Thanks to:

PP Ruffie: I love cliffhangers! laughs evilly

PsYcHiC SeLiNa: Glad you liked the chapter!

Frances: Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm too lazy to change it. You're right though, it would read better. Be more dramatic. Harry is an idiot, but it is necessary for him to be one!

ExtremeDancer: Thanks for the review! Sorry it took so long to post again.

Alexandria J. Malfoy: Holy crap! That's a lot of reading! Glad you like it! I hope it was at least worth your time.

GuestTypePerson: Dumbledore wasn't told about it. I'll consider that a plot hole for right now and we'll see how everything writes out in the end. I can go back and fix it later. My mission's trip was in Butler, Pennsylvania. Nothing extremely intense like Russia or anything, but it was an awesome time and I really enjoyed working there. Especially cause the program we did catered more to teaching and spreading the gospel than just helping around the town.

Ice princess grl: Lucius Malfoy is a sick, sick, deranged man in this story. Hope it doesn't freak you out too much. He's going to keep his deranged part to himself for now. Glad you liked it though!

Wtfbbg: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! Here's next one!

Slytherin Ice Panther: Don't worry about not reviewing. Although I totally enjoy and live off of reviews, it's okay if you can't. Thanks for this one though and glad you liked the chapter! Sorry to hear about the grounding. That really sucks. I'm lucky that I'm old enough that I don't get grounded anymore. Mostly because I'm at college practically all year.

Laina3: I'm like totally dragging out the days here, but so much is happening in them! This is the very last part of the day though. I swear! Lucius is a sleaze. Glad you liked it!

Author's Note: I realize that the past couple of months I've taken a tremendously long time to update this story. So in order to make up for the latest botch of time, this chapter is twice as long as my regular ones so you are getting two chapters in one. Also, I realized that I kind of left Snape behind at Grimmauld and I didn't mean to do that so I went back and fixed it so he is now traveling with the Order to Rilanthia. Enjoy!

Friends Close, Enemies Closer

.:Angelgrl185:.

((I don't own the Harry Potter Series of any of its components))

Chapter Eighteen: Deathly Consequences

One Day Until Winter Solstice

Night

The sky was black than inevitable darkness with luminous clouds that hovered over
the sky. Bright flashes of purple tinted lightning lit up the sky briefly, illuminating the wickedly black sea that ravaged around the tiny boat caught in the middle. Rain pelted down upon them in hoards of icy spikes, savagely soaking them and stinging their soft flesh. The feminine scream that ripped through the air cause the hair to stand on end of every person on deck and ripped through the heart of one person in particular.

"Molly," Arthur Weasley whispered, horrified. His dark blue eyes widened in dismay and his freckled face blanched considerably. It took all his effort to not propel himself immediately off of the netting he was currently climbing in order to find his wife. Of course it would have been stupid to just jump off because he would have died and consequently ruining any saving Molly plans.

Arthur grabbed the nearest robe dangling by his side and wrapped his lanky frame around it. Once he was secure in his hold, he slide all the way down the rope. His face tightened in determination as he fought the pain of the rope burning into his hands and legs as he plummeted toward the deck of the boat. He landed forcefully on one knee in the middle of a flood of water. Down for no more than three seconds, Arthur sprinted off the ground and raced toward the edge of the ship. The water tossed around the boat. Black, ominous waves rising and collapsing around them. Some beasts towered above the ship and crashed down upon with such a force that Arthur thought it was going to snap in half. The waves always knocked them off their feet and threatened to send them over board into the stormy ocean below.

A torrential downpour of water crashed over him as its saltiness invaded his mouth and nose. Arthur gasped and sputtered, trying to draw in a breath as he clung to the ship's edge for dear life. When the wave had passed, he peered his head over the side of the ship. Down near the very bottom he spotted a frantic red headed figure wrapped around a long strand of rope.

"Molly!" he yelled, pointless over the deafening roars of the ocean. In his panic he tried to think of every possible way he could climb down and rescue her. As his situation became more hopeless, Arthur felt his heart plummet to the middle of his chest as he realized there was no way he could reach her. That's when he remembered that he was actually a wizard. He almost had the insane urge to roll his eyes at his stupidity before not wasting another moment. Pulling his wand out of his robes his branded it toward Molly.

"Accio, Molly!" he cried. A bewildered look of fear fell across Molly's face, as she was detached from her rope. To her surprise she didn't fall into the Black Death below her, but instead torpedoed up into the air. She plummeted into Arthur with a force that knocked both of them to the floor. They slid across the deck in the water and stopped when they hit a pole.

"Molly," Arthur whispered, softly. His fingers caught the curve of her chin and tilted her face toward him. "Molly."

She trembled as he drew her in his arms and buried his head in their embrace. He shuddered and she felt warm drops fall across her neck while his warm breath caressed the skin there. She was alive. Arthur had saved her. Molly closed her eyes in relief and wrapped her arms around her shaking husband. They clung to each other finding comfort in the midst of the terror because even if only for a moment, they were alive.

"What are you doing?" Hermione's soft voice floated in his ears. Ron smiled at her familiarity and motioned her over. She complied willingly and sank into his embrace, settling herself in his lap.

"I'm strategizing," he answered as his look of concentration returned to his face.

"Strategizing?" she repeated, rolling the word around on her tongue.

"Of course," Ron replied as a matter of fact. "I am the brilliant chess player here."

"Oh, of course, the brilliant chess player," Hermione agreed with an impish smile. "The brilliant chess player who lost to me quite a few times a week ago if I recall correctly."

"You were distracting me!" he wined pitifully.

"It's not my fault you're easily distracted, Hon," Hermione said with a helpless shrug.

"Hermione," Ron drawled. "You were nibbling on my ear! How is any man supposed to pay attention when a very attractive female is mauling his irresistible man flesh? Isn't there some rule anyways about players having to stay on their side of the chess board?"

"Attractive female?" Hermione echoed. "I think I like the sound of that. However, I don't know who this man you are talking about is."

"Hermione, you wound me," Ron replied sticking out his lower lip in a pathetic attempt at a pout. Hermione giggled and clasped her hands around his neck.

"Okay, maybe I lied a little," she admitted, drawing his head towards her and touching her forehead to his.

"A little?" he question, pulling away from her slightly.

"Okay, okay! A lot! I lied a lot!" she groaned, rolling her eyes as a satisfied grin spread across his face. She had to admit. Ron looked incredibly sexy when his lips were curved in a big smile that also shone brightly out of his cornflower blue eyes. Irresistibly sexy that is.

Hermione leaned in and gently claimed his lips. She sucked on the upper one before transferring to the equally ripe lower one. Ron lifted his hands and plunged one in the rich mass of hair crowning her head leaving the other to trail lightly along her skin until firmly clasping behind her neck. His lips gently brushed hers as he pulled her tightly against him. Hermione ran her tongue along the top of his lip seeking entrance and Ron opened his mouth allowing her to explore inside. She traced every curve of his mouth, reveling in the warmth she found in there, loving the taste of him. Ron was just as happy to let her maul him.

"Hermione," Ron said, breaking away from her. She leaned back, panting slightly and gave him a questioning stare. "You're doing it again."

He received a blank look.

"You know, distracting me?"

"Oh!" Hermione said, clamping her hands over her mouth.

"You seem to have an unusual knack for that," he commented wryly.

"I can't help that I'm good," Hermione defended herself.

"No, you can't help that you are completely infatuated with me as well as you should be," Ron countered haughtily.

"You sound like Draco," Hermione observed with a smirk.

Ron snapped his mouth shut and glared at her. "In no way, shape or form am I anything like that conceited, arrogant prick!"

"Now, now, Ron," Hermione said, wagging a finger at him. "We're supposed to be nice to Draco. He's a good guy now remember?"

"He may be on our side, but he's still a great prat," he muttered darkly.

"Ron, don't be jealous," Hermione, said good-naturedly. "You have me."

"Who said I was jealous?" Ron protested. "I would never be jealous of such a pompous, inconsiderate know it all who likes to mack on my little sister!"

"Ron," Hermione interjected. "I was just kidding."

He stopped his tirade with a sheepish grin. "Oh."

Hermione smiled and pulled him toward her for another kiss.

"I'm not jealous," Ron restated when they pulled away.

"I know, Ron," she said.

"I really do need to get back to work," Ron said looking irritably at the paper before him.

"Something important?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing really," he replied casually. "Just brilliant ways to save the world and stuff like that."

Hermione rolled her hazel eyes and moved out of his lap to sit in the seat next to him. "What've you got so far?"

"Not much really," Ron remarked. "We have a pretty vague idea right now about what's going to happen down there. As far as we've gathered the kingdom of Rilanthia will be revealed as soon as the Winter Solstice dawns which will be in a few hours."

"Has Harry mentioned any specifics?"

"Beside requesting that he personally sacks good old Voldie?" Ron asked with a grin. "Not really. Tonks told us that Mitch, the Pilot, is going to drop us off at the edge of the "Land of the Dead." Apparently this flying scrap of metal doesn't work over the desert. I don't really know what he means by drop though cause I definitely don't want to be just thrown to the ground. Especially from this altitude."

"He means we're gonna have to parachute or something," Hermione informed him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Parachute?" Ron asked confused.

"It's a muggle thing," she explained. "You strap a bag to your back and jump out of the plane. When you've fallen down enough you pulled a cord attached to the bag and it releases what is called a parachute. The parachute opens up into like a big balloon that makes you glide gently to the ground instead of falling at neck breaking speed and splattering to the ground dead and deformed."

"Thanks for the wonderful imagery," Ron replied sarcastically.

"No problem," she replied with a grin.

"Right, so after we parachute or whatever to the ground, we're gonna have to find some way to get to the actually city. For all we know this could take hours, days even. We have no clue how far away the city is from the edge of the desert."

"So pretty much you're saying our plan is completely hopeless because we could not even make it there on time and the best we should hope for is miraculously landing on the desert alive and the city being about five steps away?" Hermione cited.

"Exactly," Ron confirmed with a frown.

"That's not a very good strategy," Hermione observed.

"That's why I was trying to work on it until I got interrupted," he pointed out, flicking her nose with his fingers.

"Well then I won't keep you anymore," she decided as she stood up. "I don't want to have to hope for the best. I want to save Ginny and Draco and defeat the Dark Lord once and for all."

Hermione bent down and kissed the top of his messy red head before leaving him in peace.

Ginny scowled as she sat in the hard wooden chair, her feet placed non to gently atop of some papers that she hoped were very important to the idiotic Death Eaters because her shoes were muddy and were ruining them. She had been locked in this bloody cabin for well over an hour now and it was starting to annoy her. First of all, there had be a terrible storm raging outside doing god knows what to god knows whom and she was stuck in here. The savage rocking of the ship due to horrendous waves had made her sick and on top of that, she hate lightning and it was the only thing she could see flashing out the window.

Now only silence ensued and it was driving her insane. Not only was she all alone with absolutely nothing to do, she didn't even know if Draco was safe! For all she knew everyone could be dead outside and floating lifelessly in the sea and she would never know cause she was locked inside this stupid cabin and would probably die of starvation. The sound of the bolts unlocking startled Ginny out of her thoughts and she immediately rose to her feet. The heavy wooded door creaked as it was pushed open and closed by Draco. Ginny sighed in relief as she drank in the sight of him.

His silvery blond hair was plastered across his face and dripping water. Little trails ran along the curves of his face and neck down into his clothes. His slate eyes were alert, but lines around them betrayed his weariness. Ginny rushed to his side and threw her arms around him squeezing him tight. She didn't care if he thought her to be immature or clingy, she was just glad that he was safe. She felt the deep rumbling in his chest before she heard the chuckles of mirth escaping from his mouth. Drawing back, she gazed into his eyes and found them now to be lit with amusement. Feeling silly, she withdrew from him and stepped away unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," he said softly, his amusement disbanding. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

He reached out a hand and drew her against him. Ginny sighed as she felt the familiar contour of his body molding into hers are she wrapped his arms around his waist and buried her head into his firm chest. Muscular arms encircled her and a hand found its way into her hair. Draco smiled as he twirled his fingers in her silky amber locks.

"I'm just glad you're safe, " she murmured into his chest. Her warm breath tickled his skin even through his clothes.

Draco kissed the top of her head and drew away. "Come, I'm sure you don't want to be locked up in here anymore."

Ginny nodded and followed him out of the cabin when he opened the door. The sight that met her eyes had then flown wide open in shock. The ship's deck was a complete mess. The storm had done more damage than she thought it would. One of the tall masts looked as it had been struck by lightning and had crashed to the ground. The deck was now flooded with a tangle of worn ropes and whites sails as well as salty ocean water. Seaweed and other plant life were strewn across the deck adding a bit of color to its normally drab brown. Black smoke billowed at the far end of the ship where Ginny could barely make out some of the men dousing orange flames with water.

"A real mess, huh?" Draco commented as he took in her took of disbelief. She nodded mutely. He chuckled and grabbed her arm before dragging her around the rubbage and up to the top deck where Voldemort and Lucius were standing with the Death Eater who was directing the boat.

"Ah, Draco," Voldemort said when they approached. Ginny couldn't help but stare at him. He was so grotesque in his features she wondered how anyone could stand to be around him much less follow him till death. His beady scarlet eyes were slit and glinting mysteriously while his thin, bloodless lips were pulled into an amused smirk. His face was gaunt and way to pale to be considered normal. Think like a hundred times paler than Draco and Draco was pretty fair.

"My Lord," Draco said, dropping to one knee and bowing his head before the snake like man.

"I told you there was no need for that," Voldemort said, waving away the formalities.

"Forgive me, my lord," Draco apologized raising his head. "But I feel respect should be showed when respect is deserved. Allow me to continue to show you the honor and respect you deserve."

"A fine son you have raised, Lucius," Voldemort praised nodding at his right hand man.

"I'm glad he pleases you, my lord," Lucius replied with a proud tilt of his head.

"Very well, Draco," Voldemort agreed. "You may rise now."

"What is your will, my lord?" Draco inquired.

"I have a task that I need you to perform," Voldemort said.

"Anything," Draco replied confidently.

Voldemort's lips curved into what Ginny deemed an incredibly malicious smile and he turned his gaze upon her. She felt caught in his penetrating red eyes. His pupils were narrow black slits against the scarlet color of his iris and they burned through her.

"I need you to slit Miss Weasley's wrists."

"What?" Ginny screeched forgetting all about being compliant and a willing participant until her help arrived. There was no way in hell she was going to let some psychos slit her wrist. And there was definitely no way she was going to let Voldemort force Draco to slit her wrist.

Draco on the other hand seemed not to falter at all when the request was made of him. The only betrayal of his emotion was the slight curling of his fingers, the quirk in his lips and the momentary appearance of golden flecks speckling in his eyes. Neither Voldemort nor Lucius caught these signs, but Ginny did. Ginny could read him like a book and he knew that he was restraining very hard from not protesting.

"He is not cutting my wrists!" Ginny growled. She wrenched her arm from Draco's grasp and placed her hands on her hips and glared angrily at the so called Dark Lord.

"My lord, is it wise to kill her so soon?" Draco asked slowly. "She is a Legilimens is she not? Certainly Dumbledore would sense her departure from the world. Legilimens have a way of sending a mental signal to anyone who can hear it when they pass away. Then they would have no reason to come to her rescue and you need Harry Potter."

"Are you questioning me, young Malfoy?" Voldemort hissed sharply.

Draco shook his head. "Never, milord, just merely trying to understand."

"What you say is true, Draco," the Dark Lord mused. "But you will not be killing her. Just merely taking some of her blood."

Draco nodded. "Alright, with what would you have me collect her blood?"

At this Ginny could not keep the look of betrayal from flooding her face. He was going to do it. Draco was actually going to slit her wrists. Ginny felt her heart plummet to her stomach as Lucius handed Draco a clear glass vial. He reached down into his robes and pulled out a long silver knife. The blade glinted wickedly in the soft moonlight and Ginny started to shake.

"No! I won't let you do this!" she cried hysterically, backing away from them. Lucius moved swiftly to her side and wrenched one her of her arms behind her pack. Ginny winced at the pain and hunched over in order to relieve it. Completely secure in Lucius' iron arms she could no longer struggle.

Grabbing her wrist, Draco refused to look at her as he poised the blade over her soft skin. With his thumb resting against her smooth skin her could feel the life pulsing through her veins. It beat solidly against his skin and it seemed to beg him to relent. Draco struggled to keep his composure as he placed the edge of the blade against her skin. Flicking his eyes up to hers, his gray depths pleaded with her to forgive him, to understand and he moved his wrist and the blade sliced through her skin.

Ginny bit her lip hard as the pain slammed into her. Her teeth broke roughly into her lip causing it to bleed lightly, but that pain was nothing compare to the pounding one in her wrist. Hot tears collected in her eyes and she blinked furiously in order to keep them from falling. In order to keep from looking weak, but that was just how she felt. Weak and betrayed. Draco gingerly let her blood seep into the vial until it was not longer clear, but full of crimson liquid. Silently he closed the vial and handed it over to Voldemort.

"Congratulations, Draco," Voldemort said as he lifted the vial and stared at the blood.

"For what, my lord?" he asked confused.

"You passed the test," the Dark Lord replied. "Lucius had suspicions that while being the guardian of this child you had some how fallen attached to her and was turning against us. We do not need her blood, only Harry Potter's. I was merely testing your allegiance to me and wanted to see how far you would go to show it. Obviously Lucius is wrong for I highly doubt that if you cared for Miss Weasley as much as he assumed that you would attempt to harm her in any way."

"I only live to serve you, my lord," Draco replied with a low bow. His gray eyes burned momentarily with hatred while they were out of sight, but when he straightened they were glassy and clear.

"Take her away and bandage her, Draco," Voldemort commanded. "I will not have her muggle loving blood desecrating where I am. Wrap her wrist and stop the bleeding, but do not heal the wound. I want the pain to be a reminder that she is at my mercy."

Draco nodded and reached out to grab Ginny. She shrank away from his touch until she realized whom exactly she was shrinking against. With a glare of hatred aimed at Draco, she lifted her chin defiantly and shrugged off Lucius' hold before stalking away. Draco trailed until he caught up with her and grabbed her unharmed wrist roughly before pulling her down the stairs. He marched her into the cabin with out a word before releasing her.

Draco searched through the cabin until he found some old clothes in one of the dressers. Ginny watched him warily as he neared her and reached out for her wrist.

"Don't touch me," she spat angrily, drawing her wrist away.

"Give me your wrist, Ginny," Draco commanded sharply. She was shocked by the tone he took with her and allowed him to grasp her arm. Conjuring up a bowl, Draco dipped the cloth into the bowl and began to wipe away the blood that was still seeping out of her wound. As he dipped the soiled rag back into the basin, the blood oozed into the water but refused to mingle with it instead opting to swirl around in thin crimson vapors.

He ripped some of the cloth with he teeth and began to gingerly wrap her wrist with the bandages. Ginny watched fascinated by how concentrated he seemed to be at his task. No matter how angry or upset she was with him, the man was beautiful. When he was finished, Draco let his thumbs gently caress her wrist in soft circles. He could once again feel her blood pulsating through her veins.

"Ginny," he began, looking up at her with his gray eyes pleading. "I was hoping you'd understand. I had to do it.

Ginny looked away and refused to acknowledge his words. He sighed deeply before continuing to speak.

"You heard yourself that my father was suspicious of us. If I had refused to cut you that they would know how much I care about you and then they would have killed us both."

"Ginny," he said softly, moving his hand to cup her chin and draw her eyes to his. "I would rather go through the torture of cutting you myself than going through the emptiness of losing you."

She stared at him willing herself to hold her resolve against him, but she couldn't. She crumbled when she saw the pain in his eyes, heard the brokenness in his words. Even though she didn't want to believe Draco hurting her was the right thing to do, in her mind it made sense and she knew it to be true. He had saved both their lives by acting so cold hearted. The thing that hurt the most maybe was the fact that he was so good at it. Ginny hesitantly reached out a hand before brushing it lightly through his hair. Her fingers trailed along the top of his head until she reached his neck and pulled him to her. On his knees before her, Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head against her chest.

"Ginny," he breathed. "I didn't want to do it. It hurt so much. I'm so sorry, Ginny. I'm so sorry." Draco sucked in a breath and trembled slightly in her arms.

"Shush, Draco," she said soothingly, stroking the back of his neck with her fingers. "It's okay. I forgive you. You had to do it."

"Never again will I let them hurt you," he vowed, grabbing a fistful of her robes. "I don't care what the consequences are. They will never hurt you or use me to hurt you again."

Smoothing away the hair that still damply clung to his forehead, Ginny pressed a feather light kiss to the skin there. Tilting his hand up with a finger placed gently under his chin she left a trail of soft kisses along his jaw. Draco reached up with his hands and grasped her around the waist and roughly pulled her out of the chair onto his lap. Their eyes met briefly for a moment, both flickering with the same emotion, before his lips claimed hers. She sighed softly against his mouth as he sucked her full lips. Her fingers balled into a fist in his hair as Draco's tongue expertly began to ravage her mouth. Ginny felt her body begin to tingle as his hands slipped down her robes and he gently cupped her left breast in his hand and kneaded gently. A shiver of pleasure ran through her body causing her to squirm against him. Draco released her lips and dipped his head to trailed hot kisses along the base of her throat leading down.

A sharp knock at the door of the cabin made them jump apart as if on fire. Ginny panted heavily as she scrambled off the floor back into her chair. She took a couple of deep breaths in order to control her breathing and she saw that Draco was doing the same to compose his self. Straightening his robes, Draco walked toward the door and threw it open.

""Master Malfoy," a man in black robes spoke. "Sorry to interrupt your task, but the Dark Lord wanted me to tell you that you and the girl are to report to the deck immediately. We have arrived."

"Thank you, Crabbe," Draco said before leaving the doorway to grab Ginny and pull her out of the cabin.

Even though it was to keep up appearances, Ginny was getting a little sick of being pulled around everywhere. Annoyed, she threw off Draco's arm and stamped past him up the stairs to where they had been previously. Draco followed her wordlessly trying to hide the grin that was threatening to break across his calm façade.

They joined the figures lining the edge of the ship and stared out into the distance. Where once had been an endless array of ocean had now the appearance of the sandy desert not far away. The boat's bow sliced through the now relatively calm ocean.

'And they said girls were too temperamental and moody,' Ginny thought dryly to herself. 'I say the ocean takes the cake for it. It goes from psycho killing machine in one instant to beautiful serenity the next.'

Ginny, Draco, and the rest of the crew continued to watch the horizon as the "Land of the Dead" drew neared to them. Ginny felt anxiety began to build up her. What Draco had said about the desert draining all the energy out of a wizard was haunting her mind and refusing her to feel at peace. Not that she was really at peace anyways with all this craziness going on, but still, it wasn't helping much. The boat jolted and rocked as it slid halfway out of the water onto the bank of the beach. Ginny felt the coolness of the night beginning to wane as signs of the morning began to creep forth. The infinite darkness that seemed to drape over the sky earlier was lightening to a royal blue. Not quite dawn, but soon, very soon. Once the boat was unloaded and the camels repacked, Voldemort and his Death Eaters along with their solitary prisoner boarded their animals and headed into the heart of the desert.

They actually didn't get very far before another obstacle appeared this time in the guise of a big ugly snake. Ginny completely froze when it first appeared. It's gray scaly body slithered into their view out of nowhere and its endless hide wrapped around their entire group. It was a rather large snake. What really freaked her out though was the snake's resemblance to the basilisk. For a moment Ginny felt a rush of memories playing through her mind like a horror movie. Images of Tom, the basilisk and all of the things she did when under his control flooded her mind. Visibly shaken, Ginny fell back against Draco for support.

The snake had coiled back and poised to strike when Voldemort reached out a hand and spoke to it in a strong commanding voice. Ginny had no idea what he had said and the words he spoke sent shivers down her spine and it felt like snakes were crawling across her skin. She had heard only once before and that was during Harry and Draco's first duel during her second year. He was speaking Parsletongue.

"Do not sssstrike," Lord Voldemort hissed. The snake paused and as Ginny watched she could have sworn it blinked.

"Who are you ssstranger?" it demanded, its yellow eyes narrowed.

"I am Lord Voldemort."

"Voldemort," the snake said. "I have heard rumors of a Lord Voldemort who is sssseeking to obtain the world. Isss thisss you?"

"I am the mossst powerful wizard alive," Voldemort hissed. "I will have the world."

"Then you have come sssseeking the mysssstical ssssword," it replied. The snake straightened itself and coiled down closer to Lord Voldemort. The two creatures stared at each other and Ginny was drawn to how similar their characteristics where. Both the snake and Voldemort had slit beady eyes that seemed to glow as well as a flat nose with tiny slits for nostrils. Both moved with speed and a snake like grace.

The snake bowed its head. "It hassss been a long time ssssince a human hasss ssssspoken to me. You posssesss great powersss. For that I will not harm you, but will ssssserve."

"There are otherssss who follow," the Dark Lord said. "Do not let them live."

The snake bobbed its head and uncoiled is lithe body from around the group. With a hiss is slithered off into the desert to keep watch.

"Come, we must hurry," Voldemort commanded. "The time is drawing near."

"Remus, over here! We found Kingsley!" Sirius' shout brought not only Remus, but also the rest of the group to his side. Molly gasped and buried her face into Arthur's chest who wrapped a protective arm around her. Albus bowed his head while Remus looked on in horror.

Kingsley Shacklebolt's body was lying lifeless on the deck of the ship smashed against the side of the boat. A large wooden pole that had snapped off of the mast has speared through his chest. His eyes were hollow and dull as he stared blankly at the world no longer seeing or comprehending. Albus kneeled next to him and gently pressed Kingsley's eyes closed not bothering to be careful of the blood that was collecting around the dead body.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, looking up at Snape. "Please fetch me one of the spare robes from the saddle bags and some rope." He looked over at the Weasley's.

"Arthur, please remove your wife from the scene for I fear it is greatly vexing her."

Mr. Weasley complied and gently led his whitened Molly away from the wretched scene. Sirius and Remus, as gently as they could, pried the large pole out of Kinsley's chest. This cause an increase in the amount of blood gushing from his body as the hole in his chest was over six inches in diameter. When Snape returned he helped Dumbledore wrap Kingsley in the robe and tie it securely up. Remus and Sirius carried the body over to the edge of the ship where Dumbledore said a few words in the memory of their fallen comrade before releasing him over the side of the ship. He floated there for a moment before the ocean swallowed him up and he was gone forever.

"Dumbledore, look," Arthur said as he and Molly came to stand next to them. The five remaining members there looked to the horizon and saw the edge of the desert drawing near.

"What is that?" Molly cried, pointing to the sky as a loud rumbling noise appeared.

"By golly its an airplane!" Arthur cried in astonishment.

"An airplane?" Sirius frowned.

"It is a muggle form of transportation," Arthur explained. "Since they don't have brooms they created a huge metal device that can fly on mechanisms."

"That's quite impressive for muggles," Remus noted amused.

"This isn't good," Dumbledore said softly.

"What is it, Albus?" Molly asked anxiously.

"I believe Harry Potter is on that plane."

"Are you sure about this?" Tristan asked nervously as he peered out one of the windows.

"Yes, I'm sure," Tonks growled, aggravated. "It's the only way to get out of this bloody plane."

Tristan moved silently away from the window and flashed a brief uneasy smile to Blaise who helped him into his parachute pack.

"So let me get this straight," Ron said haggardly. "You want me to put on this tiny black bag, jump out of a plane that is thousands of feet above the ground, pull and little string and expect to land safely?"

"Yes, dear," Hermione confirmed.

"Okay." Ron shrugged and put on his pack.

"Are you guys ready?" Tonks asked. At their nods she pressed a button near the hatchway. "Okay, Mitch, open her up!"

The sound of metal grating upon metal filled the air as the door to the plane slid open.

"I'll go first and then you follow me!" Tonks yelled above the roaring of the engines. "Just remember! Cross your arms and fall out of the plane backwards!"

With that she grabbed the two handles on either side of the door way and with a sudden lurch, crossed her arms and fell out of the plane backwards. The five remaining teens watch as a few moments later a huge black parachute shoot out of her pack and settled in the air. Harry smiled reassuringly at the others as he lined up at the door's edge although his heart was pounding erratically in his throat. Closing his eyes tightly he pushed himself backwards and fell out of the plane.

It was the most amazing rush he had ever felt in his entire life. He felt like his stomach had flown up into his throat as butterflies flew around like crazy in the pit of it. Icy cold air ripped at his face as he free fell down, gaining speed as he went. Through the haze of the clouds he could barely make out the ocean and a sliver of land just below him. Reaching up, Harry grabbed his cord and jerked it hard. Immediately the parachute released and Harry was wrenched back as it opened. Now he was gliding gently through the air. With his hands upon two handles, he guided the parachute over Tonks and followed her descent. Looking up he saw Hermione floating behind him and Ron diving out of the plane.

Harry returned his gaze to the ground below him and reveled in how small everything look. It was so calm and peaceful. One would never know that a great war raged upon the area from the looks of it up here. A scream caught his attention and he snapped his gaze upward. Tristan, Ron and Hermione were all gliding above him, but one black blur was torpedoing past him. Blaise. He could see her pulling frantically on her cord, but no parachute was released. Harry felt his stomach climb into his throat again as he watch Blaise continue to fall, blood curdling screams following her all the way until she was a speck and then gone.

"Blaise!" Tristan's frantic cries could barely be heard above the wind whipping around Harry, but he heard them and it tore at him. If Blaise died then it would be his fault. He had led them all on this quest to save Ginny and defeat the Dark Lord. If he had stayed put like Dumbledore told him too than Blaise wouldn't be plummeting to her death right now.

The rest of the flight down Harry could think of nothing else and the guilt was building up against his heart. It now felt heavy and burdened and he couldn't help but wonder how many more deaths were going to add to the weight today. His feet skimmed the ground first not far from where Tonks' parachute lay abandoned. Harry quickly stripped off his parachute and sprinted to where Tonks was kneeling on the ground. When he reached them he did all he could to keep down the bile that was threatening to burst from his mouth. It tasted acidic and burned his throat, but he swallowed it nonetheless.

Ron, Hermione and finally Tristan soon joined them. Together they looked upon Blaise's fallen form and it was barely recognizable. Her body was completely disarranged and seemed to be broken in every place possible. Her head was smashed and blood and gore spilled into the sand staining it.

"Blaise," Tristan whispered, his voice caught in his throat. Hermione whimpered and threw her arms around Ron and buried her head in his shoulder. Harry backed away from the scene. He couldn't take it. He didn't want to be responsible for her death, but he was. With a gasp he fled and ran as fast as he could into the desert.

"Harry!" Tonks yelled, standing quickly to her feet. She instantly took off running after him. Ron and Hermione stared at each other for a moment before following leaving Tristan alone. Tears ran silently down his face as he knelt beside her form. Picking up one of her hands he cradled it to his cheek and pressed a light kiss upon it.

Harry ran as fast as he could, but he didn't get very far. Sand kicked up all around him and out of the night appeared a large form. Tonks reached his side and froze as a giant snake unfurled in front of them. Hermione squeaked and Ron looked very nervous as they came to stand next to them. Tonks, Ron and Hermione anxiously backed away from the snake, but Harry just peered at it curiously.

"Let ussss through," he hissed. For the second time that day, the snake blinked and was taken completely off guard.

"Thissss isss rare indeed," the snake replied. "Never have I come acrosssss two humansss who could speak to me in one day."

"Voldemort," Harry growled.

"Yesss," the snake answered. "The one who deemsss himssssself worthy of the myssstical sssssword has passssed through."

"You let him through?" Harry yelled. "Why did you do that? He'sss a nutcasssse! Completely pssssycho!"

"He possesssesss great powersss assss do you young one," the snake spoke. "I will let you passsss. You too ssssseek the great ssssword, but not to usssse it for your own meansss. You sseeek to sssstop this Lord Voldemort. You are the light while he issss the dark. Only one of you will triumph."

"Why are you here?" Harry asked.

"I wasss placed here long ago to protect the sssssword and the sssssacred city until the chosen one with great power came. I do not know which of you issss the one, but I am here to ssssserve the oneessss who can possesssss the sssssword."

"Take ussss there," Harry commanded. "Take ussss to the forgotten city."

"Assss you wissssh."

The snake lowered itself to the ground and allowed Harry, Tonks, Ron and Hermione to slip upon its back. Harry directed it to go back and get Tristan. While they were gone he had carefully wrapped Blaise's body in her parachute to cover her up. Then he had kicked sand over the blood stained grains. Reluctantly he joined them upon the snake and it slithered off into the desert.

The Order docked their boat upon the shore. It was not another ship that caught their eye when they landed, but the multiple black parachutes that littered the ground. The camels were led ashore and packed again by Remus, Snape and Molly as Sirius, Dumbledore and Arthur checked out the parachutes.

"What are these?" Sirius asked, poking one.

"They're parachutes," Arthur answered. "Muggles use them to jump out of planes. Some do it for sport and others do it because of missions and such. Kinda like the one Harry and his friends think they're on."

"You mean to tell me these things make you float in the air and keep your from dying or something?" Sirius said in disbelief as he kicked the next parachute. What he didn't expect was to hit something solid. Dumbledore knelt down next to the parachute and slowly peeled away. With a moaned he quickly covered the form back up.

"What is it, Albus?" Arthur asked. "Is it one of the children?"

"I believe it to be Miss Zabini," Dumbledore replied gravely. "But she is very disfigured. I'm assuming her parachute didn't function properly."

"Blaise fell from thousands of feet in the air and hit the ground?" Sirius said numbly. Dumbledore nodded gravely.

Sirius swore. "This has gone too far. When this is over all of those kids are going to be locked up in Grimmauld Place for life!"

"Our best bet right now is to keep moving in order to ensure that this truly does become over," Dumbledore advised.

"You're right, Albus," Sirius agreed. "As usual."

"Oh the sky!" Molly squealed. "It's so beautiful!"

The others turned around and caught a glimpse of an arrangement of color.

"Harry, look!" Hermione said in awe, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing to the sky. Harry turned his gaze from the desert to the sky and his eyes met a brilliance of light.

Faint rays of pale orange light seeped through the cracks in the clouds casting a colorful haze along the sky. Pinks, oranges and yellows were melted in a pool of color that was breathtakingly beautiful. Ginny gasped as a blood red sun appeared over the horizon. They had traveled through the desert as fast as the camels' feet would fly across the grains and they were almost to their destination. Draco gripped her tightly as the camel ran, but Ginny barely noticed. Only one thing was processing in her mind. A new dawn was breaking. The Winter Solstice was here.

Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter! Sorry it took forever to get up. I'm going back to school on Tuesday so I don't know when the next update will be. Next chapter will definitely have them being inside Rilanthia and probably with the sword as well. Please review, review, review because I live off of them and like the review slut I am, it makes me want more and then I write more! Cheers!

.:Angelgrl185:.