My heart stopped. The awful boy standing in front of me was the Dark Lord ... Harry was frozen looking at the new arrangement. I checked my boot and felt my wand safely tucked into my boot. I told myself that if needed, I would fight to the death to make sure Harry and Ginny got out alive. I looked at Ginny, completely ignoring Harry and Riddle. That was until Harry shouted.
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" I turned to see Harry standing inches away from Riddle.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me." I stood up and rushed over to Harry's side.
"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!" I shouted. As I did, we heard a cry echo throughout the chamber. Harry and I looked up and saw a phoenix swoop down from above and drop the sorting hat at Harry's feet.
"Fawkes," Harry whispered as Tom approached and picked up the hat. He started giggling while examining the hat.
"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender?! A songbird and an old hat?" He threw the hat and smiled wickedly at the two of us. I grabbed Harry's hand and prepared for something to happen. He just kept smiling before he spoke in Parseltongue. As he did there was a rumbling and an opening appeared a bit away from us.
"Quickly! Turn away!" Harry spoke urgently. I turned around and covered my eyes. Tom walked around to face us in the face.
"Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter and one of the biggest blood-traitors in existence, shall we?" He speaks Parseltongue once more and the next thing I know Harry is pulling me away.
We run as fast as we could away from the Basilisk. We kept running until Harry goes and trips causing his glasses to fly off his head. Great of all the things that could happen, Harry had to lose his glasses to make him blind as Ray Charles. We both dropped to the ground and searched for his glasses. I heard him sigh and saw he had already put them back on his face.
We continued to run into a tunnel off of the Chamber. I noticed how it managed to follow us and took the chance to toss a rock in the opposite direction. Once it was away we ran back to Ginny, she was almost as white as snow. I stroked her face and it was almost unbearable to touch she was so cold.
"Yes, Lorrinda." I heard Tom speak from behind me. I turned to see him grinning manically. "The process is nearly complete. In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead. And I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return. Very much ... alive."
I couldn't control my anger anymore and pulled my wand from my boot and began attacking Tom.
"You're a bloody nutter if you think I will let my little sister DIE just so you can come back and send this world into yet ANOTHER Wizarding War!" I shouted throwing jinxes and hexes at him. He using Harry's wand fought back. We were locked in a battle until we heard the sound of the Basilisk dying.
"HARRY!" I threw one last hex at Riddle and ran over to him. He somehow got the sword of Godric Gryffindor and pierced the Basilisk through the head. However, in doing so, he got pierced with a fang. He managed to crawl next to Ginny, which is when I fell beside him.
"Harry!" I watched as he pulled out the fang from his arm. Almost immediately his arm started to turn grey and he started to grow clammy and cold. "No ... No!" I said pulling my tie off of my collar and tieing it around his arm as a tourniquet. It wasn't working.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" Riddle said. I gave him the worst of glares. "How quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? If you have any final words, Potter, you'd best speak them now. I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live." Harry started to blink more and he started to sway a little bit.
Riddle kept going on and on gloating about him beating Harry Potter, even at one point mentioning his mother Lily and her being a Muggleborn. I kept looking between Harry and Ginny until I saw Harry reach for the diary in Ginny's hand.
"Funny, isn't it? The damage a silly little book can do? Especially in the hands of a silly little girl."
"My sister isn't some silly little girl!" I looked over at her. "She's smart, brave, sweet, and the best Weasley in the bunch! Of course, she may be in the shadow of us, but she is gonna grow up and be one of the greatest witches ever!" I spat at him.
Suddenly Harry coughed and we saw he had the diary in front of him and the fang in his hand.
"What are you doing?" Tom said. Harry raised the fang, as he did I figured out what he was going to do. "No. Stop!" Riddle pleads. However, I reach over and join Harry as we plunge the fang into the diary. As soon as we do, black ink spurts out from the pages.
"No!"
We kept plunging the fang into the diary while he shrieks and writhes in pain. After a few moments, he goes blurry once more and then vanishes altogether. Once he was gone I heard moaning and movement from behind and saw Ginny was waking up.
"Ginny!!" I leaned over and hugged her tightly. "Ginny!" I cried into her shoulder as she talked to Harry.
"I didn't mean to ... Riddle made me. He wrote to me ... took me over ... I didn't even know whose diary it was. I found it in my cauldron. The day we all went to Diagon Alley and ..." She paused as she finally saw Harry's arm. "Harry, you're hurt!" He just shook his head.
"I'm fine, Ginny. You need to get out of here ... Go with Lori. She'll take you to Ron." I looked at him.
"I'm not leaving you, Harry!"
"You don't get a choice, Lorrinda! Get Ginny out of here." I could tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't going to take no for an answer. I nodded reluctantly and lead Ginny out of the Chamber.
"Lori, I'm sorry. I'm the reason Hermione got petrified ... I'm the reason everyone turned on Harry ... IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Ginny cried as we made our way. I turned her to face me.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley! This is NOT your fault! You didn't know what that little diary was capable of ... Bloody hell, I probably would've been in your same shoes!" I hugged her. "This was all Tom Riddle, NOT Ginny Weasley." I laid a kiss on her hair.
"Thanks, Rinda. I sometimes hate you, but, I love you more than anything!" I chuckled.
"I know, Gin Gin. I know." I heard someone walking behind and pulled my wand. Low and behold Harry walked up behind me. "Harry?!" I quickly walked over and examined his arm. "How in the world did you heal this?"
"Fawkes. Pheonix tears can heal." I slapped myself on the forehead.
"I'm such an idiot!" I grabbed his hand. "C'mon, let's go to Ron and get the hell out of here." Harry nodded and we walked on until we finally got to the wall of rocks, just as Ron's body came through.
"Ginny!" Ron rushed forward and crashed into her. "You're alive! I can't believe it!" He hugged and kissed her. Then he saw me and rushed into my arms.
"Lori!!!"
"Oof!" I said as his body slammed into mine. "Need I remind you, Ron, Ginny was the one missing, not me!"
"I know, just ... you both mean so much to me ..." Ron's voice trailed off as some tears welled in his eyes.
"Oh shut it, you," I said wrapping my hand around his and grabbing Ginny. "Now, let's go. We have a feast to make!"
***
The events that followed were quite the whirlwind. Dumbledore had to bring our parents to the school, which almost got Ginny grounded. Luckily I stood up for her with our Mum. So Ginny is punishment-free and just getting lots of hugs from Mum and Dad.
Dumbledore ended up giving us three two hundred points each which won Gryffindor the House Cup (which I honestly didn't like, to be honest). The best part was at the feast that night. I was sitting with Ron and Harry when we heard some Hufflepuffs cheer. Looking over we saw Justin sitting down. I turned to the door and saw Hermione walking in. I jumped up and ran over other and hugged her. Harry right behind.
"You solved it! You solved it!" She said while hugging Harry.
"With loads of help from you," Harry replied. We smiled and walked back to our seats and met up with Ron. Hermione went to hug Ron but quickly changed her mind and extend her hand out. I rolled my eyes and sat down to eat. As I did, Neville, Seamus, and Dean took seats beside me.
"You missed our study session," Dean said. I just sighed.
"Well, I was kinda busy saving my baby sister ..."
"That's no excuse!" Seamus joked.
"Well, I'll find you when I have a proper one, Finnigan!" I chuckled out. We continued to talk about what happened until Dumbledore began speaking.
"Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified." We all started clapping and cheering. "Also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been canceled."
The Great Hall was filled with deafening applause as we were all excited for no exams. I saw the seventh year literally throwing their homework into the fireplace closest to their tables. While looking around I saw Hermione frown.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" I asked.
"No exams? What am I going to do!" I just held back a laugh.
"Enjoy our last week here before we go home," I said. After I spoke the Hall doors flung open and in walked Hagrid. He stood there for a few moments in complete silence before walking into the Great Hall.
"Sorry, I'm late. The owl deliverin' my release papers got all lost 'n confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol." I glanced over at Ron and sighed.
"How was I supposed to know, he'd get confused?" He defended.
"It's Errol! You literally called him a menace earlier this year!"
"Oh shut up."
"You shut up."
"You!"
"Both of you, shut up!" Hermione spoke loudly. "Let's eat." We both nodded and began to pig out on the feast before our eyes.
***
"Okay, who wants to lay a bet on Lori's love life first?" Dean said as we rode back to Platform 9 3/4. This whole conversation began when Cedric Diggory helped me load my trunk onto the train.
"How about we don't?" I said looking up from a book Hermione lent me to read. "Look, I would rather date a Werewolf before dating Cedric Diggory. Besides, he is going into his fifth year, when I will be a third! My Dad would FLIP!"
"So? That's not gonna stop, truuuue looooooove!" Seamus said in a singsong voice. I just rolled my eyes.
"Just shut your mouth." I laid my head back on the seat and saw Neville staring out into the countryside. I reached over and patted his hand. "Nevy?"
"Huh?" He turned to face me and I could see he was burdened by something.
"You okay?" I asked putting down my book and scouting closer. He nodded at first but then shook his head. "What's wrong?"
"If you start dating, Diggory ... there will be times where you put him in front of us ... and then soon it will turn into all of him and no time for us!" Neville said. I rubbed his back and gave him a hug.
"Neville Longbottom, you can NEVER get rid of me. You're stuck with me forever. Cause through the darkest of day, through the roughest of years, I will be right by your side. Through all the pain, we will remain friends forever."
His frown grew into a smile. As he grabbed my hand, and looked me straight in the eyes, and said.
"Through all the pain."