Chapter 10
━━━━━━━━ ✥ ━━━━━━━━

WARNING: Mention of blood and injuries.

━━━

The library was practically empty. Most of the student body was huddled inside their common room out of fear. In fact, they needed permission from the professors to roam the corridors. The graduating years were normally allowed to attend the library since they had their O.W.Ls and their N.E.W.Ts. Adhara was supposed to be back at her dorms too, but she didn't care.

Adhara's hair was a mess. She's been spending every hour of her day scouring through every book in the library. Screw finals, Hermione was in the hospital, unresponsive and frozen, and she was going to get her out of that state, or oh so help her. She'll strangle someone.

"Did you know you were named after the second brightest star in the Canis Major constellation? You know, the one right after Sirius?"

Adhara ignored him. She already knew that.

"It's as if your father wanted to name you after him."

She opened another book, swallowing down hard. No, that thought hadn't occurred to her.

"How does it feel to be named after a murderer?"

Adhara shut her book. "I don't know, cousin. How does it feel to be the son of a murderer?" Hermione was petrified, unmoving. She was in no mood for any of Malfoy's taunting today.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"My father's innocent."

"Is he? Because from what I know, their ideologies seem to align."

Malfoy had nothing to say to that, so Adhara continued.

"We both know your father would be the first to stoop his head and kiss his feet if his Dark Lord decided to return."

"My father wouldn't stoop to another."

"Yes, he would. And you would to0. We're Slytherins, cousin, self-preservation is in our nature."

"We-well." He pursed his lips, trying to find a way to defend his father. "There isn't anything wrong with a snake trying to save its skin."

Adhara managed to not show her annoyance. "You are aware that snakes actually shed thei-" Her voice tapered off. She slowly turned back to the stacks of books on the table, eyes scanning each one.

Malfoy took in his housemate's wide eyes and open mouth, part of him realizing it was more emotions than she has ever displayed.

"What?"

"Snakes!"

"What about them?"

"Unleashing the monster within."

"Black, what are you talking about?"

"Of course, Slytherin would use a snake! Why hadn't I thought of that?" Ignoring her cousin completely, she rummaged through books and scrolls of parchment, opening the one on dark magical creatures.

He read the title. "Dumbledore allowed this book?"

"It's from the restricted section."

"What?"

"Restricted section." She flicked through the book.

"What are you looking for?"

"A snake that can petrify." She checked the pages but found nothing. The last bits of hope slipping away. "There's nothing in here."

Malfoy snatched it from her clutch, flicking through it himself.

"There's a page missing here."

Adhara snapped her head towards him.

"See? Page 173 is missing."

"Check the table one contents."

"Why should I-"

She shoved him aside. Adhara turned the pages to the Table of Contents, running through the page number until her finger landed on p. 173. She checked the name beside it.

"A basilisk."

Malfoy's eyes turned wide. "No way. A basilisk's stare kills."

"Wasn't that the intention?"

He closed his mouth.

━━━

Harry was running towards the library, where he knew Adhara has been huddling in for weeks now.

"Harry, wait for us!"

Ron and Millicent were right behind him. The three of them were at the hospital wing, visiting Hermione. He went to hold her hand when he found a crumpled-up piece of paper in her grip instead. Harry dashed out of the infirmary the minute he realized the content of it.

"Harry!"

He stopped, waiting for the other two to catch up. "Hurry! We have to inform Adha-"

"Harry!"

He twisted around automatically when he heard his name, and saw a frantic Adhara running towards him.

"Adhara!" He watched as her satchel bumped against her hip with every step.

She reached him, her breathing staggering. "The monster-"

"-I found out what it is-"

"-a textbook was missing a page-"

"-Hermione left a clipping-"

"-a giant snake-"

"-a basilisk!"

Adhara's breaths caught up at the same time as Ron and Millicent joined them. She turned to Millicent, addressing her, "It's a basilisk."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" asked Harry.

"Long story. I'll tell you some other time."

He wanted to know now, but there were more pressing matters in hand, so he let it go.

"We need to find the Chamber," she announced, which surprised Harry.

"You're okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Thought perhaps you'd want to bring a professor."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "Something about it being the Slytherin way."

"We're going into Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. There cannot be anything more Slytherin than this."

"I guess."

Millicent broke into the conversation. "But we are getting a professor, right? It'd be stupid not to."

"No offence, but I don't really trust you three to save my sister."

"No one would believe us."

"I also don't fancy meeting a giant snake," continued Ron. "Not more than giant spiders, at least."

"Giant spiders?" Adhara looked at Harry, arms crossed.

"Long story. I'll tell you another time."

She glared.

"Who are we getting?"

Harry thought over the blonde's words, skimming through his head for a professor who would not only believe them but also would allow them to go into the Chambers along with them. The name he came up with did not spark joy.

"Umm, I have an idea?"

━━━

"This was a stupid idea."

Adhara held her wand towards Lockhart, who somehow managed to take ahold of Ron's broken one. She stood in front of Harry, beckoning him behind her.

"Don't worry, children. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl." He whipped his wand at Millicent first, then at Ron, who was standing closer to him. "How you four tragically lost your memories at the sight of her mangled body."

Lockhart turned, pointing at Adhara next. "Well then, Miss Black. How about you first? Say goodbye to your memories."

Adhara was about to throw a stunning spell, but then Harry shoved her aside, away from the Defence Professor's weapon.

"Obliviate!"

The damaged wand glowed green with his shout. But instead of gleaming at the end, the light seeped from the crack towards the middle. The spell bounced back, shocking the man like electricity. It launched him directly into the wall behind.

There was a rumbling sound, momentarily distracting the four from Lockhart, who laid unconscious. Tiny pebbles fell down on their heads, making Weasley's face grimace in fear as he realized what was about to happen.

The roof caved in.

━━

"Ron! Ron! Are you okay?!"

"Millicent!"

"We're fine," they heard the blonde speak. "Weasley's fine too."

"Yeah, I'm okay, but-"

"But what?"

"Lockhart's awake. And he's asking who we are."

Harry and Adhara exchanged a look. Harry tried to push some of the rocks out of the way.

"Bloody well done, I say. He was about to obliviate us."

"Yeah, but he won't stop talk-"

They heard a loud striking noise, followed by a thump.

"...never mind. Bulstrode took care of it," said Ron, and then more quietly, "wicked left hook, you got there."

Adhara shook her head. "Be careful, you two."

"We should be asking that from you two," Millie shot back.

But Adhara wasn't listening anymore. She hooked her hand around Harry's elbow, leading them both deeper within the cave.

━━

They came about a large door in the shape of a circle, which reminded Adhara of a safe's entrance. A statue with seven serpents decorated the front. Droplets of water slithered down the metallic surface, curving along with the serpents' scales. The water dripped down to the edge of the entrance, creating a puddle as a result.

Adhara was willing to bet it was all sewage water since the cave reeked of it. You'd think being one of the founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin would've at least chosen a better location to build his hidden chamber, one that wasn't directly underneath the toilets.

She elbowed Harry.

"What?"

"Do your thing."

"What thing."

"The hissing thing."

"Oh, right."

He did. And one by one, each of the seven snakes recoiled back, unlocking the door and opening the Chamber.

"You don't seem very surprised about the snake talking ability."

"After the troll, the dragon, and the three-headed dog last year, I think I can handle snakes."

━━

Ginny stood with her back turned at the duo, attention focused on Salazar Slytherin's face that was carved into the wall in front. Her tangled red locks seemed to have gotten longer since Harry last saw her, now reaching past her hips.

"Ginny?"

The girl turned around, mouth turning upwards into a malefic smile, making her look like an animal that just caught sight of her prey. She spoke, but it wasn't Ginny's voice.

"Ah. Harry Potter. How I have longed to meet you."

He froze in his track.

━━

"Why are you doing this, Tom? I thought you were helping me!"

Adhara carefully followed each of Tom Riddle's movements with a suspicious eye. The way he walked, the way he spoke, the way he kept his head slightly turned downwards yet his back perfectly straight. It was awfully similar to the way Ginny moved, each step slow and languid. But he seemed more confident now as if he was finally in full control of the body.

Harry kept speaking to him, trying to get an answer out of him. But Adhara only observed. She watched him reach for Harry's wand and whipped out her own.

"Put it down."

Riddle's mouth curved into a dangerous smile, though he didn't even spare her a look, as if already anticipating her. He grabbed the wand despite her warning, eventually facing her once he stood upright, smile still in place.

"And who might you be?"

Harry finally noticed his wand in Riddle's hand.

"Give me my wand back, Tom."

But Tom kept looking at Adhara, who had her own wand raised at him. She seemed to be catching onto things faster than The Boy-Who-Lived.

"Harry, step away from him."

"What? Why?"

"He's holding a wand, and you're not. You don't exactly question 'why' in this situation."

"Clever girl, your friend. But not enough to outsmart me, I'm afraid." His voice sounded wrong coming from Ginny's mouth.

"What are you talking about."

Riddle's smile grew. He took a look at Ginny's left hand, opening it with the palm facing up. "Poor little Ginny Weasley." Tom traced the lines in Ginny's hand with a thumb, lingering on her lifeline. "I'm afraid you can't do anything to save her."

"What do you mean?"

"I grow stronger as she grows weaker."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Unconsciously, he stepped forward towards the redhead, reaching for Ginny's arm as if to bring her back. Adhara held him back.

"What are you trying to say."

Riddle scoffed. He spared one last glance at Adhara, before deliberately keeping all his attention on the Gryffindor. "You haven't figured it out, yet?" he sneered. His hands hooked together behind his back. "No matter. I shall have the pleasure to tell you."

"Wh-what?"

He approached Harry, dragging his feet on the water that covered the Chamber's floor.

"It was Ginny who opened the Chamber Of Secrets."

Harry's brows knitted together. "What? No, she wouldn't. That doesn't make sense."

"It was Ginny who unleashed the Basilisk on the mudbloods."

Adhara pulled Harry behind her, keeping him there. The boy didn't have a wand. He shouldn't be facing Riddle like this. Ginny's eyes followed him, even though it was Adhara who stood in front of him now. She spoke to grab his attention.

"You are aware that you're also a mudblood, right?"

Riddle looked slightly peeved when she broke their conversation. But mostly, it seemed like he was more offended by her comment. It made him refocus on her. "What did you just call me?"

He glared at her, Ginny's brown eyes piercing.

Adhara raised a brow. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. You're definitely not a pureblood. Perhaps a half-blood? Either way, the rest of the blood purists maniacs consider your blood tainted."

She was a half-blood herself. She knew exactly what the dynamic was for her sorts inside the Slytherin dormitories. They had to be clever in order to be accepted by the purebloods. And considering Riddle kept a muggle name, it should've been more difficult for him.

"How long did it take for the rest of them to stop calling you a mudblood too? How many times did you have to use the word yourself to finally feel accepted?"

She saw the muscle in Ginny's jaw spasm. He stretched it out to pop it, eyeing Adhara's tie in the process.

Harry broke in. "Who are you?"

Riddle kept his gaze on the other Slytherin half-blood. He loosened the red tie around Ginny's neck, eyes still on Adhara and jaw still clamped into place. He looked like a snake ready to unleash his venom.

The ghost turned around, using the wand like a quill to write out a his full name into thin air. Harry and Adhara glanced at each other, both equally as confused as the other. Riddle then looked back at both of them, making them take a step back.

"I did the right thing by keeping my eyes on you, Adhara Black."

Adhara glared. "How do you know my name?"

Riddle smirked menacingly. "Did you not notice how poor Ginny kept following you around all year?" He scoffed. "She kept writing about how close you were to her dear Harry, which sparked my interest. Who exactly was this member of the Ancient House of Black who associated themselves with a blood traitor?"

"What's Harry got anything to do with this?"

The sixteen-year-old boy seemingly turned more angry at the mention of Harry's name. He snapped his attention on the Gryffindor.

"He just piqued my interest more than you, that's all."

Harry's brows furrowed. "In what way?"

Riddle popped his jaw again, fire rising in his eyes. "You're the Boy-Who-Lived, are you not? You managed to bring about the downfall of the greatest wizard of all times! How did you do it? How did you manage to defeat Voldemort?"

"Voldemort? Why do you care about Voldemort? He was after your time!"

Riddle took in a deep breath from his nose, calming the fire down. "Voldemort is my past, present and future." He turned back at the writing behind him, swiping his hand over it.

Adhara joined Harry's side once Riddle stepped back, beckoning the boy behind her. She watched curiously as the letters shifted places, creating a new sentence altogether. Harry grabbed her elbow when he read it.

Adhara met Tom Riddle's glowing red eyes. "You are Voldemort?"

"You didn't think I was going to keep my filthy muggle father's name, did you?"

The Dark Lord glowered, as his eyes shifted to brown and then back to red. He was growing more powerful by the minute. He approached Adhara, raising the wand in his possession and using it to poke her green tie. Adhara pointed her wand back.

She could hit him now. She could fire a spell and hurt Riddle. Adhara's had many opportunities to use her wand. But she couldn't. The spell was stuck on her tongue and she couldn't let it out.

It may be Voldemort standing in front her, but he was using Ginny Weasley's body.

"A blood traitor in Slytherin House. How disappointed Salazar must be."

"Not as much as knowing he has a mere half-blood for an heir," she countered.

Later, Adhara would pat herself on the back for enraging Lord Voldemort.

But right now, all she could do was scold herself for running her mouth out of anger.

And for not using her damn wand when Tom raised his.

"Adhara!"

━━

Harry was on his knees, staring at Adhara's unconscious body with wide eyes. Her hair and uniform were damp because of the chamber's wet floors. The water near her head was turning more and more red as the blood flowed out of the gash on her neck and shoulder. Her shoulders were rising and falling, but only slightly. Harry couldn't tell if it was because he was running out of time or if it was a lingering visceral habit.

He didn't scream. He didn't cry. He was holding onto Adhara's robes. Harry felt something hot building up in his stomach. His fingers twitched as the feeling in his stomach grew, fingers gripping more forcefully onto his godsister's robes.

He looked up and met Tom's red eyes with a glare of his own.

━━━━

Adhara woke up in the hospital wing. She pushed herself out of bed, wincing at the pain on her shoulder. She tried to move her legs, but a lump of weight on her feet restricted any movement.

"You're up."

She heard him rather than see him. Light shined into the infirmary, blinding her vision. She brought a hand over her eyes to create a shadow.

Harry sat at the foot of her bed, their roles reversed from the previous times. He wasn't wearing his school uniform, instead dressed in a red jumper with a black stripe. Adhara assumed it was the weekend, then.

Unless.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost four days. It's Tuesday, today. Exams and classes are all cancelled."

Adhara hummed along, slowly taking in the information. Her head still felt all over the place.

" 'Mione's awake."

That woke her up. "Where is she?"

"Great Hall. They're in the middle of the feast right now."

"You snuck out?"

"Obviously."

Adhara snorted. "Obviously."

Harry kicked her.

"They will notice you're missing."

"Everyone's all caught up with the festivities. No one would notice one missing student."

"They would if said missing student was the famous Harry Potter."

Harry went to kick her again, but Adhara braced herself this time, already anticipating the attack.

"I'm injured." She defended, pushing his leg away. "Somehow. What happened anyway?"

Harry averted his eyes at the question, pointedly staring at his hands instead.

"Harry."

No answer.

"Potter." And then a pillow at his face to make him look up. He only slammed it away.

"He used a spell."

"I figured that much, idiot."

"Diffindo."

"Ah."

"Ah? That's it?" He looked up. "He almost killed you, Adhara! With my wand!"

"Almost."

Harry scowled.

"I'm not dead."

He kicked her, again. "I can bloody see that!"

"And if I were, you would've had the permission to hex me."

Harry kicked her once more, and this time she kicked back.

━━

"You're still mad at me, aren't you?"

Adhara looked in her godbrother's direction, questioning.

"About the whole Malfoy being the heir thing," he cleared up, making vague gestures with his arms.

"Hmm. Sort of. Much less than before."

"Very?"

"No."

"Good."

"Are you still angry?"

"About?"

"Me not listening and whatnot."

"Yea. Very."

Adhara threw another pillow, this time hitting him square in his face. "Bugger off."

"I was kidding!" He threw the pillow back. "But honestly speaking, you should really stop hiding things from people."

"Says you."

"What have I hidden from you?"

"Oh, I don't know. A possessed diary, perhaps?"

"To be fair, I wasn't aware that it was an important thing."

"You were walking around with Voldemort's diary!"

"I didn't know!"

"For Merlin's sake, Potter!"

"Black!"

━━

"I think I figured it out."

"What?"

"Why I was so set on Malfoy being the heir."

"Because he's a Slytherin?"

"Yes."

Adhara had to hold herself to not react. She now knew he blurted things out without thinking. Unlike herself, who didn't say what she was thinking, Harry sometimes said things without thinking at all. Which was very stupid of him, in her opinion. She didn't understand why Hermione thought they were similar at all.

They really weren't.

"Elaborate."

He started fiddling with his jumper. "They said I was just like him."

"Malfoy?"

"Voldemort."

"Those were just stupid rumours-"

"I am, though!" he declared.

Adhara looked confused. "How?"

"I'm a half-blood, I live with my muggle relatives who I despise, and. Well, I-"

"What?"

Harry had to take a deep breath. "I was almost a Slytherin. The Hat offered it. I could've been a snake, just like him."

Adhara had to think. She leaned back on the headboard, trying her best not to turn her neck too much. She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be sitting up at all. But the nurse wasn't here to scold her, so it was fine.

"I didn't want to be exactly like him. Malfoy being the heir would've proved I wasn't."

She had no idea Harry was offered Slytherin. Adhara tried to guess how the past two years would've been like if he was. Would they have become friends earlier? Or maybe not at all? And what about Hermione? They definitely wouldn't have had their fight this year. And Weasley wouldn't be in the picture at all.

But there was no point mulling over that. Adhara decided she rather liked how things were right now.

"The hat offered me Hufflepuff."

Harry looked surprised. "It did?"

She nodded. "Something about loyalty. But Slytherin fit me better. And I'm sure we're not the only ones whom the Hat offered more than one house."

"Maybe but-"

"And by your logic," she cut off, "I'm more like Voldemort than you are."

This time, Harry was the confused one.

Adhara didn't wait for him to ask, she cleared it up right away. "I'm the last of an Ancient Family, I'm a half-blood, more of a half-blood than you are, in fact since my mother was actually a muggle, like Riddle's father. Without forgetting the fact that I actually am a Slytherin."

Harry was still looking at him with his mouth open.

"Also, you don't hate muggles. You hate the Dursley's, and so do I, for that matter."

He closed his mouth.

━━

"So, not only did you get Lucius Malfoy sacked, but you also lost him his house-elf?"

"Yes."

"And this is the same elf who's been stalking you all year?"

"Yes."

"Of whom you've known about since summer, and you decide to tell me this, now."

"Yes."

Adhara smacked him with her pillow.

━━

"So. No more secrets?"

"No more secrets."

"You do know that this means you need to tell the others about Aleyne."

"And you about the Dursleys."

"Fuck."

"....you need to stop hanging around Weasley so much."

━━━━

The train was going to leave today at 11 am sharp. It was currently 7, and Adhara wanted one last whiff of the Forbidden Forest before she had to go back to the scruffy bedroom at the orphanage.

She was delighted to see Yaritza again, but the girl was turning 15 this summer. That meant she would have to leave soon, Adhara was going to have a new roommate by the end of August, which she was not looking forward to.

The forest was always a bit damp in the morning. The belt of grass that went around the trees, marking the perimeter of the forest, was shining due to the dew.

No matter what Madam Pomfrey had told her, Adhara's injuries resided on the top part of her body. Therefore, her legs were perfectly functional, and so she should very much be allowed to take her walks.

As long as the nurse didn't find out.

Adhara decided to venture deeper into the trees today, leaving behind the patch of green. She walked around the mud and the rings of mushrooms, not wanting to catch the attention of any faeries so early on the morning. She hopped along the fallen trees and the rocks, finally reaching deep enough to lose the green, and that's when she spotted a familiar lump of fair hair.

She shrugged her shoulders and approached the figure.

━━

The first thing Adhara noticed was the lack of a black line.

"That's not a viceroy."

"No. It's a monarch."

Apparently, Malfoy wasn't the type to beat around the bush, because he didn't even waste a second to address the giant elephant.

"He released a basilisk in the school for him."

Adhara was taken aback. She knew who he talking about, but played along anyway. "Who?"

"My father."

She hummed along. "And? You're okay with that?"

Malfoy dropped his hand, the one he was using to hold his magnifying glass. He seemingly focused all his attention on the butterfly, yet he addressed her when he spoke.

"Of course I am! He's doing what he has to do to stay on the winning side." He tried to keep his tone pompous bit his voice started to waver at the end. "You were right that day, at the library. We're Slytherins. Self-preservation is in our nature."

"But what if you're not on the winning side?"

Malfoy didn't say anything, so Adhara continued. "What if everything you're doing right now is waste. Don't get me wrong, I don't want you joining the Light only because you think they might be the winning side. If you truly believe that muggleborns are inferior, then I rather your stay where you are."

Malfoy drew his brows together. "Of course they're inferior! They have no magic! They-"

"-use science instead," Adhara interrupted. "They have electricity, something we don't have. They can do anything we can but without the need for magic. Not to mention, the hypocrites that we are, we use inventions made by muggles and yet refuse to acknowledge their intellect."

"Like what?"

"Like a plumbing system, Draco. And even that magnifying glass you have in your hands, that's not magic. It's physics, it's science. You can't exactly criticize muggles when you don't know anything about them."

"I know about muggles," he said, looking offended.

"No. You know what your parents told you about muggles."

"What's the difference?"

Adhara sighed. "If a witch hunter told their kid that wizards were all evil, would you say that kid knew all there was to know about magic? Or would you say his knowledge on the matter was blinded by their parents' hate?"

Draco remained silent, his eyes downcast in contemplation.

"How do you know so much about muggles? From what mother told me, you live in a wizarding orphanage."

"How does she know?"

"Of course, she does. She was contemplating taking you in after that article was released."

Adhara's eyes went wide, head jerking towards her cousin.

"What?"

"What?"

"Why? I'm not a pureblood. In fact, I'm not even legitimate."

Draco shrugged. "Mother's always believed family came first."

Adhara had a hard time believing that. She grew up in a house full of abandoned kids who were left because they didn't live up to what their parents wanted them to be.

She turned back, observing the butterfly again. "There's a lot of muggleborns at my orphanage," she answered his previous question.

"How come?"

"Their parents didn't want them."

"See? Muggles are-"

"The other half of the children are squibs, Draco."

That instantly shut him up. "Oh."

"Family isn't always everyone's priority. Most of the time, people only care about what other people think. Reputation is all that matters."

"Where do you live?"

Adhara scoffed, mouth turning into a mirthless smile. "Aleyne, House for Orphans."

━━━━

The train jolted repeatedly underneath him. Harry tried to rest his head on the window to get a wink of sleep but to no avail. Ron's head was in his lap, apparently a habit he acquired after last year. It occurred to Harry that this was the first time he took the train this school year, which he found was disappointing. He liked the Hogwarts Express.

Millicent and Hermione were also asleep, Millie's head on Hermione's shoulder, and the latter was leaning against the compartment wall, right beside the door. Adhara was next to Millie, right across from Harry, beside the window. She was reading her father's letters.

He eyed the scar that started at her right ear and followed all way down to her neck, where it disappeared under the collar of her grey hoodie. Harry knew it travelled down to her shoulder, he saw the wound when it was still fresh. He saw it being inflicted onto her, the spell releasing from his own wand. Harry felt a pang of guilt hit him again.

Fawkes has healed most of the gash, but Adhara still suffered from a lot of blood loss. And Harry couldn't stop himself from believing it was his fault.

Adhara told him it was stupid. He wasn't the one who fired the spell, and logically, Harry knew that too. But he still couldn't help but feel guilty.

"He named me after him," said Adhara, breaking Harry away from his thoughts.

Harry didn't know who she was talking about. "Who?"

"My father."

"What are you talking about."

"Adhara is the second brightest star in the Canis Major constellation. Right after Sirius. He named me after him."

She was looking out the window, head resting in her palm and the area between her brows pinched in a way that showed that she was not happy with that fact.

"Or maybe, he's giving you a second chance?"

The area pinched the slightest bit more. "What?"

Harry shrugged. "Sirius Black messed up a lot. Maybe your father's giving you a second by naming you Adhara?"

Adhara didn't look satisfied with the answer, but it was the most Harry could give her right now. He shrugged again, making her shake her head.

Unconsciously, Harry's lips turned upwards. He wasn't looking forward to going back to the Dursley's at all, but he supposed it wasn't so bad with Adhara around.

Harry wondered what Hogwarts had in store for him next year. Whatever it was, he highly doubted it could be any worst than Voldemort. Right?

━━━━━━━━ ✥ ━━━━━━━━

A/N And that's year 2 complete! Thank you for reading so far! Year 3 is meant to go up around the beginning of July, so stay tuned!