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Chapter 31: The Writing’s on the Wall
Groaning loudly, his muscles screaming at him as he forced himself up off the ground, Draco shook his head to clear his sight, which was rather cloudy. Blinking fiercely, it took his muddled brain a few moments to realize that it was the air that was cloudy and not his sight. The dark hallway was filled with dust. He coughed slightly as he inhaled some of it. Squinting his eyes in the dark, he made out a strange light at the end of the hallway.
Leaning against the wall until he regained his bearings, he glanced around him, and saw Weasley and Potter lying in a heap on the floor. He nudged the closest one with his foot, and was rewarded with a load groan, and the heap began to move. The other two men, wordlessly but with many loud groans, stood up, and surveyed the situation.
“What the bloody hell was that?” Weasley gasped.
“Where did it come from?” Potter wheezed, before a coughing fit overtook his power of speech.
“Whatever it was, it came from down there,” Weasley said, pointing down to the room at the very end of the hall. The three men walked cautiously towards it, carefully making their way through the debris that was now littering the hall.
“What is in that room?” Potter asked, his voice low, as he reached around his robe, pulling out his wand in preparation.
“My uncle’s study. Or at least it was,” he said as his blood ran cold upon reaching the threshold of the room.
The door had been blown away in the explosion. The numerous shelves that had lined every inch of wall in the room were now lying in a state of ruined ruble on the ground. The room was littered with the charred remains of his uncle’s book collection, and shattered glass glinted in the strange light, the remnants of the display cases of Vincent’s beloved Guatemalan artifact collection. The ancient ritual masks that had adorned the walls were littered about, most ruined beyond repair. Draco’s eyes scanned the room cursorily, seeking the one object he knew it was useless to even look for, because it was undoubtedly gone.
But the most chilling sight in the room was the source of the strange green glow about the room. Etched in the wall, where once Vincent’s shelf of most prized artifacts were proudly displayed, was the glowing green snake, symbol of Salazar Slytherin.
“What the hell is that?” Ron demanded slowly, his eyes settling on the magic symbol.
“Didn’t you study your history at all, Weasel? That’s the symbol for the founder of Slytherin house. Thought you would have at least recognized it from Hogwarts,” Draco said, his voice cold and distant. She was right, she tried to tell you, the voice in his head was whispering.
“We need to find Hermione and Gabrielle,” Harry said, his voice suddenly taking on an authoritative tone. Before anyone could reply, a flurry of footsteps as another member of the Malfoy family entered the room interrupted the moment. His eyes widened in shock, and his limbs began to tremble as he surveyed the damage.
“Oh dear God,” he said, surveying the state of Vincent’s library.
“Darien, have you seen Hermione? Or Gabrielle?” Ron asked, urgently. Darien ignored the question, walking into the room, avoiding the debris littering the room, heading straight for the glowing symbol on the wall.
“I was afraid something like this might happen if they found out about her,” he said, his voice dull and flat.
“Found out about who?” Harry demanded.
“Look, have you seen the girls? They’ve been missing for awhile, and we need to make sure they are alright now that this has happened. Tell me if you know where Hermione and Gabrielle are!” Ron shouted.
“She knew something like this might happen. She tried to tell me, tried to warn me about it,” Draco said softly, his eyes focused on the wall.
“What are you talking about?” Harry yelled, giving into frustration.
“What purpose does this serve? Why now? Why her?” Darien asked, frowning as attempted to figure it out.
“For god’s sake, if one of you damned Malfoy don’t start to bloody well tell us what has happened, no one will be able to hold me accountable!” Ron shouted. Draco turned to face him, his eyes blazing with anger.
“What has happened is that you and Potter are a bunch of bloody idiots, and all this time you’ve spent worrying about your precious Hermione and Gabrielle has been misplaced, because I assure you, they are not the ones in danger. If you hadn’t been so blind, you might have noticed that those two are not the only ones that are missing at the moment!” Draco shouted. Ron glared back at him, until realization dawned on his face, and he paled considerably.
“Ginny,” he whispered.
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