t through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord." Bellatrix still looked unhappy, though she appeared unsure how best to attack Snape next. Taking advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister. "Now... you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?" Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair. "Yes, Severus. I - I think you are the only one who can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and..." She closed her eyes and two large tears seeped from beneath her eyelids. "The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it," Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. "He wishes none to know of the plan. It is... very secret. But -"
"If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak," said Snape at once. "The Dark Lord's word is law." Narcissa gasped as though he had doused her with cold water. Bellatrix looked satisfied for the first time since she had entered the house. "There!" she said triumphantly to her sister. "Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!" But Snape had gotten to his feet and strode to the small window, peered through the curtains at the deserted street, then closed them again with a jerk. He turned around to face Narcissa, frowning. "It so happens that I know of the plan," he said in a low voice. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told. Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord." "I thought you must know about it!" said Narcissa, breathing more freely. "He trusts you so, Severus..." "You know about the plan?" said Bellatrix, her fleeting expression of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. "You know?" "Certainly," said Snape. "But what help do you require, Nar-cissa? If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all."
"Severus," she whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "My son... my only son..." "Draco should be proud," said Bellatrix indifferently. "The Dark I ,ord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: I Ic isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect -" Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. "That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance lor Lucius's mistake, I know it!" Snape said nothing. He looked away from the sight of her tears as though they were indecent, but he could not pretend not to hear her. "That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it?" she persisted. "To punish Lucius?" "If Draco succeeds," said Snape, still looking away from her, "he will be honored above all others." "But he won't succeed!" sobbed Narcissa. "How can he, when the Dark Lord himself- ?"
Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to lose her nerve. "I only meant... that nobody has yet succeeded... Severus... please... You are, you have always been, Draco's favorite teacher... You are Lucius's old friend... I beg you... You are the Dark Lord's favorite, his most trusted advisor... Will you speak to him, persuade him - ?" "The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it," said Snape flatly. "I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed." "Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!" choked Narcissa. "He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!" When Snape said nothing, Narcissa seemed to lose what little self-restraint she still possessed. Standing up, she staggered to Snape and seized the front of his robes. Her face close to his, her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "You could do it. You could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us -" Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her clutching hands. Looking down into her tearstained face, he said slowly, "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You
see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy." "In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!" "The Dark Lord is very angry," repeated Snape quietly. "He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily." She crumpled, falling at his feet, sobbing and moaning on the (loor. "My only son... my only son..." "You should be proud!" said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!" Narcissa gave a little scream of despair and clutched at her long blonde hair. Snape stooped, seized her by the arms, lifted her up, iind steered her back onto the sofa. He then poured her more wine iind forced the glass into her hand. "Narcissa, that's enough. Drink this. Listen to me." She quieted a little; slopping wine down herself, she took a shaky sip. "It might be possible... for me to help Draco."
She sat up, her face paper-white, her eyes huge. "Severus - oh, Severus - you would help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?" "I can try." She flung away her glass; it skidded across the table as she slid off the sofa into a kneeling position at Snape's feet, seized his hand in both of hers, and pressed her lips to it. "If you are there to protect him... Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?" "The Unbreakable Vow?" Snape's expression was blank, unreadable. Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter. "Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure... The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action... oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!" Snape did not look at Bellatrix. His black eyes were fixed upon Narcissa's tear-filled blue ones as she continued to clutch his hand.
"Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow," he said quietly. "Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder." Bellatrix's mouth fell open. Snape lowered himself so that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. Beneath Bellatrix's astonished gaze, they grasped right hands. "You will need your wand, Bellatrix," said Snape coldly. She drew it, still looking astonished. "And you will need to move a little closer," he said. She stepped forward so that she stood over them, and placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands. Narcissa spoke. "Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts ta fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?" "I will," said Snape. A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire. "And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"
"I will," said Snape. A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain. "And, should it prove necessary... if it seems Draco will fail..." whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?" There was a moment's silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide. "I will," said Snape. Bellatrix's astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third unique flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a fiery snake.
Chapter 3: Will And Won't Harry Potter was snoring loudly. He had been sitting in a chair beside his bedroom window for the best part of four hours, staring out at the darkening street, and had finally fallen asleep with one side of his face pressed against the cold win-dowpane, his glasses askew and his mouth wide open. The misty fug his breath had left on the window sparkled in the orange glare of the streetlamp outside, and the artificial light drained his face of all color, so that he looked ghostly beneath his shock of untidy black hair. The room was strewn with various possessions and a good smattering of rubbish. Owl feathers, apple cores, and sweet wrappers littered the floor, a number of spellbooks lay higgledy-piggledy among the tangled robes on his bed, and a mess of newspapers sat in a puddle of light on his desk. The headline of one blared: HARRY POTTER: THE CHOSEN ONE? Rumors continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was sighted once more. "We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything" said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night.
Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy. Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the Wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy. The nature of that prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter, the only person ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who is also known to have been at the Ministry on the night in question. Some are going so far as to call Potter "the Chosen One," believing that the prophecy names him as the only one who will be able to rid us of He-Who-Must-No t-Be-Named. The current whereabouts of the prophecy, if it exists, are unknown, although {ctd. page2, column 5) A second newspaper lay beside die first. This one bore die headline: SCRIMGEOUR SUCCEEDS FUDGE Most of this front page was taken up wi