Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I DO, however, own the Founder's weaponry, Trieste, Medusa, Tristen, Thiele, Tremayne, and anything else you don't recognize.
Serpens Dominus Ruina"Serpent Lord's Ruin"
Chapter 3 – You're So Vain
Harry wandered aimlessly down the Hogwarts corridors, humming an old tune softly. His excuse for going out looking for Tremayne was to go look for the mischievous boy but also to get away from the memories of eleven years before. Of course, it hadn't working. The memories had welled up, hot and fast, striking him sharply. It still hurt every time to remember them.
And they say time puts a cushion about the memory.
Harry snorted and kicked a small stone lying in his path. They, whoever they were, were wrong. Time never puts a cushion on the memory. He still remembered the instant Ginny had died in his arms. That moment and the seconds in which he had killed Aubrey were etched like marble within the chambers of his mind. And try as he might, he couldn't shove the damned things down into the catacombs.
For years he'd been trying to relax, to stop believing something could happen again. But Death Eaters still roamed the world and Voldemort might not really be dead. Merlin knew what exactly that monster had come back as in his fourth year. It had been mortal, that was assured. The Thestral's had showed that when they'd trampled him to death.
"Hey, Tre, c'mere!"
Harry's head snapped up at the sound of Tristen's voice coming from in front of him. In his daze he had wandered back around to the entrance hall. Which was where his son and godson were peering at something on the side of the marble staircase.
"What is it?" asked Tremayne. "I can't see it!"
"Looks like a…snake or something. Hey, didn't your dad tell us once about some chamber underneath the school?
"So?"
"Well," drawled Tristen, "maybe this is it!"
"No way," said Tremayne, shaking his head. "Nobody'd be tha' stupid. An' entrance to something like tha' here? No way."
Harry just smirked and strode forward towards the two boys. "Yes, way," he said as he got close, causing both of them to jump.
"Da!" exclaimed Tremayne. He looked fearfully up at the serpent carved into the side of the staircase then turned fearful eyes on his father. "We…"
"I heard you," said Harry, kneeling down beside the two boys. "And, yes, this is the entrance to the Chamber. There was another one in one of the girl's lavatory's but it got sealed up after a pair of Death Eater's decided it needed to be remodeled."
"So…this is the entrance?" asked Tristen, eyes dancing.
"Yes," replied Harry. He looked over his shoulder then smiled conspiratorially at the two boys. "What do you say we take a quick peek?"
Tremayne perked up at this. He couldn't believe his father – his overly protective father – was going to take the two of them down into the Chamber of Secrets he'd heard so much about!
"Yeah!" chorused both boys.
"Alright then. But don't tell your mother's about this."
"What about Dad?" asked Tristen, to which Harry frowned then shrugged.
"He'll be alright. Now, let's see…we touch the serpent and then say 'open'." Both boys jumped as the last word came out as a rattling hiss. A section of the wall pulled back and aside as they watched, revealing a dark, slimy corridor. Harry clapped both boys on the shoulder and said, "Let's go."
Both boys looked at each other then gingerly started forward into the corridor. Harry followed them and the wall slid shut behind them, leaving them in darkness.
"Da?" mumbled Tremayne, reaching behind him in the dark. He managed to latch onto his father's leg when a globe of brilliant blue-white light appeared, causing both boys to blink.
Harry cupped the globe in his hands and blinked for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust before looking down at Tremayne with concern. "Tre? Tris?"
"Still here," said Tristen, wiping a bit of slime off his sleeve. "Oh slime, oh grime, oh what a time."
"Fine, Da," mumbled Tremayne, pulling away from his father. He started to move ahead but a heavy hand came down on his shoulder. Turning slowly, he peering curiously up at his father.
Harry frowned down at him and said, "Don't go anywhere down here without me. Merlin knows what's taken to live down here in eleven years." He tossed the globe into the air then sent it bobbing ahead of them with a flick of his wrist. "Now, let's see if Sal's still alive down here."
Tristen frowned as they started forward and asked, "Who's Sal?"
"You'll see," replied Harry cryptically.
"Thank you for being cyrpcit, Uncle Harry."
"It's cryptic, Tris."
Tristen flushed pink and mumbled, "I knew that."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
"No, no, and…"
"Hello, Harry."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" shrieked Tremayne and Tristen, grabbing onto each other.
Harry winced then looked up at the ceiling and said, "Hello, Sal. C'mon, boys."
The two glared at him then looked at each other and jumped back.
"You grabbed me," growled Tristen.
"You grabbed me firs'!" piped Tremayne.
"Boys!" snapped Harry, poking his head back into the dark tunnel. "Come on now."
"Coming," chorused both boys and rushed out into the light beyond.
And very nearly off the ledge into the pool below.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Harry, grabbing both boy's by the back of their shirts and hauling them back. They fell against him with little whuff's of breath and all three slid down to the ground.
"That was close," mumbled Tristen.
"Too close," said Harry. "There's only water down there but I know of a few snakes that have taken haven in it who wouldn't be too happy about two little boy's jumping down on top of them."
A rumbling chuckle came from the statue to their right and a voice said, "They weren't too happy about you jumping down on top of them, Harry."
Harry looked towards the statue and replied, "Ah, but I'm a Parselmouth, Sal. I can fend them off."
"Uncle Harry, why's the statue talking?"
"Yeah," echoed Tremayne. "Statue's aren't 'sposed to talk."
Harry chuckled and said, "Boys, meet Salazar Slytherin, one of the four Founder's of Hogwarts, the first Head of Slytherin House, and my great-great-great-great-something or other."
"Grandfather, if I am not mistaken," mumbled Salazar. "Or perhaps it was cousin once removed…no, that was that imp of a Riddle. Sorry. My mind is all a muddle."
"Well, you are several thousand years old, Sal."
"Very true. And who are the two lads with you? One has your look and the other reminds me of the Unicorn."
Harry grinned and said, "That's because they're our sons."
"Children! Has it really been that long since you have visited me?"
"Eleven years."
Salazar frowned and said, "It seems only yesterday you all came down here at the end of your seventh year. My mind really has gone." He coughed and continued, "What brings you back to Hogwarts, lad?"
"Class reunion. The two brats here ("Hey!" defended Tristen and Tremayne) found the entrance so I decided to give them a little tour."
"I see. And do these 'brats' as you call them have names?"
"O'course," said Tremayne. "Why wouldn't we have names?"
"I knew a lad once that didn't have a name," said Salazar. "He was a street rat and a pickpocket. Then he was taken in by a powerful wizarding family and they gave him a name."
"What was his name?" asked Tristen. "After he was taken in, that is."
"They called him Salazar Amadeus Balthazar Slytherin," replied the statue with a small smile. "Now, young lad's, if I may have your name's."
"Tremayne."
"Tristen."
"No more than one name? Harry, lad, you didn't just give your child one name, did you?"
"Of course not, Sal," said Harry with a chuckle as Tremayne gave the statue a disgruntled look.
"Tremayne Alexander Potter," he grumbled after a moment.
Tristen looked about nervously before mumbling, "Tristen Amadeus Oberon Snape."
"Ah," said Salazar, "another Amadeus. My sister used to call me Deus. But that is not the point." The stone eyes rolled upward and he added, "I believe more have arrived for this 'reunion' of yours, lad. Perhaps you should take the younglings and head back up."
Harry nodded and got to his feet, saying, "I'll come back before we leave."
"I will look forward to it. And bring those other young rascals with you. I wish to see what the years have to do them."
"Bye, Sal."
"Goodbye, lad. And you, children."
"Bye," said Tremayne, waving as Tristen echoed him softly. Harry smiled at the statue then nudged the two boys towards the statue's ear, which opened at a hiss of Parseltongue. The three of them climbed into it and began their journey back.