***
"So Harry, what is this I heard about your 6th year Gryffindors? All through my potions class they were all talking about how 'cool' you were. The only problem was that they weren't talking about the lesson. I couldn't figure out what you did to gain their trust like that. What did you do?" Kate looked at Harry expectantly as Harry swallowed his pumpkin juice.
"Maybe I was just being me," Harry grinned slyly wondering how much she had heard.
"All I heard was something about giant canaries. Do you know anything about that?" Kate looked at Harry in a mock suspicious glare.
"Oh yes that!" Harry made a look of mock realization; "well Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus turned the whole class the color of their mood. So I decided that I would punish them by turning them into giant canaries."
"How did you find out that it was them?"
"They all like jawbreakers," and that was all Harry had to say on the matter.
***
Draco looked around the alley wearily. It had been days since he had had any sleep or taken a bath for that matter. Spying didn't exactly have its perks until you found out some information on which you're spying. He had covered most of the pubs in southern England and was slowly moving toward the middle of the country. Dumbledore and he talked on a daily basis trying to track down where the future Voldemort was.
Now Draco wasn't in England, though. He was an entrance to Hogsmeede making sure there weren't any muggles around. The reason for him to suddenly quit his spying and go to Hogsmeede on a Hogsmeede weekend was that the spying had finally paid off: Voldemort was trying to open the Chamber of Secrets again. Since everyone thought that the Chamber was a rumor no one was really paying attention to it, but Draco knew better. Seeing Harry, Draco ran to him.
"Harry!" Draco's horse voice broke through Harry's conversation with Sirius and James, "it's an emergency! I found out some information. He is trying to reopen the Charmer!"
Sirius and James turned to gape at the man who looked like a random bum off the street, but he knew Harry's name.
"Drake what are you doing here?" Harry was carefully choosing his words and trying to hide his surprise, "You're a mess. Why don't we go up to the castle and get you cleaned up, huh bro?"
James gave Sirius a questioning look and then looked at Harry and Drake.
"Er… Professor do we need to leave and let you get up to the castle. Your um… brother looks like he needs some medical care," James and Sirius were both backing away from the two men and when Harry nodded they ran off with a final, "bye!"
"I think I scared them," Draco said with a grin that could be seen beneath the over grown five o'clock shadow and the grime on his face from living on the streets for several days.
"You would have scared me when I was that age looking the way you do," Harry shook his head extremely annoyed, "Do you think that you could have been anymore obvious? I thought Slytherins were supposed to be, I don't know, crafty?"
"He-he's coming here… the past one that is. Voldemort is coming to open the Chamber. We must act fast, I hope that I beat him here, but if I did it was just by maybe an hour of so. The past Voldemort doesn't know about the future one as of yet. You know Po- er… Holloway I don't think that even Voldemort wants to mess with the past too much."
"Well it would be a perfect day for him to come wouldn't it?" Harry and Drake were now making their way to the outskirts of Hogsmeede and walking as quickly as possible, "I mean everyone came to Hogsmeede to do some Christmas shopping. Perfect timing to get into the castle, even Dumbledore is here."
***
"Lily I am serious! His brother came up talking about someone trying to open a chamber. This guy is hiding something!"
"Sirius and James will you give it a break! It was probably just a cleaver ploy to get you two away from Professor Holloway. Now which necklace do you think my mom would like better?"
"Lily!" Sirius looked from Lily to James and then at the two necklaces.
"Your right I don't really like either of these necklaces. How about these earrings?"
"You are totally ignoring what we are trying to tell you!" James was getting frustrated with his redheaded girlfriend.
"James if you want to know so bad ask the man!" Lily took the earrings up to the cashier, "Look I know that it really is important to you that Professor Holloway likes you, but someone probably just tried to break into his brother's house or his house. You know it's just something like that. Or maybe something personal, either way if he wants you to know I am sure that he will tell you."
James sighed and looked back at Sirius who just shrugged. James knew that Lily would have understood if she had seen the man that Professor Holloway had called his brother. It was different, and the way that Drake had looked at him it was eerie. Like the gruff looking man knew him. And why was it so important that someone had tried to open a chamber? James was intrigued and wished that he had brought his invisibility cloak with him. He and Sirius had already decided that once back to the castle that they would start looking into the mystery brother of their Professor. First of course they would have to tell Remus and Peter.
***
Once in the castle Harry and Draco headed toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and once their straight toward a sink, not noticing that Kate had been following them. Harry found the sink that opened the Chamber of Secrets and took a deep breath. Memories of his second year began to float back to him. Harry finally spoke in parseltongue, and heard a gasp from behind when the Chamber opened. And their stood Kate with her wand posed at both Harry and Draco, her eyes shooting daggers at not the two young men, but the wizard who stood behind them.
"Well hello Mister Potter and Mister Malfoy how have you enjoyed two the past so far? Charming isn't it?"
***