Chapter 21: Providence

Harry didn't think the professors could assign more homework than they already had in the first half of the school year. He even got the impression that they were trying to make up for lost time, as if they'd somehow slacked before Christmas. It was so much that, despite Harry's anticipation for the next time Kingsley came to Hogwarts, he was relieved their meeting the second Friday into the new term was postponed. Kingsley had yet to return from Norway.

After lunch the next Friday while Hermione headed off to Arithmancy, Harry did his best with Ron in the library to make some sort of headway into the various tortures put on them by their professors. Snape was particularly relentless, almost as if he didn't know Harry, Ron, and Hermione had other things going on. He'd also started putting the pressure on everyone to get serious about their final projects. He hinted that anybody who didn't present something decent by the deadline would receive at best a P in his class. Harry didn't doubt that for a minute. Even if he managed to get an O on the NEWT, a P on his Hogwarts record would tarnish that immensely in the eyes of the Ministry.

Hermione joined them when her class let out. She made more headway in fifteen minutes than Harry did in an hour. As two-thirty neared, it was just useless to keep trying.

"Afternoon," Harry greeted Kingsley when he opened the door to Dumbledore's office. He stopped shortly inside, making Ron walk into his back. "Er. . .hi."

The table Dumbledore usually conjured for these meeting had some length added to it. Beside where Snape would usually sit, arms crossed and expressions set, were Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Despite their grumpy appearance, both gave a jerky nod in response.

"We have some new additions," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Kingsley and I just finished catching them up."

Harry wasn't completely sure on this, but he trusted Dumbledore's judgement. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were willing to turn information over to the Order after all and as soon as Voldemort realized that, anyone bearing their surnames would most likely be at some level of risk. As a sign of good faith over the holidays Dumbledore had overseen Crabbe and Goyle seniors visiting their families. Maybe such a gesture was more impactful than Harry expected.

Crabbe cleared his throat in mild discomfort as Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their usual seats. "We don't have a whole lot to bring to the table for information. When my dad had to leave this summer, my mum told me I was better off not hanging around with Malfoy anymore since his dad had something to do with it. Not like I would've wanted to anyway after that."

"Me neither," Goyle agreed. "We've been keeping our ears open where we can. Dumbledore said you already know Malfoy isn't involved with You-Know-Who, so. . ."

Goyle scratched his forehead while glancing at Dumbledore.

"Didn't think it would sound true coming from us anyway," Crabbe said. "Maybe more like we were trying to protect him since it isn't like we can give any proof."

"What sort of things do you overhear?" Hermione asked.

"Er, they'll talk more openly in the dorm." Crabbe cleared his throat again. "Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini, I mean. There was a big row between Malfoy and Nott back in September after the Quidditch tryouts—big shouting match, you could hear it in the common room if you were close enough. You might have heard about that. Otherwise they just talk about homework, Quidditch, or their girlfriends. Or—fiancée, for Nott. Him and Greengrass are engaged."

"They are?" Harry was taken aback by that. He couldn't imagine committing to someone like that when they hadn't even left Hogwarts yet.

"Arranged marriage," Goyle said.

"Oh god, those still happen?" Ron wrinkled his nose. "My mum told us all once that she was lined up with someone, so was dad, but both of them gave it up to be with each other instead."

"They don't happen for everyone," Crabbe told them. "There were only two pairs from our year. Nott and Greengrass and then Malfoy and Parkinson, although one or the other of those two called it off. Most likely Malfoy, but he won't tell."

Harry nodded slowly. The idea of his parents deciding who he would spend the rest of his life with was enough to make him sweat a little.

"It's not something the participants speak openly about prior to their engagements, if even really afterward beyond their social circles," Dumbledore pitched in. "There's a certain trend. More traditional families try to keep it alive for the sake of their blood purity. My own did, long ago."

"I guess if you're worried about that. . ." Harry shrugged. To him it sounded like being forced but when he looked at Nott and Greengrass, it never occurred to him that they were together for any reason other than they wanted to be. Considering Malfoy opted out, that implied there was ultimately a choice just like any other normal type of relationship.

Professor McGonagall and Snape showed up during the lull of conversation to follow. Neither looked surprised to see Crabbe and Goyle there. McGonagall greeted them in the same brisk way she did Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and Snape spared them each a nod. Crabbe and Goyle looked more comfortable with him there beside them.

"Good afternoon everyone," Kingsley started the meeting with. He gestured at Crabbe and Goyle. "As you all know now, we have a few more members to add to the Hogwarts side of the Order. They've been briefed on everything we know so far. With that, I would like to jump in on what I've managed to learn while away in Norway.

"I spent some time in Oslo," he said. "The Ramstads remain a prominent family within the wizarding community there, so they were quite easy to find information about. What I found at least confirmed most of what we knew previously about their presence in Britain. Anders Ramstad was the only one of his siblings to leave Norway after the Second Muggle World War. He was quoted as saying in a newspaper when he received his Order of Thor that he would've liked to stay in the wake, but his wife and kids had settled in nicely over here. I'll correct the record that Johannes didn't actually inherit the manor estate. The wealth it generates is evenly distributed to all of Anders' living descendants. Johannes only occupied the manor house, so he was the only child that ended up staying in Britain. All his children remained in Norway once they left home, Erik returning after Johannes' death as volunteer to mind the family wealth on this side of the North Sea."

Kingsley paused for a moment, chin dipped as he gathered his thoughts to carry on. "Going back a bit, Erik lived in Tromsø from 1979 until 1985, when he and Hildegard purchased a home together in Bergen. He was the only one listed as the homeowner at his old residence. That doesn't eliminate the possibility that Hildegard and Dagmar lived there with him, of course. When I looked through the public records they say that Erik and Hildegard married in 1986."

"Wait," Harry spoke up. "Are you saying that Erik Ramstad might not even be Ra—Dagmar's biological father?"

"I'll admit that until things become clearer it's a possibility, but I'm not jumping to that conclusion," Kingsley replied. "There is a different culture in Norway surrounding marriage. It's common for couples to wait much longer than they might here, or to ultimately just not bother. I actually thought maybe since Erik, Hildegard, and Dagmar all lived in Tromsø first it answered the question as to why I couldn't confirm Dagmar's birth in Bergen.

"The strangeness really begins when trying to find a starting place with Hildegard," Kingsley said. "I can't find her anywhere at all prior to 1985. Dagmar wasn't born at the Tromsø hospital either. She and Hildegard don't appear until the three of them all moved to Bergen. This is only made stranger by what Dumbledore found after speaking to the Headmistress up at Kapsferd."

Dumbledore bowed his head. "Hildegard is a common name in Norway. Since we have yet to find out what Hildegard's maiden name is, Helga sent me photos of every student with that name from 1970 to 1980. She doesn't match any of them."

Hermione's scrunched up expression resembled Crabbe and Goyle's from how confused she was. "She couldn't have gone sooner than that?"

"I doubt it," Dumbledore replied. "I don't know her actual age, but I doubt she's yet forty years old."

"So. . .she didn't go to school?" Hermione asked. "How could that be?"

"I'm currently waiting for responses from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to see if they can be any help." Dumbledore folded his hands on the table. "I was however able to confirm that both Erik Ramstad and Magnus Norheim attended Kapsferd."

"Did they know each other?" Harry asked.

"Perhaps, but at the moment it's not clear," Dumbledore said. "Magnus left there in 1976, Erik in 1979. Kapsferd doesn't have a house system like we do here, just general dormitories split by gender and then by year. I've requested their records of attendance in hopes Helga would be kind enough to lend them to me if she's even legally allowed. I don't have high hopes since were our positions switched I would value my students' privacy more than an inquiry out of the blue."

"Here's hoping, I guess." Ron pressed his lips together, thinking. "What if Hildegard was there, but she's changed her name since? That's kind of the feeling I'm getting. She only appears pretty much in 1985, right? Goyle's dad figured there was history between You-Know-Who and the Ramstads. Erik obviously never changed his name, but maybe Hildegard did for some reason. If that's the case, then maybe Ramstad was born with a different name too and that's why we can't find her mentioned in any birth records at the hospital there."

"I originally requested for births on August 15, 1980," Kingsley said. "There were none at all in Tromsø that day and the only ones that occurred at Olaf Kyrre were all boys."

"Do we even know that's her actual birthday?"

"There's still the possibility Dagmar was born at home and Hildegard just didn't volunteer that information to the Norwegian Ministry. It's not required by law there either."

Harry rubbed his forehead as the speed of his thoughts induced a slight headache. It didn't seem like a good sign that they were questioning the most basic facts possible to know.

"Why would anyone go to such lengths to hide?" Hermione broke the pensive silence that fell over them all. "Why would they want to hide their child? The closest example I can even think of was Harry's parents when You-Know-Who was going after them. But even they didn't change their names or hide their identity or anything."

"I'd definitely be interested in what Erik and Hildegard have to say," Harry said. "And this Norheim, if we can find him. How do you even know where to start on that?"

"Put out feelers and hope for the best." Kingsley shrugged. "I'm currently cooking up a plan on how to approach the Ramstads, but I want as much information as possible before I do. We may only have one shot at that. Our best angle is certainly offering protection in exchange for information. Considering the apparent hesitance of the Ramstads to join the Death Eaters in the first place coupled with Hildegard's obscurity pre-1985, they might be very interested in that."

Harry nodded along with everyone else.

"Was that all you had to share, Kingsley?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not quite," Kingsley replied. "I wanted to relay the conversation I had with someone I spoke to in Bergen. Because everything was so up in the air with Hildegard and Dagmar prior to 1985 I wanted somebody to pin them down somewhere. When they left Bergen in 1990, Erik and Hildegard sold their house to Filip and Janne Dyrdahl. Janne and Hildegard happened to be friends for that five-year period. I ended up having a very interesting conversation with Janne that relays back to a lot we've discussed here over the months.

"Since I was asking about Dagmar as well as her parents, Janne eventually asked if she was in some kind of trouble," Kingsley carried on. "Janne then told me that she'd reconnected with Dagmar over the summer when she was on holiday in Bergen. Draco was with her."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "When was this?"

"Mid-July," Kingsley replied. "Janne looked back in her planner for me. She had Dagmar and Draco over for dinner on the eighteenth. Dagmar originally wrote her on the thirteenth to say that she was visiting for the week. . .with her betrothed."

"Betrothed?" Hermione repeated. "Like an arranged marriage?"

Ron looked at Crabbe. "You said Malfoy and Parkinson were arranged."

"They were." Crabbe shrugged.

"Change of mind, I guess," Harry said. "Wonder why. I guess at least we know now why Malfoy and Ramstad shacked up so quickly when they hardly looked at each other before that."

"Janne thought the idea of Dagmar being betrothed to someone was strange as well," Kingsley told them. "It's not something practiced in Norway. Before Janne had them over, based on that and because of Voldemort's return here, she looked into Draco and what became of Dagmar's parents. When Draco told you, Harry, that the purebloods think differently in Norway, he either understated things or Janne is just particularly ardent about it. She had half a mind not to associate with Dagmar and Draco at all based on the premise that Lucius Malfoy had even been suspected of being a Death Eater fifteen years ago. However, since she knew Dagmar as a child, she wanted to give them a chance. She slipped Veritaserum into their drinks before asking them about their loyalties and beliefs. They told her essentially that they weren't sympathetic to Voldemort's ideals, nor were they there on his behalf. They were only visiting Bergen and Dagmar wanted to show Draco her childhood home. They had already decided at that point they would be leaving Britain at the end of the year to get away from it all."

"That confirms that as truth, then." McGonagall spoke, nodding in satisfaction.

Snape's eyes narrowed in thought. "Did Ms. Ramstad and Mr. Malfoy realize they'd been given Veritaserum?"

"No."

"Then that also means they intended to tell the truth."

"So there's no point wondering after that anymore, then." Hermione sighed. "They're not Death Eaters, nor do they intend to be. I wonder what that means for their other friends."

"I think about the same," Goyle spoke up. "Zabini for a while I don't think has cared about things like blood purity. Nott made a big fuss with Malfoy about Mafalda Prewett but I don't think he would've gotten over himself if he thought of Malfoy as a blood traitor. Greengrass and Bulstrode, I don't think I've ever heard them talk about it, but would they hang out with the rest of them if they did care?"

"Probably not," Ron said. "If Hermione's right that Ramstad has never cared about things like blood, then she wouldn't have gotten in as tight with Greengrass and Bulstrode as she has lately. That was always why she only had friends outside Slytherin before this year, wasn't it?"

"Well, that, and Pansy was always so mean to her," Hermione added.

To Harry it wasn't much a surprise that if Malfoy had a genuine change of heart the rest (or at least the majority) of Slytherin house would go with him. It could be that fewer Slytherins believed in blood purity than they let on, but were afraid to say so in case Malfoy sniffed them out. For the ones that did believe blood defined the wizard above all else, the idea might not be so appealing if Malfoy of all people abandoned it. Malfoy was a prefect. He was the Quidditch Captain, and had just taken a historic victory for Slytherin house over Gryffindor. He held sway beyond just being the loudest twerp of the bunch.

There was nothing new to Harry's frustration as he left Dumbledore's office later with Ron, Hermione, Crabbe, and Goyle. Every time they closed one door, they opened at least three more.

Crabbe and Goyle looked more comfortable on this side of the meeting. Their arms weren't crossed as tightly as they all lingered outside the gargoyles hiding the office.

"So what now?" Goyle asked.

"Just keep your ears open," Harry said. "Er, probably best we're not seen together for the time being. Malfoy and Ramstad are aware I belong to a group like the Order, so they might be less natural if they suspect you're spying."

Crabbe nodded. "Got it."

Dagmar wore an extra sweater as she and Draco headed for the student potions lab to make their first attempt at the Polyjuice Potion. She kept her hands tucked into the sleeves as she and Draco went over their notes one final time.

"I'm comfortable with our window on the stewed lacewing flies being between nineteen and twenty-two days," Dagmar said. "We don't need to narrow it any further at this point. There's enough here that we can pull a quarter of the cauldron each day. . ."

They'd already removed some from the cauldron they'd simmered in since mid-January. Draco was in the process of breaking them down in a mortar and pestle, his nose slightly wrinkled at the smell.

"We have enough of the other ingredients for four goes at this." Dagmar sighed, nervous. "Are you ready for attempt number one?"

"Let's do it," Draco replied. "We've been thorough enough for all the ingredients other than the lacewing flies I don't see how we could've made an error."

"I sure hope not. I would hate to start right fresh."

Draco leaned over to rest his head briefly on her shoulder. "Even if we did, it's still only February."

"I guess."

Dagmar's hands trembled slightly as they started their potion off with some fluxweed and knotgrass. She and Draco both watched carefully how the two ingredients interacted while Dagmar stirred.

"Stop," Draco told her after four turns. "Look at it."

The potion shifted itself into a mirrored image split down the middle while at rest. When Dagmar waved her wand over it, the picture grew clearer like two butterflied hands.

"Seems promising so far." Dagmar exhaled heavily in attempt to make rid of her nerves. "We'll keep an eye on it. I would imagine in about an hour or so we could add the next slew of ingredients."

"Let's make sure we're all lined up, then."

Dagmar read off the list of ingredients for the brewing instructions they'd drafted. When Draco confirmed they were ready, Dagmar pushed the sleeves of her sweater back down and clasped her hands between her thighs in attempt to warm them.

"So. . ." Her gaze slid over to Draco. "We should discuss how we're going to test the potion."

"On each other, won't we?" Draco asked. "That's what I assumed."

"Ja," Dagmar agreed. "It doesn't have any mental effects—or it shouldn't anyway—so we'll still be alert enough to confirm whether it worked or not. Should only one of us take it to start, just in case?"

"I will." Draco paused. "Never really gave it much thought I'd be a woman for a little while."

"I've thought about it," Dagmar said with a giggle. "Not so much you being a woman, but me being a man. I'm sort of looking forward to finding out how it feels to have a willy."

Draco snorted, leaning over against her again. "Baps for me."

"Nice thing about having your own is you don't have to bother anyone else if you want to play with them."

As if to contest that, Draco swivelled Dagmar on her stool so that he could cup her breasts. Dagmar didn't mind—she hadn't realized how cold they were until they warmed in his palms.

"Are we going to shag after the potion takes effect?" Dagmar asked.

"Hm." Draco narrowed his eyes, lips pursed. His hands dropped back into his lap. "My first instinct is to say yes for the novelty. More practically though, would you feel weird shagging a woman? Shagging yourself, for that matter?"

"I'm not sure," Dagmar replied. "It might be my body, but it would still be you in it. Would it be weird for you?"

"I don't know," Draco said after a moment of thought. "It's probably easier to switch into a man's body. I've never had anything stuck in me like that before."

"We could change that." Dagmar couldn't help but grin at how Draco stiffened. "Wouldn't you let me put my willy in your fanny?"

The two of them snickered again, Draco pulling back out of his reservedness as their foreheads came to rest together. It was something familiar to ground them at the prospect of shaking up their comfort as two defined halves of a couple. Draco relaxed further, sighing, as Dagmar softly kissed him.

"If you seriously want to, I'll think about it," Draco said. "Nobody else could ever make me say that."

"We'll see what happens." Dagmar kissed him again. "Who knows, maybe neither of us will feel right about it, and that's okay. My feelings certainly wouldn't be hurt if you decided against it. It's still pretty fresh in my mind how long it took me to be ready for that. It's intimidating when you've never done it before."

"I can at least appreciate that if you were wielding a willy you'd probably be considerate with that in mind."

"I'll only make you feel good, hjertet mitt."

Draco's cheeks darkened as they laughed. "You might almost be too comfortable in a man's body."

"Maybe. I just like seeing you so vulnerable. It's hot when you'll let yourself with me."

"Well, that I can certainly understand."

Dagmar smiled before leaning in again. She took Draco's lips slowly so that every little movement however gentle lit up the nerves. Draco's breath stilted when she lightly nibbled his bottom lip, compelling her to pull off enough to see his expression. Sure enough, it was lax in the exact way Dagmar wanted to see. His eyes cracked, then opened completely when Dagmar got off her seat to straddle him.

"You aren't on about doing anything here, are you?" Draco asked.

"Nei." Dagmar wrapped her arms around Draco's shoulders. "We need to keep an eye on the clock for our potion. There's nothing wrong with a little snogging in the meantime, is there?"

Draco's grin said it all. It was at least a better way for Dagmar to warm up compared to relying solely on multiple layers of clothing. It hadn't done much when she had such little body heat to begin with.

Since they didn't have a goal in mind other than killing time, Dagmar wasn't inclined to move things along beyond a certain point. Her body failed to receive the memo. In a way, knowing this wouldn't come to fruition was exhilarating. The longer Dagmar put it off now, the more miserable her body grew. The ache had spread into her thighs when the time finally came to pay more attention to their potion.

Dagmar let out a long sigh. "Once the next few steps are done, I'm either going to need you to come upstairs with me or I'll be spending some time alone in my dorm."

"Upstairs," Draco decided right away.

The brewing potion shifted from the heat, its chiral imagery remaining constant. Since Dagmar figured it was ready for the next step, the heated state of her body had to fall to the wayside as their concentration was required again.

It was a good thing she and Draco were forced at the moment to focus elsewhere, since footsteps trailed into the lab. Blaise ambled in with his hands in his pockets.

"All right?" he asked. "How's that coming?"

"Good so far," Draco answered. "Just a minute, we're throwing in one more thing before it needs to brew on its own for a while again."

"'Kay."

Blaise took a stool opposite them, his arms folded on the table as he watched them add powdered bicorn horn.

"There," Dagmar said after she'd waved her wand over it again. "It should take about a day for that horn to break down. We'll come back this time tomorrow to finish it up and give it a try."

"Must feel good to be making some real progress on it," Blaise said. "Theo and I are about ready to try making our Amortentia, but we're in a bit of a rut on figuring out how to test it once we get to that point."

"I'd volunteer," Dagmar told him, "but. . .I guess it wouldn't have much effect if it bent me toward Draco. You wouldn't be able to tell if it did anything."

"Neither of us were comfortable testing it between ourselves either." Blaise snorted. "I mean, Theo has Daphne. He doesn't need to do something he might regret or what might make a fool of him. Not that I would let him. . .the last option is finding two people who aren't involved, but how do you convince them to willingly becoming obsessed like that with someone they either don't know or don't like?"

"Money," Draco answered.

The three of them laughed.

"You're not wrong," Blaise said. "Maybe Theo and I ought to advertise it. See if there are any bites."

"How long do you reckon it takes to brew?" Dagmar asked as she gathered things up to return to her and Draco's assigned cupboard. "If it's relatively quick, you might give some kids a little pocket money before the Hogsmeade weekend on Valentine's Day."

"Nine days," Blaise answered. "It's got a short brew time, but it's complicated. There are a lot of ingredients and it needs constant attention. Theo and I were going to ask Snape if he could write notes for our other professors to see about dipping out during classes to tend to it."

"If it's for a class, I don't see why not." Draco paused. "McGonagall will be your hardest sell."

Blaise nodded slowly, seemingly distracted. It tapped into Dagmar's curiosity.

"Something else on your mind?" she asked.

"Sort of." Smile tight, Blaise scratched at his scalp. "I wanted to talk to you guys about something."

Dagmar resumed her seat next to Draco.

"It's about Luca." Blaise shifted in his seat. "We're going to give it a go."

"Ja?" A smile spread by its own volition over Dagmar's face. It'd been nearly three months now since she first talked to Blaise about it, and the question had surfaced once in a while just what was going on between them. Dagmar didn't want to put either one on the spot. "I'm happy for you then."

"Same. It's about time someone made an honest man out of you," Draco jested.

"Shut up." Blaise chuckled anyway in what seemed like appreciation for the lightened air. He grew more confident. "It's time for something, at least. I told my mum over the holidays I was into blokes and she cried a little bit feeling bad about setting me up with a woman but came around after I explained you and I still get on really well. Luca thought his mum would be on the fence but he told her this afternoon and she was happy for him. Er. . .I guess I'll find out if it's weird at all next Defence class."

"I doubt it." Dagmar waved the notion off. "Parasca's too serious to let anything hamper lessons. Peeves could start a fire in the classroom and she'd still lecture while putting it out."

"The crappy part we're finding with all this is that telling everyone we're going together takes two parts. We have to come out first." Blaise cupped his jaw, elbow on the desk. "We were planning on telling everyone else at dinner tomorrow. Not that we're embarrassed or anything, it's just nice to only have to inform three more people rather than all five of you. Since you two already knew. . .makes it easier."

"Did you want us to make sure we're there?" Draco asked. "A little moral support never hurts."

"It definitely wouldn't. I'm already nervous."

"Don't be," Dagmar said. "It's really not a big deal."

"I was also thinking—this is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you separately first," Blaise replied. "Does it ever feel to you like the longer we keep our old arrangement to ourselves, the more it feels like we're hiding it?"

Dagmar hummed. "Not really, I guess because whenever I talk about our relationship over the years I always just speak of it as a friendship. Does it feel like that to you?"

"Sort of." Blaise shrugged. "It might just be because I was really hesitant to tell Luca about it. I didn't want him to feel jealous. He knows now though, so it's starting to feel weird that the rest of our friends don't. I'm certainly not ashamed of it by any means, and it's been long enough now it doesn't have any bearing on where we moved on from it."

"If you want them to know, I'm fine with it," Dagmar replied. "It doesn't matter to me either. The only thing I don't want them to know is why specifically it ended. I don't want any weird questions about my parents, since it is really uncommon for these things to change so last-minute."

"Well, since I'm gay and you're not, I don't think it has to take much explanation beyond that why we decided not to move forward."

"I guess not, hey?"

With that settled, Blaise left the students' lab. Draco walked in front of Dagmar when they headed out a bit later, but stopped with a snort when Dagmar grabbed his bum.

"Did you still want to go upstairs?" Dagmar asked.

"That's where I was going."

Dagmar fell in step beside him and took his hand. "You're okay with Blaise talking about our old arrangement, right? You were quiet in there."

"It's not really something I have any say over." Draco shrugged. "Really, I'm probably lucky Blaise is considerate enough to not mention my part in it. It doesn't paint me in the best light and I hurt him."

"He understands it isn't something we completely chose," Dagmar replied. "He's moving on with his life anyway. It's hard to dwell when you have something exciting going on and time has proven it didn't really impact anything between the three of us. He and I have actually agreed that we're closer now than we were before. He can tell me things about himself without worrying he'll hurt me."

"This is true."

When Dagmar and Draco made it to the seventh floor corridor, Dagmar waited against the wall while Draco summoned the Room of Requirement. The dull ache of Dagmar's need had resurfaced as they walked through the castle. She was already undressing inside before Draco had a chance to put his hands on her.

Perhaps following their earlier conversation regarding testing the Polyjuice Potion, Draco had something to prove. His hold on Dagmar was assertive, his mouth hungry, and his body already ready for how they might work them together. He groaned deeply into Dagmar's neck, pushing forward when she groped him through his trousers.

Dagmar was keen for whatever Draco wanted after all their snogging earlier with no further end. She usually liked to put up some kind of counter as a challenge, but let herself be pliant for the sake of Draco's need to be dominant. It wasn't as if she truly sacrificed anything for it. She was quite happy to be guided onto all fours before Draco pulled her hips back to him.

Draco started slow, but that didn't last long. Dagmar had to drop down to her elbows so that she wouldn't fall forward. Burying her face in the blankets helped muffle the majority of noise she made. It only got worse when she reached down between her legs. Draco had other plans. He pulled her back up against his chest, easing Dagmar into straddling his legs. With one arm around her middle, he held her in place while he thrust up into her. His free hand took over helping her along.

It was too much once they established a rhythm and Dagmar felt the nibble of teeth along her shoulder. She came out of it weak and feeling like fire had eaten her body after being shot through the head. Even talking was too difficult to bother attempting as they recuperated.

"I'm a little drunk off that one," she eventually managed.

"Sometimes there's nothing better than a proper fuck."

Dagmar chuckled.

Draco nuzzled the top of her head. "I wish I had the head about me when we were in the dungeons to pack up for the night. We could've stayed here."

"I can't anyway." Dagmar sighed. "I promised Daphne I'd help her finish up her essay for Parasca. She came to study hall but still has another four inches to go."

"That's too bad. Tomorrow, then."

"Shower with me first?"

Dagmar didn't want to wander through the castle looking like she did, her hair a mess on top of trembling legs and a flushed face. Despite cleaning up, Daphne took a double-glance from her bed with a snicker when Dagmar entered the dorm.

"What've you been up to?" she lightheartedly teased. "Or should I ask who."

"Ja, ja. . ." Dagmar pulled her curtains shut so that she could change into some fresh clothes. "How's the essay coming?"

"I'm just wrapping up my conclusion."

"Don't need me then, ah?"

"Probably not, but thanks for all your help earlier," she cheerfully replied. "I doubt I'd have something to hand in tomorrow otherwise."

As sleepy as Dagmar was, she had her own homework she could work on. The most pressing was the four feet for Binns due Thursday that had already proven itself dreadfully dull in the first quarter Dagmar drafted. She'd already finished her Astronomy and Potions homework due beyond it in procrastination.

She packed it up in her bag and headed over to the boys' dorm. The door was open but before Dagmar could knock, Theo put a finger up to his lips where he sat on his bed. He pointed at Draco's. The curtains were shut.

"Out like a light," he shout-whispered.

"Tell him I came by?" Dagmar replied. "I'll probably be in the library for the rest of the night."

Dagmar brought nothing else with her to the library so that she had no choice but to focus. She'd made some decent progress, adding eight inches before Draco made an appearance shortly after nine. He yawned while setting his bag down. Dagmar had to suppress the urge to reach across the table and ruffle his hair. He hadn't bothered to do anything with it after they'd showered, and it showed.

"Good kip?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't mean to doze off." Draco rubbed an eye with the heel of his hand. "You wore me out."

"I could've slept too," Dagmar said. "Maybe we worked out a little too much."

The smile Draco gave her wound up sticking around for the evening, reflecting the new peace that had emerged within him. His energy was perfect in easing Dagmar back into some sort of flow for the next few hours. She was quite satisfied when she packed up to have three feet done now for the essay. The last of it could be done tomorrow, and then she wouldn't have to think about it anymore.

Draco stopped them outside the Slytherin common room. "I'm going to take my last rounds of the dungeons. See you in the morning?"

"Mhm." Dagmar held his shoulder while leaning in to kiss him. "Sleep well."

"You too."

Dagmar crept into her dorm since all was quiet. Sure enough, Daphne, Milly, and Pansy had all fallen asleep. Dagmar slipped her bag silently off her shoulder and headed briefly into the bathroom. She lit the torch above her bed while she changed into her pyjamas.

Listening carefully again, Dagmar bent down and reached under the bed. Her Alltid-Kaldt canister had remained down here since Heimdall was well enough to eat larger meals less frequently. She opened the lid and tipped it toward the torch-light. Steam rose from the fog inside.

Dagmar had turned her Alltid-Kaldt canister back into an Alltid-Varmt one with a tap of her wand, and then dug out from her trunk the shrunken troll head in a jar Draco had bought her in Bergen. While it took time because the Alltid-Varmt canister didn't heat anything inside quite to where Dagmar needed it, it had been enough to activate the Shrinking Potion again.

Knowing it was slowly brewing under her bed was the only thing keeping Dagmar from cursing Pansy to London and back for what she'd done to Heimdall. Pansy didn't seem particularly remorseful about it. That only strengthened Dagmar's conviction that she would have to take matters into her own hands.

Familiar little feet padded across the dorm's floor. Purring sounded from the other side of the curtain before Heimdall eased himself under. With a noise in his throat, he jumped up onto the bed.

"Shh," Dagmar told him with a pet. "I'll be right back."

Quietly as she could, Dagmar held her curtain aside to slip past with her canister. She hesitated outside Pansy's, listening for anything other than the deep, rhythmic breaths that denoted her sleep. Satisfied, Dagmar let herself in. Perfect—Pansy slept on her back.

Dagmar tipped her canister over Pansy's face. The fog fell slowly, rolling like a silent wave when it broke on Pansy's nose. Tendrils of it disappeared up Pansy's nostrils as she inhaled. The fog rapidly settled, then dissipated. Only the smell of mildew remained.

Heimdall laid by Dagmar's pillow with his front feet tucked underneath him. Dagmar scratched his cheek after laying down. "God natt, lille gutt."