to write again.

The days at Hogwarts soon became a new routine, which Harry was very much happy about. Breakfast, Classes, Lunch, Classes, Dinner, Potions, Homework, and hanging out with old and new friends in between. It went on for a week like this, with Quidditch training being scheduled for the next week. When the weekend finally came, Harry was ready to put some of his more fun plans into action.

Quietly, he got up from his bed, checking his clock as he did so. 12 o’clock at midnight read the time, meaning that it was finally time for his plans to start be placed in action. Slowly and quietly, Harry slid out of his covers and onto the cold wooden floor. His shoes setting down on the floor made no sound as he had put a silencing spell on them just that evening. Swiftly pulling out his invisibility cloak from under his bed, he pulled it around himself then exited the dormitory, trying his best to make no noise on his way down.

Stepping his way through the barely lit common room was easy as it laid deserted in the middle of the night. Making his way through the portrait was a bit more difficult as The Fat Lady had woken up and drearily asked about who was there. Of course, Harry said nothing and kept on walking, leaving her behind to fall back to quietly sleep.

The castle was lit up very bright that night by continuously lit torches and part of the waning moon still up in the sky. It gave Harry a good glimpse around the halls and made it much easier for him to find his way around where he needed to be. So, the first place he visited was the Mirror of Erised.

Harry stepped into the room with his cloak pulled over him tightly, anxious for the moment he was about to come back across. One glance about the room told him where the mirror was, and he stopped to stare at it, clutching the invisibility cloak tighter to his clothes. He had already dressed for the next day, as he didn’t plan on wasting any time that night. So, keeping that idea in mind, Harry finally started making his way over to the mirror. Once he was finally right in front of the mirror, he dropped his cloak on the ground, letting it pile at his feet.

The picture of his mother and father had always made his heart swell, both of their eyes having so much pride in them when they looked at Harry. It just made Harry even more tight in the chest, even more gratified that he could see them, just one more time. But as he grew older, he had learnt to accept his parent’s death as well as others, so now when he looked at his parents, he could only think of how proud they would be of him instead of regret and wishing in vain.

He understood just what would happen, and just how he could save his newer family, his parent’s friends and family this time. He could save his Weasley family, his Sirius and his Remus. He could save so many, probably even Draco and Snape from Voldemort. “I will save them, I promise you that I will. No one will die again because of me, no one I love will die.” Harry promised to the mirror.

Lily Potter looked down at him with so much love. Harry looked back up at her with that same love, then to his father he showed that precious love. “I will learn about you guys, I’ll find friends and people you knew, and I’ll learn to love you, because I do.” Harry’s breathing was now shaky, but he continued all of the same. “I can’t save you, I know that. I miss you though, even if I never met you.” Sobs were pushing against Harry’s throat, but he did not let them through. He would push through, and he would say his last goodbye to their faces. “I love you, and I’ll be with you one day. I know you pray that day will be far, far in the future.” He looked up at their faces one last time, smiling sadly. “I am going to try my best to make that day as far away as possible. You won’t have died in vain.”

It felt like hours had passed by, but he knew that it was only truly a few minutes of staring at his parents until he finally decided that his work was much more important than wasting time. He knew his parents wouldn’t blame him for leaving, but it still felt like a punch to the gut as he sank down to pick up his cloak. It felt like taking a magnet away from its pull, like taking another loved one away from him again. But he had a job to do, and doing that job would make his parents proud. So, regretfully, he pried his watery eyes away from the mirror and tried to think of the positive as he made his way out of the room.

Sirius doesn’t have to end up in that mirror, no one else does.

With the cloak tightly around his shoulders, Harry made for the girl’s bathroom that Moaning Myrtle would be haunting. On his way he was quiet as a mouse, listening to the wind rustle leaves and the small fire cracking of the torches lighting some of the halls. He passed no one, but was sure that he would eventually and would stay cautious as he made his way around the castle.

Finally he made it to the girl’s bathroom, and made a hesitant step in and through the empty bathroom. It still felt wrong to be there, even with his plan in mind. Once he stepped inside, however, a boisterous wail came from inside a toilet pipe, shaking a few of the doors on rackety hinges. It shocked Harry into stopping abruptly, but he soon got back into focus and continued onto the sink area of the bathroom.

The sinks were the same as he’d seen them last time, the same odd shaped formation with the mirrors and the faucets. And people just didn’t wonder why only these sinks were in the middle of the room instead of lining the wall? Harry shook his head at the ignorance, his ignorance.

Finding the faucet with the snake was easy enough, but using his voice without tipping off Myrtle would be a hassle, and the entrance to the Chamber would make a loud noise as well. Even with this, Harry didn’t much care if anyone just so happened to stop by or if Myrtle was alerted; he’d be long down the pipes before she would even noticed.

So, with the idea to be quick, Harry leaned over the faucet and said. “Open.” In Parsletongue. He was a bit rusty with the language, but it was clear enough for the Chamber’s entrance to open. The moving of the sinks and concrete slabs was much louder and slower than Harry would have liked, so as soon as he noticed Myrtle stop crying and the entrance was just barely open, Harry jumped right into the tunnel and down he slid into the Chamber of Secrets, listening for the bathroom entrance to close behind him. It shut closed with a loud thud.

***

The bones Harry landed on were as pokey and stiff as ever, not posing for a good landing as he slid right out of the pipes and landed on his bum. “Ouch!” Harry whispered, standing as stiff as the bones he stood on and rubbing his bum with a grimace. “Okay, next time, find a different entrance, I’m sure there is one.” Harry concluded out loud, now dusting off his clothes. “And remember to cast a cleaning charm later, duly noted then. Now, off to go befriend a basilisk.” Harry paused, face going cold and probably pale. “Oh boy, let’s hope this goes well.” He muttered to himself.

After brushing himself off a bit more, Harry set off to walk carefully over the bones on the floor and towards the hall presented to him. Every surface of the underground corridors were grimy with piled up dirt, the floor being littered with large scales at the sides and a path in the middle of the halls. There was still the large snake skin, but Harry gave no interest to it now, instead he made a mental note to come back and check it out later. He walked a bit, using this time to take off the invisibility cloak and fold it neatly up and put it in his charmed bag that hung at his side.

This time in the corridors of the Chamber, there was no Gilderoy to destroy the ceiling. Because it is not Harry’s second year yet, the dirty ceiling was not caved in, instead the path led straight to the circular vault door with the snakes keeping it closed.

“Open.” Harry said once more in Parsletongue, then watched as the snakes slid back at the entrance of another, and soon enough the quiet, dirty corridors were filled with the echoing sound of the vault door opening with a loud whine. “Okay, now here’s the fun part.” Taking a deep breath, Harry calmed himself, then made his way inside of the Chamber of Secrets.

The Chamber was as long as before, and seemed even taller than he had imagined in his previous memory’s second year. It did not scare him however, instead making his senses steel as he strode his way down the corridor and towards the large statue at the end. As he got closer, he could see the entrance as to where the basilisk should come out from.

“Hello?” Harry spoke in Parsletongue, calling out to the echoing Chamber and plumbing. “Anyone here? Hello?” He called out to the echoes, the voice coming back to him was as slithery as its origin’s own sound. The snake like accent hard on his tongue made Harry wince. There really was an accent for Parsletongue.

The time went by slowly in the tension Harry had created, waiting and waiting for someone to answer. Would he have to go and knock upon the basilisk’s door? Would he have to open the door himself and shake her awake? As Harry contemplated a few ideas of what to do, the door opened with the sound of concrete against concrete echoing around him. Straightening up, Harry looked towards the entrance to the basilisk, watching the black void of darkness behind it until two bright yellow eyes came out from behind the dark.

Immediately Harry’s head whipped down, not wanting to look the basilisk in the eyes and risk petrification. No one would find him there if he’d gotten petrified. Still, Harry held his back tightly straight as the large snake slithered forward. Harry knew she was watching him, he could feel her piercing eyes on the back of his neck.

He swallowed, then spoke to the basilisk in the best Parsletongue he could muster. “Good evening, I am Harry Potter.” The boy introduced himself with a small bow down lower than his already bent head. When he came back up, he moved his head just up enough to look at where the basilisk body met the ground. The sound of the slithering stopped, and so did the basilisk’s movements. There was a pause, then words.

“Is it evening, Harry Potter?” A feminine voice asked Harry, pure curiosity in her tone. Harry nodded, careful not to look upwards towards the basilisk, apparently female basilisk.

“If you’d like the technicality, it would be around one in the morning.” Harry pulled up his wrist watch to his eyes, then nodded again. “Yes, it is around one o’clock in the morning.” A pause held in the air, and Harry was tempted to hold his breath while he waited. Finally, the basilisk made an attempt to lay her head on the ground, which only made Harry’s own go down further.

“No need to look away, child. I do not intend to petrify you unless you show any sign of hostility.” The basilisk lady said softly, almost teasingly. So, Harry did as he was told and raised his head and eyes to look at the basilisk properly, face forcefully neutral. “There you are, Harry Potter. I am Asmodeus, keeper of The Chamber of Secrets that my master had created for me. Tell me, boy, why are you here? How are you here? And what are your intentions on visiting me so late at night.” Harry thought about his answer carefully, trying to look for the best words to help Asmodeus understand just how a first year kid could get into somewhere like The Chamber of Secrets.

When he finally got his answer, he looked back up at Asmodeus the basilisk with as innocent a face as Harry could muster.

“Well, I wanted to practice Parsletongue for a while, and tonight is a weekend night so I can sleep all day tomorrow instead of practicing where someone might see. I didn’t know you lived here, I just wanted to see if I was alone or not.” Harry explained, now shifting his weight on one foot to another, smiling awkwardly at Asmodeus, who had been listening intently to Harry’s story. She nodded her head once, not showing any emotion on her face but instead in her voice. Harry had been saying everything in Parsletongue already, so he already knew he wouldn’t need to practice anyways.

“I see. Well then, you seem very fluent in my language already, so you have no need for such practice my dear. How about instead, you tell me about yourself to do this practicing. It has been so long since another person has spoken to me, I am eager to know about what the school my master had created has become. Would you mind telling me about it?” She asked Harry, who smiled much more calmly than before and nodded back to her.

“Of course! Though, I’m only in my first year so I won’t know everything.” Harry sat down on the cold and dirty floor, not caring for the condition of his clothes. “As long as you let me come down here and clean this place up tomorrow!” Asmodeus smiled, then listened intently to Harry’s retelling of his first week at Hogwarts and about a few teachers and such.

The two of them sat like that for a while, Asmodeus eventually letting her head fall to the ground as Harry sat his legs crisscrossed on the ground, eventually bringing out a few of his books to show to his new basilisk friend in excitement.

“I see. The school is doing well, then?” Asmodeus’ voice was so kind to Harry, being patient and polite, even encouraging him to talk more about his friends and interests. Harry nodded vigorously, setting his books back into his bag. “That is very well, and Slytherin? You are in Slytherin House I presume?” She asked, no more force behind her tone than she had before.

Harry frowned at her, then shook his head no. “No, I’m in Gryffindor, but the sorting hat wanted me in Slytherin for a bit. I wouldn’t have minded, and I have a bunch of friends in Slytherin too. Well, I more have friends with lots of people in every house, but I have a few closer friends in Slytherin. Sorry I’m not in your master’s house.” Harry slouched inwards on himself, ready to hear Asmodeus yell at him to get out or try and petrify him. But just like she had been before, she simply shook her head at Harry’s apology.

“No need, Harry Potter. If the sorting hat wanted you in Gryffindor, you must go to Gryffindor. My master helped make the sorting hat I assume you speak of, which means that it is his decision to put you in Gryffindor house. There is no need to worry, young one, there is no conflict between us just for your house in my master’s school. Now, what time is it? Shouldn’t you be off to bed? To sleep all day would be bad for you.” She nodded towards Harry, who looked down at his watch with a frown.

“It’s three thirty in the morning. You’re right, I should head back up before I’m caught out of bed.” Harry nodded while getting up to his feet, stretching his arms up in the air. He turned to Asmodeus, who was getting ready to leave as well. “Asmodeus?” She turned around to face Harry again. “Could I bring a friend to help me clean up The Chamber? You wouldn’t have to come out, since they don’t know Parsletongue and all. I don’t have to bring them either, just asking.” Harry stood there waiting, anxious for his answer but not showing it.

Asmodeus just seemed to smile in her own way, her eyes crinkling. “Oh my, so many visitors in so little time. Ah, but of course my boy, you may bring your friends. Though, I might suggest you take a different route than the bathroom you had entered from. There are many around the school, as long as you know where to look.” With one last bow, Asmodeus turned back to her cave behind the statue and slithered in between the feet, disappearing out of sight.

“Goodnight!” Harry called back in Parsletongue, hoping she’d heard him before her door closed behind her. With Asmodeus gone, Harry looked around The Chamber of Secrets for some sort of clue on what the basilisk had told him. “Many different entrances? Hmm…” Thinking about and looking about The Chambers, Harry spotted a small area between the pillars mounted to the walls. So, after walking over to one of the pillars, he spotted a small symbol just above the height of his head. It was a very small, barely even noticeable word. The language wasn’t English, but Harry found himself able to read it clearly as if a first language.

“Kitchen.” Harry smoothed his fingers over the word, then turned to search the walls around the word. “Astronomy Tower, Fourth Floor, Dungeons, Headmaster Office! What the-? Gryffindor?” This time when Harry touched the word Gryffindor and said it at the same time, the wall behind the word moved back, then up and out of the way to reveal a staircase going up. Poking a head into the staircase, a sudden light came from the side of the wall. A torch had lit up as Harry made his way up, then another, then another as he kept on going up the stairs, leaving The Chamber of Secrets behind.

Continuing to ascend the stairs, Harry walked and walk until he was met with another wall, still with the same writing as the last one. “Gryffindor.” It said again, but Harry didn’t touch the word while he read it aloud. No, he could just stroll out into a corridor while being visible. Quickly, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself. He took a moment to listen to the other side of the wall for anyone else, but there was no sign of anyone in the hallways, so Harry touched the word again and said “Gryffindor.”

Immediately the door opened, much more silently than the bathroom or Asmodeus’ own separate little cave which had a grating sound of concrete rubbing against concrete. No, this door was silent and sneaky, just the perfect thing Harry’s wanted as he continued to skulk around the castle late at night.

As he walked out, checking both sides of the corridor for any sign of people, then glanced around at his surrounds, Harry found himself right outside of The Fat Lady’s portrait. Alright, now he just needed back inside of the portrait, unless there was a secret hidden passage inside of the common room that he was still unaware of. If that wasn’t the case, then Harry would just have to appear in front of The Fat Lady and tell her the password without actually giving her a reason for him being out late.

Harry stepped cautiously out of his secret door, then waited for the passage door to close shut quietly while looking around for any on lookers. Thankfully there were none. So, Harry decided to walk around a corner and take off the invisibility cloak, then seemingly appear out of thin air and ask The Fat Lady to let him in and give her the password. But just as he was about to start walking towards the corner, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs and towards Harry.

He whipped around as silently as possible, thanking his past self for putting silencing charms on his shoes and clothes just the evening before. The footsteps came nearer, then they were so close that Harry could finally see who they belonged to. A fluffy head of red hair came hurrying up the stairs, trying as best they could to be quiet but failing horribly.

Percy Weasley came hurrying up the stairs, out of breath and seeming a mess, as if he was running. Who was he running from? Or running towards? Oh, was he with anyone? If he was, Harry was so going to tell Ron and the Twins about it. They would hound Percy for weeks, even months or until Percy would give up who he was dating. Either way, Harry was just given the perfect opportunity to get into Gryffindor Tower and he was not going to lose it.

The red headed prefect was walking fast up to the sleeping Fat Lady, so Harry also had to rush to get there on time with Percy. Once they both were there, Harry had to force himself to breathe calmly, which was hard considering he was almost jogging up to Percy as the prefect was jogging up the stairs to The Fat Lady.

“Cabbage Draconus.” Percy wheezed out in a breath, now leaning his hands on his knees to support himself. The Fat Lady woke up with a snort, looking down at Percy sleepily and dazed of sorts.

“What are you doing up so late, dear boy?” She asked in a hazy, slumbering voice. Percy just screwed up his face, then looked back behind him and back to The Fat Lady.

“Cabbage Draconus, please.” Perry repeated, straightening up his back and standing up straight with an expression of mild irritation. Harry tried his best not to laugh, having to cover his mouth with his hand and swallow down the second hand embarrassment.

The Fat Lady just waved her hand, also irritated by her house’s prefect. “Fine, fine. Do what you want.” And the portrait opened.

Harry was quick to act, slipping in behind Percy by squeezing himself between the crack between Percy and the hinges of the painting. With one big leap he jumped up into the hall, grateful again for the silencing spell on his shoes. Percy kept walking, too focused on getting inside the common room to noticed the invisible figure right beside him, instead walking away from the frozen boy in his cloak.

Time passed quickly while Harry waited for Percy’s steps to die down, listening around for anymore sounds of people. When there was only the dying crackling of the common room’s fire, Harry started making his way into the room and up the steps to the boy’s dormitory. As soon as he put his first foot down on the steps up to the dormitory, The Fat Lady’s painting swung open again. Harry whipped his head back to see another person coming into the common room, then ran up the stairs in a rush, not looking back to see the Gryffindor come up through the portrait and into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Still at a jog, Harry finally made his way to his own dorm, but he didn’t make it in time to open his door without the other Gryffindor seeing, hearing the footsteps louder still. Breathing heavily now was not what Harry wanted, so he put a hand to his mouth, turning his head towards the new person.

His eyes went wide at who he found, jogging up the stairs and making a b-line to his dormitory. Oliver Wood came rushing just past Harry, holding his shoes in one hand to muffle his feet with his socks, then sneaking into his dorm, looking left and right down the corridor before slipping behind the door and finally out of sight.

“Woah…” Harry whispered to himself, smirking at the realization. “Ohh, Fred and George are gonna love this.” He sniggered, then slipping into his own dorm for the night.

***

“So, what do you want to do today?” Ron stood over Harry, all dressed and ready to go for the day. Harry was still lying in his bed, trying to go back to sleep. He had gotten up to take a shower and clean his clothes with a spell, but otherwise went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep as well. Alas, Ronald Weasley, his best friend, was up bright and early and wanting to do something, wanting to drag Harry along with him too. “Come on, get up will ya? We have the weekend off and I want to go explore!” Ron announced excitedly, now shaking Harry’s shoulder in attempt to get his attention.

Harry huffed, sinking further into his mattress. A cool breeze came into the dorm from an open window, rustling Harry’s still wet hair from his shower. “Ronnnnn, I’m tired. Can we do this later?” Harry drew out the name, still annoyed by his friend shaking his shoulder so violently it almost hurt.

“No! I want to go find things out! Fred and George have been bragging about how they know all the secret passageways in the castle, and I can’t just let them be the only ones! I wanna know too!” Harry huffed again, now being physically dragged out of his bed by his arm. Ron just kept tugging, yelling at Harry about this and that he wanted to do, and soon enough there was a loud thump and Harry was on the floor. Now in pain, Harry got up to yell at Ron, but stopped himself.

Ron looked worried, now checking Harry over for injuries like his mother always did. “Sorry mate! Thought you’d get up by then, okay.” Ron was lifting Harry’s arms, looking around for bruises or blood, but there was none. Harry just groaned again, huffing and puffing unhappily but complying with his friend. “And here we are, okay! Let’s go!” Harry’s glasses were not on his face, and Ron was dragging Harry out of their dormitory by his wrist in a rush.

“Byyyeee Neville.” Harry extended a goodbye to Neville with a yawn. The other boy waved back, still rubbing his eyes drowsily. Mirroring Neville, Harry also rubbed his eyes with his free hand, then checked if his bag was still attached to his hip. It was secure as ever when Harry gave a little tug, then went to slipping his hand into the dragon skin bag to pull out a book and his glasses. As Ron led them through the halls to an early breakfast, Harry read from the book of cleaning spells, A Witch’s Guide to Housekeeping, and barely noticed as Ron sat him down at the Gryffindor table.

Harry looked around, then remembered one of his companions. “Where’s Mischief? Did we forget him?” He now looked over to Ron, who made eye contact with Harry then burst out laughing. The feeling of familiar paws on his back made Harry look over his shoulder and realize that Mischief was on his back, pushing his paws into Harry’s back like he was kneading dough for a pizza. The thought of food made him hungry. “Stop laughing Ron, I’m still asleep.” He said slowly, another yawn escaping his mouth before he was shoving it was a spoon full of oatmeal with little berries and pieces of fruit in it.

His red headed friend just smiled teasingly, elbowing Harry in his side. “Hey, why are you so tired? Don’t tell me you spend all your free time reading like Hermione. I swear, I don’t want to be the only one who doesn’t read all the time. Even Draco does, and I thought he and Hermione would have already read them all.” Ron continued, talking like he usually did about books, then moving onto Quidditch and how tryouts are just the next day. That caught Harry’s attention, but he just continued with his cleaning spell book. “Why are you learning those spells anyways? Planning on becoming a house wife?” Ron snickered while Harry smirked.

“If you keep your mouth shut about the housewife thing, I’ll show you why.” Harry emphasized the ‘show’ to Ron, who immediately got excited. “And I’ll tell you a secret to get some dirt on one of your brothers.” Now, Ron’s eyes definitely had a malicious kind of mischief, not the cat, in his eyes.

“Oh? Who is it? Is it Fred and George? Cause if it is, I don’t want to think of the revenge they’d get on me.” Ron was leaning towards Harry all secretive like, shuttering at the idea of the Twin’s revenge. Harry couldn’t blame him, he’d be scared of them if he got on their bad side.

“Nah, it’s Percy, but we can’t talk about it here. We’ll talk more after breakfast while I show you my reason.” Harry raised the book as a gesture for it, then went back to reading and eating at the same time.

During breakfast, Draco joined them at the Gryffindor table in a happy mood, his face split in a wide grin. Ron looked up, nodded, then went back to finishing up his food. Over the week, Ron had learned not to eat and talk while Draco was around, he’d learnt the hard way by getting his head smashed in by a book and biting his tongue because of it.

“Good morning to you as well Ron.” Draco nodded back, knowing what the gesture meant, then turned his attention to Harry and the book in his hand. “And what would you need to learn housekeeping spells for? You aren’t planning on becoming a nanny, are you?” Ron snorted, but Harry just shook his head at Draco’s confused face.

“No, and I don’t plan on hiring one when I’m older either. I’ll show you why after breakfast.”

“Show me?” Draco inquired before taking a spoon and starting on his porridge filled with berries. Harry grinned, but just went back to his book instead of explaining. After a bit, Ron started talking again about this and that, Harry giving half of his attention to his friend while Draco listened intently. Their blond friend is an only child, so he was easily attentive towards stories of siblings or big family things. It seemed as though Draco didn’t have much of the family sort.

It kind of surprised Harry a bit, with Draco being so attentive towards Ron now. But he should have known, should have thought about just how Draco lived. Maybe those answers would explain why he ever went through what he did in Harry’s original timeline.

After more time passed and the trio was done with breakfast, they were talking while Hermione sat herself down onto the side of the table Draco sat, facing Ron and Harry who sat side by side. She set down a stack of five books onto the table with a loud thud, then settled herself down in her chair and started with her breakfast, taking a book from her stack and reading while eating like Harry.

“Good morning, how’s everyone’s first weekend morning?” She asked, just glancing up to get responses of good mornings in return. Hermione’s eyes immediately caught onto the book Harry was holding, the shot up to its reader, looking sharp and assessing. “And why would you need ‘A Witch’s Guide to Housekeeping’, Harry?” She continued to eye the book, trying to puzzle together an answer.

Harry smirked, then shut his book with a loud snap. “You’ll just have to find that out when I show Draco and Ron.” He said, then opened his book back up as if he hadn’t shut it loudly just to be dramatic. Ron squirmed in his seat excitedly. His movements were paused by the teacher walking by, but the new presence only made Harry smile.

“Good morning, Professor Snape!” Harry called out, seeing how the billowing black robes stopped then turned, revealing a sharp featured face with pale skin and tired black eyes. Snape nodded, face calm. Draco also turned to their professor, saying his good morning with echoes of some version coming from Ron and Hermione.

“Good morning, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, children in general. Having a good breakfast?” He asked politely, not moving an inch. Harry smiled, thinking about the meals Snape made for Harry, then decided not to bring them up now.

“Yup! I love the strawberries in my porridge!” Snape nodded, and Harry was sure he was making a mental note on the strawberries being one of Harry’s favorites. “See you round?”

“Yes, now stay out of trouble.” Snape swept his eyes over each of the kids, lingering on Harry last. “I mean it, no snooping from you.” And Harry fought back a smile.

“Oh, we’ll try.” Harry called to Snape after the potions professor had left with an unbelieving expression on his sharp shaped face. Ron was now tugging on Harry’s robes excitedly.

“Come on Harry! You said you’d show us after we ate! We’re finished! Let’s go!” Ron was already getting to his feet, Draco following excitedly. Sitting still, Harry looked over to Hermione, asking her silently if he should wait for her.

“Go on ahead, you can show me whatever you’re talking about later.” She said, now poking her nose to the inside spine of a book. So, with her confirmation, Harry got up, still reading his book while he led Draco and Ron outside of the hall. He finally put it down when they exited the Great Hall fully, stuffing it in his bag then making his way down to the entrance of The Chamber by Gryffindor Tower. On his way there, Ron looked skeptical towards Harry and back to Draco.

“It’s just by The Fat Lady, right here.” Harry said, looking around their small group to see if anyone else was lingering. Luckily, most people were at breakfast and were not wandering the halls. Pressing the tips of his fingers to the wall between a painting of a noble woman on the right and a poor maiden on his left, Harry found the words etched into the brick. “Ah, here it is.”

“What is it?” Ron asked impatiently, trying to peak around Harry’s shoulder but being blocked by Mischief the cat. She seemed quite calm now, but Harry worried for how she’d react, so he scooped her off of his shoulders and gave her to Draco. The Slytherin took her with no complaints, just a happy little boy with a happy little cat.

“Okay, let’s go.” Harry switched to Parsletongue when he spoke. “Open for me.” He ordered the wall, and the brick soon moved away silently to reveal the same stairs as the night before, now leading down to the Chamber instead of up and out of it. Both Ron and Draco gasped, jaws dropped open when Harry looked back at them. “Come on, we don’t want someone to see us!” He whispered, taking both Ron and Draco’s wrists to whisk them inside the staircase. Harry didn’t bother paying any attention to the automatically lighting torches, but Draco and Ron seemed enraptured by them.

Finally, Draco spoke up at the end of the staircase. “Where does this lead? What is this place, and what language did you use back up there?” Draco now held Harry’s hand, having Mischief lay calm on his shoulder. Ron was also holding Harry’s hand, though a bit more sweaty and excited.

“I used Parsletongue, which I didn’t know I could do until a while ago. And this place, it leads to The Chamber of Secrets.” Just then, the wall came up at the end of the passageway. Harry let go of his friends and put a hand to the word ‘Chamber’ and said “Open.” In Parsletongue again, making another door open much more loudly this time. Another gasp came from his friends as the trio slipped out from the passageway and into The Chamber of Secrets. “Welcome to The Chamber of Secrets!” Harry threw his arms out in welcome, waiting for Ron and Draco to close their jaws since they were hanging open in disbelief.

Holding a Mischief the cat closer to his chest, Draco straightened up his back and closing his mouth quickly. “The Chamber of Secrets? My father told me about that, and that a monster from this Chamber had killed a student in the school a while ago.” Taking a few steps forward, Draco now looked around eagerly. Ron looked at Draco, horrified, then around The Chamber like it was going to attack him.

“Monster? What monster?” Theo red headed kid almost whispered, horrified. Harry now took out his book of cleaning spells, getting to the chapter of the plain washing of walls, floors, and ceilings.

“A basilisk.” Ron squeaked, running up to behind Harry and grabbing his arm. Draco also hurried to hide behind Harry, lightly grabbing hold of Harry’s robes. “Don’t worry, I already talked to her. Asmodeus won’t come out unless I call her, and if she does come out on her own, she won’t attack. She’s very sweet, just lonely.” Harry said, flipping through his book until he found the spell he wanted. He took out his wand, practicing the movements before he said the spell. Immediately after, water came streaming out of the tip of his wand and went this way and that with the spell. The water went this way and that around the room, bouncing off of surfaces and leaving them dirt and grime free. “Woah.”

“What are you planning? Making this place a hangout spot?” Ron asked incredulously, looking at the book with interest now, completely forgetting about the mention of the basilisk living in the Chamber.

Nodding, Harry kept flipping in his book, looking for more spells to clean. The walls and such of the corridor are now clean of grime and dirt, but that didn’t mean any disease that was there was gone. “Oh, you should do that one!” A pointed finger showed Harry a spell to restore deterioration of paint and polish. “I’ve seen my mum do it a few times. Here, I’ll try.”

Ron dug in his robes, finding his wand quickly and holding it outstretched in the air and in front of Harry. As soon as the words to the spell came out of Ron’s mouth, the paint peeling off of the tile folded itself back onto the porcelain, the polished surface coming back to the walls and ceilings. The spell finally revealed the beautiful patters on the walls and ceiling, mostly the paint on the ceiling. There were painted snakes, red, yellow, blue, and green colored snakes wrapping around the painted starry ceiling.

“Woah, it’s beautiful.” Draco said, looking up at the sky. “That blue one is at Perseus, and that yellow one is at Cassiopeia. The red one is at Sirius, and the green one is at Draco. Woah, they mapped this perfectly for Hogwarts.” He pointed out the stars and constellations to Ron, who was now listening intently to all the different stars and stories. Harry went back to his book, continuing to test out spells and clean the Chamber.

After a while of listening to Draco’s voice in echo in The Chamber, Harry had finally cleaned and cleansed the main hallway to his own satisfaction. “Phew!” He yelled, catching the attention of his two friends who now looked towards him and away from the painted stars. “I’m finally done with this corridor!” He said excitedly, but both his friends gave him a curious look.

“This corridor? There’s more?” Ron asked tentatively, now whipping his head around this way and that to find this other space. Draco nodded, as if expecting this.

“Of course there is, there always is when it comes to The Chamber of Secrets. My father had said that The Chamber was compiled with many hidden rooms and passageways to lead around the school. Salazar Slytherin was very cautious when it came to his school’s safety, so he made The Chamber of Secrets in case the entire school needed to hide or get around the castle faster. Of course, there is the supposed rumor that Salazar had made The Chamber of Secrets for his heir along the way to attack the school, but that’s just rubbish. My family is one of the oldest and have been in Slytherin House ever since it was founded, so we have passed down the true stories over time through a few books.” Draco paused, scowling down at the floor. “It’s rubbish, what wizards and witches are saying about Salazar Slytherin. He was the only one brave enough to leave the school and take the brunt of the hate.” Draco shook his head, now looking up. “I’ll tell you later. Now, what’s your plan for this place, anyways?”

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then back to Draco in something of a worried look. Harry then smiled, going back down to his book while he talked. “Well, I was planning on just cleaning it up, but I could make it into a quiet hangout spot.” Ron elbowed Harry in the side, smirking.

“You mean WE, I want to help too.” The trio stood closely together, now all looking down at the book. Draco sighed, but was still smiling.

“Alright, I’m in. Though, we should probably clean up and map out this place, and it’ll take a while to remodel this place into somewhere comfortable.” At this, Harry smirked, flipping the page of his book to a chapter on spells to make things smell nice. “Oh no, not that face. Anything but that face.” Draco feigned fear, still smiling happily.

“Oh no, Harry’s got a plan. Please don’t let it involve something dangerous, please Harry, my mum would kill me.”

“No, but if you consider lugging furniture around secret passageways dangerous then I’d count you out, Ron.” And each of the friends smirked. “Alright, let’s get started then. I need to find the passage and start picking out items before lunch. We’ll definitely work up an appetite.” So, Ron, Draco, and Harry were gliding along the walls of The Chamber, looking for the carved words to say Room of Requirement. After their third wall, the words finally appeared on one wall. When Harry opened the entrance, doors appeared instead of the wall sliding away. “No way…” Harry whispered before taking a hand on the door handle and opening it.

The Room of Requirement was as large and as grand as he had remembered, just this time full of trinkets and furniture galore. “Woah, that’s a lot of stuff.” Ron said, ogling the room in awe. Harry grinned, leading the group into the room.

“Okay, pick out what you want to move to The Chamber. It’s pretty dry now so nothing will really get soaked, and use a Wingardrium Leviosa if you can’t carry something. If that’s too heavy, call out and we’ll go help. Let’s go.” And the trio grinned mischievously before splitting up to go find what they wanted to add to The Chamber.

Harry found himself just going with anything while in his new first year of Hogwarts. The Chamber of Secrets suddenly becoming a secret hangout, reading as many books as he could get his hands on, his letter to Dudley which did not get a reply, and even so far and confusing as living with a much more calm Severus Snape. His new situation this time around in time felt good, like he’s sure. He knows what’s going on because of what had happened, and people can’t just leave him in the dark his whole childhood now.

Even if ignorance is bliss, knowledge can be too.

It hurt, seeing how people wouldn’t even give him an inch of knowledge because he was a child, even if he’d been through more than them or if it pertained to him. If Harry had known, then maybe he could’ve done something, something to help, something to save the people he’d lost. But this time, he promised himself that he would make it better, to save more people. First, he’d find the Horcrux.

The crown was supposed to be on a tall stack of jumbled furniture, and sure enough, there it was, sitting innocently atop a crowded pile of whatever. Using his levitation charm, Harry snatched it up from off of the tower, setting down a few blankets he’d found to hold the diadem in his hands. It seemed to resonate with Harry, both Horcrux parts feeling, knowing each other as pieces of Voldemort’s soul.

“I’ll destroy your Horcrux and save you soon enough, don’t you worry.” He whispered, then pocketed the diadem and picked his blankets back up. Harry picked up a few more small things like an end table and lots of pillows to levitate in the air, now levitating his blankets as well. Dropping off everything he’d wanted off at the entrance of The Chamber, Ron and Draco waiting with even bigger piles of this and that. Ron managed to pull a deep red loveseat couch along with blankets and pillows galore. Draco had pulled a sturdy black leather chair and even more soft blankets.

“Well, I guess we all had the same idea then.” Draco said, looking over the other boy’s haul. “Not bad too, though we should use a few cleaning spells on everything, just to be safe.” The other two nodded along, agreeing whole heartedly. Ron and Draco looked over to Harry, expectantly.

“Oh, so I guess I am a maid now. At least I’m taking care of something cool like The Chamber of Secrets.” Harry joked while reading his book and casting a few collective charms and spells over the items, then a few more to make them smell like strawberries and lemons.

Ron and Draco laughed at that.

Once everything was set, the trio used their wands to levitate the heavier objects together and picked up the blankets and pillows themselves to set them where they wanted.

“I say we need another couch.” Ron supplied, gesturing to the set up they now had then putting his hand on his chin. Draco agreed, nodding his head.

“I say we have a full circle of them, if we ever want to invite anyone else down here?” Harry suggested, looking back to The Room of Requirement in thought.

“That would take days, and we only have weekends. It’s already almost lunch, oh shoot!” Ron took Harry’s wrist, looking at the watch on his friends wrist with surprise. “Lunch starts in five minutes! No wonder I’m starving!” Harry nodded, agreeing.

“Okay, let’s head up then.” When Ron and Draco made to the Gryffindor exit, Harry held them back. “Wait a second, I think I saw a passage closer to The Great Hall. Come on.” And just by the Kitchens wall, a space right beside it had the words in Parsletongue saying “Lady of Water” carved into the tile. “This statue is just outside of the hall, we can take this as long as we’re sneaky.” So, the trio took the entrance up to the Lady of Water, then snuck their way out without being seen, most people already at lunch by the time they made it up the staircase.

“Okay, but we still have the issue. How are we going to fix that place up properly? Is there a spell that can hold more than Wingardium Leviosa?” Harry smirked, entering The Great Hall and heading towards the Gryffindor table. Draco followed Ron and Harry, not caring about the table he sat.

Some of the other students always turned their heads whenever one of the group sat at a table other than their house’s, but even so it didn’t bother Harry, and it didn’t seem to bother his other friends after a while. Harry sat, purposefully sitting right next to the Weasley twins, who were whispering to themselves about something of another. Their red heads immediately looked up, a teasing grin rising to meet Harry.

“Well, what may our pleasure be to have the great Harry Potter seated with us this afternoon? And the great Draco Malfoy of the old house of Slytherin. Oh, and Ron.” The twins snickered, waiting for Ron to sit down, the boy’s face red as his hair.

“Oh shut up, I am great.” Ron retorted, now piling his plate with food in the loud and busy hall.

“The greatest of all first years, yes you are dear brother! But alas, such feats are so daring, so cunning, that-.” Fred was cut off suddenly by Harry putting his index finger to his lips, instantly shutting the twins up and making them lean forward to hear Harry. “Whatcha got for us this time, Harry? Did you find another secret passage? We already know where the kitchens are, so we beat you to that one.” The twins were now serious, Draco and Ron also leaning in to hear.

Harry had been supplying the twins with some secret passages he’d found himself that were not on The Marauder’s map, so the two of them knew that when Harry shushed them, he was going to give them something worth their while.

Harry shook his head, smirking as he’d been all day. It was starting to hurt his face by doing so. “Kinda, but it’s something much more interesting. I’ll show you after lunch, if you’ve got the time.” The twins were now mirroring Harry’s smirk, mischief in their face as if a permanent staple of Fred and George.

Draco’s face went concerned, but Ron spoke first. “Harry! Are you sure you want to tell these two? It will basically give them full reign of getting places in the castle, and they already have enough secret passageways!” Ron whispered in a harsh voice, eying the twins suspiciously.

George put a hand to his chest, face in faux astonishment. “My own little brother, trying to keep secrets from us! How could you!”

Fred did something similar, putting the back of his hand on his forehead and leaning back, falling onto George. “Betrayed! Teased with the knowledge of power, only for it, the opportunity to be taken completely!” Harry gently slapped the back of Fred’s head, making him lean forward back into their secretive position.

“Oh come off it! I was going to tell you guys eventually, we just need your help right now. So, do you have the time?” Harry asked, smiling from the teasing.

“For you Mr. Harry Potter, anything.” Harry and Draco smirked, but Ron’s face just gave a worried look between each twin and each of his friends.

“This is a nightmare, someone pinch me- OW!” Draco pinched Ron’s arm, smiling. “Drama queen!” And here comes the friendly quelling between Ron and Draco, both smiling happily.

“Weasleby!” Draco shot back. George, Fred, and Harry all just watched, entertained by the squabbling.

“Ghost face!”

“Red head!”

“Snowflake!”

“Freckle face!”

“Tr-.” But Ron was cut off by a shadow forming around him. He looked scared while leaning his head up to see who was hovering above him. Professor Snape had emerged from basically nowhere, now looking down at Ron with an amused look in his eye but a stern expression nonetheless. Harry tried his best not to smile, hiding it in his shoulder. The twins mirrored the act, both looking away from the scene.

“Won’t you calm down, Weasley?” Their potions professor said, more of a demand than a suggestion. Ron gulped nervously.

“Uhh, yes sir.” He said, hesitant to say much anything.

“Good.” Snape turned to Harry, sharpening his eyes at the company of the twins. “Potter, I hope you are making… friends.” Snape said in a strangled voice, still glaring at the twins. Harry beamed, completely ignoring the implications Snape was advising in his tone.

“Yup! Lots of them! How have you been, Professor?” Harry asked, using his childish charm to try and be friendly with Snape.

“I am well. Good day, to you all.” Snape said, still glaring at George and Fred before he left the Gryffindor table for the staff seating, his robes billowing out behind him in a haunted manner.

Harry turned back to the twins, seeing their surprised faces before the look was covered with mischief. “Oh ho oh! Little Mr. Potter is friendly with the big bad snake, is he?” Fred poked Harry in the side, wanting answers. Instead, Harry’s started on a plate of food, happily avoiding saying anything until his first bite was fully swallowed.

“That may or may not be the case, if you were wondering. Anyways, I need to finish before we go, that thing I’m gonna show you will be a bit of a walk.” Harry winked at the twins before starting on his food, noticing how his friends put a bit more of their plate at the suggestion.

After everyone was done eating, Harry led them to The Lady of Water, stepping behind the statue and saying “Open.” In Parsletongue before he gestured for the other to follow him in. The twins were radiating excitement from behind Harry, questions most likely buzzing around their head. Before they could say anything, Harry decided to explain a bit.

“I used Parsletongue to get in, and there are entrances all around the school to get in and out of this place. There’s a hub, which we’re going to, that we need help moving furniture into. I hope your Wingardium Leviosa is up to level enough to hold a couch.” Harry smiled, not being able to see the twin’s faces yet know of all the possibilities running around their head. “You just need to say open in Parsletongue to get in, which anyone could say once taught, really. So, here we are.” Harry opened the next door, then led the group into the main corridor of The Chamber of Secrets. Turning around, Harry smirked at the smiling surprised faces of the twins. “I have high hopes that you use The Chamber of Secrets to get back at Filch for me, if you wouldn’t mind. He’s was getting on my nerves last night when I found this place, and Miss Noris keeps trying to fight with Mischief.” Harry scowled at the thought, angry with that batty old cat for attacking his beautiful, innocent little Mischief. But when he looked up at the twin’s faces, his grimace turned to a satisfied smile. “Also, we still need help moving furniture.”

“Harry, how in Merlin’s beard did you find this place?” George’s amazed tone gave a happily little flip to Harry’s stomach. He loved helping people, and he definitely likes having Fred and George on his side.

“You’re really gonna let us use this?” Fred looked over at Harry, confusion in his eyes with a bit of suspicion.

Harry smirked. “Well isn’t it obvious?” Harry ignored the first question, leaving the story to another time.

The twins looked at each other, a silent conversation happening between the two before looking back. “Okay, first, you’re my friends, and you’re my friends brother, so that gives you two points. Second, I know everyone thinks I’m this great Harry Potter, but I’m not, so I want to be able to get back at someone if they try and pin that to me. Lastly, I don’t want to take weeks moving a bunch of furniture into The Chamber. I’d also like to invite some other people, but-.”

The twins cut him off. “Like a club?” Harry blinked, looking at both faces while thinking.

“Uhh, yeah? I guess. What do you guys think?” Harry looked over to Ron and Draco who were messing with the couch and chair again and planning where to put things. The two looked over to Harry, processing.

“What kind of club?” Draco asked, now walking over with Ron to go talk to Harry and the twins. “Like, a secret study group?” Harry shook his head then put his hand to his chin to think.

“A prank club?” Fred suggested.

“An inventing club?” George supplied. Harry shook his head at the continuous ideas being shot out at him from each of his friends. After a while, Harry snapped his fingers, having an idea.

“We should get Hermione in in this, she might have a good name.”

“But what would we do? What would we be for? A social group?” Harry shook his head, then thought again.

“What about a kind of secret study group, okay stay with me, but it’s only learning new stuff, not the stuff usually taught in school, but the useful stuff like cleaning charms and stuff. Of course, it can be studying too, but I was just thinking that with a bunch of people, we could be our own inspiration for who knows what.” The group thought for a moment, but the twins were absolutely on board.

“That’s pretty interesting, my interestingly known friend. Okay, we’re in!” Draco nodded too, agreeing. The last red headed boy took a while to think, then he looked up, determination in his expression.

“Okay, I agree too, and I’ll go get Hermione. She’s probably in the library, so she’ll be easy to find.” Harry nodded, then made sure that Ron could say the words ‘open’ in Parsletongue before he left to go find their friend.

“Okay, so furniture first?” At this, Draco stood up straight with a smug smile.

“I have already arranged how I want it to be, so I will be organizing everything.” He turned to the twins, hesitant in his next words. Fred and George are much older and might not like being bosses around by a first year. “Would you two start bringing furniture out of the Room of Requirement, please? Just any furniture that is couches, chairs, tables small or big, please? The door is just over there and still open.” The twins nodded then immediately left off to follow Draco’s orders. This seemed to give Draco more confidence as he turned to Harry with a big smug smile.

“You really like bossing people around.” At this, Draco just smiled wider, more mischief in his eyes, before he calmed to an elegant smile. Harry liked both smiles on Draco.

“Yes well, it’ll be apart of my job one day. Anyhow, I need you to cast your cleaning spells on each piece of furniture the twins bring out, then I will levitate it to where I want it to go. I’m thinking of a big circle of chairs and couches, but not too big. I want to make a few more sitting spaces around the walls of the Chamber, then a few working stations with the bigger tables.” Draco turned to Harry, worried about something. “The basilisk won’t mind, will they?” Harry looked up in thought, then back down to Draco.

“I could ask, but I’m pretty sure she mentioned her not using this corridor much, so I think we’ll be fine. If not, Asmodeus will tell me and you could adjust.” Harry smiled, continuing. “But I’m pretty sure she’d be delighted by more people hanging out around here. Oh, and we need to tell Fred and George about her. If they come down here and she’s up, I don’t want them to attack.” Draco seemed to relax, his shoulder dropping from their climb to his pale pink ears.

“Ah, okay.” The Slytherin looked back at the working Twins, deciding to turn and walk towards them. “Fred! George! Before we forget.” The twins looked up, invested in something they were holding. “There is a basilisk in these Chambers, but it’s friendly, and won’t come out unless called.” Draco told them, getting quieter from his yell the closer his got. Fred and George looked at each other, then back to Draco and Harry.

“Really? Was that the monster in The Chamber of Secrets?”

“Interesting, interesting. And this basilisk doesn’t happen to have eyes that petrify, does it?” Harry shook his head, then nodded, confused.

“Well, she won’t petrify you if you don’t attack you. Amsodeus is super nice though, she’s just lonely is all. If she comes out, she can understand English, just can’t really respond since you guys don’t know Parsletongue.” The twins gave each other another look, then nodded. “Good! Now, let me help you with that.”

Waiting for Ron and finally setting up the room in order of Draco’s insistence made Harry feel odd in a good way, like he was happy but still thinking intently. Like he was too mature to be so happy about cleaning and decorating a hangout spot, but not caring about being mature at all, cause he was having so much fun.

Just a few minutes into the moving, George had found a few records with a record player, so the music set up echoed around the grand and echoey corridor. The assembly line Draco organized worked nicely and quickly for the group. The twins got to explore The Room of Requirement while Harry used his cleaning and repairing spells on the mismatched furniture they had found, making the area smell faintly of strawberries and lemons. Then Draco’s would levitate the couches and chairs and tables to where he wanted them, almost like it was a puzzle.

Eventually, when the circle was half way done, Ron and Hermione came out from the Gryffindor entrance to The Chamber. Ron was excitedly explaining about the basilisk and how it was friendly when Hermione caught the sight of her friends working to fill in the space.

“What-.” She tried, but Harry was already waving her and Ron over excitedly. Ron took her wrist and dragged her over to the group, still stunned by what she was finding out.

“Hey Hermione! What took you so long?” Harry called after the two, now closer to the cumulating circle of comfy chairs and couches. There was also a large area of unused furniture piling in the back, the ones Draco refused to do something with yet. He was already ordering for other kinds of furniture now like dressers and anything that could hold things.

Apparently, he planned on doing some secret potion practice down here because Blaise complained when he did it in the dormitory. Harry completely understood and also planned the same.

Hermione was sputtering, looking around almost scared, but too stunned to think about what to say. She didn’t need to say anything though as Draco ordered Ron to work in a split second.

“Ron! I need your help with moving the heavier couches! Come on!” Draco called, pulling Ron away from Hermione to help him with the longest couch Harry had ever seen.

“How are you gonna make a circle with that?” Harry yelled back, voice echoing in The Chamber. Hermione just looked around, assessing what was going on.

“What are you all doing?” She asked Harry, but Draco yelled back first.

“It’s going in one of the smaller sitting areas, and Fred! George! I’m gonna need you to start looking for curtains and rugs!” Harry ogled Draco for a bit, ideas running through his brain about what Draco was planning. He decided to just let out a sigh then turn to Hermione and try to explain.

“We’re making a hangout spot for teaching each other spells. It’s a moment decision but we’re just going with it. We wanted you to be apart of it, and also come up with a name for us. By the way, if Ron hadn’t already told you, this is The Chamber of Secrets.”

“Yes, I know. What else would it be, a broom closet? Honestly, I’m not dull.” She huffed, then looked around again, this time with a much lighter expression. “So, a big circle of couches and such for a bigger meeting area, then a few other, smaller sitting areas around the bigger one? Good idea, but putting those tables for an office is just not an idea for an area like this. Draco! This is a hangout, not a working area!” And Hermione was off to discuss the layout with Draco, also enjoying the decorating.

Catching a little of the two’s conversation, Harry could hear a color scheme being planned out.

Harry smiled, then went back to cleaning up anything and everything the twins brought out of the Room of Requirement. After a while with Hermione and Draco teaming up to design the room layout, Ron and the Twins teaming up to haul the new kinds of things they were being asked to find. Soon, the couches Hermione wanted and more chairs for a general table area were arranged, then Draco still wanted those curtains for closing off a few areas.

He wanted to section off unexplored areas before the team went through and cleaned them up. Hermione also decided to task herself with creating a map of the place, but only one, and she’d lock it up tight.

Draco wanted lamps, curtains, end tables, and rugs for his separate seating areas. Then Hermione wanted bigger rugs for the main circle area and then more tables for a larger working station.

All in all, the space with all the furniture surprisingly only took up a small space in the corridor, just the end on the opposite side of the statue and the basilisk, Asmodeus. When Fred brought out a clock, they all realized just how close to dinner it had become.

“Alright, I think that’s good for today.” Draco gathered everyone in the middle of the circle, a bright and happy grin displayed in entirety on his smug little face. “We all know how to say ‘open’ in Parsletongue, and before we tell or show anyone else, we discuss with the rest of us, yes?” They all murmured their agreements, all of them tired while sitting on the couches and chairs in the circle.

“Okay!” Harry gathered everyone’s attention his way now, eye lids low on his eyes. “We still need a name, and apparently more decoration.” Hermione and Draco huffed at Harry, but he continued all the same. “And this is a secret club, so I’m putting in a temporary name until Hermione’s got one down along the road. The temporary name is called A Secret, and I have a book for the club to put people’s name’s in it just to keep track of who knows or not. Also for Hermione’s map.” Harry pulled out a very thick looking notebook from the bag at his side, handing it around with a quill and a floating bottle of ink.

“So, why such a thick book? Planning on telling everyone, are we?” Fred asked before passing the book to George to sign, who then passed it to Draco, then Hermione, then Ron, who gave it back to Harry. Harry shook his head, trying to wake himself up a bit more. His excursion last night really weighed on him now.

“No, I want to skip into the book a few pages and write all the spells we learn, what they do, and how to do them. It would be easier to keep track of it if everything was in one place.” George gave an almost worried face to Harry, who only raised an eyebrow in response.

“But what if someone got a hold of that book later on and saw everyone and everything we learned? What if Filch got his filthy hands on it?” Harry shook his head, still trying to wake up, then smirked.

“Well then, we’ll just have to hide it somewhere he’d never be able to find it.” Harry then gestured to a wall, getting up and leading everyone over to the seemingly new wall. On the tile was one word that only Harry could read. “Slytherin.” He spoke in Parsletongue, touching the word while he did so. Immediately the wall pushed back from Harry’s touch and up to reveal another staircase. Leaning down, Harry loosened a panel of the second to last stair and revealed an empty box.

“Ah, I see. Good idea mate.” Fred said, both twins looking over Harry’s shoulder as he set the book securely into the stair then covered it back up and left the door to close on its own once the group left it.

“Alright, I think it’s time for dinner.” Harry yawned, stretching his hands up to the star painted ceiling of The Chamber. “Do you guys have time tomorrow to finish this place up?” Harry asked while leading them to The Lady of Water entrance, both the twins going to the entrance beside them that said “Fountain.”

“We’ve some traps to lay in the morning, and Quidditch tryouts as well, but we could be back down here after lunch!” George summarized, then waved goodbye as the two opened their door with a hiss and left. Harry followed suit, opening his door with Hermione, Ron, and Draco trailing behind him. Mischief the cat was still on Draco’s shoulders, but quickly deposited on Harry’s own shoulders before they made it to the top.

Harry felt good about this new supposed club, the feeling continuing through dinner and stayed with him right until his head hit the pillow of his bed and Harry went out like a light that night.