"When you hesitate in life you always lose, be it something as simple as the last piece of pie or a life that you're trying to save. Rather you do something and reap the consequences than do nothing and regret your inaction for the rest of your life." –Alastor Moody to Harry Potter, during late night training, August 1995.

~Chapter 8: Into Our Own Hands~

"Remind me why we didn't just do this in the Three Broomsticks? They've even got a second floor now!"

"I've already told you, Ron, it's always packed, we'd never get any peace of mind talking in there."

"You're sure about this now? I mean, we can always relocate..."

"We don't want this circulating through the school, and being around other students is the quickest way to make that happen. You know just as well as I do that Umbridge would shut this down in a heartbeat. The Hog's Head should be fine though, students never go in there. It's a bit, you know…" Hermione paused for a second, looking for the right word.

"Dodgy?" Harry suggested.

Ron just gave them a unamused look.

"A bit?"

This was, after all, the place that Hagrid frequently walked out of with unborn creatures of incredible danger and questionable legality.

Still, there was no further objection about their destination and they continued the remainder of the way in silence. It didn't take long for the trio to reach the pub. It was right around the corner from the post office and up a side street a bit. The sign that hung over the door creaked as it swayed and depicted a severed boar's head dripping blood onto a white cloth.

"Lovely. Well, after you, leader," said Ron, looking at the place apprehensively.

Hermione glanced at Harry, who gave her a pointed look. She straightened shoulders, saying, "Right, well, come on."

She pushed the door open and walked in, Harry and Ron flanking her. Harry was immediately reminded of a dark cellar. It certainly resembled one. The bay windows were so grimy they might as well have been hidden behind curtains for all the light they let in. The room instead had to be lit by a large number of candles that sat on the tables littering the room. The ground was so covered in filth that the stone floor could easily be mistaken as earthen. There were only a handful of people in the place, though all of them wore cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. Harry remembered Hagrid mentioning the wide range of characters that frequented this place. He suppose then he shouldn't be surprised that one figure at the bar was downing glass after glass of something that honestly looked like liquid fire. In fact it might actually have been on fire itself. The fact every visible inch of the drinker was completely covered in less than clean looking bandages was really just the kicker.

"We're really doing this, huh."

"Try to relax a bit, Harry," Hermione said reassuringly. "I've triple-checked everything. We aren't out of bounds for anything we're doing. Not the Hog's Head, not the study group we're planning, nothing."

"Guess I'm just being a bit paranoid then. For the record though, it's not really a study group we're doing," said Harry flatly. "More a subversive combat unit."

"Don't argue semantics with me, Harry, you won't win," she chirped.

"She's got you there, mate," said Ron with a shrug. "Let's get drinks I'm parched."

They walked up to the bar where the barman had just exited a back room and was now eying them suspiciously. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a good amount of long gray hair and beard. Tall and thin, the man actually looked vaguely familiar to Harry.

"What?" he grunted, clearly less than pleased to have a bunch of kids in his establishment.

"Three butterbeers, please," said Hermione.

The man did nothing for a second before reaching under the counter and pulling out three very dusty bottles and placing them on the counter.

"Six sickles," he said, eying Hermione.

"I've got it," said Harry, fishing out the silver and passing it over.

Harry noticed that the barman's eyes flicked to his scar for a second before he took the money and tossed it into a wooden till a few feet away, the drawer popping open to accept the coins and snapping shut immediately after. The man covered in bandages tapped the counter with his knuckles for another drink, pulling the barman's attention away from them.

As they found seats, Ron looked over at the bar speculatively. "You know, I bet they'd serve us anything in here," he said with a small grin. "I've always wanted to try firewhiskey."

Hermione, who had just spelled their drinks clean, instantly looked over at Ron. "Ron—" she started disapprovingly, but Harry quickly cut her off.

"So, who exactly is supposed to be meeting us?" He opened his butterbeer and took a swig. At least the drink itself was as good as ever, though it lacked that certain quality of the butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks. "Who'd you end up talking to, anyway?"

"Just a couple of people," she said looking over at the door and then checking her watch. "I told them to be here about now, and I'm sure they all know where it is... Oh, look, this might be them."

The pub door had opened again, though unlike when they had entered, this time it was to an absolute flood of people.

First, came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with the quiet Su Li. Then, Cho entered with her friend, Marietta Edgecombe. Luna was next, followed by Katie, Alicia, Angelina, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstien, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot. As if that weren't enough, Ginny followed them, coming just ahead of some boy from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team he didn't know, and bringing up the rear of the procession were Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, all three carrying large Zonkos bags. Had they all been waiting outside the door until there were sufficient numbers to brave the place? The barman's mouth was as wide as it could go. He had probably never seen his pub so filled with people, let alone normal looking ones.

"A couple of people?" said Harry blankly. He turned to Hermione and glared at her. "A couple of people?"

"Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular," said Hermione happily. "Ron, help me pull up more chairs."

Harry let out a great sigh as people began finding themselves seats. Well, had he really expected different?

Fred was taking care of drinks. "Hey, can we get, eh... twenty-six butterbeers, please?"

"That's twenty-nine, Weasley."

Everyone turned to the door which had just opened again to reveal the latest additions to the large group. As they walked away from the light coming through the front door and it closed behind them, a bunch of people started muttering in surprise. Tracey Davis, who had spoken, headed the triangle. Blaise Zabini was to her right, hands in his pockets and looking bored. And finally, Daphne Greengrass was looking around the pub from her friend's left, arms crossed and taking it all in with about as much interest as the weather.

"Oi, what are snakes doing here?" said Ron loudly.

"Well that's what you do when you're invited to a place, isn't it?" Tracey gave him a challenging look. "Show up?"

"Who invited them?" said Ron at once, looking around at the group.

Harry crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "I did, Ron."

"What?" Well, that threw him off.

"This isn't a group that excludes people because of House," said Harry flatly. "End of story. If anyone's got a problem with that then piss off."

"He's right, Ron," said Hermione after a second, though she clearly wasn't sold on the idea of having Slytherins in the group. They had never exactly shown themselves to be a trustworthy group in her opinion, though it wasn't right to judge a part based on the whole. "It's not about that."

Ron looked like he wanted to argue but was cut off with a glare from Harry. They would have this chat later, no doubt. Harry dug into his pocket and withdrew a few galleons.

"Fred, buy everyone drinks with this," he said loudly, tossing them to the redhead. "Put the change towards something good."

"Cheers, Harry. Sorry about that," he said back to the barman who was still looking disgruntled at the number of people. "Twenty-nine butterbeers."

As Fred passed the drinks around Harry walked over to the table that the three Slytherins had claimed for themselves. "I didn't think you'd come," he said truthfully.

"Neither did I," said Daphne dryly, looking off to the side.

"Oh, come on, we've got nothing better to do right now, unless you want to spend another day with Draco," said Tracey, earning a glare from her friend. Harry suppressed a smirk and looked at Blaise.

"Welcome to the group, Zabini. I obviously don't know you at all, but I'll trust Tracey's judgment on this. Did she force you to come or are you curious yourself?" Blaise was a curious person. He had originally run with Malfoy's group during the younger years but had since broken away and become more of a solo act, though he mingled throughout the House. Perhaps he'd become tired of the rest of his year.

Blaise's eyes darted to Tracey for a moment before settling on Harry. "Certainly curious," he said after a second. "I'm interested in seeing how you plan on dealing with the school's 'Defense' problem."

"Hermione was really the one with the big plan, I'm just the person who makes it all work."

He left the three looking at him in confusion. Once Harry reached the table at the head of the group he said in a low voice, "Well, Hermione, you set this up so you get it going. What exactly have you been telling them, anyway? I see the way they're all looking at me."

"I honestly didn't say much," she admitted. "They're all people who want something better than what we've got now. That's all I can say for sure. As for why they're looking at you…?" She gave him a quick grin. "You are a bit famous."

Harry just rolled his eyes, considering what she'd said. So none of the group had any idea of the plan. How many would be willing to go through with this, he wondered.

"Hello everyone," Hermione began, her voice slightly raised as she addressed the gathering. "Thanks for coming. We had the idea of getting together a group of people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts. Obviously, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us. I think it's pretty obvious that teaching everyone Defense is the last thing on her mind."

"I'll say," said Lee. There was a general murmur of agreement.

"The way things are now we'll never get anywhere, so I thought it would be better if we took matters into our own hands," she continued, glancing over at Harry. "Meaning, we would be learning how to actually use spells to defend ourselves, among other things. Not only do we want to pass our exams, but Voldemort's return has made things extra dangerous and," she waited for a moment for everyone to regain their composure, "it's more important now than ever to know how to properly defend ourselves."

Everyone just stared at her in silence, causing the girl's thin smile to become even thinner.

"Well, that's the plan anyway," she continued. "If you want to join, we're going to have to decide—"

"Where's the proof?" came an aggressive voice. It was the Hufflepuff that Harry didn't know.

"And you are?" said Harry with a raised eyebrow. Just what he needed: an ass.

"Zacharias Smith," said the boy, "and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes you say You-Know-Who is back."

"Look," said Hermione sharply, "that's not what this is supposed to be about!"

"It's alright, Hermione." Harry sighed, looking at the accusing boy. "I saw him, I fought him, and then I escaped when I had the chance. End of story. I couldn't care less if you don't believe me." His gaze swept through the group. "If you're here because you're interested in details about that night then get out. I'll help you along."

He glared at them all waiting for someone to move, but they all sat there without a single fidget. Cho had her eyes in her lap. He wanted to say something to her, but it was impossible in present company.

"So," said Hermione, her voice a little higher than normal, "like I was saying, if we want to learn some defense, we need to be taught from someone who's got experience with it and knows exactly what it's like out there. We know it isn't perfect, but in the end I think Harry's really the best person for the job."

This was met with a half-silence as everyone shifted to look at him again. In response he just shrugged.

"I know stuff."

"Like he says," agreed Hermione. "We'll need to work out how exactly we're going to do this, how often we're going to meet, and where we're going to meet. If you're interested," she added

"Okay, any other questions?" he asked, deciding not to put his wand away and twirling it between his fingers.

"I've heard you can make a Patronus. Is that true?" said Marietta. There was a murmur of interest around the group at this.

"Uh, yeah, I can. You 'heard it?"

"Rumor," she said as if that explained everything. "Since my fourth year. I never saw it though. A corporeal Patronus?"

"It's not really an actual Patronus otherwise, is it?"

"That's... pretty incredible," said Marietta, getting a nod from a number of others.

"I'll show you later if you want," he said with a shrug. "We can make it a late lesson."

"Did you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" demanded Terry Boot.

Harry, as well as everyone else, turned to him. Apparently, the meeting had become a Harry Potter rumor Q&A session.

"One of the headmasters' portraits told me that when I was in there last year," Terry elaborated.

There was a snort from the side as Daphne failed to repress a small laugh.

"Something funny?" said Ron aggressively.

"Killed a Basilisk, are you kidding me?" she said in amused disbelief. "With a sword?"

Tracey and Blaise were also both looking at Terry Boot like he was somewhat unhinged.

Harry made to say something but Ron beat him to it.

"Listen up, it's one thing if you've been invited here, but don't think you can just go insulting my best mate like that," said Ron angrily. "Plus, Harry—"

"Was just going to say that you shouldn't believe everything that you hear," he said loudly, overriding him. "Especially when it comes to me. Have you actually read some of the stuff people have written about me?"

Ron looked like he wanted to object, but Harry shot him a quick look and he sat back in his seat. Ginny frowned but said nothing.

"Honestly," continued Harry, "what else do the portraits have to do than come up with interesting things to say to one another?"

"True, I've heard a bunch of pretty ridiculous thing from portraits about you," said Ernie. "Though between them and the rest of the school, it's pretty hard to keep up with the truth."

"Harry likes to keep things interesting," quipped Fred.

"Yeah, a year without life-threatening situations would actually probably kill the guy, poor bloke," said George.

Harry palmed his face at this. "Come on, you guys—"

"But I wouldn't doubt that he knows a thing or two about how to survive," Lee added. "We could do worse for a teacher."

"He made it through the Tournament last year too," added Cho. "That's impressive in its own right."

"Right," said Hermione hastily, "moving on... The point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry? I know he's not a professor or anything, but he's the best we've got, he's willing, and anything is better than Umbridge at this point."

There was a murmur of general assent.

"Right then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point meeting less that once a week—"

"Hang on," said Angelina. "We need to make sure this doesn't conflict with Quidditch practice."

"Nor with ours," said Cho.

"Or ours," said Smith.

"I'm sorry but we really don't," said Hermione impatiently. "There are going to be better times than others, but the group isn't going to be put off because of quidditch. Either you're with it or you aren't."

"Don't worry, Hermione, it'll work out," said George, one hand quelling Angelina's outrage that someone would dare to call quidditch less than the most important aspect of life. "I think more difficult will be a place to meet."

"No need," said Harry. "I've already got the location all worked out, you'll hear about it later on."

"For the record," Hermione interjected, "everything that we are doing here is within school rules. Creating an unofficial club is totally allowed. It's no different from a random study group or a student organized game of pick-up Quidditch. You can't get in trouble in the slightest for this, it's just we'd rather avoid the issues that would come up if we went parading it around. So if you're in, please come sign this parchment so we know who to contact about the first meeting. Other than that, you can go. Thanks again for coming."

There was a pause of murmuring before everyone shuffled forward to sign. Hermione looked thrilled that everything was going so well. She rolled up the parchment and stuck it in her bag. As the others trickled out of the pub, Harry walked over to Cho who had separated herself from her friend.

"Hey, Harry, doing well?" she said with a smile. "I know we haven't talked much recently, it's been fairly busy." One of her hands was absently playing with a lock of her hair.

"It's alright, I'm as well as I can be," he said. "I'm sorry about earlier. People can be thoughtless."

Cho's smile slipped a bit, but she still held onto it, just giving off a feeling of sadness. "Don't worry about it, Harry. You had every right to be angry." She closed her eyes for a second and let out a long breath. "I've let him go. You were right on the train. He wouldn't want me to dwell."

Harry wasn't really quite sure what to say. It was like he was intruding on her sadness. He didn't really belong; not when he had been the ultimate source of her pain. If only he hadn't told Cedric to take the Cup with him... No, he shouldn't think like that. Dwelling on the past would only serve to make him miserable. If Cho could push past it then so could he.

"Cho, I-"

"Besides, there's still plenty to be happy about, don't you think?" she added, her head tilted to the side slightly. A cough brought their attention to Marietta, who was watching them with a very particular look on her face. Cho's face reddened a bit, but she turned pointedly away from her friend and regarded Harry again. "I have to head back to the castle for today, but I hope we can talk more soon."

"Yeah, definitely," he said at once, nodding. "I'll see you around."

Cho walked out of the pub with her friend, giving him a final small wave at the door before disappearing into the street. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked about to see who was still around. Almost everyone was gone now. Hermione and Ron were still chatting at their table in the back. The only other group of students were the two female Slytherins, one of whom was watching him with a fairly knowing grin. Blaise must have left with the others.

He walked over to them, giving the grinning blonde a flat look. "Something I can help you with?"

"You said nothing, I heard nothing," she said cheekily.

"And don't you forget it," he grumbled, though he wasn't mad at her. Quite the contrary he was very happy she had come and wasn't treating him like a stranger. He noticed that Daphne was watching him carefully. "What's up, Greengrass?"

"You're a terrible liar, you know," she said bluntly.

Harry looked at her blankly for a moment before he realized what she must be talking about.

"Ah, you mean the snake." Damn it, this was what he got for inviting members of the House of the cunning. They also happened to be damn sharp at times. Or, well, at least she was.

"I wasn't aware that you lied about anything else during the meeting," she said lightly, finishing her butterbeer.

Harry sighed. "The snake just happened. I'm lucky to be alive."

"That's not much of an explanation."

Harry frowned. "What do you want me to say? That as a second year student I went off to face the heir of Slytherin and fought the Basilisk to save my friend's sister and stop the school from closing?"

Well, yeah, because that was exactly what happened. His terror at the time had been twofold. First was Ginny, Ron's only sister and a sweet girl in general, who had a family that loved her dearly. He couldn't let her just die. Then there was the school. If it closed he would end up back at the Dursleys, his new life away from them destroyed. Truthfully, he would rather face another Basilisk than go back to that full-time. Hogwarts was all he had, his only chance at a future.

"Potter?" Tracey watched as his eyes lost focus. "Potter?" she repeated. She traded a glance with Daphne before she tried again. "...Harry?"

He gave a small start, coming out of whatever he had fallen into. "Ah, sorry," he apologized. Blinking, he fixed his eyes on the blonde, slowly grinning. "You called me Harry."

"No, I didn't."

"Of course not, I suppose I imagined it."

"So the snake is dead?" interrupted Daphne. She was still giving him an odd look.

Harry glanced back at her. "Yeah, it's dead."

"Has it been moved?"

"I doubt it," said Harry. "As far as I know, I'm the only one who can get to it. Not that I go visiting the damn thing." What was she getting at?

"I want to see it."

Oh.

"You really do have a way with words," said Harry, shaking his head. "Why?"

"Who can honestly say they've seen a Basilisk in their life? Even a small one," she explained.

"Trust me, it's overrated," said Harry dryly. "Only knows how to do one trick, though I'll admit it does it fairly well."

"You're the only person I know who would say something like that," she replied, her voice equally dry.

Harry crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. Well, why not? He had been meaning to go to the Chamber anyway. What was wrong with a little company?

Besides, Daphne was Cho-level hot, if with a rough personality to match.

"Alright, I'll take you."

Both Daphne and Tracey blinked in surprised. They had clearly been expecting a refusal.

"Really?"

"Hey, quality time with the Lady Greengrass, how could I say no?"

"Watch it, Potter," Daphne growled, her voice gaining a dangerous tone at once.

"Why don't I just take you today, you're not doing anything else, right? No more dates?" The look she was giving him made him frown. "You are too serious," he said. "Would you like to go now, or after dinner?"

"Now, I've got nothing else I want to do in the village as it is."

"Alright, just give me a little bit to chat with my friends. I'm going to have to convince the redhead to let me go without a bodyguard."

Tracey chuckled in amusement as Harry walked back to his friends. Both of them were watching him carefully.

"What's the deal inviting them?" said Ron at once.

"Do you really want to have this fight with me, Ron?" he asked bluntly. "Not all Slytherins are Malfoy. In fact not all people are Malfoy."

"Harry, you can't trust the snakes!" he said emphatically. "They all think Gryffindors are scum and aren't about to change their minds. Give me one example when you weren't treated like crap by any of them."

"Well lunch with Tracey yesterday went rather well," he jabbed, enjoying the look that Ron was now giving him. "It just kind of happened," he added with a shrug, when Hermione opened her mouth to ask.

"You ditched us both to grab lunch with a snake?" said Ron in disbelief. Harry stalled for a second but realized that there was no denying that Ron was right, at least about that.

"I- yeah I guess I did in the end. Sorry about that you two..."

"It's alright Harry, we still spent the afternoon together," said Hermione, still mulling over what she had just heard.

"But-!"

"Ron, one more thing about the Slytherins in the next five minutes and I'll curse your mouth off," snapped Hermione. "You know I can do it, too." Ron closed his mouth, though he certainly wasn't happy about it.

"Anyway," said Harry, drawing their attention back to him, "back to the meeting, are you feeling happy about it?" he asked.

"Very!" she said cheerfully. "That was perfect."

"Yeah, well, minus having... them join and that Zacharias bloke. He's a wart," said Ron, glad to have something else to take his aggression out on in the conversation. "At least the snakes were civil for the most part."

Harry just rolled his eyes. He just did it without even trying. It was amazing how ingrained the House rivalries were in some families. Admittedly the Weasleys were about as Gryffindor as it got.

"Yes, I don't like him much either," agreed Hermione, "but he was there when I was talking to Ernie and Hannah, and he seemed really interested. Still, the more people the better, right? I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have even come if he hadn't been going out with Ginny—"

What little butterbeer Ron had been finishing up was now being sprayed down his front, annoying Slytherins and Hufflepuff completely forgotten in the face of this new Dark Lord level threat.

"He's WHAT?!" said Ron in outrage, ears furiously red.

Harry was also fairly surprised. She certainly had not been acting like she was dating someone. Had he really been that oblivious to it? Though to be fair he didn't exactly get to spend much time with her to begin with. This summer had really been the first time that he talked to her regularly. Trying to think of anything that could have hinted at the sudden news, Harry missed much of the back and forth between a livid Ron and an exasperated Hermione. At least it explained why she was acting so natural around him. It looked like her Boy-Who-Lived crush really was gone, then. Well, that was a relief, at least.

"I'm going to go now," he said flatly to his two friends, who didn't seem like they were stopping any time soon.

"Alright, Harry, we'll see you later," said Hermione absently, now following a fuming Ron out of the pub, in all likelihood to prevent him from doing something rash. Shaking his head in amusement he returned to the Slytherins.

"Alright, ready to go," he said.

"You honestly think I'm about to walk through Hogsmeade with you, Potter?" said Daphne, eyebrow raised. "Especially after yesterday, I'm not eager to start rumors."

Harry just gave her a disgruntled look. "Fine. Come to the second floor of the castle. Anywhere will do." He turned to her companion. "Did you want to come, Tracey?"

"It sounds fun but I've got some things to do in the village before I head back to the castle today," she said in apology.

"No problem, I'll see you around then."

He walked over to the bar and pushed a galleon towards the barman. "Sorry about the mess," he said, motioning to all the empty butterbeer bottles. "This is for putting up with us." Harry moved towards the door and, after a final glance to the Slytherins, made his way back into the streets.

x~x

"That was pretty rude, you know?"

"Sorry, he just rubs me the wrong way."

Tracey just sighed. "Well, here's your chance to get to know him a bit better. He's really not as bad as anyone makes him out to be."

Daphne eyed her friend sidelong before responding.

"You'll forgive me if I don't fall head over heels for him like you have."

"If you ever want me to stop teasing you about your date, then teasing me about mine isn't going to help," Tracey responded grumpily.

"Fine, fine, truce. What are you going to do while I go see whatever Potter's got cooked up?" Daphne was unable to hold back a small snort of laughter. "I mean, really, a Basilisk?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but why would he lie?" Tracey frowned. "After yesterday it just doesn't seem like something he'd do."

"To impress us?" she suggested. "We're both attractive after all."

"You're hopeless…" Tracey shook her head.

"I said it before, Potter's an awful liar. I don't think it's a Basilisk, but there probably is a snake or something. You remember the rumors that were flying around at the end of second year. Though to be fair a Basilisk actually makes sense. It's gaze kills but indirectly could potentially petrify."

"Yeah, right up until you get to the part where he kills it with a sword." Tracey shook her head. "Who comes up with this stuff anyway?"

"Something else would have happened to it." Daphne paused, crossing her arms. "Anyway, I'm still pretty surprised he agreed. Must be because of you."

"Maybe," she said with a shrug.

They were now on the High Street. Daphne gave her friend a small shove to the side. "I'm going to head back to the carriages now, what about you?"

"I wanted get my dad something from the village. His birthday is coming up and I don't have an owl to sent it."

"That's right, I forgot about that. Tell me what you ended up getting later, you always get him the weirdest stuff."

"Of course!"

x~x

Harry made his way back to the carriages slowly, his mind skipping around between the meeting, Cho, and his new afternoon plans. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Tracey had made a good point the day before. He and Cho danced around each other but never really made any move to try to change things. Was she waiting for him to do something? Should he ask her to Hogsmeade next time?

It was a stark contrast to the outing he already had planned for the next village visit. Just the thought of spending the day with Tonks again was making him smile. She just had that kind of effect on him.

He continued down the road in high spirits when something down a side street drew his eyes. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott were all hanging around outside a shop, otherwise oblivious to the world. Harry slowed, eventually coming to a halt. Seeing the white-blond haired boy with that haughty expression on his face was making something in the back of his mind burn. Looking down, he saw that he had unconsciously drawn his wand and was twirling it between his fingers as it sent a feeling of anticipation up his arm. He eyed the carriages, which were only another minute's walk down the road, and changed course, heading toward the Slytherins. His wand was already moving in a lazy sort of motion through the air in front of him. Daphne could wait for a few minutes. He had some unfinished business with Malfoy that was quite pressing, after all.

x~x

"...don't know what to do these days," Nott was saying. "My father and step-mother haven't been telling me anything."

"They will eventually," said Malfoy, arms crossed as he leaned back against the building. "They'll have to. Mother keeps telling me to leave it be, finish my education at least, but it's really none of her concern. She just doesn't… understand. Not like Father does. This is my future, not hers. The future of the world."

"I suppose so," Nott agreed. "What—"

"Stupefy."

The stunner caught Nott in the back of the head, dropping him into his assailant, who just pushed him to the side and allowed his body to slump to the ground. Harry watched the boy fall with a smirk on his face. The other Slytherins just looked on in total shock, hardly comprehending what had just happened.

"Whoops, did I do that?"

"Bastard!" shouted Malfoy, whipping out his wand as Crabbe and Goyle scrambled to do the same.

"Didn't really want to do that, but he'd get in the way otherwise," said Harry conversationally, ducking two curses from Crabbe and Goyle respectively. He silently summoned Nott's wand, holstering his own. Meh, not a bad fit. "Confundo, Supplanto, Depulso."

The Tripping Jinx followed by the Banishing Charm had the confunded Crabbe stumbling head-first into the closest building, knocking him unconscious. Within less than ten seconds, four-on-one had become two-on-one.

There were two reasons that Harry had decided to brazenly attack the Slytherins despite their numbers on him. The first was that no one expected anyone, let alone him, to attack them in broad daylight. The street had a number of people milling about in the general area, though none of them wanted to get close enough to the Slytherins, who were putting out a pretty anti-social atmosphere. With the element of surprise, he could instantly take out at least one of them. Besides, only Malfoy and Nott were actually competent with their casting. Crabbe and Goyle were merely just large bodies these days.

The second reason was that he had a message to deliver. One that began and ended at the point of a wand.

"Stupefy! Impedimenta!"

Harry moved to the side, allowing both spells to pass by harmlessly. The wall they struck behind him took minimal damage. All of the buildings in Hogsmeade were spelled against damage in general. People in the area were already shouting for help, moving well out of range of the spells being cast.

"Confringo!"

Harry cursed as he was forced to shield against the Blasting Curse from Goyle. When did he learn something like that? The spell rebounded and struck the ground a number of feet away from them, blasting a large amount of dirt into the air and leaving a small crater in the road.

"Accio," said Harry, pointing at a barrel behind Malfoy.

The blonde had the common sense to dodge to the side, letting the thing roll harmlessly past instead of toppling him. Goyle suddenly smirked, a plan clearly formed on his face.

"Serpen—"

"No, you dumbass!" said Malfoy, smacking Goyle over the head. "He's a bloody Parselmouth! Don't go making snakes!"

Harry let out a snort of mirth before turning his wand on the unfortunate idiot. "Locomotor Mortis," said Harry, his wand aimed at Goyle.

Now unable to move his legs, the Slytherin fell to the ground, knocking into Malfoy in the process. Harry just rolled his eyes and Confunded him. That should make his account of the event fairly interesting.

"The bloody hell are you playing at!" spat Malfoy, but Harry was in no mood to banter. He was cutting this close as it was.

"Incarcerous!"

Ropes flying too fast for Malfoy to dodge bound him in a second, making him fall to the ground beside his fellows. Harry walked over, plucked his wand from his hand, and dropped it on the ground next to him.

"I'll have you expelled for this, Potter!"

"Sure, tell everyone how weak you really are," he spat. "Show your Dark Lord exactly how useless you are in a fight. He'll know about this by Monday breakfast."

Malfoy gritted his teeth in anger but said nothing, still struggling against his bonds.

"I didn't get the chance to do this yesterday because we were in a clothing store that I happened to like and I couldn't find you afterward. But since I have your attention now, I wanted to tell you something."

Harry pointed his wand down at the blond, who paled, eyes fixed on the tip.

"This is the second time this year you've called Hermione a mudblood in front of me. The train was strike one. Yesterday was strike two. Let me make something clear to you, ferret. Seeing people like you put down people like her pisses me off like nothing else. I'm not the passive Gryffindor you're used to messing with, and apparently I'm developing quite the anger issue. Get to strike three, and I swear I won't give you another chance to make more." Harry straightened and looked around. The street was deserted in his area, though there were people approaching from far off. Time to go.

"Confundo."

The spell made Malfoy's eyes shift out of focus for a second.

"Jeez, you really need to be careful with that wand of yours, you could harm someone." Harry vanished the ropes and pulled Malfoy to his feet, dusting his back off and pressing Nott's wand into his hand as the boy continued to look at him in complete confusion. "Look, just go check out your friends, they look like they've been through the thick of it, yeah?" Smirking at Malfoy as he bemusedly went to do as he was told, Harry quickly vanished into the alley between the two buildings and left the scene.

Now that he was out of view, he pulled his own wand and let the illusory charm he had put up earlier fall. It wasn't a very complex one. It didn't work on anyone who was close to him, either. All it did was make an area around him, about thirty feet in every direction, such that anyone looking into it would see some strange stuff. People would look different, colors would be all mixed up. It was actually a failed version of a different illusion spell that ended up becoming its own thing.

He ended up coming back onto the High Street near the edge of the village right by the carriages, tethered to the herd of thestrals. They pawed at the ground in boredom, a few eying him lazily. He got into the nearest one and closed the door, enjoying the silence that the carriages brought. They were actually pretty private things since they were all spelled to prevent normal-level sounds from leaking in or out, in addition to the curtained windows.

"What the hell did I just do...?" muttered Harry, looking at the roof of the carriage. Well, it wasn't as if Nott had deserved to be harmed, and Crabbe and Goyle just lacked their own motivations. Malfoy though... Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had gone so easy on them. None of them had lasting damage, minus bruises, and Malfoy was still in one piece, as opposed to many like he originally wanted him to be in. What had been the point?

The carriage, obviously, said nothing. It was times like this that he couldn't help but wish that his rhetorical questions were actually answered. The carriage suddenly shifted for a moment, making him think it was about to set off to the castle, when the door opened, revealing a black-haired, blue-eyed beauty.

"Potter! I thought you went back to the castle already," said Daphne, looking up at him from the ground. She quickly glanced around the general area, but it was deserted save for them.

"I made a slightly impulsive detour on my way back that kept me busy until just now," he said, sitting upright so that she had a distinct side to sit on. Seeing that she still wasn't moving, he continued, "I don't bite, you know."

Huffing a bit, Daphne climbed into the carriage and closed the door. As soon as she had seated herself diagonally from him, the thestrals began pulling them back to the castle at an easy pace.

"So, how has your year been so far?" he asked, leaning back in his seat.

"Nothing worth talking about, yours?" she replied shortly.

"It's had its ups and downs," he said. "I know Tracey said that you've been worried about Defense lately, but are there any other classes you're worried about with the OWLs? This year has been pretty intense..."

She just shrugged, pretending to look out of the window while she actually regarded him in the reflection. "Not really."

"Oh, that's good."

They fell into silence, though not an awkward one. Daphne couldn't help but think that something was troubling the Gryffindor and was taking up most of his attention to begin with. He had just been making conversation to be polite. With Harry looking out the window, lost in thought, Daphne considered him quietly, her conversation with Tracey the day before going through her head.

One day. No, not even that. A mere few uninterrupted hours spent in his company and the Boy-Who-Lived had gone from daily nuisance to almost friend for the blonde. He had also followed her around for the entire duration of her awful date with Draco, for whatever reason. And here he sat alone in a carriage with her for the next fifteen minutes at least, staring out the window and not talking to her.

Why wasn't he talking to her? He talked to Tracey easily enough. They barely even knew each other and they had an inside joke. An inside joke! Was she so different? And didn't Tracey say that he had been asking about her yesterday? If he was interested then why wasn't he talking? Why was she driving herself mad with questions?!

"Potter, what's wrong?" she found herself asking. Well, it came out more like a demand than anything. Sharp and commanding, especially in the small space of the carriage.

Still, Harry just looked over at her with a small frown. There were a few seconds of silence before he spoke. "Before I got to the carriages, I saw Malfoy and his cronies hanging out on a side street," he explained in a level voice. "I was still pretty pissed about him calling Hermione a mudblood again yesterday so I walked over and thrashed them. Left them all in the dirt. I doubt I'll get away with it, but I wasn't really thinking about it much at the time."

Daphne was now blinking at him in shock. "Wait, you just seriously attacked my Housemates?" she repeated. "Out of nowhere?"

"Well, it definitely came from somewhere," said Harry, giving her a pointed look. "But yeah, it wasn't provoked. I opened by stunning Nott right in the head. Point blank. Don't think he even realized what was going on."

As he continued to describe the encounter to her, Daphne couldn't help but just sit there, staring at him dumbly.

"What?" he said when he was finished. Daphne had suddenly let out a small chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You took on four people and still won without getting a scratch, two of whom actually know some pretty dangerous stuff," she said, regarding him with the smallest grins. "I was just thinking that maybe you won't be such a bad person to learn from after all."

"Hey!" he said indignantly. "I know I wasn't trying to be a glory-seeker earlier in the pub, but that doesn't mean I'm not good at what I do."

"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't suffocate me with your Gryffindor pride," she countered, looking back out of the window. The castle was now pretty close.

"You're certainly one to talk."

Well, she really had nothing to say to that.

Harry just watched her silently for a few more seconds before speaking. "You're not unnerved at all?" he asked with a frown. "It doesn't bother you that I just attacked your Housemates? Simply because I wanted to?" He wasn't even sure he was alright about it.

"Are you going to attack me?"

"Of course not," he said at once.

"Well then then what's the issue? Your main target was Draco, no?" she replied. Harry nodded. "After what I just went through yesterday it was well deserved and for the record he needs all the lessons he can get."

Harry smirked and leaned back again, feeling more relaxed. "Well that's for sure."

"Anyway, where are we going when we reach the castle?"

"Second floor. You going to go it alone again or do you think you can risk getting seen walking near me this time?" he responded dryly.

"I told you I didn't want to start rumors," Daphne said at once.

"How would walking from the carriages to the second floor start a rumor?" said Harry, disgruntled.

"Are you daft, Potter? You are a walking rumor to begin with. You're honestly lucky enough that your fleeting meetings with Chang haven't been the front page of the paper."

Harry scowled at the Slytherin. "I take it Tracey told you, didn't she? Is it so hard to get some privacy in this place?"

Daphne let out a huff of mirth. "Potter, you're at Hogwarts. Hogwarts and privacy are mutually exclusive."

"Not where we're about to go..."

They made their way up to the castle, which was thankfully deserted. No one wanted to be there at all, considering how ridiculous things had been getting with Umbridge.

"Now, concerning our little adventure, the place we're going is seriously grimy. You actually might want to kip downstairs and put on something old and unwanted."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Old and unwanted is all I've got."

Daphne gave him an odd look but just said, "Let's just go. If what I'm wearing gets ruined, then you can buy me a new outfit."

At this, Harry just shook his head and lead her down the corridor, muttering to himself. She didn't hear all of it but she definitely did catch, "...girls just think I'm some kind of credit card..."

Harry suddenly turned and walked into a room, causing Daphne to pull up short.

"Potter, you're in the girls bathroom."

"Ya think? Hello, Myrtle, how are you?" said Harry, continuing inside without hesitation.

"I'm not going in there with you!" she said firmly, watching him from the doorway.

"That's okay, he doesn't need you in here anyway…"

The ghost who haunted the bathroom floated out of a stall and circled him in what Daphne could only call a flirtatious way, throwing Daphne a superior smirk as she faced her.

That little… Ugh!

Glancing up and down the corridor to make sure they were alone she quickly followed him and shut the door behind her.

"Hello, Harry," said Myrtle prettily.

'Oh, yeah,' thought Daphne, 'because that's not overt in the least.' The boy even had ghosts trying to get in his pants. Unbelievable.

"It's been so long since you came to visit little Myrtle in her bathroom," continued the ghost. "How have you been?"

"I'm well, hope everything's been right with you too," he said, watching Myrtle flit around in amusement. She certainly seemed a lot more energetic than usual.

"I've heard that you're a prefect now," she said, moving close to look at the badge on his chest. "Does that mean that you'll be using the prefects bathroom again?"

Daphne blinked. Was Potter blushing?

"Ah, Myrtle, you really shouldn't be spying on prefects who take baths," he said. "You know, some people like to have private time while soaking in the hot water."

Myrtle just looped around him again, slowing as she passed by his face.

"It's not the prefects I'm interested in, Harry," she let his name roll of her tongue seductively before she giggled helplessly and dove back into her stall toilet, causing it to flood a bit.

Harry gave a weak laugh and turned to Daphne, who was completely taken aback by the whole scene. "Amazing how she's managed to learn how to roll her r's like that, yeah?" he said awkwardly. "Um, anyway, let's get moving before someone walks in on us here. I'm sure that would start one of those rumors you'd rather die than see circle the halls of the this school."

Shaking her head slightly to clear it she said, "Right, why did you bring me in here?"

"Because this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," he said as if that were obvious. "Open."

At once the sinks at the center parted and revealed a large pipe leading down into darkness. Daphne shivered slightly. Parseltongue was, in her opinion, extremely cool. However, hearing it come from the mouth of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was a little unnerving. It just seemed so out of character.

"The Chamber of Secrets!" said Daphne in shock. It actually existed? The events from their second year were flooding back to her mind. Then something else clicked. "Wait, you expect me to jump down that pipe?!"

"I did it when I was twelve, I doubt you'll be any worse off," said Harry with a shrug. He made to jump down when Daphne grabbed his robes from behind.

"Are you crazy?! No wonder you mentioned it was nasty. What kind of idiot builds the Chamber of Secrets and makes the entrance a slide? How would anyone get out easily? And it's pitch black in there! You could just as easily end up sliding down on your face! You're lucky you didn't die!"

"You know, Salazar Slytherin was a guy, and guys like exciting things," said Harry, crossing his arms and ignoring the blatant logic in what she was saying. "It's a rush going to the bottom."

Though now that he thought about it he didn't exactly have a way to get himself out. Not that he was going to mention that to her, she'd probably kick him down the hole.

"Just tell the thing to give us stairs or something," she said flatly.

"Stairs," he said. To his surprise, the wall behind him in between the rows of stalls opened up to reveal a lit staircase. "Huh. That would explain why she didn't have all sorts of slime on her when I found her, too."

Harry closed the chute entrance, which he realized must have been just for the Basilisk, and led the way through the newly formed entrance, the wall closing behind them. This further suggested that there was more to the Chamber than just a place for the Basilisk to live. Slytherin likely had something else down there built for his own use. The moment that the wall closed, the stairs began moving downwards, much like those leading to the headmaster's office. Daphne nearly lost her balance and grabbed onto Harry for support, though let go as soon as she regained her footing.

"Who?" asked Daphne, continuing the conversation while watching the lit torches pass them by at a steady speed. Occasionally the passage curved left or right, which kept them from seeing too far ahead.

"You don't remember the last message on the wall?" he asked. "Ginny Weasley was kidnapped by Slytherin's heir, and I figured out where the entrance was. The school was closing and none of the teachers could do anything; I was the only Parselmouth. Really only one thing to do at that point."

"Go face down a Basilisk at the age of twelve," she deadpanned.

Harry looked back at her. "It's not as simple as you think it was, but yeah, I guess in the end that's what it came down to." He lowered himself on one of the steps as they continued to move lower and lower under the castle. "You might want to sit, I know you hated the pipe, but trust me that thing is way quicker than this is and the slide still took me a minute at least."

Daphne regarded him like he was crazy. "Do you have any idea how dirty these steps are? They're as old as the castle and nobody has ever cleaned them!"

Harry shrugged off his robe and let it pool on the step beside him. "There, now just sit down, would ya? Maybe if you do the steps will speed up." Keep an open mind, Harry. Just because she can be annoying doesn't mean she's actually annoying annoying. Tracey wasn't.

Daphne eyed the robe warily, as if the grime would seep through it, but still sat next to him though with a good two feet between them. She had all of her hair over her shoulder in front of her, protecting it from the steps at her back. She looked at him rather defensively. "What?"

"...nothing."

Xx~xX

"You have got to be kidding me..." Daphne was feeling somewhat faint. Laying before her was a dead Basilisk that was somewhere between sixty and seventy feet long. A real, honest to Merlin Basilisk. And he had killed it? With a bloody sword?! "...How?"

"How did I kill it?" Harry wasn't particularly too keen on recounting the tale, but since he had actually brought her here... "Well, Slytherin's heir set the thing on me but Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, came to my rescue and put the thing's eyes out. My wand was pretty useless. It's not like I knew any spells to help me. Then Fawkes dropped the Sorting Hat in my lap—yeah, the Sorting Hat," he added at Daphne's evolving disbelief, "—out of which I drew the Sword of Gryffindor, which is sitting in Dumbledore's office. Long story short, it tried to eat me and I ended up stabbing it through the roof of its mouth into its brain. Killed it, but still it managed to stab me with one of those fangs, see how one is missing?" he said, pointing. "Quite sharp. Tore a nice line in my arm before getting stuck there. Basilisk venom really, and I mean really, hurts."

"How are you alive?" she said weakly.

"Phoenix tears on the spot it bit me, must have neutralized the poison I suppose," he said, rubbing the old wound absently. "It's amazing how powerful those tears are. Just a few drops was able to stop so much poison. I could feel it moving through my whole body. The pain..." he let out a shallow breath at the memory. "Anyway, like I said in the Hog's Head, I barely did anything myself. The thing stabbed itself on the sword and I would have been dead three times over if not for Fawkes. I'm also guessing the only reason I wasn't outright crushed when it lunged at me is because the sword is pretty damn magical."

"Mental. You're unbelievable."

What else could she say? The whole thing was sensational! A bloody fairy tale practically. If this was true about him, then what did that say about all the other insane rumors about him? Was it true that he actually had a hand in Quirrell's death? What had happened with Sirius Black two years ago? That wasn't even counting the regular rumors about the teen. She just had no idea what to believe anymore.

"I'm still surprised it's in perfect condition," said Harry, patting the Basilisk. "I mean, shouldn't it be decomposing? It's been years."

"It takes certain magical creatures a very long time to naturally decompose due to the magic that resides in their bodies," she said automatically. "Basilisks would last for quite a while, even small ones, so who knows how long this particular one could last? What do you plan on doing with it?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You killed it, so it's yours, that's the law with class five magical creatures," she explained. "There's no age requirement or anything like that. You could seriously make a fortune off of this thing."

"Great, just what I need, more money," he grumbled.

"You could use it to get some new clothing."

The look Harry gave Daphne was simply indescribable.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you said earlier that all you had was old and unwanted," she said with a shrug. "So replace it."

"Oh, yeah, I suppose..."

Even though he had escaped living with the Dursleys full time years ago there were still parts of his life that he had difficulty changing, even though he might want them to change. He was just so used to wearing Dudley's cast-off clothing, doing his best not to stand out to his aunt or uncle lest he draw their wrath. It was the same with his attitude to school and achievement, though he was more confident that those particular things were changing these days. Honestly, why didn't he have better stuff? It wasn't like he couldn't afford it. He just didn't. It made him uncomfortable, and for the life of him he wasn't sure why.

"Potter, you're spacing out again," said Daphne, prodding him slightly.

"Sorry, if you're done, let's head back. This place isn't exactly a vacation spot."

They started heading back, Harry sealing the Chamber and reopening the staircase. Before Daphne could step onto it Harry stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Greengrass, I know it's a rumor, but can you just...keep this outing under wraps?" he asked.

"What makes you think I want it to be known that I went anywhere alone with you, Potter? We've been through this," she said flatly, pulling herself out of his grip.

Harry couldn't help but smirk at that. Well, at least she was consistent.

"Why'd you even take me to see it?" asked Daphne. "You had nothing to prove to me and we definitely aren't friends."

"I just felt like it, I guess. Anyway, careful as you get to the top. People don't need to know where the Chamber is, even if they couldn't get to it."

Daphne shrugged. She'd be telling Tracey, obviously, but something told her he wouldn't mind that one.

"You're not leaving now?"

"I still have some stuff I need to do down here before I go. Besides," he added, "I'd hate to force my company on you any longer than I have to. Talk to you later."

Daphne frowned at this but said nothing, stepping onto the moving staircase, which was now going upwards, and letting it take her out of sight.

"He's... not what I expected," she muttered, thinking about Tracey.

She hadn't felt that immediate friendship that her best friend certainly had, even if the girl was embarrassed enough by it to try and hide it. But was that because of the different circumstances of their time spent with him or something else? Maybe she just didn't like him that much. It was certainly possible. There was a long list of people at this school that she couldn't stand. Then again, Daphne glanced back into the darkening passageway as the stone wall sealed itself behind her, they certainly had not just had a jaunt in Hogsmeade.

Whatever. Now wasn't the time for thinking. Now was the time for finding Tracey and telling her about the ridiculous experience she had just went through.

x~x

Harry sighed as the wall closed itself behind Daphne, the steps taking her back up to the castle proper. She was certainly not Tracey. If anything, the two girls couldn't be further opposite from one another. Hell, even their hair was opposite: black and straight for Daphne, blond and some odd wavy-curly mix for Tracey.

"Why did you bring her along, Harry?" he asked himself, making his way back to the Basilisk.

It looked weird, laying there completely lifeless. Part of him still hesitated whenever his eyes moved to the thing's head. Even as a corpse it was something to be feared.

Putting the Basilisk out of his thoughts, Harry looked around at the large, cavernous room. During his second year and after, he and Hermione had talked at length about the Chamber. Why was it built? What could be down here? Was it really only here for a big snake to live in? The stairs existing only served to further support the idea that both of them had: there was more to the Chamber of Secrets than the legends told.

To Harry it seemed obvious. Why build all this if weren't going to have a base to stay in if needed? It just didn't make sense for there to be somewhere built more reasonably for a human to be comfortable in. Perhaps not to the extent of staying any extended period of time, but certainly a place to rest or something similar. An office maybe? Did Slytherin ever come down here in need of peace to think by?

Considering that it took quite a while to get down here, it would make more sense for Slytherin to put his room, if he had one, close to the stairs. No need to spend so much time getting down only to have to walk just as far afterwards. That would mean it was out in the passageway. He walked back through the circular doorway and into the dingy passageway. The wall that opened to the moving staircase was to his right so...

The wall to his left was as blank as the others. Feeling somewhat foolish, Harry just walked directly up to it and said, "Open."

Nothing happened.

Well, nothing on the wall in question. The metal door to the Basilisk's chamber had opened again.

"Not you, you damn door," Harry snapped at the thing, which began closing almost at once, like a scolded puppy. "I want the office to open!"

Immediately, the wall he was standing before split away, much in the way the entrance to Diagon Alley did, leaving a small corridor about a meter deep ending at an old wooden door.

Harry stared at it, completely nonplussed. "Seriously? I mean, that wasn't even difficult," he mumbled, going to the door and pushing it open.

Inside was a quaint, well-lit study. There was a desk to his left, complete with all sorts of trinkets and supplies. The rear left and right walls were both covered with bookshelves that went from the floor to the ceiling. To his right was a bed, which happened to be made, with a small side table that had a single, miniature painted picture on it of a beautiful woman who was sitting on an old bench. All in all the room was about the size of the Dursley's sitting room.

"I suppose I should say congratulations for discovering my hidden room," came a voice from the end of the room, making Harry jump, "but as it's been several hundred years I'm more of a mind to say it's about damn time. It isn't like it was hard to find. I'm right by the staircase."

On the far back wall, hanging between the bookshelves, was a very large portrait of who could only be Salazar Slytherin. He looked like he had seen a lot of years when it had been painted, but perhaps not quite as old as Dumbledore was...whatever that number could possibly be.

"Um, hi."

"'Um, hi,' indeed. Can you even understand me?" asked Slytherin, clearly not impressed.

"Of course I can, why are you—oh, you're speaking in Parseltongue," said Harry, understanding. "You know, I haven't heard it spoken much in my life. Only really when I'm the one speaking it."

"I see..." Slytherin cleared his throat. "Well, then, I suppose I can speak in English. That is the language of the day if I'm not mistaken. I must say being a portrait really has its perks." His voice was light. Aristocratic, almost.

"Yeah, that works." Harry really didn't know what to say. He had so many questions for the guy he didn't even know where to begin. More so simply because he was a Parselmouth. He really wanted to sit down, but... "Before I go crazy with questions like you probably expect me to do, I was wondering... why exactly did you put a Basilisk down here?"

"Oh, Echidna? She hatched during the first decade of the school's opening," said Slytherin, leaning back in his chair with a fond smile on his face. "Such a sweetheart. Couldn't let her go even if I wanted to. So I had the large chamber built for her to play in. There's access to deep in the Enchanted Forest for her to eat. I'm sorry I meant the Forbidden Forest," he corrected at Harry's confused look. "When we built the school we changed the name of the forest because we thought its current name would draw students into it. Of course I've always known it as the Enchanted Forest but what can you do?" The Founder just shrugged.

"Echidna?" Harry repeated after a second. This was not what he was expecting.

"Yes, well, Godric kept calling her my little 'monster' so I named her after the mother of all monsters. Greek mythos, boy, go read a book or something."

"Maybe later," he said dimly, still trying to wrap his head around two of the Hogwarts founders huddled around a baby Basilisk, one cooing and the other making fun of the lot of them.

"Is she still around? Her chamber is directly next to this one."

Harry's face fell at once. Honestly, how do you just tell someone that you killed their pet Basilisk?

"I see," said Slytherin, letting out a sad sigh. "Well, I'm sure she had a good life while it lasted."

"That Basilisk has been living under the castle for over a thousand years," said Harry, shaking his head. "I'm sure she enjoyed her life. Thoroughly."

"A thousand years!?" yelped Slytherin, sitting upright so fast he nearly fell off his chair. "Good heavens, has it really been that long?"

Harry walked over to the portrait, climbing onto the chair that was positioned beneath it.

"Boy, what are you doing?"

"I want to talk to you, but I'm really damn tired," said Harry, nudging the frame to see if it was hanging on something or stuck by magic. From the way it didn't budge, he'd have to go with magic. "I've been on my feet all day. So I'm just going to put you over by the desk and I'll sit on the bed, sound good?"

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble," began Slytherin, though judging by the tone of his voice he most certainly wasn't, "but you see—What the—!"

Not even paying attention to the man, Harry just put his hands on either side of the frame and popped it off the wall, like any normal sticking charm would react to being broken, and walked back to the desk, letting the portrait lean against the wall right above counter space. Now sitting on the bed, Harry noticed the look of absolute shock on Slytherin's face.

"What?"

"You shouldn't have… well I suppose that is neither here nor there, is it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Slytherin just shook his head. "Never mind, boy. I believe introductions are in order, yes? I am Salazar Slytherin. Salazar, if you would."

"Harry Potter," Harry replied at once.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Harry," said the man, who was now looking much more friendly. "Now, please tell me how you happened upon this room. As the only one in a millennium, I'm quite curious why it was so difficult to find."

"Another guy before me found the Chamber about fifty-ish years ago," said Harry. "He never found this room?"

"As I've said, you are the first to discover me since I was placed here."

"Huh. Well, anyway, there's actually a lot I should probably catch you up on," said Harry, checking his watch. It was mid afternoon. "Yeah, we're gonna be here for a long time..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: DONE! Yeah Salazar knows English, though he shouldn't I suppose. Presto magic tuna spell! Don't even bother your brain with this one. If it ruins the experience of the story for you... I'm sorry? Some people are super particular about this kind of stuff and I just don't understand why they read fanfics in the first place. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment in one way or another.

Please drop a comment and let me know how it went! I love hearing from you all. Same thing with any questions you might have =)