Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings.

Book: The Seventh

Chapter 1.

Harry was getting used to the fact that Dumbledore was gone. He wondered why it had meant so much to him. Of course, Dumbledore had been a great wizard, and helped Harry a lot, but Harry was always going to have to do this on his own, and now that he knew what he had to do, it didn't make all that much of a difference. This is what Harry Potter told himself everyday, so why was there still this searing pain in his stomach and looseness, dullness, a terrible vibe all around him, like nothing could ever go right again, like nothing would work and they were going to lose this battle no matter what?

"R.A.B……." Harry read. He knew he had to find out what these letters meant. He sat up in bed and looked over at Ron. He lay fast asleep, as usual. Harry searched his brain for a clue. No answer. He went into his past, and came to Sirius. Sirius……."Hang on! The Marauders!" Harry whispered to himself. That gave Harry an idea. What if R.A.B was not one person but…..3! But the note had said "I" not "We". Harry went back to thinking about Sirius. They were in his house right now…

The family tree? An old family heirloom? A photograph? Harry thought of these things but never went to look for them. He knew that any relic of Sirius or Sirius' family would either be destroyed or cherished in a safe place, stolen by The Malfoys or something. But no. The family tree was stuck to the wall. Harry pulled on some jeans and an old t-shit and ran downstairs to the parlor. Nobody was awake. Harry glanced at a clock in the hall. 4:45. No wonder. He opened the kitchen door and began walking across the kitchen to the parlor when he noticed Lupin asleep in his chair, head resting against the table. He was back from studying with the werewolves, as one had nearly found him out and he said he was going to Australia to hunt down any unknown magic there so as the werewolves would not come any closer to finding out his true identity. Naturally, Lupin had run to the Black's house and found that The Weasleys, The Grangers and Harry were here as well as most of the order. Harry crept past Lupin and made his way to the parlor. There, on the wall was the Black Family Tree. Harry's eyes flew at once to where Sirius' name had been burnt off. Next to that name was Regulus Black. Of course! Regulus Black! Harry remembered the conversation he had with Sirius two years ago. "My brother, Regulus, became a death eater, but then he did something that Voldemort did not like at all and got killed by Voldemort himself. He was a fool, my brother."

Harry ran through the door and woke Lupin. "Oh, Hello Harry." Said Lupin sleepily. "What can I do for you?"

"Lupin, do you know Regulus Black's full name? It's urgent."

"Er- I think his middle name was-Um—it started with "A" is that helps…."

"Ok thanks Lupin!" Harry said distractedly.

He ran up the stairs four at a time and nearly knocked over Ginny. "Whoa! Take it easy there Harry! Why are you up so early?" Harry laughed. "I could ask you the same question." He said, pulling her up from the ground. "Couldn't sleep. Oh, come up here for a moment. I've got your birthday present." Harry had forgotten all about his birthday. "Oh, Thanks Ginny!" She pulled him up the stairs and left him outside her bedroom door. Harry knew that Hermione was still sleeping because he could hear Ginny tiptoeing as quietly as she could towards the wardrobe. Then pain shot through Harry's heart like an arrow and he collapsed against the door frame. It lasted for only a second, but the shock stayed glued to Harry's face. As Ginny came out again, she stared at Harry's face and giggled weakly, "Harry you look like you've been struck by lightning!" Harry grimaced and collapsed again. "Harry! Get up!" But all that went through Harry's head was a picture of Ginny screaming. She was screaming for her life. Then it stopped and he was lying in his bed back in his and Ron's room. Ron was standing over Harry on his left and on his right stood Hermione and…Ginny! Harry felt the pain in his heart again and Saw Ginny on the ground, screaming once more. She looked as beautiful as ever, but she was dying, and there was nothing Harry could do. Then he saw it. The Dark Mark. "We have new plans for you Mister Potter" said a cackling Lucius Malfoy. Then he saw Voldemort and the Mark was brought down from the sky where it glowed above his head and it began to shrink, right in front of his face. Harry tried to scream for help as it was lowered onto his skin. Then, it turned black and Harry was a Death Eater. He woke again and began gasping for air. He grabbed his arm and stared at it. There was no mark. He closed his eyes and wished for it all to stop…….

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Harry lay in his bed with his eyes closed. He could hear voices in the room but they were speaking softly, Harry knew they didn't want to wake him. He was scared that if he opened his eyes again, he would see Ginny screaming. Surprisingly enough, Harry knew what this meant. He had never for one second doubted that he still loved Ginny. Not in over a year. And he knew that it would lead both Ginny and himself to harm. But he hadn't suspected that it would happen so soon. These visions were just a warning, but Harry was still burning inside. Everything he did to stop Voldemort would be for Ginny. Ginny was scared. Harry knew that Ginny knew what was going through his head. He wasn't sure how he knew that, but he did. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Ron and…..MALFOY? Draco Malfoy was standing at the end of Harry's bed, his face pale and scared. He and Ron were staring at a glass mirror lying on Harry's bed. Suddenly, as if he knew he was being watched, Malfoy's eyes quickly traveled to the window, as his hand traveled to his wand. "Calm down, mate," said Ron. "Why are you being so jumpy all the time?" Ron looked into Malfoy's eyes with a worried expression on his freckled face………..did Ron just call Malfoy MATE?

Draco Malfoy had found the source of the prickling on his neck. He looked over at Harry with…fear? He gulped, but then gave Harry a weak smile. "Potter! Y-You're awake."

Harry just stared. Ron looked up and grinned. "Harry! We've all been worried sick about you." For the first time in weeks, Harry grinned. "Ron, you sound like your mum."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Ron said, laughing. "Er, Harry, Malf-Draco is staying with us for a while, he, um, Snape brought him here, while you were asleep. You've been asleep for, um……29 hours, mate. You look pretty crappy."

"Thanks for that, mate." Said Harry, with another smile. "So," he said, turning to Malfoy, "been having a rough time?" Malfoy nodded. For some reason, which Harry could not explain, he knew that he had to be nice to Draco. He realised that although Malfoy was a stuck up, nosy, idiotic scum bag, it wasn't his fault. It was his Father's, and Harry knew this because of what he had seen on the top of the Astronomy tower last term. But it had been to late, and Dumbledore was killed. Ron said something about needing to go downstairs to talk to Ginny, but Draco stayed.

"Thanks, Potter, for forgiving me."

"No problem, Malfoy, just don't bag my family, ever again." He winked. "c'mon, let's go eat," suggested Draco, and Harry agreed. He couldn't believe it. This was the most civilized conversation he had ever had with a Malfoy.