Thanks: candledot (Thanks for the review, I was actually worried that the scene was too common among writers. Snape huh? Great idea really! Check out this chapter.), candledot ch2. (Thanks, Snape's gonna get a BIG PART. I was kinda wrong to make Dumbledore so stupid about it but, Snape will see his near fatal error.)hasapi ( That's why I left it hanging, I want you all to read more.), Imp (Thank you, it is hard to get these out so fast. I have so little time.) kpstar25 (I will try to update as often as I can. It's not always easy.), cherries (Don't fear for Draco, sadly I can't kill any character. I get too attached to my fic and the characters),Delta2002 ( Thanks, this takes place in Ginny's 4th year. I'm glad you think it's unique.), Myrtle (Oh thanks :) I'm glad you think it is) Stone Coope (I'm glad you liked, hope u read the rest),


Thanks to Misty for helping me with the errors. I wouldn't have had this chapter without your help. Everyone take notice that I do not have errors any more! Please tell me it's better now, with such a good beta reader.


A/N: So here's #3.... hope you like. By the way, the Amortias charm was made up by me in another fic. It's my own creation.



Ginny and Dumbledore were not the only people affected by the news of Draco and Lucius. Severus Snape heard of the news from Dumbledore. Being Head of the boy's house and an ex-friend of Lucius, he knew about Lucius and his past. Sixteen years ago they both were some of the youngest supporters of the Dark Lord... they'd both done some crazy and evil unforgivable things. He never thought that Lucius would go back. In the old days he was out of control, a crazy killer, power hungry, but Snape always assumed the new man his friend had become was better. Of course, days after he'd come back to Hogwarts after spying on some old friends for Dumbledore, he had a talk with Dumbledore about the people he used to associate with. Albus Dumbledore had used some wise words he remembered well. "Not all are like you. They are going to make the same wrong decisions again. Even while you learned from these mistakes."
"I have!" He remembered that his reply had amused Dumbledore very much. He didn't really understand why. He was eager to show his loyalty because of all the times in his life where no one had believed him at all. Dumbledore was right, Lucius was going back to who he used to be, but what about his son? As the Head of Slytherin, Snape noticed Draco Malfoy the first day. A natural Slytherin, Lucius' son was one of the few favorite students he had. To find out what Lucius had done to the boy was appalling. Suddenly an important thought came into his mind. Did Albus tell Lucius Malfoy about his son's complaints? If he did, that was the worst mistake he could have made. If he did tell, Draco Malfoy was in terrible danger. He ran to the headmasters office and said the password. "Albus!" he yelled rushing into the Headmaster's office.

"Severus, do explain yourself." Dumbledore said calmly "It's past one in the morning, why aren't you asleep? I was just about to retire myself."

"Headmaster," Snape was worried and breathing hard "I was up tonight thinking about Lucius Malfoy ... and I hope you didn't tell him what his son told you. Did you?"

"Yes Severus, as a matter of fact I did inform Mr. Malfoy, as well as informing him of what the wizards laws are concerning child abuse. The Ministry officials will take his child away from him. He is most likely on the run now with Ministry officials looking for him."

"Or he is looking for a way to make his son pay for telling you," Severus stated grimly "I know Lucius and I used to be just like him. I know how he thinks, the boys life is in danger."

Dumbledore looked mildly surprised. "Well, I will have to raise more security spells and charms starting tomorrow."

Severus felt the familiar cold he used to feel all the time around death eaters during his missions. "I have a bad feeling in me," he admitted "Dark magic is being used in this castle. I can feel it. We must make sure everything is all right!" Before the Headmaster could move, Snape rushed out of the room running immediately to the Slytherin tower.

~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Ginny Weasley was waking up from a startling dream. "No." she sighed "He's all right, it was just a dream..." She had dreamt that Draco was in big trouble. She saw his father fighting with him at the station again but, this time killing him. "It was a dream!" she whispered again but the memory of what she had dreamt could not be easily dismissed. She must have cared for him a lot more than she thought since there was a pain every time she was remembering his dead face twisted in pain his eyes calling to her to help him. He's fine, he's all right... I saw the fight, he's alive. After a few minutes she was still worried. She had to do something. Ginny knew she was a chronic worrier, but she could usually calm herself. Tonight she was more worried than usual, she wanted to make sure everything was all right but, what could she do? An idea was prickling in her head. Sneak into the Slytherin common room! Where were they anyway? She couldn't sleep and didn't want to bother the other girls in the dormitory so she pulled on her coat and walked down to the common room. She could swear she had heard a noise. She pushed open the Gryffindor portrait and went down into the hall.

~*~*~*~**
"Calm yourself Severus," Dumbledore warned Snape as he panicked. "The students are sleeping in here and we need not alarm them."

"There is need for alarm Albus, I can feel the evil in here and look, the boy's gone."

"You must be correct then. If it is Lucius Malfoy, can you find him?"

"Maybe," Snape replied softly. It wasn't as if he could locate a Death Eater within the castle but, it was something about the magic the Dark Lord left in his followers. It connected them in an eerie sort of way, it was as if he felt the evil. Dumbledore wordlessly followed Snape down a corridor. He saw the path to Gryffindor tower and turned the other way. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but he did understand his terrible mistake. He was not used to such matters and it was shocking. Yet, even the great wizard did not hear the young girl who had heard enough to know to follow them. She didn't know for sure that Draco was missing, but she'd heard Dumbledore say 'Lucius Malfoy.' She didn't know why she did it, but she continued to follow them up to the astronomy tower stairs. Ginny didn't know how she could get up their without being heard. It was just a long narrow staircase. She'd have to be several steps behind them to follow and if they turned around to go down... they'd see her.
Then an idea struck her. The closet! There was a supply closet that held a bunch of telescopes and charts the Professor no longer used. If she could make it to that closet, she'd be safe to find out what was going on.

~*~*~*~*
Two men stood at the top of the astronomy tower. The father was near a window, he did not seem to be looking at anything, just looking out at the sky. The son had his wand out and was ready to fight. His father's behavior bothered him "So?" he asked harshly "Did you come up here to kill me or not?"

"I never wanted you dead." Lucius said with concern so obviously unreal. "I only wanted to teach you, killing you would teach you what you did was wrong."

"I want you dead," Draco replied solidly "I want you dead for ruining my life... well are we going to fight?"

"Brave, aren't you? You know you cannot win in a duel with me."

"I can try. I have nothing to lose, you made sure of that."

"But, there is one thing you have," his father added smiling "A girl maybe?"

How did he know about that? Before he could ask his father raised a wand and pointed it at him "The Dark Lord fooled even your great Dumbledore, there are spies all over the castle. I've been watching and a few rather interesting things came to my attention. A Weasley? How interesting."

Draco pretended to be unimpressed. He said a few words and sent silver sparks from his wand. His father sent out gold ones of his own that completely extinguished Draco's spell.
"You're not going to win."

"Neither are you."

"Might as well let it be easy, I'll just kill you now. Fast and it will be over and done with "Avada kadav-"

Before he could kill his son, Lucius was hit by a powerful blast. He fell sideways and turned to see the Hogwarts Headmaster and his ex-friend Severus Snape. "So," he said confidently even though he was trembling with fear "coward, you did call them... I thought you'd be braver than that."

"No he didn't." Snape said coldly "I still have that old power of ours, I could feel your magic from downstairs. The evil radiates off of you."

Draco didn't know how he felt. Was he grateful to be alive? Yes, he would have been dead if they hadn't burst in. he felt angry, he wanted to face his fate alone. It was a mixture of feelings. Both Dumbledore and Professor Snape stood over Lucius wands pointed at him daring him to act. To everyone's surprise, Lucius took out his wand, but instead of trying to kill anyone, he blasted open a closet door and a girl tumbled to the floor and sat up. "What are you..." Draco was in shock to see Ginny there. "What the... why did you ..."

She looked around analyzing how bad her situation was. "I dreamed about... about you dying. Then I heard Professor Dumbledore talking about your father and I followed."

"You're the one who convinced my son to tell!" Lucius muttered "For that you will die!"

"You are not killing anyone tonight Malfoy!" Snape yelled so loudly that Ginny was afraid "This ends the killing.... forever."

"No, there will always be killing, as long as there is life. It isn't like you don't remember the murder."

Ginny, Draco and Dumbledore turned to look at Snape knowing that Lucius hit a sore spot. "The past is over and gone," he said calmly "I thought it was over for you too."

"Never!" Lucius whispered desperately seeking an escape. He wanted to kill them all, but he feared that he couldn't take out Dumbledore.

"You were always a homicidal maniac," Snape sighed "but I never thought it would come to this."

Dumbledore turned his back to Lucius and Snape and forced the two students to the back of the room. Draco stared at Ginny, a look that simply asked 'Why did you get involved?'

Lucius fought back, even though the fight seemed hopeless for him. Even though Dumbledore was the one most powerful wizard known, his magic was still very different.
It seemed that he no longer cared. He went past Dumbledore and past Snape just to get to his son. Snape had long ago thought Lucius was crazy and this proved it. He did not try to kill his biggest threat but his son. It was madness, the one Death Eater was more powerful than most. "You see then?" Lucius asked "The powers I was recently given." He blew up a wall and smoke filled the room. Ginny coughed and tried to see but couldn't. She felt a hand on her shoulder push her down to the floor. She looked up and saw Draco.

"Watch yourself," he whispered. Draco could hear his father fighting with Professor Snape and Dumbledore but couldn't see them. He urged Ginny to get herself away. "Come on, he can't see you... get out!"

"No," she whispered "The dream I had was too real and I'm not watching you get yourself killed."

"Don't watch then, get out!" he yelled. The smoke cleared

"There's not reason for her to leave," Lucius said softly. He spoke so calmly it felt deadly. Snape was on the floor unconscious and Dumbledore, where was he? Dumbledore had disappeared!

"Get away," Draco said attempting to shield Ginny "She's not part of this, it's about you and me."

"Oh but she is," Lucius whispered "The girl is a big part of everything, you love her and I can't have that... let me tell you my reasons for killing her. I spoke with Lord Voldemort," he said softly. Draco shuddered not used to his father speaking Voldemort's name. Lucius continued: "And when we spoke, I told of you and your terrible behavior against me. He liked it, the disobedience. Can you believe it? The Dark Lord wants you still, I am here with instructions not to kill you , like you foolishly thought... but instructions to kill the things that attach you to love." He raised his wand to them.

"You want her dead," Draco said shaking but calming himself "Well, if you want that... you're gonna have to go through me first."

"Fine."

"Wait," Ginny said looking at Draco, but speaking to Lucius "The Dark Lord wants him? Then you'll have to fight both of us."

"Don't you get it Weasley?" Lucius asked "You're dead anyway... you die."

"No," Ginny said "We can beat you."

Lucius was laughing his head off. It would be too easy, he'd kill the girl and take his son in moments. He tossed out a curse lazily, but it kissed the students. Both had their wands raised in the air and a white light fell from both wands knocking him to his feet. Lucius was unconscious on the floor, lying right beside Professor Snape.
"What did we do?" Draco asked watching Ginny.
"It could only mean one thing," Ginny whispered "but my dad said it wasn't real. The Amortias charm! It's supposed to come from people's hearts when they care for each others lives. It comes from love." Draco looked at her

"Let's get him out of here. Hey, where did Dumbledore go anyway."

"I left," came a voice "I only did because I couldn't stop this magic tonight, something wouldn't let me. Only the power of love could, I prayed the Amortias charm would come from you."

The Headmaster took Lucius out of the room, "Mister Malfoy," he said to Draco "Please, stay far from trouble for a time... if what I heard Lucius say is true, Voldemort wants you for special reasons. Miss Weasley you must see this doesn't happen. I will send Madam Pomfrey up to collect Professor Snape."

Ginny nodded and looked at Draco. They were alone at the top of the astronomy tower, aside from Snape. "I think my father is going to get away," he whispered "I think all of the Death Eaters will someday."
"Don't talk like that," she replied trying to figure out how he was feeling "Can't you just be happy that good won another battle and both of us are alive."
"I guess that's good." He wanted to say more, but was having a hard time. She looked like she wanted to say it too,

"Thank you..." she said "I mean it, thank you."
"No... you... you were amazing."

"It was brave to try to face him alone, stupid, but still brave." She laughed softly.

"Why do they want me?" he asked her. He paused and then continued to ask "What is it about me that is so desirable to them?"

She didn't quite know how to answer, she paced thinking about it. Finally she opened her mouth "Your father maybe? They want you to be like him?"

"I don't think that is the reason."

"Maybe..." she gave it more thought "Maybe it's you. You try to be good yet, you also try to be bad. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

He nodded "I know they could get me."

"No," she explained "The reason they want you is the fact that you could be so evil, but too good of a person for them."

She was hinting badly with the way she moved, that she loved him. He tried to push her away "Even if, we used that magic... the love charm. It's not happening you know? You and me wouldn't stand a chance."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Two reasons," he stated "One, I'm a Slytherin, I'm bad and we do not mix with the doers of good. I don't know how to be good like you, plus you are much too innocent to mess with me. Two, I am wanted by evil wizards! Do you want them after you, or your family?"

"One," she said to him almost yelling "You are not as bad as you act, you tried to protect my life tonight... and don't give me that 'you are so innocent' stuff. I am not that innocent, that's the way Ron and Harry treat me. I can be bad when I want. Two, Dark Wizards can't defeat love, and that's what I feel for you." She was so calm and gentle that he believed her. For once in his life, something was clear. He was in love. He never thought he could fall in love and he especially thought that he would never fall in love at fifteen, but he did. She knew he was going to kiss her a moment before he did. She saw the desire to do it in his eyes. You can go ahead, she thought. Then he did and she felt like she was going crazy. All of her friends had boyfriends and had kissed so many boys, but not her. She was too shy and reserved until now.

"What are you doing to me?" he asked.

"What are you doing to me?" she asked in response. There was no answer, their love was as mysterious as the mythical charm they had used together. They kissed again and this time it was Ginny who started it. Neither noticed the now conscious Professor Snape standing until he moved over to the side of the tower.

"Professor?" Draco asked "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Professor Snape said "What happened? I know what went on to bring Lucius down, I heard that much, but what else happened?" They explained it all and Professor Snape smiled grimly "That is not good. Your father is more insane than he used to be, with these new powers I have strong doubts that he will remain in custody for long."

"I do too." Draco's simple reply to Snape scared Ginny. It scared them all to think that Lucius could be able to free himself. It was scary to think that Voldemort could make his followers so powerful. Professor Snape made an odd face at Ginny and Draco. Neither knew it, but Snape was wondering about their safety in the future. They both had made themselves targets for evil.

"Go," he said "The other students will be waking soon and these matters must be dealt with."

They walked down the staircase together. "Think they'll tell the school what happened?" Draco asked.

"Most of it," Ginny replied " Some parts they'll keep quiet, but they might tell a little."

"It's not going to be easy, surviving out here. Why you got messed up with me, I'll never guess..."

"It was worth it," she smiled then she repeated herself "It was worth it."

Draco walked quickly thinking about it. Tomorrow would bring horrors, there was no doubt about it. Yet, they were choosing to be happy for a time.