Chapter 13
The way up to the third floor was clear and quiet, and Draco wanted it to mean he was wrong. That it was just paranoia taking over his thoughts, and nothing worse than him breaking curfew was happening. A familiar shadow appeared behind him. It was the friendly tortoiseshell cat.
"Go, shoo!" Draco whispered. "If you're after snacks, there's none here."
It stared, standing still for a moment before catching up and tangling itself between his feet. Draco picked it up and placed it away from him.
"You have to go, it's dangerous. I don't have time for you right now, there's a dog I have to tame."
The cat followed along anyway.
Draco quietly opened the door to Fluffy's room, hoping to find it already asleep.
He had no such luck - the moment he stepped in all three heads began growling and sniffing in his direction.
Music, he remembered Hagrid's words from that morning.
That would calm it down. Without an instrument in hand, he decided to hum the first tune that came to mind.
He remembered Pansy trying to sing it recently.
To his dismay, it didn't appear to have any effect.
Maybe the music needed to be played on an instrument?
The middle head snapped forward, teeth bared, the rest of the creature swiftly following.
Draco would deny his fearful, high-pitched scream, even if there were any witnesses who heard him, as he dodged out of the way.
This was why he preferred theoretical Care of Magical Creatures.
'Incarcerous!' Draco conjured rope, which snapped shut one of the dog's snarling mouths and held it tight. The other two attacked. He jumped out of the way of one, and held the other back with a hurried 'protego' shield.
He might have entertained the possibility of running away, if the dog hadn't moved to block the path during the initial charge.
He managed to bind another mouth next, but had to throw himself on the ground and roll out of the way of its claws.
A cloud of dust it sent up into the air triggered a nasty cough.
He had to be careful, or he would have to rely only on non-verbal spells if he continued to make himself cough. His robes were covered in dust, too.
"Brilliant. Sometimes I hate this school." He huffed, trying to tie up the last head. It moved out of the way of the spell.
The cat hissed and clawed at the dog's tail, which did little to distract it.
There was a small harp by the dog's hind paw, Draco noticed belatedly.
He made a run for it, and slid under the creature's belly towards it against his better judgement.
He hoped that he remembered the incantation his mother taught him many years before.
The harp didn't start playing on his first attempt, and the dog was quickly turning around to continue snapping and clawing at him.
He knew his 'protego' was too weak to withstand the force of the jaw and all of its paws for long.
Draco clumsily plucked at the harp strings with one hand as a last resort.
In just a few unpleasant notes the attacks slowed, he only had to step back to avoid the last sleepy swipe of Fluffy's paw.
The beastly dog curled up and immediately started to snore.
Finally, he had a moment of respite. He managed to charm the harp to carry on without him on the third try.
"I do hope they're down there. We wouldn't want to face the Dark Lord alone." He said as he pulled the trapdoor open, heart beating loudly out of time with the music.
The cat jumped down into the dark without hesitation.
He followed along, sliding down limp, slimy tendrils of an injured Devil's Snare.
Its sluggish movements couldn't even be described as an attempt to grab him, but he moved on as quickly as he could.
Lighting the way with his wand, Draco carried on down a stone passageway.
This answered his question - there were other trials to keep a thief out.
A knocked out troll in the next chamber made him jump in surprise, as did the stench permeating the air.
Did the Gryffindors get lucky fighting it again, or had the way already been cleared before they arrived?
Draco wondered as he bound the troll, just in case it regained consciousness.
He didn't want their escape route to have any unpleasant surprises.
"Help them stay out of trouble, Malfoy. I believe in you. I'll never ask you for anything else, Malfoy." He imitated spitefully, talking to the cat. "Longbottom owes me a castle, or at least a statue for all this trouble. Not to even mention this dust and slime... I ruined my robes!"
It meowed in reply.
Despite having to fight Fluffy earlier, and avoiding the other two dangers entirely, Draco questioned just how difficult a skilled adult witch or wizard would find these challenges, if some first years managed to get by them.
He hoped it was enough to incapacitate Quirrell, but not harm the Gryffindors.
A faint echoing whirr and occasional clinking grew louder the closer they got to another room.
His imagination, fuelled by fear and adrenaline, was running wild.
He pictured enraged pixies, animated skeletons, or another rare, deadly creature Hagrid smuggled from abroad.
Instead, he found a swarm of fluttering birds.
Not birds - winged keys that drowned out most sounds as they circled the room, occasionally clashing with metallic clangs that carried up the tall walls.
The only way forward was locked, likely charmed to automatically shut as soon as someone passed through it.
Since the previous challenges offered no chance to prevent pursuit, Draco wondered if this was a purposeful addition.
Upon inspection, the lock was old and made of a noticeably different metal than most of the keys he could see, except one with a broken wing.
It was much slower than the rest. That had to be the answer. But how would he get it?
Before he could think of a solution, the cat sprung up high and swatted one of the keys.
The flock sped up and swirled in a tighter formation, soaring up to the ceiling.
Draco cast 'immobulus' up into the air, but the spell lacked a sufficient radius to deal with them all.
A couple golden keys dropped to the ground before his feet.
Suddenly, they dove down at him, crashing loudly into the floor as he dodged.
The assault continued, as did the ringing in his ears.
"Merlin's moth infested beard, I hate adventuring!
." He complained. A few keys flew around his shield, and painfully jabbed into his back.
Draco much preferred duelling a witch or wizard - he could focus on a single target and protect himself, without worrying about what was behind him.
Now, he was stuck avoiding the most damage while trying to come up with something better than a freezing charm.
The flock of flying keys regrouped above once more, preparing to dive at him in an orderly formation again. Draco had an idea. He jumped out of the way at the last moment, readying a spell.
'Ventus tria!' The jinx sent a powerful air current from the tip of his wand.
He aimed it carefully, sending the keys clattering into a corner.
The power of the spell pushed him back a few steps and he scrambled to regain a steady footing.
Before they flew up once more, Draco conjured a silvery net and trapped the whole flock in it.
He took a deep, calming breath and pushed some loose hair strands back into place.
"I think you enjoy getting me into messes just as much as you like helping." He said to the cat.
It stretched playfully in reply. The key they needed was struggling weakly in its mouth.
They wasted no time getting to the next chamber.
His heels echoed loudly with each rushed step he took on a polished floor.
It looked like he found himself on the edge of an enormous chessboard after a particularly long game.
Most of the faceless pieces were still, well, in pieces.
The white king was missing a crown. He saw a pile of broken black chessmen on the side, a flash of orange among them caught his attention.
"Weasley!" His shocked whisper carried across the chamber together with hurried footsteps. Draco had to make sure he was still alive.
Despite a washed out complexion and some bruising, Weasley's breathing was even and his pulse strong. With a shaky breath, Draco pulled his hand away from the back of Ronald's head. It was covered in blood.
He tried not to focus on the feeling of bile rising up in his throat or the shaking of his hands as he carefully levitated Weasley from the debris to a more comfortable, safer location in the corner of the room. He wiped the blood clean onto his robes, which were already beyond saving.
"Ron!" Granger's shriek filled the room. She sprinted to them, tears running down her face, and sank to the ground next to Weasley. "Please be okay. Just wake up. You'll be alright."
Draco pushed her hands away as she tried to grab Weasley's scratched up arm.
He cast 'Ferula' a few times, watching with bated breath as bandages sprung up and wrapped tightly around each wound.
He cursed himself for not thinking to bring any healing potions with him.
When he cast a reviving spell, Weasley's eyes flew open.
"Ron, are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"I'm fab." Came a pained reply, but he gave them a thumbs up.
Granger only then acknowledged his presence. "And Malfoy? How did you get here? Why?"
"When I realised you morons went on alone.
.. Well, I figured I had to at least try to keep you out of trouble this time.
" Only this time the trouble was likely death instead of detention, he thought.
Although, at Hogwarts there wasn't always a difference between the two, was there?
He stretched out his vowels to really drill in just how reckless and stupid they acted.
Weasley tried to sit up and immediately sank down again, dizzy.
"Neville did suggest to take you with us..." She admitted. "Harry didn't want to pit you against Snape."
They both knew it meant they didn't trust him not to turn on them to protect Severus.
"Then it's a good thing Professor Snape isn't in there" he pointed at the direction from where Granger emerged earlier. "I didn't say this, but while Potter has good ideas from time to time, he doesn't stop to consider other explanations."
Weasley barked in laughter.
"Are you hearing this too, Hermione? I got hit harder than I thought, if Draco Malfoy's complementing Harry." He joked.
Draco wondered if Potter was already fighting with Quirrell, or if there were more challenges ahead.
"Harry's gone through to the end alone. I didn't have enough potion left to go with him. Snape came up with a difficult puzzle... you'd have to go through two sets of magical fire. I don't think there's a way you can get to him now." she explained as if reading his thoughts.
"Did he get injured, too?"
"Nah, just me." Weasley answered.
"Wait until I get to him, that idiot. He'll be injured, alright. Going off alone to face You-Know-Who!"
The two Gryffindors shared a guilty look, upset they had to let their friend go on without them. They sat together in tense silence for a while until Weasley felt well enough to stand without collapsing.
"We should go up, get help." Granger suggested.
"How are you going to get to the trapdoor?" Draco wondered.
"We have brooms from the other chamber. The one with flying keys."
"So that was the solution! I'm guessing Potter got to show off his seeker skills to catch it, didn't he?" Draco tried to keep a tinge of bitterness out of his voice.
It seemed strange, he had to admit. Somehow, the safety measures keeping the Philosopher's Stone safe turned out to be a little too good of a fit, as if they were tailored to test the Gryffindors' abilities.
"What, you didn't fly? Then how did you get through?" Asked Weasley.
"Doesn't matter. You should go as soon as possible.
" He reluctantly let an opportunity to talk himself up pass him by - and this time it would have been completely true.
Instead, Draco picked up the cat. It was climbing up the tail of one of the broomsticks and ripping twigs out in the process.
"I let Professor Snape know he should call Dumbledore back, but you can send an owl, too.
He's probably not happy about me being here, breaking the rules again. "
He hoped Pansy listened to him this time and one of the greatest wizards of all time was already on his way back to save them.
When Weasley passed him the third broomstick, Draco announced he would stay, just in case.
They chose not to ask in case of what. With a final nod, the Gryffindors flew off.
Draco walked further in, hoping Granger's words would turn out incorrect, but no matter what spell he tried, the impenetrable flames burned on.
It had to be another original spell that only Severus knew the counter-spell to.
There was no noise, aside from slow scraping sounds as chessmen slowly restored and resumed their positions on the board.
It felt upsettingly familiar to be stuck so close to the end of his goal, yet remain unable to finish.
At least the success of this mission did not determine whether his family lived or not.
Not in the short term, he thought bitterly.
Draco felt the weight of all trials to come if he wanted to make real change suddenly come crashing down on him, like the flying keys almost managed to achieve.
He slid down the wall to the cold floor, as if the pressure was tangibly pushing him into the ground.
He almost wished Myrtle was there to comfort him or even just try to divert his attention to her own suffering.
The cat jumped into his lap. Draco wasn't sure what he would have done without it.
He focused on the feeling of soft fur under his fingers and its intricate patterns of colour as he gently stroked it, trying to calm the panic rising within him.
Some noise, distant screams reached him.
Draco thanked the stars it didn't sound like Potter.
He wanted to stop imagining how horribly broken the timeline would become if Potter lost tonight.
And what if he succeeded? That changed very little, there was so much out of Draco's control that he had to prepare for.