An Opus Alchymicum Vol 2: The Witch-Consul's Riddle

The Dragon's Egg

"Will!" Lyra repeated, finding her usual voice again. "What the hell is this?"

"Colonel Parry!" came a desperate cry from somewhere in the churchyard. "They have wizards with them over there! You know the standing protocol is to withdraw and regroup!"

"In a moment, Prewett!" Will cried back.

"No, Colonel, we must withdraw! Right this instant!"

"Dont you dare, Will!" Lyra shrieked angrily. "You stand your ground and explain this to me!"

"Not here, Lyra," Will called back. "Meet me. Our usual spot. Midnight tomorrow ... I'll be waiting for you. Please be there ... and I'll show you that you've picked the wrong side in this fight."

And then Will Parry raced into the graveyard of the church. There was the roar of a motor, the rush of whipping rotor blades, and then a black attack helicopter suddenly lurched into the air and sped away from them before anyone could react to stop them.

"Damn it!" Lily cursed. "Riddle must have left with them. We were so close."

"We'll get him next time," James consoled, finally releasing Hermione from where he'd pinioned her against the parked van and helping Lily to her feet. Hermione took a huge breath as her lungs were freed from the crushing pressure.

"Was that the Will?" Sirius queried, as Lyra and Mal came over and lowered their weapons.

Lyra nodded. "I just don't know what he was doing here. I heard the Magisterium had taken an interest in him, but ... he ... he ..."

"He was one of them, Lyra," Mal scythed bitterly. "If anything, I'd say he was leading that little rabble."

"No, no," Lyra shook her head dismissively. "Will would never do that. He was too kind, too good -"

"When he was twelve!" Mal cut across briskly. "That was a long time ago. Clearly, things have changed. That man we just saw isn't the boy you knew, Lyra."

"What did he mean by meet at our usual spot?" Sirius asked. "I thought you hadn't seen him since you sealed the last portal between your worlds."

"I haven't," Lyra confirmed. Then she flushed in the pale winter light. "But we agreed - when we parted - that once a year, on the same day, we'd return to a particular spot in a garden in the grounds of Jordan College, him in his world and me in mine, and we'd sit on a bench that was there in both worlds. That way, we'd sort of still be near to one another.

"I've never missed one. Never."

Hermione swooned in her throat. On instinct, taken by the emotion of the moment, she slid next to Harry, threw caution to the wind and slipped her arm into the crook of his. He looked up questioningly at her, understood what she needed, and cautiously hugged her arm tight to his hip. She smiled sheepishly as he did so and Harry knew he'd done this one thing right.

He was getting better at reading Hermione's unspoken requests. And the notion cheered Harry no end.

"You aren't going to go to this meeting, are you?" Sirius pressed to Lyra. "It's far too dangerous."

"Of course I'm going," Lyra stated stubbornly, before adding, "and if you're so concerned, you can come with me for protection. You're a wizard, make yourself invisible, or something. Or don't come at all. Either way, I'm going. I wont rest until I find out what Will is playing at."

"I don't think he's playing at all," Mal proffered in a dark tone. "But Sirius, go with her. We cant change her mind, but I'll stop complaining if I know she has a chaperone for this date."