Alice was working up the nerve to go into the girls bathroom on the second floor as she dreaded the hysterics and dramatics she would be met with by a ghost who'd never gotten over her death. Not to say that Alice couldn't sympathise with Myrtle, it was obviously very tragic that she'd died alone in a bathroom and so young too but after almost forty years? She was like an exposed wire. There was a reason all students avoided this particular bathroom.
Myrtle had a specific proclivity to make you feel guilty that you had friends, were crying because your boyfriend dumped you, or, you know, alive.
"Mrs Longbottom?"
Alice turned to see Filch approaching her with a shiny and silver trophy in his hands. She braced herself because knowing Filch he was coming to complain they'd left a finger print or something. Though she didn't see how he could blame that on the aurors. They hadn't even been in the trophy room.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
Filch shoved the trophy at her. "I remember you were inquiring after a Tom Riddle."
Alice grabbed it tentatively only to be scolded. "Don't get fingerprints on it! I just polished it!"
Alice re-adjusted her hold so she was holding it by the wooden base instead and read the plaque.
Special Award for Services to the School
Tom Riddle
1943
Alice smiled. "Thanks, Filch! You mind if I hold onto this!" Alice backed away before turning and full on sprinting back to her chambers.
She flooed directly to James and Lily's apartment, bursting out of the fireplace sneezing as some of the powder went up her nose. She used the edge of her sleeve to wipe off some dust that had gotten on the plaque.
James had jumped up from the kitchen table, wand in hand, at the intrusion and only sat back down once he realised it was Alice.
"Merlin, Vance! Give a bloke a warning next time."
"I found our guy. Hogwarts. 1943." Alice placed the trophy in front of James on the table and his eyes widened.
"Knew it! Same year the Chamber was opened." He drummed his fingers on the table before pulling over a book titled, The Life and Times of Slytherin Salazar.
"You're not kidding about homework," Alice said taking a seat next to him on the bench.
"I feel like a traitor to Gryffindor. This is the fifth book I've read on Slytherin," James admitted. He flicked through until he reached a dog eared page. "The Chamber and whatever is in it is connected to Slytherin. The rumours also said that only Slytherin's heirs would be able to open it. Now, we know Tom Riddle's full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle may be muggle sounding but Marvolo certainly isn't. In fact, it's a prominent name in the Slytherin family line. Slytherin's own brother was a Marvolo."
"You're grasping at straws here," Alice pointed out. "Half the pure-blood population could be connected to Slytherin or any of the founders. We're talking a thousand years here. That's a lot of descendants. A lot of surname changes. Not to mention an 'heir' implies it needs to be a direct line to Salazar Slytherin."
"I hear you but I don't think I am because look," James pointed at a paragraph in the book and Alice quickly read it.
"He could speak parseltongue."
"We're dealing with a basilisk," James declared. "It explains how the 'heir' can control it. Slytherin was smart. He hid the Chamber and protected it with the one gift that would distinguish himself from others. Parseltongue is rare but it is passed down genetically basically assuring that the only people able to access the Chamber and control the monster would be his descendants."
Alice rubbed her mouth as she considered. "That still doesn't confirm that it's Riddle. We don't know if Riddle can speak parseltongue or even if he's descended from Slytherin and you could be wrong about how the Chamber is protected."
"It's more than a coincidence that in 1943 Tom Riddle was at Hogwarts and the Chamber was opened with muggle-born students being attacked. And now, he was at the school again and the Chamber is opened and muggle-born students have been attacked in the exact same way."
"I'll give you that but this is insane. Related to Salazar Slytherin? I thought all the founders direct lines died out years ago."
"Well, this book claims that the last direct descendant is still alive but in Azkaban."
"Who's the fellow then?"
"Morfin Gaunt. I need to do more research on the family but I think they'd been living in poverty."
"What's he in for?"
"Murdered a muggle family in his village. I'm going to be looking into that more too."
"Prejudices are definitely there," Alice muttered. "Emmeline may be able to get you into the Daily Prophet archives. Pure-blood murdering a muggle family is bound to make it into the newspapers especially if the Gaunt fellow is descended from Slytherin. Owl her. You can name drop me if you want."
"You're right it's not like she was at my engagement party or knows who I am or anything," he joked.
"I'm just saying she might work faster if she knows it's for the Order."
"We should really come up with some kind of phrase that we can say to each other to confirm we're in the Order. Like if I wrote, 'born in the ashes' she'd know I was in the Order. Then like the reply phrase could be something like 'to die in the fire'."
"A bit on the nose with the phoenix metaphor, isn't it? Anyone could guess that in five minutes."
"You overestimate the IQ of pure-bloods."
"You're a pure-blood."
"Al, you and I are the exceptions not the rule. I mean, have you met Sirius?"
She laughed and shook her head. "You're an idiot."
"A brilliant one. I've possibly cracked the mysteries of the Chamber of Secrets in one morning."
"I'm leaving now before I have to suffer through anymore of your ego," Alice announced, standing up. Besides, she was sure it was longer than one morning. Lily had been complaining of losing her husband in mounds of research for over a week. "Though you know, Potter, Moody could use that brain of yours in the Auror Office."
"And be tied down by bureaucratic red tape? Not for me, I'd much rather dedicate full-time to the Order where I can run wild."
Alice shook her head with a smile. "That's what you used to say about being a prefect if I recall before you became Head Boy."
"And it was terrible," James said grievously.
"I'm sure it was," Alice agreed with a nod of her head before grabbing a fistful of floo powder out of the tub on the mantle. "Though I seem to remember a story about you and Lily at the greenhouse…" she grinned wickedly as James burst into laughter before stepping in and whisking away back to Hogwarts.
She stepped out of the fireplace wiggling her nose a little to try and stave off the need to sneeze.
"And what sort of time do you call this?" Frank asked dramatically looking up from his book and crossing his legs like she'd been caught coming home at an unreasonable hour.
"Honey, I'm home," she teased, going over to him and sitting in his lap, slipping her arm around his neck. "We've had a bit of a break through."
"Oh?"
"Mmhmm. Tom Riddle was a student at Hogwarts in 1943 and James has found out that Slytherin knew parseltongue which means the monster is most definitely a basilisk."
"I don't know if that's good news," Frank frowned no doubt worrying about their odds against a fifty foot long snake that could kill by looking you in the eyes.
"Yes, but now that we know, we can prepare for it. James also thinks Riddle is descended from Slytherin and that's why he could open the Chamber. He's still looking into that though."
"That is quite a bit of progress," Frank agreed. "I've something to tell you. I don't think you'll be happy about it."
"Oh no."
"Mum wants us around for tea on Sunday."
"But that's our weekend off! And we were supposed to do the flying tour through the Highlands! Can't we visit her on a weeknight for tea? I'm pretty sure we've Thursday night free."
Frank nodded and leaned in for a kiss. "I'll talk to her. She's probably going to wrangle us for a dinner though for a weeknight."
Alice sighed. "I suppose it's a sacrifice I can make and you're also the best." She pressed her lips to his again, smiling softly at the thought of being truly alone for the whole weekend and as if on cue, there was a knock at the door.
"Longbottoms," Jack called. "Tilly and I are clocking off."
"We're ready," Frank called back. "Out in a minute."
"I hate the afternoon shift. Too many students remember us and they ask me questions they wouldn't usually be bold enough to ask an auror." They stood and headed out the door, throwing a quick wave at Jack and Tilly as they were just about to enter their own chambers. "Nina Robins — she's a seventh year in Gryffindor and friends with Mary MacDonald," Alice added for Frank's sake. "Anyway, she asked me if Lily was in the Order the other day and if the rumours about Death Eaters in the school were true. Apparently the Hogwarts rumour mill has it that it was Death Eaters in the school and Lily's part of the Order and that's why she was staying in the Hospital Wing."
"How do they always know how to hit the nail on the head?" Frank frowned.
"You know Hogwarts can't keep a secret. I just didn't think anyone'd be bold enough to ask us about it."
"It's weird right? We were here not that long ago but I feel years older than any of the seventh years here."
Alice nodded in agreement. The year she'd been out of Hogwarts had felt longer and yet she felt like the year had flown by so quickly.
"Hogwarts feels like a lifetime ago."
They'd all grown up so quickly after Hogwarts. If someone had told Alice even two years ago that she'd have been where she was now a year out of Hogwarts she'd have laughed. She didn't think she'd already be halfway through her Auror training and she definitely didn't think she'd be married and living with her husband. She didn't think she'd already know what death smelt, looked, or sounded like. She didn't think she'd know how it'd feel to literally dodge death or that she'd wake in the middle of the night sometimes in a sweat.
Sometimes she wished for the simple naiveness she'd had as a student at Hogwarts. They'd all been so protected here. Hogwarts was a bubble the outside world couldn't touch. Nothing had ever been life or death. The war was leaking in now and Alice wondered if the students really knew what that meant.
"Did you get a chance to speak to Moaning Myrtle?"
Alice snapped out of her thoughts. "No. I got distracted by Filch who showed me Riddle's trophy." Alice launched into the full story, filling in Frank on all the details she'd skipped over before as they did their rounds.
Lily and Marlene walked through Oxford admiring the old gothic buildings and the bustle of people. It had taken them just under an hour to reach Oxford and now that they'd arrived, they'd decided a leisurely stroll through Oxford University was needed to stretch their legs.
"So," Marlene said, somewhat nervously but brave enough to broach the subject now that they weren't sitting on a train with other people in hearing distance. "The other night at Mrs Potter's, it seemed like something was wrong."
"What would be wrong?" Lily asked, suddenly taking more interest in taking some photos of All Souls college as they walked by.
"You tell me. It's your wedding and you were barely even excited!"
"Not everyone loves weddings as much as you do."
"That's true but everyone loves their own weddings. What's going on?"
Lily was silent for a moment as they walked, looking at the round Radcliffe building. It truly was exquisite and Lily couldn't fathom how people had thought to create something so beautiful. Life around them just seemed to be getting more and more generic. Just straight lines and bricks. No fancifulness to be found. Lily lifted her camera to take a shot of it. They weren't here to be tourists but Lily would take it whilst she could. They didn't often get to just have a low-key day trip for the fun of it.
"I just ... I don't know if the wedding is such a good idea right now."
"Of course it's a good idea! It's you and James! Everyone's been dying for this ever since you told Helena Bonham that you two were married."
"Is anyone ever going to forget that?"
"It's listed in the Hogwart's Gossip Hall of Fame. Ask Remus."
"That's not even a thing," Lily huffed.
"It's a thing in my head. Remus helps me rate the gossip and that rated within the top 3."
"It wasn't even true! You knew it wasn't true!"
"I didn't for like two hours and those were the most exhilarating two hours of my life."
"I'm concerned for you," Lily frowned at her friend.
"I'm concerned for you!" Marlene shot back. "What's with the cold feet? Did something happen?"
"Yes something happened! There's probably a gigantic snake in Hogwarts targeting muggle-borns and I'm worried about whether the flowers should be white or pink!"
"Definitely white. It's more tasteful."
"Marlene."
"What? You're allowed to have a day to get married and feeling guilty about it is just stupid."
"But it does make me feel guilty. We should be focused on figuring out whatever the hell is happening at Hogwarts. I mean, James barely stops all day, everyday. He's constantly doing research and I just feel like if I'm not at work, I have to focus on the wedding meanwhile Mary is sitting in the hospital wing petrified with two other students! It's not right," Lily said firmly.
"So are you saying you want to cancel? Because I think Mary would still want you to get married."
"I don't know," Lily ran her hand through her hair pushing it off her face.
"Honey, there's nothing to not know. You and James are just that couple. Everyone knows the two of you are going to be together for the rest of your lives. It's like the two of you have already been married for fifty years and anyone who sees you and James together and doesn't know your story would assume you'd known each other from the day you were born. They'd never guess you'd actually been a couple for less than two years."
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't wait for a better time to get married. I mean, Ella and Sirius just lost the baby and -"
"I'm stopping you right there because whatever else comes out of your mouth doesn't matter because it doesn't matter! I think it's a perfect time to have a wedding to lift everyone's spirits and remind people that good things still happen in this world. A night of alcohol, good food, and dancing is what everyone needs right now. A night to forget about all the horrible things happening around us."
"Are you sure that doesn't come off as insensitive?"
"Lily Evans you are the least insensitive person I know. On a scale of sensitivity from Sirius to Peter, I'd say you're Remus. Now can you please drop the idea of postponing the wedding?"
"I hate that that scale absolutely made sense," Lily said and with one glance at each other they both burst into laughter. "Come on, let's search for this super secret library."
Lily stuck her hand in her pocket to pull out the folded piece of parchment with the address on it.
"I don't know why you're bothering," Marlene sighed.
"I know, Oxford was founded in the eleventh century and the magic I want to know about is a lot earlier than that but it's a start. It's an old library — maybe one of the oldest in England — so it's worth a shot."
Lily and Marlene got turned around more than once before they found the lone door hidden in plain sight amongst a strip of cafes and stores. Lily knocked tentatively, shrugging slightly at Marlene.
The door opened into a long corridor.
"Are we sure this is right?" Marlene murmured, shifting closer to Lily.
"Wands out?" Lily asked.
"I think so."
They each gripped their wands as they stepped into the corridor, the door closing behind them. The corridor was lit by lanterns hanging on the wall giving off a soft yellow glow. They ended with an iron metal staircase. Lily led the way down, one hand firmly on the rail, her other hand clutching her wand. They spiralled further and further down with nothing except a yellow glow spilling out of an open archway to guide them at the bottom.
The library wasn't at all what Lily expected.
The room was larger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts with ceilings so impossibly high that the room must have magic to make it larger on the inside. Shelves lined the walls, floor to ceiling with four balconies that stretched across all three walls in a huge 'U' shape. Long ladders were also attached to the shelves and Lily spotted a witch on the third balcony, perched on a ladder with a stack of books floating by her shoulder as she pushed against the edge of a shelf to slide across the bookshelf, the books following her.
"Hello and welcome to the de Clermont Library of Magical Curiosities in Oxford!" a cheerful witch behind the counter greeted. "Have you been here before?"
"Er, no," Lily said, having a hard time pulling her eyes away from the bookcases that filled up half the room that were so impossibly tall it had to be magic keeping them up right.
"We welcome all new patrons though I will have to take up a few minutes of your time to give you a library card."
"A library card?" Lily asked. "Does this mean we can borrow books?"
"Oh, Merlin no, honey!" the witch laughed. "No book can leave de Clermont's. Madam de Clermont made sure of it when the library was built all the way back in the eleventh century. She charmed the entry. No one can leave whilst holding a de Clermont Library book. But you're more than welcome to browse and read books within the library!"
"This isn't a library," Marlene whispered in awe. "It's …"
Lily and Marlene took a few minutes to organise library cards with the witch, who they found out was called Melanie Brooks. The library cards reminded Lily more of a poker chip. It was round and only half a centimetre thick made of polished mahogany with the library emblem etched into it and filled in with silver. Melanie convinced them to sign up for the monthly newsletter before Lily could steer the conversation to how this monstrous library system worked.
"Oh, well, it's quite simple really. As long as you've got your card on you, you can simply tap your wand to it and request a book and there it is. You're new so best to say what you're after out loud until you get the hang of it."
"That's it?" Lily asked, both disappointed and relieved that she wouldn't get to climb through the rows of balconies and whizz across the shelves on the wheeled ladders in a mad search for whatever it was she hoped to find in this library. "What if I don't know what I'm after?"
"Oh, well then you just say 'books on 'topic'' and it'll give you the top five books from that category. If you want a more focused search best to say 'books on 'topic' focusing on 'blah''. Though don't stress too much about the words of your request. The library usually knows what you're after better than you do."
"That's quite a system," Lily marvelled. "Do House Elves run the library?"
"Of course not. We employ House Elves to clean. The cataloguing and running of the library is left up to true librarians though we don't have much to do considering the place runs on magic."
"I have a feeling we're going to need more than a day," Marlene muttered and Marlene was right as she usually was, luckily, Melanie had a good hotel recommendation nearby.
James threw himself deeper into his research. Reading all there was to read about Slytherin and basilisks. He and Lily talked through theories until late in the evening, trying to figure out every possible scenario for gaps in the story. He made detailed notes on his theories, adding in what Alice had found out. He was writing a letter to Emmeline when Sirius walked in.
"I'm losing my mind," he announced.
"I already knew that," James commented as he focused on what to write.
"Who's the sonnet for?"
"It's not a sonnet. It's a letter to Emmeline. Alice thinks she'll be able to help me find out why Morfin Gaunt is in Azkaban."
Sirius opened the fridge and helped himself to a butterbeer and placed one on the table for James as well.
"Cheers."
"You've been studying more than you ever did at Hogwarts."
"This is important."
James signed off the letter and folded it up, slipping it into an envelope.
"We could just ask the diary."
"It's not safe. I mean, what even is the diary? A conscious? A memory? If it's a memory, what memory? If it's a conscious, well, that scares me."
Sirius sighed. "This is a whole mess, isn't it?"
"It's a puzzle. A big one but we'll figure it out. I've been considering whether to owl the victims from 1943. We've got to find the Chamber. If we can kill the basilisk, we'll have time to figure out everything else."
"You say that like it's easy. How does one kill a basilisk?"
James shrugged. "A crow from a rooster should do it. My plan is to just stick a dozen roosters in the chamber and be done with it." James was no stranger to theatrics but in this case he felt simplest was best.
"Well, that's anti-climatic."
"I imagine that's how Ella feels when you're in the throws."
"Don't go projecting your own issues on me."
James cocked a brow. "Are you here to help or?"
Sirius sighed and held out a hand. "Give me a book."
They sat in relative silence as they read only taking a break for lunch. They didn't find out much else that was new but with each confirmation of James' theory, it felt more and more validated. It was a feeling humming in the pit of his gut. James just knew he was right to the point where he really was ready to march into the Chamber of Secrets with a dozen roosters ahead of him. If only they knew where the Chamber of Secrets was.
"It's all circumstantial," Sirius pointed out.
James threw a grape at him. "You're sour today."
"Ella's still…" Sirius shook his head, leaning his head back so he was looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do anymore."
"I," James hesitated and then just said it, "I don't think there's anything you can do. She's hurting."
"I'm hurting too."
"I know. I know you are and I can't even imagine … but you know the guilt she feels. I think she just needs time to work through it."
"She's had time. Almost two months."
"Maybe it's time to let mum see her."
"I don't know."
"Oh, I see. You want me to convince you so that if it blows up in your face you can blame me."
"You do owe me. I know more about Slytherin than any Godric respecting Gryffindor ought to know about Slytherin."
"Great," James said, closing the book he had open in front of me. "I'll have you convinced by the time I put my potatoes and lamb chops in the oven."
"I hope that was also an invitation to stay for dinner."
James, as usual, was right and had convinced Sirius to crawl to Euphemia Potter for help by the time he'd put dinner in the oven. He sat on the back terrace with Euphemia, a wonderful spread of tea treats laid out on the table curtesy of Twinkle and a steaming pot of tea. Euphemia eyed him from under her wide brimmed hat, waiting for him to spit it out.
"I need - I just - I guess I'm asking-"
"Sirius," Euphemia said, "you're stalling."
He sighed and looked her in the eyes. "I think it's time."
She patted his hand. "I'll be there tomorrow. 10AM sharp."
"Thanks, mum."
"It took you long enough to cave."
"I thought if I gave her space and didn't have everyone crowd around her she'd get better but she's not-"
"She's not you," Euphemia said softly.
Euphemia spoiled Sirius to lunch at their favourite restaurant in London and then Sirius walked home. He found James sitting in the same spot he'd found him in last time and buried in books and books and books. It was all he ever did lately.
"Don't you think you're becoming a little obsessed?"
"This isn't going to solve itself," James said as he scribbled something down.
"Anything new?"
"No, I'm still waiting to hear back from Emmeline so I'm stuck until then."
Sirius spied the diary on the edge of the table and he grabbed it.
"So let's just ask the diary."
"Sirius, no!" James tried to stop him but Sirius shook him off. "We don't know enough yet!"
"You said so yourself. We're at a loss on all fronts and all you've got are jigsaw puzzle pieces that you're trying to hack together to make a bigger picture. We've nothing and we're going to keep having nothing if we don't take risks," Sirius sat at the table. Dipped a quill into the ink bottle but the quill hovered over the page of the blank journal for just a moment. "Just keep an eye on me. If I seem possessed, stun me."
"Should I stun you now then?" James muttered but he sat next to Sirius to watch the conversation that would unfold.
What do you know of the Chamber of Secrets?
James shut the book.
"Oi!"
"We don't need the book to tell us anything. We know enough to do digging without the book. Let's owl Hagrid for a drink at the Hog's Head."
Lily arrived just before ten at Ollivander's shop. Nate was already waiting in the archive room for her and he put down what he was reading to greet her.
"You know, Lily, as much as I love your company, Marlene won't shut up about the library you guys visited."
"It was amazing!" Lily gushed immediately, her face breaking out into a grin just thinking of it.
"Yeah, that's an apt imitation of Marls."
Lily laughed. "No, seriously. You should let Marlene take you up there one day. This library is," she wiggled her shoulders and sighed, "just … no words."
Nate laughed as Lily bragged on and on about the library's aesthetic and range of books and how the library just knew what they were looking for.
"It was absolutely brilliant," Lily sighed. "And I realised a weird coincidence whilst there."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmmhmm. So I asked the library for books on ancient magic and it gave me a book about the history of wizards and witches in Greece."
"Okay," Nate said still not seeing the importance.
"Well, a bit of Evans family history is that my great-great uncle actually excavated an ancient site on the island, Crete. The Palace of Knossos. I don't know if you've heard about it but it was a pretty big archaeological find in the muggle world and has become a huge tourist spot for muggles."
"That's pretty cool."
Lily nodded, "Right. So I start reading the book about magic in Greece and it says that Old Knossos was the first fully magical community in Greece."
"Old Knossos," Nate furrowed his brows. "As in the Palace of Knossos that your great whatever uncle dug up and plastered all over the muggle radar?"
"I - I think so. I mean, what a weird coincidence and I'm surprised the old place wasn't charmed to repel muggles and how the Greek Queens even allowed my uncle to publish let alone let muggles make it a tourist trap!"
"Greek Queens?"
"Mmmhmm. It's pretty brill actually. The magical community in Greece runs off the same government structure as the Spartans."
"Lily, I literally know nothing about Greek government structures. Ancient or modern."
"Right," Lily nodded. "Well the Spartans were ruled by two kings and a general council of thirty elders. Well, that's pretty much how modern magical Greece is run but the Minoan twist, I guess you could call it, — the Minoans are matriarchal not patriarchal — is that it's two queens who rule, not two kings."
"Huh, no wonder you and Marlene spent the entire weekend there."
"We barely made a dent," Lily sighed wistfully. "I'm already bribing James to go up for a weekend."
"Marlene tells me James is driving Sirius up the wall with all his research."
Lily nodded. "I never thought fighting Voldemort would lead to so much of it but here we are."
They settled in eventually with the both of them picking up from where they left off the last time. They sat in quiet comfort with only rustling papers and the turn of a page filling up the room.
"Hmm, fancy this," Nate grabbed Lily's attention. "A letter from Rashida the Elder dated a few years after Ollivander's was established. She introduces herself as a teacher from Alexandria at a school that offers magical teachings to people between sixteen and twenty-four."
"Sixteen and twenty-four?" Lily repeated shocked. That seemed so late to start magical schooling.
"I know!" Nate said in awe. "She refers to wands as 'unnatural, trickster magic that delays the progress of a person's magical development'."
"It's a complaint," Lily realised.
"Yeah. She goes on to say that 'the Power should be accessed naturally as it then embodies our minds, spirits, and souls and we truly become one with power' ... summed up she basically thinks wands are an unnecessary crutch that people become reliant on so much so they never learn real magic."
"The Power," Lily murmured. Her quill flew across the page writing this all down.
"Must've been what they called magic back then."
"It's so interesting, isn't it?"
"Magic must've evolved hundreds of times over before it got to the magic we use," Nate agreed.
They fell into a silence again as they concentrated until Ollivander poked his head in to tell them he was locking up for the day.
"Are you enjoying your research, Miss Evans?"
"Very much, and thank you so much for allowing me to access your records. It's truly incredible."
"Magic has different ways of manifesting but not any one way is the 'right' way. Ancient magic was difficult to master, it is why it petered out over the centuries. I sometimes wonder if wands have set the magical community back."
"Surely not," Nate defended.
"Never be so sure to defend the things you were taught as a child," Ollivander said. "You'll find it'll only make you ignorant."
She really wished Professor Dumbledore would refrain from sending her letters via phoenix whilst she was at St Mungo's. It was really hard to explain a) why a phoenix was delivering her mail and b) who did she know that owned a phoenix. She couldn't exactly say she was pen pals with her old Headmaster.
Instead, she made a horrible excuse that she was sure nobody believed and waited until the end of her shift to open the letter.
Dear Miss Adams,
As you are undoubtedly aware, three Hogwarts students have sadly been petrified. Madame Pomfrey is in the process of brewing the antidote alongside Professor Slughorn, though as they both have other responsibilities, they would be glad to receive your help during this time. It would also comfort me to have a set of Order eyes in the halls of Hogwarts. One can never be too safe.
Please come to Hogwarts at your earliest convenience.
Kind Regards,
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Marlene shook her head at the letter. She didn't know why an experienced healer and potioneer would need her help on brewing a potion. Sure, it was complex but that was Marlene's point actually. It was complex and Marlene had never dabbled in something so intricate before.
She shoved the letter into her pocket. She'd have to get to Hogwarts at some point but now wasn't the time. She had a date.
Marlene walked briskly into the first quiet alleyway she found and walked in until she was sure no one could see her anymore before apparating into an equally abandoned alley way.
Marlene poked her head around the corner and gasped when a loud crack sounded behind her. With a hand to her heart and a hand on her wand she whirled around only to see the smug grin of one Remus Lupin. He was in a shabby get-up, his jacket could use an elbow patch and his trouser hems were starting to shred and tatter.
"Careful, Marlene. You never know when someone's going to pop out at you."
Marlene rolled her eyes but pulled Remus into a hug. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Marls."
"Really? You look like you could use a shower."
"Top of my list."
"Come on." She grabbed his hand and turned on the spot to appear in front of her house in Chudleigh. The least she could do was offer to repair some of his clothes and some food that wasn't out of a tin can. Plus she had a job to do tasked by Euphemia Potter herself.
"Er, is this allowed?"
Marlene walked on, leading Remus through the front gate and towards the door.
"Hush, Lily and James' wedding is coming up at the end of summer and Euphemia will kill all of us if your robes aren't properly fitted."
"Marlene ... I'm not so sure about coming to the wedding."
"What do you mean? You have to come!" Marlene whirled around to face him, her hand on the door handle.
"I just think it'll disrupt the assignment I'm on if I leave for a whole weekend. The more I leave, the more suspicious it looks."
"Uh-huh, and what even is this super-secret mission that only you can do?"
"It's important, Marls."
"More important than your best friend's wedding? Because if you don't they'll go ahead and cancel it. It took Sirius an hour to calm James down and then it took me another twenty minutes to talk Lily out of it."
"Cancelling the wedding? Why?"
"Because of what's going on at Hogwarts. Mary MacDonald was petrified two weeks ago. I mean Dumbledore's desperate enough to ask for my help brewing a potion and to have a spare set of eyes around Hogwarts."
"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. You're moving into Hogwarts? Who's we? A second student was petrified? When?"
"Well, two students. Peter Miles and Mary MacDonald. Lily took the news pretty hard about Mary which were where the doubts about having the wedding go ahead came from. And now James is doing a tonne of research about the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin. He's like ninety-five percent sure there's a basilisk down there and he's itching to get into Hogwarts. It's driving Lily up the wall because he can't go to Hogwarts because Tilly and Jack Potter — the aurors — are being stationed at Hogwarts along with Alice and Frank and if they catch him in Hogwarts, they'll report them to the Ministry. So that's fun and I'm sure they'll be dragging me into it once they realise I have access to Hogwarts. And I haven't even gotten started on his theory that Tom Riddle is descended from Slytherin."
"Tom Riddle descended from Slytherin and basilisks," Remus shook his head. "Is this supposed to make sense?"
"It does when James explains it. I'm probably muddling it all up."
"Right. That sounds like … a lot."
"Exactly. So you can't flake on the wedding or they'll both call it off. It took Sirius an hour to talk James out of it the other day," Marlene stressed the last part again.
"Okay, okay, Haley and I will be there."
"Wonderful. Now say it like you mean it," Marlene teased and he graced her with a tired smile that was equivocally Remus Lupin. "Come on, let's go inside so I can get your measurements and you can update me on your mission and your girl." Marlene opened the front door and pointed Remus up the stairs where he could take a shower.
"She's not my girl."
Marlene rolled her eyes again. "Remus, I have been waiting for months to get the gossip out of you so don't bore me with denial. Anyone with eyes can see the two of you have the hots for each other."
"I didn't say I don't fancy her. I just said she's not my girl."
Marlene stopped him on the stairs so she could look him in the eye. "You guys really aren't together?"
"No."
"Haven't even kissed?"
"No — well, once but then it never happened again."
"Huh," Marlene said truly dumbfounded. "What the hell are you waiting for?"
"It's complicated."
"Life is complicated, Remus — first door on the right — Doesn't stop you from living."
"It's not that simple."
"Why?"
"Because it's just not."
"I know of a way to simplify it. When you get back to wherever, grab her and kiss her and say 'I fancy you'."
Remus laughed. "Oh, and it'll be so romantic with my needing a shower."
"Hey ... I have a shower." He looked hesitant. "Remus, it's fine. Go and have a shower and you may as well send your clothes out, I can patch them up for you. Mum's got a sewing kit downstairs."
"Thanks, Marlene."
"When you get out we can talk Order."
Remus nodded and Marlene directed him to the bathroom and told him the trick about the hot water.
"I will admit I usually get too frustrated with it and just charm the water hot, so feel free to do that else have fun navigating the temperamental thing."
He saluted her and she left him to it. She waited for him to send his clothes out and then went downstairs to do the patches. She just had one patch left when Remus came downstairs wearing her dad's robe.
"That was the closest thing to heaven I've felt in a while."
Marlene smiled. "Good to hear."
"Wanna give me your update while I do this last patch?"
Remus nodded. "We've decided to stay where we currently are to see if the group in support of Voldemort will come knocking. We're both half-bloods so we've started erring on the side of Voldemort so it doesn't look too suss when they come recruiting and we go with and find out if the Death Eaters have approached them yet."
"Have you got any allies?"
"A few people Haley and I camp near that we're friendly with. The Richmond brothers mostly. Most of us stick to ourselves."
"Well, hopefully you won't be there too much longer, you know, once you find out about the Death Eaters, you can come back."
Remus looked down. "I'm not so sure if that's wise."
"That's ridiculous, you can't stay there indefinitely."
"I'm the perfect spy for it," Remus shrugged, "and I'll already be in position."
Marlene frowned. "If you get caught, Remus…"
"No different to our other spies infiltrating Death Eater circles."
"Yeah but we didn't sign up to be spies!"
Remus raised a brow. "Didn't we?"
Marlene sewed the last stitch and looked at Remus. "Just be careful, okay? If you think your cover is getting blown, screw the mission and get out of there."
"Funny, that wasn't Moody's advice. His was more along the lines of kamikaze."
"That's not funny. You come back to us in one piece, else I'll have words for you, Remus Lupin."
"Yes, m'am."
"Good. Now go change into your clothes so I can get your measurements for the wedding. Also, I expect Haley to be on your arm at that wedding and not just as a friend."
"Hagrid," James greeted as Sirius and James slid into the seats opposite him. The Hog's Head was busy for a Sunday afternoon. Save Hagrid, James and Sirius' table, three other tables were occupied. Two in a dimly lit booth who kept their hoods up despite the sweltering June heat. A lone man sat at the bar nursing a goblet of firewhiskey. Five wizards were noisily playing poker on a large table by the window.
"Boys, I was surprised to get yeh owl."
"We need to ask you some questions," Sirius said and glanced at James. "About the Chamber of Secrets."
"It isn' me." Hagrid was distressed at the notion.
"Hagrid, we know," James assured. "But we were hoping you'd know more about what happened the first time in 1943."
"I was blamed for it. Had my wand snapped," Hagrid sniffed.
"We know that and we also know that a boy named Tom Riddle received a special award for services to the school that year…"
"Riddle," Hagrid mused. "Have no' heard that name in a while. He was the star student in Hogwarts though Dumbledore always seemed suspicious of him."
"Why?"
"He had a way about him. Charming when he wanted to be but," Hagrid tapped his temple with his finger, "he didn't have something right up there is my opinion. He was mean to animals. You know someone ain't right when they're mean to animals."
"What else can you tell us about him? Do you remember what year he was in in 1943?"
Hagrid thought hard for a moment. "Had to have been sixth year. I remember Professor Slughorn assuring he'd all but secured the Head Boy position the following year."
"He was close with Professor Slughorn then?" Sirius pressed.
"Riddle was part of the Slug Club, wasn't he?"
James and Sirius glanced at each other worriedly. James wondered if a star student at Hogwarts could really be the Dark Lord.
"Do you know what happened to Riddle after Hogwarts? What's he doing now?"
"I couldn't tell yeh. Riddle disappeared like smoke after Hogwarts no' to mention no one at Hogwarts kept contact with me. Never heard of him anywhere. My bet is Slughorn would know. Oh, aye, there's the bugger now."
James turned his head and sure enough, Slughorn was entering the dingy pub that smelt of shit and rotting wood. Wondering at the luck of it all, James was perturbed at the fact that Slughorn was even in Hogsmeade on a Thursday afternoon. Surely, classes hadn't let out yet?
"Since the chamber business he's been coming done 'ere for a drink more and more," Hagrid informed.
"Wonderful," Sirius said.
James and Sirius thanked Hagrid before pulling a similar routine on Professor Slughorn except they knew the way to get Slughorn to open up was charm. Charm and a lot of ass kissing. This routine, fell solely on James. Sirius instead went to get drinks up at the bar.
"Professor Slughorn!" James greeted, shaking Slughorn's hand and sitting opposite him. "Lily and I were just speaking about you the other day."
"I - Mr Potter, you were?"
"Yes, I don't know if you've heard but Lily and I are engaged and we were going over guest lists for the wedding. We were considering inviting our favourite teachers from Hogwarts but unfortunately my mother had to put her foot down. She wants a small affair considering the going ons in the world."
"Completely understandable but I'm flattered to have even been considered. I do miss teaching Miss Evans. How is she doing at the Charms Department?"
"Between you and I, Professor, Lily seems happy enough in Charms but she did take a tour of the Potions Department with Mr Bodine a few months ago — I'm sure she wrote you about it — she couldn't stop talking about it for days. I believe she's even considering a transfer but that's all hush."
"Oh, of course, but how wonderful! I always knew she had a talent for potions."
"Yes, my father sees it as well and says the same. Says one day she'll be taking your job, Professor."
"Oh, well if Lily is my successor I can't say I would complain too much."
"Yes, though I guess Hogwarts isn't the safest place to be right now," James sighed, scratching his chin.
"It's just terrible. Madame Pomfrey is working day and night to brew the antidote."
"Terrible," James agreed. "You know, Lily and I were doing some research, Professor, and forgive my curiosity, but you were teaching at Hogwarts the last time the Chamber's were opened, weren't you?"
"I, yes, I was though I daresay I'm hoping for a better outcome," Slughorn flustered.
"I'm sure the teachers at Hogwarts will have it sorted in no time," James assured. "How did it get sorted in the forties? I remember reading that Hagrid was blamed for it but that can't have been right. How did the teachers come to the conclusion that it was Hagrid?"
"Ah, well, Hagrid was ousted by another student. He'd been keeping a pet spider. An acromantula, if I remember correctly, and the beast had been attacking the students."
James barely quirked his brow at the information. Acromantulas couldn't petrify.
"Shocking," James said with the shake of his head. "I guess the student would've been a hero no doubt. Anyone my family would know?"
"No, I don't believe so. The student was a muggle-born orphan."
"An orphan?" James pressed.
"Yes, an orphan from some place in London, I believe. A tragic beginning for him, I'm sure. His mother died in childbirth."
"No doubt devastating for Mr - ah, sorry, I missed his name?"
"Riddle. Tom Riddle."
Bingo.
"Can't say I've heard of the fellow. What does he do now? Ministry, perhaps?" James kept prodding and James didn't miss the way a sheen film of sweat started covering his forehead.
"I believe he went to work for Borgin and Burke's after Hogwarts though I couldn't possibly say where or what he's up to now. He never did keep in touch."
James thought Lord Voldemort might've been a bit too busy killing innocents to worry about writing letters to old professors.
"You're awfully interested in all this, Mr Potter," Slughorn noted, a suspicious look in his eye.
James laughed, putting his hands up. "Lily says my curiosity will kill me one day."
"They do say curiosity killed the cat."
"Satisfaction brought it back, Professor," James grinned. "Say, Sirius and I couldn't treat you to a drink perhaps? He's just up there waiting for me."
Slughorn craned his head to spot Sirius sitting at the filthy bar. "Oh no, you two have a way of finding mischief that I'm sure you wouldn't want your old professor in on."
Sirius and James hung around for another hour, obnoxiously drinking so both Hagrid and Slughorn wouldn't get suspicious before heading back to their flats. They congregated on the table in James and Lily's apartment surrounded by all of James' research.
"Is it just me or do the words blur together?" Sirius asked as he squinted.
"You're getting old, mate. Lily's got a sobering potion in the cabinet above the fridge."
Sirius helped himself to it and a glass of water so they could focus. James relayed everything Slughorn had said about Tom Riddle.
"So what's your next big theory?"
"Riddle knew the walls were closing in when Warren died, knew about Hagrid's affliction for animals — and monsters — so decided to pin it on him. Hagrid gets expelled and his wand snapped, meanwhile, Riddle gets a trophy for services to the school."
The door opened and Lily walked through and wrinkled her nose. "What is that stench?"
"We've been at the Hog's Head all day," James explained.
"Why?"
James informed Lily of all they'd found out and she pursed her lips.
"You two need to be more careful. What if Tilly and Jack had spotted you in Hogsmeade? And what if this Riddle bloke is catching wind that you're asking questions?"
"It was either this or ask the diary," Sirius pointed out. "Besides, it's not illegal to be in Hogsmeade."
"I've been doing research but it's too hard to figure out the consequences when we don't know what dark object it is," Lily sighed.
"So let's write in it," Sirius egged.
"I'll write in it," James allowed.
"James," Lily protested.
"Seriously? You all but ripped the book from me this morning," Sirius pointed out.
"If I do get possessed you'll know," James pointed out. "We wouldn't be able to track Sirius with him living across the hall and Ella being… Anyway, I'll do it."
"Don't ask it dumb things though."
"Well, with what we know already," Lily considered. "Slughorn said he was an orphan so realistically the only people that could give us more information on who Riddle is, is the orphanage. They could have information on his parents."
"Okay so orphanage," James agreed. "Is it worth a shot asking the diary what exactly it is?"
"Couldn't hurt," Sirius agreed. "If you wanted to figure out if your theory about the Gaunt family is true, you could fish around which pure-blood family he's from."
James glanced at Lily who nodded. "Worth a try."
James put pen to paper and paused considering what to write first.
Hello, Tom Riddle. I am James Potter.
Hello, James Potter. Are you a student at Hogwarts?
I am.
"Should you really lie to it?" Lily asked.
"It's a diary, Lils. It'll believe whatever I write in it and at least there's less chance it can possess me if I lie to it."
I don't recognise your surname. Are you muggle-born?
Do not insult me. I am the last from a long-line of pure-bloods.
I know of no pure-bloods by the name of Riddle.
My mother was a Gaunt.
"Damn it," Sirius muttered.
"What?" Lily said.
"He owes me three galleons." James grinned as Lily rolled her eyes.
Sirius scowled as James focused.
Gaunt. I've seen that name on the Sacred 28.
Yes. It's a very prominent bloodline.
"Ask why the diary has a conscience," Lily nudged. "Maybe its answer could help us research."
James wrote the question and then read the answer out as it appeared. "I'm a well preserved memory."
A memory of what?
I could show you better than I could tell you.
A light shone from the centre of the book and Lily and Sirius watched in horror as James got sucked into it.
"Well, fuck."
"I blame you for this," Lily accused immediately.
"You're the one who wanted to ask it what it is!"
"You're the one who wanted to write in it!"
"He'll be fine," Sirius assured.
"You don't know that."
"He'll be fine," Sirius repeated.
Lily and Sirius sat and waited for what felt like forever until another flash of golden light and James was sitting where he had been once more.
"James!" Lily jumped up from her spot on the couch and ran over to him. "Are you okay? What happened? What did the diary show you?"
"It ... it showed me what happened in 1943."
Remus decided a walk home would be best. He had a lot to think about — Marlene had given him a lot to think about. She said it didn't have to be complicated, but then again Marlene didn't know he was in the middle of a werewolf underground. But Haley … she was different to anyone he'd ever expected to find down there.
Haley Daniels. She was a sort of mystery from the very first day she'd walked into that dump personifying something so happy and sunny that Remus couldn't help but just look at her. She was a daisy in a place where only poison ivy was meant to grow and for some reason, out of everyone, she'd befriended Remus.
Maybe Marlene was right. They'd already admitted that they liked each other and they'd kissed, just that one time. Remus was being stupid to wait and even he didn't know what he was waiting for but it wasn't like she'd made any moves either.
It was all so very complicated and he wished she hadn't had a premonition about Lily. He wished even more that he could let it go but he couldn't so was it fair to be with her if he couldn't let it go?
Remus slumped at the entrance. He was beginning to loathe the place and surely if it hadn't been for Haley he'd have been wanting out weeks ago. He made his way inside, descending to the underground and walked through the maze of tents, camping beds, and sleeping bags until he found his and … Remus frowned.
Haley's dark green tent was gone. Nowhere to be found as he scanned the tents nearby. She wouldn't just leave though, right? 'Course she had always said she'd been just passing through maybe she had meant it. But to leave without saying goodbye didn't really seem her style.
Remus spotted Chris Richmond sitting in front of his tent a few feet away and called out.
"Oi, Richmond," Remus called. "Where's Haley?"
Chris looked up from his book. "Oh, Daniels? She left with the fellows Greyback sent around."
"She what?"
Chris shrugged. "She seemed to really eat up what they were saying. I don't know, mate. You can never trust an American. What was the deal with you two, anyways? Shagging?"
Remus didn't know what to do. She'd left with Greyback's lot. What on earth had been running through her head? Didn't she know how dangerous this could be? He had to find her.
"Did they say where they were heading?" Remus asked Chris.
"Greyback's lot? Nah, they're a bit cagey about the where's and who's."
"Do you know where Greyback is though?"
"Don't think anyone knows where Greyback is. Nasty rumours that he's aligning himself with You-Know-Who floating about though. If that's true and he's under You-Know-Who's protection, I doubt there'd be a soul alive who could find him unless Greyback wanted to be found." Chris took a swig of his beer — it was muggle because he'd stolen it from a 'stuck up priss who'd been a dick to the cashier'. "We've got sausages for dinner, if you want to join?"
Remus waved him off and went into his tent suddenly knowing what it felt like to be James and Sirius. He had no leads. Didn't even know how to get in contact with Haley. He was going to curse her something awful when he found her.
As he went to sit on the little fold out bed he noticed a folded piece of parchment. He opened it up and read:
Dear Remus,
I know you're going to think I'm insane but Greyback's recruiters came around and you were gone and it seems like a good idea but that'll remain to be seen in the morning. I've gone with them to help you with your mission and I know you're going to say that I shouldn't have and that you'll think you have to come after me, but, you don't.
Please, don't. I want to do this. For you. You don't belong in this hell hole. You should be with the friends you can't shut up about. You should go to James and Lily's wedding. I know you don't want to miss it and I know you miss them. By the sounds of it they miss you like hell, too, and I'd bet whatever's in my duffle that Marlene absolutely shut down any thoughts of you missing the wedding.
And I don't want you feeling guilty, Wolf McWolf. I make my own decisions and I've dedicated myself to a life of adventures and that's exactly what I'm getting. When else am I going to be able to infiltrate a mob of angry werewolves who want to wreck murderous havoc on the world? When else am I going to have a hand in bringing said murderous mob down?
I do hope this inducts me as an official member of your super, secret, You-Know-Who defying organisation. It's not often you get a chance to make history, I just want to play my part in it, so don't go being stupid and ruin it for me, okay?
Yours, Haley Daniels
P.S. Meet next Sunday at 8PM in Trafalgar Square. That is how this works, right?
P.S.S. I'll be expecting a kiss because I've just done something I believe would be considered very Gryffindor — which means it borders on brave and stupid — for you, Remus Lupin, and don't you know it's rude to make a girl wait?