The next few weeks went along as usual. The rest of the school got back, and they got a bunch of homework, mostly from Potions, but that was normal. But there was one unusual thing, Hermione had been missing from classes, which meant either she had gotten sick, or something had gone wrong with her Polyjuice potion. Delilah suspected the latter.
Draco groaned. Delilah, who was doing her Potion's homework with, looked up.
"How many rat tails are you supposed to add to the Hair Raising Potion?" Draco wondered. "Is it six or seven?"
"Seven."
"Ugh, why do we have to do this?"
"So we get a good grade and pass the class," Delilah said for the fifteenth time.
"But as long as we pass the final we're fine," Draco argued.
"Who knows, maybe they'll get canceled this year and so your yearly grade will be the final grade."
He snorted.
"Like that'd happen."
"Anyway, you should get a good grade, the exams won't fix all of it," she reasoned.
"Fine, but I'm bored, we've been working on this for an hour!" he complained.
"You've been working on this for an hour, I finished half an hour ago, I'm just finishing McGonagall's essay." Delilah finished writing with a flourish. "Snape's stuff isn't that bad, you know the recipe, and the effects are obvious, and if improperly made they can be used as a poison."
"Thank you for writing my last paragraph!" Draco quickly finished writing and then looked at his transfiguration book in disgust. "I'll do that later, want to go for a swim?"
They had had a few more lessons and Delilah was more confident, she still didn't like being super deep, but could.
"Sure, but I need to stop by the library first. There's this book I want to look at," Delilah answered.
"Let me guess, it's another snake book?"
Ever since Christmas, Delilah had been reading a bunch of snake books. She'd read the one Draco had given her three times before going to get another.
"No actually, it's about charms. I heard of a summoning spell and wanted to see if I could do it, along with Aguamenti, Confundo, and Stupefy."
"You know most of that stuff is at least fourth year magic, right?"
Delilah nodded. He chuckled
They put their stuff away and headed up towards the library and stopped. Myrtle's bathroom was flooded again.
After a moment's hesitation, they walked in, holding up their robes as they went.
Myrtle was crying louder and harder than she had for a long while. She seemed to be hiding down her usual toilet. The bathroom was dark as the candles had been extinguished by the water that had soaked the walls and floor.
"Myrtle, what's up?" Draco asked, speaking for the first time to Myrtle.
"Who's that?" glugged Myrtle miserably. "Come to throw something else at me?"
"We wouldn't do that," Delilah stated, wading up to her stall. "What happened? Who threw something at you?"
"I don't know who threw it. Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me...."
Delilah looked around for the book, it wasn't there.
"Where is it?" Draco asked.
"Oh, someone came and took it again, your brother and his red-haired friend I think."
Delilah's eyes narrowed, she'd have to talk to Harry about that later. Why was he hiding things from her? It wasn't like she'd sprouted fangs or anything.
With false cheerfulness, she said, "Thanks Myrtle, I'm sorry some idiot threw a book at you, I'll talk to you later."
They left.
"Let me guess, no more swimming?" Draco asked.
Delilah nodded.
"Sorry, but I need to threaten my brother with his life if he doesn't show me the book. We can go swimming later, it's still pretty cold anyway. If you wish to meet me in the library later, we could hang out then," she suggested and Draco agreed.
Delilah went looking for Harry, but he was nowhere to be found, so he was probably in the Gryffindor common room or hospital wing with Hermione. Delilah thought about checking the hospital wing, but decided it could wait until their next class together.
By the time Delilah finally cornered Harry, it was already February and Hermione was back in classes.
"Harry, we need to talk," her tone left no room for arguing.
"What? I need to get to my next class...."
"Don't worry, I just want to see the book you took from Myrtle's bathroom."
Harry looked surprised, he always was, especially when Delilah knew something he didn't think she did. She wasn't stupid.
"How do you know about that?"
She rolled her eyes, "I have my sources, now hand it over, I want to see why someone wanted to get rid of it."
Harry pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over.
It was a diary belonging to T. M. Riddle from fifty years ago.
Delilah grabbed it and flipped through it. While it was completely blank, it gave off a bad vibe. "I'm guessing Hermione already tried 'Aparecium'?" Harry nodded. Delilah had an idea. Draco had said that the heir of Slytherin was caught fifty years ago, so maybe Riddle knew who did it. Who knows, maybe he was the one who caught the person in the first place.
"She also tried using a Revealer but it didn't work."
Delilah nodded, if 'Aparecium', the revealing spell, hadn't worked than a Revealer wouldn't either. "If you find out how it works, tell me. I'm on your side, you know that right? I am good at keeping secrets." Maybe a bit too good, but her points got through and Harry agreed. They both headed off to their separate classes.
The sun had begun to shine weakly on Hogwarts again. Inside the castle, the mood had grown more hopeful. There had been no more attacks since those on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, and Madam Pomfrey reported that the Mandrakes were becoming moody and secretive, meaning that they were fast leaving childhood.
Something Delilah had realized was that while Harry had the book, there were no more attacks. It was probably just a coincidence, but it would have to be a huge coincidence.
Firstly, it was from fifty years ago, the same amount of time since the chamber of secrets was first opened. Second, there had been no attacks since Harry had found it. Thirdly, someone had tried to get rid of it for no apparent reason, maybe it could tell who the heir of slytherin was and they didn't want it found. And lastly, Ginny had said that she would get rid of the diary, could that have been her attempt?
Or it was getting riskier and riskier to open the chamber, with the school so alert and suspicious. Perhaps the basilisk was settling itself down to hibernate for another fifty years.
Terry Boot of Ravenclaw didn't take this cheerful view. He was still convinced that Delilah was the guilty one, that she had "given herself away" at the Dueling Club. Peeves wasn't helping matters; he kept popping up in the crowded corridors singing, "Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done, you're killing off students, you think it's good fun," that had its own dance routine to match.
The everlasting idiot, Lockhart, seemed to think that he had made the attacks stop. Delilah overheard him telling Professor Flitwick so while the Slytherins were lining up for Charms.
"You know, what the school needs now is a morale-booster. Wash away the memories of last term! I won't say any more just now, but I think I know just the thing...."
He tapped his nose again and strode off.
Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. When Delilah entered the Great Hall she thought that she had accidentally walked into an alternate universe.
The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still was the heart-shaped confetti falling from the ceiling. All the teachers except Lockhart were stony-faced. Professor McGonagall definitely was upset, Delilah could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek and Professor Snape looked as though someone was trying to make him eat poison or teach Harry remedial potions.
Delilah went over to the Slytherin table, where almost everyone was complaining about how everything was too pink.
"Actually I don't mind it too much," Daphne insisted.
"That's just because you have a crush on Lockhart," Delilah teased.
Daphne blushed. "I do not!" But when Lockhart clapped his hands for attention, she gave him an admiring look.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all — and it doesn't end here!"
Delilah groaned. Not more pink.
Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.
"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart idiotically. "They will be riding around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've met, the sly old dog!"
Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Professor Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.
"Daphne, please tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," Delilah asked as they left for their first lesson. Daphne suddenly became very interested in searching her bag for her schedule, and didn't answer.
The rest of the day went by. Luckily Delilah didn't get a valentine. Harry wasn't as lucky.
A dwarf stopped him as he was heading to charms. Delilah had been right there with Draco, because they were just leaving charms.
"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, grabbing Harry's bag and pulling him back.
Harry struggled to get free by tugging on his bag.
It was inevitable. With a loud ripping noise, his bag split in two. All of his supplies spilled onto the floor, making his ink bottle smashed over everything.
Harry tried to pick it all up, causing a holdup in the corridor.
Delilah tried to make her way over to help but the crowd was too thick. Draco walked up beside her.
A moment later Percy Weasley arrived.
"What's all this commotion?" he asked.
Harry tried to run for it, but the dwarf seized him around his knees, bringing him crashing to the floor.
"Right," he said, sitting on Harry's ankles. "Here is your singing valentine:
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he was mine he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
Delilah burst into laughter with everyone else, she tried to not to, but couldn't resist. She made her way through the crowd and helped him pick up all his stuff. Everything was covered in ink, except, oddly enough, the diary. Its cover was drenched, but the pages were all dry and ink-free. But how...?
"Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class, now," Percy said, interrupting her thoughts. "And you, Malfoy —"
Draco snatched the diary from Delilah's hands.
"Give that back," said Harry quietly.
"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" said Draco, who apparently thought it was Harry's diary.
Ginny looked terrified. She was staring at the diary to Harry and back. Way too terrified than anyone would be about a crush being embarrassed.
Delilah snatched the diary back and tossed it to Harry who caught it and pulled Draco towards Transfiguration.
"You're no fun," he complained but let her drag him.
"And you're a prat, was that really necessary?"
"No, but did you see the Weasley girl? She looked terrified for Potter. Honestly, he's got a future girlfriend there," Draco said with a glint in his eyes and Delilah couldn't resist smiling.
"They would be cute together, but we need to hurry, McGonagall will already be at our throats."
As predicted, she was furious at them for being late and added an extra 6 inches to their essays. They both spent the night finishing it and then headed off to bed. As soon as Delilah's head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.
The next day Delilah hurried over to Harry.
"Yeah, I figured it out last night. Tom Riddle caught the heir of slytherin, who was apparently Hagrid." He recounted all of what happened inside the memory.
Delilah turned on him, agast. "And you believe him?"
Harry shrugged.
"He does have a habit of making monsters pets, it would make sense."
"No it wouldn't, he may be irresponsible sometimes, but Harry, think about it. The monster has to have been here for thousands of years, and the spider you described, it couldn't petrify anyone."
Harry just shrugged. "Do you have a better theory?"
She did, but she glanced over and saw Percy sitting near them.
"Not yet, but I think the monster has to be a snake, that'd explain how we both could hear the voice in the walls."
Hermione turned thoughtful.
"That would make sense, but what snakes can petrify people?"
Delilah just shrugged, "Maybe we should ask him about it, yes it wouldn't be too cheerful, but it should be done."
"Let's not unless there's another attack, there hasn't been one for a while," Harry insisted.
Delilah shrugged and said goodbye, and sat at the Slytherin table and hurried to eat breakfast.
More and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice and everyone became hopeful that the attacks were over. It was now nearly four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker had retired. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song, Terry Boot asked Delilah politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous part in greenhouse three, making Professor Sprout very happy.
"The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," she told the Slytherins. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing."
The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year. Almost everyone was getting letters from relatives about what classes they should take.
After consideration, Delilah chose Care of Magical Creatures(COMC), Alchemy, and Study of Ancient Runes(SOAR). Draco picked the same as her except Arithmancy instead of Ancient Runes. Pansy chose the same as her boyfriend. She was dating Blaise Zabini. Daphne however, didn't choose the same as her boyfriend. She was dating a Ravenclaw boy, but everyone knew it wouldn't last long.
There was a Quidditch match coming up that everyone was excited for. It would be Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, so Gryffindor probably would win, but it still would be fun.
One day after Potions, Harry pulled Delilah aside.
"Someone stole Riddle's diary," he whispered.