Disclaimer: I don't own anything save for my own ideas.

Bloody Kitsune: This chapter was an interesting one that didn't go exactly where I wanted it to go and exactly where I did.

Review:

ThunderClaw03: Yes, yes they are.

Jostanos: Only time will tell, but yeah, they will never be the same. Yes, yes she is.

Of Talks and theories

Candy Pop looked at Calla curiously when she asked for his phone, "Why do you need my phone, Little One?"

"I need to call LJ about sending some of his serious, but non-lethal pranks," Calla answered earning a raised eyebrow, "Two of my elder housemates decided to bully Luna,"

Inwardly wincing as he shook his head at the stupidity of those two girls, he handed over his phone. Night Terrors spoke as Calla dialed Laughing Jack's number, "I love how possessive the doll is over those she cares for."

Candy Pop mentally snorted at Night Terrors words, 'Of course you do.'

"You do too," Night Terrors pointed out with a smug grin since he was right, "She's absolutely adorable when planning to make people's lives hell,"

Candy Pop decided to ignore Night Terrors for now as Calla asked, "Can you send me that itching powder that you can't really get rid of, the oils that attract certain bugs, the stuff that causes people to get food poisoning without actually eating anything bad, those impossible to get out hair dyes, and anything else that isn't lethal?"

"Damn, she's going all out on those two," Night Terrors chuckled as his tail swished behind him, "We've got to help her with this. Ooh, tell her that I'll give those two nightmares of her choice,"

Candy Pop rolled his eyes at how excited the demonic entity was as Calla listened to whatever Laughing Jack said. Calla promptly grinned brightly, "That would actually be perfect! The creepier, the better. I'm going to have my marionettes get in on it too. Thanks so much, LJ!"

Night Terrors growled darkly, "That damn clown-"

'Night, I don't want to hear you throw a bitch fit over LJ again. He's friends with Calla, so get over it,' Candy Pop mentally shook his head before focusing on Calla as she held out his phone, "All done?"

"Mhmm," If Calla had a dog's tail, it would be wagging, "LJ wants to talk to you. Thank you for letting me use your phone,"

"No problem, Little One," Candy Pop took his phone back, "If you want to call Jay or Cane, you need only ask,"

"Thanks, Poppy," Calla hugged him, "I'm going to go meet up with the others for our usual study session. Hermione's bringing Neville since he's really good at Herbology,"

"Go on," Candy Pop hugged her tightly before shooing her off.

"See you, Poppy!" Calla left his rooms.

Candy Pop smiled lightly as he put his phone to his ear, "So what's up, LJ?"

"What exactly caused Calla to want those products of mine? Did those idiots try to bully her again?" Laughing Jack asked as the sound of glasses being clinked together reached Candy Pop's ears.

Candy Pop shook his head as he closed the door to his rooms and moved to sit down in his chair again, "They decided to bully Luna. Calla's actually becoming protective over that little blonde."

Laughing Jack snorted softly, "That would do it, our gumdrop sure is protective of those she cares for."

"Mhmm," Candy Pop sat down in his chair and picked up his glass of wine, "Anything happening back there?"

"Oh the usual," A sizzling sound came from the phone, "Only interesting thing happened last night, Toby ended up destroying a museum in France. Not one of the big one, but still pretty bad. I mean he got the job done, but Slendy's more than a little pissed at him for doing that especially since the idiot ended up getting a couple of third degree burns plus a fractured arm. I think there was some other stuff, but I didn't really hear since I had to go visit one of my victims,"

Candy Pop snorted at hearing that, "Any idea how long it'll take him to heal?"

"Even with the potions and whatever the hell Slenderman gives his proxies to make them heal quick, it'll take two weeks," Laughing Jack gained a teasing tone, "Sooo, do anything to a certain ponce a lot of us would love to kill?"

Candy Pop shook his head at the rather unsubtle change in topic, but explained what had happened. It was funny that a group of legendary monsters/killers/etc. were actually a bunch of gossip hounds that could be worse than a group of old biddies in a knitting circle or a group of women getting their hair done.

Calla looked at Hermione as she felt Leon's energy and sighed a bit, "Hello, Leon."

"Dearest," Leon smirked at her, "So what's this I hear about pranks?"

"Two idiotic bitches decided to bully Luna which isn't something I would allow even if it wasn't someone I was close to," Calla's immense dislike of bullies ensured that, "Why do you ask?"

"Can I help?" Leon asked sitting down in the chair across from her.

Calla considered the request before shaking her head, "Other than providing me an alibi if needed, no."

"This is because of the whole not in Ravenclaw thing, isn't it?" Leon pouted a bit when she nodded, "Damn and here I thought that I'd get to spend more time with you,"

"So what are you doing up?" Calla set down her book and looked at him.

"I got bored and one of those assholes in our house decided to upset her enough to give me the controls," Leon answered with a soft laugh, "Let's just say that he won't be messing with her again,"

"What did you do?" Calla's eyes narrowed a bit as she wondered if she'd have to use the control feature on Leon.

Leon rolled his eyes, "I just hexed him. Everything is reversible."

Calla relaxed a bit, "Alright, I suppose that isn't too bad."

"Of course, if someone else forces me to the forefront, I'm going to escalate into something more painful like the stinging hex," Leon added snorted at the look she sent him, "Don't worry, I won't do anything that could out us,"

"Just be careful," Calla really didn't want to use the device her father and Uncle Jareth had made.

"I know," Leon waved off her concern, "Don't worry, Dearest, I won't force your hand. I learned my lesson before we came to this boring place,"

Calla winced a bit at the reminder. Leon had overreacted when Candy Cane was giving Hermione some self-defense lessons a few days before they came back to school and required them to use the control device for the first time. It ended up causing Leon quite a bit of pain as it forced him to fall into a deep sleep for a few hours. Hermione felt some pain too though not as bad as what Leon felt. She said, "Right."

Leon snorted before leaning forward with an eager look on his face, "Moving on to something actually interesting, what are you planning to do about those two idiots?"

Calla jolted a bit as she heard the snake again though couldn't see it. Moving towards the wall, she pressed her ear against the wall and heard the sound of scales scraping against something along with what sounded like water. So it was traveling by the pipes? That would explain the water on the floor coming from the bathroom, it meant that they perhaps they should check out the bathroom rather closely. Gripping Candy Pop's necklace, she pulsed her energy lightly and he appeared a few moments later, "Little one-"

"It's in the pipes," Calla cut him off as she kept her ear against the wall, "Listen,"

Candy Pop did as she asked and sucked in a sharp breath, "Definitely a basilisk then, they can travel through water. I do have to wonder why the hell they made the pipes so big."

"They're English magicals," Calla reminded him earning a snort of amusement, "I read in my copy of Hogwarts: a History that they remodeled the school once indoor plumbing became big enough. I don't know how they managed to get the pipes down into the chamber unless the castle adapted to allow it,"

"Or over the years, the stone walls surrounding the pipes down by the chamber broke down enough to create ample space for the snake to travel," Candy Pop pulled his ear away, "I'm going to search the area to see if I can find it's newest victim if it has one. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to visit the twins," Calla shifted her bag, "We were going to discuss my newest prank ideas and some of the stuff LJ's sending me,"

"Be careful and keep your eyes peel," Candy Pop said and sent her off towards the Gryffindor common room.

Candy Pop couldn't find any victims of the basilisk, but he doubted that whoever was using the snake would risk being found out so early in the game. He heard footsteps coming his way and turned to find a ginger haired girl that looked much like Ron, Fred, and George meaning that she was the youngest of the Weasley brood, Ginny. He eyed her and noted that she was rather pale. It wasn't a deathly pale, but definitely not a healthy one. Night Terrors growled a bit in his mind, "Scent the air, Idiot."

Despite wondering what had set the demonic entity off, Candy Pop scent the air and immediately found the problem. The girl smelt of poison, snake, and wet stone. Narrowing his eyes at her, he muttered, 'She must be in contact with the basilisk, but how? She isn't a parselmouth meaning she'd have no protection from its gaze nor any hope of survival.'

"Fuck if I know, but we need to watch her. If she isn't the one controlling the snake, she'll be able to lead us to the bastard," Night Terrors replied while glaring at the girl.

Candy Pop understood his immense dislike of the girl. Not only was she a fan-girl, Ginny Weasley might very well be part of the reason why there was a threat to Calla's life within the school now.

"So you think Ginny's either responsible or has some kind of connection to the person controlling the basilisk?" Calla clarified with a small frown, "I don't like the idea that Ron, Fred, and George's sister is in the middle of this; however, it isn't something easily dismissed all things considered," She looked between Candy Pop and Jane, "What's the plan?"

"Keep an eye on Ginny when you have a chance, but do not confront her," Candy Pop ordered as Night Terror's energy shifted in a way that showed he was agitated, "We don't want to risk you getting hurt,"

"I know," Calla agreed without a problem since she wasn't going to be breaking the promise she'd made to herself, "I have an idea of where the entrance to the chamber might be thanks to what I heard,"

Night Terrors settled down a bit at her words as Jane asked, "Where is it?"

"Since it's traveling by the pipes, it's likely coming from one of the bathrooms," Calla explained as Candy Pop gained a considering look on his face, "Since the first attack occurred by that bathroom Moaning Myrtle haunts, I'm betting that the entrance is either there or a secondary one. I've been in that bathroom a few times and I'm guessing it'll be around the sinks since that's the only area it really could be. The walls on either side of the room contain old classrooms and the back wall is basically a wall of windows," Jane's eyes narrowed a bit, "I'm not quite sure on this next part of my theory, but anything helps, right?"

Candy Pop gave her an encouraging look, "Right, so what's your theory?"

Calla felt her cheeks flush a bit as she admitted, "I have a few theories, but my main two make the most sense to me. No one really uses that bathroom because of Moaning Myrtle and the fact she often causes the toilets to flood. Because of this, you won't find any portraits near it which means so long as you're careful, you can do whatever you want in that area since no one will be around. On Halloween, everyone was at the feast which would make it the perfect time to open the chamber up. Mrs. Norris likely heard something and came to investigate which caused her to see the reflection of the basilisk's eye in the water thus causing Petrification rather than death as the full power of the snakes gaze is diluted by the reflection."

"That makes quite a bit of sense," Jane leaned back against the wall, "This means that we need to find out who left the feast early, how long they were gone, and things like that,"

"And the second theory?" Candy Pop prompted Calla.

Calla organized her thoughts, "I'm a bit shaky on this, but I really think it's true. Moaning Myrtle is the youngest ghost at Hogwarts which is written in the chapter on Hogwarts Ghosts in Hogwarts: a History. Based on the date she died, I was able to figure out it happened fifty years ago. With all the researching going on, I was able to find out the chamber of secrets had opened fifty years ago. By putting it together, I do believe Myrtle is the basilisks only victim to have died."

"Little one, do you have your-" Candy Pop began only for Calla to cut him off by presenting her ghost trapping kit.

"I always carry it around," Calla grinned at him.

Jane snorted with a giggle, "Prepared, aren't you?"

Calla shrugged lightly, "Best to prepare for the worst and wish for the best."

"Thank you, Little One," Candy Pop took the kit, "We'll see about getting everything figured out,"

"If you need any help, just ask," Calla reminded him.

Candy Pop nodded, "Of course, now I do believe it's time for you to head back to your dorm."

Calla nodded with a yawn, "Yeah. Goodnight, Poppy, Night, and Jane."

"Night, Little One/Brat," Candy Pop and Jane replied as Calla began to leave.

Jane turned to Candy Pop once Calla was gone, "Have I ever mentioned how scary it is to see just how smart she is?"

"She gets it from her mother," Candy Pop answered as he looked into Calla's kit and made a mental note to restock it as some of the ingredients she had were going stale, "Lily figured everything out within six months of meeting us,"

Jane shook her head, "Still, that is one smart fucking cookie."

"Let's just be glad she's on our side," Candy Pop shuddered to think of what Calla would do if they were ever on opposite sides.

Night Terrors butted in with a growl, "We would never be on opposite sides, Idiot."

'We've been on opposite sides before. Do you not remember the last prank war?' Candy Pop still couldn't figure out how she managed to find a dye that could actually stick to his hair.

The blonde hadn't been that bad, but it clashed horribly with his skin tone. Night Terrors snorted, "I'm not talking about something like a little prank war. You know what I'm talking about."

Candy Pop tried not to think about it as he left the room with Jane to get some answers from a certain ghost. He would never be able to be enemies with Calla. There was no way he could possibly do it even if she was on Zalgo's side, he doubted he'd ever be able to kill her even if he was the only one that could. Regardless of whether they were mates or not, he wouldn't be able to do it because she was Jason and Lily's daughter. The idea of kill the child that he'd held after she was born made him feel ill in a way he hadn't since the first time he'd accidentally killed someone way back before he'd snapped. No, it was worse than that. Being ill didn't even cover how he felt towards the idea, a shiver ran down his spine.