The end of the ordeal from Lily's perspective.

LILY XV

They followed Albus Dumbledore through the corridors of the castle until they reached his office. Lily held and sustained her son by the shoulder as they walked. She wouldn't let him go anywhere far from her, not after the things he went through these last few hours, without mentioning the things he made her go through as well. She would need a good conversation with him later. The next time he wanted to play the hero, he had to at least warn her, like last year.

Once in the office, Dumbledore's phoenix flew to its perch while Hogwarts' Headmaster sat behind his desk. "Please, you can both sit down."

Lily finally let go of Harry, allowing him to sit on a chair while she took place in another one, still keeping a close eye on him. In normal times, she wouldn't have allowed Dumbledore to have what she expected to be a lengthy conversation with her son so soon after he came back barely alive from the Chamber of Secrets, but she knew Dumbledore good enough to know that he felt this conversation was necessary. Harry looked shaken. Who wouldn't be after the ordeal he went through?

"Harry," the Headmaster began. "First of all, I want to thank you. You must have shown great courage and loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."

Lily looked at the phoenix. It was in its honor that Dumbledore named Order of the Phoenix the organization that fought Voldemort during the last war. Lily never thought though that one day she would owe her son's life to the bird.

"And so you met Voldemort when he was younger," the Headmaster continued. "I imagine that he was most interested in you. I can also sense that something is troubling you, Harry. This is understandable, but if you want to share it with me and your mother, I think now would be the perfect time."

"Well... There's something that Riddle told me in the Chamber of Secrets," her son began. "He said... that we looked alike."

Lily scoffed. "Harry," she said, "you must understand one thing, it's that Voldemort always takes great joy of torturing and manipulating people, in making them believe what he wants."

"Your mother is right, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort is manipulating everyone he meets, and he's been like this ever since his childhood. But... Tell us, why do you have the impression you are alike?"

"How can I speak Parseltongue?" Harry quietly burst. "Everyone thought that I was Slytherin's heir because of that. Why can I speak to snakes?"

On that, Lily still had no answer. She made more extensive research, and there had been absolutely no Parselmouth in the Potter family that she could find, and no link with Salazar Slytherin.

"Well, Harry," Dumbledore said very calmly, "Voldemort is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin. He can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he unwillingly transferred some of his powers to you the night he tried to kill you."

Lily's eyes widened. "What?" This was the first time Albus Dumbledore told her this. Why didn't he tell her before?

"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"That was obviously never his intent, but he did," the Headmaster stated.

Her son looked at her, but for once in her life, she had no words of comfort, nothing reassuring to tell him. This news was just as shocking for her as it was for Harry.

"But... I'm not like him?" he asked, as if he was begging for a negative answer. Lily didn't understand how he could even be asking, thinking such a thing.

"No, you're not. You are very different from Tom Riddle, even from the time he was a student."

"But then... Last year, the Sorting Hat... He told me I should go to Slytherin."

This came as another shock for Lily. Harry never told her about this. "This Hat must have received a huge blow. It's losing its mind," she almost lashed. How could anyone believe that Harry should have been sent into Slytherin?

"I think not," Dumbledore interrupted. "Harry has many qualities that Salazar Slytherin prized in the students he chose. He is a Parselmouth, determined, resourceful, and if I may say so, he has a certain disregard for rules."

What was Dumbledore doing? This was the time to reassure Harry, not to convince he would his place somewhere like Slytherin.

"But, Harry," Dumbledore resumed, "you are the only one who can tell us. Why did the Hat put you into Gryffindor?"

"Because... I didn't want to go in Slytherin," he said, almost looking guilty.

"Exactly, Harry. This is what makes you very different from Voldemort. Do you think that Voldemort would have gone into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny Weasley, fought a Basilisk to save other people's lives, or even helped to free a mistreated house-elf today? Or that he would have done it any other day in his life?" Harry shook his head. "It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices."

Harry looked down for a moment, then looked at her. She nodded her head, trying to look encouraging. She had told something similar to him, after he asked her why he could speak Parseltongue, telling him that it didn't matter if he could speak Parseltongue. The only thing that mattered was how he used it. Somehow though, it sounded more convincing when it came from Dumbledore.

"But if you want irrefutable proof that you are a Gryffindor, Harry," Dumbledore continued, "then I suggest you look more closely at this."

Dumbledore had brought the sword which Harry used to kill the Basilisk with him. He handed it to Harry. Through the dark blood, still fresh, on the blade, Lily immediately read the name that was written on it.

GODRIC GRYFFINDOR

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the Hat," Dumbledore simply stated.

It relieved Lily. She hoped it would be enough to convince her son that his place was inside the house where both his parents went.

"But now, I think you both need some rest and food. I'm famished myself. I suggest you go to the feast in the Great Hall. Many people are probably already waiting for you," Dumbledore kindly suggested.

Harry kept looking at the sword of Gryffindor for a time, but Lily finally stood up, and with a gentle pull on his shoulder, made him understand it was time to leave.

"So, we're going to the Great Hall?" Harry asked as they left Dumbledore's office.

"Yes," she replied, "but first, we stop by your dormitory. I think you need a shower, and clean clothes." He was really in a pitiful state.

"Okay." They didn't say a thing for quite some time. Then Harry continued. "Do you think it is true, me and dad we are descendants of Godric Gryffindor?"

She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe. I find it more likely than Slytherin being your father's ancestor. I don't think he would have been able to suffer the mere thought of it. He would have broken the nose of every Slytherin he would ever come across."

They shared a good laugh at that. It was good to see Harry laughing again. "Did the Hat think about sending you in another house than Gryffindor?" Harry asked after some time.

Lily thought among her own Sorting Ceremony. "If it had any doubt, the Hat never shared them with me. It sent me to Gryffindor maybe one second after it was placed on my head."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Are you sure?"

He was looking at her with one of those looks. She decided to play the game. "Your mother is not that old, you know." She pinched him on the head.

"Ouch!" he said, but he was smiling with her.

They soon arrived in front of the Fat Lady. On their way, they met a few students in pyjamas, all of them waving their hands at Harry. It seemed the story already spread through the whole castle. When they arrived in front of the Fat Lady and Harry gave the password, an ovation welcomed him inside the common room.

"I'm waiting for you," Lily told her son, waiting for him to get out. She hoped all this wouldn't get too high in his head, or else she would need to bring his feet back on earth, like she did for his father many years ago.

Harry came back fifteen minutes later, with fresh clothes and wet hair that clearly indicated he had taken a showed. There was almost no one left in Gryffindor's common room. They went to the feast.

The corridors were empty. Lily guessed everyone was in the Great Hall already. However, as they turned a corner, they came face to face with Dobby, previously Lucius Malfoy's elf.

Lily froze in front of the elf. She still wasn't sure what to expect from him. Dobby had tried to injure Harry so badly that he was lucky to not end in the hospital wing, broken in a thousand pieces.

"Dobby apologizes, but Dobby only wanted to thank Harry Potter for freeing Dobby," the elf said.

"That wasn't a problem," Harry said.

"How can Dobby ever repay him?"

"There's one thing you can promise me."

"Anything, sir."

"Never try to save my life again."

Lily never saw the elf smile so widely. She didn't even remember him smiling before. She had to admit that it was hard to not find the creature adorable right now, even funny.

"So, Dobby, I don't have to worry about my son ending in the infirmary for some rogue Bludger again?" she asked him.

"Oh no, Lily Evans. Never," the elf swore, looking suddenly so small and ashamed.

Lily sighed. "Very well. I'll remove the complaint I made against you tomorrow. You won't have any problem with the Ministry of Magic."

"Thank you. How can Dobby repay her?"

"The same way you will be repaying my son. Don't try to save him again."

She supposed that if elves could blush, then this was what was happening to Dobby right now.

"Dobby has to go. The other elves need help in the kitchens." He disappeared by Apparating.

"Let's hope he will hold onto his word," Lily commented.

"I think he will," Harry said with a huge smile.

She smiled as well to him, though she wished she could be as certain as her son was. Well, if he could forgive the elf for harming him, Lily guessed she could as well. And given the obvious mistreatments he suffered at the hands of Lucius Malfoy and the terror his former master caused him, she guessed that she could grant some pity to the elf... while remaining cautious for the next time he would try to save someone's life.

She had to admit the feast was something. Lily never had one like this when she was at Hogwarts. She spent most of it talking with Arthur and Molly, leaving her son to discuss with his friends. Lily hugged Hermione like Harry did when she arrived, no longer Petrified. It was hard to believe that a few hours ago, Lily was examining her unmoving body to find clues in order to find Harry.

Lily left in the morning, after the feast. Molly and Arthur were already gone, having forced their children into bed in their respective dormitories. Lily allowed Harry to stay awake a little while longer, in part because he and Hermione were talking at length after she finished her long debate with Ronald. Hermione wanted to know all the details about how they found the Chamber of Secrets. The girl had already found out almost everything, but she hadn't thought about Moaning Myrtle's toilets being the entrance to the Chamber. Lily stepped into their conversation, saying how she and the teachers found the entrance as well after Harry and Ron went inside the Chamber. Lily was pleased that Hermione looked so alive only a few hours after being no longer Petrified. She wondered if she would have been the same, had she faced the same fate of Petrification.

Eventually though, she ordered her son to go to bed as well, and although she wasn't Hermione's mother and that the girl just spent months in a state akin to sleeping, she ordered her to go to bed as well. Hermione obeyed without any question. Lily ruffled her son's hair before he left, then she went to leave the castle. She was halfway through the park when someone shouted her name behind her back.

"Mrs Lily! Mrs Lily!"

It was Ginny. It seemed the little girl had found a way to get out of her dormitory, despite her parents' efforts. They would need to watch her as she grew up. Lily already had a lot to worry about with a single son. She didn't want to imagine what it was for Molly and Arthur.

"Ginny, shouldn't you in bed?" The girl was out of breath, wearing a pyjama. It was a chance that they were nearing the end of spring and temperatures reached highs.

"Yes, but... I wanted... I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"I... I never wanted to put Harry in danger. I'm sorry. I should..." She burst into tears. The little girl had looked quite happy during the feast. Lily guessed she couldn't escape guilt forever.

Lily knelt and took the little girl into her arms. She cried on her shoulder. "Hey, look, Ginny. You're not the first witch to make a mistake, and you will not be the last. We all make errors at your age."

Strangely enough, right when she said the words, she noticed Snape not far away. He was looking at her, a confused look on his face. She sent him an unforgiving glare, like she always did. He seemed about to say something to her, but he turned and walked away back to the school. Lily watched him slowly disappearing, then brought her attention back to Ginny, who she hadn't stopped patting on her back.

"Look, Ginny." She broke the embrace and had the girl look straight into her eyes. Tears still filled Ginny's eyes. "You never wanted to hurt anybody, am I wrong?"

The little girl shook her head. "No. I... I didn't want to... Riddle forced me to..."

"Well, no one is dead, that's the most important." She placed a hand on the girl's wet cheek. "The best you can do is to learn lessons from what happened this year. Make sure it doesn't happen again," Lily said very kindly. If someone wasn't to blame in the whole story, it was Ginny Weasley. "You understand?" The little girl nodded. "Good. Now, I'll bring you back to your dormitory. You really need rest."

She went back to the castle and led Ginny through the corridors until she could let her walk into Gryffindor's common room. Before they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, something gushed from Ginny's mouth.

"I like Harry, you know."

Lily wasn't sure how to take it. "I'm sure you do. He's a very good friend." They now stood in front of the portrait. Lily gave the password, which she remembered from when Harry used it sooner in the night. "Now, go to bed. And don't leave it before next morning. Sleep well, Ginny."

The little girl smiled weakly at her, then she walked inside the common room, and the portrait closed on her. As Lily made her way back to the outside of the castle, she wondered what Ginny meant exactly when she said that she liked Harry.

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Next chapter: Ginny