Purple Hair Ties ♔ Draco Malfoy ♔

| twenty eight |

" but if i believe in one thing, just one thing, i believe in her "

It wasn't hard to find Potter and Weasley. They were sneaking around the school between classes, no doubt trying to find the Heir of Slytherin or the entrance to the Chamber. They always had to be heroes. But Draco bit his tongue and approached the duo. They gave him strange looks, looking like they were ready to fight him at a moment's notice, but he spoke before they could accuse him of any wrongdoing. "I want to help you," he said quickly. "Not because I like you. Believe me, I hate you more than words can describe. But you're Romy's friends, and I want to help her."

Weasley spoke first. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You don't," he admitted quietly. He kept his gaze on the ground, too prideful to let them see his desperate face. "But you should trust that I would do anything to help Romy. If that means teaming up with the people I hate most, I'll do it."

The friends exchanged glances. Draco looked up at them and was sure that they were going to say no. Then, Potter replied, "Fine. We'll trust you...Just this once, though. And if you even think of double-crossing us —"

"I wouldn't!" Draco declared, his grey eyes burning with a passion never seen before.

"—we'll be sure to tell Romy how rotten a friend you are."

His chest ached as he imagined Romy refusing to be his friend, just like Potter did last year. "You have my word."

The Gryffindors nodded and began to quietly explain that they believed Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who lived in a bathroom, was the Muggleborn who was killed nearly fifty years ago. They were going to ask her if she knew anything about the Chamber. Draco hoped they were right. They didn't get very far into the scheme, though. As the three of them scurried down a corridor, they were stopped by one of the most terrifying professors Hogwarts had to offer. Professor McGonagall.

"Potter! Weasley! Malfoy! What are you doing?"

Weasley looked like he had just been Petrified as he stammered out, "We were—we were—We were going to—to go and see—"

"Romy," Draco quickly interrupted as Potter said, "Hermione."

Weasley and McGonagall stared at them. Potter explained, "We haven't seen them for ages, Professor."

Playing along, Draco continued, keeping a dejected tone. "We thought we could sneak into the hospital wing and just...let them know everything was going to be alright."

Potter nodded. "We were going to tell them the Mandrakes are nearly ready and that they'll be back to normal in no time at all."

Professor McGonagall stared them, her mouth still a thin line. Draco was sure that she was going to explode but, as she spoke, her voice was oddly croaky. "Of course," she said, tears glistening in her eyes. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those have been Petrified...I quite understand. Yes, of course you may visit Miss Granger and Miss Honey. I will inform Professor Binns where you have gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

The trio walked away, hardly believing that they managed to avoid detention. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose.

"That," Weasley said fervently, "was the best story you've ever come up with."

Potter was staring at Draco, though. "Hey, um, thanks for having my back..."

Curtly, Draco replied, "It was for Romy. Not you."

Potter didn't reply as they headed to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey reluctantly let them inside, saying, "There's just no point in talking to a Petrified person."

As Draco sat by Romy, he realized what she meant. Romy Honey didn't have the faintest idea that she had a visitor. Her soft blue eyes stared off into space, unknowing that one of her friends sat beside her. Draco was surprised to see that she didn't wear a look of terror. No, her expression was stone cold, mimicking a fearlessness that he wished he had. It made him wonder if she'd seen worse than the Beast. Perhaps she had. She never told him, or anyone, what happens at Camp Jupiter. It's safe to say that she's been to hell and back at that dumb camp. He looked away from her face, not wanting to think about her past. His eyes fell on her hands, scrunched up into tight fists. At first, he thought it'd been a trick of the light, but as he looked closer at her hands, he realized that she had a piece of paper enclosed in a fist.

Carefully, he opened the fist and removed the paper. Umcrumpling it, he wondered if she had found out something about the Chamber. What he saw was a bunch of scribblings, all of them written in Latin. At that moment, Draco was thankful his parents made him learn the dead language, reading her notes with ease. She had figured out where the Chamber was and that Beast was a Basilisk. It had gotten around the school by the pipes, and that's why she and Potter could hear it in the walls. He quickly turned to Potter and Weasley, ready to share this newfound information. But they had already figured it out, finding a page from an old library book in Granger's hand.

They babbled on excitably about the Chamber and how none of the Petrified had been killed. Before Draco could say anything, they had ran out of the hospital wing, leaving the blond behind. He sighed before looking back at Romy.

Everything was going to be okay, he was sure of it.