A/N: It's my first shot trying to write a story, so it might not be that great to start off - just let me know if you like the idea or not XD

Chapter One - Unexpected Arrivals

Draco Malfoy ran after Professor Snape through the deserted school corridors, his mind still reeling from what had just happened. Dumbledore was actually dead... and Snape had killed him. That was one thing that he hadn't expected. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw that he was being followed - Harry bloody Potter was chasing after them. That boy had an extremely annoying habit of always being in the way! As he ran, Draco could hear Potter and Snape yelling at each other - something unintelligible about the Half Blood Prince. What was that about? But that didn't matter; they had reached the entrance gates. Draco was grasped tightly around the arm, and a moment later he felt the familiar constriction caused by Side-Along Apparation.

The next thing he knew, Draco found himself standing in the freezing night air outside a small dilapidated-looking house. Looking up, he was startled to find himself looking into Snape's furious black eyes. The other Death Eaters were nowhere to be seen; the street was deserted. He was ushered silently into the house by Snape, who was looking furtively around him. Confused, Draco stared blankly at his professor, wondering why he'd been brought to this ramshackle building.

Without warning, Draco suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching his arm tightly. Snape also jerked slightly, and spoke rapidly in a low voice.

"Draco - wait here. Don't leave this house, and whatever you do, don't answer the summons!"

Then, without a backward glance, Snape strode out of the house and Disapparated. Draco was left standing alone in the dimly lit hallway, utterly bewildered and still clutching at his left forearm, where the Dark Mark burned black.

Severus Snape took his place in the circle, dressed immaculately in his Death Eater robes, standing silently to attention in a ring of black. In the centre of the circle stood an incredibly ugly man with a snake-like face and extremely pale skin, who was also dressed in black. This man was Lord Voldemort. And tonight, Lord Voldemort was feeling incredibly angry. He had just summoned his faithful Death Eaters to his side - but one had neglected to answer his summons.

"Snape..." he hissed in a soft but dangerous voice, "Severus Snape..."

Snape stepped forward towards the centre of the circle, still silent, with his head slightly bowed.

"Severus," the Dark Lord whispered, "Where is the Malfoy boy?"

"I do not know, my Lord," Snape answered. "The boy was running from Hogwarts with us, but he disappeared the moment we left the castle's boundaries. He could be anywhere."

Lord Voldemort let out a loud snarl of frustration. He had dearly wanted to punish the boy for his weakness upon the tower. "Severus!" he barked. "Why was it that you were the one to cast the Killing Curse on Albus Dumbledore tonight?"

Snape's voice remained even. "It was clear that the boy was going to fail in his task, my Lord. We had Dumbledore exactly where we wanted him, but the boy would not act. You remember, I trust, how I told you of the Unbreakable Vow that I made at the request of Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange? It seemed to me the sort of situation which I had vowed to salvage."

Lord Voldemort watched Snape's face closely. He did remember hearing of that, and he could detect no falsehood in Snape's words, but something in what the man was saying did not seem to ring true. The Dark Lord made up his mind to watch Snape more closely in the future, but for now he would let it slide.

"Very well," he said coldly. "However, Severus, I still hold you responsible for the actions of the boy. I would have thought that you of all people would have been able to keep a hold of him. I should kill you as punishment for your failure. However... you did kill Albus Dumbledore... and for that I am pleased... Crucio!"

Draco had recovered somewhat from the pain in his arm, and had decided to have a look around the house. His exploration did not take very long. There were only four rooms in the entire single-storey house - the lounge, a kitchen, a small dingy bathroom and a small bedroom which contained a single bare bed. The furniture was moth-eaten, and the bathroom and kitchen were both extremely dirty.

After his exploration of the house, Draco returned once more to the lounge. The room contained very few items. There was an old sofa-bed at one end of the room, and a strange box shaped appliance on the other. The box had a thick plastic string coming out of it, which disappeared into the wall a few feet away. On the side wall of the room was a tall bookcase, crammed full with books of all shapes and sizes.

Approaching the bookcase, Draco saw that it was filled largely with books about Potions and the Dark Arts. Suddenly, Draco spotted a book that looked a little different from the others. It was small, but thick, and bound with black leather. It had no title; it looked like a journal of some kind. But just as he was picking up the book, Draco heard the front door slam. Jumping at the noise, he dropped the book on the floor and turned around, his wand raised.

A moment later, he lowered his wand as Snape entered the room. He watched as the man crossed the room and collapsed onto the couch, a grimace of pain on his face. After a few minutes, the man opened his eyes and saw Draco standing next to the bookshelf - and the journal on the floor.

"Did you read that?" he asked menacingly, his eyes narrowed.

Draco shook his head. "Professor? What's going on? What just happened at the meeting? Why couldn't I come?"

Snape stared at the boy incredulously. "Haven't you figured it out by now? There's no possibility of you returning to the fold, Draco - you failed in your mission, and you will certainly die if you return to the Dark Lord! Even I am subject to the Dark Lord's fury - I have just been under the Cruciatus for allowing you to escape! The Dark Lord does not even know of my part in your escape, and that was my punishment! Nor can you stay with me; you are certain to get caught if you do. You have only one option now; to go to Potter."

"What!"

Snape looked at Draco, a cold expression on his face. "You have no other choice. You will go to Potter, or you will die."

"But Potter hates me! There's no way he'll let me stay with him! You must be out of your mind!" Draco yelled.

"You will go to Potter, do you understand me? Yes, he hates you! But you've got a better chance with him than with the Dark Lord, so stop behaving like a child and do as I say!" Snape shouted.

Draco stood there silently, a look of dismay on his face. To be cast out from the Death Eaters, and to have to go and beg for mercy at Potter's feet!

In a softer tone, Snape continued. "Now listen to me. Potter will be living at Number 4, Privet Drive, in Little Whinging. Don't forget - Number 4, Privet Drive, in Little Whinging. When you see him, he's likely to start hexing first and ask questions later, so mind you have a good shield up. Then give him this -" Snape handed Draco a small envelope, "- and don't let the shield drop. He should calm down after a while... and if not... just improvise."

"Improvise?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Now go!"

Harry Potter knocked on the front door of Number 4, Privet Drive. He waited patiently, shivering slightly in the breeze as he held his trunk in one hand and Hedwig's cage in the other. As he waited he tried not to think about the events of that night; however that was easer said than done. So it was relief that he felt when the door finally opened, despite his dislike of the man standing behind it. Harry looked calmly up at the face of Vernon Dursley, whose face had turned bright purple at the sight of his nephew, and whose eyes were popping dangerously out of their sockets. His lips were moving fiercely, but no sound was coming out.

At last, the man managed to splutter "What the devil are you doing here in the middle of the night, boy? You're not meant to be back for another month! We were enjoying your absence! Why the hell are you here already?"

Behind him stood his wife, Petunia, who was biting her lips and looking nervously up and down the street. Harry shouldered past his aunt and uncle without saying a word to them, and walked silently upstairs toward his room. His aunt and uncle followed him, demanding an explanation for waking them up in the middle of the night.

"Oho!" exclaimed Uncle Vernon. "They've finally expelled you from that freak school, haven't they boy? You can't do that magic rubbish anymore, can you?" He let out a nasty laugh, saying, "About time too, isn't that right Petunia?"

But Petunia Dursley didn't answer her husband. After a second glance at her nephew, she realised with a shock that the boy was close to tears. Wondering what could possibly have happened to cause this turn of events, Petunia remained silent and decided to wait for him to speak first. Harry remained silent for a few moments, during which he regained his composure.

He then managed to say in a surprisingly steady voice that shook only slightly, "I haven't been expelled and I doubt I ever will be, so there's no point in you lot getting your hopes up. For your information, that freak school I go to has been temporarily shut down, due to the murder of our Headmaster! So I'm back a few weeks early, but I'll be gone by the time they hold the funeral, and this time for good, so you don't have to get all high and mighty." He then whirled around and entered the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, leaving a stunned Vernon and Petunia staring at the closed bedroom door.

Draco arrived outside Number 4, Privet Drive with a soft crack, with nothing on him except for his wand. He walked across the well-kept lawn towards the front door, drawing his wand as he went. He rang the doorbell, setting up a shield charm as he did so.

He waited on the doorstep for several nervous minutes before the door opened at last. However, it wasn't Potter's face that he was staring into; instead he was looking into the bright purple face of a thickset man with a walrus moustache. The man looked as if he was about to scream, but he closed his mouth suddenly and unexpectedly, staring at the wand in Draco's hand with what could only be described as fear.

"I expect you want Potter?" the man asked resentfully, "Fine... come in then..."

Draco followed the man into the house, feeling oddly trapped as the door was locked behind him. He jumped slightly as the man standing in front of him shouted at the stairs. "Boy! Get down here! It's someone from your lot!"

Draco stared at the man incredulously. Boy? A few moments later, a dark figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Draco strengthened his shields, watching warily as Potter descended the stairs.

"Who is it - what - Malfoy!" Potter yelled, drawing his wand. "Stupefy -" The bolt of red light was easily deflected by Draco's shield.

"What the fuck are you doing here Malfoy?" the irate boy shouted, "Get the hell out of my house!"

Draco raised his arms slightly in surrender. "Hey, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here! I'm not here to try and kill you, alright? I'm only here because Snape made me come!"

"Snape? You expect me to let you stay here because Snape wants me to?"

Draco scowled. "Like I said Potter, I don't want to be here anymore than you! Here, he told me to give you this..."

Still holding his shield up, Draco threw the envelope that Snape had given him earlier that night at Potter. He watched warily as the other boy slowly looked down at the envelope in his hands.

Harry watched Malfoy warily as he looked at the envelope in his hands. It looked harmless - a regular white envelope of regular size. Feeling the envelope, Harry realised that there was a small object of some kind in the envelope, as well as some paper.

He slowly slit open the envelope with his wand. Inside, he found something that looked like a harmless old bracelet... but he could sense a dark energy radiating from it. Suspicious, he decided to read the letter first.

Potter,

I understand perfectly well that you don't like me. Trust me, that feeling is mutual. I expect that if you are reading this letter, then you know that I have just killed the Headmaster. I don't expect someone with such a mediocre mind as you could understand why that had to happen, and you are the last person in the world who I would wish to explain myself to, but the Headmaster seems to have a higher opinion of your abilities than myself.

I killed the Headmaster on his orders Potter, not on the orders of the Dark Lord. No doubt you will not believe me, but that is the truth. The injuries to his hand would have begun to spread to the rest of his body within a year, causing him to die a slow death. There is no cure for that poison, and not even I can delay it for ever.I will continue to play my part as spy within the Dark Lord's ranks. I do not care to explain my decisions to you Potter. You can either choose to believe me or not; regardless, I will send information to Headquarters. You can do with it what you will. Draco, on the other hand, will not be safe in the Dark Lord's hands. He will, almost certainly, have failed his mission, which is punishable by death.

That is why I will send him to you with this letter; for even if you choose to continue hating me, your Gryffindor sense of chivalry - the one thing I will give the Gryffindors credit for - ought to prevent you from sending him away.

As a further evidence of my true colours, I have enclosed a bracelet inside this package. Don't be so foolish as to let anyone wear it! Even a wizard with abilities as minimal as yours should be able to sense the Dark magic within it. This bracelet belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. It is one of the Dark Lord's live Horcruxes - you must find a way to destroy it.

Whatever you do, don't return to Hogwarts next year. With the Headmaster gone, the strongest of the wards on the castle will be broken. If you and your friends return to the school, there is a high probability that the school will be attacked. This includes the Weasley girl as well - although she is not in the Golden Trio, as a Weasley she would certainly be a target. Longbottom could also be targeted if he returns to school; I would advise against his return also. As long as the Dark Lord knows that you are elsewhere, the rest of the students should be relatively safe at the school.

Also enclosed in this envelope is a note from the Headmaster. It contains the location of Headquarters. Do not lose it! Be very careful about who you allow to see it. You should be safe in Headquarters, provided you are careful about whom you give the location to.

Good luck... you will certainly need it.

Severus Snape

Potions Master, Hogwarts

Harry finished reading the letter with a dazed expression on his face. Only Snape would write him a letter trying to help him and take the opportunity to insult him at the same time... this was Snape! But he knew about the Horcruxes... and he had given him what appeared to be one... and he had had a copy of the location of Headquarters all this time, and the Death Eaters had never stormed them. Dumbledore knew he was going to die? The school was being taken over? Snape was helping him?

Draco watched Potter anxiously. He didn't look pissed off anymore, which was a good sign... but he didn't look too calm either - he looked confused.

A few moments later, Potter raised his head from the letter in his hands and looked at Draco. He didn't look as if he was going to start hexing him anytime soon, but Draco kept his wand raised just in case.

After a long moment of silence, Potter finally spoke. "Fine... you can stay... but I reserve the right to kick you out if you piss me off too much. That means no 'Mudbloods', 'Weasels', or any other name-calling of any kind. Understand?"

Draco nodded, still watching Potter guardedly.

"Fine then, come on. My room is upstairs." Potter said curtly. He turned around and stated to lead Draco up the stairs. But they had only gone a few steps when a voice from behind them caused them to stop.

"Where do you think you're going?" said an annoyed looking Vernon Dursley. "I don't recall giving you permission to stay in my house!"

"Oh shut up," Potter snapped, "We're not staying for long anyway!" And ignoring his uncle's blustering protests, Patter continued to climb the stairs, Draco close on his heels.

Harry entered his room and set his bags down on the floor, his mind in turmoil. Draco Malfoy, the person who was responsible for the death of Professor Dumbledore, had just turned up at his doorstep seeking refuge. Snape, the man who had cast the Killing Curse at Professor Dumbledore, was helping him to destroy the Horcruxes. He was supposed to be going to Headquarters in a week's time, with his friends Ron and Hermione, and he had to somehow convince them to take Malfoy with them without getting either of their heads blown off. And Malfoy was still standing in the doorway of his bedroom.

"You can have the bed for tonight," Harry said, gesturing for Malfoy to come in.

Malfoy nodded and sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, still silent.

"We're leaving the day after tomorrow, for the funeral," Harry informed Malfoy in an emotionless voice. "Ron and 'Mione will be by to pick me up... you should get some sleep." And with that, Harry turned off the lights and turned his back to the other boy.

As Malfoy tried and failed to get comfortable on the bed, Harry sat down at a small desk near the window. Malfoy watched as the other boy started penning a letter to his friends by the light of the moon.

Harry bit his lip as he tried to think what to write. There was always a chance that the letter would be intercepted, and if seemed a good idea to keep news of Malfoy's presence quiet. At last, he picked up his quill and started writing.

Dear Ron and Hermione,

Hey, how are you guys? I've just arrived at Privet Drive... the Dursleys are pretty annoyed to see me, as usual. I can't wait to see you guys again, I hate this place...

We got an unexpected visitor not long after I arrived. You guys aren't going to be happy to see him, but I reckon we ought to take him to HQ with us. I can't say much in this letter; you'll understand when you come here on Friday.

Our surprise visitor brought a very interesting note with him... it was from the Prince. I know what you're thinking - I'm not sure we can trust him either. But he did give us one of the... trinkets... that we're looking for.... and it seems to be real.

Well, I guess I'll see you on Friday... bye for now... oh, and don't forget to send some food over as well...

Love,

Harry

The two teenagers were woken by the sound of a car in the driveway early the next morning. Harry had fallen asleep at his desk, and upon waking, he peered out of the window to see who was calling. To his dismay, he saw the figure of his dreaded Aunt Marge, accompanied by a large suitcase and her tiny yet monstrous dog, Ripper waddling up the Dursley's driveway.

Harry hurtled down the stairs two at a time, running into the living room where his relatives were sitting in a row. Malfoy followed at a more leisurely pace.

"Aunt Marge is coming?" Harry exclaimed, furious.

"Yes, she is," said Uncle Vernon curtly, "She's staying for a week, so you had better not cause any trouble with her this time, boy..."

Harry snarled in response. "I won't if she won't," he muttered angrily, before whirling around to get changed into Muggle clothes before Aunt Marge saw him. Malfoy continued to trail behind him.

When the two boys were safely in Harry's room again, Harry turned his attention to the blond boy standing behind him.

"You can't keep wearing that," Harry said bluntly, "Aunt Marge doesn't know about magic - you're going to have to get changed into some Muggle clothes."

"In case you haven't noticed," said Malfoy sarcastically, "I don't exactly have any other clothes Potter!"

Harry frowned faintly at the other boy. "You could wear some of mine..." he muttered, "But they used to be Dudley's, they're ridiculously big..."

After a moment of surveying the elephantine clothes before him, Harry raised his wand and pointed it at the clothes, performing a Shrinking Charm on them. He threw a set of clothes to Malfoy, before moving out to the bathroom to get changed into a set of his much better-fitting Muggle clothes.

Draco shut the door behind Potter as he vacated the room. He then proceeded to attempt to get changed into the jeans and shirt that Harry had left him. After several minutes of trying to pull the sleeve over his head, Draco successfully put on all his clothes.

After double-checking that everything was done up, Draco decided that it would be safe to go outside now. As he began to make his way down the stairs, a sudden thought struck him - if Potter's aunt did not know about magic, how did he explain his absences at Hogwarts?

When Draco entered the lounge room once more, it was to find the Dursleys sitting in a row on a couch, opposite another couch on which sat an extremely obese woman and an incredibly ugly little dog. In a small armchair of to the side sat Potter, looking slightly mutinous. This meant that the only seat for Draco was the far end of the couch on which the obese woman sat - the end closer to Potter.

Reluctantly, Draco sat down in his seat, keeping a wary eye on the dog lying next to him.

"Who is this?" barked the fat woman to the Dursleys, "Another one of your charity cases?"

Draco glanced at Potter, a faintly curious expression on his face - but he was startled at the emotionless mask that stared back at him.

Vernon Dursley gave a slightly nervous chuckle. "Oh it's nothing Marge... the boy brought home one of his classmates from that school of his, that's all," he explained.

"What's the boy doing back so early? I thought St Brutus's didn't close until summer? Did one of them burn the place down or something?"

Draco watched the exchange, slightly shell-shocked. He couldn't believe that the Dursleys were talking about The-Boy-Who-Fucking-Lived as if he wasn't even there. Glancing at Potter again, he saw that the impassive mask hadn't slipped at all.

"Boy!" Marge barked, "What are you doing back so early? Do you think you can just come back and expect your relatives to take you in whenever you want?"

Potter didn't answer. Indeed, judging by the expression on his face, it would seem that he hadn't even heard her question.

Marge tutted loudly, "Children these days... no respect at all!" she muttered, offended.

At this point Draco was no longer able to contain his temper. "We'll be respectful enough to people who deserve it, and you certainly don't fit that requirement!" he retorted, angrily.

Potter raised his eyebrows at him, evidently taken aback by his outburst. Marge just looked shocked that anyone had dared to talk to her like that. Spluttering incoherently for a few moments, she lapsed into indignant silence - which Draco thought was a great improvement.

There was a short, uncomfortable silence, before Petunia Dursley broke the silence with some inane chatter about the state of their agapanthuses - allowing Draco and Potter to fade into the background.

Harry stared at Malfoy with a shocked expression on his face for a few moments before rearranging his features once more into the blank mask he usually wore whenever Aunt Marge was around. He'd discovered that the best tactic to resort to when she was around was to simply ignore her - although it was unlikely that the Ministry would attempt to expel the Chosen One, he didn't want a repeat of Aunt Marge's last visit.

He couldn't see why his aunt and uncle always insisted that he be present when Marge Dursley was there. It wasn't like he took part in the conversations or anything... but anything that made Harry the slightest bit unhappy, they just had to do.

Tuning back into the conversation, he was dismayed to hear that topic had turned to him again - although he was careful not to show any signs of his feelings. He threw a quick glance in Malfoy's direction, trying to gauge his reaction to the conversation - and was stunned by the expression on his face - a mask of such coldness and indifference that Harry could not even attempt to emulate. Making a mental note to ask him later how he was able to blank himself out so thoroughly, he tore his gaze away from the blonde's face.

"So Petunia, how long has this one been staying here?" Marge inquired of her sister-in-law.

"... They arrived last night," answered Petunia Dursley, a hint of reluctance in her voice.

"Humph! And you wouldn't know what the boy's doing back from school so early, would you?"

Aunt Petunia did not answer; she avoided her sister-in-law's gaze - and her eyes locked on Harry's. Harry was faintly surprised that his aunt was refraining from spilling the beans to Aunt Marge - and quite grateful to her too. He wasn't ready to think about Dumbledore yet...

"Oh," she said airily, "The school was shut down because of... of... of some health hazards or some such reason... so the boys were sent home a little early." She forced a clearly fake smile on her face; yet Marge fell for it all the same.

Vernon and Dudley were staring gobsmacked at her blatant lie; unable to comprehend her reasoning behind it. However, neither of them contradicted her, and Vernon successfully steered the conversation out of these dangerous waters; at the same time signalling Harry to leave.

Underneath his mask of indifference, Draco was a mess of emotions. This Muggle family was not adhering to any of the preconceptions that his father had taught him - he had clearly seen a silent conversation pass between Potter and his aunt, and he could tell that she was quite aware of why Hogwarts had closed.

He followed Potter out of the room as he silently exited; and the two of them returned, once again to Potter's bedroom. Once they were both inside, Potter shut the door quietly behind them.

After a moment's hesitation, Draco asked "Hey Potter: isn't your aunt going to make us breakfast or anything?"

Potter scoffed. "Yeah, right... Like she'd do that..." After a moment, Potter bent down and started pulling up some floorboards. Draco watched, confused, as the other boy started pulling out various items from underneath the floorboards. At last he seemed to find what he was looking for - he pulled out a large rectangular box and set it on the bed.

"That's the best I've got for food," he said dryly. "Mostly just chocolate and stuff ... there's cake as well but that would be really stale by now..." he gestured for Draco to dig in.

Draco opened and rummaged through the box - Potter was right, most of it was stale. After a minute or so, he decided that there wasn't anything edible in there, and he abandoned his search.

Potter was watching the proceedings with a faintly amused expression on his face.

"Don't worry," he said, "Hedwig will be back soon with some stuff from Ron and 'Mione... she should be back in an hour or so..."

Draco nodded in response, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"What do you do around here?" he asked, "Don't you get bored?"

Potter shrugged. "Normally I just go and walk around in the park and stuff... probably not a good idea to leave the house now though. So yeah, I guess it'll be pretty boring... What do you want to do?"

Draco stared at him incredulously. "What, there isn't anything to do at all in a Muggle house?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course not - there's the TV and the computer and everything - but there's no way that Dudley will let us use them - in case you haven't noticed, we're not exactly the best of friends."

Draco frowned. "Well then, what do you do?"

Potter shrugged again. "Find some way to entertain ourselves up here, I guess..."

Harry sighed, blowing his hair out of his face in frustration. Malfoy was right - it was incredibly boring up here. If Aunt Marge wasn't here, it wouldn't be as bad - at least they wouldn't have to stay in the room all the time - but there wasn't much they could do in the bedroom, except to talk.

"So, Malfoy," Harry began, "What was that little outburst of yours downstairs?"

Malfoy looked a little embarrassed, Harry noticed. He looked at him questioningly, inviting him to answer.

"Well, I don't know," he muttered, "I guess it just annoyed me how they kept calling you 'boy'... I mean, you have a name."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "And since when do you care what names people call me, Malfoy?"

Malfoy stared blankly at Harry for a moment, before cracking a faint smile. "Fair point..." he conceded. "What about you? How do you put up with it?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I only have to put up with them during the summer hols... and I guess I'm just used to it by now... what are you thinking about?" - For Malfoy had an odd look on his face.

"Nothing... just that this wasn't what I expected your house to be like..."

Harry smirked. "Let me guess... you thought that the so-called 'Chosen One' would be pampered like a little prince, huh?"

Draco flushed slightly. That was exactly what he had thought... but the Golden-Boy's life was nothing like he had expected. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, not quite knowing quite what to say.

Potter just laughed it off. "Don't worry about it. You're not the only one who's made that mistake..." he trailed off, looking away with a frown on his face. Draco looked at him inquisitively, but got no reply.

Potter was shaken out of his thoughts by a tapping on the window. The two teens looked out to see a snowy white owl hovering outside, heavily laden with large parcels.

Draco walked over and opened the window, allowing the bird to fly in. She immediately flew over to her cage, hooting at Potter to remove her burden. He acquiesced, untying the bundles and setting them on his bed. He then threw some Owl Treats into her cage before turning his attention to his mail.

Draco watched as the other boy opened the packages one at a time to reveal various bundles of food, most likely made by Molly Weasley. At Potter's nod, Draco started helping himself to some of the cake. He continued to regard Potter as he read through the letters that he had received.

Harry chanced to open Hermione's letter first. It was quite long, and it took him some time to finish reading it.

Dear Harry,

I hope you're holding up ok... Ron and I are fine. I'm staying at the Burrow, because of my parents - I'll explain properly when we see you tomorrow.

Mrs Weasley has been packing up a ton of food for you and... your guest. Never mind that you're only there for a couple of days! I hope Hedwig will be able to carry it all...

As for your mystery guest, I've been thinking it over and I believe I know who it is. if I'm right, then I agree with you, we should take him with us. But you'll be in for it when we arrive tomorrow - Ron and Gin are furious with me for even suggesting it, and they firmly believe that you wouldn't be stupid enough for that. Not that I'm too happy about it either - but if what he says is true, it's not like he can really go anywhere else. But I want to make it clear Harry - he's not getting any more chances from us.

I don't quite know what to make of that note from the Prince. Taking into consideration who we're discussing here, my first word of advice is not to believe everything he says. But the appearance of the... trinket... puts things into a different perspective. Are you certain that it's an authentic one? If so, my advice is not to write off the Prince's support - but I still stand by my advice not to trust him.

While we are on the topic of the trinkets, do you have a plan for what we're going to do next? Personally, I don't think we should return to Hogwarts again - last year proved that the castle isn't as safe as everybody thought..

Well, it's up to you really. There's no need to write a reply to this, we'll discuss everything when we meet up tomorrow. Be prepared for Ron and Gin's reactions, and stay safe.

Love,

Hermione

Harry chuckled softly. "Trust Hermione to figure out who you are," he muttered.

Malfoy looked at him suspiciously. Harry shook his head in response, and said, "I swear that I didn't describe you in any way, but she still managed to figure out who you are."

He threw the letter onto the bed, and opened the next letter; which turned out to be from Ron.

Hey mate,

Hope the Muggles are treating you alright. Mione's staying here with us and we're all fine here. Bill and Fleur are still walking around like lovesick fools and it's driving Mum mad! Mum's been keeping herself busy by making up the packages of food for you. Never mind that it's only for a couple of days - it keeps her mind off other things.

Mione has an idea about who your mystery guest is - she had better not be right! There is no way in hell that I'm going to let Ferret Face come to HQ with us!

And what the hell were you thinking, even touching a letter from the Prince? It could have been cursed for all you know!

Anyway, we'll see you tomorrow,

Ron

Harry shook his head in chagrin. This was exactly how he'd expected Ron to react - he was definitely too predictable. Setting Ron's letter down as well, Harry turned to the food.