Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to the queen of literature, J. K. Rowling.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the large kitchen table in Grimmauld Place. Sirius had awoken a few minutes ago and was traipsing down the stairs when he heard the three teens laughing.

"No, come on! Seriously, guys!" Hermione was trying to pull a book away from Ron and Harry, as they tried to pry her fingers off the spine.

"Hermione," Harry began, "you gotta stop reading sometimes!" Ron laughed as they finally managed to tear the book out of her grip. Ron pulled it away and placed it next him on the bench so as to keep Hermione from trying to steal it back. Ron and Harry sat on one side of the table while Hermione sat across from them.

As Sirius walked into the kitchen, they saw him and greeted him.

"Hi, Sirius." Harry grinned at him and Sirius smiled back, sitting down next to Hermione.

"Well, what were you kids talking about?" Sirius asked.

"Well, before Hermione dragged her book out," Harry said, throwing a pointed glance at her, "we were talking about the Triwizard Tournament."

"Yeah, so," began Ron, picking up their conversation where they had left off, "do you still have the scar?" At Ron's question, Harry pulled down his sweater slightly on his left side, so that they would be able to see his shoulder. A smooth patch was on his skin and Ron gasped.

"Wicked," he remarked. Harry grinned at him and then Sirius asked, "Harry, what's that from?" The concern in his voice was obvious to the three students and Harry gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's nothing, Sirius. It's just where I got burned by the Hungarian Horntail." Sirius nodded and then Ron started up again.

"So, what do you think is the scariest creature we've ever seen?" Harry and Hermione both smiled and they looked at each other.

"Well," Harry began, exchanging looks with Hermione, "we know what you're going to say." He chuckled and Ron looked slightly sheepish.

"Aragog," said Harry and Hermione together. Ron groaned and and put his head on the table.

"Just so you know, I still have nightmares about that thing," Ron said, looking serious, and Harry gave him a one armed hug. "And those brain things," Ron added.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I sometimes have nightmares about that boggart." Hermione said, causing Harry and Ron to laugh. "Oh," Hermione added, "and that troll."

Then Harry said, "What was scarier, Hermione? The boggart or the troll?" Harry and Ron grinned at each other. Hermione gave them an ugly look which sent them all, including Sirius, into raucous fits of laughter.

Once they had regained control of their speaking abilities, Hermione replied, "Well, I guess I'd have to say the troll, because, I mean, it was real and the boggart wasn't really real." They all laughed again.

"What about you, Harry?" Hermione looked at him and Harry thought for moment. A look a remembrance appeared on Harry's face as he was thinking. He smiled broadly, looked at the other two, and said, "What about Fluffy?"

"Oh, gosh, how did we forget that?" Hermione gasped.

"I tell you," Ron began, "Hagrid's bonkers. Ugh, the way he cooed and awed over that thing." Ron shivered and Hermione chuckled at him.

"So, Harry, is that the scariest thing you've seen? Fluffy?" Hermione prompted. Harry sighed.

"No, I think I'd have to say the Basilisk." Ron and Hermione gasped and Sirius exploded.

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at him. The three of them had actually forgotten he was there with them, just as they had forgotten a monster one of them had almost died fighting. Sirius looked livid.

"A Basilisk at Hogwarts?" Sirius stared at his godson and Harry stared at his hands on the table.

"Um, yeah," Harry replied sheepishly. "It was in second year," Harry began.

He explained Dobby, the petrifications, the voice he had always been hearing, and the writing on the walls. Once he had reached the Quidditch match, he stopped and grimaced and Sirius noticed.

"What is it, Harry?" Harry sighed and continued, "Well, there was a rogue bludger and it was, like, latched onto me and wouldn't stop chasing me. As I was found the snitch and was about to catch it, it, well . . ." He paused then continued on. "It smashed into my arm and broke it, but I did manage to catch the snitch before I fell off my broom so . . . ." He trailed off as he remembered the pain of a broken arm.

"Well, at least that was it," Sirius said.

"Well, not quite," Ron put in.

"See, the DADA teacher at the time, Professor Lockhart," Ron continued, and Sirius noticed how they all looked disgusted when Ron mentioned the name, "reached him before he got to Madam Pomfrey, and made all the bones in his arm go away." Harry winced and rubbed his arm.

"Merlin's beard, well," Sirius began, "Madam Pomfrey was able to heal it, right?" Sirius hated hearing about his godson being in pain.

"Well, yeah, she was but it was the worst feeling ever." Harry replied, shivering, as if he could rid his mind of the memory.

"Sorry about that, pup." Sirius reached his arm over and ruffled Harry's hair.

"Anyways," Harry continued, smiling at the nickname. He recited the memories of Aragog, Ginny's usage by Voldemort, and the Dueling Club. When he reached the part about his being a Parselmouth, Sirius gasped.

"You're a parselmouth?" Harry nodded and replied, "It was funny at first because I didn't know I was speaking it until Ron and Hermione told me."

After a few moments of silence, thinking about snakes, Lockhart, Quidditch, and every other weird thing that happened that year, Harry decided to conclude the story. He began talking again, taking occasional inputs or corrections from Ron or Hermione, and finally reached the last part. The Chamber of Secrets. He told of saving Ginny, finding out Riddle was Voldemort, fighting him, hiding from the Basilisk, and discovering the sword of Godric Gryffindor. When he reached the part about finally defeating the Basilisk and Riddle, he slowed down.

Sirius noticed Harry's hand drift upwards and land on his arm, right beneath the crook of his elbow, and wondered what that was about. He forced himself to pay attention the story though.

"As I readied to stab the Basilisk, it came down on me," Harry was saying, "and I stabbed it through the roof of its mouth." Ron and Hermione were looking at their hands upon the table, and Sirius wondered why. He soon learned.

"As I stabbed it, one of its fangs got lodged in my arm." Sirius gasped.

"What? Well, how are you - you - alive?" Sirius plagued Harry.

"Remember how I said that Dumbledore's phoenix had brought me the Sorting Hat and then took out the Basilisk's eyes?" Sirius nodded. He was confused for another moment, but then realized what Harry meant.

"Of course." Sirius knew what had happened. "Yeah, Fawkes cried on me," Harry said, rubbing his arm.

"Well, anyways, before Fawkes had healed me, I stabbed the diary and saved Ginny," Ron nudged him, and gave Harry a grateful smile, "Then we went back to the cave-in, got Ron and Lockhart, and then Fawkes flew us out."

Everybody was quiet for about five minutes, then Sirius spoke.

"I'm proud of you, Harry. That can't of been easy, especially when you were 12." He chuckled. "When James and Remus and I were 12, we were pranking everybody and laughing at Snivellus." They all laughed and Harry smiled again.

As Molly walked in and began making breakfast, they all started laughing again. Sirius joined in their last conversation about scary creatures and Remus joined them a few minutes later. Laughing, the trio explained about Fluffy guarding the Sorceror's Stone and the other obstacles.

They all laughed and as the rest of the Weasley's and some Order members joined them for breakfast, the conversation switched to other topics.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were friends. And they could get through anything together. Even retelling the story of Basilisks, petrifications, and broken arms.