Different

Managed to write this along with Chapter 4, but I thought it was best to separate the two. Funny enough, this was supposed to be Chapter 4, but I figured it would be a lot more fun to have this be more of a flashback. So, I switched them around.

On the bright side, at least you don't have to wait long to find out what happened. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter Five:

The Hidden Chamber

Lily moved through the tunnels as quietly as she could, keeping a good distance from the two Slytherin boys while being within reach. She struggled not to scream at the sight of bones, mainly that of animals and other magical creatures. The need to use her wand to light the way was very tempting but fearing that it would expose her, she resisted. Instead, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness, while using the light from the two ahead as a guide.

"So, after I was 'dead', what happened between the two of you?" Regulus finally spoke, almost spooking Lily. She frowned at his choice of words, thinking he had misspoken or that she had misheard him.

Severus looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were straight forward about everyone else and everything that has happened, but you spoke very little about Hermione."

Lily's head jerked up at the mention of the girl's name she had heard Severus whisper in his sleep.

"Because there's nothing to say!" he growled.

Regulus laughed, "That only confirms my suspicions. You two finally took a crack at a relationship, didn't you!"

Although confused, Lily was surprised to hear such an accusation. She never imagined Severus being romantic with anyone. Not with how he has been.

Severus sighed, "If it means that much to you, we kinda did."

"Kinda?"

"It was only one night, Reg. We barely had enough time together before Voldemort attacked."

Lily was surprised to hear him say the Dark Lord's name.

"Wait, only one night?" Regulus pressed. "Well, tell me all about it. How did it go?"

Severus was silent, making both Regulus and Lily frown. Suddenly, the Black boy stopped, making Lily do the same. Though his back was towards her, she knew that he was thinking hard. And then, he started to laugh.

Stopping, Severus turned towards him, "What?"

Regulus' laugh grew as he walked up slapped him on the shoulder, earning a glare, "You sly dog! You mean to say that the two of you actually did it?!"

Moaning, Severus shoved his hand off his shoulder and proceeded forward, "I'm not talking about this!"

"No way!" he pointed directly at him, wearing a huge smile that only made Severus want to punch it off him. "Severus freaking Snape actually lost his V-licenses?!"

Lily's eyes widened and slightly gasped, unable to believe what she was hearing. She was waiting to hear Severus defend himself and shoot down such a claim. Yet, he remained silent, marching forward into the dark tunnel. Which only made her even more shocked. She felt a little jealous in that moment, wondering just who this Hermione was who managed to not only capture his heart but also seduce him.

Regulus ran towards him, making her begin to move again, "Come on! Give me the details! How was it?"

"I'm not having this conversation!" he nearly shouted.

Regulus paused just before he responded, deep in thought, "Actually, we are technically virgins again. At least, in the physical sense anyway."

Lily never felt as confused as she did at that moment. Nothing made sense about what they were talking about. She was even confused about where they were going. And the fact that they were talking about their 'first time' made her want to vomit.

"Good to know," Severus said, sarcastically.

"Come on, how many times can one say that they got to lose their virginity twice?"

"The very fact that you hadn't lost yours before you meant Lavender is surprising."

"What can I say? I'm that kind of guy."

"Certainly."

They remained quiet for a little while afterward, until Regulus spoke again.

"But seriously, without going into detail, what was it like? To be with... someone you loved?"

Severus stopped, making Regulus and Lily to do the same.

He was silent, but not in a frustrating way. Rather, he seemed to be conflicted on what to say. Lily waited with anticipation.

"It was like... I mattered. Even with Lily... there was this restriction between us that I didn't realize. But with Hermione..."

Severus paused, unable to finish.

Regulus stared at his friend in silent contemplation, while Severus stared off into the darkness of the tunnel, his mind far from the dark place they were standing in. Lily couldn't help but feel jealous, knowing that his thoughts drifted to this mysterious face of Hermione. But what caught her off guard was how he made it sound like that he could no longer be with her.

After a moment, Severus began to walk again, with Regulus following. Once it was safe, Lily did the same.

After a few minutes, the two had come to a large entrance. A large round metal door, something that reminded her of what a bank vault would have. She watched as Severus reached into his pocket and took out something, holding out in front of him towards the door.

Although far from them, she could hear a language being spoken and the door responded. Her eyes widened at the sight of a metal snake moving through the outskirts of the steel door, causing the locks to move out of its way before slithering back into where it came from.

"How did you manage to get something like that?" Regulus asked.

"A little visit to Diagon Alley was in order," responded Severus. "You'll be surprised by what you find there."

Lily frowned.

"A recording?"

"From a muggle store. The item that the old scammer sold me would only work once, so I got the recorder just in case."

Regulus' smile turned to confusion, "Wait, when did you have the time to go to Diagon Alley? And how?"

"The Weasleys showed some of us a few pointers if we ever wanted to sneak out."

"How come they never showed me?!" exclaimed Regulus.

Severus took something out of his bag, "Put on the glasses and be vigilant. Once we see it, we need to aim for its eyes."

"And how are we going to kill it?"

After putting on his glasses, Severus reached back into his bag and pulled out a sword, one that was made from pure gold.

"Let me guess… Diagon Alley?"

"I found it in the Room of Requirement, actually. Rather lucky."

"I'll say."

Severus nodded forward, "Let's go!"

Lily watched as they moved through the entrance. Fearful that the door would close, she moved quickly, trying to remain in the dark and not to make a sound. With her back against the wall, she stared at the door, expecting it to move, but instead it remained where it was. Peaking her head over the side, she stared into the darkness ahead, seeing the lights of the boys wands.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a large chamber ahead, with several gargoyles in the form of snakes standing at opposite ends of each other, like how the knights of old would do when a king was walking up towards his throne. It dawned on her what this place was. She had read about it before.

The Chamber of Secrets!

Her mind ran wild with questions. She wanted to get a closer look, to confront the two and demand what they were doing. But a part of me was fearful to enter. She could feel something dark and ancient about this place.

Starring into the dark, she quickly realized that water lied on either side of the large pathway, almost reaching the tipping point of spilling over. Most likely from the water was coming in from the lake above, if Lily' calculations were correct.

As they got further away, Lily debated what to do. She thought about trying to go back and inform the Headmaster, but she feared leaving them here. She didn't know why, but her instincts were warning her that something was in there, and that the two of them were looking for it.

Right then, she made her choice to go back, fearing that if she was right, whatever it was would hurt them. Or that it was they who trying to look for it.

Anger rose within. Severus must have been looking for something dark. He always had a thing for the dark arts, it only made sense that he would do such a thing. After all, he had tried to go into the Shrieking Shack and had to be rescued by Potter. Of course, he would do this!

Backing away she began to head back, managing to make it half-way before she heard a loud hissing sound that echoed from behind. She came to a stop, frozen by fear. The hair on her arms and legs stood up, her heart began to race, and a chill ran down her back. She wanted to run, but her body refused. It was like she was paralyzed, only able to see and hear that soul-piercing sound.

The hissing came again and then the sound of someone shouting.

Her senses came back and managed to turn around, staring into the darkness as she listened. A loud cry echoed through the tunnels, causing her to cover her ears. It was unlike anything she had heard.

Once it stopped, she then heard someone shouting again, causing her to immediately sprint back to the chamber. Her heart pounded heavily against her chest, trying to comprehend and imagine what was making that sound. But her imagination turned to Severus and Regulus, knowing that they were facing this unimaginable creature.

Determined, she ran faster, managing not to trip over any bones or rocks along the way. Reaching the entrance way, she ran through and stepped into the Chamber of Secrets. Her eyes widened at sight of a monstrous being ahead, coming to a complete stop as her jaw dropped at the sight of a giant snake. The creature was fifty feet long and had yellow eyes, which slightly glowed in the darkness. Though she would have screamed, her shock was enough to stop her, keeping her presence concealed from the two and the creature itself.

The Basilisk moved quickly as it tried to attack Severus, who only managed to dodge its attack by jumping behind a pillar. The snake collided with the structure, managing to crack it with its weight, although scratching its body and making it dizzy.

"Damn it!" Severus cursed, ripping off the glasses as they melted, throwing them to the floor.

"Maybe you should throw me the sword and you can play decoy!" Regulus cried out, who was hiding behind a gargoyle.

"Oh, shut up!" Severus shouted back as he ran, managing to throw the sword in his direction. "Climb up the statue and wait for my signal!"

Regulus made a run for the sword and quickly grabbed it. Turning to the statue of the face of Slytherin, he ran towards it and began to climb, while keeping ahold of the sword. The Basilisk slithered across the stone floor, moving towards Severus.

Hearing it coming, Severus quickly turned a corner, making the giant snake miss him. It was forced, to move between the gargoyles and slowing its pace. Seeing his chance, he ran towards the statue, hearing the creature already making its way towards him as it shrieked.

Lily watched in horror and took a couple steps back and felt something against her leg, causing her to gasp and fall to the stone floor.

The Basilisk stopped and turned, seeing the vulnerable girl. Its eyes glared directly in her direction, sensing something about her that captured his attention more than the two behind him, and heard a single order, 'Kill'!

Severus stopped, sliding against the floor as he turned to see what had caused the creature to divert its attention from him. His eyes widened at the sight of Lily and began to race towards her.

The Basilisk snarled and slithered towards her with its fang exposed as its jaw widened for the strike.

"LILY! DON'T LOOK INTO ITS EYES!" Severus' voice cried out. His voice filled with desperation and pure terror.

Fueled by adrenaline, Lily turned to her side and prepared to get up, but her eyes caught sight of the monster from a small puddle and stared directly into its yellow eyes. Something happened in that split of a second, as her energy suddenly vanished, and her eyes grew heavily. Her body fell to the floor just as the snake struck, only to miss her by an inch as it flew over her body. She heard a loud crash and a boy crying out her name. She could make out a series of spells from the lights that shined all around her. All sound became disorienting, unable to make out what any of it was.

Despite her desperation to get back up and run, her mind grew foggy, and her eyes began to close, falling victim to the darkness.

Lily opened her eyes to see the four adults staring at her, waiting patiently for her to regain her full memory. After taking a moment, she took a breath and began to explain to them what she remembered, although she omitted the parts about the two boys talking about losing their virginity, not wishing to go into details about that.

Once done, Mad-Eye left to rejoin the investigation, while Dumbledore took her to the Gryffindor Common Room, where she began to pack her things.

The whole time, she kept thinking about how Severus had oblivated her mind, taking away the memory of that night. It hurt her to think that he would have done that, especially to her of all people. She wondered if everyone was right about him, that he was going dark and would join the Death Eaters. She shivered at the possibility.

But she also remembered how he was avoiding them. How he went out of his way to no longer be involved. But how could she know that he wasn't doing it to trick her? How could she know of what his intentions were? What she did know was that whatever happened to him after that day at the lake and his coma, it changed him. He clearly wasn't the Severus she knew from childhood. What she didn't know for certain was whether that was better or worse. His actions most certainly did confuse her.

Although, she couldn't deny that knowing he took down a fifty-foot Basilisk was badass. And sexy.

She paused just as she was about to close her suitcase. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to push away such thoughts.

As she made her way down the steps to the Common Room, it dawned on her how empty the place was with everyone gone. It made her feel lonely, quickly realizing that she only had two more years before she would graduate and move on. The very thought only made her feel even more sad. The school truly was the one place where they all could be together, unseparated by the world outside.

Meeting with Dumbledore just outside the Common Room, he led her from Hogwarts, just outside of the school grounds.

"Sir," she called out, making him turn to face her. "What will happen to Severus?"

Dumbledore examined the girl, "Well, Mad-Eye will certainly send someone to collect him and Mr. Black for interrogation. What happens after that will be up that will be up to the Auror department."

Although she wished to press him for a better answer, she relented and nodded. Taking his hand, she Apparated with him to her hometown of Chokeworth, ready to begin her late summer vacation.

I think you all know why Severus and Regulus came to the Chamber of Secrets.

Sorry we couldn't get more of the Basilisk fight. This story is from the perspective of Lily, and it is going to be limited. The idea is to see things from her POV and to be in her shoes, although we may know more than she does.

Like I said, this was supposed to be Chapter 4, at least the stuff that happened in the Chamber, but I felt it would be better if it was done as a flashback instead. What do you guys think? Leave your thoughts in the review section!

Also, there is a (kinda) prequel story to this called "The Night Before", which details the events of what Severus and Regulus went through in the future. And yes, it shows the relationship between Severus and Hermione. Rather, their short-lived romance. It's only one chapter and is more summary heavy, as I didn't want it to be longer than one chapter. It isn't really needed to understand this story, but it would help with the experience if you do read it.

See you in the next chapter!