Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.
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Chapter 6: In the Chamber of Secrets
Dumbledore and Lupin were in the headmaster's office when the fireplace burst into flames. With a swish, Sirius tumbled out of the fireplace in a heap. "Damn Floo Powder!" he muttered.
"Well Sirius," said Dumbledore. "Did you find Marilyn Frost?"
Sirius immediately sobered up and looked very grave. "Yes, I found her," he said, "in the hospital."
"What?" asked Lupin.
"She was in a coma," said Sirius. "The doctors think it was an incubus attack." Dumbledore and Lupin shared alarmed glances while Sirius continued, "But get this. It seems as if Mrs. Frost was about to dissolve the contract before she was attacked. It appears that Cassandra wasn't too happy about what her mother was planning on doing. Seems like she had her heart set since childhood on marrying the most famous wizard in the world."
Lupin glanced toward Dumbledore and said, "Marilyn Frost was attacked by an incubus when she decided to dissolve the betrothal. And we have succubae attacks here. Do you think it's a coincidence Albus?"
"I admit that there are too many similarities to ignore," said Dumbledore looking grave. Sirius looked confused.
"Um, did I miss something while I was gone? What's this I here about succubae attacks?" At that moment, Hedwig flew through the window and deposited a piece of parchment on Dumbledore's lap. The headmaster read it and immediately looked alarmed.
"Albus, what is it?" asked Remus. Dumbledore passed the parchment to Lupin. He read it while Sirius read it over his shoulder. "Oh my God!" they both muttered.
* * *
Hermione woke up to find herself tied up and dangling from a piece of rope. Her hands were tied behind her back and her ankles were tied together. She was also gagged.
Getting more and more frightened by the second, Hermione glanced around her surroundings. She was at the end of a long, dark chamber that was held up by thick pillars that had snakes carved into them. She was also aware of a large statue behind her. She even saw the skeleton of the basilisk that had petrified her in her second year in a far corner. She immediately recognized where she was from the description Harry had given her: the Chamber of Secrets.
"Wakey wakey, mudblood," hissed a voice from Hermione's right. Hermione looked over to see Cassandra Frost walking toward her with a smirk on her face. "Oh you already are awake." She suddenly slapped Hermione as hard as she could. Hermione whimpered in pain and fought back tears.
"Did you like that mudblood?" she hissed. "That's only the beginning. At the end, I'll give you a kiss that will be nothing like my beloved's kiss. There are many advantages of being a carbon succubus."
Hermione tried to yell, "You monster!" through her gag. Cassandra laughed and slapped her again. Hermione defiantly glared at the smirking Cassandra.
"Perhaps you're wondering why I'm not disposing you right away," said Cassandra. "The others simply hurt my beloved. You however have done worse." She started beating Hermione. Not being able to defend herself, Hermione started whimpering in pain. Tears were now flowing freely. "Do you want to know why?" asked Cassandra.
Hermione simply remained quiet. 'Oh God, please. Help me! Harry, where are you? Please help me!' she thought.
"You forced him to love you, didn't you? Used some spell on him! Typical of a mudblood," sneered Cassandra.
Hermione tried to shout, "That's not true!" through her gag. She shook her head as hard as she could.
"You deny it?" hissed Cassandra. "Of all the nerve!" She angrily backhanded Hermione in the face.
'Harry,' thought Hermione as the pain ran through her body.
"Look at me," said Cassandra. When Hermione kept her eyes on the floor, Cassandra shouted, "Look at me!" Slowly, Hermione raised her eyes to Cassandra's face. Cassandra took so much pleasure in seeing the terror and despair in Hermione's cinnamon brown eyes. "Look at me, I'm a stunner," said Cassandra spreading her arms wide. "My body can only be described as goddess. Yours is nothing. My hair is so perfect. Yours looks like a sage bush. I am tall and sophisticated. You're a skinny little runt. I have many talents and assets while you are nothing more than a bookworm. And most especially, I am a pureblood while you're a worthless mudblood."
By the time Cassandra had finished, Hermione was outright sobbing. All of these comments hurt her personally since they were all insecurities she often had to deal with herself. The comments hurt her harder than all the physical pain Cassandra had dished out but what Cassandra said last of all hurt her the most.
"How can Harry ever love a worthless mudblood like you?"
That was the greatest insecurity Hermione had always felt. And with all the reasons Cassandra had hit her with, the emotional turmoil she felt was sheer torture.
"You tried to steal my beloved, mudblood. That is the worse possible crime," hissed Cassandra. "That's why I'm doing more than just kiss you. You merit a worse fate, mudblood." She started stroking Hermione's hair. "Am I correct?" she asked. When Hermione kept her eyes on the floor, Cassandra tugged her hair. "AM I CORRECT?!" she yelled. Hermione whimpered in pain.
Cassandra decided to continue. "Since your crime is the worse, your treatment shall be the worse." She started pacing back and forth in front of Hermione. "Before I kiss you I'm going to hurt you in ways you can't possibly imagine. Then, once I do kiss you I'm just going to leave you here in this chamber." She spread her arms out toward the chamber. "That's why I brought you down here. Once I kiss you, no one will ever find you down here. You'll be lost from the world." She started laughing hysterically. Hermione lowered her head and let more tears fall to the ground.
Cassandra walked up to Hermione, a malevolent glint in her blue eyes. "Let's move another step upward now," she whispered. She slowly pulled a wand out of her robes and pointed it Hermione. Hermione stared at the wand in fear as Cassandra whispered, "Crucio."
* * *
Harry ran as fast as he could to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. At this point, he didn't care if he ran into any professor who could hinder his path. If anybody had, he probably would've placed a full body bind on him or her.
All this time, only one thought constantly crossed Harry's mind, 'Get to Hermione'. He had finally realized whom he truly loved after so many years. And he wasn't about to lose the girl he loved to the girl who called him her beloved.
As Harry ran down the halls, he finally fulfilled many a students' ambition as he kicked Mrs. Norris out of the way. He didn't have time to gloat about it, however. In fact, he didn't realize he had kicked the bony cat.
Finally, Harry made it to the out of order girl's bathroom that was haunted by Moaning Myrtle the ghost.
"Oh it's you," said Myrtle as she glanced at Harry. "When was the last time you came to visit me?"
Harry ignored her and dashed to one of the sinks. The only thought on his mind was 'Hermione's down there. Need to get to her.'
"Oh fine, ignore me!" wailed Myrtle. "Nobody cares about Myrtle because she's dead! Everybody ignored me when I was alive except Olive Hornby who insulted my glasses! And everybody still ignores me when I'm dead." Myrtle started wailing and crying, causing the bathroom to start flooding.
Harry continued to ignore Myrtle when he finally found what he was looking for: a drawing of a snake on one of the sinks. Harry hissed "Open up," in parseltongue. Instantly, the sink sunk into the ground to reveal the large pipe that was the entrance to the Chamber of Seconds. Without a second thought, Harry dived into the pipe.
Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin burst into the bathroom just as the entrance was closing. "Damn! We weren't fast enough!" shouted Sirius. He started cursing.
"We cannot do anything now," said Dumbledore. "All we can do is wait and trust Harry's courage."
"Albus, is Harry strong enough to take on a carbon succubus?" asked Lupin. Both he and Sirius looked worried.
Dumbledore simply stared at the sinks. "I hope so," he said.
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A/N OK, lets just say that Cassandra found out the password of Gryffindor tower from some hormonic Gryffindor teen. It doesn't really matter in the long run how she entered the Common Room. Oh, and I made up the entire notion of carbon succubae: I own them. So R/R please. Anyway, next chapter is the last one. Hope you guys all enjoyed this story. Thank you for reading this story.