(HBP) CHAPTER TWENTY: The Quadruple Agent
That week, McGonagall informed their year that Apparition lessons would be starting soon—and that Ellie was exempt.
Ellie wasn't sure how she felt about the exemption. Sure, she had proven herself rather adept at the skill by constant rule breaking during her fifth year, but she had also Splinched so badly that she had nearly died. Had McGonagall forgotten that?
She considered protesting, but ultimately decided against it. The free time would allow her to catch up on her schoolwork—and spend more time with the B.A.
"I haven't noticed too much of note," Katie told the group on Wednesday. "He usually just goes to class, the Great Hall, and the common room, like the rest of us."
"I saw him head to the Room of Requirement once," offered Neville. "Didn't follow him in there, y'know, for obvious reasons."
"I did, too," said Luna. "Bit concerning, isn't it? He could be getting up to all sorts of trouble in there."
"Like what?" asked Liam. "Other than training to become a stronger wizard? It's not like the room can create portals outside of the school, right?"
They glanced nervously at each other. It seemed that none of them were entirely sure what the answer to Neville's question was.
"Surely not," Ellie finally said. "Dumbledore knows about all the secret passageways at Hogwarts, right? Especially the Room of Requirement, since it got busted for being the D.A. headquarters last year. He'd know if it provided a passageway outside of the school."
"None of them knew about the Shrieking Shack," Luna reminded her. Ellie had told them about the Shack when she had told them about Sirius' innocence the previous year. "It is possible."
Ellie realized with a sinking heart that Luna was right—it was possible.
Which was just another reason she needed to get to Draco sooner than later.
On Friday, Draco flipped Ellie the bird in the hallway.
"I see your friendship's going well," Harry muttered to her.
"Right," she said with a nervous laugh. "Listen, Harry—I'm going to be late to History of Magic. Can you cover for me?"
He frowned, coming to a stop when she did. "Since when? Are we not on the way there right—"
"I'll explain later," she interrupted shortly, and she dove off in the opposite direction.
It didn't take her long to reach Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When she got there, Draco was already there, getting into an argument with the ghost.
"—no bloody surprise someone went and offed you, at the rate you're—"
"Ooookay," Ellie interrupted swiftly, reaching for Draco and dragging him away from Myrtle. "No need to get our pantes in a wad. Myrtle, I hope you don't mind that I suggested we use your bathroom for a bit of privacy."
"Privacy?" Myrtle squawked. "In all my years, I've never seen anyone try and use this place as a hookup spot—"
"Gross!" Ellie, Draco, and Fred all spat at the same time—the third of which only happened in Ellie's head.
"We just need to talk in private," Ellie explained to the ghost. "If there's any way you could give us a few, I'd really appreciate it."
"And what will you do for me in exchange?"
Ellie grimaced. "What would you like me to do?"
Myrtle tapped her finger against her chin—not really, of course, since her chin didn't exist in the physical realm—before saying, "You know, I have been craving a visit from my old friend Harry. Such a handsome boy."
Draco blanched at that as both Ellie and Fred laughed. Ellie knew she'd have a hard time explaining this one to Harry, but she'd figure something out. "Sure, Myrtle—I can do that. Now, could you please…?"
Myrtle nodded, then soared off and out of the bathroom.
"One of these days, you'll have to explain to me the Potter appeal," Draco muttered. "How a four-eyed dork with a giant scar on his face gets so much attention is beyond me."
"It's because he's brave," Ellie said firmly. "Because he's willing to risk himself for the greater good."
Draco's jaw tightened, but he bowed in a point taken sort of way.
"So?" Ellie asked him. "What's the latest?"
"I have…" Draco looked pained. "I've been given a task that involves a lot of… testing. Configuring. That sort of thing."
"Okay." Ellie thought of the Room of Requirement, but couldn't work out how it fit in with what he was saying. "What does it do once it's… configured?"
"Let's just say it would create some serious problems for Hogwarts."
That pointed to a portal, didn't it?
"Draco," Ellie said urgently. "If you give me details here, I can help you. We can configure it in a way that makes it just seem faulty, but not your fault. We can—"
"They'll know," he interrupted. "They've got someone on the inside. Someone besides me."
Ellie stiffened. The Death Eaters had someone at Hogwarts besides Draco? "Who?"
"Who do you think? Come on, Ellie—surely you're not as daft as Dumbledore and the rest of them."
He's talking about Snape, Fred said in her head. Surely that isn't possible, is it? Hate the bloke, sure, but he's on our side.
"You don't mean Snape, do you?" Ellie asked out loud. "Draco, he works for Dumbledore. He works with the Order. He—"
"He's a double agent. A triple agent, really, since he worked on our side all along. He's been badgering me about the job I have to do all year. Trying to get me to ask him for help. I don't want his help, though. I don't want him to see how badly I'm mucking it all up."
Ellie's heart was starting to pound. There had to be some kind of explanation. Maybe Snape was a quadruple agent? Maybe he was letting the Death Eaters think he was on their side to report back to the Order?
"Look," she said, forcing the thought away for now. She might have to talk to McGonagall, Dumbledore, or Molly and Arthur about that one. "Forget Snape. You have me."
Draco snorted. "Please. I'll admit that having someone to talk to about this is nice, but you're not exactly in a position to help me do anything about it, Black."
She crossed her arms. She knew she shouldn't let him press her buttons like this, but she couldn't help it. "Oh, really? And who, exactly, would be more suited to help you? Who else has survived an entire summer of Death Eaters trying to kill them? Who else has survived more than one Killing Curse?"
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Fred said immediately. That's all in the past, remember? We aren't using your shield that way anymore.
Draco doesn't need to know that. Besides, I have the vambraces now.
That'll protect you against one or two hits, not another summer of torture!
Ellie disagreed with that, of course. The vambraces would protect her to the extent that they were charged up. If she needed more magical juice from them, she just needed to charge them more.
"I'll think about it," Draco finally said. He seemed to accept the reality of what she had said, despite how much it angered Fred. "Thanks, Ellie."
"I want to talk to him," Fred said to Ellie on Saturday morning by way of greeting.
She leapt to her feet, eyes wide with panic over what he had just said, but arms almost involuntarily throwing themselves around his neck over how happy she was to see him.
"You can't," she said to him. She kissed him once, then twice, then said, "I'm serious, Fred."
"Three guesses who we're talking about," grumbled Harry as he, too, rose to hug Fred.
"I don't like it any more than you do, mate," Fred told Harry grimly. "Unfortunately, when this lovely lady sets her mind to something, there isn't much any of us can do to stop her."
"Then it's settled," Ellie said, taking Fred's hand and guiding him out of the Great Hall. "You're not talking to him."
He cooled off by the time they made it to the common room. It was mostly empty, which left the sofa by the fireplace free for them to curl up onto.
"I just can't shake this fear that he's playing you, El," he explained as he wrapped an arm around her and she curled herself into his chest. "I mean, what does he stand to gain from telling you all of this?"
"What does he stand to gain from playing me?" she countered. "I think it really is as simple as he's feeling scared and alone, and I'm the only person he can talk to about his, you know… doubts."
"But why does it have to be you? Why did Dear Uncle Snape have to plant the seed in your head?"
"Because Harry wouldn't have listened, and… well, Hermione may very well have done a better job of it than me, but I'm his niece. Plus, thanks to last year's Occlumency lessons, he's been in my head before."
Fred sighed, running his hands through her hair. It felt so good that her mind started wandering to the ways that hand could be pulling and tugging at her hair if they were truly alone together, but she pushed that thought back when he pushed the conversation about Draco. "Do you think he's right about Snape being a triple-agent?"
She bit her lip. "I don't know. I can't imagine Dumbledore putting his trust in the wrong man. And I don't understand why Snape would encourage me to look out for Draco if he was on the side of the Death Eaters. And yet…"
"I know. I think you were on the right track with what you were thinking when you talked to him. We need to talk to someone. Whether it's Dumbledore, McGonagall, or Mum and Dad—"
"I think I want to start with Harry."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Even with it being such a point of contention between you two?"
"Even when we're arguing, I want to keep him looped in. I know all this Chosen One talk is a bit loony, but if any of it's true—and a part of me thinks it must be, since he and Dumbledore keep having these closed-door meetings that he can't tell me about—then I should do what I can to help him. You know?"
Fred smiled softly. "I do know. I think that's really mature of you, El. I'm proud of you."
She smiled, too, and then she kissed him, and for a few seconds, she forgot all about Harry and Draco and Snape and the rest of it—until she heard Harry's voice coming through the portrait hole.
"It's okay," Fred whispered when she pulled away. "We should do it."
She nodded, then glanced back toward Harry, who was with Ron and Hermione. "Could you lot join us for a sec?"
"Sure," Harry said, rerouting the group toward the fireplace, "but I swear, if it's about Draco bloody Malfoy—"
"It is and it isn't," Ellie interrupted. "It's about Snape."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged a look as Ellie went off into her explanation of her conversation with Draco and her fear that Snape was in league with the Death Eaters.
"We have to tell Dumbledore," Harry said as soon as she was finished.
"I figured you'd say that, and I'm not saying no," Ellie told him. "Just… if you do, I need you to do it in confidence. If it gets back to Draco that I'm discussing this kind of thing, he'll never speak to me again."
"Would that really be such a bad thing?" grumbled Fred.
"Why don't we start with Mum?" suggested Ron. "You could do it, Fred. Make sure she understands the situation it would put Ellie in and all that."
Ellie raised her eyebrows, impressed. Had dating Lavender made him ever so slightly more mature, or was he just finally starting to grow up?
"I'll talk to her," Fred conceded with a huff. "But let that be the last we speak of Draco Malfoy for the rest of my visit, eh, El? You and I have better things to do."
And with that, their friends left them alone to enjoy their few remaining hours of togetherness.
Draco still isn't giving Ellie details, but at least he's giving her something, right? What do we think Molly will say about Snape's potential quadruple-agency? Find out next time, and as always, please be sure to leave a review if you're enjoying the story. Thanks for reading!