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Chapter 5
The Angel Soul's scroll
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( 7 minutes before )
It was late night…Hermione and Draco were in their Heads dorm, in their night dressings. Hermione was twiddling her plain little quill between her fingers, her nose buried in Hogwarts: A History Volume XI.Draco's peacock quill was randomly dotting his parchment as he was reading The Olde Moste Wicked and Wilde Spells and Charmes. They both sat on the couch, ignoring each other.
"Ms. Granger! Mr. Malfoy! A professor is here to see you two!" The portrait shrieked out to them and swung the door open. McGonagall walked into the Head dorm.
"Ms. Granger. Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall called quickly and stiffly, "I need you to come with me…immediately."
Standing quickly, the two summoned their robes and shuffled out of the dorm.
"Professor, what is going on?" Hermione panted as she tried to keep up with McGonagall in the darkened corridors. Draco, though trying his best as well to keep up, was smoothly strutting down the hall five steps behind Hermione, who was already ten steps or so behind.
"This is something I can not tell you myself, Miss Granger." McGonagall said without slowing a step and with even breath. "At least, I can't tell you everything; and all I know can not be said out in the open."
They reached the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office. "Dum-Dum," McGonagall said to the stone creature, which looked up at her with only its eyes and grinned nastily.
"Cute nickname, Professor," The gargoyles oily voice made Hermione frown. "Weird if it's really a sweet." The gargoyle leaped out of their way and looked at Draco and Hermione with its nasty little grin until they moved past it and stepped upon the stairway with the golden eagle.
As the stairs rotated upward, Hermione fidgeted with her tiny hands and Draco ran his hands through his un-gelled hair repeatedly. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, you're not in any trouble!" Snapped McGonagall, thoroughly irritated with their constant fidgets and twitches.
The eagle creaked to a stop, and the pair and McGonagall stood facing Dumbledore, whose face looked sober but his twinkling eyes betraying him.
"Hello, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, Minerva." Dumbledore sat at his large wooden desk, "Lemonhead?" He opened a tin on his desk, bright balls of yellow floated out of the tin and lazily hovered two inches or so above it.
"No thank you, Albus." McGonagall crossed the room and sat down on an overstuffed armchair. "Come now, Minerva. Nothing's better than relieving your stress with a sweet and sour Muggle treat." The floating orbs slowly crept towards her; as if to sneak attack her. She gave them a sharp look and they zoomed back to their original positions.
"Mister Malfoy?" Draco held out his palm and a lemonhead whizzed over to him. Hermione shook her head but one flew over to her too and conked her upside the head again and again until she accepted it.
"Now, what are we here for, Professor?" Draco and Hermione sat down neatly onto the loveseat facing Dumbledore, who was childishly experimentally licking the speckled, pinkish candy-coated shell of what seemed to be a 'Levitating Lolli-Ball': he wasn't noticing that he was floating a few inches above his desk.
"Albus," McGonagall said sharply. Dumbledore removed the large, multicolored orb from his wrinkled, now multicolored mouth and he floated back down onto his chair. McGonagall muttered, "I swear, you're more like a child than most of the children."
"Ah, yes. Now…Mister Malfoy and Miss Granger," Dumbledore stood, the usual mischievous gleam in his blue eyes. "I have a special message for you." He waved his wand over his desk and a golden egg, much like the ones from the Triwizard Tournament, appeared and primly set itself down on its rounded bottom.
"What's this?" Hermione came close to it, her eyes wide as she moved her head around the sparkling gold egg.
"It's an egg, Granger. Obviously," Draco leaned in as well seeing that it was cut in half, a small hinge in the back. "Oi, there's something inside…" He grasped the egg and tried to open it. "No!" Hermione covered her ears and ducked away from the egg; glimpsing at the professors, who did absolutely nothing.
The shriek was inevitable, but to Draco it was a complete shock. He cried out in surprise and dropped the egg. It fell with a clang! and shut closed, silencing the room.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" Draco gasped, trying to catch his breath.
"A Mermaid's Egg." Hermione whispered, picking it up and cradling it. She turned to the professors, both twirled their wands about to relinquish the Silencio spell from their ears. "Why are you giving this to us, Professor?"
Dumbledore took the Egg and tapped his wand to it. "Abutor Solvo." The Egg glowed and dulled back to its original gold and Dumbledore handed it back to Hermione, who hesitantly accepted.
"Open it." He said, stepping back. Hermione eyed the Egg suspiciously then creaked it open slightly. The creepy, silk sound of the Mermaids singing poured out of the Egg.
Of Mud and of Murmurs, the heirs both do sighs
From relapse and murders, the answer both lies
In flesh and of soul and in blood the War ends
And a new fancy flourished from untrusted bends
But do not be deceived by false lovings and lust
For Mud- and Pure-blood soul intertwined is the must.
The Egg closed with a snap! And Hermione and Draco stared dumbly at it.
Silence….
"Wha?" Draco opened his mouth and slackened his jaw. "What in the name of Merlin's droopy left arse cheek is that supposed to mean?"
"Malfoy!" Hermione snapped at his language. She sat back down on her chair and rubbed her hand over the smooth texture of the Egg. "So…Professors, what is that poem supposed to mean? 'Murmurs and Mud', and 'false loving and lust' and 'Mud- and Pure-blood souls intertwining'?"
"It means, Miss Granger," Dumbledore waved his wand and a long piece of rolled parchment flew across the room into McGonagall's hands. "That you two will follow Minerva to the top of the Astronomy Tower and complete this task. The whole world depends on you two now…" He peered over his glasses and said gravely, "even Harry."
Hermione felt a hard tug at her heart and a lump formed in her throat. "Right, professor." McGonagall started for the door and Hermione followed suit, the heavy burden of the world beginning to rest upon her freckled shoulders. Draco followed behind, his face hiding his genuine interest in what was about to happen.