The Chamber's New Secret

In this chapter, there is some minor description of a panic attack. Remember, Harry was mistreated for so long and the fact that he was unaffected in the story is not very realistic. This chapter includes Harry's reasoning behind not telling anyone about his condition. We'll dive further into Draco's reasoning in later chapters but for now, on with the chapter.

Chapter Rated: T (I'm being careful)

Scouting out the Chamber of Secrets with Draco was an odd experience. He was essentially taking a boy who up until recently, he did not get along with to a place he had never hoped to go again.

The place dug up some hard memories for him. Including Ginny laying there cold and motionless on the ground and Tom staring at her with glassy eyes, almost carefree.

Harry found that Draco tended to find his parseltongue ability very intriguing. After Harry opened the chamber, he noticed Draco watching him with a look of contemplation… Until Myrtle appeared out of seemingly nowhere, evoking a very un-Malfoy-like scream from the blonde Slytherin.

He was already anxious to see the chamber but Myrtle was more than excited to try and scare him if her laughter was anything to go by.

Myrtle was going on as though she found this to be the most amusing thing in the world and began floating around them laughing hysterically; if she were alive, she would most likely have trouble breathing by now.

"Tell me, Harry, what brings you down here?"

"Oh, Draco and I want to see the chamber for an… occasional night away," Harry told her, opening the main chamber and letting Draco go first.

At first, Draco's eyes fell on the dead basilisk and went pale until he caught on it was fake.

"See, there's no other way in, so no one will stumble in on us, there is plenty of room to run around when we are… occupied," Harry explained to Draco who was now staring at the massive room. It was much better kept than the room with all the skeletons where they had first landed.

"Do you mind if I tell my father where we'll be? He wants to make sure I'm safe and not just running into the forest where I could get lost or injured."

"Yeah, sure," Harry explained, already nervous for this full moon, "just make sure the owl knows not to give the letter to anyone outside your house."

"Oh, I have a mirror I use to communicate things like this. I'll show you," Draco said, pulling a mirror out of his pocket and looking into it before saying his father's name.

Harry watched, fascinated, as their reflections faded and soon came the image of Lucius Malfoy, looking at them with a look of expectation.

"Draco, is everything okay?" Lucius asked, in a concerned tone, "yes, I was showing Harry my mirror and I figured now would be a good time to tell you where we'll be transforming."

"Very well, but if I find it unacceptable, I will be speaking to Severus to find you, boys, a safe place to transform. I don't want you too far away from the school or in the woods where it could be hard to find you should you get hurt or sick," Lucius said, making his criteria for an acceptable location known.

"Yes, father, we won't be leaving the castle at all," Draco began, as Lucius sipped a black drink from a mug, "we'll be in the Chamber of Secrets."

Now, if Draco's screams when Myrtle popped up were amusing, watching Lucius spit out the drink he was sipping as sputter was outright hilarious. For a few seconds, Harry watched the man drop his entire cool and sophisticated demeanour in favour of uncharacteristic coughing and sputtering.

"The Chamber of… Draco, how did you get in there?"

"I let us in, sir," Harry explained, "as a parselmouth, I can get us in but no one can follow us and we're low enough down that the couldn't get up into the castle, even if I could speak parselmouth in wolf form. In the morning, we'll recover and fly up on our brooms."

Lucius frowned for a moment.

"And if you're hurt, is it possible for you to get out?"

"Yes, worst-case scenario, we could contact you by this mirror and I could probably teach you how to say 'open' so you could come in after us," Harry explained.

"Hmm, I suppose this is acceptable… for now. I'll send an elf with potions in the morning after, I'm certain the elves can pop in and out. Perhaps once you're recovered just enough to go to your dorms, an elf can simply pop you into your bed as though you were there the whole night."

"And we could fill the bed with pillows when we sneak out to look like someone is sleeping, or even have an elf toss and turn under the covers whenever someone looks," Harry supplied, causing Lucius to raise a brow with a thoughtful expression.

"And that, Mr Potter, is a very Slytherin tactic," Lucius said, with a small smile now tugging his features.

Harry's cheeks went pink as Draco nodded in agreement with his father.

"Yes, well, the hat did want me in Slytherin," Harry muttered, unsure why but it wasn't a bad piece of information.

"Hmm, interesting, Potter. You are interesting," Draco muttered, "now, let's get out of here, I'm hungry."

* * * * * FULL MOON * * * * *

"Oh, you're back? To see me again?" Myrtle was eyeing them with a look that made Harry a bit uncomfortable. She was trying to figure out why they were actually there and she knew it wasn't to say hello.

The night of the full moon came too quickly and suddenly, Harry was meeting Draco in the girls' lavatory where they had each stored their brooms under Harry's invisibility cloak in the corner of the bathroom in case someone had to go to the loo desperately enough to brave Myrtle's moans. The brooms were for the worst-case scenario that the elves couldn't get into the chamber.

"If we were smart, we would have tested if the elves could get in sooner."

"Hindsight is a twenty twenty," Harry replied casually, as he found the right sink.

"Hindsight? What does that even mean?"

"Never mind," Harry muttered before he hissed out for the chamber to open, seeing Draco rubbing his hands up and down his arm as though he was overcome by a chill, leaving him terrified for half a second that Draco would transform in the bathroom. Harry wouldn't be able to stop him from harming anyone and Myrtle would just egg them on.

Thankfully, he spoke out, easing Harry's worries.

"That is just weird, Harry, it doesn't even sound like you, not really, to make such sounds," Draco muttered, shivering lightly.

He had just seen Hermione off to her dorm after he and Ron had given her the birthday gift they got for her, books about French and Bulgarian wizards culture that she had been contemplating buying but couldn't justify the expense. Between Harry and Ron, they had gotten her the books and Draco had given her the diary of a french witch who used to be close friends with his mother.

Harry had felt his muscles coiling all day long and his stomach was twisting more and more but despite being tired, he was antsy and couldn't sit still. He managed to eat some cake but otherwise, he wasn't very hungry.

The day had been long and he had spent the better part of the day trying to figure out what he was going to say if someone looked under his blankets and realised he was gone.

Though the odds of that were slim and he was going to have a house-elf use magic once in a while to move the pillows under the blankets so it would look like he was moving around under the sheets.

He had gotten very lucky, his friends were all either asleep or occupied with something to take notice of him. He had slipped out past the fat lady who was also asleep.

He knew he wouldn't have to worry about Hermione as she would be occupied with her new books for the rest of the night and unlikely to come into the boys' dorm at all. And Ron was passed out after gorging on food. Neville was busy going through the Herbology books that Mad-Eye had given him and didn't even look up when Harry slipped out, looking very relaxed and peaceful.

Myrtle looked completely thrilled to see Harry and Draco and so when she asked what they were doing, Harry had been floored.

This was one of the risks with the chamber. Myrtle and her big mouth.

If she chose to, she could make it known to everyone and their dogs that Harry was a werewolf and that would make tabloids.

The chamber of secrets was large, empty and therefore there was a distinctive echo to the room when they entered and it might have been Harry's imagination, but he could swear his nervous heartbeat was echoing off the walls.

But not for long because once again, Myrtle wanted answers.

"Myrtle, go away," Harry muttered as he felt the transformation taking effect.

"Oh, Harry, I don't think so, not when your muscles are rippling like that and… heelllooo, Draco," Myrtle practically purred as she stood closer to Harry and when his shirt ripped, the squeal she let out was nothing short of painful against his sensitive ears as she began giggling as she watched the rest of his clothes met a similar fate.

His last thought was how grateful he was that he had convinced Draco to bring pyjamas with them.

This transformation was easier. It wasn't as painful, it was quicker and despite Myrtle's very approving sounds as his clothes hit the ground, it wasn't a bad experience.

Waking up with Myrtle six inches from his face, naked and sore however was not one of his top experiences.

"Oh, I knew you would be wild but that was beyond. Oh, Harry, promise me when you die, you'll join me in my toilet!"

Next to him, he could hear Draco groan out an elves name and two of the elves appeared with potions while Myrtle happily went on about how she had chased them up and down the chamber, keeping them constantly moving and running after her.

"You two morons tried to catch me all night long, it never registered that you couldn't wrap your teeth around me… I loved it! Two wild men chasing me all night! Best night of my life!"

Harry blushed deeply as he swallowed his potions and laid back, arm over his face, listening to how well Myrtle had managed to keep them from scratching themselves; not that they had done that much the last time, there had been a few instances. And they couldn't harm her. She couldn't be turned. She was already dead.

And Harry felt like he had had a decent workout, which seemed to loosen his muscles for when he finally transformed back.

But he was still sore, tired and sweaty.

"I make you clean and pop once you is in your pyjamas, we be popping you into your beds now," Trixie said as she shoved a potion into Draco's hand, neither elf bothered by the naked boys and both boys were too tired to try and cover-up

"Myrtle, you can't tell anyone what you saw?"

"Will you come and play with me if I don't?" Myrtle asked.

"Yes, Myrtle, every month," Draco agreed before Harry could ask him his opinion, "think Harry, if something goes wrong, she can call on the elves and they can bring father or Uncle Sev."

After a few moments of laying back, Harry got dressed and threw on his blue pyjamas and soon enough dozed off. It was around five in the morning, according to the clock in the chamber, so he knew he would have a few moments before he had to get up for class.

He woke up to someone's hand shaking him and… he was in his bed. He hadn't even noticed the elf moving him or that Myrtle had stopped talking. He must have drifted off.

"Harry! Class is in a half-hour! I tried to wake you for breakfast and you said you were coming," Ron started but stopped, "you look pale, Harry, you okay?"

"Yeah, just… a bug," Harry said, feeling much better than the last time he had transformed but not a hundred per cent.

"Oh, do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

That was the last place he needed to go. Who knows if she might figure out he was a werewolf and tell Sirius… his new father. Or worse, Molly. A small voice in his head told him that he should trust that they love him enough to accept him for who he was… but… the idea that it could go south so quickly made his stomach painfully clamp as the reeling pain of rejection that had not yet happened hit him and paralyzed him wit fear… He couldn't. He couldn't tell them.

He wanted to but he couldn't do anything to risk it. He just… couldn't risk being unwanted and unloved again.

Growing up, he had been labelled a freak in his own home for something he could not control and he thought it didn't affect him but now, he was a minority in a group of minorities.

A dark creature.

He could lose so much.

So many rights.

And like that, his enemy became his ally. Keeper of his deepest and darkest secret. It was an odd twist of events that he could have never seen coming.

The one time he contemplated telling Sirius, as he walked down the hall, all he heard was his uncle's voice in his head. Calling him a freak.

'They won't want you now, you FREAK among FREAKS.'

He froze up. He couldn't do it. His legs turned to a combination of jelly and ice and his stomach cramped violently in anxiety he had only ever experienced with the Dursleys. He didn't even realise he was breathing in ragged gasps until he felt a small hand on his leg… Kreature.

'You need to calm down. You's be breathing wrong. I not want the only one who stops the clowns from tracking mud through the house to become sick.'

Harry had decided not to tell them and went to his room to recover, drinking the calming drought Kreature had violently shoved under his nose with a threat to shove it down his throat if he didn't.

Never in his entire life had Harry felt so weak as he had that summer. He wanted to tell them. But he couldn't. He was finally loved. Even now, at Hogwarts, the idea made his gut gurgle nervously.

He looked at Ron and shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just going to get dressed."

"Alright. I brought you some toast, Hermione said to put some jam and butter on it too," Ron said, heading out as Harry pulled off his pyjama shirt earning him loud protests from every muscle in his upper body.

Today's morning class was a history of magic. Harry's focus had improved with the inclusion of his new potion and the exercises he had been taking to improve his ability to focus in classes but… that class was boring and he was tired. It was going to be a long morning but at least he wouldn't actually have to do anything in that class, so he would be able to take it easy before potions class.

Harry ate the food quickly and made his way to the classroom with Ron who was now trying to talk Hermione down from checking Harry's temperature and shushing her whenever she suggested he go see the nurse.

He really wished she would stop worrying.

History of magic was difficult for even Hermione to focus. This was made clear when Harry noticed Hermione consuming coffee on the days of that particular class and only the mornings of that class.

And she was holding a large mug with a warming charm in both of her hands and taking long sips as they walked towards the classroom.

"Dray-Bear, please eat lunch with me!"

The annoying voice of Pansy grated in Harry's mind as his sensitive ears picked up her voice and he felt pity for Draco who was standing beside her, looking every bit as annoyed as Harry imagined he was.

"Draco, you're still going to sit beside me so we can work on our notes for the essay?"

Draco looked at Harry and smiled at his excuse to get away from Pansy.

"Yes, of course, a Malfoy keeps their word. Good day, Miss Parkinson."

Pansy looked ready to argue but Draco had already stepped into the room and was rubbing his temple in a clear show of annoyance.

He sat beside Harry and pulled out their essay. They had learnt more in the class on their own than in the classroom.

They both found the course to be boring and very limited and outdated in what it covered but at least they now stood a chance in their exams.

By the time potions came around, Harry was feeling better. The potions had fully kicked in and he felt restored enough to get a nod from Severus indicated he had done well.

The man had stopped insulting Harry that year. He wasn't outright giving him points but he was acknowledging Harry's improvement when he went over Harry's essays for him as part of his management plan he had come up with over the summer.

The practical was so much easier without the professor looming over him, waiting for him to mess up.

By the time they finished eating dinner, Harry went to the dorm and fell into a deep sleep. Things were going to be fine. Things were going great.

* * * * * SIRIUS * * * * *

Something seemed odd about Vernon's treatment of Harry and Petunia's acceptance. The way she seemed to be willing to help now and not before.

It brought him to question whether or not they were compelled.

Getting them to Gringotts with him was easy. He simply told them he suspected someone had used magic on them and he needed to remove it; they couldn't get out the door quick enough. Especially Vernon, who upon hearing their might still be active magic on him.

And they had been compelled.

Again, it was untraceable but it was a compulsion that Petunia had managed to break. Upon breaking the compulsion on Vernon, the man blinked a few times before he made a declaration that he wanted to go home.

They had both been compelled with animosity towards the magical community and Vernon seemed somewhat effected but the compulsions were slower to fully remove from a muggle. It would be a few months before the full impact wore off. It was like when a muggle broke a bone; they could put a cast on but it took time for it to heal.

Sirius had asked if he and Remus had been compelled in any way.

The goblins informed he had not been… But there were several obliviates on their memory.

It would take a few months to get the potions ready to restore his memory but they suspected it would be around April.

When would this come to an end? He owed it to Harry to find answers and he would.

For now, all they could do was wait.

But when he could, he would find answers for him.