Revised: February 11, 2022

Finally.

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The plan was quite simple, in all honesty. Harry knew Ginny was trying to get the diary back; she was back at following Harry and didn't seem to care when Snape took points off her. She stopped when Harry pretended to drop the diary and proceeded to make a show of rummaging his bag during dinner when he realized it was gone.

"I'm back," was the first thing she wrote that night.

"Hello, Ginny," said Tom. "Are you all right?"

"Not really." But she didn't say anything about throwing the diary away, not that Tom really expected her to. "Professor Snape is being more harsh than usual."

"I'm sure he's just very anxious about the petrifications," said Tom.

There was a long pause, then Ginny said, "So am I."

Knowing that Dumbledore would be suspicious if the attacks stopped even with Ginny being in possession of the diary, Tom had Ginny open the Chamber and let Athanasia out to petrify another student. He didn't mean for two students to be caught up in it, but there was nothing he could do about it.

It wasn't long before Ginny opened the diary again and began writing frantically.

"Dumbledore is gone! And Hagrid's in Azkaban. What are we going to do?" Her writing, normally rather neat for an eleven-year-old, was nearly illegible in her panic.

"Hush, Ginny," Tom tried to assure her. "I'm sure it'll all be fine."

Ginny didn't reply, just sniffled and closed the diary. Then Tom was aware of the diary being thrown into her bag with a lot more force than necessary.

It was time. Harry knew it as soon as he heard Professor McGonagall announce for all students to return to their dorms. He waited until all the Slytherins were in the common room before standing up.

Donning his Invisibilty Cloak, he exited the dungeon and headed right for the Chamber.

Tom was waiting inside the chamber that led to the library. Ginny lay in front of him, unconscious.

"Will she be okay?" asked Harry.

"She should be. She has a strong spirit." Tom moved away to stand in front of the statue. 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.'

Athanasia came out of the tunnel eagerly, tongue flicking out as she tasted the air. 'You're back,' she said, nudging Harry affectionately.

Harry nearly fell over; it was like being poked by a mountain. 'I'm back,' he said as he regained his footing.

"We have to make it convincing." He reached into his robes and brought out a second diary. "Dobby managed to copy it in a way Dumbledore shouldn't notice. How do we destroy it?"

'Athanasia, bite the fake diary,' Tom commanded.

Athanasia did as she was told, and black ink spilled out of it.

'Thank you, Athanasia,' Harry said. 'I believe that is all for now.'

The basilisk looked at Tom, who nodded, then disappeared back through the mouth of the statue. "And now to face Dumbledore," Harry muttered.

"You'll do fine," Tom said. "Just be careful not to look him in the eye." With that, he was gone.

A moment later, Ginny's eyes flew open. When she saw Harry, she burst into tears. "Harry — oh, Harry — it was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over- and- where is that — that thing? The last thing I r-remember is feeling very tired and blacking out —"

"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the fake diary. "You're safe now."

"Are you sure?" Ginny blinked up at him. "Riddle's gone?"

"Yeah. He can't hurt you anymore."

Ginny's sniffles quieted down as she followed Harry away from the statue.

Dumbledore never apologized for basically accusing Harry of the petrifications. Of course he didn't; he most likely expected him to forget about it. Harry pretended to be surprised when Dumbledore said that there was a connection between him and Voldemort. A connection. Harry mentally scoffed. As if Dumbledore didn't know.

McGonagall, however, did apologize in a roundabout way. Harry forgave her more quickly, knowing that Dumbledore was just that good at manipulating others' ways of thinking.

The petrified students were cured. Slytherin won the House Cup again thanks to Harry's two hundred points. All exams were canceled, and Ginny was back to normal. Her twin brothers joked about Harry being her personal hero, which made Harry wish someone Obliviate him like Lockhart had done to many others. The man had been caught trying to leave and was brought in for questioning. By the next day, thousands of copies of his books have been thrown out or sold.

Harry continued to write in the diary, asking him all kinds of questions.

"Parselmagic?" was one of them. "That's a thing?"

"Of course, it's a thing!" Tom scoffed. "I should have given you one of the books from Slytherin's library before you left with Ginny."

Harry closed the diary as Draco, Pansy, and Tracey joined him on the train. "Looks like you're a hero again."

"Yep," Harry said ruefully.

When the train pulled up at King's Cross, Harry spotted his relatives looking terrified as always when among Harry's kind, as they would put it.

A flash of flaming red made him turn to see Ginny and her brothers getting off the train farther down. Ever since Harry had "saved" Ginny, she had avoided him at all costs. The only exception was when she came up to the Slytherin table to thank him in a subdued voice before hurrying off again.

Now, as Harry watched her greet her mother warmly, he thought she looked much happier already.

He turned away and headed for his relatives. "Let's go," he said. "I know you don't like hanging around here any more than you have to."

Uncle Vernon glared at him for ordering him around, but he did agree with that statement, no matter how much he would deny it.

"I'll see you later," Draco said from behind Harry.

"You, too," said Harry.

Aunt Petunia gave Draco a wary look, as if he would suddenly take his wand out and hex her or something. "Is he a... a friend?" She sounded like she couldn't believe Harry could ever make one.

"One of my best friends, yes," Harry replied. "His family's pretty influential in the wizarding world."

Uncle Vernon looked torn between fear for Draco being a wizard and respect for the power his family must hold. "Pleasure to meet you," he said gruffly.

"Pleasure is all mine," Draco replied. Not, he mouthed to Harry, deliberately in full view of Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

Tracey was eyeing Dudley, wondering if he was just as bad as Harry made him out to be, when Dudley noticed and snapped, "What are you looking at, freak?"

His voice carried, and many heads turned in shock. Harry wanted to smack him upside the head for his words. He was used to being called a freak, but the minute someone else, especially a friend, was receiving the same treatment...

Tracey's eyes widened ever so slightly before she recovered, giving Dudley a condescending smile. "It would be a real shame if something were to happen to you because of our... freakish ways, don't you think?"

Dudley squeaked and tried to hide behind his mother, which was impossible due to his much larger body.

"Come one, then," Aunt Petunia said sharply. "Don't worry, Dudleykins, they can't hurt you."

"Not here, anyway," Pansy said dryly, earning another squeak.

Harry grinned at them as he followed his relatives. The grin slid off his face once they were alone. "Do not call my friends freaks ever again," he said to Dudley coldly.

Dudley opened his mouth to protest, but Uncle Vernon wisely pushed him into the car.

Next up: third year. And for new readers, it's where it'll get more interesting.