Edited January 20, 2021
~
Emily woke up in the same exhausting fashion as she had for roughly the start of term, drenched in cold sweat without a single memory from her dreams other than the blood-curdling sensation that practically bellowed through her body, whispering to her that she wasn't as alone as she had thought. It was worth noting that her nights were less aggravating after neglecting the black diary she and Ginny once shared, but Emily still found sleep to be anything but peaceful.
The Slytherin grunted at the squirming figure at the foot of her bed. With her poor eyesight paired with the darkness of the night seeping through the windows, Emily could only make out two floppy triangle ears and a pointed nose. She felt her throat grow hot with rage at the familiar silhouette, she instantly took her glasses from the side table and slid them on, confirming her theory of their uninvited visitor.
"It's you!" Emily shrilly hissed, looking at the house-elf. "You told me not to return to Hogwarts – What on earth are you doing here, Dobby?"
From the next bed over, a warm light gradually glowed, encasing the small portion of the hospital wing in a soft orange glow. Harry had nearly the same reaction to seeing the unexpected guest, "Dobby!"
The house-elf grinned brightly at the twins, his ears perking up in the excitement of seeing them again. "Hello!" Emily scoffed, pulling up her body to sit up straight, muffling down the reflex of crying out in pain since her leg was still in the process of growing back her bones. "I'll ask again, what are you doing here?"
Harry frowned, realizing that his sister knew the elf. "How do you two know each other – hang on," He looked at Dobby who now looked increasingly guilty under his gaze. "You told us both not to come back to school. Did – did you do this to us?" His voice rose unexpectedly, gesturing to his and Emily's hospital beds.
Emily felt her energy being drained from her when she replayed the oddities that had happened earlier on. "It's been Dobby all along. Starting with the barrier being sealed shut – have you any idea how much trouble you've put us in?"
"Dobby had hoped for the Potters to get in trouble and be sent home – Dobby only wishes for the Potters' safety!" He said sadly, showing his bandaged fingers. "Dobby had to iron his hands for his meddlesome actions."
I don't know if I should feel bad for him. Emily exchanged glances with his brother who was still equally confused why these series of misfortunate events had to happen at all. "So, when you cut us off from passing through the platform and bewitching those bludgers TO KILL US – what else is there to be done? Or is that why you're here, are you going to finally finish us off? Smother us with our own pillows, perhaps?"
Harry felt his jaw slacken for a minute, but he pulled himself together and made a mental note to remember how dark a conversation can go when his sister was in the equation. Dobby squeaked, his tennis ball-sized eyes widening even more so, "Oh, no! Not kill you – Never kill you, Dobby only wants for the Potters to be safe, to be sent home." He proclaimed. "Dobby still remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We house-elves were treated like Vermin, of course, Dobby is still treated like Vermin. Life has improved for my kind ever since the Potters defeated the dark lord. Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts. Dobby cannot let Harry and Emily stay here now that history is to repeat itself."
Repeat itself? Emily frowned at the cryptic air his message brought. "What's about to happen again, Dobby? You must tell us. You owe us at that much."
"The Chamber. The Chamber of Secrets is open." Dobby hesitantly answered, burrowing his face into the corner of Harry's blanket.
It's all making sense, I think. Emily looked at her brother, glad to see that he was already thinking the same thing. "So, there is a chamber!" She exclaimed, beginning to feel fully awake, but then something kicked in that displaced some of the facts. "Dobby, I don't see how we could be in danger. We're not Muggle-born."
He heard a soft gasp escape her brother, Emily turned and saw him frantically lying down in his bed, the sheets pulled up to his chin. Harry mimicked her to do the same, "Someone else is here!" He whispered. She turned back to the house-elf who had then disappeared with a snap of their fingers. Emily turned her back against the door and buried herself under the sheets with a pillow to her chest. She felt her eyelids screw themselves shut in prayer, please let it be anything but that creature from the dungeons. Please.
"Heavens – what's happened, Albus?" A woman's voice worryingly asked as a herd of footsteps came into the hospital wing. Emily's heart soared in relief to the point that she had to hold back herself from springing up on her feet and shouting for her Aunt Minerva. A muffled shuffle of robes brushing along the floor was a dead giveaway that the headmaster was staggeringly close to their beds. "Another student has been attacked, Minerva," Dumbledore explained grimly. "Petrified."
Emily cursed herself for pretending to sleep under the covers, she could not sneak a peek into the scene, but she tried her very best to pick up whatever the professors had to say. The solemn click of deputy headmistress' heels sounded through the air, "Do you think he managed to take a picture of his attacker?"
Picture? As soon as that hint had been dropped, Emily concluded that the petrified body was indeed Colin Creevey. He's only a first-year... Poor boy. Her palms began to sweat the tighter she held onto the corner of her blanket, her pulse skyrocketing when she waited for Dumbledore to walk over to Colin's bed. The footsteps stopped and were replaced with the sound of hard plastic and metal being crunched. It must have been badly damaged, no doubt.
To her ears, it sounded like a can being crushed by a trash compactor. Emily assumed that the headmaster had picked it up to make all this noise, he must be checking the film or something. After the last clanking sound of metal, a loud, busted click erupted followed by a soft poof. The scent of melted plastic and sour smoke wafted in the air, and it prompted Madam Pomfrey to sigh and perform a cleaning charm to cleanse the air.
"Destroyed – All of it," Dumbledore muttered, returning the obliterated camera on the nightstand.
"Albus, who could possibly be behind these attacks?" A distressed Madam Pomfrey digressed, coughing from the camera's smoke.
"The question is not who, dear Poppy," He answered her. "It is how."
~
Emily did not know what to expect from her body when it began to grow back the bones in her leg. It was a challenge to not wake up every hour from the sensation of her leg jolting or her foot suddenly kicking in the air, the pain, however, was somewhat tolerable. It was mostly sore in her ankle and knee, sometimes in her toes. She began to wonder if a growing fetus was able to feel the tingling ache that came along with assembling its skeleton and organs, but soon Emily pummelled herself down a wormhole of thoughts that painfully led her to acknowledge the fact that she now had a part of her that was not grown by her mother.
Alright, now I'm just being irrational. Emily turned to see the squirming figure under the sheets of the next bed over, she yanked one of the pillows from the foot of her bed and hurled it at her brother, "Morning, Harry."
A low grunt was heard from the moving lump under the blanket. Harry surfaced from the layers of pillows and carefully set them aside, fluffing each one as he greeted his sister. "Morning – how's your leg?"
Emily shrugged, timidly patting her knee which sent a jolt of lightning up to her hip. "It's nearly completely grown, I think. How's your arm?"
She watched as her brother jiggle his arm that was restrained in its wrap. Considered that it was smaller in comparison to the assortment of bones that Emily had to grow back, Harry was close to being fully healed. "Much better now, I have to say." He commented, jumping out of his bed to walk over to his sister's so that he could help her sit up and let her feet touch the ground.
How can bones be tender? Emily thought to herself, fighting through the overwhelming sensations that shot up and down from her toes to her hip, making her knees buckle when she tried to stand up on her own. Harry had caught her in time, though he had to shove her back on the bed since he could not carry her weight. Madam Pomfrey hurriedly walked by their beds and swatted the twins away from helping each other from falling, "Good Merlin – what on earth do you two think you're doing? Sit down!"
Harry frantically sat down next to Emily, and they both wound up watching Madam Pomfrey meticulously examine the freshly grown leg bones. Each tap of the Healer's wand sent timid little shocks of electricity in Emily's leg, making her realize that perhaps the woman was checking if her nerves were functioning and not at all compromised by the new growth. "Very good, Miss Potter. You will still need to wear a boot for your leg, and I'll also give you a pair of crutches to assist your walking. You'll only need it for two days, don't worry."
She then went to examine Harry's completely mended arm and immediately deemed him healed, relieving him from his arm wrap. Before Madam Pomfrey left them two sets of uniforms and two trays of breakfast food, she advised them to come back to the hospital wing should they feel any additional bones grow in their limbs. "It's very uncommon, but still, it's better to be safe than sorry, Potters. You may go once you've finished your meal."
Emily reached for her spoon and mindlessly dug into her porridge, faintly worried that she may or may not grow more bones than intended. If I do grow another one, will it make me taller? She and Harry had finished their breakfast of porridge, fruit, and pumpkin juice all in the span of seven minutes. Emily took one last look at her leg and laughed off the thought of having one leg longer than the other.
Harry returned to his bed with one set of the uniform, but not before pulling on the curtain that surrounded Emily's bed to give her privacy while she changed. She thanked him, the sound of another row of curtains cutting through her voice, "About last night, do you have any clue who could be behind it?" Emily asked, carefully slipping a fresh pair of socks over each foot. "I don't know about you and your friends, but I have no inkling whatsoever." She said to her brother while she buttoned the last buttons of her white shirt before tucking it into her trousers.
"Aside from Malfoy, we haven't got much to go on." Harry awkwardly confessed. Emily's eyes widened, unsure of what to make from his statement. Malfoy? I get that he's a prat, but he doesn't have the heart to actually harm others. Her brain went haywire from remembering what the Gryffindor trio had been up to while also pinpointing the exact time and location Draco has been for the past two weeks, "So, that's Hermione's plan, then? I smuggled out the ingredients for her Polyjuice Potion – and that'll help you three masquerade as Slytherins to infiltrate our house and find answers." Emily bitterly mused, pushing away the curtain to see him and his guilty face. "All because of a suspicion."
"You figured all of that because I mention Malfoy's name?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry shrugged, awkwardly pacing in front of his sister. "You two are friends, and we thought it would ruin our plan. Hermione said it could ruin everything – we didn't want to make things weird for you."
"Thanks for the consideration, you can take your leave now."
"I'll walk you back to your house – "
"I'm more than happy to save you the trip, especially since you're dropping in soon." Emily sharply retorted, tilting her head to the direction of the hospital wing's doors. "Bye."
Defeated, Harry left without another word and went on his way back to Gryffindor, leaving his sister alone and unaccompanied. She waited a few minutes before exiting the room, taking precautions to avoid seeing Harry in the halls on her way to Slytherin house. So much for bloody trust, Emily cursed, stifling a scream when she accidentally hit her boot with the crutch. After a couple more minutes of familiarizing herself with the use of her new crutches, Emily finally left the hospital wing only to be stranded in front of the moving staircases. How the bloody hell am I supposed to walk over these moving death traps?
"Potter?"
Oh god, who is it?
Emily turned over her shoulder and saw Marcus Flint and a group of his fellow seventh year Slytherins. She turned back to the stairs, deciding if it were a better choice than to speak with Flint. Nope, no it isn't. "What do you want?"
"We were looking for you, actually." One honey blonde-haired boy piped in from Flint's right. "Need help with the stairs, Potter?"
Of all the times I try to lower my pride, it had to be this moment. "Yeah, sure. Thanks." Emily didn't have much interaction with her older housemates unless she had to, so it was safe to say it was odd to be suddenly using them as human walking sticks. Although Emily would never admit it out loud, it felt almost familial to let them help her, it was like having too many big brothers than she could count.
Flint stayed ahead of the group, taking the liberty of opening the porthole with that week's password. "Pureblood." He said to the portrait, proceeding to push through and guide the group into the dimly lit hallway entrance. Emily allowed for the boys to guide her until the cool mossy green light glowed bright enough to illuminate their surroundings, in the brief time she was away, she had missed the beautiful underwater aura that her common room oozed.
She was too preoccupied with peering through the grand picture window to notice that there was a group of people waiting for her. Emily's eyes widened with intrigue and paranoia, "What's this?" She stonily asked, turning to the seventh years behind her. Marcus Flint stepped forward, his arms frigidly glued to his sides, "It's come to my attention that my actions were made out of haste. They were made out from anger, and as captain, I should have known...better."
Emily did not know whether to be confused or delighted, but either way, she was intrigued. It was obvious that her former captain was pressured by Slytherin House, hell maybe even Snape. Her eyes scanned the group of students whom she had now noticed was holding her Nimbus 2001. Oh lord. Daphne, who was holding the handle of the broomstick, beamed brightly at her, "You were absolutely brilliant in the air, Emily!"
"She's the best beater that Slytherin has ever seen!" A sixth-year boy howled impressively loud, blatantly making fun of Flint for his terrible sportsmanship. Marcus smiled or at least tried to since he looked more like he was gritting his teeth. "Will you come back on the team, Em?" His voice reflected much that of a putrid sweetness after covering up the stench of vomit. He's definitely been peer pressured to invite me back on the team.
"On one condition," Emily said, taking back her broom from the row of excitable students. Flint sneered underneath his curtain of kindness, "Name it, Potter."
"Never piss me off."
He pursed his lips tight, and with a slap to his spine from his classmate, Flint nodded. "Welcome back, Potter." He said, handing back her beater's bat that she gladly accepted with a laugh, resuming her place as Slytherin's beater. Cheers and claps rose from the students surrounding them, Emily returned their smiles as much as she could, I can only do so much. She thought to herself, making her way back to her dorm with her bat and broom to escape the crowd.
Despite having the rest of the day off, Emily disregarded her free pass from school and decided to resume her classes. After gathering her books and successfully sneaking out of her house without attracting any attention from the Quidditch crowd in the common room, Emily made way for the library to brush up on her next class which was Charms.
She settled down to the less populated area of the library and began to rewrite her notes to better rewire her brain while also making her penmanship less of an eyesore. Emily's attention slowly floundered, soon it was futile to even finish her notes since her handwriting appeared to turn back to unintellectual scrawls. Frustrated, the young girl tucked away the parchment and sank into her chair. So much for studying. Emily's eyes fluttered around and fell on a familiar Gryffindor walking about the shelves.
"Hey, Neville!" She loudly whispered, beckoning him to come over and sit with her. "What's all that with you?"
Neville grinned upon seeing her and waved in response, causing the book he was holding to fall and cause a ruckus that ricocheted from the walls. Frightened at the thought of Madam Pince popping out of nowhere to scold him, Neville picked up the book and ran to his friend's side. "Hiya, Em! I'm just trying to get a head start on the Swelling Solution for Professor Snape's class... I don't want to lose points for Gryffindor again – but anyway, are you alright? You seem better already."
Emily nodded with a kind smile, "Yeah, thanks. I do feel better though Madam Pomfrey wants me to wear this iron boot thing just to make sure everything's in place." She joked, wanting to make Neville feel better from having to fear Potions. "I'm not really doing anything right now, mind if I review with you?"
"Oh, that'll be great," Neville said appreciatively, opening the potions book on the Swelling Solution chapter. "Thanks. I'd really like to not be alone with this – I know he's your head of house, but he can be really scary."
It was a touchy subject for her to think about because, on the other hand, Severus had partially taught her some of the things that helped her exceed in academics. Emily hadn't realized how unfair he was in treating his students, she questioned how he clearly favored one house among the four, but really truly hated one house in particular. The girl did not know how to address the matter to the professor, she was worried herself about just how cruel he could get.
Half an hour passed; Neville had learned by heart how to brew the potion with flying colors. He slapped the book shut and hung his head back before laughing joyously, "For once, I can say that I can't wait for Potions later. I hope I don't forget a step or anything."
Emily felt a rush of relief and momentous happiness for her friend. She was glad to be of use. "Do you want to walk to class together? I think we both have Charms in a few minutes." Neville was kind enough to oblige her, he took Emily up for her offer and walked easily to their classroom.
When they arrived, Neville went ahead and saved them both seats while Emily caught the eye of Ginny Weasley wandering the corridor alone. She waited until the traffic of students was gone before approaching her, "I haven't seen you in some time. How are you?" Emily asked, reaching out to tap the girl's shoulder.
Ginny flinched, she spun around and immediately sighed in relief when she saw Emily standing by. "I'm alright. I heard about your leg – I should be the one to ask how you are, Em."
She looks so pale, Emily remarked to herself, and frightened. "Never mind me, Gin. How you're doing is what's important. Are you...? Are you still writing to him?"
Just then, as brief as the twinkling light of a dead star, she grinned triumphantly. "I threw it away. The nightmares were too much, and I've been losing time just like you said you had." Ginny grimaced, suddenly feeling a stiff breeze crawl at her neck. "I just want them to stop."
~
Duelling Hall.
"Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me?" Gilderoy Lockhart asked, loudly addressing the mass of students surrounding the elevated platform while he threw his lilac-colored cloak off, allowing for an excitable group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors to shriek as they attempted to catch the garment. "Good." He said in pure satisfaction, "Now, let me introduce my daring assistance – Professor Snape! A round of applause if you please."
A confused, hesitant rain of applause loomed over the room like a storm cloud while their Potions Professor walked onto the opposite end of the platform. Pansy huffed in malcontent, startling Emily out of her empty unfocused state, "Of all the teachers that could mentor us to duel, they give us this – this oaf." She hissed. "Professor Flitwick is literally a decorated duelist, and yet, we're stuck with a half-wit just because he's a DADA professor. Pathetic."
Emily snickered, her eyes panning across the room just in time to catch her brother and Ron's disgusted faces at the sight of Lockhart. "I think calling him a half-wit is far too generous, Pans. What's dumber than a half-wit – Oh, Crabbe, Goyle, there you are!" She called out as the two Slytherins joined their group, being late as per usual. Draco stifled a laugh, smirking at Emily for a moment before his attention was called elsewhere.
"He has sportingly agreed to help me with the demonstration for today!" Lockhart told the class, beaming brightly at them while Snape looked as sour as ever. "Never fear, children, you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him."
That seemed to ruffle a few feathers. Emily noticed how tight Severus had clenched his jaw, he's going to annihilate this poor sod. The two men fell into their stances, their wands purposefully aimed at one another. "Expelliarmus!" Snape cast, sending Lockhart slamming onto the fall with a great enough force that almost called out to Emily and Harry into approaching him in the hopes of helping him with any broken bones in the guise of wanting to remove them altogether.
"Finally!" Emily shouted with happiness at Lockhart's defeat, riling a roar of laugher from those who had heard her unfiltered expression.
Lockhart struggled to get himself up, Emily didn't know if it was because of physical or emotional wounds, but he struggled so much that many of them looked away in embarrassment. "It was quite obvious of what you were going to do, Professor," Lockhart said, finally striding back to the platform where he flew off from earlier.
Snape repressed his amusement, "Perhaps it would be more prudent if you taught the students how to block unfriendly spells." He said curtly.
"Of course!" Lockhart said, appearing to have no problem to not participate in a duel. "Let's gather a few volunteers – Potter, Weasley! Up on the platform – "
"Weasley causes devastation with the simplest of spells that will surely send Potter out of the castle in a matchbox," Professor Snape promptly interjected, his tone lighting up. "Perhaps someone from my house will be a more than sufficient opponent."
"Oh, very well – "
"Malfoy!" The head of Slytherin House commanded. Harry felt a headache oncoming at the mention of Draco Malfoy, why couldn't he have picked Emily instead? The two boys sneered at each other all the while walking to their respective ends of the platform, finally meeting each other face to face.
Lockhart nodded at them and looked at the crowd again, "Right. It's a large space, let's pick a few more challengers – Let's have the other Potter and Miss Brown! Finnigan and Miss Greengrass – the last pair... Brilliant! We'll have Miss Granger and Miss Bulstrode."
Odd choice, but alright. Emily eyed Lavender Brown and saw her quite literally drained from all color, leaving her with a ghostly complexion. Hermione attempted a small grin towards Millicent, but she was otherwise ignored. Daphne was happy to be on her feet, her giddiness somewhat making Seamus unnerved at how enthusiastic his opponent was being.
Emily and Lavender situated themselves right next to Harry and Draco. "Now that you've faced your partners, it's proper decorum to bow before assuming your stances." Professor Snape said, overriding Lockhart's control over the room, "On the count of three, you will only cast spells to disarm – "
"Yes!" Professor Lockhart exclaimed, raising his voice over Snape. "Only to disarm! We don't want any accidents."
From her left, she could hear Draco's taunting voice.
"Scared, Potter?"
Her brother scoffed, now assuming his rightful stance. "You wish." Harry sneeringly replied. Emily rolled her eyes at them and then rewired her focus on Lavender who she had just noticed to be staring at her with bug eyes, "Are you alright, mate?" Emily asked, sincerely worried at how much she was shaking on her feet.
"One, two, three! Cast your spells, assume your defenses!" Lockhart shouted, allowing for the chosen students to unleash their chaos. She's not even moving, bloody hell. "Expelliarmus!" Emily cast, her spell smacking Lavender square on the chest, causing her body to fly across the room as well as her wand.
"Fifteen points to Slytherin, Miss Potter, go to Granger and duel!" Lockhart ordered. Emily turned around and saw how Hermione had already defeated Millicent, alright, now that's impressive. The Gryffindor noticed the gleam of admiration Emily held for a moment but then quickly removed when noticing Hermione's knowing smile. Finally, a worthy opponent to duel with here.
"Rictusempra!" Harry cast at Draco, sending him to slide across the platform until he hit Bulstrode who was just starting to stand up. Infuriated beyond belief, he got up and ran back to where he stood, "Serpensortia!"
Emily's ears perked up like a guard dog's, her hand went up to halt Hermione from starting their duel. The girls turned around to find a large cobra slithering among Harry's feet. Snape sighed and started to make his way onto the platform, "Don't worry, Potter, I'll get it." The professor said like a jaded babysitter.
"Fret not, Professor! I'll take care of it." Lockhart once again overestimated his capabilities and dramatically aimed his want at the serpent before mumbling an incoherent spell that only sent the snake flying up to the ceiling before letting it drop back on the platform. "Ah, well. That just happens – "
"For the love of Merlin almighty, just hang on." Emily groaned, advancing towards it before it could slither off and join the Hufflepuff group. "Stay away from them, come on now – go!" She said direly at the creature, beginning to brandish her wand. "I really rather not banish you – Oi!" The cobra slithered further to the edge until it faced Justin, a Hufflepuff student in her year. Harry hurried to his sister's side and told her to hurry, "Leave him alone – Em, do the spell already!"
Just then in the middle of the heated chaos, the serpent slowly turned around and eyed the twins, slithering back to their feet as if returning to its master. A collective of scandalized gasps echoed in the room, creating a fresh new wave of anxiety to curdle in Emily's brain. What's going on?
Severus Snape walked towards them and promptly eviscerated the snake in a thick cloud of black smoke. Everyone, including Lockhart, stared at Emily and Harry Potter as though they had just summoned the devil himself before everyone's eyes. Not long after that, the class was dismissed. And before Emily and Harry could run out and avoid everyone's prying eyes, Hermione and Ron had caught and fished them out from the exiting crowd, successfully dragging them into an unused classroom.
Hermione latched the lock on before the interrogation began. "You two can talk to snakes! Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked, his eyes filled with shock. Emily sat on the teacher's table and glared at the two, "I have my own questions – why did neither of you tell me about your plan? And who are you planning to use the Polyjuice for?"
Hermione's face reddened. "Telling you would jeopardize the entire plan, I'll tell you more about it later because now we need to know for how long you and Harry learned to speak to snakes."
"I've always known I can talk to snakes." The twins unintentionally answered in unison, scaring even themselves because of it. Harry shrugged, "I accidentally set free a Boa Constrictor from the zoo once." He told them. Ron frowned and then nodded in acceptance, "Alright, I honestly expected that from Emily, but that's alright, too."
Emily rolled her eyes at him and winced at the memory, maybe he does have a point. "When I lived at the Orphanage, I made friends with the snakes that found me. Sometimes I use them to trap the older kids who were bullies – yeah, I know it sounds horrible." I honestly thought I was training them, and our consciousness just melded together over time.
Hermione laughed, "Now that meets our expectations." She commented, soon drifting away from the lightness in her voice. "It's still difficult to understand how both of you are Parselmouths."
Out of nowhere, the image of a dog fetching a parcel from the postman came to mind for Harry. "A what-mouth?" He asked again, unsure if he had heard incorrectly. Emily sighed tiringly, "It's how they label those who can commune with serpents. Parseltongue is a language that we supposedly got from the moment we were born." She explained.
"I don't understand how nonchalant you are about this – how can I even speak in a language that I don't recognize?"
"Harry, it's most likely a gift that we can talk to snakes. Our dad came from a pureblood family, it may very well be genetic. Besides, I already knew about it." Emily said, "The security in the restricted section is ironically lax."
Hermione curiously eyed Emily before speaking, "She's right, though. It's a rare gift, and those families who have it in their genes are infamously known for it." Ron gulped worryingly for his friends, "Now the entire school's going to think you're Salazar Slytherin's Great-Great-Great Grandson!" He said in terror.
"And why is that?" Harry asked.
"Salazar's symbol is a serpent, Harry. He can talk to snakes." Emily chimed, rubbing the back of her neck to soothe the pain emulating from the base of her skull. "But I'm not! We can't be!" Her brother protested. Ron's eyes flickered to the sole Slytherin in the room, "You aren't probably his grandson or anything, maybe it's Emily." He suggested.
Emily frowned and then turned to Hermione who already caught on to Ron's questionable theory. Alright, I don't think he noticed his poor choice of words. "What makes you think so, Ronald?" She gladly asked.
"Because you're in Slytherin, and the sorting hat had to move you around because of it – that's never happened before!" Ron exclaimed. "And now we learn that you can talk to snakes."
"I'm pretty smart too, does that make me Rowena Ravenclaw's first cousin, twice removed? Bloody no!" Emily was quick to debunk Ron's theory. "You have to come up with more evidence than that, just because Salazar's family was the only recorded family to have had this gift, it doesn't mean that they're the only ones. And lest we forget that Harry and I are literally twins, if I'm Salazar's grandchild– that means he is too." She then found her voice to trail off, her mind scouring the depths of her memory.
Hermione noticed the far off long in the girl's eyes, she tentatively poked Emily's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"If we... If Harry and I are his grandchildren like Ron suggested, then what would mean – "
Harry's face fell flat, his jaw was frozen with paralytic fear. "It would mean that we're the Heir of Slytherin."