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Chapter 11: Finding Out.
Waking up slowly, Draco looked around, feeling like it would be better to stay in his bed rather than going down to breakfast, before visiting his Godfather’s private chambers. He wanted to skip breakfast desperately but it had been decided that he would keep up appearances at least at breakfast and lunch. He hated it though; hated listening to his fellow Slytherins who were still planning on taking the Dark Mark, hearing them plotting against the Muggle-borns and Hermione in particular, seeing their looks of glee at the battle that was coming.
He never thought it would come to this, that he would turn away from everything his Father had taught him, and work with the Headmaster, his Godfather and a Gryffindor to bring down the Dark Lord. He had never thought that he would feel like sitting down at the Ravenclaw table, just to get away from the Slytherins. Hell, he would even sit at the Gryffindor table if only more people there could stand the sight of him. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t, he would have to be a good little Slytherin, keeping up appearances, a little longer.
Finally getting up - he was already annoyed with Crabbe and Goyle, which was nothing unusual - he quickly took a shower, got dressed and went up the stairs to the Great Hall. With a bit of luck, Hermione would already be there, smile in place, whishing him good morning with the smallest of waves. Hearing Pansy come up after him, he sped up and sat down at the Slytherin table.
Hermione was indeed already in the Great Hall, but she wasn’t smiling and certainly not waving at him. She seemed to be in a heated discussion with her friends, not looking pleased at all. He wondered what was going on and slowly walked over, pretending to be on his way to pick on Potter and Weasley. Nothing unusual over here, just walking, don’t notice me. He should have known it would attract the notice of everybody involved. Finally, he was close enough to hear.
“Hermione, why won’t you tell us what is going on?”
“Because, Harry, I asked you to trust me. I asked you because I can’t tell you. Now please, leave me alone!” Hermione didn’t know why all of a sudden her friends were all over her, but she couldn’t tell them; she had to keep the secret. She had to keep Selena and Draco safe. And her friends were quickly pushing her to her limit.
“‘Mione?” This time it was Ginny.
“What, Ginny?” By now she was barely keeping calm.
“Don’t be mad, but we already know where you go all the time; we just want to know why. We don’t trust the ferret.”
“Maybe you don’t, but can’t you keep quiet about it? Don’t you see? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t talk about it! Do you have any idea the danger you’re putting people in? No! You don’t! So stop talking about Draco where people can hear.” She was raising her voice by the end of that little speech. She was beyond angry now; she just wanted to leave, before something stupid happened. She didn’t notice that the few people who were in the Great Hall on that Saturday morning were already listening, that Draco was standing behind her.
“So its Draco now, is it?” Ron growled.
“Listen to her, Weasley,” Draco drawled, reminding himself forcefully of his father once again.
“What did you do to her, Malfoy?” Harry was gritting his teeth, wanting to do something, but neither Draco, nor any of the others got any chance to reply. It was the Headmaster who spoke up next.
Severus had seen Hermione get more agitated, had seen Draco walk over, and after only a quick nod to the Headmaster, did they both intervene. He didn’t know what the Headmaster planned on doing, but he knew he was involved in this and wanted to keep informed of everything that was going on. That his own daughter or godson might get caught up in this, even more then they already were, was all the reason he needed to protect them.
“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you will keep quiet in the Great Hall, please.” Albus was calmly looking at the students involved in this, and inwardly sighed that this whole war seemed to revolve around children.
Harry and Ginny saw the look on the Headmaster’s face and indeed kept quiet. Even Hermione and Draco didn’t need any extra encouragement, though the look on Professor Snape’s face was an extra reason to keep still.
But just as Harry was about to mutter a quiet, “Yes, sir,” Ron spoke up. “But, sir, Malfoy did something to Hermione.”
That one sentence was enough to get Harry and Ginny cringe and Hermione all riled up again. It seemed as if a small explosion had occurred, then and there at the Gryffindor table. Everybody seemed to have something to say.
Another nod between the Headmaster and Professor Snape was, again, enough. A few Silencing Charms were used and the five students involved were ushered down the stairs into the dungeons and Professor Snape’s office, leaving behind a Great Hall full of curious students and professors alike. Besides the time when Draco had been turned into a ferret, nobody had ever seen any charms used on any of the students. It must have been serious indeed.
When they had all settled in Professor Snape’s office, the Headmaster looked around at the students, then at his Potions Master and finally spoke again. “Now, if you promise to keep quiet, I will take off the Silencing Charms. Only one word,” the Headmaster added, looking at Ron in particular, “Only one word and you will be serving detention with Professor Snape. Is that understood?” Albus looked around the group and received their nods of agreement. Removing the charms he turned to Hermione. “Now, Miss Granger, why don’t you tell me what is going on here.”
Having found a place for herself in between the Professor’s desk and Draco’s seat, she looked between all those involved in helping Selena. Promising, with a look in her eyes to Professor Snape and Draco, that she would still keep her secret, she accepted their nods as understanding. She started to talk.
“It seems, sir, that Harry, Ron and Ginny found out where I’ve spent some of my time this past week.” As she looked at her three friends, she begged them to keep quiet with the look on her face, but it seemed that the threat of detention was enough, for now. Ron was fidgeting but even he kept quiet, though he wasn’t looking at her either. Not letting herself think on this, she continued. “You might remember, sir, that I ran into Harry last week, just before Draco and I had to come to your office. I told him then that I could not tell them what was happening. I guess knowing where I spend my time was too much for him.”
She didn’t want to add the words to keep his promise, but that was what it had been. She had told him she would tell him when she could, even though that may take some time, and she had kept her promise; he hadn’t.
Feeling how troubled Hermione was by all this, Draco tried to secretly take hold of her hand and squeeze it lightly in comfort, but it was noted by all except Ron, who still didn’t want to look at Hermione. Ginny and Harry were just surprised and it showed in their expressions.
“I understand, Miss Granger. Now, Mr. Potter, could you tell us what you know?” The question was friendly enough, but everyone around could hear the seriousness in Dumbledore’s voice. It was this very seriousness that made Harry speak the whole truth.
“Well, sir, what Hermione told you was true. I knew she and Malfoy had been talking to you on the first day after our NEWT’s. I also ran into her the morning she just told us about. She asked me to please trust her and to keep quiet about it, but I also told her then, I don’t trust Malfoy.”
At this Ron gave Draco a triumphant look, but this only allowed him to notice that he was holding Hermione’s hand.
“When, last night, we were talking about how we had missed Hermione this week, I told the others about my worries about her. It was Ginny who figured out that Malfoy was always absent at the same time, but it was Ron who figured we could use the map to find out where she was.”
“I should have known.” Severus had been listening to the things that were said, and looking around for clues to whatever hadn’t. He saw, with a feeling of pride, that Draco took hold of Hermione’s hand, and was holding in his smirk when Ron saw this as well. The angry flush in his face almost made him miss the last few words Harry uttered. “You still have that blasted map. Well, Potter, what exactly did you see?” He said it with bitter malice, but he had to know. The less people who knew about Selena, the better it was for her safety.
Harry couldn’t help but pick up on Snape’s malice, but he figured that since he had seen Snape close by, as well as Malfoy and that mysterious clouded name, that this was exactly what the secret was about. It was the first time he wondered what exactly they were asking of Hermione, when they demanded the truth.
“Well, sir, we saw Hermione down here in the dungeons. She was here together with Malfoy, you and someone whose name we couldn’t see.”
The sighs of relief from both Draco and Professor Snape were so obvious, that everybody turned to them. It was now not only clear to Harry, but to Ron and Ginny as well, that this secret person was the crux of everything.
Not liking the whole situation one bit and wanting some answers, Ron decided to risk his detention with Snape. “Sir?” He looked at the Headmaster with a question reflecting in his eyes.
“No, Mr. Weasley, I cannot tell you everything. But yes, it does have something to do with the person you saw on the map. The reason we cannot tell you about that…” Here the Headmaster broke off and turned to the door to Snape’s quarters. It seemed that it was no longer important to keep Selena a secret from them, for she had just walked into the room.
Quietly she walked up to Severus, who, after a look at the Headmaster, picked her up and placed her in his lap. She noticed something was going on; for one, there were some people in the room she didn’t know and her Uncle Albus was looking very serious. Maybe that was why the door to her Daddy’s office had stopped her with magic at first, but then the doors always opened when you asked them nicely, even if they had been locked with magic. Besides the door opening for her, the only thing that was good was that Draco was holding Hermione’s hand. So quietly she asked, “Daddy?”
How to explain all this? Especially when Selena turned around to look at Draco and Hermione, and said their names? Draco knew it would have been better to simply skip breakfast that morning. Now all the Gryffindor friends knew, and he was sure that within a few moments his Godfather and the Headmaster would tell them all that they needed to know. He could do nothing, but hope that they kept quiet.
It was now Hermione who held his hand and gave him a little squeeze of reassurance.
AN: So far, this has been the most difficult chapter yet. But Harry, Ron and Ginny are now in the story and a bit about Selena's 'specialness' is revealed.