Chapter 48 – Moonlit Night
It was the night of Hallowe'en; from the third year up, many were already in Hogsmeade while the rest remained in their common rooms. We, on the other hand... sneaked out of the castle. We were now far behind the usual spots that students frequently visited. We were somewhere between the back gardens where the spare brooms were kept for the first-year students and between the famous Whomping Willow. Looking up at the clear sky and the big, fat full moon, I was delighted. We already had our vials and all the required extra resources.
Spitting that accursed leaf into it was such a relief I wanted to cry. We hurriedly added our hair, a silver teaspoon of dew we collected a week before, hiding it in the Room of Requirements, and finally, the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth that Quincy got through Professor Slughorn.
"Finally!" I laughed, looking at the vial and watching the leaf dissolve in the dew and the whole thing turning into a weird, greenish liquid.
"Sssh!" Quincy waved hurriedly, "It needs peace and silence!"
"Sorry..."
"It seems fine; I hope we did everything in order!"
"It's okay!" I reassured her, and she just waved her hand.
"Let's go... we still have to sneak back and place them in the Room of Requirement!"
Creeping back the way we came was not an issue as most people were out in Hogsmeade, and the castle was fairly abandoned. We were just coming up on one of the side entrances when we heard voices up ahead. We slipped behind the nearby thick bushes, inching along the stone wall and the green foliage, trying to hear who was talking further along.
"You want... THAT girl? Are you out of your mind? Do you want to shame our family?!"
"Is that... Lucius?" Quincy asked, whispering into my ear, and I nodded. It does sound like him... who is he talking to? Isn't he supposed to be at Hogsmeade with his son? Hosting an event in celebration of HIS victory? Giving a speech about Draco and how to best serve HIM?