Disturbing the Dust
Story #1
"Sara!" Draco panicked, "It's a secret!" He caught her arm as she turned with the intensions of fetching Harry. Sara's eyes came back to his and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I only wanted to show you, not half of Gryffindor house!"
"But you don't know where it will take you!" she reasoned, "It could be dangerous!"
"So Potter's the only one who can handle a little adventure?" he showed her a wicked grin, "What, are you scared?"
"I am NOT scared!"
"Take my hand, then." he dared, "Prove it."
She turned away, brushing her platinum hair back over one shoulder, and wandered over to the window to stall for time. Gentle snow fell light and soft outside, beautifying an otherwise cold and bitter night. The moon caught and fragmented in the icicles that pierced the view like jagged daggers of glass. "What if it's missed? Did you ever think of that?"
"Are you kidding?" he took slow, casual steps toward her, "As if Filch checks the storage room to see if anyone's lifted a portkey from a dusty old box that hasn't seen daylight in years? Did I mention that this belonged to a teacher who is long dead? Sara." he reasoned, "No one is going to miss this. Not even if they did bother to check."
"You know portkeys are against the rules!"
"Like you've ever cared about the rules! You're making excuses."
His hand came to rest on her shoulder and Sara turned away from the window to face him. It wasn't the idea of danger or breaking the rules that worried her; it was being alone with Draco. He always looked irresistible in black, with his long white hair flowing over his shoulders, and tonight was no exception. His blue eyes invited her as the warm torchlight, and his devilish smile, brought his countenance to life. He was only inches from her now. She could hear him breathe, felt the darkness that radiated from him, and the heat of the hand that touched her. She said nothing as her heart started pounding in her chest. Sara found she couldn't take her eyes from his.
"Fine then." He said as his smile faded, "I'll just go alone and hope for the best. I've got my wand, after all. What more does a wizard need?" He turned away, sharp and with defiance. His feelings were hurt. He knew she refused to go because she was too worried about what Potter might think. The idea of using the strange portkey no longer appealed to him, since he'd only stolen it with the hopes of intriguing Sara into spending some time alone with him. Someplace where Potter wouldn't be able to intrude. Dejected, he stuck the small wooden box in his pocket and crossed the room on heavy feet.
Sara watched him go, his irritation and disappointment apparent. His hand touched the knob and Sara's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't let him leave like this. Not while he was upset with her. "Wait!" she said, almost worried that he would open the door and walk through it. He didn't. He turned and gave her the smug grin she loved to hate. Damn him! She thought, He knew I wouldn't let him leave.
"Change your mind already?" he flashed his arrogant smile. "What a surprise."
Sara's face turned red and her brow creased with anger as she resisted the urge to stomp her foot in frustration. "I hate you, MALFOY!" she shouted and tried to hurry from the room. Just as she tried to brush past him to grab the knob, his arm went around her waist and he pulled her close against him. Sara took in a sharp breath, startled by his audacity as well as his sudden proximity. He brushed her hair back with a confident hand and leaned in until she felt his breath on her neck, sending an electric tickle across her skin, like a heated caress. His voice was a soft whisper in her ear that stirred something inside and brought all her senses to life. Sara sighed through her evaporating anger.
"Don't let go." He said and touched the key.
"Where are we?" Sara asked as she looked around in the darkness. The moon was luminous enough to see by, though her eyes had yet to adjust.
"I hear water." Draco said, "Like the ocean."
"It's warm!" Sara realized and removed her fur-lined cloak. "Those are palm trees!"
"There's sand under these old dead fronds." Draco noticed, digging into the white powder with the toe of one shoe. "I think it's an island."
"Come on." Draco said as he removed his cloak and drew his wand. "Let's look around."
It was certainly an island, though not a very big one. They could hear the surf on all sides. There was a wide trail, now a little overgrown, (yet unmistakable) and they followed it until a small house came into view. The windows were dark and the grounds neglected.
"Nox." Draco said, extinguishing the light from his wand, and led Sara toward it in silence, circling around until they had come to the front door. The house looked out on a vast beach and an empty ocean, with no opposite shore in sight. "Sara!" he said, startling her as she looked across the rippling waters. "It's open!"
"Shouldn't we knock anyway?"
"No." Draco decided and stepped inside, "There is no one here."
Sara lit the many candles with a wave of her hand and looked around with nervous anticipation. "If this was a movie," she chuckled, "something would jump out at us right about now."
Draco took a few steps into the wooden room and regarded it with distaste. "You'd think someone would drop by and clean up once in awhile!" He swiped his finger through the thick layer of dust that had settled on every surface. "Disgusting!"
Sara's eyes trailed from one wall to the other. "No one has been here in years." She said, "Look, the floor is dusty. It hasn't been disturbed. Whoever left this house never came back." She crossed to a large hutch in the kitchen, which was just off an adjacent dining room. There, she found a few musty old dish towels. She scattered them around the sitting room while Draco watched, then pointed a hand. "Scourgify!"
At once the towels set to polishing the wood and they snooped around while they waited for a clean place to sit. Sara dusted off old framed photos and glanced at the titles of the many books that crammed a tall case while Draco rifled through desk drawers and lifted various lids.
"Have some respect!" she told him with a furrowed brow, "This is not your home!"
"There's no one here to offend!" he countered, "What do you have there?"
"I'm not sure." She admitted as she lifted the lid of a small chest that sat alone in the middle of a small table. "Look! It's another portkey!"
Draco withdrew the one he'd found in the storage room at Hogwarts for comparison. "They're a set! Maybe this house belonged to Addison Morley's secret mistress!"
Sara withdrew a book and a few dozen letters from the box and sat down on a newly polished chair to look them over. "The letters are all addressed to someone named Madeline." She told him, "And they're signed A.M." These she set aside in favor of the book. "It's a diary! Draco look!"
Draco pulled the other chair around and sat beside her. "Who the hell is Madeline Croft?"
"I don't know." she admitted, "I'm guessing she's old Professor Morley's secret mistress." Sara opened to the first page.
January 17th 1889
Dear Diary,
Mum died during the night. It was peaceful for her and as heartbroken as I am over it, I'm glad she is finally at rest. Mr. Morley, the apothecary who has been brewing her elixirs since before we lost Dad in '71, said it was only a matter of time. She was mortally ill, he told me a few months back, and wouldn't make it through the winter. He did everything he could to lessen her pain, but it became so great near the end that only death could release her from it. Now she can be with Dad again and it is this thought which brings me the greatest peace. She has missed him so much these past 8 years.
I am alone here now. I don't know how I'll manage. Already I'm so lonely without Mum, but Mr. Morley's son, Addison, has promised to visit. He invited me to stay with him and his wife in Scotland, but I can't leave this island. I could find happiness nowhere else.
Addison teaches potions at Hogwarts and is 34, ten years older than me, but I find myself wishing he was still a bachelor. He is an attractive man, the quiet sort that has always caught my fancy, and smart. His wife, Mum told me, drinks too much and spends all their money….
Sara flipped through the handwritten pages as Draco moved closer and put an arm around her waist.
September 30th 1912
Dear Diary
This is the happiest of days! Addison has been appointed to the position of Potions Master at Hogwarts! He is to live there most of the year, and will be able to use the portkey much more often, as his wife will be cavorting in Edinborough. I hate her for what she has done to him. Imagine, having another man's child! I wish he would divorce her, but he says it would shame his parents. I understand, but I get so lonely without him. It has been ten years since the day he kissed me on the beach and I only love him more with each day that passes.
I have planned a special night for us to celebrate his new appointment, and requested that he bring a bottle of the potion he created just for us, for when we're alone. He calls it "Appassionata" after the Beethoven piano sonata I like to play for him. He said the song inspired him to create a potion that would enhance the passion one already feels. Taking it does not create false emotion, which I at first thought it did, only deepens and brings to the surface that which already exists…
"Draco!" Sara said, "How fascinating! I must come back. I want to read all of it!"
Draco was already up and back to his rummaging. "I have to admit, it is a bit intriguing. Imagine, a married man keeping a secret lover on a deserted island all those years! And the fool woman went along with it! Then again," he paused to consider, "why wouldn't she? It's not like there were many men to choose from in a place like this." He stopped, then reached into a tall cabinet and withdrew a large apothecary jar. The fluid within it swirled a deep reddish-pink and held a purple iridescence.
Sara hurried to his side, knowing it could be only one thing. "Draco is that…"
"Appasionata." He finished, showing a beautiful and ornate inscription on the label. Before she could stop him, he had opened the stopper and drank some.
"It's over fifty years old!"
"Potions don't go bad! I swear, Sara, if Snape heard you say that…" He held it out to her. She hesitated, and then took it. "Drink some. You know you want to."
She did want to! Her only fear was that she was alone here with Draco and the emotions the potion might enhance could prove dangerous to her fragile resolve. Draco's gentle hand pushed the potion forward and with only minor reluctance, she drank it.
Replacing the jar on the shelf, she looked at him, looking back at her, and their arms entwined. Her eyes fell closed as he pulled her close…