Eclipse

Chapter 8

"Can you drink any more? I can refill it."

The smile faded. "I don't think so."

Draco didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but he conceded by twisting the cap back on to the flask and tucking it into his robes. "Biddy will be back any moment," he said flatly. "Can you walk?"

Despite knowing how close he was to passing out, the very idea of Draco Malfoy suggesting he couldn't do something as easy as walking was just too demeaning. "Of course I can."

Draco smirked. "Sure, Potter. We'll see."

"I... just give me a minute, okay?"

"Well, a minute is just about all you do have, unless you still want to be sitting here when Macnair comes back. And you don't, do you?"

Harry swallowed a surge of nausea, and shook his head weakly.

Draco's expression became grim. "We'll manage." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Harry.

Harry squinted at Draco and suddenly realized exactly how scared Draco was. Despite his outward calm, the other boy was paler than usual, and his voice wavered slightly. He was taking a huge risk, trying to make such a bold escape. Certainly it was what Harry had hoped for, but he hadn't really expected it... not after everything that had happened. Not like this.

"Why are you doing this, Malfoy?"

Draco's head snapped up, and for a moment Harry thought he was going to answer, but instead he quickly turned his head away. As he did so, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box. Harry watched curiously as Draco revealed a dingy old Muggle compass and looped the attached cord around his own neck. He deftly flipped it open and held it out in the dim torchlight. Around the outer edge of the main display was a circular bezel ring with the letters "N" and "S" clearly marked on it. Draco rotated the compass until the needle lined up with the "N" on the dial, then grasped the ring and twisted it 180 degrees, aligning the needle with the "S." He then closed the compass and quickly tucked it into his robes.

Harry stared. "What's...?"

"It's a Mislocator. They won't be able to track us as long as we have this."

"Are you sure?"

Draco glanced up at Harry and twisted his lips pensively. "Well, I used it the night I captured you, and Dumbledore never caught us. He had a tracking charm on you, you know."

"Tracking charm?" Harry asked blankly.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know?"

Harry shook his head. Dumbledore must have put the charm on him after his mishap at the Ministry the previous spring, and Harry felt a sudden flash of irritation at this unannounced invasion of his privacy.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. You-Know-Who removed it anyway, so it won't be of any help to us."

Harry nodded vaguely, as something tugged at the edge of his thoughts. Then it hit him. "Wait a minute. The Mislocator! That's why the Marauders' Map didn't work."

Draco wrinkled up his nose. "The what?"

"The Marauders'... never mind. It's just... I'd checked the hallways that night, and there was no sign of anyone. Much less you." Harry closed his eyes as another dizzy spell assaulted him, and then whispered hoarsely, "I'd wondered how you'd done it, that's all."