Hi guys! I know it's been over two weeks and that's unacceptable but I have so much homework and school-related things that I couldn't possibly fit any writing in. So here's the last chapter. Hope you enjoy and I will continue writing soon.
Chapter Eighteen: Guts
Grace came to a skidding halt in front of the man; her wand held high and ready in front of her. The man was exactly what you imagine when someone says 'tall, dark and handsome.' There was something about him though that made him less attractive. It might have been the way he crouched over Ginny's limp body, the arrogance in his tone when he spoke or the ugly sneer on his face. Something else though caught her eye; it almost looked like he was transparent around the edges, like he was a ghost fading away.
"I don't think it's fair that you know my name and I don't know yours," Grace said in a level voice. "But that doesn't change the fact that you should get away from Ginny."
The man raised his hands in a simple motion, straightened his legs and took a single step away. "There's nothing you can do for her now. She doesn't have much time left."
Grace ignored the stranger's words and knelt down by Ginny to feel her dying pulse.
"I don't know who you are but as long as she's got some life in her then she can be saved. So you better move out of my way while I get her to help."
"I don't think that's going to work," the stranger said quietly.
Grace's eyes flicked up to him, widened slightly in surprise. She raised her wand and moved smoothly to her feet.
"You see," the stranger continued. "The more life that Ginny loses; the more I gain. That's the whole reason she's down here."
"It was you," Grace guessed, slowly letting the venom poison her voice. "You made Ginny open the chamber, and go after all those students. Are you just a crazed pureblood or was there some other point to this?"
Another sly smile crossed the man's face.
"There's always a point, Grace. Those first few attacks were just an end to a means. A way to draw attention and gain power. I know what I want now."
"One of those attacks was my friend!" Grace shouted, taking another step towards him. "Was she just an end to a mean?"
"Temper, temper, Ms Potter," the man scolded lightly. "We still have to wait for your brother you see."
"What does he have to do with this?"
"He has everything to do with this. He's the reason I took Ginny and why I stopped attacking Mudbloods. Once I heard about his legendary defeat of Lord Voldemort, I knew I would do anything to meet him. Of course, now that I have Ginny it's only inevitable that he will follow."
"No, that's not going to happen," Grace shook her head in denial. "Harry's smarter than that. And he doesn't even know where the chamber is."
"You know none of that is true. From the stories I've heard, your brother wouldn't let his best friend's sister die, now would he? Besides if you can find out how to come here so can he."
The man turned away from her, taking her previous spot near Ginny. He studied her still form with cold, observant eyes as if searching her face for any signs that she was dead yet. Seeing him that close to someone she loved and adored made Grace even madder than she was before. Even knowing that she didn't stand a chance against this guy, who was most likely the Heir of Slytherin, she had to try.
"I won't let you touch Harry or Ginny," Grace stated. "It's not going to happen. So get away from her."
By this point Grace had her wand raised, pointing straight at the man's chest. He didn't move an inch but simply raised his eyebrows, like he was questioning whether she would do anything or not. Bracing herself, Grace sent a shower of red sparks at the hand that was hovering over Ginny's face. Another bout of sparks came straight after.
When he still didn't move away her, Grace took another breath and said, "Stupefy."
The spell was deflected straight off the man. With a flick of his wrist, he sent Grace spinning into a nearby wall. Hard. There was the sharp sound of something snapping before she slid down the wall into a cloud of black. The last thing she saw was the man stepping smoothly back into the shadows.
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Grace woke to yells of, "KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. SNIFF-SMELL HIM."
Grace raised her head to see Harry standing with his back against the wall facing a monstrous green serpent whose eyes appeared to be bleeding. He was armed with a silvery, ruby-crusted sword, holding it straight out in front of him for dear life.
The snake reared its giant head, sniffing around in confusion trying to find Harry. It didn't take long for it to lock onto where he was. Blindly, it lunged forward, opening its mouth to reveal rows of thin, white fangs, ready to kill. Harry managed to move out of the way just in time for the snake to collide into the wall. Quickly he recovered and prepared himself for the next time.
Grace heaved herself to her feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over her. One hand moved backwards to brace herself against the wall but stopped at the raw pain shooting up her arm. Her wrist stuck out at an odd angle to the rest of her arm; certainly not like it was supposed. Pushing that to the back of her mind, Grace turned back to Harry.
He raised the sword with both hands; his feet were braced steady on the ground. When the snake lunged this time, he pushed the sword forward with all of his body weight behind it. The sharp tip of the sword pierced its way through the snake's mouth.
Grace saw it before Harry realized. Just as his arm drove the sword home, one of the snake's fangs found its way into Harry's arm. She stumbled her way forward, just in time to catch Harry with her good arm. The snake's body thumped to the ground behind them. They sunk softly to the ground together.
A bird with brilliantly red feathers fluttered down to land on the stones beside them; brushing against Harry's pierced arm who was murmuring to it quietly. Grace pulled herself closer to him to get a better look at the wound and firmly take the fang, still clutched in his hand, away from him. Never in all of her magical medicine study had she seen anything like the wound on Harry's arm. She was concentrating on it so much; she barely noticed the footsteps approaching them.
"You're dead, Harry Potter. Dead. Your sister knows it; even Dumbledore's fool bird knows it. Do you know what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."
Grace stared at the bird in disbelief but he was telling the truth. Fat, pearly tears were falling from its eyes straight onto Harry's arm. Grace gripped Harry's hand tightly, frowning up at the man above them who was responsible for all of this. There had to be some way she could stop him. Some way to help Harry. Some way to get Ginny back.
"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Then once you're dead and Ginny's gone, I'm going to kill your sister. You'll both be back with your dear Mudblood mother. Ginny can join you there. . . . she only gave you twelve extra years after all. . . but she could never save you from Lord Voldemort."
When Grace raised her eyes to glare at the man she noticed something had changed since she had first entered the chamber. He didn't look as transparent as before. Something was less ghost-like about him. As if he was gaining power from somewhere.
Suddenly Grace remembered his words from earlier; the more life that Ginny loses; the more I gain. Ginny had been helping this man all along without knowing it but how? Grace's eyes searched Ginny's body for anything that could give her a hint when she recognized the black book lying in a puddle beside her. It was her diary. Grace had seen it many times over the summer at the Burrow. Ginny wrote in it religiously.
Without thinking about what she was doing and ignoring the man completely, Grace pulled the diary over to her. She didn't even consciously make the decision before snake fang still in her hand plunged down into the diary's cover. Ink leaked out of the hole she'd made like blood. There was a terrible, ear-piercing scream as the man in front of Harry started writhing and squirming from the connection he had with the diary. It all took a minute then he was gone.
"Grace," Harry said, turning her attention back to him. He motioned to his arm where the bird was still perched beside. Apart from a small scar running down his arm there was no evidence that a giant snake's fang had just stabbed him.
"He's a phoenix isn't he?" Grace whispered. "Their tears can heal almost anything."
Harry's eyes meet hers with a smile. A small moan came from the girl who they had almost forgotten: Ginny. For now Grace just breathed a sigh of relief, glad that everything was finally going to be okay.
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When Grace got to Professor McGonagall's office with Harry, Ron, Professor Lockhart and Ginny, she near well collapsed. She listened to Harry's story in awe. Some parts of it she already knew but others, like how a teenage Lord Voldemort had managed to possess Ginny, astounded her. Finally Professor Dumbledore let her, Ginny and Mr and Mrs Weasley go to the hospital wing, leaving Harry and Ron alone with him. She shot him a concerned look as she was swept out the door.
"We really can't thank you enough, Grace," Mr Weasley told Grace. "I don't know what we would do without you and your brother."
"Really Mr Weasley, it was nothing," Grace tried to assure him.
"Nonsense!" he cried. "You really do go above and beyond."
Grace looked at the ground and blushed, distinctly aware of the pain in her arm.
"I think the fudge from Christmas was enough thanks," Grace smiled.
The hospital wing was bustling with activity when they arrived. All of the students that were petrified were now sitting up in bed, slightly bewildered at what was going on while Madam Pompfrey scurried around them to make sure everyone was alright. At the sight of Grace and the three Weasleys standing in the doorway she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Thank goodness," she gasped. "I almost thought I had lost my assistant."
"Couldn't last a day without me," Grace smiled.
Madam Pompfrey shook her head at the comment. In an instant she was helping Grace and Ginny onto separate beds and rushing off for more medical potions. Mr and Mrs Weasley stayed close to Ginny, hovering on either side of her bed.
Grace had barely sat down when something soft and cuddly collided with her. The breath was knocked out of her and her broken wrist squished into her chest.
"Trina," she choked out. "Broken arm here."
Trina released her and stepped back. She was definitely a sight for sore eyes from the wavy black hair to the crinkles by her eyes when she smiled so much. It hardly looked like she had been petrified for over a month, just sleeping peacefully in a new pair of hospital pyjamas.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Trina said. "I just can't believe it. I've been petrified for over a month! Do you know how long that is? What have I missed? Oh my god, how's Oliver? Are you alright? I'm so proud of you! You defeated that slimy old bastard!"
All of this was said in one breath.
"Ms Davenport!" Madam Pompfrey scolded. "You may be healing yourself but that is no reason to hound Grace after all she has been through. There's not too long to the feast and I want you all well- rested by then!"
Grace looked up to meet Trina's eyes, trying to hide her smile at the other girl who was mouthing an apology, and accepted the vial of potion Madam Pompfrey handed her.
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It was an hour and a half later when Madam Pompfrey finally let them all go. Grace's arm hadn't even needed a sling; Madam Pompfrey had healed it that quickly. Accompanying her down to the Great Hall was Trina, Ginny, Hermione, Justin finch-Fletchley and Colin Creevey.
She would never forget the moment they walked through the doors to the Great Hall. Everybody turned to look at them. It was utterly quiet for a second before cheers erupted around them. Half of Gryffindor table rushed up to greet them. Grace was crushed in a sea of red hair from Fred and George as they pulled her and Ginny into a crushing hug. Around them all of their friends were struggling to get through to Trina but Oliver just wouldn't let her go.
"I love so much, Trina," he could be heard murmuring.
After that it was all a blur. She could remember the announcement that Gryffindor had won the cup for the second year in a row, Professor McGonagall declaring that they would no longer need to sit the exams, Professor Dumbledore telling them all that unfortunately Professor Lockhart would be unable to return to Hogwarts next term and the feeling that everyone was finally safe from harm.
Nothing could ruin the rest of the term for Grace. Trina and Oliver become nigh on inseparable for the last few weeks. The days were spent joyfully laughing in the sun during time that used to be spent in Professor Lockhart's classroom.
"You know I'm kind of disappointed that Lockhart left before we ratted him out," Ciara commented on the last day of term while relaxing in Lee's arms.
"I think he got what he deserved," Grace reasoned from where she was splashing around in the lake with Fred and George. "All he ever wanted was to be well-known but now he doesn't even know anything."
"Here's hoping we get a decent Defense teacher next term," Lara groaned.
"I don't care what happens. I just want to enjoy holidays now," Miranda said with a finality that ended the conversation.
Grace grimaced, thinking about how she would be spending her holidays. For now that didn't matter. She spent her last day savouring the time she had with Trina and her other friends. Finally she was on the train back to Privet Drive in a compartment with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. Harry and Grace may have a horrible few weeks coming up but the thought hardly crossed their minds while they were busy winning Exploding Snap.
So there you have it! The last chapter in the Chamber of Secrets!
I shall post the first few chapters of Prisoner of Azkaban soon but I want to edit the Philosopher's Stone and get a few chapters written before I post anything. I am free of assessment now so writing will be a hell of a lot quicker.
Like always, please review with any comments, questions or advice. Thanks!