CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

"My – what?" Malfoy stammered.

"You're house," said Harry firmly.

Malfoy rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. "How'd you know it was my house?"

"You live in Wiltshire, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you have big ceilings and suits of armor and your room has portraits of Quidditch players and pictures of a bunch of Slytherins?"

Malfoy scowled. "Sounds like my house. …the bloody hell do they want with my house?"

"Well," said Hermione, "it's big, isn't it? And it's already been inspected by the Ministry and been deemed vacated, right?"

"Yes," growled Malfoy through clenched teeth. "But only until I graduate. Then, it's my house."

"You're going to live in that big mansion all by yourself?" asked Ginny.

"It'll be me and the elves."

Hermione opened her mouth to make a retort about the way she assumed Malfoy treated his House Elves, but Ron gently prodded her in the side with his elbow and shook his head.

Instead, Hermione said, "I'll owl Professor Lupin right now. I'm sure this will deem as an emergency. We can go tonight to the house, yeah? You said a lot of Death Eaters left, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"So, there will be less resistance." Hermione got up and left the kitchen, presumably to write a letter to Professor Lupin.

"My house is going to be destroyed, isn't it?" said Malfoy quietly.

"We can repair anything that gets broken," said Rebecca. She reached over to take Malfoy's hand but he snatched his hand back from her grasp. Ginny and Ron both flinched, but Rebecca reacted as if nothing happened.

"It doesn't matter, really. Unless my father goes to Azkaban I can never go back home." Malfoy placed his chin against the palm of his hand and leaned on the table. "I would like to take my mom out of St. Mungo's and bring her home."

"Don't they take care of her there?" asked Harry.

"Her brain was addled by magic. She's a walking zombie but still has control over herself to an extent. She stares off into space mostly. Still, even someone like you can understand wanting to be around familiar things."

Harry nodded. "I suppose."

"Well, suppose this: she's completely aware of what's going on, she just can't talk or anything. Wouldn't you rather be at home than in some dumpy hospital surrounded by patients that your husband put there with the end of his own wand?"

"Like the Longbottoms," said Ron quietly.

"Well, that wasn't my father who did that, but essentially, yes."

"You don't know she's aware of anything, though," said Hermione, returning to the kitchen with parchment in hand and Hedwig sitting on her shoulder.

"So? In the slightest chance that she might be aware I don't want her stuck in some trashy hospital in the middle of London. I don't hate my mother."

"Only your father, then?"

"Yes," Malfoy snapped viciously. "Only my father."

Hermione folded up the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg. She went to the door and opened it. "Take that to Professor Lupin, all right?" Hedwig nipped at Hermione's fingers and took flight. Satisfied that the snowy owl would know where to go, Hermione shut the door.

"Too bad we can't go right now. I'm ready to get back to school," said Rebecca.

"We'll go soon enough," said Hermione. "I'd suggest practicing Defense, but I don't want any of us to get hurt before we're supposed to fight."

"Not to mention Rebecca and I can't do magic," Ginny reminded them.

"So, we're supposed to sit idly by and wait for the werewolf to contact us?" asked Malfoy.

"Yes, that's precisely what we're going to do."

Hedwig returned around dinner time with a short note tied to her leg. Harry removed it and read it aloud. It was a simple note, telling them to be ready at six the next morning for Tonks' arrival. She would bring with her a portkey that would take them all into the woods at Wiltshire where they would meet several members of the Order, mostly Aurors who were trained to fight in battles of magic. There they would proceed to Malfoy Mansion where hopefully everything would go as smoothly as a Final Battle could.

Draco disappeared immediately after Harry read Lupin's letter. Rebecca followed him, giving her apologies to the group for his unsightly behavior.

Hermione used her wand to clean the dirty supper dishes while Ginny begged Ron to show her his Animagus animal. He refused.

"Please! I might not get to see it tomorrow because I'll be with Hermione. And I really, really want to see it." Ginny looked at Harry. "Don't you?"

Harry nodded. "Definitely."

"Hermione said it wasn't an embarrassing animal." Ginny pouted. "Please? You're my favorite brother."

"Only when Bill's not around," mused Ron.

"That's not true! You're still my favorite brother. And you're my friend."

The truth of Ginny's statement hit Ron in a funny way. He shifted in his chair, running a hand over the extremely short hairs on his head. The only sound in the room was that of the water running in the sink and the swish of sponges against the plates.

"Oh, all right," said Ron.

Ginny clapped her hands together. "Yay! Oh, I'm so excited now!"

Ron stood up and looked around the kitchen. "Er, let's move the table to the wall."

Harry and Ginny stood up and moved their chairs out of the way, allowing Ron to push the table against the wall, leaving the middle of the floor as an open space. Ron took in a deep breath. Harry and Ginny (and Hermione as well) watched Ron in awe. His hair lengthened on his head and continued to grow around his face and the rest of his body. His nose broadened and extended, his teeth sharpened, and his back hunched over. His fingernails turned into claws and his fingers shortened until they were paws, the palms of his hands becoming thick pads. His entire body grew until he was from head to tail almost twelve feet long. The hair around his head continued to grow in an orange and dark yellow mane, his blue eyes remaining blue but changing shape. Along his flanks and limbs were black stripes right where he had scars from the brain at the Department of Mysteries fifth year. On his back were more stripes where he had childhood and Quidditch scars from cuts and scrapes he hadn't bothered to have healed.

Harry's eyes narrowed at Animal Ron, his mouth opening slightly in shock. Ron was massive. Long and thick with powerful looking muscles in each of his four legs. His tail swished and hit the back of Ginny's legs, causing her to stumble forward. Harry caught her by the arm and helped her stand up right.

"What – er – Hermione?" Ginny's wide eyes turned to look at Hermione. The bushy haired girl was studying Animal Ron with a fascination.

"He's a Liger," Hermione said simply.

"Oh, right, of course," said Ginny. "A Liger. I should have guessed. Hermione – what the hell is a Liger?"

Hermione's eyes went from Animal Ron to Ginny. "A Liger is a new species of cat – a cross breed of a Lion and a Tiger. See how he has both characteristics of a Lion and a Tiger? The mane, the stripes? But, since he's a cross breed – a hybrid, if you will – he's much, much larger than an ordinary wild cat usually is."

"And Ligers actually exist?"

"In America they do," Harry said. "Leave it to the bloody Americans to fuck with nature and create something like that. But, how can Ron transform himself into an animal that shouldn't even exist?"

"I researched it, actually," said Hermione.

"I'm not surprised," Harry replied.

"Once an animal in brought into existence an Animagus can transfigure themselves into that animal. There are no parameters of what kind of animal you can turn into."

Harry nodded. "Right." He looked at Animal Ron who had walked up to Hermione and nudged her in the stomach with his nose, only stopping when she reached down and scratched his head. "He's huge."

"Yes. Lions are quite large at eight feet. Ron's clearly almost twelve feet. I wouldn't be surprised, actually, if he was bigger than that."

"If I was Voldemort," said Ginny, "and I saw that coming at me, I think I'd surrender."

Hermione smiled. "The larger the animal, the more difficult it is to have the Killing Curse or Crucio have any affect. Ron's lucky he didn't turn into a opossum."

"Or a mink?" Ginny suggested, smiling.

"Or a mink, yes."

Ron slowly transformed himself from Animal Ron back to Human Ron. He looked at his little sister and Harry, expecting to hear reactions.

"Brilliant," said Harry and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"So, you think Voldemort's going to surrender when he sees me?" asked Ron merrily.

Ginny giggled. "Yeah. Do you realize how huge you are?"

"Why do you think I moved the table?"

"Huge," Ginny said again. "Be careful that you don't kill Voldemort youself."

"I'll be careful."

"Why were you so shy about showing us your Animagus?" asked Ginny. "We didn't laugh."

Ron shrugged. "I mean, a Liger? It's a bit of a joke, isn't it?"

"No – and you have the heart of Gryffindor, after all," said Harry seriously. "The prophecy said so."

"Right."

"Well, I think it's brilliant," Hermione said. "And I'm really proud of you, Ron."

Ron blushed. "What for?"

"For not getting too discouraged and sticking with it. You're really smart when you allow yourself to be. How else would you learn to become an Animagus? That's the hardest bit of Transfiguration there is. You should have no excuse to not get an O on your NEWTs."

"Leave it to Hermione to bring up NEWTs at a time like this," said Harry.

Hermione put her hands on her hips. "We'll be back at Hogwarts in time for NEWTs, Harry! You shouldn't put off studying. You think I'm just going to cease my own studying to help you catch up with yours? NEWTs are very important. They help determine your career!"

"You look and sound just like Mrs. Weasley, y'know." Harry grinned. "And I don't care about NEWTs. Maybe I'll follow in Fred and George's footsteps and not take them."

"Harry!"

"But, either way, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Harry nodded for Ginny to follow him up the stairs. Hermione watched them go, but her attention was immediately brought back to Ron as she felt his eyes on her.

"So, you're proud of me, eh?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes. Very much so."

"Gee, thanks. Well, I'm proud of you as well for thinking up all this stuff that's going to finally rid us of Voldemort. I wonder why no one ever figured it out before?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't rightly know."

"They're just not as clever as you are."

"No… I just think the Order has their hands full with all these Muggle attacks and trying to locate Death Eaters and prevent them from killing. No one has the time to sit and search through book after book after book like I did."

"You're going to be brilliant, you know, when you start your career – whichever one you choose."

"I think I'd like to work for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Ron made a face. "Spew again?"

"Not spew, Ronald! S-P-E-W. And, yes, if I worked there I could help the elves gain rights. Not to mention I'd be able to help other creatures. For one, the Werewolf Registry is completely biased as is the WCU."

"What's the WCU?"

"Werewolf Capture Unit," Hermione replied. "I'd like to get that nasty little degree Umbridge drafted thrown out so Lupin can get a job."

"He has a job."

"Only for the year. Honestly, Ron, don't you ever listen? Tonks has been getting restless over having a baby, but after this year he won't be able to teach at Hogwarts. He says he needs a job so he can help pay for a family."

"Why can't he teach at Hogwarts?"

"Dumbledore was able to persuade the Minister of Magic not to interfere with the hiring of a werewolf because Harry needed all the members of the Order around him as protection. Harry won't be at Hogwarts next year so there's no excuse to keep Lupin employed."

Ron frowned. "That's not fair."

"I know. That's why if I work for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures I can help him."

"Always wanting to help people," Ron said. "Hermione?"

"Yes?"

Ron closed the gap between them and took her hands in his. "I, er, just want to make sure you know that I love you."

"I know, Ron."

"I just don't think I tell you enough."

"I don't need to hear it every day to know that you do."

"Well, I want to remind you because no matter what happens tomorrow, you're it for me and there'll never be anyone else."

Hermione smiled softly. "I know. I feel the same."

"I just want you to know that."

"But, neither of us is going anywhere. We're going to live through it and go back to Hogwarts and graduate and do all the things we want to do. And we'll be able to do it without fear of being killed or our family and friends being killed by Voldemort."

"That's what I really want."

Hermione smiled. "Me, too."

"And maybe one day there'll be a Defense teacher who'll set an essay on us – and Harry, of course – about the day we all destroyed the Darkest Wizard there ever was."

"You know how I do love a good essay. That'd be a dream come true."

Ron pulled Hermione close and held her against him. "I love you so much."

"I know. I love you, too."

"I wish I could promise you everything right now."

"What would you promise me, Ron?"

"Just to make you happy."

"Well, you do make me happy," said Hermione.

"We're going to live through this," Ron said firmly, trying to make himself believe his own words. "We're going to live through this, and we're going to stay at The Burrow this summer and have our wedding and have our eight children—"

"Eight?!" Hermione shrieked.

Ron chortled. "I'm only kidding."

Hermione pulled away from Ron just enough to look up at him. "Well, maybe one or two wouldn't hurt – one day. Not any time soon. I'm still taking that potion every day."

"One or two. I don't care. Just as long as you're happy."

"Promise?"

Ron nodded. He furrowed his brow in thought. He looked over at the kitchen table to where the stack of parchment Hermione brought in during breakfast still sat. Pulling her over to the paper, Ron sat down on top of the table.

"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.

"Hold on." Ron took out his wand and severed a thin strip of paper. Using his wand, he made the paper into a small ring and took Hermione's hand and slipped the paper over her finger. He bound the paper together and placed an Unbreakable Charm on it.

"What...?" Hermione looked at Ron with wide eyes.

"Well, I'm poor. I reckon this is as close to a promise ring as I'll ever get."

"A promise ring?"

Ron shrugged. "Yeah, haven't you heard of those?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! You stole my trashy romance book!"

Ron blushed. "Well, you had your nose stuck in it for so long. When you finished I didn't think you'd notice that it was gone so I took it and read it since you said it was called a 'romance' novel and all that rubbish. I reckoned it was the only real bit of romance in that book. If you think it's silly, I'll unbind the paper and take it off."

"Don't you dare!" Hermione cried, pulling her hand away from Ron.

"Well, then." He cleared his throat. "That's my promise to you that I'll always try my best to make you happy and all that other mushy, future, romance rubbish."

Tears welled up behind Hermione's eyes. "You have no idea how amazing you are."

"Stop or I'll blush again."

Hermione kissed Ron's jaw. "If we're going to risk dying tomorrow, we better make this night count."

Ron didn't need to be told twice.

Ginny lay on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, watching Harry as he played with her hair. She was completely naked and resisted the urge to blush every time Harry's eyes traveled to her unclothed breasts, watching them move with each breath she took.

Harry jumped slightly when he heard the door directly above his room slam shut. "Either the two of them got in another row, or Ron just kicked her door shut."

"I bet Ron kicked the door. Shh, let's see if they do a Silencing Charm this time." Ginny waited. After a full minute she smiled and nodded. "Good for them. They remembered this time."

"There's going to be a lot of sex in this house tonight. Your mother would absolutely die if she knew what her children were doing."

Ginny giggled. "Yes, she would. Can you imagine the yelling?"

"Yes, which is why I'm glad I don't live there to listen to her wrath."

Ginny's smile faded slightly. "But, you're going to live there, aren't you? This summer?"

Harry shrugged. "I thought about asking Remus if I could stay here."

"In his and Tonks' house?" Ginny was genuinely surprised.

"Not that I wouldn't want to live at The Burrow. It's just… here there would be less people and Remus is the last tie I have to my parents… and, well, really, I don't want to be a burden to your family any longer. Your mother would let me de-gnome the garden but here I could cook and clean and earn my keep. I don't want to be anyone's charity case."

"Harry, you've got it all wrong! Mum loves you and Dad loves you as well, but he really likes having you around to explain all the Muggle stuff to him. Won't you miss Ron and Hermione? And me?"

"Yes. It was just a thought, Ginny. I hadn't really decided on anything yet. Perhaps I'll stay here once the summer is over and Apparate with Tonks to the Ministry for Auror training. That's what she's starting come September, you know. Doing practicals for Auror training."

"I thought only semi-retired Aurors trained the new people?"

"Er, well, Tonks hopes to be pregnant by September so she put in for a position change, effective this September."

Ginny smiled. "Oh! I love babies. I do hope they let me hold it once its born!"

"Mmm."

"Harry, are you all right?"

"I have a lot on my mind, Gin."

Ginny settled herself on Harry's chest, her hair fanned out over his arm. His arms went instinctively around her and he hugged her close.

"It'll be all right, Harry. Everything will turn out fine."

"Right."

"Do you want me to get that sleep potion so you can get some sleep tonight?"

"No."

"You haven't really been sleeping well lately. Only for a few hours at most."

"I know."

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." Ginny sighed.

"Go to sleep, Gin," said Harry. And she did.

Far less romance was going on in Draco's bedroom as the blonde hair boy did push ups next to his bed. Rebecca laid across his bed, watching him, her head hanging over the edge of the mattress.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm antsy."

"Angsty is more like it."

Draco rolled his eyes, but Rebecca couldn't see his face, only the top of his platinum head.

"I'll help you clean your house once the fight with the Dark Lord is over."

"There's elves – to do – that," Draco said between deep breaths.

"Then, why so worried about your house?"

"Because – my – father is there."

"Oh."

"And I – don't want – to have to kill him."

Draco ceased doing push ups and flopped over on his back, breathing in deeply. Rebecca liked it when Draco didn't wear a shirt. His upper arms bulged and his chest was clearly defined, his stomach sectioned off into six squares of hard muscle. She didn't know when he acquired such a hard, fit body, but she figured it had something to do with being expected to become a Death Eater.

He told her once that his father didn't want him branded until he was out of Hogwarts – he didn't trust Dumbledore not to expel his son for bearing the Dark Mark. But, he'd forced Draco to attend Death Eater meetings on occasion and alluded to what they would be doing in coming attacks. Draco didn't care one way or the other about being a Death Eater. He figured it was the right thing to do – rid the world of half-bloods. Nothing was worse than being impure.

What caused him to change his mind and tell Snape all the information he knew from his father wasn't when Voldemort sent a group of Death Eaters to the Harris house. No, it was before, when Draco begged his father not to tell the Dark Lord he'd slept with a Mudblood, when he pleaded to just let her family be, and his father slapped his face and went through the secret door of the drawing room. That's when Draco knew he had to do something to protect these innocent people. The Dark Lord hadn't just ordered the murders of Rebecca and her mother. He ordered the murder of her father as well – a very respected Ministry employee who was of the purest blood.

"Bastard."

"What was that?" asked Rebecca.

Draco looked up at his bed. "I said, 'bastard.'"

"Your father?"

Draco looked away and nodded. "Yes. I didn't know you could hate someone so much."

"I thought you hated the other people in this house?"

"That's not real hate. They just annoy me. Potter's so righteous all the bloody time and Granger's a know-it-all. They make me sick."

"But, your father is real hate?"

"It hurts the way I hate him. It physically hurts and makes me want to vomit on his name."

"Oh, Draco, I wish I could make it better for you."

"Rebecca, let me ask you something."

"All right."

Draco propped himself up by his elbows. "Why are you here?"

"You know why I'm here—"

"No." Draco shook his head. "I don't mean this house. I mean, with me. I treat you terrible. I treat you like – like my father treated my mother."

"You didn't always. You loved me very much once; I could see it in your eyes. You were always a bit of a bastard, a right arsehole, but you never hurt me and you were, well… nice."

"Nice? I'm never nice. I'm spoiled and I try to hurt people on purpose. I intentionally got Hagrid's hippogriff sentenced to death."

"You changed. You're still a bastard, but you've changed. You're eighteen now; you're a man. I'm here because I'm still in love with you. I'm here because when I look at you I see potential to be a good person."

Draco scoffed at her.

"Well, perhaps 'good' was the wrong word. Let me put it to you this way. I see potential for you not to be anything like your father. You may still hate Muggles and half-bloods. There's not much I can do to force you to change your mind about all that. However, you won't go and kill them and you won't try to force misery upon them."

"I don't want to be anything like my father."

"I know," whispered Rebecca.

"My mum told me how in love he was with her once. They met the summer after his seventh year at Hogwarts and he proposed after three months. She said he'd do anything for her. She didn't care much for the Dark Arts, but she didn't mind my father doing them. Then, one day, she said she woke up and he was different. He didn't love her like he used to love her. But, he was rich and I was just a baby so she didn't want to leave. Her family was obsessed with being Pure Bloods and my father was adored by the Blacks – except by Sirius. My mother might have hated Muggles and Mudbloods, but she was still good in essence. She'd never hurt anyone. My father helped to put her in St. Mungo's. I'd never do that."

"Try to kill your wife? I'd hope not. You'll marry for love."

"I don't want to marry at all."

"You'll marry for love," Rebecca repeated. "There's a girl out there stupid enough to deal with your mood swings and your brooding and who will accept that you're a bastard." Rebecca laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I was talking with the Weasley girl today and you sound exactly like Harry."

"I am nothing like Potter."

Rebecca shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well, you're different from him, I suppose, but you're very similar."

Draco laid back down on his back, choosing to ignore Rebecca.

"Draco, if I was a Pure Blood would you still be in love with me?"

"I never said I was in love with you."

"You did. Only once, but I didn't need to hear it more than that. I knew."

"Hand me a pillow." Draco sighed loudly and placed the pillow behind his head. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what sleep would feel like.

"I think, deep down, you still love me."

"Think what you want."

"Well, you made love to me last night."

Draco snorted. "That wasn't love. That was sex."

"You hurt me, y'know."

Draco's eyes flew open and he looked at Rebecca. "I did?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yeah… you really did."

Draco's eyes, which were filled with concern and worry at first, hardened and he closed them quickly. "Good. Maybe it'll teach you to stay away from me. I need to sleep, Rebecca. You should do the same."

Rebecca sighed. She wasn't very tired so she busied herself by watching Draco fall asleep, sure that underneath his ice cold exterior a piece of him was still warmed by love he still had for her.

CRACK!

Nymphadora Tonks appeared in the lounge and found the six house mates all dressed in jeans and jumpers despite the warming weather. Hermione had a leather knapsack by her feet which Tonks assumed contained the Invisibility Cloak and ingredients she needed for her potion.

"Everyone have their wands?"

There were six nods.

"Good. Come on." She pulled a box of sweets from her robes pocket and held it out. Seven hands touched the box and within a few minutes everyone felt the familiar tug on their stomachs and found themselves in the middle of the woods.

Lupin made his way over to Tonks and the "hexad." He kissed Tonks' temple, which caused Draco to look away disgusted, and looked at each teenager expectantly.

"Ready?" he asked.

There were six more nods.

"Good. Listen, we believe Voldemort is in the secret room underneath the floor. Harry, you know how to get to that room from your dream?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. Rebecca and Ron will go with you. We'll have two other Aurors accompany you as well. I daresay you might need the protect. Ron—"

Ron looked up. "Yes?"

"We want you to transform out here before you go in the house. I daresay, it might be too dangerous to wait until you're in there. We don't know how much time you'll have. The Aurors jobs are going to be to watch Harry and Rebecca so that Rebecca can fill the vial with Voldemort's blood – do you have the vial?"

Rebecca pulled a small glass tube from her jeans pocket.

"Good. And, Harry – you have the Sorting Hat?"

Harry lifted up his jumper; the Sorting Hat was tucked in the waistband of his jeans.

"Good, good. That's where you'll get the sword from… just like second year…" Remus coughed. "Hermione, you and Ginny are to stay underneath the Invisibility Cloak in the foyer of the house. Once Rebecca gives you the blood, the Death Eaters in the house will know where you are. It's too risky to Apparate—"

"Actually, I don't know how. I never got my license." Hermione blushed.

"Ah. Well, as I was saying, the Death Eaters will know where you are, which is why it's important for Ginny to stay in front of Hermione at all times so she can finish the potion and the spell. Don't worry, we have two Aurors to help you as well. You'll have to make yourselves visible as soon as you see Rebecca, though, so she'll know where you are to give you the blood."

Ginny, Rebecca, and Hermione nodded.

"What am I suppose to do?" Draco asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You are going to go with another group and check the upstairs for any stray Death Eaters."

"You want me to kill them or something?"

Lupin shook his head. "No, no. Stun them and body bind them so they cannot escape."

"We want all the Death Eaters alive so we can send them to Azkaban," said Tonks. "We don't want to kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. The Order of the Phoenix just isn't that way."

Draco nodded. "Sure. All right. Who goes with me?"

"Come on," said Tonks, "I'll introduce you."

Lupin watched Tonks lead Draco away before he turned back to the other five. "We're going to send in Draco and three Aurors first. Then, we want you all to go in next. There will be one more group after you – members of the Order. McGonagall thought it best to have the other members stay farther away from the fighting and ensure that all the exits are watched in case any Death Eaters try to flee from the house. We're not as… capable in a fight."

"Where is McGonagall?" asked Harry.

"She's at Hogwarts. Snape is here, though. We're trying to keep him by the exits even though he can duel extremely well. Since he's a former Death Eater he understands that his abilities are best suited in catching stray Eaters. We don't want there to be any vengeance killings – used by him or on him."

Harry nodded, understanding.

"All right, then. Ron, go ahead and change. Once you see Draco and his group enter the mansion, you lot are free to go next. Invisibility Cloak," Lupin said to Hermione. "I need to speak with Kingsley for a moment – but don't hesitate to use any means possible to save yourselves in there. I mean it. I wouldn't want you there under any other circumstances, but seeing as the prophecy said what it said…" Lupin sighed. "Good luck."

Hermione took the Invisibility Cloak from her knapsack and looked at Ginny. Before she could cover the two of them up, Ron grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he whispered in her ear. "Be careful. I can't lose you."

Hermione nodded. She let Ron kiss her in front of Harry – something she tried her hardest to never let happen.

"Right, then." Ron let go of her arm and allowed himself to change.

Ginny kissed Harry on the cheek and wished him good luck before allowing herself to be enveloped by the cloak. She wrung her hands together nervously before taking her wand out of her pocket and clutching it tightly in her hand.

"Everything will be all right," whispered Hermione. She looked at Ginny. "Right?"

Ginny nodded. "Right," she whispered back.

"I'm terrified."

Ginny nodded again. "I am too! I told myself I wasn't going to cry out of fear."

Hermione rubbed Ginny's arm.

"What's that?"

Hermione looked at her hand. She smiled at the paper ring that fit snugly around her finger. "It's, well, a promise ring Ron gave me last night."

"A promise ring? Like a marriage promise ring?"

Hermione cocked her head to the side. "Er, sort of. Oh, look, Draco's going. We should follow him out of the woods."

Hermione and Ginny walked with extreme caution so that neither of them would trip over any surfaced roots and risk being seen. They let Harry and Animal Ron enter the house with Rebecca in tow before they attempted to walk up the stone steps to the front doors.

Underneath the iron door stood Voldemort – red eyes leering – and five Death Eaters. Harry was easily able to knock everyone except Animal Ron to their feet by releasing whatever powerful emotion build up he had out. The two Aurors and Rebecca had stayed up in the drawing room until Harry yelled for them to come down so they would not be hurt by Harry's mental blast.

Harry was only able to Stun one of the Death Eaters before the other four were standing up, wands brandished, ready to fight. The Aurors flew down the stone steps to the hidden room, immediately dodging curses and throwing up shields.

Animal Ron pounced on Voldemort and slashed his claws across Voldemort's middle. A giant paw came down on the arm holding an eleven inch wand, claws digging into the Dark Wizard's flesh. Rebecca quickly filled the vial from the blood seeping from Voldemort's arm while one of the Aurors covered her. She ran from the room.

A slow force pushed Animal Ron from Voldemort's body and the Dark Lord was able to stand up. Animal Ron, realizing his defeat, let out a giant roar to get Harry's attention. Not hurt from Voldemort's wandless magic, Animal Ron turned and pounced on one of the Death Eaters, sending him skidding across the floor. One of the Aurors stunned him while Animal Ron felt something gripping him around his neck, trying to strangle him.

Hermione and Ginny both emerged from the cloak as Rebecca released the vial into Hermione's hand. From the knapsack Hermione took a tiny cauldron. With a quick wave of her wand the cauldron doubled in size. Ginny looked away from Hermione as she heard footsteps running towards her.

"I thought Harry said all the Death Eaters left the house!" Ginny cried.

The two Aurors held out their wands, ready to duel. Ginny and Rebecca stood in front of Hermione while the girl put in the bound ingredients of hair, bone, and root into the cauldron. She began to speak in a different language – Latin – and poured the blood over the other ingredients. She continued to chant, the same lines over and over again.

Ginny could hear sizzling and boiling from the cauldron as several Death Eaters came down the stairs, their faces hidden by their black hoods. Ginny's pulse quickened. People weren't so scary in dark hoods when they were wearing orange sneakers. Real Death Eaters, though, were terrifying.

Curses began to fly back and forth, shields were brought up, and strayed hexes hit walls and suits of armor, causing dust and rubble to fall all around.

Ginny watched in horror as a green ray of magic hit one of the Aurors, sending him flying against the stone wall lifeless. She pointed her wand straight at a Death Eater and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"STUPEFY!"

Whether or not it was Ginny's spell that sent the Death Eater flying backwards, no one knew, because at that exact instant, the mixture inside Hermione's cauldron exploded, sending out a force that knocked everyone backwards, much like Harry's wandless magic did only a few minutes before in the secret room. A thick blanket of smoke blinded Ginny, Rebecca, and Hermione as they crawled to the corner of the foyer by the front entrance to the mansion.

Each girl held their wands in front of them, willing themselves to see something – anything.

"Did it work?" Ginny whispered urgently, trying not to cough.

"I don't know, but, I think so."

"You think so?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, no, it worked. I did everything right. It worked. I'm sure of it."

Everything was quiet upstairs. Draco asked one of the Death Eaters he found sleeping in one of the many guest rooms why there were so many Death Eaters here when so many left the night before.

With a smile the Death Eater responded, "Only twenty of us left yesterday to attack Dijon. But, the Dark Lord has over a hundred followers by now. This is our residence now."

Draco had stunned the man and bound him. He followed the Aurors into the other rooms where other Death Eaters slept. The ones downstairs must have been on the tail end of the night shift duty. The ones upstairs were all sleeping or just barely rousing from slumber. Draco stunned all of them. He wanted nothing more than to kill each Death Eater – he didn't know which ones tried to kill Rebecca's family so he might as well kill them all.

"Draco," one of the Aurors hissed at him, motioning him forward. "This is the last door on the corridor. It's locked and we can't open it. Is there a password?"

Draco looked at the door. He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes. I need to go in this room alone." Draco held up his hand to silence the Aurors when they began to protest. "Please. I need to go in here alone. Check upstairs – there're more guest rooms up there."

The Aurors nodded and ran back down the corridor to the staircase.

Draco pointed his wand at the door. "Pur toujours." The door clicked open and he walked boldly inside.

A man with long silver hair stood by the window looking out at one of the gardens directly below. He turned around, his lifeless eyes looking colder than ever, and a smile crossed his face.

"Ah, Draco, I wondered when you'd be coming in here."

Draco straightened up. "Father," he greeted icily.

"I heard you disappeared from school. No one knew where you were. And, ah-ha! Here you are, fighting on the side of 'Good.' I'm ashamed of you."

"Don't waste your time being ashamed of me."

"I'm embarrassed to call you my son. You have ruined the good name of Malfoy! You consummated with a Mudblood and had the nerve to ask me to spare her life."

"Yes, Father, I did."

"You are not fit to be in this houses." Lucius raised his wand at the same time Draco raised his. "I won't hesitate to kill you, Draco."

"Neither will I."

"Put the wand down, Draco."

"No. You could even let me have one indiscretion! It wasn't Rebecca's fault! I didn't know she wasn't a Pure Blood. She was in my House, Father! She was in my House! Why did you have to try and kill her?"

"Stop whining! She wasn't killed, was she? You saw to that. Severus saw to that."

Draco swallowed against a lump in his throat. "You didn't care about me at all. You cared about money and power. You let Mum be tortured to the point of insanity and you let the Dark Lord send Wizards out to kill the one girl I ever loved. Why? I'll tell you why – for power. If I disgrace the name of Malfoy, then so be it. You, Father, disgust me."

Lucius shook his head in disbelief.

The two Malfoys stood across from each other in the room, wands pointed towards each other, waiting for the other to say the words first, daring the other to be done with it.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Green light soared through the air as if in slow motion, leaving one of the blonde haired Wizards lifeless on the floor.

To Be Continued…