Edited to Fix formatting problems, blame FFN.

Chapter 1 - Harry... wait, Harry?

Harry James Potter had just gotten out of the hospital after Dobby almost killed him with that rogue bludger. Little fucker almost got him expelled and arrested twice. Then very nearly KILLED him with his third attempt to save Harry's life.

Thinking about it however made him cuss. Repeatedly. So, feeling an overwhelming need to relieve a little stress, he had found this nice, deserted, corridor to do exactly that, never noticing that he had unconsciously slipped into parseltongue during his rant.

"Excuse me, speaker?"a voice interrupted his tirade. It was a smooth but... off sounding voice.

'Who the hell-' he wondered, whipping around. There hadn't been anyone in the hall a second ago.

"Could I have a moment of your time?"asked the really, REALLY big snake that was filling up most of the hallway.

…

…

…

"Heh heh," Harry laughed weakly before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell flat on his back.

"Oh dear..." the great serpent muttered, staring down at the boy in dismay. How was she supposed to talk to him now? Glancing around, Bianca briefly wondered if it might be better to leave him here for one of the staff to find but, 'No, very few ever use this corridor, he might catch cold if he's out here all night...'she decided, her equivalent to a frown working it's way into her features.

So, ever so gently Bianca opened her mouth and caught one of her fangs on his robes and carefully pull him with her as she reversed down her tunnel. He'd be dirty, yes, but safe with her in the catacombs rather than alone in a cold hallway. Besides, now that she had someone who might be able to help her... deal, with her problem, she wasn't going to take the chance of him getting away from her until he had heard her out.

'Perhaps this is a good thing? He seems to have a talent for hysterics... so perhaps it would be better for him to let that out in the chamber rather than the halls where he might draw too much attention,' she mused as she moved the young hero further into the bowels of the school.

===Some Time Later===

Bianca couldn't understand it. Why wasn't the speaker child awake yet? She needed to talk to him as soon as possible and it had been hours! These thoughts and others ran through her mind as she watched the speaker child sleeping next to the ever burning hearth Salazar had created for her.

"Why won't he wake up? Is he hurt?" Bianca wondered, the slightest bit of panic working its way into her thoughts. If he was hurt, there wasn't much she could do, she was a guardian not a healer...

Slowly Bianca became more and more worried until she started trying to think of anything she might be able to do that could help Harry. Suddenly, Bianca remembered Salazar telling her about something... a necklace! He had told her it would return the wearer to their natural state when he had placed it with the other items he'd left with her! Trying to remember where she had left it, she hurried into her hoard room. He'd put a bunch of things in there so she could keep them safe if anyone ever made their way into the room that wasn't supposed to be there.

Returning with a necklace held securely in her mouth, Bianca discovered a new problem. She didn't exactly have hands and so couldn't put the amulet around Harry's neck like it needed to be to work. It seemed this was the time to try to use that skill Salazar gave her for the first time outside of moving her hoard around. Carefully Bianca placed the amulet on the ground and stared at it. The amulet shakily rose off the ground and moved towards Harry.

She needed to be careful. Normally her hoard required she use more of Hogwart's magic so she needed less control over it. Now she had to be extra careful not to use too much or she could accidentally choke Harry with the amulet. Carefully lifting Harry's head off the ground she slid the amulet up then dropped the chain and it swung down and around his neck.

For a moment nothing happened.

'Is it not working?'Bianca wondered. Had the enchantments faded? Was she too late? No she could still hear his heartbeat, so why wasn't-

Suddenly the room was filled with a blinding flash, originating from the amulet and obscuring Harry from view.

'It worked!'Bianca thought happily. Now she could...

Then the light faded, and she was greeted by a sight she had not been expecting.

The child was most certainly awake now... and studying itself... and seemed to have found the changes in its anatomy... and was now staring at her.

"Um...oops?" she asked uncertainly. Was there a proper response when you accidentally change another being's gender?

The speaker child passed out again.

Bianca had never approved of Godric's, as Salazar had always referred to it, uncouth vocabulary, but that night in the Chamber of Secrets, she made liberal and creative use of it.

Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, minding his own business and completing his paperwork when, very suddenly, the hairs of the back of his neck stood on end.

Eyes narrowing dangerously, the old warlock scanned the room around him, looking for even the slightest detail out of place but try as he might, he could find nothing, everything was where it should be and there was nothing additional.

"Strange he muttered," he muttered, relaxing in the silence now that he was satisfied that there was no danger. 'Wait...'

Silence...

It was quiet, far too quiet. Weren't the various monitors and instruments on his shelves supposed to make noise? Buzz as they spun? Clack as they moved? But he could not hear the puffing of the device that monitored Harry's heart-rate. Where was the subtle whirring of the sneak o' scope he had linked to Harry until it was needed elsewhere? These noises had been ever present for a decade now. So why was his office silent and several of his instruments no longer moving?

He knew Harry wasn't dead. The wards of Hogwarts would have told him that. Unless... he paused, concentrating... he could not feel Harry on the grounds. Eyes growing wide, he cried "Fawkes!" calling the phoenix to him from wherever the firebird was occupying his time. "Find Harry, if he's dead bring him here. If he's... changed come back and grab some paper and a quill for him to send me a message with."

Nodding the ancient bird disappeared in a burst of fire and Albus Dumbledore began to pace.

How had this happened?

What had happened?

Was Harry alright?

Would Fawkes be able to find him?

All these questions and more circled through the old leader's mind as he restlessly walked the length of his office until he noticed a fine detail he had missed before.

Pausing for a moment, the aged headmaster turned to take a closer look at the particular trinket that had caught his attention. It was a Bond Monitor. The name said it all really, the device was designed to notify him if Harry formed a magical bond with anyone, a soul-mate for instance. Yes such devices did in fact exist and were created to detect the forming of bonds between individuals and determine the nature of bond formed. This particular one he had picked up in Transylvania some years ago and had enchanted it to monitor Harry so that he could move to help the boy should some such bond present itself. Now though, instead of monitoring that it seemed to have become inert. Completely disconnected and that didn't make any sense. If the person they were connected to died, such monitors were frozen to display the state of that person until connected to another.

So how could it simply stop working?

What could this mean?

What could have happened to Harry to cause this?

'More questions and no answers...' the old warlock mused, massaging his temples. Sighing tiredly, Albus shook his head, hoping that Fawkes was having better luck than he was.