Chapter 17: It All Comes Together

End of school and back to home. Reggie will be attending next year and we'll be allowed to visit Hogsmeade. It should be interesting.

For a moment there was silence as Harry, Ron, Ginny, Leo, and a floating Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry's case) blood. Then there was a scream.

"Ginny!"

It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leaped to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.

Leo, however, was looking past them. Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. She moved quickly and, a second later, Leo found himself wrapped in a tight hug. Both Ron's and Harry's expressions mimicked his surprise.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?" Mrs. Weasley cried, wrapping Harry and Ron into a tight embrace.

"I think we'd all like to know that," said McGonagall weakly as she released a bewildered Leo Black.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat and what remained of Riddle's diary. He then turned to Leo, raising an eyebrow at the boy who scowled, dropped Lockhart unceremoniously to the floor, and walked over to the desk, setting the sword upon it.

Then Harry started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour, he spoke into the rapt silence: He told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he, Leo, and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom...

Leo had to bite his tongue to keep from saying 'I told you so' over and over again.

"Very well," McGonagall prompted him as he paused, "so you found out where the entrance was — breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add — but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"

Leo, spotting Harry's exhausted look, took over the story. He told them about the conversation with Riddle and the subsequent duel that followed. He hesitated for a moment before telling them about the Cruciatus Curse, prompting Mrs. Weasley to rush over and hug him, sobbing loudly. From there, Harry told his side. He told them about Fawkes' timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. But then he faltered. He looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.

"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

"That's a rather odd place to be," Leo remarked over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder, not having a clue where Albania was but assuming it was somewhere exotic.

"W-what's that?" said Mr. Weasley in a stunned voice as Mrs. Weasley finally released Leo. "You-Know-Who? En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not...Ginny hasn't been...has she?"

"It was this diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen..."

Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide...sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"I'll say," Leo said, frowning slightly. "Last year he looked like some sort of child of a diseased snake that had a baby with an old guy. No offense, sir."

"None taken, Mr. Black," Dumbledore replied, smiling genially.

"But, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to do with — with — him?"

"His d-diary" Ginny sobbed. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year —"

"Ginny!" said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything. What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Why didn't you show the diary to me or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic!'"

Leo was heartily inclined to agree. Briefly, the Marauder's Map came to mind before he shook his head dismissively. If someone as good and kind-hearted as Remy had helped create the Map, there was no way it was Dark.

"I d-didn't know," sobbed Ginny. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it —"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupted in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strode over to the door and opened it. "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, twinkling kindly down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" said Ron brightly.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny," said Dumbledore.

Mrs. Weasley led Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken.

"You know, Minerva," Dumbledore said thoughtfully to McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," said McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Black, Potter, and Weasley, shall I?"

"Certainly," said Dumbledore.

She left.

"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore, eyeing Harry and Ron.

Leo raised an eyebrow as Ron opened his mouth in horror.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "All three of you shall receive Special Awards for Services to the School and — let me see — yes, I think two hundred points each for Gryffindor."

Leo grinned widely. An award with his name on it? That was a better reward than anything he could've ever come up with.

"Though, I do find myself curious as to what happened to Professor Lockhart," Dumbledore continued, looking at the man before his gaze settled on Leo. "Care to explain, Mr. Black?"

"Lockhart tried to use a Memory Charm on us, so I retaliated with a Banishing Charm. When he hit the tunnel wall, it caused a cave-in, and he must have somehow hit his head. He's been out ever since," Leo paused, frowning. "I'm not apologizing for that, by the way."

Dumbledore gave a hearty chuckle.

"I was not expecting one, my dear boy," Dumbledore smiled genially. "I must, however, request that you take some responsibility for your actions and escort Professor Lockhart to the infirmary."

Leo grumbled in response before levitating Lockhart out of the room, down the corridor, and up the steps toward the hospital wing. He was just dropping Lockhart into a bed when Madam Pomfrey strode out of her office and immediately began fussing over him. She gave him a green vial of Wiggenweld Potion, watching him sternly as he drank it down, grimacing all the while.

When she tried to get him to stay for observation, Leo bolted out of the room and headed for the Great Hall. As he threw open the door, he blinked at all the people staring at him. Unsurprising, given he was still covered in dirt and grime and looked as though he had gone twelve rounds with a garbage monster.

"If people don't start cheering," Leo began, putting his hands on his hips. "This is going to get very awkward very fast."

There was a smattering of chuckles from those who remembered Leo's Sorting the previous year before loud applause broke out. Leo gave several flourishing bows before taking his seat at the Gryffindor table beside Lee Jordan. The other Weasleys were strangely absent and were most likely spending time with their sister.

Not long after, the Weasleys reappeared, each of them enveloping Leo in a hug or – in Percy and Ron's case – giving him a hearty handshake. A few minutes later, Harry appeared, informing Leo that Lucius Malfoy had given the diary to Ginny and that Dobby had been his house-elf – up until the point Harry had freed him. Leo snorted with laughter at the tale before his gaze settled on Draco, not looking forward to telling him that his father had reached a whole new level on the Git Meter.

Leo had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Leo didn't know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward him and Harry, screaming "You solved it! You solved it!" or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring Harry's hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half-past three, cuffing Leo, Harry, and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his, Harry's, and Ron's six hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he was in some sort of coma. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news. Leo had never felt more appreciated in all his life.

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences — Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled ("but we've had plenty of practice at that anyway," Ron told a disgruntled Hermione) and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was upset when Leo informed him about his father's actions and wasn't looking forward to returning home to a man who had tried to murder people in a school full of children. Leo patted his shoulder and told him to send a letter in case he needed rescuing.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Leo Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic.

Halfway through the journey, Draco appeared, looking distinctly awkward. Everyone stared at him for a moment before Harry scooted over, allowing Draco to sit and talk amongst them. The tension quickly faded after that as they resumed their laughter and jokes.

They were almost at King's Cross when Harry remembered something.

"Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."

Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head while Leo gaped at her. He had been joking about that.

"What?"

"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

Leo roared with laughter.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, who was looking like his birthday had come early.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped. As they disembarked and walked onto the platform, Leo said his goodbyes to his friends before making the trek over to Grimmauld Place. It took twenty minutes for him to arrive at the familiar, dilapidated house and stroll inside. He was about to call out to Kreacher when he heard voices coming from the basement. He flicked his wand out.

"Who's there?"

The voices stopped before the sound of footsteps running up the stairs rapidly approached him. As a figure appeared, Leo lowered his wand.

"Moony? What're you doing here? How did you even get in?" Leo asked incredulously.

"I was invited in by an old friend," Remus grinned, stepping to the side and revealing yet another familiar person behind him.

"Uncle Siri?!"

There stood Sirius Black, covered in dirt and grime and looking especially tired and worn out. Nonetheless, he was wearing a broad smile before he held out his arms.

"What? No hug for your favorite uncle?"

"Well, I would, but -"

"I smell funny?" Sirius suggested with a wry smile.

"I was going to say you're a criminal, but that works too," Leo grinned broadly as Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.

The next second, Leo dove forward, enveloping Sirius in the tightest hug he had ever experienced. It took Sirius a moment to respond but, when he did, he hugged him just as tightly, as though afraid Leo would disappear if he released him.

It's good to be home.

A/N

And so ends book two. Join me next week for book three: Wolfbite.