Chapter V

Wow! What! When! How!

Amelia Bones felt herself relax into her chair. Kinsley was sleeping softly, a peaceful look on her face that made her look like the innocent child she was. One simply had to look past the fact she was not a ten-year-old like she appeared but a twelve-year-old.

Chalisse had been contacted while Amelia spoke with her daughter. Kingsley made sure to inform the Healer of her state of awake and the fact that she had been able to take a little stroll.

When she had woken to find her daughter's bed void of her twelve-year-old child, she had panicked. Every fibre of her being turning back to when she had first lost her daughter, the night she had been kidnapped. Yet she was older now, she had kept a semi-level head and with a swift point me spell was able to find her. To find her in the same room as Cassiopeia Black was not something she had expected.

She had been surprised to find the woman in a muggle hospital but she didn't question it, as her worries were centred mostly on her daughters well being. Now that she was positive she was semi-alright, she was comfortable thinking about the older woman.

Cassiopeia had been among the few Black's Amelia had met while she had been in a relationship with Kinsley's father. Thankfully they didn't meet often and they often butted heads on many items. Now, though Amelia was certain the older woman would not stay away. Not when Kinsley had been found and she knew about her.

That meant she would just have to endure the older woman. She might not have liked many of the Black's but they were a part of Kinsley, she was there Heiress, future Lady Black to be exact. Amelia had no right keeping her away from the Blacks even if she didn't like them much. She would be required to ensure she would contact those members of the Black Family that were not allied with the Dark Faction during the war.

Cassiopeia was among those members but so was Andromeda Tonks but there was also Callidora Longbottom, Cedrella Weasley. There was Lucretia Prewett - yet the last she heard the woman had not been fairing well.

"So, few can meet her," she murmured softly, eyes moving to stare at her daughters slumbering figure. "Yet they have the right to do so,"

She had little doubt that Cassiopeia had already made contact with those she could to inform of Kinsley's returned, she simply hoped that they would be discrete about it. She was anxious to keep this under wraps for now and not overwhelm the soon to be thirteen-year-old.

"And there is still so much to be done." She sighed tiredly before a soft knock had her looking up to find Chalisse peaking into the room. "Come in,"

Slowly the door was opened before it was shut softly behind the woman. As she settled into a chair beside her friend, she took in her state in worry.

"I heard what happened, what will you do?"

"I cannot keep them away from her," she admitted earning a nod from the woman. "They are her family as much as I am, she is expected to be their upcoming Lady Black. I can't stop that from happening. I can, though, help in the process by ensuring that she doesn't get overwhelmed. They will not all be visiting at once."

"That seems reasonable, she's a child, after all, one who has been through much pain. Her resilience surprises me, though. Kingsley told me about her little stroll. I didn't think she would be able to walk only after just waking up." Chalisse remarked while turning her gaze to Kinsley who was asleep.

"I was just as surprised as you are, trust me," Amelia chuckled softly. "You wish to examine her I suppose,"

"I will have to, for now, I bring news. I was able to perform more tests on her blood and look over her other tests. There are some - aspects I need to speak to both of you about. Numerous injuries that do not concede with muggle possible injuries." The Healer remarked earning a frown from Amelia.

"What type of injuries? Are they serious? If they were inflicted at Hogwarts they couldn't have been that bad, unless they were Quidditch influenced and even then Pomfrey should have a file on them." Amelia remarked a bit worried yet as Chalisse removed a folder from her purse she handed it over.

Looking down, Amelia swiftly noticed the numerous concussions her daughter had faced, all within the last two years meaning she had received them most probably at Hogwarts. Then, there was the large magical depletion around the time the girl would have been eleven.

Yet the last one on the list made Amelia's eyes widen and her attention fly up to her daughter's slumbering figure.

"Basilisk venom," she rasped, feeling sick, and confused. "There hasn't been a Basilisk sighting in Britain in the last four hundred years."

"Then, how do you explain the venom in her blood, what confuses me, even more, is the phoenix tears as well. The tears didn't destroy the venom, simply allowed it be accepted by her blood. The venom can't kill her as it and the phoenix tears are essentially part of her blood now." Chalisse explained before letting a sigh leave her lips. "I would guess that they give her the added benefit of being immune to most poisons and venoms. I am not a hundred percent certain though and I truly cannot determine what the two substances will do to her in the long run."

"Where could she have found a Basilisk?" Amelia murmured, trying her best to put together an answer to her own question yet, it didn't come to her.

"The venom was ancient, at least from a beast at the top of its life span." the knowledge suddenly made Amelia look at her friend, a frown in place.

"So, over 900 years old possibly?" The Head of the DMLE asked.

"Over yes, what are you thinking?"

"When you attended Hogwarts did you ever hear the rumour of the Chamber of Secrets?" Amelia asked curiously causing the woman's eyes to widen before she shut them tightly.

"Bloody hell,"

"Salazar Slytherin's monster, it only is logical that it was a serpent and the Basilisk would have lived long enough," Amelia whispered before running a hand through her hair. "It's rumoured that it was opened once before but I have heard nothing about it opening again since."

"Right now we are jumping to conclusions. We need to learn the truth from Kinsley."

"What," came a grungy voice that had both women jumping in surprise. "What's happening?"

Slowly the pre-teen was pushing herself up, rubbing her eyes to clear her sleep filled eyes. A yawn left her lips before she blinked at Chalisse confused as to who she was.

"Kin - Harry, I would like you to meet Chalisse, she's you the magical healer who's been helping your muggle doctors with your injuries. She's also an old friend." Amelia hurried to introduce. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well, thank you and it's nice to meet you," The girl answered politely.

"It's nice to meet you to Harry, how are you feeling? Any of your injuries hurting you," The Healer asked, jumping into Healer mode as she stood and walked over to the girl's side.

"No, not hurting, when can I leave the hospital - I don't like them much." The remark was made softly and shyly as though admitting it was maybe a bad thing but Chalisse could only laugh.

"Don't worry little one, a lot of teens hate hospitals, but I am afraid you will not be able to leave just yet. You've sustained some severe injuries that we need to make sure heal properly." Gingerly placing her hand against the teen's forehead, she frowned. The teen's body temperature was still higher than normal, yet she seemed to be fine. "You are also still running a fever, which is odd considering it should have gone down by now. It's only light, but -" "Chalisse what if it's the phoenix?" Amelia suddenly asked, making the Healer freeze before her eyes narrowed in thought.

"It's possible," she murmured gently yet it only served to confuse the teen more.

"What phoenix? Was Fawkes here?" Harry asked curiously before her eyes grew wide and she ducked her head. "Sorry,"

"What are you apologising for little one. Curiosity at your age is natural. You should be asking questions, as many as you want to ask," Chalisse murmured while Amelia walked over to sit on the side of the bed.

"We don't mind you asking questions Harry. You need to ask them so that you can learn and grow your knowledge."

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't like me asking questions, it was a rule at the Dursley's," the pre-teen murmured softly causing both women to look at each other in anger.

"Well, I think it's a good thing to say that they were not good parental figures, they were outright disastrous actually, and from now on I want you to listen to me, any rules that they had you forget okay," Amelia murmured while running a hand through her daughter's hair. "You are never going back Harry, never. There will be rules at our home, but I will tell you about those later and there is definitely no rule about asking questions. Now, some I might not be able to answer because of my job but I will do everything in my power to be able to answer them."

"I'm never going back?" Harry asked, her eyes widening in shock and wonder before they fell to the bed and her shoulders slumped. "Professor Dumbledore said I had to because there were wards that protected me against bad people."

"You are never going back, no matter what the Headmaster of Hogwarts thinks. He has no control over your life Harry, you are my daughter, and you will be living with me." Amelia declared, her voice leaving no room for negotiation which made Harry's heart lift slightly.

"So, back to your question, we did some test to make sure that you were getting better and I found some - intriguing and worrying things, Harry. First is that your blood seems to also have Basilisk venom and phoenix tears mixed in with it. Could you shed some light on that for us?" Chalisse asked gently.

The question made Harry nervous. He had never told anybody what really had happened in the Chamber not even Dumbledore. Nobody knew he had been bitten but Ginny and she hadn't said anything about it either.

What if his mother decided he was too dangerous to have around? That he had caused too much trouble?

"Harry we just want to help you, okay, but to do that we need to know the entire story." Amelia urged before giving her smile that had Harry's relaxing a bit. "No matter what I will always love you, you are my child nothing you do could make me unlove you."

"I -" yet he didn't know where to begin.

His second year had been the worse so far. Facing the school's isolation of him simply because of his ability to speak to snakes. Them turning against him, being fearful of him.

"The Chamber of Secrets was opened last year," he finally said, hoping that what he was about say didn't lead to trouble for the people involved, well to a certain degree. "Slytherin's monster was released on the school multiple times but it didn't kill anybody this year. It did petrify them,"

"Petrified, how - they didn't look it directly in the eye," Amelia whispered feeling relief fill her.

"Mrs Norris was the first victim, she saw the Basilisk's reflection in the water on the floor." Harry murmured, remembering her second year. "Then, came Colin Creevey who saw the Basilisk through his camera. Nicolas, and Justin Finch-Fletchley were next but Justin saw through Nick and Nick's a ghost so he couldn't die. Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater were the last two students to be petrified because after that Ginny Weasley was brought into the Chamber by the Heir of Slytherin."

Amelia could not quite believe her ears. The entire year, students had been in danger and she had heard not a word about it from Dumbledore. Nobody knew that a Basilisk had been released on the school. Dumbledore would have a lot to answer for. Her niece! Susan had been in danger, had she not considered contacting her or had she assumed - which would have been reasonable - that Dumbledore had made the call?

"How did you get Basilisk venom, though?" Chalisse asked curiously, masking her anger and shock rather well.

"Oh well you see, when Ginny had been taken into the chamber, we overheard that conversation when Ron and I were going to tell the teachers about the location of the Chamber. Yet when we learned about Ginny - we had to something. We went to our Defence teacher of the year, Lockhart. He said he knew where the chamber was and that he was going to save Ginny." The last part was muttered darkly. The young girl's eyes darkening as she remembered Lockhart.

"Luckheart is in St-Mungo's suffering from severe brain damage for some reason," Amelia remarked curiously about the coincidences.

"That's because his obliviate backfired thanks to Ron's wand," Harry growled causing both women to look at her in surprise.

"He admitted it himself, he would obliviate people who had done great things and stole their fame and stories publishing them in his book as though he had been the one to do all those acts. The man was nothing but a fraud. " She told them causing Amelia to frown in disgust. "He tried to obliviate Ron and I but it didn't work because he only grabbed Ron's wand. Ron's wand at the time had been broken due to an encounter during the start of the school year and he had been too embarrassed to tell his parents about it. Because of the broken wand, the spell backfired on Lockhart obliviating himself."

"I see that would explain his current state of mind at St-Mungo's," Chalisse murmured thoughtfully.

"Where did this happen?" Amelia asked hoping there had been more than just the two children around.

"He caught us off guard in the first part of the Chamber and because of it a good portion of the ceiling caved in separating myself from Ron and Lockhart," Harry admitted before taking a breath, his throat was getting dry because of all the talking he had been doing.

Thankfully one of the women seemed to have noticed and hurried to get him a glass of water that he gratefully accepted and sipped it.

"You were alone when - facing the Basilisk?" Chalisse whispered earning a nod from the girl.

"Yes, Ron was trying to dig out a path for Ginny and I to get out of when I got her so I went off on my own. I found the main Chamber and met the Heir of Slytherin," yet she stopped, she knew the rest of the story was bad, it showed Ginny doing horrible things and also her life-threatening trial of facing a Basilisk. "Something really bad happened to somebody, but they weren't responsible. It was because of something else, you - you will not do anything to them will you?" She asked, worried about Ginny.

For a moment, Amelia gazed at her daughter. It was apparent she was worried about something or more importantly someone. The question was, what had happened in the chamber that had her this worried about them.

"I can't promise I will not do anything. I am the Head of the DMLE but I can promise to hear everything you have to say and all the evidence given to come to a sound and legal conclusion." Amelia answered and although her daughter still looked hesitant she seemed to calculate her words and finally gave a nod of agreement.

"The Heir of Slytherin was not someone, well it was technically but it was just a shade of that person. A piece of him that had been placed into a diary. Ginny had been given a diary during our trip to Diagon Alley that summer, not by her parents but by somebody else," she didn't name Lucius Malfoy, she didn't want to sound like she was blaming one specific person but she knew the man had done the deed.

"She wrote in the journal all year - and it` answered back,"

"Wait -" Amelia ordered, lifting her hand to stop her daughter. "It answered back and she didn't go to a teacher to ask about it?"

"She thought her father had placed the diary into her cauldron during the summer and had never questioned it," Harry answered causing Amelia to sigh and shake her head.

"So, this shade - it possessed Ms Weasley, making her do what it wanted her to do." The woman concluded earning a nod from Harry who seemed relieved that she had come to such a conclusion. "That was a dark artefact, possibly one of the darker ones. I would have to investigate more but please continue."

"The shade was taking Ginny's life force, attempting to regain his own life so that he could continue his dream, he introduced himself as Tom Marvolo Riddle, a Slytherin and the Heir." Harry hurried to continue hoping to steer away from Ginny as much as possible and hoping he had not caused her to be in significant danger.

"Tom Riddle, his name is familiar," Amelia whispered thoughtfully.

"The letters in Tom Marvolo Riddle's name are all the letters used to form the phrase. I am Lord Voldemort," Harry revealed causing both women to pale. "Voldemort was Tom Riddle when he attended Hogwarts."

"Merlin," Chalisse whispered visibly shaking at the thought of Voldemort having had any say in their day in age. The man was - after all - said to have been killed by the adolescent teen before her.

"He's alive you know, that was the second time I had confronted him. The first time had been in my first year but anyway, Tom summoned the Basilisk and I couldn't let it hurt Ginny just like I had to stop Tom from coming back to full life. I fought the Basilisk thanks to the Sorting Hat and Fawke's the Headmaster's phoenix."

"The Sorting Hat?"

"I pulled the sword of Gryffindor from it, with the sword I was able to pierce the monsters upper mouth killing it. At the same time though one of its fangs pierced my arm, injecting me with venom." Here he ran a finger over the scar tissue on his arm. "I got to Ginny and pulled the fang out, I used it to destroy the diary, in turn, destroying Tom. Fawkes saved me by crying on my wound, sealing it and healing it."

The story ended. Harry allowed herself to look up at both women hoping to see some sort of reaction, just not the one she thought she would see. Yet neither woman seemed angry. They both seemed to be in shock.

"You killed a Basilisk with a long lost sword," Amelia whispered softly, before shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. "We are going to have to talk about life-threatening situations and what you are going to do if they ever happen to you again."

"phoenix tears in your system, they healed you but at the same time, they sealed the venom within you. It didn't take it out simply made it so that it would never kill you. I suspect both foreign DNA's are playing some sort of trick on your system, modifying it somewhat. I can't be certain how much but I can already tell that you have a higher than normal body temperature owing to the phoenix DNA in your veins. I will have to monitor you for a bit to see if that changes." Chalisse remarked before taking out a pad of parchment and scribbling something down. "Do you feel any other changes?"

"Um - I don't think so," Harry mumbled.

"Alright, if you do or anything changes you contact me okay, for now, it does not appear to be a danger to you and really I don't see that changing in the future. I just advise against giving blood at the moment as it may harm other people." Chalisse informed her while giving her a gentle smile that put her at ease. "We will talk later about the other injuries that have me concerned but we have talked enough about those. You have not eaten since you woke and I think we should get some food into you before calling in your muggle doctors so they can check your gunshot wound."

As if to prove that he was indeed hungry the girl's stomach let a rumble that had Harry blushing and the other two women chuckling.

"Some soup, for now, would be good I think, not too heavy I will go get that leave you and Amelia to talk some more,"Chalisse remarked before rising to her feet and leaving the room.

The moment the door shut Amelia pulled Harry into a hug. She felt him tense against her yet didn't let go. She did not wish to let go. Her child, her twelve-year-old child had faced off against a xxxxx-level creature, a known man killer. Her child had almost died before she would have had the chance to get to know her.

Slowly Harry relaxed into the hug. It was an odd sensation for him. No matter the hugs that Mrs Weasley and Hermione chose to give him. This was a whole new world. Still, it was the first embrace his mother was giving him and he wanted to appreciate it because it felt just as warm as he thought it would have.

"You are going to lead my hair to grey," Amelia whispered into her daughter's hair.

"Sorry," whispered the teen earning a soft laugh before Amelia finally pulled away and looked at her. "I am going to need to get you some tutors in Defense if your teacher from last year was any indication. You and Susan, but for now you need to rest okay. I don't want you overdoing yourself, especially with your injuries plus we have so much to do."

"I am top of my class in Defense," she admitted softly earning a proud smile from the witch. "What do we have to do? You said there was a lot but I don't really know what,"

"Well, we need to make sure your room is prepared for you," Amelia remarked making the teen's eyes grow wide. "The House Elves have already cleared the spare room, and we are transforming it into your own room. They wanted me to ask you if you had a favourite colour,"

"What - but - huh?" Harry whispered completely flabbergasted by this statement which had Amelia smiling at him encouragingly.

"You are coming to live with me Harry, meaning your room must represent you. I want you to feel comfortable with it." She remarked earning a blush as the teen looked down at his lap.

"Um - well I guess my favourite colour is blue, dark blue." He admitted after a bit of thinking.

"Wonderful, I will tell the elves and I have a few things I wanted to add as well but we have time for that just like we have time to get to know one another," Amelia whispered softly, running a hand through her daughter's long hair.

She knew it would take time but it would be worth it because she had her daughter in front of her again. She might have been grown up but she still had plenty to grow and she promised herself to be there for as many events as she could.

Yet there was also the facts of what had happened at Hogwarts. Dumbledore had kept everybody in the dark about a dangerous situation that could have led to the death of many students. Aurors should have been contacted along with Gringotts to do a full sweep of the school.

She would need to deal with Dumbledore in some sort of way.

Author note:

So it's been a while, for that I'm sorry. I've been meaning to update it for a while now but I've had so many things on my mind.

Good news! I got the job I was interviewed for! It's only a casual so nothing final but for now, it's wonderful because it gives me a foot in the door.

Still, with good news comes bad news. To those who have a young puppy at home, beware of the little devils! They can be a nightmare and if you have a laptop be cautious with it. My dog has practically destroyed my laptop. First, she chewed the charger cord until it wasn't even repairable. Second, she jumped on it until the screen went so far backwards that it cracked a hinge and I'm thinking disconnected a cable because - although it turns on - the screen doesn't show a thing. So right now I'm without a laptop and that means all those beautiful stories I had started on it are not available to me. I'm lucky, though, I had started this chapter on the laptop but not in word. I've been using a little site known as Grammarly which also saves my documents.

Thank Merlin we have a mac upstairs in the computer room so I can actually work on things.

So peace of advice, around a young dog don't leave your laptop unattended or where they can get to it! I've learned my lesson!

Anyway, I chose to post this tonight because I didn't want to wait till next week for it. So I do hope you enjoy it and have a nice reading!