Chapter 13.

The Christmas holidays came and went. Those who had gone away were back, and those who were visiting were heading home.

At the train platform a small group, bundled up against the cold, were waving to the Weasley twins as they headed back to the joke shop. As the twins found an empty compartment they exchanged pleasentries with Neville, who had gone to visit his gran, now sporting an ugly Christmas jumper under his cloak.

Ron, spying his friend, let out a loud whistle and jumped on the spot waving his arms wildly, "Nev! Neville, over here, mate!"

Neville grinned tugging his trunk behind him. "Hey, guys. You have a good Christmas?"

Hermione nodded, "Not bad. I managed to re-organize the Magical History section in two days flat. Madam Pince was so impressed she's letting me be her understudy."

"That's...nice..." Neville said awkwardly. "Ron?"

Ron puffed out his chest proudly, "Broke my all time record for eating the most chicken legs."

"And the record for fastest journey to the Hospital Wing." Whispered Jeanie, who was standing next to Hermione in a big beanie hat. Neville laughed while Ron glared. She shrugged, "What? Wasn't my fault the twins enchanted them so you would turn into a real chicken."

Neville wiped tears from his eyes, "That true?"

Ron went bright red. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Hermione frowned as the train whistled and started its run back to London. She glanced at the platform, at a figure standing there looking very confused. "Neville...You didn't see Harry or Ginny did you?"

"No. Why?"

Hermione pointed to where Draco was watching the train pull away. The Slytherin watched the scarlett engine dissappear around the corner past the trees with a concerned expession on his face. He quickly pulled out a small book, read a passage, huffed and replaced it inside his jacket. He turned, heading for the exit only to find the others staring at him.

"Oh...Hello..."

Jeanie, seeing Malfoys hands were red with with cold, pulled off her extra mittens and passed them over. Over the holidays the pig-tailed Ravenclaw had struck up an unlikey friendship with the Sytherin (to the horror of both their Houses.) over who made the best chocolate pastries...of all things. "You can have this too," reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a squashed bundle tied with ribbon.

Malfoys eyes gleamed with excitement as he unwrapped the paper, "From your Papa?"

Jeanie nodded, "Fresh this morning," she leaned closer and whispered, "swiped it right from under Ron's nose. Do you like it?"

Having taken a bite Malfoys eyes closed in appreciation with a tiny moan. "That's good... That glaze with the chocolate filling...Mmm... Just like that shop in France..."

Ron huffed, "Have you finished molesting that cake? We need to figure out what happened to my sister and best friend." Malfoy, swallowed his last bit and nodded. "Right. Let's get back to the castle."

The group of five exited the station, climbed into the awaiting cab, back to Hogwarts.

Harry and Ginny were not at the Feast. They were no-where to be seen for a few days. Ron, Hermione,Neville and Jeanie along with Draco were starting to get worried as the rumours grew and grew about their absence.

It was a warm-ish morning when the pair finally did arrive. The Great Hall was filled with the normal noise of chatter and laughter. The Owl Post dropped off numerous items forgotten in the blur of packing for the return to school. Neville recieved a small package, that revealed to be an embarassing amount of forgotten underwear and socks. (Fellow Gryffindors Seamus and Dean found it very funny, until Jeanie jinxed them to sprout bunny tails.) Draco's new quill set from his mother made Hermione gush at the rare feathers used, and Ron's parents sent him a gift-box full of home-made sweets (Which he shared with the others.)

Dumbledore stood and made his way to the platform at the front of the Head Table. McGonagall tapped her goblet to get everyone's attention. The Hall grew quiet.

The Headmaster cleared his throat, "Good morning everyone."

"Morning Professor." They chorused.

He smiled, "Such a nice day, is it not? The start of a new year, of new beginnings. Speaking of new beginnings…By now the news from London has spread to every corner of the wizarding world about the sudden lost of our latest Minister of Magic." The Hall broke out in hushed tones. Dumbledore raised his hands for quiet. "I know that news of his resignation came as a shock to most. The Daily Prophet is having a field-day because of it, but I beg you to keep an open mind and not fall for the gossip." He pulled out a piece of parchment from his robes. "I have a letter here from the Minister himself. Once I have read it to you I will owl a copy to The Daily Prophet, as requested. In it is a detailed list of the new Laws that will not be passed until the new Minister has had a chance to review them. I will start with the ones that has caused so much trouble and confusion..."

The large oak doors of the Hall creaked open. The whole student body turned as one and gasped.

Ginny Weasley was leading a very ashen looking Harry down the gaps between the tables. She didn't stop until she reached the Head Table. She smiled sweetly at Dumbledore.

"Before you start, Professor, I...I mean we have an announcment of my...our own."

Dumbledore nodded sweeping a hand towards the student body, "The floor is yours, Miss Weasley."

Ginny cleared her throat, tossing her hair back. Harry next to her just continued to look at the floor. "Hello everyone! Hope you had a good Christmas because I did...ahem,ahem..." (Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of the advanced years exchanged looks. This didn't sound good.) "As you all know the Ministry is passing a new Law that allows people to get married at the age of six-teen." The Hall started muttering amonst themselves. "Ahem...ahem... I am still talking, thank-you. Now, you're probably wondering where I'm going with this, so I won't beat around the bush and wait for old Dumbledore here to announce it, (Dumbledore's eyes darkened behind his glasses.) during the holidays Harry gave me the best present I could ask for, he asked me to be his intended, and I said yes." The red-head grabbed Harry by the arm and proudly showed the sliver bands on their wrists. The crowd let out a gasp.

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock, "They're betrothal bands. It was a hand-fasting ceromony? But I thought the Ministry..?"

Ron stood, furious at his sister, "Ginny, what hell have you done?"

"Shut up, Ron!" The youngest Weasley snapped. "This is an offical announcement. As of this moment Harry Potter is mine. And no-one will take him from me."

Draco, from his seat at Slytherin, continued to look at Harry. Something was not right. But he couldn't put his finger on it. He met Granger's eyes, her hazel gaze dropped to his tie and then back up to his face. His fingers grasped the shape of the charm around his neck through his shirt, but it was cold to the touch. He shook his head. Hermione pouted and jerked her head towards the end of the Hall. OK...I can do this...Taking a deep breath, the fair-haired wizard stood and made his way to the front of the Hall.

The Hall fell deathly silent. Draco felt his face grow hot as many sets of eyes, young and old, followed his every step. He stopped inches from the couple, "Harry? Harry, look at me."

Harry did. Green eyes met grey and Draco's heart sank. They weren't the normal sparkling emeralds he was used to, they were dull and clouded.

Draco swallowed, "Are we friends?"

For a second Harry looked confused. His free hand started to stray to his chest but then fell to his side. His eyes flashed pink for a second before turning green once more. He glanced over to Ginny who shook her head. "No." Ginny looked pleased, "I don't want to be friends with the wrong sort. Like you."

"Harry..?"

Ginny shoved him away forcefully, earning her a shout from the Head of Houses and 50 points from Gryffindor, not that she cared anyway. She stepped back, her wand raised and a wicked gleam in her eyes, "I told you, Harry's mine..." Draco stumbled back. Taking one last look at Harry, who was glancing down at the floor again, he turned and ran for the double doors. "He's mine, Malfoy!" Ginny screamed at his retreating form. "...And nobody's gonna take him from me."

She smiled smugly to herself before noticing many pairs of eyes staring at her. "What?!" She snapped before taking Harry's hand in hers and storming away from the Hall to the Gryffindor Common Room.

The Hall burst into chatter once again. At the Gryffindor table Ron, Hermione, Neville and Jeanie looked at eachother completely dumbfounded at the recent news. Finally it was Ron that broke the silence.

"What...The bloody hell... was that?"

Draco ran from the castle, breaths turning into puffs of cloud in the cold air. He passed Hagrid's Hut and through the barriers into the Forbidden Forest. The woodland began to blur as hot tears fell from his eyes, he wiped them away with his sleeve and pushed on.

He came to a familiar clearing and shouted, "BEE! BUMBLEBEE!"

From the depths of the rocky cavern Bumblebee appeared. Seeing his pale-skin human looking so sad he let out a worried warble and crouched near him. Draco surprised the young Transformer, and himself for that matter, by launching himself into the Scout's arms. Bumblebee cooed softly and, as gently he could, patted the humans back.

Draco couldn't hold it in, "I've lost him! That red-haired bitch did something to him." He sobbed, "I can't lose him, Bee. I can't!"

Bumblebee cocked his head slightly to the side and chirped.

Draco glared at him, "Don't make me say it."

Bee growled in warning.

"Alright, alright!" The Slytherin drew himself to his full height. "I can't lose him. I...I like him, Bee. I really like him."

Bee nodded, satisfied and released his hold on the Slytherin. Draco wiped the remaining tears away and looked at the yellow alien. Bee was quiet as he pondered on what to do next. Draco suddenly let out a gasp of pain and clutched his chest. Bee whistled loudly in horror but Draco stopped him with a raised hand, the other reaching into his shirt and pulling out his half of the Talisman. It was the first time it had reacted since Harry had left for the holidays. He glanced at the runes as they swam and rearranged themselves into English.

Call Optimus.

"Optimus? As in Optimus...Prime?" Bumblebee looked at him for a second and then stood. "But...How?" Bee's arm shifted and changed into a giant torch of sorts. The Transformer turned back towards his cave and shone it into the darkness. The back wall of the mouth of the cave lit up with the completed version of the seal around Draco's neck. Draco smiled in understanding, "It's a homing beacon."

Bee nodded with a, "UH-HUH."

"OK...Now that's kinda cool."

Returning his arm to normal Bee sat by Draco, gently prodding his chest above his heart making a mournful noise. "I don't know, Bee. I don't think I can get him back. It was like he was in a trance. His eyes were so dull and lifeless, like they were seeing through me. But for a second I thought they flashed pink, just for a second, and that's not normal." He chewed his bottom lip as he paced. Bumblebee sat patiently, watching the other walk around the clearing. "Something else was wrong, I can't put my finger on it..." He played with the chain around his neck, his eyes widened, "His necklace! He wasn't wearing his necklace."

"Well now..." came a voice from the otherside of the clearing. Draco span around, wand at the ready and Bee growled in warning. Through the thicket the owner of the voice smiled at them, his blue eyes glinting behind half-moon glasses. "I think I maybe able to help you with that."

Draco blinked, lowering his wand. "Professor Dumbledore? How?"

Dumbledore just smiled.

Ginny bashing. I don't care. She's a bitch.

Mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Stay safe everyone.