Atlas Malfoy and how history repeats itself

Part 18

The next day goes fairly quickly, and I meet Harry and Ron later to see Hermione. We sit with her, and as Harry holds her hand, he gasps. A note.
"And that is the thing in the chamber. A basilisk." Harry says.
"How has it been getting round?" Ron says, "And why is nobody dead?"
"Well," I say, "Colin saw him through his camera, Justin must've seen the basilisk through nearly headless Nick, but Nick is already dead, and he can't die twice. And Hermione had the mirror. I bet she was using it to see round corners."
"How did Filch's cat not die?" Ron snaps. I think for a second before saying, "The water! There was water on the floor."
"That still doesn't answer my question on how it has been getting round."
"Hermione answered that too," Harry says, "Pipes."
"Pipes? It's using the plumbing?" Ron scoffs. Harry's face grows cold and he says, "Remember what Aragog said about the girl who died in a bathroom. What if she never left?"
I snap, "Moaning mertle? Harry, are you serious?"
He is. An announcement goes off about the second floor corridor, so we naturally go check it out. The chamber has been open. A student has been taken by the monster. Who? I strain to listen to who they say is gone. Apparently, Lockheart can find and save her. I don't care. I just need to know who has been taken.
"Ginny Weasley."

Ron is distraught and so we drag him to Lockheart's office. I slam open the door and see him... packing?
"Are you going somewhere?" Harry snaps. I groan and whip out my wand. He steps back and I say, "You are planning on saving Ginny Weasley, aren't you sir?"
"Tragic thing really, but alas, no one regrets more than I!" He says, trying to squeeze past. Harry says, "You're the defence against the dark arts teacher! What about all the stuff you did in your book-"
"Books can be misleading," Lockheart cries, lunging for the door. Ron yells, "YOU WROTE THE BOOKS?"
"My dear boy," Lockheart grasps at his hair and says, "Use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I had wrote them."
"You're a fraud?" I scream. He gasps and says, "Well, I-"
"Is there anything you can do?" Ron scoffs. Lockheart smirks, "Well, I am quite good at memory charms, now I think about it. Let me just-"
By the time he has finished saying that, we now all have our wands pointed directly at his face. He grimaces and says, "I don't suppose you would let me go?"
"No chance," I laugh, "I bet you'll have loads to write about now."

The girl's bathroom is sad, but at least we have Lockheart to intimidate a little. It is quite nice having power over a lying fraud.
"What do you want?" Metle sobs. Harry replies, awkwardly, "How did you die?"
She is incoherent to me, but I'm used to listening to people talk down to me. I stand around, wand pointed into Lockheart's back. Harry walks over to the sink and I say, "We're right here if you need us Harry. And we have a sacrifice this time."
Lockheart groans as I jam my wand harder into his back. Harry hisses something in parsletongue, allowing the sink to open, revealing a slide.
"Excellent. No need for me to stay!" Lockheart says, trying to run out. I grab his blazer thing and shove him in. I smile at Harry and say, "I'll go next then. If I die, tell my dad I never liked his hair."

I jump, sliding down for too long than I am comfortable with. I land on sticks and stand up, brushing my tracksuit off. I refused to wear my robes for this. Lockheart laughs to himself a little, clearly trying to calm his own nerves. We walk through to the next room, and I see something I would much rather not have. A giant snake skin.
"Blimey..." Ron mutters to himself, "Whatever shed this must be at least sixty feet long..."
"Bare minimum it'd need to be is around fifty." I add. Lockheart collapses at my feet and I say, "Absolute powerful genius this one."
Ron pokes him with his wand, to which Lockheart spins round and grabs the wand, laughing. He stands up and says, "This ends here boys- oh, and girl. But don't fret, the world will know our story. How we were tragically too late too save the girl. How you two went insane at the sight of her mangled body. Now, you first, Mr Potter. Be prepared to say goodbye to all your memories. OBLIVIATE!"
Lockheart is flung back, and the force of it sends me tumbling back too. I close my eyes, screaming and covering my face. Something crashes and I open my eyes, slowly raising myself up. Rocks have created a sort of wall, blocking Harry off from us. I gasp and Ron says, "Oh Merlin's beard. Harry? Harry are you okay?"
There is an uncomfortable amount of silence and suddenly, Harry's muffled voice responds, "Yeah, or there about? Are you two okay?"
"Ron and I are fine," I yell, "Harry! Go save Ginny!"
Lockheart stirs and says, "Hello! Who are you?"
"My name's Ron."
"Oh, and who am I?"
He falls back to sleep and Ron yells, "Harry? Lockheart's memory spell backfired? He has completely forgotten who he is."
"Good! And well deserved? You try clear some space for me to crawl back through, and then I'll go save Ginny."
"Okay," I yell, "And Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Be safe."

With that, he leaves. Ron and I stand in silence for a minute, before getting to work. I pull at a rock and grimace. It falls onto my foot, cutting my leg and making it bleed. I suck in a breathe and groan as I heave another rock to the floor. My hair is really getting in the way. It's surprisingly helpful to just be able to have short hair as soon as I want, and know it'll grow back. I match my hair to Ron's and continue shoving rocks down. As we near having a hole big enough for Harry and Ginny to climb out of, I sit, my back against the wall. I have to put effort into actually keeping my appearance different, so it's nice to relax and let my hair fall. Ron sits next to me and says, "If I ask you to tell me the actual truth, will you?"
I nod, still struggling for breath, and he says, "Would you want to stay with us for the summer?"