Harry Potter swept down the stairs from the dormitories into the Gryffindor common room, throwing his invisibility cloak around his shoulders as he did so. Quickly but silently he slipped through the portrait hole and hurried towards the lobby and the double doors that led to the sweeping Hogwarts grounds, praying that he wasn't too late. He'd had a hard time getting away from the large game of wizard's chess being played in the dormitory; Ron was busy beating every Gryffindor in the tower, and the twins (who had snuck into the castle with Butterbeer for Gryffindor tower thanks to some passageways seen only on the Marauder's Map) were taking bets on the games. Harry smiled a little at the thought, but it was a grim smile that didn't quite reach his eyes; he seemed to have aged ten years in the last one. Now in his 7th year, Harry was being trained as hard as possible by the Order, pushed to his limits by Remus, Tonks, and the others in the hope that he would one day defeat Voldemort. The war had drained him, as well as the constant search for horcuxes, and as much as he tried to them he knew that the changes were obvious. Running his calloused hands, rough from training day and night, through his hair, his thoughts turned to what he was going to do.

He hoped he wasn't too late.

Draco Malfoy walked calmly down the front steps onto the Hogwarts lawn for what he knew would be the last time. Breathing deeply in the crisp October air, he looked up at the night sky. Hundreds of stars stared back at him, cold and indifferent, and he felt suddenly naked and exposed even though he knew that the invisibility charm he'd cast on himself back at the dormitory still held. He quickly made his way to the edge of the lake, lifting the charm as he did so. The water was still as glass, and its surface reflected starlight and moonlight like a mirror. His thoughts were eerily calm; deep and still, like the water, and equally opaque. His face was impassive as he thought of the future… He would wait for ten minutes. Potter would come, or he wouldn't; after that, Draco knew what he would have to do.

He only wished that he didn't have to do it alone…

Fifteen minutes later, Harry Potter strode across the sweeping Hogwarts lawn, directly towards the lake. When he got there, two observations hit him at once. One was that he was late, and Malfoy wasn't there; he was alone. The second was that there was a softly glowing piece of parchment rolled up in the tree not six feet from where he now stood. Murmuring a few defense spells as a precaution (it was automatic now; his never ceasing search for the horcuxes and the simple fact that the wizarding world was in the middle of a war had left their marks) he grabbed it. It was warm in his hand. Unrolling it and tapping it with his wand, Harry discovered that it contained several powerful spells so that if anyone but him had picked up that piece of parchment, it would have simultaneously burned he holder's hand and disintegrated. Obviously, whoever left it had meant business. Scanning the parchment, he quickly realized what it was- a letter from Malfoy. Suddenly, Harry's eyes riveted on a line he had just spotted, and his breath hissed through his teeth. Carefully re- reading the entire letter, it was all he could do to try and clear his head and think of a plan. As thoughts raced through his mind, only one thing escaped his lips:

"Oh, shit."