A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any character thereof. Only the story line is mine so please don't sue! I don't own anything!

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I got three chapters up to make up for it though! I changed some of the story around that I'd not published yet ... pushed back stuff, brought other stuff out sooner so I'm about finished re-writing my version of PoA.

Chapter 41

"Obliviate!"

Harry thanked Merlin for his seeker reflexes because he managed to jump out of the way of Lockhart's spell but he needn't have worried. Lockhart had managed to grab Ron's broken wand which backfired. He was knocked backwards into the wall by the force of the spell.

Harry heard and felt the rocks around him crumbling. He dived one way while Ron dived the other.

Albus had just left Minerva's office when the castle's wards indicated to him that one of it's labyrinth's of tunnels had collapsed.

He frowned.

Normally the castle would give him an indication of where it happened but he didn't get one this time.

"Ron are you okay!" Harry yelled through the fallen rubble and rocks.

"Yeah but Lockhart's not. My wand backfired and he hit himself with the memory charm!"

Harry groaned and looked around, seemingly coming to a decision. "I'm going to go and find Ginny. You stay here and try to shift this rock."

"Be careful Harry," called out the red head.

Harry could hear the nervousness in Ron's voice. He grimaced, pulled out his wand, and muttered "Lumos". He then carefully made his way through the winding tunnels alone. As he walked away he heard a thud followed by silence from Lockhart. He suspected that Ron had hit the fraud over the head.

"Baron, have you seen or heard anything?" asked Albus as he came upon the ghost floating down a hallway.

"No Headmaster."

"Has Peeves?"

"I've not seen Peeves for a couple of hours."

"If you see him, ask him. I'm going to question some other ghosts."

The Bloody Baron drifted off.

The Headmaster went in search of Myrtle.

Harry's scar was burning. It had always caused a dull ache during the time he had possession of the diary. That's what made him wary of it in the first place.

But now it was out right burning and for good reason.

Voldemort was, more or less, standing in front of him - and he had Harry's wand.

"So Dumbledore sends his protégé a bird and an old hat? Prepare for your death Harry Potter!"

Harry watched as the ghostly Tom Riddle turned to the statue and said, "Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwart's Four."

His mind registered the fact that it was spoken in Parseltongue.

He wondered briefly if he would be able to control the basilisk himself as the statue's mouth opened, but it seemed that Riddle read his mind.

"Parseltongue won't save you now Potter. She answers only to me!"

Harry had turned around and was running for the door. He hoped that once he got in the tunnel, he could think of a way to save himself.

Barely dodging a strike, which made him fall and twist his ankle badly, Harry suddenly heard the snake hiss in pain. He shut his eyes but very carefully peeked them open. What he saw surprised him.

Fawkes was blinding the basilisk.

Realizing this was his only second for reprieve, Harry tried desperately to think of something that would get him and Ginny out of the Chamber alive. Tom Riddle was becoming more solid by the second which meant that Ginny was dying.

Suddenly, as the basilisk was writhing in pain, it's tail caught the sorting hat and flung it at Harry's head. He remembered what Dumbledore had said about asking for help and realizing it was his only chance, threw it on his head and cried out in desperation in his mind, "Help! Help!"

Suddenly something heavy hit Harry in the head. It brought tears to his eyes it hit him so hard.

As soon as he pulled out a sword, he realized that the basilisk had regained its sense of smell and it was looking straight at him.

Albus had searched Myrtle's bathroom for her but either she wasn't there or she was hiding from him.

He had long since headed off to find Severus.

"Go back to your Chamber," hissed Harry as he dove out of the way.

"No. Freedom." The basilisk kept hissing over and over again as she kept striking at the boy.

"I'll bring you all the food you want," hissed Harry in sheer desperation.

"Enough!" Riddle hissed. "Kill him! Now!"

That effectively halted any negotiation attempts.

Harry jumped out of the way as the snake lunged. It lunged again and again Harry was able to move.

However the next time it struck at him, he was waiting. When it lunged, he pointed the sword upward and the basilisk impaled itself.

But Harry did not get away unscathed. A tooth broke off in his arm and he could feel the deadly venom pulsating through his body.

He was dying. Riddle was going to win.

Severus and Albus were talking animatedly when suddenly Severus felt his breath catch and he swayed. Had the headmaster not been right next to him and caught him, he would have fallen to the ground.

"Severus, what's wrong?" asked Albus alarmed.

"It's Harry ..."

"What? What do you mean!"

A couple seconds later, the dizziness passed and he realized he was seated in a conjured chair.

"What's wrong?" asked Albus again, this time more urgently.

"I'm not sure. I felt as if Potter was ... dying ... But that's not possible Albus. Why would I feel it?"

Albus definitely had a theory if the gleam in his eyes was anything to go by.

"Please concentrate Severus. Do you feel anything about him now, especially like you did a second ago?"

Severus thought for a minute. "I feel like I always have towards him."

'That's something,' thought Albus. "Let's go to Minerva's office. We need to tell Molly and Arthur that Ronald is also missing. Then we need to find Myrtle."

Severus nodded. He carefully stood up and together they walked towards Minerva's office.

Harry felt the magic from the air seemingly cradle him. It made him feel remarkably calm. After a couple of seconds had passed he looked down at his arm that Fawkes had cried on. The wound was gone. The Phoenix had healed him.

Harry then grabbed the basilisk tooth and stabbed it into the diary that Fawkes had just brought to him. Tom arrested mid-motion while trying to stop him and exploded in a ball of white light but for some reason the action caused Harry's scar to sear with pain. Pain like he had never felt before.

It passed after a few seconds so he picked up the diary then slowly got up himself and limped over to where the sorting hat lay. After he put that in his pocket, he carefully extracted the sword from the basilisk. He picked up his wand that dropped when Tom exploded and put it in his wand holder on his wrist.

"Never again will I drop it carelessly," he muttered.

It was then Ginny groaned. He limped over to her and shook her gently. "Wake up Ginny."

Her eyes flew open. "Oh Harry! It was me and the diary ... and Riddle ... where is he?"

"He's gone Ginny. C'mon. Let's go."

She let out a startled scream at the sight of the dead basilisk.

"She's dead."

"Did you kill it?" asked the red head with tears running down her face.

"With some help from Fawkes and the sorting hat."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later. Ron's waiting in the tunnel. Let's go."

As Harry carefully helped Ginny up while putting as little pressure on his twisted ankle as he could, he saw an outline of two doors on the far wall.

It was faint but it was there. He felt drawn to inspect them but knew that if he didn't get Ginny back soon, Ron would be even more frantic than he had been when Harry had left.

"Ginny, try not to touch any of the blood on my robes. It might be poisonous like the snake's venom."

The red head nodded, tears still falling down her face.

Harry then saw Fawkes eye his ankle. "It's alright Fawkes. I'll have Madam Pomphrey fix it. You've been a great help already."

The phoenix trilled an encouraging note and together, the three of them made their way back towards Ron and Lockhart.