"OW! Watch where you throw that book, Ginny!"

"I'm sorry, alright? I just – bloody – can't – find... I'm going to scream at Hermione when I next see her!" yelled Ginny, as she flung a pile of books out of the cupboard. "She put a stupid Extension Charm on her cupboard to hold all these freaking heavy books!"

Corrinne snorted, and rifled through the drawers, tossing out apparel, socks, gloves, and all. It was amazing how many things Hermione Granger kept around her bed and yet left it looking like she had nary an article of possession.

The rest of the girls in the dormitory were fast asleep, unaware of the ruckus Ginny and Corrinne were making, primarily because Corrinne had skilfully cast a charm to muffle their voices. One of the books Ginny threw out too hard; it nearly flew out of the perimeter of the charm. Corrinne reached out to grab it, and threw a deadly glare at Ginny. "You don't have to put your Chaser skills to use at this moment!"

Ginny ignored her, and shoved aside a pile of books, rummaging further.

The book in Corrinne's hands fell open – in between the pages was a piece of paper.

Corrinne read the paper, and frowned. Then she flipped the book to the cover. It was Hermione's Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. She held up the paper and read it again.

"Ginny?"

"WHAT?" Ginny's temper was bursting at the seams.

"Look at this."

Ginny's head snapped up, and she reached out to snatch the note out of Corrinne's hands. Staring at it in bewilderment, she looked at Corrinne. "Let's show the boys!"

Quickly, they sped downstairs to the common-room, where Harry, Ron and Neville were waiting impatiently. Neville, who had been pacing up and down the floor, gave a start upon seeing the girls steal out of the dormitory. Harry and Ron immediately jumped out of their seats and stared at the girls expectantly as they reached the fireplace. Ginny quickly handed over the paper, and Harry scanned through it:

Two, two, and three strides,

Cuts across him, a magic that divides.

A labryinth of secrets, a ring of truth,

Keeps his power, keeps him aloof.

All that I know I pen with fear

For soon he will make me disappear.

"It's Hermione's handwriting all right," said Harry, who had trouble controlling his breath and heart rate at the same time. "Is this – is this a clue for us?"

He flipped the note over. There was nothing.

"What spell did Hermione use to try conjuring words out of Riddle's diary?" asked Ron, suddenly.

Harry stared at him and thought for a long while.

Finally, a flicker of a smile came across his face.

"Aparecium!"

There was a glimmer of light from the middle of the note, then it faded.

Then a row of words appeared in the middle; in Hermione's beautiful script.

"Seven cuts across V. Note from DM."

"I'm assuming V is Voldemort, and DM is – " Ron broke off, his eyes hardening at the name.

"Note from Malfoy?" Ginny asked, incredulously. "She got this note from Malfoy?"

Harry's mind was running wild with images of Hermione and Draco suddenly being more chummy than he had hoped for, but he shook them away, feeling highly agitated as the image of the note blurred before him. He rubbed his eyes furiously.

"So the ferret's scared that Voldemort will wave a wand over him and poof! There he goes?" Ron asked coldly. "The ferret can actually feel fear?"

"Two, two, and three, gives seven," said Corrinne, throwing a sharp glare at Ron. "We've got to find out what these cuts that divide You-Know-Who are."

There was a sudden burst of light at the empty fireplace; all of them were startled backwards.

"Ronald? Ronald Weasley?"

"It's Mum!" gasped Ron, and so did Ginny. Tentatively, Ron leaned forward to see his mother's anxious face in the fire. "Mum, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Ron, is there trouble at Hogwarts? Are you safe?"

"What's wrong, Mum?" Ron looked perplexed.

"Oh I was so afraid; the Order just got a call to go down..." Suddenly, her face looked terrified, and there was some shuffling. All of them had to strain to hear the following conversation.

"But Arthur, no – I know it's secret, but – he's our son, Arthur! And Ginny's there! How could – Ron, I'm so sorry, just..."

Her voice was abruptly cut off, and Arthur Weasley's voice was grim as he spoke next, his face refusing to appear in the fire. "That's all, son, I'm sorry your mother was overreacting. There is no alert for now, I repeat, there is – "

Mr Weasley's voice was also abruptly halted, but only because Harry had thrown a handful of ash and soot at the side into the fireplace to cover the fire. Ron stared at him in astonishment, but Harry looked firmly at all of them.

"This just means two things. One – Dumbledore's back. It's either he or Snape who called the Order to Hogwarts, and it's most likely him. Two – even though he's back, the fact that he needs the Order's help means that Hermione seems to be in danger!"

"What are we waiting for?" Ginny demanded.

Grasping the note tightly in his hand, Harry raced out of the common-room along with the rest of them, towards Albus Dumbledore's office once again.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Draco watched with an eagle eye as Wentervale slowly moved towards Hermione's unconscious figure. To his surprise, the white emptiness surrounding them slowly faded away, revealing the dark, slimy textures of a cave that made up walls, ground, and ceiling. Suddenly, he felt claustrophobic.

"Where – where are we?" He tried to maintain his composure as his teeth chattered with the chilly air that seemed to swirl around him. He flicked his wand out, but Wentervale was faster, and with a murmur, it was brighter; the air circulation seemed to have eased, and there was a wave of warmth that came with each air current, making Draco feel a little better. But he didn't feel much better with Wentervale's disfigured face in front of him, that crooked smile still plastered on his patched skin.

"In the depths of Optimisticheskaya," said Wentervale, as he raised his hands above Hermione. A pale blue light glowed in the space between his palms and Hermione's body, and Draco couldn't help but look mesmerised. But at the sound of the name, he frowned.

"Where? Optimistic what?"

"Optimisticheskaya," replied Wentervale, nonchalantly. "West Ukraine. Specifically, Korolivka."

"You have got to be kidding me," Draco gasped. "We're in Ukraine? But we didn't even –"

"I created a Teleporting Veil at the hole entrance where you flew in to dodge the dragon, or me," said Wentervale, his eyes now closed as he continued to murmur some words. The blue light became a little more intense and darker. "The Veil was my way of escaping the Inferi."

Draco didn't say anything; he glared expectantly at Wentervale to continue.

Wentervale opened his eyes and looked back at Draco. "You are right. I wanted you to come, so that I can tell you my story."

Draco remained silent.

"Let us start from the beginning. As you know Draco, the Dark Lord entrusts four of his most loyal Death Eaters –" Draco snorted at that, but Wentervale was nonplussed. "To his secrets. Each of us had one secret, one Horcrux. I believe the reason why the Dark Lord did this was because he could send someone to protect the Horcrux in place of him."

"We all somehow knew that the secrets the others held were the other Horcruxes of the Dark Lord. But we knew that each Horcrux had its own deadly power. Betray the Dark Lord as a pack of four, and we'd all be dead before we tried finding out the other few Horcruxes. Needless to say, I had no idea who the other three Death Eaters were, and at that time, I was fiercely loyal to the Dark Lord and swore to keep his secret safe till my dying day. I am sure now you have come to know of the story that I healed the Dark Lord just after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Shortly after, he regained full strength and sought to gather all of us to rage a final battle against both the Muggle and wizarding worlds."

"However, one thing he said made me turn against him completely." And Wentervale's eyes hardened, almost glowing golden; the sly smile had vanished into a cold, hard look.

Draco slowly knelt down, then gazed harshly at the man. "What?"

"After the battle was over, we all had to make sacrifices."

Draco swallowed hard. He had long assumed of the sacrifices the Dark Lord made his minions do, but it was chilling to hear it being affirmed. But it was one thing to glorify yourself in the name of the Dark Lord by dying doing his services, and another to be killed by him and shamed for being an incompetent fool. Draco felt the familiar lightheadednesss overtake him as he thought about his father. Strange how he used to be resentful of his father's hardhanded measures in his childhood, and yet now he was aching so badly for Lucius Malfoy to just appear in front of him again, whole and alive.

"You should have known that was coming." Draco's voice was rough.

"Yes I did," said Wentervale, pausing to concentrate on the blue light. Draco stared down at Hermione, who was still not moving. "But when I say sacrifices, I don't mean kill ourselves. No, the Dark Lord wanted his loyal minions to stick around."

Draco's gaze returned to Wentervale. "So?"

"He wanted us to sacrifice our families."

Draco wondered how his father had responded to that.

A sense of suspicion crept up upon him.

But before he could delve into his feelings, Wentervale continued. "I knew that he would want us to make sacrifices. Myself, I was more than willing. But I did not want my kin to suffer for my ideals. When Lanneria first married Jeremiah Greengrass forty years ago, I made her change her name to Lily Greengrass. I was eager to be recognised by the Dark Lord; I was training myself to be proficient in the Dark Arts from books that I had nicked from various places, and I hung out very often at Knockturn Alley, hoping to meet a Dark wizard or two. But I couldn't let Lanneria suffer for my decision. She was very against me becoming a Death Eater, but she knew that many pureblood families were starting to pledge allegiance towards this powerful force. She knew that she could not stop me as well. Even though Lanneria and I have different mothers, she cared for me just like I was her very own full brother..."

Wentervale was clearly very protective of his half-sister, Draco noted.

"A Dark wizard finally discovered me and my Healing abilities, roping me in. So when I started out as a Death Eater, my family slate was clean. I had no kin."

Wentervale raised his hands higher; the ball of light glowed even brighter.

"But after years of service to the Dark Lord, after the First Wizarding War, I fell in love with someone."

Draco raised his eyebrows.

"The Dark Lord knew who she was – I couldn't risk her life when I heard of this. To be loyal to him meant a very one-tracked mind. Your aunt Bellatrix is one such person. Very one-tracked. So I began to realise that perhaps my future would not lie with the Dark Lord. Then, I had also just discovered that I had the Newtzer's Disease. It was the perfect excuse to leave the Death Eaters; degenerative motor skills would impede my ability to fight, and the Dark Lord had no use for an invalid. An ex-Death Eater who left on his own will and approved by the Dark Lord, would have to live abroad as an exile."

"I also knew that the Dark Lord would not kill me even if I left his service, despite me knowing one of his most well-kept secrets, because I had Healed him back to life – I was his benefactor." Wentervale curled his lip in a smirk. However, that smirk fell apart as he continued, his voice now shaking.

"But then he killed my son."

Draco's eyes widened. Wentervale pressed the ball of light closer to Hermione's centre, and concentrated for a while. Suddenly, the light twitched a little towards green, but Wentervale pushed harder, and it reverted to the aqua blue colour of earlier.

"Yes. I had a son with Seraphina. It was a grave mistake, but yet a most beautiful one. Unfortunately, it seems that the Dark Lord decided that if he cannot kill me, he will kill somebody I love to warn me of the dire consequences of spilling the secret."

Wentervale's voice was cracking. Draco flinched. He wasn't used to listening to people's life stories, but the word 'kill' seemed to ignite something in him everytime it was mentioned.

"I had exiled myself to the old Soviet Union nations to find a place for my family. In the chaos of fighting for independence, nobody would want to enter this region; the most dangerous is the safest, after all. But before I got to go back, I got news that my son was abducted. And killed."

When Wentervale didn't continue, Draco ventured, "But it seems to have the opposite effect on you, I presume?"

The sly smirk came back. "I owled the Daily Prophet and told them that the Dark Lord has secrets entrusted to his followers. When the Dark Lord knew, I heard at first he just wanted to leave it alone – now that the other Death Eaters knew, they would be loyal to him in order to gain that coveted status as his secret-bearer. But I think he eventually came to the notion that it would be highly dangerous to have me lurking around."

"Now that the Dark Lord was incensed, all the more I couldn't come back. I told Seraphina to come and find me. But on her way –"

Draco closed his eyes. Maldash Wentervale had been pushed into betraying the Dark Lord – by the Dark Lord's own hands. Bloody hands.

"Mmm-mm?"

Draco's eyes flew open. Hermione was stirring!

"Granger!" He quickly made to lift her up, but Wentervale put out a hand to stop him. Instead, Hermione was staring straight at Wentervale's disfigured face.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed, jerking up immediately.

Draco stared at her, not knowing whether to be furious, worried, or amused.

She swung around to stare at him, her eyes blazing. "What – where – who - ?"

"Relax, Granger." Draco chuckled, leaning back. "I see you've completely healed. Well, that's our bloke."

Hermione swung around again to stare at Wentervale, who covered his face with his hood again. "You're – Maldash Wentervale?" Her voice didn't seem surprised, and Draco looked at her questioningly.

"Do I have to tell my story again?" There was a hint of lament in Wentervale's weary voice.

"I heard you," whispered Hermione, looking down at her lap.

"What?" Draco stared at her.

"I don't know – I heard a story in my dreams. A story of – " She winced. Then she looked at Wentervale. "Your story, wasn't it?"

"I'm glad I don't have to repeat it," said Wentervale, a little kindly. Then he paused and gave her a queer look. "You are a very bright witch."

Draco was now taken aback by Wentervale's compliment to Hermione, who seemed to be blushing a little. "You just called her a Mudblood moments ago! What's with the niceties?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to frown, but Wentervale merely smirked. "I was a Death Eater, but I wreaked havoc because I was a discontented young fool. And the ability to assume power over anything for those moments of havoc gives one a strong sense of unrivalled power and unbridled freedom. The Dark Lord also promised a new world order. A new world order that would recognise us as leaders of this world we have come to overtake."

"Freedom?" Hermione was now scoffing. "You call that kind of terrorism freedom?"

"It is freedom for the terrorists, no?" Wentervale's hollow laugh reverberated around the cave walls. "But my issue wasn't with the blood statuses, or the quest for immortality; it was to be recognised as an individual. Before I was a Death Eater, I was nothing. I was scrabbling at people's feet in Knockturn Alley, picking up their wretched old books and gossip. I was never eligible to enter Hogwarts, for some reason or another. I was a prodigy at Healing, but nobody seemed to take notice."

His eyes narrowed. "But now, if you ask anyone in the wizarding world, is there anyone out there who doesn't know who Maldash Wentervale is? The Healing prodigy? Even before my blabber in the Daily Prophet, which has unwittingly turned me quite infamous I must say. It is just like how people know the Carrows, Bellatrix Lestrange..." He cackled. "And I suppose your father, Draco, even though he prefers to stay out of the limelight in connection with the Dark Lord."

Draco glared coldly at him.

"And Severus Snape," mused Wentervale, his eyebrows raised. "Who never publicly allies with the Dark Lord, of course."

There was no response from Draco, but Hermione's bushy hair seemed to be prickling with electricity as she, too, glared at Wentervale. "So in your opinion, one can just get in and out of this wonderful life as and when one pleases, isn't that so? And instead of getting rid of the Dark Lord yourself, you coward, you lure Draco here so that he can do your bidding, isn't it? Aren't you just revelling in your ability to have power over people!"

Hermione's tirade startled Draco, but Wentervale merely laughed again. "A feisty lady! I see she is not a lamb, Draco."

Hermione was about to comment on the use of the word 'lamb' when Wentervale continued. "No, I did not lure Draco here. Or at least, I think, I was merely leading him to come get what he wanted."

"I'm working for the Dark Lord!" roared Draco, whipping out his wand.

"I told you Draco, you are no match for me."

"Oh yeah? Try me. Besides, you're already going to die with that disease of yours, I'm merely granting your death wish earlier."

"Then you'll not get anything out of me that you wanted to get."

Draco's eyes flashed with rage.

"You want to come here not on account of the Dark Lord. You want to avenge your father. Draco, I'm sure the Dark Lord knows this as well."

Hermione gasped.

"There is no need for alarm, young lady." Wentervale chuckled. "I'm sure it is obvious to the wizarding world that the Dark Lord's wish for Draco to take over Lucius' position is not so much to give him power, than to get him to complete the missions he wants, and then wipe him out completely."

Draco was having trouble controlling his temper.

"And I know you will avenge your father, the way your father wanted to protect you." Wentervale's voice had suddenly grown softer, and Draco jerked. "I'm sure you understand by now, Draco, that the reason why your father let me go, is because of the same reason I left the Death Eaters."

Wentervale removed his hood once again, his piercing yellow eyes gazing at Draco, who was now shaking uncontrollably. "Lucius didn't want you and Narcissa to die for him. But it was inevitable. There is no way to kill the Dark Lord other than to destroy his Horcruxes. And I can tell you now that your father was the other trusted Death Eater that the Dark Lord entrusted another of his secrets to. And this is the very place he was told one of the Horcruxes were kept."

Draco just stared. He was now quite mind-boggled with all the information. Hermione, too, was staring in complete astonishment at the revelation of so many things.

"When your father lured me out – he had used the most painful thing of all to do so. He had combed many of the Eastern European countries in hope to find me, and then when he had reached Georgia, he told the Death Eaters that my son's remains were there. When Severus Snape heard it, he told Lanneria about it."

"To cut a long story short, Lanneria and I had been communicating via a very Dark magic communication tool that I had set up so that it would not be traced. Later, she met Severus when she was sending her granddaughters to school. And being desperate, she had inevitably leaked out that she knew me, through her conversation with him, in hope to protect Daphne and Astoria. She had been convinced that he was working for Albus Dumbledore."

"This is how Snape knows who Lanneria Wentervale is!" Hermione was enlightened.

"Of course, Lanneria was terrified, and I was completely overtaken with emotions about my son. So I left to find Lucius in Georgia, and was inevitably cornered."

"When I told Lucius that I was attempting to destroy the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, his resolve to kill me faltered. He knew that if the Dark Lord was gone, he need not sacrifice his family either."

Now Draco knew why Snape could not go ahead to find Maldash Wentervale himself, and why Dumbledore had insisted Draco go on his own to find the man. Wentervale was desperate to see Draco in the flesh; even without Draco asking about what happened to his father, Wentervale was more than eager to tell him about it. After all, the man was dying, and he wanted to leave his legacy of destroying the Dark Lord's Horcruxes to someone.

There was a searing pain in his arm, and Draco clutched at it. The Dark Mark.

"When the Dark Lord reminded him of his duty once again, Lucius found me once more and tried to steel his nerves and capture me. But the more I talked about you and Narcissa, the more he found it hard to resist. Finally, he told me of the secret he was entrusted with, and that he knew with that, and with his letting me go a second time, he would meet his death with the Dark Lord."

Draco shuddered violently; Hermione couldn't bear to stare at Wentervale any longer.

"Your father sacrificed his life for you. And for the rest of the people who want their families intact," whispered Wentervale, who started coughing madly again. When he recovered, he managed a smirk. "And because there is no such thing as a new world order with the Dark Lord, no such thing as freedom... it will be a dictatorship, or even anarchy - "

"You were the one who said he gave you the ability to be an individual," said Draco, snidely.

"Well..." Wentervale paused, then he smiled faintly. "He made me an individual. But at the same time, he can crush me completely. I've realised that without Seraphina and our son, I am nobody once again. I can no longer communicate with Lanneria for fear of pulling her and her family deeper into hot water. And this will happen to others. There will be no end. By the time we wait for him to have his showdown with Harry Potter, the mission to destroy his Horcruxes will grow harder with his increasing invincibility, and his increasing madness."

"So – this is your mission as much as it is mine, isn't it, Draco?"

Draco couldn't speak; the words were all choked up at his throat. The Dark Mark was hurting, his head was hurting, his ears were ringing with the words of Maldash Wentervale.

"So have you destroyed anything? How many Horcruxes do you know of?" asked Hermione, desperately.

Wentervale looked quizzically at Draco. "You have her on your mission to help you?"

Draco curled his lip. "Help? A Death Eater? You think?"

Hermione gave a shudder, which did not escape Wentervale's glittering eyes. He looked straight at her.

"The tunnels that you have entered, the illusion of the stone labyrinth I created for you to manouevre your way here, are the areas that I have combed so far." Wentervale wheezed as he seemed to squeeze himself in the hooded robe as much as he could. "I still cannot find the Horcrux. Lucius said he only knew of the location, not the exact placing of the Horcrux. But I believe your father would not lie to me, Draco. I saw it in his eyes."

Draco was trying hard to stifle a snort.

"The one that you saw in the cave you two were at earlier..." Wentervale paused. "Did you not attempt to retrieve it? Or did Albus Dumbledore stop you from doing so?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. Wentervale laughed. "I know that old man came around. I saw him on his previous visit. He came to find me on the other entrance when the Inferi had gone back into the water..."

"That wily old fox said he had turned back immediately!" said Draco, angrily.

Wentervale shrugged. "Well, he came after me. To that same chasm where you saw me as the dragon."

"You were that dragon! An Advanced Animagus!" Hermione gasped, whereas Draco looked indifferent. "If you had told Draco that earlier, I really didn't hear that!"

"He tried to kill us, if you remember!" retorted Draco, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Wentervale ignored his outbursts. "He didn't venture beyond thereafter."

"So the Horcrux..." Hermione began.

"Is not yet destroyed," said Wentervale, ruefully. "It is the one I knew of. I know not what it is exactly, but it is at a bottom of a bowl filled with magic water, that must be drunk. But this magic water is poisonous, and overconsumption of it will be fatal. Given my health condition, I am unable to do so. I have been trying spell after spell, charm after charm, but it always just brings the Inferi out of the water, and I will have to wield fire to ward them off. I think the Dark Lord must be amused at my pathetic attempts; he knows I cannot drink the water. But he does not come over himself. He has refused to kill me himself on account of my Healing him back to life."

"I don't understand," said Draco, testily. "The Inferi forced us towards the area where you became a dragon. Surely the Dark Lord knows that because there are dangers there, so whoever lurks around the area will become dragon chomp. Can't he tell you're the dragon?"

Wentervale shook his head. "Because there was a dragon there before."

Hermione's eyes were huge. "You killed it then?"

"My ability as an Animagus is also rather profound, as much as I hate to exaggerate," replied Wentervale. "My dragon turned out more superior than it."

A hint of a smile tugged at the twisted lips. "I know the anti-apparition wards around the area would also prevent a Teleporting Veil to be used. So I found the crack, squeezed through it, and noticed that the Inferi did not follow me. They seemed unable to squeeze through the crack, I know not why. But the Dark Lord does not waste time on people who will eventually die. He figured that either I fell down the chasm and was eaten up by the dragon, or I'd be unable to move. Which meant that if the Dark Lord wanted to send someone to finish me off, he could."

"So he has passed on the secret of this Horcrux's whereabouts to another Death Eater?" asked Hermione.

"Yes."

Draco was about to ask who, but Wentervale just went on.

"But his anti-apparition wards didn't reach till the end of the chasm, where I could place my Teleporting Veil. So this one Death Eater has been sent time and again to fight me. But I escape with my Teleporting Veil."

"Back to the Horcruxes," said Hermione, quickly, before Draco could say a word. "Surely you know the whereabouts of one more Horcrux."

Wentervale's eyes glittered once again. "I do?"

"A ring of truth," quoted Hermione, glancing sideways at a rather livid Draco.

"Ah. So Lucius has been cryptic, hasn't he?" Wentervale smirked, eyeing Draco, who was glaring murderously at him. "It is actually only a theory between the two of us. Neither of us are aware of any more secrets, as we know not who the other trusted Death Eaters are. But under the Dark Lord, Draco, have you noticed that there is this very precious ring on his finger?"

"No, I haven't," muttered Draco, the memory of Voldemort's figure floating into his mind. The raised wand; the jet of light; the searing pain; the mark of a skull and snake slowly appearing on his flesh, slithering and hissing, blackening his arm... and the skeletal fingers that held that wand with the light snaking out of it – bare and pale.

"Ah but you see," said Wentervale. "He used to wear it all the time. Sometimes he would even stroke it, and rather strangely, spit at it when he was angry. Then one day, it just disappeared."

"The Dark Lord adores precious things. It is more than likely that he uses them for his Horcruxes. His soul must be encased in something glorious, beautiful, dangerous..."

"And there's one of course, that has been destroyed a long time ago. It has never been explicitly mentioned as a Horcrux. But from the stories I've heard, it seems more than likely that it is the one."

"What is it?" demanded Draco, although he tried not to sound over-eager.

Wentervale chuckled. "Make a guess. A Horcrux can only be destroyed with the most powerful of magic – for example, a basilisk fang."

Hermione gave a gasp of recognition, and Draco swivelled to stare at her.

"Tom Riddle's diary!" she whispered. "There was a piece of soul in there; he possessed Ginny through it!"

Draco raised his eyebrows. He had not heard of this story.

"Very good, Miss Granger." Wentervale nodded. "Exactly. And the reason why Lucius and I have speculated seven in total, is because – "

"Seven is a very powerful number in witchcraft and wizardry," said Hermione, stiffly. "It represents the apex of power."

"Excellent," rasped Wentervale, and Draco almost expected him to say 'fifty points to Gryffindor!' thereafter. "So one is destroyed, we know the location of two, and we're aware of one possible Horcrux, but know not its location. That leaves three others unknown. Well, since the diary was not known to any Death Eater to be a Horcrux, not even Lucius who had attempted to deposit it on Ginny Weasley previously, thinking that it was cursed..."

"So the remaining three – only one of them is known to a Death Eater – the other two we have no hints of them at all?" The scale of the mission suddenly hit Hermione.

"This is insane!" Draco shot Wentervale a withering look. "The one in the cave is not retrievable, this one is hidden somewhere in this huge labyrinth, the ring is probably like somewhere on Earth, two are nearly impossible to know..."

"It's clear to me that you wish to embark on this mission..."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?" exploded Draco, furiously. "I've become a Death Eater to take on my father's role! To atone for his sins! I work for the Dark Lord, Maldash Wentervale, I'm not killing you because I know it's not worth killing someone who is about to die! I have risked my life to come here only because I want to find out the truth of my father's death. Now that I know it, I'm not bloody likely to –"

"Betray the Dark Lord? Not even after you know the reason for your father's death?" Wentervale cut in, coldly. His eyes seemed to glaze over with a pale sheath. "Then becoming a Death Eater is an insult to your father, for what he wants, you're doing the exact opposite!"

There was a violent spasm in Draco, as he sank down to his knees, trying to grit his teeth and handle the jolts of pain running through his body. Hermione was frightened; she knelt down beside him, not knowing what to do. She looked up at Wentervale desperately. "Is that all you know then? If that's all, then please, just go away! You don't control his life!"

Draco thought he saw stars in front of him. His father's voice, his mother's voice, Snape's voice, Dumbledore's voice... now even Granger's voice pleading with Wentervale to leave...

Wentervale hesitated, then he raised his eyes to look at Hermione, whose face was now deathly pale with the tension mounting between the two men.

All of a sudden, he, too, had a violent spasm, and there he was, rocking back and forth madly, clutching at his robes. His hood fell back, and his distorted face had the most horrible expression on – a mixture of helplessness, insanity, fear; a monstrous image – for he was crying out loud, howling with the pain.

Draco snapped out of his own spasms, and gasped in horror, as he and Hermione watched, terrified. The patches on Wentervale's body were suddenly enlarging, and spreading all over his body like huge dark circles.

Hermione screamed and ran forward, pulling out her wand, but Wentervale's outstretched hand grabbed her hand. She shrieked again. "NO!"

"D-don't..." His raspy voice issued from the open mouth of the creature that was slowly falling apart. "It's – ti-ime. I ..." His other hand reached out into his robes and pulled out a pouch, thrusting it hastily into Hermione's hands. At the same time, he looked towards Draco and gasped once again, as his flesh seemed to be blackening completely, and he seemed to become more shrivelled with every spasm.

Draco rushed forward as well, staring in complete terror with the disintegration of the man before him. He had barely met him for long, and now - he felt like he had so much to say, but yet nothing was tumbling out of his mouth. All he could do was to just watch, and there was a final parting smirk on Wentervale's face as he breathed out the words,

"Remember... your... father..."

And then there was a burst of light; Hermione shrieked once again, and Draco let out a gasp.

When the light receded in a bang, swallowed up by the darkness, there was nothing left in front of them except a few specks of dust.

Draco was shaking; he was breathing in stunted gasps, and he could feel the lightheadedness overtake him, when he noticed that Hermione was opening the pouch with trembling fingers. Slowly, she brought out the item that was in it.

"It's a – a basilisk fang." A tear drop ran down her cheek. "To – to destroy the Horcruxes."

Slipping the fang back into the pouch, Hermione burst into tears, shuddering with each sob. She turned and grabbed Draco's arm, crying hard, while Draco himself merely stared at the emptiness before him, his mind clouded with every single thought possible, causing his head to ache. Pain coursed through his body, but it wasn't just literal pain now. He absent-mindedly reached out to put his hand into the brown curls of Hermione's head, feeling her shake with every sob, feeling the hot tears that were seeping into his skin, and his body gave a violent shudder once again.

"Remember... your... father..."