Chapter 21

Severus had just finished dressing when a searing pain, one he had hoped never to feel again, shot up his left arm. Horrified, he pulled up his sleeve and a wave of nausea hit him hard as he gazed upon the burning Dark Mark.

So where were you heading anyway, Draco?" Harry asked his new friend.

"Infirmary," Draco replied, not meeting Harry;s eyes. "I really need to talk to Granger."

"About the baby?" Draco nodded. Harry furrowed his brow. "What are you going to say to her, exactly?"

Draco stopped short and swallowed. "I�I have to ask her to keep the father�s identity secret," he admitted quietly. "It might seem cruel and cold-hearted, but�"

"But you�re a pureblood and that baby isn�t," Harry finished for him, frowning. "So, what, are you just going to pretend that it doesn�t exist?"

"Of course not!" Draco said. "It�s still a Malfoy. It�s just that if anyone ever knew that, my family�s reputation�our nine-century old pureblood tradition would be destroyed, Harry. I can�t let that happen."

Harry sighed. "I can�t say that I understand your logic at all, Draco." He shook his head. "but if that�s what you want to do, I have no way of stopping you. I�m sure Ron�ll be more than happy to deny any relation that baby has to your family, anyway."

"�You�re mad at me for this," Draco stated plainly. Harry shook his head again.

"I�m not mad. I just don�t really understand your thinking," he replied. They began walking again in silence. Eventually, Draco spoke up.

"They never did find his body, though," he whispered. Harry�s eyebrows shot up.

"Whose?"

"My father�s. They found Macnair right where I left him, still unconscious, but they never found him," Draco explained.

"Wait, then what happened to�?" Harry began to ask, perplexed. Draco shrugged.

"No one knows. They say that there is a chance he survived, since that was the first time I ever cast any Unforgivable and so it was probably weak." He looked down at the floor. "But it�s more likely that one of the survivors just made off with the body."

Harry didn�t really know what to say to that, and so they walked the rest of the way to the hospital wing in silence.

"And it just started burning without warning?" the serious head of Albus Dumbledore asked from Severus�s fireplace.

"Yes, sir," Severus replied, gripping his left forearm tightly with his right hand. "And it is still burning even now."

"This is most troubling," Albus muttered. "Come to my office immediately, Severus. It seems we are not out of the woods yet." With that, his face disappeared from the flames. Severus staggered back to his bed and sat down, trying to compose himself before making the trip up to the headmaster�s office. Merlin�s tackle, but it felt as though he was being branded all over again!

Draco and Harry reached the Infirmary just as Madam Pomfrey was dashing out, and they only just barely avoided a head-on collision.

"Is there something I can do for you, boys?" she asked sharply. Draco and Harry glanced at each other.

"No, ma�am. We just wanted to see how Hermione was doing," Harry explained.

"Miss Granger already left earlier this morning. Now, if there is nothing else�?" she asked, then hurried off after seeing both boys shake their heads.

"What was that about?" Draco asked, his eyes following the medi-witch�s retreating form.

"Haven�t the slightest," Harry replied. "Why don�t we�"

"Gentlemen!" the voice of Minerva McGonagall interrupted them. Spinning around, they were treated to the sight of one very flustered Transfigurations professor. "What are you two doing standing around out here?"

Draco was about to make a smart remark when Harry�s hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Nothing, ma�am," Harry replied.

"Good. Then the both of you can come with me," McGonagall said, and started leading them in the direction of the headmaster�s office.

"What do you suppose is going on?" Draco whispered. Harry shrugged.

"I don�t know. But whatever it is, I don�t think it�s good."

It didn�t take long for them to reach the statue of the stone gargoyle, which jumped aside after McGonagall muttered the password. Upon entering the office itself, they discovered where it was that Madam Pomfrey had rushed off to. She was looking over Snape�s left arm, who was sitting in the same seat that Harry had occupied on his last visit. Harry blushed, remembering the events of that morning. Draco noticed this but said nothing, instead filing it away for later analyzing.

"Ah, Minerva, you found them," Dumbledore said, emerging from a door in the wall behind his desk. "Good, good. Boys, why don�t you take a seat over there by Professor Snape, hmm? We have much to discuss."