Кассандра Клэр - Draco Sinister

"Finite incantatum," and felt the pain behind her ribcage vanish.

She glanced up and saw Harry looking down at her, not smiling any more, but not angry either. "I'm sorry," he said, taking his hand away from her mouth. "That was unfair."

"I deserved it," she said. "And a lot more than that."

"Did it hurt?"

She set her jaw. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters except that you believe me. Do you believe me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do, I actually do." He reached out and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. She could smell the familiar smell of soap, and the cold night air caught in his clothes. "As long as you really think there's a counterspell…"

She tilted her chin up and looked at him determinedly. "I have to."

"I know."

"Harry, I…"

But she couldn't find the words to express what she wanted to say, the importance and the seriousness of how very much she loved him. So she reached up and put her hands on his shoulders, pulled him towards her and kissed him — tentatively at first, since she had rarely kissed him before, usually she waited to be kissed — and then with greater urgency, standing up on tip-toe to get as close to him as possible. She felt his hands slide down to her waist, and then he had lifted her up and she was sitting on the desk and he was kissing her back, kissing her so hard it almost hurt. She felt him push her back until she was nearly lying down on the desk, felt his hands slide up to work the buttons free on her cardigan sweater —

Crash!

Hermione jumped at the sudden explosive shattering noise, nearly falling off the desk in her astonishment. "What was that?" she breathed against Harry's shoulder. "Was that some kind of… Magid thing?"

She felt Harry laugh softly. "Not exactly," he said, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at her. "You knocked a paperweight off the desk."

"Oh," said Hermione, turning pink. "I guess I got a little overenthusiastic. Sorry."

"I have that effect on women," said Harry, looking modest.

"You certainly have that effect on me."

Harry blushed. That was the difference between him and Draco, Hermione thought, not critically, but with interest. Draco wouldn't have blushed.

"That wasn't even my best effort," Harry said.

"Is that a fact," replied Hermione. She reached out and gently removed his glasses, placing them carefully on the side of the desk.

Then she hooked her arm around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. "Let's see your best effort, then, shall we?"

Narcissa shut the door of the library hurriedly and turned to face the Weasley parents, Ron, and Ginny, who were all looking at her with polite curiosity.

"Er," she said. "I think it's best if we come back in a bit."

"Is Harry not there?" asked Mrs. Weasley, pink with motherly concern. "I wanted to see him — "

"They're talking," said Narcissa, stepping away from the doorway and starting to walk down the hall. "Best to give them a bit of privacy." She glanced back and saw the Weasley parents following her, looking curious. "They had a bit of an argument," Narcissa explained. "You know how teenage couples are. They fight, they make up — best to let them talk it over and we can come back later and see how they've made out."

She heard a snort of laughter from behind them that was most likely Ron, and felt her cheeks turn pink. Oh, dear, she thought. That didn't come out right at all.

"How long do we have?" the smoky form of Dumbledore asked Snape, looking politely curious.

"The potion should allow you to speak with us for about ten minutes," said Snape tersely. "Maybe a few more than that. And it can only be used once."

Sirius could have sworn he saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkle. "Then we had better get started."

"Headmaster," Sirius asked, urgently. "Do you know who attacked you?"

"A very powerful dark wizard," said Dumbledore. "Not, I suspect, Voldemort."

"Do you think it was Slytherin?" asked Sirius, conscious of the incredulous look that Snape darted towards him, and the even more incredulous look on his face when Dumbledore said:

"It could well have been. So little is factually known about Slytherin, it is hard to say. Our assailant was hooded, disguised as a Dementor.

He was certainly very powerful, although I do believe I could have held him off if it had not been for Cornelius trying to play the hero." Dumbledore's voice was regretful. "Poor Cornelius."

"He was a fool," hissed Snape. "And he nearly got you killed, Headmaster."

"Now, Severus," said Dumbledore admonishingly, and Snape subsided. "I did not see the wizard's face," Dumbledore continued.

"Not that it would matter, since he is surely capable of disguising himself, and besides, no one but Draco or Hermione would recognize him, am I correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

Snape was looking from Dumbledore to Sirius with a bright bitter light in his eyes. "I suppose it would be a waste of time for me to ask what this is about."

"Salazar Slytherin has returned," said Dumbledore simply. "That is all we really know for certain. There is also the matter of an enchanted sword. One of the only four Living Blades ever forged.

Two have been destroyed. One is in my office, in an adamantine case. The other is in the possession of young Master Malfoy. I cannot emphasize to you how significant that is."

Snape blinked in astonishment. "Draco Malfoy?" he echoed.

The door of the room opened, and Dr. Branford stuck his head in.

His eyes widened when he saw the floating form of Dumbledore above the bed, but he held his ground. "Professor Snape," he said nervously. "Something's happened — could you come out here for a moment?"

Snape looked outraged. "Can't it wait?"

"Well," said the doctor. "No, actually."

"It's perfectly all right," said Dumbledore. "Leave us, Severus. You have done what you came here to do."

Looking mad enough to spit nails, Snape swept out of the room after the doctor. Lupin was not sorry to see him go. The moment he was gone, Sirius turned to Dumbledore. "Draco's missing," he said.

Dumbledore looked grave. "I rather thought he might be," he said.

"Do you think he's all right?"

"I really don't know." Dumbledore still sounded grave. "He's a strong boy, as strong as Harry is, and powerful in his own right. But that sword is one of the most powerful magical objects ever created.

And we do not know its true purpose."

"Well," said Lupin. "It's a tool of Slytherin's, isn't it? It does his bidding?"

"These are the questions to which I do not have the answer. I was rather hoping that young Master Malfoy could give them to me. Is the sword a tool of Slytherin's, or an enemy of his? Is he working through it, or are the two opposed, battling each other?"

"But the sword brought Slytherin back to life," pointed out Lupin.

"Yes. But perhaps not as a reward. Perhaps as a punishment. He owes a great debt to the forces that made that sword what it is. If he was brought back, it could be to pay that debt."

"And he doesn't want to pay it?" asked Sirius.

"Not," said Dumbledore, "if he can have Draco pay in his stead. All he has to do is sit back and let the sword do its work."

Lupin narrowed his eyes. "What is its work?"

"The sword was made to fulfill wishes. That is what it does, that is the power that made it so coveted by Slytherin in the first place. It has been trying to show Draco that he can give him everything he's ever wanted. To succeed where Harry fails. Requited love, via the potion — "

"But it was all an accident," interrupted Lupin. "He just happened to be there; she just happened to see him — "

"There are forces at work here that I do not comprehend fully, if at all," said Dumbledore. "I would imagine that the sword, with its connection to Slytherin, knew about the love potion and contrived to place Draco there at that moment. Certainly there were many factors to take into account and the situation could have gone either way. And I may be wrong about the sword trying to fulfill his wishes with the love potion and its results. Perhaps it was simply trying to torment him. Perhaps it simply found the situation amusing. The sword is a demon, after all. It has a sense of humor, although not one most of us would share."