Chapter 30

A secret chamber to my heart

Chamber of Secrets

Much like when she did on Christmas, upon opening her eyes, everything felt like a dream to Marley. With a tired groan the girl instinctively grabbed the pair of glasses on her nightstand, applying them as her dry mouth tasted the air.

"HOLY HELL!", she finally exclaimed, the memories of a library breakthrough with Hermione and a sudden attack resurfacing.

"Language, Miss Verpe.", a firm voice belonging to one Madame Pomfrey scolded her, though the kind-eyed nurse did also offer a cup containing medicine, which the Slytherin girl swallowed without question.

"I'm sorry. I was just – mmm, this is good. What is that?"

"Mandrake Potion. It's what brought you and the others back to normal.", the old woman explained, finally showing a smile. With that last sip of liquid, which tasted like sweet ginger root tea, Marley was able to move her legs again, realizing only now that the had still been numb before.

"Madame Pomfrey?", the girl asked in a small voice.

"Yes, dear?"

"Um... how did I get here?"

"MARLEY!", a different girl screeched, Hermione jumping to Miss Verpe's throat as the Slytherin was almost knocked over.

"Careful there, Miss Granger. Your friend is still recovering from her petrification."

A word that sent a mean old shiver down Marley's spine.

"Petri...fication?"

"The Basilisk attacked us outside the library. I was able to protect myself with my hand mirror.", the excited Gryffindor explained, seated at the edge of Marley's bed, the spectacled girl briefly trying to adjust to everything, sorting out a barrage of memories still swirling uncontrollably around her mind.

"Right. I remember Leaghon blinding me so... I suppose that's how I-"

Instinctively attempting to grab her locket, the girl is shocked to find it absent.

"Where's Leaghon?!"

"If you're referring to your necklace, one of your friends took care of it when you two got here. I believe it was Mr. Weasley."

Being reminded of the existence of her male friends, Marley's eyes widen with fear.

"We need to tell them about the Basilisk! If they don't stop it, the school will be closed!"

"They're already ahead of us.", Hermione assured her with a chuckle, "Dumbledore came by when you were still sleeping and explained everything. Harry, Ron, and Malfoy found the Chamber on their own. Harry even defeated the Basilisk!"

Which was not surprising to hear, the fact that their friends saved the day already apparently, much was the fact that Harry successfully faced such a powerful beast and came out victorious.

"Well, that's splendid. Less to worry about for us, then."

"I guess so. Aren't you curious why Malfoy was helping them, though?"

At this Marley merely shrugged, satisfied that occasionally showing kindness to her Slytherin classmate did seem to get to him.

"Not really. Draco can be nice sometimes.", Marley then got up and clapped her hands, still a little shaky standing up, "So! Shall we?"

Pomfrey did insist on giving both girls another potion before leaving, the girls doing so arm in arm and with the brightest of grins going across both their faces.

Ron was not known to be a patient boy, yet he also never found himself quite so willing to kick another person in the shin.

"Do you think you'll make it through the end of the day without losing your leg, mate?", he asked provocatively. The entire student body was asked to arrive early for a special occasion, that being of course Dumbledore's return and the official declaration of Hogwarts being allowed to continue to exist.

Despite all of this good news, Harry's right leg, now once again crested with a sock, unlike yesterday, refused to sit still as the boy's apparent unease was practically shouting at the whole table, despite his lips being forcefully pressed together.

"He's just nervous, Ron. That's all.", Ginny reassured her brother, seated next to him as she looked over to Harry.

"I'm just... you know... what if the potion didn't work?", the poor lad began to stutter while Ron groaned, "What if... what if they don't wake up, or... it takes them a few months to wake up again?"

"Okay. Ron's right. You are going mental.", the red head concluded in a snarky remark. This neither added nor reduced Harry's panic. It was as if the boy didn't even hear her.

"I just... you know... I hate the idea of not seeing Marley again."

This is when Ron finally grimaced, Ginny's brows shot up, and most of the surrounding part of the table turned to him with comically inquisitive stares, making Harry realize his horrific blunder as he corrected it with a red face.

"A-and Hermione. And... Justin. And... Collin. All of them. I think you're weird for not worrying."

"Harry! Look", Neville relieved the awkward stand-off as all switched their heads to the entrance.

Hermione was the one smiling back at them, which of course got Harry and Ron to light up.

But who was he lying to? Soon as his spectacled gaze locked eyes with the Gryffindor, they immediately went searching around her vicinity in order to locate-

There she was. Chatting lively with Sir Nicholas, who seemed perhaps equally ecstatic to see the Slytherin girl again.

Just before Harry leapt up from his seat Dean Thomas whispered to a group of Gryffindor girls "Watch Potter fly towards her.", proven immediately right as the boy jolted up running and the aforementioned girls began to giggle. Not wanting to be left out, Ron was of course forced to do much the same, Ginny proving to be the only sane student via remaining seated, mumbling to herself instead.

"No Ginny, you've been over this. You will never want to be with such a dork."

The dork in question finally gets Marley's attention as his handcrafted leather shoes make a noticeable clocking nose on the stone floor.

"Harry! It's – ARGH!"

In a bizarrely ironic twist, not only did Harry recreate Marley's legendary fall from last year, he also quite precisely shifted their dynamic via being the insane, overly energetic one greeting the girl by tackling her and himself down in a hug, the two of them sitting upright for a moment as a huge portion of students around them erupted into laughter.

"Sorry.", he apologized out of breath, smiling profusely as he looked over to a shocked Hermione, then a giggling Marley, completely oblivious to his bright, pink cheeks.

"Did Harry just tackle down Marley after worrying all day that she won't be healed by the Mandrake Potion?", Ron added with some spice as he arrived at the scene.

"Maybe the Basilisk turned him mad.", Hermione concluded, a wide grin attached telling them all to relax. A happy Hermione always meant no danger.

"I'm glad you're okay.", Ron finally spoke, looking to the Gryffindor first before switching over and nodding like a greaser towards the Slytherin seated on the floor.

"Marles."

"Ronald."

A quick smile later and Hermione crossed her arms, Harry and Marley finally getting back on their feet, briefly relying on each other for balance as they did so.

"Well, suppose we know Harry is happy to have us back as well.", she concluded as Harry readjusted his glasses.

"Right.", was all he got out. He didn't know why, but... with all that had happened, having Marley back just... paralyzed him. Not with discomfort or fear. But... pure joy. As if all he ever needed was that girl.

"I kept Leaghon save for you.", Ron interrupted the other boy's bubbly thoughts, handing over the necklace as Marley audibly gasped.

"LEAGHON!", she screeched, the tiny, shimmering pixie emerging for a second, swirling around her for a moment before landing on Marley's cheek and giving her a pixie's kiss, at it was called.

Kiss her too, a voice inside Harry cried out and he ever so slightly twitched in surprise at the thought. That wasn't an alien entity suggesting it, no snake in the wall whispering strange things in a foreign language.

That was him that just thought that. And... as he absentmindedly stared at the girl... well, it sounded like a brilliant idea. Just maybe not right now.

Then, the clang of a glass being lightly tapped by a table knife.

"May I have your attention please?"

The quartet's reunion interrupted, some nods were exchanged as all returned to their respective house tables, McGonagall patiently awaiting the Great Hall to fall silent again.

Importantly, Marley sat down next to Malfoy at the Slytherin table, the boy looking rather nervous at her appearance, fidgeting with his hands as she finally sat down.

"I was wondering...", he began quietly, "...are we..."

"Of course we're friends, Draco. Don't be silly."

With that playful response and a wink he emitted a sigh of heavy relief.

Finally, Dumbledore rose from his seat and addressed the crowd with a bright smile and eyes that seemed as though they were sparkling.

"Before we begin the feast, let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey. Thanks to their Mandrake juice, all those petrified have been successfully cured."

Wild enthusiasm erupted everywhere at the news, even Malfoy, no longer ashamed or fearful of retribution it seemed, clapped perhaps the wildest.

"Furthermore...", the headmaster went on after applause died down again, "...as a special school treat, in light of recent events, all exams have been cancelled."

All but a certain Gryffindor girl howled in excitement at the news.

"No...", Hermione's whining went unheard in between jubilee. Just as Dumbledore sat back down on his throne-like chair and the noise subsided once again, the main doors to the Great Hall were thrust open quite abruptly, a massive man with an equally massive smile entering as the whole room had his attention.

"Sorry I'm late.", Hagrid casually announced, strolling into the hall a free man, "The owl sent with my release papers got all lost and confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol."

While the giant walked closer over to the quartet missing their Slytherin, Ron gulped comically, Hermione glancing over to Dumbledore, who nodded at her as a funny little underpinning.

"And I'd just like to say...", the half-giant began as he finally arrived towering over Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and everyone else), "...well, if it hadn't been for you kids, then I'd still be... uh... I'd still be you-know-where. So, I'd... like to just say thanks."

Meeting his adult, ridiculously tall friend standing up, Harry briefly forgot his other thing while answering Hagrid with a wide grin.

"There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid."

At the boy and the giant embracing, a slow clap was heard from the headmaster, joined subsequently by McGonagall as eventually, one more time, the Great Hall found itself celebrating the occasion in collective applause, minus some individual grouches of course. Hagrid even went so far as to shed a few tears as he came to the realization that this round of applause was dedicated to him, a simple groundskeeper mostly keeping to himself, though apparently his friendly interactions with multiple students over the years have left quite the impression.

Eventually he and Harry separated, and while the boy remained consciously aware that he shouldn't be staring at Marley the whole time, the Slytherin did eventually meet his gaze and smiled back, making his heart skip multiple beats at once.

"And then he used some kind of hex on Lockhart that made him squeal like a pig! It was brilliant!", Ron recounted their glorious exploits in and around the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione chuckling as the story went on.

"I still can't believe Malfoy would help us. I really misjudged him.", the girl eventually mused, sounding lost in thought.

"He was kind of a nag to be honest. But... actions speak louder than words and all that.", Ron added, similarly baffled, though not nearly as shaken as Miss Granger.

"And he didn't want to share a compartment with us?", the Gryffindor girl added on top.

"No, he said he wanted to be alone.", Marley explained while the train kept rattling on, "I think he's still a bit shy. Give him some time."

After a while Harry briefly left their shared section, catching some air through the open windows in the wagon corridor, before making sure no one was watching as he took out a photograph from his coat pocket.

He had asked Collin for the picture the blonde boy had taken of them in the infirmary, the one where the Slytherin girl grabbed his arms and excitedly described "baby bones". He let out a scoff at the memory, immortalized in black and white, their gazes meeting as they share a smile.

"Harry?", a high-pitched voice called for him as he hid the photo away again.

"Ginny.", he answered, as if caught in the act of... something.

"Listen...", the girl began, getting right to the point, "I wanted to apologize. I know that the diary was haunted and magic. But... I also listened to it way too fast because I was so jealous of you and Marley."

There it was again, Harry's eyes widening at the thought.

"I just wanted to say sorry for that. I will no longer be jealous of you and her being girlfriend and boyfriend."

Now, at this the boy gasped in pure shock, turning red while he stumbled over his words.

"G-girlfriend and... boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Are you two not together?"

Silence alone served as more deafening than a silencing charm, Ginny awkwardly grimacing at the situation at hand as the girl realized her blunder.

"Oh. You're not... right. I'm... sorry."

With that she left, and while her apology still counted, it was quite the sight to behold.

Throughout much of the school year Harry had come across the rumour that he and Marley were some sort of maniacal couple, already confusing enough a thought. Now it seemed there were people outright suggesting them being romantically involved in a neutral context.

Was it such a bad thought, though?

"You okay there?", Marley asked him as she exited the compartment herself, "Blast it. You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh. Uh... it was nothing.", he proceeded to put his glasses back on and kept pretending like the girl standing across from him didn't make his skin tingle, his stomach flare up, and his head pound like a Victorian steam engine, "Just very tired. This year was mental."

"Yeah, I'm honestly doubtful that any schoolyear is going to be normal for Harry Potter.", she concluded, pronouncing his full name in a silly voice, causing his inner dialogue from earlier to resurface with a vengeance.

Kiss her now!

"Hey... can I tell you a secret? Something... kind of embarrassing?", she immediately blurted out next, looking rather flushed herself. Harry of course nodded, fighting his desires in that very moment while the moving train kept occasionally shaking a bit.

"Right... well... ugh, this is embarrassing... um... I... sort of had a... huge crush on you for a while."

Ah, right, Harry thought to himself calmly, it's what Ron had mentioned already, suppose it's confirmed now that she... wait, what? What?! WHAT?! WHAAAT?!

"I think I'm over it now but... well, mostly I just wanted to tell you to get it off my chest. I think you and I are great friends, and we shouldn't... you know... complicate things."

WHAT?! OH MY GOD, SHE LIKES ME SHE REALLY LIKES ME! WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?! KISS HER NOW! AAAARGGHH!

Hiding all of that, Harry nodded politely.

"You get what I mean. I'm sure I must've been super annoying at times..."

DO NOT LOSE IT, POTTER! DO NOT LOSE IT, DO NOT MOVE, DO NOT TELL HER YOU LOVE HER!

"No, you were always a blast.", the boy responded with natural charm.

WHAT DID I JUST SAY? WHAT DID I JUST SAY THERE?! DO SOMETHING! CALL HER PRETTY! KISS HER!

"That's a relief to hear. No need to give you any more hardships when you're already dealing with Basilisks and such. That reminds me..."

Getting a bit red herself, the girl gifts Harry an especially intimate hug before once again pecking his cheek.

...

"Few people can claim they saved my life twice. Now I just have to give Ron one as well."

She turned towards the compartment again, opening the sliding door as she put on her silly voice again.

"Oh, RONALD!"

"Get away from me!"

The Hogwarts Express was shaken again and Harry momentarily lost his balance, dropping to his butt, mind sufficiently shattered.

...

...

...

"I think I fancy Marley.", he finally, finally admitted to himself.

Cue "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by the Beatles.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh boy, my personal favorite Harry Potter movie is now also finally down, coincidentally on the anniversary of this fic being uploaded! Blimey!

Thanks to everyone who reads and enjoys. Thankfully I enjoy it quite myself as well still and I cannot wait to dive into Prisoner of Azkaban next, though a short break is needed first.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend in these depressing times. Stay strong and take care. Love you all!

This is also the part where I tell my fanfictiondotnet readers that I will be continuing this story over on Ao3 exclusively beginning next chapter, as I am quite annoyed by this website's interface and I'd be happy not to have to upload it twice every time.