Trust Me (Drarry)

Chapter 6

So, this one's finished! And it's quite long - I had to cut it down a lot, so the next chapter may be finished today as well! Hope this sort of makes up for the HORRIFICALLY late update! Enjoy :-)

RON POV

That’s one thing I will never, ever forget. Hermione Granger, lying helplessly in a hospital bed, eyes unblinking, fear plastered to her still face. I had never seen her look so terrified; even when we went through the trapdoor last year, she was mostly just determined and focused. Harry and I were the ones practically peeing our pants.

He’s completely silent now. I reckon he’s in shock. Neither of us imagined that this would happen. How are we going to figure this out without Hermione? The Polyjuice Potion got us nowhere, and unfortunately Malfoy isn't the Heir of Slytherin. What is the monster that Binns said was believed to be in the Chamber? Did Hagrid really open the Chamber of Secrets? There are so many unanswered questions that, without Hermione, are near enough impossible to find the answers to.

I was so deep in thought that I jumped when Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. “I suggest you go back to your dormitory now, boys,” she said. We nodded, glancing back at Hermione one last time and heading for the door where McGonagall was waiting to take us to Gryffindor Tower.

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

“What do we do now?” I groaned, rolling my head back and staring at the ceiling. We were the last ones left in the common room, everyone else having retired early out of sheer boredom. “Do you think they suspect Hagrid?”

“We’ve got to go and talk to him,” Harry said. “I can’t believe it’s him this time, but if he set the monster loose last time he’ll know how to get into the Chamber, and that’s a start.”

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

Follow the spiders? If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I’m gonna kill him! I almost got savaged by spiders the size of the bloody Whomping Willow! What the bloody hell was the point in that?

Harry reckons that what Aragog said proves that Hagrid didn’t open the Chamber of Secrets. Sure ok, but was there no other way we could’ve worked that out? Instead of practically gift-wrapping those damn spiders their dinner?

I lay on my bed, drinking in the wonderful knowledge that I was still alive and not inside the stomach of an Acromantula. Suddenly, I heard the creak of bedsprings and a yelp. I turned my head to look at Harry, who was nursing his head after obviously hitting it on his bedframe.

“Ron – that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom. What if she never left? What if she’s still there?” Realisation hit me, and my mouth fell open in surprise.

“You don’t think – not Moaning Myrtle?”

-/\-\/-/\-\/-/\-

DRACO POV

Harry cancelled our most recent chess session. He seems to have been very affected by this Granger business, and I've barely heard him say a word for days, at mealtimes or in lessons. He didn’t even react when McGonagall told us that we still had exams, while the rest of the class was in chaos.

“Exams?” howled Finnigan. “We’re still getting exams?” For once, I agreed with him. How do they expect us to continue as normal with the castle in this state? I can barely remember anything we’ve learnt this year…

At the end of Transfiguration, I felt like I wanted to talk to Harry (about what, I have no idea), but he was swept off by McGonagall to Defence Against the Dark Arts. He wasn’t even there in History of Magic, and my mind instantly wondered whether the monster had got him too. I felt a bit sick at the thought.

I was also determined to find out what he and Granger had been talking about the morning of the match, particularly the "voice" he mentioned. I would have laughed if the whole situation wasn't terrifying; I had always thought Potter was mental and now I had proof.

I felt an odd sense of relief when, on my way back from History of Magic, I saw him and Weasley sprinting down the corridor. They looked like they were on a mission, and I'd be damned if I wasn't going to find out what it was. Professor Binns didn't even flinch as I separated from the clasd and took off after them, cornering them close to the staff room.

“You?” Weasley said, disgusted, but I ignored him and pinned Harry to the wall.

"Malfoy, what the-” Harry began.

“Giving teachers the slip, are we, Potter? What's this?” I snatched a crumpled piece of paper out of his hands, and read it.

"Of the many fearsome creatures that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known as the Kind of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of his eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees on from the crowing of a rooster, which is fatal to it."

Pipes

“But this…” Everything suddenly clicked into place. “Someone strangled the roosters… The pipes... The paint on the walls… The… But how has no one died?”

Harry glanced at Ron, who was glaring daggers at me, and then proceeded to explain everything. How they followed the spiders, no one had been killed because they had only seen the Basilisk’s reflection, how the piece of paper had made everything make sense, how Harry had heard its voice in the walls…

“You’re a Parselmouth?” I was stunned. Then I smirked. "You so should have been a Slytherin..."

“Why are you even here, Malfoy?" Weasley snapped.

"Just checking you weren't going off to save any muggleborns," I said coldly, handing the piece of paper back to Harry. Weasley made a sudden movement, but Harry held a hand out and shook his head. "I'm kidding, Weasel, jeez..."

The redhead opened his mouth to retort, but we all jumped when McGonagall’s voice, magically magnified, echoed through the corridors.

“All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately.”

“Let’s go,” Harry whispered. We ran to the corridor, staying hidden in the shadows behind a statue, as we listened to the sounds of the teachers’ feet on the stone floor.

“As you can see,” McGonagall said. “The Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realised. A student has been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself. The students must be sent home. I’m afraid this is the end of Hogwarts.” I could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke, and that same pain was reflected in Harry’s eyes at her words.

Suddenly, we heard another pair of footsteps down the corridor and drew further back into the shadows. It was Professor Lockhart.

“So sorry,” he coughed. “Dozed off. What have I missed?”

“A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last.” Snape’s icy tones reached us, and we grinned at each other.

“My m-moment?”

“Weren’t you saying just last night that you’ve known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?” We could hear the smirk in Snape’s voice.

“That’s settled.” McGonagall sounded just as amused as Snape. “We’ll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy.”

“Very well.” Lockhart’s voice dripped with fake confidence. “I’ll just be in my office getting… Getting ready.” Harry and Ron narrowed their eyes at one another.

But then Madam Pomfrey spoke. “Who is it the monster’s taken, Minerva?”

There was a slight pause in which McGonagall seemed to attempt to gather herself, before saying two words that shattered any amusement we felt towards Lockhart’s idiocy.

“Ginny Weasley.”