I walked through the tunnel, the brunette by my side.
What the bloody hell is wrong with you, man, I thought to myself, you just gave up so easily! What father would say. Hell, what father would DO!
"I know it's hear somewhere," I heard her mumble.
I snorted.
"Excuse me," she said sarcastically, "I haven't been here in years. You can't blame me."
I pulled my wand out as the tunnel darkened.
"Lumos," I say evenly, the tip of my wand lighting up.
I stare at the blue light, and listen closely. I stop by an entrance to another tunnel.
"In here," I say.
She looks at me, confused. I sigh. I lift my foot and slam it down onto the concrete. The noise travels into the entrance and echo's back after a moment.
"Big echo, big room," I say, and walk through it.
"Lumos Maxima," I say, and the blue light shines brighter and brighter, eventually shooting from the tip of the want, and reveals the Chamber of Secrets.
"Wow," she murmurs softly.
I keep my smirk hidden as we reach the first statue. The large, threatening snakes all with a dead and empty glare line the chamber.
"Remind me why we're here," he tells her.
"Basilisk fang," she says, "they have the power to destroy horcruxes. We need one1."
"You have a horcrux?"
I hadn't meant to sound so surprised, but in the meetings with Voldemort, everyone had been reassured that they were well hidden.
"We have three. Two are destroyed. We know the snake is one, and we know there is another somewhere in the school."
I stared at the ground and bit my lip to keep it shut. My mind flickered to the time I had accidentally walked into my fathers study, interrupting a conversation between him and some masked death eaters. Their words tumbled in my mind, and I forced them in.
Can't even support your own side, my subconscious spit at me, come on, Draco, going to lock up forever?
"The diadem," I blurt, without thinking.
"What?"
She isn't paying attention. She didn't even recognize that my words were or significance. I set my jaw.
"I think that theh orcrux is Rowena Ravenclaws diadem," I tell her.
"Oh, great," she says, "the one bloody thing that hasn't been seen for centuries happens to be a bloody horcrux."
I remain silent as we finally approach the end of the chamber. She brings out her own wand and casts a Lumos. We reach a pond, and she gingerly takes a step into the water.
"Accio Fang," she says.
The silence that followed made me smirk.
"Worth a shot," she said with a shrug.
She reached in, and her expression turned to one of utter horror.
"What is it?"
She paused and looked up at me, the same horrified expression. I was about to step forward to aide her, when she spoke.
"It's sticky!" she gasped loudly, "oh, Merlin, this is gross!"
I almost laughed. Almost, of course. She recomposed herself and started pulling desperately. Finally, I hear a dull crack, and she brings out a large basilisk fang. With some mouldy-coloured gum stringing from it's base. She looked at it with wide eyes, and it looked like all of the blood had drained from her face.
I stepped forward, and gave it a quick Scourgify, and she seemed to come to her senses and stepped out of the pond, putting the fang into her pocket.
We silently walk back to the entrance, my eyes on the ground.
"Thankyou, by the way," she says, "for the info on the diadem."
I shrug, and swallow a lump in my throat.
"I don't expect you to like me, Draco. But you're on our side. So I won't hold the past against you. I hope you do the same."
I find no words.
After exiting the chamber, and safely closing it up, I lead the way back to the Room of Requirement, where I pace and open the door.
"Might want your wand out," I say softly.
He nods, and pulls it from his waistband, positioning it. I take a breath and step inside the last chamber.
"Hermione!" Ron calls from one side.
I look over to see him and Harry hoarded by out classmates.
I seemed to hesitate, glancing at Draco, who looked at me warily.
"Come on," Ron calls again, standing.
I look at Draco and nod pointedly. I step inside and he follows me in. The reaction is automatic. Every student stands, wand out, poised to attack.
Draco becomes disarmed in less than a second, and I quickly stand in front of him.
"Stop!" I shout, and everyone freezes.
"Hermione," Harry says, unusually harshly, "what have you done. Why have you brought him here."
"Harry, listen to m-"
"Get out!" Ron shouts at Draco, who seems like he was about to run.
I unconsciously reach behind me and grip the sleeve of his shirt. He glares down at me and I stare at him helplessly.
"Didn't you hear me, ferret?" Ron asked, "get out!"
"I would do so gladly, Weasel," he sneered, "but your girlfriend has got ahold of my arm."
Ron pointed his attention to me, a slightly hurt and confused look glancing over his eyes.
"Listen to me," I tell them, "he's on our side now. I've convinced him, and-"
"He's lying, Hermione!" Harry almost shouts, "it's not p-"
"He took and Unbreakable Vow, Harry!" I yell, "do you honestly think me so stupid to believe him without proof?"
"She must be under the Imp-" Ron started.
"I'll show you," I said quickly, "get the pensieve. I'll show you, Harry, just please, give this a shot."
Harry seemed torn, but Ron was relentless.
"You're been tricked, Hermione! This isn't you!" he tells me, still eyeing Draco.
"Ronald Weasely!" I shouted, and he flinched, "you are in no place to judge me right now. I'm telling you he's on our side, and he is. He knows what we're looking for. The Ravenclaw Diadem."
"I thought so," the light voice of Luna Lovegood spoke up.
She seemed the only one who didn't have their wand out against Draco, and I gave her a thankful look.
"Who says he's not lying?" Ron question, "this is plain and simple. We can't trust him."
"If he were lying then he's be intentionally misguiding us, and aiding the Dark L-"
"Exactly!" he yelled.
"If that were so, he'd be dead."
The silence rang through the room.
"He needs our help. When the Dark Lord finds out, he'll have every death eater out after him."
"He bloody des-"
"The ways they kill we all know is the worst fate possible. None of you would wish it on anyone," I looked around the room, "he needs our help. That's what we're do. Trust or not, he took a vow, and I intend to make sure he lives to keep it."
Everyone murmured within eachother, all in general agreement.
"Good," Harry said lazily, "now that's settled, we should probably go and fight this war."
A/N:
Hi. I'm not quite sure where I'm taking this story, and I've never posted something official before. If anyone had and suggestions or feedback, I'd love to hear it!
Thankyou.