4 4

" Okay first thing," Ellery said, " We need to figure out who would be most likely to know how to break the spell. You said that the book was old, yes?"

Draco nodded. " Yeah, but I have no idea how old, though it did list some substances that don't exist anymore."

Ellery and Draco stood in the kitchen, the sunrise peeking in through the curtains. They'd been at it for a couple of hours, trying to figure just how they would go about breaking the spell. Ellery leaned on the counter, standing with her arms crossed while Draco stood in the opposite corner, looking a little dismayed that he'd been dragged out of bed early. She was still a little put out with him, so he didn't complain for fear that she might have that glove around here somewhere. If she noticed his frequent yawns, she was doing a good job of ignoring them.

" Hmm..." she murmured, " Do you still have it?"

"Mhm," he said, producing it from his pocket, " Will we need it?"

Ellery didn't answer, but instead held out her hand for the book. He handed it to her, and her eyes skimmed the very first page. He watched as her eyebrows crept up in a silent question.

" What?" he asked.

She glanced slide-long at him, her clear eyes holding an expression behind them that Draco couldn't read. " Nothing. It's just that the author of this book died last century. His name was Arthur Williams, and to my knowledge he was buried with this book. I don't know how you found it."

" It was in my school library, just out in the open."

" Odd. But that's not my point. My point is that the author might have been our only hope. I doubt anyone here and now would know anything about it," Ellery sighed.

" Actually, there might be a few people." Draco rested his elbow on the counter behind him. Ellery's eyes lit up.

" Who? When can we ask them?" she asked eagerly.

" I'm not sure you'll want to meet them... they aren't good people, if you could call them that even. But, we are having a gathering here in a few days. I could try convincing my parents to let you attend," he explained, looking down at the floor tiles. " You seem in a hurry to be rid of me."

" I have a right to be. But, in all honesty, I'm not, really. The most exciting part of all of this is the experience. The things I could get out of it." She shrugged, shifting out of her leaning position and sweeping over to the oven in one smooth motion, lifting a pan of muffins from the rack.

" You like learning?" Draco sounded surprised. Ellery laughed, setting the pan out on the counter and turning to face him, her hand moving to rest on her hip. "Of course I do. Knowledge is power. Books provide knowledge."

" You remind me of a girl from school," he mumbled, more to himself than to Ellery. She gave him a disapproving look, but said nothing. Though she didn't like the comparison, there were bigger things to focus on.

" So this event," she began after a short uncomfortable silence, " What sort of event is it?"

" Well, it's sort of something you wouldn't understand," he replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

" How about just telling me instead of assuming that I know nothing?" she suggested. Sensing that she was irritated, Draco sighed heavily and explained the meeting to her. He explained the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. She listened intently, and when he was finished, she nodded slowly.

" And you've been dealing with this for how long?" She asked.

" Almost all my life, because of my father's involvement. It's been especially bad recently..." his voice trailed away. Ellery gave him a concerned glance, and then drifted over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

" As humans, our pain is temporary. Still, you can choose to run, or you can choose to withstand it. Run, and you become a coward. Take a stand and you become a hero. The choice is yours," she said to him, smiling a little. " I personally would rather be a hero. I'm sure you would too."

Blinking back sudden tears, Draco swallowed and nodded. Ellery removed her hands from his shoulders and began removing muffins from the pan. After a moment, he shook his head and took a deep breath. " We need to get you into that meeting, so we can ask around. I'll go talk to my parents about it. Fingers crossed," he laughed weekly.

" Fingers crossed." Ellery held up both hands, index and middle finger crossed. He cast one more look her way, and then he was gone, leaving her to her own devices.

About half an hour later, Draco returned with a huge grin on his face.

" You're in!" he exclaimed, watching her eyes lit up once again. She began to laugh joyously, twirling around in the kitchen in excitement.

" The only thing they said to tell you was that since the event is in two days, they need to get you fitted for a dress," he said. Ellery stopped spinning.

" A dress? For a meeting?" she gave him a quizzical look.

" We have a liking for the dramatic," Draco explained, " So this is somewhat of a formal event."

" Ah, I see. It's like back home. Everything was formal." Ellery resumed spinning. " I grew up like you did... a rich kid, unhappy with the choices that my parents made."

Draco had nothing to say to that. Instead he dodged replying and ushered her out of the kitchen, not giving her a chance to take her apron off. He could already sense that this was going to be a long process; not the dress fitting, but finding a way to break the spell. The strange thing was that he didn't feel the dread he thought he would. And that's what scared him more than anything.

He wasn't sure he understood how he felt.

--------------------

If Ellery Sinclair was beautiful in a flour spattered t-shirt and apron, then she was absolutely breath-taking in the jewel toned short sleeved dress she was wearing at the moment.

It was a deep red at the top, the sleeves layered and flowing about her defined shoulders. The red faded in every shade of dark blue anyone could imagine towards the bottom, which covered her currently shoeless feet. The colors brought out the paleness in her skin and the natural red in her lips. Her cheeks radiated a healthy blush and her gold curls fell around her thin face perfectly.

" How do I look?" she asked, giving the beautiful dress a little spin when she turned to face Draco and his mother. Draco was speechless, so Narcissa stepped in with a compliment.

" You look very lovely, Ellery," she said, with the faintest hint of a smile. Ellery beamed back at her.

" Thank you, miss."

Narcissa nodded and slipped away, leaving Draco standing by himself in the doorway of the room. Moonlight illuminated the window and spattered onto the shining floor. He was trying to say something, but no words came to him. Ellery giggled softly, and glided across the floor to meet him in the doorway.

" Is it that bad?" she asked, tilting her head to one side, her grin widening.

" N-no," he finally stammered, " You look amazing."

" Why thank you, sir." She curtsied to him, stepping out into the hall. " We don't want to be late. A lot of people are already here. Are any of them the people we're looking for yet, do you know?"

" Not yet I don't think. Soon though. They're always the last to arrive," he said.

" Ah. We'll have to do it afterwards then. Let's go find someplace to sit." She looped her arm through one of his and gently led him down the hallway. What was funny was how she knew every shortcut and turn in Malfoy Manor, and at this point she'd only been serving here for a couple of weeks. She had them seated before most of the others had even gotten in here.

Once seated, she noticed that Draco kept shifting and bouncing his leg. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her. "What?"

" You're nervous," she said softly, " Why?"

" I'm not nervo-" he began to protest, but Ellery cut him off, giving him a meaningful look.

" It's just these things usually end badly," he said under his breath.

The dark blue light suddenly flickered into existence around her body for a brief instant, bringing the sweet citrus scent with it. Ellery shook her head and it disappeared. Then she gave Draco a small smile. " It's okay. I'm sure we'll be fine," she assured him.

Others began to seat themselves. Draco pointed out certain people and told Ellery who they were, including two boys he went to school with and his aunt, Bellatrix. All three of those people looked from Draco to Ellery and back again, their expressions either confused or amused. Ellery giggled. She knew why they were doing that, and she thought it funny because it was stupid. There was no way she was here with him because she had those kinds of feelings towards him; he was still her master, after all. And that was so, so wrong.

Then, abruptly, the room silenced. Ellery looked to Draco, and he nodded to her, pointing to where a tall man with black hair and another with gray skin and the features of a serpent, entered the room. Behind the second man came a snake. Ellery felt her aura, the blue glow, start to flicker and spark behind her eyes. She blinked and looked over to where he was sitting, not too far from her. The flickering stopped, and the meeting started.

It seemed like an eternity before it was over. Nothing particularly bad happened, but the room reeked of magic, and it overwhelmed Ellery's heightened senses, making her dizzy. She'd had to close her eyes to avoid being sick. This was the strangest feeling she'd ever had, and she understood the fear behind following the Dark Lord. Ellery herself wasn't scared, but she made a mental note to find time to get some fresh air when this was over.

" We should talk to them now," Draco whispered. Ellery nodded and they rose from their seats.

" Who is it we're speaking with?" she asked quietly.

Draco pointed to Voldemort. She shivered, and then regained her composure, shoulders square and eyes set and determined. " Let's go," she said, and then began to walk forward. He wanted to warn her to be careful, but he'd seen the way her body had lit up. It gave him the feeling that she could probably defend herself just fine.

" Do you even know what you're going to say?" he asked, hissing the question into her ear. She nudged him away.

" The words will come when I need them," she said, continuing towards the Dark Lord. When they finally approached him, he turned from another conversation he was having to look at the pair. Draco stepped in front of Ellery and greeted him.

" My Lord! Good to see you tonight," he said nervously. Ellery elbowed him, a subtle "get to the point" hint. Draco cleared his throat. " We were wondering if you knew anything about a certain spell."

Ellery felt especially dizzy now, so she slipped away to sit down while they chatted. As she waited, the man with black hair came up to her and sat to her right.

" Which spell are the two of you trying to get more information on?" he asked quietly, his head bowed. Surprised, Ellery glanced around the room. No one appeared to be paying much attention to them, so she lowered her own voice and explained the enslavement spell, and that they were trying to break it.

" Ah, I see. That will require a highly dangerous method of travel, being as the author is dead. You are right, child, he is your only hope. You're going to have to go back in time to find him." the man replied.

" How do we do that?"

Without another word, the man pressed a small white orb into the palm of her hands and rose to his feet, walking towards the exit. She called out to him, telling him to wait, but he didn't hear her. It was at that moment Draco returned, a defeated look on his face.

" Nothing. He hasn't even heard of Arthur Williams." He sighed.

" No worries. I have a plan. Meet me in the kitchen again tomorrow morning," she said, her eyes sparkling.

" What? How?" he asked.

" Do you trust me, Draco?"

" Well yes, but-"

" No buts. Just do as I say."

With that, he watched Ellery hurry to the door and dart into the hallway.