Chapter Twenty-Three
"When do you want to let Dumbledore know that we want to speak with him?" Draco asked.
They were sitting on his bed, both clad in pajamas for the night. At least what they considered pajamas. Taryn was wearing the long sleeved top from a pair of pajamas that Narcissa had bought Draco, and which he refused to wear. Draco, of course, was wearing his ever present sweats and a tee-shirt that had been washed so many times in was nearly paper thin.
Taryn had finally given up the pretense of sharing a room with Chase, and moved her things into Draco's rooms. She knew that Snape had other things with which to occupy his mind, and figured that her living arrangements weren't the pinnacle of importance.
As much as being at Hogwarts was the root of all of all of their problems at present, Draco was happy to have the privacy that the rooms afforded once more.
The stares that they had endured on the train, and during the welcome back feast earlier that night had been extremely uncomfortable. The fact that no one was ashamed to be found staring, or even holding one of those bloody magazines didn't help the situation in the least.
Taryn had forced herself to eat a small salad, fielding impertinent questions and outright rude observations. Fortunately they had only had to deal with the questions from their own house, but judging by the stares from the other tables, the Patil twins had done a excellent job spreading rumors.
Playing the part of a loving couple to the T, they had held hands, and looked in to each others eyes with unashamed affection. At least that part was real, Taryn had told herself.
"I think that we should wait a few days before we contact him," Taryn said, "just to get settled back into classes. Dumbledore is going to be pretty busy I should think. Also there is the problem of how to approach him. It's not like we can just go up to him in the Great Hall."
"Snape is also out of the question as far as a liaison," Draco pointed out, his fingers lazily trailing through her hair.
"Dumbledore trusts him," Taryn said.
"That's not really ruling in Dumbledore's favor," Draco said, "I don't care if he is part of the Order of the Phoenix or not. I've spent my life around people with hidden agendas and I'm telling you that Snape has one."
Taryn had felt only the tiniest bit of guilt at revealing Snape's involvement in the order, but since she had been determined to get Draco to speak with Dumbledore she'd used everything she had to get him to agree. She mollified herself with the fact that she hadn't actually been part of the Order, and thus not subject to all of its rules. And really, it hadn't been much of a secret after the Department of Mysteries, that the Order had reconvened. Draco had known that much already, just not that Snape was a part of it.
Even though he knew that Snape was a spy for the Order, and that Dumbledore was its head, Draco still was uncomfortable with the thought of revealing himself to the man. He was used to taking care of things himself, and wasn't looking forward to leaning on someone that he didn't quite trust. The only reason he had agreed was Taryn. If she trusted Dumbledore, well, then he would attempt to do the same. Also, judging by her past Harry-esque escapades, Taryn wouldn't have a problem concocting an extremely brave, but most likely naive plan of her own if he didn't agree to at least speak with the man.
"We just have to take a chance," Taryn said quietly, "we don't have much of a choice. Dumbledore has resources that we don't. What other options do we have? It's not like he'll stand still and let you murder him. I don't want you to even have to try it, but if you don't attempt it, Voldemort, or one of his lackeys will kill you outright. We have to go to Dumbledore."
"I know all the reasons why we have to talk with him, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Draco said glumly. "I'm only doing this for you, and I'm not suicidal. I don't want to die, and like you said the other options are less than desirable."
"I think that we can just owl him. We'll use one of the school owls to send him a note requesting a meeting. That will allow a certain amount of discretion, and allow him to send his response in the same manner," Taryn said, after a moment of thought.
"I have to take care of the Imperius that I placed on Rosmerta as well," Draco said, grimacing at the prospect.
'You're going to have to Obliviate her or she is bound to say something to someone about it. You'll have to find some way to get her alone to do it, though."
Draco chuckled. "I don't think that will be a problem." He remembered vividly how eager the witch had been when she thought he was there to seduce her.
Taryn's brow rose. "Oh really? Y'know, you never did tell me how you got her alone the first time, though I'm sure I can guess. I've heard some rumors about how she can be very...accommodating to some of Hogwarts blokes that she finds handsome," she began, her tone suspicious.
"And most of the rumors are probably all true," Draco said, leaning back against the headboard with a sigh.
Taryn definitely didn't like the sound of that. "So, tell me, was she accommodating?"
She didn't want to think that Draco had taken anything that the curvy witch would have offered. As much as she loved Draco, she hated the looks that women gave him. Her dislike wasn't on par with Draco's jealousy, but still. She couldn't believe some of the hot looks he received, even while she walked with him, with her hand in his. It wasn't like he was the bloody Prince of Wales!
"Nothing that I haven't been offered before," Draco's voice was leery. He could tell that Taryn was getting into a mood. The girl had a temper that he was well acquainted with, and which he very much hoped to avoid.
He was surprised when she swung one shapely leg over him, and settled, straddling his lap.
"I didn't take it," he added, his low, and his eyes trained on her hands as she began to slowly pop the top buttons free on her pajama top.
"Why not?" Her voice was muffled against his neck, as she abandoned her top, and began to place soft kisses against the warm skin there. She wriggled in his lap, feeling him harden against her.
He leaned his head to the side to give her full access. "Because I was waiting on something far better."
"Good answer," she murmured against his lips with a grin.
0o0
The next morning, after a stop at the owlery to send the note off to Dumbledore, they were treated to more of the same scrutiny. Unlike the day before it was easier, since they knew what to expect, and could conduct themselves accordingly.
They walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand and sat next to Chase.
Crabble and Goyle, surprisingly, came to sit next to them, breaking away from the usual group.
"Um, It surprised us to hear that you got engaged Draco," Goyle spoke for the both of them.
Crabble grabbed for a breakfast bun, biting a huge mouthful, and nodding in agreement at Goyle's statement.
Taryn was surprised to hear an articulate statement from one of the two boys. Usually they had just echoed whatever taunt Draco had thrown out, or added some intelligible grunt in reply to anything said to them outside of class. In class, they provided a comedic element whenever they attempted to answer questions from the teacher. Draco had obviously always been the brains of the operation, though it now seemed that Goyle wasn't completely thick.
"Why is that?" Draco asked lazily, before sipping at his pumpkin juice.
"Well, you don't stay with girls very long. You were with Pansy for a year, and didn't propose. You've been with Taryn for only a few months right?" Goyle asked.
The other students at the table looked on with great interest for Draco's reply.
Draco didn't disappoint. "When you find that person, I guess, you just know," he said, laying it on thick. He raised Taryn's ringed hand, kissing it softly before lacing their fingers together.
Taryn was a little stunned to see a little of the Draco that she knew and loved – the tenderness that came out behind closed doors – revealed in so romantic a fashion to the entire house. She knew that while the sentiment behind the statement was real, he was putting on a show for the crowd. Still, though, it didn't stop a tiny tendril of joy from curling inside of her at his public words.
That, and the fact that Pansy looked like she'd smelled something foul, brought a genuine smile to her face.
"Did you see the board this morning?" Chase asked, breaking into the conversation and ending the awkward lapse.
"No, what did it say?" Draco asked. He had been extremely lax in his Prefect duties, letting Pansy take over all the slack. He'd figured that she needed the extra activity to keep her big nose out of his relationship.
"An Apparition instructor from the ministry is coming to start lessons. They're going to be given over twelve weeks," Chase said, before taking a bite out of a sausage patty.
"It doesn't take twelve weeks to learn to Apparate," Draco said, rolling his eyes. He'd been doing it - illegally of course – for years.
"That's the amount of time the Ministry says it takes to be properly instructed," Taryn said, "I'm sure you've read about Inglewood Monkshood?"
"Ingle-whos Monks-what?" Chase asked in amusement. He was used to her nerdy facts by now, but it still amused him to hear her rattle them off.
"He's the reason they have the minimum requirement. He Apparated unsuccessfully, in 1604 I think, after being self taught," she refused to look at Draco while she was saying this, "and was Splinched into several pieces that they were unable to repair. I believe that there is a statue to his memory somewhere, I have to look it up if you are interested in the location. I think it might be in Dublin...or maybe..."
She trailed off when Chase began to snort in laughter. "What? Its interesting," she said with a frown.
"And you talked about my Stephen King?" Chase managed to say between wheezing laughter.
0o0
Later that week Taryn received a received a reply from Dumbledore.
Miss Davis,
I have an open appointment at 4pm on Monday. Please send me notice if you are unable to meet at that time. The temporary password is Skittle.
AD
Taryn frowned at how tersely worded the message was.
"...but didn't it seem sort of abrupt?" She asked Draco for seemingly the thousandth time as they made their way toward Potions.
"What do you expect?" Draco said in a whisper. "You are the fiancée of a rumored Deatheater, not the Gryffindor Princess any longer." He felt an immediate bite of regret at her flinch. "Look, I'm sorry, but it's not a secret that Harry is a a favorite of Dumbledore's. You and the Weasel were as well," he said.
"But..." Taryn began.
"I'm not saying that he didn't like you for your own merits," Draco interrupted, "Just that the rest of us don't warrant the exact same regard."
Taryn frowned. Even though she was getting used to the cold shoulder that she got from members of her own house, it still hurt every single time when she received the treatment from people that used to be her friends. She was surprised to get some of that from Dumbledore. Oh, his note wasn't impolite, it just had none of the warmth that she was used to receiving from the man. She also didn't like to think that maybe she had gotten some preferential treatment from Dumbledore or any of her other professors for that matter. It was definitely something that she would think about seriously later.
Draco rubbed her back. "It'll be okay baby. As long as he gets us what we need we can deal with all of the other shit."
Taryn nodded, even as she pushed back the tinge of sadness that came with the action. At least she had school to look forward to, she told herself, as they settled in at their seat in the Potions classroom.
"Settle down, settle down," Slughorn said, calling over the din of students. "Lots to do today. Now, who can tell me Gopalott's Third Law?"
Taryn's hand flew into the air. "Golpalott's Third Law states that the antidote for a blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components."
"Correct," beamed Slughorn. "Ten points to Slytherin. Also, might I add that I was delighted to hear of the engagement between you and Mr. Malfoy. I hope to receive an invitation, of course," he added, before turning his attention back to the class. "Now, if we accept this law as true, which means, of course, that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in a of themselves, but to find that added component which will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements —"
Draco half listened as the man prattled on and on, his mind far more engaged with what he was going to say at the meeting between Dumbledore, Taryn, and himself. Taryn had carefully not mentioned that he would also be in attendance, since they, of course, wanted the man to make himself available to them. They figured that Dumbledore probably already had many preconceived notions on why Taryn wanted to meet in the first place, without tipping their hand prematurely.
"… and so," finished Slughorn, "I want one from each partnership to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"
Taryn moved to the desk and grasped a vial, returning to their table with a grin on her face. "This is going to be fun," she said, rubbing her hands together at the prospect of a challenging potion.
Draco's brow rose in amusement at her tone. "I hope you know what you're doing because I really only got about half of the explanation for this lesson. It's not anyone is going to get noticed with the Potion master over there," he said under his breath, nodding his head toward Harry. He still didn't know how the other boy had advanced so much this year, when he had only had average potion making skills the previous year.
"I don't know," Taryn said, tipping the phial into the cauldron in front of them, and kindling a fire beneath it. "This time you have to understand all the principles behind the brewing, so I think that we have a fighting chance at least."
"If you say so," Draco said, pulling out his copy of Advanced Potion-Making.
Slughorn was making a circuit of the class room, peering in cauldrons as he went. Draco watched in delight as he glanced in Harry's cauldron, pulling back quickly with a grimace before hastily moving to another table.
"You might be right this time," he said, turning to Taryn with a grin. He turned his attention to their antidote and didn't see Harry make his way to the store cupboard, before returning to his seat.
"...aaaand time's up," Slughorn called. "Let's see how you've done! Miss Davis, Mr. Malfoy, let's see what you have to offer," he said, peering into their cauldron. "Hmmm, it looks like you were on the right track. Shame you didn't get to finish."
Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examining the various antidotes. No one had been able to complete the task, and most had failed completely, their antidotes resting like sludge in their cauldrons.
Slughorn stopped in front of Harry's table last. He sighed, "And, what have you to show me?"
Draco watched as Harry opened his hand to reveal a small, shriveled brown lump. "What the hell is..." Draco began, turning toward Taryn.
His question stopped abruptly when Slughorn burst into loud laughter. "You've got nerve," the man said, directing his comment to Harry, "Oh, you are like your mother! A bezoar would indeed act as an antidote to all of these potions."
"Did you know about that?" Draco asked Taryn.
"Well, I've read about them," Taryn said, "but I thought the lesson was to brew an antidote," she said with a frown.
"That's the inventive spirit that a real potion-maker needs!" Slughorn was saying. "Your mother had the same intuitive grasp of potion making. Yes, Harry, if you have a bezoar on hand it would most likely do the trick, though they don't work on everything, and knowing how to brew a proper antidote..."
Draco had already tuned the man's voice out as he began to think once more about what exactly he wanted say to Dumbledore.