Through Her Eyes

Chapter 19: Into the Chamber

"Quitz, can you retrieve the Diadem from Aberforth? We're going to need it to get into the Chamber,"

"Of course, missus, right away,"

With another poof of magic, the little elf was gone along with the pillowcase. Groaning and stretching her black veined arm, Hermione was unable to get her focus back on the plans. Even while on the run, both Hermione and Ron told her, practically screamed at her that plans never worked. They started off well enough, but then spiraled into chaos and almost got one, if not all of them killed at once. Defeating Voldemort the last time was by pure dumb luck in its purest form. This time, there was little room for error.
'Voldemort will start noticing,' Hermione thought, leaning on an elbow and chewing her bottom lip again, 'keeping the Horcrux's around is too dangerous. They practically seep dark magic into anything that's near them, and if someone else were to get ahold of them, our only way of killing him would be destroyed,'

Hermione sighed heavily and ran a hand through her auburn locks, hauling them up into a messy ponytail bun as she glanced at the plan laid out on her desk,
'Harry and Ron were right, plans are useless. We just have to be prepared for anything. Even hordes of Death Eaters-'

Moody's idea about 'constant vigilance' came to mind as Hermione giggled slightly, looking up as the common room opened and four boys and a girl stumbled in through the portrait hole. Peter was quick to scurry away to the boys dorms as Remus, Sirius, James and Lily all collapsed down onto the sofas before the fireplace. Standing, Hermione gracefully swept herself towards Remus and landed with her back to his chest,

"How was detention?"

"Horrible. That witch had us write like, 50 foot papers about how we were 'guilty'. My poor hand is killing me," Sirius whined, whimpering like a puppy as everyone else groaned as well. Hermione felt slightly bad about not taking any fall, but she shook the thought away,

"At least I have some good news to give you," Hermione stated, smiling as Remus unconsciously wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, "a friend of mine brought me another Horcrux. After tonight, we should be able to destroy them both,"

"That's great, Mione," James said, tugging Lily closer to him as Sirius stretched out in front of the fire, "so what's the plan?"

"Constant vigilance,"

All of the Marauders and Lily looked at the witch like she had lost her mind. Smirking, Hermione made a move to explain her plan-less thinking,
"Every time I make a plan for something like this, it always goes wrong. There are too many variables to consider, and too many loopholes. The best we can do is to be ready for anything, and have as many resources at our disposal as possible,"

"Not to fault your logic, Hermione. But isn't going into this blind a tad bit risky?" Lily pondered, fine eyebrows knitted as she snuggled closer to James in slight fear. Nodding her head, Hermione sighed deeply and blew a ringlet out of her face,

"Yeah. But we're going down there to fight a giant Basilisk, it can't get much riskier then that,"
'Other then, of course, Mountain Trolls, Dementors, Mermaids, Death Eaters, Half-Blood Princes, and Dark Wizards named Voldemort,'

"I'm in either way," Sirius stared with a lazy raise of his hand,

"I am too, Mia," Remus whispered huskily, causing Hermione to shiver with delight as he laid back with her head on his chest. Soon enough, all of them were in a deep sleep by the firelight, too nervous to sleep deeply as they rested till the clock in the common room chimed midnight. Awakening to the noise, Hermione stood quickly to ready herself as the others followed in tense silence, packing anything they would possibly need in the Chamber. As they were finishing up, Hermione began to recount what she remembered about the Basilisk,

"It's a large snake, raised by Salazar Slytherin to protect his most cherished treasures. Kept in the Chamber of Secrets under the school, Harry told me it was larger then any dragon. It's teeth are filled with venom, and it's eyes can knock you dead with a single glance. Avoid both till it's incapacitated. If Fawkes comes to help us down there, he should go for the eyes. But the snake will still be able to hear you, so stay light on your feet. Prongs, Padfoot, you may even want to change while we're down there, if not for just the speed and agility your counterparts provide-"

"How do we kill it?" James asked, unfolding his invisibility cloak as Hermione shoved some medical tonics into her bottomless satchel,

"Well, hopefully with the sword of Gryffindor. It comes when a worthy student of the Gryffindor house is in dyer need. I'm guessing we're going to be in need down there, so I'm hoping at least one of us is worthy,"

"And what if we aren't?"

The silence returned as Hermione stiffened. That's the thing about constant vigilance. There was no 'Plan B' to be seen,

"I'll get back to you on that. Ok, is everyone ready?"

Hermione turned, seeing all of her friends holding packs of small items. Sirius and James wore their Quidditch Gear as armor, and even held their Broomsticks in hand. Lily had her wand, and Remus was carrying what looked to be a large shield. Lifting a brow, Hermione looked at it,

"Where did you get that, Remus?"

"I took it from the suit of armor in the boys dormitory. Nearly got into a duel for it,"

Quiet but nervous chuckles traveled throughout the group as Hermione nodded and shoved her bag into the pocket of her robes, motioning to Quitz who had just appeared at her side with his pillowcase filled with Horcruxes. Exhaling deeply, she clenched her fists and had everyone hold hands as Quitz side-apparated them all into the Prefects Bathroom on the third floor.
Looking between each other as Hermione approached one of the sinks, even Moaning Myrtle seemed silent as she removed the Diadem from Quitz bag and opened it with a wince. There was a moment of nothing before the sink began to rattle, sinking down to become a long and dark tunnel as everyone approached the edge to look,

"No turning back now," Hermione breathed. This would be the second time in the Chamber of Secrets. But now, there was an actual, living creature down there. Oh joy.