Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Huzzah..

A/N: READ THIS NOTE! I have added a bunch of stuff to the last chapter at the end, so if you start this chapter it won't make ANY sense! I decided that the last chapter was going to be the boring one that gets you ready for the action in this one. So...READ THE LAST FEW PAGES ON THE LAST CHAPTER BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE!......man, caps are scary.

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As they tumbled out of the library, a loud whooshing noise sounded in their ears. They looked up, blinking in the sunlight, to see Death Eaters falling from the sky, landing in the open field behind the library.

"How did they find us?" Ron asked breathlessly.

"They don't find us. We're both looking for the same thing." Harry answered, standing up.

As more black cloaked flyers came and landed, the trio grabbed their brooms and sprinted across the open field, crouching low in the tall grass. The library was soon lost from sight as they ran as quickly and quietly as they could past the descending Death Eaters. When they were behind them a bit, Harry mounted his broom and kicked off into the sky.

He crashed back into the ground as a crocodile skinned boot made a collision with his face. As Harry sat up, his nose bleeding, Lucius and Draco landed a few feet in front of them. Hermione and Ron backed slowly away, pulling Harry up from the ground. They turned back towards the library, only to find with dismay their way barred by advancing Death Eaters. They turned back to face Lucius, who was wiping off his boot with the end of Draco's cloak.

Draco, wanting so much to run to Hermione, felt his stomach tighten as the Death Eaters closed in around Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They once again tried to fly, but Death Eaters met them from above, forcing them back down away from the open sky. Draco could see every bit of hope fall from Hermione's face as Ron and Harry circled her, protecting her from the ever closing circle of Death Eaters.

Lucius smoothly stepped into the circle, Draco trailing behind him. The circle widened a bit as Harry, Ron, and Hermione backed to the opposite side of the circle away from the Malfoys. Hermione felt like she was suffocating as silence fell over them like a wet blanket.

"What strikes me as amusing is how hard you fought to get away the first time, only to be caught hours later outside a library. A smart person would have tried to contact the Ministry but I guess that option was lost on your simple minds." Lucius said, standing square in front of the three. He was neither smiling nor frowning, only gazing at them with a blank stare one would give a particularly interesting rock found on the road.

None of the three spoke. They only stared back in equal defiance, eyes glancing around the circle and the sky for the first window of escape.

"Well, either way, you're in for quite a show." Lucius started to slowly walk the inside borders of the circle, causing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to move backwards away from him around the circle, until the four of them resembled something of a pinwheel. Draco stood still, holding his father's broom. As Hermione passed him backing up, he brushed her hand softly, silently sending her courage. She gave him a fleeting look, but one that still revealed her feelings.

The brush of Draco's hand, soft and cold, made Hermione want to jump towards him and carry him upwards.but the ever advancing figure carried her past him.

"We've solved our little problem. We don't have to go searching for my army because, as it turns out, they're coming to us."

"We know," Harry said, finally speaking as he backed up around the circle. "Why do you think we were at the library?"

"Looking for Cook books?" Ron added, taking Hermione's hand for protection and comfort. Lucius put his head down and chuckled for a few feet.

"Well then, I'm sure you'll want to stay around and watch." Lucius said coyly, grabbing his broom from Draco as he passed. Draco let it go, the feeling of Hermione's skin still tingling at his finger tips.

"Kind of hard when you're walking us in a circle," Harry spat back, finally stopping his backwards march. Hermione and Ron stopped too, but Lucius kept advancing until he was a broom's length away from them.

"Then let's get started," Lucius said softly, signaling for the circle to part into a line. Harry, Ron, and Hermione started to run towards the open space, but Lucius cut them off, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders.

"Now, you wouldn't be so rude as to leave just when you've accepted out invitation, would you?" Lucius said as two Death Eaters grabbed Ron and Harry. He pulled Hermione towards him and spoke close into her ear, "You're going to love this."

He turned her around to face the field as the line moved beside them, a solid barricade of black cloaked villains. Harry and Ron stood with their Death Eaters, fearfully watching the horizon.

Draco stood with the line, watching his father hold Hermione strongly from behind, turning her face towards the approaching army of dead Celtic warriors. They stood for what seemed like hours, Lucius's vise like grip digging into Hermione's arms painfully; sweat dripped down and out of Draco's heavy black cloak.

A rustling in the grass made all present look towards the noise. Nothing could be seen, but the wind whistled eerily through the trees, and a stray dog started barking. The sun shimmered on the grass and all started when the rustling was heard again. All was quiet in the field when the first warrior walked silently into sight.

Everybody froze as the body walked smoothly and serenely towards them, the only mark of his death the flesh hanging off his body like tattered clothes, revealing ebony white bone. One side of his face was just as that, the straight line of his mouth marred by the white grin of his skull. As he walked silently through the grass, more appeared behind him, of all different genders and creeds.

Everyone's blood turned to ice as tens turned to twenties until there were more than a hundred Dead Walkers coming towards them, all as calmly as the days they lived. The pipes suddenly exploded into pure ice, burning Draco's leg as he dropped to the ground with a strangled yell. He dragged himself behind the line until he couldn't see the dead army anymore and the pipes calmed down.

"Get up, Draco," Lucius said, not even him able to contain the quiver in his voice. "You called them forth, you must control them." The mass of warriors massed towards them, the first only a hundred feet from the first Death Eater. "GET UP!" Lucius cried violently. "Before they reach us!"

Draco dragged himself up, clutching his leg in agony, and walked towards the line again. On a sudden thought, he pulled the pipes out of his pocket. If he was the going to be an army commander of the dead, he certainly couldn't use the pipes. He went quietly to Hermione from behind and pressed them into Hermione's hands, sensing it the right thing to be doing. She grabbed them instinctively, the metal warming up as they touched her palms. His father noticed him behind them.

"Now boy! Do you want to torn to pieces?!"

Draco pushed through the line and pulled out his wand. The dead, sensing their bringer near, slowed to a stop. They stood still as if they were made of stone, their horrid appearance made even more noticeable as the wind whipped their fragile bones and torn flesh in the breeze. Some were missing limbs; some had no arms at all. There they all stood before Draco, awaiting his words.

Hermione felt the metal in her hands, touching the rods of metal strung together. She felt frost around the edges of the rods, as if the thing has been put in an ice box. She could only wonder what they were and what Draco expected her to do with them.

"Have you ever considered that they only speak Gaelic?" Hermione asked softly, her eyes frozen in terror on the dead walkers. Lucius put his mouth by her ear.

"They'll follow the orders of their bringer, don't worry about that. All communication is sent through magic." He watched his son as closely as Hermione did.

"Are you saying the army will feel the commands rather than hear them?" Hermione asked, her fingers running over and over the pipes.

"Yes indeed. For example, if Draco ordered them to kill you, they FEEL the command and tear you apart." He straightened up, a frown creasing his face. "That reminds me."

He walked forwards, dragging Hermione in front of him, towards Draco. As they walked forward, Harry and Ron could see the pipes held in Hermione's hands.

"What is she holding?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"I don't know," Harry answered back, ever conscious of the Death Eater behind him, "But I hope it's something useful." Ron nodded, eyes glued on a particular Dead Walker to his right.

"Harry." Ron whispered shakily, "that one over there is staring at me."

"Half of them don't have eyes, Ron," Harry answered, following Ron's eyes to his particular dead walker.

"This one does," Ron said, watching the glinting eyes of his Dead Walker, "and they're telling me that he wants to eat me."

"No he doesn't!" Harry whispered fiercely back. "But they do have an intelligence I don't think Lucius counted on. That may come in good for later." By this time, Lucius has reached Draco with Hermione in tow.

"Give them an order, Draco," Lucius said, making sure Hermione stood between him and the Dead Walkers. He too could feel the intelligence of the army, as well as the violence they could unleash if told to.

"Like what?" Draco asked, looking quickly at Hermione to see if she still had the pipes. As his father was about to speak, a dozen of Ministry workers apparated behind the line of Death Eaters. Shouts could be heard as they pulled out their wands to face the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters moved aside, revealing the hoard of the dead and, front and foremost, Lucius, Draco, and Hermione.

"Just in time," Lucius said as Cornelius Fudge ran forward, flanked by his workers with wands at ready. "Cornelius! I wasn't aware you came along on such investigations!"

"Lucius!" Cornelius said in surprise as he approaching. Then he saw the Dead Walkers. "Oh my God! Wha-,"Cornelius stammered, frozen in his place as the glittering eyes of the dead went momentarily to the new comer. The Death Eaters moved silently back into line, blocking the way out behind the Ministry workers. Cornelius found his voice, but only in a whisper, "Who.WHAT are these people?"

Lucius put on a look of confusion, looking around him. When he saw the army of Donn, he looked back at Cornelius in surprise. "OH! Them! My son has been living up to his name this Christmas."

"But these-," Cornelius stammered, "I mean, we sensed necromancy, but we never..." He rubbed his eyes, seeming to rub the image from his mind, but found that they were still there when he looked back. "You raised an ARMY!"

"Exactly so, Minister," Lucius said, tightening his grip on Hermione. Hermione winced, clutching the pipes harder in her hands. Draco stood behind his father, watching the scene play out as if in a movie. "An army. The army of Donn, more specifically."

"But.why Lucius?" Cornelius asked, trying not to look at the marred faces before him.

"They can never die, Cornelius, because they're already dead. There is no need for training, for they have already been trained. The Celts are known as merciless warriors, one of the most bloodthirsty in all of history. This army is of special value."

For the first time, Cornelius noticed the children. He noticed that Hermione was being held by Lucius tightly, that Draco was standing behind them with his wand pulled out. He turned around and found the line had reformed and that Ron and the famous Harry Potter were being held captive by two smug looking Death Eaters. He turned back to Lucius and remembered that Lucius was in house arrest. He remembered all the important circumstances of the situation he has failed to notice.

Cornelius fumbled for his wand as Lucius smiled at him. The wind whipped around them all, sending the Ministry workers back with the smell of the dead. Hermione gagged and sagged down, only to be pulled back up by Lucius. Cornelius regained his composure and held out his wand.

"I want you to let the girl go, Lucius. I want you to send whoever these people are back where they came from and come with us."

Lucius laughed and shook his head.

"I have a question, Cornelius. Where's the Headmaster? Why didn't Albus attend this gathering?" Lucius asked.

"Necromancy is a serious charge, Lucius. You broke house arrest, captured children including Harry Potter, and congregated here with an army of Death Eaters and dead people."

"Dead Walkers," Lucius corrected.

"The name for those....THINGS does not matter," Cornelius spat out. "You will come with us now!"

"Look around, Minister!" Lucius said, raising his voice so all could hear. "We outnumber you ten to one. I hold children you would not want harmed. I don't think you hold the power anymore."

"I am the MINSITER!"

"Minster?" Lucius cried, laughing. "I couldn't care less if you were the POPE! We have you at our mercy." Lucius held Hermione out towards the Dead Walkers at arms length. "If I wanted I could throw her to the wolves. This army would tear her to pieces!" Hermione cringed. She could practically feel the breath of the dead blowing on her face, stinking of decay and destruction. Cornelius turned around to find that his workers had been detained and were being held at wand point by Lucius's Death Eaters. He turned back around to face Lucius, fear draining his face white.

Draco found his feet and walked quietly to the back on his father...

"What do you think will happen when you die, Minster? The Ministry will fall apart! I had hoped Dumbledore would attend, but your death will bring him. Both of your deaths will pave the way to Voldermort's return."

Draco found himself reaching up slowly towards his father..

"The world will turn to ash and we will finally reign. This dirty world of Mudbloods will reform into an empire of purebloods." Lucius pulled Hermione towards him tightly. "Starting..with her."

With a cry, he shoved Hermione into the Dead Walkers. Draco screamed and sent his mind towards the army as Hermione disappeared into a mass of torn arms and hands with a shriek.

"HERMIONE!" Harry screamed, fighting violently to escape. Ron was kicking and screaming, frantic to get to Hermione before she was killed.

"Let her go!" Draco frantically thought, his wand radiating a strong light towards his army. "Please, let her go!"

Lucius watched as his son sent his first command, waiting in glee for Hermione to start screaming in death. But Hermione slowly emerged, carried gently above the heads of the Dead Walkers, hands holding her up that fell apart as they touched. She lightly touched the ground and collapsed, scarcely breathing for fright.

Draco ran over and dragged her up, feeling her pulse frantically. He felt it, beating weakly. Lucius was shocked, half because his son commanded the army, and the other half because he had used his power to save the Mudblood. Draco dragged Hermione away from his father towards the Death Eaters until Lucius stood alone in front of the army.

"Draco.come here," Lucius ordered softly. Draco was sitting by Cornelius rubbing Hermione's hands to get heat circulated. He didn't hear his father's command. "Draco, come over here now."

Hermione's eyes opened with a gasp, her hands clutching madly at Draco. Draco held her close, rocking backwards and forwards to calm her. Her breathing slowed to a normal pace. The pipes had fallen to the ground beside her, the sunlight sparkling off the frost. Lucius's eyes narrowed as he saw them resting beside her.

"Those pipes." he started. His frown vanished as he stalked towards Hermione to pick them up. Cornelius scuttled back in fright and was grabbed by a Death Eater. As Lucius bent down to grab the pipes, Draco's foot came down on them, sending Lucius reeling back for fear of his fingers. Draco picked them up, pulling himself off the ground with Hermione.

"Those pipes are mine, Draco," Lucius said sharply. "You don't know what they are,"

"I do," Draco replied, pressing them into Hermione's hands. "They're the pipes of Ionracas,"

Lucius's eyes narrowed and he held out his hand towards Draco. "Give those to me."

"You can't use them," Draco said, letting go of Hermione to face his father head on. "They can't be used for evil, only for good."

Hermione looked for the first time at the pipes in her hand. They grew warm, radiating through her fingers up to her face and down towards her feet. A tremor suddenly surged through her, making her gasp. Harry and Ron watched in amazement as her skin glowed first gold, then white. Lucius and Draco turned around from their argument as the air around them turned dark. The night shone heavy on the company as they turned towards Hermione, who was staring in wonder at the pipes. Draco walked back until he was beside Hermione. He touched her skin hesitantly, drawing his hand back quickly as he burned his fingertips.

Lucius started towards her, but was brought back when the light shone so bright he had to move back for fear of being blinded. The army stood still giving the sudden night as much notice as they did the day. Hermione shone so bright no stars could be seen in the sky; the sky which lay above them as a black mantle. Hermione raised the pipes towards her mouth and she shone so brightly every Death Eater let their hands go to their eyes.

"Cover your ears!" Draco cried suddenly, going down to his knees and covering his head. Harry and Ron, free from their Death Eaters, went down to the ground, covering their ears. Cornelius did the same, all the Ministry workers going to the ground. The Death Eaters stood in awe, seeing their dreams and wonder in the light. Lucius stood with his mouth open as Hermione felt her lips move to the smallest pipe, the highest sound. As the light grew brightest, she blew into the pipes.

A sound, not at all brutal, spread through out the field, passing the army of Donn harmlessly. The Death Eaters, still lost in the light of their visions, fell to their knees, never noticing that they seemed to melt into the ground. Draco tried to look towards his father, but found he couldn't make him out in the light. As the pipes grew to their highest pitch, another tremor went through Hermione into the ground, traveling across the field and ripping up grass and rocks. The pipes left Hermione's lips as the sound grew quieter and the light grew dimmer. The last of the light left the field, leaving darkness all the darker from Hermione's glow. For a few seconds everyone stayed still on the ground clamping their hands over their ears. Draco was the first to stand up, looking around into the darkness. As his eyes accustomed to the dark, he saw Hermone standing beside him. He stood shakily up and looked around. Harry, Ron, and the Ministry workers were surrounded by black cloaks, abandoned empty on the torn up ground.

He looked towards the army, standing in the dark as if it were still the day. He could see his father's cloak laying in a clump on the ground, the crocodile skin boots lying a few feet off as if Lucius had lain down before he disappeared into the ground. Draco searched his chest, stomach, head, and heart and felt...nothing.

Harry and Ron looked up from their "duck and cover" and stood up. They rushed over to Hermione and grabbed her into a fierce hug; a "glad to be alive" hug. The Ministry workers stood up, brushing off their cloaks. They pulled Cornelius up from the ground. He had to have two men support him in walking.

Draco walked slowly towards the army, feeling their eyes regarding him searchingly.

"Go home," Draco thought. "Be at peace."

A great sigh, louder than even the pipes, resounded over the field and as the field grew lighter, the army disappeared into the air, disintegrating like sand in the wind. The sun shone once again over the company.

Draco went tiredly over to Hermione and took her into his arms. She sagged against him and held him tight, breathing into his neck. Ron and Harry moved to pick up their brooms from beneath the fallen Death Eater's cloaks.

"We need to get out of here," Harry said quietly.

"Yeah," Ron said, looking at Cornelius talking to his Ministry workers. "We have a lot of explaining to do."

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A/N: I love how this was all just one long scene...