Chapter Text
It was past midnight and Harry was unable to fall asleep. He was laying on his bed in Gryffindor tower exhausted but sleep would not come to relieve him. There were two reasons for it. When he was asleep, Harry dreamt about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets, giving him nightmares. The other reason was more complex and it was what kept him awake despite how tired he felt.
The previous day, Harry and his best friend Ron Weasley had learned while eavesdropping on the teachers that the latter’s sister Ginny had been kidnapped by the Heir of Slytherin and brought down the Chamber of Secrets. It had devastated both boys. Their friend Hermione had already been petrified a month earlier and now Ron’s sisters was in the hands of the terrible Heir of Slytherin who had caused havoc in the school.
Upon hearing the news, Harry decided he would try to do something about it. Only minutes before, he and Ron had figured out where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was thanks to clues left by Hermione. Having heard Lockhart was put in charge of finding and rescuing Ginny, the two boys had run to him to share their findings – only to find him packing his things, trying to flee Hogwarts. It had taken threatening him at wandpoint for Lockhart to finally follow them to the Chamber of Secrets.
It was a bad idea, in hindsight. Cowardly, Lockhart tried to erase their memories instead of continuing on. Because he attempted so with Ron’s broken wand, the cave they had been in was blasted and rocks fell down, separating Harry and Ron and blocking the way. While Ron began clearing a path, Harry continued alone.
He found the Chamber of Secrets and an unconscious Ginny inside it. The sight had horrified him. He had run to her, took her in his arms and pleaded for her to be alive. Ginny showed no sign of being conscious. The only thing that told him she was alive was the faint heartbeat he could feel when he placed two fingers on her wrists.
Just as he attempted to carry her out of the Chamber, the shade of Tom Riddle had shown up and the entire truth about the Heir of Slytherin came out. Ginny had been possessed by an evil diary which once belonged to Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort. The evil teenage Voldemort had left a memory of his evil teenage self in the diary, allowing it to possess those who wrote in it. Ginny had been its unfortunate victim and had been forced to do its bidding – which was to open the Chamber of Secrets and attack people.
Harry was horrified to learn the truth. Poor Ginny had fought the shade of Voldemort for a year and nobody noticed. Harry felt incredibly guilty he had never tried to approach her – even after he noticed her spending a lot of time alone. Ron and the twins had told her Ginny was a chatterbox. Yet, when they came to Hogwarts, she had been anything but. He had noticed how alone and reserved she was and somehow never thought something might be wrong with her. He had assumed her reluctance to speak was simply because he was there and her crush on him made her quiet and shy. While it may have been a factor at the beginning, by the end of the year it was obvious it was something much bigger and worse affecting her
This was why Harry couldn’t fall asleep that night. Not because of his following fight with the Basilisk or his near death experience after being bitten, but because he blamed himself for what happened to Ginny. He kept telling himself that had he just looked after her more and spoke to her more than a few words, he could have found out what Ginny was going through before Riddle sent her down the Chamber to die alone.
Despite his exhaustion, Harry eventually gave up on sleeping. Throwing his blanket away, he raised on his feet and walked up down to the common room. He sat down in front of the fireplace and began thinking on what he could do to pass down the time. He thought about reading something but nothing interested him. He could not do homework as he had none to complete – the end of the year being days away.
It took him a few minutes to find something to do. He couldn’t sleep because he felt guilty about his inaction about Ginny. So, why did he not visit her? Even if she was sleeping, he could simply stay at her bedside and watch over her until he joined her in sleep. He would certainly feel better.
Decided, Harry went back to his dorm and grabbed his Invisiblity Cloak.
Harry gently opened the doors of the Hospital Wing, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Once there was a large enough gap for him to pass through, he entered and closed the doors behind him.
Looking through the dark Hospital Wing, Harry noticed five beds with drawn curtains hiding it. Behind each curtain was a victim of Tom Riddle. Four of them were those who had been petrified – like Hermione. The fifth one was Ginny herself.
Slowly, Harry walked through the Wing toward the bed he assumed to be Ginny’s. When he arrived, he quietly opened it, not wishing to awaken Ginny. Unfortunately, she already was.
“W-Who’s there?” Ginny squeaked, looking at the gap Harry had opened.
“Ginny...” he started. The redhead started breathing heavily – like she was on the edge of a panic attack.
“No...! Tom, no!” she cried as tears began leaking out of her brown eyes. Harry’s own eyes widened. She thought he was Tom Riddle back from the dead to hunt her! He pulled down his cloak, appearing in front of her very eyes. He quickly went to her bedside and grabbed her hand. She flinched.
“Ginny, I’m not Tom. It’s me – Harry!”
“Harry?” she said, blinking. “Not Tom?”
“Harry – not Tom.” he repeated.
Ginny looked at him, suddenly recognizing him. She burst into tears and began sobbing in her hands. Harry panicked, not knowing what to do. So, he did the first thing that came to mind; he took her in his arms and hugged her.
Ginny sobbed in his chest for a few minutes. Harry felt strangely comfortable holding her, despite having never liked physical affection before.
“I’m sorry I scared you.” he whispered to her.
“It’s just... I keep seeing him in my head. Taunting and mocking me. I hear his voice accusing me of attacking everyone! And, he’s right! I did attack them! It’s all my fault.” she sobbed.
“Don’t say that.” Harry said, rubbing her back instinctively. “Voldemort – Tom Riddle, he’s a powerful and cunning person. You had no reason not to trust him.”
“Dad always said not to trust something that can’t think for itself if we can’t see its brains.”
“I’m sorry, Ginny, but it’s a stupid saying.” he blurted, shocking her.
“What do you mean?” she asked, leaning away from his chest to look at him.
“If Mr. Weasley was to be believed, then you shouldn’t trust enchanted mirrors that yell at you in the morning. You shouldn’t trust your dad’s enchanted car because it has a mind of its own. You shouldn’t trust your own wand because it can think by itself. You can’t trust ghosts because, after all, they don’t have brains of their own. Nor should you trust the Sorting Hat to sort you in a House because you can’t see where its brain is.” he said.
“I guess...”
“And, anyway, you’re eleven, Ginny. It shouldn’t have been your duty to assure you would not fall victim of Voldemort. It should have been the adults. And they failed you. They failed you, Ginny.”
Ginny sniffled and Harry hugged her again. Her head fell on his chest as she began sobbing again. He could only guess it was the relief of being rid of some of the guilt she felt.
Eventually, her tears dried and she asked “What are you doing here, Harry?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to check on you – see if you were fine. Physically fine.” he added when Ginny let out a small snort.
She looked at him with curiosity. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”
“Because I feel guilty.” he admitted reluctantly.
“What?” she blurted, looking at him in surprise.
He sighed. “We should have noticed something was wrong. I should have noticed something was wrong. You shouldn’t have had to go through the year alone. You should have had some help.”
“Harry...”
“Last year, the twins were here for Ron and I when we needed help. Whether we were in trouble or had a problem, they would help us. They watched over Ron to make sure he wouldn’t be in too much trouble. We... we should have done the same for you.” he said. “If we had, we would have noticed you weren’t yourself and we could have helped you. You wouldn’t have been dragged down the Chamber of Secrets against your will.”
Ginny squeezed his hand, surprising him. He forgot he was holding hers. “Harry, you said it yourself. It’s not our duty to ensure our safety. It should be the adults.”
“I know.” he said. “But I should still have noticed something was wrong. Ron often said you were someone who talked a lot and who would never shut up. I noticed how you’ve been everything but talkative this year and it never crossed my mind that something could be wrong. Even if it wasn’t my duty to ensure your safety, I should still have noticed something was wrong.”
“Well, I don’t blame you.” she told him softly. “If anyone should have noticed something, it would be my brothers. And, even then, I did not exactly help them by constantly avoiding them. So, Harry, stop feeling guilty. It’s not your fault.”
Harry started chuckling. She raised an eyebrow, prompting him to say “What a pair we make. We both believe it’s our fault and both get told off by the other.” At his words, a small but genuine smile formed on her lips. It made his heart flutter and Harry promised he would do his best to make sure Ginny would smile and laugh more in the future. She would need it after the terrible ordeal she had went through.
The duo then moved on to lighter topics of conversation. They spoke for hours, hours that allowed him to meet the real Ginny Weasley – not the shy girl or the lonely and quiet girl under Riddle’s influence. While there was still some shyness on her part, Harry could easily see where her reputation to be a chatterbox had come from.
For hours they talked about many different subjects. At some point, Harry even mentioned his life before Hogwarts and things he had not told Ron or Hermione. It had outraged Ginny who then proceeded to hug and comfort him. She then shared stories of her own childhood and while it was nowhere near as bad as Harry’s, the boy still appreciated the stories.
Unfortunately for them, the sun eventually rose and both realized their moment of peace was at an end.
“I better get back before Madam Pomfrey find me.” Harry told her, to both of their disappointment. He raised on his feet and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak.
“Before you go,” Ginny said just as he was about to put it. “Can you do me a favour?”
He took her hand and squeezed it. “Of course. Anything you want, Ginny.” he said.
“Anything?” she repeated with surprise. “What if I asked you to do something you didn’t want?”
“Then I would do it – for you.” he said.
Ginny took a deep breath. “I want to visit the Chamber of Secrets again.”
“What?!” he exclaimed. “Why?” He could not fathom for what reason Ginny wanted to go back there, especially as they were still dealing with the repercussions of what happened down there.
She closed her eyes. “Please, Harry.” she pleaded. “I need to see where it all ended so I can put my mind to rest.”
Harry didn’t like it, but he had promised he would do anything she asked him. “Okay.” he said. “When do you want to do?”
“What about tonight?” she asked.
“Good for me.” he nodded. She let out a small sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Harry.” she said with a small smile. Harry smiled back.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked her.
“I will be.” she answered. Harry nodded.
“Well, see you later.” he said, putting the Cloak over him. Then, he walked out of the curtain. It was not a moment too soon as just after he had put it back in its position, Madam Pomfrey exited her office and began walking toward them. She waited until she crossed the curtain to talk to Ginny before opening the doors and exiting the hall. Then, he walked back to the common room to dress and get ready for the day.
Harry returned to the Hospital Wing that evening after curfew. He and Ginny traded smiles when he returned to her bedside.
“Madam Pomfrey said I will likely be discharged tomorrow morning.”
“That’s great!” said Harry. During their talk the previous night, Harry discovered that Ginny hated spending time in hospitals just as much as he did. “You must be relieved.”
“I am.” she said, dropping off the bed on her feet. Harry could see she looked afraid – though she hid it well.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked her.
“Yes.” she said. “I need to do this.”
Harry nodded and made sign to Ginny to approach. Once she was next to him, he threw the cloak over them. “Let’s stay close, okay? We don’t need to be discovered.”
“I get it.” whispered Ginny in his ear. Ignoring the strange shiver that crossed his body, Harry grabbed her hand and brought her a bit closer. Then, slowly and quietly, the duo crossed the curtain and made their way out of the Hospital Wing.
They arrived at Moaning Myrtle’s Bathroom some fifteen minutes later. They had not shared a word on the way there, but to avoid getting spotted but also because of their shyness – both realizing how close to each other they were.
Harry removed the cloak. “Well, we’re there.” he said, turning to look at Ginny. She was staring at the sink with the snake emblem with wide eyes. Her face was pale. “Are you okay?”
Ginny snapped out of it. “I will be.” she said quietly, looking down. Then, she frowned. “Are those spiders?” Harry looked down as well. Indeed, Harry could see that many small spiders seemed to all be walking on the ground toward the sink before slipping under it. It was a strange behaviour, something that reminded him of when said spiders were fleeing the castle because of the basilisk. The only difference was that they were going in the opposite direction this time.
“Are you afraid of spiders?” he asked her. She shook his head.
“That’s Ron’s fear. I don’t care much about them.” she said. “I just thought it was strange.”
“It is strange.” he admitted. Then, he shrugged. “Not like it matter anyway.” he added. Harry walked to the sink and looked and the small and subtle snake emblem.
~Open.~
The sink began glowing in a brilliant white light that forced the two friends to cover their eyes. Unseen by them, it began spinning until it sank right in the ground, opening the way to Slytherin’s infamous Chamber of Secrets.
Harry hummed. “I didn’t think to bring a broom to fly our way back up.” he muttered.
“What do you mean?” asked Ginny, frowning.
“Well, it just occurred to me that Fawkes won’t be there to take us back out of the Chamber like last time. And, we won’t have a way back up the slide.”
“Wait. You mean you slid down that?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.” he said. “Isn’t that what were supposed to do?”
“Of course not!” she said. This time, she looked amused, like she wanted to laugh. “You can just ask for stairs!”
Harry looked at her then back to the opening. He lent down and said ~Stairs.~ At his words, the pipe transfigured itself into a staircase and lights appeared, revealing the way down.
“Oh.” he said, sheepish. Ginny snorted.
Harry took the lead and walked down the stairs first, stepping over a few spiders. Ginny followed him. Halfway through the trip down, she suddenly grabbed his hand, making him stop.
“Did you change your mind?” he asked her.
“No. I just needed to...” she trailed off, but Harry understood. She needed physical contact with a friend to make sure she was not alone. He nodded and continued. By the time they reached the cave, Ginny was trembling.
“Are you okay?” he asked again. Ginny huffed in frustration.
“No, but I still want to go!” she snapped. Harry raised his hands in surrender.
“I’m sorry.” he said. She sighed.
“No, I’m sorry.” she said. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
They continued in silence until they reached the rockfall a few minutes later.
“I meant to ask last time – but what happened here?” Ginny asked, breaking the silence.
“Lockhart happened.” said Harry. “The coward tried to obliviate Ron and I with Ron’s broken wand. He ended-up blasting himself and causing rocks to fall.”
“What an idiot.” she said. Harry chuckled.
“Want to go first?” he asked, indicating the hole Ron had dug up. Ginny nodded with shrug. She climbed the rocks first and slipped through the hole. Harry helped her by pushing her by her feet until she had cleared it. Then, he went next. As he reached the other side, Ginny grabbed one of his hands and pulled until he fell out of the hole, making him hiss.
“You okay?” she asked softly.
“Yeah – just a bad landing.” he said, raising back on his feet. Holding hands, Harry and Ginny walked side by side until they reached the stone doors of the Chamber of Secrets. “This is it.” he said.
“So it is.” Ginny said.
Harry took a breath before he spoke parseltongue again. ~Open.~ The large snakes carved in the doors parted, opening the entrance. Noticing how much Ginny was shaking, Harry put an arm around her shoulders. The red haired girl leaned into him.
When they entered the Chamber proper, Harry frowned. It seemed much darker than when he had come a few days ago. Remembering what had happened in the bathroom, he muttered ~Lights.~. At his word, magical lamps scattered across the Chamber lit up, illuminating the entire place. Ginny gasped softly.
“It’s beautiful.” she whispered. Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Really?” he asked, surprised.
“Well – it would be without the dead snake or the poodles of water...”
“Or the hundred of spiders.” he added, looking at the basilisk. Because, to his surprise, the Chamber seemed to be filled with small spiders. The majority of them were next to the corpse of the basilisk.
“What do you think they are doing?” asked Ginny.
“I don’t know.” he said, pleasantly surprised that Ginny was not focusing entirely on her bad experiences. “Want to find out?”
“Sure.” she said. They walked forward through the Chamber until they reached the basilisk. “It look like they are... feeding?” she said hesitantly.
“I think you’re right.” Harry said, looking closer. Like Ginny had said, it did look like they were feeding on the corpse. The small spiders appeared to have made small holes in the hide to reach the flesh. He watched in interest as, one by one, spiders entered the hole before exiting a few seconds later.
“Can you see that?” he asked with amazement. “After they feed, the spiders start glowing! Not a lot, but it’s still visible. I wonder why...” When Ginny did not say anything, he turned to look at her.
Unfortunately, it seemed her distraction from what had happened to her was short lived. Dropping her hold on his hand, she walked to where she had woken up. “This is where I was laying.” she whispered. Harry walked next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, not saying anything. She then looked around and found a lone fang of the basilisk laying in a large ink stain. She went to it and gently grabbed it. “And this is where you destroyed the diary.” she said, putting a hand on the stain.
“It was.”
She then looked at the fang itself. Emotionally, she said “You almost died for me.”
Harry knew he couldn’t lie about it, so he said “It would have been worth it.”
“How... how can you say that?” she asked, turning to look at him. With a pang in his heart, Harry noticed unshed tears in her eyes. He took her hand gently.
“If I could save one innocent live even at the cost of my own – then it is my duty to do so. I would have died happy with the knowledge that you would have been reunited with your family – that your parents and brothers wouldn’t have to suffer your death.”
“People would have suffered if you had died too.”
“Only you, Ron, Hermione and your family. Everyone else would have mourned the loss of the Boy-Who-Lived – or rejoiced at the death of the Heir of Slytherin.” he said with a hint of bitterness. “Even if it wasn’t the case, saving your life would have been worth mine.”
Ginny brought her arms around him. Harry hugged her back. “Thank you.” she whispered in his ear.
Harry was about to reply when he suddenly felt a piercing pain on his hand. “Ow!” he exclaimed, bringing his hand to him. He found one of the glowing spiders standing near a small circle of blood. “It bit me!”
“Are you alright?” Ginny asked, concerned.
Harry looked as the glow of the spider vanished before it died. He flicked its small corpse away. “Yes – just be careful.” he said, shaking his hand. “It’s very painful.”
“I wi- Ow!” she suddenly exclaimed, bringing a hand on her neck. “I think one bit me too!” Indeed, when she moved her hand, Harry found a spider. The glow disappeared and it died like the other one.
“Let’s get out of there.” he said. Ginny nodded in agreement.
The two friends all but ran out of the Chamber, stopping only to close the door behind. They then made their way back to the stairs and began climbing them. However, midway through, Harry’s head began turning. His entire body felt heavier.
“Harry?” asked Ginny weakly. “I don’t feel so good.” she said.
“Neither do I.” he admitted.
“Do... do you think the spiders infected us with something?”
He didn’t know the answer to that. “I hope not.” he said.
They were panting and holding one another by the time they reached the top of the staircase. “We need to get to the Hospital Wing.” Ginny said. Harry nodded. They exited the bathroom and walked through a few corridors. Just as they were corners away from the Hospital Wing, the two friends suddenly hear a pair of voice.
“Students, you say?” came Snape’s voice.
“The Fat Friar told me he saw two young students earlier.” said Filch. Harry and Ginny looked at each other in horror.
“How old were they?”
“Young. Below fourth year.”
“And how did they look like?” Snape asked impatiently.
“He did not describe them. Only that it was a boy and a girl.”
“Probably because he did not need to. I can only think of one person who would walk around the castle outside curfew in such a time of the year. Harry Potter.” the greasy bat said bitterly.
“Well, good thing we are under the Invisibility Cloak.” Harry whispered. Ginny blinked.
“Uh, Harry, we aren’t.” she said with a hint of panic. Harry looked at them before patting the inside of his robes. She was right, the Cloak was not around them.
“Oh no.” he said, looking in the direction of the voices. Snape and Flich were getting louder and with their voice was an accompanying pair of footsteps. The sounds seemed so loud it was hard not to notice them. He could even track them precisely.
“They’re coming around the corner!” Ginny hissed. “We need to hide!”
But where? Harry did not have the answer. Just as the two men were about the turn the corner, Harry suddenly had an instinctual reaction. Had he not been so tired or exhausted, he could have ignored it easily. However, he reacted before he realized what he was doing – which is how he ended up making an inhuman jump to the ceiling. He hit the ceiling on his hands and feet. To his shock, where he had expected to fall back down and hit the ground, he instead stayed there – stuck on the ceiling! When he looked up – or down from the perspective of the ground – it was to find Ginny who was also stuck on the ceiling in an equal state of confusion.
Below them, Snape and Filch turned the corner and continued on as if there was nothing wrong. Harry waited for a minute before he suddenly felt like it was safe again to return to the ground. And, just like that, he got unstuck from the ceiling and came crashing down. With a ‘eep’, Ginny followed him.
“What was that?!” she asked once they were back on their feet. “How did we get stuck on the ceiling?!”
“I don’t know.” he answered.
“That’s not normal!”
“I know.” said Harry.
“It’s – it’s not possible!”
“Look, Ginny.” Harry sighed. The feeling of his head turning at let place to a headache. “Let’s not talk about it now, okay?”
“Right – you’re right.” she sighed, passing a hand through her fiery red hair.
Harry and Ginny completed the journey to the Hospital Wing under the Invisibility Cloak. They only removed it once they were back behind the curtain hiding her bed. Ginny yawned loudly as she sat down on her bed, prompting Harry to do the same.
“I think it’s best if we talk tomorrow.” Harry said, sitting at her bedside. “I’m too bone tired.”
“So am I.” she said, yawning a second time. She closed her eyes. “I’mma sleep now. G’night.”
“Goodnight... Ginny.” said Harry, leaning down on his chair.
He told himself he would only sit at her bedside for a few minutes before going back to his dorm. It ended up never happening as only seconds later, Harry was sound asleep, his head falling on the mattress next to Ginny’s legs.