The Chamber of Secrets
The weeks flew by and soon it was the last Quidditch match of the year. Harry and Draco were already on their brooms when Draco looked out to the crowd and elbowed Harry.
"Hey, look, mummy dearest is here." Draco teased, pointing to an obviously stressed Remus. Harry shoved the blond back.
"Go back to your ball, Ferret." Harry responded, looking back, secretly excited. He never thought he would have someone like a parent watching him at his games. He would have to tell Remus later how much this meant to him.
Meanwhile, in the bleachers, Hermione sat next to Remus. She looked over at the man who was sitting on the edge of his seat.
"What are you so nervous about? Harry's done this thousands of times." Hermione soothed as she tried to calm him down. He furrowed his brow and glanced at her.
"He's only a second year. How could he have done this a thousand times?" He implored. Hermione scrunched her nose in thought.
"It's just a figure of speech." Hermione lied. He went back to watching Harry intently.
"It was bad enough when it was James and Sirius out there. I can stand watching Harry get hurt, too." Remus confessed.
"Well at least you weren't here when he was hit by the rogue bludger." Hermione figured, more to herself than to the man sitting next to her.
"Not making me feel better." Remus muttered.
However, Remus had no reason to worry. Harry caught the snitch and the Gryffindor team won the Quidditch Cup for the second year in a row. As the crowd dispersed, Remus walked up to Harry.
"Wow, you're even better at flying than James was, Harry!" Remus praised. Harry blushed.
"Thank you." Harry replied.
"I better get going. I'll see you at King's Cross Station?" Remus checked. Harry grinned and nodded.
"Sure, I'll be there!" Harry responded.
"Of course, you're going to be there, Harry. What else were you going to do? Stay on the train all summer?" Draco teased. Harry batted his friend's shoulder.
"Don't suggest that. It's tempting." Harry told the blond. Draco rolled his eyes.
Later that night, Harry and Draco sat in the common room, enjoying the fire while studying for final exams. Hermione came down and was about to join them, when they saw Ginny walk out of Gryffindor Tower in a daze.
"Maybe I should follow her," Hermione suggested. Harry and Draco nodded.
"Be careful." Draco warned. Hermione cocked her head to one side.
"When am I not careful?" She responded. Draco gave her a look. "Okay, fine. I'll be very careful." She walked out of the tower.
It took a whole hour for Harry to notice that the brunette had not returned.
"Where's Hermione?" He asked. "Surely, she can't still be looking for Ginny. She literally left right after the girl and it's not that big of a castle."
Draco huffed. "We should probably go look for her." He instructed Harry. Harry nodded.
They left the common room and began to walk toward the second-floor girls' bathroom. When they got there, they had to maneuver their way through another sea of students. They finally got to the center of the commotion and stopped cold. There, laying on the ground petrified, was Hermione.
"No!" Draco and Harry shouted together. This was not supposed to happen this time around. She was supposed to be safe. They looked around for Ginny. They could not find her anywhere. The wall dripped with blood that read, "Her body will forever lay in the Chamber of Secrets". Harry sighed.
"Let's go get Lockhart." He whined. Draco looked questioningly at him.
"Why? He's useless. He's not important, no matter what he says." Draco almost shrieked.
"So, why not use him as bait?" Harry suggested. Draco grinned. They quickly ran to the DADA office, where they found Lockhart packing.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to save her?" Harry implored, his voice cracking. He still did not want to see Ginny die because of Riddle, even if he did not love her.
"Yes, pity, that. I could have saved her, but I was called away to another dangerous situation, uh…involving a dragon. I'm sure your other professors have the problem under control." Lockhart lied. Draco snorted.
"Not such a big shot when there's actual danger, are you now?" Draco sneered. "Expelliarmus." Draco shouted, successfully disarming the DADA professor.
"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that spell." Harry mocked.
They soon found themselves leading a disheveled Lockhart to the second-floor. They quickly made their way to the girls' bathroom, where water was all over the floor. Ron was also there.
"Harry!" Ron shouted. He had tears down his face. "They took Ginny! She's missing! I have to help her, Harry! She's my little sister."
In that moment, Harry felt pity for Ron. He knew that if he had a younger sibling, he would feel the same way as Ron did right now.
"Come with us. We're going to find her. We think we know where the entrance is." Harry informed him. Ron nodded his head vigorously.
Soon, they were staring at the row of sinks in the girls' bathroom. Draco looked around skeptically.
"Here? Of all the places it could have been, it's here?" Draco queried. Harry nodded. He walked over to the sink with the snake engraved on the side of the faucet.
":Open:" Harry hissed. The sink automatically started to move. Soon, a slide appeared underneath where the sink used to be.
"Well, I see you don't need me, anymore. I'll just…" Lockhart started.
"Go first? I agree." Draco interrupted. He took Lockhart and pushed him down the hole.
"Ahhh!" They heard the professor scream. After a minute, it stopped.
"Is he dead?" Ron asked. Draco shrugged.
"One way to find out." Draco replied. Then, he jumped down and slid to the ground. After a few seconds they heard, "Not dead, just passed out." Harry looked at Ron.
"You go next. I'll stay behind to make sure the sink doesn't close on you." Harry offered. Ron nodded and jumped down the slide himself. Moments later, Harry heard Draco complaining.
"Seriously, Weasley. Haven't you ever heard of waiting until someone yells clear before going down a dark slide?" Draco scorned. Harry laughed. He waited a few more seconds. "Clear!" Draco yelled up at him. He then slid down the slide.
Once all four of them were down the slide, Lockhart awoke. He took the momentary lapse of awareness on the part of the boys and snatched Ron's wand-which was still broken-and tried to Obliviate their memories. However, he once again caused the spell to backfire and the roof to cave in. Harry waited for the dust to settle and promised the boys he would be back soon.
Harry went on to save Ginny's life. He told Riddle he knew about his seedy past and that he would destroy the boy once and for all. He still needed Fawkes' help to blind the basilisk, but he killed the large snake, took the fang, and stabbed the diary. Fawkes healed him and he carried Ginny out of the Chamber toward the entrance.
Meanwhile, Ron and Draco were stuck with Lockhart. Draco looked around.
"Great, just great. If you had just kept your wand out of reach, Weasley, none of this would have happened!" Draco accused.
"Me? You're the one who brought Lockhart along." Ron retorted.
"Who's Lockhart?" Lockhart asked. Draco facepalmed.
"No one." He replied, figuring it was easier to tell the fool that than to get into a long, convoluted story.
"Hmm. Is this your house? Are you two a couple?" Lockhart asked.
"No!" They replied in unison.
"I think you two would make a lovely one, though. You two just need to work out your problems." Lockhart advised.
"I'll have you know I am in love with a girl." Draco defended. "Besides, all we have to do is stay calm and wait for Harry."
"There's three of you? That's kinky." Lockhart commented.
"Ugh!" Draco grunted, holding his head in his hands.
"I think you should redecorate." Lockhart continued. At this point, Draco started pounding his head into one of the cave walls. "The blond one is a bit uptight, isn't he?"
"You have no idea." Ron replied.
At this point, Harry returned with Ginny in his arms. He yelled out at Draco.
"How do you think we can get through?" Harry asked Draco. Draco thought for a moment.
"Stay clear of the rock pile." Draco commanded. Harry did as he was told. "Are you away from the wall?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Harry replied.
"Kneel down and put your head between your arms for protection." Draco continued. Harry did thusly. When Draco was sure his friend would be safe, he used a Bombarda to blast through the rock pile and make a hole in the wall. Harry picked up Ginny and walked through the pathway unharmed.
"How did you know that spell, Malfoy? Daddy teach it to you?" Ron sneered.
"What a lovely window, though there's not much of a view." Lockhart added. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Come on. Let's get Weaselette to the hospital wing and Lockhart to St. Mungo's." Draco suggested.
"Who's Lockhart?" Lockhart repeated as they all made their way out of the chamber.