Much to Hermione's frustration, they had to stay up in Gryffindor tower for the entire weekend following Justin's petrification. For three whole days, she was stuck up in Gryffindor Tower without a clue as to what was going on in the rest of the school. All McGonagall had told the students was that things were in hand, and they didn't have to worry.
As she tried to distract herself from her curiosity, Hermione ended up finishing all her homework assignments. She even finished some stuff that wasn't due in for several weeks. Hermione encouraged Harry to try and do the same, but he barely got a moments peace between Ron and Ginny hijacking his attention. Ron was constantly trying to get Harry to play chess or exploding snap, and Ginny just hung around like a bad smell, staring longingly at Harry.
Finally after three days stuck in their respective dorms, the students were allowed to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast on Monday morning. Classes were also due to be restated again, much to Hermione's pleasure and several people's displeasure.
"I was hoping for more free time," Ron said as they settled down to eat breakfast.
"Any more free time and it wouldn't have been worth keeping the school open," Hermione retorted. "We're here to get an education, and if Hogwarts isn't providing one, there's no point to it being open."
"Okay, there's no need to be so touchy," Ron muttered. "I was just saying another day off would be appreciated."
"Not by all of us," Hermione replied. "Some of us are actually keen to get back to work."
"Of course you are," Ron said, rolling his eyes at Hermione.
Hermione glared at Ron, but before she could respond to his remark, Harry raised his hands and called for a truce. Acknowledging Harry's warning look, Hermione apologised to Ron as she conceded that she'd been a bit touchy. Being cooped up for the weekend hadn't helped her mood and she was finding it harder than normal to hide her true nature. Most of the time she had the act of the perfect little goody-goody off to a fine art, but every now and again she struggled with the pretence.
Before the students left the Great Hall, Dumbledore gave a brief speech urging them to carry on as normal. Dumbledore didn't explain any of what had been happening over the weekend, but he reassured the students they were safe. However, judging by the sceptical looks that filled the Great Hall, people were starting to lose faith in the headmaster. After all, he'd already promised them they'd be safe and there'd been more attacks since then.
"Did you see that reaction?" Harry whispered to Hermione as they left the Great Hall. They'd fallen slightly behind Ron, who was walking with Dean, Seamus and Neville, so they could talk. "No-one thinks Dumbledore has the situation under control."
"That's because he doesn't," Hermione replied. "I'll bet you, he's still clueless about the attacks."
"I just wish there was some way to find out," Harry said. "I'm dying to know what we missed stuck up in Gryffindor Tower."
Hermione nodded her agreement, but didn't have a chance to respond as they reached Charms, the first lesson of the day. Settling down in class, their curiosity about the chamber had to wait as they had a full day of lessons to get through. Throughout the day several people asked questions about the chamber, but none of the staff were giving anything away. The candour after the first attack had gone, and none of the Professors would be drawn into discussing recent events.
The last lesson of the day was Potions, and no-one even tried asking Severus about the chamber. Obviously the Gryffindors knew the formidable Head of Slytherin wouldn't tell them anything, but even the Slytherins knew they would get nowhere in asking about the chamber. Instead, Potions was conducted in practical silence, with the students doing written work about the latest potion they were learning about while Severus marked the homework he collected at the beginning of the class.
Near the end of the lesson, Severus handed back the homework. As he did so, he remarked on everyone's work, whether he was praising them or criticising them. Obviously Ron got a critical remark, with Severus ordering him to put more effort into his work.
"It's very slapdash," He said, before turning to Harry. "And you, I've spoken to you before about doing your own work. You and Miss Granger stay behind, I want to talk to pair of you."
Since Hermione and Harry were very aware that their work wasn't the same, as Hermione never helped Harry with Potions as he was just as capable as her at the subject, they knew Severus wanted to talk to them for another reason. They were just hoping it wasn't bad news.
"I'll see you guys back in Gryffindor Tower," Ron said as the bell for the end of class went and he gathered up his things. "Good luck with Snape."
"Thanks, we'll need it," Harry replied, playing along with the fact that they were in trouble.
Hermione and Harry remained in the seats as the rest of the class filed out. Of course the Slytherins couldn't resist throwing the odd insult their way as they departed the classroom. Once the classroom was empty, Severus shut the door and used a few spells to ensure no-one could eavesdrop on them.
"What's going on?" Harry asked his father as Severus pulled up a chair opposite the pair.
"I just want to fill you in on what happened over the weekend," Severus replied. "The school was searched, several times, for any sign of the Chamber of Secrets."
"Was it found?" Hermione asked, although she was confident the answer would be no.
"Of course not," Severus replied with a dismissive snort. "But Dumbledore's erected several warning wards around the school. I don't know where they all are, so I can't warn you where to find them and how to avoid them. We think that for the time being, you should lay off opening the chamber again. The Ministry are starting to get involved, along with the governors, and they're wanting answers. Opening the chamber again so soon will bring unwanted attention on us. I don't want either of you getting into trouble, is that understood?"
"Yeah, we understand," Harry replied.
"Hermione?" Severus turned to his sister, knowing she was the more rebellious of the two. "You're to do nothing else, until I say it's safe. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Hermione answered with a sigh. "But we're just starting to enjoy ourselves."
"The whole point of this was to have some fun and potentially get rid of Dumbledore, and so far we're heading in the right direction," Severus said. "The staff are starting to question Dumbledore, and I know Lucius is stirring up trouble with both the Ministry and the governors. A few weeks of quiet, won't hurt anyone."
"But another quick attack will add more pressure to Dumbledore," Hermione argued.
"It will," Severus agreed. "But it's not worth the risk. With all these security features around, you could get caught and that's just not an option. My word is final, Hermione. Until I say so, the chamber remains shut."
"Yes Severus," Hermione replied, knowing her brother wasn't going to be swayed by her protests. Sometimes she could charm him into seeing things her way, but she knew this wasn't one of those times.
"And I've told Draco the exact same thing," He added. "Now the three of you all know the situation. If any of you disobeys, there'll be trouble."
"We won't," Harry vowed.
"I'm trusting you to keep Hermione and Draco in check," Severus whispered to his son. "You know Hermione can be impulsive, and she's charming enough to sweet talk Draco into joining her in her trouble making schemes."
"I am here you know," Hermione said in indignation, glaring at her brother and nephew. "And I'm perfectly capable of following orders. Even ones I don't like."
"I know, but it never hurts to cover all bases," Severus replied, shooting his annoyed sister a smirk. "Now I think it's time the pair of you got back to Gryffindor Tower. We don't want people asking too many questions about why you're down here."
"What do we say when Ron asks if we have detention?" Harry asked.
"Tell him, not this time but you both got a stern warning," Severus replied.
Leaving Severus's classroom, Harry and Hermione headed up to Gryffindor Tower. As soon as they entered the common room they were grabbed by Ron, who questioned them about what had happened. Harry repeated what Severus had told him to say and told Ron they just got a stern talking to and got away with receiving detentions.
"You're so lucky," Ron said as he checked his watch. "Oh, it's nearly dinner time. I'm starving."
"You're always starving," Hermione retorted, a bit sharper than she'd intended.
Ron gave Hermione a hurtful look, before he strode out of the common room. Wincing at her carelessness, Hermione took off after Ron with Harry at her side. By the time they reached the Great Hall, they'd caught up to Ron and Hermione had apologised. Luckily Ron was easy to pacify, and the fact he was about to sit down and eat was enough to ensure there was no hard feelings between him and Hermione.
After dinner, during which Hermione was careful not to snap at Ron again, the trio returned to Gryffindor Tower. While Hermione settled down to play chess with Ron in an attempt to make sure the tension between them didn't escalate, Harry headed upstairs to grab his grandfather's diary. However, when he opened the drawer in his bedside table, he found no sign of the little blue book. Hoping he'd just forgotten to remove it from his bag last time he'd been using it in the library, Harry emptied his bag onto his bed. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the book in his bag, or his trunk, which he also searched through. After tearing the boys' dorms apart, a worried Harry headed back down to the common room to see if the diary was down there for some reason.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, noticing the way Harry was scouring the room.
"I've lost my diary," Harry said, giving Hermione a pointed look so she would know exactly which diary he meant.
"Are you sure you haven't just misplaced it?" Ron asked, barely glancing up from the chessboard.
"No," Harry replied. "It was in my bedside table, I know it was."
"I'll help you look again," Hermione said as she finished up her game of chess with Ron.
Unfortunately, the pair searched all of Gryffindor Tower and came up with nothing. The diary had gone. Someone had clearly taken it from Harry's bedside table. The question was who had taken the diary and why?
C.O.T.D.
Several weeks later and the missing diary was still causing concern. After doing all they could to find the diary, Harry and Hermione confided in Severus and Draco. Severus even tried tracking the diary using magic, but when that didn't work he got in touch with Voldemort and found it had spells on it to make it untraceable. With magic not helping them, all they could do was continue to search manually and look for someone using the diary. Unfortunately neither way yielded results, and with the diary still missing it was decided it was too risky to risk opening the chamber again.
By the final days of the Easter holidays, Hermione was coming to accept that their fun was over for the year. Whether or not they had to throw Hagrid to the wolves remained to be seen, but she was confident they wouldn't be opening the chamber anymore. Chances were, Dumbledore would wriggle out of trouble and remain headmaster, despite the attacks that had taken place under his management.
On the last day of the Easter holidays, Hermione had been studying in the library before she decided to take a break. Packing her bag, she left the library and headed towards the courtyard. Reaching the corridors surrounding the courtyard, Hermione poked her head through one of the windows to see if she could see Harry anywhere. Hermione had just spotted him over the far side of the courtyard with Ron when the wind blew a small grain of gravel into her eye.
Swearing quietly, Hermione pulled her head back inside the castle and tried to remove the grain of gravel from her eye via blinking. When that didn't work, she rummaged through her bag and found a mirror. Flicking open her pocket mirror, she carefully tried to see the gravel in her eye and remove it. After a few minutes, Hermione was still trying to remove the gravel. Just as she was thinking she would have to just go to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing, she heard a noise behind her, followed by a low hiss.
Hermione immediately froze as her mind tried to process what she'd heard. She would have sworn the Basilisk was behind her, but that was impossible. They'd all agreed not to open the chamber, and no-one else in school had the ability. All of a sudden, Hermione remembered her father's diary and everything fell into place. Whoever had taken the diary had discovered how to open the chamber, and for some reason they'd done just that.
Confident it was the Basilisk behind her, Hermione opened her mouth to order it to return to the chamber. Unfortunately, as she did so, her gaze fell to the mirror in her hand and she was confronted with two blazing yellow eyes. Immediately, Hermione's words died in her mouth and everything went black as she toppled over to the floor in a heap, her mirror still clutched in her hands and her face still frozen in utter shock.
