Oh, my, God. I'm SO sorry; I didn't mean to leave you hanging (or on solid ground, whatever) about this. I've just been SO BUSY, as in I don't get to bed until 11, which is late for me. Anyway, I don't have time on the Internet or computer. I might not have as much homework since I dropped down to regular Algebra II (as opposed to Honors) after failing three quizzes/tests in a row. Eek. But that won't matter because this is the last chapter! I've been quite lazy on the sequel and only have a bit written, so don't expect it to come out anytime soon.
Also, I'm really not sure if this chapter is good enough to be an ending chapter. I haven't even looked at it in a month or so. So if you think it needs to be rewritten, say so. I'll try and rewrite it in the next year or so if enough people want it to be done.
Onward!
The Chamber of Secrets. They were back in the Chamber, the very place where she was nearly killed when she was eleven. The thought nearly petrified her. (No pun intended)
Lord Voldemort seemed to read her thoughts. "Scared of this place? I thought you would be. That's why I brought you here."
"You bastard," Ginny hissed. "How dare you? And how did you know, anyway?"
"Ah, so you admit it… and I had a little help."
"From whom?" Harry asked, squinting around the Chamber of Secrets in hopes of seeing the help. A black-haired boy – teen, really – stepped out of the shadows into torchlight.
"Me," he said. "Dearest Ginny, you've grown since you were eleven. You're no longer a little girl; now you're a woman. A beautiful one."
"And I'm older than you, Tom. Your mind games won't work on me. I'm immune to them."
"Are you sure, Little One? I cannot call you Little One anymore. I shall call you pet, for that's what you were. How can you be so sure you're immune to my 'mind games', as you put it?
"I was not your pet," Ginny hissed. "Untie me so we can settle this like adults." She could vaguely hear Harry and the older Voldemort exchanging threats, but she was so angry that she didn't care to listen.
He smirked. "But, Pet, you are once again at my mercy. I specifically requested you as my prize. You belong to me now. You are in my domain; it would be unwise of you to anger me."
Ginny rolled her eyes, still not paying attention to the duel going on beside her and Tom. "Oh mighty great one, will you please cut my bonds?"
"That's better, but no. I like having you tied up like that. I have more power and control over you this way."
"Ooh, I'm shaking. You really need to work on the intimidation factor in your statements. They're rather lacking."
"Don't chide me on intimidation, or anything for that matter!" He raised his wand. "Crucio!"
That immense pain that had haunted her dreams wracked her body, sending her into howls and screams of agony. After what was most likely a second, but what seemed like hours, days, years, the torture stopped and the haze cleared from Ginny's vision.
"What the hell was that for?" Ginny asked rudely.
"You annoyed me," Tom said flippantly. "I'd recommend you don't do it again."
"No kidding," Ginny muttered. She shifted her arms behind her. Wizarding knots were incredibly strong, but they had a weakness in the form of a single thread. If you could find it and pull it, it would come undone.
Aha. There it was. Ginny smirked and pulled it, releasing her hands, but kept said body parts behind her back. No sense in showing Tom her achievement until the opportune moment.
"Oh, Pet. You need to learn how to keep your mouth closed," Tom said. "You always had problems with that. It's a shame you haven't grown out of it yet."
"You knew me as a silly eleven-year-old only; of course I was stupid. I'm sure you were stupid when you were eleven, too. Of course, you never grew out of that, either," Ginny taunted. As Tom's face grew red and he began speaking a curse, Ginny rolled over and grabbed her wand, letting the purple beam of light hit the stone ground harmlessly. She shot to her feet.
"Surprised, Tom? I learned a few things from you, but I'm not telling what they are," she said, her smirk dropping as his surprised look turned to fury.
"You've displeased me three times now. You're too much work to keep alive. Avada Kedavra!"
Ginny sprang away as the spell whooshed by. Fire was dancing in her eyes as she pointed her wand at Tom.
"I can't kill you, since you're a younger him," she spat, gesturing at the older Voldemort, who was still locked in the epic battle between himself and Harry. "But I can sure as hell defend myself. Incendio!"
Tom's robes started on fire, but he quickly extinguished it with a stream of water from his wand. Steam hissed and his eyes were as venomous as Ginny's.
"You dare put yourself against Lord Voldemort?" he growled. "Very well, although I must say I am disappointed in you. I expected great things from you."
"Expected great things from your 'pet'? Excuse me, but I've done greater things than you, if you look at it the right way. And you're not Lord Voldemort. Not yet. You're still sixteen, and I'm twenty-three."
"And I'm still stronger than you, Ginevra Weasley," Tom said lazily as he waved his wand and pain shot through Ginny's wand arm, making her lose grip on her wand. It fell to the floor and rolled towards Tom, who picked it up. Ginny watched him with wide eyes as he examined it.
"Nice wand, must've cost a lot of money. Wonder where you got this; surely your family didn't have enough money. Did you steal it, perhaps?"
"I didn't steal anything," Ginny spat. "I'm not like you. Give me back my wand and fight like a gentleman."
"Now, this is right where you were before, helpless and wandless. I- oof. Get off, you stupid girl!"
Ginny had lunged forward and grabbed his throat. He wrenched her off and threw her to the ground. She got up dazedly and snatched for her wand.
"Give me that!" she shouted. Tom chuckled.
"Now, Ginny, why would I do that? You're so much more fun when you're angry and helpless, like twelve years ago."
"Twelve years ago is a time I'd like to forget. That includes forgetting you."
"Well, dearest Pet, you're down here in the Chamber with me and there's nothing anyone can do about it."
"Liar. Harry can get us out," Ginny said, inching away. "And you know what? Screw you. I'm going to help Harry. You're not worth my time."
Harry and Voldemort (the older one) had not wasted time in idle conversation and were rapidly throwing curses at each other, both knowing as well as Ginny did that this was going to be the Last Battle. And what better place for both Voldemorts to die than where they started, in the Chamber of Secrets?
OK, think, Ginny thought, although it was hard to think with Harry and Voldemort shouting curses and Tom sidling up behind her. What can I use? I need to get my wand, but that's impossible…
"I can hear your thoughts, Pet," Tom said from behind her. Ginny turned around and grabbed at the wand that Tom was holding, accidentally smacking Tom in the face and drawing long red marks on said body part with her nails. Shit…
"Bitch," Tom said lazily. "Crucio."
Ginny dodged the curse and it hit Voldemort Sr., much to Tom's horror. He lifted the curse at once, but it had been enough. The older Voldemort was pissed.
And, a second later, dead as Harry hit him with a beam of green light. Tom didn't die right away; he let out an anguished wail and a stream of curses that Ginny had never heard before he faded away. Ginny's wand clattered to the ground.
Ginny and Harry looked at each other with mingled horror and hope.
"Did you beat him?" Ginny asked breathlessly.
"I don't know," Harry said, kicking the older Voldemort who was lying prone on the floor. Voldemort didn't move, and now he was shrinking and shrinking until he was nothing.
"Guess he didn't want anyone studying his body," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow. "Poor guy."
Harry looked at her incredulously. "Poor guy? Are you out of your mind?"
"Nope, but you'll be out of yours if we don't get home soon. You look exhausted and killing someone who's connected to you probably isn't the best thing in the world for your mind, although it was probably better in the long run. How do we get home?"
"I don't know… last time we were down here, we got up through Fawkes. He's not here right now."
"No kidding," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "I hadn't noticed. OK, let's concentrate." She closed her eyes for a second to think and then opened them again. "Harry, there's something wrong here. This isn't the real Chamber; I can hear voices talking somewhere else."
Harry cursed. "Leave it to him to trick us." He closed his eyes, listening intently. "Damn him," he said, opening his eyes. "This was all a trick. You're right; this isn't the Chamber. It's a trick of our minds."
"I'm not following you. All I want to know is how we get out."
"We have to concentrate and break through the barriers that hold us from reality. Reach out with your mind and push at them until they break."
"Harry, that sounds really corny."
"Just do it."
Ginny took a deep breath, held it, and let it back out. She closed her eyes and obeyed Harry, concentrating as hard as she could at mental barriers she wasn't even sure existed. Beside her, Harry disappeared with a 'pop!' She bit her lip and tried harder, but only succeeded in giving herself a headache.
Taking several deep breaths, Ginny concentrated all her anger from Kristi, the two Voldemorts, and herself at the imaginary barricades in her mind. The walls began to bend and warp under the pressure.
She pushed harder, and suddenly they broke. She was abruptly thrown through a dark tunnel, quite different from when she had come. She flew through the tunnel for what seemed like ages. When the darkness cleared from her vision, she was lying in a bed in a strange room. It was still dark, but there was enough light emitting from a single lamp dimmed by a fabric draped over it to see.
How strange, she thought idly, turning over to go back to sleep.
"Don't go back to sleep," a hoarse voice said from her right said. She looked over to see Harry in a bed exactly like her own, propped up on his elbow.
"Why not?" she asked, her voice as hoarse as his voice, if not hoarser.
"Because they haven't seen you awake in a few days. Everyone's been worried sick about you. We were afraid you weren't going to make it."
"But what about you? You were in there too… You also had to get out."
"I've had much more practice manipulating mind stuff than you. I was able to get out several hours ago."
Ginny shifted up to her elbows also. "Why did you come, anyway?'
"Come where? To the Chamber? I didn't have much choice."
"No, to Cammie's house! Hermione and I could've held our own!"
"Are you kidding me? You were tied up and Hermione was petrified! You guys couldn't do anything!"
"Excuse me? I managed to get myself out of those ropes, I'll have you know!"
He smirked. "Yeah, after half an hour and we were in a whole different environment."
"Yeah, a more stressful environment! I bet you'd rather have the Death Eaters than Voldemort himself, and so would I!"
Harry was spared answering by the arrival of several people.
"Wotcher, Ginny," Tonks said brightly. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
The light turned on and Ginny groaned and shaded her eyes. "God, could you make it a little lighter? I can still see."
The lights dimmed a little and she carefully took her hand away from her eyes. In the dimmed light she could see Tonks, her family, and Sirius.
"Hi," Ginny said uncomfortably, sitting up. Her mother hurried to her and gently pushed her back down.
"Rest for now, Ginny," she said softly. "And then we want to hear what happened. Harry gave us his story, but we need yours."
"What's there to say? Voldemort's dead, both of them," Ginny said. "Where are Hermione and Cammie?"
"Hermione's in the next room," Fred said. "And as for your friend…" He glanced at his mother for help.
"She's been Obliviated," Molly said gently. "She doesn't remember anything about magic. She remembers you as a friend who she had a fight with and lost contact with. The rest of the world will just have to deal with the loss of you."
Ginny looked down. "Oh."
"Oh, Gin, don't look like that! You're lucky to be alive!" Ron said from the doorway. "Besides, it's over now. You-Know-Who is gone and we rounded up most of the Death Eaters after Hermione had the presence of mind to put an Anti-Apparation charm on the house and trapped them all in the house."
"It's over," Ginny repeated, a smile tugging on her lips. "It's over."
But is it REALLY over? It is until I get off my arse and write more. I've just got so many ideas for stories that I have to try out and dump. Becki knows all about my process, just ask her.
PREVIEW OF THE SEQUEL (if it ever comes out):
Ginny Weasley had a policy about her life. It was to try something new every day. Usually it was trying a new food out, or trying out a new sport (Quidditch was still her favorite, followed by the American game of Quadpot). Today she was going out on a limb and extending her policy to include doing things that she had always wanted to do.
It was one of the biggest decisions of her life.