While Ginny is imprisoned in the Chamber of Secrets...

RON IV

Ron and Harry sat silently in a corner of the Gryffindor common room. Fred and George had gone to bed not long ago. As for Percy, he was gone a long time ago, saying he would send an owl to their parents to tell them the news. Ginny disappeared.

For Ron, this was the worst day of his life. Right now, he regretted every time he was ever rough or unpleasant with his little sister. More than everything, he blamed himself for not getting her to tell them what she knew at breakfast. And he blamed Percy for interrupting them.

"She knew something, Harry," he said. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was..." Ron rubbed his eyes. "I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."

Harry said nothing. He had been very silent ever since they came back from the staff room. They had run from it in order to arrive in the common room before McGonagall made her official announcement about Ginny's disappearance. But since both Ron and Harry were hiding in a wardrobe while teachers discussed among them, they already knew that his sister had disappeared.

Now here they were, with dusk falling upon them, painting the Gryffindor common room in a color that was even redder than usual. Harry may remain silent, but Ron couldn't stop thinking.

"Harry... Do you think there's any chance at all she's not... you know..."

He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to voice the possibility of Ginny being... He didn't even want to think about it.

Things really got worse than Ron could ever think they would. Right at the moment when they were told that Hermione and the other students would be revived, and right when Harry found a book page crunched into Hermione's fist that revealed what was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny was kidnapped.

Hermione had discovered what was attacking the students just before she was attacked herself. It was surely the reason why she was targeted. Slytherin's heir must have learned that Hermione discovered his secret. She still had the piece of paper in her fist when Harry and Ron visited her in the infirmary today. It was hard, but Harry managed to get the paper out of her hand. From it, they learned that a Basilisk was attacking students. Hermione even found out how the monster managed to move around Hogwarts without being noticed.

Harry deduced that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might well be in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom. Tom Riddle's diary told him that the victim from fifty years ago was a girl found in the toilets. That was why they went to see the teachers in the staff room, but they hid after it was announced that something terrible had happened. And now they were supposed to rely on Gilderoy Lockhart to find Ginny and bring her back.

"You know what? I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a Basilisk in there."

"You think that Lockhart will really try to save Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ron was taken aback by the question. But the answer was obvious. "No."

"Even if he tried, I don't think he would succeed." Ron had to agree with Harry on that too. "Look, Ron. I've been thinking about it. The heir of Slytherin must be able to control the Basilisk because he can speak Parseltongue. Perhaps I could try to control it as well, like for the snake at the Duelling Club."

"You think it could work?" Ron asked, very uncertain.

"I don't know. But I can't imagine Lockhart succeeding. Can you?"

Ron thought about all the stupidities Lockhart did since the beginning of the year. "No."

"Let's go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Maybe she can tell us whether it is a Basilisk who killed her or not."

Nobody tried to stop him and Harry from leaving the common room. Outside, they met no teacher or Prefect or anything else that could stop them on their way. The castle felt empty, dead, as it realized that tonight was the last one when students would be spending time inside its walls. Before they reached their destination, Ron came face to face with the horrible second message that was left by Slytherin's heir.

HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOR EVER.

The bathroom where Moaning Myrtle resided looked just as ramshackle as ever. Ron remembered all the time they spent there, preparing a Polyjuice Potion they never used in the end. Ron was furious after Harry and Hermione back then. Deep down, he still believed that Malfoy could be the heir of Slytherin. He didn't care for what Dumbledore found or didn't find. He still blamed Harry for that choice, but right now they needed to focus on saving Ginny.

"Oh, it's you," Myrtle said when she saw the two of them walk in. "What do you want this time?"

Ron wasn't sure how to answer. How did you ask a ghost about how he died?

"To ask you how you died," Harry said. Ron wasn't unhappy that Harry was the one to ask so straightforward. Myrtle always seemed kinder to Harry, so better if that came from him. The girl ghost, though, looked very flattered by the question.

"Oh, it was dreadful. It happened right in here. I died in this very cubicle. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then, I died."

Ron found it quite odd that Moaning Myrtle relished in telling about her death. She complained when someone threw a book at her, to the point of causing major floods across the entire school, but she looked like the happiest ghost on Earth when someone asked her how she was murdered. The most important thing right now though was that she accepted to tell them how she died.

"How?" Harry asked, looking for more details.

"No idea," she replied. "I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away. And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was very sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

Ron almost wanted to vomit when seeing the kind of gaze she shot at Harry. It was worse than the ones Ginny made when she thought that Harry didn't know she was around.

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" Harry asked.

"Somewhere there." Myrtle pointed a sink in front of her toilet.

Ron rushed to it, in part because he wanted to save Ginny, but also in part because he wanted to get away from Myrtle. They looked at the sink through and through. Myrtle told them it never worked when they opened the taps.

"Ron, look." He gazed at where Harry was pointing. Ron opened great eyes when he saw a tiny snake carved into one of the taps.

"You think it's the entrance?" Ron asked Harry.

"I think so," Harry replied.

"Well, then... say something. Something in Parseltongue."

"But..."

"Do it. We don't have much time. My sister needs us."

Harry turned to the sink. He was looking at the tap, as if concentrating very hard.

"Open up." Harry looked back at Ron. Desperate, Ron shook his head.

"English," he stated the obvious.

Harry looked back to the sink. He opened the mouth again.

This time, a long hiss escaped his mouth. Ron backed down instinctively, but it was also because the tap began to glow, the sink to move, and disappeared to leave the place to a large pipe. It was large enough for a man to slide into it.

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"I'm going down there," Harry said.

"Me too," Ron said in kind.

"Wait here for thirty seconds, Ron. If you don't hear me after that, go and find Professor McGonagall..."

"What?" Ron couldn't believe what he heard. "You want me to stay behind?"

"No, Ron. But what if the Basilisk is waiting down there? Or if I meet it while I'm descending? What if I die and you follow me?"

"And Ginny? We've got to save her. I'm not staying behind. Anyway, you said yourself that Lockhart would never defeat the Basilisk. I'm not sure any teacher could do anything against a snake who kills on sight."

Harry looked away. "Alright. Just wait thirty seconds. If you hear me warning you not to come, go and find a teacher. If not, you follow me. Now let's go."

Harry jumped into the tunnel. Ron waited a moment, then seeing that Harry didn't yell anything, he followed him.

The slide was long. Ron followed a very dark tunnel, without any way to control his drop. He finally landed on a damp floor, with bones of what looked like small animals under his feet. Harry was already on his feet, covered with slime, his wizard robes stained with water. Ron preferred not to think about what the water on his own robes carried. The light in the tunnel where they landed was very dim. There was no torch, only a small glow that seemed to emanate from everywhere.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry said.

"Under the lake, probably," Ron added. No wonder the Chamber of Secrets was never found. No one probably ever thought that its entrance could be in the bathrooms, let alone girls' bathrooms. They probably never looked under the lake either.

Ron, however, had not forgotten why they were here. He looked around, searching for Ginny. Where was she? Where did they bring her?

"Lumos!"

Harry whispered the incantation that projected light all around them. The tunnel was leading forward. It was obvious that Ginny wasn't at the entrance. Slytherin's heir must have brought her deep into the Chamber.

"Come on," Harry said. Ron followed him. "Remember. Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away."

Ron nodded. He had cast the Lumos spell as well. Despite the combined lights of their two wands, they could only see a little distance ahead of them. The sound of their feet against the ground echoed on the walls. Ron wished they moved more quickly. At the same time, he was afraid of everything around them. He almost jumped out of utter fear when he stepped onto a rat's skull. He tried not to think about Scabbers. Though it was not better, since his thoughts always brought him back to Ginny. Was she still alive? If she was, in what state was she right now? What would their parents say when they would learn that Ron and his brothers failed to protect their sister? They were supposed to make sure she would be safe, and they let her be kidnapped, despite all the safety measures the teachers put into place. What a brother Ron was.

Maybe he should have pushed Ginny further at breakfast, when she was trying to tell them something. She might have spoken, and maybe the heir of Slytherin would be at Azkaban right now, with Ginny being safe in the Gryffindor Tower, Hagrid being released, Dumbledore back as Headmaster, and life getting back to normal at school.

They made a turn in the tunnel. Ron spotted something ahead of them, and grabbed Harry's shoulder to stop him.

"Harry, there's something up there," Ron said, his voice raucous.

Harry must have seen it too, for he did not move further. There was something very huge and curved. Ron thought there was nothing worse than spiders, but right now he thought that if someone asked what his worst fear was, he would answer snakes. For a long moment, they didn't move. Ron was afraid to move any further. What if Ginny was right there, in the mouth of the snake?

"Maybe it's asleep," Harry whispered.

He walked forward, very quietly, obviously trying as much as he could to make no sound. Ron remained behind, but kept his wand pointed on the shape. He didn't know what kind of spell could work on a Basilisk, but he was ready to throw anything imaginable to keep him away from him and Harry.

Harry kept his wand high as he circled the shape. It didn't move. Ron dared to make a few steps towards it. Harry stopped where its head should have been. Ron was very close now, and his wand revealed that it wasn't a snake. It was a snake's skin.

"Blimey!" Ron whispered. "It must be about twenty meters long."

Ron felt his legs getting weak for a moment. His reaction would certainly not have been any different had he seen a giant spider from close. If this was the skin of the Basilisk, then he dared not to imagine what the real serpent looked like.

"We should keep going," Harry said. "Ginny needs us."

He was right. Ron joined him and tried to forget about the snake's skin, but it only fueled his mind, creating scenarios as to what might have happened to Ginny. He followed Harry, went through every turn the long tunnel led them to, fearing the appearance of the serpent at every moment.

They finally arrived in front of a wall. It obviously marked the end of the tunnel. Two serpents were carved on the wall, intertwined. Their eyes were made of huge emeralds that sparkled under the light of their wands.

"Harry..."

Ron didn't finish his sentence. He was interrupted by a hiss coming from ahead. The serpents then started to move. Ron was afraid that they were real serpents who would attack them. And then he realized that it was Harry who spoke in Parseltongue again. The two serpents parted as the wall opened. On the other side was a large dark room plunged into darkness. Ron distinguished pillars holding its ceiling, though he couldn't see the ceiling they were holding.

Harry walked forward. Ron followed him. A greenish gloom seemed to be filling the place. They now followed a path between two rows of pillars, all with serpents carved into the stone they were made of. Ron hoped that this time, if Harry spoke in Parseltongue again, he would warn him before. Hearing his best friend making such sounds with his mouth and tongue always made him panic.

A huge statue soon appeared in front of them, at the end of the chamber. It was so enormous that Ron couldn't see the top. Two gigantic feet rested on the ground, and in front of those two feet, Ron noticed immediately a small human, face down, wearing black robes. She had red hair just like his.

"GINNY!"

Ron ran past Harry. His fear of the Basilisk was gone. They had found his sister. He dropped to his knees next to her, letting his wand aside.

"Ginny!" He turned his sister over. She was so pale. Her skin had turned white. Her hair and robes were wet with the water on the floor. "Ginny! Wake up! Wake up!" He shook her, but she had no reaction. Was she... dead?

"Ron." Harry just arrived behind. He brought the light of his wand over Ginny's body. "Is she...?"

Harry didn't seem to want to pronounce the word either. "She's cold," Ron said in a strangled voice. "She's not moving. Maybe she is... Petrified?" Ron was hoping for it. If she was Petrified, then they had a chance to bring her back with the Mandrakes.

Harry approached further and knelt. "No, she's not Petrified," he said with a quivering voice. "Lay her down on the floor, Ron."

He did as Harry told him. First he placed two fingers on her throat. Then he approached his head of her chest and placed his left ear against her abdomen. Then he approached his face from hers. For a crazy moment, Ron thought his best friend was about to kiss his little sister, but Harry only placed his ear against her mouth.

"Her heart is still beating, and she's still breathing, but barely," Harry declared. "We've got to move her out of here. To bring her to the infirmary, and quickly."

Ron nodded. Harry put his wand into the pocket of his robes. Ron took the legs of his little sister while Harry seized her by the shoulders. They lifted her up and began to carry her.

"STUPEFY!"

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Next chapter: Lily