Chapter 5

The chamber did, in fact, have a set of stairs if asked for. It was a slower way down and a slippery track, but it was certainly cleaner than sliding down the grimy, sludge-covered pipes. The sink entrance closed behind them, plunging them into complete darkness for a second before Mosukuwa's wand lit up.

Harry stepped to the right side of the stairs, making Mosukuwa take the left side near the wall. The stairs had no railing to protect them from falling, and Mosukuwa seemed to take notice of this as well as Harry sort of directed her to his left. She smirked.

"So gentlemanly," she cooed playfully.

"Shut it," he said, flushing.

They made their way downwards, and Mosukuwa asked Harry to tell her the events of his 2nd year. Harry still found it somewhat bewildering to be asked that. Everyone, outside of Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and the Weasleys, had drawn their own conclusions of what had happened that year, without getting the real facts, if any at all.

And if they did bother to search into the story, they just accepted what they were told, no matter who's mouth it came from. So he took this opportunity that had presented itself to him and also using it as a point to vent a bit.

Soon they were at the bottom, and Harry cut off from telling his first encounter of Tom Riddle's diary. The small animal bones crunched under their feet, and Harry lit his own wand as Mosukuwa wandered away from him, taking her light with her.

"You said the basilisk got around through the plumbing?" Mosukuwa asked, lowering her light towards the ground to look at the discarded remains. She was holding the sleeve of the robe of her free arm to her nose and mouth to block off the smell, Harry assumed.

He looked at her curiously, thinking back to what Hermione had said earlier about creature blood. It stunk down there, no doubt, but it only causes Harry to crinkle his nose occasionally at a powerful whiff passing his nostrils. Maybe he was just used to it from his last venture down there? But that had been almost three years ago.

"Yeah," he replied when Mosukuwa looked over at him with a raised eyebrow of waiting. "That's how it caught Myrtle. She'd been crying in front of the sinks when it came up, I think."

The girl hummed, raising her wand and stepping to the side. "Lead the way."

As they went further down the main tunnel, Harry knew they were going the correct way when they came upon the large and long shredded basilisk skin. It was slowly wasting away, but there was still a lot there.

"Wow," Mosukuwa whispered in awe, running her fingers along the molted skin and broken scales. "This had to be at least 40 feet long! And one of the founders out this in a school? You wizards are insane!"

It wasn't said in disgust, more amusement and wonderment, disbelief.

"I'd love to know what was going through Salazar Slytherin's head back then," Harry agreed. "Well, beyond the "no muggle-borns" stuff."

"Another blood purity thing?" Mosukuwa guessed.

"That's what's said, at least. Well, at least it was by the time Voldemort became stepped up as Slytherin's heir. 'Enemies of the Heir Beware.' Voldemort does hate muggles and muggle-borns alike; half-bloods have a little leeway but not much. He's very into blood purity from what I've seen and heard, which is funny considering he's a half-blood himself."

"we love irony," Mosukuwa laughed, amused.

They followed the shredded skin all the way to the blocked-off path. He'd forgotten about that.

"Did you have something to do with this?" Mosukuwa asked, hearing the boy curse.

"I guess you can say that. It was Lockhart's stupidity that caused it, though," Harry said. "He got ahold of Ron's wand; I told you that he never got a replacement for the broken one, so he had to make due. He tried to obliviate us, but it backfired onto him, slamming him into the ceiling."

"Smooth..." Mosukuwa said as she walked up to the large cave in. She reached for one of the large pieces of rubble and gave a hard tug at it, shifting it in its place a little.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea..." Harry urged carefully, looking warily at the where the top of the pile touched the roof. But Mosukuwa didn't appear to be listening as she pulled at the stone again, grunting. He was about to tell her that it was probably useless because he had had many difficulties trying to move the heavy rocks when the rock pulled free. The rubble above it came crashing down to fill the empty space.

Mosukuwa stumbled back and disappeared within a cloud of debris. Harry coughed, waving his hand in front of his face. The dust cleared quickly, thankfully, but the path was still blocked off.

"Well, that was a dud," said Mosukuwa, dropping the stone she still had in her hand. "There must be a larger pocket up there."

"I tried to tell you," Harry said. He patted his hands over his robes but wasn't very successful in getting any of the dirt off. Great, he'd have to clean up before class now. Mosukuwa was in a similar state, a bit more seeing as she'd been closer, though she didn't appear bothered in the least. She wiped her face, the lipstick she had on smudging with the dirt. The dirt smeared across her cheek and nose. She decided to completely wipe the smudged makeup off onto her sleeve when Harry pointed it out, a calculating look in her eyes as she looked around the cavern.

"There has to be another way in..." She turned to Harry. "How'd you manage to get out?"

Harry opened his mouth, then quickly snapped it shut, staring blankly. "I don't really remember..."

The time between Fawkes healing the basilisk wound and waking up in the hospital wing was very blurred and spacy. He'd never actually thought about it nor asked. He could not, for the life of him, remember even leaving out of the basilisk's nest.

"Maybe we can try one of these other tunnels," she said, shining her wand in the direction of two other tunnels right beside each other. "This one might loop around somewhere."

She casted a tempus charm. "We have time still."

Harry nodded and retook the lead down one of the tunnels, the one closest to the cave in as it might be the most likely one to loop into the chamber. As the path began going further downwards, a slanting terrain in some points, Harry questioned whether they should turn back. It was getting darker the further they went and wetter. Puddles layered the floor, some creating little streams running along the rocky surfaces. The smell was getting worse as well, mold and mildew, and it was so quiet between the two students, the only sound being their slick footsteps and the constant drip and running water.

Mosukuwa kept moving her wand around, looking at their surroundings as they walked. It kind of annoyed Harry a bit as it pulled away the second light source from their path. The more light, the better, and he would like not to trip and fall. His fingers twitched around the wood of his wand and at his side rapidly. His eyes snapped every which way at each sound or movement he thought he'd seen in the inky darkness.

Then the tunnel came to a dead end.

Mosukuwa huffed, walking away from Harry. His already kind of obscured vision got worse with only seeing a bit way in front of him and Mosukuwa and the surrounding area around her. Harry began to realize how lightheaded he felt then. Did that usually happen underground? Maybe, he wasn't sure. He hadn't felt like this last time he'd been down here. But then again, he'd been very focused on saving Ginny and not being killed, plus recovering from the basilisk poison, hadn't he?

Harry reached for his forearm where the healed-up basilisk scare was and scratched at it through the fabric of his robes. He felt, rather than heard, something shift behind him somewhere, and he whipped around, his wand raised. Staring into the darkness behind them, a flash of yellow appeared, like two large glaring eyes looking back at him. He didn't know what spell he casted; he didn't even hear the incantation fall from his lips. Orange glow erupted from the tip of his wand, hurtling into the darkness behind them and slamming into something unseen further down. Probably the wall.

"Potter!" Mosukuwa shouted over the blast, and she was at his side suddenly. "What the hell!?"

But he couldn't focus on what she was saying. The air was entering his lungs at a rushed pace, too fast in and out. His chest heaving as his head kept whipping around. The only light source now was from Mosukuwa's wand, as he'd dropped his wand at some point. When had he done that? Harry gave a slight whimper, and he sank down to his knees, not caring about the cold, dirty water seeping into his pants.

Suka watched as the 5th year boy sank down to the ground, audibly sucking air into his lungs as if it would run out if he didn't take enough while he could. Cursing, she put more magic into her Lumos spell and pointed her wand up at the ceiling, where she shot the light up there, leaving it to float there. It shrouded the room in a brighter light. Suka hoped that the boy hadn't caused another cave-in. Why hadn't she thought of this? Of course, this place might bring up bad memories for him!

She got to her knees as well, shivering at the chilly water, and placed her hands on Potter's shoulders and, turning and pulling him to where his back rested against the wall. She frowned at how easily it was to manhandle him into position, even with her strength. She shook her head. She'd worry about that later; now was not the time.

"Potter? Potter! I need you to listen to me, okay? Hey!" She urged, reaching for his tie. His hands immediately tried swatting her away from his neck. Suka held back from snapping at him and grabbed both of his wrists into one hand, sitting her weight on his legs to keep him from kicking out at her. She finally managed to loosen his tie. Releasing his hands, she guided the trembling limbs up to his mouth and cupped them around it. Her hands sat over his in the same way, keeping them there.

"I need you to purse your lips for me and breathe in slowly. Can you do that for me?" She asked in the most patient tone she could manage. Is this how Hide had felt with her?

Potter's eyes were screwed shut, but she saw his attempts to do as she said, but ultimately failing as harsh breaths continued past his lips. With no other options from what Suka could know, she slapped her hand over his mouth completely.

Jade eyes flew open in a panic at his breath being restricted so suddenly, and Harry's chest tightened even more. Another wave of dizziness hit him, and with shaky fingers, he tried to pull Mosukuwa's hand away. Was she trying to kill him? Because this certainly wasn't helping!"

"Potter," Mosukuwa's voice came again. "Breathe through your nose. Slowly. In, and out. You're going to be fine."

Seconds ticked by, and Harry struggled to get a hold of himself again, breathing strictly through his nose because he had no other choice but to do so. Whenever he tried to look away or shut his eyes, Mosukuwa would snap his attention back to her face that was relatively close to his.

"Focus on me. Nothing else."

Harry stared at her, his eyes wandering over her facial features. She'd wiped away her lip makeup, but they were still stained a pale red/pink, as well as the corner of her mouth where it mixed with the dirt from before. Her brown eyes were as intense as ever before, yet...very kind, in a nurturing and understanding kind of way. Perhaps she's handled things like this before?

Mosukuwa continued to speak to him throughout, coaching him and even breathing deeply with him in a demonstration. Harry almost didn't notice the pain in his tight chest letting up, slowly the tingling of his limbs fading away, and his fogged mind began clearing.

Suka felt Potter mumble something against her palm.

"Are you better?" She asked, not moving her hand just yet. Potter looked to be contemplating the question before nodding.

Her eyes searched his face for any signs of lying; he did seem like downplaying things. Potter made an impatient noise and rolled his eyes at her, mumbling again. She released him, and Potter slumped back instantly, a breathy sigh erupting from his parted lips.

After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm sorry," rather sheepishly.

Suka gave him an "are you serious" look. "Why are you apologizing? Shit happens." She got off his legs and moved to his side, casting some drying spells on both their uniforms and the ground where they sat. "What happened? You were fine before."

"I don't know, I..." He trailed off, squinting up at the bright ball of light above them. "I think I just let the dark get to my head." He shook his head. "I'm fine, though."

He smiled at the older girl. "You handled that pretty well," he commented.

Suka shrugged. "I used to have panic attacks pretty often when I was younger. I just did what my father would."

With a lot fewer injuries, Suka thought with an internal snort. She'd broken Hide's leg and sprained his wrist on one occasion. At that point, they had to get one of the Anteiku ghouls to tend to her, with Hide nearby, of course. Just not in harming distance. It had made the time during the attacks worse as Suka hadn't warmed up to people well; strangers were definitely a no-go.

It even had set back her progress with her adopted father, in the sense of her being afraid to so much as sit next to him. She didn't want to hurt him in any way.

"You said he's a doctor, right?" Potter asked.

Suka nodded. "In a sense. He works for the Japanese government, on a special force team."

"Magical?"

"No, he's a muggle. He adopted me when I was young. I've never known my parents."

"Ah, so am I," he said. "An orphan, I mean. I know of them, I guess. Bits and pieces of my baby memories-- they were kind of faint, but it's something--, flashes of that night, and stuff that people have told me about them."

He kicked the ground. "Either I'm being praised, or ridiculed, for being so like them, mainly my dad, or I'm not enough like them...I think Sirius just sees me as a replacement for my dad."

Suka blinked. "What?"

Potter looked at her, then laughed a bit in understanding. "Sirius, not serious. He's my godfather."

Suka chuckled. Weird name, but okay. It wouldn't be the first time she'd encountered strange names, especially at Hogwarts. This Sirius guy must have been a close friend of James Potter who is still grieving, even after 14 years.

"Maybe you should try talking to him about it," Suka suggested softly. "He may not realize that he's even doing it, or he does, and he doesn't realize that it really bothers you."

Potter didn't respond, staring off at the far wall, and Suka left him to his thoughts for a bit. She wasn't going to push him; she doubted he'd appreciate that.

They were kind of similar, the two.

"We should probably head back up if we want to have enough time to clean up before classes. We can come back, but only if you want to."

"I thought we needed the chamber for training," Harry questioned as he watched Mosukuwa get to her feet. He did the same, wincing and swaying slightly on his still stiff legs.

"Not if it causes you distress," she stated firmly. "I'd want to explore some more, but I can do that myself if I need to. We can talk about it later, okay?"

Was it sad that Harry felt touched in a way? When was the last time someone put his feelings first and let him decided whether he wanted to do something or not? God, he really needed to re-evaluate how he allows himself to be treated by those around him...

"I'll think about it," he finally responded with a warm smile.

Mosukuwa paused and stared at him before returning the smile. "I have to get you to smile more," she stated nonchalantly. Then she turned and started back down the tunnel.

Harry sputtered and quickly grabbed his wand from across the floor and went to catch up. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

He was about to voice that question when something shiny caught his eye. He stopped, staring at the wall where his spell had hit, an enormous crater in the wall. He called out for Mosukuwa, who hadn't stopped walking, taking that floating ball of light with her.

"What is it?" She asked, backtracking her steps.

"Just keep the light still for a second," he told her, leaning closer to the wall. The blasted area only revealed more stone behind it. He tilted his head, looking at the crater at different angles. He frowned. Maybe his eyes were just playing tricks on him again. He turned away and--there it was again!

He got even closer, the tip of his nose almost hitting the cool rocks. There was a smaller hole in the crater, with something else behind it. Something shiny and a gold color? He leaned back.

"Do you see something in this hole?" He asked Mosukuwa. He wanted a second opinion. His rep sheet of staying in a stable reality right then was not looking good. He put his finger on the edge of the small hole in question, and Mosukuwa stepped closer, her shoulder brushing against his.

"...Yeah, there's something back there, definitely," she confirmed, nodding and taking a step back. "Try speaking in parseltongue. I don't wanna cause a cave-in by trying to blast through to it."

Harry snorted and stood in front of the crater as he hissed the word "open." And the rest of the stone began to rumble apart, revealing a green door that looked in good condition for where it was located. The shiny gold they had seen was the door's handle, in the shape of a snake, black texture patterns engraved into the metal and what looked like tiny ruby gems on the head for the eyes.

There was a clicking sound of the door being unlocked. Mosukuwa gave a sound of delight, grabbing onto Harry's forearm and kind of shaking it with excitement. Harry laughed, taking his wand into his unclaimed hand to cast another tempus charm. They had about an hour before class, at least he did.

But as he saw a pure curiosity and excitement shining in her eyes and clear on her face, Harry couldn't bring himself to suggest heading back up again. And he didn't want to leave her down here by herself, no matter what she said. There was no guarantee that she could get back out without his parseltongue abilities, and who knows what she'd come across down here.

"...I think we still have time to look inside for a bit," he said nonchalantly.

The bright smile he was given in response made his heart skip a beat, and she quickly started mumbling what sounded like incantations, point her wand at the door.

"Checking for hexes," she explained once she was done. "Salazar Slytherin seemed like the paranoid type."

She released his arm, leaving Harry missing the warmth, and opened the door. They stepped into a hallway. The floor was a black tile, old tapestries hanging on the walls between large pillars with torches on them. Harry lit the torches as they passed each one. There were only two other doors, both the same green as the main door.

Mosukuwa was casting spells left and right, and Harry went to the door on the left after she had deemed it safe. It didn't require any parseltongue to gain entrance, he learned, pushing the door open. He assumed everything inside this hidden shelter would be like that.

Beyond the door, he'd opened was a living room area. He stepped through the doorway, and Harry instantly felt an extreme tingling rush over his body, stilling him in place. It felt like he was being patted down and analyzed to the very core of his magical essence and soul. Then it was over, the feeling fading away as fast as it had come, and he was able to move again.

"Mosukuwa, be careful when coming in here," he called out to the girl in a warning. There was a brief shuffling back in the hall, and then Mosukuwa appeared in the doorway. She peered into the room hesitantly but didn't step inside.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I think I just got checked over?" He said unsurely. "A security measure, maybe? It let me go through."

"It wouldn't be the most insane thing..." She said. She looked to be taking a deep breath before taking a hesitant step forward and inside the room. Harry watched anxiously as she entered and pause abruptly, much like he had. She was quiet at first, and the next thing he knew, she was collapsing to the ground, curling into a tight ball and letting forth a blood-chilling scream. He fell to his knees beside her and reached out a hand to grab onto her, only to snap it back as it felt like he'd placed his hand on a red hot stove. She was burning up!

Another yell was let out, then quickly silenced as Mosukuwa was clenching her teeth together. Her jawline was more defined by the tension ad she tried to hold back her screams. Harry tried calling her name, but the only response he received was pain whimpers that managed to slip past her lips.

He jumped to his feet and looked frantically around the room. A green-clothed sofa sat in front of a black marble fireplace. There was a dark wooden desk on a step-up incline, a wall-to-wall bookshelf behind it, filled with old and worn-looking books. Harry went to the desk first, rooting through the drawers and tossing its contents haphazardly onto the desk surface. Mostly a lot of old parchments, probably from centuries ago. But he couldn't bring himself to slow down and be gentle with them.

Not sure what he was looking for exactly; just anything that might help put a stop to whatever was attacking Mosukuwa. Whimpers were turning to choked sobs, causing Harry to speed up his efforts. The desk produced nothing of help, so he turned to the bookshelf behind him, grabbing the books and leafing through the pages. One by one, the books left the shelf and were dropped into an ever-growing pile on the floor, not caring if they were damaged. Though he was sure Mosukuwa, and maybe even Hermione, would have a few choice words for him if they saw him treating books so terribly. Especially ancient texts such as these. It wouldn't surprise him if some of these books were first editions!

He paused. Silence rang clear in the room, a great contrast to the ear-splitting screams he'd just witnessed. Harry spun around to Mosukuwa, who had fallen silent on the ground, her body lying limply still in that balled up position. Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Harry's mind kept flashing back and forth between the memory of Ginny laying in a similar state three years ago and the current present. Ginny, Mosukuwa, Ginny, Mosukuwa. Again and again, before finally switching back to the Asian 7th year and staying there in reality.

Please don't be dead, please don't be dead! Harry reached for her shoulder and was relieved to find that she had cooled down, though still a bit warmer than usual. He pushed her onto her back and leaned over her to press his ear to her chest.

One second. Two. Harry was beginning to fear the worst.

Merlin, how was he going to explain this? He'd no doubt be expelled this time. His heart clenched. Forget expelled! He'd have his wand snapped and be sent to Azkaban!

He bit his tongue and went to lift his head when the chest below him rose slowly then lowered. He flinched back to look at her, and sure enough, her chest continued to rise and fall with each breath. Her face wasn't contorted in pain anymore. It was blank, almost peaceful. She must have passed out from the shock. But at least she was breathing. Harry fell back onto the cool tile, exhaling deeply, and gave an almost hysterical laugh.

How did he always manage to get himself into situations like this? As he laid there, he contemplated what to do. He didn't have the energy to go attend classes, much less taking the trek back up. But he knew he had to, if not to just keep Hermione and Ron from panicking for not showing up like he said he would, then to get Mosukuwa some help. He couldn't carry her back up himself, even if he wanted to. It would draw way too much unwanted attention to going through the halls with an unconscious Slytherin student...

Lifting her wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. He made it to the sofa before his legs started to buckle, at least. He waved his wand at the couch to remove the probably centuries-old dust from it and laid Mosukuwa down. The fire roared to life instantly as he did this. Convenient.

He looked down at her. He hoped she'd be okay until he managed to return with Ron and Hermione.

"I'll be back soon, Suka."