Serves Him Right
part III
"Now, according to this book, Demon's Nectar was first created by a Muggle apprentice to the wizard, Grindle. The Muggle was playing around with Grindle's potions and powders, trying to make a love potion for a girl who never noticed him. Well, he accidentally knocked in some demon saliva, and that's where everything went wrong. Then . . . . ewww! Oh gross!" Hermione squealed as she turned the page. She clapped both hands over the detailed picture now showing.
"Huh? What?" asked Harry, his attention caught by Hermione's cry of disgust. He looked up from his 'Divination' homework to see what was the matter. Hermione had been reading them the stories behind Tristan's Ire and Demon's Nectar (whether or not Harry and Ron were actually listening). So far, they'd been too absorbed in their homework - writing an essay on how useless it was to prevent their disastrous futures - to pay attention to a single word.
"Ouch," said Ron, looking at the picture when Hermione had reluctantly uncovered it. "She probably wished she'd noticed him long before that had to happen."
"Well, after she vomited herself inside out, I don't think she was in much of a position to wish for anything," Harry said, forcing himself to rip his eyes away from the gross but morbidly fascinating illustration. Hermione looked like she was going to vomit any minute. She covered the picture with a notebook and kept reading the story.
"Anyway, after the girl died, the wizard was blamed for the whole thing! Really! Now, that's not fair!" Hermione cried indignantly. "They condemned him to die and locked him in the dungeons. I don't know why he didn't Apparate or something . . . I guess wizards didn't know about it back then. Fascinated with the poison's effects, he wrote down everything the Muggle had done in a book, including the ingredients and the procedure he'd followed to make the poison. He called it Demon's Nectar, then hid the book in his cell right before they took him away to be killed. Somebody found the book later on during the Dark Ages and thus Demon's Nectar, which had originally begun as a failed love potion, became one of the most feared and widely-used poisons ever. It was even used by Lord You-Know-Who on his victims - wizards and Muggles alike - for no more than amusement."
Hermione shuddered. "Oh, yick. That's terrible. It's rather easy to brew, according to these instructions. All you have to do is ---" Hermione's eyes widened and she snapped the book shut. "I shouldn't be able to read that!!!" she screeched in alarm.
Harry and Ron snapped to attention. "What?! You mean you can read the runes?" demanded Harry.
"What runes?! The instructions are in plain simple English! Anyone could read it!"
"But Professor Karyli said . . ." Ron trailed off and he, Harry, and Hermione exchanged looks.
"I . . . I'm sure it was just an honest mistake," Hermione said weakly, after a brief silence.
"It had to have been a mistake - Professor Karyli wouldn't risk her job on something like this. Just think, what if a Slytherin had gotten their hands on it?"
"The ingredients are rare. I mean, where could anyone get demon's saliva?" "In Knockturn Alley, probably. If they had enough money. And some of those Slytherin kids are pretty rich," Ron said, grimly.
"We've got to tell Dumbledore about this," said Harry.
"But Karyli will get in trouble! It had to have been a mistake, it just had to! We'll just tell her and nobody will have to know!"
"Dumbledore will understand. Anyway, we don't know where Professor Karyli is right now. Dumbledore will most likely be in his office. We have to get this book to him now. Somebody could steal it, you know, then you'd be in a lot of trouble, Hermione."
"I might get expelled, or even worse - kicked out of the library for the rest of the year!"
"Harry, I think we ought to try to find Professor Karyli. Lucius will have her fired in a snap of his fingers if word of this gets out!"
"Lucius! He's probably waiting in the shadows for her to slip up. Ron's right, Harry. We've got to try to find her first before we go to Dumbledore."
"Allright. We'll try. Any idea where she could be?"
"Harry, you great prat, did you lose the Marauder's Map or something?"
"Oh, right!" Harry walked over to his trunk and opened it, digging around for the map. He pulled it open and tapped the surface with his wand. "I swear that I am absolutely up to no good."
Immediately, the map showed up and Harry looked for Karyli's dot.
"Uh oh," he said, when he found it.
"What's wrong?" chorused Ron and Hermione.
"She's with the last person we'd want to see right now. Lucius."
"I guess we better go find Dumbledore then," Hermione said, unhappily.
"Look!" cried Harry. "They're moving toward the Gryffindor house!"
"Oh my god! Lucius must have found out about the book in the restricted section . . . maybe he knows more about it than she does and when he found out . . . he's behind all this! He has to be!"
"We've got to get out of here!" cried Ron. "Harry, grab the invisibility cloak!"
The three students snuck out of the Gryffindor house and hid just around the corner as they heard Karyli and Lucius approaching.
"I told you, you wouldn't last two days. You are careless. Letting students take out books from the restricted section on poisons! On the first day of class no less! You'd better hope this book passes my inspection. If there's so much as one spell word in it that could cause injury to another student, you're as good as fired."
"All in all, you seem rather pleased with yourself, Father." Karyli said coldly as she walked beside him. "Hoping to find a recipe for spider-venom brownies in there?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if I did," Lucius retorted as they arrived before the Fat Lady's portrait. "What's the password?" he asked.
"You're supposed to tell me," said the Fat Lady, frowning back at him.
Lucius' snarls and threats at the portrait grew more distant as Harry, Ron, and Hermione snuck further away.
"Now, where's Dumbledore?" asked Ron.
"He's in his office --- oh no!" Harry hissed. He gave a groan of despair.
"What's wrong now?"
. "Lucius and Karyli are headed toward Dumbledore now."
"I have an idea. We'll take the book back to the library and I'll tell Lucius that I haven't even checked it out yet."
"That won't do any good. The book will be safe again but Lucius could still get Professor Karyli in trouble for offering to give students permission for it."
"Oh what are we going to do?" cried Hermione.
"Well, well, well. I don't suppose any of you thought to come to me?" Snape's cold voice filled the air. Harry blanched. He'd been so worried about Lucius and Karyli's dots, that he hadn't even been looking to see if the coast was clear of anyone else.
"Oh . . . Professor Snape . . ." Harry said, with foreboding as he, Ron, and Hermione turned to face Snape.
"Why were you looking for Dumbledore, Potter?"
"This book. It'll get Karyli in trouble if Lucius finds it on any student. Or at all, for that matter," Harry told Snape, reluctantly. There was a faint glimmer of hope in his heart - if Lucius was a Death-Eater, perhaps Snape would dislike him enough to help Karyli.
"Let me see it." Snape took the book from Hermione and paged through it. He frowned. "How did you get this book, Granger?"
"Karyli offered a permission slip for it. You can ask Madam Pince--"
"Allright, I believe you Granger. Why did she do this?"
"For background reading on the two poisons she talked about earlier today. Tristan's Ire and Demon's Nectar. She said the instructions for making the poisons were in Archaic runes, so she thought it was safe for us to read them. But she was wrong - the words aren't --"
"I understand, Miss Granger. What you don't understand is that this book isn't an ordinary book. Karyli didn't know this, because the book is ever-changing. The instructions for poison will constantly rearrange themselves in different languages. When Karyli proof-read it to make sure it was safe for you all, it was scriptlocked. Meaning, the whole book had once been entirely in Archaic runes. The only parts Dumbledore allowed to be translated for students' use was the history of the poisons and the ingredients. Then it was placed under scriptlock to keep it that way.
"Somebody has tampered with the spell and now everything is translated. If Lucius gets a hold of this book the way it is now, Karyli will most certainly lose her job. You are all very fortunate," Snape sneered, "That you ran into me before Lucius found you. I will fix this book, give it back to you, and you three will go back and pretend you read nothing amiss. But the next time I hear you three lurking about with either the invisibility cloak or that map, Gryffindor will lose fifty points for each of you. Do you understand?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded. Snape took out his wand and muttered something, waving it over the book. He handed it back to Hermione. "Now go. They're coming back."
"I hope," Snape said, looking at Harry. "That you can lie to Lucius better than you've ever tried to lie to me, Potter." He smiled unpleasantly, and walked away as if nothing had happened.
"I can't believe it . . . Snape . . . helping us break the rules . . ."
"Yes, it's a miracle, Ron. Now come on! We've got to get back inside the Common Room!"
They made it inside, just as they could hear Lucius' voice coming around the corner.
All three dashed to the Common Room where they'd left their homework and took deep breaths. Lucius crashed inside to find Harry and Ron writing essays and Hermione calmly reading the library book.
"I assure you, Lucius, there is nothing in that book that is a danger. Everything that might be has never been translated from runes," Dumbledore said calmly as Lucius snatched Hermione's book away.
Hermione put on a shocked expression. "What's wrong?" she asked, in false alarm.
"Shut up, Granger," Lucius muttered, flipping through the pages. He scowled when he could find nothing amiss.
"My, you look disappointed," Karyli said, amused. "Were you expecting to find something wrong?" On her face was a very relieved smirk, but her tone was laced with suspicion.
"It appears to be allright," Lucius finally forced himself to say. He handed the book back to Hermione and smiled thinly. "Sorry for disturbing you three at your work. Continue, please."
Lucius stalked out of the Gryffindor Common Room, followed by Karyli and Dumbledore. Karyli looked back at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and smiled shakily, trying to tell them that everything would be all right now. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears.
When the left, Hermione, Ron, and Harry all breathed enormous sighs of relief.
"Can you believe him?" cried Hermione, at length. Harry and Ron could tell she was furious. "That horrible man!"
"I know . . . trying to get his own daughter fired."
"Draco will be happy she didn't get in trouble," said Harry. "But he'll be pretty angry at his dad, I should think."
"Snape helped us for Draco, you know. We can't be caught like that again," Ron said, looking pointedly at Harry. "But I still can't belive it! Does he really hate Lucius enough to help Gryffindors?"
"Either he hates Lucius or he has a crush on Professor Karyli," Harry replied. "Maybe it's both."
"Oh ewwww!" Hermione cried. "Don't make me think about that!"
After they finished their homework, the threesome cleared the table and staggered off to bed, looking forward to Karyli's class tomorrow on Friday - mainly because it would still be there when Friday came around.
Lucius was positively frothing at the mouth when he passed by the Slytherin house. Dumbledore had warned him - had the nerve to, in any case - not to harass Karyli again unless he had actual proof that she had put students in danger.
Lucius glared back into the eyes of the portrait who sniffed disdainfully and left to talk with the portrait down the hall.
"You can feed Dumbledore as much codswallop as you like, Karyli," he hissed to nobody in particular. "But you'll not touch my son with your sick 'Muggle-love.' I'll see to that."
Lucius took out his wand, closed his eyes, and concentrated on Draco. The spell would be easier if Draco was right before him, but he didn't want anyone seeing what he was doing, much less his son. The portrait was still out of its frame, so Lucius was not seen by anyone. He smirked, satisfactorily, and strode to the main entrance of Hogwarts where his broom was waiting.
In the Slytherin boy's dormitory, nestled under his bedcovers, Draco coughed and began to moan softly in his sleep as feverish nightmares took form.
"Did you hear what happened?" Flint asked Draco at breakfast. Draco's eyes had dark circles under them and he coughed thickly before he could respond.
"What?" he croaked, half-interested.
"Draco, you look terrible. Are you allright?" Pansy fussed, sitting next to him.
"Fine. What happened?" he repeated.
"You're sister almost got the sack. Read this." Flint shoved the Daily Prophet toward Draco who picked it up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. As he scanned the article on the front of the page, any former sign of grogginess vanished immediately.
"Oh my god!!!" He cried after he'd read half the article. The article stated that his sister, Karyli Malfoy, had been accused by Lucius Malfoy of allowing a dangerous book to be leased out to Hermione Granger. Lucius had gone over to inspect the book which he believed to tell the students how to conjure deadly poison. This part wasn't incredibly shocking, as Draco had been there when Karyli had signed Granger's permission slip.
What was shocking was that the article went on to tell how Karyli faced a short term in Akzaban if Lucius caught her doing anything that had the potential to cause harm among the students. Lucius had convinced the Ministry that Karyli was a dangerous woman who'd run away from home, stealing enough money to buy herself a flying motorcycle. She'd worked in the Muggle world as a teacher and therefore, as Lucius was quoted, "Passed Dumbledore's ridiculously easy standards to become a Hogwarts teacher, not that she could tell one end of her wand from the other."
Draco's eyes narrowed and his face grew paler than normal with concern. Lucius was not above causing trouble himself if that's what it took to get Karyli out of Hogwarts. Draco wondered what Lucius would do, and if he could possibly stop him from doing it.
"I can't believe he'd do this to her," Draco muttered, then went into a sudden coughing fit that startled a few Slytherins about to sit down.
"Allright, Draco?" Goyle asked, for an expression that barely passed as concerned. Not waiting for an answer, Goyle went back to snarfing his porridge.
Draco's stomach cramped and he gave a slight moan. "Fine," he said, weakly.
"Hey, Draco, Hermione's the whole reason your sister got into trouble," Flint whispered conspiratorially. "We should get revenge on her."
"I thought you hated my sister's class, Flint," snapped Draco, "As you so eloquently whined to me last night."
"Well, she's your sister, so I guess she's allright. What about Hermione, then? If she'd never gotten the book out in the first place . . ."
"No," Draco answered, miserably clutching his abdomen. "Just leave it."
"So you are turning soft on them, aren't you?"
"No."
"Admit it."
"Shut up. I'm going to throw up if you don't leave me alone."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know," Draco hissed.
"Oh come on. I'm beginning to think you're no fun anymore, Draco."
"Allright, allright!!! Whatever you want, just leave me alone."
"Whatever I want?! It's your revenge, Malfoy! She's your sister!"
Draco groaned and put his head down on the table, fighting the nausea that had suddenly gripped him. He felt so sick he wanted to cry. What was wrong with him? He'd been just fine last night . . .
Nobody bothered him again after he put his head down. The bell rang and Draco got up, suprised and relieved to find that he was no longer on the verge of vomiting. He wondered grimly how long that would last.
"We'll start where we left off yesterday. But first, any questions about what we've talked about so far?"
About twenty hands rose in the air.
Karyli was surprised. "That many, huh? Yes, Pansy?"
"What happened with the book? Did Mr. Malfoy --"
"Hold on a minute!" Karyli cut her off. "Are you all raising your hands to talk about that stupid article in the newspaper this morning?" Everyone lowered their hands sheepishly. "Because I really don't want to waste time talking about it. Mr. Malfoy made a simple mistake, and you all know how reporters like to make a catastrophe out of simple mistakes. It's all politics - nothing to worry your heads about. Now, who has a question about the poisons we talked about yesterday?"
Pansy raised her hand and Karyli called on her.
"Are you going to give Granger detention for nearly getting you fired?"
Karyli sighed patiently. "Did you hear what I just said, Pansy? No talking about that ruddy article or what happened yesterday. It was a simple misunderstanding fueled by the worry that I was giving you access to a book that had harmful potential. Who has a question about poisons?" Karyli asked again, struggling to maintain a calm face.
Hermione raised her hand and Karyli sighed in relief. "Yes Hermione?"
"What is the antidote to Demon's Nectar? I never got a chance to read it last night."
"Oh that's right. I was about to tell you all about the antidote. Demon's Nectar, as you all found out yesterday, has the potential to turn a person inside out - literally - if it is in your system long enough. Does anyone remember how to tell you've taken the poison?" Draco raised his hand.
Karyli called on him, then frowned in concern and walked closer to him.
"Inflammation of the tongue and reddening eyes. Also, severe cramps --" Draco broke off coughing. Karyli placed a hand on his forehead. He was burning up fast.
"Draco?"
"I'm alright. Just a bit tired."
"I think you should go to Madam Pomfrey."
"No. I'll be fine right here." Draco told her. Truth was, he was afraid that if he got up, he'd vomit. He took a deep breath and sat hunched over his desk, resting his head in his hands for the remainder of Karyli's class.
She explained that the antidote was a simple blend of arrowroot and pure spring water touched with the horn of a Unicorn.
Draco listened, dozing off slightly as he heard her talk about the next poison, Llairlyn's Broth. The poison was not fatal; it made a person very weak. It could only kill by an extreme overdose (you'd have to drink two large bottles of it straight) and was one of the most gentlest deaths by far. The problem was, the poison's antidote could kill you by accelerating the blood in your veins and making your heart beat faster and faster until it finally burst. The antidote had to be brewed just right and given to the victim in just the right amount or it was as good as poison.
This could not be demonstrated efficiently on the plant, so Karyli lectured on it and asked them to take notes for personal review. She apologized if it was boring, and promised they would do something fun on Tuesday.
The bell rang and the students made their way to their classes.
Draco reluctantly opened his silver eyes and got up.
"Come on, Draco. I'll walk you to the hospital wing," Karyli said, putting an arm around her younger brother's shoulders.
They walked outside and arrived right at the start of what looked to be starting out as a nasty fight.
"So, Granger, you went running to Dumbledore about the book did you? Thought you'd get Malfoy's sister fired?" Flint was hissing at Hermione. Ron and Harry flanked her protectively as the Slytherins surrounded them. Karyli scowled and cleared her throat.
Flint whipped around.
"M-Miss Karyli, ah, um . . ."
"What's going on here?" Karyli asked in a deadly tone.
"N-nothing."
"Go to your classes. If I hear about you harrassing anyone about what happened, it'll be detention and twenty points from your house. Do you understand, Flint?"
Flint glared. "You wouldn't take points," he sneered, "From Draco's own house. You're his sister."
"I will not take points, if you do not try to lose them. You, so far, have been trying very hard. I advise you not to keep it up."
The Slytherin and the Professor exchanged cold glares.
"Draco, tell her about Granger. Cause your sister doesn't seem to understand that 'Mudbloods' aren't supposed to be favored by Malfoys."
Karyli trembled with rage and Flint knew he had struck a nerve. She remained silent, however badly Draco knew she wanted to tell Flint off.
"Aren't taking any points from Slytherin, then, are we?"
"I will not punish an entire house for a stupid remark of yours, Marcus Flint. You are deliberately trying to bait me into removing points with no regard whatsoever of how the rest of your fellow Slytherins earned them. Very selfish of you. I think a week of detention should remedy that."
Flint sneered at her and walked to his class. The rest of the Slytherins broke apart, some glaring at Karyli, but most looked at her with a sort of relieved admiration.
Hermione gasped and her eyes flew wide. Harry and Ron started forward. Alarmed at their reactions, Karyli was about to ask what was the matter when she heard Draco groaning behind her.
She turned around and knelt down next to him. He was shivering and rocking back and forth as cramps seized him. "Harry, Ron, go to class. Hermione, go ahead of me to the Hospital Wing and inform Madame Pomfrey of this." Hermione took off in a fast walk and with many backward glances, Harry and Ron made their way to class with Professor Binns.
Karyli coaxed Draco into uncurling his body and lifted him. Draco rested his head against his shoulder and focused on swallowing his nausea. Another cramp seized him and he cried out sharply, twisting in Karyli's arms.
"No, no, shhh. Hold still, Draco."
"Perhaps you should conjure up a stretcher," suggested a portrait as she passed it by.
"No, carry me . . ." Draco begged her, feverishly. Karyli's heart ached. He sounded so much like the child she'd been forced to leave behind . . .
Karyli winced as she felt Draco's face pressed against her collarbone. His skin was really burning. Karyli fought back a sob. She hated being helpless, but not nearly as much as she hated seeing Draco suffer.
Madam Pomfrey checked Draco's pulse and sighed. It appeared Draco's ailing came from a normal virus, despite Karyli's insistence that she check for any dark magic upon him.
Pomfrey could find nothing wrong with Draco that some simple tonic and bed rest couldn't fix. This relieved Karyli, but she was still wary about how Draco had recieved this virus. It was almost obvious by the look on her face who she blamed.
"How could he?" she muttered, brushing a lock of Draco's hair out of his eyes. He cried out softly and turned toward her to lie on his side, eyes squeezed shut in pain.
"Karyli . . . Karyli?" he called out.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here." She reached out, gently stroking his back with her fingertips.
Draco whimpered and fell silent.
Karyli didn't remember falling asleep in the chair, but she must have, because the rays of the rising sun were streaming through the window above Draco's bed when she opened her eyes again.
"I'll be collecting him now, if you don't mind, Madame Pomfrey," a voice drawled from outside of the room.
Karyli's eyes widened and she stood up as Lucius entered the room.
"You are not taking him anywhere," she snapped at him.
"He is my son, Professor," he said mockingly. "And he would do better to recover from his fever at home. Would you deny him that much just so you two can 'catch up'?"
"You did something to him, didn't you? You made him sick to get him away from me."
"Now, now, Karyli. Tsk tsk, and just two nights ago you were scolding me for making baseless accusations," Lucius smiled at her benevolently. Karyli wondered how hard it was for him to force that smile. Then it occured to her that it probably wasn't forced at all.
She couldn't stop Lucius from taking Draco home and he knew it. She didn't have the slightest shred of evidence against Lucius that would keep Draco here where he was safe. Karyli fought back a cry of anguish as she watched Lucius pick his son up and carry him away, throwing a coldly triumphant smirk over his shoulder.
When he had left, Karyli sank into the chair by the now-empty bed and buried her face in her hands.
"Yes, Master Malfoy?" A servant approached Lucius' desk back at the Malfoy Manor after being summoned. "How can I be of service?"
Lucius folded the section of the 'Daily Prophet' and set it down. While the servant watched, Lucius opened a drawer in the desk and took out a small wad of black leather.
"It appears that my son is lacking discipline, Antony. I require of you to give him some with this when he awakens." Lucius handed Antony the folded belt. Antony took it and nodded curtly. He'd done this once before; he knew what to do from experience.
"How many, sir?"
"Don't stop until I tell you to. Understood? And don't go too easy on him either."
"As you wish, sir."
Draco stirred and opened his eyes to find himself back in his room under his bedcovers. Overall, he was feeling better.
Draco swallowed nervously. His father was going to be furious with him. Probably give him a lecture about how worthless his sister was. But then again, Draco had never openly disobeyed his father before -- not in front of Dumbledore. He shuddered. Lucius would ground him, most likely. Or take his broomstick away. Maybe even send him to bed without supper. Whatever his punishment was, it would be unpleasant, but Draco knew he could handle it. All that was important was behaving until his father forgave him and sent him back to Hogwarts.
If he argued or yelled back at his father, he knew he'd never get to go back. Lucius would keep him home until he was satisfied that Draco hated his sister and would go about being himself again - the boy who loved his father without question.
A servant entered the room and stopped before him. "Young Master Malfoy. I see you're awake. Your father sent me."
Draco swallowed apprehensively. Father had never sent a servant to tell him what his punishment was. He'd always stormed into Draco's room himself to deliver the verdict.
The servant walked over to him. Draco had to look up as the man was taller than he was. Draco jerked back reflexively as the man reached out for him, but didn't get far as the bed was behind him. The man began to disrobe Draco despite the latter's squirming protest. When his fingers took hold of the elastic waistband on Draco's pajama bottoms, Draco batted the servant's hands away.
"What are you doing?" he demanded, silver eyes glaring with indignance.
"What your father ordered me to. Stand still. If you struggle with me, I'll have to put you in body-bind."
Draco held still obligingly even as he felt himself being stripped completely from the waist down. He was afraid - very afraid - that he knew exactly what was going to be his punishment. He prayed he was wrong. That hadn't happened to him since before he'd started his first year at Hogwarts.
"Face the wall."
Draco was frozen, torn between defying his father and subjecting his body to a servant's blows. Neither choice was very appealing. The servant made it easy for him.
Antony forced Draco to put his hands on the wall and took out a wand. "Grippatus," he muttered, touching the wand to each hand. Draco instinctively tried to lower his hands and found that they were stuck to the wall - he'd rip the skin off his palms if he tried to break away.
Now he was sure of what was going to happen, and his insides turned cold when he saw Antony unfold the belt that was suddenly in his hand.
"Oh please . . ." Draco whimpered under his breath, and a shiver ran down his spine. "How many?" he asked numbly.
"That depends on how soon your father allows me to stop."
After that, no more was spoken. Draco forced himself to stop shaking and stood rigidly, waiting for the first blow to come.
"I'm not going to let him hurt you, Draco. I'll find a way to stop him. I promise," Karyli whispered softly through the fingers that still covered her face.
Snape watched her pretend to brush hair out of her eyes while he knew she was brushing tears away instead and walked over to sit next to her at the teacher's table.
"Karyli?" he asked softly.
"Don't talk to me right now, please."
Snape sighed. She was just like her brother. Draco never was one to approach when he was upset. Snape had learned that when he'd come across Draco crying softly in a shadowed corridor during his second term at Hogwarts. He'd been jeered at by a few fellow Slytherins for the fact that his father'd had to buy Draco's position on the team, and even then he'd managed to lose to Gryffindor.
"What are you planning, Karyli?" he asked her. He knew from experience with Draco that Karyli wasn't going to take this lying down. It had been Snape himself who'd talked Draco out of casting several rather nasty spells on Harry Potter in the past four years, saving Draco from certain expulsion.
Now he was concerned for Karyli. He knew by those determined silver eyes that she was up to something reckless.
"I don't know yet," She answered, bitterly. "I'm actually thinking of taking my motorcycle over there, busting a window open, and making a daring rescue. It's stupid and Lucius will have a sure case to send me to Akzaban for. But it'll get Draco out of harm's way."
"For how long? Where will Draco go if you end up in prison? Back to his father's for the summer."
"He'll end up at his father's anyway, no matter where I am. I can't stop it. He's too powerful. Draco's only chance is if he gives into that . . . that demon who calls himself our father. Lucius can think he's got Draco under his thumb again and send him back here. But . . . how much is he going to have to destroy Draco before he's satisfied? That's what scares me."
"Don't give up. We'll think of something."
"We?" Karyli looked at Snape in surprise.
Snape smiled cryptically in response and put an arm around her shoulders. Karyli smiled back, feeling her heart lose some of the leaden sorrow that was weighing it down. Maybe there was a way to save Draco. There had to be, she told herself. They'd find it. With luck.
Disclaimer: All characters save for Karyli and Antony belong to J.K. Rowling. ^_^