Disclaimer: see chapter one. A/N: wow, this story is a whole lot shorter than I meant it to be. Whatever, for those of us with short attention spans, it's fine.

The next day, Lily woke up early and shook Shawna awake. They had a whispered conversation in the common room once Shawna got over her anger at being awakened at four o'clock.

"It's her birthday today," Lily informed Shawna.

"I'm aware," replied Shawna in a slightly slurred voice. "So what? Planning a surprise party?"

"No . . . Just wondering if we should bring it up, after Thomas broke up with her." Lily saw Shawna's eyes widen, then, as she remembered the previous night's events, cloud over with worry.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "Maybe we should see what she feels like when she wakes up. She was pretty angry last night, and sad, and . . . I don't know. Well, we can't just avoid her. We don't have classes, it's Sunday, right?"

They lapsed into silence, then decided to return to the dormitory. Heather was curled up tightly in her bed, her arms wrapped protectively around herself. She had cried herself to sleep the night before. Matilda, who slept in the same dormitory, was extremely confused. Lily took it upon herself to explain to her that Heather was having . . . issues at the moment. She wasn't sure if her friend wanted her to tell everyone who asked about the break-up.

They ended up spending the entire day in the dormitory, comforting Heather and bashing Thomas.

"He was a low-down, good-for-nothing git," Shawna spat out vehemently.

"He doesn't deserve to live, or even have beautiful girls like you snogging him," Lily added.

"I hope he's sorry for what he did. I'll bet he'll be begging you to come back," Matilda said sincerely. "Just promise us you won't be begging him."

"I can't believe he dumped me," Heather kept saying. "I thought I meant something to him, but apparently not." She frowned at her fluffy- slippered toes. "He certainly means nothing to me." All the girls patted her back tenderly. They knew she was still feeling rejected.

Shawna offered to get breakfast for everyone, since Heather didn't want to leave the room, let alone go down to the Great Hall. She returned with eight pieces of toast, butter, and special dishes of cinnamon and sugar for Lily, who greatly appreciated it. They munched and continued to hiss about Thomas.

"He should really be in detention, you know, or at least expelled," Shawna exclaimed. "Toying about with the student population's emotions."

"Distracting us from our studies, like by being such a git to Heather," Lily growled.

"For just being a git in general," Matilda huffed.

Heather began to feel better, but still didn't want to leave the dormitory. Matilda left to get lunch for everyone. Just when they began to worry after twenty minutes, she came back with crispy chicken fingers and five quarts of chocolate ice cream.

"Had to find the kitchens to get this . . . Ice cream is the best remedy for any ailment," she declared, then paused. "Except maybe a stomach ache from too much ice cream."

"Or a brain freeze," added Shawna.

"But it definitely cures Thomas-Malfoy-itis, also known as the Major Stupid Git Disease," proclaimed Lily, trying her very best to make Heather smile.

Heather grinned slightly. "Thanks, guys."

Running out of mean names for Thomas (as well as rude metaphors), their conversation turned to other things, such as Quidditch and complaining about schoolwork. Matilda and Shawna were playing wizard's chess, still participating in the discussion. They began to feel sick after talking about certain Potions teachers' greasy hair, and then realized they were hungry. Lily glanced at Shawna and Matilda, then volunteered to fetch dinner herself.

"I'll be right back," she said cheerily. "Well, I might nip off to the kitchens to get some more ice cream, so I might be a while."

"Do you know where it is?" Matilda asked helpfully.

"I have a general idea . . . I seem to remember Professor Granger leading us down there once, to see the house-elves in their dirty old rags before she began to pay them. Or rather, force money into their hands. Honestly, I really think house-elves don't like being paid, or being given new clothes, but-"

"Lily?" Heather asked tentatively. "Dinner?"

"Oh - right." She laughed inwardly at herself. She'd been babbling just like Heather did before the break-up. Heather was rather quiet now, and perhaps Lily felt as if a lot of chatter was needed.

She was thinking so hard about this that it took her a good fifteen or twenty seconds to realize that that strange hiccuping sound was somebody weeping. Stopping mid-step, she discovered it was coming from behind a grimy, green door. Upon opening it, she saw an ancient, seldom-used girls' bathroom. She certainly never used it, nor wanted to. The floors were absolutely filthy, not to mention the state of the toilets.

"Um. . . Hello?" Lily called quietly, her voice trembling.

"Oh!" a voice, thick with tears, exclaimed. "I didn't know anyone was in here."

"Are you all right?" asked Lily, peering into the first and second stall and seeing no one. She gasped when she looked into the third stall and saw a pearly white ghost sitting on the scuffed-up toilet, its seat hanging sadly over the side. From the marks etched into the seat, it looked as though someone had set up their cauldron on the toilet. No doubt to brew illegal potions, Lily thought grimly.

"Are you all right?" Lily inquired of the ghost, who was still snuffling and looking despairingly at her feet.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," the ghost sniffled. "I was just contemplating suicide again, when I realized I'm already dead."

"Er - who are you?"

"Myrtle," replied the ghost tearfully. "I haunt various bathrooms here at Hogwarts. I keep getting thrown out, though, so I just sit here in this bathroom. Nobody uses it, probably because of me." She dissolved into new sobs, burying her head in her arms.

"Don't - don't cry," Lily said worriedly, trying to speak in a soothing voice. "I'm sure it's not because of you." She crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Oh, nobody likes me, I know that," Myrtle wailed. She gave an ear- splitting shriek, which bounced off the walls of the bathroom, echoing oddly. Lily continued to comfort her, but it seemed no use.

"Lily?" said a familiar voice behind her.

Lily whirled around to face Thomas. In one second, it seemed as though hundreds of thoughts and feelings pelted her mind. She made her face frown at him.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she snarled, intimidating even herself.

Thomas looked surprised. "I thought it was obvious." He gave an odd sneeze. "Pardon me."

A grinding noise sounded behind Lily. She tried to turn around to see what it was, but Thomas grabbed her wrists and stepped forward.

"I-" His words were cut short as he tripped and sent both of them sprawling backwards. To Lily's very great surprise, they didn't bump into the sinks behind them, but went sliding down something very slimy and dark.

"What happened?" she cried, panicked, as they slithered down what must have been a slide or a pipe. He had let go of her wrists and was tumbling beside her, jabbing her occasionally with his elbows. Lily banished from her head all gleeful thoughts about being in a dark place with Thomas. Still, she couldn't help being excited that he knew her first name. She couldn't believe herself. This was the jerk who'd dumped her best friend in front of everyone! This was the git they'd been bashing in the dormitory!

"Don't - know," Thomas answered in a muffled sort of way.

Suddenly, they both felt themselves flying in the air for a bit, then land roughly on hard, damp ground in what appeared to be a long tunnel. They stood up immediately.

"Oh, no," Lily gasped. "I think I know where we are."

"Good," Thomas said, smiling in the dim light in a way Lily didn't quite like or understand.

"Did you mean to take me down here, Thomas Malfoy?" she demanded. "Let me out, right this minute!" She fingered her wand in the pocket of her robes, thinking of a spell that would make him take her out of the Chamber of Secrets.

Thomas blinked and his face became very serious. "Okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tricked you, but . . . I just wanted a quiet place to talk to you. Where nobody would bother us. Come on." He walked for a bit down the tunnel, and Lily followed, puzzled.

She still frowned at him, though her mind was softening its guard at the look on his handsome face. "What do you want to talk to me about?" she asked.

He sighed and bit his lip, looking as though he was trying to put his thoughts into words in the right order. "Look, first of all, I didn't really mean to hurt Heather," he said quietly. "I should have done it someplace quiet. Like here. But I took her aside in the Great Hall instead, thinking she'd take it okay and we would be able to talk it out." He sighed again. "But instead, she yelled at me and slapped me, as you saw. I had no idea today was her birthday, you know. She didn't even give me a chance to confess the real reason I broke up with her." He stopped walking and glanced around the marble chamber they were in before looking back at her.

It was silent for a moment, before Lily finally took his bait and asked, "Which was?"

"I am in love with someone else." Thomas swallowed and looked at her very seriously, yet almost tenderly. "I rarely speak to her, and yet I feel as if I know her better than most . . . I watch her from across the room. She's so beautiful, it's hard not to, you know. I desperately wanted to talk to her, but I couldn't gather up my courage. She would think I was mad." He fell silent again.

"Why are you telling me this?" Lily whispered, hoping against hope she already knew the answer.

Thomas took hold of both her shaking hands and pulled her closer. Her heart thumped wildly and she tried not to breathe too heavily. He leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "Because I'm in love with you."

Lily's heart soared, and her mind exploded in fireworks even before he looked her deep in the eyes and set his lips against hers. She shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, pouring out her love and need into her kiss. She pushed out all guilty thoughts of Heather, and kept having to remind herself that this was real.

But somehow, she noticed after a bit, she didn't feel like the kiss filled her with warmth and love the way Heather had described it to. It was just his lips against hers, with no emotion from his side. Still kissing, she opened her eyes questioningly, then screamed.

His eyes were staring straight into hers, and they were red as blood.