The Tale of Two Enemies

Chapter Seven

"Come on Harry! Let me see it!" Ron whined as he attempted to reach for the heavily prized notebook.

"Wait Ron!" The raven haired wizard bit back as he clutched desperately to the book in his hands.

They had finally made it back to the Gryffindor common room as the invisibility cloak slid off their shoulders.

Harry's eyes quickly darted around the room, relieved to see that no one else was present in the room.

"Give it here!" Ron growled as he made a last ditch effort to seize the book.

This time it worked as possession of the notebook transferred to the redhead's hands.

"Got it!" Ron shouted a little too loudly, though it seemed the words were meant more for his own ears than anyone else's.

He wasted no time as he made a dash for the stairs.

"Wait!" Harry shouted, his leg fumbling to gain tracking as he attempted to pursue his best friend. He finally managed to get some movement before promptly tripping over his invisibility cloak.

"Damn it." Harry muttered under his breath as he watched his best friend disappear up the spiral staircase.

Ron began tearing open the pages of the notebook before he even reached the last step.

He knew he had to get a head start if he had any hope of reading a decent chunk before Harry swiped it from him.

He ran his eyes over the text, marveling at how neatly the handwriting was presented. Though, this soon became the least fascinating aspect of the words laid out before him.

"Harry and Snape?" Ron mumbled the words under his breath as though unable to believe what he was reading. The shock was evident on his face as his best friend rounded the corner.

"What?" Harry failed to disguise the concern in his voice as he watched Ron's eyes widen at at a somewhat disturbing rate.

"I see why Hermione didn't want Draco getting a hold of this." Ron's eyes were wide open as his eyes continued to run across the words.

"Why? It's not about him is it?" Harry screwed up his face as if disgusted at the mere prospect.

"Umm not exactly." Ron began to whimper as though suddenly afraid for his life.

"Then what?" Harry raised an eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be worse than Draco Malfoy.

Ron hesitated, suddenly wishing he hadn't read the words, as though doing so now made him the bearer of bad news.

"It's about," Ron visibly cringed, debating whether if revealing the contents of the notebook to his best friend was such a good idea.

"What Ron?" Harry demanded, loosing patience as his eyes contemplated snatching the diary for himself.

"You." Ron relented, squinting as though afraid to look at his best friend.

A silence resonated through the room, it went on for so long that it prompted Ron to grimace as he looked up to the raven haired wizard.

"Me? But why would Hermione write about me?" Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to solve the problem he had just proposed.

"Unless...?" Harry tapped his fingers against the side of his cheek, as though running through a collection of possible scenarios.

His own eyes widened as one particular prospect rose above the rest.

"It's not what your thinking." Ron cringed, knowing full well where his best friend's mind was heading.

"How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"You think it's a love story between you and Hermione, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Harry tilted his head slightly, as though struggling to figure out exactly what it was that troubled his friend so much.

The faint essence of a proud smile threatened to erupt on Harry's lips at the mere prospect.

"It's not that." Ron stated flatly, hardly clarifying anything as he clutched the book tighter in his fingers, as though afraid Harry might try to snatch it.

"Then what?" Harry managed to mask his confusion but not his growing agitation as he took a step closer to his best friend.

The redhead flinched before taking an instinctive step backwards.

"You know what, it's really not that greater read anyway, not worth it really." Ron offered his friend an extremely fake smile as he slowly side stepped towards the nearest window, as if praying the raven haired wizard wouldn't notice his movements if they were subtle enough.

"Ron, we didn't go to all that trouble to sneak into Snape's office,"

"Yeah I know, but," Ron paused, watching as his friend took a step closer to him until he crossed the limit he had set in his mind.

Now.

Ron dashed for the window, yanking it open before tossing the book out the window in one elegant move.

Wow.

He even surprised himself at how unclumsy that routine had been.

A proud smile tugged at his lips as he momentarily forget his predicament.

"Ron! What the hell did you do that for?!" Harry raced to the window, as though doing so would enable him to be able to save the book from it's imminent demise.

"It's for the best really." Ron nodded, more to himself than Harry.

"How?! That's it, I'm going after it." The raven haired wizard stated before turning on his heel and darting towards the stairs.

"Crap!" Ron's eyes widened as his lips betrayed his inner panic. His gaze promptly turned back to the window, just in time to watch the notebook hit a cobblestone path way. His eyes lingered upon the item wondering how the hell he was going to get to it before his best friend did.

But Harry quickly became the least of his worries as the warm evening light illuminated a distinct figure as it approached the walkway.

Ron's eyes widened as the presence of a familiar blonde haired wizard came into view.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Ron couldn't believe his eyes as they ran up and down the form of none other than Lucius Malfoy.

Maybe he won't notice the notebook?

Ron sunk his teeth into the inside of his lip as he watched the tall figure veer dangerously close to it.

It seemed as though the scene before him was playing out in slow motion. T

here was no way Harry would be able to get to the notebook before Lucius would at this rate.

The blonde wizard stalled, the toe of his boot mere inches from the book.

Oh no.

Ron visibly grimaced as the inevitable was playing out before his eyes.

No no no no no!

The redhead watched as Lucius knelt down, collecting the item in his fingers before prying the pages open.

Ron could practically hear the blonde thinking 'ah, what do we have here?'

A moment later the inevitable occurred, Harry flew around the corner, nearly bowling Lucius over as he stopped at the fastest pace he ever had in his entire life.

"Mr Malfoy." Harry acknowledged, his eyes as wide as saucers. This was the last person aside from Voldemort that he expected to run into.

The younger wizard's eyes ran from the man's face to the notebook residing in his fingers.

Shit.

"Mr Potter." Lucius gazed down at the young wizard, the essence of smug lingered within his eyes.

"What brings you here?" Harry questioned, more as a way to break the uncomfortable silence that began to envelope around them.

"That isn't exactly your concern now is it Mr Potter?" Lucius raised an eyebrow, as though surprised that the boy would even have to audacity to ask about his business.

Harry needed to get that book off of Lucius, but how?

~*~*~

Damn it.

Snape was out of ideas as he sat at his desk attempting to plot his next course of action.

How was he supposed to find this damn notebook?

He couldn't well go and interrogate Malfoy, then he would become aware that he was no longer in possession of it.

What to do?

Snape stared intently at the array of potions lining his shelves, as though within one of those vials lay the solution to his problem.

Veritaserum, followed by a memory charm perhaps?

It was risky, but it may just work.