A/N: Hi everyone. I've had some people saying that Harry is a little OOC in this story. The short answer is that he's supposed to be. He's not the same Harry in the original universe that JKR wrote. He's much darker and much stronger than the original Harry. As I've had him being rather soft in recent chapters, I've decided to use this chapter to show that while he is utterly devoted to Ginny and loves her dearly, he still has that darker side to his personality that will not hesitate to punish those who do him or Ginny wrong. However, he will not kill out of revenge (apart from Tom for obvious reasons), as he still has morals. Anyway, onto the 20th chapter of my story. I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the series, JKR does, and I don't own the Pokémon Umbreon, Nintendo and Game Freak do. Now, on with the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 20: Confrontations

After the golden light died down, Harry and Ginny broke their kiss and looked at Shade, who gave them a Cheshire grin. Harry helped Ginny to her feet and the trio walked out of the Chamber with the diary and the Sword of Gryffindor in tow. As they walked towards the entrance, they realised something.

"Harry? How are we going to get out?" Ginny asked.

"I think that I have an idea," Harry replied.

Harry then cast a spell and surrounded them with a bubble that floated up the chute to the girls' bathroom. They exited the bathroom and headed back to the common room to see if Hermione and Hallie had woken up. Fortunately, the two girls were still inside and had just got up to their feet to see the trio enter, causing sighs of relief to be emitted from their mouths.

"Harry! Ginny! Thank goodness you're alright! Hallie told me what happened to Ginny and we feared the worst! The Weasleys have been called to Dumbledore's office once Ron noticed the absence of you two and notified the Headmaster!" Hermione explained hysterically.

"I'm surprised that he even remembered that he had a sister. Although, it was more likely that he and Dumbledore knew that something was up and left me to deal with the problem...again! Not that I wouldn't have done it if I knew that they knew. Ginny is way more important than those idiots," Harry responded, earning a bright smile from Ginny at his last comment.

"You best take Ginny to Dumbledore's office now before he comes to try and find you. You can tell us what happened later as my head still hurts from where I hit the wall," Hallie pouted, rubbing her head.

Harry nodded and led Ginny to Dumbledore's office, leaving Shade in the common room to look after Hermione and Hallie until he returned. When they arrived, they were greeted to arguing Weasleys and Dumbledore.

"Are you just going to sit there and wait for Harry to save my daughter, then?! What if they both die in the Chamber?!" Mrs Weasley screamed.

"Harry will not die. He will save your daughter, Molly. Trust me. He can't die now. Otherwise our-Harry!" Dumbledore said.

Harry merely raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore's failure to finish his sentence. Harry knew how it was going to end and whether he was dead or not, the old man's plan was never going to work. He would see to that. However, he had to put this thought aside as the Weasleys all hugged Ginny and thanked him for saying her. He knew that at least Ron didn't really care whether she was ok or not, but even the rest of them seemed to have something hidden in their eyes, apart from the twins. The twins seemed to be the only Weasleys, apart from Ginny, who were genuine, and he could see how happy they were about Ginny being alright. Maybe they could find good allies in the twins in the future.

"You saved her! How can we ever repay you?!" Mrs Weasley asked with a fake smile that only Harry could see through.

"It was nothing. I did what anyone would've done," Harry replied nonchalantly.

"Harry? What's that on your belt?" Dumbledore enquired, seeing the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Oh this? It just appeared to me somehow and I used it to kill the basilisk. I didn't really think much of it. It was coming right at me so my first thought was to hold my hand up and close my eyes as I slashed to defend myself. When I opened my eyes, I saw the sword imbedded in the basilisk's mouth," Harry answered, giving his best innocent expression.

"So it was a basilisk that was hiding in the Chamber? Interesting. You're lucky to have survived, my boy. However, do you know why Miss Weasley here was taken into the Chamber?" Dumbledore asked.

"She was possessed by a ghost memory that was trapped in this diary. It was a student named Tom Riddle, but most people know him better as Voldemort. It was not Ginny's fault that all of this happened, but Tom's for using a young girl to do what he couldn't. He's gone now though. I used the sword to stab the diary when I realised that it was the source of this and Tom's form exploded afterwards," Harry replied.

"You've done a great service to the school, Harry, and saved the lives of countless muggle-borns and your young friend here. Now, I think that we best leave the Weasleys to celebrate while we have a little talk, don't you agree?" Dumbledore said with his grandfatherly smile.

Harry grudgingly nodded as he knew that if he didn't, he'd make Dumbledore and the Weasleys suspicious. He gave a quick nod to Ginny to say that he would be fine before the Weasleys led her outside.

"Now Harry, I'm sure that you're wondering how you received that sword?" Dumbledore enquired.

Harry knew why he received it, but he nodded to keep up appearances, making Dumbledore give him another grandfatherly smile. He felt a Legilimency probe come from Dumbledore, but he brushed it aside and caught a glimpse of annoyance in the Headmaster's face.

"That sword was used by Godric Gryffindor. Everyone thought that it had disappeared for good, until now. Only a true Gryffindor would be able to have the Sword of Gryffindor appear in their time of need," Dumbledore explained.

Harry pretended to look shocked, even though he already knew this. What Dumbledore didn't know was that it was his courage, not that he was a true Gryffindor as he had traits from all four houses, that called the Sword to him. Just as he was about to leave Dumbledore's office, Lucius Malfoy walked in with Dobby, the house elf that had tried to stop him from going to Hogwarts. He knew now that Dobby expected this and was only trying to keep him safe, so he had forgiven the misguided elf for stealing the Weasleys' letters and blocking the entrance to Platform 9 and 3/4, which he had figured out a while after the events.

Lucius stormed up to Dumbledore, while aggressively pushing Dobby along, and glared at the old man. Harry raised an eyebrow at this and wondered what Lucius was up to. He got his answer once the blond man started to talk.

"So...I see that the missing girl has been found?" Lucius asked with a hint of anger laced in his voice.

"Yes. Young Harry here saved her from a terrible fate and prevented the return of a dangerous threat," Dumbledore replied.

"And? Did you manage to catch the culprit? What dangerous threat was prevented?" Lucius enquired as his anger increased.

"Voldemort," Dumbledore answered.

"Ah...I see..." Lucius said, uncomfortable with how these events were turning out.

"However, this time he chose to act through another by means of this diary," Dumbledore explained, showing the stabbed diary to Lucius, who cringed at seeing the diary.

That was when Harry finally put all of the pieces together. When Lucius placed Ginny's books back into her cauldron, the pile looked larger. Lucius' look of recognition only proved that the blond man placed the diary in her cauldron. He knew what he was doing and deliberately tried to get her killed while allowing Tom to return to power. Harry may not be able to do anything while Dumbledore was here, but as soon as the evil man left, he would teach that scum what happens when someone tries to hurt the girl he loves.

"Right...Well then, let us hope that Mr Potter will always be around...to save the day..." Lucius said grudgingly, glaring angrily at Harry.

"Don't worry...I will be..." Harry responded, glaring back and allowing his aura to be emitted slightly to show Lucius just how angry he was.

"Come, Dobby! We're leaving!" Lucius growled as he kicked Dobby down the stairs and out of the office.

"Excuse me, Professor? I was wondering if I might have that diary?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore handed the diary to Harry and was going to ask for the Sword of Gryffindor before he ran out, knowing exactly what the old man was about to ask. Harry soon caught up with Lucius and grinned as he pictured the blond man's face when he told him what he knew.

"Mr Malfoy? Mr Malfoy?!" Harry yelled, trying to get Lucius' attention.

"What do you want, Mr Potter?" Lucius asked, annoyed at being delayed.

"I believe that you forgot something," Harry replied, roughly placing the diary in Lucius' hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lucius lied unconvincingly.

"Oh, I believe that you do. You put that in Ginny's cauldron after you took out her books that day in Diagon Alley. I've always had good perception skills, so now I know why her cauldron seemed to have a larger pile of books after you got involved," Harry explained as he glared at Lucius, daring him to lie again.

"Then why don't you prove it!" Lucius whispered harshly, leaning close to Harry's face and tossing the diary to Dobby.

Harry gave a subtle nod to Dobby to open the diary. When the house elf opened it, his eyes widened as he saw the sock inside.

"Your facial expressions since you saw the diary are enough evidence for me, but I'm sure that a few drops of Veritaserum will be enough to show the Ministry the truth," Harry explained.

Lucius knew that he was caught and turned around briskly to walk away. However, he soon realised that Dobby was not following him. When he turned around again to look back, he was horrified to see his house elf holding a sock that came out of the diary and knew exactly what had happened.

"Master has presented Dobby with a sock! With clothes! Dobby is free!" Dobby cried out happily.

"You lost me my servant!" Lucius screamed in anger as he drew his wand and aimed it at Harry.

Harry, however, was much quicker than Lucius and rushed at the man, knocking him to the ground and placed the blade of the Sword of Gryffindor across the now fearful man's neck.

"That was a warning. If you ever directly or indirectly harm Ginny again, I will kill you where you stand and no-one, not even your pathetic half-blood master will stop me! If he ever returns, I will kill him for what he has done to me, to Ginny, and to the rest of the world! Now, I suggest that you get up, turn around and walk away while you still can. Oh, and tell your son what happened just now and to keep away unless he wants to end up like you will if you ever try something like this again! Do you understand me?!" Harry threatened before getting up off of Lucius' scared body.

Lucius quickly got up, gave Harry an angry glare, then walked away as Harry instructed him. He still couldn't believe how fast the boy was. He nearly died today, but he wouldn't make the same mistake again. He may have underestimated the boy, but his Lord would destroy him as soon as he regained his body. Cutting back to Harry, he looked down at the awed house elf who looked like he was going to cry with happiness.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby! How can Dobby ever repay him?!" Dobby asked excitedly.

"Just one thing. Never try to save my life again. As you can see, I am more capable than you thought. Oh, and have a good life, Dobby," Harry replied, giving the house elf a smile.

Harry watched as Dobby clicked his fingers and disappeared with a massive grin on his face. Now that Lucius had been dealt with, it was time to check on Ginny and make sure that the Weasleys hadn't done anything to her as he wouldn't put it past them. He soon found the family in the common room, apart from the twins, with Ginny looking upset and the others having stern looks on their faces. He was about to walk straight in, but decided to listen in first in case someone else needed to be taught a lesson.

"You nearly got Harry killed! You should've known better than to write in a magical diary that wasn't yours! How would you feel if Harry had died trying to save you, huh?! You're not good for the boy as you're just going to get him into trouble if you carry on like this! Ron will be able to help him out better than you!" Mrs Weasley chastised.

That was all that Harry needed, or was willing, to hear as he stepped into view with the expression of a man who wanted blood. No-one would dare to say anything about his Ginny again once he was through here. He noticed that some of the other Gryffindors had started to come down from the dormitories from being disturbed by the shouting and merely grinned at being able to publicly humiliate the Weasleys for upsetting his Ginny.

"I sincerely hope that what I heard just now was a joke, Mrs Weasley. I don't want to have to do what I just did to Lucius for his involvement in this to you as well," Harry snarled, turning everyone's attention to him.

"But it's true! You nearly died in that Chamber because of trying to save my daughter! If you hadn't have become so close and allowed Ron to be your friend and guide you, then none of this would've happened!" Mrs Weasley responded, oblivious to Harry's growing rage.

"'Nearly died'? Ha! I barely had a scratch on me! The only scratch I got was from falling down the chute into the Chamber! The only person you should be worrying about is the person who actually was nearly killed; Ginny! It's not hard to say her name instead of 'your daughter' all of the time! How dare you chastise her for something that wasn't her fault! Now, leave! I need to talk to Ginny and, unlike you, see if she really is alright!" Harry growled, releasing his aura as the Weasleys cowered away in fear of Harry.

The Weasleys, apart from Ginny, all left the common room as quickly as they could, likely to report to Dumbledore about his outburst. He didn't care. All he was worried about was his Ginny, and they crossed the line. The rest of the Gryffindors who saw the outburst also retreated to their dorms so that Harry and Ginny could have their privacy. He then walked up to her and pulled her into a loving embrace that spoke more than words could at this point. When she calmed down, she remembered what he said about Lucius.

"Harry? What did you do to Lucius?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Nothing too serious. I only showed him how easily I could've killed him and told him how Tommy-boy was a dead man if he ever showed his face again. Hopefully, he'll do as I said and tell Draco about this and get the prat off of our back for at least the rest of this year," Harry replied casually as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Thank you...for everything..." Ginny said quietly.

"No, Ginny...Thank you..." Harry responded.

The couple then shared another kiss, more passionate than their first kiss was as they instinctively knew what the other liked. Their tongues danced in their mouths as they fought for dominance. Eventually, they broke the kiss as the need for oxygen became a necessity as they panted heavily.

"Wow...That was..." Ginny tried to speak, but her mind couldn't think of anymore words to say.

"Intense?" Harry helpfully finished for her.

"Yeah, that works. I thought that it would be another year or so before we started to French kiss, but all I could think about was kissing you and touching you," Ginny mused.

"That's how I felt too. I've never felt like that before. Well, I've wanted to kiss you before, but the urge has never been that strong before," Harry commented.

"That might have something to do with what happened in the Chamber of Secrets, my friends," Shade answered their unspoken question as he appeared from the shadows.

"What do you mean, Shade?" Harry asked.

"When you and your mate confessed your feelings, a bond was formed between the two of you...A very powerful one that cannot be severed. When you kissed, you 'sealed the deal' as muggles say," Shade answered.

"And this bond somehow increased our urges for each other, I assume?" Harry enquired.

"That would be my assumption too. Unfortunately, I've never seen anything like that before, so I'm sorry if I can't be any more help. However, it may be wise to ask the goblins about it as they may know more about bonds. Besides, you wished to talk to them in the summer about your inheritance anyway, so you might as well use that meeting to your advantage and ask about the bond too," Shade suggested.

"Umm...Harry?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Yes, Ginny? What's wrong?" Harry questioned in response.

"Why can I hear you and Shade talking when your lips aren't moving?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"You can what?!" Harry responded in shock.

"So, she can hear us when we talk telepathically. That is interesting...So the bond also has a psychic link attached to it...Try talking to your mate yourself, Harry," Shade mused, taking on a curious expression.

"Umm...Ginny? Can you hear me?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yeah! I can! Shade was right! But, what do we do now? It's not exactly normal for wizards and witches to be able to talk to each other inside their heads," Ginny said.

"I'll have to ask the goblins about it in the summer. I'll let you know what I find out though. This is an interesting turn of events though. Now we can talk to each other without worrying about someone listening in on us," Harry explained, thinking of the Weasleys and Dumbledore.

"That's true. We still need to decide what we're going to do about our new...relationship..." Ginny commented, worried about Harry's reaction.

Due to the manipulations of others, Ginny was worried that Harry would try to hide their relationship so that people like Dumbledore didn't try to use her to bait him into doing what they wanted. In fact, part of her was still guilty for what happened down in the Chamber, and her mother's comments only increased that guilt.

"I'm not going to hide our relationship, Ginny. Everyone already knows how close we are anyway. Hell, I've heard people commenting about how they assume that we are already dating as we spend every free moment together! I don't care what anyone, not even Dumbledore, tries to do. If they touch one hair on your body, whether physically or magically, I will make them wish that they were born without limbs or a magical core. You are the most important person in the world to me, and everyone will know that and what will happen if they cross us. Do you understand?" Harry explained, caressing her cheek comfortingly.

"But what if someone doesn't care and still tries something? What if it was Dumbledore? You know that he will make sure to send you a message by using me. I'm scared, Harry. I'm scared that someone will actually kill you when you come for me next time and then I'll be alone again...Everyone will just hurt me and use me and there'll be nothing I can do to stop them...I'm not as strong as you..." Ginny whimpered, showing a side to herself that only Harry would ever see; the scared, young girl trying to fit in and do the right thing.

"No-one is going to hurt you, Ginny," Harry stated reassuringly.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better..." Ginny sighed.

"Did it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah...Can you say it again?" Ginny replied, still a little downtrodden.

"No-one is going to hurt you, Gin," Harry repeated.

Ginny sighed at the use of this new nickname. She actually liked it as long as it came from Harry. She then leaned into him as he began to stroke through her hair the way that she loved, comforting her more than any words could. He lightly kissed the top of her head every once in a while until he began to hear her soft, quiet breaths that signified that she had fallen asleep. That was what he was trying to do, knowing that after the day that she's had that she needed rest. Soon enough, he joined her in her slumber and fell to sleep himself, but not before placing a notice-me-not charm on them so that they were disturbed. No-one was going to hurt his Ginny again. They could try, and they would soon realise how futile their attempts were when they had the Sword of Gryffindor at their throats.

A/N: As you can see, unlike normal soul bonds where Harry and his soul mate have to have physical contact with each other for days to weeks, I've neglected to put that in as it would be a hindrance to them in their current predicament of Dumbledore and the Weasleys being their enemies. I put it down to the fact that the kiss in the last chapter allowed them to skip the first stages of the bond and move onto the later stages, hence the fact that they're talking to each other telepathically already. This may, they can avoid the bond being detected by those who would use it to try and control them, but will give them even more advantages in their fight against the coming darkness. The next chapter will probably finish off the loose ends of Year 2, then we'll move onto the second summer. Also, to all those who like NCIS as I do, you may get the reference to a Gibbs/Abby conversation from Season 3 at the end of this chapter. Until then, I bid you all farewell. Bye!