Old and Young, Inside Out

Chapter 24

The pipe eventually leveled out and they slid onto level ground. Nico quickly got his sword and looked around, but there was no sign of the monster or his sister. A black tunnel stretched out in front of them, however, no doubt leading to where the monster was.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry said, his voice echoing.

Nico nodded. "My guess is that we're under the lake. Harry, can you light up your wand?"

"Lumos!" Harry's wand lit up, revealing the tunnel in front of them. They all crept down it in the darkness, listening for every noise made.

"Remember," Harry reminded, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away..."

Nico didn't think about his words long, instead forging ahead as Ginny's life source got closer. He needed to save her. He needed to bring her back to Mrs. Weasley.

He wasn't going to lose another sister.

"Blimey," said Ron weakly. Nico looked to where the others stopped, seeing that the basilisk had shed its skin some time ago. It was huge, but not too big. Nico clung to his sword, knowing that a wand wouldn't help him in this fight.

Lockhart suddenly lunged forward, tackled Ron to the ground. Before Nico could even begin to intercede in the fight, Lockhart was up with Ron's wand in his hand, pointed at them.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body - say good-bye to your memories! Obliviate!"

The wand backfired, causing a small explosion in the tunnel. Rocks came down around them, flew them all in two different directions. When the dust had settled, he and Harry were separated from Ron and Lockhart.

"Ron, you okay?!" Nico called out.

"I'm okay - this git's not, though - he got blasted by the wand!" Ron called back.

"Just stay there!" Nico replied. "Harry and I will continue on!"

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," Ron agreed. "So you can - can get back through."

Nico hated the idea of splitting up with his brother, but he swallowed back the fear of what could happen. Harry and him were on the more dangerous side, after all. "We'll be back soon."

They continued down the tunnel until they got to a solid wall, two snakes embedded into it. Harry spoke in Parseltongue, this time without any English failures, and it opened.

They walked into a chamber, the basilisk not in sight. Nico's eyes finally landed on his sister, the poor girl unconscious on the floor. He ran to her side without thinking about what could possibly be around them. The name Voldemort didn't even appear in his mind.

Another voice was suddenly by them, but Nico didn't bother listening to what it was saying. He put a hand on Ginny's forehead, closed his eyes as he tried to feel just how weak her soul actually was. When he got the answer he had been most dreading, he started to try and transfer some of his energy into her.

But he should have been paying attention. He should have noticed that young Voldemort was in the room. He should have seen the basilisk coming. But he looked up, looked into those yellow eyes as the snake was suddenly over him.

Then everything went dark.

Loyalty. For the second time, he chose his family over helping Harry Potter.

Loyalty. Maybe he was sorted into Hufflepuff for a reason.

Loyalty. Maybe Mrs. Weasley having raised him changed his fatal flaw, just a little.