The trio rushed to an empty classroom with an excited Holly at their heels, Hermione barred the doors as Ron pushed Harry into an empty, dusty chair and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I'm a what?" Harry blinked, still puzzled.
"A Parselmouth." Holly repeated, stepping up and standing in front of Harry with her arms crossed. "You can talk to snakes."
"I know," Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once- long story- but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to, that was before I knew I was a wizard-"
"You didn't know you were a wizard?" Holly asked, her tone a little judgyA which made Harry roll his eyes.
"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.
"So?" Harry said. "I bet loads of people here can do it."
"Oh, no they can't." Ron said. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."
"What do you mean, bad? This is amazing!" Holly said, almost jumping up as Ron rounded on her with a questioning look.
"Why are you even here?" He sneered at her, looking distastefully at her Slytherin tie. "Enemies aren't allowed, this is a private matter."
"I'm here to help." Holly nodded, trying to look convincingly.
"Oh, so now we're friends?" Harry raised his eyebrows before rolling his eyes and turning back to Ron. "Why is that bad? What's wrong with everyone? Listen, Holly's right, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-"
"Oh, that's what you said to it?"
"What d'you mean? You were there- you heard me-"
"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," Ron said insistently. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything- no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something- it was creepy, you know."
Harry gaped at him. "I spoke a different language? But- I didn't realise- how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"
Ron shook his head. Both he and Hermione were looking solemn, mournful so Harry turned to Holly who was the only one remotely supportive.
"What was so wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" He asked. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"
"It matters," Hermione said, speaking at last in a hushed voice. She glanced at Holly unsurely. "Well- because- oh, Holly, you tell him!"
Harry turned to Holly who crossed her arms. "Being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was most famous for- it was in the book we read in the library, that's why the symbol of Slytherin is a serpent."
Harry's mouth fell open.
"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great- great- great- great- grandson or something-"
"But I'm not," Harry said, eyes wide with panic, his eyes darting around the room in uncontrolled pace.
At this moment, his friends weren't the biggest help either. "You'll find that hard to prove," Hermione said, looking at Harry with curious eyes. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."
"Why are you so cheerful?" Ron asked Holly, he crossed his arms too. "This isn't funny, you know? He's not your lordling, Harry's a good person-"
"I'm not saying he isn't," Holly scoffed, turning to Harry and looking at him criticising. "But, I was thinking...is it possible you're the heir of Slytherin?"
That caused an uproar between the four, Harry got up and came to his own defence saying he wasn't and they were there with him when the Chamber was opened, they knew what happened. Meanwhile, Ron was spewing on about some stuff about Slytherin and how- in a less affronting translation, said that Harry was too good to be a Slytherin.
"Well, all I'm saying is that he didn't know he was talking in Parseltongue, right?" Holly held her hands up, the two boys eventually silencing. "What if...he didn't know he was opening the Chamber of Secrets, that's why he was hearing the voices? It's like, his conscience or something."
That gave even Harry a pause, he looked at his friends and then at Holly and even he contemplated the answer.
"You...you believe me, don't you?" Harry turned to his friends for support. "I mean, you don't really believe I'm the heir of Slytherin? I'd- I'd never do that to Colin and- and Mrs. Norris."
From what Holly heard, Harry had every right to do so. Colin Creevey, the first year Gryffindor who was petrified, had been following around Harry all term and the boy had not so privately shown his annoyance. He had the motive, he had the skill. So, what if he did?
Either way, it's not entirely her fault. That's what she was trying to point out, that whatever happened with the whole Chamber of Secrets wasn't her fault. Now she just had to figure out why she was involved in this whole thing, why was she seeing Harry in her visions? Why see the blood, the writing on the walls?
When Holly walked back to the dorms, she didn't stop by Madam Pomfrey for a sleeping draft. She headed straight to the Common Room and got ready for bed, because tonight, she was going to get answers.
***
It started out the same, with Harry Potter needing help and Holly unable to give it and then seeing her mother, singing into Theo's ear. And the blood on the wall, and then Mrs. Norris' eyes staring into her own.
But this time, it didn't end there. The visions continued, Holly finds herself in a large peaceful plains. Wildflowers surrounded her, greens were more vibrant and dewey and a sense of tranquil clung in the air.
And then, in a blink of an eye. Hundreds, maybe thousands of black scorpions crawled towards her. Holly stumbled on the ground, and she just had a minute to accept her fate- this was it, she thought as the black scorpions swarmed around her and buried her into the darkness.
She came out of it, walking in a dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there was a light. A big bright white light, when Holly looked at it, she found herself stepping out into a house.
It was one familiar to her, though Holly doesn't know how. She looked around and found everything else was a blur but the two silhouettes sitting in front of her.
There was a boy with sandy hair, fair skin and a long menacing scar running down his face. He was holding onto the hands of a woman, her hair was grey and her eyes were far away with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes. She looked like only a shell of a woman who used to be, and for some reason, Holly felt like she knew the woman. And then, the boy looked up and looked at her.
Holly jolted awake with a start, placing a hand on her chest to slow down her fast beating heart and to steady her vision. It was all still a blur, everything was vibrating.
Later on, Holly found that her evening had brought on a harsh blizzard which hailed so thick they had to cancel a few morning classes like Herbology which the Slytherins and Ravenclaws had double of.
With the free period, Holly ventured to the library to do more research. When she had woken up that morning, she listed down everything she remembered. It was foggy by the time she was able to calm herself down, it felt like she was running a marathon and that weighed her down.
Upon grabbing the book, she found a secluded table behind the bookshelves near the windows. They were covered with snow so there wasn't much to see, yet Holly didn't come for the beautiful views. She came for answers.
She listed them down; Harry, Aphrodite, Theo, blood on the walls, blood like eyes, peaceful plains, black scorpions, a dark room, a boy and a mother.
She grabbed the large tome she had on the table and flipped it open, trying to make some connections between her dreams and what they symbolise. She was wise enough to know dreams don't always mean what they show, it was a relief to know she wouldn't die by scorpion. Her fear for scorpions grew by the seconds.
Her book wasn't much help, it says that blood in dreams symbolises danger- she knew as much- but it also said that it's a reminder, possibly a reminder for her that whenever you feel blood, you feel human.
"For one who feels blood stays mortal, and one who is mortal shall one day feel blood no longer running in their veins." Holly furrowed her eyebrows, staring intently at the piece of inked paper. "What in the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
She slammed the book shut, groaning frustratedly.
"I hate to see what the book did to you," a voice laughed. Holly looked up to find Theo standing behind the bookshelves, he smiled at her and stepped forward. "What's got you wits in a twist?"
"Theo!" Holly's eyes widened as Theo walked up to her table and pulled up a chair, she quickly grabbed her parchment and crumpled the paper. "What- er...what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," he said nonchalantly, he planted his arms on the table and laid his head to rest on them as he looked up at Holly through long lashes. "What are you doing here?"
"Researching," She shrugged, nodding to the books she had.
Theo grabbed one before Holly could argue, "Is this Russian?"
"Um...no, it's Greek actually. A guide to magical visions." She scratched her head, turning to grab a smaller text book and flipping it open to continue her research.
"Are you having nightmares again?"
"Well...more like visions, hence the book."
"And where are you at?"
"Nowhere," Holly sighed, sliding over the parchment where she had scrawled the interpretation of blood in. "Well- nowhere helpful, it's kind of common knowledge that blood means danger or um- death?"
"You think the muggleborn boy's going to die?" Theo raised his eyebrows, glancing over his shoulder cautiously. "I mean, I thought he was just petrified? Like Mrs. Norris."
"I guess he was, I see him occasionally when I go to the infirmary, you know." Holly explained, looking at a far away corner as she thought back to the last time she saw the boy. "Madam Pomfrey would leave the curtains open accidentally, and I saw him, Theo. He was just frozen, like a statue in the last position he was in before he was petrified- it was...disturbing."
"Well, you need not worry about that." Theo grabbed her hand, massaging it reassuringly. "We're not going to be attacked by this beast."
"You really believe that?" Holly took her hand back, not missing the way Theo's face fell and the way his eyes glazed over and his ears perked up as if listening to a far away whisper. "Look at me Theo, tell me I'm safe, because- because I'm not exactly a pureblood- you know that."
Theo did look at her, but his eyes were sad. They were different, a little older than before. Not at all warm, not sweet. Just older, worn down. Holly tried to remember if she's noticed it before, but she came up short of an answer.
"I don't know if anyone is safe," Theo said, his voice just above a whisper. "But...but I do know that I can help you if you will let me. It's the least I could do."
Holly watched him intently, looking at his eyes and wondering if her mother was still whispering in his ears. If her mother was still there, manipulating the strands of fate like she was one of the three and bending Theo's mind to her will.
But when Theo looked at her once more, Holly knew her Mum was gone. For now.
"Fine," Holly sighed and slid another book over to him. "Help me read this."
***
Holly and Theo spent the rest of the hour like that, flipping through tables of contents and trying to piece together reliable interpretations.
"I mean, you think I'd know what my own dreams mean." Holly huffed frustratedly. "But no, they always mean different things."
"It says here that scorpions are a symbol of death and rebirth, or a coming danger to your waking life- it also says that scorpions symbolises the cycle of life: no man or woman stands a chance against the tide of fate, so better embrace them rather than try to change them." Theo slid his hand over the paper, reading the passage as Holly scrawled it into the paper as fast as he spoke. "Does that mean anything? And Scorpions in a peaceful field you say?"
Holly thought about it, long and hard she did. Embrace them rather than try to change them, she felt familiar with those words, a sort of affinity.
Defying fate does not go without consequence, the sorting hat had told her a year and a half ago when she chose Slytherin over Gryffindor. He had told her it was her fate to become a Gryffindor, but she refused out of spite.
Maybe this was the consequence, maybe the consequence had finally caught up with her.
"It...depressingly makes sense," Holly nodded to Theo who flipped to another page as he began to try and connect the dots. "Um, I had a thought. What if...what if the scorpions in the peaceful field meant a disturbance, like a disturbance to peace."
"You haven't been feeling peaceful lately, I take it?"
"No," Holly scoffed. "You don't know half of it."
Even when most of it was related to him, he didn't know. How could he? How could Holly feel peace when she knows her mother was manipulating her best friend, when a boy who she saw as a brother betrayed her and their family, when there's a monster on the loose in the castle, and when one day, her choices might really come to bite back at her?
"Maybe ask Professor Sharma about this, or that divination professor- what was her name? The one with the big glasses," Theo made twirling motions with his fingers around his eyes. "The crazy one?"
"Um...I think Professor Trudy or something? I'd have to ask about her, thanks for the suggestion though, I never would've thought about her!"
"Anytime," he replied sheepishly. And then Theo's cheeks tinted pink as he tugged at the collar of his shirt, "Er... I was actually- um, the real reason I was looking for you..."
"Oh, yeah I almost forgot." Holly said as she stuffed her notes away, she turned her full attention to Theo after. "Why were you looking for me?"
"I came to give you something," Theo said, and then he reached down and procured a small box from his pocket. "It was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but since Father and I will be out of the country, I wasn't sure this'll reach you properly."
Holly couldn't bite back her smile as Theo placed the box onto the table, she grabbed it and thanked him before opening the box.
Inside she found a small charm with a chain surrounded in a dark velvet cloth, it was a carved figurine of a polished white wolf.
"Moony?" Holly laughed, looking up at Theo who smiled back at her. "Is this supposed to be my wolf?"
"I remembered when you used to drag your little doll around when we were younger," Theo explained. "I mean, is it still alive? I thought it'd be ripped to shreds by now, you never went anywhere without it!"
Holly shoved his arm, sending the teasing tone in his voice. "Oh shove off, I was deprived of parental affection. And I was five, and if I remember correctly, I wasn't the only one obsessed with dolls. You remember the toy Draco broke and you wailed-"
"If you say one more word," Theo said as he clamped a hand over Holly's mouth. "I can't believe you remember that, now please forget it forever."
Holly giggled, grabbing the figure from its box. Gods, it's been a while since she saw Moony. But lately, for some reason, everyone's been bringing him up.
She doesn't remember how she got the wolf, a gift, her aunt would say. But from whom, she never mentioned. Holly had vague memories of the wolf they say she used to love, but most of that was just memory.
When Holly had run away at six, she had left Moony at home. And when she got back, she no longer felt like a child who needed a doll. Other than the fact she really was no longer a child, the hollow area that Moony used to occupy had been fulfilled by her friends and she didn't see much need to seek him out again.
Seeing her wolf again, it made her nostalgic. It seemed to be a running theme that year, nostalgia of what once was.
"Thank you, Theo." Holly muttered, looking at the boy who'd only had eyes for her. "Truly, this is a beautiful gift."
"You're welcome, Holly." Then he reached up and ruffled Holly's hair, and she wasn't quick enough to dodge."
She shrieked, "Not the hair! I just got it right, oh you horrible child!"
authors note: so the whole Aphrodite thing may be a little confusing and I'll just clear it up for you; basically Aphrodite's been controlling Theo to sort of heighten his crush on Holly and we already know that Holly doesn't like her mom interfering with her life. It doesn't mean Theo doesn't actually like Holly, we'll get into that later on.
And we've finally addressed the whole reading thing, we know all demigods are dyslexic because they're hard wired for Ancient Greek so all of Holly's books are actually in Ancient Greek so she can read them.
And this might not be as clear, but the reason Holly was so excited that Harry can speak Parseltongue is because with the whole Chamber of Secrets, she thought this was her mother's doing again. But when it's connected to Harry, she realizes that maybe the gods had nothing to do with it and that she wasn't going to be dealing with her fate and stuff.
I have to admit, Chamber of Secrets isn't my strong suit but it will all come together in the third book..(I hope)