A/Ns: This will be the longest set of A/Ns and I won't usually use them. I just wanted to explain some things that will not be made clear in the summary of the story.

1. This story will start just after the event of the Chamber of Secrets. Everything before this point follows canon barring one detail, Harry's abuse. The books say how he had been denied meals, locked in his cupboard, beaten up by Dudley, chased by Ripper and such. In this story he was also beaten by Vernon fairly regularly.

2. Italics will denote times where we get insight into Harry's thoughts, these sections will also be marked as such 'Thoughts'. Italics with the normal quotation marks will be other languages such as "French" because I don't speak any languages other than english. Bold Italics will be parseltongue such as "Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts four"

3. This story will be marked M for mature. It will contain plenty of Mature themes in later chapters including sexual situations (Lemons, but not super explicit, just enough to get a feel for what is occurring), torture, death, dismemberment, self harm (though not for depression reasons, mainly for Magical purposes but I figured a warning was still apt), explicit language (especially in later chapters. We were all once teenagers, or currently are, and I remember the kind of mouth I had on me back then. This will read sort of like the characters are more realistic teenagers in my mind), and other adult situations. I will not give warnings in every chapter because I feel like stories that do that give things away by doing so.

4. This is my first attempt at writing. The last time I performed any sort of creative writing was when I was in high school 14 years ago. I would appreciate constructive criticism so I can better my writing skills and make this story the best it can possibly be

5. This story will span from the end of Harry's 2nd Year until, at a minimum, shortly after his 7th Year. I don't want to give too much away about where I want to take the story but I am already considering either a sequel, or allowing the story to carry on into the first couple years of Harry's adult life.

6. From the start of this work, through to the end it will be considered AU.

7. I am an American. I will try to make the dialogue sound 'British' but seeing as I speak our broken version of English I can't promise it will be perfect.

8. Any recognizable characters, wording, and themes belong solely to J.K. Rowling and I am grateful to her that she allows us to play with the world she has created.

9. There will be some events that may be recognizable from other fan-fiction in this universe. I will be giving these ideas my own spin. I am grateful for the authors that came before me and inspired me to try my own hand at authoring a story for people to enjoy. A couple of my favorite fan-fics that have inspired this one are 'A Cadmean Victory' , 'Power, Freedom, and a French Flower' , 'New Blood' , and 'A Marauder's Plan'. If you haven't read those I recommend them all highly.

Chapter 1: The Tale, Dobby, and Awards

Harry let go of Fawkes' tail feathers once his feet touched the floor of the 2nd floor girl's bathroom. A combination of ink and blood was dripping from his tattered, filth stained robes onto the smooth white tiles of the floor and the mixture began swirling around in the omnipresent puddles on the floor. He had the sorting hat under his right arm and was carrying a bloody, ruby encrusted sword in his right hand. Harry looked up in time to see Ron also let go of the phoenix and make sure his sister, Ginny, was stable on her feet. Ron had carried her piggy-back style during the ride with Fawkes and now he had a comforting arm around her shoulders. Behind the trio lay Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, who Harry had unceremoniously shrugged off of his shoulders into a heap on the tile floor as soon as they were clear of the pipe that led to the Chamber of Secrets.

'Well that was an interesting ride,' he thought to himself.

"Blimey mate," Ron muttered, "I didn't know phoenixes could carry so much weight."

"Dumbledore mentioned it to me when I met Fawkes for the first time, but I didn't realize just how much he could handle," Harry replied quietly. He was nervous and very, very tired. After all, he had just done battle with a 21 meter long, poisonous, deadly, basilisk. These creatures were not known as the King of Serpents for nothing. After all, just one look into the eyes of the creature would kill someone instantly and the venom, which was delivered by fangs the length of Harry's arm, had only one known antidote being phoenix tears which were very rare to come by. This just made the fact of Fawkes' arrival in the Chamber all the more beneficial as Harry had been pierced in his arm by one of those very fangs, just below the crook of his elbow, when he had plunged the sword he was now carrying into the roof of the giant serpent's mouth.

'Lucky he was here really,' Harry glanced down to his arm, he just made out the faint, circular scar through the hole the fang had made in the sleeve of his robe, 'Another minute or two and I wouldn't have made it.'

"Are you going to tell me why you are covered in ink?" Ron asked. He was eyeing Harry's robes and the sword wearily. The two boys had been separated when Professor Lockhart's attempted memory charm had backfired and blasted him into the roof of the entrance tunnel of the Chamber. This had caused a cave-in of part of the ceiling of the tunnel and effectively split the tunnel between Harry and Ron. Harry had not told Ron any of the events that had occurred in the Chamber yet. Their primary concern had been to get back to the surface levels of the school with Ginny and Lockhart.

"You'll hear it all when I inform Professor McGonagall. I don't want to have to tell the story twice. Plus, we need to get these two up to the professors and have them checked over," Harry said. Ron nodded and the two turned to Lockhart who was sitting with his arms around his knees rocking slightly back and forth. "Can you follow us Professor?" Harry asked. Lockhart did not seem to notice that he was being spoken to so Harry walked over and tapped him on the head with a finger. "Can you walk?" he asked slowly, making sure to enunciate each word clearly, like how you talk to a small child.

Lockhart nodded and stood up, he teetered a little bit but managed to retain his balance. Harry allowed him to walk in front of him toward Ron. He noticed that Lockhart seemed to be walking a little like you see young toddlers walking, slightly bow legged and duck footed and it seemed like he could fall over at any second. Harry sighed and put Lockhart's arm over the top of his shoulders to help steady him.

Moaning Myrtle, a ghost of a 15 year old former Ravenclaw student chose that moment to float out of her cubicle. She eyed the foursome with a weary expression, "Oh, it's you Harry. I was starting to wonder if you would make it out of there. I was half hoping you were going to join me in my toilet."

'If I had died in there, I would have found a much better place to haunt than a broken girl's toilet.'

"Sorry to disappoint Myrtle, but I did the next best thing," Harry started, Myrtle perked up a bit and looked at him curiously, "I killed the monster that killed you all those years ago."

"Really?" Myrtle asked. If Harry had to hazard a guess, he would have said that she looked happier than she ever had before, as a ghost at the very least.

"Yes, it may not make everything better, but at least your death has been avenged in some way," Harry said, he knew that the only true way to avenge the girl was to kill Tom Riddle, who went by a different name these days, but killing the basilisk would hopefully bring her a little bit of relief. "I would love to stay and chat, Myrtle, but we really need to be heading up to the Professors."

Myrtle gave him a small smile and her face turned a more opaque silver, "You are welcome to come and visit me anytime, Harry."

'Is she blushing? I didn't know ghosts could do that. How the hell does that work?'

"Thanks, Myrtle," Harry responded, also blushing, "I will see you around then."

Fawkes took flight again from the top of the bathroom stall he had been perched on and started zig zagging across the room. "I think we should follow Fawkes," Harry told Ron, "He'll probably know where McGonagall is at least."

Ron started following Fawkes with Ginny still under his arm, while Harry with Lockhart brought up the rear. They trudged their way through the corridors and up the many flights of stairs until they ended up on the 7th floor in front of a stone gargoyle. Fawkes trilled a musical tone and the gargoyle leaped aside and revealed a hole in the wall through which could be seen a revolving spiral staircase. Harry led the way to the stairs with Lockhart in tow and Ron hurried to follow with Ginny. After a short ride up the spiral steps they reached a landing in front of a very ornate wooden door. Harry was just about to knock when the door was wrenched open by a frazzled looking Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Potter!" she exclaimed, her tone closer to a shriek than her normal stern tone, "What in Merlin's name happened to you?"

"Minerva," the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, chuckled from behind his opulent desk on the far side of the room, his brilliant blue eyes twinkling away like stars in the low light of the office, "Let the poor lad sit down, it looks like he has had a very long night already."

'You have no bloody idea.'

Harry trudged over the threshold of the door then slipped out from under Lockhart's arm. The man teetered for a second then, rather embarrassingly, plopped onto his backside just inside the door. For a second it looked like he was going to cry until, even more embarrassingly, he stuck his thumb in his mouth and started sucking on it.

"What, may I ask, has happened to Professor Lockhart?" McGonagall asked tersely. Harry almost grinned but managed to school his features before it slipped onto his face. It would not do him any favors to anger anyone further tonight. He suspected he was already in deep shit as it was.

'The moron got what he deserved.'

"Well, you see Professor, that is all part of the story of what happened tonight," Harry responded. He knew he was being a little cagey with his answer and McGonagall wasn't one to normally allow that sort of thing, but he watched as she glanced at Dumbledore who nodded and flicked his wand into his hand from the sleeve of his robes. He twirled it in front of him causing three more chairs identical to the one present to appear in a line in front of his desk.

"If you and your friends would please take a seat then, Harry. We would very much like to hear this tale," Dumbledore said with a small benign smile on his face. For some reason that Harry couldn't explain, he started feeling a slight headache come on as he looked into the headmaster's eyes. He quickly diverted his gaze.

'That was strange, whatever happened there I didn't like it.'

The trio sat in the provided chairs with Harry and Ron in the center two chairs. Harry carefully leaned the sword he was still holding against the side of his chair. He saw the headmaster's gaze flick to the sword and the headmaster's smile widened.

"Now, Harry my boy, please explain what has taken place this night. I notice that young Ginevra seems to be in good health so I must assume that you managed to locate the Chamber of Secrets?" Dumbledore said. Harry frowned slightly at that statement,

"Actually, Sir, if it is ok with you I would prefer that Ginny and Professor Lockhart go to the hospital wing. She may look physically fine but she hasn't said a word since she woke up in the Chamber. I worry that something may still be wrong with her. And Lockhart was hit by a faulty memory charm from Ron's broken wand. He seems to be acting like a baby, and I don't mean figuratively."

"I will floo them into the hospital wing and be back shortly," McGonagall said. She stood and gently pulled Ginny up and tucked her under her arm. She shuffled her over to the fireplace and grabbed a small amount of floo powder from a flower pot on the mantle and tossed it into the flames. The flames turned a bright emerald green. "Hogwarts Hospital Wing!" She said loudly and clearly after she stepped into the flames with Ginny. The fire flared and a small whooshing sound told them that she had gone.

While she was gone Dumbledore simply steepled his long fingers and started tapping his pointer fingers together while staring intently at Harry. Harry, trying to avoid his gaze, for a reason he could not entirely explain even to himself, proceeded to look around the room curiously. He had been in here earlier this year of course, but he hadn't spent much time really looking around. He swept his eyes over the various portraits and noted some interesting names on them. Phineus Nigellus Black stood out to him because of his sour expression. He avoided the glare from the portrait and instead looked around at some of the whirling silver instruments on the spindly legged tables to his left. He had no idea what any of those devices did of course, but the rhythmic smoke puffs coming out of one of the devices was mesmerizing to watch.

The fireplace flared green and Madam Pomfrey stepped into the office. She looked at Harry and frowned.

'She probably thinks I'm still hurt. That would be pretty typical of me I suppose'

She huffed then strode over to Lockhart and gently hauled him to his feet. He cooed at Madam Pomfrey which made Ron snort, trying to hold back a laugh. She guided him over to the floo and called for the Hospital Wing into the green flames as well.

Harry went back to looking around the room and trying to avoid the headmaster's gaze. 'I don't know why, but I feel like looking into his eyes right now would not be a good thing.'

The fireplace flared green again a short while later and Professor McGonagall stepped back out of the flames and into the office. She strode back over and took her seat, turned to Harry and said, "Ginevra seems to be fine, her parents were informed that she had been rescued and they are sitting with her in the hospital wing. She has been through a traumatic event and will need some time to reconcile what has occurred."

Harry nodded, "Thank you Professor, I know what she had to deal with and I can say it hasn't been pleasant."

'Riddle messed with her head after all, not to mention trying to absorb her life force.'

"Now, Harry, please regale us with your tale," Dumbledore said, drawing Harry's attention back to him. Harry fixed his gaze at the wall slightly above the headmaster's head and began to tell the story of how they located the Chamber of Secrets and the events within it. Ron told his portion of the story picking up after the cave-in of the tunnel until Harry returned. Once his part of the story was done he lapsed back into silence.

'Ron is being awfully quiet, I hope he is ok.'

The whole story took a good hour to recount and all the while Dumbledore listened attentively and nodded at appropriate spots in the story. A few times, McGonagall gasped at what was being told, especially when Harry mentioned how the basilisk had managed to bite him. At this point in the story he paused and lifted the sleeve of his robes to show them the faint circular scar that remained. Fawkes trilled a note that Harry thought sounded a little proud.

"But surely you need to go to the hospital wing as well," McGonagall spluttered.

"No Minerva, there is nothing more potent of a healing agent as phoenix tears," Dumbledore said, "There is little more that could be done at this point other than waste Severus's valuable potion ingredients."

Harry continued his story with how he had used the fang that had punctured his arm to stab the diary and destroy the memory of Tom Riddle. At this, Dumbledore asked Harry to see the diary. Harry obliged and pulled it from the pocket of his robes and placed it on Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore waved his wand over it muttering in various different languages, he even lifted the book to his nose and gave it a small sniff. His expression never changed and he looked curious if Harry had to put a name to it. After the headmaster placed the diary back on his desk and looked back up at Harry, Harry finished his tale with the flight out of the Chamber and the arrival at the headmaster's office.

"A very thrilling tale, and one that I am very happy did not end in tragedy," Dumbledore said with a wide smile. "Could I have a look at that sword as well, Harry?" Harry carefully lifted the sword up and placed it on the desk as well. Dumbledore looked down the blade to the hilt and another wide smile lit up his face. "This is the sword of Godric Gryffindor himself, see here Harry," he pointed to the letting etched into the base of the sword near the hilt where the words GODRIC GRYFFINDOR could be seen, dark against the silver of the sword. "The rubies in the handle make it clear this is the genuine sword as well. It matches descriptions of the sword from old journals from around the time of the founders." Dumbledore reached out and grabbed the sword by the hilt. The second his fingers closed around the hilt the sword faded away and Dumbledore was left empty handed. He frowned and said, "The sword is believed to only come to a true Gryffindor at his or her time of greatest need. Perhaps, since I have no need of it right now, it has returned to whence it came."

"Is that why the sword came out of the hat then?" Harry asked. "I asked the hat for help and it dropped the sword on my head."

'Very nearly knocked me out with it.'

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "Yes, the hat must have seen you were in desperate need and since only a true Gryffindor could pull that sword from the hat, I believe that means you have been judged as such. I hazard a guess that should you truly need the sword again, it may be possible to somehow summon the blade."

"What is going to happen to Ginny?" Harry asked, "From the way Riddle talked about it, it sounded as if she had no control over her actions. It was as if Tom Riddle had possessed her."

"Young Ginevra will be just fine. She will not receive any punishment, far greater and wiser witches and wizards have been hoodwinked by Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said with a significant glance toward Professor McGonagall.

Behind Harry the door to the office was wrenched open and in walked an irate Lucius Malfoy, trailed by Dobby the house elf. The house elf had a blackened rag in his hands and it looked as if he had been shining Lucius's shoes before arriving. Lucius's gaze swept around the room and took in the occupants and the remains of the diary and a sneer came onto his face. "Dumbledore, I was informed that you had violated the terms of your suspension by returning to the school. Looks as if the reports were correct after all."

"Yes, I am indeed back at the school, Mr. Malfoy. It was the strangest thing when 11 different letters showed up simultaneously from the other members of the Board of Governors asking for my swift return. Some of those letters had the most outlandish stories of blackmail and coercion as well." Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"I take it the situation has been resolved then?" asked Lucius with an even bigger sneer on his face.

"Yes, young Ginevra Weasley was rescued from the Chamber of Secrets and the monster that has been terrorizing our school has been killed."

This shocked Lucius, his mouth almost dropped open before he managed to school his expression to one of indifference. "And, may I inquire as to who the culprit was?"

"The same as last time," Dumbledore said, "Voldemort."

Lucius gave a slight intake of breath at the name and flinched ever so slightly. "Oh?" was his reply.

"Indeed, it was rather lucky that young Mr. Potter here managed to locate the Chamber of Secrets when he did," Dumbledore said. Lucius' eyes darted to Harry and back to Dumbledore. "It would be horrible for any more of Voldemort's old possessions to end up in the hands of innocent children," Dumbledore said with a knowing look at Lucius.

All the while this conversation was going on Harry had been watching Dobby as he first pointed to the Diary, then to Lucius, then punched himself in the face. It took a couple iterations of this to occur before Harry gave a small nod and Dobby sighed in relief.

"I quite agree, and hopefully" Lucius sneered, "Mr. Potter will always be around to save the day."

"Don't worry," Harry said with a grin, "I will be." 'You giant tool'

"Come, Dobby. We are leaving," Lucius spat at his elf. He turned around swiftly and kicked the elf back out the open office door and onto the landing. Harry could hear repeated Kick, Squeal, Thump all the way down the spiral stairs.

Struck with inspiration Harry quickly asked, "Do you mind if I borrow this, sir?" He pointed to the diary. Dumbledore grinned and nodded. Harry scooped up the diary and hurried to the landing. Once there he swiftly removed his shoe and filthy sock and put the diary inside the sock. He kicked his foot back into his shoe and took off at a run down the spiral stairs and into the 7th floor corridor. He spotted Lucius and Dobby about to round a corner that led to the grand staircase. "MR. MALFOY!" Harry shouted. Lucius stopped and turned to Harry with a sneer that would put the ones Snape gave him to shame.

"What do you want, Potter?" he hissed.

"I wanted to return your property to you," Harry said as he stuffed the nasty sock into Lucius' hand. Lucius recoiled slightly but pulled the diary out of the sock and tossed the sock to the side. Harry had to school his expression because he saw Dobby catch the sock out the corner of his eye.

"You will meet the same sticky end as your parents one day soon, boy." Lucius snarled. "They never did know when to keep their noses out either." He thrust the diary back into Harry's hands. "Now come, Dobby!"

"Master has given Dobby a sock. Master has presented Dobby with clothes." Lucius whirled around and stared at the elf. "Dobby is free!" Dobby sighed. He looked elated and tears were forming in the corners of his giant tennis ball sized eyes.

Lucius' face went red with fury. He whipped the wand out of his walking stick and pointed it at Harry's heart. "YOU LOST ME MY SERVANT!" he screamed in rage. The tip of his wand started glowing a vibrant green.

'That's the same color from my dreams as a kid'

"You will not harm Harry Potter," Dobby snapped his fingers and Lucius was thrown to the floor some two meters away. Lucius scrambled to his feet, his face now purple with rage. He looked at the elf who now had his arms crossed and was standing directly in front of Harry. Lucius blew out a loud breath through his nose and stormed away down the grand staircase.

"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said quietly, "You probably saved my life just now."

Dobby teared up even more at that, "Dobby has tried to save the Great Harry Potter all year."

'By trying to get me killed.'

"Yeah, well, at least this time you actually managed it without trying to kill me too," Harry said sarcastically. Dobby looked ashamed for a split second before realizing that Harry was joking. "So what are you going to do now that you are free?"

"Dobby needs to find a new master." was Dobby's simple reply.

Harry frowned, "Why would you do that? You could do anything you want now, why go back to being a slave?"

"Dobby is not a slave," Dobby shook his head looking a little put out, "House elves need a Master to survive. We share their magic, which keeps us alive and healthy, and in return we do what the Master asks us to. It is a House Elf's greatest honor to serve their Master and keep their secrets."

Harry frowned deeper. He needed to read up on this. It almost sounded to him like a symbiotic relationship. "Does sharing their magic make your Master weaker?" Harry asked. He wasn't overly concerned about it but was genuinely curious.

"No, Great Harry Potter, if an elf bonds with a wizard the wizard shares in the elf's magic too. There is no loss on either side, just a sharing of Magic."

"Well, in that case, would you like to bond with me by chance?" Harry asked. He wasn't quite sure what he was getting himself into but the little elf had just saved his life and had at least tried to save it all year long, even if he had been a little over zealous about it.

"Oh, yes Great Master Harry Potter Sir," squeaked the little elf. Harry flushed red in embarrassment

'What is with the honorifics?'. He really seemed to be adding quite a few more descriptors to it as time went on.

"Ok then, how do we bond?"

"Shake my hand, Great Master Harry Potter Sir, and I will call forth the bond." Harry reached out and took Dobby's hand in his. Once his fingers closed around the tiny hand a bright flash of golden light came from their joined hands.

"Wow, that was kind of cool," Harry said in awe. He had never seen this kind of Magic before.

"Great Master Harry Potter Sir is a very powerful wizard. There is much Magic in you to be sharing. Dobby is greatly honored to be your elf, Master."

Harry flushed red again and his neck burned. "Ok Dobby, there are going to be some ground rules. Call them forever orders if you want. Number one, never punish yourself like you had to do with the Malfoy's. If you make a mistake or do something wrong, tell me first and we can decide how to fix it. No punishments are necessary, is that understood?" Dobby nodded and looked very pleased with the first order. "Number two, please call me Harry, or if you have to Master Harry. None of the Great or Sir stuff anymore, ok?" Again Dobby nodded, this time though he looked slightly put out. "And Number three, anytime you have a suggestion to make things easier or better for us, do not hesitate to speak up about it. Even if it is to tell me I am doing something stupid. If I seem like I am getting mad about you telling me off for something stupid, just remind me of Rule 3, ok?" Dobby looked very confused about this order but nodded anyway. "Now, since I am at school I will ask Dumbledore if you can work here while I am at the school. Otherwise, I will find a way to let you stay at my aunt and uncle's house without being caught so neither of us get into trouble. Does that sound ok with you?"

"Master Harry does not need to ask Dobby what he thinks of his orders. Dobby follows orders, not questions them," Dobby said with chagrin.

"I want to know your opinions because you aren't just my elf, you are my friend, and I want you to be happy with me," Harry replied. This statement caused Dobby to fall on the floor wailing and sobbing. Harry was shocked and thought he had done something wrong until he heard Dobby saying between sobs, "Master Harry…Sob….is too good….Sob….to Dobby." Harry sighed and pulled the elf carefully to his feet. "Let's go talk to Dumbledore and see if it is ok for you to hang out here for the rest of term."

Harry waited until Dobby collected himself and made his way back to the spiral stairs and up to the office. The door was still open so Harry walked in with Dobby on his heels. Ron and McGonagall were still there and they had been joined by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. As soon as Mrs. Weasley saw Harry, she made a beeline for him and pulled him into a rib cracking hug.

'Ow, why does she have to hug so damn hard!'

"Mrs. Weasley, can you let go please?" Harry choked out. She dropped her arms like she had been electrocuted and flushed red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'm just so glad you saved my little girl." She said, her words came out choked and scratchy like she had been crying for hours. Mr. Weasley stepped up next to his wife and reached a hand out to Harry that he shook.

"Indeed, Harry. If there is ever anything you need, do not hesitate to ask," Mr. Weasley said, also with a lot of emotion. Harry nodded and flushed red again.

'Why does everyone make such a big deal about these things? I don't do them because I want people to be in my debt. I do them because it's the right thing to do."

After some further muttering of thanks from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley they flooed back to the Hospital Wing to be with Ginny.

"Professor," Harry said, looking just above Dumbledore's head again, "Would it be ok if Dobby here worked in the kitchens for the remainder of the term? He has been freed from the Malfoys and has chosen to bond to me instead. I don't wish to send him away and would like it if he was able to stay close to me if possible."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled like mad and a broad smile came onto his face. "I think that would be an excellent idea, Harry my boy."

"Right, Dobby," Harry turned to look at his new house elf, "Would you please help out in the Hogwarts kitchens unless I need you for something? Actually, that brings up a good point, how do I get messages to you if I need help with something?"

"All Master Harry must do is say Dobby's name and Dobby will come to Master. I will go to the kitchens now." and with that, Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared.

"That is a truly noble thing you did, Harry, freeing that poor elf," Dumbledore said, pride showing through in his tone. "Speaking of noble things you have done today, I believe there are other acts that need to be rewarded properly as well. For the bravery you have shown tonight in saving Miss Weasley's life, defeating a basilisk, and destroying the memory of Tom Riddle, I hereby award you and young Mr. Weasley 100 house points, each. I will also be putting in orders for Special Services to the School for the two of you with the Board of Governors."

"House points and an award. Not necessary but better than getting expelled to be sure."

"Thank you headmaster," Harry mumbled. Ron did the same and his face turned red all the way to the roots of his red hair. "When will the people who have been petrified be woken up?" Harry was wanting very badly to tell Hermione all about how she had solved the riddle of what the monster was and to confirm for her that she had indeed been correct.

"The Mandrakes will mature in two days time, the Mandrake Restorative draft takes a further day to brew. I am optimistic that all of the victims will be unpetrified by this time Saturday."

"Thank you, sir. Would it be ok if I went up to bed now?" Harry asked, he was starting to feel the sleeplessness of the night weighing on him. He peeked out the window of the office and could see the sun was already above the mountains, meaning it must have been close to 8am.

"Of course, my boy," Dumbledore said, "You and Mr. Weasley are both excused from classes for the remainder of the week."

"Brilliant! No classes! That means no Snape!"

"Thank you, sir." Harry placed the diary back on Dumbledore's desk, "I think you should hold on to this." Dumbledore smiled at him and nodded.

"A wise choice, Harry," he said. Fawkes gave a short trill from his perch drawing Harry's attention to him.

Harry walked over to the perch and stroked Fawkes on the head with a finger, "Thank you for saving my life and helping with the basilisk." Fawkes nuzzled the finger and gave an affectionate trill.

"I do believe he has grown rather fond of you, Harry," Dumbledore said, pride evident in his tone. "Phoenixes are an amazing judge of character. You must have shown me great loyalty down in the Chamber to be able to call Fawkes to you like that."

"I only repeated what you had said in Hagrid's hut the night he was taken to Azkaban," Harry responded, "that you would never truly be gone from this school as long as there remained those that were loyal to you."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I had suspected you were there under that extraordinary cloak of yours. It is good to see you are using it with honorable intentions in mind. Now, off to bed. You could use some rest. Ginevra will be just fine for the night."

Harry looked at Ron and motioned for them to get moving. Ron got up stiffly and followed him out of the office. They didn't speak all the way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Ron mumbled to password and they both climbed through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room.

Once in the common room, Ron turned to Harry, "Thanks mate, for saving my sister. I can't believe all of this was because of some diary."

"The memory in the diary told me that the more Ginny used the diary, the more of her life force he was able to absorb," Harry said, he needed to phrase the next part carefully, he didn't want to drive a wedge between his best friend and himself, "He also told me some of the things she had written. He was mocking her, but I don't think he was lying about it either. He said she wrote a lot about her brothers weren't there for her, and how she felt really alone."

"Well," Ron said, turning beet red all the way to the roots of his hair, "It's hard to hang out with her when she is younger and a girl. I mean, what do we have in common?"

'I don't know, your parents?'

"Look Ron," Harry responded slowly, weighing every word, "I'm not saying you need to be best friends, but if I had siblings I would want to know they were doing ok, you know?"

"Easy for you to say, you don't have 5 older brothers and an annoying younger sister," Ron quipped. Harry felt his blood starting to boil. It took a large amount of self control not to yell at his best mate.

"No, instead I have no family at all."

"Ron, in case you forgot, I'm an orphan," Harry said, ice creeping into his tone, "I would give anything to have the family you have. I didn't get a choice in the matter." Ron huffed and headed up the stairs to the dormitory leaving Harry fuming in the common room. He just couldn't understand why Ron was acting like this. He knew Ron had issues with jealousy, especially about his older brothers, but to deliberately ignore his younger sister like that? That just didn't sit well with Harry.

'I know Ginny gets really nervous around me, but maybe I will start checking in with her myself. Maybe she won't be so nervous after a while that way?"

Harry waited a few minutes in the common room to allow himself to calm down a bit, and to allow Ron time to get into his bed. He didn't think another confrontation was a good idea right now. He would give it time to blow over then try to move on from it. Once he was satisfied that he had given Ron enough time, he too climbed up to the dormitory. He saw the curtains drawn around Ron's bed and sighed in relief. He didn't even bother to change out of his filthy robes, he just plopped onto the bed and fell immediately to sleep.