See You Again

-𝕍𝕀𝕀𝕀-

As Ara lay in her bed, waiting for her dorm mates to fall asleep, she felt anxiety slowly rising within her. She hadn't fully processed everything that had happened in her second year, but now wasn't the time for that. Her mind, however, seemed to disagree. Muffy, Fred, George, and Percy all looked defeated over their little brother Hugo being taken into the chamber, and Ara couldn't just sit there and do nothing. So, she snuck off on her own to question Moaning Myrtle, hoping she could help in some way, get some answers. And it was her luck that she did. She learned how Myrtle died and figured out that the entrance to the chamber was in that very bathroom. Prior to talking to Myrtle, Ara had a run-in with a fleeing Lockhart, and her hope in any of the Professors disappeared that night. Being the Gryffindor she was, and the only Parselmouth, she knew she had to go down there. She had to at least try to save him.

It took a while for him to regain consciousness after she had slain the Basilisk and destroyed what she now knew was a Horcrux. She couldn't just sit there and wait as she slowly died, so she carried him, doing her best to ignore the pain as the dark purple veins of venom slowly made their way through her body. She didn't stop, even as she gasped for air or when dark spots began to blur her vision. She managed to make it back to Myrtle's bathroom and closed the chamber before collapsing on the floor. Ara tried to get up again so she could continue to take Hugo to the Hospital wing, but she was so tired, so weak, in so much pain, and could no longer breathe. Then Fawkes appeared just as she drifted off into darkness. When she awoke, Fawkes was perched on her chest, and Hugo was starting to wake. They went to the Hospital wing for Hugo, but she never mentioned or even brought up her traumatic, almost-dying experience. It felt pointless, after all, Fawkes had healed her. But now she had to go back, and she was admittedly scared.

ϟϟϟ

"Tempus."

It was exactly midnight. She quietly got up, grabbed her Mokeskin pouch, and quietly made her way out of the dorm, momentarily freezing when the door made a creaking noise, ensuring she didn't accidentally wake anyone up. Halting her steps at the exit, just before the Pink Lady's portrait guarding the common room entrance, she looked down at her hands. Death had told her the Hallows were made for her specifically, and when she sacrificed herself, each one had merged with her. Maybe that's how her wand suddenly appeared. Now that she thought about it, she never got to try this out yet. She didn't exactly know how to go about this. Maybe if she thought of going invisible, the cloak would activate. She stared at her hands with narrowed eyes and full concentration, willing herself to turn invisible. And after a few moments, to her immense relief, it finally worked. Though it felt really weird, like how the cloak originally felt when you held it but from within.

Walking along the corridors at night, careful not to make any noise and wake up the portraits, Ara slowly made her way to Myrtle's bathroom. Once inside, she made sure Myrtle wasn't there before willing herself to regain visibility. She reached into her Mokeskin pouch, grabbed the hilt of the Sword of Gryffindor, and pulled it out before hissing,

~Open.~

The sinks began to separate, revealing the entrance to the tunnel just like in her second year. She held out her wand before whispering, "Lumos!" Lighting her way before advancing down the slimy steps, pausing briefly,

~Close,~

just in case Myrtle returned or a student wandered into the bathroom; she couldn't risk anyone accidentally following her.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she slowly made her way, stepping on gross rat skeletons and maneuvering her way around old snake skin that crumbled at the slightest touch. Until finally, she came upon the heavy locked steel hatchway door, with the seven snake-shaped locks on the front.

~Let me in.~

The metal snake-shaped locks began to slither backward as another metal snake began to slither around the door's edge, and the door popped open, ever so slightly. Working up her nerves, she made her way inside and walked down the cold stone floor ramp towards the giant carved stone head of who she assumed was Salazar Slytherin himself. She looked down at the water and pointed her wand towards it before whispering, "lapis," and the water turned into stone. She couldn't risk the reflection. Quickly looking around to make sure nothing else was reflective, she finally proceeded to climb to the top of the ginormous stone head.

If she timed this right and was angled perfectly, she should be able to get this done as quickly as possible, without worrying about ever getting bitten again. Granted, she should have done a little more research into the Basilisk and such, but she needed to do something. And she didn't want to risk Dumbledore finding out that she was aware of the damned thing.

Stepping closer to the edge and taking a deep breath, she finally hissed out the phrase Riddle spoke to open the head's mouth and release the Basilisk.

~Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.~

The Basilisk slowly began crawling its way out of the mouth, and as it finally reached the exact spot she was waiting for, she jumped off the head while gripping the hilt of the sword that she had aimed straight down. Closing her eyes immediately, she felt and heard the sword plunge straight into the top of the Basilisk's skull, landing with a loud thud as she held on for dear life.

The Basilisk let out a loud and piercing shriek as it thrashed around wildly, and Ara began twisting the sword that was still plunged into the Basilisk's head, side to side. She'd feel bad, but it was more a mercy than anything – killing the damn snake. Riddle never put it back to sleep properly, so it lost its mind a long time ago. Finally, after a few agonizing minutes of the wild thrashing and shrieking, the snake finally fell to the ground. But she didn't want to take any chances, so if she happened to stab it a few more times to make sure... well, better safe than sorry! Quickly jabbing the sword into its mouth, making sure the sword could soak up some nice juicy venom, she then cleaned the sword carefully before wrapping it in a protective cloth and placing it back into her Mokeskin pouch. Making sure to close the steel hatchway door tightly as she left, Ara climbed back up those slimy steps with her wand lighting the way. All she needed to do now was get back to her dorm and call it a night.

Apparently, that was easier said than done. For the second she left Myrtle's bathroom, a throat cleared behind her. She whipped around as fast as possible, wand in hand, full of panic.

He raised his left brow and narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "And what do we have here? A curious, new little lion, up to no good."

Damn you, Potter Luck!