a/n: hehe i love this chapter

———— lila pov ————

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "Slytherin's monster would be a giant snake. That's why I could hear it." I shivered. "How did I not know what a basilisk was?"

"Disappointing, considering you're technically also Slytherin's Heir," Riddle looked unimpressedly at me.

I looked back to Riddle. "How does it get around?"

"The plumbing," Riddle explained easily. "But that won't matter to you, as you'll be leaving the diary with me when I do."

"How do you leave?" I asked. Riddle grinned slyly at me.

"Ginny has relayed all of her deepest fears and darkest secrets to me. I've fed on them and as I grow stronger, she grows weaker. Once she dies, I'll have left the diary forever. Right now, she's on her way inside to prepare for our departure. In fact, I'll be leaving soon."

I didn't have much time.

"Why did you make this diary?" I asked. It occurred to me that the cause of creation of this diary could also be its downfall. "Are you afraid of death?"

"I am afraid of nothing," he snarled. I shook my head slowly.

"You are afraid of death," I told him. "Because death is a thing that happens to normal people, and you hate being normal, don't you? That's why you're still sixteen. It's designed to keep you alive forever."

Riddle was silent, seething. I saw his hand grip his wand. Perfect. I moved to stand in front of the mirror, using it to steady  myself. The glass was strangely warm beneath my palm.

"I'm not afraid," I said. "Of death, or of you. So why don't you just kill me now, Tom?"

He only scowled. "I can't kill you. It's designed to keep your soul immortal."

"Have you ever tested that?" I raised an eyebrow. With a slow, taunting smirk, I added, "or are you too afraid?"

"I'm afraid of nothing," he repeated, now angry. Teenagers were easy to rile up.

"Then why not kill me now?" I sneered as meanly as I could. "Scared it'll bounce back at you again? I can just see it now — Dark Lord dies by his own hand in a diary he made to keep himself alive." I smirked. "And there will be a Boy and a Girl who lived."

"That can't —" he sputtered, red in the face. "It won't happen!"

"Says who?" I raised my voice in challenge. "You're the one who made the damn thing. You can make the rules. You should kill me now, then. Eliminate any chances of my living. Or Merlin forbid you go back to being pathetic, boring, and ordinary—"

"You asked," he hissed. "Avada kedavra!"

I was hit square in the chest with a burst of green light, knocked back into the mirror. Except, as I'd hopes, I went straight through it. I watched my world flip around me as my back slammed into the sofa facing the fireplace. I blinked, and the mirror was replaced with a blank stretch of wall.

"Holy hell," I murmured. The room started to spin. I heard several concerned voices and saw many heads crowd around me. I recognized a shock of blonde hair, and a distorted though familiar voice at the forefront of it all.

"Holmes? What — you were — where the hell did you come from?!"

I smiled dazedly. I could just barely configure a pair of stormy grey eyes, confused and concerned.

"Malfoy. Fancy meeting you here," I managed, then blacked out. 

——— harry pov ———

"All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

Expect we were in the staff room, prepared to tell McGonagall what we'd just learned from the page Hermione had hidden in her hand. I whipped around to stare at Ron. "Not another attack? Not now?"

Of course this would happen after Dumbledore was evicted. The Heir was just waiting for the right time. I grimaced.

"What'll we do?" said Ron. "Go back to the dormitory?"

"No," I shook my head. Seeing a wardrobe (and reminded faintly of Borgin and Burke's) I pulled Ron over to it. "In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."

I closed the door just in time. There was a bout of shuffling and sniffling as the professors filed into the staff room.

"It has happened," said Professor McGonagall's voice. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

There were several gasps of shock. "How can you be sure?" That was Professor Snape.

"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor
McGonagall slowly, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"

"Who is it?" Madam Hooch asked. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall gravely. I felt Ron slide silently down the back of the wardrobe in shock. My jaw had dropped as well.

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said..."

The door to the staff room banged open. "So sorry - dozed off - what have I missed?" It was Lockhart

"Just the man," Professor Snape said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

"That's right, Gilderoy," Professor Sprout piped in. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

"I - well, I -" Lockhart stammered.

"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" Professor Flitwick added.

"D-did I? I don't recall—"

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"

"I - I really never - you must have misunderstood—"

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall, sounding almost gleeful considering the circumstances. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by youself. A free rein at last."

"V-very well," Lockhart said weakly. "I'll - I'll be in my office, getting - getting ready."

"Right," said Professor McGonagall after he left. "That's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories?"

I waited a few minutes after the last pair of feet shuffled out to crack open the door. I led a shaking, silent Ron back to the common room.

"She knew something, Harry," he said finally. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was—" Ron rubbed his eyes desperately. "Harry, d'you think there's any chance at all she's not - you know—"

I feared the worst, but stayed quiet. I wouldn't tell Ron what I thought, as sick as it made me feel.

"D'you know what?" Ron said suddenly. "I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know."

Nobody stopped us as we left through the portrait hole and made our way to his office.

———— lila pov ————

"What do we do with her?"

"What are you looking at me for?! Do I look like a medical expert to you?!"

I sat up slowly, my head still spinning. I'd been moved onto the couch instead of next to it, my head resting on the back of it. The voices stopped suddenly, realizing I was moving. I felt a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. Pansy, maybe?

"Well you've certainly been through it," she sounded almost amused. "How's the head? I thought you might have left a dent in the sofa."

I groaned. "Awful. Sounds like there's three of you."

"Move aside." I heard Malfoy sigh. I felt more than saw him settle in front of me. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Um," I squinted. My vision swam. "Four?"

He laughed sharply. "Well, you're severely concussed. That's the diagnosis."

"Don't you have a spell for that?" I scowled at him. "I have to go—"

"Focus."

"I am focused— oh."

My world was suddenly clear again, and Malfoy was much closer than I thought he'd been, pointing his wand at my forehead. He looked between my eyes, as if trying to ensure they were working. I'd forgotten just how silver his eyes were — like the moon over the sea on a stormy night.

"Thank you." I managed, followed by, "Your eyes are really pretty up close." 

I had not meant to say that aloud. Malfoy's face went brilliantly pink, and I could feel mine start to match.

"Are you sure she's not still concussed?" Pansy cackled loudly from my side. I winced — I still had a headache.

"I'm just fine," I said quickly, though I struggled to stand. My tailbone was extremely bruised, as was my back. "I really have to go. Ginny—"

"What's the rush?" Malfoy sat me back down with a huff. "What even just happened?"

"I need to go to the Chamber!" I glared at him. "He's going to take Ginny and it might be already too late."

"No." Malfoy scoffed. "You're not pulling that again. How many times do I have to tell you not to be rash?"

"There's no time," I stood again, and he didn't stop me. "Ginny could die — she could be dying right now. I have to stop him."

Malfoy shook his head. "I won't let you go alone—"

"Come with me then," I interrupted sharply. "But you are not slowing me down, Draco Malfoy."

We stared at each other heatedly, refusing to give in to one another, before he finally exhaled and broke eye contact. He shook his head.

"Fine," he conceded, standing. "But if I run into any teachers on our way I'm taking them with us."

"Deal," I agreed. "But keep up, yeah?"

He rolled his eyes. "I always do."

Not sure what he meant by that, we took off, leaving the other Slytherins behind.

(A few seconds after they disappeared, Pansy and Blaise exchanged a look.

"It's worse than I thought," he said. Pansy sighed tiredly. 

"Tell me about it.")

———— harry pov ————

"Blimey," Ron breathed. We were miles under the school and the light from my wand had just exposed an enormous snakeskin. The basilisk must have been at least twenty feet long to have shed that. I was staring at it, swallowing thickly, when Lockhart's knees gave out behind me.

"Get up," ordered Ron, directing his wand at Lockhart. He stood up, then proceeded to dive at Ron, tackling him to the ground. I tried to rush in, but Lockhart had already taken Ron's wand. I scowled. I should have expected something like this after Lockhart had exposed himself as a fraud.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" he exclaimed gleefully. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!" He raised Ron's broken wand above his head and yelled. "Obliviate! "

I winced, but to no avail. The wand exploded, causing the tunnel ceiling to begin to fall to the floor. I threw my hands over my head and backed up to avoid the rocks.

Once I opened my eyes, I was alone. He looked back to see that a solid wall of rock had formed, separating me and Ron.

"Ron!" I shouted, feeling my heart start to race. "Are you okay? Ron!"

"I'm here!" called Ron from behind the wall. I sighed in relief. "I'm okay - this git's not, though - he got blasted by the wand."

"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through - it'll take ages."

As afraid as I was, and as much as I wanted to ensure Ron was okay, I knew he'd never forgive me if we let Ginny die. I wouldn't forgive myself either, and she'd been waiting long enough for us.

"Wait there," I called. "With Lockhart. I'll go on. If I'm not back in an hour..."

There was a long, telling silence that extended between us.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron. "So you can — can get back through. And, Harry—"

"See you in a bit," I said, trying and failing to sound confident. I continued to walk past the giant snakeskin, my heart pounding again.

Finally, I reached a solid, stone wall in which two intertwined snakes were carved — their eyes glittering emeralds. I knew what I had to do.

"Open," I said, in a low, faint hiss. The serpents did as they were told, and the halves of stone slid apart.

With one, hardly stabilizing breath, I entered the Chamber of Secrets.