A/N: This was supposed to be a one shot, but now it's a series. Thank you so very much to all the people who have favourited/followed the story. It was because of you guys, I continued with the idea of this fic. I don't own Harry Potter; it solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!
A/N: Just to clear up, Harriet is in Slytherin and Hermione is in Ravenclaw. According to the events, the story is towards the end of their second year. In next chapter the events from POA will start.
A/N: 'Bold and italics' is conversation in parseltongue.
She didn't realise how quickly she'd reached back to the Common Room. On her way back though, Harriet's mind wandered to the plausible questions, she knew, Daphne and Hermione would have in store for her. She turned around the corner and towards the entrance of Slytherin Common Room only to realise that she'd yet again, forgotten the password. Harriet sighed heavily in annoyance. Thankfully, being a parselmouth came with its own perks, so she just hissed,
'Open'.
"You do know you can't always use parseltongue so openly. What will you do if someone accidentally hears you speaking it?" Marvolo asked. He was well aware of how responsible Harriet actually was but forgetting passwords wasn't amusing to him in the least.
"I'm sorry! My mind hadn't exactly been in one place recently." He sighed at her frustrated tone. She was right, he knew, but they couldn't afford for her secret to being out just yet.
"Its okay, don't fret over it. I only want you to be careful. Even more so now, because I think, we officially have Dumbledore on our tail. He knew that you lied to him about the diary, but he couldn't do anything because of the Weasley girl backing you up. So..." Marvolo's words halted when Daphne's booming voice interrupted him.
"Harriet! Where were you? You weren't supposed to be out of your bed all day, but I found you missing since I woke up." Daphne glared daggers at the raven-haired girl. The Greengrass girl loved Harriet, really, but her best friend's habit to somehow landing up in life-threatening situations made her worry too much.
"The headmaster wanted to meet me," Harriet muttered looking at both her friends.
"Is everything okay, Harrie?" Hermione gently asked as she moved forward from her seat on the couch.
"Yeah, everything is all right. Let us talk about it in my room. We're gaining unwanted attention here," Harriet muttered as she silently signalled to Draco's sidekicks - Crabbe and Goyle - who seemed more interested in Harriet's conversation instead of their own work. Daphne and Hermione caught on to what she meant and agreed, and they followed Harriet to her room silently.
Upon reaching, both girls settled comfortably on the large four-poster bed and waited as Harriet activated the privacy wards. That was one other thing she loved about being in the snake-house. Every student of the Slytherin house was given their own room so that their privacy remained unharmed.
"Start from the very beginning, Harrie. What exactly happened after we parted ways?" Hermione asked. The bushy-haired girl was the most stunned because Hermione was the one who saw Harrie just before she went missing.
"So when I was returning from escorting you to the Ravenclaw tower, I saw Ginny standing just outside the entrance to the Common Room."
"The youngest Weasley?" Daphne asked, and Harriet nodded in affirmation.
"That's odd! How did she know where the entrance was? I thought she didn't know anyone in Slytherin." Hermione asked with furrowed brows.
"That's what I thought too, so I called out to her, thinking that she may have lost her way in the dungeons. I knew something was terribly wrong as soon as she looked at me." Harriet repeated the day's events to her friends, but unlike last time, she didn't lie to them about the diary.
Harriet gently took out the unique object from where it had been safely tucked in her robes, placing it on the bed. The once neat and pristine diary was now just a tattered mess of parchments, soaked in muddy water and dried blood. Daphne sucked a sharp breath upon seeing the large hole in the centre, where the basilisk fang had been brutally plunged.
Harriet also showed them the nasty scar where the basilisk bit her, and could already see Daphne's anger rising over her decision of acting so brashly and putting her life in danger.
"She was possessed?" Hermione broke the painful silence and just got an affirmative nod.
"That explains her weird behaviour," Hermione continued.
"How so?"
"Remember that day in the Great Hall, Daph, when we accidentally bumped into her?"
"Yeah! She was downright rude, even going to the lengths of calling you a 'mudblood' and 'filthy creature'," Daphne pointed out.
"She called you what?" Harriet narrowed her eyes at Hermione. She was fiercely protective of her friends and someone calling them callous names wasn't acceptable.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Hermione sighed dejectedly but smiled nonetheless seeing how protective her friends were. "The very next day though, she asked for my help as if didn't remember anything she said or did. I found it really odd, so I started observing her."
"Of course, you did." Harriet and Daphne said in unison and chuckled slightly making the bushy-haired girl huff in annoyance.
"Well now that you have mentioned this though, I do remember the Weasley twins cornering Ginny and asking about her depriving health," Harriet said. She couldn't fathom how difficult it would have been for the Weasley girl all this time. It was because Harriet was the only one who knew of how ruthless and cold-hearted Marvolo could easily be if he wanted.
"I'm not the same person as I once used to be, dearest," Marvolo whispered, reminding her yet again that he was different from Tom.
"I know," Harriet whispered back.
Hermione, on the other hand, was observing the diary. Her own thoughts consumed her as her fingers trailed the traces of dried blood. She looked at the tiny raven-haired girl sitting across from her, who was already watching Hermione's every movement. Sometimes Harriet's intense gaze, made Hermione think, that she was an all-together different person.
"My question is though, why did You-know-who kidnap Harriet and attack her suddenly? More importantly, why would he possess someone, that too with a diary? How did a diary fit in all these murderous plans?" Daphne swore under her breath at Hermione's quick questions. Sometimes the blonde-girl found it immensely difficult to keep up with Hermione's brilliant mind.
"I'm not sure I'm following your thoughts," Harriet said sincerely.
"Last year, even when the Dark Lord was living off as a parasite by possessing Quirrell, he didn't try anything to go out of his way to harm you. You said that he just wanted the Philosopher's stone, which you did give him, but it turned out to be fake. But, according to what he told you, he was already suspicious about it." Harriet nodded her head in agreement.
"What are you insinuating, Hermione?" Daphne whispered.
"The Dark Lord seemed to genuinely like Harriet from their conversations. In fact pleased enough to even send her a Christmas present. Then where did such hatred ness suddenly come from? The Dark Lord who hideously taught us last year, and the one you're talking about now, somehow seem to be two different people."
Out of all the important questions, Daphne's mind seemed to be stuck only on one thought.
"Wait, wait! The Dark Lord sent you a Yuletide present?" The Greengrass girl narrowed her eyes at Harriet, who too was pondering over the same thought. Harriet's eyes widened in realisation, "That book on the dark and grey magic, wasn't from Professor Snape, but Voldemort!"
"How long had you known about it?" Harriet questioned the Ravenclaw.
"As soon as I saw the note. It wasn't in Professor Snape's handwriting," she answered truthfully.
"She's too smart for her own good." The words slipped unintentionally out of Marvolo's tongue which caught Harriet's attention, and it became perfectly clear on what he meant when Hermione's questioning eyes landed on her.
"This diary isn't ordinary. Not even the dark magic used on it and he possessed a person with its help. What is it, Harriet? What are you not telling us?"
Daphne looked between her friends, clueless as to where the conversation was going. Harriet, on her own part, felt guilty. Daphne and Hermione were her first friends and the only people who cared about her apart from Marvolo. She could proudly say that life at Hogwarts was a bit brighter and happier because of the two amazing witches sitting in front of her. Yet, she hadn't told them anything about Marvolo or his relationship with her.
Marvolo, for Harriet, wasn't just her friend and family. He was her entire world. He was the most important person in her life, someone she looked up to and wanted to make proud. He was her teacher and guide, her mentor and yet, her darkest secret.
Harriet hadn't even uttered about his existence to another soul, because honestly, who would listen to a girl claiming that she had someone living in her head? The world would have thought that the Dursley's were right all along!
And then their bond had grown so strong that Harriet would die before even thinking of giving upon Marvolo. Daphne and Hermione were her friends, but Harriet wouldn't spill about Marvolo to them until he said so.
Harriet sighed in exhaustion. She was bloody tired and just wanted to ease her mind from the horrible turn her life had suddenly taken. She straightened her back before turning her full attention to them, "I don't know. I don't know what bloody piece of magic that murderous diary is, and I don't know the motive behind all that has happened. Please trust me because I'm not lying to you. I, myself, am trying to find the answers and I will tell you in time. Please believe me." She looked at her only friends with pleading eyes, because Harriet didn't want to lose them when she had just started understanding what true friendship meant.
"Of course we do, sweetie," Daphne moved forward and hugged her close. "Hermione didn't mean to make you upset. She asked only because we worry about you. We know about those vile creatures you are forced to call your family, and we know how your life is in constant danger. We care for you, sweetheart, and that is why we want to help you in any way possible." Daphne rubbed soothing circles on her back, a trick she learned that calmed Harriet down immensely.
Hermione joined the hug too, stroking Harrie's hair lovingly, "I'm sorry, Harrie. Daph's right, I didn't want to make you sad or upset in the least. We just don't want you to act this recklessly ever. Take as much time as you want, love. We'll wait." Harriet buried herself in between them. It was rare moments like these where she felt truly safe and protected.
"That's not very nice, dearest. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of you. Have been doing so for the past so many years. I don't remember getting such recognition for my good actions." Marvolo huffed dramatically, crossing his arms over his chest and acting like a five-year-old. Harriet simply ignored him for the time being.
Like the gentleman he was, Marvolo waited when his girl ignored his rantings, but the other two girls squeezing the life out of them was making him fidgety.
"For Merlin, Morgana and Salazar's sake, little snake, tell the stupid girls to step away. It's getting on my nerves!" Marvolo absolutely loathed being hugged or any form of physical contact for that matter.
"Shut up, Marvolo." Harriet smiled at him cheekily. She loved hugs only because Marvolo hated them. The three girls broke apart when the grandfather clock chimed and indicated that it was time for lunch.
"Come on, let's get going. Between worrying for Harriet and getting all my stuff packed, I didn't have a decent breakfast. Now, I'm starving," Daphne said as she made her way towards the door.
"Oh Salazar!" Harriet groaned in annoyance.
"What happened, Harrie?"
"Dear Harriet here forgot that we're leaving today, and so she didn't pack," Hermione spoke in an amused tone.
"WHAT!" Daphne exclaimed. She didn't want to miss out on her lunch as well.
"How did you know?" Harrie asked as she peeked slightly from where her face was buried in the pillow.
"And I'm the dramatic one!" Marvolo too added his own unwanted opinions.
"You always forget about stuff. Like bringing homework even though you've done it, the passwords to the common room, and apparently packing your things too." Harrie wasn't amused, but Hermione couldn't stop laughing at her pouty expressions.
"You guys carry on. I'll join you in a few minutes as soon as I finish packing," Harrie moved to get her wand when Daphne stopped her.
"No! Its the last day of the year, and I want to spend it with my girls. Leave it, Harrie. It'll take just a few minutes anyway. We'll quickly sort it after lunch," Daphne suggested and so they left for the Great Hall.
"I don't understand why are you even friends with her? She talks way too much. It gives me constant headaches," Marvolo muttered when Daphne was animatedly telling them about her summer plans.
"And I don't understand why do I even bother with your nonsense," Harriet retorted playfully.
"That is because I'm the most amazing person you'll have the chance to meet, little snake," the Dark Lord spoke in his haughty tone. Harriet hid the worry behind her slight smile as she walked beside Hermione and Daphne. She wasn't looking forward to her summer holidays because neither was she ready to leave Hogwarts, and nor was she ready to face and tolerate the Dursley's.