Disclaimer: All I own is what comes out of my imagination. That is the plot and the OC's. Thats it. Everything else belongs to J.K.R.
A/N: Thank you everyone for all of your reviews. (Looks over shoulder) Uh oh...
Vincent – (Chasing after a blond man who is tearing up the scene with an ax) "Man he's fast!" (Stops for a short rest and continues chasing the blond man)
Phoenix - "What happened to let Cid get loose again?"
Kev – (Sighs) "Something stupid."
Phoenix - "What is Cid exactly again?"
Kev - "He's my insanity. I really do try to keep him under control..." (Watches as Vincent chases Cid past again) "But sometimes stupid things happen that irritate me and he gets loose."
Phoenix - "Can't you try reasoning with him?"
Kev - "Been there. Done that. Doesn't work."
Phoenix - "Oh..." (Watches as several muses overpower Cid and disarm him.)
Kev - "Review replies!"
Zesuit – Actually its my imagination. (Grins evilly) That went nowhere didn't it?
Omeganian – It sounds interesting enough. I'll look into it and see what I can do. The library in my area is slightly limited in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre and the Waldenbooks is little better. I will make an effort to find and read the books. It might be too late by the time I track them down, however, so don't hold your breath on having it offered.
MystikalMagic – I'm glad you liked the last chapter. If you really want to know (I'm not sure myself) you might look up the first time she is described in either book three or four.
FSL – So I misspelled your name. The web font makes it hard to tell. It is obvious, however, that you completely missed the point of the reply. Go back and read it again or stop reviewing. And PLEASE refrain from swearing at me or I will report you to the moderators.
Chapter Ten: White Night Serenade
Ron and Hermione sat in the common room talking in hushed voices. For most eyes watching, this was normal because of their status as couple. One pair of eyes knew better. Harry sat behind the couch that they were sitting on, under his invisibility cloak. He had returned to the dorm room to get the Marauders Map and he spotted them talking, about him no doubt, and decided to try and catch a bit of the conversation.
"I thought he was over her? He knows she's not trustworthy," Ron was ranting, "I mean, look at what happened to the D.A."
"That wasn't technically her fault. But I thought she hated Harry at the end of last year. What happened?" Hermione seemed to be playing the double role of concerned friend, and worried sister. It was very sweet but hardly redeeming.
"Why didn't he tell us though?" Ron asked.
"That's obvious," she answered, "he knew we wouldn't approve and you would give an unwanted opinion." Hermione was only half right. What she said was true, but he really didn't realize he had been getting as close to Cho as he was now. That kiss had come as a total shock to him, though it was quite enjoyable. He knew it was irrational to be angry for them for walking in on his and Cho's kiss, and he wasn't, he was just angry because he knew they were going to pester him about it every chance they got.
"What do you mean my 'unwanted opinion'?" Ron growled.
"I'm just saying that Harry wouldn't want to hear you, or me, telling him that we don't like him dating her and 'she's not good enough' or 'she's not trustworthy'. Just because we don't think she's very good for him doesn't mean he will think the same because we say so."
"But we're still going to try to make him understand. Right?" Ron seemed desperate.
"We'll try talking to him first."
"As soon as we can find him. I'm going to go get the map and see if it will help." Harry took this as his cue to leave.
He made his way back down to the second floor corridor. He crept quietly down the hallway hoping to avoid any confrontation. Luckily only Mrs. Norris seemed to be around. Harry skirted her with little difficulty and made his way to the girls bathroom. Carefully he pushed open the door and walked softly to the broken sink and once again opened it. It slid open silently thanks to the silencing charm he had placed on it.
On the other side, where there once was a sewer slide, now stood a dry stairwell leading down. The passage was brightly lit with softly glowing torches. The walls were no longer slick and smooth, but a granite masonry wall. Harry pulled off his cloak and moved silently down the stairwell. At the bottom of the stars was a grand entrance hall nearly as big as that of Hogwarts above. Where once stood a door with snakes upon it, now stood a large door with an ornate iron carving of a large dog.
As Harry approached the dog began to growl. Harry stared straight in the eyes of the huge carving and said "Innocent". The dog stopped growling at once. It sat on its haunches and the polished iron doorway swung inward to reveal a place that was completely different from the Chamber of Secrets. The statue of Slytherin no longer resided in the chamber. In its place was an equally large statue of Godric Gryffindor. The large round room was neatly done in a golden colored sandstone. Large yellow limestone pillars rose into the darkness of the vaulted ceiling. The more of the same softly glowing torches lined the walls of the chamber. It was a cozy little place. This was the Chamber of Solitude.
Harry hung his invisibility cloak on a waiting coat rack and placed the map onto a large writing desk. Harry had transformed the old, revolting, Chamber of Secrets using every bit of his education. Lucky for him they had already done animation charms in Charms class or he would never have been able to get the door working. He plopped down onto a comfortable looking easy chair, much like those that Dumbledore was so fond of. Now that he was ready he decided to try something he had read in one of his books.
He picked up a book from a nearby end table. It was one of the books he had gotten for his birthday titled 'The Man Who Wasn't There: A Guide to the Fine Art of Illusion' by author I. Mage. He had tried several of the techniques already and he was quite good at it. He could make copy images of himself and even make them move like they were alive. What he was going to try now was a little more difficult. It was the Doppleganger Charm. It would allow him to create living breathing copies of himself. They would only last so long and once they rejoined with him he would know everything that they knew. He would only make one this time.
Harry had decided that no one was to know about this. He had been itching to try it since he had read about it but refrained because he wouldn't have a private place to hide himself. Now that he had the Chamber of Solitude he could try as many of the techniques he wanted. He skimmed the pages and found the charm. He looked over the paragraph and the moving illustrations one more time.
Taking a deep breath he moved into the center of the room. He began the incantation and the complex wand movements. His voice rose and fell as he canted the words to the spell, modifying it so that only one doppleganger would be created and would only last for about an hour. He finished the incantation with a flourish of his wand and a sharp command. There was a loud bang and a puff of greenish smoke. When the smoke cleared, an exact copy of Harry stood not five feet from the original.
After a few moments the copy spoke. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then I think we need code names." The original Harry was a bit startled but nodded his agreement.
"Yes I think you're right. But what should we call ourselves."
"You're the original so we should probably call you Number One."
"That would be reasonable, and we could call you Number Two."
"Make it so Number One. So what do we do about our friends Ron and Hermione?"
"I don't know yet, but they do say that great minds think alike."
"Shall we get started then?"
"Yes, lets do!"
Harry was once again under his invisibility cloak. It was almost midnight and he crept slowly to avoid alerting Argus Filch, the caretaker, who was one hallway over near the Transfiguration classroom. Harry had been having a streak of brilliance and luck that night. First he found the perfect spot for a 'home away from home'. Next, the Doppleganger Charm works flawlessly on his first try. Then he and his copy worked out a foolproof way to get things done without alerting Dumbledore to their secrets. (They had figured out that the headmaster got all of his information from the portraits. They acted as a spy network.) Finally Harry located the Ravenclaw Ghost, The Gray Lady, floating silently along the fourth floor corridor on the north side.
"Excuse me," Harry whispered from under his cloak, "Ms. Agatha?" the ghost looked around trying to find who was calling her.
"Peeves if that is you," she said disdainfully, "I will talk to the Bloody Baron about your pranks as they are not welcome."
"It's not Peeves ma'am," Harry said, poking his head from under his cloak. "I need to ask you a favor."
"Oh," she seemed startled, "a student." She wafted over to where he was and waited for him to continue.
"I need you to give something to a Ravenclaw student for me."
"Why don't you give it to them yourself?" She asked.
"I'm a Gryffindor ma'am, and it would be terribly embarrassing if i gave it to her during the day."
"In that case I'd be glad to lend a helping hand. What needs delivered and who should I take it to?"
Harry produced Cho's school bag and cloak from under his invisibility cloak. "These are it ma'am and they belong to Cho Chang."
"Should I tell her who sent them?"
"No ma'am. She'll know who sent them. Thanks very much." The Gray Lady then floated off to wherever the Ravenclaw common room was.
With that out of the way Harry made his way to the portrait of the Violet, the fat lady. Just before she came into view he shed his cloak and stowed the Marauders Map in his pocket. He then made his way to the portrait and gave the password. He needed all of the sleep he could get because he had a lot of things to do the next day.
He needed to be up to meditate with Rai. He needed the energy to put up with his friends, not to mention occlumency and training in the evening. And finally the first quidditch match was to be held on the next day, which was Saturday.
Harry entered the common room to find Ron and Hermione asleep on one of the couches. They must have dozed off waiting up for him. Despite his earlier frustration with them, they looked very cute the way they were. Ron's head lay on Hermione's shoulder and her cheek was propped against the top of his head. Harry stifled a giggle and crept slowly up the dormitory stairs. He entered his dorm to quite a surprise.
Ginny was sitting on his bed waiting up for him. Her brown eyes shining in the darkness. Harry turned to leave, not wanting to have to have a confrontation this early in the morning, but stepped on a creaky floorboard. He cursed his bad luck when Ginny spoke to him. "I know you're there Harry. Take the cloak off," she whispered.
"Fine," he whispered back and he slipped the cloak off. "Do you want to yell at me too?" he asked her.
"No," she shook her head, "I just want to know if you're all right. When Ron couldn't find the map he panicked and went to Dumbledore. Where were you?"
"I'm sorry I worried you but I went somewhere to think." He saw the look she gave him, even in the dark. "Don't worry," he said, "I didn't leave the school the entire time."
"Good." Ginny seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "You must know Harry, that no matter what happens, we all care for you. We just don't want to see you hurt. We all saw how you got when Sirius died." Harry stared at her long and hard.
"I'm slowly getting over his death, but I am getting over it. I've been talking to Moony and some others about everything and I'm getting better. But it's still a sore spot for me. You all seem to have accepted the fact that you're all in danger just by being my friends. I have accepted your friendship even knowing that I could be the death of you. And I will not do anything that would endanger another person's life. You must understand that if you smother me I will struggle. I appreciate that you care for me but I am used to making my own decisions." He said all of this quietly and calmly. His voice betrayed no hint of his emotions. "Now I need some sleep. If you don't mind I would like to go to bed."
Ginny nodded and slipped off of the bed. She made her way down the stairs and Harry got ready for bed. The last thing he heard was "Goodnight Harry" before drifting off to sleep.
A/N: I hope this chapter meets expectations. I worked hard on it.
Vincent – (Tending to wounds on his arm) "I hope you can keep your temper the next time something stupid happens. I don't fancy chasing Cid around again."
Phoenix - "Yeah. From what I've seen he's a bit crazy."
Vincent - "A bit?!"
Kev - "I'll try guys. I just hope nothing happens for a while."
Phoenix - "Don't worry. I'll help!"
Kev - "Now I want to ask that the readers please review and say 'Ciao!'."