IT WAS MORE than curiosity that led Luxanna Black into the Chamber of Secrets mere hours after the gruesome events that took place there in 1993. She could hear it in the walls, too. Preying, hunting... A beast far more formidable than any serpent she had had the pleasure of meeting before. A basilisk. But unlike Harry Potter, Luxanna did not dare give voice to it, even if it meant the deaths of more students, not when she herself did not know where her own gift came from.

There was a darkness that seeped out of the sleek walls as she slipped further into the chamber's depths, one not contributed by its grim appearance. The evil that lurked here had left its imprints in the very structure itself; so cold were its ties that the chill permeated the very air, causing gooseflesh to appear on Luxanna's pale arms. And it was not the basilisk, Luxanna knew; for snakes did not abide by human laws, and could not be blamed for acting on their instincts.

Trampling over several more tiny skeletal figures, Luxanna closed the gap with the beast now lying bloodless in the murky puddle before her and with her knuckles rubbed its cold scales gently. Her palm remained aloft for several moments, unmoving, before the silence was broken by a hiss from behind.

Out of a small drainage pipe appeared a tiny pale serpent, gliding its way towards Luxanna determinately. Her scales were almost strikingly white, and her eyes blood red in startling contrast.

"Hello there," Luxanna said in Parseltongue, immediately crouching down. "Aren't you beautiful..."

It had been years since she last spoke to a snake, but she felt no apprehension this time. She held out her hand again, and once more the little reptile rushed towards her.

"How did you end up here?" she asked the serpent. "Are there any more of you around?"

"Yes. There are otherss..." came the vague reply along with the very familiar edge of a hiss.

"I know about that Potter boy— I know he's the one who opened it and slayed the basilisk. He's the heir of Slytherin."

"Quite wrong," she replied simply. "The boy is not the heir. You are."

Luxanna's brows furled with confusion. "Me?"

"The boy is merely a vessel, but you... you possess the gift. You speak the sssnake's tongue."

"Oh. Loads of wizards do where I'm from, it's just..." Just not in the north, thought Luxanna. "Well... How are you so sure?"

"Details are for sceptical minds; one can never be sure of anything. What mattersss here is that you lissten to me very carefully, and in doing so, certainty shall find itss way to you, because you know it in your heart to be true. Allow me to tell you my ssstory."

Luxanna spread her palms open on the cool, slippery ground and allowed for her strange acquaintance to climb forth, to where they could speak eye to eye.

"There isss an order here... a colony if you will. You sssee, snakes are solitary creatures, independent; basilisks on the other hand... are not. For the longest time, Basilisks have been creatures of worship; they relied on the gifts of mankind to survive, and in turn were ever loyal to those who gave them life. They guard all those who dwell beneath these lands, but in return, they demand ressspect. I had disobeyed the basilisk's order, and in turn he petrified me. Left me to rot in sssilence for eternity; an eternity that had come to its premature end, by the lookss of it. Many of my serpentine friends who dared defy their master all suffered the ssame fate. But when the basilisk fell, so did its enchantments, and we were finally able to ssslither free."

"How long have you been down here, then?"

"Long enough. To see... to hear... Long enough to know about you. In truth, I do not belong to this time. When I last awoke, the chamber had, too, just recently been opened—by a different boy entirely, the one your kind sssaw fit to name 'Voldemort'... I would have been long gone without the petrification there to preserve my body."

Luxanna clenched her teeth at the sound of the dark wizard's name. Nevertheless, she did not shy away from posing her question. "What does that have to do with me? What makes you think that I could be the heir?"

"You see, child, there had been a woman who roamed these same halls, just like you... Who made friends with sssnakes, just like you... Who carried the sssame piercing ssset of eyes like you. And her name was Hemera Black."

"I know about Hemera, I've seen her statue at home. She was my great uncle Alphard's wife."

"Of course. But did you know that she had a ssson?"

"She didn't have children. She died very young, my father said."

"A lie," the snake hissed, and as she curled around her thumb, Luxanna was amazed to feel how strong the creature was despite her size. "She died, yes. But not before her son's birth. Do not blame your father, child, for he does not know the truth of it."

"The truth? Tell me," Luxanna said decidedly; whatever the truth, she wanted to know.

"Your father, Cepheus Black, doesn't know that Walburga Black is not his biological mother. Nor that the same woman nearly refused to take him in when Alphard Black came knocking on her door one night. The same night that Hemera lossst her life to Voldemort..."

"So Hemera..."

"Is your paternal grandmother. Yesss. And it is through her that you carry Salazar Slytherin's blood."

"Which means uncle Alphard isn't really my uncle either... But... if He Who Must Not Be Named opened the chamber, that means he, too, was the heir of Slytherin, so I... I can't be related to him, can't I?"

"Oh, but you are. His ancestorss' blood ran through Hemera herself, and so it doesss through you, child."

"That's not true. It's not..."

"Then would you be so kind as to enlighten me about who Hemera's parents were? I know you Blacksss cherish your family lines as though they were royal." Luxanna opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again immediately. She did not know who Hemera's parents were, because Alphard Black was only a stain in the family tree—for aiding the murderer, Sirius Black. Or so Father said. "It isss true and you know it," the snake continued. "You know that you did not inherit the gift of parseltongue from your beloved mother, or else why hasn't she ever told you?"

Luxanna's mind spun. "How in the world do you know all this? And why are you telling me?"

"One learns a great deal, slinking about this castle's walls without a sound. As for why I'm telling you... Perhapsss I deemed it the right thing to do. Perhapss you'll owe me a favour for it someday," she said. "Or perhaps I've simply grown tired of sssilence."

Frost, she had named the snake. For the colour of her scales, and the icy attitude.

Luxanna and Frost had made a deal: in turn for the things Frost had revealed to her in the Chamber of Secrets, Luxanna would take the little snake with her, so that she could see the outside world once more. It was quite easy to smuggle Frost back home, but keeping her proved a trick. Because her mother and father did not know about Luxanna's gift, and because it would have been all too bizarre to keep a snake as a pet, Luxanna kept her companion's presence a secret. She trained and mastered the Disillusionment Charm, and kept Frost concealed right around her neck, under her collar where nobody could see.

For a girl as reserved as Luxanna, who did not make any acquaintances at school due to her frigid manner, snakes were about the only choice of friends.

"Not good news, isss it?"

"It's just as you thought, Frost," said Luxanna, speaking hushedly in Parseltongue. "Father believes that You Know Who is regaining his strength."

They were out in the garden, sitting on the bench beside the lily pond, and what Luxanna had said just moments ago was the reason behind the secluded location. That, and she was trying to avoid her mother, who had been chasing her around all morning to get her fitted for the new dress. The sky was turning grey, threatening rain, and the trees were gaining in colour now as the month of September approached. Luxanna patted the slender form of the reptile beneath her sleeve, and leaned back against the cool stone bench.

"I saw something strange as I was leaving his office," whispered Luxanna. She had been unsure whether or not to bring it up, but if there was anyone who knew a thing about it, it had to be Frost. "A golden pendant. Father was holding it in his hand. It felt... important."

"As you were leaving his office?"

"Alright, I might have gone back to have another peek, but Frost, you should have seen the way he was looking at it."

Frost turned silent for a time. "What did I tell you about sspying on your father? If he doesn't want you to know, then he probably has a good reason for it. Besidess, it could be dangerousss..."

"It had all these gemstones embroidered on it," Luxanna continued, "in the shape of an S. And it looked old. Really old. Do you know what it might be?"

"No, and neither should you. Now is not the time to be pursuing these questionsss."

"What if it's got something to do with... You Know Who?"

"That's exactly why you should ssstay away from it."

"But..."

"That's enough, Lux," Frost said with a note of finality. "I know you're worried about your father, but you have to learn to lisssten to him nonetheless."

Luxanna knew that pressing the matter further would only lead to another fruitless dispute, so she reluctantly let the matter drop, instead busying herself with the frill of her skirt in strained silence.

The already tense air between the pair grew more charged, so that when a sudden crack rang out through the air, Luxanna nearly jumped out of her seat. Her head snapped away from Frost to meet the tiny form that had just materialised behind them.

"Merlin, Minty, you gave me a fright! I've told you not to apparate behind me!" said Luxanna, clutching at her chest in panic. Frost had quickly slithered back underneath the sleeve at the sound of the intrusion.

"Minty is very sorry, Miss!" squeaked the house elf. "But Mistress says it is urgent... She sends Minty to find you. She says you must go see Mistress immediately."

"My dress for the Yule Ball is hardly the definition of the word 'urgent.' It's months away!" snapped Luxanna. She knew that the elf was only doing her job, but the whole ordeal annoyed her immensely. Minty stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to respond.

"Yes, yes. Tell my mother I'm coming," said Luxanna.

The elf was gone in a flash. The rest of the conversation between Frost and Luxanna took place on her way back into the manor. As much as she did not enjoy testing her companion's patience, the words seemed to almost slip from her mouth by the time they had reached the front doors.

"He should know the truth," she said whilst nervously picking at her lips.

"You wouldn't dare!" hissed Frost. "How many times must I tell you? It'sss too rissky. If you tell him you'll only increasse the chancesss of Voldemort and the Minissstry finding out."

"Stop uttering that name—it's cursed, I've told you. And surely Father can keep a secret when it's this important..."

"It'sss not whether he keepsss the secret or not," reprimanded Frost, entirely ignoring Luxanna's first remark. "What if a Legilimens were to read his mind? Your father isn't an Occlumensss, in case you forgot... A skill you ought to acquire, by the way."

"I can't just 'acquire' Occlumency, Frost. It takes years to master."

"Perhapss if you begin now, you will be ready when the times comesss."

"When the time comes? It's just a suspicion. It's not as though he'll actually manage to return," said Luxanna. "They'll put a stop to it before it comes to that."

"You place far too much trust in strangersss."

"Be still for me, won't you, darling?" Carina was saying. With the tip of her wand, she guided the measuring tape into the air, to where it wrapped around Luxanna's thin waist, then to her shoulder blades, her chest, and so on. A wince escaped her throat as her mother pinched the flesh of her hips between two fingers.

"Ow! Not so hard, please..." She had been on edge all day long, so that even this tiny gesture caused an involuntary panic.

Carina's face showed a disapproving frown, mirrored in the reflective surface opposite her. "You've lost nearly an entire inch, Lux!" she exclaimed, her arms crossed in disapproval. "Have you been eating properly?"

"It's not that, Mamma. It's just how my hips are," said Luxanna quietly.

"Oh, no, no," Carina began. She still carried a thick Italian accent, even after years in England. "You're practically a young woman now! What possible excuse could you have for being so slim?"

Luxanna shrugged. She had always been impartial about her appearance, and had a hard time conceiving why broad hips were considered more womanly. Carina had mentioned something about child rearing once, but for Merlin's sake, it's not as though she was planning on having children at this age. Boys didn't interest her, so it didn't matter whether she interested them.

"I'll eat more at school," lied Luxanna.

"What, you prefer their cooking over mine?"

"No, of course not! I only meant..."

But another glance at the mirror and Luxanna could see the grin forming on her mother's lips. "Tesoro, relax, I am only teasing," she said. "I just worry about you, that's all... Do you want to talk about..."

"There's no need," Luxanna interrupted quickly. "I'm perfectly fine, and I would appreciate it dearly if we didn't have to speak about it. Please," she told her mother in their native tongue. The 'Please' took all of her remaining willpower.

Carina sighed, her lips forming into a wistful little smile as she ran her hands through her daughter's pale hair. "My, my..." After a moment of silent reflection which felt like an eternity to Luxanna, she continued, "All right. Come along, I'll give you a fitting." She pulled Luxanna by the arm and steered her towards the dressing room. "Now, remember, after the ball is over, I want you back here for a day or two. You'll need to have your photograph taken—I need it for my magazine."

"Can't I have one of the teachers take my photo?"

"Absolutely not, I don't trust them with such important matters. It has to be a professional."

"Fine."

The following days passed in a blur. By the time the day to leave finally arrived, Luxanna had ceased caring. This year, much like any other, was going to be quite uneventful.

Between patrolling the corridors, chatting with Frost, and dozing off in her compartment, the train ride was relatively quick. She and her fellow prefects received a little rulebook to familiarise themselves with—this had been the highlight of the journey.

Each year as she returned to school, Luxanna was duly reminded of the power a family name could hold. In the train's corridors, people glowered, averted their eyes, and took to scuttling past as soon as they were spotted by her. All in all, Luxanna wasn't surprised by her reception—what with her uncle being an infamous murderer and her father a former Death Eater it was all too expected—as a matter of fact, one might even go as far as to say that she enjoyed it. It made her feel special. Powerful. Yet despite her confidence, as she stepped out of the wagon at Hogsmeade Station and into the rainy evening, Luxanna could not help feeling apprehensive.

"Quick! Cast the umbrella ssspell, I'm getting all wet in here and it'sss freezing!" whined Frost.

"Are you joking? You're all cosy up inside my uniform, you ungrateful rat!" muttered Luxanna as she conjured up a translucent umbrella from the tip of her wand.

"You take that back this instant!"

She and Frost kept on bickering all the way up the path; the conversation had her lagging behind the other students, so that by the time they had arrived at the top, Luxanna was looking at one last available carriage. She trudged up towards it, careful not to step in the puddles on the ground and dirty her shoes, and as she opened the door, she came face to face with the very reminder of her own constant apprehension.

"Ah."

"Fancy a stroll, Black?" said the disturbingly familiar voice of one of the Weasley twins. "Good weather for it."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion, Weasley," replied Luxanna, his name uttered like a curse word.

"Nice way to start the year, don't you think, dear?" chimed Frost in a rather amused tone.

She stepped inside and took the unoccupied seat next to Angelina Johnson, wishing immediately that she had taken Weasley's offer on walking up to the castle instead. Luxanna barely tolerated the aggravating pair—and the Weasley name along with them—ever since having been on the receiving end of one of their infamous jests. Just last year they thought it would be so very humorous to set her hair on fire. It took her a full minute to realise that the smell of burning hair was emanating from her own locks, and by the time she had, the damage was already done. Luxanna had to go bald for a full week until the hair regrowth remedy was ready.

To make matters worse, the slimy weasels got away with it—claimed that it had been an accident, a slip of the fingers, nothing more, and avoided justice like the school rules had been made for them to bend. No detention, no punishment. Nothing. Well then, thought Luxanna, let's see how you like it now that I'm Prefect.

A sudden nudge at the feet brought her out of her murderous reverie back into reality.

"Well?" the redhead sitting opposite her was saying with an expectant look on his face.

In hindsight, she should've just kept on staring out the window and spared herself the trouble, but Luxanna decided to meet his gaze with a dangerous one of her own. "My bad, your dull-witted conversation almost lulled me to sleep. You were saying?" she went on, raising her eyebrow. It appeared that the Gryffindors were intent on pestering her today.

"I asked if you're plotting your revenge plan."

He guessed correctly, but Luxanna said, "No. You'll find that I have a natural talent for revenge. I needn't plot anything."

"Really? Didn't know you had talents," said his twin brother from the other window seat.

"She's still sour over what you did to her," explained Alicia Spinnet wisely.

The twins sniggered. "Hey, we did her a favour! She looked just wonderful bald."

"Yeah."

"Like one of those naked mole rats."

"I was thinking more of a garden gnome..."

"Ohhh, yeah, you're right."

Luxanna rolled her eyes. "You two are insufferable..."

"C'mon, it was just a harmless joke," said the one to the right with a grin.

"Gone wrong," Lee Jordan chimed in from between the two.

"And she's still alive and well, yeah? No big deal," said the Weasley to the left.

"Try being bald for a day and see for yourself," Luxanna replied.

"I wouldn't mind, really—how bad could it be?"

"Mind yourself, George," said Jordan sarcastically, "Her Eminence has a reputation to maintain, and you happened to put an unfortunate dent in it last year. If you're not careful, she might turn you into a reptile."

Weasley laughed, nudging his friend in the arm playfully. "Guess you've never heard of her Transfiguration. Also, you can't blame me for that. You started it—trying to set her hair on fire. T'was your idea."

"Nope. Mine was the one with the dungbombs. It was your idea, you and Fred are the pyromaniacs. Always been."

"Same difference, mate, same difference. But let me tell you... " Weasley was saying, but Luxanna wasn't listening. George Weasley, was it? I'll remember you well, George Weasley, she thought furiously, her fingernails having a go at her lips again.

Eventually, the carriage rumbled to a halt, announcing their arrival at the castle, and Luxanna was the first to stand. "Tell me, George, have you heard about the special event that's taking place in Hogwarts this year?" she asked, careful to keep her tone calm and collected.

He looked to his friends for answers, who responded with blank stares.

"It figures. I don't suppose that the ministry should see fit to inform a poor, muggle-loving, low ranking employee such as your father about it. Or perhaps... Well, perhaps you simply weren't trusted with the information? I mean just look at you... Who in their right mind would want to associate with mud-licking scum such as yourself?" Luxanna asked in all seriousness. The rest of the carriage's occupants stared at her wide-eyed. She let out a little snort, before adding, with a wave of her hand, "Well, aside from this lot, of course."

"How dare you—" gasped George, his face flushed. He looked as though he was about to lunge at her. And perhaps he might've done, had his brother not been holding him back.

Luxanna had bolted out of the carriage as quickly as she could. Her head pounded and her skin was on fire. A searing satisfaction swelled within her chest at the sight of Weasley's scandalised face.

"You have no right speaking about our father that way!" He was yelling from behind her, following her. The rain made it difficult to make out his words.

As he caught up with her and halted her with a grab to the shoulder, Luxanna whipped around to face him and his friends—her wand pointed straight at George Weasley's ugly mug—and made sure to speak the next words very loudly and clearly. "You're every bit as disgusting as your father! All of you—a bunch of disgusting Mudbloods and Blood traitors! Touch me ever again and I will hex your fingers off your hands!"

"Lux!" Frost hissed from behind her ear. Luxanna ignored her; Frost's voice was merely a tickle beneath the sound of the blood pounding within her ears. "Luksss, you've gone too far this time!"

Frost, as always, was right. But damn, it felt good.