Author's Note: thanks again to Cheyenne my bestest friend and inspiration and for putting up with my constant rookie mistakes.

The Serpent's Lair

Days and weeks passed as the five continued with their lessons but always with the mysterious passage and its mysterious message on their minds. Two of them had even more upon their minds Jace often thought about his mums and hoped they would get along well as he did not want to have to choose between them for he loved them both dearly.

Tara on the other hand had many worries about how Jace would react to the Chamber of Secrets and she knew he was very intelligent and would likely figure things out quickly and she worried how he would take the secret of her heritage but she felt Jace would keep it secret in any case and was more worried he would end their friendship once he learned her darkest secret.

The others were mostly concerned with classes and even though he had fulfilled his promise to Laura, Barry continued to help her with her potions homework as he was growing rather fond of her and although she would not admit it Laura had grown fond of Barry, as for Sam she just watched the quidditch practices and wished first years could try out for their house team as she loved the sport and felt she was as good as if not better than many who tried our for the 4 house teams.

It was mid October and a cold and windy Friday night when Jace and Tara came back to an empty common room as everyone else was still at dinner and it was then Tara turned to her friend as she had decided tonight was the night .

"Jace, remember your promise to come with me to see something I found no questions asked? Well tonight is the night! Meet me here at midnight and we shall go alright?" said Tara almost pleadingly

"Okay Tara I always honor my promises, ill meet you here at midnight and go with you, even if we get caught and get punished" said Jace with a chuckle.

"Good then it's a plan!" Said Tara happily but she sincerely hoped they would not get caught as she did not want to have to explain where they had been or were going.

The two of them sat down and worked on homework together as the common room filled as it always did after dinner at about three hours after dinner they decided to go rest a bit in their dorms then as the clock struck midnight they both slipped silently out of there dorms and met in the common room.

"Ready?" asked Tara as she tried to hide the nervousness in her voice.

"Yes, lets go I am curious about what you want me to see!" said Jace confidently.

The 2 of them slipped silently out of the Slytherin common room and headed up to the main floor which was now quite dark and down a hall where they stopped outside a bathroom as Tara reached for the door knob.

"Tara you do realize that's a girl's bathroom, and with me being a boy I am not allowed in there?" asked Jace nervously.

" Don't worry it will be empty this time of night and it not often used at any rate as its haunted by Moaning Myrtle, and most girls avoid it if they can." Said Tara as she opened the door and walked inside leading Jace inside the bathroom.

"Alright I trust you Tara, let's go "said Jace as he followed her inside wondering what Tara could want to show him in a bathroom.

From with the bathroom they hear a moaning and sobbing and a ghostly girl looks down on them curiously and goes silent as she remembers a time long ago when boys last came into her bathroom.

Myrtle asked "What are you doing here at this time of night and with a boy! This is a girl's bathroom!

Tara glared at the ghost-girl "none of your business now is silent!" then she wave her wand at Myrtle and muttered something who then went silent.

Tara went over to one of the sinks and touched the tiny serpent etched there and the passage opened up and she motioned for Jace to follow her as she slid down the chute and Jace followed wondering where it led while shaking off a strange coldness.

Soon they were both at the bottom and Tara led them onward in to the gloomy passage past the remains of what was a huge snake's skin which Jace looked at curiously as they passed it wondering what sort of snake could leave such a large skin the he hurried and caught up to Tara in front of a large door with serpents upon it which she touched and it opened and she lead Jace inside.

"What do you think of this place? I kind of thought we might use it as our private place to get away from everyone, and everything "asked Tara nervously as he watched Jace look around the chamber which dripped with water and had an altogether moldy smell and went off down several side passages and one end there was a large carved image of the face of Salazar Slytherin.

Jace looked around taking everything in then turned to Tara and said "Its cool and we can do that but its going to be tricky to come and go with out being seen so we may not be able to use it as much we might like to, if the entrance was anywhere but a girl's bathroom it would work out better and we may want to get some chairs and maybe a table down here which won't be easy as neither of us knows how to conjure things yet but I am sure we will figure something out "

Tara nodded and thought that she just might get out of this with out revealing her dark heritage when she noticed Jace had begun examining the bones of the Basilisk and hoped he would not know what it was but she knew he hopes were dashed and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that Jace had suddenly looked up sharply then at the carved face of the namesake of their house then came running over to her.

"Tara that's the bones of a basilisk and this place is the Chamber of Secrets…..how did you find it and how did you get us in here? Err sorry I promised to not ask questions. You don't have to answer them" Said Jace as he went silent.

Tara remained silent for a long time as she thought about what to do then she decided to trust Jace with her secret even while knowing if her parents ever found out she would be severely punished and yet she was willing to risk it.

"Jace ill explain it all to you, but first you must promise me you will never betray my trust and that what I am about to tell you will forever remain a secret that is just between us, do you promise?"

Jace nodded and said "I Promise ill keep your secret forever"

Tara took a deep breath and hoped she wasn't about to lose her best friend and wondered how he would react to it.

"Jace, I am the great great grand daughter of Tom Marvel Riddle better known as Lord Voldemort and descendant of Salazar Slytherin, while I cannot speak parsletounge I can understand what is said in it and my touch worked to get us in here, my ancestor had a brief affair with a young witch a few weeks before he was killed and fathered a son and I am descended from that son "Tara said with a coldness and fear in her voice.

Jace stood there for a long moment then hugged his friend and said " I'll keep your secret Tara and I am still your friend but I hope you don't go down the same dark path as your ancestor as such evil should be left in the past. "

Tara smiled and hugged Jace in return then said "Thank you and I do not know what course my fate will take me, but if my parents have their say it would be one of darkness in search of revenge of my ancestor's death at the hands of Harry Potter, I personally would like nothing better than to choose my own path …any way we best go before we get caught out of bed"

The two of them left the chamber and slipped back out of the bathroom where Myrtle still struggle to speak and were able to slip out unseen by any teachers, but far above in the Gryffindor first years girl's dorm Laura was looking at a very special map and had seen Two dots that interested her and watched then as the crossed the great hall.

"What the heck were Tara and Jace doing out of bed at this time of night?" asked Laura softly as she thought aloud.

Then she watched them return to the Slytherin common on the Marauder's map she considered waking Sam to tell her then decided to let her friend sleep and she knew she could not tell a teacher with out having to reveal the map's existence and that would surely get it confiscated so she decided she would say nothing and put away the map and went to sleep.

Meanwhile far below Jace by this time had gone to bed but laid there awake thinking that if Tara at some point in the future did as her parent's wished that Laura would be in great danger and decided right then if Tara took that path he could not go with her and hoped she wouldn't follow the path her parents by the sound of things had mapped out for her, then he rolled over and tried to sleep.

Meanwhile Barry slept peacefully dreaming about that passage he had found and what they might discover on Halloween.