Kitty: Last chapter.
Yugi: (wide eyes) You mean...this chapter ends it?
Kitty: Read the chapter title: there are no endings, only beginnings.
Lina: (blink) You're starting to sound like Dumbledore...
Kitty: Someone has to, now that... (sniff) (sniff)
Atem: She's got a point there.
Noa: (sigh) R&R!
Chapter Twenty-Two:
At the Beginning Again
When all five students and Fawkes were inside the office, there was a silence. Then, out of nowhere, there were two screams similar in volume and pitch, and both Ginny and Marik felt themselves being hugged, by Mrs. Weasley and Kara Rozene, respectively.
"K-Kara-chan?" Marik tried not to fall over from supporting her weight as well as his own.
"Marik-chan…oh Marik-chan, you're alright! Thank Ra Almighty…I thought I'd lost you! I was so scared!"
McGonagall stood up from the chair behind her desk, her eyes quite wide indeed, and next to her desk, his eyes twinkling, was Albus Dumbledore.
"Kara-chan," Marik said as he pulled away from her, "Where are-?"
"Right here," Kara assured him, gesturing to a baby carriage nearby.
Marik spent no time at all in running over to the crib and brought both Ariel and Kane into his arms, nuzzling their cheeks and stroking their hair.
"Daddy!" Kane shrieked his first word over and over, "Daddy!"
Mrs. Weasley finally pulled away from Ginny, her eyes streaming with tears of joy, before pulling Harry, Ron and Diana into a crushing embrace.
"You saved her!" she cried, "You saved her! How did you do it?"
"I think we all would like to know the answer to that," said McGonagall.
After Mrs. Weasley let go of the three of them, Ron, Harry and Diana started into the long story. They was careful not to mention anything about Riddle or the diary as not to get Ginny and Marik in trouble, but even without that, the explanation took over a quarter of an hour.
At last, Dumbledore smiled. "My only question to that story is…how did Voldemort possess Ginny and Marik when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in Albania?"
Diana felt a bit of relief that Dumbledore had figured it out in that weird way of his without them having to tell him. The Weasley parents gasped in horror, and Kara's arms around Marik tightened.
"Y-You-Know-Who? P-Possess Ginny?" Mr. Weasley stammered, "How-?"
"It was this diary," Harry spoke up, showing them the ruined book, "Riddle made it while he was a student here, and when Ginny and Marik wrote in it, after a while, Riddle was able to control them…"
Dumbledore took the diary, looking at it carefully. "Ah, yes…Tom Riddle was very bright, even at that age. I taught him myself, fifty years ago…and I suppose that by attaining Marik's and Ginny's souls he could help bring his future self back to power."
He looked up again. "But there seems to be a lack of a story for one of our number. Why so modest, Gilderoy?"
The three Gryffindors sweatdropped. They hadn't mentioned Lockhart at all.
"Er…you see, sir, there was an accident," Ron said awkwardly, "Lockhart tried to cast a Memory Charm…with my wand…and it sorta…backfired."
"WOOF!" barked Lockhart loudly, before licking McGonagall's face. The Deputy Headmistress recoiled, looking quite revolted.
"And now he thinks he's a dog," Diana finished meekly.
"The last one's her fault," said Harry, jabbing his thumb at Diana, who stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, it seems that I can't have a dog teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, so it appears that I will have to look for yet another for next year…my, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"
The Headmaster then turned his head to look at Kara. "I think you should bring your husband up to the Hospital Wing and let him get some rest. Molly, I think Ginny could use some too. And Miss Rozene, if you would bring Professor Lockhart up to the Hospital Wing with you, Madame Pomfrey can transport himself to St. Mungo's safely."
Kara nodded, before she led the whining Lockhart out of the room by the collar, and Marik, the twins' baby carriage, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley followed her and the "dog" out of McGonagall's office.
"Minerva," said Dumbledore as Fawkes landed on the desk next to him, "I think all this would end quite nicely with a decent feast."
McGonagall inclined her head slightly. "I'll go alert the kitchen staff," she replied as she swept from the room also.
So the room was left empty except for Ron, Diana, Harry and Dumbledore. When the door had closed, Dumbledore spoke again. "You do realize, of course, that in the last 24 hours that you have broken over a dozen school rules."
Diana's mouth dropped. After all that, after suffering through Polyjuice potion, having their friends attacked, almost getting eaten by spiders, going down through a bathroom pipe, fighting a basilisk and stopping Voldemort from returning, they were going to be expelled from Hogwarts?
"Yes, sir," was all that Harry could think of to say.
"There is sufficient evidence to have you three expelled," said Dumbledore, "Which is why it only fitting that you each receive…a Special Award for Services to the School and 200 points for Gryffindor."
The three blinked at one another in surprise, before they grinned in relief.
"Thank you, sir," Ron replied weakly.
Dumbledore inclined his head in a little nod, before picking up a scroll and handing it to Ron. "Now…Mr. Weasley, if you could have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban? I believe we'd like our Gamekeeper back."
Diana's grin widened at the mention of Hagrid, as Ron took the scroll and, smiling quickly at his other two friends, left the room also.
"First of all, Harry, Diana," Dumbledore stated, stroking Fawkes, "I would like to thank you. You must have shown me true loyalty down there in the Chamber. Nothing but that could've called Fawkes to you."
Diana thought of Harry trying to scare Riddle to make himself feel a little braver, and sweatdropped. That was loyalty?
"And second," Dumbledore continued, "I see by your face that something is troubling you, Harry."
Diana looked at Harry through the corner of her eye; he did look uneasy.
"Well, it's just…" Harry thought of how to begin, "I couldn't help but notice…similarities between Riddle and me…when I put on the Sorting Hat last year, it said that I would do well in Slytherin…people thought I was the Heir of Slytherin for a while…and we both speak Parseltongue."
/The Hat told Harry he should be in Slytherin/ Diana repeated in her head.
Diana remembered in her sorting the Sorting Hat had said the same thing. Its last words echoed in her head.
"Artemis's Heir should be in Slytherin, but off to GRYFFINDOR with you!"
"Harry, you can speak Parseltongue because Voldemort can speak Parseltongue," Dumbledore replied. "Voldemort is the only remaining Heir of Salazar Slytherin, and unless I'm very much mistaken, he unintentionally transferred some of his power to you the night he gave you that scar."
Diana stared. Harry's eyes widened in horror.
"So…so I should be in Slytherin!" the Boy Who Lived stammered, "The Sorting Hat felt Slytherin's power in me when I was sorted!"
"That's true," Dumbledore nodded, "You possess many qualities that Salazar Slytherin himself prized: his own rare gift, Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination…and, if I may say, a certain disregard for the rules," he added with a twinkle in his eye, "And yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. Why do you think that is?"
"Because I asked it to," Harry sighed in a defeated tone.
"Exactly, Harry, exactly!" Dumbledore exclaimed, pleased, "Which makes you different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities who make us who we truly are: it is our choices."
Diana was startled at that pronouncement, but couldn't help but see the wisdom in it. She could've had a completely different life than she already did: who knows where she'd be if she had made different choices? One single choice could change who Diana was forever.
"If you want proof that you belong in Gryffindor, Harry," said Dumbledore, seeing Harry's doubt, "I suggest you look more closely at the sword that you got out of the Sorting Hat."
Harry blinked in surprise, before he picked up the sword and looked at it. Engraved right below the hilt of the bloodstained weapon was a name.
"'Godric Gryffindor,'" he read in a whisper."Only a true Gryffindor could pull that out of the Hat," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a little.
"Well, Harry, that's proof enough for me!" Diana told him, feeling a lot better now that the topic had been closed, "You are officially a Gryffindor. Good thing too, I don't want your points to go to Slytherin instead…"
"Oh, shut up!" Harry laughed, punching her in the arm.
It was then that the door flew open and a man walked into the office.
"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore greeted pleasantly.
Mr. Malfoy, his hair slightly ruffled, his traveling cloak off center and his face filled with anger, stalked over to the desk, and following him, wrapped tightly in bandages, was…
"Dobby?" Harry realized, "So this is your master! The family you serve is the Malfoys!"
"So!" Mr. Malfoy hissed coldly in Dumbledore's direction as he came up to the desk, "It's true. You have returned."
"Well, when the other governors were informed that Arthur Weasley's daughter and Mr. Ishtar were taken into the Chamber, they saw fit to summon me back," Dumbledore replied rather calmly, "And curiously, Lucius…some of them were under the impression that you would curse their families if you would not agree to suspend me in the first place."
Diana couldn't help but smirk at Mr. Malfoy's look; he looked as though he was trying to stop himself from killing something.
"The culprit has been identified…I presume?" Mr. Malfoy said after a minute, trying to sound calmer than he looked.
"It was the same person as last time," Dumbledore answered, "Although this time he chose to act through someone else, by means…of this."
He pointed to the diary in Harry's hand. Mr. Malfoy's eyes flickered.
"…I see."
Diana looked over at Harry, to see Dobby shooting a significant look at the diary and then at Mr. Malfoy, before whacking himself on the head.
"Harry," she said under her breath, "Give me Tom Riddle's diary."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but handed her the book nevertheless.
"It was a clever plan," Dumbledore remarked, "If Harry and his friends hadn't discovered the diary, Mr. Ishtar and Miss Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one could have proven that they hadn't acted of their own free will. Slytherin house would no longer have any Muggle-borns in their house if Marik was expelled…we could even go on to say Britain's newly-formed friendship with wizarding Japan would be ruined. Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act would've probably become a joke…imagine! His own daughter being a hypocrite to the very idea behind it."
At last, after several cycles of Dobby's looks and continuous punishment, Harry nodded in understanding, and the house elf twisted his ears in punishment.
"Do you know how Marik got hold of the diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked.
Mr. Malfoy glared at him. "How would I know how that stupid boy got it?"
"Because you gave it to him," said Diana, "When you wrote down the 'role model' in Marik's book in Flourish and Blotts. You cast an spell to slip the diary inside without us seeing…so it is only fitting…"
She shoved the ruined diary into Mr. Malfoy's hand with an impish grin, "…that I give you back what is yours."
Mr. Malfoy scowled at Diana; then he thrust the book into Dobby's hands, and started toward the door. "Come, Dobby."
Dobby looked about to follow him, but in his hesitant look from Harry to Diana, he noticed that Diana was mouthing the words, "Open it."
Surprised, Dobby opened the diary to the first page, and to his shock, a black biker glove was sitting between the pages.
"Dobby!" Mr. Malfoy snapped from the door.
"Master has presented Dobby with clothes!" Dobby picked up the biker glove as though it were a priceless treasure.
"What, I didn't-" Mr. Malfoy turned around, and to his shock, saw that Dobby was right.
"Dobby is…free," Dobby looked like he could barely contain his glee.
Mr. Malfoy's eyes flew to Harry and Diana, and the redhead girl shook both of her hands in front of her. One hand only showed her fingers as the rest was covered in a black glove, but the other was uncovered, almost pure white, and marked with a crescent moon birthmark.
"Dobby is free," Diana was having trouble keeping herself from laughing, "And it means you, Mr. Malfoy, need a new person to yell at."
Biker gloves: 1 Galleon.
The original diary: 30 Quid.
The look of loathing of Mr. Malfoy's face: priceless.
The next morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, Marik sat at the Gryffindor table with Diana, Ron and Harry instead of at his usual lonely spot at the Slytherin table. Both he and Ginny looked happier than Diana had seen them look since the beginning of the year.
It was then the large Hall doors opened, and Yugi, Ryou, Seto and Hermione stepped inside. Diana and the other three shot to their feet and ran over to greet their friends. Ron was blushing quite furiously when Hermione hugged him ("You solved it! I can't believe you solved it!").
When Yugi came over to Harry, the Boy Who Lived slipped a familiar chain and golden pyramid off of his neck and handed it to him.
Yugi's amethyst eyes brightened. "My Puzzle! You kept it for me?"
"Of course I did," laughed Harry.
"We all kept your Yamis out of trouble," Diana grinned.
She took off the Millennium Ring and handed it to Ryou as Ron handed Seto the Rod. All three Japanese boys smiled, before their eyes went blank. Then, shaking their heads to clear their thoughts, they all sweatdropped.
"Atem-kun made me promise to never go out after dark again."
"Bakura-san said if I ever did that again, he'd send me to the Shadow Realm."
"He glomped me! That freak glomped me! There goes my reputation down the drain…"
A while later, Hagrid came through the large doors, sobbing most profoundly as he gave Harry, Ron and Diana a large bear hug, all final exams were cancelled as a school treat, delighting everyone but Hermione, and thanks to the 600 points that Diana, Harry and Ron received from Dumbledore, Gryffindor won the House Cup for the second year in a row.
The joy of that night in the Great Hall was still present three days later when the Brits and the Japanese boys boarded the Hogwarts Express to travel back to Kings Cross Station. When the magic students came into the Muggle view of the station, Kara and the twins, as well as the ensemble of Japanese friends the Brits had met over the summer, were there to greet them.
Joey immediately seized Yugi by the neck and mussed up his hair, saying that he had missed messing up his spiky hair. When Mai finally pulled her boyfriend off of his best friend, Kitty practically pounced on Yugi, knocking him to the ground and kissing him all over his face and neck. Ryou found himself in another person's hug every two minutes. Mokuba acted a lot like Seth had when Seto came back by glomping him, and even Melisanne went out of her usually quiet behavior by running into Seto's arms and giving him a kiss that, Joey teased, lasted for hours.
As the Japanese wizards waved goodbye to their British friends, who were headed in the opposite direction to join up with their families, Diana couldn't help but smile. Two years, and already she'd had more adventure than she thought was possible for a girl of her age. She walked through the crowd of Muggles to leave Kings Cross Station with Aunt Gwen and, looking up at the clear blue sky already ready with a shining summer sun, Diana had a feeling that when her next year at Hogwarts began, it would hold even more surprises than the one she'd just finished. But that thought didn't scare her: it only excited her, and her anticipation for a new adventure ends this chapter of her life with a glimmer of optimism.
Kitty: So ends Cold Day in July.
Yugi:
Wow, I think that's the most optimism I've ever read in the end of one
of your fics, Kitty Kat. I mean, Destiny Dilemas had an opimistic
ending too, but this is way more...What inspired that out of you?
Kitty: You. You're the optimist here. And with the next fic, I think Diana needs a little optimism.
Lina: Does that mean the fic will be sad?
Kitty: No, it'll just be filled with drama and teen angst.
Lina: (licks her lips) Yum. Me love angst.
Diana: Well, are we going to start setting up the Bash-a-thon in here, or what?
Atem: (picks up a box of streamers, balloons and sharp weapons) Yugi and I will handle that...you guys answer the reviews.
Kitty: Good idea. Kara, who's first on our list?
Kara: Kyte, and it seems that you made her confused.
Kitty: (frowns) Oh, dear... Kyte, darling: let me sum up the clues you have so far, and then I'll give you two more clues. The person has to do with RYOU'S Yami (a.k.a. Bakura) and his love-life. So no, the person doesn't have anything to do with Yugi. Bakura's love-life with this person has not been discussed at all yet, for we haven't gone into this person's story much. Alright, now for the new clues: this person is a woman, and is an original chracter.
Marik: (blushes) You've nothing to fear with Dare and me.
Kitty: Marik compared to the Japanese Hikaris can relate the most with Dare. Before Dare met Bakura in Ready to Run, Marik was her best friend, and that's still there.
Bakura: WHAT? (fumes silently)
Kitty: Maybe because he looks so much like Inuyasha-chan. (smiles at the mention of her new obsession)
Bakura: I AM NOT A DOG!
Kitty: Sit, boy.
Bakura: (is slammed face-first into the floor)
Atem: (laughs) Well, this makes me feel a bit better after being hit on by Moaning Myrtle.
Kitty: I needed a joke there, and hey, everybody loves Atem. (winks)
Lina: Next is Claire.
Kitty: (sweatdrop) Heh...
Yugi: (taping up streamers) I know Neko-chan has a lot of bishies, and yeah, while I can get DAMN jealous, (eyes turn red in anger, and then go back to normal) I know she chose me as her boyfriend for a reason.
Kitty: Well...no, I wasn't really planning for the Weasleys to be connected to Egypt...I just thought there'd be a reason that each of the Brits got chosen, and Ron's was never truly explained. It's not that special; Harry got chosen because evil seems to follow him everywhere (a bit like Atem/Yugi, really), Dare got chosen because she's Bakura's best friend and for another reason I won't reveal now, and Ron mostly got chosen for his loyalty (similar to Seth's for Atem) and bravery, which is the reason why all the Weasleys have gotten into Gryffindor. (shrugs) Apparently you thought Chapter 21 was the end, but it seems that you're off by one chapter. That's okay, though.
Ron: (blushes) Yep, Hermione practically jumped on me, and Kitty actually did...fitting. Hermione's a little more controlled than Kitty.
Kitty: I like being wild, though, Ron, so I find that compliment. And Dare's valentine, like I've said earlier, will be revealed in another story, a bit vaguely and quietly. I won't tell you where or else it might be too obvious who it is.
Atem: (twirling the Drake doll by the Punjab lasso over his head) Ah...this could be a nice fair ride, don't you think? All created in the genius mind of the Pharaoh of Egypt...
Yugi: Yami-kun, help me blow up these balloons, will you? That way the hot air making your head so big will actually have a purpose.
Atem: (pouts and puts down the doll) Well, Drake's safe...for now, anyway... (evil grin)
Kitty: (smirks) I love those torture ideas! (makes a note of them for the Bash-a-thon)
Diana: Next is aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl.
Kitty: Well, glad I could put a bit of cheer in going back to school for ya. School doesn't start for me until the end of August...and I'll be coming back home just in time for my first day... (scowls)
Diana: I thought I was going to fight more...all I did was make the snake chase me.
Kitty: I said you'd have your own part, and you were in character by trying to protect your friends. It works. Kinda hard when I needed to develop Harry a bit more and let him have his spotlight. (smiles) And I actually think that category is where I belong...wow! I now know my purpose in life.
Lina: Now for something completely different: the review of ANAYAS-CREATER.
Diana: (smirks) At least someone thinks it's a good idea.
Harry: There always has to be someone who supports stupidity, or else it wouldn't exist.
Diana: (sticks her tongue out at Harry)
Kitty: (sweatdrops at the treatment of Morfin) "Hot" doesn't mean "nice," sad to say... I don't know what I like about him, I just do. I have no further explanation. (glomps Yugi) And yes, he's better.
Yugi: I love you too, Kitten.
Kitty: (lets go of him so he can continue painting the balloons with silly pictures of Lockhart the Dog and Malfoy the Ferret) And Seto's all yours...when he's not Melisanne's, anyway.
Kara: Next is Zelda-Ally.
Hermione: (blushes)
Ron: (hugs her) Ha, she can be quite unpredictable. And I love her for it.
Kitty: Good to hear Ally's no pushover...
Lockhart: WOOF! WOOF, WOOF! (tugging on the leash chaining him to Kitty's bed)
Kitty: ...and since Lockhart won't be needed 'til the fifth book, when I can bring him back from the dead, Ally can hurt him to her heart's content.
Ginny: I think Kitty meant for it to surprise people. She needed to surprise us a little since we all have read the books and nothing J.K. originally wrote can surprise us.
Kitty: (takes notes on ZeldaAlly's plans for the Bash-a-thon) Wow, we've got a nice bunch of torture to do this time around... Next review?
Diana: It's Engie!
Kitty: Heya, hun! Yes...Harry, that was one awesome line of yours.
Harry: (blushes) Thanks, Kitty.
Marik: (going blue)
Kitty: Careful, girl: don't want to strangle him... (gently pulls Marik out of her squeezing arms) He's all yours after the Bash-a-thone, I have officially named all of the Heir of Slytherin victims as announcers.
Ginny: Me too?
Kitty: Yep. After HBP, I kinda need to have you around more often. Love that line with Ron and his Pygmy Puff tattoo. (grins)
Ron: (scowls) It's not funny!
Hermione: It was very funny!
Ron: (blushes) Yes, dear.
Kitty: Go San Diego! I so should just stay here, but hey, Drama Club and Forensics call at Rockville High... (sigh) I can't wait to see you. (gives you a hug)
Lina: Next is Setoglomper.
Kitty: (looks at Dobby) Well, Dobby?
Dobby: Dobby would feel slightly guilty if Dobby had to torment the young master Malfoy...
Kitty: (smiles) That's okay, dude. (looks at Harry) You think you could bring the D.A. over here?
Harry: Sure, I still have that enchanted Galleon Hermione made.
Kitty: Awesome with Lockhart...I just hope that those two dogs don't become friends or something...
Lockhart: (barking angrilly at the door to the third floor corridor)
Kitty: (sweatdrop) Uh, never mind, I don't think we'll need to worry about that.
Seto: That actually is an awesome question. (looks at Kitty) Well, Professor Carson?
Kitty: (grins evilly)
Lina: That means she has no comment.
Kara: Which could be taken to mean "yes."
Yugi: Or that she has a fanfic theory that is similar to it.
Kara: (raises an eyebrow) Really?
Yugi: (shrugs as he decorates the door with a moving picture of the Malfoy ferret bouncing up and down) Sometimes, anyway. We may never know.
Diana: And finally...Rainbow Guardian Angel!
Kitty: Good...I was a bit worried that Isis would never be brought back...and of course I like you guys.
Yugi: We all do. (smiles)
Atem: (sweatdrop) I was just taking a leaf out of Kitty's book: she calls a lot of people "Honey" or "Girl," or something like that.
Kitty: Friends, mostly. And actually, I was disappointed with HBP. There wasn't as much mystery as I would've liked...Snape being the Prince was so obvious it wasn't even funny, and the death was just a little sooner than I thought, but I knew it was going to happen. And as to Morfin...again, I barely know what I like about him: I just...do. (sweatdrop)
Lina: (takes Kitty's role of taking notes on Rainbow's Bash-a-thon plans)
Atem: Alright...we're all done.
Kitty: Wait: where's Malfoy?
Yugi: He's coming. (smirks)
Kitty: (looks into the corner where Lockhart was chained up) Hey...where's Lockhart?
Yugi: (smirk widens) He's getting Malfoy.
Malfoy: (runs into the room, being chased by Lockhart the Dog) AHHHH! GET THIS FREAK AWAY FROM ME! (jumps onto the chandelier to avoid getting his butt bitten off)
Lockhart: (barking at him from the floor)
Kitty: Well, now that that's all settled...let the Bash-a-thon begin!
Noa: Remember: if you have ideas for the Bash-a-thon that you haven't sent in or sent in before Chapter 21, please review with them on this chapter.
Atem: In other words, R&R!