And I didn?t see Draco with him, she thought, but pushed the thought down. Be quiet. It means nothing.
'I know where he must be,' said Rowena, sitting up. 'If he is a Magid, there is one prison on this earth that could hold him. Salazar built it himself. He meant to keep me in it. And adamantine, in great enough quantities, is blue.' She bit her lip, looking distracted.
Hermiones head was spinning. 'Harry is in an adamantine cell?
Doesn?t that mean it would be impossible to get to him?'
'I could tell you how to get into the cell now,' said Rowena thoughtfully. 'In the future, though…Salazar may have changed the wards.'
'Well, if I go there now, and use the Time-Turner,' said Hermione eagerly, 'it should bring us forward in time…to Harry.'
She sat back. 'Touch it and say mobiliarus, and it will act as a Portkey which will bring you to his castle. Take Benjamin with you.
He can let you into the cell, and Portkey back- '
There was a rustle at the tent flap. Benjamin poked his head in. 'Did you call for me?'
'Eavesdropping, Ben?' Rowena smiled. Then her smile faded slightly. 'Is there someone with you?'
'Well, yes but I wasn?t going to — '
'No.' Rowena straightened up. 'Let him come in.'
With a puzzled glance, Ben stepped into the tent and held the flap open for Ron to follow him. It looked as if it had started snowing, there were little white flakes caught in Rons scarlet hair. He looked curiously around the inside of the tent, taking in the elaborate furnishings and the collection of weaponry hanging on the wall.
'Come here,' said Rowena to him, and held out a hand.
Looking even more curious, he obeyed. Hermione watched as he crossed the room to the bed, his hands shoved in his pockets, eyebrows raised.
'You?re a Diviner,' said Rowena, without preamble, looking closely at him. 'A seventh son.'
Ron jerked his hands out of his pockets in astonishment. 'A what?'
'A Diviner. Are they not common in your time?'
Hermione felt her mouth drop open. 'But Ron hates Divination!'
'He must not have had the proper teaching, then,' said Rowena serenely.
'Ain?t that the truth,' grinned Ron, who looked surprised, but not altogether displeased to have been credited with an unexpected talent.
'Let me look at you,' said Rowena, and Ron took another step closer to her. Suddenly, she reached up, drew his head down and kissed him lightly on the forehead. 'Be very careful,' she said. 'Swear that you will.'
Looking very alarmed, Ron straightened up. 'I, uh, I will. I promise.'
Rowena nodded. 'Thank you.' She sat back against the pillows. 'You can go now.'
Ron nodded uneasily. 'Right. I… should go.'
He backed up, nearly stumbling into Benjamin, who took his arm and steered him out of the tent, while Ron stared back over his shoulder until the tent flap closed behind them.
Ginny had a puzzled expression on her face. 'Why should he be careful? Is he in danger?'
'Being a seventh son and a diviner is a gift, and like all gifts, it is a double-edged blade. It seems he has not been trained at all, but with some training, he could be powerful. And power attracts danger.'
'Don?t we know it,' said Ginny, with conviction.
Rowena closed her eyes as if exhausted.
'We should go,' said Hermione gently. She got to her feet, and impulsively leaned forward to take Rowenas hand. 'Is there anything you want to ask us, anything about the future?'
Rowena shook her head. 'It is best if I don?t know, I think.' She smiled gently at them. 'The future cannot be too bad, can it, if it produced you two, and your Diviner friend. And your Harry.'
'And Draco,' said Ginny staunchly.
'And him too,' said Rowena with the same gentleness. She looked towards the window. 'You had better go.'
Ginny reached forward and squeezed Rowenas hand, looking as if she might cry. Then she turned and fled.
Hermione glanced after Ginny and hesitated. There was something pressing on her mind. 'Rowena…' she began.
'Yes?'
'In the past…I mean, your past…did Helga and Salazar…did they…did they ever…' Her voice trailed off. Feeling very stupid, she knew her ears were turning pink. 'You know.'
Rowenas blue eyes sparkled through her tiredness. She leaned forward, and in a conspiratorial whisper, said, 'You know, I always wondered that myself. We all grew up together, and Helga… Helga was very pretty, and she always healed him when he got into scrapes…I always suspected there was something, but I never had any proof. I?ll tell you one thing, though,' and for the first time, Rowena actually grinned. 'She was the only person in the world who could ever tell him what to do.'
