Sorry (not sorry) about the cliffhanger in the previous chapter! I just couldn't resist. To make up for that, here's a quick update. Enjoy!
Sirius knew something was wrong. He had caught Harry's scent outside the door, thanks to his Animagus abilities. If Harry had heard the conversation it meant that he was going to do something utterly foolish, brave and reckless.
He'd come outside to find them gone. That had been expected. The boy's scent got weaker and weaker before finally dissolving totally. He was angry at Dumbledore for deciding to leave now, in the hour of need. What could possibly be so bloody important that he had to leave now? The old man wasn't there and so, all the other Professors had given up but not him.
He wasn't Albus Dumbledore but he was Sirius Black and had been a senior Auror and that was good enough. He knew how much Harry liked the Weasleys and would be devastated if the youngest one died.
All Sirius could do now was hope that his son wasn't up to anything dangerous. He knew that wasn't likely because of the worry gnawing at his insides. Sirius went to the Great Hall to find that Harry wasn't there. He hadn't been surprised though. He couldn't think of any other place either. Sirius wanted to transform into Padfoot and track Harry's scent but there were so many students in the halls that it would be difficult, nearly impossible to sniff out one particular person.
He went to the Gryffindor common room but the boy was not there either. The man saw Fred and George sitting on a sofa, quietly talking. The look on their faces told him that they didn't know anything about their sister's disappearance. They wouldn't have to. Ginny wouldn't die. An idea suddenly popped up in his head. "Mr. Weasley, could you please give me the map," he said, approaching the twins.
Normally, the two of them would've made some funny comment but one look at Sirius' stormy eyes and taut expression shut them up. Wordlessly, George handed over the Marauder's map. "I just need it for a minute." Sirius added, seeing the disappointment on their faces.
He tapped the map with his wand and said the required words. His eyes scanned every inch of the map, trying to find the tag that said 'Harry Potter'. Sirius narrowed his eyes when he finally found the name. Both Harry and Ron were in Myrtle's bathroom. The Animagus remembered going there when he had been a student. The Marauders would go there to plan. It was an abandoned place so it was the best place to work out pranks. No one was there other than Moaning Myrtle and she more or less left them to their work.
What in the world were the two boys doing there?
Harry was falling. He couldn't make out anything in the darkness. The only thing he was very much aware of was that they were plummeting into the Chamber of Secrets at a million miles an hour. Their screams echoed through the endless darkness. His hand brushed against Ron's arm as he flailed to steady himself before they hit the ground. Not wanting to lose himself or his best mate in their pitch black surroundings, he grabbed the other boy's arm as firmly as he could.
Harry could hear Ron yelling something but wasn't able to make out the words. When he thought they would never reach the end, he saw a dim light coming from below. "RON! We've reached the end!" He screamed, hoping his friend would understand. As they neared the bottom, Harry's fingers found something narrow and long– like a pipe. To prevent themselves from falling face down onto the floor, Harry scrambled to find purchase against the rusted pipe.
He managed to get a grip on the metal. One hand gripped the pipe while the other held Ron's arm. Harry could make out the faint, old grey tiles from where they were hanging. The fall wouldn't kill them now since they were only five feet or so above the ground.
Unfortunately, the pipe that Harry was clinging to must have been quite old since it creaked loudly and gave way, unable to bear the weight of the two boys. It came crashing down along with the wall surrounding it. He yelped at the sudden impact when his feet hit the ground and winced in pain. The pressure on his right foot had been a little too hard. Tentatively, he took a step forward to check the extent of the pain. It wasn't too bad, thankfully. His elbow was bruised from where he had struck one of the rocks.
Beside him, he heard Ron grown loudly. Frowning, he pulled out his wand. "Lumos." Harry drew back at the sight before him. While Harry had gotten away with nothing more than a slightly sore ankle, Ron hadn't been so lucky. One huge chunk of the wall had squarely landed on his left leg. That had to have hurt. "Wingardium Leviosa." He levitated the piece of stone off his leg. He sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the condition of the abused limb. His trousers were torn from knee to ankle. It was bent the wrong way— definitely broken bones— and bleeding a little too much. There was a gash running down his lower leg where a jagged piece of the stone had cut into his leg.
Harry did not know a thing about healing spells. That was fifth year magic. There was no way Ron could walk or even stand with such an injury. "How bad does it hurt?" He asked, mentally berating himself for the dumb question. "Bad. I can't stand, Harry." To demonstrate, he tried to push himself up but gave up almost immediately.
Harry did the only thing he could think of. He tore a piece of his robe off and tied it around Ron's leg– to stem the bleeding as much as possible. It wasn't much but it was all that Harry could do. That's when he realised that the remainder of their adventure was solely in his hands. "Ron, you stay here. You can't come, not like this."
The other boy shook his head firmly. "I can't do that mate. She's my sister, I have to save her. I can't let you go in alone." He protested. "Ron, I know that and I understand where you're coming from but you cannot afford to harm your leg any more. Look, I promise you, Ginny will be alright. I'll find her." Harry tried to convince his best friend. Reluctantly, the redhead nodded and leaned back, trying to get his mind off his throbbing leg.
Squeezing his friend's shoulder reassuringly, Harry continued down the dim hall. The walls were lit with fire torches that flowed with a green flame. The tiles were rather slippery so he had to tread carefully. He walked quite the distance and when he looked over his shoulder, Ron was out of sight.
With a start he realised that this was the exact same corridor he had witnessed in his nightmare– the one in which he had heard Voldemort. That made him uneasy, to say the least. That had been Voldemort messing with his head. He couldn't actually be here, could he?
Harry had his wand out, just in case. All train of though left his mind when he saw a small figure lying a few feet away. Ginny. Dropping his wand, he ran over and knelt down. Her red hair stuck to her face and her eyes were shut. "Ginny, wake up. Ginny!" He called out, shaking her shoulders. She didn't budge a bit. The steady rise and fall of her chest was the only indication that she was alive.
Harry was so engrossed in trying to wake the girl that he didn't notice the tall boy in Hogwarts robes, walk up behind him and stealthily pocket his wand.
"Harry Potter."
Sirius arrived in the bathroom to find it empty but he found something else instead. Something completely unexpected. The washbasins which were always arranged in a circular pattern had given way to reveal a deep, large hole. The Chamber of Secrets. That was the only place the hole could lead to. This had to be the entrance. Harry and Ron had gone down by themselves. Worry and anxiety were the first emotions that hit him, followed by fear and then rage.
He had to get to the two boys. It had been about an hour since he had caught Harry's scent outside the door and given his son's history with danger, anything could happen in the short duration of one hour. He had to get to Harry and Ron as soon as possible. They had gone to rescue Ginny but now they were the ones that needed to be rescued.
There was nothing in that hole other than pitch blackness but he had to do this. Sirius braced himself and jumped inside. The fall was long but Sirius was ready. When he saw the ground, he thrust his right hand forward. "Arresto Momentum." With a soft thud, he landed.
He was completely unscathed and got up, taking in his surroundings. The walls had collapsed somehow and the dull light that illuminated the place only gave it an eerie appearance. He could make out a figure leaning against the debris and pulled out his wand. "Lumos." The man approached the person and let out a sigh of relief. He'd found one of them. Ron had his eyes scrunched shut, clearly trying to get his mind off some pain but was failing.
"Ron," Sirius gently shook the boy's shoulder to get him to open his eyes. His eyelids fluttered open and he looked at Sirius groggily before his expression morphed into one of relief. "Professor, you have to get to Harry. He's gone ahead, to save Ginny. Please professor, you have to get my sister." Ron pleaded, gripping Sirius' wrist.
"Don't worry. I'll get to her. But first, I need you to go back up and tell Minerva to send an owl to Albus." Sirius instructed. He worked quickly on Ron's injured leg. A simple terego got rid of the dried blood. "Vulnera Sanetur." The gash healed considerably but the bones were still broken. They would require professional care. Sirius helped Ron stand as best as possible.
Without allowing any room for argument, the man levitated Ron back up after promising him that Ginny would be safe. One boy in grave danger was more than enough. There was no need to endanger another.
Once he was sure that Ron had safely reached the top, Sirius sprinted down the corridor, his senses alert, looking out for Harry as well as any other danger.
He'd save his son.
Harry's head whipped around at the sound of his name. He stared at the newcomer cautiously. The person was inches away from Harry. He appeared to be about sixteen years old or so and although he was dressed in Hogwarts robes, Harry had never seen him before. He reached for his wand only to find it gone. "Who are you?" He demanded, keeping his voice even.
"She doesn't have much time left you know." The boy spoke casually but there was a certain condescending aura about him. His eyes were a dark brown–nearly black– and were devoid of any sort of emotion. "What do you mean she doesn't have much time left? What did you to her?"
"Me? I didn't do anything. She's here because of her own actions. Ginny, did some very bad things. She was the one behind all those petrified students." The boy replied. "She wouldn't do that. You're lying. Who. Are. You?"
"You've forgotten me? I'm wounded Harry, truly hurt." He pretended to be offended. "We had met only a few days ago and you've already forgotten me?"
"I don't know you. I've never seen you before." Harry remarked, wracking his brains to remember when he had seen this boy. "Oh but you have. We've met on quite a few occasions actually. You were a mere baby when I saw you for the first time. After that, I saw you last year when you prevented that fool Quirrell from getting to the Sorcerer's stone. And lastly, you and I had a little chat right here, a few days ago. Last time however, you were dreaming. Now, I assure you, you're not."
The last sentence made everything click. No, it couldn't be. There was absolutely no way this boy could be him. "No, you can't be. You're not him." Harry protested, hardening his tone. "Trust me Potter, I am."
"You made Ginny do it all, didn't you?" Harry accused. "Yes, yes I did. You got me." Voldemort said, smirking at him. A myriad of questions whirled about in Harry's mind. How did Voldemort do all this? How did he control Ginny? How was he standing in front of Harry if he was supposed to be gone?
"HARRY!" The boy tore his gaze from Voldemort's face to look past him and his heart lurched, both from reassurance as well as fear. Sirius. He was relieved that his father had come for him but afraid of what would follow. Now, they were both in Voldemort's lair.
Sirius pointed his wand at the boy, not sure about his identity. He sneaked a glance at Harry who looked utterly terrified as well as angry. He wanted to get to his son, hug him tightly, make sure he was alright and then take him to task for endangering himself.
But, the boy stood between them. "Ah Harry look! Your daddy's here. Come, come, do join us. The more, the merrier." Ignoring the 'invitation', Sirius fixed his eyes on his son. "Harry come here."
"No, don't do that. You're spoiling all the fun, Sirius. We, the three of us need to talk and dare I say, it's overdue."
"What do you mean we need to talk and how do you know my name? Who the hell are you?" Sirius asked, losing his patience. "The same questions again. Like father, like son. Harry, be a good boy and tell him who I am."
"Dad, this is... this is Voldemort." Harry whispered, he locked eyes with Sirius, warming him, begging him to run.
Harry's words stunned Sirius. That couldn't be true. But the look in Harry's eyes confirmed it. The boy blocking his way to Harry was indeed Voldemort. This was the very same person who had mercilessly murdered his best friend and orphaned his son. Any anger that he had at Harry evaporated when it struck him that Harry was currently in Voldemort's clutches. Except that this was who Voldemort had been before he assumed the title 'Dark Lord'. When he had started working as an Auror, he had looked into Voldemort's past and had found something. "You're Tom Riddle."
"Don't utter my filthy muggle father's name." Voldemort snarled and for the first time since their short meeting, Sirius found some trace of emotion–anger– flash across his face.
"Your wand won't help you. I'm a memory that's been carefully preserved in that diary that's tucked away in Harry's trunk. What diary? Sirius glanced at Harry who gazed back at him guilty. "Oh? He didn't tell you? My, my. Quite the wayward little miscreant, aren't you, Potter?"
"Neither of you can cause me any harm in here. This is my Chamber. I'm the heir of Slytherin."
Sirius didn't dare use his wand for fear of hurting Harry. They were standing inches apart and it would take Voldemort a fraction of a second to use Harry as a shield. He was in a compromising situation right now.
Sirius wasn't the only one to realise it. The Dark Lord smiled maniacally at Sirius' current state. Knowing that the man wouldn't attack, he yanked Harry forward roughly by his hair, digging the boy's own wand into his throat. Then, with a vicious grin, he swished his wand sharply, making a deep cut on Harry's cheek. "I asked politely but you refused to listen. Sit down. We need to talk."
Sirius' eyes darkened with rage. He couldn't even hex or fire any spells. "You fucking bastard! You let him go right now!" He advanced in their direction but was stopped immediately.
Voldemort clucked his tongue and leisurely moved ahead, dragging Harry along with him. "Don't take another step forward. You are in no position to make demands, Black. The more you resist, the more your precious little boy suffers." As if to emphasise his words, Voldemort pressed the wand deeper, causing Harry to cough painfully.
"Now, will you sit down or do I need to make myself clearer?" Clenching his teeth, Sirius sat down on one of the rocks, glaring at Voldemort in an almost animalistic way.
"How are you here?" Sirius spat, mentally trying to formulate a plan. "That's what I've been wanting to tell you all this while but you didn't want to listen. No matter, I'll tell you now."
Harry's scalp was burning with pain at the harsh grip on his hair. He'd given up struggling long ago. It only doubled the pain. "The diary helped me a great deal. Ginny would write in it everyday. She'd talk about all her silly, pathetic problems and how she had a crush on the famous Harry Potter. I listened to her when no one else would. She started confiding in me, letting out all her secrets. As she began trusting me, I made her do all my work. She wrote the message on the wall for the first time because I commanded her to. But then, she began to resist. When it became too much, she tried to get rid of the dairy. I'd already given her further instructions so it didn't matter all that much."
"When I ordered her to kill Harry, she fought back but I won. Naive, stupid little girl. Her mind was so weak that she didn't stand a chance. So, that day when Harry was alone in the corridor, she attacked him. I'd hoped that would do it but then the girl was useless. The kitchen knife that she stole from the house elves didn't cause much damage. She ran away with the knife after that. The blow to Potter's skull wasn't effective. She was weak. Later, I realised that little miss Weasley was a lost cause so I planned of get rid of her later. Then, I turned my attention to young Harry here. Now here we are."
"How did you get inside Harry's head?" Sirius demanded. "That was all thanks to the students of Hogwarts. As the victims increased, so did the fear. Students were terrified. Their fear only made me more powerful and thus I was strong enough to invade Harry's already weak mind. But then, you found a way to stop that, Black. Once those Occlumency lessons began, I found myself at a disadvantage. So, I took the Weasley girl. I knew that the daft boy would come for her."
"Foolish Potter walked right into my trap. Now that he's here, I can finish the task I started eleven years ago. Black, you came here to save your godson. Now, I can settle old scores. You were responsible for the loss of several of my loyal followers. You die as well."
With a particularly malign gleam in his eyes, Voldemort threw Harry onto the floor before turning his back to him. Harry scrambled off the floor and ran to his dad. "Dad, we have to—"
Sirius cut Harry off by hugging him fiercely. "I know Harry. We'll get out of here Harry." They heard Voldemort laugh. "Such a touching display of love. The most pathetic of all emotions. James Potter was so weak, so powerless against me. Did love help him? Lily—lovely Lily; she loved her son so much. Where did that land her? She could have saved herself but she didn't. And now, both James and Lily are de–"
"Stop it!" Sirius shouted, fury pulsing through his veins. The bloody bastard! He felt Harry shake against him from fear or anger, he wasn't sure. The last time he had lost his temper and acted rashly had resulted in severe consequences. He couldn't afford to do that now.
Voldemort raised his arms and chanted something. Sirius didn't understand it one bit. Parseltongue. As soon as the chanting stopped, the serpents on the big round door like structure uncoiled themselves and the heavy stone swung open. "Time to die."
Harry stood stock still, as he watched. There was nothing that he could do. Voldemort was unleashing the basilisk now. "Dad close your eyes!" Harry tightly shut his eyes, praying that Sirius had done the same. The only noise that disturbed the silence of the Chamber was a hissing sound. It grew louder with each passing second.
Harry's blood ran cold when he heard Voldemort's next words: "kill them." He felt Sirius grip his hand and pull him backwards. He channeled all his emotions into the hold on his hand that was the only thing keeping him together. He couldn't let the monster win. This was all his fault. If he had just waited and told Sirius everything, they wouldn't be here now. If Sirius died today, it would be his fault. He recalled Voldemort's words in his nightmare. "What would you do if he left you alone, like James and Lily." He recollected the hollowness inside him when he'd seen Sirius' dead body. His nightmare was unfolding itself before him. His father couldn't die.
Just then there was a loud squawking sound above his head and he hesitantly cracked an eye open. It was a bird. It's feathers were the colour of fire and its eyes were blazing as it neared Harry. A Phoenix. The bird dropped a hat at Harry's feet before flying away. The sorting hat.
"An old hat. That's what Dumbledore sends his champion. Pathetic."
The hissing was almost deafening now and Harry knew that the basilisk had entered the Chamber.
Sirius heard the hissing as well as Harry's warning to keep his eyes closed and that's when the pieces fell into place. The horror within the Chamber was a basilisk. Harry had known but he hadn't told him. Why? He felt frustrated and angry about it. How many times had he told Harry to stop keeping things from him?
Sirius had fought Voldemort himself in the Wizarding War and had lived to tell about it. He'd done it once, surely he could do it once again; this time for Harry.
He racked his brains for any clue, any inkling about the kind of magic Voldemort had spoken about. By describing his plans, he'd unintentionally let out a hint. He wasn't real. He was nothing more than a mere memory that had been stored in that diary for the past few decades.
The diary was the answer!
Voldemort was here, solely because of that blasted diary! If he could somehow get to the diary and destroy it, they'd be out of this bloody mess for good. Sirius blindly reached forward for the sorting hat. If Dumbledore had sent it, there had to be some reason for it.
But for the moment, they had to out run it. Sirius cracked an eye open and saw the shadow of the creature behind them. "Harry move!" He didn't need to tell the boy though. The two of them ran leftwards, jumping over the pieces of rock that had been scattered. "Dad, over there!"
Harry was pointing towards an opening int he wall. It was large enough for a person but not for the massive snake. "Come on!" Sirius led them towards it and pushed Harry inside before climbing in himself. They took cover behind a wall. They were temporarily safe. Now, they just needed to find a way to get rid of the basilisk.
"We need to find a way to kill the basilisk. Magic won't work." Said Harry. Sirius pulled out the sorting hat and examined it. "Dad, why did Dumbledore send this?"
"I don't know Harry. They're has to be some strong reason behind it." He looked at it all over, trying to find something- anything that would help but was disappointed. Frustrated, Sirius threw the old black hat down. As if on cue, the hat glowed a brilliant red. When the glow subsided, there was a ruby encrusted hilt sticking out of the hat. Frowning, the man tugged on the hilt and out came a sword. Pure silver, about three feet long and just beneath the hilt, engraved into the blade were the words: Godric Gryffindor. It was the sword of Gryffindor.
Sirius gasped when he read the name. He'd only seen the legendary sword of Gryffindor in the books that he'd read. It was supposed to have been lost for centuries. Dumbledore hadn't sent them a hat, he'd sent them a path.
Sirius knew what he had to do. "Listen to me Harry. We don't have that diary right now. That would've made everything simpler. We could've just destroyed it and it would all be over. Now I have to do this the other way. I'm going to go out and distract the basilisk. I'll kill it. I need you to stay hidden. You can't get in anymore danger." Harry shook his head frantically. "Dad no! You can't go out there. Not alone. I can't lose you, not now, not ever. I'm coming too!"
There was no way he would let his father get hurt or worse. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been so bloody reckless, none of this would've happened. Voldemort was right: he was truly daft. Sirius' razor sharp voice cut his train of thoughts. "Absolutely not, Harry James! Look, I'll be alright. I've done this kind of thing before but I need you to stay here. We need to get Ginny and get out of here. Promise me you'll stay in here. Promise me!"
"I promise." Harry whispered after what felt like ages. The helplessness of his predicament came crashing down on him. He threw his arms around Sirius in a hug, not wanting to ever let go. His father's hand rested on his head, lightly stroking it. After a bit, Sirius reluctantly released him. "I'll be back, I promise." And after that, his dad was gone.
Harry felt truly miserable. He slid to the floor and hoped his father was fine. That's when he noticed something else inside the sorting hat, something that hadn't been there before: an old leather bound book. The diary. Sirius had told him that they needed to destroy the diary. It was right here in his hands. He had to get it to him. He couldn't just sit there and do nothing while his dad was outside, fighting. He climbed out of the opening, gripping the diary firmly.
Sirius held the sword up, ready to swing any minute. His animagus instincts were heightened, his ears straining to hear any slithering or hissing. His eyes kept darting from the ground to the wall and back, searching for even a hint of the basilisk's shadow. There was no sign of Voldemort so Sirius assumed that the noseless bastard was probably waiting for his monster to do his dirty work.
His muscles tensed immediately when he heard a soft hiss to his right. He's done something similar once when he'd been away on an Auror mission. He could do this again. Focus. He scoured his mind for any useful information that he had collected while cooped up in the Black library in an attempt to avoid his horrible family. He'd read a lot and there had been something about such a monster. Not a basilisk but another demon: a Greek myth. Medusa. If Sirius wasn't mistaken, she had been killed by a Greek hero named Perseus. That's what he had to do now.
There was a rock wall surrounding him and the monster. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of black scales. Time for some action. Sirius ran towards the wall, sword in one hand. It was difficult to climb with only one hand but he managed it. Thankfully, the jutting rocks proved very useful since they made very good footholds and supports.
He felt the basilisk right behind him, slithering up the wall and he quickened his pace. He couldn't slow down nor could he afford to stop for even a second. Sirius continued to scale the stone as best as he could. The sharp rock cut into his leg but he kept going. He reached the top and braced himself to jump. If he had estimated correctly, the snake must be more than halfway up. Sirius poised his sword, ready to bring it down any second.
3...2...1...He closed his eyes and jumped.
He stabbed the basilisk right between the eyes. There was a disgusting squelch so he assumed that he'd done it right. He tightened his grip on the sword as he felt the beast writhing in pain. The impact was too painful for the snake and it fell backward, taking Sirius with it. Using the sword that was still embedded inside the basilisk as a handle he leapt downwards, dragging the sword through the monster, severing it in half.
A searing pain exploded in his left arm while sliding down as the basilisk sunk its fangs into him in a last minute attempt to kill its destroyer.
"Dad!" Harry watched in horror as Sirius staggered from the effects of the bite and ran forward. He had appeared just in time to see the basilisk die and sink its fangs into his father. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening!
"I told you your nightmare will come true, Potter." Harry turned around and saw Voldemort. "Your basilisk is dead. You lost." Harry snapped, glaring at him.
"Did I? Look around you. You are defenceless, I have the means to kill you and your father is hurt. Hasn't anyone ever told you Potter? Never play with the devil. He always wins." Voldemort smirked victoriously and twirled Harry's wand between his fingers. "My beast couldn't kill you but don't worry. I will. Both of you."
"No you won't." In a fit of anger, he pulled out the diary. The Dark Lord's smile faltered. "How did that get here? What are you doing Potter? Stop it!" But unfortunately for him, it was too late. Harry pulled the blade from Sirius' hand and drove the blade into the diary and did it again.
Voldemort let out a terrible scream before collapsing onto the floor, his visage a combination of terror, pain and rage. And then he was gone.
Harry turned his attention to Sirius who looked a little pale. The poison was slowly spreading so they needed to get back quickly. "Dad!"
"I'm okay, Harry. I can hang on for a bit more. Come, let's get to Ginny and leave." Sirius said and they did just that. Ginny was lying exactly where they'd found her.
She was alive and completely fine. Sirius picked her up and with a few simple spells, the three of them were out of the Chamber and heading upwards towards the castle. Exhausted form their adventure, now that all the excitement was over, Harry started feeling drowsy, only half focusing on his surroundings.
Before he knew it, they were in the hospital wing. He heard Madam Pomfrey's voice and was directed to a bed. He accepted the potions that were offered without complaint and swallowed them.
The last thought that entered Harry's mind before he fell asleep was that he was in big, major trouble with Sirius.
He might've survived Voldemort but a displeased father was going to be far more difficult.
There's your update. I'm pretty sure most of you know what's going to happen in the next chapter. Even I'm excited to upload it soon.
If any of you want to read about Sirius and Harry, you'll can check out my other story Padfoot and his Pup. It's basically a collection of one shots.