White Heather for Protection

The Chamber of Secrets

He was running. He hadn't stopped, not since he'd left them back there. The tunnels seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Hadrian was painfully aware of time ticking by as he made a pitiful attempt to navigate this dark, dank maze. His thighs ached terribly and he was suddenly grateful for his crazy Captain's strenuous exercise regime. Ignoring the pain, he pushed on mercilessly. Ginny was waiting.

Up ahead! A tiny pinprick of light. He raced towards it. As he got closer, a refreshing draft gusted by. A large room of sorts, then. Surely whatever sick villain was behind this was holding Ginny captive in there? An adrenaline-fuelled burst of speed propelled him into a large hall.

Hadrian had finally reached the Chamber of Secrets.

~~~

Healing the last of Ronald's major injuries, she quickly moved on to her next patient. The injured boy wouldn't be rousing anytime soon. She had placed a sleeping charm to prevent waking him during treatment.

Lockhart appeared in better shape than Ronald. He wasn't hurt aside from a nasty bump on his head. But coupled with the rebounded Obliviate, she had serious concerns for his mental aptitude once he awoke. Not that it had been very advanced before this.

Part of Heather - a very large part - yearned to chase after her brother now that these two were in stable condition. However, she knew that she had to get them to the infirmary. She wasn't exactly a trained Healer. It was always better to seek professional medical assistance, even if she didn't always do so. Besides, Lockhart's mental damage wasn't something that she could help. The sooner he got to a Mindhealer, the better his chances of recovery.

Heart screaming at her to run after her brother, she levitated the two males and went in the opposite direction.

~~~

"Who are you? Never mind, we've got to get out of here!" Hadrian whispered anxiously, "There's a basilisk on the loose!"

He had found Ginny unconscious - too pale, too still - in the centre of the antechamber. So focussed on her, he hadn't noticed the blurry, translucent figure floating nearby.

The person (ghost?) looked about fifteen, with dark hair and solemn eyes. "Hello there. Are you here to take her back?"

"Yes," he said tersely, whipping his wand out to cast Mobilicorpus.

In his haste, he wasn't able to maintain his grip on his holly wand when it was yanked sharply. A silent disarming charm? Looking warily at the strange boy, Hadrian saw the cruel smile on his face.

"I'm afraid you can't. Or rather, I won't let you."

A terrifying understanding dawned on Hadrian. He was looking at Slytherin's Heir.

~~~

Bloody hell! Heather usually thought cussing was crude, but she felt entirely justified this time. Myrtle's bathroom was just so damned far from the hospital wing! They were in entirely different towers, which also meant that she had to tread the trick staircases. She didn't have time for all this dithering!

At long last, she reached her destination. Bursting in, she shouted, "Madam Pomfrey!" She just had to hand Ronald and Lockhart into the matron's care and then she could go back.

"Oh dear heavens above! What are you doing out of your dorms? The castle's on lockdown!" The Mediwitch examined her patients worriedly. They were roughed up and awfully filthy. What had happened to them?

Heather ignored the queries and rattled off the two wizards' statuses. Once she was done, she made to leave, but the school matron stopped her.

"Heather! You need to get back to you room! Wait, I'll firecall Professor Snape."