Severus watched as his teenage son disappeared into a gaping hole in the floor. He quickly turned to Winky and asked her to pack some clothes for their stay at Camelot then went to the hole to follow his son. He squatted next to the opening and cast Lumos. He could see that there was a sloping tunnel. He carefully lowered himself but he misjudged the angle, losing his footing, his body twisting sideways and finding himself hurtling along at great speed face down and feet first. He had dropped his wand and could hear it clattering ahead of him. His now empty hands were scrabbling for anything to grab onto to slow his decent. He spread his feet hoping to use them as brakes but the tread on his boots found no purchase. He started muttering dire threats directed at his son, “The brat was going to pay, several times over.” “Harry was going to suffer a long and painful death.” “There better be a soft landing or he’s not going to sit for a week.”

Unbeknownst to anyone Harry had returned to the Chamber of Secrets many times. He had cleaned out all the animal bones that had been at the base of the slide the first time. He had also placed a cushioning charm on the floor so he would have a soft landing every time. He hoped his father wouldn’t be too upset with him.

Harry had been rather startled when his father’s wand came shooting out of the pipe followed by a string of muffled words. He briefly wondered if had happened but that fleeting feeling of guilt soon turned to awe and shock as Severus shot out the opening feet first and he winced when his father landed on his belly with a muffled curse.

Severus groaned, twice in one day he had managed to land in an undignified heap. He scrambled to his feet and glared at his son. Snape’s undignified entrance coupled with his unkempt look had Harry’s eyes watering and his lips twitching.  “If you value your life my boy, you will not laugh,” he growled.

Harry was quick to wipe the smile off his face at his father’s words but merriment still lit his eyes. He couldn’t wait to tell Ron and Hermione about what he had done.

“Well where is it? We haven’t got all day,” Snape snapped. Harry didn’t let it bother him. He knew his father was eager to get to the waiting corpse. Little was said as the two made their way through the corridors and doorways to the cavernous room where Harry had fought and killed the basilisk.

Snape had stared wide eyed at the sixty foot, perfectly preserved, scaly body of the king of snakes, that had once been Salazar Slytherin’s familiar. In his mind’s eye he could see a twelve year Harry facing the monstrous beast when it was alive. “How did you kill it?” he asked quietly. The teen told his father what happened that day. How Fawkes had helped by bringing Gryffindor’s sword and blinding the snake. As his son told his tale Severus felt pride and anger battle it out within him only to become overpowered by another emotion - love. His love for his son, his Harry made him want to take the boy into his arms and never let go. To keep him from harm’s way but he knew that he could not. Harry had already faced so much without him. He would stand by his son’s side in the upcoming battle and help him.

When the story reached its end he did draw the boy into an embrace more to reassure himself that the boy was really alright, “Come on Brat, we have work to do.”

As Severus walked about the beast trying to figure out where would be the best place to start Harry recalled seeing some diagrams in a book about basilisks in Slytherin’s study. He told his father not to start yet and hurried off to find the tome. He returned a few minutes later with the book open to the relevant pages. “This might help,” he said handing it over and indicating the drawings.

Severus looked at his son, ‘Time enough for questions later,’ he thought. “Can you translate this?” he asked indicating the text.

“Yes Dad. The drawings should be enough though.”

“What does it say about preparation?”

“To cast a sterilised containment field and to make sure all equipment including clothing especially gloves are sterile.”

Severus nodded and set about sterilising the work area. He levitated part of the snake to lay sterile drapes down. As he set out his equipment he realised that he didn’t have enough jars and vials. He sent Harry to summon Winky and get her to retrieve more from his private lab in his quarters. On the return journey Harry stopped by Salazar’s lab and retrieved more from there.

“There are more books on basilisks in the study and the lab. They’re in Parseltongue. We could take them with us,” he told Severus.

“After we’re finished we’ll go through them together. I’ll make copies of the useful ones. The originals should stay here.”

Using the diagrams Severus cautiously removed the remaining upper fang and the poison sacs, which contained over two litres of venom, by cutting into the soft pallet of the snake’s upper jaw. He made sure the jars were sealed tightly. Then he and Harry carefully took the skin off in large pieces. The book instructed that the pieces should be stacked with the insides facing to keep in the moisture in.

It took nearly four hours but Severus made sure they had as many different samples as possible including bone, cartilage and internal organs. He cast strong preserving charms over the remainders despite Harry telling him he didn’t need to that such charms were already in place. He informed his son that he was doing it for his own piece of mind. With the specimens safely stored in their travelling cases they levitated them to the entrance of the inner chamber. Harry then led his father to Slytherin’s office cum library.

The younger wizard watched as the older as his eyes gazed longingly at all the books. Some of them were very rare and Harry could see Severus’ fingers twitching. To his credit the older man mentally shook himself from his daze, ‘Time enough to look at them later,’ he thought before asking, “Which books Harry?”

Severus watched as Harry raised his wand and incanted something in Parseltongue. Several tomes flew from the shelves to land in a neat stack on the desk. Harry read the title of the top most book, “’Know Your Basilisk, A Guide for Raising and Harvesting for Potions and Profit.’ The other books will have some reference to basilisks in them.”

Severus cast a duplicating spell and a second stack appeared. “These will only last a year. It works that way so there is no breach of copyright etcetera. Time we were going Brat.” Snape shrunk the books and put them in one of his pockets.

They left the office and the chamber, Harry securing the doors behind them. When they got back to the slide Severus paused and looked up, “How do we get back up?”

“The first time Fawkes flew us out.”

“And now?”

Harry muttered a few words in Parseltongue and a grinding noise could be heard. Severus watch as stone blocks came out of the wall forming a zigzagging staircase. “It used to be a circular one but I changed it after I got dizzy too many going up and down,” Harry said blithely.  

“Are you saying that I could have walked down the stairs? That I didn’t have to come down that... that chute?” Snape asked too calmly.

“Yes Sir,” the teen replied not looking at his father.

“Brat,” Severus declared as his hand cracked across the boy’s backside.

“Ow Dad.”

“Start climbing mister if you don’t want any more of those in the near future.”

Harry cast a woeful look at the older man and started up the stairs. He would have preferred that his father went first so he didn’t feel quite so vulnerable. The walk up the stairs was arduous as they were levitating the storage boxes with them. Snape had decided not to risk the specimens by shrinking them. Harry sighed with relief when he finally stepped through the entrance hole and into the bathroom. Moving a few feet from it he carefully lowered the crate to the floor.

Snape’s box soon joined it. Winky was summonsed and asked if all was ready. Winky assured them that she had packed enough clothes and things for them. “They’re already at Camelot waiting for yous,” she told them. The elf stood so that she had one hand on each of the crates. She instructed the wizards to hold on to her shoulders. When they were ready they ‘popped’ out of the castle and back to Camelot where they were greeted by Levi and Ezra.

“The others have returned to their realms,” Ezra explained, “Merlin is waiting to join you for dinner in your quarters.”

“I want to see to these specimens first,” said Snape, “Harry do you want to help me or go spend some time with Merlin?”

“If we both do it it’ll be done quicker,” Harry said.

“We’ll help too,” the other two chimed in.

With Levi and Ezra leading the way and levitating the boxes Snape and Harry followed. Harry gazed around at the pristine lab with its white floor, walls and ceiling. The ceiling had skylights that allowed a lot of natural light in. To the left and right of the main door were the sinks that were stainless steel. In the corners next to the sinks were fume hoods. These lead to two walls of shelves and glassed in cabinets with all kinds of equipment. On the wall opposite the main door were two other doors one labelled ‘Cold Storage’ the other ‘Dry Storage’. There were various work stations that had different tops, some he recognised, stainless steel, marble, copper, pewter, wood and Harry was sure one of them was gold.

Severus removed the stack of books from his pocket and unshrank them as the other two put the crates on one of the wooden tables. He took ’Know Your Basilisk’ off the stack and handed it to Harry. “What does the book say about storing the specimens?” he asked.

 Harry found the relevant page and began reading out loud. “English please son,” Severus gently chided.

The young wizard blushed, “Sorry Dad forgot you don’t speak Parseltongue. It says to store the venom in a cool place away from light until needed. The skin should be stored in two ways, the underbelly should be left on a rack in the sun for two days then stored in a dry place. The remainder should be kept moist but not wet. The flesh can be used fresh or dried. Fresh pieces should be kept in a cool place with preserving charms. To dry the flesh cut it into pieces the size of your hand and as thick as a finger. Place onto drying trays and place in the sun or a drying cabinet.”

“We can take the things that need to be dried into your realm. Timing is usually very important and since the instructions are from your world it would be best,” Ezra said.

They set about preparing the specimens. It didn’t take too long as Severus had already cut the flesh into manageable pieces. Once they were done the lab was set to rights. Levi prepared to transport the drying racks and trays while Ezra walked the Snapes to their quarters. “Merlin will join you in an hour. That’ll give you time to freshen up,” Ezra said as he opened the door. “You can place wards on the door if you wish. Good day gentleman.” Both Snapes said their goodbyes then turned to look over their rooms. To their great relief the rooms were the same as the ones in their private quarters in Hogwarts. It would make finding their way around so much easier. Severus looked at his watch. It was nearing seven pm their time and there was still some unfinished business to attend to.

“Bath Brat,” Severus said turning his son in the direction of his room, “Put your pajamas on afterwards.”

“Daaaaaad Merlin’s coming,” whined Harry.

Severus’ right eyebrow shot up, “Don’t whine Harry. You should be thankful that I’m not spanking you and putting you to bed without dinner.”

To his credit the teen didn’t argue any further and went off muttering. Severus smiled when he heard the startled yelp coming from the bedroom. He loved stinging hexes.