Ok so I missed another week! I'm sorry! I really am - especially since I left the story at such an important moment - but I haven't been very well recently and again, I am sorry! The good news is that I've been working on some fanart and I'm thinking of reviving my DeviantArt page if anyone's interested in that side of things.

Anyways - back to the story!

Chapter 36

Deal with the Devil

"So what you're saying is that you want me to open the Chamber of Secrets and then you'll give back the statue?"

Albus was watching intensely as his brother spoke to Lysander.

"What is going on?" He thought to himself.

The Slytherins were all watching Lysander and James eagerly.

"Exactly Potter. It's all pretty simple, right?" Lysander was answering, "Just say a couple of little words in parceltongue and then I'll have what I want and you can have your old paperweight back."

Albus was watching James carefully. He could tell his brother was nervous but was doing whatever he could to appear laid back. He was regarding the older Slytherin with a cool, calculating expression but Albus could tell from the concentration on James's face that he was wondering about the same things as he was.

Would it really be so bad if the Slytherins had access to the Chamber? What was down there? What was the worst thing that could happen? The monster was long dead and nobody had ever mentioned anything else being in down there. But would the Slytherins play fair or was this just another trick? And why the mysterious little statue? What was it and why did it seem to have so much power over James?

Albus waited with baited breath, just like everyone else around him, for James to say something.

James peered into Lysander's face. What was the catch? All he had to do was open an empty chamber. Was that really so bad? There was nothing the Slytherins could do down there that they couldn't do in the common room except perhaps throw parties. And what would happen if he said no? He was completely surrounded and outnumbered. Chances were they'd force him to open it somehow and he wouldn't get the statue back - not to mention that they'd probably beat him up.

"I speak in parseltongue and you'll give back the statue?" James checked again.

Lysander nodded, smiling slightly.

"Okay. Fine. I'll do it." James agreed, "Now give it to me."

Lysander shook his head, still smiling, "Open the Chamber and then you can have your precious ornament."

James frowned but what choice did he have? He wasn't in much of a position for bargaining.

"Here." Lysander said passing the statue over to Scorpius Malfoy who was standing only a few inches away from James.

"What do I have to do?" James asked his mind set.

Lysander approached one of the taps and crouched to examine the tap, "This is the one. Just tell it to open."

James looked at the tap, feeling stupid. He pictured Valkyrie.

"Open up."

As the hiss escaped James's lips Albus felt the atmosphere it the room freeze, it felt as if the temperature in the room had just dropped by several degrees. Then the sink creaked and began to move. Albus watched in amazement as the sink sank slowly into the ground. He leaned forward to see but Scorpius was still holding onto the rope that bound him and he couldn't get close enough to see anything.

The sink had now completely disappeared from view. Lysander was standing above the space where it used to stand looking victorious. James had his jaw clenched and his eyes fixed on the statue.

"Are you going down now?" Asked Aracus Lysander quietly.

Albus looked at the gaping hole that had been hidden behind the sink. It made him think of the gaping mouth of a monster. He wouldn't go down into it if you paid him.

"No." Lysander replied, "Pai's brother could have told someone by now. We'll stop it from shutting and come back." he said decisively. You can give Potter back whatever that is."

For a second Scorpius looked as if he hadn't heard Lysander,

"Hm? Oh, right." Scorpius said glancing from the statue to James.

He held it out but Aracus Wright grabbed at it before James could touch it. He peered at it closely and held it out of James's reach as the Gryffindor made a fruitless grab for it.

"What is it anyway?" Wright asked looking at James suspiciously.

"N-nothing!" James stuttered desperately, his cool facade gone.

Lysander didn't seem to care he was looking bored and trying to draw attention back to the open pipe which led to the chamber.

"Cyrus? You know the spell, right? Block this thing up but make sure we can get back in tomorrow." He said as another boy pushed his way out of the crowd.

Wright continued to stare down at James.

"It's nothing." James said quietly, "Just a family heirloom..."

He glanced at Albus and Wright looked at him too, Albus said nothing, too scared to say anything. He gave a small nod and the Slytherin looked away,

"This is nothing? Doesn't look like it," He said glancing carelessly at the statue, "But if you say so, I guess it doesn't really matter."

By now, Lysander and the rest of the Slytherins had stopped talking and were watching the scene between James and Wright unfold. Albus was holding his breath again but he didn't know why. He had no idea what the old metal snake was or why it meant so much to James.

James didn't reply. The Slytherin looked disappointed. Then without another word he held the statue out over the large open pipe.

"No!" Exclaimed James lunging for it but as he leapt at Wright and tried to grab the statue, it slid through the boy's fingers and disappeared from view.

James felt himself pale. Everyone was staring at him. He didn't care. He crouched, staring desperately down the long pipe but he could see nothing of the bottom, or of the statue. He glanced up and saw Lysander looking confused and surprised, Wright still looking suspicious and then finally he glanced over at an equally astounded Albus looking small and scared surrounded by the group of bigger, stronger Slytherins.

There was only one thing on his mind.

He had to get the statue back.

He took a deep breath, swung out his legs and let himself fall.

Philip ran nimbly along the slippery ridge of the greenhouse roofs. His toes barely touching off the roof as he ran quickly and carefully along the narrow wood between the sloping glass on either side of him. He was crouched low with his arms out for balance but moving quickly so that he barely had time to wobble. He reached the end of the ridge, where the castle wall jutted out to meet the greenhouse and fell against the cold stone wall breathing heavily.

A couple of meters away, a cracked window was set into the wall. Philip took a deep breath and holding onto the wall with one hand he edged down the glassy slope to the edge of the roof.

'Don't look down...' He thought as he balanced cautiously on the roof's threshold.

A thin ridge ran around the stone wall, level with the greenhouse roof. Slipping his fingers into cracks in the wall. He stepped out onto the ridge with his body pressed flat against the wall. He could feel his heart beating urgently pressed up to the cool stonework.

As slowly and carefully as he could, Philip stretchy his arms out, reaching for new grips as his feet shuffled along the ridge in the wall. All his muscles tightened as he imagined slipping and loosing his grip, falling all the way to the earth far below. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes, relying on his sense of touch to lead the way.

The sudden, terrifying slip never came. He reached the alcove in which the window was set. He reached in his arm and pushed the window open. The caretaker, Mr Heep, often let the dusty old classrooms air at night so as to keep out the chill when the students were at class in the winter. Philip thought suddenly about all the students and teachers tucked safely in bed in the cozy dormitories.

'Focus.' He told himself sternly.

The window was open now. By holding onto the ledge on the inside and his elbows propped on the sill, he could pull the rest of his body up into the alcove. With a great heave, he swung his legs up, his toes left the ridge and scrambled against the slippery wall as he pulled himself onto the window sill and scrambled, head first into the castle.

Once inside, he clambered onto his feet, feeling light headed. Relief warmed his body as the ground lay solid beneath him and he shut the icy window. Leaning against the wall he allowed himself a minute for his heart-rate to return to normal and the numb fear to leave his body.

'Where next?' He thought to himself, '-Must get help. Gryffindor tower!'

He knew the way from here but it was a good distance away. The Fat Lady's portraint was on the seventh floor and he was only on the first.

Out in the corridor it was dark but he did not light his wand for fear of attracting attention. The caretaker could turn up at any moment - or worse, Peeves could appear.

Hearing nothing, he began to run as quickly and quietly as he dared through the silent castle. He rounded a corner and headed for the stairs. He had to make it back to the tower and get some help. The Slytherins had James and Albus now.

It was a long corridor, decorated, as much of the castle was, with proud suits of armour and some large, ceramic vases.

Suddenly, as he was running, something caught onto his arm, yanking him backwards. He let out a shocked yelp and pulled his arm away but something solid and cold was locked around it in a tight grip.

Spinning around, he almost yelped again as his reflection stared back at him, terrified, from the shiny metal of a suit of armour.

The arm that had stopped him let go and Philip stumbled backwards, tripping over as he did and falling on the stone floor. An eerie mumble echoed from deep within the metal suit. Philip had heard the suits of armour around the Great Hall, twitching or swaying as they revererbated with music at Christmas time but he'd never seen one come to life like this before. Slowly, clanking noisily, the metal monster lifted it's arm. It reached for it's helmet and lifted the visor.