A/N – Welcome back to Children of the Dark. Just a reminder that this is a Dark Harry and a Dark Hermione story. Also the paring will be Dramione, but they're still too young at this point for any romance. There will be the first stirrings in the third part, before things develop further in year 4.

Updates will be the usual, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This part has 16 chapters in total, and I think there's a few more variations from canon. I hope people enjoy this part as much as they enjoyed year 1.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy spent the first few weeks of the summer holidays enjoying one another's company. For the entirety of their first year at Hogwarts, Hermione and Harry had been forced to hide their friendship with Draco as they played the parts of good little Gryffindors. However, now they were free of Hogwarts for the summer they were able to be themselves and spend time with their best friend. They were also able to spend time with Severus Snape, who was Harry's father and Hermione's brother. Apart from the Malfoys, no-one else knew of Severus's connection to the two Gryffindors, and it was going to remain a secret until the time was right for the truth to emerge.

Half the summer was over, before attention really turned to the trio's second year at Hogwarts. For weeks the threesome had been pretty much left to their own devices, but one afternoon, Hermione's father, the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, had gathered everyone together. Everyone included the three twelve year olds, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, Severus and Hermione's mother, Beth.

As the group gathered they all knew the time had come to discuss what was going to happen over the next few months. The previous year they'd concocted an elaborate plan to ensure that Harry and Hermione were totally trusted by the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. As leader of the group opposing Voldemort and his followers, it was imperative that Harry and Hermione gained his trust for later on when things got more heated. Luckily their plan had been a success and Dumbledore wouldn't dream of questioning Harry and Hermione's loyalties to him.

"So what are we going to do this year?" Hermione asked, eager to find out what their second year would entail.

"Patience Hermione," Voldemort chuckled. "First of all, I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to tell you about the Chamber of Secrets."

"Never heard of it," Hermione said with a sigh. She hated not knowing things before others and was a bit peeved that she didn't at least have a clue what her father was talking about.

"I have," Draco said, earning himself an unimpressed glare from his female best friend. "The Chamber of Secrets is hidden somewhere in Hogwarts."

"Very good Draco," Voldemort said, smiling at the young blond wizard. "And I happen to know exactly where it's hidden."

"But what is the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

"The chamber was created by Salazar Slytherin, way back when the school was built," Voldemort explained. "In the chamber lived a creature, a creature that would help him rid the school of those unworthy of being there. However, before he'd managed to complete his task of ridding Hogwarts of muggleborns, he was driven out of the school by Godric Gryffindor and the others. They others all knew that the chamber existed, but they couldn't find the entrance. Only an heir of Salazar himself could open the chamber and finish what he'd started."

"But we're heirs of Salazar Slytherin," Hermione gasped. Her father had long ago told her the story of his mother, Merope Gaunt, and how her family had been descended from the great wizard, Salazar Slytherin.

"We are," Voldemort confirmed, giving Hermione a proud smile. "And when I was in school, I found the chamber and opened it. I released the creature and it set about cleansing the school."

"But it can't have worked," Harry said with a confused frown. "There's still muggleborns allowed in school."

"Unfortunately, I had to close the chamber again," Voldemort said with a disappointed sigh. "A muggleborn was killed, and while part of the school rejoiced, others did not. I soon found the school was in danger of being closed, and I couldn't allow that to happen. I needed Hogwarts, even a Hogwarts with muggleborns roaming the corridors."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I set another student up," Voldemort answered with a wicked smirk. "I believe you know him, Rubeus Hagrid."

"Hagrid?" Harry and Hermione cried together.

"That oaf went to school?" Draco questioned with a sneer. "I didn't think he could do magic."

"He can, he just does it in secret," Harry replied. "When I first met him, he told me not to tell anyone he was doing magic as he wasn't allowed."

"That's because his wand was snapped when he was expelled," Voldemort explained. "As you know, he's got a fondness for magical creatures. Well, I knew he was hiding one in school and I led the Professors to both him and the creature. Unfortunately the creature escaped, but Hagrid was accused of being behind the attacks and expelled. Dumbledore allowed him to stay on as a trainee groundskeeper as he felt sorry for him. Of course Dumbledore never believed that it was Hagrid that had opened the chamber, but once he was caught and expelled the attacks stopped and Dumbledore could never find any proof that he was innocent."

"Wow, that's a cool story," Harry said with a low whistle. "But what does it have to do with us?"

"You three are going to open the chamber again," Voldemort answered. Immediately Hermione, Harry and Draco started shooting questions at him, but he silenced them by raising his hand. "Let me finish, and then you can ask questions."

Voldemort then proceeded to tell the trio exactly where the entrance of the chamber was located and how to open it. He then told them all about the creature in the chamber, and how it would obey Harry and Hermione as the heirs of Slytherin. Of course, the trio were all wondering how they would open a chamber using a language they didn't speak, but Voldemort had a solution brewing.

When Voldemort snapped his fingers, everyone in the room was shocked when the door to the front room slowly opened and a large snake slithered its way over to where Voldemort was sitting. Harry, Hermione and Draco, who'd all been sitting on the floor, jumped up at the sight of the snake and backed away from the giant reptile. Lucius, Narcissa and Severus were all visibly uncomfortable with the sight of the large snake, but Beth barely batted an eyelid as her husband stroked his new pet.

"Meet Nagini," Voldemort said. "Nagini, say hello."

Slowly the snake turned round and let out a low hiss. Hermione, Harry and Severus all looked at the snake in surprise as they clearly heard it saying hello. However, the Malfoys had only heard hissing.

"It speaks," Hermione whispered.

"Say hello back to her," Voldemort urged his daughter. "Don't worry, she won't bite."

"Hello Nagini," Hermione said, not realising the words had left her lips in a series of hissing sounds.

"How are you doing that?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione in shock. "Where did you learn to speak Parseltongue?"

"She didn't," Voldemort answered. "Salazar Slytherin could speak it, and it was passed down through the family line. I didn't discover I could communicate with snakes until I started to research the chamber. My guess is the ability has lain dormant in Hermione, Severus and Harry because they've never had cause to talk to a snake before."

"Why do you need me then?" Draco asked quietly. "Harry and Hermione can open the chamber, they don't need me. I'll not be any use to them."

"On the contrary, you're going to be invaluable Draco," Voldemort said. "Come here."

Sidestepping the giant snake, who was still sitting in front of Harry and Hermione, Draco made his way over to the Dark Lord. When he reached Voldemort, the older wizard took hold of his hand and ordered him to close his eyes. Draco did as he was told, and seconds later he let out a loud gasp as he felt the Dark Lord entering his mind. In his head, Draco heard Voldemort telling him to relax, and he tried his hardest not to be too panicked. However, it wasn't easy to relax when you could feel someone else's presence in your head. Finally he was relaxed enough so that Voldemort could leave a tiny portion of his own memories inside Draco's head.

"Nagini," Voldemort called as he let go of Draco's hand. "Come and say hello to Draco."

When the snake slithered over to him, Draco was amazed when he clearly understood what the snake was saying to him. With a bit of urging from Voldemort, he tried talking to Nagini himself and Hermione's proud smile told him that he'd spoken Parseltongue.

"How?" He asked, turning back to the Dark Lord.

"I've given you a few of my memories, specifically my memories regarding Parseltongue," Voldemort explained. "I doubt you'll be as fluent as Harry or Hermione, but you should have the basic skills to help them."

"You still haven't explained what exactly we're going to do," Hermione said to her father.

"You're going to open the chamber, and instruct the creature to have some fun. As well as killing, the creature has the ability to petrify its victims, I suggest you start by petrifying a few people and build up to the main event," Voldemort said. "Between the three of you, you can ensure that none of you come under any suspicion. How you work it, is up to you, but enjoy yourselves and have fun."

"And what happens if they threaten to shut the school?" Lucius questioned. "As a governor, I can say that I seriously doubt that the rest of the committee will sit back as attacks are carried out on the students."

"I'm hoping your position as a governor might help us," Voldemort said. "We'll be able to keep abreast of the situation and get a message to the children if they need to end things."

"But we'll still need a scapegoat," Severus pointed out. "Someone will have to take the fall for opening the chamber."

"And the perfect person is just sitting waiting to take the blame," Voldemort replied with a smirk. "Hagrid escaped last time because he was still underage and Dumbledore vouched for him. He won't be able to defend him a second time."

"Blame will automatically fall on Hagrid," Hermione agreed. "Providing that someone other than Dumbledore remembers that he took the blame the last time the chamber was opened. Dumbledore won't hand Hagrid over to the authorities, they'd have to be led to him."

"Leave that to me," Lucius said. "I can make sure attention is shone in the right places when the investigation gets underway."

"So when Hagrid's arrested, we close the chamber?" Hermione checked.

"Let's wait and see," Voldemort replied. "The chamber will need closing before the school is shut down, but we want to do as much damage as possible. We may even be able to get rid of Dumbledore as headmaster before the end of the year."

"And what if anything goes wrong and we struggle to get the chamber opened?" Harry asked.

"Then this might help," Voldemort said. Pulling out a deep blue book from his pocket he handed it to his grandson.

Harry flicked through the book with a frown. "It's empty."

"It's a diary," Voldemort explained. "Specifically, it's my diary from the year I opened the chamber. The diary is one of my Horcruxes, and a teenage version of myself resides in the pages. If you write in the book, my teenage self will be able to reply. It should help you if you get stuck, but if not, you can always write home."

"Should I really take this to school?" Harry frowned. "What if something happens to it?"

"It doesn't matter," Voldemort answered with a shrug. "It's one Horcrux, I have plenty more. Take it, Harry, and if you need it, use it. If need be, destroy it even. Just use it to help you with the chamber."

"Thank you," Harry said, gently holding onto the book. He couldn't wait to use the book to find out more about his grandfather's life at Hogwarts.

"So we're all clear of what's going to happen?" Voldemort checked.

"Yes," The trio chorused together.

"The Chamber of Secrets will be opened, and chaos will ensue," Hermione said with a wicked smirk. "I can't wait to get back to school."

Harry and Draco nodded in agreement with Hermione. It looked like their second year at Hogwarts was going to be just as eventful as their first.