Chapter Twenty One
Pansy opened her eyes and was smacked with the feeling of needing to throw up. Her head was pounding, she reached up her hand slowly and felt blood; a lot of blood. That would be the metallic she could smell.
"Harry! Draco!" She croaked, her throat filled with dust, she let out a painful cough and clutched at her ribs. There was no answer. She pulled herself into a sitting position, ignoring the throbbing pain all over her body. Thankfully nothing seemed broken; although her right leg was buried under a few bits of rubble.
Pansy leaned forward, gritting her teeth and pulled off the rubble. It was grazed and had a nasty looking gash stretching over three inches but she could wiggle her toes.
"Harry!" She cried as loudly as she could, "Draco! Are you there!?" her plea for help was greeted with silence.
The pain had subsided slightly now and the fogginess in her head was leaving. She'd already lost one shoe under the rubble so took the other one off as well. It was ruined and she'd be quieter and quicker in bare feet.
She also peeled off her tights which were very much worse for wear and used them to wipe away some of the blood that was covering her face and clumping in her hair.
She found her wand, undamaged, lying not far from where she woke up; gripping it tightly in her hand she moved forward. The tunnel was far smaller than the one they had been in and Pansy had to duck in places to get through.
She wondered where she was, under the lake somewhere she supposed. She could hear water sloshing above her and there was a faint smell of salt. Her wand provided a little more light and it was clearer than the strange green glow that seemed to fill the tunnels.
Pansy hardly dared to breath, closing her eyes at any sound or sign of movement. She was completely lost, no idea where she was going only that staying where she was wasn't an option. She stuck to the biggest tunnel hoping for a way out.
She paused. There were voices up a head, or strange hisses at least. She came to a large round door with a snake on it. She turned the light on her wand off, relying on the small amount of green light in the tunnel anyway.
"Alohomora" Pansy whispered, flicking her wand. Nothing happened, she didn't expect it to. She closed her eyes and tired to think, "Open" she said mimicking the hisses Harry had made earlier, "Open!" the snake's eyes flashed and the door swung open slightly.
Pansy smiled at her small triumph, she hadn't really expected it to work, and took several deep breaths before climbing through, wand pointed. She could see a young boy sixteen or seventeen standing shouting at the biggest snake she'd ever seen.
Then she saw Harry fall, tripping over a loose stone. The Basilisk loomed over him, fangs drawn back. Pansy raised her wand and did the first spell that came to mind.
"Expeliarmus!" She shouted with as much strength as she could find.
The Basilisk flopped to the side slightly and Harry took the chance to jump up and press against the wall, looking at where the spell had come from.
Relief flooded through him when he saw Pansy making her way quickly over to him. She looked injured but at least not buried under the caved in tunnel like he had feared.
"It can't see?" Pansy asked, seeing the Basilisk's ruined eyes.
"Fawks," Harry said in explanation, diving to the side of another attack, "He pecked them out. Gives us a chance."
"We need more than a chance, we need a weapon!" Pansy said firing off a few more spells at the snake, they had little affect.
Harry looked around and saw the hat. He didn't know what to do but there was nothing else to hope for.
"Check the hat!" Harry called.
Pansy dived down and grabbed it. It was empty, she jammed it on her head and thought hard, "Help please help!"
Nothing happened. Instead she was smacked in the back by the Basilisk's flying tail as it aimed for Harry. The hat flew off her head and she landed on the floor, the air leaving her suddenly.
Harry avoided the snakes bite and crawled over to the hat and put it on himself.
"Please, give us something! He's going to kill us!"
Harry felt the hat tighten until it was painful. There was a heavy thunk on his head and he was very glad that it hadn't been Pansy, she didn't look like she could manage another knock to the head.
Harry pulled the hat off and reached inside, pulling out an emerald encrusted, sliver knife. It was a strange shape, sharp on one edge and without a hilt. The blade was covered in patterned lines and two small runes at the bottom.
Harry was still looking over the blade, not paying attention, when he felt the deep fang sink into his arm. He screamed out in pain grabbing wildly at the fang. It broke off in his hand and Harry fell to the floor.
"HARRY!" Pansy screamed seeing him fall.
She ran over and held onto Harry, pulling out the fang still dug into his shoulder. She pushed one hand into the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, while grabbing the knife with her other hand.
The Basilisk reared up again, ready to attack. Pansy waited until it lunged down and thrust the knife though the back of the Basilisk's mouth.
It let out a groan of pain and collapsed to the side with a loud crash.
"It's too late." Riddle said gleefully, "The poison will still kill him. Ginny Weasley will be dead soon and I'll be fully alive and I could finish you off in my sleep!"
"Sorry who are you?!" Pansy demanded, drenched in Basilisk blood as well as her own and trying to keep Harry awake.
Riddle laughed, "Well..."
"Actually I don't care." Pansy snapped, Riddle's nostrils flared in anger but Pansy ignored the insults he proceed to throw at her.
Harry was struggling to keep awake. He felt the burning of the venom flooding through him and his brain growing foggy, all he wanted to do was give in to the exhaustion that was filling him.
Fawks swooped down and sat on Harry's lap, bowing his elegant head.
"Do you know what your pretty bird is doing Potter? He's crying! Even he knows it's useless! You're going to die down here. All three of you." Riddle laughed nastily.
Harry leant against Pansy, not having the strength to hold himself up. If he was dying, it wasn't that bad though. His head was clearing and the pain was quickly leaving him. He sat up by himself and looked at the perfectly healed patch of skin where his shirt was torn.
"NO!" Riddle screamed, but it was to late, "Phoenix tears heal, I'd forgotten. Never mind, I'll soon have the strength to finish you off and… What are you doing?"
Pansy had shuffled over, she'd meant to check on Ginny but spotted the diary and brought it over.
Harry looked between the diary, Ginny and Riddle, "You said that she was pouring her soul as well into this thing. So you can't kill her then, she'll just be in here like you were?" he asked.
Riddle shook his head like he was dealing with a troublesome child, "It doesn't work that way Potter. It really was just dumb luck you lived wasn't it?" he asked sarcastically.
Harry smiled, "That's all I needed to know." he grabbed the broken off fang and stabbed it into the cover of the diary. He didn't know why he did it but it worked. Riddle's face went from smugness to shock to pain as a burning hole appeared in his middle and burnt him up within seconds.
Harry threw the fang across the room and crawled over to Ginny. She sat up suddenly and looked around, rubbing her eyes.
"Harry? Oh Harry! I'm so sorry! It was me I was attacking everyone but I didn't mean to! I couldn't stop myself. Tom, Tom he was controlling me! Oh everyone was so scared and I-" She gushed, tears streaming down her face.
Harry wrapped her in a hug and Pansy hugged the other side.
"Don't worry." Pansy said kindly, "Everyone will understand and we'll back you up with what's happened down here."
"And everyone is going to be OK." Harry reassured her.
"They'll kick me out." Ginny sobbed, "Everyone will hate me. They'll send me to prison!"
"That's not going to happen, I promise. I wont let them." Harry assured her.
"We should get out of here." Pansy said looking over the dead Basilisk and the ruined diary, a hole burnt right through from the venom.
Harry picked up the diary and the knife. He shoved the diary into his pocket and put the knife in his belt.
He helped Ginny and Pansy to their feet. Ginny was looking much better, better in fact than he'd seen her all year. Pansy on the other hand was in desperate need of the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey's attention. Her head was still leaving trickles of blood running down her face and she was covered in grim, dirt and blood.
Harry offered her his shoulder to lean on which she refused saying she'd be all right. They went out the way Harry had come through as it was easier to get to than the smaller tunnel Pansy had been forced to navigate.
"Draco!" Harry shouted along the way. It wasn't long before they heard a relieved shout back.
"Harry!" Draco called, "Thank the gods you're OK! I haven't found Pansy though!"
"I'm here." Pansy called out weakly, "I'm… well not OK but I will be." She smiled.
They reached the fallen down tunnel and smiled at each other through the gap Draco had managed to get clear.
"You should all fit." Draco said helping Ginny though first, "Managed to get Useless here to help."
Harry climbed though last and leant against the stones, "I need a nap." he smirked.
"Is is...it..." Draco asked quietly, afraid of the answer.
Pansy nodded, "The Basilisk is gone. We found out why it was attacking people and who was letting it out. Never going to hurt anyone again now."
"Why was it attacking people?" Draco asked.
"This is a strange sort of place this." Lockhart piped up, "Do you live here?"
"No." Harry said briskly.
"Do I live here?" Lockhart asked shocked.
"Yes." Pansy snapped, "You love it here. We came for tea."
Lockhart looked around very confused, "Well… I'd best find the tea pot."
"It was me." Ginny burst out starting to cry again, "I let it out; it's all my fault." she sobbed.
"No." Harry said firmly, "No it was Voldermort."
"Hello." Lockhart said holding out his hand to Ginny, "I don't think we've met, I'm Useless, silly name I know."
Ginny managed a few weak laughs at this.
"How was it You-Know-Who?" Draco asked
"He was using an old diary. I'll tell you about it later." Harry said with a wave of his hand.
"How are we getting out of here?" Pansy asked, "I really don't feel like climbing up that slide."
"It's OK." Harry smiled.
Fawks flew in front of them and waved his tail feathers at him. Harry gave him a quick stroke.
"Thank you. We couldn't have done it without you. Right, Draco help Pansy hold on, Ginny you take my hand, Lockhart hold on to Draco's leg." Harry told them.
"But I haven't found the tea pot!" Lockhart moaned.
"Just do it!" the three older children shouted at once. Ginny gave a small laugh and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath and holding onto Harry's hand.
Harry waited until everyone was ready and took hold of Fawks's tail. A strange lightness flooded though him, like he didn't weigh more than a feather all of a sudden. They flew through the air, back up to the bathroom. They landed lightly on the tiles and Harry let go of Fawks giving him another stroke of thanks before Fawks flew through the open window, singing out into the night.
"Harry! You're still alive." Myrtle said.
"So sorry to disappoint you." Harry said rolling his eyes.
"It was just...well...if you had died. I was going to let you share my toilet." Myrtle blushed again.
Harry forced a smile onto his face, "Thank you. I'm sure that's very kind. We should get going."
Myrtle waved them goodbye as they left the bathroom.
"That ride was amazing! Just like magic!" Lockhart said looking around and walking into a wall.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked stopping suddenly, he had been heading to Snape's office but it would be empty.
"I think we should go to McGonagall." Pansy shrugged, "Apart from anything else she's closer."
"Who's McGonagall?" Lockhart beamed, "Is she magic as well? Did I invite her for tea? I don't even have a biscuit on me."
They ignored him and went to McGonagall's office. Harry stepped forward and knocked on the door. They could hear voices coming from inside and the door opened quickly.
"Potter." She said taking in the sight, of the four battered children and Lockhart who was trying to wonder off and kept having to be dragged back by Draco, and turning pale.
"GINNY!" there was a cry from inside the office and McGonagall was pushed out the way by a dumpy red headed woman that Harry recognised as Mrs Weasley. A taller man with thinning red hair also burst through the door and they both threw their arms around Ginny who buried her head against them.
"You're all right! You're OK! Oh Ginny we were so worried!" Mrs Weasley smothered her daughter in kisses, she turned to Harry, Draco and Pansy, "And you! You saved her!" she threw her arms around them as well, pulling them into a strong hug.
Pansy winced in pain but didn't pull away. When Molly pulled away her face blanked.
"You? You saved my Ginny?" she gasped.
"Yes." Draco hissed at her, "You're welcome. And do send my father my regards the next time you raid our house." he gave Mr Weasley a bitter smile.
Mr Weasley looked rather awkward, "I never would have thought that you… I mean."
"Why don't we all sit down?" Dumbledore's voice echoed from the back of the office.
Harry was wondering how so many people could fit in such a small office. He took a seat in between Draco and Pansy. Ginny sat with her parents, all three of them crying gently.
"Well. I suggest you tell us what's going on?" Professor McGonagall said sitting down herself, looking rather wobbly.
Harry took a deep breath and filled the room in on what happened. He showed them the diary and his torn shirt. He didn't mention why Ginny was the one who was taken. Dumbledore looked over them all with a knowing smile.
"I think the main question is how did such a dangerous item come to belong to poor Miss Weasley here, leaving her so vulnerable to control." Dumbledore asked stroking his long beard.
"Ginny?" Mr Weasley said shocked, pulling away from his daughter, "Tell me this wasn't you?"
"Of course it wasn't!" Mrs Weasley snapped, "These three are making it up! I imagine it was all a trap they set, they took her. Ron is always going on about how horrible they are to him."
"They're not making it up Mum." Ginny sniffed, "I couldn't stop myself but the diary was mine and it spoke to me and made me attack people."
"I don't believe it!" Mrs Weasley said, "I won't believe it!"
"Don't blame Ginny." Pansy said, "The diary was...evil. Honestly it's that things fault. It had someone called Tom Riddle trapped inside."
Mrs Weasley shot daggers at her and pulled her daughter in closer.
"We can't blame Miss Weasley, greater and older wizards and witches have been caught out by such a trick. I think that you two should take her to the hospital wing, and get her something healthy to eat, like ice cream or chocolate cake. A large hot chocolate also wouldn't go a miss either I believe." Dumbledore gave her a warm smile.
Ginny and her parents stood up and left the room and closed the door behind them. Harry's heart was thumping in his chest again, if Dumbledore knew how dangerous this thing was why had he let it into the school, he seemed to know everything but he had ignored the diary, surely he'd seen Ginny carrying it around like Harry had?
"What happened to Professor Lockhart?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"He broke my wand." Draco glared at him, "Then tried to steal it to wipe our memories but it backfired."
"Ah dear Professor, caught in your own trap. A little bit of karma happening there I think." Dumbledore chuckled, "Minerva would you mind taking Gilderoy up to the hospital wing, I think Poppy will want him transferred to St Mungo's sooner rather than later. Also inform these three young student's parents that they are here and need to see them. Then send an owl to Azkaban, we will be needing our gamekeeper back."
McGonagall nodded and lead a confused Lockhart from the room.
"I'm glad you're back." Pansy said, shifting in the suddenly very empty room.
"Yes. Once Miss Weasley had been taken the governors changed their minds and thought it would be best that I returned. Bellatrix Lestrange has resined over the issue." Dumbledore remarked, "Now I have a few more questions, firstly where did you get this?"
He held up the glittering knife.
"We pulled it from the sorting hat." Harry said, "It looks old."
Dumbledore smiled, "It is. It's called a scram sax, it belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself I believe."
"How can you be sure?" Draco asked.
Dumbledore pointed to the two runes at the base of the blade, they looked like two lightening bolts, "These are the runes of S.S. You must have shown great loyalty to me in the Chamber to be able to call Fawks to you." he smiled, "I'm very proud."
The three children sat awkwardly, not sure what to say.
"And you will be awarded 150 points each."
"Thank you." Harry smiled, "Professor, I don't want to be rude but can we go? I think Pansy especially could do with a look over by Madam Pomfrey."
Dumbledore looked over the injured children and nodded, "Of course. Run along. Harry just one final word."
Draco helped Pansy, who was really struggling now the adrenaline was leaving her system, to stand up and walked out the room half carrying her, Harry stood as well to make it clear he wanted to go.
"Harry, don't you want to know why you can speak to snakes?" Dumbledore asked softly.
Harry shook his head, "Not really, it's just cool. Danica loves reptiles after all. Do you think I could speak to iguanas? Danica will not be happy if I can't."
Dumbledore gave a tense smile as a glimmer of rage crossed his eyes, "Very well. I'm sure you want to go and see your friends."
Harry nodded and left the room as quickly as he could. He felt much better walking through the corridors with all the pictures once again filled with people and chatter. Harry knocked on the hospital wing door and walked in.