LbN: Almost done! Happy reading!

"So what's left then?" Blaise asked as they ate their sandwiches and cakes.

"Shhhh," Draco said. Then, looking at Blaise, he thought, Just the snake.

"Er…what was that?" Ron asked, seeing the silent exchange between the Slytherins.

"We can talk without talking," Blaise explained.

"That's useful," Hermione said. "We should've learned—"

Whatever she was going to say was drowned out by raised voices. One was Seamus's and the other was Neville's. Both were in heated discussions with their respective guardians about staying at Hogwarts. It turned out that the arguments were pointless however, because at that moment, the ground began to rumble.

"What the hell was that?" Blaise asked. He ran to the windows, vaulting over the nearly empty tables to get there. "Shit! Giants!" he called. "And Dementors! We're under attack!"

Everyone stood, wands at the ready. Draco was about to suggest they split up, as they were kind of sitting ducks in the Great Hall, when he saw Harry shaking out of the corner of his eye. "Potter? What's the matter—Harry?" He caught The Boy Who Lived as he swayed.

A voice filled the hall then. "Do you want this, Harry? Do you want them to die for you?"

"Ahhh!" Harry yelled, sinking to his knees.

Ron held him, Sirius kneeled beside him, and Draco looked out the windows, trying to figure out where You-Know-Who was lurking.

"I will kill them—one by one—if you do not turn yourself over to me. My Death Eaters will enter the castle in five minutes. If you fight, you will die."

Harry gave one last yelp of pain before going limp.

Draco quickly poured a glass of pumpkin juice and gave it to him. "Easy."

"What should we do?" Hermione asked Sirius.

"We're going to get you out," Sirius said. "Tonks! Let's take them to Fred and George."

"Have you gone round the twist?" Draco asked. "We've got to—"

"Get to safety," Sirius snapped. "Especially you and Hermione. Harry might be safe for the battle until You-Know-Who gets here (and I'm not even going to chance that), but they'll kill the pair of you on sight. Let's move."

"Ginny," Molly Weasley said. "You go too. You're too young to fight."

"Mum!"

"Come on," Tonks told her.

They followed him and Tonks up the stairs, the doors to the school rattled and creaked. Ron, still carrying Gryffindor's sword, turned at the loud bang that signaled the Death Eaters' arrival. He and Draco were the first to the railing to see the chaos beneath.

"We can't stop," Sirius said urgently.

"Harry, the snake!" Blaise said. "It's about to get Longbottom!"

"We have to kill it," Hermione told Sirius. "You remember what Dumbledore said."

"Tonks," Sirius said, "Keep them moving." He transformed then, taking the hilt of the sword in his mouth and running down the stairs.

Draco didn't move from the rail, nor did any of the others. He watched as Sirius slashed at the backs of Death Eaters' knees and finally slid the sword near where Neville was dodging the snake. He watched as Sirius ran over and bit the snake on its tail, distracting it enough to give Neville time to slice off its head. A cheer went up from the Order and the Army.

"Let's move," Tonks said, finally managing to pull Draco along. She took them to one of the hallways that hid behind a tapestry, and tapped a few bricks with her wand. A doorway appeared, and Fred opened it.

"Thought you'd never come to see us," he whispered with a grin. "Come on, in you get."

When they stepped through, Draco's eyes were offended at the sight of such contrasting vivid colors. "Bloody hell!"

"Part of the effect," George said. "Now, we can't all walk on one path. It won't hold us. Harry, Ron and Ginny can come with me. Hermione, you and Draco go with Fred. Tonks, are you going back?"

"Absolutely not!" Ginny all but shouted. "If I'm not fighting—"

"Ginny, I have to fight," Tonks said. "I promise to be careful, but I have to go back."

"And we have to get moving," Fred said. "Follow me."

Draco took Hermione's hand and they followed Fred down path number two. He was careful to stay directly behind the redhead after falling into some rainbow-colored goop on the side of the path. Everything was insane here. He'd reached out to touch something once, and it had almost swallowed him whole! Thankfully Fred had lightning fast reflexes…

"So this is what you were up to all year," Hermione said in awe.

"We were on guard at the other side—where I'm taking you now. We built all of the booby traps, and charmed them so they're all rainbow colored. It's not just to look pretty," Fred said, seeing Draco roll his eyes. "The shades make everything blend together. Look over there," he pointed to their right. "You can't tell what anything is. Everything here is always moving and changing. That's why Dumbledore told you all that you'd be crazy to try and sneak in or out. We have these at all the normal entrances as well, just…toned down a bit."

"Then how'd the Order and Dumbledore's Army get in?" Draco asked, dodging a sinister looking rainbow flower.

"They had instructions on how to get in."

"How'd the Death Eaters get in?"

"They had You-Know-Who."

The three of them walked in silence for a while. Fred led them through rainbow tunnels, up rainbow hills, and down rainbow slides. Draco was beginning to suspect that the point of this place wasn't that you'd get eaten by a giant rainbow pineapple if you snuck in, but that it was bigger on the inside than on the outside, and you'd be lost for days before making it halfway through. Finally, Fred stopped. Draco nearly bumped into him, but slipped into the goop again instead. After he got himself unstuck he looked back at the older Weasley, who now looked very grim indeed.

"We're going out now. We're not on Hogwarts grounds anymore, but we are in the Forbidden Forest. Keep your eyes open and your mouths shut. We had an all clear the last time we checked, but that was an hour ago. We're going to Hogsmeade—to Aberforth's place. We'll be able to Apparate from there. Understand?"

Hermione and Draco both nodded, and Draco squeezed Hermione's hand gently. "Ready?" he asked, and she nodded.

Fred cast a spell as they stood at the exit, still hidden. "There's someone out there,
he muttered. He waited, looking through the spy hole for a few minutes. "Just one of the Centaurs. They're on our side, let's go."

They walked out into the cool air and Fred closed the passageway behind them. Suddenly, Draco felt himself go flying into a tree. A second later, he was tied to it. He closed his eyes against a flash of green light, and when he opened them, Fred Weasley was lying dead at his feet.

LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews! Also, there's still a little time to vote on which fandom I'm adopting :). The poll's on my profile!