Hey Everyone! I'm here with Chapter 116! Enjoy!
"Jane, are you sure about this?" asked Harry, hesitantly. He was wearing a mask, as was Jane, to facilitate breathing underwater.
"Dive with me... In 3... 2... 1... Let's go," exclaimed Jane and the pair dove into the lake.
The moment Harry's body hit the icy water, he started shivering. "No... No... Cold... Too cold," muttered Harry, under his breath.
"Give it a couple of minutes," came Jane's voice as the pair went deeper into the lake. "Follow me," came her voice after a moment.
Harry couldn't focus on anything as the cold seemed to pierce through his skin, like icicles pricking the skin. Jane was much better underwater and strongly pulled ahead of Harry, who was struggling to come to terms with the cold water. However, he managed to stay in sight of her.
After a few minutes, Jane came to a halt and turned around to look at Harry. Harry's eyes fell on the barrier in front of them.
"What's that?" asked Harry, his voice muffled.
Jane turned back around and pulled out her wand. She pointed it at the wall of the barrier and immediately, it lit up. In the darkness that engulfed the depths of the lake, the traces of light emanating from the wall shone brightly. Harry stared as the light coming from the wall made a symbol he couldn't recognize.
However, quickly, he realised what it was, or at least, what it resembled.
"Runes," gasped Harry. He could vaguely picture Hermione's book, all the times he had been with her while she read her Runes textbook. But he had no idea what it meant, or what needed to be done.
"Go on, Harry," exclaimed Jane, pushing him ahead.
"I don't know what to do," exclaimed Harry, loudly.
"Touch the rune and you will know," retorted Jane.
Harry swam ahead and hesitantly reached out with his right hand and touched the symbol on the wall. Immediately, he felt something rushing inside him. A low hiss came out of his mouth and part of the barrier gave way to what seemed like another lake.
Jane swam ahead and joined Harry, and the pair continued ahead.
"We are now deep in the Great Lake," said Jane and swam ahead.
"What?" gasped Harry. "We are already at Hogwarts?" he asked, following her.
"We have a long way to go, Harry," exclaimed Jane.
Jane had studied the Chamber of Secrets quite a bit in her time looking for the Hallows. Ever since she had encountered the Chamber in her time as Professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, it had piqued a curiosity in her. She was certain that Salazar Slytherin wouldn't have simply created a hidden Chamber inside Hogwarts without building a few secret exits out of it. However, in her research about the Chamber, she had come across very little evidence to support her theory, except that there were a lot of mentions of Runes. Making it out of the Chamber gave her nightmares for weeks thereafter, but that was exactly what the pair were now going to do. They were going to go through the hell created by Salazar Slytherin, in trying to get into Hogwarts.
"Why did Slytherin place all these barricades?" asked Harry, back when the pair were in the Monastery.
"The barricades are only for those who aren't Salazar Slytherin, or his descendants, I'm assuming," replied Jane.
"So, what will we find there?" asked Harry, cautiously.
"Great adversity," retorted Jane.
"Could you be a little more specific?" snapped Harry, nervously.
"When I made it out of the exit, I faced a lot of challenges," began Jane in response.
"Dark creatures?" asked Harry.
"No, Harry... If it was a creature, it could be killed easily," replied Jane. "We will face our greatest fears, guilt, pain and everything else..." she added.
"And how do we go ahead?" asked Harry.
…
Jane and Harry swam ahead, deep inside the Great Lake. Harry wasn't quite sure where he was exactly, but he could feel getting closer and closer to Hogwarts. Jane, however, seemed to know exactly where she was headed and led the way.
After a few minutes, Jane slowed down a little and looked around. Harry couldn't see much further ahead, indicating that they may have encountered yet another barrier.
"What are you looking for?" asked Harry.
"I'm just..." began Jane and paused. "Oh, no," she gasped.
"What?" retorted Harry, worried. However, Jane was silent. "Jane, what's going on?" asked Harry, swimming ahead to get closer to her.
"Harry, I'm sorry," said Jane, tears falling down her cheeks, only to be disguised by all the lake water around her.
"Why? What happened? Are you alright?" asked Harry, confused.
"I don't where we are," replied Jane. "I led us into nothingness," she added, crying.
"What? No, you didn't... This is the Great Lake," replied Harry. "We are in the correct place," he added.
Jane continued crying and the longer it went on, the more confused Harry got.
"Jane, why are you crying? Fine, we will go back a little and get back to our way," he remarked.
"I'm sorry, Harry," repeated Jane.
Harry grabbed Jane and swam up, to the surface of the lake. It took great strength but a few minutes later, the pair felt the air hit their faces. Harry looked around and found what he was looking for, the gigantic structure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, far ahead of them.
"Look," exclaimed Harry.
"What is that?" asked Jane.
"That... that's Hogwarts, Jane," replied Harry, confused. "We are here," he repeated.
…
{… A few minutes back …}
"Jane," called out Harry.
Jane slowed down and turned around to glance at Harry. "What happened?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm feeling a little hungry," replied Harry.
"What?" retorted Jane, confused.
"I'm hungry, Jane," repeated Harry, a little more loudly.
"Oh, no," she gasped and looked around. After a moment, she glanced back at him. "We will eat after we reach there, okay?" she replied, cautiously. Jane watched as Harry's nostrils flared up. "Harry, I'm sorry," sighed Jane.
"Why? What happened? You don't know where we are, do you? You led us into nothingness," exclaimed Harry, angrily.
"Harry, please fight it... You are under his spell," pleaded Jane. "I know where we are, trust me," she exclaimed.
"This is not the Great Lake," retorted Harry, angrily.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," said Jane as she pointed her wand at him. She flicked her wand and something hit Harry's chest.
Slowly, Jane swam up to the surface of the lake and with her, floated above Harry, his eyes were closed.
Jane flicked her wand again, and Harry's eyes opened suddenly.
"Look," she exclaimed, pointing at the gigantic structure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, far ahead of them.
…
"Woah," gasped Harry, taking deep breaths. Jane seemed to follow suit. The pair stared at each other, with a mixed look of confusion, worry and fear.
"Jane?" called Harry, cautiously. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Oh my God, Harry... You are back," gasped Jane, heaving a sigh of relief.
"What do you mean?" retorted Harry. "Why were you crying?" he asked.
"Harry... I think we just crossed the first trap," replied Jane.
Harry stared at her, further confused.
"Whatever happened the past few minutes, wasn't real," continued Jane.
And then it struck Harry, what Jane meant.
"That... was... mad," remarked Harry, stunned, heaving a sigh.
Soon, the pair dove back into the heart of the Great Lake. Jane swam ahead, as quickly as she could, trying to reach the next barrier. And within a few minutes, they reached the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, the other entrance.
"Harry, please do the honours," instructed Jane, glancing at Harry.
Harry swam ahead and came to a halt, right in front of the barrier. He closed his eyes and concentrated on opening the barrier. Within a few seconds, he spoke up, "Open the gate... Open the gate... Open the gate..." and watched the barrier open up from him.
Jane stared at him with a gleaming smile. "Your Parseltongue skills are quite mesmerizing, Harry," she remarked.
Harry stared back at her, confusion written all over his face. The truth was, Harry had never heard himself speak in Parseltongue, he only ever felt what he wanted to do, and that's what he heard.
"Okay," sighed Jane. "Now, careful, Harry," she remarked. "You are going to have to dive forward... But you will land on hard ground," she warned.
"Piece of cake, Jane," chuckled Harry as he dove into the entrance and landed with a perfect roll over his back. Jane followed him, her landing not as smooth as his, but she arrived in one piece.
After a moment, Jane and Harry stared ahead, at what seemed like an infinite passage. They removed their masks and were immediately greeted by the smell of damp, stone and moss.
"Let's go," said Jane and the pair were set on their ways.
Jane and Harry walked ahead for what felt like ages, before arriving at yet another barrier. A set of runic symbols welcomed them.
"What do we do?" asked Harry.
"The only thing we can," replied Jane and placed her hand on the symbols. Harry followed her and placed his hand on the symbols.
However, nothing seemed to happen. Harry slowly glanced at Jane, and she met his eyes.
"I don't feel anything," remarked Harry.
"This is not how I remember it going last time," retorted Jane, confused.
"What happened last time?" asked Harry.
"I... uh..." began Jane, but before she could say anything, the barrier opened itself to the pair.
Harry took a step back, surprised. "Well, that was easy," he remarked.
"I... am... not so sure," sighed Jane taking a step ahead.
The pair cautiously stepped ahead, unsure of what they were about to find. Somehow, this part of the tunnel felt a lot darker than before the barrier. And, it smelled worse, it smelled of rot.
For a short while, the pair took careful steps, glancing at each other every once in a few seconds. But, unlike their suspicion, nothing seemed off about this part of the barrier. If not for their suspicions, it felt like just another walk, except for the smell and the darkness, of course.
And then something happened. Jane paused for a moment to check some inscriptions on the wall. She pointed her wand at the wall and illuminated it, to get a closer look.
"Harry," she called, faintly, as she continued examining the inscription. It didn't seem like much, a lot of it seemed like it had faded over time, but there were signs of a serpent-like creature. After a moment, Jane turned to glance at Harry, only to realise that he hadn't stopped.
"Harry," she called again, a little louder, but there was no response from him. Harry continued walking ahead. "Harry, are you alright?" she exclaimed, worried, as she sprinted after him.
The moment Jane got near Harry, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. He looked devastated like he had just heard the most terrible piece of news.
"Harry, what happened?" she asked.
"Jane..." groaned Harry in response. "I can't go on, Jane..." he whimpered.
"Did something happen?" asked Jane, worried.
"Everyone is getting hurt... because of me," replied Harry. "I can't let this go on," he whimpered. Before Jane could speak up, Harry continued brooding, "So many people have died, or gotten hurt for me... My parents, Neville's parents, many in the Order, John, Ginny, Hermione's parents... The list goes on and on," remarked Harry, falling to his knees. "Everyone close to me gets hurt trying to protect me," he groaned.
Jane knelt right in front of Harry, facing him, and placed her hands over his shoulder. "Harry," she muttered. "You are not responsible for this, Harry," she consoled him. "You-know-who is the one to blame for all our troubles!" she exclaimed.
"I am tired, Jane... I can't... take all the... suffering... anymore," he muttered, weakly.
Jane stared at him, apologetically. After a pause, she grabbed him into a hug and held him tightly.
"I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered.
"I don't want to go to Hogwarts, Jane... Let us go back," pleaded Harry.
Jane released the hug and stared at his face. There wasn't anything remarkably different about him, except for how devastated he looked. "Oh... Harry," she gasped. "This is the Chamber tricking you, Harry," she exclaimed, shocked. "You have to fight back, this is not what you really want," she added.
Harry remained silent for a few seconds. And those few seconds were enough for Jane's hopes to rise. She got back to her feet and helped Harry to get back to his as well.
"If they never had me... their lives would have been so much better," muttered Harry, breaking the silence. "Mom and Dad would have lived a happy life," he added.
"Lily would have never wanted that Harry, and neither would have James. They loved you, and they would be so proud of who you have grown up into... they wouldn't change a thing," remarked Jane, strongly.
"How do you know that?" muttered Harry, glancing at Jane. "They never saw me grow up, did they? They will never," he whispered, deflated completely.
Jane stared at him, helplessly. "Trust me, Harry... You are the best thing that happened in their lives. They would give their lives again and again if it meant, there was a chance to save you," remarked Jane, reassuringly. "Now, please, can we go on?" she pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Jane... I can't go on," retorted Harry, weakly.
Jane looked around, exasperated, wondering if she should charm him out of the trance he found himself trapped in. There was only one other option she could think of, though that was a chance she couldn't possibly take. After a couple of minutes, Jane made up her mind and glanced back at Harry.
"Harry," she called. "There is something John and I never told you," she began.
Harry's expression did not change, he wasn't even looking at her.
"We didn't travel from our time... to here... alone," she confessed, cautiously.
Still, there wasn't a change in Harry's expression.
"There was someone else with us..." continued Jane, cautiously. After a long pause, she finished, "We had Lily with us," she said.
At that moment, Harry's expression turned a little, and he glanced straight back at Jane. "What?" he gasped. "How is that possible?" he asked.
"I'll tell you all about her... But, not now, okay? Let's get to the Horcrux, and destroy it... And we will talk about your mother," replied Jane.
"Why should I believe you?" asked Harry, unconvinced.
Jane looked away and after a moment replied, "Take out your wand, Harry," she said. Harry showed her the wand he was holding, his phoenix feather wand. "Not this one, take out the other one," requested Jane.
Harry took out his other wand and held it out. Jane removed the wand from the holster and placed it on her palm. "Do you know whose wand this is?" she asked. Harry shook his head in response, though he started to make the connections. "Have you never wondered how this works for you so well?" she asked.
"Jane..." exclaimed Harry, shocked. "Are you telling me this wand belonged to my mother?" he asked.
"Until her last breath," replied Jane.
"How? How is that possible? How could John have her wand with him?" retorted Harry.
"Lily was with us, for a few years. And I can tell you, the only thing she wanted with all her heart, was to protect you. She wanted nothing else, but the best for you," remarked Jane. "I... uh... I am sorry that I didn't tell you about her sooner... But can we please go now?" she added.
Harry nodded in response.
Harry and Jane walked ahead with their wands up. While Harry was already convinced to continue on their journey of sneaking into Hogwarts and destroying another Horcrux, it was only after a while that he felt like himself.
He glanced at Jane, "I feel different," he remarked, a little smile appearing on his face.
"How do you mean?" asked Jane.
"I feel free, happy even, like the load is off my back," replied Harry. "There was something out there that affected me. I feel free now," he added.
Jane glanced at Harry, smiling. "It's good to have you back, Harry," she remarked.
"Did you lie to me?" asked Harry. After a long pause, he added, "About my mother, I mean," he said.
"No... No, I didn't," replied Jane.
"I still can't believe it," sighed Harry, surprised, as he took out his mother's wand and twirled it around with his fingers.
"She was there for me, for both John and I... at a time when we only had each other," sighed Jane in response. "John was on good terms with Mom. And he basically grew up with Uncle Black and Remus... and of course, how can we forget Aunt Hermione! John was her favourite," she continued, as a brief smile appeared on her face.
"Aunt Hermione?" retorted Harry, shocked.
"Even Teddy and Rose, who went to Hogwarts, I rarely spent time with them in there..." continued Jane, paying little attention to Harry.
The pair continued walking in silence, however, this one, unlike many others that had lasted between them wasn't comfortable. Instead, Harry felt uneasy throughout, and he wasn't sure why. Jane's voice had gone low in the past few minutes, and she sounded deeply lonely and sad. And he wasn't sure exactly what to say in response. There were many questions that sprouted in his head, he didn't even recognise the names Rose and Teddy, but it didn't feel correct to ask Jane about them at that moment.
However, after a short while, Harry broke the silence as he glanced at Jane and asked, "So, how far do you reckon are we from the entrance to the Chamber?"
"I am the worst sister..." mourned Jane, in response. "I was never there for John at his worst... I even bullied and raged at him... But he was there for me when the whole world was against me," she added, sulking.
"Jane?" called Harry. "Are you alright?" he asked, suspiciously. Harry halted briefly, however, Jane continued walking.
"Mom didn't tell me anything, though," said Jane as she continued talking, taking no notice of Harry's halt.
Harry sprinted after Jane and even ran past her to then stand in front of her. "Jane... What happened?" he asked. "Are you alright?" he repeated, staring straight at her eyes. Jane, however straight she might have been looking, wasn't looking at Harry. If anything, it looked like her eyes were pointed towards absolute nothingness.
"Jane," repeated Harry, a little more loudly. Jane, however, walked right past Harry, even brushed past his shoulder, without even noticing.
"No, no, no... this cannot be happening," muttered Harry under his breath as he went after Jane. "Jane, you are affected by the trap. You are not yourself," exclaimed Harry.
"I was too hard on her... I just hurt her even further," sighed Jane. "I should have never blamed her for leaving Dad. It wasn't her fault," she remarked.
"What?" gasped Harry. "Daisy will leave Ron?" he asked.
"I pushed her away, but she supported me when I tortured those kids... I didn't deserve any of them..." she sulked.
Harry stared at Jane, shocked at what he was hearing. "Tortured?" he wondered, but didn't have it in him to ask her about it. A few seconds went by, surprisingly, in silence. Harry kept an eye on Jane throughout, but she still seemed in a trance. "Well, at least she is continuing to walk," he thought, a little relieved.
The pair continued walking for a couple of minutes. Harry glanced at her once every few seconds, but there was no improvement.
And then suddenly, Jane halted. Harry walked a couple of steps before coming to a halt.
"Jane, what happened?" he asked as he walked back to her. She looked pretty much the same, just that, now, she had halted and was resting against the walls instead of walking forward.
"I failed him... I disappointed him..." muttered Jane. "I was never fit to be called his daughter. I brought him shame and nothing else," she added.
"What?" retorted Harry, confused. "Jane, please fight back... Are you even able to hear me?" he repeated, exasperated.
"I even failed him in the end. He disappeared and I couldn't find him. He was too ashamed of what I had done, and he left us. And I blamed everyone but myself for his disappearance," whimpered Jane.
Harry looked around desperately trying to think up a way to get Jane out of her trance, but he couldn't think of anything. The longer this went on, the more clueless he felt. Once again, silence engulfed the pair.
And then suddenly, Harry realised something. Jane wasn't rambling. Whatever had happened to her, the effect wasn't that she was rambling. She only spoke when spoken to, by Harry.
Harry started pacing back and forth, thinking back to the past some time. He tried to recollect everything that had happened. And he was certain that Jane only spoke when Harry had asked her a question, or had said something to her. The current silence that Harry found himself in, proved his theory.
"The only way to get Jane back is to talk her out of this," he thought to himself.
The silence continued as Harry continued pacing back and forth, wondering what to say to her. Once every few seconds, Harry glanced at Jane and noticed her standing still.
"Jane, you cannot blame yourself for whatever happened. You can't change what you have already done," said Harry, finally breaking the silence. And almost immediately, thought to himself, "She can change what she has done. Oh, Harry... You idiot, of course she can change what has happened. She is a time-traveller, isn't she?"
Without waiting another moment, Harry continued talking. "Most of us can't change what has already happened, but you can, Jane," he exclaimed, confidently. "You are a time-traveller, Jane. You can change everything. You have already changed many things, haven't you?" he remarked. "If there's anyone who can, it is you, Jane," he exclaimed.
"I wish I had stopped them from going back in time," muttered Jane, in a low gravelly voice. "I should have talked sense into John and Lily," she said. "She wouldn't have listened to me, but he would have," she whimpered. "We made a big mistake... We should have known that it wouldn't be so easy," she continued. Harry stared at Jane, intrigued. Chills went down his body, with every word she uttered. "Natural laws cannot be messed with... and we are paying for it," she finished.
Harry stared at Jane, shocked. "What does she mean by natural laws?" he wondered. Just as her words swirled around in his head, his eyes fell on something strange. For the first time in a while, he noticed the walls surrounding them.
"Runes," he exclaimed, shocked, and a sudden realisation hit him.
"I couldn't save Lily, and I couldn't save John... I have to save Harry, I can't fail," sighed Jane, in response.
Harry glanced at Jane, as another realisation hit him. He walked away from Jane and inspected the walls. Without thinking twice, he placed his palms on the wall and closed his eyes. At first, he didn't feel anything. But then, slowly a wave of emotion hit him, a mixture of guilt and loneliness, as Jane's words echoed inside him.
"John and Jane came here to save me," he told himself.
As Harry stayed connected with the wall for a few seconds, an idea sparked in him. He glanced at Jane and pointed his wand at her quickly. There was no resistance from her side.
"Legilimens," he exclaimed, with a swish and flick of his wand.
"… Fight back, Jane …" muttered Harry, his words reaching her in Parseltongue.
"… We need you, Jane! Fight back! …" he hissed, nervously.
"… Come back to me, please …" he continued and then suddenly, he saw Jane's eyes flutter. Harry waved away his wand and stared at her cautiously. "Jane?" he called. "Can you hear me?" he asked.
Jane blinked a couple of times and then stared at him, a little perplexed. "Harry?" she retorted, a little discombobulated. "What happened?" she asked, her voice a bit throaty.
"Phew!" gasped Harry and heaved a sigh of relief. "You are back," he gasped and grabbed her into a hug.
"Whoa!" she gasped as she accepted the hug. "What happened to me?" she asked, confused.
"You... you were affected..." replied Harry.
"Oh," gasped Jane, shocked. "I don't remember..." she remarked and a shocked expression appeared on her face. "Harry, did I hurt you in any way?" she asked, glancing at his wand.
"Oh, no... Not at all," replied Harry. Jane, however, didn't look convinced. "You didn't attack me or anything," he added, assuringly. "You were... just in a trance," he added. "Do you not remember anything you said?" he asked, curiously.
"I... uh... can't seem to remember," replied Jane. "What did I say?" she asked, nervously.
Harry stared at her for a moment. "Nothing... You were just, talking about John," lied Harry, in response. Just as he had hoped, he watched a whiff of relief wash over her face.
"John?" she retorted, as a brief smile appeared on her face. "I do miss him," she sighed.
Harry nodded in response, however, he now had a lot more questions about the future than he did a while back.
Harry and Jane continued walking, however, within a short while, Harry started to recognize the change in the air, the floor, the walls around him and everything else.
"We are here," he exclaimed, excited. Jane nodded in response.
The pair walked through a narrow stretch and when they came out, Harry's eyes lit up. He had spent hours and hours in this part of the Chamber. They were in Hogwarts and only a few hundred steps away from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
Jane paused and took a halt, Harry followed suit. "What happened?" he asked. "We are on time, aren't we?" he added.
"We are," replied Jane, reassuringly. "It must be past midnight by now," she said.
"Nobody would be there in the corridors at this time of the night," remarked. "And we have Professor White's support. He would have made sure our path is clear," he added, confidently.
"He did..." repeated Jane. "But, what if we don't find the Horcrux in the Room of Requirement?" she asked.
Harry shook his head, he was certain that's where they would find the Diadem.
"We should come back to the Chamber!" said Jane, after a moment.
Harry nodded in response. "Here, take the cloak," said Harry, handing Jane his invisibility cloak.
And off they went!
Harry opened the Chamber, cautiously, and looked around before coming out, followed closely by Jane. It was quite dark, definitely well past midnight, and the corridors were deserted.
Harry led the walk to the 7th-floor corridor, closely followed by Jane. The pair walked past all the empty paintings, without making even the faintest sound of footsteps. It took them a few minutes to walk from the 2nd-floor girl's lavatory to the 7th-floor, where the entrance to the Room of Requirement lay. Their heartbeat had skyrocketed by the time they reached.
"All yours, Harry," whispered Jane, her whispers sounding much louder in the silence that had engulfed them.
Harry glanced at the wall and closed his eyes. He paced a couple of steps back and forth in front of the wall and opened his eyes. The wall slowly turned into an old-fashioned door and opened itself slightly.
Harry opened the door slowly and held it open for a couple of seconds.
"Close the door," whispered Jane and Harry swiftly closed the doors to the Room of Requirement. Jane took off the invisibility cloak and smiled at Harry.
"We have made it this far..." she smirked.
Harry looked around at the newest manifestation of the room. "Where did you hide your Horcrux, Riddle?" he sighed and walked ahead.
The Room of Requirement's latest manifestation looked like the perfect place to hide anything. And unsurprisingly, there were a lot of old things in the rugged-looking room that had been left behind in the centuries that had gone by.
"How are you sure the diadem would be here?" asked Jane, as she split into another direction to look for the diadem.
"This is where I would hide... anything... if I had to keep it hidden from the world," replied Harry. "I have spent a lot of time in this room. I'm sure this is the place," he added.
The pair spent close to an hour inside the room, examining the different artefacts, books, shelves, and all sorts of other items. Just as they were about to lose hope, Harry's sudden yelp in pain echoed around the room.
"Harry," exclaimed Jane as she sprinted to him. "What happened?" she asked.
Harry was clutching his scar. "It's my scar, it's burning," he remarked and looked up. Right above him, on top of a small mountain of scraps, lay a beautiful diadem, encrusted with a shining blue sapphire. Harry stepped onto the mountain and grabbed the Diadem before coming back down.
"I knew it," he exclaimed, proudly and handed it to Jane.
Jane took the diadem, her eyes widened and there was a look of anger and desire on her face. She placed the diadem on the ground.
After a pause, she glanced at Harry. "This one's yours, Harry," she remarked, taking out the knife and handing it to him.
Harry smiled at Jane and took the knife.
He walked closer to the diadem and knelt in front of it. With all his strength, Harry swung his arm and stabbed the Diadem with the knife. Instantly, Harry got thrown back, with a strong force seemingly emanating from the Diadem. At the same time, the environment around them was filled with screeching yells, coming from the Diadem.
Jane rushed to Harry and helped him up. "You did it," she exclaimed, happily and hugged him.
"We did it, Jane," corrected Harry happily as he accepted her hug gladly.
After a moment, the pair released the hug and stared at each other.
"One more to go," sighed Harry, smiling wide.
"And the most difficult one, I reckon," sighed Jane, in response.
"What do we do now?" asked Harry.
"We... go back to the Chamber," replied Jane. "If you don't want to come back, Harry, that is perfectly fine," she added. "In fact, you should stay back here," she suggested.
"What?" gasped Harry, surprised. "Why are you saying that?" he asked.
"I needed your help in finding the Horcruxes, Harry... We have found them all, and destroyed all but one," she replied.
"Jane..." sighed Harry. "You don't have to be in hiding... Stay with us, at the Order. Let's fight You-know-who together," he remarked.
"No, Harry... As much as I would like to fight together, I'm not going to be accepted back that easily. I killed Dumbledore, remember?" retorted Jane.
"Then let me come with you. You are going to need help in killing Nagini," exclaimed Harry.
"I'm not going to say no to that, Harry. It's fully your decision," replied Jane, smiling. "But, I would suggest you talk to your friends and family first. Tell them the truth," she added.
Harry glanced at Jane and hugged her. "Thank you so much for everything you have done," he whispered.
"I am the one who needs to thank you, Harry. Without you, none of this would have been possible," whispered back Jane.
"You will always have a place with all of us," remarked Harry. "You are not alone in this fight," he added.
"Thanks, Harry," smiled Jane, in reply.
The pair released the hug after a moment.
"I'll send word for you," said Jane.
"Don't go it alone, Jane... I'll join you," repeated Harry, cautiously.
"I won't," chuckled Jane. "Now, let's get out of here," she said.
Jane and Harry made their way back to the exit. Jane was once again under the cloak of invisibility. After glancing at the room for one final time, Harry opened the door to the Room of Requirement.
The moment he opened the door and kept a step outside, a jet of white light struck him from the right, straight into his ribs.
Harry fell to the ground, clutching his side, and glanced up for his eyes to fall on a smirking Benjamin White.
And almost instantly, there was a commotion. From behind White, a group of students ran to the front, yelling at the top of their voices, all pointing their wands at the entrance to the room of requirement.
White flicked his wand at Harry once again, and before he could react, Harry found his hands and legs bound together.
The group of students, however, came to a jerked halt as immediately as they rushed past White.
"Harry?" exclaimed Colin, shocked.
"It's Harry Potter," exclaimed Seamus, for everyone to hear.
At the same time, Jane, found herself taken aback by the ambush.
"Harry," she whispered, loudly as she knelt to examine him.
White swung his wand once again, this time a little above Harry. Just as he had anticipated, Jane blocked his curse.
However, in blocking the curse, Jane had revealed herself, if not visually, at least by presence.
"NOW!" yelled White, loudly.
From the other side of the corridor, a jet of green light blazed across.
Jane blocked White's curse as anger coursed through her veins. But before she could react, her head turned to her left and her eyes fell on a tall red-haired boy. And every thought in her head vanished. He had his wand pointed right at her and a jet of green light escaped his wand and hit Jane straight in her chest.
Jane fell to the ground with a thud, lifeless.
"Jane," exclaimed Harry, shocked and turned his head around. "Ron!" he exclaimed, shocked. "What have you done?" he gasped.
PS - Well... You'll hear from me soon... Ciao!