sacrifices to restore me to life and make sure that everyone knows how you failed to protect the one you care about the most. You should've just stayed away from her. If you weren't around, her mother and brother wouldn't be trying to hurt her. If you weren't around, her headmaster wouldn't likely be wishing for her death right about now. If you weren't around, she wouldn't even be dying to begin with. You caused all of this, Potter. You are the one who killed Ginny Weasley!" Tom taunted.

Tom said all of these things in hope that Harry would lose his will to fight and let the venom kill him. Unfortunately, this would turn out to be his greatest mistake as Harry's head lowered and his body began to shake. Of course, Tom didn't notice any of this as he basked in his assumed victory. He would soon wish that he had. He may have saved himself from what was about to come, even if it was for only a little while.

A pure black aura flared from Harry's body as he let go of Ginny's hand and reached out towards Tom. The Slytherin Heir was confused at first and thought that the action was a last ditch attempt at drawing on some compassion left in him to help the boy. He was about to laugh at this foolish gesture until he realised that he couldn't muster one. His throat felt extremely tight and it was only getting tighter. He reached for his throat as what suddenly felt like invisible hands began to constrict him and lift him up into the air.

At that moment, Harry looked up and Tom saw that the boy's eyes had turned completely black as his hand made a gesture as if he was attempting to choke someone. Was he choking him with magic somehow?

"P-Potter! – Gak! – L-Let me g-go!" Tom choked out.

Harry's invisible grip tightened as Tom let out more pained gasps. This shouldn't even be possible. He was still but a soul at this point. He shouldn't be able to choke. Then again, he shouldn't be able to feel any sort of strain, yet the boy had managed to cause him quite a bit with his use of Soul Magic. Was this a more aggressive display of the boy's Soul Magic? And why did he now have a black aura? What happened to him?

While his body was moving and his magic was attacking Tom, Harry's mind was in turmoil. He had let Ginny down. Even with all of his bravado and regained confidence, it still wasn't enough. This monster had taken so much of her and he was almost dead himself. How could he save her now when he couldn't even save himself?

As Harry's mind became consumed by his self-doubt and pity, he didn't see the dark figure slowly glide towards him at first. When he did notice the figure and looked closely, it seemed to have a feminine form, but there were no visible features that he could pick out. The figure was pure black. Pure darkness. Yet, they were strangely enticing and they seemed to be almost friendly.

"If you had given in and allowed me in earlier, you may have been able to prevent this from happening. Your friend is gone and you will be too...unless you allow me inside," the figure said seductively.

Harry was unsure of this. No matter how enticing their offer was or how friendly they seemed, something felt off. Besides, he doubted that anyone could help him to save what little life Ginny had left and defeat Tom, no matter how confident they were. Look where that confidence led him.

Sensing Harry's negative thoughts and emotions and his doubt, the figure revealed a tiny slit on her 'face' where a mouth should be and smirked. She had to control herself as she became more and more giddy. She was so close. His body and magic were already reacting to her presence and his deep desire for vengeance. All that she needed to do was give him one final push.

"I am currently in control of your body. Look at the power that I can draw out of you," the figure admitted.

The figure showed a third-person view of Harry's body gripping Tom and throwing him around like a ragdoll. His magic was strong and she could bring that strength and power forward with ease. He stared at himself in shock and awe for a few seconds before looking at the figure with disbelief and some doubt at this being real.

"That is just a taste of the power that I can allow you to draw from. Together, we can get vengeance on all of those who have wronged you and your precious one. You can have the power to protect your friends and crush your enemies. I can rid you of the venom that currently ails you and restore your body to full strength. Your magic will be even stronger and your power will be unopposed. No injustice will escape your sight and no-one will have to suffer like you did ever again. All that you have to do is let me in. It's the only way for you to save yourself and your friends," the figure explained seductively, gliding around Harry and filling his mind with her voice.

Harry then saw a dark orb appear in the centre of his mind and the figure sent him towards it. He looked at the orb, then back to her and noticed that the orb was the same pitch black colour as she was.

"Take my essence into your being and I can assure you that you'll never feel weak or powerless again," the figure spoke, egging Harry on.

If she was telling the truth, all that Harry had to do was reach for the orb, take it into himself and he could undo his mistakes. He continued forward and was only inches away from what he was sure would make everything right again when a mirror appeared in front of him. As he looked at it, he realised that the mirror looked exactly like the Mirror of Erised that he saw last year. Just like that same mirror, it wasn't himself staring back at him but Ginny.

"What is this?!" the voice cried out in confusion.

Harry stared at mirror Ginny, who looked at him sadly. A lone tear fell down her cheek as she placed her hand on her side of the mirror. He looked at her hand, then to her face and then back to her hand again. Without thinking, he pulled his hand away from the orb and placed it on the mirror, directly over hers. At that moment, her solemn expression changed as she began to smile at him, blushing as she did so.

As Harry looked into mirror Ginny's bright chocolate-brown eyes, he felt the pull to the orb lessen as his eyes turned back to his normal emerald-green colour and the black aura subsided. What was he doing? Ginny would never want him to do this. To give in to this entity and become a being of vengeance. Thinking clearer, if he let this figure, this dark entity, inside of himself, he would fail Ginny, his parents, Sabrina and so many others even more if he went down that path.

"No! You don't need them! They're already gone! You need vengeance and order! I can give you all of this and more! Just give in to me!" the voice demanded, panic seeping into the originally confident and sultry tone.

Harry just ignored the voice for now and continued to stare into the eyes of mirror Ginny. So many emotions swirled in her eyes and they were all directed at him. After what he had nearly done, he struggled to keep eye contact. He wasn't worthy of her pure emotions.

'I don't deserve you Ginny...' Harry said, causing mirror Ginny to give him a sad, imploring look as if to say that it wasn't true.

"No, you don't deserve her. You have caused all of her problems and you are causing her death right this minute. But you can make amends for that if you just accept me into yourself! You won't need to worry about friends and family anymore if you just let me in!" the voice cried.

'...but, I will always do my best to protect you. Even if you hate me and send me away. Even if I have to leave you myself. I'll still protect you somehow. I will never stop trying to keep you safe. This time will not be any different,' Harry declared.

Nodding his thanks to mirror Ginny, Harry left his mind and returned to reality, watching as Tom still struggled under his Soul Magic assault. He looked over to the real Ginny. In his worry and panic, he failed to realise that she still had some colour to her cheeks. She was still alive. Still fighting. Yet, here he was almost giving up on her and giving into his dark urges. Torturing Tom wouldn't save her. All that this was doing was giving Tom more time to drain her. He nearly made Tom's words true and nearly did cause her death. But not now.

"He needs to be punished! Justice needs to be served! You know this! You need the power to do it! You need me!" the voice screamed, sounding extremely desperate.

'No, I don't need you. I will save Ginny and my friends, but not with you!' Harry bellowed in his mind.

Harry's will and soul were in perfect sync and his mind honed in on the darkness that was trying to consume him. He imagined himself pushing the dark orb and the entity and moving them to the edge of his mind, all the while the entity struggled and writhed around in his mental grip.

"You haven't seen the last of me yet, Harry Potter! You will beg for my help eventually! Mark my words! You will learn that you need me soon enough!" the voice bellowed.

Ignoring the entity, Harry gave one last push and the orb and the entity were sent back to the recesses of his mind, finally allowing him to clear his mind fully. With the darkness locked away for now and he could breathe easily, he finally dropped the spells that he had placed on Tom, letting the evil soul fall to the ground as he tried to catch his breath.

Harry ignored the Slytherin Heir as he focused his attention on Ginny, more specifically the diary that she was carrying on his person. Now with a clear head, he remembered that his true target was the diary. It was the actual horcrux, not the shade of Tom standing before him. If he destroyed the diary, then Tom would go with the horcrux and Ginny would be freed. This he was sure of.

Fighting through the pain in his arm that he was starting to feel again without the adrenaline rush from that entity, Harry grabbed the diary with his good hand and placed it on the ground in front of him. At this point, Tom had recovered and was looking at him with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"W-what are you doing, Potter?" Tom asked.

Harry grabbed the sword that he had dropped earlier and raised it above the diary. Realising what he was about to do, Tom yelled for him to stop, but he didn't listen. He plunged the sword through the pages of the diary as black ink oozed out of it like blood. Once the diary had been pierced, Tom started to writhe around in agony as a hole began to rip through his body. The hole grew larger and larger until suddenly, he exploded into a cloud of dust that eventually vanished into the air. The horcrux was no more.