'I?ll be fine.' He was looking down at her; their faces were very close. She could feel his breath against her cheek, stirring her eyelashes. An agonizing anticipatory tingle ran over her skin. 'Ginny, I wanted to tell you that — '
He broke off. For a moment she didn?t know why: then she heard what had interrupted him. Someone was knocking at the door. His hand tightened on her cloak. 'Aren?t there wards up around this house?'
'Yes.' She looked towards the door. 'They don?t let anyone with hostile intentions through. Oh! But it could be Ron- maybe something happened to him, hes been gone for so many hours — ' Pulling away from Draco, she leaped to her feet and ran to the kitchen door. He called after her to be careful, but she ignored him. She drew the chain back and threw the door wide open.
The blond young man on the front steps blinked in the sudden light.
'Ginny?'
For a moment, she simply froze in dumbfounded shock. He had so much been the last person she expected to see that for a moment it was as if a stranger stood there. It took a moment for recognition to come flooding in. 'Seamus?' she said. 'Seamus, what are you doing here?'
'I was worried,' he replied, his face breaking into a relieved smile at the sound of her voice. 'I heard what happened and I was so worried about you. I flew all night to get here — ' and without even finishing the sentence, he covered the space between them with a few swift steps and threw his arms around her. Too shocked to move, she returned his embrace weakly.
'Ginny,' he whispered into her hair. 'Oh Ginny, I?m so glad to see you…'
The narrow corridor leading down to the Potions Dungeon was so poorly lit as to be a danger. Dumbledore waved a hand as he made his way down it and red and gold sparks followed him, lighting the way. A small smile curled the corner of his mouth. He found the habitual darkness in which Severus Snape liked to work amusing. He found most things about Snape amusing; Severus knew this and bore it grimly. Part of his penance, perhaps. Dumbledore was not sure. In the complex wall of guilt, penance, and intransigence which Snape had built about himself, there were few chinks through which an onlooker might gaze and understand.
Dumbledore had reached the entrance to the laboratory now; he ducked as he passed through the low doorway. It was extremely dim inside, lit only by the light of a few faintly flaring overhead torches. The walls were lined with jars, flasks and vials or many-colored liquids, as were the surfaces of the multiple worktables. Fires burned, cauldrons bubbled, and enormous tomes of magic lay scattered everywhere. Dumbledore resisted the urge to move The Book of Gramarye to a place where it would not get essence of hemlock spilled on it.
He paused in the middle of the room. 'Hello, Severus,' he said quietly to the man behind the largest worktable. The Potions master, dressed in his black work robes, was busy adding several drops of oil of thornwood to a simmering cauldron, and for a moment did not reply. At last he glanced up and nodded. 'Headmaster,' he said, by way of greeting. 'What brings you down here so late?' He looked around, seeming to notice the darkness in the room for the first time. 'Is it late, isn?t it?'
'It is almost three in the morning, Severus.'
'Ah. I seem to have lost track of the time. I have been working.'
'I know.' Dumbledore rested a hand on the wooden worktable nearest him. He was very tired but had resisted Madam Pomfreys offer of a Pepperup Potion. 'And how goes the work? Have you had any luck identifying the substance in young Malfoys blood?'
Snape set the instrument he had been holding down on the worktable before him and regarded it grimly. 'No great luck, no,' he said. 'There were only trace evidences of any substance whatsoever to be found. I have identified certain components — traces of asphodel, belladonna and monkshood. I suspect it might be unicorn blood or powdered horn which gives the affected blood such a unique color. But none of that explains the side effects. Nor can I be sure what other elements might have broken down in the blood since the poison was administered. It is most frustrating.'
'You said 'poison,?' Dumbledore replied. 'So you think it is a poison, then?'
'I cannot be sure entirely,' said Snape. 'I certainly know of no bane which takes so long to take effect, and which produces such peculiar effects. But I cannot imagine what else it might be.'
'You may or may not be happy to know that Lucius Malfoy agrees with you on that score.'
Snape squinted. 'What do you mean?'
'Young Malfoy arrived here this evening in the company of Harry Potter,'
Dumbledore said. 'They claim to have eluded a trap set by Lucius at the Manor, and have come here seeking sanctuary. Which, of course, I am happy to provide.'
'Of course.' Snape took up a beaker of purplish liquid and poured it into the cauldron. The substance within turned an unexpected gold color.
'Anything for Harry Potter,' he muttered under his breath. 'I suppose they had the usual entourage with them?'
'If you mean Miss Granger and Miss Weasley, yes. Rather unexpectedly, they also brought young Mister Finnegan. I shall have to owl his parents in the morning.'
'Isn?t there one missing?' Snape had begun searching among his flasks and vials for something. Seen through the tinted liquids inside, his face took on an odd particolored appearance: a blue cheekbone, hooked green nose, and orange chin. 'What of our erstwhile Head Boy?'
Dumbledore shook his head. 'Ronald Weasley is not with them.'
'Unsurprising. If I were him I wouldn?t want to show my face around here either.' Snape selected a vial of pink liquid and held it up to the faint overhead light. He poured some into a stone mortar filled with powder, picked up a pestle, and began to mix whatever was inside into a reddish paste. 'Hes probably cowering somewhere, licking his wounds and feeling foolish.'
Dumbledore made a noncommittal noise.
Snape looked at him sharply. 'You don?t think so?'
'Not particularly, no, but that is not the issue at hand. We were speaking of the poison…'
'Yes. Lucius Malfoy knows of it?'
'Apparently he claims to have administered it,' Dumbledore said quietly.
There was a short silence. Snape raised an eyebrow. 'Poisoning his own son,' he remarked finally. 'Voldemort will be pleased with Lucius. Making the supreme sacrifice for the Dark Lord.'
'Given what Lucius gave up to serve Voldemort, is it really all that much of a sacrifice?'
'For Lucius, yes. Draco is still his. Minted out of the same metal. Malfoy bones and Malfoy blood. And he is an exceptional child. Subsequent children might not be so…exceptional. I don?t suppose,' Snape added, 'that there is the slightest chance that Dracos escape from the Manor will prove detrimental to Lucius? public standing?'
'Unlikely.' Dumbledores tone was flat and heavy. 'Sirius and Remus have already begun contacting all the old crowd and the reports are coming in. It appears that the corruption at the Ministry is more deep-rooted than we had ever imagined. We have been blind and complacent indeed and we will pay a heavy price for it. I imagine that soon enough Lucius will be able to walk down any wizarding street performing Unforgivable Curses right and left with no fear of punishment.'
'You paint a bleak picture,' Snape said, some irony in his tone. 'I thought that was my job.'
Dumbledore sighed. 'You are right, Severus. The hour is late and my mood is subsequently dark. I originally came down here to give you something, not to wallow in grim predictions.'
'Oh, yes? What is it?'
'You said that you were surprised that Lucius would consent to the destruction of his son,' said Dumbledore. 'I am not entirely sure that he did. He may have been hoping to use the poison as a bargaining chip.'
Snape, being Snape, twigged immediately. 'There is an antidote, then,' he said, setting down the pestle.
'There was an antidote.' Dumbledore reached into his pocket and drew out a roll of scarlet cloth. He laid it down on the worktable in front of the Potions master. 'Harry Potter gave me this. These are the broken fragments
