Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lucius was staring at the fire, waiting for someone to take him to the library. He knew it was late enough that the students should all be in bed. When McGonagall had come by earlier, she had indicated that he would have access to the library tonight. He had revealed a few more pages of his book, but found that he could not concentrate on the task very well. He still had very little idea about what was causing their loss of magic.

When he answered the knock at his door, he was disappointed to see McGonagall. It had been foolish to expect Hermione, but he had.

"Are you ready, Mr. Malfoy?"

He picked up his parchment and quill so that he could take notes. "After you."

She scowled at him, indicating that she would follow behind him. Once they were in the library, McGonagall said, "Madam Pince will keep an eye on you. I believe Miss Granger is already in the Restricted Section. You have two hours."

"But two hours..."

She cut him off. "I will not further inconvenience my staff on your account. I suggest you use your time wisely to find books that will be useful. You will be able to check books out."

Lucius looked over at Madam Pince and flashed her a charming smile, hoping he might gain some more time in the library. She gave him a disapproving scowl, and he turned away, heading for the Restricted Section.

He found Hermione at a table with a stack of books beside her. "Tell me, is Madam Pince always so cross?" he asked quietly.

"Most of the time. We don't think she smiles."

Shaking his head, he decided to make the best use of his time and sought out several of the books he thought might be interesting.

*****************

When the two hours were over, Madam Pince cleared her throat. "The library is closing. Bring your books to the front."

Lucius charmed a stack of about twenty books and took them to the front desk, pleased that he could at least do that much magic.

Pince gave him a disapproving look. "You may only have five books out at time."

Lucius tried to be as charming as possible, though it was difficult given her sour demeanor. "Madam, as I am sure Professor McGonagall explained to you, I am here under special circumstances. As I will not be able to visit the library regularly, surely you can see your way to letting me check all these books out?"

"Five books," she repeated sternly.

He became more adamant. "Madam, I am not leaving here without the books. The research I am conducting is vital to the war and will save lives. Rest assured, they will all be cared for and returned in the same condition they are in now. I am not some careless student."

"The policy applies to all, teacher and student. Five books."

McGonagall's voice came from the door, "Let him have the books, Irma. He has special dispensation."

Pince didn't look happy, but replied, "Very well."

Lucius noticed Hermione was standing at McGonagall's side. He would have to thank her later for her intervention.

*****************

After two weeks of research, Lucius didn't feel he was any closer to finding a solution. There were only a handful of pages that he had not decoded. He was beginning to doubt that Severus had any idea of what the curse was or how to cure it.

He heard the door open, and knew it was Hermione.

"Anything?"

"Nothing new."

She set a few books on the table by the fireplace. "I don't know if any of these will be useful."

He joined her by the fire and began paging through the books. After only a few minutes, he went to his desk and retrieved the Dark Magic book. Pointing his wand at the book, he spoke a soft incantation. He and Hermione watched in amazement as the book opened to one of the blank pages and text began to appear.

"You did it!" she said and wrapped her arms around him.

"With your help." Returning her embrace, he gave her a passionate kiss and lowered her to the couch. When he heard the doorknob rattle, he pulled away from her.

"Hermione? Are you in here?" asked Harry.

"What do you want, Harry?" she asked, slightly irritated.

"We think we found something, and we need your help."

"Can it wait?"

"Hermione, we've been looking for this for ages."

"So it can wait. Lucius just revealed some more pages in the book, and he's going to need my help with them since they are written in runes."

Lucius glanced at the book and saw she was right. He hadn't really noticed, having been too excited celebrating the prospect of finally having the whole book revealed. He flipped through the rest of the book and saw that there were no more blank pages. "Hermione, go with Mr. Potter. I do know a little of ancient runes, and I might be able to decipher something. Your search for the final Horcrux must take precedence." He was pleased to see the shock on Potter's face.

"Lucius," she protested.

He brushed her cheek. "Darling, we mustn't let our personal quest take the focus away from the more important task. The book isn't going anywhere." He could see Harry growing angry at the affection he was lavishing on Hermione and gave her a slow kiss on the lips to further incense the young man.

******************

Once Harry and Hermione were heading down the stairs, she asked, "This really could have waited, couldn't it? You just had to make sure that there was nothing going on, didn't you? Whether something is going on or not, it doesn't matter. We are both adults."

"He's, he's... How can you?"

"Did you even find something or is this just a ploy to keep us apart?"

"We found something. I wouldn't lie to you about that. It's down on the second floor. We need you, Hermione. There's a spell we can't get past."

She sighed. "Fine. Let's take a look at it."

As they moved into the depths of the castle, away from the classrooms, she saw Ron standing guard outside a doorway that had not been there before.

"Hermione, glad to see that Harry found you. There's an inner door that we can't get past. It's covered in runes."

"All right." She entered the room, using her wand to illuminate an antechamber. The arched doorframe was indeed carved with runes.

"What does it say?" Ron asked.

"I'll need a few minutes to translate it," she replied. As she studied the runes, she began to wish she had some parchment. "Does either of you have quill and parchment?"

"Sorry, no," replied Harry.

"Well, I'm going to need some."

"I'll go," offered Harry.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Ron asked, "Are you okay? I mean, with everything you've been through."

"I'll be fine," she replied. This was the last thing she had expected from Ron. He had never really demonstrated any sort of perceptiveness.

"If you want to talk, I just want you to know that I'm here for you." He shifted nervously. "I hope that we can still be friends."

She turned away from the door and looked at him. "I don't want to lose your friendship either. I do like you, Ron, I just think we're better as friends. But, I am going to need you to accept Lucius."

He started to protest, "Hermione..."

"Ron, please. He didn't trick me or ply me with a potion. I chose to be with him, and I would do it all over again. And whatever happens, he is the father of my child. I know it's hard for you to accept. It's still hard for me to accept." She wrapped her arms around herself, striving for comfort.

Ron gave her a reassuring hug. "We're here for you. If there's anything we can do..."

She regained control of her emotions. "Thanks, Ron. I just want this to be over."

"We all do."

When Harry returned with the parchment, she quickly copied the runes and began translating them. The problem with runes was that they did not use the same sentence structure as English.

It took her nearly fifteen minutes to translate the runes to her satisfaction. "Okay, here it is. I think we've actually found something useful this time."

"That's what we thought when we saw the second door," offered Harry.

Before showing the paper to her friends, she said, "I think we ought to get Professor McGonagall. We don't know what we will find behind the door."

"We could find a lot of old cauldrons. I think we should open it before wasting her time," replied Harry.

She looked between them before picking up the parchment and reading the translation. "Enter those who are loyal to those principles upon which the school was founded."

"That's it?" asked Ron.

"It's not very useful, is it?" added Harry.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. You did try opening the door, didn't you?"

"Of course we did," replied Harry. "We tried every unlocking spell we could think of and nothing has worked."

Hermione moved closer to the door and cast a probing spell in it. The spell was immediately rebounded. She then started pacing, tying to figure out what the message on the doorframe meant. After a few minutes, she said, "The school was founded by four people, each with different beliefs. What if we need a representative from each house?"

"We can get Luna and Ernie, but who would we get from Slytherin? I don't really trust any of them," said Harry.

Hermione looked at the two of them. "Lucius."

"NO! I won't have him down here, knowing what we are doing. Besides, we would then have two more people that know he's here."

"Yes, but they wouldn't know why. We can tell them part of the truth; that he has repented and is here to use the library to help us defeat Voldemort," Hermione rationalized. "Unless you have a better idea."

It took several seconds before Harry replied, "Fine. But I'm going to get the others first and explain it to them."

"I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes," she replied before leaving.

***************

"Did you find anything?" Lucius asked when she entered his room.

"We aren't sure yet. There's some sort of charm on an inner door. We have an idea to open it, but we need someone from each house there. Since you are the only one from Slytherin we can trust, they have agreed to let you help." She then explained what the others were being told about his reason for being at Hogwarts.

"Sounds intriguing. I look forward to seeing what's behind the door."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything, darling."

"Can you not spar with Ron and Harry? You know they are going to bait you."

He pulled her tight for a kiss. "Of course. I shall retain my diplomatic calm in their presence."

By the time they arrived at the hidden room, the others were already assembled. Lucius had been expecting the uncomfortable silence. "Well then, which of you three will represent Gryffindor?" he asked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all started talking at once, eager to volunteer. "Harry, I don't think it should be you, in case there's something dangerous," said Hermione.

"I'm not going to let you risk yourself," said Ron to Hermione.

"You didn't say anything about anything dangerous," interrupted Ernie.

Lucius watched, once again reminded of why he was glad he was not a teenager.

"Ron, I'm better at Dark Arts than you. I should be the Gryffindor representative," said Harry.

"Harry, no!" said Ron and Hermione in unison.

"Is there something dangerous?" asked Ernie.

Lucius watched Luna playing with some ridiculous necklace that she was wearing.

"No, Ernie. I don't think so. I'm just being cautious," replied Hermione.

"My father says there's a colony of Bumblebeezers here at Hogwarts. Perhaps they are protecting what's behind the door?" Luna offered.

"I don't need you protecting me," retorted Harry, ignoring Luna's comment.

Lucius longed to step in and make the decision, but he knew he must remain quiet. They would only resent his interference.

With Ron and Hermione both vehemently against his being the representative, Harry finally said, "Fine. Ron, you will be the Gryffindor."

"Right then. What do we do?" Ron asked.

Everyone looked to Hermione. "Well, er, I guess you all four have to try to open the door at the same time."

"It's that simple?" asked Ron.

"I really don't know. It was just an idea. I don't know if it will work, but we do know that at least three of the founders espoused teamwork, and the Sorting Hat has told us that we have to work together."

The four representatives took hold of the door latch and pulled. The door creaked and moaned and slowly began to move. The air behind it was stale and dusty, having been trapped for centuries.

Luna was the first into the room and Hermione quickly followed her. Ernie cautiously moved into the room, leaving Ron and Harry staring suspiciously at Lucius.

"I will remain here until you have finished your investigation," he offered.

"Harry, go ahead, I'll watch him," said Ron as he brandished his wand.

"All right." Harry tried to walk through the door, but bounced back as though hitting a solid wall. He spun on Malfoy. "What did you do to the door?"

"I've done nothing. I have not drawn my wand and have no reason to."

Ron moved toward the door and cautiously put his hand up. He could not push it past the frame of the door. "What's going on? Hey, Hermione! Are you okay?"

"Ron, would you come in. There's nothing dangerous in here," she called back.

"We can't. We can't get through the door. Malfoy's charmed it."

"For Merlin's sake," she muttered, and walked back into the antechamber. "What are you talking about?"

"How'd you do that?" Ron asked as he reached for the door. This time, he found his hand could pass through the barrier. Tentatively, he stepped through the door.

"Honestly, the two of you are enough to drive a person mad." She spun back towards the door and bounced off an invisible barrier.

Lucius caught her before she fell to the ground. "That is very interesting." Once she was steady on her feet, he reached his hand toward the door and found it passed through.

"What's going on?" asked Harry.

"Isn't it obvious? It took one person from each house to open the door. Only one person from each house can enter the room," said Lucius.

"Ron, come out of there," ordered Hermione. Once Ron was on her side of the door, she took Lucius' hand and pulled him through with her. "Come on."

"Why is he going with you?" Ron asked.

"Something tells me we will need someone from each house in the room to fully reveal the secrets. We'll be fine."

"Hermione, trade places with me," insisted Harry.

"I was the one that opened the door," said Ron.

"Neither of you can read runes, and if there are more of them, someone will need to translate them." She and Lucius walked farther into the room, both using their wands for illumination.

"Where are the others?" he asked as he looked around the colonnaded room.

"I don't know. Ernie? Luna?" she called as she searched the room. Due to the columns, it was impossible to see the whole room at once.

A/N: Thanks again to all those that have taken the time to review. It really means a lot to me and helps keep me motivated. It also seems to spur the muses to take complete plot tangents to prevent anyone from guessing what's coming next. LOL