The Second Year: Part Two.
- Four -
"I can't believe we have been looking since Christmas, yet we have discovered nothing...", Draco whispered woefully.
They were silently discussing their 'test' during Defence Against the Dark Arts. This was not an uncommon occurrence - as Gilderoy Lockheart was utterly useless and barely worth listening to .
"Hmm, I never imagined it would be easy", Harry absent mindedly replied. He had been unfocused for days, his thoughts had been straying again. He sometimes imagined something whispering to him, from the depths of the castle, but her words were unintelligible- due to the general noise of those around him.
Only when it was night could he occasionally hear her calling for him, calling for him to end her loneliness. Draco couldn't hear her, nobody could; Harry doubted anyone else could help her. If only he knew who she was.
Suddenly, Lockheart's incessant bragging grabbed both Harry and Draco's attentions: "Wonderful question, Miss Brown! I believe the most exciting thing I did - whilst a student at Hogwarts - was discover the Chamber of Secrets! ".
"Ha!", Draco sarcastically sneered, "You weren't even a Slytherin but you're clearly Slytherin's heir".
Harry couldn't help but share Draco's opinion of the bumbling professor's blatant lie, but he couldn't help but wonder if the idiot did have information.
"Prove it!", leered Harry, directly challenging Lockheart to give away too much, "If you're such a hero, tell us where the chamber is".
Strutting towards the centre of the room, like a peacock, Lockheart declared, "Isn't it obvious? The Dungeons. Now, do not go looking for it, boys and girls: not everybody is as talented as I am".
- Five -
"Open", Harry hissed at yet another brick wall.
"Nothing?", Draco asked, the mundane bordom more than evident in his voice. He was tired, he was very tired, and they had found nothing.
"I knew he didn't have a clue", sighed harry, crossing out another section on their crude but accurate 'dungeon map'. They had now checked every area of the dungeon and nowhere reacted to parseltongue.
Draco had smartly concluded that the only thing all heirs of Slytherin had in common was blood and being a parselmouth. Draco then smartly concluded that rubbing blood all over the walls - hoping to find the chamber - was neither discreet nor safe. This made speaking parseltongue the most logical way to open the chamber.
"Oi!".
'Shit!', thought Harry, that was Weasley's voice!
"Oi! Pathetic Potter and his boyfriend Mummy's boy Malfoy, down in the dungeons hissing together? I know what that is! That's dark magic! You're screwed, you slimy gits!", leered Ron. His chest puffed out proudly. He realised he finally had dirt on those snakes.
Harry's hand instinctively curled around his wand; then he realised he really didn't want to expose himself - especially to Weasley of all people.
"Don't worry, Harry, Ronald is just upset that you can't buy brain cells - though I suppose his family would be too poor to afford them either way", Draco sniggered. He knew Weasley had little self control, and even less common sense.
'If Weasley loses it down here Snape will be more than willing to teach the weasel some manners', Draco laughed at that thought, and was more than happy to see Weasley's face was almost as red as his hair.
"A... at least my parents aren't Death Eaters, Malfoy!", screamed Weasley, his fists balled around Draco's collar.
"Perhaps we should have a little chat, Weasley. Such accusations are not tolerated in my Dungeons", Snape suddenly appeared behind Weasley, a hand firmly clasped upon the redhead's shoulder. And, just like he had appeared out of nowhere, Snape hastily disappeared just as fast, dragging Weasley by the arm as he went.
- Six -
Hermione marched into the great hall, a heavy book in hand, straight towards the Slytherin table.
Once she reached where Harry sat, she promptly stopped and slammed the book upon the table. It landed with a thump as she began to speak in her whiny 'know-it-all' voice, "Ronald said you were hissing in the dungeons!".
"And?", Harry questioned. "Am I not a snake?", he joked.
"Well, in 'Hogwarts: A History' it says that Slytherin himself could 'hiss' - as Ronald put it; he was a parselmouth. Only his descendants are known to be parcelmouths. That means you must be a descendant of Slytherin!".
"Mmmm, o-k? How very exciting(!)", Harry scornfully quipped, 'Why couldn't the silly girl just leave him alone?'.
"Well, that means you must be magical, if you are a parselmouth. And I think you are!", Hermione proudly stated, fully confident that she had finally outsmarted Harry Potter.
Harry realised what he said next was rather... rude, to say the least, but it got the job done, "Hiss, hiss, fucking hiss. Nobody cares what you think because nobody would be stupid enough to believe anything that comes out of Ronald Weasley's nasty mouth. He bullied you all of last year - and the majority of this year - but now you are more than happy to agree with him: He is using you, Granger!".
The entirety of Slytherin laughed, the majority of them never passing up the opportunity to ridicule muggleborns, but he had never intended to be so loud.
As she burst into tears, Harry felt something he had never felt before: his chest ached and he wanted to chase after her. He didn't know what was wrong with him!
Regardless, he silently stood and strode after her.
- Seven -
"I'm really sorry", Harry whispered, sliding down to join Hermione - who was sat sobbing on the soaked floor. She had ran off to the long abandoned, and widely avoided, second floor (female) bathroom. It's only occupant was Moaning Myrtle, a particularly annoying ghost. Harry had long ago been warned to avoid her bathroom at all costs.
"I... I am only upset because I know you are right", she hiccoughed, whilst attempting to stop hyperventilating. "He... he was only being nice to me to use me. B... but I have no one in Gryffindor! I... I wanted to believe he cared!".
"Oh, Hermione", Harry whispered, instinctively running his hand over her soft, bushy hair, "I understand how you feel".
Hermione looked at Harry, for the first time she was looking at his eyes. They seemed so sincere and pure.
"Sometimes I feel like everyone is looking for faults in me. Nobody appreciates me as I am, they all think I'm a hero, but I am weak...", Harry whispered, leaning close to Hermione's ear, "You feel as if no one appreciates you how you are".
She nodded, "You're wrong, Hermione. I appreciate you as you are. You are smart, and brave and persistent. I really think, if you hadn't tried to expose me as a hero, we could have been friends, but I was worried I would disappoint you when you realised I was nothing".
Harry stood up, offering his hand to Hermione. She accepted with a small smile and nodded. She looked much happier, if not slightly guilty.
"Be brave, and be true to yourself", he silently said as he planted a gentle kiss on her hand.
She flushed and walked away, covering her grin with the hand he had kissed.
'That was all lies... of course', thought Harry, 'It must be...'.
Author's Note: I managed to stay on schedule! Hopefully, I can keep it up. I really hope you enjoy.
One thing I want to add, I am really sorry that Hermione comes across as pretty annoying (so far). In canon, she was a bit of a know-it-all until Harry and Ron brought her down to earth.
The thing to remember is that - without Harry - Ron would have most likely still disliked Hermione by their second year.
Hermione will become more important later, I promise!
Thank you so much for reading/favouriting/reviewing/commenting etc. What do you think will happen next?
