CHAPTER TWENTY
JUST A MEMORY
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𝗧𝗢𝗠 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 from the corner he was stood silently in.
"Tom - Tom Riddle, what do you mean she won't wake?" I asked.
"She's not..." Harry added, afraid of using the word 'dead'.
"She's still alive, but only just."
"Are you a ghost?" I asked looking at his not so see through body.
"A memory," He corrected, "Preserved in a diary for fifty years,"
Harry touched the hand that was held gently but securely in my grip, "She's as cold as ice." He muttered, "Ginny please please don't be dead,"
"The basilisk." I said, glancing around the chamber.
"She won't come until she's called," Tom piped up.
Harry stood up and stepping away from Ginny. I stayed down kneeling next to her with my wand tightly in my hand.
"Give me my wand, Tom." Harry said coldly. I looked over my shoulder, Harry was holding his hand out to receive the wand that Tom was rolling between his fingers.
"You won't be needing it."
"Listen, we've got to go we've got to save her-"
"-I'm afraid I can't do that." He cut Harry off, I turned to look back at Ginny making sure she was still alive, "You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker I grow stronger. Yes Harry it was Ginny Weasley who opened the chamber-"
"No, she couldn't - she wouldn't-"
"-It was Ginny who wrote those messages on the wall and set the basilisk on those filthy mudbloods." He spat.
"Why?" I asked, not turning around.
"Because I told her too," He retorted, "You'll find I can be very persuasive, not that she even knew what she was doing she was in a sort of trance but the power of the diary began to scare her and she tried to dispose of it in the girls bathroom and who should find it but you two, the very people I was most anxious to meet - for different reasons obviously."
"And why did you want to meet us?" Harry sneered.
"Well Harry, I knew I had to talk to you. Meet you if I could so I decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid to gain your trust-"
"Hagrid's my friend!" Harry yelled, "And you framed him didn't you,"
"It was my word against his, only Dumbledore thought he was innocent,"
I stood up and faced Tom, "I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," I smirked.
"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that, I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the chamber again while still at school so I left behind a diary with my sixteen year old self in it to lead another and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"You haven't finished it this time. In a few hours the mandrake draught will be ready and all those who were petrified will be alright." Harry said coldly.
An eerie smirk tugged on the corners of Tom's lips, "Haven't I told you? Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore for many months now my new target has been you." He flicked his eyes to me, "It used to be you,"
I narrowed my eyes, "What made you change your mind, Tom."
Another smirk stretched on his face, "Waste of precious blood. Of course when I wanted to kill you I didn't think about that I was full of envy that my mother Merope Gaunt was in love with a muggle and how your father Morfin Gaunt married a pureblood." He started his sentence calmly but switched to rage.
I glanced at Harry, he was staring between me and Tom shocked. "You two are relatives." He breathed shocked at the information him and I are hearing for the first time, "That's how you can speak parseltongue,"
"I was full of so much envy that they're dead because of me." Tom said happily.
I shook my head, "No, I know how my parents died. My dad was sent to Azkaban-"
"-And who do you think put him there?" He snarled.
"What about my mum?"
"Well I cursed her obviously," He retorted, "I was hoping to one day come and kill you but that didn't happen," He slowly turned his head to Harry, "How did you escape? How were you able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time as a baby with no extraordinary magical talent and was left with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time."
Tom smiled, "Voldemort is my past, present and future." He turned his back on us and raised Harry's wand to write in the air.
He wrote out his full name which then switched placed to spell 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'.
"You? You're the heir of Slytherin, you're Voldemort." Harry stated quietly.
"Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy muggle father's name? I fashioned myself a new name - a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak once I became the greatest sorcerer in the world-"
"-Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry shouted.
"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"
"He'll never be gone. Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!-" A squawk above our head caused us all to look in the same direction, "Fawkes?" Harry muttered.
Fawkes flew above our heads and dropped something in Harry's hands and then flew off again, Harry unwrapped whatever it was in his arms. Tom chuckled at the sight.
"So this is what Dumbledore send his great defender? A song bird and an old hat."
I looked at Harry and the hat. He was just as confused as I was.
Tom started to speak parselmouth causing the mouth of Slytherin's statue to lower open, "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin against the famous Harry Potter."
Loud hissing noise came from the mouth and out came a giant serpent. Harry ran for it but I found myself stuck. I watched as the huge snake came out the statue.
"Get the boy!" Tom commanded the snake in parseltongue, "Parseltongue won't save you now Harry. She only obeys me!"
The basilisk glided past me leaving me untouched, "Why-"
"Like I said, she obeys me and I haven't told her to kill you." Tom answered before my question even left my mouth, "There will be no point to help him because you simply can't. I will order the basilisk to kill you and Harry or you could stay here with me while I return to power and - No!" He cut himself off and shouted as loud as he could.
I turned around and Fawkes had gauged the basilisk's eyes out.
"Yes Fawkes!" I smirked.
"You may of blinded the basilisk but she can still hear you!" He shouted at Harry who hid in the tunnels.
A sharp burning sensation went through my temples. I turned around with my hands on my head and stared at Tom who held Harry's wand up to me muttering some sort of incantation.
As the pain grew stronger and more unbearable it suddenly stopped. I thought I had fallen out of consciousness but turns out I had just entered a memory of some sort.
"Welcome to June 1980." A cold voice spoke up from behind me, it was instantly recognizable.
I turned around to look at Tom, touching the sides of my head. "What did you do?"
He shrugged, "Not important yet but it will be once I return to power." He nodded his head towards something behind me. I turned around and saw an older version of Tom walk into a house. Sixteen year old Tom followed and lead the way.
Inside was a very pregnant woman with long hong hair as dark as ink and big dark brown eyes,
"Tom?" Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Allura. How good it is to see you," The older version of Tom said blankly.
Allura. This was my mother.
"Yeah, it's been a long time. H-how are things?" My mum asked. Her voice was filled with confusion yet still sounded so friendly.
"Yes fine. How's the er, baby?"
"Good," She smiled warmly.
Footsteps approached the doorway, "Who are you talking too - Tom? Hello!" A man stood in the doorway.
He was scrawny and short and didn't hold a very friendly facial expression. This was my father. The only thing I took from his physical appearance where his eyes. Sort of blue and green, more on the green side but it was hard to pinpoint the exact color as the glow changed in different lightings and angles, very much like mine.
"We usually spoke in parseltongue but this wasn't a usual occasion." The Tom next to me stated.
Then his future self began speaking, "The ministry will be here soon. Here's your wand." Tom held a wand in his hand.
"You had it this whole time." My father narrowed his eyes.
Before anymore protests were made Tom held out a different wand with his other hand. "Obliviate." He said to both their heads. Their eyes went cloudy, Tom dropped my father's wand on the floor and turned his wand to my mother and muttered a small incantation.
Our surroundings vanished from around us and we were back in the chamber.
"What did you make them forget!" I snapped.
"Nothing. Just changed their memory to think your father did the crime instead of me and then curse your mother of course. I thought it would be fair for you to at least see your parents." Tom smirked.
Harry ran out from one of the tunnels before I could say anything. Harry bolted over and was in one piece thankfully.
Tom smirked down at Ginny, "The process is almost complete." Me and Harry dropped to our knees beside Ginny, not knowing what to do other than hope she wakes up. "In a few minutes Ginny Weasley will be dead and I will cease to be a memory. Lord Voldemort will return very much alive." He continued bitterly.
"Ginny-"
Harry and I snapped our heads to the giant snake shooting out the water, roaring loudly. Harry reached over to the hat and pulled out a sword that I couldn't see until he touched it. Suddenly everything clicked; because Tom Riddle is the heir of Slytherin, and I am his relative that would also make me the heir since he wasn't really alive.
"Stop!" I shouted to the basilisk in parseltongue. It did as I said buying Harry sometime.
"No!" Tom yelled, "Don't stop. Kill the boy!"
The basilisk followed her knew orders but Harry had already climbed up the statue of Slytherin.
"Ginny please wake up," I begged, gently squeezing her hand. Tom chuckled behind me. I ignored him and glanced over at Harry. The basilisk opened its mouth as wide as it could and lunged towards Harry. "Freeze!" I commanded making her stop. Harry plunged the sword through the basilisks mouth and it let out a loud shriek.
I clamped my hands over my ears and watched it collapsed onto the ground. Tom stared at it shocked.
Harry made his way over. I got up from Ginny's side and went to Harry, taking his arm and staring at the wound, he covered it with his hand, "I'm fine," He breathed.
I walked with him back to Ginny where he fell to his knees, "Harry!" I knelt down next to him still holding his arm.
"Remarkable isn't it? How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body, I guess you have a little more than a minute to live. You'll be with your dear mudblood mother soon Harry."
I bit my top lip staring at Harry's arm forbidding myself from crying, he gently placed his hand on mine before reached over to the black diary Ginny clutched in her arms.
Tom continued speaking, "Funny the damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl." He spat, "What are you doing?"
Harry stabbed the pages with the basilisk fang. Black liquid spurted out of it as he repeatedly stabbed it. Tom's body diserianted with loud cries and bright lights. I hid my face in Harry's shoulder, still hugging his right arm tightly shielding my eyes from the bright light before he finally tapped me, "It's over." He said barely above a whisper.
Ginny sat up, wide and awake gasping.
"Ginny?" I said quietly, trying not to scare her.
She slowly turned around, "Harry, Eloise. It was me but I swear I didn't mean to Riddle made me and - Harry... you're hurt," She looked at Harry's arm with guilt, at this I couldn't stop a few tears leaving my eyes.
"Don't worry. Ginny, Eloise is going to take you back through the chamber where you'll find Ron, okay?"
"What! I'm not leaving without you!"
Harry shook his head, "Elle this isn't up for discussion,"
"Ginny, just through that big metal door is Ron, I'll stay here with Harry," I ignored Harry.
Before Harry could make any protests a squawk came from above us. A flash of red flew down and perched itself slightly ahead of me and Harry. The birds head hung over the injured arm in between mine letting a few of it's tears fall into it.
The wound vanished, "Of course! Phoenix tears have healing powers! Thanks." Harry smiled,
I loosened my grip around Harry's arm and he stood up, I got up too, quickly pulling Harry in for a hug. He let out a little laugh hugging me back.
"Let's get out of here," I said stepping back.
Harry helped Ginny up and rubbed her back comfortingly, "It's alright Ginny, it's over. It's just a memory."