Chapter 13: Valentines Fun

Christmas turned out to be not quite so terrible this year. He wasn't there, and neither was Bellatrix or her husband. Think mum said they were on a mission for old Moldywarts. I felt bad for whatever people she was most likely hurting, and even worse when I felt relieved that she wasn't here. I'm a bloody coward.

The rest of the Christmas holidays were mostly uneventful. Leo and Remus mainly split their time between sporadic snowball fights, practicing a few dueling techniques, and regaling each other with tales of pranks they had either pulled or witnessed. Leo already had plans to put some of Remus' stories in action.

The day before he was supposed to board the train, Remus asked if he could use Apollo for a bit to write letters to Sirius. Leo didn't really see much of a problem with it, but he made sure to ask Apollo for his permission first before he agreed. Much to his surprise, the barn owl agreed to stay with Remus and deliver messages for him. Apparently, Azkaban was much closer to his parents' house than it was to Hogwarts. Leo was a tad bit nervous at the idea of going back to Hogwarts without his friend but knew it was what was best for Sirius and Remus both.

Upon his return to Hogwarts the following day, he was surprised to find not just Harry and Ron, but Draco waiting for him as well. He felt as though he had stepped into the Twilight Zone for a moment and immediately demanded an explanation. Harry and Ron had explained that Draco had saved their arses from being caught by Zabini and had managed to come up with a convenient lie for Hermione – who was now part cat, thanks to a poorly mishandled Polyjuice Potion – that kept her and them out of trouble. Draco wasn't exactly friends with the Trio now, but he had somewhat redeemed himself in their eyes and was now more tolerable to be around.

They then filled him in on Zabini, not that there was much to fill him in on. Zabini was every bit as clueless as the rest of them – even Draco knew more than he did! He informed Leo and the Trio about everything he knew about the Chamber – most of which they had already known – including one detail they hadn't: a Muggleborn had died the last time the Chamber had been opened.

Leo wasn't quite sure what to do with that bit of information but decided to file it away for future review. As January flew into February, only three things of note happened. The first was that Harry and Ron discovered a blank, fifty-year-old diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and decided to keep it. The second was Hermione had gotten out of the hospital wing. Last was that Leo and the rest of the Minirauders – as he had changed the name to, owing to the fact that Marauders 2.0 was too long of a name to say – had put the finishing touches on their potion and now all they had to do was figure out a way to deliver it to where it needed to go. Leo gave a wicked grin and said he'd handle it.

The sun had now begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey was pleased to report that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.

Leo felt that the Heir, whoever it may be, was gearing up for another attack. He was certain that they were biding their time, searching for their next target, the next person who would make the biggest impact – the biggest splash – and send Muggleborns fleeing from the school in droves. Unfortunately, not everyone shared this same view.

Lockhart seemed to think he himself had made the attacks stop. Leo and Harry overheard him telling McGonagall so while the Gryffindors were lining up for Transfiguration. "I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva," he said, tapping his nose knowingly and winking. "I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known it was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him.

"You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of the last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing..."

He tapped his nose again and strode off. McGonagall gave Leo a stern look as she caught him eyeing Lockhart with mischief twinkling in his eyes. The blonde plastered on an innocent expression before heading to class, where they practiced turning porcupines into pincushions.

Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Leo sat in his seat across from the twins, positioned where he got the best view of Lockhart. He barely managed to keep the excitement from his face as he struggled to keep from bouncing up and down in his seat.

Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, waved for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Leo could see a muscle going in McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though he was in severe pain just from being in the Great Hall. Leo didn't blame him.

The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Leo was having a hard time keeping it from falling into his porridge and was immensely grateful that he would soon have something else to distract him.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards and the anonymous person who sent me that box of chocolates! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"

Unbeknownst to Lockhart, the tips of his hair were turning a sickly green color while a patch of red spread over his nose. Leo exchanged an excited look with the twins as Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart, his hair now taking on a puce color. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion!" His teeth turned bright blue and sprouted pink polka-dots. "Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

He stopped abruptly when he noticed everyone was starting to laugh. He looked down at his hands before shrieking in horror as he noticed they were turning yellow with burnt orange and chartreuse lines zig-zagging across him. He ran from the hall at once amidst gales of laughter from the students and Leo even swore he saw a small smile on Snape's face and received an approving sort of look from McGonagall.

Leo would later explain to Harry and Ron that he and his friends had made modifications to a color-changing potion that only activated when someone said a certain word or phrase. For Lockhart, any time he spoke about himself, some part of him would change a different color. Unfortunately, the potion wore off after twenty-four hours but, by the end of it, Lockhart was practically a neon sign bursting with many vibrant, vomit-inducing colors and patterns. Leo received a surprising number of house points during classes that day.

Lockhart found him on his way to Herbology that day, pulling him aside and yelling at him to fix whatever he had done. Leo merely gave an innocent-sort of look and tried to walk away. Lockhart grabbed him by the arm and, luckily, Sprout appeared, asking where her student was. Lockhart reluctantly released him, and Leo had to keep the triumphant smile from his face as he was led away to class.

Despite how well his day had gone, the universe, as always, seemed to be ever striving to mar Leo's happiness. Harry appeared in front of him later that night as he was doing Charms homework in a blissfully empty common room, informing him that the diary he had had – Tom Riddle's diary – had shown him a memory from when the Chamber had been opened. Hagrid had been the one to do it. Leo was skeptical at this.

"Hagrid might be a fan of dangerous creatures, but he wouldn't bring one into the school that he knew would eat people."

"What about Fluffy? Or Norberta?"

"Fluffy was just overexcited, he wouldn't actually hurt anyone," Leo replied with an errant wave of his hand. "And Norberta was just a baby, we don't know what she'd be like when she grows up."

Try as he might, Harry could not convince Leo that Hagrid had opened the Chamber. The blonde adamantly refused to believe it. Harry told him repeatedly about what Riddle had said and shown him, but Leo refused to believe some random tosser who lived in a fifty-year-old book. Harry eventually threw his hands in the air, tossed the diary at him, and told him to talk to Riddle before walking back up to his dorm room.

Leo stared at the book for a moment before curiosity got the best of him and he opened it, writing:

Hello. You've reached the magnificent Leo Black. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep.

The words stayed on the page before they sunk into it and disappeared, much to Leo's amazement. Words appeared not written in Leo's handwriting.

Hello, Leo Black. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?

Wrestled it from a weredragon, obviously.

I am unfamiliar with weredragons, though I can assume that you were being sarcastic.

Pretty sharp for a guy who lives in a book. Now, onto business: what's this nonsense you were telling Harry about Hagrid opening the Chamber?

I can show you if you like. I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him.

I try not to make a habit of jumping inside random books to look at memories that could very well have been falsified.

What reason would I have to lie to you, Leo Black? What would I have to gain?

Leo paused at this, considering the words as they sank into the page. After a moment, he managed to formulate an adequate response.

I don't know, and that's the problem. I don't know you, Riddle – quite frankly, I don't think I want to. I don't know who you are or what sort of hidden agendas you might have. To put it simply: I don't trust you.

It took some time for the book to respond.

You must be a Slytherin.

Proud Gryffindor, actually. Now, answer me, why would you tell Harry that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber? There's no way in hell Hagrid is the Heir of Slytherin, and I think you know that. So, tell me, why did you lie to Harry?

I did not lie to Harry Potter. Everything I showed him about that night is the truth.

You showed him what you wanted him to see. Who's to say that that's the actual truth?

The book remained silent. Leo stared at it for several minutes before resuming his Charms work, content in the knowledge that he was right about Hagrid being innocent.

"Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people..."

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully.

"Well, it held two trolls and a giant three-headed dog during our first Halloween so... a lot," Leo shrugged.

It was the following day after Leo and Harry's individual conversations with Riddle. Leo's warnings about how Riddle was not being entirely truthful had fallen on deaf ears as Harry decided his cousin must be in denial about being wrong. Leo was hurt by this more than he could express and decided he wouldn't talk directly to Harry until he apologized. Or until they were in some sort of life-threatening situation. Whichever came first.

"We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harry miserably. "And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

Ron tried a different tack.

"Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?"

"But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione.

"Doesn't mean it was Hagrid's monster," Leo argued. "From the description we were given, Hagrid's monster was some sort of spider or something – but definitely not a snake. We know Slytherin's monster is some sort of serpent -"

"No, we don't," Harry shot back. "You're just trying to come up with an excuse so you don't have to admit that you're wrong."

It took everything in Leo not to punch Harry in the face at that moment.

Nearly four months passed since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Leo, once more, felt the opposite. Something in his gut was warning him that the Heir was far from finished, and he spent many a sleepless night wandering the castle with his eyes glued to the Map, trying to find the Chamber or perhaps locate whatever monster was moving about the school unseen.

The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, something that sent many second years scrambling to relatives as they tried to find out what they wanted to do. Leo had an easy time picking what he wanted.

Care of Magical Creatures, of course, was a no-brainer. He got on well with animals of all shapes and sizes, so it was most definitely a class he wanted to take. He hated maths, so Arithmancy was out of the question. Muggle Studies wasn't even considered given Leo had had a very Muggle upbringing. He immediately dismissed Divination, given that he had no wish to know his future as he felt it would take all the joy out of life. That only left Ancient Runes as his other viable choice, and he signed up for it at once.

Another surprise came to the Gryffindors the evening before their Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Someone had broken into the second-year boy's dorm and stolen Riddle's diary. Harry immediately blamed Leo, thinking that the boy had stolen it after repeatedly telling Harry he should get rid of it. Leo kept his mouth shut, adamant in his refusal to talk to his cousin until one or both of his conditions were met.

They woke the next day to brilliant sunshine and a light, refreshing breeze.

"Perfect Quidditch conditions!" said Wood enthusiastically at the Gryffindor table, loading the team's plates with scrambled eggs. "Harry, buck up there, you need a decent breakfast."

Harry had spent most of his time glaring at Leo, who simply ate his scrambled eggs and ignored him. Leo did, however, increase his eating speed before taking off to the Quidditch Pitch and getting dressed in the changing rooms. He sat waiting for the team to appear before waving them out as they walked onto the pitch. He was about to lay back and take a nap when he heard a sharp whistle, prompting him to bolt upright and sprint onto the pitch. He spotted McGonagall walking onto the pitch with a large purple megaphone.

"This match has been canceled," McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran toward McGonagall without getting off his broomstick.

"But, Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play — the cup —Gryffindor —"

McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone:

"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Harry and Leo over to her.

"Potter, Black, I think you'd better come with me..."

He saw Ron detach himself from the complaining crowd; he came running up to them as they set off toward the castle. To Leo's surprise, McGonagall didn't object.

"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley..."

Leo's expression paled when he realized Hermione wasn't with him. No...

Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being canceled; others looked worried. Leo, Harry, and Ron followed McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. Leo's heart raced faster as he realized where they were going, his suspicions slowly being confirmed.

"This will be a bit of a shock," said McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There has been another attack...another double attack."

McGonagall pushed the door open and the boys entered...Madam Pomfrey was bending over a sixth-year girl with long, curly hair. And on the bed next to her was —

"Hermione!" Ron groaned.

Hermione lay utterly still, her eyes open and glassy.

"They were found near the library," said McGonagall. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them..."

She was holding up a small, circular mirror.

"Maybe she was keeping an eye out for Medusa?" Leo replied in a weak sort of voice.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Leo!" Harry snapped.

Leo remained quiet, fidgeting with his fingers. He was well-aware that Hermione's situation was far from humorous, but Leo's first inclination was to make jokes. It was a coping mechanism of sorts, one that became more pronounced in the wake of Quirrell's death. It was how he dealt with stressful and/or emotionally charged situations. This definitely counted as both.

"I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower," said McGonagall heavily. "I need to address the students in any case."

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

The Gryffindors packed inside the common room listened to McGonagall in silence. She rolled up the parchment from which she had been reading and said in a somewhat choked voice, "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."

She climbed somewhat awkwardly out of the portrait hole, and the Gryffindors began talking immediately.

"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," Lee Jordan, counting on his fingers. "Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin — why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" he roared, to nods and scattered applause.

Leo shook his head.

"It's not the Slytherins' fault that they haven't been attacked. The monster only attacks Muggleborns – and cats too, apparently – and most of Slytherin is pure-blood with maybe a few half-bloods thrown in the mix," the blonde informed them all. "We can't blame a whole house just because their Founder was a prejudiced git."

"Come off it, Black," snorted a third-year boy. "Everyone knows that Slytherins are all evil. All of You-Know-Who's followers were in Slytherin, which means -"

"Sirius Black was in Gryffindor," Leo bit out before he could stop himself.

Everyone went silent at his words, and Leo hated himself more than he could ever express as he stormed upstairs to his dorm room and flopped onto his bed. While he knew Sirius was innocent, no one else did. They all thought he was a mass-murdering lunatic, and Leo had used his name to prove a point. He didn't think he'd ever stop feeling guilty.