Disclaimer: I do not own HP or any of it's characters, etc.

Squigglius – Right…about Ron and Hermione…

Dancerrdw – well, at least this update was on time!

Tria Marie Val – Thanks a lot!

Emily – Nice theory, but Pettigrew's silver hand didn't come about from the spell, Voldemort gave it to him as a gift. God hopes I didn't just give something huge away, but I'm too lazy to analyze it…maybe I should've just gone with a neutral answer, but that would be mean, right?

Chapter 44 – The Abandoned House

Ginny's head swirled around as she walked quickly out, anywhere, where she could find. She found an isolated alley. She didn't cry, but rather, sat down, and thought. Ginny had always liked to keep her emotions in. Think rational. Most of all, think smart. Ginny always knew that saying things in the heat of the moment – you say things you regret. She didn't want that to ever happen to her.

And admittedly, she had a lot of thinking to do. Draco had clearly turned a new leaf, in Ginny's opinion, if Dumbledore trusted him. After all, who could you trust, if not Dumbledore? So the only remaining question was how to regard his past. Would she forgive him? Could she forgive him? It wasn't the fact that he had been a Death Eater – Ginny had in fact believed that he had been a Death Eater before the beginning of this year – but it was the fact that in the terrible attack on Hogwarts, probably the most devastating strike by Voldemort in the war so far, he had been a crucial part. He was the reason Ron had died.

Ginny, in too much of a quandary to think rationally any more, decided that she should just calm down. Breathe. Thoughts can't be rushed.

All of Ginny's thoughts were abruptly stopped, though, when she saw a jet of red light and then blacked out, slumping against the hard floor of the Hogsmeade Alley.

Harry and Parvati had been having an excellent time for some time now in The Three Broomsticks, drinking in a small corner that Harry had requested (much to Parvati's confusion – and delight) and generally just having a good time. In fact, they were having such a good time that Harry was feeling that it was just about the time to ask the question that had been on his thoughts for days now – just how to do it, though, was bothering him immensely.

Should I kiss her? Should I hold her hand? Should I hug her? Should I just ask her? Jesus, I don't have any idea what I'm doing here! Harry nearly chickened out but stayed strong, recalling Lavender's statements. However, he was no closer to solving his mystery. Harry finally decided that it was just better to go with the flow – if she wanted to kiss him, well, hopefully she would kiss him, and if she didn't, he was good either way.

"Hey, Parvati, I've got a question to ask you."

Parvati gazed at him silently but nodded and smiled encouragingly. Harry got the feeling that she had already figured out what he was about to do – and also got an equally nice feeling that her answer would be the one he wanted.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" There, that wasn't near so bad as you were making it out to be, right? That's what they always say about these kinds of things.

Parvati nodded shyly but grinned and flushed, clearly happy. She suddenly started to lean in.

Oh, a kiss! I think this one's going to be better than my first…

Draco had abruptly started to feel very nervous. It had been an hour since he had told Ginny that he was the key to the Hogwarts assault, and if he had had learned anything about Ginny since he had started to hang out with her, it was that she always liked to think calmly. And you couldn't think calmly if you were with lots of other people around you. Draco had then reasoned that Ginny would likely be alone…and became worried. It was not just his slight protectiveness of her since he had been appointed her "watcher," but an unnerving intuition and even more so a feeling that the "plan" that Lucius had been speaking of was just about to come to fruition. Ginny likely hadn't been thinking of her safety when she had left, so if she had stolen away somewhere, she would not only be alone, but vulnerable. Draco, worried, had checked all the alleys he knew about but found nothing, and at the moment was sitting in one of the Hogsmeade benches. And then, all of a sudden, Draco's Dark Mark started to burn.

Draco, looked left, then right, and rapidly brought out his wand. With a loud crack he vanished, appearing directly next to another abandoned house, one of the typical places that Death Eaters would meet. However, Draco had a different idea for this meeting. Ignoring the other Death Eater's paths, Draco stole away and hid behind a nearby tree. He quickly tapped himself on the head, and a Disillusionment Charm rapidly spread over him, concealing himself from anyone's view. Just in case, though, Draco made sure to cast a Silencing Charm on himself as well. He stole away in the shadows, following the last Death Eater into the abandoned house. Making sure to stay out of sight and make as little movement as possible, Draco made a nerve-racking ascendance of the second flight of stairs; finally entering the room of the meeting (the door of it was mercifully open). Draco hid away in a small corner of the room, keeping as much to the shadows as possible. Although he knew he had done a fairly thorough Disillusionment, there was always a chance.

Draco surveyed each of the Death Eaters as they quietly filtered in. In the last war, the Death Eaters' ranks were constantly swelling. However, this roster of Death Eaters was largely relying on those carried over from the first, or relatives of them. Even more unfortunately for the Death Eaters' cause, Dumbledore's organization was much better prepared this time around, with many more people significantly more spread out along the globe, and even more importantly, a living, breathing icon of hope – Harry Potter.

However, that certainly didn't mean the Death Eaters were unprepared either. Corruption was blatant in the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort's links and connections due to bribery or other dirty tactics were providing him with considerable methods to exert his influence around the world through outside sources.

Draco suddenly noticed something that significantly caught his eye. Crabbe and Goyle weren't sitting down in their usual assigned seats, but were standing up, and looked immensely proud of themselves. Draco narrowed his eyes at them although they couldn't see him. This couldn't be good. And suddenly, Draco came to the most horrific realization of all. Voldemort had previously called all meetings in the night-time – it must have been an emergency for him to call one so abruptly. And not only that, but Dumbledore's plan had been banking on the fact that the next meeting would be in the nighttime. This not only meant that something extraordinarily good must have happened for such an abrupt meeting, but that Draco would no longer be able to work as a spy – Crabbe and Goyle had likely already revealed him to Voldemort.

Voldemort was suddenly there, standing up, looking more pleased than Draco had seen him in a long time.

"I have excellent news for all of you. Two of our very esteemed Death Eaters stationed at Hogwarts have captured Ginny Weasley, one of Potter's best friends. She will function excellently as bait for either Potter, Weasley, or Dumbledore, and so is not to be killed.

"Also," Voldemort suddenly growled, his tone changing to a low, serpentine hiss, "a traitor has been discovered. The boy Draco Malfoy has likely been spying on us for some time now. Malfoy will be killed. For now, you two," Voldemort continued, giving nods to Crabbe and Goyle. "Will stay away from him. You will stay at Hogwarts for as long as possible, although as soon as Dumbledore discovers you, you are permitted to kill him and then get out.

"You are all dismissed. If any more pressing information comes, contact me immediately. If any of you get a message from Dumbledore, it's the same. But lastly, as you all know, those who do well for the Dark Lord are rewarded." Voldemort suddenly brandished his wand at a (slightly frightened) Crabbe and Goyle, who simply stood there. Voldemort whispered an incantation quietly then flourished his wand. A reddish-blue light shot out of it and then enveloped them both, shimmering in a globe like a web. The web suddenly expanded then contracted, one half rapidly sinking into Crabbe and the other into Goyle. The two both shimmered slightly for a moment but then dimmed back to how they both normally looked.

"Great strength," Voldemort said silently. "Nobody, not even Weasley, will be able to overpower either of you."

Crabbe and Goyle both kneeled in unison and chanted "Thank you, Lord." The two stood up slightly as the Death Eaters started to filter out. They made to leave, but Voldemort beckoned to both of them. As they approached, Voldemort started to whisper to them with a malicious grin. Draco, afraid but knowing it was necessary that he found out what they were doing, slowly approached until they were just within his hearing range. He heard the end of Voldemort's sentences, but that was all he needed to hear.

"…you two have earned it, I think. You may use her however you wish, just remember, don't kill her."

The two both nodded gleefully and chanted like drones again. Voldemort Apparated out. The two looked at each other, and then began to walk upwards, towards where Draco knew Ginny was being held. Draco, surging with anger, started to follow them, but not before doing one last thing. Pulling out his wand and whispering as quietly as possible, Draco started doing the Vibrating Incantation that Dumbledore had taught him – the one he knew that Dumbledore himself had discovered.

"Vibratio Dumbledore." Draco then started to sketch little words out, hoping he had done it right. The message flashed in gold letters briefly at him, and Draco surveyed that he had wrote it correctly. With a wave of his wand, the letters vanished, and he stole up after Crabbe and Goyle to where Ginny was being hold.

Albus Dumbledore, pacing rapidly in his office at Hogwarts, started to feel his wand vibrate. Worried, he picked it up and waved it. The golden letters appeared in fragments, phrases at a time.

HE KNOWS ABOUT ME

GINNY CAPTURED

RESCUING

ABANDONED HOUSE

There was a pause as the final word flashed out across Dumbledore's face.

DRACO