The next week was spent agonizing over what to do with such crucial information. If they brought it up to the professors, they'd have to explain how they had come to such conclusions. However, if they kept it to themselves, Hagrid would have to spend more time than in Azkaban. Life without Hermione was already hard. It seemed that, with her gone, they were more unmotivated than ever. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't even allow them to visit their friend.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey had said sternly. "There's every chance the attacker might come to finish these people off."

Dumbledore's removal from Hogwarts had an immediate effect on the school. Outside of classes and other common places, such as the Great Hall, there were rarely any faces seen around the castle. The only person who seemed to be glad that Dumbledore was gone, was, of course, the abominable Draco Malfoy, to no one's surprise. In addition to all that, they'd still be taking their exams, which would begin on the first of June.

Maribella had an extra weight on her shoulders; that following weekend she'd be suffering through another full moon. And again, without Hermione, she seemed to be suffering even more. At the beginning of the year, Hermione had made her a magicked calendar that held all of Maribella's important dates, including the full moons. Maribella had taken to carrying it around with her. The highly organizational piece of magic comforted her into knowing her friend would eventually be back.

The morning after the May full moon, when Maribella was finally allowed in the Hospital Wing, she woke up earlier than usual, to sit by Hermione's bedside. Madam Pomfrey had warned her there was no use talking to a petrified body, but Maribella didn't know exactly how the petrification affected the body. Maybe Hermione was still responsive, but simply could not move. Besides, it'd also do Maribella some good.

She had brought some of Hermione's missing schoolwork, because she knew that, with exams confirmed, Hermione would go crazy studying as soon as she was unfrozen. Maribella decided to start with something she knew her friend would find entertaining. With great care, she took Hermione's copy of Hogwarts: A History, and started reading aloud an excerpt about the Great Squid. It was a very unstable reading, as Maribella's voice wavered as she read, and sometimes a tear or two would fall out- though Maribella never let Hermione's book get wet; Hermione would've killed her. When Maribella became overcome with her emotions and wasn't able to keep reading, she moved to make Hermione more comfortable.

She fluffed the girl's pillow, adjusted her bed sheets, and was about to rearrange her uniform so as to not prick her skin, when she noticed something in Hermione's right hand. Her left hand was upwards, and had been carrying a mirror, as they later found out; when Hermione had been initially petrified, that's what had caught everyone's attention. But now, in a silent examination, Maribella could see that the neglected hand, which lay clenched on top of her blankets, also held something. A piece of scrunched up paper.

She tugged and twisted it out of Hermione' grasp, and after several seconds, the paper came free. To Maribella's surprise, it was the list she had given Hermione the day of the Quidditch match, that of which contained all her unlikely suspects for the monster. Most of them had been crossed out. The 'Selma' had an interrogation mark next to it, but it was firmly crossed out. The Chameleon Ghouls seemed to not even have been considered. But one name stood out from the midst. Basilisk. It was circled multiple times, as if done fast and in desperation, and next to it, written in Hermione's neat handwriting, was one word- pipes.

And suddenly, it seemed all the dots were. The Basilisk was a fearsome massive snake, known commonly by the name King of Serpents. It was a spider's greatest fear, because in addition to being highly venomous, the Basilisk could murder with a mere look; spiders, with their eight eyes, were, therefore, more vulnerable than most. The only thing that could scare them away, was the cry of roosters, and, if she recalled correctly, somehow all of Hagrid's chickens had been killed. The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was open. She realized with a start that only one chicken had remained: her own chick, now a grown rooster, Rubeus.

It was now clear that Hermione had realized this that fateful morning when she was petrified, before any of them did. Furthermore, Harry was the only one who could hear it because it was a snake slithering around, and Harry spoke Parseltongue. But there was one flaw to the theory- how had the basilisk gotten around the place… A giant snake… Someone would've surely seen it. But it seemed Hermione had managed to figure this ou toot, because after a few minutes of thinking, Maribella realized the water pipes served as a perfect explanation for all of this.

Maribella stood up. She had to find Harry and Ron, and she had to rush to the staff room to share the discoveries with the teachers. Without warning Madam Pomfrey, Maribella promptly left the Hospital Wing, leaving all her things behind as she went. She sprinted towards the History of Magic classroom, as she knew that was the class the Gryffindors were in. She'd have to talk to her friends, even if she made a scene storming into the class. But before she could, Professor McGonagall's amplified voice echoed through the school.

"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately."

Her classmates came out of the classroom in waves tinged with fear, but Maribella couldn't spot her friends among them.

"What happened?" Parvati asked nearby, to her friend Lavender. "Has there been another attack?"

Maribella followed them to their Common Room. She didn't think it was another attack. It had to be something major. There wouldn't be this much worry over an attack… The mandrakes were nearly ready to be used. Something else had happened.

There was a buzz of conversation all around her, and people were so distracted no one had even noticed that Maribella, who was supposed to be at home caring for a sick relative, was among them. Professor McGonagall came in, frigid and severe, and everyone bombarded her with questions.

"Settle down!" she commanded, and at once everyone fell silent. Her voice was strained. "We are preparing the Hogwarts Express to take all of you home tomorrow. As teachers, your safety comes first, and as of recent events, we cannot assure your safety."

"But we were told the mandrakes were ready!" somebody chipped in.

"Things-" Professor McGonagall faltered almost imperceptibly. "Things have gotten worse. A student has been abducted by whoever is behind this." Her gaze lingered on the Weasleys, who were sitting near Maribella. "Messrs. Weasley, if you will." The Gryffindors watched in petrified silence as the Weasley twins, somber for once, plus Percy Weasley, stepped out with the Professor.

Maribella didn't dawdle on what they could possibly be talking about, for a few minutes later, Harry and Ron came into the Common Room. She sprung up and ran over to them.

"I've news," she said immediately.

But neither seemed to be much in the mood for talking. Ron, in particular, was white in the face, and his eyes were bloodshot and swollen, as if he had been crying.

"It's Ginny," Harry told her miserably. "Ginny's been taken into the Chamber of Secrets."

Maribella felt faint. Not Ginny Weasley, the sweet quiet girl they had all cherished.

"Ron… I'm so sorry," she said softly. Maribella pulled him into a hug, grasping him tightly in her arms. She could feel his uneven breath and repressed sobs.

"No," Maribella said, feeling an adrenaline rush course through her veins as she remembered the information she had just recently obtained. "No."

She pulled back, then looked firmly at her friends' sorrowful faces.

"I've news," she said again, with such force both boys looked at her in shock. She then explained everything she had found out.

They were silent for a few moments, taking everything in.

"If the Basilisk kills people by looking at them," Harry started carefully, looking at Maribella for confirmation, "but no one's died, does that mean no one looked at it straight at its eyes? I mean, Colin saw it through his camera. The film was all burned inside, but Colin just got petrified. Justin… Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick!"

Maribella's jaw dropped. All the pieces of the puzzle were finally aligning.

"And Nearly Headless Nick is already dead, and he couldn't have died again…"

"Hermione was found with the mirror," Ron offered, in a small voice.

"And Mrs. Norris?" Maribella whispered eagerly.

"The water…" Harry said slowly. "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection... "

Ron deflated again.

"How's all of this useful, Ginny's still stuck in the Chamber," he lamented.

"Not all hope's lost," Harry said. He turned to Maribella. "Ron and I were on our way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom- remember how Aragog said a girl's body had been found in a bathroom? We figured- what if she never left?"

"You don't think-" Maribella said. "Not Moaning Myrtle?"

But Harry's face said it all.

"We've got to talk to her, then!"

Harry left to grab his Invisibility Cloak. She sat in silence with Ron, when he spoke up at once, sounding exhausted, but alarmed.

"Mari, a thought just occurred- the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets-" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom- the water pipes, the death- what if it's in-"

"-Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." Maribella completed.

When Harry came back, they decided to go straight to Lockhart, who had been tasked with going down to the Chamber, and to give him everything they knew. If they wanted to see Ginny alive, there was no time to waste. Maribella knew, however, how roosters were deadly ro the Basilisks, and made a detour to her dorm room.

It had been months since Rubes had first arrived at the Gryffindor second-year dormitory as just a little chick. He had been taken away from Hagrid, for being more fragile and less independent than his siblings. It turned out that small act had saved his life. Now, he was already of crowing-age, being around seven months old, but was, of course, still underdeveloped. It was just their luck that the only rooster they had around was broken. Even so, Maribella thought he could still be crucial in the action, even if only as a method of scaring away the basilisk. So, equipped with her chicken and a few of his treats, she went back down to meet her friends.

Everyone seemed to be in their own worlds, gathered in small groups, either sitting silently or talking in hushed whispers. No one looked their way as they left. The halls were eerily quiet as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There was already a lot of noise inside. They could hear scraping, thumps, and hurried footsteps.

Harry knocked, and there was a sudden silence. Then the door opened with the tiniest of cracks and Lockhart's head popped out.

"Professor," Ron was the one who spoke up first. "We've got some information that will help you." Ron seemed to be adamant to do everything he could to help out Ginny.

"Er- well, I'm rather busy, you see- it's not terribly-" Lockhart's face contorted into an uncomfortable expression. "I mean- well- all right."

He opened the door and they entered. It seemed that something had gone berserk in there, and the mess seemed to concentrate in the middle of the room, where two trunks lay open, with a great deal of robes everywhere. The photographs and painting that covered the wall had all been taken down.

"Are you going somewhere, professor?" asked Harry.

"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, rolling up a poster of himself. "Urgent call-unavoidable- got go-"

"What about my sister?" Ron asked, furious.

"Ah, as to that- most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I-"

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Ron interrupted. "You can't leave, not with all the dark stuff going on here!"

Maribella scoffed in disbelief. Rubeus, sensing all this tension, chirped angrily as well, showing his support. She offered him a treat.

"I must say, when I took the job-" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "Nothing in the job description, I-"

"You are running away?" said Harry in disbelief. "After all that stuff you did in your books-"

"Books can be misleading.""

"You wrote them!"

"My dear boy," Lockhart said with a shake of his head, "do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all... "

"I knew it!" Maribella shouted, shaking her finger at Lockhart. "There's no Homorphus Charm that turns werewolves back to humans!"

"You're a fraud!" Harry said angrily.

"Now, now," Lockhart said, with his back turned to them. " There was work involved. I had to track these people down and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Lucky I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would've gone blabbing and I'd never have sold another book." he faced them, with his wand lifted. "I'm afraid I'll have to do the same to you, lest you do the same."

But Harry and Maribella were faster. Harry bellowed Expelliarmus, at the same time Maribella screamed Flipendo! Lockhart flew back, with his wand flying off. Ron caught it and chucked it out the window.

"Seems like those Dueling Lessons came in handy after all, Professor." Harry said.

"What d'you want me to do?" Lockhart asked in a sort of wail. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," said Harry, holding Lockhart at wand point. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go."

Maribella kept close to Harry and Ron, and Rubeus to her. Both boys had their wands pointed at Lockhart's back, who they made lead the way. Maribella was truly disappointed with Lockhart. Though she had claimed otherwise, Maribella could never have guessed he had constructed such a farce. To find out he'd stolen those achievements from others, and was always bragging about them… he was despicable. At this point, she'd be surprised if his five-time award winning smile was actually his.

They soon reached the corridor where the first red writing was, and Maribella noticed that it had been replaced by a new phrase, one more gruesome than any other: Her Skeleton Will Lie in the Chamber Forever. Knowing that the corpse in question was Ginny's made Maribella's stomach tighten all over. But alas. They were coming, Ginny.

They hurried on into the bathroom, where Myrtle was found in her usual place.

"Oh, it's you again," she said, unsurprised when she noticed them. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died," said Harry.

All at once, Moaning Myrtle's entire physique seemed to have changed. She straightened her shoulders, threw back her two pigtails, giving herself a whole freshened look. Then she grinned, as if never better flattered.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," Myrtle cooed, in a tone as if talking about a favorite book. "It happened right in here, in this very stall," she gave an opened-arm twirl, gesturing at the cubicle in question. "I remember it so well… I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in."

Maribella, Harry, and Ron exchanged looks. This was the Slytherin heir.

"Who was it, Myrtle?"

"I don't know! I was distraught! But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language, it must've been. And I realized it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell he couldn't be here, and…" Myrtle swelled, her face shining with great importance and left over tears. "I died. "

"What?" Maribella asked. How anti-climatic. "And you don't know how?"

"Oh, no," Myrtle said, shaking her head, speaking dramatically. " I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. Over there…" she pointed to the bank of sinks. Harry and Ron hurried over to examine the pipes below and the tiles above. Maribella stayed to watch Lockhart and keep Myrtle entertained.

"My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away," Myrtle had closed her eyes, really immersed in her own storytelling. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby. Oh, was she sorry she ever laughed at my glasses." the ghost cackled.

"I've found it," Harry exclaimed, from under a sink. He tried to turn it on.

"That tap's never worked," Myrtle said brightly.

"Harry, say something," Maribella suggested.

"Uh, open up?"

"In Parseltongue!"

Harry nodded. He squeezed his eyes, almost shutting them completely. It took him a few tries, but finally, he spoke in that cold hiss of snakes. At once, the tap glowed with a brilliant white. The sink dislodged itself from the rest, and sank into the ground, leaving in its place one large pipe. A pipe wide enough for Hagrid to slide through. Or a giant snake. Maribella felt very afraid, more so for her rooster, who she now decided was unnecessarily put in danger. Without letting Lockhart out of sight, she bent down and let Rubeus perch himself on her shoulder.

"I'm going down there," Harry announced.

"Me too." Ron stated.

And how could Maribella not go? She couldn't give up, not now that they had come so far to find the Chamber of Secrets. Not even if- and at this thought, Maribella shuddered, Ginny was already dead.

"So am I," she said firmly.

They glared at Lockhart.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," he said, with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just-"

He was near the door, as if about to leave. Maribella, Harry, and Ron all aimed their wands at him.

"You can go down first," Ron snarled.

"But what good will it do?" Lockhart asked, as they corralled him to the opening. "I really don't think-" he started to say, but Ron all but shoved him into the pipe. Harry looked at them, then lowered himself into the pipe. Then went Ron. She was the only one left.

"It'll be alright," she said softly to Rubeus, who was becoming restless and flapping his wings.

She took him from her shoulder and cradled him as if he was a baby. Then, without a second thought, she jumped into the pipe.

It was like going down a dark, dirty slide. It seemed endless too, as Maribella rushed down it, her robes splayed out behind her. There were hundreds of other pipes, all different sizes, leading off to other parts of the school. And then, the pipe leveled out and she whizzed out of the end, landing on her butt with a wet thud, next to Ron.

"How deep down do you think we are?" Maribella asked as she stood with some difficulty, so as not to drop Rubeus or her wand.

"Under the lake, probably," Ron answered, holding her arm and helping her up. They squinted at a dark tunnel at the opposite side of the room. Maribella and Harry lit up their wands, and they started off.

"Remember," said Harry, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away."

"Don't do that," Maribella whispered back. "Basilisks are still venomous and they'll be able to kill us either way. Look away from its face, maybe at the ground. And move away. It has heat sensitive pit organs, that-"

She was interrupted by an unexpected sight. Something huge was lying across the tunnel, motionless. They froze, watching. They could just see the curved outline of a snake's back.

"Maybe it's asleep," Harry murmured, glancing at Maribella for confirmation.

But she didn't know. She brandished her wand high, and slowly inched forward. It was hard to keep a firm grasp on the wand, as her hands both trembled and were extremely sweaty. Maribella embraced Rubeus with her other arm, so his head was covered. As she got closer, she narrowed her eyes just enough to still see. The light passed over a gigantic, poisonous green, shedded skin of a snake. Maribella swallowed hard, and motioned with her head for the others to come. She let the others go ahead, immersed in her thoughts.

She had been holding onto Rubeus for the entirety of the way, and he felt much like a lifeline to her. The skin of the snake was like a splash of cold water. Her chick was in much greater danger than she could have imagined. They were in the company of a great only thing that could protect Rubeus was his singing, but he was a late bloomer and had never crowed. Did basilisks eat young chickens? Maribella started to panic. She couldn't remember. Would Rubeus just be an easy target?

Ahead of her Lockhart had collapsed on the ground. Maribella moved closer, as did Ron, aiming his wand at the Professor. Almost instantly, Lockhart jumped up, tackling Ron. Maribella shrieked as Harry started forward, but it was too late. Lockhart had Ron's wand aimed at them.

"The adventure ends here!" he said triumphantly. "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, and you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snakeskin. Say goodbye to your memories!" Lockhart laughed, raising Ron's Spellotaped wand, "Obliviate!"

There was a loud explosion, and the room shook. Maribella felt someone grab her arm, yanking her out of the way as the ceiling began to collapse right where she'd been standing.

In the process, Rubeus had fallen from her arms.


A.N.: An early chapter and a cliffhanger of sorts! Hope you guys enjoyed how I tweaked the plot to include Maribella in the chapter's events. Thank you to my beta reader for finishing up this story with me, and to all readers who have kept up with my updates, as well as the newer readers.

As per usual, leave a review if you'd like! They make my day!

~MJP