'I can't do it myself,' he said, still looking at her steadily.
Ginny closed her hand around the wand in her pocket, took a deep breath, and said. 'All right. Stand still.' He obeyed her as she approached him and reached up to pull the collar of his shirt aside.
She bent his head to the side, took her wand and ran it over his neck, and the marks on his skin vanished. She stepped back and surveyed her work.
'You look fine,' she said.
'Thanks,' he said, reaching down to pick up his sword from the ground. He straightened up to find her looking at him, her arms crossed over her chest.
'Just so you know, I'm not doing this for you,' she said. 'I'm doing this because I don't want to see Harry hurt.'
'Really?' Draco looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite read — anger? Amusement? Guilt? Nothing at all? 'Better keep your eyes shut, then,' he said, and walked away from her, back towards where the others were waiting with their broomsticks.
Sirius' attempt to be stern and disciplinary was summarily ruined by the fact that when Draco, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny walked into the anteroom at Malfoy Manor, holding their broomsticks and looking wary, Sirius burst out laughing. 'Draco!' he exclaimed.
'What are you wearing?'
Draco looked down blankly, then back up again. 'Charlie's clothes,' he said.
'Ha!' said Sirius, or something very like it, and proceeded to fall about laughing.
'I think he looks sweet,' said Narcissa, who had been standing beside Sirius on the stairs with her arms folded. Unable to suppress a smile, she uncrossed them, walked down the stairs, threw her arms around Draco, and kissed him on the forehead.
'Mum!' he exclaimed, looking only marginally less horrified than he had when confronted with Salazar Slytherin.
'Those trousers can't be comfortable,' she said. ''They're so…'
'They're fine,' he said, through his teeth.
Meanwhile, Harry was looking at Sirius in astonishment. He had rarely seen Sirius laugh so hard. Sirius caught his glance, and saw the surprise in it and the anxiety as well. He stopped laughing, came down the stairs, and stood looking at Harry for a moment, noting with a pang that Harry was now nearly as tall as he was.
'Hallo, Sirius,' said Harry, looking nervous.
Sirius stood still, looking at his godson, seeing Harry's green eyes widen with anxiety behind his glasses. Then he leaned forward, and as Narcissa had done with her son, kissed Harry on the forehead.
'Welcome home, Harry,' he said.
It took several hours of everyone talking over everyone else in loud, excitable voices for Sirius and Lupin to even begin to sort out the story of what had been going on.
They were all in the library (except for Narcissa, who had remained downstairs to talk to the Aurors who had come to pick up the last of Lucius' Dark Arts collection.) It was early afternoon now, and the stained-glass windows threw dizzying patches of colored light over everyone as Hermione, the last and the most reluctant to speak, told them what she could remember of what had happened to her. Lupin stood with his hands clenched on the side of the desk while Sirius listened with his eyes narrowed and his fingers templed under his chin.
When Hermione had finished, Sirius lowered his hands to the desk and shook his head. 'Well,' he said. 'You've all been through quite a bit. And you've all,' he added, 'been very brave, if somewhat over-impetuous. But I think you also know that this — situation — reaches far beyond you. It's very, very serious.'
Hermione closed her eyes. A terrible pounding headache had begun just behind her forehead. Vaguely, she heard Sirius say, 'The real issue of course, is whether that actually was Salazar Slytherin, and if so-'
'Of course he was Slytherin,' said Draco, in a tight voice. 'Who else would he have been?'
'That is the question,' said Sirius. 'We can't discount that this could be some plan of Voldemort's. He might think that the name of Slytherin would strike such fear into the-'
'That wasn't Voldemort,' interrupted Draco, again. 'Voldemort would have killed us if he'd had us right there like that. He wouldn't have let us go.'
'The Dark Lord wouldn't have wanted you,' put in Ron, rather unexpectedly. 'He would have wanted Harry. Maybe that's why he let you go. If he'd kidnapped Hermione, he would have expected Harry to show up. Not,' he added, with distaste, 'you.'
'Right,' said Hermione, irritably. 'Because Voldemort reads Witch Weekly and knows all about my love life.'
'Besides, I've met Voldemort,' added Draco, in a rather tense voice.
'And that wasn't him.'
'Sometimes,' said Ron, leaning forward and looking at Draco with mock earnestness, 'you know, villains, they actually disguise themselves. In fact, they're known for it.'
'It was Salazar Slytherin!' shouted Draco with sudden and unexpected violence. 'Doubt all you like, he will make you regret it-
'
He broke off.
Everyone was staring at him.
Harry was the first to break the silence. 'Malfoy,' he said. 'Are you feeling all right?'
'I'm fine,' said Draco, although he looked startled.
