𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥? 〚𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚘𝚢 〛

Chapter 31

When I first emerged from the dreamless sleep I had fallen into, I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes. Even with the newfound energy coursing through my system, exhaustion weighed down on me, pushing me deeper into the mattress. 

I frowned, half-awake. I hadn't fallen asleep in my room. 

My hazy mind sharpened as I regained control of my senses, blinking my eyes in the bright sunlight.

"Feeling better?" asked a voice.

My eyes focused, finally recognizing Draco as he smiled softly, sitting in a chair by the sofa where I had been sleeping. I nodded, realizing exactly how much my body had needed sleep.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "For helping and..." I hesitated. "for staying."

"I couldn't have left you," he admitted, his eyes twinkling and a pink blush appearing on his pale cheeks. "Even if I tried."

I wasn't able to hold the intensity of his stare, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear and feeling my cheeks grow hot. 

A cough made my head snap up. Charles glanced back and forth between the two of us, as if wondering what he had missed. 

His stare zeroed in on me. "Can I have a minute? We need to talk."

There was too much seriousness in his tone for me to refuse. I didn't like seeing him so serious, it didn't suit him. I slowly got up and followed him behind a few bookshelves. 

He sighed and turned to face me, his eyes shining with worry. "Rose, you don't seem to understand how much I care for you."

My heart leaped in my chest. I had not been expecting that. 

I've never had trouble reading people, was it possible that I had been wrong about him? About how he viewed our relationship? I forced myself to listen.

"I know sometimes it doesn't seem that way but, to me, you're not just an unbelievable chaser." He was struggling with his words, shuffling from one foot to another. "You're much more than that." He sighed, frustrated. "Listen, I'm not a smooth talker like Malfoy. I just want to tell you that..." 

I braced myself for the worse. 

"That you can trust me." 

I blinked, fully attentive, now as he ran a hand through his dark hair. 

"If you don't want to talk, that's alright, I understand. And even if I am wary sometimes when I see you and Malfoy sitting so close together, I prefer you have someone by your side in times like this," he mumbled. "I suppose it's this type of protectiveness older brothers get around their little sisters..."

I threw my arms around him, fighting back tears. I hated feeling tired.

"That's enough, Charles. I have a reputation to maintain," I said, choked up.

He hugged me back, relieved. "I'm your friend, Rose, not just your captain."

His words may not seem like much, but to me, they meant the world. I've never had a brother, someone who could protect and watch over me. Someone loyal no matter the situation, that will believe your side of the story. And suddenly, I saw that person in Charles. We walked back towards Malfoy, whose attention was fixed on my smiling face.

"Watch yourself, Malfoy," snapped Charles, glowering at him.

"Always, Urquhart," smirked Draco.

When the dark haired boy had left, I frowned.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"He gave me a warning," vaguely answered the boy. "Maybe I'll tell you later."

I rolled my eyes, still too tired to argue and settled myself comfortably on the library's sofa. Draco stayed quiet, probably thinking I was going to fall back asleep.

"Draco?" I whispered, weighing my words. "What if there was a way to cure Dumbledore?"

He frowned, staring blankly out the window. "If we could identify the type of magic that is destroying him, perhaps..."

"The dark magic must have come from an object," I point out, absolutely certain of what I was saying.

"But what object could hold enough darkness to kill the most powerful wizard in the world?"

Our eyes met, brown on gray, and an understanding passed between us.

"Voldemort."

Malfoy jumped up and ran to the forbidden section, muttering under his breath. The doors of the closed glass case flew open. He skimmed the books, carefully observing them. Finally, he picked one, walking back towards me.

"I was going through this book last year and stumbled upon a word I didn't know. When asking my father about its meaning, he became angry and told me to never speak of that word in front of anyone. Here it is; Horcruxes."

I lowered the book to my height, my eyes taking in the information and gasped. "A fragment of his soul? How is that possible?"

"When murdering someone, you can split your soul, achieving partial immortality. It is the most horrible and wickedest of magical inventions," he said grimly.

"That's it! That's the only possible explanation!"

"Rose, this is serious," insisted the boy. "How can we manage to expel it from his body? Dumbledore must have been through every possibility."

"Not if dying is a part of his plan."

He rubbed his jaw. "Then shouldn't we let him die?"

I pursed my lips. "He is the only wizard whom Voldemort is afraid of. It would be foolish of him to do that. No, we must give him options."

He sighed and plopped down beside me, looking resigned. "Darling, I've always admired your determination."

The gears inside my brain started working furiously, starting to make sense of an idea that had been lingering in the back of my mind for some time.

"When I was younger, a man came to my school," I remembered. "He was a monk who had cured someone by concentrating the negative energy to one specific point and transferring it to an object."

Draco frowned. "It would take years to master that skill."

"I can do it. I know I can. We only need an object capable of holding the energy."

He hesitated. "We could use the cursed necklace I used earlier this year. But, Rose, we don't know what could happen with that energy."

I waved away his concern. "I have a feeling it's going to be alright."

He closed his eyes, as if mentally preparing himself to get me out of trouble. "I guess I'll have to trust you. We're going to need a bucket full of animal saliva to prepare the necklace. I hope you have a clever plan ready."

I smiled wickedly. "Of course I do."