Winter (Draco x Reader)

Chapter 16- Suspicion and Stones*

"What?" Ron, Hermione and I squawked at the same time.

Harry threw us a reproachful look. "Yes, I've found him! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, it was on the train coming here! Listen to this: Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel!"

Hermione let out an overly excited gasp and jumped to her feet. "Stay there," she yelled as she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. 

Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange confused looks before she was dashing back, panting, and clutching an enormous old book to her chest. 

"I never thought to look in here," she confessed breathlessly. "And to say I got this out of the library weeks ago, for a bit of light reading!"

"Light?" Ron echoed, horrified. 

Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up. She frantically started flipping through the pages, muttering to herself. At last she seemed to find what she was looking for. "I knew it. I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" asked Ron grumpily, and for once I agreed. The way she was going on, you would have thought she'd invented the cure for WIV.

Hermione ignored him. "Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she expected.

"The what?" demanded Harry and Ron. I exclaimed, "That's for real?"

"Of course it's real!" she cried, pushing the book towards Harry. "Look-- read that, there."

Harry cleared his throat obediently. "The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist and... opera-lover. Opera lover?"

Harry looked so appalled I had to laugh. The glare Hermione directed at the two of us caused him to quickly turn back to the words on the page.

"Mr Flamel, who celebrated his 665th birthday last year-- he's doing well for himself-- enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (658)."

Hermione was about to burst at the seams with self-satisfaction.

"See?" she said. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A Stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying?" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it-- anyone would want it!"

"And no wonder he wasn't in any of the recent books we looked at in the library," Ron snorted. "He's not exactly recent if he's 665, is he?"

"I still don't think Professor Snape is the one after it."

Three pairs of critical eyes flickered to my face.

"Y/N," Harry said reasonably, "He's your Head of House, so of course you don't want to believe it, but we have proof he's behind this. You can't deny that!"

"Oh, really?" I shot back. "Your only proof stems from the fact he hates you. His leg getting hurt by Fluffy could just as well have been from him trying to protect the Stone. And at the game, when your broom went haywire? I researched it, and counter-curses also require eye contact."