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Golden Hearts	By : BetaBloodLust Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Slash - Male/Male Views: 3689 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: See Full Disclaimer Below--Any chapters containing explicit material will begin with warnings for the wary

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own the characters within the Harry Potter series. J. K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter series and all original characters introduced within the series. I make no money from this story. All noncanonical characters are fictional fabrications. They belong to me. Any resemblances to real persons or groups of people are coincidence and should be summarily disregarded, and the doppelganger perpetrators should be shot for impersonating my creations. Have a nice day.

Golden Hearts: Chapter 21: All Hallows Eve

The trio spent several hours in the library, discussing possible leads in low whispers as they leafed through old newsprint and dusty, leather bound tomes. They sat in a secluded corner in the nearly deserted library as Arumus deftly retrieved more reading materials. He had developed a feel for the organization of the library during the countless hours he spent there, and he rarely ever had to ask Madame Pince where to find specific subjects anymore. His familiarity with the place came in quite useful, as none of them wished to divulge their subject of inquiry.

Arumus discovered the one ray of hope in their otherwise fruitless search. The old newsprint article was very vague, but it fit the period of time they were searching. Fifty years previously, a nameless student had been expelled after he or she had begun "fraternizing with a dangerous monster." Another unnamed student had discovered the danger and revealed it to the headmaster. It seemed that the Ministry of Magic had become involved, but their role was not overtly identified. Arumus passed the article to Percival and Jordan with a meaningful glance, and they bent over it to read together.

They left for lunch, returning shortly after, but the search bore no more leads.

"I'll bet someone removed all records of the incident as part of Operation Hush-up," Percival said darkly. Arumus and Jordan nodded, but they all continued to search.

At half past six, Madame Pince shooed them out of the library and locked up, and they made their way down to the Halloween Feast. The Great Hall was alive with flickering candles hanging in midair, giving substantial light, and the huge pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns sat like giants amid the fluttering swarm of bats. Arumus nearly forgot his apprehension as they sat down at the Slytherin table. Jordan chose seats close to the door, explaining how they would be at the head of the rush after the feast.

"No fun to be stuck waiting in line when you're full and sleepy..." Jordan gave Arumus a meaningful stare. "And you will eat until you're ready to burst, or I'm a bloody muggle!" He declared.

Arumus gazed at the golden plates as they filled with foods prepared by the army of house elves living and working in the castle. He no longer felt sick, but he gazed at the feast and found he was not overly hungry. Jordan and Percival both dug into their food with relish, and Jordan unceremoniously heaped some of everything upon Arumus' plate.

"Eat up, Arumus," Jordan chided. "You're not leaving until you eat a healthy portion."

"Yes, mother..." Arumus replied in a mocking voice. Jordan smiled, and Arumus returned the smile coolly.

Jordan fixed him with an equally mocking, imperious gaze. "I will not tolerate your insolence, young man!" he cried in a shrill voice, pointing the sausage speared upon his fork at Arumus.

Arumus laughed in spite of himself. "You do the 'Mother’ thing quite well, Jordan..."

Percival laughed as well. "He performs his mother so well that she grounded him a whole month for the insolence."

Arumus smiled, trying to imagine Jordan mocking his own mother. Somehow, he suspected Jordan had come off better in the match, grounded or not. He began working doggedly at the food. After eating, they all watched the troupe of dancing skeletons caper about the hall, applauding loudly before Dumbledore dismissed them. Arumus had to admit that he felt better. The food had given him a kind of buoyancy he'd previously been missing.

Students streamed out of the Great Hall and along the entrance hall, up the stairs, and into the first floor corridors with Arumus, Jordan, and Percival close in the lead. Too late, Jordan tried to turn off into a shortcut towards the dungeons, and the three friends were forced to lead the crowd up into the second floor. Sounds of so many feet and their happy owners echoed off the walls, creating a cacophony.

Arumus was the first to spot the skinny, tousle-haired form of Harry Potter, the Granger girl, and the youngest Weasley son, who were all standing stunned before a scene of horror shrouded in darkness.

Letters glistened wetly upon the wall between two tall windows. They were nearly a foot tall and red, as if painted in fresh blood. The words read, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware." A stiff, furry form, dark in the faint light, hung from the torch bracket, and the reflection of the scene flickered eerily in the pool of water in which the three Gryffindors were standing.

Arumus froze as he took in the reality of the tableau. His stomach quivered, reverting quickly to that sick, queasy sensation. A tense quiet overtook the crowd as others saw the scene, and curious onlookers pushed past Arumus to have a better look.

Arumus heard the familiar, sneering voice somewhere in front of him that he both loved and hated ring through the silence. "Enemies of the Heir, beware? You'll be next, mudbloods!" Draco's voice was so very alive with excitement, and a kind of longing warred with Arumus' sudden intense desire to find Draco and slap him as hard as he could. However, Arumus remained quite still, and he felt Percival place his hand comfortingly on his left shoulder.

The voice of the caretaker, Argus Filch, traveled loudly ahead of him as he burst through the students. "What's going on here? What's going on?" He spotted the furry creature hanging from the torch bracket and stumbled, stunned, his face contorted in fear and his hands poised to either cover his eyes or pull at his face in a practiced gesture.

"My cat! My cat! What has happened to my cat?!" he bellowed. "Mrs. Norris!" Filch wailed, his voice pitched in true suffering. The caretaker then stared at Potter madly. "You! You! You've murdered my cat!" He continued to rave at Potter, threatening to actually kill the boy with the lightening scar. Potter seemed to be in shock, slightly horrified. Arumus thought Potter was either an extremely good actor, or completely innocent.

"Argus," came the calm, commanding tone Arumus recognized as Dumbledore's voice. His tall form moved into the empty space, passing the Gryffindors and removing the apparently dead cat from the torch bracket. Arumus watched Dumbledore examine the animal with his quick, searching gaze, and he hoped she was not be dead from the way Dumbledore peered at her for that brief, intent moment.

Arumus felt another hand touch his right shoulder briefly, gently. He glanced up into the face of Severus, who gazed at him with a quick flash of wordless comfort. Dumbledore ushered the three students discovered at the scene of the crime away, and Severus broke eye contact and followed, his eyes taking on a look that closely resembled Draco's when he was trying to hold back a rather nasty smile. Arumus recognized the expression from the times when Severus was exasperated with students in potions and had a particularly interesting and arduous assignment planned for those who failed to listen closely.

Professor Flitwick bustled to the front of the crowd and began directing the students away from the scene. Arumus saw one person in the crowd who looked even more ill than he felt. His eyes briefly met Ginny Weasley's terrified gaze, and she seemed to quake with that fear and her own illness as she turned away, shuddering visibly.

Arumus felt himself guided by Percival's hand, turning him around as they headed back for the nearest shortcut to the dungeons. He followed Jordan numbly, ducking behind a tapestry. Instead of going directly back to the common room, however, Jordan turned abruptly into the darkness of a deserted classroom.

Arumus came back to himself, then, retrieving his wand and flicking it alight. Both Jordan and Percival faced him, their features pale in his wandlight.

"I have one question. If the Heir is not responsible, who wrote that message and why?" Arumus asked, his blue eyes flashing in the steady, pale light.

Jordan gazed back at him, troubled. "Perhaps someone is working on behalf of the Heir?" He ventured.

"Arumus," said Percival, "Are you alright?"

Arumus studied them both for a moment with his cool gaze, and then he shook his head slightly. "No, Percival, I am not alright. I do not know why Dumbledore even told me anything about this, but I want to know the truth." Arumus suppressed the desire to sick up and took a deep breath.

Jordan spoke quietly. "I don't think we can do anything else at the moment, Arumus. We should go back to the common room."

"Yes, so we can listen to my cousin rhapsodize about the Heir as if he knows him..." Arumus' eyes flashed angrily.

"You can exercise your rage upon him later, Arumus..." Jordan gave him a fond look. "You really do have a flair for righteous fury, you know. Filch is a filthy old squib, anyhow."

Arumus waved his left hand dismissively. "But Draco is right, Jordan, Percival. There will undoubtedly be more attacks, and the next targets will be fellow students. Except for a stroke of luck, that could've been us standing there instead of Potter and his friends. Further, why was Potter at the scene of the crime, anyway?"

"I don't know, but he's no more the Heir than you, Arumus," Percival commented suddenly.

Arumus smiled, but the cold fury in his eyes was unquenched. "I know. Unless he is a better actor than I, which I doubt, he is innocent. I could see that without even making eye contact." Arumus pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Yes. Let's return to the common room before we are missed."
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Golden Hearts