Chapter 12- Out On Their Own

"Wil! Wil!"

Alex was leaning over his sister, worry lines covering his forehead.

"Please wake up Wil"

Willow had stopped moving nearly 2 hours ago, her limbs frozen and pale from the lack of any kind of warmth for so long preventing her blood from circulating properly.

"PLEASE WIL!" he begged, shaking his sister violently.

He rolled her onto her back and listened for any sign of life. When he caught the sound of her shallow breathing he relaxed slightly but he knew that if they were ag for them. The hiding had gone on long enough, to save his sister they would have to be found. They couldn't see the end of their journey and Alex was beginning to believe they would both starve before they reached home.

So far they had avoided lighting fires, they drew attention and left ashes which would be found and set people on their trail. So now, in desperation Alex left his sister wrapped up in as many things as they had to keep warm and set about making the biggest fire he could.

So far they had avoided lighting fires, they drew attention and left ashes which would be found and set people on their trail. So now, in desperation Alex left his sister wrapped up in as many things as they had to keep warm and set about making the biggest fire he could.

The Order noticed the signal before the Death Eaters did. Lupin had the fortune of spotting the faint streak of smoke spiraling into the clouds in the distance some way along the track, and pointed it out to the rest of the Order.

They wasted no time in tracking it down and finding the twins huddled together, frighteningly thin and shivering from the cold.

The fire was put out, Willow was healed as best as they could manage without a substantial amount of magic, and they set out back along the tracks, back to Hogwarts and back to safety.

They travelled at night, not wanting to be found by the Death Eaters who were tracking them. Apparation was out of the question, their magic would be tracked and they could be followed and found in no time.

While they journeyed, they explained to the Twins the danger they were in, and everything that had happened since they had left. Lupin reassured them that they were welcome at the castle and weren't causing any unnecessary problems to anyone before they left.

Of course, the Order had no way of knowing about the pendants or the Twins hidden magic, and so couldn't explain any of the more recent events.

The finally reached the end of the track 2 days after they began, and decided that it would probably be safer to apparate with the twins to the edge of Hogwarts grounds rather than walk openly in Hogsmeade. News travels fast after all.

The one thing they couldn't avoid was sending an owl to Dumbledore to tell him of their arrival. So to avoid it being intercepted, they made the decision to address it to Harry, from Lupin and write it in code.

Harry,

I found what you have been asking me to look for. It took me a while, but I found it. I shall be coming to the castle to return it tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Be sure to tell Dumbledore so he does not continue his search. Im sure he will be very pleased.

Send a reply to let me know if this will be possible.

In reply to your last owl, Everything is fine. I am very well.

See you soon

Lupin

The owl they sent it with was instructed to take it to Dumbledore, even if it was addressed to Harry.

They then sat and waited for Dumbledore's reply, which came just one short hour later. All that was written was I look forward to your visit in his very neat, italic script.

They packed up, well fed and rested and were about ready to carry on to a suitable Apparation point when there was a cry from behind them.

Death eaters had surrounded them while they waited, and no one had noticed. Not one member of the order had spotted anything unusual.

Every member of the order fought their hardest. Many died. All of it was in vain.

The Twins were seized, just an hour and a half after they had sent the owl to Dumbledore telling him of the Twins safety.

Just five members of the Order survived out of 30.

To Lupin, it seemed as if the war had already begun.

It was three days later, that both Harry and Draco were finally called to a meeting in Dumbledore's office.

Harry was in a state. He knew of the damage done to the order, he knew of the Twins capture, and he knew that this was only the beginning of the war.

Draco was slightly calmer than Harry, but was still extremely shaken. Both boys were both relieved at Snape and Lupin's escape from danger. Draco was thanking whatever god there was that Harry didn't have to lose another close relative, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to take it. Draco was scared of what Harry was capable of.

Not only did they have the Twins to worry about but they also had Hermione and Ron to take care of. Hermione had told Ron about what she had seen, and he was livid.

He stormed straight down to their dorm demanding to be told that Hermione was lying. When neither denied what Hermione had told him he punched Draco and hadn't spoken to anyone since. He locked himself in his dorm, refusing to even let Neville, Dean or Seamus in to get their things.

This had just caused Harry more distress and Draco had a hard time convincing him that everything would work itself out eventually.

Harry managed to calm himself with the help of Draco and was attempting to speak to Hermione or Ron the next day, unfortunately they were still pretty pissed.

"Thank Merlin they have the sense not to tell anyone else" Harry had said to Draco the night before the order were due back.

"Mmmm" Draco sighed, fiddling with a lock of raven hair that had fallen into Harry's face as they lay in a chair together by the fire "How do we know they wont?"

"I know Ron and Hermione. They know why we haven't told anyone, it's the fact we didn't tell them that's the problem" Harry replied bitterly

There was silence on the Gryffindor side of the room at meals for those three days, and Slytherin were loving it. Every Slytherin except one, who watched a certain Gryffindor from across the room, eat quickly, without glancing up once. He watched him finish his meal, and noiselessly slip from the Great Hall.

Two pairs of eyes noticed the Slytherin follow him out, and narrowed in suspicion, wondering how the saviour of the wizarding world could love the person that could quite easily and willingly betray him to his enemy. They weren't going to stand by and watch THAT happen.

The meeting was a kind of stress release for Harry. The moment he saw Lupin standing by Dumbledore's desk he threw himself at him and began jabbering about how frightened and sorry he was.

The remaining few were brought up to date with events. They were told about the Pendants, the loss of Draco's magic and more importantly that Alex and Willow weren't who they originally thought they were.

They were then told about how the Twins were taken by groups of Death Eaters, and the whole room agreed that they must have been tipped off by someone or something.

Probably both.

"We decided to follow them after they had thought us to be mostly defeated" Lupin explained "We needed to know where they were headed, but I think they knew they were being followed"

"I have a suspicion they wanted us to follow them. They kept in plain sight and never wandered too far. Something is going on"

Draco laughed quietly to himself "They want me to turn up of course"

"Yes well..." Snape sneered "That's something that wont be happening"

Draco knew better than to argue with Snape and so kept quiet, but in his head he was fuming. They kept him here, unarmed, unable to do anything to help and he was more than a little frustrated. He was desperate for his magic back and at this moment in time no one else bar Harry seemed bothered about getting it for him.

"If they wont do it, I will" he thought to himself as the meeting carried on. He would need Harry's help, but together they would get his magic and the Twins safely back to Hogwarts, no matter what the cost.

"They took the Twins to Malfoy Manor, we couldn't get closer than the gates but we know they're there" Lupin had continued, not noticing Draco's lack of attention, but this comment stirred him and he sat up and shuffled in his seat.

Harry smiled at him and brushed his hand lightly with his own, trying to be discrete and understanding at the same time. Draco smiled back and looked at Lupin who was explaining why they were sure of the Twins whereabouts.

"...Only trouble is we don't know WHERE in the manor they are being held, the gates are as far as we got. If only-"

"There is a secret room, for special captives only. Highest room, tallest tower kinda stuff" Draco sighed, obviously bored.

Dumbledore looked pleased and Harry could tell the others were relieved to have Draco on their side, even if they weren't sure if they could trust him implicitly.

"That's really cheesy you know" Harry whispered to Draco as the banter continued

"I know that, I'm glad my father doesn't. I certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him. He'd murder me for reading fairy tales, let alone muggle ones!"

The meeting came to a close soon after. It was decided the Order would regroup, pack more supplies and devise a plan to save the Twins to enable them to attack at the soonest possible time. It wasn't soon enough for Harry or Draco.

They went to their dorm afterwards, hoping for a bit of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, when they arrived they found Ron and Hermione sitting together on Harry's (old) bed, waiting for their return.

"Come to knock ME back to reality this time Ron?" Harry snarled, slamming the door behind him. Ron only frowned and got up.

"No, I want to talk to you. Alone."

"And Hermione came because..."

"WE want to talk to you alone"

"So what you mean to say is 'Draco sod off'. Is that it?" Harry was angry, he thought that his best friends of all people would stand by him and understand. He thought wrong.

"Its ok Harry, I have some things I need to do anyway" Draco sighed softly into his ear

"I'll be back a bit later, we can talk then. I have something I need to ask you"

Harry watched Draco exit the room, and when he was gone, he turned to his friends.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic" Ron smirked

"Lets get this over with"

Harry sat on Draco's bed facing Ron and Hermione and waited to hear what they had to say.

"We haven't come to apologize if that's what you were thinking" Ron began, somewhat abruptly

"No shit"

Hermione scowled and stood up. "Harry we don't want Malfoy coming between our friendship, we may not approve but we're still your friends-"

"Really? I hadn't noticed. I missed the part where friends throw a hissy fit every time they find out you're seeing someone THEY don't approve of and ignore you for a days on end" Harry was quite calm, leaning back on his hands on the bed.

"No, we throw a hissy fit, Harry, when we find you shagging our ENEMY who just happens to be MALE and is a Deatheater for crying out loud!" Hermione yelled

"So the problem is that I'm gay? Well WHY didn't you say so? We could have had this out a long time ago in that case"

"No harry, we don't care that you're gay. We're just upset that you lied to us about it"

"I didn't lie"

"What so you just forgot to mention it?"

"It was on my to do list"

There was silence for a second or two before Ron exploded

"To do list?! Harry, surely number one on your list of priorities is to tell your two best friends and, oh, maybe the people who are TRYING to look out for you that you've taken a liking to the Dark side. It may have changed a few things around here! Or did you just forget that part?"

"Ron...what are you talking about? Draco isn't-"

Did Draco want his private business told to Hermione and Ron? Harry was sure he could trust them but Draco didn't at all. If Draco wanted them to know, he'd tell them.

"Draco isn't what, Harry? Isn't a Deatheater? Even if he wasn't, we know for a fact his father is! Harry, seeing Malfoy is dangerous! For all you know he could just be using you, how do you know-"

Harry cut Hermione off mid speech

"Don't! Hermione, just Don't! You know sod all about it! You don't know half of what I know so just leave it! You both take me for some kind of pathetic innocent who needs protecting at all hours of the day like Im going to just turn to dust any second. Im sick of it! I just wanted a little support of my friends, but seeing as I cant have that I may as well not try with anyone else."

"No Harry, no one is going to accept this. No one. My advise to you is to just forget about all this until Voldemort is defeated, only after that can you be sure of anyone's motives. I don't trust Malfoy as far as I can throw him, and I know there was a time when you felt the same" Hermione frowned walking over to Harry and placing a calming hand on his heaving shoulder

"If only you knew Herm..." Harry replied in a whisper, shaking his head "you'll understand eventually, I just hope by then it isn't too late"

"If we don't understand Harry then make us!"

"It isn't for me to say"

Ron stood and grabbed Hermione by the arm "Come on, he obviously isn't in the talking mood. He'd rather protect his Deatheater boyfriend than tell his friends the truth-"

"Get the FUCK OUT!!" Harry screamed pointing at the door "Get out Ron before I do something stupid!"

Ron seemed taken aback by his friends sudden outburst, but anger soon took over and he glared dangerously at him before being pulled out of the room by a red faced Hermione.

Once they had left Harry collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell he had just done. He went over and over in his head what he should have said, and what he should have done but nothing made more sense than being with Draco.

Draco walked in just after he had come to this conclusion, which was in fact perfect timing and before Draco had time to say anything Harry was hugging him as tightly as he could.

"Not go too well then I take it?"

"Its not fair Draco, why cant everyone just be happy?"

"Im happy" Draco replied softly, stroking Harry's hair and enjoying his warmth

"No you're not, you have no magic, you have a maniac for a father who would rather use you for power and glory rather than have you as a son, no one trusts you here except me, your friends are just as evil and power mad as your father is, you-"

"Im well aware of my faults Harry" Draco sighed letting Harry go and dropping onto the bed "but I'm still happy. I have lots of reasons to be happy. Im in a place I love, with someone I love, I may not be trusted by everyone but I'm trusted by the people that count, I don't have to spend my life bowing down to some loony like I thought I was going to have to, plus I'm all set to be the hero of the wizarding world along side the famous Harry Potter. If you really think about it my life cant get much better!"

Harry smiled and chuckled. "Its not all its cracked up to be you know"

"Im sure I'll live"

Harry joined Draco and held him close, there would be a time soon when they couldn't do this and so he would savour these moments for now.

"You said there was something you wanted to talk about" Harry said after a few moments of silence, listening to each other breathe as if it was the most calming thing in the world.

"I was thinking" Draco began "aren't you really bored of sitting around waiting for something to happen?"

"Yeah of course I am, but there's nothing else we can do." Harry sighed and buried his face in Draco's side

"What if we left to find the twins. Now. Tonight. I can get us to Malfoy Manor no problem. I know all the secrets of that place. We can get in, and leave before anyone even knows we're there"

Harry closed his eyes tightly and thought about the stupidity of that comment, but as much as he knew it was a bad idea he couldn't help but think that maybe Draco had a point. What was the point of sitting around waiting? If trouble was going to come, Harry wanted it to come sooner rather than later. And Draco was so desperate for his magic, Harry wanted so badly to help him and he knew Draco would do anything to help him if he were in the same position.

"Tell me if you think I'm being thick Harry, but I'm serious. I know its dangerous and everything but I really believe we can do it"

"I think we can too, its just- well... you cant help me if we get into trouble..." Harry replied softly pushing himself up and looking into Draco's silvery orbs.

"Hopefully, I'll have my magic back long before that happens"

They looked at each other for a minute, just looking, until Harry broke the silence

"And if you don't?"

Draco sighed

"I can fight Harry, I know I look weak but trust me I'm not"

Harry just smirked in a knowing way and lay back beside Draco.

"So, we just leave? Now? Get to Malfoy manor, get inside, find the Twins, get your magic...then what?"

"We get out as fast as humanly possible"

"Sounds like fun"

Draco cocked his head down to look at Harry and he couldn't help but smile at his completely trusting face.

"You really want to do this?" Harry asked

"You don't, cant, understand how much I need my magic back. If we wait I think I might go insane or something. Plus I'm bored of waiting for these poofters to get their act together, the sooner something happens the better. The longer we wait, the more danger the twins are in. Besides..." Draco shuffled down slightly "I wanted to smirk at my father once more before someone kills him, preferably me"

Harry chuckled and pushed Draco away from him

"Better get moving then Mr. Malfoy, we have a long journey ahead of us!" Harry mocked, knowing full well they'd be apperating.

Draco seemed stunned

"What? You...its ok?"

Harry leant down and kissed Draco gently, cupping his chin with his hand. When he released him, he looked deep into his eyes and smiled

"If I don't go with you, you'll probably end up going alone and do you honestly think I'm going to let you do that?"

Draco kissed him again, roughly this time and for longer, thanking him for just being Harry.

"One thing though" Harry said pulling away "I insist we do ONE thing before we leave. Don't ask me why, I just have a very strong urge to do this, and you cant say no since I'm going SUCH a long way JUST for you and I'm leaving all my friends and safety-"

"OK OK!" Draco laughed standing up with Harry

"Great!" He yelled "I'll go get Colin. Wont be long"

Draco's smile fell. Colin Creevey?

"What the fuck did I just agree to?" he thought as Harry darted out of the room and down the corridor.

I am soooooooo sorry its late. Its just I'm a bit behind now what with college and other things...like my life.

No one kill me just yet. I don't know when I'll be updating the next chapters but the dates are gunna be a bit crazy. I'll try and get them up SUPER quick but I've had a few more ideas for song fics and one shots as well and I wanna jot them down before I forget them and stuff.

Nehoo, I think we get a general idea of what's going to happen in the next chapter, I cant really do summaries anymore coz it will give WAAAY too much away. And no Harry and Draco do not get into Porno before you ask.

Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed. Tell me why I get more reviews when they sleep together. Out of interest....

THAT was amusing! You perverts you! Keep it up tho, I'm not complaining!

Lady of Death- Yes Ron and Hermione are Arses, as you can see... I always hate it when Hermione is like the understanding one and Ron is angry but gets over it. I wanted them to both be total pricks coz to be honest no one wants to hear about them....

demongirl12000- what are you suggesting? Are you saying you DON'T want to see a naked Draco?!? BLASPHEMY!!!(kinda) Lol! Madwoman!

Later dudes xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx