A Parselmouth's Kryptonite

Chapter Three

Later, Draco would thank whatever gods were watching him that he and Harry thought so much alike. He had done the exact same thing that Harry had; went to his dorm, grabbed his broom, and made his way to the Quidditch Pitch. As soon as he saw Harry lying on the ground, his instincts took over and he rushed to him. Draco racked his brain for a healing spell, but could come up with none. He tore off the hem of his robes and tied it around Harry’s wrist, tightly. He stuffed the suicide note into his pocket and put his arms under Harry’s neck and knees and easily lifted him. Not thinking twice, he ran for the Hospital Wing.

***

As soon as Draco ran through the Hospital Wing doors, Madame Pomfrey quickly went to work on the Boy-Who-Lived. Draco sat down and pulled out the note. He read it as the medi-witch worked on his love.

To anyone who cares, goodbye

Death is only the beginning

Harry James Potter

There was something odd about the letter, but Draco couldn’t put his finger on it.

He looked up as the Hospital's doors opened. The Neo-Marauders, as they’d taken to calling themselves, and Remus walked through them.

“What happened?” They all asked at once.

“Colin Creevy said he’d saw you carrying Harry, and you were all bloody,” Hermione prompted.

“I found him on the Quidditch Pitch. He’d...he’d tried to kill himself,” Draco’s voice cracked as he handed her the scrap of parchment.

“It’s his handwriting,” Hermione said, studying the paper.

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“There’s something fishy about this whole thing,” Ron nodded at Hermione.

“I find him half-dead, and you can all just stand around talking about whether or not he wrote the bloody note!” Draco raised his voice.

“Looks fine to me,” Neville ignored Draco and passed the writing to Seamus.

“There’s something weird about it. I’m just not sure what, though,” Hermione ignored Draco as well. No one noticed as Madame Pomfrey left, heading for her office.

“Why were you so hateful earlier?” Ron asked Draco, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I told him it was over,” Draco sighed.

“WHAT?!”

“My father’s after him, just because he’s my boyfriend.”

“So? Voldemort was after you because you were his,” Dean pointed out.

“Father...” Hermione muttered.

“What?” Neville asked.

“That’s it! JAMES!” Hermione grabbed the letter back from Remus. “See, he wrote James as his middle name!”

“Hermione, that is his middle name,” Remus said, as if speaking to a small child.

“Yes, but he doesn’t know that!” Hermione exclaimed. “He was doing one of those Divination projects over the summer, and he had to write down his full name and do something to it. He just put Harry Potter! He thought he didn’t have a middle name!”

“So somebody else wrote this letter!” Neville stated.

“Precisely! And I’m guessing they did that-” she motioned to Harry’s left wrist-” to him as well.”

“Fuck!” Draco slammed his fist into the wall. Quite stupid really, as he used the same hand as before. He picked up the dagger that Harry’s hand was still clutching. He recognized it quickly, and his suspicions where confirmed. “This is one of my father’s daggers. ‘Death is only the beginning’ is the inscription on the Malfoy family tomb.”

“So your father did this,” Dean murmured.

“I refuse to think of that monster as my father any longer,” Draco scowled. “I’m going for a walk.”

With that, Draco stormed out of the Infirmary, hell bent on killing the man who’d done that to his lover.

“If you hadn’t broken up with him, he’d never have gone to the Quidditch Pitch,” a voice said to him as he made his way to the unused classroom that he and Harry’d made theirs.

Draco spun around, but saw no one. He continued walking.

“It’s your fault, Draco,” again spoke the voice. Draco recognized it this time.

“Take off the cloak, Lucius,” Draco snarled, raising his wand.

“No, I don’t think I will,” Lucius’s voice held a sadistic amusement to it.

“Accio cloak!”

Both Malfoys turned to the source of the spell. Professor Snape.

“Well, Professor, looks like you’re finally going to get that Order of Merlin!”

***

“Lucius Malfoy, for escaping Azkaban, killing thirty-two muggles, and attempted murder on Harry Potter, you will be given the dementor’s kiss,” Percy Weasley announced.

“Attempted murder? He’ll be dead in a week from the poison,” Lucius smirked.

“You bastard!” Draco jumped up in rage.

“You’ll never save him, boy!” Lucius laughed manically as two aurors took him away.

***

“Don’t worry, Draco. For every poison, there’s an antidote,” Oliver Wood-Weasley assured, patting him on the shoulder. (AN: For some odd reason, I just imagined Sean Biggerstaff pregnant! How weird am I?? Yes, I know he‘s male. *snickers* Oliver Wood, Sean Bigger staff!!! And don’t tell me to get my mind out of the gutter, cause that place is wayyyyy too clean for my mind. ^_-)

“Draco, what is this dagger made out of?” Hermione asked, inspecting the blade.

“Silver serpentine. Why?”

“My necklace is made out of red serpentine. It’s what affected Harry when he came onto the platform,” Hermione replied.

“Why would a stone be hurting Harry?” Lee Jordan-Weasley asked, pulling his George closer.

“Serpentine is a magical stone. Certain stones affect certain magical abilities. For example, Cassirite disables a true seer’s abilities,” Hermione said.

“So why’s serpentine messing with Harry?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know. Accio Stones: Curses and Cures!”

The thick, leather-bound book came flying through the air and landed in Hermione’s outstretched arms.

“Why in the world she has a book that big, I do not know,” Fred commented as his girlfriend opened the book to contents.

“Serpentine, page 1,723,” she read aloud. She flipped to the near back of the book. “’Serpentine is a blood red stone, but can also be silver or green. Nothing is known about the affects of the stone.’”

“Bloody hell!” Draco yelled, hitting the wall again. And once again, he used the same hand, which he hadn’t gotten healed. He hissed in pain.

“Of course!” Hermione spun around, eyes wild. “Serpentine, serpent, PARSELTOUNGE!!!!”

“Harry must be ‘allergic’ to serpentine because he’s a parselmouth!” Draco caught on.

“Exactly! Now all we need is a cure!”