Chapter 24: Chamber of Secrets

Buffy took a torch from the wall, pointed her wand. "Lumos!" The torch bloomed with a bright orange flame. She headed down the tunnel, passing numerous skeletons of rats and other rodents. She stopped for a moment when she spotted a snake skin. "It's big," she said. She then returned to heading down the tunnel until she reached a towering stone wall, carved with twin serpents with emerald eyes.

Buffy approached the stone wall. She cleared her throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. "Open," she said, in a low, faint hiss.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Buffy walked inside.

Buffy was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.

She pulled out her wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. As she drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.

Buffy had to crane her neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair.

"Ginny!" Buffy muttered, sprinting to the youngest Weasley and dropping to her knees. "Ginny—don't be dead—please don't be dead—" She flung her wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Ginny's face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be—

"Ginny, please wake up," Buffy muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.

"She won't wake," said a soft voice. Buffy spun as Willow/Voldemort and a dark-haired boy stepped out of the shadows.

Buffy looked at the boy for a long moment as she tried to place where she had seen him. Then she remembered a dream. "Tom... Tom Riddle?" she asked.

Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Buffy's face.

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Buffy said desperately. "She's not—she's not—?"

"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."

Buffy looked at Willow/Voldemort. "Willow, why are you here?" she wondered since Willow/Voldemort did not lie next to Ginny.

Willow/Voldemort smiled, "Your friend Willow no longer exists. Hasn't since I took possession of her body a year ago."

"Voldemort," Buffy said. "This is all so you can come back."

"With the help of the memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years," Willow/Voldemort said.

Buffy noticed that Riddle twirled her wand in his fingers. "Give me my wand."

Riddle's smile broadened. "You won't be needing it," he said. "I've waited a long time for this, Isabella Potter," said Riddle. "Or do you prefer Buffy? For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Simple," Willow/Voldemort said. "We would like to know how you and your brother survived my killing curse. You know I should have possessed you instead, you know. When I found out you were the Slayer, I knew I possessed the wrong person. It wouldn't have mattered if I didn't have my own body then. I would have driven out your soul. Imagine poor Harry's face when his sister killed him."

Buffy shook her head, "I don't think so. Willow, I know you're in there. You have to fight."

In the back of Willow's mind, she heard Buffy distantly and she gathered her strength to do just that.

Music suddenly was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly. As the music reached such a pitch that Buffy felt it vibrating inside her own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar.

A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle.

A second later, the bird was flying straight at Buffy. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at her feet, then landed heavily on her shoulder.

The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Buffy's cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle.

"That's a phoenix…" said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it.

"Fawkes?" Buffy breathed, and she felt the bird's golden claws squeeze her shoulder gently.

"And that—" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat—"

So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Buffy's feet.

Riddle and Willow/Voldemoart laughed. "So, Dumbledore sent a songbird and an old hat!" Willow/Voldemort said as she tossed aside the hat.

Riddle turned to the statue of Salazar Slytherin and spoke in Parseltongue. "Speak to me, Slytherin."

Suddenly, the stone face's mouth opened. There is a rumbling sound, followed by the sound of slithering. Buffy turned away. The Basilisk, spilled out, uncoiling heavily to the floor. She spotted something shining from the hat. She turned and ran, she slid to the floor grabbing the sword from out of the hat. As she spun toward the basilisk, she squeezed her eyes closed and with her Slayer hearing she listened for its location.

"NO!" Riddle screamed. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE GIRL IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HER! KILL HER!"

Buffy opened her eyes and she saw Fawkes dive. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly

missing Buffy. She watched as the phoenix blinded the basilisk. Buffy took that time and with Slayer strength drove the sword to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth—

But as warm blood drenched Buffy's arms, she felt a searing pain just above her elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into her arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.

Buffy gripped the fang that was spreading poison through her body and wrenched it out of her arm. But she knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as she dropped the fang and watched her own blood soaking her robes, her vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color.

She could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of her.

"You're dead, Isabella Potter," said Willow/Voldemoart's voice above Buffy. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers. As the tears dropped on to Buffy's wound it began to heal and within seconds the wound was gone.

"Phoenix tears…" said Riddle quietly, staring at Buffy's arm. "Of course, healing powers… We forgot…"

Willow/Voldemort smiled as she looked into Buffy's face. "It makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Isabella Potter… you and me…" She raised Willow's wand—

Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Buffy's lap—the diary.

Buffy looked at the diary and then understood. If Riddle was a memory then the memory had to come from somewhere. If she could take out the memory that would leave only Willow/Voldemort. She seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to her and plunged

it straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Buffy's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then—

He had gone.

Buffy caught her wand as it fell toward the floor. She smiled as she spun on Willow/Voldemort. "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" she asked, remembering the line from an old movie.

Willow/Voldemort laughed, "I have to remember that one. Shall we have at it?" She said as she fired a spell at Buffy who simply dodged it.

"Uhm Slayer, remember," Buffy said. "You're going to have a hard time hitting your mark."

Willow smiled while Voldemort was distracted. She attacked him, "Out of my body."

Voldemort looked at Willow from inside their mind and shook his head. He could feel her trying to push him out.

Willow/Voldemort staggered as Buffy smiled. She grabbed Willow/Voldemort's hand as she closed her eyes. She remembered how Harry had defeated Voldemort the year before as she let all of the love she held for Dawn, Hermione, Ron, Willow and Harry flood her.

Willow/Voldemort screamed.

Willow smiled as she saw what Buffy was doing. "You're going to lose." Willow grabbed on to Voldemort and let her love for her friends and her family flood her.

Voldemort staggered back; he didn't know how but he was losing.

Willow/Voldemort with one last effort knocked Buffy back sending her careening in to the water. She laid there face down in the water unconscious.

Willow smiled as Voldemort staggered even more. She was driving him out. Suddenly she was alone in her own mind.

Willow blinked and looked around. She saw Ginny sitting up. "Ginny?"

"Willow?" Ginny replied.

"I'm okay," Willow said. She saw where Buffy was at and rushed to her friend's side. She pulled Buffy out of the water. "Ginny, Buffy's not breathing."

Fawkes flew over to Buffy and for the second time that day tears trickle down Fawkes beak.