Chapter 6: Chamber of Secrets

"Well…" Hermione began. "The summer was, once again, horrible for Harry. The Dursley's locked his owl, Hedwig, in her cage all summer."

"They what?" Lily yelled.

"Stupid thing to do to an owl." Remus growled.

"They had plenty of arguments that summer about it. Vernon complained about the noises Hedwig made but when Harry explained that she was bored and should be let out, Vernon said no. He didn't want Harry writing to me and Ron."

"He wouldn't even let him talk to his friends?" James asked in disgust.

"No. He didn't want Harry to have friends. On Harry's birthday, which they ignored, Dudley was being rude and told Harry to pass the frying pan. Harry replied "You've forgotten the magic word." He got in plenty of trouble for saying the word 'magic'."

"Bunch of hits." Sirius spat.

"Harry was treated like dung basically. He really missed Hogwarts, and he felt lonely because he hadn't had any letters."

"You didn't write to him?" Asked James, outraged.

"We did." Hermione said quickly. "But they were being blocked."

"What? By who?" Remus asked.

"You will find out in a minute." Hermione told him with a grin.

"So infuriating." Sirius groaned.

Suddenly there was a pop. Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace, quickly followed my Professor McGonagall.

"Minnie!" Exclaimed James.

"Mr Potter." She sighed. "Albus just explained what is going on. He thought I should hear it. Hermione nodded.

"You are Miss Granger I presume?" McGonagall asked her. Hermione nodded.

"Harry's friend from the future." She confirmed. "You sent me here. Or you will do. Did Professor Dumbledore fill you in on our first year?"

"Yes." McGonagall said. "Miraculous you survived."

"I quite agree." Sighed Lily.

"Shall I continue?" Hermione asked.

"Please do 'Mione." Sirius smiled.

"Dudley came outside, boasting that he knew what day it was."

"The fat git finally learnt the days of the week did he?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Language, Black." Lily said warningly, before McGonagall could open her mouth.

"He started taunting Harry that he had got no cards or presents on his birthday, saying he must have no friends."

"Lily, your nephew is the world's biggest…" Sirius growled.

"I know." Lily cried angrily. How could Tuney do this to her son? How could she raise such a child?

"Harry started muttering nonsense words under his breath, pretending to do magic."

"Nice one son." James smiled.

"Shouldn't have done that Harry." Remus groaned.

"Why not?" Asked James. "About time he stood up for himself."

"They will probably punish him, even if he didn't do any actual magic." Lily explained.

"Oh." James' face grew angry.

"They did." Hermione said sadly. "Pertunia made him do loads of chores, saying he couldn't eat until he had finished, while Dudley taunted him, walking around with ice cream."

"Those, foul, loathsome, little cockroaches." James spluttered. Hermione smiled.

"Albus, how could we leave him there?" McGonagall asked him.

"It was the safest place." Dumbledore replied.

"Safest?" Lily and James yelped. "They treat him like a servant. Worse than a servant, my family didn't even treat House Elves that badly." James continued, glaring at Dumbledore.

"Once he was done, Harry ate his food and then had to go to his room."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"What did the feed my godson?" Sirius growled.

"Sirius, they gave Harry bread and cheese, Lily because the Dursley's were having a dinner party and didn't want Harry spoiling everything. Instead he had to make no noise and pretend not to even exist."

"Bread and cheese? After nothing all day? They will starve him!" Sirius yelled.

"They made him pretend not to exist? On his birthday? That's a new low even for Tuney." Lily looked torn between anger and tears. James was too angry to even speak. Dumbledore looked sad.

"Remember why Hermione is here. We are going to change this. Harry is going to live with you guys, not them." Remus said reassuringly.

"When Harry got upstairs, he found a house elf on his bed."

"A house elf? That's impossible. They can't leave the house without express permission." Sirius said, looking puzzled.

"Maybe someone sent him?" Lily suggested.

"Who would send a house elf to Harry?" James asked.

"Maybe if you let Hermione continue, we could find out." Remus put in.

"He told Harry his name was Dobby. He hadn't been sent, in fact he wasn't supposed to be there at all. He told Harry a bit about house elves, Harry felt sorry for him because house elves can never leave unless given clothes. Unfortunately, Harry was really nice to him, Dobby wasn't used to this and he made loads of noise. Harry had to shut him up before the Dursley's heard. Harry then offered to help Dobby."

"Awww." Cooed Lily. "My son is so sweet."

"Just like his mother." Remus and James said together.

"Then Dobby told him not to go back to Hogwarts."

"What?" James yelled.

"He can't seriously believe that Harry would stay in that awful place all year round?" Remus asked, incredulous.

"Dobby told him there was a plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts."

Lily groaned. "Not again."

"Great, now Harry will be right in the middle of it." James scowled.

"Poor kid." Sirius agreed.

"Worse than his father." Remus nodded.

"No, nobody is that bad." Lily grinned.

"Hey!" James said indignantly.

"If we could continue." McGonagall interrupted.

"Apparently Dobby wasn't supposed to be telling Harry this and started hitting his head on things as a punishment. This got the attention of the Dursley's." Everyone, except the teachers, groaned. "Harry hid Dobby in the closet and Vernon threatened to make him sorry he had ever been born if they heard him once more."

"I'm going to kill my sister and her husband." Lily growled. The boys all edged away from her.

"Dobby let slip he knew Harry hadn't been getting his letters from us and Harry worked out that Dobby had been stopping his letters."

"That wretched thing." Sirius hissed.

"I don't care if he is trying to protect Harry, he has no right to stop his letters." James said angrily.

"Harry tried to catch him and get his letters, but Dobby ran downstairs, Harry followed."

"Oh no." Muttered Lily.

"Dobby levitated the cake, Petunia had made for dessert, telling Harry he had to agree not to go to Hogwarts."

"If I ever get my hands on that house elf." James was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Harry said he couldn't. Hogwarts was his home so Dobby make the dessert crash to the floor."

"Shit." Hissed Sirius.

"Black!" Lily yelled, taking out her wand and hexing him. He tried to speak but only pink bubbles emerged from his mouth. James and Remus fell about laughing. Hermione cracked a smile.

"Vernon threatened him, while trying to smooth things over with the guests. He made Harry clean it up. But then a owl arrived. It was giving Harry a warning for using underage magic."

"But he didn't." Lily exclaimed.

"The Ministry wouldn't know that. They can just tell that someone in that house is using magic, not who is using it. As Harry is the only wizard there they would assume it was him." James explained, looking angry himself.

"Vernon had made him read the letter out loud, so now they knew that Harry can't use magic outside of school."

"Well crap." James sighed. Lily raised her wand threateningly.

"They locked Harry in his room. Put bars on his window and…"

"Bars on his window?!" James yelled.

"How dare they!" Remus hissed.

"Albus, really! How could you leave the poor boy there?" McGonagall rounded on him.

"I didn't know."He said sadly.

"You didn't check on him? Even though you knew what those muggles were like?" She stared at him in blank astonishment.

"I thought it for the best. He is safest there, no need to disturb the poor boy."

"Disturb him!" Lily shrieked. "Being with my sister for that long would disturb anyone. Wizards would be welcome." Hermione silently cast the counter charm on Sirius. Who grinned at her gratefully.

"And they put a cat flap in the door to push food through." Hermione rushed through the sentence as if it would make it more pleasant to hear quickly.

"They. Did. What?" Lily's voice was calm and cold. Everyone edged further away from her, except James. He put his arms around his wife and whispered soothingly in her ear.

"Brave boy." Remus grinned.

"Foolish boy." Said Sirius at the same time. Lily finally calmed down.

"Finally, one night Harry woke up from a bad dream and found someone outside his window. Ron and his twin brothers were in a flying car."

"Awesome!" Exclaimed Sirius and James.

"Sirius, you already have a flying motorbike." Remus shook his head.

"Yeah Padfoot, you have a motorbike, I want the car." James grinned.

"No." Lily said.

"Come on Lils, please?"

"No. James Potter you are not having a flying car." James pouted.

"Whipped." Said Sirius, disguising it as a cough.

"Harry told Ron to explain to Hogwarts why he couldn't get out. Ron told him to stop being stupid, they were there to rescue him."

There were cheers around the room.

"They hooked something around the bars and pulled them off the window. Thankfully it didn't wake the Dursley's. Fred and George climbed into Harry's room and picked the lock on his door so they could go to the cupboard that was his room to get his stuff."

"They even locked his things away?" Lily asked, horrified.

"How did he do his homework?" Remus asked.

"They did and he didn't. When they came back with his things they all escaped, Harry nearly left Hedwig. She hooted loudly and the Dursley's woke up."

"No, no, no." Lily muttered under her breath.

"Harry got her and tried to climb in the car. Vernon caught his ankle trying to pull him back. Thankfully the Weasley's got Harry into the car and they flew off."

Cheers rang around the room again. McGonagall looked half disapproving and half relieved.

"On the way, Harry told them about Dobby. Finally they arrived at the Burrow. Ron was embarrassed but Harry loved it. Unfortunately Mrs Weasley caught them all and began yelling. She didn't blame Harry though and gave him breakfast."

"Thank you Molly." James whispered.

"They were all eating and Mrs Weasley made them de-gnome the garden."

"Poor kids." James muttered. "I hated having to do that."

"Peter did too." Sirius said. Nobody noticed the scowl that momentarily crossed Hermione's face at his mention.

"She said Harry could go to bed, but he offered to help anyway."

"Good boy." Lily smiled.

"Bad choice." Sirius groaned at the same time. Lily hit him.

"Ginny, Ron's younger sister, was very taken with Harry. She couldn't actually speak to him properly."

"Aww." Lily cooed.

"Haha, he is better than you Prongs." Sirius gave his bark like laugh.

"When they had done the garden, Mr Weasley came home and was very interested in Harry, asking him all sorts of questions about muggle appliances. Harry told Ron is was 'the best house i've ever been in.'"

"Our boy is so sweet." Lily beamed.

"Harry stayed at the Burrow for the rest of summer. It was the opposite of Privet Drive. Everyone fussed over him. The house wasn't spotless but it had character. The thing Harry found was that everyone liked him. Finally they got their Hogwarts letters. For DADA we needed the set of Lockhart's books."

James and Sirius looked revolted.

"That Ravenclaw git a few years above us?" They queried. Hermione nodded grimly.

"Don't call him a git." Lily blushed slightly.

"Lily likes Lockhart." Sirius grinned.

"So did I." Hermione admitted. "I wrote to Ron, who had told me about rescuing Harry, and we agreed to meet in Diagon Alley. The Weasley's travelled by Floo Powder. But Harry never had. Being Harry he got out at the wrong grate."

"Not again. This boy gets in more trouble than anyone." McGonagall cried.

"Where did he come out?" Sighed Lily.

"Knockturn Alley."

"No!" Sirius cried. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "My mother dragged me and Reg down there once. It's really creepy and horrible."

"He was in the shop Borgin & Burkes. He had to hide in a cabinet because Malfoy came in."

"He has so much bad luck." James groaned.

"Malfoy was selling some stuff. Ministry had been doing raids. Didn't want to get caught."

"Slimy, death eater scum." James growled.

"Once they left Harry was found by Hagrid."

"We owe him so much." Put in Lily.

"He took Harry back to the Weasleys. There was a booksigning at Flourish and Blotts. Gilderoy Lockhart was there. When he saw Harry, he dragged him to the front and got them both in the Daily Prophet."

"That git is using my son for publicity." James cried in outrage. Lily didn't even bother to tell him off, looking angry herself.

"Harry, Ron, myself and Ginny ran into Draco Malfoy who was being himself. Ginny defended Harry until Lucius Malfoy and Mr Weasley came over. Mr Malfoy was taunting him about being poor. He took one of Ginny's books tutting that it was second hand. Mr Weasley launched himself at Mr Malfoy and they started fighting."

"In a public bookshop, really?" McGonagall cried in disbelief.

"Fight, fight, fight." Came the cry from the marauders.

"Hagrid pulled them apart, Mr Malfoy gave Ginny the book back and left. They all made it back to the Burrow safely and waited to return to Hogwarts."

"Quick, before anything else happens." James groaned. Hermione allowed herself a brief grin and carried on. Sirius noted the smile and sighed. He knew that meant something else did happen. It was probably bad.

"They used Mr Weasley's car to get to the station, just in time. Everyone went through the barrier. Harry and Ron were last. When they tried they smashed into the barrier."

"What? It doesn't get sealed until after 11." Remus said, looking shocked.

"Oh no." Groaned James.

"They couldn't get through and they had no idea what to do."

"Send an owl. Wait for Mrs Weasley." Lily said. James threw her a look.

"Given these two, do you really think that's gunna happen?" He asked. Lily sighed and shook her head.

"Of course not." Hermione grinned. "They flew the car."

"They did what?" Everyone exclaimed. Sirius and James high fived each other. Remus and Lily groaned, heads in their hands. McGonagall looked scandalised and Dumbledore looked amused.

"The car had an invisibility booster, but it stopped working." Hermione continued/

"Really?" Sighed Remus in exasperation.

"They followed the Hogwarts Express to school. The car engine gave out as they were almost there and they crashed into a certain tree." James, Sirius and Remus went pale.

"No." They all gasped. Hermione nodded.

"The Whomping Willow." She added for everyone else. Now they all looked concerned.

"Ron's wand got snapped almost in two, but other than that they made it out just fine."

"Thank God." Sighed James.

"Poor Ron." Cried Lily.

"Those kids have the worst luck for adventure don't they?" Remus grinned. Hermione nodded fervently.

"They got caught outside by Snape."

The marauders groaned and started muttering curses.

"He took them to his office and told them they had been seen. He refused to let them explain and went to fetch Professor McGonagall, who did let them. Then told them they could have sent an owl. Apparently they both felt like idiots."

"They were." Remus smiled.

"She gave them detention and wrote to their families. Snape, who was hoping they would be expelled, was most unhappy. Apparently Professor Dumbledore came in and made them feel worse than ever. Then he took Snape back to the feast. Harry wriggled his way out of losing house points."

"How the hell did he manage that?" James and Sirius cried.

"He argued that term hadn't officially started when they took the car so Gryffindor shouldn't lose point. Professor McGonagall agreed." Hermione grinned. McGonagall allowed herself a small smile.

"I take back what I said about luck. When it comes to school stuff they have the best luck ever. First the broom then this. I think Minnie is going soft." James grinned. McGonagall's stern expression returned.

"Professor McGonagall made them eat in Snape's office, informed them Ginny had been put in Gryffindor, and then left. When they were done eating, Harry and Ron went up to Gryffindor tower. I had heard rumours about the car and they told me they hadn't been expelled. I was disapproving…"

"Good for you." Lily smiled.

"But told them the password and we all went to bed. Although not without plenty of cheering from the Gryffindors." Hermione paused. "Maybe we should all get some rest now. We can finish the story tomorrow. Everyone nodded.

"Do you have a place to stay?" James asked Hermione. She shook her head. "You can take the spare bedroom here if you like." He offered.

"Thank you Mr Potter." She smiled.

"James, please. My son's best friend can call me James."

"Ok, thanks James." Hermione grinned at him.

"You two, be back here early." Lily turned to Remus and Sirius. They nodded, saluted and apparated away. Dumbledore and McGonagall returned to Hogwarts.

"Here, I will show you your room." Lily turned to Hermione and led her upstairs. She caught a brief glance at the sleeping baby Harry.

"He is so cute." Hermione beamed.

"He is indeed. Good taste in friends as well." Lily smiled back. Hermione blushed. Lily stopped at a door on the right and Hermione went in. As she closed the door, Lily paused.

"Thank you for coming back here Hermione."

"You're welcome Lily. I'm glad I did." Hermione replied. With that, the door clicked closed and she got ready for bed. Hermione couldn't sleep. Once in bed, she became more homesick than ever. Harry and Ron. As soon as she thought his name, she winced. Ron. She missed him. But Sirius' face crept into her mind. It was so different, seeing him carefree, happy. He was handsome and rather funny. What if she could never return to her time? Would it be right to lead Sirius on just to disappear? If she could stay, clearly she couldn't wait for Ron who was barely one in this time. Her feelings for Sirius were growing. She didn't know how to act on them Little did Hermione know, that miles away, in his flat in London, Sirius was pondering the very same problem.