Hi…sorry it's been so long! Happy New Year & Happy Valentine's Day, and also, I hope you guys are having a great 2020 so far. I sort of forgot about this story until I got an email saying that someone had reviewed it.
Hermione had no idea what had happened. One moment, Malfoy had been calmly leaning back in his chair, the next he was on his feet.
"We have to go right now." He ordered. "Move, get your coat. Now."
"What is going on?" Hermione demanded. "We didn't even eat yet. You were the one who said you were hungry."
"Hermione, now." Draco growled.
She got up.
She barely had a minute to put her coat on before Draco grabbed her hand and dragged her outside the café. They passed Gary on the way out, holding two waters.
"Family emergency!" Hermione called out to him apologetically.
Once outside, Draco found the nearest alleyway that didn't have any Muggles strolling through it.
"I'm activating the portkey." He muttered in her ear. "Hold my hand."
His tone didn't leave any room for argument, so Hermione obeyed. He levitated the silver locket in front of them once again, and they both grabbed it.
…
Once the world stopped spinning, Hermione opened her eyes to realize they were back in Hogwarts, in their dorm.
She turned to face Malfoy. "Okay, I'm fairly certain we're safe. Now, would you please tell me what on earth is going on?"
Before Malfoy could even speak, there was a pounding on the door.
"Hermione!" Harry's voice accompanied the hammering. "Open the door now!"
Wordlessly, Malfoy passed her and went into the common room to open the door. Hermione followed, arms crossed.
As the door opened, Harry hurled himself into the room. He spun around wildly, until Hermione came into his line of sight.
"What is it, Harry?" Though she was annoyed at his timing, concern took over very quickly.
Harry's normally messy hair was wildly askew, sweat indicating that he'd run across Hogwarts castle to get to their room. His shirt was untucked, the front of robes hanging wide open, and his wand sticking out from the back of his pocket. His eyes flew from Malfoy back to her, as though he was wondering how much to reveal. His hands twitched, as though he was two heartbeats away from wringing them together.
"Get on with it, Potter, you look like you've seen Death's door." Malfoy snapped.
Harry seemed to come to a conclusion. He took a deep, steadying breath. "Malfoy, Hermione, do you remember our first year? The first detention we ever had, with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Of course." Hermione said.
At the same time, Malfoy made a face. "Yes."
Harry closed his eyes. "I'm not sure if you remember, Draco, but on that night, we saw Voldemort drinking unicorn blood."
Malfoy made a noise from the back of his throat. "How could I forget?"
Harry swallowed hard. "Well – I was just outside when I heard these first-years screaming, and I went to help. They'd dared each other to go into the Forbidden Forest, and they'd gotten lost and turned around by the time I found them, but…they stumbled across the body of a slain unicorn."
Hermione sat down.
"They're fine." Harry said quickly. "I took them straight to Madame Pomfrey, who said that they just needed rest. I went to Dumbledore right after, but by the time we got back down to the Forest, the unicorn was gone."
Malfoy swore under his breath. "It's got to be Constantine. There's no other explanation."
Harry paused. "I – wait. What? Who's Constantine?"
"My cousin." Malfoy answered.
"You have a cousin?"
Malfoy frowned. "Forget it, Potter. Where's the Weasel?"
"Ron and Ginny went to go make sure the rest of the Gryffindor first-years were okay, and also find out who came up with that stupid dare in the first place. The Forbidden Forest is no place for first-years, even during the day."
"Except for detention." Malfoy said sardonically. "Then it's fine."
Hermione stood back up. Both Harry and Malfoy turned to look at her, but her thoughts were racing too fast. Something niggled at the back of her mind, telling her that she was just missing some important piece of information…
"Malfoy, why would Constantine need a unicorn body?" She asked.
He frowned. "I don't know. Maybe the blood, I know that's important, but I don't know what properties the rest of the unicorn could offer."
"Who is Constantine?" Harry demanded. "Why does your cousin want a unicorn? Which side of the family is she from, anyway? Is she like Teddy?"
"She's not my second cousin or anything, she's my real, actual, first cousin." Malfoy said. He paused, considering, and then said. "Bellatrix's daughter."
Harry paled. After a long few minutes, he said. "I didn't…I didn't know she had a…"
"Neither did I." Malfoy said softly.
"We need to go to the library." Hermione announced. Both Harry and Malfoy looked away from each other and rolled their eyes, which she ignored. "I need to know what else unicorns can be used for. It might not be Constantine, but –"
"It has to be." Malfoy told her. "I didn't tell you, but that's why we left Canada so quickly. She was there, in that café. She knows that we went looking into her background. She must've hurried up her timeline."
"You went to Canada?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"I figured that was it." Hermione admitted. "I didn't see her, though. Are you absolutely certain that she was actually there?"
"Of course!" He said, sounding offended. "I'm not mad!"
"I didn't say you were – oh, never mind! Let's go. We need to find books on unicorns and their magical properties. If you did see Constantine there, and she did move up her timeline, we need to know exactly what she's planning." Hermione turned toward the door.
The boys followed her.
As she walked, she mapped the clues in her head. Unicorn blood could be used to extend a life…but to bring one back? How could that work? The Dark Lord was surely dead. There were no more horcruxes left! And Malfoy was utterly certain that Constantine was determined to bring Voldemort back. This was just like their first-year all over again! When Quirrel had kept Voldemort on the back of his head, alive with unicorn blood, and then hunted for the Philosopher's Stone to –
Oh.
Oh.
Hermione stopped in her tracks. "We need to get to Dumbledore."