AN: Alright, here's the next chapter. I hope this is up to everyone's standards, I don't feel this is the best chapter I've done yet but maybe it won't be too bad either. Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long but my computer broke so I have to borrow my parent's for the time being until I get a computer for college. Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 22
A creak echoed up through the tall hall as the stairs shifted and moved about over head. Silently, Hermione slipped out of the break in the wall which had swung open at her command with Draco following close behind. The tunnel they left behind was pitch black and if it hadn't been for Hermione's knowledge of the tunnel and her abnormally good eyes they would have most likely gotten lost.
Draco allowed his eyes to move around the hall, tracing the stairs as they shifted around and wondering vaguely if they could even make it to the place Hermione wanted to. The stairs could be temperamental and if they didn't want to cooperate it could take hours to get somewhere.
Still, Hermione moved forwards towards the stair case which led down from where they were, which was about half-way up the hall. The stair case wasn't facing the right landing and kept shifting back and forth rather unpredictably. Silently, Draco walked up behind Hermione and leaned on the railing of the landing, watching the stairs shift.
"So, how are we going to get down?" he asked curiously. Somehow, the stairs didn't seem like they would work.
Hermione raised a dark, thin eyebrow at Draco before turning back to the stair case again and laying her hand on the railing. The stairs immediately switched direction and flew back to connect with the landing which Hermione and Draco wanted.
Draco's eyes widened as Hermione leaned on the railing, watching him silently and waiting for a response. Finally, he lifted his eyes from the stairs to Hermione and gave her a weary grin.
"That works."
A slight smile spread over Hermione's lips as she turned and started gracefully down the stairs. "I'm glad it meets with your approval, oh great pure-blood Draco Malfoy."
Chuckling, Draco shook his head and started down after her. "Great pure-blood? I don't think so. I might be a pure-blood, but you're the one controlling the whole castle. You could probably make every door in the castle open at once from what I've seen so far."
A smirk spread over Hermione's lips as she turned on the stairs to look up at Draco with a considering look. "Damn, I've been found out. Now how am I supposed to scare the first years?"
Draco's jaw practically hit the stairs as Hermione spoke, causing Hermione to laugh gently and shake her head. She turned and started back down the stairs, calling to Draco over her shoulder. "I was kidding Draco. I can't make every door in the castle open at once, though I can open any door in the castle I want to."
At Hermione's voice, Draco managed to shake off his shock and kept moving. Her next sentence nearly caused him to fall over, however, and even though he didn't, he did trip rather ungracefully.
"How can you do that?" he asked. "I thought if Dumbledore didn't want someone to be able to get into a room, they couldn't."
Hermione nodded ahead of him as they reached the next landing and she set the next staircase in motion as the one behind them flew off onto its original path.
"You're right, if he doesn't want someone to be able to get into a room, they can't," replied Hermione, "unless they have the over-ride code."
"Over-ride code?" asked Draco with raised eyebrows as he looked at Hermione strangely. "I've never heard about an over-ride code…"
"You wouldn't have," explained Hermione as she started down the next staircase. "The over-ride password is a secret among the Founders and their descendents. No one else knows about it and even if you do have some Founding blood in you, you have to be from a direct line for the secret to reach you."
Hermione stepped onto the next landing and then walked down the last set of stairs, this one being cemented in place, before she reached the first floor with Draco not far behind.
"So, basically the secret was lost among the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff families but kept among the Slytherin and Ravenclaw families because they were joined as one and sorcerer's have a better track record for keeping track of things like this?" asked Draco.
Hermione laughed and nodded as they stepped onto the first floor and turned towards the first floor exit. "Exactly."
Draco smiled as well as Hermione moved to open the door to the hallway. However, before she could, a voice called out to them both. Hermione turned towards the stairs and released the door handle, moving back below the stairs to look up at who was shouting at them. Draco moved to stand next to her as well, searching the staircases to find the source of the disturbance.
Finally, he spotted the person who was calling to them. TJ was heading down the stairwell as quickly as he could, his robes flying about him. His eyes were wide.
"Harmony!" he shouted again at his sister who waved to show that she saw him and would wait so he could catch up.
He jumped down the stairs as quickly as he could, though he lost his footing about halfway down the last staircase and went rolling the rest of the way down. Hermione and Draco both winced as he landed at the bottom of the staircase with a groan, landing, to his luck, on his butt. Even this didn't seem to deter him, however, as he jumped back to his feet with a grimace.
"Harmony, there's been a basilisk spotting in the upstairs hallway!" exclaimed TJ as he grasped his sister's hand. "Hurry! We have to find and follow it!"
Hermione let out an irritated sigh and pushed her wrist from her brother's grasp. "I know TJ. I confronted him earlier."
TJ seemed confused. "And? What happened! You should have been following- wait, did you just say him?"
Hermione nodded and turned towards the door to the hall again, pulling it open as she spoke. "Yes, him. That basilisk wasn't Senitra, it was Nicolas."
TJ was shocked for several seconds after hearing his sister's words. His jaw moved up and down in a gapping motion and his eyes were wide and startled. He rather reminded both guards of a fish out of water. Finally, Hermione decided to speak up and bring her brother around to the conscious world.
"You know TJ, your face will stick like that if you aren't careful," commented Hermione as she stepped into the hallway. Draco nodded in agreement and pulled TJ behind him as they left the stair well. The sudden movement brought TJ back around, though all he seemed to be able to do was stare at Hermione.
"So, you're saying that the big basilisk running around is Nicolas?" asked TJ in a shaky voice.
Hermione nodded.
"How?"
Hermione shrugged.
"Are you sure that it was Nicolas?"
A sigh and another nod.
"Will you please us words to respond?"
A defeated sigh escaped Hermione's lips as she turned her head to face her brother. "TJ, this isn't a conversation for us to have in a public hall."
TJ let out a growl, grabbing at Hermione's arm just as she was about to turn the corner.
She halted mid step and turned to face TJ, her eyes cold and her face set in stone. "Yes?"
"Don't just brush me off like this!" exclaimed TJ. "I know I'm not one of your precious guards, but you can't just ignore me like I'm a normal wizard!"
Hermione let out a low growl. "I answered your questions didn't I? TJ, this isn't your fight and I don't want you involved. I don't know what's going on exactly or why this is happening and until I've got answers to my questions I don't want you to get involved in any of this!"
TJ opened his mouth to respond, but another sound over-rode his words in Hermione's ears: a distant rumbling which was steadily drawing closer. To Hermione it echoed around loudly, but to TJ and Draco it was so faint that they couldn't hear it until it until whatever was making the noise was only a few feet away.
Hermione's body went stiff as she pulled out of TJ's grasp and whipped towards the intersection between the hallway they were in and the next one. Quickly, and without a word, Hermione hurried towards the hall just as a massive green form began to zoom across the cross roads connecting the two halls. Hermione slid to a halt on the old stone, TJ and Draco running up behind her but at a slower pace.
All three watched as the massive snake moved past the opening for several seconds before the tip of the tail appeared and then vanished. Hermione, who had fallen on the ground when she had slid to a halt, leapt up and ran to the corner of the cross point, looking down the hall which the basilisk had vanished down.
The snake-like creature could still be seen slithering down the hallway towards the front doors to the school. It moved quickly despite it's size and Hermione found herself slipping out into the hallway at a hurried pace to keep the once-friendly snake in her sight. Draco followed behind Hermione with TJ behind him. None of them said a word, recognizing that words were a risk at the time that they couldn't take.
Up ahead, the basilisk continued onwards until it hit the main hallway. Around the snake, Draco and Hermione could just make out the faintest slivers of moonlight which must have been falling from an open set of doors. Someone had opened the front doors so the creature could escape out of the castle, or at least that was what it seemed like.
Sure enough, the basilisk didn't turn off its straight forward path and moved right out the front doors and across the grounds. Hermione, Draco, and TJ reached the doors just as the snake was beginning to disappear into the Forbidden Forest.
"Stay here," ordered Hermione as she stepped onto the front steps while checking to make sure her sword was in place. "I'm going after Nicolas."
"What?" exclaimed TJ. "You can't go after him alone!"
"TJ's right," agreed Draco as he stepped forwards as well to stand next to Hermione. "I'll come with you. We don't know enough about what's going on yet to start running off on our own."
Hermione shook her head as she began down the steps. "No, it's too dangerous for you to come, Draco. If you fall into the basilisk's line of sight, you're dead and I won't put you in that kind of danger. You don't have a chance out there and neither does TJ. The creatures in the Forbidden Forest don't mind me, but they will mind a couple of wizardry practitioners."
Draco sighed and grasped Hermione's upper arm gently, pulling her back up a few steps and kissing her gently.
"Promise to come back alright?" asked Draco quietly as his eyes met hers.
A soft but sad smile spread over Hermione's face as she shook her head gently. "You know I can't promise what I can't ensure will happen. But I will promise you this: I will try my very hardest to come back alright. Does that work?"
Sighing, Draco nodded slightly before kissing her again just as gently as before. "I will have to do."
With another smile and a nod, Hermione turned back towards the stairs and descended the rest of the way down while Draco moved back to the landing at the top of the stairs. He remained there silently with TJ as they watched Hermione's form move towards the Forbidden Forest until she was nothing more then a faint outline among the trees.
"She'll be alright," TJ assured Draco quietly as he turned to enter the castle again.
At TJ's words, Draco nodded and finally tore his eyes away from the spot where he had last seen Hermione before she vanished among the trees completely. "I hope so TJ, but I have a bad feeling about this."
AN: Yay! Not a cliffie! Amazing! Anyway, I'm going to try to have the next chapter out soon so please be patient!