Draco's fingers itched to reach for his wand. He was right there. Right there before him, with only Snape as a witness, who knew about the whole affair already.

He stared blankly into his would-be victim's eyes, watching in disgust as they twinkled merrily into his own. Not only merrily, but knowingly, as they always seemed to be. Well, Draco would show him, wouldn't he? He would never know what Draco was to do. Not until it was too late.

He was giving himself a sort of mental pep talk; egging himself on to pluck up the nerve and get the job over with. He found his hand beginning to reach for his pocket slowly when the old man decided to speak.

"Ah, here they are."

Draco's hand dropped lifelessly to his side instantly, glaring at the door that was being opened slowly, his annoyance intensifying even more so as he observed who was being ushered in.

"What's she doing here?" he asked, turning to his professor.

Dumbledore frowned at the boy's tone, motioning to a chair to the new occupant of the room. "One would think you would use a better tone with your mother, Draco."

He eyed his mother as she sat, turning back to Dumbledore. "What's going on? I didn't do anything—school hasn't even started yet!"

"I realize that, Draco," Dumbledore answered. The boy was not going to be cooperative. "It's not a punishment, Draco. It's simply for your protection."

"What? Protection?" Draco looked from the Headmaster to Snape to his mother. His eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean protection?"

"From the Dark Lord. And your father, as it is."

Draco stood so fast that his chair was pushed back a foot and a half. "I don't need protection!" he spat angrily. Protection from the Dark Lord? Draco was serving the Dark Lord! "Not from him, not from anyone!"

"Draco, sweetie, please calm down and just sit—"

Draco spun to face his mother. "What have you done?" he hissed coldly. "Who did you talk to?"

"She talked to me, Draco."

He turned to the Headmaster, barely veiling his terror. He knows? "What did you tell him?" he spat at her. What a bloody fool! Does she want me shipped off to Azkaban?

"Everything," Dumbledore answered for his mother once again, whose mouth hung open at her son's disrespect towards her. "She told me everything, Draco. And we are doing everything we can to stop this while we can."

Draco had the nerve to scoff at the great man before him. "Stop what? What can you do to stop it? Even if I don't do it he'll just send someone else!"

"I understand and have acknowledged that fact, Draco, but what I am more concerned about is saving you, and not myself."

Draco was speechless. He felt himself shaking, and couldn't place if it was from anger or the surge of nervousness that had flooded his body. "Ever stop to think that perhaps I don't want to be saved?"

Narcissa Malfoy gasped, tears spilling out of her eyes instantly. Snape stood silent, still, as if he weren't even witnessing the scene. Dumbledore stood. "I will not allow you to throw your life away. You are sixteen, Draco. A choice such as the one you've been given shouldn't even be considered for another few years. You will not return to Hogwarts next year, for that reason."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Draco questioned. "They'll find me, wherever you decided to stick me. Those aren't fools you're dealing with."

"I understand that," Dumbledore nodded, "but there is one place they won't be able to find you."

---Poor Draco---

"Goblinwatch has been informed, and there are aurors and members of the Order there as well."

Ginny nodded in relief at the news. "That wasn't all they were planning, sir. It was something else. Goblinwatch was only to convince the people that wouldn't agree with it. It has to be really big," she looked down at her hands, which she'd been twisting for the past five minutes, "really big, because they don't want attention drawn to it. He refuses to kill resisters."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, yes. The Ministry is currently investigating Lucius, though, very unsuccessfully it seems. They seem to have him well hidden these days, and the Ministry seems to be more concerned about rounding up those prisoners instead of the things that really matter."

Ginny fought herself from standing in an outrage. "Why would they round up the prisoners? I mean honestly, what will they do with them when they do? The dementors have up and left. How else do they plan to contain them?"

Dumbledore simply contended in nodding once more in agreement. "Yes, it is very frustrating, isn't it? The Ministry is very frustrating to deal with."

Ginny shook her head, still in disbelief at the idiots that were running their country. "I still don't understand why you didn't accept the position as Minister and set all of this straight."

He chuckled merrily at this. "I enjoy being a Headmaster far too much to give it up. And in any case, the Minister's shoes are hard to fill, and I find that I'm not much of a political man."

"Yes, well, neither is Fudge," Ginny grumbled quietly.

"Oh, they'll be appointing a new minister soon. Hopefully this one will be more cooperative."

"Doubtful," Ginny huffed.

Dumbledore chuckled again. "Yes, yes. But politics was not the reason I visited. What I wanted—oh, there you two are," Dumbledore paused as Ginny's mum and dad appeared in the doorway of the study.

They walked over and took a seat on either side of Ginny, making her feel quite uncomfortable. What did Dumbledore want to discuss with her and her parents?

"It seems…with the recent breakout…and Lucius Malfoy recognizing you in that pub…well, he'll know that you know much more than you should…which is nothing. I imagine."

Ginny couldn't believe it. Is Dumbledore stumbling over words?

"It seems that, for your protection of course, you shouldn't be allowed to return to Hogwarts. There are far too many possibilities."

Ginny cocked her head to the side in concentration. She played the words through her head. Not allowed to return to Hogwarts? Her head spun. "But…where am I to go?"

"Someplace safer."

Her mother took her hand while her father patted her shoulder. Ginny was becoming more confused by the second. "But…I thought there was no place safer than Hogwarts!"

"Indeed, there isn't," Dumbledore nodded, glancing to each of her parents in turn. "Yes, Hogwarts is the safest place…in the Wizarding World."

---Oh, poor, poor Ginny---

"NEVER!"

"Please, just—"

"NO!" Draco slung a chair across the lounge, knocking a portrait off of the wall it hit. "I WILL NOT, MOTHER! NEVER!"

"Draco, it's for your own good! Please, darling, just—"

"STUPID!" he cut his mother off again with the single word and she stood frozen in place. He took the opportunity to break the silence dramatically by sending a four-thousand galleon vase through the nearest window. "YOU ARE STUPID! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? HOW COULD YOU TURN IN YOUR OWN SON YOU STUPID" Draco kicked the end table next to him "FOOLISH" he picked up another vase and sent it to a fiery death in the hearth "BINT!" he picked up a picture of said woman in question and chucked it to the wall, sending it flying merely a foot past his mother's head.

He stood there, panting and red-faced. Narcissa Malfoy drew herself up and took a deep breath, returning her to the haughty state she usually maintained. "Go to your room," she spoke quietly, trying to keep her son from knowing how hurt she was, "now. Go to your room and calm down."

He himself straightened, staring his mother in the eyes coldly. "Oh, I'll go to my room," he assured her, spinning around and stomping out of the room, leaving his now-crying mother in his wake.

---What a temper---

"Darling?"

Ginny's mother put a hand on Ginny's shoulder. Ginny sat on the ground before her closet, her clothes strewn about. She turned to her mum with a teary face. "Please don't make me go," she choked out softly. "I don't want to go!"

Molly Weasley knelt in front of Ginny, her eyes glimmering with tears. She took her daughter's face in her hands and pulled her closer. "Oh, I know sweetie, I know. I don't want to send you there. It's hard enough shipping you off to Hogwarts every year, and we know many adults there. You need to understand though—"

"I know, mum," Ginny interrupted, "I know, it's for my own good. It's just so hard…"

"Everything will be fine, dear. You'll learn new things, and you'll meet new people…and eventually you'll find this all a blessing."

"A blessing?"

"A blessing in disguise!" her mother assured her. "Yes, of course it is! You'll see how blessed you are, that you're so talented and how easy your life is compared to theirs! Oh, it's not going to be easy, but you'll have your wand for emergencies and—"

"Where will I live?"

Molly looked down, picking up a random garment and folding it neatly. "You—you'll be on your own most of the time…but Tonks will check in on you from time to time, and other members…and you can owl us whenever you need to, any of us. Just make sure your owl isn't seen. Only at night."

Ginny nodded. Sighing as she pulled more clothes towards her. "This is going to be difficult."

"I can't even imagine what you're going through," her mother informed her, and meaning every syllable. "It's so overwhelming…just don't do anything drastic, like trying to run away."

Molly smiled as her daughter laughed and hugged her. "Don't worry mum. I'm far more mature than that."

---Such Kodak moments---

"Tabby, aren't you supposed to be packing Draco's things?" Narcissa placed her hands on her hips, regarding the house-elf suspiciously.

"Tabby was, mistress! But Tabby was having to come back inside when the master tossed her out the window!"

"He what?"

Indeed, the house-elf was considerably battered, small cuts decorating her face and arms.

"And face-first!" Narcissa gasped. She climbed the stairs to her son's room, throwing open the doors and searching about wildly.

Draco was nowhere to be found, and neither was his broom.

---What a pathetic attempt---

It hadn't started out as an escape attempt. Draco simply wanted to go flying. It was then that the thought struck him. They can't send me away if they can't find me!

He'd had to take care of the stupid house-elf packing his things, first ordering it to stop. It didn't listen to him! The house-elf didn't listen to him, the master.

The stupid thing insisted that the mistress had commanded it not to stop until the packing was finished. Draco had eventually ushered the servant out of his room, giving it a nice boot out the window. Surprisingly enough, sending the elf three stories to the ground did little to calm his temper. In fact, it just made him angrier.

He didn't know where he was going, but he made sure he had his wand and some spare change before picking up his broom and, he too, exiting through the window.

---What a bad boy---

Ginny's eyes rested on her broom and her recently made promise to her mother ran through her head. Sighing, she threw her latest stack of clothes into her trunk. She had begun scooping up all of her stationary and her favorite quills and parchment and was about to dump that into the trunk as well, when a knock sounded at her door.

"Come in," she granted her caller permission, turning as they entered.

"Don't sound so excited."

"But can't you tell? I'm just so enthusiastic about this whole thing! I think I'll leave right tonight, that way I won't have to wait to be exiled," she spat the last word bitterly, plopping down on her bed.

Bill took a seat next to her, frowning. "You aren't being exiled, Gin. You know that this is for your protection. Imagine what would happen if Malfoy caught up with you."

Ginny shuddered at the thought, and was about to comment that Hogwarts was safe enough but Bill continued: "And even at Hogwarts! Gin, you know that a good two-third's of those Slytherin's parents are in the servitude of Voldemort. It would be just as easy for you to be attacked there. In fact, we'd practically be sending you right into their hands. It's just not safe, Ginbug, and we want you completely safe, 100 percent."

Ginny smiled at the use of her brother's nickname for her. "This sucks."

"I know, I know. But I'll stop by every once in awhile to check up on you. We all will."

"Joy," Ginny stood, placing the last of her things in her trunk. She attempted to shut the lid and found that it wouldn't close all the way. She lifted the lid, rearranged a few garments and tried to close it again. Once more, it came inches from shutting. Ginny sat on the top of it, hoping that her weight would push it down the rest of the way, growing ever more frustrated when it nothing to help. "Oh, bugger it!" Ginny kicked the trunk, holding her foot as her brother chuckled at her.

"You shouldn't kick inanimate objects, Ginbug," he stood next to her, muttering some incantation that caused the trunk lid to snap shut and lock itself.

She turned away from him towards the window, sighing as the first drops of a big storm hit her window. "I'm going to miss you."

Bill laughed. "You wouldn't be seeing me anyhow!"

"I know that, but…this is different…Hogwarts is different…"

"I don't envy you, I'll give you that much. You have a tough year ahead of you. But you can do it, I know you can."

"Think so?"

Bill laughed once more at his little sister. "Did I not just say that I know so?" he pulled Ginny over to him and hugged her.

"Thanks, Bill."

---I love siblings sometimes---

For the first time in her life, Narcissa Malfoy answered the door, throwing it open anxiously.

There stood her rain-soaked son, accompanied by Severus Snape.

"He came to my house."

Narcissa looked up quickly from studying her son's face, gasping. "Wormtail—"

"Was out, luckily enough for you," he hissed the last part at Draco, pushing him over the threshold roughly. "How stupid can you be, Draco? Dumbledore is trying to protect you, and you thank him by running away? Highly foolish and highly immature."

"You will be punished for this, young man," Narcissa took a firm stance with her son, also for the first time in her life. Draco looked positively shocked at the threat.

"I know what's to happen," Snape offered, stepping in himself and shutting the door. He pulled to objects out of his pocket, enlarging one, he handed Draco's broom to his mother, as well as his wand.

Draco watched in horror. "I can't even have my broom?"

"Stupid boy!" Snape chided him. "In the middle of a muggle town? How dense are you? Even at night someone could see you! No, the broom was out from the start. What you've lost because of this little escapade was your wand."

---Sucky for him---

She walked the hallways and inspected all of the rooms, following Tonks on a guided tour. "And here's the kitchen, oh isn't it quaint?" It was full of things Ginny had never seen before. She recognized some stuff from her Muggle Studies book, such as the stove, and microwave, but others such as the small white box with two holes on the top remained a mystery to her.

Ginny turned to Tonks, frowning. "Did you just say 'quaint'?"

Tonks laughed. "Ha, oh, yes, I suppose I did. Well…if you think you're quite alright then I suppose…"

"I'll be fine, Tonks. I have a lot of unpacking to do."

"Don't stay up too late! You've got classes tomorrow!"

"I know, I know," Ginny nodded, ushering the auror towards the front door. She had taken her to see the school earlier that day. It was small.

"There's some muggle money on the table for your lunch—"

"I know, Tonks," Ginny said again.

"—as well as some for just fun outings—"

"I know, Tonks!"

"So have a good first day, and make new friends!"

"I'll try, Tonks."

Tonks smiled at Ginny as she opened the door. "You're being very brave, Ginny."

Ginny didn't know how to respond to that, so she just nodded.

"Stay safe!"

"I will."

"One of us will be along in a few days or so."

Ginny nodded. "Bye, Tonks."

"Bye!"

The door snapped shut behind the now brown-haired woman. That was the most energetic she'd seen Tonks in quite awhile.

Ginny turned around, leaning against the door. The empty living room stared back at her menacingly.

Ginny sighed. "I better unpack," she spoke to no one, and the slight echo that returned to her ears did nothing to calm her rising trepidation.

---Poor, poor, poor Ginny---

"It smells funny."

"Nonsense."

"No!" Draco Malfoy crinkled his nose in disgust. "It does!" he insisted, opening the nearest window.

"It's all in your head. It's new and you're trying to find every little thing wrong with it, as you always do."

Draco glared at the back of his professor's head. "I don't want to stay here."

"Well unless you want to live with muggles, you have no choice. It's the closest one to your school, and the cheapest, so you're taking it."

Draco looked completely astounded. He'd never had anything cheap in his life. "Certainly I can afford better that this," he looked about the small apartment, detesting it with every fiber of his being.

"Just because your father is in hiding doesn't mean that he's not keeping an eye on his assets. He will become suspicious if we remove too much money from Gringotts, so clearly, you can't afford better. It will suit you just fine."

Snape made his way to the door of the grubby apartment, turning before he left. "Behave."

Draco nodded, staring glumly in the other direction.

"And for Merlin's sake, be smart and stay safe."

He merely nodded again, refusing to look in that direction until the door had closed.

---Draco is so finicky---

That's that then…oh btw, Draco's meeting took place in Dumbledore's office, and Ginny's at the Order Headquarters. It's right at the end of summer. Next chapter is the first day of school.

In case you haven't figured it out, this is somewhat of a HBP AU…I'm doing my best to stick with the smaller details, like the color of Tonks' hair, and I know she's slightly OOC in relation to HBP in this chapter, but I didn't realize it until I was reading through and didn't want to redo that whole section.