Кассандра Клэр - Draco Veritas

Viktor didn't smile at that — he almost never smiled — but he nod gravely at Harry. "Happy New Year, Harry," he said, and Apparated away, leaving Harry staring after him in surprise.

Ginny sent Charlie downstairs ahead of her to greet Blaise while she changed into her nicest robes. When she arrived in the kitchen, Blaise and Charlie were already seated at the table, among the plates and cups that had not yet been cleared away from breakfast. Blaise wore an elegant set of patterned green robes over a dark red shift, and was gazing across the table at Charlie as if she were very hungry and he was a buttered crumpet.

"You are going to come back and teach us after Christmas, aren't you, Mr.

Weasley?" Blaise was saying, her chin propped on her ringed hand.

"You're the best Care of Magical Creatures teacher we've ever had, by far."

"That's very gratifying to hear, Blaise," Charlie said, toying with the side of a teacup and looking acutely uncomfortable. "It depends on what happens with my brother."

Blaise blinked. "With Percy?"

"With Ron," Charlie said, with emphasis. "The one who was kidnapped by the Dark Lord."

"Oh," said Blaise. "That brother."

Ginny cleared her throat. Blaise swung her head around, her earrings bobbing. "I'm here," Ginny said. "You wanted to talk to me, Blaise?"

Charlie looked relieved. "I suppose you two want to talk," he said, getting to his feet and heading to the door. "I'll be in the living room if anyone needs me."

Ginny took the chair her brother had vacated and sat down opposite Blaise. "Are you actually here to see me, or did you just want to gape at my brother?"

Blaise allowed herself a cursory smile. "Well, he is nice to look at, but that's not why I'm here." She dipped a long-fingered hand into the bodice of her robes, drew out a rolled piece of parchment, and handed it to Ginny. "Draco sent me," she said. "Draco Malfoy."

"As opposed to the other Dracos we know," muttered Ginny, "it being such a popular name and all," and she opened the letter without looking at Blaise. She tried to not to let her heartbeat quicken at the sight of the familiar handwriting, but it was impossible.

Dear Ginny, I hope this letter finds you well and that you have so far withstood the ravages of your dimwitted agrarian kin. I'm sending this letter with Blaise; I assume you remember her? I know you're not too terribly fond of her, probably because she's really very attractive and has seen me naked on a number of occasions. However, I'm hoping you two can put personal differences behind you, as she has some rather important news. Please sit down with her and have her explain to you, in this order 1) What Pansy's been up to 2) What she knows about the Slytherins and their secret plans 3) What she knows about your brother and what happened to him.

She knows why you fell off your broom during that match, too. Have her tell you. I'd tell you myself if I felt safe putting it down in a letter. I owe you that much.

Signed, Draco Thomas Hephaestus St. John Vivian Augustus Malfoy, III, Esq.

Ginny's head jerked up, and she stared at Blaise, all the words in the letter temporarily forgotten except seven: your brother and what happened to him. "What do you know about Ron?" she demanded, her voice suddenly gone thin and very high. "If you know where he is — "

Blaise, looking absolutely shocked, pushed her chair back from the table.

"I know nothing of the sort!"

Ginny thrust the letter across the table accusingly. After a moment, Blaise took it and smoothed it out on the table. With a wary look, she bent to read it. After a moment, she sat back and looked at Ginny with a blank expression.

"So?" Ginny said. "Is it true?"

"Yes," Blaise said. "I have seen Draco naked on a number of occasions."

Ginny banged her fist down on the table and the cutlery rattled. "I mean about Ron. What do you know about what happened to him?"

Blaise let out a long breath. "Damn Draco," she said, her voice very flat.

"Damn his little black heart to hell."

Ginny blinked. "What…"

Blaise put the palms of her hands against her eyes. "I don't know where your brother is," she said. "All I can tell you is what I told Draco. I can't do any better than that."

"Then tell me what you told him," Ginny said quietly.

Blaise nervously twisted a curl of red hair around her index finger. "It started at the end of the summer," she said, in a monotone. "Maybe even as far back as the end of last year, for some of us, but not for me. Some of our parents — not all of them, of course, not everyone in Slytherin is one of our group — started warning us that something was coming, and we'd better be protected. They had protection charms to dispense. They were Transfigured — jewelry for the girls, cufflinks and buttons for the boys. We had to wear them all the time. We were told not to give them to anyone else, or there would be dire consequences. I knew Draco wasn't to have any, or to be told what was going on. So I didn't tell him."

"You didn't tell him?" Ginny burst out angrily. "How could you? He was your boyfriend!"

Blaise laughed drily. "That's what Pansy said. Of course, at that point, she was sleeping with your brother."

"I know," Ginny said. "And why? I mean," she added loyally, "not that there's anything wrong with my brother…"

"She wasn't supposed to sleep with him," Blaise clarified. "She was supposed to disguise herself as Hermione and get information from him.

Pansy always was a little overzealous. I doubt her father's very pleased with her at the moment. Especially since she developed a perfectly ridiculous crush on your brother and insisted on giving him one of the protection charms."

"I thought she wasn't allowed to do that."

"She wasn't, but she asked anyway, and of course she was told it was impossible. So she decided to make her own. And that," Blaise said, with some relish, as if she were telling a particularly gruesome ghost story, "is pretty dark magic, let me tell you."

"But they're just protection charms," said Ginny.

"The only way to protect against dark magic is to engage in dark magic,"

Blaise said; Ginny wondered privately if this was actually true, but held her tongue. "And this type of protection charm requires some part of a Dark creature — acromantula feet, kelpie hair, incubus blood. Pansy decided to make a charm out of basilisk eyes. It was the strongest kind of charm there was."

Ginny suppressed a shudder. Her experience with basilisks had not been a positive one.

"For that," Blaise went on, "she had to have a basilisk. So she made one."

"She MADE a basilisk?"

"Well, all you really need is a chicken egg, a toad, and a strong stomach."

"A toad?" Ginny goggled. "Oh! Trevor!"

"Terrible name for a toad," said Blaise dispassionately. "Anyway, so she made a baby basilisk, and killed it before it got large enough to be dangerous. She took its eyes and mad a cloak pin from them, and gave it to your brother."

"She's completely mad," Ginny said. "She ought to be locked up, she — she gave my brother a pin with basilisk eyes in it? Isn't that dangerous?"

"It was only a baby, and the charms on the pin were very strong," said Blaise. "It shouldn't have been able to harm him, or anyone. But then it started to malfunction. She was never sure why. Maybe there was something unusual about your brother — "

"He's a Diviner," Ginny said in a blank voice.

"Maybe that was it," Blaise said, although she sounded dubious. "Or maybe the charms she put on it to bind the power of the basilisk's eyes weren't strong enough. Either way, it started acting up whenever Weasley felt threatened, although I doubt he knew what was happening. Because the Basilisk was a baby, the charm couldn't kill, but it Stunned Malcolm, it knocked you off your broom — "