She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…

The start of this chapter is rated M.

Marauder's Phase

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

The Chamber Of Secrets

I came to a dead stop when I saw who it was, however, just as Sirius came up behind me and put his arms around me, half pulling me back, as we stared at the white, bloodied mess that was Louis Bickley.

Heavy wounds from the Basalisk's fangs covered most of his body, and his eyes were closed, I don't think he was alive anymore.

'Did the Basalisk turn on him? Or…or is Louis not the..?'.

"E-E-mma…"

Sirius and I stared at Louis and, as we watched, his eyes opened. They roved, until they found me.

"E-mma…"

I broke free of Sirius and, ignoring the blood, dropped to my knees beside the dying boy.

"Louis, it wasn't you?" I asked him, holding his gaze and his burnt hand.

He shook his head with some difficulty – there was a huge bite in his neck, inflicted by the Basalisk.

"Then who was it?" I asked him, feeling his life slipping away from within my fingers. "Louis, who opened the Chamber of Secrets?" My voice shook.

For a moment, there was not a sound – I could feel the Marauders' eyes all glued to me and Louis as we sat there, staring at each other.

At last, Louis opened his mouth (my heart thudded painfully as blood oozed out from between his lips) and said: "It w-was…h-him…h-he took…her…"

"Took who?" I whispered, as Louis clung to life with his fingernails. "Louis…did the heir take Lily?"

Louis nodded.

James made a strangled gasping noise from behind me, as the rumble of investigating students grew closer.

"Louis…" I whispered, knowing what was about to happen. "You knew…you knew who it was…and he burnt your hand…"

"He w-wanted to s-silence m-me…I…I guess h-he d-did…Serilda…t-tell her…" Louis said, his eyes growing glassy. "Tell S-Serilda I l…I lo…I love her…"

"I will." I whispered, as Louis let go, and fell into the eternal sleep that is death, just as the students and teachers stampeded into the corridor to find me and the Marauders and a very bloody, very dead body.

There were screams and gasps, slightly triumphant ones at that, and then I heard teachers begin saying:

"This is the end of Hogwarts…Dumbledore always said…"

"Oh my goodness, how could this have happened?"

"Get the students out of here, they shouldn't have to see this!"

"Carmichael…where is he? He said he was just going up to the castle to…"

I stood up, and everyone gasped, because my robes were darkened by blood.

Remus walked across the water to me, and said: "Em…last night on the map…I saw Professor Ackerly…talking to Louis…" His voice was grave – he'd already guessed what I'd just discovered.

"Professor Ackerly is the heir." I said grimly, and Remus nodded.

"He took Lily!" James gasped. He was deathly pale, I hoped he wouldn't faint. "And we don't even know where this bloody chamber is!"

"But I do." I said, before I turned and ran, my robes flying, pushing my way past shocked and horrified students, as I ran.

The Basalisk had taken Lily.

Perhaps it was a trap, to lure me in. A trap set by Voldemort, and his Death Eater Carmichael Ackerly.

Perhaps we were already too late.

But I was going. I was going down into the Chamber, and I was going to do something about this, once and for all.

***

I burst into the bathroom, glad to see that it was deserted, and ran up to the sinks.

Facing the sink that was the entrance to the Chamber, and just as the bathroom door swung open behind me, I held out my hand and ordered, in a rasping hiss that was hardly my own: "Open up!"

Things began moving, the sinks shifted out, and soon I was standing there staring at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It was a gaping dark hole but, being in Gryffindor, I was not afraid.

"Right." I said firmly, and started forward, but then a hand grabbed my wrist.

"Em," Remus was looking at me. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like Moony?" I asked him, almost angrily. "I'm going to go and save Lily from the Basalisk!"

"We know," James said, stepping forward and peering down the hole. His shock had vanished, to be replaced by fierce Gryffindor determination. "What we meant is why are you acting like we're not going down there with you?"

"Because you're not!" I snapped. "I don't even know if the Basalisk will listen to me, and I can talk to it! You guys will be like a sitting snack for it, and a snake that bloody big will be hungry! It didn't get to eat Louis, and we have a big handicap! We can't look at it, remember?" I felt hysterical. "Lily needs my help, I need to go down there now and get her because this is all my fault and I…"

SLAP!!

Sirius slapped me across the face, making me stagger back, and my hand flew up to my cheek as I stared at him in shock. He was looking back at me, his dark eyes smouldering.

I nodded. "I needed that. Okay – let's go and save Lily."

***

We may have felt brave when we'd been up there, but there was no mistaking that all of us were unnerved after we passed the snake skin.

"Remember," James said. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away. Understand?"

We all nodded nervously – Peter was the most nervous. We were walking along single-file, with me in the lead followed by James, Sirius, Remus and then Peter.

I opened another door with Parsletongue. The Marauders all looked at me, and I couldn't read the expressions on their faces. If they hated me after this, then let them. That was there loss.

But we'd all lose something if we didn't hurry now.

We were delving deeper under the castle now, and there were quite a few signs that this Chamber was haunted.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony." Sirius muttered.

***

The room before us was huge, and there was water on the floor and pipes leading off from the room.

In the middle of the floor lay a still, red-haired figure, and I thought that this was very much like the second movie, as we all ran toward Lily.

"Lily!" James shouted, and ran to her, dropping to his knees beside her.

She was deathly pale, but her eyelids fluttered, and she looked at James.

"James…" She whispered. "It's…Professor Ackerly…he set the Basalisk on all those students…he killed Louis Bickley…" She had began to cry silently, and James held her close to him, before picking her up bridal style, and turning to face us.

"She's alive," He sounded stunned. "Oh God, she's alive…" I knew how scared he'd been then – how scared I'd been.

"But it's a trap…" Lily whispered, just as we all heard a sliding sound, coming from one of the big pipes, and belonging to a huge animal.

"Everyone, shut your eyes!" Sirius shouted, and I did as I was told, plunged into darkness immediately.

But I stepped forward into the darkness, knowing what I had to do.

"Stop." I ordered the snake, in a rasping, hissing voice, and I knew that I was speaking in Parsletongue, that the snake could understand me.

The sliding sound stopped, and then a horrible hissing voice answered me. "Why? Why must I be denied of such fresh blood?"

"Because this is not what you want," I told it, keeping my eyes shut, and praying that the Basalisk would not attack. "There will be others…later on…years later, but you can wait…"

"And what if I choose not to?" It hissed angrily.

"Then people will find out about you, because I have written about it all in my journal up in the dorm." I said, and it hissed angrily, not speaking just expressing its anger. "But, no one will see it if you let us go."

There was a long moment of silence, and I was aware that all the others could hear was the snake and me hissing to each other, and that it wouldn't look good for me if the Basalisk attacked.

Then the Basalisk said: "Fine, I will go…because my master's heir wishes for you to be kept alive…"

"Then go, and leave us to never return to this place." I told it, and heard it begin sliding again.

Peter whimpered, but I opened my eyes carefully, and saw a huge poisonous green snake sliding back into one of the tunnels.

I gasped. Fear clenched up in my heart – the Basalisk was a killer.

But it was letting us go.

When it had gone, I turned around.

Lily, Peter and James had their eyes closed – but Remus and Sirius were looking right at me.

"How…how did you know it was safe to look?" I asked them, and James and Lily opened their eyes cautiously.

"We heard your tone of, uh, voice…" Remus said. "You didn't sound scared anymore…"

"And then you gasped." Sirius shrugged. "What did you say to it, Emmy?"

"I told it to leave us," I whispered. "I asked it not to kill us…and it left…but we have to go, it might come back, it's been so hungry for so long…"

Sirius crossed the distance between us, and wrapped me up in his arms.

"Emmy…Emmy…" He muttered into my hair, and I felt tears sting my eyes. "Emmy…"

"We have to go," James said tensely, he still had Lily in his arms. "In case the Basalisk comes back."

"Agreed," Sirius said, keeping his arm around me thought. "Okay, let's go now. Oh for God's sake Peter, open your bloody eyes, the Basalisk's long gone!"