As angry as she was, Ariadne's wrath dissipated into worry the moment that Harry and Ron stepped through Hagrid's door. They looked as though they'd just been attacked, robes torn and covered in dirt. Harry's glasses were slightly askew, and he vigorously shook something invisible off his hand, though it seemed to be clinging on. Ron, on the other hand, was motionless from the moment he walked through the door. He stared vacantly on the floor, flinching when Harry moved to pat his back.
"What the bloody hell happened to you both?" she demanded, horrified. Before she could even blink, Harry fired a Disarming spell in her general direction, missing her shoulder narrowly. Ron stepped back with a whimper.
"Who's there?" Harry shouted. Ariadne threw off the invisibility cloak, embarrassed that she had forgotten she was wearing it.
"It's me, it's me!" she called placatingly. Harry's arm dropped back down to his side and he sighed in relief, before tensing in realization.
"That's right, I'm here." Ariadne confirmed. "And don't think for a second that I'm not furious with you for lying, Harry James Potter." Harry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "But first, tell me what happened. Are you two injured? Do you need healing spells? What's wrong with Ron."
Ron groaned at her onslaught of questions before gently seating himself in Hagrid's oversized armchair, having evidently been annoyed out of his reverie. "Calm down, woman. "I think you'd look a bit peaky too if a horde of giant s-spiders tried to eat you."
"What! What?"
"We're fine!" Harry cut in quickly, though Ron shot him an indignant look. Harry glared back, but he modified his words anyway. "We're alive, I mean."
"Barely," Ron tacked on under his breath.
Ariadne moved closer, inspecting the two boys carefully. The tears in their robes were imprecise but thin, as if ripped at by pincers, and Ron looked as though he'd just been sick. She grabbed Harry's hand, bringing it closer to her face and ignoring his surprised yelp. Webbing, she realized. Of course he couldn't shake it off. Ariadne dropped his hand and met his eyes, finding Harry staring back at her. "Tell me everything. Now."
"It's not Hagrid. He never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He's innocent." Harry ignored Ron's scoff. "He sent us into the forest so we'd know– I think he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt us, but he was wrong. The car saved us, though. The one we flew to school."
Ariadne nodded, stepping back. Now that she knew they were okay, she could feel her anger returning at her deliberate exclusion. "Right, 'follow the spiders.' But I seem to remember Hagrid saying that to the three of us. Why'd you lie to me earlier? You wanted me in the library all night so I wouldn't come." As mad as she was, her voice held little heat. They'd just been attacked by man-eating spiders, after all.
Harry sighed. "I wasn't– we weren't trying to exclude you. It's just–I'd been in the Forbidden Forest before, alright? My first year. And it's not somewhere I'd have gone again if I'd had the choice." He straightened up, adding, "I don't regret lying, Aria. Ron's right, it was dangerous. You were safe in the library."
Ron looked at Harry incredulously, but wisely kept his mouth shut. His brows were furrowed in indignation, looking as though he wished he'd been safe in the library as well.
Ariadne softened, and she busied herself by meticulously folding up Harry's invisibility cloak before handing it back to him, though he waited patiently in the meantime. "I can take care of myself, you know," she said finally.
"I know," Harry returned quietly.
"I– thank you for looking out for me," Ariadne continued, "but next time, I'd like the choice. You had it and you went," she reminded.
Harry nodded, and the two shared a silent moment. Ron allowed only a few beats before deeming it appropriate to cut in. "Alright… if that's done with," he said impatiently. "Can we go now?"
Harry threw the invisibility cloak over his shoulders and Ariadne and Ron joined him on either side, after which Harry enveloped the three of them.
As they walked the castle grounds, Ron spoke again. "Let's move," he urged. "I really need to use the loo."
Harry's head shot up in realization and he paused, causing both Ariadne and Ron to bump painfully into his back. "The loo…" he said slowly. "Aragog said the girl who died last time was found in the bathroom. What if she never left?"
"You don't think…" Ron trailed off, but Ariadne finished for him.
"Moaning Myrtle?"
"What's McGonagall thinking, scheduling exams for this week?" Ron asked bitterly, words muffled by a mouth full of bread even as he piled more ham sandwiches on his plate. Ariadne looked on with a hint of vague disgust. She could practically hear Hermione scoffing at him from the Hospital Wing.
Even with exams in three days, Ariadne hadn't given them much thought at all, except for studying with Olive in the library. She wasn't overly concerned about them either. Ariadne was a fine student, but long gone were the days when she reveled in bringing home a report card for her mum to post to the fridge. And it certainly wasn't as though the Malfoys would care. Narcissa would show a passing interest, maybe, but nothing worth working herself up over when there was a monster loose in the castle. She did miss trying, sometimes, but she'd do well enough in Transfiguration and Charms. Defence she'd very likely get an O so long as she put Gilderoy Lockhart in every answer, and Potions she was destined for a Troll no matter how well she did in the class. Winging it would more than suffice.
McGonagall, still seated to the right of Dumbledore's now-empty chair, stood up and moved to the center of the High Table. She waited patiently for a moment before clearing her throat, at which the Hall quieted instantaneously.
"Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes began sneaking into one another's pots last week. They're ready for cutting at last. We will be able be able to revive those who have been Petrified, and with them, our hopes of finding who, or what, attacked them. We may be able to end our year with catching the culprit," she announced to an explosion of cheers.
"Malfoy's not looking happy," Harry pointed out, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
Neither's Ginny, Ariadne thought, though mindful of Ron's presence, she said nothing.
As if on cue, Ginny stood up from the end of the table abruptly, where she'd been eating next to Seamus Finnegan in silence. Back ramrod straight, she began to walk towards them stiffly, a nervous look on her face. When she finally arrived, she inched in next to Ron carefully, nearly collapsing when she was finally seated. She remained silent, in spite of Ron's greeting, and she stared at Ariadne meaningfully.
"What's going on?" Ariadne asked, concerned. Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Spit it out," Ron grunted. Harry watched her carefully, but Ginny could not meet his eyes.
"I – I've got to tell you something," Ginny said, eyes darting from Ron to Ariadne.
Harry leaned forward. "Is it about the Chamber, Ginny? Have you seen someone acting oddly?" Ginny startled when Harry said her name, and Ariadne watched as she shoved a book back into her bag. No.
"Ginny, do you – are you–?" But she could not bring herself to ask. Not what she wanted to ask. Doing so would be crossing a line that she could never return from. But she had to, she realized. For Hermione.
Only, she didn't get the chance.
Percy Weasley had wandered over, rubbing his tired eyes under his horn-rimmed glasses. He looked tired and wrinkled, an unusual sight for Percy who usually always looked as though he'd just gotten finished with ironing his robes. He smiled lightly at Ginny upon his approach.
"Have you finished eating, Ginny? I'll take that seat, then, if you don't mind. I've just had patrol duty."
Ginny had not been eating, but she had been about to speak. At the sight of Percy, however, Ginny seized up before shooting out of her chair. She allowed Percy to sit in it and stood behind him for a moment hesitantly, as if waiting for something. Daring a look at Harry before settling onto Ariadne, Ginny opened her mouth as if to speak once more only to close it again, as though she'd thought better of it. Finally, she turned on her heel and darted away, only to run back for her book bag and sprint out once more.
When she was finally gone, Ron punched Percy in the arm, causing him to drop his sandwich.
"Ronald!" Percy protested. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Perseus!" Ron mimicked. "What'd you do that for? She was just about to tell us that she saw something odd, I think it was about the Chamber–"
"No! Erm, I mean. No," he composed himself. "It has nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets. Erm, if you must know, Ginny, well, walked in on me the other day when I was – well, nev– the point is, Ginny saw me doing something and she promised not to mention it to anybody. I did think she would keep her word, but I should have–"
Ron wiggled his eyebrows. "What were you doing, Percy. We won't laugh. Tell us at the very least that you weren't alone."
Harry choked out a laugh as Percy spluttered on his pumpkin juice, both of which Ariadne ignored for Percy's sake.
"Was it a girl, Percy? Or a boy, of course, it doesn't matter either–"
"Ariadne!" Percy yelled a decibel too loud, attracting the attention of nearby students. She grinned innocently back. "I'm going to– I've got to go do my patrols. I'll see you three later." Percy said, scrambling as he got up from the table.
"You've just come from patrol, you know!" Ron yelled after him.
Harry leaned in close. "Look, I know that this might all get solved tomorrow without us. But we can't pass up the chance to speak to Myrtle if we've got it. Ron and I can sneak off tomorrow before our first class, 'cos Lockhart'll be leading us. Could you meet us? Who've you got."
"Snape," Ariadne replied miserably, and Harry sat back in disappointed. The only way she'd be able to leave without Snape stopping her would be if she could Apparate. Not even Fred and George were clever enough to avoid Snape's beady sight. But there was no way she'd let them go off without her again. "But I'll manage," she said, determined.
"Good," Harry nodded. "Er– Myrtle seems to like you, I mean. That might help."
"Not as much as she seems to like you," Ariadne muttered under her breath, though she didn't do too good of a job at hiding it, if Ron's sharp laugh and Harry's blush were any indication. "I suppose I'll just have to get creative tomorrow, with Snape."
But Ariadne did not have to get creative, instead relying upon the oldest trick in every young witch's book: a small implication, and the discomfort of a male professor.
"Professor Snape, may I be excused?" she called when he began disinterestedly herding the first-years towards Charms. "I've got to run to the loo."
Professor Snape looked up, annoyed at having been interrupted from his task. He grew even more annoyed, if that was even possible, when he realized just who it was who had called his name.
"You may not, Black. Rather selfish of you to divert your class just so you can check your hair in the mirror, I think." Her classmates, having caught on to a potential fight brewing between her and snape, shifted their eyes over to Ariadne.
Wish you had checked your hair in the mirror this morning, you greasy git, Ariadne thought, but she did not speak this aloud. Instead, she made her eyes wide, blue-grey glinting with innocence.
"Oh, no, Professor Snape. I can go off alone and meet at the classroom. I'll only be a minute, I swear."
"I said no, you twit. Five points from Gryffindor."
"But Professor Snape," Ariadne needled. She lowered her voice ever so slightly. "I've got to go. It's, you know–" she paused, but he only continued to glare. She lowered her voice to a near whisper. "– that time of the month."
A few of the boys closest to her laughed while Snape recoiled in disgust. "Go, Black. Now."
Ariadne thanked Snape before scampering off towards Myrtle's bathroom. Worked like a charm. She smiled as she approached Harry and Ron, who moved to greet her and looked distinctly impressed at her arrival. One person, however, was not nearly as excited.
"Potter! Weasley! Black! What on earth are you doing out of class. Miss Black, why have you brought these boys to a girl's bathroom?" Her mouth thinned into a fine line, though her brows were slightly creased in confusion.
Ariadne stopped in her tracks, remaining a distance away from Harry and Ron. "Professor McGonagall! I haven't brought them to a girl's bathroom! We were just – we were going to go…" Ariadne froze.
"To see Hermione," said Harry, looking contrite. Ariadne, Ron, and McGonagall each turned to look at him, though Ariadne quickly caught on and adopted a similar expression. She elbowed Ron in the subtly in the arm, and he followed suit.
"We haven't seen her for ages, Professor. The Hospital Wing was locked down for so long, and we thought we'd sneak in now, and tell her that the Mandrakes were nearly ready and, er, that she didn't have to worry–"
Ariadne was quite amazed at Harry's quick thinking, and she was not the only one. McGonagall stared at him silently, and though Harry still looked nervous, Ariadne could see as pity entered the older woman's eyes.
"Of course, Potter," she said croakily. "I understand completely. You three may visit Miss Granger. Tell Madam Pomfrey that I have given you my permission."
With no choice now but to go to the Hospital Wing, Harry, Ron, and Ariadne found themselves at Hermione's side. She laid utterly motionless, brown eyes open but seeing nothing. Her fists were clenched tightly, until Harry began to pry one open.
"What are you doing?" Ariadne whispered angrily, gathering Ron's attention. Rather than respond, Harry elected to tug and twist at Hermione's stiff wrist until finally, Ariadne had her answer. Clasped in Hermione's hand had been a yellowed page from an old library book. Harry smoothed it out to read, and Ariadne regrouped to his side to look over it as well.
Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This Snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killings are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the basilisk has a murderous state, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.
Beneath this was one word written in Hermione's elegant scrawl: "Pipes."
Ariadne could not breathe. Though Harry and Ron had begun to discuss the Basilisk excitedly, Ariadne could hardly hear a word they were saying.
The rooster. Hagrid had thought that it was foxes who had been killing his roosters, but that same day Ariadne had seen a feather in Ginny's hair. She had just assumed that Ginny'd been visiting the owlery, but– And the diary! Ariadne could have sworn it had been Ginny's, but she wanted to believe Ron when he swore it couldn't be. But she'd seen it yesterday in Ginny's bag, she knew she had. Suddenly, the question that Ariadne had not dared to ask yesterday could be avoided no longer.
Heart and mind racing, she heard a glimpse of Harry's voice.
"–because I understand Parseltongue…"
"I have to go," Ariadne said abruptly. "I– don't follow me, yet. I'll meet you in the Common Room after dinner, okay?" She did not wait for Harry or Ron to respond, instead running out of the Hospital Wing despite their calls after her.
As Ariadne was running through the corridor, she could hardly see in front of her. It was not surprising, then, that she got knocked over by the first person to come her way.
"Watch where you're going, Black." Draco said, sounding as though she were something on the bottom of his shoe. He did not reach a hand down to help her up but did not kick her away when she grabbed the hem of his robes to scramble to her feet.
"Draco," Ariadne said urgently. "Please. When your father and Mr. Weasley got into that fight, where were you? Was Ginny there?"
A crease formed in Draco's usually smooth forehead, and he looked uncharacteristically ruffled. At any other time, Ariadne would have enjoyed the sight of it.
"At the bookstore? How should I know if Weaslette was there or not?"
A bookstore. "Please, Draco." Ariadne begged. "It's important."
"Fine. Yes, she was there. But Ariadne, what's this–"
But Ariadne had already resumed running. She did not stop until she reached the corridor where the Heir's original message was written. When she saw who was standing there, right underneath the message, she closed her eyes before opening them again in the hopes that her vision would change.
"Ginny." Ariadne called loudly. Ginny's head did not turn. She remained positioned beneath the message, small face tilted up as though mesmerized by it. Ariadne creeped closer.
"Ginny…?"
But Ginny did not acknowledge her, not until Ariadne had gotten close enough to count the freckles on Ginny's small, square face.
"Ariadne," Ginny said blankly. Though she faced Ariadne, Ginny appeared to be looking at something behind her, as if she could see through her. Her eyes were hard. "You should not have come. You should not be here."
"I know it was you, Ginny. You're the one who opened the Chamber, who's setting the Basilisk on the school. But listen, Ginny," and Ariadne was pleading now, tears in her eyes. "It's not you. It's this diary, Ginny – Mr. Malfoy has done something to you. Give it to me, Ginny, and—"
"Incarcerous," Ginny said quietly, and thick ropes shot out of the end of her wand and around Ariadne's wrists and legs, binding her arms painfully behind her back, forcing her to drop her wand and fall to her knees. Ariadne struggled against her bindings, but they wouldn't budge even the slightest bit. She knew that they wouldn't. It was this spell, after all, that made her realize that this wasn't Ginny. Not really.
Incarcerous was a NEWT level spell at its most basic level, and the strength with which Ginny cast hers was far beyond her capacity as a first-year. It may have appeared to be Ginny in front of her, but it was only a body.
"What's he done to you?" Ariadne questioned softly. Ginny knelt down to Ariadne's level, moving so close that their foreheads were nearly touching.
"Ariadne Black," she said in that same cold, even tone. "You should not have come. It need not have been you."
She stood up and gazed down at Ariadne, a single tear falling from a hard, brown eye. She's in there, Ariadne realized.
"Ginny," she said, voice gentle. "I'm sorry."
Tears streaming in full force, Ginny turned away from Ariadne with what appeared to be great difficulty. Following a wand movement that Ariadne did not recognize, the tip of Ginny's wand covered itself with a thick red paint. Ginny moved to the wall and lifted her wand arm, but did nothing.
"Please, please, I'm begging you." Ginny cried to herself as Ariadne listened helplessly. "Please, don't kill me. Don't kill us. Tom, please." Ginny lifted her arm further, shaking now, and began to write.
T – H – E
"You can fight it, Ginny! You're stronger than he is! I know you, Ginny. You've got six brothers but you'll never let them hold you back. You're brilliant and funny and you're not afraid of anything. Please, Ginny. I know you're in there."
Ginny's arm shook harder, but she only began to write more quickly.
I – R – B – O
THEIR BODIES WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER
"Fight him, Ginny! You're stronger than him, than whatever Mr. Malfoy's done to you. Please, Ginny, fight!"
Ginny turned around and walked to Ariadne once more. Face swollen with tears, and skin pale as though drained of her blood, Ginny shook her head slowly.
"It's too late, Ariadne." Ariadne shook her head and opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Nothing could, once the jet of red light hit her. "Stupefy."
When she opened her eyes once more, Ariadne found herself staring directly at two enormous gray feet. Trailing her eyes up from there, she saw a long stone beard that connected to Salazar Slytherin's giant, ancient face. She was in Slytherin's Chamber.
The ache in her bones and rips in her robes told her that she'd been dragged down there. A Levitation Charm would have been nice, Gin. Ariadne shot up at the reminder of how she'd gotten there, ignoring the dizzying rush of blood from her head. Ginny!
"Ginny?" she called. The name echoed through the Chamber, and Ariadne strained to hear anything besides it.
A low muttering sounded from behind her, and Ariadne whipped her head around to find a small, black-robed figure sitting up on her knees, staring down intently at the diary while her mouth moved rapidly.
"Ginny, stop!" Ariadne yelled, but it was too late. As soon as Ginny finished her incantations, she collapsed onto her side as though a discarded rag doll. Ariadne awkwardly dragged herself over to Ginny's side as best as she could with her bound limbs. She had never felt so utterly powerless in her life, unable to check Ginny's pulse with her fingers or even shake her in desperation. She looked dead, deader than even those who had been Petrified. There was no blood in her blue lips, spidery veins over her eyes standing out in a morbid contrast to her icy pale skin. Ariadne leaned down, placing her cheek as close as she could to Ginny's mouth. She waited a beat and…
She felt a breath.
It was shallow, but it was something. Ginny was not dead, wouldn't die if Ariadne could just figure out how to get them out of here. But she didn't even know which way they had come in.
Ariadne had turned her back to the diary in order to check on Ginny, but she knew that had been a mistake as soon as she felt something begin to rattle behind her. Turning around slowly, afraid of what she might find, Ariadne saw a diary no longer but a cloud of black smoke, shrouding the diary in its mysterious haze. It rose slowly at first, before condensing darker and darker until it seemed to solidify. With her wand in her pocket and her arms behind her back, Ariadne could watch in horror as it began to take shape– something almost humanoid in form. Not almost. It was.
When the smoke finally cleared, the only evidence of its existence was the small dustings smoldering from the shoulders of the man who had developed from it. Not a man, Ariadne observed, noting his Slytherin robes and youthful features. A boy.
The boy dusted off his shoulders before staring at the arms that he had used to do so, gazing at them with such appreciation that Ariadne wondered if he'd ever been able to use them before. He grabbed onto his robes, stroking them before smiling an utterly wicked smile. He was pleased, but with what she did not know.
He walked casually over to a puddle, leaning down slightly so as to observe himself. He touched each feature of his face, a face that would have been extraordinarily handsome if it hadn't been born from a diary of such terrible cruelty. Finally, Ariadne determined it time to break him out of his reverie.
"Who are you?" she called, casting herself in front of Ginny's body. The boy whipped his head around in surprise but did not let the emotion show on his face.
"Oh?" He said nonchalantly, raising a terrible, perfect eyebrow at the sight of her. "And who might you be? You have not written in my diary."
"Your diary…? You're Tom Riddle," Ariadne finally realized. "How did you get here? You've done this to her. Is it Lucius Malfoy that you're working for? What did he make you do to her?"
Tom Riddle laughed, a cold, cruel thing. He turned pensive, as though pondering an amusing thought. "I knew a Malfoy, once. Abraxas, though, slippery thing that he was. You know, I think he always resented me for making Prefect. Believed that he deserved it based on blood purity alone. But what is a Malfoy compared to–"
He cut himself off, schooling his angry features. "I have certainly never worked for him, no, it's the other way around, girl."
The portrait hall, Ariadne realized suddenly. Each Lord Malfoy sat for a portrait to hung in the portrait hall in the East Wing after their deaths. The most recent addition to this hall was Abraxas Malfoy, sitting proud with the same pale hair and gray eyes that his son and grandson carried after him. Abraxas, cantankerously aloof. Abraxas, died 1973. Abraxas, born 1926.
Ariadne looked more closely at Tom's youthful face, who had taken to leaning up against a marble pillar and staring at her thoughtfully. She attempted to blink away the blur in her vision left over from the Stupefy, until she realized that it was not her vision that was blurred. It was Tom.
"What– what are you?" Ariadne demanded.
"Well, that's quite the difficult question. I'm many things, I suppose. What was I to Ginny Weasley, you mean? I was her confidante. I was her everything. I still am."
"The diary," concluded Ariadne, angling her head to look over at it. Tom took note of the line of her jaw and the upward curve of her lips. "You are the diary. But how di–"
"Aha! You must be Ariadne. Yes, Ariadne Black, the murderer's daughter." Ariadne growled at Tom, who ignored her and continued. "I've heard quite a bit about you, Ariadne Black," Tom changed the pitch of his voice to match Ginny's higher one.
Oh, Tom, I've met a nice girl on the train, I really think we'll be good friends this year!
He lifted himself from the pillar on which he was leaning and began to move toward her.
Oh, Tom. I'm so embarrassed. All my robes and books had to be bought second-hand. I'll bet Ariadne's never seen anything second-hand in her life.
I'm miserable, Tom. I can hardly remember anything from last night, but I think that me and Ariadne had a fight. Harry asked if she'd sit with them at breakfast this morning.
Only a meter away, he seemed to take ages to walk towards Ariadne. Tom moved achingly slow, a predator stalking his prey.
Tom, I'm an ugly, wretched fool. How could Harry Potter ever like me? Especially when there are girls like her?
I think I might be losing my mind, Tom. You're the only person who could ever possibly understand me.
He was in front of her now, bending down to meet her at eye level from where she sat on her knees. Ariadne met his stare right back, searching the odd, misty glow around his face for any kind of answer.
"I've known girls like you for all my life, Ariadne Black. So much like you that I can see them in your face. Pureblooded snobs like Walburga and Lucretia, girls who thought that they were better than me until they realized just how much they weren't."
"What the hell are you on about?"
"I turned your whole family into followers, Ariadne Black. Even your father, Ginny told me. And I'd bet anything that I could make one of you, too." He lifted a hand as though to touch her face, but stopped just before making contact with her skin.
It couldn't be… could it?
"Vol– "
"Immobolus!" A voice yelled out from behind the pillars guarding the room. Ariadne could have cried in relief. A flash of white hit Tom square in the chest, but he merely chuckled in slight surprise. Tom straightened up, walking towards the source of the spell.
"Who are you?" The voice called out. Harry walked in, wand out in front of him. He looked at Ariadne searchingly, making sure that she was okay, and his eyes widened with slight fear when he noticed Ginny's pale body at Ariadne's knees. But he remained focused on the task at hand, returning suspicious eyes back to Tom quickly. "What have you done to them?"
Ariadne's relief subsided as the panic set in. "Harry, Harry, get out of here! It's you that he'll want!"
"Very clever, Ariadne Black," Tom said, an almost proud look on his handsome face. But even then, he did not take his eyes off of Harry. "Yes, Harry Potter. Ginny Weasley told me all about you, about your great feats." His eyes shifted to Harry's lightning bolt scar hungrily. "I have longed to meet you, Harry Potter."
"Tom Riddle," said Harry, as realization dawned. "You framed Hagrid. I thought you'd made a mistake, but you're the Heir."
Tom laughed again, that high cold laugh. "I can admit, even I was surprised by how well that plan worked. Who would have believed that oaf Hagrid could have the brains to be the Heir of Slytherin? The power? The blood? But only that Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, believed him. He kept a close eye on me after that, and I knew that I couldn't open the Chamber again while at Hogwarts. But I wasn't about to allow my years of research to go to waste. I left behind a diary, preserving myself in its pages so that one day, I could lead another in my footsteps and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble crusade."
"You haven't," Harry said. "No one's died, Riddle. Not even the cat. In just a few hours, the Mandrake Draught–"
"Haven't you been listening, Harry? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For months now, my new target has been – you."
Harry and Ariadne stared at him.
Tom continued, still keeping his hungry eyes on Harry. "I wanted it to be you, Harry. I knew you'd go to any lengths to solve the mystery, after all Ginny had told me about you. And when I heard that you could speak Parseltongue…" Tom narrowed his eyes, curiosity flashing violently within them.
"Only Ariadne here figured it out first, didn't she? It really is a shame," Tom tutted, "that she needn't have come down here to die. I made Ginny Stun here and drag her down. Ginny cried the entire time and became very boring, but she became too weak to struggle. There isn't much life left in her, I'm afraid. And as she gets weaker, I get stronger. Strong enough to meet you at last, Harry Potter. I have many questions for you." He stepped closer to Harry.
"Leave him alone!" Ariadne yelled. Tom whipped his head towards her, furious at the distraction. He held an arm out, less blurry now than ever before. "Silence!" he yelled, and suddenly, Ariadne was choking on air. She wanted to bring her hands to her neck, but they were still tied behind her back. Ariadne attempted to speak, but no sound came out.
Harry looked furious. He needed to get Riddle's attention back on himself. "Get on with it, Riddle! What do you want to know?" he spat, fists clenched.
It worked. Riddle turned back towards Harry, shifting instantly back into a pleasant demeanor.
"How is it that you – a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent – managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" Ariadne scoffed, though it came out more as a choke. Tom ignored her. "How did you escape with nothing but a scar, when Lord Voldemort lost everything?"
"Why should you care about Voldemort?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter," he said, putting on a charming smile. At least, it was supposed to be charming.
Riddle held out his arm, this time in Harry's direction. At his wordless guidance, Harry's wand, ineffective against the half-human Riddle, flew out towards Tom. He began to trace it through the air, writing three words that looked as though they were written by fire in the air.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
He waved the wand once, and the shimmering letters rearranged themselves.
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"I was not going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever," he explained. "Not when Salazar Slytherin's blood runs through my veins, through my mother's side. I am Voldemort already, used only by my most intimate friends, of course." He turned to Ariadne. "Orion, Abraxas. Walburga," he smirked. "And it is I who became what they could only dream of. The greatest sorcerer of all time.
What was the appeal, Ariadne could not help but wonder, of this boy? What would coerce her father into becoming his most loyal follower? He's nothing but an insecure, little boy.
Harry, who had been staring at Riddle with a burning hatred in his eyes, spoke shortly. "You're not the greatest sorcerer in the world, Riddle. Sorry to disappoint you, and all that. The greatest sorcerer in the world is Albus Dumbledore. He's always frightened you, he frightens you now–
"Dumbledore is gone! I drove him out!" Riddle snapped, an ugly sneer marring his handsome features.
"He's not gone," Harry responded, but Ariadne could tell that he was bluffing. Riddle could too, smirk dripping with condescension.
Until a light trilling echoed throughout the Chamber. It was indescribably beautiful – even from far away, Ariadne felt as though the source was right next to her ear. She could feel the sound in her bones, feel a lightness enter her skin that alleviated the pressure behind her eyes.
Dumbledore's phoenix appeared in a burst of flames through the pillars, much larger and fuller feathered than he'd been the day of Justin's Petrification. Fawkes flew straight at Harry, dropping some sort of brown bundle at his feet. He grazed Harry's face softly before flying straight towards Ariadne, landing somewhere behind her.
Hidden behind her back, Fawkes began pecking at the bindings on her legs, beak glowing a soft gold as it cut through the dark magic that had placed them there.
"That's a phoenix," stated Riddle matter-of-factly.
"Well spotted," Harry replied, though Riddle ignored him in favor of inspecting the bundle Fawkes had dropped.
"And that's the old Sorting Hat," he said, beginning to laugh, harder and harder until it boomed throughout the dark chamber. Ariadne closed her eyes in disappointment. The Sorting Hat?
Couldn't Dumbledore have sent something a bit more useful? Even a rooster would be more effective against a basilisk. Meanwhile, Harry only steeled himself in the face of Riddle's laughter.
"Now tell me, Harry. How did you survive that night? Talk, and I won't kill the girl." Riddle pointed his wand at Ariadne, who did not flinch at the sight. Fawkes was nearly though with the ropes on her legs, she could feel it.
"I don't know why you lost your powers that night," Harry said suddenly. "But I do know why I didn't die. My mother died to save me. My common, Muggleborn mother. Defeated you. Destroyed you." Barely suppressed rage caused Harry's quiet voice to travel throughout the chamber. "I've seen the real you, last year. You're barely alive. You've got no power, you're in hiding, you're ugly, you–"
Riddle was furious. So furious that Ariadne watched as he contorted his face into a smile with great difficulty. His straight white teeth were razor sharp.
"Your mother? There's nothing special about you, after all. I should have known. I had wondered, of course, given our similarities. I'm sure even you have noticed it. Both half-blooded, Muggle raised orphans. The only two Parselmouths in Hogwarts since Salazar Slytherin himself. We even look something alike–"
"He's nothing like you!" Ariadne yelled, blood singing in her ears as her fury overpowered Riddle's charm. He looked over at her in shock.
"You fool," he said, pointing his wand at her. Ariadne braced herself for the jet that never came, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Fawkes had flown in front of her protectively from where he had been working on her wrist bindings. He spread his massive tail to shield her from the spell, absorbing it into his own glittering magic.
"Enough of you both," Riddle declared now, evidently tired of playing games with them. "Let us finally match the powers of the great Lord Voldemort and famous Harry Potter once and for all."
He turned to face Slytherin's giant statue, opened his mouth, and began to hiss. Ariadne couldn't understand what he was saying, but from Harry's paling face, she could guess. Something began to stir from within the giant hole made by the statue.
"Close your eyes, Aria!" Harry yelled, and she did, keeping them shut so tightly that she could almost see colors in the darkness. She felt, rather than saw, Fawkes leave her side as Riddle began to hiss once more.
Eyes shut, Ariadne could only hear the wild hissing that seemed to be coming from all over. Feet stamped against the stone floor as something enormous slithered by her side.
Riddle's hissing took on a decidedly frantic tone, and Ariadne dared to open her eyes. Just a sliver, but Ariadne could see through a hazy squint as the treelike tail of the basilisk began to swing towards Harry, who placed the Sorting Hat onto his head. The Hat seemed to contract, and Harry pulled it off almost instantly, reaching into it. When he pulled his hand back out, it was holding a gleaming silver sword, large rubies on the handle.
Riddle was hissing more rapidly now than ever before, but Harry was not paying attention. The basilisk lunged and Harry dodged, hitting the Chamber wall. When the basilisk lunged once more, Ariadne could not breathe as Harry drove the sword into the roof of the monster's mouth.
The sight was brutal. The basilisk fell sideways, twitching as it landed on the floor. Blood ran from the injury and onto Harry, who pulled the sword out with surprising strength. With the basilisk finally dead, Ariadne felt her body deflate with relief, air rushing out of her lungs as she nearly collapsed with the sudden lightness.
Until Harry fell.
Ariadne ran to his side, not caring that she lost any element of surprise against Riddle by exposing that she'd been partially freed. She kneeled next to Harry, facing her back to the bloody sword that had fallen by his side. Propping it up with her tied hands, Ariadne began to blindly saw at her bindings, wincing as she cut herself in the process. She didn't care, could hardly feel it. Not while she was looking at the fang the size of a forearm lodged above Harry's elbow.
Harry's face screwed up in pain as he wrenched the fang out of his arm and threw it over on the other side of himself. He inspected the wound with an odd sort of fascination, as though it were a slight surprise – a freckle that he hadn't ever noticed before.
By the time that his neck could no longer hold up the weight of his head, Ariadne had freed herself from her ropes and slid underneath him, placing his head in her lap.
"Help!" she begged, crying to no one. "Please, anyone!"
"He's dead, girl," sounded Riddle's voice from above him. Ariadne ignored him, looking back down at Harry's lolling eyes. A tear slid down her noise and onto his face, and suddenly Ariadne could no longer hold her sobs in. "Don't you see? This is the fate of Harry Potter. It always has been."
"Join me," he continued. "That is your fate, Ariadne Black. Your father did. Your grandmother resisted, at first. Until she saw the man that I was, the power that I held. Leave the boy. Join my side. It is inevitable."
Ariadne did not look up, resting her hand instead on Harry's forehead. He was growing colder by the second. With her other hand, she continued to hold up his neck, though she was finding it harder and harder to do so.
She looked down at Harry's lightning bolt scar on his forehead, now standing out a blood red against his increasingly pale skin. Blinking away the hazy cloud that had begun to enter her vision, she thought about the people that had died for that scar to be there, about the cause that they'd fought against. The man that they'd fought against. "I won't leave. I'd rather die, Tom Riddle," she murmured, though it only made him laugh.
"Oh, you foolish girl," he said between cackles. "Don't you see? You will. You both will. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it, he's crying, see? The sword has been imbued with basilisk venom. You have died at your own hand. Takes some of the enjoyment out of it for me, to be honest."
Oh.
Oh.
As Riddle's voice grew increasingly muffled, as though she were hearing it from underwater, Ariadne keeled over, face landing in the crux of Harry's uninjured arm. Riddle's voice sounded out distantly from above her. "You have chosen your side, Ariadne Black. And now you will die for it."
Ariadne was vaguely reminded of Draco and his words to her in the empty classroom. You would have had to choose eventually. Ariadne would have let out a little hysterical laugh if she had had the strength for it. So, this is dying, she thought. It's not so bad. Perhaps I'll even see mum again.
Even Fawkes had flown over to her side to give her comfort as she died, leaning his face down to rest on her cut up forearms. "Thank you, Fawkes. But stay with Harry, okay? I'm fine." With Ariadne so close to it, Harry must be– Ariadne could not bear to think of it. She could not even look.
Only, then she felt Harry stir from underneath her head, heard Riddle gasp in realization. That's when it occurred to her– the pain was leaving her body.
"Get away, bird," Riddle yelled. He cursed himself. "Phoenix tears, how could I forget? It's no matter, Harry Potter. Just you and me – I prefer it this way, anyway. I'll leave you alive, Ariadne Black. I'll even give you one more chance. They always say yes in the end."
Riddle drew Harry's wand quickly, but Ariadne and Harry were quicker. Harry lunged for the diary while Ariadne grabbed the bloody basilisk fang to her right and tossed it to Harry. He grabbed it from the air, and in the same movement, as if without thought, plunged it straight into the book.
It screamed a dreadful scream as ink spurted out, covering Harry's arms and pooling at Ariadne's feet. Riddle had fallen to the floor, screaming along with it. He was writhing, crying in pain, and then–
He was gone.
Nothing remained of Riddle except Harry's wand, which clattered to the floor, and the sizzling remnants of what had once been his diary.
Harry picked himself up, rushing over to Ariadne, who remained on the floor. He reached a hand out and she took it after a beat, allowing him to help her up. She was trembling.
"Are you okay?" Harry checked, placing his hands on her shoulders and expecting her robes. She was covered in grime and ink and blood, and the cuts on her wrists were still healing. Marks from the ropes stood out prominently on her thin arms and legs, but she looked otherwise unharmed. He suspected that he looked the same.
Ariadne nodded. "Are you?" she asked. Harry nodded back, and then opened his mouth. He closed it again, needing to work up the nerve, before finally speaking.
"I'm okay. Now, at least. Aria… when I heard McGonagall say that you were the one taken, I–"
A faint moan sounded out from the other end of the Chamber. Ginny had begun to stir. Ariadne shot Harry an apologetic look before running to Ginny's side, Harry following closely behind. Ginny sat up, observed the blood-soaked Ariadne and Harry and the diary in his hand, and tears began to stream down her face. She threw her arms around Ariadne.
"Oh, Ariadne," she cried. "I'm sorry– I'm so, so sorry."
Ariadne shushed her, rubbing her fiery hair in a comforting motion.
"I tried– I tried to tell you today, at breakfast, but I j-just couldn't say it in front of Percy. It's been me, I'm so sorry," Ginny continued, tunring to look at Harry through Ariadne's arms. "It was me, Harry, I'm so sorry. I–I didn't mean to– R-Riddle made me do it, I didn't even– h-how did you kill that thing? Where's Riddle?"
"It's alright, Ginny," Harry said, holding up the diary and pointing to the hole that the basilisk venom had burned through. "Riddle's gone, and so's the basilisk. C'mon, let's get out of here."
Ginny nodded, and Ariadne helped her to her feet. Harry nudged Ariadne aside, moving to take the added burden of Ginny's weight for himself. Ariadne opened her mouth to protest, but the look Harry shot her left no room for argument. And this would help them get out of the Chamber faster, anyway. Ariadne insisted on holding the Hat and the sword, however.
Fawkes was waiting for them in the Chamber entrance, and Ariadne had never heard a sound as joyful as the noise of the stone doors to the Chamber closing behind them. However, when the doors closed, they took all the light emanating from the Chamber with it, leaving Ariadne, Harry, and Ginny in a pitch-black tunnel. She grabbed Harry's arm on instinct before remembering her wand.
"Lumos," she called, and a soft glow began to emanate from its tip. Even with the light to guide them, however, she did not let go of Harry's arm. Harry didn't seem to mind, leading her and Ginny to the end of the tunnel. There was a noise around the next bend, like stone hitting stone. Ariadne held her wand in front of the three of them cautiously, but Harry seemed to perk up at the noise. He began walking faster.
"Ron!" Harry yelled. "They're okay! I've got them!"
Ariadne heard Ron cheer, and she allowed herself to laugh at his enthusiasm. Laughing felt odd right now, like she couldn't remember the last time she'd done it. Around the corner, Ron's freckled face peeked out from a sizable gap in a wall of rocks. He reached an arm through to grab Ginny, pulling her through the hole and into a hug. "You're alive! How– where did that bird come from?"
Harry helped Ariadne through the hole next, with Ron helping her down from the other side. He squeezed himself through next. "It's Dumbledore's," he answered.
"And the sword?" Ron asked Ariadne, looking particularly interested in the egg-sized rubies at the hilt.
"Harry slayed a basilisk," she summed up as Ron gaped at her incredulously. "It's a long story," she said, eyeing Ginny, who was still in her brother's arms but had begun to cry in earnest now. "Let's just get of here. Please?" She tacked on when it looked as though Ron was going to protest and press for more answers.
"Wait, where's Lockhart?" Harry asked. Ariadne laughed, thinking he was joking, but saw that no one else laughed with her.
"You brought Lockhart? He's completely incompetent!"
"You should see him now," Ron quipped. He turned to Harry. "He's not doing so hot, actually." Ron lead them over to Lockhart, who was sitting on the ground humming to himself contentedly. "His Memory Charm's backfired 'cos he used my wand. Hit him instead of us– he's a danger to himself."
"Hullo," Lockhart flashed them a childlike grin. "More children, I see! Is this something I do often? Spend time in snake chambers with groups of kids?"
"Yes," Ariadne responded. "At least once a week." Harry and Ron shot her a look and she shrugged in return. Why not?
Now that they found themselves at the mouth of the pipe, the hidden entrance to the Chamber from the bathroom, they were faced with the issue of how exactly to get back up. It's much easier to slide down something than to climb it, of course.
Fawkes provided the solution when he planted himself in front of Harry and began to wave his golden tail feathers.
"He means to pull us up," Harry deduced. "We've got to hold onto each other. Lockhart ('he means you,' Ron nudged), grab Ron's hand. Ron, hold onto Ginny. Ginny, hold onto Aria, and Aria, grab onto me."
Ron coughed and Harry seemed to flush, though that might have been Fawkes's light reflecting onto him. Ariadne tucked the sword into the waist of her skirt and grabbed ahold of Harry's arm once. Harry, in turn, grabbed onto Fawkes' tail feathers.
The rush of flight was extraordinary, but Ariadne kept her eyes shut the entire time. There was a reason she opted not to take Flying class her second year– she was dreadfully afraid of heights. Only when she felt the wet slosh of Myrtle's bathroom under her feet did she open them again, finding Myrtle waiting for them in shock.
"You're alive," she said to Harry, sounding rather disappointed. Her cheeks blushed that sad little silver blush. "I'd just been thinking… if you'd died, you'd be welcome to share my–" Myrtle stopped abruptly, eyes narrowing in on Ariadne's hand on Harry's arm. Ariadne blushed and removed it instantly, but it was too late. "Hmph!" she said, shooting Ariadne a hateful glare. Well, there goes the days of her liking me. Myrtle floated back into her toilet, where Ariadne heard her familiar sobs resume.
"I think Myrtle has a crush on you, Harry!" Ron crowed as they exited the bathroom. "Not that it's any competiti–" Ron cut himself off, both at seeing Harry shake his head and at glancing at Ginny from the side. It was then that he noticed that she had not yet stopped crying, only that her tears had become silent.
"Where to?" he asked Harry instead. Harry pointed to Fawkes, who had not yet stopped flying down the corridor. They followed him, eventually finding themselves at Professor McGonagall's office.
The four of them paused for a moment and looked at each other, four Gryffindors waiting to see which one of them was bravest to face their Head of House. Looking at the sword in her skirt, Ariadne finally raised her hand to knock before pushing the door open.
But if she'd known who was sitting behind those doors, Ariadne would never have been able to work up the courage.
Nearly done! Next chapter will finish up COS and get into the summer between years, which I'm excited about. Like always, read and review! Let me know what you're looking forward to/hoping to see! Just so I can keep an eye out!
Reuploading for the last time! So sorry to anyone who's read before - think FF is working now!