Voldemort sat in his council chambers waiting for his summoned death eaters to arrive at their appointed time. It took a great deal of his concentration to deal with the lingering feelings he still felt from the previous night's events. He knew that he would never allow Harry into his mind again, but what Harry had left behind had to be pushed to the farthest recesses of his consciousness he could manage. He could never let those feelings creep to the surface again.

The door to the council chamber opened, and Malfoy walked in followed by Dolohov. They only took a few steps into the room before they kneeled before their master.

"Well?" Voldemort asked. "What news is there of the death eaters you rescued? Surely their powers must have returned by now."

"They have not, my lord," Malfoy said as he looked up for the first time. "I checked…"

"What?" Voldemort asked wondering why Malfoy was looking at him so strangely.

"I'm sorry, my master," Malfoy began, "but the scar on your forehead… It looks just like the one on Potter's head."

Voldemort put his hand to his forehead, and instantly some of the feelings from the night before tried to surface once more. Voldemort ran his fingers over the unmistakable lightning bolt shape. The pain in that spot had been so intense the night before. He could not let his death eaters know that though. He could show no weakness.

"Yes," Voldemort said smoothly. "The time for our final battle grows nearer, and our minds come into closer contact. Destiny is calling us together. Even I can not fight that destiny. Nor do I wish to. The scar should fade once I have killed Harry once and for all."

"Of course, master," Malfoy said.

"You were saying?" Voldemort said trying to get them back onto the previous subject.

"I checked on the death eaters we freed," Malfoy said. "Not one of them is showing the slightest hint of magical ability yet."

"Then they will never regain their powers," Voldemort said. "I have learned that the potion they took removed their powers permanently. They are of no use to me now. See to it that they are all disposed of."

"Are you sure, master?" Malfoy asked, shocked that he would suggest such a thing.

"I say nothing of which I am not sure, Lucius," Voldemort said with a stare that made Malfoy bow his head once again. "Do as I have commanded of you. Once that is done, I want you to personally make contact with the dementors. The time for them to return is close at hand. Once I summon the full ranks of my death eater army, and all of my allies, we will attack Hogwarts and destroy everything in our path. Now go at once and carry out your orders, Lucius."

"Yes, master," Malfoy said.

Once Malfoy had left the room, Voldemort turned his attention to Dolohov and said, "I trust that you have not received word from your nephew yet."

"I have not, my lord," Dolohov said.

"Then send another message to him," Voldemort said. "Tell him I want Draco dead by the time the sun sets tomorrow night. After that he is to turn his attention back to the Weasley girl. I want to hear that she was made to suffer terribly before she died. Is that clear?"

"It is, my lord," Dolohov said as he got up to leave.

Once Voldemort was alone in the room, he touched his forehead once again, running his fingers over the scar as he said, "Damn you, Harry."

"Wait a minute," Harry said. "What are you going to use it for?"

"I'm going to keep an eye on Malfoy," Ron said.

"Why would you need an invisibility cloak for that?" Harry asked.

"I just do," Ron said. "Can I borrow it or not?"

"You understand that this is not what I meant when I asked everyone to keep an eye on him, right?" Harry asked. "I just wanted to keep people near him at all times and in plain view."

"What good is that going to do?" Ron said, a bit of his frustration showing through.

"It should keep someone from trying to kill him," Harry said. "They won't want to try it when there are other people around."

"Exactly," Ron said. "How are we ever supposed to find out who tried to kill Hermione if we don't give this person a chance to expose themselves?"

"I should have known," Harry aid shaking his head. "You want to dangle Draco out there as bait so you can beat the life out of whoever tries to attack him. Do you even care that Draco might get seriously hurt in the process? Are you really willing to do that just to get your revenge?"

"If that's what it takes," Ron said.

"Well, at least you're honest about it," Harry said with a grin he couldn't stop.

"It isn't like he'll ever be left alone anyway," Ron said. "Even if I am under the invisibility cloak, there are hundreds of students all over the school watching out for him. He couldn't get a moment to himself if he tried."

"I suppose you're right about that," Harry admitted.

"So it won't do any harm to let me sneak around under the cloak for a while," Ron said.

"Fine," Harry said as he handed Ron the cloak. "Just don't get in to trouble with it. It's the only one I have you know."

"Trust me," Ron said with a wink as he disappeared beneath the cloak.

It didn't take long to find Malfoy. He was in the library with Cassidy studying for a potions test. Ron waited for what seemed like hours for them to finish. It looked as though Malfoy was getting a bit antsy as well. Apparently, studying potions was not what he wanted to be doing on that night.

Things got even worse for him a few minutes later though. Hermione walked in with her potions book as well. Cassidy spotted her and called her over to see if she could help her with something. Before you know it, the two girls were studying together like long lost friends. Draco looked like he was going to climb the walls.

"I think I've had enough of studying for tonight, Cassidy," Draco said as he stood. "I think I'll go outside for a little air before I head back to the common room."

"Oh," Cassidy said. "Well, I'll come with you."

"No," Draco said. "Don't worry about me. You stay here and study with Hermione. I just need to walk off some energy. I can't seem to sit still. I'll wait for you in the common room before I go to bed. Don't stay up too late."

Draco began to walk out of the library, and Ron could see that Cassidy and Hermione were nearly in a panic. There was no one else in the library that they could send to keep an eye on him. It would look suspicious for one of them to go.

"Easy ladies," Ron said as he walked past the table under the cloak. "I've got him."

"Ron?" Hermione asked. "What are you doing under that cloak?"

"How else do you think I'm going to follow him around without him noticing?" Ron said.

"Good point," Hermione admitted.

Ron couldn't believe it. Draco somehow managed to make the entire trip from the library to the front doors of the school without passing a single D.A. member. He thought that he was on his own until, at the last moment, a first year Hufflepuff walked out of the Great Hall in time to spot Malfoy heading outside alone. He immediately changed direction and began to follow Draco. Perhaps just a bit too closely though.

Ron had seen that it was inevitable. Even a blind person would be able to tell that the Hufflepuff boy was following Draco, and Draco was not blind.

Draco had walked the grounds for no more than five minutes when he suddenly turned and asked, "Why do you keep following me?"

The little Hufflepuff boy was so startled that he just froze and stared at Draco with wide eyes.

"Well, you must have a reason," Draco said. "You've been following me since we left the castle."

"I… I… I'm sorry, sir," David said. "I just didn't think you should be out alone so late at night."

"I see," Draco said. "Are you going to protect me then? There is nothing out here that I need to be protected against. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I'm sorry," David said. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Then run off back to the castle and leave me alone," Draco said.

David turned and ran back to the castle as fast as he could. Ron had no doubt that he would find other D.A. members and alert them to the fact that Draco was not being watched.

"I hope I wasn't that silly when I was a first year," Draco said with a chuckle as he turned to continue his walk.

Ron knew that, at least for the next few minutes, he was all the protection Draco had. He had to laugh at the situation. If anyone had told him even a month ago that he would be guarding Malfoy, he would have laughed in their face.

He didn't laugh long though. Ron saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was a movement he had just barely seen. They were not alone on the grounds. Someone else was there with them, hiding in the shadows.

Ron didn't know if the new arrival was friend or foe. There was an icy feeling that ran down his back that made him think it was the latter. Instantly he drew his wand and began to close the gap between Draco and himself. He watched the figure dart out of the shadows of the castle and swiftly take up position behind a tree. He could also see that Malfoy would eventually pass very close to that tree if he continued his walk.

Ron flanked Draco as closely as he dared, on his guard for any movement at all from behind the tree. Ron's heart pumped madly in his chest. This was it. He could feel it.

They had closed to within ten paces of the tree when Ron had his suspicions confirmed. The tree kept nearly the entire area around it in shadow, but just enough moonlight made it through for Ron to make out the tip of a wand emerge from behind the tree. The moment was at hand. Ron had to make a decision about what to do. He knew in an instant, and he moved quickly.

Draco looked ahead of him and briefly saw a green light jump from behind the tree. He didn't see much of it though. Something crashed into him and knocked him to the ground just as the killing curse passed through the spot where he had just stood.

Draco barely had time to process what was happening, as Ron suddenly appeared out from under the invisibility cloak on the ground behind him. Ron sat up and muttered a spell Draco didn't recognize, and binding cloths sprang from his wand to encircle the entire trunk of the tree, trapping their attacker.

"Are you hurt?" Ron asked as he stood.

"I don't think so," Draco said standing back up as well. "What just happened?"

"Somebody tried to kill you," Ron said. "Harry was afraid this would happen."

"Wait a minute," Draco said. "Are you serious? How did a death eater get on the grounds without Dumbledore knowing about it?"

"It wasn't a death eater," Ron said. "It was a student. I'm betting it was the same one that took a shot at Hermione earlier this year. You want to come with me to find out who it is. Then we can fight over who gets to rip his heart out first."

Draco drew his own wand and said, "Lumos. I want to see the person who had the nerve to try to attack me."

Ron and Draco walked to the other side of the tree and were shocked at what they saw. There, bound to the tree with nothing visible below the nose, was a boy. They had both expected to find a mean looking seventh year. What they found was a student who couldn't have been more than a fourth year at best. He didn't look mean at all. In fact, he looked scared. Tears streamed from his eyes as he mumbled continually through the binding that covered his mouth.

"It's just a kid," Ron said. "I don't know him."

"I do," Draco said.

"Is he a Slytherin?" Ron asked.

"No," Draco said. "Actually, he's a third year Ravenclaw. His name is Drew Caldwell."

"Are you sure he's a Ravenclaw?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Draco said. "It caused quite a stir within the ranks of the death eaters when he was sorted into Ravenclaw. I can't believe I didn't think of him when I was trying to figure out who might have attacked Hermione."

"Is his dad a death eater?" Ron asked.

"No," Draco answered. "His uncle is Antonin Dolohov though. Dolohov's sister married a Caldwell. Since then, they've stayed as far away from the death eaters as possible."

"Not far enough, it would seem," Ron said.

"Don't hold it against him," Draco said. "Never underestimate the influence of the Dark… Voldemort. I can assure you that he didn't do any of this willingly. They probably threatened to kill his parents if he didn't cooperate."

"Are you both alright?" Dumbledore said as he approached the scene while the other teachers held back what looked like the majority of the school.

"We're fine," Ron said.

"Good," Dumbledore said. "I'll need to speak to the two of you in my office in about one hour." Dumbledore waved his wand and the binding around the tree disappeared. "I'll need you to come with me now, Drew."

Drew couldn't even speak through his sobs. He just walked forward and handed his wand over to Professor Dumbledore.

"Don't be afraid, Drew," Dumbledore said as he placed his hand on Drew's shoulders. "The worst part is over now. We have a great deal to discuss."

Ron and Draco watched as Dumbledore vanished along with Drew. Dumbledore had spared him the shame of walking past all of the students.

"Well I guess we had better get this over with," Ron said looking at the throng of people still fighting to get outside. "They won't let us get any sleep tonight."

"Weasley," Draco said before Ron began to walk away. "For what it's worth, I just wanted to say thanks." Draco stuck out his hand and waited to see if Ron would slap it away or just laugh in his face.

Ron took a moment to consider, and then reached out and took Draco's hand and said, "I'm glad I could help. Just don't expect that kind of charity on the quidditch pitch."

Draco smiled to match Ron and said, "Until then."