Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the wonderful wizarding world and all credit must be given to Ms. JK Rowling, however, anything unrecognisable is of my own creation.

Chapter 28: Parseltongue

I'm accompanying Sirius to meet his Uncle Alphard at The Three Broomsticks, this afternoon, during the Hogsmeade visit. I woke this morning to find a rather frantic Lily rummaging through my trunk: I watched her for a moment, before speaking.

'Lost something Lil?' Lily jumped.

'Hermione! Can I borrow your witch-o-matic curlers?' I smiled, climbing out of bed to fetch the curlers for Lil. James had told Lily that he'd planned something special for today, so their day of hanging out in Hogsmeade had turned into a date… and speaking of dates, someone must've hit Remus over the head, because he'd asked Melissa Winslow, who's a pretty Ravenclaw, to Hogsmeade. Remus has recently been tutoring Melissa in Charms, though, I didn't realise that the tutoring was going quite so well. James and Sirius have been teasing Remus about the date, but I can tell they're pleased for him. I watched Lily continue to freak out about her date, as I began getting myself ready for Hogsmeade.

'Lily calm down, its just James.' Lily responded as I wondered into the bathroom.

'Exactly! It's James Potter!' I sighed: if she's freaking out now, then I could only imagine how she'd be on her wedding day. I brushed my teeth, had a wash, and straightened my hair, before returning to the dormitory. I found Lily doing her makeup, and as I pulled a dress over my head, she spoke. 'You're wearing that to Hogsmeade!?' I turned to face Lily, who was wearing a casual ensemble of a tartan skirt with tights and a black v-neck sweater. I guess the silk tunic dress that I am wearing is a little dressy for Hogsmeade, but I'm seeing Sirius's uncle, and I wanted to maintain a good impression. I responded to Lily's question after a moment.

'What's wrong with my dress?'

'It's… it's… well, really pretty.' I smirked.

'Thanks. Look you need to stop worrying, James loves you just the way you are...' Lily blushed, meaning I grinned. '... besides Sirius and I are meeting with his Uncle Alphard today, and in Sirius's case that's the same as if you were meeting James's parents.' When I mentioned James's parents Lily suddenly looked like a doe caught in headlights: I raised my eyebrows. 'What?' Lily chewed her bottom lip.

'James invited me to meet his parents this Christmas.' I smirked.

'Oh, really? The Potters' Ball?' Lily nodded.

'Yes.' I haven't been invited to spend Christmas with the Potters yet; though, I have a feeling Dorea will invite me again. I continued getting ready as Lily stood there looking as if she had something to say. I didn't push her, so it was a few minutes before she spoke. 'What are Mr. and Mrs. Potter like?' I grinned, glancing towards Lil.

'Dorea Potter is one of the loveliest people I've ever met... and you make her son very happy, so you have nothing to worry about... and Charlus Potter is fun: James definitely inherited his love of pranking from his father. Just be your usual witty self and Charlus will love you.' Lily seemed to think this over for a moment, before returning to getting ready with a smile on her lips. She's got nothing to worry about because I know Dorea and Charlus will adore her.

I found Sirius waiting in the common room with James, when I finally left the girls' dormitory: Sirius grinned as he saw me.

'Mynee!' I grinned, wondering over to Sirius who I kissed on the lips, before speaking to James.

'Lily said she'd be down in 5 minutes.' James nodded: Sirius took my hand, and suggested that we left. Once outside the common room, Sirius told me that I looked beautiful today. I kissed him again, and we then headed down to Hogsmeade. It was a pleasant October morning, it wasn't raining, and the sun was just about breaking through the clouds. I listened to Sirius talking about Halloween, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. Halloween's easily Sirius's favourite holiday, which makes me a little sad, knowing that in the original timeline Sirius loses everything important to him on Halloween. Listening to Sirius's excitement for Halloween just made me more determined to save James and Lily. I'm looking forward to another peaceful Halloween at Hogwarts.

'Me and Prongs have something spectacular planned for the feast.' I glanced towards Sirius as he spoke, completely unsurprised by his confession.

'I wouldn't expect anything less from Messrs Padfoot and Prongs.' Sirius continued grinning like a madman, as we reached Hogsmeade. We wondered around the Hogsmeade shops, spotting Remus and Melissa inside Madam Puddifoot's as we wondered passed the little tearoom. We spent almost ten minutes pulling faces at Remus through the window, until Madam Puddifoot herself chased us away. We reached the village square just before we were due to meet Alphard: Sirius kissed me.

'You have the muggle voice recorder?' I nodded, placing a hand on my handbag and responding.

'Yes... and you remember the plan, right?' Sirius nodded, and as he did his Uncle Alphard appeared.

'Sirius, my boy!' I watched Alphard smack Sirius across the back, making Sirius flinch as his uncle continued. 'You're wearing the ring, good lad!' Sirius smiled at Alphard.

'It's good to see you again, uncle.' Alphard smiled.

'I must say I wasn't expecting your letter, though I was thrilled that you wanted to meet.' Alphard then turned to me. '... and Miss. Granger, it's a delight to see you again. My nephew never mentioned that you'd be accompanying him, shall we?' Alphard offered me his arm, which I accepted out of politeness. Sirius rolled his eyes and I'm sure he muttered something about an outlandish old flirt. We walked over to The Three Broomsticks, as Alphard spoke. 'Your brother will be joining us in an hour.' I watched Sirius's face drop out of habit, but I knew he didn't hate Regulus: it did however mean we needed to get the recordings before Regulus arrived.

Inside The Three Broomsticks, Alphard gestured for Sirius and I to take a seat, whilst he fetched a round of drinks. Alphard passed my arm to Sirius, and we quickly chose a booth towards the back of the pub. It wasn't long before Alphard returned with drinks: a Butterbeer for me, and a firewhiskey for himself and Sirius. Sirius took a sip of his firewhiskey, before starting making refined conversation with his uncle. Sirius spoke of the Black Family and a range of topics related to pureblood society. Alphard seemed thrilled that his nephew was actually taking an interest in magical society, and I think he was really enjoying Sirius's company. I watched Alphard order another firewhiskey for himself and Sirius, as I spoke up for the first time.

'Sirius tells me you're a parseltongue, Alphard.' Alphard glanced towards me with a smile, and a look in his eyes that I couldn't quite identify.

'The beautiful Miss. Granger has an interest in the Dark Arts... your mother would've approved, my boy, if only it wasn't for her blood status.' I watched Sirius play along.

'She's just curious.' Alphard smirked.

'Remember what curiosity did to the Knarl, my boy.' Alphard then turned his attention to me. 'What did you want to know, Miss. Granger?' I grinned.

'I've just always found it fascinating. Would you be able to speak it now? I've never heard it spoken.' I watched Alphard consider this request for a moment, before speaking.

'What should I say?' This is when Sirius grinned widely, as if he found something amusing. It was part of the plan. I gazed towards Sirius as he spoke.

'Something dark, it's always better when it's something dark.' Alphard raised his eyebrows.

'You have any suggestions, Sirius lad?' Sirius was silent for a moment, whilst I pulled the voice recorder out of my bag. Once I was ready with the voice recorder, Sirius spoke again.

'How about? Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!' Alphard looked surprised as Sirius suggested this. He stared at his nephew for a few seconds, before laughing.

'You're a weird one, you know that son?' Sirius smirked. I'd played along and seemed shocked, though, Alphard agreed to Sirius's suggestion. I hit record as Alphard spoke the command that would summon the Basilisk. I smiled widely as Alphard finished speaking. I stopped the voice recorder, before continuing the conversation.

'It sounds so strange.' Alphard chuckled.

'I quite agree with you, Miss. Granger. I'm sure you've researched the ability, did you have any other questions?' I nodded. I started with a few questions that were nothing out of the ordinary, before attempting to fabricate the recording that we needed to open the Chamber of Secrets.

'I read that the Slytherin common room could be accessed, using the words hesha-hassah... as if this specific saying by-passes the password.' I'd fortunately found the command for opening the Chamber of Secrets. Alphard laughed.

'Your pronunciation needs a little work, it's...' I hit record, just in time to record Alphard's correction. '... hesha-hassah... that's parseltongue for open, and yes, it does override the Slytherin common room's password.' Regulus arrived at this point, so the conversation ended, not that that mattered because we'd gotten both of the recordings that we needed to slay the Basilisk.

Regulus sat down next to Alphard, gazing towards Sirius and I: Sirius spoke.

'Afternoon Regulus.' I watched the corners of Regulus's lips tug upwards, however, Regulus quickly hid the smile and just responded in a civil manner.

'Sirius.' Regulus continued speaking. 'Thank you for the invitation, uncle... it's good to see you again.' Alphard smacked Regulus over the back.

'Not a problem, my boy, not a problem at all. It was your brother's idea actually.' Regulus seemed shocked as he glanced back towards Sirius. I grinned, seeing that Alphard is attempting to get the brothers to talk. Sirius spoke first.

'How are Mum and Dad?' Regulus huffed at Sirius's question.

'Furious that you ran away... and are hiding behind Great Aunt Dorea.' Sirius raised his eyebrows.

'They gave me no other choice, I was never going to marry Violetta.' Regulus snuck a glance towards me at this point. There was silence for a moment, meaning Sirius continued. 'You'll understand, Reg, when you meet someone...' Sirius turned towards me at this point: I couldn't help smiling at him. '... There are some witches who are worth rebelling for.' Regulus rolled his eyes.

'I hope she's worth it.' Sirius kissed me, before responding to his brother.

'She is... totally worth it.'

A/N: Hey! Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it, I have one more chapter before I plan on sending Hermione and Sirius into the Chamber of Secrets, so this chapter just tidying up some loose ends and brings Regulus back into the story cause I have plans for Regulus in the future. Remember to review. Love RoxannetheLaugh x.