Darkness. It was no stranger to the dark. For a long time it had been dark… but there was that one brief almost glorious period – or it would have been, if its partner in the dark hadn't hogged the light, got to him first. And then the glorious moment was gone, as if it was never meant to be. More time passed, but it couldn't keep track in this darkness.
It waited for so long.
Finally, another light! A girl this time. No, something was off, wrong. Possession? It could work with this… and then she was gone, calling for the other.
Less time passed. And the girl came again. Too fast, she was gone. Twice more this happened. It almost lost hope, the waiting time kept getting smaller.
Except this time. But still, it had waited far longer than this before. And indeed, she came back, lingered a bit more… but not long enough. Almost, so close! It moved to a better position to wait. At last! The girl came again! Now, it could work with this…
No! He was back! How? Hemust've broken the rules. Well, it was too late to stop the process now. It could only hope that she wouldn't die. It decided that the next person to come would be processed as well. That way, it knew, it could continue what it was meant to do. Hopefully.
Its hopes were rewarded! Another one! A boy even! This could be to its advantage. No! The other was called! It couldn't let it end like this! It must wait and see who would emerge victorious, for even it could see the fight coming.
But wait! Something else has come. What was it? A creature it never seen before. A creature of the light! It may help the boy fight against the other. And there it was. The other. Was oblivion all that awaited it? No, the creature had already blinded the other! Where'd that sword come from? It knew fear then. Would it be unable to fulfill its purpose?
Yes, the other was dead! Joy! But the boy was dying too. It almost growled in frustration. So close! Was the creature… crying? It made no sense! Unless… a cure! The creature saved the boy! Made him mad. And something else… ah! Proof that one of the rules had been broken! And the boy destroyed the rule-breaker, destroyed him! And the girl awakens! Perfect! And the creature even left, gone out of sight.
It struck.
As Ginny lay sobbing in Harry's arms, a shadow slithered up to them unnoticed. Harry was quick to reassure Ginny, and just as she looked up to him and with words waiting to be released from his open mouth, the shadow struck. Harry felt a prick on his left hand before his world, his scar erupted in pain. He dimly heard Ginny calling out his name before she too felt a prick in her hand and she felt pain like she never known it before.
An eternity seemed to have passed before the pain was gone. Harry felt… better, lighter somehow, as if a burden was lifted – or shared. Ginny didn't exactly feel any different, but she couldn't tell. Harry wasn't sure how he knew this, but he did. He smiled at her, encouraging her. Hopefully, Harry thought, she'll be okay. Ginny just shook her head. And Fawkes, the beautiful bird flew back in, trilling worriedly.
Wordlessly, they picked themselves up, Harry stooping to make sure he grabbed everything. Then, with Fawkes crooning the whole while, the two began to walk out of the chamber. Putting the diary into his robes along with the hat, he grabbed Ginny's hand, feeling better about that. Something felt off, but he wasn't sure what it was. Glancing again at Ginny's red hair, puffy brown eyes from crying and her scar that was almost hidden behind her bangs, Harry couldn't help but shake off the feeling.
After all, for the first time in his life, he felt that nothing was wrong. What could possibly be amiss?
It nestled itself snugly against the warmth, blood flowing freely. Its life was fading, but it had served its purpose. It knew its children would live and fulfill their place. Too bad the two it had accorded its offspring didn't get much of a choice in these things, but it had its orders. Soon it would become nothing but memories and ashes. It would leave its children to inform the two of their new status.
Though from what it gathered, the girl would probably like her new status; the boy, however, may need some time to come to terms with it.
As soon as they passed the threshold, the doors hissed shut. Harry knew something important was imparted, but he couldn't really hear what the doors said due to Fawkes trilling and Ginny's sniffling. Nothing mattered at the moment but making sure Ginny was alright.
Soon enough, they could hear the scrapping of rock against rock. Ron would be able to help them. Harry called out to him when he felt they were close enough.
"Ron! Ginny's OK! I got her!"
"Oh thank Merlin! I think I made a hole big enough for you guys to get through too!" Ron's voice floated over them as they rounded another bend and came into view of the rockslide, a gap in it showing Ron's freckled face.
"Woah, where'd the bird come from?"
At the ministry, a book lay open, with a quill charmed to write in it. It was unfortunate that as soon as the quill began writing, no one noticed. In fact, an argument was getting just a bit rowdy, and jostled the book. When the employee noticed, he tried to hide the fact that he accidently blotted out most everything. The employee quickly changed the page to hide the completed – if blotched – entry. The employee was lucky – the event was quickly forgotten.
As Harry, Ron and Ginny entered Professor McGonagall's office, they were greeted with a scream.
"Ginny!"
Evidently, Ginny's and Ron's parents were both there. Molly Weasley, her plump figure a bit thinner than he remembered, and Arthur Weasley, with his glasses askew, rushed to hug those they cared for in the group. As Harry looked around (while being crushed by an overenthusiastic Mrs. Weasley), he noticed Professor McGonagall standing next to Professor Dumbledore, both looking quite shocked, though the Headmaster covered it up quite quickly.
Enquiries into their adventure gave way to explanations and much relief.
Deep within the ministry, in an area devoid of anyone living, there existed another book, and this one too, had a quill. It bent to write something, but no ink poured forth, as if the strength of the event wasn't strong enough. Yet the quill did not stop till it deemed the entry finished; once done, it automatically moved to the next empty space.
When an Unspeakable came to check the book later, the Unspeakable would be baffled by the blank space.
As Dumbledore listened to Harry went over his tale, he took the time to study the young preteen. He thought something had changed, and looking closer, he realized what. Harry's scar was no longer green… or even as visible as it use to be, not including the bangs Harry used to hide that scar. He also took note of the unusual ring on Harry's hand, something Harry's story was not covering, and that no one else has noticed.
Turning his attention to Ginny, he was shocked – though his face betrayed nothing to the others – to see she had a similar ring, on the same hand. If he didn't know any better, and he wasn't sure if he did, they could be wedding rings. With a quick check of her forehead, Dumbledore nearly lost his composure. It seemed that young Ginevra now sported the exact same lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead as well!
It seemed no one else noticed, and with the youngest Weasley's long hair, they probably won't anytime soon. Obviously, something really significant had happened in the chamber… but what? Something told him the two in front of him wouldn't know either. And what about the prophecy? This bore looking into…
Deep in the bowels of Gringotts, three goblins stared incredulously at another piece of parchment. They had stared at it for a while now, and having done some calculations, had a heated discussion before falling silent. When at last one goblin just grunted and left, the shortest turned to the only one left, before stating, quite simply, "Apparently, nothing is impossible if you're Harry Potter."
The altercation with Lucius Malfoy left a bad taste in Harry's mouth, but since it got Dobby free, it was worth it. Though he felt oddly empty again, he shrugged it off as part of the ordeal he had just been through. However, the feast he was now attending was great, especially once Hermione, in all her bushy haired glory was revived and exclaiming how he had solved it. Though Justin's apology helped a lot too.
However, Harry had that nagging feeling that something important that wasn't addressed had happened as well; though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what. Instead, he played with the ring on his left hand, letting the smooth metal coils soothe him.
Hermione was the only one to notice.