Disclaimer: I do not own HP!

Christmas break came quickly and the student body was excited as usual. Edward had opted into staying only so he could look for the chamber unimpeded since Lockhart was going home for Christmas. Of course, he'd leave the castle Christmas day to be with his friends and he had a date to look forward to, but he was hoping to find the chamber and put an end to the horror that had been that year up to that point. The morning the train was set to leave Hogsmeade Edward wasn't alone in his room. Harry and Cassie had both snuck to his office using the invisibility cloak that Harry had gotten from his father. "Was it wise telling Granger your story?" Harry got right to the point as per usual which earned him an elbow to the ribs from Cassie.

"I'm sure it's my decision to make Harry." Edward replied not unkindly, but firmly.

"I know and you know I respect that. And I like Hermione, she's a nice girl who's much more intelligent than the majority of the female populace, but she's also a bit of a motor mouth."

"Has anyone found out yet?"

"Well, no not yet."

"Then I don't think I have anything to worry about. I'm assuming she confronted the two of you about it?"

It was Cassie that answered after glaring Harry into silence. "Not really. She got Harry and I alone and asked if we knew who your father was. It was the way she asked the question that clued us in that she knew."

"The way she asked?"

"Yes sir. She asked very pointedly. If we had been confused then she'd have known that we had no idea and would've dropped the subject. But since we obviously knew, she carried on the conversation." Edward smiled at that. It seemed intelligence wasn't just a trait that Hermione had, it was a trait that his Goddaughter as well as Harry had inherited. No doubt they get it from their mothers.

"Well I am glad that you are all friends then."

The two nodded and Edward went back to work until he noticed moments later that they hadn't left yet. "You're going to miss the train."

Harry ignored that and went right into it, as usual. "Does Mr. Malfoy know your secret?"

Edward blinked at that. "I've never really thought of that, but more than likely. Mrs. Malfoy knows so I'm sure he does."

"What do you think about us including Draco in on the secret?" Cassie inquired which caused Edward to be a bit uneasy. It wasn't that he disliked the boy, he really didn't. He rather liked Draco, he reminded Edward a lot of himself. But it was that more and more people would be learning his secret that had him uneasy. Besides the fact that if Lucius really didn't know his secret, he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with the son of one of his enemies knowing. He was sure Lucius probably scanned the boy's thoughts fairly often so what if Lucius didn't already know and found out?

What would he do with that information? Edward wasn't sure he wanted to find out. He knew that Lucius wouldn't have found out from reading Narcissa, since she was a Black and they were notorious for having great mental defenses and Lucius wasn't that great at Legilimency at any rate. But Draco's defenses wouldn't be that developed, especially if Lucius was trying as hard to control him as it seemed. But to appease Cassie and Harry, Edward responded with "I'll think about it and let you know." Of course, they accepted the answer, Cassie with a frown, and left him to his thoughts which relieved Edward greatly.

He loved Harry and Cassie and their inquisitive nature was a joy to watch, but they sometimes crossed the line into none of their business territory. Edward shook his head and began to ponder the problem of the Chamber and its location. He had studied the layout of the entire castle several times and had yet to discern a possible location. He knew something had to be done before someone else got petrified or worse, killed.

That was something he knew he couldn't allow to happen so he endeavored to figure it out before that happened. Suddenly, an owl flew through the cracked window with a letter from Laura. Edward smiled as he read the note reminding him of their date a few days from then. After reading it, he folded the note, fed the owl a piece if leftover bacon from the plate he'd had delivered for breakfast and sent it on its way. He stood up with a smile on his face but it morphed into a grim look as he began his search for the elusive Chamber.

On the Express, Harry, Cassie, and Draco sat in their compartment relaxed. Harry and Cassie were both giddy for the holidays while Draco looked a little morose. Harry and Cassie knew why this was the case. Draco had asked his mother if Draco could stay with Cassie since they are related. His request was promptly denied.

"Don't worry Draco, I'll talk to my dad and he'll see what he can do." Draco looked doubtful but said nothing, quickly changing the subject to quidditch which had Cassie rolling her eyes.

Finally, the train pulled into the station, slowing down as it prepared to stop. Once it rolled to a stop, the students on the train began piling off as quickly as they could manage. This amused James to know end as he waited on his charges to make their way to him. "Hey dad." Said Harry breathlessly. "Where's Sirius?"

"Oi! Am I not good enough for you?" James asked doing his best to look offended.

"I suppose you'll do." Said Emma haughtily as she threw her arms around his waist. "Missed you daddy."

"At least someone did." James proclaimed as he returned the hug.

"Suck up." Harry joked as he went in for a hug of his own.

James straightened himself after the greetings were done. "Padfoot is at the Ministry working on a Marauder project so he sent me to get you lot."

"Awe Uncle James, you do care." Cassie exclaimed playfully.

"I suppose. But only a little." James then noticed Draco, who was caught up in a conversation with Hermione Granger. He made a mental note to see if he could get them both over for Christmas if possible.

Back at the Ministry, Sirius was indeed working on their project. The goal was simple enough, but easier said than done as his Grandfather would say. He shook his head to clear any bleariness and returned to the tedious work he had set himself to. He was going through files of former Deatheaters and matching the family name with current ministry employees. It wasn't difficult work so much as it was slow.

Sirius rubbed his eyes, looking at the clock. He smiled when he saw the time. Cassie should be at Potter Manor by now. With a sigh he looked at how far he had to go and made the decision to call it a day. He'd gotten through to the H's so he was making good headway which meant that it wouldn't hurt to head home then. It was a whistling Sirius Black that came through the floo at Potter Manor, smiling as his daughter ran for him.

Almost a week later, Edward entered his chambers with a scowl on his face. "You'd think it'd be easy to find a 70-foot-long snake and where it lives, but no. Slytherin had to hide it so that even his own descendants would have problems with finding it. How in the bloody blue hell did my father even find this thing in the first place?"

"That is unclear. He didn't leave any instructions." Albus stated smoothly as he entered.

Edward whipped around, scowl still on his face before his eyes lit up with an idea. "Of course! We find whoever is opening the Chamber and we'll be able to find the Chamber itself. The question is, who."

Albus thought a moment. "What if it isn't a person per say."

"What do you mean?" Asked Edward confusedly.

"Think about it, the last time the Chamber was open was 50 years ago. That was done by a parselmouth. Who else but a parselmouth could open it now?"

"A fair point, however there is a glaring flaw. There are only 3 parselmouths in this school and none of them would purposefully open the Chamber and set the beast loose."

"I don't believe it to be the boys or you. However, what if it were someone doing it against their will? What if they were being possessed?"

"By who?"

"Who else? Your father."

"Impossible, you told me your sources place him in Albania."

"Perhaps, but it's the only explanation that makes sense right now."

Edward knew Albus was right. "Say you're right, who is it and how do we find them?"

Albus shrugged. "That is the question isn't it? As to the answer, I don't know."

Edward sighed. "I have a bad feeling about this." Albus could only concur.

The next day, Edward put the troubles of the school out of his mind as he made his way to the Baxter residence in Sheerwater. He rapped on the door and waited. A moment later, the door eased open revealing a middle-aged woman who must've been Laura's mother. She was Laura's height, about 5 feet 5 inches, with brown hair streaked with grey. "Hello, I'm Lorraine. You must be Edward."

Edward smiled and nodded. "I am, Lorraine and it's a pleasure to meet you."

She dodged the hand he offered and hugged him, after which she backed away to let him into the home. Immediately upon entering he noticed an adjacent room off to the right where, in a recliner, sat a surely man who glared at him over his paper. Edward merely looked at him with a raised brow in amusement which caused the man to huff and ignore him. "Ignore Gordon. He's never been very happy with Laura's inclusion into your world so he disapproves of you." The man immediately made him think of Lily's brother in law, Vernon Dursley which made him dislike the man automatically.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, I'm here to pick up Laura."

"Let me call her for you."

Moments later, Laura came bounding down the steps ready to go. Edward had told her to dress casually so she had jeans and a purple sweater on. "You do believe in punctuality I see."

It was with a smile he replied. "But of course. I am a teacher after all."

And so, they departed for the wizarding library in London with a crack of apparation.

The next day was Christmas at the Black Family House and Sirius had pulled out all the stops for it. There were decorations as far as the eye could see and the tree was nearly as tall as the ceiling in the main living room. The children were waiting on the adults as they did every year with a mug of hot chocolate provided via Kreacher.

After the flurry of present opening was done, the children wandered off to play while the adults put the final touches on that night's Christmas family dinner.

Edward had just arrived and was being greeted by James when Sirius sauntered over to him. "So, did you invite your new friend?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"The thought did cross my mind." Suddenly the floo flared behind him and Laura stepped out causing James to laugh at Sirius' stunned expression. James held his hand out to his friend. "Pay up Pads." Sirius, disgruntled, took out a few galleons and dropped them into James' waiting hand.

Edward turned to Laura. "I told you there was a bet." Laura rolled her eyes mumbling about grown children.

That night, there was a full table in the dining area. The Weasleys had been invited as well as the Tonks'. The bewildered Grangers had been apparated in and the unwilling Malfoys round out the guests. Sirius' great aunt Cassiopeia had been invited but was feeling under the weather so she declined after reassuring Sirius that it was nothing.

"How did you bully the Malfoys?" Asked a curious Remus.

"It's simple Moony, Head of House rules. I'm the Head so I make the rules. If I 'request' a Christmas dinner, it's basically an order." Answered a grinning Sirius.

"That and I asked him to." James stated walking up on the two. Remus rolled his eyes. "Cassie and Harry both said they wanted Draco and the Grangers over so I asked Sirius and he made it happen." Sirius nodded sagely.

Later that night, after the guests had gone home and the children laid in bed sleeping, the adults gathered round in the sitting room. Laura had opted to stay behind not quite ready to return to her lonely flat just yet.

"How's it going with the Chamber?" Lily asked what was on everyone's mind.

Edward shook his head. "No luck. I know it must be under the school but I'm having trouble finding an access point."

"It has to be related to the pipes. How else does something that big move throughout the school unseen?" Laura advised.

"And again love, the issue is in finding an access point for the perpetrator to unleash the creature."

"Any suspects?" James asked.

"Albus seems to think it's my father possessing someone into opening the Chamber."

"You don't agree?" Sirius inquired.

"Not directly no. Not the way he did last year in any case."

Remus frowned. "What if it has something to do with how he's still alive?" Everyone looked thoughtful at that.

"It must have taken evil magic to achieve such a thing." Walburga stated with a shudder.

And that's when it hit Edward like a freight train. Evil magic. One of the blackest magic in existence. "Horcruxes." That one word, so horrible was the thought he didn't think anyone was capable of such horror. But it explained so much.

Sirius was equally horrified. "Bloody hell."

Lauren and Lily shared confused looks as Edward went to floo Albus with their theory. Minutes later, Albus sat before them, just as horrified as the rest. "I never thought Tom would fall so far, and yet he did."

"Forgive me Albus, but what are horcruxes?" Asked a confused Lily.

"Horcruxes are objects created by the act of cold blooded murder, an act that goes against nature thereby splitting the soul. The person wanting to create this thing then prepares the vessel using complex spells before transferring the split piece of soul into the object before adding protections to it."

"While it would make him, for all intents and purposes, immortal," Edward continued, "they make you less human the more you make. Each time you do it, it splits off half of your remaining soul. The trick here is, figuring out how many he made, what they are, and finding them."

"I have a theory on that." Albus muttered. "He was fascinated with magic. The strongest magical number is seven."

Edward could barely wrap his head around the idea that someone would split their soul in half seven times.

"I also have a theory on what some of them might be."

"Probably items that belonged to the founders." James wondered aloud.

Albus nodded grimly. "And a couple of more items that don't fall into that category."

"So how do we destroy these...these things?" Laura was suitably shaken.

"There are two, possibly three ways. Fiendfire, basilisk venom, and possibly the killing curse." Edward recanted what he had read.

Sirius grinned. "Well, we have the venom in spades!" That earned a weak chuckle from the group.

"So, the rest of the year we spend our free time solving the Chamber mystery." Albus gestured to Edward, Laura, and himself as he said this. "And afterwards, we work on permanently ridding the world of the stain that is Tom Riddle." No one argued with that.

And there is chapter 9 at last. I'm so sorry that took as long as it did! It's difficult find the time to work on this when you have an almost 3 month old baby to care for but I've found a way so hopefully my posting time will improve...maybe. We'll see. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's a little shorter than usual but I figured I made you wait long enough! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!