to do this," he said huskily.
Draco's teasing words after their first encounter with Arne Hendricks in Knockturn Alley came back to her.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to use your knee?"
Mrs Granger most certainly had.
Hermione brought her right knee up and rammed it into the Imposter's groin.
Predictably, the smug look on his face crumpled. He groaned and doubled over.
Not wasting another moment, Hermione rolled him off of her with every bit of strength she possessed and then bolted from the bed. She vaguely noted that his hand had reached out to grab her, but missed.
It was three steps to the door. Her fingers had only just closed around the familiar, smooth shaft of her wand when she heard the command that stopped her dead in her tracks.
"IMPERIO!"
Chapter Forty-One
Malfoy Manor, 1992
"I dare you."
Draco pulled a face. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
Blaise laughed. It was a bell-like, infectious sound that echoed pleasantly through the wood-panelled sitting room. "This stopped being a good idea the minute we opened the crate. Come on, Malfoy. Where's your sense of adventure?"
Draco didn't feel the need to explain to Blaise that his sense of adventure was directly proportional to how far away his father was, at any given time.
Blaise' s father, Anton, was visiting Malfoy Manor to discuss business with Lucius. Both men were cloistered in Lucius's favourite study, ostensibly talking imports and galleons and how to equate one with the other.
Narcissa was in the kitchen overseeing the well-oiled house elf team of cooks that were seeing to their dinner. They were expecting more business guests later in the evening. Pansy was going to be in attendance with her father.
Draco didn't really need to see Pansy at the moment, although she declared that there would be 'loads' to catch up on. He couldn' t imagine what further news she could possibly have, given that he had been receiving no less than three letters a week since school had broken up a month earlier.
The boys were thus told to occupy themselves elsewhere.
That had been the case until Draco let it slip, with a certain smugness, that Lucius recently managed to acquire a genuine Salazar Slytherin artefact. Until further notice, the extremely illegal item was currently stored in one of the ground floor sitting rooms.
Blaise was beside himself with curiosity. They had abandoned their brooms and snuck back into the house through Draco's open bedroom window. Blaise had been overcome by giggles the entire time and had to be shushed by an equally amused Draco.
"It's ugly," Draco commented, once they had dragged the artefact out of the crate.
"I think it's quite nice, actually," Blaise countered.
The boys walked around the artefact. It resembled a large, clay urn, nearly as tall as the Blaise and Draco, who were of a height. There were four holes in the urn, each carved into the base of the neck. It was impossible to see if there was anything inside. It looked like a great deal of darkness, which seemed impossible because Draco had even shone his wand at the opening of one hole, to get a better look.
Nothing but thick, impenetrable black. Twisting, cavorting, painted snakes slithered all around the urn's surface. They hissed and flicked their forked tongues at the boys each time they got close. There were runes etched into the pottery, but the boys were only in second year and had not started Ancient Runes as yet.
Blaise suggested consulting a book, but any suitable texts were in the Library in the western wing, and to get there, they had to get past their fathers.
"What do you think Slytherin used it for?"
Draco shrugged. "Probably to tell the minions from the maybes."
Blaise wrinkled his nose. "A test for loyalty would have been really useful."
"Not so for the minions. I' m told it kills you if you fail. As far as I can work it out, you stick your hand in. If your loyalty is true, nothing happens. If not, then there's unpleasantness."
"What kind of unpleasantness?" Blaise asked, intrigued.
"Dunno. Maybe you go all red and freckled, like a Weasley."
Blaise made a gagging noise. "I think I'd prefer death."
Draco grinned. "Same."
"I wonder what's inside it"
"Zabini, will you please come away from there? We aren' t supposed to be here. If my father finds out-"
"Just tell him it was my idea."
Draco snorted. "He can hardly confirm that with you if you're dead, can he?"
Blaise gave him a confident look. "Oh, nothing will happen to me. I'm loyal."
To Draco's horror, his friend