Severus really wished he had used another method to keep the roosters' crowing from reaching the basilisk's ears.
He was currently in the library, and a few tables away sat Peter Pettigrew; who had joined the group of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Prefects for a brief study session. In exchange for Severus forgiving him of not intervening his pet raven's death (and practically everything else that he had done over the past seven years), the cowardly Gryffindor had offered his spying services; telling him what the other Marauders were up to.
To be perfectly honest, Severus thought he got the better end of the deal.
Taking out the Marauders' Map the pudgy boy had given him a few months ago, Severus then scanned for the people in the room's vicinity and narrowed his eyes at the dots labeled 'James Potter' and 'Sirius Black' outside of the library; no doubt in waiting for their rat friend.
And thus had led to the current predicament: how to avoid Potter and Black's suspicions on him.
Severus knew he shouldn't be too paranoid but a legendary beast's life was currently at stake. He already had seen how the Marauders eyed almost all Slytherin students whose behaviors might come off as suspicious, and if the Map was still in their hands, no doubt they would find out where he often went to.
He would also need to cause a distraction, and though as wonderful as Rogue's spectral form was in doing its job, it would come off as another thing for the pesky Gryffindors to be curious about.
Severus only had to find the perfect chance to fit the armor onto the basilisk, and if possible even teleported it to Prince Manor. But the Portkey pendant only worked for those that had connections to the family, be it by blood or marriage. He already snagged a third pendant out of the Prince family vault in Gringotts; however the question was would it work on an animal too?
The bell rang and with a sigh, Severus kept his books and the Map into his satchel and walked to the dungeons for his Potions class, noting from the corner of his eyes how Potter and Black had cornered Pettigrew. Reaching the classroom, he quickly sat up at the back of the room.
"Alright, settle down, everyone," Professor Slughorn said with a jovial smile after he welcomed his N.E.W.T students, "I'm sure you have worked hard for the past few years, so let us get down to business! Let's see if you've known this one well; Miss Evans, if you may?"
"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir."
"Excellent; five points to Gryffindor!" the stout professor went on, "Now, Polyjuice was often asked for the practical exams but I'd rather advise you to recheck the previous potions you've learnt as well. But for now, let's all have fun!"
At that, everyone turned to each other with mischievous grins. Severus simply smiled; the potion was rather simple to make and only took about a month to complete. He could barely hide his giggle when an idea suddenly popped into his mind and he eagerly jotted it down into his notebook to review it more thoroughly later before going to the shelves to pick up the ingredients.
Dinner went by as usual and after finishing his meal, Severus went to his room and flicked open his notebook, tapping his chin thoughtfully before outlining his rough plan:
Make another batch of Polyjuice Potion
Bribe friend (Mulciber? Regulus?) to disguise
Use the Invisibility Cloak to get to the Chamber and put the armor on the basilisk
Bring the basilisk to Prince Manor (if possible)
Put the counter-curse to all chickens, etc.
He was stuck at the third and the fourth phases, however. The Chamber of Secrets had been the gigantic serpent's home for nearly a thousand years; surely the magic there had to be strong enough to keep it alive. Could he even replicate all the spells and runes used to another chamber that was currently being built near the mansion?
Sighing as he leant back on his chair, Severus then observed the Prince family's Portkey pendant around his neck and subsequently the necklace with the spider gemstone, and the Gaunt family ring Marvolo had entrusted to him. The latter's obsidian stone was faintly calling for him through its magic and he mentally slapped himself on the forehead.
Pulling out the loose prong that held the Resurrection Stone, Severus watched as the others opened up to let the item fell into his hand and rolled it three times while thinking of the great Salazar Slytherin.
With a flash of light, a bearded man's translucent form appeared in front of him and Severus almost dropped the black stone in utter surprise before bowing down his head respectfully at one of the revered Hogwarts' Founders. The portraits he had seen sure hadn't been wrong in depicting the wizard's image and aura.
He kept his head low, waiting as the wizened man looked around the room and finally asked in a rather gravelly voice, "And just who you may be?"
"S- Severus Prince, sir."
"A Prince," Salazar Slytherin drawled before going to inspect every nook of the place, "I don't know much about them, though the one thing I remember well was they were loyal to and of each other. Is that correct?"
Severus only nodded.
"So, why is a Prince asking of my presence? Hadn't the portraits done their job well to portray my character?"
"I… Well, I- I think asking your soul would be better for this thing; I… I actually want to seek your permission to…" Severus looked away, bracing himself for the possible backlash, "I want to move your basilisk elsewhere."
Slytherin blinked.
Severus sighed, "I admit this was a blunder on my part, but the headmaster was now looking for the basilisk because I had silenced the roosters, and… I hope to rectify my mistake by giving it a new home, near Prince Manor. It's currently being built; and I… I wonder if it's possible to move it there." He then waited for the spirit's response.
The wizened man had his brows furrowed before exhaling a resigned breath, "I have placed a charm on my dear serpent, that only my true heirs can control it despite the emergences of many Parselmouths and its rapid decline afterward. And you, even having the slightest amount of my blood in your veins were more than enough for that."
Severus' eyes widened in utter disbelief after he processed the words, "Wait, you're… serious? You're really letting me to transport your snake to a new home?"
"I can't afford of being picky now, do I?" Slytherin spoke as he examined some of the books strewn on his desk, "Even the last remaining member of my family was a half-blood, and perhaps that was for the best. Besides, I already can sense how attached the basilisk is to you; so do as you please, Severus Prince. All I ask for in return is you to treat it well."
"O- Of course, sir!" Severus stammered out his gratitude, "I will make sure of it! Thank you so much!" He then bade farewell to the ancient spirit and dropped the Resurrection Stone. Grinning to himself, he put the valuable gemstone back into its placeholder and used the Prince family's pendant to teleport to the mansion to make another batch of the Polyjuice Potion.
Unbeknownst to Severus, two people in the Potions Room had their narrowed eyes on him and as they finished the class for the day, one of them had carefully casted a severing spell onto part of his hair and took them before leaving the place altogether.
The King of Snakes felt slightly lonely.
Roaming around the stony room it called home, it wondered what had happened to the new master. Surely he hadn't forgotten his promise, right? It knew about two months had passed by, but… it wished he had said better words than giving it hope. That it would have better protection with the armor he and the master had made.
It was ready to doze off for a quick nap when it suddenly heard the gigantic doors leading to its resting place were opened by magic and perked up upon listening to footsteps rushing toward it. Whoever it was then threw aside the invisible cloak he was wearing and it trilled at the sight of him.
"I- I…" Severus Prince started, still panting for breath, "Look, I'm sorry but we have no time, Salazar. We've got only one hour and it sure was chaos out there; I barely made it here without people noticing!"
"Master, just what had happened-" it began but closed its eyes when seeing he was fumbling over his satchel. It then felt the new master was putting something around its neck and wondered what the item could be before he said, "Hold on tight!"
A lurching sensation ran all over its body and was gone as quick as it came. Frowning, it could feel a strange different texture under its scales; a bit ticklish and wet and… soft? Not daring to open its eyes, it could only wait for the new master's orders.
Severus had his teeth clattered together as he gently led the basilisk into Prince Manor, wondering if his friends fared well in his plan. Regulus Black had agreed to pretend as him, currently in the library with the rest of his friends. He didn't tell the other boy the full details; just that he had an emergency and hoped for the best that the Marauders didn't notice any differences.
"Severus, how nice to see you-" Time came to a halt as the paintings all had their jaws dropped and eyes widened in utmost shock at the newcomer.
"Um…" Severus gave them a nervous grin, "I- I promise I will explain this later. Grandma Meredith, can you please tell Septimus and everyone else to close their eyes whenever he's in the house? Thanks a bunch!" He quickly pressed the pendant a second time to return to Hogwarts and almost jumped in utter joy before leaving the Chamber of Secrets with a spring in his steps.
It worked! The damned plan worked, and no one knew any wiser! Oh, this certainly called for a celebration!
"So, was what you did worth it?" Regulus asked as they feasted on the food smuggled from the kitchens later that night. Severus had rewarded him with fifteen Galleons but the Black heir refused it, stating that any prank on his disowned older brother was enough as payment.
Severus only grinned before they gave a toast to each other.
After everyone went to sleep, he used the Portkey locket to Prince Manor and explained what happened to his ancestors' portraits, to which they all shared a hearty laugh over how Slytherin he had been just then.
"Heh, what I won't do to be so young and alive again," Claude Prince chortled, "The snake's roaming around the place, Severus. Don't worry, we've told Septimus and the house-elves as you said." He winked and Severus nodded in gratitude before going in search for his new companion. Whistling along the way, he found the basilisk was slumbering in the dining room.
"Wake up, Salazar," he whispered with closed eyes, feeling how the serpent languidly rose from its nap, "Let's go to my room." He re-opened his eyes and carefully guided the snake to the place. Closing the door, he then took out the miniature armor Lord Voldemort had given him for Christmas and pressed the button on the snout, watching as it enlarged and unfolded itself on the floor.
"Get into your armor, Salazar," he said and closed his eyes yet again as he lay down on his bed, listening intently to the slithering motion the snake had done, followed by the metals clanking up together again.
"How do I look?"
Severus blearily opened his eyes and chuckled at the sight before him, "You're as mighty as the legends say, Salazar. Oh, do you want to see yourself? Hang on a minute."
"Libby," he called and with a crack, the house-elf appeared with a bow, "Can you find me a camera in this mansion?"
"Of course, Master Severus," she said and left with another crack; returning in record time with the requested item in hand before leaving.
"Alright, then," Severus grinned as he readied to take the basilisk's picture, "Say cheese!"
"Should've figured this out a lot sooner," James said as the Marauders, minus Remus, had gathered in the Room of Requirement. Beside him, Lily had her brows furrowed. They all had taken notes on the Slytherin students that were standoffish from others and of course, Severus Snape was included in the list.
Lily had the suspicion that the boys had put Snape on the list simply due to their grudge of him possessing the Potters' Invisibility Cloak, but they were also pretty adamant that the Slytherin boy was hiding something and she could only be the bystander for the moment.
Sirius turned to her with a sympathetic look, "Don't tell me you didn't expect this?"
"B- But we had no proof," she mumbled, "What are we going to tell Professor Dumbledore: Snape used the Invisibility Cloak to visit the basilisk? We don't even know where the Chamber was! Hell, he sure didn't even tell me he could speak to snakes! I'd say this was a rather outrageous claim, James. We'll need more proof than just Snape being his gloomy grumpy self."
"And this was why we needed the damned Map!" James hollered, "…Wait. What it… what if he used my Invisibility Cloak to get into our Tower?!"
"He'll need the password-"
"He's the Head Boy, Evans! He could just ask any Gryffindor Prefects for that! And by definition, he would've done so and stole the Map from us, right under our noses!" Sirius shouted. He saw Peter was deep in his thoughts and shook the boy out of his trance.
"No offense Sirius, but we had set up a password on it, remember?" Peter said, a bit startled by his friend's sudden action, "No one could reveal the Map except us, and especially not Snape! I'd say we just forget about the Map. A shame to lose it, yes; but we had our fun with it, right? And maybe Dumbledore's a bit barmy in the head. Who knows, perhaps there'll be new kids being the next Marauders and finally found the snake in our place."
The five of them then looked at the Ziploc bag Lily had brought over, filled with few strands of Severus Snape's hair and kept it inside the room before leaving; thinking the hairs and the portions of the Polyjuice Potion they took from Potions class would be useful for another day.