Thank you to the beta of this chapter- Born-of-Elven-Blood

Chapter Two- The Chamber of Secrets Again

Albus Dumbledore looked older than he ever had before, as if all the years had caught up to him all at once. Severus had just finished explaining what had happened with Harry and he knew it would be hard on the Headmaster. He had seen it and he still had a hard time believing it.

"We must find the boy," Dumbledore said with deceptive calm, quickly writing a note and sending it off with Fawkes to inform Harry's head of house, Minerva Mcgonagall.

"One more thing," Severus cut in before Dumbledore had a chance to step out of his office. "I opened up the block in Harry's mind, so the memories will be like a waterfall, pouring back in all at once. It will be like it is happening to him all over again." Severus sighed. "We have to find the boy quickly or I'm afraid that Harry might do something drastic."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes faded entirely . "Do you really think Harry would…?"

"…I do." Severus admitted.

For the next three hours the three professors looked everywhere they could think of. Minerva checked the Quidditch pitch and the Room of Requirement since she knew that Harry had been going into the room lately along with his friends.

Dumbledore checked the room in which Harry found the Mirror of Erised during his first year, then every other abandoned classroom.

Severus checked the Whomping Willow and when he couldn't find Harry he decided to go to the Hogwarts ghosts for help, but even they could not find the boy.

"I believe it's time we ask his friends," Minerva proposed. "Perhaps they will know where Harry might have gone to be alone."

Severus nodded. He didn't like that they had to bring more people into this but it seemed they didn't have a choice. They weren't going to find the boy on their own. But it was decided that they would keep the details to themselves. As Severus put it, "It's not our place to tell them, it's Harry's and Harry's alone."

"I don't understand why you can't tell us anything!" Hermione yelled. Beside her, Ron crossed his arms in solidarity. "What happened to Harry? He wouldn't just run off…" Dumbledore held up his hand, cutting her off.

"I know it's hard, but you must have patience and trust your teachers," Dumbledore told the two of them. "Now, is there a place Harry would have gone if he didn't want to be found?"

"…the owlery? He goes there sometimes to check on Hedwig," Ron suggested, only to be shut down by Snape who had checked there already.

"The abandoned girls bathroom on the second floor? Hermione offered next, only to shut down by Dumbledore this time.

"Oh! We are so stupid!" Hermione shouted, looking over at Ron as the answer popped into her mind. "Where is the one place Harry can go that no one else can?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders as the professors looked at each other to see if any of them had the answer.

"The Chamber of Secrets!" Hermione exclaimed. " You have to speak Parseltongue to enter. Harry is the only one who can."

"Not the only one," Ron admitted, watching as all eyes landed on him. "Harry talks in his sleep. I picked up a few words."

"Alright," Severus said after a moment of thinking. "You come with me, Weasley, open the door, and I will go down. Alone," he said, eyeing the redhead severely. "I will bring Harry back to my chambers, as I doubt he will want to go to the hospital wing," Severus explained quietly to the other Professors, who responded with small nods of approval.

"We're going too," Hermione spoke up.

"You will not," Minerva told her. "You will go back to your common room. And the same applies to you, Mr. Weasley, once you have finished assisting Professor Snape."

"But Professor…!"

"Miss Granger, I don't want to repeat myself," Minerva warned as Severus led Ron away.

The walk down to the bathroom was uneasy. Once there, Ron went to the sink, ran his thumb over the snake that was imprinted on the tap and spoke the few words of Parseltongue that he could recall. The sink snapped as it slowly opened to reveal the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

Severus peered down the long dark tunnel before turning back to the boy. "Go back to your dormitory, . Any arguing and I will take points." He was in no mood to deal with the stubborn child.

Like Hermione, Ron knew that something strange was going on. Unlike Hermione, he also knew that now wasn't the time for demanding answers. Harry was family to him, he cared about him as much as one of his own brothers. And if he wanted to help him, the best way was to step back and let the professors do whatever needed to be done.

Once Ron left the bathroom, Severus took a deep breath and jumped into the hole. He let out a yell as his back hit the slide and he picked up speed, plummeting into the darkness.