Phoenix

~Chapter 11~

Lily stood behind Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets. Her little sister was having a screaming match against Tom Marvolo Riddle, though clearly weak as the memory stole her life force. Riddle sensed her presence. "Ginny. Get on it, it'll go to Cassie, you'll be safe. Tell her to warn the boys." Lily had cast her flaming patronus, which knelt down for her sister. Ginny was so shocked she didn't even stop herself from clambering onto the wolf. The wolf leapt gracefully out of the Chamber.

He smirked at her. "One would have thought, as the current Holder of Phoenix Fyre, you wouldn't get yourself into situations like these on a regular basis." Lily raised an eyebrow as she stood, her back against a wall, one foot against the wall. She pushed herself, strolling towards the young Lord Voldemort. "What do you mean, current?" Lily smirked. Blank shock showed on his face for a split second, quickly replaced by a sneer. "I destroyed you when I was sixteen-" Lily cut him off, laughing, head thrown back. She turned to him, then raised a hand, and a gold flame enveloped it.

"You and I both know that that is not the best I can do, Tom." Harry rushed in then, sword of Gryffindor already in his hand, Sorting Hat clutched in the other. Tom spoke a few words of Parseltongue, and the Basilisk came to him. "Kill the boy."

Harry looked Lily in the eye, and she nodded. He ran up towards the far wall, and Lily let out an inhuman noise. There was a burst of flame, and Fawkes appeared, before going to help the boy. Lily's clothes flickered around her, before turning to her Auror clothes. She rose in the air, Riddle not far behind her, and she threw balls of gold flame at the boy. She kept him at bay, before hearing Harry let out a yell. She rushed to his side, Fawkes landing beside the two. Lily knew the boy would survive, but it didn't stop her gold tears from dripping from her eyes. Harry looked at the girl, surprised, as her tears mixed with the phoenix's pearly white ones, and his injury healed.

"I know right, gold tears. Ironic," she snuffled, rolling her eyes. Harry smiled up at her, before seizing the diary. She nodded, and he plunged the Basilisk fang into it. Riddle's faint screams of protest were cut off as he faded away. Lily called for Fawkes to land on her arm, and she helped Harry to walk back to Ron. "Hullo brother," she grinned, as he hugged her as if their lives depended on it. "What were you thinking?!" he yelled. "I had to save Gin, she shouldn't have had to play a part in this." "Still Lils, you can't just go racing in after her with no plan-" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you know what I mean," he grumbled. Fawkes helped Lily get Ron, Harry and Lockhart out of the Chamber, before apparating all of them to the Headmaster's office, where Cassie, Ginny and Mr and Mrs Weasley sat across from Albus Dumbledore.

Mrs Weasley enveloped Lily and Ron in the biggest hugs in existance, and almost smothered Harry. She dragged Ginny to the Hospital Wing, Arthur trailing after her, Ron and Cassie leading Lockhart after them. Harry was about to speak, before Lucius Malfoy stormed in, a cowering Dobby after him. "So! You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts." Lily nearly rolled her eyes as she stood in the shadows of the room. "Well you see, Lucius, the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughters had been brought to the Chamber of Secrets and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too. Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place," Dumbledore said, smiling serenly. Lucius went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

He questioned Dumbledore on who had been the culprit this time, and Dumbledore told him of how Lord Voldemort had acted through the little notebook. "If Lily, Harry, Hermione and Ron hadn't discovered this book, why - Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever be able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will..." Harry watched as Dobby pointed to the diary, then at Lucius, and then hitting himself hard on on the head with his fist. The house elf noticed the girl in the shadows, his eyes widened with joy, and he gave a little bow. Lily smiled at Dobby, and bowed back slightly. Harry finally caught on, and Lily tuned back into the conversation.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got a hold of that diary, Mr Malfoy?" Harry asked, and Lily could've laughed. Lucius rounded on him. "How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he asked. Lily narrowed her eyes at the man who had just insulted her little sister. "Because, Lucius, you gave it to her," Lily said, stepping out of the shadows, smirking when Lucius jumped in surprise. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her Transfiguration book, and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you." Lucius's white hands clenched and unclenched. "Photographic memory," she commented, tapping her head.

"Prove it," Lucius hissed. "Oh no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry and Lily. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old things. If any more of them find their way into innocent innocent hands..." Lily finished for him. "Let's just say my father and I will make sure they are traced back to you." Harry looked at his best friend in pure admiration, her loyalty to protect her family and friends clear.

Lucius turned and left, Dobby scampering after him. Lily pulled a sock from nowhere, picked up the diary and placed the sock into it. She clasped Harry's hand in her own and smiled back at the Headmaster briefly, before racing out the door, after Lucius Malfoy, dragging Harry along after her. Lily passed Harry the diary and said, "something of yours we'd like to return, Lucius," and then she stood behind Dobby. She watched with glee as the man opened the notebook to find the sock, and throwing it behind him disregardingly, he threatened Harry. Lily however, was making sure the sock made its way into Dobby's hands. The elf turned to Lily with a grateful smile on his features. "It is great to have Miss Lily back again," he mumbled as he gave his old friend a hug. Dobby didn't move when Lucius instructed him to.

"Dobby is free!" he said, before standing in front of Harry, and blasting Lucius off his feet when he attempted to curse the boy. "Miss Lily and Harry Potter set Dobby free!" Dobby thanked the two over and over, before finally leaving with a crack. "Miss Lily?" Harry asked. "I've met Dobby before," was her answer, however vague it was.

The feast was wonderful, the extra points that Lily and the rest had received securing the House Cup for Gryffindor for the second year running. Harry gave his friends the Dursley's phone number as they stood in King's Cross, and Lily gave Harry such a big hug that the slightly smaller boy's feet lifted off the ground. The Dursley's watched the interaction suspiciously, and then finally, they were all off for the holidays once again.