Chapter 10

Friends Again

"Lenora!"

The moment I stepped in the Slytherin common room, I began searching every inch of the place for her. She had to be back by now. How long could detention last?

"Lenora!" I tried again, ready to go up to the girls' dormitory.

Just as I started to walk towards the steps, the very person I was looking for appeared in that place.

"What is it?" Lenora demanded, eying my desperate face curiously.

"I need to talk to you?" I panted, stepping towards her.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, so now you're talking to me again?"

"This is big…" I began but then said instead, "Look, I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted last week. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you."

She stared at me for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Fine, I'll forgive you, but only because I know you have something good. Now spill."

"I know who the Heir of Slytherin really is," I breathed, not wanting to waste a single moment. "It's Potter."

Lenora just gawked at me, speechless as the seconds passed. "What?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but believe me, it does make sense," I explained. "Today at the Dueling Club, he actually spoke to a snake."

She raised her eyebrow, still suspicious. "What do you mean, he spoke to a snake?"

"Just what I said," I insisted, taking another step closer to her and lowering my tone. "It sounded like English to me, I guess because I'm a Parseltongue, but everyone else said he hissed at the snake and it responded to him." When she continued to stare at me in disbelief, I continued, "Trust me. You can ask anyone. It really did happen."

"Okay, so what if he did?" Lenora shrugged her shoulders. "That doesn't mean we can just assume he's the heir. We haven't seen him actually do anything."

"You're right." I pounded my fist into my hand. "We somehow need to find proof so we can turn him in."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Lenora asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Just like we did before," I stated firmly. "We track the voice, and if Potter really is the heir, he should be close by. He was the first one there when we found Mrs. Norris, remember?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Lenora muttered. "When do you want…"

She was cut off as we heard Pansy and her clique enter the common room.

"I can't believe Potter, of all people, has the ability to talk to snakes," Pansy remarked. "I mean, Potter!"

"I can't believe we actually know two people that can," Daphne chimed in. "I mean, the gift is so rare."

Pansy snorted. "Maybe Melanie and Potter are somehow related? I could see that. They both do like to hang out around losers."

I glared in Pansy's direction and then looked at Lenora, who rolled her eyes, and said, "I think the fact that she's still standing should be considered proof that I'm not the heir."

Lenora chuckled and then asked, "Alright, so when do you want to go out and try to expose Potter?"

I look her in the eye with determination, and utter in a breath just above a whisper, "Tonight."

xXx

After the majority in our house went to bed, Lenora and I tiptoed out through the portrait, ready to search. With our wands lit up, we walked down several hallways. I listened for the voice but the only sound I heard was snoozing portraits.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Lenora asked.

I shook my head. "No."

We continued to walk in silence. I am not sure we entirely made up since we did not really talk anything through, but hopefully there will be time for that later.

"Why are you so determined to expose the heir anyway," Lenora asked. "I mean, there is really no reason for you to worry about it since you're pureblood."

I paused for a moment, trying to think of something. "I guess I just don't think its right to get rid of muggle borns this way. That's not what Hogwarts is about."

"So you're acting like the hero of the school who will save all the muggle borns?" with a raised eyebrow. "That kind of sounds more like something a Gryffindor would do, not a Slytherin."

I thought about her comment. I wished I could say I wanted to hunt down the monster to save the day and be a hero to the school. However, the truth was I was only doing this for myself. Aside from my muggle born status, perhaps the sorting hat did put me in the right place after all.

As I started up the stairway, I said, "Maybe its up there somewhere since I haven't heard anything around here."

I took a couple more steps up and then turned my head to see Lenora has not gotten on.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked her.

"I don't know about this, Melanie," she muttered, her feet planted on the ground.

I could not believe my ears. Was Lenora Lane of all people actually scared?

"Come on," I insisted. "A year ago, I had to chase you down in the castle because you ran in after a troll."

"I know," she sighed. "But something just feels different this time. I can't explain."

I turned back around. "Well, I'm go…"

A sudden motion knocked me against the rail. I grabbed on and saw that the stairway began to move, this time from the bottom. This staircase happened to be longer so when I looked back down, Lenora was completely out of sight. For a moment, I stood frozen, wondering if I should wait for the stairs to move back so Lenora and I could go together.

Another mudblood, the voice slithered. Time to feed.

My heart jumped as my body whirled around. I could have sworn the monster was talking about me. I realized the voice was getting further as it spoke its last sentence.

I dashed up the stairs. Once I reached the top, I heard a hissing to my left followed by a bang. I darted in that direction, but came to a dead stop and my eyes focused on one specific point on the ground, where another body lay. This time it was a Hufflepuff student, who's name I could not remember. Above him, hovered the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick.

"You," a voice came from straight ahead.

I lifted my head up to see Potter standing on the other side of the boy's body. My heart froze.

"That's the second time I've seen you around someone right after they've been petrified," he said in accusation.

"Funny," I replied, trying to control the shake in my tone, "I was going to say the same thing about you."

"I cannot believe people would think I did this over you," he went on, "I would never try to kill someone just because of the way they were born."

"Neither would I," I muttered, my eyes lowering down to the body.

As I gazed back up, Potter looked at me oddly, and opened his mouth to say something. However, before he had the chance, Professor McGonagall arrived.

"What on earth is going…" She let out a gasp as hers eyes fell upon the petrified boy and ghost.

"Professor," Potter pleaded, "Please, I can explain…"

"They were like that when I got here," I jumped in desperately, "I didn't…"

"This is out of my hands, you two," she interrupted, and motioned for us to follow. "Come with me."

"Wait," a deeper voice came from behind me.

I turned my head to see Professor Snape emerge. I was not sure whether or not to feel relieved yet.

"Miss Chamberson is in my house," Snape said. "Therefore, I think it is more appropriate for me to deal with her."

Even though she did not appear to agree with this, McGonagall nodded and beckoned for Potter to follow her. I strayed behind Snape, hoping he would simply take me back to the Slytherin dormitories.

"Wait!" My feet came to a dead stopped. "Lenora, she's still…"

"Miss Lane is currently in the Slytherin common room, waiting for you," Snape explained calmly. "She was the one who came to get me. She thought you were in a situation of grave danger."

I took in a few breaths, my eyes pointed to the ground as I walked. I could not believe Lenora would go to a teacher. That seemed unlike her. She must have truly been worried about me to be that desperate.

When I did not respond, Snape demanded, "Are you going to explain to me why you were in a dangerous situation in the first place."

I stopped walking, debating on whether or not to tell him the truth. Snape halted too, and turned to look at me.

I took in a deep breath and said, "I think Potter is the one causing all this. I think he is the heir of Slytherin."

Snape looked at me, sharply. "That is quite a serious accusation, Miss Chamberson. Your evidence?"

"Well," I began, trying to straighten everything out in my head. "He can talk to snakes, which is rare, and he's almost always close by when someone gets petrified, and… um…"

Snape raised his eyebrow. "Have you actually seen or heard him speak to the monster?"

I looked down and sighed. "No."

"I see." Snape nodded and continued, "Well, Miss Chamberson, I do sympathize greatly with you for wanting to get rid of Potter, but I am afraid Dumbledore will need more evidence before he expels his favorite student. Also, tracking down the heir is a job for the staff at Hogwarts, not the students. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," I mumbled.

He turned back around and began to walk back, and added, "Also, when you arrive to your common room, please do remind Miss Lane that the two of you have detention for roaming the castle after hours."

I sighed, supposing detention was much better than what would have happened if I went with McGonagall. Lenora really did save me here. It felt good that despite the fact that we went a whole week without speaking, I could tell she still cared. I just wondered how she would react if she knew the truth about me.