Juniper and Harry slowly approach the chamber. "I hope Ron's doing okay" Harry sighs and Juniper nods. "He'll be fine. Better than we'll be at least. He doesn't have to deal with the Heir of Slytherin" Juniper points out. They go around another bend and spot a wall where stone serpents were, their eyes shining emerald.
Juniper motions for Harry to speak and Harry opens it with parseltongue. It opens up for them and they share a nervous glance, both of them with their wands held defensively. They walk in and see a long, dimly lit chamber, lined with snake head statues, their eyes shining emerald as well.
As they walked down the path, their footsteps echoed while the eyes of the snakes seemed to follow them. Water covered the path, causing their shoes to slosh as they walked. "Look, it's Ginny" Harry points and they notice Ginny layed on the ground in the distance.
They run towards her, getting down to look at her. She was incredibly pale and freezing cold, almost as if she was dead. "Ginny! Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up, wake up. Please wake up" Harry shakes her awake, throwing his wand to the side.
"She won't wake" The two snap their heads over and see a figure lurking in the shadows. He slowly walks into the light where they can get a better look. Harry looks at him confused as Juniper turns to look at Harry. "Who is that?" She whispers. "Tom. Tom Riddle. What do you mean, she won't wake? She's not...?" Harry asks confused. "Wait, you're Tom Riddle? The one with the diary?" Juniper chuckles.
"Yes, the one with the diary. And she's still alive, but only just." Tom explains to the two. "Are you a ghost?" Harry wonders curiously. "A memory...preserved in a diary for fifty years." "She's cold as ice. Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up" Harry begs. Juniper takes notice of Tom picking up Harry's discarded wand.
She stands up, holding up her wand. Harry notices her. "He's good, Juniper. You've got to help us, Tom. There's a Basilisk" Harry explains. "It won't come until it's called" Tom informs them. "Harry, he's not good. He's got your wand. He knows all about the Basilisk." Juniper tells the oblivious Gryffindor.
"Give me my wand, Tom" Harry holds out his hand. "You won't be needing it." Tom says, his lips turning into a smile. "Listen, we've got to go. We've got to save her" Harry says. "Harry, he's the Heir of Slytherin, don't you see? His robes have the Slytherin symbol on it. Not to mention he's acting creepy" Juniper points out and Tom smirks over at her.
"I see that's your Ravenclaw intelligence coming in" He smiles. "I'm not a Ravenclaw" Juniper denies. "But your parents are. I know who you are, Juniper Rosewood. Your parents adore me." He smirks and she scowls as Harry looks between them confused. "We have to get Ginny out of here" He tells them, not understanding why they were using the time to argue right now. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You see, as Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." He explains as Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
"Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets." Tom smiles. "No. She couldn't. She wouldn't." Harry denies. "It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat. Ginny, who wrote the threatening messages on the walls." Tom explains. "But why?" Harry frowns. "Because I told her to. You'll find I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance."
"Still, the power of the diary began to scare her. She tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom. And then who should find it but you?" Tom looks at Harry, a broad smile on his lips. "The very person I was most anxious to meet." Tom says. "And why did you want to meet me?" Harry wonders.
"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 is not a brainless oaf." Juniper growls. "Hagrid's our friend." Harry says and Juniper nods. "And you framed him, didn't you?" "It was my word against Hagrid's. Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent." Tom sighs.
"I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you" Harry smirks. "He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school, so I decided to leave behind a diary...preserving my 16-year-old self in it's pages, so that one day...I would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work" Tom explains.
"Well, you haven't finished it this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready. And everyone who was Petrified will be all right again." "Haven't I told you? Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been you. How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" Tom Riddle points to Harry's scar with Harry's wand.
Juniper continues to keep her defenses up. "Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time." Harry points out. Tom smirks between the two. "Voldemort is my past, present and future." He uses Harry's wand starts writing words with it as the two watch him spell out his name. "Tom Marvolo Riddle". He swishes the wand and the words scramble around spelling out the message 'I am Lord Voldemort' as Juniper and Harry look at each other with wide eyes.
"You. You really are the Heir of Slytherin" Harry realizes and Juniper looks at him in disbelief. "As I've already told you" Juniper scoffs. "You're Voldemort" Harry breathes, ignoring Juniper. "Surely you didn't think I was going to keep my filthy Muggle Father's name? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world." Tom exclaims.
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world." Harry corrects. "Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me." Tom brings up. "He'll never be gone. Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him." They hear the sound of a bird and music playing and all turn to look. A phoenix was heading right towards them, music flapping from it's wings. Juniper stares with wide eyes. She had never seen a phoenix before. It was beautiful.
"Fawkes?" Harry asks confused as they notice it carrying something. "It has a name?" Juniper asks in surprise. "It's Dumbledore's" Harry breathes out. It drops something battered in Harry's hands before flying away again. Harry unrolls it and finds the sorting hat. They give each other confused glances. "So this is what Dumbledore sends his great defenders. A songbird and an old hat." Tom Riddle turns to the statue of Salazar Slytherin behind him as Juniper and Harry continue to examine the hat. Juniper notices Tom now had her wand as well and looks down with wide eyes. He must have snatched it when she was focused on Fawkes.
He starts speaking in Parseltongue and the two turn to look at him. "What is he saying?" Juniper wonders. "He's getting the Basilisk" Harry whispers and her eyes widen. They hear rumbling and Tom turns to smirk at them. "Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin against the famous Harry Potter and his sidekick Juniper Rosewood" Tom says. "Sidekick?!" Juniper exclaims incredulously, ready to go knock him out but Harry holds her back as Tom laughs manically.
The statue's mouth opens as Harry keeps a tight grip on Juniper who was ready to lunge at Tom for calling her his sidekick. He would think it was funny if it wasn't for the fact the Basilisk was coming to kill them. Speaking of, they watch as the creature slithers out and Harry throws the useless hat to the ground, dragging Juniper along as the two run from it.
Tom says something to the Basilisk in Parseltongue. "Parseltongue won't save you now, Potter. It only obeys me." The Basilisk hisses and starts heading towards them. "Don't look at it!" Harry reminds Juniper as they sprint back down the path, trying to find somewhere to hide or get away from the creature. Harry seems to trip and falls to the ground, his glasses falling as well.
Juniper trips right over his body with a grunt. They hear the creature right behind them as Juniper hands Harry his glasses and he slips it on. They glance at each other before ducking their heads. This was it. Juniper was gonna die, trying to save Ginny Weasley and the muggle-born. Her parents were gonna revive her and kill her again.
They hear the sound of Fawkes again though and quickly look up as Fawkes swoops in, pecking and attacking the Basilisk. The two could see it from the shadows on the walls. "No! Your bird may have blinded the Basilisk, but it can still hear you." Juniper quickly climbs to her feet, helping Harry up as well. They had to get away from it as quietly as possible.
The basilisk shrieks in pain, shaking it's head as the two look at it, continuing to back away from it. Fawkes had pecked out it's eyes. Something crunches under Harry's feet and the Basilisk's head snaps in their direction causing their eyes to widen. The two sprint away again as the Basilisk goes to lunge at them, almost getting Harry. It follows them as they splash through the water, trying to find a way to get away from the thing without getting killed. They also had to find a way to communicate with each other without talking or the creature would find them.
They climb through a tunnel, glancing back every so often and run far enough away. They turn down another tunnel, only to find a dead-end. They go to find another way but pause as they spot the Basilisk. It turns into their area as they back against the gate, getting as far away as possible, holding their breaths. It hisses at them, showing it's multiple teeth as Harry sinks to the floor, pulling Juniper down with him.
A puff of air full of dust hits Juniper's face and of course, she has to sneeze now. Harry notices and picks up a rock, tossing it past the Basilisk. It backs up, following the way it heard the sound. Juniper sneezes into her arm and Harry yanks her up, leading her away just incase it heard her again. They turn the opposite way the Basilisk went and find themselves back at the area where Tom and Ginny were.
Harry quickly drops to the floor beside Ginny. "Yes, Potter, Rosewood. 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" Harry feels Ginny's freezing cold hands before turning to look at Tom.
"Ginny?" Harry tries to wake the first year again. They hear a splash and look back, noticing the Basilisk appear again. Juniper's attention is taken elsewhere though as she notices something in the sorting hat. A sword. She pulls it out of the hat as Harry looks over with wide eyes, wondering when that got there.
Juniper pulls Harry behind her, holding it towards the creature defensively as the two start backing up. "On the statue!" Harry shouts and they run towards the statue, climbing up the slippery rocks. The giant serpent lifts it's head up to their height and starts lunging at them but they manage to dodge it. They climb higher up, Juniper swinging the sword at it. They reach the top and Juniper continues to swing as it goes to attack again. Harry drops off the statue and screams, falling into the water.
It turns it's attention to Harry and goes to lunge at him but Juniper lets out a battle cry, leaping off the statue and stabbing the sword into the head of the Basilisk. It screams in pain, flailing around, knocking Juniper off and she falls into the water, She notices Harry holding his arm in pain as well as one of it's teeth. It got him.
It lets out a final hiss before dropping to the ground. Juniper gets up and helps Harry up too as Tom looks between the two furiously. Harry holds the tooth as Juniper drags the heavy sword with her. The adrenaline of the situation as well as her working out must have helped with the whole sword swinging but now she was just plain exhausted.
Harry falls beside Ginny weakly, the wound from the Basilisk getting to him as Juniper turns to look at Tom. "It's over. Leave the girl alone" She tells him and he laughs. "I've got other priorities. It's remarkable though, isn't it...how quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body? I'd guess you have little more than a minute to live" Juniper looks down at Harry worriedly.
"You'll be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry." Tom seethes. Harry ignores him, feeling Ginny's arm as Juniper holds up the sword. "Stop this Tom. Or I'll cut you in half right as soon as you turn human" Juniper threatens and he laughs. "You think I'm afraid of you, girl? I am Lord Voldemort! Nothing scares me!" He shouts manically. "King of drama too, I see" She nods and he glares at her.
He turns back to look at Ginny, tsking. "Funny, the damage a silly little book can do. Especially in the hands of a silly little girl." Harry takes the book from Ginny as Juniper watches curiously. He flips the empty pages open, grabbing the Basilisk fang. "What are you doing?" Tom seems to falter. He holds it up and Tom and Juniper seem to realize what he's about to do. "Stop. No!" Harry stabs the fang into the book and black ink starts to ooze from the back.
Tom starts to fizzle out as Juniper watches with wide eyes. Tom goes to yell a spell out at Harry but Harry stabs the other side and he continues to fizzle out, screaming in pain. Harry closes the book before stabbing the cover and Tom's soul seems to explode, lights glittering everywhere. Ginny gasps awake then and Juniper gets down as they look her over. "Thank Merlin" Juniper breathes out in relief. She lays down fully in exhaustion. "Wake me when you find a way out" She tells them, closing her eyes.