The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower

"We've been expecting you," said Lucius Malfoy.

"Father," said Draco, glaring at his father.

"Never did I expect such a turn out," said Voldemort, stepping out from behind Lucius.

Voldemort looked just the way Harry had last seen him, with red eyes, slits for nostrils, and a lipless mouth. Harry's scar was aching with unbearable pain, but he forced himself to be strong and not yell out in pain.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all gasped the moment they saw the horrific sight of Voldemort. Blaise and Draco were shocked slightly, but didn't show it.

"This is excellent," Voldemort hissed, over-pronouncing his S's. "I see six worthy sacrifices, what do you say Lucius?"

"Twice the power, twice the wealth," said Lucius. "Sounds perfect."

"So let's see," Voldemort hissed. "Finnigan is already acting under my Imperius, so if young Finnigan and the girl Weasley act through my power, and the boy Weasley and the Mudblood are prosecuted, that leaves Potter, and, my, is that Blaise Zabini?"

"So it is," said Lucius, suddenly recognizing Blaise. "Blaise, what are you doing here?"

"Er, I came to watch," said Blaise. "Was I not invited?"

"Go over there," said Lucius, pointing to the statue of Salazar Slytherin, under which nine cloaked figures were standing. "You father's there."

Blaise smiled. "But what about my friends?" she asked.

"Friends?" Lucius spluttered. "You have no friends, especially out of this lot."

"But... Oh, very well," said Blaise. She looked back at Harry, and mouthed something he couldn't quite comprehend.

"What was she trying to say?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

Hermione didn't reply. In fact, neither she nor Ron were any longer breathing, they were both standing frozen, as though petrified.

"As I was saying," Voldemort snarled. "Potter would make a fine victim for eternal darkness... And perhaps the Mudblood as well."

"Power and wealth are all yours," said Lucius, bowing down slightly.

"And here is young Draco," said Voldemort, stepping up to Draco and putting his hand under Draco's chin, pulling the boy toward him. "A fine sacrifice he is."

Harry reached for his wand, and Voldemort seemed to have read his mind, because at that moment, Voldemort tossed up his hand, causing Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Ginny to be flung at the wall. Harry winced in pain as he felt his arm break.

Hermione yelled out in pain as she hit her head on the wall, and Ron landed on her.

Blaise looked frantically around. It wasn't possible to do anything, there were death eaters surrounding her, and if she made a move to attack Voldemort, she'd be dead in a second.

"Blaise Zabini is a fine supporter," Voldemort said to Lucius, loud enough so that everyone else could hear. "Her thoughts have been controlled, yes, but she is learning on her own."

"What do you mean, 'controlled?'" asked Blaise.

Voldemort looked at Blaise. "Were you asked to speak?" he hissed.

"She's severely sorry my lord," said Blaise's father, who was standing beside her, wearing a hood.

"Well," said Voldemort. "Perhaps I should explain. You see Blaise, ever since the age of four, you've been controlled to think only for the sake of the dark arts. You've been planning, I know you have. And some day, you will make an excellent death eater. But first, you'll have intensive training to live through."

"Ah, well, thankyou," said Blaise, wishing she'd never asked. Over the past few weeks, she'd changed her mind about being a death eater, and had decided she'd much rather fight evil, or just be neutral to it.

"But you cannot be a death eater if you try to fight the control," Voldemort continued. "And you have been fighting, I can assure you of that. You seem to have changed your opinion of Potter, and if that becomes a problem, I may have to dispose of you altogether."

Blaise's father quickly stepped in front of her. "She's just a child," he pleaded. "She does not know anything yet. Please, just give her some time to understand."

Blaise wanted to say something like, 'Oh, I understand just fine,' but she couldn't because if she was going to save Harry, she'd need to be alive.

Voldemort turned back to Lucius, without another word to Blaise or her father. "Lucius, has the almighty Salazar thawed completely yet?" he asked.

"Yes, my lord," said Lucius. "And Tom Riddle's structure has formed fully."

"What about Lord Grindlewald?" Voldemort questioned.

Lucius shook his head, almost sadly. "His mind could not be traced," he said.

Harry reeled everything he had just heard over in his head. What was going on here?

"Ah, Potter," said Voldemort. "You are probably wondering... You see, this chamber holds more secrets than one. You did not even half the job of putting an end to the chamber four years ago. There are more surprises awaiting you."

Then, something happened that made Hermione bury her head in Ron's shoulder, and Ginny grab hold of Seamus's hand.

A rotten looking man entered the room, with the form of Tom Riddle following him. The rotten looking man resembled the statue of Slytherin, although he looked much older and filthier.

"This is my rise to power," said Slytherin, his voice sounding as though he hadn't used it in years, which was probably so. "Every Mudblood in the country will see the end, and I will be in power."

"Yes you will, my lord," said Voldemort, bowing down to Slytherin. "Together, we shall rule the world."

"And we will travel across the sea, and find a new land that will be ours alone," said Slytherin.

"Actually," said Blaise, without thinking. "The only country you could have for yourself is Antarctica, which has already been discovered, or you could go and live in Uranus, but there'd be nobody there to boss around, so technically, your time is up."

"What say the wench?"Â hollered Slytherin. "How dare she speak!"

Blaise gulped. "I'm sorry," she said. "Please don't kill me."

"Why kill you when I can use you later for pleasure?" said Slytherin.

"Oh, now that's just disgusting," said Blaise. "You've taken it a step too far, mister!" She stepped forward, shirking her father's hand to that was aiming to hold her back.

Ginny stood up quickly, a huge smile spread across her face. "Get him, Blaise!" she yelled, immediately regretting it, because Tom Riddle turned to her, making her weak in the knees.

"So we meet again, Ginny," he said, putting on a charming smile.

Ginny had momentarily forgot his being there, so for a moment all she could do was stare, but in those few seconds, she built up the courage to speak. "If I recall," she said. "During our last meeting, you were defeated."

"Ah, well, that shall not happen again," said Tom. "What with my counter-part, Voldemort; my trusty servent, and the great lord himself, Lord Salazar Slytherin, I believe I will have Harry Potter down in the wave of a wand."

"Don't count on it," said Blaise, who seemed to have lost any fear she may have posessed before.

"Stop this nonsense!" Voldemort hollered. "You are making a complete mockery of this ceremony!" He waved his wand, and Blaise was flung aside, landing roughly on Harry, who was sitting pushed up against a wall, clutching his head.

She moved aside quickly so that she was sitting next to Harry. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him.

But Harry wasn't listening, he had stood up slowly, wand in hand.Â

"Sit down, Potter," Lucius spat, pointing his wand at Harry.

"Not a chance," said Harry, stepping forward.

"Now is not the time to be brave, Potter," Voldemort hissed. "I would kill you right now, but I'm afraid we'll be needing you later, so it would be a waste, really, to kill you just yet." He pointed his wand at Harry, and muttered something. Suddenly, ropes blasted out of the end of his wand, entwining themselves around Harry's arms and legs.

"Sit down, boy," said Lucius, and Harry had no option but to obey.

"Harry, listen to me," Blaise whispered. "I'm really sorry, and this time I mean it."

Harry examined her for a moment. She looked very sincere, but she was very unpredictible, so there was no telling what she was really thinking.

"I'll try to do something again, maybe catch their attention, then you could escape," Blaise went on.

"I don't want to escape," Harry whispered back.

"How do you think you'll put an end to all this?" Blaise hissed. "But if you think you can, I'm sure you will... But anyway, I'm really, really sorry. Do you forgive me?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I suppose so," he said. "But only because there's a chance we won't live through this."

Blaise nodded, gratefully. "Thankyou," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek, hoping nobody saw. "And Harry, I love you."

Harry smiled at her. "Bet you never expected to say that."

Blaise shook her head. "Never would have dreamed it."

Meanwhile, Crabbe and Goyle had brought fourth the Mirror of Erised.

"Draco," said Lucius. "Do you know what this is?"

Draco shook his head.

"It is the Mirror of Erised," said Lucius. "It shows you your heart's desire."

Harry looked up suddenly. "Blaise, I know what that is," he whispered.

"Yeah, me too," said Blaise.

Ron had also looked up. "Hermione," he said, tapping Hermione. "Why do they have that?"

"I don't know," she replied. "What would they need that for?"

"You think they'll try to trap us in there?" he asked.

Hermione stared at the face of her boyfriend for a moment. "Now why would they do that?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Ron. "But it was in one of the Marvin the Mad Muggle comics. Volume 57, Marvin trapped this wizard in a mirror, and the wizard could never be released unless Marvin did the counter-curse, but Marvin couldn't, because he's a Muggle."

"Oh," said Hermione, smiling a little. "Well, I doubt they'd be using the Mirror of Erised to trap us."

Ron looked up at the mirror, anxious to find out what would happen next.

"Tell me what you see, Draco," Voldemort was saying. "Is it great power you desire? Or extreme wealth?"

"Well, certainly, my lord," said Lucius. "It is both. He has been raised to crave only the best."

"Very well," said Voldemort. "You and your wife, Lucius, have done a fine job of raising the boy."

"We have tried," said Lucius. "Our best efforts are put fourth only for your greatness."

Voldemort nodded in approval; then turned to Draco. "So what is it you see?" he asked, eagerly.

"I don't know," said Draco.

"How could you not know?" shouted Voldemort. "Are you blind? Lucius, just what is this nonsense?"

"I do not know, my lord," said Lucius. "Draco, what is wrong with you?"

"Well, I don't know what that's supposed to represent," he said, pointing at the image of Ginny in the mirror.

"What is that you are pointing to?" asked Voldemort.

"Ginny Weasley," Draco replied.

"Is she dead?" asked Lucius. "Or in pain? Is her family with her? Are they all dead?"

"No," said Draco. "She looks quite happy to me."

"Happy?" Voldemort hissed. He pointed his wand at Ginny. "Accio Weasley," he said.

Ginny flew up into the air, landed spread-eagled on the floor in front of Lord Voldemort. Lucius pulled her up by the back of her robes, and Ginny dusted herself off.

"What the bloody Hell's going on?" said Seamus, who had decided to stay silent since the moment Voldemort's Imperius curse had been removed from him.

"You stay quiet!" snapped Tom Riddle.

"The meaning of this is what?" said Salazar Slytherin. "Is it not written that this sacrifice be completed by the hour of twenty-two?"

"Worry not, my lord," said Lucius, a nervous edge to his voice. "It's only nine o' clock, we still have an hour."

"One hour, Lucius," hissed Voldemort, "is not quite nearly enough when we must deal with the ridicule of your son."

"Stop the madness, Draco," said Lucius. "Now is the time to be serious."

"Who said anything about my not being serious?" asked Draco. "You asked what I saw, and I told you."

"This is absurd," said Voldemort. "Lucius, you have failed to commit to your duties; Draco does not prove worthy, and for this, you will both pay."

"Or, you could pay," came a voice from behind the statue of Slytherin.