ʀᴇɴᴀɪssᴀɴᴄᴇ

|| 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 ||

--- 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐩: ℋ𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒫ℴ𝓉𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝒻 𝒮ℯ𝒸𝓇ℯ𝓉𝓈 ---

"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever! "
Reading this message written on the wall, Harry and Ron felt more and more fear. But as soon as Professor McGonagall took her name, their fear increased sufficiently.
Ginny Weasley had been taken by the one who opened the infamous Chamber of Secrets.
Full of fear, Harry and Ron stare at the wall in utter horror, each of them worried for Ginny.
They rushed towards the cabin of Professor Lockhart. He might have been a complete show off but as the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, he was obligated to fight "the monster" and save Ginny Weasley. But upon entering the cabin, they found Mr Lockhart packing all his stuff.
"Professor, are you going somewhere?"
Lockhart looks up, startled.
"Oh... Well...yes.. Urgent call. Unavoidable!"
"What about my sister?!"
"Well, that's most unfortunate. No one regrets it more than I"
Ron tries to speak for his sister but he pays no attention, continuing to pack his stuff.
"You're running away?", Harry asks in disgust.
"What about all the things you wrote in your books?!"
"oh well, books can be misleading."
Suddenly, realization dawns upon Harry.
"You're a fraud!! You've been taking credit for what other wizards have done!!"
Having been caught and then been outsmarted by two IInd year students, Lockhart reluctantly follows them to the entrance to the chamber.

After entering the chamber alone, Harry finds Ginny lying unconscious in the middle of the room. He rushes towards her and drops his wand in the process.
"Ginny! Please don't be dead! Wake up! Wake up!"
Suddenly a voice echoed in the room.
"She won't wake"
Recognizing him from the diary incident, Harry stares at him, in complete awe.
"Tom? Tom Riddle!"
"She's alive but only just"
"There's a Basilisk! We have to help her!"
"It won't come until it's called", he says, having picked up Harry's wand.
"Give me my wand, Tom"
"You won't be needing it"
"Listen, we've got to go, we've got to save her!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger"

Sensing Harry's confusion, Tom explains everything to him. From how Ginny was under a trance to how he wanted to meet him.
After a series of events, Harry finally gets to know that the 16 year old boy standing in front of him is none other than the monster who had mercilessly murdered his parents, Lord Voldemort himself.
Harry had fought the Basilisk and slayed it using the help Dumbledore sent him - the sword of Godric Griffindor, the heirloom of the house of Gryffindor. Seeing that sword in Harry's hands had reminded Tom of a certain someone he used to know. A brave, courageous witch who had been successfull in bewitching his soul before he had erased her from existence, killing every sense of humanity in himself.
As Harry came back towards Ginny, Tom took the diary from her hands and smirked at the boy.
"Remarkable isn't it..", he said as Harry removed the Basilisk's tooth embedded in his arm, "..how quickly the venom of the Basilisk penetrates the body"
Harry flinched in pain as Ginny slowly lost all her life form. He helplessly stared at her, hoping someone would save them both. Tom stood in complete silence, with a smirk resting on his lips, having sensed his forthcoming victory. Suddenly Tom started glowing brightly and in a flash, the light was gone. As Harry removed his hands from his eyes, he saw Tom Riddle, in all his might, standing in front of him, very much alive. Harry quickly checked Ginny's pulse and to his horror, there was nothing. No pulse. She wasn't breathing.
Ginny Weasley was dead.
Harry hugged her tightly and started crying. He had failed. He felt useless.
"I would deal with you right here and now but I have to make sure if the prophecy was truly real and whether my old friends are reborn or not. I'll see you soon, Harry Potter."
Having said that, Tom left the chamber.
With the Basilisk venom in his body and Ginny dead, Harry felt like dying. But Fawkes had saved him.

Harry woke up and saw Madam Pomfrey smiling sadly at him.
"At last you're awake boy"
"What happened madam? Is Hermione ok? And Ron? And Ginny! Ginny...she..she..."
"Ms Granger is fine now and so is Mr Weasley. And Ms Weasley is no more. It's been a week since her dead body was found in the chamber of Slytherin"
Harry felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He had failed to save her and now she was gone, gone beyong the point of saving. Moreover, Voldemort had returned, but in a much powerful and cunning form. He had returned as the boy who started it all, Tom Marvolo Riddle was back and Merlin knows what prophecy he was talking about. What else was going to be snatched away from them?
With all these questions in his young mind, Harry felt himself drifting back to unconsciousness.

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞:
The cast is same as in the movies and as Voldemort: the origins of the heir movie. However, it's up-to you guys, how you imagine Tom Riddle - as Christian Coulson or the one from the Fan movie. I find them both perfect for the role soooo...
Also, this may or may not be a Tom x Grisha story as I fell in love with them. Let's see where it goes. Have a lovely day!