"Join the Order, Draco". Dumbledore said soothingly. "The Order will receive reinforcements soon."

Draco's wand hand trembled. His wand lowered, ever so slowly. Put it down Harry silently willed. By some miracle, the wand went down.

"B-But, the Order doesn't have the capabilities to defeat the Dark Lord", Draco said.

Dumbledore smiled proudly, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Yes," he conceded ,"that is true. We don't have the capabilities to do that." Harry cursed Dumbledore and his unnecessary honesty in his mind, as Draco's wand shot back up, a hex on the tip of Draco's tongue. "But", he said, drawing the word out. "Have you ever heard of shinigamis, Draco, my boy?"

Draco started, surprised at the odd question. "Yes", he said hesitantly. At Dumbledore's encouraging nod, he began spouting facts. "I've read about them in a book at the library in Malfoy Manor. Roughly translated to grim reapers, they prefer to be called by their Japanese names as shinigamis for unknown reasons. Rarely seen in the wizarding world, shinigamis are nearly impossible to find. They practice hand to hand combat, wandless magic, and sword fighting."

Wandless magic? Sword fighting? Hand to hand combat? What even Dumbledore? Harry thought, mentally shaking his head. What Dumbledore was thinking bringing up these shingames or whatever they were called at this crucial time was beyond Harry.

"Shinigamis appear human in form, but according to the little research we have on them, they are fundamentally different from us, in their chemical make-up. Due to our lack of information, shinigamis are not well known, and the knowledge of the existence of shinigamis are kept to a few important persons, such as my father. I don't understand what that has to do with anything right now, though", Draco said, mumbling the last bit under his breath.

Dumbledore nodded. "Well, my boy, the Order, well, more specifically, I had taken it upon myself to provide enough money to the shinigamis to rebuild their home, after a devastating attack by one shinigami named Aizen. That was about two years ago. Now, I have owled a man named Kisuke Urahara in Japan, to request backup by the shinigamis. And they agreed!"

"Yay", Draco deadpanned, the sarcasm sliding off of his tongue faster than Meek Mill's new album sliding out of everyone's hands and into the trash can. "What does that have to do with me? How does that help you or anyone, for that matter, in any way?"

Dumbledore smiled at the teen, as if to say 'you poor, uneducated, overly gelled haired, fool'. "I forgot that you didn't know as much as I thought you did", he said condescendingly. Harry glared at Dumbledore for provoking Draco at the most inopportune time. "These particular shinigamis are rather strong you know, even for their race. They're sending in an elite force. They'll be enough to overtake Voldemort."

Draco and Harry's eyes widened in shock. "They couldn't be that strong", Draco protested.

"But they are," Dumbledore said, a merry twinkle in his eyes. "The shinigamis are rather strong creatures, who prefer to stay largely unknown to our world." Dumbledore paused. "So how about it, my boy? What do you say?"

Draco hesitated and looked up at the older man's face. It was full of confidence. "I say yes." Draco stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to him. "But why are they even helping us?" He asked. "How can we even trust them?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I gave them money. Also, Hogwarts offers free food."

Draco nodded sagely, understanding completely. Food was the way to a man's loyalty.