A Different Beginning
Chamber of Secrets: Part 3
Harry was walking back to the common room. He had returned from the hospital wing, and was currently going over what had happened in the last month. After finding Mrs. Norris, basically everyone had come back from the great hall and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione. Malfoy, being Malfoy, had to comment, "You'll be next, mudbloods." Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore believed them when they said they hadn't done anything. Harry had caught the snitch at the quidditch match, but had a rogue bludger after him, causing his arm to break. He later found out in the middle of the night Dobby had sent the bludger, and Colin Creevy had also become petrified. Ginny had been devastated, so Harry comforted her, and they were on good terms, the past forgotten. During History, Hermione asked what the Chamber of Secrets was, and Professor Binns had told them it was a chamber built by Salazar Slytherin to rid the school of muggle borns. It was said the heir of Slytherin would open the chamber and finish Salazar's noble work. Dobby had also revealed to Harry history was going to repeat itself, which led to Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione and Ginny making polyjuice potion in the girls lavatory. They planned on sneaking into the Slytherin common room to find out if Malfoy knew anything about the heir, or chamber of secrets. As Harry walked past an empty classroom, he heard sniffling. He opened the door to find Ginny sitting in a chair, crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked, hurrying over to her. Ginny looked up, and tried to hide her tears.
"Gin, you're my best friend, you can tell me," Harry said gently.
"Harry," Ginny sobbed, "I think I'm the one hurting the muggle-borns, the one who opened the chamber, and petrified Mrs. Norris."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"I keep having these blank spots in my memory, I woke up once covered in feathers and blood, without knowing how, and the next thing I know, Hagrid says all the roosters have been killed, " Ginny said shakily, "Next, I can't even remember Halloween, or the quidditch match where you broke your arm."
"Howa are you doing this?" Harry asked quietly.
'That's the thing, I don't know how," Ginny said.
Harry sighed, and put an arm around her, "I will help you get through this, and we're going to find out what is possessing you."
"Don't tell anyone," Ginny pleaded, "I'd get expelled." Harry sighed, and nodded.
"It will be out secret, and I will make sure you stop," Harry said, "Have you been doing anything unusual?"
"No, I have a diary though," Ginny replied, taking it out, "But Tom's a friend, he can't possess you."
"Tom?" Harry wondered.
"Yeah, I found this in my cauldron, and when I write in it, Tom writes back," Ginny said.
"So Tom's out of the question," Harry started slowly, "I don't know what is happening then." He grabbed her arm, and led her back to the common room. Seeing that it was empty, he turned to Ginny.
"I'm going to help you through this," he promised, "Just don't do anything that normally you wouldn't do." Ginny nodded, and made her way to her room.
"Harry," she stopped and turned around, 'Thank you." She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Smiling weakly, she walked back up the stairs to her dorm. Harry plopped onto the couch with a sigh. How could he tell her that 'Tom' was most likely Tom Marvolo Riddle, who was Voldemort. She trusted this Tom a lot, so he couldn't just say Tom is possessing her. Harry then decided to steal the diary. Ginny wouldn't write in it, and she wouldn't be possessed by Voldemort anymore.
The next morning, Harry entered the Great Hall and saw Ginny laughing with Hermione. Harry frowned, how did Ginny go from breaking down on him to perfectly normal?
"Hey Gin, can I talk to you?" Harry asked.
"Sure," Ginny smiled, and got up. They walked out of the hall and into a deserted corridor.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked.
"Honestly, no," Ginny said, "I keep thinking I would get up and go kill someone. If only I knew why."
"Ginny, I have a hunch on why you are doing this, but I have to test some things first," Harry said, "Trust me, I'll be back in a few minutes." Harry hurried over to Gryffindor Tower. He quickly ran up the stairs to the Girls Dormitory, and into Ginny's room. He located Ginny's bed, and searched around. He saw the diary on her desk. Harry grabbed it and ran back to his room. He opened a special trunk his dad had gotten him. There were three compartments he had, and he opened the first one. It held all items important to him. In there, he saw his invisibility cloak his dad had given him, his snitch from Ginny, and now the diary. He closed the trunk, and tapped it with his wand. His dad had put a spell on it so only Harry's wand could open or close that particular compartment.
"Where were you?" Ginny asked once Harry re-entered the hall.
"Meet me on the 7th floor corridor after lunch," Harry whispered, and added louder, "Avoiding Lockheart." Ron sniggered, and Hermione whacked him on the head. Ginny grinned, and headed off to her classes.
"Hey, Potter," Harry looked up to see Malfoy strutting over. "I'm going to beat you today," he smirked.
'What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Harry sighed.
"Don't know yet? Figures," Malfoy shook his head, "Well, you'll see." With that, he walked away.
"Ignore him, lets get to class," Hermione said, and pulled them to the door.
Right before lunch, Harry walked up to the Great Hall and saw it had been transformed into a big hall, and there was a platform in the middle.
"What's this?" Ron asked.
"Harry," Ginny called, walking over to him, "We're going to have a dueling club. I hear Lockhearts running it."
"Great, it'll be loads of rubbish," Harry groaned, "As long as theres no-"
"Will everyone please welcome my assistant Professor Snape," Lockheart suddenly shouted, jumping up onto the platform. Snape stode onto the platform. Harry quickly tuned out Lockhearts demonstration of Expelliarmus, in which Snape hit him quicker.
"Split up into pairs, and practice this spell," Lockheart instructed.
"How about we do a demonstration with two students?" Snape suggested, "Potter and Malfoy, perhaps?"
"Very well, Potter," Lockheart called. Harry groaned, but got up onto the platform. Malfoy hopped up on the other end, and sneered at him. They walked to each other, bowed, and walked back.
"Expelliarmus only," Lockheart said, "On three. One… Two-"
"Expelliarmus," Malfoy roared. Harry shot back into the air, and fell in a heap. He heard the Slytherins laughing, so Harry quickly scrambled up, and pointed his wand at Malfoy.
"Rictumsempra," Harry yelled, and Malfoy fell over giggling. Snape quickly muttered the counter curse, and whispered something in Malfoy's ear. His face lit up, and he grabbed his wand.
"Serpensortia," he said, and a snake shot out of his wand. Harry slowly backed up as the snake advanced.
"Don't worry, I'll get it for you, Potter," Snape stepped forward, but Lockheart already had his wand out.
"Allow me, Professor," Lockheart said. He pointed his wand at the snake, and if flew up into the air. Harry instantly knew it did nothing, and he saw the snake advancing on someone in the crowd. He saw a flash of red, and realized it was Ginny.
Without thinking, Harry yelled at the snake, "Leave her alone!" The snake stopped, and looked at him. The room became deadly silent, as everyone was watching Harry.
"What do you want me to do then?" the snake asked. Harry blinked in surprise.
"Um, attack the blond guy, over there?" Harry suggested. The snake moved away from Ginny, and headed straight to Malfoy, who was standing still, shocked.
"Expelliarmus," Harry pointed at Malfyo, and he flung back. The snake suddenly went up in flames, as Snape pointed his wand at it. He gave Harry a calculating stare, not his normal sneer. Looking around, Harry saw he was the center of attention. Not wanting to be in the room, he grabbed Ginny's hand, and pulled her all the way to the Room of Requirement. Once inside, he willed the room to lock itself.
"Harry," Ginny was pale white.
"I'm a parslemouth," Harry whispered, shocked, "Are you scared, I told the snake to-"
"I know what you said to the snake, I could understand you," Ginny chocked out, "I'm a parslemout too. You told the snake not to attack me, and to attack Malfoy." Harry knew it was from Tom, but he didn't say anything.
"It must be from whoever's possessing you," he said, "It's not too bad though, is it?"
"No, just a shock," Ginny replied. She curled up onto the couch the room provided. Harry sat next to her, and wrapped his arm around her.
"What if I hurt Hermione?" Ginny whispered, "If I killed her, how could I live with myself?"
"First," Harry said, "You've only petrified them, and second, it's not you who doing it." He pulled her close when she started to cry.
"I'm going to show you everything will be ok, and you will stop hurting everyone," Harry whispered. Ginny nodded, and wiped away her tears.
"How about we fly?" Harry suggested.
'How, it's freezing outside?" Ginny asked.
"This is the Room of Requirement, it'll turn into anything you need it to be," Harry said, and closed his eyes. When they reopened, they were standing on the grass, a quidditch pitch was in front of them and two Nimbus 2000 were next to them.
'Wow Harry," Ginny gasped, "This is amazing." She grabbed a broom, and flew around. Harry chuckled, and joined her. The two soon forgot about the rest of the world, and focused on each other. They used Ginny's quaffle and Harry's snitch, and just had a blast. When they were finished, they realized they had missed the rest of the classes, and it was almost dinnertime.
"You know Gin," harry said as they walked towards the Great Hall, "I was thinking of researching more advanced spells, you know, become better at magic."
"Really, can I join?" Ginny asked.
"Of course," Harry laughed, "I was also thinking of doing some pranks. Like a new generation of Marauders."
"What would we call ourselves?" Ginny wondered.
"We?" Harry teased, "I think we should be known as-" Harry walked into the Great Hall to find everyone had gone quiet and started staring at him.
"Look out everyone, it's the heir of Slytherin," Malfoy drawled, and the entire table sniggered.
"Ignore him," Ginny growled, and pulled him towards the Gryffindor table.
"What's the matter, Potter, you need Weaslette to do everything?" Pansy Parkinson smirked. Harry stopped and turned around. Ginny tugged on his arm, but he brushed it off. Harry glared at the Slytherin table, his eyes a dark green.
"Harry, come on," Ginny murmured, and grabbed his hand. Harry sighed, and walked over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting. The rest of the hall started talking again, and over at the teacher's table, Professor Snape was glaring at Harry, and Professor McGonagall was looking worriedly between the tables.
"Pansy is such a pansy. Ignore all Slytherins," Ron said.
"Where were you two?" Hermione scolded, "You missed all afternoon classes."
"Give it a rest Hermione," Harry sighed, "I wasn't feeling well, and neither was Ginny." It was a half-truth, but Hermione bought it.
" You're a parslemouth," Hermione pointed out, "Everyone's going to think you're the Heir of Slytherin."
"Wow Hermione, I never noticed," Harry said sarcastically, "You guys don't think I was the one doing it, do you?"
"Of course not Harry, but whoever is doing it better not show themselves to me," Ron said, then added, "Or Hermione, she would hex them so badly before anything could happen." Harry glimpsed Ginny, and her face had gone all white.
"What's with you?" Ron asked, glancing at her.
"Colin," Harry said, and grabbed Ginny's hand, "No one is going to harm you, it wasn't your fault." He whispered, and looked at Hermione.
"So what are we going to do about things?"
"Polyjuice potion," Hermione said, "I'll talk to you about it later."
Once dinner was over, Harry took Ginny up to the Owlery. He quickly wrote a note, and gave it to his owl, Hedwig.
"What was that?" Ginny asked.
"We are going back home for the holidays," Harry told her, "Christmas at Hogwarts isn't that good, and you need to spend time away."
"Well, I guess that makes sense," Ginny sighed, "I just wish I could relax, and know this would stop, but I can't." Seeing her distress, Harry pulled her tight against him.
"That's what I'm going for here," Harry told her.
"What would I do without you?" Ginny murmured.
"Suffer," Harry teased, remembering what she told him.
"Most likely," Ginny smiled," You're always here to wipe away my tears." Harry felt a jolt in his heart, but brushed it away. He slowly pulled away, and stared into the sparkling brown eyes. Behind them, an owl screeched, making them jump apart.
"We should head back down to the common room," Harry slowly breathed. Ginny nodded, and started to walk.
Ginny's head was spinning. She was pretty sure if it weren't for the owl, she and Harry would've kissed. It's what she wanted, but by doing so, if would ruin their friendship, bringing them to an awkward stage if anything bad happened. Sure she liked Harry, hell, she loved him, but the one thing she didn't want to lose from him was his love of friendship he showed her. Ginny knew she never could get over the way his emerald green eyes stared at her, with such passion, and determination.
Walking back to the common room was a daze to Harry. He had almost kissed his best friend. His best friend. Harry was no Ron, he knew Ginny harbored feelings for him, but he was only 12, what was he supposed to do. He also knew Ginny was acting normal, and didn't show any sign in public of liking him, but he knew Ginny. Harry decided to let their relationship run it's course, and if they end up together, they end up together. What Harry was certain of, it's that he would die for Ginny, and he wasn't quite sure about what that meant.
"Good night Gin," Harry said softly, as the approached the stairs in the common room. He hadn't even processed entering the common room, but there they stood.
"Night," she said softly, and walked up the stairs. Harry thought about calling after her, but instead he turned around, and walked back to his dorm.
"The polyjuice potion allows one to turn into someone else," Hermione lectured. Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting on the floor of the second corridor girl's lavatory.
"Why are we talking about this in a bathroom?" Ron asked.
"No one come here, it's haunted by Moaning Myrtle," replied Hermione.
"Great," Harry said.
"Anyways," Hermione scoffed, "We're going to sneak into the Slytherin common room to find out if Malfoy does know anything about the Heir of Slytherin." Harry heard Ginny give a small gasp, and grabbed her hand, causing her to relax.
"Where have the two of you been?" Hermione asked, shooting them a look.
"Hiding," Ginny replied, "It's not easy on Harry being called the Heir of Slytherin, and being harassed every day cause of something he can't help."
"Deep," Ron noted.
"Insightful," Hermione added.
"Exactly right," Harry finished, "Now are we done here?"
"Yes, I'll get the ingredients, while you work on getting Slytherin DNA from people close to Malfoy," Hermione said.
"How long until it's ready?" Harry asked.
"About a month, but it's the only plan we've got," Hermione replied.
"A month," Ron said, "If Malfoy really is the heir of Slytherin, he could attack almost half the muggle borns in the school!"
"It's all we really have Ron," Hermione sighed, "I just hope we get some answers."
School was winding down, as everyone was preparing for the holidays. Harry had seen Hagrid dragging trees all over the castle, and Professor Flitwick was decorating the Great Hall in red and green, hanging lights around as well. Harry and Ginny had worked out a schedule. Every Saturday the would go to the Room of Requirement and work on spell as well as just talk, or they would play quidditch. Then on Sunday, they would meet up with Hermione and Ron, and work on the Polyjuice potion. They were able to work in that pattern until the first day of the holidays came around.
"Me and Ginny are going back for the holidays," Harry told Hermione, "Don't ask why, just accept this decision."
"I won't ask," Hermione started, "But after all we did with the potion, isn't it just a little selfish?"
"If you knew why, you would agree," said Ginny quietly, "Trust us. Besides, Harry needs a break from everything, heck, I do to."
"Fine, I guess you don't care about who the Heir of Slytherin really is," Hermione huffed, and walked away.
"Ignore her," Harry muttered, "She'll come around, besides, they won't find out anything."
"What if they do?" Ginny stopped walking.
"How could they?" Harry demanded, "You've done nothing to give yourself away, and if they do find out, they will know to let you explain first, then judge you."
"Thanks Harry," Ginny said, "I think I really do need a break, though."
"Which is why we're leaving today." Harry waved goodbye at Neville and Ron, who were at the top of the hill, looking amused as Hermione huffed by them.
"Hey Harry," Ron called, "Look after my little sister."
"Will do," Harry yelled back.
"I'm not little," Ginny growled.
"I'm just teasing," Harry said.
"You better be," Ginny replied. They walked onto the train, and found an empty compartment. Ginny instantly lay down on one seat, and Harry sat down opposite her.
"What is Christmas at Hogwarts like?" Ginny wondered.
"Cold, festive, there's a big feat, loads of presents," Harry replied, "However, there's nothing like Christmas at home, surrounded by people you love." Ginny sat up and stared at Harry.
"What?" He asked, bewildered.
"You are Harry James Potter, right," Ginny checked, "Sorry, it's just the Harry I know isn't deep like this at all, and almost as thick as Ron."
"Yeah, well the Ginny I know doesn't insult her best friend she also happens to have a crush on," smirked Harry. Ginny gasped, and quickly looked away.
"Hey," Harry got up and knelt by her side, "Nothing changes, you are still my best friend."
"Forever," Ginny whispered.
"Forever," Harry smiled, "Just don't go sticking your elbow in butter dishes."
"I've never…" Ginny blushed, "Hey!" Harry laughed, and sat next to her.
"I love your laugh," murmured Harry, "It fills everyone's hearts with joy."
"Do you know how arrogant you can be at times?" Ginny asked.
"I'm arrogant?" Harry frowned.
"No," Ginny smiled, "That's my point. You can have your comments at times, but I know how kind hearted you really are, and how much you hate fame." Harry was surprised, he didn't know Ginny paid that much attention to him.
"Well, uh, you know I guess you have my parents to thank for that, they did raise me," Harry stammered.
"You are also to damn modest," Ginny laughed. Harry started at her, than grinned.
"It's not a problem, is it?" Harry asked.
"Just annoying at times," Ginny sighed. Harry pulled her close and stared out the window. Ginny rested her head on his shoulders, and closed her eyes. I will make you better. Harry thought. I promise you, no one will hurt you anymore.
A/N: I had to upload this today because I don't know when I'll get the chance. I am really sorry about this, but I'm going on a trip for about three weeks, with no internet. It's horrible, but family calls. I will be making more chapters while I'm away, so hang tight. Happy Birthday Ginny! (Yeah, I'm a little obsessed) Enjoy and review :)