Chapter 15
I smirked as I held the Basilisk fang in one hand and the open Diary in the other. Basilisk venom destroys most things. "No!" Tom yelled. Back away from the girl. The Basilisk did as it was told. "Don't touch the Diary!"
"Why? What is it?"
"It's... It's a part of my soul. It's a Horcrux. The first I ever made. It's half of my soul. If you destroy it, you'll be killing half of me. Half of your Lord and Father."
"Let Ginny go." I'm not gonna destroy it in case what he's saying is the truth but I'm not gonna let him know that.
"Fine." Tom turned more and more see-through over the next few moments until he disappeared entirely. Now, if what he's saying is true, I can't let Dumbledore get ahold of this Diary but Harry's Occlumency isn't good enough to block Dumbledore out. He'll know about the Diary and then, most likely, the Horcruxes too. Okay, there has to be a way around this. I took out a Muggle pen that Hermione had given me. I've been carrying it around as a reminder of her since she got Petrified. I wrote in the Diary. 'IS THERE A WAY TO CREATE A FAKE DIARY TO SHOW DUMBLEDORE?' Tom responded with yes and told me the Spell. I did the Spell and pocketed the real Diary before shoving the Basilisk fang through the fake Diary. I turned around and came face-to-face with the blinded Basilisk. Oh, shit. Right. Damn it. I don't want to hurt her.
I know you're struggling, little heir. I can sense it. Kill me. I've lived long enough. I know none of my kind and this has been the first time in 50 years I've talked to anyone. I don't want to live alone anymore. Do it. Please.
I don't want to hurt you.
I've been hurting. You will be saving me... Just... Please protect my little egg. The Basilisk pointed at an egg in the water in front of the statue. She is bonded to you. I can feel it. A Mother always knows. Basilisks can control when they use their gaze. She will not harm anyone unless you ask her to as you are the heir and bonded to her. She will protect you as I hope you will protect her. Promise me you'll make sure she knows I love her more than anything.
I promise and of course, I will take care of her... Are you sure about this? What's your name?
Yes, I'm sure. My name is Basilia. I reluctantly used my Air Magic to fly above her after picking up the Sword. Thank you. I quickly flew down, chopping the Basilisk's head off with the Sword as I went. I felt a tear slide down my face as I dropped the Sword and I quickly wiped it away. I grabbed the fake Diary, the egg, the Sword and the Hat and used my Air Magic to fly to where Harry and I had left Ron. I spotted Fawkes and I passed Fawkes the Hat and the fake Diary and used my Air Magic to follow him out while holding on to the egg and the Sword. I quickly hid the egg in the bathroom before making my way to the Hospital Wing. I opened the door to the Hospital Wing and then collapsed. Right as I blacked out, I felt someone catch me.
...
"Cassie, Granger's here," Draco said and I turned around to see Hermione and Harry hugging. I quickly used my Air Magic to fly over the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables to get to the Gryffindor table. I heard the whole school whispering about my Air Magic and me. They haven't stopped since I got out of the Hospital Wing yesterday after exhausting my Magic a few days ago. After Hermione pulled away from Ron's hug, I pulled her into a hug.
"I missed you, Cutie," I whispered to her. "I'm glad you're back."
"It's good to be back," Hermione said. "Congratulations, I can't believe you solved it."
"Well, we had loads of help from you," Harry said and I grinned. "We couldn't've done it without you."
"Thanks," Hermione said.
"Dumbledore gave us each a Special Award for Services to the School and 100 points so Slytherin's won the House Cup," I said with a smirk.
"Don't need to be so smug about it, Cassie," Ron grumbled.
"Yeah, well, we also won the Quidditch cup so..."
"Shove off!" Ron said with a smirk as he shoved me. We turned around when we heard someone tapping on a glass. It was Professor McGonagall. I quickly used my Air Magic to get back to my spot at the Slytherin table next to Draco.
"Could I have your attention, please?" Professor McGonagall called.
"Before we begin the feast," Dumbledore said after standing up. "Let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, whose Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who had been Petrified." Everyone clapped and cheered. "Also, in light of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled." Almost everyone clapped and cheered. I frowned and I spotted Hermione mouthing 'oh, no'. I was looking forward to my first Magical exams and O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s can't be cancelled so he's lying. The double doors opened and Hagrid walked in.
"Sorry I'm late," he said and I immediately flew over to him and hugged him.
"I'm glad you're okay, Hagrid," I whispered to him.
"Thanks, Cassie," Hagrid said. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I have visited Hagrid a few times over the year, at Harry's insistence, and Hagrid's actually a really nice person. If you ignore the Dumbledore propaganda. "The Owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused." We started walking over to Harry, Hermione and Ron. "Some ruddy Bird called Errol." A few people who knew that Bird belonged to the Weasleys laughed. Hagrid and I stopped in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione. "I'd just like to say that if it hadn't been for you, Harry... And Cassie... And Ron... And Hermione, of course... I would, er..." Hagrid gulped and tilted his head a little. "I'd still be you-know-where... So I'd just like to say thanks." Harry and I shared a look and he stood up.
"There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid," Harry and I said. Harry and I hugged Hagrid and we heard someone start clapping. I turned around and saw Dumbledore standing up and clapping. Professor McGonagall soon joined him so I started clapping too. Soon enough, everyone joined in clapping and they all stood up and cheered... Even Draco did since he knows how important Hagrid and my other friends are to me. Hagrid started tearing up. A boy I think is called Seamus Finnigan whistled and the Creevey boy who follows Harry around took a few pictures as people came over to shake hands with Hagrid.
...
"Cassie!" Pansy called as I walked down the train. I stopped and noticed her head sticking out of the compartment I'd just passed. "Come sit with us."
"Oh, er, I was going to sit with Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys," I said and she frowned.
"Why do you bother with those Blood Traitors, the Half-Breed and the Mudblood?"
"They're my friends just like you are. Besides, Hermione, Harry and Percy are going to do their Etiquette Exams this summer so you won't be able to call them that."
"What's in your arms?"
"Oh, it's the Basilisk's egg. I found it in the Chamber. We've got a Familiar Bond."
"You brought the egg of the Snake that was attacking the school with you on the train? Er, never mind, go ahead and find the others. If that thing hatches, I don't want to die."
"Basilisks can control when their gaze is deadly. She won't hurt you unless I tell her to and I won't do that. You're too cute to kill." Pansy blushed and quickly ducked back into the compartment. When I finally found Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Percy and the twins, they had the same reaction to finding out what the egg was. After I explained its gaze, the twins quickly became more interested in the egg so I passed it to Fred. I sat between Ginny and Hermione with Fred next to Ginny. Luckily, George was opposite Fred so when they kept passing the egg between them, they weren't leaning over each other. Ron was sitting between George and Harry and Percy was next to Harry with an annoyed look on his face as he tried to read his book but kept getting distracted by Harry and Ron's loud conversation about the last Quidditch game of the season that was between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ginny kept looking at me, blushing and looking away while Hermione kept glaring at Ginny.
"Cassie, when can we do the Etiquette Exams? I know some of us," Hermione said with another glare at Ginny. This time, Ginny glared back. "Aren't ready to take them yet but the rest of us are." This got the attention of Harry and Percy so Ron started looking at the egg with the twins.
"Oh, er, whenever you're all free and ready to but I was thinking at the end of summer but not too close to the start of term so you can be focused on the exam and not getting school supplies and stuff so... Maybe mid-August? Harry, Hermione, you two are free to stay at mine whenever you want. I'd offer the rest of you too but I don't think my Dad would be okay with Weasleys staying over. Sorry."
"That's fine, Cassie," Ginny said with a slight sigh, causing Hermione to stand up.
"Cassie, switch places with me, please?" Hermione asked. I shrugged and swapped so I was next to the window. I noticed Ginny and Hermione glaring at each other so I listened to their thoughts and I was shocked. Ginny and Hermione both like me and they're jealous of each other. Ginny's Aura is dark blue so she's a closer match than those that aren't blue but with how dark it is, she's nowhere near as close a match as Hermione is. What am I supposed to do about this? Ginny's... Kinda like a little Sister at best but not even that. She'd be a little Sister through Ron being my big Brother. I have started to see Ron as my Brother. Not as much as Harry, though. But at some point, Harry probably will become my Brother given him and Draco. Fuck it, I'm just going to ignore the situation. That's it. It's not happening. Nope. Not happening.
"So, is anyone else hungry? Cos I'm really hungry," I said and my stomach started going off. I quickly pulled out the chocolate I'd grabbed at the end-of-year feast last night and I started eating it while passing a little to the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry. Harry is way too skinny so I'm so gonna send him some food care packages over the summer... I'll send Hermione and Percy some books... Ron and Ginny can get some Quidditch stuff with a little bit of money for a new wand for Ron... The twins will get any ideas for pranks that I have. We've pranked quite a few people over the year together and I actually pranked them once so their hair kept changing different colours of the rainbow. I smirked as I remembered the looks on their faces when they found out that I was the one who did it and they begged me to teach them the Spell. I smiled as George handed me the egg back. Bellatrix crawled out of my pocket and onto the egg. She laid over it on her stomach and happily sighed. For some reason, she loves doing that. I don't know why though and neither does she.
...