Only two weeks. That was how much it took for Draco to gather everything. I expected it to be way longer, especially knowing his family’s situation. I don’t know how he managed it or if he informed his father of anything that we were doing… but my guess would be yes, he did. Well… I can’t deal with everything and have to trust that my father can back me up if it comes down to the worst.

“When will it be ready?” Draco asked while we met in the dungeons, calling me to the side as we were heading to our Common Room after dinner.

“If you help me set up, we can start tomorrow. I can go right now-”

“I am in detention…”

Of course, you are. I knew it already, seeing his bandaged right hand where he was covering up the newest markings from Professor Umbridge’s punishment. I think the fact that she has been focusing on him so much made Draco gather the ingredients this swiftly. He couldn’t wait to get back at her. I brought this up so he would not butt in what I do with the ingredients in the first place.

“When would be good for you? As you guessed, this needs to be done… fresh.”

“Saturday.”

“Will do…” I answered after a brief consideration, acting as if I was calculating how to do it. “To not be suspicious, I will go first, and Quincy will bring you along later on. You will notice her giving you a signal,” I performed a hand gesture to him, “and you just have to follow her then!”

“If you use it ahead of me…” He tried to be intimidating, pushing himself up like some kind of cat, trying to look larger than life.

“I am not you,” I answered with a snort, rolling my eyes and departing, but mostly because I barely could hold my smirk back… so it was best to leave.

Arriving into our Common Room, I sat with Quincy as we started whispering, ensuring nobody was listening to our discourse. Thanks to the news slipping from Walburga, Quincy’s grandmother’s mouth, it was already known amongst the prominent families that she would marry into our family, even with the caveat that her firstborn son would wear the name, Black. Well… that is still far away in the future, anyway. Still, that did not stop the fact that many looked at me as if I was a lunatic, that I was going along with it so willy-nilly. Even enjoying it. Heh… so what? I think I would enjoy her company for a long time… maybe… Maybe I did fall in love… and if this is how it feels? Making me giddy inside and relishing even the most mundane tasks with her… Happy for being with her even if we do nothing? Then this is the best thing in the world!

“So?” Quincy asked as I was just looking at her, being lost a little.

“Here.” I passed the bag onto her hands. “Got everything!”

“Nice…” She grinned, checking the contents as if I had just brought home the groceries, and now she could cook the perfect supper with it. “There are some extra things in this!”

“Yeah, your hubby here taxed Draco for you!”

“Idiot!” She giggled, blushing and elbowing me on the sides. “But nice! Excellent! I already know how I will use them! I can make some exceptionally good poisons from these!”

“Err… really?” I flinched, feeling if I really married her… I should be extra careful, “We didn’t learn any poisons yet…”

“You didn’t. I did. I am already borrowing books that are fourth and fifth-year potion books!”

“Woah, woah, woah! Stop right there, girl! You want to tell me you are ahead of us by that much?! Since when?!”

“I did not say I can make them! Yet!” She scoffed at me but looked incredibly proud while doing so. “But I have been reading ahead! Potion-making is easy, and talking with Professor Slughorn always gives me new perspectives! He is a really, really good potion maker! One of the best!”

“I heard the Headmaster was a great one too,” I murmured, thinking back a little, reading some old articles and notes from Hogwarts, when it was Dumbledore who was Headmaster.

“The Professor said the same too. Well… I never had the chance to see it for myself, but that is not what we are talking about! So? When?”

“Saturday,” I said, looking around, but the Common Room was slowly getting emptied out as everyone went to bed. “I will go first; set it up. After I leave, wait fifteen minutes before leading Draco over.”

“Sure. I will open the door the same way you told me.”

“Do it with the extra subtle swish.” I winked at her, “I saw him once, trying to mimic me and get into the room when I was heading to our headquarters. Let him think he just didn’t catch all the details!”

“Okie-dokie~!” She giggled softly, making me smile even more. “Shouldn’t we wait for the full moon? You said that it-”

“For Draco? Nah! Or… are you getting attached to our third wheel? Owie! Stop, stop! My ear! Let it goooo~! Sowwwyyyyyyy!”

“Hmph!” She snorted, letting go of my ear, now barely hanging on as she nearly ripped it off. Damn… she has some hidden strength in her arms or something!

“Don’t go and twist things on me… it is not nice!” I moaned painfully.

“True, I should instead learn a spell that glues your tongue to the top of your mouth so you can shut up before speaking stupid things!”

“Haaaah… Then how would I kiss you?” I asked without even thinking and before realizing both of us were looking at each other, turning a deep shade of red.

“Like I would let you use the tongue! Hmph!” And with that, she stood up, leaving me there, dumbfounded.

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“Well…” I murmured after I was left alone, leading back with a soft sigh and furrowed eyebrows, “Not that I know how to do it… should… should I practice? But… how?”

…

….

……

When the time had finally come, I made sure to go and prepare everything well. I followed the instructions in my mind, and it was like doing something remarkably familiar, as if another hand was leading mine in adding the ingredients, lighting the fire, and adding the final touches.

When I was finished, the goblets surrounding the focal point of the ritual were burning in multi-colored flames. It was like looking into a burning rainbow as I watched it from the side, hearing the door open and Quincy coming in, followed by Draco. I bet he was nervous I would leave him out.

“Woah…” The two said simultaneously, watching the fire burning and changing color periodically.

“Everything is ready, but we need to hurry!” I said, looking at Draco. “Stand in the middle!”

“What if-” He wanted to say something, but then I cut him off impatiently.

“Then I do it!” Turning around, I saw Quincy holding back her laughter, and before I could step forward, he pulled me back by the shoulders.

“Our deal! Remember it!”

“I think it was you who had to be reminded of it!” I snorted and waited for him to stand in the middle of the formation.

“What should I do… now?”

“Nothing. I will do the rest!” I said, taking out my wand and summoning a snake straight before him.

“Don’t flinch!” Quincy scolded him mockingly. Seeing the expression on Draco’s face immediately turning sour was satisfying. He was about to shoot back something nasty, but I continued, cutting it short as my next spell came to me naturally.

“Sacrificium!” I cried out silently, and the summoned snake went stiff, rising to the air, and then it popped like a balloon, throwing scales, skin, and guts everywhere, mainly covering the currently shouting Draco.

It was also something I did not expect, but my hand remained stretched out, my wand pointing at the snake or what remained of it… at a swirling, twirling ball of blood. Before Draco could react, it flew at him, entering through his open mouth and disappearing into his body, making him choke and hold his throat in surprise. Quincy and I glanced at each other, but none of us knew what was going on. Next, the flames went out, one by one, and everything was over just like that.

“Are you… okay?” I asked, watching Draco retch, kneeling on the stone floor.

“Do I look okay?” He groaned, “What was that, you idiot?!”

“He is fine,” Quincy answered with a dull voice, looking down at Draco, her eyes showing such a disdainful light I had never seen before.

“Did it work?” Draco asked, standing back up, which I was also curious about.

“Don’t know.” I shrugged, “Try feeling if something is different or not!”

In the next few minutes, he tried many things, casting spells without speaking or a wand. Remembering something he never knew about. Reading our thoughts… nothing worked. Of course, we knew why, but we couldn’t be that open about it, or that would give away the ritual’s actual function.

“Maybe the sacrificial offering was too little,” Quincy murmured, turning Draco’s anger towards me. He was watching me as if I had just wasted all that he procured because I cheaped out on him.

“Maybe…” Then I summoned another snake as if I was trying to examine it, but both of us were watching Draco’s reaction.

I started prodding the summoned little serpent, handling it a bit rougher, and I couldn’t help but smirk a little. I also saw the same understanding flash through Quincy’s eyes as she nodded at me. Draco looked stunned and amazed briefly, focusing directly on the snake before trying to look angry again without any success.

“Ahh, Quincy, you may have been right!” I moaned, looking deflated like a ball that was rescued from a kennel a step too late. “Damn it! Look, Draco!” I turned towards him, trying my best to be apologetic. “I will gather the new resources myself… but I need time. Then we will try again; what do you say?”

“... S-sure…” He nodded, still watching the trashing snake in my hand before realizing he was acting weird. “Don’t you dare play tricks on me, got it? You owe me big time with this!”

“I know…” I shrugged, “Ouch!” And with that, I dropped the snake directly on Draco. “Damned thing bit me!” I grumbled, but of course, that was a lie. I just wanted to see his response.

“Stop! Stop!” He shrieked at the snake that was looking at him, clearly ready to attack now that it was set free… and then stopped. Neither of us was surprised why because we heard Draco speak a language none of us were familiar with. I was just about to say something, but to my surprise, the snake lashed out at him after a little waiting as if trying to figure out if it should listen to him or not. “Damned beast!” Draco yelled, and Quincy vanquished the snake with a quick spell.

“Are you a wizard or not?” She asked, snorting loudly. “It wasn’t a venomous one anyway! Grow some backbone already!”

“You!” He flared up again, but before it would devolve further, I stepped in, dissolving the tension between us. I made some hollow promises, saying I will work everything out, and I wasn’t surprised he left so quickly. We could see the surprise and conflict in his eyes, unsure if he was right in the head and if he really heard what the snake was saying all this time or not.

“Are you really letting him go? Just like that?”

“Yeah. I am. You saw and heard him… right?”

“That is why I am asking!” She crossed her hands, watching the door that Draco slammed behind him.

“I got what I wanted. Plus, he thinks I will set up the ritual for him again, and he may get another unique gift!” I smiled at her while explaining. She was cute when she was like this. Her angry and scornful looks gave a completely different flare to her appearance, and I can’t lie; I liked it a lot.

“Yes, it worked, but-”

“The details!” I grinned, pointing where the snake was a moment before, “It did not listen to him!”

“Um… Excuse me?”

“He understands them, can speak to them… but he can’t control them. Not even a little watersnake like this one! He may have become a parselmouth… but he has no power over them! I think he was right… the quality of the sacrifice does matter.”

“What now?”

“Now I want the blood of the Basilisk…” I murmured my honest desire but then shook my head. “Haha… that is out of the question! No way we could get that, so I will have to make it with my next two choices, Boomslang or Ashwinder!”

“Do it to me!” Quincy said suddenly, surprising me. As I looked at her, she was determined and ready for action. “Then we will get you Basilisk blood!”

“Are… are you sure?” I gulped, feeling deeply touched by this.

“Yeah!” She nodded once again without pulling her eyes away from mine. “Let it be a Boomslang; it is used in potions anyway! I am somewhat familiar with it. As an ingredient...”

“I will get the blood.” I agreed at once. It would be rude to refuse any longer. “As we saw, we only need its essence!”

“Um. And we will wait for the full moon!”

“Yeah!” I looked up at the fake sky, and it was only getting dark outside now. “You know… our plan has changed again. It seems we just can’t settle on one, eh?”

“Our plan?” She giggled, watching me, “It is your plan; I am just accompanying you with it! But yeah, you are right… you just can’t make your mind up about things!”

“Hey, that is not true!” I laughed loudly, “It is just the new variables change things as we go along! A plan that is not flexible is doomed to fail!”

“Hmph!” She rolled her eyes, “Now we are back to the library scouring once again… you want to kill the beast, so we need to find things that can do that and also protect us from it!”

“We already made progress, or do my memories deceive me?”

“A Basilisk still has the deadliest poison known to us!” She warned me, and I couldn’t help but shrug.

“True… Well, we got this far already… and you know, I just remembered something you said to me!”

“Which is?” She tilted her head to the left, waiting for me to continue.

“That a dead Basilisk’s eye can kill, even after its death…”

“Um… Yes?”

“Isn’t it better to get it out from a dead snake than trying to control a thousand-year-old monster?” I smirked while the room fell into silence for long seconds to come.

“When we are done with this once and for all… I am going to come up with our next plan for whatever we decide to do!”

“Hehe… deal~!”