Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Be sure to check some of the earlier chapters, as I have been going through an updating them to make them better. Hopefully I can finish that and the rest of this part, and get the sequel up and going before the end of the year.

Harry twisted around, feeling the massive snake wrap around his lower half, It constricted his movements, making it increasingly harder to breathe. He could hear laughter, dark and forbidding, echoing in the background. He tried to open his eyes, tried to see beyond the blackness of the back of his eyelids, but snake worked it's way higher and tighter on his body. Harry tried to fling himself about, hoping to bump into something and knock the vicious reptile loose. For a brief moment, he felt as though he were falling, but the sensation ended with an abrupt landing. The floor beneath him was cold and hard, but even the rough impact did nothing to free him from his captor. The laughter grew louder, and a woman's scream joined it's horrifying melody. Harry fought against eh snake more and more as the screams turned to pleading.

"Not Harry! Please, don't hurt Harry!' It was a woman, easily as sacred as he was. She begged and screamed for his life as the peals of dark laughter slowly drowned her out. Harry struggled, the laughter continued, and all was lost.

"Harry."

He wasn't sure, but the newest voice didn't sound harmful. It didn't sound scared or angry. It sounded concerned.

"Harry, come on pup. Wake up." His dad. His dad was here to save him. Harry forced his eyes open, only to shut them again immediately, partially blinded by the stark whiteness of the room around him.

"Pup?" Sirius asked, gently lifting the sheet wrapped boy back into the hospital bed. Harry nodded. The other occupants of the room, A stern faced Headmaster and a fretting Madame Pomfrey, let out sighs of relief. Harry opened his eyes again, slowly, and took in his surroundings. Fred was in a bed on the other side of the room, sleeping. A set of crutches were propped up against the bed side table. George lay in the bed next to his brother, bandages wrapped around his forehead. Harry could see a smattering of dark red splotched all over the bandages. His eyes wandered the room, eventually locking with the twinkling blues of Dumbledore.

"What happened, Headmaster?" Harry's throat was raw and dry, and his words reflected it. Sirius pushed a cup of water into Harry's hands. Drinking gratefully, Harry watched Dumbledore take a seat on the edge of his bed.

"Well my boy, it seems you, and your group of friends, found yourselves in a spot of trouble. Mind leading me through the events that found you boys in that chamber? I may be able to fill in the holes of what happened after if I understand what happened before a little better." Dumbledore used his best grandfather voice on Harry, much to Sirius's chagrin.

"Albus, he just woke up. He needs time to rest before trying to relive what ever happened down there. Just tell him what's happened since!" Sirius stared the Headmaster down, but Albus just smiled.

"I'm afraid I just can't do that properly unless I know why your sons and their friends were in that chamber, looking for the stone."

"That's nonsense! Harry needs to rest! You've already grilled Draco enough, haven't you?" Harry stared at his hands, neatly folded in his lap now that he'd set the cup down on the table. Madame Pomfrey gave him a questioning look, indicating the cup. Understanding, Harry shook his head. He wasn't thirsty anymore. She nodded. Sirius and Dumbledore continued to argue.

"Surely you must understand, Harry will have a slightly different account of what happened. Details, vital ones, could have been missed by Draco. Besides, Sirius, Draco was not in the chamber when the Lich attacked. Harry was." Sirius grunted, clearly displeased, but Dumbledore's point was valid enough. The focus of the room returned to Harry, who had returned his gaze to his hands.

"Go on, son. Tell us what happened." Sirius encouraged. Harry bite back on the tears threatening to break free.

"We…we just wanted to bring her back. To help Ron. And her parents. We did the research. Fred and George found old Prewitt books that sad it was possible. That with the stone, we could bring her back and make everything better. But it didn't. The door…" Harry froze, images of the door flashing through his mind. Its intricate carvings that seems to reach for him, even in memories. He wasn't aware that he was shaking until Sirius put his arms around him.

"It's alright, Harry. You're safe." Sirius whispered to him. Dumbledore pondered this information. If the door Harry spoke of was what he thought… Albus pressed on to learn more.

"Harry, we need you to continue. Tell us what you saw." Gone was the grandfatherly quality in Dumbledore's voice. The seriousness of the situation seemed to scream at Harry, which did little for his trembles.

"I…we got passed the fires, and all the traps, but every time someone else had to go back. By the time we got in, it was just the four of us. Me and Drake, and the twins. I asked Draco to go back, to get help. Then we found the stone in the mirror."

"You were able to obtain it? That should not have been possible!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed. Harry stared at her.

"We weren't?"

"No, my boy, you weren't. I set the enchantment myself, so that only someone who only wanted to get the stone, not use it, would be able to pull it from the mirror. Did you go into the chamber with the intentions of using the stone?" Albus cut back in, returning Harry's focus to him.

"Yes sir. We knew it was down there. We needed it to bring Hermione back."

"It's very lucky you were able to pull the stone out. Continue your tale." Albus pushed on.

"We set up the circle and started the ritual. We thought it worked. But it didn't. What we did bring through that door, Professor? What was that thing that pretended to be Hermione?" Harry lost control of his tears, which flowed freely down his cheeks.

"Harry, Miss Granger's soul has long departed from this world. The ritual you and your friends tried, it fails even under the best of scenarios. Without her soul, all you brought back was a portion of her body. A body without a soul is an easy way into our world for things that do not belong here. Many have used that very same ritual to place themselves into a new body, to increase their own lives. But always at a high cost. Where ever these bodies created by the ritual come from, they never cross over empty. What you and the other boys created was a Grand Lich. More monster than human, if indeed there was any human inside it at all. It only wore the face of Miss Granger because that was the body you created. It was not her. It was a monster of pure magic, and no soul. You were all very fortunate to survive the ritual, and even more so to survive the encounter with the Lich. Had you not had the stone to bolster your own abilities, the ritual would have drained you all dry, absorbing your souls into the Lich's being. I arrived only just in time to aide you, and then was only able to destroy the thing due to it's weakened state. Tell me, how did you weaken it? A freshly born Grand Lich is not as strong as one that has had time to adjust to our world, but it is still not a thing easily beaten by a single man, even one such as myself."

"I…I don't know sir. After George hit his head, I… I don't know. It talked to me. And then it attacked and everything went black. I think it wanted to eat Fred and George, but something stopped it. Like, a wave of energy. But I really don't remember anything else. What about the door, sir? What was it? Where did it lead to?" Harry was only just able to prevent himself from asking more. Dumbledore sighed, adjusting his glasses.

"Many men have given up their lives to answer that question, Harry, but none ever have. Perhaps we are never meant to know. Thank you for your cooperation, Harry, thank you. It has helped a great deal. Do not worry about the monster, or the door, any longer. They shall never bother you again." And with that, Dumbledore rose and left, Madame Pomfrey scurrying after him in hopes for more answers. Sirius patted Harry's shoulder, and encouraged him to get more sleep, before leaving the hospital wing himself. Harry sat in bed, his mind going faster than he could keep up with.

The next few weeks passed quickly. End of the year exams sent most of the student body into a frenzy. Only six boys seemed immune to the chaos. The Ravenclaw four and their red haired compatriots spoke to no one outside their group or families, and rarely left their respective common rooms. George never spoke at all. Fred was on limited mobility, his legs only barely functional after the damage to his lower spine. Eventually, they would heal. But eventually was many months, if not years, away. George would never be quite the same. The blow to the head had robbed him of the ability to speak, though he retained all other functions. Their injuries left the Prewett Twins as quite, meek boys, far removed from the pranksters they once were. Ronald stuck to them like glue, understanding what they'd sacrificed to help him. That understanding did nothing to relieve the guilt, though, only adding on and bringing the boy further into himself. Percy had taken to guarding his younger brothers, making it clear that they were to be left alone. No one ever denied that Percy was a gifted wizard after a 6th year Slythrin found himself on the receiving end of a well aimed stinging hex that left him unable to sit for a week. Anthony spent most of his time researching new spells. He was still shaken from what he'd done the troll, and turned that fear into a strong drive to learn. Maybe he could prevent a mistake like that next time. And that extra knowledge would make the upcoming exams that much easier. Most of the time Anthony spent in the library was shared with Terry, who held similar thoughts. He wasn't as obsessed as Anthony, but he doubted his friend would be as calm as he was without his support. The Black brothers found more use in their father's library. Every week, a large stack of books would appear on Harry's bed, and the boys would spend the week going over them, searching for clues about the door Harry saw. While Draco still couldn't understand his brother's need to reunite with long dead parents, he decided that he'd rather stand beside him, rather than risk losing him all together. And since Harry's attention had shifted to the door, Draco found it rather easy to back him up. They tore through books, nearly working the house elf they'd wrangled in to helping them to death. Harry wanted to ask the twins, but Fred wouldn't talk about what happened that day. Every time Harry or Draco even tried to talk to him, Fred would make excuses to leave, his silent twin close on his heels. By late May, Harry and Draco had given up speaking to the twins.

By the morning of the last exams, a sense of normality had returned to the Ravenclaw four. They missed the presence of the twins, but no one spoke of it. Harry had forgotten about the door as best he could, only giving it thought in his nightmare. He chose not to tell Draco about the dream, grateful to have a room to himself. He considered asking his dad to put up silencing charms of his room at home, but feared Sirius would question it. Durning his Charms exam, being able to cast the spell by himself earned him many extra points.

"You're just like your mother, Mr. Black. She'd be very proud of you. Casting third year charm in your first is very, very impressive." The examiner spooned on the praise, causing Harry to blush.

"Thank you, sir." Harry mumbled. He left the exam room and headed to lunch. For him at least, exams were finally over. He met up with Draco, Anthony and Terry at the Ravenclaw table, sitting between his brother and Anthony.

"So, how'd you do?" Terry asked. The question made Harry feel weird. Like they were just going through the motions.

"Fine, I guess." He mumbled. The other boys nodded and turned their attentions to the food. It was odd, seeing the Ravenclaw four eat in silence. It was a change the rest of the house noticed, and worried about. Cho decided to be the one to question it.

"Hey." She sat beside boys looked at her, but didn't speak. Cho took a deep breath. "Look, I don't know what happened over Easter. No one does. But we know it changed you guys. We're a family, and a lot of other people are getting, no, are already really worried about you. You don't have to tell us what went on, but we miss you guys. We miss the pranks and the chaos you all brought with you at the beginning of the year. We may not be best friends, you all and me, but I want to help. And some of the seventh years are planning to corner you in the common room and hit you with tickling charms until you cheer up." Cho finished and waited. The boys exchanged looks. Terry grinned.

"Who says the chaos has stopped?"