Yo! Thank you to all readers so far!

Harry stared at the parchment in his hands, unsure of what to think. Was this some kind of a cruel joke or something? Cause this definitely sounded like a love letter of all things, and Harry had never gotten one of those before. Ever. Glancing around the Great Hall to check if someone was watching him, he shoved it back into his pocket just as McGonagall approached him.

He listened as the professor rattled off what courses he had been cleared to take, before accepting his timetable and examining it. When he saw he had Potions class, his eyes widened, and then narrowed. Harry knew he had only gotten an E on his Potion's OWL, just as he knew Snape never took NEWT students who received anything lower than an O on their OWLs, which meant-

He glanced up at Dumbledore, scowling inwardly when he saw the old man smiling cheerfully. Interfering bastard.

What was his reasoning though? Why Potions? Because of the whole Auror thing? Was that it? Why was Dumbledore so fixated on him becoming an Auror? Why did it matter to him?

"What do you have first, Harry?" asked Ginny from next to him, leaning in far too close to him and invading his personal space.

Harry clenched his teeth, fighting not to wrinkle his nose at the strong floral scent. "A free period." When she made a questioning sound, he ignored her, aware where this was leading and wanting no part in it.

"Well then, Harry, maybe you could walk me t-"

"I should go talk to Snape," he interrupted, pretending as if he hadn't heard her.

Ron, seated across him stared. "Why would you want to talk to the Bat?" he questioned, eyes wide with disbelief.

Harry raised a brow. "I have Potions," he said, "and I shouldn't."

That seemed to draw Hermione's attention, because she turned to him immediately. "What?"

"I have Potions," Harry repeated, "but I only got an E in OWLs. I guess Dumbledore got me in or something."

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione stressed. "Well, yes, I suppose you should go speak to Professor Snape, especially since you didn't do the homework. I don't want Gryffindor losing points on the first day."

Since when did she start caring so much about House points again? Nodding in agreement, Harry looked over at the Staff Table, then, when he didn't see the Potions Master, over at the Slytherins. Snape was nowhere to be found, so he got to his feet. "Might as well do this now."

"I'll see you in the common room then!" called Ron suddenly. "I've got a free period too!"

Harry shot him a grin over his shoulder that vanished the moment he looked in front of him again. He should have expected he would end up stuck with Ron. They had chosen to take the same classes in their third year for that very reason, though Harry was finally beginning to regret it. While Care of Magical Creatures had been okay (sort of), Divination had been a total waste of time, and in any case, Harry wasn't taking either of those classes this year.

Speaking of wasting time, wasn't he going to be doing that with all the free periods he had? In fact, just today he had three of them! Harry already knew he was actually going to being trying when it came to his classes, and he knew that wasn't going to be all that hard to do. Harry was smart, and he was fully aware of that. It was only because of the Dursleys' reactions, and Hermione's jealously that he had never bothered, but now? Now, he didn't care.

Harry knew that if he tried, his grades would rise easily, and he wouldn't even need all those free periods to catch up on his work. But neither was he planning on using them for sitting around and doing nothing, like Ron, no doubt, would. So what then? Well, he definitely needed to brush up on his Latin. That was one thing he could use that time for. What else?

Occlumency, he realized. He was terrible at it, and he couldn't avoid Dumbledore's gaze forever. This was something he needed-something he had to learn. Snape was the best bet for that, but Harry was reluctant to ask him for help. Not after what had taken place last year. Not after Sirius. Maybe there were some books on the subject in the library? He hadn't bothered with it last time, but it couldn't hurt to look. If it got to a point where he couldn't do anything on this himself, then he would give in and ask Snape for some help. But until then, he would try to learn this on his own.

Harry pulled himself out of his thoughts when he reached the Potions classroom. Lessons were going to begin soon, so it was very likely that Snape was already in here, rather than his office or personal quarters. The door was open, and he poked his head through, spotting Snape seated behind his desk. He knocked on the door frame.

"Enter."

Harry stepped in, trying to push away the perpetual nervousness he always seemed to feel around the man. "Professor?"

Snape looked up. "Mr Potter," he said rather neutrally, glancing around to ensure they were alone.

"I uh, well, I just got my timetable, and noticed I have Potions this year," explained Harry as he walked over to the large desk.

A look of surprise flickered across Snape's face. "I was under the impression that you received an E in your OWLs."

"I did," Harry replied truthfully, "but it seems like the Headmaster really wants me to become an Auror, and approved me for your class anyway."

Snape scowled, clearly not pleased, but then he rubbed his temples with a sigh. "Very well. It seems I have no choice but to accept this. You will attend class as decided, and may share a textbook and ingredients until you get your own. I expect you to place an order immediately."

He probably realized arguing with Dumbledore about this won't get him anywhere. "Yes sir," said Harry with a nod. He had a letter to reply to anyway, so he figured he may as well kill two birds with one stone, and get them done at the same time.

"Have you completed the summer assignment?"

"No, sir." He'd waited on starting his homework until after his OWL results had arrived, and once he'd seen he'd only received an E in Potions, he'd decided against doing the assignment since he'd assumed there would be no point to it.

Snape just nodded at that. "I will not remove points. Hand the assignment in before the end of the week."

"Yes, sir."

Leaving the dungeon classroom, Harry headed up to the Owlery, a little surprised by how...civilized the conversation he'd just had with Snape had been. He had assumed that the discussion from the previous night had gone the way it had because of Draco being present at the time. The fact that he and the professor had managed to speak without cursing one another, or even raising their voices was astounding indeed.

He frowned slightly. Whose side was Snape on? Everyone thought he was a Death Eater, which was technically true, but he was also a member of the Order, because he was a spy, right? Voldemort thought Snape was on his side, and Dumbledore thought Snape was on his side. But did anyone really know for sure? What if Snape wasn't on either side? Or what if he was double-or rather, triple agent? There really was no telling.

Harry ceased his pondering when he reached the Owlery, and peered around for Hedwig, just to make sure she was there. Spotting her white feathers immediately, he sighed softly, used a quick cleaning charm on a spot on the floor by the back wall near the window, and sank down, pulling parchment, a quill, and an inkwell out of his bag.

Harry first wrote a quick letter to the owner of Flourish and Blotts and the Apothecary, requesting the required textbook and ingredients for sixth year, along with how they could get the money from the Goblins and his vault. With that task quickly accomplished, he had to turn his attention back to the...love letter he had received earlier.

Frowning, Harry pulled it out to read through again. How could he possibly respond to this? What should he say? Should he even reply? It would be rather rude if he didn't, right? But, did he want to encourage any of this? He scanned it again.

The writer was a male, and there must have been quite an age gap between them, judging by his choice in wording. He had attended Hogwarts, and had been a Slytherin. He didn't like playing Quidditch, but didn't mind watching and did enjoy flying, and had more than one pet. He seemed to only know what the general public did about him, but considered him to be strong and beautiful, and claimed to know he was hiding behind a mask.

Harry's frown deepened. He didn't really have a problem that a man was writing to him, since he had learned from Cedric Diggory in third year that girls did nothing for him. He also didn't mind that it was an older man, as he had learned from Bill Weasley. Harry had never actually been in any sort of relationship with them though, he'd just been interested in them. He didn't even mind that the writer was someone who had been in Slytherin. He wasn't so prejudiced that he would hate someone for that. At least, not anymore-not since he had smartened up.

So then, what was the problem here? Perhaps it was the fact that someone was actually interested in him. Harry was getting the feeling that this person didn't want to learn more about Harry Potter. It seemed more like he wanted to learn about him-Harry. Just Harry. But...that was probably just wishful thinking. After all, when was the last time anyone had cared about Harry, rather than Harry Potter?

Harry sighed deeply, making a decision. He wasn't going to write back. Not yet. He would wait for another letter. If the second letter (if it ever arrived), was anything like the first, then he would take the chance and reply. But not this time. The writer could have been anyone, even an enemy or a reporter, for all he knew. People were always trying to get to Harry Potter.

No, he would wait...

First day of classes was more than a little irritating, and that was mostly because of the three free periods Harry had ended up spending with Ron. Though Hermione's attitude in class hadn't done anything to help him either, and neither had Ginny's over lunch. Harry couldn't have been more glad for Neville's presence.

As soon as his final class finished, Harry attempted to escape from the others, wondering where he could go where they wouldn't be able to find him. The Room of Requirement was always an option, but he knew if he didn't phrase it right, then they would still be able to find him there, and he really didn't want to risk that right now.

The only other place he could think of was the Chamber of Secrets, but that Basilisk corpse, and that cave in... It was still worth checking out though, wasn't it? If it gave him the privacy he needed, he could at least see if there was anything he could do. Maybe there were multiple ways in and out of the Chamber or something? He certainly didn't always want to deal with Myrtle, and it would get him around the cave in too. The Basilisk was another story though.

Returning to Gryffindor Tower, Harry rushed up to the boy's dorm, and fished out his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders' Map, deciding it would be best if he kept them on him from now on, just in case.

With classes only having just finished, most students were still on their way back to their Common Rooms. Harry was quick to do what he needed and leave, before the three he was trying to avoid showed up. Ron in particular was always the first to come back, since he could relax for the rest of the day-until Hermione forced him to do his homework, at least.

Leaving the Tower, Harry hid behind a tapestry that had a secret passage, and pulled on his Cloak before checking the Map. Myrtle's bathroom and the hallway it was in were both deserted. Well, that made things a little easier.

He made his way over, weaving around passing students, ignored the weeping ghost who didn't notice him, hissed out the password, and then slid down the pipe, closing the entrance behind him as he did so. He landed hard and awkwardly, causing him to wince at that strange electric shock type feel in his ankle, and shook it off while getting to his feet.

Pulling out his wand, he began walking down the passage, pausing when he made it to the cave in. The hole Ron had made was still there, and he leaned down to examine it. It wasn't particularly big, but it wasn't all that small either. He'd definitely grown since back then, but if he was slow and careful, Harry was sure he could make it through.

He was only just able to get past this obstacle and released a sigh of relief, before freezing in place. How was he going to get back out? Not the cave in, but the pipe? Fawkes wasn't here to fly him up the thing this time. Oh dear. Harry sighed again, and shrugged absently. He would figure that out when he got to that point.

Harry continued on, hissing out passwords when needed, and eventually reached the main chamber-the one where he had encountered Diary Tom.

The basilisk corpse was still there, and Harry, who had been expecting the scent of rotting snake, was pleasantly surprised to find that the beast appeared to have only just died. Was there a preservation charm on the chamber itself? That was pretty useful, huh?

He approached the creature, and knelt down next to its massive head. There really wasn't anything he could do about this, but maybe if Snape kept being decently kind to him, he would let him harvest what he needed for potion ingredients. Even he knew how rare these things were.

Straightening up, Harry wandered the chamber, examining his surroundings carefully, which had hadn't had the chance to do before. Soon enough, he neared the statue of Salazar Slytherin, the one the basilisk had come out of when Tom had called it. Should he open it? There didn't seem to be anything else around, so...

He repeated the phrase Tom had said, and then stood back, watching cautiously as the mouth opened. He was worried about there being a second basilisk, but he couldn't hear any sort of movement from within the darkness. Hesitating slightly, he stepped through, lighting his wand as he went.

It was another passage rather than a room, and was quite large, though that was to be expected. He followed it curiously, walking until he reached a dead end. He frowned.

Dark brows burrowed, green eyes focused on the stone wall in contemplation. Was this really a dead end? The Chamber of Secrets wasn't on the Marauders' Map, for obvious reasons, so Harry didn't know for sure. If there really was nothing else here, then the Chamber was actually pretty small, wasn't it? Still impressive, of course, but small.

Reaching out, Harry touched the wall with his left hand. It was smooth, cool, and slightly damp, but felt like a completely normal stone wall. He tapped it with his wand a few times, whispering in Parseltongue, but nothing happened.

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four," he repeated on a hunch.

The words took effect immediately, and the wall dissolved right before his eyes. Wand at the ready, Harry stepped through, and the room beyond had him freezing on the spot. It looked like a massive library.

There were shelves upon shelves of books, a handful of seating options, and a large desk made out of some sort of dark wood. The room was lit with many torches. Harry walked to the middle of the room and paused in place, head turning this way and that as he took in what he was seeing.

"Looks more like a study than a library," he muttered to himself. And it certainly did, with that desk there. A little more curious about the books though, he approached the nearest shelf, and looked closely at what was written on the leather spines, careful not to touch anything at first.

A lot of the titles didn't look like they were in English. He recognized the Latin, and what he thought may have been French, and even some languages he was sure were from the east. And there was another that caught his eye, a title, that at first glance, appeared to have been written in odd squiggles. When he looked closer, he found that he could read and understand the squiggly lines perfectly.

Harry blinked. "What the...?" It didn't take him long to figure it out. Eyes widening, he took a step back, looking around again. This was in the Chamber of Secrets. A space that had been created by Salazar Slytherin. He spoke Parseltongue. Every language had to have a written version, right? Did Parseltongue have that too? Was this book, with the title he could read despite it clearly being bizarre squiggles, written in the tongue of serpents?

Suddenly feeling eager he reached out for the book, only to stop himself just as quickly. Could he touch anything in here without getting cursed or hexed? He was a Gryffindor, and from what he'd learned, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor hadn't exactly gotten along all that well. Would that somehow affect what he, as a member of Gryffindor House, was able to do and not do down here? Harry wondered if Voldemort had ever found this place. He was sure he had, but Diary Tom had never mentioned anything, so there was no way for him to know.

Perhaps it would be best if he looked for another way out first. It wouldn't be that suspicious if he didn't show his face in the Common Room or dorm, since he was known to wander at odd times, but he didn't want to draw the attention of the professors too much just yet.

There were no obvious ways out at first glance, but Harry didn't let that deter him. The entrance from the main chamber had been hidden, so he didn't doubt that any others would be too. Frankly, it would be suspicious if it wasn't. Of course, that posed the problem of where exactly it was.

The room was huge. It was going to take ages to find anything in here, let alone a hidden exit. Feeling slightly frustrated, Harry reached up to rub his brow, head cocking as he debated on where to start.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? It has been many a year since I last welcomed a student into my former study."

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!