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batsutousaiTitle: The Creators
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta: The amazing, the beautiful,tsuki_no_suzu!
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Susan/Neville, Ron/Krum, Hermione/Bill, Sarah/??, Harry/NO ONE, DAMMIT!
Warnings: Mentions of child-abuse, anti-Muggle sentiments, mentions of murder and rape, anti-Dumbledore
Summary: 'When their Creators return, their world shall be remade.' Four children hold the fate of the Wizarding World in their un-tried hands.
Disclaim Her: I'll be having a white Hallowe'en this year... O.o
A/N: As I've announced on the other two stories I've recently updated, I'll be doing NaNo this year. This story has two more chapters pre-written and one about half-written, so this fic WILL be updated for a chunk of November. But you'll probably have to wait for a bit in December before I can update again. -sweat-
Also! For those of you asking, I'm on the NaNo site under the username Batsutousai. YES you can friend me. If I see the message about being friended or you let me know in a review or PM I WILL friend you back.
My NaNo piece will be on my LJ. (Links in my profile.) It IS an original piece, so you don't HAVE to read it, but you all know what a review whore I am... -winks-
-0-0-
Tomorrow Will Come
-0-0-
Harry and Sirius were, by no means, running late, but they were pushing it a bit. Sirius was a horrible person to wake up in the mornings, and since he'd stayed up kicking Harry's bum at chess the night before, he was worse than usual. As it was, they made it to the barrier about ten minutes before the train was to leave. They hurried towards the barrier and promptly bounced off.
"Hmm... That's not supposed to happen," Sirius commented, resting his hand on the barrier. When he put a little weight against it, he promptly fell through.
Harry narrowed his eyes and threw a complicated and slightly out-dated detection charm at the barrier. After a moment, it told him it was blocking specifically him from going through with non-human magic.
"Oh no you don't," Harry muttered, then quietly hissed a parseltongue spell which overrode practically any magic, and aimed it at the spell preventing his entry. Just as the problem spell collapsed, the Weasleys came hurrying over.
"Harry, dear, what are you doing just standing here?" Mrs Weasley asked, looking ruffled.
Harry forced a smile. "Just about to go through, that's all. Come on, Ron." He grabbed Ronald's arm and tugged the other boy through the barrier.
Sirius stood on the other side, looking worried. "Harry! Merlin, you scared me! You're alright? Oh, hello, there, Ron."
"I'm fine, Sirius. Just took me a moment," Harry said, smiling reassuringly. When Ronald frowned at him, Harry quickly shook his head, then nodded towards the train. Ronald nodded in understanding and the two boys let Sirius help them get their stuff onto the train where Hermione and Susan were waiting for them.
After some quick good-byes, the train chugged from the station and Harry's three friends eyed him curiously.
Harry sighed. "When I got to the barrier, it wouldn't let me through. I used the old detection charm on it and it was some sort of non-human spell. Not sure what, though."
"Not many non-humans can go unnoticed in the train station. Not even on the magical side," Hermione commented thoughtfully. "And I can't think of any that would have magic different enough from ours that it would register."
Susan shrugged. "House elves?"
"Really?" Hermione asked.
Susan nodded. "Well, yeah. Some of the richer families, like the Malfoys, like to have their elves carry their luggage."
"Right, so what would a house elf have against Sal?" Ronald inquired, rolling his eyes.
"Besides the fact that I was a supposed monster before?" Harry asked drily. When the other three just stared at him, he grinned and said, "Yeah, I suppose that's not common knowledge, even for house elves."
"Except at Hogwarts," Susan pointed out.
"But the Hogwarts house elves have no reason to keep Sal from the school." Ronald glanced at Harry mock-suspiciously. "Do they?"
Harry shrugged. "They shouldn't. I haven't done anything to them of late."
"Well, we might just have to wait for the culprit to show itself," Susan decided with a helpless shrug. "Sorry."
Harry shook his head. "Doesn't really bother me. Assuming it's a house elf, it's not a Hogwarts house elf. And that means this elf thinks I'm an average twelve year old."
"Slytherins," Hermione said in disgust, making the other three laugh.
-0-0-0-
Dumbledore met them at the front doors. "Well, children, how would you like to be re-Sorted?"
"What do you mean, Headmaster?" Hermione asked while Harry gave the man the evil eye.
Dumbledore smiled, ignoring Harry. "Before or after this year's first years?"
The group traded looks, then Hermione turned back and said, "Before, I think. We don't want to be standing about until the first years finish."
"Excellent. That was my choice as well," Dumbledore told them, then led them in. He motioned to McGonagall, then led the way up to where the Hat sat on the stool.
"Albus, I don't suppose you'd mind if I spent another year with Mr Weasley?" the Hat asked once the group got close enough.
Dumbledore eyed Ronald. "I don't suppose so, no. There was no lasting harm, and I dare say you were in a much better mood this summer."
"Wicked," Ronald said just loud enough for his friends to hear.
"But the same rules apply," Dumbledore finished. "No going to class. You cause too much trouble."
If hats could pout, the Hat would have. As it was, it just let out a depressed sound. "Very well..."
"Ah, and here come the first years," Dumbledore said, glancing towards the back of the room. "If you four would stay here, Professor McGonagall will call you up first."
The students nodded in understanding and turned to watch the group of first years follow McGonagall up. Once she got up there, and the younger children were all staring at the Founders in confusion, the Hat happily started its song.
Once the song was through, McGonagall announced – mostly for the first years' benefit, "These students were to have spent one year in the Houses they were Sorted into last year, and will be re-Sorted this year. They will go first. Bones, Susan."
Susan hopped up to the stool and sat the Hat on her head. Since the Hat already knew where they were all going it only paused a moment before calling out, "RAVENCLAW! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
Everyone just sort of gave Susan odd looks and one student commented, "Again?" making the students around him laugh.
McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "Granger, Hermione."
Hermione placed the Hat on her head and, after a moment, it said, "HUFFLEPUFF! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
As Hermione walked over to her new table, McGonagall said, "Potter, Harry."
Harry eyed the Hat from where he stood next to Ronald and smirked when it called out, "GRYFFINDOR! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
"You'll have to put it on eventually," Ronald commented with a laugh as Harry turned to walk over to his new table.
Harry rolled his eyes at his friend and took a seat, grinning at Ronald's twin brothers, who were quietly chanting, "We've got Potter, we've got Potter,"
"Weasley, Ronald," McGonagall ordered.
Ronald picked up the Hat and put it on his head. 'See you shortly, old friend,' he said.
"SLYTHERIN! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!" the Hat shouted.
As Ronald walked over to his new table, he caught sight of Draco Malfoy, who was looking rather ill all of a sudden. As he took a seat across from the boy, Ronald said, "You look a little green, Malfoy. Don't tell me I have the power to put you off your appetite?"
"Not a chance, Weasel," Draco hissed, then firmly turned away from the other boy to watch the Sorting of the first years.
As the food appeared, Harry turned to the twins, who had managed to budge people out of the way so they could sit across from Harry. "So, how many more Houses–
"–are you planning to go through?"
"All of them, I should think," Harry said with a shrug, then took a bite of broccoli. "Why do you ask?"
"Any idea when Ronnie–"
"–will be joining the brave lions?"
Harry made a face at that. "Couple years, I think. How are you about him being a Slytherin? He was worried about the reactions from your whole family."
The twins traded looks, then both shrugged. "The Hat almost put us in there," one said.
"But we told it no. Weasleys never go to Slytherin," the other commented.
"Percy's pretty okay with Slytherins–"
"–so long as they follow the rules–"
"–and no one knows with Ginny, since she's been so off."
"What about your parents?" Harry asked eyeing them curiously. Almost his, huh?
"Mum's going to blow her top," they said as one. All three of them glanced over at where Ronald was talking to a few of the snakes.
"Dad might not care," one said as they turned back to Harry.
"Especially not if Ron can get him some inside on the Malfoys."
"He's been trying raids on the place for years."
"Can't seem to find a thing in the entire house."
"Well, the Malfoys were Slytherins," Harry pointed out, waving a bit of chicken about on the end of his fork. "And Lucius is an excellent one, despite his tendency to start a brawl with your father in a book store."
Both twins grinned madly.
Harry shook his head. "Here, help my sanity a bit; who's who?"
"I'm Fred," the one on the left said.
"And I'm George," the one on the right said.
Harry eyed them suspiciously. "Almost Slytherins?" he asked.
They both nodded.
"Right. George, Fred," Harry said, firmly calling both of them by the name the other gave. "I think I can keep you straight for the rest of the year," he decided.
Both of them laughed. "Good call," they said as one, then slipped back to their former seats.
Harry had barely managed four more bites when a hyper-active first year bounced into the vacant seat in front of him. "Hi!" the kid chirped.
Harry eyed the boy suspiciously. "Hi?"
"I'm Colin Creevey!" the boy chirped. "I've been ever so excited to meet you! My father's a milkman you see, so I only just learned about the magical world! And everyone's always saying how amazing you are and I'm so excited to meet you!"
"That's nice," Harry said neutrally, uncertain how else to speak to the child.
"Can I take a picture of you?" Colin asked, pulling out a muggle camera. "I want to send it to my dad!"
"No," Harry said firmly.
Colin looked like someone punched him.
Harry frowned. "I don't like having my picture taken," he said, deciding to nip this kid's photo obsession in the bud right there and then. "Old superstitions. If you take my picture, I'll likely destroy the camera. This is your only warning." That said, Harry returned to his dinner and decided to ignore the next person who came up to him.
-0-0-0-
As expected, Mrs Weasley sent a Howler first thing the next morning. Over at the Slytherin table, Ronald steadily turned redder and redder while Draco mocked him. Once the Howler was done, Draco turned bright orange and found he could only speak in sonnets. Ronald smirked at him and turned to his food while the other boy and his friends tried to end the enchantments.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry had gotten a letter from Sirius, which was full of sunshine and rainbows, as it was, because Harry had made Gryffindor. Sirius said, 'No matter what that Hat may have said, we both know you're bound for Gryffindor. I'm sure you won't actually be re-Sorted next year. Don't worry about it, Harry.'
Honestly, Harry was almost as disgusted with his letter as Ronald was angry with his. To make matters worse, they had Potions first thing, and Snape took great pleasure in being able to take points from Gryffindor for all of Harry's nonexistent infractions. As the boys made their way outside to one of the courtyards for their break, they commiserated about their letters and the morning in general. Harry sullenly added having Binns before lunch to his woes, while Ronald added having Lockhart after lunch to his.
After lunch, the two boys trudged towards Lockhart's classroom, quietly debating what horrors they would have to sit through. When they got to the classroom, the two grabbed the seat furthest back before any of the other Slytherins could and Harry set their books in front of them.
As soon as Lockhart came in, he happily called roll and beamed winningly at the whole class. Then he passed around quizzes all about him. Harry and Ronald traded disgusted looks, then gleefully made up a bunch of answers, as most of the other Slytherins were doing.
Once the tests were passed in – and Lockhart had commented on how no one seemed to have sufficiently read his books – the idiot set a cage of Cornish Pixies on them. Ronald and Harry once again traded looks, then promptly fled the classroom with their things before the little buggers could reach them.
The rest of the week wasn't quite as insane, and the four Founders practically danced at the beginning to the weekend and met up by the lake. There, they jokingly complained about being children again and Hermione forced Ronald to do his homework while the other two Founders laughed at them and quickly turned to their own work when Hermione glared at them.
At dinner on Monday, Hermione plopped down across from Harry at the Gryffindor table, blue eyes smouldering.
"To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Harry inquired, setting down his fork and giving his friend his total attention.
Hermione huffed. "Lockhart," she said with disgusted expression.
"Ah. You had him after lunch, didn't you?" Harry asked in understanding.
"Yes!" Hermione stabbed the table with a nearby fork and Harry eyed her suspiciously while the other Gryffindors leaned back.
"I know he's an idiot," Harry soothed, setting a hand over Hermione's clenched fist. "Come, when are your free blocks tomorrow?"
Hermione let out a breath and said, "Before and after lunch."
Harry nodded. "Excellent. Meet in the kitchens?"
Hermione nodded, seeming much calmer. "I'll tell Sue?"
"And I'll let Ron know. Now, why don't you head back to your table before Snape comes over here and blames me for your sitting with the Gryffindors?"
Hermione giggled a bit and slipped back to the Hufflepuff table.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry tugged the fork out of the table and looked at it, impressed. When Hermione got mad, she got mad.
-0-0-0-
"He's a menace!" Hermione declared once they'd waved away the house elves.
"I did tell you so," Susan commented drily. "And you just sort of ignored me."
"She didn't ignore you, she just decided to give him a chance first," Harry said, taking an offered butterbeer with a quick word of thanks.
"If you're going to make him disappear, do it carefully," the Hat suggested from on top of Ronald's head. "Dumbledore will probably be watching out for it, and Gilderoy's best spell as a boy was the Obliviate spell."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Hermione asked, ignoring the suggestion in light of questioning the break of rules. "I thought you were supposed to stay in Ric's room during classes."
"Technically, that's only when I have classes myself," Ronald pointed out.
"But he's actually been turning the Hat invisible and taking it to class anyway," Harry offered with a smirk. "As long as the Hat doesn't say anything, no one knows."
"Godric!"
Ronald huffed. "Thanks, Sal."
Harry grinned nastily.
"Back to the matter at hand," Susan cut in, shaking her head at the other three. "I don't think we really want him to disappear–"
"Why not?" Harry demanded.
"–but it wouldn't hurt to make him feel unwelcome," Susan finished, ignoring Harry completely.
"Like a prank?" Ronald asked, perking up slightly at the thought.
"It's certainly an option," Hermione agreed.
"But if we all agree he's useless, why are we letting him stay at all?" Harry complained, then scowled when the other three ignored him in favour of planning out pranks. When the Hat just gave him a hat-shrug, Harry sighed and joined them in their plotting.
-0-0-0-
Lockhart spent the weeks until Samhain enduring various pranks. Perhaps the worse he faced was Harry's prank of making his teeth appear to be rotting and his hair greasy. Because the curse had been in parseltongue, no one had been able to dispel it before it wore off a week later. (The second worst was Hermione's prank of making mirrors not show his reflection, but after the professors figured out what the spell was, they were able to dispel it easily. As a result, the prank only lasted three days, rather than a full week.)
Classes with the man didn't improve, though, despite the weekly pranks. It seemed nothing could deter the man, much to the Founders' sorrow. Every time Harry suggested the rather permanent solution of just 'losing' the man somewhere, however, he was ignored. (Years of practise had taught the other three Founders that ignoring Salazar was the best way, in these matters. If you tried to argue with him, he would almost always manage to talk you around to his side.)
Saturday, October thirty-first found the four friends once again in the kitchens, discussing the Lockhart problem over dinner. They'd decided not to attend the feast in favour of spending the holiday together.
"The pranks don't seem to be working," Ronald grumbled. "He's still as irritatingly cheerful and stupid as ever."
"We can still lose him," Harry volunteered.
"I suppose we could sabotage his office or something," Susan commented.
The other three turned to look at her in surprise. "How very unlike you, Helga," Hermione commented.
Susan shrugged. "Well, pranking doesn't seem to help, and we refuse to 'lose' him–"
"Oh, so you have been listening to me."
"–it seems right that we should step it up a bit. Sabotage seems like that step."
"Seems reasonable to me," Ronald decided as Hermione nodded thoughtfully next to Susan. "Sal?"
Harry glared at him. "Oh, so now you want my opinion."
"Sal, we always want your opinion," Susan said, reaching across the table and taking one of Harry's hands in her own.
"Except when you're talking about killing people," Hermione added.
Harry glared at her. "I'm not talking about killing him. I just want to–"
"Lose him, yes. Except your version of losing him means he won't see the light of day again!" Hermione snapped.
Harry opened his mouth to retaliate, but got hit in the face with a jet of water from Susan. Across the table, Hermione was getting the same treatment from Ronald.
"Okay, now that we've cooled off a bit," Ronald commented drily as he put his wand away, "we can discuss more important things, like how we're planning to sabotage the git."
Susan and Ronald started throwing ideas back and forth. After ten minutes or so, Hermione joined in, but Harry continued to scowl at the other three.
After another ten minutes, Hermione snapped, "If you're just going to glare at me, why don't you leave?"
"Rowena!" Susan exclaimed, but Harry was already standing and walking out, quietly thanking the house elf who pushed the door open for him.
Once in the hallway, Harry leaned against the nearest wall and took a deep breath. He loved Rowena like a sister, really he did, he just wished she didn't have such firm beliefs in what was right and wrong. Godric, who was also Light, didn't have quite the temper Rowena had always sported – which seemed odd, considering how many quick-to-anger fools came from the House of Lions – as he preferred to think things through a bit more. Helga, who had always called herself a Grey witch, had always been the balance between Salazar and Rowena, with Godric acting as an extra buffer. It had always been that way, and though they'd had fights, they'd been happy.
And Harry was happy. He was happy to be back with his surrogate family. He was happy to be back in the only building he'd ever truly felt was a home. He was happy to have a real guardian and not have to worry about those disgusting muggles anymore.
But that didn't mean things were easy. With Rowena, things never would be. It was something Harry had resigned himself to as Salazar, and he was being painfully reminded of it again. Salazar and Rowena had always been the two most likely to butt heads, no matter what history said about him and Godric, and no amount of time would ever change that. In fact, Harry didn't think he'd want that fact to change. Rowena had always challenged him, made him think a bit more. She'd always been the one to keep him from falling too deeply into his anger and hate.
'Salazar!'
Harry's head jerked up and he vaguely noted he'd hit it on the castle wall. "Hogwarts?"
'There's a girl in the Chamber! One of the first years! She's... She's not herself!'
Harry turned and hurried down the hallway. "Can you detain her? Keep her there?"
'She's trying to talk Ashala into going up.'
"What? I thought there weren't any parseltongue children here?"
'There aren't. That's the problem.'
Harry groaned in disgust and slipped into the girl's bathroom over the Chamber. A wailing was coming from one of the stalls, but after a quick 'Hurry!' from the castle, Harry didn't bother looking. Instead, he hissed :open: at the faucets, then slid down the pipe, absently casting cleaning charms ahead of him.
As soon as he hit the ground, Harry was running again. Normally, this sort of adventure would be more up Ronald's alley, but they'd all agreed when they'd first built the school that only Salazar would be able to open the Chamber's doors, so this particular trip was all for Harry. Anyway, if someone was messing with his baby, Harry wasn't about to let one of the other three attend to it. (Especially not Hermione. She might think killing Ashala was the best solution, no matter her supposed thoughts about killing things. Then again, maybe that didn't extend to basilisks?)
Harry dashed into the main Chamber room and paused to look around in disgust. He didn't remember decorating the room with those dreadful snake columns; the others wouldn't have allowed it. At least the face of Merlin was still acting as the guardian to Hogwarts' core, but it looked like the great stone had seen better days.
The girl standing before Ashala turned to look at Harry and smiled an unholy smile. "Harry Potter," she said in a voice which wasn't her own.
"Ginny?" Harry asked, then shook his head. "No, who are you? Why are you possessing that child?" he demanded.
Ginny just continued to smile. "I'm surprised you found me so quickly. I'd almost think you knew where I was, but that can't be possible. No, I was too careful. I've always been careful, even before Dumbledore became Headmaster."
Harry frowned at the possessed girl and leaned back against a column, wand in his hand. "I'll ask you again: Who are you and why are you possessing Ginny Weasley?"
"Shall I give you a hint?" not-Ginny asked teasingly.
"Mmmm... No." Harry glanced up at Ashala, who had her eyes closed. :Ashala, who is this person? Who do they say they are?:
Not-Ginny looked surprised when Harry spoke to the basilisk, even more so at the mention of a name and the expectancy that the great snake would answer him. Her shock was nothing next to what she felt when the snake replied, :Your Heir, Salazar.:
Harry turned Killing Curse eyes on Tom Riddle and bared his teeth. "Lord Voldemort. And what is a great Dark wizard like you doing possessing a little girl in Hogwarts? Perhaps to create a new body for yourself?"
"Salazar Slytherin?" Riddle whispered, stolen eyes wide. "But– That's not possible! A lie! I'll kill you! Avada Kedavra!"
Harry calmly brought a chunk of stone between him and the curse, smirking nastily. "Oh, but my little Heir, it is. And that's the entire reason you failed to kill me those many years ago. My Heirs can't kill me. But I must wonder, what has you in Hogwarts? What are you planning? I do hope it's not to set sweet Ashala on the students again."
Riddle sneered. "But of course. I must complete your great legacy and rid the school of mudbloods!"
Harry tutted. "No, my Heir, I never wanted that. I cannot fault the children for the crimes of the parents, it would be wrong. It is the muggles who must die, not their magical offspring. Oh, how my words have been twisted by time."
Ginny's gentle face twisted in disgust. "You lie," he whispered. "You lie!" And then Riddle sent a volley of Dark curses at Harry, all of which he blocked or side-stepped, smiling the whole while.
When Riddle started breathing hard, Harry said, "You'd best let go now, my Heir. Before you kill your host, and yourself with her. What a pity that would be."
"This isn't over," Riddle spat, then suddenly vacated the girl's body, leaving her to fall to the ground at Ashala's tail, which the serpent quickly rose to keep the girl's head from hitting the ground.
Harry hurried over, keeping his wand out in case it was a ruse. "Accio Lord Voldemort," he mutter when he got close enough and was only mildly surprised when a diary flew out of the girl's pockets. He deftly sidestepped it, leaving it to hit the ground, and knelt next to the girl.
A quick diagnosis spell showed that the girl was only suffering from mild exhaustion, so Harry said, "Hogwarts, could you transfer Miss Weasley to the infirmary and let Ric and the others know she's there? Tell them I'm dealing with the part of my Heir that was possessing her, and I don't care what Row says about 'losing' him. He's my Heir and I will do with him as I see fit."
Ginny's still form disappeared from Ashala's coils and Hogwarts said, 'Consider it done,' with laughter in her voice.
Harry huffed and turned back to the diary. "Now then, my Heir, what have you created?"
A slew of Dark and Light spells didn't tell Harry much about the diary other than that it was about fifty years old, muggle-made, and had been kept in a magical environment since the owner bought it.
"What are you?" Harry whispered, eyeing the object with curiosity. He was firmly avoiding touching it, as he was well aware that the object could possess him as easily as it had Ginny Weasley. Since it had been on her person during the possession, Harry assumed it likely required physical contact to initiate the possession.
:You could use our magic on it,: Ashala suggested, lightly wrapping her tail around Harry's waist.
Harry realised he was shivering from the cold and quickly cast warming charms on both himself and the snake. "I suppose," he agreed, then threw a parseltongue detection spell at it.
The book lit up with answers and Harry's eyes widened in disgust. "A receptacle for a soul?! Were you mad, boy?"
:Yes,: Ashala offered, gently bumping her head against Harry's.
Harry spat on the book, then shot a fireball at it. When the book didn't burn, he threw a parseltongue fire spell at it.
:I don't think normal fire will work, Salazar,: Ashala hissed. :Only something powerfully Dark could destroy that.:
Harry eyed the book. :You're right, of course, my sweet. Fiendfyre, then. We'll need to back up; I am by no means a master of this spell.:
The two quickly backed away from the book and Harry threw the cursed flame at the book and watched with pleasure as it ate the object up. When the fire turned to the only other living things in the room, Harry exerted pressure on it until it disappeared, leaving him cold and sweaty.
:That was impressive, Salazar,: Ashala said, curling her tail around Harry protectively. :You are tired, I will protect you.:
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, letting himself drift to sleep in the embrace of the snake he considered his child.
-0-0-0-
When Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table the next morning, he was immediately bombarded with inquiries about where he'd been the night before.
"Empty classroom," he said to quiet their demands. "I got into another fight with 'Mione and went for a walk. Ended up getting too tired to make it up to the Tower, so I decided to sleep in the classroom I found. Wasn't too bad. Bit stiff, though." He cracked his back with a wince. Sleeping in the coils of a snake was by no means comfortable.
"It's just, Ginny Weasley appeared in the hospital wing last night, and after a head count, you were the only person we couldn't find after they called a lock-down," Seamus Finnigan said, eyes wide. "No one knows what happened to her, or you."
Harry looked around the table and finally noticed that the three eldest Weasleys were missing. A quick survey of the other tables showed that the other three Founders were also missing, so he grabbed a last roll and nodded. "Thanks for the update. I think I'll go reassure the others I'm alive and check on Ginny. I'll see you lot later, right?"
"Yeah, alright. And don't go missing again!" Dean Thomas called after him as Harry jogged for the doors to the Great Hall. He could practically feel everyone turning to stare at him after Dean's shout and Harry rolled his eyes.
In the hospital wing, Mrs Weasley sat with her sons in a silent vigil over the only girl. As soon as Harry walked in, Mrs Weasley practically burst into tears and hurried over to hug him. "Oh, Harry! No one knew where you were!"
Harry grimaced. "I'm sorry," he said, chagrined. "I took a walk and was too tired to make it back to the Tower, so I just slept in a classroom. I honestly didn't mean to worry anyone." He gently tugged out of the motherly woman's grip. "How's Ginny?" he asked, looking over at where the pale girl lay under the sheets. The boys and two non-Weasleys around the bed looked exhausted, and Harry suddenly felt horrible for having slept while his family – old and new – sat up here all night and worried about him and the young girl in the bed.
Ronald smiled tiredly at him. "We told them you were fine," he said.
"I figured," Harry replied, taking the extra seat next to his friend while Mrs Weasley returned to her own chair. "How's Ginny?"
"Madam Pomfrey says she'll be fine," Susan said softly. "Just a bit of magical exhaustion. She has to sleep it off. But since no one knows why she had it or how she got here..."
"Of course." Harry nodded in understanding of both the statement and the unspoken, 'we didn't tell them what we know.'
Suddenly, Hermione threw herself across Ron and onto Harry, eyes bright with unshed tears. "I'm s-sorry, Harry!" she cried.
Harry wrapped his arms around her, surprised. " 'Mione? What–?"
"She's been like that since you never came back," Ronald said, gently moving Hermione's legs off his lap. "From what we could gather when she calmed down a bit, she was afraid you might have gotten hurt and the last thing she said to you was spoken in anger."
Harry immediately understood. Rowena's husband had gone to fight and die in the Dark Wizard Wars; the last conversation they'd had before he'd left had ended in a screaming match, and Rowena had never been able to apologise. Rowena had also been unable to settle things between herself and her daughter, and it had eaten at her right up until the moment she’d died.
"But Harry's fine," Fred said, looking confused.
"Yeah, see. Right there," George agreed.
"No, it's more than that," Harry murmured. "Shh, 'Mione. I'm right here. I'm not mad at you, I understand and I'm here," he whispered to her, rocking her gently. Hermione just buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
On the other side of the bed, the twins rolled their eyes and got glared at by their mother.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A/N: It appears some people don't really like Hermione because she and Harry keep butting heads. That wasn't my intention, just to be clear, but it seems that's what happened. I hope those of you who were starting to dislike her are a bit better now?
Oh, and Ginny's fine. I don't know that I'll show her waking up or anything, but she does, and she has no recollection of the Chamber at all, which means the whole thing will remain a complete mystery to everyone but the Founders.
And the diary was properly destroyed. The real Voldemort will have no knowledge of Harry being his ancestor.
Also! I'm currently leaning towards the following pairings: Susan/Neville, Hermione/Bill and Ron/Draco. You can argue them to your heart's content and I will consider changing them. Maybe. (Shara already tried to get me to make it Hermione/Severus, but that didn't work. Just a heads up.)
And Harry's staying single. No, you CAN'T argue me out of that one. He's single. Period.
~Bats ^.^x
Chapters:
Pro - Prophecy's Children / 1 - Home ||| 2 - Socially Acceptable ||| 3 - Touch the Sunrise
4 - Tomorrow Will Come ||| 5 - Fallen Star ||| 6 - A Dream Will Come True When It Will
7 - The Deepest River ||| 8 - Question of Honour ||| 9 - Hanging By a Thread
10 - Never As it Seems ||| 11 - Long Road
Incomplete
Author:
batsutousaiBeta: The amazing, the beautiful,
tsuki_no_suzu!Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Susan/Neville, Ron/Krum, Hermione/Bill, Sarah/??, Harry/NO ONE, DAMMIT!
Warnings: Mentions of child-abuse, anti-Muggle sentiments, mentions of murder and rape, anti-Dumbledore
Summary: 'When their Creators return, their world shall be remade.' Four children hold the fate of the Wizarding World in their un-tried hands.
Disclaim Her: I'll be having a white Hallowe'en this year... O.o
A/N: As I've announced on the other two stories I've recently updated, I'll be doing NaNo this year. This story has two more chapters pre-written and one about half-written, so this fic WILL be updated for a chunk of November. But you'll probably have to wait for a bit in December before I can update again. -sweat-
Also! For those of you asking, I'm on the NaNo site under the username Batsutousai. YES you can friend me. If I see the message about being friended or you let me know in a review or PM I WILL friend you back.
My NaNo piece will be on my LJ. (Links in my profile.) It IS an original piece, so you don't HAVE to read it, but you all know what a review whore I am... -winks-
Tomorrow Will Come
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Harry and Sirius were, by no means, running late, but they were pushing it a bit. Sirius was a horrible person to wake up in the mornings, and since he'd stayed up kicking Harry's bum at chess the night before, he was worse than usual. As it was, they made it to the barrier about ten minutes before the train was to leave. They hurried towards the barrier and promptly bounced off.
"Hmm... That's not supposed to happen," Sirius commented, resting his hand on the barrier. When he put a little weight against it, he promptly fell through.
Harry narrowed his eyes and threw a complicated and slightly out-dated detection charm at the barrier. After a moment, it told him it was blocking specifically him from going through with non-human magic.
"Oh no you don't," Harry muttered, then quietly hissed a parseltongue spell which overrode practically any magic, and aimed it at the spell preventing his entry. Just as the problem spell collapsed, the Weasleys came hurrying over.
"Harry, dear, what are you doing just standing here?" Mrs Weasley asked, looking ruffled.
Harry forced a smile. "Just about to go through, that's all. Come on, Ron." He grabbed Ronald's arm and tugged the other boy through the barrier.
Sirius stood on the other side, looking worried. "Harry! Merlin, you scared me! You're alright? Oh, hello, there, Ron."
"I'm fine, Sirius. Just took me a moment," Harry said, smiling reassuringly. When Ronald frowned at him, Harry quickly shook his head, then nodded towards the train. Ronald nodded in understanding and the two boys let Sirius help them get their stuff onto the train where Hermione and Susan were waiting for them.
After some quick good-byes, the train chugged from the station and Harry's three friends eyed him curiously.
Harry sighed. "When I got to the barrier, it wouldn't let me through. I used the old detection charm on it and it was some sort of non-human spell. Not sure what, though."
"Not many non-humans can go unnoticed in the train station. Not even on the magical side," Hermione commented thoughtfully. "And I can't think of any that would have magic different enough from ours that it would register."
Susan shrugged. "House elves?"
"Really?" Hermione asked.
Susan nodded. "Well, yeah. Some of the richer families, like the Malfoys, like to have their elves carry their luggage."
"Right, so what would a house elf have against Sal?" Ronald inquired, rolling his eyes.
"Besides the fact that I was a supposed monster before?" Harry asked drily. When the other three just stared at him, he grinned and said, "Yeah, I suppose that's not common knowledge, even for house elves."
"Except at Hogwarts," Susan pointed out.
"But the Hogwarts house elves have no reason to keep Sal from the school." Ronald glanced at Harry mock-suspiciously. "Do they?"
Harry shrugged. "They shouldn't. I haven't done anything to them of late."
"Well, we might just have to wait for the culprit to show itself," Susan decided with a helpless shrug. "Sorry."
Harry shook his head. "Doesn't really bother me. Assuming it's a house elf, it's not a Hogwarts house elf. And that means this elf thinks I'm an average twelve year old."
"Slytherins," Hermione said in disgust, making the other three laugh.
Dumbledore met them at the front doors. "Well, children, how would you like to be re-Sorted?"
"What do you mean, Headmaster?" Hermione asked while Harry gave the man the evil eye.
Dumbledore smiled, ignoring Harry. "Before or after this year's first years?"
The group traded looks, then Hermione turned back and said, "Before, I think. We don't want to be standing about until the first years finish."
"Excellent. That was my choice as well," Dumbledore told them, then led them in. He motioned to McGonagall, then led the way up to where the Hat sat on the stool.
"Albus, I don't suppose you'd mind if I spent another year with Mr Weasley?" the Hat asked once the group got close enough.
Dumbledore eyed Ronald. "I don't suppose so, no. There was no lasting harm, and I dare say you were in a much better mood this summer."
"Wicked," Ronald said just loud enough for his friends to hear.
"But the same rules apply," Dumbledore finished. "No going to class. You cause too much trouble."
If hats could pout, the Hat would have. As it was, it just let out a depressed sound. "Very well..."
"Ah, and here come the first years," Dumbledore said, glancing towards the back of the room. "If you four would stay here, Professor McGonagall will call you up first."
The students nodded in understanding and turned to watch the group of first years follow McGonagall up. Once she got up there, and the younger children were all staring at the Founders in confusion, the Hat happily started its song.
Once the song was through, McGonagall announced – mostly for the first years' benefit, "These students were to have spent one year in the Houses they were Sorted into last year, and will be re-Sorted this year. They will go first. Bones, Susan."
Susan hopped up to the stool and sat the Hat on her head. Since the Hat already knew where they were all going it only paused a moment before calling out, "RAVENCLAW! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
Everyone just sort of gave Susan odd looks and one student commented, "Again?" making the students around him laugh.
McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "Granger, Hermione."
Hermione placed the Hat on her head and, after a moment, it said, "HUFFLEPUFF! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
As Hermione walked over to her new table, McGonagall said, "Potter, Harry."
Harry eyed the Hat from where he stood next to Ronald and smirked when it called out, "GRYFFINDOR! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!"
"You'll have to put it on eventually," Ronald commented with a laugh as Harry turned to walk over to his new table.
Harry rolled his eyes at his friend and took a seat, grinning at Ronald's twin brothers, who were quietly chanting, "We've got Potter, we've got Potter,"
"Weasley, Ronald," McGonagall ordered.
Ronald picked up the Hat and put it on his head. 'See you shortly, old friend,' he said.
"SLYTHERIN! WITH A RESORTING NEXT YEAR!" the Hat shouted.
As Ronald walked over to his new table, he caught sight of Draco Malfoy, who was looking rather ill all of a sudden. As he took a seat across from the boy, Ronald said, "You look a little green, Malfoy. Don't tell me I have the power to put you off your appetite?"
"Not a chance, Weasel," Draco hissed, then firmly turned away from the other boy to watch the Sorting of the first years.
As the food appeared, Harry turned to the twins, who had managed to budge people out of the way so they could sit across from Harry. "So, how many more Houses–
"–are you planning to go through?"
"All of them, I should think," Harry said with a shrug, then took a bite of broccoli. "Why do you ask?"
"Any idea when Ronnie–"
"–will be joining the brave lions?"
Harry made a face at that. "Couple years, I think. How are you about him being a Slytherin? He was worried about the reactions from your whole family."
The twins traded looks, then both shrugged. "The Hat almost put us in there," one said.
"But we told it no. Weasleys never go to Slytherin," the other commented.
"Percy's pretty okay with Slytherins–"
"–so long as they follow the rules–"
"–and no one knows with Ginny, since she's been so off."
"What about your parents?" Harry asked eyeing them curiously. Almost his, huh?
"Mum's going to blow her top," they said as one. All three of them glanced over at where Ronald was talking to a few of the snakes.
"Dad might not care," one said as they turned back to Harry.
"Especially not if Ron can get him some inside on the Malfoys."
"He's been trying raids on the place for years."
"Can't seem to find a thing in the entire house."
"Well, the Malfoys were Slytherins," Harry pointed out, waving a bit of chicken about on the end of his fork. "And Lucius is an excellent one, despite his tendency to start a brawl with your father in a book store."
Both twins grinned madly.
Harry shook his head. "Here, help my sanity a bit; who's who?"
"I'm Fred," the one on the left said.
"And I'm George," the one on the right said.
Harry eyed them suspiciously. "Almost Slytherins?" he asked.
They both nodded.
"Right. George, Fred," Harry said, firmly calling both of them by the name the other gave. "I think I can keep you straight for the rest of the year," he decided.
Both of them laughed. "Good call," they said as one, then slipped back to their former seats.
Harry had barely managed four more bites when a hyper-active first year bounced into the vacant seat in front of him. "Hi!" the kid chirped.
Harry eyed the boy suspiciously. "Hi?"
"I'm Colin Creevey!" the boy chirped. "I've been ever so excited to meet you! My father's a milkman you see, so I only just learned about the magical world! And everyone's always saying how amazing you are and I'm so excited to meet you!"
"That's nice," Harry said neutrally, uncertain how else to speak to the child.
"Can I take a picture of you?" Colin asked, pulling out a muggle camera. "I want to send it to my dad!"
"No," Harry said firmly.
Colin looked like someone punched him.
Harry frowned. "I don't like having my picture taken," he said, deciding to nip this kid's photo obsession in the bud right there and then. "Old superstitions. If you take my picture, I'll likely destroy the camera. This is your only warning." That said, Harry returned to his dinner and decided to ignore the next person who came up to him.
As expected, Mrs Weasley sent a Howler first thing the next morning. Over at the Slytherin table, Ronald steadily turned redder and redder while Draco mocked him. Once the Howler was done, Draco turned bright orange and found he could only speak in sonnets. Ronald smirked at him and turned to his food while the other boy and his friends tried to end the enchantments.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry had gotten a letter from Sirius, which was full of sunshine and rainbows, as it was, because Harry had made Gryffindor. Sirius said, 'No matter what that Hat may have said, we both know you're bound for Gryffindor. I'm sure you won't actually be re-Sorted next year. Don't worry about it, Harry.'
Honestly, Harry was almost as disgusted with his letter as Ronald was angry with his. To make matters worse, they had Potions first thing, and Snape took great pleasure in being able to take points from Gryffindor for all of Harry's nonexistent infractions. As the boys made their way outside to one of the courtyards for their break, they commiserated about their letters and the morning in general. Harry sullenly added having Binns before lunch to his woes, while Ronald added having Lockhart after lunch to his.
After lunch, the two boys trudged towards Lockhart's classroom, quietly debating what horrors they would have to sit through. When they got to the classroom, the two grabbed the seat furthest back before any of the other Slytherins could and Harry set their books in front of them.
As soon as Lockhart came in, he happily called roll and beamed winningly at the whole class. Then he passed around quizzes all about him. Harry and Ronald traded disgusted looks, then gleefully made up a bunch of answers, as most of the other Slytherins were doing.
Once the tests were passed in – and Lockhart had commented on how no one seemed to have sufficiently read his books – the idiot set a cage of Cornish Pixies on them. Ronald and Harry once again traded looks, then promptly fled the classroom with their things before the little buggers could reach them.
The rest of the week wasn't quite as insane, and the four Founders practically danced at the beginning to the weekend and met up by the lake. There, they jokingly complained about being children again and Hermione forced Ronald to do his homework while the other two Founders laughed at them and quickly turned to their own work when Hermione glared at them.
At dinner on Monday, Hermione plopped down across from Harry at the Gryffindor table, blue eyes smouldering.
"To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Harry inquired, setting down his fork and giving his friend his total attention.
Hermione huffed. "Lockhart," she said with disgusted expression.
"Ah. You had him after lunch, didn't you?" Harry asked in understanding.
"Yes!" Hermione stabbed the table with a nearby fork and Harry eyed her suspiciously while the other Gryffindors leaned back.
"I know he's an idiot," Harry soothed, setting a hand over Hermione's clenched fist. "Come, when are your free blocks tomorrow?"
Hermione let out a breath and said, "Before and after lunch."
Harry nodded. "Excellent. Meet in the kitchens?"
Hermione nodded, seeming much calmer. "I'll tell Sue?"
"And I'll let Ron know. Now, why don't you head back to your table before Snape comes over here and blames me for your sitting with the Gryffindors?"
Hermione giggled a bit and slipped back to the Hufflepuff table.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry tugged the fork out of the table and looked at it, impressed. When Hermione got mad, she got mad.
"He's a menace!" Hermione declared once they'd waved away the house elves.
"I did tell you so," Susan commented drily. "And you just sort of ignored me."
"She didn't ignore you, she just decided to give him a chance first," Harry said, taking an offered butterbeer with a quick word of thanks.
"If you're going to make him disappear, do it carefully," the Hat suggested from on top of Ronald's head. "Dumbledore will probably be watching out for it, and Gilderoy's best spell as a boy was the Obliviate spell."
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Hermione asked, ignoring the suggestion in light of questioning the break of rules. "I thought you were supposed to stay in Ric's room during classes."
"Technically, that's only when I have classes myself," Ronald pointed out.
"But he's actually been turning the Hat invisible and taking it to class anyway," Harry offered with a smirk. "As long as the Hat doesn't say anything, no one knows."
"Godric!"
Ronald huffed. "Thanks, Sal."
Harry grinned nastily.
"Back to the matter at hand," Susan cut in, shaking her head at the other three. "I don't think we really want him to disappear–"
"Why not?" Harry demanded.
"–but it wouldn't hurt to make him feel unwelcome," Susan finished, ignoring Harry completely.
"Like a prank?" Ronald asked, perking up slightly at the thought.
"It's certainly an option," Hermione agreed.
"But if we all agree he's useless, why are we letting him stay at all?" Harry complained, then scowled when the other three ignored him in favour of planning out pranks. When the Hat just gave him a hat-shrug, Harry sighed and joined them in their plotting.
Lockhart spent the weeks until Samhain enduring various pranks. Perhaps the worse he faced was Harry's prank of making his teeth appear to be rotting and his hair greasy. Because the curse had been in parseltongue, no one had been able to dispel it before it wore off a week later. (The second worst was Hermione's prank of making mirrors not show his reflection, but after the professors figured out what the spell was, they were able to dispel it easily. As a result, the prank only lasted three days, rather than a full week.)
Classes with the man didn't improve, though, despite the weekly pranks. It seemed nothing could deter the man, much to the Founders' sorrow. Every time Harry suggested the rather permanent solution of just 'losing' the man somewhere, however, he was ignored. (Years of practise had taught the other three Founders that ignoring Salazar was the best way, in these matters. If you tried to argue with him, he would almost always manage to talk you around to his side.)
Saturday, October thirty-first found the four friends once again in the kitchens, discussing the Lockhart problem over dinner. They'd decided not to attend the feast in favour of spending the holiday together.
"The pranks don't seem to be working," Ronald grumbled. "He's still as irritatingly cheerful and stupid as ever."
"We can still lose him," Harry volunteered.
"I suppose we could sabotage his office or something," Susan commented.
The other three turned to look at her in surprise. "How very unlike you, Helga," Hermione commented.
Susan shrugged. "Well, pranking doesn't seem to help, and we refuse to 'lose' him–"
"Oh, so you have been listening to me."
"–it seems right that we should step it up a bit. Sabotage seems like that step."
"Seems reasonable to me," Ronald decided as Hermione nodded thoughtfully next to Susan. "Sal?"
Harry glared at him. "Oh, so now you want my opinion."
"Sal, we always want your opinion," Susan said, reaching across the table and taking one of Harry's hands in her own.
"Except when you're talking about killing people," Hermione added.
Harry glared at her. "I'm not talking about killing him. I just want to–"
"Lose him, yes. Except your version of losing him means he won't see the light of day again!" Hermione snapped.
Harry opened his mouth to retaliate, but got hit in the face with a jet of water from Susan. Across the table, Hermione was getting the same treatment from Ronald.
"Okay, now that we've cooled off a bit," Ronald commented drily as he put his wand away, "we can discuss more important things, like how we're planning to sabotage the git."
Susan and Ronald started throwing ideas back and forth. After ten minutes or so, Hermione joined in, but Harry continued to scowl at the other three.
After another ten minutes, Hermione snapped, "If you're just going to glare at me, why don't you leave?"
"Rowena!" Susan exclaimed, but Harry was already standing and walking out, quietly thanking the house elf who pushed the door open for him.
Once in the hallway, Harry leaned against the nearest wall and took a deep breath. He loved Rowena like a sister, really he did, he just wished she didn't have such firm beliefs in what was right and wrong. Godric, who was also Light, didn't have quite the temper Rowena had always sported – which seemed odd, considering how many quick-to-anger fools came from the House of Lions – as he preferred to think things through a bit more. Helga, who had always called herself a Grey witch, had always been the balance between Salazar and Rowena, with Godric acting as an extra buffer. It had always been that way, and though they'd had fights, they'd been happy.
And Harry was happy. He was happy to be back with his surrogate family. He was happy to be back in the only building he'd ever truly felt was a home. He was happy to have a real guardian and not have to worry about those disgusting muggles anymore.
But that didn't mean things were easy. With Rowena, things never would be. It was something Harry had resigned himself to as Salazar, and he was being painfully reminded of it again. Salazar and Rowena had always been the two most likely to butt heads, no matter what history said about him and Godric, and no amount of time would ever change that. In fact, Harry didn't think he'd want that fact to change. Rowena had always challenged him, made him think a bit more. She'd always been the one to keep him from falling too deeply into his anger and hate.
'Salazar!'
Harry's head jerked up and he vaguely noted he'd hit it on the castle wall. "Hogwarts?"
'There's a girl in the Chamber! One of the first years! She's... She's not herself!'
Harry turned and hurried down the hallway. "Can you detain her? Keep her there?"
'She's trying to talk Ashala into going up.'
"What? I thought there weren't any parseltongue children here?"
'There aren't. That's the problem.'
Harry groaned in disgust and slipped into the girl's bathroom over the Chamber. A wailing was coming from one of the stalls, but after a quick 'Hurry!' from the castle, Harry didn't bother looking. Instead, he hissed :open: at the faucets, then slid down the pipe, absently casting cleaning charms ahead of him.
As soon as he hit the ground, Harry was running again. Normally, this sort of adventure would be more up Ronald's alley, but they'd all agreed when they'd first built the school that only Salazar would be able to open the Chamber's doors, so this particular trip was all for Harry. Anyway, if someone was messing with his baby, Harry wasn't about to let one of the other three attend to it. (Especially not Hermione. She might think killing Ashala was the best solution, no matter her supposed thoughts about killing things. Then again, maybe that didn't extend to basilisks?)
Harry dashed into the main Chamber room and paused to look around in disgust. He didn't remember decorating the room with those dreadful snake columns; the others wouldn't have allowed it. At least the face of Merlin was still acting as the guardian to Hogwarts' core, but it looked like the great stone had seen better days.
The girl standing before Ashala turned to look at Harry and smiled an unholy smile. "Harry Potter," she said in a voice which wasn't her own.
"Ginny?" Harry asked, then shook his head. "No, who are you? Why are you possessing that child?" he demanded.
Ginny just continued to smile. "I'm surprised you found me so quickly. I'd almost think you knew where I was, but that can't be possible. No, I was too careful. I've always been careful, even before Dumbledore became Headmaster."
Harry frowned at the possessed girl and leaned back against a column, wand in his hand. "I'll ask you again: Who are you and why are you possessing Ginny Weasley?"
"Shall I give you a hint?" not-Ginny asked teasingly.
"Mmmm... No." Harry glanced up at Ashala, who had her eyes closed. :Ashala, who is this person? Who do they say they are?:
Not-Ginny looked surprised when Harry spoke to the basilisk, even more so at the mention of a name and the expectancy that the great snake would answer him. Her shock was nothing next to what she felt when the snake replied, :Your Heir, Salazar.:
Harry turned Killing Curse eyes on Tom Riddle and bared his teeth. "Lord Voldemort. And what is a great Dark wizard like you doing possessing a little girl in Hogwarts? Perhaps to create a new body for yourself?"
"Salazar Slytherin?" Riddle whispered, stolen eyes wide. "But– That's not possible! A lie! I'll kill you! Avada Kedavra!"
Harry calmly brought a chunk of stone between him and the curse, smirking nastily. "Oh, but my little Heir, it is. And that's the entire reason you failed to kill me those many years ago. My Heirs can't kill me. But I must wonder, what has you in Hogwarts? What are you planning? I do hope it's not to set sweet Ashala on the students again."
Riddle sneered. "But of course. I must complete your great legacy and rid the school of mudbloods!"
Harry tutted. "No, my Heir, I never wanted that. I cannot fault the children for the crimes of the parents, it would be wrong. It is the muggles who must die, not their magical offspring. Oh, how my words have been twisted by time."
Ginny's gentle face twisted in disgust. "You lie," he whispered. "You lie!" And then Riddle sent a volley of Dark curses at Harry, all of which he blocked or side-stepped, smiling the whole while.
When Riddle started breathing hard, Harry said, "You'd best let go now, my Heir. Before you kill your host, and yourself with her. What a pity that would be."
"This isn't over," Riddle spat, then suddenly vacated the girl's body, leaving her to fall to the ground at Ashala's tail, which the serpent quickly rose to keep the girl's head from hitting the ground.
Harry hurried over, keeping his wand out in case it was a ruse. "Accio Lord Voldemort," he mutter when he got close enough and was only mildly surprised when a diary flew out of the girl's pockets. He deftly sidestepped it, leaving it to hit the ground, and knelt next to the girl.
A quick diagnosis spell showed that the girl was only suffering from mild exhaustion, so Harry said, "Hogwarts, could you transfer Miss Weasley to the infirmary and let Ric and the others know she's there? Tell them I'm dealing with the part of my Heir that was possessing her, and I don't care what Row says about 'losing' him. He's my Heir and I will do with him as I see fit."
Ginny's still form disappeared from Ashala's coils and Hogwarts said, 'Consider it done,' with laughter in her voice.
Harry huffed and turned back to the diary. "Now then, my Heir, what have you created?"
A slew of Dark and Light spells didn't tell Harry much about the diary other than that it was about fifty years old, muggle-made, and had been kept in a magical environment since the owner bought it.
"What are you?" Harry whispered, eyeing the object with curiosity. He was firmly avoiding touching it, as he was well aware that the object could possess him as easily as it had Ginny Weasley. Since it had been on her person during the possession, Harry assumed it likely required physical contact to initiate the possession.
:You could use our magic on it,: Ashala suggested, lightly wrapping her tail around Harry's waist.
Harry realised he was shivering from the cold and quickly cast warming charms on both himself and the snake. "I suppose," he agreed, then threw a parseltongue detection spell at it.
The book lit up with answers and Harry's eyes widened in disgust. "A receptacle for a soul?! Were you mad, boy?"
:Yes,: Ashala offered, gently bumping her head against Harry's.
Harry spat on the book, then shot a fireball at it. When the book didn't burn, he threw a parseltongue fire spell at it.
:I don't think normal fire will work, Salazar,: Ashala hissed. :Only something powerfully Dark could destroy that.:
Harry eyed the book. :You're right, of course, my sweet. Fiendfyre, then. We'll need to back up; I am by no means a master of this spell.:
The two quickly backed away from the book and Harry threw the cursed flame at the book and watched with pleasure as it ate the object up. When the fire turned to the only other living things in the room, Harry exerted pressure on it until it disappeared, leaving him cold and sweaty.
:That was impressive, Salazar,: Ashala said, curling her tail around Harry protectively. :You are tired, I will protect you.:
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, letting himself drift to sleep in the embrace of the snake he considered his child.
When Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table the next morning, he was immediately bombarded with inquiries about where he'd been the night before.
"Empty classroom," he said to quiet their demands. "I got into another fight with 'Mione and went for a walk. Ended up getting too tired to make it up to the Tower, so I decided to sleep in the classroom I found. Wasn't too bad. Bit stiff, though." He cracked his back with a wince. Sleeping in the coils of a snake was by no means comfortable.
"It's just, Ginny Weasley appeared in the hospital wing last night, and after a head count, you were the only person we couldn't find after they called a lock-down," Seamus Finnigan said, eyes wide. "No one knows what happened to her, or you."
Harry looked around the table and finally noticed that the three eldest Weasleys were missing. A quick survey of the other tables showed that the other three Founders were also missing, so he grabbed a last roll and nodded. "Thanks for the update. I think I'll go reassure the others I'm alive and check on Ginny. I'll see you lot later, right?"
"Yeah, alright. And don't go missing again!" Dean Thomas called after him as Harry jogged for the doors to the Great Hall. He could practically feel everyone turning to stare at him after Dean's shout and Harry rolled his eyes.
In the hospital wing, Mrs Weasley sat with her sons in a silent vigil over the only girl. As soon as Harry walked in, Mrs Weasley practically burst into tears and hurried over to hug him. "Oh, Harry! No one knew where you were!"
Harry grimaced. "I'm sorry," he said, chagrined. "I took a walk and was too tired to make it back to the Tower, so I just slept in a classroom. I honestly didn't mean to worry anyone." He gently tugged out of the motherly woman's grip. "How's Ginny?" he asked, looking over at where the pale girl lay under the sheets. The boys and two non-Weasleys around the bed looked exhausted, and Harry suddenly felt horrible for having slept while his family – old and new – sat up here all night and worried about him and the young girl in the bed.
Ronald smiled tiredly at him. "We told them you were fine," he said.
"I figured," Harry replied, taking the extra seat next to his friend while Mrs Weasley returned to her own chair. "How's Ginny?"
"Madam Pomfrey says she'll be fine," Susan said softly. "Just a bit of magical exhaustion. She has to sleep it off. But since no one knows why she had it or how she got here..."
"Of course." Harry nodded in understanding of both the statement and the unspoken, 'we didn't tell them what we know.'
Suddenly, Hermione threw herself across Ron and onto Harry, eyes bright with unshed tears. "I'm s-sorry, Harry!" she cried.
Harry wrapped his arms around her, surprised. " 'Mione? What–?"
"She's been like that since you never came back," Ronald said, gently moving Hermione's legs off his lap. "From what we could gather when she calmed down a bit, she was afraid you might have gotten hurt and the last thing she said to you was spoken in anger."
Harry immediately understood. Rowena's husband had gone to fight and die in the Dark Wizard Wars; the last conversation they'd had before he'd left had ended in a screaming match, and Rowena had never been able to apologise. Rowena had also been unable to settle things between herself and her daughter, and it had eaten at her right up until the moment she’d died.
"But Harry's fine," Fred said, looking confused.
"Yeah, see. Right there," George agreed.
"No, it's more than that," Harry murmured. "Shh, 'Mione. I'm right here. I'm not mad at you, I understand and I'm here," he whispered to her, rocking her gently. Hermione just buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
On the other side of the bed, the twins rolled their eyes and got glared at by their mother.
A/N: It appears some people don't really like Hermione because she and Harry keep butting heads. That wasn't my intention, just to be clear, but it seems that's what happened. I hope those of you who were starting to dislike her are a bit better now?
Oh, and Ginny's fine. I don't know that I'll show her waking up or anything, but she does, and she has no recollection of the Chamber at all, which means the whole thing will remain a complete mystery to everyone but the Founders.
And the diary was properly destroyed. The real Voldemort will have no knowledge of Harry being his ancestor.
Also! I'm currently leaning towards the following pairings: Susan/Neville, Hermione/Bill and Ron/Draco. You can argue them to your heart's content and I will consider changing them. Maybe. (Shara already tried to get me to make it Hermione/Severus, but that didn't work. Just a heads up.)
And Harry's staying single. No, you CAN'T argue me out of that one. He's single. Period.
~Bats ^.^x
Pro - Prophecy's Children / 1 - Home ||| 2 - Socially Acceptable ||| 3 - Touch the Sunrise
7 - The Deepest River ||| 8 - Question of Honour ||| 9 - Hanging By a Thread
10 - Never As it Seems ||| 11 - Long Road
Incomplete
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