A/N: Before I say anything else, I just wanted to let y'all know about an awesome story called Tragic Repeats by my home girl, Daphne (her penname is CyberSix.) She is one GREAT writer, and I never knew that until I read her story. I don't want to give anything away, but it is a good read, and ::giggles:: she's writing me into it. YAY! Anywho, go hurry your asses up and check out Tragic Repeats by CyberSix. When you leave a review (and I hope you all do) tell her that Lala referred ya.

I don't own Harry Potter, and I, sadly, no longer own Ashton Holmes. I decided to set him free after angry Rentheads and Ashton fans started gathering outside my house, chanting Ashton's name. BUT! Sean Biggerstaff landed in my boy-trap in the backyard, do he is once again gagged and in my closet. Sneezy: if you still have Tom, and you're able to get him out from under the desk, I'd be glad to trade! =)

Now, without further ado, chapter 25!

Chapter 25: Race Against Death

"I said, who's there?" Megan's hand wandered into her robes slowly, and she searched for her wand. "Don't make me light the room up. You wouldn't be able to hide for long." Megan pulled her wand out of her robes slowly. "Fine. Trust me, I won't hesitate to tell Filch about this. Lu-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" after Megan had said the curse, there was a loud thump. Harry pulled his wand out of his robes.

"Lumos!" he said. Ron stifled a laugh when he saw who was stuck in the full body-bind. It was Malfoy.

"You got that from Hermione, didn't you?" Ron asked. Megan nodded.

"She uses it on Alina whenever she doesn't cooperate." The both of them giggled.

"You could've hurt him, Meg. He's been in the hospital wing for ages already." Harry said.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. I'll get him out of the curse. Don't worry." She pointed her wand at Malfoy's body on the floor. "Say, what's the counter- curse again?" the two boys looked at her incredulously. She was in a fit of giggles at their expression, "Just kidding." She said before performing the counter-curse.

"That's the last time I try to sneak out of the hospital wing." Malfoy groaned as he sat up.

"I'm sorry, Draco." Megan extended a hand out to Malfoy, and helped him up off the ground.

"Potter and Weasley: out on another adventure, I presume. What're you after now? Acromantulas?" he questioned. Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry smirked.

"Alina's been kidnapped. We're looking for her." Megan explained.

"Yeah, what she said. Besides, Harry and I went after acromantulas in our second year." Ron scoffed.

"Alina's been kidnapped? How do you know for sure?" Malfoy asked.

"She found out today she isn't a werewolf-"

"What?"

"And we're guessing Voldemort found out already, and he kidnapped her." Harry finished after being interrupted by Malfoy.

"How can she not be a werewolf?" Malfoy asked.

"Long story." Megan said, "We'd like to stay and chat, but we have to go and look for her. It might take all night." She explained.

"You know where to find her?" Malfoy had suppressed a laugh before he spoke.

"Harry thinks she's in a cave. He saw it in his dream." Malfoy looked at Harry questioningly.

"I had a dream she was in a cave with Death Eaters and dementors."

"I know where she is." Malfoy said.

"Oh, c'mon! You just want to tag along, and try to get some credit for saving her life." Ron said, "Look Malfoy, you'll never be a part of this duo." He patted Harry on the back, "Isn't that right, Harry?"

"You know where she is. How?" Megan questioned.

"Meg..." Megan glared at Ron. He shut up.

"How do you know where she is?" she asked.

"Being the son of a Death Eater has its advantages." He said, looking at them with mysterious gray eyes.

"Damn it, Malfoy! Hurry up and tell us, before Voldemort kills Alina! He was going to make sure to kill her before we get to her, before we ever realized she was gone. We're already ahead of schedule, and if you keep stalling, she'll be dead, and I'll make sure the blame is on your behalf." Harry said, stepping up to Malfoy. He smirked.

"I'll tell you, but I have to come, too." The other three exchanged a glance, and then looked back to Malfoy. They nodded slowly. "Follow me." He said, as the three sighed, "Turn that light off on your wand, Potter. We'll get spotted." Malfoy spun around to see that trio wasn't behind him. "W- Where are you?" he stammered as she tried to peer through the darkness.

"Right here." Someone poked him in the forehead.

"Weasley." Malfoy rubbed his forehead, "Where are you?"

"Here." Harry lifted the cloak to reveal the three of them under it.

"Invisibility cloak? No wonder you two never get caught." Malfoy said, "Now make space for me because if I get caught, you three will never find your way." He went under the cloak, and the four of them had to squish together to make sure that none of their body parts would stick out, and maybe reveal themselves to someone that they could happen to pass.

"Do you know where you're going?" Megan spoke up after she felt they had been walking a bit too long.

"Here's the door that leads us out of the school." Malfoy said as they stopped in front of two tall oak doors. "We should keep the cloak on while we're outside. There're people patrolling outside, and we wouldn't want to get caught." He explained.

"There's probably more people outside, with Alina missing and all." Harry said as they walked alongside the school. "Where could they put a cave? I don't see any place where they could put it without the rest of the school being able to see it." Malfoy wasn't paying attention to Harry, though. He was busy mumbling under his breath.

"Five paces from the wall, about ten feet forward..." Malfoy stopped abruptly.

"This just the edge of the forest." Ron said as he pulled the cloak off of them.

"Hold your horses, Weasley." Malfoy said as he stamped on the ground.

"What was that?" Megan asked. When Malfoy had stamped on the ground, there was a sort of hollow sound.

"There can't be a cave around here." Ron said as he rubbed his hands together for warmth.

Malfoy went down on all fours, and began shoveling away dirt with his hands. He was shoveling dirt away furiously until his fingers hit something. He brushed some more dirt out of the way, and looked back at three standing behind him.

"It's a trapdoor." Harry whispered, "That's how I got the impression I had fallen out of the sky."

"Open it!" Ron ordered. Malfoy pulled the ring of the trapdoor. Ron looked down into the trapdoor to see what was down there. "I can't see anything. Are you sure this is where we'll find Alina? This better not be a joke." Malfoy rolled his eyes, and kicked the back of Ron's legs. He lost his balance, and he fell down into the opening.

"Draco!" Megan shrieked. Malfoy glared at her, and brought a finger to his lips.

"SHH!"

"R-"

"That's a hard landing!" Ron called out. Megan was the next one to go, followed by Harry, and then Malfoy. Harry pointed his wand up at the trapdoor, to close it so that no sound from outside came in, but Malfoy shook his head.

"Leave it open. Maybe someone from outside will see it and come here." He said.

"Which way?" Megan asked. There were two paths before them. Harry recalled his dream.

"Take the one on the right." Harry said.

"Are you sure?" Malfoy asked.

"I saw it in my dream. This place is exactly the same. It's got to be that way." He said.

"Why? You think it's the other way?" Ron questioned. Malfoy shook his head.

"It is that way. I just wanted to see if he wasn't making some lucky guess." Megan pulled her wand out of her robes, but Malfoy stopped her. "Don't light your wand. The light will hit the end of the path, and they'll know someone is here." Megan brought her hand back into her robes. The four started walking down the path Harry had claimed to see in his dream.

"I need to light my wand. I can't see anything." Ron said as he tried feeling around him. He put his hand on the wall, and gasped. "There...there- "

"Snakes. Don't worry. They're just trying to tell us to get out. Ignore them, and keep going." Harry said as he kept walking straight. "The drop should be coming up soon." He said to himself.

"What drop?" Megan questioned.

"It's not too bad. The ground just stops. There isn't much walking after that." Malfoy explained. Harry was right. Soon after h had mentioned it, they were falling. They hit the ground.

"What's that?" Ron asked, referring to the chanting, "What are they saying?"

"Death to the Mudblood. We have to hurry. When they stop chanting, the fire is going to die down, and then they're going to kill her." Harry said as he began to run. The four of them stopped abruptly when the spotted a blazing green fire.

"Was that in your dream?" Malfoy asked. Harry nodded. "It's the Fire of Life. After killing you, Voldemort is going to walk through the fire. It's a powerful fire. They're going to burn your body in it. When he walks through it, he'll regain his power that was in you." He explained.

"The Boy Who Lived will die today. Right, my Lord?" Avery was at Voldemort's feet, kissing the hem of his robes, as Harry had seen it in his dream.

"Do we go now?" Malfoy asked. Harry shook his head.

"Let him talk. When he gets his wand, we'll show ourselves. We'll use the Disarming Charm to get his wand."

"Where's Alina?" Megan asked.

"One of the short ones in the hood behind the fire. The other is Wormtail." Harry pointed out.

"I'm ready." Ron said, wand in hand.

"Wormtail, my wand!" Voldemort barked. Ron muttered something under his breath, it sounded something like, "lazy bastard."

"This is it." Harry said.

"Mudbloods like you do not belong in our society." Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at Alina's forehead. Harry nodded to the other four, and they jumped out of the cave.

"Expelliarmus!" the charm hit Voldemort, and he stumbled back. His wand was flying in the air, and Megan ran for it. She was about to reach for it when one of the Death Eaters stepped on her hand. Megan cried out in pain, and Ron was about to run to her aid, but Malfoy pulled him back.

"You don't want to mess with him." Malfoy hissed.

"Why!? He's got my girlfriend!" the Death Eater took his foot off on her hand, and grabbed her wrist. He yanked her up so she could stand beside him. Wormtail scurried over to get Voldemort's wand.

"We've been expecting you." Voldemort said icily. Ron was shaking.

"Let go... You're hurting me!" Megan struggled against the Death Eater.

"Let her go...father." Megan stopped moving, and stared wide-eyed at the Death Eater.

"Malfoy." Megan spat. He yanked her towards him again.

"It's *Mister* Malfoy to you, you animal." Lucius looked up from Megan to his son. "Draco, my son, why do you go against my orders? You bring them here-"

"I had my intentions, father. They would've never found her without me. They're too thick." Draco drawled.

"You slimy-" Ron stopped when a dementor took a hold of him and dragged him away from Draco. Another dementor grabbed Harry by the arm. Harry felt the nausea growing inside of him. He felt like he was going to throw up. He couldn't find the strength to lift his wand to produce a Patronus.

"Young Malfoy, come here." Voldemort held out a hand, and ushered Draco over. His father nodded his head at Draco, and he began walking to Voldemort. The Dark Lord reached into his robes and pulled out a silver rod. One end was sharp, like a spear. "You could earn your Dark Mark before your eighteenth birthday if you perform one simple task." Draco fell to his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes, as other Death Eaters had done before.

"What would that task be, my Lord?" he asked. Voldemort handed Draco the silver rod.

"Get up, young Malfoy." Draco pushed himself off of his knees, "Kill the girl." Draco looked back at his father with his hand still tightly around Megan's wrist. Megan was shaking from head to toe.

"NO!" Ron screamed, "KILL ME! KILL ME! DON'T KILL MEGAN! KILL ME INSTEAD!" Voldemort smiled a thin-lipped smile. He turned back to Draco.

"Kill the girl, or I'll kill you." Draco's grip on the rod tightened. He walked towards Megan.

"MALFOY! MALFOY! I-I SPARED YOUR LIFE ONE TOO MANY TIMES! I WOULD'VE KILLED YOU ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION! DON'T-YOU DESERVE TO DIE, MALFOY! YOU DESERVE IT!" Ron stopped screaming, and finally crumbled against the dementor. He broke down and cried. "Don't do it... Don't do it... Let me die..."

"Shut up, silly boy!" Voldemort barked.

"I love her, Dark Lord Voldemort, sir... Let me take her place..." Voldemort swooped over to Ron. He took Ron's face between his index finger and his thumb.

"You're stupid, boy, to believe in love. Love is unimportant. Power is important. Power makes the world go 'round, not love. You give love away, and you get heartbroken. You don't want to be heartbroken, boy, do you? This girl will grow up to break your heart." He forced Ron's face closer to his. His breath was against his face. Ron trembled. "You wimp. Crying over that monster." Voldemort pushed Ron against the dementor.

"SHE'S NOT A MONSTER!" Ron yelled between tears, "SHE'S HUMAN, TOO!"

"Not every full moon! People like her should be locked up, and killed."

"SHUT UP!" Megan screamed.

"Don't ever say that to the Dark Lord." Lucius tried twisting her wrist. She cried out in pain.

"I'm not a monster! I'll...I'll never break his heart. I love him, sir." Voldemort rolled his eyes.

"Kill her now, young Malfoy. I'm getting a headache."

"NO!" Ron screamed as he tried to free himself from the dementor, "TAKE ME!" he cried.

Draco walked to his father, and Lucius forced Megan onto her knees. Tears rolled down Megan's cheeks as her brown eyes looked into his gray ones.

"I thought you said I had given you a sense of belonging. Draco, I told you I'd be there for you if your parents disowned you. I was there for you when Alina wasn't. Don't-I don't want to die. I want to live. I have something to live for. I have Ron. I want to grow up to marry him. I want to grow up to see life, and where I go, and what I do. If I die, I'll never see the wonderful man *you* grow up to be." Megan whispered, "Draco, please..."

"Aim for the heart, son..." Lucius said.

"Draco..."

"If you get her in the heart, she'll die faster."

"I don't want to die."

"You'll finally get your Dark Mark."

"Please-"

"I'm so proud of you, son-"

"Don't do it-"

"We were hoping you'd kill her today, Draco-"

"I'm not ready..."

Draco raised the rod over his head. He seemed to see his whole life flash before his eyes. The first time his mother held him in her arms...his first birthday...his first broomstick...the first time he ever felt neglected by his father...the first time he watched his father put his mother under the Cruciatus Curse...the first time his father hit him...the day he first met Harry Potter...the first day of Hogwarts...the first time he called Hermione a Mudblood...the first time he ever kissed a girl...his first Quidditch match as Seeker...his first Quidditch match as team captain...the first time he met Alina and Megan...the first girl he ever loved...the first time a girl walked out on him...his first broken heart...

"No Draco, please..."

He brought the rod down. Ron screamed. Megan cried. Voldemort laughed. He couldn't watch.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" his hands hit Megan in the chest, and Megan fell onto her back. Draco spun around. The silver rod was floating in the air. Who did it? Alina was tied up. Harry and Ron were in the clutches of dementors.

Hermione Granger stood with her arm outstretched, wand in hand.

A/N: Draco is SOOOOOO evil...and I LOVE IT!!! Oh, might I add, Dappy was a little jealous of the interaction between Alina and Draco. Rest assured, something will happen between Dray and 'Mione in due time. -Gryffindor Heiress.