The Stars Aligned

Chapter 32

December 16, 1996

"This can't go on anymore, Draco."

It was early in the morning before breakfast. Draco looked up from where he's sitting on the edge of his bed buttoning his shirt. Pansy was standing over him. "What?"

Pansy sighed, sitting next to him and reaching for his shirt to finish buttoning it for him. "I know what you do every night. You follow the burning feeling in your ring, right?" She left the last three unbuttoned, knowing that's how he likes to wear it. "Granger told me about that."

Draco said nothing, but Pansy didn't need confirmation to know it was the truth. She had known since that first night of November, when she had seen Draco return covered in mud and leaves. Pansy caught her friend's hands in hers and pulled him up to his feet. He finally looked up at her with startled, bruised eyes. "Go," Pansy said firmly. "Find her."

Draco stared down at her, registering her words. "Don't you think I try every damn night, Pans? But I have to go to class—"

"I'll tell them you're sick, okay?" Pansy interrupted. "So sick, in fact, that you have to go home for a week or two and you caught a train this morning."

Draco continued to look down at her in bewilderment. Pansy exhaled, pulling her wand out of her robes and breathing out a rhythmic string of words. She placed her wand on the inside of her wrist. Draco started, "What are you doing?"

Pansy twirled the tip of her wand on her wrist and withdrew, wincing, pulling out a glowing golden thread. Her shoulders instantly sagged, her eyes fogging over. "Giving you all of my strength." Draco opened his mouth in surprise, and she placed her wand on Draco's wrist, the gold substance sinking into his skin. His eyes cleared, and the purple circles under his eyes faded. "You're so tired, no wonder you haven't found her yet. You need all the energy you can get."

Draco gripped her fingers, staring into her hazel eyes. "Thank you," he whispered.

Pansy nodded, grabbing his black trenchcoat and slipping it over his shoulders. "Just...." Her voice wavered, but she kept it together. Pansy Parkinson would not break. "Bring her home, Draco."

Draco shot his best friend one more grateful look before sweeping out the door and shutting it behind him, only to find Theo standing before him, head tilted. His eyes were droopy and his face was pale. And in his hand his wand, a similar translucent golden thread flowing from it. Theo stepped forward, setting the thread on Draco's forearm where it seeped into his veins. Draco felt immense power buzz through him, crackling in his blood.  "Find our lost princess, will you, mate?"

Draco rolled his shoulders back, feeling more awake than he had in a long time. He took one look at Theo, slouching under the weight of exhaustion, and pulled him into his arms. Theo let out a surprised yelp, but hugged him back fiercely.

Draco released him and jerked his head at the door, telling Theo to go get his girl. He nodded in understanding, slipping through the door.

Draco took the spiral stairs three at a time, determination coursing through him. He stopped abruptly at the base of the steps, where Blaise was leaning against the railing with a golden thread of his own, dark smudges under his eyes. Blaise was silent as he gave Draco all of his energy. Electricity crackled within Draco, his eyes going wide. Blaise looked at him, telling him everything in one stare. They had always been able to do that, to understand each other without saying anything. Blaise clapped him on the back, a final farewell, before Draco shot like a bullet through the hallways, all the way to outside of the school wards. He immediately Apparated to his last stopping point.

With the energy of a thousand suns, he ran like hell to find Hermione Granger.
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December 17, 1996