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Another update!
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IT'S CHANGED (SNILY)
CHAPTER 17 The Chambers
They all had gathered where they had decided to, looking disappointed. What the fuck would they do now? The diary was with a person and they couldn't do a thing. What if the person gets possessed and have no one around them to help? That was good in a way, they wouldn't get the chance to harm someone. But what if they start harming themselves. Hell… they were panicking and getting on to nothing.
"Baron threatened to rip me chest apart if asked him one more question" Severus growled, glaring at the wall as if it was the wall's mistake that he wasn't successful. "Total waste of time!"
"Binns like always went into some boring theory. He had nothing important to tell" Selene glowered in irritation at the slight open door of the girl's lavatory in front of him.
"Fat Frier have no idea about this" Austin shrugged. He had at least tried.
"Nick said that this had happened where the Muggleborns were targeted and one had died. The roosters were dying, could have been a coincidence" Lily told them.
"The Grey Lady told me that the girl was a Ravenclaw and was a loner and was bullied" Shane supplied.
"Peeves said that the girl would always remain single and keep on wailing" Charm began. "He says he still teases and mocks her. And that could only mean…"
"That she is a ghost!" Selene kicked the lavatory door in her enthusiasm and fell to the ground taking the unhinged door below her. She fell on the door with a loud bang and groaned clutching her ribs and abdomen. They all jumped to help her.
"Spare us such spirits, Selene" Severus said dryly and rolled his eyes before helping her stand up straight.
"Are you fine?" Shane asked in concern grabbing on one of her arms, examining her.
She brushed her clothes and opened her mouth to speak but a loud wail cut her.
They all turned to the toilet and saw a silvery figure looming above their heads. It was of a girl with an acne-filled face and glasses.
"What are you all doing here? Came to mock the Moaning Myrtle?" she screeched making them all flinch.
Their eyes grew wide with realization. She was the girl who had died.
"Are you a Muggleborn?" Severus asked carefully, lest offend her in any way.
"Yes" she said politely, viewing him dreamily.
Shane stepped ahead making Myrtle gasp. All for a horny ghost. He smiled at her and spoke in a whisper, didn't want to make her feel dishonored.
"I was doing some research over the ghosts of our school. They all had a tragic death. I would like to hear from you how was yours, if you are comfortable, of course. I want all of you to be known for what have you been through"
Selene rolled her eyes and the others stood in utter shock. Shane had made that wailing and screeching ghost to blush. If ghosts could blush, that is.
"You want me to know how I died" Myrtle asked in a seductive voice, that was obviously far from it.
"Yes, Myrtle" Shane nodded.
"I was crying in a cubicle because Olive Hornby had made fun of me again about my glasses and how I looked. You don't mind it, do you?"
Shane smiled and shook his head. "Outer beauty is useless to me. You are beautiful from the inside"
Myrtle blushed again. "Then a voice came to me" She frowned in remembrance. "It was… kind of… I don't know how to explain it… a slither, perhaps?"
"A slither?" Severus prompted.
"That is what I remember. Then I saw something like… big yellow screen in front of me and I died" she said mournfully.
"So, you remember something yellow not green?" Charm asked.
Myrtle shook her head violently. "Very much yellow"
"And do you think you felt pain or something?" Lily asked.
"No, it was instant. No pain"
"It was instant and painless but not killing curse" Severus muttered, contemplating. "A slither, yellow something"
His eyes grew wide. He turned to face them. The roosters were killed too. That could just mean one thing. "Do you think-"
He couldn't complete because a loud shifting sound halted him. They turned around in the direction of the sink where a huge passage way was opened and all they could capture was the dark-haired crown of someone going in. Austin ran to help the person but he had already fallen inside.
They all hurriedly walked to the entrance to what ever it was. It was pitch black inside. Nothing could be seen. How had they not noticed another person standing just behind them. That is why the door of the lavatory -which was on most occasions closed- was left ajar. The person here was opening the entrance to…
"The Chamber of Secrets" Charm muttered. The eyes of others widened and their hearts began beating hard in their chests.
"That means the person who took the diary could be inside" Selene breathed.
"We must go in" Lily said hastily jumping in the tunnel.
"Lily!" they screamed.
"Out of all…" Severus jumped in too.
The others had to follow their impulsiveness.
*Page Break*
"They are talking to… Myrtle?" James read the map. "Who's she?"
"A ghost" Remus told.
"I am going to see what they are up to" Sirius walked ahead of everyone.
"I don't think we must go there" Peter said timidly however, walked behind Sirius.
James followed, making a face as if going on a life-death mission. Remus rolled his eyes and sighed. He obviously had to be there for them. They were truly fools.
They were too close to the door when James gasped loudly. "Lily just disappeared!"
"What?" Sirius peered in the map. "Huh? Snape too?"
"What the hell is happening?" Remus tried to make sense but failed.
James didn't see any point in making any sense in anything and ran to the entrance of the lavatory, the others followed. Their eyes widened. Singh, Solace, Lynx and Preston were jumping in a huge tunnel made between the sinks of the place.
James wasted no time before jumping in himself too.
"James!" the others yelled.
"Out of all…" Sirius made his way inside.
Peter and Remus were left with no choice to stand back. They followed the suite.
*Page Break*
"AAAAAAAAAA!" all of them shouted and then groaned.
The shouts were denser than expected and the groans were too shocking.
"What the fuck, Lily? Gryffindors always have jump head first, don't they?" Severus grumbled.
"No, I jumped feet first" She countered cheekily.
"Can someone kindly take the wand out and lit the place" Selene said in a strained voice, falling for the second time in a single day.
"You could do it yourself too, Selene" Shane groaned.
"Only if I had the energy too…" She panted.
"Lumos" Charm whispered and a small speck of light shone in the darkness.
"Urgh… there are rat corpses here" Austin looked disgusted. "And there is this dampness… Eww"
"Shut up, Preston" Sirius struggled to get up. All their eyes turned to the Marauders who didn't even have the decency to look ashamed.
"Black!" Severus growled. "What are you doing here?"
"Spying on us again, Potter?" Lily pointed her wand on James.
James held his hands up in the air, in surrender. "I just saw you all disappear from the…" He blushed. He couldn't tell them about the map.
"That precisely means you were spying" Selene roared weakly from the floor. "And you too, Lupin? I thought you had instilled some brains in them?"
Remus flushed and looked down. "I tried to stop them from following you all but now I believe they were correct"
Sirius smirked. "That's my friend, Moony" he patted his back.
"Don't think I am suspecting them of being up to something like you do" Remus glared. "It's because I reckon where ever we are, we are going to fight something and well… the more the better"
"We wouldn't need any of you, Lupin" Charm said hotly.
"Charm! You can keep it down now" Shane reprimanded. He turned to the Marauders. "Fine. You are coming with us"
"Have you gotten your head replaced with flobberworms, Shane?!" Severus almost shouted in disbelief. "If anything happens to them, they'll surely put the blame on me, Selene and Charm because Slytherins are vile"
"Hey! We are not cowards, Snape!" Sirius barked back.
"Do shut up, Black" Selene groaned, still on the ground. "We perhaps are going to face a-"
She was cut by her own groan that broke through as she tried to sit up.
Peter pulled out a vial from his robes and held it near Selene, timidly.
"What's that? Poison?" Charm sneered.
Peter shook his head. "No. It's for pain. It will ease it"
"Why would you give that to her?" Austin asked incredulously.
"Because she is in pain and perhaps, we'll need her. I have seen her dueling" He thrust the vial even closer.
Severus snatched it from him and smelled it, while Peter cowed. He narrowed his eyes at the boy and nodded.
"Pain reducer" Severus knelt to Selene and helped her swallow it.
"Do you think I have broken my spine?" She asked.
Severus broke out a laugh. "You wouldn't even be able to talk so easily, idiot"
"Don't call me that" she glared at him and then turned to Peter. "Thank you, by the way, Pettigrew"
Peter nodded shyly.
"Now, what are we going to face?" James asked giving one of his best charming smiles to Lily, but this time it didn't seem as hearty as it was earlier.
Severus sneered at him. "A basilisk, perhaps" he said smugly, enjoying the shock and fear on the faces of the Marauders. "This will certainly be the bigger beast than you see every month" he taunted.
His friends looked confused. Remus bowed his head and closed his eyes with shame.
"If this is truly your plan to take revenge, Snape. Remember that-" Sirius began thundering.
"I know you all are animagi" Severus stated, too confidently.
The Marauders gasped and his friends gave a low, "What?"
"How do you know?" James breathed.
Severus' eyes grew larger. "I was just a guessing and said whatever came to my mouth first" he replied. "So, you all really are animagi?"
They looked at each other. Their secret was out and there was no way of taking it all back.
Sirius cleared his throat. "Yes, Snape. You use it against us and-"
"I won't" he declared, seeming bored in the conversation, now, though it was just an act.
"What are you all?" Lily voiced.
James rubbed the back of his neck. "Please, don't tell this to anyone"
"We won't" she said hastily.
James shifted. "I am a stag, Sirius a grim dog and Peter a rat"
"What's Lupin, then?" Shane asked.
Remus wanted no more than to be swallowed by the ground at that moment. It was only Severus other than the Marauders who looked confident about the answer.
"Hasn't Snape already told you?" Sirius asked disbelieving.
All the heads turned to Severus. "You know something, Severus?" Selene asked, frowning.
"What you have trying to prove to me… is it all c-correct, Sev?" Lily looked desperate to know.
"Yes" he gave. "Though I have been warned not to talk about it to anyone"
"Lupin is a werewolf, isn't he?" Austin said in a low voice.
Remus' head shot up. His lower lip trembled and face went pasty white. He looked at his friends helplessly.
"You are?" Austin came and kept a hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter, Remus" he tried to offer support.
"It's a secret because people would obviously see him as something dangerous and would want him out of Hogwarts or killed" Sirius whispered defensively.
"Well, unless you come after me, I don't care what you are" Shane shrugged.
"Isn't being a werewolf cool" Selene had to say something out of the box.
"Umm… you look far from a beast like that" Charm remarked.
Remus gave a mirthless laugh but his face showed only gratefulness for the acceptance.
"You know, Remus, it would never bother me and I would never cease to be your friend" Lily said slowly and assuredly. "Though I wouldn't appreciate the prank you played, Black" her eyes blazed fire at him suddenly changing her entire demeanor. "I could have gotten either of them killed" she hissed.
Sirius actually looked ashamed for that. "You know… perhaps- I-I am sorry, Snape?"
Severus' eyes went large. "You are apologizing?"
"Yeah, that is what sorry is for. Don't make me say that again"
Severus cleared his throat at last. "Your situation, Lupin, never bothered me, it was just curiosity. It was Black's prank that got onto me"
"Yeah, fine. I agree it was a bit out of line" Sirius said sheepishly.
"You just apologized and then say it was a bit out of line-?!"
"Severus and Black you may both shake your hands, now. We can forget the differences now" Shane insisted.
Severus sneered mildly. "I will sooner have sex with a Blast-Ended Skrewt" he paused. "Why would I even say that? I will sooner castrate myself" he paused again. "I'll sooner go kiss Trelawny" he paused once more. "Perhaps, I must simply stop speaking now"
Lily laughed and Selene rolled her eyes.
"Mustn't we go and check who is the person stuck inside with the diary and the basilisk?" she said.
They all started walking further in, lightening their wands.
"We are taking the situation all too lightly" Austin muttered.
"I believe the same way" Severus agreed. "If we die, I am going to blame it all on the Gryffindors… except for Lily"
*Page Break*
They all managed to come from emerge through the door that was obstructed by huge fallen bricks and the broken wall from the sides. This place was way more lightened than the one they had just been. They had to blink a few times to adjust their eyes to the light.
There was a giant face of stone before them. It looked ancient and monkey-like with long sweeping beard brushing the floor. They had started looking from the top of the huge statue. Their eyes traveled downwards and they gasped.
A boy laid there. Lifeless. His robes were damp and limbs seemed limp.
They took a few steps forward warily to see who the person is. Their eyes grew wider when the face came to their view.
Sirius ran to the body and took the head of the boy and cradled it in his lap.
Regulus Black.
"Regulus, Regulus. Wake up, little brother" Sirius shook the body desperately, wanting-needing his brother to wake up. Regulus' face was chalk white, looked as if there was not even a single drop of blood was left in him. His lips almost having a blue ting. Sirius blabbered and insisted him to wake up.
Nobody had the courage to go any nearer. They all stood, their feet glued to the ground. Remus took a hesitant step forward and then walked up to Sirius.
He kept a hand on his shoulder and knelt, keeping an eye on Regulus.
"Regulus, please wake up. I'll never fight with you ever again, Reggy, wake up. If you die now, I'll get into your room and destroy everything. I am warning you already" Sirius continued to blabber.
He looked up at Remus. "What has happened to him, Remus? Why the fuck isn't he waking up? He is a really light sleeper, I know that"
Remus opened his mouth but no words came out instead he brought a shaking hand to Regulus' nostrils, trying to feel the breath. He almost didn't want to know the answer.
A very light breath met his fingers and he sighed in relief.
"He is alive" Remus fell back and sat on the floor, cross-legged. "He is alive" he declared, too relieved.
Sirius beamed. "I knew you loved your room more than anything"
"Don't be so happy" a cold voice met their ears. They looked in the direction of the statue from where a handsome young man emerged. Slytherin robes, sixteen-year-old. "He'll be out of the little life he is clinging on, soon. The weaker he gets the stronger I'll be"
Tom Riddle.
Lily and Severus already had their wands poised on him, recognizing the face evenly.
"Ah… our two love birds. I remember you both showing my memories" Riddle mocked. "By the way, your little brother was too weak and too useful to me" he said to Sirius.
Sirius and Remus stood up straight. "Whomever you are, I don't give a single shit to it"
"Don't. Your brother was enough" Riddle smirked.
"Tom Riddle, aren't you?" Selene had deduced it till now. "What have you done with him?"
He came closer and leaned enough to make a straight eye-contact with Selene. She didn't back, instead gave her best glower to him. He didn't even flinch, instead smiled maliciously.
"Slytherin's shouldn't be wasted behind weaknesses" he said in a voice akin to pity. "You are a Pureblood, are smart enough to know that the path you are walking at is going to lose"
She pointed her wand on his chest. He didn't seem to matter at all. "I am not a coward like you are. My motive in life is not to kill the Muggleborns for sport"
"Ah… I see you have researched on me"
"I even know that you are a Half-Blood, who tried to hide it very well"
He laughed, a mirthless one. "True" he whispered coldly.
"Sectumsempra" Severus threw the spell on him, unexpectedly. Riddle dodged it though.
He laughed again. "You have potential, I must admit. You have already done this to my snake, haven't you?" he smirked.
The eyes of others grew larger just when realization shot them as a full-blown punch. "You are You-Know-Who?" Charm breathed.
Riddle smirked. "Voldemort is my past, present and future" he waved Regulus' wand in the air writing- TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE. He swayed the wand once more and the words rearranged themselves.
They wrote- I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
They all gasped just as fear filled their veins. Their faces paled with fear. Their hearts started beating faster. They were standing face-to-face with the sixteen-year-old version of Voldemort?
"Scared?" Riddle quivered his lips, mocking them.
"NO!" they thundered, though more confidently than any of them felt at the moment.
"Ah… I see" he laughed.
All of their wands out they bombarded him with spells.
"Sectumsempra"
"Diffindo"
"Expelliarms"
"Confringo"
"Reducto"
"Impedimenta"
"Duro"
"Stupefy"
"Expulso"
"Obscuro"
Riddle threw all the curses away in just a lazy swish of the wand. He laughed, the malicious one that sent shivers to their spines. He was a greater wizard than they even together were.
"Now, my turn" Riddle hissed. He made weird sounds through his tongue. Parseltongue? Was he calling the Basilisk?
"Keep your eyes closed!" Severus commanded. "Basilisk's eyes can kill!"
All of them placed their hands on their faces though leaving a small gap between their fingers to catch a glimpse of what was happening.
That is when a loud slither came, a foul one. From the mouth of the statue of Salazar, a large snake emerged as a tongue. It was huge, worse than they had thought. It was of a bright green color and the eyes… those were hooded for the time being. Their relief longed no more than a quarter of a second as Riddle hissed something and the Basilisk started slithering towards them.
They froze for a second before instinctively went into different directions to technically confuse the Basilisk.
The Basilisk followed Sirius. He ran towards the statue, taking the Basilisk away from the others. He didn't seem to hesitate to do anything then. He turned into his animagus form and after a few seconds a grim dog was climbing up the statue of Salazar.
"What the fuck, Padfoot?" Remus growled in panic while Selene, Shane, Austin and Pettigrew were sent back, smashing in the wall with the hard tail of the Basilisk.
"CAREFUL!" the others shouted but they had already smacked themselves in the wall.
A hand grabbed Severus jaw firmly, that is when he noticed how close he was standing to Tom Riddle. He met the eyes and closed his memories. Occlumency came almost natural to him now, though he refrained from using it and tried to fight emotions instead of blocking them. His mother had taught him how to that though, very brilliantly.
"Legilimency on me?" Severus drawled. "Occlumency comes to me as second skin" he smirked.
Riddle snarled and threw him away from himself, pointing the wand on Severus' chest.
"Don't think I have just one way to destroy you" Riddle sneered. "Avada Keda-"
Lily saw what was happening and before anything else struck her, her muggle-counterpart arose. She ran to Severus' side and kicked her knee in Riddle's groin.
Riddle shrunk back, clutching himself in pain.
"Lily! Have you lost all sense?!" Severus grabbed her from the waist and pulled her away with himself from Riddle.
"He was about to kill you and you expect me to sit and watch?" She argued hotly.
"We don't kick the Dark Lord like that" Severus stated. "You perhaps have gotten his reputation hurt!" he yelled, provoking Riddle even more.
James barked a laugh from the other end of the room. "Sometimes I believe your sense of humor exceeds all bounds, Snape"
Riddle straightened and pointed the wand at Lily this time. "First the Mudblood that means" he whispered softly and dangerously. "Avada Ked-"
"Sanguis Meus Salvet!" Charm yelled before Riddle could have completed the spell. A tongue of emerged from her wand and rounded Lily and Severus. She swayed her wand and the shield she created worked as a mirror. The killing curse dodged in the direction it came from, but didn't meet Riddle's shoulder, instead hit the wall behind him.
"Whoa!" they had just reflected the killing curse.
"Lynx, aren't you?" Riddle snarled. "Wasting your protective spells on these useless scums?"
"No, using them against you" Charm's nose lifted in air. "I would-"
A huge thump on the ground cut her.
"Sirius! What the fuck?!" James panicked.
Sirius had transformed into a human again and was sitting on the head of the Basilisk. He held his wand up high ready to do something stupid. Obviously, from the top he couldn't see anything more than the lids on the eye and so, was safe for then. The others kept their eyes glued on Sirius, lest die from the Basilisk's eyes.
The Basilisk swayed its head from side to side but Sirius held his grip on it tight.
Riddle laughed. "Silly Gryffindors. Bring their death to themselves"
Nobody had expected what happened next.
Sirius pocked his wand in the eye of the basilisk. He twisted it inside to make sure the eye balls were over.
"NO!" Riddle raged.
The Basilisk's head went side to side and wailed in pain, blinded, throwing Sirius to the ground. He stood up soon and smirked.
"You played with my brother; I'll play with your pet" Sirius barked.
"You will die, just like your brother" Riddle's eyes showed a tinge of red, that made the rush of fear run down their spines.
"HE. WILL. NOT. DIE" Sirius choked; his eyes bloodshot.
Riddle chuckled. "Poor sentiments"
A soft song sang in their ears, filled the room. The looked in the direction of the voice. It was a phoenix with a hat, the sorting hat. The bird looked magnificent. It dropped the hat on the ground and came to sat on Severus' shoulder. He stiffened. This was the phoenix that had saved him from the venom. He had a part of the bird in himself, perhaps, he was finding Severus familiar.
Selene, Shane, Austin and Pettigrew came to consciousness after the song met their ears. They got up and poised their wands as soon as they remembered what was going on.
Everything was too silent other than the wails of the Basilisk, that was broken by Riddle, himself.
He laughed, laughed pitifully. Mocking them.
"This is what has come to your help?!" he continued laughing.
Pettigrew as clumsy as he was clambered to the floor, stumbling on the hat that had fallen on the ground. He groaned and sat up picking up the hat with himself. A small ruby red shone out, he grabbed the it and pulled the entire huge silver sword from the hat. His eyes widened at the revelation.
He looked at Remus who had too seen the sword. He threw the sword to him and Remus caught it efficiently. His eyes-tinged amber and taking the advantage of the situation where Riddle was laughing, he walked to the Basilisk that was flailing itself almost touching the ground with each swing.
Remus held his hand up in the air high and as soon as the Basilisk propped downwards, he thrusted the sword in the Basilisk's throat. The Basilisk roared and its blood dripped down on the sword.
Everyone, present in the room gasped loudly. Riddle froze for a second, taking in that the pet he had used for his wrong deeds was now, dead.
Remus himself crumbled down on the floor clutching his hand that was burning with the venom drops that had made their way to his flesh. He went unnoticed for the time-being. He pushed himself to the wall behind him. His breaths coming in shallow pants.
James laughed. "Really, what's your name? Tommy? I think our Moony killed your little snake" he mocked.
The red menacing eyes turned sharply to James. "Potter, you'll meet the same end. I am enough for you"
"Do so. I am ready for a duel" he challenged while the others refrained themselves from shouting a "Fool!" on him. They were ready with their wands.
The Basilisk's head was about to drop on the floor before which Shane screamed, "Inaere" and it stayed in the air, close to the ground, Riddle paid no heed.
Riddle swished the wand and a thrusting blue current emerged from the tip, was about shoot itself on James before Selene kicked in. She waved her wand and the pressure as from a heavy wind storm almost blew Riddle from his feet.
She winked in Riddle's direction. "Like that?" she was in too much pain with the third fall of the day, but she tried to keep herself steady and upright.
"You can't even stand straight, Solace. And you want to fight me?" Riddle remarked softly.
Selene croaked a laugh. "I believe you weren't able to too a moment ago"
He sneered and threw a spell on Selene before she had expected. Austin budged in between, protected Selene as a human shield and crumpled to the floor soon after.
"Austin!" they cried. Selene groaned; she would give up soon too.
"Now you, Solace. Already wounded, death will just add to the flavor"
Her shaking hands brought the wand up, ready to take whatever Riddle was about to give before which James yelled, "Expelliarms"
The spell around Lily and Severus broke at the right moment. They could move again now. The yelling of Potter was the only thing Severus needed, now. He ran close to the head of the Basilisk.
"LILY! THE DIARY!" he screamed on top of his lungs that made the others freeze out of shock. The very thing he wanted.
Lily clambered to the diary and swayed it in Severus' direction on the ground.
As soon as it was near Severus, he held up his hand and gripped one of the Basilisk's teeth. He motioned Shane to lose the spell free. Shane did. The head fell on the ground with full force and Severus directing it, the tooth went straight in the diary's heart. A loud ear-piercing scream filled the room and the ink from the diary spurted out on the floor.
"NO!" Riddle yelled in panic. He lost the grip on the wand and fell back. He writhed as if in pain and then he was gone.
"He is gone" they breathed in relief.
"Fawkes!" Severus straightened and called and the bird was soon on his shoulder. He brought up a hand to its head. "Do you think you can lend some of your tears to Lupin?"
The phoenix flew up to a barely alive and conscious Remus. He dropped some of his pearly tears on Remus' burned, red hand, making the skin stitch itself and the burns sooth.
Severus smiled. Remus was back to his cheery self. "Thank you, Fawkes"
"Enervate" Charm whispered on Austin. He had just been struck by the curse that had rendered him unconscious. He got up too. They sighed in relief.
Though things were still not back to normal.