A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter thirty-six and be on the lookout for chapter thirty-seven soon!
August 1969
Once Hermione knew that Voldemort had created horcruxes, everything seemed so much clearer to her, most specifically, the way that he kept coming back to life, seemingly unable to be killed. She threw herself into researching the terrible objects, as much as she could, needing to gather as much information as possible to prepare herself.
The more she read about them, the more she began to wonder if perhaps Harry had been a horcrux himself. It was disturbing to think about, but the connection between Lord Voldemort and Harry had always troubled her, especially when she was in her fifth year at Hogwarts. Now, she wondered if a little bit of Voldemort's soul hadn't ended up a part of her best friend when he was just a baby. It would certainly explain everything.
But, that wouldn't matter, now, because she was going to prevent Voldemort from ever killing Lily and James Potter, leaving Harry the orphaned boy-who-lived.
Headmaster Dumbledore had to tell Arthur and Molly something, and so he clued them into their plans to deal with You-Know-Who. Dumbledore explained that he was growing too powerful, too influential, and that he would make the wizarding world worse off with his plans to eradicate muggleborns. Neither of the redheads needed much convincing to agree to assist in anyway that they could. Arthur in particular was irritated by the things he was seeing in the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione had smiled then, seeing the fledgling beginnings of the Order of the Phoenix, although they did not have the same number of members yet, nor the name. Both Molly and Arthur promised that they knew of other people who would want to help - Molly's older twin brothers Gideon and Fabian for two - and Dumbledore did as well. They made plans to gather everyone over the Yule holiday so that it could be disguised as a party, and not draw undue attention.
It also gave Hermione and Dumbledore time to work out what exactly they were looking at. If they had a method and an idea of what the horcruxes were by then, they could share the burden with other members of their group.
But before they could do that, they needed to get into the Chamber of Secrets and kill the basilisk that was living in it.
After much research, Hermione saw that fiendfyre was an alternative method to destroying the evil objects, but she was concerned that they would react pooly. After all, fiendfrye was dark magic itself, and she didn't want to add fuel to the flame by tossing in something so uniquely evil as a horcrux. She could see it ending in disaster, even for an experienced wizard like Headmaster Dumbledore.
Once that was decided, Hermione and Headmaster Dumbledore made plans for her to come to Hogwarts to enter the Chamber. It was decided that she should come before the students returned for term, considering that their safety was paramount.
So, on a non-descript Tuesday morning in August, Hermione flooed to the Three Broomsticks, and made the short walk up to the castle. It was hot outside, and by the time that she made her way inside, she was grateful for the cool air in the huge stone school. She didn't see anyone, not even a ghost, on her way up to the Headmaster's office, but she was surprised to see it already occupied by Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Granger," the other witch said, before her eyes settled on her rounding waist. "You're...Albus, did you know about this?" she asked, sounding more than a little disappointed.
Hermione couldn't stop her hands from crossing protectively over the curve of her five month pregnant belly, protecting the little witch or wizard that was growing inside of her. It certainly didn't feel good to know that a Professor she respected so much was judging her. A part of her wondered if future Hermione would be judging her choices, though, too.
"I don't know why he would have known," Hermione said tartly. "It's not as if he was involved," she added with a blush.
"Well, it must have happened while you were still a student!" Professor McGonagall argued back. "While you were in our care."
She could feel her cheeks heat up at the suggestion. "If you must know, it didn't happen at school. It happened during a Hogsmeade weekend in one of the rented rooms at the Three Broomsticks," she said hotly, perhaps revealing more than she wanted to. "But, I did not come here to be interrogated about my pregnancy, and if it is going to continue, I can leave."
"That won't be necessary, Miss Granger," Headmaster Dumbledore said, finally stepping in to end the inquiry by Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, Miss Granger is going to help us locate the Chamber of Secrets. There is no need to be antagonistic."
Once she was properly chastised, Professor McGonagall set her lips into a tight line, perhaps wishing to say more about what Hermione had revealed, but not wanting to upset the Headmaster.
Hermione was somewhat worried with the number of people that Dumbledore was telling about their plans to destroy the horcruxes, but she knew that everyone so far was completely trustworthy. Still, it was hard not to be concerned about their knowledge to get back to Voldemort, and him moving his horcruxes, or making some sort of backup plan. But, for now, she knew that she had to focus on getting the basilisk venom or they would have no way to destroy the horcruxes they did know about.
"Come on," Hermione said, confidently taking charge. "Let's go. The entrance is in the first floor girl's lavatory."
"One moment, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, before returning to his desk. "I just need to grab something to aid us in the slaying of the beast." When he lifted his arm, he was carrying a wire cage with two red and white weasels snoozing happily.
Hermione had to cover her nose with her hand. "Oh Merlin!" she said, hoping that she wouldn't be sick in front of her two former teachers. "Do they always smell quite so pungent?" she asked, thinking that it was maybe one of the most horrible smells she'd encountered.
"Hopefully the basilisk will find it as appalling as you do, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said with a wink. "I thought that the smell of a weasel would be a more reliable way to kill it, rather than trying to get a rooster to crow down in a dark chamber."
She was unable to help but smile at that, wondering what Ron would think about the animal he was so frequently called being the one to take down the beast of Slytherin. It was somewhat poetic she thought.
The trio made their way to the lavatory, and Hermione quickly identified the sink with the small snake engraved on the tap. "Here," she said, showing it to Dumbledore. "This is how we get in. Only..." she trailed off, realizing that she wasn't sure how they were actually going to get in. "I've only just realized that Harry is a parselmouth. I don't know if we will be able to get in."
"Albus, does this mean that Myrtle..." McGonagall said, looking towards the stall that the ghost usually haunted.
"Yes, Moaning Myrtle was killed by the basilisk's gaze, released by Tom Riddle," Hermione said, off-handedly.
McGonagall's face looked a bit white. "That means that Hagrid is completely innocent!" she cried.
"Surely you already knew this, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"Yes, but well...there was always a part of me that wondered," she admitted. "But, now, we can have his wand reinstated!"
"First, let's get through this," Dumbledore said. "Although Hagrid is important, I am afraid that this takes precedence." The wizard handed the cage with the weasels to Hermione, before stepping up to the sink, his fingers tracing the snake. "While I am not a parselmouth, I can understand parseltongue. Perhaps I can give it a try."
The wizard proceeded to make a series of hissing sounds that didn't sound too different from what Harry could do, but even Hermione knew it wasn't right. It was far too stilted, not the smooth sounds that a snake would make. To their dismay, the chamber remained shut. The headmaster tried again, but had similar luck, unable to replicate the kind of tones that a snake would make.
Hermione bit her lower lip, her mind churning with ideas. She wondered, if parseltongue was simply the language of snakes then...would a snake be able to open the chamber? "Serpensortia!" she said, waving her wand, watching as a dangerous red and black serpent emerged from her wand.
McGonagall and Dumbledore looked alarmed, stepping back from the coiling creature, watching them silently.
Before they could question her, she sent a stinging hex towards the creature, making it hiss and spit in anger. She waited with bated breath, hoping that she hadn't just pissed off the snake for no good reason. But then, rumbling from deep under the stones started, and Hermione watched in awe as the sinks began to move and rearrange, and the red snake fell down into the pit that was created.
Seeing the shocked faces from her companions, Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Wild guess," she said, before stepping towards the edge, looking into the inky blackness. She hadn't seen the Chamber of Secrets the first time, seeing as she had been sitting petrified in the infirmary ward, but she'd eagerly lapped up every word Harry and Ron had to share about the historically significant chamber.
"Keep your eyes closed tightly until we can be sure that the basilisk is dead," Hermione warned, before holding the cage of weasels tightly against her chest. With a deep breath, she stepped to the edge of the slide and jumped in. She wanted to scream as she went deeper and deeper under the castle, but she held her tongue, not wanting to alert the basilisk of her presence anymore than she surely had already done.
She landed in a pile of shed snake skin, grateful for the cushion to her fall. Standing up quickly, Hermione moved out of the way, giving room for Dumbledore and McGonagall to follow after her. Blindly, she fumbled with the latch on the cage, setting the pungent weasels free. She could hear them chattering as they made their way down the pipes, and she wondered if she should follow them.
When the other two arrived, she told them about how she'd let the weasels loose. "How will we know if it's worked, though?" she asked.
Before long, she heard a terrible screech, one that almost sounded like a scream, followed by a huge thud. Dumbledore smiled, finally lighting his wand to reveal what was inside the Chamber of Secrets. He began walking down the pipe that the weasels had, unbothered by the few inches of standing water that were getting his robes wet. "I think that might be all the indication that we are looking for," he quipped.
Hermione cast an impervious charm before following Dumbledore, with McGonagall hot on her heels. When they finally found the open part of the Chamber that housed the massive statue of Salazar Slytherin himself, they saw the giant basilisk, dead on the ground, mouth open in agony. The two weasels were still chattering around their kill.
Dumbledore was already walking up to the carcass, using his wand to sever the fangs from the beast's mouth, large vials ready to catch the dripping venom. "Well, Miss Granger, I think that we've got exactly what we needed," he said with a smile, showing off his sincere happiness. For once, Hermione felt like she knew exactly what Dumbledore was feeling, as the man was typically very guarded.
"Yes, I think that we are ready for the next steps," she said, her heart fluttering in her chest. Now that they had the means, there was nothing stopping them from destroying the horcruxes. But, she was afraid to see how that would turn out.