A/N: I'd like to dedicate this to Flaming Dragon and harrysgirl, who are probably the only two who read this so, sorry if no one else reads the dedication,. You're the most loyal reviewers in existence! May the writer's block imp never visit you. And Ludo B, welcome to the world of my strange fanfiction.

IN WHICH SECRET NOTES ARE PASSED

The captives had just managed to start dosing off when they heard an abrupt knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Ron asked.

Parvati and Ginny had managed to bind his wounds with shreds of cloth ripped from his shirt.

"Dunno," Seamus replied. "We're not due to get fed until tomorrow."

The knock came again and just as Draco was about to shout at whoever it was to "get the hell lost" the body of none other than Merloyn herself waltzed through the door.

"What do you want?" Ron spat.

But she only replied by pressing her fingers to her lips. Ginny, who was normally the subtlest of the lot, chose that moment to lunge at the laudabilis.

"That's for just watching my brother get trampled like that! That's for stopping us from helping him! That's for pretending to be the best friend I ever had, that's for making my brother love you and that. That's for making me still believe that the old Hermione's still in there somewhere."

Tears were pouring down her face as her tiny fists pounded into her old friend's white robes.

"Why aren't you hitting me back? Hit me back, dammit! Hit me back!"

The small red-head finally collapsed into a sobbing heap on the laudabilis, who surprisingly enough began patting her back.

"Okay, what the heck?" Ron muttered to himself.

Placing Ginny carefully on the floor, Merloyn looked up at the shirtless Ron and smiled a smile you would see five year olds smile when they saw an ice-cream truck. She walked over to the now extremely stunned boy, ruffled his hair and handed him a small crystal bottle filled with a blue liquid. She walked over to Harry, giving him a quick hug before moving over to her twin and handing him a bit of parchment. He took a quick glance at it and as she was about to walk to walk through the door he called after her.

"And we're really gonna believe what you say are we? It could be poison for all we know!"

With a dignified humph she snatched her necklace from her neck and threw it at his head. Before anything else could be said or done, she walked through the door.

"What is it?" Parvati asked as Draco held up the pewter hawk.

"Oh, it's just something our mother gave us," Draco explained. "I've got one too, though it's a dragon. Here it is. You make the two touch and if they glow and turn into the entwined letters D and M both Merloyn and I are on exactly the same side as we were when we received it, which is the Light."

"What if the.."

"No, Ron. It CAN'T be bewitched," Draco interrupted, already guessing the question.

"So what are we waiting for?" Ginny asked.

"Don't know. But how do you think Fred would feel if he was about to find out whether George was gonna try to kill or help him. I'm not exactly looking forward to the truth."

"What if I do it for you?"

"Nah, thanks anyway, Harry. But I've gotta be the one that does it. Here goes nothing…"

The teenagers didn't really know what to expect but it sure came as a surprise when the hawk and dragon glowed blue and green before turning into the letters M and D. Just the letters, not entwined.

"What happened?" enquired Harry.

"Couldn't tell ya," replied a confused Draco.

"Err... have you ever done this without her holding on to the hawk before?" Ron suggested.

"No," Draco said. "That's probably it."

After walking around the minute cell several times Draco decided to read the note aloud to everyone:

Draco,

The bottle contains Phoenix Tears. Get Ron to drink it, it'll heal his wounds. Ginny's an untrained Argepenice so she might be able to help with the following part. You can unlock the door if you press my hawk up to it and say the words, Fortis Qui Trudens, 3 times. Tell Harry and Ron to get the girls out of here. This is our fight, Draco, and I can't stand the four of them being hurt unnecessarily. I didn't heal Nevar properly so I'll try to drug his dinner. Warlocks are vulnerable to drugs so hopefully it'll work. I need back-up if it doesn't though, so please try to meet me in the west wing main chambers.

Tell Ron I love him.

Merloyn

"Draco, no way," Harry objected. "We are NOT leaving without the two of you. Ain't that right, Ron? Ron?"

The aforementioned boy was staring at the opposite wall with a look of determination on his face.

"Yep," he said looking up at the others. "We're staying, and we're gonna kick their evil arses to whatever demented realm they came from!"