She laughed hollowly. 'Voldemort? No.'
They reached the top of a wide staircase, carved of pitted stone, that swept down to what looked like it had once been an entrance hall.
Draco could see the dim outline of broken pillars and a cracked marble floor. He turned and looked at Hermione, who was still looking blank, stunned, and miserable. 'Can you make it down the stairs?'
'I am perfectly fine,' she said, in a clipped voice.
'Okay…' He looked at her, bewildered, shook his head, and started down the steps. She followed him, walking slowly. He had to resist the urge to hurry her forward in exasperation. I don't know what she's been through, he reminded himself. Anything could have happened to her — anything at all. He cast a sideways look at her.
She looked all right — tired, of course, and with that mother-of-pearl shine under her eyes that meant that she'd been crying. There was a cut on her lip that looked as if she'd bitten it, but other than that she seemed unhurt. 'Hermione,' he said suddenly, turning towards her. 'Look, you don't have to talk to me, but just tell me if you're all right. Just nod, will you?'
'Such concern,' said a voice behind them. 'How very endearing.'
They both turned; Draco quickly, Hermione more slowly, as if she dreaded what she might see.
Salazar Slytherin stood at the foot of the stairs.
Lupin looked up at the knock on his door. 'Just a second,' he called out, glancing around hastily. He hadn't really had time to straighten up his office since he'd discovered it wrecked the day before. He'd swept most of the shards of adamantine into a corner, and spent some time separating his papers into 'ruined' and 'not ruined' piles. A few spells had fixed the windows, and returned the nymph-who-looked-like-Lily's snow globe to something resembling its former condition (although the snow in the globe now had a tendency to look rather blue.)
Lupin reached out and yanked a copy of the Daily Prophet towards him, covering the pages of the book he was reading, or trying to read. It was the book the centaur had given him in the Forbidden Forest, and so far he'd had no luck trying to decipher what language it was written in. He'd tried Trollish, Mermish, Giantish, and even Elvish, to no effect.
'Come in,' he called.
It was Fleur. She came in smiling, the light catching her silver hair, turning it to tinsel. ''Ello, Professor! You wanted to see me?'
'Fleur,' he replied, with weary caution. 'Yes. I wanted to ask you something.'
She smiled at him. 'Yes?'
'Do you know where Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are?'
Her smile vanished, to be replaced by a pout. 'No, I do not,' she said. 'Why would I?'
'Right.' Lupin rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was fairly sure he could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. 'Have I mentioned that I know perfectly well that they sent you over here the other day to trick me into leaving my office? It seemed possible to me that they might have let you in on the rest of their plans.'
'Maybe,' said Fleur, batting her eyelashes, 'It was just because I like you.'
Lupin sighed. 'Fleur,' he said. 'I told you. I'm a werewolf. That veela business doesn't work on me. Besides, I'm twice your age and I'm your teacher.'
'I could take a different class,' suggested Fleur.
'I'd still be a teacher here at this school,' said Lupin. Now he was positive that he was getting a headache.
'Well, actually, as to that,' said a voice from the corner.
Both Lupin and Fleur turned around. It was Sirius, of course, his head and shoulders visible in the fireplace. 'I need to talk to you, Remus,' he said.
Relieved, Lupin turned to Fleur. 'If you'll excuse us?'
Fleur gave Lupin an appraising look. Then she gave Sirius an appraising look. Whatever it was she was thinking caused her to smile broadly. She turned around, twitched her shoulders, and walked out, shutting the door behind her.
'Pretty girl,' said Sirius.
'Quite,' said Lupin, in a tone that suggested that that avenue of conversation was closed. 'Are you back home, Sirius?'
'I'm at the Manor, with Narcissa,' said Sirius, who looked tired. 'We got back last night. I've sent the Aurors packing for the moment, and I've been up all night. I owled Dumbledore — '
'So did I.'
'And I've owled Harry's friends — I sent a message to Ron Weasley last night, since he's Harry's best friend I thought he might have an idea where he's gone.'
'What does Dumbledore say?'
'He seems to think Harry's all right,' said Sirius. 'He's not worried.'
'Good,' said Lupin, trying to sound more optimistic than he felt.
'Did you go to the Forbidden Forest?'
'I did,' said Lupin. He reached for the book and carried it over to the fire, where he showed it to Sirius and explained what the centaur had told him. Sirius looked at the book and shook his head.
'Never seen anything like it,' he said. 'Not even during my Auror training. Are you sure that's a language? It just looks like squiggles.'
