A/N: If you haven't read the dueling club incident yet, you'll want to go back to the previous chapter. I had some issues with FFN email notifications last week and think others might have too.
Chapter 12: Friendship is a Cork on a String - Nov/Dec 1992
Over the weeks that followed, the trio learned of further consequences of the disastrous dueling club meeting.
In rare form, Mr. Weasley gave Lockhart a piece of his mind for his role in creating such a dangerous situation. Ron was almost gleeful hearing about that. The twins agreed that it would have been awesome to see that confrontation.
After the following Potions class, Snape told Malfoy to stay. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were only able to overhear some of the professor's reproach: "While I applaud your use of a snake to unnerve your opponent in your duel, the deadliness of the snake was a miscalculation. Remember that your enemies… ."
Considering that Snape was Malfoy's head of house, Ron thought having that conversation after the Gryffindor-Slytherin Potions class was suspect. Perhaps Snape wants Harry to know that Malfoy was punished, even if it was just points and a lecture? Ron wasn't sure.
Harry seemed to expect Snape to approach him with some criticism about Harry's own role in the ill-fated duel. But weeks passed, and he told Ron that he didn't get so much as a stern word from the professor on that topic or any other.
Ron himself noted that Snape appeared to be patrolling the corridors less and skipping meals in the Great Hall throughout the month of November. The redhead wasn't sure if he was avoiding Harry, avoiding students in general, or simply busy with other things.
Ron was more focused on Draco Malfoy.
Even before Harry came out on top during their duel, Harry had become so effective at shutting down Malfoy's bullying that he stopped approaching Harry.
Malfoy didn't even trash-talk Harry or the Gryffindors during their quidditch match in early November where Harry won their head-to-head seeker battle. (Ron had been happy to be in the stands for that game because of all of the fouls by the Slytherins.)
Sometime between the duel and the quidditch match, Malfoy and Harry's rivalry ended.
Ron could sense that their classmates all knew it. Harry was above Malfoy's childish taunts. He was better at dueling, possibly magic in general. "Harry wouldn't sink to Malfoy's level," Ron heard.
The redhead was happy for his friend, who had been crushed by the hostility shown by their peers in their original second year of Hogwarts. This timeline, Harry was well-liked, and not just for being the Boy-Who-Lived. He was a genuinely kind and warm person who mostly knew the right things to say to fans, haters, and everyone in between.
Malfoy was still a brat, and Ron bore the brunt of Malfoy's displeasure instead of Harry. The blond sought him out for a fight when they were both alone.
"Where's Scarhead, Weasley? Potter finally found a better friend?"
Ron asserted, "Still a better friend than you."
Malfoy narrowed his eyes and clarified, "You are, or he is?"
"Both, I reckon."
Malfoy sneered, "Why would he bother to be friends with someone like you? No money, no status, nothing but red-haired siblings and a dumpy-looking witch for a mother. I saw her at the train platform."
"Don't you dare talk about my mother," Ron spat.
They traded a few minor spells, then Malfoy ran off under the effect of a tickling charm.
It could have been humorous, but Ron wasn't laughing. It's like Malfoy doesn't understand friends. How sad, actually.
Ron decided to use that melodrama as an excuse to ask his brothers for a favor.
Ron explained, "Malfoy's been after me for a month. And he set the snake on Ginny. I want to set up a little prank in his dorm, but I want to do it when Dumbledore isn't in the castle. I think the wards might tell him I'm up to something."
"Hmm. That might explain how he knew the exact way we damaged those toilets," Fred mused.
George said, "That would really put a damper on our pranking."
"Would it?" Ron was skeptical. "I think Dumbledore actually approves of your more harmless pranks. If you keep them fun, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Or, if you target the Slytherins."
"Very good point, dearest brother."
"Excellently reasoned."
"We'll help you." The twins said in unison.
Ron told Harry that he now had a plan to get him cover to go to the Chamber of Secrets.
Well, Ron might also use the opportunity as pitched. The redhead rationalized, I would be lying to my brothers if I didn't follow through with a subtle revenge.
Hermione had many cauldrons on the flame, and all were finally simmering along in November.
Hermione was still concerned about Harry and Snape, but the past six months had gone fairly well. So far, most things the trio had changed had been a net positive for their relationship when compared to those same months during their previous timeline. No Whomping Willow car crash, no bludger injury, and no petrifications. Harry was even getting better marks in Potions.
She was further reminded of their changes when the class brewed Swelling Solutions. In their previous timeline, that was the class where the boys distracted Snape with a loose firework while she pilfered Polyjuice supplies out of the cupboards. The witch was delighted not to reenact their mostly unnecessary interrogation of Malfoy that also turned her semi-permanently into Millicent Bulstrode's cat.
No, she was much happier with a different, recently completed illicit project: the brewing of a powerful truth potion. She began the potion mid-October, and it was safely tucked away in many small vials distributed among the trio.
They wouldn't explicitly need Veritaserum for any of their plans, but she wanted it on hand. Okay, maybe I also just wanted to see if I could brew it, the witch admitted in the privacy of her own mind.
The brave friend that he was, Harry volunteered to test the truth serum's potency. She let him dictate the questions. The potion-influenced answers were mostly aligned with what the trio expected, except Harry's favorite color was apparently orange instead of green.
Ron said, "I knew you liked the Cannons more than you would admit!"
Hermione also tested the truth serum. She wanted to use the potion as an opportunity to learn about herself, so she had Ron ask, "Do you want to know who your birth parents are?"
The words "I do" slipped out of her own mouth.
After the potion's effects wore off, Ron told Hermione some good news, "Say, I've finally gotten a letter off Bill from Egypt. He wrote out the incantation and wand movement for that relation-checking spell I told you about." Ron pulled a folded piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it over.
Bill's letter also told her how the results worked. The color of the light would suggest the proximity of the relationship.
Harry, Ron, and the twins agreed to help test the spell. The twins generated red light between them. Fred and Ron gave yellow light. Hermione and Harry gave a similar result to Hermione and Ron: blue.
The witch wasn't sure if this spell would actually help, but at least she had a way to confirm any suspicion that occurred to her.
The lights were too obvious to carry out on a total whim, though. Fred and George offered to incorporate the test into a school-wide prank as a way to hide it. Hermione promised that she would get back to them if she wanted to go through with that.
As a thank-you for the twins' participation, she helped them locate a rare potions ingredient on the edge of the Forbidden Forest that Neville taught her about. Hermione didn't know if they wanted it to sell, for a prank, or for an invention. She decided that it wasn't her business, especially given the trio's own sneaking and plotting.
Harry and Luna went together to visit to Myrtle's bathroom a few days after the deathday party. Luna started their conversation by asking Myrtle what she liked to do for fun.
"Spying mostly. You can see and hear a lot if you're invisible. And the Prefects' bath has a lot of drama. Who's with who, breakups, family fights. Better than watching a play."
Harry used that to explain the concept of muggle TV soap operas. They brainstormed how to make them available to Myrtle but were short on ideas.
They left on a high note with a promise to visit again.
The pair followed through, making a weekly trip to the out-of-order girl's loo. Harry didn't see any obvious signs of protection or monitoring, which boded well for his plans.
A month into their visits, Harry felt like he needed to get to the heart of why he was there. "Myrtle, do you know how you died?"
"Oh, it was dreadful!" Myrtle was as gleeful to talk about it now as she was in Harry's past. She told him the same things about a boy's voice and yellow eyes.
Harry used the opportunity to poke around with magic, seeing if there were any monitoring spells in the bathroom or near the chamber. Nothing. Well, I might as well get this task out of the way soon, Harry decided.
Surprisingly, Luna didn't ask any questions of Harry about his investigation. That was good for him — Harry wouldn't let eleven-year-old Luna join him in the Chamber given that the snake within could kill with just its eyes.
But, he did tell her at breakfast the following Saturday that he was going to go investigate the bathroom. "If I'm not back in, say 3 hours, tell Ron or Hermione subtly. Please don't tell anyone else anything, even if they ask."
She gave him a cork on a string "for luck", which he tucked in a pocket before finishing his toast.
When Harry, grimy and sweating, returned from the Chamber of Secrets, Luna was sitting on the bathroom floor chatting with Myrtle.
Luna said casually, "You probably shouldn't walk through the halls like that."
He handed her some loose basilisk scales that were shimmery. "I'm not sure how useful these are, but I think they're pretty."
Luna accepted them, then turned to Myrtle and continued their conversation about ghost rights.
Harry counted Luna among his closest friends. He hoped that Ron and Hermione would agree to bring her in on some of their secrets once they had defeated Voldemort. He wanted to be open and honest with her. He especially thought he could benefit from her interesting worldview and roll-with-it personality, particularly his Lily-Snape problems.
The trio worked on their homework in armchairs by the fire in the boisterous Gryffindor common room. Harry put the finishing touches on an abominable defense essay.
The trio didn't want to attract attention for suddenly improved grades, and Harry knew that the marks mattered the least to him. Hermione would always want perfection, and Ron was committed to doing better at schoolwork this time.
In their pre-planning, Harry resolved to write closely to how he did during his real second year, but improve the content. He reflected, that's easier said than done, when an essay needs to cite Lockhart's terrible books.
Harry wasn't proud of the essay. With a sigh, Harry finished the final sentence, dried the ink with a wave of his wand, and slid it into his book bag. He could have pulled out his Transfiguration notes, but he relaxed instead.
Harry listened to the snippets of conversation, the crackling fire, and the scratching of Ron and Hermione's quills. He liked spending time near his friends, even when they didn't talk. Though, we haven't gotten to talk about much lately.
Harry had underestimated how much camaraderie he would lose with his friends once they had to keep so many secrets. Harry's feelings were all twisted up in time travel and secret mothers, and they couldn't talk about any of it in depth.
And, Harry wondered how Ron and Hermione were really doing with it all. He knew that he wasn't the only one of the trio with a lot to think about. Yet, their most private and secure meetings were always on a tight schedule.
Their plans were extremely important, Harry knew. It wasn't like he would sacrifice that to be completely open about the little things that might be bothering them all, like how spooky it was to live the same moments twice.
When a professor would ask the same question with the same tone as before and the same student would answer, Harry was unnerved. But the differences were also jarring.
Justin Finch-Fletchley avoided him in the other timeline. Now, he was trying to become Harry's new best friend. Harry tried hard not to snub him too bad, but the boy was a bit full of himself.
Harry realized that he was frowning deeply when Ron asked him, "What's wrong?"
Harry leaned in. "Do you think we need to do something fun, the three of us?"
Ron said, "Sounds like a good idea." He then did a vague hand gesture for layers, referring to the idea that a minor secret can hide bigger secrets.
Hermione bit her lip. "I can participate, but I wouldn't be able to take the lead on any complicated research. Things are going better, but I have lots of projects still."
"That's fine. It can be anything really. Muggle sports, crossword puzzles, a board game."
Ron said, "I'm already playing muggle football. How about listening to music?"
Hermione immediately approved. "Oh, thank goodness. I don't want to go jogging with you in the morning or whatever."
Harry easily went along with the other two. "I know where to get a record player."
A/N: It's implied above that Harry killed the basilisk, but I didn't feel the need to write that scene. The basilisk will not come up again in this story.
See you in a few days for another chapter, and thanks for all of the kind reviews!