Chapter 1 : Back to the Chamber

Author's Notes

I do not own Harry Potter. This is merely a work of fan-fiction.

Harry will be a 'greyer' character in this story, in the sense that he's not going necessarily going to be a paragon of virtue like Superman.

I will try to include romance, however that is not my strong suit.

Sirius will play a major role in the story, even if he is rather absent at the start. And NO, I CATEGORICALLY REFUSE TO KILL HIM OFF LIKE HE WAS IN BOOK 5.

Dumbledore will be minorly bashed in the story. But ultimately, he'll be one of the good guys.

While there will be mutual attraction between the two, Harry and Hermione won't be the endgame couple(sorry if that bothers anyone).

Not sure where I'll end up going with the Weasleys.

The concept of 'ancient and noble houses' will exist, however I will try to limit the role they play. You know the tropes, they'll just be watered down and as realistic as I can make them (even using some of the real world dynamics of nobility). Our friends are not taking over the government in an instant.

The population of wizards is much higher than in canon.

Special thanks to the authors of the stories I took inspiration from!

'Power, Freedom and a French Flower' by Mori99

'Heart and Soul' by Sillimaure

'Serpentine Advice' by ubiquitouslyverbose

Enjoy!

15:17| Gryffindor House Common Room |Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry |June 10th 1993

Hermione and the rest of the petrified students had woken up last night, and Harry had spent almost every waking moment with his now revived bookworm friend. He had missed her immensely. He had heard of the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" many times before, but now he truly understood it. It wasn't just that she provided conversation that went beyond food, quidditch or chess, over the course of a year and a half, he had gotten used to her presence and enjoyed her companionship, even if their interaction was sometimes limited to 'Professor McGonagall this', 'Professor Flitwick that' and discussing homework. He snickered at how different his two friends were, privately wondering if they even had something in common except being friends with him.

During the days everyone thought him to be the Heir of Slytherin, her support had been invaluable. Despite being muggleborn herself, the people he was allegedly trying to kill, she had stood beside him steadfastly, and fervently defended him whenever people accused him of being a dark wizard or a killer. His mental state had been extremely fragile, and he was positive he would have emotionally collapsed had it not been for her. She had always been there for him, pulling him out of his funk, be it making him open up whenever he was brooding, or being a sounding board whenever he would throw a tantrum, listening to him complain about each and everything under the sun.

Her absence had also made him aware how dependent he was on her for his schoolwork, as was evident from his grades in the first few assignments after her petrification. As horrible as her petrification was, it had a silver lining.

Harry had started pulling his own weight in classes, the loss of his crutch had forced him walk on his own, and he was better off for it. He was at a higher standing now than he was before her petrification. He had developed the habit of self-dependence fairly early in his life, whatever little help Petunia would give him had disappeared after it became evident that he was much smarter than "her precious Dudders", though that wasn't exactly hard if he was being honest. This was lost after he came to Hogwarts.

There were multiple factors that led to his solid, if unremarkable standing in his class. The biggest was of course, his dependence on Hermione. While she could make corrections or small additions in his lethargic work for him, this wasn't the same as him understanding the concepts or the methods, and this led to a fringed understanding of the material. Also, 'Pureblood' and 'Halfblood' students had the advantage of having received previous instruction in magic, so, at least for the initial years of his schooling, he started behind a considerable number of his peers, some of whom he was yet to pass, Malfoy being one of them, much to his disappointment. Then the problem was his best friend (one of them), Ron. He felt a great sense of gratitude towards him, his first ever friend of his own age, and so loyal and concerned for him, and whose family had given him his first real Christmas presents, and not only rescued him from his "relatives", but also took him in during the summer. Keeping Ron happy was a priority, he didn't really have many friends and in any case, he genuinely couldn't bear to lose as close to him as Ron. So, if doing what Ron wants meant he had to sacrifice his studies a little, that was an ok deal in his book, especially since Hermione was there. That changed. His grades just after Hermione's help ceased were rather embarrassing if he was honest with himself, especially a P he got in potions, something Snape was kind enough to remind him on more than one occasion. In the preceding weeks he had felt extremely irritated when Ron had asked to copy some of his work or made him proof read… Hermione had done this for months, and never complained. If they were going to do school work together, it was going to be a two-way street from now. In any case, she wouldn't be there to correct him in the finals or tests, would she?

She was truly a wonderful friend, and it was about time she was appreciated for it.

Harry watched Hermione enter through the portrait and make her way over to where he was sitting. She had been summoned to the staff room to discuss how to make up for her lost lessons, eventually settling on fast-paced lessons till the end of the session and a self-study plan extending into the summer. Other petrified students, however, were less fortunate. Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been petrified for too long, and Penelope Clearwater had material too advanced and ample to be covered in a short span of time or with self-study. They would also be instructed till the end of the term, but their lessons would continue into the summer.

As she made her way to the corner he was seated at, writing an essay on the fire-making charm, "Incendio", he noticed that they were alone for the first time since she had woken up; Ron was playing exploding snap in the courtyard with Dean and Seamus.

Deciding there was no time like the present, he stopped writing and started to speak.

"Hermione?"

"Yes Harry?"

"I-I don't know how to do this; I only have one chance and I really want to get it right."

"Get what right? The last Charms assignment of the term?", Hermione said, gesturing to the parchment lying on the table between them. "Don't worry about it Harry! I'm sure did enough for an O, or at least a high Exceeds, by the way, I'm so happy that you've gotten serious about your schoolwork, I've always said your grades were beneath your calib-"

"No Hermione, that is not what I'm talking about."

"Oh?"

...

"What's going on Harry?" Hermione said when Harry didn't reply.

"Thank You."

Hermione looked at him, a little confused. But before she could say anything, he started to speak again.

"Thank you, for….everything. You're amazing, you know that? Ever since we became friends, you've done so much for me, you would push me to work so I didn't miss deadlines, you would even make corrections before I turned the parchment in, but it goes beyond that. Whenever I feel down or anxious, you're always there – before my first quidditch game, at Halloween, after Snape would say mean things about my father, when I was being secluded this year…and you would try to comfort me or cheer me up or just be there…When you got petrified, your absence made me realize just how lucky I am to be friends with you. You're an extremely intelligent, supportive, selfless, kind and caring person and I am so glad we're friends."

Without warning, Hermione launched herself into Harry and pulled him into a rib-cracking hub, he let out "oomph" as he was momentarily winded, before he proceeded to return the gesture. Harry got the feeling she was crying and once they separated, he saw she indeed had shed a few tears. He hadn't upset her, had he? She wouldn't have hugged him if that was the case-

"Don't be alarmed Harry, it's just that…. that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me, you know? And oh don't worry about it! What are friends for? Also, I'm happy to see how mature you've become, this year has been tough, and just plain crazy at times, I mean honestly, a giant 50-year-old talking spider! And don't even get me started on Snake Medusa! But really, you've grown up a lot this year.…. even if you are one of the shortest boys in our year." Hermione ended jokingly.

The both of them shared a laugh at that, though Harry inwardly hoped he would hit a growth spurt over the summer.

"I owe Ron a big 'thank you' as well, he's stuck by me this whole time too… Really, you and Ron are the absolute best friends I could have ever asked for." said Harry, meaning every word of it.

"And you're the best friend I could have asked for.". Here Harry noted she had left out Ron's name, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a mistake.

"Well, I haven't exactly been doing a good job as a best friend have I?", Harry added a dejectedly.

"What! Harry you've been nothing short of an amazing friend and don't let anyone tell you otherwise". She raised her hand to stop him interrupting and continued to speak.

"Really, after we became friends after that….…let's call it that 'episode', I noticed how you would try and get the other Gryffindors to be nicer to me, or at least not mean. I may never have spoken about it, but I know you requested the Quidditch team to befriend me, even if they initially found me repulsive, so to make me feel accepted and comfortable, and then there were the small acts like silent gestures pleading others not to make any remarks towards me when I had irritated them, giving me a shoulder to cry on when I missed my parents too much…if you hadn't become my friend, I don't think I would have continued at Hogwarts.". Hermione once again signalled him to stop, before he could object to her statement. "No, understand Harry, this was the first time I had ever left my parents for more than a day, and I missed them terribly. I hadn't adjusted to life at boarding school and thought if I going to remain friendless, the muggle world would be better, because at least I would still have my parents with me. Magic is such a wonderful thing, and being muggleborn, I would have had all my memories of it taken, I would have had my magic taken…well that's actually incorrect, you see they don't "take" your magic, they just bind it and hide it inside you, so they aren't technically taking anythi- Oh Not a word you!" exclaimed Hermione, at Harry's amused expression. "Like I was saying, you saved me from losing something so special, and gave me something I'd never had but always wanted, so you've done really well at this best friend thing as far as I'm concerned."

Harry gave her an appreciative smile. Then, he moved his arms around Hermione, and pulled her into a hug, momentarily stunning the bushy-haired girl. This was the first time EVER that Harry had initiated physical contact. Getting over her shock, she returned the hug whole-heartedly. They stood like that for a few moments, in complete silence, before Harry whispered, "I've missed you, Hermione."

17:30| Second-floor girls' lavatory| Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry| June 12th 1993

Coming to a stop in front of the basin, Harry pulled off his cloak of invisibility. He had mulled whether or not he should bring his friends with him, but he had eventually decided not to. It was mostly because he knew if he even gave a hint of his intentions to them, it would kill his chances of ever being able to come back. There was a very strong chance that Ron, and every chance that Hermione would tell McGonagall of his plans, who would then tell Dumbledore, who would without question seal the entrance forever. He was extremely curious about the statue, and in the end, it was a fairly easy decision – he would go by himself. To be honest, he felt a guilty about keeping secrets from his friends, but it was just one visit, wasn't it?

"Open."

The sink started to disintegrate, revealing a shaft, the bottom of which was barely visible. There really wasn't a reason NOT to go back down there, was it? He had been very curious to explore the chamber in its entirety, especially the statue where the basilisk had come from, and with the snake dead, there was no danger in going, was there?

"Steps".…. nothing happened.

"Stairs". From inside the walls of the shaft, thick stone slabs started moving out in a looping pattern, creating a spiral staircase. So, he was right.

Ginny had gone down to the Chamber at least 5 times. Fawkes had flown them out the fifth time, but she had to have had a different way of leaving the first four times, didn't she? He had considered her using a broomstick, but that was highly unlikely. She didn't have one of her own, and it would be extremely difficult, not to mention inconvenient, to continuously steal one from another student or the school. Still, he had brought his Nimbus with him, just in case. He had considered other options, like unassisted flight (something Voldemort was known to be capable of), or the existence of another exit, before arriving at the possibility of summonable stairs earlier in the day.

Harry, accompanied by Ron, made his way back to Gryffindor Tower from practice for the now reinstated Quidditch Cup.

The Quidditch Cup hadn't been cancelled in over 150 years, and apparently the headmaster had no intention of breaking that tradition. The announcement made at breakfast the previous day had sent the school into sheer pandemonium, and it had taken cannon-blast charms from half the staff to get the cheering to subside. Understandably, students who had their OWLs or NEWTs were forbidden from playing, as OWLs would be starting from the 15th, and NEWTs from the 16th. Fortunately for Gryffindor, their team would remain intact; Harry was in his second year, Katie in her third, the Weasley twins, Alicia and Angelina were in their fourth, and Oliver, who was red in the face from all his screaming, was in his sixth. Considering none of the team members had exams to appear for, one didn't exactly have to be a seer to know that the coming days were not going to be kind to the bodies of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

There were 4 matches to be played before the end of the term - the 30th of June. The first match would be Gryffindor Vs Ravenclaw on the 20th, followed by Hufflepuff Vs Slytherin on the 22nd, then Slytherin Vs Ravenclaw on the 25th, and finally Gryffindor Vs Hufflepuff on the 27th .

Tradition wasn't the only reason that the staff decided to continue with the tournament. The closing term had been extremely morose and frightening, for students and teachers alike. The Quidditch Cup would certainly go a long way in healing some of the trauma the students had suffered, whether out of petrification of themselves or someone close to them, or just out of the fear they had lived in, in the preceding months.

As Harry walked up the stairs, his body sore from the afternoon's practice, his mind wandered back to a question that had been on his mind the past couple of days, "How did Ginny transit in and out from the chamber?". So lost was he in his musings that he had completely tuned out what Ron was saying (something about the Chudley Cannons) and wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. He got caught on the infamous tripping step, and fell over, just managing to shield his face with his hand.

"Woah, Wood really put you through the grinder today huh? Only Neville gets caught on this step now!" said Ron, snickering at his fallen friend.

"Ha-ha, yeah Quidditch maniac that one! He did push us a little too hard for our first training session since March!" Harry lied, as he got up and wiped dust off of his Quidditch slacks.

"Stupid magical staircase!".

Harry immediately got lost in his thoughts again, more or less looping the statement "No way did she dive in every time, someone would've noticed her dirty robes every time she came out, which is at least four, and how did she leave anyway? I doubt Fawkes runs a taxi servi-"

And then it hit him. What if there was a magical staircase, concealed… just like the entrance. He had decided today would be the day he would make his way back down into the chamber, and while he had decided on using his Nimbus to go up and down, he had another theory to test.

Happy with himself over his deduction, he hopped onto his broomstick and made his way down the shaft and into the underground tunnel. Moving ahead from the shed-skin and through the gap in the cave-in caused by Lockhart (where, in an ironic ending, the obliviating, credit-stealing fraud had wiped his own memories), Harry arrived at a large metallic vault door, decorated with a number of metallic snakes. Getting off his broom and placing it on the ground, he hissed, "Open."

One by one, each snake coiled up, as if alive, and the door slowly swung open.

Taking in a deep breath, as his eyes registered the corpse of a giant snake laying against the stone floor, for the second time in his life, Harry Potter made his way into the fabled Chamber of Secrets.