Disclaimer: Don't own, etc.

AN: Well, this is it folks, we're finally gonna figure out what Hermione has been hiding in this chapter. However, I feel the need to reiterate due to an anonymous guest reviewer that this is an AU, don't like, don't read.

Chapter 19

Hogwarts Library, 3 weeks later

It had been a rough first 2 weeks for everyone, between Lockhart continuing to try and get Emily alone when Harry wasn't around, only to have the poltergeist Peeves mess with him in brutal ways, to the headmaster trying (and failing) to keep everyone calm due to the situation. This was due to the students seeing the message on their way back to the common rooms.

'I'm starting to think that Dumbass is losing it. Why would he make Filch clean that wall when he could've vanished it? Could it be that he wants the students to panic, and if so, is it to increase his failing reputation from all his screw ups when he 'solves' it?' thought Harry. It was getting hard for Harry to not start seeing Dumbledore as a Dark Lord hiding behind the Light.

The last week, however, was more upbeat and jovial….for the students, and Harry would proudly say that he was the one that started it all. The best part was, all it took was one panicked greaseball running into the great hall after witnessing what he saw as the first sign of the apocalypse, and a guest appearance by the suits of armor around Hogwarts.

Flashback

All was calm in the great hall at the moment, a stark contrast to what the last 2 weeks have been like. Students were calmly eating dinner, talking to friends, interacting with different houses, bar Slytherin due to the ever increasing bias after the message on the wall, some were even discussing who the heir might be.

At the head table, the professors were glancing at the students in worry. They knew that if what that message said was true, Hogwarts may not have very long left. The only professor that was currently missing was one Severus Snape.

After another few minutes, said greaseball ran into the great hall in panic. He was paler than usual and had a look that screamed 'It's the end of the world'.

"Severus, whatever is the matter that brought you here is such a state?" asked Dumbledore. He was genuinely curious, as the only ones he knew of that could cause Severus this much stress was currently Harry Potter and the Weasley twins.

"I just saw Potter and the Weasley twins in the second floor corridor….they were discussing how to start pranking James Potter!" yelled Snape. Snape was so panicked right now that he didn't even care that he mentioned James without sneering at him. James, however, just smirked.

"Oh, so they think they're gonna prank an original marauder….I guess I'll have to show them not to underestimate me just because I'm a professor." smirked James. The entire staff table grew nervous at this. It's common knowledge that the small prank war between the Potter boy and Weasley twins was near chaotic, but throw James Potter in the mix, it would be actual chaos. Though unknown to them, it was about to get worse.

"That's not all, when I was passing by, the Potter boy was shaking hands….with PEEVES!" yelled Snape in uncontrolled panic. This caused the entire hall to go dead quiet and the staff to go so pale that they looked like ghosts themselves.

"Oh, fuck me thrice and call me Morgana." said James as his eyes widened in realization. He and the other Marauders were the only ones who ever managed to prank Peeves and the poltergeist never got over it. If Harry managed to get Peeves on board, James knew he would be lucky to still be human after this was over. However, James was also one stubborn son of a bitch, if he was going down, he would go down fighting.

Almost instantly after James made that comment, the suits of armor from around Hogwarts entered the great hall. However, instead of looking like regular armor, each suit was painted to look like one of the merry men from the comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights, the armor lining up in front of the staff table with enough room for two more. It wasn't long before James felt a strange tingle down his spine before he suddenly appeared in front of the staff table in full 'Men in Tights' garb, with Snape appearing next to him. The only difference is James looked shocked, and Snape looked murderous.

It was at this moment that Harry, the Weasley twins and Peeves entered the great hall. One of the house ghosts, the Bloody Baron looked furious to see Peeves in the great hall and began angrily floating towards the four pranksters, when Harry pulled out his wand and waved it at the angry house ghost. The baron suddenly disappeared, causing the students to gasp, before he appeared again near James and Snape, causing uproarious laughter from everyone, bar Snape, including most Slytherin's.

Why were they laughing? Well, somehow Harry had managed to get the baron to look just like maid marian, with said ghost beginning to turn a darker shade of grey, showing his rage. The Weasley twins began laughing uncontrollably as well while heading to the Gryffindor table. Harry, on the other hand, just smirked devilishly.

"Oh, look at that, it's a kodak moment. Oh, Baron and Snape, don't you look absolutely wonderful." said Harry in an over the top happily emotional voice. This brought more laughter, wondering where Harry was going with this. Dumbledore stood from his seat, he would've tried to read the Potter boys mind, but he had tried that when he first arrived, but was met with a extremely pale man in a purple suit with green hair, red lips and a creepy smile permanently plastered on his face….his laugh made his spin shiver as well. Dumbledore vowed to NEVER enter the boy's mind again.

"Mr. Potter, I must ask what the meaning of this is, and why Peeves is here?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, in this order. First, I have this nasty habit of jinxing myself each year and wanted revenge on the one I got that trait from. Secondly, Peeves wanted to be here because part of our deal was that I would prank the Bloody Baron as well and he wanted to make sure I held up that part of the deal." smirked Harry.

The only thing Harry could never, and probably would never get out of Peeves was why there was such bad blood (no pun intended) between him and the Baron. Whatever it was, Harry decided that this was the only time he would get in the middle of it.

"I told you that particular quirk of yours would come back to bite you in the ass one day, James." smirked Lily, knowing right away who Harry was talking about.

"What do you expect to gain from this, boy?" snarled Snape.

"Far be it from me to agree with the grease ball, I'm curious as well, Harry. Also, what's with the outfits?" asked James. Harry just smirked again, causing Snape, James and the Baron to shudder, James especially. It was the same smirk he got when he was gonna prank someone big time.

"Oh come on. I get that tall, dark and has a major stick up his ass wouldn't get it, but professor Potter, I'm surprised you don't understand that this is for laughs, and payback for that damn precog jinx I seem to have inherited. As for the outfits, don't you know the old saying….'you gotta be a man to wear tights'." said Harry before music began playing, a common occurrence since Harry started Hogwarts.

(play 'Men in Tights' from Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights (For reference to the whole bit, just look up the video, that movie was hilarious))

We're Men, We're Men in Tights

We Roam Around the Forest Looking for Fights

James, Snape, the Baron and the armor started doing the cliched manly 'walk to the left and right' dance before looking to each other and raising their fists, except a single suit of armor between Snape and the Baron, who took a wild swing, causing Snape to duck.

We're Men, We're Men in Tights

We Rob from the Rich and Give to the Poor, THAT'S RIGHT!

The 'troupe' raised their right arms, curved at the elbow with their index fingers raised, palm facing them.

We May Look Like Sissies,

But Watch What You Say Or Else We'll Put Out Your Lights

We're Men, We're Men in Tights

Always on Guard Defending the Peoples Rights

James leaned against a strangely solid Baron back to back, each with their arms crossed, while Snape did the same with the armor, before they pointed to the entire great hall and threw their right fists in the air. However, the armor instead punched Snape in the head, causing uproarious laughter, even McGonagall was red-faced trying to remain stoic and impartial.

The 'troupe' suddenly stood in line and started doing the can-can. This lasted for a few seconds.

We're Men (Manly Men), We're Men in Tights (Yesss)

The 'troupe' went back to their original formations on a single knee and flexing and standing back up. Harry knew the rest of the dance was similar, but he was waiting for the end, he knew the pranks addition for Snape and Baron would break even the most stone faced individual.

We Roam Around the Forest Looking for Fights

We're Men, We're Men in Tights

We Rob from the Rich and Give to the Poor, That's Right!

We May Look Like Pansies

But Don't Give Us Scorn or else We'll Put Out Your Lights

We're Men, We're Men in Tights (Tight Tights)

Always on Guard Defending the Peoples Rights

When You're in a Fix just call for the Men in Tights!

(We're Butch)

Snape ended up doing a twirl and dip with the Baron and ended the musical number as if he was going to end it in a romantic moment with the Baron, which made Snape and Baron look murderously at Harry with their eyes as they, James and the armor were frozen in a ending posed. James and the armor flexing their arms in a 'macho/butch' pose.

The entire great hall, bar Dumbledore and the pureblood fanatic members of Slytherin were now in hysterics and applauding the groups 'unwilling' performance. The group was soon able to move again with the Baron disappearing instantly while Snape ran out of the hall screaming about getting revenge….after a calming draught and obliviating the memory of today from his mind.

McGonagall stood from her seat before calmly walking out of the hall. However, the door had barely closed before she doubled over laughing. Not because of Snape, as she truly despised the way that man taught, but at what happened to the Baron, her least favorite ghost and James Potter. She may have seen James as a promising student and a son in school, but he was also the pranking bane of her existence, regardless of his prodigal talents in transfiguration.

Harry looked towards Fred and George, smirking, before holding out his hand expectantly. The twins scowled good naturedly before placing a bag of galleons each in his waiting hand. They had made a bet for this prank, Fred and George saying that McGonagall laughing last year was a one time thing. Harry had bet them both G50 each that he could make her laugh again. Needless to say, they lost.

James walked back to the staff table, the armor having vanished back to their places around the castle. Once he was back in his seat, he looked to his right and saw Lily trying (failing) to hide her laughter. James looked back at Harry, seeing him receive two bags of galleons from Fred and George. A mischievous smirk came to James' face.

"Harry, you've just declared war my friend." smirked James.

Flashback End

That was the start of a long week for the professor's, and a great week of no worries for the students. The prank war had continued all week and only ended this morning before Harry went to the library.

The day after Harry had pulled that prank in the great hall, he woke up with antlers, no shirt and had a higher voice. Harry wondered how James got into the Ravenclaw dorms, but he suspected Flitwick may have gone 'temporary turncoat', the half-goblin professor had a jokester side to it seems. He did get a compliment from Luna about this look, saying that it made him look like a majestic 'Oberonean'. Luna explained that this was a type of fae with animal features that lived in an unseen world. Many Ravenclaw's glared at Luna for this, thinking her quite odd, but Harry found her dream-like expression and belief in the 'wizarding unknown' quite cute.

That prank, however, led to James spending the entirety of the day after acting like the typical Igor from monster movies, complete with tattered clothes, raspy voice, walking with a slight limp and a hunched back.

The war was almost entirely even. Sometimes James woke up as a different film character or animal. One time when he was just out and about in his animagus form of a stag, his fur turned pure while with multi-colored polkadots. He had changed back and went back to the school, but people were still laughing, which confused him. Heading to his quarters and finding a mirror, he let out a girlish shriek that was heard throughout the castle. It turned out, not only was he polka dotted as a human, but he was bald and had the words 'Slytherin's advertise here' on his forehead.

The payback for that one came yesterday, when James cast an 'allure' spell on Harry. Harry had spent the entire day running from a mob of girls from all years. He was happy that he did physical exercise everyday in Romania, or else he would've been winded after only five minutes of running. He was running for well over 3 hours before the spell wore off and he collapsed in the Ravenclaw common room. He may have had great stamina and endurance, but he had run a full 45 minutes longer than his current record, so he was spent.

This morning brought an official end to the war. Harry still remembered hearing James yelling 'Uncle' while running from a stampede of transfigured animals. Harry's thought process was, 'if I get chased by wild girls, you get chased by wild animals'. He had enlisted Fred and George to help with that one as Harry wasn't at that level yet. He could do one or two animals at a time, but not a whole stampede yet.

Harry was currently in the library reading up on that allure spell that James used on him. Apparently the only ones it didn't affect were immediate family (cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, etc.) and those who had genuine feelings for the affected. That did explain why Emily wasn't affected, but not Hermione or Luna. They weren't immediate family and they didn't have genuine feelings towards him….as far as he knew anyway.

Casting a quick tempest, Harry packed up his stuff and started heading towards the great hall for the dueling club that was announced on the common room notice board for all four houses. If he was honest with himself, Harry was looking forward to this club. Harry had wanted to try his hand at dueling. He had read books on offensive spells and had been itching to try them. The non-deadly ones at least, he would save the more lethal ones for an actual life-or-death fight.

Arriving at the doors of the great hall, Harry saw the rest of his circle of friends waiting outside the door for him.

"Hey Harry, what took ya so long, we were just about ready to go in without ya." said Neville.

"I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up. Thought you would think it was a waste of time." smirked Emily.

"Pft, yeah right. The shit I go through with Steve every summer, I need this more than Malfoy needs a surplus of hair care products." said Harry, causing the group to chuckle. The group started heading into the hall, noticing that the tables were gone and a large dueling stage was set up.

"So, who do you think will be leading this club?" asked Hannah.

"Oh, I hope it's Professor Flitwick. Aunt Amelia told me that he's a retired dueling champion. If you believe the rumors, he's never even been hit in a match, but that's probably exaggerated." said Susan.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. Given his smaller stature and greater maneuverability, it is possible for Professor Flitwick to avoid any spell sent at him." said Hermione. Though she left out her possible reference to Yoda from Star Wars, since 3 out of 6 in their group probably didn't know about that movie. It wasn't anything personal, she just went with the fact that Neville didn't know what a knock knock joke was, and Hannah and Susan asked where Harry got the idea for his first prank against James the other day.

The group waited for a good 10 minutes more while the rest of those interested in the dueling club showed up.

"Alright everyone, gather 'round." said Lockhart as he came into the room and got up on the platform.

"Oh, Merlin, Mordred and Morgana….why did it have to be him?" asked an exasperated Harry. The others groaned as well, now dreading this club.

"Due to recent events, the headmaster has decided to start this little dueling club in order to teach students to defend themselves. But I don't expect you to learn by listening to me drag on about proper techniques and some of my more famous examples." said Lockhart with his typical 'secret pedo' smile.

"I bet ya anything that the only thing this guy has dueled is an old lady for cheap discounted robes." whispered Emily, bringing quiet laughter from the group.

"I believe a true demonstration is in order. I call on my assistant, Professor Snape to help with this demo. Don't worry though, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through." smirked Lockhart. This brought gasps from the few Slytherins in the room at the time.

"Ok, I hate the asshole, but even I know that Flophart just made one of the worst mistakes of his life right now." whispered Harry. The others agreed with him hands down.

Lockhart and Snape both went to the middle of the platform before presenting their wands and bowing in respect for each other (yeah right). They both walked to opposite ends of the platform before turning back to each other and taking their preferred dueling stances.

"1….2….3!" said Lockhart, ready to fire a spell before Snape beat him to it.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Snape. Due to the strength Snape put behind the spell, an orange cone of light shot from his wand, striking Lockhart in the chest and sending him to the ground. This brought applause from all of the students in the hall, including Harry, but he wasn't going to let Snape get used to his respect. Lockhart slowly got to his feet, apparently along with being a pretty boy fraud, he couldn't take a hit either.

"Bravo Snape, bravo. Though, it was pretty obvious what you were going to do….I was just being a good sport by giving you a chance to…." started Lockhart before he was interrupted.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to teach students how to block unfriendly spells." snarked Snape.

"Ah, yes. Quite right. Now, let's have some volunteers….uh, Mr. Potter, Weasley, why don't you join us?" asked Lockhart. Lockhart was there when Weasley broke his wand during the pixie fiasco and was hoping that the unstable spells would injure the Potter boy enough that he could maneuver around Emily Potter's parents and finally claim 'his prize'. Good luck with that Flophart.

"Weasley's wand causes chaos with the simplest spells. We will be sending what's left of Mr. Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Maybe, someone from my own house….Malfoy, perhaps?" asked Snape sarcastically. Snape pointed to Malfoy and gestured to the platform.

Malfoy and Harry walked to the center of the platform and presented their wands.

"Scared Potter?" snarked Malfoy.

"Dude, I've stared down nesting mother dragons, live with four dragoness' that can glare so intimidatingly that it could kill a gorgon, have a guardian who wiped out the last 13 members of your French line and fought a troll in hand-to-hand combat and won….so, do you think I should be scared?" asked Harry with a smirk. Draco Malfoy grew red at being reminded that their fortune dropped because of Potter's guardian, losing half of what remained for 'breach of contract' from the duel he skipped out on was just salt on the wound.

Draco and Harry both walked to their ends of the platform without bowing to one another, due to Malfoy not respecting anyone who wasn't a pureblood supremacist and Harry refusing to bow because Malfoy had no honor. After taking their preferred stances, Harry noticed Snape whisper something in Malfoy's ear, causing said weasel to smirk.

Lockhart began the duel and Malfoy started by firing a knockback jinx at Harry, who dodged at the last second, having honed his dodging ability through pranking Steve and avoiding the dragon's fire….he had to do that one a lot.

Harry then fired an overpowered tripping hex at Malfoy that struck his right leg, causing him to forcefully front-flip through the air, landing on his back. Snape stormed over and forced Malfoy to his feet. Once Malfoy got his bearings, he pointed his wand at Harry with his eyes narrowed.

"SERPENSORTIA!" yelled Malfoy as an egyptian asp shot out of his wand. Gasps of fear filled the room as these types of asps were extremely poisonous. The snake began slowly making its way towards Harry. However, to Malfoy's shock, Harry wasn't afraid in the slightest. Harry shocked the rest of the room when he walked closer to the snake and knelt down towards it and smiled. More shocked gasps filled the room when Harry started hissing.

"Hey there little one, I'm sorry you got pulled here from your home. It's just some idiot who can't fight his own battles." said Harry.

"I accept your apology, speaker. But, can you send me home….it's too cold for me here." sniffed the snake. The tone of voice and the slight high pitch showed it was a young female snake, which made it even more cruel what Malfoy did. A snake that young from an extremely warm climate wouldn't last in Scottish weather.

"Of course, young one. Don't worry, this won't hurt….okay?" asked Harry. The snake nodded before Harry pointed his wand at the young snake, casting 'Vipera Evanesca' at her, causing her to vanish back to her home.

Harry looked around the room and saw many students staring at him in fear. Harry facepalmed, remembering that the ministry of idiots had labeled parseltongue as dark. Harry knew he had to bite this in the butt now or it would cause problems later, especially since he knew Dumbass-dore would be looking for a reason to vilify him.

"Hey, before you go labeling me as dark, I feel the need to remind you that I spoke to pixies in their language." said Harry.

"But, only you-know-who and Salazar Slytherin spoke parseltongue, and both of them were notorious dark wizards." said one Hufflepuff named Justin.

"So what? Everyone is entitled to their own views, except Moldywart. That guy is just batshit crazy. But there have been dark wizards who fought for justice and light wizards who fought for their own personal gain. I would love to see you guys walk around India and the middle east while saying parseltongue is a dark and evil language, it's actually extremely common there." said Harry. Most students, including a few Slytherins were actually intrigued by this info, and would undoubtedly be researching this later. However, the most die hard Dumbledore supporters refused to believe that. It would take a major kick in the ass to open their eyes.

Noticing the new tense environment, Lockhart decided to do the first smart thing in his life.

"Alright, I think that's enough for tonight. Everyone head back to your dormitories and have a good night's sleep." said Lockhart. The students started filing out and heading to their respective dorms, but Harry's friends needed a more concrete answer.

"Harry, we need you to be honest with us, how long have you been able to speak parseltongue?" asked Hermione.

"Pretty much my whole life, but honestly, I can speak to pixies, cerberus, trolls and merfolk, did you honestly think I wouldn't be able to speak to snakes?" asked Harry rhetorically. The others actually looked dumbfounded at that, realizing that they briefly forgot about Harry's uncanny ability to speak to and understand other creatures.

"Okay Harry, we'll give you the benefit of the doubt, we'll talk more about this later." said Emily as she, Neville and Hermione started making their way towards the Gryffindor tower, Susan and Hannah heading towards their own dorms.

"Ok, see ya tomorrow guys." called Harry. He knew that this would be a long discussion, but he could tell by the looks in their eyes, and subtly using his unicorn magic that they believed him and weren't at all freaked out.

'Five down, an entire school to go.' thought Harry.

One Month Later

The conversation with the others had actually gone better than expected, though James and Lily were there too, just to ease their worries. Harry wasn't at the point of calling them family yet, but the time over christmas last year and the prank war last month, Harry could say that he was having fun when around them. It was relatively slow going between him, James and Lily, but being friends with Emily was helping that a bit.

Harry had noticed many students searching the library on the history of parseltongue, but strangely there were no books on the subject other than those 'approved' by the man who held the position of supreme mugwump and chief warlock when they were published, Dumbledore. The books spouted the propaganda that parseltongue was the most evil of languages and was only spoken by truly dark wizards.

What made it odd was that madam Pince, the librarian, knew that there should be books about magic around the world, but they kept mysteriously vanishing each year. Each time, the missing books and tomes were replaced with the 'true' subjects.

Harry was glad that many of those students were now sending owl mail to get copies of the missing books. He had a feeling that Snape told Dumbledore about the failed dueling club and him speaking Parsel and the old goat was trying to use that knowledge to discredit him. Luckily, only the die hard supporters of said idiot believed him.

It was a week after his discussion with his friends and the senior Potter's when Emily, Hermione and Neville approached him about sneaking into the Slytherin common room to try and find info about the heir of Slytherin. Harry was always a sucker for impossible challenges, so he was in almost immediately. His one question, however, was how they were gonna do it.

It was Hermione who suggested the Polyjuice Potion and Harry couldn't help but smirk. Ordering the ingredients would take too long, which left swiping the ingredients from Snape, and Harry was all for sticking it to that guy. Swiping the items they needed was easy, waiting for a month for the potion to brew was the pain. Harry vowed to do everything in his power to try and find a quicker way to brew the damn potion.

Speaking of the Polyjuice Potion, however, Harry was now heading to the bathroom they were using to hide their brewing, it was the day they would finally finish it and that night was the infiltration mission. Upon entering the bathroom, the first thing Harry saw was Hermione knelt next to the cauldron with Neville and Emily. They had tried to recruit Susan and Hannah, but the two didn't want to press their luck. Harry understood completely, both were Hufflepuff's and loyal to their friends, but knew when not to push their luck when it counted.

Harry then heard a splash of water and smiled. He had spoken to this ghost a few times this year. She may seem moody most of the time, but she was really a kind individual when you actually took the time to know her, and she was instrumental to preventing people from entering this bathroom and finding the potion. The fact that she was a Ravenclaw helped to.

"Hey Myrtle, I trust you have been doing well, all things considered?" asked Harry.

"Oh yes, quite well Harry. Also, I want to thank you for having that nice first year Ravenclaw come and visit me as well, she is quite friendly." said Myrtle.

"No problem, Myrtle. I'm just glad that me and Luna could help you smile again." smiled Harry. Myrtle smiled back at Harry before heading back to the stall she came from, knowing he would be back again just to talk when he had time. Harry then turned back to the other three.

"So, the potion is ready then Hermione?" asked Harry.

"Yup, the only thing we need now is the hair." said Hermione. Emily and Hermione had already got the hair of their disguises and hid the actual individuals in an unused classroom.

"Me and Harry still have to get ours." said Neville before he saw Harry smirk and hold up a single strand of hair in each hand.

"No need, already got them, and both neanderthals are hidden in a broom closet on the 7th floor." smirked Harry, causing laughter.

A few hours later

It was about an hour before curfew, but the group was finally ready to begin their plan.

"Ok guys, you each have your potion, just add the hair. It should only take a few seconds to take effect." said Hermione. The others nodded before doing as instructed. Harry added Goyle's hair to his potion. Neville added Crabbe's. Emily added Parkinson's and Hermione added hair she got from Bulstrodes robes. The four then drank their potions and began to wait.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." grunted Neville as he ran towards a stall.

"Me too." choked Hermione as she ran into another. Harry's skin started to feel tingly, so he walked to the mirror at the sink as he started to change. It wasn't even five seconds later that Harry's face was replaced with Goyle's. Harry looked towards Emily and saw her form had just finished changing into Pansy Parkinson.

"Am I the only one who feels like they'll need a cold shower after this?" asked Emily.

"Nope, I might even need to use steel wool as well." said Harry. Hearing a stall open, Harry and Emily turned and saw Neville as Crabbe came out.

"Well, we only have an hour in these forms, we best get going." said Harry as he walked over to the stall that Hermione was in.

"Hey Hermione, you coming?" asked Harry.

"Uh, I don't think I'm going….just go on without me." said Hermione. Though it sounded like she was afraid of something as her voice cracked slightly and it sounded like she was about to cry. Emily had a theory of what happened and decided to redirect Harry's attention.

"Harry, Let's just go, we can come back for Hermione afterwards." said Emily, hoping Harry wouldn't suspect anything. Harry was slightly suspicious, but since they were on a time limit, he would let it go….for now.

"Ok, just hold tight here Hermione, we'll be back." said Harry. Hearing a quiet 'okay' from the stall, the trio took off down to the dungeons. When they arrived 10 minutes later, Neville and Emily realized that they didn't know the password to get into the dorms, until Harry spoke.

"Blood above all." said Harry as the door swung open. The other two looked at Harry in shock. Harry just turned to them and smirked.

"Not that hard to find out when it's the seventh year prefects who change the password each week, and one happens to be an idiot and not check his surroundings." smiled Harry as he entered the Slytherin common room, followed by Emily and Neville.

They began looking around and listening to the students, hoping for some clue as to who the heir was. It was during this search that they saw Malfoy gloating to some fellow year mates.

"I can't believe that some of this school are so stupid as to believe Dumbledore that Potter is the heir. He disgraced this house's founder by speaking his sacred language. All it was was a mockery of purebloods." snarled one of the students.

"I know, how a pathetic half-blood like him has such a skill, I have no idea, he shouldn't even be worthy….Hey Malfoy, your two bookends and that clingy Parkinson still out there trying to get dirt on Potter?" asked the second student. Realizing that they would have to get involved, the trio walked over, being noticed by Malfoy.

"There you three are. Well, what news do ya have?" demanded Malfoy.

"Nothing much other than the old fool's supporters believe Potter opened the chamber because he speaks parsel." said Neville/Crabbe.

"Damn it, we need dirt on Potter before my father can go after him for costing us half our fortune and for what that fucking mudblood did to our French branch." snarled Malfoy.

"You seem to be really focused on this, are you sure it's not Potter doing this?" asked Emily/Parkinson.

"I knew you weren't smart Parkinson, but even you can't be that stupid. Potter hangs around blood traitors and mudbloods. Even Snape can see Potter isn't the perp, it doesn't mean he will speak in that bastard's defence though." said Malfoy.

"So who do you think is causing this then?" asked Harry/Goyle.

"No idea. But my father told me a little. He said the last time the chamber was opened, a mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed. As for me, I hope it's Granger." smirked Malfoy with a brief laugh.

Hearing enough of this, Harry gestured to the other two to leave inconspicuously. As they were leaving, Harry cast a small spell that would take effect every time Malfoy used the word 'mudblood'. It was the most he could do to not get caught right away and he didn't want to kill him….yet.

It took them less than three minutes to reach the bathroom again due to them running. Upon entering the bathroom, they noticed Hermione was still in the stall, causing all of them to walk over.

"Hermione, we're back, you can come out now." said Neville.

"Go away." said Hermione. Though her slightly weak voice showed that she had been crying, and the slight sniffles told them that she still was.

Emily now knew that her theory of what happened was correct and gestured for Harry and Neville to step back, which they did. Emily knocked on the stall door to get Hermione's attention.

"Hermione, it's Emily. Harry and Neville are by the sinks, please let me in, I just want to help my best friend." said Emily in a comforting voice. Emily heard the stall unlock and she entered it, closing the door and locking it immediately. The slight buzzing Harry and Neville heard by the door to the stall told them that a silencing charm was placed there to prevent them from overhearing.

Harry and Neville just stood there, not wanting to interfere. Whatever happened to Hermione was obviously personal and she would tell them when she was ready. It was a full 20 minutes before they heard the silencing charm lift and Emily stepped out and looked towards Harry.

"Harry, Hermione would like to speak with you, but she wants you to leave the stall door closed for now." said Emily, hoping Harry would understand. Harry nodded, understanding perfectly. Harry and Emily switched places, with Harry leaning against the stall door, which was once again locked.

"You wanted to talk, Hermione?" asked Harry. He heard Hermione sniff again, but not as hard. Whatever Emily said to her had calmed her down.

"Yes, I did. I have to confess a couple of things to you. The first is I….I-I-I've liked you since Halloween of last year. I wanted to tell you sooner, but waited, in case it was just a schoolyard crush. But, it changed as the year went on. You saved me from the troll, you helped me loosen up more and have fun, taught me how to prank and not get caught, defended me against the occasional bully and was one of my first friends. I really do like you, and I was wondering if you'd want to try and be more than friends?" asked Hermione.

"Before I answer that, I have to tell you something. Those four dragons I live with, they're four of my future mates. Some of the older dragons told me that my magic was so unique that I would need multiple mates. Dathin, Fredha, Airlentor and Sissilth all said they don't mind as long as the feeling is mutual. The troll I saved you from was the former betrothed of another of my future mates….if you can accept this, I would gladly try to be more than friends." said Harry.

Hermione was silent for a moment, making Harry worried that he might have hurt her, but to his relief, she replied.

"As long as I'm treated as an equal, I don't mind." whispered Hermione. Harry smiled, if there was one thing he would never do, it's treat his girls unequally.

"I will treat all of you equally, Hermione. I promise." said Harry. He heard Hermione sigh in relief, before he heard the stall door unlock, but it didn't open yet.

"Thank you, Harry. Also, with you mentioning that all of your current girlfriends are creatures, that makes this next confession that much easier. Just….please don't freak out." whispered Hermione as the door opened slowly.

The first thing Harry saw was a hand with short fur and small, but shrp feline-like claws. The other thing he noticed was a thin tail waving agitatedly through the small crack in the stall door. Both the hand and tail's fur were light brown, almost golden yellow and short. Eventually, the door fully opened, revealing a beautiful Nekomata. Harry had seen a few in both China and Japan, mostly Japan. While her eyes were slited like a feline, Harry couldn't forget the familiar brown eyes of Hermione. While she didn't have her bushy hair anymore, it being replaced with straight brown hair, she was still beautiful. And Harry would now happily admit that he always thought that about her.

"This is the real me, Harry. I've been wearing a glamour charm since I was a toddler. My mother applies the charm before I come to school and I go to Pomfrey periodically to have it re-applied. The Polyjuice nullified it. Due to what I am, I've had to play the clueless and excited first-gen. You know how Britain treats people like me. I just hope you can accept me. I want it to work between us I….I-I…." said Hermione before she started tearing up again.

Hermione suddenly gasped when she felt Harry hug her and he began whispering soothing words in her ear. After five minutes, Hermione calmed down enough to hug him back. Harry looked in the direction of Neville and Emily. Emily removed a large cloth from her pocket, answering his unasked question of if she had that invisibility cloak. Harry nodded before he began rubbing Hermione's back while still embracing her.

"Hermione, Emily has James' invisibility cloak so we can get you to the hospital wing unseen. But I promise you, this summer I will do everything I can to try and make it so you don't have to hide anymore. No one as beautiful as you should have to hide." whispered Harry.

"You think I'm beautiful?" asked Hermione. While she tried to hide it, Harry heard hope in her voice.

"Yes, while that glamour you wear is cute, you are more beautiful now….as your true self." said Harry in complete honesty. Harry held out his hand and Emily handed him the cloak, which Harry draped over Hermione while still holding her close.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing and get you some rest. We've all had a long night, and I want to be rested so I can spend time with my new girlfriend tomorrow." smiled Harry. As he said that, Harry heard Hermione purring, which caused her to blush, before Harry decided to take a chance and kissed her forehead.

"Never be embarrassed about who you are, and don't worry….I'm not going anywhere." said Harry as he continued leading Hermione to the hospital wing to reapply her glamour, though he would have to ask if there was a way for him to see the real Hermione while everyone else saw the 'first-gen' Hermione.

Emily and Neville were walking behind the two. Emily had explained everything about Hermione to Neville and he took it rather well. To be honest, he should have expected this by now as nothing normal happens around Harry. The one thing he could say for sure, nothing had ever been boring since meeting Harry, and he and the others of their group wouldn't have it any other way.

Well, there it is folks, sorry it took so long to get this one out, I spent the last week of August in P.E.I. for a vacation. Anyway, Hermione's secret has been revealed, Harry's gained another girlfriend and while the prank war 'ended', I assure you there is more to come.

Next chapter will be the end of the second year, and the confrontation with the Basilisk. Will Harry tame it, or not? Stay tuned to find out.

I know this year had few chapters, but there will be at least 2 covering summer before third so look forward to it.

As always, please review, no flames.