Ron, Hermione, and Harry were sitting together in the common room talking. The three of them were willingly talking with each other for the first time in months. Ron was still a little mad at Harry for hurting Ginny, and Hermione was a little mad at both of them for fighting over something so pointless, but they were having an intelligent conversation. Most of the other Gryffindors would be shocked. The last time the three of them had been together had been in September.
"Do you think Ginny really wants to help us," Ron looked at Hermione. "I asked Harry and he said that didn't know."
"She has Dumbledore convinced. That means something." Hermione answered thoughtfully. "Still, I can't help thinking that she isn't telling us something. The must be some reason why she suddenly decided to switch back to our side because, when she left, Ginny was definitely only a Death Eater. I think she is playing someone false."
"Or she has her own little plan that no one else knows about." Harry added, rubbing his scar absentmindedly.
"What's with her living with Malfoy?" Ron growled. "She shouldn't be anywhere near that git." Ron snarled in one of his usual moments of idiocy.
Hermione shook her head at him and stood up. "I'm going down for breakfast. Even though we're in a war, there are still classes. I suggest you hurry up, we have Charms in a half hour."
Ron went upstairs to collect his books and Hermione walked out through the portrait hole. They left Harry by himself on the couch in front of the fire. Maybe they were still mad at him. Harry smiled to himself anyway. Finally he had a conversation with Ron without one of them starting to yell at the other. It was a start towards regaining their friendship and Harry was looking forward to the day when they could sit around and joke with each other again. It would never be like old times because of how hurt they were, but they would become friends again. They had too. Ron and Hermione were the only people he had left.
"Ah, midnight." Ginevera sighed as she breathed deeply. "The perfect time for the Hour of the Dead." She was standing on a hill next to Draco and Voldemort watching the Death Eaters begin their attack on the Bones household. High in the sky the Dark Mark was glittering evilly. They had about fifteen minutes until Aurors started to arrive. It would take them ten minutes total before they left to attack another home.
The Death Eaters were pulling two people out of the large house. An older woman in a long nightgown and an older man, her husband, were struggling wildly in the clutches of five Death Eaters. As she watched the house erupted into flames.
Voldemort laughed wildly, clapping his hands in childlike admiration. "Very good! You have taught them well my heirs! I am enjoying my welcome back present so I am willing to give both of you a gift."
Draco bowed to Voldemort and raised up his hand in the beginning of his signal. When his hand came back down in a quick movement to his side, everyone apparated to their next station. The Death Eaters were either going to the Boot's house, or were taking the prisoners to the dungeons of Cold Castle in Ireland.
It had been a very productive night. First Voldemort had deeply enjoyed watching the two-muggle girls being tortured until they lost their sanity when Draco and Ginevera had called all of the Death Eaters into the circle. The girls had been left in a big city where more muggles could find them. Then they had begun their Hour of the Dead celebrations. They had three families who would be enjoying the dungeons by the end of the night. In all, it had been a very productive evening.
It was very late, or really early depending on your point of view. Going to bed at three in the morning was not something Ginevera enjoyed having to do. It was nearly three fifteen by the time Draco and Ginevera had slipped under the covers of their king size bed in Hell's Home. They had arrived home and taken a shower together to get all of the soot and blood off of their bodies.
By the third Hour of the Dead, the Auror's had caught on to their evil plans. Five minutes after the Dark Mark had been fired into the sky, the first Auror had arrived. It was a lot sooner than expected, and one of the less intelligent Death Eaters had been blasted with a strong spell before he could get away. Everyone else had been able to apparate back to Cold Castle leaving behind the smoldering remains of the Summerby house.
Voldemort, Draco, and Ginevera had spent two hours in the dungeons interrogating the three families. They had gotten covered in the prisoner's blood.
Ginevera smiled slightly as she curled up against Draco's smooth muscled chest. He wrapped an arm over her waist and pulled her tighter against his body.
"We need to do that more often," Draco whispered. Ginevera nodded her head in agreement before snuggling up against Draco and falling asleep.
In a room adjacent to the bedroom, two eyes were watching the teens curl around each other through the open door. It had decided on a very important decision. It liked the two teenagers. It wasn't sure if it liked them enough not to kill them, but maybe it could learn not to kill. Maybe it could even learn something that wasn't evil, for once. On the other hand, maybe it could just destroy the earth, killing everyone on it, and not need to worry about suppressing its powers.
Maybe
A week later Draco and Ginevera were sitting in front of the Order in the Room of Requirement listening to nearly everyone rant about their dislike of the heirs and the help the heirs were willing to offer.
"Plus, they attacked three families last weekend!" A wrinkled old witch finished with a swish of her gnarled hands. Many of the Order members nodded in agreement.
Ginevera stood up gracefully and smiled indulgently. "It was fun. We were just having a little sport to welcome back Voldemort." She added, smirking when people flinched at the sound of His name. "We are only here because our interests in killing Voldemort are the same as yours. We are still going to do things that we enjoy. You can't expect us to suddenly become virtuous and good. It would be impossible. As soon as Voldemort is dead we will go back to pursuing our own profit and you may go back to your uninteresting lives." She gracefully sat down. Draco patted her hand in agreement with everything she had said.
Dumbledore stood up next. "As you can see we are only going to be working with Draco and Ginevera until Voldemort is gone. Also, we will only be working with the heirs in matters that concern the removal of Voldemort. There is no need to be worried. I trust the heirs not to betray us in this matter."
A new round of fighting broke out. Some people agreed with everything that had been said, though most were still against anything that had to do with the heirs. It was very entertaining.
Suddenly Harry stood up. "I have a question,"
"Yes Potter?" Draco snarled.
"What are you going to do about the Death Eater we captured last week?" Harry finished.
"We are going to leave him with you until it becomes convenient to either have him killed or have him rejoin our ranks." Draco hissed. "Why would you care Potter? It's just another Death Eater for you to interrogate, though I can assure you that he doesn't know anything important. His memory was wiped before you took him away. I doubt that he even knows his own name." Draco laughed cruelly.
"Tha- that's horrible," a man with a goatee stood up and pointed at Draco with a shaking hand. "I would help anyone who was captured by the enemy!"
"You see, that is the difference between you and me. I don't care about the fools who allow themselves to get captured, and you care about everyone and everything. We aren't good people. Most of you would label us as evil, but we have a common interest that I am willing to collaborate with you on. I suggest you put aside your prejudices and start planning or Voldemort will have taken over everything before you even get a basic idea." Draco snarled with dislike laced in his voice.
Ginevera looked up at the clock the Room of Requirement had provided and gasped. "Its after one! We need to report back to Voldemort now." She and Draco stood up, nodded their heads in goodbye to Dumbledore, and disappeared.
"I never understand how they can disapparate on school grounds," Hermione muttered.
They had just returned to Hell's Home after reporting to Voldemort to find a large tawny barn owl sitting on their front stoop. It was from Charlie.
Ginevera and Draco,
Would you like to come to the Dragon Run this weekend? We are having a race and I'm wondering if you would like to see a dragon up close. If a dragnet likes you, you could get to keep it.
Anyway, send your return message with this owl.
Love,
Charlie
There wasn't even a question of what their answer would be. Draco looked at Ginevera and lifted his eyebrow. She smiled and scribbled a hasty YES on the back of Charlie's letter.
They had been invited to a Dragon Run. Very few people ever received that privilege. Things were beginning to look up.
For just a moment, they could forget about their being on both sides of the war, they could forget about being pressured be Voldemort, they could forget about the Order trying to bear their souls out for the whole world to see and analyze, they could forget about the weird egg rocking in the next room. Just for one minute they could be like normal people. It was almost like a dream come true. The Dragon Run could give them the momentary respite that they so desperately craved. How could they not go?
Ginevera watched the owl fly away with a small smile on her lovely face. It was the first smile she had shed in weeks that wasn't lined with worry and distress. Yes, things could get better.
Harry was sitting in the common room with Ron and Hermione by his side. They were talking together again. Neville had walked into the common room a few minutes ago and had squeaked loudly. He had muttered a hurried, 'I really don't want to get in the middle of another fight,' before he had scrambled out of the portrait hole.
They were still chuckling about it a few minutes later. Harry sighed mournfully, causing Ron to stop laughing and Hermione to look at him sharply.
"You know, I think I believe them." There was no argument over who 'them' was. They always occupied the trio's thoughts? Draco and Ginevera had proved themselves to Harry.
"Do you really believe that they won't double cross us and tell everything to Voldemort?" Ron sighed unhappily. "All of this thinking hurts my head."
Hermione shook her head, smiling slightly. "Like we said earlier. Dumbledore trusts them enough to collaborate on the destruction of Voldemort." Hermione shook her head. "I just wish we knew what those two were hiding from us. They must have some reason why they are helping us when their loyalties lie with Voldemort. I need to go to the library."
Draco and Ginevera showed up at the Dragon Run a day early ready to kick back and watch some Dragon racing. Either they would relax at their vacation or no one would be happy.
