Dramione - The Sweetest Dream

Chapter 48

            "We have to figure out how to destroy this Draconite," Draco said through a clenched jaw, as he and Hermione walked out of Borgin and Burke.

"First, we need to figure out how to get it away from her. She won't let that thing leave her side, especially if it is a Horcrux."

Hermione and Draco clasped hands and apparated back to Hogwarts. She tossed her handbag onto the couch and watched as Draco ran his fingers through his white blonde hair, as he paced the room. She reached out and grabbed his hand. 

 "But we'll figure out how to destroy it, Draco." 

 He smiled slightly before looking around the dorm.  "Where do you suppose mum is?" He called upstairs, waiting for a response. Everything in the dorm remained silent. Hermione looked about the room and saw a small, folded piece of parchment placed under a picture frame on the mantle of the fireplace.

"Draco, she left a note." Hermione's eyes scanned the piece of folded parchment. "She's in the library."

Draco and Hermione wandered around the library's columns of dusty leather volumes with no luck of finding Narcissa. Hermione tapped Draco on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the Restricted Section, where a thin woman stood with the hood of her cloak over her head, running her fingers along the spines of the books.

"Narcissa?" Hermione spoke softly, though Draco's mother still jumped and clutched her hand to her heart.  When she turned to face them, she smiled half-heartedly, and pecked Hermione and Draco on the cheek.

"How was your errand?" She asked.

"It was educational," Draco sighed, looking at Hermione. Narcissa's brows drew together as she stared at them expectantly. Draco leaned in and lowered his voice. "It's best if we don't discuss it here."

"I need to grab a few books first," Narcissa said, and bent down to pick up a tall stack of leather bound manuscripts, all worn from countless fingers thumbing through the thin pages. Hermione bent down to help Narcissa with her load, only for her to shake her head. 

 "You don't need to be doing any heavy lifting, sweetheart. Draco, be a gentleman."  Narcissa dropped several books into her son's arms, as they left the library and walked back to the dorm in silence.

"So, what happened?" Narcissa asked, as she laid the books down on the coffee table with care. Draco and Hermione recounted the events at Borgin and Burke, not leaving out a single detail, as they paced about the parlor.  They sat down on the couch when they were finished, across from Narcissa, as she sat with her eyes glazed over and her body tense. 

 "A Horcrux?" She asked, finally, the words leaving her lips in a choked whisper. 

 Draco nodded.  "No one has ever been able to destroy a Draconite before," he said, shaking his head as he fixed his eyes on some middle distance.  "I don't even know where we'd start." He ran his hand through his already messy hair, making it stick up in agitated tufts. Narcissa reached out and grabbed the third book from the bottom of her tall stack of manuscripts and rubbed her hand along its jacket, brushing away years of dust.

"The Draconite has never been able to be destroyed, because people have only tried to use dark magic," she said, as she flipped open the book and scanned through the pages.  She stopped in on an ink laden page, and pointed her finger to a line of scrawled text.  "It says here, that only someone pure of heart can destroy a Draconite."

"What qualifies someone as pure of heart?" Hermione asked, as she wrapped her hands around her stomach. Narcissa shut the book.

"I don't know," she sighed.  She stood up and dropped the manuscript on top of the others. "But we're going to find out."