The secret in the chamber

"Tom! Tom, wait!"

He turned around, an amused expression on his face.

"Where are we going?" She asked breathlessly. "And why do we have to run that fast?"

"We are running because I don't want a teacher to catch us." He took her hand, leading her further. "And the place we are going to, I won't tell."

She stopped reducing her hand from his.

"It is in the middle of the night, Tom! If this is just another joke…" She started but was interrupted by Tom.

"Oh come on, Bella…It's a surprise." He said.

"You know really well that I don't like surprises." Bellatrix replied lightly annoyed.

He reached out his hand again. "This one you will like."

Well, she really, really liked that boy and wouldn't he think of her as that well-educated pureblood girl, she was really sick of herself?

Without hesistation she took his hand again.

And they continued their journey through the hallways of Hogwarts.

A few minutes later they stopped in front of a door.

"Em Tom…you know that this is a girls' restroom, do you?" Bellatrix asked Tom who already had his hand around the door handle.

"Of course I know that, Bellatrix." He replied.

"And what are we doing here then?"

"Come and I'll show you." He opened the door.

But Bellatix held him back, the moonlight which came through the half open door, giving her a mystic appearance.

"The Moaning Myrtle is in there and I really don't get along well with her, especially not since she's a ghost."

"Who does?" Tom joked. "But don't worry, she's never in there Wednesday night. So come on now!"

They slipped inside and Tom closed the door quietly behind them.

Bellatrix looked around, searching for something worth all of the efforts. Without a finding.

Tom, aware of the quite confused expression on her face, put his arm around her waist and guarded her over to the sinks.

With blushed cheeks caused by his gentle touch, she looked up to him.

He smiled and pointed out to her to keep her eyes on the sinks in front of her.

Then she heard Tom hissing and she gasped for air.

Right in front of them the sinks started to move and bared a pipe, big enough for a person, leading straight down under the school.

"For Slytherin's sake!" Bellatrix shrieked and took a few steps back. "What? How…?"

"Well you already got it, Bella. This is the entrance to the chamber of secrets, Slytherin's legacy."

"But if you are able to open it…then you must be…"

"The true heir of Slytherin. Yes…" Tom ended her sentence.

"Then you attacked all the mudbloods last year?" She asks with disbelief.

"Yes. But even when I charged Hagrid for it, I can't open it without the danger of being caught anymore…" He studied Bellatix' face.

"Afraid of me now?" He asked her mockingly.

"No." She said without a second thought as she was recovered from her first shock.

Now she walked back over to the pipe and looked down.

Tom stepped behind her, turned her around and asked: "Do you want to go down with me?"

"You want me to go down there?" She said, a little panic in her voice.

"Come on, Bella…" He said holding her in a tight embrace now. "I swear when I am with you, nothing can happen to you. I just want to show you my favourite place."

She put up her head that she was able to look him in the eyes. His beautiful almost black eyes.

Seeing his soft, rather lovely expression, she simply nodded.

As they jumped down into the dark, Tom hold her close and she heard the sinks above them taking their proper place again.

"Whoahhhhh…!" Bellatrix cried out as she was thrown out of Tom's arms and landed hard on the ground.

He hurried immediately over to her and pulled her up.

"Are you hurt?" He asked quite worried.

"No, I don't think so…" She replied coughing because of the dusty air. "And this is your favourite place?" She asked, her eyes wandering over the little animal bones which were covering the complete ground. "Well, it's not really nice down here, is it?"

"Only if you don't know where to go." He replied.

Then he took her hand in his again and they followed a pipe on their left side.

"Wait…" Bellatrix stopped again as she had realized something.

"Bella, what is it this time? Just trust me." Tom said.

"That's not the point. I do trust you of course but what about the monster" She asked with fear in her voice.

"It will not come unless I call for it." He explained stroking her cheek. "Alright?"

"Alright." And she continued following him.

After a couple of minutes of walking through the maze-like pipes, they stopped in front of a round metal door.

Tom made a hissing sound again and the snakes which ornamented the passage, moved. The door made a squeaking sound and finally opened.

Bellatrix who had stared at the event with pure fascination, felt Tom pulling her forward.

"So every door here is locked and can only be opened by someone who can speak Parseltongue?" She asked.

"Of course, Slytherin had to be sure that only his heir could come here, or not?"

"Yes…, but…" She started.

"Oh Bella…, will you only ask questions or do you follow me now?" Tom interrupted her.

"No…, but you've just told me that you are the heir of Slytherin. So of course I have a few questions. I would have never suggested you to be the one who had attacked the mudbloods.

I mean how can you even be his heir? You're not even a…"

"Pureblood" He ended her sentence.

"No Tom, I'm sorry, I didn't want to…"

But he cut her off again. "It's alright Bellatrix, of course would nobody ever think that a half blood" He said the word full of disgust. "Could be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

"Tom, I'm so sorry." Bellatrix said and laid a hand on his chest. "I didn't want to insult you. I always thought that you must have a great wizard as an ancestor because of the powerful magic that you have."

He smiled took her hand from his chest, holding it, and together they climbed through the opening.

Wow was the first word Bellatrix could muster after she had taken a look upon the original chamber.

"Quite impressive, isn't it?" Tom asked when he had seen her astonished expression.

"Yes." Bellatrix still let her gaze wander over the many sculptures of snakes and the one, she thought, should represent Slytherin himself.

"Do want to come down there with me?"

Tom's voice made her turn her head. He stood next to a ladder, an awaiting look in his eyes.

Still feeling really uncomfortable of the fact that she was even closer to the monster than before, she hesistated which didn't go unnoticed by Tom.

"Bella…, once again. The basilisk won't come unless I call for ot."

"The what?" Bellatrix shrieked. "Wait…, Tom? Have you used legilimency on me again?" She said, her fear suddenly turning to anger.

"How should I know otherwise what you're thinking? You're extremely quite today." He answered a devilish smile on his lips.

"You know that I hate that!" She said only slightly louder than a whisper.

His grin only widened. "I've told you already that the basilisk will only show up if I call for it. So you don't have to whisper."

"I did not whisper!" Bellatrix said louder now.

"Bella…, don't be like that again…" Tom said.

"Like what?" She snapped her hands on her hips.

"Huffy." He said.

"I'm not huffy, you…" But before she could add her description for him, he had crossed the space between them and pressed his lips gently on hers.

Only seconds later he took a step back. "Are you convinced now that I will protect you?"

But instead of an answer, Bellatrix simply kissed him back, feeling him pulling her closer with every second passing.

Down there, in the dark chamber under the school, she lost her heart forever.

Not knowing that the basilisk wasn't the only monster there, waiting for a call.