The Mudblood

Chapter 11 : Year 1

"Oh—er—I just followed Ginny," I lied.

"Ginny? How did Ginny open the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron questioned. "I thought she was taken by the Heir?"

I bit my lip, not really sure how to lie my way out of this. How had Ginny opened the sinks? And how could I tell Ron—Ginny's sister—of my suspicions that his sister had been the one opening the Chamber all along?

"Er—I don't know. I just saw her go into the bathroom, and then she was gone down the tunnel," I lied horribly. "Maybe the Heir saw her in the bathroom and took her. He probably speaks Parseltongue..."

Ron nodded pensively. "Yeah—yeah you're probably right. And—er—how did you end up passed out on the floor?"

"Oh—um—I came out of the slide pretty quick and hit my head," I lied again. Lying to Ron was physically paining me, but I didn't have much of a choice. How could I tell him that Ginny had opened the Chamber and cursed me? He'd probably hate me forever. And I couldn't let anyone know that I was a Parselmouth. Talking to snakes... I must truly be a Slytherin.

"Oh—well—er—I'm glad you're okay," Ron replied, giving me a shy smile. "I—um—well, you know—it'd be bad if you were hurt..."

I pressed my lips together, trying to hide my flattered smirk. "Yeah—er—thanks." I paused, putting my hand on my pocket, where I felt the photograph I'd been keeping: the one that Colin took of Ron and I. We were standing next to each other, not even touching, as we both forced awkward smiles. However, since the image in the photo moved, it also showed how I'd blinked in a grimace as Ron yelped at the flash of the camera. It was a comical picture, but it also made me giddy to see myself standing next to Ron.

"Oh—erm—I have something for you," I said awkwardly as I pulled one of the two photographs out of my pocket. I thrust it in Ron's face, feeling that I might explode with the swelling embarrassment.

Ron took it in his fingers and examined it in the dim lighting. "Hey—hey this is us! Wow, I almost forgot about this... Can't imagine how, considering how bloody awkward we look here..."

I smirked. "Apparently we're not models."

"Apparently not," he agreed before tucking the photo into his pocket. "Er—thanks. It's nice."

After what seemed like ages of talking and joking with Ron (and making fun of Lockhart, of course), we heard a shifting noise, and we both quickly sprung up to see that Harry and Ginny were coming out of the circular door.

"Lainey!" Ginny exclaimed as she hurriedly crawled over the pile of rocks and then jumped on me with a hug.

"Oh, yeah, hug your friend first," Ron muttered, although he couldn't contain the grin of relief on his face.

"What happened in there?" I questioned, looking to Harry who was covered in sweat, dust and blood.

"Er—it's a long story," Harry replied cautiously. "We should go now, though."

"How will we get back up the tunnel?" I questioned, glancing over at the large slide that I'd slid down probably hours ago now. "I'm not opposed to climbing up it, but I don't think Lockhart will have much success. He's probably forgotten how to climb."

Harry smirked. "That's okay, Fawkes will bring us."

Before I could ask any questions, a large, majestic, red bird swooped down and perched itself on Harry's shoulder.