With much love to all of the people who reviewed, Just Silver, you absolute darling :) you are a constant source of support ! Byrum Rodeobaby, you are to be given your wish, more about the redhead. Sharte, I'm afraid she isn't although its an interesting though *waves sword at muse* 'Back, back!' Aries_Wrath, thankyou very much and I hope you do ! Sandy, I'll give you another go, guess again ;) Incitatus, I'm sooooo sorry for the misspell, I corrected it see *puppy dog eyes*
A small group remained in the garden now that the crowd of onlookers had
dispersed. Lucius Malfoy had followed Dumbledore almost too easily without so
much as a backward glance but that was not the question that concerned them
right now.
Miriam was recovering. She stood with her head cradled against Professor
Snape's collar looking down at the ground beneath her feet; it should have
been damp with blood, but it was dry. The only deep red was that of the
strange girls' hair splayed across the grass, shifting slightly in the
breeze.
Sirius was beside Snape, and his eyes too were riveted on the girl. Of course
when someone appears out of nowhere they tend to instantly become the focus
of attention.
"Who is she?" Miriam asked.
Whatever the spell she had cast had taken out of her seemed to have returned
with her voice. Harry could only shrug and he saw Sirius echo the motion but
Draco was murmuring to himself.
"I've seen her somewhere before, I swear it"
For a moment he thought professor Snape was going to remain silent, and then
he spoke, his voice carrying the after tones of a sigh.
"You have. There's a portrait of her in the Dungeon"
He watched recognition dawn in Draco's eyes, then something moved in them
like curiosity but professor Snape forestalled it.
"Why don't you go and look, see what you can find out about her"
From the look on her face Miriam wanted to raise an objection, which
suggested that Snape knew more than he was telling, but right now wasn't the
best time to interfere.
"Sirius, you take her to the infirmary? I'll take Miriam and the children can
meet us there afterwards."
Sirius nodded and slipped from Snape's side bending to pick up the woman, she
looked tiny cradled in his arms. His lover didn't look back as he left the
gardens, but that didn't bother Harry, he knew exactly where Sirius'
interests lay.
Professor Snape went with Miriam. Harry and Amaris exchanged puzzled glances.
Whilst Draco observed the scene, his expression thoughtful.
"Come on, lets find the painting?" he said, suddenly decisive.
"What painting?" Rang out yet another voice, a familiar figure was entering
through the garden gate.
Hermione, it seemed had finally woken up and her curiosity was running on
full alert. But Draco, who had found that to ignore her was the best policy,
was already heading back towards the school. Amaris looked at Draco's
retreating back and then winked at her.
"Let's go, and then 'Moine, we can all find out!"
***
Amaris had never been in the Slytherin Dungeons before, she'd expected them
to be cold and rather dank, but they weren't though they were just more than
a little gothic. Draco was preoccupied; she could hear him muttering to
himself in the back of his mind before he actually spoke out loud.
"Aha, there it is"
He took a few strides then stopped. He turned. Draco was standing in front of
a portrait, it was a third of life-size but there was something intriguing
about it. The background was a high moonlit stained glass window. Shadows in
the glass and the purity of the light striking jewel tones from the random
pattern surrounded by walls of granite grey the shade of several of the
Hogwarts towers. But it was the woman seated beneath the window who made the
portrait.
She shimmered in the moonlight as if something within her glowed, her robes
were a deep silvery colour that should have blended into the background but
didn't. Her garments were cut in a classic style that had been used for
women's dress robes for centuries, the neckline was low and the sleeves cut
full to the elbow with a point falling to the floor where they tightened
running down to the sleeve. Around her neck was a amber and platinum
necklace, at her feet stood a harp and her fingers crossed in her lap held a
wand and the dagger that they had seen Miriam using earlier.
But it was the face that drew the watchers' eye. It held some quality,
something serene that drew the gaze to those wide eyes and blood red hair
caught back from her face with silver. That and the fact that there was no
movement in the picture. It wasn't a living wizard portrait, which was
strange if not unique for Hogwarts.
"The Amber Lady"
Hermione broke the contemplative hush that had descended by reading the out
loud the name, which was painted across the bottom, but there was no
signature. That was odd. Who wouldn't want to take credit for something like
that?
She glanced across at Draco who was looking up at the portrait as if he
wanted to memorise it. Then after a moment he turned and smiled at the
others, but she thought she saw tension veiled in his eyes.
She wasn't going to pry though; she simply waited and eventually he spoke.
"Shall we go upstairs then? And see if our 'Amber Lady' is awake?"
***
"I must admit Lucius, after seeing how quickly your compatriots left, that I
am surprised to find you still on Hogwarts grounds"
Dumbledore was watching him with a gleam in his eye; his tone almost said
'come on
little fish, bite'. They sat in Dumbledore's office, the headmaster seated
behind his desk stacked high as always with books and strange instruments
watching his guest over steepled fingers. Lucius felt a little like a naughty
schoolboy being interviewed after causing a disruption in class but if
Dumbledore thought he was about to be intimidated he was mistaken.
Refusing to swallow the baited hook Lucius simply smiled. "Yes, I wondered
about that too." He shook his head. "Quite honestly Albus I don't understand
it myself"
He watched as Dumbledore's smile spread deepening the wrinkles at the side of
his mouth.
"No of course you don't Lucius, and you're not at all worried about the girl
currently residing in our sick bay?"
Malfoys reaction was one of practised calm as if discussing nothing more
extraordinary than the weather though there was a dangerous glint in his eye
that challenged the old professor to dispute what he was saying.
"Worried? No. Surprised, yes, after all she did, supposedly, die on Hogwarts
grounds almost twenty years ago."
Dumbledore's eyes darkened to the hue of tempered steel before the merry blue
twinkle shone out again.
"Well then Lucius, now I've ascertained that you're no threat to the school,
we shall go and find out what did happen to her."
Lucius had the idea that Dumbledore knew exactly what had happened to her
years ago, and that this was going to be another sort of test, but he had
been 'tested' by a true master of the art for years and he didn't intend to
buckle now. As for not being a threat, he doubted he could be, not with the
strength of the wards he'd felt going up, and not with his own son in the
building.
Following the headmasters lead he pushed back his chair and got to his feet.
Giving an ironic little bow as Dumbledore passed.
"Indeed, I think we shall."