Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowling's people, places, items, or anything else that she's made up!

Confession: I made up a spell in this chapter..."Aperio Specialis"...it means "reveal secret" in Latin. Now that I've confessed, nobody can complain about me using a fake spell! ;)

Chapter 14 – The Locket

Harry yawned sleepily and stretched. He had just had a very good night's sleep. His eyes flickered to the clock on his bedstand, and then widened. It's late! he realized. He hurriedly got out of bed and dressed, realizing that even Ron was already gone. It only took him a few minutes to get ready, and then he headed down to the common room. Almost everyone was down in the Great Hall eating breakfast, but Silver was sitting peacefully on the couch in front of the fire, waiting for him.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she greeted.

He grinned. "Morning," he replied.

He plopped down beside her and looked around.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" he asked.

"They went down to breakfast about a half an hour ago," she informed him, "Ron was really hungry."

"Why'd I wake up so late?" Harry wondered aloud.

"You were tired," she replied sensibly, "Come on, let's go down and eat."

"Wonder if Malfoy got expelled," Harry said mischievously as they adjourned to the Great Hall.

She giggled. "I don't think we'll be nearly so lucky," she told him.

"Well, we can always hope," he answered.

Ron and Hermione were arguing over something when they arrived. ("Did not"..."Did too")

"Morning," Silver greeted.

They looked up at her as if she had just interrupted something very important.

"Good morning," Hermione greeted.

"Morning," Ron echoed.

Silver smiled. "So, anything interesting happen?"

"Yeah, Malfoy hasn't shown up yet!" Ron answered happily, "I bet you he's expelled."

"I bet you he's not," came a voice from behind them. They spun around to look into Draco's sneering face.

Ron looked highly disappointed.

"But thanks to you, filthy half-blood," he continued, looking at Silver with loathing, "I'm on probation for a month."

He spat on the ground near her, causing her to jump, and then grinned at her reaction.

"See you around," he said in a way Harry was sure he didn't like.

Draco turned and walked away.

"Probation?" Ron echoed.

"He's only allowed to go to classes and meals, the rest of the time he has to go to his dorm," Hermione answered, "He won't even be allowed in the Slytherin common room."

Ron sniggered. "Serves him right." Suddenly Silver stood up.

"Did you hear what he called me?" she asked, "A half-blood!"

Rather than looking offended, she looked as if her dreams had all come true.

"And you're happy about this?" Ron asked.

"He knows who my father is!" Silver exclaimed joyfully, and without another word, she turned and began to run after him.

Immediately the remaining trio vaulted from their seats and followed her.

"Draco!" Silver called, "Malfoy! Draco!"

Draco turned around and looked surprised to see Silver running after him, calling his name.

"Draco," she panted as she caught up with him, "You...called...me...a half- blood."

"Yeah, so?" he answered.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione caught up with their wands drawn out – just in case.

"Draco," she said, "Why?"

"You don't know what a mudblood is?" he scoffed.

"Of course I do! Draco, it's because of my father, isn't it? Isn't it?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, your father's a mudblood..." Draco said, looking confused.

"What's his name?" Silver asked eagerly.

"What?" Draco replied, looking even more confused.

"His name, Draco, his name! What is it?" she asked, her eyes dancing with anticipation.

Draco looked into her eyes suspiciously and thoughtfully. Harry knew he was wondering if he wanted to keep those eyes focused on him for a while, or just get it over with and tell her.

"You don't know who your daddy is?" he finally sneered, understanding dawning in his eyes.

"Draco, just tell me!" she replied impatiently.

A smile spread onto his face, and Harry inwardly groaned.

"You wanna know?" he asked, "Well, I'll tell you – at a price."

"Anything!" she replied. Harry immediately wished she hadn't said that.

Draco pointed to his lips. "Your lips...right here," he told her smugly.

Silver backed up a step, looking revolted.

"What? No...never...absolutely...no," she told him, shaking her head.

"Well then, I guess you don't really want to know, do you?" he sneered, turning on his heel and beginning to walk away.

"Draco!" Silver called after him, "Please!"

Draco turned with a smile. "If you're really nice to me, and I mean really nice," he smirked, "Maybe."

With that he turned and walked in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

Silver was frustrated and upset. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"He didn't tell me," she whispered, shocked.

"Well, he wouldn't," Harry answered, sounding a bit like Hermione, "Not when he wants you to keep looking his way."

"Harry, this is my father we're talking about. It's not something to play around with like...like...that!" she said, sounding outraged.

"I know it, you know it, and he knows it, but that's not gonna change his mind," Harry answered.

Silver bit her lip, trying to keep her tears in.

"Harry," she moaned, "He knows who my father is."

"I know," Harry said comfortingly, "He'll get bored of playing eventually."

She didn't look very convinced that he knew anything, much less anything about her father.

"I'm going to the library for a while," she said, "And I want to go alone."

She looked at the three of them accusingly at this last part, and they knew she was serious.

"Alright," Hermione said kindly, "We'll wait for you in the common room."

Harry was about to protest, but Hermione gripped his arm tightly as she steered him away.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked grumpily.

"She needs to be alone, Harry," Hermione replied.

They all sat on the couch in the common room, trying to figure out what to do.

"It would be a lot easier if we found out who her mother is," Hermione commented.

Harry snorted. "Fat chance we have of getting that out of her," he answered.

"You've tried?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, and it turned her into a human water hose," he informed her. Like Cho always was, he added to himself.

Hermione sighed.

"Well, doesn't she trust us?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Don't ask her that," Harry replied, "She'll just start bawling. When she's ready to tell us, she will."

Hermione gave him an approving look.

"I agree with Harry," she said.

"Alright, I won't ask her anything," Ron agreed.

After a half an hour Silver joined them, fingering the silver locket around her neck.

"What is that?" Ron asked curiously.

"Well, it's the only clue I have as to my father, really," Silver replied, looking down at it, "He left it for me, and put a spell on it so my mom can't touch it without burning herself. I think he knew how she is."

"It's beautiful," Hermione said, "May I see it?"

Hesitantly, Silver lifted the locket up off her neck and handed it to Hermione. Hermione studied it very closely.

"This is very valuable," she said at last, "How do you open it?"

She was trying to force it open, and it was not budging.

"I don't know," Silver answered sadly, "I don't think he ever wanted my mom to see whatever's in there. I think it may tell me who he is, even where he is, but I've never figured out how to open it – I think he wanted me to, though."

"Have you tried magic on it?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, and I've tried talking to it, singing to it, begging it, everything," Silver answered, "I always hope one day it'll just spring open."

Hermione handed it back, and Silver fingered it lovingly for a moment before replacing it around her neck. For a moment everybody sat in silence, wrapped in their own thoughts. It was Hermione who finally spoke, sensible to a fault.

"Well, what are we doing inside on a day like this? Let's go for a walk or something."

They all agreed, and by the time they got outside, they were all wearing smiles. They talked gleefully about Draco's punishment; Ron was hoping he would get kicked off the Quidditch team, but Silver protested that she desperately wanted to hit a Bludger at him and knock him off his broomstick. Silver's hand strayed to her locket again, and Hermione simply couldn't resist.

"I'm sure there has to be a spell to open that!" she exclaimed, "How many have you tried?"

"Well, not many," Silver admitted, "Just the basic ones that I could find in books lying around the house."

"And that was probably all Dark Magic," Hermione said, "What do you all say we head to the library and find a way to open it?"

Even Harry and Ron wanted to help. The foursome headed back inside to the library, and began collecting books.

"Uh, would melting it work?" Ron asked as he looked through Uncommon Spells to Solve Common Problems.

Hermione glanced over.

"Ron, do you really think that trying to open a magic locket is a common problem?" she asked.

"It could be," Ron protested.

"I suppose," Hermione said dubiously.

"Hey, what if we gave it a brain?" Harry asked mischievously.

"That's just what we need," Hermione said sarcastically, "A necklace with a personality. Knowing our luck, it would run away."

Harry and Ron snickered, and the girls shot them reproving looks.

After a few minutes, Hermione glanced over and demanded, "Ron, what are you reading?"

Ron attempted to cover the title of his book, which was Take Revenge on Your Enemies: Hexes and Jinxes They Won't Be Able to Endure!

"I really wanna hurt Malfoy," he protested.

"Dumbledore's already handled the punishment, now are you going to help us look or not?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Ron grumbled, turning back to his other book.

"Ooh," Silver said, "How about the Secret-Summoning Charm? It's supposed to reveal a magical item's secrets!"

"Try it!" Hermione replied excitedly.

Silver took the locket off her neck, set it on the table, pointed her wand at it, and said clearly, "Aperio Specialis."

For a moment, the locket quivered, but then it lay just as still as before.

"Hmm," Hermione mused, "Your dad must have put a countercurse on it for that charm so that your mom couldn't open it. He was a very gifted wizard."

Silver beamed and put the locket around her neck once more as they continued their search.

"You know, that spell could come in useful in a lot of situations," Ron said, "We should remember it."

Hermione gave him a rare surprised smile. "You know Ron, you're right!" she exclaimed.

Ron blushed, and Harry knew that was no spell he'd be forgetting anytime soon.

"Uh," Harry said, "Here's one that's supposed to rip something in half..."

"But we can't hurt the locket!" Silver exclaimed, "I've had it for forever! And I like it," she added stubbornly.

"Okay, it was just an idea," Harry mumbled, turning back to his book.

In three hours, they had only come across a few more possible spells, none of which had worked. Whenever the locket refused to open, Hermione became more delighted. She gushed about what a good wizard Silver's father was to have blocked the secret from so many spells.

"Well, I wish he wouldn't have," Silver said, frustrated, as she slammed Spells to Solve Any Problem closed. "I'm just a kid, how did he ever expect me to figure out how to open it?"

"That's just it, though," Hermione said, "He must have known that you'd try, and he must have made it something so obvious that we can't figure it out."

Silver sighed.

"Well, it's dinnertime now, so maybe we'll look some other time," she said.

"Maybe we should just think about it for a while," Hermione suggested, "It has to be so easy that we're overlooking it."

Harry was doubtful, and he wasn't the only one. Silver looked very put out about the whole thing, and he was certain that she just wanted to forget about the locket's secret for a while. Ron, however, was hanging on Hermione's every word, nodding as she spoke.

"Maybe," Hermione continued, "He did something else, too, like the secret can only be revealed on a full moon, or in winter."

Silver groaned. "In that case, how did he ever expect me to open it?"

"I'm telling you, it's something simple," Hermione insisted.

Over dinner, Ginny came up to them, beaming.

"Silver, you are absolutely brilliant for what you did to Draco!" she exclaimed.

"How did you know about that?" Silver asked, surprised.

"The whole school knows, Silver," Ginny replied, "You're a hero! Except for with the Slytherins, of course..."

Truthfully enough, the entire Slytherin table was glaring at Silver, making her cringe uncomfortably, whilst the Gryffindor table was shooting her awed looks and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were giving her encouraging smiles.

"Great," Silver sighed, "And we have Double Potions with them tomorrow."

"They won't do anything to you," Ron answered, "Especially in front of Snape."

Silver didn't look to sure, and personally, Harry wasn't either, but he didn't say anything. Halfway through dinner, Silver announced that she was no longer hungry and was going to the common room. Harry watched her carefully as she made her way out of the Great Hall, making sure no Slytherins were following her, but nothing eventful happened.

"They're really bugging her, aren't they?" Hermione asked, "The way they're looking at her."

"Well, Slytherins are always like that," Ron replied, "They've just directed their sour faces in her direction."

They walked into the common room to be greeted by complete silence. Neville put his finger to his lips as they walked in and motioned towards the couch. Harry smiled as he looked over to see Silver sleeping peacefully on the couch. Her hair cascaded over the edge of the couch, and he was compelled to go and give it a tug. She was clasping her locket tightly in her hand.

Exchanging smiles, the trio sat down near her and whispered to each other, waiting for her to wake up. The hours passed by, however, and Silver didn't awaken.

"We should wake her up," Hermione suggested as she stifled a yawn, "I'm ready for bed."

"Me too," Ron agreed, standing up with her.

"No, I'll wait a while longer," Harry answered, glancing at her.

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"I'll wake her up in a half hour if she doesn't wake up," he promised.

Hermione and Ron went to bed, and Harry looked over at Silver, who didn't look like he was waking up anytime soon. He then looked into the fire, watching as the flames danced higher and higher...it was mesmerizing...

"Harry," he heard.

He turned in his chair, not wanting to wake up. He heard Silver laugh.

"Wake up, Harry," she urged.

He opened his eyes and looked up into her face. She was smiling down at him.

"I was supposed to wake you up," he informed her groggily.

She giggled. "Sorry," she apologized.

Harry realized that it was very dim in the room, and discovered that the fire was almost out.

"Night," he murmured as he made his way toward the boys dorms.

"Night, Harry," she replied, "Sweet dreams."

He smiled, but was too sleepy to reply. He fell into bed, still smiling, without bothering to clear his mind.

He had a dream that he was out on the Quidditch field, about to play Slytherin. He couldn't seem to find Silver, and the whole team was in an uproar.

"Look!" Angelina cried, "There she is! She's playing for Slytherin today!"

Harry looked over to see Silver in green and silver Slytherin robes. Her locket was hanging down over the robes, and she was hanging on Malfoy's arm. He stalked over to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Malfoy wanted me to play for him," she replied, smiling up at Malfoy sickeningly, "And how could I say no?"

"You're in Gryffindor, though," Harry protested.

"I've switched to Slytherin," she replied.

"But...you can't do that!" he said.

"Harry, just go away!" she snapped, "My father doesn't like you anyway!"

"What?" he asked, "But who's your father?"

Crabbe and Goyle began to carry him away. He kicked and fought, but couldn't get loose. As he watched, Silver turned to Malfoy, smiling, and Malfoy bent down to kiss her.

Harry woke up before their lips touched...thank goodness, he wouldn't have been able to live with that picture in his mind. He rolled over so that he was facing his pillow, reminding himself that it was only a dream. He didn't realize that for once, he had had a normal dream – one not remotely concerning Voldemort.

He drifted back off to sleep thinking about the locket and it's secrets. There had to be a way to figure out what it was hiding...there just had to.