The Auction

Chapter 33

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"Basilisk venom, Fiendfyre, the Sword of Gryffindor." Draco pushed off his father's desk and crossed the room, staring at the opposite wall. "You're sure there's nothing else that can destroy a Horcrux?"

Hermione's fingers slid from her lips. "As far as we know, yes. The book your father confiscated only listed Fiendfyre and basilisk venom. The Sword is a special case."

"But it's missing."

"Yes. Since last May." She chewed the inside of her cheek.

Draco nodded, and she watched his ribs expand. "Fiendfyre is the riskiest option. If the fire isn't contained, the mountain could collapse."

"That's fair."

Draco turned around. "So our best option is to find a rare snake that can apparently kill us on sight."

Hermione lifted a brow. "Actually, we only need to get to the basilisk skeleton in the Great Hall. Its fangs still contain the venom even after-"

"They're gone."

The air left her lungs. He sighed, running a hand down his face. "When the Dark Lord first brought the skeleton into the Great Hall, he removed and destroyed the basilisk's fangs. Rabastan saw him do it. I heard him mention it to my aunt."

A prickling coldness ran down her spine. "Alright. Well, that's not an option, then." She collapsed back into Lucius's leather chair and rubbed her temples, trying to think. "A fang might have survived the fire last year. But I highly doubt it."

Draco's footsteps shuffled closer. "Sorry?"

"It's just..." She dropped her hands and looked up at him. "Ron and I had several fangs, but we lost them all to the Fiendfyre."

"In the Room of Hidden Things? With Crabbe?"

"Yes. He unwittingly helped us kill a Horcrux in that room, actually."

Draco's brow furrowed. "Which one? The ring?"

"No, Ravenclaw's diadem." She leaned forward and tapped a finger against the desk. "Dumbledore destroyed the ring with the Sword of Gryffindor in sixth year." Another finger. "The diary was Harry with a basilisk fang. Ron killed the locket with the sword, and I destroyed the cup-"

She blinked at her five fingers against the wood. A heartbeat later, she jerked out of her chair.

"What-"

"I destroyed the cup with a basilisk fang in the Chamber of Secrets." Blood raced through her veins as she spun to him. "Draco, I think it's still down there. One of the fangs."

He gaped at her. "Don't you think he would have found it?"

"No. The rest were attached to the skeleton, so he wouldn't have looked far." She could hear the words as though Harry was speaking them- "His arrogance makes him careless."

"Granger-"

"I dropped a fang into the water. I remember it clearly now." She stepped into him, grasping his arms. "There's a basilisk fang still in the Chamber of Secrets, Draco. That's how we'll destroy this Horcrux."

His eyes flickered as they searched hers. "Granger, you can't be positive that you dropped it in the water."

"I can." A smile broke across her lips.

She released him and rushed to the locked cabinet. The silver lock fell open at her touch, and the doors swung open, revealing the Pensieve inside. Lucius's memories swirled at the disturbance.

Hermione glanced back over her shoulder. "I'll show you."

Draco stared at her before nodding, like snapping out of a trance. He moved next to her, scooped the jumbled memories into a vial, and offered her his wand. Hermione tapped it to her temple, summoning thoughts of the Battle of Hogwarts and Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Tugging the thread from her mind felt like a snake's tongue in her ear, but soon enough she had the silver memory dangling from the tip. She dropped it in the Pensieve, and her eyes met Draco's as she took his hand.