AN: The first couple of paragraphs are directly from Chamber of Secrets. As is some of the other text. Obviously, I didn't write them.

Chapter 1

"NO!" Harry heard Riddle screaming. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM. KILL HIMI"

The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.

"Help me, help me," Harry muttered wildly, "someone – anyone"

The snake's tail whipped across the floor again. Harry ducked. Something soft hit his face. The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry's arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only chance - he rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over him again.

'Help me - help me' Harry thought, his eyes screwed tight under the hat. 'Please help me'

There was no answering voice. Instead, the hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly. Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head, almost knocking him out. Stars winking in front of his eyes, he grabbed

the top of the hat to pull it off.

Harry put the hat on the ground next to him and was surprised to see it grow larger at the brim. The hat seemed to rise as well, revealing a pyramid-shaped structure, clearly made out of stone. The hat kept rising, eventually falling to the ground. The stone pyramid had a sword sticking out of it. Harry didn't hesitate, grabbed the sword and pulled with all his strength.

As soon as the sword cleared the stone, several things happened at the same time, in several locations throughout Hogwarts castle. Four people 'blinked' out of, and back into, existence. Harry amongst them. The ghosts of each house all looked in the direction of the Chamber of Secrets and seemed to become slightly more solid. On the seventh floor a door appeared and disappeared and a loud gong sounded throughout the entire castle.

Riddle didn't see any of this. He only had eyes for the blinded snake, shouting instructions on where Harry was. When he did look at Harry, he was certain that there was something different about the twelve-year old. He seemed to stand taller, more confident, ready to attack, with a sword in hand.

Harry charged the snake. He knew what to do. He had trained years for this moment, and for what was coming.

Harry moved with the grace of a ballet dancer, with the speed of an Olympian athlete, wielded the sword with the skill of the knights of yesteryear.

The snake lunged at him as Harry charged forward. There was a plan and he was sticking to it. No matter how scared he was. The snake opened its mouth to bite and Harry seized his chance.

He thrust the sword upwards into the roof of the snake's mouth. Harry felt one of the fangs entering his arm and breaking off.

Harry heard the cry of victory coming from the Riddle apparition. Ignoring the spasms of the dying snake, Harry yanked the fang out of his arm and quickly made his way over to the lying form of Ginny Weasley. The diary was still lying next to her, Harry saw.

Without acknowledging Riddle, even for a second, he knelt next to the diary and stabbed it with the Basilisk fang. There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then He had gone.

Harry sat down on the ground, trembling as the adrenaline was leaving his body. He felt the Basilisk poison weakening his body. Fawkes landed next to him and moved his head to Harry's wound.

"'lo Fawkes," Harry weakly said. "Could you wait a bit, please?"

The, obviously intelligent, bird looked at him in a questioningly way. As if to say 'are you insane?'

"Just long enough for my scar to break open, please. It's important," Harry managed to say, before passing out.

-o0o0o—

Harry woke up with a blinding headache. He felt his forehead and was relieved to feel the blood flowing freely from his scar.

"It worked," he muttered to himself.

Suddenly he felt an impact and saw nothing but red. Ginny had awoken, apparently. She was holding Harry tightly, sobbing her heart out.

"Oh Harry, I thought you were dead. It's all my fault, Harry," she wailed and completely broke down.

"No, it's not Ginny. It's all Riddle's fault," Harry gently said.

He extricated himself from her tight hold to sit up and look around him. The Basilisk was dead, Riddle was gone, the diary ruined, he was still bleeding from his head and Fawkes was apparently waiting for them to move.

"We need to get out of here, Ginny. You up to a bit of walking?" Harry softly asked his best friend's little sister.

Ginny was still too distraught to manage an intelligible sentence, so she just nodded her head. They both stood up. Harry took the time to gather up the diary and the sword, took Ginny's hand and lead her to the cave-in caused by that incompetent idiot Lockheart.

When they reached the location of Lockheart's downfall, Harry noticed that Ron had managed to create a hole in the wall of stone. The hole looked big enough for him to just squeeze through. Ginny, being smaller, shouldn't have any difficulties at all. Fawkes just flew through it, ignoring the stone on all sides of the wall.

"Oi, Ron!" Harry shouted. "We're here. Ginny's okay, I've got her with me. We're coming through."

Harry heard a whoop of joy coming from the other side of the blockage, a thud and a "ouch!". Ron apparently had hurt Lockheart in his jubilations. Harry and Ginny started to climb through the hole. Ron pulled his sister through it and held her in a tight embrace.

"You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How - what - where did that bird come from?" Ron asked.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry, squeezing through himself.

"How come you've got a sword?" said Ron, gaping at the glittering weapon in Harry's hand.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry.

Harry lead the four humans and one phoenix to the entrance to the Chamber. He instructed them all to hold hands. Ron had to force Lockheart to take his hand, Ginny was being held by both Ron and Harry, whereas Harry had taken a hold of one of Fawkes' tail feathers. Feeling a strange lightness flowing through him.

Fawkes had them back in the bathroom in no time at all.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he said grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses. Deciding not to engage the surly ghost any more than he had to, Harry turned to leave.

"Where are we going?" Ron asked, still keeping a tight hold on a sobbing Ginny.

"McGonagall's office," Harry said. "I'll explain everything there."

-o0o0o—

A/N: New story, or at least the start of one. Damn plot bunny kept borrowing in me mind. Short first chapter, and no idea when I'll update this one. After the Fall (11955777) has priority, I think.

Let me know what you guys think. All reviews are welcome. The next chapter will come when it arrives.