Sky full of stars {Harry Potter Fanfiction}

17. Never be the Same

Stunned.

That was the only word to describe the emotions and thoughts that were swirling around my head like a tornado. I'd been asleep for a year? For a whole year I'd been unconscious and unaware while everything changed around me. By saving Katherine's life, I'd sacrificed a year of my own.

But God—where was Katherine? How was she dealing with all of this—and Cassie, and Hermione? Oh God, and what about my sister? I'd left her on the common room floor—how badly was she messed up because of my actions?

Another face flashed to mind as Harry helped Ginny to her feet. God, what about Fred? We were going to meet up tomorrow in my mind, but that had been a whole year for him...

"Lyra!" Harry's words snapped me out of my internal crisis. "We have to get out of here!"

"Yeah, sure..." feeling like a zombie I followed Harry and Ginny past the dead basilisk. Ginny was sobbing next to me. Feeling bad, I asked her, "So, are you okay? I don't exactly know what's been going on..."

Ginny wiped at her face and gave me a weak smile. "It's a long story... but it's nice to finally meet you. Ron, George and Fred were really sad last summer when you were gone. Well, Fred was especially..."

"it's nice to meet you as well," I squeezed the younger girl's shoulder, still in a bit of a daze. "I guess I have a lot of catching up to do..."

Well you've saved two lives... doesn't that make it worth it? Fawkes' voice echoed in my head, as he nudged his scarlet head against my arm.

I shrugged in response. Sure I was beyond relieved that I'd saved both Katherine and Harry, but... what did this mean to me? What world was I returning to?

The three of us and Fawkes hurried along to the corridor, back to where Ron and the strange man had been. Up ahead we could hear rustling of moving rubble.

"Ron!" Harry cried. "We've got Ginny—she's okay! Lyra's here as well!"

We rounded the corner, and Ron's freckled face appeared in the gap I'd squeezed through only fifteen minutes before. Relief blossomed across his face. "Thank God you're all okay."

The three of us squished through into the rubble-infested corridor, and Ron pulled Ginny into a tight hug. She began sobbing even harder.

"So, why was Ginny kidnapped by a teenage-Voldemort?" I asked Harry wearily. I already had a feeling I'd be asking a lot of questions. "I'm so confused."

Harry squeezed my hand lightly. "To sum it up: that diary I stabbed had the memory of sixteen-year-old Voldemort inside. It possessed Ginny and made her open the Chamber of Secrets and set the Basislisk onto muggle-borns."

Suddenly I felt cold all over. "Hermione, Katherine, are they—"

Harry squeezed my hand again. "They both got petrified, but there's a cure. All of the muggle-borns the Basilisk got are going to wake up tonight."

At over-hearing our conversation, Ginny burst into further tears. Ron wrapped his arm around his sister tighter. "So, how are we getting out of here?" Ron demanded. "And Harry, why do you have a sword?"

"Later," Harry brushed off. "Where's Lockhart?"

Ron pointed a finger down to the other end of the corridor. We all hurried down there to find the strange man sat on animal bones, humming to himself.

"Oh, hello everybody!" Lockhart exclaimed, finally noticing us. "Do you all live here?"

"No..." Harry said flatly. I gave him a questioning look. "He was our defence teacher this year, if you could call him that..."