“Look, as much as I respect Professor McGonagall, I don’t believe that the Chamber of Secrets doesn’t exist,” said Ron as they were making their way through the corridors after Transfiguration. “I mean, we all know Salazar Slytherin was a bit mental, but I had no idea he started the whole blood purist crap. I wouldn’t be in that house if you offered me a million galleons, they’re all messed up.”

“Well, actually, they’re not all horrible, Ron. Plenty of Slytherins were just as horrified about that message as everyone else,” said Hermione, ducking past a couple of rowdy 6th years in the corridor. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s horrible how Muggleborns have been treated, as I’ve experienced myself, but not everyone's the same just as not every Gryffindor is perfect.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “You’re just saying that because you’ve somehow befriended Parkinson and Greengrass,” Ron snapped, “Which, by the way, it’s really weird.”

As Ron and Hermione continued to bicker on their way to the common room, both Hari and Draco stayed silent. Both of them had close connections with Slytherins and Hari knew how Draco felt about his family. Of course not every Slytherin was evil. Draco’s Aunt Andromeda was a Slytherin and she was perfectly nice, not to mention Professor Snape was usually relatively decent enough these days, in his own way. Only Draco knew about how the hat had considered putting Hari in Slytherin only a year ago and he wasn’t sure now about how Ron would react.

They passed Colin Creevey as they were making their way past.

“Alright, Hari?” Colin called through the crowd half engulfing him.

“Hi, Colin,” replied Hari politely.

“A bunch of my classmates have been saying you’re—” he began, trying to hop up and down, tiny as he was, but was forced to stop as the swarm of students continued walking and he had no choice but to follow them. “See you, Hari!” his voice called from somewhere deep within the mob of people before he disappeared away down the corridor.

“What would his classmates be saying about you, Hari?” asked Hermione as they slipped off into a staircase hidden behind a tapestry of a monk to avoid the crowd.

“Probably that I’m the heir of Slytherin and set some murderous creature on an unsuspecting cat because I hate Muggle-borns and cats,” deadpanned Hari, hurrying up the dimly lit spiral staircase. Ron snorted at his reply while Hermione shook her head somewhat disapprovingly.

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed open the door at the top of the stairs, stepping into the corridor. “Honestly, the idiots at this school will believe anything if it makes as little sense as possible,” he said.

They were in the middle of discussing whether or not the Chamber existed when they accidentally found themselves along the corridor where the attack occurred a few days ago. It was in a similar state to how it was that same night, the writing still shining crimson on the stones. There was now a chair sitting nearby where Filch was often sitting and the puddles on the floor were mopped up.

Ron wandered over to the wall, brushing his fingers against the stone and bending down next to it. “Look! There are scorch marks on the wall!” he said, pointing out several black marks on the wall near the writing. “D’you think that whatever petrified Mrs. Norris left this?” Hari stepped closer, leaning over Ron’s shoulder to get a better look.

“Probably, yeah.”

“Hey, Ron. Hari. Come look at this!” called Draco from where he and Hermione were standing next to the window at the end of the corridor. “It’s really weird…”

Ron and Hari shared a look before heading over down the hallway. On the window ledge, a long line of spiders of varying sizes were crawling frantically to get through a crack in the stone leading outside. There was a sort of frantic look to the way they clambered over each other, spinning tiny spindles of webs to get to the crack as fast as possible.

“I’ve never seen spiders acting like that,” said Hari, squinting at the tiny creatures closely. He looked over his shoulder. Ron was standing a few feet back, shifting awkwardly on his feet and quite stiff. Hari stood and turned towards his friend. “You alright, mate?” he asked, frowning.

“I...I don’t like spiders,” he mumbled, ears going scarlet. At Draco’s and Hermione’s snickers, he added defensively, “You would be too if your older brothers turned your teddy bear into a huge spider when you were little just because you broke their toy broomstick. You try living with Fred Weasley!”

Hari elbowed Draco harshly in the side as he continued to laugh. “Anyway, weren’t there a bunch of puddles around here? Those are gone now,” he said in an effort to change the subject. He glared at Draco and Hermione and moved over beside Ron.

“Yeah, it came from over there,” said Hermione pointing to a door a few feet away from the writing on the wall.

“Are you guys aware that that’s a girl’s toilet?” asked Ron, pointing up at the sign above the door as the other three started towards it. Hanging above the door, the sign said plainly: Girls Lavatory.

Hari shrugged and continued over to the door. “This is Myrtle’s toilet. Nobody ever uses it anyway,” he said, pushing the door open.

“How do you know about Moaning Myrtle’s toilet?” asked Hermione, stepping inside the toilet after Hari. Draco followed shortly after while Ron tentatively stepped inside, looking over his shoulder as he went.

“I grew up here from when I was five, Hermione,” replied Hari shortly. Hermione opened and shut her mouth a few times before flicking his arm, rolling her eyes. “I’ve spoken to her a few times. She’s not that bad.”

“Why do they call her that?” whispered Ron.

Hari shook his head. “I’ll explain later,” he muttered. He looked around the deserted and ill-lit lavatory. There was a long line of sinks going along one wall and on the other side was a bunch of toilet stalls. There were several cracks in the mirror and graffiti littering the walls and the floor. “Er, Myrtle? Are you in here?”

There was a short silence in which only the sound of a dripping tap filled the air. And then, with a large splashing sound from inside one of the toilets, a girl floated into the air and hovered above the stall. Myrtle Warren was a ghost that would have been a couple of years older than Hari in Ravenclaw, dressed in Hogwarts robes, a pair of glasses and her hair tied into two plaits. She scowled down at the four newcomers.

“What are boys doing in the girl’s toilets?” she asked, whizzing down to their level. “Oh, hello, Hari! Long time no see.”

“Yeah, sorry. How have you been?” he asked awkwardly, ruffling his hair in the back.

“Still dead,” she replied bluntly, floating over to inspect Draco and Ron curiously. Ron cringed away slightly, trying to avoid the horrible freezing sensation of being touched by a ghost while Draco merely tilted his head, inspecting her with interest. “You’ve brought pretty friends this time,” she said, staring transfixed at Draco.

“Ask her if she saw anything,” Ron muttered to Hari and Hermione.

Myrtle huffed offendedly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why must you talk about me behind my back? I hate when people do that!” she whined, eyes already brimming with tears.

“We weren’t, I promise!” Hermione exclaimed, slightly panicked. She looked at Hari for help.

“Yeah, Myrtle, I swear. We were just coming to ask you if you saw anything the other night when there was an attack outside your lavatory?” Hari asked, giving Myrtle a tentative smile. She wasn’t bad company when she was in a good mood and Hari had often found himself wandering up to her toilet to chat with Myrtle when he was bored or wanted to talk to someone closer to his age that didn’t have a class.

“I wasn’t paying attention, was I?” she replied, sniffling. “Peeves was making fun of me again and so I came in here to cry and I didn’t notice anything outside.” She gave a dramatic sigh, burst into tears and soared up into the air and into a toilet stall. There was a loud splash and a muffled sob coming from inside the pipes.

Hari started towards the door, leading the others out. “See where the nickname comes from, now?” he asked, stepping into the corridor. “She’s honestly not that bad if you’re actually nice to her. I used to visit her—”

“OI!”

They all turned abruptly to find Percy Weasley stomping over to them, looking furious. “What were you doing in the girls toilet? Only Hermione is a girl, you know!” he snapped, scowling at Ron especially. “Especially the one around this corridor!”

“Oh, shut up. We never did anything to that sodding cat, alright?” snarled Ron, red in the face. “Just because all you care about is being made Head Boy next year. Honestly, it’s embarrassing!”

Percy scoffed, ears flushing red like Ron’s ears normally did when he was embarrassed. “That’s not true!” He stomped his foot. “You’ve made Ginny upset with your foolish actions whether you did it or not!”

“You do not care about Ginny, asshole. Like I said, all that matters to you is that I don’t ruin your chances of being the bloody Head Boy! So leave Ginny out of this!”

“Five points from Gryffindor! How dare you talk to me like—!”

Ron grabbed Hari by the elbow and Draco by the sleeve of his robe and began dragging them away down the hallway away from his older brother. “Oh stuff a sock in it! I don’t care!” He ignored the shocked and angry spluttering of his older brother and marched the other three all the way up the final staircase until they were near the portrait hole.

Hari looked at Hermione and Draco behind Ron’s back as they followed his hurried footsteps which echoed around the stone walls. Hermione let them into the common room and Hari carefully pulled Ron towards the stairs leading to the dormitory, gesturing for Hermione to follow after. Back in the dormitory, Hari sat Ron down on the bed. He was shaking with anger, fists balled at his sides and his neck, ears and face a vibrant shade of pink.

“I think it’s best if you calm down up here without people staring, yeah?” said Hari, walking over to the small water jug they often kept on a window sill and pouring a goblet of water for Ron. He handed it over to his friend and he took it silently, gulping the entire glass in one swallow.

Ron leaned over to put the empty cup on the floor and took a deep breath. Draco sat down on his own bed and Hermione sat beside him. “He’s so irritating sometimes,” Ron said finally, “And he pretends he cares about Ginny and the rest of us, but it’s so obvious he doesn’t care about anything but himself and being Head Boy. He’s always cared too much about stupid rules and looking good for other people that are more important than he is. Even when we were little that was all he gave a damn about and it was just so annoying.” He flopped onto his back, staring up at the top of his four poster bed. “I probably shouldn’t have lashed out at him…”

“Probably not your smartest move, no,” said Draco with a small smirk. Still lying on his back, Ron stuck up his middle finger at his friend.

“Who does he think he is, anyway?” Ron continued, sitting up again. “I mean, really. As if any of us would ever do any of that creepy stuff. I can maybe understand other people, but Percy? We’re family for Merlin’s sake!”

“I guess some people just don’t care about their family,” Draco said pointedly. Everyone turned to look at him. “I mean, Percy is just another person that doesn’t care enough about their family members. He’s probably better than my father at least.”

Ron chewed on his bottom lip. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine, Ron. You’re right. It is stupid to assume that about your own family member.”

“I just wish we knew who did do it,” Hari said, moving to sit beside Ron on his bed. “Who would want to threaten Muggle-borns and Squibs?”

“Some lousy Slytherin, I bet,” said Ron. At the glare Hermione shot him, he blushed and added, “Or some other lousy non-Slytherin.”

Draco rolled his eyes and leaned back against his pillows. “Or Theodore Nott,” he said.

“Nott? Really?” asked Hermione skeptically. “I mean, he’s certainly a bigoted and awful person, but seriously?”

“Well, why not?” said Ron. “He was the one that said ‘you’ll be next, M words’, so why couldn’t he be?”

“His father was a huge supporter of the Dark Lord as well,” Draco added from his bed.

Hermione frowned. “I suppose it’s possible it’s him…”

“You could always ask Pansy or Millicent to see about it. I’m sure they could easily listen in on him in the common room,” suggested Hari. “Or anyone else in that house. You have to admit, it’s more likely to be a Slytherin seeing as it’s his heir.”

“I suppose I could ask them next time I see them.”

“And you’re sure you trust them, Hermione?” asked Ron. “What if they’re just trying to lull you into a false sense of security?”

Hermione reached across the bed and stole one of Draco’s pillows. She chucked it right at Ron’s head, knocking him over slightly. As Hari and Draco burst out laughing, Hari rolling over on the bed and Draco clutching his stomach, she said, “I can figure out my friends on my own, thank you very much. Maybe if you just gave them a chance, you’d see that they’re both perfectly nice people!” Ron tossed the pillow back to Draco, scowling. “And besides. You should be thankful I finally have some girls to talk to!”

Ron opened his mouth to retort something back, but seemed to decide against it at the warning looks from Hari and Draco. A few minutes later, they made their way downstairs to work on their homework in the common room. They caught sight of Percy over in a corner with some other friends, scowling. Oliver Wood was nearby, watching Percy with curiosity over the top of his Quidditch notes. Ron pointedly ignored Percy’s scandalised looks at Hermione coming from the boys’ dormitory and led them over to a table on the opposite side of the common room from his older brother.

It was a slightly tense evening, to say the least.

¤¤¤

A couple of days later, the Gryffindors had double Potions with the Slytherins. When they arrived in the dungeons after a History of Magic lesson, Hermione led Hari, Ron and Draco over to where Pansy and Millicent were standing together with Blaise Zabini. Theodore Nott was standing nearby with Crabbe and Goyle, whispering something.

“Hermione!” exclaimed Millicent at the same time as Pansy. Millicent pulled Hermione over clumsily, nearly stepping on Blaise’s foot.

As Ron, Hari and Draco shuffled over awkwardly, Blaise gave them all a short once over and nodded. Pansy glanced at them suspiciously, tilting her head. Hermione stepped back, tucking a few of her stray curls behind her ear and looking between all her friends. “I, uh, needed to ask you for a favour,” she said, lowering her voice so that the rest of their classmates couldn’t hear.

“And what will you give us in return?” asked Millicent, cocking her head. Hari and Ron looked at each other sideways.

“I can get my parents to mail some Muggle things to give you,” she suggested.

Behind them, Theodore Nott scoffed and the others turned to look at him, all frowning. Even Blaise looked unhappy by his presence. “Did you say Muggle stuff?” he asked scathingly as Crabbe and Goyle laughed menacingly behind him, “Who on Earth would be daft enough to want some Mudblood’s old crap?” The crowd listening gasped, Ron, Hari and Draco whipping out their wands.

Before anyone could hex Nott, Professor Snape came striding down the corridor at that moment, putting their conversation to a halt. They stepped inside the dungeon at Professor Snape’s silent hand gesture and began moving to their seats, glaring at Nott as he went to sit elsewhere across the room. However, Hermione joined Pansy and Millicent at another table, forcing Hari, Ron and Draco to sit with Blaise.

Professor Snape strided to the front of the room. His eyes fell onto the surprising mixture of the Gryffindors and Slytherins at two of the tables, a sight he likely had never seen by choice before. He recovered quickly and pointed his wand at the board. The title ‘Sleeping Draught’ appeared on the board in his neat, slanted writing. “Today you will be brewing the Sleeping Draught. When brewed correctly, it will give the drinker instant, dreamless sleep,” he said, “But if you mess it up, you will end up fatigued but simultaneously unable to sleep.”

He waved his wand at the board again and the list of steps appeared in his writing as well. Hari scanned the board quickly and began pulling out the ingredients on the board and setting his cauldron on the stove on his table. Professor Snape was pacing the room, eyeing the students’ work. Beside him, Ron was adding sprigs of lavender to his potion, eyes narrowed in focus. Meanwhile, across from Hari, Blaise and Draco were both at work as well in silence. At the table next to them, Hermione was talking rapidly with Pansy and Millicent while Daphne Greengrass stared in confusion.

“Do you have any idea how Granger befriended Pansy and Millicent?” Blaise asked the table a little while into class as he poured Flobberworm mucus into his bubbling potion.

Draco, who was halfway through chopping up his valerian roots with a scowl, looked up. “Why? Do you have a problem with it?” he asked coolly, still holding his knife in his hand.

Hari and Ron paused their own potions work and looked at each other, both sensing this conversation could go south very quickly. Blaise raised an eyebrow at the blond, eyes darting to the knife in his hand for a split second.

“Couldn’t care less,” he replied, shrugging as he stirred his potion a few times. “I just find it surprising. Not exactly common to see Gryffindors and Slytherins getting along so well.” An audacious smile creeped onto his face, eyes narrowing. “As you clearly know already…” He looked over his shoulder at Nott, Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco dropped his knife on the table and scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he snarled.

Blaise sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m just saying, everyone knows your parents half-disowned you ever since you got sorted into Gryffindor. Not exactly a great show of house solidarity, is it?”

“Don’t talk about my family like that!”

“Alright, alright,” Blaise replied slightly dismissively. Draco’s cheeks were flushed still as Blaise shuffled away to continue adding to his potion. “You’re supposed to stir it clockwise, not counterclockwise, you know.” This statement was directed towards Ron, who had indeed been stirring his potion the wrong way in his distraction at watching the argument unfolding across the table from him. Ears pink, Ron started stirring his potion the opposite direction as Blaise smirked.

On the other side of the room, there was a scuffling as copious amounts of steam began to billow out of Neville’s cauldron. Professor Snape, who had been telling Millicent Bulstrode off for adding too many lavender sprigs, marched over to Neville. Pale and wide eyed, Neville stared up at the approaching teacher, clearly awaiting being shouted at.

Professor Snape looked into the cauldron, fanning away some of the thick steam. “You left it too long on the heat, Longbottom. Turn it down and add your valerian immediately so that it doesn’t explode,” he explained, pointing at the directions on the board. He waited as Neville fumbled with turning down the heat and poured the chopped valerian sprigs into the smoking cauldron. After a few seconds, the steam thinned out significantly and the potion turned to a much thinner substance. “There. Now stir it as the directions state and it won’t be a disaster.” Neville did as he was told and Professor Snape swept back to his own desk, rolling his eyes.

“I was fully expecting Longbottom to get yelled at, honestly,” commented Blaise as he stirred his potion again.

Hari snorted. “So did Neville, I’d say. Thank goodness he didn’t,” he said, glancing across the room at where Neville was whispering with Seamus and Dean as he let his potion simmer.

“It would have been quite the spectacle, though. But not ideal.”

“At least it didn’t explode either,” Ron added. “I can’t be arsed having to evacuate the dungeons a third time.”

By the end of the lesson, as the bell rang and everyone began filling their glass vials with their finished potions, Hari, Ron, Draco and Blaise were all laughing about the time they had to be evacuated outside after Seamus set fire to his desk. They joined Hermione, Pansy and Millicent in the corridor and Hari pulled Hermione’s sleeve.

“Did you ask them?”

She nodded, smiling and waving goodbye to the girls as they made their way towards their common room and the Gryffindors made their way up the stairs. Blaise nodded at Hari and the others as he joined the rest of his classmates going to their dungeon common room.

“Yeah, they agreed after I promised my parents would send them Muggle stuff. They’re both nosy as hell and Pansy loves gossip, so it was easy,” she replied, leading the way up the stairs. “I saw you guys talking with Blaise. How’d that go?”

“He seemed like an arse at first, but he wasn’t that bad after a while,” replied Draco.

Hermione looked smug but unsurprised. “I told you,” she said. Draco elbowed her.

“I’m still going to kick his ass in Quidditch, though,” added Hari. Even Hermione could laugh at this as they made their way over to the portrait to enter the common room.