Alyssa read until it was time to start dinner, replenishing her magical energy. She couldn't get rid of the feeling that somehow, something was going to go wrong tomorrow. She puzzled over the feeling, trying to analyze what could go wrong, but the answers eluded her, slipping from her grasp like smoke. It made her head hurt, so she searched for another topic to occupy her mind.
Without permission, her thoughts turned to Lupin and how he looked when she had last seen him. His apartment was not the best, Alyssa thought grimly, and his clothes were worn past the point where they could be salvaged. He's unemployed, yet again, because of his lycanthropy. Alyssa shook her head, trying to banish those thoughts. Why do you care? He was little better than Black and Potter at school, never joining in but never stopping them. Why do you care if he's out of work? She couldn't get him out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. He was honestly grateful for the potion, and was polite enough to ask me to stay for tea. Perhaps Sev and I could help him. When we're teaching, Severus would need someone to watch Harry. If he hired Lupin, Harry would be able to hear stories of Potter and Lupin would have a job. Perhaps he could help with our potions supply business as well. After leaving school, Alyssa and Severus had set up an owl order potions supply business. They were able to maintain it over the years, even with their current workload, and business was getting better every year. He could help with the easier potions, and with chopping up ingredients. Alyssa continued thinking about ways to help Remus for the rest of the evening.
Severus and Harry slept until dinner, and even then both were still exhausted. Bedtime was early for both that night, as sleep was essential to help them regain their energy. Alyssa stayed up a little later, packing everything they could possibly need tomorrow when facing the basilisk. Blood replenishers, bone-knitters, bruise cream, organ fixers, calming draughts, and a mirror. There was a legend that you could temporarily stun a basilisk by reflecting its gaze back at it. It might not work, but if things went wrong in the chamber, they would need all the help they could get.
The next morning Alyssa was the first one awake. She went to Harry's room, quietly packing a bag for the boy without waking him. Severus woke up shortly after, and began to get Harry ready as Alyssa went to cook breakfast.
Severus could still hardly believe everything that had happened in the past few days. Lily was gone. He had adopted her son. Sirius Black wasn't a murderer, and actually was beginning to tolerate both Snapes. He also had a feeling that Dumbledore was plotting something, and that worried him.
Harry woke up before Severus could consider that last thought much. Buttoning the last button on his shirt he went to get Harry ready for the day, noticing that there were a few changes in the boy's appearance. His skin was slightly paler, not as pale as Severus's, but no longer as tanned as James's. Harry's hair had changed as well, still coal black and silky but infinitely more manageable. Harry looked like the child he had been under the glamor, when he was pretending to be Harry Snape. Now, Harry really was his son, no matter what Dumbledore said. That fact, that Dumbledore couldn't take Harry away because of the blood adoption, filled him with a sense of peace as he sat down for breakfast.
Breakfast was relatively quiet, with Harry babbling and the Snapes thinking. As soon as they were finished all three Flooed to Hogwarts, leaving Harry with Minerva under the pretense that there was some difficult brewing they needed to do. The lie was necessary, as only Dumbledore was aware of fact the Chamber of Secrets actually existed. They didn't head straight for the Chamber, however. They sought out the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, which Albus was supposed to have removed from the Room of Requirement but hadn't. Alyssa and Severus could feel the dark magic in the diadem, the same magic that was in the diary and locket, and they wasted no time in locking it up in Alyssa's safe.
The walk from Alyssa's office to the Chamber was quiet. Neither needed to speak; they knew the risks and accepted them. Entering the lavatory that housed the entrance to the Chamber (and ignoring the wailing ghost that haunted that toilet) Alyssa and Severus transformed into their animangus forms, Ebony and Shadow. "Open," hissed Shadow, and the entrance to the Chamber was revealed. The size of the hole was mind boggling, and the two snakes remained in front of the entrance for several minutes, deliberating.
"Should we transform back, or go as we are?" Ebony hissed, trying not to imagine the damage that the basilisk could do if it was even half as large as the entrance to the Chamber suggested.
"This form will be appropriate for talking to the beast," Shadow hissed back, "But I imagine it would be easier to enter the Chamber human. We can transform back when we get down there."
Ebony nodded, and so the witch and wizard became human once more. First Alyssa, then Severus, slid down the massive pipe, landing on ground strewn with the bones of small animals. They immediately transformed, hoping the basilisk was too far away to catch their human scent. Slithering forward, they opened the door that protected the inner chamber.
They slithered through, following the main pipe to emerge in a more spacious area, watched over by a statue of an aged wizard. "Salazar Slytherin," Shadow hissed in recognition.
Ebony nodded. "There is a special phrase we have to say to open the Chamber."
"What is it?"
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four," Ebony hissed, causing the mouth of the statue to open.
As Slytherin's mouth opened, a slithering noise was heard. Both snakes tensed, knowing that the basilisk had awakened and was coming. Closing their eyes, neither snake saw the head of the basilisk appear. Neither saw the gigantic, emerald green snake emerge from its lair. They heard the thump when it hit the ground, they could smell the snake, but both kept their eyes closed.
"What is this?" a slightly feminine voice hissed. It had to be the basilisk, as there was no one else in the Chamber with Ebony and Shadow.
"We are here to speak to you," Shadow hissed, hoping that the basilisk was in a good mood. If not, their bones would be joining the others in the other chamber.
"Why do you wish to speak to me?" the basilisk hissed, slithering closer. Neither Snape could see the basilisk's face, so they were unable to see the confusion. "You do not smell right. You smell like kin of mine, but you also smell like magic. What are you?"
"We are a witch and wizard," Ebony hissed, answering the last question first. "We can understand parseltongue but are unable to speak it in our human forms. That is why we are transformed."
"We were told to speak to you, by the current Headmaster of the school," Shadow hissed, "He was worried about the students, that you would attack them if they have impure blood."
"And yet he sends you to speak to me, you who are half-blood." Both Snapes cringed at the great snake's comment. They knew she would know, her nose was sensitive enough for that.
"Yes," Ebony acknowledged, "We are the only ones who could help. None of the others speak or understand parseltongue."
"Why are your eyes closed?"
"We are afraid to meet your gaze," Shadow hissed, "We were unaware if it would harm us."
"My gaze is only harmful if I wish it to be," the basilisk replied. "Resume your human forms. I can understand English, even though I cannot speak it."
They complied, becoming Alyssa and Severus once more. Once human, they cautiously opened their eyes, taking in the sight of the basilisk. Even though they knew she was deadly, neither could help thinking she was beautiful. The basilisk lowered her head until she was on their level, meeting their black ones with her green ones. Her eyes turned yellow when she killed.
"You are brave to come here," the basilisk hissed. "You are not a direct descendent of my master, yet you are brave enough to face me."
"We do not wish to control you," Alyssa said truthfully, "But we do not want any more students to be harmed."
The basilisk rose back up to her original height, not wanting to meet their eyes. She hated what her last master had made her do. She never wanted to kill that poor girl.
"What is your name," she hissed, trying to change the subject.
"I am Severus Snape," Severus said, "And this is my sister Alyssa."
"I am Sasha," she hissed, inclining her head at Severus's bow and Alyssa's curtsy. Basilisks value respect, and she could see that they respected her, even if they feared her.
"Let me tell you a story," she hissed, wanting them to know the truth of her past, of why she had to kill that girl. "It is the story of my past, of my time serving both of my masters, Salazar Slytherin and Tom Riddle."
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. The next chapter is where you find out why Dumbledore is worse than Sasha. Also, do you like Alyssa & Severus's animangus names?