Author's Note: Sorry about the fact that this fic has been on hiatus. I was very busy for some time, and then I hit writer's block as I knew how I wanted this fic series to turn out, but didn't know how to exactly write it down in an interesting format. I tried several attempts at this chapter, and ended up metaphorically crumpling up each attempt (since I wrote this on my computer and not on real paper). This is the final result that pleased me, and I hope my readers like this. I will try to update more frequently, but I'm not making any promises.

Dumbledore's removal only lasted for a day before he returned to Hogwarts and resumed headmastership. Draco Malfoy looked extremely sulky, and Sophie explained, "Once Grandmum found out about Dumbledore's removal, she immediately exercised her influence. I don't know the full details, but apparently she blackmailed Mr. Malfoy into backing down, and once that happened, the other governors immediately asked Dumbledore to return. And Grandmother says that Mr. Malfoy will quite likely be sacked as school governor and she'll be offered the position, which she intends to accept this time. Apparently my grandfather was a governor before his death, but Grandmother had turned the position down when offered it then."

Gary looked like a ghost, minus the whole translucent pearly-white appearance. Having his twin being Petrified effected him greatly. He spoke very little, paid hardly any attention in class, only made token attempts at his homework, and just managed to choke down a few bites at mealtimes due to his friend David practically forcing him to eat. His housemates tried to help him, but David was the only one that had any affect, with Gary mainly ignoring everyone else. He didn't even talk to Alexis and her close friends, only allowing David, Luna, and Ginny to have any contact with him. Luna, with her unique way of looking at things, was the only person that could bring him out of his grief briefly and instill hope. Not that David and Ginny didn't try, but their attempts didn't really work, and they only managed to make sure he didn't do anything drastic, like try to get himself Petrified or starve himself to death.

Ernie apologized to Alexis in Herbology class, saying that he should have known that she wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, especially now that one of her best friends was Petrified. Alexis accepted the apology, but Ron didn't look quite so ready to forgive Ernie. Meanwhile, all the restrictions that Professor McGonagall had announced were strictly enforced.

Sophie, who had been on the lookout for spiders, finally found some scurrying away one Transfiguration class. She borrowed Alexis's invisibility cloak, as it was much better than hers, and took Ron and Neville with her. Alexis would have gone also, but Eric flatly refused to have Alexis where she might be in danger. This prompted their first major argument, with Alexis protesting that she was not some damsel-in-distress that needed to be rescued or shielded from unpleasant things. While she did not consider herself a feminist, she was for the equality of both genders, and didn't like women being given special treatment just because they were female. Even pointing out that she had faced Voldemort the previous year did not cause Eric to back down, and the argument only ended with Sophie saying that Eric couldn't come along either and for them to just try to find out what creature might be behind the attacks.

When the three returned, quite frightened and rather disheveled, Alexis and Eric had managed to rule out what creatures couldn't be responsilble for all the attacks. Sophie reported that there was a small colony of acromantula in the Forbidden Forest. Apparently Hagrid had gotten and hatched an acromantula egg back when the Chamber had first been opened. However, the acromantula, named Aragog, had been blamed as causing the attacks. Hagrid had protected Aragog, going so far as to install him in the Forbidden Forest and finding him a mate. While Aragog and his family never harmed Hagrid, they didn't see any reason to do the same with his friends. The only reason Sophie, Neville, and Ron had escaped was due to the fact that they had done the powerful version of the Lumos spell, temporarily blinding the acromantulas.

After some more research in the next couple of weeks, they finally discovered that a basilisk had to be the one responsible for the attacks. As it was a giant snake, it explained why Alexis was the only one to hear the voice, and since none of the victims had looked it directly in the eye, other than Nearly-Headless Nick, who in any case couldn't die again, they had only been Petrified. Alexis and her friends immediately decided to notify Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall about the discovery, but before they could, it was announced that the Daphne Greengrass had fallen victim, this time being brought directly to the chamber. There was another message on a wall, which said simply, "Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever."

With this development, there was no choice but for the school to close. All the students would be sent home on the Hogwarts Express the next morning. Everyone was somber, and due to Daphne being taken, the Gryffindors that previously felt that one of the Slytherins was the culprit now were confused and uncertain. If a Slytherin had been taken, then it was entirely possible that the Heir of Slytherin could actually be in a different house.

Sophie burst into tears, saying. "It's partly my fault! Daphne has been acting funny all year, and we didn't do anything to help her! Okay, we did try, but she wouldn't talk to us. Maybe if I had persisted in finding out what was wrong and helped her, then none of this would have happened!"

Neville proceeded to put an arm around her and did his best to comfort her. Alexis paced the common room for several minutes, then turned to her friends and said, "I'm not going to sit here until we have to leave tomorrow. Something has to be done. I'm not letting Daphne die if there's a chance that I can rescue her. Let's see, the girl who died the last time was found in a bathroom, and it's conceivable that Moaning Myrtle is that person. I'll talk to her and try to get some more information. Then I am going to see if Daphne can be-"

"Absolutely not!" interrupted Eric, eyes wide. "I forbid you from doing anything that will get you in danger, Alexis!"

"Shut up!" snapped Alexis, whose worry about Daphne was causing her temper to fray. "Who do you think you are, Eric? You have absolutely no right to forbid me from doing anything!"

"Well, I'm your boyfriend!" retorted Eric. "I care about you and don't want you getting hurt, Alexis! So that's why I forbid you from-"

"I repeat, you have no right to forbid me to do anything! You do not own me, Eric Amycus Carrow! I am not your house-elf, whom you can order around. If I want to do something potentially dangerous in order to save a friend, I will, and you can't stop me. So shut up or I'll hex you into next century."

"But Alexis! Can't you just let me handle it? I'll go figure out a way to rescue Daphne. Please just stay here where you'll be safe."

At this point, Alexis completely lost her temper. "I am not staying here! I will go rescue Daphne! I'm pretty sure that the ability to speak Parseltongue is needed to open the Chamber, and I'm the only one with the ability to do so. As for you, Eric, you can chose to come with me or not, but I have had it up to here with your overprotectiveness. I am not some damsel-in-distress who needs a knight in shining armor to come through and shield me from harm. As of right now, we are through as girlfriend and boyfriend. We will only be platonic friends now."

Eric hastily backtracked and tried to apologize, but Alexis wouldn't listen. She instead got her Invisibility Cloak, while Sophie got hers. Eric apologized again, and this time Alexis accepted it, but made it clear that they still weren't together at the moment. After making sure that the other Gryffindors were distracted with their own things, the five of them slipped out of the common room under the cloaks, intending to find Lockhart, tell him about the basilisk, and force him to help them in rescuing Daphne.

Author's Note: Alexis and Eric's break-up is only temporary. I have it planned out for them to be together forever. However, since they are only twelve, it would be odd for them to be together ever since Valentine's Day. Therefore, they have split up, and will go out with other people before they realize that they really are meant for each other and that their crush had blossomed into love.