"I swear," mumbled Sungkyu and choked on his tears. "I swear on everything I have that I am not on his side."

"Is it true what you said there?" asked Sungyeol incredulously. "About your grandparents?"

Sungkyu nodded and pulled his knees closer. "Yes, but I swear I'm not like them! I swear I don't have anything to do with the chamber and the murdering and my family and all of the-"

"Sshh..." a pair of arms hugged him and pulled him closer. Soon another joined in and more and more until he was hidden in a safe sphere of hugs. "Don't worry, we believe you," whispered Woohyun.

Sungkyu breathed in the warmth and muttered 'thank you so much'. One by one, the arms let go of him again and he finally dared to look up, right into the grinning face of Sungjong.

"That Riddle idiot deserves a good beating, don't you think?"

Woohyun balled his fist. "I'm in." Dongwoo cackled and Hoya had to put a silencing charm on him to not give away their hideout.

"I was ready to smack that Riddle in the face there."

"Truth be told, all of us were," huffed Sungyeol, arms crossed.

"But my family - you heard about-"

"Pfft, who cares about the past, your family is not you. " Sungyeol shook his head. Sungkyu blinked – of all the people to say that, he hadn't expected the first to be Sungyeol. "Look at Hoya - the son of two Gryffindor aurors who is in Slytherin but has friends from all over." Sungyeol shook his head with a smile. "He's the strangest person I've met, total contrast to his parents. Trust me, they are stuck up!" Sungkyu, who had a good idea of what 'stuck up' meant, couldn't believe how cheerful the boys were...

"Thank you," he said with all his heart and hoped dearly that they really felt just how thankful he was to hear that. 'You're not your parents.'

He really didn't want to be.

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

The person who had entered turned out to be Harry Potter. Just like with them, he was startled by Riddle's appearance, however he was clueless in regards to his true face. He desperately tried to make Riddle help him get Ginny out of here. "How did she get like this?" asked Harry desperately.

"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasently, "and quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley is like this is because she opened her heart to an invisible stranger." Harry still didn't get it. "The diary," said Riddle. "My diary."

And he explained how Ginny had told him about everything that happened to her. "It's very boring," he remarked, "having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl." this offened Sungjong especially. "Still, I was patient. I wrote back, I was sympathetic, I was kind. 'No one's ever understood me like you, Tom'..." Sungkyu startled. "I'm so happy I've got this diary to confide in... It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket..." Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit his even, perfect face.

Sungkyu's eyes fell on Ginny, still lifeless, and he stiffened. A pained place in his heart, the part that he always kept stashed away, told him he would have trusted Riddle just the same. He wanted so dearly to have someone who undestood him, someone to confide in...

Riddle went on to tell how he'd won her over and started to 'feed on her deepest fears, her darkest secrets' increasing Sungkyu's for this man until he was ready to vomit on him.

"It took a while for stupid, little Ginny to stop trusting her diary but she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been – you."

"How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" There was a red gleam in his eyes and Sungkyu realised that here there was a wizard who thought himself better than everyone else. Riddle was looking for some way to make it another person's fault that he'd failed.

Sungkyu hated those people.

"You're not," said Harry, voice full of hatred. "The greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore."

Sungkyu gaped.

Harry sat barely two feet away from Lord Voldemort himself and told him in the face that his greatest enemy was stronger than him. Sungkyu would have long cowered in fear yet here there was Harry Potter, a twelve-year-old who dared face death with all of his heart and disgust.

All of a sudden, music entered their ears and something red and gold soared through the air. It dropped the Sorting Hat into Harry's lap and landed next to him.

Woohyun gasped. "That's a... a phoenix!"

"Not just any phoenix-" Sungjong pressed Woohyun aside to see better. "It's Dumbledore's phoenix! He's sending help!" They weren't alone anymore.

Riddle snorted at the arrival and turned to face the great statue. "Last time, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. Let's re-match the powers of Lord Voldemort, the heir of Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter." Riddle then hissed in parsel. The gigantic stone-face moved and it's mouth opened wider and wider until it formed a huge black hole.

The nest of the Basilisk.

„We have to do something!" Sungkyu ripped his head up and just barely caught Sungjong by the robe before he could storm off. He couldn't hold it longer than a second however. Surprised by the amount of force a lanky first year as this had, he stumbled and the fabric slipped from his fingers. Woohyun hollered right after the youngest and yelled "YOU STUPID I'LL SHOW YOU!" Riddle turned around with a genuinely surprised expression but the spells that were fired at him didn't bother Riddle at all.

Of course not. He was merely a memory.