Little bit of a roasting towards a couple of characters here. Couldn't help myself!
"H-Harry! I swear, Riddle - the diary - he made me-", Ginny stuttered, before looking to her right and seeing Fawkes, stood over Ron and John, both of whom still weren't moving.
"N- No! NO!", she shrieked, but Harry put a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright. They're unconscious, but they'll be alright!", said Harry. But would they? He hadn't checked.
"Come on", said Harry, getting Ginny to her feet. They walked over to Ron and John. Harry's heart hammered in his chest, hoping and praying that he was right and that Riddle was correct about needing to finish them off if he had returned.
He was within six feet of them when he saw the immensely relieving sight of both of their chests rising and falling rhythmically.
John's hand was still swollen, but it was no longer purple and it had regained its normal shape. Ron, whose hands were on his chest, looked to have had broken ribs healed by Fawkes.
"Th-they're alright!", Ginny gasped, falling to her knees.
"Yeah. We came for you and we did it", said Harry, smiling at her. For a moment, Ginny smiled back, but her lips began to quiver again and she burst into tears.
"I-I-I'm going to be expelled!", she wailed.
Harry knew what she was worried about. This whole mess could easily have been pinned on her, with the diary gone. Knowing that Riddle couldn't come out of it and testify, Harry picked it up anyway, along with the bloody sword.
"We'll deal with it. We can explain to McGonagall.", Harry assured her, but Ginny's sobs didn't subside.
"Ughhh. Did we win?", asked John, sitting up and holding his head in both of his hands.
"We won", said Harry, smiling and heaving him to his feet.
"Seriously? Fucking hell! And Ginny! You're okay!", said John, brightly, though still quietly, one hand held at his head. Evidently he was suffering from quite the headache.
"Ginny? What-Ginny!", came Ron's voice. Ron immediately leapt to his feet and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could. Ginny, still sobbing held onto Ron with all of the strength she had, her entire body shaking as she did so.
"It's alright!", Ron whispered. "It's over"
"Jesus Harry, how did you kill it?", John asked. He was looking at the enormous, scaly corpse. Ron and Ginny too, turned around.
"Bloody hell Harry, we thought we were just pissing it off", Ron whispered, in awe.
"Stabbed it in the roof of its mouth", said Harry, simply. "One of the fangs actually got me-" and he was off - explaining what had happened after the basilisk had knocked Ron and John unconscious. How Fawkes, who walked alongside them had saved his life with his tears, had healed their injuries, how he had stabbed the now mangled diary with the basilisk's fang.
Once Harry's almost unbelievable tale was over, John picked up the sword, hat and wands and they followed the chamber back to the cave-in, which as expected, hadn't been cleared in the slightest.
Ron sighed.
"Better get to work then"
The four youngsters got to work at moving some of the rocks, eventually making a space big enough to fit through. It was tiring work. Fawkes jumped through first, followed by a still-sobbing Ginny, aided by Ron and finally, Harry and John. They all stopped in their tracks at the sight of Lockhart, who simply sat, cross-legged on the floor. When he noticed them, he smiled.
"Hello! I was hoping to come across someone! I must say, I haven't the foggiest idea how I got here!", he said, brightly.
"Oh bloody hell, I forgot... his memory charm backfired", Ron muttered.
The feeling of Fawkes carrying all of them out of the chamber while flying was one of the most outrageous things Harry had ever experienced in an already long, outrageous night. No time was to be wasted of course; they all ran straight to the headmaster's office. They could hear a conversation inside, but when John opened the door, they saw none other than Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, talking to McGonagall... and Dumbledore.
"GINNY!", Mrs. Weasley cried, rushing forward and embracing her daughter alongside her husband.
Dumbledore and McGonagall both beamed at Harry, Ron and John.
"You... you saved her! How did you do it? What happened?", Mrs. Weasley demanded, looking at the three boys.
"Your turn, I'm too tired", Harry said, indeed feeling his lack of energy hitting him with the force of a truck.
The adults listened as Ron and John explained how Hermione had figured out that the creature was a basilisk, how Hagrid was framed, how they had worked out where the chamber was, how they'd got inside it and when John explained how the three of them had successfully fought off an adult female basilisk, all of the adults, even Dumbledore looked at them in utter shock.
"Even with Fawkes blinding the basilisk... that is something I would never have expected. And you were wandless too, you say?", Dumbledore said.
"Yeah", said Ron, starting to blush.
"Oh my boy... my brave, sweet boy!", Mrs. Weasley cried, pulling Ron in for a hug and following through, doing the same with Harry and John.
One aspect still hadn't been entirely cleared up however. Ginny was still in a lot of trouble. Harry looked to Dumbledore, who seemed to almost read his mind.
"What I want to know however, is how Lord Voldemort managed to possess Miss Weasley in the first place", he said. Harry felt his heart lighten.
"What's that? You know who - possess - but Ginny wouldn't - she hasn't been-", Mr. Weasley stuttered.
"It's this diary", said Harry, handing the punctured book over to Dumbledore. "A bit of Tom Riddle was inside it and it possessed Ginny"
"Ingenious", Dumbledore muttered. "But then again, Voldemort was probably the most brilliant student this castle ever saw", he added, sighing mournfully.
"What?", Mr. Weasley asked. Dumbledore had jumped to a conclusion that had gone over his head it seemed.
"Few people know this, but Lord Voldemort was once known as Tom Riddle. A quiet, studious boy who was prodigiously gifted and hard-working during his time here. Once he left the school, he travelled extensively, pushing the limits of dark magic, undergoing dangerous magical transformations and consorting with the worst of our kind. When Lord Voldemort rose two decades later, few people connected him with that intelligent, charming and quiet young boy who walked these walls with a head boy's badge", Dumbledore explained, holding up the diary which had the name 'T.M. Riddle' engraved on it.
"But what's that got to do with our Ginny?", Mr. Weasley pressed.
"H-his diary! I was writing in it! And he was writing back!", Ginny wailed.
"Ginny! How many times have I warned you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!", Mr. Weasley admonished.
"I... didn't know!", Ginny cried, still tearful.
"We cannot hold Miss Weasley accountable for this. Much older and more experienced wizards and witches fell to Voldemort's charms and magical skill, even when he was a student. I suggest that she has a cup of hot chocolate and plenty of bedrest", said Dumbledore.
Not long afterwards, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley left Dumbledore's office, escorted to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore wanted a few more words with Harry, John and Ron.
"Now I seem to remember saying that any more rule-breaking would result in your expulsion at the start of this year", said Dumbledore. The three boys gawked at him in horror. Dumbledore smiled.
"Which goes to show that any or all of us must eat our words sooner or later. Let me see... yes, I think two-hundred points a piece and special awards for services to the school will do nicely, don't you? I'll make a formal announcement at the feast", Dumbledore said. Ron went scarlet and John let out a bark of laughter. Harry simply felt relieved.
"You three must have shown me true loyalty in that chamber. Nothing else would have called Fawkes to you", said Dumbledore, who stroked the bird that was now perched atop his desk. "Which says nothing of course, of your courage and resourcefulness. I cannot think of any wizards who have won a fight against a basilisk without outnumbering it a hundred to one or more"
"It pretty much killed all of us, professor. Fawkes healed us", said Ron. Dumbledore beamed at him.
"I have always valued humility, Ronald. But you cannot downplay the enormity of what the three of you accomplished. Mark my words, you will have a place in magical history for this. And you have not even come of age", said Dumbledore. Ron couldn't help but smile.
"Maybe not an entire chapter in Bagshot's next book like you professor, but I reckon it's worth a footnote at least", said John, grinning at the old headmaster. Dumbledore chuckled.
"Someone has been uncharacteristically quiet about his part in all this. Why so modest, Gilderoy?", asked Dumbledore. Harry had honestly forgotten Lockhart was even there. He wasn't used to him being so quiet.
"Err... he tried a memory charm with my broken wand and it... backfired", said Ron, sheepishly.
"Impaled on your own sword, Gilderoy! What a shame!", said Dumbledore.
"Sword? Haven't got a sword! The boy with the green eyes has one!", said Lockhart.
"I would ask some favours of you, Mr. Weasley. Not that you haven't already done enough, but If you could bring Professor Lockhart to the hospital wing, then ask Professor McGonagall to write a letter to the ministry of magic and take the letter to the owlery, we can at last have our gamekeeper back", said Dumbledore. Ron hesitated.
"Sir... the mandrake thing... did it work?", he asked.
"Of course, Mr. Weasley. The victims will all be waking up over the course of this evening", Dumbledore assured him.
"So Hermione's okay!", Ron said at once.
Once Ron had left for McGonagall's office, Dumbledore turned back to Harry and John.
"I think it's very clear that you still have questions", said Dumbledore.
John spoke first.
"Yeah... that diary. I tried to rip it in half, but it felt like it was stronger than steel. But somehow, Harry stabbed it with a tooth and it got destroyed. No offence Harry, but I'm a lot stronger than you and that tooth, poison or no poison isn't really much of a weapon unless it's attached to the basilisk's head", John said.
"None taken", said Harry. "But John's right. There really was something off about that diary. I dropped a bunch of ink on it, but it was completely clean. John's strong enough to tear much bigger books apart, but he couldn't do a thing to this one", said Harry.
Dumbledore considered the two boys for a moment.
"I cannot answer that as of now. But you have raised a very good question. I will look into the matter personally. If I ever find an answer, I will let you know. I'm sorry I can't be of more help on this matter", said Dumbledore.
"You mean... you seriously don't know?", John asked in shock. Dumbledore chuckled again.
"Intelligent as I may be, I do not have all of the answers", he said, simply.
Harry had other niggling questions of his own, however.
"Professor... I couldn't help but notice things about Riddle and me. Similarities, I mean. When I first went in his diary, I found out that he was an orphan, like me. He could speak parseltongue like me. I'm starting to wonder if the hat got it right", said Harry.
"Well, on your point regarding your parseltongue, I do believe that on the night that Voldemort tried to kill you, he transferred some of his powers into you, Harry. That is why you, but not John, are capable of speaking the language", Dumbledore explained.
"He WHAT?", Harry asked, alarmed. Dumbledore raised a hand to calm him.
"I know what you are thinking and you are correct. With his powers inside you, combined with the fact that you possess many qualities Salazar Slytherin prided in his hand-picked students, you are wondering if you are in the right place. Like Slytherin himself, you speak parseltongue, you are determined, ambitious, resourceful and have a certain disregard for rules", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.
"But... I should be in Slytherin then, surely", said Harry, miserably.
"And yet the sorting hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that is", said Dumbledore.
"I asked it to", said Harry in a small voice.
"Exactly!", said Dumbledore, brightly. "You see, it is not our gifts or our bloodline that make us who we are! It is our choices! Even your gift of parseltongue, considered a dark art, was used by you in the effort to save Ginevra Weasley's life! Would Voldemort, another parselmouth do such a thing? Never! You belong in Gryffindor, because of who you choose to be! Because of how you act!", Dumbledore insisted.
Harry did feel much better and much more deserving of his place in Gryffindor house. Before he could ask Dumbledore about the finer points of parseltongue however, the office door opened. And in walked Lucius Malfoy. With Dobby.
"Dobby... so this is your master! You serve the Malfoys!", Harry blurted out. Lucius paid Harry no heed however.
He walked straight up to Dumbledore's desk.
"I heard rumours that you had been reinstated", he snarled. Dumbledore smiled pleasantly at Lucius, who seemed to only get angrier for it.
"Why, yes. The other eleven governors contacted me immediately upon the news that Ginny Weasley had been taken. It was something like being caught in a shower of owls, to tell the truth! They all begged me to return and so, here I am! Such things they told me... they were under the impression that you threatened to curse their families if they didn't order my removal", said Dumbledore, who didn't seem remotely offended that Lucius had done such a thing.
Lucius went pale.
"Then... you've caught the culprit?", he asked the slight eagerness in his voice not escaping Harry's attention.
But then, Harry's attention was shifted to Dobby, who was doing something very strange. He was pointing between the diary and Lucius, and then punching himself in the head.
"Indeed. It was the same person as last time. Voldemort. Only this time, he acted through Ginevra Weasley, by means of this diary", said Dumbledore, holding up the destroyed book. Dobby was still pointing between the diary and Lucius and still punching his own head.
"Imagine what would have happened if the Potters and their friend Ronald hadn't discovered it. Why, young Ginevra would have taken all of the blame! Imagine what would have happened to Arthur Weasley's Muggle Protection Act if his daughter was blamed for the attacks on muggleborn students!", Dumbledore added.
And it all made sense.
"It was you!", Harry snarled, looking Lucius in the eye. "You put that diary in Ginny's cauldron! That day in Diagon Alley!"
"Is that so?", asked Lucius, looking at Harry smugly. "Why don't you... prove it?"
"Oh, I don't think anyone can do that. However, I must warn you against the notion of placing any of Voldemort's old school things in Hogwarts. I know Arthur Weasley for one will make sure that they are traced back to... wherever they may have originated", Dumbledore said. The smile was gone from his face and even though there was no obvious anger in the old man's face, Harry could see that Lucius was now afraid. He turned around and began to walk away.
"Oi! Malfoy!", John called, when Lucius had reached the door. Lucius turned around, staring down at John disdainfully. "You're pathetic. Just wanted you to know that". Oh, and have a terrible day. Bye"
Harry almost burst out laughing when Lucius left the office. But just then, he was struck by an ingenious idea.
"Oh, professor... can I give the diary back to Mr. Malfoy?", asked Harry.
"Certainly. Do make it back in time for the feast however! I daresay it will be a rather magnificent one to mark the return of the victims of the basilisk"
Harry barely managed to catch up with Lucius before he left, with John following along, grinning all the way.
"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Malfoy!", Harry called. Lucius stopped again, looking as if his patience was hanging by a thread. Dobby looked terrified.
"You forgot something", said Harry, who thrust both the diary and his own, slimy, sweaty, blood-covered sock into his hands.
"What the-", Lucius started, before tossing both objects away, letting Dobby catch them.
"You'd better watch yourselves, both of you. Keep prodding the wrong places and you'll meet the same sticky end as your parents. They too were insufferably meddlesome", he snarled.
"I'm terrified", John drawled.
"Master freed Dobby! Master has presented him with a sock!", Dobby called out, interrupting the nearby humans.
"What? No I didn't-", Lucius started, before looking at Dobby, holding up the disgusting sock triumphantly, as if it didn't smell hideous, but as if it was instead, a priceless trophy.
"Master threw the sock... and Dobby caught it! Dobby is free!", Dobby squealed.
Lucius turned back to Harry and pulled out his wand.
"You. Lost. Me. My. SERVANT!", he yelled. John stepped forwards, but Dobby was faster. A flash of blue light appeared in his hand and he thrust it at Lucius, blasting him off his feet.
"You shall not harm Harry Potter! You shall go! Now!", Dobby squeaked furiously.
"This isn't over. You will get yours. Both of you", said Lucius, before backing down with a swish of his cloak.
"Harry Potter freed Dobby! Harry Potter is greater and kinder than Dobby ever knew!", Dobby cried, hugging Harry's leg.
"Least I could do!", said Harry, looking at John with a bemused expression on his face.
Once Harry and John had arrived at the feast that celebrated the curing of the basilisk's victims, it was difficult to figure out what the best part was. The collective cheers from the school, directed at the table where the pair of them and Ron sat. The two-hundred points a piece the three boys had earned from Dumbledore. The sacking of Lucius Malfoy as a governor. It was almost impossible to pick.
However, when Hermione arrived, it was easy to tell what the best part was.
"You solved it! You solved it!", she squealed, positively bouncing on her feet, hugging the three boys one after another.
Of course, other girls had looked at the three of them in awe as well. Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Shelly McInally, Anne Campbell... in fact, all of the Gryffindor girls in their year were whispering to each other excitedly. The three boys however, were too happy to have Hermione back to notice.
"You solved it", Ron corrected her. "We just used your notes". Hermione laughed and sat down with them.
"To be fair, we did fight a basilisk. Though Harry's the one who killed it, the maniac", said John, nudging Harry with a grin on his face
"I'd heard rumours about that... it's true?", Hermione whispered, in awe.
"Oh yeah. You wouldn't believe the size of the thing Hermione, I swear it was the weight of a damn rhino and nearly sixty feet long", John said.
"But... how? You can't even look at a basilisk!", Hermione asked eagerly.
"Fawkes. Dumbledore's phoenix. He showed up and ripped its eyes out", said Ron, who was somehow able to eat a sausage while describing the bird's grisly assistance.
Hermione scrunched up her nose.
"You don't have to be so blunt about it", she said, her familiar bossy tone returning in full force. To the surprise of everyone sitting nearby, Harry, Ron and John's faces split into enormous, near-identical smiles.
"What?", she asked and John laughed, wrapping an arm around her.
"We missed you", he said, simply as he gave her a tight one-armed hug.
Hermione went scarlet.
"Still not used to it, are you?", Ron asked, smirking at her.
"I'm glad you keep me around", she said sincerely.
"Of course we would! Seriously Hermione, things just weren't the same without you", Harry said, honestly. To his shock, a few tears began falling from her eyes. Unable to contain herself, Hermione grabbed Harry and John, who sat at either side of her, and pulled them into another hug.
"Get over here Ron!", she added tearfully. Ron grinned, ducked under the table and joined their group hug.
The Gryffindors who sat nearby couldn't help but smile at the sight. A lot of them still felt bad for treating Hermione like a pariah during the previous year and couldn't help but feel happier to see her feeling like she belonged.
"How precious", came a familiar, though unwelcome drawling voice. Draco Malfoy had entered the hall, walking past the four friends, with Crabbe, Goyle, his sister Elena and Pansy Parkinson following along. "Which one do you think the mudblood is planning on spreading her legs for first?"
While Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson laughed, Ron shot to his feet. His outrage was also mirrored to varying degrees by every Gryffindor within earshot. Dozens of them glared at Draco, who knew that teachers stood out of earshot, but within sight. It meant that he could say almost anything he wanted without having dozens of Gryffindors hurling jinxes at him.
"Relax guys", said John. "Poor little Draco's just sad that daddy's lost the position he got by licking somebody's arse" Laughter began to ring out from the nearby Gryffindors. "Oh, and he probably heard that his house elf got freed and blasted his pathetic dad off his feet. I think he's feeling a bit... weak. Though I suppose it shouldn't be new. I mean... imagine how hard it must be for him to look in a mirror and see that scrawny piece of shit looking back at him!"
The Gryffindors within earshot were now roaring with laughter as Draco reddened. Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy looked furious and while Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles, they knew they couldn't do anything. Elena however, gave Harry, Hermione, Ron and John a curious look. There didn't seem to be much malice in it. Much unlike Draco, who looked livid.
"Go on Malfoy... what is it?", Harry asked in a faux-sweet voice. "Will your father hear about this?"
"Will he be able to hear you while he's flat on his arse? Where he belongs?" John asked.
"At least I'm not friends with a m-", Malfoy started.
"A mudblood? Please Malfoy, we've all heard you say it before. Why don't you try using your brain to insult us at least?", Hermione asked.
"He doesn't have one, that's why", Ron quipped. It elicited another round of laughter from the Gryffindors.
"Jesus Malfoy, just take the loss and move on. Besides, we're trying to eat. I don't want to have to look at you when we're doing that. It takes a lot to put me off my food but you could honestly do it", said John.
With one final uptick in laughter, Malfoy and the Slytherins that followed him in went to their table. Elena however, gave one more curious glance towards the Gryffindors.
"Hermione... what Malfoy said-", Anne Campbell, one of the other second-year Gryffindor girls started, her voice low.
"That was bang out of order!", Seamus interrupted angrily. "Want us to get him with something?"
Hermione smiled.
"I think the four of us did a good enough job", she said, simply. It was true; she hadn't seen Malfoy taken down a peg in such spectacular fashion before. It felt like he'd been taken down multiple pegs within a minute, in fact.
"Not for the first or last time either", said Ron, whose mood had been greatly lifted by the verbal barrage that Malfoy had taken. The four of them looked at each other, knowing that their habit of being curious about dangerous things wasn't going anywhere. The past year had been serious and threatening, but their thirst for adventure hadn't gone anywhere.
In some ways, it felt like they were just getting started.
"Still though... you'd be okay if I punched Malfoy if he says something like that again, right?" Ron added.
"I... might not stop you", Hermione replied, grinning.
A few moments later, Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up to address the students, who all fell silent and looked to their headmaster.
"While it is not the end of the year just yet, I know as well as any of you, just how tumultuous and taxing it has been for us all", he said, to general murmurs of agreement. "We owe our restored safety and peace of mind to the curiosity, tenacity and courage of some of our second-year students. To Hermione Granger, I award fifty points for showing outstanding problem-solving skills and foresight"
It was just like their previous year. The only difference was that last year, Hermione had burst into tears. This time, she blushed deeply and beamed, though sank lower into her chair to avoid being so conspicuous.
"And to Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and John Potter, I have awarded two hundred points each, for showing incredible courage, resourcefulness and strength of character", finished Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's points awards had won Gryffindor the house cup for the second year running. The previous year, they had won by only ten points, whereas this year was a victory of unprecedented margins. Gryffindor were third in the running before Harry, John, Ron and Hermione's points had been awarded. Afterwards however, they were clear of Slytherin's total by a full five hundred points. According to a delighted Professor McGonagall, they had finished with the highest total points of any Hogwarts house cohort in two centuries.
"We won the whole thing on our own", John pointed out, smirking in a way that he knew would be insufferable to the Slytheirns.
The cherry on the cake was the fact that Draco Malfoy no longer walked around the school as if he owned the place. With his father no longer being a governor and with news of Lucius Malfoy being blasted away by a tiny elf, he was a far less intimidating figure than he once was.
Not that he had no power of course. Governor or not, Lucius Malfoy was still extremely influential and powerful. He still had fingers in every department at the Ministry. He just didn't have power at Hogwarts any more. For now, that was enough.
Too soon, they had packed their trunks and found themselves sat on the Hogwarts express as it headed back towards King's Cross. Harry, John, Hermione and Ron sat relatively quietly, though happily together in their own compartment, occasionally playing word games or short rounds of exploding snap. On the part of the three boys, they were just happy to have the fourth member of their little group back. As for Hermione, she was doing all in her power not to feel overwhelmed with the amount of affection that the three boys had been showing her since she'd woken up.
In just two years, she'd gone from being a friendless outcast, to befriending one popular student, to becoming a genuinely important, and deeply cared for, valuable person in the eyes of her three reckless, irresponsible, sweet and lovable friends. Reflecting on this had her smiling almost all the way back to King's Cross, to the point where her face began hurting when the familiar grey buildings of London began surrounding them.
"I hope your aunt and uncle will be as proud as Ron's parents will be", said Hermione as they collected their trunks, ready to disembark the train.
"I could've died about a dozen times this year, but I made it out in one piece", said Harry, grinning. "They'll be furious"
And there it is! Second year complete! As always, I'd thoroughly appreciate reviews!