The Time-Turner Chronicles

Chapter 4

Malfoy's Secret

Hermione watched James, Lupin and Pettigrew leave. Sirius's arm was still resting on her shoulder so that she was half leaning against his chest, and in slight surprise, she noticed it was actually sending sweet shivers down her spine. Some girls probably dreamt of this. Some girls would probably loathe her for this.

Boys..., she thought, forcing herself to disapprove of Sirius's behaviour, wondering why Harry and Ron didn't act in that way. Not that she would have liked them to be like that, no, of course not. But the thought confused her a little. Hermione tried to focus back on what was happening right now though, sensing that an awkward pause was coming up. She started talking about the first thing that came to her mind to avoid the silence.

"Hogwarts is so big. I have no idea how I'm supposed to get to classes on time or find back to the common room. I always seem to end up in the exact opposite direction that I wanted to go to," she said, sighing and looking up to find Sirius's eyes already resting on her peacefully.

Of course, it was not true at present that she had problems getting around the castle. But when she had first come to Hogwarts, some 6 years ago... well in some 17 years to come, she corrected herself... when she had first started at Hogwarts, it had been very difficult indeed.

"Oh, you'll get used to it quickly," Sirius replied.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, it's normal that you feel lost. Hogwarts is enormous, even without all the secret passages around it and the rooms that nobody knows about. However..." he continued and paused for effect. "However, you have found the right person. I doubt many people, not even the caretaker Filch, knows as much about Hogwarts as I do."

"Really?" Hermione asked, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, for instance here..." Sirius said and pointed at the space between the two paintings. "There's a secret room behind that wall."

Hermione's heart stopped pumping for a few seconds to then start again heavily, thumping against her chest painfully. How could she have forgotten that! What if he tried to enter it and found Harry, Ron and Malfoy in there? She searched for something to say, panicking, but her brain seemed to be jammed.

"I'm sure there's one here. Sometimes a mirror appears between both picture frames. But I haven't worked out how to enter it yet."

"Really? I... I didn't know Hogwarts had secret rooms and passages... but after all, one would expect them in a castle like this," Hermione said, hoping not to sound too relieved. Sirius didn't seem to notice (or at least didn't react) and continued.

"This mirror here is the only secret room we haven't worked out yet. The only one in the whole castle! Otherwise, I know every single one. We're even working on a map at the moment. It's supposed to reveal all passages in, around and out of Hogwarts as well as all people walking around. Dead useful for going out at night when you don't want to be caught," he said, grinning at her sheepishly. Hermione grinned back. She had had her fair share of late night outings in Hogwarts as well. Something nearly made her laugh - on the Marauder's Map the secret room was indicated alright... so they would probably find that out soon. Sirius was looked at the wall thoughtfully and went on. "The parchment we're trying on always blows up after a while. It's not stable enough yet."

"Have you tried a Reinforcement Charm?" Hermione suggested, borrowing Harry's idea of the Time-Turner. After all, she had to make sure that the Marauders' Map would exist in the future... she remembered that she hadn't wanted Harry and Ron using it at first, but she had certainly changed her opinion about breaking rules a bit in the last few years.

"Yeah, it was the best we had until now. The map survived for two hours. Set a chair in the common room on fire," Sirius laughed.

Hermione laughed with him. "Well, until you get that map working, I suppose I'll just have to ask my way around," she concluded.

"Or you could simply call me your guide," Sirius offered.

"Thanks," Hermione said gratefully.

"Where does your majesty want to go to?" he asked and bowed in front of her, in mock imitation of a servant.

Hermione laughed yet again. She was truly amazed by the younger Sirius. Had he been at school at the same time as her, she would probably have had a major crush on him. Angrily she tried to rid herself from that thought. But it was back in her mind a second later as Sirius took her hand in an old fashioned way and kissed it lightly. The touch of his lips on the back of her hand caused a soft shiver to run up and down her spine, accompanied by goosebumps. Hermione felt her cheeks blushing. This was mad. She was falling in love with Sirius Black. Well... he was cute... well, perhaps even handsome... actually, he was drop dead gorgeous. Hermione groaned inwardly at herself for such stupid thoughts and concentrated on answering his question, something she could only vaguely remember. What has he asked? Oh, right. Where she wanted to go.

"Oh, anywhere. I don't start classes until Monday (she hoped to be able to find out what day of the week it was), so..."

"Well, you've got the whole weekend to learn everything you need to know."

Bingo! Hermione beamed. It had to be Friday, perhaps Thursday.

"Can you show me a secret room?" Hermione asked then.

"Sure," Sirius said, taking her hand. "Come with me."

~

"You know, I've had enough of this," Harry muttered suddenly into the deep calm of their secret hideout. He took out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy, who stared back at him, taken by surprise. "Parlensis!" Harry said.

A light-blue beam of light erupted from his wand and circled Malfoy's throat before vanishing after a few seconds.

"What did you do that for?" Ron asked angrily.

"I want to talk to Malfoy. That's why."

"Oh, the great Harry Potter wants to talk, so I have to obey," Malfoy said in his usual drawl that made Harry as well as Ron jump.

"Great, Harry. I was getting used to not hearing his voice anymore."

Harry ignored Ron and focused back on Malfoy. Why was he so calm? Theoretically, he could just jump out of the mirror and escape. Of course, he had no wand and would be hit by Stunning Spells almost immediately, but wasn't it at least worth a try? He wasn't tied up after all, so why wasn't he doing anything? Why wasn't he fighting? And why had he been spying on them in the first place?

"Exactly, Malfoy," Harry replied icily. He was not going to let Malfoy win this time. He had power over him now. All he had to do was watch his temper... years of taunting had shown Malfoy that Harry's temper was his weak spot. So Harry had to work on it. He had to stay calm. "I want you to explain yourself, Malfoy. What were you doing down that corridor? Why did you burst into the room?"

"Free world, Potter," Malfoy spat. "I don't have to justify my actions. As far as I know, it's not forbidden to walk down the same corridor as you yet."

"So you're telling me you were just out for a midnight stroll? Because it was dead late and none of us - except Hermione - had the authoristation to be out of bed at that time."

"As I said, I don't have to justify my actions. If I chose to be out of bed at the same time as you do, Potter, normal people call it coincidence."

"It was not coincidence," Harry answered angrily. Temper, he reminded himself quickly. Don't lose your temper.

"Prove it then. You can't go to Dumbledore this time, Potter."

"You just wait until I find out why you were spying on us. You just wait," Harry said through clenched teeth, forcing himself to relax. Why should he let Malfoy get to him? How could that dirty son of a Death Eater ever have got to me? I am calm. Calm. Very calm.

"Spying on you, Potter? You honestly think you're that interesting?"

"I don't believe it was only about getting us framed, Malfoy. I don't buy your story," Harry hissed. "You may be able to fool others, but I know you, Malfoy. And I know there's more to all of this."

"Yeah, right, Potter. Get a life," Malfoy said coldly, closed his eyes again and leant back against the wall.

Luckily, just in that moment, Ron tugged Harry's arm and pointed at the map, words obviously failing him, otherwise Harry would have forgotten all about being calm and composed and would have jumped on Malfoy.

"What?" Harry snapped and reluctantly fixed his gaze at the map.

"Hermione! Look! Now we've definitely lost her! She's going away with Sirius!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Good," he replied.

"Good? Is that all you have to say about this? It's not good! It's the worst thing that could happen!"

"Think, Weasel, you idiot! If they're walking away together, he's obviously trusting your stupid Mudblood Granger," Malfoy said, slightly agitated, as if Ron's nonsense was getting on his nerve just as much as it was on Harry's.

And even though Harry hated Malfoy's guts... even though he had never before met someone he detested that much... someone he loathed to that extent... he couldn't help but smile at the stupefied look on Ron's face.

~

Somehow, Hermione couldn't really remember how, Sirius was holding her hand as they were walking down the corridors, talking to each other. She was surprised by how easy it was to talk to him - he was not in the slightest bit bigheaded and arrogant. A little over-confident perhaps, but not that much that it would cause anybody any damage. The younger Sirius - well, the one she had always heard about - the younger Sirius always had seemed a bit like a Gryffindor edition of Malfoy to her, mixed with a sprinkle of Fred and George Weasley. A prankster, always teasing people,; actually, even taking things out on weaker people, something that made him quite different to Fred and George who were full of nonsense, yes, but in a good way and never hurt people on purpose. But here Sirius was, pleasant and funny, talking to her as if they had known each other for years. Hermione felt tears mounting up inside her. In a few years he would be sentenced to Azkaban... in a few more years, he would die... but this was the reason they were here for. This was the reason Harry had wanted to come. He wanted to save Sirius. He wanted to save his parents. And she understood completely, even if Harry probably didn't think she did.

"Here we are," Sirius said and pointed at a blank wall, bringing her back to reality.

"Looks very secretive to me," Hermione said, joking.

Sirius smiled his mysterious smile at her again. Hermione wondered. Did he really behave like this towards all girls? Or was she an exception? And if yes, why? Why her, big-toothed (well, not much anymore), big-haired Granger, top student and considered as a bore to most people who barely knew her?

Sirius took out his wand and directed it at an ancient Greek pot standing on a table next to the wall. "Ingolthur!" The pot started swaying on the spot, just about holding its balance. A bright light shone from inside it for a fraction of a second and then stopped again as the pot came to a rest. Sirius grinned at Hermione and stuck his hand into the pot. "There's a secret button in here now," he said.

"How the heck did you find it?" Hermione asked with big eyes.

Sirius laughed at her astonishment. "Just by luck. That's the way we find most passages or rooms."

"And you just happen to know the incantation for that button to appear?"

Suddenly, the bricks started moving, not unlike the ones in the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron, the passageway to Diagon Alley. They all seemed to be shrinking and at the same time were rearranging themselves. Soon she could see a small hole in the wall that was growing bigger and bigger, already wide enough for them to step through. Sirius took her hand again as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do and pulled her in behind him. Hermione stepped inside and turned to look around quickly, but the wall had already resealed itself.

"No," he finally answered her question. "We use a special pell to see through the walls and find rooms or pathways behind them."

"Like X-rays, then..." Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Err.... X-rays?"

"Never mind," she said quickly. "I don't suppose you have Muggle Studies..."

"No, I don't. Muggles! They must be crazy to live without magic!" Sirius said, shaking his head, while Hermione laughed. "Anyway, all we have to do then, is to find out how to open the secret rooms. There always is a way, you see, it's guaranteed by the founders-"

"And how would you know that?" Hermione asked, already suspecting the answer.

"All written in Hogwarts: A History, if you can read between the lines that is. Of course, not many people have ever bothered reading it, but it is quite interesting. It may take years to find one secret room, but then, all you need is a sudden brainflash and you know the password," he said. "How do you like this one?"

Hermione pulled her mesmerized gaze from his face reluctantly and looked around for the first time. A thick velvety carpet was spread on the floor, making her want to take off her shoes that instant and feel the softness with her own bare feet. The room was actually quite large. There was a fireplace on the side, with flames merrily licking the red-hot wooden logs in it, a few sofas and couches grouped around a low table and even a kind of kitchen-area where Hermione thought she could see a tray with pastries and a steaming teapot on it.

"Not bad," Hermione said, grinning at him.

Sirius smiled and sat down on a couch, so she sat next to him. He took her hand in his again slowly. Should she pull it away? Her mind said yes... but her heart definitely yelled back no. Hermione looked up and met his dark eyes. He held her gaze for a short period of time, just long enough to let her know that there was something going on between them. Yes, there definitely was something going on and there was no real need to deny it. A sweet tinge of red flushed Hermione's cheeks, but she didn't try to hide it. She wanted him to know how he made her feel. He met her eyes again, and she had the distinct impression that they had a shy, weak touch to them. Not really knowing where she got the courage from, Hermione kicked off her shoes and leant against Sirius. This was definitely not going to save him from Azkaban, Dementors or Bellatrix Lestrange. This was definitely not going to stop Voldemort. But that didn't matter right now anyway... all the talk of war and fear was so far away....

And Hermione had the feeling that although Sirius might be one of the gang leaders at school, he was lonely and he would be lonely all his life. He had nobody he considered as real family - well, who could blame him for leaving home? - and except for James, Lupin and Pettigrew, who was there for him? Which older person was there for him? The parallels to Harry were odd... Harry had no proper adult in his life either anymore after Sirius's death. Hermione didn't doubt that Sirius might try to impress girls a lot when the other Marauders were around, but she also knew it was a mask, a façade we was hiding behind. Because right now, he seemed very insecure to her, almost as if he was afraid of doing anything, almost as if he didn't really know what to do. She pulled his hand closer to her. Slowly, Sirius laid both his arms around her waist. Something was still nagging at her though.

"Is this the place you show all the girls?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.

Sirius laughed silently and kissed her neck, surprising her. A moment ago, he had seemed so much more tense... he had gained some of his security back. Hermione smiled, grateful for it.

"No. You're the first one."

"And what gives me the honour?" Hermione asked.

Sirius seemed to be thinking about it, because he fell quiet for a few seconds, his hands playing with a strand of her hair thoughtfully. "What gives you the honour? You fascinate me."

"What?" Hermione asked, unable to hide her surprise.

Gently, Sirius pushed her hair aside and kissed her shoulder. Hermione closed her eyes, savouring every single moment, but wondering at the same time. How would it change their first - well, first for her - encounter in her third year, when he would flee from Azkaban? What would he do, what would he say? Well, it shouldn't happen that way anyway. What they were doing now, all of them, Harry, Ron, Malfoy and her, what they were doing now was changing the course of history. Theoretically, if they managed, Harry's parents wouldn't die and Sirius would never have to flee from Azkaban. They would meet in completely different circumstances.

He whispered into her ear. "You seem to be different than other girls. You don't giggle in that annoying way they do. I can talk to you normally. And your skin is so soft..." he added and caressed her shoulder with his fingertips.

Hermione smiled and turned to face him, finding his eyes sparkling back at her, but still with a tiny shadow of uncertainty in them. Their noses were only inches from each other and the intensity of the situation was nearly unbearable. Hermione's hand started stroking his neck softly, as she bent closer towards him and their noses touched for a fraction of a second. Sirius seemed to understand. She didn't want to hurt him. She didn't want to desert him the way his family had. She wanted to help, help in a way that not even James could. He pulled her face closer to his. Hermione closed her eyes and felt his lips on hers shortly afterwards, just for a tiny moment. His lips touched hers again. And this time, they stayed longer.

~

"No, Judy. You haven't understood. When Mars is to be seen from the earth, which doesn't happen often, it forms this angle here with... give me your ruler, please. Look..."

Impatiently, a girl with dark red hair snatched the ruler from Judy and started drawing lines on a large piece of parchment spread out in front of them. Judy, a freckle-faced girl with shoulder long dark curls tried to listen, but couldn't fix her mind on Divination right now; her gaze wandering around the library. She should never have kept Divination after fifth year. She was just not good enough for it.

"Judora Audrey Lester! How on earth am I supposed to help you if you're not paying attention?" Lily's voice suddenly rang in her ears.

She tore her eyes from the bookshelf immediately and looked at the parchment again that was now full of circles, lines, triangles and scribbles about the effects of Mars on people's lives.

"I'm sorry, Lil'," she said apologetically and frowned at the symbols on the parchment. "I'm sorry, I'm just no good at Divination. I should have given it up ages ago; you're much better-"

"Don't talk nonsense," Lily said soothingly. "You are a true Seer, and you know it. You just have to concentrate on it. Now... oh, great. Forget it. The bighead-crew has arrived, you have no chance of concentrating now," Lily said and slammed the book shut on the table, receiving a reproachful glare from the librarian.

Judy looked up quickly. Indeed, James Potter had just entered the library with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Strangely enough, Sirius Black was not with them, but then again, they were already bad enough without him. Silently, Judy wondered when Lily was going to see them all for the people they were now and not those they had been a few years back. But it was not for her to tell her. She had to see for herself.

Lily frowned. Hadn't she just escaped from that stupid Potter in the Great Hall? Wasn't this school big enough or why did she have to meet him everywhere she went? He was walking her way and Lily was already expecting some kind of comment; but he didn't say anything. James just walked past her, didn't even try to greet. Funny. Normally, he went out of his way to try and impress her. Maybe he had finally seen how stupid he behaved. She noticed that he looked weary, tired and without strength. This wasn't the Potter she knew. Maybe he was ill. She observed Pettigrew whispering something into James's ear and knew by instinct that he was pointing out to him that she was there, so she looked away. Perhaps he wouldn't bother pestering her this time. She opened the book again and turned the page a bit more violently than she had meant to, causing it to tear a little. She loathed him, even now when he seemed to be down. Serves him only too right, Lily thought angrily. She loathed everything about him. Absolutely everything.

"Hey, Evans!"

Lily rolled her eyes. She knew it. She knew that it had been too good to be true. He obviously hadn't seen her before, but thanks to that little git Pettigrew he had noticed that she was here. She rested her head on her hand, trying to suppress her anger. Judy was sitting at Lily's side and she could already feel the look in her friend's sad brown eyes boring into her. Lily breathed deeply and lifted her head. James was just sitting down on the other side, probably going to try and start a conversation. Again.

"What d'you want?" she snapped, taking up her quill and scribbling things on the parchment again.

At her side, Judy got up slowly and acted as if she was going to look for a book. Great. Now she was alone, with nobody to calm her down, facing the great James Potter, Quidditch legend and biggest idiot the school had to offer. He'd better be off soon or she would explode. He'd better keep his tongue in check this time.

"Read the notice in the common room?"

"What?"

"Next weekend."

"What are you talking about?" Lily demanded angrily and started flicking through her book again, trying to ignore him.

"Hogsmeade weekend. Are you coming with me?" he asked.

Lily looked back up from her book, her eyes sparkling with hatred and just about to give him a definite get-a-life-I'm-not-ever-going-to-be-interested-in-you-no when she met his hazel eyes and started feeling dizzy. The library started spinning around and around... Somebody stop it, please!... James's eyes weren't hazel anymore... they were bright green, like hers... Everything seemed to vanish in front of her eyes... it was getting dark... she was falling, falling... she felt so weak, she couldn't see properly... the green eyes... the green eyes...

"Evans!"

~

His strong hand was holding her pale, fragile one tightly as Lily Evans lay in between the white sheets in the hospital wing, unconscious, but at least breathing steadily again. He had noticed that something had been wrong with her as she had looked back up from her book. Her expression had been most annoyed and set on telling him to get lost, but it had changed very quickly from that to the look of someone who wasn't feeling well; someone who wasn't feeling well at all. And she had spoken all the time, although she had been asleep, speaking in her dreams. Always the same few words, always the same.

The green eyes... the green eyes are here...

Suddenly, Lily made a funny noise and James's attention was back upon her immediately, heart beating faster, very worried. But soon, her breathing went back to normal again. He sighed. She loathed him, there was no point in denying it any more. He had actually known it for years, but somehow it had only really sunk into his mind shortly ago. Why hadn't he noticed earlier? Why hadn't he stopped doing all those things that made her despise him? It was too late. She hated him and now it was too late for him to make her see that he wasn't the same person anymore, that he wasn't the 15-year-old that went around hexing Snape. Although Snape did deserve it most of the time. But James also knew that he deserved Lily's hate and anger. He was no better than Snape. He was just no better.

She was so pretty, even now when she was lying in the sterile white sheets of the hospital wing. Her mouth was slightly open as she rested there peacefully, her dark red hair spread out around her. He wanted to touch her face... he closed his eyes and swallowed, rubbing her cold hand.

He couldn't touch her. Judora, one of Lily's closest friends, was sitting next to him. She was surveying him with a mixture of anger and pity, as if she couldn't make up her mind. The new nurse, Madam Pomfrey, came over to them and started checking Lily's temperature, pulse and so on, scribbling on a clipboard.

"It's okay you two, there's nothing threatening here, she'll wake up soon enough and feel fine again. Just a few questions before you leave.... What exactly happened? She didn't fall over just like that, did she?" Madam Pomfrey asked surprisingly loud, her voice ringing in James's ears.

He didn't let go of Lily's hand as Judora spoke. It felt to him as if it was all his fault, as if it was his fault Lily was now lying in the hospital wing... even if he hadn't really done anything....

"I cannot tell you, Madam Pomfrey. She was sitting and talking to James Potter when I left her to find a book. Suddenly there was a lot of noise and she was lying on the floor, James bending over her. We brought her to the hospital wing immediately."

"Was she stressed? Do you know if she was not feeling well, Ms Lester? Might it have been that she has been working too hard? Did she eat enough?"

"I don't think she was particularly stressed. Normal, you know, NEWTs coming up... but they're still two months away. She was feeling fine as far as I know, she has also been eating normally these last few days. I don't think it's the workload... but I don't know what's a matter with her," Judy said.

"And you Mr Potter?" Madam Pomfrey then asked, peering at him from over her clipboard.

Reluctantly, James tore his gaze from Lily. "I was talking to her when I saw that she seemed to be feeling dizzy. She was swaying on the bench for a second and then fell off sideways. She was also mumbling something, as if she was talking in her sleep. Then Judora came... we brought her here. That's all I can tell you."

At a distance, a bell rang.

"Thank you. You may go, I don't want you to be late for classes. There really is no need to sit here and wait for her to wake up, it's nothing life-threatening. Probably just exhaustion. Now, come on, off you trott."

Judora got up slowly and bent down to pick up her bag. "Aren't you going to classes?" she asked James.

"I... I don't have classes on Friday afternoon," he said vaguely. "I'm staying."

In surprise, he felt her hand squeeze his shoulder lightly for a moment before Judora left. He turned around to say something but she had already gone. The door closed behind her with a small metallic click.

"Mr Potter, I'll be in my office. I'm telling you that it won't help sitting here, but if you have nothing else to do, that's fine by me," Madam Pomfrey said and bustled off towards the end of the ward.

James looked back at Lily. He wanted to be here when she awoke, even if she might not be happy about it.

~

"What on earth is she doing?" Ron burst out angrily as he checked his watch. "Classes are starting again in less than a minute! We're going to have to wait in here all bloody afternoon!"

Harry decided not to answer. Not because he didn't care, but because he was trying to stare Malfoy into telling them what he was up to. It was not working very well, but it didn't matter.

"Where are the others?" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged. "Library, I think."

Ron pulled the map towards himself and started searching. "You sure?"

"Yeah. At least they were there the last time-"

"Well, Pettigrew and Lupin still are there. No sign of Lily or James though," Ron mumbled.

A bell interrupted Ron's search for Harry's yet-to-be parents.

"The bell. That's it. We're stuck here all afternoon," Harry said and slumped against the wall, finally tearing his gaze from Malfoy's cold grey eyes.

"Thanks to you lot, that is," Malfoy added, sneering.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry and Ron said in unison, now both pouring over the Marauder's Map, trying to find two ink dots representing Lily Evans and James Potter.

"Here, I've got them. But... that's weird..."

"What? Where?" Harry asked urgently.

All colour seemed to have drained from Ron's face so that his freckles stood out clearly against the pale white colour of it, his vivid red hair clashing horribly with his skin. Something seemed to be wrong. Really wrong.

"In... in the hospital..."

Harry, impatient as ever, snatched the parchment from Ron and began scanning it, quickly locating the hospital wing. And there, clearly, he could see two tiny ink dots labelled 'Lily Evans' and 'James Potter'. In the hospital wing.

"In the hospital wing?" Harry mumbled, staring at the paper. "What on earth are they doing in the hospital wing?"

Silence filled the room; even Malfoy was quiet for once. The hospital wing. Not good. Definitely not good. Suddenly, Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered "Mischief managed", so that it went blank and started folding it up, putting it away into his robes hastily.

"Wait a minute. Just wait a minute right there, hold your horses. Harry, what do you think you're doing?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to the hospital wing, what does it look like?" Harry snapped and got up, brushing some dust from his robes.

"No, you can't go, there's no way that you can burst out there and go to the hospital wing. Harry, I can't let you go," Ron replied.

"I'm going now, Ron, and I'm not really asking for your permission. Everyone's gone to their lessons, there's nobody around in the corridors to see me and my parents are in the hospital wing. This means either they are both ill or one of them is ill; I don't know and I need to know."

"What time is it?" Malfoy butted in.

Harry's head spun around as Ron glanced at his watch again. "Two minutes past one," he said automatically and turned back to Harry. "Harry, Hermione will never know where to find us if we leave now, it's going to end up in a right mess... Harry? Harry?"

Harry lifted his eyebrow as Malfoy bit his lip. He had them impression that the mystery about Malfoy was about to be lifted. He couldn't explain otherwise, but something was wrong with Public Enemy Number One.

"What is this about, Malfoy?" Harry asked, in barely more than a whisper.

As he expected, Malfoy did not answer; he seemed to be torn between saying something or not. Harry was already turning back to Ron, feeling disappointed that he wasn't getting any nearer to finding out the big secret when Malfoy spoke again in a low, insecure voice.

"We'd better go. Otherwise we'll be late."