Until that day, Draco Malfoy had never realized just how much about Hogwarts he didn't know. When the amazingly pretty specter known as the Grey Lady offered to give him a tour of the castle, he had graciously accepted. For hours the Ravenclaw ghost had shown him secret passages, hidden rooms and even a large room with no way for the living to enter or exit. This room turned out to be where the ghosts gathered when they didn't wish to be disturbed by the living.
The most surprising thing was that within this room Draco found the Alpha female of his pack speaking to the Slytherin ghost! Since Hermione Granger was deep in discussion with the Bloody Baron, and Draco could only occasionally hear something about Peeves, he settled in for a talk with the Grey Lady.
"It isn't often that we get new ghosts within the castle." The elegant lady had been delighted at giving a tour.
As Draco and the Grey Lady spoke in quiet tones, Sir Nicholas led George Weasley into the chamber. Catching their eyes, George gestured toward Hermione and Draco. Excusing himself from the Lady, Draco followed his Alphas out of the ghost common room and into another part of the castle.
"You'll never guess who I met up in the Gryffindor Common Room!" George sounded excited as soon as they were secluded.
"Who?"
"Hagrid!"
"What? Hagrid was in the common room? He's never done that…" Hermione was curious.
George beamed. "That's just it, he was there because he's a student! Third year!" He seemed pleased at this information.
Hermione flickered out of sight for a moment in shock, the act surprising both George and Draco. "Please tell me it was some other Hagrid…"
"Unless Hagrid named his kid Rubeus, I don't see how it could be someone else." A confused look formed on George's face.
"What happened in Hagrid's third year?" Draco was staring intently at Hermione.
"That's the year that Hagrid was expelled when he was framed… For opening the Chamber of Secrets."
Draco felt sick. "And now all we can do is sit back and observe?"
Her face pale, Hermione nodded.
"Bloody Hell…"
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After the revelation of the timeline, George, Hermione and Draco spent the next few days learning to be ghosts. During this time, they identified the key players in the coming events. Hagrid was easy to spot, standing head and shoulders above the other students even though he was only a third year. Myrtle was a bit more difficult to pick out, at least until they found her being teased by Olive Hornby one day. Tom Riddle was easy enough to track down, though all three remained invisible when observing the quiet Slytherin.
On one particular day, while the students were off in Hogsmeade, the trio of ghostly Animalities was lounging around. That is to say that George and Hermione were lounging around while Draco indulged in spying on some of the students that were participating in a practice game of Quidditch. At least that's what he said he was doing, though the last time they had checked, the Quidditch Pitch had been on the other side of the castle from the direction in which he had floated.
George, currently in his tiger form, was sprawled out on the floor of the restricted section while Hermione used him as a backrest. She was flipping idly through the pages of some book or another that she claimed hadn't been here in their own time. So George, the ever loving and understanding fiancé, had immediately volunteered to become furniture for his future bride. They had been there, George asleep while Hermione read, for perhaps two hours before the ghostly form of a wolf sought out their company.
Without looking up from her book, a soft smile appeared on Hermione's ghostly features. "Hey there, Prince Snufflebutt… Glad you decided to join us."
The wolf growled before projecting a thought to the female. "I only did that once! And I was drunk at the time! Are you guys ever going to let me live that down?"
Hermione debated the question before giving a cheerful reply. "Nope!" She glanced up from the book in time to see the wolf sprawl out in front of her, ears drooping and a definite pout about his features. "That's not going to work…" Her sang.
The familiar tune stirred George out of his slumber and, after a toothy yawn, the tiger turned to regard the human and wolf. "She jinxes things when she says that, you know… Fred and I have been trying to figure out just how she manages that effect." He lowered his head again, eyes closed as he shifted into a more comfortable position and seemed to fall back to sleep.
Rolling her eyes affectionately, Hermione leaned over to scritch around Draco's ears. "You are adorable when you pout, dear… But you've been doing it as long as I've known you and I am immune to the effect."
This effectively ended Draco's pouting and the wolf gave a yawn. Just a tiny bit of a whine could be heard before he shook his head. "So are you going to see if we can go down there today?"
One of George's eyes opened at the question.
"I don't know… What if we're the reason he finds out about the place?" She chewed on her lower lip in an adorable way. After a moment, in which neither male made a sound, she floated up and put the book back on the shelf. "Okay, we may as well get it over with. Just remember what happened to Sir Nicholas."
Hermione shifted into her cougar form as Draco and George rose to all four feet. With a shared nod, the cougar took off and with the tiger and the wolf on her heels.
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All things considered, it was relatively easy for the pseudo-ghosts to slip into the girls' bathroom, from there Hermione led them into the circle of sinks that Ron and Harry had told her was the entrance to the Chamber. Silently, the ghosts fell through the tunnel, wondering how their friends and Lockhart had managed the fall without breaking anything in their solid bodies. Once inside, all three went invisible before gliding through walls and tunnels.
"Wow, this shed basilisk skin must be worth a fortune…"
"No kidding, imagine how much we could get if Harry opened the Chamber and we collected the corpse."
George paused before reaching over and poking Hermione. "Remind me to talk to Harry when we get back!"
Hermione rolled her eyes and glided through the final doorway. She stopped on the other side, gazing at the large room. "Wow…"
The males echoed the sentiment as they took in the large, wet room. Serpent statues were everywhere and water filled the room. There was a dank, moldy scent hanging thickly in the air and the head of Salazar Slytherin sported mossy vines. Considering that Hermione didn't remember those kinds of vines in Harry's tale, she assumed that Riddle must have done a bit of cleaning in the Chamber.
Padding on silent paws, the trio of ghostly animals slowly and cautiously explored the Chamber of Secrets for the better part of half an hour before the raspy slither of scaled skin on stone drew their attention. As one, the Animalities turned to look in the direction of the sound. They caught a glimpse of damp hide as the Basilisk slithered through a tunnel before they remembered themselves. As one, the three turned and took off as fast as they could out of the Chamber.
It was on the way out that they discovered why no ghosts had reported the Chamber's location ages ago, a hidden room off to one side of the main tunnels held at least a dozen petrified ghosts. The sight was enough to send the ghosts into a minor panic and they darted as fast as they could up through the ceiling and the many levels of the castle until they were perched on the roof.
"Okay… Now whose bright idea was it to go down there again?"
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Over the course of the next few weeks, Hermione, George and Draco witnessed as Tom Riddle first discovered and opened the Chamber. Petrified students turned up left and right, far more than had been around when George's little sister Ginny Weasley had been forced to open the Chamber of Secrets. The three ghosts were locked in silent secrecy, finding very little they were capable of saying as they were forced to watch the events.
When not silently observing, George spent time nurturing Hagrid's love of all things dangerous and cuddly. Draco spent an inordinate amount of time with the Grey Lady and, as a result, was teased by both Hermione and George for developing a crush. Hermione spent her time in a most remarkable way. One of those times when Ron would be sure to note that she was "Brilliant. But scary." In other words, she was teaching the Bloody Baron how to lay the smack down on Peeves!
Eventually, their time in the past reached its conclusion, thankfully before the death of the innocent Myrtle. None of them knew how they'd have reacted had they been forced to be present during this time. And so finally, after a month and a half as ghosts, the trio made their way through the portal once more. Albus Dumbledore, Fred Weasley and surprisingly, Ron Weasley greeted them in Dumbledore's office. After a brief talk, they split into various groups and went their separate ways.
At least until time for the next mission…
A/N: This one completely sucked, in my opinion. My muse wants to write later chapters, so I cut this one shorter than I had originally intended. The next one will be about as long or perhaps shorter. In other news, I'm still working on my laptop, which has nearly died once or twice since I started using it. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have a new computer and can focus on things more easily.