Chapter 3
Hogwarts was just as Mary remembered it—she hasn’t visited since she graduated nearly two years ago, but the castle hasn't changed at all. Physically, at least. Inside and walking through the halls, the tension has clearly risen between students, Slytherin ones especially. The suits of armour no longer hum a tune as they pass by. Mary even notices that the portraits have lost their enthusiasm, they don’t wave in recognition, or sing a song.
Mcgonnagoll greets them with a nod the moment they reach the great hall. “Mr Black, Rosier. Miss Macdonald. I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”
“Us too, professor,” Mary says.
“When Albus wrote to me that three of my former students would be hunting horcruxes… well, I hadn’t expected the three of you.”
Evan sighed, but he said nothing.
Mcgonnagoll cleared her throat. “Alright. Dumbledore was very vague on what you three would be accomplishing here, but I want you to know I am here if you need any sort of aid.”
“Thank you, professor,” Mary smiled at her, though Mcgonnagoll disappeared quickly around the corner as a group of third years got a little carried away.
It was easy to find their way to the bathroom Moaning Myrtle haunted, she made it quite hard to forget where the constant wailing came from.
Students eyed them as they passed, curious gazes locking on until they rounded another corner, and Mary forgot how many flights of stairs Hogwarts had. She’d become accustomed to it while she attended there, of course, but now her thighs ached as they climbed another set.
“Here it is,” Regulus said, and Mary entered first. The second floor bathroom was usually empty because of Myrtle, and the boys had no issue stepping into the girl’s restroom.
It had not changed at all. Mary hardly used this bathroom during her school years, but the could vaguely remember when she had.
Myrtle was spotted floating above a stall, and she lit up when she caught sight of them. “Ooh, visitors! You guys aren’t students, are you? You’re not in your robes.”
“Clever girl,” Evan mused, dryly, and Mary leaned back to elbow him in the chest. “What?”
“We need her help, prick. Don’t piss her off.”
“No, Myrtle,” Regulus answered politely. “But we were students at one point.”
“That’s right. I remember you, brother of that mysterious Sirius Black. I always found you much cuter.”
Mary tried not to scoff aloud, though she did feel her jaw clench. “Thank you,” Regulus said, quickly.
“And you, always hiding during your potions lessons.”
“Yes,” Mary shrugged, ignoring Regulus’ smirk. “Slughorn can’t come in here.”
“You always had your skirt rolled so high. I remember when we used to get scolded for that kind of thing, but pretty girls always—”
Mary rolled her eyes, but Regulus briskly interjected. “Um, anyway, Myrtle, we have some questions. About your death.”
“Oh, it was quite dreadful,” she told them. “It happened right in here. I remember it so well. I’d hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then I died.”
“And you don’t remember how?”
“I have no idea,” Myrtle admitted. “I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes.”
“That’s the basilisk,” Mary said. “How did it get out of the Chamber of Secrets? There’s no way-”
There was a loud sound that resembled close to an old car trying to turn on, and Mary spun to see Evan casually leaning on the sinks, but he’d pushed one too hard, and somehow, the entire circle of them started to open.
“What-”
“Look at that,” Evan mused, and the three of them peered down the dark tunnel. “I found the Chamber of Secrets. You two need to step up your game.”
“You did it on accident,” Mary said, pointedly.
“Even better,” he grinned at her.
“Oh, Regulus,” Myrtle called. “If you die, you’re welcome to share my toilet.”
Regulus’ head immediately whipped around to glance at Mary, who stared back expectedly. She really didn’t know what was going on, they were obviously still exes. But even hearing a ghost flirt with him made her chest flare in annoyance, it was really quite aggravating.
“Thanks,” he said again, breaking his and Mary’s stare momentarily.
“Okay,” Evan drawled dramatically. “Who is going first? I think it should be the Gryffindor.”
“Hey!” She protested, glaring at him. “You don't get to volunteer me.”
“Isn’t your whole thing bravery?”
“My house's whole thing is bravery. That isn’t my whole thing, git.”
“I’ll go,” Regulus sighed. “It’s fine, I started this whole thing.”
“Oh, wait a second,” Evan interrupted. “You don’t get to one-up me and impress Macdonald.”
Mary shook her head. “What?”
“Yeah,” Regulus shoved at Evan. “What?”
“Oh, come on-”
“Jesus Christ,” Mary groaned as they continued swatting at each other, and without a warning, she leaped down into the darkness.
The scream didn’t come like she thought it would—she was too terrified to even make a sound or open her eyes as she went barreling down the rough surface, until she finally stumbled at the bottom. Her heart was pounding, and she staggered upright, clutching at the wall to balance herself.
It really was disgusting down there, the smell, the mucky green sewer water, she was still trying not to grimace as the boys finally made their appearance. Regulus stood up first, glaring at her. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“About murdering the two of you, honestly,” she said. “You took too long.”
“You can’t just jump down into a hole of eternal darkness-”
“My God, don’t be so dramatic, Regulus.”
“Something could have happened.”
“In the ten seconds I was alone down here?”
“Yes-”
“Well as you can see I am just fine.”
“Only because we followed after you so quickly.”
“Oh, is that so? You’re saying I’m incapable of defending myself then?”
“Merlin, Mary, no,” Regulus’ frustration is showing and it’s only encouraging her more. “Against other things, no. But a basilisk? Yes.”
“Well I-”
“I'm getting flashbacks,” Evan complained, and they both fell silent. “Come on, stop arguing. Let’s find this damn thing.”
Mary didn’t reply, she huffed quietly and let Evan start to lead them down through the tunnels. It was so disgusting, even after five minutes her trainers were covered in moss and muck, and even the hems of her jeans had started to darken in colour from the inch of water by their feet.
“Ugh,” she grumbled. “I just bought these.”
“Muggle clothes are ugly anyway. Just throw them out.”
Mary narrowed her gaze at the back of Evan’s head, but Regulus saved her from retorting by smacking him in the side.
As they deepened further into the tunnels, long clear coats of snake skin started to pile in the corners, lasting dozens of feet long, and Mary resisted the urge to shudder.
“How big do we think this thing is?”
“Judging by… that,” Regulus gestured to another lump of shredded skin. “I’m going to say it won’t be a garden snake.”
“Mm,” Mary said, wincing. “Where even is it?” She asked as they finally stepped out of the tunnels and into a large opening.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Mary eyed the large statue toward the front of the opening, and before her very eyes, something slithered out of it—and the three of them unanimously took a step back as it didn't stop. The basilisk was much, much longer than any of them had expected, and as it raised into the air, it was a good ten feet taller than them, fangs as long as Mary’s forearm.
“Oh, fuck.”
“Don’t look at its eyes! We need to blind it first!”
Mary’s gaze was cast downward instantly. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“You two distract it,” Regulus said. “I have an idea.”
Mary and Evan shared a brief look, but they did their best to keep the snake away from Regulus as he ducked away.
The basilisk lunged at Evan first, and he jumped to the side, rolling onto the floor and just barely managing to avoid the snap of the snake’s jaw.
Mary aimed her wand at the creature, willing her hand not to shake as she did a quick movement. “Confringo!”
The spell hardly had any sort of effect on the basilisk other than the way it flinched backward, but Mary only seemed to piss it off more, because it hissed at her next.
She immediately turned her gaze elsewhere as Evan pushed himself up, murmuring another spell that jerked the snake. Mary didn’t know how Regulus did it, but she heard a shout, and a moment later the basilisk writhed in pain.
“He’s blind,” Regulus told them, just as the snake threw him off of its back. Mary watched Regulus tumble to the ground, landing onto his side with a groan and a loud crack.
“Regulus!” Mary shouted, and the basilisk turned its attention to Evan. She sprinted by it as the damned thing struggled to find where they were, and slid to Regulus’ side.
“My wand,” he swore, pushing himself up with the help of her hand. “It broke.”
Mary relaxed slightly, she’d thought it had been a bone that she heard snap, but a broken wand brought up more issues, too.
“Guys!” Evan yelled. “A little help here!”
Mary pulled Regulus to his feet and instantly went to Evan’s aid. “Inferno!”
“Protego!” Evan casted, and a temporary ward went up around him.
“Watch out!”
“Glacius!” Regulus shouted, freezing the basilisk in its place as Mary rushed to pull Evan back up, tugging him out of the way. Mary stared at him, dazed at the fact that he’d just used wandless magic, and a little bit more attracted to him.
The three of them stood facing it, and then Evan narrowed his gaze. “Expulsion!”
Mary watched as the basilisk wiggled in response to the spell, though nothing else much happened.
“This isn’t working,” Mary shook her head, her wand still raised. “We need a better plan.”
“I agree-”
In their brief moment of distraction, Mary watched in horror as Evan was flung back against the wall, and he fell onto the floor weakly immediately after. Her head snapped to face the snake, who had flung Evan back with the back of its body.
“Evan!”
“Focus, Mary!” Regulus demanded, and Mary spared one last glance in his direction before averting her attention. “Okay, we need to-”
Regulus didn’t get the chance to finish—the basilisk was quicker than they’d predicted, and Mary watched it smack him to the side like he weighed nothing.
The damned thing still had it’s hearing, she realised, slowly backing away, though the ripples of water gave her location away as the snake moved toward her.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, she thought quickly. The spells weren’t working, blinding it had only done so much. What else could they try?
The basilisk paused, and Mary did too, at the sound of a bird squawking. She watched it fly overhead, the sorting hat in its grasp, and making Mary frown in confusion. The hell was happening? She knew the bird, it was a phoenix, Fawks to be more specific. She’d seem it in Dumbledore’s office right before she graduated.
What was it doing here?
Fawks circled in the air, dipping closer to Mary and she ducked out of the way as something dropped from the hat and clashed loudly onto the floor. The boys were still recovering and pushing themselves upright, and Mary stared at the sword.
Godric Gryffindor’s sword, she realised with a start. While the basilisk was distracted by the sound of Fawks, Mary leapt forward to grab the weapon, steadying it in her hand.
“The fuck?” Evan demanded somewhere to the left. “Did you have that the whole time?”
“No,” Mary said, slashing at the basilisk when it neared her. Blood splattered onto her shirt, and she shrieked. “Ugh.”
“Worry about your clothes later!”
“Not my clothes I’m worried about, prick!”
Evan murmured more spells as Mary sliced and cut at the snake, blood dripping and spilling all over the damp floor, weakening it.
The basilisk’s mouth opened, jaw twice the side of Mary’s head, and it moved quickly to clamp around her—but Mary raised the sword upward, stabbing it right through the roof of its mouth, and the snake hissed, falling to the ground as she pulled the weapon back to her side.
It lolled to the side as Regulus came rushing back over, eyes wide and curls a mess, he eyed Mary, who was covered in blood and she felt his arm come to grasp her bicep. He didn’t look all too well, either, large gashes were on his cheek and on his arm, and she examined them from where they stood just a few centimetres apart.
“You alright?”
“I need a shower,” Evan answered for her.
“You need a shower?” Mary echoed, glaring over at him. Evan was covered in dirt and muck, but he was nowhere near as filthy as she was, dried blood on her face and knotting her own curls, which had fallen out of its elastic during the fight.
Mary’s shoulders slumped when Regulus squeezed her arm, and she instinctively turned to him. The familiar feel of his hand on her was enough to calm the bundle of nerves in her stomach, though being this close and catching his gaze made a whole new group of nerves bottle in exchange.
“Evan,” he called, barely glancing over Mary’s shoulder. “Pull out the fang.”
“What?” He moaned. “Why me?”
“Because.”
“Actually,” Mary said, making both boys pause and look at her. “I killed the basilisk with the sword through his mouth. We should just be able to use that. Venom can go through magical relics like that.”
Regulus’ proud smile caught her off guard, she’d always been the best at DADA, though she supposed he had never gotten to see it because they were in different years. “Sometimes I think you’re smarter than Evans.”
Mary rolled her eyes, stepping away from him. “It’s not a competition. Here, take the sword. You found the first horcrux. You should be the one to destroy it.”
Evan chuckled. “Just wait until Voldemort hears about the note.”
Regulus grimaced and Mary flicked her curious gaze between them. “Note? What note?”
“Evan,” Regulus huffed.
“What?” He shrugged, looking at Mary. “Regulus wrote a big fuck you note to Voldemort because he thought he wouldn’t survive the attack.”
“You what?” Mary whirled on him.
“Said something like, I know I will long gone before you read this—”
“Stop,” Regulus hissed, and Mary raised her brows. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time, alright? No need to make her mad at me.”
“I’m already furious with you,” Mary crossed her arms. “I’m just great at concealing it.”
“Exactly,” Regulus nodded. “Let’s save this conversation for another time.”
Mary rolled her eyes, though she agreed. The only reason she hadn’t went completely off on him yet was because he’d been bleeding out on her sofa, and they’d just killed a basilisk. Didn’t feel like the right time.
Mary watched Regulus drop the locket to the ground. “You two, back up. I’m not sure what will happen.”
Evan didn’t hesitate on following his direction, and Mary was a little slower on stepping away. She watched Regulus raise the sword to the locket, and the moment he brought it down to the horcrux, the room erupted into black smoke.
Mary stumbled backward, watching a figure appear in the grey muck. It was Sirius, she realised, though he lacked the current beard he’d grown, and he looked much younger.
“Come with me,” Sirius pleaded.
Mary furrowed her brows, watching the scene continue. Sirius turned and disappeared through a door, and then Mary was staring at… herself.
“I don’t want anything to do with you,” she heard herself say. “You’re a coward. All you’ve done is hide. What is your brother doing? Fighting a war your people have started. I’m fighting a war because I was born a certain way. And you dumped me for it, you pathetic pig.”
“Ok,” Mary glowered at this presentation, and stepped forward. Regulus seemed stunned, watching it, and that made it so much easier for her to grab the sword from his hand, and stick it right in the centre of the locket.
The smoke disappeared immediately, and Regulus collapsed back, falling onto his elbows as Mary kicked away the necklace, eyes widening as she turned to face him.
It had looked and sounded so real, but it had been Regulus’ nightmare, and it was obvious he thought it was real, even for just a moment.
“Regulus,” she said, slowly, crouching down before him. “It’s okay. It’s over.”
“Yeah,” he nodded, blinking a few times. “So the sword worked then? The horcrux is destroyed?”
Mary reached forward and dangled the obliterated locket in front of him, a small smirk growing on her lips. Regulus’ returning smile was enough to send her heart stuttering, and Evan let out a loud whoop of victory.
“One down,” he cheered. “How many to go?”
At the reminder their quest had only just started, Mary and Regulus shared a quiet sigh, and one last glance before he climbed to his feet.