A rumble in the stone reverberated through her scales. Though, it was less a true vibration, and more a quiver of magic. All the same, it woke her from her rest. She released a long hissss of displeasure wondering which fool had stumbled their way into her lair this time. She was unsure how long it had been since the last one, a stretch of her coiled body, decades perhaps.
Her forked tongue flicked out, scenting the air.
Water. Stone. The stillness of the Dark. Magic.
The ancient power of the castle above her. The primordial pulse of the ley line below. And the wild flame of a human. She stilled, rolling the human's magic on her tongue.
Well, maybe she won't eat this one after all.
He stalked down the hall on silent feet. Dumbledore had hemmed and hawed at his presence, though he had no real power to deny him. Irritating, but hardly a true obstacle.
Were he one for such things he would almost say it was nostalgic, as it had been years since he walked these halls as one of its students. He wouldn't say he missed it though. A supposed Muggleborn in Slytherin had caused some…friction to say the least. Though his peers soon learned to fear his temper, a force nearly as fierce as his magic.
What use was dwelling on such trivialities though when he now knew the location of the infamous Chamber of Secrets. His work as an Unspeakable proved most invaluable to uncovering the history of his father.
His true father.
His lip curled unbidden into a sneer. Not Mikael. Not the man who cast him out and stripped him of his name as soon as he learned the truth of his parentage. A mere child who suddenly found himself without a home. In a completely different world. What had he known of muggles then?
He shook his head. What an irony it had been to learn he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself.
Eyes narrowing, a smirk made its way across his face as he spotted his destination. Part of him wondered at his ancestor's sense of humor if this place had still been a girl's lavatory all those centuries ago.
No matter.
Klaus stepped inside, his keen eyes easily spotting the tiny carved snake by one of the sinks.
§Open,§ he hissed.
There was a rumble before the sink seemed to fold in on itself, revealing a dark tunnel beyond it. Runes encircled the pipe's circumference, no doubt keeping it clean, sturdy, and most importantly hidden.
§Stairs?§ He tried, not too surprised when nothing happened. A flick of his wrist shot his faithful fir wand into his hand. With a few dexterous movements, he soon found himself levitating, and a simple §close§ sealed the passage behind him.
Flying made his journey quick, and he soon deposited himself in a vast underground chamber. He kept his wand ready as he made note of the bones strewn across the stone floor. Some looked like they could be animals, but many were clearly humans, their skulls grinning. A few skeletons even still had robes clinging in tatters to their frames. A warning perhaps. Certainly those ones were not eaten like the rest.
He could sense more runes lining the chambers. For preservation. Strength. Stasis. Protection. Some prickled at his senses, traps no doubt, though currently inert.
Ahead he saw an enormous, intricately carved door. Its script was one he didn't recognize, a surprise if he was honest. There were few magic scripts he had never seen before, but this was one of them.
Raising his wand he tested the simplest solution.
§Open.§
Parting with unnatural silence, the stone pivoted toward him, creating a passage through.
Her tongue flicked out once more, tasting the flame of the approaching man's magic. More powerful than her last visitor. More cautious too.
How delightful.
She slithered out, weaving through the shadows of the vast columns. The sound of her passage was eerie in the quiet, and she watched the man still.
It wasn't the tight, tension of an inexperienced fighter. No, it was the relaxed preparedness of a predator.
§What a curious little human you are,§ she hissed out. The sound carried and echoed as she moved, and she continued to watch as the human simply narrowed his eyes. No wild turning or flailing with this one.
§I am Niklaus. Son of Ansel. A member of Slytherin's bloodline.§
Amusement colored her tone. §That is what they all claim.§ Silently, she emerged behind the human, allowing her tongue to taste the air mere inches from his skin. §What makes you unique?§
Despite his caution, Klaus was taken off guard when the voice sounded behind him. Worryingly close. Still his reflexes were sharp and he turned, leaping backward and casting in the same motion.
A powerful shield dome shimmered between him and what he now saw was a massive serpent.
A Basilisk.
He clamped his eyes shut in a hurry even as he realized it should have been too late. Piercing gold eyes seared into his memory.
Nothing happened for several moments.
Then a hissing laugh met his ears.
§Salazar's blood runs true in you.§
Klaus peaked an eye open, seeing the snake now coiled beyond his shield, deceptively relaxed. He eased back, both eyes now warily trained on the serpent.
§…What makes you say that?§
Her tongue flicked out. §Hm. The ability to speak parseltongue is hardly exclusive to Salazar's line. Minor immunity to my gaze, however, is. Well,§ she laughed again, mouth parting slightly to reveal her glistening fangs,§when his blood, his magic breeds true.§
Noting her lack of aggression, Klaus took the opportunity to examine her a bit more carefully, turning her words over in his mind. She lacked the red plume of the males of her species, as expected, but her scales weren't the vivid, poisonous green of a normal basilisk. Their shade was more muted, but patterned with threads of gold and black. His thoughts paused as he watched a nictitating membrane slide over her eyes, dulling them from near glowing gold to yellow.
Klaus felt his eyebrows raise. Basilisks didn't have a nictitating membrane.
§You're gorgeous, love, and a bit more than just a basilisk aren't you?§
She couldn't help but preen a little at his flattery.
§A clever one aren't you, Nik-klaussss?§ She hissed out a little laugh, her tongue tasting the air between them. §But a story for another time. Lower your shield, Niklaus. Son of Ansel. Son of Salazar.§
She watched him shift, distrustful and ill at ease. A bit impatient she leaned forward to brush her scales against his shield, cutting off what would no doubt be a wary response. At the barest touch, his shield rippled and distorted, fading where her scales touched before it flickered, slowly resealing itself. Weaker than before.
Retreating, but keeping her head level with his own she drawled, §If I wanted you dead, you would be dead.§
The resulting scowl was adorable, but the man dismissed the shield after a moment's hesitation.
Like lightning she took advantage, striking true and sinking the tip of one of her fangs into the man's shoulder. His blood spilt rich and hot on her tongue. Delicious.
Yes, she had chosen well.
Klaus' vision blurred frighteningly fast his limbs weakening just as quickly. Despite his best efforts his legs soon gave out sending him crashing to the floor.
Perhaps it was lucky his consciousness fled before he could feel the impact.
It was a shock when Klaus woke again. Eyelids fluttering as he blinked wide eyes open. He was not where he was last. Not dying on the cold stone in some lost chamber beneath Hogwarts.
Instead he was nestled on soft, cool sheets. The room illuminated with several orbs of softly glowing magelight.
Wha-?
His thoughts were disrupted as the narrow head of a snake suddenly filled his vision.
§You have woken.§
Shock burned through his veins, though he forced his body still, restraining the instinct to try to fling her away from him. That was the basilisk's voice. He wasn't dead. Her form was shrunken, now the size of one of the larger constrictors.
He needed answers.
§What happened.§ He demanded more than asked.
She nodded toward his shoulder, the place she had bitten him. Twisting, keeping one eye on her as he did so, he spotted the mark on his skin. A dark green, almost black, symbol now laid there. An ouroboros.
His full focus returned to the snake as she started to move toward him.
§You are strong. Cunning. A worthy member of the Slytherin bloodline. And so I shall accompany you.§
§What.§ Slipped from his lips.
She just grinned, an odd expression on a snake, slithering onto his chest.
His breath rushed from his lips. His magic singing. It was the warmth of a hearth in winter. The cool balm of a breeze in summer. A sheltering embrace.
Like coming home.
The sensation calmed to a pleasant buzz as she coiled herself loosely around him.
§Worry not, Niklaus. I am a delight.§