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Chapter 25- In the Chamber
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"Kids, eh?" Sirius broke the silence.
The three of them, Sirius, Remus and Albus had been sitting in the office for near on ten full minutes in silent contemplation. That Hermione girl was really quite brilliant. And now that it was pointed out what the beast was and how they'd discovered it and its location, it all seemed so logical.
There was a Basilisk below the school.
He was not keen on the idea of Harry having to go down in that tunnel with them, but he would be their best advantage. Save for the roosters of course.
"Hagrid should come with us." Sirius told Albus.
The old man was still in deep concentration and nodded absently. It had been a very long time since Albus Dumbledore had needed to be the great leader of the light as he had been in the last two wars. It was understandable that he had made mistakes and oversights. It seemed he was having trouble dealing with all these facts coming together.
"I'm not happy that Hermione Granger has insisted on coming down there." Remus murmured.
"It is her right though." Sirius offered.
"I am thinking about just how delicate this matter is." Albus told them. "If this gets out, then there is a chance that the remaining Death Eaters that managed to keep themselves out of prison will take interest. It might lead them to remember their misguided views that Voldemort had spewed and search for him." He warned.
"You want to keep this quiet, like with the Horcruxes." Remus nodded in understanding.
"Well, if there is a Basilisk down there then we have the answer to how to get rid of the damned things." Sirius commented.
Remus let out an astounded huff of laughter. "Yes, looks like you'll be keeping your gold."
"Excuse me?" Albus asked imploringly.
"Basilisk Venom would certainly be able to do the job of 'killing' the pieces of soul." Sirius explained.
"Problem was that we didn't think we'd ever be able to track any down." Remus added.
Albus peered at the two of them, the gears turning in his head. "I would like some more time to try and transfer the soul fragments out."
"How much more time?" Sirius asked in irritation. "It's been two months now, have you come any closer to discovering a method?"
Dumbledore sighed. "No." he admitted. "But there is more reason behind my desire to find a method than to simply preserve our founder's history."
Sirius exchanged a look with Remus then. He hadn't mentioned anything about this to them in their meetings, only that they were priceless relics. He was always keeping a few cards up his sleeve and it was past the point of irritating. "Why then?"
He touched his fingers together in front of him and brought them to his lips for a moment. "It has to do with the prophesy."
"Again, with the bloody prophesy." Sirius burst out. "Isn't it over? Hasn't it been fulfilled the night that bastard killed our best friend?"
Albus raised a hand to attempt to calm him. "Not if we believe that he is still alive. We do believe that he is, yes? After what we have all witnessed?"
"We do." Remus said slowly, letting his friend continue to fume.
"Because of the wording of the prophesy I believe that Voldemort himself made it self fulfilling with the portion of it that he heard, however there is part that he did not hear, and it is what is leading me to believe that-." He cut himself off, having trouble saying the words out loud. "I believe he may have made a living Horcrux."
"So, you were wanting to get practice with transferring the Horcruxes before attempting it on the living Horcrux." Remus nodded his head in understanding.
Sirius meanwhile was feeling ice pour through his veins. He'd read all he could about curses and dark magic in the search for a way to transfer the soul fragments. Something like that would leave a mark on a person. Knowing what they did about Tom Riddle he wouldn't have placed something so important to himself in another being, so it would have been an accident. One having to do with the prophesy. "Oh God." he sighed in defeat and leaned forward and put his face in his hands.
"Yes. I'm sorry Sirius. It is still a theory. But it was beginning to be more likely with every Horcrux we found. And at the point that he would have been less stable by that point."
He just wanted to be a dog again. Just be a dog and spend his days running around the Burrow and sleeping in front of the fire. Everything had been so simple. Yes, he'd been an escaped convict that was a man trapped as a dog, but life had been easy.
"You mean Harry?" Remus croaked, catching on.
Albus nodded. "His scar, the way that Voldemort had vanished right after. And... Lily."
"What do you mean 'and Lily'?" Remus asked.
"Voldemort had not meant to kill her that night. She was supposed to have been spared, but she sacrificed herself to try and save her son."
Sirius and Remus exchanged startled looks. "How do you know that?" Sirius asked harshly.
"The one that had overheard the prophesy. He had asked for his Lord to spare her when he found out whom the prophesy might have been referring to." Albus told them sadly. "She-."
"This Death Eater asked that LILY be saved? Not James or Harry. Just Lily. And he didn't bother trying to warn them. Just asked that Lily be saved." Sirius was gripping the arm rests. Albus didn't confirm nor deny. Sirius didn't need him to. There was only one supposedly reformed Death Eater that would have fought to have her saved. One sniveling, slimy, greasy bastard that would have asked that a' measly Mudblood' be saved from death.
"I'm going to kill him." Remus stood with him and had to grab his arm to stop him from heading out the door. Sirius was only seeing red. This was all because of some damned prophesy and that bastard Severus Snape. "I wish you had killed him that night." He growled at Remus.
The shock and horror on Remus' face was enough to calm him down. His friend took a step back from him as though he'd just been slapped.
"No. Remus, no. I'm sorry. I'm just." He was devastated and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Still after fifteen years it would tear him up inside every time he remembered what it was like to find out that his best friends had been murdered. But though he would have loved to go and strangle Snivellus right then he hadn't meant he wanted his best friend to turn into a killer. It had been one of his biggest regrets, to have acted so impetuously.
Remus hadn't talked to him for over a month when he'd found out, nor had James.
Sirius managed to sit back in his chair in shame.
"Is that why you kept him here? He came to you as well to try and save her?" Remus asked Albus.
Albus nodded. "He was too late though. As soon as he came to me, I went to Godric's Hollow. That was the reason I was the first on the scene."
"And you've been harboring him ever since." Sirius scowled at him.
"He has seen the error of his ways." the old man defended. "It was because of Lily that he turned against everything Voldemort stood for."
"Too. Late." Sirius bit out.
"We were all too late." Remus hung his head.
"How do we find out?" Sirius asked. "About whether Harry has..." He trailed off as it hit him. "He can speak Parseltongue." He closed his eyes and sat back as he let it wash over him.
Albus allowed them the time they needed to come to terms with this. Let them understand just how important it was that they find out how to transfer the Horcruxes. And why using a Dementor was absolutely off the table.
"We can still use the Basilisk venom." Remus said. "Once we figure out how to transfer the Horcruxes, we can use the Basilisk venom to destroy them then."
Sirius squared his shoulders. They would find a way. They had to.
Albus nodded. "And now, may we begin to plan how we intend to deal with the hidden chamber?" he waited for their nod. "I do believe bringing Hagrid with us would be a good idea. He has the most experience dealing with dangerous creatures, and he is able to keep a secret. Do you two trust him with this?" he asked with bright eyes.
"Yes." Remus answered for the both of them. "Can he use a broom though?" Remus wondered aloud.
Albus inclined his head. "He does have a family sized broom that he has needed to use on rare occasions. He can handle it well enough to follow us down. He will be able to supply the roosters as well."
"Sirius and I have some experience with cartography." Remus mentioned. "We will want to map out this chamber after. Search for hidden rooms and such."
Albus' eyebrows raised in question. "You have experience with cartography?"
It was that that helped Sirius calm down slightly. Mapping the castle and secret passageways had been a lot of work and a very rewarding experience. Creating the map has been an incredible feat on its own. Doing that at the same time as they became Animagi too, well. He may be lazy but remembering those school days was a good reminder of just how capable he could be if he set himself to a task. "We do." he answered.
"Alright. I don't believe this is something we should wait on. If there is a beast below the castle, then I would like it dealt with as soon as possible." he told them. "Would tomorrow be too soon for you two?"
Sirius was surprised. He'd expected Albus to want ages to prepare for this, not hours. He found himself eager to get a move on this adventure though. The possibility of one or more of them getting very hurt down there would eat at him if they waited.
"I am okay with that." Sirius told him.
"As am I." Remus agreed.
"Well then." Albus stood. "I shall head down to Hagrid's hut and speak with him. If the two of you could each bring a broom tomorrow, and anything else you believe we may need. I will also have Argus cordon off the girl's bathroom."
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Ginny would not let go of his hand, even to eat her breakfast. He got that she was worried, he was too. From the stricken expressions on Hermione and Ron's faces they weren't fairing too well with what was about to happen either.
Harry didn't know what to expect, but he was putting a lot of stock into his ability to speak to the snake, and that it would be killed by the roosters that were going to be coming with them. He agreed with Ron's assessment yesterday; if the cry of a rooster was fatal to the beast, then they could just make the birds continuously cock-a-doodle-doo and Bob's your Uncle.
Not that his heart didn't leap in his chest when he received the Owl from the Headmaster about how they would all be going down there after breakfast. It was still an adventure the likes of which he hadn't experienced before, particularly since even Albus Dumbledore didn't know what was down there, but he'd be with three fully trained wizards and Hagrid. Hagrid could handle any beast.
Hermione didn't look like she was managing with her breakfast so well and Ron seemed to flip back and forth between looking concerned for her and angry at her.
Neville had started the meal sitting with them and attempting to start up a conversation, but all four of them were having difficulty carrying on. He'd simply finished his breakfast quickly and headed out to the Greenhouses.
Harry exchanged a look with Hermione. They were excluding Neville from this for now and it felt so wrong. Up until this year it had been the three of them as a unit. They would study together and hang out together all the time. Now it felt like they were all invested in different things and though Harry's and Hermione's things had more of an overlap, Neville was just spending all his time in the Greenhouse and with Luna.
"Do we tell him?" Hermione asked with concern shining in her eyes.
"Not right now." Harry said. He knew that was what Hermione was thinking too, she just didn't want to be the one to say it.
Hermione nodded and they all passed the rest of their meal in silence before getting up and heading out of the Great Hall towards the girl's toilet. It had been roped off, but they checked to see if anyone was watching and all snuck in. His Firebolt had been shrunk down and tucked into his book bag. Hermione had brought her bag with her as well, but he knew she wasn't the best flier and she'd have to ride down with him. Her bag was full of parchment and other supplies.
"Harry! Hermione!" Hagrid greeted them. "Hello there Weasley's." He was in as good a mood as ever. No doubt he was very excited about the prospect of dealing with a Basilisk. Probably thought the 'poor thing' was 'horribly misunderstood'. He had brought a few crates with him. At least eight roosters.
"Heyya Hagrid." Harry said.
"You seem rather excited." Hermione commented dubiously.
"Course I am. Never thought I'd get a chance to see a real Basilisk! Ruddy impressive beasts they are." He pulled a canteen out of one of his many pockets and began filling it up at the sink. "Should 'ave figured out that's what it had been way back then. Don't know if you lot know, but that beast is the reason I got expelled." He told them, though he didn't seem the slightest bit upset about it.
"I'd worked that out." Hermione nodded.
"Yeah. Apparently, you had an Acromantuala that the death was blamed on?" Ginny asked.
"Aye, I did. Aragog." Hagrid nodded and sat down on one of the crates. The crate must have been reinforced to withstand his weight. "He lives in the forest now. Got him a wife a few decades ago and they're flourishing out there."
Harry exchanged glances with his friends. He could only imagine how many of the large spiders there were in the forest 'flourishing' at that moment. Ron didn't look like he was taking that information very well.
"You aren't upset. About finding out what it really was that was attacking students after all these years?" Hermione asked him.
"Oh no." he waved his hand dismissively. "What's done is done. Poor thing was only doing what was in its nature. I've had a good life here anyways. Enjoy my job, I'm a ruddy professor after all. Probably what I would have wanted to do if I finished my OWLS anyhow."
Harry couldn't help but smile at Hagrid then. He was so content with his life. People like Draco Malfoy were always making fun of him, but he was happy doing what he was doing and enjoying the little things. Malfoy could learn from him in that regard, how often had anyone seen that ponce smile when it wasn't out of spite?
The group of them didn't have to wait long for the other three to show up.
"Anyone else?" Hermione asked.
"No. Just the six of us." The Headmaster impressed upon the number, looking specifically between Ginny and Ron.
"We're staying up here." Ginny told him dryly. "We'll watch that no one else comes in and be here in case you need something. I'm not sitting in Gryffindor Tower and waiting." Ron stood beside his sister in a show of solidarity.
"Alright." The Headmaster seemed to find that amenable. "Now we will all go down one broom at a time. Once at the bottom, Harry, you will need to be at the front, but I want your eyes closed the entire time, understand?"
"The whole time?" Harry asked. How was that supposed to work? He would surely have to be walking for some portion of it when they got to the bottom.
"You'll have your hand on my shoulder." Sirius told him. "Once we've lit up as much of the area down there as possible, we'll tell you when you can open your eyes. Same goes for you Hermione. Remus, er, your Professor Lupin will guide you."
Hermione nodded, offering no argument. She did look as though she might be regretting her decision to join the party slightly.
"Hagrid." Dumbledore turned to him. "You will be going third. I'll want you right behind me. I'll be levitating a rooster cage down in front of Harry, you and Sirius will have as many of the other cages as you can manage. If we have to come back up for the rest, we will. Now, Miss Granger. I know you are not quite skilled on a broom, so you will ride down with Professor Lupin."
Hermione nodded and gave an involuntary shiver.
Ginny squeezed Harry's hand, he turned to look down at her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Come back to me." she whispered.
"Promise." He kissed her temple and squeezed her tight. She moved over to give Hermione a hug as well.
"Awe, every thin' will be fine Ginny." Hagrid waived off her concern.
Ron came over and clapped Harry on the back. "Take care of 'Mione, yeah?" he requested quietly.
"Course." Harry told him.
He moved in front of the sink again while everyone behind him was double checking their belongings. Closing his eyes, he pictured the Boa Constrictor from the Zoo, the way it had lazily raised its head at him. "Open." Harry said, he heard it this time. There was a distinctive hissing noise he made with his word, but he still just heard what he'd said clear as day in English in his head. The rumbling around him told him he'd done it correctly though.
Turning around from the entrance he mechanically took his broom from Hermione and avoided looking in Ginny's eyes, which he could tell from his peripherals were glassy.
The Headmaster levitated a rooster cage in front of himself and Harry mounted the broom, kicking off only slightly so he would hover instead of shoot upwards. He nodded at the Headmaster to make sure they were all ready for this and took one deep breath before moving his broom over the hole in the floor. It looked like it was just going to be big enough for Hagrid's broom, but certainly not for more than one broom at a time. He pulled out his wand and cast out a ball of light to fall down the hole and lit up the end of his wand and began his descent.
Dumbledore levitated a rooster cage in front of him and he followed it all the way until Harry touched down on the uneven ground at the bottom of the tunnel. It had been quite the drop. Perhaps a full mile.
The rooster had landed down in front of him and he picked up the cage, moving it out of the way and pointedly looking down while he waited for the others.
It was difficult to walk on the surface below his feet. It wasn't just that it was uneven. There was a layer of something between the soles of his shoes and the solid ground beneath him. It felt like layers of twigs, or crushed ice. Casting a light over the area he was it was small bones.
The area was completely covered in small animal bones.
Dumbledore touched down; his light added to Harry's showed how far the layer of small bones spread out and continued to spread out. It wasn't just contained to the bottom of the tunnel.
More cages touched down, then Hagrid landed heavily and the three of them moved the cages off to the side and collected the one's Sirius had levitated a few more of the birds and found a spot to land. Remus and Hermione were the last.
Everyone was silent. The sound of their collective breathing alone though was echoing off the walls. The birds too were making small curring noises in their throats.
"Anything, Harry?" Sirius asked him.
He was straining his ears as much as possible but heard nothing past the group of them aside from the dripping of condensation somewhere down one of the tunnels. He shook his head 'no'.
"Let's all release the birds." Albus said and they all went to a different cage to let them out.
Harry went to the cage nearest him and managed to get the door open and step back before the rooster launched itself out of the cage in a flurry of feathers and with a loud cry.
The problem with having so many of the male birds though was that they all went at each other, as they were genetically programmed to fight for dominance, and the things immediately sought to attack the others.
"On whit cha'." Hagrid shooed them away from each other and directed them to head down the main tunnel in front of them.
There were two smaller off shoot pipes on either side of them, but the larger was the more reasonable option.
Sirius came to stand beside Harry and put his hand on his shoulder. "Time to close your eyes." His eyes weren't dancing with their usual mischievous twinkle. He had a slight smile on his face, but his worry was evident. The thrill of this experience was also competing for dominance in his expression.
Harry's eyes and expression must have been conveying his own worry. He looked over to Hermione and Remus. She locked eyes with him for a moment and put her hand on Remus' shoulder before closing her eyes.
"You'll close your eyes at the first sign of movement as well, right?" Harry stated more than asked. He finally had a guardian he could trust and look up to, he didn't need him becoming a ghost and haunting the toilets at the school as well. Though he'd probably just team up with Peeve's and terrorize the school, whispering incorrect answers to students while they sat their NEWTS and misleading first years.
"I will." He promised. "I told Ginny I'd make sure we got out of here unscathed. Can't have her angry at me."
"Is that what you whispered to her yesterday?" Harry grinned. He hadn't asked her what it was Sirius said that made her relax slightly.
Sirius nodded. "Now, close your eyes so we can get the bad part over with and get to the good." He smirked.
Harry closed his eyes and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "What is the good exactly?"
"A long-lost tunnel under the school to discover. Ancient secrets, going down in history as the slayers of a Basilisk, and you can be damn sure I'm going to get some boots made out of that thing." He prattled off quietly.
Harry let out a laugh. His nerves were loosening as Sirius led them forward. He could hear the birds getting further down the tunnel ahead of them. Dumbledore was casting light down the tunnel as well from Harry's left. Slowly the group made their way forward. All those with their eyes open had their gaze cast down at the floor. Harry strained his ears for any hissing that he might be able to understand, but there was nothing but the roosters and heavy footsteps.
His eyes weren't closed all the way. He could make out the ground through his lashes, only trying to make the journey a little more manageable. He was confident that even if he did hear a noise, he would close his eyes tight before instinctively looking up. The bones they had all been stepping on were no longer littered everywhere and the stones were visible beneath the small amount of dirt that had collected along the floor.
It had taken roughly ten minutes at their slow pace to get to the end of the tunnel. Harry could see that they were approaching a wall. Sirius placed his hand over Harry's. "You can look up now."
Raising his eyes, he stared in awe at the design of the circular vault style door before them. There were several snakes adorning it and wrought iron embellishments. It was very impressive. It was also closed.
"You think it might be locked in there?" Hermione asked behind him.
"It would explain why it hasn't been set on the school since Tom Riddle left." Dumbledore said.
"Poor thing mightn't ave seen the sun in decades." Hagrid shook his head. "We might be putin' it out of its misery."
Sirius let out a huff of amusement through his nose and Harry tried not to smile.
"Shall we summon the birds?" Albus requested.
Harry looked around. The tunnel they had just come through was still lit up from the charms. The birds had spread out but were getting summoned back by the others. He turned back to the door in front of him. "Should we maybe. I dunno, line up against the wall or something. In case it... jumps out at us?"
Without verbally agreeing each person took a few steps back to the damp walls of the tunnel and Harry focused on the snakes on the door, willing himself to believe them to be real, just as he had with the sink. "Ready?" He closed his eyes and waited for someone to object, hearing none. Shivers ran through his arm as he envisioned the snakes. "Open." He told the door, hearing the hissing more distinctively this time than he had a few minutes ago. He closed his eyes tight and heard the gears and pulleys loudly unlocking the vault door. It sounded like there were several levers being pulled back and scraping of metal on metal before the door groaned open. Keeping a snake image in his mind he called out. "Are you in there?" It seemed every time he used the language the distinction was growing.
"Anything?" Remus' voice asked.
Harry strained his ears and squeezed his eyes tighter as he listened. "No. I don't hear it at all."
"Stay where you are." Dumbledore warned.
Harry heard him walking around them and past him. There was a rustling of feathers and then several of the roosters cried out in tandem. For near a minute the roosters were crying before they stopped.
"Alright." Dumbledore said. "You may all open your eyes and come in now."
Harry opened his eyes and blinked them a few times. The chamber beyond the door looked like it had natural light in it. The roosters had all spread out in the room and Dumbledore was slowly making his way down the middle of the room.
It was an impressive room. The ceiling was near as high as the Great Hall. Three pipes lead out of the room on either side, and there was still water pooled along the sides of the floor, looking like it might run two inches deep. There was a chance that this room was modeled after the Great hall, as the size and lay out was approximate. Except that the Great Hall had a head table. This room simply had a head in place of it at the far end.
"I suppose that is in likeness to Slytherin himself." Hermione came up beside Harry.
"I assume so. Don't know that I've ever seen a picture of him." Harry responded. The two of them were directed to stay where they were as the others cast the roosters into the pipes and zapped them to make them cry out again.
Hermione didn't look impressed with the small amount of cruelty that was shown to the birds. Harry would rather that then have them be surprised by a snake that could kill them with its eyes. He was caught up staring at the statue though. He wanted to get closer and inspect it. The 'hair' that was carved for the head of Slytherin imitated that of snakes as well. He supposed there could be another hidden chamber beyond the about the chin on it made him think of a marionette doll.
Hagrid gave a wave forward for Harry and Hermione, indicating it should be safe. Harry couldn't take his eyes off the mouth of the statue. Moving down the center of the room he reached the edge of the floor before a large pool of water that stood between he and the massive statue. There were certainly lines down either side of the chin. The mouth had to open.
"Really hoping this might be the last one." Hermione said standing beside him. She too was staring at the mouth.
"Maybe it's already dead in there?" Harry asked hopefully. "The roosters were crying out for a while."
"It might be warded to be soundproof." She told him.
Harry looked to his left as Sirius came beside him. "Once more?" he asked with a fake smile on his face, resembling more of a cringe.
He waited until everyone wrangled another rooster. "Open." Harry hissed. But nothing happened. "Open mouth." he tried, still nothing. "Slytherin." He tried. "There must be a password or something." he said in English to everyone else.
"Try a few different things, Harry." Hermione told him. "Something about Purebloods maybe."
"Pureblood." Harry tried. Still nothing. "Release the beast from within." still nothing. In a moment of whimsy, he turned to Hermione with a grin. "Open Sesame." he hissed.
Everyone took a startled step back as the mouth began to lower. Harry's jaw dropped in surprise that that had worked.
Once the mouth of the statue was open fully, they all heard it. Something was in there and moving around. Something large.
"Hungry." Harry heard and his eyes went wide. "So hungry."
"It's in there." He said. "It's still alive, and it's hungry." he barely managed to say it above a whisper.
"Rip. Tear. Kill." The sound of movement was growing louder.
Harry took a step back and closed his eyes, but something heavy impacted his chest with force and he found himself airborne and flying backwards. Hagrid's yell of "Roosters. Now!" was the last thing he heard before the impact of hitting something behind him caused him to lose consciousness.
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As Hermione and Remus disappeared from his sight Ron put his arm around Ginny.
He could tell she wasn't angry even though her expression and clenched jaw would make someone believe she was. Even yesterday, when she truly was angry, he could tell what it was really about. He'd seen that look on her face a few times before. Like when he and the twins had gotten into a fight one time and they pushed him in the pond, holding him under the water for a bit too. Not for long mind you, but long enough that Ginny lost it on them. She'd torn the twins a new one, then turned on him as well; telling him off for getting them so riled up.
It had all stemmed from worry.
Ginny really cared about Harry, and she wanted to be down there with him. Her presence beside him wouldn't have made a difference, of course, but he too wanted to be down there beside Hermione and making sure she was safe.
The two of them moved back against the wall and sank down to the floor, not saying anything but leaning on each other.
He hadn't said anything to Harry or Neville about what had happened between him and Hermione last night. He was still mixed up about it. His few weeks with Lavender had been nice and all, but it nagged at him the whole time they'd been going out how snogging her just wasn't as fulfilling as snogging Hermione had been, even when she let him put his hand up her shirt.
Lavender had been fairly annoying too. And she'd started calling him Won-Won. What the fuck was that? He'd seen some of her marks, he knew she wasn't a stupid girl. But she acted like a ditz all the time when they were together. He didn't like that she was putting on a show. He would have preferred she just be herself, but she hadn't been the whole time they'd gone out.
That was part of the reason he wasn't able to resist sending Hermione something for Valentine's Day too.
He'd spent time trying to get over her and move on, but he caught her expression sometimes when she saw other couples. After chatting with Neville and Harry about what they wanted to get their girls for Valentine's Day he didn't want Hermione to feel left out. And he still cared about her.
Honestly, he still wanted to be with her. He didn't care that she didn't want him to take their relationship to the next level. He could be content with snogging her and going back to his bed for a wank after. It's what he had been doing the whole first term anyways.
From her expression yesterday she really hadn't meant for him to interpret her reasons for the break-up how he had. How could she be so brilliant and so stupid at the same time?
Ginny rested her head on his shoulder, and he grasped her hand. "They're going to be fine." he kissed the top of her head. "Dumbledore is with them. And Hagrid. Hagrid can handle any dangerous creature."
"I wish we knew that for sure." she sighed.
He wished too. They should have set up some sort of signal, or communication method. They should have gone down there in teams or searched far and wide for someone else that was a Parselmouth, so it wasn't just Harry they were relying on. Harry was great and all, and Ron didn't doubt him, but he would have preferred someone with experience and not so close to him and Ginny be the one to put their life in danger.
It might seem cold blooded. But it was true.
He was a little mad at Hermione that she was insistent on going down there too. She didn't have to put herself in danger like that.
He was mad at himself for not kissing her one last time before she went down there too. It would have been a little awkward in front of his professors and headmaster, but it would give him and Ginny something to talk about to take their minds off what was possibly going on down there.
"Mione kissed me yesterday." he blurted out.
Ginny's head came up abruptly and she stared at him with wide eyes. "What?!"
"Yeah. She kissed me and I didn't take it too well." he admitted sheepishly.
Her eyebrows went up slightly. "You didn't want her to kiss you?"
"I... well. I don't know. I'm confused a bit I guess."
"Was it a peck on the cheek, or lips, or a full-on snog?"
"Full on snog. She. She kissed me and told me that she really broke up with me because she's a prude and thought I'd cheat on her." It was embarrassing to admit it, but he was close with Ginny. She wouldn't take the mickey.
It looked like this was working as a nice distraction for her too. She'd had a little red on her cheeks because she was stopping herself from crying, something she always tried to hide from him and their brothers. Now the red was spreading out over her face and it was an angry red. Ron personally would take angry Ginny over emotional Ginny any day, particularly if the anger was directed at someone else. Emotional Ginny he didn't know what to do with.
"She what?" Her voice was dangerously low. "How could she think that?"
"She didn't tell you any of this?" Ron asked her seriously. Girls were known to talk and share a hell of a lot more than boys. He thought there might have been a chance that Hermione had told her last night in their dorm room, or this morning.
A bashful look crossed Ginny's face. "Um. I didn't get back until late."
"Right." Ron nodded and rested his head back against the wall. He'd been blocking out the times Harry came back to the dorm room late, or when missing for periods of time. Not letting himself think about why, or what his friend had been getting up to, and with whom. So long as Ginny was happy, he'd keep on not thinking about it.
"I'm just not sure what to do." He told her. "I still really like her. I never stopped. Apparently, she never stopped either."
"I warned her not to mess you around." Ginny shook her head.
"You did?" Ron grinned. He knew full well that if he said something to a guy about messing her around, she'd get all defensive and haughty, but her warning a girl about playing with his feelings, that was rather cute.
Ginny gave a strong nod and sat up to cross her legs and look at him directly. "I told her our first week here that if she broke your heart, I'd break her face."
Ron snorted. "That's brilliant." he was relaxing slightly. "Don't break her face though. I quite like it."
"Fine." Ginny gave a one-sided shrug. "Maybe I'll just charm a few books to fly around and beat her scrawny arse for a bit."
He chuckled at the image. "Much better."
Ginny came back beside him and rested her head on his shoulder while they thought up different hilarious forms of punishment for Hermione.
()()()
AN- Bet you thought I'd leave you with a cliff-hanger. NOPE.
()()()
There must have been some kind of silencing spell that protected the Basilisk from hearing the cry of the roosters while it was in its lair. Perhaps it had been so deep in slumber that the sound of the birds coupled with the stone enclosure had protected the beast. Either way, it was dead now.
The beast was dead, and Harry was in a great amount of pain. He managed to get to his feet shakily while clutching the back of his head. Drawing his hand away he saw that he had managed to get a cut from the stone he landed against. There was blood coming from the wound. As soon as he saw that, coupled with the massive ache at the front part of his brain he fell forward to his knees and promptly threw up. That probably meant he had a concussion. He let out a groan, hoping that would be enough to call one of the others over and cast some spell to help ease the pain. Make his head right again.
A strong arm slipped under his arm pit and hoisted him up. "Sorry, Harry," it was Sirius. "Acted on instinct."
There was a flash of light that Harry registered through his closed eyes and he felt much better, still not quite right, but much better. "It was your instinct to blast me against the wall?" he asked.
"The beast was coming out of the passageway or whatever you want to call it, I didn't want you to accidentally look in its eyes." Sirius reasoned.
"My eyes were closed!" he argued. That had been the reason he hadn't seen Sirius' spell coming at him after all. He'd closed his eyes tight once they'd all heard the snake moving, next thing he knew he was flying through the air and in a great amount of pain.
Harry managed to blink his eyes back open then and took in the scene before him. None of the others had been injured, Hermione seemed in shock, but the other three were regarding the dead snake with great interest. It was still stuck mostly in the mouth of the statue, but its head was submerged in the pool of water at the base.
"Hagrid got the roosters to cry out again once the snakes head was out of the statue." Sirius explained.
Harry didn't manage to do anything more than raise his eyebrows and nod. Hermione collected herself and came to his side. "Are you alright?"
"Not completely." he was still quite dizzy. Putting his hand to the back of his head again he checked to see if he was still losing blood.
Hermione pursed her lips and went around to the other side of him and pulled his hand away, sucking in a sharp breath before muttering some spells. Harry felt his wound grow cold then warm; the warmth radiated down his spine. It was quite a pleasant feeling actually.
"That will have to do for now." Hermione stated and came around to stand beside him and take his other arm. "We'll get you to Madame Pomphrey when we go back up to the school. Tell her you missed one of the trick steps or something."
Harry nodded and offered his thanks. "You guys don't have to hold me up anymore." he told them awkwardly. It was nice that they were so concerned about him, but their combined healing spells had done the job for now. They reluctantly let go of his arms and he moved towards the snake.
"The properties that can be harvested from this." Remus had been saying.
"The skin alone." Hagrid agreed.
"I believe the blood would be the most valuable." The Headmaster sounded eager.
"Come now." Sirius said loudly with a smile on his face. "The thing has only just died. Shouldn't we hold a vigil or something before discussing the slicing and dicing?" he joked. Whether it was adrenaline that hadn't yet worn off, or exuberance over just how valuable a Basilisk of this size would be to the magical community Remus and Dumbledore chuckled at that.
"I was just saying that we will have to get the Goblins involved in this." Dumbledore told him. "They will be able to retrieve the most from the beast with minimal waste." he turned to Hermione and Harry. "And they will also be to determine division of profits."
"I'd like to be there when you meet with them." Hermione stated instantly.
Dumbledore inclined his head with a question in his eyes. "I assure, in cases such as this they are very thorough with documentation, and you will be provided copies. I will site both Mister Potter and you as the discoverers of the Chamber."
Hermione shook her head in disregard. "You misunderstand. I would simply like to have an understanding of the process for brokering such an agreement with the Goblins. The profits from the Basilisk, my share at least, I plan to use a percentage of that to go towards certain improvements needed around the school anyways. I'm not concerned with whether it would be a fair deal."
Harry smirked at Hermione. He could only imagine what she had in mind for improvements around the school. Probably more resources in the library or something to do with the Muggle Studies classes. It did get him thinking though. If he got any profits, maybe it would be enough to get new brooms for the Quidditch teams. Slytherin all had Nimbus 2001's, he could get them for the three other teams too. And gear. Basilisk hide gloves might be better than dragon hide gloves.
It was decided that they would leave the snake as it was, head below water, body half in the tunnel. It was safest that they didn't levitate it out in case it's gaze still held some potency after death.
Headmaster Dumbledore was going to reach out to the Goblins as soon as they were back above ground.
They left the roosters down there for the time being and headed back to the chute they came down.
"We'll come back down here and explore, right?" Harry asked Remus as they headed back. The tunnel was still lit up, but only the route they'd taken.
Remus nodded. "We'll get it all mapped out. He could have left more down here than the Basilisk. It is likely that this could have been his club house of sorts."
Harry peered down the dark tunnels to his left and right as they walked. He would have liked to start exploring them right away, but Ginny would probably kill him if he didn't get back as soon as he could. He also needed to get checked out by the nurse. It was great that Sirius' first reaction had been to protect him, but he could have done a gentler job of it. It felt like he'd landed on his wrist funny as well, it twinged when he moved it a certain way.
Hermione was ahead of him chatting away with the Headmaster about all the parts and properties of the Basilisk that would be most important, and the shelf life for the blood and such so it could be saved for the future. She wound up riding back up to the castle on his broom, both still talking away.
Ginny wrapped herself around him as soon as he touched down in the girl's bathroom. "Everyone is alright?"
He nodded and winced as he moved the broom in his hand a funny way.
"You don't look so great, mate." Ron pointed out and gestured to some of the blood that had dried to his shirt.
"Yeah." he grimaced. "Sirius got a little over enthusiastic about protecting me."
Sirius touched down beside him. "I'd do it again too."
"What, toss me back against a wall when my eyes are closed?" he teased.
"Yes." he gave him a cheeky grin. "Now, let's get you to the Hospital Wing and checked out. You can tell her what happened along the way."
Ginny took Harry's Firebolt from him and put his arm around her neck. He didn't need the assistance but couldn't complain about having her tucked up against his side. Ron hung back as Remus and Hermione came out of the pipe.