Chapter Twenty-Five

"Did Dumbledore tell you where he was sending your mum?" Taryn asked.

They were sitting in their living room studying for the N.E.W.T exam. Books were stacked in tottering piles across the coffee table, along with a bowl of guacamole and a bag of tortilla chips.

Draco coughed, reaching over to take a sip of his tea to soothe his throat. "No, I asked them not to. I'm decent at Occumency, but I probably wouldn't be able to last if Voldemort put real effort into it and I don't want to chance him discovering where she is if he breaks me."

Narcissa, living up to Draco's statement, had acted like a harpy when members of the Order had arrived to take her into protection. Several had been hit with a few nasty, but not lethal spells when they had tried to force her to leave the manor. She'd finally had to be Obliviated before she left peaceably. It didn't sit right with Draco that he didn't know where his mother was living, but he knew that it was for the best

"I guess it's better that we don't know," Taryn said.

It had been several weeks since the fight with Serrano, nearing toward March, and Draco was on edge. Voldemort hadn't called to talk to him about the fight, or even about his engagement, and he was tired of waiting for the shoe to drop.

He laughed at himself. It was almost as if he was excited about the prospect of being Crucio'd into insanity, which is what would probably happen if Voldemort found out that he'd switched sides, that is if the man didn't kill him outright.

Serrano's family had attempted to have him brought up on assault charges for the fight, but after they met with the team of barrister's that the Malfoy family employed, they'd decided to settle outside of court for a tidy sum instead of taking them on in court. Soon after that Felix left school. Draco had heard that the other boy was attending Durmstrang, or that was the rumor at least.

Draco went into a spate of coughing, pulling the blanket closer around his shoulders.

"I wish you would just go to the infirmary," Taryn said in exasperation. Draco had been sick for the past two weeks, and the coughing, low grade fever, and chills were starting to worry her.

"No, I'll get over it. I never stay sick for long and the potion you gave me helps," Draco said, trying his best to assure her, despite the hoarseness of his voice. It was true. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd ever been truly sick in his life. It usually blew over in a day, or sometimes even the same night. Fleeting but intense.

Taryn frowned, far from placated. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter that the canceled the next Hogsmeade trip. I really don't think that you need to be out in the cold air anyway. Especially since you are being stubborn about going to get that cold taken care of."

The Katie Bell Incident had ruined trips to the small village for the foreseeable future. The girl still wasn't back from St. Mungo's and Draco felt horribly guilty. He'd sent money, anonymously of course, to help pay for her care, and it had helped to assuage the guilt slightly.

It wasn't just Draco that was on edge. The whole of Wizarding society was uneasy, as evidenced by the troubling articles that appeared within the Daily Prophet. Several people, many of them relatives of students of Hogwarts, had disappeared without a trace. There was a running list of names in the newspaper, and Diagon Alley was littered with fliers from desperate people simply trying to locate their loved ones.

Taryn, Draco, and Chase had had to suffer through three more Apparition lessons before Twycross had agreed to sign the waivers permitting them to take the examination early. Even so, they had to wait at least a month or more before the could schedule a time to take the test. Apparently the waiting list was rather long.

Taryn sighed, tapping her quill against her parchment.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

She eyed him uncertainly. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. If you would take it well."

Taryn was proud of Draco. He hadn't lost his temper as badly as he had with Felix since the fight, but she didn't want to push him. She wasn't afraid for herself, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her, but he was unpredictable at the moment.

"Baby, I can handle it. You can tell me anything. I hope you know that," Draco said. He hated that she now hesitated in telling him things. Though it had felt imperative at the time that he should demolish Serrano, he regretted his actions more and more each day. He didn't want to lose Taryn because he couldn't control himself. He felt sure that he could handle words, but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to restrain himself if someone tried anything with her, and it troubled him deeply. He'd nearly pounded all of the sand out of his heavy bag the other day, trying his best to get rid himself of the over flow of aggression that he felt nearly everyday. Thankfully Taryn hadn't been around to see the mess before he was able to get rid of the evidence. He didn't want her to get hurt in any way. He'd send her away from him if he thought that she would go. He was selfish, but not when it came to her safety. The only reason that he hadn't was that he was sure, down to his bones, that he himself wouldn't do anything to hurt her. He felt sure that even if he was lost in some sort of primal fury that her voice would be the only thing that would bring him back, but still he made sure to drive himself to exhaustion each day just in case. Not that it was hard. Training and the cold that was lingering within him made him almost collapse into his bed at the end of each day.

Taryn bit her lip. "It's just...It's Ron's birthday today, and I'm just sad that I can't be there," she said quietly, "Harry and Ron...they're still my friends, even though they don't know it, and sometimes I just wish that I still had that. I think my reasons for maintaining my distance are valid, but it's hard. I just wish I could go up to him and just say happy birthday, and not have it be strange."

Draco absorbed that. "You could always send him a card I guess."

Taryn smiled a bit, her eyes following her fingers as she picked at the blanket in her lap. "I did send him one. It will probably get mixed up in all the other well wishers, but I feel better knowing that I did." She turned to look at him. "I'd feel even better if you would go see Madame Pomfrey. The potion I gave you is decent but it isn't meant to be taken this long. Please? I'll even go with you, and when we come back I'll make you some soup."

"Fine," Draco sighed.

0o0

The hospital wing was dim, the windows curtained for the night with only the lamps lit to push back the darkness.

At first Taryn thought that the wing was empty until she noticed the curtained bed at the rear, and the low voices.

"… and then I got the bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and they brought Ron up here. They reckon he'll be all right. Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay here a week or so … keep taking essence of rue …"

Taryn recognized Harry's voice immediately.

"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar," George or Fred's recognizable voice replied. She wouldn't be able to tell which twin it was unless she walked across the room to pull back the opaque curtain. She was just starting to do so, when Draco's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Don't," he whispered. "They wouldn't understand why you care, nor do I think either of us would be welcome."

Taryn nodded sadly. "It must be Ron or Ginny. Why else would Fred and George be here?" She whispered back. "I just want to know who it is."

"Okay. You stay here then while I go find Madame Pomfrey," Draco said quietly, before heading to the nurse's office.

Taryn quietly sat down in an empty chair next to one of the vacant beds and listened.

"We were lucky that there was one in the room," Harry was saying.

"Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred/George asked.

"They've already seen him, they arrived an hour ago — they're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon. …" Ginny's voice answered.

It was Ron then. Taryn wanted immediately to cross the room and see that he was okay for herself. She gripped the arms of her chair in an effort to push back the urge.

"So the poison was in the drink?" said Fred/George asked quietly.

"Yes," said Harry, "Slughorn poured it out —"

"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?"

"Probably," said Harry, "but why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"

"No idea," said the voice that Taryn was beginning to think was Fred's. "You don't think he could have mixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning to get you?"

"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" asked Ginny.

"I dunno," said Fred, "but there must be loads of people who'd like to poison Harry, mustn't there? 'The Chosen One' and all that?"

"So you think Slughorn's a Death Eater?" said Ginny.

"Anything's possible," said Fred darkly.

"He could be under the Imperius Curse," said George.

"Or he could be innocent," said Ginny. "The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Slughorn himself."

"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?"

"Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side," said Harry. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."

"But you said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas," Ginny said. "So the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore."

"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," said Harry. "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself. I just wonder where he got it."

"Er-my-nee," Ron's choked voice croaked.

Taryn started a bit at Ron's use of her name. She sniffed sadly. It hadn't been long since her death, but she'd hoped that Ron was moving on. She had seen him about the castle with Lavender, and she had been glad for it. Even if she were able to someday tell him about herself, or to be his friend once more, any romantic prospects were definitely out. It seemed that he hadn't moved on after all.

The dormitory doors flew open, making them her jump and Hagrid came striding across the room, his hair rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, a crossbow in his hand, tracking large muddy footprints across the previously pristine floor.

He didn't seem to notice her in his haste to get to Ron's bedside.

Taryn stood, quietly making her way over to the open doorway.

"No more than six visitors at a time!" Madam Pomfrey said, hurrying out of her office, Draco behind her.

Taryn motioned toward Draco, indicating that they should hurry from the room before they were noticed.

"What did she give you?" she asked as they made their way back to their rooms.

Draco snorted, holding up a brown paper sack. "The same thing that you've been giving me, just a stronger mixture. She told me to drink plenty of fluids and to make sure that I rested. She said that if it doesn't go away, or worsens in the next few days that I should come back."

"So it was a cold after all?"

"Not exactly," Draco said. "It has all of the symptoms of a cold, but after she examined me, she concluded that it wasn't infectious. I could kiss you now if I wanted," he said, ruining the joke in the next moment when he sneezed.

"I think I'll pass," Taryn said wryly, before turning serious. "I heard some things after you left. I'll tell you once we get to the room."

She relayed what she had heard as she prepared a pot of chicken noodle soup. Draco was a much better cook than she was, but she knew how to make a mean soup. She'd had to learn since she hated the canned varietly. She always thought it was a bit too salty.

"D'you think that maybe we didn't get to Madame Rosmerta in time?" She asked quietly, pausing before she took another bite of soup.

"It's possible," Draco said, "Either that, or Voldemort has someone else working for him here."

Taryn really didn't even want to begin to think about that, but she knew that it could be true. "Who else do you think it could be?"

"Practically anyone in Slytherin house," Draco said, "And despite what everyone else thinks, it could be quite a few people in other houses as well. I couldn't tell you who every Deatheater is. Some of them never take off their masks."

0o0

Everyone knew that Ron had been poisoned next day, but it didn't cause the sensation that Katie's attack had.

People seemed to think that it might have been an accident. He had been in the Potions master's room at the time, and since he'd been given an antidote immediately there was no real harm done.

Most, especially those in Gryffindor house, were more interested in the upcoming Hufflepuff/Gryffindor match.

Draco didn't really care about the match, but he was suffering with just a touch of cabin fever. Taryn was doing just about anything that she could to keep him in bed.

"It won't send me to death's door if I take one walk. In fact, I'm feeling much better," he insisted. The stronger potion that Madam Pomfrey had given him seemed to be helping, and he felt much better than he had in days.

"It could make you sicker if you go out when you aren't fully well," Taryn retorted.

"If it was that bad then she wouldn't have let me leave the infirmary," Draco said, reasonably. "Come on. One walk, then you can tuck me back in bed," Draco said with a sigh.

Taryn frowned at his logic. "Okay. One quick walk," she allowed.

Draco immediately rolled off of the bed, dressing quickly before she changed her mind. Merlin, he thought, Taryn is a complete dictator in the sick room. He just knew that their future children would never be able to play hooky successfully.

0o0

Soon they were striding though deserted castle corridors, most were in the stadium for the match. Draco was uncomfortably bundled against the chill. He hated layers, but Taryn had insisted that a warming charm wouldn't be enough. Rather than argue with her he'd just let her have her way.

They turned a corner to see Harry standing next to a bank of chilled windows. Sighing, Draco walked forward. He didn't feel like dealing with Potter today, but it seemed that he was destined to be denied a reprieve from the other boy.

Taryn had told him about the marauder's map, and he would bet his last Galleon that the other boy was trying his best to keep a tab on him.

"Where're you going?" Harry demanded.

Draco gave a humorless laugh."I'm taking a walk with my fiancee,Not that it is any of your business Potter. Don't you have a game you should be getting ready for?" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe at his suddenly runny nose."

"We should be getting back to the room," Taryn said.

Harry frowned, eying them both"I know that you two are up to something, and I'm going to find out what it is. Trust me."

Taryn opened her mouth, but Harry brushed past her before she was able to reply.