(HP) Because Potter Is Allergic to Poppies

Dreams and Desires

Draco slowed his run when he emerged from the Floo connection into St. Mungo's. He would
attract the wrong kind of attention if he hurried here. Those who recognized him would think it
their duty to interfere and ask why an Apprentice Healer was running in the corridors; those who didn't would stop him and ask where the emergency was and if they could help.

Not for the first time, Draco regretted that there was absolutely no one anywhere in hospital he could trust.

But that's the price to be paid for having a lot of magic and a Death Eater name, he reminded
himself as he slipped down the corridor that led to Harry's room, checking anxiously behind and
in front of him. The doors to the sides were all locked, and only dim firelight spilled out from
beneath them. Draco kept his wand, with the Lumos Charm on the end of it, low in front of him,
so that no one behind those doors would spot the strange shine moving down the corridor where no shine should be. And for remaining an apprentice for three years, when everyone else I entered the program with can feel superior to me.

Draco ground his teeth. Everyone thought he was incompetent, and although that had worked to his advantage with Mallow, who'd assigned him to Harry because he thought for sure Harry would die on Draco's watch, the implication was still insulting.

He reached Harry's room. Draco forced himself to pause and draw a deep breath a few times,
rather than simply burst through the door, no matter how much he wanted to. If he entered and
found Harry dead, then he couldn't be responsible for his reactions. If he entered and Harry was still alive, he might spring a trap.

Eventually, when he thought his heartbeat calm enough, he lifted his wand and examined the door.

His caution paid off. There was no way he would have seen the small and subtle net of silvery lines stretched across the doorframe if he'd simply followed his worry and charged in, trying to be a hero. Draco traced the lines to the knob and the side of the door, and nodded in grim admiration.

Mallow had made sure there was no way Draco could open the door without triggering the spells, even if he didn't touch the knob.

And what were those spells meant to do?

Draco checked one more time over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Sabian there, or Haagedorn with his squeaking bucket. But the corridor remained dim and silent, so he cast another charm of the kind that he'd found among his father's papers and which he would probably be sacked merely for knowing.

The magic left him as a trail of bright white sparks that looked oddly like breadcrumbs. They
floated around the spells and returned to him with a clear picture of the spellcaster's intentions.
This particular incantation was considered an invasion of privacy, and not foolproof, since someone could cast spells in good faith and still have them go wrong. But in this case, Draco had no doubt of what appeared in his mind.

A bolt of shocking force would speed towards Harry, unstringing his nerves and squeezing his heart. He would die swiftly, though not fast enough to prevent him from getting off a scream, and it would appear as though he had died because Draco entered the room.

Draco had no doubt at all how that evidence would be interpreted.

He shut his eyes and stood calmly, working hard to contain his joy, because the use of those spells at least suggested Harry was still alive. Draco had to wonder if Mallow's own compulsion
towards revenge had undone him. Mallow had probably figured out that Draco was the one
who'd foiled his violent poisons this afternoon and so wanted Draco to be responsible for killing Harry if possible.

Draco moved in a slow circle, pacing, and wondering what the correct thing would be to do. He could fetch someone else and show them these spells, but there was no evidence that Mallow had cast them. And in the meantime, Mallow might be watching, or have a spy who was doing so, and leaving Harry's room so soon after he reached it would be a clear signal that Draco had learned the truth.