A/N: Next chapter! YAY! It starts out as a flashback in case your confused.
Disclaimer: Copyright, oh, copyright. Wherefore art thou, copyright. Deny us privileges and refuse us money, or if thou shall not then we'll no longer be... GAH! I got so far. Oh well, don't sue us.
Chapter 2
"Harry, you don't have to do this," Ginny said, her chocolate eyes tearing up. The sight made me want to cry myself. "You can wait. You could get him when he's not expecting it. You could-"
"No. If I don't do it now, more people will die," I said bluntly. It was the truth after all. The prophecy said so. Hogwarts was under attack. Some Slytherins, probably lead by Draco Malfoy, had helped sneak them into Hogwarts slowly. How they kept it secret, I didn't know. All I know is Voldemort's here, and I have to stop him.
"Harry," Ron said from next to me. He was holding an unconscious Hermione who had been at the wrong end of a Stunning Spell. "You could die. Call me insane, but I'd rather someone else died then you."
"I know. But I have to take the chance. When I leave, I... I want you to do something. I need you guys to hide in the secret passage way to Honeydukes. They won't know about it, not even Filch does. I want you to hide there."
Ron nodded slowly. "Alright Harry."
"Good. Go," I said. I didn't want to have to worry about them. In the secret passage, they could take any Death Eater who did discover them one at a time. They'd be safe. I hope.
Ron gave me a somewhat affectionate look. "Harry... Good luck."
"You too." I hope this isn't the last time I see you, I wanted to say. Ron left, leaving Ginny and me alone for one moment. "Ginny, I want to tell you that-"
"Stop. Don't get all melodramatic on me, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow," she said.
"No, Ginny, I really need to-"
"No!" she said this time with more force. "I'm not going to let you wrap up your relationship with me in a nice little package and a bow, because you are not done with me yet. I'll see you tomorrow." I gave her a weak smile, and she stood on her tip toes and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth. Ginny left without looking back.
Okay, here I go. I hesitated for a moment, before leaving to meet Lord Voldemort.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry remembered that day perfectly. Every moment, every look, every word, every motion that happened to them. He should. He hadn't seen anyone from Hogwarts since. No one from the wizarding world either.
When the battle was over, he left for Scotland. He hadn't heard anything from anyone from London since.
Until today.
"Let me get this straight," Lieutenant Jones said, glaring at Harry as he spoke. "You want to go to London. You want to be there for at least a week. You want to abandon all of your cases. And you want me to pay for it!"
"Not exactly. I'll be working on the new homicide," Harry said, flinching because he knew what was coming next.
"Oh. That case that you requested. The one I assigned to you out of the goodness in my heart."
"Yeah." Harry was starting to look less and less optimistic about this idea.
"Can I ask you what can do in London to help with this case?"
"I think it might have been a... British mob."
Lieutenant Jones was suddenly considering firing Harry. "Why?" he finally said, anger rising in his voice.
"Err... the marks, or absence there of reminded me of a case I worked on in London. It could be related."
"And..." the Lieutenant prompted feeling there was more to this story.
"And Ethan's working on my other cases and you wanted us to work separately," Harry tried.
"And..."
"And an old friend of mine's getting married," Harry finally said, pouting a bit about being forced into a confession.
"Ahh... Tell you what, Potter. I am in a generous mood. You can go to London for one week."
"Thank you, sir!" Harry nearly shouted, not exactly expecting that.
"But I'm not paying for it!" Lieutenant Jones clarified.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry was very grateful he learned to apparate before he left, if he hadn't he would have never been able to get to this hotel unnoticed. You see, the hotel he was in was a hotel for witches and wizards and it was right in the middle of Hogsmeade. This was where Hermione's rehersal dinner was taking place.
Harry slowly looked around the room he was in, and it appeared to be the lobby. He saw a large set of double doors. From behind it, he could hear noises of a party. Harry reached out for the door knob when it turned without him touching it. Seamus Finnegan walked out.
"Harry!" he spoke with a joyful yet slurring noise that Harry noticed right away. "Fabulous news! I'm drunk!" Without another word Seamus rushed to the restroom, leaving Harry standing there.
Seeing Seamus had filled his mind with so memories. Of course the two of them had never been particularly close, but they did share a room for seven years. Harry remembered first meeting him. He remembered hating him in fifth year for not believing him. He remembered crying with him when Seaumus's older brother was killed by Voldemort. These memories had been long forgotten, but as they resurfaced, Harry realized something. He realized what a stupid idea this was.
Harry turned around and headed for the exit, when he heard the door open again, and heard another voice.
"Excuse, me waiter," called out a voice from behind Harry, but Harry didn't need to turn around to see who it was. Hatred is like that.
For a moment, which in reality was little more than a second, Harry considered leaving right then. He didn't.
Slowly Harry turned around, while the man was talking. "It seems," he continued, "we've run out of..." he trailed of as soon as he saw Harry's face.
"Potter," his voice was full of loathing.
"Malfoy," replied Harry with a similar tone.
It was amazing how Malfoy looked the same and yet completely different. His hair was still the yellow blond, but it wasn't jelled back, it stead it was loose, yet it was perfectly combed. He may be the same height he was at seventeen, but he was defiantly burlier.
His face was the most different of all. There was no smirk or sneer on his face today. There were two expressions Harry was sure he would never see on Draco Malfoy's face. The first was love; he would consider that a weakness. And the second was hate, that which has a weakness just as large. But hatred was there today.
They each stared for a moment. Malfoy was the first to speak. "I don't suppose you want to tell me what the hell your doing here." His voice was firm, once again conveying his loathing for Harry. Malfoy took a few steps away from the door.
"Funny," replied Harry trying to keep his cool, "I was about to ask you the same thing."
"I believe I have much more of a right to be here than you do."
"And how do you figure that? I thought this was Hermione's rehearsal dinner."
"It is. Which is exactly why I was wondering why you were here."
"I wanted to see my friends married. Is that a problem?"
Malfoy gave out a short laugh. "Friends? Let's face it, Potter. Your not her friend. You abandon her for seven years, and then you come strolling in here like everything's is just dandy and it can all go back to the way it was. They hate you now, Potter, and who could blame them? So you may want to go to Hermione wedding, but she might not want you there."
Harry sighed aggravated and trying desperately not to hit Malfoy. "Will you just tell me when Hermione and Ron are getting married?"
Malfoy paused for a moment. And then he laughed. "Ron and Hermione?" he said before laughing hysterically again.
"What is so funny?" asked Harry defiantly not amused.
"You really are thick, aren't you? Ron's been married for three years. And I'm marrying Hermione in two days."
Harry felt a numbing sensation slowly creep over his body. Hermione was marrying Malfoy. No, no, no, he's lying! Harry's brain screamed. She wouldn't. She loves Ron, remember? Ron and Hermione Weasley. Yes, that's right.
"You're lying," Harry said, knowing it must be true.
"You wish, Potter. You wish."
Harry was about to say something else when the door creaked open slowly. A glimpse of bright red hair from the corner of eye made Harry turn his head.
"Draco?" said a small voice. Ginny just as beautiful as Harry remembered. Her eyes had rested on Harry and she froze, tears whelming in her eyes.
Malfoy started to say something to her, but Harry interrupted, "Ginny, I'm so sorr-"
But Ginny didn't listen without another word she disappeared back to the party, slamming the door behind her. Harry started to go after her, but Malfoy grabbed Harry and pushed him back against a wall.
"Listen to me, Potter," Malfoy growled. "Hermione's in there, but she doesn't want to see you. All of your other friends, don't want to see you, but if you want to talk to them, it's your business. If you go near Ginny, I swear, I will kill you."
"Strange, here I thought you were marrying Hermione."
"I am."
"You want to tell me how that happened?"
"No. Now, if you will excuse me I have to get back to my rehearsal dinner. And in case there was any confusion; you are not invited." Without another word Draco disappeared through the doors, and Harry, overcome with emptiness, decided to leave.
A/N: And now you will get messages to all of our reviewers.
Voldie: Well, you got one answer, but the other is coming. It might take a couple of chapters, but eventually, you'll know the whole thing.
Pigtail: You watch Angel? We love Angel! Go you! And, we have many great stories on the way, don't think we're all used up yet.
Spaz: Our A/Ns are usually the jewel of our stories. We're also very proud of our disclaimers
Rice: AU? It's not AU. What makes it AU? We're working on the rest of it; you're right about that stuff. We sometimes have problems because we see our stories as tv shows. Hope you're still reading this.
Snapecake: Here's more!
Someone: Thank you.
Tori: Ha ha! You thought it was Ron, but it wasn't. We'll be answering all of those questions soon.
Princess: Thank you
Hermione: We love cliffys!
