"What do you think?" Sirius asked, leaning casually against the wall in his Wizengamot robes.
"I'm not worried about it," Rachel said, smoothing her robes as she checked herself in the mirror. She had already drafted a statement for the Daily Prophet about her proposal passing and what the next steps were. She was fully anticipating that there would be a counter article by one of the pureblood supremacists on the Wizengamot with all the reasons they thought the proposal was bad and how they had rallied against it. At this point, she was beyond the point of caring what they thought. She knew she was doing the right thing.
"I would feel better if we had more of a buffer on this," he said.
"We have the votes we need." She had checked in with everyone, reminding them that the vote was today. All of them had assured her they were voting for her proposal. Truthfully, she was a little nervous. She couldn't afford a failure here, but she had to trust people to do what they said they would do.
Leaving her inner office, she found Booker and Monty waiting for her.
"Anything you need?" Booker checked.
"No. I'm completely prepared," Rachel said.
"You sound confident. That is good," Monty said.
"We've got this," Sirius said casually, sounding more assured now that they were in the company of others.
"If we can pass this, we can pass anything," Rachel said.
"I will wish you luck, then. Not that you need it," Monty said with a wink.
A knock on her office door drew Booker away from them and he opened it to find a small group of her faction waiting.
"Shall we?" Draco asked.
Rachel ruthlessly stamped out any nerves she had and exited her office, Sirius trailing behind. Draco, Anyssa, Malcolm, Neville, and Linette were waiting for them, Linette using Neville's arm for balance.
They walked as a group toward the Wizengamot chambers, everyone seeming content with their own thoughts. She knew they were worried about the outcome of the vote. It would seriously shake her faction's credibility if this didn't pass.
Once in the chambers, Rachel and Anyssa parted company with their group and went to their desks.
"What do you think?" Anyssa asked, echoing Sirius' question from ten minutes ago.
"I think we'll be fine." Over the years she'd learned that part of being a leader of a faction was projecting confidence, even when she wasn't entirely certain.
"At the very least, we'll know who not to trust if we run into problems," she said.
Rachel was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but she was familiar with the backstabbing that sometimes came with Wizengamot politics. At least the stabbing here was all metaphorical instead of literal.
They took their seats and a few minutes later Janice Hawthorne called the Wizengamot to session. Rachel's proposal was second on the docket today and Rachel managed to force herself to listen to Wizengamot business and then vote for the proposal that required more oversight in certain Ministry departments, including the MLE. Madam Bones also voted for the proposal and Rachel knew she'd had a hand in suggesting provisions.
"Wizengamot Member Snow will now introduce her proposal," Janice directed when the vote for the previous proposal had passed.
Taking a slow breath, Rachel stood and touched her wand to the panel that would allow her voice to be projected around the room. Strangely, that was one of the few things she couldn't do wandlessly. Artifacts that were intended to be used with a wand seemed to require a wand to use them at all.
"Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal," Rachel began. "As I have written, my proposal provides provisions for the safety and well-being of the House Elves of Magical Britain. One thing I would like to emphasize is the role of Magical Britain on the national stage. We are one of the few nations who continue to employ House Elves without paying them. You can see a list of those nations within my proposal, including their ICW status."
She paused and looked around. "However, as important as Magical Britain's position on the national stage is, this proposal is not solely about that. This proposal is about the standards to which we hold the treatment of sentient beings. No other being in our nation is relegated to the type of treatment that House Elves receive. House Elves do not have the ability to choose where they will reside or where they are employed. House Elves are not paid for their labor. House Elves are not monitored by the Ministry. As of right now, there is no census of House Elves. We do not know how many House Elves are in Britain, who they are, or what their location or status is."
"My proposal is two-fold. The first half of the proposal is about the rights of House Elves to self determination and to receive compensation for their labor. The second half is to establish a department within the Ministry to monitor House Elves as we monitor any other beings and to ensure their ethical treatment. A committee will be formed to oversee the creation of this department and the beginning of the shift in this status of House Elves. A census will be undertaken upon a seven year basis, just as the census for other beings in Britain. The goal is to have the department and census established within the next three years. I'm happy to take questions at this time."
"The floor is open for questions. Wizengamot Member Turner, you may speak," Janice said.
"House Elves do not wish to be paid. They do not wish to be free. Why would you force something upon them that they do not want?" Ansel Turner asked, his tone more than slightly hostile.
"The history of House Elves within Magical Britain is long. House Elves do not know anything different as this has been their way of life for centuries. We're not forcing House Elves to leave their families, we're simply giving them the option to do so if they wish. The House Elves do not have to be paid directly. The money can be set aside in an account for them to use. This proposal is about giving House Elves the options that any free being is naturally given," Rachel said steadily. "We anticipate that the culture shift will require more than one generation. One of the things this proposal prohibits is the sale of House Elf children. Those children will have the freedom to choose where they go and won't be forcibly separated from their parents."
"Wizengamot Member Fallon, you may speak," Janice said when Turner didn't have a follow-up question.
"Do you truly expect that people will be willing to pay for a House Elf?" Mason Fallon asked, looking around like he expected an outcry of support.
"Anyone who can afford to own a House Elf can afford to pay one. The minimum wage given is a negligible cost," she answered. "And, as always, we expect citizens to comply with the law, even the laws they disagree with."
"Wizengamot Member Bones, you may speak," Janice directed.
"What penalties are you proposing for people who break the laws set forth in your proposal?" Amelia asked.
Rachel nodded to her. "For people who do not pay their House Elves within the law, fines will be levied, including recompense to the House Elves in question. Assault on a House Elf will be handled with the same provisions as assault on any being." Amelia had already known the answer, but they'd wanted everyone else to hear it.
"If there are no additional questions, we will vote," Janice said when no one else raised their hands. "To find in favor of the proposal, please raise your hands."
Rachel sat and looked around the room as hands raised, doing a quick check against her mental tally. Stella was down in the center of the floor, making her own tally. Everyone who had agreed to vote for her was raising their hands.
She smiled, even as Stella moved to give Janice the tally sheet.
"The proposal has passed with forty one votes. A committee will be formed within the next ninety days to begin action on the provisions set forth within the proposal. Next on the agenda," Janice continued.
With a sigh of relief, Rachel settled into her chair. They had done it. Finally.
The large dining room was more than a little noisy. Draco had invited the faction to his home that evening to celebrate the passing of the proposal. Given the spread of food and drink, Rachel knew that Draco had been preparing this in advance, despite his misgivings.
She was seated between Theo and Linette and had Scorpius on her lap. He was wiggling and eating off her plate, pointing out different dishes he wanted to sample. Draco and Astoria were across the table. Astoria had already put Cygnus to bed since it was getting late. Say what you would about the Wizengamot, but they all enjoyed a raucous celebration.
Further down the table, Anyssa was talking animatedly with Arkady, trying to convince her to come broom racing with her. Sirius and Remus were deep in conversation with Dolph Jenkins, and Rachel suspected from the looks of things that she was going to get dragged into it sooner or later. Thomas Wiggen, Stephen Bryant, and Nathan Wright were busy drinking and chatting. Neville and Malcolm had some parchment out and seemed to be chatting about their projects.
"Dessert," Scorpius prompted, wiggling on her lap as the dinner dishes disappeared to be replaced with dishes of dessert.
"Which do you want?" Rachel asked.
"Cake and custard and cookies," he said, causing Linette to laugh.
"Nope, pick one." She'd had enough experiences by now of children who had made themselves sick because they'd eaten more than they could handle.
"Hmmm." He looked up and down the table like this was a decision of great importance.
Linette smiled fondly at him. "Which one is the one you have least often?"
"Cake," Scorpius said.
"Maybe you should have that while it's available," she suggested.
Scorpius nodded in agreement. "Cake. A big slice. As big as my stomach."
"You already have plenty of things in your stomach. There's not enough room," Rachel told him.
Theo had evidently been paying attention to this conversation because he stood and cut a medium slice from the nearby chocolate cream cake and set it and a dessert fork in front of it.
"Thank you," she said.
"Do you want one?" he checked, cutting a slice for himself.
"Not for me. I'm pretty full." She'd never really regained her taste for sweets. She had biscuits with her tea occasionally, but these days she rarely ate candy or dessert.
She set her hands on Scorpius' hips to keep him balanced as he scooted forward to dig in.
"You're both good with him. Have you given thought to having one or two of your own?" Linette asked.
"Oh no, not for us," Rachel said.
"I think being godparents is about as much parenting as we can handle," Theo agreed ruefully.
"Not to be indelicate, but you are the last of the Snow line," Linette pointed out.
"I'm okay with that," Rachel said, shaking her head. "Given who I am, I really can't in good conscience bring a child into the world. What sort of life would they have?"
Linette smiled sadly. "I know you would make the world safe for them. I had three, you know. Lost one in the war with Grindelwald. I'll be passing my seat to my eldest granddaughter when it's time."
Rachel knew there was no such thing as making the world safe for a child. You could be a perfect parent - which she also knew was impossible - and something horrible could still happen. Severus had been an excellent parent, and yet her years at Hogwarts had been extraordinarily difficult and dangerous. She wouldn't subject any child to the scrutiny she'd been placed under. Perhaps that was why Professor Dumbledore had never married and had children. He would have known that they'd never be able to live normal lives.
"How old are your grandchildren now?" Theo asked.
"Oh, I have five," Linette said with a smile. "The oldest is fifty two. I have a great granddaughter who is a year older than both of you and a few more great grandchildren who are a bit younger than you."
Sometimes Rachel forgot how old Linette was, and she wasn't even the oldest person on the Wizengamot by about twenty years. It was somehow always a surprise to her how old magical people lived, even though she'd known that for most of her life. She tended to make the assumption that people were a fair bit younger than they were.
Scorpius burped and pushed his plate away.
Rachel looked down and saw his mouth smeared with chocolate and stole Theo's clean napkin. Hers had already been used on Scorpius during dinner. "Wipe your face and hands."
He did so, looking slightly put out.
Across the table Astoria glanced at her watch. "It's about time to go upstairs and get ready for bed," she told Scorpius.
He squirmed on Rachel's lap. "But there are still people here."
"I know, but it's late. Who do you want to take you up?" she asked.
"Rachel," he said immediately.
She had expected that answer and eased him off her lap. He ran ahead of her and she followed at a more sedate pace, feeling more than full from dinner. She didn't know how he could eat so much and then run.
They climbed the large staircase and went down the hallway to Scorpius' bedroom.
"Which pajamas do you want?" she asked, stopping by his dresser.
"Blue with stars," Scorpius said, dancing in place.
She collected his pajamas and he managed to get himself out of his robes and clothes and into his pajamas. He'd been dressing himself reliably for about a year now, though he occasionally had trouble with getting his socks on right. "Ready for a teeth cleansing charm?"
"Ready," he said, bounding back over to her.
Rachel touched her fingertips to his cheek and he wiggled and laughed at the sensation.
"Mommy and daddy use their wands to do that," Scorpius told her.
"I'm sure they do," she said. Draco had mastered about half a dozen spells wandlessly before deciding that he was done. He could unlock things and summon his wand, which was really most of what people needed. "Bedtime story?"
"Yes. Always." He went over to his bookshelf and sorted through the books before picking three and then climbing up on his bed. "I can still hear the party."
"What are they saying?" she asked, settling on the bed next to him. She certainly couldn't hear the dining room from here.
"Mommy and daddy are talking to Uncle Neville about his new plant."
That was potentially something she could check. "Which book first?"
"This one," he said, holding up a worn Quidditch book.
Rachel settled in to read, holding the book so he could see the pictures. By the end of the third book he was asleep. She carefully drew the covers up to his shoulders and put the books back on the shelf before leaving his bedroom.
She went back to the dining room. "About twenty minutes ago, were you talking to Neville about his new plant?" she asked Astoria and Draco as she sat down.
"We were. How on earth did you know that?" Draco asked.
"Scorpius told me. He can definitely hear you from his bedroom," she said.
"That has to be accidental magic of some kind, doesn't it?" Theo asked
Draco and Astoria smiled at each other. "It must be. He must want to hear so badly that he's performing some sort of listening charm," Astoria said.
Rachel smiled. "Better than my accidental magic. I was busy exploding things."
"Sounds about right for you," Draco said with a grin.
Rachel stretched her shoulders and her back before sinking down onto the sofa next to Theo. It had been a long day and the passing of her proposal was a huge weight off her shoulders. Of course, now she had to form a committee and make sure the proposal was enacted, but that should be relatively simple compared to what she'd had to do to get it to pass in the first place.
Theo was settled in just trousers and a button-up shirt, having taken off the dress robes that he'd worn to the celebration dinner at Draco's manor. Both of them were in stocking feet and it was late and dark outside. "How are you feeling about the whole thing?" he asked, glancing at her.
"Relieved. Pleased. But mostly just relieved that it's over. I swear I put myself through this every time I advance a proposal."
"You do. And it always gets done. I'm almost afraid to ask what's next on the docket."
"Nothing, for a little while. I need a break." There were still things she needed to take care of, and her mental competency project was still sitting there in early draft stages while she tried to figure out what exactly she was doing with it, but she did not anticipate bringing another proposal to be voted on for at least a year.
"If I know you, nothing means a half dozen projects," he said with a teasing smile.
"I still have plenty of things to do, but no more running around pleading with Wizengamot members to vote for me," she said, which was the part she really didn't like.
"That's a relief."
It was a relief. And they still had some time before all of the election nonsense really started. With that pressing weight off her mind, Rachel found her thoughts drifting back to Theo. She'd come back to this over and over since Millie's wedding. She'd watched the people who she knew were married. Her relationship with Theo didn't seem that different from them. People accepted her and Theo as belonging together. When she was invited places, Theo's name was always included on the invitation.
"I've given some thought to what we talked about and I suppose I have questions," she said haltingly.
"About what we talked about?" Theo asked, glancing at her.
"About marriage," she elucidated.
"Alright. What sort of questions?"
She pondered her answer for a moment. "Mostly why and what would it change?"
"Well, for why, mostly that it's a bond between people, and I want that bond with you. My parents' marriage was arranged. Even as a child, I could see how unhappy my mother was, and I thought I would never get married, but I actually want that with you. We don't have to make the mistakes of the people who raised us. I'm not sure I should even ask what your relatives' marriage was like," he said, looking a little worried.
Rachel considered it. Some of her memories of childhood were a little foggy now while others were still crystal clear. "They were well suited for each other. They wanted the same things. It was rare for them to argue with each other. I'm not sure love was ever in the equation, they were sort of hateful people, even though they did love my cousin, but they got along well."
Theo nodded cautiously. "Has Severus ever talked about his relationships with you?"
"He hasn't said much, and from what I gathered, it didn't go particularly well," she said. It wasn't a topic she had probed about much. "I think mostly Severus is settled by himself. He's always been a private person."
They were quiet for a few moments and Rachel decided to raise the topic. "One thing I'm concerned about with marriage is sex."
"We don't have to have sex. Plenty of married people don't have sex," he said easily.
She was less sure about that. It kind of seemed like something people did.
"Rachel, I never want for you to feel obligated or like it's something that you should do. I have long ago accepted that sex is not part of our relationship. We talked about this when we got back together. Getting married wouldn't change that."
"I read some about asexuality recently. I think I'm sex repulsed," she said.
"I assume that's roughly what it sounds like?" he asked.
She nodded. "I just don't see ever reaching a point where I want to have sex."
"That's fine. Like I said, we don't have to have sex," Theo said steadily. "What else is worrying you?"
"Kids?" she asked.
"I think we both are on the same page that we don't want children. Right?"
"Right. I know why I don't want to have children. Why don't you?" she asked, wondering if that was something that would change in the future.
"I don't think I'd be a very good father," he said, looking away.
That had not at all been the answer she'd been expecting. "Why? I think you'd be an excellent father."
He shook his head. "I'm too reserved. All of my male role models when I was growing up were these stern reserved men and I don't know how to break away from that. Even Scorpius prefers you to me."
"Scorpius prefers me because I'm a pushover. And it's just a phase. He goes back and forth between us," she said. "There was a time when he didn't want to be out of your arms."
He laughed. "That's true. You dote on him and the cats, but when it comes to the Wizengamot you won't bend. I'm not sure how that works."
"I care a lot more about Scorpius and the cats than I do the Wizengamot. I think you would be a good parent. Is that the only reason you don't want children?" she checked.
"I'm happy being a godparent, but I really prefer devoting myself to my research and I wouldn't feel comfortable giving a child to a nanny and a tutor to raise," he explained.
She nodded. "Our work hours are not really conducive to child rearing. Maybe it's selfish, but I wouldn't really want to take the time away from my work to care for a child."
"I don't think that's selfish. I think we just have the good sense to recognize we're not ideal parent material," Theo said with a shrug. "What else are you worried about?"
"I'll never be able to share my life at the Unspeakables with you," she said, wondering if that would be a problem.
He shook his head. "I'm okay with that if you are. I hear about your other projects plenty and I understand the concept of confidential research and material. I can't say I'm not curious as to what you get up to down there, but I'm fine with not knowing."
"Okay," she said, running over her worries in her mind. "So getting married really wouldn't change that much."
"Not really. It doesn't have to change anything we don't want it to change," he agreed. "Is getting married something you want to do?"
"Give me a little bit to think about it?" she asked, finding that she wasn't ready to make a decision just yet.
"Take all the time you need," Theo said, taking her hand and squeezing.
She squeezed back, grateful that she could take a little more time with this.
"Is this wise?" Professor McGonagall asked as she peered at their small group as they stood in the Headmistress' office.
"We believe a threat known is wiser than a threat unknown," Patrick said steadily.
"We have goggles to protect us from the basilisk's gaze. At the most, it should petrify us. We each carry a flash of the Mandrake Restorative Draught," Liesel said.
Rachel had been a little surprised by Liesel's inclusion in this expedition, she'd always seen her as more of an administrator, but apparently Liesel had done a great deal of research around the founding of Hogwarts and the Ministry and the magics that were used in those days.
Christine Davidson from the Dark Arts division of the Unspeakables rounded out their little group. Christine was an unassuming woman in her mid-fifties, but she likely knew more about the Dark Arts than most Death Eaters. Rachel had found her to be very personable and had spent an afternoon having tea with her as they talked about the expedition.
"What exactly are you planning to tell the basilisk?" Professor McGongall asked, looking at Rachel.
"That there is no threat in the school, that there is no war and no one impure here, and that her mission as guardian is a success," Rachel said.
"We believe that will soothe the basilisk, at the very least until the next time a parselmouth bothers her," Patrick said.
"Her?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Her name is Amira," Rachel said.
"And you know where the entrance is how?" she pressed, her eyebrows up.
"A portrait of a snake told me." That wasn't quite true. A portrait of a snake had told Tom Riddle.
"You may wish to move the portrait to an inaccessible area so that other parselmouths do not converse with it," Christine suggested.
"It's on the second floor, west corridor," Rachel added.
"Are there other known parselmouths? I believed Rachel was the only one," Professor McGonagall asked.
"That we know of. If someone is descended from a family of parselmouths, they've likely been instructed to keep that information to themselves. There is a fair amount of stigma against them, as I'm sure you've seen," Patrick said with a glance at Rachel.
"I will move the portrait," Professor McGonagall agreed after a moment.
"I don't suppose I could purchase it? I think the snake is likely loney," Rachel asked.
"It would have to go through the Board of Governors, but I will ask. The safest place for it is probably away from Hogwarts," she said. "Where are we going?"
"Girls' bathroom on the second floor," Rachel said.
Professor McGonagall looked around at them. "I'm not even going to ask. Shall we?"
Rachel had no explanation of how the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets came to be in a girls' bathroom, but she could only assume that it hadn't been the original entrance and some parselmouth along the way had restructured it with spells that had been lost to time.
They trooped down to the second floor, letting Professor McGongall be the one to check the bathroom before they went inside.
"What is happening? Why are you here?" Moaning Myrtle asked, coming out of her toilet stall. "You're not students."
"Ministry business," Patrick said, not paying much attention to her.
"You may not want to be here for this, Myrtle," Rachel said. "It might bring back bad memories."
Myrtle peered at her through her ghostly glasses before disappearing back into her toilet stall and there was a small splash suggesting she'd gone down into the pipes.
"Now what?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Now I open the passageway," Rachel said. She approached the sinks, checking each tap before she found the snake engraving. "Open."
To her it just sounded like English, but it must have been parseltongue because the sink moved with a grinding noise and a large pipe opening appeared. Rachel crept closer and peered down into it. "Stairs."
Nothing happened so she looked over the pipe before finding another snake engraving. "Stairs."
This time a set of stairs appeared.
"Is the phrase really just stairs?" Christine asked.
"Yes, and the phrase to open it is just 'open'. I never said parselmouths were particularly imaginative," Rachel said, though she suspected the real reason was they didn't want the passphrase to get lost with time.
"Goggles," Liesel said, passing them each a pair of tinted goggles. Rachel and Liesel's were bigger so that they could sit over their glasses.
Rachel held her hands in front of her and cast a light orb that would travel with them. "Ready?"
"How long should I wait for you to return before summoning help?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"If we don't contact our people in the Department within four hours they will send a second retrieval team here," Patrick said. "You don't have to stay if you don't wish. You can simply lock the door behind you so no one wanders in."
"I believe I shall wait for you here," Professor McGonagall said. "I wish you the best of luck."
"Thank you," Rachel said, meeting her eyes with a smile before she fit her goggles snuggly over her glasses. Hand out to keep the light orb moving with them, she led the way into the tunnel and started down the stairs. "Watch your footing. It's a little grimy," she called.
"How far are we going?" Christine asked after they'd been descending for about five minutes.
"A ways. It will take a while," Rachel said, recalling that it had taken quite some time in Tom Riddle's memory. "We're heading deep beneath the dungeons."
"I don't suppose there is a way to answer the question of why the entrance is where it is?" Patrick asked.
"I suspect it was moved from its original location. This corridor was not a part of the original Hogwarts foundation," Liesel said.
"Either Hogwarts moved it, or some young parselmouth did when she didn't want to make the trek to the dungeons to visit the basilisk," Rachel said.
"Given the engraving, it likely makes the most sense for a student to have moved it," Liesel agreed. "Perhaps with Hogwarts' assistance."
Rachel wished she could find a way to speak with Hogwarts the way she was learning to speak to the Department. There was so much here to learn and know. Hogwarts: A History was a good overview, but it was focused on the people rather than on the castle.
They continued downwards, Rachel avoiding touching the walls because they were dirty, slimy, and the entire place smelled rank. They had all worn old open work robes today with trousers underneath. No one wore their good clothes for field work. Rachel was in the clothing she used when she wasn't sure if a potion was going to explode or boil out of her cauldron.
"This pipe is very large," Patrick said.
"The basilisk is very large," she said with a shrug that she wasn't sure Patrick could see.
"The basilisk actually comes out of this pipe?" Christine asked.
"Yes, or at least she has in the past," Rachel said. "Even though she's elderly, she seems to move through the pipes in Hogwarts alright."
"If she's Salazar's original snake, she's been here for a millennia," Liesel said. "Will you ask her?"
"I can try. I'll warn you up front, I don't know that the basilisk is going to let us in the Chamber," she said, having warned all of them this multiple times.
"We know. Just do what you can," Patrick said, sounding unbothered. Rachel wasn't entirely sure Patrick wanted to go into the Chamber while the basilisk was there.
Maybe thirty minutes later they arrived at the bottom of the pipe. Rachel grimaced a little as the ground beneath her crunched. She couldn't help stepping on the skeletons of small animals. There was nowhere else to step.
"Where to?" Christine asked, looking around in the light from Rachel's orb.
"This way," she said, motioning them forward. She had her old camera in her robe pocket, but she wasn't sure she was going to get to use it much.
Finally they came to a stop in front of a large metal door. The door was circular and had snakes decorating it.
"Liesel, does this look like it could be Salazar's work?" Patrick asked.
"Let me look at the construction," she said, moving closer. "Rachel, catch some of the detail work on this on film if you would."
Rachel did so, noticing that the snakes had their scales engraved on them and there were eight snakes. This must have taken hours upon hours.
"Given the materials, it's entirely possible this door dates back to the founding of Hogwarts," Liesel said when she finished her examinations.
"What should we expect inside?" Christine asked.
"An open chamber with stone snakes. If Amira is nearby, she'll come see who is there. Stay behind me," Rachel said, feeling that her nerves were jittering a little. Together, they made a basilisk-sized meal. Hopefully the basilisk wasn't hungry. "Everyone ready?"
"Ready," Patrick said, Christine and Liesel echoing him. She thought they sounded jittery too.
She focused on the snakes. "Open."
The decorative snakes retreated into the door and the door unlatched, leaving Rachel to open it. Given the age of the thing, it moved surprisingly easily.
Rachel stepped inside, knowing she was one of very few people in the last thousand years to stand in this chamber. She waited, listening carefully. Sure enough, something was moving toward them. Slithering. "Stay back," she warned them again.
The basilisk was even more daunting in person than she had been in Tom Riddle's memory. Rachel simply didn't have words for how massive the basilisk was other than the knowledge that the basilisk could eat her like she'd eat a crisp and still have room to spare.
"Amira?" she asked, grateful that her voice wasn't trembling like her knees.
"You know my name?" the basilisk asked.
"I do. My name is Rachel. I'm a parselmouth," she said, though that was probably obvious.
"How did you arrive here?" Amira asked.
"A friend told me that you were here and I wanted to pay my respects to the guardian of Hogwarts."
"Is it time to cleanse the school of the impure?" Amira asked.
"No," Rachel said, trying not to sound forceful. "The school is pure. The war is over. Everything is taken care of. You did your job well."
"The school is safe? The students are safe?"
"Yes. The students and the school are safe," Rachel agreed.
"Then my task is complete. I can rest." It was hard to tell from a snake, but Rachel thought Amira sounded relieved.
"Yes, you can rest. Would you mind if we took some pictures of your chamber?" she asked.
"I do not know this 'pictures'," Amira said.
"I point this box at things and it makes images for later," Rachel tried to explain.
"You may do this, but only parselmouths may enter. The others must leave," Amira said.
"I'll let them know," Rachel said. "Did Salazar Slytherin bring you here?"
"Yes, my master. He told me his descendants would come to see me to continue to purify the school. If you speak to me, you are one of his descendants."
Rachel wasn't entirely sure of that, given how she'd probably become a parselmouth, but Amira didn't need to hear about that. "I'm going to tell my friends to leave the chamber and then walk around."
It took a great deal of effort to turn her back on the giant snake. "Amira says only parselmouths can be in the chamber, you'll have to wait outside. I can take photos. She says that Salazar Slytherin was her master."
Liesel managed to look both thrilled and disappointed all at once. "Something living from the time of the founders. Incredible. Get as many photos as possible."
"I will," Rachel promised.
"We'll wait for you just outside the chamber," Patrick said, also looking disappointed.
"If there are books, bring them with you," Christine added.
"I will," Rachel said, though she suspected any books here long would have dissolved from slime and mildew.
They retreated from the chamber and Rachel began looking around and taking pictures of the stone snakes. She wondered if Salazar had been an artist or if someone else had done this. She thought it took steel nerves to carve a statue in the presence of a basilisk. For the moment, Rachel was just barely managing walking around and taking photos.
She rolled her eyes at the throne. Salazar sure thought a lot of himself. She took photos of the detailed carvings on that as well as some photos of Amira.
"What is in the hole where you came from?" Rachel asked, returning to where Amira's head was resting.
"My nest," Amira said.
Rachel decided she didn't need to see a basilisk nest. The chamber was good enough. "Thank you for letting me visit. Do you need anything?"
"The safety and purity of the school is all I need," Amira said. "Wake me when Hogwarts is threatened."
"We will," she promised, though she didn't know who would do that.
She left the chamber, pulled the door closed and saw the locking mechanism move back into place.
"No books?" Christine asked, looking a little disappointed.
"No anything. Just stone. I took photos of the carvings," she told them.
"Tell us everything you discussed," Liesel said.
"While we walk," Rachel said.
As they returned up the stairs in the pipe, she did her best to give a word for word recounting of her conversation with Amira.
"Did she say who was opening the Chamber nearly seventeen years ago?" Patrick asked.
"She didn't. I forgot to ask," Rachel said. She didn't need to ask and she wasn't going to reveal Ginny's secret to anyone.
"Pity," was his only comment.
They arrived back in the bathroom maybe two hours after they left. Rachel saw Professor McGonagall looking over them for injuries.
Rachel turned back to the pipe and focused on the snake engraving. "Close."
The pipe sealed and the sink rose to its normal place. Apart from all of them smelling kind of gross and the bottoms of their robes and shoes being a little grimy, there was nothing showing what they'd just done.
"How would you characterize the threat to the school?" Professor McGongall asked.
"No threat," Rachel said. "I assured her the school is safe and that the war is over. She was relieved and is going to rest now."
"Everything points to that being Salazar's original chamber," Liesel said, still sounding excited.
Professor McGonagall didn't seem to know what to say to that.
"I think that's all we needed. Thank you for allowing us to intrude," Patrick said.
"I'm simply grateful to know the threat has passed," Professor McGonagall said. "Let me walk you to the floo."
Satisfied that everything had gone well, and now she had some new photos to develop, Rachel smiled to herself. It was kind of nice visiting Hogwarts again.
Rachel left her Wizengamot office early on Friday afternoon, telling Booker to take some time off and they'd start working on committee stuff next week. Part of it was just that they had accomplished their big goal and now had to figure out what their next steps were. Part of it was just that Rachel was restless and needed to get out of her office.
She'd spent the morning developing the photographs of their trip to the Chamber of Secrets and had already written a report of what had happened there. She knew the others had been hoping for more, such as secrets of magic left behind by Salazar Slytherin, but it had about matched what she'd seen of Tom Riddle's experience in the chamber.
After about ten minutes at home, changing from her Wizengamot clothes to a more casual pair of trousers and open robes, Rachel found that she still felt restless and a little trapped. She needed to be outside and she didn't particularly feel like roaming the back garden. She'd discovered she had a little trouble being out there after killing Crouch Junior, and she knew that was a problem she needed to work to correct.
She considered her options for a few moments before deciding she wanted to be as far away from people as possible. She apparated herself to a private beach she'd been to with her friends a number of times. Its location at the bottom of a cliff ensured that it wasn't visited by muggles and it was rare that they found other witches and wizards there.
Taking off her shoes and socks, she shrank them and put them in her robe pockets, letting her toes dig into the cool sand as she began to walk. The mid-June ocean breeze felt nice and it was soothing to hear the rush of the water as the waves moved in and out. She walked slowly, without a destination in mind, and tried to let her mind sort out the problem.
The Morsius Pensieve was taken care of, she didn't have to do that again. She had been considering watching Barty Crouch Junior's memories, but given that the attacks had stopped, there was no urgency. Maybe later, when her sleep was a little more settled. The Death Eater attacks had stopped entirely and the nation was slowly relaxing again. She could see it in the set of people's shoulders and Amelia and Rufus had both begun to look more at ease.
Her House Elf proposal had passed, which meant she was no longer trying to persuade people or gather votes. Next step was forming a committee, which really shouldn't be difficult. They still had plenty of work ahead of them, but the hardest part was finished. That much was a huge weight off her shoulders. She suspected the next big crisis would be the elections and they still had a little time. She was intent on getting Mason Fallon voted out.
She had sent her new sleeping potions to be tested. It would be a few months before she had results. Once she had results, she could see exactly what was happening, reformulate, and try again. In the meantime, she had the Department to explore and understand. She had a pretty good personal map of the Department and she was doing a more in depth exploration of some of the more mysterious rooms she'd encountered, as well as reading more about the Department and searching for a method of two-way communication. She felt pretty settled with her research.
Her friends and family were happy and well, all of them busy with their families and projects. No one's safety was being threatened. They met regularly and kept each other up to date about their lives.
The one problem she hadn't resolved was Theo.
Did she want to be married?
For now she was putting aside the entire idea of a wedding, because that would be a disaster no matter what she did. It would become the political event of the season and there was no helping that. Strangely, she thought Theo knew that and was willing to do it anyway. He'd never shied away from the political responsibilities of being her partner. He regularly met with Wizengamot members and other people in the Ministry with her and attended the balls and dinners. She briefed him on what he needed to know before they went and he supplied their conversations with conversation openers and tidbits that she'd given him as they worked the room.
From what she and Theo had discussed, it didn't seem that being married would change all that much about their relationship. They were pretty comfortable with the way things were. He had told her that sex and children were not on the table, which was exactly what she needed. They'd lived together for the past five years. They owned a home together. All of that was pretty permanent. Marriage would be just another permanent connection between them.
She did want her relationship with Theo to be permanent. Theo had been there with her for nearly two thirds of her life now. He'd always been supportive of her, even when things were really difficult. Even when being with her had placed him in danger. So what if they didn't kiss or have sex? So what if their relationship wasn't romantic? She didn't need sex or romance to be happy and she was starting to suspect that maybe Theo didn't either.
He seemed happy. He seemed content. Surely he would tell her if he wasn't. Surely he wouldn't have brought up the idea of marriage if this wasn't what he wanted his life to look like.
Theo seemed to want this. And Rachel thought that she wanted it to. It could be as simple as marriage was a declaration that their relationship was permanent. Nothing else needed to change.
She had reached the end of the beach, lost in her thoughts, and stopped just above where the tide had made the sand wet. Looking out at the distant horizon, she decided that marriage was something she could do, if only because it was Theo. She wouldn't want to do this with anyone else.