Notes: So, here's the last chapter of this fic! Look at the A/N last chapter to find out when I'll be posting the first chapter of book 3, which will be called The New Trio and the Madness Within. I'll post a "chapter" on this one when I post the first chapter so that anyone who's not paying attention will know to go to my profile to find book 3. Enjoy!
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Harry made sure that Selena would be fine remaining in the Chamber for the time being, learning that she could get enough to eat simply by following one of the secret tunnels out into the far reaches of the Forbidden Forest where game was plentiful and did not include centaurs. With this revelation, the three bedraggled Gryffindors practically carried Blaise out of the Chamber and into the waiting arms of Professor Snape, who had managed to fortify the site of the cave-in and dig out a sizable entrance with the help of the twins.
Snape was extremely grateful that his Slytherin had come out of the Chamber alive, and everyone saw how proud he was of Draco when he heard the full story of what had happened. This pride was increased tenfold when he saw the sword his godson was holding. "Oh Merlin! Draco, do you know what that sword is?"
Draco shook his head. "I was trying to protect Blaise from Riddle, when Fawkes dropped the Sorting Hat on my head. When Selena, the Basilisk came out of the statue, I felt the hilt of the sword hit me on the head from inside the Hat. I pulled it out and I was about to throw it to Harry, when he started talking to her in Parseltongue. I didn't want to distract him or draw her attention, so I stayed put." He shrugged. "I didn't actually need to give the sword to anyone, so I kept it."
Snape shook his head in wonder. "That is the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. Crafted by Ragnok the third and given to Gryffindor himself, it's been lost for at least four centuries. The legend was that only those who were true Gryffindors at heart could call it to them in times of need."
Draco looked closer at the blade, and sure enough found the name engraved just below the hilt.
Godric Gryffindor.
For a minute, no one spoke. Then, this silence was broken by none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. "What's all this silence about, eh? Do all of you live here?"
Snape groaned. "For the hundredth time, no! We are in a cave! Is that not obvious?"
"People can live in caves if they want to, can't they?" asked George in a mock-offended voice.
"Yeah, it's a life choice!" agreed Fred, always ready to make Snape's life more difficult. "Just because you don't live here, some of us might!"
"Oh," said Lockhart. "Do any of you-"
"NO!" shouted Snape.
*
The way back out of the pipe was easily provided by Fawkes. Holding onto the phoenix's tail feathers and each other, an extraordinary lightness spread through all of them, and the next second, with a whoosh, they were flying upwards through the pipe. Soon enough, they were all lying in a heap in Myrtle's bathroom, and one muttered :Close,: from Harry caused the sink that hid the pipe to slide back into place.
Myrtle floated above them. "You're all alive," she said mournfully. "I'd been hoping that at least one of you might, so you could share my toilet with me. It gets ever so lonely sometimes."
All but Lockhart shivered at the thought; Lockhart was staring at Myrtle as though he'd never seen a ghost before.
"I don't think we need to tell Dumbledore the truth about what happened in the Chamber," said Neville. "We still aren't completely sure whether he knows about Voldemort's Horcruxes, and I bet that as soon as he sees that diary, he'll know. Then you'd have to explain about Selena and memory-Riddle, and how you're the Heir."
Harry nodded. "Good point." He turned to Draco. "What about Dobby? We could give him the diary and the sword, and we could just say Blaise got possessed by Voldemort's wraith."
"How would we explain that I'm not dead like Quirrell, though?" asked Blaise.
Draco thought for a moment. "Dumbledore likes sappy stuff, right? We could say Blaise forced him out because of how much our friendship means to him."
That caused the four of them to laugh tiredly. "You really want to lay it on thick, don't you?" said George.
Draco sniffed. "Of course! Everyone loves being friends with me."
He called Dobby then, and handed the two objects over, instructing him to bring them to his bedroom in Grimmauld Place, and Dobby popped away obediently.
At that moment, McGonagall rushed into the bathroom, Dumbledore close behind her. At seeing Blaise amongst them in the pile, she gave a great sigh of relief. "I suppose it was Mr Zabini who was taken to the Chamber, Severus?" she asked.
Snape nodded, having stood up while the others were still talking, and had by now cleaned all of them with some swishes of his wand. "Indeed. He was possessed by The Dark Lord's wraith."
Dumbledore's eyebrows raised. "Another possession, less than a year after the last one? How is young Mr Zabini alive then? For if I am not mistaken, The last time he was confronted by you, Harry, his host died. What differed this time?"
Harry sat up, dragging Draco up with him because of their linked hands. "I didn't actually touch him, Professor. I knew that if I did, Blaise might die, and I couldn't do that to him or Draco."
Draco elaborated. "Blaise managed to surface, and he begged us to help him. We didn't know how to, so I told him that he was the only one who could help himself. He fought Voldemort and cast him out. I don't know how." He turned to Blaise, who had also sat up in preparation for explaining his part of their make-believe adventure.
"I didn't want to hurt Draco. Voldemort just kept on whispering to me what he was going to do to all of them when he'd taken me over completely, and I finally just snapped. I yelled at him that I would never hurt my best friend, or any of my friends for that matter, and I pushed him out."
Dumbledore's eyebrows were now so high up they had almost disappeared into his hairline. "I distinctly remember updating the wards to make sure no wraiths or ghosts could enter Hogwarts grounds without permission. Not even possession should have made it possible for him to have crossed them, so how did Voldemort manage this?"
"He told me it was because Draco's father was on the Board of Governors, he gave him permission to get into Hogwarts, sir."
"Oh, dear," said Dumbledore. "I'll have to see about getting him fired from that position, then. Goodness knows what he could cause next. On another matter, Professor Lockhart, why so quiet?"
Lockhart didn't respond; he was still staring at an amused Myrtle, who was pulling more and more ridiculous faces at him to see what he would do. This was the most fun she'd had in her life!
Snape quietly explained to the befuddled Headmaster about the backfired spell, and the resulting memory loss. Dumbledore simply chuckled and wandered to the door, muttering to himself, then stopped and turned to the group. "You shall all receive Special Awards for Services to the School, and fifty points apiece for your houses. Well, you won't receive any points, Severus, but the Award should be worth it, don't you think? Now, those Petrified are just being un-Petrified in the Hospital Wing. You may be escorted there by Professor Snape, and afterwards you shall go to the Great Hall. I think this occasion merits a feast!"
*
As each Petrified victim was woken up, they told them the story they'd come up with. Neville used his influence as Heir of Gryffindor to ensure that Sir Nicholas wouldn't blab the truth to anyone, and Justin agreed because this made more sense than what he'd actually seen, and because he secretly believed being cursed by Voldemort and surviving would make him seem tougher.
At the feast, it was revealed that the end-of-year exams other than OWLs and NEWTs were being cancelled as a school treat. The next day was the final day for deciding on which electives the second-years would take up. Harry had decided on Divination, because he thought it might help to interpret his Magesight visions and feelings, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes. Draco had decided on the exact same subjects, but Neville hadn't wanted to take Ancient Runes, and had instead taken Muggle Studies. Hermione had almost decided to take all of the electives somehow, but the trio, with help from the twins, had managed to convince her to only pick three, so she had settled with Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies. When questioned why she wanted to take Muggle Studies, she explained that she wanted to learn about how witches and wizards saw Muggles, and, if possible, correct any misinformation.
Soon afterwards, Hogwarts was back to normal, and Draco's birthday was celebrated with a picnic out on the grounds. Narcissa had attempted to gain permission to visit her son, but was denied by Dumbledore, who had decided on a policy of 'don't let anyone other than students and teachers into Hogwarts' in an attempt to stop any dark objects or wraiths from gaining access. Instead, Narcissa had to make do with speaking to her son via Harry's and Sirius' paired mirrors.
A few weeks later saw Narcissa resplendent in a beautifully tailored white dress-robe, walking down the isle on Sirius' arm towards a cleaned up Severus. The ceremony took place on the grounds of Prince Manor, in a gazebo which was covered in white wisteria and passion fruit blossoms. The day after their wedding was the blood-adoption ceremony of Draco, and the next day Draco came out the Floo in Grimmauld Place, ready to spend two weeks with his friends and his boyfriend while Narcissa and Severus went on their honeymoon on a private island in the Caribbean.
Currently it was a week until Harry's birthday, and the boy in question was reading an article in the Daily Prophet his godfather had shown him. It talked about how Hagrid would be starting Hogwarts again because of a successful exoneration. Harry smiled, then flipped the page back to the front and froze. The headline read: PRISONERS ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN!