Disclaimer: Specific descriptions of the chamber were taken out of the second Harry Potter book, which belongs solely to that of J.K. Rowling, as does the rest of the Harry Potter universe.

Chapter 12:

Tom stood back, "You-you found it?" He asked as if he couldn't believe his ears. Nicole nodded. He looked around again, "Are you sure?" Again, she nodded her head. "Where?"

She spoke just above a whisper. "The first floor girl's lavatory."

"Are you positive?" Tom asked again, and again she nodded looking slightly irritated.

"Yes, I'm sure." He moved in closer towards her.

"We should go then." He went to grab her hand but she backed away.

"Not yet," Tom looked as though he had been slapped in the face.

"Not yet?" He repeated, unsure what to make of this. He had been searching for the chamber ever since his first year of Hogwarts, not yet? Was she out of her mind?

"It's still early, we can meet there after nightfall," she reasoned, shiftily looking from each end of the hallway.

Tom gritted his teeth, he knew she was right, but he didn't have to like it. "Very well, ten then?"

"Perfect." She could tell how frustrated he was. He turned away from her, and began walking down the hall towards the Slytherin common. She however, returned to the library. In her obsession with finding the chamber she had let her grades slide a considerable amount. It was a wonder how Tom could juggle both so effortlessly.

It was 9:45 PM; he was the last one in the common room that night, apart from Cygnus who had fallen asleep in his chair after writing less than a paragraph of his History of Magic assignment.

He exited the common room as quietly as possible; although unavoidably the door creaked as it opened. Cygnus readjusted himself in his chair, but did not open his eyes. Carefully Tom crept through the halls, walking up the stairs from the dungeons to the first floor. He opened the door to the girl's lavatory. There Nicole stood, leaning against one of the stalls.

"You're early," she replied softly, looking at the sink in front of her with casual interest. He did not respond, and she continued. "I expected you to be early," she moved towards the sink; admiring the taps on the faucet.

There was a moment or two of silence and then "Well?" Tom looked around the walls of the lavatory, trying to see if anything were out of the ordinary.

"This tap," she gestured for him to come closer. He looked at it carefully, it was dark but he could make out what appeared to be a snake scratched on the side. He gave a half smile. "Didn't have enough time to figure out how to open it," she sighed, scratching her chin.

"You wouldn't," Tom answered suddenly.

"Oh no?" Nicole seemed slightly offended.

"No," Tom continued on, "Only the heir of Slytherin can open the chamber, which means…" Nicole looked up at him, not sure what exactly he was going on about. He concentrated hard on the snake and spoke "I am the heir of Slytherin," but it wasn't in English or any other human language either. It was a series of hisses that Nicole could not decipher.

The tap began to glow a bright white, illuminating the entire room, and then it began to spin. The sink began to move downward into the floor, revealing a large pipe, large enough for a person to fit through. Nicole looked at it in awe; Tom stared at it as if he had never seen a sight more beautiful.

"Brilliant," he stared down at the pipe which looked as though it might have gone on forever. He turned to Nicole, "Stay here," he instructed.

Nicole shook her head. "No, I'm going with you."

"You don't understand, there's a basilisk down there, one that can and will kill you with a single glance and swallow you whole, you're not going down there, and that's final." He spoke in a stern voice; he wasn't going to endanger her without reason.

She folded her arms across her chest, looking down at the floor. She lifted up her head, and a devious smile spread across her lips. "Wanna bet?" Without warning she jumped into the pipe, and out of sight.

Tom swore under his breath, and jumped in after her. What was wrong with her? She had never disobeyed a direct order from him, ever. He began rushing downward, into a confined, black abyss. The pipe began to level out, and Tom shot out of the end, landing on the squishy wet ground.

"What the bloody hell did I just say?!" Tom rose to his feet, just able to make out Nicole's silhouette in the darkness. "Lumos!" He yelled angrily as his wand emitted light from the tip.

"Lumos," Nicole muttered, following suit. "I couldn't just let you roam around here risking your life!" She countered.

"But I'm not risking my life! I'm the heir of Slytherin! Or haven't you been paying attention? The basilisk won't harm me!" He began pacing back and forth, why couldn't she have just stayed behind? Things would have been so much simpler had he been there alone. Nicole gave an impatient sigh. "We're going back." He looked over at the pipes, wondering how exactly they would.

"What?!" Nicole looked at him in disbelief. "You've been searching for the chamber for five years and now you want to leave?" She shook her head. "You're being completely ridiculous!"

"Oh, I'm being ridiculous? You're the one who jumped right into a death trap!" Tom stopped standing directly in front of her.

"Well excuse me for trying to help!" She folded her arms defiantly.

"Help? Help? Is that what you call it? You're going to get yourself killed!" He began to pace again. "Damn it Nicole!"

He looked at the pipe that had lead them here, there didn't seem to be a way back up. He looked forward, even with their wands it was difficult to see what exactly laid ahead.

"I have to go foreword," he looked up at her, still angered by what she had done.

"I'm going with you," she stepped forward and he gave her a threatening glare.

After a moment his expression softened. "Stay close then," he responded, he couldn't leave her alone, not knowing where the basilisk might be lurking. He took her hand with his left, holding his wand steady in his right. He was still fuming, first she kept her involvement with that Benny character a secret and now she was openly disobeying him. Why was she so dead set on driving him mad? Did she get some sort of kick out of it?

Nicole seemed to be reading his mind when she said, "I'm sorry, I just... I don't want you to get hurt."

Tom couldn't deal with this right now, he needed to stay alert, and attentive in case the basilisk was anywhere near. He gave a noncommittal grunt and continued to walk deeper and deeper into the tunnel that lied ahead of them.

Silence fell between the two, it seemed like an eternity before the tunnel came to and end. They saw a solid wall ahead; there were two entwined serpents with emerald eyes carved in the center.

"I am Slytherin's heir," Tom hissed at the carvings. The serpents separated from one another, as the walls opened. He walked forward, Nicole squeezed his hand.

A long, dimly lit chamber came into view. They moved past what appeared to be stone pillars, Tom's excitement grew. As they pasted the last set of pillars Tom observed an impressively large statue of a man.

"Salazar Slytherin," he stated, stepping closer.

Nicole looked from side to side, suddenly quite anxious. "Where is it?"

He too looked around, seeing nothing, not even a hint of life existed within the chamber. "Perhaps," he reasoned, "It needs to be summoned."

He visualized a snake in his mind. Loudly and clearly he spoke. "I am the heir of Slytherin, reveal yourself!"

The stone mouth of Salazar Slytherin began to open, wider and wider, Tom could here something stirring within it.

Nicole leaned closely against Tom who stared intently at Salazar's gapping hole of a mouth. "Close your eyes," he looked over at Nicole, and thankfully she obeyed. He too averted his eyes away from Salazar's statue.

Something quite large hit the floor, and began to hiss threateningly.

"Master's brought me a snack."