Hermione spent the next few weeks trying to act as normal as possible around Harry. They had come to an unspoken agreement not to mention what had happened in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It seemed that Harry had not told Ron, for which Hermione was very grateful. However, the pair of them were frostier towards each other; never sitting in adjacent seats, determined to avoid even brief physical contact.

Fortunately, there was enough going on to stop Hermione dwelling on the memory. The three of them had discovered a diary that had belonged to a T.M. Riddle, who had been a head boy and received an award for Special Services to the School fifty years ago. She and Harry had deduced that Riddle may have received his award for catching the heir of Slytherin, who had coincidentally been expelled from Hogwarts fifty years ago. Unfortunately, there was nothing written in Riddle's diary, and Hermione was frustrated that another lead had gone cold.

But in February, Professor Lockhart sprung a wonderful surprise on them that drove all thought of Riddle's dairy from Hermione's brain. Hermione walked into the Great Hall on Valentine's Day to find the walls plastered with large pink flowers, while pale blue, heart-shaped confetti fell from the ceiling; meanwhile, Lockhart himself was wearing bright pink robes to match the decorations; Hermione found herself overcome by an unexpected fit of giggles.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have already sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all! And it doesn't end here!" He clapped his hands and a dozen surly-looking dwarfs marched into the hall. "My friendly, card-carrying cupids! They will be roving round the school today delivering your Valentines!"

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," Ron asked her as they made their way to Transfiguration. Hermione blushed a deep red and busied herself in searching for her timetable to avoid answering. It was true that Hermione had sent a Valentine to Lockhart. Lockhart's treat would have provided Hermione with an opportunity to deliver a Valentine to Harry anonymously; but then she remembered the shift in their relationship. For one thing, Harry was bound to recognise her handwriting; Hermione didn't think it would be a good idea to profess her love to him when they hadn't looked each other in the eyes since Christmas.

xxx

Over the Easter holidays, the time had come for Hermione and the rest of the second years to choose their subjects for the third year. Neville Longbottom sent letters to every witch and wizard in his family, asking for advice on whether Arithmancy sounded more difficult than Muggle Studies. People who came from Muggle families, like Harry and Dean Thomas, didn't have any magical relatives to converse with, but many older students were more than happy to offer guidance. But Hermione, always eager to learn as much about magic as possible, ignored everyone's advice and signed up for everything.

xxx

Gryffindor's next Quidditch match would be against Hufflepuff, on the first Saturday after the holidays. The three of them headed down to the Great Hall together, but none of them were thinking about the game. Less than twelve hours earlier, Harry had found, to his horror, that Riddle's diary had been stolen. What was more worrying was that it must have been a Gryffindor who had taken it; no-one else knew the password. Could the new owner of Riddle's diary be sat right in front of their eyes?

As they left the Great Hall, Harry yelled out in surprise.

"That voice! I just heard it again…didn't you?" Ron shook his head, wide-eyed, but Hermione clapped a hand to her forehead.

"Harry! I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!" And without another word, she sprinted away up the marble staircase.

Hermione hurtled into the library to find it all but deserted; most people were already down at the Quidditch pitch. She couldn't explain how, but Hermione knew exactly where to go. She pulled a very old book from its shelf, and quickly found the page she was looking for:

Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.

Suddenly, everything seemed to suddenly make sense. They had seen spiders leaving the school; all of Hagrid's roosters had been killed. None of the victims had looked it directly in the eyes, so no-one had died: Mrs. Norris saw the serpent's reflection in the water outside Myrtle's bathroom on Halloween; Colin must have seen it through his camera; and Justin would have observed the snake through Nearly-Headless Nick, and Nick couldn't die again.

Hermione couldn't help but admit that it was incredibly lucky that no one had died; but now that she had found out the truth, Hermione had to tell people. As she dashed from the room, she nearly ran headlong into a Ravenclaw sixth-year.

"Hey, watch were you're going-"

"Listen to me!" Hermione rushed. "Just listen to me, OK? From now on, whenever you go around a corner, pull out a mirror first, and check that nothing's there."

"What are you on about?" The Ravenclaw asked, taken aback.

"Just trust me, alright? I've found out what's behind all the attacks." The girl's eyes widened even further.

"Are you serious? How-?"

But Hermione had already taken off down the corridor, determined to warn as many people as possible. As she ran, she pulled a small mirror from her bag. As she reached a corner she slowed to a standstill. Holding the mirror in front of her, Hermione tilted it, so that the next corridor was reflected in the glass.

The gasp didn't even have time to leave her. She saw a bright, poisonous green serpent, as thick as a tree trunk, with two huge, golden orbs situated on either side of its head; then everything went black.

xxx

Hermione gasped and coughed, breathing rapidly. She had just seen the Basilisk! She had to get away! She tried to move, but a strong pair of hands held her down.

"Don't worry, Miss Granger. You're back with us…it's OK…"

Hermione sat up and looked around. She was in the hospital wing, and all around her, people were waking up. There was Colin, looking shaken; Filch was holding Mrs. Norris tight in his arms; and there was Justin and that Ravenclaw girl, both unharmed. Hermione understood; everyone who had been petrified had received a Mandrake Restorative Draft. But…wasn't that Ginny over there? What was she doing here? Surely as a Pure Blood, Ginny wouldn't have been attacked?

"W-what happened?"

"Well, it seems your friends Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley have closed the Chamber of Secrets for good; no-one else is going to be petrified," Madam Pomfrey smiled.

"They worked it out?" Hermione exclaimed, "They did it? Where are they now?"

"The headmaster has announced that the whole school will be having a pyjama party in the Great Hall, and celebrating with a special feast."

"I need to see them now!" Hermione cried, trying once again to climb out of bed, but Madam Pomfrey continued to hold her down, insisting that she would need to keep her in the infirmary just a short while longer.

Finally, she was allowed to leave. She hurried down to the feast with Colin, Justin and Penelope, but as they entered the Great Hall, she broke away from them as her eyes fell on Harry.

All the tension, all the reasons why their friendship had cooled since Christmas were forgotten as she ran towards him. He stood up to meet her, but before he could say anything, she threw her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder, crying with joy, trying to put a lot of unsaid things into the hug; how she regretted being distant with him, how she loved him as a friend, how grateful she was for saving her life. Eventually, they broke apart.

"You solved it," she whispered to him. "I knew you would."

"Well," Harry confessed, "We couldn't have done it without you." Hermione became aware that people had started to stare at them, so they quickly resumed their seats, trying to conspicuously hold hands under the table.

xxx

The rest of the final term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine. With Professor Lockhart now indisposed, Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons were cancelled. After the boys had filled Hermione in on everything that had happened since she had been petrified, she had had to concede that Lockhart wasn't as brilliant as he'd been telling everyone; Hermione privately promised to herself that she would judge people on more than just looks in the future.

Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny had a compartment to themselves; they played Exploding Snap and set off the last of the twins' Filibuster fireworks.

As they disembarked, Harry pulled Hermione away from the others.

"I can't apologise enough for what happened at Christmas. I shouldn't have looked at you, but I couldn't resist! I've felt really bad about it, and I wished I'd talked to you about it sooner. But with everything that has happened, I've realised just how much I need you. I won't lie; seeing you lying in the Hospital Wing was terrifying: I just couldn't bear losing you. I will find a way to convince Uncle Vernon to let me send Hedwig out, even if he says I can't send letters to you."

"Oh, Harry! It's OK, I forgive you; I can't expect you to miss the opportunity to see a naked girl! It was just so awkward, looking at you and knowing that you've seen me naked!"

"Well," Harry grinned at her as they walked back through the wall to King's Cross Station, "maybe I can return the favour sometime."

I hope you've enjoyed the last few chapters, hopefully I can upload Prisoner of Azkaban soon; I'm on holiday at the moment, so I should have lots of time for writing.