He was dying.

Harry was so sure of that.

He gritted his teeth upon feeling the unbearable pain that came from the wound the Basilisk inflicted using its fang. Having a huge tooth stuck into your arm was horrible. But when it was poisonous and belonged to the most dangerous monster ever to exist? Well, Harry wouldn't recommend it to anyone. He tilted his head up and found Riddle leering over him, going more solid as seconds passed. Harry's strength was receding, and he bet he would be losing his consciousness soon. But looking at Ginny, picturing the look on Ron's face and everyone from the Weasley clan, Harry decided that he would give one last fight. If he was to die, he'd damn well take Riddle with him. He only wished he could speak to his family one last time, and told them how sorry he was for being so reckless. He vaguely heard Riddle spitting out insults at him, taunting him, but Harry ignored it all. Reaching for the diary with his uninjured hand, Harry then grabbed the tooth that he just plucked out of his bicep, and stabbed the book with it. Riddle yelled in indignation and pain as blank ink started the burst out from the hole in the diary, and Harry stabbed the book one more time when Riddle tried to lunge forward to stop him. The last stab Harry aimed onto the book caused Riddle to burst into flames, and almost instantly, Ginny Weasley woke up. Her greyish parlour was replaced, and her then-pale cheeks reddened healthily.

"Harry," Ginny started to sob. "I am so sorry. I…I tried to tell you, that day during breakfast, before we found that that Hermione was attacked. But Percy was there, and I- I got scared. It was me, Harry; I did all of that. B-but I was swear, I didn't mean to! Riddle…Riddle made me to do – Harry, you're hurt! You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing," Harry muttered, feeling like he was about to collapse any minute. "Ginny, you have to go through the tunnel. You'll find Ron there, with Lockhart. Then go to Dumbledore and tell him everything, okay?"

"But, what about you? Because I am not leaving you," Ginny said, and for a moment, Harry was reminded of Ron's stubborn loyalty.

"I'll be fine," Harry whispered. He was so tired, and probably would have fainted right then and there, if Fawkes hadn't flown back and landed beside him. Giving the bird a sad smile, Harry patted its beak and told the bird that he was thankful for its help. Waiting for darkness to come, Harry absentmindedly watched Fawkes leaned closer onto the wound on his arm, and saw how the bird dropped a few tears onto the bleeding wound.

"Harry, looked!" Ginny exclaimed, pointing at his arm. But Harry didn't need to look at it to know what Fawkes just did.

"Of course," Harry said, grinning slightly as he lifted his healed arm, inspecting it closely. "Phoenix tears have healing powers. Thank you, Fawkes."

The phoenix tilted his head to the side before bowing slightly. It flew a few inches off the ground but didn't fly too far off, as if it was waiting for Harry. Lifting himself off the cold tiles, Harry stood and gave Ginny his hand. The younger Gryffindor was suddenly very shy again when she took his hand. Together, they walked hand-in-hand back to where Ron was waiting with Lockhart. He immediately dropped Ginny's hand though, once they saw Ron who had managed to make a pathway for them. He would have blushed when Lockhart teased him about Ginny, asking whether she was his girlfriend. But important matters were at hand, which was how they were supposed to get out. It was until Fawkes began wagging his tail toward him that he remembered on how phoenixes were also able to carry tremendous weight. So, Harry told Ron about it, and the next thing he knew, the four of them were flying back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

As he walked passed the ghost, he was suddenly reminded of how he knew about the bathroom. It was that day when Malfoy called Hermione that name, and his best friend hid for the whole afternoon there because no one else would come into a bathroom where an annoying ghost resided. The thought brought Hermione and Malfoy into mind, and Harry promised himself to go check on the both of them. Before he and Ron went off to save Ginny, he was actually going to go see Hermione again, just to say goodbye before he went on another daring mission. But he was stopped short when he saw Malfoy leaning on Hermione's bed, fast asleep. It was obvious that the young Slytherin cared about Hermione more than he was willing to let on.

Harry was heading to the Hospital Wing alone, after he'd gone to Dumbledore to explain everything. A small scowl was on his face as he replayed the event that happened after he and Dumbledore talked about what happened down in the Chamber of Secrets. Mid-conversation, Lucius Malfoy had barged into Dumbledore's office with Dobby tailing after him. The former Slytherin informed, as he was practically the Sacreds' eyes and ears at the Ministry, that Sirius had helped cleared out all charges on Hagrid about him being accused for opening the Chamber, both fifty years ago and recently. The blond looked positively livid that he had to deliver Sirius' message like a common House Elf that he made the mistake to taunt Harry for his heroics in saving Ginny. Harry was completely ignoring the man's words, having used to the younger Malfoy's teasing as well, when he caught Dobby subtly gesturing to him that it was Lucius who slipped Tom Riddle's diary into Ginny's cauldron when she went shopping for books. Harry was angry and absolutely disgusted by the revelation. Sure, sometimes Malfoy irked Harry to no end, and there was still a part of Harry that still couldn't forgive him for calling Hermione that awful word. But what Lucius did was a whole other level of evil. That was what made him come to the decision to annoy the man by freeing Dobby when they were all excused from Dumbledore's office. Lucius looked positively livid when he realised Harry had tricked him into freeing Dobby. But other than the string of curses he let out that no doubt was against his Pureblood up bringing, Lucius merely scowled and left with a flurry of his jade-green robes. And the moment Lucius disappeared from view, Dobby wrapped his boney arms around Harry's legs, and profusely thanked him. Harry didn't think that he ever saw a House Elf as happy as Dobby was when the little creature gave him a tearful smile.

"Oof!" Harry huffed when he collided into someone. He would have fallen onto his bum if a hand hadn't pulled him by the robe to stop him.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Draco Malfoy yelled, causing Harry to flinch because the Slytherin was right next to him.

"You don't need to yell, git. I heard you just fine," Harry spat, rolling his eyes as he pulled his robe from Malfoy's hand. The blond prick looked like he was going to yell at Harry again when something caught his eyes. Whatever he saw made him to think twice about yelling at Harry, and the green-eyed boy cocked an eye brow when the look in Malfoy's eyes softened.

"You look awful, Potter. Like, you're practically drenched in blood," the other boy said. He looked hesitant for a split second to continue. "Are you…are you okay?"

Grinning mischievously, Harry replied, "Aw, Malfoy, are you saying that you care about me?"

Almost instantly, Malfoy scowled and it got Harry laughing when the Slytherin said, "Next time I saw you hurt, Potter, I'm just going to stand there and watch you bleed yourself to death. I'd even dance on your grave later during your funeral."

"Don't be so grumpy, Malfoy," Harry chuckled. "Hey, why are you up so early? Where were you going? Or from."

Harry totally wasn't expecting the blush that came onto Malfoy's pale face. It didn't take long for Harry to realise where exactly Malfoy was the previous night. A part of him wanted to tell Ron about it so bad because the two had a bet about whether Malfoy had feelings for their bookworm friend or not. But when he saw how Malfoy struggled to give him an answer, Harry decided to become a good person and kept the information to himself.

(And looking at Malfoy, he still found it surprising that he wasn't as bad as his evil father was.)

"I uh…I was called to Snape's office," Malfoy stuttered. "My m-mother wanted to talk to me."

Harry ignored the fact that the dungeon was on the other side of the castle and made a mental pat on his shoulder for not pointing it out to Malfoy.

"I see… Well, I'm heading to Hospital Wing. Dumbledore told me that Madam Pomfrey would be giving the Petrified ones the Mandrake Potion this morning. Hopefully, in a few hours, Hermione and the others would be awake already."

"Okay." When the young Malfoy moved as if he was going back to his dormitory, Harry rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"Honestly, Malfoy; for someone as smart as you are, you can be a bit dim sometimes," Harry tutted, sighing dramatically in a way that would remind Sirius and Remus of all the times the late Lily Potter scolded them back in their Hogwarts years.

"Excuse me?" Malfoy snapped, looking impatient. "Need I remind you that I scored second rank while you only got fourth?"

"I was actually hinting at you to come with me to see Hermione. If you were really as smart as you claimed to be, you'd know it. I mean, aren't Malfoys supposed to be the master of subtlety?"

"Oh, sod off, you prick." The blond aimed a wayward kick toward Harry, to which the Gryffindor dodged skillfully. "Come on then, Pothead. Let's go."

"Impatience and name calling won't make walk any faster, Malfoy," Harry said, rolling his eyes again as he walked side by side with his Slytherin friend (were they really?) to the Hospital Wing.

"I know that. But at least I can annoy you, and believe me when I say that annoying you is always the highlight of my day," Malfoy said, smirking infuriatingly.

"Ha-ha-ha," Harry remarked dryly. "Aren't you just the comedian?"

Harry tried not to look to surprised when Malfoy laughed. The blond sobered up though, when they took the stairs to Hospital Wing, and looked seriously at Harry. "What happened to you, by the way? You looked like you just went to hell and back."

Harry didn't answer immediately, taking a while to ponder whether it was wise to tell Malfoy about what just happened. In the end, he knew that if he really wanted to make sure the blond the didn't take the same path his father did before him, Harry had to let Malfoy know about the horrible things people could do under Voldemort's bidding. So he told Malfoy everything he knew, starting from the how it was Lucius who gave Ginny the diary that possessed her into opening the Chamber. He watched in fascination as the expressions on Malfoy's face changed rapidly the whole time Harry spoke. Harry flinched involuntarily upon seeing the look on the blond's face when he finally stopped. Malfoy was always known to master his the art of masking his true feelings, as well as shutting down his compassion completely when he needed. But at that moment, there was a cold look in his eyes as his lips practically curled in distaste, jaw clenching hard to control his anger. No matter how worrying the look he had on his face, it was slightly comforting for Harry. This was prove that Malfoy wasn't completely lost, and that there was hope to bring him onto the Light side.

(Especially with Hermione's help, Harry added before he could stop himself.)

Both boys entered the Hospital Wing and saw that Ron was already there with his family, all of them surrounding the bed that Ginny occupied. The moment Harry entered the room, Molly Weasley burst into tears before heading toward Harry to hug him affectionately, oblivious to the fact that she had pushed her twin sons aside roughly to get to Harry. Behind the woman, her husband Arthur had come to thank Harry as well, both adults talking over each other to express their gratitude. Harry couldn't say anything, especially when the twins and Percy started to thank him too. From the corner of his eyes, the green-eyed boy saw Malfoy quitely slipped to the bed in the corner of the room, where Hermione was. It was probably nearly half an hour later when Madam Pomfrey could finally push the Weasleys away from Harry so she could take a look on the serious injuries she believed Harry might have. But Fawkes had done a miraculous job, and except for minor bruises here and there, Harry was mostly unscathed. Still, Madam Pomfrey being who she was, insisted that Harry spent the morning there, at least until the bruises disappeared. When Madam Pomfrey left, after warning everyone that they should leave before lunch so she and Professor Sprout could start on giving the Mandrake Potions to the Petrified ones, the twins insisted for Harry and Ron to tell them what happened. Harry almost sighed at the request because that would mean he had to repeat the same story he had told Dumbledore and Malfoy. Nevertheless, he obliged because that was the least he could do.

"And Malfoy?" Percy asked after Harry was done talking, catching everyone in the room off-guard. The third-oldest Weasley turned to the Slytherin sitting by Hermione's bedside with a slight hostile frown on his face. "What were you doing with him, Harry?"

"Yeah," Fred said, nodding excessively as he glared at Malfoy. "Why would you take him here if you knew what his father did?"

"I brought him along because – "

"I am not my father," Malfoy said quietly but firmly, interrupting Harry mid-sentence. "No matter how bad you think I am, I would never hurt someone innocent just because it'd save myself and my family. It's disgusting."

"Tell that to your deal old dad, kid," George said cruelly, looking nothing like the mischievous person Harry knew. "Maybe then he'd stop being such a git."

Both Harry and Malfoy were about to answer George's scathing remark, but Ron had beat them to it. He was silent the whole time since Harry came with Malfoy, opting to stay by his sister's side, talking in hushed tones. It was a bit surprising for him to speak in Malfoy's defence.

"Oh, shut it, all of you," Ron snapped impatiently. "A few hours ago, Ginny almost died. And if Lucius Malfoy was indirectly the cause of it, it doesn't mean his son is just as bad as he is. Now, why don't we just focus on Ginny and bother Malfoy some other day?"

"Ron's right, boys," Arthur said, smiling proudly at his youngest son. "Today, it's all for Ginny."

Ron's brothers looked liked they were about to argue, and judging by the look of dislike they aimed at Malfoy, it was probably true. But one look from Molly's infamous glare, the three older boys went quiet immediately. Harry saw Malfoy flashed Ron a grateful look, to which Ron replied with a small smile. Harry spent the next few minutes talking to the Weasleys before slowly sliding to Malfoy's side when the family was too busy minding their youngest. Taking a seat across the young Pureblood on the other side of Hermione's bed, Harry noticed that Malfoy's hand was intertwined with Hermione's. The two boys talked about mundane things like Quidditch until Madam Pomfrey shooed them and the Weasleys out of the Hospital Wing so she could start treating her Petrified patients.

Harry was the only one who saw Malfoy gave a gentle kiss on Hermione's hand before he left.

"Marlene, will you please talk to me?"

"No. I am never talking to you again until you promise that you'll stop playing hero."

"Well, I can't exactly promise something that I can't possibly control."

"Sirius! Your son is being ridiculous again!"

"Sirius! Your fiancee is being ridiculous too!"

"Leave me out of this. I'm busy with JJ."

Marlene glared at the door to the nursery where her daughter was having lunch with Sirius. In front of her, a hopeful looking Harry was looking at her with wide-eyes ("Merlin, Lily; when did your son get so tall?"). Sighing tiredly, Marlene pinched the bridge of her nose as she took a seat on the couch in the gathering room, once again feeling a little annoyed at how Sirius just left Marlene to take matters into her own hands. The both of them were the only adults in the house. Regulus and Irina went to visit Irina's mother with Astrid, while Remus and Dorcas went to see a Muggle doctor. Ever since the werewolf agreed to have a baby, the couple had been expecting for the Pregnancy-Test Spell to give them the positive sign. They had been trying for six months and yet, it didn't seem like Dorcas would be carrying soon. None of Dorcas' Healer friends, who specialised in pregnancy and fertility, managed to come up with an answer to their little predicament. Remus immediately came to the conclusion that it was him that was wrong because of his lycanthropy, and it looked like the possibility that he could never have children broke him. The couple was slowly losing their hope when Irina suggested them to see a Muggle doctor. When Sirius heard about it, albeit meaning no disrespect to his sister-in-law, he quickly disagreed. He was supported whole-heartedly by Dorcas and even Regulus as well. It was actually Remus himself who chose to follow Irina's suggestion. Marlene found it ironic for someone who originally wanted no children, Remus seemed pretty adamant when he asked Irina whether the woman could set up an appointment with a doctor she knew.

"Marlene?" Harry said, kneeling in front of her. He took her hands in his, adopting the puppy-dog look he probably learned from Sirius. "I'm sorry for making you worried, again. But you have to understand, Ron's my best friend, and he needed me to save his sister. And there's also Hermione who was Petrified. I couldn't just turn my head and ignore them. They needed my help."

"And you couldn't tell an adult about it? Why should it be you? There are teachers at Hogwarts, Harry. And I know you're a brilliant kid, but those teachers are far more qualified than you are. Why does it have to be you?"

Harry clenched his jaw, a movement Marlene knew all too familiar because she'd seen that many time in the past on James whenever he was frustrated after Lily had rejected him. Her maternal instincts instantly flared because she could sense that there was something bothering him that he hadn't told his family about. But Marlene tried not to push him about it. Even though he looked like the spitting image of his father, Harry was actually very much like Lily – and Marlene remembered how her best friend hated it when she was forced into telling something she wasn't ready to tell. So, Marlene waited, and waited until Harry swallowed heavily and decided to speak.

"After the Quidditch game, the one when I broke my arm, Malfoy agreed to tell me everything he knew about the Chamber. He told me that a girl had died fifty years ago when the Chamber was last opened, and Hagrid was accused of being the one who opened the Chamber. It turned out that Malfoy had tried to find everything he could about the Chamber, and seriously? The knowledge he had about it was almost Hermione-ish. Like, the bloke probably read every book in the library!"

"Harry, focus," Marlene said, trying to fight a smirk from surfacing. For someone who was related to Lily Potter, James' genes in him seemed to outweigh Lily's love for books because Harry always talked about how annoying he found it when all Hermione seemed to do was read and read and read all the time.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Anyway, Malfoy also found out that the monster in Chamber was a Basilisk, which was later confirmed by Hermione when I told her everything Malfoy told me – by the way, Malfoy had a crush on Hermione and I'll tell you more about it. Both Malfoy and I also came to the realisation that Moaning Myrtle, the ghost in the girl's bathroom on the first floor, was the girl that was killed fifty years ago. So, the both of us went to talk to her to ask her about more details. When we got there, we found the bathroom was flooded, and Myrtle was crying because someone threw a book at her. The book was actually a diary, belonged to someone named Tom Riddle. I took the book with me and inspected it. I wrote my name on it, and the book actually replied. It was Tom who replied. I asked him about the Chamber, and he showed me what happened that night; how he saw Myrtle's body was taken by Aurors for further inspection, how he exposed Hagrid for being the one to open the Chamber. I showed Malfoy and Hermione the diary the next day, and they both warned me that the diary could be dangerous. I agreed with their suggestion and stopped talking to Riddle."

"Then? What happened?"

Harry looked grim before he continued. "It was a day before Gryffindor's match versus Ravenclaw when Hermione was attacked. The day before, I just found that someone stole the diary. I was about to get to the pitch while telling Hermione about the diary being missing when she suddenly excused herself to go the library. Then McGonagall stopped the match, telling me that Hermione was attacked. Ron and I were visiting her when we found a piece of paper gripped in palm. On it, she wrote 'pipes, Myrtle's bathroom'. I put two and two together and decided that perhaps, when Myrtle died in her bathroom, that was where the Basilisk first came, meaning that the entrance to the Chamber was there too. Then we heard that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and that Lockhart, the bloody idiot, would be the one to save her. I knew Lockhart was a total joke, so that was why I decided that it had to be me and Ron. When I got there, Riddle had come out of the diary using Ginny's soul to have the strength to come back. And it turned out that Riddle was actually Voldemort before he changed his name. Long story short, I defeated Riddle, saved Ginny, came back to school and told Dumbledore everything."

"Why didn't you do it sooner, then? If you thought Lockhart was an idiot, why didn't you tell someone else before you got to the Chamber? Dumbledore or McGonagall? Or even Snape?"

"Time was running out, Marlene. And Ron was getting antsy. So yeah, forgive me for being reckless and impulsive but I had to do it."

Marlene would have yelled some more at her Godson, but Harry's words reminded her so much of James. She let out another tired sigh and decided that she couldn't be mad at Harry forever because of his hero-complex that James inherited to him. Giving the boy a sad smile, she pulled his hand to her lips and gave it a kiss. "Fine, I'll forgive you for being a bloody hero. I'm not mad at you anymore, but you're grounded."

"Marlene!" Harry whined, pouting immaturely at her. "You can't ground me when I practically just saved the whole bloody world!"

"You didn't save the whole bloody world," Marlene scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You only saved Ginny Weasley, four Muggle-born students, a cat and a ghost."

"Yes, but if Riddle succeeded that night, he would give another try on world domination, killing hundreds other innocents like he did the last time!"

"Alright, alright," Marlene relented. She reached out and ruffled Harry's hair, smiling fondly as she remembered the same disastrous mop of hair on James' head. "I won't be grounding you – "

"Yes!"

" – but if you pull another heroic stunt like this next year? Trust me when I say you'd wish you were grounded for the rest of your life instead."

Harry grinned, chuckling slightly as he gave Marlene a hug. "Thanks, Mar. I promise you won't even know if I pull another heroic stunt."

"Harry James Potter!" Marlene yelled. But Harry had taken off, laughing his head off as he ran all the way to his room.

Marlene watched her Godson disappeared into his room in annoyance, though she couldn't stop herself from grinning a little. Shaking her head at Harry's antics, she made her way to her room. She sat on her bed as she waited for Sirius to come, and her mind wandered off over something she just found out in the morning. It was almost an hour later when Sirius came into the room, looking tired yet happy at the same time. When he got closer, Marlene noticed his shirt was soaked, no doubt from the water Jade splashed at him when he gave the girl her bath. She laughed when she saw how he struggled to take off his shirt because of how it clung to his skin.

"Here, let me help," Marlene chuckled, walking toward her fiancé to help him. Pulling the shirt over his head, she said, "Oh honey, I thought you've learned by now to put a spell to keep yourself from getting wet."

"I was going to, Mar, believe me. But I made the mistake of putting her into the water before casting the spell, and the moment her feet touched the water, she began to splash water at me." He threw his wet shirt into the basket of dirty clothes for the Elves to take, and led his fiancée to their bed. Sirius gave a sneaky grin as he pulled Marlene onto his lap, noticing how the brunette was eyeing him closely. "You like what you see, love?"

Marlene rolled her eyes and slapped Sirius' arm lightly, even though she blushed as she remembered what she just discovered that morning. "You are unbelievable, Sirius."

"No need to be ashamed about it. We both know I am gorgeous," Sirius said, winking. He leaned closer and gave her a kiss. "Have you I told you how much I love you, Mar?"

"I love you too, Sirius," Marlene said between kisses, laughing. Sliding off Sirius' lap, the two settled on the bed, laying together with Marlene safely tucked in Sirius' arms. She hummed softly when she felt Sirius gave a kiss on her temple, and she snuggled even closer to him, burying her face against his chest.

"You won't believe what Regulus just told me," Sirius said, one hand was playing with Marlene's hair as he sighed at the feeling of his beloved's fingers tracing patterns on his bare chest.

"What did he say?" Marlene asked, not really listening. This was their nightly ritual, talking about mundane things to get their minds off things.

"You know that he's been getting really close with Cissy's son, right? Reggie keeps in touch with little Draco, always answering every letter the boy send to him. In the last letter he sent Reggie, the boy wrote that his newborn sister was actually a Metamorphmagus. He only told Reggie now because he was too busy helping our boy researching about the Chamber."

"Wow, a Metamorphmagus… Can you imagine the look on Andy's face if she ever finds out that her sister's little girl is also a Metamorphmagus?"

"Andy would be smirking triumphantly, I bet. Deep down, the woman's just as sneaky as I am."

Marlene hummed in agreement. Speaking about Narcissa's second-born urged her to tell Sirius what she had been wanting to tell Sirius since the morning. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her face from Sirius' chest to look at him. "There's something I want to tell you, Sirius."

Almost instantly, Sirius looked alarmed. He tilted his head to his side in a mannerism that resembled his Animagus form strongly. He put a finger under Marlene's chin and pulled her face closer. "What is it, love? What do you want to tell me?"

Hesitating slightly, Marlene then pulled the hand that was tracing patterns on her arm and moved it toward her belly. For a moment, the both of them were silent, looking into each other's eyes. Marlene waited anxiously for Sirius to react, the minutes that passed felt like years to her.

"Mar, are you – " Sirius began before trailing off and letting out a shuddering breath.

Marlene nodded slowly and whispered, "Yes. Yes, I am."

"How long…?"

"Two months, not long after you returned from rescuing Charlie. You went away for a month with Regulus on an Order mission, before coming home relatively unscathed. And you just couldn't keep it in your pants, mister." When Sirius said nothing else to her little joke, Marlene grew restless. "Sirius, say something. Please."

As if there was a switch, a smile began to grow on Sirius' face, and before Marlene knew it, Sirius had practically pulled her on top of him before kissing her deeply. He was laughing happily when he pulled apart, his grey eyes twinkled as he leaned again to kiss Marlene. "I'm having a baby again! Merlin, you can't believe just how happy I am to hear that!"

"You are?" Marlene said, a little surprised. "Even with the war going on?"

"Especially with the war going on. I hope it's a boy this time, though if it's a girl again, I'll be completely okay with that. I'll spoil her rotten too."

Sirius laughed again and this time, Marlene laughed along with him. The rest of the night, they spent it in their room, showing each other how much they loved one another. It was probably the happiest she felt ever since Jade was born. The only thing that disturbed her happiness was the thought that she'd be breaking the news to Remus and Dorcas sooner or later.

She only hoped that Irina's doctor would finally be the help Remus and Dorcas were looking for.