Disclaimer: Nope, nope, not mine.

Disaster

Harry and Remus took turns going through the cupboard into Hogwarts and headed straight to Dumbledore's office. They heard Dumbledore answer after only one knock. "Come in."

For the first time in his seven years at Hogwarts Harry believed that he saw utter surprise on the face of Albus Dumbledore. "Hello, Harry, Remus. Do sit down." He said covering it well.

Harry and Remus both sat comfortably across from Dumbledore. "We have news." Remus said immediately.

"Oh, then you are not here because of…" But Dumbledore stopped his sentence thinking better of it for a moment.

"Of what, Sir?" Harry asked noticing the uncharacteristic look upon Dumbledore's face. He was worried. Harry had not seen him this worried since the Death Eater attack the year before.

"I'm sorry, Harry. For a moment I slipped into old habits. I almost did not tell you. I'm afraid Ms. Malfoy has come up missing." Dumbledore answered.

"Val." Harry said shakily. He felt his insides run cold. "How long?"

"I'm afraid since the day you left. That makes it over a week and a half now. I am positive that she would have had no way to leave the grounds, but we have searched the entire place." Dumbledore said rubbing his forehead.

"I'll get my map. Maybe she's hiding somewhere. Maybe she borrowed my invisibility cloak." Harry suggested.

"I'm afraid I already thought of that, Harry. I'm sorry but I borrowed your map without asking." Dumbledore answered pulling the Marauders' Map from under some papers on the desk and handing it to Harry. Harry looked it over but did not see Val anywhere on it.

"Well then she has to be in the Room of Requirement. I never showed her any of the secret passages out of Hogwarts." Harry suggested.

"But we just came from there, Harry." Remus said shaking his head.

"Maybe there is a way for more than one person to be in there at a time, and not know it." Harry suggested. But he knew it was not possible. When he had tried to enter the room the year before while Draco was in it, the door would not appear because he did not ask it for the same thing that Draco had. "Well, where else could she be?" Harry asked angrily.

"I'm afraid that maybe she did find a way out of Hogwarts. If that is the case things look very grim." Dumbledore said in a low voice. "Whether she is seen to the outside world as a Black or a Malfoy, she will be hunted by the Death Eaters. But don't give up hope yet, Harry. I have the rest of the Order searching all of England for her, and Hagrid is searching the Forbidden Forest."

Harry didn't hear Dumbledore's words of assurance. "May I be excused?" He asked in a half-hearted whisper.

"But don't you want to tell Albus of what we found, Harry?" Remus asked seeing the downtrodden look on Harry's face.

"You go ahead, Remus. I'm going up to my dorm." Harry answered turning not waiting to be excused.

"Harry." Remus said not wanting to let Harry leave in such a state.

"Let him go, Remus. There is only one thing going to make him happy now. And out of anyone at this school, I trust him to be the most likely to find her." Dumbledore said smiling at the door where Harry had just departed. "Now, tell me my friend. How did you and he get onto school grounds without setting off my wards?"

Harry sat alone in his dorm room that night staring at his Marauders' Map hoping for any sign that Val might still be on the grounds. There were no signs to be had. All through out the night Harry thought about what had brought Val to such a state. He could only place the blame on one person. And at about sunrise he noticed on his map that, that person was leaving the castle and heading towards the Quidditch Pitch. Harry grabbed his Firebolt in case Malfoy was in the air when he arrived on the Pitch, and headed down to the main doors of the school completely forgetting his map, leaving it on his bed.

It was really too cold a day to be riding a broom, but Harry noticed Malfoy flying through the air on the far side of the pitch, near the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Harry wondered what Malfoy was up to. He saw Malfoy looking his way and placed his fingers in his mouth to whistle loudly. At first he thought Malfoy would ignore the whistle as he turned his face back towards the forest, but after a moment more he turned back towards Harry and within moments had landed ten feet away.

He stepped from his broom and removed the goggles that he wore to protect his eyes from the bitter cold wind. Harry could see that his cheeks and lips were chapped. "What do you want, Potter? I thought you left for the Holidays."

"I came back last night. You'd imagine how shocked I was to find out that Val was missing." Harry said angrily.

"Is she? I hadn't heard." Draco scowled.

"What are you doing flying on a day like today?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"I enjoy the cold weather." Draco said snarling. "What business is it of yours when I fly?"

Harry was tired of the cat and mouse game he was playing with Draco. "Listen, Malfoy. If any harm comes to her, I will personally use the Sectumsempra curse on you when Snape isn't here to save you." Harry threatened.

Draco's mouth gaped a moment. He never imagined that the perfect Harry Potter would give in to the need for revenge that gleefully. But his shock at the words wore off and was replaced by the classic Malfoy sneer. "Well, Potter. If it is a duel you are seeking, why not now?"

Harry's hand strayed towards his wand, but he stilled it as he caught a whiff of a burning smell. That was not a smell common at Hogwarts, not even in the kitchens. Harry turned his head towards the smell and his eyes widened as he saw smoke coming from Hagrid's house. Not a small amount of smoke, but huge clouds of billowing smoke poured from the building. "Oh, hell." He said stepping towards the building that was surely on fire.

"Come on, Potter. It's just a shack. Dumbledore will build him a new one." Draco said taunting Harry, as if he couldn't wait to get on with the duel.

Harry turned on Draco as his anger increased threefold. "That's his home, you git." Harry said removing his wand meaning to throw a hex at Draco. But the curse died on his lips as he saw Draco's face becoming paler than he had ever seen it. Harry turned back to the burning house and saw flying around the hut a tawny colored owl. The bird was trying desperately to get into one of the windows that flame was coming out of.

"Pem." Draco said moving forward slowly. "That bloody bird loves her. Val." At those words Draco took off at a dead run towards the burning hut. Harry heard Draco's words and felt icy fingers grabbing at his soul. He followed just a few feet behind Draco.

When they reached the hut Draco pulled his wand and blasted the door from its hinges. There was billowing smoke coming from what was left of the roof, and flames were dancing in every direction. Draco dove through the door not caring if his clothes caught fire. Harry followed right behind him. Neither of them could see far in front of their faces. But the hut was small and Draco finally came across something soft lying on the floor. He bent and could feel Val's unconscious form next to the room's only bed. He tried to pick her up but soon discovered a heavy wooden beam was lying across her upper thigh. Draco tried to look around for Harry. He saw a figure moving across the room in the smoke. "Potter, help." He yelled over the roar of the fire.

Harry was by his side in moments, levitating the beam off Val as Draco pulled her out from under it. He picked her up and followed Harry out the rear door, which was surrounded by less flames. Once they were away from the hut, Draco could see Val. She looked deathly pale and her breathing was thready and shallow. "Come on, Draco. We have to get her to the Hospital Wing fast." Harry said pulling him towards the school.

Draco looked to the school seeing how far away it seemed all of a sudden. "She doesn't have time for this." Draco let go of her legs and held out his hand. "Accio, broom." He bellowed and within seconds his broom was resting in his hand. "Help me." His voice pleaded in a way Harry had never heard from him before.

Harry held onto Val as Draco mounted his broom, and then Harry handed her too him. Draco held her balanced across his broom in front of where he sat. It was a precarious position, but he managed it all the same holding her shoulders in one arm and reaching across her legs to grip the broom in front of her. He lifted into the air slowly and started towards the Hospital Wing widows. "Accio, Firebolt." Harry called out and his own broom was there in seconds. He too mounted his broom and easily caught up with Draco who was going slower making sure he did not drop Val.

Harry reached the window first and called out the charm to open it. He flew through, with Draco right behind him.

"My word. Mr. Potter. What do you think you are doing?" Madame Pomfrey started to complain loudly, but then she saw whom Draco was carrying. "Oh my. Put her down, now."

Harry helped Draco to place Val on one of the beds. They could both see the extent of her injuries then. Her face was smudged black from the smoke, and her cloths were melted to her skin in several places along her body, and her hip and leg seemed to be lying at a strange angle that was all too unnatural. Madame Pomfrey rushed them both from the room.

Draco walked across the long hall outside the Hospital wing and slumped on the floor opposite the doors. Harry could not read the look on his face. It was completely blank. Harry stood next to the door staring at Draco.

After several moments Draco opened his mouth. But no sound came from it. His lips moved as if he was trying to speak, but the sound was not there. Harry crossed the hall and sat next to Draco, making sure not to touch him. "She'll be fine." He whispered.

At that moment the sound finally erupted from Draco. It was not a word, but instead a low moan, as he pulled his knees up close to his body and laid his forehead on them. "This is my fault." He finally forced from his lips.

Harry did not disagree with him. He just sat there waiting. After a few moments more they could see Dumbledore, Lupin, and Hagrid coming down the hall towards the Hospital Wing at a fast pace. "Is she in there?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes." Harry answered. "Madame Pomfrey asked us to wait out here."

"Oh. I should have never left her there alone." Hagrid cried out slumping against the wall.

"What was she doing there?" Harry asked.

Hagrid looked down at him and could see the confusion. "I found her in the forest less than an hour ago. She's been hiding in there this entire time. She was very frightened. You know how the creatures in the forest can be. But when I brought her out of the forest she didn't want to come back to the school. She fought me all the way to my house. I decided to compromise with her. I told her she could stay in me hut as long as she wanted, if she'd let me go get Madame Pomfrey to look her over. So I came to the castle, to get Professor Dumbledore. When I left everything was fine. She had curled up on my bed, and was fast asleep." Hagrid explained.

"When we found her she was lying on the floor next to the bed, under a support beam." Draco spoke up. He didn't look at them. He was staring at the doors across from him willing Madame Pomfrey to open them.

"It's a good thing you two were nearby." Albus said looking down at the two young men, mentally making a note to have Draco Malfoy given a calming tonic. The man was quite certainly going into shock.

At that moment Madame Pomfrey opened the door. Harry and Draco stood immediately. "I have done what I can for now." She said sadly.

"She's going to be okay. Isn't she?" Harry asked.

"I have healed the burns, and have mended her broken hip, but her lungs are very weak due to the smoke she breathed in. It will take many deep healing sessions to repair the damage to them." She answered looking exhausted. "You may go in two at a time to see her, but I will warn you, I gave her a sleeping draught. She is sleeping comfortably."

"Go ahead, Harry, Draco." Dumbledore insisted.

Harry and Draco walked into the sterile white room and saw Val lying motionless in the bed. Her burnt cloths had been changed and she was clean. She looked peaceful, but they could both hear the rasping noise she made as she drew in breath. Harry walked over and took one of her hands, in his. "You're going to be okay, Val. I know in my heart that this won't hold you down." He whispered. "You have to come back. I have learned so much that you need to know."

Draco watched the touching scene, and again he thought for the hundredth time. 'This is my fault' He immediately turned and left the room, not looking back, and not stopping when Dumbledore called his name. He did not stop walking until he reached the owlry where Pem was waiting for him.

He sat next to the window that he and Val had stargazed from on a night that seemed a million years before. His hands immediately covered his eyes as the sobs wracked his body. And he repeated the words over and over to himself. "This is my fault. This is my fault."

Author's Note: Ah well my frequent readers know how mean I can be to my characters. Poor things. But it wouldn't be as interesting if everything were sunny and wonderful. Now would it?