[hp] Pure White Age

smile.

Frankly, he kind of appreciated Snape's space.He never knew that while waiting at the entrance of the auditorium, the other party peeked at him so many times.The boy's mouth can lie, but his eyes are surprisingly frank, especially where he thought he couldn't see.

"You are very close to that Hufflepuff." The man behind whispered.Before Ron could respond, the door of the auditorium opened slowly, and Draco led him along the crowd, and it took him a long time to stand in the corner beside Snape.It's too noisy in here, no one will notice them.Ron didn't really want to see himself at dinner, when he was in such a bad state.But Draco was still watching him very seriously, like a student trying to make up for his lessons.He wasn't making fun of him the way Ron thought he would, which made Ron a little uncomfortable.He could see how much Draco cared about lost memories.A thought suddenly hit him: Snape will take out Draco's memory tonight and modify it. During the time they were in the space, has Draco ever thought about... taking that memory back? ?

With intuition, Ron felt that Draco must have thought of it.But they all know that is impossible, they cannot forcibly change the direction in the space.Ron patted Draco on the shoulder, pulling him out of the observation of "himself": "Don't you feel a little hungry?"

As a result, the bread and beef on several tables disappeared mysteriously. The students in the lower grades thought it was the fault of the senior grades, so they could only curse secretly.Ron and Draco also took the wine from the house-elf tray, which was too low to be noticed by the huge tray blocking all view.

"You're really good with that Hufflepuff," Draco said, watching the students dance.The space in the invisibility cloak was small, and the boy simply leaned lazily on Ron. "Have you not danced that day?" Ron nodded, which seemed to please the other party greatly. "That's a pity," he said. "Don't get too complacent, Draco," Ron couldn't help retorting, "I just don't like dancing."

But the other party didn't seem to hear him at all. "Let's dance." Ron's eyes widened. "Are you drunk, Draco?" He didn't believe that his boyfriend's drinking capacity was limited to this.Where is the person who usually warns him with a serious face that he can't do this or that in his dimension?

Draco tilted his head, looking a little cute.The alcohol warmed his always cold body, and there seemed to be small bubbles in his chest.He couldn't tell what he was feeling tonight, there were many regrets and joys intertwined, which made him just want to hold the person in his arms tighter. "Take it as it is." He replied with a smile, and wrapped his arms around his waist behind the other party, "Can you dance the female step?"

"I can't jump anything." Ron gave him a savage look, but the movement of his feet gave him away. "Don't expect me to dance women's steps all the time," he softened, "We take turns. "And Draco had no problem with that.

Because in fact they didn't dance at all, at best they hugged and shook their bodies.The invisibility cloak is not as convenient as imagined.In this space that isolates others, the firm heartbeat covers the music of the weird sisters, and whispers, laughter, and screams are also reduced to its background sound, gradually falling behind the drunken reason.

"I liked you a long time ago."

"Me too, we all are."

"I think I've liked it longer."

Ron tried to raise his head, but was gently pressed in his arms.

"Ron, I think you should know this... There's never been an adaptation partner, at least not with me. I liked you back then, or before that... Anyway, in my eyes, you've always been all good."

I did forget some things, but that only strengthened those memories I regained.

Flying lessons, pastures soaked in the sun.Torn apart broom.Endless bickering, sweat-soaked shirts.The shoulders touched, and the pheromone passed by lightly.I'm reflected in your blue eyes.

Luckily I didn't throw them away.

The red-haired boy in front of him raised his head and smiled. "Draco," he raised an eyebrow at him, "you look up."

A mistletoe is blooming.Small white flower buds bloomed slowly, and the green branches hung down to the shoulders of the red-haired boy.The Weird Sisters were still singing, and the students were still dancing. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw himself leaving Pansy behind and walking towards the figure outside the door.

"Are we reconciled tonight?" He pointed to the back of "myself".The boy in front of him blinked, and his ears turned red. "I guess so," he said.After saying this vague sentence, he leaned in and kissed him.

It was a lingering kiss, not rushed like any of the recent ones, where the lover sticks out his tongue to lick his canines, then goes deeper, to suck his tongue.Draco felt a slight numbness in his lips, and this feeling was sent to the brain through the nerves, and his whole soul seemed to be lightly pecked and kissed, bound into a warm cocoon.This is how they kissed in the past, thinking of this, he actually felt a little jealous of the forgotten self.Drunkenness surged wantonly through dissatisfaction, he just wanted to hug the body in front of him with the aroma of roses and milk a little tighter.

"Did you smell anything?"

"Have it?"

The sound of talking close at hand startled the two of them. "Merlin," Ron said, rubbing his nose awkwardly.The aroma of rose and mint fights in the nearby air, and the tingling touch of the lips remains.He took Draco's arm: "Snape has left, let's go find him."

Ron led Draco out of the auditorium to the place where they parted ways that day. "Draco" was gone. "Harry" and "Ron" stood facing each other two pillars away from them.Ron remembered that Harry had lied to his best friend in order to keep his lover's name from Harry's fear that he had run out too.

"Let's go to the laboratory quickly, maybe the ceremony has already begun." The silence of the people around him made Ron feel uneasy.

"When did Potter know about us?"

"... Knott."

Draco's heart clenched.Their affair had been a secret all these years, and he was nominally on the same side as the man who had bullied Ron, that's the way life was.He couldn't blame Ron for having chosen Harry Potter, there was so much time between them that he didn't take part in and couldn't make up for.There is no feeling of hurt, deceit, or suspicion at all, which he has never given to the other party in the past.On the contrary, it was him who made him lie to his relatives and friends, in a dilemma, and now it is difficult to save his life.

That's why he didn't want to hear Harry Potter's name.The savior boy and him have always stood at the opposite ends of fate.The distance he tried his best to reach may be just the starting point of the other party.He was so jealous of a boy who seemed ordinary to him that when he heard Dumbledore say that Potter was just a pawn, he felt a moment of joy in his heart.In any case, he is a child of the Malfoy family, even if he voluntarily wears wings, he will not become an angel.

The red-haired boy walked beside him.Turning a corner, Draco saw "myself" following Snape, walking towards the door. "Don't go!" A voice in his heart shouted, the door in front of him seemed so huge, and it weighed heavily on his heart, proudly swearing to rule over his soul.His fingertips were connected to his heart, and he felt a needle-like pain.

"Are you ok?"

Seeing that he was going to be late, Ron helped him squat down.Draco's vision blurred, and the salty taste of sweat tasted on the tip of his tongue.Dimly, he heard Ron chanting a spell at the door, which kept the door from closing immediately.Then his lover took his hand and pressed his forehead to his.

"Listen to me, Draco," Draco heard Ron say. "We've been in the necklace for too long, you can't hold it. Use your thoughts to tell it, now it's my turn to be its host."

Draco opened his eyes with difficulty.Ron understood that he was simply refusing to use his mind. "Hurry up!" He growled angrily, "Snape told me what to do! You have no energy to consume now! If you insist on not handing it over to me, then I will go in alone and leave you in the here!"

"Hurry up—the door is about to close!"

His memory is in that room.If possible, he hoped that Ron could avoid this scene: he was like a fish on a chopping board, according to the wishes of those people, he was transformed into a standard Death Eater bit by bit, making their past oaths a joke.For a long time, he had been looking forward to being able to face this scene alone, like a person paranoidly looking back at the remnants of flesh on the ground after being injured, until he watched helplessly that the part that once belonged to him became cold and completely reduced to a dead thing. Only then can we decisively let go of it and move forward.

But he also knows how to measure.He couldn't push Ron to the mouth of the necklace in order to fulfill his wish to say goodbye to the past.Once he gave the necklace the permission to suck Ron, things after that were out of his control.

So he chose to lie down on the ground and curled up. "You go," the hand hidden under the shirt covered his heart, "I'll wait for you here, drag me to the corner..."

"Did you fucking ignore what I said before?!"

Draco's eyelashes quivered.He'd never seen Ron so angry.

"How many times do I have to say, I don't give a shit if you have any memories of your past! Draco, I don't care who you think you are, in my eyes you are the one you never fucking changed! You kissed me Times taste the same! You look at me the way they used to, that's enough fucking! You Slytherins are so stupid! So is Snape! So are you! Not being brave when you should be , wait until the tragedy happens and then count on the compensation to be a fart!"

Draco opened his mouth.He wanted to explain the evil of the necklace to Ron, and he wanted to tell him to stop shouting and it would be over if the people in the space awakened, but he couldn't say anything.

Because Ron was crying.Draco couldn't remember if Ron had cried in the past because he only had half the memories.In that half of memory, Ron was just a little boy.He suddenly remembered that after Christmas, he knocked Nott and others down under the fountain in front of them.At the end of the day, the other party was sitting in the snow with blood on his face and mud and snow on his shirt.Even that day, he didn't remember crying, even if the smell of roses in the air was bitter.

For a long time, he thought that the other party was a simple-minded little lion, who was decisive and direct whether he loved or not.Sometimes he even wondered if the red-haired Gryffindor would have accepted the offer without hesitation if someone else had offered it in the first place.Even in the most extreme imagination, he didn't know how the other party would answer such a question.

"What do you love me for?"

If asked in this way, the other party would definitely look at him like a monster, grinned and said to him, "Is there something wrong with your brain, Draco? Love is love, why not?"

Love is love, why not.It took a long time for the Slytherins to realize that they had been defeated by this nasty remark.

What's more, Ron Weasley, also in this long love, worked hard to learn how to get along with Slytherin.Every "it's okay" he said to him recently was never "it's okay, I don't care", but "rather than losing you now, I'm willing to lose everything."

Tears rolled down Draco's cheeks.The boy still holds his hand. "Please, Draco," said his lion cub. "Don't be stubborn anymore, I've already given up everything, can't you give up your imaginary shit fate? You said you came this far because of me. If that's the case, you should trust me, not fate. "

The boy leaned against his forehead and kissed his mouth lightly.Their hands didn't let go, Draco couldn't help closing his eyes, and in his drowsiness, he heard a low sound coming from the depths of his mind.Intuition told him that he should stop what the other party was doing, but another voice suppressed his reason, like a pair of gentle hands lighting up the fire in his heart.

It said, you should trust him, not fate.

You can use words such as cold or arrogant to describe the poisonous snake.Or use impulsiveness and bravery to describe the lion.But don't forget that they all had their youth.If the young snake is willing, the lion cub is willing to give it his chest to keep warm; as long as the cub believes in it, the young snake will use the snake letter to lick the wound for it.

Love without a reason is not superficial.Warm air bubbles overflow from the inside of the body, and the pain in the heart is gently soothed.At this moment, Draco finally understood Snape's soul. The smile under the willow 20 years ago, and the hug on the beech six years ago, weaved the best memories for the two Slytherins.Yet the love he was enjoying now was one that Snape would never have again.

It was young Snape's desire that was speaking to him.It reminded him of Lily Evans on the door lock of the space, the woman in the old-fashioned long skirt smiled on the portrait, but her skirt was stained with dirt—no, it was not dirt, but blood .The woman in the portrait is near the end of her life, which is a detail that they didn't pay attention to at the beginning.

The thread breaks off here.Draco opened his eyes, meeting Ron's gaze. "Get up." Ron took his hand, "You know what? Sometimes I think necklaces are not as evil as you think." The boy looked a little embarrassed, but it was clear that mental wear and tear did not weaken his vitality.

Draco stood up in surprise.The world around has not changed at all, the only change is that it has completely stagnated.The sound of the fountain disappeared, and the birds landed on the branches of the courtyard, but they didn't even close their wings. Everything seemed to be enchanted by the moonlight, silently waiting for God's judgment.

That door also remained open.

"Empathy may be more important than we think." Ron said. "I wanted to talk to the necklace through you just now, but I didn't expect that the one who helped us in the end would be the master of the space."

"Let's go, since he wants us to see this scene so much, there must be very important clues in it."

The red-haired boy spread his hands towards him. "Look, isn't it all right?"

For the present situation, he smiled too happily.However, Draco himself couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth.

"So I said, you have to trust me."

☆、Chapter108 Snape's Memory (7)

Ron put his lover's arm on his shoulders and dragged him towards the door step by step.Draco's face was nestled against his neck, and the tears were running down there too, cold.They walked without daring to breathe, and finally found a place to rest behind the door.

They couldn't go inside, the door inside was locked.Draco still looked weak, and even Ron had a taste of the necklace's backlash, but both looked calmly.Every time he felt mentally unwell in the space, Ron always had the image of The Burrow in his mind.There were soft beds, good food, and a rowdy crowd waiting for him to come home.Other times, he even wants to cry because they've spent so much time in this space and he really, really wants to go home.

But sitting next to Draco today, he felt an unusual peace.He held him in his arms, his cheek against his forehead.The blond hair on Draco's forehead was already wet with sweat.Ron kissed him. "It's okay." He said silently.It was night, and there was only one candle burning in the corner of the laboratory.What if no clues about the Horcrux are found today?They all tacitly avoided the question and just snuggled together to keep warm.They are so tired.

"let me out!"

The person in Ron's arms trembled violently.Ron's heart was also pulled hard, so he could only hold him tighter.

The other party's voice had never been so piercing.It seems that all dignity has been lost.Immediately afterwards, there was a sound of overturning utensils. Before the two of them could react from the crying, the door inside was suddenly opened.A figure came stumbling towards them.

With the light in the inner room, Ron saw the appearance of "Draco".The young man should have been cast a spell by the professor, and his eyes were obviously distracted.His blond hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, and his steps were unsteady, mirroring the real Draco right now.

The only difference is that he is protecting a crystal ball in his arms.

The crystal ball was slightly different from what they had seen in the divination class, with a beautiful silver mist swimming inside.The moment he saw it, Ron felt an indescribably familiar feeling, as if he had heard such a crystal ball mentioned somewhere before.

Could it contain Draco's lost memories?Ron subconsciously clenched Draco's arm.Draco didn't resist, his eyes were always glued to the crystal ball, but he never looked at his past self.

Neither did Ron.He buried his eyes in Draco's robes, daring not to look or think about anything other than hugging Draco tightly.They all know the ending that the teenager is about to face.However, the tens of seconds were stretched infinitely by the pain.Ron heard the boy's heavy breathing, and he tried to walk to the door but fell to the ground.Another shadow came and took the crystal ball he was holding in his arms.

"Please, Professor, please." The boy seemed to give up and run away, he grabbed Snape's robes, "Stop it, I'm in too much pain...give it back to me...please , give it back to me, father will not know, I promise, I will do whatever he says in the future... Please..."

Snape didn't answer from the beginning to the end, he let the boy lean in his arms and let him drag him.The boy never took his eyes off the crystal ball behind Snape, he was firmly grasped.The two stalemate in place, but the outcome is a foregone conclusion. The body of "Draco" completely went limp, and fell into Snape's arms.Snape supported him against the wall.

Ron could only see Snape's profile.The man, who had always been disliked by Gryffindors, lowered his head, with greasy black hair covering his eyes.A barely perceptible sigh drifted across the room.The man raised the crystal ball, and the tip of his wand reached the boy's temple.

The silver-white light mist flows into the wand along the tip, and then enters the crystal ball along the wand.The light and mist in the crystal ball accumulated more and more, swimming quickly in the cramped space.At the same time, the boy's complexion became paler.His eyelashes trembled violently, and his body slowly slid down the wall, being supported by Snape's hand again.After an unknown period of time, the crystal ball turned into a bright silvery white.Snape looked at it in his palm, stood up and walked into the room.

Looking at Snape's back, Ron suddenly thought that Snape's Boggart seemed to be an identical silver-white crystal ball.Does this mean that what Snape fears the most is a certain memory?Ron's intuition told him that this memory must be related to Lily.What could be more distressing than witnessing the death of a loved one?However, in Snape's space, it records the rupture of the friendship between Snape and Lily, and also stores the scene of Snape's determination to betray Voldemort and join Dumbledore, but there is a blank space between these two memories.Ron knew that Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort. He originally thought that he could learn more details in Snape's memory space...

When they were eaten back by the necklace, Snape's will hidden in the space saved them and reminded them of the portrait of Lily on the door lock.There must be a connection between these clues... This exploration made Ron feel a little more confident-if the will of the space masters can help them, they should also be able to help him resist the influence of the Horcrux.

While he was thinking about this, "Draco" was sleeping not far away.Draco finally dared to shift his gaze to that "self".The desperation that "self" felt when he pleaded with Snape also weighed heavily on his heart.He knew that the other party was doomed to be unable to escape from this door, because he wanted too much to retrieve the memories that had been taken away, and at the same time, he knew whose hands his fate was in.

At that time, he didn't have the courage he has now.Even if he escapes this time, there is no guarantee that he will desperately compromise next time.

However, you have always been unwilling in your heart, right?

"If I run away, will you come with me?"

Strange, he couldn't remember who he had said this to.But it just broke into his mind inexplicably.Behind the vague voice, he touched a vague picture: Is that also a night?The sound of gurgling water seems to be heard around.Someone stood in front of him, the tip of his nose was very close to him.

He heard him ask, "Where are you fleeing to?"

The screen stopped abruptly.Snape came out from inside, the crystal ball in his hand didn't look changed, but Draco knew it was very different.The wand again touched the unconscious man's temple, causing light to seep into his mind.The blond boy seemed to be in some pain. Halfway through the teleportation, he finally couldn't hold back his cock, which didn't disrupt Snape's pace.

Draco turned his head away, he really didn't want to read any more.The scene in front of him is undoubtedly related to the funeral. "Just let him go." He thought to himself, this might be the best farewell he could get.It's not that he didn't think about getting the crystal ball back before Snape's transformation, but after Ron said what he said to him, all this seemed less important.

The crystal ball became transparent again, and Snape wiped away the tears on the boy's face one by one.The usually serious man carried the boy to a chair and sat down, chanting another spell.

The boy opened his eyes in response.Anyone could see that he was a very different person from Draco who had entered the room.There was nothing in those gray eyes.The first thing he did after waking up was to touch the invisible necklace around his neck.

"What's going on? Did I fall asleep during training?"

Snape didn't answer his words, nor did he look back at the present "Draco". "Today's training is over, you should go back." He just said that. "Draco" didn't ask much, as if obedience was in his genes.He stood up, picked up his textbook and left.

Ron and Draco followed him out of the suffocating room.They watched "Draco" walk up the stairs, choosing to go up the other side to pick up Sirius.On the way, Ron shared his discovery with Draco.

"I remembered where I saw that crystal ball... No, to be precise, it appeared in Harry's dream. Harry had a dream some time ago that he turned into a snake and crawled in the hallway, that There's a room full of crystal balls somewhere."

"If this is Potter's dream, it probably has something to do with something the Dark Lord is planning." Draco frowned, "Do you remember that I told you that they were planning something, and the young eater Dead Apostles excluded?"

Ron nodded. "You also said that Theodore Knott was very displeased with it."

"That guy is crazy." Draco pursed his lips in disgust. "...In short, the only person we can turn to for the missing part of the space is Dumbledore, and he is now gone."

"Have you ever wondered why Dumbledore didn't complete this task by himself?" Ron couldn't help asking the doubts in his heart, "Who is better at trying to figure out people's hearts than him?"

"He must have more important things to do."

The two walked into the Room of Requirement, and Sirius was already sitting by the bed waiting. "Did you solve it?" He glanced at Draco and asked Ron.Ron nodded. "We have to get to Dumbledore's office before Snape reports to Dumbledore, hurry up."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief until their feet landed in the familiar corridor.This journey was so long that even Ron felt weak, let alone Draco, who was the owner of the necklace.

"It's actually Lily who locked the door."

Draco and Ron looked at each other.

Sirius sneered. "What's the matter? He doesn't deserve to think about Lily. Now that you've seen all the stories, you should agree with me."

"Do you know the real reason why Harry Potter's parents were killed? For example, why did Voldemort have to kill Harry Potter?" Draco suddenly raised his eyes and asked.

"I don't know." When this topic was mentioned, Sirius immediately became alert, and he looked directly at Draco, "I just know that we trusted the wrong person, and I didn't have time to save James and Lily."

Ron put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"I have one more question," Draco said. "Have you seen Dumbledore since NO.17 last month?"

Sirius' eyes twinkled.Compared with the calm Lupine, Sirius is not good at hiding. "Tell us," Draco said, stepping forward, "what is Dumbledore looking for you for?"

"He hasn't looked for me, please pay attention to your attitude." Sirius glared at Draco without showing weakness. "Harry told me a lot about you. You hurt Ron. Dumbledore can trust you, but it doesn't mean I can."

"I think Potter didn't tell you more than that." Draco was clearly irritated by Sirius, too. "This matter is of great importance. Regardless of whether Dumbledore told you to keep it secret, now that he has not returned on time, as an insider, you must tell us his whereabouts."

"Tell us, Sirius," said Ron. "It's a very important mission at stake."

"...I don't know where he went," said Sirius. "But he did come to me last month and wanted a vial of blood."

"You said... what does he want from you?"

"My blood. He said it was the key to a certain problem."

"Draco..." Ron swallowed, and looked at the pale Draco. "What happened the last time you and Dumbledore met?"

Draco's face didn't look good either. "He told me that he was going to leave for a while, and told me not to act rashly during his absence. After he left, I entered the space as usual..."

"So you didn't use the necklace for a long time after the night you parted, did you?"

Both of them read panic from each other's eyes.Could Dumbledore have made the same decision as Sirius, following Draco down the corridor that night?And during this period, if Draco hadn't restarted the necklace, Dumbledore couldn't leave the necklace either.In other words, it was possible that Dumbledore would remain in this corridor until they decided to resume the mission.

So where is he now?

"Impossible, there's no reason for Dumbledore to do that." Draco whispered next to Ron. "Without me accompanying him, he can only reincarnate in a segment like Sirius."

"What if that's what he wants?" said Ron suddenly. "Dumbledore is a much more powerful wizard than us. If even we can guess the approximate location of important fragments, will he be able to accurately calculate the landing point he wants to go to?"

"You mean to say that he did..."

"Ron!"

Ron regained his composure and walked in the direction of Sirius.

Sirius stood in front of another door not far from them, and pointed to the lock of that door.The workmanship of the door lock is the same as the first door, but the pattern on the lock is changed to a big tree with luxuriant branches and leaves.The carved texture of the big tree was infiltrated with dark red blood, shining on the golden door lock.

The facts are right in front of us.This door has already been entered.

☆, Chapter109 poppy, DA assembly, letter

The problem before them made the three of them fall into silence.It was a pleasant surprise to be able to discover Dumbledore's movements, but now they really don't have the energy to go into the second door to find out.Whether it is Draco or Ron, what they need most now is to return to Snape's office immediately to replenish mental potions or get a good night's sleep. What's more, they dare not rush in without confirming the internal dynamics of the second space. .

"Your faces look very bad." Sirius broke the silence. "Dumbledore told me about the difficulty of this task. You should believe that he is fully prepared. Even if...he encounters an accident in the process, it is unwise for you two children to act rashly." When saying this, His dark eyes looked at Draco, and the blond Slytherin looked really bad.

Ron nodded and signaled the three of them to get out of the mirror first, so as not to waste their energy for nothing. "I'll take him to Snape first, maybe Snape knows more about Dumbledore. You're right, if Dumbledore is really in trouble, he would definitely prefer us to stick to our responsibilities. ’” he said, “well, it’s time for us to say goodbye too, and I’m sorry to involve you in this.”

Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, but both could tell he hadn't gotten over what he had just been through. "I think it's better to tell you something, although I'm not sure yet." He said suddenly. "That locked Lily looks kind of weird."

"……strangeness?"

"Her dress," Sirius pointed out, "at least I've never seen Lily in a dress like that, and believe me, she wouldn't like it. It's such a worn style and looks familiar...I've been I wonder where I saw it, maybe a certain portrait by the Hogwarts stairs..."

"It's Ms. Grey!" Draco interrupted Sirius, the expression on his face finally no longer tired, "Lily Evans' dress is exactly the same as the Ravenclaw ghost!"

No sooner had Draco said that than Ron knew he was right.He had also instinctively told him something was wrong when he first saw the portrait, and now they had an answer.That skirt obviously did not conform to the aesthetics of Lily Evans at that time, but had a distinct medieval style.Compared with Peeves, Ms. Gray is much more low-key, and she is rarely seen even at the most lively dinner parties at Hogwarts.According to students, she prefers to stay in empty classrooms and libraries at night, unlike other ghosts who always roam the corridors in order to show what little freedom they have left.That's why the three of them didn't immediately associate the dress with her.

"But why is Mum Harry wearing a Lady Gray dress?" Ron muttered to himself. "It's Snape's will, anyway, that we want to associate Lily Evans with Lady Gray."

"Ms. Gray will not leave Hogwarts, we have plenty of time to figure it out." Draco said, "Let's go to Snape first. But... this is indeed a good clue." He locked eyes with Sirius.The dark-haired man didn't make any response, his eyes circled around the faces of the two of them again, and then waved his hands to leave.

"and many more--"

Sirius turned around. "Can you do us one last favor," Draco said, "we need your blood."

The man seemed to have expected such requests, but he didn't hesitate to grant them the same way he did Harry. "Come back to me when you guys decide to open that door," he whispered, making it sound like a plea, "You know, just let Cruise walk around my window again, I'll be right over."

"But--"

This time Sirius didn't look back. He deftly hopped onto the ledge by the stairs and leapt.Ron could only catch a glimpse of a small black and shiny back, fleeting in the hazy night.

"He wants to go in with us, doesn't he?" Ron helped Draco down the stairs. "Could that door be his own memory?"

"It is very unlikely." Draco replied, "He was imprisoned in Azkaban very early, there should be no