Ice Mark and Warm Stove

The lingering warmth of their first kiss in the Astronomy Tower hadn't yet faded from Linley's lips when the cold reality rushed in like a tide. Ginny lay unconscious in the Hospital Wing, diagnosed by Madam Pomfrey as having "nervous fever from magical exhaustion." Hermione stood by the bedside, clutching Linley's sleeve, her gaze fixed on Ginny's pale face with its unnatural flush. Her fingernails dug into her palms.

"The diary..." she whispered, her voice tight, her eyes locked onto the black book secured in the iron cabinet by the bed, which Linley had bound with multiple Sealing Charms. Through the gaps in the cabinet door, wisps of barely visible, viscous, malicious black energy stubbornly seeped out, writhing like a living thing.

"Its activity is increasing," Linley's voice was deep and steady as stone. The Star Stone pressed against his chest, sending sharp, stabbing pains, colder than ever before. The Basilisk's movements in the pipes had become frequent and agitated, and the connection between the diary and its host was being forcibly deepened by some power. "We can't wait for the Basilisk to reveal itself anymore."

"The bait plan," Hermione looked up abruptly, a flame of determination burning in her brown eyes. "Tonight?"

Linley nodded, his gaze sweeping over the dim twilight outside the Hospital Wing window. "The moon is waning; it's a period when serpentine magic is relatively dormant." He pulled out a blank Potions Class parchment, dipped his wand tip into the residual Calming Potion in Ginny's medicine bowl, and quickly sketched a simplified map of several key corridors. "Mrs. Norris's patrol route is fixed, and she loves lingering near the abandoned girls' lavatory on the second floor—that's where the pipes are densest."

"The lavatory..." Hermione reacted instantly. "Moaning Myrtle's territory! Where the pipes converge!" A flicker of understanding crossed her eyes, quickly replaced by worry. "But how can you guarantee it will attack Mrs. Norris? What if..."

"Filch, the fanatical pure-blood follower," Linley tapped heavily on the spot marked "Filch's Office" on the parchment. "And his inseparable cat. In the eyes of the 'Heir,' they themselves are a desecration of 'purity.'" His tone was calm, yet carried the coldness of one who had seen through darkness.

With the plan settled, the heavy air was almost suffocating. Hermione looked at Linley's serene profile and suddenly reached out to touch his forehead. The cold sensation on her fingertips made her heart clench. "Your temperature... it's even lower than before!" Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly. "Is it because you're suppressing the diary?"

Linley grasped her cool wrist and pulled her hand down. "The drain is manageable." He avoided a direct answer. The backlash from overusing the Star Stone was like a clinging chill, slowly eroding his body temperature. But he couldn't stop.

"Liar," Hermione mumbled softly, gripping his hand tightly in return, trying to transfer the warmth from her palm. The Moon White Stone at her neck glowed faintly, and a gentle stream of warmth flowed through their clasped hands, weaving its way towards Linley. The stinging sensation from the Star Stone seemed to be neutralized by this warmth, subsiding slightly.

***

Late at night, Hogwarts Castle lay like a slumbering behemoth. Linley, cloaked in the Invisibility Cloak, moved like a shadow merged with the walls, silently stalking through the moonless shadows. Hermione, wearing thick wool socks and using several large books as cover, followed a few steps behind him, her heart pounding like a drum. According to the plan, she was responsible for listening for movement around the corner with a Extendable Ear and being ready to release Linley's specially made signal flares.

The abandoned girls' lavatory on the second floor was filled with the damp smell of mold and a faint aura of melancholy. Moaning Myrtle sobbed intermittently in one of the stalls. Linley carefully smeared a small bottle of concentrated potion, emitting a pungent fishy odor (extracted from the innards of a spiky fish from the Black Lake), into the cracks of the floor tiles at the lavatory entrance. This was a "bait" highly attractive to serpents.

After setting the bait, he quickly retreated to the corner of the corridor to rejoin Hermione. In the darkness, they pressed themselves against the cold stone wall, their breathing light. Hermione could clearly feel the chill emanating from Linley, and even under the Invisibility Cloak, his low temperature worried her. She couldn't help but quietly reach out, her hand passing through the fabric of the cloak to gently cover the back of his hand, which was tightly gripping his wand.

Time trickled by in the dead silence. Just as Hermione was beginning to think the plan had failed, she heard Filch's hoarse muttering and Mrs. Norris's familiar, complaining meow from the distance!

They're coming!

Linley's body tensed instantly like a drawn bowstring! Hermione also held her breath, pressing the horn of the Extendable Ear tightly against her ear.

Footsteps and meows stopped at the lavatory door. "Coming here again, you disobedient little thing!" Filch's voice held a doting rebuke. Then came the sound of Mrs. Norris sniffing the ground, followed by a contented purr, drawn by the fishy smell.

Suddenly!

A grating, ear-splitting noise, like countless giant ice plates scraping against each other, exploded from beneath the floor and deep within the walls! The sound carried a soul-piercing cold malice, clearer and more terrifying than the screech of a train!

"Meow--!!!" Mrs. Norris's piercing, distorted scream tore through the night!

"Mrs. Norris!" Filch's terrified roar sounded almost simultaneously!

Now!

Linley violently threw off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand like a drawn sword pointing directly at the lavatory door! Hermione ignited the flare in her hand almost at the same second!

"Incendio Maxima!" Linley's spell was not the ordinary Lumos, but a super-powerful burst condensed with the power of the Star Stone! A blinding, white light, like a miniature sun, exploded at the tip of his wand, instantly illuminating the entire corridor as bright as day!

The light pierced through the open doorway of the lavatory, revealing a horrifying scene inside!

Mrs. Norris was being flung upside down towards a dusty chandelier by an invisible force! Her entire body was rigid, her soft fur covered in a thick layer of ice crystals shimmering with an eerie blue light, like an exquisite ice sculpture specimen! Filch lay sprawled on the ground, pointing at the floor in utter terror, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

And on the damp wall illuminated by the beam of light, a line of giant characters formed from twisted ice shards glowed with a chilling aura:

"The filthy defiler has been purged. The Chamber of Secrets will open."

Below the ice lettering, two deep gouges, as if plowed by the belly of a giant serpent, extended from the wall down to the stone floor covered in muddy water. Fine ice shards, shimmering with a faint blue luster, remained at the edges of the gouges!

The intense light lasted only three seconds before abruptly extinguishing. The moment the light faded, Linley let out a muffled groan, his body swaying, his face paper-white in the darkness. The hand holding his wand trembled uncontrollably. The excessive use of the Star Stone's power to resist the biting cold and the Basilisk's roar had backfired, piercing his bones like ice shards!

"Linley!" Hermione, ignoring the scene, rushed to his side the instant darkness fell, supporting his staggering body. Her touch revealed that his arm skin was terrifyingly cold, as if just pulled from an ice cellar!

"I'm fine..." Linley's voice was strained with suppressed breaths as he forced himself to stand steady.

Just then, startled by the bright light and the screams, students in pajamas rushed from all directions, wands in hand! Footsteps, exclamations, and questions erupted into chaos.

"What happened?"

"Who was screaming?"

"Good heavens! What was that light?"

Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape also arrived almost simultaneously. Dumbledore's sharp blue gaze swept over the frozen Mrs. Norris, the ice lettering on the wall, and finally landed on Linley, who was being tightly supported by Hermione, his face unusually pale. A flicker of subtle understanding crossed his eyes.

"Mr. Filch," Dumbledore's voice was steady and powerful, instantly silencing the clamor. "Please explain."

Filch scrambled to Dumbledore's feet, tears streaming down his face, pointing at the frozen cat and the writing on the wall. "Headmaster! It was a monster! A monster in the wall! It attacked my Mrs. Norris! And the writing! It left writing!" He was incoherent, his fear pushing him to the brink of collapse.

Professor McGonagall gasped, carefully examining Mrs. Norris with her wand. "Rapid deep freezing of the entire body... not any known freezing spell... more like... the contact effect of some powerful cold-blooded magical creature..." She looked at the ice lettering on the wall, her expression extremely grave.

Snape's sinister gaze, like a cold snake's tongue, slowly swept over every student present, lingering particularly on Linley. In the depths of his black eyes, scrutiny and a profound suspicion churned.

"All students, return to your respective common rooms immediately!" Dumbledore's voice was not loud, but carried unquestionable authority. "Prefects, take attendance! Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, please assist Mr. Filch in moving... Mrs. Norris to a safe place. Regarding tonight's events, no discussion is permitted until the investigation is complete!"

The crowd dispersed uneasily under the Prefects' urging, whispers spreading like a plague. For the first time, a heavy cloud of fear descended upon the ancient castle of Hogwarts.

Hermione half-supported, half-carried Linley, struggling against the flow of people towards Gryffindor Tower. She could feel Linley leaning more and more heavily on her, his body terrifyingly cold, his steps becoming unsteady.

"Hold on... we're almost there..." Hermione's voice was choked with tears as she supported him with all her strength, her other hand tightly gripping his cold one, futilely trying to warm it.

They finally reached the empty common room. The fireplace had long since gone out, leaving only cold embers. Hermione carefully settled Linley on the sofa closest to the fireplace, fumbling to relight it, but her trembling fingers couldn't strike a match.

"Don't worry about the fire..." Linley's voice was weak and low. He leaned back on the sofa, his thick eyelashes casting faint shadows on his pale face, his breathing shallow and rapid. The Star Stone pulsed weakly beneath his collar, as if about to extinguish at any moment.

Hermione's tears finally fell. She knelt before the sofa and, without hesitation, unbuttoned her thick wool cardigan. Then, with trembling hands, she grabbed Linley's cold, stiff hand and thrust it directly under her warm sweater, pressing it against her own warm abdominal skin!

"Mmm..." Linley let out a muffled groan, his body trembling from the sudden, scorching heat.

"No talking!" Hermione commanded, her voice choked with tears. She pressed her hands tightly over his on her abdomen, using her own body heat to warm his icy palms. The girl's soft, warm skin pressed against the boy's cold hand. The extreme temperature difference sent a shiver through her, yet it also strangely conveyed a life-giving warmth.

Hermione's other hand trembled as she stroked Linley's cold cheek, trying to warm him. The Moon White Stone, pressed against her collarbone, emitted an unprecedented, stable warm white glow, like a small sun, striving to dispel the chill permeating Linley's body.

"Idiot... big idiot..." she sobbed softly, her forehead against his cold one. Her warm tears dripped onto his pale skin. "Don't do this again... don't exhaust yourself anymore..." Her breath, carrying the faint sweetness of Orange Cake and the salty tang of tears, wafted around Linley's nose.

Linley struggled to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, and he could only see Hermione's tear-streaked face up close, and her brown eyes filled with fear, heartache, and determination. His stiff hand, which she had forcefully pressed against her warm abdomen, greedily absorbed the endless warmth carrying the girl's delicate fragrance. An unprecedented warmth, mixed with the gentle pulsations of the Star Stone stabilizing as it was drawn by the Moon White Stone's power, slowly flowed through his chilled limbs.

He weakly moved the fingers of the hand Hermione held against his abdomen, gently hooking the edge of her sweater, a feeble response.

Outside the window, Hogwarts Castle was completely engulfed in deathly darkness. Within the walls, the ice marks left by the serpent's passage shimmered with a faint blue light under the moonlight. And in the cold Common Room of Gryffindor, the girl, with her own burning body heat and tears, ignited the first flicker of light against the cold night for the Star she protected.