Chapter Four

All the glory belongs to JKR, Warner Bros., Scholastic, and my beta, AmyLouise.

Chapter Four

Harry and Ginny were snuggled up on the couch in front of a warm fire, and they were rather busy. Harry was brushing his lips along Ginny’s neck, ending right behind her ear. As expected, she wriggled under him, wanting to hurry him, but he just smiled. He loved driving her crazy and, after three years, he could still play her body like an instrument, manipulating it and pleasing it perfectly.

Ginny grabbed at his belt, pulling, but he gently moved her hand away, smiling as he sucked and gnawed on her earlobe. “Harry, please…” she whispered. He brought his face close to hers so he could look into her eyes, and he shook his head teasingly.

Suddenly, he felt himself being flipped over and straddled by a woman who knew exactly how to play him, too. She leaned down to kiss him, and just as her tongue slid out to brush his, they heard a knock at the door. She flopped her head down and groaned into Harry’s neck. “Who the hell could that be at this hour?”

Harry gently moved his wife’s leg aside and slid off the couch. Damn. He was as hard as a rock and knew he was going to be very uncomfortable in a few minutes. This had better be enormously fucking important. As he always did, Harry grabbed his wand before heading to the door. Ginny gave herself a quick tidy and sat up.

When Harry pulled the door open, he found his best friend, shoulders sagging with pain. “Ron, what the hell—what happened?” asked Harry. Ginny jumped up and ran to the door, pulling her distraught brother inside. He just allowed himself to be tugged along, too upset to speak just yet, so she led him quickly to the couch and sat him in the middle. She and Harry eased down on either side of him.

“Ron, what is it? Are Mum and Dad okay? Where’s Hermione?” Ginny knew her brother had been a mess for months, but he looked different tonight—almost panicked.

“I… I… broke…” His words were cut off by a harsh sob, and he just couldn’t say it. He sucked in a breath, determined not to get emotional, although he hated himself for this apparently irrepressible habit of letting down the people he loved.

Harry put his hand on Ron’s shoulder. “Listen, Ron. We can’t help you until you tell us what happened. Try to breathe, okay?”

Ron put his head in his hands, trying hard to calm down but struggling to fight the guilt. Finally, he lifted his face again. “I broke things off with Hermione.”

“Ron!” Ginny burst into tears and leaned forward onto her knees. Hermione had become her sister, and although she sensed indifference in Ron sometimes, she had believed they were good for each other. No more changes… please… She didn’t think she could take losing anyone else, and she knew her parents couldn’t.

Harry wasn’t quite as shocked. He’d listened to Ron several times lately, griping about yet another fight with Hermione, and whenever he visited, he could feel more vibes of tolerance than love. Ron spent more time drunk than sober, and he knew Hermione wouldn’t put up with that behavior forever. He wondered how bad their financial situation had gotten…

“So, Ron, do you want to tell us about it now, or have a drink first?” Harry asked. Ron took a deep breath and swelled with gratitude. Harry had always understood him, and even if he knew Ginny would freak out, he still knew this was the right place to be tonight.

“A firewhisky would be great, thanks.” He turned to his sister. “Ginny, I’m sorry. I know you’re angry, but I promise this was the right thing to do. If you’ll just listen to me, I can explain.”

“Explain? Ron, do you even have any idea what this will do to Mum?”

“Um… I think I have a small idea…” Harry couldn’t suppress a slight grin. Ron knew as well as he did that Ginny and Molly had identical tempers and tendencies toward rather dramatic reactions.

Ginny kept going as though she didn’t hear him. “We have been through enough, Ron! Enough! What were you thinking?”

“Ginny, please just listen to me. You don’t understand what it’s been like.”

Walking over to the kitchen, Harry added, “Gin, just hear him out. You can’t change what’s happened by yelling at him.”

Ginny just glared daggers at him. How could she have just been kissing this prick? However, she did stop yelling to listen since she was no less curious than the next person.

XXXXX

It had been two hours, six books, and pages of notes. Still, they had found nothing which even remotely matched the description of the pearlescent substance surrounding Draco’s mother. Emma had started sending pointed looks in their direction, making sure Hermione knew how late it was getting and probably trying to let her know that she’d be here half the night reshelving those damned books.

“Malfoy? We should probably get going. Emma will want to get at least a few hours of sleep tonight.”

“All right, Granger, but do you think Emma will let me check out some of these books until tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. Restricted books are usually not allowed out of here, but sometimes she lets me take one or two, since I’m here so often, and she knows I would never use them inappropriately.”

“Good. Check some out for me then.”

“Do not order me around, Malfoy. If I check anything out, it will not be because you commanded me.”

“Whatever. Just do it. I don’t have time to fuck around.” Hermione softened—slightly—when she saw that he had anxiety in his eyes. She guessed she wouldn’t be able to take a break, either, if it were her mother.

“All right, but don’t stay up all night, or you’ll stop comprehending what you’re reading.” Draco almost laughed out loud, thinking that she had to be the haughtiest know-it-all of the century.

He handed her two books from the table, smirking openly, and she huffed and turned to walk toward the front desk. If only she weren’t such a bitch(and a Gryffindor), he might think her ass was pretty cute.

XXXXX

Fine, then, she was right. Draco was about to go blind trying to sift through this crap. So far, he had found one curse that slopped clear slime all over an enemy and another silly one that caused someone to literally flood snot out of their nostrils. This child’s play was in the restricted section? He may have been able to use this book in third year, but this was a waste of time. Besides,the letters were starting to jump all over the pages. He grabbed his Scotch and just gulped the lot, wishing he had some other resource aside from crumbling pages of pranks.

He wondered if Granger had seen anything worth looking into. He wondered if she had even tried yet. He left the volume on his glass table, which had luckily been fixed with a quick “Reparo,” stood up with a sigh, and started pacing around his living room. Granger said she had felt cold when she saw the substance—could that mean anything? No, of course not. You can’t feel temperatures through paper, Draco. He really just had no ideas and no leads, and his mother could have any number of days,hours, or minutes left. He had to figure this out. He just had to.