The Secrets of the Chamber

Disclaimer: Not only do all of these marvelous characters belong to J.K. Rowling; there are even some quotes within my story that belong to her, too. (They're in italics.) I take no profit for any of these things, and I only use them for my own enjoyment.

“He’s on the move,” Harry said quietly in Ron and Hermione’s direction. He glanced away for a moment, and they glanced at each other concernedly, and then quickly back at Harry.

“Listen, I know it’s not much of a lead, but I’m going to go and look at this statue. At least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know, -the other one- safe.”
Cho began to stand up, but Ginny said fiercely, “No, Luna will take Harry, won’t you Luna?”

“Oooh, yes I’d like to,” said Luna happily. Cho sat back down, looking rather disappointed.

Harry then turned to Neville. “How do we get out?” he asked.

“Over here.” He led Harry and Luna to cupboard in the corner of the room. When he opened the door, it led to a staircase. Harry thanked Neville, and started up the staircase with Luna following closely behind him. Neville closed the door behind them and turned back to Ron and Hermione.

“Ok, so which of you is going to tell us all what the hell he is on about?”

Cho, who still seemed rather put out, spoke over Hermione’s attempt at deflecting the question. “Oh, don’t bother. He’s Harry bloody Potter, isn’t he? He never makes sense and then all of sudden at the end of the year Gryffindor winds up having a couple hundred extra house points out of nowhere, and even though Ravenclaw was ahead by a mile, we have to stare at those stupid lion banners for the end of year feast. It’s rather annoying really, and to be frank, I-”

“So! What can we do?” Ginny interrupted her forcefully. Cho glared at her, but no one paid her any attention.

Hermione glanced at Ron, but was alarmed to see him not glancing at her as well, but instead looking head on into the crowd of students.

“Look, we can’t tell you what he’s on about, but there is a possibility of a fight tonight. I just want all of you to start bracing yourselves for a ton of shit, okay? We can do this. We will do this.” The students started nodding and whooping with excitement and nerves welling up inside them. Neville joined Ron in front of the group and continued to rile them up.

“Alright you guys, you heard the man, let’s go! Let’s make this just like a DA meeting. Get into pairs, start practicing. Work on your aim, talk strategy; do something! Let’s get out there and show them what were made of!”

Hermione slowly grabbed Ron’s sleeve and pulled him away from the crowd of now-bustling students and turned him to face her.

“Ron,” She whispered. “Even if Harry finds the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still have the cup, too, remember?’

Ron looked worried for a few moments until he muttered one word almost incoherently, “Basilisk.”

“What?”

“Let’s go,” He said. Quickly, he turned towards the cupboard Harry had exited through earlier.

“Wait, wait, wait! How can we- isn’t it underground?”

“Yes, it’s way below the school.”

“Then how are we going to get down there, or into the chamber, or back up? Didn’t Harry need to use his ability to speak Parseltongue?” She was speaking far too quickly, and Ron just stood there for a moment, thinking hard.

“Well, it was just a slide down, and for the Parseltongue, I bet I can copy the sounds Harry made…”

“Ron-”

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” he asked defensively. He looked so determined and hopeful that she couldn’t help but admire him for a few moments and give in.

“And how will we get back up here?” she asked kindly. Almost on command, a broomstick appeared in the corner next to the cupboard, unnoticed by the students who were huddled in groups discussing tactics or helping each other with their wand movements.

“Brilliant!” Ron muttered, really smiling for the first time in several hours. He walked over through the excited students, grabbed the broom, motioned to Hermione, and opened the cupboard door. This time, it led to a stone slide that looked rather twisted, but not unbearable. He was just about to help Hermione down into the tube when he heard shouting.

“Oi! Where are you two going? We’re practicing!’ Neville yelled over at them. “There’s no way you’re going to join him without us, are you?” Ginny glanced over at these words as well.

“We’ll be back, we’ve just got to grab something first,” Ron replied.

“Well, why can’t you get it here? I’m sure the Room of Requirement can get it for you,” Neville offered.

“No, Neville, we’ve got to get it from a particular room. We need a bathroom,” Hermione started.

“We’ve got bathrooms here.” Ginny said.

“Look, we promise we’ll be back. Just trust us, alright?” Ron asked with frustration. Neville and Ginny looked concerned, but Neville nodded, and turned around just in time for Ginny to disarm him.

“Damnit, Ginny!” he shouted, and they proceeded to have a practice duel. Ron helped Hermione into the slide and followed her.

The slide came out at the end of a dark corridor. For several minutes, Ron and Hermione just snuck from corner to corner, trying to decipher which part of the castle they were in.

“There!” Hermione whispered. Across the hall, miraculously, was Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. They checked quickly that the coast was clear, and then scurried towards the entrance, Ron placing the broom on the ground beside him. Once inside, Hermione cast a quick Homenom Revelio and when they were sure it was secure, they walked towards the sinks. Ron found the tap with the snake carved into it and looked at it for a moment, and then he gave Hermione a rather worried look.

“Go on,” she encouraged him, smiling slightly. He opened his mouth, closed it again, took a deep breath, and hissed.

Nothing happened.

“Try again!” Hermione urged him.

Still nothing.

“C’mon Ron, you’re close, I can feel it,” she said. So he continued hissing for a while. A good three minutes passed, and suddenly, the sinks started moving.

“Oh, Ron!” Hermione shouted. She looked at him with complete admiration in her eyes and ran quickly to hug him tightly. He hugged back, letting out a small awkward laugh, and then released her. His hands were around her waist, hers were on his shoulders. There was a fleeting moment where they locked eyes and could almost feel the tension in the air, and then-

“Er, d'you want to go down first? Or would you rather I do it?” Ron asked, letting go of her and wiping his sweaty palms on his clothes.

“I’d rather you go, if you don’t mind,” she said, not meeting his eyes.

“Alright, you follow about thirty seconds after me. Be careful, okay?” He looked at her until she looked into his eyes and nodded. He picked the broom up off the ground beside him, slowly lowered himself into the tube, and disappeared. A few moments later, she had slid down as well, coming out far from neatly at the bottom and nearly landing on top of Ron.

“Alright?” he asked.

“I think so,” she replied. He grinned and walked through the path, passing over the rubble he had moved several years before. He had to fight the urge to act like a tour guide, pointing everything out to Hermione. He paused at the pile of rock to help Hermione climb through, and then continued walking until they reached a door engraved with snakes.

“I didn’t make it this far when I was with Harry,” Ron admitted.

“That’s fine, just hiss again.” Hermione said. It only took about thirty-five seconds this time around for the snakes to begin responding to Ron’s “commands”. The door opened and they walked through the pipe and into the chamber. They looked around to see the great snake lying cross the stone floor, the huge head of Salazar Slytherin crumbling in places, and water all over the place, drenching the floor.

“Goodness. So this is where Harry fought off Voldemort our second year?” Hermione marveled.

“I suppose,” Ron muttered, still feeling a slight pang of jealousy every time Harry’s achievements were mentioned and his own were forgotten.

“It’s no wonder he’s so angry all the time, really. He’s always stuck in peril in such awful places.”

Ron forced a laugh and headed over towards the rotting corpse of a snake. “Ugh!” He exclaimed once he got a little nearer. “It reeks!”

“Well, we’ve got to get them somehow. Hold on, give me a moment.” She waved her wand and muttered something, and the smell lessened slightly. “Better?” she asked.

“A bit. It’s not unbearable, anyway.” Ron replied. “Alright, now how can we get them? Should we try…? Accio Fan-”

“NO! Ron, no. They could stab you, and they’re still full of venom. Can’t we just…” she walked forward, grabbed a tooth near its root, and yanked as hard as she could. It loosened slightly, but she couldn’t quite get it to come out. Ron walked over and tried as well, and with a great effort he got it out.

Panting heavily, he said, “Ugh. There has to be an easier way to do this.” He looked pointedly at Hermione’s wand. “Isn’t there some spell we can use?”

“You mean some spell I can use.” She glared at him and pursed her lips. Sighing, she began muttering to herself. “Let me think… “

“Would a severing charm work?” Ron suggested.

“It’s worth a try, I suppose. Difindo!” she shouted. Almost at once, all the fangs fell straight out of the gums. “There we are. Good thinking, Ron,” she said. “Now, shall we destroy the cup?”

“Yeah, we might as well while we’re out of the way of other people. Besides this place has seen one Horcrux destroyed, what would it matter for another one to die here?”

“Yes, and it’ll give Harry one less thing to worry about, of course.” Hermione pointed out.

“Right, then. Here you are.” He pulled the goblet from his robes and handed it to Hermione.

“Wait, me? I’m destroying it?”

“Yes, you,” Ron said, smiling.

“Why me?”

“Well, I figure Dumbledore, Harry, and I each got one already. It’s your turn,” Ron said reasonably.

“But, but… will it just die? All I have to do is stab it? Or…” She was rambling.

“Hermione, calm down. There is a chance it may try to fight back, but really all you’ll have to do is ignore whatever it says or does and keep stabbing it, alright? Just don’t listen to it.”

“What do you mean it’ll fight back? It didn’t fight you! I thought you just stabbed it and it died!” She was holding the cup as far away from herself as possible, as though afraid it was going to grow arms and start beating her upside the head.

“Well, it had a bit to say first,” he said, turning crimson and looking down.

“What?! What is it going to do? I can’t do this I-”

“Hermione!” Ron shouted, and she faltered. “Look, Hermione, you’re brilliant. If anyone can destroy one of the most powerful magical objects of all time, it would be you, because you’re one of the most powerful witches of all time. Just put it on the ground and stab it. I know you’ll do well, alright?” He spoke in a soothing tone. Hermione took a few deep breaths, and strengthened her resolve.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with.” She set the cup down and picked up a fang. It shook slightly in her hand, but she simply tightened her grip on it and knelt to the ground. Suddenly, the cup violently fell over and ricocheted across the room. Hermione stood up incredibly quickly.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Ron said. “I forgot. I have to hold it. Harry held the locket for me. I’ll get it.” He jogged across the room to retrieve the cup and walked briskly back to where she stood. Slowly, he knelt down with the cup, this time holding its base with his fingertips, pinning it to the ground. Hermione looked worriedly at the cup, and then at Ron.

“C’mon, Hermione. You can do this.” He looked her right in the eyes. “For Harry, yeah?” She shook her head to collect herself once more, lifted the fang above her head and knelt back down again. The cup began thrashing for a second time, but Ron wouldn’t let it go. As Hermione held the fang over it, suddenly the bottom of the inside of the cup opened up like a small television screen, and Hermione stopped and stared at it, transfixed.

“Don’t, Hermione! Don’t listen, just stab!” Ron shouted. But Hermione wasn’t listening, or she was unable to listen. Suddenly, figures rose out of the cup, just as they had out of the locket and they began speaking in the same demonic tones as they had to Ron.

“Hermione Granger. Silly girl. Foolish girl. What will you do if this all ends badly? Your parents know nothing of your existence, and it’s your fault; all your fault. Your best friend is running around with no help at this very moment and you’re not even there to help him. Foolish, unintelligent girl. You’re so selfish. You got your parents out of the way just so you wouldn’t have to deal with them. You always push away things that bother you. You pretend they don’t exist.”

“Stab it, Hermione!” Ron pleaded. He didn’t take his eyes off of her and he continued screaming words of encouragement as loud as he could, desperate to get her attention. Still, the cup continued to speak over him.

“Selfish girl. You won’t even listen to your own heart when it has problems, will you? You nearly lost him last year after you stopped been speaking to him for such a childish reason. What if you lost him before you had time to fix things? What if you lose him now? He’ll never know, will he? You’re too selfish to tell him. Too foolish. Too afraid. Stupid Hermione Granger."

Figures began swirling out of the cup, but none of them stayed for long. Her family, her friends; each of them appearing for a few brief moments, each of them looking eerily similar to the people they imitated, and yet so much more awful than any of them. Every figure appeared long enough only to die, and then to disappear. Hermione was just watching the cycle, sobbing. Harry, Ron, Mum, Dad, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Mum, Ron, Ron, Ron, Ron…

“Hermione! Stab it! Please, Hermione, stop crying. Stab it! Stab it!” Ron cried. Through the entire ordeal he had not looked away from her a single time. He just watched her and his voice grew hoarser by the second as he continued shouting out words of encouragement. Finally, Hermione looked away from the cycle and into his eyes, and her mouth fell slightly open. She gripped the fang tighter and looked at Ron once more; sadness etched in her every feature. Swiftly, she shifted her eyes to the cup, but before she had time to register whose death it was projecting at the moment, she plunged the fang deep into its core. One quick puncture, and then she tossed aside the fang and fell from her kneeling position into a tiny ball, sobbing into her arms and knees.

Ron waited for the cup to stop hissing and sputtering, tucked it into his robes, and rushed over to Hermione. Sitting beside her, he threw his arms around her and rocked her slowly, whispering into her ear. “Shh, it’s alright. It’s alright, Hermione. It’s ok. It’s all over. It’s gone. You did it! You killed it, Hermione! That was amazing!” He continued whispering strings of compliments and reassurances for a few minutes until finally Hermione wiped her eyes, finished sniffling, and looked at Ron.

“I’m… I’m sorry you had to see-”

“No, Hermione. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything; I was looking at you and shouting too loud to hear what it was saying the entire time. I heard nothing. I swear it,” he said.

“But-”

“Look, Hermione, if you saw what the locket said to me, I don’t know what I would have done. The least I could do was not watch what it said to you. It wouldn’t be fair. It just wouldn’t.” He hugged her close.

Hermione leaned slightly away, and he let go at once. She looked into his eyes confusedly for a moment, and then half-smiled. “Thank you. It’s silly, especially now, but I would have been really embarrassed.” She laughed slightly.

“I know, I know,” he said. For a moment, they just looked at each other, sitting next to one another. They were only a few inches apart, but Ron could barely stand the fact that he wasn’t wrapped around her. Finally, Hermione stood up. Wiping her eyes quickly and tucking her hair behind her ears, she glanced around for a moment, looked down at Ron and asked, “How long has it been since we’ve been down here?”

“Dunno. We should get back, though. How many Horcruxes are left now?” He stood up slowly.

“Only three, including He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And You-Know-Who and Nagini can’t be destroyed until the very, very end, so if Harry has found the last Horcrux already, all we have to do is stab it with one of the fangs… and then we’re done.”

“Wow,” Ron said. “It sounds crazy, but I never thought we’d get this far.” He rolled his neck, clapped his hands together, and headed over towards the snake.

“To be honest, neither did I. This is all so surreal,” Hermione said, following him over to the snake. Each of them began gathering fangs, being very careful not to touch their tips, just in case. Ron gathered several in one arm, and walked to the entrance where he had left the broom. He walked over to Hermione with it, and then realized their dilemma.

“Hermione, how’re we going to hold all these and hold onto the broom?” Ron asked, cocking his head slightly to the side. Hermione looked around, and down at the fangs they were holding.

“Well, we really only need three more at the most, but just to be careful, we should grab about six in case some of them have run dry of venom.”

“Right, but we still have nowhere to put them.” Ron pointed out.

“Well, give me a moment. I’m thinking.” She paced around the room for a few seconds, looking around for anything that could be used to hold the fangs. Finally, she turned on her heel to face Ron directly. “Will it end tonight?” she asked abruptly.

“What?” he looked stunned.

“Tonight. Do you think this battle and everything we’ve done will end tonight?” she inquired.

“Well, I suppose. I mean, You-Know-Who was on his way, right? And as long as Harry finds that diamond thing or whatever it was, then I don’t see-”

“Good.” Hermione set down the fangs she was holding and reached inside her shirt and grabbed the beaded bag. Rifling inside of it, she began emptying the contents onto the floor.

“What’re you doing?” Ron asked incredulously.

“There’s no other way. A Levitation spell isn’t reliable enough, holding them while flying is too risky, I can’t put venomous fangs into a bag with all of my things and risk ruining them, and we won’t need any of this stuff on hand anymore if we're done tonight. We’ll have beds and shelter and food made for us here, right?” She looked at him, waiting for his confirmation.

“Well, yea, I suppose.” He replied. “But still, I mean, we can’t guarantee we’ll get down here to get this stuff back. Are you really willing to lose it all?”

“Well, the way I see it, either we’re going t-.” she stopped for a moment to fight the tears in her eyes. “Either we’re going to die tonight, or we’ll have the rest of our lives to come back and find it.” She looked Ron dead in the eyes, and waited for his response.

“You’re right. We’ll come back in a few days and grab it,” Ron said. Hermione grinned slightly, and proceeded to empty every last item out of the bag, making an incredibly large pile on the floor. “Well, at least I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it getting stolen, right?” Ron asked. Hermione chuckled.

“No, I suppose not.” She then loaded the rest of the fangs from her pile on the ground into the bag and allowed Ron to deposit his fangs into the bag as well. Sealing it tightly, she slung the strap around her wrist. Ron picked up the broom again and mounted it, motioning for Hermione to get on the back. She looked at it warily, but clambered up over it after him. He kicked off and let it hover for a moment so she could get her balance. She made sure the bag was dangling over the crook of her elbow, so as not to hit anything, and after spending a few moments trying to place her hands some place comfortable, she finally squeezed her eyes to gather courage, and wrapped them around Ron’s waist. “Is this alright?” she asked. “I wouldn’t want to knock you off balance but I can’t seem to-“

“Hermione, that’s great. This way I know you haven’t fallen. Now hold tight, I’m going to go kind of quickly, alright?” Ron said. He began to pick up speed, and she tightened her grip on him and pressed her face into his back. She focused on his scent, which reminded her of a rather embarrassing moment in Potions class the year earlier while describing the Amortentia to her classmates. She could feel her face turning red at the memory and was glad that Ron could not see her.

They kept rising higher and higher through the narrow tunnel. Ron remained incredibly focused on his steering and Hermione was focusing all her efforts on trying to avoid looking at anything. Finally after several minutes, they reached the top of the chute and they arrived in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Ron dismounted the broom, and Hermione finally looked up. She checked to see that her bag was secure and walked around for a bit trying to get her bearings. Looking back down at the bag, she decided it would be more practical to have the fangs on hand in case they were needed at a moment’s notice. She opened it up, handed three to Ron, grabbed three of her own, and tossed the bag aside.

Suddenly, they heard the terrifying, all-too-familiar booming voice of Lord Voldemort ringing throughout the castle.

"Give me Harry potter and you shall be rewarded.
“You have until midnight.”

Both Ron and Hermione looked at each other with terror etched across their faces at the same moment. They dashed from the bathroom and into the corridor, which was now lit, but completely deserted.

“Alright, where would he have gone after the Ravenclaw common room?” Hermione asked.

“I don’t know, back to the Room of Requirement? Unless he found out it was elsewhere. But even then wouldn’t he go to get us from the Room of Requirement?” Ron was talking very quickly; they kept rounding corners with no real destination in mind, just trying to get anywhere quickly.

“Wait! Yes. Yes, Ron, you’re right. Where are we? We’ve got to get to the Room of Requirement.” Hermione stopped, and grabbed the arm he had tucked his broomstick under. “Pause for a moment. I know where we are, we’ve got to go left here, and then up that flight of stairs. C’mon Ron, let’s hurry. He may already be looking for us!”

They raced around the corner and up the flight of stairs. Though they were now aware of their destination, they were also now painfully aware of how far away their destination was. They had been traveling in the wrong direction entirely, so they had to back-track and then walk across the castle. In addition to this, they had no idea if Voldemort was inside the castle or not, so though they tried to be quick, they had to be cautious. After nearly ten minutes of weaving around the castle, they rounded a corner near the Room of Requirement and were startled to hear a roar from Harry.

“Where the hell have you been?” Harry shouted.