"Where's Ron?" Ginny asked causing her brothers to look up and down the table.
"Oh, shit." George groaned.
"We couldn't find Ron or Harry on the train." Percy added. "They'll be in detention until next year."
"Not to mention mum…" Fred muttered.
"Oh, shit." Ginny whispered.
Entering the Gryffindor girls' dorms was quite different from the boys' dorms. Apparently, girls were expected to require a little more privacy, instead of putting all five girls in one room, they were given small rooms, two girls to a room. Luna looked at Titania with a begging expression and beamed when Titania nodded.
The two bounced over to the first door to the left and tapped their wands on it to add their names to the door-tag.
In the room, Titania turned to Luna. "So…?"
"Hello, Titania." Luna smiled. "Is it strange to be a girl after being a boy for so long?"
"Well, that answered that question…" Titania snorted. "No, it's not, strangely enough, but Da did have to charm me for the first week, after that…? I like it."
"So, why wasn't Harry on the train?" Luna asked.
"The barrier to the muggle side of the station closed, a rogue house-elf." Titania said as she unshrunk her trunk and placed it against a wall.
"But why?"
"There's something happening this year, something bad." Titania answered.
"Really?" Luna tilted her head in thought. "I thought the only thing to happen this year was going to be Ginny and the big snake."
"Yeah, but that's going to be bad for some people." Titania said.
"But not for you or me." Luna said.
"No, not for us." Titania agreed. "As long as we stay near Ginny in the halls and away from Hermione, we'll be fine."
"Okay, then." Luna tapped her trunk and unshrunk it, setting it at the foot of her bed. "I like your trunk."
"Thanks. Wanna see inside?"
"Ooh, yes please." Luna bounced over to Titania.
October had Titania keeping a watch on Ginny, where the redhead went and when. She wasn't about to land herself in the hospital wing through carelessness. She wasn't exactly certain when Ginny opened the Chamber for the first time, but she knew that the first petrification, that of Mrs Norris, happened on Halloween, and made certain that she and Luna stayed with a group of other Gryffindors for the day, even so going so far as to participate in the dreaded Halloween Feast. She might not be Harry Potter, anymore, but Halloween was still not her favourite day.
The twins attended the Feast bedecked in green and silver tinsel, instead of their usual red hair, a punishment for targeting a group of firsties with their pranks. The pair had woken with silver and green tinsel as hair with delicate gold and red baubles tied in it. The baubles might have been removable but the tinsel seemed set to stay. At breakfast that day, they'd been chided by McGonagall for their appearance, at least until an owl delivered a letter stating that their decorations were courtesy of the Princess. It just didn't say which Princess.
November saw Colin Creevey petrified and for the first time, Titania realised that keeping her and Luna safe from the basilisk might not be as easy as following Ginny. The day that Colin was caught, Titania and Luna had very nearly followed Ginny into the girls' bathroom that held the entrance to the Chamber, it was only because they were some twenty or thirty yards away and had just rounded the corner from the stair and saw Ginny enter the bathroom that caused Titania to put the clues together and baulk. She grabbed Luna and hastily dragged her back to the common room and to their room, the two girls shaking with fright at how close they'd came to facing the monster.
It was only an hour later that the house was informed about Colin's fate.
A lengthy floo-call with Paddy and a study of Harry memories in the Room of Requirement had the girls rearranging their plans, instead of following Ginny they stuck with the other firsties or with Hermione, now knowing that Hermione wouldn't be caught by the basilisk until early May.
Just a few days before the express headed back to London, for Christmas, the first meeting of the duelling club was held and both Titania and Luna went, the two hung back by the door, as far away from the platform as they could get. This was also the first time that Titania got a good look at Harry Potter.
Her brows rose, this was definitely not the Harry that she'd been. Like the Ron and Hermione here, Harry wasn't the same as she knew him to be. This Harry had dark red streaks in his hair and instead of green eyes he had brightest golden-brown ones. The shape might be the same as what she remembered the colour wasn't. The other thing that emphasised that she wasn't in the world she'd been born into, was that this Harry's scar wasn't the familiar lightening bold but an Uruz rune, 'ᚢ', signifying power or gateways, depending on which way you took it as written. From Harry's point of view it was power by from external point of view, it was a gateway.
Rather apt, Titania thought but it made her want to know what happened to this world's Harry, that allowed her-as-Harry to take his place.
Lockhart the Incompetent, as he had come to be called by the students of the D.A, pitted Harry and Draco against and again, Draco summoned the same large black snake, Titania thought it might have been a cobra but wasn't certain, and again Harry spoke parseltongue and stopped the snake from attacking Justin Finch-Fletchley. This lead to Harry being ostracised by the students, Hermione and Ron being among the few standing by their friend.
But what spooked Titania was that she hadn't understood the snake's hissing, nor had she heard the basilisk in the pipes. Another floo-call with Paddy was needed before the three conspirators came to a conclusion. It was one of three things. Harry entering the Veil removed the ability. Having the horcrux removed during the de-aging process, just before Titania became Titania, removed it. Or…? It was truly an ability inherited from either James Potter or Lily Evans.
Regardless of which it was, Titania Dorea Grimmley wasn't a parselmouth. Another step of divergence between her and Harry Potter, that would help once Harry vanished.
The thought of Harry vanishing caused a minor concern in the trio. What would happen when Harry was discovered missing? Would the letters that had been written, before he took the conversion potions, be given to the appropriate people, or would Dumbledore try to stop that from happening?
Justin was found beside the floating but frozen form of Nearly Headless Nick, just a day later, cementing in the students' minds that Harry must be responsible for the Chamber's opening and the subsequent petrifications.
Both Titania and Luna decided that going home for the holidays was a wise move and when the sign-up sheet for the holidays went up, the two were quick to put their names down. Titania knew that Christmas was going to be an uncomfortable time in Gryffindor Tower and wanted no part in it.
January through April were quiet, not petrifications, no scares, no basilisks.
Moments before Madam Hooch opened the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff quidditch match in May, the game was cancelled and the news spread.
Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater had been petrified.
The information went around the school in minutes. There was no way that Potter could have been responsible, he would never have harmed his best friend and everyone knew it. Add to the fact that he'd been at the quidditch pitch with the rest of the team when it happened.
No. Harry Potter was not the Heir of Slytherin. Much to the Slytherin students relief.
Titania also knew that this were the last petrifications for the year, that in just a few weeks Harry and Ron would have enough information to undertake the daring rescue of Miss Ginevra Weasley.
Ginny was quiet after she, Lockhart, Ron and Harry returned from the Chamber, flinching at quick movements or loud noises. And while Titania and Luna were sympathetic, they weren't terribly concerned, either. They both knew that eventually, Ginny would get over it, Titania remembered Ginny in Harry's sixth year and Luna's gift let her 'see' possible futures and all of them saw Ginny recovered. But that didn't mean that the young redhead escaped punishment. Ginny had been warned a number of times, 'if you don't know where an interactive item keeps its brain, don't interact with it'. The lecture from her eldest brother was overheard by the two blondes and both agreed that neither of them would talk to anyone that didn't already know about the situation.
Both girls felt that having a celebration feast in regard to the return of the four students and Hagrid, was going a bit far, but agreed with Paddy that the entire school needed to let go of a bit of pressure and decided that the twins needed to be pranked again.
As the two brothers left the Great Hall, their clothes changed.
Pink bled through their clothes, starting at the ground and working its way up their socks to their trousers, to their robes and on to their hair, finally a burst of glittering smoke exploded from their hair and spread to those near them. Glittering explosions spread around the Hall, only those quick enough to throw up protego-based shields escaped. Neither Titania or Luna even tried, they didn't mind being brightly coloured.
An owl dropped into the shocked silence that descended and left a letter with the Headmaster.
"It seems as though the Princess has struck again." He said as passed the letter to Professor Snape.
"It does, indeed." He rather enjoyed seeing the pair of redheads fall victim to another prankster. "Although… it does say here… Princesses of Pranks. Mistress Goldfeather and Mistress Icewing."
"Really?" Dumbledore's brows rose and he quickly re-read the letter. "Well, I missed that. Thank you, Severus."
"If only we could give them points." Professor Flitwick sighed.
"If only we could catch them." Dumbledore muttered. "Oh, well… I was warned."
"Warned?" Snape asked.
"Oh, yes. I've a fair idea of the identity of one of the Princesses but catching her or proving is going to be next to impossible, I'm afraid."
"Why?" Snape frowned.
"She's that good. Her father's been trying to catch her for years, so have many other parents in their village. All in vain." He'd stopped by the village and talked to a few people, the responses many and varied, although most were amused, a few were disgruntled at never being able to prove the girl had been involved.
"Sounds like Black, Lupin, Potter and Pettigrew." Snape muttered. "Without the malignant intentions."
"Yes, she does. I've been doing some research and I do believe that she may be related to Black and distantly to Lupin." Dumbledore said.
"Black?" Snape sneered. "Typical."
"No, I don't think so." Dumbledore disagreed. "From my research, the young lady that is the instigator behind this, is the descendant of a Black disowned in the 1920's."
"And the Lupin connection?" Snape demanded.
"Via her mother. I'm not as proficient tracing muggle families, but I think that the young lady and Remus shared a maternal ancestor back in the later 1890's. I could be mistaken, though, tracing is not nearly as easy in the muggle world as it is in the magical." Dumbledore.
"But you're not going to tell us who she is?" Professor Flitwick had been listening in.
"No, not without some sort of proof." Dumbledore objected.
"The letter?" Flitwick gestured.
"No, not sufficient." Snape shook his head. "Lily and I were responsible for a number of pranks in our seventh year, but the idiots claimed they'd done them. That letter could be just such a claim."
"A claim with no substance." Flitwick nodded.
"No substance and no proof." Snape added.
"Then can we be certain that the Weasley twins were not responsible?" Flitwick asked.
"Given the expressions on their faces and their reactions? Yes, I think that we can." Snape replied.
"So, someone is targeting our pranksters and while the Princesses are claiming it was them, there is nothing to prove that they are responsible?" Flitwick hung his head and sighed.
"Precisely." Snape muttered.
"Oh, dear Merlin…" Flitwick moaned.
"It shall be interesting to see what happens between now and the twins' graduation." Dumbledore chuckled. "At least, if we can't prove who the Princesses are the twins won't be able to. I would hope so, anyway."
"Oh, hell, no…" Snape snapped.
"I could be far worse, Severus." Dumbledore twinkled merrily.
"How?" Snape demanded.
"The Princesses could decide to work with the twins."
Both Snape and Flitwick looked at the Headmaster in alarm.
"Don't say that. Don't ever say such a thing. Never!" Snape rose to his feet before leaning down. "I hope I never hear such a thing again."
"I agree, that would disastrous." Flitwick paused before he moaned. "Would the school even be left standing?"
At that Dumbledore showed the first sign of concern.