As always, thanks go out to my lovely and talented betas C & J.

Without them I just sound so jejune.

Real Notes are at the end.

Now go read and review.

Chris

Chapter 14: Redemption

"Did you get him?" asked Tom, still unable to see through the cloud of dust.

Climbing to his feet, Harry clutched the sword in his right hand. His left arm hung limply at his side, thanks to the basilisk fang that was sticking out of his shoulder. Harry could already feel the venom from the fang burning in his blood. He knew it was fatal, but before he died, he had one more thing to do.

"Yep," he growled, stepping out of the thickest of the now settling dust. "I killed it, Tom. Now it's your turn."

"No…" was all Tom could say as he watched Harry's battered form, walking out of the cloud of dust. "It's not possible."

"You would be surprised at what's possible when you are fighting for something more than your own life," hissed Harry, walking steadily towards the shade. "But then, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? Everything you've ever done has been about you."

"Of course it has, you foolish little boy!" screamed the phantom, sounding more like a child throwing a fit than a terrifying Dark Lord. "I don't need anyone else! I'm the most powerful wizard in history! Even the great Merlin would have run from my might."

"You're a dim witted plonker, that's what you are," scoffed Harry, now standing just six feet from the raging shade. "Merlin would have kicked your arse from here to Cardiff and when he was done with you, Arthur would have kicked it right back. You're nothing, but a schoolyard bully, thinking that fear equals respect. Problem is, just like a schoolyard bully, when someone stands up to you, you'll run away and hide."

The shade of the teenaged Lord Voldemort did not even bother to respond to Harry's taunts. Instead he drew two wands from his robes, obviously taken from Colin and Gwen, and began casting spells. Harry saw Tom drawing the wands just in time to dive behind the still twitching tail of the dead basilisk. It was only luck that allowed him to duck down in time to miss the sickly green Killing Curses that streaked over his head. Harry could only pray for a miracle because he had no idea how he was going to defeat someone that was not really there.

Time was running out for him and Harry knew it. The fang in his shoulder had already delivered enough poison to kill him several times over and it was only a matter of time before it did. The situation was only made worse by the fact that Tom was forcing Harry to run around and dodge, speeding up the spread of the poison. In fact, he could feel it burning its way through his muscles as he struggled to keep moving. It would not be long now.

"This isn't exactly what I had planned," thought Harry as he leapt over yet another bolt of curse-fire. "I was going to grow up and be an Unspeakable, just like Sirius. Then together we were going to defeat Tom once and for all. Everybody was going to be so happy."

As these thoughts ran through his head, Harry never stopped moving. "I was going to be there when Remus finally admitted he loves Nym. Neville, Ron, Hermione, and me, we were all going to be friends forever. We were going to go with Grace to look for a new herd. Ginny… Ginny and I were going to date and maybe someday… Oh God, Ginny."

Images of the youngest Weasley filled Harry's mind as he dove over a pair of sickly green Killing Curses. "I was supposed to save Colin and Gwen. But if I die down here, then who would be able to get them out? It takes a Parselmouth to open the Chamber. I screwed up and now they are going to pay for it. Why did I come down here alone?"

How long Harry ran and dodged, he could not have said. Slowly he weakened and soon he was covered in various burns and cuts from Tom's continuing stream of curses. Thankfully Harry had managed to avoid the more sinister curses, including the Killing Curse, but he knew it was only a matter of time until his luck ran out. Dodging another pair of Killing Curses, Harry stumbled and fell to the ground face first. He felt his nose break and he wondered if this was the end of his struggle. His magnificent sword vanished from his hand and he felt the ring once again upon his finger.

"What will happen to my friends when I'm gone?" he wondered as he lay on the ground, spitting blood and a tooth onto the cold stone floor. "I don't want to let them down, but I'm so tired. Tom will come back and kill them all. I'm so sorry. No one will be able to stop him. It's all my fault. I'm going to die alone down here. I don't want to die, not alone. I want Uncle Sirius and Remus. I want my Dad. MUM!"

Tears of pain and frustration poured down Harry's face as he looked up and saw Tom striding towards him, a malicious sneer on the shade's face. "Not so brave now, are you, boy? Crying like a little girl as you wait for your death like the foolish child you are. Did you really think you could defeat me? I am Lord Voldemort!"

Harry refused to speak his fears, but he was screaming in his mind. "Please, God, whomever, I don't want to die. Help me, please? At least let me see my family one more time? Please?"

For most people, family is defined by blood relations or married spouses, but not for Harry Potter. Alone with a madman in a cavern several hundred meters under a lake, his idea of family were all the people that he loved most. He thought of Sirius and Remus, his two beloved uncles that had raised him since he was a baby. Then his mind drifted to Tonks, his quirky but loveable cousin, who had been his first and best friend for as long as he could remember. He could not forget all of the Weasleys, the second family he had ever known and loved like his own. Of course there was also Mr. Knight, his friend and mentor and Grace, the mysterious centaur mare that had become like an aunt to him. However the one face that filled his thoughts the most was of a red-haired girl, Ginny. All the memories of his time with her and the letters they had shared the previous year filled Harry's heart with warmth and courage.

"I may be about to die," thought Harry as Tom walked closer, "but I'm going to take this bastard with me."

Rolling over, Harry reached up and pulled the large serpent's fang from his shoulder. The pain was beyond anything Harry had ever felt before, but he could not let himself feel it just yet. As he focused on his goal, he attributed and ignored the bright flash of light and roaring in his ears as being caused by the pain and poison. No, Harry had a plan now and he could only focus on that in the hopes that Tom was mortal enough to kill. Harry rationalized that if Tom was solid enough to hold the stolen wands, he must be solid enough to hit with the basilisk fang. A quick glance at the fang confirmed Harry's thought that it was still poisonous when a glob of thick green fluid dripped off the point. That was all Harry needed to see. With the last of his strength, Harry threw the fang at Tom's chest. As he watched the fang fly towards Tom's chest, Harry fell backwards into what felt like someone's arms.

For a moment Harry thought he had done it, but then the fang passed right though Tom and out his back. There was no sign that the shade had even noticed the fang's passing. Harry raged in his mind at the unfairness of it all. Still, there was nothing more he could do now. The poison was killing him and Tom would win. Harry could do nothing but accept it now and pray that someone, somewhere, would have the power to put Tom down once and for all. With that thought in his head, Harry closed his eyes and prepared to see his mother and father for the first time. Then he heard something, the voice of an angel.

"I got it!"

With the greatest effort of will that anyone had ever seen, Harry Potter opened his eyes, refusing to die and stared unbelievingly at the sight before him. Ginny Weasley, his Ginny, was standing behind Tom with a diary in one hand and a basilisk fang in the other. As he watched, the furious-looking redhead dropped the diary to the ground and using all her weight, plunged the fang down into it.

"NO!"

The scream of despair, shriek really, that came from Tom's mouth sounded like it came straight from the pits of Hell itself. As Harry watched, what seemed like gallons upon gallons of ink gushed from the now destroyed diary, Tom's form drained of color and finally faded completely from view. With his passing, the two wands fell to the ground. Harry watched in slow motion as one of the wands shattered like glass as it hit the stone floor while the other just bounced end over end before coming to rest.

"HARRY!"

The shouts came from all around him, but they sounded so far away. There were only two things that he could focus on right now. The first was a song that seemed to fill his ears with its comfort and support. The other was Ginny's face as she ran towards him and dropped to her knees at his side. Harry wanted to reach up and touch her cheek, but his leaden arms refused to move. He could only stare up into her crying eyes and think how lucky he was that she was here with him as he died.

"She's so pretty," he thought to himself as he looked at her. "I was going to marry you someday."

"You mean that, Harry?" asked the vision in front of him.

"Imagination must be getting the best of me as I die," Harry thought, though he did feel better now. "Of course I mean it, Ginny. I have never lied to you yet and I'm not going to start now."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Harry Potter," said the wildly grinning young girl.

"You're in for it now, Harry. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're not going to die, kiddo," said Sirius, who was holding Harry's head up.

"Sure thing, Sirius," laughed Harry. "My imagination must be trying to comfort me as I die. You can't be here since no one can open the door to the Chamber but me and Tom. So, this is a dream and I'm just about dead."

"Drama queen much?" asked Tonks from where she was checking on Colin and Gwen. "These two are in a bad way, Padfoot, especially the girl. We need to get them out of here and fast."

"Use an emergency portkey and get them to St. Mungo's!" ordered Sirius and Harry watched as Tonks pulled a silver chain from her robes. Taking only a moment to wrap it around the two unconscious students, she vanished a moment later with Colin and Gwen.

Suddenly Harry was not so sure this was a dream after all. The first sign was that he was no longer in as much pain as he had been a little while ago. Sure, he still felt the burns and cuts from Tom's curses, but the burning sensation from the basilisk venom was gone. Gone also was the agony in his shoulder. Now there was a soothing, slightly tingly, sensation where the basilisk had bitten him that reminded Harry of cold water dripping off an icicle. Looking up, he saw an amazing sight. Fawkes the phoenix was sitting on Sirius' shoulder singing as great pearly tears fell from his eyes and onto Harry's wound.

"Fawkes?" asked Harry, and the phoenix nodded its head as it continued to sing and cry.

"Yeah," confirmed Sirius. "Bloody bird showed up a few minutes ago and grabbed Tonks and me as we were trying to find you."

"Same here," confirmed Ginny. "Mum had just gotten the news you were missing when Fawkes showed up with Sirius and Tonks. Next thing I knew, we were here."

Stunned, Harry reached up and stroked the feathers of the crying phoenix, a pearlescent tear falling on his hand and immediately healing a scratch there. "How? Bloody basilisk got me. I should be dead now, shouldn't I?"

"Phoenix tears are capable of healing almost any wound or illness, Harry," answered Sirius. "Which I promise you'll need after I get you out of here. What the hell were you thinking coming down here by yourself? No Quidditch for you this summer."

"And that doesn't even begun to describe what I'm going to do to you," growled Ginny. "And just think of what Hermione, Ron, and Neville are going to do to you when they find out you left them behind."

Harry could not help but groan at the thought as he looked up at the phoenix and said, "You couldn't just let me die, could you?"

Much to the amusement of Sirius and Ginny, Fawkes just shook his head as the last of his tears fell on Harry's wounds. Harry could only imagine that the magical bird was telling him that he was not going to get quite that lucky. When the phoenix offered Harry and the others its long tail feathers, they grabbed hold and were suddenly surrounded by the brightest golden light they could imagine. There was a sensation of warmth and movement before they suddenly found themselves lying on the floor of the Headmaster's office.

"Fawkes?" asked the stunned looking Headmaster. "Mr. Potter? Miss Weasley? Sirius? What is the meaning of this?"

"I think the better question would be, were they successful?" asked Mr. Knight as he stepped into the room.

"I did it," confirmed Harry, standing up with considerable help from Sirius. "At least I almost did it. Ginny is the one that managed to destroy the diary."

Harry watched as Ginny pulled the still dripping diary from her robes, throwing it down on the floor in front of them. Dumbledore, the twinkle absent from his eyes, looked pale and afraid at the sight of the destroyed diary. Harry noticed that the ever present crystal was clenched tightly in the old man's hand and he wished he could get it away from the Headmaster. Try as he might though, Harry could see no way of doing it right then that would not cause Dumbledore to attack him.

"If only I could get him to the Chapel, I might be able to get it away from him," thought Harry. "Thing is, I don't think he would let it go that easily even then."

"Someone explain to me what's going on!" demanded Dumbledore, still looking rather pale. "If this is just some sort of game, I will not tolerate it. I have two missing students that right this moment could be dead or dying!"

Sirius looked at the Headmaster with an expression that conveyed both contempt and pity all at once. "Oh, we've saved your two students, Albus. They're at St. Mungo's as we speak. Harry here managed to rescue them when you couldn't."

"No," stammered Dumbledore. "Why would you take them there? They must be brought back here immediately! If their parents find out about…"

"Wait a minute!" shouted Harry, turning to look at Dumbledore. "I thought you had already told their parents what was going on. Isn't that what you said, Mr. Knight?"

"Yes, Harry," confirmed Mr. Knight. "I saw them up here earlier, before you went down to the chamber."

"Then where are they now?" asked Ginny.

Dumbledore looked pale as everyone turned to him for an answer. The twinkle was gone from his eyes as he sat behind his desk and played with the crystal. Harry watched as the old man seemed to shrink in on himself. He still looked calm, although it was almost as if he was feeling two completely different emotions at once, contempt and shame.

"What did you do, Albus?" demanded Sirius, slowing walking towards the Headmaster.

Albus Dumbledore, leader of the Magical forces of Light, cringed and tried to sit back even further in his chair before answering. "I didn't think there was any chance of finding their children, so I modified their memories."

"How?" roared Mr. Knight. "What do they remember?"

Dumbledore seemed to be trying to slip right through the solid back of his chair as he answered. "They think their children attended a prestigious Muggle boarding school."

"And?" asked Harry, glaring at the old man.

"They believe that their children died in a horrible car crash," answered Dumbledore as if he had just announced the children were on holiday.

"You manipulative old bastard," growled Sirius. "Rather than take responsibility for your mistakes, you just destroyed two families before you even knew the outcome!"

"Can you undo it?" asked Harry, hoping that his two friends had not just become orphans.

Dumbledore nodded his head and there was a collective sigh of relief. "I placed a key in their minds. They won't act upon the information until I contact them again. Depending on what I say, they will either prepare to bury the children or forget about the changes altogether."

"Then I think you had best correct your mistake and get those people to St. Mungo's immediately to see their children," commanded Mr. Knight.

"You're as bad as Voldemort," spat Harry, glaring at the Headmaster. "Rather than tell their parents that they were in danger, you just wrote off Colin and Gwen as if they didn't mean a thing!"

"The children were never in any danger," protested Dumbledore, his face going pale again.

"That's not what you just said," argued Sirius. "You just said they might be dead or dying, but now you claim they were never in any danger. Which is it, old man? You can't have it both ways. They are either safe or they are in danger. God knows you didn't do anything to save them!"

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" asked Ginny, now standing with Harry's arm around her shoulders. "He would have never told their parents the truth anyway."

"Ginny is right," agreed Mr. Knight. "You would have swept it all under the rug. But you can't do that now, can you? With the children at St. Mungo's, their parents will be notified. Whether you like it or not, people are going to find out what happened here tonight and they are going to want answers."

"I'll pay for the children's medical care," whispered a defeated looking Dumbledore.

Suddenly the door to the Headmaster's office opened to admit Tonks. "They're going to want more than that, I think."

Harry felt a sense of cold dread as he looked at his cousin. The fact that her features and hair had returned to their natural shape and color was not a good sign. Only the worst of events could force her to revert to her natural form around anyone other than friends and family. Given where she had just come from, Harry feared the absolute worst had come to pass.

"What do you mean?" demanded Ginny. "What's wrong with Colin and Gwen?"

"Their parents are with them at St. Mungo's as we speak," answered Tonks. "Of course, they are more than a little confused, what with the way their minds are muddled up right now. I went and got them myself. Colin's father is a right mess. He lost his wife after the younger of his boys was born, so the thought of losing his oldest boy has hit him pretty hard. Thankfully the Healers say that Colin will be back up on his feet in no time. He wasn't exposed to the diary long enough for it to do anything too permanent."

"What about Gwen?" asked Ginny, not liking the way Tonks refused to look at her.

Tonks took a deep shuddering breath before looking up at the others, tears streaming down her cheeks. "She's a mess, Ginny. She has the worst case of magical exhaustion that the healers have ever seen."

"That's okay though, right?" asked Harry. "I mean she'll recover eventually, won't she?"

Several things happened at once and Harry realized at that moment exactly what it felt like to see a moment freeze in time. Time had not truly stopped, but it seemed as if he was suddenly aware of everything going on around him. He watched Mr. Knight collapse into a well-stuffed armchair and cover his face with his hands. Sirius, for his part, just seemed to stare at Tonks as his hands clenched into white knuckled fists. Then there was Dumbledore who covered his face with his hands, looking older than Harry had ever seen him before. All of this was absorbed by Harry as he waited for the answer to his question.

"It might be kinder if she doesn't," Tonks answered, sliding down the wall to the floor by the Headmaster's door. "The Healer I spoke with said it was as if Gwen's mind just wasn't there anymore. She's a blank slate, Harry. Whatever that diary did to her, it was bad. I didn't give the Healers the full details, but they aren't stupid. They said it looked almost like a Dementor attack."

"In a way it was," Mr. Knight added. "That's what Tom's blasted diary was designed to do, feed upon the soul of an innocent and use the power it gained to create a new body for Tom."

"What!" screeched Ginny. "You mean to tell me that thing was eating my soul?"

"Not now, Ginny," Harry soothed, giving Ginny's small shoulder a tight squeeze. "We'll figure that out after Nym tells us what they can do for Gwen."

"Nothing," replied Tonks, wiping tears from her eyes. "They can't do anything for her, Harry. There's nothing there to work with."

"There has to be something," argued Harry.

"No, Harry," said Sirius. "There is no cure for something like this."

Harry listened, but he did not believe. How in a world full of magic could something like this be possible? They could turn hedgehogs into pincushions in their first year, but they could not help one sick young girl. How would anyone ever be able to explain this to her parents, to her friends? Was this all the Magical world was good for, creating killers and letting innocent children die?

"Why her?" asked Ginny, her face now buried in Harry's chest as she cried for her friend. "Why not me? I had that disgusting thing longer than she did, so why did it do that to her and not me?"

"It would have, in the end," answered Dumbledore, much to everyone's surprise. "The diary was weak when you first got it. Over time, it absorbed more of your, let's call it, your life-force, and as it did, it was able to speed up the process and assume more control over you."

"Dumbledore is right," agreed Mr. Knight. "The more of your life-force that it absorbed, the more power it had to take it faster. Like the Hogwarts Express, the more fuel it received, the faster it could move. Ginny started the process while others were used to continue it. Finally, when it was powerful enough, the diary started sucking up the very last of her life-force in order to create a new body for itself."

"But I gave her that bloody thing," wailed Ginny, clinging as tightly as she could to Harry. "The day Harry made me go to see Madame Pomfrey Tom made me give it to her! I remember doing it! I even showed her how to write in it and told her she should keep it secret! This is entirely my fault!"

"No it's not, Gin," Harry said, gently stroking her hair. "It was the diary controlling you and it can't do that anymore. It's gone and its power over you is as well. That's why you can talk about this now, Gin, isn't it, Sirius?"

Sirius nodded, kneeling down and picking up the destroyed diary from where it lay. "With the power of the diary gone, the Compulsion on Ginny is gone as well."

"As it is, the diary has probably been using Gwen to attack you ever since it was given to her," Tonks added.

"The drain on her magic must have been horrendous," agreed Sirius. "Her magical exhaustion would have just made it easier for the diary to drain away what it needed from her."

"So, attacking me was just a way of killing two birds with one stone?" asked Harry. "He possibly gets rid of me and he gets his body back that much quicker."

"Exactly," agreed Mr. Knight.

A knock on the door drew everyone's attention, and almost seeming to give up, the Headmaster called for the unknown visitor to enter. Harry was a little surprised by the sight of Professors Lockhart and Flamel, but the sight of his three friends who came in behind the professors immediately put a smile on his face. Ginny had been right. They were not happy with him for leaving them behind, but after a very brief scolding from Hermione and Neville, all was right with the world again.

"I promise," Harry said solemnly as Hermione hugged him for the tenth time, "I'll never run off and leave you guys behind again. I learned my lesson down there. I can't do this stuff on my own. I need my friends and family by my side if I'm going to make it."

"You better believe it, mate," grunted Ron, playfully hitting Harry on the right shoulder while Neville hit him on the left.

"And if you even think about leaving us behind again," added Neville, "I'll personally track you down and set Ginny loose on you."

"Hey!" protested Ginny, though she had yet to let Harry go. "I'm not that bad!"

"Says the girl that destroyed a powerful Dark magic artifact with a basilisk fang that she caught in midair," supplied Harry, causing Ginny to blush and bury her head in his chest again.

Through all of this, Lockhart and Flamel were busy talking with Mr. Knight. Harry watched their conversation out of the corner of his eye, as did Dumbledore, though for different reasons. Harry's hope was that the powerful former King and the nearly immortal potions mistress could come up with a cure for Gwen. Dumbledore's reasons were not as altruistic. The Headmaster was just trying to figure out how best to wrestle control back from Mr. Knight and how to bury the news that several students had been attacked while he was in charge. When the three figures broke apart, he tried to say something, but the look on Lockhart's face stopped Albus cold.

"I would like to apologize to you all," began Lockhart. "I've misled you this entire year in the hopes of keeping Miss Weasley safe. Unfortunately, in doing so, I failed to keep those around her safe."

Reaching inside his almost blindingly blue robes, Lockhart pulled out a silver medallion with a large shining crystal in the center of it. "I used this to hide amongst you all this year while the real Gilderoy Lockhart sits in a French prison for attempting to erase the memories of a twelve year old witch that used accidental magic to defeat a succubus. Seems he wanted to take credit for her victory, but he didn't know her father was captain of the local Aurors."

"Served the fraud right for what he tried to do to that poor little girl," added Perenelle.

"Then who are you really?" asked Harry, watching as everyone else nodded that they also were curious.

Everyone flinched as the man pretending to be Lockhart suddenly threw the medallion as hard as he could at the Headmaster's fireplace. As the medallion was engulfed in flames, there was a bright flash of light, which caused everyone to shield their eyes. Once they could see again, they were all amazed at the sight before them. Standing where the image of Lockhart had been just a moment before was someone that should have been dead. Dressed in long flowing black robes and having his long black hair tied back stood…

"SNAPE!" shouted everyone almost at once.

"How the hell are you not dead yet, ya greasy haired git?" asked Sirius, though it was obvious from the smile on his face that he was happy to see his former rival alive.

"Sod off, Black," replied Severus, but he also had a slight smile on his face.

What followed were several hours of explanations regarding the current state of events. It was a rather disgruntled Albus Dumbledore that was finally escorted from his own office after he attempted to take over the conversation one too many times. As he left, he was strongly encouraged by Mr. Knight to make his way to St. Mungo's to correct his mistake, concerning Colin's and Gwen's parents. Around midnight, Severus and Perenelle left to go check on Colin and Gwen, leaving the others to continue their conversation. It was early in the morning, after a long night spent talking amongst friends, when the Headmaster's office door flew open to reveal the figure of a very irate Lucius Malfoy.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded the elder Malfoy. "I just returned from France and discovered that my son has been attacked by Potter! I want that little shit expelled!"

"Piss off, Lucky," growled Sirius. "Your boy was attacking another student when Harry stopped him. If you want Harry out, you'll have to accept the fact that Draco will be spending a long time in Azkaban. So, take your pick."

Harry was the first to notice it. Dobby the house elf was standing just slightly behind Malfoy senior and was busy pointing to the diary on the floor and then to his master. That's all it took for Harry to figure it out. He felt his anger explode in his chest again as he realized that Lucius Malfoy had been the one to plant the diary on Ginny. Ultimately, Lucius was responsible for everything that had happened to him and to his friends.

"You did this," hissed Harry. "You gave that diary to Ginny."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Potter," sneered the older man. "And even if I did, what proof do you have?"

"What makes you think we need proof, Lucky?" asked Sirius, cracking his knuckles. "You remember who I work for, so you must know that if I really wanted you gone, you would be."

"Yawn," said Lucius with an exaggerated motion. "You know your threats are as empty as your bank account, Black. If you could touch me, you would have already tried."

"Lucky, your ignorance of what's really going on in the world is only dwarfed by your total lack of anything even remotely resembling wit and culture," replied Sirius with a dismissing tone.

"Not to mention he's got more money in his wallet than you probably do in your vault at Gringotts," added Tonks.

"We don't brag, Nymphadora," scolded Sirius, causing Tonks to hang her head sheepishly.

"Sorry," muttered Tonks.

"Clothes," whispered Ginny in Harry's ear as the others talked.

"What?" Harry whispered back.

"Free Dobby," urged Ginny.

Harry nodded as he stepped away from Ginny and pulled his jumper off. Before Lucius knew what was going on, Harry threw the jumper at his head, causing Lucius to reach for his wand. Sirius saw this and jumped forward, knocking the elder Malfoy's wand from his hand. Snarling, Malfoy pulled the jumper from his head and threw it behind him, which was exactly what Harry had hoped for. Dobby, having been trained for years to clean up after his master, reached out and grabbed the jumper before it hit the ground.

"Master has given Dobby clothes," shouted the little elf as he started dancing around, holding the jumper lovingly in his hands.

"Potter!" screamed Lucius, lunging for Harry only to be stopped by Mr. Knight. "You cost me my servant, you little bastard!"

Harry walked over to look Lucius in the face and sneered as he said, "Oh you shouldn't be worrying about Dobby. You should be worrying about yourself, because if I ever find solid evidence that you were responsible for this shite, I'll bury you."

"Dream on, Potter," scoffed the older man. "You'll end up just like your parents."

"Loved and surrounded by friends?" asked Harry, innocently. "I can only hope."

"Hmph!" snorted Malfoy, breaking loose from his captors and turning towards the door. "We'll see, Potter. Just hope we don't meet again."

With that, the elder Malfoy stepped out the door. Dobby proceeded to thank Harry for setting him free before he left. Eventually everyone made their way back to their homes, leaving Harry and his friends to return to their common room. It was a long silent walk as the five friends thought about the fates of Colin and Gwen, but that was a problem for another day. Right now they needed sleep. Their adventures were over for now, but Harry dreaded what might come next in their ongoing battle against Voldemort.

Only time could tell.

AN:

Well, it's over. Finally.

This story ended up being a lot harder to write than you might think. Mostly that's because it had to walk the line between canon and alternate universe. I have always intended the second story of this series to be the jumping off point for the real changes. What I did not expect was how much it would frustrate me that I couldn't change more. At least it's over now.

I've already begun work on the third story and two others. I won't be posting any of them until they are completed. No more of this post and wait stuff. When I post this next time you will know that you are getting all of that story in a matter of days rather than months or years. You deserve that.

What you also deserve is to see exactly what Harry wrote in his letter to Ginny. You know, before Dobby mucked it up. So, as you are such good readers, what follows is the real letter to Ginny. Compare what's here to what Dobby wrote and you will see that every word in his letter is in this letter, in the correct order. This letter took longer to write than the rest of the chapter.

Anyway, leave me a review and enjoy Harry's letter.

For now,

Chris

Harry's Original Letter

Ginny,

How are you feeling? I was so worried when I heard you were feeling sick. Remus said you could possibly come back before my party, but your mom thought it best if you leave with her until you felt better. I hope when you do that I can maybe talk to you about how much I need you. I know it sounds silly, but you are the most understanding person I know. You believe me, don't you? I can't believe I was thinking of running away until you talked me out of it. I just don't know what I would do without you, but I do know that you mean the world to me for it.

It wasn't the same after you left. Fred and George tried to prank Grace, but she caught them in the act. That just proves she is sharper than they think and that she is ready to take them on any time she feels like it. I mean you really don't want to see her made if you care about your health. As for me, I'm staying on her good side as much as possible and you would too if you knew what was good for you. However, it was really funny to hear them say she was better at pranking than them. I mean you just do not know how funny it was as she was forcing them to say it.

Tonks was supposed to stay the rest of the summer, or at least until right after my birthday party, but she had to return to her Auror classes. I guess they have some special training about dealing with Muggles this summer and she couldn't get out of it. She told me to tell you good bye, and that she hopes you have a really good birthday. It's just hard to see her so depressed after she 's been acting so cheerful around Remus. I just want to scream at them and me them like each other sometimes, but that's not my job, so I just have to stay out of it. Remus just thinks of her as a friend because she's Sirius' cousin, but I'm betting he really knows how she feels, or I'm not famous.

I think Hedwig missed carrying letters to you every day. She's been sitting on my shoulder as I write this. So, don't be surprised if she waits around for you to reply right away, whether you want to or not. I sometimes think she likes you more than she likes me. Come to think of it, I'm almost positive she does. I don't think she would even come to my birthday party if you weren't there, so you had better get better and be there so I can see my own owl again. I don't want you both to miss it, but for now I've got to go.

I can't wait to see you again.

Love,

Harry