Harry came out of his shocked state when he heard the echoing of many footsteps coming towards him. The feast must have ended. Harry didn't know what to do. He would look like the perpetrator if he stayed here, so he shot down the hall away from the red writing on the wall and the hanging Mrs Norris. The first entryway he found was the haunted girls bathroom and, without a second thought, he darted into it, rushing into a cubicle and shutting the door.
Harry heard a scream come down from the hall and knew that Mrs Norris had been found. Harry didn't know what to do or what to think, there had been a voice, he was certain of it. But he had not seen anyway or anything, so what exactly had he heard and was it related to this Chamber of Secrets and the seemingly dead Mrs Norris?
Harry was about to evacuate the bathroom when a ghost appeared from within his toilet and nearly scared him out of his skin.
"Oh! Naughty boy in the girls toilet!" she giggled, her voice obscenely high and scratchy. The ghost seemed to be a young girl in a Hogwarts school uniform, glasses sitting on her face skewed, and her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.
"I was just hiding, don't tell anyone please." Harry blushed and desperately hoped that this ghost wouldn't give him away.
"You're leaving already?" the ghost howled, fat ghostly tears springing from her translucent eyes.
"I have somewhere to be!" Harry rushed, trying to now calm the sobbing ghost.
"Boys are always the same, they come but never stay!" she wailed and then she was gone, splashing back into the toilet and spraying Harry with water.
Harry wiped the toilet water off his face with a groan and continued to the exit. He looked both ways first to ensure that no one was around and hurriedly made his way down the hall towards the stairs. In his rush and looking over his shoulder, he bumped into someone.
"Sorry!" Harry instantly said, rubbing his forehead where it had made contact with his obstacle.
"Harry?" a shocked voice asked and Harry looked up to Draco giving him a bemused look.
"Draco?!" Harry returned, equally as shocked.
"Shh! Now is not the time quick come this way," Draco murmured when voices could be heard coming their way, Harry and Draco rushed up the stairs and down a hall, finding a door thankfully unlocked, they quietly entered into the room and shut the door carefully behind them, sighing out breathes of relief.
"Draco where have you been?" Harry said this time, feeling the emotions of the past thirty minutes clash with one other.
"I—" But then Draco paused and his eyes glazed over as if he wasn't there anymore. Then he was back again, staring at Harry with a bewildered look.
"Harry, where am I?" Draco said, looking around the classroom.
"You're…Draco, what is happening to you?" Harry asked, thoroughly beyond confused now.
"I don't know, Harry, all I remember was that elf giving me your letter and I was leaving the feast, giving some lame excuse and then, I'm here, in this room."
"Draco, I waited an hour for you, you never showed up." Harry then had a moment to look over Draco and for the first time. He noticed something red staining Dracos hands. Harry took a step back, realisation washing over him like cold water.
"Draco, what is on your hands?" Harry asked slowly, but he did not need the answer—he already knew.
Draco looked down to his palms and his eyes widened with surprise. He brought them up to examine them and Harry became increasingly sure. Draco's hands were covered in blood.
"Draco, tell me now, where have you been for the past hour?" Harry's voice hardened with suspicion and Draco gave him a hurt look when he identified the suspicion in his tone.
"I don't know Harry, honestly, please…" Draco stepped towards him, but Harry put his hand up to stop him.
"Something has been happening to you for the past couple of weeks, Draco, I know. Tell me now, what have you been up to?" Harry's heart squeezed when Draco's face fell, but Harry had to steel himself. Draco had been up to something and he needed to find out.
"Is there anywhere else I can explain? Please Harry, it's probably not the best idea to do it here."
Harry considered this and then nodded, taking out his invisibility cloak stepping towards Draco. He placed the cloak over the both of them and led them towards the Shrieking Shack. Draco was silent the whole time, allowing Harry to take him with no questions asked. Harry still felt suspicious of Draco, but the more he looked to his guilty face the more he felt it begin to melt away.
They walked quickly down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, making it there in record time. Draco gasped as he saw the shack, obviously not expecting it to look as it did.
"I was fixing this place up for us," Harry said sheepishly, glancing away from Draco.
"It's perfect," Draco said softly. He made his way to the table and sat down with a heavy sigh, the facade finally falling.
Harry lit a candle on the table, casting the shack in washes of orange and lines of shadow. He looked to Draco and nodded for him to begin.
"Where to even begin," Draco sighed again, giving Harry a stressed look.
"At the beginning would be nice," Harry scoffed, sitting down on the other chair.
"Summer then," Draco said.
Harry nodded. That would be a good start.
Draco took a deep breath and then he straightened with determination.
"The first half of summer everything seemed okay, I didn't really mention you to my father, but I had a feeling he had heard some rumours. But then, he heard about how I helped you stop Professor Quirell, who had been confirmed to be possessed by the Dark Lord. My father was furious, I had essentially helped stop the Dark :ord from returning. I was destroying his reputation, he said. But I think there was something else. He was scared, Harry, scared that if the Dark Lord truly returned, I would be punished. My father may seem like a horrible man, but he loves us, it's just that the way he goes about showing it can be a bit…convoluted." Draco paused then, letting Harry soak in all of this, Harry nodded for him to continue.
"That's when he ordered the house elf to watch me and not let me send anymore letters, and I wasn't to leave the manor without an escort. After that he began having more and more meetings with Death Eaters. I think he was trying to cover up what I had done, pulling favours here and there, putting money into pockets to keep them quiet. That's when I heard about a plan that some Death Waters were conspiring. My father had been given a diary by the Dark Lord before he was destroyed for safe keeping. But the Ministry has been cracking down on dark artefacts and he needed to get rid of it quickly. Someone thought of planting it at Hogwarts, causing some trouble."
"Did you help him?" Harry rushed out, almost immediately regretting having asked.
"What? Harry, no, I stopped him!" Draco returned, clearly offended, but Harry could also see that he felt hurt by the accusation.
"He planted it in the youngest Weasley's cauldron, Ginny's. The first night here I snuck into her dorms and took it before it could do any harm."
Harry felt the rush of relief instantly overtake him. So Draco hadn't been up to no good then, he was innocent.
"What did you do with the diary?" Harry asked.
"It's in my trunk, locked away. It's not safe Harry. I'm stupid not to have realised at first, but there's some serious dark magic imprinted on it. I've tried destroying it, but it's indestructible."
"Okay, so that's all cleared up, but what about tonight? Where have you been?"
Draco shook his head. "I seriously don't know Harry, I have no memory of that hour I was gone. All I knew was I left the feast and then I was with you."
"That's not good Draco. There's blood on your hands and there was blood written on the walls today. It said 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir, beware'," Harry recited, vividly remembering the crimson glistening words on the wall. He kept to himself the voice that he had heard, for he wasn't sure yet if it was a trick of his imagination—besides it didn't sound very sane if he admitted that he was hearing a voice in the walls.
"The Chamber of Secrets?" Draco gasped, fear and shock overtaking his expression.
"Yes…why do you look so frightened? What is it?" Harry said, worried.
"The Chamber of Secrets, I've heard my father talk about it once. Apparently the last time it was opened someone died, Harry. Oh Merlin, what if I opened it?" Draco stood up and began pacing, fear and guilt tensing every line of his body.
"Calm down Draco, you can't have known if you did it yet. Maybe we should go see Dumbledore, show him the diary?" Harry suggested calmly, hoping to calm down Draco.
"No Harry, that would implicate my father. I can't do that." Draco paced quicker.
"Snape then?" Harry offered.
Draco shook his head, his eyebrows creasing deeper together.
"Are you even sure if the chamber is real? What if this is just some trick by a student, maybe someone saw you walking the halls, cast a memory charm on you and tried to frame you?"
"Memory charms are extremely difficult to perform Harry, they would have to be exceptionally good at them to only take an hour of my memories away." He stopped the pacing.
"It could be one explanation," Harry said, hoping Draco would remain calm.
Draco paused, then nodded. "It could be one."
"Okay, you still have the coin right?" Harry asked and Draco nodded. "Okay good, we need to head back to our dorms before it looks like we're the culprits, I'll take you back to your house, if anyone asks where you were, say you were constipated or something,"
Draco scrunched his nose and gave Harry a disgusted look. "I'm sure I can come up with something better than that."
"Sure, whatever you want, I'll contact you through the coin when to meet next. Use your invisibility cloak to get here."
"Harry, what if I really did open it?" Draco whispered, his composure falling once again.
"Then I will help you fix it, I promise," Harry whispered back, pulling Draco into a hug.
Draco sighed and relaxed into the embrace, wrapping his arms around Harry's back and squeezing him tight.
They stayed there for a long moment, holding on until each felt their heartbeats return to their normal rate and their breathing calmed. Harry pulled slightly away, giving Draco a soft smile.
"It will be okay, Draco, I promise. Whatever happens, I'm on your side."
"Thank you, Harry," Draco sighed, stepping away from Harry and letting his arms fall from Harry's back.
Harry ignored the empty feeling that Draco left behind and let Draco walk past him into the corridor. Harry quickly blew out all the candles and then followed after Draco, lighting his wand with Lumos. He caught up to the awaiting Draco and they walked together in companionable silence.
Harry tried not to think too much about the Chamber of Secrets, but knew that he wouldn't be able to ignore it when he came back to the Gryffindor House; the whole school would be talking about it by now.
When they got out of the corridor and back into the school, Harry put the cloak over them both and took Draco back to his dorms first. The teachers were roaming around much more than Harry had anticipated and on more than one occasion they nearly ran into Snape, who seemed to be on their tail.
Harry said his quiet goodbye to Draco and then hurried back to the Gryffindor Tower, hoping that Ron or Hermione had made some excuses for his absence. Harry whispered the password to the Fat Lady and she swung open, grumbling about invisible people. Harry stepped into the common room, which for this time of night was oddly empty. He would have thought that people would be up and about gossiping, perhaps they had been sent to bed early by the teachers and prefects?
Harry took off his invisibility cloak just before entering into his dorm room and shoved it into his pocket, which made it bulge. He just hoped that none of the boys would notice. Immediately upon his arrival, all the boys perked up and rushed to Harry.
"Harry, where have you been? Ron said you weren't feeling well, but when we came back you weren't here. Have you heard what happened?" Seamus rushed and Harry tried to hold back a grimace.
Harry side-eyed Ron who shrugged and gave him a look of apology. "Yeah I had a bad stomach ache. I went to Madame Pomfrey and she only just let me off, you know how she can be." Harry shrugged, sitting down on his bed and taking off his shoes, then asked, putting on a mask of curiosity, "Why, what happened?"
"Mrs Norris was found dead hanging on a light fixture on the second floor. There was something written in blood on the wall about the Chamber of Secrets and the heir; super creepy," Seamus explained in his own excitable way.
Harry nodded, trying his best to look intrigued, he eyed Ron again and knew he was itching to ask Harry what he had truly been up to tonight. "Of course I miss out on the good stuff when I'm sick," Harry whined, putting on a show.
"Don't worry mate, you know that kid Colin Creevey in first year? He had his camera on him and took a photo of it, you can ask him about it tomorrow if you like? He's suddenly gotten super popular, people who weren't there are begging to see the photo," Seamus said.
Harry nodded again, pretending to consider Seamus' idea. They continued to talk about the writing on the wall for a little while longer, no one asking anymore about Harry's absence, and soon they all began to drop off to bed. Harry made the decision that Ron could wait until tomorrow, Harry suddenly feeling exhausted and not wanting to explain to Ron what had occurred throughout the night.
When Harry awoke in the morning, he really did not want to get out of bed. Thankfully it was Saturday and Harry didn't have to worry about attending any classes. He looked around the room and found his dorm empty. When he looked at his watch which he had forgotten to take off the night before, he found it to be nearly around lunchtime. He hadn't slept-in like this in a long time! Harry rushed around to get ready and scrambled down the stairs, the common room bustling with midday activity and no one thankfully took particular notice of him. He looked around hoping to spot Ron and Hermione, but they weren't around. Thankfully he spotted a familiar face and walked up to him.
"Hey Neville, have you seen Ron and Hermione?" Harry asked Neville, who was reading a book which appeared to be about exotic plants if the cover was anything to go by.
"Oh, hey Harry. Yeah I think they went to the library. Oh also Professor McGonagall was asking after you, but Hermione insisted that she let you sleep."
Harry felt a sense of foreboding encompass him and he said thank you to Neville, quickly leaving for the library.
Harry tried not to feel too nervous about McGonagall asking for him. Perhaps it was about homework or a bad grade and not about him being suspiciously absent at the perfect time to incriminate him for the death of a cat. Harry finally made it to the library and hoped that Hermione and Ron would have some answers for him. He gave a tentative smile to the constantly frowning Madam Pince and found his way to the usual table that they inhabited.
True to Neville's word, Ron and Hermione were seated at the table, diligently working on their homework in silence. Harry sat down at the table, giving them both smiles in greeting.
"Hello," Harry greeted.
Ron gave him an exasperated eye roll as he usually did when Harry was up to no good and Hermione took a moment to react to her friend's arrival.
"Harry! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her precious quill at him.
"I know, I know, and I will tell you everything," Harry promised, flinching as Hermione threatened to throw another one of her quills. Instead, she put down her arm and gave him a menacing look.
"Do you know what happened last night? Draco wasn't at the feast, so you met right?" Hermione asked, leaning forward and murmuring so as to not be overheard.
Harry scratched at the back of his head. "Well, about that," Harry started.
For the next five minutes Harry spent his time explaining to Hermione and Ron what had occurred last night, everything from hearing the voice in the walls, to finding the dead Mrs Norris, to Draco thinking he might have opened the Chamber of Secrets.
Hermione frowned throughout most of Harry's explanation, and when Harry finished talking, the expression remained, her thinking face on. Then she said, "First off, I really don't like the sound of this diary. I doubt I'll be able to find out much about dark art artifacts without access to the restricted section, but I'll see what I can find. And that voice you heard, are you sure that you heard it?"
Harry nodded assuredly. "I'm positive Hermione, I definitely heard it, and it sounded…" Harry couldn't find a word that could describe it, and instead just shivered just remembering the voice. That seemed to be all the proof that Hermione needed.
"So, a weird voice in the walls than a dead cat, that doesn't sound good," Ron concluded, causing an eye roll from Hermione.
"Ever so informative, Ron." Hermione sighed, turning her attention back to Harry.
"First off, I would steer clear of the second floor for now. Avoid walking around there alone for a couple of days so the teachers don't grow suspicious. I used the excuse that you were sick, but Ron told me that you weren't back by the time the feast was over so I don't know how we're going to explain that, which leaves a window of time where no one knew where you were." Hermione's tone indicated that she felt that the odds were against him.
Harry felt dread beginning to build. He was screwed.
"Ah, Mr Potter, you are turning out to be quite a hard student to find," a familiar stern voice said, interrupting their conversation. Harry, with his heart pounding, turned to find a not-so-impressed McGonagall looking down at him.
"Er, hello Professor," Harry murmured, standing to face her.
"Yes, hello Harry. Now if you would be so kind as to follow me?" And with that, McGonagall turned around and strode out of the library, leaving an anxious Harry to follow. Ron and Hermione sent him encouraging smiles that did nothing to calm him down, and he replied with a wobbly smile of his own before quickly following McGonagall.
They walked in silence as McGonagall presumably led him to Dumbledore's office. Harry didn't know what to expect when he would arrive there and he desperately tried to think of excuses for his unknown whereabouts last night—but his panicking wouldn't let him think of anything.
"Lemon drops," McGonagall said tersely, bringing Harry out of his alarmed thoughts. He hadn't realised they had arrived at Dumbledore's office.
"Come on, Mr Potter, Dumbledore is waiting for you." Professor McGonagall moved aside to let Harry walk down the spiral staircase and Harry nodded his thanks, swallowing his anxiety and making his way slowly down the stairs. McGonagall followed after, her heels echoing against the stone walls.
Harry entered into Dumbledore's office, willing his heart to slow down. The worst case scenarios kept going through his brain: getting expelled, Draco getting outed, his parents finding out that he was up to no good again. Dumbledore was not sitting at his desk as Harry had thought he would be, and was instead standing by his expansive array of bookshelves, his hands behind his back, his large and menacingly looking Phoenix sitting on his shoulder.
"Welcome Harry, take a seat. Do you want a lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked, not turning to look at Harry. Harry nodded, even though Dumbledore couldn't see him and sat down at Dumbledore's desk, but he didnt take a lemon drop, his appetite long gone.
"Harry, yesterday when your house leaders were head counting students, they found you absent. Your friends insisted that you were unwell and must have gone to Madam Pomfrey. However, after checking with her, she confirmed that you were in fact not with her last night. Thus leading me to ask you Harry; where were you last night?" Dumbledore turned around now, a serious expression on his wizened face.
Harry gulped, his mouth suddenly going dry. "I can explain Professor Dumbledore, but I made a promise that I wouldnt expose them," Harry said, suddenly finding that all possible explanations and lies had flown out of his head, instead blurting out a half truth.
"Harry, this is no time for your games. I'm sure you know by now what happened last night and, as of this moment, you are looking like the most obvious suspect," McGonagall said seriously.
"I understand that, look, I swear that I have nothing to do with the writing on the wall or Mrs Norris, but I also can't say where I was last night, not without giving away who I was with." Harry gave Dumbledore a pleading look, hoping that the old wizard would believe him.
"This isn't looking good, Harry," the Headmaster sighed, sitting down now at his desk, suddenly looking weary.
"I'll take any punishment for being out after curfew, but I won't say anything else."
"Very well, I think another round of detention with Snape would do. He seems to know you were out last night anyhow. He hasn't stopped complaining about it all morning. It's up to him how long the detentions will last. Now, Harry I'm warning you now; the Chamber of Secrets is no myth. The last time this Chamber was opened there was a student casualty and I refuse to let that happen again." Harry had never seen Dumbledore talk so seriously before, like, well, like a Headmaster. Harry nodded his head quickly, showing Dumbledore that he understood.
"Good. Now off you go. I'll make an announcement about this tonight. I will have you know that Mrs Norris is alive, but she has been petrified, which is a mystery of its own and one that I am quickly wanting to solve. If you know anything out of the ordinary that you may have heard or seen last night during your adventures, it would be kind of you to let me know." Dumbledore stood now and smiled, his usual twinkle returning to his eye.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Harry said, feeling a calm wash through him. He wasn't being expelled, which was a relief of its own, and even though he had to have more detentions with Snape, he knew he could handle them by now.
McGonagall didn't look all that impressed, but she let Harry go alone back up the stairs. He checked his watch and saw that it was lunchtime, so made his way to the Great Hall, keen to show Hermione and Ron that he hadn't been expelled.
When he entered the hall, which was nearly full by the time he arrived, quiet suddenly fell and all eyes were on him. Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and he hurried to his table, keeping his head down and trying to ignore the quiet murmuring that followed him.
"What's going on?" Harry questioned Hermione, who gave him a concerned look in return.
"There's a rumour going around, Harry, a rumour that you wrote what was on the wall last night."
"What? But how? I made the excuse that I was with Pomfrey!"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know Harry, but people are suddenly calling you the Heir of Slytherin. It isn't looking good-"
"Oh just ignore them, Harry. You've dealt with rumours your whole life, you can deal with this," Ron interrupted, slamming some shepherd's pie onto his plate.
"Thanks Ron, what would I do without you?" Harry said sarcastically. Ron retorted by sticking his tongue out at him.
Harry tried to eat some food, but his appetite still had not returned, and the eyes watching him soon began to weigh him down further.
"I think I'm going to head out. I'll see you guys in the common room," Harry said, getting up from the table and sending reassuring smiles to his friends, who were giving him multiple concerned looks.
Harry made his way up to Gryffindor Tower and sat down on a chair in the common room, sighing in relief that it was empty, only the fire crackling breaking the silence.
That was when a pop resounded around the room and Harry nearly fell out of his seat.
"Pipsy?" Harry exclaimed, looking at the elf.
"Harry Potter, sir," Pispy said, "Mr Malfoy has asked me to send you this letter," she handed Harry a letter.
Harry took it, giving Pipsy a smile, before Pispy popped away and Harry opened the letter excitedly.
This better be good.