The silver trio

The Basilisk

I wake up in the school hospital and rub my eyes. Harry and Ron stand before me. I sit up immediately, "hello", I croak.
"Are you alright?", Ron asks.
"What happened?", I ask.
"You passed out after you heard the news", Harry says gravely.
"The news?", I ask. My memory is foggy.
"You don't remember?", Harry says.
"I just remember Snape wanting to talk to me or something.", I say.
"Well", Ron gulps, "Hermione's in the hospital right now, she was petrified", He says.
"What?", I say feeling the color draining from my face.
"Yeah once you heard the news you completely passed out", Harry says.
I rub my head which is beginning to ache. "Can I see her?", I ask.
"Are you sure you're okay?", Ron asks.
"I'm fine. I want to see her", I say.

They help me out of bed and guide me to where Hermione is being kept. She lays there, lifeless a mirror in her hand, petrified. A tear pricks at my eye and I rub it away hastily. Harry places his arm around my shoulder as I begin to cry into Ron's arms.
"It's okay", they whisper.
"She'll be fine".
Once I've calmed down a bit I walk closer to Hermione and place my hand on hers, she's horrifically cold but I keep my hand there.
"I feel so bad", I say.
"We all do", Ron says sniffly.
"We should've been there to protect her", Harry says.

As I'm clutching her hand I notice a piece of crumpled up paper in her fist.
"What's this?", I ask as I open it.
I begin to read, "of the many venomous beasts that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the basilisk, known also as the king of serpents".
"The king of serpents", I whisper in my head as a light switch goes off.
"This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chickens egg, hatched beneath a toad. It's methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the basilisk had a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the basilisk flees only from the crowing of a rooster, which is fatal to it".
I put the note in my pocket and look at the boys in shock. They both look like they've seen a ghost.
"This is it", I say.
"What is?", Ron asks.
"This is the creature that's been petrifying people. This is the monster inside the chamber", I say.
"Wait, (Y/N) have you been doing what we've been doing?", Harry asks.
"What have you been doing?", I ask.
"We've been trying to figure all this out for months now", Harry says.
"What? Why didn't you say anything to me? Ive been doing the exact same", I say astounded.
"Well you don't really seem to have much time for us anymore", Ron says sheepishly.
I sigh, "I'm sorry. I know it's not an excuse but I've just been working so hard on this that I haven't had time for anything else. I should've said something I just assumed you didn't know anything about this".
"Still had time for Draco and Blaise though", Harry says slyly.
"No you don't understand. They were helping me too. All three of us have been losing sleep over this, sneaking out to the restricted section, researching and trying to find the chamber. But all we needed was Hermione. She has the answer right here. This is all we need", I say.
Harry and Ron look impressed.
"Wouldn't have thought they'd have any interest in finding the heir to Slytherin", Ron says.
"Sometimes I think you forget I'm a Slytherin too", I roll my eyes.
"I'm sorry", Ron begins but I cut him off.
"We don't have time to argue. We need to act fast. Theres a basilisk in the castle and it's not going to stop unless we do something", I say.
"Wait", Harry interrupts. "In the note it says the basilisks stare is deadly. Then how has no one died yet?".
"I thought that was obvious. Hermione saw the basilisk through the mirror not directly. That little first year, what was his name? Colin? Well he saw it through his camera. Filches cat even saw it through the reflection in the water. It's all in direct eye contact hence the no deaths. Yet", I say matter of factly.
"Bloody hell. I swear sometimes you're a Ravenclaw", Ron laughs.
I grin, "Maybe I am".
"Right okay so the girl who died in the bathroom before must have made direct eye contact", Harry says.
"How do you know about that?", I ask.
"Could ask you the same thing".
"The diary?".
"What? What diary", Harry asks curiously.
"Merlin, never mind".
"No. You have to tell us now.", Ron says.
"I found a diary a few days ago in the abandoned girls bathroom. It belonged to Tom Marvolo Riddle, a student who was in the school fifty years ago the same time the attack happened. I started writing and the diary wrote back. I know it sounds mad but some dark magic sucked me into the book and showed me a memory of the night of the attack. And then it showed Hagrid being caught with a spider who was assumed to be the monster. Only now we know it wasn't Hagrid at all", I say.
"Hagrid was framed?", Ron asks.
"Yes", I whisper.
The realization that Hagrid might be accused again never crossed my mind.
"How could I have been so stupid?", I say out loud.
"What's up?", Harry asks.
"Hagrid is going to be framed again. If they think he did it last time. We need to tell someone, we have to prove that it wasn't him. Or else he could go to Azkaban", I gulp.
"Hagrid cant go to Azkaban. Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen", Ron says.
"She's right Ron. If we don't do something it's bound to happen", Harry says.
"Look I'm leaving the hospital now and we're going straight to Hagrid. We've got to warn him or something. Give him the evidence so he can show it to Dumbledore and prove he's innocent", I say.
"Alright let's go", They say.

"Thank you Hermione", I whisper and I lean in to kiss her on the forehead.
I leave before I can start crying again and soon enough all three of us are huddled underneath Harry's invisibility cloak, heading to Hagrid's hut.