A/N Okay. Firstly, I am so sorry I've not posted in weeks, I've been really busy lately and needed a break. Secondly, thank you to everyone who reviewed since my last post, greatly appreciated some of the ideas and all of the comments. Well, with that said, let's get back into the story.

Chapter 34 - Saint Potter and His Famous Red Haired Friend

"Couldn't we have just used brooms?" Draco groaned. The sun was fully up now and both Ginny and Draco, having not slept in over twenty four hours, were beyond exhausted.

"Shut up about the God damn brooms Malfoy!" Ginny said exasperatedly, "I've already told you it doesn't work like that! The Phoenix needs to be carrying you!"

"We could just spellotape it to the broom," Draco muttered.

"No!" Ginny said firmly, "Besides, it can't be much further now. We're getting closer to ground, I can see trees."

It was true they were definitely losing height and now that they weren't surrounded by white clouds they could just make out the tops of the green trees below. Draco groaned loudly. Just because Fawkes had made them feel weightless did not stop the fact that his arm had been raised in the same position for at least seven hours. And it hurt, great Salazar it ached so bad. He tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position as best he could in midair - but it didn't help. If anything, it made it worse as Ginny was now telling him in a tone laced with fatigue to stop moving around so much.

He was pretty sure Ginny had dozed off earlier for a couple of hours whilst it was still dark but he hadn't been so lucky. It was one thing putting a charm on his grip on her wrist to make sure he didn't subconsciously let go. Putting the same charm on his grip on Fawkes - well he wasn't going to risk it. The ground was looming closer towards them by the second and for one, fleeting moment Draco was sure they were going to crash straight into the thick barrier of branches and leaves. He closed his eyes, flinching, ready for the impact. But it didn't come. Instead, Fawkes came to a light, elegant stop in midair so that both teens could land feet first on the ground.

After detaching himself from the bird and Ginny, Draco collapsed onto the leaf strew floor, not caring that he was getting filthy. He was so tired. No. He was exhausted, shattered, he wanted nothing more that to curl up and sleep but he knew that in the world they lived in, things didn't work like that. He rolled over and looked up at Ginny, who was leaning against a nearby tree, yawning and looking at some point in the trees. From the looks of things, they'd landed in a large forest. Sunlight was trickling through the trees casting bright patches of sunlight on the green and brown leaves. The ground was bone dry despite the light rain they'd flown through at around 4am. Not a creature was in sight, not even a mouse and, judging by the position of the sun, it was around midday.

Yawning and feeling like a dead weight, Draco hauled himself up and staggered to his feet, breathing heavily. He looked in a daze at Ginny again, who was busy looking around, curiously. Suddenly there was a dazzling flash of orange and gold tail feathers as Fawkes shot into the air. He let out a high pitched screeching sound and burst into a ball of flames, vanishing in a heartbeat. "NO!" Ginny yelled, but Fawkes had already apparated back to the Forbidden Forest - or wherever it was headed. Draco and Ginny exchanged fleeting stares of panic.

"Now what?!" Draco asked frantically after a moment, looking around wildly. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but Hermione's bag for support. Ginny stood tense for a good ten seconds before dusting off her robes and saying, "Now we find Harry."

Finding Harry, wasn't as easy as they'd hoped. Looking around, they'd noticed that there wasn't a lit trail or a large arrow saying "Harry's here". Instead they blindly walked around, never straying too far from where Fawkes had taken them. They knew Fawkes would've dropped them near Harry but Ginny had been calling out his name for a good ten minutes and they'd gotten nowhere. "Damn his stupid wards!" Ginny burst out, kicking a pile of leaves frustratedly. Draco tried again to cast a spell to reveal any wards around him but either

Harry's wards were too strong or they really weren't anywhere near their camp. "And I thought Hermione was the only brains in their group," he muttered distinctly. Ginny scowled at him.

"Maybe we could just send up sparks?" Ginny suggested after searching relentlessly for a good fifteen minutes.

"Are you insane? The whole death eater community and every which and wizard who doesn't wish to die are on the lookout for strange activity. Sending up sparks would be like an invitation to Potter's funeral!" Draco said angrily, "And as much as I'd love to go to Saint Potter's funeral, I'd rather be able to live after the war and we all know how likely that'd be with the Dark Lord in control. So, we don't send up sparks."

"Uh, fine. Never knew you cared. Even if your girlfriend is muggleborn. HARRY POTTER!" Ginny yelled, "I mean it's not like your life would be awful if You Know Who won, look at your parents."

"Yeah well it's more Hermione's life on the line right now isn't it," Draco hissed.

"So you do care huh? Nice. HARRY POTTER! For Merlin's sake!" Ginny yelled.

They listened. And then, finally, a voice answered them.

"Ginny? Is that - Ron NO!" A voice yelled as Ron came bounding eagerly towards them.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled but stopped dead, eyes locked on Draco's cold grey ones. Harry came out from behind a tree and stared at the scene before him, face falling. "What the bloody hell is he doing here?" Harry asked as calmly as he could but anger was coursing through his veins. Draco eyed Ron repulsively, hatred bubbling up inside him. Screw what he'd promised Ginny on the way here. He was going to rip that red headed idiot apart limb by limb.

"Ron before you overreact, Draco's here -" Ginny began but was cut off.

"Oh he's Draco now is he? HE'S A DEATH EATER! ARE YOU INSANE? YOU BROUGHT HIM TO OUR CAMP -"

"Ron calm -" Harry begun but Ron had lost it and threw himself at Draco. Unprepared, Draco staggered backwards onto the floor and a momentary look of panic crossed his face before it was replaced with hatred and he shoved at Ron to get him off. "Ron get off him!" Ginny shrieked.

"You ginger bastard Weasley!" Draco yelled, thumping Ron.

"What have you done with Hermione huh?!" Ron roared, spit flying everywhere.

"Maybe if you hadn't cheated on her she might still want to see you," Draco sneered, fuelling Ron's anger deliberately.

"Draco stop being such a prat!" Ginny said shrilly.

"Ginny I can't believe you brought Malfoy here, what have you done?!" Harry asked, scratching his forehead, head bowed.

"Just here me out!" Ginny tried but was drowned from the deafening yells coming from the two bickering boys. Both were on the floor rolling over each other and throwing punches here and there. "Right Weasel I don't particularly want to be here to tell the truth," Draco spat.

"Oh I bet you're just waiting to run back to daddy with information on exactly where Harry is," Ron said through bloody teeth.

"Shut UP!"

"Oh touched a nerve did I?"

"Fuck sake you think I want to be here?!"

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked.

"That's exactly what we're here about!" Draco roared, shoving Ron off aggressively and staggering to his feet, quickly drawing his wand. "Expelli-" Harry began but Ginny had stepped forward, wand drawn, anger and frustration welling up inside her, her sheet of red hair blowing around her face in the light wind. "ARRESTO MOMENTUM!" She yelled, feet planted firmly on the ground, wand arm outstretched.

Everything slowed down. Ron was in midair, midway through throwing himself at Draco. Draco was ever so slowly stepping out of the way, face contorted with anger and cunning. Meanwhile, Harry was casting the disarming spell at Draco with a deadly serious look on his face. The spell began to shoot from his wand at nanometres per second. With a further flick of Ginny's wand, Draco was out of the spell's way. She lifted the charm and the red beam of the disarming spell ricocheted off into the distance, hitting a far off tree with a distant thud.

"PUT THE WANDS DOWN!" Ginny screamed hotly, directing her demand at all three boys, who were eyeing each other murderously. They all looked at her, daring the others to take another step closer. Ginny pointed her her wand directly at Ron. "Ginny what -" Harry began but Ginny had had enough.

"All of you put the wands down!" She repeated, tired and blood boiling. Draco looked at her very seriously, contemplating, and slowly lowered his wand arm. Harry followed, eyeing Draco suspiciously. "Ron, put it down," Harry muttered and very slowly, Ron lowered his wand too.

"Pathetic -"

"Draco shut up for once in your life!" Ginny said angrily, "Harry, Ron, I'm going to be straight to the point here because I'm tired and we're in a hurry."

"As long as it includes an explanation as to why he's -" Ron began.

"Hermione's been taken by the death eaters," Ginny said loudly. That shut them up. All of them. There was a deathly hush and a chill swept around them despite the warmth, making the hairs on Draco's neck stand on end. Harry and Ron felt it too.

"What did you say?" Harry asked in a deadly voice, a sick dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

"I said Hermione's been taken and we need your help," Ginny said carefully, stifling the wave of emotions trying to break through.

"By him," Ron spat, looking loathsomely at Draco, itching to draw his wand and curse him into a million pieces. Everyone looked at him. Draco's jaw dropped, furious that he'd even consider that.

"No -" Ginny began but Ron had lost it.

"The filthy fucking scum! He's a death eater! Don't you understand? Why are you associating yourself with it?! You brought him to our fucking camp! You probably told us what we were doing and all!" Ron yelled, spit flying everywhere.

"You filthy blood traitor," Draco spat, "Couldn't afford a half decent -"

"Both of you shut up!" Harry said loudly, staring at Ginny, "Tell me why he is here? What's happened?

"Because -" Ginny began, but it wasn't her place to say. Draco was glaring at her, an odd sickness building up inside his gut. Now wasn't the time for them to know. "Because he felt responsible as it was his aunt who took her and he wants to help get her back and for Merlin's sake Harry he'll be useful! It's his house she's being held captive in, after all," she finished, hoping he'd buy it.

"We think she's in," Draco muttered. They'd wasted so much time already.

"Bellatrix has her..." Harry sighed defeatedly, scratching the back of his neck and squinting up at Ginny. "Well then... How did the evil gits take her? I thought she always hung around with you!" Harry retorted in sudden anger.

"Yeah well they broke into the castle whilst she was in her dorm," Draco huffed.

"You mean the common room that you two share," Ron spat angrily.

"No I mean her private dormitory!" Draco scowled back heatedly.

"Why you even here Malfoy, it's not like you care," Ron glowered.

"You think you know things, Weasley. No one's known where you two've been since Halloween!" Draco hissed.

"Can we just please sort this out! Your best friend has been kidnapped and all you care about is childhood disputes!" Ginny said frustratedly, stamping her foot. Harry looked at her, astounded.

"Childhood disputes?" Harry murmured, bewildered, "Ginny he's our arch enemy! You know what never mind! What the hell are we waiting for? Mind you Malfoy, if do anything funny then you're out." He turned back towards the direction he and Ron had come from. "Come on!" He added, voice contorted with anger.

"But -" Ron began, staring at Draco furiously.

"I said come on!" Harry said in a very final tone.

The two Gryffindors followed him back towards the camp, the Slytherin trailing along behind, beyond frustrated. Couldn't they just drop it? He caught up with Ginny and glared at her. She scowled back and muttered, "You wait till they realise the truth." Draco looked away quickly, speeding up his pace.

A brown, filthy looking tent loomed into view through the trees and Draco watched as Harry ducked under the flap, followed by Ron and Ginny. He was the last to pull back the flap and stumble into the tent. He looked around, fully expecting Harry to have scavenged some muggle tent but was slightly impressed to see that it was enchanted to be more roomier than the outside view letted on. The three Gryffindors watched from the table as Draco slouched his way over to them moodily and sat down next to Ginny. Ron pointedly looked away in disgust whilst Harry simply narrowed his eyes slightly and asked Draco, very seriously, "So, what happened?"

Draco looked up at him, realising he was being spoken to, and said with not even a hint of coldness, "She was alone in her dorm as she usually is, I came back from the library and asked her to open up. There was no reply and she always replies unless she's asleep, so after knocking a few times and telling her to open up I blasted the lock apart and found her room in a wreck, the window smashed and her wand lying there, blood smeared across the bed sheets. After getting Weaslette and - after getting Weaslette we found a note in my aunt's writing." He was going to say 'and Blaise, Theo and Pansy,' but could not be bothered to bring them into this right now.

"What did it say?" Ron grunted, still looking forcefully away from him.

"It said -" he hesitated. "It said 'time's up'."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked quietly, still in shock.

"I... don't know. All I know is that we're wasting our time here when we could be there, stopping them from killing her!" Draco said furiously, a slight crack escaping in his voice. He knew exactly what the note meant. He'd ran out of time. He was meant to bring them the girl he loved and they'd done it for him. But no one bloody needed to know that, especially not Harry or Ron.

"He's right," sighed Harry at long last after debating the endless battles in his head. Ron threw his hands into the air, turning round furiously and finally making eye contact with Draco's pale grey ones. "You can't be serious!" He roared at Harry, staring from him to Draco in fury, "He has clearly taken Hermione and wants to lead you into a trap! Don't you hear what he's saying? 'Come to my house Potter, base of the Dark Lord' it is an invitation to your own bloody funeral!"

Harry shook his head and said, "No, Ron. He's not joking about this -"

"Are you sure?" Ron asked, scowling.

"Are we ever sure? When we came out on this mission were we sure of anything? No. Unless you're going to get your hands on some veritaserum then we'll never be sure!" Harry said as calmly as he could, voice raised a little. Ron looked away again.

"And you believe this?" Ron asked Ginny grumpily.

"Ron, I know it's a bit of a shock but I was there. He's not lying. I'm not lying. Hermione needs our help!" Ginny explained, pleading with him. Ron nodded slightly and looked around the tent.

"We'll need to take the others," Ron said after some time.

"Others?" Draco spat coldly, growing colder by the second, "There's no time! We need to go now!"

"Shut up Malfoy, you're in our tent! You want to help then you keep your stinking ferret arse out of it whilst we plan," Ron sneered. Draco leapt from his chair ready to lunge himself at him but Ginny clenched his wrist under the wooden table and glared at him. "Let go of me," growled Draco.

"Get over yourself," she hissed back. Draco scowled and sat back down, turning away. Harry noticed this and his expression turned puzzled.

"Others?" Harry finally asked Ron.

"You can't seriously consider pulling off a rescue mission on your own?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"But -" Harry began.

"No arguments mate," Ron said sternly.

There was a pause, then, "Fine," Harry said, suddenly feeling very alert and down to business, "We'll apparate back to the castle after packing down. Ginny, you go inform all of D.A. what's happening. I assume none of the teachers know anything?"

"We've got people covering for us at school," Ginny replied quickly, not wanting the fact that Snape knew to become an issue.

"Okay. Right. Ron and I will be at the..." Harry looked at Draco, wary of his presence.

"Look, Potter, I'm here. Right here. I know more than you do about all of this and I'm coming with you to get her out of my parents' house whether you like it or not. Besides, you need someone with half a clue on curses anyway," Draco sneered slightly. Ginny kicked him under the table but Harry got the hint.

"Fine! Ron and I will be in the Room of Requirement, waiting for all the D.A. members to turn up. The meeting will start twenty minutes after we arrive at the castle. I trust everyone will still have those coins we gave out for contacting each other," Harry finished, referring to the fake coins they used in their fifth year to communicate with the rest of Dumbledore's Army.

"Right," Ginny said brightly, "And... I mean there may be a..." she glanced at Draco, "couple of Slytherins who'd be willing to help." Draco stared at her wildly for a minute. They couldn't bring them into this. They were all on the list to be marked as death eaters! If they got caught!

"If they are willing to come along and won't screw anything up -" Harry began but Ron interrupted.

"Now hold up! Wait just a second. It's one thing teaming with ferret here but with Slytherin house? Are you insane? Now you really are asking for it!"

"If Ginny trusts them then I trust them," Harry said plainly.

"So now you trust Malfoy?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Ron! We've missed four months of school! Anything could've happened. Neville could've won national prize in ballet and we wouldn't've known!" Harry cried indignantly.

"He hasn't," Draco said shortly, picturing Neville in a pink leotard and finding it hard to keep a straight face. Ginny meanwhile snorted.

"All we know now is that Hermione is missing and if it's a suicide mission getting her back then so be it. You may have screwed her life up but she's still one of my best friends!" Harry said determinedly.

"But you're trusting him! Him of all people!" Ron yelled.

"YES! Because HE was the one who stood up for Hermione whilst you broke her heart! Get over yourself Ron! What's happened has happened and now we all need to do this to help Hermione! So for once, forget about all of this and focus on what needs to be done. You can carry on hating him when we're back out here!" Harry yelled, beyond frustratedly. Ron sat silently, Draco secretly impressed, Ginny grinning.

"Well, seems like we're all sorted, good," Draco said in good spirits, smirking slightly.

"I never said I was happy about it," Harry said sternly to Draco.

"Oh do pardon me if I gave the impression I liked this either. Unfortunately your girlfriend wouldn't let me do this alone, so now I'm stuck with you. Now, hurry up and pack up because she's been held captive for far too long," Draco smirked, happy that at last they were getting somewhere.

"He wanted to rescue her alone?" Harry mouthed to Ginny, who shook him off. Harry was startled.

Draco ducked out under the tent and Harry followed, "And just so you know," he added in an undertone, "I do know you're hunting horcruxes." Harry froze. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Ginny knows too though, as does three of the Slytherins," Draco muttered.

"You told the Slytherins? How do you know?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Come off it Potter, it wasn't exactly a piece of cake finding you. Once we'd figured out it was horcruxes you were after, I mean my mates were in the room and helped us figure stuff out. I trust these people with my life, Scarhead. They won't tell a soul. They want you to win the war as much as I and anyone else do. So -"

"Wait what? You want our side to win the war?" Harry asked.

"Really? And they said you were smart," Draco sighed, looking behind his shoulder to see Ron flicking his wand at the tent a few paces away and the tent magically fold itself up into a neat pile. "Of course we all want you to win. You have no idea what it's like..." he stopped, instantly feeling hot and closed his face to make it unreadable. He looked pointedly at Harry, who for once felt almost pity towards the boy he loathed as a child. Harry nodded at Draco who nodded back and felt an invisible bond of civilness form between them. Though neither of them liked it too much, they both wanted the same thing; Voldemort's downfall and a safe world to live in again. Harry turned away and made sure everything was in order before calling the order to apparate back to Hogwarts.

"Damn it! Ron have you seen my wand?" Harry called suddenly to Ron who was just checking the area for equipment which hadn't been packed away.

"Um..." he looked around, then in the small bag he was packing. Draco figured it too must have had an undetectable extension charm placed on it as the tent and everything inside it had gone in there. "You are kidding me," Harry groaned.

"Anything lying around in the tent was packed away with it," Ron said gruffly. Ginny stifled a smirk and turned around. What she saw made her drop her wand and Hermione's bag and scream. Harry and Ron both whirled around to see what had caused her scream. Then they saw it. Draco saw it too. "Hurry up Ron," Harry said, heart beating fast. Ginny was scrambling around on the floor, trying to locate her own wand. Draco was frozen, eyes locked upon the creature gliding its way over to them. "RON MY WAND!" Harry yelled as Ron feverishly began throwing things out of the bag to hunt for Harry's wand.

"Shit! Where is my wand!" Ginny screamed, looking up just in time to see not one but three dementors gliding towards them. Cold, clammy hands and swathed in ragged black cloaks, the dementors glided slowly towards the four of them, sucking the warmth out of the air.

Draco stood, terrified and rooted to the spot, seeing his ragged breath before him in the cold air. A bead of sweat began tumbling down his forehead. He suddenly felt very bad for teasing Harry about fainting all those years ago when the dementors had boarded the Hogwarts Express. Would famous Harry Potter really meet his end with the kiss of a dementor? They couldn't die. Not now. Could they? "I can't find it!" Ginny shrieked, turning to stare at the dementors who were only metres away. Clutching his wand in terror, Draco said in a voice which trembled slightly, "Potter, now would be a great time to show off."

"Ron where is my WAND?!" Harry roared.

"I'm TRYING!" Ron roared back. Draco stared up at the three, towering creatures and raised his wand, one thought repeating itself in his mind. All he could think of was Lupin saying, "You need a happy thought, something which is so powerful, it'll block any evil force." He thought of the one thing that made his life worth living. The happiest day he'd ever had. The ice skates. The frozen lake, the night of Christmas where he and Hermione had spent the evening skating. He pictured her, trusting him as he showed her how to skate. He pictured her, falling over and getting up again. He pictured her laughing, the kiss, the trust. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He roared. If he had said that nothing had happened, he would have been lying. Harry, Ron and Ginny all stopped to stare as a jet of white light shot from the tip of Draco's wand and for the first time ever, Draco saw his patronus. With the screech of a hunting cry, a wispy white eagle shot from the tip of his wand and soared like a bullet towards the three dementors, engulfing them in the blinding white light. The eagle opened its wings threateningly and the dementors took off in a swirl of black and white light. The eagle made a lap of the trees to send them on their way before returning to Draco. They made brief eye contact as it slowed down, before it had vanished back into Draco's wand.

"Bloody hell," was all Ron could say.

"I did it," Draco gasped, hardly daring to believe it. He stared at his wand, shocked. He wiped his forehead where the sweat had been and stared at Ginny, who looked amazed. "Draco!" She squealed at last, finding her voice, "Merlin Draco you did it! I knew you'd learn! Well done!" She beamed at him and he turned his gaze to Harry, who looked astonished.

"Merlin... well done then, Malfoy," he said, still shocked, "An eagle..."

"Yeah," Draco said weakly, "An eagle..." He thought of an eagle at what it all meant. Patronuses were meant to reflect the caster, so therefore he must be like an eagle. How? He had no idea. He mentally added 'researching his patronus' to the list of things to do after the war was over.

"I just saved your life," Draco stated after a while to Harry as Ron finally pulled out Harry's wand from the bag.

"I suppose you did," Harry grumbled back.

"Even?" Draco asked in a solid tone. Harry looked at him, straight in the eye.

"If this is some funny business Malfoy -" he begun.

"It's not," Draco said flatly. Truth was he couldn't be bothered fighting with the people who's side he was on.

"Okay then, even," Harry said, nodding. Draco smirked and nodded back. Ron looked at him too and inclined his head ever so slightly too, and Draco took that as a nod. Ginny beamed at them all and muttered, "About time."

"Ready to go then?" Harry asked. They all nodded. "On the count of three," he said, "One,"

Draco gripped his wand and looked sideways at Ginny.

"Two,"

Ginny nodded.

"Three!"

There was a loud pop, and the four teens had vanished. Many, many miles away there was a further pop and the same four students landed on the grassy grounds of Hogwarts castle, ready to embark on a rescue mission.

A/N So, the dementor idea was from a viewer, Nikhil Malfoy, very grateful for the idea, worked wonderfully with this chapter! It took a while to come up with a patronus for Draco, not going to lie, but I feel that the eagle suited him because of what it supposedly symbolises:

"Eagle, Golden Eagle, Sea Eagle- Swiftness, Strength, Courage, Wisdom, Keen Sight, Illumination of Spirit, Healing, Creation, Knowledge of Magick, Ability to See Hidden Spiritual Truths, Connection to Spirit Guides and Teachers, Power, Intelligence, Renewal, Clear Vision, The Solar Bird, Spiritual Power, Carries Souls Back to the Dreamtime, Soul World Memory, Retrieves Lost Soul Parts."

I would copy in the link to where I got the information from but the site won't let me.

I chose the eagle because I do think he has strength and courage. He's definitely smart and knows about magic and in my fanfic he is 'gifted' as it were with healing spells. He has power and intelligence and can see through things well enough. Comment what you think his patronus should've been if you disagree. See you in two Tuesdays!