This is a challenge set bysomeone on fictionalley...if you want to readit then it's all here )

http/forums. had writer's block recently and have been trying all sorts...and this seems the most effective. I'll try to update when I can but I'm mostly busy at the moment with work, exams etc. Enjoy!

Salazarin Time

The Horcrux and the Trap

Harry was the only one in Hogwarts that was able to retrieve this Horcrux, after Hermione had worked endlessly to help him work out all the possible places it might be located. He ventured down into the Chamber of Secrets alone, for he knew already of the terrible memories that still lurked in the darkness, both for him and for…Ginny, the other reason he wanted to be on his own. He could not help but remember her helpless little body as she lay there, as cold as the basilisk's scales. There had always been something that drew him towards the chamber and he wondered if it was that same thing that almost led him to being in Slytherin the first day he had entered Hogwarts. The school was almost isolated now, deemed unsafe by the authorities. They don't know what they're doing, Harry thought, Hogwarts is safer than anywhere else… But Dumbledore was gone.

Since that day, Harry had realised something that may seem obvious, but had not been. No one will live forever, not even Sirius or Dumbledore and not even him. He had survived so far but he had to be more careful now that Voldemort's power was gaining even more. The best thing about the realisation was of course that Voldemort too could die. Harry had thought that nobody could kill Dumbledore, but Snape had done it. He could kill Voldemort and Snape. He was drunk with his hatred for both of them and for what they had done…but still in the depths of his muddled thoughts, he could not forget the pensieve containing Snape's memory. He knew that it was no excuse for killing Dumbledore however. It was hardly as though Harry had led an easy life but he had never resorted to killing anyone yet. What troubled him was knowing that he would have to commit murder in order to escape it. He wished he hadn't heard the prophecy sometimes, just so he could live in hope of…he didn't know. Of course Voldemort and the death eaters would not see the error of their evil ways, but it was something that he could have hoped for.

He shut his eyes at first, wondering if he could still remember his way around, despite it having the same horribly slimy walls all around. It was not hard. He kept his hand in his pocket, clasping his wand at the very memory of the basilisk, enhanced by the bones that still carpeted the chamber's floor. He was caught up in a dream, glowing green like the dim lights of the ancient place, questioning whether there would be any traps or anything protecting the Horcrux. Perhaps the only protection it would have had was the basilisk as after all, Voldemort would not have counted on there being any parselmouths there to open the chamber after himself, let alone anyone that would be able to slay such a mighty beast. He remembered Tom Riddle's words those few years ago…that they had probably been the only two parselmouths at Hogwarts since Slytherin himself. Salazar Slytherin, the creator of this terrible and morbid place, buried deep beneath the school.

Now, where would the Horcrux be? Harry followed his instincts, which led him to where he had found Ginny. Perhaps she had been in that spot for a reason. The memory of her was painful now because all he wanted to do was be with her, to hold her close and for her to be safe in his arms. It was impossible. Being near to him was one of the most dangerous places she could be and he knew it. Despite anything she had said, that she would rather be with him and in danger than safe but without her, he could not be selfish when he knew what was best for her. He would rather that she found someone else to be with, if that was what would make her happy, than that she waited for him. He knew he was not invincible. He would do everything in his power to stop Voldemort, but if that was not enough then someone else must finish what had been started. Voldemort would die…eventually.

The stone statue towered over him, being as tall as the chamber itself, its gargoyle-like face staring down at him as he strained his neck to look it in the eyes. He searched it, desperate to find something that wasn't quite right, something that he hadn't noticed the last time he had been here. Or perhaps he was just trying to take his mind off the other thoughts that haunted him. He had been more concerned with Ginny last time to notice anything strange and had no knowledge of what a Horcrux was until his sixth year. Now that he looked closely, there was something a little odd about the statue, or rather near the statue. Between the large, grotesque feet by which Ginny had collapsed was a tile with a carving of a snake, barely visible beneath the slime and dirt that caked the entire floor.

Harry wiped the tile with his sleeve, covering it in slime. He was beyond being disgusted after all that he had seen since his first visit to the chamber as well as everything that followed it. If he could destroy Voldemort he was in fact quite willing to endure any amount of slime. He lifted the tile up to reveal a small grave to what looked like it had once been a marvellous cup, but was now covered in dust. Hufflepuff's cup, Harry thought, remembering the conversation with Dumbledore. How could he destroy it? As the accursed locket had been a fake, he had not needed to think about destroying it and neither did he know what tactics Dumbledore had in mind before he died. He could not force a basilisk fang into it as he had done with the diary. A cup is for drinking out of, but with the terrible image of the potion in the cave he would prefer not to drink out of something left by Voldemort. He would take it back up to Hogwarts to ask Hermione or Slughorn…someone that might know something. He got his wand out ready, just in case there were any Infiri or anything equally unpleasant lurking about and with his other hand he took hold of the cup. There was a churning in his stomach at first, not unlike the sensation that would occur if you were to use a Portkey. He should have known it wouldn't have been that easy, watching the room shift out of focus with a glowing green swirl blurring his vision until he was no longer in the chamber.

When Harry awoke he found himself in bed, in the hospital wing. It looked different and Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen. There was a nastily familiar seething pain in his arm that was merely bandaged. If he hadn't known better he would have said he had been bitten by the basilisk again but that was impossible – he had killed it over four years ago! He saw someone dressed a little like Madam Pomfrey but it was not her. Perhaps she required some help if there were a lot of people injured. He looked around and then noticed that his bed was the only one occupied.

"Excuse me?" he choked, "Erm…what happened? Where's Madam Pomfrey?" The witch gave him a funny look and shook her head, wondering who on earth Madam Pomfrey was.

"You must have lost your memory," she said, shrugging, "Well part of it anyway…perhaps temporarily. You were bitten by Salazar Slytherin's…pet. You were very lucky that it's still young and the venom isn't fatal yet." She said the word pet for lack of a better word to describe it.

"What? It's hundreds of years old…and I killed it four years ago too. That's not possible..." Was he dreaming? That could be so, or he could be going mad. Maybe everyone else was mad and convinced that the basilisk was still around. It had to just be a snake bite.

"I think you will find that you're mistaken," she replied, seemingly as confused as he was, "You were found by Professor Slytherin and he brought you here immediately so that I could treat the wound." She thought it best not to ask who he was or how he came to be in the castle. He seemed unbalanced, at least at the moment. Questions could wait until later. The door opened and the "brave rescuer" himself strolled in. He wore black and dark green robes, which showed off his height and figure. He had eyes like a snake's, cunning and searching, and a sinister smile that showed a lot of shiny white teeth, reminding Harry a little of that silly muggle song about a crocodile.

"Ah, he is awake," he said softly, as though he still did not want to disturb him, "Are you quite well, sir?" Even the way he pronounced the letter "s" sounded snakelike.

"Never been better," Harry replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Even if this was a dream, which it had to be, he did not particularly desire the company of the legendary Salazar Slytherin and that was this man's name if he had gathered his information correctly from the witch at his bedside.

"I certainly am very sorry about that bite. Excitable little snake, I'm afraid, probably just wanting to play. Left you alone as soon as I told it to, mind. You know, they don't know their own strength sometimes-"

"Little?" Harry cocked an eyebrow. Basilisks were huge creatures.

"Well, I don't like to boast," Salazar replied, "Although already the size of a king cobra, there's a lot of growing to do yet! It's just a young thing, as you know the venom hasn't even fully developed, luckily for you."

"Quite," said the witch, "Snakes are Professor Slytherin's passion. It's all he seems to do with his spare time!" Salazar made an extremely pathetic attempt to look modest and failed miserably. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, he doesn't seem too poorly," he said, trying to smile pleasantly at Harry, "Perhaps he should come to my office and we can have a drink." The witch frowned, clearly thinking that inviting a stranger to have a drink with you after he had been bitten by your young pet basilisk was somewhat inappropriate. However, Harry sensed that she did not dare question Slytherin as she motioned to him to get up. Reluctantly he did so and followed Salazar to his office, which he recognised as McGonagall's office.

"Isn't this…erm, Gryffindor's office?" Salazar laughed out loud.

"Of course not," he said as though this should be incredibly obvious to even a muggle. To be honest, Harry did notice that there were some rather large clues such as the numerous pictures of snakes, all slithering and swirling elegantly. For a moment he even thought that there was a certain beauty about them, before thinking back to Nagini or the basilisk.

"So," Salazar continued, "Have a drink." He poured what looked suspiciously like a potion, rather than a regular drink, into a goblet and placed it in front of Harry.

"What's that?"

"A potion," he answered, "Nothing harmful - the taste is quite pleasant in fact. It should help with the shock. Drink up." Harry didn't bother arguing that he didn't need it. Instead he took a quick look and without recognising it as anything dangerous, took a small sip. Nothing happened. Then Salazar began to question him.

"Now, what exactly was it that brought you to Hogwarts?"

"I'm in my seventh year at Hogwarts," Harry said, glad that he was able to have someone to explain things to, even if it was old Slimeball Slytherin, "I was in your Chamber of Secrets looking for a Horcrux."

"My dear boy," Salazar chuckled, "You are not a student at this school, I don't know how in Merlin's name you found that room and there is certainly no Horcrux there."

"Yeah, you might be interested in the Horcrux actually," Harry said fiercely, "As it belongs to your heir!" Salazar's eyes widened at the mention that he could possibly have an heir.

"Ah, the thing is," he told him, "I have no children."

"If only you never did," Harry spat.

"Hmm…the question is not where you are from, but when," Salazar muttered, "You wear a uniform boasting the crest of this school, but it is not the present uniform and you are not a current student. You speak of things that are at present quite impossible. Which year have you arrived from?"

"1997."

"Amazing!" Salazar cried out in glee, as though they should both be incredibly happy about the situation, "Not only that in your day it is possible to travel so far back in time – forgive me, I am used to time turners, which I'm sure are very old fashioned in your time – but that you have arrived here on this very day and that I have met you. You must tell me how you have done it."

"Look, it was an accident. I don't know how I got here – I just picked up the Horcrux and winded up…"

"Oh, then my heir is responsible? He must be a truly great wizard, or is it a witch? Do tell, are they cunning and ambitious?"

"Certainly," Harry said, grinding his teeth, "He's just brilliant. Full of cunning and ambition to murder innocent people." Salazar's excited expression vanished and a mask of darkness came over his face, as though he was disgusted at what he heard. This surprised Harry, after all he had heard about Slytherin.

"My…heir is a murderer?" he asked slowly, and Harry confirmed with a nod, "Why? What goes wrong?" He looked as though he were genuinely in pain and couldn't bear the thought of it. Harry actually didn't know what to say and was unable to offer any sort of answer. For a long while there was silence until Salazar spoke again.

"I don't think we should speak any more of future events, it is not good. However, neither is it good for you to remain here for that very reason. I may be able to find a way to transport you back to the future."

"I thought all you have are time turners," Harry said quietly. Salazar didn't answer but sat in silence, mulling over the problem, desperately trying to find a solution in the depths of his thoughts. There was no way Harry could trust him after only just realising he had given him Veritaserum in his drink, disguised by the sweet cherry flavour. Also the very fact that he was Salazar Slytherin was not particularly encouraging when Harry had heard everything of his reputation. If the Chamber of Secrets had already been built then it could not be long until the infamous argument with Godric Gryffindor would occur, if it had not done so already, and Salazar would leave the castle. When he had appeared to be concerned about Voldemort's killings, though he had been spared of the finer details, Harry had little doubt that he was only pretending to feel any regret. He had already made it plain that he wanted an heir possessing ambition and cunning, in other words, someone exactly like Voldemort. There was no denying that he had those qualities in high amounts…yet his expression of dark concern had looked so unbelievably real. Finally Salazar stood up, knocking the chair over in his hastiness.

"I have an idea!"