Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Holly Weasley, this must be the dumbest thing you've ever done. I thought to myself as I stared down the overly large pipe that led to the bowels of Hogwarts. Of course, I hadn't been able to move the sinks like they were intended. I didn't know parseltongue and I wasn't in the mood to let Harry in on the secret that he was one. Mostly because I had no way to explain how I knew that. So, I improvised by casting bombarda over and over again until the circles of sinks were in smithereens. Honestly, I'm surprised the sounds of a demolition didn't bring anyone running. Though it was late. But it did send moaning Myrtle into a tantrum. Two toilets had already flooded and she was floating around behind me; bemoaning the fact that I had decimated her place of haunting.

But even that wasn't enough to distract me from my mission. It was stupid. I knew that to be true the moment I came up with the ruddy plan. But I didn't know what else to do. It didn't feel safe to leave the basilisk alive under the school now that it was awake. And who would believe me if I said that there was a giant snake living in the plumbing unless I told them the whole story? Besides, despite our best efforts, my fellow triplets and I couldn't find any way to destroy Horcruxes other than the venom of a basilisk or fiendfyre. The school year would be ending soon and we… I was running out of time. The basilisk had to be killed and I needed to harvest its venom.

Exhaling through my nose, I squared my shoulders. In one hand I gripped Fred's Cleansweep that I had 'borrowed' earlier this evening. In the other hand, I held a bag filled with rubber chickens. The kind that was charmed to crow when smooshed. It was a challenge to steal them from Filch's confiscated items closet without anyone seeing me. But I managed. I also wore the necklace Adrian had gifted me to act as a sort of security blanket. Now, all that was left to do was to fly down the pipe of doom and murder the medusa of snakes. I gripped the bag of rubber chickens tighter. Any minute now… Just a few seconds and my muscles will start cooperating and I'll go… Good Merlin! How did Ron and Harry ever jump down this thing with no plan whatsoever? I mean, I have a plan, but I can't even get myself to move closer to the entrance. It was at that moment that it occurred to me that my little brother was braver than me. And I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that.

Gulping down my nerves as I found my resolve. It'll be fine. Fred and George knew what would be coming… or at least what might be coming. If I… didn't make it, that wasn't the end of the world. Besides, the last time I died it hadn't been a permanent thing. Maybe it would be the same this time around too. I've died before. What's to say I won't remember my past lives a third time?

I meant my thoughts to be encouraging as I inched forwarded to the opening in the floor. And although while I was moving, my thoughts weren't helping my unease at all. Still, the job had to be done. It had been years since I last touched a broom; not since the last flying lesson of my first year where I gleefully gave up the practice. But now, I tilted the broom horizontally with the hand I was holding it with. "Hover", I ordered, only letting go when I felt a lessening of the broom's weight. Retracting my hand slowly, I watched as the broom floated in midair at the level of my knees. "Okay, you can do this". I tried some half-hearted self-affirmations as I gripped the bag of rubber chickens even tighter. Turning sideways, I swung a leg over the hovering broom. Oh boy, if Fred and George could see me now…. Well, if they could seeing me now, I wouldn't be on a broom in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, because they would have dragged me from Myrtle's bathroom; rubber chickens and all.

Kicking off before I could talk myself out of this lunacy for the third time since I came up with this idea, I hovered over the bathroom floor as I struggled to engage my core and find my balance. The girl who didn't like flying was now attempting to steer a broom one-handed. Not my finest moment. But after a couple of seconds, I found my center and I was ready. Or as ready as an unprepared idiot can be.

"If you die down there", Myrtle sniffled somewhere from my left. I turned my head in her direction. "You'll have to find somewhere else to haunt. This bathroom is mine!"

I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was the only one who would ever want this smelly old restroom. So, I settled for, "Myrtle, if I die, I'm not coming back". At least not as a ghost. Who knows? Maybe the third time is the charm and I'll get reborn to a nice family that lives in Hawaii. I could learn how to surf and spend a lifetime appreciating the tropics. On the plus side, I'd be far away from any nonsense that takes place in magical Britain. Though I probably wouldn't be magical in my third life…. Meh, small potatoes.

Inhaling deeply, I held my breath as I directed the broom over the center of the giant pipe. Just a smidge, I told myself as I pointed the broom handle down ever so slightly. There's no need to have a repeat of my first flying lesson from first year.

I kept my broom at a slow speed as I descended. It didn't take long until I was engulfed in darkness. Shame that I didn't have my hand in wand so I could use it as a torch. But with one hand steering the broom and the other holding the bag of rubber chickens, Lumos wasn't in the cards at the moment. Note to self: the next time you fly into the dark abyss, attach a lantern to the handle of your broomstick.

The trip down was slow going. But I wasn't willing to go any faster; especially considering that I couldn't see. But the silence was all-consuming and only made the time I spent airborne seem longer. Giving me plenty of time to think. Which, when you're me, is never a good thing. If I made it out of this alive, Fred and George would kill me. If I didn't make it out alive, I worried about never seeing my brothers again. And that's without mentioning what Adrian would do. He might track down my soul just to yell at me. I shuddered at the thought, but more out of guilt than fear. These were all things I thought about as I tried to decide what to do. And despite knowing that I wasn't making good choices, I couldn't get myself behind any other plan.

Thoroughly unnerved when George had taken that bludger to the face, Fred was stuck in his plan to back off. We had the diary. As far as Fred was concerned, we didn't need to do anything with the diary until You-Know-Who resurrected at the end of our sixth year. George, who had originally been on my side (After all, the end goal was making sure Fred didn't die), switched sides at some point. I'm not sure when. Probably around the time Lockhart/ Riddle was calling me dear and pinning me to walls.

Either way, when I had broached the subject of Adrian getting caught in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and us needing to make a move before he wandered into almost certain death, Fred and George had been adamant in their decision that we needed to cut our losses and quit while we were ahead. We had freed Sirus and we had prevented the petrification of everyone except Collin Creevey and Mrs. Norris. Pettigrew was in jail. He wouldn't be able to willingly sacrifice his flesh to You-Know-Who. And we had reclaimed the diary, so it was technically no longer in play. Even if Lockhart was still a loon. Sirus was teaching Defense now. Maybe he would be hired full-time. He wasn't a werewolf so there were no worries about him only lasting a year. Then Mad-eye Moody wouldn't be hired and that could mean no Barty Jr. So, Harry wouldn't be entered into the tri-wizard tournament and end up in a graveyard with Cedric's corpse. By Fred and George's logic, maybe we had done enough. Maybe we'd end up making things worse if we continued to meddle. A balance, they had claimed.

I couldn't argue that they were wrong. But how could they just… walk away from this? That was like marinating meat and then leaving it to rot instead of cooking it. It also didn't solve the Adrian problem. He had joined SPEW to learn more about the diary. Although it was unclear exactly what he had learned if anything at all. Then Percy had found him in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and I concluded that I had to do something. The easiest and most obvious solution was to talk to Adrian. And there were two ways I could go about doing that. Get Adrian alone and come clean about everything. Or get Adrian alone and interrogate him to figure out how much he knew. But I feared that the latter of those options would make him speed up whatever he was planning on doing. And the first option…. Well, I just didn't like it. Adrian was content with just being Adrian. Like how I would be perfectly happy for Jessie to set sail with nothing but a bon voyage. He had told me himself at the end of last year. But that wasn't entirely possible.

Both Adrian and I were the same people we were originally; the same souls with the same core personalities. Just people who had gotten changes in lives and circumstances. I'd always be Jessie. He'd always be Regulus. But that didn't mean I couldn't give him his best chance. His best chance at being just Adrian meant me not drudging details concerning You-Know-Who. It would allow Adrian to remain behind the wheel; permitting him to keep Regulus as a passenger.

So…. I came up with this stupid idea instead. I knew I reached the bottom when the soles of my shoes crunched against a floor covered in litter and debris. Bones, I told myself as I climbed off the broom. No point in deluding the truth. I was standing on top of bones. Dead animals hopefully. Human remains, maybe. Anything was possible in this castle. Setting the broom against the wall, I made the mistake of taking a deep breath. It'd be nice if a lungful of air could help me calm down a bit. But instead, I breathed in dust that was probably older than me, and the damp disgusting scent of mold. Instinctively coughing, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to feel calm until I made it out of this forsaken place.

Hitching the bag of rubber chickens higher over my shoulder, I reached into my pocket for my wand. "Lumos", I whispered once I had my wand point upwards. Light shined from the very tip, illuminating the dark cavern. Looking up, I could see the metal of the pipe I had traveled down, but where I was standing now was all rock. Well, rock and a floor littered with bones. Turning my attention straight ahead was a tunnel. A tunnel with many shoot-offs. There was no way to know if any of them would lead to the chamber. But I figured a straight shot forward would be the best place to start. "Now or never, Holly", I told myself just so the silence of this place wouldn't drown me.

Walking through the tunnels towards what I hoped was the chamber of secrets reminded me of traversing haunted corn mazes in October. Of course, there was no gaggle of giggling friends huddling behind me or any scare actors jumping out and chasing me with fake chainsaws. Also, there were no caramel apples and pumpkin patches waiting for me at the end of this maze. But the ambiance felt very much the same. So, I didn't use my wand to look left or right; following the very sound logic of, 'if I can't see it, I can't get spooked'.

I kept my ears open for any sounds of slithering or hissing. That would be my cue to close my eyes and pull out a chicken. But so far, the only sounds have been the crunching of bones under my feet. It was relatively unclear to me how the chamber worked. I knew the basics. Parseltongue was the key. The basilisk would only obey the heir of Slytherin. Blah, blah, blah…. But what I didn't know was how much autonomy the basilisk had when the heir was out of the picture. Lockhart/ Riddle had opened the chamber and he'd been detained without closing it. So, I'm working on the assumption that as long as the Basilisk is awake, it has free access to roam the plumbing. Which translated to nowhere underground being safe.

Which explains why I froze when I heard rubble shifting from somewhere behind me. It sounded sort of like a ping-pong ball being dropped down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night; creepy and foreboding. Game time. Dropping the bag of chickens, I knelt long enough to dig one out as my heart rate started to speed up. With one hand holding my wand in a death grip, I squeezed the air out of the rubber chicken with the other as I shut my eyes. This should be over quickly. I thought as the rubber chicken finished its first crow. Soon there either be a dead basilisk or a dead Holly. I heard the crunching of bones and knew it wasn't me since I was standing still. It sounded close. I let the rubber chicken reinflate itself before squeezing it again; the sound of crowing echoed throughout the tunnel for a second time. That was another thing I was unsure of. How many crows does it take for a basilisk to drop dead? Was one enough? Or did there need to be a symphony of crowing? Hopefully not. After all, I only had one available hand.

Before I could squeeze the rubber chicken a third time, a very very incensed voice asked directly behind me, "Why, on Merlin's green Earth, are you standing miles underground playing with a toy from Zonkos?"

I cracked open an eye. That voice. It was human. It was a human voice that I knew. But… how? Dropping the chicken, I whirled around. Holding my wand in front of me, I was confronted with two sights; the light of a Lumos spelling coming from someone else's wand and the wrinkled brow, slanted eyebrows, closed-lip frowny face of Adrian Pucey. "Uh…" I didn't know what to say. He shouldn't be here. But he was here. Standing before me; demanding an answer. My eyes drift to the upper right as I said, "…. This is just a dream. We're not really here". If only that were the truth.

The unimpressed look I got just about sums up how good I am at deflecting. "I'm starting to suspect that Lockhart did more damage to your mental state than we originally thought". Came Adrian's insulting retort… It was deserved.

"Would a stupid person be able to uncover the Chamber of Secrets?" I countered, lowering my wand slightly so my spell wouldn't blind him. Now that I knew that the sounds I had been hearing didn't belong to the goliath of snakes, my heartbeat slowed. Though only a little. This was still far from an ideal situation.

"No", Adrian answered, grinding his teeth. "But a stupid person would journey to the chamber by themselves".

Point. My lips quirked in an awkward fashion as I tried to think of a retort. "You're here too. You came down here alone. So, what does that make you?"

Adrian didn't even need to pause to think. "The fool whose idiot intended constantly overestimates her abilities forcing him to act against his better judgment".

His bluntness is enough that I feel the urge to look away again. Right. Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I listened to the bones under my shoes as I thought. Would all of this go away if I said sorry? "Hang on", I blurted out before I really knew what I was going to say. "You didn't seem surprised when I mentioned uncovering the Chamber of Secrets". My words formed a statement, but my eyes asked a question.

Adrian remained unchanged in expression as he answered, "I had my suspicions". Which confirmed my suspicions. Guess I hadn't moved fast enough. "How did you know where the chamber was?"

I waited too long before answering. "Lockhart told me".

Adrian took a step forward, forcing me to take a step back. Causing me to stumble over my bag of rubber chickens. One of them started crowing from inside the bag. Really, it's amazing I only stepped on one of them. "I can tell when you're lying, Holly". Adrian said a bit on the forceful side. "If Lockhart had told you about the Chamber of Secrets, if he had told you that he was responsible for it, you would have told. You wouldn't be down here trying to do whatever it is you're doing". His voice was dangerously low; making his calm approach more of a warning than a comfort. "Unless there is a stake in play that I'm unaware of. Something you haven't told me or anyone else." His words were sharp like barbed wire. There was no question about what he was digging at.

"I told Fred and George", I refuted a bit glumly; recognizing a corner when I'm being backed into one.

"Holly, you need to tell me everything." Adrian took another step forward; the light from his wand making his countenance seem more threatening than it actually is. This time I didn't bother taking a step back. But then Adrian took an additional step; stepping on the rubber chicken I had dropped. Upon the pressure, it began to crow; causing the sound to resound off the stones of the tunnel we were in. Glancing down, Adrian glared at the rubber chicken squashed under his foot. "You especially", he started as he directed his gaze back to me in the dim light. "Need to explain to me the purpose of this toy".

"Umm…." There wasn't a way out of this, was there? "Would you believe me if I told you that I used to believe you were a fictional character?" And that question went over just as well as you would have expected. Adrian's expression became incredulous as he stared at me like I had grown a second head. But I had officially started revealing to him my biggest secret. And once I started, I couldn't stop. So, amidst the dismal and bleak atmosphere that is the bowels of Hogwarts, I spilled my guts. This wasn't how I imagined sharing this piece of my life, being surrounded by a bunch of bones while on the hunt for a basilisk. I mean, I hadn't planned on telling Adrian this at all. If I had to imagine telling him about the Harry Potter series, it would have involved the privacy of a comfortable sitting room, a fire burning in a fireplace, and maybe some hot chocolate. But I digress.

I started at the beginning. Or at least, my beginning. Since time had proven to be irrelevant considering that Jessie had been born after the adventures of Harry Potter actually started, my beginning and ending were very different from everyone else's. Though I suppose that's true about everyone. So, I made it through Jessie's childhood about reading the books and watching the movies. Some time was spent on explaining to Adrian what a movie was, just like I had to do when I had initially told Fred and George. Luckily, since Adrian already knew that I was a reincarnated person, I made up for the lost time by not having to talk about how I was killed. And I transitioned quickly into talking about the philosopher stone. It took a little longer than the summary that I had given to Fred and George. Mostly because I also had to compare it to all the things that Fred, George, and I had changed. Otherwise known as the events from last school year. That naturally segued into the on-goings of this school year and everything that had gone horribly wrong compared to the second book in the Harry Potter series. I paused there; taking in Adrian's shellshocked form. I don't think I've ever seen him this overwhelmed before. "There's more", I admitted freely. "About five more years worth. But do you want me to go on?" Adrian adopted a pained expression and I kept going. Quickly; before he could explode. "It's just that… I did come down here to kill a basilisk".

The sort of dazed-over look Adrian had succumbed to during my whole spiel vanished with that statement and was replaced with a look of alarm. "Salazar's monster is a Basilisk?' He asked as he raised his wand free hand and ran it through his hair.

Well, he pieced that together faster than I would have. "Didn't I mention that?"

Adrian dropped his hand to his side. His frown falling back into place. "No, Holly. You didn't".

"Oh….." I shifted my weight from foot to foot again, listening to the brittle bones under my feet crunching. "Well, there's a basilisk under the school that Lockhart being possessed by a teenage You-Know-Who was controlling. It's responsible for the petrification of Collin Creevey and Filch's cat. Its venom is also one of the two ways I know how to destroy the You-Know-Who's diary. So…. I need to kill it".

Adrian blinked once. Then twice before his grey eyes flickered back to the rubber chicken that was still under his foot. "Then the purpose of this toy…"

He trailed off, allowing me to fill in the blank. "Crows like a rooster which, I've read, is fatal to basilisks".

Adrian removed his foot from the rubber chicken and watched by wand light as the rubber toy slowly inflated. In the dim like and with him looking down, I couldn't read his expression. That might be for the best. "And you thought an artificial rooster would be sufficient?"

I felt his unforgiving disbelief more than I heard it. Shrugging, I nodded my head to the bag of rubber chickens I had nearly stumbled over. "I brought more than one".

Adrian's head snapped up. His vision fixated on me to the point that his grey pupils begun to resemble bullets. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. "We're leaving", Adrian stated as his wand free hand shot out from his side and latched onto my wand free wrist. Turning to the direction that he came from, Adrian started to pull me behind him. Nearly causing me to trip over the bag of rubber chickens for a second time.

"Adrian", I complained as I tugged back. "No". The bones under my feet seemed to crunch louder as I dug my heels in.

"You can't take on a basilisk", Adrian argued. The grip he had on me remained unwavering. "You're only a fourth year".

"I need the venom", I repeated myself as Adrian managed to pull me a couple of feet. I could stun him. His back was turned to me and my wand was in hand. That thought had occurred to me. But then he'd be defenseless in a dark cavern-like tunnel with a basilisk potentially on the loose. And to make matters worse, if I died and Adrian was stunned, he most likely wouldn't make it out of the chamber either. So, using magic against him wasn't an option.

Adrian acted like he hadn't heard me as he continued to drag me back from whence we came. "I should have intercepted you when I noticed you left Gryffindor tower", he muttered to himself. "But I thought it was just another one of the childish pranks you pull with your brothers".

"Wait", I said with more force than before. This time I successfully stuck my feet to the ground, and Adrian was unable to pull me another inch. I waited until Adrian was facing me before continuing. "How did you know I wasn't in my common room? I left after curfew. You would have… or should have been in Slytherin's common room".

Adrian displayed two tells. First, he sucked in his breath until his cheeks caved in. Then his eyes fixated on the pendant hanging around my neck. The very same one he had given me for Christmas. With the hand that was holding my wand, still alit by Lumos, I brushed the back of my thumb against the pendant. The answer came quickly after that. "You put a trace on the necklace". Annoyance leaked out with my tone as I scowled at my boyfriend. And here I had thought this necklace had been a nice, thoughtful, and romantic gesture. Bloody Slytherin.

Taking a step towards me, but also yanking my hand so I was forced to meet him halfway, Adrian met my ire with his own. "You have a nasty habit of being unpredictable", Adrian spoke in a low murmur as he bent his neck so his face could be close to mine; our noses nearly touching. "Though I suppose I now know why. I had to take precautions".

Biting the inside of my cheek, I gave myself a moment to listen to my thoughts. As the daughter of an employee of the misuse of muggle artifacts office, I had listened to many lectures and stories about the dangers of putting trust in seemingly harmless objects. But it had never occurred to me that I needed to be wary of a gift from a loved one. "That's how you knew to find me that night I was Lockhart's quarters. When Harry ran into you when he was looking for help". I spoke aloud the same moment it occurred to me. Then a second thought followed. "You're here because you came after me". Which was something I was feeling very conflicted about.

"I've told you before", Adrian said. This time leaning past my shoulder until his cheek was pressed against my cheek so he could talk directly into my ear. "On the train home for the winter holidays. I warned you that if you kept making rash decisions... if you kept rushing into danger, you'd force my hand".

I remembered. How could I not? When that conversation led to me explaining Las Vegas to Adrian and to me having slightly sore wrists. "So, what's your hand?" I asked a bit tensely as Adrian retreated from my personal space.

What Adrian said next rang ominously in the tunnel. "I've already played it". Turning his words over in my mind, I didn't put up a fight when he started forward again; tugging me behind him.

Though my compliance didn't last long. "Adrian! Stop!" I ordered as I tried to yank my arm free. It didn't work. Not my words or my struggles. "I told you! The basilisk needs to be killed. I need its venom. The diary-"

I was cut off by Adrian yanking me forward; throwing me off balance enough that he had no problem swinging me around the tunnel. He made fast work of maneuvering me until my back was pressed against the dirty tunnel wall. I'd need a shower after this. Adrian came to stand close once more. His arms caging me in as he leaned in. My heart skipped a beat. And not for a very good reason. At least, not a reason that was good for this situation. "We will destroy the diary", He stated forcefully. "You have my word. But you and thing one and thing two are done acting alone. From now on we do things my way".

His tone left no room for negotiation, but that didn't mean I wasn't willing to try. I opened my mouth the same moment Adrian moved his wand free hand to his robe pocket. Before I could get a word out, his hand withdrew; pulling out a small piece of parchment with it. Adrian thrust the parchment under my nose; halting my tongue from forming any syllables. He moved his hand that was holding his magically lit wand so I'd have enough light to read by.

I sent Adrian one unhappy look before I complied. "This is a one-time coupon that will allow you to win any argument. Just hand me this coupon when you want to use it and I'll stop arguing with you". When I finished reading, I looked up at Adrian. Adrian, who was no longer frowning or glaring. Adrian, who had the gall to smirk at me as if he had just declared checkmate. Git.

"You kept this?" I asked with a small shake of my head to express disbelieve. His birthday was in October. I had given this coupon to him months ago. It was a shock to see it here. I had thought he'd forgotten about it or that he'd use it when we were arguing about something silly like putting pineapple on a pizza.

"It was the best birthday present I've ever received". Adrian's answer was smug. Smug enough that it kind of made me want to slap him. "You're not going to go back on your promise, right?" Adrian tested.

"Promise?" I asked confused. A lot had happened since I flew down the giant pipe. Rabbit hole indeed.

Tapping the coupon in his hand with his wand, Adrian redirects my attention back to it. "This is a written promise from you to me. Are you willing to break your word?"

An exasperated sound escaped the back of my throat as I looked around the tunnel. Left, right, down; anywhere as long as it wasn't at Adrian. I was looking for something. The only problem was there was nothing for me to look for. No, I wasn't going to go back on my word. Too afraid of the consequences that would entail if I did; noting that potential one of those consequences could be damage to Adrian's and my relationship. Or worse, losing our relationship altogether. But damn if it didn't pain me to let him win. "You suck", I gave in once I had re-established eye contact with the boy that frequently makes my heart miss a beat; faulting to Jessie's American slang in the process.

It's doubtful Adrian understood what I meant, but he read my face clear enough. The intensity of his accomplished smirk only grew at my words. After pocketing the coupon, (I'd have to make sure I got it back at a later date to be destroyed), he reached out for me again. This time grabbing my hand instead of my wrist. His fingers laced with mine and we continued down the tunnel heading further and further away from the chamber. This time I kept pace with him; walking shoulder to shoulder.

"You better have a plan", I said after we had gone a little way. Mixed emotions were swirling inside of me and I was anxious to get them all sorted. But the strongest of them was easily identifiable as a sense of lack of control. It was gnarling at me. What if…. Fred died?

Adrian gave my hand a squeeze. "Holly, you really should know by now. Slytherins always have a plan".