Alex could hear the sound of her own breathing. She looked at Harry, who despite not knowing Ginny too well, looked as teary-eyed as Ron.

"She knew something, Harry," said Ron, speaking for the first time since she had entered the room. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was —" Ron rubbed his eyes frantically. "I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."

Ginny knew something? Is that why she was so frantically clingy this year?

"She's a notable blood traitor, Ron, that must make her an enemy of the heir."

Alex felt like throwing up. There was a very good chance Ginny wouldn't return. At least not alive. Poor, little Ginny, who was the bravest of them all.

No. Ginny couldn't die.

"D'you think there's any chance at all she's not — you know —" stuttered Ron.

Dead?

There was no time to fact-check what was inside the chamber. By the time Hermione was un-petrified, Ginny would be dead and she would be on a train back to King's Cross.

"This is ridiculous!" she bit out. "We know Lockhart's going to try and rescue her, and we know that the entrance has something to do with Myrtle's bathroom since she was the girl who died!"

"So you're saying- we should-"

"Yes. Let's go find Lockhart."

Alex looked at her night stand as she picked up her wand. Basilisks were very dangerous and there was now a high chance that she too wouldn't return from the chamber.

She took a deep breath in and took a vial inside her drawer. The golden liquid shimmered; Liquid luck.

Alex knew she should only take if she really needed it. She pocketed it and took a stone out of her box of potions ingredients.

She only hoped she wouldn't have to use it.

HOW DARE HE?

HE WAS TRYING TO RUN AWAY?

"Well — I must say — when I took the job —" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "nothing in the job description — didn't expect —"

"YOU'RE A COWARD AND A PHONY?" yelled Alex, "Tell me, you haven't done a thing in those books you've written, have you?"

He looked offended, "Dear girl, I've done a lot more than you think. Use your common sense, the books wouldn't have sold half as well if people knew it was an old Armenian warlock who'd gotten rid of the werewolf infestation. And the witch who got rid of the giants was a squib!"

"So you've just been taking credit for other people's hard work?" said Harry incredulously.

So she was right, oh Hermione would never hear the end of this.

"There was work involved!" he squawked, hands on hips, "I had to hunt down these people, know exactly how they managed it and then cast a very good memory charm."

"YOU OBLIVIATED THEM?" Alex screeched.

Lockhart and the boys winced.

"Well, of course, I couldn't have them blabbing their mouths. Now, I must apologise for this, but I can't have you sharing my secrets around-"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Harry.

"SERPENSORTIA!" shouted Alex.

As Lockhart's wand flew into Harry's hand a colourful viper appeared on the ground, looking expectantly towards Alex.

"...Climb, don't bite..." she hissed at the long serpent.

"Bloody hell, that's terrifying," whispered Ron.

The snake quickly slid up the man's leg and wrapped around his neck as he stood frozen with fear.

"You-you-"

"Cooperate or he bites," Alex snapped, face darkening. "So... will you help us now?"

Lockhart gulped and nodded weakly.

They marched to Myrtle's bathroom. Alexandra went in first.

"Oh, it's you little witch. What do you want?"

"I want to know how you died."

Myrtle had an excited look on her face. Excited?

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall."

Okay so the entrance has got to be nearby.

Lockhart let out a little whimper and the snake coiled tighter around his neck.

"...Don't strangle him... he might be useful" Alex reminded.

"...But he's so stupiddddd...fresh meat..."

Alex hesitated.

"No." Harry said firmly, motioning for Alex to continue with Myrtle.

"-then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then-" she paused dramatically, "- I died."

"How?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," she sighed, floating through a stall, "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes."

"Where exactly?" asked Ron stepping forward.

Myrtle pointed towards a sink. "Somewhere over there,"

The children ran towards the sink, and Lockhart nearly made a dash for the door when the snake hissed, its heavy body wrapping tighter.

"Oh, by the way, if you try and leave, you'll die of the poison from his scales. I've got a bezoar in my robes, leave and you'll never get help in time." said Alex nonchalantly.

"You planned this?" whispered Harry.

"The snake's not actually poisonous, it's only venomous, though I don't think he knows that. The bezoar's for the basilisk."

"Say something to it. In parseltongue," urged Ron.

"Open up," Harry said.

Alex shook her head, English.

"...OPEN NOW."

The tap begun to glow with a bright flash and started spinning. Then the basin slid out of sight, revealing a set of pipes.

"Wait," she said, before the boys jumped down. She put a hand in her robes and took out the clear vial.

"What's that?" asked Ron.

Lockhart gasped, seemingly losing all sense and lunged for the bottle. Alex sidestepped and he went tumbling down the pipes. His yells echoed through until they heard a thump.

"Well, at least we know there's an end." said Harry.

"What's that?" repeated Ron.

"Felix felicis, I got a vial for Christmas. It's liquid luck and very rare."

"Liquid luck, as in?"

"It'll ensure we're not too overpowered."

Alex looked nervous.

"There's only enough for two of us." she said, unbottling the vial and sniffing the liquid.

Ron nodded, "You and Harry should take it."

"What?"

"I'll stay and watch over Lockhart."

Which means you'll probably need it more.

Alex nodded and took a gulp. It tasted like lemon and honey. She handed the remaining to Harry, who shook his head.

"Give it to Ron, if you're with me, I'll be fine."

"We stay together." she said with an air of finality, passing the drink to Ron, who threw the empty container in the bin. They looked down the pipes, it was so dark they could barely see anything.

"Ladies first," whispered Harry.

"Coward." she muttered, shivering as she slid down. She heard the boys follow, and gasped with relief as she landed softly on her feet.

The same could not be said for Harry, who landed awkwardly on his ankle with a loud crack. A broken ankle? Not good. Alex was no mediwitch.

"Mate, you okay?" Ron asked.

"We must be miles under the school," said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel. He slowly rolled his ankle, testing its stability, it was fine.

"Under the lake, probably," said Ron, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls. All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.

"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand and it lit up. "C'mon," he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.

"Remember," Alex warned, "If you see any movement, close your eyes immediately-"

She stopped as she hit a wall. A wall?

A scaly wall?

The viper around Lockhart's neck let out a nervous hiss. Harry aimed his wand toward the wall to reveal shedded snake's skin, dry as sand.

"Blimey," said Ron weakly.

It must've been at least fifteen feet long.

Lockhart's knees gave out.

Ron turned to look at him, dropping his wand in the process and Lockhart jumped at the object.

Harry jumped forward, but it was too late. Lockhart already had possession of the broken wand and had a triumphant smile on his face.

"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!"

He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"

"No!" Alex shrieked, blocking Harry from the spell, and as luck would have it the spell backfired.

The broken wand let out a loud bang as it sent out a mini explosion. There was a low rumble and Harry and Alex ran over piles of shed snake skin as the ceiling collapsed on the other side. A few moments later, the twins were staring at the huge chunks of rock that separated the group.

"RON!" Harry shouted.

"I'm FINE! THE CEILING DIDN'T HIT ME!"

"WHAT ABOUT LOCKHART?" yelled Alex, over the mountain of ceiling.

"THE SPELL HIT HIM! BUT CAN YOU TELL THE SNAKE NOT TO BITE ME? IT LOOKS HUNGRY!"

Alex let out a low laugh, pushing her fringe back with a sweaty palm.

They were all alive.

"Just don't get too close!" she shouted, the rock's had cracks in them and she went to one of them, searching for her friend. "...I'm sorry about the ceiling, please don't bite my friend..."

"...He smells like rat?..."

"I know... I know... he has a pet rat.. you CAN'T EAT HIM OR HIS RAT... understand? Ok once I'm back, I promise you'll get an unlimited supply of rats, okay? Just make sure to NOT eat the boy."

The snake let out a little whine, but curled up on top on Lockhart, docile.

"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through — it'll take ages..."

Alex chewed her lip.

"Ron, RON! Stay here okay? If we're not back within an hour, go back up. Here, I'll cast a tempus charm. Make sure Lockhart doesn't do anything stupid, okay? We'll be back, with Ginny."

Alex swished her wand, conjuring a timer on the other side of the rubble.

"Try and move some of the stone before we get back, yeah?" Harry added, with an assertive tone, but Alex could see his hands shaking.

Ron yelled in agreement and the pair set off down the tunnel.

There were more twists and changes of direction than Alex could count. Suddenly, she felt a lot happier she'd ingested Liquid luck, without it, she was sure she would have passed out by now. She looked at Harry, who seemed to be getting paler by the second.

"I think we're nearly there," said Alex, breaking the silence. She pointed towards a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

Harry nodded silently, however, he didn't make any move to try and open the door.

"...Open." she hissed and she saw the wall slide open.

Take a deep breath.

She held Harry's hand tightly and they walked in, trembling slightly.

For all she wished the tunnel would end, she didn't want to know what came on the other side.