If Harry died, oh well. Ron would spend the rest of his life talking about the days when he had been the Best Friend of the Boy-Who-Lived-and-Died trying to rescue a helpless damsel in distress. He'd never acknowledge Harry had only died because he was unprepared to meet the challenge Ron had forced him into facing. It was doubtful Ron would even admit the girl who'd needed rescuing was his own sister as that would more than likely mean Ron would have to share attention with her. Even if Harry's death in trying to rescue her almost guaranteed her death at the scene as well.
Nor was it at all likely that, once the young Tom Riddle had drained her life force, he would've allowed Ronald Weasely to live to tell the tale. After all, according to Voldemort, Ronald Weasely and all of his family were Blood Traitors and deserved to die. Added to that, Voldemort would've realized Ronald had betrayed Harry, his supposedly best mate. Had always betrayed Harry while lying to him claiming to be his friend. Because Ginerva Molly Weasely had been writing to him and telling him everything all year long. And Voldemort didn't take betrayal lightly. Even when it was betrayal of his self-appointed enemy. Ron's own actions into forcing Harry into that situation would've declared him to Voldemort as the worst blood traitor of them all. He would've killed Ron without hesitation before leaving the Chamber to wreak havoc on the world.
And Harry had almost died that day. Sometimes, he almost wished he had. Then at least all this would be over. He'd be back with his parents and maybe no one else would've died needlessly to feed an old man's power driven ego. He'd come so close. Because he'd been bitten by the basilisk even as he'd slain it. He'd pulled the fang from his arm and saw the blood pouring from the wound. Blood that had streaks of black and green in it. Poison and dead cells. Still he'd found the strength to stab the diary Ginerva had so foolishly spent the year writing in. That action killed the shade before it could finish stealing Ginerva's life force. So he'd already saved her life and done his task for the year. And he was dying. Of that he had no doubts. Even as she was waking from her stupor.
Sitting here on his rock in the Dursley backyard, Harry couldn't help but wonder how many more people that girl would grow up to endanger and kill before she was stopped. Because even back then he'd known she had no regard for the lives she'd endangered through her stupidity. Not even his.
Basilisk poison kills universally. It doesn't discriminate. If not for Fawkes, the Sorting Hat and the Sword of Gryffindor, he knew he'd never have left that chamber and neither would Ginny. Both of them would've lain in the central chamber forever until their bones turned to dust and blew away. For that matter, given how very stupid and lazy Ron was, there was a very good chance he too would've died in the tunnels if Fawkes hadn't come to aid Harry. Professor Lockhart certainly was no help seeing as how he couldn't even remember his own name after he tried to obliviate both Ron and Harry of their memories with Ron's broken wand, causing a landslide and ending up obliviating himself instead.
Sitting here, on his rock, looking back into the past, Harry couldn't help but feel he had done the world a disservice in not refusing Fawkes aid that day. But as much as a part of him longed to go home to his Mum and Dad, the larger part of him hadn't been ready to die yet. He was only twelve years old and at the time he'd still had hope that one day he'd find something good about this thing called life. Something that would make his existence mean something.
But Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix familiar, had come, to Harry's mental call, bringing both the Hat and the Sword. The fiery bird had stayed to help Harry fight the overgrown Snake and tried to rouse Ginny from the stupor she'd fallen into while Harry had battled the maddened, enraged beast. The Hat had provided the sword and tried to give Harry instruction on how to use it. But the sword was as big as Harry and he'd never even tried to use one before. So those instructions weren't a great deal of help.
In the end, it was Fawkes and Harry who'd saved the red headed girl though once again Dumbledore had tried to claim a life debt against Harry since Fawkes was supposedly his familiar. Again, Harry refused to accept the obligation since he knew no debt had been incurred. At least, not between Harry and the Headmaster anyway. Once again the Headmaster hadn't in any manner endangered himself in securing Harry's life. Just because Fawkes had come to Harry's mental call for aid and brought the sorting hat with him, didn't mean Dumbledore had either been in mortal peril or even authorized the aid.
Both Fawkes and the Sorting Hat had specifically told Harry they came to his aid because they heard his plea for help. Dumbledore hadn't had anything to do with it. Fawkes and the Sorting Hat both had an agreement with Hogwarts itself to aid in the protection of any and all students while they remained inside the Castle or on the Castle grounds. And accessible to the masses or not, the Chamber was within the Castle and Harry was a student. Both Hat and Bird had heard Harry's call because the Castle had heard it and sent it to them so he could receive the help he needed. Nor had either Fawkes or Dumbledore been in mortal peril during the time Fawkes had rendered Harry his aid.