Authors Note

About a month ago, over Spring Break, I opened some of the boxes I had opted against taking with me to college and pulled out my slightly worn copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and, on a whim, decided to start reading it again. I spent a good portion of my one and only free week of the semester in the magical world of Harry and his friends as I watched him take the final steps to concluding his epic adventure. The book was as entertaining as it always was and it held true to its reputation of keeping me captivated from page one.

However…

This third or fourth time through the book I noticed, or rather actually gave it more than few seconds of thought, something odd. In Chapter Whatever-It-Is during the battle scene between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters Harry, after looking for them all over the place for about two and a half chapters, reunites with Ron and Hermione and finds their little package of Deus Ex Machina wrapped in a bundle of bloody cloaks. After they've all exchanged pleasantries, Harry asks the two where they have been, and then Ron, almost off-handedly, tells him that they just popped on over to the Chamber of Secrets to get some spare Basilisk fangs to rid themselves of those pesky Horcruxes once and for all.

Okay…time out…

Is it just me, or was that place a hell of a lot harder to get to five books ago?

Since all seven of the books in the Harry Potter series are told through Harry's experiences, anything that happens away from the bespectacled protagonist are left up to audience speculation. A writing technique that, although fosters an extreme sense of loyalty for Harry, leaves a lot of questions open for the other characters in the narrative. I.E. Ron and Hermione.

What happened down there? What did they find? Who did they meet? And, most importantly, how did they get out?

Now, believe you me, I'm not trying to diss the talents of J.K. Rowling or the route she took in concluding what is possibly the greatest epic tale of our generation. Quite the opposite. I just found it odd that the act of returning to a place that was the central subject to an entire book was only given a paragraph or two of attention in the final book.

So…I decided that I would write the accounts of Ron and Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets myself and see what I can come up with. Now, please don't hold me to the standard of Ms. Rowling (and also don't sue me because a majority of the characters I'll be using belong to her and Scholastic) but do try and keep an open mind as you read through it, because I do like myself the occasional review now and again.

Anywho…that's enough of my rambling…I present to you, solely for your entertainment, the missing chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

EnjoyCha

Everhere Everthere

The Chamber Revisited

The feeble and huddled form of Hermione Granger cringed against the side of a stone wall as yet another bright green explosion shook the foundation of her school. She put her hands above her head to shield her from the falling debris and made a small, terrified squeal as a particularly big chunk of rock exploded on impact just a few feet away from her.

When the dust cleared she gave the room she resided in a terrified once over to make sure that the friend who had accompanied her had been as fortunate as she had. It wasn't long before she was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the lanky, red-haired form of Ron Weasley rushed over to her side.

"You okay?" he asked in a voice edged with worry.

She managed a feeble nod before he helped her to her feet. He pulled her close into a warm, reassuring hug and she let herself fall into his arms and let the security of his embrace flood within her.

"We have to find Harry" she spoke into his chest, her voice barely more audible than a whisper. "He needs our help."

Ron squeezed her tighter and gently brought his hand up into her hair.

"What Harry needs is a way to destroy the Horcruxes, and he won't get to that any sooner if we keep following him around like lemmings."

She looked up at him.

"But Ron, what if he's hurt? He needs someone there with him."

Ron released her from his embrace and gripped onto her shoulders, soft enough not to hurt her but stern enough to know that he was serious. He looked into her eyes as he spoke.

"Hermione" he said, "I don't know if you've noticed but Harry Potter has an entire school fighting alongside him tonight. Just about everyone the bloke has ever met is out there, risking their lives, so that he can do what he's been chosen to do. And none of them are sticking to his side asking them to hold their hands and get them out of this mess. And we can't either. We have to help Harry in any way we can, even if that means leaving him on his own."

At this point and time in the series of events that surrounded the final battle between Good on Evil on the grounds of Hogwarts School, it is the opinion of this narrator that, at that exact moment, time itself stood still.

Hermione Granger was at a loss for words.

As she looked up at this boy who had been one of her closest friends for years and whom she had shared countless of death-defying adventures with, she felt as she was looking at him for the first time. The stern look on his face, the imperial arch in his brows, and the deep sense of resolve in his eyes all told her one thing: Gone was the little boy who had constantly whined at her for the past seven years, gone was the boy who had made her feel rejected and unwanted on two separate occasions, and gone was the boy who had been little more than a factory for dramatic tensions and complaints of malnourishment.

Before her now, stood a man. A man who had finally taken full responsibility for himself and others around him and was ready to do whatever it took to help his best friend save the world from evil.

And Hermione had never been in awe of that little red-haired boy than she was now.

She gave him a small, affectionate smile and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, Ronald" she said, "Where do we go from here?"

All at once the confidence and fortitude in his features disappeared and was replaced by a look of embarrassment and a hint of rouge in the cheeks.

"Uh, well…actually, I was kind of hoping you had an idea."

Hermione repressed a sigh and let it die in her throat.

It was good while it lasted, I suppose.

"Well let's start with what we know" she said "we know that the Horcruxes are a very evil and powerful that can only be destroyed by a few things."

Ron nodded.

"Right, but our only option is currently being held captive by Snape, and I don't think he's about to let us have it no matter how nice we ask."

Hermione closed her eyes and urged the wheels in her head to turn faster.

"There has to be something else that can destroy the Horcruxes…no magic is without weakness."

"Yeah, but the trick is finding it, isn't it? Come on, Hermione, think. You've read half of Hogwarts libraries inventory, there's bound to have been something in there that could have helped us."

Hermione pressed her fingers to her head and closed her eyes even tighter, trying, pleading, for an answer to come to her.

But nothing came.

She probed through her memory from Hogwarts: A History and tried in vain to remember useful information from Secrets of the Darkest Art but her intuition, the one thing she prized above all else, was failing her.

Finally, the strain proved to be too much for her and she fell to her knees in stress and despair.

"I'm sorry, Ron!" she sobbed, "But I just can't remember! All I can think of is how a basilisk comes from a toad nesting a chicken egg! Now Voldemort's going to take over the world and it's all my fault! I'm so sorry, Ron, I…"

She stopped her panic attack for a moment when she noticed the look on her friends face. Instead of hopelessness and disappointment, like she had expected, the look on Ron's face was a look Hermione was all too familiar with. It was the look she got every time that little light bulb labeled "Eureka" lit up the confines of her brain like a kilowatt. If she wasn't mistaken, which she never was, then Ron Weasley just had one hell of an idea.

"Hermione…" he said, his face growing bright with the light of realization. "I know what to do."

And then he ran off in the opposite direction before she even had a chance to be proud of him. And as soon as she got her bearings, she was hot on his trail.

"Ron!" she called, "Ron, where are you going!?

He continued on as if he didn't hear her. He was moving so fast that he looked to her like a bright orange blur shooting ahead of her like a comet.

"Ronald…STOP!"

He halted, mid stride, and turned to her.

"What?"

She stumbled to a stop herself and took several deep breaths in order to catch her oxygen.

"Where…exactly…are you…taking us?"

He smiled.

"To the bathroom, of course."

To Be Continued

Ok, I know, I know, this was supposed to be just one chapter in the form of a one shot…BUUUT…I changed my mind and decided to give this all to you guys in sections rather than chapters (although if all goes according to plan this promises to be one hell of a long chapter).

Anywho…As I've said, I am writing this solely for my entertainment and for others, and I hope that those who read will review it and let me know what all they liked about it. Critiquing, be it good or bad, is something I've always appreciated and it really helps move the story forward I think…

So…

Until Next Time,

Everhere Everthere