In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*Taken

"Ginny?"

The red head whipped around, her eyes wide in shock when she saw Briar there. No one was supposed to see her. Ginny glanced around, sure no one else was around before running towards her best friend

She grabbed her best friend by the wrist and dragged her into Myrtle's bathroom

"What's going on?" Briar asked

"I'm sorry" she whispered, her eyes building with tears "I'm so sorry. I tried to keep you out of it. But I'm scared, I'm so scared"

"What is going on, Ginny?!" She exclaimed

"It was me," she whispered "I did it. All of it. This is my fault. And now he wants me to come down to the chamber but I'm scared, I don't know what to do, but if I don't go then he'll kill me and-"

"Hey," Briar interrupted "I won't let him hurt you okay. We'll be okay"

"No we won't" she sobbed "We won't. If I don't go he'll kill me and the school will expel me, please, you have to help me-"

"I will," Briar nodded "I'll go with you"

"You can't!" She exclaimed "The monster, it could kill you!"

"Or you!" added Briar "We'll be okay, Ginny, I promise"

Ginny nodded timidly and turned to the sinks behind them. Briar was shocked when she heard a foreign sounding language come out of her best friend's mouth. Hisses and snarls almost like a snake. Parseltongue. 

She was about to ask Ginny what was going on but then the sinks began to move apart. The one closest to them suddenly dropped into its drain, revealing a large drop between all the sinks, like a dark slide to which Briar couldn't see an end

"Woah" Briar whispered

"Let's go" Ginny said nervously

Briar clutched her best friend's hand, feeling it was just as clammy and shaky as hers. But together they took a step forward, letting themselves fall down the long, stone slide until they fell onto a dusty, uncomfortable surface

The girls dusted themselves off and Briar looked around, realising they must have been in the sewers, given the large pipe network that seemed to branch off from there

"What's going on?" Briar asked "Is this the chamber?"

"No" Ginny whimpered "We need to find it. Tom is waiting for me."

"And the monster?" Briar asked. Ginny nodded shakily. "Gin...what exactly is this monster?"

"A basilisk" she replied and began to make her way through the dusty pipes. Briar's eyes widened and she felt the hair on her skin prickle. She glanced around in fear, feeling as though she was being watched

But she realised Ginny was still walking away so she hurried after her best friend, who seemed to be following some feeling of hers

They walked in silence until they reached a dead end, with a thick metal door decorated with snakes in the wall. Ginny let the unfamiliar sound of parseltongue slip past her lips again and Briar watched in amazement as the snakes on the door moved around before the door swung open

Ginny crouched down, followed by Briar and they climbed down a ladder on the other side of the door, until their foot met a stony surface. 

When they turned around they were both in frozen shock and fear. There was a long stone bridge, with stone statues of snakes along each side. Briar felt chills go down her spine, their large eyes seemed to be watching her. But at the end of the bridge lay a large stone with a face carved into it at the end and a puddle of water at its base.

The two girls walked towards it slowly, their footsteps echoing in the chamber. As they reached the stone, a boy appeared from the shadows, he had pale skin, dark eyes and black hair

"You found my chamber" he smirked, strolling towards them. But his brows furrowed in confusion when he saw Briar "And what are you doing down here?"

"You're Tom aren't you?" Briar asked, her breath appearing in a cloud in the cold, dreary chamber

"Tom Riddle" He replied "But I prefer my new name...my better name...a name people are too frightened to speak. Lord Voldemort. And thanks to Ginny, I was able to open this chamber again and restore my power to the school. Now all that's left for me to do is finish what I started, killing the infamous Harry Potter" he spat "And you led me right to him" by now he was directly in front of the girls and Briar was attempting to keep Ginny behind her in fear

Ginny went even paler "You won't get to him, he's safe in the school"

"Oh but I will, with you two down here, he'll have no choice but to come down and protect you from me, and when he does my basilisk and I will be waiting" he sneered. 

"Why do you need us?" asked Briar

"You, I wasn't expecting. Briar is it?" He looked at Ginny who nodded "Yes Ginny wrote about you. Her best friend, loyal, strong, an orphan...the daughter of a half breed"

"Let us go," she said

"No" He sneered "With you trapped down here, Harry will be here at any moment to try save his precious friends...only to meet his end"

"Are you going to kill us?" Ginny asked

"No," he sighed and a smirk suddenly broke out onto his face "Not yet. You see as you wrote to me, you gave me strength to appear in this form. And now with two of you here, I can take her strength too. As you two grow weaker, I grow stronger" He suddenly lunged for Briar but Ginny tried to step between them. Tom growled and threw Ginny out of the way. She landed on the cold, stone floor, her head meeting it and making her eyes roll back unconscious

He then turned to Briar with a grim sneer. And he grabbed her by both sides of her face, she struggled in his grip but Tom was stronger than her. He leaned his face down towards hers, until they were mere inches apart, and as he opened his mouth, Briar felt as though her own strength was being sucked out of her

She writhed and struggled, until she felt her body go weak in his hands and she too fell to the floor, her last wish being that Harry wouldn't come find them now. If Harry died here it would be their fault.

Above in the school, Minerva McGonagall had her head in her hands, her heart breaking for Ginny and Briar. Her mind constantly made her think about the message on the wall: 'Their skeletons will lie in the chamber forever'

She knew Lockhart was powerless against the heir of Slytherin and she very well knew tonight may be the last night Hogwarts was open. She had made a promise 10 years ago that she would protect Briar Lupin but now she had failed

Dear Mr Lupin,

I am terribly sorry for what has happened. I failed to protect your daughter from the Chamber of secrets and now she may be paying the consequences for it. I am so sorry.

Minerva McGonagall