They continued on with no sign of Harry anywhere. They came across several more boggarts all of which appeared as people whom Harry cared about, dead. The fact that they knew they were dealing with boggarts did nothing to make the experience less unpleasant. Ginny stayed close to her companions, not wanting to be separated from them again. She'd never been so frightened in her life as when she'd found herself alone in this awful place. Seeing that boggart in the form of a mangled broken Lucy had truly brought home the nightmares that she would be facing. Loosing his sister, and godfather, and best friend, may be what Harry feared the most but there were much more terrifying things in Harry's past. Her heart thudded against her chest as she recalled her first year at Hogwarts. A simple diary, but one that wielded a terrible power. In her nightmares she heard the voice of Tom Riddle. The power he had over her was horrifying. The way he played with her mind was like a kind of mental rape. She had never told anyone about the nightmares. She could not tell her parents or her brothers. Her mother would make her start taking dreamless sleeping potions again, just as she had when Ginny had first come home after her ordeal. She hated those things. They made her feel as though she were not in control of her mind. She hated that feeling. It was almost as bad as when Riddle had her under his spell. Not even Harry knew the full extent of what Riddle had done to her. With so many burdens, she could not add hers to the weight of his. She glanced down at her hands and saw that they were trembling. She clenched them into fists lest her companions see them. She started as she felt an arm go around her shoulders. Lucy smiled at her.
"It's all right to be scared, Ginny," Lucy told her softly. "Sirius and I are scared as well"
"I'm just so worried about Harry," Ginny lied shamefully. "If it's this hard on us what must he be going through."
"We'll find him Ginny," the older girl squeezed her shoulder. Ginny squeezed her hand.
"I love him so much, Lucy," she whimpered.
"I know," Lucy said. Lucy suddenly stopped and looked down at her left hand.
"What's wrong?" Ginny said. Lucy suddenly looked far away and lifted a hand to her lips.
"Lucy?" Ginny said looking hard at her. "What is it"
"I just felt as though someone were...but that's not possible. I must have imagined it."
"What keeps you, ladies?" Sirius called from the front. They quickened their pace in order to catch up.
"What do you mean connected?" Molly snapped. "What exactly does that mean"
"It means Molly, that any injury sustained in limbo will effect their physical forms here"
"Oh god," Molly said clasping her hands to her mouth.
"You've got to bring them back," Fred demanded of Dumbledore. "I cannot," Dumbledore said. "They must complete their task. They must find Harry"
"What if they get killed before they even find Harry?" George snapped.
"We knew there was a risk when we started this," Remus said.
"That's easy for you to say," Bill growled at Remus, "It's not your sister whose life is at risk." Remus glared at him but did not speak. Tonks, however, was not so reserved.
"You think you're the only one with someone to lose?" she snapped at her boyfriend. "That's my best friend, and that's my cousin. And for heavens sake, Lucy's Oliver's fiancee! You don't see him squaring off at Dumbledore"
"No, he's sitting in there moaning and weeping over her souless body"
"That's enough!" Arthur shouted. "Now this bickering is pointless. Ginny, and Sirius, and Lucy are in limbo and we cannot bring them back until they find Harry. We just have to hope for the best. No matter how hard that may be." They all looked guiltily at each other.
"Sorry Remus," Bill said. "I know that Sirius is like a brother to you"
"No need to apologize Bill," Remus said. "We're all worried"
"ALBUS!" Oliver shouted. He came running in from the other room. "Come quickly, they're in trouble." They all hurried into the parlor.
Lucy's stomach was crawling. She felt as though she were being watched. She held tightly to Ginny's hand. Keep calm, she scolded herself. No need to frighten Ginny anymore than she already was. She didn't know what that feeling she'd felt before was. It felt as though she were being kissed. But that just wasn't possible, was it? They scaled down a rocky cliff, Sirius taking the lead, Ginny in the middle and Lucy bringing up the rear. There was a cave ahead of them. "Should we check it out?" Ginny asked.
"Harry could be in there," Sirius said. "What do you think Lucy?" Lucy had a bad feeling about the cave. Every vibe she got from it reeked of evil. But if Harry was in there they had to go in.
"Let's check it out," she said. "Lumos." Keeping thier wands out in front of them they slowly entered the cave. Lucy's heart was in her throat. She knew that Harry was not here almost immediately. But something else was here. They came out of a dark tunnel into a smaller cave. In the middle of the cave was a large pool.
"What's this doing here?" Sirius wondered aloud. Lucy's heart froze as she heard a voice inside her head.
"KILL! KILL! FEAST ON THEIR BONES!"
"Get out of here!" Lucy yelled a moment too late. Ginny screamed as the enormous head of a Basilisk burst from the pool.
"Run!" Sirius yelled. They all ran out of the cave. Lucy could feel the Basilisk behind her.
"Don't look at it!" Ginny screamed. They all ducked behind a tall group of rocks and covered their eyes. The basilisk shot after them, swiping at them with its huge tail. Ginny screamed as she was flung through the air. She landed hard on the ground. She felt a sharp pain in her left arm and something bitter in her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she spat a mouthful of blood out onto the rock. Sirius darted out from his hiding place and raced quickly away from the girls.
"Hey!" he yelled at the basilisk. The Basilisk turned and went after Sirius. He leaped away as the Basilisk snapped it's fangs at him. He rolled down a shallow cliff, jarring his shoulder. He grabbed for his wand and pointed it at the snake.
"Omniculus Inflamare!" The basilisk let out a shriek as it's eyes caught fire. The Basilisk swiped at him and sent him flying into a wall of stone. He put his hand to a gushing wound on his head. Lucy ran from her hiding place and hurried toward Ginny. The younger girl was injured badly. She was bleeding from the mouth and her arm hung at an odd angle.
"Ginny," she willed her to wake up. Pain filled her head as she heard the basilisk's shriek.
"Lucy," Ginny whispered.
"Ginny," Lucy cried in relief. "We have to get out of here"
"Tell it to leave us alone," Ginny said.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy said trying to drag the wounded girl to her feet.
"Tell the basilisk to leave us alone." Lucy was frightened. Ginny must have hit her head harder than she thought. There was no time to think for the basilisk had sniffed out her and Ginny. The snake was opening it's huge jaws preparing to devour them both.
"LEAVE US ALONE!" Lucy shouted. To her utter astonishment the basilisk obeyed. It closed its mouth and slithered back several feet.
"Now tell it to go back to the cave and stay there," Ginny groaned.
"Ginny"
"Just do it," Ginny said. She sounded so sure of herself that Lucy did what she said.
"GO BACK TO THE CAVE AND STAY THERE!" she ordered the snake. The snake withdrew back into the cave. Lucy was astonished. The snake had obeyed her commands. "How?" she said out loud.
"My god, Lucy," Sirius coming up to them.
"Sirius," she gasped. "You're hurt"
"I'll be all right," he said. "That was amazing"
"How the hell did I do that?" Lucy said bewildered.
"The same way Harry did," Ginny said getting carefully to her feet. "Parseltongue"
"Your father had it," Sirius said. "So does Harry"
"Okay," Lucy said holding up a hand. "Not to sound like a muggle but what the hell are you both talking about"
"Parseltongue" Sirius said slowly. "Is the language of snakes. Some wizards, and its extremely rare can speak it. Voldemort, your father, was a parselmouth. The night he tried to kill Harry, he transferred some of his powers on to Harry. Unintentionally, of course. Apparently, you inherited the ability."
"I was speaking a different language?"
"Yes," Sirius said.
"How did you know?" Lucy said to Ginny. "How did you know that I would be able to make the snake listen to me?" Ginny shrugged.
"I didn't know for sure. But Voldemort was Salazar Slytherin's heir. The ability to speak parseltongue passed down that line. I just assumed you would have it as well"
"It's a good thing you inherited something from your father," Sirius said. Lucy didn't know what to feel. The first time the less positive side of her heritance was rearing its head, had saved thier lives. But somehow even a life saving gift seemed tarnished when it came from her father.
They had watched in torment as blood gushed from Ginny's mouth and her arm snapped as though she'd been slammed against a brick wall and a bloody gash appeared on Sirius's head. Then, they all lay quiet.
"They are all alive," Dumbledore said after examining them. They all sighed in relief.
"Can they be healed?" Hermione asked. "I mean if we heal them here, will they feel it there"
"Indeed they will," Dumbledore said. "Severus, I believe you will find the proper potions down in Lucy's lab. Hermione if you will assist Professor Snape." Hermione nodded and followed Snape down to the cellar. They returned a few minutes later with the proper potions. Remus applied a lacerated skin potion to Sirius's head. Molly held Ginny up while Tonks poured the bone mending potion down the girl's throat. After about half an hour, they all looked once again as though in peaceful slumber.
"Wonder what did all this to 'em." Ron said.
"I'm sure they'll tell us all about it when they get back with Harry," Hermione said confidently.