c21

The Hogwarts train barreled over the tracks, each of its marry passengers speaking among themselves about the year to come. Many of the first years were so excited they could barely sit still, in fact many of them was still running up and down the train. Some of them did stop by one particular door, mostly due to the odd blue hue shining around it. An older student had kindly informed them that it was a locking charm. What no one else knew was that there was a silencing charm in place as well, because the topic inside was not to be heard by outsiders.

"Run that by me again…" Vanessa said as she stared skeptically at her lover.

"What part of it don't you understand?" Harry grumbled in return, sick of getting questioned on the particulates of the ritual.

"The part where my fiancé decided to perform a ritual that involves using a piece of a soul, lodged inside his thick skull, to track the other pieces of said soul. Of course the potential dying part is also nagging me, but hey, details right?!" Vanessa exclaimed as she threw her arms in the air.

"You're blowing out of proportion, you know that right?" Harry chided with a grin.

She blew a few raspberries back at him before grumbling, "am not. You really could die, you said so yourself."

"But I won't." He threw back. "We'll have Dumbledore's help and with his and my own magical power combined we should be able to do the ritual without risking any severe backlashes."

Vanessa sighed deeply but ended up with a smile on her face as she looked lovingly at her Harry.

"I know… but I worry, you know that. I just wish that you could have found something else in that book that might have told you more about the ritual."

Harry's left eye twitched at the words. When he tried to recall the memory he remembered the book perfectly, but anything past the ritual it felt hazy… had he been too tired after all?

"As do I, but there are limits to what they could let me read. I'm still more surprised that you ended up getting along with my Queen."

Vanessa nodded sagely with an odd look of confusion. "Yeah, funny how things end up huh? I honestly expected us to have the shouting match of the century, but she was remarkably cool about everything. You were right though, she did try to make me live in the Ashwoods after our son is born." She smiled sheepishly as she looked out the window. "I told her that I'd think about it."

Harry grinned up a storm the rest of the trip to Hogwarts.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly as he watched the new students walk through the great hall for the first time. Ahh there was a wonder here, young minds discovering the vastness of magic for the first time. It gave new energy to his old bones and warmed his heart. He watched as they stopped when McGonagall commanded them to and everything went silent for him as he watched each of their faces.

They all held smile so bright that even the night sky could not compare. For to him, each of those smiles represented something greater, they represented the future of their world. One particular face caught his attention, young Luna Lovegood did not look around like the others, rather her focus seemed split. Constantly he caught her sight shifting towards the Ravenclaw table and two very specific people.

Many years in the political arena allowed Albus to keep the surprise off his face. Much like young Luna kept looking towards them, Harry and Vanessa were both looking at her with smiles so full of warmth and love that he could have mistaken them for looking at family.

There was much more to the young couple than he had imagined. How many of these faces had they looked upon before? How many of them had Harry had to stop himself from greeting with an unfitting familiarity? It would be best not to dwell in his old age, if they wished to tell him, they would. After all it was now time for his favorite part, the sorting.

Harry and Vanessa watched on with bright smiles as each young child sat upon the chair and had a name called out from that old Albinius. Their eyes had never left their initial target. That platinum blonde hair was impossible to mistake for anyone else.

"She looks so much… happier… than I remember." Vanessa whispered. Her head finding its way to Harry's shoulder.

Beneath the table, Harry grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Perhaps… perhaps her mom is alive in this time." He smiled sadly at the memory of a Luna that would cry each year on her mother's death day. "This time we can help her right from the start."

He felt Vanessa nod against his shoulder as she spoke. "It's so weird, watching the woman whom I stood as maid of honor for, standing there as a child… she is so cute."

Harry felt Vanessa squeeze his hand a little tighter as her voice broke slightly. "Do you think Matthew is out there somewhere, just waiting for his crazy witch to fall on him again?"

Returning the squeeze, Harry hid his own doubt behind a wall of fake confidence. "I'm sure of it. Then or now, this life or our last. Matthew and Luna were meant to be… and I can't wait to meet him again."

She nodded one last time as Luna took the seat. There was a long pause, longer than there had to be as Luna conversed with Albinius about her placement within Hogwarts. Odd, Harry thought, there should not be any doubt as to where she should be.

"RAVENCLAW!" the old hat finally bellowed and the entirety of Ravenclaw rose in cheer for their newest member.

Luna jumped off the chair and with careful steps made her way to the end of Ravenclaw table. She took the seat that a pretty second year offered her and saw as the girl smiled widely at her, she knew who the second year was before she spoke.

"Hi, I'm Vanessa, welcome to Ravenclaw." The pretty girl said.

"I know." Luna replied with a small smile.

"Oh do you now?" Vanessa began with a teasing tone. "How did you learn that?"

Luna raised her head and looked straight at Harry with a slightly bigger grin. "Daddy is friends with Dumbledore. He let it slip that there was at least two people in Ravenclaw that would like me, you and Harry."

Vanessa grinned herself as she slung her arm around the younger claw, surprising the blonde-haired girl. "Indeed, indeed and how right he was. Stick with me, kiddo, and I'll show you a whole new world."

Luna smiled widely as she scooted a little closer to the older girl before reaching for her first piece of food, her little introduction with Vanessa having gone over Dumbledore's opening remarks.

The meal went by quietly. Vanessa spent the majority of the time prodding Luna for information about herself, often taking every shot she could at embarrassing the little girl. It continued all the way up to the common room and lasted right until they shared a goodnight. Though where Luna went to catch some much needed sleep, Vanessa stayed in the common room, a smiling Harry watching from one of the tables.

"She's so happy… her mom is alive… her dad is alive. Her life has been just as she had always wanted it." Vanessa mumbled as she joined Harry at the table.

"It would certainly seem so. We have a meeting with Albus, best get going." Harry agreed and led the way to the aged Headmasters office.

"So… crazy large snake slumbering right underneath the school?" Vanessa asked along the way.

"Yup." Harry chirped.

"Going to do anything about it?"

"At one point."

"Why not just kill it now?"

"Might not be needed."

"Ookay… can I help?"

"Sure."

Vanessa stopped both of them by grabbing Harry's arm and turning him around so she could look at him.

"For real?" she asked.

"After I'm done training you, sure." Harry agreed with a nod.

"Training?"

"I said I was going to turn you into a Sorceress, and I am. We start in a few weeks with a ritual, then some more intense training. We should be a good bit of the way by the end of the year." Harry explained.

"Okay, sounds good to me." She replied as they resumed their walk, a few paces from the stone gargoyle, she spoke again, "so what ritual?"

Harry sighed deeply as he stared at the gargoyle. "Chocolate Dipped Apples." The gargoyle began moving… slowly. "Stupid password." He turned to face Vanessa "It's a ritual to make this," he tapped the center of her chest with his knuckles, "grow stronger and more resistant to rapid increase. The exercises we are going to be doing will forcefully expand your magical core tenfold. Without the ritual you would imitate Hermione when she killed us."

"Bitch…" breathed Vanessa as they ascended the staircase and entered the office.

"Harry, Vanessa, welcome back to Hogwarts." Albus declared with a smile as he conjured to pleasant seats in front of his desk.

They chorused a thank you before sitting down and grabbing a piece of the offered candy.

"So your letter indicated that you had found something when you visited the Dark Elves?" Albus opened the talk.

"Indeed. It's an old ritual, dark if you believe the ministry, but it will help us locate the other Horcruxes by using the one stuck in my scar." Harry explained carefully.

Dumbledore hummed to himself a little before speaking. "Do you have a list of materials?"

Harry handed him a piece of paper while he quickly brandished his half-moon spectacles and looked over the list. A good few items indeed, quite dark some of them. All very easy to acquire for someone with his connections, but…

"It shouldn't poses a problem to acquire any of these items. Though it will have to be done over the year, quietly, as to not arouse suspicion. Many of these items, in different combinations, could be used for some dark magic."

Harry nodded, having already expected this when he looked over the ingredients himself. "Quite alright, Albus. Gives us more time to prepare anyway. I'll start my hunt for the diary as soon as possible, with a little luck, Ginny is still in possession of it and we can take it from there."

Dumbledore placed his spectacles on the desk and gazed at the two young people before him. "I'll admit, Harry, I'm not comfortable with not dealing with the basilisk right away. If anything has changed, just enough so that it is no longer Ginny…"

"I know." Harry interrupted, "but it that turns out to be the case, I'll take responsibility for it."

Dumbledore sighed tiredly but still managed a small smile. "Now I do believe I heard you talking about another ritual in the corridor, enlighten an old wizard?"

"I'm expanding Vanessa's magical core. I've intentions of making her a Sorceress much like I'm a Mage." Harry explained.

"Indeed?" Albus mused. "I shall not doubt your expertise on the matter. I have had precious little conversation with Mages myself. You are a secretive lot."

"That we are Albus. With good reason though." Harry agreed with a nod.

"Now, Miss Waver," Albus began as his twinkling eyes changed to the last person in the room, "I noticed you were getting quite friendly with the young Luna, do I sense a previous connection?"

Vanessa gave a low chuckle at the memory and nodded her head. "Indeed you do, Headmaster. I was Luna's maid of honor when she got married in our previous time."

Albus eyes twinkled madly, always happy to hear about such occasions. "Indeed? It warms my heart to hear that such a gifted child, like Luna found their special other."

Their conversation spun late, just enough for Albus to escort them back to Ravenclaw Tower to avoid getting punished by a professor. Though Albus didn't doubt that they wouldn't have gotten caught anyway.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

The months rolled by slowly for the pair. The ritual to expand Vanessa's core had been done unceremoniously inside the Room of Requirement without a single complication. Oh Vanessa had been tired for a few days as her newly expanded core filled up once gain, but after that she was back to being the hyper active witch Harry loved.

However, the hunt for the diary… that was an entirely different matter. At first, he had made a line straight for Ginverva's personal belongings, upon finding nothing he took to following the young witch around under his cloak in the hopes of catching her with the book. It never happened. He followed her far and wide, even going as far as following her inside the girls dormitories one night. Still nothing.

Vanessa hadn't had much luck either. Though she stuck with Harry most of the time, she had gotten a small circle of friends among the older Ravenclaws, her more mature mind leading her to them. One of them, a nice sixth year by the name Amanda, was a rumor queen that could rival even the Gryffindor Patil sister. Vanessa had, with the subtly of a brick, tried to find out if any girl had been a little to connected with her diary as of late. Even the Hogwarts rumor mill was dry on the subject… not a good sign.

So there they both sat, in the middle of a Charms Lesson, heads down and sour expressions on their faces. The charm covered that class, Harry had already mastered and passed on to her, so they weren't really listening.

"This isn't good, Ace. If Amanda couldn't find anything, and the Weasley didn't have the book… we're running out of time." Vanessa said using Harry's nickname as a sign of stress. Thankfully no one overheard as Harry had erected a silencing charm around them both.

"You're right, There's far too many students in the school to stalk each one individually, not to mention there hasn't been one person showing signs of possession… no nervousness, paranoia or signs of illness." Harry rebuffed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"We need to do something… and soon…" Vanessa mumbled as she looked towards the door.

"You've been skittish all day, what's going on?" Harry asked as he grabbed her hand.

Vanessa looked around a little in concern before focusing entirely on him. "I've had a rotten feeling all day, like the Canada job… only… worse?" she tried.

That was more than enough assurance for him that something was off. The Canada job had been a colossal clusterfuck, nothing had topped it their entire career… they needed to get out of the class.

"AAAAAARGH!" A scream ripped through the halls of the school and within seconds there was a wild panic inside the Charms classroom.

Harry and Vanessa shared one look before the jumped over their tables and darted for the door, Filius was so busy calming the rest of the students that he didn't have time to stop them.

They sprinted as quickly as their legs could carry them, the sound of someone sobbing guiding their way through the halls. They almost skidded around a corner when they saw it and suddenly they both felt pits in their stomachs…

A girl was lying on the floor, still as if she was asleep.

As they approached they noticed the Hufflepuff coloring on her robes, the same as the girl sitting on the ground crying her eyes out. A fellow Hufflepuff from the robes.

"What happened?" Vanessa asked quietly of the girl as she brought her in for a hug.

The babble was incoherent and through the sobbing it was only worse. Harry chose to inspect the body… indeed she was dead, not petrified, dead. Looking around there was no sign of a possible reflective surface that the girl could have been saved by…

For the first time in a long time, Harry felt guilt. He had known the basilisk was here, he could have stopped it so easily… and yet he didn't.

Footsteps brought their attention towards the hall where a frantic Dumbledore was rushing towards them, all four Heads of House following in his wake. Professor Sprout gasped at the sight and rushed forward to inspect her charge, silent tears streaking down her cheeks as she realized the futility.

"Harry…" Dumbledore breathed as he took in the sight. "What happened?"

"We were in Professor Flitwick's class when a scream ripped through the halls," Harry indicated to the sobbing girl in Vanessa's embrace, "Vanessa and I rushed here while Professor Flitwick was calming the rest of the class, we found her crying over the other student. You appeared shortly after."

"Albus." Whispered Professor Sprout. "She's dead, her heart… it simply stopped. What could have done this?"

"I do not know, Pomona my dear. Rest assured… I won't rest until I find out." Dumbledore turned a harsh look upon Harry and the younger Wizard didn't flinch, but Albus could see the guilt in his gaze.

McGonagall took the crying Hufflepuff from Vanessa and guiding her towards the hospital wing, Pomona right behind her with the still body of the student levitating silently in front of her. Severus looked upon the scene and had so sorely wished to accuse the Potter brat of this, but he knew that the little snot wouldn't be capable of taking a life, not Dumbledore's golden boy. With a disdainful sniff he turned and stalked back towards the dungeons for his next potions lesson.

"My office, now." Ordered Dumbledore and neither of the two refused him.

"The Chamber, Harry, open it." Dumbledore finally said as they reached the office. "I will slay the beast myself if need be, but I will not stand idly by after this!" he thundered, "How am I to explain this to the DMLE? A student died on school grounds, her heart simply stopping… merlin save us." He finally said as he sunk into his chair.

"I'll do it." Harry replied to Albus surprise. "No one else dies, not because of my mistakes."

With a sharp nod, Albus rose and lifted his arm to Fawkes. "Grab my other arm you two," once they had hold he looked at Harry, "tell Fawkes where to go and we shall be there in an instant."

"First floor, girls lavatory. The entrance is beneath the sinks." Harry instructed and they vanished in flames.

They appeared inside the specified bathroom and Myrtle fled, screaming through toilet. Not sooner had he gotten his bearings before Harry practically roared $OPEN!$ at the sink in parseltongue.

"Merlin…" whispered Dumbledore as he saw the sink move aside to reveal the path towards the chamber.

"Let's go." Harry ground out as he jumped first, soon followed by the others.

They trudged through the ancient passage, bones cracking under their boots. They came upon a shed skin, massive in size. Harry almost choked at the sight… it was bigger than it should be, much bigger. He voiced as such and everyone had their wands at the ready.

The gate came into view and ice gripped their hearts, it was open still. They rushed inside, Dumbledore leading the charge with a spell already on his lips… only to find nothing. The statue of Salazar Slytherin sat still, mouth wide open and no sign or sound of the monstrous beast that should have hidden within.

"Spread out and search, it has to be here!" Dumbledore whispered harshly to the two. After receiving nods of understanding, they parted.

They walked through the chamber, scouring every inch for a sign of the great serpent. All they found was silence and dread spreading through their cores.

"Guys!" Vanessa's voice rang through the pipes and moments later Fawkes appeared in a small flame, carrying Dumbledore and Harry. Vanessa gestured to a segment of pipe, broken. Harry inspected it while Dumbledore cast a spell and turned white as his beard.

"No…" he whispered.

"What is it, Albus?" Harry inquired.

"These pipes," he gestured to the path unbroken, "lead towards the rest of Hogwarts. But these…" he swung his wand over the broken segment that led into darkness, "lead out into the old sever system that runs under the entire grounds."

They both caught on instantly and their skin matched their aged Headmasters as they looked out into the darkness.

"The basilisk... it's free…" the words echoed endlessly in their minds.