MusicalHermione: Thank you for your review! You made my day with it! Hope
you enjoy next part.
Disclaimer: All characters you recognise belong to the great J. K. Rowling.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning Draco woke up with a feeling of restlessness. Something bothered him, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Then he remembered what happened the night before and he quickly opened his drawer to look at the white substance. It was still on the picture frame, gleaming strangely.
Draco felt oddly relieved that it was still in place. He'd dreamed about it, but he couldn't remember what happened. He decided that he would examine the liquid thoroughly right after breakfast and if he didn't find anything interesting he would go and ask Professor Snape about it.
He could also ask Professor Barnes, but he wasn't sure if he should tell her, because he had found it in front of her classroom and because he didn't know how she would react to seeing herself in there. Another reason for not going to her was, that he was afraid she would react like Potter and embarrass him again in front of the whole school.
The Great Hall was nearly empty because it was still very early. Potter and his friends were already sitting at the Gryffindor table, though. Potter noticed him first when Draco entered and started laughing. He was probably telling Weasley and Granger what he had seen last night. Damn.
Draco didn't pay him too much attention, though, because he wanted to finish eating fast, so he could look at the liquid before class. Today was Friday and he had Transfiguration first. In the afternoon he had Potions, where he could talk to Snape.
Draco left the hall quickly and returned to his dorm. His room mates were just getting out of bed and he didn't think that he could work in peace anywhere near them. So he took the picture frame with the substance out of his drawer, put it into his bag and headed for the school grounds.
He went to his favourite place under a big oak near the lake and sat down. He took the frame and put it in front of him. Then he took a quill and touched the surface of the substance with it. It was much thicker than water and more resistant. It was liquid, but it didn't flow away. It was more like some kind of glue that didn't glue. It didn't seem dangerous, so he put the quill away and touched it with his finger.
And then it happened. It felt as if he was pulled through a window. For a few moments there was nothing and then he saw Professor Barnes standing beside him talking to Dumbledore. They were standing in Dumbledore's office. Draco had been there only a few times, none of them very memorable.
Draco was standing right beside them but they didn't seem aware of his presence. Their expressions were both very serious and they were speaking quietly.
'Tell me the truth, Albus. Are we in danger?', Professor Barnes said.
'Honestly, I don't know. I don't want to believe that after we just accomplished to ensure the security of our students, something like this is happening. I hope that we can find the error soon, but at the moment we can only wait.', Dumbledore answered.
'Is there any way to foresee it? Or to detect it? We could let Snuffles come here.'
'Helen, I know that you want to see him, and he could help us maybe, but he is probably not even in England at the moment. I could contact Remus, though.'
'Yes, that sounds . . .'
Draco didn't hear Professor Barnes's answer, because he was preoccupied catching his breath after someone appeared out of nowhere and scared him half to death. After composing himself a little he glared at the petite form of Ginny Weasley, who looked rather astounded.
Just as Draco wanted to give her a snide remark another person appeared out of thin air. This time it was Potter.
Please not another day like yesterday, Draco thought as Harry looked around the room. Then Harry spoke to Ginny.
'We are in a Pensieve. This is not yours, is it?'
The question was asked towards Draco. Before he could answer Ginny did.
'What exactly is a Pensieve?'
'It is someone's memory, taken out of the head and materialised into a form like that white thing you touched.'
Draco nearly slapped his forehead. Of course, it was a Pensieve! He should have thought of that. But he had never seen one before. Why did Potter know about it?
'Is it Barnes's Pensieve?', he snapped.
'No, I think it is Dumbledore's. At least his was the only one I've ever seen.'
'Harry, how are we going to get out of here?'; Ginny asked.
She still seemed a little confused and she kept looking at Professor Barnes and Dumbledore. Draco noticed that it was now much more difficult to understand what they were talking about. It sounded like an old radio or something.
Harry noticed it, too. And looked again at Draco.
'How long have you been here?'
'Just a few minutes, why?'
'Maybe the Memory we are looking at is fading.'
Before Draco could ask him what this meant, the room began to disappear. Suddenly they were back under the oak. Draco looked down at the frame. The liquid was completely still. Harry spoke again.
'Where did you get this from, anyway?'
Draco smirked.
'Oh, I found it yesterday evening outside the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom. You saw it, too.'
Instead of replying Harry went silent and looked as if he was thinking hard. Ginny, who didn't know what they were talking about, watched them carefully for a moment, then asked:
'Is there a problem or something?'
Harry looked up and shook his head.
'It's just that I have no idea how a part of Dumbledore's Pensieve could get outside the DADA classroom. Usually he keeps it locked in a cupboard in his office.'
'Probably, someone stole it. But what would anybody want to do with it?'
Draco wasn't sure why he even asked. He wasn't interested in the answer anyway, was he? And then another question came to his mind. But Ginny spoke first.
'Well, if that Pensieve contains Dumbledore's thoughts everybody could use it. I mean there must be plenty of information in there.'
Harry nodded.
'We should go talk to him about it. It would be best, if you came, too, Malfoy.'
Draco grunted a reply, grabbed his bag and the frame and started moving towards the school. Ginny's voice made him stop again.
'No, wait, we should go after class!'
'Gin, I think this is more important, than Herbology. We are already late anyway. We should go now to Dumbledore.'
'Potter is right. I would like to get rid of that thing', Draco said and waved the frame.
So they went silently to into the school and stopped right in front of the ugly gargoyle, who guarded the entrance. Before Harry could even try to find the right password, the secret doorway opened and they could enter. At the end of the spiral staircase the door to the headmaster's office was open, too.
They walked through it and stood face to face with Albus Dumbledore, who looked very old and tired. He was sitting behind his desk and looking at them expectantly. Harry took a step forward.
'Sir, we found something that might belong to you.'
Draco came up beside him and gave Dumbledore the picture frame with the white liquid on it. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised at all. He just asked them where they found it and Draco replied truthfully. Then Harry explained what they had been thinking and when he finished the headmaster sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a few moments.
'Does anybody else know about this?', he finally asked.
'No, sir, Ginny and I at least haven't had time to talk about it to anybody.' Harry answered and looked questioningly at Malfoy.
Draco shook his head and asked the question that had bothered him all the time.
'Professor, why was it lying on the floor outside of the DADA classroom? Has it got anything to do with Professor Barnes, maybe?'
'It was probably a mistake. The person, who took the Pensieve must have let a small amount of it drop on the floor, when he passed the classroom. I think it was just coincidence that you found a memory of Professor Barnes. But now, please listen to me. I want you three to keep quiet about this. It is very important that you don't tell anybody about this. Not even your best friends.'
He looked Harry meaningfully in the eye at this.
'I think you should go now, next class will start in a few minutes. You won't get detentions.'
As they descended the stairs Ginny let out a sight. She had kept quiet through the hole conversation and seemed quite relieved.
'Why is he making such a big secret of this?', she asked. Harry turned to her and answered:
'I have no idea, but he must have a reason. I only wonder why he doesn't want me to tell Ron and Hermione.'
Draco snorted behind them.
'Isn't that obvious? He doesn't want everybody to know that he lost his Pensieve. That mudblood friend of yours would probably have it out after two minutes.'
Harry shot him a nasty look, but before he could say anything, Draco cut him off.
'By the way, do you know someone called Snuffles?'
Harry stared at him with wide eyes. Draco assumed from that reaction that Potter indeed knew something. After a moment Harry composed himself again and asked innocently:
'Why do you ask?'
'I heard Barnes and Dumbledore talk about him in the Pensieve. I just wonder if he might have to do something with all this.'
Again, Harry seemed to be thinking hard. Ginny regarded him curiously. When he finally spoke his voice sounded strangely suppressed.
'I don't know anyone who's called Snuffles.'
Draco narrowed his eyes, but kept quiet. He knew that Potter was lying, but he wouldn't get anything out of him at the moment. They arrived in the entrance hall. It was empty, because classes weren't over jet. Harry turned to Ginny.
'What was it you wanted to talk about with me?'
Ginny blushed slightly and looked at the floor.
'Oh, it was nothing. Nothing important.' She glanced at her watch and said:
'I have Muggle Studies next. The lesson starts in ten minutes and I have to get my books from the tower. So, uh, see you later then.'
She turned away in the direction of the Gryffindor tower and practically fled from the hall.
Draco snickered and shook his head.
'That girl's still head over heals, Potter. Can't see what she sees in you.'
'Stuff it, Malfoy. We are just friends.'
'Yeah, sure. Well, am I wrong in claiming that you know pretty well what is going on here?'
Again, Potter seemed to close up. He was such a bad liar.
'I don't know what you are talking about. I have to go now.'
He turned around and went for another staircase, but Draco's voice made him stop.
All right, if you don't want to tell, I'll have to find out by myself. Don't think I'd give up so easy.'
Harry eyes him for a moment over his shoulder, then murmured 'Whatever' and stalked away.
Draco looked at his back and decided that he would indeed find out what Potter and Dumbledore and probably even Professor Barnes were hiding. The bell rang and he made his way to his next class.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, that was chapter two! Please tell me what you think about it! (('-'))
Disclaimer: All characters you recognise belong to the great J. K. Rowling.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning Draco woke up with a feeling of restlessness. Something bothered him, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Then he remembered what happened the night before and he quickly opened his drawer to look at the white substance. It was still on the picture frame, gleaming strangely.
Draco felt oddly relieved that it was still in place. He'd dreamed about it, but he couldn't remember what happened. He decided that he would examine the liquid thoroughly right after breakfast and if he didn't find anything interesting he would go and ask Professor Snape about it.
He could also ask Professor Barnes, but he wasn't sure if he should tell her, because he had found it in front of her classroom and because he didn't know how she would react to seeing herself in there. Another reason for not going to her was, that he was afraid she would react like Potter and embarrass him again in front of the whole school.
The Great Hall was nearly empty because it was still very early. Potter and his friends were already sitting at the Gryffindor table, though. Potter noticed him first when Draco entered and started laughing. He was probably telling Weasley and Granger what he had seen last night. Damn.
Draco didn't pay him too much attention, though, because he wanted to finish eating fast, so he could look at the liquid before class. Today was Friday and he had Transfiguration first. In the afternoon he had Potions, where he could talk to Snape.
Draco left the hall quickly and returned to his dorm. His room mates were just getting out of bed and he didn't think that he could work in peace anywhere near them. So he took the picture frame with the substance out of his drawer, put it into his bag and headed for the school grounds.
He went to his favourite place under a big oak near the lake and sat down. He took the frame and put it in front of him. Then he took a quill and touched the surface of the substance with it. It was much thicker than water and more resistant. It was liquid, but it didn't flow away. It was more like some kind of glue that didn't glue. It didn't seem dangerous, so he put the quill away and touched it with his finger.
And then it happened. It felt as if he was pulled through a window. For a few moments there was nothing and then he saw Professor Barnes standing beside him talking to Dumbledore. They were standing in Dumbledore's office. Draco had been there only a few times, none of them very memorable.
Draco was standing right beside them but they didn't seem aware of his presence. Their expressions were both very serious and they were speaking quietly.
'Tell me the truth, Albus. Are we in danger?', Professor Barnes said.
'Honestly, I don't know. I don't want to believe that after we just accomplished to ensure the security of our students, something like this is happening. I hope that we can find the error soon, but at the moment we can only wait.', Dumbledore answered.
'Is there any way to foresee it? Or to detect it? We could let Snuffles come here.'
'Helen, I know that you want to see him, and he could help us maybe, but he is probably not even in England at the moment. I could contact Remus, though.'
'Yes, that sounds . . .'
Draco didn't hear Professor Barnes's answer, because he was preoccupied catching his breath after someone appeared out of nowhere and scared him half to death. After composing himself a little he glared at the petite form of Ginny Weasley, who looked rather astounded.
Just as Draco wanted to give her a snide remark another person appeared out of thin air. This time it was Potter.
Please not another day like yesterday, Draco thought as Harry looked around the room. Then Harry spoke to Ginny.
'We are in a Pensieve. This is not yours, is it?'
The question was asked towards Draco. Before he could answer Ginny did.
'What exactly is a Pensieve?'
'It is someone's memory, taken out of the head and materialised into a form like that white thing you touched.'
Draco nearly slapped his forehead. Of course, it was a Pensieve! He should have thought of that. But he had never seen one before. Why did Potter know about it?
'Is it Barnes's Pensieve?', he snapped.
'No, I think it is Dumbledore's. At least his was the only one I've ever seen.'
'Harry, how are we going to get out of here?'; Ginny asked.
She still seemed a little confused and she kept looking at Professor Barnes and Dumbledore. Draco noticed that it was now much more difficult to understand what they were talking about. It sounded like an old radio or something.
Harry noticed it, too. And looked again at Draco.
'How long have you been here?'
'Just a few minutes, why?'
'Maybe the Memory we are looking at is fading.'
Before Draco could ask him what this meant, the room began to disappear. Suddenly they were back under the oak. Draco looked down at the frame. The liquid was completely still. Harry spoke again.
'Where did you get this from, anyway?'
Draco smirked.
'Oh, I found it yesterday evening outside the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom. You saw it, too.'
Instead of replying Harry went silent and looked as if he was thinking hard. Ginny, who didn't know what they were talking about, watched them carefully for a moment, then asked:
'Is there a problem or something?'
Harry looked up and shook his head.
'It's just that I have no idea how a part of Dumbledore's Pensieve could get outside the DADA classroom. Usually he keeps it locked in a cupboard in his office.'
'Probably, someone stole it. But what would anybody want to do with it?'
Draco wasn't sure why he even asked. He wasn't interested in the answer anyway, was he? And then another question came to his mind. But Ginny spoke first.
'Well, if that Pensieve contains Dumbledore's thoughts everybody could use it. I mean there must be plenty of information in there.'
Harry nodded.
'We should go talk to him about it. It would be best, if you came, too, Malfoy.'
Draco grunted a reply, grabbed his bag and the frame and started moving towards the school. Ginny's voice made him stop again.
'No, wait, we should go after class!'
'Gin, I think this is more important, than Herbology. We are already late anyway. We should go now to Dumbledore.'
'Potter is right. I would like to get rid of that thing', Draco said and waved the frame.
So they went silently to into the school and stopped right in front of the ugly gargoyle, who guarded the entrance. Before Harry could even try to find the right password, the secret doorway opened and they could enter. At the end of the spiral staircase the door to the headmaster's office was open, too.
They walked through it and stood face to face with Albus Dumbledore, who looked very old and tired. He was sitting behind his desk and looking at them expectantly. Harry took a step forward.
'Sir, we found something that might belong to you.'
Draco came up beside him and gave Dumbledore the picture frame with the white liquid on it. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised at all. He just asked them where they found it and Draco replied truthfully. Then Harry explained what they had been thinking and when he finished the headmaster sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a few moments.
'Does anybody else know about this?', he finally asked.
'No, sir, Ginny and I at least haven't had time to talk about it to anybody.' Harry answered and looked questioningly at Malfoy.
Draco shook his head and asked the question that had bothered him all the time.
'Professor, why was it lying on the floor outside of the DADA classroom? Has it got anything to do with Professor Barnes, maybe?'
'It was probably a mistake. The person, who took the Pensieve must have let a small amount of it drop on the floor, when he passed the classroom. I think it was just coincidence that you found a memory of Professor Barnes. But now, please listen to me. I want you three to keep quiet about this. It is very important that you don't tell anybody about this. Not even your best friends.'
He looked Harry meaningfully in the eye at this.
'I think you should go now, next class will start in a few minutes. You won't get detentions.'
As they descended the stairs Ginny let out a sight. She had kept quiet through the hole conversation and seemed quite relieved.
'Why is he making such a big secret of this?', she asked. Harry turned to her and answered:
'I have no idea, but he must have a reason. I only wonder why he doesn't want me to tell Ron and Hermione.'
Draco snorted behind them.
'Isn't that obvious? He doesn't want everybody to know that he lost his Pensieve. That mudblood friend of yours would probably have it out after two minutes.'
Harry shot him a nasty look, but before he could say anything, Draco cut him off.
'By the way, do you know someone called Snuffles?'
Harry stared at him with wide eyes. Draco assumed from that reaction that Potter indeed knew something. After a moment Harry composed himself again and asked innocently:
'Why do you ask?'
'I heard Barnes and Dumbledore talk about him in the Pensieve. I just wonder if he might have to do something with all this.'
Again, Harry seemed to be thinking hard. Ginny regarded him curiously. When he finally spoke his voice sounded strangely suppressed.
'I don't know anyone who's called Snuffles.'
Draco narrowed his eyes, but kept quiet. He knew that Potter was lying, but he wouldn't get anything out of him at the moment. They arrived in the entrance hall. It was empty, because classes weren't over jet. Harry turned to Ginny.
'What was it you wanted to talk about with me?'
Ginny blushed slightly and looked at the floor.
'Oh, it was nothing. Nothing important.' She glanced at her watch and said:
'I have Muggle Studies next. The lesson starts in ten minutes and I have to get my books from the tower. So, uh, see you later then.'
She turned away in the direction of the Gryffindor tower and practically fled from the hall.
Draco snickered and shook his head.
'That girl's still head over heals, Potter. Can't see what she sees in you.'
'Stuff it, Malfoy. We are just friends.'
'Yeah, sure. Well, am I wrong in claiming that you know pretty well what is going on here?'
Again, Potter seemed to close up. He was such a bad liar.
'I don't know what you are talking about. I have to go now.'
He turned around and went for another staircase, but Draco's voice made him stop.
All right, if you don't want to tell, I'll have to find out by myself. Don't think I'd give up so easy.'
Harry eyes him for a moment over his shoulder, then murmured 'Whatever' and stalked away.
Draco looked at his back and decided that he would indeed find out what Potter and Dumbledore and probably even Professor Barnes were hiding. The bell rang and he made his way to his next class.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well, that was chapter two! Please tell me what you think about it! (('-'))