A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Arithmancy Master, who has written me 42 thoughtful reviews and counting in the last three days.

Chapter 63: Venom

Harry and Tom Riddle appeared in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was tense and thinking quickly, looking from the sword to Riddle and back. Tom Riddle was still unconscious, and, thankfully, clothed. Harry needed to get Tom Riddle to open up the statue of Slytherin, get the basilisk out, and convince it to give up some venom. The tricky part would be convincing Riddle to do the task without telling him why it needed to be done. If he thought it was to save Albus, he wouldn't do it. If he thought it was to destroy his own horcrux, he wouldn't do it and he'd probably kill them all. So Harry needed to keep the true purposes out of the picture.

He pointed to Riddle and incanted "Ennervate!" At the height of Harry's power, he would be able to just…think the spell and it would happen with no beam of light or anything, but he was not at the height of his power.

So a beam of light shot from Harry's index finger and hit Riddle in the chest. Riddle began to stir, and then groan and clutch his stomach where Minerva had kicked him.

"Voldemort, can you hear me?"

It was weird holding the Dark Lord captive. It was even weirder needing something from him.

Riddle looked up at Harry and glared. "Yes." He looked around himself and his eyes widened in surprise. "Where are we?"

"You know perfectly well where we are," Harry laughed. "Why don't you just assume I know everything about you. It's going to save us a lot of time and questions. What you should be asking is, 'What are we doing here, Harry? What can I do for you so that I get out of here alive?'"

Tom sneered. "Fine, then. What are we doing here, Harry," he asked mockingly. "And what can I do for you so that I can get out of here alive? I could do a lot for you, Harry Potter…" He coughed and spluttered, his rib clearly causing him some amount of pain.

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Right, well, I need basilisk venom."

"Why?" asked Riddle.

"For a…for…That's none of your business." He couldn't come up with anything fast enough.

"So Harry Potter's in to dark magic? Does the White Hat know?"

"No," said Harry, resigned. He thought he might gain sympathy from Voldemort if he thought Harry was hiding something from Albus. "He doesn't. And you can't tell him. Please."

"Right, so, I don't know where any basilisks are, unfortunately," said Riddle.

"Cut the crap. I know everything about you, remember? Heir of Slytherin, Parseltongue, and all. And I'm not going to tell Albus about the Chamber of Secrets or the basilisk or anything."

"Why wouldn't you tell him?" asked Riddle suspiciously.

"It's not time for him to know," said Harry.

"What do I get out of this?"

"Um, I let you out alive? You're wandless."

"So are you."

Harry smiled. "Yeah…doesn't really matter." He snapped his fingers and dramatic fire roared up all around him. Harry slowly let the flames recede, never getting burned, of course.

"Nice trick," said Voldemort. "But I have a basilisk. I could make it kill you."

"And I could kill it with my sword."

Riddle scoffed.

"Or I could conjure a rooster to crow or something, but I don't really want to do that. I just want the venom." He was bluffing, of course. He couldn't kill the basilisk because it had to be there for his second year, and he didn't fancy hatching a new one to put in the old one's place. He also couldn't kill Voldemort for the same reason, but Voldemort didn't know that, of course.

"This is a lot of trouble to go to for basilisk venom," said Voldemort. "I can't help but think there is something you aren't telling me."

"There are a great deal of things I am not telling you, Riddle. If I go into a wand store, I don't have to tell the seller every spell I'm ever going to cast with it."

"You imply I have a choice in this…you are not giving me a choice."

"You don't deserve one," spat Harry.

"Why not?"

"Um, you've tried to use the Cruciatus curse on me, you kidnapped me, dosed me with an illegal potion, put me under the Imperius curse, sexually assaulted me, tried to make me kill Albus, and then betrayed a friend of mine in the worst way possible," recounted Harry, incredulously.

"Need I remind you, you started all this at Borgin's the first time I ever met you, you sabotaged my job interview at Hogwarts and stole my job, physically maimed me, you've threatened me, killed my friend, attacked me in my home and tried to kill me, and now kidnapped me and beaten me. On top of that, I've offered you so much; I don't understand why you've scorned my advances with such rudeness. I owe you nothing. You may have the power in this situation, but do not delude yourself that you are the better man."

Harry was silent. Voldemort spoke the truth; Voldemort may have been an unspeakably worse person overall, but Harry had certainly been as horrible to Voldemort as Voldemort had been to Harry since they had met in this time. Harry had excused his own behavior as payback for Voldemort's future crimes, but as far as Voldemort was concerned, the punishment was entirely undue.

Harry rolled his eyes and waved his hand at Voldemort. Voldemort sighed in relief as his cracked rib healed.

"Is there something you want?" Harry asked reluctantly.

"Your servitude."

"I think I might be too busy for that. Also, no. Anything else?"

"The elixir of life."

"Not mine to give," said Harry.

"I will do it if you go to dinner with me."

"What?"

"Or drinks some time."

"What?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours. Just give me a chance, Harry."

"Tom, I…wait, did you just compare yourself to the—"

"Minerva told me Dumbledore's been courting you, but I thought maybe if it wasn't serious yet…"

"Tom, no, you tried to kill me. You're a murderer."

"So are you, and you tried to kill me too, but that doesn't change anything. It doesn't change the power I feel with you."

"I…what?"

"In truth, I was only seeing Minerva in the hopes of getting closer to you."

"You tricked my best friend into dating you so that you could see me? Not your most endearing move, Tom."

"I've done wrong, Harry, but I... I could change if you showed me how."

Harry's brain was EXPLODING.

Lord Voldemort promising to renounce his evil ways for Harry? But that's not how it ended! It ended with Lord Voldemort as an evil wizard with horcruxes being killed by Harry in a big battle for Hogwarts and freedom! Was it a trick, or was it true? Had this all been Harry's choice all along?

"I'll buy."

"What?" asked Harry, snapping out of his stupor.

"Dinner. I'll buy," said Voldemort.

Harry shook himself. Focus. If this is what it took to save Albus…a night with the Dark Lord…he would do it.

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yes. One dinner."

"And you can't have me arrested."

"Fine."

"Fine." Tom Riddle grinned. Harry glared.

"Oh, fix your goddamn nose," said Harry. He waved his hand at Voldemort and Voldemort's nose was restored. "Why did you keep it like that, anyway?"

"It was a gift."

Harry rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Alright, will you please get the venom now?"

Voldemort nodded. He scrambled to his feet and turned to the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

There was a great grinding noise as the giant maw of Salazar Slytherin began to open, and Harry thought he could see a stirring from within.

"Shut your eyes. Do not kill," Voldemort instructed in Parseltongue.

And before Harry's eyes, the huge basilisk began to emerge from the statue of Slytherin and lower itself to the ground.

"You'll need something to hold the venom in," said Riddle, businesslike. "I would recommend something made of snakeskin. The venom would eat through anything else too quickly."

The snake was almost entirely on the ground. Harry, meanwhile, found some skin from the basilisk itself and transfigured it into a bag. Harry put an impermeable charm and an unbreakable charm on the skin. The skin would now hold a significant amount of venom, and hopefully wouldn't break.

"Give that to me," said Riddle. Harry handed it to him.

"Come to me," said Riddle, and the giant snake obeyed, keeping its deadly yellow eyes shut all the while. "Open your mouth and do not bite."

The basilisk reared its head and, to Harry's continued surprise, did exactly as Riddle said. The basilisk opened its mouth and Riddle slipped the new snakeskin bag over one of the basilisk's foot-long fangs.

"Now, bite down."

Harry had an absurd image of a basilisk in a dentist's chair getting its teeth cleaned by Hermione's parents. Open wide…now turn your head to the left and bite down. He almost laughed.

The basilisk, again, did what Riddle wanted and bit down. Its fang caught the snakeskin bag. Harry hoped the bag would stay intact. After a moment of watching the basilisk bite, Riddle ordered it to open its mouth again. He reached into the basilisk's mouth and pulled the bag off, careful not to touch anything but the outside of the snakeskin bag.

"Your venom," he said, and handed the container to Harry, who took it carefully.

"Thank you," said Harry, surprising himself.

"Go back and rest," said Voldemort. The giant snake thundered off and began climbing to its home. "You're welcome. When will I see you?"

"Ah…er…" he looked inside the snake-bag to stall, except the fumes from the venom made his eyes sting.

"How about Friday night? At the Cheshire Cat in Hogsmeade?" asked Voldemort.

Harry rubbed under his glasses with his free hand.

"Yeah, fine, alright. I'm going to take you out of the castle, now."

Before Voldemort could respond, Harry had grabbed him by the back of his collar, and they teleported out. Harry left him in an unoccupied room of the Leaky Cauldron and teleported back to his tower and Albus's side.

"That was fast," said Minerva. "Did you kill him?"

"What? No, I didn't kill him, Minerva."

"Did you get the venom?" asked Nicolas.

Harry held out the bag. "Would you hold this for two secs?"

Nicolas took the bag and Harry carefully dipped the Sword of Gryffindor into it. When he withdrew the sword, it was shiny and dry as if it had never been dipped.

Harry turned to Albus with the sword. Albus's arm was still cased in steel, except for the ring. Harry raised the sword above his head. The sword was half way down to the stone when Albus's eyes flew open, and they weren't shiny and blue, but blood red.

"Murderer," he said in a terrible whisper that only Harry could hear—and then the sword fell onto the ring, and with a crack like thunder, the stone split down the center. Albus's eyes were closed once more, and Harry wondered if Albus had opened his eyes and spoken at all.

The sword fell from Harry's hand with a clang as it hit the floor. He vanished the steel casing on Albus's arm and slid the ring off his finger. That's when he noticed Albus's eyes start to flutter.

"Albus! Albus, can you hear me?"

Albus groaned and shifted a little, struggling to wake up.

"Harry, this is about to start leaking," said Nicolas.

"What? Oh. The venom?" His focus was still on Albus.

"I could transfer it to rooster skin, for one, but that would render it useless. The only thing I can think of is more goblin made steel. I have a box at home, if you would like to borrow it."

"Oh, er, thanks," said Harry, much more concerned with Albus, who was stirring more and more by the moment.

"Minerva, will you help me with this? I'm afraid I can't manage it on my own."

"I want to see if Albus is—"

"Minerva, I fear it will burn a whole in anything it touches if we don't transfer it immediately."

Minerva sighed and nodded. Nicolas grabbed her arm. "Fawkes, will you take us to my home, please?"

Fawkes took off and landed on Nicolas's shoulder and the three of them vanished in a whirl of flame. Harry was alone with Albus, and it was only much later that he realized that Nicolas had left them alone on purpose, at which time he made sure to send anonymous flowers.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Albus? Are you feeling ok?"

Albus frowned. "I'm afraid I've done something very foolish, Harry."

"It's alright, now, Albus. You're safe."

"How…did I get here?"

"I found you in Gaunt's house and brought you here."

Albus exhaled and closed his eyes. He muttered something Harry couldn't hear.

"Sorry?"

"I said, then it was real, and I did…" he trailed off, his voice lost. "Where's the stone, Harry?"

"Here," Harry pointed to his bedside table. "How did you find it?" he asked, for the first time frowning.

"Voldemort," Albus rasped out. "He's Elijah—we must warn Minerva."

"She's safe," said Harry. "She knows."

"Oh, she must be heartbroken…Minerva mentioned that he told her about a ring of Slytherin's with a triangle on it. I thought I'd pay Elijah Charade a visit, only to discover that there was no Elijah Charade. I admit, I followed Minerva on one of her dates, and knew the man she was with was Tom Riddle. After this revelation I tried to warn Minerva, and then I set off searching for the ring. It was not hard to find; I thought he would have hidden it somewhere and I began searching at the House of Gaunt, but there it was on the table. I put it on."

"It was a horcrux, Albus, and cursed."

"A—a horcrux?" Albus leaned forward in surprise. "Whose? Tom's?"

Harry nodded. Albus flopped back down against the bed.

They were silent for a moment.

"You must be so disappointed in me, Harry."

"I'm just glad you're alright," said Harry. "I'm a little confused. I thought…well…"

"You thought I'd moved past all of this? I thought I had too."

They were quiet again.

"Is there anything you—anything we can do about it?" asked Harry. When Albus didn't say anything, Harry continued carefully. "I mean…I know how much this means to you. I wish there were some way of…giving you closure. Maybe…maybe we could revisit—"

"No, Harry."

"I think it might help if—"

"No."

"Really, I—"

"Harry, please stop."

"But I know it wasn't your curse that killed Ariana!"

Albus was struck into silence. He got out of Harry's bed, stood up, and walked to the window.

"How…how could you possibly know that?" he asked, dangerously quiet.

"Your soul is intact," said Harry carefully. "Not only that, but it's spotless. I've felt it. It's never been torn and pieced together; there's no scar. It wasn't your fault, Albus. You didn't kill Ariana."

"I as good as killed her, Harry! I—I let that monster into my house, Gellert. I was in that fight; I provoked the spell that killed her! But Gellert… I was too much of a coward to face him. That's…that's the worst part."

"You could still see him," said Harry crossing the room to stand behind him at the window. "He's locked away. It would be on your terms. This might be the closure you need."

Albus thought for a moment.

"I couldn't—I couldn't look him in the face." He studied the floor.

"Albus, this is going to haunt you until the day you die. It's just venom poisoning you! Gellert Grindelwald isn't worth that. You're the Gryffindor here."

Albus turned, caught Harry's eye and smiled sadly.

"Do it for me?" Harry asked weakly. In truth, in addition to his concern for Albus's lasting baggage, he was intimidated by Albus's history with Grindelwald. He didn't like that somebody had this kind of emotional sway over Albus.

Maybe Albus understood this, or maybe he decided that it really would be for the best, but he finally nodded.

Harry's eyes widened in surprise asking silently, really?

Albus nodded. "Will you go with me?"

Harry's heart melted. "Of course. I will be there for you."

"Now?"

"I'm…I'm free now," said Harry.

"Then let's, as they say, get this over with."

Harry embraced Albus tightly, trying to convey all of his support and affection in one hug, and teleported them out.