A/N - This is my first time writing fanfiction, and has been prompted by my enjoyment of many other stories found on this site. Many of my ideas may have already been used, but they are from so many different stories that I can't keep track and give credit to them all. Just know that if I did get it from somewhere other than the books, It should be in my favourite stories. If not, please tell me and I will fix it. Other than that, hee is the normal Disclaimer: The world, characters and plot belong to the wonderful J. K. Rowling, who I thank for providing such a wonderful set of stories that I have lost many hours enjoying. (Also, while the plot is mainly canon to start with, it changes quite drastically later on, and is still noticebaly different at the start).

Chapter 1 - Aftermath of the Chamber

After the Chamber, when Fawkes has returned them to the Headmaster's Office.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Professor Lockhart entered The Headmaster's office to find Mrs Weasley frantically pacing while her husband and Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore tried to calm her down. However, as they listened from the doorway, the knowledge that Harry and Ron had also disappeared soon after the announcement along with the DADA teacher did little to calm her nerves.

It was just reaching the point when they didn't think she could get any louder when she spotted the four of them in the doorway, and immediately rushed over to sweep her children into a hug. Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore noticed the strange array of items Harry was holding, and the presence of Fawkes circling above his student's head, but before having a chance to get a word in edgeways to question him, Harry got swept into another of Mrs Weasley's bone-crushing hugs, while she worried profusely over them.

"...so glad you're alright I just couldn't cope if I lost any of my babies oh I don't know what you were thinking running off when Professor Lockhart had it all under control you two..." Mrs Weasley was saying, apparently forgoing the need to breathe in order to fuss over her children.

It was at this moment that she realised breathing was something necessary to allow her to survive, and the momentary pause was all Professor Dumbledore needed to sit them all down and attempt to take control over the situation. Summoning four chairs he invited the newcomers to take a seat, while Mr Weasley pulled his wife away from the children and back down next to him.

As it looked like Mrs Weasley was about to start up again, a very tired Albus Dumbledore quickly headed her off so that he might have a chance of getting to bed that evening, "Molly, you may fuss all you want over them later, but right now it is most imperative we look at the bigger picture and find out what happened to them." As it looked like she was about to blow up again at his suggestion that something might be more important than her mothering instincts, Mr Weasley took matters into his own hands and with a well placed silencing charm, managed to restore order to the office.

While this was all happening, Harry noticed that Ginny, who was in the seat next to him, was looking down at her lap with her arms hanging loosely by her sides and crying. As no one else seemed to be taking any notice of her and he couldn't bear to see her suffering like this, he quickly edged his chair as close as possible towards her and wrapped his right arm over her shoulders, in a sort of sideways hug, while whispering in her ear, "don't worry, they won't expel you, I won't let them."

"How c-could you m-m-make a diff-rence?" She muttered in return.

"I have a lot of leverage I can use as the Boy-who-Lived, and if they still expel you, I'll leave too and we can go to a different school together. I'm not going to let you be alone again - that's how this got started in the first place. I'll always be here for you."

This did make her look slightly happier and so in Harry's mind the rather extreme promise was worth it.

By this point, the Weasley matriarch had just been silenced, and Professor Dumbledore was preparing to question the four chamber-goers.

"Professor Lockhart, can you tell me anything about what happened in the chamber?"

After a few moments of waiting, Ron spoke up. "Um, sir?"

"Yes Mr Weasley?"

"The professor was hit by a strong memory charm, he doesn't remember who he is or even what magic is."

"Is that right? And how did this happen?" Dumbledore sounded slightly intrigued.

"Me and Harry, we'd worked out where the entrance to the chamber was and went to tell Lockhart so he knew where to go. When we got to his office we found him packing, preparing to run away. We disarmed him and made him come with us, being the DADA professor and all, after he told us where he got all the stories for his books from."

Harry spoke up here. "He said he wandered the world, finding people who had experienced adventures, took their stories, then obliviated them. Apparently that is the only magic he actually can do. When we got into the tunnels leading to the chamber, he took Ron's wand and tried to obliviate us, but it backfired and hit him instead. The resulting explosion from Ron's wand caused the tunnel to cave in, leaving them on one side and me on the other."

Picking up his questioning, Dumbledore asked, "but where is the entrance to these tunnels, as no matter how many times we searched the school we couldn't find it."

"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. One of the sinks has a snake on it and can only be opened by a Parselmouth. After the cave-in I left Ron trying to make a hole in the rubble while I went ahead to rescue Ginny. In the chamber itself..." Harry shivered, hating what he had seen upon entering the chamber, but steeling himself, forced himself to continue his story. "I saw Ginny as soon as I entered, lying at the far end, pale and still. Then Tom came and told me his life story."

"Excuse me" interjected Mr Weasley, "but who on earth is Tom?"

Harry continued, "by this point I was left wondering who he was, and he showed me by writing it in the air." Repeating the show for effect, Harry used his wand to write 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in the air before giving it a flick and allowing the writing to change.

"'I am Lord Voldermort'" Dumbledore breathed, "an ingenious anagram formed by one of my former students."

Harry once again tried to continue his story, "it was his mind imprint within the diary, that has been controlling Ginny all year..." Breaking off, he handed Dumbledore the bloody, tattered diary and turned his attention to Ginny once again, who's sobs could be heard wracking her body as she found out who had been in her mind all year, her closest confident. He pulled her into his arms as she turned, wordlessly, and clambered onto his lap. Wrapping one arm around her body, he ran his other hand through her long red hair and whispered calming words in her ear once more, "It's okay, he's gone now, he can't hurt you anymore. It wasn't your fault so don't go blaming yourself. Stay calm, I'll always be here for you." He whispered.

While Dumbledore sat examining the diary, Mrs Weasley looked on as Ginny accepted a level of comfort from a boy barely older than herself, instead of her mother, that she had never needed before.

Soon Dumbledore had finished his examination, and addressed Harry. "Mr Potter, if you would please continue you story?"

Harry looked up from muttering to Ginny, and after making sure she was comfortable curled up in his lap with her head on his chest, took a deep breath and continued. "When he had finished his monologue, he called upon the monster in the chamber to attack me."

"And what was it?"

"A basilisk. However, Fawkes soon showed up with the sorting hat. He dropped the hat in my lap, and I remember wondering what use it possibly could have been to me to have it." He was aware of how stupid the next bit sounded after the event. "having no better ideas, I made sure my eyes were closed and pulled it onto my head, where something fell out of it, and taking it off, I suddenly had the sword." He used the hand in Ginny's hair to gesture to it before returning to his earlier stroking, which seemed to calm her considerably. "I picked up the sword and while this had been happening, Fawkes had managed to blind the basilisk so I could open my eyes. After a while of fighting it, I finally managed to stab it."

"There's something you are avoiding telling us" Dumbledore observed.

"As you can see I am fine now, but when I stabbed it, I may have been bitten at the same time, in the arm."

"How on Earth are you still alive then? Basilisk venom is fatal in a matter of seconds."

"I remember crawling back to where Ginny was lying and pulling the fang out" Once again he gestured to it lying on the table. "Then Fawkes came down and cried on me a bit before bringing the diary over."

Mr Weasley once more made his presence known again at this moment by speaking up, "Of course, healing tears!"

"I stabbed the diary with the fang, and the black stuff began oozing out while Tom exploded into dust, at the same time as Ginny woke back up."

"But what was wrong with my daughter in the first place?"

"Tom said something about using he life force to bring himself back to life, but I think that has been prevented. Anyway, after telling Ginny what happened, we went to find Ron and Lockhart, before coming here by flame travel to just outside the door."

Dumbledore spoke up again. "I will need to discuss parts of this with you more Harry, but for now I think all three of you need the hospital wing while I transfer our DADA teacher to St. Mungo's long-term care ward."

With that he left the room with Lockhart, leaving a stunned Professor McGonagall to escort the others to the hospital wing.

A/N - And there's the first chapter. I currently have the first 14 written, and lots more to come out of my mind and onto the screen. I welcome reviews to help make my writing better. I will also mention, the majority of this story was written while on holiday the previous summer, when I didn't have any internet and so rather than read fanfiction, I started writing it myself. Not much has been written since then, so when I do continue, I will have to read the entire thing again to make sure I know how much I had already included.