Chapter Twenty-Eight

Poppy pulled a hand mirror and brush from the shallow main drawer of her desk. Unpinning her nurse's cap, she quickly brushed her hair back into a tidy bun, before repinning the cap.

Her shoulders bowed with exhaustion, and she reluctantly pulled a small vial of Energy potion from a drawer and downed the liquid. A zing of energy ran through her, forcing her body into sudden alertness. She looked at the vial distastefully, before throwing the empty glass into the small wastebasket next to her.

She didn't believe in relying on Energy potions, in fact she warned most of her students against them. There was a reason that they were only sold to wizards and witches seventeen and older. The potion did as specified – it provided a burst of energy – but the body wasn't meant to subsist on false energy. It still needed the replenishment that sleep provided.

Poppy felt that she didn't have a choice. Severus, as Draco's current legal guardian, had denied her the right to send Draco in for more professional help. Her hands were tied. She couldn't provide the help that Draco needed and she couldn't legally go against Severus.

She would have gone to Dumbledore, but he was inconveniently away from the castle. And there was the mark. She couldn't be sure that Draco would receive the help that he needed if his status as a Deatheater was revealed. She didn't have any love for Voldemort, his cause, or his followers, but Draco was a student. At the end of the day she'd made an oath to heal, to help the students that were entrusted to her, and that was what she would do.

The fireplace on the rear wall of her office crackled to life, and she turned to see Severus' face hovering there.

"How is he?" Severus asked quietly.

"He is as well as I can make him, but I hope you've fire-called to tell me that your specialist is on his way," Poppy said wearily.

"I'm still trying to get in touch with him," Severus said. "Can you give me the specifics of Draco's condition? I will need to relay them to get him the proper care."

"He would receive proper care at St. Mungo's," Poppy snapped.

"You know why..." Severus began.

"I do know why," Poppy interrupted, "but that doesn't change the facts. The only thing that I can diagnose, without a doubt, is that he isn't infectious. Something is blocking the effectiveness of the basic treatments used for his symptoms. He is shifting between chills, fever, and he has begun coughing up blood. I've had to raise the level of the Inconcussus charm and had to layer it with an additional breathing charm, because his lungs are only thirty percent functional. His body is shutting down Severus," Poppy finished sadly.

Severus was quiet for a long moment before speaking once more. "Let me try one more contact. If I can't reach him, then we will have Draco moved to St. Mungo's."

"Fine," Poppy said tiredly, before her eyes narrowed on him once more. "I'm risking his life, against my professional opinion because you said that you knew of a specialist who could help. You get one more hour. If I don't hear from you by then I will be taking Mr. Malfoy to the hospital with or without your permission. I don't care about the legal ramifications."

"Understood," Severus said quietly.

After Snape's face blanked from the fireplace, Poppy stood and quietly made her way back toward Draco's bed to check his prognosis.

She stopped when she heard Taryn's emotion choked whisper.

"You have to wake up. You have to get better. We promised things to each other. Please...stay. Don't leave me."

Tears trailed down the girl's pale face, and Poppy felt almost a physical punch to her heart as she witnessed the girls pain.

A loud pop startled her as a house elf appeared next to the girl.

"I has those books that miss wanted," the house elf's arms were loaded down with a stack of books so high that only her eyes could be seen.

Poppy recognized the distinctive sky blue cover of Dr. Barltleworth's Complete Healer Medical Guide as the girl began to scour the heavy tome obviouslylooking for anything that she thought might help Draco's condition.

The nurse quietly made her way back to her office, intending to give the girl a few more private moments.

0o0

Taryn moved slowly from the chair, her muscles tired and achy from sitting in the same place for hours, and headed toward the small unisex restroom near the entrance of the Hospital wing.

She splashed her face with cool water and filled one of the small paper cups there, gulping down two cupfuls in quick succession.

She grimaced as she caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror. Dark smudges were under her eyes, and her bun had loosened enough to hang limply by her left ear. She pulled the pins from it and ran her fingers through her hair before braiding it and tying it off with an elastic that she fished from her pocket.

Draco's curtained bed was near the rear of the wing, so it took her a moment to make sense of the quiet words she heard.

"Its good to see you here Sir. Perhaps you will be able talk some sense into Severus. Mr. Malfoy needs proper care, care that I can't provide him here. Severus won't let me send for Healer's or have the boy transferred to St. Mungo's," Taryn heard Madame Pomfrey say quietly.

"There isn't a need for that. I have what the boy needs right here. I might have been part of the reason for some of Severus' delay, but the ingredients for this potion were rather hard to come by," replied an unknown male voice.

Taryn rounded the opaque white curtain surrounding the bed to see Madame Pomfrey and a strange teenage boy standing over Draco.

"Is this the specialist that Professor Snape was trying to contact?" Taryn asked.

Madame Pomfrey looked at her like she had two heads. "What are you talking about? This is Professor Dumbledore of course."

Taryn glanced at the woman quickly before whipping out her wand and training it on the boy. "Step away from the bed," she said quietly, her wand never wavering as the boy complied.

"Are you daft girl? That is Professor Dumbledore that you have at wand point! Lower your wand at once," Madame Pomfrey said, her voice ringing with authority.

"No, he isn't. He is someone I don't know, in disguise standing over my fiance while he's helpless. I'm not taking my eyes, or my wand, off of him until I get some answers," Taryn said bluntly.

The boy standing in front of her was most certainly not Professor Dumbledore. He was wearing a white jumper, dark wash jeans, and a billowing black trench coat. He had silver streaked hair bound into a ponytail at his nape. That in and of itself wasn't alarming. There had been a trend of metallic colored hair a few years ago. People had been taking Byrd's MetaliK, a potion that temporarily streaked or made one's hair any metallic shade of their choosing, left and right last year.

No, it was the strange inhuman silver eyes that unnerved her the most. That and the fact that he was successfully – that is apart from her – masquerading as the Headmaster of Hogwarts when there were wards against such things. He obviously wasn't taking Polyjuice, or she'd have thought he was Dumbledore as well. He was using something else, and was obviously powerful enough to maintain it within the school walls.

"Miss Davis," Madame Pomfrey began, "You're overtired and you aren't seeing things as they are. What you need is some rest. Now if you will return to your rooms then–" the nurse's voice trailed off mid-sentence as she froze into place.

"Stupify!" Taryn yelled, as she threw the Stunning charm toward the boy. Her eyes widened as the spell seemed to bounce away from the boy, blinking out of existence.

"Confringo!" She tried again, leveling the strong explosion spell toward the stranger. She began to panic as the spell simply faded away from the boy without a sound.

She whipped her hand back to try another, and gasped as her grip loosened without her permission. Her wand hit the floor, rolling across the stone, before levitating into the air and coming to rest on the boy's outstretched hand. Her wand was soon placed somewhere in the folds of his enveloping trench coat.

"Are you quite finished?" The boy asked, his tone laced with indulgent boredom.

"Not yet," Taryn said firmly as she rounded the bed, heading toward the boy. She was nowhere near Draco's martial art prowess, but she figured that her strong dancer's legs could cause some damage if she got close enough.

Her leg swung out, aiming for the boy's smug face. She was unsurprised when it bounced off of whatever shield he was using. Only Tracey's graceful balance allowed her to stay on her feet after the failed kick. Her face reddened in anger and frustration.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone, and now that we have established that you can't hurt me, perhaps you'll let me do what I came here to do," the boy said.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I'm here to help Draco. In fact, I'm the only thing standing between him and death at the moment. We don't have time for idle chatter. If I had wanted to kill him, you, or your nurse here, there is absolutely nothing you could do to stop me."

Taryn quickly pondered her choices and fell back on logic. The boy was right. He was obviously powerful, and if he'd wanted to kill them he would have probably already done so. She didn't have her wand, and obviously she couldn't physically harm him.

"Fine," she finally said. "But if you hurt him, I'll kill you. I don't care how powerful you are, I'll find some way to hurt you," she said seriously.

The boy nodded once, his expression businesslike as he turned his attention toward Draco. Taryn made herself stay still as the charm dropped from around Draco's bed. The glow and gentle hum that accompanied it ceasing abruptly.

The boy unbuttoned the sleeve of his shirt and pushed the material up past his elbow. Taryn gasped as the nails on his opposite arm grew into what resembled sharp talons, and he ran the nail of his pointer finger over the flesh of his forearm. Blood dripped from the wound, and he held the cup below his arm to catch the liquid. The flesh knitted back together in front of her eyes.

What the hell was this boy? He obviously wasn't human, that was for sure.

"Blood Magic! Are you insane?" Taryn asked in shock. "No one uses that anymore."

Blood Magic was a powerful, rarely used form of magic. It was unstable and could backfire on the user, tying them to whatever spell they attempted. In medical use, if not performed properly, it could cause the person giving the blood to take on the malady as well, killing the well intentioned blood donor.

The boy eyed her with annoyance. "It's not like I can take him to Royal London. St. Mungo's couldn't help him either. This malady is hereditary. This isn't the rough Blood Magic you humans use. Help me raise him. He is going to need to drink as much of this as we can get into him."

"I'm not going to let you feed your blood to him! I don't even know what the hell you are."

"What I am is unimportant at the moment," the boy sighed. "Now help me raise him, or get the fuck out of my way."

Taryn pushed back her questions, and moved to help the boy. Restraints slithered up the bed and latched onto Draco's arms to hold him into place.

"He'll need them," the boy said at Taryn's questioning look. The boy placed the cup on Draco's lips and tilted it into his mouth.

Draco's face scrunched as he began to drink the warm, thick red liquid.

Draco's eyes suddenly popped open, staring unseeingly at some point across the room. Taryn gasped. The soft dove grey had been replaced with metallic silver.

Draco greedily drank the entire cup, his voice coming out as inhuman growls.

The boy pulled the cup away, ignoring Draco's snarls as he tried to get back to the cup. Draco's body began to shake, his fists clinched tightly, the restraints biting into his skin.

"What's wrong with him? What did you do?" Taryn screamed.

"Calm down! Its only the blood integrating into his system. My blood is very powerful. He is merely a fledgling, and I'm as near to a pureblood as you can get."

A pureblood what? Taryn wanted to shake the boy in frustration. He kept giving her non-answers and she hated it. She hated that she was forced to trust him.

"Do you love him?" the boy asked urgently.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Taryn asked, tears streaming down her face as she watched Draco writhe in agony.

"Its the one thing that's going to help him make it. If you love him you can tether him to this world. Using these," the boy said as he pulled two smooth silver torques from his coat pocket. "Would you give your life for him?"

Taryn didn't need to think about her answer. "I would."

The boy smiled, and the expression changed his face, settling it into much more friendly lines. "Good." He pulled open the necklace, placed around Draco's neck where it sealed together seamlessly.

He crossed over to her, and Taryn couldn't help flinching back a bit. "It's okay," he said soothingly. Pulling the necklace open, he placed it around her neck.

Draco stopped thrashing on the bed as soon as the metal sealed around her neck.

"What is this?" Taryn asked, touching the necklace.

"It tethers his life force to yours," the boy explained. "Your body is of this Earth. A part of Draco is, but that part isn't strong enough to keep him here, not without help. However, this is only a temporary solution. It will give him six months, eight months tops."

"What do you–"

"Water," Draco croaked from his bed.

Taryn moved to the bedside table. She grasped a glass and filled it with clear, cool water. She sat on the edge of Draco's bed and brought the glass to his mouth.

He tried to reach up to hold the glass for himself, and frowned, looking down at his restraints. "Why am I tied up? Taryn? What's going on?" Draco's gaze landed on the boy, his eyes widening in shock. "Kieve? You're real?"

"You know him?" Taryn asked, looking from one boy to the other.

The boy – Kieve – replied. "We've met before yes. I'd say it was about time to meet my little brother. In person that is," he said with a smirk.

Draco frowned. "Brother? You aren't my brother."

"You sure about that?" Kieve asked. He began to unbuckle the restraints binding Draco to the bed.

Draco sat up, rubbing the sore skin on his wrists. "I seem to remember you speaking about having a college age son. My parents are human. They aren't even old enough to have a kid that old."

"Your mother is human, and we are brothers. Half brothers if you want to get technical," Kieve said.

"What the fuck are you insinuating? My mother never stepped out on my father, and if she did it wouldn't be with anything not human," Draco said angrily. He pushed the covers back, swinging his feet to the floor as he prepared to stand.

"Stop," Taryn said, moving closer. "I just watched you almost die. You keep your ass in that bed."

Draco scowled at her, but didn't make a move from the bed.

Kieve snickered. "Well, I see who wears the pants in this relationship."

"Shut up," Taryn snapped before Draco could say a word. She leveled her gaze on Kieve."You promised me answers. You need to stop bullshitting and start explaining."

"I haven't had to explain any of this in over five centuries..." Kieve started.

"Five centuries?" Taryn gasped. "Just how bloody old are you?"

"I no longer remember the exact year, but I was born in the early part of the fifth century in what is now Camarthen, Wales," Kieve began, ignoring the gobsmacked look on both Draco's and Taryn's faces. "My mother was the last illegitimate child fathered by an aging king. My father, our father, well, he is the reason that I am here. He is the reason why you are in that bed, the reason why you have been sick. It is because you aren't human, at least not entirely so."

"My mum wouldn't cheat on my father. Lucius is an asshole, but she loves him," Draco said. It was true. Draco wished that his mother loved Lucius less. He tried not to think about it. He loved his mother and didn't want to resent her, but if hadn't loved Lucius then he wouldn't be in a devil's bargain with the Dark Lord.

"I'm sure that she didn't knowingly commit adultery. Our father's name is Kokobiel. His modus operandi is to make a mockery of the state of marriage. It is one of his favorite pastimes. He isn't human, and he doesn't think like one. It isn't that he doesn't have a conscience, its that his conscience works of a different set of rules than the ones that you or I might use. He creeps into the marriage beds of an unhappy wives, and seduces them wearing the face of their husband. He leaves once he is finished, and doesn't concern himself with the aftermath. Not every indiscretion results in a child, especially not in this realm. You have scores of siblings Draco. Most aren't human and live within his realm. Some were half-muggle and died at birth. Only five were half witch or wizard, and that includes you and I."

"What makes us different?" Draco asked. He was beginning to believe Kieve, though he wished it wasn't so. Too many things were falling into place. Draco could count on one hand the times he had been sick, including this time. He healed extremely quickly. And there was the vision quest...

"Kokobiel has mated with thousands of women. Fae, Veela, Sirens, Nymphs, Nereids – I could name them all day – but only five of the children he fathered that were half human lived beyond birth. Three died at the age of sixteen. I survived because I was magical. My mother was a powerful, though humble, witch. Despite her father's bloodline, she didn't want a position of power, and her illegitimacy prevented her father from using her as a valuable political tool. She was married to a man of her father's choosing and managed to hide the circumstances of my birth until my sixteenth year."

"In my vision, you said that I was coming into the power? What did you mean?" Draco asked.

"Your blood, the blood that we both share, is taking over," Kieve let out a bark of humorless laughter. "I'm not surprised that your mother didn't tell you about Kokobiel. He never reveals himself, and she was probably too scared to tell anyone."

Draco wanted to be angry, but he felt a bone deep sadness instead. Had his mother ever been happy? It seemed that she had spent most of her life being scared of one thing or another.

Kieve sighed. "I wish I didn't have to tell you this. This is the fourth time I have had to explain this, and it is never any easier. I want you to know, little brother, that I am glad to have met you. I am always pleased to meet a sibling, and I'll do whatever I can to help you survive. Kokobiel has mostly confined his dalliances to his realm in recent years, but he's a right bastard. It doesn't surprise me that you're here."

"You said that there were five half witch/wizard children. What happened to them? And what is the significance of the sixteenth year?" Draco asked.

"Like I was saying, you are coming into your power. It is something that people like us, children of Watchers, go through during our sixteenth year. The blood of a Watcher is extremely powerful, and was not meant to be passed to offspring. It can literally burn you out. My blood will give you a window of time to figure out what you want to do next. It is a chance that our other half siblings didn't get. They weren't strong enough to call out for me, and I didn't know of them until I felt the pinch of their lifeforce blinking away. My blood and the torque will give you some leeway. You can thank her for that," he said motioning toward Taryn.

Draco grimaced, recalling the taste he'd had in his mouth upon waking. He reached toward his neck, feeling the skin warmed metal that rested there. "Taryn, what did you do?"

Silver still swirled within his eyes and Taryn looked away from his penetrating gaze.

"Uh Uh, baby," Draco said, gently grasping her chin and turning her gaze back to his. "Tell me. What did you do?"

"I don't regret it. My lifeforce is tethered to yours. I don't care about the risk to my life," Taryn stated stubbornly. "I'd do it again if it was needed," she reached up to touch her necklace.

"Risked your life?" Draco asked carefully, dangerously. "Why did you do it? I don't want you to risk your life for me!"

"What? So it's only okay for you to risk your life for me? Because that is what you've been doing. You are sacrificing your freedom working with Dumbledore. You've been letting Voldemort nearly torture you to death to protect me and your mum. I'm tired of it! I'm grown enough to make my own decisions about what I want to risk, and you are just going to have to fucking deal with it!" Taryn's chest rose and fell, her cheeks bright red as she wrestled with her anger.

Draco's mouth opened and closed as he wrapped his mind around what she was trying to tell him. "I just...I want you to be safe. I'd fucking lose my mind if something happened to you."

"Draco, I feel the exact same way. I love you, but I'm not going to be the 'little woman' who doesn't worry her pretty little head about problems. You have to understand that if we are going to be together."

"If?" Draco asked. Was she saying that she didn't want to be with him?

His thoughts must have shown on his face because she answered. "I want to be with you, but you have to work on this if we are going to be successful."

"Okay, baby," Draco said quietly. He would work on it. He had to. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do to keep her. He hadn't told her, but he fucking loved her so much.

Taryn turned to Kieve, pushing back her embarrassment at him being witness to their very private discussion. "What is Kokobiel?" she asked.

"He is – was – a Grigori, or Watcher," said Kieve. "The Watchers were a group of angels sent to watch and guide the human race. "

"I've read about the Grigori," said Taryn, "but I thought it had something to do with stellar cults and lore of Mesopotamia."

"That is only one of the legends written about the Grigori. I have only pieced together most of this story – that is when Kokobiel is feeling amiable enough to discuss it – and I'll tell you what I know. He, Kokobiel, was one of two hundred angels that made up this group of "Watchers". They did as they were ordered for many, many years, but soon began to resent their status. They lusted for the earthly things they watched, and after the urging of their leader, Samyaza, decided to disband and live among humans, and so they fell. The children born of their unions with human women – the ones that lived – were often extremely powerful and gave rise to the legends of the Nephilim."

"So, our siblings, they died died because they couldn't handle the power, right? What helped you to survive?" Draco asked.

"My mother, Aldan, was smart and resourceful. She kept the circumstances of my birth from everyone but me. She knew of the legends, and so when she figured out what had really happened on the night of my conception she made the choice to prepare me for what was to come. When other children were playing games, I was learning combat and defensive spellwork. I was taught how to live off of the land, how to survive. On my eleventh birthday I set out to find our father. I figured that I didn't have anything to lose by searching for him. I could be killed yes, but I was living on borrowed time anyway. It took me four years to find him. In that time I made a name for myself. I have had many titles and names, but the name my mother gave me was Myrddin."

Taryn goggled. "Myrddin? As in Merlin? You are 'The Merlin'. The King Arthur Merlin?"

"I am." Kieve said simply.

"Draco. Your brother is Merlin." Taryn stressed, as if Draco hadn't heard it himself. "What about the Lady of the Lake Nimue? Is that part true?" Taryn asked in excitement.

Kieve laughed. "She doesn't go by Nimue any longer, just like I don't go by Merlin. It's my name but if I used it I'd either get far too much attention or people would think I was being pretentious. She goes by Shui now. We've been living in America, New York actually, for the the past decade. Our youngest son is studying law at Columbia," Kieve said proudly.

"Nimue is still alive? You have children? Are they..."

"Shui is my soul bond, it is the genuine relationship that the torques that I have given you mimic. As long as I live, so does she. We don't age, and I don't know how long I will live. The "Merlin" that you see in popular myth was only one of my Glamours. I have children that look older than I do. We have five living children. Three sons and two daughters. They are regular wizards and witches. Once you have gotten Kokobiel's acknowledgment and if you decide to bond then you will have markings like these," Kieve said, pushing up the sleeve of his right arm to show what looked like a silver inked knotwork tattoo circling his wrist.

"Fortunately you don't have to search for him like I did, but his acknowledgment is the only thing that will save you," Kieve said.

"You mean..." Draco began.

"Yes, you will have to go meet him," Kieve stated.

"When can you show us where we need to go?" Taryn asked.

"Maybe you shouldn't g–" Draco stopped at Taryn's look. He was supposed to be trying. Right. "Will it be dangerous for her? In his realm?"

"I am my father's eldest living son. There have been others before me, and we are long lived, but not immortal and not impervious to injury. When Shui and I go visit Selsenle there is always the threat of danger, but she is bound to me. She's my wife so no one bothers her unless they want to suffer my wrath."

"I'm his fiancee. Does that count for anything?" Taryn asked, raising her hand to show the yellow diamond.

"Where did you get that?" Kieve asked in amazement. "I had wondered how you could see through my Glamour. I didn't realize that you wore a tool of my own creation," he said with a laugh.

Draco snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, remember Payne said the ring was one of the stones from Guinevere's coronation necklace? I guess he wasn't lying."

"He probably thought that he was or he'd have charged you more," Kieve said, laughing. He sobered. "I don't really believe in coincidences. There is a reason that you were the ones to buy this ring, especially since I've spent many years tracking down the rest of the set. This is the only one left. It isn't actually a diamond. It is a rare jewel from Selsenle, and while it is powerful, it shouldn't have allowed you to pierce through the particular Glamour that I was wearing. Are you sure that you are human?" Kieve asked.

Taryn's mind went back to the night that her bargain was amended. Aisa said that she had given her more than she intended.

She had pushed the statement away in her excitement to tell Draco who she was, but now she wondered. Just what had the girl given her?

"I think that you should finish the school year," Kieve was saying. "I realize that you have a high profile engagement, and I think it would be easier to slip away in the confusion of returning students. You will have enough time, I promise. Shui and I will come for you and Taryn and escort you to Selsenle ourselves. I can speak on your behalf, but you will have to impress Kokobiel all on your own."

"Thank you," Draco said gratefully. It was nice to actually have someone that wanted to help him, and without gain for themselves. He could tell that his brother was a good man.

"Well, I have to take my leave of you," Kieve said, before glancing toward the still frozen Madame Pomfrey. "As soon as I leave the room she will unfreeze, no worse the wear. See you soon little brother," he said with a warm smile, before he Apparated away.

Madame Pomfrey suddenly unfroze. "You're awake!" she cried, looking at Draco in amazement. Her brow suddenly wrinkled. "Where did Professor Dumbledore go?"

Taryn and Draco looked at each other, before Taryn turned toward the nurse. "Obliviate," she said with a sigh.

0o0

Draco and Taryn spent the rest of the weekend in their rooms, talking about everything. The things that scared them. The things that they hoped for one day.

Draco quietly told her about that terrible night with Voldemort, and about what had happened in the bathroom with Harry and how that terrible night had influenced his actions.

When Draco went to sleep later that night it was without the aid of potions. Despite the turmoil and unrest in his life, it was the most peaceful rest he'd had in weeks, with the love of his life nestled in his arms.

0o0

Taryn was pissed. No one seemed to care that Draco had been hospitalized. She hated to think less of her former house, but it seemed like they were more angry about the fact that that their Captain had got himself banned from the final match of the season, than the fact that a fellow student had been injured by Harry's thoughtless act.

Irritatingly, the fact that Harry was going out with Ginny seemed to be of more interest to a great number of people, most of them girls. That, and the fact that Harry, over the next several weeks successfully managed to avoid her in anyplace but classes was enough to set her teeth on edge. She wanted to let him have it, but she wouldn't do it with an entire class full of people watching.

"Ginny told me that he has a tattoo of a Hungarian Horntail on his chest," she heard Romilda Vane's annoying voice saying as she passed the insipid girl in the hallway on her way to the library.

She turned the corner quickly, bumping into someone. "Oh, I'm–" she started to apologize until she saw just who it was she had bumped into.

"Excuse me," Harry said quickly, trying to go around her.

The untidy haired boy was surprised when he was pushed against the wall. "Oh, no you don't," Taryn said, pinning him in place with her small hand. "You have been avoiding me for far too long. What the fuck Harry? What the hell is wrong with you? You almost killed Draco!"

"Well, maybe he shouldn't have been trying to Crucio me!" Harry said hotly, shrugging out of her grasp.

"You didn't have to duel him! You could have turned around and left the room without doing anything, instead you used Dark Magic! Where did you learn a spell like Sectumsempra?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him that badly. I didn't know what it would do! I just wanted the little sneak to own up to what he was doing. It said for enemies, and Malfoy and I have never been anything but," Harry said with contempt.

"Its like I don't know you," Taryn said, unthinkingly.

"What are you talking about? You don't know me. You think that just because you helped me that time that we're friends? You are engaged to a fucking Deatheater. Don't think that I don't know what he is. Everyone knows. Because of that ferret I had to miss out on the last Quidditch game."

"Really? That's what you're worried about? Quidditch? You're reading Dark Magic tomes and throwing curses that you no nothing about at people and you have the gall to mention a missed quidditch match!"

"It wasn't a Dark book. It was the potions text that I found," Harry blurted.

"Our potions text doesn't have spells like that inside," Taryn said, before her eyes narrowed. "Who's text are you using? So that is how you're doing so well in Potions," she breathed. "I knew that you couldn't have gotten that good in so short a time. Didn't you learn anything from the diary Harry? I can't believe that you are following some random person's notes."

"How do you know about that?" Harry asked, seizing on her statement.

"Everyone knows about that Harry," Taryn said, quickly backtracking. "You need to take that book to one of the teachers. Anything that has something that Dark inside can't be good."

"Stop talking about the book!" snapped Harry. "It was only copied inside. Prince wasn't advising that anyone use it. Maybe he was making a note about something that was used against him."

"I don't believe this," said Taryn. "What is wrong with you?"

"I didn't mean what happened to happen. I wouldn't have used a spell like that if I had known what it was going to do. You'll just have to take my word for it," he said before turning and walking away.

Taryn watched him, her anger and frustration turning into sadness. Harry was so rigid in his stance against Draco, and the closer she got to Draco, the further away her friends seemed to drift.