Can't Catch Me Now / Severus Snape

13. Hello Tom

" All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. " Minerva declared over the speaker. "All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately."

Harry and Ron hurry to the second floor corridor. In the section where the bloody message is, Professors McGonagall, severus, Flitwick, Madam Pomfrey, and Filch run up to the wall, where Professor McGonagall directs their attention to a newly written message. Harry shuffled to a stop seeing his dad.

"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message.  Our worst fear has been realized, a student has been taken by the monster, into the Chamber itself." Minerva told the group "The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

"So sorry. Dozed off. What have I missed?" Lockhart questioned strutting up.

"A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last." Severus informed him. If lilith was right the chamber would be in the girls laboratory. And knowing his wife, she was usually right. He wished she was here right now.

"My... moment?" Lockhart countered, stunned.

"Weren't you saying just last night you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" Severus recalled, Lockhart's face held a bit of bewilderment.

"That's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend." Minerva agreed. Lockhart smiled widely.

" Very well. I'll just be in my office, getting, uh... getting ready. " Lockhart ran off.

"Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" Pomfrey questioned.

"Ginny Weasley."

+

"Hello lilith."

"Riddle."

"We meet again. Its funny you see. Last I saw your son I killed your sister. Now I see you again and im gonig to lead your son right into my trap."

"No!"

"Yes. Lilith don't you see you cant win. Even now you are fighting but I'm in your head."

''Stay away from harry!" Lilith demanded. As if he was scared of her, but he would be, he would feel her fury.

"I cant. Correction, I wont. He took-"

"You took!"  Lilith shouted. 'He was a baby and you took my family from me!"

"Your bloodline took my life. "

"Serves you right. But here you are. Strutting around like a damn peacock. Well I will tell you something-" she took a swing at him but it didn't work. He wasn't really here. She was just dreaming. "When I see you again I will kill you dead. No coming back this time."

"Promises promises. Night lilith.... If you wake up we shall see. I might wake you up so you can see me, look in my eyes when you realize you lost, mudblood."

Lilith waited for the dream to fade but she was trapped in her own mind.

"Lockhart may be useless, but he's going to try to get into the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know!" Harry declared. "Professor, we have some information for you." But he was packing.

"Are you going somewhere?" Severus drawled, his eyes narrowing in on him.

"Um... well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable. Uh, got to go." Lockhart agreed.

"What about my sister?!" Ron shouted in outrage.

"I need to catch this monster." Severus demanded.

" Uh, well, um... As to that, most unfortunate. No one regrets more than I."

"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. You can't go now!" Ron demanded.

" Well, I must say, when I took the job, there was nothing in the job description about--" Lockhart countered moving to the door but Harry and ron blocked his path.

"You're running away? After all that stuff you did in your books?!" Harry questioned.

" Books can be misleading."

"You wrote them!" Harry shouted back.

"He didnt." Severus realized turning flipping his cloak behind him as he marched off " you're not going to get anything from him Harry. He's useless I knew it from the start."

" My dear boy, do use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things!" Lockhart countered.

"You're a fraud. You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done!" Harry realized.

"Is there anything you can do?" Ron demanded.

"Yes. Now you mention it. I'm rather gifted with memory charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would've gone blabbing, and I'd never have sold another book." Lockhart agreed. "In fact, uh... I'm uh... " But ron and harry pulled their wands free.  "going to have to do the same to you. " but their wands were pointed at him as well.

"Don't even think about it." Harry demanded.

"Oh? Who's there? Oh, hello, Harry. What do you want?" Myrtle questioned.

"To ask you how you died". Harry remarked.

"Oh..." her smile faded "...it was dreadful. It happened right here in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then... I heard somebody come in." Myrtle informed him.

"Who was it, Myrtle?"

"I don't know. I was distraught! I already told your mother this she came asking   Questions you Snapes are so nosy." no, Myrtle answered, all choked up and floated to them. "But they said something funny, a kind of made-up language, and I realized it was a boy speaking, so I unlocked the door to tell him to go away, and... I died."

"Just like that? How?"

"I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes, over there, by that sink." Myrtle remarked, she pointed at the circle of sinks in the center of the bathroom.

Examining the sink, Harry reached up to the circular stone above the sinks, he moves his hand downward to the sink in front of him; he turned the tap, but no water comes out. At that second, something else catches his eye; looking more closely at the tap, he sees a snake carved on it.

"This is it." He took a step back. "This is it, Ron. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

" Say something. Harry, say something in Parseltongue." Ron suggested.

"Hesha- Hassah."

Open up.

The circular stone above the sinks rose, then all the sinks began to move outwards. Harry, Ron, and Lockhart back away slowly as the sinks moved. the sink with the snake carved on its tap descends into the floor, then a grating slides over it. Lockhart stepped towards the opening that the sinks concealed and looks down into a very wide black hole.

" Excellent, Harry. Ah, good work. Well, then, I'll just be, uh... there's no need for me to stay." Lockhart tried to run but they grabbed him.

"Oh, yes there is!" Harry corrected, with all their might, they pushed Lockhart backwards toward the passage before drawing their wands. "You first."

"Now, boys, what good will it do?"

"Better you than us. " Ron corrected.

" Um, but... obviously, yes." Lockhart looked nervously down.  "Sure you don't want to test it first?"

"Harry!" Severus demanded seeing them jump down. "Hells..." he muttered looking down into the chamber.