Hi there! Yes, I'm still alive and well.

I'd like to apologize for my absence as of late. I just had a spell where I couldn't figure out what I was writing next, and then a friend of mine got me interested in Star Wars, which I've been obsessing over ever since. Anyway, I'm back now. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I know a lot of you have been waiting for it.


After a summer spent, for once not with the Malfoy's, but with the Riddle's, Tom and Hermione returned for their seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Unlike the six previous years, this year wasn't so much a repeat for Hermione, being the first time she took her seventh year. Everything she experienced this year would be new and unpredictable. Though, she wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

There was so much to do this year. Not only had she been made Head Girl this year, bringing new responsibilities with it, but she would be taking her N.E.W.T.s, meaning that she would have to put in extra hours of studying to prepare herself. She would need to achieve at least Exceeds Expectations in all her classes, especially potions and alchemy if she wished to pursue a career in such.

In addition, Tom felt that the Knights of Walpurgis were just about ready to initiate their plan. Abraxas had been closely monitoring his father's thoughts all summer, keeping tabs on Grindelwald. According to what Abraxas had heard, Grindelwald was located at his fortress, Nurmengard, in Austria. Tom and the knights were currently in the process of trying to come up with an infallible strategy to grant them victory.

Feeling the lack of friendly companionship that came with Druella's absence, Hermione had started spending a bit more time with Hera. It wasn't the same, Hera being a year behind her, but it was still better than nothing, and she could honestly say that she liked Hera. She was pleasant to be around, and didn't gush over her boyfriend constantly like Rosaline.

With everything that was going on, Hermione felt as if she was being pulled in a dozen directions, without even a moment to just sit and relax. The feeling was reminiscent of when she used the time turner back in her original third year to take so many classes. At least she no longer had to put up with Antonin Dolohov on a daily basis. He, along with Evan and Raphael, had returned home, and wouldn't be back until Christmas, when they planned to enact their plan.

"Have you been to see Druella and the baby lately?" Hera asked.

Hermione nodded. "I went with Cygnus and Tom to visit them last week," she explained. "Bella is growing so fast. It's hard to believe that she's already almost five months old."

Hera squealed with delight. "She sounds so adorable! I can't wait until Abraxas and I are married and have children of our own."

Hermione stifled a giggle. It wasn't all that difficult for her to imagine, seeing as she had met not only their future son, but their grandson as well. She tried to imagine a baby Lucius, dressed in those ridiculous frilly baby clothes that Purebloods made their children wear, with his pointed nose and a haughty look about his face. It made for an amusing visual.

"What about you and Tom?"

"Well, I don't know about Tom, but personally I'm not in any hurry," Hermione told her. "I'd like to travel and establish myself within a career for a while before I consider settling down."

"I quite agree with you there, love."

Hermione jumped, not only at the sound of his voice, but the feeling of his arms winding their way around her waist. She turned her head to find Tom standing there behind her.

"Tom! You scared me!"

Tom chuckled, a cheeky expression on his face. "Forgive me. That was not my intention."

She rolled her eyes. Yeah right, she thought. She knew him well enough to know that was exactly what he was intending.

"Carrow, would you mind terribly if I stole my girlfriend from you for a while?" he asked.

"Not at all," Hera said with a giggle. "I'll catch up with you later Hermione."

Waving back to them, she took off down the corridor.

Tom wasted almost no time in pulling her away from the steady traffic of students, hugging her even closer to him. Bending down, he began to kiss her neck. Hermione couldn't help but let out a small moan of pleasure, despite her own mortification at the looks some of the passing students were giving them.
"Tom, people are staring," she pointed out.

"I'm Head Boy. I can do whatever I want." Tom said. "Besides, I'm not ashamed to let the whole school know that you're mine."

Needless to say, she made no further attempt to stop him.

It was a good few more minutes before he released her from his arms, having quenched his desire for the moment. Turning her around to face him, he brought a hand up to touch the spot on her neck that he had previously been kissing.

She winced slightly at the touch. Oh great, she thought, rolling her eyes. She couldn't see it herself, but she was fairly certain that he had given her a love bite.

"I take it you didn't send Hera away just for that."

He shook his head. "I want to show you something."

She raised a brow at that. "What is it?"

Taking hold of her hand, he began to lead her away in the opposite direction. Curious as to where he was taking her, she followed without hesitation as he led her down several floors to the second floor, eventually coming to a stop in front of the strangest possible place.

"Why are we in front of the girl's bath-"

Her eyes widened all of a sudden as it dawned on her. This wasn't just any ordinary bathroom. But, wait… How and when had he managed to discover it? She was pretty sure that Tom wouldn't just waltz into the girls bathroom and stumble across it by accident. No… He must have found out some other way.

"Trust me, it's not what you think," he assured her, tugging her along as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

To make sure that no one was hidden inside, Hermione quickly went and checked all of the stalls. When she was certain that they were truly alone, she went back to Tom, who cast a quick locking charm on the bathroom door before turning to stand in front of the sinks.

"Do you remember when we read about a hidden chamber that Salazar Slytherin had built in the school?"

Hesitantly she nodded her head. Of course she remembered. She had hoped that if she discouraged his interest in it, passing it off as nothing more than a myth, that he would forget about it, but that clearly hadn't happened.

"It's not a legend after all. It's true, and this is the entrance to it."

Taking a step back, he began to speak in Parseltongue.

"Eeesssss ssssith sssssssseeeh sssssissssss."

Before her very eyes, the tap began to glow brightly, causing her to squint, as it began to spin out of control. Then, the entire sink began to move, sinking down into the floor, revealing a large pipe hidden behind it.

Hermione held her breath. She had only ever heard about the chamber and it's passageway, seeing as she was petrified when Harry and Ron first discovered it, so this was all quite new to her. They hadn't exactly gone into much detail about their experience down there, aside from the fact that there was a giant Basilisk down there.

The thought made her gulp.

"W-What's down there?" she asked. "Is it… safe?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "It's perfectly safe so long as you're with me."

Tom took a step towards it, grasping the edge of the pipe as he pulled his legs inside and swung himself inside. He soon slid down and out of sight.

Hermione couldn't deny that she was wary. She didn't like the idea of following him down there, but at the same time, she was curious as to what he was doing down there. After a few moments, she convinced herself to go, if only to keep an eye on Tom. She only hoped that it wouldn't end in her being petrified again… or worse…

With a deep breath, she slid down after Tom, holding her skirt down so that it wouldn't fly up.

At first it was terrifying, not to mention that the pipe was smelly and slimy, but once that wore off, she found that it was actually surprisingly fun. It kind of reminded her of the water slide her and her dad had gone on together when she was younger. Of course, this slide was considerably longer, as it seemed to go on forever and branched off in multiple directions.

For a moment, she wondered whether they would be able to find their way out again. Would they have to climb all the way back up the pipe? She didn't relish the thought. Climbing had never been one of her strong suits.

The matter was soon forgotten about, as she finally reached the bottom, landing straight in a puddle with a thud.

Tom, who had already cast Lumos, stepped into view, holding out a hand to help her up. "Are you alright?"

She nodded her head, wiping the slime off her hands on the side of her uniform. "Promise me you won't make a habit of taking me on dates down here."

He chuckled. "It's not very romantic, is it?"

"No, it isn't."

The two of them started off into the dark tunnel. Hermione stuck close to Tom, not wanting to get separated from him. Unlike her, he seemed to actually know where he was going, meaning that he had probably journeyed down at least once before. When he had managed to do this was beyond her.

After at least a dozen bends, they reached the end of the tunnel, coming upon a wall with two two entwined serpents carved into it.

Stepping up to it, Tom proceeded to speak in Parseltongue once more.

The wall gave way almost at once. Hermione's eyes widened as she caught sight of a vast chamber, lined with stone pillars engraved with yet more serpents, rising up to support a ceiling that could not be seen.

This was it…

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets."

Tom strode inside, as if there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about the place, while Hermione couldn't help but stare at it, taking in every inch of it before slowly following him in.

"What do you think?"

Words failed her. She didn't know how to respond. She didn't know what to think. It was impressive, that much was sure, but at the same time, there was something ominous about the chamber. The air was thick with dark magic, so much so that it seemed stifling. She could sense that this chamber had witnessed more than its fair share of dangerous spells.

"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."

Her focus snapped to that of the giant statue at the far end of the chamber. Tom hissed out a few more words in Parseltongue, and the mouth of the statue, which she assumed to be of Salazar Slytherin, began to open.

Hermione shut her eyes tightly, her body frozen in place with fear. She could hear a different hissing now, blending with Tom's. They were communicating with one another. She could hear the Basilisk slithering against the floor, sounding as if it was coming closer.

It's alright. I'm alright, she thought. Tom was there with her. He wouldn't let the basilisk hurt her. He alone could control the beast. He would call it off if he thought she was in danger. Tom will keep me safe… I know he will… I trust him...

"You can open your eyes," she heard Tom say, feeling his hand take hold of hers again. "I've commanded him not to look at you."

I trust him…

She opened only one eye at first, testing it to see if what he said was true. She could see the scaly body of the enormous snake standing before her. After a few moments, she opened her other eye as well. The basilisk began to lower his head then, until it was level with her. Just as Tom had said, the basilisk kept it's eyes averted so as not to look directly at her.

Raising a brow, she glanced over at Tom, who stood at her side. "What does he want?"

"Only to be your friend. He acknowledges you as his mistress."

Hermione blinked. "Mistress?"

Tom nodded. "Of course. You are his mistress and I am his master."

The basilisk considered her as his mistress? She didn't quite know how to feel about that. In a way, it could be a good thing. At least she knew he wouldn't try to kill her. The only drawback was that she couldn't effectively communicate with him. Only Tom could do that.

"Well then, I'm going to have to learn how to speak Parseltongue," she claimed. "Not only would it allow me to understand him, but then I could understand you as well."

"I suppose I can try to teach you, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to."

She understood what he meant. Parseltongue wasn't generally a language that was learned. It was an ability that certain people were born with. Still, Hermione liked to think that it wasn't impossible to learn. She would have to do some research into it.

Letting go of her hand, Tom returned to the basilisk. He hissed something, to which the basilisk seemed to nod. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial, which he uncorked before slipping his hand into the basilisk's mouth and holding it under one of many giant fangs. Venom began to drip out from the end, filling the vial to the top.

She eyed the newly-filled vial in question as he stuffed the cork back in and slid it back into his pocket. "What's that for?"

"Just a concoction I'm working on," he said with a smirk. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'll show you the way out."

Hermione got the feeling that there was more to it than that, but decided not to question him on it for the moment. She was just relieved that he hadn't unleashed the basilisk on anyone… or at least, she didn't think he had. Surely she would have heard about it if he had. Either way, she was more than ready to get out of there and rid herself of the smell and grime that came with traipsing through the plumbing.