The stone floors were black, the walls were black, but everywhere there was the sign of the Snake. It was embroidered on opulent tapestries of green and silver, on rich rugs that covered portions of the floor. Rather than looking comfortably worn, the furniture looked stiff, not un-used, but none of them had any desire to sprawl across the couch or throw a leg over an arm of the chair. The very furniture seemed to be frowning at their presence in the room.
"It looks like a parlor," Monica said softly. "Like the ones you read about in Victorian times. Like those rooms that were only used once or twice a year, for entertaining important guests. The ones that the children of the household were never allowed to play in." She looked around, saddened.
Hermione shivered. "It's freezing in here." She looked at the fireplace. Contrary to the chill they all felt, a fire was glowing brightly in the grate. The very metal of the grate itself was glowing with the heat, but the three Guardians could not feel it.
"There is darkness here." Daniel said firmly. His hands were fisted at his sides. "Centuries of it. Let's get Draco and get out." Monica started for the stairs on the left side of the parlor. There was a hissing noise as she neared it. She looked at Daniel. Without another word, he started up the stairs. This time, when she followed, there was no warning hiss. Hermione stayed in The Snake Pit, hand fisted around her wand as she looked around warily, suddenly conscious of the brightness of her scarlet and gold necktie.
Daniel and Monica reached a large black oak door with Year 5 embossed in silver on it. Daniel didn't move for a moment. Monica reached around him and opened the door. At first, the room looked empty of people. It was just as opulent, but not as depressing, as the common room below. The two Ravenclaws looked at the room curiously, both comparing it to their own dorms. Suddenly, with a soft cry, Monica ran to one of the beds. Daniel followed her.
Draco Malfoy, the unspoken leader of Slytherin house, the arrogant pureblood, was lying sprawled on the stone floor next to his bed, shirtless, left arm flung up over his face, the other bent under him at a strange angle. The black silk cord that he kept his Shard on was all that could be seen of it from that position. Monica touched his face softly with the fingertips of one hand. She whispered his name. When this got no response, she repeated his name, louder this time. There was a tinge of desperation in her voice as she tried a third time.
Daniel stared for a moment, then hunkered down next to them. Something was very wrong. Suddenly, he got an idea. Hoping Monica was too worried to try and hex him he took a deep breath and bellowed, "DRACO MALFOY! GET UP THIS INSTANT!"
Monica gave him a furious glare, but a soft moan from the boy on the ground called back their attention. Draco's eyelids fluttered. "I'm coming Father…" he whispered. Then he tried to get up.
"Don't move just yet Draco," Monica said, her tone reassuring. Ice blue eyes flew open in shock and settled on her face.
"What is going on in here?" Hermione asked from the doorway. "Was that you yelling Daniel?"
Daniel nodded as Draco's eyes found his. Ice met crystal and neither cracked. Monica didn't seem to notice the tension between the two boys. She was carefully feeling Draco's arms and chest for broken bones. As she touched his right arm, the tension faded. Draco tried very hard not to wince as he moved his arm from under himself. Monica touched it again as it lay, limp across his chest. She looked him in the face again. "It's sprained, perhaps even broken. I'm not sure yet." She told him softly.
"What happened?" Daniel asked.
Draco's brow furrowed. "The book! Where is it? Where's the book?" He started looking around.
"What book?" Monica asked, "Look Draco, if you don't keep still, I can't…" She was focusing on his arm, the fingertips of one hand resting in a line across his forearm.
"The copy… the copy of Hermione's Book," Draco said. "I was looking at it last night, trying to figure it out before I gave it to her. I must have fallen asleep, but I know I had the book with me… I remember waking up once… something grabbed my arm, lifted it off the book I think. I resisted. Then I blacked out." He frowned. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying… to fix… your… arm…" Monica said. Her face was intense, her concentration evident, as her face grew flushed. A faint purple glow came from under her shirt. With her free hand she reached for her Shard, and clasped it in her fist. An answering glow came from under Draco's head, and another from inside Daniel's shirt.
Daniel suddenly realized that Hermione was no longer in the room. He wondered when she'd left and where she'd gone. Just as he did, The girl in question came through the door, followed by the Headmaster himself.
Dumbledore looked down at Draco and Monica in consternation, but seeing the glow from their Shards, the worry faded from his eyes to be replaced by a sense of anticipation. Daniel returned his attention to Monica. Her face was still flushed, her eyes narrowed to slits. Her fingers on Draco's arm were almost glowing, but not quite. Draco suddenly closed his eyes and went pale. Monica snatched her hand away from the arm and relaxed. "It's not broken anymore," she said softly. The glow of the Shards faded away.
"Well done Miss Reed," Dumbledore congratulated her. She jumped and whipped her head around to stare at him. Draco's eyes opened, but it was as if all he could see was her.
"Monica…" he whispered. She returned her attention to her patient, though it was evident that she was aware of the teacher behind her. She leaned further down to hear Draco better.
Daniel stood up and went to the Headmaster. "Professor, Alaster sent us to find him. We found him like this, on the floor, his arm broken and unconscious." Hermione nodded her agreement.
"Perhaps, Miss Granger, you would fetch Madame Pomfrey to tend to Mister Malfoy, now that it appears his arm is no longer broken," Dumbledore said kindly, with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Sir, if Monica has healed his arm then why does he need to see Madame Pomfrey?" Daniel asked as Hermione left the room.
The Headmaster didn't answer. Instead he approached the couple on the floor. Draco stopped talking. Dumbledore smiled at him reassuringly. Draco didn't smile back. With Monica he could relax his guard, but he wasn't sure how to act around the Headmaster now. "Let's get him up onto the bed," Dumbledore said,
"I can get there myself Sir," Draco said, his arrogance back in nearly full force.
"Not without my help you won't." Monica snapped. She stood, then bent to put an arm under his, and around his back. Daniel went to his other side at a look from Dumbledore. Draco stood, slowly. As he turned toward the bed, Monica gasped. He tensed. She shook her head and lightly pushed him down on the bed. At the same time, she was very careful to shield his back from the Headmaster's gaze, as well as Daniel's.
They had just gotten him into the bed and under the covers when Snape rushed in. He pulled up short at the sight of Monica tucking Draco under the covers. His lips became so thin as a result of suppressed anger that they nearly disappeared.
"Albus I demand to know what happened to my student," Snape exclaimed.
Dumbledore merely looked at him a moment before calmly saying, "It seems someone accosted Mister Malfoy during the night, spraining his arm and rendering him unconscious."
"What did they do to him?" Snape asked, furious. His piercing black eyes fastened on Daniel.
"We found him here like this Professor." Daniel said coldly.
"Found him, or wounded him?" Snape growled.
"Really Severus, would they have fetched the Headmaster if they done this themselves?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she came into the room. She went directly to Draco and began to carefully examine his arm. "He's got some bruising on his arm, and a bump the size of a Bludger on the back of his head, but otherwise, he seems all right." She said after a moment.
Snape narrowed his eyes at the two Ravenclaws beside the bed. Hermione was standing by Dumbledore, and so was not included in the Potions Masters wrath, yet. "How did they get in here to find him?" he asked, suspicious.
I let them in." Hermione said.
"Before you say something that you will regret Severus, I must say that I believe they acted as they should. They were told by a faculty member to fetch Mister Malfoy, and they did so. The fact that they found him wounded was fortuitous for him." Dumbledore said firmly.
"If we hadn't found him, he'd still be lying on the stone floor unconscious," Daniel said.
"Enough. I want everyone out of here. Since he's so comfortable now, We won't move him to the hospital wing. I'll just bring the potion here." Madame Pomfrey ordered.
"Very well Poppy, but perhaps Miss Reed should remain. I believe she's thinking of going into the medical profession herself and may be able to assist you." Dumbledore said. He motioned Hermione and Daniel to the door. "Severus, don't you have a Quidditch meeting to run?"
"How am I supposed to have a team meeting without my Seeker?" Snape asked coldly as they descended the stairs.
"I'm sure you can manage." Dumbledore said. He turned to Daniel and Hermione. "I'd like you two to tell Miss Jameson that everything is to continue as planned. She will understand."
"Which one Sir?" Daniel asked. "There are three of them."
Dumbledore smiled at him. "Rose, though the others would do well to hear it as well."
"We'll do that Professor, and thank you." Hermione said. Gratefully, the two left the Slytherin Dormitory behind them, unaware until they were free of it, of the tension that had built up in them from merely being in those rooms.