“Harry!  Harold James Potter, wake up!”

Harry rolled over as someone tried to wake him by bellowing into his ear.  He pulled the covers over his head and heard a sigh.

“Damn.  Jar!  WHERE’S THAT BLASTED RAVEN WHEN I NEED HIM!!”

“What in the…  What are you doing in here, Mudblood?”

“If you haven’t noticed, Malfoy, we have class today and you five idiots are all late and are hence making me so.  So, if you do not want to be hexed into the next ten centuries, I suggest you not piss me off this morning.  Do we understand each other?”

A pause.

“Yeah.  Sure.”

“Good.  You wake your two-cents-for-brains friends and I’ll wake mine.”

“Two-cents-for-brain Potter?”

“Don’t tempt me, Malfoy.”

“Of course not, oh wondrous Lady Hex.”

“Sod off.”

“Ouch.”

“Braggart.  Harry.  HARRY!”

More shaking.  Harry pulled the covers tighter around him.

“Hex the idiot!”

“Why don’t I hex you, Zabini?”

“Because I really want to see Potter get it.”

“And I’d really like to see you get it, so we’re even.  Now get out of my face before I wipe that stupid little smirk off of it.  The hard way.”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Oh shut up, you idiots.  As if I’d want to see the two of you naked, let alone Malfoy here.”

“Hey!”

“Shut up, Malfoy.  You two slugs can hide under your covers till I get Harry up.  ZABINI!”

“What?”

“GET SOME CLOTHES ON!!”

“Aw, c’mon, O’Feir…”

“Do you want me to hex you?”

“…no…”

“Then put some RUDDY CLOTHES ON!!”

Harry rolled over finally and sat up, looking at the room around him.  Crabbe and Goyle were peering out from under their covers at Draco, who was standing in the middle of the room.  Blaise was digging through his trunk under the sharp eye of Niamh, who was standing beside Harry’s bed glaring at the four boys with her wand clenched in her hand.  Harry yawned; stretching, and she whirled upon him, blue eyes blazing.

“It’s about bloody time!  We’re late!”

Harry rubbed his eyes and peered at her.

“For wha’ class?”

“HoM.  But if you don’t get up in – oh…ten seconds…we’re going to be late for Potions!”

“What!”

“That’s what I said.  Now…MOVE YOUR LAZY ARSE!!”

Harry sprang out of bed and ran.  Niamh smiled smugly and remarked, “That’s better.  ZABINI!  I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T GET SOME CLOTHES ON, I WILL FEED YOU TO THE GIANT SQUID!  SAME GOES TO YOU, MALFOY, IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE HEXED AND MISS POTIONS!”

“WHAT!”

“YOU HEARD ME!  WE’VE GOT TWO MINUTES TO GET DOWN THE HALL OR WE’RE LATE!!”

Draco and Blaise looked at each other then dove for their robes.  Harry already had his on and grabbed his bag, dragging Niamh out of the boy’s dorm.  They shot out of the common room into the hall and sprinted down to the Potions classroom, dashing inside.  The few Gryffindors in the room and the other second year Slytherins looked up.  As Harry and Niamh fell into seats at a table on the Slytherin side, Mika turned around and asked, “Where were you two this morning?”

“What?” asked Niamh.  “Did we miss another exciting lesson on Goblin rebellions?”

Mika gave her a friendly smirk; he counted Niamh and Harry as friends and they him.

“Nah.  He actually mentioned the Chamber of Secrets.  After we bugged him a bit about it.  By the way, I didn’t see Malfoy either.”

Another reason why Harry and Niamh counted Mika as a friend.  He disliked Draco as much as them.

“He was still asleep with Harry here.  In fact, all five of them were asleep.  Which spurs a question.  Mika, where do you sleep?”

“In another dorm.  There are – what, Harry? – seven second year boys?  Only five fit in a room so we’re stuck with three of the sixth years.  They’re not too happy about the arrangement.”

“A’ least ye aren’t stuck wi’ Malfoy, his goons, an’ Zabini,” grumbled Harry as he tried to straighten his flyaway hair.

“Good point.”

The bell suddenly rang and Mika turned around just as Snape entered the room, dark eyes looking coldly at the Gryffindors then lightening when they fell on the Slytherins.  Most particularly Harry.  Harry didn’t notice this from trying to get his hair to lie flat but Niamh did, looking between the two of them.  One could practically see the wheels spinning in her head…

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

“OW!” cried four voices and then the door flew open.  Crabbe and Goyle collapsed onto the floor with Draco and Blaise sprawling across them.  Snape arched an eyebrow at them and said silkily, “How good of you to join us, Misters Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini.  Take your seats and don’t forget to close the door.”

The four disentangled themselves and went to their seats, Draco and Blaise taking the table behind Niamh and Harry.  As Snape began to speak, Draco leaned forward and hissed, “I’ll get you back for this, O’Feir.”

Niamh turned and snapped, “Hey, you just be happy I told you.  If I hadn’t, you’d still be asleep and in trouble with Snape.”

Draco scowled at her and she sneered in return before turning back around and starting to work on their potion.  Harry cast a mild glare back at Draco, noticing that he was whispering an awful lot to Blaise.  Then he noticed the piece of Boomslang skin that Blaise was holding.  Which didn’t look too suspicious.

Except for the fact that the potion they were making had no need for Boomslang skin.

Harry looked quickly from the two boys to the list of potions ingredients on the board, trying to think of what Boomslang skin would do to the potion as Niamh only had it half done.  It clicked at the same moment Blaise tossed the skin in a high arch while Snape’s back was turned.

“MOVE!” he roared, grabbing Niamh’s arm and pulling her to the floor.  The potion exploded as soon as the skin hit it, sending olive colored potion and pea-green smoke everywhere.

Snape whirled around and bellowed, “FOOLS!”  He strode over to the cauldron and peered over the edge into it.  Rule number one in the Potions classroom: do NOT put your face (or any other body part) over a cauldron that just exploded.

“Miss O’Feir?”

“Yes, sir?” said Niamh from where she was crushed under Harry, who had landed on top of her when he’d pulled her aside and thrown himself in the same direction.

“Why did you put Boomslang skin in your potion?”

“What?”  Niamh sat up quickly, sending Harry sprawling onto his back.

“Boomslang skin, Miss O’Feir.  Only it causes this type of reaction with this potion.”

“Sir,” said Niamh, “I didn’t have any Boomslang skin out.  I…”  Her voice trailed off as she saw Draco and Blaise snickering behind Snape’s back.

“You two,” she growled, narrowing her eyes at them.  Snape looked at the two, who stopped snickering immediately and put on false innocent looks.

“Malfoy, Zabini, my office.  Now.  O’Feir, clean this up and come down here tonight to redo your potion.  Potter, I suggest you come with her as your potion probably got some of hers in it.  Class is dismissed!  Those of you who were hit by the potion, go to the Hospital Wing.  Madam Pomfrey will sort you out.”  Snape then turned and ushered Draco and Blaise into his office.

“Yesssss,” hissed Niamh as she went to empty her cauldron.  Harry shook his head and drug his cauldron over to the stone sinks to drain it as well.  Only Niamh could be happy that Draco and Blaise got in trouble seconds after she almost had her potion explode in her face.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Harry and Niamh were walking down the hall to the dungeons after classes that day when they ran into Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was a slight friend of Niamh’s.  She spotted him coming up the hallway towards them and waved cheerfully.

“Hey, Justin!”

He smiled at her then got a horrified look on his face when he spotted Harry.  Quickly he turned and ran in the other direction.

“Wha’ was tha’ about?” asked Harry in confusion.

Niamh shrugged.

“No idea.  C’mon.  I really want to see that hex now that you’ve finally figured out how to do it.  Got your spiders?”

“Doan I always?”

“Yep.  You going to show Fred and George this one?”

“Yeh.  Already promised ‘em.”

“Goody.  Now I have to fear for my life.”

“Na.  Ye’ll have ter fear for yer life when Malfoy finds out about it.”

“Oh, hell yes.”

Harry laughed and he and Niamh continued on their way.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

“Okay, something really weird is going on.”

“Wha’?”

“Haven’t you noticed that everyone but the other Slyth’s have been looking at you…well – strangely?”

Harry looked up at Niamh from his lunch and said, “Tha’ would depend on yer definition of strange.”

“C’mon, Harry, I’m being serious!”

“So’m I.”

Niamh scowled at him and he sighed.  “Alrigh’, Ni.  Yeh, I ‘ave noticed them lookin’ a’ me strangely.  Why?”

“Well, I was just wondering about something.  First, yesterday Justin runs away at the sight of you.”

“Yeh.”

“And last night I got Mika to tell me about the Chamber of Secrets.”

“An’ the poin’ ter all o’ this is?” asked Harry lazily.

“Harry!  They think you’re the Heir of Slytherin or something because you were there.”

“What!”

“That’s what I thought,” grumbled Niamh.

Harry blinked a few times then looked up as Ginny walked up and sat across from them, looking distraught.

“‘Ey, Gin.  Wha’s wrong?”

Ginny shrugged and sighed, “Nothing…”

Niamh and Harry looked at each other.

“C’mon, Gin, you can tell us.”

“Its nothing, okay!”

Half the table and the Hall looked over at them as Ginny yelled.  Niamh nodded and held up her hands.

“Okay, Gin, okay.  But, remember, me an’ Harry are here for you if you want to talk or something.”

“I know,” whispered Ginny.

Niamh forced a smile then left.  Harry lingered for a moment longer, watching Ginny closely, then left as well.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

“And next on our agenda for today…I have no idea.”

“Not a clue?”

“Nope.”

Hermione shook her head at Niamh, who grinned at Harry, who laughed at the both of them.  The three of them were in the library looking for anything on the Chamber of Secrets.  Ron wasn’t with them.  He had taken to avoiding Harry and Niamh like the plague.  Like he avoided Ginny, which was seriously beginning to annoy Niamh.

“Oh, I know!  We could go find Ron and pummel him until he figures out that Ginny being a Slyth isn’t so bad.  How about that?  Would that be good?  How ‘bout it, Harry?  Want to do a little Ron-pummeling?”

Harry gave her a Look and she gave him a feeble smile.

“I guess that’s a ‘no’, then…”

“Yeh,” said Harry irritably as he turned back to the book he was reading.  Although the three of them were supposed to be looking for information on the Chamber of Secrets, he was actually looking for something else.

“Harry, that’s a potions book.”

“I know.”

“Why are you looking for information on the Chamber of Secrets in there?”

Harry fixed Hermione with a dark scowl and replied, “I’m lookin’ fer somethin’ else.”

Hermione shrank away from him so Niamh asked, “And what would that be?”  She hastily added, “If I may ask,” as Harry turned the dark scowl towards her.

“A potion.  Wha’ else?”

Niamh frowned and said, “What potion?”

“I DOAN KNOW!” snapped Harry, standing up.  He earned a glare from Madam Pince but ignored it, scowling darkly down at Niamh and Hermione.  “An’ if yer gonna bug me abou’ i’, I’m goin’ ter leave.”  He grabbed the book and left, already having checked it out with Madam Pince.

“Harry…” began Hermione, rising to go after him, but Niamh stopped her.

“Let him be, Mione.”

Hermione nodded and sat down.  After a moment she whispered, “Did you notice anything – strange – about the way Harry looked just a moment ago?”

Niamh thumbed a page of her book over and said, “Maybe.  Why?”

“Well, I did.  Did you notice who – who he looked like?”

Niamh looked up at Hermione and nodded.

“Professor Snape, Mione.  He looked like Professor Snape.”

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Harry’s POV

I stormed out of the library, angry with Niamh and Hermione.  A little voice in my head kept telling me that they had just been curious but I shoved it aside.  I went straight back down to the dungeons and entered the common room, ignoring the looks I got from a few of the first year Slytherins’.  Stalking straight over to the dark corner where Niamh and I usually sat, I flopped into one of the two chairs there and opened the book on my lap, flipping back to the page I had been on.

I read for I don’t know how long, never noticing that Jardin flew in and landed on the arm of my chair.  I only noticed he was there when I found what I was looking for.

“Tha’s i’!”  I punched my fists into the air at the joy of finding it and heard a startled squawk from my right.  Turning, I saw Jardin hop back up to the arm from where I had knocked him to the floor.  He rustled his wings irritably and glared at me.  I winced and said, “Sorry, Jar.”

< Nothing hurt but my feathers and a bit of my pride.  What have you found anyway? >

I glanced around the room and decided it was safe enough to talk to Jar out loud.

“I foun’ the potion Snape ‘ad me help him wi’ last year.”

< Why didn’t you look for it last year? >

“Na enough time.  Bu’ now I’ve found i’.”

Jardin tilted his head at me and asked, < Well, what is it? >

I looked back down at the book.

“Prosapia Potion.  ‘Sposedly i’s ‘sposed to tell ye if yer related to someone.  Shows their person’s paren’s House colors.”

< And the point to all of this is? >

“‘E used my blood in i’, Jar.”

< Yes? >

I looked at the raven and breathed, “The on’y reason ye need blood in this potion is i’ must be the person ye want ter know the paren’s of.  Tha’s why Snape asked me to help ‘im wi’ the potion.  ‘E wanted ter know who me parents are.”

Jardin looked mildly confused.  < Harry, everyone knows who your parents are.  James and Lily Potter. >

“But I doan look li’ either of ‘em, do I, Jar?  Mrs. Weasley tol’ me tha’ ‘erself.  She knew ‘em.  An’ she said I doan look anyt’ing li’ either of ‘em, ‘cept fer my nose and eyes.”  I smiled slightly and continued, “She said those are definitely me mum.”

< So, > said Jardin, preening a wing.  < What are you going to do now? >

“Brew this potion.  I wan’ ter know.  I ‘ave ter know.”

< And what if you find out something you don’t want to know? >

I sighed and leaned back into the chair.

“I guess I’ll ‘ave ter cross tha’ bridge when I ge’ there.”