Hermione rubbed her left arm fretfully as she wandered the dungeon corridors. Ever since that dream she'd had, there had been a sense of something not quite right. Something she couldn't quite remember, something she needed but could not find. Ginny had gotten a bit fed up at having to repeat questions multiple times before getting an answer. It was easier to just wander off on her own, even if some assistance might have been useful in tracking the elusive house elves.

She still needed to find Kreacher and ask about the locket. Making some progress on the quest for the Horcruxes should make Harry happy and convince him she wasn't just thinking about Snape all the time.

... of course, she was thinking about Snape. Even now, as she walked the underground halls once more on her own, she was wondering if he would appear. Next time she would be ready. Next time he couldn't catch her so off-guard. Next time she would force him to give her some answers.

Aha! There was Dobby by the kitchens! He could help her find her target.

---

The walls were hideous and rough-gray, made out of some not-stone substance unfamiliar to the young Malfoy. Copper pipes and wires poked in and out along their surfaces, buzzing and humming as they went about their mysterious business. The floor was a similar gray, though smoother, and showing signs of old drip stains near some of the piping. If the rest of the home had been attractively bland by Muggle standards, by the same standards this oversized cupboard was fairly unsightly. And yet, it was in a way more comforting to Draco than the soulless white rooms had been. It was a bit like a dungeon and a bit like a torture chamber - both pleasantly familiar.

He had not been allowed to return to his mother's comfortable surroundings since embarking on this spy story. Instead, he slept here, locked up in the basement. It was supposed to add credence to his tale of being mistreated and unhappy with the Death Eaters. Honestly, that 'mistreatment' wasn't much. Of course, Snape had cast Crucio on him - but it wasn't like it was the first time he'd felt that spell, and anyway, Aunt Bella was better at it.

The sound of clattering and thumping through the wall reminded Draco of the other benefit of these new living quarters - he was now right next to Snape's laboratory. Maybe now he would have a chance to find out just what the man was up to in there.

Draco quickly transfigured a dead spider into an acceptable glass and placed it against the wall to listen. Yes... Snape was definitely speaking, but he still couldn't make out the words. A long incantation? His was definitely the only voice speaking...

"WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?"

That scream, and the following clatter of jars being dashed to the ground, came through loud and clear.

THUD

Draco could hear the heavy door of Snape's lab bounce off the wall as it was angrily thrown open. Footsteps clomped forcefully up and away.

Had he really...

Cautiously, Draco pushed his own door open. Yes! The door to the laboratory was ajar!

Snape could return at any moment... He'd sounded too angry to think clearly, which meant that it might take him a while to remember about the door, but also meant he would not be polite if he caught Draco snooping. Well, he'd take the risk. This was his best chance to find out what his former mentor was up to.

Slipping inside, he looked around at the mess that had been made of the place. A pool of newt eyeballs was spreading across the floor in one spot, and a foul-smelling smear he would rather not identify dripped down the wall onto the shattered remains of its container.

Aha! There was a cauldron, clearly recently used.

Draco peered inside at the curious green oil. It wasn't any potion he recognised, but Snape was more than capable of inventing new horrible substances. Perhaps if he could identify the ingredients...

Remembering Slughorn's potions class, he waved his wand. "Specialis revelio!"

Concentrate... Images and impressions flickered briefly in his mind of the magical components that came together into this brew. Sage... Henbane... Powdered toad's skin... Deadly Nightshade... Mistletoe berries... Bat's blood... Fermented mandrake broth... What was this stuff? Half the ingredients could kill you if you weren't careful, but this particular selection would have similar antidotes, so combining them wouldn't really make a more effective poison. They were all mind-affecting, so perhaps the idea was to drive you mad quickly enough that you couldn't figure out how to save yourself?

Draco tapped his wand against the cauldron thoughtfully. Properly enchanted, of course, such herbs could have a wide variety of results. The ingredients were certainly powerful. But he still couldn't recognise it, and it certainly didn't seem to be any sort of transportation or long-distance communication concoction. So why was Snape yelling at someone for not answering him?

A creak of the door alerted him just in time to look up and catch Wormtail slinking into the laboratory. Draco shoved the cauldron behind him. If he didn't know what it was, he certainly didn't want to let the rat figure it out.

"Sss, naughty naughty," the older man wheezed. "The young 'master' isn't supposed to be in here, is he?"

Draco scowled. "I have more right to be here than you do, worm. Severus Snape is my father now. I am his heir." Strange, how easily those words came. "You are nothing but a servant. Get out."

"Don't know what you've found, do you?" Wormtail grinned, rubbing his hands together. "And your father always said you were such a clever boy. I'm a better wizard than you are, little lord. Show me what you've got and I'll tell you what it does. Isn't that nice of me? Wouldn't you rather be my friend?"

"How about I pour it down your throat and see what it does then?" Draco smirked. "Care to play? Maybe it's a weapon, maybe it'll make you a super-man." A dismissive sniff. "Super worm. Or maybe it's a poison, maybe it'll boil your brain slowly. Shall we find out?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you? All you have to do is let me see..." He started to creep forward, hands outstretched.

"Get back!" A quick motion of his wand and a Stinging Hex followed the words.

Wormtail flinched for a moment, then grinned. "A child's trick. Little dragon, you're just a little boy..."

"Confundus! Oculo ignem!"

Wormtail howled and grabbed at his face, scrubbing at his eyes. He staggered awkwardly against one of the laboratory desks, adding another tipped vial to the disastrous mess.

"You're nothing, worm," Draco sneered, catching his breath now that he had the upper hand. "Whatever it does, I wouldn't want to waste it on you. Mobilicorpus!" A flick of his wand lifted the helpless wizard off his feet, still moaning about his eyes burning. Draco walked out of the lab, guiding Wormtail's hovering body in front of him, and deposited the man on the basement stairs. He closed the door to the laboratory, then stepped back towards his own cupboard entrance.

The young blond stared at the figure scrabbling weakly against the steps, unable to tell up from down under the influence of the Confundus. He really did look as pathetic as a House Elf, and that was the problem. Draco hadn't wanted to turn the servant completely against him, not with so many other sources of treachery already facing him. He didn't need another enemy. But the way the man had acted towards him in the laboratory, bestial and grasping, creeping into position to pounce... it had reminded him too much of Fenrir Greyback.

Well, no use crying over spilled blood.

"Finite Incantatem," he cast, then withdrew to his room.

---

"... so that's it," Hermione explained. "The locket wasn't thrown out, but it's missing now. Mundungus must have gotten to it."

Kreacher's initial reluctance at speaking to a filthy Mudblood had been overcome by his outrage at the thought of someone rifling through the Black family heirlooms. And when he discovered that the item had actually been stolen, he'd pounded his own head black and blue before returning to report the news.

"Well, look on the bright side," Ron smiled through the fire. "It means we can have a nice trip out. We can all go to Hogsmeade, buy wedding presents, Harry can interrogate people, and I'll even take you to Madam Puddifoot's - I mean, if you want to."

"Um, maybe," Hermione blushed. "I think it would upset Harry and Ginny if we went off together, though."

Ron shrugged. "Whatever makes you happy. I just don't want you to feel like I'm ignoring you. I miss you."

"I miss you, too," Hermione said quickly. Really, she was far too caught up in the mysteries she wanted to solve to miss him... but he would never understand just how exciting research could be. "If we're going to make a day of it, we should go to Diagon Alley as well. There are more shops there."

Ron nodded. "Some of the adults will probably want to come shopping with us, and they can help with the Apparating."

"See you tomorrow!" Hermione waved.

---

Author's Note: Guess what my husband's employer gave us for Christmas? LAYOFFS. Things are not very good right now, since we didn't have enough money to begin with. If you would like to help, please check out the games that are for sale on my webpage. And if you like them, you can get yourself a Christmas treat that gives me one too:)

Next chapter - Our rating bumps up a level, and not in a good way, as Draco attends another Dark Gathering...