blackened with age and looked as if it had been there forever. Descensus averno facilis est.
'What does that mean?' asked Draco wonderingly.
Lupin looked as if he didn't quite understand either. 'It's Latin,' he said. 'It means Easy is the Descent Into Hell.'
'That's cheerful,' said Harry.
'Are you sure it doesn't mean 'have a nice day'?' said Draco hopefully. 'Or 'this sword is worth a lot of money'?'
'Or ''I belong to a massive git'?' suggested Harry.
'No,' said Lupin. 'It means what I said it means.'
Both Harry and Draco looked uneasy. 'I dunno what that's about,' said Draco. 'But it sounds bad.'
'Salazar Slytherin was not the nicest man,' said Lupin. He stood up.
'With your permission, Draco, I'd like to take this sword back to my office and look at it more closely.'
'Go ahead,' said Draco, who was now looking at the sword with suspicion. 'But no running in the hallway!' he added as Lupin turned to leave. 'That thing is sharp.'
As they neared the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny checked her watch. She and Hermione had promised Ron they'd meet him back at Flourish and Blott's at three o'clock, and it was already two, which didn't leave Hermione a lot of time to have coffee with Krum.
Ginny cast a sideways glance at Hermione, who was looking very smart and pretty in a short red coat. She seemed slightly nervous, as Ginny supposed she would be too if she was going to meet someone she hadn't seen in two years, who had once been violently in love with her and for all anyone knew, might still be. Of course, as far as Ginny knew, no one had ever been violently in love with her. Not Harry, who she still loved…not anyone.
'We're here,' said Hermione, stopping under the sign of the Leaky Cauldron. 'Come in with me, won't you?' she added, looking at Ginny hopefully.
'Sure,' said Ginny, and started up the stairs with her. They ducked into the dark main room of the Leaky Cauldron, which was nearly empty. Ginny was squinting around, her eyes adjusting slowly to the lack of light, when a huge shape suddenly loomed up out of the dimness.
'Her-my-own-ninny,' said a gravelly voice.
Hermione caught Ginny's hand and squeezed it nervously. 'Viktor!'
she said. 'It's so good to see you.'
The passage of three years hadn't changed Viktor Krum's dark, gloomy appearance much. If anything, it had made him slightly craggier; he towered over Hermione and Ginny, glowering down at them from under beetling black eyebrows. 'Herm-my-own-ninny,' he said again, 'I vont to talk to you.' He glanced significantly at Ginny. 'Alone.'
Ginny looked at Hermione, who looked back at her in surprise. 'I'm not going off and leaving Hermione here!' said Ginny indignantly.
'She won't be able to get back on her own!'
But Viktor was still looking at Hermione. 'Please,' he said. 'Just five minutes. In there.' He jerked his head to the side, indicating a smaller room off the main one.
Hermione looked at Ginny, then shrugged. 'All right. Five minutes,' she said. 'Ginny, if you don't mind waiting here…'
Ginny shook her head. 'Of course not.'
She watched as the towering Krum shepherded the much smaller figure of Hermione through the far exit, and closed the door behind them, and shook her head. She didn't know what Krum wanted to say to Hermione, but from his expression, it was hardly good news.
In her opinion, Hermione never should have agreed to meet him, he hardly seemed trustworthy and then there was Harry to consider. If Harry was her boyfriend, Ginny thought she would never… no, she told herself, squelch that thought! Never going to happen.
The far door opened and Hermione came out, looking flustered. She came up to Ginny and took her hands. Ginny nearly cried out; Hermione's hands were freezing cold. 'Ginny,' she said, 'I've got to stay here and talk to Viktor. You go ahead and meet Ron. Viktor can drop me off at the Burrow later.'
Astonished, Ginny goggled at her. 'Are you sure?'
'Yes,' said Hermione, very firmly.
'But Hermione,' said Ginny, dropping her voice, 'I don't feel right just leaving you here. Can't he…can't he come back to the Burrow with us and you can talk there?'
Hermione shook her head. 'You'll understand later, Ginny,' she said, and as Ginny still looked doubtful, added irritably, 'I know what I'm doing, all right?'
Ginny stared as Hermione turned on her heel, walked away, and disappeared into the room where Viktor was, closing the door behind her. Feeling slightly dazed, Ginny turned and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron into the bright daylight of Diagon Alley.
Out of a dream of blood and fire, Draco awoke to find himself being shaken, hard, by the shoulder. He blinked, trying to see in the darkness. 'Potter?' he croaked. 'Ow! What are you doing — ?'
And broke off. For the eyes staring at him out of the darkness were not green, but dark red, veined with yellow.
Draco yelled. And threw himself sideways off the bed, rolling across the floor. He fetched up against the side of his trunk and scrambled to his knees, staring. It was nearly pitch black in the room, but he could see the hunched shape of something, something the size of a dog, crouching at the foot of his bed, glaring at him out of vicious-looking red eyes.
