Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank those of you who have have continued to return as I slowly make progress on this fanfic! Also, thank you to those of you who responses to the chapters. It means so much to me and I hope you're all enjoying it. I've been really busy over the past couple of days but you can expect a couple more chapters over the new few days to come. Thanks again, and enjoy!

Chapter 5- The Cup and the Fang

Ron landed with a hard thud at the bottom on the pipe. It was dark and damp feeling, just as he remembered it. His feet slid, shifting over the tiny bones of the deceased animals that had been scattered everywhere years before.

"Lumos." He mumbled as he searched for Hermione in the dark.

The light lit the small cellar like room to reveal a pale Hermione.

"This is awful." She murmured as bones crunched beneath her footsteps.

"It's okay," Ron assured her. "They end here."

Hermione lifted her wand and it too shone bright with light.

"C'mon, it's this way." Ron gestured.

They began to walk down the passage towards the Chamber. It was just as cold and eerie as the last time Ron walked down this tunnel. A faint dripping was coming from somewhere behind them. It was just uncomfortable enough to put Ron on edge. Hermione walked cautiously with her wand held out in front of her. Her eyes moved frantically across their path taking in their surroundings.

"Do you want me to carry the broom, Hermione?" Ron asked as he watched her pull it from being nudged under her arm to her hand out in front.

"No, I'm alright." She said in a very distracted sounding tone.

Ron thought that maybe she planned on using it as a weapon if for some reason she was caught off guard.

They proceeded into the darkness. Ron recognized the dark cave-like atmosphere. The last time he came across this spot, a large freshly shed snakeskin spanned across the entire pathway and laid another 10 feet along the wall. Now nothing remained but small bits of rubble and the occasional rat skull. They walked in silence with the periodic dripping and sporadic banging of the pipes until they began to come upon bigger and bigger bits of rocks. Finally, as Ron had anticipated, they had reached the rock wall made up of the broken concrete ceiling from Lockhart's failed spell with Ron's faulty old wand.

"This is from Lockhart's memory charm." Ron smiled to Hermione.

She laughed and walked forward towards the wall. She observed a small opening in the middle of the rubble. Ron walked to it, too. It was the very space he had cleared to allow Harry and Ginny to pass on their way out of the Chamber. Clearly, Ron and Hermione's bodies had grown to be much bigger than the space available for passage that had once suited a 12-year-old Harry. Hermione had seemingly come to the same conclusion as Ron because she aimed her wand to the pile of rocks that blocked their path.

"Step back." She told Ron, before firmly shouting "EXPULSO!"

The concrete exploded, flying everywhere as it shot powerfully from their path. A harsh rush of wind blew Ron's hair across his eyes as dust and pebbles whipped his cheeks. He spit out bits of the powdered remnants that blew across his lips. Hermione turned to him and smirked at the sight of his dirty face.

"Come here," she laughed as she brushed off his cheeks. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Ron smiled as he dusted off her nose.

Hermione shoved her wand in her back pocket and took Ron's hand. He held his arm to his body to keep her close to him. Everything beyond the rubble was new to both of them.

"I think there's just a wall ahead, Ron." Hermione motioned ahead as they rounded a corner.

The light from Ron's wand illuminated two large entwined serpents that were carved into the dirty wall covered in mildew. Two emeralds on the head of each serpent sparkled as Ron held his wand to the wall. It looked to him as though their eyes were flickering devilishly at him as they danced in the wand light. He leaned towards the wall and slowly repeated the serpent's call that he had perfected in the bathroom. Slowly the walls began to rumble as they parted to reveal what was unmistakably the Chamber they were searching for.

"I think this means I'm fluent now." He told her before stepping through the opening.

The long Chamber was barely visible in the darkness that filled the room. There was not a single sound, or light in any direction. Ron could make out multiple large pillars as he approached with his wand held high. Hermione leaned the broomstick against one pillar and pulled out her wand again. It shone brightly as she held it boldly ahead of her. Ron felt her fingers searching for his hand again. He grasped her hand tightly as she leaned into him.

"Funny isn't it, how of all the times we've faced dangerous things, the most unsettling is this empty Chamber?" Hermione said slowly, trying to ease the tension.

Ron nodded, too occupied with his surroundings to respond. They proceeded to the end of the Chamber, passing sculptures of serpents that rivaled them in height.

"Might as well be their bloody common room." Said Ron as he shied away from another aggressive looking snake statue.

"Ron, do you see that sculpture? The face up ahead?" Hermione asked.

"I think, I think that's Slytherin…" exhaled Ron.

They surveyed the size of the statue from a distance. The modest light of their wands simply could not convey the enormity and detail of the chilling figure.

"Harry stood on top of that when he stabbed the basilisk, Ron. It must be right in front of us." She said as she released his hand and searched ahead. "It is, it's right here!" she called back to him.

Ron approached the silhouette he could see spread across the ground.

"That's disgusting!" he muttered as he approached the snake's skeleton. Ron thought that it must spread over 20 feet. The bones from its body laid perfectly untouched, providing a chillingly lifelike impression, which allowed Ron's imagination to wander to terrifying thoughts.

"Some of these fangs are probably 12 inches long!" Hermione determined as she held her wand to the head of the basilisk. "Poor Harry. That must have been horrible." she added, referring to the basilisk's bite Harry received.

She bent her knees and examined the fangs more closely.

"Well," said Ron, " we might as well get this over with. Have you got that cup, Hermione?"

She nodded and bent down to retrieve her purple beaded handbag from her sock. She began rummaging through it as Ron tucked his wand in his pocket and leaned down in search of the fang that would best destroy their next horcrux. At the front of the skull of the basilisk, Ron reached forward and took hold of a large fang, gripping it tightly before jerking it hard from the mouth of the snake. Hermione held out the cup and Ron took it in his hand, handing her the fang.

"No, Ron," Hermione said blankly, shaking her head. "I can't-"

"Yes, you can." He said warmly as he placed it in her hands.

They both knelt down to the ground and Ron placed the cup on the cold damp floor. Hermione got down to her knees apprehensively. She tossed her wand and handbag to the side and took the fang in both hands.

"Just stab the fang right into the cup." Ron coached her. He held his wand lit and extended in front of Hermione. "Ready? One, two, three…"

Hermione swiftly swung the down the fang with all the might she could muster. The fang plunged deep into the mouth of the cup and penetrated the metal as though it melted on contact. The light at the tip of Ron's want vanished and for a quick instant there was silence.

Suddenly there was a loud and horrific bang. Fire erupted all along the walls of the Chamber as the torches mounted from wall to wall exploded with fiery rage. Hermione screamed in agony as the deafening sound rang painfully in her ears, her high-pitched cry breaking as she exhausted her breath. Ron flung his arms around her torso, lifting her to her feet as he began to run. A large pool of water was rising from the deep fountain that had now become visible to them in the light of the fire. The flames spread angrily across the ceiling of the Chamber as if to engulf the face of the man carved into the wall, which stared down furiously upon them as they ran for the exit. His brow was furrowed and his long hair was blown back against the walls of the Chamber. Large statues of serpents revealed themselves to them in the light, lining the walls every 10 feet. It felt to Ron as though they were surrounding him and Hermione, enclosing them in the Chamber.

The cup spun in circles whistling like a teakettle waiting to explode. Ron pulled Hermione as he ran as hard as he could. Her body was slowing as she panted in exhaustion. He saw above them, a heavy stream of water chasing them. It was inescapable. Ron stopped immediately, pulling Hermione against him and cradling her in his arms. Their bodies dropped to concrete floor and Ron draped himself over her, shielding her balled up body. He buried his face and held his breath. A deep and livid growl erupted and shook the Chamber moments before the heavy pool of water crashed down over their bodies. It weighed heavily on Ron's neck and he squeezed Hermione tightly in his arms. The water wrathfully rushed over them and then slowly subsided. All at once a calm had broken over the Chamber. Ron lifted his head to see a dimly lit room as the low, fiery torches set the Chamber aglow.

"It's done. It's over." He said to Hermione as she lifted her head from his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked her. He wiped the wet hair from her eyes. They looked exhaustedly back to him.

"I'm fine." She smiled to Ron, before leaning her head back to his chest.

"You did it." He told her, brushing the rest of her hair from her face. "You were incredible!"

Hermione smiled to herself.

"Thanks." She said, taking Ron's hand in hers.

Ron stood up and helped pull Hermione to her feet. Drenched from head to toe in the water that had attacked them, they walked towards the Slytherin statue again. Ron wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but Salazar's large face now looked less aggressive than it had just moments before. He reached down and picked up his and Hermione's wands. He handed it to her after watching her stuff the small handbag back into her sock. They both looked down at the cup that had turned a burnt, blackened colour. Hermione picked it up turned her attention to the great basilisk's skull.

"Let's take some of those fangs with us." Said Hermione motioning to the large basilisk.

Ron turned to the skeleton of the serpent. In the commotion and the incredible force of the water that had rushed over them, somehow the skeleton had sat in the exact place it did before, unaffected and completely unscathed.