Disclaimer: I own nothing in or relating to the Harry Potter franchise, besides my OC, Skylar Wolf.
A/N: Sorry I've taken so long to post (in general), I'm just busy with school and preparing for finals and all... by anxiety is certainly taking its toll... Fun Fact: I was diagnosed with anxiety in sixth grade. Now I'm in tenth. Yay! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. Until then, goodbye, loves! :)
Word Count: 2,578
Skylar entered the Chamber to see the huge Basilisk slithering towards a shadowed figure. The serpent's head scraped against the ceiling, even without its whole body stretched out. She squinted, recognizing the light reflecting off something. The light formed a shaky circle, and then two, and Skylar realized she was seeing a pair of spectacles. The figure was Harry. She gasped and froze in her spot upon seeing the monstrous serpent advancing on her friend. And then, she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.
"HARRY!" She did manage to grasp the attention of the Basilisk, which was mainly what she was aiming for, but she also caught the attention of Harry.
"Skylar!" Harry yelled back, "Don't look into its eyes-" But when he shouted his warning, it was already too late. Skylar met the gaze of the Basilisk, golden eyes peircing blue. Skylar froze, but not from paralysis. She was frozen out of fear. She wriggled her fingers for conformation, gasping as they moved. She was still staring directly into the Basilisk's eyes, and she wasn't dead. Or paralyzed. Skylar continued to stare into the pair of large slitted eyes as the world around her became a blur. It was just her and the snake. They never broke eye contact. A feeling of serenity washed over Skylar, giving her the sensation of floating in midair. The trance remained unbroken until a sharp voice cut through the peaceful silence.
"How is this possible?!" A deep voice shouted, its owner emerging from the shadows. A handsome brunette clad in Slytherin robes, who appeared to be at least a sixth year student, stared at Skylar. His lip curled in anger as he advanced on her. "You shouldn't be alive." He snarled. With each step he took, Skylar took one back, until she was pressed flush against the wall. "What a pretty little thing." The man, whom Skylar had identified as Tom Riddle, grasped her chin with one hand. His eyes roamed over her features as he examined her, his hold on her exposing her pale neck. She was in a submissive position, like she'd been in so many times before. She shivered as Tom grew closer, flashes of her previous beatings surfacing in her mind.
"S-stop i-i-it." She stuttered, shaking furiously.
"Why would I do that?" Tom Riddle sneered, now nose-to-nose with the redhead, "You're just a scared little girl." Before she even realized what she was doing, Skylar had retracted her dragon-handled wand from within her robes and pointed it at the young version of Voldemort.
"That's where you're wrong, Riddle." She hissed, emphasizing his given name, "I'm not scared of you...or your pet." Her courage had dissipated and reappeared quicker than a snap of her fingers, and she didn't know what had triggered it. Perhaps it was the fear induced flashbacks that coaxed her Gryffindor spirit out. "Stupefy!" She shouted, a flash of red light freezing Tom Riddle in his place. With him out of the way, the Basilisk was unsure of what to do. It slithered over to Skylar and lowered its head in order to come face to face with her. For some reason, it no longer scared her, and she placed a hand gently on the serpent's snout. The Basilisk blinked before closing its amber eyes and rubbing against the small hand that comforted it. "I suppose he's never asked you what you wanted to do, huh, girl?" Skylar smiled, completely unaware of the figure slowly approaching her from behind. A pair of hands grasped her frail shoulders and threw her to the stone ground.
"You think you can get rid of me that easily?!" Tom Riddle hovered over her before stepping back and commanding the Basilisk. "Kill her." He commanded in Parseltongue. The Basilisk looked uneasily from the redhead on the ground to her master. She seemed to have bonded with Skylar in those few moments, and couldn't force herself to kill the girl. "No? Fine then, kill the boy." The Basilisk turned around and slithered towards Harry, who had been frozen with fear and shock the entire time.
"Harry!" Skylar shouted, scrambling up. Before she could run to him, Tom Riddle had wrapped his arms around her lithe frame, restricting any kind of movement. She writhed in his grip, and he simply pulled the small girl against his chest, resting his head atop hers in a mockingly sweet manner.
"Since my pet refuses to kill you, you're going to watch it kill your friend." He hissed into her ear. Skylar shivered, goosebumps rippling over her skin.
"No! Harry!" She looked around frantically whilst wriggling in Riddle's grip, until her gaze landed on the tattered Sorting Hat that lay discarded on the Slytherin statue. It seemed to glow as she locked her eyes on it, and something told her it was important. "The Hat, get the Hat!" She shouted.
"Yes, get the hat, what will that do." Tom sneered. "Stupid girl." He nipped her earlobe and dug his fingernails into her sides, earning a whimper from the abused girl. She couldn't stop her shaking. Harry had turned at the noise, the Basilisk still advancing at a slow pace.
"Don't worry about me!" Skylar pleaded, "Get the Hat!" She emphasized, ignoring the sting in her ear as Riddle bit it again. "Don't touch me, you filthy murderer!" She hissed through her teeth.
"Oh, so you do know who I am?" Tom Riddle asked snarkily, burying his face in the girl's shoulder. Skylar shivered at the unwanted contact and flailed her feet.
"You call yourself Lord Voldemort, but you're just a coward." She hissed.
"Oh, a coward, huh?" Skylar bit her bottom lip as his teeth sunk into her neck. She was bleeding from both the bite on her neck and her lip. She shook and then stilled. "Given up, have we?"
"Not in the least." Skylar whispered, lowering her head. After a moment, she quickly lashed her head back, hearing the satisfying crack of Riddle's nose against her skull. The Slytherin released her from his grasp, and she ran towards the Basilisk. The snake turned towards her, addressing the girl with bloody eyes. Fawkes must have attacked when she was distracted. She felt remorse for the creature, but not much, since she was more concerned with the life of her best friend. Fawkes was still flapping around above the Basilisk's head, golden talons dripping with crimson.
"Fool!" Tom yelled from across the room, hand covering his broken nose, "You think you're safe? It can still hear you!" At his words, the Basilisk turned towards Harry's direction and advanced on the boy at an alarming rate, murky emerald and chartreuse scales reflecting what little light filtered into the Chamber.
Skylar was mesmerized by the shimmering pattern, radiant in contrast to the dark, dank, dungeon-like Chamber. She forced herself to pull her gaze from the magnificent beast, switching her focus to her endangered best friend. She witnessed Harry jumping out of the way of the heavy, swinging tail, a fortunate event indeed. The tail rammed into one of the many statues depicting Salazar Slytherin, the sculpture shattering into millions of pebble-sized pieces. Skylar took a deep breath as some of the rubble flew towards her, whipping out her wand and whispering, "Protegro" at an astounding speed, effectively creating an invisible barrier to protect herself from the projectiles. From her position, she could barely make out the two figures disappearing into a dark tunnel, the Basilisk tailing Harry.
Riddle cackled as Harry and the serpentine beast disappeared into the shadows, a quiet groan joining in with his demonic laughter.
"Ginny?" Skylar gasped, recognizing the source. She raced over to the young Weasley girl and kneeled beside her. She pushed orange strands of hair from the pale girl's face and felt her forehead with the back of her hand. "You're so cold…" She whispered, to herself more than the girl who couldn't even respond.
"Yes, Potter. The process is nearly complete," Skylar looked up to see that Harry had returned from the tunnel, and was being engaged by none other than Tom Riddle, "In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead. And I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very much… alive." Harry's green eyes narrowed before taking a hesitant step towards Ginny and Skylar. The redhead's eyes widened as she spotted the glittering gold of what was left of the Basilisk's eyes.
"Harry!" She cried out, the Basilisk advancing faster. Harry turned, and seeing the serpentine monster, fled towards the Slytherin statue with the Sorting Hat draped over it. He clutched at the hat frantically, straining his arm to reach. Skylar bit into her already-split lip, teeth digging into bloodied flesh, as the bespectacled boy barely managed to grab the tattered garment between his fingers. He seemed to have seen something within the ancient hat, and he reached his arm inside, re-emerging with an object. More specifically, a shining sword, complete with a ruby-embedded hilt. "Wow…" Skylar breathed out, staring at the magnificent weapon in Harry's hand. She shook with worry as he swung the heavy sword, the momentum carrying his lithe body along with the blade. Whenever the blade made contact, however, it only managed to anger the serpent. "Harry, its skin is practically unbreakable!" Skylar shouted through cupped hands. She assumed he hadn't heard her, as he had jumped onto the serpent. He waited patiently until the Basilisk struck, waving the sort madly in some sort of attempt to protect himself. He drove the sword upwards, burying the blade into the roof of the snake's mouth.
The Basilisk thrashed and thrusted its head, releasing the bloody sword with a clatter, and knocking Harry to the ground as well. The beast struck next, burying a single fang into Harry's forearm. "Harry!" Skylar screamed, running over to her friend. The fang had embedded itself into flesh, completely separated from the dead Basilisk's mouth. Skylar yanked the fang from its position, coaxing a scream from the wounded wizard. Harry stared silently at his wound, dripping crimson onto the stone tiles below. Skylar had wrapped her cloak around his wound in an amateur attempt to stop the blood flow.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Riddle approached the two second years with an eerie smile, "How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body?" Skylar's own body was racked with silent sobs as she applied pressure to Harry's wound, "If you have any final words, Potter, you'd best speak them now. I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live." Harry and Skylar stared at the exposed skin, since Skylar had given up and removed the bloody cloak, watching as cream colored flesh turned a sickly gray. "So ends the famous Harry Potter," Riddle chuckled, "Defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry…"
Harry glanced at Ginny, her face a troubling white, almost ghost-like. Skylar had since stopped crying, and followed her friend's gaze to the Weasley's trembling finger, seemingly pointing towards… Tom Riddle's diary? The redhead's cerulean eyes widened in realization, and she stuck the fang into her bundled-up cloak, slowly crawling over to Ginny on her hands and knees while Riddle was focused on Harry.
"Funny, isn't it? The damage a silly little book can do?" Riddle mocked, "Especially in the hands of a silly little girl." At his words, Riddle turned to smirk at Ginny, only to see Skylar removing the book from her fragile hands. "What are you doing? No, stop!" He lunged towards the redhead, but she was too quick. She quickly plunged the bloody fang into the diary, puncturing the mass of leather and parchment, black ink spurting from the diary like blood. "No!" Riddle screeched, his body slowly dematerializing in front of the students' eyes. As he vanished, Harry sunk back to the stone tiles, weak from the venom.
"Oh, Harry!" Skylar cried, rushing over to cradle his limp body in her arms. She buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed, tears staining his shirt and cloak. Ginny sat up suddenly, her face once more filled with color.
"Harry," She gasped, "It was me! But I swear I didn't mean to… Riddle made me. He wrote to me… took me over… I didn't even know whose diary it was. I found it inside my cauldron. The day we all went to Diagon Alley and...Harry," She said, as though she had just noticed his wound, "You're hurt."
"Ginny," He croaked hoarsely, "You need to get yourself out… Follow the chamber… You'll find Ron… Skylar too…" Skylar shook her head in protest, head still buried in Harry's cloak. Before Harry could say anything, a fluttering of wings caught the attention of all three. Fawkes, with his golden talons and wings like a sunset, landing on the floor beside him. He lay his head on Harry's arm as Skylar stroked his feathers gently. "You were brilliant, Fawkes. I just… wasn't quick enough."
"Please… Fawkes… " Skylar pleased through sobs, "Save him… tears… " She managed to choke out. The phoenix began crying, iridescent liquid pearls pooling from his eyes and onto Harry's wound. His skin stitched itself back together, blood and gray skin disappearing with ease.
"Of course. Phoenix tears." Harry said, smiling at Skylar. A tear slid down her face and she rose her hand, slapping him across the face. "Bloody hell!" He cried, resting his hand on his reddening cheek, "What was that for."
"What do you think?" Skylar sobbed, pounding her fists weakly onto Harry's healed arm, "You bloody near died on me!" She stopped hitting him and lunged herself at the wizard, wrapping her pale arms around his neck tightly. Harry laughed weakly and returned the embrace.
"Now, let's go." Harry suggested, helping the redhead up. Skylar clutched onto his hand, using her other to link arms with Ginny.
Fawkes led the three through the tunnels, and soon they could see the light of the exit. Ron's face appeared in the path ahead, and he rushed towards them.
"Ginny!" He cried, squeezing his sister before doing the same to Skylar. "You're alive… I… I can't believe it."
"I'm going to be expelled, I just know it!" Ginny sobbed. Skylar and Harry gave a weak chuckle at her antics.
"Remind you of anyone?" Ron joked, nudging Skylar. Her eyes widened.
"Hermione! We need to go see her!" She pushed forward, forgetting she was holding Harry's hand. He grasped it tightly and tugged back, nearly knocking her to the ground.
"It's fine, we just need to find Lockhart first." He reassured her. A humming noise caught their attention, and they looked to the corner where the blonde ex-professor rocked back and forth.
"What's wrong with him?" Skylar asked bemused.
"Memory Charm backfired," Ron explained patiently, "Hasn't got a clue who he is. I keep having to stop him wandering off. He's a danger to himself." Gilderoy looked up and smiled at the four.
"Hello. Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"
"No." Ron sighed, as though he'd answered the question multiple times already, which was most likely the case. Fawkes circled above head, drawing attention to the opening in the ceiling before meeting Harry's gaze. "What's with the bird?" Ron crinkled his nose in confusion.
"He's telling Harry that he can take us out of here." Skylar whispered.