Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

Harry sighed and rested his head on his knees. He run into Myrtle's bathroom and after opening the chamber, jumped down in without a thought, not caring about what could be down there. All he wanted to do was escape. He had gone down some sort of slide, and then ventured in. There had been a door with a serpent symbol and he had been able to open it, going inside a large room. Inside was dark, dreary and wet and the chamber was cold and he wished he had a blanket or another jumper. But he wasn't leaving. He didn't want to face anyone, especially his dad. He didn't want to hear that his dad...no, that Professor Snape...didn't want him anymore. What will happen to me? He worried. He suddenly had a horrible thought. What if he had to go back to the Dursley's? What if he was un-adopted? It had been so long since he had seen his relatives and there was no way they would welcome him back. He certainly didn't want to go back, he would rather live here in the Chamber. Tears fell down his cheeks. He wanted to live with his dad but now his dad had Draco. The smart son who was an official Slytherin, he thought miserably. It would be like living with Dudley all over again. Draco would do no wrong in his dad and Narcissa's eyes and Harry would be blamed for everything.

Harry wiped his eyes and shivered as he glanced around the dark room. There were so many snake patterns. He was gazing at one as he spoke to himself. "Why didn't my dad tell me he hated my parents? Why did he adopt me if he did?" Harry tried to remember any conversations about his parents with his dad and only remembered being told how they died. His dad never mentioned how he felt about them personally and Harry had never thought to ask. Suddenly he heard a noise and jumped to his feet, fumbling for his wand. "Lumos," He whispered. "Who's there?"

"Master?"

Harry's mouth dropped open as a huge, very huge, bright green snake slithered out. He jumped back, getting as far away as he could. "Who – what are you?" He whispered.

"A Basilisk, Master." The snake sounded confused, keeping its head lowered.

"I'm not your Master," Harry said, tentatively taking a step forward. "Why do you keep your head down?"

"Looking into my eyes will kill you, Master," The Basilisk hissed. "It's how I kill for you."

Harry gasped. "You – kill – you don't kill for me! I would never ask you to do that! I would never ask anyone to do that!"

"Master did before," The basilisk sounded confused again.

"Before..." Harry whispered. Voldemort! It had to be! So the chamber had been opened before. "He's gone. He's been dead for years."

"Oh. But you speak as he did."

Harry paused for a moment. Oh. The Parseltongue. "Yeah, I speak the same language as uh, your master but I'm not like him. I don't want to hurt anybody, or have you hurt anybody."

"Then I won't."

"Really?" Harry asked with relief.

"You are my new master now."

"Uh," Harry wasn't sure what to say. "Well, I'll have to see what my dad wants to -" He stopped and rush of sadness ran threw him.

"What is wrong?"

"I think...I don't have a family anymore," Harry said sadly. "My dad doesn't want me."

"I am sorry. I also have no family."

Harry felt bad for the snake. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you are taken care of."

"Thank you."

"I guess I should go back up but I don't want to," Harry sighed. "I don't want to face anyone yet."

"Then don't."

Harry almost smiled. Seemed so simple when the Basilisk said it. "Yeah, I think I'll wait. So, what's your name?"

"I do not know."

"Hmm," Harry sat back down on the floor, drawing his knees up. "Well, according to the story you were brought here by Salazar Slytherin...he apparently wasn't a very good person but...maybe Sals? Or Sally?" Harry tilted his head in thought. "Salina?" Was the Basilisk female or male?

"Salina is nice."

"Good," Harry yawned, feeling emotionally exhausted. He found himself leaning against Salina and soon falling asleep.

HP

Narcissa paced back and forth in Severus's office, worried beyond belief. She had been appalled to find out all that had been going on and had lectured Draco soundly, who sat quiet and chastised in the chair. She realized she was at fault as well, she had spoiled Draco over the years. She hadn't made sure he felt secure in how much she and Severus loved him, that there was no competition between him and Harry. Loving Harry didn't take away any of her love for Draco. She had failed both her boys.

Severus entered, looking pale and stressed.

"Severus, where is he?" Narcissa immediately asked.

"No one knows," Severus shut his eyes. "There is a map that shows all the locations in the castle and most of the grounds. It shows everyone's name and Harry isn't anywhere on the map."

"He left the grounds?" Narcissa asked in horror.

"He must have," Severus said in frustration. How could Harry have thought leaving the castle was a good idea? No matter how upset he was, he had to know Severus would be worried out of his mind. "I am going with Albus to look. I wanted to let you know."

"I'm coming with you," Narcissa said. She turned to Draco, who looked visibly upset. "Dragon, I want you to go to your dorm room and stay there, all right? We will discuss this more later."

"I could help look," Draco offered.

"Thank you Draco, but the other professors and ghosts are searching the castle, just in case," Severus said. "Go to your dorm. We'll let you know when Harry has been found. Then the four of us need to spend some time together and talk things through."

Narcissa nodded in agreement. "Go on, Draco."

Draco sighed and got up to leave. He walked down the corridor and was about to turn when he caught sight of Ron and Hermione. Without a thought he hurried to catch up to them. "Do you have any idea where he could be?"

Hermione looked at the blonde in surprise but Ron glared at him. "What do you care?"

"I care, all right?" Draco snapped. "I was a prat, I know. I thought...it doesn't matter what I thought. Right now, I need to find him."

"Why?" Ron asked stubbornly.

"Because he's going to be my brother, my family!" Draco said. "I was wrong, I was jealous of him. But I do care about him and I need to make sure he is okay. I'm his older brother, after all."

"You're only older by a little over a month," Ron scoffed, but his expression softened a bit.

"Older is older," Draco insisted.

"We don't know where he could be," Hermione said. "He's not on the map."

"I heard about that. What exactly is this map?"

Hermione explained and Draco was impressed. "So it shows all the secret passageways?"

Hermione shrugged. "Pretty sure. It shows everything, the classrooms, the Great Hall, the dorms, the -" She paused.

"Even outside, unless Harry went deep into the forest," Ron said.

"He wouldn't do that, would he?" Draco asked in alarm.

"I don't know," Ron said in frustration. He noticed Hermione's expression. "What is it?"

Hermione smacked herself on the forehead. "The Chamber! That wouldn't be on the map since no one knew about it!"

"Merlin, we are so stupid," Ron breathed. "He has to be there!"

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Draco asked in surprise. "It's real?" Understanding filled his eyes. "Is that what you guys were whispering about earlier?"

Hermione nodded. "Harry found it. He's the only who can open it because he is a Parselmouth!"

"Where is it?" Draco demanded.

"The second floor girls' lavatory," Hermione said. "The one Moaning Myrtle haunts."

"Find an adult to tell," Draco instructed. "I'm going to the Chamber."

"Why you?"

"Because I need to apologize to him! I need to talk to him," Draco said. "Let me fix this." He pleaded.

"What if he is not there?" Ron asked.

"Either way, someone should know about the Chamber. After all, it's rumored that a monster -" Draco paled. "If the Chamber is real then maybe the monster is real!"

"Harry," Hermione whispered, looking scared.

"Go! Find someone!" Draco took off in a run.

HP

Draco ran into the girls' lavatory and stopped, gaping at the hole in the ground.

"Excuse me, this is a girls lavatory," Moaning Myrtle snapped as she floated in front of him.

"I know that," Draco said. "Do you know Harry Potter? Did he go down there?"

Moaning Myrtle nodded. "Foolish boy, he just jumped down." She brightened. "If he dies, he can share my toilet!"

"He's not going to die!" Draco snapped and then jumped down the tunnel. "And if he did, he would have better things to do than hang around a toilet!" He shouted as he slid down.

Moaning Myrtle gasped. "How rude!"

HP

Harry had been dozing when he suddenly was nudged by Salina.

"Someone is here."

"What?" Harry jumped to his feet. Had his friends figured out where he was? Had they told his dad ? His mouth dropped open when he saw who it actually was. "Draco?"

"Harry! You're okay!" Draco said in relief. He froze when he saw the Basilisk. "The Chamber monster," He whispered. He got out his wand. "Run Harry, I'll cover you!"

"No! She's not a danger to me!" Harry stood protectively in front of Salina. "Honest. She was used for bad things in the past but she herself isn't bad."

"She's a Basilisk, I've read about them before and -" Draco rushed forward and grabbed Harry's arm, turning them both away from Salina. "Don't look into her eyes! It'll kill you instantly!"

Harry gave him a bemused look. "I know that. She warned me, that's why she looks down. She doesn't want to hurt anyone."

Draco looked doubtful before focusing back on Harry. "Why are you down here? Everyone is looking for you!" He scolded.

Harry met his gaze. "I don't want to see anyone. Especially my dad. And, well, you."

Draco sighed. "He's really worried," He said softly. "So is my mom. So was I."

Harry frowned. "Why? You hate me and your mum probably only pretends to like me and my dad regrets..." His throat tightened and he looked away.

"I was wrong, okay? I was being a git," Draco said, feeling ashamed. "I was jealous of you." He finally admitted.

Harry stared at him in surprise. "Jealous of me?" He asked incredulously. "What in Merlin's name for?"

"Are you kidding? The boy-who-lived?" Draco said resignedly. "You're a hero, you're famous! How can I live up to that?"

"You think being famous for something I can't remember is fun? I hate it! People point and stare trying to see my scar, and I don't always know if they are friends with me because they actually like me or because of my so called fame."

Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "I never thought about it like that before," He said finally. "I feel inferior to you, you break rules and get rewarded! You take on a troll, get to play Quidditch, can speak a rare language... you get all the attention!"

Harry laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, mostly negative attention! Remember Quirrell? He wanted to kill me for...for merely being alive! And my dad was mad at me about the troll, and compared me to you, the one who obeys the rules. He's always praising you in potions and meanwhile I just keep getting into trouble and having everyone gossip about me. He probably just can't deal with it, all the drama I bring," Harry said unhappily.

Before Draco could respond they could hear shouting and turned towards the entrance.

"Harry? Draco? Are you in here?" Severus rushed in, Narcissa right behind him along with Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Merlin!" McGonagall gasped when she saw the Basilisk.

"Don't anyone look it in the eyes!" Dumbledore said, brandishing his wand.

"Don't hurt her!" Harry yelled, quickly standing in front of the Basilisk. "She won't look at anyone. She doesn't want to hurt anyone."

Dumbledore hesitated.

Severus grabbed Harry into a fierce hug. "Harry, Harry," He muttered into his hair. "I was so scared, so worried. Why are you here? You had to know I would be frantic!"

"I didn't know if you would care," Harry murmured, hugging his dad back.

Severus held him for several moments before pulling back and kneeling down so he could look his son in the eye. He felt a mixture of frustration that Harry could think that and guilt that he had caused him to feel that way. "Harry, how could you possibly think that?"

"You took points for a fight I didn't start and called me a bully," Harry said, hurt filling his eyes.

"Harry -"

Narcissa touched Severus's arm gently, her other arm around Draco. "Perhaps we should get the boys out of here?" She suggested. "They need to get dry and warm and then we can all talk."

Severus nodded.

"What about Salina?" Harry asked.

Severus blinked. "Who is Salina?"

Harry gestured to the Basilisk. "She's not evil or anything. I think she was used to do bad things before, by Voldemort, but she won't hurt anyone again. I said we would take care of her. She's all alone."

"Harry," Severus shook his head.

"Tell her we will figure out what would be best for her but she is to stay here," Dumbledore announced. "I will ask Hagrid to throw down some food for her." Now that he knew there was a chamber housing a creature that had been used to hurt students before, he couldn't let her stay here for long. He would need to think of something to do with her.

"Thank you," Harry smiled and told Salina what he said.

"Now, I do believe we will need assistance out of here," Dumbledore said and a moment later Fawkes came swooping in.

TBC: