分卷阅读9（1 / 2）

“Get up,” Malfoy whispered and pulled Harry by his jumper. As soon as Harry was back on his feet, he rushed to Malfoy’s other side and back to the room full of newspapers. Malfoy took a few seconds to catch up. He returned to the room with the kneazle still in his arms and licked his lips. “Now, you can’t possibly tell me that wasn’t strange.”

Harry pursed his lips and glared. Malfoy was about to say something else but something pushed him off balance, sending him straight into a stack of papers almost as tall as him. There was a grunt and a hiss, and the papers went flying in all directions. When they’d settled, Harry saw Bertrice sitting in the doorway looking pleased.

“Guinevere!” the woman’s voice carried down the hall. Bertrice turned toward the sound. “Oh there you—” the woman appeared in the door behind Bertrice but stilled as soon as she noticed Harry. Recognition washed over her face and she shouted, “You!”

Harry flew forward, grabbed one of Malfoy’s arms, and pulled him toward to the backdoor. He was about to apparate both of them out when Malfoy shook off his grip and turned back to the house. Harry tried to shout NO but he was still under the Silence Charm and nothing came out. Self preservation was about to win until he saw a blond blur rushing back through the door. Harry apparated to the edge of the row of homes without a second thought.

He stood with his hands on his knees, panting, and jumped when the kneazle came flying from over the fence, landing next to his foot.

“Merlin!” Harry shouted, shocked that he actually made a sound. A moment or two passed before Malfoy flipped over the top of the fence in a graceful spectacle. Harry glared at him. “So, you’re just throwing animals around now?”

“Kneazles always land on their feet.” He smirked. “As do Malfoys.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Why’d you take the damn thing, anyway?” He found himself absentmindedly rubbing his right thigh where Guinevere’s claws had dug into him.

“Leverage, of course.”

Icarus saw the look of exasperated disapproval on the man’s face and briefly thought he’d never relate to another person more in his life. Whoever Archie Eversworn was, he definitely wasn’t who he led on to be. He managed to break a record by not trying to strangle Draco Malfoy. Though, admittedly, it was still early in the day, and Eversworn looked well and truly irritated.

“Target has acquired an animal,” McLaggen said.

Icarus was envious of Eversworn’s self control. “Yes, I see that.”

McLaggen turned to Icarus, frowning. “Are we going to bring him in? He’s just broken into that poor woman’s home and stolen her pet.”

“Did you even read the mission report?” Icarus took a few deep breaths, reminding himself he’d need the other man at some point when things inevitably escalated.

“I, uh,” McLaggen’s icy eyes fluttered for a moment and his jaw tensed. “I sifted through the files.”

Icarus had started gathering their things and taking down the deception wards. “Sifted?” He stopped. “You didn’t read about Pandora?”

“Of course I read about the damned box!” McLaggen, to his credit, was an action man through and through. Leave it to him to study the threats, all of the threats, and not the simple task before them.

“Right now, McLaggen, our only mission is to observe this afflicted target. The others—” Icarus paused and threw up a mental wall. He couldn’t let himself go down that line of thinking. The box had unleashed all manner of curses on those in the Ancient Chamber. Icarus would have nightmares if he thought about any of the others. Malfoy had been lucky. “The others aren’t in our periphery.”

And then, in an odd turn of events, McLaggen focused on Icarus with a pointed, serious stare that pinned him frozen. “Not yet, at least,” McLaggen replied and then kept dissembling their gear like nothing had happened. Icarus, on the other hand, stood motionless as a dreadful realization pushed to the front of his thoughts.