Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm actually getting this chapter out in a somewhat timely fashion, being less than five days since the last one. I'm really working hard to get these out to you, but combining work and school really makes it hard. I'm typing them up as fast as I can. This isn't really the biggest action chapter, but it's necessary to the plot. As you can see, I'm still working on number twelve, and I doubt this is even going to be the longest chapter. I assure you I'm trying to finish this as fast as I can, because I already have ideas for some other fics! Enjoy…
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his surrounding characters are the property of JK Rowling's brilliant mind. Salazar is mine, but his namesake isn't. I'm just completely unoriginal aren't I. Oh well…
14
Chapter 5: Twelve (cont)
Harry Potter waited until he was out of the potions class's sight before he started to run. Faster and faster, he didn't know where he was going. He just let his feet guide him. His mind, as you might guess, was a little too busy with other things. For instance, what the HELL had he just done? Well. That was a simple question. He had just completely ruined his four-year long friendship with Ron and Hermione. He had completely estranged himself from the rest of the fifth year Gryffindors, and, when they found out, the entire house. He had hurt his two best friends in ways that not even Draco Malfoy or Severus Snape could hurt them. He had made himself look stuck up, dark, and, worst of all, evil. AND he had above all, above all these horrible things, accomplished what he had set out to do.
His feet had put him on automatic pilot to the Gryffindor common room. He now stood in front of the Fat Lady, who had an expectant look on her face, waiting for him to mention the password. He paused.
He wasn't ready to face the common room full of Gryffindors yet. Even if none of them knew what he had done (Surely, he was the first one here, the way he had been running), he still couldn't face them. Not yet. He had to steel himself. He had to prepare himself for the onslaught his actions would cause. He had to be ready to hide his own emotions and perform other ones…evil ones.
He wasn't ready yet. He had to hide from them until he was. He walked away from the fat lady, who was extremely annoyed at being bothered for no reason, and let him know it. He ignored her and continued walking, contemplating where he could hide.
It had to be some place private, some place safe, that only he knew about. It had to be hidden even from the view of the Marauders map, and thus hidden from the Weasley twins. But, if such a place did exist at Hogwarts, a place the Weasley twins didn't know about that is, he certainly had never heard of it. Unless…
Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was not very far from the Gryffindor tower, and it was the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. The chamber was his secret, and His. There was no one else in the world who could enter besides he and Voldemort, well, not that he could think of just then anyway. But he would kick himself for that assumption later. (A/N: Note: FORESHADOWING HERE!…Sorry, I was a little bored and had to input something of my own. Forgive me…or don't. See if I care.) After all, the only ones who could enter the Chamber of Secrets were those who could speak Parseltongue.
He prayed that Moaning Myrtle would be terrorizing (agonizing) the prefects' bathroom or some other bathroom, or any bathroom but this one. Luckily, at that moment Myrtle was moping her heart and soul (wait a second…scratch the heart…but soul can stay) out to Cho Chang in the prefects' bathroom, who was politely listening to everything the ghost said, and, according to Myrtle, was purposefully insulting her by breathing, which she knew very well poor, helpless Myrtle couldn't do any more.
Anyway, Harry's prayers were answered as he was allowed to enter the Chamber without interruption. The slide seemed both longer and shorter than last time, and when it ended he stumbled, but did not fall, as he knew somewhat what to expect.
He could have stayed there, and no one would have bothered him. He knew that. But for some reason he had the urge to visit the Basilisk's grave site, where he had faced the memory of Tom Riddle only a little over two years ago, saving Ginny….Ginny. She didn't know what he had done yet. Would she believe his act? Would he be able to act? Was it an act? He shuddered suddenly. The last question was too much. He had no idea where it had come from, but he didn't like it. Of course it was an act. He would never really treat his friends like that, would he? Would he? He looked around. Suddenly he wasn't quite so sure that Tom Riddle's memory was completely gone. But he continued on, finding nothing visibly out of the ordinary.
When he finally reached the site of his second year battle (he had only a minimal amount of trouble getting through the cave-in), he discovered that the once powerful and dangerous basilisk was now nothing but skin and bones. Somehow it saddened him to see such a magnificent creature lost to the world. Never mind that it had nearly succeeded in killing him, his friends, and shutting down Hogwarts. He began to wonder if Hagrid would have liked it. No, Harry decided, he would not. This magnificent creature, after all, had caused Hagrid to be expelled in its first venture, and had put him in Azkaban during the second. Hagrid would definitely NOT have liked it.
Instead of sitting against the wall or laying down on the floor, Harry chose to lean against the great snake skeleton, what was left of the skin crackling apart behind his weight. He stayed there for several hours, thinking about his friends, what he had done, Voldemort, and then just randomly thinking. As he had been not been bothered for nearly three hours, and did not expect to be, it was justifiable that Harry jumped several feet in the air (his heart going a little higher) when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hello, Harry Potter."
It took several minutes for Harry to calm down after seeing the speaker, and, after giving himself the previously mentioned kick, he finally replied. "Hello, Salazar."
"Why is Harry Potter in large dungeon leaning on large snake skeleton?" Harry wasn't sure whether to interpret Salazar's voice (he hadn't talked to very many snakes, you remember, and thus wasn't an excellent judge of expression or pronunciation) as confused or simply curious, and did his best to answer either scenario.
"Harry Po-," why did Salazar have to use third person? It was confusing. "I am down here because I am hiding."
"From whom and why is Harry Potter hiding?" Salazar's use of the third person was beginning to get annoying.
"I am hiding from…" Who was he hiding from, again? "Er…Ron, and, um, Hermione, and um, you know, the rest of them, because, er… I don't like them any more."
"Hermione with frizzy brown hair?" Salazar asked.
"Yes."
"I didn't like her. Too loud." Salazar said plainly, as if Harry had been crazy to have ever liked her.
Harry laughed, and then stopped. Hermione wasn't his friend any more. Neither was Ron. Neither was any other Gryffindor. Or Ravenclaw. Or even Hufflepuff. He didn't even want to think about Slytherin, and Draco Malfoy.
"I don't think I was ever meant to have friends, Salazar."
"Salazar will be Harry Potter's friend." The snake proposed.
Harry smiled. But it was a sad smile. "Thank you, Salazar."
"Harry Potter is welcome." That third person was really starting to annoy Harry. But at least with someone who he could talk to, somehow nothing seemed quite as bad. As long as he had one friend, Harry might be able to push away all the others without going completely insane, and, he wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure hissing would sound very unfriendly, and, hopefully, evil (or at least very unkind) to everyone else. After all, look what had happened second year when the school found out that he was a Parselmouth.
He stood up, allowing Salazar to curl around his arm, and walked back to the Chamber's entrance. When he got there, he suddenly realized a rather important detail which he had not thought of earlier. He didn't know how to get back up! He looked at Salazar. Salazar looked back.
"Any clues as to how we get back up?" Harry asked.
"No." came the reply.
"Great. Simply Marvelous." POP!
He was back in Myrtle's bathroom. He looked at Salazar questioningly. Salazar merely stared back. Then he did something rather stupid. "Open." He slid back down.
"Marvelous." He stated to no one in particular when he reached the bottom. Nothing happened. "Simply." He said. Still nothing. "Great?" Nothing. "Oops." (As you can imagine, that one didn't work either.)
"Oops is not good, Harry Potter." Salazar stated simply, as he slid from Harry's wrist back to the ground. Harry sat down to think.
Great. Simply Marvelous. Marvelous. Marvolous? "Marvolo?" He asked the opening. Nothing happened. "Damn." As Salazar slithered back onto his wrist, he insulted himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. How stupid do I have to be. Honestly, as if I could just say Marvolo and-" POP! He was back in the girls' bathroom again.
"Hmmmph." Said Harry. He certainly wasn't going back down AGAIN. Even he wasn't that stupid. But he thought he had figured it out, if ever he needed it. (Just in case he was that stupid) It had to do with "Marvolo", obviously. He had pronounce "Marvelous" in such a way the first time. But it also had to do with coming in contact with Salazar. Harry reasoned that Salazar was a portkey (any snake would most likely serve as a portkey) and "Marvolo" was the activation code. He was NOT going to try it out. Especially since he thought he could hear a soft whimpering behind one of he stalls.
He quickly and quietly escaped the bathroom, heading back to Gryffindor tower. Everyone would know by now. But he was ready for them. "Dragonheart" he said, steeling himself for whatever came at him.
As he climbed through the porthole, he expected silence. He got it. First years backed away from him as he entered. Ron and Hermione went conspicuously back to their game of chess, stealing glances at him. Everyone wanted to know whether or not Harry was really "evil", or whether it was just some big joke the fifth years were playing. No one wanted to be the first to test him.
Fred and George (of course) were the first to break the silence, skipping up to him gleefully, and telling him jokingly that "there were some very strange rumors going around about him." Silence again. He laughed. It was a good laugh, his normal one. Gryffindor Tower released their collective breaths, looking at the other fifth years accusingly. Relief flooded the tower. Conversations began again. Ron and Hermione stood up to welcome Harry back. But Harry would never receive the welcome. He was too busy punching Fred in the nose and George in the stomach. The common room silenced quickly. The twins had doubled over to the floor in pain.
Harry looked down at them. And sneered. "I dislike rumors." He stated in the most horrible voice he could manage. He walked towards the stairs. The crowd divided as he walked, giving him a large spread. Only one person remained in his way. Ginny Weasley was standing in the middle of the bottom of his dormitory's staircase.
"Out of the way." Harry commanded her.
She shook her head, and stood her ground, pleading at him with her eyes, which were wet with the coming of tears. Harry couldn't take it. He pulled back his hand, as if to slap her, and let fly. She squealed and ducked. She was too slow. He would have hit her, had he not stopped his hand within inches of her cheek.
"Stay out of my way, Weasley. Or you'll regret it." He passed by the poor teary-eyed girl and stomped up to his dormitory. He cried for hours that night. But no one knew. The fifth year Gryffindor boys did not approach their room. They slept downstairs. Even if they had come up, they would not have heard him. After fourteen years with the Dursleys, he had learned to cry silently. Salazar spent the night on his wrist, annoying Harry by talking to him in third person more than comforting him. But Harry didn't complain. He didn't want to insult his only friend in the world.
Author's Note: I was a bit disappointed with last chapter's reviews, as there were less than usual. I really like to read your take on my story. Please Review!