The next morning.
Malfoy stood before the mirror. Just after fixing her hair, her fingers reached for her robe collar out of habit.
Then stopped.
Where was her silver accessory?
She looked down, then turned her collar over.
Only two tiny pinholes remained where the brooch had been.
The girl's brows slowly knitted together.
The robes she had taken off last night lay nearby. She picked them up and carefully felt all over them.
Nothing at the collar.
Nothing in the pockets.
She even searched around the bed, but still found nothing.
When Goyle and Crabbe came in, they found their young mistress standing beside the bed, staring at the robes in her hands with a very unpleasant expression.
"Miss?"
"My brooch is missing."
The two girls immediately looked at her collar. Of course they recognized that little silver snake brooch.
Their young mistress always wore it pinned to her collar. They had never seen her change it.
"You were still wearing it last night," Goyle said.
"I saw it when we went out." Crabbe nodded too.
Malfoy pressed her lips together.
Last night.
The duel, Peeves, the moving stairs, and that dusty old classroom.
She suddenly remembered her collar catching on a wooden peg beside a cabinet. But the light had been too dim, and Filch had been behind them; all she had thought about was getting away quickly.
"It might have fallen off somewhere outside." The girl put the robes down.
"Don't worry, miss! We'll go look again right now," Goyle said immediately.
Malfoy said nothing. She had rushed along yesterday's route in such confusion.
For the last few steps, she had kept staring at the ground, afraid another stair might disappear.
If she really had to retrace that route... someone suddenly came to mind.
Then she felt rather reluctant.
Why did it have to be him again?
At breakfast, the bread in front of Malfoy had been sitting there for quite some time.
She held her table knife, but her gaze rested on her empty collar, where an exquisite silver brooch had once been pinned.
The brooch was shaped like a coiled silver snake, its slender, elongated body covered in overlapping scales carved with lifelike detail.
The snake's head was slightly raised, holding a clear, lustrous emerald in its mouth. The gem was only the size of a fingernail, yet its color was exceptionally pure.
Most special of all, the initials of her name were engraved on the back of the brooch.
D.M.
Draco Malfoy.
This brooch was no ordinary ornament, but a gift her family had specially commissioned for her.
Whenever she went out, she would pin it to her collar herself. Before her departure, her mother had even pinned it on for her.
But now...
Malfoy unconsciously raised her hand, but her fingertips touched nothing except the empty fabric.
The girl pressed her lips together.
Damn it, if I'd known, I wouldn't have worn it out last night!
And I certainly shouldn't have followed that bastard Potter all over the castle!
"Miss, should we tell Professor Snape?" Crabbe asked quietly.
Malfoy looked up. "And then tell the professor where we went last night?"
Crabbe immediately fell silent. Goyle glanced at her, then at the distant Gryffindor table.
"Potter's clever. Perhaps he might still remember the way." The girl's hand paused slightly around her knife.
Over there, Harry was drinking pumpkin juice.
Ron sat beside him, animatedly recounting last night's adventure to Hermione and Neville.
"You have no idea how dangerous it was!"
Ron waved his fork, his expression wildly exaggerated.
"Peeves was right over our heads, and Filch could have caught up at any moment! I swear, if we'd been even a second slower, we'd have been caught red-handed!"
"Then what?" Neville asked anxiously.
"Then?" Ron raised his chin proudly.
"Naturally, I kept my head in the face of danger and led everyone out of the pursuit! You know, several times, Filch came this close to finding us!"
"Oh my goodness! Merlin's beard!" Neville listened, dumbstruck.
Even Hermione's eyes widened. "You actually went through all that last night?"
The more Ron talked, the more enthusiastic he became, even beginning to gesture with his arms and legs as he reenacted the scenes.
Hermione and Neville were left repeatedly gawking in astonishment.
Harry silently took a sip of pumpkin juice.
Hang on, mate.
Did we go through the same adventure last night?
Why did your version sound almost ready to be made into "Ron Weasley's Great Hogwarts Escape"?
Still, looking at Ron's high-spirited expression, Harry tactfully refrained from exposing him.
Oh well. He hardly ever gets a chance to steal the limelight. Let him boast for a while.
Wonderful. I'm the only one who lost something.
Malfoy put down her knife. "Goyle, Crabbe, go back and search again."
Goyle and Crabbe hurriedly nodded.
"Miss, then you-"
"I have something to do." The girl stood and walked toward the Great Hall's entrance with her chin raised.
Her steps remained steady, but when she reached the doorway, she could not help stopping.
Malfoy quietly looked back, her gaze landing on the figure at the Gryffindor table.
Potter was still drinking pumpkin juice.
The girl pressed her lips together. After a moment's hesitation, she finally took advantage of no one paying attention and lightly beckoned him with a finger.
Her meaning could not have been clearer.
However... Harry was not looking her way at all.
He was listening to Ron boast about last night's heroic deeds, even chuckling now and then.
Malfoy: "..."
The corner of the girl's mouth twitched slightly. She beckoned again.
No response.
Again!
Still no response!
Damn it! This idiot!
Was pumpkin juice really that delicious?!
Malfoy stamped her foot in anger, yet dared not make too much noise.
In the end, she could only indignantly withdraw her hand, turn, and leave the Great Hall.
Having finished breakfast, Harry held his borrowed books and was about to head for the library.
But as soon as he left the Great Hall, he saw the girl standing nearby.
"Malfoy?"
She looked over at him, irritation immediately appearing in her gray-green eyes as she shot him a fierce glare.
"I need to talk to you! Come here!"
Harry instinctively glanced behind her. Goyle and Crabbe were absent.
Ron saw her too, and immediately slowed a little.
"You want another duel?"
"No." The girl answered quickly, then looked at Harry again. "In private."
Ron frowned, but Harry had already nodded to him.
"Go ahead. I'll be along in a bit."
Only after Ron had left did Malfoy move a few steps aside. Harry followed, stopping beside a tall window.
"Planning to compete somewhere else this time?"
"It's not a duel!"
"Then what is it?"
The girl pinched her sleeve.
She had already worked out what to say, yet now that she was actually standing before Potter, the words suddenly became rather difficult to utter.
Harry did not rush her. After waiting a moment, he finally heard her speak. "Potter, I need your help with something."
Harry paused slightly. Help?
Looking at the girl struggling to maintain her composure, he could not help smiling.
"Oh?"
Harry deliberately drew out the sound, adopting an expression of flattered surprise.
"Did I hear that right? The noble young Miss Malfoy actually needs my help for once?"
"You!" Malfoy's eyes immediately widened, a flush of embarrassed anger rising on her fair cheeks. "Shut up, Potter!"
"I just... just happen to need an assistant! Don't let it go to your head!"
"All right." Harry nodded. "What do you need?"
The girl's imposing air slowly subsided again. "My silver accessory... I can't find it."
Harry's gaze fell on her empty collar.
"That little snake brooch?"
Malfoy looked at him. "You actually remember it?"
"It looked worth a fortune. Pretty recognizable."
The girl pressed her lips together, her fingers, which had been tense all this time, relaxing slightly.
"It might have fallen off in that classroom last night."
"When did you notice?"
"This morning."
"Have you searched your dormitory?"
"Yes. Goyle and Crabbe are still looking."
Harry nodded and began recalling last night's events. He had indeed seen the brooch before the duel, but afterward they had been running the whole way, and the light had been dim, so he had not paid it any more attention.
But after they entered the old classroom...
"Your collar seemed to catch on a wooden peg."
"I thought of that too," the girl replied quickly. Then her voice grew a little quieter. "It was a gift from my mother."
The trace of a smile on Harry's lips slowly faded.
No wonder. Whenever this young lady usually came looking for him, when had she ever failed to put on an imposing air first?
"Let's go." He tucked his books under his arm.
Malfoy looked up. "Where?"
"Back to that classroom from last night first."
The girl froze for a moment.
"Now?"
"Now." Harry glanced down the corridor. "The light's good, and we don't have to hide from Filch. It's the perfect time for a thorough search."
Malfoy looked at him without replying for several seconds. She had originally prepared a few more remarks.
For instance, she would not make him help for nothing. Or that he was not allowed to tell anyone about this.
Yet Potter was already ready to leave.
Harry took a step forward, then looked back when she did not move.
"Anything else?"
"...No." The girl immediately followed him. "But you can't tell anyone about this."
"I know."
"Especially that bigmouth Weasley."
"I know."
Malfoy was slightly taken aback. Looking at Harry before her, she suddenly felt...
This annoying Potter did not seem quite so annoying anymore. At least he had shown a little conscience this time.
The girl pressed her lips together and quietly made a decision.
Oh well.
Since he was willing to help, I'll be magnanimous and forgive him just a little.
As for making him kneel and apologize like we agreed... hmm, I suppose I can let that slide.
As long as he's a little more sincere from now on and apologizes to me properly, forgiving him isn't out of the question.
At that thought, the corners of Malfoy's lips rose involuntarily.
Just then, however, Harry suddenly rubbed his chin and spoke with a beaming smile.
"Oh, what a perfect chance to squeeze a nice little payout out of Miss Malfoy~"
"I can just add it to the bill for my new robes!"
Malfoy: "..."
The smile that had just begun to lift the girl's lips froze instantly.
She took a deep breath, a vein seemingly throbbing at her temple.
Fine. Just fine!
Clearly, I was giving him too much credit!
He's still that same insufferable idiot Potter!
This guy doesn't deserve any sympathy at all!!!
Hmph!
He'll have to kneel twice!
The castle was much livelier during the day than it had been last night. The knight in the portrait was awake, his head lowered as he polished his sword.
Harry recognized him and took the stairs beside the portrait, heading back along the route they had taken last night.
Malfoy walked beside him, occasionally adding a comment or two.
"There's another portrait farther along. You woke the person in it with your light last night."
"Right."
"And past that is that stretch of steps." The two walked on, checking the route as they went.
This time, they avoided the vanishing step in advance and did not stray into any other corridors.
Before long, the old wooden door appeared before them.
Harry pushed it open.
Sunlight streamed through the shabby curtains, making the dust in the air clearly visible.
The tall cabinet that had looked so dark last night was now merely an old cabinet with peeling paint.
Malfoy walked straight over. "Right here."
She looked down beside the wooden peg, then crouched to inspect the base of the wall carefully.
Harry set his book on the lectern and moved the nearby chairs aside.
Nothing beside the cabinet, nothing under the desk. They even checked several gaps between the floorboards.
The girl's movements gradually slowed.
"Could it have fallen somewhere in the corridor?"
Harry did not answer right away. He was looking at something beneath the cabinet.
It was round and very small, its edge glinting silver.
It looked very much like that little glimmer that had flashed past last night.
He gently nudged it out with his wand and picked it up.
Malfoy immediately looked over, but then the light in her eyes faded again.
"That's not mine."
"No, it's a button." Harry turned it over.
The button was very clean, its few decorative lines clearly visible, quite unlike the dust-covered desks and chairs beside it.
He crouched again and pointed his wand tip beneath the cabinet.
"Lumos."
White light flared, revealing a trail of tiny footprints in the dust.
They stretched from behind the cabinet all the way to the wooden peg, with a thin drag mark alongside them.
Malfoy followed the light with her gaze, her brows slowly drawing together.
"That thing from last night?"
"Possibly." Harry remembered the dark shape that had flashed past and glanced again at the silver button in his hand. "Something's been here recently."
The girl's gaze settled on the footprints. After a moment, she suddenly looked up.
"Could it have taken my brooch?"
Harry did not jump to a conclusion, but at least they now had a lead to keep following.
He set the button on the desk and looked back at the shadows behind the cabinet.
"Let's at least see where it went first."
Before you continue