The golden light flashed between the two, Voldemort's eyes went wide, and Harry felt a powerful wave of magic wash over him, and everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes, he really wanted to go back to the darkness again, for he absolutely loathed the place where he was, again, just in a span of hours.

But this time though, there was no infinite hall; nor any misshapen, revolting thing crouched under a bench. Hell, there wasn't any bench. And this place was no King's Cross that Harry's imagination could come up as a best guess for where he was. And, there was no Dumbledore. But there was someone, who he had never expected to see since that chamber which seemed to be ages ago.

But he wasn't shimmering along the edges like he had done that time; nor was his face curled into that sneer Harry had seen, but there was a look on it that made Harry think that he certainly had gone mad.

If anything, as he turned to look directly into Harry Potter's eyes, Tom Riddle looked wistful.

Harry stared at him with a gobsmacked expression. Tom smiled at him. It wasn't a sneer. It was just….a normal smile.

Deciding that tonight had gone enough, Harry spoke.

"I thought…you had gone?"

Tom nodded. "I have. You really saw to that."

Harry sighed. "So I'm a goner also."

"I wouldn't say that, Potter."

"When did you start handing out consolations, Riddle?"

Riddle sighed. "Potter, you're as obtuse as always. There are people there who are calling for you. Who want you back there."

Harry started. Ron!Hermione!Ginny!Mrs. Weasley!Teddy!

Just as he jumped to his feet, Riddle spoke. "But you won't be able to go back, not until….you've finished your arrangements."

Harry opened his mouth to hurl certain "Chosen Words" at Riddle, but Riddle held up a hand.

"Look around you, Potter."

And Harry looked around.

He was standing on a hill, overlooking a valley. The Sun was setting over a distant lake nearby, setting fire to the black waters of the lake, and the brown leaves of the trees of the forest near it. A breeze blew softly over the grasses, and at the distance, a structure loomed….his first home.

Wait, that was Hogwarts?!

Harry spun around, and nearly fell over, as he saw Riddle grinning. Merlin, could this day go any less crazier? He asked himself. Riddle pointed at something in front of them. Harry turned, and the mirror of Erised materialized before him.

The whole Order was there. Dumbledore at the extreme left, his eyes madly twinkling, Mad-Eye at the extreme right, shouting something in general to the group which suspiciously looked like Constant Vigilance. Remus and Tonks were there, huddling together, beaming at him. There were so many faces….but three people seemed to be coming through the crowd. Harry suddenly tensed. The three came out, and smiled at him. Hazel eyes, unruly hair and glasses just like him, James Potter proudly waved at him, while with Harry's emerald eyes, and a shock of red hair, Lily Potter smiled tearfully at him. The black dog snuggled out from between them, and transformed into a happy, bearded, man, who Harry never remembered seeing this happy. Sirius Black slung each arm on the shoulders of his James and Lily, and gave Harry a double thumbs-up with both hands. Harry felt something hot streaming down his cheeks, and surprisingly, saw that it wasn't blood, as he had accustomed to conclude the last few hours.

"You see your desire, Harry. Nothing else." A voice broke the Harry's little bubble of happiness. Harry immediately felt his anger flare at the boy standing beside him.

"And that, Riddle, is solely your fault! You are the one who destroyed my life! Everything!"

Riddle inclined his head. But then, he looked up, and Harry stepped back, startled by the furious fire burning in Riddle's eyes. Riddle spoke, but his voice held a quiet fire.

"Who do you see standing in front of you, Potter? Riddle, or Voldemort?"

"It matters not! You are both the same, if not one worse than the other!"

"Worse?" Riddle growled.

"Yes! Who murdered his own father? Then embarked on a destructive errand that resulted in destruction far worse than any other magical species might do to itself?"

Now, the wistful Riddle was gone. The seething Riddle asked,

"Tell me, Potter, what memories of me did Dumbledore show you? Nice, happy, good memories, I presume? But no, the old bugger would of course show me as sick. Tell me, Potter, if I was so sick, then how come the entire school didn't see me through? What was I? A boy who knew no more about the magical world at eleven than you! Then why wasn't I seen through?"

"I don't care!" Harry shouted. "I don't care what happened to you! I only care about what you did!"

Tom's shoulders suddenly sagged. "Care." He choked on the word.

"Which I never had, unlike you." He said.

"What do you mean?" Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Was this another twisted trick of Riddle? But why would he play tricks now? What use is there?

"Unlike you, Potter, I know how to grow up in an orphanage was," Riddle held up a hand as Harry opened his mouth, "Yes, Potter. I know what conditions you grew up in. My future counterpart possessed you for a short time, remember?"

Harry nodded. Riddle sighed.

"No Potter, I wasn't beaten, made to do chores like you. But you know what? They looked after me with condescension," Riddle spat, "I knew, from a very small age, that I was special. And that, apparently, was my undoing there. Dudley Dursley kept friends away from you, am I right?" he asked.

Harry nodded. Riddle said, "Yes, nobody kept anyone away from me. But they all, chose to stay away. It wasn't forced rejection, Potter. It was rejection. Plain and simple."

Harry asked, "Is that why you took to terrifying them?"

Riddle laughed, a bitter laugh. "Yeah. Why shouldn't have I, tell me? Did I tell them to stay away from me? Did I tell them to isolate poor little freaky Tom Riddle among the children?"

"That's where you went wrong, Tom," Harry said. "You didn't try to look for the reason why they wanted to stay away. You just wanted to make things happen, not let them happen."

Riddle laughed, a laugh reminiscent of the high, cold laugh he had laughed as he had murdered countless wizards and witches. "Yes, Potter. I wanted to make things happen, just as I had with magic."

"But that" Now Harry looked sharply at him, as a certain….weariness? entered Riddle's voice.

"And that, was my first step towards my own undoing."

Harry smiled. "So you atleast understand what you caused."

"I do Harry, I do. You don't know the pain of splitting the soul, Harry…the pain of losing yourself. I didn't even know what, or why I was doing such things…..otherwise, my plans wouldn't have been so stupid."he smirked at Harry.

"Keep telling yourself that, Tom." Harry said.

"But I wish, Harry, I'd have got it different. I wish I could go back and undo what I did. I wish I had a real parent to begin with. Twisted love gave birth to me, Harry…and the world twisted me. I don't know why things happened that way…it shouldn't have. My father left an unborn me, my mother didn't even hold out on her life for her newborn son, but died straight away, Dumbledore saw through me, yet never for an instant, stopped me in my path…..I wish I could have been you, Harry. I wish I could've had such friends. Such a guide. And such a guardian…..like Severus."

Harry's insides twisted with anguish. "You really think what happened with him was entirely wrong."

"Indeed Harry, indeed….I did him a great wrong. The world did him a great wrong. He didn't fail me….I failed him. I wish he was here now, so that I could bow down in front of him and ask for his forgiveness. Who knows? If I hadn't been there, such a wonderful man couldn't have turned out such bitter…."

"But you said you're gone already, Tom," Harry said. "Haven't you seen him yet?"

Tom smiled at him. "He has left on his next great adventure, Harry."

"And you, Tom? You're still here?"

"I'm still here. My soul is but a piece, and I cannot start on my path like this. I suppose this….is my punishment. I'll wander here, a wraith, occasionally glancing at the mirror, and over Hogwarts, and wishing I hadn't done all that I did. I suppose…..an eternity of repentance might be the proper vengeance for all I had destroyed."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Riddle actually felt something akin to repentance? But, as he had found out about Snape….no, he corrected himself-Severus, things could change…and so had Riddle. But something came back to him….that lit the sputtering flame of rage within him.

He spun around and growled, "You feel repentance, Riddle? You deserve what you get! Not only did you have to destroy half of magical Britain out of spite, but also inhabit a little girl's nightmares for all eternity! Even now, when she's grown up to be such a dependable, strong woman!"

Riddle looked up, sadly. "And as that basilisk venom burned me in the chamber, that was when I started to doubt myself about Ginny Weasley."

Harry abruptly cut off his rant. He narrowed his eyes at Riddle.

"It's a wonder how a little time to sit and understand the consequences of your actions can make one such hugely different." Riddle said. "Yes Potter. I had been stuck in here from that blasted year the first ever plan of Tom Riddle went wrong. And I understood a lot. I've seen your godfather go by, that senile old coot, and then…..so many….."

"But it's a wonder how death frees us of our prejudices. Everyone stopped and talked with me. Nobody ignored me. Everyone debated me, but didn't fight me out of pure spite."

Harry asked, "What do you mean?"

"I understood, Harry, and I now know why my plan went so horribly awry. Didn't you wonder why Ginny was even alive when you entered the chamber? Didn't you wonder why I didn't blackmail you with her body? Didn't you wonder why the young Lord Voldemort, cunning as he was, failed to make a bargain for the diary for little Ginny's life? Didn't you wonder why I didn't let the basilisk even touch her? Didn't you wonder why I hadn't, yet, made Ginny pin the whole blame for setting loose the basilisk upon herself? Didn't you wonder why I risked the senile old coot get his suspicions onto me, again?"

Harry stared at him, a million thoughts running through his mind. Lord Voldemort was someone who had lost all ability to feel anything except pain; Tom Riddle was someone who was, whatever he might be, just a boy of sixteen. And it just wasn't like Riddle to make such huge mistakes. True, he hadn't noticed that, yet, but surely…he remembered. Riddle could be egotistic, but he wasn't careless at all. Now, it didn't make any sense….but if he really did think what it was….no, impossible…

He noticed Riddle interpreting the thoughts through his eyes clearly. Merlin, this boy's just sixteen and knows
Legilimency, and I can't even shut my mind when I go to sleep. Riddle smiled, a smile tinged with a fair share of sadness.

"It seems, Potter, that your really have a brain, and what a surprise, it really works. Congratulations. You just found out the correct answer. Yes, Potter, " Tom Riddle's voice suddenly grew strangely strangled, "Yes. I loved Ginny Weasley."