Well, this is a new story I wrote for the contest "write the first pages of HP7" by mugglenet. I did not make the cut, but since I still love this story and intend to continue it, I thought, why not? So, here you go!

What a strange time has come, when madmen lead the blind. (King Lear)

It was a strange sight for Hermes. Ever since Percy Weasley had freed him, he had wandered across the English countryside, ever flying, never resting. He hadn't seen a human for four months. That was why that night was so strange. Gazing at the blurry silhouettes on the deserted path, he was for the first time oblivious to the sounds of the night, the wind sweeping through the branches of the trees, the wood creaking, and the mice scrambling across the dusty road. His golden eyes pierced through the darkness, trying to figure out who would be in Derbyshire, in the middle of September, in the deep of the night.

There were three figures. They spoke in hushed whispers, even though nobody was around to hear them. Suddenly, the full moon peeked out from under a cloud and illuminated the figures a brief instant.

Just a tiny, microscopic part of a second.

But it was all Hermes needed to recognize the red hair dominant in the Weasley family. He hooted once more and flew after them, circling over their heads. He decided to go the moment Hermione spoke up. He had better things to do than to listen to petty teenage problems. If he only knew.

"Harry, why exactly are we here? There doesn't seem to be anyone around and why would V-Voldemort hide a horcrux in a Derbyshire?"

"We're not here for a horcrux. We owe a visit to…and old friend of ours."

Hermione shrugged and kept walking. If Harry was going to visit someone in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, what was she to do or say about it? Ron, however, looked slightly green at this idea, and he spoke up for the first time that night:

"Did he really send you an owl? Saying…you know what?"

"Ron, trust me. He's changed. He realized the consequences of his actions. He knows it was wrong and he knew it even before Dumbledore died." Harry's voice faltered at that last bit. But he kept his composure. Losing Sirius beforehand had toughened him up, and he now knew that moping around was not going to change anything.

The trio went ahead on the moonlit path, occasionally stumbling over the random stone, or tensing when hearing an owl hoot, when a loud "CRACK!", followed by another smaller one made Harry and Ron jump and wheel around, while Hermione just smiled and kept walking.

" Well, hello, Ginny." she said calmly, as if welcoming her for tea. Harry stared at Hermione.

"What? You-"

"You couldn't leave her behind, not Ginny. You know how she is…she wanted to do something other than stay around at school knowing you were out searching for Horcruxes to destroy your arch-enemy. So I told her where we'd be."

"Did you tell her what we were doing tonight?"

"Well, I couldn't, could I? I didn't know. Apparently only precious Ron knew!"

"He was with me when I got the owl!"

"Break it up you two! Said a very frustrated Ginny from behind them, "look, Harry, we won't be together, or he'll go after me like you said last year, but I'm going with you lot as a friend, and trust me, you'll need my help."

"How so? Asked Ron who was not too keen on letting his little sister join in the "fun"

"Well, for one, can any of you pull a Bat-Bogey hex as good as mine?" the trio laughed and Ginny took that as her cue to join in the walk.

After a few steps, Ron and Hermione stopped abruptly, leaving Harry and Ginny to take a few steps alone before realizing the change. Ron looked around and asked Ginny what the second "CRACK!" had been. She smiled and addressed Harry:

"You have another ardent follower from Hogwarts, and he wanted to tag along, so I took him here."

"Not…Colin? Please tell me it's not Colin…"

"No! Someone…smaller."

"Mister Harry Potter sir! Dobby is much honored to be in his presence again!"

There, Harry drew the line. He convinced Dobby to return to Hogwarts saying he would be the official House Elf guard, and his duty was to protect the elves if Hogwarts was attacked again. Dobby reluctantly agreed and popped out of sight.

The now quarto strode on, Hermione smiling to herself as Harry and Ginny sneaked glances and Ron remained beautifully oblivious of the situation.

After a while, they arrived at a small mound of earth, and Harry started walking around it, looking for something none of them could see. Finally, with a "HA!" he pointed his wand to a twig and, now perfected in non-verbal spells, needed no incantation as a beam of light shot out of his wand and ignited the slender, brittle, piece of wood.

There was a low rumble and a door appeared, steps leading down into the black hole. Harry looked up at Hermione and said "Ladies first", his lips curling into a smile. Hermione beamed, happy that the boys had finally learnt some manners-or had enough confidence in her to let her go down first-, threw her now finally tamed and sleek hair, after the potion Fleur had given her at the wedding, over her shoulder, pulled out her wand, lit it with a perfect non-verbal lumos spell, and stepped into the stairway.

As the group clambered down the worn steps, a snake slithered next to them. Ron blanched and said in a stammering voice:

"I don't like snakes…"

At his words the step Hermione was on turned into a slide and she flew down the hole, leaving three shocked teenagers behind her. She landed into a small room, lit brightly by blue torches, flat on her stomach. She picked herself up, and looked around at her surroundings while hearing the sounds of her friends sliding down the long chute.

"Glad you made it" stated a bored, drawling voice.

Hermione swung around, her eyes full of dread, and saw him. Sitting on a chair, in the only dark corner of the room, his feet propped carelessly up on a table, was the one and only, Draco Malfoy.

A/N: So? How was it? Please read and review! And here is a cute little trivia question (again, the idea is from IcyCrystal) for you to answer in your reviews!

What would your house (or school, with BeauxBatons and Durmstrang) be? And most importantly, why?

Kiss

MARINE