'Well, Hermione-'
'Hermione's under a spell,' said Ron, firmly.
'Harry likes him.'
'Harry told me he doesn't consider Malfoy a friend,' said Ron, which was true enough.
Ginny was taken aback, but recovered quickly. 'Sirius,' she said triumphantly. 'Sirius likes him.'
Ron looked solemn. 'Sirius did a lot of drugs when he was our age.'
'Ron!'
Ron grinned. 'Okay, maybe not. But he definitely had a wild side, maybe that makes him identify with Malfoy. Dad did tell me that Sirius went to his Hogwarts graduation wearing nothing but a pair of orange-tinted swimming goggles and some leather motorcycle gloves.'
Ginny was momentarily diverted from the topic of Draco. 'Is that true?'
'I dunno, Harry and I went to try to check the old graduation pictures in the library, but that year is missing. I bet some girl stole it.'
'Well, he still likes Draco,' said Ginny firmly. 'So there you go.'
'Ginny,' said Ron equally firmly. 'You can do better than Malfoy.
Okay?'
At which point Ginny did something she hadn't done in years, and, quite unprovoked, brought her foot down hard on Ron's toe.
'Yeow!' he yelled, jumping away and giving her an injured look.
'What'd you do that for?'
'Can't you let him alone for just one second?' Ginny said, almost tearfully. 'Can't you just think of one good thing about him?'
'Sure,' said Ron. 'Someday, he'll be dead.' Seeing Ginny's furious expression, he sighed, reached out and took her hand. 'Look, Ginny.
I can't help it. I will admit that Malfoy really does seem to care about Hermione, and to some extent, that makes him human. But I just don't feel comfortable trusting him, and more than anything, I don't want you to get hurt. Understand?'
'I understand, but I'm not the one who's in danger of getting hurt at the moment,' said Ginny in a small voice. 'He is.' She looked at her brother. 'He is in danger, Ron. I can still feel Dark Magic, you know, and I felt it coming off him the last time I saw him. Like cold waves.
Not coming from him, but around him. There's something working on him, or through him — like me with that diary — '
She broke off as the door opened and their parents walked in. Molly and Arthur Weasley looked more than a little shell-shocked, and when Molly came forward to hug Ginny, it was with an unexpected intensity.
'What's going on, Mum?' asked Ginny, pulling away.
'Sirius just got back from the hospital,' said Mr. Weasley.
Ron's eyes were wide. 'Is Dumbledore all right?'
'He's in stable condition,' said Mr. Weasley. 'But Lucius Malfoy is dead.'
Ginny's eyes widened. 'Draco's father?' she whispered. 'He's dead?'
'Murdered in his cell,' said Mr. Weasley. 'Extremely unpleasantly.'
'I think it's time we go home,' said Mrs. Weasley. 'This is a time for the family and I can't help but feel we're intruding.'
'Not to mention I need to get to the Ministry,' added Mr. Weasley.
'I've gotten several owls from Percy already….'
'We're leaving?' asked Ron, still wide-eyed. 'But what about Harry?
And Hermione?'
'This is Harry's home, love,' said Mrs. Weasley firmly. 'This is where he belongs and should stay. And I've already asked Hermione if she'd like to come back home with us, but she said she'd prefer to remain with Harry.'
'Made up, then, have they?' asked Ron.
'Looks like it.'
Ron looked over at Ginny. Ginny looked back at him mournfully.
'Can we go say goodbye to Harry and Hermione?' she asked.
Mrs. Weasley sighed. 'You'll see them again soon enough, I'm sure,' she said. 'But go on and make your farewells. At this rate we won't be home before morning.'
The atmosphere in the library was gloomy. The Weasleys' departure had left Harry and Hermione looking stunned, as if they couldn't quite believe their friends were gone. Mrs. Weasley had had dozens of hugs for Harry and had extended invitations to both of them to come to the Burrow, but Harry had been adamant that he wanted to stay with Sirius, and Hermione had been adamant about staying with Harry, so that had been that and the two of them now sat holding hands behind the desk, looking, Lupin thought, like a painting of orphan children with big, sad eyes. Sirius had taken Narcissa into the drawing-room to talk to her about Lucius' death, as well as what Dumbledore had told them about Draco, and they had not yet returned.
Lupin, meanwhile was thumbing through the book that he had begun to think of as Slytherin's diary, although there was no proof yet that that was what it was. Now that he knew it was Parseltongue, he was fairly sure he would be able to manage a translation. It was the one bright spot amongst general gloom.
