"So can I have a recap please," commanded Mr. Tipple as he leaned back in his seat, his sharp eyes taking in the four unspeakables around the table.
Three of them glanced at each other, silently asking if someone would offer do to the briefing. By some unspoken decision, they simultaneously turned to Croaker, their boss for the mission. Croaker acted as if he hadn't noticed them shuffling the presentation on him and went straight to it.
"We have been following the trail for the last couple of weeks and, I'm unfortunate to say, have been unable to identify what kind of object is involved. In fact we haven't even been able to pinpoint its location."
"So what have you found out?" asked Mr. Tipple pointedly in a decidedly unimpressed voice.
"We have been able to connect the signatures to several places," said Davies as he went through his notes. "We have two sources somewhere in Essex and Devon, but the vast area the orbs cover, have made us, again, unable to find them."
"We are suspecting though that they are located in St. Ottary Catchpole and Godric's Hollow. Both have wizarding settlements, and the trail headed there every time before we lost it," inserted Derwent smoothly and continued, "Furthermore we have two cases in London, the first one picked up by an ordinary orb covering all of central London. The second one was a supplementary orb covering Diagon Alley."
"After that is it exclusively wizarding sites being visited: Hogsmeade, the World Cup, and Platform 9 ¾," finished Davies after having double-checked his notes.
"Platform 9 ¾ you say. Was it on September the first by any chance?" asked Mr. Tipple and stroked his moustache thoughtfully.
"Yes," answered Derwent immediately, already knowing in which direction the head over the Department of Mysteries was thinking. "We don't have any orbs on the Hogwarts express but we do have one in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade."
"Except that the orb on Hogwarts won't be able to pick up the subtle trail – too much magical interference. I doubt any of our equipment will be much of a help here," said Davies.
"I assume you have investigated the possibility that these are sentient beings?"
"More than that, I think that there might be an ordinary wizard or witch who is carrying this foreign magic around; the movements make no sense unless it was a wizard. We believe that whoever it is, they have now taken up residence at Hogwarts, presumably for a year, even though we don't know if it is a student or a teacher."
"We need to get to Hogwarts and make some on-the-spot investigation," mused Mr. Tipple out loud.
"Dumbledore won't like having Unspeakables running around in Hogwarts; he hates ministry interference in his school," reminded Croaker. "He will never allow us in."
"Dumbledore can be persuaded if we go through the right channels. Croaker, go up and inform the minister of our discoveries and ask for his permission to send a delegation to Hogwarts. Lay it on thick that we suspect it's concerning hostile, dangerous foreign energies. That should be enough to ensure Crouch's support."
"Except for the fact he will involve the aurors," frowned Croaker.
"I trust you can find some way to convince him not to. We need discretion in this mission, not some curse-first-ask-later aurors," said Mr Tipple in a clipped voice.
"And what should we others do?" asked Aldwick.
"You are going to prepare to leave for Hogwarts. I'm sure you can find a way to put your skills to use," ordered Croaker, dismissively as he strode out through the room.
"Seems like we'll be heading towards the storage room, but I'm sure we have no orbs or pendants which will work in Hogwarts. It's gonna be a nightmare!" Davies groaned and slowly got up from his chair, grabbing his by now cold coffee as he did.
The last one to get up was Derwent, who did so with a slightly lost expression. He had nothing to prepare.
"Derwent!" called Mr. Tipple, and Derwent turned around.
"Yes sir?"
"Do you know what you will do now?"
Derwent's eyes widened slightly and he opened his mouth then closed it again. "No sir," he said after an awkward silence.
"Don't worry, I'm not sending you back to Rookwood. We still have some use for you. While Davies and Aldwick look for the answer the magical way, I want you to take the logical way. Check everyone in Hogwarts, find some connection between all these locations and trails, and find the ones emitting this magic."
Mr. Tipple got up and stared solemnly at his younger employee. "I have a feeling the answer is right in front of our eyes. " He nodded once to Derwent and disappeared into his office while muttering to himself. "But we will find out, sooner or later."
Derwent stared after him before shaking his head after trying and failing to make any sense out of his boss's unhinged persona. "I need some Hogwarts records," he murmured and left for the ministry's archive and storages floor.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
The four stared at the cards with the outmost concentration. Slowly, Neville turned up one card. His eyes darted over all the other cards and went for one in front of Rose when –
BANG!
The card exploded, causing a chain reaction as every single card in the deck exploded. The rest of the Gryffindors looked for the cause of the ruckus, but when they saw who it was, they just went back to their business.
"Gaah! This is the second time this has happened!" groaned Rose and turned accusingly to Matthew. "And it happens every time we play with your deck!"
"Not my fault! The others I got from dad, but this one I bought from Gambol and Japes last week," he cried defensively.
"You don't think your dad could have tampered with it?" asked Ginny suspiciously and shoved the exploded cards away.
"Come on, he is not that dedicated; besides he has too much work at the moment."
"Have you found out what the secret was he didn't want to tell us?" asked Neville as he dug in his bag for another deck of cards.
Matthew scowled. "No, he still won't tell me. First I thought it was the Triwizard tournament, but now he is hinting there was something else – drives me crazy is what it does!"
Neville finally found a card deck and started to shuffle it.
"We just have to get him back. Maybe we can ask Tonks to trick him…" said Rose, but without conviction – it never really worked to prank parents. The risk of grounding was too big.
In the same moment, Harry, Ron and Hermione entered unnoticed through the portrait hole. Hermione gestured towards the Lion's Pride and the three of them quickly crossed the common room.
Harry waved his wand and the deck in Neville's hand flew to Harry's hand. He casually pocketed his wand and, uninvited, sat down in their midst. He teasingly held the deck out of their reach and said in a serious voice, "I have some questions for you."
"Get lost Harry," snapped Rose and tried to snatch the deck back. "Can't you see we are busy? Why don't you ask Granger to help you instead," she continued, thinking that he needed help with homework.
"It's not about homework," said Hermione, who had followed Harry and sat down on his left side. Ron took his right.
"We want to know everything you know about the Chamber of Secrets," said Ron, ever the blunt one.
That got their attention, and suddenly they looked a lot less carefree. There was protectiveness in their stance, Harry realized, present only in those who have seen the darkness in the world and strive to protect others from it. They glanced guardedly at each other as if trying to decide upon what to say and what to keep secret.
"Why are you asking us about it? You know we are not allowed to speak about it. The ministry deemed it classified information," said Neville shortly and eyed them suspiciously.
"Tell us what you can," demanded Harry. When he saw them hesitate, he went on unconcernedly, "We know most of it anyway. We just want to hear it in your words."
"Rumors," stated Neville dismissively, but the trio could tell that he was nervous – all four of them were, and they kept glancing worriedly at Ginny. Honestly, even if the trio hadn't known beforehand who had opened the chamber, they could have guessed just by studying their behavior.
"We have our ways. For example we know who opened the chamber," said Ron and stared at Ginny.
Ginny paled and looked down to the floor,
"She is your sister. Show some compassion," hissed Rose as she took Ginny's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Neville and Matthew were glaring hard at the trio as if their glares alone would make them back down. The trio was unaffected by their stares and continued to look at them, silently demanding an answer.
"So what! You can have heard that from your parents," said Matthew aggressively, being the first to break the silent battle of wills.
"We want to know what happened to the monster and the diary," said Hermione.
Ginny took a shaking breath that was heard by all, but her eyes stayed determinedly locked on the floor. For the first time, Harry felt a sliver of compassion for the upset girl in front of him, and he eased up his expression slightly. She was just a little girl – victim to the forays of a Dark Lord. Her pain was as real as the friends surrounding her protectively.
Even if Harry allowed himself to relax slightly, Ron sported a stony face, eyes clouded by dark emotions. Harry knew that Ron would never allow himself to feel compassion for any Weasley in this dimension. Ron will never let anyone replace the family he has lost, Harry thought sadly.
"We took care of it. That's the only thing you need to know," said Neville shortly.
"You took care of it?" said Harry skeptical. "So you killed Slytherin's monster?"
"Why do you wanna know? It's none of your business!" said Matthew hotly.
"We have a reason for it," said Harry evasively and continued, "So I take it you never found the chamber or killed the monster."
"No of course not. We didn't have to; we just stopped the heir of Slytherin from attacking any students," said Rose, still holding Ginny's hand.
"Did you ever find out who the heir was?" asked Hermione.
"Tom Riddle," said Neville in a solemn voice.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, also an anagram for I am Lord Voldemort," said Harry and ignored their surprised gasp.
"How did you know that?" asked Neville.
"We know a lot, but we still want to know what happened to the diary that possessed Ginny," said Harry, gambling the last part.
Their eyes widened when Harry revealed this information before turning to Ginny, who looked down to the floor.
"Who wants to tell?" asked Matthew uneasily and looked at his friends.
"It happened in Ginny's first year," started Rose hesitantly after Ginny had given her a pleading look and a nod. "In the beginning everything was great. Sure we noticed that Ginny seemed a bit closed off sometimes, but we thought it was because of homesickness. It got worse around Halloween, and then the cat got petrified. It was then we started noticing all the times she disappeared."
By now Ginny had tears running down her cheeks, she sniffed and wiped them off.
Neville continued the tale. "When Collin was petrified, we confronted Ginny, and she told us that she couldn't remember a thing. She showed us a diary she had been writing in, and we took it to Professor Dumbledore."
"You never found the entrance to the Chamber?" asked Ron.
"No, I never regained my memory from when I was possessed," said Ginny timidly.
"So they never found the Chamber or what kind of monster lived inside it," mused Harry out loud and the Lion's Pride nodded. "What happened to the diary?"
"The ministry said it was full of dark magic, so they confiscated it," said Rose. That got the attention of the trio.
"They never destroyed it! What about Dumbledore? Did he get a chance to examine it?"
"No I don't think so. When we went to his office, aurors were already there. After we told them what had happened and Dumbledore said that Tom Riddle was Voldemort, the aurors left with the diary," explained Neville.
So Dumbledore probably has no idea about the Horcruxes, thought Harry.
"Do you know where in the ministry they sent the diary or if they have destroyed it?" asked Hermione.
"No. Why? Is it important?" asked Matthew.
"Yeah it's important, they shouldn't have any of Voldemort's stuff lying around," said Ron, causing the Lion's Pride to stare at him. "What?" he asked genuinely confused.
"You said his name!" said Ginny disbelievingly.
"So what!" said Ron. "Fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself," answered Ron, causing Harry to punch him in his shoulder.
"That's Dumbledore's catchphrase," he grumbled and leaned closer, whispering in his ear so the others couldn't hear. "If you are going to be my groupie, you have to use my catchphrases."
"Which is?"
"Half-blood bastards like him don't deserve anything except a slow painful death."
Hermione looked at them questionly while most members of the Lion's Pride looked on suspiciously.
"I never heard you say His name before," said Rose.
"We're not in the habit of saying his name," said Hermione slowly before finishing flippantly. "If we need to refer to that creep we usually say Snakeface."
"Why Snakeface?" asked Rose with some kind of morbid fascination, and Hermione realized that they had never seen how Voldemort looked after his resurrection. Maybe Neville had in his first year, but the others hadn't. Here we go again: assuming things we can't know for sure really happened.
"Because it gives some satisfaction. Come on boys, we have certain plans to make," she said and bounced away from the sofa, dragging the two boys with her and disappeared up in the boys' dorm.
"Snakeface," said Rose disbelievingly. To her left, Matthew slapped his forehead.
"It's brilliant. Can't believe we didn't think of that."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
"He is ordering us around way too much!" grumbled Ron that same afternoon when he and Hermione walked the path down to the Forbidden forest. They had been, in lack of a better word, ordered to go down to Hagrid and acquire a rooster.
"And the funny thing is Harry doesn't even realize it. He just sees what needs to be done and reacts, delegating the work. It comes naturally to him," said Hermione.
"It wasn't the response I wanted when I started complaining," said Ron in a self-suffering voice.
"Lighten up will you," said Hermione cheerfully and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before continuing down the path.
Ron couldn't help but notice how she was almost skipping, and she looked close to start humming. He couldn't detect any traces of a mask or faking. It seemed to be genuine cheerfulness, which befuddled him. Sure they had their good times, moments when they would laugh and joke, but the undercurrent of their dark thoughts would always weigh them down, merely concealed. To see Hermione genuinely happy was a foreign, bizarre feeling indeed.
"You are acting very odd," said Ron curiously to which she answered with a laugh. "I'm serious, why are you acting so…girly all of a sudden," he persisted.
"I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes."
"No."
"See! You are bickering like some second year, you actually care about your appearance, you're doing homework, you are smiling all the time, you tease and now you are actually skipping!"
Hermione stopped skipping and returned to walking at Ron's side, her good spirit still there though and Ron was happy for it. He would have kicked himself if he had ruined her mood.
"I hadn't realized I had changed that much," she said slowly. "I guess I have just let everything go and embraced this chance of a second life. I have realized how precious life is and we will be happy. Ghosts of the past won't ruin it for me."
"But how can you do it though? What do you do when the nightmares come, when someone reminds you of their death, when the emptiness becomes too much?" said Ron despairingly as he couldn't help but let his dark emotions out. "How can you still feel happiness!"
"I haven't forgotten, merely moved on. Ron, we are building a new life here, you and me and Harry. We are in a new world, in a new time line. There is no reason for old ghosts to haunt us here," she said in a serious voice as she took his hand.
Ron wanted to say something vicious back – how dare she speak like that about our memories – but in the last second he managed to hold his words back. They had stopped now and were just staring at each other. Both could feel the tension wash over them.
This is what those ghosts and thoughts do to us, though Hermione fiercely as she watched Ron struggle with his words.
"It's hard," said Ron finally. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that this wouldn't become another argument. She was tired of thinking of the war. She wasn't running away from it, not at all. But she would be truly happy if they really could start a new life here. Unfortunately she also knew it wouldn't be possible until Ron and Harry were ready too.
"We need closure," said Hermione gently. It had only been a caring word meant to comfort, but the word stuck in her head. That's what they needed, a chance to really remember and then let go. Closure.
Ron seemed oblivious of her thoughts as he made an attempt to get back the carefree mood. "You seem very young. The only thing missing now is the conspiratorial talk about boyfriends and you are a teenager," said Ron.
"You want me to gossip about other boys?" said Hermione teasingly.
Ron threw her a thoughtful look and answered seriously. "Why not? As long as you stay away from handsome Quidditch players."
"Like you and Harry."
"…handsome Quidditch players from Durmstrang," clarified Ron with an easy smile.
"Of course!"
They arrived to Hagrid's just in time to see the friendly half-giant disappearing around the corner.
"Hi Hagrid!" shouted Hermione and started running to catch up to him.
He turned around with a bewildered expression before his face broke up in a smile.
"Hi Hermione, I thought you'd be up in the castle a day like this," he said and waved towards the rumbling rain clouds above their heads.
"We thought we would go and see you," answered Hermione with a smile, causing Hagrid's face to light up. "We were a bit curious to see how the Golden Snidgets are doing; we heard from Luna that they had gotten a cold."
"Oh, it aint notting to worry 'bout, just some warm milk and honey. I'm about to see them now. Would you like to come?"
"We would love to!" said Ron enthusiastically and grabbed Hermione's hand as they trekked through the muddy ground.
Behind Hagrid's shack, just at the edge of the forbidden forest, were several cages, shacks and paddocks. The seven Golden Snidgets residing in Hogwarts were living in a small house similar to a hen pen.
How on earth does Hagrid manage to enter that small hut, thought Ron, but before he had voiced the question out loud Hagrid opened the roof to the hut.
Ron and Hermione peeked inside, curious to see the rare bird. The sight wasn't that impressive. The seven Golden Snidgets Hagrid was caring for were indeed sick. Their feathers were matted and their eyes were glazed over.
"Are you sure they're only having a cold," asked Ron as he leaned forward and peeked at the unhappy birds.
"Aye, give em ten drops from this and they'll be flying around again," said Hagrid and handed both of them a small ruby red bottle. Ron opened the cap and sniffed it curiously. It smelled of milk and honey and something else he couldn't decide.
Carefully Ron scooped up one Snidget in his hand and gently pried its beak opened. Slowly, he counted the ten drops and let the bird escape to its peg. It gave off a dejected chirp as it almost lost its balance.
He glanced at Hagrid and Hermione, who was also feeding medicine to the sick birds. Ron felt himself cheer up slightly as he watched big clumsy Hagrid gently bottle-feed the small bird. It made him wish that he could have back the relationship they had had with their Hagrid.
"So, let's leave them to it then," said Hagrid and closed the roof again. Ron noticed that the dark clouds had finally done what they had been threatening to do all morning – the rain was pouring down. "Oh blimey, good thinking there Hermione," said Hagrid indicating the water-repelling charm Hermione had cast over their heads. "Do you wanna come in for some tea and cookies?" asked Hagrid as they were going back.
"Yes please," said Hermione happily and quickly followed Hagrid indoors, canceling the water-repelling charm as she did.
Hagrid's home looked just like it had last time around, and Ron quickly seated himself in his favorite chair. Hermione hurried up to the crackling fire and held out her hands towards the flame with a content sigh.
"Thank Merlin," she breathed. "I was freezing to the bones. October is a horrid time of the year. The cold simply gets everywhere."
"If Hermione were to decide, then she would probably never stick her nose outside the door between October and April," grinned Ron and accepted a rock cookie from Hagrid.
"And still I see you three out running every morning since you came back. I've never seen any students so dedicated as you," commented Hagrid.
"Oh well that's Harry and Ron for you. They are egging each other on, and I just get dragged along," said Hermione with a laugh.
"Now that you mention it, where is Harry? It's not often I see the three of you apart from each other."
"Harry was whisked away by Luna. You know Luna Lovegood; they are combing the seventh floor gallery for some kind of… creature. According to Luna it is a bumblebee-looking thing that once it touches you will follow you around and repeat everything you say," said Hermione.
"Never heard about an animal like that," said Hagrid with a frown.
"I'm not surprised," said Ron lazily, the warmth from the fire and tea making him sleepy. "Luna is known for believing in the oddest things. But if it exists Harry will find it. He has a tendency to think…how does that muggle expression go again Hermione?"
"Outside the box," replied Hermione as she dipped a rock cookie in her tea in an attempt to make it more edible.
"Yeah…it was quite funny really. Harry wanted to use it on someone as a prank. He couldn't decide whether to do it to Snape or his sister," said Ron with a laugh.
"Or Neville or Matthew or Malfoy. There are many on Harry's black list so to say. I think he even wanted to prank Dumbledore just to prove he can," said Hermione dryly.
Hagrid chuckled at them before he seemed to recall that he now was a teacher. "Now see here, there will be no pranking of the teachers," he said and attempted to stare sternly at them. The attempt failed.
Ron and Hermione nodded obediently.
"We'll tell that to Harry when we see him. I don't think they will have caught anything though; I have never heard of a Whizzing Blabbermouth before," said Hermione, the last part rather skeptical.
"That's probably why she invited Harry and not you," said Ron nonchalantly and emptied his cup. "We better head back now. We need to find Harry before dinner," said Ron and stood up, quickly followed by Hermione.
"See you later Hagrid."
"Thanks for the tea," said Ron and held up his arm in thanks.
"Come back anytime," smiled Hagrid and closed the door. The moment Hagrid closed the door, leaving them in the rapidly darkening evening. The heavy rain had finally stopped but it was still drizzling and the air was damp. Ron turned around and headed back to the paddocks.
"Well, this took a little longer time than we had thought," he said good-naturedly.
"Asch, it's not like we have some deadline to follow," said Hermione as she hurried after him, slipping in the wet mud. Ron caught her just before she made contact with the soggy brownness that was the ground. "Thanks," she said and steadied herself. Ron nodded and continued, albeit a bit slower than before.
"I can just imagine what Harry will say when we come back. Probably something like, 'Ah, it took you four hours to procure one rooster from Hagrid. I take it you were met with some resistance?' and then he will raise that damn eyebrow and look so smug," grumbled Ron.
"Prat," laughed Hermione. "You two act so silly sometimes what with your need to top each other."
They arrived to the hen pen, so Ron didn't have to answer, which he was quite grateful for, for he had no idea how to answer her without sounding immature.
He opened the hen pen and, after some rummaging, got hold of a rooster. The rooster struggled and kept flapping its wings in Ron's face. He looked quite disheveled when Hermione finally stunned the bird.
"They are more vicious than they look," she said lazily and put her wand back in its holster.
"Very amusing," said Ron as he spat out some feathers from his mouth. Hermione's self-satisfied smirk remained. She opened her mouth to say something, probably about the feathers in Ron's hair, when Ron pushed the bird in her arms.
"I captured it, you carry it," he said and stalked up to the castle.
"Your temper is worse than a hippogriff's," Hermione called after him, but nonetheless made the rooster float up in the air and follow her as she ran to catch up with Ron's long-legged stride.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
"Ready?" asked Harry in a low voice. His posture was tense and ready as they stood in front of Slytherin's statue. Strange really. A few months ago this would have been nothing, but now I'm getting worried over a bagatelle, he mused to himself. I think we have gone soft.
Ron nodded determinedly, and Hermione put the cage with the rooster in it on the floor.
He felt jolts of electricity course through his body, both in fear and excitement for the upcoming battle as he turned towards the statue and hissed words he had thought would never leave his mouth.
~Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four~
There was a low grinding sound as the mouth of the statue opened and something big started moving within. Harry, Ron and Hermione kept their eyes averted as the large snake slithered out and landed heavily on the floor.
They tensed, ready to leap out of the way and release the rooster, but nothing happened. His senses still on high alert, Harry chanced a look towards the basilisk, not going so far as to look at its face. It was right in front of them, its head swaying lazily from side to side at least fifteen feet above their heads. It seemed to study them.
Then it opened its mouth and spoke.
All Ron and Hermione could hear was an ominous hissing noise, and they glanced uneasily at Harry, trying to gauge whether or not they should dive for cover. It sounded, dare they say it, evil.
~Who dares summon me, guardian of Slytherin's chamber~ Harry who could actually hear what the basilisk said, found himself reevaluate the great snake. In his second year, he had just killed the big evil snake. Not once had he stopped to think that the snake might have the ability of intelligent speech. In his time he had only heard it say thing like 'tear, rip and blood.'
There was something sinister and feral in this creature, but there was also intelligence and age. This was an ancient being who had met Salazar Slytherin.
He could feel Ron and Hermione's eyes on him, and without turning his attention away from the basilisk, made a sign to them to wait.
~We are simple people who seek to protect Hogwarts~ hissed Harry diplomatically.
~Then you have my loyalty. Anyone who wishes to protect my master's school is a friend~ He could sense the basilisk lower its body, and he thought he could feel its breath in his face. ~My eyes are closed Wizard, you may look up~
Taking a deep breath and sending all safety to the wind, he raised his head and looked into two wide open jaws and venom dripping fangs – two feet away from his face. Harry swallowed and took a quick step backwards. He looked towards the basilisks eyes and found that they were indeed closed.
~Do you have a name?~ he asked, rather meekly.
~My master gave me the name Saba, a name I wear with pride~ was the answer, and Harry was startled that the bloodthirsty basilisk of his nightmares were, in fact, a girl. Not that that makes it less dangerous, thought Harry and glanced to Hermione, who kept sending him impatient glances.
~I'm Harry Potter, and these are my companions Ron Weasley…and Hermione Granger. We are honored to make your acquaintance~
~So what do you wish me to do Wizard? Are the lowlives intruding? Any mudbloods to get rid of? I'll rip and tear and devour their dirty blood…~
~Nor really. We would rather you not attack the muggleborns~
~Why not?~ was the confused reply.
~The times have changed, great guardian. The muggleborns are no longer a threat to us,~ tried Harry a bit nervously as the basilisk had become very still as it listened to him. ~Muggles, muggleborns, halfbloods and purebloods live in harmony these days~ Well sort of. ~There is no need for killing…~
~You are wrong~ hissed the basilisk with deadly conviction. ~They are the filth of this world, a blight that will be removed before they destroy us. I bite them, tear them and petrify them, none escape~ she hissed fiercely before she seemed to have a change of mood. ~I haven't had anyone to eat in so long… there was one, with my last master, but I never got around eating the girl~ she stated morosely. ~I so long for the feeling of fresh flesh again~ she said and stared sadly towards the chamber's opening, then she suddenly turned to Harry again. ~You can let me out! Let me hunt all the mudbloods. I'll leave no one alive. I'll chase them like rats!~ she hissed excitedly and moved closer to Harry, who took another quick step back.
~No!~ he said firmly and gripped his wand tighter She's insane! A thousand years in a cave hasn't been kind to her head.
~You are not true to my master's beliefs. He would never let the dirty blood sully his school~ she hissed agitatedly.
~There won't be any killing of the muggleborns. Either you accept that and we can let you out in a nice forest somewhere or you don't and we'll kill you~ threatened Harry and raised his wand, quickly followed by Ron and Hermione, who had at least taken note of the increasingly agitated voices.
~No! Betrayer of your blood!~ she spat and lunged at Harry, who quickly dived to the side.
"Hermione! Rooster!" he screamed as he danced away from the big snake, his eyes averted to the floor.
"Finally!" muttered Hermione and let the rooster out. An explosion followed by a pained hissing noise told her that Ron had joined the fray. "Imperio!" she said and pointed her wand at the rooster, which straightened out and walked towards the fighting basilisk. "And now crow," she muttered silently and watched as the rooster opened its beak.
The screeching of a rooster echoed chaotically in the large chamber, and an already confusing scene turned even more so when the basilisk fell thrashing to the floor hissing in pain. It locked eyes with the rooster, who toppled over dead, but it was too late.
The trio stood silent as the basilisk gave one more violent jerk before inevitably falling still.
"So that's it," said Ron and let out a loud breath. "I hadn't thought it would be so chaotic," he commented dryly.
"It's all Harry's fault. What were you thinking! Just start hissing to a fifty feet long snake! We had no idea what was going on and then suddenly we are fighting. Is it so difficult to keep to the plan?" grumbled Hermione and pulled some of Harry's hair.
"The plan wasn't that refined to start with and when she slithered out and asked, very eloquently, what we were doing there I had to answer."
"She?" repeated Ron bemusedly.
"She, and crushing on Slytherin too, considering how she kept going on and on about how to cleanse the world of mudbloods like her dear master wanted."
"So anything else of interest?" asked Hermione rather uninterested, as if they were talking about the weather.
"No, she was very hungry though, and you can never guess what was on top of her menu."
"Muggleborns," guessed Hermione and, seeing Harry's nod, continued, "Good, I thought I would feel bad for killing her…it, but I think my sympathy just dwindled down to zero," she said viciously and kicked the snake.
"Okay, let's get started shall we?" asked Ron and held up some glass vials. "We have valuable venom to collect." He carefully went up to the mouth of the basilisk and put the vial under the dripping fangs.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Isn't there a quicker way of doing this?" he asked impatiently as he watched the venom slowly drip into the vial.
"We would need to find and puncture the venom sacks," said Hermione and came up behind him, staring into the mouth. "There they are. See those bulging sacks?"
"Here let me," offered Harry and drew one of his knives. Mindful of the many fangs, he leaned inside the mouth to reach the venom sacks.
"Imagine if it were to wake up now Harry. It would just snap its jaw around you and have you as an afternoon snack."
"Shut up!" grumbled Harry as he slit the venom sacks open. Ron quickly gave him the glass vials, which were quickly filled. He repeated the process with the other venom sack.
He felt slightly relieved when he came out from the mouth and stepped away from the fangs.
He fingered his knife in his hand. It had a faint layer of a green slime on it that was quickly drying and turning transparent. He made a move to sheet it when Hermione stopped his hand.
"That knife is coated in basilisk venom Harry," she warned.
Harry smirked as the knife disappeared somewhere in his clothes. "I know, can't wait to use it!" His smile turned sinister, and Ron and Hermione found it best to ignore his slightly eager look at the prospect of using the knife on someone.
Meanwhile Harry snapped out from whatever plotting he had been doing, and he curiously looked around the chamber. "So what do you say? Shall we do some exploring while we're here and have no crazy basilisk roaming around?"
"Not much to see," complained Ron. "Riddle must have searched the entire place when he was down here."
"But I bet he didn't went in there;" said Harry and pointed towards the opening from where the basilisk had emerged.
"It's probably slimy," sighed Hermione but followed the boys as they sprinted over to the hole.
"Come on Mione, you don't have to be the responsible adult all the time," shouted Ron teasingly.
"Well, someone has to be, right?" she answered when she caught up with them, her arms folded across her chest.
"Whatever you say love. So with you being the caring and responsible adult, will you go first, just to make sure there is nothing dangerous down there?" smirked Harry.
"Something like a giant pile of poo or rotten carcasses to land in," said Ron and took hold of her arms and gently guided her towards the hole.
"Fine, fine, I'll go first," said Hermione in a defeated voice before gripping Ron tighter and moving towards the hole, "but I will drag you with me!" And with that she threw both of them down the hole.
They slid down a small slope before landing on a sandy floor. For a moment all thoughts of playing around left their minds as they scanned the place for any threats.
Harry probably knows that there is nothing down here, but you can never be sure, thought Hermione as she lit her wand. The cold light from her wand revealed a wide but low cave.
"Well, this was interesting," drawled Ron, who had also lit his wand.
Hermione cancelled her spell in favor for a detection charm that came up negative. "Harry, it's safe for you to come down now," she called mockingly up the hole.
A second later Harry came swooshing down and gracefully leaped to his feet, curiously examining the cave.
"I don't see what's so fascinating about this place," grumbled Hermione as they followed Harry as he explored every inch of the cave.
"Do you need a cheering charm or what?" retorted Harry. He had reached the furthest part of the cave and found a snake carving on the wall. It was the only decoration he had seen so far in the cave. He tilted his head as he considered the carving.
~Open~ he hissed, causing Ron and Hermione to swirl around with their wands drawn. He waited eagerly for something to happen but was disappointed – the wall remained a wall.
"You think it is a tunnel here?" asked Hermione.
"I thought so…hm, how about this ~Salazar the greatest of the Hogwarts four~." Nothing happened.
"It's impossible to guess the right password," stated Ron after Harry had gone through a long list of passwords, ranging from "The bane of mudbloods" to "Gryffindor sucks." He was starting to get a bit impatient at the last one.
"After all, I very much doubt that Salazar Slytherin would have chosen candy or something like that as password. You'll never get the right one. You're not even sure there is a tunnel here."
"That would be great," snorted Hermione. "Harry standing and shouting passwords to a stone wall."
Harry reluctantly left the stone wall and followed them as they started towards the opening. He couldn't help the feeling that there was something else to find in this cave. After all, if his suspicions were correct, then no one had stepped inside here since the time of Salazar Slytherin.
But the cave didn't seem to hold any secrets; it was only an old dirty cave.
"What do you think that is?" asked Ron suddenly, and Harry looked to where he pointed. It was a pile of what looked like old-shedded skin. They went closer, and Hermione rummaged around in the pile with a look of someone who doesn't expect anything.
So Hermione was quite surprised when she unearthed three eggs. Three green and blue speckled eggs the size of an ostrich egg at the least.
"Wow," said Ron simply as they stared at the eggs. Nothing more could be said really.
"It has to be basilisk eggs," murmured Hermione, astonished.
"Really Sherlock, how did you figure that out," deadpanned Ron.
Hermione opened her mouth to snap at Ron, but Harry moving up to the eggs stopped her.
Harry put his hand on one of the eggs. It wasn't as cold as he thought it would be. The mother basilisk must have kept them warm, he realized as he lifted one of the eggs in his hand.
"It's heavy," he commented as he looked at the egg closely.
"You think it's still…you know…alive?" asked Hermione as she too took hold of an egg. "It's still warm," she said in surprise.
"She must have been keeping them warm," said Harry, repeating his earlier thoughts.
Ron lifted an eyebrow at his switch from "it" to "she" but just sorted it as one of Harry's more peculiar traits. "But it can't have attempted to get them to hatch. I mean, don't you need a toad or something for that?"
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe she just wanted to keep them alive till she could find a toad. There can't be many of those down here."
Harry suddenly felt bad for the basilisk, trapped deep underground, unable to provide for her children. How long had she had them anyway? Had the basilisk he had killed in his time had eggs to care for, to try to hatch? He decided not to brood on that, for despite the terror the basilisk had caused in his second year, he couldn't help to pity the creature.
There is no good or evil – only power and those to weak to seek it. How true those words are. Those who don't have power will always be victims, facing imprisonment, torture, death, dependence and servitude in exchange for protection. Either you are the hunter or the prey.
He stared down at the egg and found himself wanting to hatch them, wanting to give life back in exchange for the one he had taken.
"Hagrid would just love one of these," snorted Ron. "I imagine it would beat both Aragog and Norbert."
"Ron! You are absolutely brilliant – we can ask Hagrid how to make them hatch!" said Harry excitedly.
The responses from his two companions were a little bit different but had the same amount of incredibility in them.
"You want to hatch them!" shouted Ron at the same time as Hermione said, "You want to present Hagrid with the opportunity to get a basilisk pet!"
"He doesn't have to know that we have the eggs per say," said Harry sheepishly.
"I still haven't got past the part where you actually want to breed basilisks. I thought we agreed that they are evil killing machines," said Ron. When he saw them glancing at each other, he clarified, "Okay, not evil. How about dangerous with very strong killing instincts?" The fact that it was illegal he omitted, it was hardly an argument in this company.
"They are sentient," said Harry slowly. "And intelligent. I see no reason for why we couldn't give them a chance. We killed their mother. The least we could do is to save them."
Hermione and Ron glanced uneasily at each other and then at the egg in Harry's hand. Finally they looked at Harry, who held a determined expression as he stared back rebelliously at them. The glint in his eyes told them that he wouldn't back down. Hermione sighed and moved forward, gently taking the egg from Harry.
"We'll put a warming charm on them so they survive," she said and put the egg back in the nest. She stood up again and looked at Harry, who looked indecisive. "We'll discuss this later," she said with an air of finality to it.
Finally Harry nodded and, with a last glance at the egg, left the cave.
"We have other things to worry about anyway," said Ron. "We have a giant basilisk to take care of, never mind that we have never done anything like that before," he said with dread.
"Don't worry, I have a book from the library," said Hermione and got a shrunken book from her pocket.
"You found a book on how to harvest a basilisk carcass?" asked Ron incredulously.
"Well, more like a hippogriff, but the principle should be the same," said Hermione with a shaky laugh as they stopped in front of the giant basilisk.
"This is going to be grisly," stated Ron as he rolled up his sleeves.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
"Urgh," said Hermione with disgust as he rubbed her arm. "I stink don't I? It's just, bleugh, like a layer of slime over me. I'm off to the showers now. If I'm gone for a couple of hours – don't worry," she said and hastened up the stairs.
The boys lingered a second, carefully handling the bags with the sealed and shrunken basilisk parts. They were big and difficult to carry, but no one paid any attention to them as they had been charmed to be inconspicuous.
As it turned out, it took most part of Sunday to harvest the basilisk corpse. So when normal students were out enjoying the only glimpse of sun they had had in weeks, the trio had been down in the chamber of Secrets. It had been a heavy and grimy job that all three of them would be happy if they never had to do again.
"What's that awful smell?" commented Lavender as she looked around the common room, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Wha?,,," muttered her friend distractedly as she continued to read Witch Weakly.
"Can't you smell it? It smells like that potion Rose did last week."
By now the entire common room had started to notice the smell, and looks were thrown in Harry and Ron's direction. Pretty soon they were singled out as the culprits.
"I like your new do, Ron," shouted Fred as he came up to them and made a show of sniffing in the air. "Ahh…I have always loved the smell of puke and entrails." Behind him a group of third year girls made gagging noises and several more laughed at Fred's words.
"Bugger off Fred," growled Ron. After having literary been bathing in basilisk blood and grime the entire day, he wasn't surprised to discover that his temper was shorter than Professor Flitwick. His "stepbrother" didn't realize how very close he was to being turned into a slimy, tentacle-adorned, green slug.
Then maybe someone else will get the reputation of Slugboy, he thought and tugged a bit self conscious at the hem of his slightly moist sweatshirt. Honesty, he didn't think he smelled that bad, but he then again he might have gotten immune to the smell after being exposed to it for hours down in the chamber. Which was a feat in itself because the smell that had come when they started to dig the intestines out had almost caused him to black out. The joy of heightened werewolf senses.
"Honestly Ron, what have you been doing? Been wrestling in a heap of hippogriff dung?"
Ron's wand arm jerked unconsciously, but Harry grabbed Ron's arm and sniffed it. Luckily for George the action distracted Ron enough for him to quench the urge to show the insolent red head just who was in charge.
"The tomato duo is right; we really do smell. That's what you get for harvesting a basilisk corpse."
"You might wanna practice a bit on your lies. If you don't wanna tell the truth then your lies should be a bit better," snorted Fred.
"We would love to teach you, but we got important business to attend to," continued George.
"We have a department head to blackmail," said Fred with a perfectly straight face, and the twins disappeared back to their own table. If I were fourteen now, I would probably be quite concerned for my brothers' chances of staying out of Azkaban right now, thought Ron before Harry said something and his attention went back to his smelly lover.
"I reckon Hermione did the right thing when she disappeared up to her dorm straight away," Harry stated glumly.
"Aye," said Ron as both of them retreated to their dorm.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
After they had showered they went down to eat dinner, they were all ravenous after an entire day in the chamber, so the disappointment was unmistakable when they discovered the doors to the Great Hall still closed.
"What! They haven't opened yet! We are not that early," cried Ron before turning to Hermione, "Are we?"
"They'll probably open up any minute now," answered Hermione patiently.
Ron still looked inconsolable and cutely distracted as he impatiently kept hopping from one foot to the other. Hermione laughed and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Ooooh Hermione," come a girlish squeal from their side. They turned their heads and saw Lavender coming towards them, arm hooked with Gwendolyn and Parvati. They stopped in front of them and ogled Ron and Hermione. "Oh Hermione, you have gotten a boyfriend!" said Lavender in a happy voice.
"It's about time, we never thought anyone would be interested in you," continued Gwendolyn and looked at Hermione with undisguised jealousy.
"Congrats Hermione," said Parvati before Lavender leaned forward and whispered something in her ears, what ever it was had all three girls break out in giggles. "Is…is he a good kisser?" managed Parvati to gasp between the giggles.
Ron stared fascinated at the three girls. To him they could very well be a different specie. They were so…girly. All women he had met during the war had always been very serious, very professional, all with some tragedy in their past to darken their demeanor. To see people acting so freely, with no care in the world, it was surreal.
He could understand why they had frightened him so in fourth year. Thank Merlin Hermione hadn't been like that.
Hermione just laughed at their inquiry and smiled teasingly at them, "Now, that would be telling," she joked.
"What would be telling," asked Harry who finally caught up to them from talking to Luna.
"We just congratulated Hermione on her new boyfriend," said Parvati, when she saw Harry's raised eyebrow she covered her mouth and looked frightened at Hermione. "Oh, I'm sorry if it was a secret," she said apologetic to Hermione.
Harry's eyes was sparkling with mirth as he replied merrily, "Oh I think I had an inkling, don't worry."
"So now it's only you left Harry," said Lavender with a giggle before she dragged the other two girls.
"Yeah, what ever shall I do, now that my best friends are an item," he proclaimed in mock despair.
Ron and Hermione didn't reply, but he could see the laughter in their eyes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.
Hermione rested her chin in her hand as the words in front of her started to blur together. It was just after midnight and the common room, to where they had retired to after dinner, was empty. To her it was not that late, but she had been sitting in the same position at the table all day. Her limbs were stiff and her back was killing her. In hindsight she knew she should have taken a break at midday, but she never got around to it, for she always seemed to find a new lead to follow. She regretted it now though as she let her head rest against the book. I might just as well go to bed, It's no rush to finish this anyway. People are not dying.
Her eyes refocused again as a steaming cup of something was put in front of her with a gentle sound. She looked up with bleary eyes and saw Ron standing at her side.
"I thought you might need some energy," he said in a low voice as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"I need more than energy, I need a rebirth," she stated dully and gestured towards the thick tome she had been reading. "Nothing on the trace in there unless you consider the idea of turning in to a squib a good strategy."
"'Thank you Ron for being so thoughtful,' would have been nice to hear," said Ron gruffly and took a sip from the cup before putting it to Hermione's lips. She took a big sip and sighed contentedly as the warm coffee trickled down to her stomach.
"Thanks Ron," she said gratefully as she closed her eyes and leaned backwards in the uncomfortable chair.
"Your welcomed love. I think it was time for you to stop for the night anyway," said Ron as he started to gently massage her stiff muscles.
"I was going to but I thought I had a lead…it seemed promising…"
"Hush," said Ron with a shake of his head she couldn't see. "You are the worst workaholic I have ever met," he continued affectionately.
"That's…" started Hermione before realizing she didn't know how to continue, so the words trailed off in silence. Ron didn't prod her, just moved to massage her temples. Hermione felt the tension and fatigue ease away, allowing another kind of tiredness settle. She yawned widely.
"Bed time, I think," said Ron with a small laugh and lifted her up bridal style.
"The books," reminded Hermione, not really caring.
"I got them," said Ron, and Hermione looked up to see the books floating in the air after them. They walked up to the boy's dorm, and Ron carefully navigated them through the messy room.
"Smuggling in your girlfriend, eh Ron?" asked Seamus's voice from one of the beds. Ron turned around with Hermione still in his arms. Seamus and Dean were peaking out through the curtains surrounding Dean's bed, muggle cards in their hands. Both of them were wearing teasing grins.
"Do you wanna join us?" asked Dean, motioning to the game of poker they had just started.
"Maybe later," said Ron as he dumped Hermione in his bed.
"Stupid question Dean," said Seamus and rolled his eyes. "Can't you see he is busy with his girlfriend? She's got so much more to offer him than we ever can," he added suggestively.
"We are not a couple!" said Ron indignantly, and Hermione smiled unnoticed at the ambiguous wording.
"Sure you're not," said Dean, laughing to show he wasn't in the least convinced.
Ron just rolled his eyes and motioned for Dean and Seamus to continue with their game. When their attention was diverted Ron climbed into the bed and drew the curtains. Hermione waved her wand in several patterns and the necessary charms and wards were in place.
"Personally I don't mind having them think we are a pair. It's the truth after all," purred Hermione seductively and folded her arms around Ron's neck. Ron smiled happily and leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. Hermione responded, and Ron felt the unmistakable rush, the feeling, that everything was right.
They broke off for air, and Ron felt his hands working on their own accord, snaking down under her jumper and ghosting over her skin. Both of them shivered at the same time, and Hermione reached up slightly to kiss Ron.
Ron's hands stopped moving under the spell of Hermione's kiss. The only thing he was aware of, the only thing that mattered, was her and his utter dedication to always have her by his side. To always feel her warm body against his, sharing the same passion, and to feel this needed, this loved. The emotions that welled up inside him, just by the thought of her loving him, made him intoxicated with happiness. When she finally moved away, he collapsed with his head on her chest.
"I love you," whispered Hermione gently to the mane of red hair she had in her vision. Ron shifted and lifted his head up so he could look into her eyes.
"I love you too my dearest Hermione," he said unnecessarily for the look in his eyes was enough proof. "I can't wait until we get older, or at least our bodies. It was so long since we went all the way," he said wistfully and laughed when Hermione unexpectedly blushed. "My my, isn't it easy to get under your skin these days!"
"Shut up," said Hermione and got rid of his smirk by kissing him again. "It's not only me we are waiting for! Harry didn't hit puberty until the end of fourth year. At least I'm starting to get breasts!" she said defensively.
Ron wisely said nothing about the small bumps on her chest. Instead he stroked her hair tenderly. "You'll be beautiful; I still remember the stunning appearance you did during the Yule ball."
Hermione laughed softly, a mix between embarrassment and amusement that Ron found adorable. "We were so young then," sighed Hermione wistfully and stared into Ron's world-weary eyes.
"Young and innocent, and I'm grateful for that, even though it made growing up so much harder," said Ron lowly. Hermione, who sensed that his mood was taking a darker turn kissed him again.
"Let's not think about that. We are here and now. Nothing else matters," she whispered, not wanting to ruin the moment.
Ron relaxed and brought back his attention to her. He too was tired of being chained to the past and would rather just focus on the sweet face of Hermione.
"You are right," he said and kissed her, all thoughts of the past forgotten.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
Super thanks to my beta HPLover747 and to everyone who reviews.