Harry and Malfoy turned to see Pansy Parkinson standing in their path.
Malfoy dropped Goyle and advanced at her. She pointed her wand at him.
and smirked. He backed off.
"What a predicament you're in now, Draco."
"What happened to Crabbe?"
"He started having second thoughts. He figured you had a good reason for turning against our Lord, and wanted to follow in your footsteps, but I put a stop to that." she smiled.
"What'd you do to him?" Harry demanded.
"Well the killing spell seemed to work just fine, don't you think, Draco?" she walked over to Malfoy and kissed him on the lips. He didn't fight it. She ran her wand down his body and studied him with her eyes.
"Pansy, we have to get Goyle to Madame Pomfrey." Harry told her, urgently.
"Shut up. Do you really think I care if he lives or dies? He's been getting in the way since first year." she snapped.
"In the way of what? You and I? All because of that nonsense my father put into your head about us?" Malfoy grabbed her wrist, forcing her to drop her wand.
"We're meant to be together, Draco. The Dark Lord has blessed us."
"You're not even a pureblood. The only reason my father even suggested for us to be together was so that it'd clear your whore of a mother's name. Don't think that the Dark Lord doesn't know that one of his faithful followers fell in love with a mudblood. He knows your secret, and don't say that he's blessed us, when you know fair well that he didn't. You're just the product of a disgusting affair." He let go of her and went back to help Goyle.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled. Pansy's wand, which she'd just picked up, flew out of her hand and over to Harry. She then attacked Malfoy from behind and knocked him to the ground. He struggled to push her off, but she wrapped her hands around his neck.
"If I can't have you, then neither can that filthy mudblood Granger! I'm sure the Dark Lord will be pleased that I've disposed of a traitor!" she screamed at him. Harry rushed over and tried to pull her off, but she was pushing all her force into fighting back against Malfoy. Malfoy grabbed reach of her wand in Harry's hand.
"Avada Kedavra!" he managed to get out. A huge flash of light lit up the chamber. Pansy's grasp around Malfoy's neck loosened and she fell on top of him. He quickly pushed her body off him and got up.
"You know the killing curse?"
"My father taught me it two years ago. To use against you, if the situation ever arose."
"You're going to be expelled."
"Probably, but it might be better than being killed by that filth. When I go, I'm going with glory, not by some obsessed mudblooded bitch." he flipped Pansy's body over with his foot.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Her mother cheated on her father with some architect. Her father is a Muggle. The one she considers her father is a close friend with mine. So he covered up the mess. He demanded that I should marry her after we've left school. She became a deatheater before any of us. She was working hard to bring back the family name." Harry was a bit taken back that Malfoy had actually answered him with a true answer. For a minute the wall between them had been broken. But only for a minute.
"Mention a word about it to anyone and I'll-" Malfoy started to sneer, but was caught off guard by a moan. They rushed over to Goyle. He was still unconcious, but moving slightly.
"We have to get him out of here." said Harry, as they began to pick him up again. Harry looked around the room. He wondered what exactly Voldemort was after and if he'd already gotten it. He looked once more at Pansy's lifeless body.
"Hold on." he rushed over to Pansy and began searching through the pockets of her robes and dress.
"You know now's not really a good time to cop-a-feel, Potter." Malfoy managed under Goyle's weight. Harry found a two small viles in the pocket of her robes. He slipt them into his own to give to Dumbledore. Harry and Malfoy managed to push Goyle to the door. Malfoy spoke the words for it to open, but nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Harry asked. He tried, but as suspected nothing. Malfoy collapsed under Goyle's weight and sat against the wall. Harry began searching around for another exit out of the Chamber of the Statue. There were shelves of things Harry had only seen in Snape's private collection of potion ingredients. None of them were labled.
"Do you know what any of this is?" he asked Malfoy.
"Salazar's secret stash, I suspect." Malfoy replied, taking off his robe and losing his tie, which was beginning to scrape against the welts that Pansy had left around his neck.
"Do you know of anything that will get us out of here?"
"Who do I look like? Sn- AH!" Malfoy clutched his head in pain and fell to the ground. Harry ran over to him, but was pushed aside. His scar began to burn and he noticed the dark mark on Malfoy's arm began to change color. He was trying to be contacted by Voldemort.
"Clear your mind. Don't focus on any emotions!" Harry encouraged. Malfoy yelled out and fought back, until he collapsed completly and was left there trying to catch his breath. He'd resisted it.
"Your father?" Harry finally asked. Malfoy sat back up against the wall again.
"Voldemort." he winced, and held his side.
"He didn't get what he sent Crabbe and Goyle after. I think he's realized that something's happened by now." Harry pulled out the viles. Malfoy took them and looked them over, then angrily threw them against the wall smashing them. He stood up and started trashing the shelves of the unmarked viles, until he was sure each one of them lay in pieces, with it contents spilling out over the floor.
"I can't do this!" he shouted.No sooner than he had, the whole room began to shake. Debris fell from the ceiling. Harry clung to the wall to keep from falling. Malfoy grabbed a hold of him to keep his own balance. The mouth of Salazr Slytherin was opening. There stood Snape.
"What's going on in here?" he asked, breathing in the stench from the mixed ingredients. Neither Harry nor Malfoy answered as he noticed the bodies of Pansy and Crabbe lying on the floor. He rushed Harry and Malfoy out of the Statue, and had them carry Goyle back up and out of the Chamber and into the Girl's Bathroom. Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey came rushing in. Myrtle watched excitedly from her windowsill.
"Parkinson and Crabbe are still back in the Chamber, sir. They are desceased." Snape informed Dumbledore, who nodded sadly.
"Get these students to the medical wing, Poppy." was the last Harry heard before falling into a deep sleep.
He woke up again in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey gave him a piece of chocolate. He looked around the room. Goyle was still unconscious lying in a bed not far away from him. Malfoy lay asleep in the bed next to him. There were a few other students. Two first years Harry didn't recognize and Lavender Brown, who'd come in complaining of a headache.
"You've exhausted and worn out your body. You try to do too much." Madame Pomfrey said sternly, checking him over.
"Will they be okay?"
"Oh, yes. Mr. Malfoy, like you, just needs a bit of rest. I'll send the both of you back this afternoon. Mr. Goyle on the otherhand gave us a bit of a fright. Thought we'd lost him there for a moment. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did a real number on him. Pity to hear about Crabbe though, and Miss Parkinson. But I'll leave you to rest." she smiled at him and wandered off to cure Lavender's headache. Harry laid back down and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. There were too many unanswered questions. This whole situation confused him. What'd happened back in the Chamber? What did Voldemort want with the viles? What'd made Crabbe so desperate to change his ways at the last minute? How'd Pansy been able to get there before he did? Why had Malfoy been sincere? Why was Voldemort so desperate to reach him?
He was still pondering the questions when Ron and Hermione came to see him before lunch. They informed him that the dementors were still lurking around Hogwarts, but because of Dumbledore, were unable to enter the grounds. The whole school knew about Pansy and Crabbe, and the Slytherin's were getting an even worse rep for supporting them. There'd been massive disputes in class that morning. And it got so bad in potions, that Snape had no choice but to cancel class for the day, but not first without assigning them a three-foot essay due tomorrow on Polyjuice potion and other transforming potions. Malfoy began to stir after they'd been there for half an hour. Hermione looked at him, then quickly looked away.
"As usual, Potter gets the attention. Although I'm quite sure Weasel is quite cross, as he didn't get to play sidekick this time around." Malfoy smirked, then yawned. Ron ignored him.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah Dumbledore won't tell us anything." added Ron.
"It was Parkinson that killed Crabbe. She tried to kill Malfoy too, and apparently she was the one that was going to deliver the ingredients to Voldemort."
"How'd you stop her? I mean how did she die?"
"I didn't. Malfoy did." he replied. He didn't want to be the one to mention the killing curse. Both Ron and Hermione looked over at Malfoy who was being taken care of by Madame Pomfrey.
"What? Have a staring problem?" he glared at them.
"How did he do it?" Hermione asked, afraid of what the answer might be. Ron on the other hand looked eager.
"Did he strangle her or did he just kill her with his bad looks?"
"Avada Kedavra." Harry whispered.
"We're not supposed to use those curses, let alone know how to." Ron's eyes got wide. Hermione looked hurt. She looked back over at him as he was getting up to leave.
"You may go too, Harry. You still have time to catch a bite to eat before class." Madame Pomfrey announced, handing him another piece of chocolate. He nodded then crawled out of bed. He wasn't hungry. He just wanted to change and get on with the rest of the day. He knew though that the school wouldn't let him. Everyone was going to want to know had happened in the Chamber. He went up to Gryffindor tower, took a shower, then got dressed. Seamus Finnigan came in, but when Harry tried to say hello, he grabbed his book bags and hurried off. In fact, everyone seemed to be avoiding him. The crowd in the common room stopped talking immediatly when he'd entered it, and no one had said a word to him. He decided not to go to class that day, and stayed in his room putting thoughts into his Pensieve.
He didn't wake up until afternoon the next day. He went downstairs and headed to class. Everyone he passed avoided eye contact. He went down to the dungeon and headed to his double potions class. Malfoy was already there, everyone else hadn't arrived.
"Have you been getting odd looks?" he asked, even though he could tell Malfoy wasn't in the mood to talk, and certainly not to him.
"I just betrayed my entire house. Plus, my best friend and my girlfriend are dead. Ten points from Gryffindor for shear stupidity." he growled and turned away from Harry. Ron and Hermione came in next talking with Parvati Patil. She ditched them though, once she noticed Harry was in the room.
"What's with everyone?" he asked them.
"Everyone thinks that you're siding with Slytherin because you were with Malfoy. Someone in Ravenclaw started the rumor that you were both helping Crabbe and Goyle. They also think you're the one who killed Crabbe and Pansy." Hermione admitted.
"They're afraid of you. They don't know what to believe. We've been taking points left and right, even from Gryffindor to try and stop the rumors." Ron continued.
"Slytherin is furious with Malfoy and have been begging Snape to elect a new Prefect, one they can trust. Just like the Gryffindor's believe you're a traitor, they believe he is too."
"The difference though, is that he is. I'm not. I was trying to protect everyone. Why do we go through this everytime I try and set something straight?" Harry snapped in a whisper.
"Because you're Harry Potter. And no one's quite sure what to think." Hermione stated, then turning to face the front of the class as Snape walked in. He seemed to be in an even fouler mood than usual.
"If there is another out break like yesterday, you can be sure I'll give the entire class detention. And if any of you, so much as look at either Mr. Malfoy or Mr. Potter, an automatic hundred points will be taken from your house, do I make myself clear?" he looked around the classroom and everyone nodded.
"Now then, I'm sure you've all finished your essay on Polyjuice potions. I know we touched on it briefly last year, but now I feel you've reached an age where more can be expected of you, so you will be making it. Thomas, a hundred points from Gryffindor. Did I not make my point, earlier? Although, I warn you now, that use of this potion outside of this classroom is means for expulsion."
Snape had the students get the ingredients and explained to them how'd it take about a month to brew, by then it'd be ready for their Spring mid-terms. They would try it out with their partners, and would only pass if the potion was successful. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all smiled at each other. This would be the easiest exam they'd had in Potions yet, and a small sense of relief was lifted off Harry. Now he just had to worry about how to survive until mid-terms.
"What a predicament you're in now, Draco."
"What happened to Crabbe?"
"He started having second thoughts. He figured you had a good reason for turning against our Lord, and wanted to follow in your footsteps, but I put a stop to that." she smiled.
"What'd you do to him?" Harry demanded.
"Well the killing spell seemed to work just fine, don't you think, Draco?" she walked over to Malfoy and kissed him on the lips. He didn't fight it. She ran her wand down his body and studied him with her eyes.
"Pansy, we have to get Goyle to Madame Pomfrey." Harry told her, urgently.
"Shut up. Do you really think I care if he lives or dies? He's been getting in the way since first year." she snapped.
"In the way of what? You and I? All because of that nonsense my father put into your head about us?" Malfoy grabbed her wrist, forcing her to drop her wand.
"We're meant to be together, Draco. The Dark Lord has blessed us."
"You're not even a pureblood. The only reason my father even suggested for us to be together was so that it'd clear your whore of a mother's name. Don't think that the Dark Lord doesn't know that one of his faithful followers fell in love with a mudblood. He knows your secret, and don't say that he's blessed us, when you know fair well that he didn't. You're just the product of a disgusting affair." He let go of her and went back to help Goyle.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled. Pansy's wand, which she'd just picked up, flew out of her hand and over to Harry. She then attacked Malfoy from behind and knocked him to the ground. He struggled to push her off, but she wrapped her hands around his neck.
"If I can't have you, then neither can that filthy mudblood Granger! I'm sure the Dark Lord will be pleased that I've disposed of a traitor!" she screamed at him. Harry rushed over and tried to pull her off, but she was pushing all her force into fighting back against Malfoy. Malfoy grabbed reach of her wand in Harry's hand.
"Avada Kedavra!" he managed to get out. A huge flash of light lit up the chamber. Pansy's grasp around Malfoy's neck loosened and she fell on top of him. He quickly pushed her body off him and got up.
"You know the killing curse?"
"My father taught me it two years ago. To use against you, if the situation ever arose."
"You're going to be expelled."
"Probably, but it might be better than being killed by that filth. When I go, I'm going with glory, not by some obsessed mudblooded bitch." he flipped Pansy's body over with his foot.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Her mother cheated on her father with some architect. Her father is a Muggle. The one she considers her father is a close friend with mine. So he covered up the mess. He demanded that I should marry her after we've left school. She became a deatheater before any of us. She was working hard to bring back the family name." Harry was a bit taken back that Malfoy had actually answered him with a true answer. For a minute the wall between them had been broken. But only for a minute.
"Mention a word about it to anyone and I'll-" Malfoy started to sneer, but was caught off guard by a moan. They rushed over to Goyle. He was still unconcious, but moving slightly.
"We have to get him out of here." said Harry, as they began to pick him up again. Harry looked around the room. He wondered what exactly Voldemort was after and if he'd already gotten it. He looked once more at Pansy's lifeless body.
"Hold on." he rushed over to Pansy and began searching through the pockets of her robes and dress.
"You know now's not really a good time to cop-a-feel, Potter." Malfoy managed under Goyle's weight. Harry found a two small viles in the pocket of her robes. He slipt them into his own to give to Dumbledore. Harry and Malfoy managed to push Goyle to the door. Malfoy spoke the words for it to open, but nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Harry asked. He tried, but as suspected nothing. Malfoy collapsed under Goyle's weight and sat against the wall. Harry began searching around for another exit out of the Chamber of the Statue. There were shelves of things Harry had only seen in Snape's private collection of potion ingredients. None of them were labled.
"Do you know what any of this is?" he asked Malfoy.
"Salazar's secret stash, I suspect." Malfoy replied, taking off his robe and losing his tie, which was beginning to scrape against the welts that Pansy had left around his neck.
"Do you know of anything that will get us out of here?"
"Who do I look like? Sn- AH!" Malfoy clutched his head in pain and fell to the ground. Harry ran over to him, but was pushed aside. His scar began to burn and he noticed the dark mark on Malfoy's arm began to change color. He was trying to be contacted by Voldemort.
"Clear your mind. Don't focus on any emotions!" Harry encouraged. Malfoy yelled out and fought back, until he collapsed completly and was left there trying to catch his breath. He'd resisted it.
"Your father?" Harry finally asked. Malfoy sat back up against the wall again.
"Voldemort." he winced, and held his side.
"He didn't get what he sent Crabbe and Goyle after. I think he's realized that something's happened by now." Harry pulled out the viles. Malfoy took them and looked them over, then angrily threw them against the wall smashing them. He stood up and started trashing the shelves of the unmarked viles, until he was sure each one of them lay in pieces, with it contents spilling out over the floor.
"I can't do this!" he shouted.No sooner than he had, the whole room began to shake. Debris fell from the ceiling. Harry clung to the wall to keep from falling. Malfoy grabbed a hold of him to keep his own balance. The mouth of Salazr Slytherin was opening. There stood Snape.
"What's going on in here?" he asked, breathing in the stench from the mixed ingredients. Neither Harry nor Malfoy answered as he noticed the bodies of Pansy and Crabbe lying on the floor. He rushed Harry and Malfoy out of the Statue, and had them carry Goyle back up and out of the Chamber and into the Girl's Bathroom. Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey came rushing in. Myrtle watched excitedly from her windowsill.
"Parkinson and Crabbe are still back in the Chamber, sir. They are desceased." Snape informed Dumbledore, who nodded sadly.
"Get these students to the medical wing, Poppy." was the last Harry heard before falling into a deep sleep.
He woke up again in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey gave him a piece of chocolate. He looked around the room. Goyle was still unconscious lying in a bed not far away from him. Malfoy lay asleep in the bed next to him. There were a few other students. Two first years Harry didn't recognize and Lavender Brown, who'd come in complaining of a headache.
"You've exhausted and worn out your body. You try to do too much." Madame Pomfrey said sternly, checking him over.
"Will they be okay?"
"Oh, yes. Mr. Malfoy, like you, just needs a bit of rest. I'll send the both of you back this afternoon. Mr. Goyle on the otherhand gave us a bit of a fright. Thought we'd lost him there for a moment. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did a real number on him. Pity to hear about Crabbe though, and Miss Parkinson. But I'll leave you to rest." she smiled at him and wandered off to cure Lavender's headache. Harry laid back down and tried to sleep, but he couldn't. There were too many unanswered questions. This whole situation confused him. What'd happened back in the Chamber? What did Voldemort want with the viles? What'd made Crabbe so desperate to change his ways at the last minute? How'd Pansy been able to get there before he did? Why had Malfoy been sincere? Why was Voldemort so desperate to reach him?
He was still pondering the questions when Ron and Hermione came to see him before lunch. They informed him that the dementors were still lurking around Hogwarts, but because of Dumbledore, were unable to enter the grounds. The whole school knew about Pansy and Crabbe, and the Slytherin's were getting an even worse rep for supporting them. There'd been massive disputes in class that morning. And it got so bad in potions, that Snape had no choice but to cancel class for the day, but not first without assigning them a three-foot essay due tomorrow on Polyjuice potion and other transforming potions. Malfoy began to stir after they'd been there for half an hour. Hermione looked at him, then quickly looked away.
"As usual, Potter gets the attention. Although I'm quite sure Weasel is quite cross, as he didn't get to play sidekick this time around." Malfoy smirked, then yawned. Ron ignored him.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah Dumbledore won't tell us anything." added Ron.
"It was Parkinson that killed Crabbe. She tried to kill Malfoy too, and apparently she was the one that was going to deliver the ingredients to Voldemort."
"How'd you stop her? I mean how did she die?"
"I didn't. Malfoy did." he replied. He didn't want to be the one to mention the killing curse. Both Ron and Hermione looked over at Malfoy who was being taken care of by Madame Pomfrey.
"What? Have a staring problem?" he glared at them.
"How did he do it?" Hermione asked, afraid of what the answer might be. Ron on the other hand looked eager.
"Did he strangle her or did he just kill her with his bad looks?"
"Avada Kedavra." Harry whispered.
"We're not supposed to use those curses, let alone know how to." Ron's eyes got wide. Hermione looked hurt. She looked back over at him as he was getting up to leave.
"You may go too, Harry. You still have time to catch a bite to eat before class." Madame Pomfrey announced, handing him another piece of chocolate. He nodded then crawled out of bed. He wasn't hungry. He just wanted to change and get on with the rest of the day. He knew though that the school wouldn't let him. Everyone was going to want to know had happened in the Chamber. He went up to Gryffindor tower, took a shower, then got dressed. Seamus Finnigan came in, but when Harry tried to say hello, he grabbed his book bags and hurried off. In fact, everyone seemed to be avoiding him. The crowd in the common room stopped talking immediatly when he'd entered it, and no one had said a word to him. He decided not to go to class that day, and stayed in his room putting thoughts into his Pensieve.
He didn't wake up until afternoon the next day. He went downstairs and headed to class. Everyone he passed avoided eye contact. He went down to the dungeon and headed to his double potions class. Malfoy was already there, everyone else hadn't arrived.
"Have you been getting odd looks?" he asked, even though he could tell Malfoy wasn't in the mood to talk, and certainly not to him.
"I just betrayed my entire house. Plus, my best friend and my girlfriend are dead. Ten points from Gryffindor for shear stupidity." he growled and turned away from Harry. Ron and Hermione came in next talking with Parvati Patil. She ditched them though, once she noticed Harry was in the room.
"What's with everyone?" he asked them.
"Everyone thinks that you're siding with Slytherin because you were with Malfoy. Someone in Ravenclaw started the rumor that you were both helping Crabbe and Goyle. They also think you're the one who killed Crabbe and Pansy." Hermione admitted.
"They're afraid of you. They don't know what to believe. We've been taking points left and right, even from Gryffindor to try and stop the rumors." Ron continued.
"Slytherin is furious with Malfoy and have been begging Snape to elect a new Prefect, one they can trust. Just like the Gryffindor's believe you're a traitor, they believe he is too."
"The difference though, is that he is. I'm not. I was trying to protect everyone. Why do we go through this everytime I try and set something straight?" Harry snapped in a whisper.
"Because you're Harry Potter. And no one's quite sure what to think." Hermione stated, then turning to face the front of the class as Snape walked in. He seemed to be in an even fouler mood than usual.
"If there is another out break like yesterday, you can be sure I'll give the entire class detention. And if any of you, so much as look at either Mr. Malfoy or Mr. Potter, an automatic hundred points will be taken from your house, do I make myself clear?" he looked around the classroom and everyone nodded.
"Now then, I'm sure you've all finished your essay on Polyjuice potions. I know we touched on it briefly last year, but now I feel you've reached an age where more can be expected of you, so you will be making it. Thomas, a hundred points from Gryffindor. Did I not make my point, earlier? Although, I warn you now, that use of this potion outside of this classroom is means for expulsion."
Snape had the students get the ingredients and explained to them how'd it take about a month to brew, by then it'd be ready for their Spring mid-terms. They would try it out with their partners, and would only pass if the potion was successful. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all smiled at each other. This would be the easiest exam they'd had in Potions yet, and a small sense of relief was lifted off Harry. Now he just had to worry about how to survive until mid-terms.