Chapter 50
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

Ron rushed over to Xavier and picked him up by the collar with both hands. The note in Xavier's hand fell to the ground.

"Ron!" Ginny said, shocked, "What are you --"

"What do you know about Hermione?!" Ron screamed, looking into Xavier's eyes, "Where is she? Tell me, you little --"

"I-I only know a little bit," Xavier said, teardrops pooling in his eyes.

"Spit it out!" Ron screamed.

"Mr. Weasley, put him down this instant!" McGonagall yelled, "Please do remember that you are Head Boy!"

Ron looked around at McGonagall who had her wand pointed at him. He set Xavier back on the ground and took his hands away from the boy. Xavier cowered as he looked at Ron, never taking his eyes off of him. Ron's chest was moving up and down as he breathed heavily. He stared at Xavier with narrowed eyes.

"You are going to tell me what you know," Ron said, "Right now."

Ron saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Harry had walked over and was now picking up the letter.

"This is from Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Y-yes," Xavier said, nodding.

"How did you get it?" Harry asked.

"An eagle owl sent it to me," Xavier said, "Along with another letter."

"An eagle owl, you say?" Harry asked.

Xavier nodded.

"It was Draco's owl," Harry said.

"Cut the small talk!" Ron said, his eyes still on Xavier, "Where is Hermione?!"

"I-I think Draco has her," Xavier said, before wincing, apparently thinking that Ron was going to attack him again.

"Why don't we see what the letter says?" Ginny said, before Ron could talk again.

"That is a good idea," McGonagall said.

Ron sighed and kept his eyes on Xavier. Harry unfolded the piece of parchment and read it.

"Well, it is from Malfoy," Harry said, "It says 'If you are reading this, it means you are now in Professor McGonagall's office, just as I had planned. Your Mudblood friend is safe for now. At seven-o-clock sharp this evening, I will communicate with you. I expect you to be ready. If you do as I say, Granger will not be harmed.' That is all it says."

"What time is it?" Ginny asked.

"Ten minutes to seven," McGonagall said, looking at the clock on her desk.

"How do you suppose he will talk to us?" Ginny asked, "Another owl? You don't suppose he would just come in here, do you?"

"With Aurors on the Grounds?" Harry asked, "He would be mental."

"How did he get Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"I bet he knows!" Ron said, nodding to Xavier, "How did Draco kidnap Hermione?"

"I don't know," Xavier said, "I am telling the truth!"

"No you are not," McGonagall said, "What else do you know?"

Xavier sighed and looked at the ground.

"Xavier," McGonagall said, "You are a prefect. You know that right would be stripped from you if you did something. If you did do something, and you tell me what you did, I would think about minimizing your punishment. What you must know right now is that you are already in trouble. You have been in communication with a known Death Eater."

"H-he is a De-death Eater?" Xavier asked, in a panicked voice, "I didn't know. Please, professor, I did not know!"

"I understand," McGonagall said, raising her hand to silence the boy, "Now, tell me. How long have you been in communication with Draco Malfoy?"

"A week after the opening feast," Xavier said, "Two seventh years, Crabbe and Goyle, talked to me. They knew I was a prefect. They said that I would be rewarded if I helped them. Well, I thought I was going to get hurt if I didn't accept."

"Why didn't you come to me?" McGonagall asked, "Or Professor Slughorn?"

"They said that they were friends with Death Eaters," Xavier said, "They said the Death Eaters would hurt my family if I didn't help them. If I told anyone, they would hurt my family. The next day after I accepted, I got a letter from Draco Malfoy. He asked me to follow Harry, Ron and Hermione, but not let anyone know what I was doing. I met Ron and Hermione on the train in the prefects compartment... and I knew all about Harry. Then last night, Draco contacted me again. He told me that stuff was going to happen today. I was supposed to follow Harry and Ron and make sure they came up here."

"Professor," Harry said, "I believe Xavier is innocent. He didn't know what he was doing. He was just the messenger."

"Xavier isn't under the Imperius Curse though, Harry," Ginny said.

"He didn't have to be," Harry said, "As long as Crabbe and Goyle had power over him, he would have done anything. I mean... Crabbe and Goyle are big guys. We all know that."

"I am really sorry," Xavier said, "I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

Suddenly a crackling noise came from the fireplace and everyone turned around. A couple seconds later, Draco Malfoy's face appeared in the fireplace. Ron didn't know whether it was from the fire or not, but Draco's face looked paler than the last time he had seen him. His cheeks were bonier and he had bags under his eyes.

"Good," Draco said, "You are all here."

"You!" Ron said, walking toward the fireplace, "Where is Hermione?!"

"Easy, Weasel," Draco said, "If I were you, I'd back off right now."

"Where are you, Malfoy?" Harry asked, "Are you close by?"

"I'm not going to tell you where I am, Potter!" Draco said, "But yes, I'm close by."

"Where is Hermione, Malfoy?!" Ron asked again.

"Your Mudblood girlfriend is all right, Weasel," Draco said, "Now shut up or I won't tell you how you can get her back."

Ron sighed but didn't say a word.

"Are you familiar with a mountainside cave outside of Hogsmeade?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"Good," Draco said, "You have two hours to get there. If you are not there by nine-o-clock... well, let's just say that you better be there. Potter, you better only have Weasel-bee and your girlfriend come with you. Anyone else, and there will be trouble!"

Draco's head disappeared from the flames before anyone could ask him anything else.

"We'd better get going," Ron said, turning around and heading for the door.

"Wait a moment!" McGonagall said.

"Professor, you heard him," Ron said, turning around, "We have to be there in less than two hours. That cave is up in the mountain."

"How do you know where it is?" McGonagall asked.

"Harry, Hermione and I talked to Sirius up there once," Ron said, "We have to get going now. It takes at least thirty minutes to go from the bottom of the mountain to the cave and that was in the daylight."

"And how are you supposed to get passed the Aurors and into Hogsmeade?" McGonagall asked.

"Professor, we have to go alone," Ron said, "And we have to go now!"

"Only up the mountain," McGonagall said, "Get going now. I will send an owl to Hagrid. He will meet you with a carriage outside the gate. He will take you to the path at the bottom of the mountain."

"What if someone is watching us?" Ron asked.

"We don't have a choice, Ron," Harry said, "Professor McGonagall is right."

"Fine!" Ron said, "Now can we go?!"

Harry and Ginny walked over to him and they all left McGonagall's office. It took them twenty minutes to get to the gate. The only problem was that Hagrid was not there.

"Where is he?" Ron asked.

"There!" Harry said, pointing toward something behind Ron.

Ron turned around. Hagrid was coming down the path aboard a carriage.

"'Ello there!" Hagrid said, "Sorry, on'y got McGonagall's message a few minutes ago."

"We need you to take us to the bottom of the mountain outside Hogsmeade," Harry said.

"McGonagall told me everything," Hagrid said, "Get in."

Ron, Harry and Ginny quickly piled into the carriage and sat down.

"All right!" Hagrid said, "Let's get going!"

Ron heard a whip crack as the carriage went faster than usual down the road. About fifteen minutes later, they were at Hogsmeade. It took them ten more minutes for the carriage to get to the foot of the mountain path. Ron, Harry and Ginny jumped out of the carriage.

"Yer sure you will be okay?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah, Hagrid," Harry said.

"Well, McGonagall asked me ter wait here fer ya," Hagrid said, "No matter how long it took."

"Well, we might be a couple hours," Harry said, "It is going to take thirty minutes just to get up there, and thirty minutes to get back. We don't know how long we will be up there."

"I'll wait here 'till ya return," Hagrid said, "Ya better get goin' now. Be careful, all o' ya."

"See ya, Hagrid," Harry said.

Ron, Harry and Ginny lit their wands and started their way up the path.
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What was a thirty-minute trip in the daylight took about forty-five minutes to get to the cave. Ron thought that they would run into some danger on the way to the cave but, to his surprise, there was was no danger at all, except for the narrow path against the mountain cliff.

"All right," Harry whispered, "Let's just not rush in there, okay? We don't know what is in there."

"Or who," Ginny whispered.

"Lose the light," Harry whispered, "Nox."

Ron and Ginny both extinguished the lights on their wand.

"Come on," Harry whispered, "Stick close."

Ron followed Harry and Ginny inside the cave.

"You better hope they get here soon, Granger," Draco said, "I am not going to wait all night."

"They'll be here, Malfoy," Hermione said.

"We are here, Draco," Harry said.

"Pocket your wands and come over here," Draco said.

Ron, Harry and Ginny pocketed their wands and walked further into the cave toward Draco's voice. As they walked, they noticed light coming from a small campfire. Hermione was sitting up against the wall.

"Hermione!" Ron said.

He walked slowly over to Hermione, his eyes remaining on Draco.

"Are you alone?" Draco asked.

"It is only us, Malfoy," Harry said.

Ron pulled Hermione up to a standing position and hugged her.

"Are you hurt?" Ron asked her.

"Just my pride," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"What did you want with Hermione anyway?!" Ron asked Draco.

"I wanted to talk to you guys," Draco said.

"I don't believe you," Ron said.

"Believe me, Weasel-bee," Draco said, "If I wanted to hurt Granger, I would have. Ask her. She is unharmed."

"He didn't do anything to me," Hermione said, "Besides take me from my room and keep me up here all day."

"How did you do it?" Harry asked, "There were Aurors on the grounds."

"It was harder than I expected, yes," Draco said, "I had to walk in through the Forbidden Forest. I thought those centaurs were going to attack me, but I never ran into one. I had my broom with me. When I got to the grounds, I flew up to the Head Girl room in the Gryffindor tower. I was told that Granger was Head Girl and where her room was. Lucky for me, the window was open."

"Last time I ever get fresh air that way," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Why did you do it?" Harry asked, "You could have talked to us without kidnapping Hermione. Why do you think we want to talk to you anyway? After what you pulled here."

"I couldn't walk into Hogwarts, Potter," Draco said, "You think I am stupid. Last time anyone at Hogwarts saw me, I was with Death Eaters."

"You are a Death Eater, Malfoy," Harry said.

"Wrong, Potter," Draco said, "I may have the Dark Mark on my arm, but I was never officially made a Death Eater."

"So what!" Harry said, "You are on their side!"

"Was, Potter," Draco said, "I was on their side. But I have been thinking about my position for a while now."

"Position?" Ron asked.

"The night Dumbledore died," Draco said, "I had a conversation with him. I don't think I am only the only person in this cave who knows everything about that conversation. Am I right, Potter?"

"I was there, Malfoy," Harry said, "I saw what happened."

"Then you know that I did not kill Dumbledore," Draco said.

"I know you had your wand pointed on him," Harry said, "I know that you were threatening to kill him."

"It is true," Draco said with a smirk, "For a few minutes there, I intended to kill Dumbledore. But then something happened that stopped me."

"Your Death Eater pals came up," Harry said.

"It was before that, Potter," Draco growled, "Are you going to let me talk or not?"

"Go ahead," Harry said.

"During the conversation with Dumbledore," Draco said, "He told me that, if I came back to the good side, that he could protect me and my family."

"You did this to save your neck?" Harry asked.

"Do you want me to finish my story or not, Potter?!" Draco said.

"Fine," Harry said, "Go on."

"Do not interrupt me again," Draco said, "I am warning you."

Harry was about to say something, but Ginny took his hand, which stopped him.

"Anyway," Draco said, rolling his eyes, "I didn't know how to answer Dumbledore. He had a pretty good suggestion. Before I could respond, the Death Eaters came up. I wasn't going to kill Dumbledore because I thought that he just might be able to protect me. That was when Snape came up. Well, you know what happened. Anyway, that was my last hope. I couldn't tell Snape or the others what Dumbledore told me. I kept those thoughts in my head. Well, when we escaped from Hogwarts, we apparated to Little Hangleton."

"We were right," Harry said.

"What did you say?" Draco asked.

"We had reason to believe that you were at Little Hangleton," Harry said.

"You didn't need to tell me that," Draco said.

"You knew about Dobby, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"That he was following me?" Draco asked, "I knew that for a while. I had stayed in Little Hangleton with Snape and the other Death Eaters for a while. I didn't get to hear about much. I wasn't an actual Death Eater. I was with my mother most of the time. Then, one day, I was allowed to go to a meeting. To my surprise, my father was there."

"This was right after the riot at Azkaban," Harry said.

"Correct, Potter," Draco said, "I didn't know what to think. If you are wondering, Potter, the Dark Lord was there, yes. You see, the meeting they were having... it was about me. They were trying to decide if I was good enough to become a Death Eater."

"You weren't good enough, were you?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco said with a scoff, "And that was when I knew I had to get out of there. I thought long and hard about what Dumbledore said. I talked to my mother and told her that we could get away. We could be safe. I didn't know if I was going to be safe around the Dark Lord. You see, Potter, I had failed him. I was supposed to be the one who killed Dumbledore. But Snape took the glory from me, but I didn't hate him for it. It ultimately gave me the one chance to live."

"Your mother didn't want you to go, did she?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco said, scoffing again, "I thought she would at least agree with me. She said I was to stay with them. I was to stay with my father. Well I wasn't going to end up like my father. Unfortunately when I was about to leave, my father found it. And that was when..."

Draco lifted up his robes. Ron saw a deep cut on the side of Draco's waist. Ginny gasped.

"He attacked you?!" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Draco said, "When I was making my escape. Can you believe it? My own father attacked me. Well, I couldn't go back. My father and the other Death Eaters would have killed me. So I had to take Dumbledore up on one of his last requests. Unfortunately for me, Dumbledore wasn't around anymore. That was when I decided that I had to talk to you, Potter. You see, I need to talk to someone in your so-called Order of the Phoenix."

"You can talk to Professor McGonagall," Harry said, "I am sure she would help you."

"Is this why you kidnapped Hermione?" Ron asked, "Just so you could ask us to take you to McGonagall?"

"Yes," Draco said.

"There is only one way we would be able to get you into Hogwarts," Harry said with a grin.

"Oh yeah?" Draco asked, "And how is that?"

"Well, you are one of the wizards on 'Hogwarts' Most Wanted' list, Malfoy," Harry said, "We can't just walk you through the gate, especially with Aurors walking the grounds."

"What are you saying?" Draco said.

"I think I know what he is saying," Ron said, with a grin, "We are going to have to stun you."

"No way!" Draco said.

"Do you want to get back into Hogwarts or not?" Harry asked, "Do you want to talk to McGonagall or not, Malfoy?"

"Yeah, but you don't have to stun me to do it!" Draco said.

"Draco is right," Ginny said.

"What?" Ron, Hermione and Harry all asked at once.

"We can't bring him down the mountain while he is stunned," Ginny said.

"Your girlfriend has a point, Potter," Draco said.

"Fine," Harry said, "We won't stun you. But you must promise that you won't do anything."

"Fine, whatever," Draco said, "As long as I am somewhere safe."

"Let's get going then," Harry said, "Ginny and I will be in front of you, and Ron and Hermione will be in back."

"Great," Draco said, "Can we get going then?"

"Follow me," Harry said.

Harry and Ginny walked toward the entrance of the cave and Draco followed them. Ron and Hermione followed him. They started their long hike down the mountain trail.

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Semi-cliffhanger here. What is next for Draco? You will find out in the next chapter!

In case you didn't figure it out, Draco is having a change-of-heart. He realized his mistakes. There will be a lot more to do with Draco as the story progresses. For all of you who is wondering, I hope to get this done by around Chapter 70.

Feedback would be great!