Disclaimer and Authors Note can be found in the first chapter.
-Chapter Ten-
The Marauders and Severus reached the toilet just seconds later. All of them jumped off their brooms and hurried to the railing. They all looked over it and found themselves looking into Harry's slightly disoriented face. Severus had no idea if he should help or hex Harry to the seventh hell for scaring him like that, he decided on the first choice.
"That was.fun." Harry said when he was back on solid ground. "But not anything I would recommend." Then he turned back to the entrance to the toilet. He began to look closely on the edges of the door-case, and the hinges of the doors. "Severus, Potter and the rest of you, go get Dumbledore, McGonagall, Denton and Gorder. I'll need all four of them to help me out with this." The Marauders nodded and set off. "What are you waiting for Severus?" Harry asked, not even turning around. He was examining the inside of the bathroom. The crying of Moaning Myrtle subdued and she came out of her stall and looked at them. "Hello, Myrtle." Harry said pleasantly. "I see that being dead has done you more good than anything else." He cringed. Wrong choice of words. Before Myrtle could begin to cry again, he continued. "I mean, look at you. What a beauty." The ghost blushed.
Not even ghosts it seemed, could avoid Harry's charm. The Slytherin would bet his place on the Quidditch team that Harry could charm Voldemort to do what he wanted. Come to think of it, that would be a really nice trait. Suddenly Harry turned back to him.
"Sev, why aren't you gone?" Harry asked, the other boy didn't answer. "Listen to me Sev. There's no force between heaven and the seventh hell that can make me take you down there with me, so you better give up on that idea." Severus just watched him with that never-wavering gaze that could drive Harry nuts. The shorter boy turned to Myrtle, who was still blushing. "My dear Myrtle," Harry began, unaware of the movement Severus made behind him. "Did you see anything unusual in here since the school started? Please tell me, it's very important. And a wonderful ghost as yourself must be very observant."
"Well, there was this Ravenclaw coming here for the first week, but then he just stopped." Myrtle said, giggling. "He was hissing to something a lot. First time I thought that he was chocking, so I went to get Madame Pomfrey. But when we came back, the boy was gone, only lots of green slime on the floor. Oh, and today a vampire came in here so I hid, and haven't seen him since. After that there was a guy with a snake here too. Where are people going?"
"Secret passages my dear Myrtle." Harry said, quickly moving towards the right sink. "Oh, I would go a bit back if I where you, just in case. Can't have such a wonderful ghost ruining her appearance, now can we?"
Severus had been watching the whole chat silently, glaring at the ghost when Harry had flattered her. Maybe that was the only way they were getting information out of her, but he didn't have to like it. Then he watched as Harry moved over to a sink, and hissed at it in Parseltongue. It sent shivers down his spine, and not pleasant ones. The sink sunk into the ground and a large hole appeared.
Harry looked down into it for a second, then sent his patronus into it. A second later they could hear lots of traps going off somewhere on the way down. Harry nodded and jumped into the hole without further ado. Severus stared for a second in complete shock, then went after the shorter boy. There was no way Harry was going through this alone, not if he had anything to say in it.
At the end he rolled right into Harry who had just dusted himself off, and now fell into a huge pile of dust and rat bones. The other boy glared at him, but Severus ignored it, got up and helped Harry to stand then started to dust himself off. Harry just glared for another minute, shook his head and lit his wand. Severus followed the suit.
Harry led off through the huge, dusty cave. In reality he wanted to knock the living shit out of Sev, but he also didn't want to alert the vampire or whoever else might be down here. Suddenly he heard something and stopped, Severus right beside him. Harry looked down on the ground and saw a little snake hurrying towards them. It was probably the snake McColgan had brought to open the Chamber and the other doors in here. He picked it up and asked it what had happened.
"We came down here. Everything went black, and we heard the basilisk." The tiny creature replied. "There was a human with fangs here too that attacked us, and someone else. One of the black birds from this school. The Slayer was knocked unconscious within a few minutes. He's still in there somewhere."
"Thanks," Harry said, put the little snake on the ground and watched it slither off towards the exit. "The vampire's still here. And so is that Ravenclaw that disappeared earlier. McColgan's unconscious and we're on our own. Life just seems to get better and better, don't you think?" Harry started to walk again.
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Albus was happily sitting in his office, eating some cookies and having tea with Minerva, when James and Lily ran through the door, not even bothering to knock. The two teens began to talk at the same time, both of them out of breath. Combined, those two things made it very hard for Albus to understand what the kids where saying.
"What are we going to do!" Lily said when she was finished explaining.
"First you two are going to calm down, have a cup of tea, and then you are going to tell me what has happened." Albus replied. "I am rather afraid I didn't catch your first try."
"Chase has gone down into the Chamber of Secrets, whatever that is," James began. "And there's this basilisk down there - well, that's what we're told - and Snape is trying to get him from going down there. We met them half- way to the entrance of the Chamber, and followed them to the ruined girls toilet on the second floor. Harry was there first and the doors blew outwards. Then he said to get you, Professors McGonagall, Denton and Gorder."
"Minerva, get all the students back to their common rooms. And please tell Anton and Chris to meet me down there." Dumbeldore was about to exit the room when he stopped and turned to face the three others. "Mr Potter, Ms Evans, if you want, you can come down there with me. But if it comes to a fight, stay out, and always stay close to me." Then he was gone, James and Lily following closely behind. Fawkes gave a chirp, then disappeared, leaving a shocked Minerva behind.
Albus hurried through the empty halls and corridors with James and Lily in tow. When they reached the toilet they found a very flushed Myrtle flying around, singing her heart out. Albus went straight for the hole in the ground and jumped into it, followed by the two teenagers. At the bottom, the old Headmaster lit his wand and began to walk. Harry had told him witch way to go, in case there was need for the old mages abilities.
He found the stone wall open just like Harry had said he would. He could see the unmoving body of the basilisk in the room beyond. There was nothing to tell him if the vampire was still there. Albus walked carefully into the cave. From his position he could see that the basilisk was dead, a golden sword sticking out of its throat.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Fawkes appeared. The bird flew straight to something behind the giant snake, Albus followed without blinking. On the other side he was met with the sight of two unmoving bodies on the ground. The phoenix was already sitting on the chest of one of the boys, singing one of its healing songs.
The Headmaster ran over to the two Slytherin boys, but stopped when he saw how they were lying. Harry had apparently been blown backwards by a curse, and Severus had rushed to his side. At the same time shielding the smaller boy from another curse or spell, while carefully holding him in his arms. Their hands where clasped together, fingers twinned in a death grip. But what surprised the old Headmaster the most where the two golden rings on each of the boys fingers.
"What the hell has happened here?" James asked. "Sorry Professor." He added quickly, but the Headmaster didn't respond, just watched the phoenix as it continued to sing.
Lily walked over to the two Slytherins. She had thought that those two liked each other more than just friends, and here was the proof. She tried to untangle the two bodies, but nothing could be moved, not even a stray lock of hair in Harry's face. She turned to Dumbledore, looking desperate not knowing what had happened and what was happening.
"Leave them be." The old Headmaster said with a sigh. "There's nothing we can do until Madame Pomfrey arrives."
"But sir, why do they have rings on their fingers?" James asked. "They didn't have them half an hour ago."
"That, my dear boy, is a very hard thing to explain. And I will not tell you anything until those two wake up, which could be from now until the end of time." Albus replied. What a situation they had gotten themselves into.
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-Chapter Ten-
The Marauders and Severus reached the toilet just seconds later. All of them jumped off their brooms and hurried to the railing. They all looked over it and found themselves looking into Harry's slightly disoriented face. Severus had no idea if he should help or hex Harry to the seventh hell for scaring him like that, he decided on the first choice.
"That was.fun." Harry said when he was back on solid ground. "But not anything I would recommend." Then he turned back to the entrance to the toilet. He began to look closely on the edges of the door-case, and the hinges of the doors. "Severus, Potter and the rest of you, go get Dumbledore, McGonagall, Denton and Gorder. I'll need all four of them to help me out with this." The Marauders nodded and set off. "What are you waiting for Severus?" Harry asked, not even turning around. He was examining the inside of the bathroom. The crying of Moaning Myrtle subdued and she came out of her stall and looked at them. "Hello, Myrtle." Harry said pleasantly. "I see that being dead has done you more good than anything else." He cringed. Wrong choice of words. Before Myrtle could begin to cry again, he continued. "I mean, look at you. What a beauty." The ghost blushed.
Not even ghosts it seemed, could avoid Harry's charm. The Slytherin would bet his place on the Quidditch team that Harry could charm Voldemort to do what he wanted. Come to think of it, that would be a really nice trait. Suddenly Harry turned back to him.
"Sev, why aren't you gone?" Harry asked, the other boy didn't answer. "Listen to me Sev. There's no force between heaven and the seventh hell that can make me take you down there with me, so you better give up on that idea." Severus just watched him with that never-wavering gaze that could drive Harry nuts. The shorter boy turned to Myrtle, who was still blushing. "My dear Myrtle," Harry began, unaware of the movement Severus made behind him. "Did you see anything unusual in here since the school started? Please tell me, it's very important. And a wonderful ghost as yourself must be very observant."
"Well, there was this Ravenclaw coming here for the first week, but then he just stopped." Myrtle said, giggling. "He was hissing to something a lot. First time I thought that he was chocking, so I went to get Madame Pomfrey. But when we came back, the boy was gone, only lots of green slime on the floor. Oh, and today a vampire came in here so I hid, and haven't seen him since. After that there was a guy with a snake here too. Where are people going?"
"Secret passages my dear Myrtle." Harry said, quickly moving towards the right sink. "Oh, I would go a bit back if I where you, just in case. Can't have such a wonderful ghost ruining her appearance, now can we?"
Severus had been watching the whole chat silently, glaring at the ghost when Harry had flattered her. Maybe that was the only way they were getting information out of her, but he didn't have to like it. Then he watched as Harry moved over to a sink, and hissed at it in Parseltongue. It sent shivers down his spine, and not pleasant ones. The sink sunk into the ground and a large hole appeared.
Harry looked down into it for a second, then sent his patronus into it. A second later they could hear lots of traps going off somewhere on the way down. Harry nodded and jumped into the hole without further ado. Severus stared for a second in complete shock, then went after the shorter boy. There was no way Harry was going through this alone, not if he had anything to say in it.
At the end he rolled right into Harry who had just dusted himself off, and now fell into a huge pile of dust and rat bones. The other boy glared at him, but Severus ignored it, got up and helped Harry to stand then started to dust himself off. Harry just glared for another minute, shook his head and lit his wand. Severus followed the suit.
Harry led off through the huge, dusty cave. In reality he wanted to knock the living shit out of Sev, but he also didn't want to alert the vampire or whoever else might be down here. Suddenly he heard something and stopped, Severus right beside him. Harry looked down on the ground and saw a little snake hurrying towards them. It was probably the snake McColgan had brought to open the Chamber and the other doors in here. He picked it up and asked it what had happened.
"We came down here. Everything went black, and we heard the basilisk." The tiny creature replied. "There was a human with fangs here too that attacked us, and someone else. One of the black birds from this school. The Slayer was knocked unconscious within a few minutes. He's still in there somewhere."
"Thanks," Harry said, put the little snake on the ground and watched it slither off towards the exit. "The vampire's still here. And so is that Ravenclaw that disappeared earlier. McColgan's unconscious and we're on our own. Life just seems to get better and better, don't you think?" Harry started to walk again.
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Albus was happily sitting in his office, eating some cookies and having tea with Minerva, when James and Lily ran through the door, not even bothering to knock. The two teens began to talk at the same time, both of them out of breath. Combined, those two things made it very hard for Albus to understand what the kids where saying.
"What are we going to do!" Lily said when she was finished explaining.
"First you two are going to calm down, have a cup of tea, and then you are going to tell me what has happened." Albus replied. "I am rather afraid I didn't catch your first try."
"Chase has gone down into the Chamber of Secrets, whatever that is," James began. "And there's this basilisk down there - well, that's what we're told - and Snape is trying to get him from going down there. We met them half- way to the entrance of the Chamber, and followed them to the ruined girls toilet on the second floor. Harry was there first and the doors blew outwards. Then he said to get you, Professors McGonagall, Denton and Gorder."
"Minerva, get all the students back to their common rooms. And please tell Anton and Chris to meet me down there." Dumbeldore was about to exit the room when he stopped and turned to face the three others. "Mr Potter, Ms Evans, if you want, you can come down there with me. But if it comes to a fight, stay out, and always stay close to me." Then he was gone, James and Lily following closely behind. Fawkes gave a chirp, then disappeared, leaving a shocked Minerva behind.
Albus hurried through the empty halls and corridors with James and Lily in tow. When they reached the toilet they found a very flushed Myrtle flying around, singing her heart out. Albus went straight for the hole in the ground and jumped into it, followed by the two teenagers. At the bottom, the old Headmaster lit his wand and began to walk. Harry had told him witch way to go, in case there was need for the old mages abilities.
He found the stone wall open just like Harry had said he would. He could see the unmoving body of the basilisk in the room beyond. There was nothing to tell him if the vampire was still there. Albus walked carefully into the cave. From his position he could see that the basilisk was dead, a golden sword sticking out of its throat.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Fawkes appeared. The bird flew straight to something behind the giant snake, Albus followed without blinking. On the other side he was met with the sight of two unmoving bodies on the ground. The phoenix was already sitting on the chest of one of the boys, singing one of its healing songs.
The Headmaster ran over to the two Slytherin boys, but stopped when he saw how they were lying. Harry had apparently been blown backwards by a curse, and Severus had rushed to his side. At the same time shielding the smaller boy from another curse or spell, while carefully holding him in his arms. Their hands where clasped together, fingers twinned in a death grip. But what surprised the old Headmaster the most where the two golden rings on each of the boys fingers.
"What the hell has happened here?" James asked. "Sorry Professor." He added quickly, but the Headmaster didn't respond, just watched the phoenix as it continued to sing.
Lily walked over to the two Slytherins. She had thought that those two liked each other more than just friends, and here was the proof. She tried to untangle the two bodies, but nothing could be moved, not even a stray lock of hair in Harry's face. She turned to Dumbledore, looking desperate not knowing what had happened and what was happening.
"Leave them be." The old Headmaster said with a sigh. "There's nothing we can do until Madame Pomfrey arrives."
"But sir, why do they have rings on their fingers?" James asked. "They didn't have them half an hour ago."
"That, my dear boy, is a very hard thing to explain. And I will not tell you anything until those two wake up, which could be from now until the end of time." Albus replied. What a situation they had gotten themselves into.
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