Secrets Only Trouble Knows - George Weasley

46 - Goodbye, Year Four

Immediately the gigantic stone face began moving. Horrorstruck, I stood there with my jaw dropped, watching as Slytherin's mouth opened wider and wider until it made a huge black hole. Something was stirring from within it— I could hear it, almost like it was slithering—

Harry backed up, away from the beast that was surely nearing the opening of the hole that was Slytherin's mouth. He passed right by me, signaling to me that he could, in fact, not see me while I was, in some shape or form, present in this moment with him. If Harry couldn't see me, if none of them could see me here right now, then the basilisk wouldn't be able to either—

And that's when I saw it.

Dropping harshly onto the floor from Slytherin's mouth was the most gruesome-looking serpent-monster-thing I'd ever seen. The basilisk was absolutely enormous in size, a deep green color, and was slimy and scaly all over.

Voldemort's voice hissed once more and the basilisk uncoiled itself, immediately beginning to move towards me and subsequently Harry. It's piercing yellow eyes gazed right through me, not affecting me in the slightest with their deadly ability, and looked hungrily upon Harry. It slithered down the long chamber, moving by me with its long, pointy fangs on full display. The serpent undoubtedly wanted to sink them into Harry, the fresh piece of meat that so willingly stood before it.

Unable to physically move from how scared I was in this moment, I watched with absolute horror as the basilisk inched closer and closer towards its prey. Harry stood with his back pressed up against the far wall, his eyes clamped shut as tight as they could be.

I found myself screaming at the sight— shouting Harry's name as well as countless pleas for the basilisk to stop over and over and over again until my voice was hoarse and breaking. But no matter how much I yelled, no matter how hard I sobbed, none of the people or things in this room could see or hear me right now.

The basilisk was now just yards away from Harry, and the phoenix that was sitting on his shoulder flapped its wings and flew high into the air. I let out another piercing scream, believing with everything in me I was about to witness the death of a boy who felt like my little brother, when everything went black for a second time tonight.

"Nova! Nova!" came the familiar shouting of Ron.

I opened my eyes and saw his head right above me, right in my line of sight. I'd never seen a more worried expression on his face.

"Nova! Are you alright? Nova!"

Shaking my head, I immediately sat upright, still in utter shock from what I'd just witnessed while in one of my episodes.

"Y-you just went all quiet— you collapsed— hit your head on the ground, I think, and I'm pretty sure you're bleeding— and— and— I figured it was one of your episodes but I didn't know what to do— my wand's broken— and I kept calling out to you but you weren't responding— Lockhart woke up in the middle of it all and I hit him again with a rock to shut him up because I-I was scared and freaking out—"

"Oh, my god," I mumbled, barely paying any attention to what Ron was rambling to me right now. My eyes were wide in shock as I kept replaying the vision of the massive serpent slithering through the Chamber in my head.

"Nova, what happened? What did you see?"

"H-Harry," I croaked, my throat still sore as if I really had just been screaming for the past few minutes.