Dreams of Fire

Chapter 6-The Frozen Flame

Ginny sat up, startled by Hermione’s sudden entrance. ‘Hermione, are you ok?’ She was flushed from running to and from the library. ‘Herm, are you OK?’

‘Fine, fine,’ she said dismissively. ‘Just need to get my breath back.’ She sat down on the edge of Ginny’s bed. Then said, 'Here, I think you should take a look at this.’ Hermione held out a book to Ginny. ‘Page 964,’ she said.

Ginny looked at the book. It was big and heavy and very, very dusty. She opened it and read the first page. ‘Spells to weave enchantments and legends of Olde Times.’ ‘Wow. This looks really old, but what has it got to do with me?’ Ginny asked, puzzled.

‘I told you, page 964, in the legends bit.’ Ginny flicked through the book until she got to the page. Then she looked down. And read. And looked. The colour drained from her face as she finished the page and turned to the next one. She kept reading until the book moved onto another topic. Then she put the book down. ‘Herm, what does all this mean?’

‘It means that you and Draco are together for a reason. It means that someone has motives that we don’t know about, someone has cast this enchantment around the two of you.’ They looked down at the page again and Hermione read. ‘This enchantment be very dangerous, and only those with the necessary skills should attempt to perform this. It requires the time of two lunar months to prepare and the hair of the two souls whose destinies you wish to entwine. The enchantment will bind these two souls to one purpose, whatever that may be, is the decision of he who casts this spell. If these effects are what you will produce, be aware of one thing more, the spell is binding and irrevocable, save one method. Read on to perform the Spell of Frozen Flame.’

‘One purpose… how do we find out… Herm… I’m scared. Someone has given me a purpose, and it can’t be good, so what can I possibly do to stop it if I don’t know what it is?’ The tears began to stream down her face. ‘ What do I do, Herm, tell me.’

‘I wish I could Ginny, I wish I could just make it go away, but you and Draco are the only ones who can figure out what this enchantment is, and what it means. I’m so so sorry.’

Meanwhile, Draco waltzed into the Slytherin Common room, whistling, where Crabbe and Goyle immediately pounced upon him. ‘Where the hell have you been? Snape is looking everywhere for you, and I mean EVERYWHERE; he’s on his way to the Gryffindor rooms! Draco… where are you going? Draco…?’ But Draco had gone, back out of the door and away up the corridor. He saw the professor ahead of him in the corridor and increased his speed until he caught up to him. ‘ Draco… ah yes… a word if you please Mr. Malfoy. My office, follow me.’ And he swept off in the opposite direction, leaving Draco to catch him up. They both went into his office and Snape slammed the door behind them, then turned and muttered a few words. ‘There, now we’ll have no listeners. Draco, have a seat.’ Draco sat. Snape stood there looking decidedly uncomfortable. ‘Just a few things. We cannot have you skipping lessons. The OWLS are not that far away, and I’m sure that you at least want to try and come ahead of Miss Granger, so that has to stop. Now, there are no rules governing the… erm… friendships that can occur between houses, so you and Miss Weasley are doing nothing wrong, but I must stress that there are many people who will not be happy, your father for one.’ Draco’s face fell at the mention of his father, but before he could say anything, Snape continued, ‘so, we’ll try and keep this quiet. But you must not attract attention to yourselves, there may be people out there, and in Slytherin, who will be less than thrilled to see you two together, especially if you’re… well… you know…ahem… that will be all for now Draco, you can go.’ Snape turned away from Draco and began to shuffle the papers on his desk in a less than Snape-like way. ‘Erm… Professor?’

‘Yes Draco?’

‘I was just wondering, how do you know all of this? Why do I get the feeling that I’m missing something?’

‘Because you are Draco, and I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.’

‘Why not?’ asked Draco hotly, ‘ I mean, it’s not like I’m not old enough, come on, what the hell is going on and why am I involved?’

‘Look, Draco, please remember who you are speaking to. I will tell you when the time is right, and not before. Now if you please…’ He turned away again.

‘I know that something is going on, and I will find out what, with or without your help!’ Draco slammed the door as he walked out. Severus stared at the door for a moment and then sank down on the chair behind his desk, his head cupped in his hands, ‘I’m getting too old for this. That poor boy…’ He picked up a quill and began to write…

The message came for Ginny when she was in her History of Magic class. A small boy came into the room and took the note to Professor Binns. The class looked up with interest. (But then, anything would interest them after Binns talking about the Muggle Treaty of 1346…). Binns cleared his throat and said, ‘Miss Weasley, Professor Snape would like a word. Take your things. Make sure you copy the notes from another member of the class.’ Then he ignored Ginny, who was looking flustered and getting her bag, and continued, ‘The Muggle Treaty was a landmark event as…’ The class fell back into their customary stupor.

Meanwhile, Ginny was hurrying along the corridor, a thousand thoughts running through her mind, most of them along the lines of ‘I handed that essay in, and on time…’ and ‘Must be something to do with Potions, it can’t be Draco… can it?’ She finally stopped outside his office, and knocked on the door. ‘Who is it?’

‘It’s Ginny, professor, Ginny Weasley…’ she stammered, in a nervous voice. The door opened in front of her, and Snape stood there. He looked down sadly and said, ‘Come in Miss Weasley, I think there’s something you should know.’

He led her into his office. ‘Sit down.’ She sat. ‘Now Ginny, I know this may come as a surprise to you, but someone wants you and Draco together, for a purpose. I don’t know how much Draco has guessed, but I must ask you to promise not to reveal what I am going to tell you now to him. Do I have your word?’

‘Yes, what’s going on, please tell me, I don’t know what to do…’ She burst into tears. ‘Ginny, I will tell you what I know, or have guessed, if you do the same in return?’

‘I’ll tell you. Hermione found this book, something to do with enchantments and legends, and there was this spell in it, where two souls are entwined, you use their hair or something, and they start by sharing the same dreams, and get drawn to each other, until the purpose is fulfilled, and there’s only one was to reverse it, but it didn’t say what, and it’s called the Spell of Frozen Flame, or something, and that’s pretty much it.’ All the words came tumbling out at once, and when she had finished, Snape opened the door and looked out, closed it and muttered a spell under his breath, the same spell he had muttered only an hour before.

‘That should not have been spoken until the sealing spell had been performed, but no matter, it is too late now. You seem to have arrived at the same conclusion as I have, it is the Spell of Frozen Flame, and it needs two souls who on the outside, are a different as night and day, fire and ice if you will. You are the fire, and Draco the ice. There is only one way to stop this spell, and it requires only one of the pair to know what has been done. I must stress this, if Draco finds out before we can reverse this, it is irrevocable, nothing can be done. He must not find out. I can perform the spell, but we need more information, and you need to remain close to Draco, distract him from searching for the answer, or, stay with him if he insists, and lead him in the wrong direction, do not let him see this book, I didn’t know we had one in school, this makes it harder. That is what you have to do. I will complete the rest. It is time for the Frozen Flame to melt.’