the deep moans round with many voices

This is part 23 of An Ounce of Prevention, a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover that I started as a giftfic for askerian.

Technically, it's an insertion of one HP character/plot device into the Naruto world, but that does count as a crossover of sorts. "An Ounce of Prevention" will not affect canon in either series; that is, it takes place during the Naruto timeskip, and before CoS in HP. (Which gives away at least part of the ending, but whatever. *grin*)

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Epilogue 1: The Road to Hell
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A puff of odorless smoke and a loud bang sent Lucius Malfoy scrambling back from his desk, wand drawn and a painful curse hovering on his lips.

The smoke cleared, revealing a small book, bound in shabby black leather, lying atop the most recent letter from his solicitor. A sheet of Muggle paper was somehow fastened to its cover.

As Lucius approached, the strange, illegible glyphs on the paper squirmed and rearranged, forming into English sentences in a strong yet feminine hand.

--Greetings,-- the note began. --This book contains a fragment of a human soul, and a memory imprint of the man who put it there. He created the imprint with the death of an innocent girl. The imprint wants to get out of the book. If you write in the book, he will write back. He will attempt to make you his friend, control your thoughts, and drain your life.

--We were unable to destroy the book, but we wish you better luck. The imprint calls himself Tom Puzzle/Mystery/Riddle. If you know his creator, avoid him. He is very dangerous.

--Please be careful.

--Spring Cherry--

Lucius read the note three times, then walked away, poured himself a scotch, and read the note a fourth time to make his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Then he spent half an hour attempting disillusionment spells, and transfiguration cancellations, just to be on the safe side.

Finally, he concluded that the book and note were exactly what they appeared to be: one of Voldemort's castoff relics, and an instruction list written by an optimistic fool.

"Tom Riddle," he murmured to himself, turning the diary over and over in his hands. "My Lord, you leave the strangest fragments in your wake. I wonder what purpose you meant this to serve... but I don't suppose it matters. You're not around to notice what I might choose to do with it."

A diary that would write back, that would drain a person's life, that would doubtless turn its owner into a hapless puppet of the Dark Lord's shade. It was too much to hope that it would go undetected for long, but... if he timed this right, played his cards right, its discovery could do more good than harm.

He had so many annoyances to discredit, after all.

He and Narcissa had planned to take Draco to Diagon Alley today, to buy the few supplies they couldn't have privately made. The shops would be teeming with Muggle lovers; it would be easy to slip the book to somebody's brat, and wipe all trace of himself from the dupe's memories.

"I served you well for years, my lord," Lucius said to the diary as he tore off Spring Cherry's note. "I think it's time you helped me in return."

He slid the diary into his pocket and went to fetch his wife and son.

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End of Story

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And now the other epilogue, which didn't turn out anywhere nearly as amusing as I meant it to. In fact, it's more disturbing than the first one. (I had no idea I was this much of a fatalist, swear to god. Just remember that CoS has a happy ending.)

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Epilogue 2: All Roads
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A puff of odorless smoke and a loud bang sent Ginny Weasley scrambling back from her bed, tripping over her open trunk and falling to the floor.

Someone rapped on her bedroom door. "Ginny? Are you hurt, dear?"

"No, Mum! I just tripped," Ginny called back.

"Well, keep packing. We don't want to miss the Hogwarts Express."

Ginny nodded absently, staring at her bed. The smoke had cleared, revealing a small book, bound in shabby black leather, lying haphazardly on top of her new schoolbooks. A sheet of Muggle paper was somehow fastened to its cover.

As Ginny tiptoed cautiously forward, the strange, illegible glyphs on the paper squirmed and rearranged, forming into English sentences in a strong yet feminine hand.

--Greetings,-- the note began. --This book contains a fragment of a human soul, and a memory imprint of the man who put it there. He created the imprint with the death of an innocent girl. The imprint wants to get out of the book. If you write in the book, he will write back. He will attempt to make you his friend, control your thoughts, and drain your life.

--We were unable to destroy the book, but we wish you better luck. The imprint calls himself Tom Puzzle/Mystery/Riddle. If you know his creator, avoid him. He is very dangerous.

--Please be careful.

--Spring Cherry--

Ginny stared at the book, deeply suspicious. Was this another of the twins' jokes? Or, worse, was it part of some twisty, evil plot against Harry? Who did this Spring Cherry person think she was, Apparating evil books into a stranger's bedroom without so much as a by-your-leave?

Well. There wasn't much she could do now -- Mum and Dad were far too distracted to pay any attention if she tried to show them the diary and ask for advice -- but she obviously couldn't just leave the book lying around where anybody might find it.

And come to think of it, what if it was an evil plot against Harry? What if she could figure it out and stop the villain all by herself? Would Harry notice her then? If she saved him, would he like her?

...If she was very careful, could she learn anything from the person in the diary, before he was able to drain her?

Slowly, Ginny picked up the diary and tore off the note.

She had a lot to think about.

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End of Story

Back to What Doesn't Kill You

Read the final version on ff.net

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And that, as they say, is that. 23 chapters, 20,250 words (give or take), and not quite two years of work.

I had a lot of fun. I hope you all did too. :-)

...

Next week, I will start on "Secrets." I just need time to decompress my mind and reread the posted chapters, because I've completely forgotten where I was on that story. (Maybe something about spiders? Oh well, it'll come back to me.)