Kitty: (smiles) Wow! 31 hits on this fic?

Yugi: That's the most hits in all your fics. Congrats, Kitten!

Kitty: (glomps Yugi) Makes me love writing this fic even more when I get signs that people are reading and enjoying it.

Lina: (nods) Like reviews, so R&R!

Chapter Twenty:

Answers from the Heir

Diana looked around at the very long, dimly lit chamber that she and Harry had entered. Stone pillars entwined with even more carved serpents seemed to tower forever above them on all sides, casting long black shadows that almost seemed to try to grab them and hold them tight in a cold, tight grasp. In the very back of the Chamber, there was a statue as high as the ceiling itself, with an ancient, monkey-like face partnered with a long thin beard that fell almost to the stone man's feet standing on the smooth floor. And near to the feet lay two black-robed figures, one with long platinum blond hair, the other with flaming red.

"Marik!"

"Ginny!"

The two Gryffindors ran over to them.
"Marik, come on," Diana turned the Egyptian over and lightly slapped his face, "Wake up, Marik…"
"Ginny," Harry muttered, dropping his wand on the floor and trying to find a pulse on her wrist, "Wake up, it's me, Harry…we have to get out of here…"

Bakura and Atem appeared near their hosts, looking down at Ginny and Marik in nervous fear.

"Maybe they were Petrified," Atem whispered.

"No, their eyes are closed," Bakura argued, his face very pale, "But if they're not Petrified, that means…that means they're…"

"NO!" Diana shouted desperately, "Marik, wake up! You can't die, you hear me? You need to wake up!"

"They won't wake," said a voice.

The Yamis vanished instantly. Diana whirled around to meet the eyes of a tall, black-haired boy leaning on the nearest pillar.

He looked like a student, as he was dressed by the Hogwarts dress code, and there was a silver Prefect's badge shining on his chest. But the strangest thing about him was that he was slightly blurred around the edges, as if he had popped out of a badly shot photograph.

"Who…who are you?" Diana scrambled to her feet and fingered the wand in her pocket that was lying next to where she'd put the Millennium Rod.

"My name is Tom Riddle," replied the boy, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you two face-to-face."

"Tom Riddle?" Diana repeated, "You're the one who owned that diary…"

Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off her.

"What do you mean 'they won't wake'?" Harry asked anxiously, "They can't be…they're not…"

"They're alive," Riddle assured them, "But only just."

Diana stared at the boy with an odd type of curious surprise, pulling her hand out of her wand pocket. He'd been at Hogwarts fifty years ago…how could he be standing here in front of her, not a day older than sixteen?

"Are you a ghost?" Diana inquired.

"A memory," Riddle corrected, not breaking eye contact with Diana but stepping closer to her, "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

"The diary…?" Diana could barely speak.

Her eyes shot back at Marik and Ginny, and next to Marik's outstretched hand was the little black book she recognized as T.M. Riddle's diary.

/How did it get here/ Diana wondered.

-Never mind about that,- Bakura thought in her direction, -There are more important things to worry about, like getting Ginny and Marik out of here.-

/Yeah…right./

"Look…I'd love to chat about why on earth you were trapped in a book," Diana responded conversationally, "But later, after Marik and Ginny are out of danger…"

"Danger?" asked Riddle.

"There's a basilisk in here, it could come around at any moment," Harry tried to hoist Ginny onto his back, "You've got to help us get our friends out of here, Tom…"

But Riddle didn't move as Diana and Harry lifted their friends up onto their backs. Harry bent to pick up his wand again…

But his wand was gone.

The Boy Who Lived looked up, and saw Riddle twirling his wand between his fingers.

"Give me my wand, Tom," Harry, with difficulty, held his hand out for his wand.

Riddle, however, only smirked and continued to twirl the wand idly. "You won't be needing it."

"We could use all the protection we could get in this place," Diana argued, "Give Harry his wand and let's go! If the basilisk comes-"

"It won't come until it's called," Riddle interrupted calmly.

Harry stared. "What…?"

"It doesn't matter," Diana muttered, "C'mon, Harry, we've got to get back to Ron…"

"No," Riddle stepped in front of them to stop them from leaving, "I've waited a long time to see you…to speak with you."

"I don't think you get it," Diana was losing patience quickly, "We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later-"

"We're going to talk now," Riddle smirked even more broadly as he pocketed Harry's wand.

Diana's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she slowly put Marik back on the ground and straightened up to look at him.

/What the hell is he playing at/

-I don't know,- thought Bakura, -But something funny is going on here…-

Diana nodded inwardly in agreement, looking back again at Marik's pale, expressionless face. Then she looked up at Riddle.

"How did Marik and Ginny get like this?" she asked in an almost accusing way.

"That's a very interesting question, actually," Riddle answered pleasantly, "And quite a long story… I suppose the real reason they're like this is because they opened their hearts and spilled all their secrets to an invisible stranger."

"What are you talking about?" inquired Harry.

"The diary," Diana realized, "But…but how did Ginny…?"

"Mr. Ishtar found it in one of his schoolbooks," Riddle replied without letting her finish, "Thinking it was a plain old diary, he meant to throw it away, but little Ginny asked him if she could have it. She'd never had a diary before, you see…so Marik gave it to her. When Ginny wrote in my diary, she realized that I could answer back. I was patient with her: I was sympathetic, I was kind…Ginny simple loved me. She wrote to me about all her pitiful worries and woes…how her brothers tease her, how she has to come to school with second-hand robes…how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…"

Riddle laughed a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him.

Diana felt a surge of hatred. "So you tricked her into believing she could trust you…but why? What could you possibly want from an innocent girl?"

"Her soul," Riddle replied, "And with the knowledge of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets, I grew stronger and stronger. I grew powerful, powerful enough to start feeding little Miss Weasley a few of my secrets a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"

"You possessed her!" Diana indicted.

"Indeed," Riddle's smirk broadened, "I made Ginny open the Chamber of Secrets…I made her strangle the school roosters and daub threatening messages on the walls…I made her set the Serpent of Slytherin on your Mudblood friends and the Squib's cat."

"No," Harry whispered.

"Yes," Riddle's voice was still unusually calm, although his eyes had an almost hungry glint in them, "It took quite a while before stupid little Ginny stopped trusting her precious diary. When she did, she tried to dispose of it in the abandoned girls' bathroom…and then who should find it but her brother, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter? Marik, who recognized the diary, took it from you so that he could 'examine it for ancient magic.' What a joke! He wanted to find out why Ginny disposed of it. He figured there must be some kind of strange magic in it if she tried to get rid of it. On Valentine's Day, Marik figured out the secret of my diary, but he wanted more. I wasn't his little friend like I was with Ginny…no, I was his adviser."

"What are you talking about?" Diana hissed.

"Marik was fascinated by the amount of powerful magic I knew," Riddle explained coolly, "Being but a second year he couldn't learn everything he wanted to know fast enough. He definitely is a Slytherin at heart…his lust for power is uncanny. So what if it was dark magic? He thought if he was using it for a good cause, like saving his pathetic wife and children from danger, then it wouldn't matter. But his 'lessons' were enough to let me start stealing some of his soul and possessing him too. I attacked Kaiba and Granger and then brought him back to his common room as to make him think he had dozed off. I had to be careful, as he had already been possessed once before and knew the signs. Marik still ended up suspecting me later, but by the time that happened, it was too late. Funny…all I needed to do was make him doubt Hagrid, and he immediately trusted me…"

"Hagrid's our friend!" Harry shouted, his eyes narrowing, "And you framed him, didn't you? We thought you'd made a mistake, but-"

Riddle laughed his high laugh again. "It was my word against Hagrid's! You can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student…on the other, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls…but I admit, even I was surprised how well my plan worked. Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper."

"That sounds like Dumbledore, alright," Diana smirked, "I bet he saw right thorough you."

"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," snarled Riddle, "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self within its pages, so that one day, I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished it," Harry said triumphantly, "No one's died this time, not even the cat, and soon the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone will be back to normal."

"Haven't I told you, Harry Potter?" whispered Riddle, "Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been…you."

Diana's eyes narrowed, and she stepped in front of Harry in a sort of protecting manner.

"What do you want with Harry?" Diana demanded.

"I have many questions," replied Riddle, "Why else would I bring Marik and Ginny down here? I knew that he would come if one of his friends was in danger…and I was kind of hoping he'd bring you with him, Miss Randall. Your past intrigues me…"

"I don't care what intrigues you," Diana spat, "You're much more than you're leading us to believe. You're the Heir of Slytherin, yes, but a normal Heir would be more concerned about killing Muggle-borns than going after people like Harry and me. Who are you, Tom Riddle?"

Riddle's eyes almost had a red gleam in them that made Diana think of her eyes flashing when Artemis was about to come out.

"Marik was right about you, Diana Randall," he smirked, "You are brilliant for a twelve-year-old…"

Riddle pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Then he waved the wand, and the letters rearranged themselves into four new words.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Diana stared at the newly formed words in horror. "'I am Lord Voldemort…'"

"Did you expect me to keep the name that my filthy Muggle father cursed me with forever?" whispered Riddle, "No. I fashioned myself a new name: a name I knew that wizards everywhere would fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Diana's eyes never left Riddle's face as he spoke, but she just couldn't believe it. The boy that Marik and Ginny had trusted, an orphan so much like Harry and herself, grew up to murder and ruin hundreds of lives…

"You're not," Harry suddenly said, his voice filled with hatred.

"What?" snapped Riddle.

"You're not the greatest sorcerer in the world," Harry repeated, breathing fast, "Albus Dumbledore is. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try to take over Hogwarts, because Dumbledore has always frightened and will continue to frighten you for the rest of your life!"

Riddle's smirk vanished, and was replaced with a very ugly look. "Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"

"He's not as gone as you may think!" Harry retorted.

Diana looked at her friend in puzzlement. /What is Harry doing? Riddle's holding all the cards here…he still has the basilisk and he still has Ginny and Marik at his disposal./

-I think Harry-kun's trying to scare him,- thought Bakura.

/How will that help/ asked Diana.

-Manly instinct. If you need to feel brave, do something stupid.-

Diana sweatdropped. Riddle opened his mouth to retort to Harry's bluffing, but froze at the strange sound of…music.

/Phoenix song/ Diana realized, feeling as if her heart had grown twice its normal size.

A crimson bird the size of a swan with a glittering gold tail as long as a peacock's and its gold talons gripped onto a ragged bundle had appeared, singing its song so it would echo around the Chamber.

The bird dropped the bundle at Diana's feet and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Fawkes?" Harry breathed, "What are you doing here?

Diana picked up the ragged thing Fawkes had dropped. "The Sorting Hat…"

Riddle began to laugh again. "So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave now, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe?"

Harry didn't answer, looking from Fawkes on his shoulder, to the Sorting Hat, and then to Diana worriedly.

She shook her head slowly as if to say, 'It doesn't matter whether or not these things will help us; we'll still have to fight Riddle if we plan to escape the Chamber with Marik and Ginny,' before looking at Riddle coldly.

"Dumbledore works in mysterious ways, Riddle," Artemis's Heir spoke calmly, but it seemed to cut through Riddle's laughter like a knife through a stick of butter, "You'll just have to see if this songbird and old hat are as harmless as you think they are."

"I look forward to your most valiant efforts, Miss Randall," Riddle scorned.

He turned, looking up at the stone face of Slytherin's statue, before hissing something in Parseltongue.

Diana quickly looked at Harry. "What did he say?"

"'Speak to me, Slytherin,'" Harry muttered back, "'Greatest of Hogwarts four.'"

Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving, his mouth opening wider and wider to make a huge black hole, and farther into the darkness, and the two Gryffindors could something slithering from its depths and toward the exit.

Riddle looked back at them, his twisted smile returning. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the Heir of Artemis and the infamous Harry Potter."

Kitty: (frowns) Man, that Tom Riddle explanation took forever...looks like the basilisk fight will have to wait for one more chapter...damn, that sucks.

Yugi: Hey, at least you'll still get to write it for next chapter. In the meantime, we have to answer the reviews.

Kara: First is ANAYAS-CREATER.

Kitty: Nice to know you like it!

Diana: (winks) T'was my pleasure.

Ron: (grins) Maybe next time...

Hermione: (eyes turn to flames)

Ron: (sweatdrop) Aw, c'mon, Mione, you know he's a fraud!

Hermione: (points her wand at Ron and turns him into a mouse)

Crookshanks: (chases Ron around the room) MRROW!

Ron the Mouse: EEK! MIIIIOOONNNNEEEE!

Everyone Else: (sweatdrop)

Lina: (sweatdrop) Uh...next is aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl.

Kitty: Unfortunately, you'll have to wait one more chapter for the basilisk scene as my estimation of chapter time was off. I think the main problem is that I usually end up making two chapters out of one normal HP chapter, but I stuffed the chapter "The Chamber of Secrets," all into the last chapter, which screwed up the rhythm. (pouts)

Lina: You'll just have to wait to see with Dare with the rest of us...even we don't know what Kitty's planning in that insane mind of hers.

Kitty: (grins insanely) Of course I'm doing a sequel. If I wrote this as a sequel to Ready to Run, I think it'd be only fitting that I continued.

Diana: And now...Setoglomper!

Yugi: Interesting...your favs are almost exactly like Kitty's if you switch Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban.

Kitty: I luvsies Prisoner of Azkaban...of course I would, it's where we first meet my fav HP bishies! (glomps Sirius and Remus at the same time) A mini-J.K.? Whoa...J.K. is like GOD... I feel all snuggly inside now. (smiles) And it's nice to know you like the poem. Hope my dad does...

Lina: (kills the typo with her machete)

Kara: Onward to Claire's review!

Kitty: Hey, Harry and Dare can handle that loser. Riddle is a jerk who's lived in a book for fifty years...

Yugi: And Em-Em would say whatto that?

Kitty: (sweatdrops at the mention of her friend who's obsessed with Tom Riddle) Probably that he's a hottie who could kick Harry's and Dare's asses.

Lina: (sweatdrop) Not hard to believe that in one of your roleplays, you named Voldemort's son's mother after her...

Kitty: Anyway...I know how you feel about bad weather...dang, I left San Diego for THIS? San Diego's weather is PERFECT, and Maryland is humid, wet and prone for cicadas every-so-often. (sticks her tongue out in disgust)

Yugi: Broadway is definitely awesome.

Kitty: I've only seen a pretty cheap show there (The Blue Man Group), but gawd...I'd love to go back and see Phantom and Wicked and Jekyl and Hyde and the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast and... (goes on and on and on)

Lina: (rolls her eyes) Honestly...and yeah, the plot bunny will probably get more than a few bashers if he makes a "guest apperance" at the Bash-a-thon.

Yugi and Atem: (take turns poking needles into the Drake voodoo doll)

Hermione: Alright, Crookshanks, give him here.

Crookshanks: (has Ron the Mouse dangling from his mouth as he trots over to Hermione)

Hermione: (changes Ron back and kisses him on the cheek)

Ron: (blushes furiously) She shows her love in some straaaange ways... (grins stupidly)

Kitty: I tried reading the book: it was really, really different from the musical. (frowns) I think I like the musical better; then again, I was the same way with the musical/book Wicked...

Kara: Onward to Kyte's review.

Kitty: (while Atem's distracted with the Drake voodoo doll, snatches Isis back and hands it Kyte) I think it'll be a while before he notices she's gone...he's got a very low attention span. (winks)

Lina: Summer school sucks. Just plain sucks.

Kitty: Drama! I love Drama! I'm in the Drama Club at school!

Atem: But weren't you only in the Chorus?

Kitty: (vein popping in her temple) ALL THE FRESHMAN WERE! But I shall get my chance next year: I mean, I got an award for acting the most lively in the Chorus in the Wiz! My chance will be next year.

Yugi: Yes, Kitten, and you know we will all be in the front row to watch your amazing performance.

Kitty: (kisses Yugi's cheek) You're a sweetheart.

Seto: I agree with you about Lockhart...anyone who calls me "Kaiba-boy" deserves more than a lost memory.

Bakura: (glares at Kitty) Why are you making me nice!

Kitty: I already told you: you've taken a liking to Dare. The strange liking, with no sense of explanation: whether this liking will lead to love or have a different ending will be discussed later. I can assure you, however, that there is only one other person that Bakura treated like this, and it's a character who's past we've not discussed that much. (winks mysteriously) So Bakura's not turning nice on us.

Harry: (blushes) And is there a particular reason that you made me grip Dare's hand?

Kitty: Well, in my view, Dare acts a lot like a big sister for Harry, because she's very confident and brave. Hermione actually mentioned that when Dare thought Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. Whether Harry and Dare will be anything more or not will remain a mystery for you readers for quite sometime.

Everyone Else: (pouts)

Kitty: JELLYFISH! (runs over to her fish tank, where Squishy is still bobbing up and down) Say hi, Squishy!

Squishy: MEEP!

Kitty: AWWWW! My little baby Squishykins... (croons sweetly at her jellyfish)

Yugi: (sweatdrop) Oh boy, not this again... (sighs) Next review?

Kara: ZeldaAlly, and she's asking for forgiveness for not reviewing sooner.

Kitty: (stops ZeldaAlly from hitting herself on the head) Calm down, hun! It's no big deal. Really.

Diana: (grins) Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

Kitty: Thank you, Ally. (smiles) Good to hear approval. Again, I only hope my dad likes it...unlike everything else I do. (sighs) Anyway...Ron? Your turn to shoot Jake. (shoves one of Bakura's machine guns into Ron's hands)

Ron: (looks down at the machine gun)

Kitty: What are you waiting for? SHOOT HIM!

Ron: Uh... (blushes furiously) How do you use this thing?

Everyone: (anime-fall)

Hermione: Honestly, do I have to do everything around here? (runs over and helps Ron focus the machine gun) Now pull the triger--

Ron: The what?

Hermione: (sweatdrop) This will take a while...

Kitty: (sweatdrop) I'll let Mione and Ron figure that out...we got to finish the reviews.

Lina: It's Kaiba-Kun's turn to take the stage.

Seto: (raises an eyebrow) What? I didn't review.

Lina: No, that's the person's name.

Seto: (sarcastic) Oh how very flattering.

Kitty: (smiles) Good to know you enjoy it, and I'll update again soon.

Diana: And last, but most certainly not least, reviewing from the Yamis' homeland of Egypt...Engie!

Kitty: It's okay, we understand. Traveling can keep you busy. (smiles innocently) NO WAY! My first plan was to take you to Disney Land/California Adventure! Man, we read each other's thoughts... In advance, I will be taking you on all the rides: most importantly, all the rollercoasters, the Haunted Mansion and the Teacup ride! (GRINS)

Atem: (slaps his face) NEVER get Kitty talking about any of the Disney themeparks or the movies...

Marik: (hugs Engie to make her feel better) I'll be back really soon...

Kara: (strangles the plot-bunny)

Kitty: Hey, I probably would've forgotten about Father's Day too if Mum hadn't talked to me about it and my daughterly destation of my dad's hurt kicking in. I had to shorten the title so it'd fit on the little menu thingy, but yeah, I kinda like it too. I'm a sucker for Macbeth...or mostly any other thing by Shakespeare...

Lina: Hmm, I didn't think Engie sounded too bad. Better than hearing Yugi sing Phantom of the Opera for Kitty to get her into bed...

Yugi: (blushes furiously) LINA!

Lina: (grins evilly)

Kitty: (glomps Yugi) Aw, c'mon Yugi, don't you like singing to me?

Yugi: Yes, Kitten. (nibbles on Kitty's earlobe) Yes, my Angel of Music...

Kitty: (snuggles Yugi's cheek) Thanks again for the 31 hits! I luv y'all so much!

Diana: R&R!