A/N: Essentially, what you recognize belongs to the goddess that is J.K. Rowling, and what you don't belongs to lil' ol' me.
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The weeks after were so full of homework and readying for exams that Genevieve had little time to think about anything else. People were finally starting to calm down after all the commotion caused by the attacks, and the school year was nearing to a close. As the next year would be Genevieve's fifth year, the O.W.L. year, she was hurrying not only to studying for the immediate exams, but also the next year's content.
However, something was bothering her greatly. Ginny had just recently confided in her that she saw Harry with the diary on Valentine's Day and had stolen it back. This, Genevieve understood.
"Just be careful with it," she warned. "I don't like this at all."
She'd also been reading up on dangerous creatures in preparation for her O.W.L.s, just in case they happened to crop up, when she read it.
It all fit.
She should've known before.
The dead roosters Hagrid had told her about, the voice Hermione had said Harry's been hearing, the scene at the Dueling Club meeting, the pipes, the diary, Colin Creevey and his camera, Finch-Fletchley and Nick, the way Ginny'd been acting, almost as though the life were being sucked out of her, oh, how it all came together in the most terrifying way.
Just then, Hermione rushed in.
"Genevieve, you have that book, right? The one on dangerous creatures? Because I need it. I think I've figured out what's been attacking the students - "
"A basilisk," Genevieve provided, nodding.
Hermione was almost smiling, but still looked worried. "Yes! And the voice that only Harry can hear, he's been near the walls or the ceiling this entire time! It's the - "
"Pipes.
"And the roosters were killed because - "
"Their call can kill the basilisk," Hermione finished.
"And all these Petrified people - "
"Saw the reflection of the basilisk's eyes!"
"And . . . " Genevieve bit her lip. "The diary. We were late to King's Cross because Ginny forgot her diary. Except it wasn't her diary; it was Tom Riddle's, and when she stopped trusting it and tried to get away from it - "
"Harry found it and she knew she had to take it back." Hermione understood everything now. "And the diary told Harry about Hagrid and the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle's been feeding us lies all along because - "
"He's Slytherin's heir," Genevieve completed, both of them equally horrified.
There was a moment's silence.
"We've got to tell Harry and Ron," Hermione said. She ripped the page out of the book, scrawled 'Pipes' on it, and they exited together, sprinting, when they ran into Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw Prefect.
"What are yo-" she started, but Hermione interrupted.
"Quick - have you got a mirror?"
"Well, yes," she replied, shocked.
"Take it out and use it to look around the corner before we turn, okay?"
Everyone knew better than to question Hermione Granger and Genevieve Snow, the school geniuses, especially when they were together. Penelope pulled out her mirror, reached around the corner of the corridor, and, at precisely the same time, the girls peered into it.
And then time froze.
