A/N: Ok, I love you all, and I hope you don't hate me for making you wait so long! I have been so busy this summer that it's almost unfair. My family and I just moved into a new home, I didn't have internet forever because Verizon screwed me over, I've been getting ready for college, I've been helping my sister with her three children that get into everything, and I've been watching my little brother almost everyday and spending countless of hours at the park just to keep him content. It's been hectic, but I would always think about the story and about how pissed you all must be at me. I just finished this chapter right now and I'm not even sending it in to my beta, Forever Tom's Mannequin love ya girl, just so I can get it to you all ASAP. I'm very, very sorry everyone, and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint any of you. The stories ending soon, so there will only be a few more chapters left. I'm happy and sad about that, but it doesn't mean I wont write other stories. -
I want to say thank you to all of my reviewers! You guys are amazing, and I want to thank you for taking the time to review. And to all the readers…thank you for reading this, and I hope your enjoying it. I wont babble on anymore so you all can get to the chapter that has taken me forever to get up. I hope you all like it! -Love Mandy
"Tom, what on earth is that smell?" Hermione asked as she crinkled her nose in disgust.
Tom merely chuckled. "It's a sewer Hermione, what did you expect?"
A crack under Hermione's feet caused her cringe as she followed Tom through the dank, smelly sewer below Hogwarts. She knew they were only rat skeletons, but the very thought of stepping on anything dead in that place made her feel slightly nauseous.
"You know Tom, I suddenly don't feel so well," Hermione lied. "I think I need to have a lie down back in the Hospital Wing."
Tom stopped mid-step and turned to look at Hermione, annoyance clearly written in his dark eyes. "Hermione, I just spent an hour arguing with Madame Pomfrey to release you and you were only too happy to get out of there. Now you say you want to go back just because you're frightened, but do you really think I would let anything happen to you? Besides, the basilisk has been dead for years now, and she was the only threat down here."
"She?" Hermione asked while scowling at him.
"The basilisk was a girl." Tom replied curtly.
"How charming." Hermione drawled.
Tom sighed and took Hermione's hands in his. "I know it's a bit creepy down here, but nothing is going to harm you. This is my last chance to bring you before the students start to return from winter break, and I've been dying to give you your present."
Hermione smiled and released one of his hands to pull out the small golden key hidden in her robe pocket. She had recovered only yesterday from her brush with death and was surprised when Tom had gotten Pomfrey to release her from the Hospital Wing. She was extremely excited when Tom told her he was taking her, but ever since she slid down the dark tunnel from the girls' lavatory she had been having reservations.
She blushed as she realized how foolish she was being, and she leaned up on her toes to kiss Tom on his cheek. "I know you wouldn't let anything hurt me Tom. I'm sorry for being so childish."
Tom grinned, exposing two rows of perfect teeth, and started leading her once more through a maze of sewer tunnels until they reached a dead end. Upon closer inspection, Hermione saw that there was some kind of circular door set into the wall.
Tom spoke in Parseltongue and watched as the door began to unlock and open. He turned to Hermione only to find her blushing and looking down at her feet.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Hermione looked up at him and bit her lip nervously. "You spoke Parseltongue again." She said quietly.
Tom frowned. "I'm sorry if it bothers you, but that's the only way to…"
"No," Hermione interrupted. "It doesn't bother me, it's just…" She trailed off and bit her lip again.
"What is it Hermione?" Tom asked. He saw her blush again and it suddenly dawned on him.
Tom's face lit up with a mischievous grin that only made Hermione blush harder.
"Why you little Slytherin." He said softly. "You think it's sexy don't you?"
Hermione scowled at him. "So what if I do?"
"Does Harry know of this little fetish of yours? Did you ever get him to speak Parseltongue for you before I arrived?"
"Thomas Marvolo Rid…"
"Were you hoping I would speak it for you?" Tom interrupted, his eyes bright with mischief. "Do have fantasies about it?"
"Oh Merlin, I should have never brought it up." Hermione groaned. He was having too much fun with this.
Tom leaned his head down closer to her and brought his lips to her ear. He whispered something in Parseltongue and bit back a grin when he felt Hermione shiver.
"Wha…what did you say?" Hermione asked.
"I consider myself too much of a gentlemen to say it in English." Tom said, smiling broadly.
"Oh really?" Hermione guffawed. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear this time. What she said made Tom's cheeks burn bright red.
"Hermione Granger!" He exclaimed.
It was Hermione's turn to smile mischievously. "You shouldn't have tempted me Mr. Riddle."
"I'm not complaining Miss Granger."
Hermione laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "As amusing as this is, I really want to know what my present is."
Tom smiled and took Hermione's hand and led her to the Chamber's entrance.
"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets Hermione."
Hermione peered into the room and let out a quiet gasp. The vast cavern was full of stone pillars that supported a ceiling that was too far up to view. Stones carved into Serpent heads lined a path that led to an enormous statue of a man's head at the end of the Chamber. At the base of the statue there laid something large and skeletal which both knew to be the defeated basilisk.
In Hermione's state of awe she didn't even notice that Tom was leading her into the Chamber. He walked slowly so that she could take it all in, and he was very pleased to see her so captivated.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Tom asked her quietly.
Hermione nodded and continued to take in their surroundings. There was an eerie green glow to the place that added to its mystique. It also didn't smell as bad as the rest of the sewers, which was surprising considering the fact that the basilisk had been rotting there for several years now.
Once the pair reached the end of the path they stood face-to-face with the remnants of the basilisk. Hermione was surprised with how quickly it had decayed, considering its size.
Her attention was then focused on the statue before them. It was of an old man with long hair and an even longer beard. He reminded Hermione of some kind of mythological god and she found herself having some respect for him, even though she knew who he was.
"Slytherin." Hermione said. Tom knew it was a statement rather than a question, but still he nodded his head yes.
"Hmm, it's funny." Hermione mused.
"What is?" Tom asked.
"He doesn't look a thing like you. Are you sure you two are related?"
Tom stared at her for a moment before he started laughing. "You cheeky little brat." He told her fondly.
She merely grinned at him and the couple went back to looking around the Chamber, when something caught both their attentions.
Splattered on the ground a few feet away from the giant snake was what appeared to be black ink. Tom gave Hermione a confused look which she knew was his way of asking how ink had gotten there.
"Didn't Harry tell you about what happened down here between him and your memory?" Hermione asked.
"He only told me that he was able to destroy the diary, but he didn't say how."
Hermione gave a small smile before turning to look back at the dried ink on the ground.
"Harry was able to destroy the basilisk with Gryffindor's sword by ramming it into its head, or something like that. He shoved the sword too far up into its mouth, however, and was stabbed by one its fangs. He pulled it out and after the Dumbledore's phoenix healed him, he stabbed the diary with the fang. He said that all this ink started gushing out of it, which is why there's ink all over the ground."
Tom stared at her wide eyed before he cleared his throat. "I think Harry would make a fortune if he wrote books about all of his adventures. One book for each year he's in school. Heh…he'd be the richest Wizard in all of Britain."
Hermione smiled fondly up at him. "I think Harry's had enough fame for one lifetime. But it's not a bad idea."
"Well dead basilisks and books aside, I think its time for you to finally see your present. Do you have the key?" Tom asked.
Hermione opened up her right hand and showed Tom the small gold key that rested in her palm.
Tom smiled and then led Hermione around the basilisk's skeleton until they stood in front of a small pool of water that Hermione hadn't noticed before.
Hermione's eyes grew wide as she looked into the dark water. "T-tom…we're not going to swim down into that are we?" She asked uneasily.
"Don't be silly." Tom said. Hermione let out a relieved sigh.
"We're going to swim across it." Tom said happily.
"What! But you just said…you said we weren't going in there after I just asked you if we were." Hermione yelled.
"No…you asked me if we were going to swim down into it, which is a big difference than just swimming across it." Tom explained.
"Oh wonderful." Hermione said while gazing into the murky water apprehensively.
Tom sighed. "I guess we don't have to if you don't want to." He pulled out his wand from inside his robe and kneeled down at the waters edge. He whispered an incantation and touched his wand to the water and watched as it began to freeze over.
Once the small pool was completely frozen over, he stood back up and smiled at his pouting girlfriend.
"Show off." She muttered. Her pout disappeared, however, as she moved closer to him to kiss his cheek in thanks.
Tom smiled and moved aside, bowing slightly and gesturing with his hand for her to proceed. "Ladies first." He said, glancing up at her and flashing her with a charming smile.
Hermione giggled and moved towards the frozen water. She set her foot gently atop the glassy surface and then moved completely onto it once she was certain it was stable. It took them both about five minutes to cross it since they kept slipping on the ice, but they both reached the other side safely and laughing at each other for falling.
Hermione and Tom were now standing on the statues platform, right in front of Slytherin's mouth that was opened in a giant 'O' shape.
Hermione swallowed as she peered inside the mouth and saw nothing but darkness.
"Please don't tell me we're going in there."
"No, no, that's where the basilisk lived." Tom said. "No, that key opens something over here."
Tom took her hand once more and led her around the statues head where he stopped just below its ear. There was a crack there that didn't look like it was there by accident.
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"In my studies on him, I found out that Salazar was injured at a young age just below his right ear. The injury didn't heal right and he was left with a horrible scar that never diminished. This crack is supposed to represent that scar I suppose."
"But what does that have to do with this key?" Hermione asked.
"It opens the compartment that's hidden there." Tom said. "You see the small keyhole, right in the middle of the crack?"
"Oh, now I see it." Hermione said as he pointed it out. Her excitement was growing by the minute.
"Well, open it up and see what's inside." Tom said with a grin.
Hermione smiled at him then moved closer to the crack. She placed the gold key into the tiny keyhole and turned it once to the left. She stepped back as the crack somehow managed to open, revealing a small compartment that was too dark to see inside.
Hermione looked back at Tom.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" He said, smiling at her. "Reach inside."
Hesitantly, Hermione reached inside the small, dark hole until she felt something brush against her fingers.
"It's a book!" She exclaimed as she pulled it out of its hiding place. She held the ancient tome in her hands and examined it closely. The cover was made out of leather that was worn and frayed in some places, and the pages had yellowed with age but were still perfectly intact.
Hermione opened the front cover and gasped. The names of all four Hogwarts founders were written on the first page.
"This was…this belonged to…the Four Founders." Hermione said in awe.
Tom chuckled. "It did. Do you want to know what's it a book of?" He asked.
Hermione nodded though she didn't take her eyes off of the four names. It seemed each founder had wonderful penmanship, for each name was written in beautifully curved script that seemed to flow across the page.
"It's about the beginning of Hogwarts. Each founder wrote down spells and such that were used for the creation and protection of the castle. I believe that just before Slytherin left the school, he was able to steal the book and hid it here in this Chamber. He must have wanted his heir to find it in order to discover some of the many secrets of Hogwarts, which is exactly what I did. Now I'm giving it to you."
Hermione wasn't sure if she was breathing. She was now the current owner of a book written by the founders themselves which held many of Hogwarts secrets. This was the most amazing gift any witch or wizard could ever get.
"I was told countless of times by Harry and Ron of your love for "Hogwarts, A History", so I figured you would like this."
Hermione looked up at him and Tom was surprised to see tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Hermione, are you…"
Tom was cut off by Hermione's lips as they pressed firmly against his. She clutched the book to her chest with one hand, while the other snaked up around Tom's neck in order to bring his head closer to hers so she could deepen the kiss.
Tom was in shock for only a moment before he kissed her back just as deeply. He pulled her closer to him and the two stayed that way for a few minutes before they both had to pull apart for some much needed air.
Tom's forehead rested against hers as they both tried to catch their breaths.
"So I take it you like the book." Tom said, smiling like a fool.
Hermione, still unable to put her gratitude into words, leaned up and kissed him once more.
He took that as a yes.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Harry, why do we have to be in the library?" Ron complained. "Hermione's all better now, so we don't have to keep looking around in here."
"I told you Ron, I have to find something." Harry said as he scanned the shelves of the Restricted Section. Ever since he happened by that book written in Latin, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. He had to find it and figure out what it said.
"Who cares about some musty old book you found. There's only two days left of winter break, and we are spending precious minutes searching for some mystery book written in Latin. In case you haven't noticed Harry, we're English, and good 'ol English fellows such as ourselves don't know how to speak Latin."
"Ah ha!" Harry yelled. "I found it!"
"We're you even listening to me?" Ron asked, glaring at him.
"Wha…did you say something Ron?"
"No Harry, nothing at all." Ron growled.
"Oh, ok." Harry said as he sat down at a nearby table with the book.
"Tergiversatio per Vicis." Harry read aloud. "I wonder what it means."
"Something about time." Ron grunted.
"What? How do you know that?" Harry asked bewildered.
Ron sighed. "Vicis means time, I think. I remember hearing it before, in one of our classes. But I don't know what the whole thing means…not that I care."
Harry's urge to translate those three words increased ten fold.
"Ron, we've got to find out what this means. I found this book for a reason, I know I did."
"No, you bumped if off of a shelf and found it by accident. It's just an old book that no one has read for ages, and do you want to know why Harry? Because it's just a stupid…old…book."
"Are you quite through?" Harry asked while scowling at him.
"Can we go and do something else?" Ron asked hopefully.
"No." Harry replied tersely.
"Then no, I'm not through."
Harry was about to say something back, when he spotted Ginny walking towards them.
"What are you two arguing about?" She asked after giving Harry a quick kiss on the lips.
"Harry's turning into Hermione, which is funny considering the fact that she if off with Tom on some exciting little quest down in the Chamber of Secrets, while we are stuck in the library looking at books that we can't read." Ron said.
"I would hardly call the Chamber of Secrets exciting Ron." Ginny said while frowning at her brother. "And what's this about books you can't read?"
"Harry's found the mystery book that he's been obsessing about." Ron said as he pointed towards the open book on the table. "It's written in Latin." He added rather passionlessly.
"Really? Well, I can read some Latin." Ginny said brightly.
"What! Since when?" Ron asked.
"Since I became dedicated to my studies and to my education." Ginny said.
She looked at Harry who was beaming at her. "I don't know much." She warned.
"It's ok Gin, just give it a try." Harry said, as he passed the book over to her.
Ginny looked at the three words and instantly new the translation to one.
"Vicis means time." She said.
"Yes, yes we know. It seems you're not the only Weasley who knows a few foreign words." Ron said smugly.
Ginny rolled her eyes and looked back at the text.
"Hmm, Tergiversatio sounds familiar." She said. "It's a basic word, I know it is. Something to do with a position or a…a…movement. Yes, it's a movement! Tergiversatio means backwards. I knew I had heard that word before! And per is through."
"So it means Backwards through Time." Harry said. Then suddenly, as though a muggle light bulb had switched on his brain, he knew what the text was…he knew why he found it, why he was supposed to find it.
"This is it." He whispered.
"What's it?" Ron asked.
"It's a book about time travel. The book that Hermione couldn't find. It contains the reversal spell, I know it does. This is going to tell us how to send Tom back." Harry said quietly.
The three teens all fell silent as they gazed at the book before them.
Harry had done it. He had found the book like he was supposed to. This was it. Voldemort would be no more if they were able to pull it off correctly. The world and their lives would be changed forever.
They all looked up into each others faces as the magnitude of the situation dawned on them. This should have been a joyful moment, though none of them felt any happiness at all.
"Oh Merlin," Ginny whispered tearfully. "How are we going to tell Hermione and Tom?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other and then back down at the book. No one knew what to say. Hermione had only recovered just one day ago, and now Harry had found the way to take Tom away from her, away from all of them.
How to tell them indeed…
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Did you like it? I was happy to finally have Tom show Hermione his gift to her. I forgot to mention it in this chapter, but Tom, like he said in chapter 22 I believe, found that key in his first year. How he found it is his secret so I can't tell, but once he discovered the Chamber a few years later, he used that highly capable brain of his and figured out that his mysterious key opened that little compartment that he found in his investigations. Tom's a clever little strumpet, isn't he? -
I hope no one was confused by the beginning of the chapter, but I didn't want to waste any more time with them in the Hospital Wing, so I jumped right into them being in the Chamber.
The next chapter is where you'll learn of Peter's fate, as well as Draco's. And Harry, Ron, and Ginny break the news to Hermione and Tom. Should be interesting. - See you all there!
Oh and by the way…I never really mentioned this well enough the story, but Hermione's parents were informed of her illness and were extremely worried as any parents would be. They were also informed of her recovery and sent Hermione a long letter telling her how relieved they were and how they wanted to see her and blah, blah, blah… I wanted to put it in but I didn't feel like typing it all up, and I figured it wasn't all that important. But I just wanted you guys to know that her parents weren't all, "Oh, Hermione's dying. That's a shame." Heh…that would have been funny though. -