Book: Courage
Chapter 26
Word Count: 2906
A quiet gasp escaped Layla's cold lips. She began to stir awake, sitting up and scanning her surroundings. Tom was nowhere to be seen, the basilisk lay dead not too far away, and Harry was sat beside her in his blood-soaked robes, the destroyed diary in his hand. Layla was wondering what the hell had happened. She drew a great, shuddering gasp, holding back tears as she suddenly began to feel very overwhelmed and frightened.
She couldn't help it as she dove into Harry's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, burying her head in his shoulder. Harry didn't hesitate at all as he immediately hugged Layla back tightly. and tears began to pour down her face.
"Harry, I'm so sorry — I tried to tell you at breakfast, but I couldn't say it in front of Percy — it was me, Harry — but I swear I didn't mean to — Riddle made me, he took me over — and — how did you kill the basilisk? Where's Riddle? The last thing I remember is him coming out of the diary as I was trying to get rid of it—"
"It's all right, you're safe now," said Harry, holding up the diary, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Lay, let's get out of here—"
"Harry... am I going to be expelled?" whispered Layla sadly. She couldn't lose her second home. She didn't want to. "What'll my dad say?"
"I won't let that happen," Harry reassured.
Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Harry urged Layla forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. CksLayla heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.
After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnelr, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Layla's ears. She stepped closer to Harry in fear, not knowing who else was in the chamber, but Harry seemed to know who it was as he grabbed Layla's hand and began walking faster.
"Ron! Layla's okay! I've got her!"
Ron gave a strangled cheer from nearby. Layla and Harry turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in a pile of rocks.
"Layla!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How — what — where did that bird come from?"
Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Layla.
"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself.
"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand that Layla had also just noticed.
"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry "Where's Lockhart?"
"Back there," said Ron, jerking his head up the tunnel toward the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."
Led by Fawkes, whose wide scarlet wings emitted a soft golden glow in the darkness, they walked all the way back to the mouth of the pipe. Lockhart was sitting there, humming placidly to himself.
"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself"
Lockhart peered good-naturedly up at them all.
"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"
"No," said Ron, raising his eyebrows at Harry.
Harry bent down and looked up the long, dark pipe.
"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" he said to Ron and then turned to a still-traumatized Layla. "How did you get back up when Tom Riddle used to bring you down?"
"I can't remember most of what happened since he would possess me but I think it was on the back of that — that creature," muttered Layla, her voice quiet as she spoke about the basilisk.
"Well, that's not going to work," said Ron, shaking his head, but Fawkes the phoenix had swooped past Harry and was now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark. He was waving his long golden tail feathers. "He looks like he wants you to grab hold," Ron said to Harry, looking perplexed. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there—"
"Fawkes," said Harry, "isn't an ordinary bird." He turned quickly to the others. "We've got to hold on to each other. Layla, hold my hand. Ron, grab Layla's other hand. Professor Lockhart—"
"He means you," said Ron sharply to Lockhart.
"You hold Ron's other hand—"
Harry held out a hand for Layla, who placed her cold and shaking hand in his, and Harry reached out with his other hand and took hold of Fawkes's strangely hot tail feathers.
The next second, in a rush of wings, they were flying upward through the pipe. Layla could hear Lockhart dangling below her, saying, "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!"
All four of them were suddenly hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightened his hat, the sink that hid the pipe was sliding back into place.
Myrtle goggled at them.
"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.
"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off of himself.
"Oh, well... I'd just been thinking... if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.
"Urgh!" said Ron as they left the bathroom for the dark, deserted corridor outside. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! Where now?" said Ron, with an anxious look at Ginny.
Harry pointed. Fawkes was leading the way, glowing gold along the corridor. Harry, Layla, Ron, and Lockhart strode after him, and moments later, found themselves outside Professor McGonagall's office.
Harry knocked and pushed the door open.
For a moment there was silence as Harry, Layla, Ron, and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry's case) blood. That silence was quickly broken.
"Layla? Thank Merlin you're alright!"
It was Layla's dead, who had been pacing back and forth in front of the fire. Remus took fast strides towards his daughter, knelt down in front of her and pulling her into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top o her head.
Remus then turned to Harry and Ron. He seemed to stare at Harry for a second too long before snapping out of it, his grip tightening on his daughter.
"You must be Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Layla always spoke so highly of both of you. I can never repay you enough for saving my little girl. Thank you. Thank you so much, boys. She's safe, and that's what matters. How did you do it?"
"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall weakly.
Harry started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour, he spoke into the rapt silence: He told them about hearing the disembodied voice, how Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest, that Hagrid's old pet spider Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom."
"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted him as he paused, "so you found out where the entrance was — breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add — but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"
So Harry told them about Fawkes's timely arrival. But then he faltered. He had so far avoided mentioning Riddle's diary — or Layla. She was still standing in the arms of her dad, still looking shaken up, unshed tears still evident in her chocolate brown eyes. What if they expelled her? Harry thought in panic. Riddle's diary didn't work anymore. How could they prove it had been he who'd made her do it all? Harry would not let one of his best friends be expelled.
Instinctively, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who smiled faintly, the firelight glancing off his half-moon spectacles.
"What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."
"You-Know-Who enchanted my daughter?" Remus spoke, his eyes widening in anger. "Please do not tell me that he is still alive after what he just put my daughter through. I will kill him myself."
"Tom Riddle's preserved memory is very much gone, but Lord Voldemort, however, is not," said Dumbledore.
"It was this diary," said Harry quickly, picking it up and showing it to Dumbledore. "Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen."
Dumbledore took the diary from Harry and peered keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.
"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned around to the Remus, who was still hugging a traumatized and quiet — quieter than she'd been all year — Layla. "Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school... traveled far and wide... sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."
"But what's my little girl got to do with him?" asked Remus, still angry.
"His diary..." Layla finally spoke up quietly, causing everyone to turn to her. "I've been writing in it, and he's been writing back all year—"
"Honey..." Remus knelt in front of Layla again. His anger started to disappear as he wiped a single tear away that had fallen down Layla's cheek. "You should never have trusted that diary. I thought I'd taught you well enough to know that a suspicious object like that must have clearly been full of Dark Magic."
"I know, I should have figured that out, but I was entranced by Tom's charm," admitted Layla, her voice barely audible. She looked as if she had never been happy in her whole entire life, so signs of happiness across her features at all. "Ginny found the diary with all of her other school books before the school year started but she didn't want it so she gave the diary to me. I'm glad she did, though. I would prefer for me to go through this than for Ginny to suffer through it."
"Remus," Dumbledore turned to his former student from over two decades ago. "Please take Layla to the hospital wing right away. This has been a terrible ordeal for your daughter. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice — I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
"So Hermione's okay?" said Layla quietly, hope fueling her now at the thought of seeing Hermione again.
"There has been no lasting harm done, Layla," reassured Dumbledore.
Remus led Layla out and began heading towards the hospital wing, knowing where it is from his own time in Hogwarts.
"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" Remus asked his daughter.
"No," said Layla truthfully as they headed up the stairs to the hospital wing. "But I will be. Eventually."
Later on, after being thoroughly checked out, Madam Pomfrey gave Layla a drink to calm her nerves and then sent her and Remus on their way. Remus pulled his daughter into another loving hug.
"I have to go back to Dumbledore's office to floo back home, but it's the last day of term, remember? I will see you tomorrow at King's Cross, honey. I love you."
"I love you, too, dad," muttered Layla before Remus was on his way, and Layla headed down to the Great Hall.
Layla had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night. Except, the minute she walked into the room, everybody gradually fell silent, staring at her.
Freezing, Layla frantically looked around, wondering if everyone was judging her or just concerned for her. Her question was answered, however, when a slow clap sounded from the Hufflepuff table (belonging to Cedric), and then more claps and cheers went across the hall. The teachers soon joined in. Eventually, everybody was standing up to applaud for Layla, some rushing over to ask her how she was and hug her, which Layla found awkward since a lot of the people hugging her were people she didn't even know.
However, Layla's heart sped up in her chest when she looked over and saw none other than Hermione sprinting towards her.
"Hermione, I—"
She was interrupted by Hermione practically diving into Layla's arms, hugging her tightly.
"You're okay!"
"I should be saying that to you," said Layla, hugging Hermione back. When Hermione pulled away from the hug, she studied Layla's face for any mark or scratch.
"I'm fine! You're the one who were seconds away from death!" exclaimed Hermione, hugging Layla again. Layla cracked a small smile, happy that she finally had Hermione back in front of her.
The two of them moved over to the Gryffindor table where another person practically jumped into Layla's arms. Ginny.
"You scared me!"
"Sorry, Gin," said Layla, hugging the younger girl. They all sat down and Layla had Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Parvati, Fred and George, even Colin Creevey asking her if she was alright, even people shouting it over from other tables. Layla didn't really like all of the attention on her and she was very thankful when Hagrid walked in, finally released from azkaban. Layla bowed her head. She was basically the reason that Hagrid was falsely accused. She calmed down, though, when as Hagrid walked past, he grinned at Layla, sent her a wink as a way of saying no hard feelings, and then he walked up to the front table.
Harry and Ron had earned four hundred points for Gryffindor after exposing Tom Riddle and saving Layla's life, securing the House Cup for the second year running.
The feast got even better when Professor McGonagall stood up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat ("Oh, no!" said Hermione), and even more better when Dumbledore announced that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few of the teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.
"Shame," said Ron, helping himself to a jam doughnut. "He was starting to grow on me."
That night, Layla had leant Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco was no longer strutting around the school as though he owned the place. On the contrary, he looked resentful and sulky. On the other hand, Layla started to regain the spark that had barely been seen all year. She had no Tom Riddle to corrupt her anymore. She didn't have to worry about him. She was becoming happier again.
Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Layla, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. They made the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. Layla was getting very good at it.
The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped.
Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron, Layla, and Hermione.
"This is called a telephone number," he told Layla and Ron since Hermione seemed to already know what it was. Harry scribbled a number three times, ripping the parchment to hand his three friends the numbers. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer, Ron — he'll know. And Layla? You're brilliantly smart at figuring things out. I'm sure you could work out how to use one. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to."
"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Layla as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?"
"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious."
And together, they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world.