Somnio Salvus DRARRY

Chapter 18

Draco and Bellatrix stood on opposite sides of the room, glaring at each other. Bellatrix strode slowly towards him, tapping her wand menacingly. Draco met her gaze, hoping he looked braver than he felt.

'So, you still won't talk?' she asked coldly.

Draco didn't answer. He kept his expression carefully blank as his aunt moved nearer. Seeing her face more closely, he noticed that behind the furious scowl there was another expression in her eyes altogether. He didn't know whether it was a good thing or not, but Bellatrix was terrified.

'If you tell me why you interfered, I might be able to think of a way to fix this mess,' she said, the panic in her eyes contradicting her calm tone. 'You might even leave this room alive.'

Draco steeled himself - it would not do for her to detect his fear. He resisted the temptation to gabble some made-up story. Instead, he smiled faintly and raised an eyebrow at her.

Bellatrix lost her temper in an explosion of fear and rage. She seized him by the shoulders and shrieked, 'You have no idea what's going to happen to us! You're as good as dead, whatever happens...I'll be executed for failing to deliver Potter...unless...' She thought for a moment. 'Unless I deliver the reason why I failed...then I might just get the Cruciatus...'

She was suddenly interrupted by the metallic sound of two large, iron door handles being turned. She whirled round to face the doors, eyes wide and anxious. She stood rather close to Draco's side as the two massive doors swung inwards with an ominous creak.

The sun, with perfect dramatic timing, dropped below the horizon. The bright, lavish room became gloomy and forbidding as Lord Voldemort entered, blood-red eyes glowing beneath his hood.

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Professor Dumbledore paced slowly around his office, a grave expression on his weathered face. Harry fidgeted in his seat, waiting impatiently for the Headmaster to say something. He looked hopefully at Lupin, but he was deep in conversation with Madam Hooch. Tonks stood alone near the window, still looking shell-shocked. Professor McGonagall was whispering earnestly to Professor Snape, and didn't see Harry's worried expression.

While Harry waited, the door banged open and Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the room. 'Rosmerta's been found!' He announced. 'In the basement of the pub, with a Full Body-bind on her that took three of us to undo. She couldn't remember much - she said she went down there to fetch a bottle of Gillywater and zap! She didn't see who did it.'

Dumbledore assimilated this news in silence, as the other Professors and Members of the Order glanced at each other anxiously. Harry sighed inwardly. While the news confirmed his story - that the Rosmerta he had met outside the pub wasn't Rosmerta at all - he wasn't exactly pleased about it. In fact, he would have rather liked to be proved wrong.

After what felt like an endless wait, Dumbledore sat down at his desk. He breathed deeply and gave Harry a concerned look.

'Harry, once again I must admit myself mistaken. I believed that all necessary precautions had been taken to ensure your safety, but I placed too much faith in information that turned out to be misleading.'

Harry tried to say that it didn't matter, he didn't care, he just wanted to find Draco...but Dumbledore continued.

'Sending Draco Malfoy to warn you of the attack was perhaps an error of judgement. It was my intention that the gesture would go some way towards dispelling the enmity between you, and demonstrate that Draco is now our ally. I did not foresee that I was placing him at risk.'

Harry was too angry with himself to blame Dumbledore.

'Professor, Draco warned me not to go to Hogsmeade today but I didn't listen. It's my fault - I was angry with him. When I calmed down I think I did start to believe him. I don't know why I went near the pub, I knew it was dangerous...I...' He faltered, trying to remember what had been going through his mind while he wandered the streets of Hogsmeade, but his memory of the events leading up to the attack was strangely foggy.