Here you guys go. I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I've been busy, so I haven't had much time for writing. Things are going to get crazier in a few weeks when school starts up again. I'm not abandoning this story, but updates will be more sporadic from now on. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: This is all for my own amusement. I make absolutely no profit from this.

The Heirs of Slytherin

The next morning was tense. The second years dressed in silence, avoiding speaking to one another. Harry entered the common room to see that things were pretty similar with the other students. It wasn't obvious, but Harry had been in Slytherin long enough to see the divide that had formed between housemates. While he wasn't sure who was on which side, the split could only have been caused by everyone's stance on muggleborns and the heir. Harry judged that about half were for, half against.

Harry, Ron, and Nott were joined by Greengrass, Bulstrode, and Davis, while the other second years gathered around Malfoy. It appeared that the lines had been drawn, as everyone remained silent on the way to breakfast.

The rest of the Great Hall whispered, glaring suspiciously at anyone from Slytherin, as if expecting one of them to suddenly declare themselves the heir. Harry and his group sat down, doing their best to ignore the stares.

"So, why did you side with us? I didn't think any of you liked muggles?" Ron asked. Harry paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, curious to know the answer.

Nott shrugged, "Like I said last night, I've been listening to what you've said about muggles. I'm keeping an open mind."

"If I defend muggles, it will drive my parents mad," Greengrass piled more eggs on her plate.

Davis raised an eyebrow, "You're doing this to bug your parents?"

"I don't like them that much, so yes. I'm mostly doing it to bug them. Although I can see how it's better to be on the muggles' side. I've been listening to Harry too, and muggles aren't completely stupid, plus they far outnumber us. Being on their side is just good sense, magic or not."

"I suppose those are valid reasons," Harry said slowly, "How about you Davis, Bulstrode?"

"I'm a half-blood. My mum's a muggle, so I know quite a bit about them." Davis tossed her hair back, glaring at all of them as if daring them to say anything.

"I don't really care, either way," Bulstrode broke the silence, "But the heir really is an awful person, leaving poor Mrs. Norris alone like that. Who's going to take care of her?" Her five companions looked at Bulstrode as if she had grown another head. She blinked languidly, "What?"

Nott shook his head, "Nothing. Come on, we've got to get to class."

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Everywhere a Slytherin went, they were meet with mistrust. It didn't take long to realize that Harry was the number one suspect though. The rumors of him being the next Dark Lord made him the ideal candidate for heir of Slytherin.

"It's so stupid," Davis told him, "You're the Slytherin who has spent the most time advocating for muggles. None of them know it though, because no one will talk to us simply because of our house. And they call us prejudiced."

Harry couldn't help but agree. Sure, half of Slytherin believed the heir had the right idea, but the other half was completely opposed. However, the split was so subtle, that it was impossible to see unless you knew what was going on. Part of that was due to the fact that no one in Slytherin wanted the other houses to know anything was happening. After last year's disastrous quarrel, and the other houses exploitation of it, Harry and Ron were willing to keep up the charade. It simply meant they ignored the members of the other half of the argument when they were in public, and no one looked any closer.

Dudley and Neville were the only people outside Slytherin who didn't believe that Harry was the heir, though neither had ruled out Malfoy. Harry knew Malfoy could be pretentious and bigoted, but petrifying people seemed a bit extreme. He promised Dudley and Neville that he would keep an eye out though.

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Harry, Ron, Neville, and Dudley were running late to dinner, when they passed by the spot where Filch had been found. Harry stopped, curious to look around since he hadn't been able to really see anything on the night in question.

"What are you doing?" Neville asked, causing the other two to stop as well.

Harry shrugged, "Just wanted to see the place. I mean, I should be allowed to know what the scene of the crime looks like, since I committed it and all."

"What difference does it make?" Dudley wondered.

"It probably won't make much of a difference, but there might be something." Harry walked to the middle of the corridor, "Filch was standing right about here."

"Actually, he was facing the other direction," Harry looked at Neville, "Dudley and I were standing near the front of the group, so we could see him pretty well."

"Alright," Harry turned around, "So, would he have been looking at his attacker or facing away?"

"He was looking at the floor."

Ron frowned, "Why would he have been looking at the floor?"

Dudley scrunched up his face, "Wasn't there a bunch of water on the floor?"

"Water?" Harry perked up, "That means Filch was most likely up here to clean it up. That's probably what he was looking at."

"But where would water come from?" Dudley asked.

"There's a bathroom right over there," Ron pointed down the hall, "Though I'm pretty sure it's a girl's' loo."

Harry was distracted by Neville, who was staring intently at the wall, "Did you find something, Neville?"

"I'm not sure if it's important, but it is weird. Have you ever seen spiders act like that?"

Now that he was looking, Harry could see about twenty spiders fighting to get through a large crack next to the topmost windowpane.

"No, I haven't. How about you guys?" Harry directed his question to Dudley and Ron, though the latter was standing as far back as he could, seeming to be fighting the impulse to run, "Ron, are you okay?"

"I-don't-like-spiders," Ron ground out.

"Really? Why not?" Dudley asked, sounding amused.

Ron was staring at the ceiling, away from the spiders, "It's not funny. If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my teddy bear into a spider after I accidentally broke his toy broomstick."

Trying to remain on topic, Harry interrupted, "The spiders aren't telling us anything. As for the girl's bathroom, maybe we can talk Greengrass or Davis into going in for a look. See if there's anything strange in there."

"Hey, what are you four doing here?" Percy was striding over to where the four were standing, "Why are you all hanging out here of all places? Especially when you should be at dinner," Percy frowned as he approached, "Ron, you've already made some bad choices, let's not add to the list, shall we? Move along."

Ron's face went red, "Bad choices? Are you refering to me being in Slytherin, or being friends with Harry? You're just as wretched as the twins."

Percy's face matched Ron's in color, "Five points from Slytherin for speaking to a prefect in such a disrespectful manner."

"Yeah, because all that matters is your reputation so you can be head boy. Must put a real damper on your standing, having a brother in Slytherin. I guess you'll just have to live with the shame. Come on, we don't have to stand here and be insulted," Ron spun on his heel, walking away, head held high.

"That's another five points from Slytherin. You need to remember your manners," Percy called after them. Ron marched on grumbling some unfavorable things under his breath.

"That seemed pretty unfair, acting like you were doing something wrong when you weren't doing anything," Neville said. It was the first time Neville had been present for a confrontation between Ron and one of his brothers.

"Well that's what happens when you wind up in Slytherin. Everything you do is suddenly a bad choice," Ron snapped.

"He's a prat," Harry reassured, "There's nothing we can do to change that."

They arrived at the Great Hall, each duo heading off to their table. Harry sat down next to Greengrass. Ron was still in a foul mood after the encounter with his brother, so Harry decided to discuss their findings with Greengrass, "We were checking out the area where the heir left the message. We were with Dudley and Neville. They said there was water on the ground the night Filch was petrified, and that he was staring at the water. The most likely place for the water to come from was a nearby bathroom, but it's a girl's loo, so I was wondering if you might look around. See if anything looks out of place."

"Hm, I doubt there's anything there. That bathroom belongs to Moaning Myrtle."

"Who?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows.

"Moaning Myrtle. She's the ghost who haunts the bathroom you're talking about. She most likely flooded it. It's not that unusual."

"Well, perhaps, you could talk to her? Maybe she saw something."

A disgusted look flashed across Greengrass's face, "No. Myrtle is annoying. All she does is wail. You could go talk to her if you want. All the girls avoid that bathroom, so you wouldn't have to worry about anyone being in there."

The thought of speaking to such an unpleasant ghost didn't sound appealing, "I'll do that if we need more information, but I think we're fine right now. Thanks."

"Your welcome."

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It was a week after Filch's petrification, and Harry, Ron, Greengrass, Bulstrode, Nott, and Davis were lounging by the lake, trying to escape the oppressive atmosphere of the school. Ron and Greengrass were playing a game of chess, Davis was weaving grass into a bracelet, while Harry, Nott, and Bulstrode were merely soaking up the sun's rays.

"I still can't believe our house is the only one who could possibly have suspects in this entire school," Davis said, barely glancing up from her task.

"Of course we are. We're the only ones who aren't mindless idiots, and therefore, the only ones capable of finding and opening the Chamber," Greengrass rolled her eyes, "You really think someone from Hufflepuff could do it?"

"They are supposed to be great finders," Nott shrugged.

"Right. And once they find it, the monster will eat them," Greengrass countered, "They certainly couldn't figure out how to control the beast."

"I'm just sick of being thought of in such a bad light, especially when I haven't even done anything," Harry said.

"That's life in Slytherin," Nott replied.

"Yes," Davis agreed, taking on an ominus tone, "All Slytherins can do is lie, cheat, and murder. Nothing good can come from being a snake, for darkness surrounds us."

Ron snorted, "That's what my brothers think. I'm their family and they're struggling to accept that I'm not going to suddenly sprout fangs and become a dark wizard who eats little children for breakfast. The whole thing is ridiculous."

"Snakes are not as horrible as the simpletons in the other house believe," Greengrass pulled a snake from her bag. It was about four feet in length, and brown. Greengrass cuddled the snake, "Isn't that right, Henrietta? You're truly lovely, even if some can't see that."

Ron raised his eyebrow, "You're cuddling with a snake? Seriously?"

Greengrass scowled, "Just because you aren't cuddly doesn't mean a snake can't be. Isn't that right my darling?" Greengrass cooed before returning her glare to Ron.

Ron held his hands up, "Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"She is a beauty. Can I hold her?" Bulstrode asked.

"Sure," Greengrass handed Henrietta over.

Bulstrode smiled and squealed, causing Henrietta to squirm and hiss, "Quiet, silly human. I might bite you for disturbing me so."

Harry was surprised that the snake could speak, but he supposed there were some animals who could talk in the magical world,"You should be nicer. She did say you're pretty."

"I suppose I could allow it this once," Henrietta settled down, "but tell her I do not appreciate her noises."

Harry sat back, satisfied, only to notice that everyone was staring at him with stunned expressions, "What?"

Ron recovered first, "You didn't tell me you're a parselmouth."

"A what?"

"A parselmouth," Nott explained, "is someone who can speak to snakes."

Harry frowned, "Couldn't you all understand her? I mean, she must be a talking snake."

Greengrass shook her head, "Henrietta is a normal corn snake. She can't say anything."

"But I heard her, and she understood me. She was speaking in english."

"You were hissing, Potter, using snake language. None of us could understand what you were saying," Davis said.

"Oh," Harry wasn't sure what to say to that.

"We can't let anyone find out about this," Nott suddenly said.

"What, why?" Harry didn't understand why it was such a big deal.

"Because Slytherin himself was a parselmouth. It's why his symbol is a snake," Greengrass informed, "If anyone from another house knew you were a parselmouth, it would give them even more reason to think you're the heir of Slytherin."

"So we'll keep it between the six of us?" Davis asked.

"I think it's best for the time being," Nott said, "Parselmouths are often associated with dark wizards. I mean You-Know-Who was one as well."

"Fantastic," Harry replied, "One more reason for everyone to lump me in with a murderous psychopath." Despite his words, Harry was uneasy at being compared to Voldemort once again. Harry couldn't help but notice that he had quite a few similarities to Voldemort, being Slytherin and Parselmouth chief among them. Harry couldn't let thoughts like that get him down. People were being ridiculous, believing he would wind up as the next dark wizard, weren't they?

"That's why we said we should keep it quiet," Greengrass interrupted his thoughts.

Harry nodded, "Sure. It makes sense." The conversation switched to a different topic, and Harry did his best to ignore his troubled thoughts.

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