Chapter 16: Beached Fish
Harry was starting to get light headed from all the fumes. Professor Trelawney had lit about thirty candles. Ron was leaning out of the window gulping fresh air and Draco had his head against the wall and looked like he was going to throw up at any given moment. Harry got out a piece of parchment, but put it back. Trelawney was on the other side of the classroom showing Lavender precisely how to turn the bone, so the predictions would be correct.
"Psst! Draco!" Harry hissed. Draco's eyes snapped open and fixed themselves on Harry. He lifted his head a little from the wall.
"Yeah?" Draco whispered.
"Did you write to your dad, yet?"
"Yeah, and I told him to write back quickly so I'll probably have the answer by tomorrow at the latest."
"Earliest?" Harry took a quick glance at Trelawney to make sure she was still occupied.
"Next period," Draco shut his eyes again, "I feel like I'm going to hurl. And Ron keeps acting like beached fish."
"Sorry," Ron choked, "I can't breathe. Too many candles…" He started coughing and leaned out the window again.
"Why is she leaving it open?" Draco complained softly, "It's freezing and it's snowing!"
"Probably so she won't gas us…" Harry muttered.
"Gas…us?" Draco said uncertainly. He pushed his table up a little closer to Harry and Neville's.
"Yeah, some Muggles…kill people…by putting them in rooms and then pumping poisonous gases in," Harry explained.
"Mr. Potter, what have you interpreted on your bone?" Harry whirled around; Trelawney was standing in front of him. "Too busy talking to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy, I see? Mr. Longbottom switch seats with…" She glanced around the room. Seamus was unhappily paired with Goyle. Crabbe didn't take Divination. "Mr. Goyle, please. And Mr. Malfoy, I know you are also friends with Goyle so I'll ask you and Mr. Weasley to scoot your table back."
The next moment Trelawney's back was turned Harry scribbled a quick note. "Have…you…written…back…to…S…?" Harry quickly folded it and tossed it back to Ron and Draco. He glanced surreptitiously to see if Draco got it. He opened it and started to read it but he refolded and quickly shot his hand up into the air.
"Oh, no," Harry thought, "he's still a little rat…"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Trelawney answered him, "You may go to the nurse."
"Thank you," Draco said quickly before running out of the classroom. The classroom started giggling and talking.
"Settle down!" Trelawney snapped. No one had ever heard her lose her patience before. "Mr. Potter, since you are such good friends with Mr. Malfoy, go with him."
Harry got up out of his seat and walked out of the classroom. He found Draco sitting in the middle of the hallway breathing heavily.
"Are you okay?" Harry looked concerned.
"Yeah, I am now. I just emptied the entire contents of my stomach… in a vase." He finished. Harry glanced at the green vase that was sitting on a table.
"Good job."
"Yeah well," Draco wiped his mouth, "I almost missed it…"
"Trelawney guessed you were going to barf! How'd she do it?"
"Potter, you are so gullible," Draco grinned.
"What do you mean?" Harry looked confused.
"I didn't hurl. I was acting," Draco smiled even wider, "IF I had really done it, I would have been in hysterics."
"Then why did you fake it?" Harry asked,
"So I can check my mail."
"I still have to take you to Pomfrey," Harry said firmly, "Or Trelawney'll kill me."
"Fine. But we have to go to the Owlery first."
"Fine by me."
"Yes!" Draco said, "Triple messages for me!"
Harry was petting Hedwig. "Hm?"
"One from 'S', one from my dad, and one from Bellatrix." Draco shuffled through them. "Oh," he added, "and one from Dolohov again."
"Hurry up! We have to go to Pomfrey!" Harry said urgently, "What if she asks what took us so long? Trelawney might have told her!"
"We'll just tell her I threw up twice and I'll walk in really slowly… oh yeah and moaning. She'll never know," Draco said, "I did almost the identical thing two years ago."
"Alright if you're sure."
"You snuck out of Divination?" Hermione gasped. Neville, Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Ron were all eating dinner in the darkest corner they could find.
"Yeah," Draco said, "I wasn't sure I she would believe me when so I was prepared to stick my finger down my throat." He made a face and gagged. "Good thing I didn't have too. We went to Pomfrey and she gave me some medicine so I'm 'fine'." He did little quotes with his fingers when he said "fine". "And…" Draco reached into his pocket, "I got some mail. One from Dolohov-" he placed the letter on the table, "One from S-" he placed that one on the table, "Bellatrix and…" he grandly placed the last one down, "-my father."
"Let's read 'S' first," Harry said.
"Who's S?" Neville asked.
"An anonymous writer. Very helpful," Draco opened the letter, "Here we go." He started to read, "Friend," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Congratulations on figuring who one of the people were. The second one will not be as easy; I didn't expect you to figure them out. Can you meet me at midnight in the Gryffindor common room fire? It will be a stretch if you're in Slytherin; but it's been done. I will reveal myself and we will take action. S." Draco finished, "We get to meet him! And there's no way he can attack us if it is a trap!"
"Good," Harry said, "I know how we can manage it-"
"Tell us after we read the next three letters…" Ron interrupted. "Let's read Bellatrix's."
"I already read it and the useful part is-" Draco cleared his throat, "Do not trust anything Dolohov gives you. Plan out everything with your father and I and your 'friend'- D'you think she knows about 'S'? Sad thing is the 'don't trust Dolohov' is a given."
"Have you read your father's?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," Draco looked down, "He wouldn't tell me. He was worried about the letter being intercepted; so, he didn't. No good info from him. Now, Dolohov on the other hand-" Draco grinned, "Was very helpful… he told us where the graveyard is, how to get there, and its name."
"Really?" Hermione said excitedly.
"What's it called?" Harry asked.
"What time does he want you to be there?" Neville asked, "Or should I say 'us'?"
"Okay, one at a time…" Draco looked at the letter; "They want me, us, to be present at midnight. DUH... and the graveyard is called… 'Dormiens Aevum'?"
"That's Latin…" Hermione said knowledgeably, "It means, well literally, 'Age Sleep' or 'Eternity Sleep'."
"How fitting," Ron mumbled.
"When do we go?" Neville asked.
"Friday…" Draco read.
"Good, we'll have time to plan…" Hermione said. "For once…" she cast a glance in Harry and Ron's direction.
"Three days…" Draco said, "Three days are not going to help. We need three years!"
"Okay," Harry took over, "Draco, what you need to do for tonight-" he dropped his voice so only the people at the table could hear him, "I'm going to give you my Invisibility Cloak. Lose it and I swear I will kill you! It was my dad's!"
"Alright, alright!" Draco said impatiently, "How about I come up after dinner and you give it to me? Plus you'll need to show me how to get there from the Slytherin common room."
"I know, I know," Harry pulled out a piece of parchment, "Here, just use this."
"What, a piece of parchment? Load of good that'll do me!" Draco said sharply, "Harry this is NOT a-"
"Wait, I'll explain to you how it works and again, it was my dad's. Lose it and I'll kill you."
"What if I lose both of them… at the same time?" Draco smiled.
"I'll kill you twice! Draco, this is serious!" Harry hissed, "Now watch." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the parchment.
"That was what Lupin used a while ago! It's a map, right?" Draco pulled out his wand too, he tapped the map, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
The map faded into view. "You have a really good memory!" Ron said amazed, "Lupin said that like two months ago, in September!"
"Okay then," Harry said, "You know how to use the map. Good. That'll get you to the Gryffindor common room; plus, it will show you who's walking down the corridors so you can avoid them."
"Good," Draco looked at the map, "I see Slytherin-" he pointed at a square on the map, "And there's Gryffindor…" he pointed to a circle. "And there's a secret passage that will take me halfway there!"
"It will tell you the password when you're in front on it," Harry said, " Get to the Gryffindor common room no later than eleven fifty. Listen to the password when I say it; come with me to get my cloak."
Harry and Draco walked down the corridor to the Fat Lady painting. "Now pay attention!" Harry hissed, "You only get one chance."
"What if the password changes?" Draco frowned.
"Then one of us will be out there waiting to let you in. Here's the password: Sni-oosh!" The portrait swung open, "Be right back."
Draco stood outside the portrait muttering under his breath, "Sni-oosh…sni-oosh…sni-oosh…"
"I'm back," Harry climbed out of the portrait hole. He handed him a pile of silvery material. "Here. Try it on."
Draco took it and threw it over himself. "Awesome… it really works! I'm invisible!" He started singing, "I'm invisible, you can't see me. I'm invisible, you can't see-"
"Draco," Harry hissed, "People are coming! Either take it off or shut up! Draco? Draco? DRACO ANSWER ME!"
"See ya tonight!" he heard Draco's voice say.
