Hey... How's it going... How many toilet paper rolls do you guys have? XD ~Maddie
.......... Harry's Point of View ..........
How am I supposed to know where they are now?! I really hope Ginny isn't dead... Ron would kill me...
And then Ginny would rise from the dead and re-kill me. Is that even possible? Maybe I can be like Sir Nick and "die" as a ghost or something.
No. I need to shut up. Where's Riddle? This place is literally a maze of tunnels, there's no way I would be able to find th-
"MERLIN, CAN YOU SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS?!" a voice yelled from to my left, echo off the walls, and I paused to see if I would be able to hear anymore.
"TOM. TOMMY. THOMAS." (y/n) shouted back, "DO YOU KNOW HOW TO TANGO?"
"NO."
"WHAT A LOSER."
"EXCUSE ME, DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKI- OW! WHAT DID YOU JUST-"
"I'VE MASTERED THE ART OF UNTYING MY BONDS, GIT."
As amusing as this is, I suppose this is where I dramatically run after them and save (y/n) from herself...
I ran down the tunnel and in their general direction until I came around one last corner and saw (y/n) just in time to see her steal back both our wands, spelling her rope to tie around Riddle's wrists instead?
What the heck did she do.
"Oh, hey, Harry." she said casually, "Ginny's dying and I think that's the snake behind you. Say hello, Tommy."
Riddle growled at her, but she growled back, only louder.
I quickly turned back around to see the basilisk slithering down the tunnel. Riddle was about to say (hiss) something but (y/n)... silenced... him? But we haven't even learned that spell yet.
Hermione, probably.
Hopefully...
"Okay, where's the hat?" I asked hurriedly, turning my attention back to the big snake that was about to start down our tunnel.
Okay, if Dumbledore gave me the hat, there must be a reason right?
What if when I wear it, the basilisk dies in sheer disgust? But, then again, it can't see me anymore (which is a good thing).
Maybe I'll ask the hat to sing or something.
"The big screaming person. I'll-"
"Thanks!" I cut her off, running in the opposite direction and trying to be as loud as possible so the snake would follow me instead. Luckily (or unluckily) it did, and I tried to make sure I went in a full circle to get back to where the hat and diary were waiting in front of the Screaming Man.
The snake suddenly turned off into a different tunnel, all 15-something metres of it, and I started to grow a little worried.
Just a little.
The basilisk does live here, so what if it... knows a way to get back faster...?
No, I have to focus on the stupid hat.
.......... Reader's Point of View ..........
"Okay, Riddle, we're gonna move back to the screaming person thing so you can watch as Harry kills your snakey friend. Get up."
Riddle just glared at me.
"Fine, I'll just bring Ginny. You can stay here and miss all of the fun stuff." I said, shoving Ginny's still-floating body down the tunnel where we came. He (probably) didn't follow me, but I wasn't exactly going to pay attention to his incompetence.
Actually, never mind. I can hear him dragging his feet behind me. When his footsteps started to pick up in speed, I sidestepped just in time to see him fall onto his face, his hands still bound behind his back.
I started laughing and he just wiggled until he was on his back, glaring darkly at me.
The Dark Lord as a teenager. What a sad human being.
Is he even a human being, though... Or is he just... a gremlin with no nose.
"I'm going to kill you," he said. I nodded.
"I would, too, if I were you."
Riddle looked at me strangely.
.......... Timeskip ..........
Harry screamed when the basilisk emerged abruptly from the water, falling onto his bottom and holding the Sword of Gryffindor in his hands, the hat abandoned next to him and the diary lying forgotten. (a/n - Longbottom...) I put Ginny down, but Riddle suddenly kicked my head (even with the weird angle since he was on the ground and I was kneeling next to Ginny) and I fell to the ground with a yelp, wincing in pain.
The room started to swim, my vision going blurry. Riddle snatched Harry's wand from my weak hands and un-silenced himself:
"Yes, Potter! The process is almost complete, and in a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead." Riddle said triumphantly. I tried to grab the wand back, but my movements were sluggish.
I don't really know what happened after that. Riddle muttered a spell and I instantly blacked out
.......... Harry's Point of View (a/n - sorry, I keep switching lol) ..........
(y/n) definitely needed Madame Pomfrey's help, but I couldn't do that right now. I hope she's not hurt too badly-
"Lord Voldemort WILL RETURN!" Riddle yelled before his tone turned darker. "Very. Much. Alive."
The basilisk snapped its jaws at me and I had to roll away, stealing one last glance at (y/n) before dodging the basilisk again and running towards the Screaming Man. I started climbing, and the sword was more of a hindrance, really, because it was heavy and it slowed me down a little.
I finally found a big enough place where I could stand, just in time to twist away from where the basilisk struck again.
My eyes widened when the basilisk actually made a hole in the stone. Little stray shards flew into the air, but the basilisk didn't seem perturbed, its tongue slipping out to taste the air.
I tried to climb higher, the sword clutched tightly in my hand, but it shrieked and snapped after me, and one of my hands lost their grip. Panting harshly and trying not to look down, I swung my dangling arm back up with a sharp breath.
The basilisk hissed, shaking its head and tried to figure out exactly where I was. I climbed higher and finally got to the top of the man's head, dragging the sword with me.
It seemed to realise where I had gone and slunk closer to me, so I tried to swing the sword at it.
I really have no idea what the heck I'm doing. Oh god, I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die. Ron will be stuck down there with stupid Lockhart, (y/n) will (hopefully) wake up and be stuck with a "very much alive" Riddle, and Ginny will be dead.
And then my mind went blank.
The basilisk struck again and I swung at it. I fell, but I stood back up again. I was shoved off the top and nearly fell, the sword falling from my hands and slowly slipping off the man's head, but I quickly grabbed it before it fell into the water below.
The basilisk was coming closer. Without even thinking, I grasped the handle of the sword tightly and plunged it through the roof of the basilisk's open mouth, shaking with adrenaline and not even registering the pain that shot through my forearm.
It shrieked and I pulled the sword back out, noticing one its fangs stuck deeply into my arm. I nearly cried out when I pulled it from my arm, but that just seemed to make that bleeding worse. A faint burning sensation seemed to flood into my veins and I instantly felt sick.
When I looked up, the basilisk was falling into the water, falling into the floor with a heavy thud as its dead weight splashed onto the wet floor.
Riddle was staring at it with an empty expression, but it quickly morphed into frustrated anger as he watched me climb my way back down the Screaming Man with my injured arm.
I felt exhausted like I had been awake for days. Collapsing next to Ginny's half-dead body, I winced but put pressure on the open wound on my arm, trying to keep the blood from spilling out. I held the fang in my other hand and threw the sword onto the floor with a clang.
"Fascinating, isn't it? How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body." Riddle said in his hauntingly calm tone, not looking at me with a hint of remorse. "I guess that you have little more than a minute to live."
I looked up at him and the only thought that crossed my mind was basically: Shut up.
"You'll be with your dear mud blood mother soon, Harry."
Okay...
Okay.
FIRST OF ALL, THAT WAS LOW. And lame. SECONDLY, why the heck did he just call me Harry, that makes me sort of uncomfortable.
Instead of replying, I grabbed Ginny's wrist to try and find a pulse. Her skin was far too cold, but there was a faint heartbeat, albeit weak.
"It's funny, the damage that a silly little book can do. Especially in the hands of a silly little girl."
My brain was sort of scrambled. I couldn't really process what he's saying. All I could think of was how Snape-ish he was sounding.
A faint image of Snape appeared in my mind's view and he said in that horrid drawl of his: '...Especially in the hands of a silly... little... girl... Potter, you have failed once again, but I'm not exactly... surprised.'
Oh, shut up, Snape. You're lame. I don't know why (y/n) hangs out with you.
(y/n)...
I looked over to where she was sprawled across the ground in what looked like a very uncomfortable position.
I hope she's okay...
... Wait... Book? Book...
Diary. The diary.
His words echoed back to me again: 'It's funny, the damage that a silly little book can do.'
'The damage that a silly little book can do.'
I looked at Ginny, who had the diary hugged against her chest. Gently wriggling it out of her grasp, I retrieved it. I sat it onto the ground, the pages opened wide, and shakily readjusted my grip on the fang in my hand.
"What are you doing?" Riddle asked cautiously. I looked up at him, holding the fang high. He yelled I protest when his brain caught up with mine, moving to snatch the book from me, but I stabbed the fang through the diary's pages, black ink splattering out the depths of the pages.
Riddle gasped in pain, stepping backwards and looking down at the hole that had made itself in his chest. I pushed the fang deeper, watching as the hole grew bigger. Removing the fang, I stabbed the other page and a hole started to tear into his face. He screamed when more holes began to appear, even when I removed the basilisk fang again.
Blank ink mixed with water started to run on the floor, staining my hands. My arm was gushing red, lying uselessly by my side, but my other arm closed the diary and pierced the whole of it with the fang again.
He screamed again and exploded into little sparks, which soon faded and he was gone.
I dropped the fang and nearly vomited into the water next to me when a wave of pain rushed through my body. Ginny suddenly woke up and breathed in deeply, eyes wide as she tried to figure out where she was.
She sat up and her head darted around until she finally caught sight of me. I applied more pressure to the wound, but I still felt faint and nauseated.
"Harry, you're hurt," she muttered, looking concerned.
"Don't worry," I said as I gritted my teeth, "Ginny. Ginny, you have to get out of here. Bring (y/n) with you, drag her if you have to, but you got to get out of here. Follow the Chamber and Ron will be there somewhere-"
A bird caw reverberated through the tunnel and I looked up, wincing slightly. Fawkes flew gracefully towards us and I wondered where he had been this whole time. He settled down next to me, folding his wings back down.
"You were brilliant, Fawkes," I said, swallowing thickly. Fawkes stepped a little closer, leaning toward my face as if to inspect me. "I just wasn't quick enough."
Fawkes' black eyes stared at me for a second longer before he tilted his head to the side. I hissed slightly under my breath when the phoenix's tears (can regular birds cry?) hit my arm, my entire sleeve now covered in blood and ink. Ginny stared with wide eyes as Fawkes dropped his tears intentionally on my arm and I looked down to see that it was closing.
Well, then. Where were you this entire time, Fawkes?!
"Of course, phoenix tears have healing powers," I mentally groaned at myself. I had actually accepted that I would die here.
I'm sort of humiliated at myself, but I guess that doesn't really matter right now. Did I technically just murder someone? I mean, it wouldn't be the first time, technically...
Riddle wasn't really 'real' though... He was almost there, though... Okay, shush, Dumbledore will probably fix it.
"Thanks," I said instead.
Even though the tears healed everything, I still feel... dead.
I probably lost a lot of blood... Oops.
"Okay, it's all going to be alright, Ginny," I muttered, standing up a little wobbly. She quickly sprung up to help me despite being half-dead two seconds ago, but I was too tired to wave her off. I looked at her again:
"Do you think you can help me carry (y/n) out? We have to find Ron. I think we have to go down this walkway first, though..."
(A/N) - I can't believe we're so close to the end. It's weird. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! ~Maddie