Harry's conversation with the snake bought them a few months. Harry had told the crowd that the snake had agreed to go back to sleep for several years so that Harry could find it food, and that was the main rumour afloat. Several others were that Harry had threatened the snake into submission, and that Harry had sacrificed the first year Ravenclaw that had been found Petrified in the girl's loo on the fourth floor, a rumour that had probably been started because of Draco's suggestion. But despite the talk, this news coupled with Dumbledore's announcement that the Heir of Slytherin had been captured alleviated the fear that had begun to grip the school. In February, Harry had been buried under a pile of valentines seeking to express thanks for saving them all. He blamed it on Lockhart and his gaudy Valentine's Day celebration.

Meanwhile, Harry and his friends had been trying to figure out what to do with the basilisk.

"You know," Draco suggested one day, "We could always just find something to feed it, then tell it to go back to sleep."

Harry glared at him. "We're not sacrificing McGonagall."

Draco looked away, but Harry had already seen his laughter. "That's not what I meant, Harry," he said in a stifled voice.

"What do you mean then?" Hermione asked him. They were all sitting in the library on one of the rare days where Pansy and Draco joined in. Even Anthony was only sitting a desk or two away.

"What I mean," Draco explained, "Is that there's a whole Forbidden Forest just outside our doors that's filled with all sorts of food for that thing."

Blaise raised his eyebrows. "That's an idea," he said thoughtfully. "But how would we get it out to the Forbidden Forest without it killing anyone?"

"And why would we want a great filthy snake roaming around the forest?" Ron cut in incredulously. "My brothers go in there sometimes, they've told me stories. That forest is bad enough without a basilisk."

"If we didn't want to kill it, though, that would be our only option," Hermione argued.

"Wait, why don't we want to kill it?" Harry asked. "We'd just need a rooster."

"You try convincing Hagrid to let you borrow one then," Neville said, looking up from his homework and making a face. "He got really suspicious when I asked. Someone's been killing them all year, according to him."

"Well then, we could just find some other way of getting a rooster," Blaise said dismissively.

"We could just take one," Pansy suggested. "I mean, he's got to sleep sometime. We'll just nip into the coop and make off with it."

"We already discussed this; he'll probably have spells up," Hermione said doubtfully. "Especially if someone's been attacking them all year. I doubt it'll be that easy."

"How are we going to get a rooster then?" Blaise asked. "Any suggestions aside from theft?"

"Harry could get Filch to get one from Hagrid," Hermione said. "You're his favourite, aren't you?"

"He might be able to get me one," Harry agreed. "But I'd probably need an excuse…"

"Just tell him it's for an extra credit assignment," Dudley suggested. "You are his favourite."

"I don't know," Harry said uncertainly. "I mean, I'll try, but he might want to know why, and then what do I tell him?"

"Tell him the truth, Harry," Neville said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like you're doing anything wrong, saving us all from a giant evil snake."

The rest of the table stopped talking, surprised.

"He's right," Draco said in bemusement. "We aren't doing anything wrong."

Hermione thought a moment. "And even if we set a rooster loose in the halls, we wouldn't technically be breaking any school rules at all."

The rest of the table considered this.

"Well that's no fun," Pansy said at last, disappointed. "If that's the case, we should definitely steal the rooster."

Hermione spoke up over the muffled laughter of the rest of the group. "You know, since there isn't anything really wrong with what we'd have to do, it would be fairly simple to just tell the teachers and have them set out roosters."

"Some Gryffindor you are!" Draco said in astonishment. "Going running to the teachers at the first sign of adventure!"

Hermione gave him a look and said, "There's no reason why we shouldn't."

"There's no reason why we should, either," Harry said reasonably. "We can deal with this."

"Because we're doing such a great job so far," Ron said sarcastically. "We can't even find a rooster."

Blaise perked up slightly. "I know how to find a rooster! We'll get The Great Harry Potter to ask Dobby for us!"

Harry groaned, but Draco's eyes lit up. "It's perfect! Dobby!"

Dobby appeared with a muffled crack.

"Yes, Master Draco?"

"Harry wants to ask you a question," Draco said, grinning at Harry along with the rest of the group. Harry sighed.

"What is it that The Great Harry Potter desires?" Dobby asked excitedly. "Anything you is wanting, sir, Dobby is getting for you!"

"Er, well, firstly, Dobby, could you not call -"

Blaise elbowed him. "Not now, Harry!"

Harry sighed. "Alright, well then Dobby, could you get us a rooster?"

"Yes, of course!" Dobby agreed. "Dobby will get The Great Harry Potter a rooster immediately!"

"Not in the library!" Hermione said hurriedly, but Dobby had already disappeared with his customary crack. She sighed and stood. "Harry, don't let him bring it in the library," she said pleadingly. "Madame Pince already doesn't like us. Let's not make it worse, please?"

"No, no, Hermione," Blaise soothed, putting a placating arm around her shoulder as they all stood to leave. "Madame Pince doesn't like Harry. And probably Draco and Pansy too. Certainly she despises Ron and Dudley, when they're together. But she loves you, trust me. I know, because she loves me too."

He smiled over at the desk as they left, and as if to prove his point, Madame Pince didn't glare at him.

"See?" he asked once they were out in the hall. "If that's not love, I don't know what is."

Hermione's response was cut off by Dobby's sudden reappearance.

"Here is your rooster, sir," he said, thrusting a live rooster at Harry proudly. It clucked frantically at the group. Harry reached for it tentatively.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry said, uncertain if he should mimic Dobby's grip on it's neck. It looked uncomfortable.

"Harry, you're pathetic," Ron said, pushing him aside and taking the rooster expertly. He looked up at the rest of them, only to be met with curious stares.

"What?" he asked defensively. "My mother keeps chickens, got a problem?"

Draco opened his mouth, then shut it. "Can you make it crow on command?" he asked finally. Ron nodded.

"Good," Harry said. "Wait here a moment."

He went back into the library and headed straight for Anthony.

"Do you have the snake?" he asked without preamble. Anthony held up his wrist without looking up from his book.

"Good," Harry said. "I thought you two might want to help me find the basilisk? We're going to get rid of it today."

Anthony dropped his book. "I'm coming!" he said excitedly, picking it up again and stuffing it in his bag haphazardly. "Coming, I'm coming, hang on a second…"

Harry waited while Anthony gathered all his things into his bag, and they made it back to the rest of the group in record time.

"- and you didn't see fit to mention before that you've had access to roosters all this time?" Hermione was asking Ron as they arrived. Ron looked sheepish.

"If I asked my mum for a rooster, she'd ask questions," he explained. "I couldn't tell her I was going to kill a giant snake with it, she'd think I'm worse than Fred and George."

"You could've asked for one for your birthday," Dudley suggested. "Instead of that Chudley Cannons poster."

Ron seemed appalled at the very idea. "It wouldn't have worked anyway," he assured them. "Easter break is coming up, I could've just smuggled one back to school then, how about that?"

"Doesn't matter anymore," Pansy interrupted in exasperation. "Although, for future reference, you should probably inform the rest of us next time you have exactly what we need to save the school from certain death clucking about in your garden, Weasley."

Ron blushed. "I'll keep that in mind," he agreed, shamefaced.

"We're ready," Harry interrupted, and Anthony raised his wrist to show them the snake. "So I guess what'll happen is Anthony and I will lure the snake somewhere, and Ron'll make the rooster crow?"

"Sounds good," Draco said with a nod.

"Where, though?" Neville asked curiously. "We can't just let it die anywhere."

There was a moment of silence.

"That's a good point," Blaise said thoughtfully.

They all thought on it, and after a moment, Draco smirked. "I know."

Harry looked at him curiously, to which he responded, "Basilisk skin is a very rare potions ingredient."

Pansy caught on immediately. "So is the venom," she added with a wicked grin.

Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors were clueless, staring at them both in confusion. Harry looked over at Blaise, who had a devious smirk on his face as well. Harry felt an identical one grow slowly on his face.

"Any Potions Master would give anything for just a pint of basilisk blood," Blaise informed them.

Hermione caught on. "You're not honestly thinking of…"

"Why on earth not?" Pansy asked. "We're going to capture and kill it. We'll have more rights to it than anyone else."

"We'll have to give Professor Snape a few free samples," Blaise said thoughtfully. "Or rather, Harry will. I always thought he could like you with just a little push, Harry."

Harry grinned. "So where would be the easiest place to harvest?" he asked Draco.

"We'd have to find out where it gets out of the pipes to attack people," Anthony said. "That would obviously be the best option."

"You could just tell it to meet you somewhere outside the pipes," Pansy suggested.

Ron made an indistinct, terrified sound in the back of his throat.

"Too risky," Harry agreed. "We don't know how far it would have to travel to get there. It could too easily stop for a snack on the way."

"So ask it, then," Neville said. "And have it meet you there."

"And how are we going to move it afterward?" Ron asked incredulously. "Where are we putting this great filthy snake?"

"Dobby," Pansy said with a shrug. "He can move it for us, and he can keep it somewhere until we have a chance to chop it up for ingredients."

"Brilliant," Draco said, clapping his hands. "Now go find that snake, Harry."

Harry looked over at Anthony, who had brought their snake out already and had been talking to it.

"We're going to find the big snake now?" she asked, winding her way around Anthony's wrist eagerly.

"Yes," Harry agreed. "Any idea where he is?"

The snake paused, testing the air with her tongue. "Down," she said confidently.

"Down," Harry repeated in English. They all set off for the nearest staircase.

"How far down?" Anthony asked as they walked.

"Very far," the snake told him. "You could call him, though. I am sure he would hear you."

Harry stopped in his tracks, and Neville bumped into him from behind. "Sorry," he said distractedly, and lifted Anthony's arm so that he could see the snake better.

"How would he hear me from so far away?" he asked. "Would I have to call very loudly?"

"Not very," the snake responded. "Just call him. He will know. It would probably help to invoke his master's name, but he will know."

Harry blinked. "Invoke his master's name?"

"Sorry about that," Anthony said, still in Parseltongue. "I was explaining about the Heir thing, and she wanted to know all about it."

"Alright, so how would I invoke his master?" Harry asked.

The snake did something strange that Harry assumed was equivalent to a shrug. Anthony shrugged too.

"I would assume that you would call him by…Slytherin's name?" Anthony switched back to English apologetically.

"Slytherin's name," Harry translated.

"That was really weird," Draco said from behind them. "Just thought you should know."

Harry blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"You two were hissing at each other, and all of a sudden it was English again," Neville explained.

"And couldn't you use English when you're speaking to each other?" Hermione asked. "We want to know what's going on too."

"But then she would feel left out," Anthony said, holding the snake up significantly.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "So what's happening then, since the rest of us actually were left out of that conversation?"

"I'm going to call the basilisk," Harry told them. "Apparently I can do that, even from a distance."

"Go on then," she said. Everyone nodded and waited expectantly. Harry took a deep breath and tried it.

"I have no idea what to say," he told Anthony and the snake. "Something like, I dunno, 'Come to me basilisk, in Slytherin's name'?"

"Sounds good," Anthony said agreeably. "Give it a try."

Harry cleared his throat. "Come to me basilisk, in Slyth-"

"I am coming, master."

Harry froze instinctively. "It worked," he said uncertainly in English.

"Ask it where," Draco urged. Ron tightened his hold on the rooster.

"Where do you go to get out of the pipes?" Harry asked. He thought he could hear the faint sound of something heavy slithering through the walls, and hoped it was just his imagination.

"There is a door on the second floor," the snake told him. It wasn't as close as he'd imagined, but it was closer than he'd hoped. "Do you want me to leave the pipes, master?"

"Tell me exactly where, first," Harry said, heading for the staircase to the second floor. Anthony led the rest of the group, translating what he could.

"It is very damp and sometimes dirty," the snake explained. It was definitely closer. "I am going there now. It has many pipes. Mine is just the biggest."

"Second floor, very damp, sometimes dirty, many pipes," Harry said in English, surprising his friends. He thought for a moment. "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!"

"I know it," he told the basilisk. "Wait there for me. Do not leave."

"You are bringing me food now?" the basilisk demanded. Harry swallowed with difficulty as they neared the bathroom.

"Yes," he said as sincerely as possible.

"I smell it," the basilisk said, and his icy voice sounded almost cheerful. "I smell lots of blood."

"Good," Harry said, noting approvingly that Anthony hadn't translated that last bit. "Let me bring it inside to you. I do not want you to be seen."

"I smell something else," the basilisk said suddenly. Harry paused, outside the door to the bathroom now.

"Ron, make the rooster crow now," Anthony said urgently.

"That is not a good smell," the snake said angrily. "Why do you have that smell with you?"

"What smell do you mean?" Harry asked, waving frantically at Ron, who was fumbling with the rooster. The rest of the group watched him in wide eyed terror, which appeared to be making him more nervous.

"That is the smell of my death," the basilisk said in chilling tones. Harry could hear it shifting restlessly. "You are not my master if you bring that smell to me."

"Ron!"

"I'm trying!" he said frantically. "Bugger this…" He pulled out his wand and stuck it in front of the rooster's face. "Lumos!"

The rooster crowed.

They stood there outside the door to the bathroom in silence for a moment.

"Did it work?" Dudley asked in a timid voice.

"Er…"

"Is he dead?" Anthony asked the snake. She flicked her tongue out toward the bathroom.

"He is," she confirmed. Harry felt the tension melt off of him.

"He's dead," he repeated to the rest of them.

"Oh thank Merlin," Blaise said weakly. Neville and Hermione both sank down to the floor, to be joined immediately afterward by everyone else.

"…we did it," Ron said after a moment of silence. He grinned. "We actually did it!"

They all grinned at each other. "We did, didn't we?" Harry said happily, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom. "You know, I think I could probably put up an 'Out of Order' sign on the door. No one uses it anyway, I'm sure Filch wouldn't mind if I take it over."

"Perfect!" Draco said. "We could turn it into our own little potions lab!"

"Okay, we'll do that then," Hermione said, pulling a piece of parchment out of her bag and handing it to Harry. Harry wrote the words 'Out of Order' on it and posted it on the door. After a moment's thought, he also added a locking charm for good measure.

"How long do you think it'll take us to…harvest everything from the body?" Hermione asked distastefully. "Because the Easter holidays are coming up soon, and the term ends soon after that, and anyway, we've got exams. How are we going to have time to do this?"

"So we learn some preservation spells," Pansy said carelessly. "There are…" she counted them all. "Nine of us, Merlin. It'll take no time at all, especially if some of us use the holiday to do it."

"I'm not going home," Harry volunteered.

"You're not?" Dudley asked, surprised. "Don't you want to?"

Harry frowned uncertainly. Did he want to?

"I'm not doing it all myself," Blaise said. "Pansy and Draco are going home, so that means you have to stay and help, Harry."

"I'm staying," Neville volunteered. "I'll help."

"I'm staying too," Ron said. "Hermione is too, right?"

Hermione nodded. "There'll be plenty of people to help."

"I'm going home," Anthony informed them. "But I want to help. Save the venom for me, would you?"

"Not a problem," Blaise assured him. "So are you going home or staying, Harry?" he asked.

Harry bit his lip, looking between Dudley and Blaise.

"Dad's got all sorts of plans," Dudley informed him hopefully. "He's said nothing but good things about you since I told him about what happened with the book."

This wasn't entirely new, but it was enough that Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to do now. The idea of Uncle Vernon actually liking him had been unthinkable as little as six months ago. Harry looked at Blaise anxiously. Blaise shook his head with a sigh.

"Just go, if you really want to," he told him.

Harry considered his hands for a moment. "If you're sure it'll be okay," he told Dudley. Dudley grinned at him.

"It will be."