Chapter 11
The sky hung dark and dismal as a sobbing Mrs Weasley was escorted into Professor Dumbledore's office, her shell-shocked husband following close behind. The youngest of the Weasley brood had been missing for five hours. Given the previous petrifications, the Hogwarts staff were inclined to expect the worst. It wasn't long before Lucius Malfoy stalked into the room, white faced son at his side, eying Dumbledore accusingly as he demanded to know the location of his son's friend. Only the severity of the situation stopped the two families, who were normally at each other's throats, from fighting. In fact, the Malfoy and Weasley family were united in their anger at the headmaster.
"The staff of Hogwarts are doing everything they possibly can to ensure the safety of our students." the headmaster said, voice tired as he removed his glasses and polished them on his robe sleeve.
"Why weren't students sent home after the first petrification?" Mr Weasley snapped, his cheeks ruddy with rage.
"Arthur…" Began Dumbledore, his blue eyes deprived of their usual twinkle as he sadly gazed upon his ex pupil, "We believed-"
"Don't you 'Arthur' me!" the man was practically frothing at the mouth, "these petrifactions have been going on for four months, and we only learnt about them after our youngest son was petrified. What about this was not of parental concern?"
"And now whoever's doing this has taken Ginevra too!" Mrs Weasley chimed in, "She was all alone in Slytherin and now her and that boy are missing! For all we know, he was the one petrifying students and took her!"
"Harry would never do that!" Draco pushed into the conversation with eyes flashing ice, "It's just as likely to have been your daughter doing the petrifications as Harry, and more then likely it was nether of them!" Lucius Malfoy looked at the situation with a clinical eye. He had never intended for the Potter boy to become mixed up in the diary related attacks. Though the Weasley girl's life meant little to him, he would go as far as to say he cared for the Potter boy, and judging by the close friendship between his son and the chit, his death was not an option.
"Now, now, Draco…" he said placatingly, resting a hand on his son's shoulder,
"But father-" the boy began, Lucius' grip tightened,
"I said enough." Draco didn't miss the command in his father's voice, falling obediently silent. "Let's not point the blame at anywhere but where it belongs." he said, voice hard as he looked at Dumbledore, "We ought to have been informed after the first attack that there was a threat to the children's welfare. I do not appreciate hearing by letter from my son that his best friend has gone missing, nor that it took hours for the missing student's disappearances to be noticed. The aurors should have been contacted instantaneously, as this is clearly dark magic. The board of governors will hear about this!"
The prison cell that Tom Marvolo Riddle had neatly crafted in Ginerva Weasley's mind was small and grey, with a barred window that the consciousness of Ginny peered from, wane and defeated. Her cries resonated in the tiny room, and her physical body, the one that was now lying on the floor of the Chamber of secrets, twitched slightly, hand closing tight around another's in a spasm that sent only the smallest of movements through her arm. White fingers clutched at Harry's, stone cold and desperate in their movement. The smallest of protests that the corporeal form of Tom Riddle paid no mind as he monologued to the boy-who-lived.
"So you see…" he said, pacing with steps that made no sound on the glistening floor, "Voldemort is my past, present and future." he painted his name in the air, glowing red letters that rearranged to form the moniker of the dark lord. Harry sneered at him,
"How old are you? Eight? We did anagrams in primary school." His hands were bound in ropes so tight that they left cuts on his skin, and they tightened as Tom hissed,
"Insolence." Harry frowned,
"That wasn't English…" he informed the man, who smirked,
"Yes, fitting that only I, the heir of Slytherin, should speak the noble tongue of the serpents." Tom Riddle was partial to bragging, Harry noticed, as he rolled his eyes and said,
"let me repeat myself, that wasn't english." the parseltongue slid from his lips mockingly, and the Dark-Lord-to-be recoiled, before a smirk flitted across his face,
"How interesting." he murmured, "But let this small talk be over, tell me, boy, how was it that you were able to overcome the Greatest Wizard of all time, when you were a mere babe?" the man was looking at Harry with hungry eyes, and the boy felt sweat drip from his brow as he evaded the question,
"You're not the greatest wizard of all time." He said, "Dumbledore is better then you, and I'm sure there are others who could mop the floor with-"
"Do not mock me, child!" the man snarled, shaking his head as though to clear his thoughts, before spinning to face a large stone statue situated behind him, "Enough of this tomfoolery, you are useless if you will not answer my questions. Come to me, servant to greatest of the Hogwarts' four." Tom Riddle turned to Harry once more, eyes glittering like gemstones in the eery green light as he called, "let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Slytherin, with the famous Harry Potter." a cruel smile upturned his lips as his final words rang out.
At this moment, two things happened; the mouth of the statue began to creak open, to reveal a gaping tunnel from which a large serpent came forth: and a voice screamed in Harry's mind,
"Don't look into it's eyes". Harry didn't have time to ponder over the fact that Ginny Weasley, who was lying lifeless beside him, had been able to send him a voicemail that made his head ache from sheer intensity of volume, before he was on his feet and obeying the girl's command, sprinting down the nearest pipe, ropes ripping off his arms in tatters.
Adrenaline made him fast as he scrambled, blood roaring in his ears as scales on stone followed him. There was an angry hissing, a voice that rang out
"so hungry, so… so hungry" a sob wrenched from his lips, unbidden, as sweat trickled over his eyes and he rounded another corner. Finally, he slid through a small gap between two pipes, pausing to catch his breath. There was complete silence expect for his ragged gasps, where was the snake? Suddenly, there was an wild shriek, which joined in an awful harmony with a high, trilling song. Harry's hands covered his ears instantly, and he almost leapt from his skin as something soft landed in his lap. He frantically shoved the thing away from him, only to peer closer, perplexed, the sorting hat? Harry lifted the raggedy thing with clammy hands, jamming it over his head,
"Help me… Please help!" he though desperately, hoping against hope that there was some way he could contact the headmaster. The hat remained inanimate, and Harry was about to throw it off in despair, when something hard clanked down on his head. He pulled the hat off, reaching inside to pull out a blade. It was long and sleek, adorned with a single green gem just before the hilt. Slanting letters were faintly printed along the side, not english, but something much older. He could barely recognise the word Slytherin, in lettering that he knew without being told, were parseltongue. "You can't expect me to…?" he looked from the sword to the direction that the snake's roar had come from, wincing as Tom Riddle's voice rang out mockingly,
"Your bird may have blinded the beast, but he can still hear you, Mr Potter. You can't hide forever." the man laughed and goosebumps rose on Harry's arms, he shuddered as the man spoke again, "How about we make this game a little more fun? Ms Weasley here is quite helpless… It would be a shame for her to loose her life so early on, what kind of a hero would you be if you didn't save the damsel in distress? Come now, Potter, let's see if you are really the noble figure little Ginny thinks you are. Get the girl." Tom hissed out the command and suddenly the pipes were alive with movement once more. Harry didn't have time to think, sprinting from his position, skidding back into the wide hall. Tom Riddle laughed a high, hysterical cackle at the sight of him and clapped his pale hands in delight. Harry spun and was confronted with the hideous face of a basilisk. It's eyes were gory ruins, pecked away in a manner that had likely saved Harry from instant death, and it's mouth was open and poised to strike. It lunged in a swift movement, and Harry thrust his arm up instinctively, the sword in his hand plunging through the roof of the beast's mouth with a sickening squelch before it could swallow him and Ginevra Weasley whole.
Such an act was not without it's risks, and Harry had a few seconds to ponder the pure, idiotic, Gryffindor-ishness of his decision before his world was consumed by pain, and a sharp white tooth slid into his arm smoothly. The basilisk thrashed, throwing itself away from Harry in it's panic, the sword coming loose from it's mouth, remaining in Harry's now useless hand as blood gushed and turned the water coating the ground red. Harry staggered back, vision tilting and blurring as he collapsed beside Ginny.
"How quaint." said Riddle, coming to stand over Harry. "It is unfortunate that you killed the basilisk, but let's call that collateral. After all, your noble mission has failed. Soon, Miss Weasley will be dead, and you can follow her on to the next life." he laughed, eyes bottomless and black. Harry coughed up blood, spitting at the figure who's face he could no longer make out. He pushed himself away from the man clumsily, his hand closing over Ginny's and pulling her with him.
"Dumbledore will destroy you." he muttered hazily, vision getting darker and darker, was this death? It didn't seem so bad. Harry smiled slightly, head thudding back against the stone as cold began to creep into his bones. A beautiful bird flew down with an angry shriek, it's red plumage glittering gloriously as it landed beside Harry. It's claws dug uncomfortably into Harry's shoulder as it peered at his wound. "There's nothing to be done, pretty birdie." Harry said, as the bird began to sing a sad melody, "I'm pretty cut up about it too, but- hey!" Harry sat up. The bird, which was coming better and better into focus, was crying on him. Pearly tears dribbled into his wound, and the skin seemed to knit itself together until there was nothing but a faint scar. His spare hand, which was till clutching Ginny's, began to glow, but the boy was so focused on not being dead that he didn't notice. Tom Riddle however, was not so oblivious,
"What magic is this?" he asked, voice like fragmented glass. He wavered for half a second, and Ginny's grip on Harry's hand tightened. The girl's cheeks began to flush and with a sudden push, she sat up, eyes opening for half a second, a bright brown,
"I'm not damsel, Tom, and you're going to hell." she grabbed the sword from beside Harry, who had jumped in surprise as she moved, before reaching into her robes for something. Riddle lunged for her desperately, but wasn't fast enough as she plunged the sliver blade into a small, black notebook. The man seemed to crumble, ink pouring from the pages over Ginevra's hands as he slowly fell apart, until there was nothing but the echoes of a scream. The girl shuddered, eyes, previously so focused, clouding with exhaustion.
"Harry…? I mean- Potter. It was me, but I swear I didn't mean to- I've been petrifying the students, but I couldn't control it- I'm so-" her words shook and tears began to dribble down her cheeks as she spoke. Harry squeezed her hand,
"I know, no one will blame you, this wasn't your fault." he said gently, his spare arm, though healed, still trembled slightly, like it didn't understand why it wasn't in extreme pain, "and I think Harry is fine, Ginny. We may have been through to much not to be on first name basis." Ginny laughed at that, before letting out a loud sniff and trying to clamber to her feet.
"Let's get out of this place… please." she said, pulling Harry to his feet. The two glanced to the bird which had clearly saved their lives. It flapped large ruby-red wings and cawed, as though commanding them to follow, before leading them away from the chamber of secrets, and the dead, thousand year old snake that now lay within it.
Dumbledore's office door creaked open with a whine, as the two Slytherins staggered back to civilisation. Their hands were firmly clasped, as though too frightened to let go of each other, only reluctantly parting as Mrs Weasley scooped her daughter up with a hysterical scream, Mr Weasley embracing the two in a perfect family image. Harry felt his eyes droop, and was taken by surprise as a body slammed into his own and Draco hugged him tightly,
"You look awful, mate." the boy said, once he pulled away, "I thought you were dead. Father's been having a fit." Harry nodded tiredly, sliding into an empty chair, to exhausted to respond.
TBC
Okay so... That's that then. So thank you for all the support so far! I know things have gone significantly different to cannon in this chapter, and the reasons for that will be explained as time goes on, don't worry. Also, a lovely reviewer pointed out that my grammar and spelling is not amazing. I don't have a beta reader, as I try to have my updates posted very fast, so I'm very sorry for any errors in my writing. I do my best to spell check and read through but if you notice any typos or anything, please feel free to tell me and I will correct them :)
Please, please, please review. I need them to fuel my typing-monster-rage-fire!
Thanks!
