To say the girls were skeptical when Harry led them down to the Chamber was an understatement. They followed him due to the trust in him they had in the young man but they still couldn't keep the nerves from their hearts and minds. Especially when Harry walked to a door with snakes on it.
"Two years ago I entered here." Harry began as he ran a hand along the wall. The Patils looked at each other before explaining to Fleur the events of their second year. The year of the return of the Heir of Slytherin.
"You came down here by yourself?!" Fleur demanded looking at Harry in a combination of awe, anger, and fear.
"No." Harry spoke calmly. "I made Lockhart come down here with me and Ron….then Ron fell for a trick and Lockhart's memory charm backfired causing the cavern to collapse…..THEN I came down here by myself." His smartass-ness earned him a smack to the head and both his shoulders from the girls. "Ow hey stop teaming up on me."
"Stop putting yourself in danger!" Fleur glared
"Fleur, you're asking too much of him." Parvati rolled her eyes due to their boyfriend. "He is always in danger." They heard Harry quietly mumble that he must have had an unlucky horseshoe shoved up his ass causing them to giggle a little. Harry turned back to the door and closed his eyes for a moment before opening and focusing on the images of snakes.
"~Open~" The girls felt a shiver run through them at the hissing sound that escaped their lover. Even if the Patils knew it was a common ability in places like Africa and some in India it still reminded them of Harry's innate power. "Ladies. I present to you. The Chamber of Secrets." He gestured as the snake statue circled the lock undoing it as it went until the door swung open. Slowly the three entered behind Harry in awestruck at seeing the chamber as he had changed it. The new pools to the two statues, the tilled and textured flooring which were warmer now, and the light they couldn't tell from where, making it a calm pale green atmosphere. "Obviously it didn't always look like this. I've changed it up some after it became clear that my dorm was no longer a safe place for myself."
"This is majestic Harry." Padma gaped at the structure and knelt down to run her hand along the floor itself.
"Alas this is not all I have brought you to see." Harry smiled at them and turned towards the girls. "Girls." He smiled. "I want you to know she will never harm you and everyone will be safe."
"Who is, Harry?"
"She was under the control of a horrible man before and had no control over her actions. She is a guardian of the school itself."
"WHO Harry?!" Harry paused and looked at his feet. Before nodding past them. There standing over them was the creature of the chamber. The Fabled Monster of Salazar Slytherin, but in truth one of the ancient protectors of Hogwarts. Selune. But most will call her… The Basilisk.
Hours later Hermione sat with Padma and Parvati in the common room of the Gryffindors after they asked to speak with her.
"So what did you two wish to speak about?" Hermione asked as she relaxed in her seat.
"Oh not much, just mostly about Harry." Parvati laughed softly as they sat together.
"Oh boy." She ran her hand through her hair. "What has he gotten himself into now?"
"Now? Nothing major but we were curious about something though." Hermione rolled her hand as a way to gesture for Padma to continue. "Mostly how much does Harry really get himself in trouble like this?" Hermione took a deep breath and held up a finger before she headed upstairs, and came back down with a bottle. "Um Hermione?" She pulled it open and the twins saw what it was. A bottle of fire whiskey.
"I have known Harry for four years now." She started and smiled softly before it turned into a straight line . "and although it has been the most exciting time of my life…i'm also gonna end up looking like McGonagall by the end of our School life." She joked …..slightly. Hermione took a sip from the bottle and sighed. "I honestly hoped that this year was gonna be the one and only year he wouldn't have to deal with anything like this. But I should have suspected his bloody luck." Hermione shook her head. "But to begin, it starts back in the first year."
"Ah…when times were so much simpler." Parvati jokes.
"Maybe for you." Hermione deadpanned. "In our first year we firstly ended up finding out what was being kept secret on the third floor. When he and the majestic idiocy that is Ronald freaking Billius Weasley, were tricked to go to the third floor by Draco Malfoy and we found out about the cerberus they were keeping on that floor."
"A cerberus?" Padma asked.
"Yeah some big ol boy."
"That would explain the barking." Parvati giggled.
"Oh you think?! I thought it was terrifying at that age." Hermione ran her head through. "I'm just glad it didn't bite at us and catch my hair."
"That's another thing Hermione. How is your hair so flat currently?" Padma asked, noticing that the once bushy red head had straight hair for the past couple months.
"I have no clue, I mean I bought a potion to aid me with it for the Ball but it's been this way since…." Hermione blinked as she realized something. "Since Harry was running his hand through my hair…Add that to the list of oddness this year has been having." She sips from the bottle again.
"By the way what is the story with-"
"We will get to that but while we're sitting here do any of you know how to braid?" Parvati raised her hand. "Would you…..be willing to-"
"Oh Hermione of course , come sit in front of me." Hermione moved over to sit with her legs crossed and her back facing Parvati. "Now you were talking about the first year."
"Ah yes, so after that happened Harry saved me so selflessly from the Troll."
"How did you guys bump into the troll wasn't it in the dungeons?" Padma asked.
"OH YOU'D THINK SO, no it was on the same floor as the bathrooms and I was there-"
"Why weren't you at the dinner?"
"Well that would be because of Ronald claiming no one wanted to be friends with -"
"That's hogwash!" Parvati scowled. "We kept inviting you to our nightly sleep overs."
"I didn't know I was invited."
"Hermione! We always asked but you kept saying you wanted to go to the library. We thought you just didn't like us."
"What?!"
"Ya know what…. Why don't we make this all a big misunderstanding." Parvati looked down at her and Hermione glanced up smiling and nodding. "Alright now continue."
"I mean I'll try." Hermione replaces her head for Parvati to keep braiding. "But I keep getting interrupted." She joked. "So where was I?..."
"You were just praising how Harry HEROICALLY saved you." Parvati teased.
"I'm gonna ignore your taunting at this moment but thank you either way." Hermione ignored and convinced herself the growing blush was from the whiskey. "So he saves me which finally lets me have a close friend, then we have to help Hagrid with getting rid of a dragon he won."
"So that's why his hut got rebuilt." Padma giggled.
"Yes, of course that ended in us getting detention which one night included going to the Dark Forest."
"WHa….how…..That's… You are first years how did…."
"I don't even know how that happened for punishment but I suspect that Flich never informed an actual teacher. So we go in because Hagrid has been finding a dead unicorn and their herd had been acting up. Harry eventually got found by a figure in a cloak who was drinking the poor creature's blood. It wasn't until later we discovered who and why." Hermione takes a sip from the bottle. "When we went in search of the Philosopher's stone on the third floor because we found out it was gonna be stolen."
"THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE?!" The twins exclaimed at once.
"Yeah…"
"Why the hell was it here?!" Padma looked dumbfounded.
"Well Quirrel-"
"Wait, Dumbledore told us Quirrel left the school." Parvati paused.
"He told us the entire…..oh….well that confirms a few thoughts." Hermione paused for a moment and then shook her head. "Well after a few trials Harry went on to face Voldemort alone because the last trial we were together required that only one drinks the potion to pass through magical flames. I would have gone with but the room didn't refill the potion fast enough ... .so Harry had to go through and found Voldemort there on the back of Quirrel's head ... .like some kind of wraith."
"How did he survive?"
"Well Harry best explained it from Dumbledore that it was some kind of ancient magic from his mother." Hermione smiled. "Even from beyond his family was there for him."
"How did he find it?"
"Oh Dumbledore used the Mirror of Erised to hide it and somehow it appeared in his pocket."
"The Mirror of Erised?"
"You know the magical mirror that shows what your heart truly desires. For Harry it was family."
"We know that Hermione is more common around the world."
"What?!" She freezes.
"Yeah they are used alot for those with self confidence issues and for inspiration." Parvati explained.
"That actually makes a lot of sense…." Hermione absorbed. "Um wow."
"Anyway we recall what happened with the whole Chamber of Secrets." Padma commented.
"Wait oh you know what that makes sense that Harry would tell you both after how the school has been reacting very similarly to how it did that time." Hermione took another sip.
"Yeah it's amazing what Harry has done down there so clean and wa-" Parvati gets a look from her sister shutting her up.
"I figured Peter was down there…. It's the only place really in Hogwarts he could escape…I just wish he would tell me what's going on with him…" Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"Hey speaking of which, why were you in the hospital….earlier that year."
"Oh I uh…. Made polyjuice and used the wrong kind of hair. Extra note please never use animal hair by accident."
"Ouch" Both girls commented before giggling.
"Yeah I still have weird tendencies since."
"Like?"
"Well…my cycle is a bit….wonky." Hermione sipped from the bottle. "It's not all bad just…..odd."
"Huh…wait the polyjuice potion?!" Padma asked.
"Yeah It seems since I met Harry I've been breaking a lot more rules…and to be honest. I don't mind. He came along and-"
"Smashed your goody good school routine?"
"Eviscerated it more like."
"Okay okay. Third year." Hermione took a deep breath. "And this is where that comes into sorts kinda." She nods to the bottle and takes a sip before it gets taken from her. "Hey!"
"Let's finish this story and then you can have some back."
"Well last year multiple things occurred. First was the fact that the mass murderer was out in search for Harry, which we will get back to thank you very much. Then there was the whole thing where he made his aunt blew up-"
"He blew up his aunt?!" They shouted.
"Like a balloon any way we are going on and I AM NOT STOPPING! SAVE ALL QUESTIONS TILL THE END PLEASE! THANK YOU!" Hermione paused only to take a breath. "SO we all are on the train ride to Hogwarts when the Dementors searched the train, you probably heard about that, and then they came into our cabin and seemed drawn to Harry almost like an addict to a drug…or alcohol." She took a sip of the bottle that had been summoned from Padma.
"How did you-"
"I did this when I was a child with my favorite books, do you think a simple witch holding my whisky would stop me….wow maybe i should stop." She handed the bottle back now and covered her hands in her lap. "Lets see he passes out while our professor who has been sleeping with us, not like that he was asleep in the compartment though i highly suspect he wasn't actually asleep by how fast he jumped up and cast a patronus against the dementor. Then we get to the school and find out that for some bloody reason Dementors are allowed near Hogwarts after that incident still, anyway We go through the school year filled with threats, worries, breaking noses-"
"Breaking nos- ah yeah Malfoy." Parvati connected the clues before the question came out.
"Then the whole situation with keeping Buckbeak alive and helping Hagrid with the court issues he was facing after the pompous bastard put charges on them. Meanwhile I'm also using a time turner to handle not five, not six, not EIGHT BUT TWELVE CLASSES! In hindsight, I should have really pulled out of a few after finding how Muggle studies and Divination were…no offense Parvati."
"None taken. I was mostly in it due to my father wanting to see if I had the sight since my great grandmother on my mother's side had it. To be honest I kinda wanna try out for the quidditch team."
"Huh…anyway, SPEAKING OF QUIDDITCH THE DEMENTORS ATTACKED DURING THE GAME, as you all remember, and even then they were still allowed near our grounds and Harry lost his broom due to the Whomping Willow. So Harry learns how to do the patronus from Professor Lupin, I've actually been keeping a hold of him. He's very good for help before the owls next year. And I don't know if I should say this but He was a-"
"Werewolf." Both twins answered and got a stare from her.
"How did you both…"
Padma coughed. "His scars. Werewolf wounds never fully heal Hermione."
"Not to mention how tired he always was."
"Oh yeah…" Hermione stared off. "I guess that would make it very easy. Well um, he took Harry's map, which was made by Remus, his father, someone important to this year, and a fourth individual who we all now despise. GOING ON, One day we went down to Hagrid to comfort him on the day of Buckbeak's execution and when we were on our way back Ron was having issues holding on to Scabbers his rat and that was when a grim attacked biting into Ron's leg and pulling him into the Whomping Willow which had a secret path to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. Harry and I followed after, after a game of ring around the Willow, no that is not a sexual innuendo, and found Ron. But it was a trap. The Grim was an animagus and in particular, an animagus known as Sirius Black. Come to find out when Remus followed us due to seeing Sirius' name on the map and one other person. A person who was supposed to be dead. Peter Petigrew. And do you wanna know where this person was hiding…..HE WAS SCABBERS!"
"Wait…so the rat that Ginny took to her dorm….and to our sleepovers….. Was a-" Parvati was turning green.
"A dirty, conniving, smelly, perverted, murdering, sociopath." Hermione stated blatently. "Well Snape came after following Remus and then spells went flying, I'm pretty sure Snape went into a bedpost, We captured Pettigrew and were heading out of the Willow back to the castle and thought we were finally gonna have a Happy Ending to one of the oddest years in our life so far. BUT GUESS WHAT?!"
"Something went-"
"SOMETHING WENT BLOODY WRONG BECAUSE REMUS FORGOT TO TAKE HIS WOLFSBANE POTION!" Hermione groaned out. "He changes into a werewolf, Sirius takes his grim form in order to protect us and off to the races we go with an all out dog fight. Remus fled but Black was hurt badly. Then the Dementors came for him. Harry tried to help protect Sirius but…. He wasn't strong enough at that time. Then he sees a stag shaped patronus. Harry was convinced it had been his father's spirit brought back to save his closest friend and son ... .and at times I wish it was the case for him." Hermione gulped down a lump that had been forming in her throat. "Sirius was captured and no one would listen to reason…so Dumbledore hinted to us to use the time turner to save Sirius and someone else. Buckbeak."
"Hermione, time magic like a time turner doesn't work that way. You just complete a circuit. We went down after the supposed execution and Buckbeak was gone and there was no blood splatter."
"No, I'm sure we changed something…but you may be right given our next evidence. We returned to the Willow as the dementors were attacking. We waited for the patronus to appear…and I told Harry that I was watching him die before my very eyes. He seemed to break out of some kind of trance he was in and stiffened before rushing forward and casting the strongest Patronus I have ever seen. It sent waves off itself repelling the dementors away as if its own presence was something they should fear. It was magnificent."
"We're gonna have to ask him to show us it." Padma giggled.
"Well after that year I came to a conclusion that if this was gonna be the norm, I was gonna need something to help me with stress. Before the year I had gone to France with my folks. A kind of vacation that I still don't understand how we paid for given my parents are simply dentists, specifically a privately owned one. And when we were there I was able to taste wine. It was very good and Well… I found out I was a lot like my mother. The fact I liked alcohol. And it helped me relax after you know being petrified. When my nerves started acting up the moment they announced this Tournament this year I asked the Weasleys to get me some to help. They did it on the condition that I start with a small bottle and see if I got through that. To be honest this is the first time I've had the opportunity since right after the First Task… Or when Harry threatened Krum."
"You gotta admit you gotta like how much more protective he is." Parvati smirked as she finished the braid.
"I mean yes but… I've been concerned about the black mist like stuff coming off him and such. " Hermione admitted.
"That didn't disprove my point. By the way what happened between you and Krum."
"The Ball was nice but… It was just that nice. He's a good guy but not very strong in the verbal intelligence area. He also hinted that he wanted this to become more long term and if it did He'd like me to transfer to Durmstrang and in a betrothal contract. I wasn't up for leaving here and Harry, not to mention I thought that such contracts as those and marriage ones are barbaric."
A quick glance between the twins caught Hermione's eye.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing"
"Nothing!" Parvati responded right after her sister.
"Double nothing means yes, I've learned from the Weasleys." She stared at them before her eyes glanced to a folded up magazine looking thing under her arm. She launched herself at it.
"Hermione No!" Parvati yelped.
"Wait Hermione!" But it was too late as Padma saw her holding the front that read in big fat bold letters on the quibbler.
HARRY POTTER PROMOTES THE USE OF CONSENSUAL MARRIAGE CONTRACTS
"HARRISON JAMES POTTER!"