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Family Means More Than Blood	By : WingsofaDream Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 59825 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its associated characters are property of J K Rowling, not me. This story is not being written for profit, just for the lols.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
29th May 1993: Evening

The sound of footsteps occasionally splashing in puddles and echoing off of the bare stone walls which surrounded them was all that there was for Harry and Ron to listen to as they walked wordlessly, only guided by the glowing silver of the "Lumos" Harry had cast with Ron's wand. It was cold and wet and the fact that Harry was only wearing pyjamas did not help that at all. He frowned lightly to himself; what was it with stuff like this happening to him just when he was getting ready to go to bed?

It had been a long, stressful day and Harry had treated himself to a long shower and then planned on having an early night. The best laid plans though as he had just left the bathroom clean, relaxed and dressed in his pyjamas when a frantic Ron Weasley had crashed right into him and then promptly started to babble about a whole mess of words which seemed to make no sense as he pulled on Harry's arm, steering him out of the Gryffindor common room. Harry had tried to tell the panicking boy that not only were they not allowed out of the common room without professor supervision anymore, he was wearing nothing but pyjamas and needed to put some clothes on. Also, he did not have his wand, having left it in his trunk while showering. Ron had ignored everything said to him and simply continued to talk frantically.

Eventually, Harry had given up and allowed himself to be taken wherever it was Ron wanted him which, curiously, was the little used girls' bathroom. In there, he found Potter holding his broken wand on Professor Lockhart who looked more than a little reluctant to be there. And then finally everything was explained to him properly. Ginny had been taken down to the Chamber of Secrets, it was a basilisk who had been petrifying the students, Lockhart was helping them under protest, and they needed a Parselmouth to open the door to the Chamber for them. A short word in parseltongue, a conversation with Moaning Myrtle and a few threats to Lockhart later, the four of them had entered the Chamber and made their way further inside.

Then, they had found a snake skin which was more than a little disturbing. Then Lockhart had managed to get Potter's wand away from him when Harry and Ron were further up the tunnel, several feet ahead, and had then told them his plan to Obliviate them all and run back up to where it was safe. Potter's broken wand had caused the curse to backfire though and Lockhart ended up Obliviating himself and causing half the tunnel to cave in, in the process, cutting Harry and Ron off from Potter and Lockhart. With no other choice, Harry and Ron had continued alone leaving Potter with instructions to try and clear some of the rubble so that they could get through again once they had saved Ginny.

And that brings us back to the current moment with the two Gryffindors trudging through the dark, damp tunnel. Harry had released his staff as he had no wand of his own but he also held Ron's wand seeing as out of the pair of them, he was the one who knew the "Lumos" charm. At least everything was quiet. Quiet meant that there was no one else around which meant that one aspect of danger was removed. Still, this was the Chamber of Secrets, there was bound to be danger including that of a bloody huge basilisk.

Now that Harry knew it was a basilisk which had been going around the school, it seemed so obvious. That was why he had been hearing a voice that only he could hear, he had been hearing the basilisk. And the petrification could be explained by the fact that everyone who had been petrified had seen the basilisk through something rather than face on. And his dreams over the last few months, the ones which had been getting a little more detailed every time he had one, they made sense now too. In fact, Harry was practically kicking himself for not figuring it all out before.

Moving into a new area, a very familiar sound from his dreams reached Harry; a definite, constant dripping of water into a puddle. It was exactly like his dream, dripping and then echoing into silence again before repeating. He moved Ron's wand over to the left side of the area they were now in to try and see where the sound was coming from and gasped at what he saw. Over by the wall there was the dripping water, falling from the ceiling in a steady pattern. The surprising thing, however, was that the water was black. From his past experiences with black water, be it rain or drips from the ceiling, it was almost definitely confirmed in Harry's mind; this night, he would face Voldemort again.

"Harry?" Ron asked, peering at the same area the older Gryffindor was. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no, it's nothing. I just..." He paused and looked to Ron. "Nothing, doesn't matter. C'mon, let's get moving again." He ordered, his eyes flickering back over to where he had seen the black drips as he began to walk forward again. Not surprisingly, the water was back to being clear and watery.

For several more minutes the two Gryffindors walked in silence, the only sound around them being the occasional drip and the sound of their footsteps on the damp stone underneath their feet. They kept their pace steady and constant, determined to find Ginny quickly but also aware that caution needed to be upheld. However, when they passed underneath a massive arch and entered an absolutely massive chamber, caution was thrown to the wind upon spotting the still form of Ron's little sister laying on the floor over on the other side.

"Ginny!" Ron cried fearfully as he took off in a sprint toward her, Harry following on behind him quickly. Their running footsteps pounded on the wet stone as they dashed over to her. Ron practically threw himself to the floor at her side and grabbed her hand. "Merlin, Ginny!" He called to her, using his free hand to pat her cheek repeatedly. "C'mon Ginny, wake up! Oh please don't be dead, don't be dead..."

Harry got down beside Ginny, opposite Ron, and reached to press his index and middle fingers to her neck. It took him a few seconds but he did, eventually, find the beat he was looking for. "It's all right, she's not dead, but her pulse is really weak." He removed his fingers and began to look the girl over. "I can't see anything actually wrong with her, no puncture wounds or bruising...I'll try a healing spell though, it might work." With that, he held his staff out slightly over Ginny and opened his mouth to speak.

"That won't do anything, she won't wake." A voice from the side came and both Harry and Ron turned their heads to see a teenager, probably about sixteen years old, step out from the shadows, dressed in Slytherin robes.

A horrible sensation of deja vu chilled Harry and he got to his feet so he could quickly move in front of Ron quickly, holding his staff in front of himself protectively. "Don't come any closer."

"She's still alive, but only just. And, as she grows ever weaker, I grow stronger." The boy told them, a faint sneer detectable in his tone, totally ignoring the fact that Harry had spoken.

"You bastard!" The fiery red head screamed furiously as snatched his wand away from Harry and charged forwards towards the Slytherin boy.

"No Ron, don't!" Harry cried, trying to grab the Second Year as he ran past him.

Ron managed to dodge Harry's grip and carried on towards the Slytherin boy, taking a leap at him when he was close enough. However, instead of colliding with the Slytherin, he passed right through him. Both Gryffindors gasped as Ron kept going, landing on the wet, stone floor behind. The ginger haired boy looked at his now empty hand in astonishment and the turned his gaze onto the strange boy, beyond shocked to see that the older teenager now held his wand in his right hand.

"What are you?" Harry asked, his tone soft and confused.

"A memory, preserved in a diary for fifty years." The older Slytherin answered simply, his gaze falling onto Harry and softening slightly.

"Then, you're not real..."

"No, not yet, but as soon as Ginny dies, I will be; Very real indeed."

"Why her?" Ron demanded angrily, getting back up onto his feet. "Why my sister? Out of everyone in this whole bloody school why did you choose her?"

"Because she was already under my control."

Harry's eyes flickered down to the small, black leather book that rested on Ginny's stomach, one of her hands resting on top of it.

"Yes Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets..."

"No, she wouldn't..." Ron tried to argue.

"It was Ginny who set the basilisk onto the Mudbloods and Filch's cat, it was Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."

"But why would she?"

"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was in, shall we say, a sort of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom."

"That's where John and I found it!" Ron gasped.

"Ah yes, John Potter, not exactly who I had in mind for finding it. I would've much preferred it to have gone to you." He told Harry, turning his gaze on the oldest Gryffindor pointedly.

"Why him?"

"Because he's Voldemort." Harry answered for the boy quietly, not taking his eyes away from the Slytherin.

"He's who!" Ron cried, staggering back, away from the young Dark Lord.

"Congratulations Harry, I didn't think you'd figure me out completely on your own, without even the help of my memory." Voldemort said as he continued to look at the dark haired boy and, Harry was unsure, but he could have sworn there was a hint of pride in his tone.

"Does that mean you opened the Chamber last time?" Ron asked cautiously, edging around where Voldemort stood in order to make it back over to Harry. "But John said that Hagrid..."

"Do you honestly think that a bumbling, soft-hearted simpleton like Hagrid could possibly control a creature powerful enough to kill with a single glance?"

"You framed him." Harry accused darkly just as Ron reached him and immediately hid behind him.

"It was my word against his, only Dumbledore seemed to think that he was innocent."

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you."

"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still in school so I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen year old self within its pages so that one day I would be able to guide another and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours the Mandrake Drought will be ready and everybody who was petrified will be revived."

"Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't interest me anymore. For the last few months, my main priority has been you." Voldemort said in what Harry thought was a rather lecherous tone. He raised his staff again, ready to defend himself and Ron if necessary. "Oh please Harry, do you really think your silly Elvish magic will be any use against me once I'm fully revived, once again becoming the greatest wizard in the world!"

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard in the world!" Harry retorted angrily, keeping his staff up.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of his castle by the mere memory of me."

"No, he'll never be gone, just as long as those who remain are loyal to him." Harry insisted proudly, raising his chin against the older teenager in front of him. A few seconds of tense silence followed that as all three wizards tried to stare each other down. The silence was broken however, with a familiar call of a bird. "Fawkes?" Harry murmured to himself, not daring to look up while Voldemort was still staring at him. However, when the Slytherin looked up, Harry and Ron did so too. Low and behold, there was Dumbledore's phoenix circling above them, something clutched in his talons.

All eyes remained on the creature as it swooped down, dropping what it held right in front of Harry, it landing just by his feet. Harry quickly picked it up and unfurled it with his free hand, allowing them all to see what it was that they had been sent. The result was less than encouraging for the two Gryffindors.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his precious Gryffindors? A song bird and an old hat." Tom sneered before sweeping past a glaring Harry and a confused Ron.

"Harry, what are we supposed to do with the Sorting Hat?" Ron whispered desperately, stepping up to the older boy's side quickly and glancing down at the worn hat that Harry still held.

Before Harry even had a chance to answer, the hissing of parseltongue caught his attention. Both boys looked over their shoulders to see Voldemort standing in front of the massive snake statue built into the back wall of the chamber, the mouth of which was opening slowly. The evil teenager turned towards them and smirked. "Let us see how well a mouldy old hat fairs you in a confrontation with a fully grown basilisk."

The basilisk had not even appeared before Harry gripped Ron's shoulder and forcefully turned him around to face the direction they had entered from before he had forced himself forward into a full run. "Wait, what about my sister!" The boy argued as he tried to stop himself as behind them the sound of sliding against wet stone began.

"We'll come back for her. Right now, whatever you do, don't look behind you, just keep running."

Ron stopped talking at that order and for the next few seconds, both Gryffindors just concentrated on running as fast as their legs would allow them. Unfortunately, considering the speed at which they were moving, it was not surprising that their legs started to suffer, starting to feel wobbly and out of control. Harry's were not as bad as Ron's as he obviously ran around a lot more than the Weasley (being the sole focus of a homicidal maniac could do that to a person's life) so he managed to stay relatively steady. However, Ron was not so lucky and lost his footing. One moment he was running beside Harry and then next he had landed face down on the floor with a loud thud.

Harry slid to a stop as soon as he realised what had happened and, closing his eyes, moved in front of the boy protectively. "Ron, run!" Harry insisted quickly as, in front, the basilisk was getting very close to them. Ron looked for a second as though he was about to argue but anything he was about to say died on his lips as he scrambled up onto his feet and dashed away.

"Ssstop you idiotic creature!" The voice of Voldemort yelled to the snake as Ron's running began to echo and fade away and the basilisk missed sinking its teeth into Harry by mere centimetres.

There was a slight pause then before the basilisk wrapped itself around Harry in one swift movement, and the dark haired Gryffindor immediately bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut tightly in order to avoid the eyes he knew were bright yellow. He tried to keep his breathing steady but failed miserably as he felt the thin, pointed tongue of the giant snake flicker over the surface of his face. Then, as quickly as the snake had wrapped around him, it was gone, slithering past him, in the direction that Ron had gone.

"No, wait!" Harry called to the snake in parseltongue, trying to get its attention back onto him.

"It won't show any interest in you, Harry, because it knows not to attack you." Voldemort told him easily from where he stood over by Ginny. Harry turned to look at the sixteen year old. "It knows not to attack what belongs to me."

"I do not belong to you." Harry ground out angrily as he stalked forwards, intending to get to Ginny's side in order to check on her. As he walked, he thought he heard a far off cry of a bird along with a furiously hissing voice yelling insults and obscenities and he prayed that whatever it was that was happening was in Ron's favour.

Reaching Ginny, he got down onto his knees beside her and gently took one of her hands in his. It was so incredibly cold. Like the skin of those who had been petrified. And she was so very pale. If it had not been for the faint pulse he could feel in her wrist, he would have been sure she was already dead. "It won't be long now." Voldemort told him, as if he had read the Gryffindor's mind. "And once she has made her departure, I will cease to be a memory and Lord Voldemort will return, very much alive."

"I've stopped you before, I will find a way to stop you again." Harry told him stiffly, not lifting his eyes from the dying girl at his knees.

A sudden chill over-came him then and he held back a shudder at the sensation. When a very noticeable cold patch spread just underneath his chin, he raised it knowing that it was Voldemort getting too close and if he had not have moved, he would have been treated to a lovely head rush and that would only be if he was lucky. By lifting his head, his face came an inch away from that of the young Dark Lord's, their eyes meeting instantly.

"You say that, dear, but answer me this; how exactly did you defeat me the first time?" He asked gently, though there was a definite patronising edge in his tone. And worse of all, Harry could not answer because he did not know how he had defeated Voldemort the first time and he could not do what he had done last time, there was nothing to exorcise Voldemort's spirit from. "You see?" The Slytherin cooed, bringing one of his hands up to hover just over Harry's cheek much to the younger boy's distaste. "There'll be nothing you can do."

Harry glared at him angrily. "But there'll be plenty I can try." He insisted in a hard tone just as fast, splashing footsteps reached their ears. Voldemort backed away from the Gryffindor as Harry turned around to see Ron dashing over to him and Ginny. "Ron, are you all right?" He reared up to glance over the red head's shoulder. "Where's the basilisk?"

"I...I lost it." Ron panted as he slowed to a stop, leaning forward with his hands supporting his upper body on his thighs. "Some-somewhere back there." He said with a weak wave of his hand in the general direction he had just come from. "Fawkes came...Scratched its eyes out...Before he was hit aside. I think he must've got knocked out because he didn't get up again."

"Fawkes?" Harry asked, concerned.

"No, the basilisk; of course the bloody bird!" Ron yelled, his frustration obviously getting the better of him for a moment at least.

Then, suddenly, without warning, the basilisk came crashing through a wall on the other side of the chamber sending a spray of rubble and dust shooting out, thankfully far away from where they were. It was obvious that the snake was blinded by the torn flesh around where its eyes had been and the blood which oozed from the wounds. Harry gave a small gasp at its appearance and turned to stare at Ron slightly accusingly.

"Well I thought I'd lost it."

Harry gave a small cringe before turning back to face the on coming basilisk quickly, raising his staff in front of him as he did so. "Beria(1)!" He called, creating a shielding dome of light which covered all three of them: himself; Ginny and Ron. The basilisk continued on towards them and collided head first with the front of the dome. The impact strained Harry slightly and he winced with the effort of maintaining the barrier but other then that he remained unmoving.

"How long can you hold this?" Ron asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of the blind basilisk.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On how long he manages to keep doing this." Harry grunted with some effort as the basilisk continuously pounded on the light which surrounded them completely with its massive head.

"Do you think it might end up knocking itself out?"

"What I'm hoping."

Several minutes passed and still the basilisk was keeping its attacks on their shield constant in power and frequency. It was getting an ever increasing struggle for Harry to keep the barrier up but it was not too impossible at that moment. Give it a few more minutes though...

Opening his eyes, Harry saw the basilisk rear up to make another lurch into the light which surrounded him and the two Weasleys. Behind the snake, he saw a slightly smirking Tom Riddle who was obviously entertained by what was happening. If there was one thing Harry really wanted at that point, it was to punch the smarmy git right in the nose. He averted his gaze and it landed on the Sorting Hat a few feet away from where they were stuck standing. And, he was not sure if seeing things or not, but he was sure that he saw something inside it glittering every so often...

"Ron, do you know the Summoning spell?"

"No."

"Do you think you could give it a go if I told you what to do?"

"I, uh...Can't you do it?"

"I have to maintain the shield; I can't do both at the same time." Harry reasoned, keeping his eyes forward in concentration. "It's not hard at all, Ron. You just say "Accio" and then the name of whatever it was you want to come to you."

"Um, okay...What is it we want to come to us?"

"The Sorting Hat; there has to be a reason Fawkes brought it down for us."

"Alright...Accio, was it?"

"Yep, that's it, perfect. Just point and say it." Harry instructed in as normal a voice as he could manage considering the situation they were currently in.

Ron took in a deep breath before letting it out again in a slow, steady whoosh. He raised his wand and pointed the tip directly at the limp form of the Sorting Hat. "Accio Sorting Hat." He said in a calm, clear voice.

The old hat jerked forward slightly before coming to a stop.

"Don't give up." Harry encouraged the younger boy. "That was good for a first try considering the circumstances. Try again and focus on nothing but the hat and bringing it over to us. Don't worry about him," he inclined his head above where the basilisk was still trying to get to them. "He can't get to us."

A determined expression, similar to that which had been on his face during the previous year and the troll incident, crossed Ron's face and he steadied his wand. "Accio Sorting Hat." He said again, his tone much firmer than it had been the previous time. The movement of the hat was still jerky and it did not actually lift off the ground completely, but never-the-less it did move and it was dragged over to them, coming to a stop at the edge of their shield. Ron quickly moved to it and he dipped down to pick it up before beginning to look it over in his hands. "Now what do we do with it?"

"Pass it here." Harry instructed, holding out his left hand, keeping his right hand attached to his staff.

Ron did as he was told and handed the Sorting Hat over to Harry. The older Gryffindor brought it around to look at it and tried to see what it was he had seen glittering while concentrating on maintaining the barrier. Slowly, before his eyes, something began to glitter and shine inside the hat and Harry frowned slightly at the sight. He jerked the hat into the air and caught it again by thrusting his left hand inside of it. Oddly, inside, there was something hard, rough and cold. It was long and slim but thick enough for him to comfortably wrap his hand around. He did so and then flicked the hat so that it fell to the side. What Harry found he now held caused him to give a small yelp of surprise and chuck it away from himself.

"Where the bloody hell did that come from?" Ron gasped at the jewelled, silver sword which clattered to the floor, landing on top of the Sorting Hat where it had landed near the edge of the shield.

"Why, in the Great Lady's name, would someone hide a sword inside the Sorting Hat?" Harry muttered as he wiped his hand off against the side of his robe as though said sword had left something distasteful behind.

"Who cares, this is great! Now you can fight the basilisk."

"Do you not know the meaning of the word pacifist, Ron? For a Priest to even touch a weapon of destruction like that is a punishable offence. Course, it would be different if I was a girl..."

"But it's trying to kill us!"

"I'm sorry, Ron, but I can't do anything. Unless I'm on my own or everyone around me is completely defenceless, violence is not permitted. Physically, you're able to fight, that means I can't kill or even attack the basilisk." Harry told him sadly, understanding why the younger boy was looking at him in pure disbelief but refusing to break his Vow. Voldemort had done enough to him, he was not going to turn him into a killer too.

"Fine, you want me to fight, then I'll fight." Ron said angrily as he dashed forward, grabbing the sword when he passed it and leaving the safety of the barrier.

"Wait, Ron!" Harry cried, allowing the spell to fall finally with no small amount of relief.

Ron totally ignored him and ran straight past the basilisk and whether the boy knew he was teasing the monster with his scent or not was unknown. Harry watched in silent horror as Ron began to dash around the giant snake, swiping at it whenever it drew dangerously close to him. Each and every time the basilisk lunged at the red haired boy, Harry would gasp fearfully, both of his hands clutching his staff so tightly that his knuckles were white. Every time it was too close. Ron barely dodged the lunges in time and he was tiring. He clearly would not be able to continue for much longer. Harry was ready though. The second that Ron was no longer able to fight, he would. His Vow would no be applicable if Ron could no longer fight and he could then finish off what the younger boy had already done.

But, to Harry's great surprise, Ron did it; he killed the basilisk. The snake lunged at him and the silver sword had been driven through the roof of the monster's mouth until it poked out the top of its head. Harry fought back a shout of delighted triumph as Ron yanked his arm and the sword away and the basilisk was allowed to die, thrashing in the air widely before collapsing onto the ground with a massive crash which seemed to shake everything. Happiness bubbled inside of Harry and he turned to where Ron was making his way back over to him and Ginny. Upon seeing the boy come closer however, the happiness chilled into dread.

Ron did not look well. His shoulders were slumped, his face was pale, his breathing sounded a little ragged and there was a thin layer of sweat across his face. He looked fit to collapse and that couldn't be just because of the effort it had taken to kill the basilisk. And that was when green eyes landed on the boy's right arm which was still holding the bloodied sword. One of the fangs of the basilisk was embedded in his arm.

"Ron..." Harry gasped fearfully as the younger boy fell to his knees, and he only just managing to lurch forward in time to catch him. Ron's face was growing exceedingly paler and the sweat which had broken out along his brow was now more noticeable. Harry supported the boy's injured arm gently, careful not to jar the basilisk fang which was lodged in the wound. "Oh Ron..."

"Maybe I should've waited after all..."

"Oh Ron, you were so brave, you did wonderfully."

"Sorry I didn't listen."

Harry shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat. "It doesn't matter. You did exactly what I couldn't do. You saved me, you saved Ginny." He suddenly noticed that Ron's eyes were shut now and he quickly brought his finger tips to his wrist to check for a pulse. It was still there, he still had time!

"Remarkable isn't it? How quickly the basilisk venom penetrates the body. I guess he has no more than a minute to live." Voldemort sighed, as though he was sad about the fact.

Harry paid him no mind as he gently removed the basilisk tooth, wincing at the blood which rose to the top of the wound and began to trickle out. He ignored the blood for that moment and raised his staff a little, tilting it so it was over Ron's limp body. "Elessa(2)." A small, green pool of light spread out from underneath Ron and stopped when it stretched from his feet to the top of his head. Orbs of light which were the same shade of green began to rise rapidly, taking only seconds to appear from the pool and to vanish somewhere above their heads. That lasted for five seconds before the light faded as though it had never been there. Harry could only pray that it had worked now.

"Was that really worth your effort, Harry?" Voldemort inquired with a sneer. "You won't be able to save Ginny that way and as soon as she's gone, I'll be here, really here, and the first thing I will do is kill the insufferable twit you just saved."

"What!" Harry gasped in horror, looking up at the Slytherin with an angry glare as he held Ron's unconscious form closer to himself. "Why? He's a pure-blood, he's not..."

"It's not about his blood, Harry, it's about you."

"Me?"

"You obviously care about him; far too much for my liking."

"You'll kill him because he's my friend?" Harry bit out, feeling the most angry he had ever.

"I'll kill him, because you care." Voldemort said gently, as though he speaking an endearment. "You're mine, Harry, and to be mine means that you will care for me and only me," he knelt down in front of Harry and brought his hand up to the teenager's face as closely as possible. "Just as I care for you and only you."

Harry glared up at Voldemort with such a burning hatred that he had never experienced before. At that moment, it was only the knowledge that the boy before him could not be touched physically that was stopping the Gryffindor from attacking him. Vow of Pacifism be damned for a minute, there was nothing more he wanted to do at that moment than hit something or preferably someone. He released a harsh huff of frustration before remembering that the basilisk's fang was resting on the floor just beside him. With nothing else to release his frustration on, he put down his staff and grabbed the tooth in a firm grip before raising it and then bringing it slamming back down, thinking he would simply hit the floor.

A strangled gasp came from in front of him and Harry looked up to see that the young Lord Voldemort was now slightly stooped over, clutching his stomach, his hands covering an area over his chest which had a crack in it, allowing light to shine through. The Gryffindor frowned in slight confusion before he looked down and began to understand. The tip of the fang had penetrated the pages of the diary and ink had spurted out in a rather sickly manner. Realisation brightened his eyes and a slow smile spread across his lips before turning into a smirk as his gaze flickered up to look Voldemort in the eye.

"Harry, don't!" The other teen warned him, holding a palm out in a sign of stop.

Harry simply cocked an eyebrow before plunging the tooth into the other side of the book which had not yet been pierced. Voldemort gave a wail of pain as a crack of shining light split the middle of his face. Harry squinted against the intensity of it before looking down and flipping the book shut and then slamming the fang through the front cover, getting it through quite a few pages underneath as well. Another scream from Tom as almost his entire body was taken up with light. And then, in the blink of an eye, the memory of the boy who had turned into Lord Voldemort had exploded in a burst of golden light, leaving nothing of himself behind.

A relieved pant rushed from Harry and he slumped his shoulders in relief. He glanced at the tooth and wrinkled his nose slightly before chucking it away from himself, sending it clattering off somewhere at the side. He leaned back on his now free hand and pulled his legs out from underneath him so he was sitting on the floor rather than kneeling. As he shifted, he noticed that the colour was returning to Ginny's skin. It would not be long before she returned to the world of the living along with him and, hopefully, Ron. Speaking of which...

"That was bloody fantastic." A weak voice came from Harry's side. Green eyes immediately moved to the boy who was resting against him and Harry was delighted to see that Ron's eyes were, indeed, open.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked the younger boy gently, helping him up into a sitting position.

"My arm hurts enough for the rest of me."

"Well, at least there's something I can do about that." Harry smiled to him as he picked his staff up again and held it up and slightly over the red haired boy in his arm. "Fallan(3)." It was a deep blue pool of light which spread out from underneath Ron and the orbs fell down from nowhere, settling all over the younger Gryffindor much to his distaste. "Don't fuss, Ron." Harry ordered with a slight smile, his eyes closed.

"But it's covered me and it feels weird."

"That just means it's working. Look at your arm and see." He instructed and Ron did so, his eyes widening slightly as he did so. The wound created by the basilisk fang was closing up gradually as each orb of blue light landed on it, the glow fading into his skin and healing.

"Wicked." The boy breathed in awe as the injury healed completely, leaving behind no evidence that it had ever been there.

Harry released the spell, led by instinct, and the light disappeared. He opened his eyes and smiled down at Ron. "All better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Ron replied with a smile of his own before he suddenly seemed to notice the position that he and Harry were in. A bright blush covered his entire face and he pushed himself away quickly, over-balancing and toppling onto his back in the process. The older boy just watched him in amusement. "I, uh, sorry about that." The ginger haired boy mumbled when he had righted himself, looking away stubbornly.

"Nothing to apologise for." Harry assured him easily just as a small groan came over from where Ginny was laying. Both boys turned to look at her and saw that she had brought a hand up to rest on her forehead.

"Gin!" Ron gasped quickly, crawling to her quickly. "Are you all right?"

"I-I..." She said unsurely as she allowed herself to be eased up into a sitting position by her older brother. She noticed Harry an arm's length away from her and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry for everything. It was me," she confessed shakily. "It was all me doing it but I didn't want to, he made me do it, I couldn't stop it..."

"It's all right, Ginny." Harry soothed the girl gently, reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "We know what happened, we know everything. It wasn't your fault." The echoing call of Fawkes reached them then and they all tilted their heads in various directions to see where the bird, who was obviously now awake, was coming from. Ron was the first to spot him and then Harry soon after and then Ginny caught on right at the end just as the phoenix glided to a landing directly beside Harry. "We owe a big thank you to you, Fawkes, we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you."

The bird gave a small chirrup and Harry lifted a hand to gently run it over Fawkes's head a few times.

"So what do we do now?" Ginny asked shyly as Harry continued to pet the phoenix.

"Now," Harry replied, finishing with his petting and getting up onto his feet with a bit of help from his staff. "We get out of here. There's nothing else for us to do and I don't want to hang around any longer than I have to."

Ron and Ginny took that as their cue to get up as well and Fawkes flapped his wings in order to fly up onto Harry's shoulder for a ride. With another encouraging smile to the two younger Gryffindors, Harry held his free arm out, curling it behind Ginny, his fingertips just managing to touch Ron's shoulder as he was sticking close to his sister's side. He urged them forwards and, all of them together, headed away from the dead basilisk, back to where they would meet up with Potter again and leave the Chamber of Secrets behind them.

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(1) Beria: Protect

(2) Elessa: Restore

(3) Fallan: Heal
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Family Means More Than Blood