Chapter 21: The Purple Flame
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Dumbledore sat at his desk gazing thoughtfully at one of the many unique instruments around his office. This one in particular had caught his attention today. It was a lamp that stood on one of the far off filing cabinets on the other side of the room. The fire usually emitted an even orange flame which barely flickered even as the breeze came in the window, but not today. Today the flame was purple. He had noticed it over the past several weeks flicker purple every once in a while, going quickly back to its steady orange, almost faster than he could register the change; this was not totally unusual. Today, however, the purple shone bright and had flickered stronger each hour until now, where it held in a constant purple flicker that he couldn't take his eyes off of. He pondered it's meaning, fingertips pressed together, foot tapping gently on the stone floor, until he was interrupted by a soft knock at the door.
He smiled to himself, here must be his answer, "Come in, please."
The door creaked open and Blaise stepped into the room, "Professor, sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to have a word."
Dumbledore looked at the boy curiously, he had expected Harry to be the one walking into the room, "But of course," Dumbledore motioned him to the cozy chair across the desk.
"You look as if you were almost expecting me," Blaise noted as he sat down, the smile on Dumbledore's lips still apparent, "Do you know why I'm here?"
"I haven't the slightest," Dumbledore said jovily, "But I did have an idea that someone would be on their way to me," Dumbledore pointed across the room at the lamp, which now burned a bright steady purple, "You see, a dear friend of mine once gifted me this special piece which sparks purple when someone is thinking of the need for your immediate help. It's certainly had its days of shining purple, but not in a while. However, it has been going quite crazy all day today. I daresay whatever is on your mind is likely the reason for it."
"I would agree, Professor. We've got a bit of a situation on our hands," Blaise sighed, trying to figure out where to begin.
Dumbledore did not pressure him, but sat back in his chair, hands folded in his lap.
"We think there may be Death Eaters impersonating our friends," he said slowly.
"That is a large accusation, Mr. Zabini," Dumbledore's look became more serious now, not judgmental, but inquiring, "Let us first start with: who is 'we'?"
Blaise almost laughed, "Well, 'we' is myself, Potter and Weasley."
"I am guessing you were brought together by the bond of your friends Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger?"
"Yes, Professor, how did you know?
"Oh one tends to notice things from afar, notably in the Great Hall and whisperings that make their way back from Hogsmeade."
"Makes sense," Blaise continued, "You see the thing is that we don't think they are who they say they are."
"Is it possible that it may just take some time to get used to the idea of a Slytherin and a Gryffindor having a relationship with one another?" Dumbledore asked.
"There's a lot more to it than that," Blaise told him, "Draco hasn't been himself all year and Harry and Ron agree that Granger hasn't either. They don't know things about themselves that they should. It's like there's just something missing."
Dumbledore nodded, "You are sure?"
"I would say we are almost positive."
"Okay," Dumbledore stood up, pacing slowly around the room, "Do we know what they are here for? The Death Eaters?"
"Not a clue," Blaise felt relieved that he didn't have to persuade Dumbledore further, "We've been trying to keep them from as much one-on-one time as we can, but we don't know any details."
"That's okay, I have other ways of getting intel on their plans," Dumbledore completed the circle to his desk, "Now I think it is imperative that you and the others deal with this matter as safely and inconspicuously as possible. Let me give you a few of these galleons," Dumbledore opened a drawer and pulled out three galleons and handed them to Blaise.
Blaise flipped them over in his hand, they looked like normal galleons, "What are these for, Professor?"
"Give one to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, and at first notice of Death Eater activity, you can alert me by using the incantation 'Nunc'," Dumbledore waved his wand in a swift downward motion, tapping the galleon. The galleon shook in his hand. "Finito," Dumbledore flicked his wand again and the galleon fell still.
"What if there are more of them?" Blaise asked, "More Death Eaters that we don't know about in the castle."
"I think for now we have to hope there are not," Dumbledore smiled at him reassuringly, "I will see what I can learn and we will have these devices as a last resort if something happens before we are ready. If it shakes, come at once."
Blaise stood up, recognizing the end of their meeting, "If I learn anything else I'll come back."
"Thank you, Mr. Zabini. Luckily I think we are at least ahead of the curve on whatever is going on and hopefully we'll be prepared when it's time."
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"Malfoy?" Hermione had been toying with the question in her head for a while now.
"Mhm?" Draco turned his head over towards her, he had just about fallen asleep before she spoke.
"What if your mother can't send another backpack? Voldemort warned that he'd be speaking to Wormtail about your mother sending things along."
"I hadn't thought about that yet," he frowned, "I guess we should start trying to keep track of the days on our own. We know as of today there are 6 days left. Tomorrow when our meal comes, we'll scratch a line into the wall and when we get to 5, we follow Wormtail back. If my mother sends a backpack or a letter, we'll know all the better that it's the right day."
Hermione leaned her head back on his shoulder, "Right, that should be easy enough. His visit just shook me up. It's been so long since he's came into the dungeon. It made me feel like he knows we're getting ready for something."
"I don't think that's it," Draco said, "I think he's getting close to the attack and still doesn't know how he should approach Potter. Nothing like getting beat by a kid five times now."
"Hopefully we've thrown him off the trail enough to make it six. How do you think we'll get to Hogwarts?"
"I have a feeling my mother will at least get us far enough from here that we can figure that out once we're closer to home."
"Will she be angry that you're bringing me with you? One escapee is probably hard enough to break out," Hermione looked worried, "And… you know, I'm a muggle-born."
"My mother is not my father, Granger. She has a heart. If you are with me, she will protect you."
"Okay," Hermione said, still unsure.
"No use worrying about it all the same," Draco sighed, "Just have to be confident that we know enough to make it out and it's the best chance we'll have."
"If only over-confidence was a Gryffindor trait," Hermione smiled up at him.
"Your bravery could be seen as over-confidence, to be fair," he fired back.
"Well when you're always right, is it really over-confidence?" Her smile widened into a grin.
"Now you sound like a Ravenclaw."
"You could probably argue I should have been put in Ravenclaw," she admitted, "But I do think Gryffindor had to edge out as the winner at this point."
"You've got courage Granger, that much you've shown me in the past couple of months. I've got to give credit where credit is due," he leaned down and kissed her, "But don't let it go to your head."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him playfully, "Like I'm the one with the big head here."
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Harry was woken from his afternoon nap by a school owl pecking at the window. He opened it, grabbing the letter from its leg and feeding it a few treats before shooing it back off.
Harry,
Quidditch at 8!
-B
"Ron!" Harry shook Ron, who was sleeping in his own bed.
"Whatcha won, Har?" came Ron's muffled half-asleep garble.
"It's Blaise. We're meeting him at 8. I wonder what Dumbledore had to say."
"Sounds good," Ron turned over, his snoring almost immediately restarted.
Harry looked at his friend and sighed, folding up the note and placing it in his desk drawer.
Later that evening, Harry and Ron took off with their brooms for the Quidditch Pitch, waving goodbye to Bellatrix and Ginny, who were doing homework in the common room.
Once inside the locker room they dropped their brooms and greeted Blaise, who was sitting on one of the benches.
"What did Dumbledore have to say?" Ron asked.
Blaise handed each of them a Galleon and proceeded to tell them about his meeting with Dumbledore.
"I wonder who his source is to get intel on the Death Eaters," Harry wondered aloud.
Blaise shrugged, "He didn't say. How do you suppose we go about trying to figure out what they're planning?"
"Maybe a better question is when," Harry said, "Maybe we can get an idea of when their plans end? Start trying to make future plans, see if anything slips, or if they make any weird comments?"
"Sounds like the best plan we've got," Blaise said, standing up. And at least now we can communicate when it's go-time. We'll keep sending owls unless it's absolutely urgent."
The boys agreed and Blaise headed back up to the castle. Harry and Ron stayed behind for a bit to fly around, since they were down at the pitch anyway. By the time they arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, only Neville was still up, trimming one of his potted plants.
"What've you got there, Neville?" Ron asked as they approached him.
"Oh it's a Venomous Tentacula," he said casually, "Thought it might be better to wait til everyone had gone to bed to take it out for a trim and feeding."
"Sounds like a good idea indeed," Ron agreed, taking a thoughtful step back.
"He's harmless right now," Neville shook his head, "Fed him a few minutes ago so nothing to worry about."
Harry noticed the carcas on the floor next to the table, "Nevertheless, I think we'll be off to bed now."
They waved goodnight and headed up the stairs, discussing some ideas of how to get information from their Hermione look-alike in hushed voices until they climbed into bed.
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A/N: Sorry for the wait! I spent some time outlining the rest of the story, so stay tuned :) hope everyone has a great weekend, hoping the California sunshine comes back out from behind all the rain these last couple of months! (But of course, at least it's not snow!)