A/N: Hello everyone! All of my coursework is finished now, so I've just got revision and exams to do in a few weeks time, then I can really crack down on continuing my story. Until then, here is the next chapter to keep you going until then.

"Normal speech"

"Bond speech"

~Parseltongue~

I do not own Harry Potter or Pokémon, JKR and Nintendo do. So, let's continue with the story.

Chapter 19: Battle in the Chamber

As Harry and Shade walked through the bowels of Hogwarts, it gave them time to think of a strategy to defeat the basilisk and save Ginny, while making sure that they didn't die from seeing it. That was the main focus; how could they attack the serpent if they couldn't look at it?

"There's two of us and one of it. If one of us can distract its attention, the other can strike and blind it," Shade answered Harry's unspoken question.

"Of course! That's a brilliant idea! Now why didn't I think of that?" Harry mused.

"Because you are also worrying about your mate," Shade responded.

"Why do you keep calling her 'my mate'?! Explain!" Harry demanded.

"You know why. You just won't admit it. You care for her, don't you?" Shade replied.

"Of course I do! She's my best friend!" Harry responded angrily.

"I don't mean like that. Don't try to deny it, Harry. You love her, don't you?" Shade retorted.

"I don't-!" Harry growled, but then sighed in defeat as he knew that he would be lying, "You're right...I do love her...I just...if I lose her now...I don't know what would happen to me...I know that Hermione and Hallie will still be there for me...but Ginny's...she's my everything..."

Shade watched as Harry actually let loose a few tears at the thought of losing Ginny. He had never cried before, so seeing him break down saddened the magical black cat.

"Then let us not waste any more time and get her back!" Shade spoke.

Nodding his head in agreement, Harry sprinted down the path ahead, followed closely by Shade, before stopping at a circular door. There were metal snakes placed on the door.

"This must be the entrance to the actual Chamber itself," Harry mused.

"Yes. I guess that you need to open it again using Parseltongue if the snakes are anything to go by," Shade spoke.

Harry then walked up to the door and closed his eyes as he pictured the snakes slithering over the door. This was the last step to getting to Ginny.

~Open!~ Harry commanded.

The snake on the outside then moved around the door as the snakes in the middle backed away. Once all of the snakes had backed away, the door opened. Harry and Shade stepped inside the Chamber and began to slowly walk cautiously towards the end of the walkway. The walkway was surrounded by statues of snakes and at the end was a statue of Salazar Slytherin's head with its mouth wide open.

"Keep a look out and an ear listening for any movement. I have a feeling that the mouth will be something to watch for in case the basilisk comes out from there," Harry told Shade as they carried on walking.

As the partners got closer to the Slytherin statue, they noticed a body lying in front of it. It was Ginny. Harry broke out into a run and fell by her side as he despaired over her appearance. Her skin was deathly pale, nearly white, and her lips were dry. Her hair pooled messily under her head, which was tilted to the side limply. In her arms was the diary that had caused all of this mess. Harry grabbed the diary out of her arms and threw it angrily to the floor as he pondered how to destroy it.

"Harry! Someone's coming!" Shade yelled as he pointed towards the darkness.

Harry drew his bō and took a defensive stance, facing the oncoming danger. If he saw the snout of a serpent, then he'd get Shade ready for their plan of action. However, the basilisk never came. Instead, a boy came out of the darkness and walked towards them with a victorious smirk. It was Tom Riddle.

"I must say, you arrived here sooner than I expected you to after I sent you into my past. I must commend you for your resilience. However, it was all for nothing I'm afraid. Little Ginny won't last much longer," Tom taunted.

"It's you who has done all of this for nothing! You will not harm Ginny any longer! I'm going to save her from your clutches! I'm going to destroy your foul existence! And then, just to finish you off, I'm going to kill your slithering pet and claim the title of Heir of Slytherin publicly as is my right by conquest!" Harry bellowed.

"You won't even have the chance, Potter! Ginny has played her part and lured you here. Now, once I've taken her life force, I will have killed you and will finally take back what is mine!" Tom growled before speaking in Parseltongue, ~Heed my call, Slytherin! Greatest of the Hogwarts Four! Kill this foolish half-blood!~

Harry then faced the mouth of the Slytherin statue and saw the muzzle of the basilisk appear. Nodding to Shade, they split up and executed their plan. Since the basilisk was ordered to kill Harry, Shade would be unnoticed. Therefore, Harry could lead the serpent away while Shade snuck up behind it and attacked the eyes with his claws and magic.

Harry ran down the walkway and heard the giant serpent following behind him, hissing angrily and unaware that it was being toyed with. Shade then came up behind it and pounced onto its back. Calculating the trajectory that he would need to land on its head, he closed his eyes and leaped forward, bringing his claws up, ready to strike. His claws glowed with a dark purple and red aura as he slashed an 'X' across the basilisk's face. He knew that he hit his mark when he heard the serpent's agonising cry. He then opened his eyes and leapt off of the basilisk, landing in front of Harry and the partners watched as the great serpent writhed in agony as blindness overcame it.

"No! You may have blinded the basilisk with your stupid pet, but it can still hear and smell you!" Tom growled in rage.

"The underbelly, throat and mouth are its weakest points where its scaly hide cannot protect it. If you can cut the throat or stab up through its mouth into its brain, then it will be destroyed," Shade advised after concluding his analysis of the basilisk's body structure.

"Go around it and distract its attention. I'll climb up its back and try to conjure something to take it down," Harry ordered.

Shade then ran around the basilisk, making sure to be extra noisy to draw the serpent's attention away from Harry. Shade then began to scratch and fire balls of magical energy at the serpent, causing it to back up in pain. Harry took his opportunity and ran up the serpent's sloping back and jumped onto its head.

The basilisk felt Harry jump onto it and vigorously tried to shake him off. He held on tight though and thought of what to use to take the monster down. His bō was too blunt to be able to cut its throat. No, he needed a knife or a sword. He had steady himself and conjure one soon before Ginny lost her life force. He had no time to lose. As he began to slip down the serpent's back, he kept pulling himself back up, not willing to give up when he was so close. He had to carry on fighting for Ginny's life, and nothing would stop him any longer.

As Harry finally steadied himself and was about to conjure a sword, he felt a weight in his right hand. He looked to his hand to see it holding a shining, ruby-encrusted silver blade. On it was written the name 'Godric Gryffindor'. He held the Sword of Gryffindor in his hand, the very sword that was legendary throughout the Wizarding World. Now, he knew that he would succeed. He brought the sword up and slashed across the monster's neck, spilling litres of blood from the wound as he cut deep into it.

Harry then jumped off of the basilisk and watched as it slowly weakened from blood loss. In one final attempt to kill Harry, the serpent reared its head and lunged for him. He was quicker and side-stepped the monster before stabbing up into its brain with his sword. He pulled the sword out of its mouth and watched as it writhed in agonising pain once again before falling down dead at his feet. Harry and Shade were victorious.

"No! Impossible! You shouldn't be that skilful! You should be dead!" Tom barked angrily, unprepared for Harry and Shade's victory against the basilisk.

"You forget something, Tom. I'm the one who stopped your future self when I was but a baby thanks to my mother's protection and my power. You have no power here as you are still a mere fragment of your real self. A memory. Trapped inside...a diary...Of course!" Harry mused before rushing over to the diary that laid on the ground next to Ginny.

"What are you doing now, Potter?!" Tom asked angrily.

"What I should've done at the start of all of this! You are trapped inside the diary, correct? So what would happen if I destroyed it?" Harry responded with a grin.

"No! You can't do that to me! Give me that diary!" Tom cried fearfully, knowing what Harry was about to do.

Before Tom could grab the diary, Harry stabbed it with his sword and watched as his theory was proven right. A large hole appeared in the middle of Tom's chest, just like where Harry stabbed the diary; in the middle. He carried on bringing the sword up and stabbing the diary again, causing Tom to become filled with holes until he gave one final scream of pain before exploding into a mist, dispersing as quickly as it appeared. Tom Riddle was gone.

As Tom exploded, Ginny finally breathed once again and stared up to the ceiling in a panic before realising that she was still alive. Tom said that she would be dead once she blacked out, yet here she was. Could that mean that Harry had saved her? As she looked around, she saw Shade hover over her face and nudged her face affectionately, helping her to sit up. That's when she saw him. The boy who had saved her. Harry stood over her with a concerned expression on his face as he knelt down and put a hand to her face. He caressed her cheek slowly, as if he was checking to see if she was really alive, and she leaned into his hand, relishing in the attention.

"Ginny...You're alive," Harry finally said.

"You saved me. You did it. You killed Tom and the basilisk. But how?" Ginny asked.

"One of us, meaning me and Shade, would distract the basilisk while the other attacked. As for Tom, the destruction of the diary was his final downfall. I used the Sword of Gryffindor to finally stop those monsters," Harry explained, showing the sword to Ginny.

Ginny's eyes went wide as Harry told her the tale and showed her the sword that she had known to have been lost for centuries. He then helped Ginny get up on her feet. She was still a little bit disoriented, but she would only get better now that the danger had come to pass for now.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. If I had only been stronger, then maybe this wouldn't have happened and you wouldn't have been in danger. You could've died trying to save me! I don't know what I'd do if you had died because of me!" Ginny apologised.

"Don't apologise to me for this! You couldn't have stopped Tom by yourself no matter how strong you were! He has manipulated many people in his life, not just you, so don't blame yourself! You did nothing wrong! In fact, the time you spent trying to stop him yourself shows your strength as you kept him at bay for so long! It's me who wasn't strong enough! I should've seen it sooner! I should've protected you better!" Harry exclaimed in anger, though at himself, not Ginny.

"What are you on about, Harry?" Ginny asked in confusion.

"I watched you get possessed and couldn't stop it! I saw you lying on the floor dying for crying out loud! If I wasn't quick enough, you could've died! And all because of me! He used you to get to me because he knew that I would come! I almost lost you today! If I had...I don't know what I'd have done...I need you, Ginny..." Harry cried out in anguish.

Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. Harry was blaming himself for what happened to her. He was saying that he needed her. But how did he need her. What for?

"What do you mean, Harry? How do you need me?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"I need you as you keep me sane. You keep me from becoming that hollow shell of myself that I once was. You stood by me when no-one else did. You are my light, Ginny Weasley, and I...I..." Harry explained, struggling to say the new and strange unused words for the first time aloud.

"I am?" Ginny asked in shock.

Harry really thought of Ginny that highly? She couldn't believe it even as she heard the words from his mouth. But he was struggling with the ending of his confession. She knew that he wasn't good with emotions, so maybe if she just nudged him along and gave him encouragement, he would tell her what he ultimately thought of her.

"Don't be afraid, Harry. Please, will you tell me how that confession ends?" Ginny asked, caressing his cheek soothingly as he had caressed hers as she woke up.

"You're my everything, Ginny, and I...I...I love you..." Harry finished at last, sighing in relief as the words came out.

Ginny felt tears build up in her eyes, yet they were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy. Here was the boy she had fallen in love with finally telling her the three words that she had longed to hear come from his mouth. She looked into his eyes and saw no deception, only undeniable truth and the wish for acceptance. He finally understood what the Mirror of Erised showed him. His desire was Ginny. And as she continued to stare at him with awe and adoration, she decided that he would have his desire.

"Oh Harry...I love you too...I have loved you for so long that I thought that you may never feel the same way towards me..." Ginny answered, causing Harry to smile.

"I have always loved you...It just took me a while, and your help and patience, to figure it out for myself. I am never letting you go again, I promise you," Harry told Ginny, much to her satisfaction.

What the couple didn't noticed, but what Shade did, was the golden light that surrounded them as they made their confessions of love to each other. The light grew stronger and brighter as they hugged each other until it became blinding to Shade as they kissed each other's lips for the first time. Even though it was a short chaste kiss between first, and ultimately only, lovers, it would reverberate across the Wizarding World and would strike fear into the hearts of all who had become corrupted by darkness. The repercussions of this would not be known until Harry would visit Gringotts in the next summer where he would learn of the new addition to the list of those who had been bonded by Magic.

A/N: Now to clear some things up. Yes, Harry and Ginny will be soul-bonded as I have finally decided after thinking over it for a while. I know that it's been done before, even by me before in my YouTube series, but I will try to put a new spin on it (like having a darker Harry for instance). The reason why Shade considers Harry as a partner rather than a master, like Hedwig does, is because Shade is a race of magical cats and obviously can communicate with Harry on a level higher than Hedwig, so the two relate to each other a bit like Dumbledore and Fawkes did I suppose, who were like partners. It's nothing to do with downplaying Hedwig as she will still be a vital ally to Harry, but due to Shade's abilities, he is much more independent etc. As with his attacks, due to being a magical cat and based off of Umbreon, his attacks will be like Umbreon's attacks in Pokémon, such as Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball etc. And as a final note, this story will be strictly Harry/Ginny now, so no multi-pairing as I was asking people to vote for as the majority went for pure Harry/Ginny. However, I have been working on a Harry Potter/Spider-Man crossover, as I believe that Spider-Man would be the most suitable hero for Harry to be, and have put Hallie in there, with a different surname, as the main love interest to make it a little different and it's fun to write a Harry/OC pairing. I may post it sometime soon or in the summer after I get to 10+ chapters, but I'd like to know if any of you would be interested in reading it. Let me know in my reviews so that I can make a final decision later. Sorry for the long author's notes, but I felt like I should explain some things. Stay tuned for the next chapter soon where Harry and Ginny will confront the Weasleys and Dumbledore.